Hindutva Unlimited

 

How advent of Hindutva Supremacism has accelerated arming of Hindus for sectarian violence
 

First published on https://nsi-delhi.blogspot.com/2018/06/hindutva-unlimited.html
 

Like every exclucivist ideology/organisation/formation which claims to be centered around a particular religion – may it be Islamism, Zionism, fanatic Buddhism – Hindutva has always entertained a dream of preparing/arming its followers to fight the ‘others’ and slowly albeit not so silently moving closer to usher into its dreamland of Hindu Rashtra. Its ideologues/leaders have been candid enough to point out to the faithfuls the ‘internal enemies” and ways to deal with them or exterminate them. All these preparations dotted by regular drills, games and other militant exercises serves as a counter to the the much publicised notion by the same people that ‘Hindus are Cowards’ 1 or “Islam was spread through the sword” which has been an item of belief for the Hindutva fundamentalists.

A cursory glance at history – preindependence as well as later – is witness to the way in which it had been engaged in doing it surreptiously/not so surreptiously in very many ways. To fulfill its long cherished dream, pioneers of the movement had felt no qualms even in keeping themselves aloof from the anti-colonial struggle and focussing themselves on strengthening unity of ‘their’ people. It was the same period when a proper military school was established by Dr B S Munje, mentor of Dr Hedgewar and one of the founders of RSS which was aimed 2″..to bring about military regeneration of the Hindus” much on the lines of the The Balilla institutions an idea conceived by Mussolini for the ‘military regeneration of Italy’3

Perhaps it is one of the most inglorious chapters in their own history that Savarkar, leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, had gone to the extent of mobilising Hindus to join the British military – when the broad masses of the people in this part of the subcontinent had risen in unison over the historic Quit India movement. The Hindutva supremacists  were thus engaged in strengthening British efforts to suppress the rising tide of people’s movement. Savarkar, the pioneer theoretician of the project of Hindu Rashtra preferred to tour India then asking Hindu youth to join the military with a call to ‘Militarise the Hindus, Hinduise the nation’.

The logic was simple. Whenever the Britishers would leave then this ‘militarised Hindus’ would be able to take over the destiny of the nation.

Partition and the accompanying riots/pogroms provided these forces – much like their Islamist counterparts across the border- enough opportunity to flex their muscles and engage proactively in the mayhem that followed after that. The same modus operandi continued in post-independence times as well.

Commissions appointed by governments to look into riots in post-independence India have been consistent in underlying the alleged role of the local level cadres of the Hindutva Brigade. Scholars of communal conflicts who have observed /studied Hindu-Muslim riots in post-Independent India have also talked about emergence of “institutionalised riot systems” in which the organizations of militant Hindu nationalism are deeply implicated.4 e.g. The demolition of Babri Mosque by hordes of Hindutva Supremacist forces – which completed twenty five years – was also a very organised affair – which was cloaked under ‘spontaneity of the masses’ by interested quarters. e.g. The video magazine ‘Newstrack’ had then sent a team of reporters on the infamous day.
 

The idea of discipline and penchant for military type action is even visible in co-travellers on the Hindutva path. Remember what Justice Srikrishna commission – which was formed to look into Mumbai riots in Dec 1992 and Jan 2013 – had said about Bal Thackeray. It had unambiguously stated that Thackeray “like a veteran general commanded his loyal Shiv Sainiks to retaliate with organised attacks against Muslims”. 6
 

Interestingly relative newcomers on this path – who want to turn India into Hindu Rashtra – seem more explicit. Organisations like Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagruti Samity (SS and HJS) – where destruction of evildoers’ is an integral part of ‘spiritual practice’ and where this‘destruction’ is to be done at ‘physical and psychological level’,  seekers ( called ‘Sadhaks) are also provided with training in arms – rifles, trishuls, lathis and other weapons’ to facilitate this ‘Dharm Kranti’ (religious revolution) .7 A very important text in the training of the seekers/ Sadhaks is ‘Texts on Defence’ where seekers of divine kingdom are also imparted training with air rifles ( Vol 3 H – Self Defence Training, Chapter 6, Page 108-109)8
 

In fact, ‘Shadow Armies’ a recent book by veteran political journalist Dhirendra K Jha, 9 takes a close look at burgeoning of such fringe organizations such as the Sri Ram Sene, the Hindu Yuva Vahini, the Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu Aikya Vedi apart from few affiliated organisations of the RSS itself which according to the author ‘stir up trouble, polarize communities, incite violence in the name of Hindutva.’ It is common knowledge that there is a very symbiotic relationship between the BJP and these ‘Shadow Armies’.  They have accompanied BJP’s steady advance over the last three decades from two Lok Sabha seats in 1984 to 282 in 2014.
 

With the ascent of Hindutva Supremacism at the centre all these efforts have received a tremendous boost and they have further developed ways to put the faithfuls further on a militant/radical/violent path.

The advent of the vigilante mobs has been an outcome of this changed/charged ambience only.

1.

As we go to the press, Assam and one of its districts Karbi Anglong is in the news for the killing of Nilotpal Basu and Abhijit Nath by a mob of 200 to 250 people in a village Panijuri, Karbi Anglong. Reports are also coming in which tell that retaliatory violence has also occurred where people from Karbi Anglong have come under attack elsewhere.
 

Any close watcher of the unfolding situation knows that such incidents are no exception these days. Some time back Tamil Nadu was in the news for killing of innocents by agitated mob over a fake whatsapp messages about child kidnappers. Vigilantism has become a new marker of the ‘new India’ which is much talked about by the present rulers.
 

An idea about the spurt in vigilante violence could be had from these figures which show how ‘cow related crimes’ – which form the most important constituent of such violence – that led to deaths have shot up”. Remember 97 per cent of these attacks occurred after 2014 and 84 % of those killed in these attacks were Muslims.
 

The characteristic features of this unfolding violence are evident to even laypersons.
 

The violence is such that victims can be easily turned into ‘real perpetrators’ and the perpetrators are projected as ‘martyrs’.  Remember killing of five dalits in Dulina, Jhajjar supposedly for skinning a dead cow in the year 2003 when a thousand strong mob had thrashed the hapless group in front of police station and in the presence of senior officers of the administration and the police had ‘lodged’ a case against the dead persons for ‘provoking the people.’ 
 

Another important thing to remember is that there is nothing spontaneous about it. Despite outward packaging of a sudden outrage, all such actions are well organised affairs, where the perpetrators know it very well that their public display of violence or even its recording or sharing it with a larger audience via social media etc is not going to have any impact on them. If anyone has any doubts about the planning which goes into it one can have a look at the a judgement of Punjab Haryana high court regarding the self-proclaimed ‘cow protector’ vigilante groups which it delivered two years back or report of Director General of Police, Gujarat during Una movement wherein the officer had castigated network of such cow vigilante groups in no uncertain terms and called for action against them. 12

Laxity of the police and the administrative machinery has rather become a common feature of such violence. While the mob attacks the victims under whatever pretext it can think of, the police – the most visible of the state’s arm – normally turns a mute spectator or at times even prods the attackers. One can have a cursory glance at the spate of such killing incidents which were reported across India in the initial years of this regime to understand the dynamic and also comprehend the growing ‘normalisation of brutality
 

Normally religious minorities, dalits along with dissenting voices of various kinds happen to be the usual targets of such violence. It is a different matter that with the spiralling of such violence people from majority community are also coming under attack as witnessed in the latest killings in Karbi Anglong.

Media, which is called as ‘watchdog of democracy’ seems to have largely abandoned its critical role and barring exceptions it thus either maintains silence over such incidents of organised violence or remains content in presenting a majoritarian viewpoint or even at times provokes people to join the ‘outrage’.

Judiciary, which is reported to be custodian of the constitution, is also found to be wanting on this front.

Even if it is not possible immediately to comprehend the whole dynamic but it is worth noting how a vigilante mob slowly merges into the state and vice versa and how the much cherished rule of law is put on its head or how the state ‘outsources’ work of silencing dissident voices to such mobsters.

Analysing the reasons for vigilantism, scholar Christophe Jaffrelot dissects the vision and role of the RSS which has always intended to ‘transform society from within, by instilling its own sense of discipline into it, which it thought was required for defending Hindus more effectively’. For him as the Hindu Nationalists, ‘do not want the state to prevail over society and want the society to regulate itself, as per the emphasis on social order and “harmony” or hierarchy, that is suggested in the Hindutva ideology’, the fact that the vigilantes “do the job” is very convenient for them. 14

Vigilante violence – aided, abetted by leaders/organisations – or emerging on its own could be just considered tip of the iceberg where the larger question to address is how this preparation/arming of people is on or how today propagators/peddlers of this exclucivist ideology feel emboldened with change in regime at the centre.

2.

Would it be possible to imagine that leader of any organisation openly declaring that her/his people/activists have the ability to prepare an “army” in three days , can be deployed on the front within three days, questions the ability of the security forces for quick operations, and does not face any legal hassles ?
 

A lesser mortal would have been definitely hauled up for such ‘’ánti-national” act.
 

Well, nothing of that sort happened when the numero uno of RSS Mohan Bhagwat made similar claims in a speech in Muzaffarpur, Bihar which caused tremendous uproar in the country. 15 Forget any hassles what one witnessed was unbelievable. A minister of the government rushed to Bhagwat’s defence. 16
 

The clarification of sorts provided by the Akhil Bharatiya Prachaar Pramukh of the RSS, Manmohan Vaidya, about this controversial statement added further insult to injury :

While debate continued around the ‘ínsult’ heaped by the RSS Supremo on the army, one was bit surprised over the candidness with which Mohan Bhagwat spoke , frankly admitting what goes on within this ‘biggest cultural organisation in the world’. In fact there are rare occasions when you get to hear such clear cut statements from people associated with it.  e.g. Not very many people would remember today that when involvement of Hindutva fanatics in terror acts had made headlines, and RSS had found itself on the defensive,  Mohan Bhagwat had made this significant statement talking to RSS members in Surat
 

No doubt a combination of strict discipline, military type of training and action against the óther’ pervades the broad universe of Hindutva organisations.
 

Could it be said that Bhagwat’s claim was ‘a slip of toungue’ or was an empty boast made to boost the morale of its cadres or he was serious about it.
 

While one can debate the timing of the statement, but nobody can say that he did not mean what he said or is ignorant of what he meant.
 

Reports galore where affiliated organisations of RSS – namely Bajrang Dal, Durga Vahini – are seen imparting training supposedly for self-defence which also involves rifle training 19
 

Gone are the days when only lathi wielding Swayamsevaks of the Sangh use to march on streets on VijayaDashami /Dusshera as part of their route marches called ‘Path Sanchalan’ in their lexicon, reports keep appearing here and there how some of these volunteers or volunteers of other affiliated organisations join these programmes with swords, pistols and rifles as well these days 20and have no qualms even firing in air to communicate their message. 21
 

And of late, armed processions of Hindutva volunteers/supporters under the pretext of religious celebrations, have become quite common in large parts of north India – which have caused spurt in communal tensions at various places.
 

Such armed processions as part of religious celebrations remind one of the stock in trade trick of every type of fundamentalist where it tries to transplant religious symbols and rituals from the sphere of the sacred to the soil of the profane. This helps to create an illusion of religious legitimacy to what is is essentially a political use of the faith system in operation called religion. Burning crosses carried by the infamous Ku Klux Klan – a Christian terrorist organizations in the United States, which advocates extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, anti-immigration and anti-communism -, the use of the noble concept of Jihad by the Fassadi terrorist or the likes of Al Qaeda ; or the conscious use of the image of Ram via-a-vis the Ayodhya temple movement by the Hindutva brigade illustrates this exercise.

3.

If Trishul Deekshas – the distribution of sharp edged tridents to people – under the guise of religious ceremonies  – was popularised in the early years of the millenium, when the Vajpayi led NDA government was at the centre, today these efforts have moved a step ahead and we have been witness to armed processions to celebrate ‘religious festivals’.
 

For example, the manner in which the Hindu festivals of Ram Navmi and Hanuman Jayanti are being increasingly used by affiliates of the RSS to foment communal tension is for everyone to see.
 

This year it lead to conflagrations in Bhagalpur and Aurangabad, accompanied by tension in several other districts. Tension was also witnessed in many parts of UP, Rajasthan and Maharashtra although no large scale violence occurred. While in Bhagalpur – which was witness to one of the worst communal riots in 1989 – a procession led by son of a Union Minister, where provocative slogans were reportedly raised, culminated in rioting, in Aurangabad also a Ramnavmi rally which was taken out through a Muslim majority area culminated in rioting and curfew had to be imposed. Districts like Gaya, Siwan and Kiamur also reported communal tension as a result of provocative  processions on Ram Navmi.
 

As reported elsewhere lot of planning had gone in to make these religious sounding processions more effective.

– Distribution of swords, CDs and pen drives – containing Islamophobic songs – were already completed so that they could be played on loud speakers during the Rama Navami processions

–  Sample one of these provocative ‘songs’which was already distributed and was to be played on loud speakers during the procession.

What was worth underlining that all these songs were uploaded on YouTube more than a year ago and had already fetched millions of views.
 

The author further adds that highly-placed officials in the state had told him that around 2 lakh sharp-edged weapons were consigned to the affected districts from outside the state. Sword sellers in Sonepur fair had run out of stock just two days after the fair was inaugurated, which could mean that preparations for the violence have been going on for a long time. If sources are to be believed, these were imported from outside and distributed across the districts for free. One businessman from Patna had alone placed an order for 50,000 swords from a supplier in Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh. 24
 

Few commonalities in all such processions could be easily deciphered :

Much like Bihar, West Bengal also witnessed flare up of communal tension in different districts in the aftermath of these ‘religious processions.’ Armed processions which were carried out in different parts of the state on the occasion resulted in communal tension in Purulia district, Raniganj, Burdwan district leading to few deaths. 24-Parganas district and Murshidbad district also witnessed communal tension where rioters carrying saffron flags and arms not only vandalised property on a large scale but also tore down freedom fighter and former education minister Maulana Abdul Kalam’s statue.
 

If Trishul Deeksha was used as a ‘religious symbol’ in the early part of 21 st century, with growing strength at the political and social level, this symbol has been replaced with armed ‘religious processions’ by the same Hindutva right. Of course, nobody can miss the difference in the two. It is worth emphasising that the civil society groups in Rajasthan did not limit themselves in ’explaining’ the heightened communal mobilisation because of Trishul distribution but with organisations liked PUCL leading from the front even pressurised the then Gehlot government – thru petitions and public protests – not only to bring the VHP Trishul under the purview of the Arms Act but also prosecute VHP leaders like Togadia who had been making communal hate speeches in the Trishul distribution ceremonies and otherwise.
 

While ‘Trishul Deekshas’ in different parts of the country had prompted a strong secular response – which ultimately led to inclusion of trident distribution under arms act – and the arrest of Praveen Togadia, the then leading light of the Hindutva brigade,  we are yet to see any comparable response to this orchestred and planned attempts at communal polarisation via religious processions.
 

It is now history how slowly this campaign to distribute Trishul also lost steam n with exit of BJP from the centre not much was heard about it. Is not it time today to rally our voices so that the ongoing turmoil vis-a-vis armed religious procession could be controlled/reined in and all such forces of equality. progress and justice are  strengthened.

 

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