It is true that the degree of intensity of the policies of these two, Hindu Nationalism and Taliban, are very different but if one digs deep into the issue one can see the basic similarities in these types of politics. The Taliban policies towards women, the attitude of many Gulf countries and Iran are similar but not exactly the same. No two countries express their policies on ditto lines. Still one can discern the similarities at the level of principles. This phenomenon, fundamentalism in these countries has come up mainly from the decade of 1980s, with Ayatollah Khomeini coming to power in Iran; he changed the social landscape drastically. While at superficial level fundamentalism means going to the fundamentals, it is not just that. Fundamentalism is an imposition of selected parts of religious traditions on the society through state power. Many times this is done even not by the government which is ruling; but by dominant political tendencies.

These impositions are most conservative, backward looking and oppressive not only to women but also to the other weaker sections of society. Fundamentalism always strengthens itself by creating an internal or external enemy. In most of the Gulf countries it is women which are the main target. At places “Satan” (devil) America is so presented as the main. To this enemy all the ills of society are attributed to. In that way the Fascism which developed in Germany in particular shares this trait with fundamentalism, where Jews were labeled as cause of Germany’s ills and were targeted to the extent of Genocide, to strengthen the power of the leader, who was supreme in the state.

The traits of fundamentalism and fascism are also seeing some overlap. In Germany, women were dictated to be the beings whose role is in ‘Kitchen, Church and Children’. Depending on different countries these roles are patterned on similar lines, even in fundamentalism.

Hindu Nationalists’ most overt attack is on the Muslims (and lately Christians also). We have witnessed horrific communal violence increasing in quality and quantity over the last few decades. Beginning from the ghastly tragedy of demolishing a Mosque in Ayodhya and the consequent violence now questioning the existence of mosque is proliferating like a malignant cancer. In addition there is cow-beef lynching becoming the order of the day. Cow vigilantes are proliferating dime a dozen. The word Jihad to target the Muslim minorities has picked up and starting from love jihad, corona jihad to now land jihad has been added to the ever proliferating list!

No doubt compared to the targeting of Muslims the other implications of this fundamentalism get dwarfed in India, though they are very much similar. As far as women are concerned the Sati system has been prohibited, the last one being that of Roopkawar in the 1980s. In the Bhavari Devi case the upper caste rapist were released with the honorable Court opining that how can the upper caste accused be raping a low caste women! That’s the reflection of prevalence of caste system.

If we analyze the attitude of Hindu nationalist policies, the very notion of love jihad is very much anti women. This gives the handle to the male members of the family, to keep a watch on ‘their’ girls. The Same tendency which has been opposing the love jihad is opposed to the wearing of jeans by girls. The attitude regarding violence is best reflected in the Bilkis Bano case, where those found guilty of rape and murder were honored once they got relapsed. Mercifully they are back in jail to serve the sentence. A woman professor from Goa who wrote that Mangal Sutra is like a chain for women was hounded badly. To cap it all at theoretical level Manu Smiriti is eulogized as the ideal to be followed.

Calling all this as Hindu religiosity as she calls the present offensive of Hindu nationalists is very much off the mark. She herself cites the example of three Muslims being beaten with slippers to shout Jai Shree Ram. Here labeling all this in the category of religiosity hides the commonality of all this as having its similarity with fundamentalism. Calling Muslim fundamentalism as jihadi Islam falls too short and away from the commonalities, which is prevailing in many countries. It prevails in Egypt and many other countries as Muslim Brotherhood. Then there is the Ayatollah regime in Iran.

Hindu religiosity is practiced by millions of Hindus, who have been living with people of other religions for centuries, making India a really plural, diverse country. What began as an ideology articulated by Savarkar and Golwalkar is the base on which the present actions and policies of Hindu nationalism stand. These were totally opposed to Indian Nationalism which emerged as the part of anti colonial struggle. The greatest Hindu of the twentieth century, Mahatma Gandhi had to take three bullets on his chest for standing as a Hindu standing for plural India.

Singh is right in detesting this ‘religiosity’ but she needs to delve deep to understand this is the same pattern which ‘Jihadi Islam’ and Islamic Fundamentalists followed. Here politics derives its legitimacy from religion and mauls the society under the clothing of religion. And that is precisely what is going on in India today, be it the claim over most of the mosques, or use of bulldozers or to beat the Muslim Children in the class a la Tripta Tyagi of locking the child in the store for bringing non vegetarian food in the school, or beating the girls coming out from a pub in Mangalore!

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia

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After the consecration ceremony, a bit later a Muslim graveyard was dug in Bihar, A Muslim was paraded naked in a town in South India and a saffron flag was hoisted on the Church. In Mira Road near Mumbai, a Ram Mandir Pran Pratishta procession was involved in an imbroglio in which a tempo driven by a Muslim and some Muslim shops were attacked. As the Prime Minister acted as high priest of Hinduism on one hand there were massive displays of religiosity, people assembled to celebrate, on the other there was a scare among Muslim community.

With this Lord Ram assumed a new symbol as the one intimidating religious minorities in India. The Lord, whose story was first written by poet sage Valmiki, had the distinction of Maryada Purushottam (Man with dignity), who renounced his throne so that his father Dashrath could keep his promise given to his wife Kaikeyi. Many versions of Lord Ram Story are prevalent in South Asia. A.K.Ramanujan’s essay, 300 Ramayans… is a classic piece telling us the diversities in various versions. In the Jataka (Buddhist) version Ram and Sita are also brother and sister, apart from being husband and wife. The reason for this was to keep the purity of the clan. In the Jain version Lord is a believer of non-violence and propagator of Jain values. Popular and prevalent “Women’s Ramayana Songs” of Telugu Brahmin Women, put together by Rangnayakamma, present Sita as finally victorious over Ram and in these, Surpanakha succeeds in taking revenge over Ram. In Thai Ramkirti, or Ramkin (Ram’s story), there is a twist in the tale and Shurpanakh’s daughter decides to take revenge attributing her mother’s mutilation primarily because of Sita. Here the focus is on Hanuman, who in this telling is neither devout nor celibate but quite a ladies’ man.

In India Ram story was popularized by Goswami Tulsidas, as he wrote it in Awadhi, lokbhasha, (people’s language) away from the Sanskrit, Devbhasha, (language of Gods) in 16th Century. After this Lord Ram became more popular and many Ram temples sprung up in North India. Interestingly Tulsidas, a devout Ram Bhakta, living in Ayodhya in 16th Century, does not mention any demolition of Ram Temple by Babur. Also, when he is threatened by Brahmins for writing Ramcharimans in Lokbhasha (Awadhi) he merrily says that he can very well live in a Mosque. (from Kavitavali, his autobiography).

The bhakti poets presented Ram as an embodiment of Universal spirit, a formless God. For Kabir the foremost among them, Ram is evoked in the nirgun (formless) sense, which he uses to denote both Brahman (God), supreme consciousness, and its individual expression as atman (Soul). As per him Ram is the spark of consciousness within each of us. Gandhi considered Ram to be the ultimate source of morality and spirituality. His powerful concept of the Lord was inclusive and saw Ishwar (Hindu God) and Allah (Muslim God) being the same. This unique interpretation of Lord Ram by Gandhi was the underlying factor for laying the basis of fraternity in the Indian context. This also laid the foundation of his unique respect for people of all religions. This was part of the moral and ethical ground which united India.

Gandhi clarified his concept of Ram in an article in Harijan, 1946. He says “My Ram, the Ram of our prayers is not the historical Rama, the son of Dasharath, the King of Ayodhya. He is the eternal, the unborn, the one without a second.” The values of Gandhi symbolized India’s ‘making into a nation’, symbolized the anti-colonial struggle and emergence of the values which are the foundation of Indian Constitution. These are totally in contrast to what is being asserted by RSS-BJP as embodied in BJP-Modi’s politics. Ram Temple was not in the scheme of things of RSS till 1980s. When the communal forces started getting steam, the issue of Ram Temple was taken up.

The seeds of doubts about Ram temple having been destroyed by Babur were sown by the British. Mrs. A.F. Beeveridge, while translating Baburnama added a footnote that probably there was a temple underneath the mosque. Serious scholarship shows that her writing was in tune with the British policy of ‘Divide and Rule’. Mrs. Beveridge produces no historical evidence to support her assertion that the mosque was built at the site of a temple. Indeed the general tenor of Babur’s state policy towards places of worship of other religions hardly justifies Mrs. Beveridge’s inference. In Babar’s reign there was a strong growth of syncretic traditions, while he got the Jain temples of Gwalior demolished on the grounds of nude idols being there. Babar’s will to Humanyun advises him to respect other religions especially, Hinduism, as his subjects are Hindus. Babur himself was no bigot and he gives a good account of his respect for other religions in his Baburnama. The Supreme Courts also did not support this thesis that there was a Ram Temple underneath.

As the agenda of RSS-BJP is to oppose the march towards social justice, it found it a very useful instrument to whip up popular hysteria around Ram Temple once the Mandal Commission was implemented. Kabir and Gandhi’s Ram has been transformed and politics of polarization around the issue is peaking in the current scenario. With coming to power through this polarization process now RSS-BJP are putting their full energy into promoting their image of the Lord into today’s political scenario. The occasion of consecration of the Lord’s idol was heavily promoted all around in different institutions and social spaces. This is accompanied by the intimidation and political marginalization of the religious minorities.

Can we retrieve the spirit of Lord Ram as envisaged by the likes of Kabir and Gandhi, can we promote the moral, ethical and spiritual aspects of the religion rather than the ritualistic aspects being promoted in the current scenario? 

Views and opinions expressed in this article is solely that of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views or position of SabrangIndia and this site.

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Thanks have increased under a right wing Hindu nationalist regime led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Mainly focussed on the murders of at least four prominent rationalists and free thinkers who were assassinated by the extremists for challenging bigotry and superstition, Reason goes into the root cause of the emergence of Hindu Right. The perpetrators of these crimes enjoy the political patronage of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) that is trying to turn India into Hindu theocracy and continues to shield those involved in terrorist attacks directed at Muslims. It takes into account the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Hindu fanatics in 1948. Even though his killers owed allegiance to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a Hindu supremacist group of which BJP is a part, Modi shamelessly tries to appropriate Gandhi because of his worldwide acceptance as a pacifist leader. Modi himself is a member of the RSS. Reason goes into these complexities and contradictions to educate people about the motives of BJP.

Not surprisingly, there were attempts to stop the public screening of the film in India. So much so, some Hindu leaders openly called for physical violence against Patwardhan during a press conference right in his presence. The footage of this incident was part of the film.

Patwardhan has made similar documentaries in the past, including In Memory of Friends which was based on the murders of Communist revolutionaries who were systematically killed by the Sikh fundamentalists in Punjab during 1980s. Ironically, the Sikh militants were liquidated through extra judicial means to restore peace in Punjab, whereas Hindu extremists enjoy the backing of the Indian state. 

Talking to the Straight, Patwardhan said that he is really concerned how the current government is patronizing violence and terror even as the space for secularism and scientific temperament mandated by the Indian constitution continues to shrink. He pointed out that the problem isn’t just confined to India as far right movements are on the rise all over the world, including US. It is pertinent to mention that Spice Radio had sponsored the VIFF screening of Reason. It’s CEO Shushma Datt had started a campaign against racism in 2015. #HandsAgainstRacism as it is widely known is part of social justice movement Patwardhan cares for. He told this writer that there is a need to make broader alliance against fascism under these difficult circumstances. 

In the meantime, the members of Indiansn Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) – a group based in Greater Vancouver that was formed in response to the growing violence against minorities and efforts of turning India into Hindu theocracy ever since Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014, presented Patwardhan with Radical Desi medal of courage before the screening of Reason at Vancity theatre on Monday, October 7.

Radical Desi is an online magazine that covers alternative politics and has been raising these issues in the Indian Diaspora in partnership with IAPI. Patwardhan was presented with the medal by the IAPI President, Parshotam Dosanjh. Others present on behalf of IAPI at the event were Rakesh Kumar, Tejinder Sharma and myself. 
 

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Now, Shrikant Sharma, a Minister in the Yogi Cabinet in UP, has announced a scheme whereby those tending to stray cattle will be paid Rs 30 per day and the Government has budgeted Rs. 110 crores for the same. This has been necessitated as the stray cattle, particularly Cows, have increased tremendously in number due to the vicious atmosphere created by the Cow vigilantes. These cattle are attacking the fields of the farmers, causing a huge loss to the already sagging agrarian economy. Many an accidents are taking place due to the large number of stray cattle.

Another point, which most of us missed, was the one mentioned in the Election Manifesto of BJP (2019). It promised the formation of ‘National Cow Commission’ (Rashtriya Kamdehenu Aayog) with a budget of Rs 500 cores. This commission will plan to set up Kamdhenu Chairs in Universities, for the study of and increasing awareness about the virtues of the Cow. This commission has the task of setting up housing colonies around cowsheds and medical shops for Cow products, among others. While one needs to welcome the development of rural economy, where the cattle find more organized and scientific utilization, singling out the Cow for this honour is a purely political ploy.

One more fallout of Cow vigilantism has been the coming up of many groups involved in extortion from the cattle traders and transporters. Niranjan Takle, an investigative journalist, found out that the going rate for transporting trucks with Cows is Rs 15000 per truck and for buffaloes, it is Rs 6500 per truck. This is for half the part of the travel. He could find this out by posing as a cattle trader called Rafiq Qureshi.

This extortion is related to leather trade as he points out that after the slaughter the leather is to be given to the middle men. These vigilante groups also resort to intermittent violence to keep up the pressure, which keeps the regular extortion racket going.
 
The other interesting point is that, while on the one hand, India is inching towards the top of the table in lynching incidents, on the other hand, it is also emerging as the top exporter of beef. Contrary to the popular notion, the major people profiting from this trade are not Muslims but Hindus/Jains. Look at some of these companies which lead in beef export – Al Kabeer, Arabian Exports, MKR Frozen Food, Al Noor, etc. Their names give an impression that they are owned by Muslims. The fact is, most of them are owned by Hindus or Jains.
 
This Cow/beef issue has been brought up mainly for the agenda of polarization. There are claims that there have been no major riots during BJP rule. The fact is that, while no spectacular riots have been orchestrated, low intensity violence and lynching around the Cow/beef issue have been marshalled to achieve this purpose of polarization to a greater effect. We know that Cows were sacrificed during the Vedic period and beef was consumed. Apart from the scholarly works of Dr. Ambedkar (‘Who were the Shudras’) and Prof D. N Jha (‘Myth of Holy Cow’), Swami Vivekananda draws our attention to the same fact. He points out that Cow meat was consumed during the Vedic period. It was also the object of sacrifice in the Vedic rituals. While speaking to a large gathering in USA, he said: “You will be astonished if I tell you that, according to old ceremonials, he is not a good Hindu who does not eat beef. On certain occasions he must sacrifice a bull and eat it.” (Vivekananda, cited in Swami Vivekananda, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol 3 (Calcutta: Advaita Ashram, 1997), p. 536.)
 
While the currently prevalent Hindu nationalism draws mainly from the RSS stock, the other main Hindu nationalist stream has been that of the Hindu Mahasabha, to which Savarkar belonged. He is a great inspirational figure for the RSS combine, but had a different opinion on the Cow. He said that the Cow is the mother of bulls not of humans. Also, that it is a useful animal and should be treated as such. In Vigyan Nishta Nibandh (Pro Science Essays), he writes that Cows should be protected because they are useful to humans, not because they are divine. Among the two streams of Hindu nationalism, RSS and Hindu Mahasabha, RSS is the one ruling the roost, and is using Cow as an identity issue to divide the society.
 
Interestingly, the same BJP, which is creating such mayhem in the name of the Cow in large parts of North India, is quiet on this issue in Kerala, Goa and the North East. On the eve of Independence, Dr. Rajendra Prasad approached Mahatma with an appeal to get Cow slaughter banned. Gandhi’s reply is an ideal which should guide our plural society. “In India, no law can be made to ban cow slaughter. I do not doubt that Hindus are forbidden the slaughter of cows. I have long pledged to serve the cow, but how can my religion also be the religion of the rest of the Indians? It will mean coercion against those Indians who are not Hindus…. It is not as if there were only Hindus in the Indian Union. There are Muslims, Parsis, Christians, and other religious groups here. The assumption of the Hindus, that India has now become the land of the Hindus, is erroneous. India belongs to all who live here.”

So, while the country waits for welfare measures to raise the indices of our social life, the BJP rulers are more focused on allocating budget on Cow tending or promotionor pseudo research, which, in no way, serves the purpose of much needed social welfare.
 

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