India is polarised on communal lines by political parties and those with vested interests, who further their campaigns of intolerance and hate by sowing the seeds of disparity
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From the day Narendra Modi entered the premier temple of India’s democracy and got ensconced on the throne, the aspiration of economic development and good governance ran high. There were also genuine fears expressed of intolerance to dissent and diversity and planned attacks on the idea of India’s unity in diversity knowing the roots and track record of the man and the political party. In a period of less than two years, the hopes were turned into a bundle of lies. The fears became the ground realities of the day with the government not initiating any stern steps to tackle the fanaticism of the fringe elements holding the cudgels for the majority community. The double talk of the ministers and the prejudiced outbursts of the BJP legislators have further strengthened the suspicious clouds of intolerance.
The graph of nationwide social intolerance and physical violence against free thinkers and secular-minded sections belonging to majority community has never shown such a consistent and sharp rise as in the last two years. The secular reformist sections forming part of the religious and cultural minorities have to bear the brunt of the fundamentalist and regressive elements in their community. Like bees feasting on the honeycomb, the minorities generally restrict their vision and world of ideas for fear of losing identity and will sting anyone attempting to clean their stables. Such virus little heard in the Hindu majority, today stands germinated as hate farmers under the guise of patriotism, cultural nationalism, spiritualism, yoga and resurrecting what is perceived as India’s glorious past and Hindu pride are planting the bug to harvest the output of narrow-minded Hindus prepared to dance to the music of communal forces. As such elements taste success, the Hindu majority loses the broad universal scientific outlook and freedom of choice and expression.
The value of tolerance, honoring dissent and respect to diversity is never available on a platter. There is a deliberate need to work in an organized way. It is the organized effort of communal organizations working as custodians of religion, culture, morals and nationalism that has bolstered intolerance. With political patronage, these villains who were functioning under closed doors are now out in the open as heroes and nationalists. Intolerance and communal hatred may pay political dividends in the immediate future but the social and economic costs would be damaging in the medium and long-term. Earlier, they would hide their ugly parochial faces. Now they forcefully argue and justify themselves on national television providing food for the media at prime time.
Under Narendra Modi’s rule the business environment is shining for the hate industry with mythology, blind faith, astrology and unscientific medicine emerging as the sunshine areas. Every social issue, be it rape or food style; dress style or reservations is milked as a political opportunity to divide society on communal lines. Even the untimely demise of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam is grabbed as prospect to dig the skeletons of Emperor Aurangzeb as well as to impair the legacy of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
It would not be wrong to hold that India is tolerant and rich in diversity largely because these are ideals espoused and fostered by the majority community. Today, the communal elements have successfully crawled to erode this civilized and cultured mind-set preaching that the ills of India are because of tolerant and accepting majority. The fringe elements are redefining Hindu and Hinduism and moving steps further selling their concept of Hindu food, medicine, art, culture, music and history. This jingoistic take on Hinduism is wrapped as nationalism. The broad daylight murders of Dr Narendra Dabholkar, Comrade Pansare and Prof. Kalburgi for reformist writings and activism rejecting discriminatory practices, rituals and miracles is to sound the bell that violent and corrupted Hinduism has arrived. The killing of a Muslim on suspicion of eating beef, the Khap panchayat getting social recognition for the Kangaroo court justice, trivializing rape finding fault with the dress style, and ridiculing Hindus who do not toe the line as “pseudo-sicular” is a part of the hate activism.
The garbage of hate and intolerance has been always present in the Indian society. It is not a recent creation. It has got piled up over the years. The political climate today being congenial to the hate compost, we witness an inflation of intolerance. The communal forces are forcing their agenda coined as ‘Hindutva’ on the Hindu majority and on the political parties. The BJP finds political gains in adopting an aggressive ‘Hindutva’. Other outfits such as the Shiv Sena reading their losing ground to the BJP are forced to adopt an extremist agenda to reclaim political space. Other political parties known for holding secular ideals are realizing that they too need to practice soft ‘Hindutva’ to stay in the race. All this takes the Indian society in reverse gear.
Development which does not guarantee enriched quality of life and disrespects freedom of expression and choice with tacit silence and inaction of government takes society miles backward. As the religious agenda and regressive schedule of communal organizations gets the hidden patronage of political parties and the government, the slump backwards gains muscle.
Prabhakar Timble is an educationist and a political commentator
