The rise of Hindutva

The word ‘Hindutva’ was rudely thrust into the national discourse recently by politicians from the leading opposition party in India. An attempt was made to portray it as a negative and even violent force. There was an attempt to differentiate it from Hinduism which is the term used to refer to the spiritual belief and way of life of almost a billion people in the Indian subcontinent. For the common man in India, this nuanced attempt to differentiate between Hinduism and Hindutva was hard to grasp. A more current usage of Hindutva is as a synonym for political hinduism.

The strategy behind reigniting the debate on Hindutva appears to be an attempt to counter the well entrenched Prime minster Modi and to shore up the dwindling political fortunes of the opposition led by the Congress party. Prime Minister Modi is thought to enjoy overwhelming support from the Hindu community and it is hoped that dividing them as good and bad Hindus will somehow benefit the opposition. This might be an acceptable even if weak strategy, if Modi was the sole architect of Hindutva. It overlooks the fact that Hindutva has been part of the political lexicon for at least three decades. It has grown in strength with each decade and Modi is only the current flag bearer.

The rise of Hindutva has three major contributing factors acting in confluence – the ‘vote bank’ politics practiced by almost all political parties, the destructive effects of radical islam and the advent of social media like Twitter.

Vote Bank Politics

The first possible impact of Hindutva was felt in the mid 1970’s when Prime Minster Indira Gandhi used the Emergency to insert the word ‘secular’ in the Preamble of the Constitution of India . This was perhaps a response to what Prime Minister Indira Gandhi felt was the rising influence of the Right in the political arena. In a country where religion is intertwined with daily life and where religion influences government policies the mention of secular in the preamble was a farce. This would set the tone for electoral politics in India for decades to come.

This approach of allowing religion to interfere with politics was taken forward by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. His name will forever be tainted by the now infamous Shah Bano case. His government passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, which diluted the judgment of the Supreme Court and restricted the right of Muslim divorcees to alimony from their former husbands. This regressive law was done to appease the islamic leaders with the tacit understanding of electoral support to his party. This brazen caving in to pressure from radical elements from one particular religion caused a sense of discomfort in the larger society. This provided the first big impetus for the rise of Hindutva. The sentiments for a Ram temple, which ironically was also supported by Prime Minster Rajiv Gandhi himself, became the rallying point of the larger Hindu community. The call for a temple was as much about faith as it was about the demand for Hindu sentiments to be given the same weightage as the other religions.

Even as the Hindu Right began marking its presence with limited electoral victories it was treated as a pariah by the other political parties. Rather than acknowledging this growing sentiment, the political parties began using secularism to discredit the Right. They persisted with the old approach of ‘identity based politics’. This involved support to minority religions and caste based communities. This paid rich dividends to local and regional politicians. This success with identity based politics made the political parties double down and mangle secularism to mean overt support for minorities at the cost of the majority. The charade of secularism would include the visual spectacle of political leaders donning the costume of minorities and visiting their places of worship even as they avoided Hindu temples. A decade of identity politics in the 1990’s provided the second fillip for Hindutva. This rise of Hindutva led to the first (coalition) government led by a right leaning party.

The return of the Congress party to power at the turn of the century led to a continuation of identity based politics. This was again justified under the banner of secularism. Prime Minster Manmohan Singh went on to state that minorities have the first right over India’s resources even as the Congress leadership met chosen religious leaders from the minorities to garner support for a ‘secular’ government. It was almost as if the the ‘majority’ didn’t matter. This government also proposed the Communal violence Bill which among its many draconian provisions sought to make the majority community responsible for violence. It felt like the rulers were not representing the people but subjugating them. This and many other skewed policies against the Hindus provided more power to rise of Hindutva. This surge led to the the first Right wing Hindu majority government in India since 1947.

Rise of Islamic Terror

Terrorism has been showing a steady rise in India since 1980’s. This was initially sponsored by by Pakistan who armed terrorists and sent them into the border states. The scope of terror activities widened with bomb blasts in Mumbai in the early 90’s. A soft approach emboldened more such attacks including the audacious attack on the Parliament building in 2001. The right leaning government in power at that time threatened to goto war with Pakistan but developed cold feet. This further emboldened the terrorists and the decade from 2004-2014 saw regular terror attacks launched with impunity with the state seemingly unwilling to stop it. The government at that time which espoused secularism and had cultivated the minority community as a vote bank did not wish to acknowledge this menace and treated these attacks with kid gloves. This included the dastardly attack on Mumbai in 2008. There was massive public anger and open demand for retribution against Pakistan but the government did nothing.

Not only did the government do nothing about the 2008 terror attack but on the contrary elements within the government and ruling political party made a brazen attempt to pass this off as an internal hit job by the majority community. This included releasing books that peddled false stories about the Mumbai terror attacks. The overwhelming evidence gathered by the police thankfully nipped this vicious story in the bud.

This was followed by the framing of Hindu religious leaders as terror accused in a bomb blast. Top ministers in the government coined the term Saffron terror. Important leaders referred to Hindu terror as the biggest threat to the nation. The condoning of destructive terror attacks by certain religious communities while tarnishing the peaceful Hindu community was a hard pill to swallow. The Congress party gained a reputation for being an anti Hindu party, a tag that it may never be able to shake off. The perils of untrammelled Islamic terrorism in India with an attempt to brow beat the Hindus into submission by calling them terrorists provided added ballast to the rise of Hindutva.

Social Media

The advent of social media completely changed the rules of the information game. News and facts had no place to hide. Anyone could share views or report news without censorship or bias. This was true democratisation of news. The media houses that had a strangle hold on what the people were allowed to know felt defanged, even cheated. The old elite could no longer control the narrative. Hindutva which was much maligned in the mainstream media and whose point of view was suppressed was quick to sniff the opportunity to not only redeem itself but also call out the hypocrisy of the political parties, the media and the academia.

The Hindutva brigade on social media would go on to expose the religious bias in government policy while claiming to be secular. It would point out the bias in news reporting where elite and powerful were protected from criticism. It would point to the bias in reporting crime to protect one community while it exaggerated fault lines in another to aid identity politics. It would point out inaccuracies and omissions in history and the dubious role of academia. It did this day in and day out, for weeks, months and years. It would not only ramp up support for Hindutva but go on to build civilisational pride.

The most critical role played by social media was the virtual support it offered to the larger Hindu community. It erased the despair felt by the majority community at the raw deal meted out in the name of secularism. It helped in rapid consolidation of the Hindu voter in a way that countless political rallies could not have. Hindutva was steaming ahead on booster shots provided by social media.

Is there a Hindu Awakening ?

The steady rise in Hindutva over three decades has got people talking of a Hindu revival and Hindu awakening. They point to the back to back full majority electoral victories by a Right leaning party as evidence. They goto the extent of saying there is a Hindu reassertion after 1000 years of suppression – first by islamic invaders and later by christian colonisers.

It is true that currently there is a general awareness among the Hindus on existing imbalances in government policies and even laws. The demand to correct this is one of the signs of a Hindu awakening. This includes demand for parity in personal laws and management of educational institutions. There is a vocal demand for autonomy in management of places of worship which is denied only to Hindus and protection against religious conversions where Hindus are almost always the ones being converted. Academia and media which were dominated by the Left has enlarged to accommodate the views of the Right.

The signs of a Hindu awakening is also evident in the confidence with which the nation unanimously corrected the historical injustice of denying a Ram temple at Ayodhya. This was based on facts which were debated fearlessly and transparently. This was also accepted unanimously by the secular political parties. The latest sign was the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor where several hundred houses were acquired litigation free to renovate and expand the ancient temple. Kashi is the spiritual capital for Hindus. It has suffered several attacks by marauding invaders only to rise again. The rejuvenation of Kashi in 2021 is a historic and civilisational moment. It is widely believed this will be a catalyst for a true Hindu renaissance.

Head winds to Hindutva

The hubris of a Hindu awakening might make it easy to overlook the complex electoral reasons for the stupendous victories of the right leaning BJP in 2014 and 2019. A large factor in the victory is Prime Minister Modi himself. He has no doubt been propelled by the steadily rising wave of Hindutva but there is more to his victory. He attracts votes for his efficient governance, no nonsense attitude to policy implementation and friction free welfare delivery. This is as significant a factor as Hindutva in contributing to his electoral success. Any short falls in governance and economic welfare could result in electoral reverses and decelerate the rise of Hindutva.

The tidal wave of Hindutva may have ebbed and flowed over the last three decades but has shown an upward secular trend. It may rise further, it may not but it is unlikely to ever disappear. Political Hinduism is here to stay.

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Suggested Reading

1. https://www.firstpost.com/india/how-hindutva-is-the-hinduism-that-resists-10150231.html
2. https://www.firstpost.com/india/hindutva-is-the-assertion-of-hinduisms-political-identity-and-its-rise-is-an-inevitable-force-of-history-10197171.html
3. https://www.firstpost.com/india/opinion-varanasi-the-god-shiva-and-indias-prime-minister-narendra-modi-10242001.html