By Altaf Hussain Wani
Chairman Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR)
In the last decade and a half, India as a nation has undergone a radical
change that on one hand has led to a complete transformation of the Indian
society while on the other it has drastically changed the dynamics of domestic
politics as well as the country’s foreign policy. The country, once hailed in
the outer-world for its ‘democratic and secular ethos’, has now completely
transformed into a brutal authoritarian state where there is no place for
religious minorities and religious dissent. The menace of religious extremism, discrimination,
jingoism, reckless violence and persecution of minorities that continue to plague the Indian society, today, is basically fuelled by the propagation of the toxic ideology called HINDUTVA.
Since
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took reins of power in
India in 2014, the country has witnessed a significant rise in the Hindu
Nationalism that seeks to establish Hindu supremacy through the establishment
of Hindu Rashtra (Hindu state) in line with Hindutva ideology, propounded
by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Savarkar, a diehard believer in Casteism, Racism and
Imperialism, perceived
Muslims and people who believed in other religions as people of another kind,
the ones who according to him don’t respect Hindu culture. This binary classification
of “we” and “they” is the core thought that lies behind the
Savarkar’s communal ideology – which became the basis for exclusion
of the Indian Muslims and Christians who despite living in the country since
ages are still treated as anti-Indian and anti-national.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founding leader M. D Golwalkar had shared a
similar viewpoint regarding the minority communities living in India.
Questioning their loyalty viz-a-viz the Indian state Golwalkar in his book (We
or Our Nationhood Defined) had practically excluded the Indian Muslims,
Christians and Communists from the state of India. Terming them as a pertinent
threat to Indian society the RSS co-founder believed that these communities
within the country pose a far greater threat to national security than the
aggressors from outside. It is basically this communal mindset and
right-wingers’ quest for a Hindu Daish that had provided the ideological ground
for Hindu Nationalism and Hindu ultras to flourish in the India society.
Rise
of Hindu Nationalism in India
Though the
rise of Hindu Nationalism in India dates back to 19th century
but it fell silent after the tragic assassination of M. K Gandhi at the hands
of Nathu Ram Godse - a die-hard RSS activist. However, with declining power of
the ‘so-called secular’ forces in the Indian, it emerged from years’ long
hibernation and re-surfaced on the horizon
in the mid 1980s and has risen powerfully to become the
mainstream ideology since Narender Modi-a life-long member of the RSS
and a committed Parchark (follower) of Hindutva who assumed the charge as the
first prime minister of India way back in 2014.
The
blind pursuit of Hindu nationalist ideology over the years has changed the
India’s political landscape and vocabulary so much and so that Savarkar, who was held by
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel3 directly responsible for the
murder of M K Gandhi, today shares national
eminence with leaders
of independence movement; In Modi’s India, the
killers of Gandhi are revered as national heroes and their garlanded portraits
lay hanging on walls in important buildings and offices of the BJP.
RSS’s
role in spreading the Hindutva ideology
The
philosophy advocated by Savarkar is deemed by Hindu nationalists as
sacrosanct. His concept of Hindutva, which later on became a major tenet of Hindu
nationalist ideology, is being pursued by the far-right groups in
India as a doctrine to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra. After his death in
1966, his communal legacy was religiously upheld by the
RSS, which laid the foundation of the modern-era Hindutva movement.
Founded on September 27, 1925, at Nagpur in India, the RSS with over seven million registered members is considered as the main flag bearer of Hindutva Ideology. It has
played a crucial role in shaping
the behavior of Hindu masses in line with the Savarkar and
Golwalkar’s ideology, despite the fact that the
organisation was banned four
times since its inception.
Although, there are a number of far-right-wing groups including Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP), Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bajrang Dal that ascribe themselves to Savarkar’s ideology. But the fact remains that the
RSS- a progenitor of a large body of organisations called
Sangh Parivar- is the most influential amongst all the groups that holds greater
sway in the BJP government’s policy making decisions.
The invisible nexus between
RSS and BJP
The
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is the political face of Hindu
fundamentalists in India, has enjoyed deep ideological association with
ultra-right-wing Hindu organization the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Though
both the organisations operate within their own established frameworks, their
relationship is that of the soul and the body. It is this invisible nexus
between the two and vastly spread network of communal forces across
India that had led to the powerful rise of Hinduism as the mainstream ideology in Indian society.
A cursory look into the
electoral history of India shows that the RSS has always been in the forefront
of every election. It has been overtly and covertly supporting the Hindutva
parties. In BJP’s electoral resurgence and ascendence to power the RSS had
played a big role in mobilizing the masses in support of its ideological
offshoot in 2014 and 2019. As a result, Modi was elected prime minister for the
second time.
RSS’s
influence on government
RSS’
influence on the BJP could be gauged by the fact that most of the ministers in the Modi cabinet had their political consciousness
shaped by the RSS and its affiliates.
Most chief
ministers, governors, and civil appointees, including the president of India
were recommended by the RSS.
Above
all three men holding the top portfolios in the government including the Prime
Minister, Home Minister, Defense Minister share a common background. The PM
Narendar Modi a committed RSS
Parcharak who had spent his formative years as a full-time volunteer
in the RSS still
idealizes Savarkar and glorifies the role of the Sangh Parivar. The Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has also been a staunch
member of the organisation. Defense Minister
Rajnath Singh, who was once an RSS official and went on to lead the BJP, is now
pushing for a nationwide ban on cow slaughter.
The RSS officials who are now holding key positions
in the government hold sway in the decision-making process. A commonly held
perception in India is that the BJP disposes what the RSS proposes.
Institutionalization of
Hindutva
So far as the
question of Institutionalization of Hindutva is concerned the credit for this
goes to Bharatiya Janata Party, which represents the political face of Hindu
fundamentalists in India. The regime heavily dominated by the far-right wingers
is solely responsible for the institutionalization of this toxic ideology and
bringing it to the centre of politics just to invoke religious
sentiments to suit its changing political interests.
Hindu nationalism and
territorial expansionism
The potential
impact of Hindu nationalism does not end at India’s borders. Many
Hindu nationalists including the BJP firmly believe that Nepal, Bhutan,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh as part and parcel of what they call as
Akhand-Baharat (Greater India). This extremist thinking that has virtually
wiped out the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence underlines the major contours
of the far right-wing groups’ aggressive and expansionists political designs in
the region and beyond.
Hindutva and its
devastating impacts on Kashmir
Unfortunately,
the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir has not been an exception to this
expansionist mindset and territorial expansionism being pursued by the BJP
government as an official policy.
Amid the
rising trend of Hindu nationalism, the BJP government remorselessly continued
to capitalizing on anti-Muslim sentiment to further its vicious agenda aimed at
subjugating the Kashmiri masses.
Historically,
Kashmir has always been on target list of the RSS; the special status enjoyed by the State
of Jammu and Kashmir under the article 370 of the Indian
constitution has been a greatest
eyesore for the RSS, VHP,
BJP and other Hindu-supremacist groups who believed in 'Ek desh, ek vidhan, ek
pradhan, ek nishan' (one nation, one constitution, one PM, one Flag).
It is
pertinent to recall here that under section 370 of the Indian constitution the
disputed territory was granted the right to have its own flag, a separate legislature
and its own constitution along
with a prime minister whose permission was mandatory for outsiders (non-state-subjects)
who wished to visit the
state.
Shyama Prasad
Mukherjee, the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, who also served as Cabinet
Minister between 1951 and 1952, has been one of the strongest opponents of
Section 370. He looked at it as a deterrent for cultural unification of the
country. In the early 50s the Jana Sangh along with Hindu Mahasabha and Jammu Praja
Parishad launched a massive campaign to get the provisions removed.
In 1953, Mukherjee during his visit to Kashmir was arrested on 11 May at Lakhanpur while
crossing the border into Kashmir illegally. Mukherjee wanted to go to
Jammu and Kashmir but, because of the prevailing permit system, he was not
given the permission. He observed a hunger strike to protest the law that
prohibited Indian citizens from entering the state without
permission and Iidentity cards. He
died as a detainee on 23 June 1953 under mysterious circumstances. Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee
is hailed by the Hindu ultras as a symbol of patriotism, who they believe had
sacrificed his life to make Kashmir “integral part of India”. On 5 August 2019, when the Government of India proposed a constitutional
Amendment to repeal Article 370, many Indian newspapers described the event as realization
of Syama Prasad Mukherjee's dream.
These groups, as said, have vehemently
opposed the idea of granting any special position to Jammu and Kashmir and
demanded full integration of the state in the Indian union. Even nominal
retention of the Article was not
acceptable to them. The BJP leadership not only opposed it publicly but also termed the
induction of Article 370 in Indian constitution as Nehru’s blunder as they
believed that the constitutional
provision was the main obstacle in the
complete merger of disputed territory into Indian Union. It is with this
intention and mindset that the BJP had incorporated
abrogation of the Article as part of
its party manifesto for the 2014 general elections.
Forced
integration of Kashmir
The Hindutva
mindset, which led to the tragic assassination of Gandhi in 1948, demolition of
Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in 1996 and bloody massacre of Muslims in Gujrat in
2002, has since long been main driving force behind the BJP’s long-cherished
dream of colonizing Kashmir.
It is this
toxic ideology that had led
to the forced integration of Kashmir on 5th august
2019- the darkest year in Kashmir’s history in which Kashmiris witnessed an ugly face of
India’s neo- colonialism and its consequences that have manifested on the
ground in many striking ways.
The year saw the loss of Kashmir’s
special status, dissolution of the state into two union territories
under the so-called Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, which is censored by
Kashmiris as a colonial act that has virtually robbed Kashmiris of their
distinctive identity.
Not taking into account the
constitutional, legal and above all the international aspects of Kashmir
dispute, the unilateral decision to strip the region of its
semi-autonomous status was implemented
and executed in a medieval fashion by the authoritarian regime led by Narendar
Modi. Before embarking on its colonial project, the Modi
government, in a brazen violation of the international
law, subjected the Jammu and Kashmir State and its entire population under
severe military lockdown. People were
virtually caged in their houses; Political leadership of all sorts was either arrested
or detained in their own homes, members
of civil society, intellectuals, lawyers, academicians even youth were taken into custody to ensure a
grave-yard silence in the region, all means
of communication were cut and a complete media shut-down was enforced to avoid the possible
backlash from Kashmiris.
All these
steps/actions were taken to pave a way for, the implementation of the RSS’s
nefarious agenda aimed at demolishing the distinctive identity of the people of
Jammu and Kashmir, forcing local population to drive out of the state, altering
the disputed status of the territory and facilitating Hindu influx in the
disputed state to;
a) Settle Hindu nationalists
and investors in the state
b) Increase the population of
Hindus to ensure demographic change in the region
c) Make Muslims dependent on
the Hindu businessmen
d) Relegate them to the status
of second citizens.
The change in
the status of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir marks yet another
manifestation of the BJP Government’s Hindutva ideology that seeks to forever change the political nature of the
Kashmir dispute through demographic changes, political manoeuvrings, administrative machinations, taking advantage of state resources and denying its people the right to
self-determination promised to them by the international community.
Systematic
Persecution of Kashmiris
What the
people of Kashmir have been facing since 5th August 2019 is
unprecedented;
The BJP and
RSS leaders’ wish of Hindu Rashtra has left no facet of life unaffected in
Kashmir. Caging people en-masse in their houses, arbitrary arrests and
imprisonment of political activists and leaders, ruthless suppression of
dissent, inhuman siege and information blockade, suspension of essential
fundamental freedoms, propagation of violence, incitement of religious hatred,
demographic rebranding of the disputed territory and marginalization of
dominant Muslim populace through redrawing of electoral maps are the obvious
manifestations of Hindutva Brigade’s colonial mentality that pose a serious existential
threat to Kashmiris.
Apart from this, communal violence, persecution of Kashmiris, bloodshed, killing of youth, political violence
and the policy of land grab- a hallmark of the Modi
led fascist government, points
to a systematic genocide that has been going on unabated in the region.
What has been going on in the besieged
valley since 5th of August? And how this Hindutva onslaught had affected the lives of common
Kashmiris? A biannual report produced by Association of
Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil
Society (JKCCS) takes the lid off the caldron of crimes the Indian state have
committed against the Kashmiris during this period of utmost chaos and
confusion.
The report while giving the harrowing
account of tragic incidents of state sponsored violence said that since 5th August
219 the people of the disputed territory have witnessed widespread death and destruction and abuse of human rights
violations at the hands of occupied authorities. Summarizing the situation, the report reveals that from January 1 to June 30 2020, at least 107 Cordon and Search Operations (CASOs)
and Cordon and Destroy Operations (CADO’s) were conducted in J&K which have
resulted in the killing of 143 resistance fighters. The report said that
during the CASOs and encounters, vandalism and destruction of
civilian properties was reported.
In the first six months of 2020, the
report said that the media continued to be at the receiving end of the
pressure, intimidation and harassment by the occupation authorities, with
several incidents of beating and thrashing of journalists. Besides physical
assaults, many Kashmiri journalists were also booked under stringent
charges and cases were filed against them under UAPA.
Regarding Indian government’s bid to
curb social media, it said that 55 instances of internet blockades were
recorded from January 1 to June 30 2020. Referring to digital rights group
Access Now, the report said that the internet blackout in Kashmir which started
in August 2019 was among the world's longest internet shutdowns implemented.
During these days of turmoil, the
report further pointed out that destruction of civilian properties by armed forces
personnel saw an uptick after the COVID-19 lockdown enforced by the Indian
government, rendering many families homeless and without shelter.
Referring to the black laws enforced in
the region it said that along with other punitive laws the draconian Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act (UAPA) was excessively used by the Indian state to curb
dissent and opposing views.
Social, cultural and religious onslaught against Kashmiris
The
ongoing social, cultural
and religious onslaught against Kashmiris is one of the terrific aspects of
the toxic Hindutva ideology.
The Modi led
fascist regime is hell bent on dismantling each and everything that symbolizes the Kashmir and Kashmiris’ distinctive identity, their history and culture.
For instance, Urdu is no longer
the sole official language of the region (J&K)
Since URDU is
considered as the language of Muslims in the subcontinent the Modi government
moved a special bill in the parliament to incorporate four other languages in
the list of official languages just to appease the Hindu nationalists. Thus,
bringing an end to Urdu’s 131-year reign as an official language of Kashmir.
The other four languages, which were included in the list are Hindi, Dogri,
English and Kashmiri.
Changing names of important buildings, roads and historical
sites
In a bid to
appease the right wingers, the BJP government has started a campaign to change
the names of important
buildings, roads and historical sites. For example
Public Health Engineering, Irrigation
and Flood Control Department has been renamed as Jal Shakti Department, Chenani-Nashri
Tunnel was renamed as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel, a Hindu Ideologue, Oriental Research Library (Hazratbal), the City
Centre Library (Karan Nagar) and the District Library Srinagar (Habba Kadal)
were amalgamated with the S.P.S. Library (Siri Partab Singh was an autocrati
Along with this
there is a long list of important places, which the BJP leadership has planned
to name after Sardar
Valabhai Patel and some other BJP, RSS founders.
Saffronisation
& reshaping the IoK’s religious landscape
The BJP
leaders’ next target in Kashmir is to rewrite Kashmir history to suit Hindutva
Ideology and government’s desire to replace the Perso-Arabic script of the Kashmiri
language with Devanagari is deemed as first step towards
The most
alarming aspect of this religious nationalism is SAFFRONISATION of Jammu and
Kashmir by the BJP that has been well
underway since 2014.
The BJP
government has chalked out a comprehensive plan to build over 50,000 temples in the Kashmir valley. The building of temples
in the valley at such a magnitude and identification of new sites for Hindu
pilgrims are seen in the context of the BJP’s expansionistic designs to change
the region’s Muslim identity. A huge chunk of money (Rs.84 crore) has already been
earmarked by the government for the purpose. The vicious plan is
bound to trigger communal
hatred in the region, leading to the
destruction of several mosques in the area under the connivance of Delhi.
According to
government sources only
438 temples have existed in the
Valley, out of which “only 208 were damaged over the
years”. Hence, the construction
of 50 thousand temples in the occupied-Valley makes no sense at all.
It seems a
well thought out plan to reshape
the religious landscape of the area. And any such exercise is
bound to trigger communal violence that would further vitiate the interfaith
harmony in the region.
In another direct assault on the Muslim
culture and way of living, the occupation authorities in Jammu and Kashmir under
the directives of the BJP government have recently decided to popularize liquor and
gambling in J&K and decided to open 200 such shops in different areas.
Out of these, 67 shops would be opened in the Valley.
Renaming
every landmark in Jammu and Kashmir, removing all signs of Islamic and Muslim
identity and changing language and culture is a deliberate attempt
to calibrate new ground realities in the
occupied Jammu and
Kashmir. It is a deliberate dangerous attempt to de-link/disassociate the Kashmiri masses
with their ethos, history and culture. And a deliberate attempt of
Indianization of the occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
It may be recalled here
that the blatant usurpation of Kashmiris’ fundamental rights by India and its
attempts to change their demography constitute a serious violation of
international law and the UN resolutions that strictly prohibit India from
changing the status of Jammu and Kashmir unilaterally.
Rising trends
of xenophobia and Islamophobia
The rise of Hindutva is
seen as a biggest existential threat to majority community (Muslims) in
the occupied Kashmir who have been reeling under the yoke of Indian
imperialism.
Since the
communal violence in India has increased to alarming levels during the BJP
rule. The rising trends of xenophobia and Islamophobia within the Indian
society had cast a dark shadow on Kashmir and the Kashmiris who continued to
suffer at home and beyond. Many Kashmiri students studying in colleges and
universities in different parts of India have been attacked, harassed and
humiliated by Hindu extremists who consider Kashmiris as terrorists. The
Kashmiri students were threatened by right-wing
groups and forced
to vacate and leave their studies half-way.
Moreover, the Kashmiri business men, traders, especially truck drivers and
labourers working in India had to face the wrath of the ever-growing
jingoism. An
18-year Kashmiri boy, Basit Khan’s
cold-blooded murder in Jaipuri last year (2020) was the chilling reminder of
the growing prejudice and hatred against the Kashmiris. Recently, a 24-year-old boy from Muradpur area of Rajouri who was lynched to death by Hindu goons while he was taking a buffalo to his home is yet another
example of growing anti-Muslim sentiment within the rank and file of Hindu
nationalists’ organizations.
The kind of
heinous attacks on Kashmiris in several states of India had brought into question the Government's ability to
prevent religious violence. It was widely reported that the law and enforcement
agencies did little to stop the violence
promptly, and at times even encouraged or assisted Hindus involved in the
riots. Despite substantial evidentiary material, no Hindus have been charged for the violence.
The
government’s reluctance to rein in the extremist forces speaks volumes about
its tacit endorsement of violent
strategies against Muslims. The BJP as said has pursued a series of policies promoting the Hindu chauvinist ideology,
which fosters the exclusion of the Muslims who have been
historically perceived as a threat to India sovereignty. Likewise, the same sentiment is being used by
the BJP to portray the Kashmiris as a threat to India’s territorial integrity.
Conclusion: The
assimilation of Kashmir, marginalization and annihilation of
Kashmir’s native population through settler colonialism and the BJP
government’s muscular approach to conquer Kashmiris are the dangerous
manifestations of Hindutva nationalism that seeks to forever change the political nature of the Kashmir
dispute has
been a serious existential threat to Kashmiris who continue to reel under the
yoke of Indian imperialism.
