Whose India Is This, Anyway? – Part I

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The theme “whose India is this?” keeps coming back to me again and again in numerous articles, news clips, heated discussions and light coffee conversations with my friends and foes alike. What follows is the gist of my understanding on this issue, so far.

In my discussions with other Indians, esp. Hindus, I have often been accused of “Nehruvian pseudo-secularism”and “putting Muslim interests above national interests.”For the former, I have to admit that I have a strong preference for Nehru’s thoughts and vision for free India. In my opinion, as far as understanding of communal politics is concerned, no other leader comes close to Nehru – not even Gandhi. For expressing his honest analysis, poor fellow was often vilified as pro-Muslim or anti-Hindu or even more nastily as in Sri K. N. Rao’s “Nehru Dynasty” in which the author goes to the extent of casting aspersions on Nehru’s paternity. However, in my opinion, if one honestly analyzes India’s communal politics, it will be evident that Nehru’s insights are not just true, but probably the only answer to save India from disaster. For the latter charge of putting Muslim interests above national interests, I have to say that I have tried to ponder on these issues as honestly as possible without giving undue weight to my self interests as a Muslim. However I am open to corrections and welcome all criticisms if the readers here find that I have been less than honest.

While communal politics of any hue is dangerous for India, in my view, majority communalism poses a much greater threat to India than usually recognized. Let me make it very clear that I am not trying here to soft-pedal the threat posed by minority extremist groups such as SIMI. (Though for clarity’s sake, I will exclude discussion on Kashmir, which I believe is much more than communal extremism. And also to some extent any border states where different dynamics may come into play.)

Groups like SIMI are and will continue to be a major nuisance and law and order problem to the state; however, I do not see them to be in a position to pose a serious threat to Indian nation due to a very specific reason. In order to mobilize mass support for a radical ideology, it is crucial for the ideologues to be able to offer an alternative vision that is concrete, tangible and achievable. Usually such alternate vision is either in the form of a separate nation or a promise where an existing nation is to be taken over for use by that radical ideology. Minority extremist groups operating in the heartland of India suffer from an irredeemable weakness on both the fronts. For the former, they are so widely dispersed without a decisive concentration in any geographical area that a separatist alternative fails to capture the imagination of their audience. People may still collude with them, however without being convinced by them, which in my opinion, makes all the difference. Even in the strongholds of SIMI, their supporter’s feelings keep oscillating from soft sympathy to downright suspicion.

That leaves such groups with the only alternative of offering a vision for the taking over of existing nation for use of their radical ideology. However, for this goal they are so outnumbered that their vision fails to carry conviction at the mass level. Even radical Muslims find it difficult to believe that one day they can turn India into an Islamic nation. Devoid of this crucial ingredient of an alternative vision that is simultaneously concrete, tangible and achievable, such minority extremist groups can never hope to be in a position to mobilize a mass support that is needed to pose any serious threat to Indian nation. These groups are doomed to operate, not unlike outlaws of Chambal, preying upon complaints, discontent and disillusionment of local population to further their agenda. They will continue to remain a policing problem but will rarely grow to the extent of needing a military solution. Just like any other criminal gang, they will have to be dealt sternly and effectively by the state.

Dangers posed by RSS/VHP brand of politics are, however in my opinion, in a different league altogether. They are in a position to offer an alternative vision in form of “Hindu Rashtra”, that is concrete, tangible and simultaneously achievable. Their alternative vision has all the crucial ingredients that are necessary to fire the imagination of masses and achieve the critical mass that has the potential to overturn India’s destiny. I sometimes find even well meaning people not fully appreciating dangers posed by RSS/VHP brand of politics. They believe that in essence these organizations are nationalistic in nature – slightly orthodox, slightly biased against minorities but overall not capable of inflicting any serious harm to India. They think that their anti-minority posturing is nothing more than a vote-grabbing tactic or may be even a necessity as a counter-balance to minority extremism in the country. What I intend to argue here that such ideologies can and often do, unleash forces that go much beyond their original agenda or the capacity of their parent organizations to control, even if they did not deliberately intend it. We have seen this in Italy and Germany in WW-II and in India in 1984, 1992 and 2002 that radical ideologies espoused by majority communalism have a much grater potential of snowballing into catastrophic proportions than initially visualized by anyone.

It is obvious to anyone that RSS/VHP brand of politics is disastrous to minorities of India, however, what about Hindus themselves? Hindus are an overwhelming majority in India. Wouldn’t India as a “Hindu Rashtra” be in the interests of Hindus and by implication, in the interest of majority of Indians? My considered conclusion on this issue is – no. In my opinion, India as a “Hindu Rashtra” will be as detrimental to interests of Hindus as to the minorities. I will be elaborating my argument on this in the second part of this article.

Tagged as: Communalism, hindus, India, minorities, muslim, secularism, vhp