#hindunationalism

[hindusforhumanrights]

HfHR calls on Hanuman Temple of Greater Chicago to cancel event with Sadhvi Ritambhara

Hindus for Human Rights calls on the Chicago temple to drop Sadhvi Ritambhara over her history of anti-Muslim and anti-Christian rhetoric. Read Full Story

[srd772]

Event Analysis: Hate Crimes in India

SUMMARY

Hindu nationalism in India is not a new phenomenon. From Cherian George’s book, “Hate Spin: The Manufacture of Religious Offense and its Threat to Democracy,”, it began its comeback with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), formed in 1980. Beginning in 2014 and still to this day, Narendra Modi sits as the prime minister of India and provides a face for the Hindu-nationalist discourse. Like any nationalist organization, there are the oppressor and the oppressed, who, in this case, consist mainly of Muslim people in India. On April 18, 2022, Hindu devotees gathered to march, celebrating the Hindu festival Hanuman Jayanti. Now, there was a previous agreement between the Hindu and Muslim residents in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri district to avoid the local mosque, but that was ignored. 

“A Hindu mob smashed beer bottles inside the mosque, put up saffron flags there, and chanted Jai Shri Ram [Hail Lord Ram],” said Tabreez Khan, 39, a witness. “A caretaker of the mosque started resisting them, leading to a brawl. It was only after they started to desecrate the mosque that Muslims got angry and clashes started and stones were thrown.” 

Even though the perpetrators were part of the Hindu-nationalist mob, the majority of those arrested were Muslim. Many bystanders and Muslim people involved note that it was not a religious rally, but an attack on the Muslim people. It was a hate crime.

SIGNIFICANCE 

“Fueled by Hindu nationalism, encouraged by authorities and carried out with impunity, oppression of Muslims has become so pervasive in India that experts said it is undermining the country’s standing as the world’s largest democracy and raising doubts about its future as a secular state.” Now, looking back in history, populists leaders have been associated “with dangerous manipulation by the leader and alarming irrationality on the part of the led” (Canovan, 1999, p. 6). The situation in India mirrors other nationalist regimes in places like the United States where Donald Trump and white nationalists are spreading hate and violence against oppressed groups in the country. 

It is important to note the significance of having higher power, one who rules the government and the majority of the media, continuously boosting the narrative. In a nutshell, the current state of Hindu nationalism in India, as it has developed over the past years, has led to an upsurge of the patriotic and democratic ideas that formed the cultural and ideological base for India’s original independence movement to separate from the British raj. 

LINK TO POPULISM AND THE MEDIA

Luca Manucci speaks to the relationship between populism and the media, which “considers the effects of populist messages diffused by the media as a threat to the quality of democracy” (Manucci, 2017, p. 467). In the case of India, where Modi has effectively made use of media and social media outlets to spread his discourse, there has been an increasing threat of losing secularism in the country. As a country that has been democratic since its independence in 1947, India seems to currently be headed away from its founding ideals. Like Manucci said, the media helps to spread the Hindu-nationalist ideas, as well as refrains from broadcasting any anti-nationalist discourse, as Modi and the BJP overlook the media censorship. In addition, this makes it increasingly more dangerous for journalists coming to India to research topics like nationalism, democracy, or secularism. Overall, India has seen diminishing freedom of religion and freedom of speech through increasing hate towards minority groups and the spread of journalism and news exposing that very hate.

[srd772]

Populist Profile Part 2: Narendra Modi

This is the second of a two-part profile series highlighting India’s two contrasting populist leaders. As mentioned, The two leaders have differed significantly in their political views as one resides in left-wing populism and the other in far-right-wing populism. With this divide in political views, they choose to target different groups as well as pursue different policies, ultimately having differing impacts on India’s overall democracy. 

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Narendra Modi, born September 17, 1950, is an Indian politician who rose up the ranks to become the senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In 2014, Modi led the BJP to victory in the Lok Sabha, which is the lower chamber of the Indian parliament. His political career also includes being chief minister, or head of government, of the Gujarat state in western India from 2001 until 2014. Modi is college-educated, having received a master's degree in political science from Gujarat University. In the early 1970s, Narendra Modi joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organization. His growing presence within the RSS was very helpful for his later years in the field of politics. In 1987, Modi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and played a major role in strengthening the party’s presence in the Indian states. His first electoral victory came in 2002 when he won a seat in the Gujarat state assembly, but his career in politics became controversial as “he was accused of condoning the violence or, at least, of doing little to stop the killing of more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, that ensued after dozens of Hindu passengers died when their train was set on fire in the city of Godhra” (D’Souza, Britannica). Despite the accusations, Modi proved to be an able administrator and received credit for the state’s growing economy, which led to his victory in 2014, becoming the next prime minister of India.   

RELATIONSHIP TO POPULISM 

The state of populism in India changed drastically as the current prime minister and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Narendra Modi, came into power in 2014. With his victory came the spread of Hindu nationalism across India. Modi’s campaign portrayed populist, majoritarian views as he pushed an “us vs “them” narrative, but differed from Indira Gandhi in the sense that instead of “the poor vs the corrupt elite” it was “Hindus vs Muslims and other minority groups”. He was able to gain traction nation-wide as he stormed into power with large amounts of anger towards corruption and weak growth and felt strongly about bringing more development to India. “In the case of some right-wing populists, these demands are laced with bigotry or challenge democratic norms. In other cases, they are clouded with misinformation” (Judis, 2016, pg. 3). Modi’s discourse appealed to all people, but, as Judis noted, had the underlying connotation that was pro-Hindu. Additionally, he portrayed extensive amounts of emotion in his narrative that boosted the favor and attention of the people. “The explosions of passions that accompanies populism is not the pathological outside of democratic politics but its repressed symptoms” (Jutel, 2018, pg. 251). When Narendra Modi first took power, he had some opposition from Parliament, but once members of the BJP gained enough seats in Parliament, the opposition was silenced. Due to Modi and the BJP having the majority, and essentially final, say, it has become an increasing threat to liberal democracy. Modi’s rise to power has proven to have significantly affected civil rights and civil liberties, including the freedom and religion of minority groups in India.

RELATIONSHIP TO MEDIA

India has nearly 24 official languages, so news platforms must operate in many languages. Current mass media in India consists of television, radio, newspaper, magazines, and the internet. The most popular media source is the Times of India (TOI), which is a privately owned daily newspaper that is a known and trusted outlet for most Indian people. Overall, the BJP and Narendra Modi have greater control of the media. In a study done by Freedom House (a US-based NGO), they deemed India “partly free” from government-controlled media, meaning there is censorship from the government, but since there are privately owned media companies, there is room for freedom of speech. That being said, in 2020, India was named one of the world’s most dangerous countries to do journalism work. Modi has worked to purge all news surrounding “anti-nationalist” thoughts from the public stage to further push his Hindu-nationalist discourse. Additionally, he uses social media as an outlet, much like Donald Trump, to feed information to his followers. He uses Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to update with regular photos, videos, live streams of his events, and quick “tweet updates” multiple times a day. 

[therewasabrowncrow]

Meme reading of Gender and authoritarian populism by Priya Chacko

The paper talks about two policies: Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) & Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana- the way they’re promoted via the larger Hindu nationalist political project makes them not very different to fairness creams and their ads imo

“This politics of resentful aspiration underpins an empowerment agenda of marketized social policies targeted at turning poor and lower-middle class women into virtuous market citizens who embody neoliberal rationalities and Hindu nationalist social values.“

[therewasabrowncrow]

 Hard Laddoo Society topples its own. Laddoo on Laddoo action!

[therewasabrowncrow]

Dem presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard never gives a straightforward reply about the rise of Hindu nationalism nor condemns Modi government’s persecution of religious minorities. Yet she is on record showering praise on Modi and had arranged to do some PR gigs for his cabinet. (see sources below) 

She is a member of an active transnational Hindu Parishad and her cult, Science of Identity Foundation- is a Hare Krishna offshoot. She understands what being a religious minority means- she is one in the US. 

This has not stopped her from spewing alt right Islamophobic talking points and signing a Bill which proposed additional restrictions on refugees from Syria and Iraq applying for entry to the United States, under the guise of “protecting the American people”.  She was slated to be part of the World Hindu Congress and only  turned down the invite after a major campaign by many progressive South Asian groups against this fascist meetup.  

She is selective about her social justice and the bias is showing. 

Sources of her quotes: 

Intercept 

Indian Express

World Religion News

The Hill

[speakinblog-blog]

RSS : A religious organisation or a religion in itself?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dfefw5aIKI&t=44s

What does RSS stand for?

Hear straight from the author of a legendary book ‘Know about RSS’ by Arun Anand.

About Arun Anand

Arun Anand is counted amongst India's best known commentators on political affairs. Anand plays a leading role in articulating Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s view to audiences around the world through a lively and informal speaking style and is the author of the legendary book "Know About RSS". Able to explain complex issues in an engaging way, he is at home with audiences of all sizes and levels of seniority. He is a professional media consultant, journalist, writer and translator with more than 20 years of experience in editorial functions in print, web and television. He has worked in both English and Hindi language media and has translated four books from English to Hindi including US President Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope." He has authored a non-fiction book titled “Indian Nobel laureates" and another English novel "Love in Metro".  He devotes his time in the development sector in India and as a consultant in the field of media advocacy and documentation. Read the full article

[themkpofficial]

भारतीय स्वंतंत्रता के जनक महान क्रन्तिकारी और देश के असली #राष्ट्रपिता हुतात्मा वीर सावरकर जी को उनके जन्मदिन पर शत शत नमन वंदन अभिनंदन प्रणाम !! #VinayakDamodarSavarkar #Hindutva, #HinduNationalism #mipLife #mipLife2018 #mipLifeGroup #manojphulwaria #themkpofficial