SUPREMACY OF HINDUTVA – “INDIA SHOULD BE UNMASKED”

India, claiming to be largest democracy and a secular country has become a hell for religious minorities as well as lower caste Hindus since Modi government came into power. Modi Administration has not only revived the concept of Hindutva to convert the country into a Hindu state but also started persecution of religious minorities especially of Muslims and Chiristians besides targeting lower caste Hindus – Dalits and Sikhs. A foundation of Hindu nationalism was laid by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923, when his seminal work Hindutva:

 Who is a Hindu?

 became the source of principles that shaped the ideology of Hindu nationalism. This was followed by the establishment of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1925, aimed at ensuring the unity Hindu community to form Hindu Rahstra (Hindu Nation). After independence, the RSS came up with its own political wing, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, but failed to mobilize the Hindu community to form Hindu Rashtra.

 However the RSS had a rebirth in 1980 when the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) was launched as its political face. Since then, it has successfully socialized its narrative within the Indian society, aimed at marginalization of minorities. Babri Mosque incident of 1992 and anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002 reflect the gradual internalization of extremist narrative propagated by the RSS and the BJP.

Narendar Modi, a staunch advocate of the establishment of Hindutva as the dominant ideology in secular India, assumed power as the prime minister in 2014.

 Under Modi administration, according to India’s home ministry, in 2015 India experienced a 17% increase in communal violence. Mob-killing became the order of the day – of 63 attacks reported since 2010, 61 took place under Modi’s government. Hinduisation of India has damaged the professed secular fabric of society, resulting in inequality, political and administrative discrimination, patriarchal control, threats to physical security of minorities and consolidation of exclusionary practices. The ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and its partner organizations of the Hindu rights have started a concered campaign agaist all religious minorities, especially against Muslims and Christians. Besides Muslims who are target of religious persecution in the hands of Hindu extremists / terrorists since long, Christians have continuously been facing severe violence under Modi’s administration, most ofte in rural villages and states lacking police protection. In June this year, five women working for Christian missionary group were abducted and gang-raped in the Khunti district of Jharkhand state whereas a pastor, 58-year-old Dependra Prakash Maleywar in Uttar Pradesh state of India has been arrested by police for his ‘alleged’ involvement in ‘illegally’ converting 16 members of three Hindu families into Christianity on June 18.

It is worth mentioning here that RSS activists pasted posters at various railway stations in India early 2017 in which Hindu extremist leaders had vowed to get rid the country of Christians and Muslims by 2021. The leader of Dharam Jagran Samiti—a group focusing on activism against religious conversion and working for the reconversion of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism—made international headlines in December 2014 in a public address in the Indian city of Agra (home to the Taj Mahal). The group’s leader, Rajeshwar Singh, declared, “Our target is to make India a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation) by 2021. The Muslims and Christians don’t have any right to stay here. So they would either be converted to Hinduism or forced to run away from here.”

 India has become the most vulnerable country for minorities where minority women’s rape and molestation have become routine matter even foreigners visiting Indian on holidays are no exception. The US State Department’s most recent International Religious Freedom report for India reveals that Christians have faced “an increase of harassment and violence, including physical violence, arson, desecration of churches and Bibles, and disruption of religious services. “Moreover, “local police seldom provided protection, refused to accept complaints, and rarely investigated incidents” of persecution.

          Besides the religious persecution, social discrimination is a major problem in India especially higher caste Hindus who are at the helm of affairs consider lower caste Hindus – Dalit people as ‘untouchable’.

 It is claimed that there are 260 million Dalit people around the world out of which 200 million live in India. Dalit people are at the botton of Hindu hierarchical caste system.

 Although, India law prohibits discrimination and violence against Dalit people, in rality atrocities are a daily occurrence. As per crude statistics, in every week, 13 Dalits are murdered, 5 Dalit homes are burnt, 6 Dalits are kidnapped or abducted, and 21 Dalit women are raped.

 It is also estimated that a crime is committed against a Dalit person in every 18 minutes. Taking cognizance of the growing intolerance and plight of minorities in India on June 7, 2016, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the US Congress examined the state of human rights in India. The report disclosed, “Despite Costitutional provisions…abolishing the legal existence of untouchable or Dalit castes, the caste system remains deply ingraind within Indian society, leading to ongoing discrimination.

 Dalit communities, which make up a quarter of India’s population, are disproportionately at risk of suffering from major human rights concern in India. “Due to its policy of persecution of religious as well as social minorities to establish Hindutva, various separatists’ movements in different parts of India are posing a serious threat to Indian federation as Indian security forces have badly failed in suppressing these movements through brutal tactics. In this respect, Naxalites or Maoists is second major freedom movement after that of the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

 Maoists inhabit an area known as the ‘Red Corridor’ that stretches from West Bengal to Karnataka state in the southwest. India fromer Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called Maoists insurrection, “the single biggest internal-security challenge”, whereas, Home Secretary G.K Pillai reiterated the magnitude of this threat, saying that the Maoists want to completely overthrow the Indian state by 2050.

 Tamil Nadu is another area where separatist movements are haunting federation of India. However in many regions of India, separatist movements or wars of liberation continue unabated. In this regard, the seven states of Northeastern India, which are called the ‘Seven Sisters’ are ethnically and linguistically different from rest of the country.

 These states are rocked by a large number of armed and violent rebellions, some fighting for autonomy and others demanding complete independence, while keeping the entire region in a state of turmoil. These states include Assam, Arunchal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, These states accuse New Delhi of apathy towards their issues. Illiteracy, poverty and lack of economic opportunities have fueled the natives’ demand for autonomy and indepences. Since the secessionist movements started in these states, Indian security forces, Indian security forces have used various brutal tactics which borught about untold miseries on the people. In one way or the other, these atrocities still continue in these areas of North East India. Undoubtedly, these states have witnessed various froms of India’s state terrorism like crackdowns, illegal detentions, massacre, targeted killing, sieges, burning the houses, torture, disappearances, breaking the legs, molestation / rapes of women and killing of persons though fake encounters.

Indian mindset of Hindutva is not restricted to India but it also aspires to influence peripheral countries on the concept of Akhand Bharat. India has a history of meddling in the domestic affairs of its peripheral countries. With the goal to establish hegemony in south Asia and the Indian Ocean Region, India has adopted an Indo-centric strategy.

Therefore, from the beginning in 1950s and 1960s, India indulged in conflicts with China (1962 war), Pakistan (three wars), Nepal (India interfered in the internal affairs of the royal family) and Sri Lanka (India suppoted the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam – LTTE in the Sri Lankan civil war). The aims of pursuing such policies of interference are meant to destabilize the neighboring states and influence their foreign policy. Although India has not been successful yet her increasing hostility with the peripheral countries will disturb the regional peace. It is mentioned that on one hand India has not only promoted but also supported the sub-nationalism, secessionist movements, and insurgencies in other countries.

 On the other hand she has been facing many insurgencies and independent movements in various parts of India which is tantamount to undermine the reginal peace and stability. India has always tried to control Bangladesh and the current government of Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, is closely aligned with India. The death sentences awarded to senior Jamate-Islami members in Bangladesh were the clear message that the pro-Pakistani sentiments will treated ruthlessly. This is the reflection of the Indian policies in Bangladesh. Similarly, India also tried to destabilize Sri Lanka, a relatively small country. India provided financial and material support to LTTE during civil war in Sri Lanka. This ethnic conflict lasted for nearly three decades leaving drastic consequences for the region and highlighted the Indian hostile policy towards its neighboring countries.

 It is the reflection of India’s long-standing policy of involvement in the neighboring states. The Indian military and foreign policy towards the regional states is too interventionist and the India’s paramount concern is to create disturbances in the region for establishing its regional hegemony. India’s hegemonic programme and its aspirations to create threat perceptions for the smaller neighboring states has become an issue of security concern for them.

 India has always aspired to be the police man of the region but Pakistan has become a main obstacle in the Indian way for controlling the affairs of the South Asian region. Keeping the Pakistan’s military and nuclear might in mind Indian intelligence agency RAW started operations through proxies in Pakistan.

    India’s continuous interference in Paksitan’s affairs can be traced back to the times of independence from the Brithish rule. India and paksitan have fought three major wars on the Kashmir issue. So India has been interfering in Pakistan’s domestic affairs for decades.

 In June 2015, the Indian Prime Minister Modi, during his visit to Bangladesh openly admitted that India was involved in the activities to destabilize Pakistan. He expressed his views that India had no regrets for assisting Mukti-Bahini Movement for creating Bangladesh.

Thus designs of present Indian government viz-a-viz Hindutva and influencing / interfering internal affairs of neighboring countries have exposed all its claims to be a democratic and secular country. Hindu extremism and terrorism in India have made the lives of religious as well as social minorities more miserable while its hegemonic designs to influence peripheral countires have endangered the regional peace.

 Despite all, India is trying to get status of a super power country by securing permanent membership of UN Security Council. At this juncture true face of India should be unmasked.

 International community must know that India is not only a most unsecure country for religious / social minorities but a security risk for neighboring countires as well.    

الكاتب : سمير حسين زعقوق

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