Hindu nationalism is anti-poor and anti-Dalit,
research says by Santosh Digal
Bhubaneswar (AsiaNews) – Hindutva or
"Hindu nationalism in India is trying to
assimilate or eliminate minorities". Its
supporters "want only Hindus in India and
their attitude to minorities is either assimilate
or be
eliminated," two Christian scholars say.
In an joint study titled Globalization, Hindu
Nationalism and Adivasis (tribals/aboriginals)
of India, Lancy Lobo, a Jesuit priest and director
of the Centre for Culture and Development of
Vadodara in Gujarat (Western India), and Amit
Mitra, an international development consultant
based in Delhi, said that the hidden agenda
of Hindu nationalists is "to capture power
and inaugurate a theocratic society in India."
According to the two researchers, Hindu nationalism
is by and large a resurgence of Brahmanism (a
version of Hinduism that saw the Brahmin caste
emerge as the highest of India's four caste
levels) in which Brahmins but also other upper
caste Indians reassert their social ascendancy.
Under the constitution of independent India
the hierarchical (vertical) stratification of
Indian society was in theory made horizontal
(by its equality provisions). However, upper
caste Indians saw their status, wealth and power
diminish as a result of the institutional changes
that the constitution introduced. By appealing
to Hindu nationalism and demanding the re-conversion
of Dalits (formally known as pariahs or untouchables)
and Adivasis who converted to Christianity or
Islam, the upper castes are trying to reclaim
their lost dignity and power.
In electoral politics of a democratic society
where numbers count, re-hinduisation of Dalits
and Adivasis and stopping conversions make sense.
Together Dalits (15 per cent) and Adivasis (7
per cent) represent 22 per cent of the total
population. Hindu parties need their support
to govern. Conversion, on the other hand, cuts
into this potential electorate and weakens them.
For Lobo and Mitra, Hindu parties exploit
Hindu nationalism to divert attention from real
issues that are of concern to the more marginalised
segments of society like Dalits and Adivasis.
In a state like Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) came to power by playing up religious
emotions and promising anti-conversion legislation
(adopted in 2003), not by promoting any political
programme. However, poor Indians need help to
survive, jobs and an education, not anti-conversion
laws.
Once in power, the BJP became paranoid about
Christians and Christian missionaries even though
Christians in Gujarat are a mere 0.42% of the
total population. Its administration unleashed
a campaign of hate and violence against them.
In the 1997-1999 period, 12 churches were burnt,
another 14 were vandalised and 17 physical attacks
against Christians were perpetrated, not to
mention all other kinds of harassment.
Hindu nationalists see the conversion of Adivasis
as something physically, morally and psychologically
evil, an atrocity by the converter on the would-be
convert. In doing so, they legitimise any atrocity
against the converter and the converted.
Dalits, who are victims of discrimination
and marginalisation under caste system, convert
to Christianity or Islam to find self-respect,
dignity and an identity as full human beings.
Adivasis, who are also outside the pale
of the caste system, herded off to remote hills
after their lands and forests were seized by
non-Adivasis, also seek dignity and identity
in becoming Christian or Muslim.
But for Hindu nationalists, anyone trying
to help these marginalised groups becomes an
enemy. Anyone opening a school for Dalits or
Adivasis is accused of seeking converts.
Gujarat is sadly known for the inter-ethnic
violence that flared up in 2002. The killing
of 58 Hindus in the Gujarati town of Godhra
was followed by a violent Hindu response that
left more than 2,000 Muslims dead, an
event that Lobo and Mitra consider a state-sponsored
pogrom, a crime directly attributable to the
BJP government then in power in the state.
