How Hindu nationalism transformed into fascism

During an interview with Al-Jazeera, renowned Indian author and human rights activist Arundhati Roy lamented that “the practice of bulldozing Muslim homes and businesses for purely punitive reasons is proof that India is transitioning pretty brazenly into a criminal Hindu fascist enterprise.” Al-Jazeera’s report also said that “over the last few months, authorities in Indian states governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have started bulldozing the homes, shops, and places of business that belong to Muslims merely suspected of participating in anti-government protests. The Chief Ministers of these states have proudly flaunted this policy in their election campaigns. To my mind, this marks the moment when a deeply flawed, fragile democracy has transitioned — openly and brazenly — into a criminal, Hindu-fascist enterprise with tremendous popular support. We now appear to be ruled by gangsters fitted out as Hindu godmen. In their book, Muslims are public enemy number one”.

Since the onset of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime, the line between Indian and Hindu nationalism blurred to eventually disappear. Consecutive events of state repression signify Hindu nationalism’s transformation into fascism, which is alarming. In 2019, New Delhi revoked the special constitutional status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Indian constitution and abrogated Article 35A, which allowed the legislature of Kashmir to define the state’s “permanent residents” and what distinguishes them. This was followed by the Citizenship Amendment Act of December 2019, which excluded Muslims from applying for Indian citizenship. More recently, the state of Karnataka banned girls from wearing a hijab to educational institutes. Also, Indian Muslims protesting against BJP officials who passed sacrilegious remarks against the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) were faced with state violence and Muslim activists’ homes were demolished.

Ironically, mass demonstrations against the employment on a contractual basis in the armed forces have not resulted in the demolition of homes of those involved in demonstrations. However, Muslims are not spared when they protest against the injustices they face daily. This demonstrates the Indian government’s bias against Muslim citizens. Asaduddin Owaisi, the President of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, questioned the BJP government’s double standards and their inaction against those who were protesting the imposition of a contractual system on armed forces and were involved in damaging public property and burning trains. One cannot help but wonder why these protesters were allowed to go scot-free while Muslims who were demonstrating for their religious rights were met with brutal force.

According to The Economist’s report ‘Hands off the Prophet’, Harsh Mander, a civil rights activist, states that: “India’s 200 million-odd Muslims, who hope that the outrage might prompt the government to treat them with more respect, will probably be a disappointment. The BJP’s tactical retreat to save face abroad is unlikely to have any bearing on its domestic stance. Some of its members routinely incite violence against Muslims. A repeat of the incident seems inevitable.” To appease a few Muslim countries that condemned India for the growing religious intolerance, “BJP quickly declared that the comments of these officials did not represent its official stance. When that failed to calm tempers, the BJP took action against the pair. Nupur Sharma, the party’s national spokeswoman, was suspended. Naveen Jindal, its media head in Delhi, was expelled. Indian diplomats in the Gulf sought to play the incident down by describing the two as “fringe elements”. The foreign ministry explained that their views did not reflect government policy. Regardless of these explanations, India is fast-moving towards a Hindu fascist state where police and law enforcement agencies have failed to uphold the rule of law and are themselves involved in a show of force and violence.

The transition from Indian to Hindu nationalism and fascism is now reaching a logical conclusion because of three main reasons.

First, the BJP’s popularity has surged because there are no serious competitors in the Indian political landscape. Since 2014 Congress has lost elections and regional parties against BJP have failed to form an electoral alliance with Congress and the Communist Party of India. Back in November 1984, the BJP only managed to win two seats in the general election, but in the May-June 2019 polls, it secured more than 300 seats, which reflects a remarkable shift in its influence. The BJP and Shiv Sena duo, along with Sang Pariwar, Bajrang Dal and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, established a holy alliance against 200 million Muslims by using the worst form of fascist acts like lynching, brutal persecution and demolition of Muslim homes. The Modi regime seems to be following in the footsteps of the Israeli policy of excessive use of force against Palestinians and demolishing Palestinians’ homes in the West Bank. This year, in April, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said, “Washington was monitoring a spike in human rights abuses in India by the Modi administration, police and prison officials.” Despite drawing international criticism, the Modi regime remains adamant and has refused to control the goons of the party involved in targeting the Muslim minority.

Second, the culture of fascism has permeated deep inside the Indian society. The propaganda of the BJP-Shiv Sena duo against Muslims has indoctrinated the Indian youth. The Indian bureaucracy, judiciary and police have all been compromised and have taken sides in BJP’s favour, which has strengthened the fascist culture.

Third, India is not far from being declared a fascist state because the Modi regime has constantly promulgated a culture of intolerance and taken brutal measures against its opponents. During the inter-war period between the 1930s and 1940s, many in Germany and Italy chose to remain silent about the fascist atrocities and later bore the guilt and burden of accepting persecution of minorities and liquidation of non-conformist voices. The silent majority of India may meet the same fate because a Hindu fascist state will be a nightmare for all. India’s democratic and secular constitution will become redundant if fascism further deepens. Like the Nazi party, BJP will eliminate all opposition, undo the constitution and establish a one-party state under the pretext of Hindutva. Hence, Arundhati Roy’s warning about India’s fast transformation into a fascist Hindu state should be taken seriously before it is too late. In the general elections of 2024, the BJP along with other Hindu communal organisations may use its potential two-thirds majority to transform India into a state that will only reflect the mindset and ideology of the Modi regime.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2022.

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