M Qasim Bhutta
After all, the fascist government of Modi passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019. India’s label of secularism revealed after this bill and prove that, India is going to establish Hindustan based on the obsequious ideology of “Hindutva”. By the way what is meant by Hindutva? Let us overview the concept and objectives of Hindutva and its connection with the ruling BJP. Hindutva is the alternative to the Nehruan discourse of secularism and composite culture.
Hindutva is an ethno-religious term that literally means Hinduness. The early leaders of Hindutva had essentially two objectives. One is to preserve their social caste privilege. The other is to have access to the new sources of power that is bureaucratic jobs and the largest support base in the electoral politics. The entire concept of Hindutva promotes that Hindus are those who share blood, language and culture with each other. So Hindu Rashtra as nation must share five major elements such as; geography, race, religion, culture and language.
All these factors have to be Indian and they must all treat India as a holy land. According to this, the Muslims and Christians have no share in it and must accept the subordinate stature and the supremacy of Hindu culture. There were two major organizations that persuaded the Hindutva project. Hindu Mahasabha and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). RSS mainly have two wings: Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bhartiya Jana Sangh which later on converted into the Bhartiya Janta Party. Every General Secretary of BJP is nominated by the RSS. RSS rejected the entire Nehruan project and considered it as a borrowed western idea to rob the Indian of Hindu heritage. Instead of the idea of India they have presented the idea of Bharat. So the entire concept of Hindutva and ideology of BJP is related to “Hindu majoritarianism”.
They are extremely against the Muslims and their culture. They desired to change the rules which supported the Muslims in India. They wished to rewrite the Constitution of India to protect cows, change text of school books and ban on conversion of Hindus to the Muslims. They also tried to change Article 350 and 35A in the past. BJP also proposed to build Haram Janama Bhoomi at the site of Babri Masjid. But they do not have maximum majority in the Lok Sabha to do all these acts. They were part of the government through coalitions. But in 2014, it was Narendra Modi, who was able to form a pure BJP government. But still BJP was not able to change the Constitution of India, because it was the most competitive tenure.
Finally, in 2019 Modi became the Prime Minister of India with a majority vote. Therefore, the BJP government is in a position to reach out their goals. They changed Article 350 and 35-A. The decision of Babri Masjid and now the discriminatory Citizenship Act shows the hideous sentiments of Hindus against the Muslims.
The Muslims of Kashmir, India and in the region faced adverse circumstances. These all steps represent that Hindutva politics replace the Nehruan idea of secularism. Now Indian majoritarianism transformed into the Hindu majoritarianism. Extreme protests are started in India against the current discriminatory act. The freedom of Kashmir enters into a new and more vibrant phase. These all immoral and illegitimate actions lead towards instability of the nuclear region. The irony is that the international community, the world and regional powers are still muted. It is a matter of concern for super section of the Indian society and also for anyone living outside India if he is interested in regional and global peace, prosperity and justice.
—The writer is a research associate at Institute of Policy Studies.
