At his 2019 annual ‘Vijaydashmi’ address, the RSS chief claimed lynching as a Western construct and India getting defamed by a word not of Indian ethos’. Since Mohammed Akhlak was lynched in 2015 over cow protection, ‘beef terror’ has become country’s pet project. An emotional & spontaneous reaction of the angry Hindus who find cow smuggling for slaughter unacceptable – is how the national project is explained. In 2002 it was Newton’s third law of motion to justify a pogrom and in 2013 it was a puppy accidentally coming under your car! But all along it is the ‘others’ who are at the receiving end. This ‘we’ versus ‘them’ has built the nationalist narrative.
Exclusivist nationalist politics has always resulted in mass violence. Imaginary ‘love Jihad’, ‘pink revolution’ and now ‘the country being run by immigrants’ and hence the NRC has only strengthened that narrative. In 2018 there were 13 cow protection lynchings which prompted the SC to demand a legislation against such a practice. The success of the present ruling party is certainly due to managing to position, 80% of the country’s 1.4 billion Hindus as victims of secular politics claiming that ‘they’ are treated as second class citizens. The victimhood has sent the inclusive and diverse Indian society into the wilderness. The country listened to ‘we are being outbred by the minorities… Make India great again’ and gave a mandate to the ruling party in 2014.
Nationalism has been a great source of providing legitimacy against external forcers like Pakistan and internal actors like Muslims and Christians. Rahil Datiwala a sociologist trained at Oxford University states … in the 21st century, politicians in India continue to earn electoral office using the strategy: state approved anti minority violence is passed of and a spontaneous clash between civilians, or an emotional reaction of the mob. That’s how RSS chief also see it.
The resistance movements emerging as a challenge to the neo liberal policies leading to impoverishment of the lower crust in society were adopted by radical parties in Europe. In India the Dalits, OBCs and the aspirational class were cornered on an issue of corruption and lokayukta in 2014 and despite economic growth getting lower a non-employment getting higher, religious nationalism got him a bigger mandate in 2019 with the main opposition withering away.
Throughout the world, past decade has seen an indecent rise of politics of national identity based on narrow nationalist concepts promoted by radical right parties. Nobert Hofner, of the Freedom Party in Austria and Matteo Salvini in Italy cornered substantial vote share. We also saw the white nationalism bringing Donald Trump to power. Trump could not have won without the disappropriate support of the white working class directly based upon the hatred generated towards two terms of a Barrack Obama. The Japanese Shinzo Abe built himself on the same principle so is the case of the Turkish President Recep Tayyib Endrogan. Marine La Pen gathered some 34% in presidential elections in May 2019. The social democrats got deflated in Germany. Brazil is not far behind. The Britishers voting for Brexit was based on a clear nationalist favour. Vladimir Putin has emerged as a champion of global nationalism. He has certainly established his power after the fall of the USSR and its consequent weakness.
All this sent shock waves for democracy around the globe. The rise of the radical right sent democratic forces into a mourning period. The entire scenario was seen as fertile ground for the rise of fascism in post WW-II. Parties getting power through nationalism are certainly populist and with enormous authoritarian tendencies. Authoritarianism is on the rise world over. With nationalism rising globally, how could only India be left behind?
There is still hope. Portugal returned its left leaning government. In June, this year Denmark gave mandate to social democrats while Italy replaced Mettheo Salvini providing an opportunity to the democratic party. The return of Antonio Costa in Portugal has brought a glimmer of hope in Europe which was sliding towards far right regimes. Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez says “Portuguese society again chooses stability, equality and social justice … with the victory of socialist party they are batting on a project of the left progressive and modernisers, let’s continue working together for a fairer Europe”. Last year social democrats were retained as a country’s largest party in Sweden to form the government. In Finland the left of the centre party came to the finishing line for the first time in 20 years. In case Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders succeed in their endeavours, there will be a great impetus for democratic forces to recover and establish the democratic institutions that have been weakened.
In India the ruling party is firmly entrenched and the narrow nationalist narrative has to be challenged by progressive movements with a new ideas cutting across caste and classes and religions. The ‘Right to dissent must be the fulcrum of that movement. The 45 cultural personalities who wrote the open letter to the PM and suffered an FIR, stood firm and with 185 more personalities confirming what the 45 had said, shows that there is still hope. The abolishing of Article 370 and the lock down of the life in J & K shall only keep the nationalist rhetoric alive.
The 45-year-old Zuzana Caputova, environment lawyer and anti corruption crusader, caught the imagination of people in Slovakia. She is now the president. That’s the way forward.
(The writer is a practising advocate, senior faculty in law and political analyst).
