[sacw] SACW #2 | 22 Nov. 02

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Fri, 22 Nov 2002 03:35:26 +0100


South Asia Citizens Wire #2 | 22 November 2002

'THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE OF HATE: IDRF AND THE AMERICAN FUNDING OF HINDUTVA'.
by Sabrang Communications (India) and South Asia Citizens Web (France)
20 November 2002
A detailed investigative report on the use of American corporate=20
funds by the US based India Development and Relief Fund to promote=20
the projects of Hindu supremacist groups in India.

The online report is available at:
Sabrang Communications (India) http://www.sabrang.com
South Asia Citizens Web (France) http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/

The full report is also being hosted by a growing number of web sites=20
worldwide.
The current list is:
Isis Creations (Australia): http://www.isis.aust.com/sacw/
Outlook (India): http://www.outlookindia.org
India Committee of the the Netherlands: http://www.indianet.nl
(UK) http://azadee.users.btopenworld.com/
Z Mag South Asia (USA): http://www.zmag.org/southasia/southasia1.htm
Alliance for Secular and Democratic South Asia (USA):=20
<http://www.alliancesouthasia.org/>http://www.alliancesouthasia.org/
Proxa (USA) http://www.proxsa.org/newsflash/
SikhSpectrum.com Monthly (USA)=20
http://www.sikhspectrum.com/112002/Report/hdv.htm

__________________________

#1. India: The unleashing of a monster (Neera Chandhoke)
#2. India: On Saffronisation of Education (Hiren Gohain)
#3. India: Journey of Discord (Joanna Slater)
#4. India: Rallying to the call of hate - Ten years ago, these very=20
same tactics were employed for the very same reasons (Jyoti Punwani)

__________________________

#1.

The Hindu
Friday, Nov 22, 2002

The unleashing of a monster
By Neera Chandhoke

The arousal of communal passions simply outstrips the efforts of the=20
very leaders who had incited them, to command them.

THE LEADERSHIP of the BJP must be ruing the day it unleashed the=20
monster of `Hindu' fundamentalism. It must be regretting the day it=20
yoked this monster to its project of winning political power in the=20
country. Whereas this certainly helped the party in the short run to=20
win power, today the monster has escaped the control of the BJP and=20
run amuck. And as is the wont of monsters, this particular one seems=20
to be intent on further destroying the country. Witness that today=20
the VHP refuses to heed the directions of the parliamentary wing of=20
the Sangh Parivar. Acharya Giriraj Kishore and Pravin Togadia -=20
self-styled leaders of some fictitious community they call `the Hindu=20
community' - have revolted against the advice given by the Gujarat=20
Government to the Election Commission, the consequent ruling of the=20
Commission, and indeed the statement of the Prime Minister that all=20
organisations in the State must heed the diktat of the Election=20
Commission. The VHP has in effect rebelled against not only the rule=20
of law but also against the considered opinion of the leaders of the=20
parliamentary wing of the Sangh Parivar.

The BJP has cause to worry for, its election prospects and its=20
aspirations to come back to power in Gujarat this year and at the=20
Centre in two years' time, have been seriously compromised by the=20
antics of the Hindutva brigade. For one, people in the country are=20
frankly fed up with the irresponsible, provocative and uncivil=20
statements made by the leadership of the VHP. Second, ordinary men=20
and women, the BJP should have by now realised, just do not want=20
their everyday lives devastated by unnecessary communal rhetoric and=20
the kind of riots that accompany this rhetoric.

Ordinary people, after all, just want to get along with their lives,=20
with the routine and mundane task of eking out a living out of scarce=20
resources. And for this purpose they need, they aspire for, they=20
yearn for some peace and stability. Or that the ordinary individual=20
simply wants to be reassured that his life is protected by the rule=20
of law, by the Judiciary and by the police. But when lumpen groups=20
proclaim that they are above the law, or that the law is irrelevant,=20
it is evident that all this leads to massive insecurity and worry.

This in turn does not make for political security or stability, or=20
indeed for bright election prospects for the party that is seen as=20
aligned to such elements, or as the party that encouraged them in the=20
first instance. The BJP should have learnt from the experience of the=20
Emergency. The people of India were so tired of kowtowing to the=20
ragtag group which, calling itself the Youth Congress, proclaimed=20
itself above the law, and which went about terrorising populations=20
and flexing its muscle power, that the Congress was to lose=20
spectacularly in the 1977 elections. Do people in power never learn=20
from history?

The BJP should further know something that every theorist of what has=20
been called the "ethnic explosion" knows: there is something=20
paradoxical about the evocation of communal sentiments. If such=20
sentiments serve to create some kind of community in the short=20
instance, in the long run they are not only counterproductive for the=20
leadership, they also serve to divide the leadership, as the=20
leadership of the Sangh Parivar is divided today in India.

The arousal of communal, caste, tribal or other atavistic passions=20
simply outstrips the efforts of the very leaders who had incited=20
them, to command them. And that all this affects the future of=20
democracy itself is incontrovertible.

That is why democratic theory has always warned against the rule of=20
unreason, against majoritarian designs, against the invocation of=20
divisive strategies. That is why democratic theory maps out=20
constitutions and rules of law, protection of human rights, and=20
independent judiciaries. Democracies therefore are not just about any=20
kind of politics or indeed about the absolute freedom of expression=20
as the VHP seems to think. Democracies are about the rights of=20
ordinary individuals not to be targeted by irresponsible elements in=20
the state or indeed in civil society.

That brings me to the second point of this argument. The VHP=20
constantly defends its flighty, undemocratic and communal agenda on=20
the ground that it represents the Hindu community, that it is the=20
protector of this community. But democratic representation is about=20
elections in the first place and accountability in the second.=20
Representatives have to be after all elected by the members of the=20
community that they claim to represent. This is the minimum principle=20
of democracy. Which part of the Hindu community, we may now ask,=20
elected the leadership of the VHP to represent it? Who was consulted=20
in the forging of such a criminal, reckless and sectarian agenda?=20
Where? When? By which procedure? Was the leadership of the VHP ever=20
granted this mandate by the Hindu community in the first place? By=20
which section of the community?

For, as everyone knows, there is no one Hindu community. There is no=20
one sacred text that binds the community. The Hindus are not people=20
of a book. No two Hindus worship their Gods in the same way. No two=20
Hindus agree on rituals in the same way. The Arya Samaj has nothing=20
to do with the Brahmanical domination of Sanatan Dharma, and the=20
Radha Soamis believe in something else altogether. And many of us do=20
not feel the need to worship at all. The strength of the Hindu=20
community lies in the fact that one may not do anything that may be=20
remotely called Hindu, and yet still think of oneself as a Hindu. In=20
sum, when the VHP leaders claim to represent the community, this=20
claim is nothing but a gigantic fiction. It is, to put it plainly, a=20
colossal rip-off. For one, no group ever elected them; to whom in=20
turn are they accountable. Secondly, no historian or anthropologist=20
has ever discovered any one Hindu community but only a conglomerate=20
of loosely connected sects and groups. The VHP, therefore, defies not=20
only the rule of law; it defies history. There is no one Hindu=20
community in whose name it has wrecked the country and divided=20
society. That is why it is not democratic.

And if it is not democratic, it has no business to be in the business=20
of Indian democracy. Unless we have given up all pretensions of being=20
a democracy, unless we cede our historically won credentials of being=20
a democracy, it is time the Government banned such outfits on two=20
grounds. The first is that the outfits defy the rule of law. Second,=20
they do not follow democratic notions of elections and=20
accountability. They are self-styled leaders who garner some=20
following through rankly nefarious means.

We, and I speak as an ordinary Indian citizen, are frankly weary of=20
the Togadias and the Kishores and other sundry elements in our civil=20
society. We want that they be banned, we want that they disappear, we=20
want that they be punished for what they have done to the country=20
before they disappear. Otherwise, the people of India are going to=20
take out their anger on the BJP as and when it comes up for a renewal=20
of an already fragile mandate. This is a warning from the people of=20
India.

____

#2.

EPW
November 16, 2002
Commentary

On Saffronisation of Education

It is usually believed by exponents of Hindutva that theirs is a bold=20
revolt against western hegemony, but in fact it is an imperfect and=20
slavish imitation of that hegemonic system, a caricature.
Hiren Gohain

The term 'saffronisation of education' appears to denote a fairly=20
innocuous, if dubious process. It is in fact both a treacherous and=20
frivolous response to a grave cultural crisis, a kind of response=20
that is typical of Fascism, and Fascists have made the most of=20
radical impotence. Democrats with an inadequate sense of history, and=20
leftists and radicals whose smugness is criminal in the light of=20
their own historical consciousness, read in it a silly and=20
disgraceful exercise, something like one of the numerous outcrop of=20
ersatz Hindu cults of the moment. They fail to see that it is a=20
combination of a confident appeal to a brutalised mass consciousness=20
and a coercive imposition of a dogmatic view of national history and=20
culture.

When the BJP, backed by the Sangh Parivar, detected slurs on=20
communities like the Sikhs and the Jains in the impugned history=20
textbooks of the NCERT, Congress stalwarts like A K Anthony and=20
Digvijay Singh also murmured their assent to that reading, oblivious=20
of the fact that those history textbooks (e g those by Romilla Thapar=20
and Bipan Chandra, as well as those by Arjun Dev) had been written=20
and approved during long years of Congress rule in the centre.=20
Evidently there is now a change in the climate of opinion which makes=20
critical references to traditions of different indigenous religion=20
acts taboo. The change indicates far more than a turn towards=20
populism. To put it bluntly, there is a confusion between legitimate=20
pride in one's heritage and an over-sensitive, indeed aggressive=20
attitude towards any critical interrogation of that heritage.

It is common to assume that such symptoms are passing whims and fads=20
of those who occupy positions of power. On the contrary. When the=20
Babri Masjid was turned into a heap of rubble, two of the most=20
eminent and hard-hitting intellectuals among westernised orientals,=20
Nirad C Choudhuri and V S Naipaul, well known for their pugnacious=20
admiration for the west, hailed the barbarous act as a vindication of=20
a dishonoured culture. In this view at least there is no difference=20
between the die-hard saffron brigade and the most intransigent=20
pro-western elements. What is the secret behind this incredible=20
alliance?

J S Rajput, director of the NCERT, in an affidavit before the Supreme=20
Court, as well as in a circular letter introducing a new curricular=20
framework for schools, affirms that the old and superseded framework=20
had erred by overstressing a secular outlook and neglecting the=20
spiritual heritage of the country. That balance was to be restored by=20
introducing value education, and since values according to him are=20
sanctioned by religion, ultimately religious education. Such views=20
are not exceptional. Sometimes Mahatma Gandhi, Radhakrishnan, and=20
other leaders of both the political and the cultural awakening of=20
India before independence appear to speak in the same vein. But the=20
disturbing new trend is a narrow, bigoted verison of 'Spiritual=20
Value', leaning explicitly on the Hindu heritage.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Indian Constitution bears=20
the traces of an historical context of religious dissension and=20
conflict, and it comes down resolutely in favour of a broad, tolerant=20
humanism. The preamble declares among its sacred goals 'Liberty of=20
thought, expression, belief, faith and worship'. The secularism=20
implied by the Constitution not only indicates non-discrimination=20
among citizens on the basis of religion, whether in matters of public=20
employment, or in admission to state-funded educational institutions,=20
or in the approach of public administration. But it does not stop=20
there. It goes on to commit itself to protecting the right of=20
all religions. Even K M Munshi, the orthodox Hindu leader,=20
categorically insisted on inclusion of the Christian's right to=20
proselytise.

Saffronisation of education is part of a far-reaching agenda to=20
reverse such historic trends. And it actually harks back to the=20
period of turmoil to which the secularism of the Constitution had=20
been an answer. As if the road not taken then again faces the nation=20
at a point to which it has returned in the course of its wanderings.

Hence the kind of spiritual education envisaged in the new curricular=20
framework of NCERT is quite contrary to the spirit of the=20
Constitution. The director of the NCERT in a press hand-out mentioned=20
the inherent "bigotry and dogmatism" of "semitic creeds" (read Islam=20
and Christianity) as against the broad outlook of Hinduism. No doubt=20
the spiritual education of the new curriculum would also carefully=20
introduce our young people to this nugget of wisdom.

However, the problem is not simply that of historical regression.=20
There may be some continuity in history, but never pure regression.=20
What appears to be purely regressive is also determined in some way=20
by larger contemporary development. Neo-colonialism today requires of=20
its success the prevalence of feudal or semi-feudal ideas and=20
practices. However, such elements, being out of step with the=20
present, and failing to answer the genuine needs of the present, are=20
bound to be overlaid with deliberate self-hypnosis, irrationality and=20
savagery.

In any case it is an over-simplification to say that it is only a=20
question of reactionary revival and regression. The ideology that has=20
hypnotised the masses drawn by the saffron brigade had its genesis in=20
early colonial times during the colonial transformation of Indian=20
society, the introduction of modernity under colonial auspices. In is=20
this form of modernity that has failed to solve some of the=20
outstanding problems of our social heritage, but it is this form that=20
acquires a dangerous attraction whenever out society and culture=20
enters a blind alley. The uncritical and fanatical worship of a=20
chauvinist version of our past is a product of the same mind-set. And=20
it is natural for such a mind-set to submit to the hegemony of=20
neo-colonialism.

This requires some explanation. How does colonialism continue to=20
shape our consciousness? It manifests itself first in a lack of=20
confidence in one's own creativity and a dependence on western=20
centres of learning for the very conceptions of academic and cultural=20
excellence. This mental dependence is also actively promoted by=20
westerm powers and their lackeys for obvious reasons. Ours is a cruel=20
dilemma as we can neither snap our link with the colonial type of=20
modernity at one go, nor find answer to many of our present dilemmas=20
in tradition. But that hardly excuses a supine surrender to the=20
poisoned charms of a reactionary solution from the past.

That there is an over-riding need for thorough revision of the=20
structure of education all over the world has been known for several=20
decades. The International Commission on Development of Education=20
constituted with the world's leading educationists by the UNESCO,=20
stated in its report of 1972:

Education follows the laws of every human undertaking, growing old=20
and gathering deadwood. To remain a living organism, capable of=20
satisfying with intelligence and vigour the requirements of=20
individuals and developing societies, it must avoid complacency and=20
routine. It must constantly question its objectives, its contents and=20
its methods. (p xvii)

One of the problems the commission had warned all developing=20
countries about had been the strong colonial traces in the present=20
education systems of their countries.

And just as the political and economic effects of colonialism are=20
still strongly felt today, so most educational systems in Latin=20
American, Asian and African countries mirror the legacy of a one-time=20
mother country or of some other outside hegemony, whether or not they=20
met the nations present needs=8A (pp 10-11)

The legacy of colonialism in the system of education and conceptions=20
about education in these unfortunate countries has been succinctly=20
summed up by J N Pieterse and Bhikhu Parekh in their introduction to=20
The Decolonisation of Imagination (OUP, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai,=20
1997):

Although the effects of British colonialism on different aspects of=20
Indian life and thought varied a great deal, and led to much critical=20
self-questioning, colonial rule did distort India's understanding of=20
its own past, present and future. It also weakened India's=20
self-confidence and capacity to explore and experiment with=20
alternative ways of life and thought. Above all, it encouraged=20
heteronomy, the tendency to judge itself by western standards and to=20
make western approval the basis of is self-respect and self-esteem,=20
especially among the modernists for whom the west represented almost=20
all that they valued (p viii-ix).

The way out of this predicament has been charted by the editors on=20
following lines:

To be autonomous is to break through the categories of thought=20
constructed by others, to think afresh and analyse one's predicament=20
and make one's choices in terms one has rationally and independently=20
arrived at. (p ix)

Fortunately for us, Pieterse and Parekh caution against rejecting=20
modernity tout court as it is "deeply inscribed in all areas of its=20
life (or nation) and is integral to its identity=8A" and advocate=20
critical appropriation of its legacy in various fields so as to=20
liberate the mind from the unconscious colonial constraints.

Colonialism had thus made over the inherited social and mental=20
structures of traditional Indian society in a fairly drastic manner=20
and in the process sapped the confidence and self-reliance of the=20
native. It is usually believed by exponents of Hindutva that theirs=20
is a bold revolt against western hegemony, but my thesis is that it=20
is an imperfect and slavish imitation of that hegemonic system, a=20
caricature.

Role of Church

It is at this point that I propose to deal with a surprisingly=20
sensitive topic - the role of the church in colonial economy and=20
society. Surprising because modern historians of the country do not=20
care to attend to it at all. I pick up at random a book, which=20
happens to be Ranajit Guha's Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency=20
in Colonial India (Oxford University Press, paperback, 1997). The=20
copious indices include not a single reference to the church, in=20
spite of the fact that the church had been quite active on the=20
margins of Indian society, particularly among tribal subsistence=20
farmers. And sensitive because the biased and motivated work of=20
people like Arun Shourie has virtually made objectivity on the issue=20
impossible.

Now the church had been a herald and agent of modernity in many parts=20
of India. Through the selfless labour of countless volunteers, many=20
of whom had laid down their lives in this kind of service, it brought=20
about striking improvements in health, education and general standard=20
of living in many communities. It restored a measure of self-respect=20
to them by protecting and nurturing their languages and introduced=20
them to modern ways of thought at a time when both decay of=20
traditional society and aggressive colonial exploitation had left=20
them prostrated. Even a relatively advanced regional language like=20
Bengali cannot easily forget the services of William Carey, nor the=20
Assamese the work of Miles Bronson in defending the rights of their=20
language and escorting it into the threshold of modernity. But when=20
all is said and done such services had been rendered within the ambit=20
of colonialism. The other side of the coin was a softening up of the=20
mental fibre of independent communities in order to encourage their=20
voluntary submission to colonial rule.

It can hardly be overlooked that the Church had the support of the=20
colonial government in its mission.When the European powers launched=20
the 'Opium War' in China in the 19th century to open up the country=20
to the deluge of opium to be released by them, the Chinese rulers=20
resisted for the most natural of reasons. China's defeat enabled the=20
European powers to force on her a vastly unequal treaty, with=20
provisions like drastic reduction in customs tariff, cession of=20
territory, and significantly " freedom for missionary activities".

When the hard-pressed peasantry of Phuloguri, Nagaon district in=20
Assam, driven desperate by steep hike in land-revenue and imposition=20
of taxes on their wretched little kitchen-gardens, rose in revolt,=20
they were condemned outright in harsh and brutual language by the=20
Arunodoi, the first newsmagazine in Assamese, an organ of modernity,=20
published by the American Baptist Mission. There has been some recent=20
attempts to exonerate this conduct with the plea that the rates of=20
taxation had been insignificant, a matter of only a few rupees. These=20
later champions forget how scarce money had been among these=20
peasants, and how in the following century many 'rayats' of Assam=20
became landless for defaulting on land-revenue at the rate of one=20
rupee per 'bigha'. (It must be made clear that we here criticise the=20
church for its association with the colonial system, and not=20
Christianity itself.)

What hurt educated native sentiments in Bengal most was the ceaseless=20
and vehement campaign of the church in early colonial times against=20
Hindu religious ideas and practices. And Bengal was the pioneer of=20
the Indian awakening into modernity in colonial times. No doubt many=20
of their strictures on Hindu superstitions were just and well=20
founded, But their tone was hardly calculated to persuade, as it was=20
a combination of loathing, outrage and patronising pity. Besides,=20
these often betrayed a woeful ignorance of the finer spiritual=20
speculations and intellectual achievements of the ancient Hindus.

As early as the first decades of the 19th century Raja Ram Mohun Roy=20
faced the hostile propaganda of missionaries like Carey and Marshman=20
against Hinduism. Ram Mohun brought out Precepts of Jesus, Guide to=20
Peace and Happiness in 1820, explaining the irrationality and=20
hollowness of certain teachings of the church which he considered=20
contrary to the gospels of Jesus. He also brought the war into the=20
camp of the enemy by pointing out in An Appeal to the Christian=20
Public that beliefs like that in the Holy Trinity were not warranted=20
by the Bible. But even Alexander Duff who received Ram Mohun's help=20
in founding his school in Calcutta made a frontal attack on Hinduism=20
including the Vedanta in his India and India's Missions in 1840. The=20
Tattva Bodhini Patrika, the organ of the Brahmas, replied to these=20
charges in a series of articles (Ram Mohun Shmaran, published by Raja=20
Ram Mohun Roy Smriti-Raksha Samiti, edited by Pulin Bihari Sen et al=20
in 1989, (pp 84-88).

But the climax was reached in the attack by Reverend Hastie,=20
principal of the General Assembly's Institution, run by Scottish=20
General Missionary Board. In the pages of The Statesman he attacked=20
Hinduism as betraying "mere animal licentiousness", "senseless=20
mummeries", "loathsome impurities, and bloody barbarous sacrifices".=20
He went on to say that "debasing idolatry" produced "a mass of=20
shrinking cowards, unscrupulous deceivers, of bestial idlers, filthy=20
songsters, and degraded women", and their only hope of salvation lay=20
in embracing Christianity. It is significant that Reverend Hastie in=20
the same of breath referred to the benefits of the "English sense of=20
justice", "the invincibility of the new power", "our English=20
enlightenment" and "powerful scholars of Europe". It appears that=20
Revered Hastie's conviction about the inferiority of Hinduism had=20
been strengthened by the confidence derived from association with a=20
conquering power. If his campaign persuaded some Hindu youths, it=20
provoked an even more powerful tide of Hindu defensive passion. Among=20
the numerous educated Hindus who protested against Hastie's sweeping=20
and ignorant indictment, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, the first great=20
novelist of modern India, and the first systematic exponent of "Hindu=20
nationalism" was one (Tapan Raychaudhuri, Europe Reconsidered, Oxford=20
University Press, 1988, pp 6-9, p 122). And his views had a wider and=20
deeper appeal than the modern, scientific, secular outlook of the=20
'Young Bengal' movement inspired by European rationalism.

Bankim Chandra and Hindu Nation

Bankim Chandra's notion of a Hindu nation was a major cultural=20
response to the ethnocentric European propagation of modernity. The=20
favourite and loaded term for modernity in early colonial Bengal had=20
been 'Sabhyota' (an extended connotation of 'civility') (See Hiren=20
Gohain, The Idea of Popular Culture in Early 19th Century Bengal, K P=20
Bagchi and Sons, Kolkata, 1990) and Bankim Chandra had had resort to=20
contemporary European ideas of nationhood and nationalism to=20
construct a collective Hindu identity as a counter-weight to the=20
pressures of European ethnocentrism. It is significant that he=20
excluded Muslims from its fold, and indeed identified the Muslims as=20
the source of defilement and degradation of the Hindus. Significantly=20
his opponent Reverend Hastie also invoked the Muslim bogey in his=20
rhetoric, and reminded the Hindus how English rule had freed them=20
from the Muslim yoke. Evidently the idea of Hindu nationhood emerged=20
out of an intellectual compromise with the reality of colonial power.

It is hardly a matter for surprise that in his powerful fictional=20
work, Anadha Math, translated practically into every modern Indian=20
language, where he proclaims the gospel of Hindu nationalism, he also=20
identifies the decaying Muslim rule as the chief obstacle to Hindu=20
regeneration and perceives the colonial regime as "a divinely=20
ordained tutelage" for the rise and education of modern Hindus as a=20
nation. Thus, both a growing sense of inferiority, and of mortified=20
self-respect, combined with an aspiration for new strength in a newly=20
and narrowly constructed nationhood, had been legacies of a hegemonic=20
colonial culture. And even in the heyday of swadeshi terrorist=20
offensive against British rule, Bankim Chandra's Ananda Math had as=20
much prestige with the revolutionists as the Gita. The excluded=20
Muslim elite naturally took to the ideal of a pan-islamic 'Qaum',=20
largely under Wahhabi influence. It is significant that Maulana=20
Mohammed Ali categorically rejected nationalism as the path of=20
salvation for India during the heyday of the Khilafat movement. He=20
went on to assert stoutly: "God made mankind and the Devil made the=20
nation". Most significantly he warned against the temptation of a=20
revival of the lost domination of any community, be it Hindus,=20
Muslims or Sikhs. (Amalendu De, Samaj O Sanskriti, Kolkata, 1981, pp=20
47-49). But the Muslim reaction had little impact on the powerful=20
under-tow of Hindu revivalist thought in the course of Indian=20
nationalism.

This is the excruciating dilemma of modernity in India. It had awoken=20
into consciousness with a profoundly confused notion of national=20
identity, under the manipulative pressures of colonial rule. In my=20
little monograph on early 19th century Bengal I had had an occasion=20
to underline the fact that the potentiality of a truly democratic,=20
revolutionary and secular nationalism implicit in the 'Young Bengal'=20
movement did not find much favour with the educated modern=20
intelligentsia of Bengal, primarily because of middle-class=20
opposition to extension of democracy and to true radicalism. The=20
continuity of the colonial class-structure into independent India=20
re-inforced, and was itself in turn re-inforced by, Hindu chauvinism.=20
In the meantime, the erstwhile revolutionary later reconciled to=20
British domination, V D Savarkar, invoked Hindutva as the basis of=20
Indian nationalism, and the mentor of the RSS in the 1950s and the=20
1960s, Guru Golwalkar, reiterated the same ideas in We, or, Our=20
Nationhood Defined. From imperialism the enemy had quietly=20
changed shape to turn into Islam. Then as now, the erroneous and=20
fatal identification of the enemy has been the product of a collusion=20
between colonialism and native ruling elites.

The idea of a "composite nation" proposed by Gandhi had a greater=20
popular democratic potential, but perhaps his lack of revolutionary=20
class-outlook failed to instil it with transforming power.

The only viable and healthy response to the cultural crisis of modern=20
India was popular and radical democracy. Instead of which we are=20
imbibing a concoction brewed under colonial patronage, with=20
predictable consequences. And a mechanistically oriented left=20
movement, unable to discern the traces of colonial consciousness in=20
modern Indian culture, can find no antidote to this poison. Attempts=20
to correct the error are met with a volley of foul and vulgar abuse,=20
which after all is a hoary defensive mechanism.

____

#3.

Far Eastern Economic Review
November 28, 2002

INDIA
Journey of Discord
Loathed by Muslims but a hero to many Hindus, Narendra Modi is=20
fighting a divisive campaign to keep power in riot-torn Gujarat.=20
Success at the polls could mark a turning point in Indian politics

By Joanna Slater/VADODORA and AHMEDABAD, GUJARAT STATE

_____

#5.

Indian Express
Tuesday, November 19, 2002

Rallying to the call of hate
Ten years ago, these very same tactics were employed for the very same reas=
ons
Jyoti Punwani

In a democracy, people must have the right and liberty to speech and=20
movement and the right to reach out to the people.
- BJP President Venkaiah Naidu, defending the VHP's right to launch a=20
vijay yatra to mark 10 years of Babri masjid demolition.

A similar respect for fundamental rights led to the first violent=20
incident in in Mumbai 10 years ago, after the demolition of the Babri=20
masjid, the very event the VHP wants to celebrate as a victory. The=20
parallels are striking. On that day too, December 6, 1992, the Shiv=20
Sena decided to take out a 'victory rally' to celebrate the=20
demolition in Ayodhya. The 'cycle rally' passed through the narrow=20
lanes of Dharavi, once known as the largest slum in Asia, and home to=20
a myriad communities. On its route fell a small nondescript mosque,=20
Kadariya Masjid, and precisely at the point where the rally passed in=20
front of it, a stone was thrown on the mosque from the rally.

In the long and tortuous life of the Srikrishna Commission, this=20
incident emerged as the first violent incident of the Mumbai riots of=20
December 1992 and January 1993, laying to rest the myth that the=20
riots began when angry Muslims erupted on the streets against the=20
police.
[...]
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=3D13268

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