India is witnessing Hindu awakening, but ending it as a culture war would be a disaster

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sSocial media has become the new war for a war, which was fiercely fought on land, sea and air for centuries. Thankfully, this modern warfare does not involve deadly weapons and bloodthirsty battlefields. But on the other hand, it is probably more venomous, harsher and has powerful artillery in the hands of smartphone holders.

The hugely popular campaign of ‘No Bindi-No Business’, calls for boycott of films ridiculing Hindu symbols, sporadic agitations against the products and persons accused of taking anti-India stances and many such ‘instant protests’ are booming. Everywhere. They may seem sudden or reactionary, but if one goes into their background, one cannot remember the years of anger and despair quietly endured by Hindus, one of the largest but disjointed social groups. Although there was no mass crime, such as subjugation by an aggressor, the feeling of ‘hurt of Hindu sentiment’ was widespread and could not be ignored or dismissed as an expression of majoritarianism.

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limit the debate

What can be attributed to a lack of understanding of history or a calculated misinterpretation, sought to negate and bring back to the background the essential and core strengths, beliefs, achievements and high points of ancient Hindu civilization, which historians had was a group. Government protection. Before governments could assess the damage, the debate over culture, civilization and India’s historical past was divided into a story of ‘us vs them’. The debate has now assumed culture war proportions, majority versus minority competition and democratic liberalism versus majority intolerance. What should have been a healthy debate about our past achievements, successes, idiosyncrasies and future strategies for nation building has turned into a meaningless right-wing versus left-wing.

With no apparent ‘enemy’ appearing before the Hindu society, the Congress representing the state bore the brunt of the anger of the Hindu society. There were many reasons for Hindu anger or opposition to the Congress and gradually one event after another – whether it was the forced exodus of Kashmiri Hindus or the political and ideological patronage for anti-Hindu acts in Tamil Nadu, which was a manifestation of separatism. used to claim. (demanding for the separation of Tamil Nadu by about 1962) or the infamous Shah Bano case, among others.

The compulsion of ‘vote bank politics’ is another factor that has led to appeasement of Muslim voters (especially in states like UP where election results in more than 100 to 125 assembly constituencies are influenced by Muslim voters). The Ayodhya movement came as a much-needed platform to strengthen Hindu awakening from a social point of view. Politically, this ‘Hindu vote bank’ was a fitting response to the minority vote bank politics of the Congress.

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Left Liberals’ Place After 2014

The 2014 general elections were not much different from the general elections fought earlier. The issues were corruption free governance, fixing the falling national economy due to ‘policy paralysis’ and many others which were affecting the day to day life of the common man. The Congress was no match for the fierce and aggressive campaign that propelled Narendra Modi to the post of Prime Minister. One would have expected the opposition to wait for some time, let the Modi government work and then poke holes in its economic policies and failures. Astonishingly, the space of the opposition once occupied by the mighty Congress was usurped by a group of hitherto unknown persons, apparently not affiliated with any political party, but clearly BJP/RSS/So-called was right-wing, and most importantly, against what he classified. ‘Hindutva force’. Naturally, they were quickly and very easily classified as left-wing liberals.

Soon, loosely organized groups of anti-government agitators with different agendas emerged in different parts of the country, each one targeting the Modi government and even shaming the government during PM’s visits abroad. Organized events. But these ‘professional agitators’ did not realize that they were actually re-organizing pro-Hindutva groups, as a result of which they were united under the umbrella of the broader ‘BJP supporters’, who were originally from the BJP. was not specific.

As expected, these unorganized but highly influential left-liberals began to oppose any program of the Modi government. They included a small number of popular sportspersons, learned scholars, versatile journalists, qualified historians and veteran film personalities. Ironically, in their misguided enthusiasm and highly publicized protests, these ‘successful protesters’ compensated for the political damage the Congress faced, but robbed the main opposition party of its legitimate place in the social and political arena.

It would be a disaster to conclude that India, like America or Britain, is on the verge of a culture war. There is a certain Hindu awakening and assertion of their legitimate rights by a large section of the Hindu society. But it cannot be misunderstood as a ‘war against India’ or a competition between ‘two ideas of India’. In any case, it would be in the best interest of the country if political parties and states abstain from debate and refrain from taking sides. Along with the current narrative, the social leadership of the country has been able to find solutions and resolve issues, as it has done in the past. In a situation where every opinion is classified as either right or left, the centrist path is gone. And somewhere there is truth.

Seshadri Chari is the former editor of ‘Organiser’. Thoughts are personal.

(Edited by Anurag Choubey)

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