Articles

Religious Nationalism is not Dead Yet

Bal Thackeray, supreme leader of the Shiv Sena, one of India's Hindu nationalist parties, has called for the formation of 'Hindu' suicide squads to counter the growing threat of Islamic terrorism. His comments came after a bomb blast on 3 June 2008 that injured seven people in an auditorium in the Mumbai suburb of Thane. As usual, the first suspects were Islamic terrorists. However, to the surprise of many, the bomb was apparently planted by Hindu fundamentalists belonging to the Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti. They were protesting against a play called 'Amhi Pachpute,' a spoof on Hindu deities in the Mahabharata. Earlier on 20 February, another bomb had exploded in a cinema hall in Panvel, near Mumbai where the movie 'Jodhaa Akbar' was being screened.

Thackeray applauded these initiatives of the bomb plotters but deplored the low-intensity of the crude bombs they had used and the fact that they had only injured Hindus. In an editorial in his party's mouthpiece, Saamna titled, "The dud bombs of Hindus. Why embarrass us?" he praises Shivaji, the Maratha ruler who fought against the Mughals in the early 17th century to establish a Maratha kingdom. He directs his readers to pursue Shivaji's example by waging a strong fight against Muslims who posed a threat to the safety of Hindus and the country.

Thackeray's reference to the Maratha ruler is however, always out of context as he never mentions how the former professed tolerance towards other religions and people belonging to various faiths. Historians have time and time again noted that Shivaji strove to protect the mosques and tombs in his kingdom. It is ironical that Thackeray who supported the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 and incited the communal riots in Mumbai which killed around a thousand innocent Muslims, draws his inspiration from a ruler who preached pluralism. On the contrary, Thackeray's ideology is similar to that of leaders in the erstwhile Soviet Union who, on the pretext of following Marxism, changed this theory to suit their personal motives.

Thackeray's brand of hate politics is displayed in his speeches and writings. In October 2002, he wrote a similar article making spiteful remarks against Muslims in India. He has constantly promoted terrorism in Bangladeshi settlements - which he refers to as 'mini Pakistans' - located on the outskirts of Mumbai. In 2003, in keeping with his party's ideology-based on the local pride of people in Maharashtra, his party led a violent campaign against North Indian migrants who were accused of stealing jobs from the locals. Since Indians do not require a visa to travel and work in different states of the country, why is the Sena propagating anti-migration measures against citizens of its own country? How can Muslims, who are Indian citizens, be a threat to their own country because of their religious orientation?

In a political system as diverse as India's, it is hard to get away after making such negative remarks against a whole community. Leading to a snowball effect, the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), a militant outfit that operates in the Kashmir valley, has warned against any harm being caused to members of the Muslim community in India. In a message to a newspaper, the LeT chief, Qari Abdul Wahid Kashmiri, said, "Whether it is Indian forces or Hindu fundamentalists like Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena, LeT will defeat their ill motives and prevent (sic) Muslim community members from Hindu fundamentalist terrorism." Thackeray was also widely criticized by the Congress and, quite surprisingly, also by his longtime right-wing ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Shiv Sena's drive to start a Muslim holocaust to cleanse 'Hindustan' is a grassroots campaign with many young minds supporting it. The Shiv Sena's youth wing, Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Sena (BVS), has a strong membership of young Indians. Soon after Thackeray's comments about forming suicide squads, BVS activists defended his stand saying that they would not mind being called terrorists, if bombing anti-nationals is terrorism. BVS is widely known for its malevolent practices against Indian youth who are imbibing the 'western culture' which, according to them, is anti-Hindu.

The BVS President was quoted as saying, "What sense does it make to manufacture bombs and attack our own people? We would make bombs and fight against actual terrorists who are against our country." It is unclear which "terrorists" these parties are against: The ones who attack Indian soldiers on the borders or innocent Indians who pursue a separate religious belief different from that of the majority? India is a diverse country in which many identities are fused together to form the 'Indian' identity. The democratic fabric of the nation is based upon this reality. The formation of suicide squads and vigilante groups along the lines of the Ku Klux Klan using the BVS does not safeguard the citizens but poses a threat to the internal security and integrity of India.