whilst
christian,
jewish and
islamic forms of fascism are well known, hindu funtamentalism is more insidious. probably as a result of orientalist views of indians as effeminate peace-loving people in loin cloths and the enduring legacy of gandhi, fascism doesn't seem like it could sneak into hindu culture. but it has and is growing more powerful.
just take a read of
this frightening article by angani chatterji, reprinted on znet, detailing attempts by diaspora hindu nationalists to have history textbooks rewritten in californian schools. the suggested rewrites would, in my opinion, gloss over some of the worst oppression of the historical origins of indian society, and alter generally accepted facts about the origins of the indian people. for example:-
[T]he revisions refute the migration of Aryans, associated by historians with the emergence of Hinduism, from Central Asia into India. The revisions posit Hinduism as indigenous to India and ascribed with its origins, rendering mute the histories of adivasis (tribal, first peoples) and their subjugation by Hindus.
this is to preserve the mythology favoured by fundamentalist hindus that hinduism is the original belief system of the region and that the hindus are the original people. the truth appears to be
more complicated, although the debate has become one of politics rather than history. there are more worrying rewrites tho:-
[T]he Curriculum Commission accepted, that the current text, 'The Aryans created a caste system…', be replaced with: 'During Vedic times, people were divided into different social groups (varnas) based on their capacity to undertake a particular profession.'
as chatterji argues, this move obfuscates the reality of the rigid caste system which is
not meritocratic with the possibility of social mobility as the revised text tries to suggest.
the struggles of the dalits (untouchables, considered beneath the 'feet' of the caste system) are powerful testimony to the continuing oppression of caste in india. also glossed over is traditional indian society's subjugation of women:-
On page 245, the Ad Hoc Committee proposed, and the Curriculum Commission accepted, that the current text, 'Men had many more rights than women', be replaced with: 'Men had different duties (dharma) as well as rights than women. Many women were among the sages to whom the Vedas were revealed.'
the reality, as
testified to by this indian feminist, is rather different. women often have to endure abusive relationships as the social cost of divorce is so great, and a woman must faithfully serve her husband. indeed the favouring of males over females extends into
sex selective abortion, where a
recent lancet report suggests that around 10m female foetuses have been aborted over the past 20 years. the persecution of women has a clear precedent in hindu religious texts, as detailed by
sita agarwal:-
The scriptures of the 6 orthodox (`astika') schools of Brahmanism, including the sects of Vasihnavism and Vedism, prescribe the cruellest punishments imaginable for women guilty of even minor offences. Mere disobedience to the husband is immediately punished by amputation and maiming, whilst severe betrayal leads to certain death. Women guilty of lesbianism have their fingers chopped off, whilst adulterous wives are eaten alive by dogs.
i should make clear here that my intention is not to condemn hindus and suggest that they are all misogynistic upholders of the caste system - they are not. it is merely to demonstrate that, as with other religious systems, hinduism has some archaic barbarities in its closet that need to be examined rather than airbrushed out of history. the voices of those oppressed need to be heard and given space in high school history books. the problem seems to occur when self-appointed 'community leaders' like hindu education foundation (hef) and vedic foundation (vf), the groups responsible for demanding these changes, hijack processes aimed at giving minority cultures a voice, in order to propagate their religious extremism.
whilst these rewrites (and 131 out of the 153 revisions have been accepted) are certainly a disturbing attempt to censor the oppressed and favour an elite view of indian history, they do not on their own constitute fascism. but some of the bodies and organisations that do promote a highly nationalistic and fundamentalist vision of hinduism could certainly be termed fascist, and contain admirers of hitler in their ranks. the largest such group, the rashtriya swayamsevak sangh (RSS), according to
andrew robinson*:
...carry lathis (hard cane sticks), wear Gestapo-like uniforms and salute their superiors. Many of them, including high-ranking politicians, openly worship Hitler - wearing armbands and swastikas (the word is of Sanskrit origin) among other icons.
the RSS were founded on the model of mussolini's brownshirst and prominent RSS figures have openly admired hitler. madhav sadashiv golwalkar said in 1938, that:-
Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic races -- the Jews. National pride at its highest has been manifested here...
The non-Hindu people in Hindustan [homeland of Hindus] .... may stay in the country wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment, not even citizen's rights
the parallels between these ideas of cultural purity and hitler's desire for a pure aryan race could not be clearer. the RSS are active today in india and their current tactics, according to chatterji, include a concerted effort to infiltrate the educational system in india for their religious and nationalist purposes:-
The RSS has established a network of schools... to advance the ideological agenda of Hindu nationalism. For adivasis (referred derogatorily by Hindu nationalists as 'vanavasis' or 'forest dwellers') and dalits (erstwhile 'untouchable' castes), this ongoing reality of Hinduization forces their coercive incorporation into Brahmanical Hinduism. Hindu nationalists have utilized such educational networks as mechanisms through which to recruit and mobilize women, adivasis, and dalits in campaigns against religious minorities. The participation of Hinduized women, adivasi, and dalit communities in the genocide of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 exemplifies this pattern.
the aim appears to be to imbue previously dispossessed communities with a (misplaced) faith in their religious identity, to such an extent that they are willing to kill their supposed enemies.
the hindu fascists are not just content to operate via the educational system, however, as hindu nationalism had a strong hold on indian politics until the 2004 election, in the guise of the bharitiya janata parishad (BJP), the hindu nationalist party. a. b. vajpayee, the former prime minister was an RSS cadre, as were other members of the cabinet and the party executives. the party used its time in office to stir up discrimination against muslims and christians, and move the country perilously close to nuclear war with their arch enemies pakistan."We will no longer be thought of as a country of eunuchs!" said bal thakaray, leader of shiv sena (shiva's army) on learning of vajpayee's decision to go ahead with provocative nuclear tests in 1997. the macho face of militarism could not be more clear.
the election defeat of the bjp in 2004, and the victory of the congress coalition, was a welcome rejection of the milatarist hindu nationalist agenda in india, but there is no doubt that the hindutva agenda is still a potent force, not just in india but in the diaspora of countries like britain and the usa. there is no doubt that many cling more closely to their community and religious identities when terrible communal violence erupts on the subcontinent, such as the gujarat massacres or the destruction of the babri majid. the babri majid, a mosque in north india, was destroyed by fundamentalists in 1992, and
pragna patel desribes the british community's response:-
It became clear that meny hindus, across the class divides, sympathised, if not directly supported the cause of the Hindu right. The arguments, quarrels, shouting matches and silences revealed a schizophrenia as memories and feelings of partition resurfaced, even though many were not affected by it, to justify the need to take revenge against muslims.
more recently tensions mounted after sep 11th as hindus strove to dissociate themselves from muslim asians, to the extent that
sunrise radio station (a popular asian station) chose to ban the use of the secular term asian, after pressure from the uk branch of the vishwa hindu parashad. the idea seemed to be to persuade racist whites to channel their anger towards muslims rather than asians in general. the VHP has called for all non-indians to leave india at a meeting in southall, during the gujarat massacres. there is even a reference to nottingham in the archives. apparently when the irreverently anti-patriarchal film
bhaji on the beach was first screened here, the cinema was surrounded by hindu men who intimidated women who tried to get in. pragna patel ascribes the rise in hindutva here to events in india and the rise of muslim political identity in the uk. she describes her brave attempts to infiltrate a caste mela (festival, exclusively for high-caste hindus) and distribute leaflets calling for a more tolerant hinduism, amidst threats of sexual violence and initimidation. particularly telling was the manner by which they were finally ejected - by the police. no doubt keen not to rock the 'cultural sensitivity' boat, the boys in blue intervened on behalf of the more powerful side (as usual).
there are groups fighting against communalism and caste and gender-based exploitation in britain, including the
south asia solidarity group and
southall black sisters. at nottingham uni a south asian peace society was set up last year, although it appears to have disappeared now. it seems to me to be paramount to try to understand the nature of hindu fascism as with all other types of religious extremism, and to ensure that it does not take hold in our communities.
*no, not
our andrew robinson!
