HINDU FUNDAMENTALISM: ITS IMPACT ON THE POLITICS OF INDIA (1992-2008) MALIHA SHAMIM Ph.D: Roll No. 18 Session: - 2004-2009 Supervisor PROF. DR. UMBREEN JAVAID Centre for South Asian Studies University of the Punjab Quaid-i-Azam Campus Lahore 1 Chapter: 1 INTRODUCTION In spite of science and technology having made miracles, arts and literature reaching new heights, parts of this world are ruled by bigotry, hatred and fanaticism in the name of religion and race. Mankind is facing an uncertain future because of conflict and rivalry between different groups professing different forms of fundamentalism. There are fundamentalists in every religious community. Fundamentalism is easily discernable in Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam which are belief-oriented religions. Fundamentalists hold rigidly to their beliefs and insist that their religion alone is true and that other religions should not be tolerated, particularly where members of their religion are in a majority. Fundamentalists adhere to their older religious customs and refuse to merge into the broader stream of modern society.1 Fundamentalist groups often seek to convert people to their own beliefs. The term Fundamentalism has its origin in a series of pamphlets between 1910 and 1915. In 1920, a journalist and a Baptist layman Curtis Lee Laws appropriated the term ―fundamentalism‖ as a designation for those who were ready to do battle royal for the ―fundamentals‖. The Oxford Advance Learner‘s Dictionary of current English defines ―Fundamentalism‖ as the ―maintenance of the literal interpretation of the traditional beliefs of the Christian religion in opposition to more modern teachings‖. Webster‘s New World Dictionary gives the following meaning of ―fundamentalism‖: ―religious beliefs based on a literal interpretation of the Bible and regarded as fundamental to Christian faith.‖ Fundamentalism has been used mainly in the Christian context, but it is also used to express similar beliefs and attitudes with reference to other religions of the world as Islam and Hinduism.2 Fundamentalism is a deep commitment to religious belief, involving a return to supposed fundamentals, away from social and political life. This term applies to Protestant denominations, Jewish groups, Buddhist movements, Hindu political and Islamic governments.3 Fundamentalists abhor urbanization, industrialization and other modern secular values. They are mostly in confrontation with modern society. Fundamentalism is more conspicuous in the countries held by failed secular and authoritarian governments, because they provide an alternative and are more appealing to the masses due to their hostility to the Western domination. Fundamentalism is deeply rooted in the backwardness of the society, social deprivation, poverty and ignorance. During the Cold War imperialism used fundamentalism against the 2 Left. But in the post-Cold War era fundamentalism came to the forefront as a challenge to imperialism. The societies where capitalism failed to eliminate poverty, ignorance and class differences, provide fertile soil for the growth of fundamentalism. Strong fundamentalist groups have built alternate societies providing hospitals, schools, orphanages etc, which the governments have failed to provide. When the colonial powers left South Asia, it was thought that they had left behind modern, secular, democratic ideas and institutions. But with the break-up of the Soviet Union and the fall of Eastern European States, a resurgence of nationalism is witnessed where religion is vital to national identity. Group loyalty is more important than individual rights for fundamentalists. They want to propagate their own ideas because they believe in their own particular faith and want to ―save the souls‖ of the people of their country even if it necessitates the use of force. The late twentieth century has seen a global resurgence of religions around the world. In India a virulent form of Hindu fundamentalism is becoming stronger and it is feared that the world‘s largest democracy is tilting towards Fascism.4 It is very ironical that the very first writers of Hindu fundamentalism were deeply impressed by European Orientalists. The same excuse that was put forward by the Europeans to rule over Asians was used by Indian writers to create an idea of a United India. Hindu fundamentalists speak of an original Hindu Empire, extending West into Afghanistan and Central Asia, extending North to recover the Tibet, Northwest to Cambodia and Southeast to Java.5 Resurgence of Hindu fundamentalism is not something new. The very first traces can be witnessed in ―Bakhti Movement‖ of fourteenth century when it was tried to assimilate Islam into Hinduism. After the victory of British in 1857, Dayanand Saraswati established Arya Samaj to save Hinduism from degeneracy. Arya Samaj played an important role in Urdu-Hindi controversy of 1867 and the movements of ‗Shuddhi‘ and ‗Sangathan‘. Another important Hindu fundamentalist leader, Tilak resurrected Shivaji, the most successful Hindu king against the Mughal Emperors. He started festivals to honour Shivaji and the elephant god ‗Ganesha‘ which later on turned very violent leading to communal riots. The end of Honeymoon period of Hindus and Muslims in 1922 led to the formation of Hindu Mahasabha, one of whose leaders Veer Savarkar advocated that only those who believed in Bharatversha could be considered true Indians. This line of extremist thinking was followed by Hedgewar who established the most famous Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (R.S.S) which was inspired by Nazi ideals. After independence RSS campaigned for ban on cow slaughter in 1960s and projected a ‗patriotic, nationalistic‟ fervour during Indo-China war. A campaign was also started to ‗Indianise Muslims‟ of India in the 1960s.The formation of 3 Congress ministries in 1937 shattered all dreams of a federal structure in India. Congress rule was actually a Hindu Raj and changed the thinking of the Muslims who adopted ―division‖ instead of ―federalism‖ as their policy and goal. After independence it was in its reign that Doordarshan version of epics ‗Ramayana‟ and ‗Mahabharta‟ provided official recognition of Hindu mythology, while its leadership allowed a back-door entry to saffron elements and parties. It was this populism which was deeply exploited by the fundamentalist parties who planned to take a bigger stride towards ‗Ram Raj‘ by the demolition of Babri Mosque. ―As ideologies of secularism and socialism lost credibility, Congress regime turned to an implicit religious based majoritarianism that finally paved the way for the more ideologically committed and organizationally cohesive forces of Hindutva.‖6 The partition of Indian sub-continent came as a shock to RSS and they tried to rebuild it with a vengeance. Cow protection societies were renewed and RSS took active part in anti-cow slaughter agitations. Gandhi‘s assassination by Nathuram Godse made RSS, Hindu Mahasabha and the like parties unpopular for a short time but the fundamentalists took to the battlefield. In 1951, a new party by the name of Bharatiya Jana Sangh was created. Atal Bihari Vajpaee, later India‘s Prime Minister, was one of the early members. This party stood for four fundamentals: ―one country, one culture, one nation and Dharma Raj‖. It reorganized itself as BJP in 1980 and rose to national prominence by pledging to build a temple dedicated to Hindu god Rama on a site where a Muslim mosque was torn down in 1992. Initially BJP focused on regeneration and moral renewal but gradually began to assume more extreme and communal views.7 BJP leaders saw the Ramjanmabhoomi movement as part of a long term Hindu self-assertion that would change basic political paradigms and a short-term springboard to poltical power within the existing paradigm.8 The election of 1991 can be credited for increasing the popularity of BJP to one hundred percent. BJP quite successfully played the Hindu card revolving around Ayodhya by sloganeering such as ―Whoever wants to live in this country will have to declare himself a Hindu.‖ BJP had only two seats in Lok Sabha in 1984 and the number increased to one hundred and eighty two in 1999. The politics of hate and derision is helpful in acquiring the vote bank, so the religious chauvinists in the garb of BJP, Shiv Sena and VHP work upon the Hindu mentality for the sake of Ram and Krishan. Saner elements in India point to Hindu attempts to change the constitution so as to curb free expression and rights of different minorities particularly Muslim and Christians. Another hardline Hindu outfit Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was founded in 1964 as its founders believed that Hinduism was less uniform and more diffuse due to which other faiths being more rigorous were considered superior to it. Gradually VHP and RSS came 4 closer.Many factors were responsible for the reactivation of Hindu right in the 80s. The first alarm was the conversion to Islam of a group of low caste Hindus in Meenakshipuram. This acted as a catalyst for the revival of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the most important actor in the Ayodhya movement.9 The opposition to conversions found its strongest expression in Uttar Pradesh as the VHP and BJP organized demonstrations to highlight the danger to Hinduism of the conversions to Islam.10 Equally significant was the revival of the Hindi- Urdu controversy in response to the Uttar Pradesh government‘s half hearted attempt to make Urdu the second language of the State. Not only the BJP but many Congressmen participated enthusiastically in the various campaigns to save ‗Hinduism‘. For the past twenty years Ayodhya has been central to Indian politics. According to Hindu fundamentalists the four hundred year old Babri Mosque stood on the site of birthplace of Hindu god Rama. The claim does not have any archeological or historical proof. Still, the mosque was demolished resulting in communal tension. The reinvigorated fundamentalism is successfully playing up xenophobic forces with increased self confidence and invincibility.