Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences Department of Communication Sciences THE HINDUTVA DOCTRINE AND BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY IN 2019 ELECTIONS IN INDIA: CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS Ali ZAIN Master’s Thesis Ankara, 2020 THE HINDUTVA DOCTRINE AND BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY IN 2019 ELECTIONS IN INDIA: CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS Ali ZAIN Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences Department of Communication Sciences Master’s Thesis Ankara, 2020 iv DEDICATION To Abeer Fatima who left us in this world to live in the heaven! v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to thank Prof. Dr. Mutlu Binark who supervised this research work at Department of Communication Sciences, Hacettepe University and guided me with her sound professional skills throughout. In addition to her professional capabilities, I must say that she is a wonderful and compassionate human being. I consider myself honored to have worked with her. It is also a matter of pride for me to study at Hacettepe University as an international student and I believe that this journey could not have been a productive endeavor without teachers like Dr. Ahmet Serhat Kaymas, Dr. Aslı Gülsüm Açan and Dr. Emre Toros, and friends like Ertan Ağaoğlu, Gökçe Özsu and Mehmet Fiğan. I am also grateful to Muhammad ABuBakar Siddique (PhD Candidate at University of California, Riverside) for his assistance regarding use of Python programming for data collection. I wish them all very Best for their careers as well as personal lives. Additionally, I am also very thankful to the Turkish Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) for providing me with financial and all of the other necessary support during my stay in Turkey. And above all, I am very thankful to the people of Turkey who have been so great hosts to me. They love Pakistan and Pakistanis in such a way that even makes me envious sometimes. To the Brotherhood of Pakistan and Turkey! Ali ZAIN Ankara, 2020 vi ABSTRACT ZAIN, Ali. The Hindutva Doctrine and Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019 Elections in India: Critical Discourse Analysis, Master’s Thesis, Ankara, 2020. This study is an attempt to understand how the doctrine of Hindutva which considers Hindu- chauvinism as the spirit of Indian nationalism has played a central role in the development of populist discourse of Bharatiya Janata Party during the 2019 general elections in India. The BJP has close ideological association with ultra-right-wing Hindu organization the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh which laid foundation of modern-era Hindutva movement, and incidents of persecution and intolerance towards minorities have also increased under rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014. Especially the Muslims of India have Been tagged as the foreigners by the BJP. This study uses the three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis presented by Norman Fairclough to qualitatively assess the textual and visual discursive texts shared by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its key leaders on Twitter during 2019 election campaign. Additionally, the election speeches of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also been analyzed through development of themes and sub-themes on the Basis of the essentials of populism and Hindutva doctrine simultaneously. The mythological and historical Basis of Hindutva doctrine, and theoretical debate on populism have also been taken into consideration to find answers to the research Questions and it was found that the Hindutva ideology played a central role in the electoral campaign of the BJP and helped it in the construction of the people and the antagonizing others, the identification of a charismatic leader, the portrayal of politically reluctant agenda and the definition of a foreign enemy. It was also found that the BJP excessively used historical and mythological references, symbolism, ritualistic notions and promised Hindutva- focused political and constitutional reforms to assert that it was the contemporary political face of the Hindutva doctrine and that it was totally committed to the cause of Hindutva. This study hence demonstrates how the political and public discourse of the world’s largest democracy is being shaped by using ultra right-wing populist discourse as an effective tool of political communication to pave the way for reduced political liberties, undemocratic practices and Hindu chauvinism. Keywords: Bharatiya Janata Party, Narendra Modi, Hindutva, Right-wing Populism, Political Communication, Indian Nationalism vii ÖZET ZAIN, Ali. Hindutva Doktrini ve Hindistan'da 2019 Seçimlerinde Bharatiya Janata Partisi: Eleştirel Söylem Analizi, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Ankara, 2020. Bu çalışma, Hindu-şovenizmini Hint milliyetçiliğinin ruhu olarak gören Hindutva doktrininin, Hindistan 2019 genel seçimleri sırasında Bharatiya Janata Partisi'nin popülist söyleminin gelişiminde nasıl merkezi bir rol oynadığını anlama çabasıdır. BJP, modern dönem Hindutva hareketinin temelini oluşturan aşırı sağcı Hindu örgütü Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ile yakın ideolojik Bir ilişki içindedir. 2014’ten Bu yana Başbakan Narendra Modi’nin yönetimi altında azınlıklara karşı zulüm ve hoşgörüsüzlük olayları da artmıştır. Özellikle Hindistan’da yaşayan Müslümanlar BJP tarafından yaBancı olarak etkiketlenmektedir. Bu çalışma 2019 seçimleri sırasında Bharatiya Janata Partisi’nin ve önemli liderlerinin Twitter’da paylaştığı metinsel ve görsel metinleri niteliksel olarak değerlendirmek için Norman Fairclough tarafından geliştirilen üç boyutlu eleştirel söylem analizi modellini kullanmaktadır. Buna ek olarak, Hindistan BaşBakanı Narendra Modi’nin seçim konuşmaları da popülizmin ve Hindutva doktrininin temelleri etrafında temalar ve alt temalar geliştirilerek analiz edilmiştir. Araştırma sorularına cevap aranırken Hindutva doktrininin mitolojik ve tarihsel temeli ile popülizm üzerine kuramsal tartışma göz önünde Bulundurulmuştur. Hindutva ideolojisinin BJP’nin seçim kampanyasında merkezi Bir rol oynadığı, halkın Hindu olarak inşasına ve aynı zamanda diğerlerinin düşman olarak tanımlanmasına, karizmatik liderin tanımlanmasına ve yabancı düşman tanımının yaratılmasına yardımcı olduğu bu çalışmada ortaya çıkmıştır. Ayrıca BJP’nin tarihsel ve mitolojik referansları, semBolizmi ve ritüelistik kavramları çok yoğun kullandığı, Hindutva doktrininin çağdaş yüzü olduğunu iddia edebilmek için Hindutva temelli siyasi ve anayasal reformlar vaat ettiği görülmüştür. Dolayısıyla Bu çalışma, dünyanın en Büyük demokrasisinin siyasi ve kamusal söyleminin, azaltılmış siyasi özgürlükler, demokratik olmayan uygulamalar ve Hindu şovenizminin önünü açma amacıyla, etkili Bir siyasi iletişim aracı olarak ultra sağ popülizm söyleminin kullanılarak, nasıl şekillendirildiğini gözler önüne sermektedir. Anahtar Sözcükler: Bharatiya Janata Partisi, Narendra Modi, Hindutva, Sağ Popülizm, Siyasal İletişim, Hint Milliyetçiliği viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACCEPTANCE AND APPROVAL...…………….……………..……………….........i YAYIMLAMA VE FİKRİ MÜLKİYET HAKLARI BEYANI...……………….......ii ETİK BEYAN……………………………………………………..……………….......iii DEDICATION..……...………………….………………………..………………........iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..……………………………..……..………………..........v ABSTRACT ..……………………………………………………..………...……........vi ÖZET ..…………………………………..………………………..……………….......vii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………...……..……………………........viii ABREVIATIONS.............……………….…………….…………………..………......xi TABLES.............……………………………………….…………………..…….........xii PICTURES ……………………..……………………………………………….........xiii FIGURES………..………………………………………………………………........xiv INTRODUCTION……………………………………….…………………..…………1 CHAPTER 1: POPULISM AS A POLITICAL DISCOURSE AND PRACTICE………….….…..19 1.1. POPULISM: DISCOURSE, IDEOLOGY OR INSTRUMENT………20 1.2. POPULISM AND DEMOCRACY ………………………………….…..27 1.2.1. Populist Democracy……………………………………………28 1.2.2. Patronage Democracy………………………………………....29 1.3. RIGHT-WING POPULISM………………………….…………………31 1.4. RELIGION AND POPULISM.………………………...……..….……..33 ix 1.4.1. Christian Populism…………………………………………….34 1.4.2. Islamist Populism……………...……………………….……....37 1.4.3. Jewish Populism………………………………………….…….39 1.4.4. Hindu Populism………………………………………………..40 1.5. POPULISM AS POLITICAL COMMUNICATION……………….….42 1.6. POPULISM IN INDIA ………………………………...………….……..45 1.7. GENERAL EVALUATION OF CHAPTER…………………………...48 CHAPTER 2: HINDUTVA AS A POPULIST POLITICAL MOVEMENT………………….…...50 2.1.WHAT IS HINDUTVA? ………………………….………...…………….50 2.2.FACES OF MODERN HINDUTVA………………………..………….…55 2.2.1. Arya Samaj Movement………………………………………..56 2.2.2. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh………………….………...….58 2.2.3. Bharatiya Jana Sangh…………………………………………63 2.2.4. Bharatiya Janata Party………………………………………..65 2.3.HINDUTVA AS A POPULIST IDEA……………………………...……..68 2.3.1. Defining “the People” and “the Others”……………………..69 2.3.2. Presence of Ailing System and Offering Solution…..…….….71 2.3.3. Reluctantly Political and Charismatic Leadership………......74 2.4.INDIA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM……………………………………...….76 2.4.1. Indian General Election in 2019……………………….……...77 2.5.GENERAL EVALUATION OF CHAPTER……………………..……...78 CHAPTER 3: HINDUTVA DOCTRINE IN 2019 THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN……..……..….79 3.1.SOCIAL MEDIA AND BJP’S POLITICS…………………………….....80 3.2.ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION…………………………...……..83 3.2.1. (Re)Connecting With Hindutva………………………………91 3.2.2. Construction of Hindutva-Nation………….…………………94 x 3.2.3. Construction of Antagonistic Others……………….………...99 3.2.4. Portrayal of Charismatic Leadership……………….………105 3.2.5. Politically Reluctant Populism of Hindutva……….….…….108 3.2.6. Introduction of Hindutva-Reforms in India……………..…112