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Hindutva, Gujarat style
Published Online: Oct 12, 2013
By Rathin Das
Though many states in the country have had long or short stints under the Bharatiya Janata Party, whose parent organisation had originally mooted the idea of a 'Hindu Rashtra', it is Gujarat which has actually shown the nation some glimpses of events that could take place were such a state to be born.It is not just about the occasional skirmishes around places of worship which lead to communal clashes, a phenomenon witnessed all over the country. These situations can be taken as necessary evils of a multi-cultural, multi-religious society.
But glimpses of 'Hindu Rashtra' seen in Gujarat during the last 15 years or so have been different in nature, and not just the untoward incidents which instantaneously spark off communal strife.
The 'Hindu Rashtra' idea, which has taken roots in Gujarat in the last few years, goes beyond planned or unplanned incidents which cause tension between communities. In Gujarat, the manifestation of the 'Hindu Rashtra' concept can be seen in almost every sphere of life.
The trend actually started long before the BJP was elected to power for the first time in 1995. The highly indoctrinated saffron foot soldiers had infiltrated many sections of public life in Gujarat even earlier. The party being in power for so long has only tightened their stranglehold on all spheres of public life.
While the secondary classes' social science textbooks describe minorities as "foreigners" in India, the saffron activists told animist tribals that their "Vanardev" is actually Hanuman and liberal flow of money from cities ensured that simple vermillion smeared stones with monkey motifs were transformed into impressive Hanuman temples in the Dangs. In villages, saffron activists kept watch on youngsters' love affairs and physically prevented Hindu girls eloping with Muslim boys. On the eve of Eid every year, Hindu activists intercept legally transported cattle and goats on the pretext that they are being taken to slaughter houses.
Human lives have actually been lost during such interventions meant to rescue bovines from slaughter. In several such cases, 'rescued' cattle taken to some 'shelter' have died en masse for want of water and fodder.
But the same saffron activists with so much love for bovines turned a blind eye towards deaths of as many as 40 cows which grazed outside a pharmaceutical factory that used the open plot as a dumping yard for its toxic effluent.
Quizzed on such double standards on bovine deaths, the refrain was "industrial growth would suffer if pollution control measures are followed very strictly".
This statement from a right wing activist explains why and how the 'Hindu Rashtra' concept has taken deep roots only in Gujarat while the BJP had come to power off and on in many states of India.
What makes the Hindutva ascent unique in Gujarat is the three-way nexus between the rulers, the mercantile community and the various religious sects which are privy to many secrets and handle large quantum of corporate money.
Thus, the religious sects which opened their doors and coffers to host the 2001 earthquake survivors for months at a stretch did not show any such gesture for the thousands of minorities driven out of their homes burnt by mobs out to avenge the killing of 58 passengers in the Sabarmati Express fire at Godhra on 27 February 2002.
These are just some of the instances over and above the much publicised events like saffron activists' attacks on fashions shows, burning churches in the tribal areas, vandalising art galleries for depicting some deities in bad taste or the unofficial "ban" on some films for their content or protagonist's "misdeed".
Attacks on films and art shows are generally well-known as they attract the attention of the electronic media, but some subtle manoeuvres of the saffron brigade go unnoticed though they are capable of doing serious damage to the social fabric of the country. The subtle moves include not allowing people from certain communities to rent or buy a flat in the upmarket colonies, thus accelerating the process of ghettoisation of society, which started way back in 1969 after the riots in Ahmedabad city.
Much before the BJP came to power in Gujarat, the Circuit Houses and guest houses of major corporations went 'fully vegetarian', simply because of the influence of a religious sect popular in the state.
Thus, it is not easy to pinpoint the start of the 'Hindu-isation' process in Gujarat though it is in the forefront of the saffron brigade's wish list of a march towards a "Hindu Rashtra".
No wonder, VHP leader Pravin Togadia recently declared that Gujarat would be a fully "Hindu state" by 2015. He did not explain how. Probably he has pinned his hopes on the outcome of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. (The Statesman)
The writer is The Statesman's Ahmedabad-based Special Representative.
This article appeared in The Milli Gazette print issue of 16-30 September 2013 on page no. 10
http://www.milligazette.com/news/9324-hindutva-gujarat-style
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