Narendra Modi – Page 28

Modi’s victory 2014: Paradigm shift of Indian politics

October 15, 2014 by Ram Puniyani

The elections of 2014 were different in more ways than one. More than in any previous election the campaign launched by Modi was preceded by heavy propaganda at every stage of his elevation, his being nominated the chief of campaign Committee, his being named the Prime Ministerial candidate and finally the electoral campaign itself. He had prepared ground for his campaign through social media, where dedicated team of hundreds kept working for him. He had hired the US based agency APCO for building his image. (1) The first part of the campaign was ready even before the formal campaign began. In people’s eyes he was projected and became synonymous with the ‘development’. His role in Gujarat carnage 2002 was hidden under the cloak of make believe ‘clean chit’. This time around RSS decided to come forward with full-fledged support into the electoral politics to support Modi with huge number of volunteers to man the election campaign from booth level upwards, “Even now, in 2014 elections, the nationalist organization pressed all its workers and volunteers number over 10 lakh besides 40,000 and odd local units, call sakhas, besides sympathizers and likeminded people to support BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, in mission form.” (2). With this the RSS progeny, BJP for the first time came to power with simple majority. In a way this was the major landmark for RSS, which has been working in diverse ways for the agenda of Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nationalism) from 1925.

The Backdrop

Modi is a trained Pracharak (propagator) of RSS, deeply soaked in the ideology of Hindu nationalism, working for the agenda of Hindu nation. (3) In the decade of 1980 multiple factors at global and local level led to the rise of conservative middle classes, the petty industrialists, the rich farmers, the affluent professionals, who are always for the politics of status quo. During this time the global changes, the creeping globalization was on and the attacks on working class movement were stepped up. RSS-VHP during this phase started promoting the religiosity all round. Using the Shah Bano judgment as the pretext, RSS launched the tirade against secular values by putting forward the word ‘Pseudo secularism’ and phrases like appeasement of minorities.

In this backdrop Advani started his Rath Yatra for Ram Temple. (4) This was the time when the country was grapping the issues of reservations for OBCs and the rights of workers. Also the issues related to rights of women and Adovasis were coming to the fore in a significant way. In the country where the dire need of basic amenities for life and the need for protection of the human rights of weaker sections of society are paramount, the RSS combine brought forward the issues related to identity of a section of Hindus. At the same time their propaganda targeted the religious minorities, a mix of distorted version of history, and presenting the victims as culprits. The rath yatra of Advani created the atmosphere of ‘Hate towards minorities’ and this led to series of acts of violence (4).

The major outcome of this campaign for Ram Temple was that the issues related to human rights and the bread, butter, shelter and employment got relegated to the background and social-political scene started revolving around the identity issues. As a part of the communal politics unleashed by RSS combine, the anti Christian violence in Adivasis areas also got stepped up (5). It is no mere coincidence that in these areas the corporate giants want to have a free hand and have been able to encroach the lands of Adivasis.

RSS Combine: Agenda of Hindu Nationalism

RSS began in India during the freedom movement as an organization opposed to the freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi (6), opposed to the concept of Indian Nationalism and harping on the glory of ancient Hindu kings, era of pastoral Aryans and ancient Hindu scriptures. RSS began as a response to the struggle of dalits for their land rights and the rising opposition to the values of Brahminism prevalent in the society. The non Brahman movement was inspired by Jotiba Phule and Dr. Ambedkar. As the average people started coming up in the society, started participating in the freedom movement, the elite-upper castes sections felt threatened and they came together to form Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). (7) This organization began by holding shakhas, and developed a training module according to which this (India) is a Hindu nation from times immemorial. The freedom movement’s values of incorporating people of all the religions in the movement were not acceptable to them. They trained the young boys into swayamsevaks, who took oath to work for Hindu nation. They also kept totally aloof from freedom movement. RSS was founded by the Chittapvan Brahmins and is an exclusively male organization. (8)

RSS went on to form various subordinate organizations like Rashtra Sevika Samiti (for women). In this name the word swayam is missing as RSS being a male dominated patriarchal organization, it believes in the inherent subjugation of women as secondary beings. Later RSS went on to form Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad, (Student wing), and then in collaboration with Hindu Mahasabha it formed Bhartiya Jansangh, the previous avatar of the present BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (for bringing together different Hindu sects under the control of RSS) Vanvasi Kalyan Ahsram (to work amongst Adivasis to Hidutvise them), Bajrang Dal as its foot soldiers (for unleashing street violence against religious minorities) and many other organizations like Durga Vahini etc. (9)

On similar lines it began many an institutions to propagate its views (weeklies like Panchjanya and Organizer), started Sarswati Shishu Mandirs and Ekal Schools for Adivasi children. Its ideological spread was achieved through spread of Brahminical norms through various channels. Infiltration of its RSS swayamsevaks into the state apparatus, police, military, bureaucracy is also very deep.

The ideological indoctrination

Through its shakhas it started spreading the hate for minorities, opposition to the values of secularism and Indian Constitution. This relentless opposition went on through many other channels also. It also made inroads to the IT professionals by the web meetings called IT milans (Gathering) (10). The social media also was and has been used by RSS combine in a very effective way. The result has been that the social scene has come to be dominated by the conservative thinking. Meanwhile RSS also popularized the word, Hindutva. This word Hindutva stands for the politics based on Brahimincal values of caste and gender hierarchy. Mistakenly the politics of Hindutva is supposed to be ‘a way of life’ by many. (11)

Throughout the decades of 1960 and 1970 there were sporadic episodes of violence. This led to polarization of the religious communities and provided the ground for rise of electoral strength of communal party. In the decade of 1980s, with the Ram Temple campaign picking up, the intensity of violence also started going up. Major episodes of violence took place in various cities of North India. All this was dwarfed by the communal violence Post Babri demolition. (12) The violence in cities like Mumbai, Bhopal and Surat was too horrific for words. The violence unleashed in Gujarat on the pretext of Godhra train burning shamed the nation as a whole, beyond all previous acts of violence. (13, 14)

Modi: Gujarat Violence and After

The post Godhra violence was a sample of the way state can actively promote violence. So far in the communal violence in India, the police, the state had been by and large an onlooker, mostly police siding with rioters. In Gujarat the equation was worsened much further with state, led by Modi actively promoting violence. Though it is claimed that Special Investigation team has given the clean chit to Modi, the fact is that based on the same report, the Supreme Court appointed Amicus Curie Raju Ramchandran feels the report has enough evidence to prosecute Modi for his role in 2002 violence. (15) After the violence the state of Gujarat totally washed its hands off the responsibility to rehabilitate the violence victims. The process of marginalization of religious minorities went quite far. A large section has been living in ghettoes in Ahmadabad itself, while their civic and political rights have been trampled and they are living like second class citizens. There is an intense propaganda that Gujarat is most developing state, the fact is that Gujarat was already amongst the more developed states, the claims of huge investments through Vibrant Gujarat summits have little substance in them, promises have been more than the actualizations. The real indices of social development are lagging behind. The rate of employment generation is very low, amongst other things Gujarat is low on the per capita spending, the Hemoglobin level of pregnant women is on the lower side and sex ratio has also fallen during last one and a half decade. (16)

Hindutva: Electoral Strategy

RSS combine has been entering into the electoral arena by and by. While in 1984 elections when it was giving the slogan of Gandhian socialism, it had only two MPs in Lok Sabha. In 1996, it went on to more than 150 MPs and it emerged as the largest single party. That time no other electoral party was willing to ally with it. The BJP government fell. After going through couple of ‘third-front’ experiments, BJP managed to cobble up the coalition, National Democratic Alliance. For this it had to give up the core issues of Ram Temple, abolition of Article 370 in Kashmir and Uniform Civil Code. This strategy worked and BJP led NDA ruled for nearly six years. During this time it communalized the text books (17) and recruited RSS volunteers in to various government schemes and supported many NGOs with RSS agenda and RSS got a big boost in the political arena and its dominance was perceptible in different walks of life.

The Hindutva combine knows that it was so far not able to come to power on its own. Now it is hoping that it will go with subtle Hindutva agenda in the background and keeping ‘development-Gujarat model’ in the foreground.

Agenda of Hindu Rashtra – Hindutva Politics

Modi represents the aggressive form of Hindutva agenda. He openly said that they believe in Hindu nationalism. (18) This is a subtle and open hint at the communal fascism which RSS combine, of which Modi is the major leader, wants to bring in. The major support base for RSS combine, more so with Modi at the helm is the corporate sector on one hand and the middle level corporate employees, the Information Technology-MBA groups on the other. Modi has demonstrated in Gujarat that he can open all the state coffers for the industrialists, land, loans and necessary paraphernalia. This has impressed the corporate sector and they are pitching for him in a major way.(19) The corporate media has uncritically propagated his claims about development. The social welfare schemes have been kept in abeyance, due to which the poorer sections are suffering. As for as minorities are concerned the central schemes related to Sachar Committee are not being implemented, the scholarship funds for the Muslim students is being returned back year after year. Modi in this sense is ruthlessly opposed to schemes related to religious minorities. (20)

He is the choice of corporate, middle classes, the traders and the RSS support base. Each of these has their own understanding of Modi and he fits in to the bill of these all. Corporate think he will give them a free hand to plunder, the middle classes know Modi is the best guarantee against social change for betterment of the deprived sections and religious minorities. The RSS, discarded Advani on two grounds, one that he made that statement about Jinnah being secular (20) and other that he is on the wrong side of the age. RSS, the real controller of BJP and other affiliated organizations see in Modi a ruthless swayamsevak out to bring in Hindu Rashtra.

Some people, ideologues, try to argue that more violence has taken place in Congress ruled states than under the regime of BJP. This way BJP is defended for its being communal. While Congress ruled period has seen large number of cases, the role of Congress is in not controlling the violence which is instigated by some communal organizations. Most of the inquiry commission reports have made it clear that violence is initiated, planned and executed by communal organizations, while Congress leadership is either watching helplessly or subtly exacerbating it. (22) What we have to remember is that BJP as a party cannot and should not be compared with any other party, as BJP is not just and electoral party, it is basically the electoral wing of RSS, whose agenda is opposed to the agenda of secular democratic India, the dream of Indian nationalism, the dream of those who contributed to the ‘Making of the Nation-India’, the diverse streams represented by Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar!

Elections 2014

The results of Parliamentary Elections were very interesting. With 31% vote share BJP-Modi won 282 Parliament seats. Modi has been of course the flavor of the season and this time around it is being said that it was his plank of ‘development’ which attracted the voters to him, cutting across the caste and religious equations. How far is that true? Keeping aside the fact that Modi was backed to the hilt by Corporate (23), money flowed like water and all this was further aided by the steel frame of lakhs of RSS workers who managed the ground level electoral work for BJP (24). Thus Modi stood on two solid pillars, Corporate on one side and RSS on the other. He asserted that though he could not die for independence he will live for Independent India. This is again amongst the many falsehoods, which he has concocted to project his image in the public eye.

One knows that he belongs to a political ideology and political stream of RSS-Hindutva, which was never a part of freedom struggle. RSS-BJP-Hindutva nationalism is different from the nationalism of freedom movement. Gandhi, freedom movement’s nationalism is Indian Nationalism while Modi parivar’s Nationalism is Hindu nationalism, a religious nationalism similar and parallel to Muslim nationalism of Jinnah: Muslim League. From the sidelines, RSS and its clones kept criticizing the freedom movement as it was for inclusive Indian nationalism, while Modi’ ideological school, RSS is for Hindu nationalism. So there is no question of people like him or his predecessors having died for freedom of the country. (25)

There are multiple other factors which helped him to be ‘first past the post’, his aggressive style, his success in banking upon weaknesses of Congress, his ability to communicate with masses supplemented by the lackluster campaign of Congress. The Presidential style of electioneering added weight to Modi’s success. Congress, of course, has collected the baggage of corruption and weak governance. The out of proportion discrediting of Congress begun by Anna movement, backed by RSS, and then taken forward by Kejriwal contributed immensely knocking Congress out of reckoning for victory. Kejrival in particular woke up to BJP’s corruption a wee bit too late and with lots of reluctance. Anna, who at one time was being called the ‘second Gandhi’ eclipsed in to non-being after playing the crucial role for some time. (26) Kejriwal pursuing his impressive looking agenda against corruption went on to transform the social movement into a political party and in the process raising lots of questions on the nature and potentials of social movements. The anti corruption propaganda of AAP was directed mainly against Congress, unmindful of the fact that corruption is the symptom of the deeper malady of our social system, unmindful of the fact that corruption is related to power and those who want shortcut to wealth are equal partners in the game of corruption. AAP put more than 400 candidates. Many of these candidates have excellent reputation and contribution to social issues and for engaging challenges related to social transformation. AAP played a major role in discrediting Congress and it let occupy BJP the anti Corruption space also, as its criticism against BJP’s corruption came more as an afterthought.

Modi’s Victory: Development or Divisiveness

Coming to the ‘development’ agenda, it is true that after the Gujarat carnage, Modi quickly took up the task of propagating the myth of ‘development’ of Gujarat. This ‘make believe’ myth of Gujarat’s development as such was state government’s generous attitude towards the Corporate, who in turn started clamoring for ‘Modi as PM’ right from 2007. While the religious minorities started being relegated to the second class citizenship in Gujarat, the myth of Gujarat development started becoming the part of folk lore, for long unchallenged by other parties and scholars studying the development. When the data from Gujarat started being analyzed critically the hoax of development lay exposed, but by that time it was too late for the truth of development to be communicated to the people far and wide. On the surface it appears as if this was the only agenda around which Modi campaigned.

That’s far from true. Modi as such used communal and caste card time and over again. This was done with great amount of ease and shrewdness. He did criticize the export of beef labeling it Pink revolution, (27) subtly hinting the link of meat-beef to Muslim minorities. This converted an economic issue into a communal one. Modi spoke regularly against Bangla speaking Muslims by saying that the Assam Government is doing away with Rhinos for accommodating the Bangla infiltrators (28). He further added that they should be ready to pack their bags on 16th May when he will take over as the Prime Minister of the country. The communal message was loud and clear. BJP spokesmen have already stated that these Bangla speaking Hindus are refugees while the Muslims are infiltrators. His party men, Amit Shah talked of revenge of Muzzafarnagar and Giriraj Singh warned that those opposing Modi should go to Pakistan. (29)

If one examines the overall scatter of the areas where BJP has won this time, a very disturbing fact comes to one’s mind. While at surface the plank of development ruled the roost there is definitely the subtle role played by communal polarization. BJP has mostly succeeded in areas where already communal polarization has been brought in through communal violence or terrorist violence. Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP, MP, Bihar, Assam all these have seen massive communal violence in the past. While the states which have not come under the sway of BJP-Modi are the one’s which have been relatively free from communal violence: Tamil Nadu, Bengal and Kerala in particular! Orissa is a bit of an exception, where despite the Kandhmal violence, Navin Patnaik’s party is managing to be in power.

The socio political interpretation of the deeper relations between acts of violence and victory of RSS-BJP-Modi needs to be grasped at depth; the polarizing role of communal-terrorist violence needs a deeper look. While on surface the development myth has won over large section of electorate, it has taken place in areas which have in past seen the bouts of violence. Most of the inquiry commission reports do attribute violence to the machinations of communal organization (30). While overtly the caste was not used, Modi did exploit the word Neech Rajniti (Low level Politics) used by Priyanka Gandhi and converted it in to Neech Jati (low caste), flaunting his caste (31). At other occasions also he projected his caste, Ghanchi to polarize along caste lines.

What signal has been given by Modi’s victory? The message of Mumbai, Gujarat Muzzafrnagar and hoards of other such acts has created a deep sense of insecurity amongst sections of our population. Despite Modi’s brave denials and the struggles of social activists, justice delivery seems to be very slow, if at all, and justice eluding the victims. The culprits are claiming they are innocents and that they have got a ‘clean chit’. While there are many firsts in Modi coming to power, one first which is not highlighted is that, this is the first time a person accused of being part of the carnage process is going to have all the levers of power under his control. So what are the future prospects for the Indian democracy, values of Indian Constitution? Can Modi give up his core agenda of Hindu Nationalism, which has been the underlying ideology of his politics, or will he deliver a Hindu nation to his mentors?

Modi’s Persona: Autocratic-Fascist

With Modi coming to power in the 2014 elections Modi is being compared to the likes of Nixon, Margret Thatcher, Reagan (32) on one side and Hitler on the other. His being compared to Hitler has met with severe criticism by many other commentators who are saying that Modi is no Hitler and India of 2014 is very different from Germany of 1930s. (33) They argue that after the defeat of Germany in the First World War, Germany was going through a rough patch which was worsened by the great depression of late 1920s and this created a situation of the rise of Hitler and his genocidal politics. The second factor which they assert is about the weakness of German Democracy where the Nazi’s just with 30% of the votes could come to power.

It’s true that no two political situations are exactly alike. What is also true is that despite the superficial differences there are deeply embedded trends which have similarity in more ways than one. While India has not seen the type of post First World War ignominy which Germans suffered, it is also true that during last few years, beginning with Anna Hazare movement and later through Arvind Kejrivals’ AAP party a serious sense of mistrust in the ruling party and the political system was carefully orchestrated. The moving force of Anna movement was Modi’s parent organization RSS. Through a vicious propaganda and spectacle of mass programs Anna movement practically constructed a total mistrust in the present system of parliament and the ruling Party. Kejrival, by taking along sections of social movements and civic society groups took this discrediting of the ruling party to further limits.

As far as the democracy in India is concerned it is a contradictory process, in the process of evolution. Some steps forward: some steps back! On one hand we see that the democratic awareness is spreading far and wide, the keenness to participate in the electoral process is increasing by the day, which is a very positive trend. At the same time there is the Westminster model of electoral politics, which totally undermines the representative character of Indian democracy. In Germany Nazis could come to power with 30% of votes. Here in 2014 India, BJP with 31% of votes has emerged as the party with the simple majority! The other process undermining the character of Indian democracy is the prevalence of caste and gender hierarchy. This graded hierarchy prevalent in the society due to which women and dalits both are subject to the injustices, which are there but not perceived and projected so easily in the society. Yet another factor undermining Indian democracy is the communalization of state apparatus due to which religious minorities are not only subjected to regular repeated violence but are also deprived of justice. Many a youth have been recklessly arrested in the wake of bomb blasts, their social lives and careers ruined before the court exonerated them on the ground as the evidence against was totally fabricated one. Meanwhile the demonization of this minority goes up and they are relegated to the status of ‘second class citizenship. (34)

While Hitler may have been an overt hater of Jews, Parliamentary democracy, Modi is deeply rooted in the ideology of ‘Hindu nationalism’, which regards Hindus alone to be the ones’ deserving to be the citizens of this country. The people of ‘foreign religions’ Muslims and Christians are regarded as the threat to Hindu nation. Golwalkar, the RSS ideologue outlined this in his book Bunch of Thoughts. Modi’s ideological foundations are in this ideology which again goes on to model itself on the lines of Hitler. Appreciating Hitler’s genocide against Jews. Modi’s ideological mentor, Golwalkar writes, writes, “…To keep up the purity of nation and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of Semitic races-The Jews. National pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how neigh impossible it is for races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindustan to learn and profit by. (35)

Modi has shown this in practice in Gujarat, where nearly two thousand people were done to death by brutal methods and then large section of the Muslim community has been reduced to live the life of humiliation and deprivation, concentrated in the ghettoes.

When a German delegation visited Gujarat (April 2010), one of the members of the delegation pointed out that he was shocked by parallels between Germany under Hitler and Gujarat under Modi. Incidentally in Gujarat school books Hitler has been glorified as a great nationalist. (36). The similarities with Hitler don’t end here. Like Hitler, Modi enjoys the solid support from the corporate World. Like Hitler Modi has deep hatred for religious minorities and he believes in Hindu nationalism, as per his own admission. His attitude to religious minorities and his own persona was best described the psychoanalyst Ashish Nandy, who interviewed him much before he presided over the Gujarat when the carnage was on, he wrote “…I had the privilege of interviewing…it left me in no doubt that here was a classic, clinical case of a fascist. I never use the term ‘fascist’ as a term of abuse; to me it is a diagnostic category comprising not only one’s ideological posture but also the personality traits and motivational patterns contextualizing the ideology.”
(37)

While Germany of 1930 and India of 2014 are different there are many similarities also. The context of Hitler and Modi is different but the underlying politics (sectarian nationalism) is similar, demonization of the ‘other’ is similar, charisma created around them is similar. The fate of the ‘largest democracy’ is in doldrums, the only thing which can help it is the rule of law, morality laced justice, revival of movements for democratic and human rights, to work for the platform of social movements which is inclusive and stands for the values of Liberty, Equality and fraternity in a substantive way.

Modi in Seat of Power

With coming to occupy the Prime Ministers chair, just a few weeks ago, there are already symptoms of his deeper agenda unfolding. The Hindu right wing elements have become assertive and indulged in acts of violence. The state machinery is more blatant in their biases. The six College students and Principal of a Kerala College have been booked for putting Modi’s picture along with the likes of Hitler and Osama, the face book posting of anti Modi nature by a person from Goa and the acts of violence which followed the Modi’s electoral victory are signs of times to come. Following the posting of morphed pictures of Shivaji and Bal Thackeray on the net, a communal violence broke out in Pune, (May 2014) leading to the death of a techie, who was sporting beard and wearing Pathani suit. (38) The progeny of Sangh parivar has started raising the Hindutva agenda, abolition of article 370, Uniform civil code and construction of Ram temple. The gagging of civic society groups has begun right away beginning with targeting the ones’ who have been struggling against the violation of environmental norms and rights of Adivasis. (39)

Modi Sarkar

Modi has already started centralizing most of the power; the Secretaries are to report to him directly and Cabinet system of Ministers is being undermined. Even earlier many a books have been banned but now RSS affiliate Shiksha bachao Abhiyan has stepped up its activities and out of fear many publishers are reviewing the already published books, Megha Kumar’s book “Communalism and Gender Violence: Ahmadabad Since 1969”. The major NGOs who have been opposing the policies of MNCs leading to uprooting of natives and those leading to environmental damage are being targeted. The same NGO’s who were earlier accused of working on behest of foreign corporations are being accused of blocking the foreign investment by these Corporations. The pro Hindutva officials are being given the core positions in the bureaucracy.
Pattern of Power

The previous time, 1999, BJP came to power at the head of a NDA it did not have the simple majority so it suspended its “Hindutva’ agenda. Hindutva agenda stands for abolition of article 370, Uniform Civil Codes and building of Ram Temple on the site where Babri Masjid stood. Now with the majority in parliament, the march towards this Hindutva agenda has been unleashed. Modi has already instilled the authoritarian streak in the new Government. Secretaries of different departments have been asked to directly report to him, and he has not permitted the meeting of the Cabinet in his absence, which was the norm with previous Governments. Though there is a Cabinet, the major power is being centralized around the prime minister.

Acche Din

The major plank of winning the elections was the slogan of Acche din (Good Times). The people at large, who are victims of the rising prices and inflation, were sold the dream of better days in the offing with victory of Modi. The relentless rise of prices despite Modi coming to power has created a sense of disillusion amongst the people, as high hopes were created through propaganda. Some say it is a bit too early to comment on this, as it is a honeymoon period, while others point to the pattern of policies, which do not give a hopeful picture for times to come. FDA in retail has been raised from 26% to 49% in a single swoop. While in opposition; BJP was opposing it. This is an opportunist turn around. The fear of privatization of public sector is very much there in the air. The amendments to Land Acquisition bill are going to affect the interests of the farmers in a very adverse way. What is being proposed is to dilute the consent of majority of the farmers for acquiring land.

Changed Dispensation: Sectarian mindset

Many times we express more by keeping silence than by speaking, so to say. The Pune techie Mohsin Sheikh’s murder allegedly by the Hindu Jagran Sena was part of the well designed communalization process. The violence in Saharanpur, Rampur and other parts of UP and some parts of MP are part of the process to communalize the assembly areas, which are going to face the polls soon. The silence of Prime Minister on these issues is more than eloquent. Rather it gives signal of sorts, which are not very healthy. There are scattered incidents which give us the glimpse of the Modi Sarkar. The shrewdest part of the new Government is that it has solid backing of vast Sangh Parivar to speak in different languages; these different tongues make the whole picture of their agenda. In case of the tennis star Sania Mirza being appointed as the brand ambassador of the newly formed Telangana state, the BJP leaders on TV openly opposed this saying that she is the daughter-in-law of Pakistan, while the top level functionary of the Government said that she is pride of the nation.

Education

All said and done the major problem of the present rule is going to be the changes in education, which will alter the thinking pattern of the coming generations. The goal is to instill a pattern in consonance with the Brahmanical norms, to promote orthodox medieval mind set and to undermine the scientific temper. One recalls that in the previous BJP led NDA regime apart from other things, its major impact was the changes in the history and social science books, where the divisive history taught in the RSS shakhas, the communal history, the history where the kings are looked at through the prism of religion, was introduced. One knows that the communal historiography introduced by British was their main tool in implementing the ‘divide and rule’ policy which formed the ideology of the communal streams of Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha-RSS. This type of history; by focusing on the glories of ‘our’ kings also promotes the feudal values of caste and gender hierarchy. Mercifully the BJP led NDA lost in 2004 and the rational, national historiography was brought back.

Now already there are signs that RSS volunteers are out to change the total education system and the content of history, social science and other books. Even before this Government came to power, with the rise of Modi on political firmament, with the perception that he is likely to come to power, the Right wing organizations intensified their offensive against genuine scholarship. Dinanath Batra, by now is a well known name, he has been heading the RSS outfits, Shiksha Bachao Abhiyan Samiti and RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (SSUN) from many decades. He succeeded in pressuring Penguin, the World’s largest publisher, to pulp Wendy Doniger’s scholarly book ‘The Hindus: An Alternate History’. This book brings out through the interpretation of mythology the need to understand the caste and gender aspects in a sensitive manner. The history she has focused on goes against the hierarchical mind set of RSS combine and so pressure was put to pulp it. Now Mr. Batra emerges as a writer himself and a set of nine books written by him have been translated in to Gujarati and introduced in 42000 schools in Gujarat. This may be a trial run before doing similar things at larger scale. Former BJP president and present union minister M Venkaiah Naidu explicitly stated as early as last year (June 23, 2013) that “it (the BJP) will change textbook syllabi, if it returns to power”. Batra is also quoted as saying that a nationalistic education system has to be developed to address the requirements and through this we have to develop a young generation that is committed to Hindutva and nationalism”.

The sampling of Batra’s books gives a good idea of what is in store for us. A quote from one of the set of books, ‘Tejonmaya Bharat’, (Radiant Bharat) tells us “America wants to take the credit for invention of stem cell research, but the truth is that India’s Dr Balkrishna Ganpat Matapurkar has already got a patent for regenerating body parts…You would be surprised to know that this research is not new and that Dr Matapurkar was inspired by the Mahabharata. Kunti had a bright son like the Sun itself. When Gandhari, who had not been able to conceive for two years, learnt of this, she underwent an abortion. From her womb a huge mass of flesh came out. (Rishi) Dwaipayan Vyas was called. He observed this hard mass of flesh and then he preserved it in a cold tank with specific medicines. He then divided the mass of flesh into 100 parts and kept them separately in 100 tanks full of ghee for two years. After two years, 100 Kauravas were born of it. On reading this, he (Matapurkar) realized that stem cell was not his invention. This was found in India thousands of years ago. (Page 92-93)

Indian rishis using their yog vidya would attain divya drishti (divine vision). There is no doubt that the invention of television goes back to this… In Mahabharata, Sanjaya sitting inside a palace in Hastinapur and using his divya shakti would give a live telecast of the battle of Mahabharata… to the blind Dhritarashtra. (Page 64) What we know today as the motorcar existed during the Vedic period. It was called anashva rath. Usually a rath (chariot) is pulled by horses but an anashva rath means the one that runs without horses or yantra-rath, what is today a motorcar. The Rig Veda refers to this. (Page 60)

RSS has already set up a consultative body called Bharatiya Shiksha Niti Ayog (BSNA) to put pressure on Modi’s government to “correct or Indianize” the national education system. In the new syllabus “The passages in the textbooks which pointed out to any unsavory aspect of the Hindu faith like the oppressive caste system in ancient Hindu society, untouchability of the low-caste people and consumption of beef during Vedic ages were scrapped, and anyone who resisted or opposed the changes was dubbed as ’anti-national’.(40)

Caste and Gender

While these changes in the text books give us a full idea of the agenda of this Government, which will have to follow the guidelines set by its parent organization, its already manifest in the appointment of Prof Y.Sudarshan Rao as the chief of ICHR. This national body guides the research into the Indian history. Prof Rao is not much known in the circles of Academic history, as he has hardly written any academic, peer reviewed papers or books. He has been engaged with writing few blogs on his understanding of history, which is more of a fiction suiting the agenda of Hindu Rashtra, reinstating the caste system in particular. In one of his blogs he emphasis that caste system served the society very well and there are no complaints against it. As per him “Most of the questionable social customs in the Indian society as pointed out by the English educated Indian intellectuals and the Western scholars could be traced to this period of Muslim rule in north India spanning over seven centuries.” He argues that “The (caste) system was working well in ancient times and we do not find any complaint from any quarters against it.” This is a distortion. The customs related to caste oppression were integral to the so called Hindu scriptures Vedas (Rig Veda, Purush Sukta) Upanishad, (41) the scriptures which were written in the Pre Historic BC period. Even in Manu smiriti the caste division is well articulated. Manu Smriti was written around 1-2 and Century AD. Contrary to this Prof Rao states that distortion in caste system came with the coming of Muslim Kings. He had so far been working on proving the historicity of our mythological Mahabharat as a part of History. Interestingly RSS combine presents only one version of Ramayan but there are nearly 400 versions of Ramayan. The scholarly essay by A.K.Ramanujam on the diversity of Ramayan telling again was withdrawn from Delhi University curriculum, and the publisher forced to withdraw the book.

With the coming of this Government the peripheral elements have started talking about making these scriptures as a part of our curriculum. Justice Dave talks of bringing in Gita and others are talking of Ramayana. Both these holy tomes have heavy projections of caste. In Gita, Lord talks of taking birth whenever Dharma is in danger. And this Dharma is Varnashram Dharma (Varna system). In Ramayan Lord Ram kills Shambuk, as Shambuk a Shudra is doing penance and this is something not permitted by Caste system.

Fringe Elements or Division of Labor

VHP supremo and RSS member Ashok Singhal has also called Modi “an ideal swayamsevak” and emphatically declared that Muslims must respect the sentiments of the Hindu culture, threatening that “they cannot survive for long by opposing Hindus”. He has also asked Muslims to give up their claims on Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi. The idea is to reduce Muslims to second class citizens with no privileges and rights. Another firebrand VHP leader Pravin Togadia, known for his ‘hate speeches’, has endorsed these views by issuing a warning to the Muslims, saying they may have forgotten the 2002 Gujarat riots but would remember the Muzaffarnagar riots of last year. (42)
Goa’s deputy chief minister Francis D’Souza apologized for his comment that India was already a Hindu nation. This was a tactical retreat. He was the one who said that all Indians are Hindus. Christians are Christian Hindus for example. Deepak Dhavalikar another BJP member stated that under Modi India will become a Hindu Rashtra. This is what the deeper part of RSS-BJP-Modi agenda, to see that the religious minorities adopt the Brahminical Hindu norms. That’s why they want that to use terms like Christian Hindus or Ahmadiya Hindus. Gradually, the assertion will be that since you are a Hindu you must practice Hindu norms.

On the long term agenda of RSS-BJP-Modi one needs to see the statement of RSS worker Joshi, “During a question-and-answer session, a volunteer asked Yadavrao Joshi, then the head of Sangh workers across all of south India, “We say RSS is a Hindu organisation. We say we are a Hindu nation, India belongs to Hindus. We also say in the same breath that Muslims and Christians are welcome to follow their faith and that they are welcome to remain as they are so long as they love this country. Why do we have to give this concession? Why don’t we be very clear that they have no place if we are a Hindu country?” Joshi replied “As of now, RSS and Hindu society are not strong enough to say clearly to Muslims and Christians that if you want to live in India, convert to Hinduism. Either convert or perish. But when the Hindu society and RSS will become strong enough we will tell them that if you want to live in India and if you love this country, you accept that some generations earlier you were Hindus and come back to the Hindu fold.” (43)
So where are we heading to becomes clear in the last few weeks of Modi Sarkar. The government will be trying to stick to the language which will be subtle while undertaking steps in Hinduization. Its associates, VHP-RSS will tell us bluntly about their agenda. Needless to repeat that this agenda, being unfolded is that of Hindu nation, where religious minorities will be relegated to secondary position and the Chaturvarnya system will be slipped in a subtle manner.

New Dispensation and Social Movements

The election results have brought Narendra Modi to power. Those struggling for the rights of weaker sections of society have begun to relook at the strategies to uphold the democratic rights and liberal space. The threat of an autocrat slowly implementing the agenda of Hindu nation is looming in the air. Even the one month period of Modi sarkar has given many signs of the way of things to come. The threat to democratic freedom, the civil society resistance has been visible through various actions. To defend these democratic freedom-rights many civil society groups have begun to come together to defend the plural, liberal values. There is an introspection to draw up a strategy for the dream and vision of a society where freedom of speech, faith and our diversity is upheld. The realization is that this can be done only through the solidarity of social action groups who have uncompromisingly been struggling to uphold these values.

In the wake of 1992-93 Mumbai violence the need to struggle against communal forces came up in a larger way, this was reinforced by the Gujarat carnage of 2002 and later in the wake of Kandhamal violence of 2008. The social action groups have been the major fulcrum around which the defense of human rights of weaker sections of society could sustain itself. The autocratic regime of Modi which has fascist potential is a grave threat to such struggles. The need for building broad alliances and platforms for solidarity amongst social action groups is picking up and needs to be intensified. On one hand there is a need to step up the defense of the rights of struggling sections of society on the other there should be an urgent effort to extend the solidarity to groups-movements who are taking the path of struggle for preserving the democratic-liberal space. The site of contestation will be ranging from opposing repressive laws in Parliament, to the law courts to defend the victims of discriminatory policies of the state and to the street demonstrations to articulate citizens’ rights as citizens and to oppose the repressive acts of state.

By now it is clear that while we can work in our own area of struggle, freedom of expression, women’s rights, environmental protection, sexual orientation, defense of minority rights and number of other rights for our basic survival, it should also be clear that there is an urgent need to stand in solidarity with each of these groups. The need for these solidarity platforms has to be realized and the work in that direction has to begin in each city, state and go on till the national level. The left of the center political parties who take people’s issues seriously also need to come forward and extend full hearted support to social movements, led by the non party left. This is what will go a long way to defend our democratic rights and norms.

References:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/shelley-kasli/mechanics-of-narendra-modis-pr-agency-apco-worldwide-orchestrating-our-future/500231493335095
2. http://sirulu.com/rss-carry-modi-raj-gaddi/
3. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/this-way-to-delhi/
4. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/this-way-to-delhi/
5. http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani020108.htm
6.http://www.academia.edu/676532/The_Freedom_Movement_and_the_RSS_A_Story_of_Betrayal
7. Basu, Datta, Sarkar, Sarkar and Sen, “Khaki Shorts Saffron Flags, Orient Longman, Hyderabad 1993,
8. Ibid
9. Ram Puniyani, Fascism of Sangh Parivar, Mythri, Trivandrum , 1993, p 26
10. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/babri-masjid-bloody-aftermath-across-india/1/162906.html
11. http://www.sacw.net/aii/ch5.html
12. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/babri-masjid-bloody-aftermath-across-india/1/162906.html
13. http://books.google.co.in/books/about/Communal_politics.html?id=gvRtAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y chapter 2
14. https://aamjanata.com/9-mythbusters-on-2002-post-godhra-riots-shehzad_ind/
15. http://www.sabhlokcity.com/2014/04/the-myth-of-the-modi-clean-chit-the-supreme-court-has-never-given-adjudicated/
16. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Gujarat-Myth-and-reality/articleshow/14032015.cms
17. http://www.educationobserver.com/saffronisation-of-Indian-Education.html
18. http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/I-am-a-patriot-and-a-Hindu-nationalist-says-Modi/2013/07/12/article1680508.ece
19. http://www.livemint.com/Politics/HmcZzc60Il1sKfRCPCOQyK/India-business-favours-Narendra-Modi-to-be-PM-poll.html
20. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/modi-deprives-muslim-students-of-scholarship/98808-37.html
21. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050605/asp/nation/story_4828954.asp
22. http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani120410.htm
23. http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-why-big-business-strongly-favours-narendra-modi-1823847
24. http://www.firstpost.com/election-diary/how-the-rss-is-heavily-invested-in-elections-2014-and-modi-1448357.html
25.http://www.academia.edu/676532/The_Freedom_Movement_and_the_RSS_A_Story_of_Betrayal
26. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/bjp-using-baba-ramdev-anna-to-discredit-congress/article2887228.ece
27. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/modi-fears-a-pink-revolution/article5864109.ece
28. http://english.thereport24.com/?page=details&article=65.4787
29. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/Those-opposed-to-Narendra-Modi-should-go-to-Pakistan-BJP-leader-Giriraj-Singh-says/articleshow/33971544.cms?
30. Teesta Setalvad, Combat Communalism, March1998http://www.sabrang.com/cc/comold/march98/document1.htm
31. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-05-08/news/49717012_1_narendra-modi-priyanka-gandhi-caste-card
32. http://www.firstpost.com/politics/reagan-nixon-thatcher-which-world-leader-is-narendra-modi-1504367.html
33. http://www.hindustantimes.com/comment/analysis/comparing-hitler-s-germany-with-india-2014-is-odious/article1-1221946.aspx
34. http://kafila.org/2011/03/21/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-muslim-in-india-today-mahtab-alam/
35. We or Our nationhood Defined P. 27, 1938
36. http://deshgujarat.com/2010/04/10/german-mps-mind-your-own-business/
37. http://such.forumotion.com/t17216-ashis-nandy-narendra-modi-is-a-classical-clinical-case-of-a-fascist
38. http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/Pune-Techie-Murder-Maharashtra-Govt-Mulling-Ban-on-HRS/844555
39. http://www.countercurrents.org/cc250614.htm
40 (http://www.onislam.net/english/news/asia-pacific/475865-india-set-to-saffronize-school-curriculum.html)
41 http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani300714.htm
42 (Modi and Hindutva footprints – Editorial, Kashmir Times Kashmir Times – Monday, July 28, 2014)
43 http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/rss-30

Open letter to the Prime Minister on NREGA from Development Economists

October 15, 2014 by Nasheman

The central government’s moves to dilute or restrict the provisions of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has serious implications on employment of about 50 million households, who benefit from the programme every year, say concerned economists. Photo: Ranjeet Kumar, The Hindu

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing to express our deep concern about the future of India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).

The NREGA was enacted in 2005 with unanimous support from all political parties. It is a far-reaching attempt to bring some much-needed economic security to the lives of millions of people who are on the margin of subsistence.

Despite numerous hurdles, the NREGA has achieved significant results. At a relatively small cost (currently 0.3% of India’s GDP), about 50 million households are getting some employment at NREGA worksites every year. A majority of NREGA workers are women, and close to half are Dalits or Adivasis. A large body of research shows that the NREGA has wide-ranging social benefits, including the creation of productive assets.

Recent research also shows that corruption levels have steadily declined over time. For instance, official estimates of NREGA employment generation are very close to independent estimates from the second India Human Development Survey. While corruption remains a concern, experience shows that it can be curbed, and the battle against corruption in NREGA has helped to establish new standards of transparency in other social programmes as well.

No doubt, the programme could and should do even better. But the gains that have been achieved are substantial and amply justify further efforts to make it a success.

Against this background, it is alarming to hear of multiple moves (some of them going back to the preceding government) to dilute or restrict the provisions of the Act. Wages have been frozen in real terms, and long delays in wage payments have further reduced their real value. The Act’s initial provisions for compensation in the event of delayed payments have been removed. The labour-material ratio is sought to be reduced from 60:40 to 51:49 without any evidence that this would raise the productivity of NREGA works. For the first time, the Central Government is imposing caps on NREGA expenditure on state governments, undermining the principle of work on demand.

Last but not least, the Central Government appears to be considering an amendment aimed at restricting the NREGA to the country’s poorest 200 districts. This runs against a fundamental premise of the Act: gainful employment that affords basic economic security is a human right. Even India’s relatively prosperous districts are unlikely to be free from unemployment or poverty in the foreseeable future.

The message seems to be that the new government is not committed to the NREGA and hopes to restrict it as much as possible. We urge you to reverse this trend and ensure that the programme receives all the support it requires to survive and thrive.

Yours sincerely,

Dilip Abreu (Professor of Economics, Princeton University)

Pranab Bardhan (Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of California Berkeley)

V. Bhaskar (Professor of Economics, University of Texas at Austin)

Ashwini Deshpande (Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics)

Jean Drèze (Visiting Professor, Department of Economics, Ranchi University)

Maitreesh Ghatak (Professor of Economics, London School of Economics)

Jayati Ghosh (Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Deepti Goel (Assistant Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics)

Himanshu (Assistant Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Raji Jayaraman (Associate Professor of Economics, European School of Management and Technology)

K.P. Kannan (former Director, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum)

Anirban Kar (Associate Professor, Delhi School of Economics)

Reetika Khera (Associate Professor, IIT Delhi)

Ashok Kotwal (Professor of Economics, University of British Columbia)

S. Mahendra Dev (Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research)

Srijit Mishra (Associate Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research)

Dilip Mookherjee (Professor of Economics, Boston University)

R. Nagaraj (Professor of Economics, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research)

Sudha Narayanan (Assistant Professor of Economics, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research)

Pulin Nayak (Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics)

Nalini Nayak (Reader in Economics, Delhi University)

Bharat Ramaswami (Professor of Economics, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi)

Debraj Ray (Professor of Economics, New York University)

Atul Sarma (former Vice-Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University)

Abhijit Sen (former Member, Planning Commission)

Jeemol Unni (Director, Institute of Rural Management, Anand)

Sujata Visaria (Assistant Professor of Economics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

Vijay Vyas (former Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister)

Cyclone Hudhud: Modi visits Vizag, announces Rs. 1000 cr relief for Andhra Pradesh

October 14, 2014 by Nasheman

Fishermen making efforts to salvage a submerged fishing boat due the impact of Hudhud cyclone in Visakhapatnam on Monday. Photo: K.R. Deepak, The Hindu

Visakhapatnam: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here Tuesday afternoon to cyclone-hit north coastal Andhra, and announced an interim relief of Rs. 1000 crore to the state for the devastation caused by Cyclone Hudhud in Vishakapatnam and other coastal areas.

“The Centre is fully with the people of Andhra pradesh. Both governments are working hand in hand,” Modi told reporters at Vishakapatnam.

Modi made the announcement after visiting parts of the worst-affected port city and a review meeting with chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and top officials.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had already written to Modi to declare Hudhud a national calamity and provide Rs.2,000 crore as interim relief. He expressed concern that the cyclone caused huge losses at a time when he was planning to develop Visakhapatnam into a smart city. He, however, exuded confidence that the central and state government will work together to overcome the challenge.

The Prime Minister said that the Central government officials from various ministries would soon tour the region to assess damage and start work to restore normalcy, Modi told reporters. He said restoring the basic needs of life like water and electricity were the government’s immediate priorities.

Modi, who made an aerial survey of the affected areas of both north coastal Andhra and Odisha, also declared Rs. 2 lakh from Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for families of each of those killed and Rs. 50,000 to every injured.

The local bodies, he said, also rose up to the task.”It is important to note that a crisis of any magnitude can be overcome if the state and Centre work should-to-shoulder,” he said.

Karnataka to help AP restore power supply

The State government has agreed to provide manpower support to Andhra Pradesh to restore electricity supply in its cyclone-hit areas.

About 2,000 workers of the Karnataka Energy Department will head to Andhra Pradesh to help restore power in 5,000 villages over the next 10 days.

Reportedly the AP CM informed Mr. Siddaramaiah of the magnitude of destruction the cyclone had caused to electric poles and transformers and sought assistance in restoring them. Mr. Siddaramaiah responded immediately and agreed to send engineers and technical staff from Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. and other power supply companies to assist in restoration work, an official note said.

Shashi Tharoor sacked as Congress spokesperson for praising Narendra Modi

October 13, 2014 by Nasheman

New Delhi: Congress MP and former Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor has been sacked as party spokesperson on the charge that he has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi once too often.

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) had wanted action against Tharoor for his praise of Narendra Modi and accepting the Prime Minister’s invite to him to participate in ‘Swachh Bharat-Abhiyaan’ campaign.

KPCC president V M Sudheeran said praises lavished on Modi repeatedly by Tharoor had hurt Congress and UDF workers who worked sincerely and tirelessly for his victory in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency for a second time.

Party president Sonia Gandhi has reportedly agreed with those in the Congress who allege that Mr. Tharoor has embarrassed and hurt the party with his “unnecessary adulation of PM Modi” in columns on news media.

He had consistently rejected suggestions that he was moving closer to the BJP by asserting that he was a “proud Congressman” and never endorsed the “Hindutva agenda” of the BJP.

“As a loyal worker of the Congress, I accept the decision of the party president,” said Shashi Tharoor.

The action against Tharoor comes at a time questions connected to the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar at her hotel room in January have resurfaced. The Delhi Police are yet to pinpoint how she died; a team of doctors from AIIMS has said the 52-year-old died of poisoning, and not from an overdose of Alprax anti-depressant pills as another report had claimed previously.

Silencing Caste, Sanitising Oppression – Understanding ’Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’

October 10, 2014 by Nasheman

– by Subhash Gatade

What is important to note that the Conference of the Untouchables which met in Mahad resolved that no untouchable shall skin the dead animals of the Hindus, shall carry it or eat the carrion. The object of these resolutions was twofold. The one object was to foster among the Untouchables self respect and self esteem. This was a minor object. The major object was to strike a blow at the Hindu Social Order.

The Hindu Social Order is based upon a division of labour which reserves for the Hindus clean and respectable jobs and assigns to the untouchables dirty and mean jobs and thereby clothes the Hindus with dignity and heaps ignominy upon the untouchables.

(The Revolt of the Untouchables, Excerpted from Essays on Untouchables and Untouchability : Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Writings and Speeches, Vol 5 (Mumbai : Govt of Maharashtra, 1989, 256-58)

The inauguration of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, (Clean India Campaign) with much fanfare, with ministers, bureaucrats and others holding Jhadoos evoked an interesting reaction from a ragpicker Sanjay who lives in Mehrauli with his parents. “These are the same people from whose houses we pick up garbage every day. This is part of our life. We don’t really understand why they are making it such a big deal,” (PM’s Swachch Bharat Abhiyan has no place for Delhi’s 3 lakh rag pickers,Mallica Joshi , Hindustan Times New Delhi, October 03, 2014))

Sanjay happens to be one among a population of around 3,00,000 rag pickers (according to rough estimates) in Delhi, who are largely invisible and as expected live on the margins of society. It is a different matter that they play a major role in garbage management – right from collecting waste to segregating it for recycling. NGOs working with them feel that the city can easily come to a halt without them because they are the one ’who perform the basic task of taking garbage from people’s houses to dumps in most parts of the city.’ At the time of Commonwealth Games held in Delhi few years back, the then state government had even provided few hundred ragpickers with dress and safety equipment etc ’acknowledging’ the services they rendered to keep the city clean.

Time seems to have changed now. As the above mentioned report further adds :

’The government seems to be in complete denial of their presence even as they reap the benefits of their hard work.’ (-do-)

The complete marginalisation of the ragpickers from the much tommed tommed Swachh Bharat Abhiyan does not appear surprising. It is rather symptomatic of the many other ’silences’, ’erasures’ which accompanied its launching. While analysts have rightly pointed out the manner in which legacy of the Mahatma is being ’reduced’ to cleanliness obliterating his lifelong struggle against colonialism and communalisms of every kind and for an inclusive polity not much attention has been paid to the fact that the thrust of the campaign is to project a very samras (harmonious) picture of our society where cleanliness or the lack of it is connected with our ’duty’ (Kartavya) towards ’Bharat Mata’.

Perhaps one can have a look at the oath administered by the PM to everyone who joined this campaign.

“Ab hamara kartavya hain ki gandagi ko dhoor karke Bharat Mata ki sewa karein.” (Now, it is our duty to serve Mother India by removing the dirt.)

Did anyone hear any word about the pernicious ’caste system’ during all the media frenzy which witnessed its launching ? Definitely not. In fact caste and related discriminations have become so common and ingrained in our psyche that the media did not find anything newsworthy in it. Perhaps when every other officer was getting ready to have his/her own moment with a broom in hand the mediawallahs decided not to talk about this unique system of hierarchy – legitimised by the wider society and sanctified by religion -which has condemned a section of its own people to the ’profession’ of cleaning, sweeping and scavenging. What to tell the outside world that half of India still defecates in the open and there are lakhs of people who are still engaged in this ’profession’ of shit collection. In fact, we have designated communities who have been ’forced’ in this dehumanising work since centuries together

On closer look we can find that they go by many names in various parts of the country. As Gita Ramaswamy discusses in her book ’India Stinking’ (Navayana, 2007) : They are Bhangi, Valmiki, methar, chuhra in Delhi, Dhanuk in UP, han, hadi in Bengal; mehtar, bhangi in Assam; methar in Hyderabad; Paki in coastal Andhra ; thotti in Tamil Nadu; mira, lalbegi, chuhra, balashahi in Punjab. Names may be different but they share the same fate : they belong to the bottom of the Hindu social hierarchy and are untouchables. And under the caste hierarchy, castes that consider themselves superior does enjoy a wider range of choice of occupations but the erstwhile untouchables, today’s dalits have the least desirable occupations – removal of human excreta, cleaning, sweeping, leatherwork, skinning of dead animals, removal of human and cattle corpses, rearing of pigs etc.

We know that despite sixty plus years of independence, while moneybags here can easily compete with moneybags in the advanced world, while rulers of India yearn to make 21 st century as India’s century, there has not been any qualitative change in the lifeworlds of the majority of the dalits who are still lying at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Yes, a small section among them has definitely taken advantage of the affirmative action programme and is on the path of upward mobility, but for the majority amongst them, their is no qualitative change in their situation marked by deprivation and discrimination.

2. Interestingly in his hurry to ’do a Gandhi’ Mr Modi launched the campaign from the same Valmiki Basti where Gandhi had stayed for a while, without bothering that such a move would further stigmatise the community. And this at a time when there is a great churning going on within the community especially its youth to leave this ’profession’ and take up other dignified work. Not very many people outside the community are even aware that there is growing talk of ’Jhadu Chodo, Kalam Uthao ( Leave the Broom, Hold the Pen) reverberating within them. Organisations like Safai Karmachari Andolan and others have even undertaken the task of demolition of dry latrines at various places and there have been occasions when people have spontaneously come forward to collectively burn the broom and basket which is used in scavenging.

While media did not bother to question the venue chosen by PM to start his campaign, many close watchers of the situation did not feel surprised as they knew how Mr Modi, looks at this occupation, which finds mention in his book ’Karmyog’ where he calls it as some kind of “spiritual experience”.

Not very people know that it was the year 2007 when collection of Narendra Modi’s speeches to IAS officials at various points of time were compiled in a book form named ’Karmyog’ and were published by the Gujarat government. Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, a top ranking PSU was roped in to fund 5,000 copies of the book. (http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/true-lies/entry/modi-s-spiritual-potion-to-woo-karmayogis). Sample one of his speech, where talking about the Safai Kamdars Modi exhorts:

“I do not believe that they have been doing this job just to sustain their livelihood. Had this been so, they would not have continued with this type of job generation after generation….At some point of time, somebody must have got the enlightenment that it is their (Valmikis’) duty to work for the happiness of the entire society and the Gods; that they have to do this job bestowed upon them by Gods; and that this job of cleaning up should continue as an internal spiritual activity for centuries. This should have continued generation after generation. It is impossible to believe that their ancestors did not have the choice of adopting any other work or business.” (Page 48-49, Karmyog)

Later Modi’s remark got published in the Times of India in mid-November 2007, which were translated and republished in few Tamil newspapers. There was a massive reaction of Dalits in Tamil Nadu for calling their menial job “spiritual experience”. Modi’s effigies were burnt in different parts of the state. Sensing trouble Modi immediately withdrew 5,000 copies of the book, but still sticked to his opinion. Two years later, addressing 9,000-odd safai karmacharis, (cleanliness workers) he likened the safai karmacharis’ job of cleaning up others dirt’ to that of a temple priest. He told them,

“A priest cleans a temple every day before prayers, you also clean the city like a temple. You and the temple priest work alike.”

It would have been enlightening for Mr Modi if he could have browsed through Dr Ambedkar’s writings just to know how he had reacted when Mahatma Gandhi had similarly praised ’scavenging as the noblest service to society’ and said ’How sacred is this work of cleanliness !’(Navajivan, 8 th January 1925)

To preach that poverty is good for the Shudra and for none else, to preach that scavenging is good for the untouchables and for none else and to make them accept these onerous impositions as voluntary purposes of life, by appeal to their failings is an outrage and a cruel joke on the helpless classes which none but Mr Gandhi can perpetuate with equanimity and impunity. In this connection one is reminded of the words of Voltaire ..:”Oh! mockery to say to people that the sufferings of some brings joy to others and works good to the whole. What solace is it to a dying man to know that from his decaying body a thousand worms will come into life.”

(What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables, Dr Ambedkar : Writings and Speeches, Vol 9, (Mumbai : Govt of Maharashtra, 1990) P. 290-93

3. The ’silencing’ or ’sanitising’ of the discourse of caste in the packaging and presentation of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or the dominant discourse around it reminds one of the persistence of untouchability in Gujarat and the manner in which it was made to ’disppear’ sometime back . (As an aside it may be mentioned here that Modi served as chief minister of Gujarat from the year 2001 to 2014.)

Appears unbelievable?

Perhaps you can have a look at a Gujarat government sponsored report titled “Impact of Caste Discrimination and Distinctions on Equal Opportunities: A Study of Gujarat”, authored by Centre for Environment Planning and Technology University (CEPT) University scholars led by Prof R Parthasarathy, which calls caste discrimination a matter of “perceptions”.

In his blog ’True Lies’ senior journalist Rajiv Shah (http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/true-lies/entry/untouchability-and-modi-s-babus) has provided detailed critique of this study.

To put in a nutshell this CEPT report was a governmental response to an exhaustive study titled ’Understanding Untouchability’ done by Ahmedabad based NGO ’Navsarjan Trust’ with the help of Robert F Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. (2009) which demonstrated with concrete data the wide prevalence of untouchability both in public and private spheres in interaction between scheduled castes (SCs) and non-scheduled castes (non-SCs), as well as within SCs: among the several jatis in rural Gujarat.

It is important to note that the results of the Navsarjan study were widely covered by the media .

Looking at the fact that the ongoing debate had the potential of putting a spanner in the well cultivated image of a Samras (harmonious) Gujarat under Modi, a panicky government asked CEPT to review and verify Navsarjan’s findings. In fact, the government seemed so keen to give a clean chit to itself that it adopted a two pronged approach to tackle the uncomfortable situation in which it found itself. Apart from commissioning the above mentioned study it constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the then minister for social justice, Fakirbhai Vaghela and secretaries of different concerned departments to refute the findings of the report. The government instructed its officers to get affidavits from scheduled caste village residents regarding non-existence of untouchability.

Commenting on the report Rajiv Shah says that

“[t]he nearly 300-page report, ..far from being a review of “Understanding Untouchability”, is more of an effort to justify the evil practice.”

As opposed to the survey of 1,589 villages done by Navsarjan, the CEPT team was made to survey just five villages, dig out a plethora of caste-wise data on agriculture, irrigation, employment and distribution of government schemes but were instructed not to collect any data on “”caste discrimination” – a term used by them in lieu of untouchability.

The reluctance of the scholars to even mention the U(ntouchability) word can be gauged from the observations made by leading sociologist Ghanshyam Shah as well, who has also written a critique of the CEPT report ’Understanding or ignoring untouchability? How Gujarat government-sponsored study examines discrimination in a ‘very casual way’’ (in www.counterview.org, Nov 13, 2013) :

..[i]n the scholars’ view (and that of the government) there is nothing wrong if the Dalits are forced to carry own vessels or are made to be served at fag end of the festivity. In fact, if the scholars are to be believed, Dalit elders advise the “younger ones” not to participate in village festivals like Navratri or Garba, celebrated in other localities, “for fear of possible quarrel with non-Dalits.” The youth agree in order to maintain social peace and order. To quote from the report, “Those Dalit youth who go there, do so as spectators and not participate in Garba…”

He also adds :

“CEPT has completely ignored to study the practice of untouchability. Perhaps for them like the Government of Gujarat it is a non-issue. And, they have carried out mainly a socio-economic survey in five villages. The authors do not feel the need to argue why they have confined their study to socio-economic survey. Why have they not correlated socio-economic data with the presence or absence of untouchability?”

While the CEPT experts could not discover untouchability in the five villages covered, the Navsarjan team which toured these villages in June 2013 found how the dalits live under subjugation and a state of helplessness as they know that the government would not protect them if they assert for their rights. Ghanshyam Shah adds:

In fact, an important omission from the CEPT report was that of Valmikis themselves, who are considered lowest in the social ladder under a Varnacracy. As opposed to these worst victims of untouchability, the report focuses on the Vankars, a “socially acceptable” Dalit community, a weaving class.

The omission of Valmikis in a report commissioned by the government cannot be considered inadvertent. Their still remaining confined largely to the work of sweeping and cleaning ; collecting and handling dust, garbage and filth of the cities, towns and villages to make them livable for other dwellers and in the process facing daily humiliations and even deaths by ’accidents’ or getting afflicted with occupational diseases is a reality which cannot be ignored anymore. Perhaps the scholars might have felt that their sheer presence in a governmental report was anachronous to the media propelled image of ’a best-governed state, occupying number one position in the country on ‘development’’.

4. Commenting on the ’Clean India Campaign’ Rohit Prajapati, an environmental activist from Gujarat, has raised an altogether different point in his writeup ’Mr. Modi Preaches a Clean India, But His Record on Waste management and Pollution in Gujarat is Dirty’ (http://sacw.net/article9679.html). He has discussed a similar campaign launched by him in 2007 calling it ’Nirmal Gujarat -2007’ and looked at the track record of his government in controlling pollution. According to him Modi similarly made ’..tall claims during that campaign. But reality is best seen in Ahmedabad at illegal solid waste dumping site, the ‘Gyaspur-Pirana Dumping Site’ – a Waste Mountain near Sabarmati River adjacent to the main road.’

The writeup discusses basic facts as they were revealed in the ‘Report of the Task Force on Waste to Energy’ dated 12 May 2014 by the Planning Commission of India which states

“As per CPCB report 2012 – 13 municipal areas in the country generate 1,33,760 metric tonnes per day of MSW, of which only 91,152 TPD waste is collected and 25,884 TPD treated.”..“Further, if the current 62 million tonnes annual generation of MSW continues to be dumped without treatment; it will need 3,40,000 cubic meter of landfill space everyday (1240 hectare per year). Considering the projected waste generation of 165 million tonnes by 2031, the requirement of land for setting up landfill for 20 years (considering 10 meter high waste pile) could be as high as 66 thousand hectares of precious land, which our country cannot afford to waste.”

It would be opportune here to quote a large extract from the said writeup here :

Mr. Modi, things are not as simple as you say. This waste generation figure covers only 31.15% population of India. Considering the waste generation figures of all of India, these figures will be even more daunting. The Planning Commission (which Mr. Modi wishes to abolish) of India’s report further states “A study, of the status of implementation of the MSW Rules 2000 by the mandated deadline by the States, was carried out in class 1 cities of the country. It revealed that in 128 cities except for street sweeping and transportation, compliance was less than 50% and in respect of disposal compliance was a dismal 1.4 %.”What about the government’s major role in policy making for the reduction of waste and implementation of ‘The Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules 2000’? Your track record in the implementation of these rules in the Gujarat is worst.

The consistent follow up by the pollution-affected people, people’s organisations and NGOs regarding the increasing pollution levels in the industrial areas of India forced the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the State Pollution Control Board in 1989 to initiate the process of indexing the critically polluted areas. At that time 24 industrial areas, including Vapi, Ankleshwar, Ludhiana, were declared ‘critically polluted’. In 2009 the CPCB and IIT-Delhi, in consistence with the demands of the people’s organisation’s working on environmental issues decided to use a new method of ‘indexing the pollution levels’ of these areas, which is now known as the ‘Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index’ (CEPI). The CEPI includes air, water, land pollution and health risks to the people living in the area. However, our demand has been to include the health of the workers, productivity of land and quality of food / agriculture produce in the index since the presence of high levels of chemicals and heavy metals in food produce has severe health implications. This is affecting not only people living around the industrial area but anyone consuming it – hence not restricting the impact to the particular industrial area.

In December 2009 the CEPI of 88 polluted industrial clusters was measured; it was then that the CPCB and the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) of Government of India were forced to declare 43 of those as ‘critically polluted clusters’ and another 32 industrial areas as ‘severely polluted clusters’.[6] Following this study the MoEF on 13 January 2010 was forced to issue a moratorium (prohibition on opening new industries and/or increasing the production capacity of the existing industries) on the 43 critically polluted areas. Similar reports were prepared by CPCB in 2011 and 2013 but these reports are completely ignored by past government and also by Modi Government.

In the concluding part of the article the writer discusses how after assuming reins of power, Mr Modi instead of undertaking the task of improving environment of these 88 industrial clusters, the government led by him started ’lifting of the moratorium of industrial cluster like Ghaziabad (UP), Indore (M.P.), Jharsuguda (Orissa), Ludhiana (Punjab), Panipat (Haryana), Patancheru – Bollaram (A.P.), Singrauli (UP & MP) and Vapi (Gujarat) as a first order of business on 10 June 2014. He underlines Vapi’s track records which demand more ‘stringent action’ against the polluting industries of Vapi & concerned officers of Gujarat Pollution Control Board and definitely not lifting of moratorium from Vapi. According to him ’the murky politics and economics of ‘GDP growth’ continue to prevail over the cause of ‘life and livelihood’ of ordinary people and ‘environment & conservation.’

His write-up concludes with few more figures and a BIG question:

In 2009, the Ankleswar’s industrial area, with 88.50 CEPI, topped the list of ‘critically polluted areas’ of India.

In 2011 and 2013, Vapi industrial area, with CEPI of 85.31, topped this list.

Thus Gujarat is able to top in 2009 in ‘critically polluted areas’ in India and continues to maintain its position in 2011 & 2013.

The Government of Gujarat deliberately ignored to comment or engages ever on these issues.

Mr. Modi what about the clean up of these industrial clusters of India? Do you have any plan to clean up this CRITICALLY and SEVERELY POLLUTED INDUSTRIAL CLUSTERS OF INDIA?

5. To conclude, one can talk of similar silences, erasures if we probe further deep.

But that is not the aim of the article. The nationwide campaign which has been taken up is going to involve tremendous human as well as financial resources. We are being told that government employees are being exhorted to devote at least 100 hours every year – or two hours a week – to do this work and send proof to their seniors. It is going to cost 620 billion rupees ($10bn; £6.1bn) – the government has earmarked 146 m rupees and expects to get the remaining amount from the corporate sector, international development organisations and elsewhere. It is also being said that main goal of the programme, is to end open defecation in the country – as nearly half of India’s 1.2 billion people have no access to toilets.

All sounds good and especially very soothing to the ears of NRIs who seem to be worried over the image India carries in the comity of nations.

But all these efforts do not seem to go anywhere because as we already said there is a conscious attempt not to address the key issues.

It appears that Mr Modi seems to be in a big hurry to leave an impact on history.

He might be successful like his predecessors. If today we remember or associate Garibi Hatao with Ms Indira Gandhi or ’Age of Computers’ with Rajeev Gandhi, similarly future generations would remember or associate the ’Clean India Campaign’ with Modi while still debating the ’dirtiest country in the world’ tag associated with the country.

Subhash Gatade is the author of Pahad Se Uncha Aadmi (2010), Godse’s Children: Hindutva Terror in India,(2011) and The Saffron Condition: The Politics of Repression and Exclusion in Neoliberal India (2011). He is also the Convener of New Socialist Initiative.

Veteran journalist M.V. Kamath passes away

October 9, 2014 by Nasheman

M.V Kamath had authored nearly 40 books on various topics. (Image via Twitter)

Bangalore: Veteran journalist and former chairman of Prasar Bharati M.V. Kamath, died early morning today in his native place Manipal in Karnataka. He was 94.

He had been hospitalised for the past few days and died of cardiac arrest around 7.30 am, said his relative. Kamath was currently the Honorary Director of Manipal Institute of Communication.

Madhav Vittal Kamath was born on Sep 7, 1921 in Udupi, Karnataka. He was a science graduate and initially worked as a chemist for five years before taking up journalism.

A Padma Bhushan recipient, he penned over 40 books, including “Gandhi – A Spiritual Journey”, “Reporter At Large”, and co-authored “Narendra Modi – The Architect of a Modern State” (2009). A journalist well known for his right wing association, Kamath was one of the earliest biographers of Narendra Modi

He started his media career with Mumbai’s daily, the Free Press Journal, as a reporter in 1946 and later worked for its eveninger, Free Press Bulletin.

Later, he joined the Times of India Group and he worked as the editor of ‘The Sunday Times (India)’ for two years during 1967-69 and its Washington Correspondent of ‘Times of India’ during 1969-78. He also served as editor of ‘The Illustrated Weekly of India’.

Kamath was appointed as the chairman of Prasar Bharati, the autonomous public service broadcaster of India.

Expressing his condolences on the death of Kamath, PM Narendra Modi tweeted: “A prolific writer and fine human being, Shri MV Kamath’s demise is a loss to the world of literature and journalism. May his soul rest in peace.

“My mind goes back to the several interactions I had with MV Kamath ji. He was a repository of knowledge, always full of humility and grace,” he said.

RSS linked columnist Surya Prakash frontrunner for Prasar Bharati chairman’s post

October 8, 2014 by Nasheman

Prasar Bharati headquarters in New Delhi. File Photo: R.V. Moorthy

Prasar Bharati headquarters in New Delhi. Photo: R.V. Moorthy, The Hindu

New Delhi: A. Surya Prakash, columnist and fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), a New Delhi-based right wing think tank, is likely to succeed journalist Mrinal Pande as the chairperson of public-service broadcaster Prasar Bharati, making VIF a go-to hiring destination for the Modi government.

While Surya Prakash, who is consulting editor for The Pioneer, is the frontrunner for the post, the other people being considered for the post are well known pro- Modi columnists, Swapan Dasgupta, and Kanchan Gupta, among others. Prasar Bharati, operates state broadcaster Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR), and the government usually appoints a veteran journalist to the post of chairman.

A. Surya Prakash

The Vivekananda International Foundation, which is affiliated to the Kanyakumari-based Vivekananda Kendra, was established by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) organiser Eknath Ranade in 1970. National security adviser Ajit Doval—appointed on 30 May—is a former director of the foundation and the Prime Minister’s principal secretary Nripendra Mishra is its executive council member.

Surya Prakash has closely worked with senior leaders of BJP and RSS. In 1998, Surya Prakash wrote a series of articles for The Pioneer about Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origins. In 2004, he edited a book, Sonia Under Scrutiny – Issue of Foreign Origin. This book was published by India First Foundation. His columns appear in The Pioneer, Dainik Jagran, Eenadu, Samyukta Karnataka and The Indian Republic. In the past, Surya Prakash has held key positions in several print and electronic media organizations.

A committee headed by vice- president Hamid Ansari along with Bimal Julka, secretary, information and broadcasting, and Markandey Katju, chairman, Press Council of India, will make a decision on the appointment in due course.

List of Indian American organizations who attended Narendra Modi’s reception at Madison Square Garden in New York

October 8, 2014 by Nasheman

Mr. Narendra Modi waves as he arrives to speak at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sept. 28, 2014. Photo by Lucas Jackson/Reuters

New York: The public reception for the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Madison Square Garden on September 28th, organized by the Indian American Community Foundation (IACF), attracted 19,000 cheering fans, apart from the staff and volunteers.

According to Communalism Watch, the resource website documenting the rise of the far right in India, Mr. Modi’s show at the iconic American indoor arena, was “Hindutva driven and inward looking, communally inclined circuits in the diaspora in the U.S were mobilised”.

Below is the full list of Indian American organizations who requested and were issued tickets by the IACF, and obtained by the India related US based website The American Bazaar:

Overseas Volunteer for Better India
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA
OFBJP USA
Gujarati Samaj of New York
Indo American Seniors Organization of New Jersey
Param Shakti Peeth of America
Jain Center of New Jersey
US India Political Action Committee
NAMO BJP
Telugu Association of North America
Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America-National
BAPS SWAMINARAYAN SANSTHA
The Hindu Student Council of NYU
Global Indians for Bharat Vikas
Indian American Intellectuals Forum Inc.
India Association of Long Island Inc.
Indian Students Association at Columbia University
Vaishnav Temple of New York
North America Telugu Society
Hindu Center Inc.
Hindi USA
Jain Temple of New York
North American Telugu Association
Network of Indian Professional
American Telugu Association
Society of Indo American Engineers and Architects
Indian Cultural Center of South Jersey
BMM North America
Graduate Indian Students Association
India Association of Rhode Island
IIT Bombay Alumni Association Greater New York Chapter
Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America
NYU Shruti
Long Island Gujarati Cultural Society
Rajasthan Association of North America
Asian American Senior Association of Sayreville
Bhartiya Senior Citizens of Chicago
Rana Samaj USA
Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA
Sanskriti of NJ SevaPgh.org
Vallabhdham Temple
VYOUSA, Inc.
Dawoodi Bohra Community
India Cultural Association of Central Jersey Capitol Area Telugu Society
Gujarati Literary Academy of North America
Maharashtra Foundation
Vedic Heritage Inc.
VHP of America CT chapter
Patidar Cultural Association of USA
Gujarati Samaj of Lehigh Valley
KCO-Brindavana
Indo American Pharmaceutical Society
Gujarati Samaj of Metropolitan Washington DC
New York Tamil Sangam
American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin
TLCA AIANA
Indo American Senior Citizens Association of Bucks County
Kannada Koota, New York Inc.
The American India Public Affairs Committee
Indian Cultural Group
Jai Bharat Dhol Tasha Pathak USA
Saurashtra Patel Cultural Samaj
Anjumane Badri NewYork (Dawoodi Bohra)
Telugu Fine Arts Society
America Tamil Sangam
Brahmin Society of New York
Lad Vanik Samaj of North America
The Hindu Temple Society of North America Gujarati Samaj of Delaware Valley
Divya Jyoti Foundation Inc.
India First Alliance
Indian Business Association of NJ
Society for Promotion of Indian Culture and Experience (United Nations Staff Recreation Council)
OFBJP Sewa International
IASCAOHC
Kashmiri Overseas Association
New England Marathi Mandal
SAIDATTAPETHAM
Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York
Sardar Patel Gujarati Samaj
Tricity India Association
Albany, NY VIBHA-Help Them Grow
Aapi Brahmin Samaj of USA
Indian American Forum Inc.(IAF)
Shree Umiya Parivar of USA
Asian Indian Heritage Association
Humvatan
Sindhi Association of New Jersey
South Gujarat Patel Pragati Mandal
Asian Indian Americans of Central Pennsylvania
Hindu American Foundation
Indo-American Arts Council
Isha Foundation
Bhavsar Samaj of North America
Sewa International USA
Dada Bhagawan Schchidanand Songh
Lead India
2020 Foundation,Inc.
Marathi Vishwa NJ
Indo-American Cultural Foundation of Central Jersey
India Society at Stony Brook
Indian Diamond and Colorstone Association
National Federation of Indian American Associations
OFBJP Canada Toronto
The Indo American Senior Citizen Association of Pa.
Jain Samaj of New York
Pennsylvania Telangana Association
NCAIA
Orissa Society of Americas NY/ NJ Chapter
Sanskar
Global Organization of People of Indian Origin
Indian American Forum for Political Education
International Swaminarayan Satsang Organization
Lions Clubs International
Rutgers Indian American Students
Gayatri Chetna Center of New Jersey
Jackson Heights Indian Merchants Association
Federation of Jain Associations in North America
Konkani Sabha KPCA
Shri Navagraha Devasthanam of NA, Inc
Friends of India Society Inc.
Hindu Temple of Tristates
Saurastra Samaj of Toronto
South Asian Association of Lancaster
The Association of Indians in America-NEC
Federation of Indo Americans of N. California
Indo American Senior Citizens of Atlantic County
People for Loksatta
Uplift Humanity India
Albany Telugu Association
Federation of Asian Indian Association
Shri Sanatan Mandir
Sri Aurobindo Yoga Foundation of North America
Central Jersey Indian Lions Club of Iselin
Ekal CT
India Cultural Society
Indian SA
Indo American Cultural Society of North America, Inc.
National Federation of Indian American Associations
New Jersey Tamil Sangam
India American Cultural Association
Indo-American Festivals, Inc.
Kalabharathi PMVS-VRAJ
Sikh Association of Baltimore
AAANA
Arsha Vidya Gurukulam
Ayyappa Seva Sangam New York
Indian Jewish Congregation of USA
Samskrita Bharati, USA
Shibaranjani, Inc.
Vegetarian Vision Inc.
Arya Samaj of NJ
CLPSS
Cultural Organization of Bengal
Indian Association of Greater Somerset County
N.AJ.C. Chamber of Commerce
NIAPPI
Art of Living
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, USA
DwarkamaiI nc
India Association of Virginia
Jeevan-Jyoti Inc.
Prashanthi Charitable Services
Bridgewater Seniors Council Canada India Foundation
Gujarati Association of Western Mass.
Indo- Canada org
Jalaram Sevasamaj
Sai Temple PA
Shradhaa Foundation
Shree Rang Avdhoot Parivar (Nareswar)
USA Association of Indian in Construction Industry
Edison Cricket Club
NAMAM
Om KriyaYog
Rajasthan Association of Jains in America
Saptak Music
Saraswati Cultural Association of Jersey City
Shree Siddhi Dham Mandir. Inc.

Is the face of Hinduism changing?

October 7, 2014 by Ram Puniyani

With the growing fanaticism in Hinduism, is the core idea of tolerance in Hinduism fading off ?

Fali S. Nariman recently made a very significant observation on the current political situation in India.

The distinguished Constitutional jurist noted: “Hinduism has traditionally been the most tolerant of all Indian faiths. But, recurrent instances of religious tension, fanned by fanaticism and hate speech, have shown that the Hindu tradition of tolerance is showing signs of strain … my apprehension is that Hinduism is somehow changing its benign face…”

There is no doubt that Mr. Nariman’s observation came in reaction to recent outpourings from some organizations or establishments that subscribe to the ideology of RSS. He is concerned about the aggressive Hindutva ideology of those who seek to turn India into a Hindu nation or asserting that it is indeed a Hindu nation.

Hinduism is a religion, while Hindutva is a political ideology.

Recently, we have witnessed innumerable outbursts of hate speeches from some self-styled champions of Hindutva on issues ranging from the propaganda of what they call ‘love jihad’ to the ideological assertions that in India ‘we are all Hindus’.

They have also unleashed an attack on the liberal Hinduism. They are telling those Hindus, who accept Shirdi Sai Baba- a Sufi born in Muslim family, as their God, that they are doing it wrong.

In a broad pattern of their attack they target the religious minorities in one way or the other. The basic question we need to address is whether the voices coming from the RSS combine represent actual Hinduism or they are related to the new practice of politics in the name of Hinduism? The question becomes more pertinent when we see group like Al Qaeda or ISIS acting against humanity, in the name of Islam.

During the freedom movement, we saw men such as Gandhi and Maulana Azad, who, despite being deeply steeped in their religions, came forward and led a political movement, which was secular to the core. During the time we also saw people like Jinnah and Savarkar, who were not religious in the real sense, but they led the politics in the name of Islam and Hinduism, respectively.

RSS combine identifies Hinduism mainly with the narrow stream of Hinduism, or rather, Brahmanism. Hinduism is not based on a single book, prophet or a clergy. Polytheism being at its root, the religion has many theologies, practices and a plethora of holy scriptures.

Gandhi followed a liberal tradition of Hinduism and while laying the foundation of Indian nationalism during the freedom movement, he did not let religion intrude the politics. In contrast, the Hindu nationalism, which is being propounded by those claiming to be representing Hindus- Hindu Mahasabha, RSS and their offshoots – is narrow and intolerant.

Since large sections of Hindus were following Gandhi, the illiberal Hindu Mahasabha-RSS brand of Hinduism, remained on the margins during those days. But, during the last three decades, starting with the Ram Temple agitation, the Hindu nationalist-driven political campaign has thrown up the intolerant propaganda about the ‘others’ in a blatant way. With the current dispensation where BJP is leading the coalition, the leaders of the ruling Hindu nationalist party and its affiliate organizations are being patronized by the state, which has helped them intensify the hate propaganda against the country’s religious minorities.

Their pronouncements are aimed to intimidate those who do not agree to their version of state and politics. The politics of RSS is not just intimidating the ‘others’ but also to threaten the liberal Hindus.

As religion is being pushed deeper into politics the intolerance level in the society is going up. The challenge of our times is to distinguish between the politics in the name of religion and religion per se.

Mr. Nariman’s statement reflects how the veteran jurist is disappointed with the democratic liberal ethos being challenged by the rising assertion of the Hindutva politics led by the RSS combine.

On a personal note I have long been receiving good number of hate mails routinely, as these articles are critical of politics in the name of Hinduism, or politics in the name of any religion for that matter. I know that another article on RSS and Hindu nationalism is going to uptick the quota of the hate mails for me.

Popular Front of India condemns airing of RSS chief’s speech on Doordarshan

October 4, 2014 by Nasheman

Bangalore: Popular Front of India (PFI) today joined the chorus of individuals and organisations to condemn the telecast of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s annual address on Doordarshan. It called, the airing of the speech, a “dishonorable day” to the country.

Referring to RSS, as a “fascist” organization, it alleged that the Modi government is “controlled by the RSS and the government is trying all tactics to promote the ideology of RSS.”

PFI further alleged the speech was broadcasted only to present RSS and its chief as the leader of all Hindus, who they say, has always tried to position itself as the symbol and representative of Hinduism.

“Since the day of assuming power the Modi government has failed to deliver its promises of being a government for all Indians. The propagation of RSS and its leaders from the platform of government owned channel shatters the tall claims made by prime minister to protect pluralism during his Independence Day speech,” PFI said.

“We ask the government to stop promoting the Sangh ideology and understand its responsibility and prove itself to be unbiased government,” O.M.A Salaam, General Secretary of Popular Front of India demanded.