John R. McLane
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195379655
- eISBN:
- 9780199777334
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195379655.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter attempts to answer these questions: Why have many Indians become much more receptive to the Hindutva (Hinduness) movement's anti-Muslim teachings in recent decades? What is the ...
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This chapter attempts to answer these questions: Why have many Indians become much more receptive to the Hindutva (Hinduness) movement's anti-Muslim teachings in recent decades? What is the connection between the spread of anti-Muslim sentiment, the rise in Hindu—Muslim violence, and the emergence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as one of the two largest political parties in India? Why have so many people responded to the alternating messages of Hindu victimhood and impotence on the one hand, and Hindu grandeur and virility on the other? Why do Hindu extremists act as if the Indian nation is dirty and incomplete as long as Muslims are not removed? Are acts of revenge against innocent Muslims giving rise to violent Islamist movements inside India? In short, what has the Hindutva movement gained by scapegoating Muslims as a grave danger to India? The first part of the chapter focuses on the half-century or so leading up to World War I. The second section examines the period from World War I to the 1980s, the period before militant Hinduism transformed itself into a mass movement. The final section examines the campaign to build a Hindu temple on Ram's birthplace, and the spread of Hindu militancy and violence to new groups of the population. It concludes with a brief summary of Muslim responses to Hindu militancy, responses that suggest a violent future.Less
This chapter attempts to answer these questions: Why have many Indians become much more receptive to the Hindutva (Hinduness) movement's anti-Muslim teachings in recent decades? What is the connection between the spread of anti-Muslim sentiment, the rise in Hindu—Muslim violence, and the emergence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as one of the two largest political parties in India? Why have so many people responded to the alternating messages of Hindu victimhood and impotence on the one hand, and Hindu grandeur and virility on the other? Why do Hindu extremists act as if the Indian nation is dirty and incomplete as long as Muslims are not removed? Are acts of revenge against innocent Muslims giving rise to violent Islamist movements inside India? In short, what has the Hindutva movement gained by scapegoating Muslims as a grave danger to India? The first part of the chapter focuses on the half-century or so leading up to World War I. The second section examines the period from World War I to the 1980s, the period before militant Hinduism transformed itself into a mass movement. The final section examines the campaign to build a Hindu temple on Ram's birthplace, and the spread of Hindu militancy and violence to new groups of the population. It concludes with a brief summary of Muslim responses to Hindu militancy, responses that suggest a violent future.
Heidi R. M. Pauwels
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195369908
- eISBN:
- 9780199871322
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369908.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The conclusion first discusses the Indian Women's Movement's engagement with the goddess as role model and calls for a nuanced understanding before activist appropriation. Then, it brings together ...
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The conclusion first discusses the Indian Women's Movement's engagement with the goddess as role model and calls for a nuanced understanding before activist appropriation. Then, it brings together what insights can be drawn from this study for the construction of traditional South Asian “womanhood,” and how that construction has developed over time. It looks first at the devotional construction and then at the modern one. The latter is influenced by the rise of Hindutva in politics and by a consumerist context, not unlike Soap Serials. As Radha has come to resemble Sita, women who subordinate themselves to patriarchy are shown to be rewarded. Is this oppressive or catering to what women want? A test case is presented, studying recent attitudes toward dowry. Finally, suggestions are made for further investigation that might complicate these conclusions, but on the whole it seems that we can speak of a victory of dharma over love‐ at least for now.Less
The conclusion first discusses the Indian Women's Movement's engagement with the goddess as role model and calls for a nuanced understanding before activist appropriation. Then, it brings together what insights can be drawn from this study for the construction of traditional South Asian “womanhood,” and how that construction has developed over time. It looks first at the devotional construction and then at the modern one. The latter is influenced by the rise of Hindutva in politics and by a consumerist context, not unlike Soap Serials. As Radha has come to resemble Sita, women who subordinate themselves to patriarchy are shown to be rewarded. Is this oppressive or catering to what women want? A test case is presented, studying recent attitudes toward dowry. Finally, suggestions are made for further investigation that might complicate these conclusions, but on the whole it seems that we can speak of a victory of dharma over love‐ at least for now.
James G. Lochtefeld
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195386141
- eISBN:
- 9780199866380
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195386141.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The concluding chapter examines how Hindu pilgrimage—and ideas about pilgrimage—have been affected by social change. One such change is the promotion of tourism, which has brought significant ...
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The concluding chapter examines how Hindu pilgrimage—and ideas about pilgrimage—have been affected by social change. One such change is the promotion of tourism, which has brought significant economic benefits and pernicious social effects, among them attracting a clientele seeking ease and entertainment. Another is greater literacy and scientific education, which have generated greater skepticism about the literal reality of religious merit (punya). A final factor has been the rise of Hindu nationalism (Hindutva), in which pilgrim crowds can send a political message. These changes have prompted a variety of Hindu responses. Some simply lament how such changes have disrupted traditional religious patterns, and others completely reject these patterns. The most sophisticated and productive responses have sought to reinterpret traditional ideas into a religious paradigm appropriate for contemporary times.Less
The concluding chapter examines how Hindu pilgrimage—and ideas about pilgrimage—have been affected by social change. One such change is the promotion of tourism, which has brought significant economic benefits and pernicious social effects, among them attracting a clientele seeking ease and entertainment. Another is greater literacy and scientific education, which have generated greater skepticism about the literal reality of religious merit (punya). A final factor has been the rise of Hindu nationalism (Hindutva), in which pilgrim crowds can send a political message. These changes have prompted a variety of Hindu responses. Some simply lament how such changes have disrupted traditional religious patterns, and others completely reject these patterns. The most sophisticated and productive responses have sought to reinterpret traditional ideas into a religious paradigm appropriate for contemporary times.
Michael Gottlob
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198072485
- eISBN:
- 9780199080731
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198072485.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
While both modern secularists and communalists agreed that interpretations of history should be based on methodical research, they differed on what method and research meant for the production of ...
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While both modern secularists and communalists agreed that interpretations of history should be based on methodical research, they differed on what method and research meant for the production of historical knowledge and its practical use. Proponents of Hindutva and ‘Hindu history’ sought to maintain a higher ground on the basis of their alleged political objectivity, and secularists sought to introduce elements of methodical rationality in political practice in hope of steering evolution of state and society towards desired goals. Increasingly, however, critiques of Western frameworks used by the historians began to emerge from the Subaltern Studies group.Less
While both modern secularists and communalists agreed that interpretations of history should be based on methodical research, they differed on what method and research meant for the production of historical knowledge and its practical use. Proponents of Hindutva and ‘Hindu history’ sought to maintain a higher ground on the basis of their alleged political objectivity, and secularists sought to introduce elements of methodical rationality in political practice in hope of steering evolution of state and society towards desired goals. Increasingly, however, critiques of Western frameworks used by the historians began to emerge from the Subaltern Studies group.
B.L. Shankar and Valerian Rodrigues
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198067726
- eISBN:
- 9780199080434
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198067726.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Indian Politics
This chapter discusses the shift that has taken place in the Indian Parliament from 1950 to the present with regard to the idea of representation. In the early 1950s, elected representatives in the ...
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This chapter discusses the shift that has taken place in the Indian Parliament from 1950 to the present with regard to the idea of representation. In the early 1950s, elected representatives in the Parliament were deeply engaged with concerns of the nation rather than the interests of their constituencies. The 1970s witnessed a great expansion of the base of democracy in India. The 1990s was the period of fragmentation of political parties, their social bases of support, and the assertion of identity politics. Designing an overarching framework to contain such fragmentation became one of the central concerns of the Parliament. Some thought that such an overarching vision could be provided around Hindutva, which itself was construed as an identity avowed by the vast majority of Indians. Others thought that such an overarching framework needed to be construed around the idea of secularism.Less
This chapter discusses the shift that has taken place in the Indian Parliament from 1950 to the present with regard to the idea of representation. In the early 1950s, elected representatives in the Parliament were deeply engaged with concerns of the nation rather than the interests of their constituencies. The 1970s witnessed a great expansion of the base of democracy in India. The 1990s was the period of fragmentation of political parties, their social bases of support, and the assertion of identity politics. Designing an overarching framework to contain such fragmentation became one of the central concerns of the Parliament. Some thought that such an overarching vision could be provided around Hindutva, which itself was construed as an identity avowed by the vast majority of Indians. Others thought that such an overarching framework needed to be construed around the idea of secularism.
Vinay Lal
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195672442
- eISBN:
- 9780199081929
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195672442.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
History and historians in India have gained prominence in the public sphere in recent years. The undisputed ascendancy of history in modern India may be briefly gauged by two developments. The first ...
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History and historians in India have gained prominence in the public sphere in recent years. The undisputed ascendancy of history in modern India may be briefly gauged by two developments. The first was Amartya Sen's keynote address at the annual meeting of the Indian History Congress in early January 2001. Sen warned against the manipulation of history in the service of sectarian political interests, and the diminishing of India's ‘magnificently multireligious and heterodox history’ at the hands of bigots. The second was the controversy over the overt politicization of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), a national body created to promote historical thinking and research. In its public aspect, the study of Indian history appears to revolve mainly around the polarity of Hindutva history and the history associated with left, secular historians. This book explores the politics of history-writing in modern India, narrativizing the engagement of a civilization with historical sensibility and modality. It examines how the discipline of history began to assume importance in colonial and independent India. It offers an account of the nationalist obsession with history in the nineteenth century, the relationship between nation-building and the making of Indian history, the effort to render Hinduism into a faith akin to the monotheistic religions, an interpretive history and critique of the subaltern school, and Indian history in cyberspace.Less
History and historians in India have gained prominence in the public sphere in recent years. The undisputed ascendancy of history in modern India may be briefly gauged by two developments. The first was Amartya Sen's keynote address at the annual meeting of the Indian History Congress in early January 2001. Sen warned against the manipulation of history in the service of sectarian political interests, and the diminishing of India's ‘magnificently multireligious and heterodox history’ at the hands of bigots. The second was the controversy over the overt politicization of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), a national body created to promote historical thinking and research. In its public aspect, the study of Indian history appears to revolve mainly around the polarity of Hindutva history and the history associated with left, secular historians. This book explores the politics of history-writing in modern India, narrativizing the engagement of a civilization with historical sensibility and modality. It examines how the discipline of history began to assume importance in colonial and independent India. It offers an account of the nationalist obsession with history in the nineteenth century, the relationship between nation-building and the making of Indian history, the effort to render Hinduism into a faith akin to the monotheistic religions, an interpretive history and critique of the subaltern school, and Indian history in cyberspace.
Vinay Lal
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195672442
- eISBN:
- 9780199081929
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195672442.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
This chapter explores how the politics of Hinduism has played itself out in cyberspace and how Hinduism itself gradually merged into Hindutva politics. It considers the Indian diaspora in the United ...
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This chapter explores how the politics of Hinduism has played itself out in cyberspace and how Hinduism itself gradually merged into Hindutva politics. It considers the Indian diaspora in the United States, where nearly 1.7 million Indians, most of them Hindus, reside. It then discusses the state of democracy and authoritarianism in cyberspace. It argues that cyberspace has become the true home of those Indians in North America who imagine themselves as the authentic Aryans. It looks at the predominance of Indians in Silicon Valley, and suggests that Hinduism and the Internet were made for each other. The chapter analyses the websites of the Hindu Students Council, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, the Global Hindu Electronic Network, and other similar organizations to show how the work of earlier generations of Hindu nationalist historians has acquired a new and dangerous kind of urgency and plausibility.Less
This chapter explores how the politics of Hinduism has played itself out in cyberspace and how Hinduism itself gradually merged into Hindutva politics. It considers the Indian diaspora in the United States, where nearly 1.7 million Indians, most of them Hindus, reside. It then discusses the state of democracy and authoritarianism in cyberspace. It argues that cyberspace has become the true home of those Indians in North America who imagine themselves as the authentic Aryans. It looks at the predominance of Indians in Silicon Valley, and suggests that Hinduism and the Internet were made for each other. The chapter analyses the websites of the Hindu Students Council, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, the Global Hindu Electronic Network, and other similar organizations to show how the work of earlier generations of Hindu nationalist historians has acquired a new and dangerous kind of urgency and plausibility.
Rizwana Shamshad
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199476411
- eISBN:
- 9780199090952
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199476411.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Indian Politics
In January 2011, Felani Khatun was shot dead while attempting to cross the border from India to Bangladesh. Her body remained hung on the fence as a warning to those who illegally crossed an ...
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In January 2011, Felani Khatun was shot dead while attempting to cross the border from India to Bangladesh. Her body remained hung on the fence as a warning to those who illegally crossed an international border. Migration to India from the current geographical and political entity called Bangladesh is more than a century old and had begun long before the nation states were created in South Asia. Often termed as ‘foreigners’ and ‘infiltrators’, Bangladeshi migrants such as Felani find their way into India for the promise of a better future. Post 1971, there has been a steady movement of people from Bangladesh into India, both as refugees and for economic need, making this migration a complex area of inquiry. This book focuses on the contemporary issue of undocumented Bangladeshi migration to the three Indian states of Assam, West Bengal, and Delhi, and how the migrants are perceived in light of the ongoing discourses on the various nationalisms in India. Each state has a unique history and has taken different measures to respond to Bangladeshi migrants present in the state. Based on extensive fieldwork and insightful interviews with influential members from key political parties, civil society organizations, and Hindu and ethnic nationalist bodies in these states, the book explores the place and role of Bangladeshi migrants in relation to the inherent tension of Indian nationalism.Less
In January 2011, Felani Khatun was shot dead while attempting to cross the border from India to Bangladesh. Her body remained hung on the fence as a warning to those who illegally crossed an international border. Migration to India from the current geographical and political entity called Bangladesh is more than a century old and had begun long before the nation states were created in South Asia. Often termed as ‘foreigners’ and ‘infiltrators’, Bangladeshi migrants such as Felani find their way into India for the promise of a better future. Post 1971, there has been a steady movement of people from Bangladesh into India, both as refugees and for economic need, making this migration a complex area of inquiry. This book focuses on the contemporary issue of undocumented Bangladeshi migration to the three Indian states of Assam, West Bengal, and Delhi, and how the migrants are perceived in light of the ongoing discourses on the various nationalisms in India. Each state has a unique history and has taken different measures to respond to Bangladeshi migrants present in the state. Based on extensive fieldwork and insightful interviews with influential members from key political parties, civil society organizations, and Hindu and ethnic nationalist bodies in these states, the book explores the place and role of Bangladeshi migrants in relation to the inherent tension of Indian nationalism.
Pathik Pathak
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748635443
- eISBN:
- 9780748652877
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748635443.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter relocates to India, the complementary rise of Hindutva, and neo-liberalism since the early 1990s. It reflects on the Left's struggles to categorise the threat posed by the Sangh Parivar, ...
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This chapter relocates to India, the complementary rise of Hindutva, and neo-liberalism since the early 1990s. It reflects on the Left's struggles to categorise the threat posed by the Sangh Parivar, and why some commentators insisted on representing Hindutva as India's fascism. By relating Hindu nationalism's ascendancy with the growth of ‘Middle India’, the chapter concludes that it is more usefully described by the politics of majoritarianism.Less
This chapter relocates to India, the complementary rise of Hindutva, and neo-liberalism since the early 1990s. It reflects on the Left's struggles to categorise the threat posed by the Sangh Parivar, and why some commentators insisted on representing Hindutva as India's fascism. By relating Hindu nationalism's ascendancy with the growth of ‘Middle India’, the chapter concludes that it is more usefully described by the politics of majoritarianism.
Pathik Pathak
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748635443
- eISBN:
- 9780748652877
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748635443.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter examines how India's Left assigned the blame for the rise of Hindu nationalism to its rival factions. In particular, it scrutinizes the common accusation that anti-secularism is ...
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This chapter examines how India's Left assigned the blame for the rise of Hindu nationalism to its rival factions. In particular, it scrutinizes the common accusation that anti-secularism is complicit with Hindu nationalism and questions whether other voices on the Left have been able to answer meaningfully to Hindutva by way of an alternative. The chapter concludes that neither state secularism nor anti-secularism answers meaningfully to Hindu majoritarianism, but that the latter, like Parekh's multiculturalism, moves towards the ‘politically sensitive imagination’ required to rehabilitate the project of Indian democracy.Less
This chapter examines how India's Left assigned the blame for the rise of Hindu nationalism to its rival factions. In particular, it scrutinizes the common accusation that anti-secularism is complicit with Hindu nationalism and questions whether other voices on the Left have been able to answer meaningfully to Hindutva by way of an alternative. The chapter concludes that neither state secularism nor anti-secularism answers meaningfully to Hindu majoritarianism, but that the latter, like Parekh's multiculturalism, moves towards the ‘politically sensitive imagination’ required to rehabilitate the project of Indian democracy.
Pathik Pathak
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748635443
- eISBN:
- 9780748652877
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748635443.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter concludes the book by teasing out the global lessons from the three instances of the progressive dilemma examined in it: the contest over ‘new times’, the right response to Hindutva, and ...
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This chapter concludes the book by teasing out the global lessons from the three instances of the progressive dilemma examined in it: the contest over ‘new times’, the right response to Hindutva, and Britain's postmulticulturalist future. It assesses whether majoritarian pressure for the political centre to drift rightwards is being resisted by the emerging generation of political actors, called ‘multiculturalism's children’, and what the Left as a whole can do to support their struggles.Less
This chapter concludes the book by teasing out the global lessons from the three instances of the progressive dilemma examined in it: the contest over ‘new times’, the right response to Hindutva, and Britain's postmulticulturalist future. It assesses whether majoritarian pressure for the political centre to drift rightwards is being resisted by the emerging generation of political actors, called ‘multiculturalism's children’, and what the Left as a whole can do to support their struggles.
Chris Ogden
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780198089551
- eISBN:
- 9780199082728
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198089551.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This book produces the first-ever analysis of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) security policy. It traces the impact of Hindu nationalism upon India’s contemporary security ...
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This book produces the first-ever analysis of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) security policy. It traces the impact of Hindu nationalism upon India’s contemporary security practice by investigating BJP policy before, during, and after their leadership of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Based upon primary sources and extensive interviewing, the volume principally analyses the BJP’s tenure in government from 1998 to 2004—a period of vital importance concerning India’s rise in international prominence. Specifically, it confirms the crucial impact of BJP internal policy sources on India’s external security practice—especially regarding nuclear transparency, a tilt towards the US, greater regional pragmatism and the use of realpolitik. Carried out in comparison with earlier Indian National Congress (INC) regimes, this investigation highlights the multiple, composite, and competing norms influencing India’s foreign policy, and shows how Indian security practice is absorptive, dynamic, and elastic. Most importantly, the author unveils how the BJP-led NDA legacy continues to critically inform the present-day trajectory of Indian security. The book thus yields an overview of foreign policy (and its making) in modern post-colonial India across different political generations, and the current core policies critical to its international emergence as a great power.Less
This book produces the first-ever analysis of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) security policy. It traces the impact of Hindu nationalism upon India’s contemporary security practice by investigating BJP policy before, during, and after their leadership of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Based upon primary sources and extensive interviewing, the volume principally analyses the BJP’s tenure in government from 1998 to 2004—a period of vital importance concerning India’s rise in international prominence. Specifically, it confirms the crucial impact of BJP internal policy sources on India’s external security practice—especially regarding nuclear transparency, a tilt towards the US, greater regional pragmatism and the use of realpolitik. Carried out in comparison with earlier Indian National Congress (INC) regimes, this investigation highlights the multiple, composite, and competing norms influencing India’s foreign policy, and shows how Indian security practice is absorptive, dynamic, and elastic. Most importantly, the author unveils how the BJP-led NDA legacy continues to critically inform the present-day trajectory of Indian security. The book thus yields an overview of foreign policy (and its making) in modern post-colonial India across different political generations, and the current core policies critical to its international emergence as a great power.
Sudha Pai and Sajjan Kumar
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780199466290
- eISBN:
- 9780199095865
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199466290.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Indian Politics
The authors analyse the reasons underlying the resurgence of communalism in the 2000s in Uttar Pradesh (UP) leading to riots in Mau in 2005, Gorakhpur in 2007, and Muzaffarnagar in 2013, but more ...
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The authors analyse the reasons underlying the resurgence of communalism in the 2000s in Uttar Pradesh (UP) leading to riots in Mau in 2005, Gorakhpur in 2007, and Muzaffarnagar in 2013, but more importantly move beyond riots to analyse the new ways and means whereby communalism in the present phase is being manufactured by the Hindu right. They argue that UP is experiencing a post-Ayodhya phase of communalism markedly different from the late 1980s/early 1990s. The book employs a model of institutionalized everyday communalism whose defining feature is that rather than initiating major, state-wide riots, the strategy of the BJP–RSS currently is to create and sustain constant, low-key communal tension together with frequent, small, low-intensity incidents out of petty everyday issues that institutionalize communalism at the grassroots. The use of this strategy is examined based on extensive fieldwork in the districts of eastern and western UP that experienced major riots. A fusion of rising cultural aspirations and deep economic anxieties in UP, which remains an economically backward state, and where a deepening agrarian crisis, unemployment, poverty, and inequalities are widespread, has created fertile ground for the new kind of communal mobilization. The agenda of the BJP–RSS is political to establish majoritarian rule, but equally important cultural, because India is viewed as fundamentally ‘Hindu’ in a civilizational sense in which Muslims will remain alien. It is through this lens of the new ‘avatar’ of the BJP, its ideology and strategies, and its impact on society and polity that an attempt is made to understand the current round of communalism in UP.Less
The authors analyse the reasons underlying the resurgence of communalism in the 2000s in Uttar Pradesh (UP) leading to riots in Mau in 2005, Gorakhpur in 2007, and Muzaffarnagar in 2013, but more importantly move beyond riots to analyse the new ways and means whereby communalism in the present phase is being manufactured by the Hindu right. They argue that UP is experiencing a post-Ayodhya phase of communalism markedly different from the late 1980s/early 1990s. The book employs a model of institutionalized everyday communalism whose defining feature is that rather than initiating major, state-wide riots, the strategy of the BJP–RSS currently is to create and sustain constant, low-key communal tension together with frequent, small, low-intensity incidents out of petty everyday issues that institutionalize communalism at the grassroots. The use of this strategy is examined based on extensive fieldwork in the districts of eastern and western UP that experienced major riots. A fusion of rising cultural aspirations and deep economic anxieties in UP, which remains an economically backward state, and where a deepening agrarian crisis, unemployment, poverty, and inequalities are widespread, has created fertile ground for the new kind of communal mobilization. The agenda of the BJP–RSS is political to establish majoritarian rule, but equally important cultural, because India is viewed as fundamentally ‘Hindu’ in a civilizational sense in which Muslims will remain alien. It is through this lens of the new ‘avatar’ of the BJP, its ideology and strategies, and its impact on society and polity that an attempt is made to understand the current round of communalism in UP.
Anustup Basu
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748641024
- eISBN:
- 9780748651245
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748641024.003.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This book is an inquiry into the new Indian media world of the 1990s and the concomitant universe of commercial Hindi film. How did this period of titanic, techno-financial modernisation also witness ...
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This book is an inquiry into the new Indian media world of the 1990s and the concomitant universe of commercial Hindi film. How did this period of titanic, techno-financial modernisation also witness paradoxically the rise of a ‘pre-modern’ ideology of Hindutva, hitherto languishing among the urban petit bourgeois and some agrarian-feudal quarters of north India? What is the assembling process in popular Hindi cinema, and what exactly happens when cinematic assembling becomes ‘informatic’ in a global sense? This book is not just an excursion into film and media theory, but also a political analysis of the globalisation of culture and urban life in a third world situation. It first examines the philosophy of the Indian cinematic assemblage and indicates how the assembling processes have always responded to ecological shifts in politics, media and fields of knowledge. First, it considers the realism debate and the definition of cinematic assemblage before discussing assemblages of totality and temporality as well as the thing-in-the-assemblage. It also looks at the body-in-the-assemblage, focusing on Dalit and the woman.Less
This book is an inquiry into the new Indian media world of the 1990s and the concomitant universe of commercial Hindi film. How did this period of titanic, techno-financial modernisation also witness paradoxically the rise of a ‘pre-modern’ ideology of Hindutva, hitherto languishing among the urban petit bourgeois and some agrarian-feudal quarters of north India? What is the assembling process in popular Hindi cinema, and what exactly happens when cinematic assembling becomes ‘informatic’ in a global sense? This book is not just an excursion into film and media theory, but also a political analysis of the globalisation of culture and urban life in a third world situation. It first examines the philosophy of the Indian cinematic assemblage and indicates how the assembling processes have always responded to ecological shifts in politics, media and fields of knowledge. First, it considers the realism debate and the definition of cinematic assemblage before discussing assemblages of totality and temporality as well as the thing-in-the-assemblage. It also looks at the body-in-the-assemblage, focusing on Dalit and the woman.
Katju Manjari
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- August 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198790839
- eISBN:
- 9780191833281
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198790839.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism, Religious Studies
This chapter presents the history of Hindu nationalism, starting in the early twentieth century. It goes into the Hindutva ideology of Savarkar, Golwalkar, and other ideologues, and gives a history ...
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This chapter presents the history of Hindu nationalism, starting in the early twentieth century. It goes into the Hindutva ideology of Savarkar, Golwalkar, and other ideologues, and gives a history of key organizations such as the Hindu Mahasabha, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and the political party associated with them, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The chapter gives a broad background to some of the most difficult debates about Hindu identity today—that is, debates about ethno-religious chauvinism, and about the prospects for peaceful coexistence of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and other groups in India.Less
This chapter presents the history of Hindu nationalism, starting in the early twentieth century. It goes into the Hindutva ideology of Savarkar, Golwalkar, and other ideologues, and gives a history of key organizations such as the Hindu Mahasabha, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and the political party associated with them, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The chapter gives a broad background to some of the most difficult debates about Hindu identity today—that is, debates about ethno-religious chauvinism, and about the prospects for peaceful coexistence of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and other groups in India.
Chris Ogden
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780198089551
- eISBN:
- 9780199082728
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198089551.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter looks at the trajectory of the BJP’s (often contrasting) political origins, ideologies, and agendas concerning India’s domestic and foreign policies over the same 1947–1998 period. This ...
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This chapter looks at the trajectory of the BJP’s (often contrasting) political origins, ideologies, and agendas concerning India’s domestic and foreign policies over the same 1947–1998 period. This contrast is made apparent through its investigation of the BJP’s political heritage, an analysis of the origins of its Hindutva ideology and the party’s role as the political arm of the wider Sangh Parivar. After an analysis of the ideological basis of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) (the BJP’s predecessor) from its foundations in 1951 to its disbanding in the late 1970s, the analysis concentrates on the political rise of the BJP, charting its emergence onto the national stage in the 1980s. The chapter thus lays out the norms central to Hindu nationalism across multiple political generations, charts Hindutva‘s electoral rise, and sets up the evaluation in the next five Chapters of specific elements of Indian security under the BJP-led NDA regime.Less
This chapter looks at the trajectory of the BJP’s (often contrasting) political origins, ideologies, and agendas concerning India’s domestic and foreign policies over the same 1947–1998 period. This contrast is made apparent through its investigation of the BJP’s political heritage, an analysis of the origins of its Hindutva ideology and the party’s role as the political arm of the wider Sangh Parivar. After an analysis of the ideological basis of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) (the BJP’s predecessor) from its foundations in 1951 to its disbanding in the late 1970s, the analysis concentrates on the political rise of the BJP, charting its emergence onto the national stage in the 1980s. The chapter thus lays out the norms central to Hindu nationalism across multiple political generations, charts Hindutva‘s electoral rise, and sets up the evaluation in the next five Chapters of specific elements of Indian security under the BJP-led NDA regime.
Mushirul Hasan
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195695311
- eISBN:
- 9780199081509
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195695311.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture
The introduction to this book offers a series of generalizations bearing upon India's essentially inclusive and tolerant nature. For example, in a society where religion plays a dominant role in ...
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The introduction to this book offers a series of generalizations bearing upon India's essentially inclusive and tolerant nature. For example, in a society where religion plays a dominant role in virtually every walk of life, it is important that every historian brings secularism into the discussions and affirms its validity as a principle guiding the nation. To renounce this claim is to surrender the nationalist project to right-wing ideologies, be it Hindutva or Islamism. Like nationalism, “secularism” is one of the most evocative themes of our time. In addition, this chapter uses the term “secular state” to describe the relationship which ought to exist, between the state and religion. Furthermore, it considers secular state's antithesis, communalism, a creed based on hatred and violence and the narrowest bigotry.Less
The introduction to this book offers a series of generalizations bearing upon India's essentially inclusive and tolerant nature. For example, in a society where religion plays a dominant role in virtually every walk of life, it is important that every historian brings secularism into the discussions and affirms its validity as a principle guiding the nation. To renounce this claim is to surrender the nationalist project to right-wing ideologies, be it Hindutva or Islamism. Like nationalism, “secularism” is one of the most evocative themes of our time. In addition, this chapter uses the term “secular state” to describe the relationship which ought to exist, between the state and religion. Furthermore, it considers secular state's antithesis, communalism, a creed based on hatred and violence and the narrowest bigotry.
A. Raghuramaraju
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195693027
- eISBN:
- 9780199080359
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195693027.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter highlights the debate between V.D. Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi on the relation between religion and politics in contemporary Indian society. It also demolishes the opposition posited ...
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This chapter highlights the debate between V.D. Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi on the relation between religion and politics in contemporary Indian society. It also demolishes the opposition posited between Enlightenment and Hindutva to forcefully counterpose the differences between Gandhi and Savarkar. In contrast to Sumit Sarkar's description of Hindutva as religious, it argues that Hindutva is a modified modern phenomenon which, far from representing religious aspects, has in fact adopted a number of important elements of the Enlightenment such as its obsession with unity, fascination for science and technology, and instrumental rationality. While Savarkar sought to politicize religion, Gandhi pleaded for spiritualizing politics. Recognizing this difference would enormously help in articulating, and understanding the larger tensions engulfing contemporary Indian society and possibly in proposing realistic recommendations to combat communalism through making a case for the Gandhian option, particularly to wean away those who are on the borders of Hindutva.Less
This chapter highlights the debate between V.D. Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi on the relation between religion and politics in contemporary Indian society. It also demolishes the opposition posited between Enlightenment and Hindutva to forcefully counterpose the differences between Gandhi and Savarkar. In contrast to Sumit Sarkar's description of Hindutva as religious, it argues that Hindutva is a modified modern phenomenon which, far from representing religious aspects, has in fact adopted a number of important elements of the Enlightenment such as its obsession with unity, fascination for science and technology, and instrumental rationality. While Savarkar sought to politicize religion, Gandhi pleaded for spiritualizing politics. Recognizing this difference would enormously help in articulating, and understanding the larger tensions engulfing contemporary Indian society and possibly in proposing realistic recommendations to combat communalism through making a case for the Gandhian option, particularly to wean away those who are on the borders of Hindutva.
T. N. Madan
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198065104
- eISBN:
- 9780199080182
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198065104.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sociology of Religion
Many early Victorian writers considered India to be at the threshold of a new way of life under the combined influence of the new administrative and mercantile dispensations and evangelical ...
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Many early Victorian writers considered India to be at the threshold of a new way of life under the combined influence of the new administrative and mercantile dispensations and evangelical Christianity. However, the critics overlooked the vitality of the inner dynamism of Hinduism. The character of the mixed response of Bengali intellectuals to the cultural impact of the West is best illustrated by the creed and social concerns of the Brahmo Sabha, founded by Rammohun Roy, and its successor, the Brahmo Samaj. This chapter examines Hindu religious tradition, focusing on religious revivalism and fundamentalism. It then analyses the Arya Samaj, the ideology of Hindutva and the founding of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and Mahatma Gandhi's Hinduism.Less
Many early Victorian writers considered India to be at the threshold of a new way of life under the combined influence of the new administrative and mercantile dispensations and evangelical Christianity. However, the critics overlooked the vitality of the inner dynamism of Hinduism. The character of the mixed response of Bengali intellectuals to the cultural impact of the West is best illustrated by the creed and social concerns of the Brahmo Sabha, founded by Rammohun Roy, and its successor, the Brahmo Samaj. This chapter examines Hindu religious tradition, focusing on religious revivalism and fundamentalism. It then analyses the Arya Samaj, the ideology of Hindutva and the founding of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and Mahatma Gandhi's Hinduism.
Vasudha Dalmia
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195695052
- eISBN:
- 9780199080335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195695052.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
Evaluating the journey of Indian theatre in the twentieth century, this chapter begins with a brief discussion of the increasing involvement of Hindutva and Hindu women in the field of theatre during ...
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Evaluating the journey of Indian theatre in the twentieth century, this chapter begins with a brief discussion of the increasing involvement of Hindutva and Hindu women in the field of theatre during the 1990s. The first section explores the works of these women by tracing the range of operational modes and the converging and diverging strands that existed between the works of these women directors. The succeeding sections of this chapter concentrate on Rabindranath Tagore’s novel Gora, which engages with the notions of cultural, political, and gender identity, particularly with nationality and Hinduness. His novel’s political concerns acquired a new significance in the early 1990s at the height of the Hindu-Muslim tensions; a tension which led to the destruction of the Babri Masjid.Less
Evaluating the journey of Indian theatre in the twentieth century, this chapter begins with a brief discussion of the increasing involvement of Hindutva and Hindu women in the field of theatre during the 1990s. The first section explores the works of these women by tracing the range of operational modes and the converging and diverging strands that existed between the works of these women directors. The succeeding sections of this chapter concentrate on Rabindranath Tagore’s novel Gora, which engages with the notions of cultural, political, and gender identity, particularly with nationality and Hinduness. His novel’s political concerns acquired a new significance in the early 1990s at the height of the Hindu-Muslim tensions; a tension which led to the destruction of the Babri Masjid.
