The Outcome of Indian Elections: Implications for the Region
Hindutva-led hypernationalism in India brought Modi again
Terming persistent Hindutva-led anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan rhetoric a catalyst for Modi’s electoral win, the speakers at a roundtable session expressed grave concerns over growing isolation of minorities in India, fearing that if not addressed, their insecurity could result in serious social crisis in the country.
They were speaking at the roundtable session ‘The Outcome of Indian Elections: Implications for the Region’, which was organized by IPS on May 24, 2019. The session was addressed by Dr Mujeeb Afzal, assistant professor, School of Politics and International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam University, Sultan M. Hali, senior analyst and the author of Rising Hindutva, Khalid Rahman, director general, IPS, Ambassador (r) Tajammul Altaf, senior research fellow at IPS, Dr Syed Mohammed Anwer, former deputy attorney general of Pakistan, member Islamic Nazriati Council and member IPS National Academic Council, Farzana Yaqoob, former minister, Social Welfare and Women Development, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K), Asghar Ali Shaad, former senior research fellow, Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Jawwad Falak, research officer, Maritime Study Forum, and Waqar-un-Nisa and Faizan Fakhar, research officers at IPS.
Dr Afzal, in opening speech, opined that it was Modi’s Hindutva narrative that won him the elections for a successive time. He replaced Indian nationalism with Hindutva nationalism, projected it as an identity of his larger than life brand, created a wave with it as a majoritarian underdog, and cashed it by attaining a sweeping victory.
He was, however, concerned over the overwhelming majority obtained by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), stating that while it succeeded in unifying the Hindu vote, it is also a sign of isolation of country’s minorities, particularly Muslims, the growing feeling of insecurity among whichcould lead to a social mess.
Hali was of the view that Modi started replacing Indian secularism with Hindutva ideology since the start of his first tenure and kept working on the agenda throughout. He revived old Hindi terms in the language, replaced Muslim names of places and made things difficult for the Muslims of the country. Though the economic and social conditions of India deteriorated in his tenure, the supporters of Hindutva still backed his ideology and kept targeting minorities across the country.
He said that the increasing infiltration of Hindutva ideology was even visible in Indian armed forces and other government institutions, many important personnel of which have been directly or indirectly associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the past.
Altaf looked at BJP’s win in a broader frame, terming it the rise of far-right politics in India through which a particular group of hardliners have found a platform to channel their emotions. He said that although the economic and social conditions of India deteriorated considerably in his first tenure, Modi played with the sentiments of people successfully by building his narrative around the issues of Balakot, Kashmir and Ghar Wapsi program.
Syed M. Anwar stated that divided in classes, it was difficult to engage various Hindu castes unanimously. This was however done by projecting Muslims as a social class even lower than the lowest Hindu caste, in turn not alleviating the conditions and social status of the scheduled Hindu caste but trying to pacify them by giving them something even insignificant to compare from.
Yaqoob highlighted the significance of voter’s psychology and the differences between electoral and administrative politics, maintaining that the electoral politics is always jingoistic and is dominated by rhetorical tactics of appeasing the voters. She added that Muslims were never comfortable citizens of an Indian society but now under Modi’s leadership, they are being openly marginalized.
Shad stressed on understanding difference nuances prevalent in Indian domestic politics, highlighting the trends of Pakistan bashing which has always been used as tool in India for achieving the political gains.
Falak pointed out that the right wing Hindutva politics had now deeply penetrated in the Indian society. He said that the Indian media, their big corporations and even Indian state institutions have now become highly political. Such trends indicate the establishment of a dangerous scenario not only for India, but for the whole region.
