DURING the last four decades, India has witnessed rising intimidation and targeting of religious minorities. After the demolition of Babri Masjid, the country witnessed unprecedented violence, and in Mumbai alone, about a thousand lives were lost.
In 1999, the most horrific act of burning alive of Pastor Graham Stains, labelled “most ghastly incident from the inventory of black deeds” by the President of India Dr KR Narayanan, took place. The Gujarat carnage was orchestrated on the pretext of the Godhra train burning, leading to massive polarisation along religious lines and the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in subsequent elections. Later, the massive Kandhamal violence on the pretext of Swami Aseemanand’s murder by Maoists in 2008 led to attacks on churches and loss of lives. The violence in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh (2013) and Delhi (2019) are a few other major acts of violence which have tormented the country.
This is not all, the violence in the name of cow slaughter, and love jihad added to the fire of the anti-minority hatred. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) added to the woes of the Muslim community. Sustained attacks on scattered prayer meetings of Christians on the pretext that they were promoting conversions have stirred the hate bogey and have intensified during the last few decades.
There is a gross violation of the rights of minorities and a violation of the “Freedom of Religion” in various forms. Freedom of Religion acts have been implemented recklessly in various states. These laws as such are a big hurdle for the practice of one’s religion. This suppression of the practice of religion, added to the hate against minorities, has led to the total intimidation of religious minorities. We also witnessed the hateful rhetoric used during the 2024 national elections, the ongoing demolition of Muslim properties and the government’s renewed push to implement the CAA — a law that, especially when coupled with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), risks rendering millions of Muslims stateless and without legal protection.
This image of India being created by the acts of the BJP government and Hindutva politics hurts the country’s international image and standing. Attempts are on to bypass this image, which reflects India’s declining position on various indices related to freedom and democracy. How does the government and the ruling ideological outfit of the RSS deal with this abysmal image? To begin with, India at the official level does not recognise any of the agencies monitoring rankings related to human rights in particular. The government states that this is interference in the “internal matters” of our country. The same government shouts hoarse when the atrocities on Hindus take place in neighbouring countries. To raise the concern about these atrocities is absolutely on the dot, but the government displays double standards on this.
To add to the strategy of undermining the deteriorating condition of Indian minorities, now Ram Madhav, leader of RSS-BJP, in an article argues that this way of looking at the violation of religious freedom is through a Eurocentric lense. In an endorsing way, he presents the report of a US-based think tank, “Changing the conversation about religious freedom: An integral human development approach”. As per this report, “a crucial component of overall human flourishing and sustainable development has to be based on Integral Humanism”. He comments that religious freedom should not just be treated as relating to Human Rights. (Indian Express, June 14). This is a clever ploy to undermine the freedom of religion in the country.
As per Madhav, invading Mughal armies persecuted Hindus. He blames the partition exclusively on the Muslim League. In contrast to Madhav’s understanding, Mahatma Gandhi saw diverse religions rooted in India and thriving with harmony. On similar lines, Nehru saw our civilization as a syncretic one. He writes, “She (Bharat Mata) was like some ancient palimpsest on which layer upon layer of thought and reverie had been inscribed, and yet no succeeding layer had completely hidden or erased what had been written previously.”
Madhav tells us about the concept of ‘Integral Humanism’ which was first propounded by Jacques Maritain in 1936. He was a Catholic Christian and was appreciated by the highest priests of the church. As per Madhav his concept of Integral Humanism argued to rise above religions to secure not only the material but ethical, moral and spiritual well-being of individuals. Articulating this in the context of Catholic Christianity, it might have aimed to oppose those who were trying to opt for non-Catholic sects of Christianity. He also argued for “The freedom which Christian democracy seeks to promote…”
In India, this phrase was presented by BJP leader Deendayal Upadhaya, who also had an RSS background. He was part of a political outfit which is working for the Hindu Rashtra (nation). This ideology regards India as being enslaved by Muslim kings and then the British. This political ideology attributes many ills of Hindu society to the atrocities of the Muslim kings in particular. The fact is that many of the ills regarding caste-Varna and gender hierarchy are mentioned in the earlier tomes considered holy by Hindus. They are also unmindful of the fact that the administration of Muslim kings was full of upper caste Hindus at various levels.
In the four major lectures given by Upadhyay in 1965, the ideology of Integral Humanism was presented. This ideology argues against the federal structure of India and calls for ‘Dharma Raj’. As per him, the Dharma is above parliament. It does argue for the predetermined role of the Individual, i.e., subtly upholding the caste-Varna system. It stands for the status quo in society. Maritain advocated ‘Christian democracy’ while Upadhyay is part of the agenda of ‘Hindu Nation’. BJP has adopted ‘Integral Humanism’ as its ruling ideology.
The results of Integral Humanism, which claims to be above religions, in practice adopts the values of Brahminical Hinduism and is taking up issues of temples (demolition of mosques), the holy cow (lynchings), Love Jihad, and conversions as the core part of its agenda.
Integral Humanism is being put forward to undermine the values of the Indian Constitution, the rights of minorities, the lower caste, and women in the present times. It may be a more sophisticated name for the agenda of the Hindu Rashtra, something totally in opposition to the Indian Constitution.
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Ram Puniyani is an eminent author, activist and a former professor at IIT Mumbai. The views expressed here are personal and Clarion India does not necessarily share or subscribe to them.
