Prof Ram Puniyani
THE Saffronites, represented by the RSS, the BJP and their affiliates, take every opportunity to deepen the demonisation of religious minorities. Though there are legal provisions for punishing these hate speeches mostly they go unpunished. As the Hindutva party has been in power for over a decade the phenomenon has seen a dangerous downslide, which is leading to negative social perceptions about the religious minorities. As reflected in the community WhatsApp groups and social attitudes; hating these minorities has become a sort of normal discourse among large sections of society. The increasing intensity of spewing hate is the root due to which negative social perceptions are constructed which, in turn, deal a severe blow to the concepts of fraternity and communal amity, one of the three legs of the tripod of the Indian Constitution.
There are newer dog whistles, as such they are no more just dog whistles; these are more a call to action. They are built on the existing misconceptions and add to the process of divisiveness. The perceptions like Mughal kings were outsiders and wrought injustices on Hindus, they were temple destroyers, they imposed Islam by force have rapidly been added on to slogans like, ‘Hum Do Hamare Do, Woh Panch Unke Pacchis’, (We [Hindus] are two and we have two, and they [Muslim] are five and they have twenty-five). Refugee camps housing Muslims were called ‘child production factories’. The new add-ons are ‘they can be recognised by their clothes, they are killers of our holy mother – the cow, they are luring our girls-women through love jihad. Now love jihad is followed by jihad series, the latest being land jihad and vote jihad.
In the wake of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi came out with hate speeches by the dozen. As per Human Rights Watch, Modi had made 110 hate speeches in those elections. The report says, “Modi made Islamophobic remarks intended to undermine the political opposition, which he said promoted Muslim rights, and to foster fear among the majority Hindu community through disinformation.”
Another sample is equally horrifying. Referring to reservations to Muslims as “appeasement” by the Congress, he said, “This is a part of despicable attempts at Islamisation of India and pushing it towards divisions. When the UPA govt came to power, it made such attempts at that time too. BJP had carried out a massive agitation. So, be it Justice Verma Committee report or the Sachar Committee report, they were all attempts by Congress to loot the reservation of OBCs, SCs and STs” (The Times of India, 2024c).
The assembly elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra saw the peak of this phenomenon yet again. In Jharkhand, Assam Chief Minister Himant Biswa Sarma focused on the propaganda of Muslim infiltrators in the state. BJP issued a very demeaning advertisement showing a large Muslim family invading the Hindu household and taking it over. One knows Jharkhand has no international border, so who are these Muslims taking over a Hindu household? For a change the Election Commission got it pulled down but its source and already circulated video may be available at places. Another hate-provoking propaganda was that Muslims marry Adivasi women and take over the Adivasi land. No data is needed to support this kite flying; so far it serves the purpose of divisive politics. The slogan given was that the Muslim infiltrators were taking away your Roti, Beti, Mati (livelihood, daughter, land) This statement was from the prime minister of the country!
The core slogan this time was from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Batenge to Katenge… (If we are divided we will be butchered). He meant Hindu unity. Backing him up the father organisation of BJP, RSSs’ Dattatray Hosabale made it clear that: “The important point is that when Hindus are united, it will be beneficial for all. Unity of Hindus is the Sangh’s lifetime pledge..,”
Modifying a bit on Adityanath’s ‘Batenge to Katenge’ Modi came up with ‘Ek hain to safe hain’ (If Hindus are united they will be safe) putting forward that Hindu unity is the foundation for keeping them safe from apparently the minorities, because of whom ‘Hindu khatre mein hain’ (Hindu in danger).
Maharashtra BJP leaders not only focused on land jihad and vote jihad, he went on to call Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra as the one which had the participation of Urban Naxals and ultra-left, apart from the other slogans.
The impact of this is shown not only on the polarisation and thereby the voting pattern but also on social perceptions, as reflected in the thousands of WhatsApp groups and drawing room chats of Hindu households.
Christophe Jaffrelot, the outstanding scholar focusing on Hindu nationalism’s rise in particular, quotes from a study conducted by CSDS from March 28 to April 2024 by scholars. The study tried to elicit the opinions of Hindus about how they see Muslims. In an immaculate study they solicited answers to questions like whether are Muslims not as trustworthy as anyone else, whether they are being appeased etc. The study shows the empirical presence of negative perceptions in society overall.
Scholars should also be able to help us how these negative sentiments have worsened over the years and decades. To cap it all, the BJP and Modi are trying to say, as reflected in the prime minister’s speech, that they will not indulge in communal rhetoric. In interviews with journalists, when asked about anti-Muslim speeches during the campaign, Modi responded: “The day I start talking about Hindu-Muslim [in politics], I will be unfit for public life. I will not do Hindu-Muslim. That is my resolve.” The gross difference between what one says and what one’s actions is so apparent here! It is these perceptions among Hindus that lead to an atmosphere of hate in the country. The spiral of hate is worsening by the day; it leads to ghettoisation on the one hand and pushes the Muslim community towards ‘second-class citizenship’ on the other.
How to combat this divisiveness? There is a need to inculcate among the people the alternative narrative which was the base of India’s freedom movement, the narrative which talks of the syncretic traditions of India, the narrative which led to the unity of people of all religions to participate in the freedom movement, the values of which are enshrined in our Constitution.
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Ram Puniyani is an eminent author, activist and former professor at IIT Mumbai. The views expressed here are personal and Clarion India does not necessarily share or subscribe to them.