Is India abandoning its Secular Roots? 10-15-2015

15, October 2015                  Is India abandoning its Secular Roots?

There is an extremely disturbing crusade being launched by the ruling B.J.P. to stifle free speech in a country that used to pride itself on free speech. Secular liberals are facing major challenges – how to voice their contrarian opinions without invoking the wrath of extremist Hindu groups and exposing themselves to mortal danger. Renowned scholar, M.M. Kalburgi, an outspoken critic of Hindu idol worship, paid the ultimate price when he was gunned by fanatics. Crores (10 million) of rupees are spent on religious rituals at the behest of religious magicians who misguide worshippers in believing that God can only be realized through physical objects or idols. The great sage, Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, vehemently denounced the prevailing caste system and all idolatry as impediments to God-realization. Kalburgi was right to challenge the validity of idol worship.  All religious customs must be challenged for their relevance and outdated and irrelevant rituals discarded.

Contrarians continue to suffer from the rising tide of Hindu extremists. Earlier in February, the communist leader, Govind Pansare was killed. In 2013 Narendra Dabholkar was murdered for campaigning against religious superstitions. Narendra Modi deafening silence is being interpreted as quiet acquiescence in concert with his shared ideology with the far-right Hindutva groups.

The notorious leader of another, Hindu extremist group, Sri Ram Sene, and his thugs raided pubs and assaulted women found drinking and issued an ominous warning to writers who criticized Hindu Gods would have their ‘tongues sliced off’. He stated that the ultimate goal was to create a Hindu nation. This comes as a direct threat to Christians, Buddhists, Muslims and Sikhs and the preservation of a secular democracy. Again, Narendra Modi failed to condemn these criminal acts.

The B.J.P. has adopted an unhealthy arrogance of India’s secular democracy. Following the assassination of Pakistani politician Salman Taseer, the Indian journalist, M.J. Akbar, the official spokesman of the B.J.P, boasted that “If Salman Taseer had been an Indian Muslim, he would still have been alive.” In 2014 India expressed concern over Bangladesh’s efforts to maintain a functioning democracy. As Nikhil Wagle, a prominent liberal journalist so aptly observed, “Without secularism, India is a “Hindu Pakistan.”

It is time India stop shielding itself from its own patina of legitimacy as being the gold standard of the world’s largest democracy  by criticizing its neighbor’s shortcomings.

The Indian media has become so fearful of the heavy-hand of the BJP ruling party that it has adopted a culture of self-censorship, loath to challenge those in political power. A number of journalists such as Mr. Wagle have complained of receiving threatening calls from another right-wing Hindu group, Sanatan Sanstha. K. S. Bhagwan, a retired university professor who is highly critical of the Hindu caste system received a tweet threatening his life

The goal of transforming India from a secular state to a Hindu nation, which seems to be behind the murders, is abetted not just by the silence of politicians, but also by the Hindu nationalist policies of the ruling B.J.P.

What is even more troubling is the government’s efforts to purge moderate secular voices from major institutions such as the National Book Trust and Nalanda University and replace them with Hindutv ideologues. India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of India’s secular state legacy, is being threatened by Modi’s aficionados. The director of the Nehru Museum and Library was removed and replaced by another religious ideologue who plans to change the name to glorify “dear leader’ Modi. This is absurd as changing the name of the Washington Monument to Obama museum.  A prominent B.J.P. member of parliament recently glorified the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, as a “great patriot”.  His extremist views are shared by many of his colleagues.  Godse was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an armed Hindu group, which has been instrumental in Modi’s rise to power. The culture and tourism minister, Mahesh Sharma, has promised to purge all western influence that promote secular values.

Emboldened by their election successes, Hindu fundamentalists feel empowered to purge all vestiges of western, secular values in the shadow of a Hindu nationalist government. Last December, the acclaimed Tamil author, Perumal Murugan, received death threats from local caste based groups, who demanded he  burn his novel, Madhorubhagan, a gripping fictional tale of a childless couple beset by the tyranny of caste.

Unable to offer him protection, the police suggested he go into exile. Fearing for his family’s life, he destroyed his whole library of books and took a vow to give up writing.

The country is taking a dangerous plunge to tyrannical rule and intolerance that will have profound repercussions if the current trends are not reversed. Modi has silenced many who accused him of presiding over the communal mayhem in Gujarat in 2002. He harassed dancer Sarabhai who spoke out against the communal attacks on the Muslim minority and is now waging a campaign against activist Teesta Setalvad and NGOs who are campaigning for justice. A senior police officer who served in Gujarat at the time of riots and accused Modi of ordering the police not to stop the riots for three days to allow the slaughter to continue, has been fired. Modi’s hatchet man, Amit Shah, is busy setting up groups in various places in U.P. to spread the virus of communalism and foment riots to fortify B.J.P.’s power. If these trends are not halted, India will sink rapidly into becoming a fascist state.

All these disturbing trends have been sanctified by a hideous caste apartheid system whose inequities must be challenged. Hindu extremists are even dictating our cuisine. Cow slaughter and the consumption of beef is banned in many states. Why is the ‘holy cow’ singled out for special protection and reverence? Emaciated cows can be seen wondering the streets of every town and village. I have yet to witness anyone feeding these pitiful animals.  The B.J.P. and its erstwhile leader, Modi, is sowing the seeds of intolerance and violence. Indians should be worried, very worried.