There is an interesting pattern in which the Hindu Nationalist Organisations (HNOs) exploit a non-issue to stigmatize communities which were declared by them as “foreigners”. V D Savarkar wrote in his tract on Hindutva, “Nothing can weld peoples into a nation and nations into a state as the pressure of a common foe. Hatred separates as well as unites.” Savarkar located the common foe in Muslims and Christians whose holy lands were outside Sindhustan, or land running from Indus to Arabian Sea. The Hindu Nationalist Organisations have since invested their concerns in constructing a common foe, more imaginary than real and more mythological than historical. First they focused exclusively on Muslims; however, after NDA came to power in 1998, they started stigmatizing Christians in their public discourse for converting Hindus.

Irfan Engineer

The HNOs have a peculiar way of taking up issues that stigmatize the communities they believe are foreigners. First, they are indoctrinated in the training programmes for their high level officers. The officers so trained then take up the issue at the local level grossly exaggerating the threat and magnitude of the issue and even creating one. The issue is spoken about regularly till some individuals start perceiving the threat to be real and critical, and develop negative attitude towards the community. When the individuals who develop negative attitude towards the community grow into a critical mass, they are mobilized for a violent action targeting the imagined “enemy” community.

Violence generates media coverage and curiosity on the issue among the people and the trained officer of the HNO has an opportunity to popularize the disinformation on the issue and polarize the communities. First we see the “fringe” elements taking up an issue that stigmatizes the “enemy” community and testing waters. If there is adverse public reaction and hostile coverage, as in the case of attack on women in the pubs, or valentine day celebration, then it remains at that level.

However if the violent attack does not attract public outcry or condemnation, then the issue is taken up by one of the more established HNO at a higher level to generate more literature, ideas, spice it up with imaginary facts and carryout wider campaigns on the issue to invoke feeling of distrust and misgiving against the targeted “enemy” community and at worst, hatred and anger.

Finally, the issue is taken up by the BJP at the level of state and governance. The HNOs are like a team of players in a football or a basket ball game, where the team players (HNOs) dribble with the ball (i.e. a divisive issue) and pass it on to the forward player to score a goal. At every stage, violence is strategically deployed to ensure adequate coverage in the media on the issue and enhanced curiosity among members of public while disinformation is being disseminated.

The Babri Masjid issue too passed these stages. In 1949 idols of Ram were installed and the doors of Masjid were locked to Muslims – only a priest was allowed to worship the installed idol. Then in in the 1980s VHP took up the campaign to open the gates of “Ramjanmabhoomi Temple” to members of public, which was done in 1986. The campaign was so successful that large number of people knew the precise spot where Lord Ram was born even if they did not know when – even the century in which Lord Ram was born. More than the Temple, the campaign succeeded in dinning the “fact” that Muslims demolished temples to construct their Masjids and claim was made that there were 3,000 such Masjids though the list was never furnished and the goal post was widened to include any Masjid in future.

Anti-Muslim Gujarat riots in 2002 did not happen in a day and as a spontaneous response to the train burning – action reaction theory was just a cover up for the hard work that was racheting up the communal polarisation following Savarkar’s advice of necessity of a “common foe” to fuse the Hindus into a nation.

Muslims and Christians were being projected as the common foe of Hindus exploiting various issues during the period BJP was in power first in coalition with Gujarat Janata Dal of Chimanbhai Patel and later on its own. Varsha and Hanif’s marriage was exploited to call for a Bardoli bandh for days until Hanif was put behind bars under draconian Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) with similar detention powers in the hands of police as in MISA and TADA.

The term “love jihad” was not yet invented then. Entire Muslim community in Bardoli was punished by violence, social boycott, torching of their shops and homes and other measures for the “crime” committed by Hanif (and Varsha). Varsha resisted and stood up with Hanif till she could not bear anymore with the pressure that was brought on her – including the responsibility of riots.

Media increased its TRPs and circulation covering the violence and “juicy” stories. “Anti”-cow slaughter campaign by HNOs stops any vehicle owned by a Muslim or whose driver is a Muslim and transporting animals from one destination to another, seizes the vehicle and the animals and beats up the Muslim associate with the vehicle with the news being covered in the media that the Muslims were taking the cows illegally to a slaughter house. At times the animals being transported are not cows at all, and at times they are transported not to slaughter house but to another bonafide purchaser and with proper papers. This happens in places where the HNOs enjoy political patronage or at least have a favourable police officer and media support. The animals seized are often a booty earned for their “hard work”.

The attitudes nurtured using such campaigns are that Muslims are polygamist and multiplying fast and would soon overwhelm the Hindu population in India; they are disloyal to the nation, loyal only to their religious commanders and to Pakistan, an aggressive and violent lot, bunch of anti-social and sexual assaulters, exploiting their own women, following completely different social code and morality, etc.

The “enemy” communities are to be projected as completely different. Christian community too having their holy land in Jerusalem were stigmatised as bunch of poachers aggressively converting vulnerable members of Hindu community.

Voluntary conversion by any individual to Christianity was problematized by hundreds of districts were taking up the issue using violence and exaggerated claims and once BJP formed Govt. in states and NDA Govt. was formed in Centre, violence against Christians was scaled up in the Dangs district in Gujarat and Jhabua district in MP and the then PM called for a national debate on conversion. Murder of Graham Staines and his two sons in Mayurbhanj followed by anti-Christian riots in Kandhamal, Orissa in 2007 and 2008 (when BJP was a coalition partner in the Govt.) are instances of functioning of Hindu Nationalist Organizations. .... to be continued

Irfan Engineer, writer is Director, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism

क्या यह ख़बर/ लेख आपको पसंद आया ? कृपया कमेंट बॉक्स में कमेंट भी करें और शेयर भी करें ताकि ज्यादा लोगों तक बात पहुंचे

कृपया हमारा यूट्यूब चैनल सब्सक्राइब करें

(This article was published on September 1,2014 04:52 ) valentine day special

Irfan Engineer