This article is blatantly incorrect and flawed on several premises.
“Even if the BJP were a nationalist party, and neither does it claim itself to be, there is nothing to apologize for.“
BJP stands for Bharatiya Janata Party. Bharatiya is the Sanskrit word for Indian, and Janata means people. It emerged as popular in the 1990s during the rise of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and accordingly, Hindutva sentiment. Lal Krishna Advani, president of BJP in the early 90s, propelled BJP to the forefront of Indian politics and made it the face of the Hindutva movement. Hindutva directly translates to “Hinduness” and is essentially the modern and dominant form of Hindu nationalism.
This is NOT the same thing as Indian nationalism; Hindutva specifically wishes to unite India under the banner of a homogenized Hindu-ness–necessitating the exclusion of Muslim and Christian minorities. It claims that the Indian cultural identity is based upon that “Hindu-ness,” thus advocating for the sole existence of a homogenized, Hindu majority in India. Propagating a homogenized idea of Hindu-ness is not the way to advocate for Indian people. Hinduism is not a religion in the classical sense, it is rather an amalgamation of several spiritual traditions across the Indian subcontinent. Claiming there is a universal Hindu-ness only serves to uphold fascist geopolitical interests.
Hindutva has been reflected in BJP’s policies and actions through their associated volunteer, explicitly Hindu nationalist, and militant wing, RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). Neither BJP nor RSS have refused their connection to Hindu nationalism or Hindutva. RSS puts the connection between BJP and Hindutva this way: “Hindus were the nation in Bharat and that Hindutva was Rashtriyatva [nationalism].” Bharatiya, in the name of BJP, was chosen instead of Hindu to mask the fascist and ethnonationalist connotations of Hindu “ethnic” absolutism. At the same time, it was clearly outlined in its goals that BJP wanted to rebuild India in accordance with “Hindu” culture, and thereby nationalize all non-Hindus by inculcating them into a false, homogenized Hindu culture. Prabhant Patnaik described Hindutva as “fascist in the classical sense” and with good reason. The early leaders of RSS and Bharatiya Jana Sangh (the predecessor to the party itself) praised Hitler and Mussolini in the 1930s. European fascists directly inspired their “cultural nationalism”, essentially a euphemism for the creation of a fascist “Hindu Rashtriya”, or a Hindu Nation. I won’t go into detail on the specific actions of BJP and RSS that showcase their true fascist ideology, but these are some well-written academic & scientific readings on the topic.
That being said, it is easy to assume that anti-Western and anti-colonial movements are mutually exclusive of fascism. Fascist movements such as Hindutva (which BJP espouses) use this to shroud their fascism under a cloak of opposition to imperialistic Western interests. This has been true with Salafism and Wahhabi’sm, for example. Politics in the Global South are not easily understood, and are very hard to simplify because of the complication of colonial legacies. A wise practice is not to view politics in countries such as India through a black-and-white, Western lens. (And since we’re talking about Indian political parties, Indian National Congress is not a viable alternative, either. It has debilitating weaknesses of its own. This post is not meant to extol the virtues of Congress or venerate Rahul Gandhi like everyone on this post seems to assume when there is criticism of Modi for perpetuating fascist values.) If you would like any more sources on information in this post, feel free to ask.
TL;DR: The solution to imperialism and colonial legacies in India lies not in support for Modi and his fascist, ethnonationalist party, nor does it lie in Congress. The simplification of Indian politics, not only on this post, but across tumblr, is harmful to the Indian peoples’ movement towards liberation from imperialism and colonialism.
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