Why the Hindutva Right loves the United States January 27, 2015, 3:55 AM IST Rajesh Ramachandran in Polibelly | India | ET 16 34 0 52 Nationalism, in all its saffron glory, proactively celebrates a close friendship with the US, even if it is at the cost of having to accept the role of a junior partner. The inherent inequality in a relationship between a developing, poor nation and the world’s leader doesn’t stop the Hindutva Right from making it the most cherished of all bilateral ties. This may appear contradictory as most ultra nationalists are supposed to be insular, suspicious of bigger powers, and abhor engagement with races or nations that can sweep one off culturally. The Sangh Parivar is different. Its fringe is insular when it comes to caste, Khap, conversion, choice of food, dress, nightlife and even mobile phones for girls. They hate Bible-waving proselytizers funded by American missions. But even these fringe elements love to hug Obama tightly. It feels good for the local lathi-wielding chowdhury to be with the missile-wielding global chowdhury. The upper caste middle class NRIs who are in a hurry to turn Karol Bagh into California are not the only reason for the saffron family’s love for the US. As an organisation funded, nurtured and partly led by the local trading communities, RSS is driven by entrepreneurial castes, their interests and their attempts to bring in capital, wherever it lies. So, even when Swadeshi Jagran Manch or Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh opposes foreign capital for form sake, RSS, the parent organisation, never stops BJP from hailing foreign capital. Not during the first two Vajpayee governments nor now. Dollars, obviously, are the most important rationale for the chosen party of entrepreneurs to seek a lasting bond with the Americans. The US, even while it was funding and arming the Afghan and Pakistani Mujahideen, was not an enemy of the Parivar because the politics of the Parivar was decidedly against the Soviet Bloc. So, even when the Americans were aiding Islamist insurgents, the Parivar rooted for the US, against Soviet socialism. First of all, socialism was anathema to the Hindutva Right, but more importantly its biggest local enemy Congress was pro-Soviet Union. Then, politics and dollars overrode religious bigotry. Now, the US is leading the world’s counter-terror push, which gets roughly translated into an international anti-Islamist agenda. This suits the Hindutva Right and particularly its fringes the most. What greater reason to remain with the US than an opportunity to chase Islamist militants away from local mosques and neighbourhoods? Then during the formative years of the Republic and particularly during the Emergency, the Indian Right including the Jan Sangh leaders were supposed to have been supported directly or indirectly by the US. One of the easy reasons for the Hindutva Right’s natural drift towards the US was the pro-colonial legacy of some of its elements. Unlike Gandhian nationalism, which triggered a revolution of sorts against colonialism and apartheid as a universal principle, the Hindutva nationalism was not against the British rule nor was it opposed to the princes of the local principalities. In fact, the Hindutva nationalist leaders like VD Savarkar had pledged all their support to the British. Savarkar’s nationalism primarily aimed at creating a Hindu version of the Muslim League, promoting the two-nation theory. In fact, the party of the princes and the feudal lords, who always collaborated with the British, Swatantra Party, merged with Jan Sangh after the Emergency to form Janata Party. Later the Swatantra stalwarts remained with BJP. The attitude of the Hindutva Right towards the British Empire and whoever wields the strongest lathi and the strongest currency would remain consistent.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 09:55:57 +0000