HVK Archives: An ethical menagerie
An ethical menagerie - Biblio
Swapan Dasgupta
()
1996 August
Title : An ethical menagerie
Author : Swapan Dasgupta
Publication : Biblio
Date : August, 1996
There were two unintended consequence of the Ramjanmbhoo-
mi movement which culminated in the demolition of the
Babri shrine in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. First, our
collective knowledge of German history registered a
phenomenal improvement; and, second, the publishing
industry received a veritable shot in the arm, thanks to
a plethora of secularist quickies devoted to unmasking
the heinous sangh parivar.
It is matter of abundant relief that the 15 contributions
in the collection under review spare the reader more
contrived lessons from the experience of European fascism
in the 1930s. Apart from Aijaz Ahmad's essay "Radicalism
of the Right and Logics of Secularism" which has a stray
reference to Benito Mussolini's socialist background, the
contributions steer well away from equating contemporary
India with Weimar Germany.
On the second count, however, we Are not so fortunate.
Leaving aside Ghanashyam Shah's scholarly analysis of the
BJP's backward caste base in Gujarat and the account by
Manini Chatterjee (described as a 'freelance journalist',
but not as a functionary of the CPI-M) of the sangh
parivar's Ayodhya mobilization, it is painfully obvious
that most of the other contributors have nothing more
than a passing acquaintance of either the BJP or the RSS.
Empirical research and fieldwork, it would seem, have
little place in the construction of grand theories
couched in impenetrable jargon.
The question really arises: why are such books aimed at
'exposing' communalism published? The answer is two-
fold. First, they have an undeniable propagandist value
in bolstering the sagging morale of those who are at a
loss to comprehend the emotional turbulence in India over
the question of Hindu identity. The belief that the
demolition in Ayodhya and the failure of the BJP to win
the 1993 Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh would lead to
the nation turning its back on Hindutva has turned out to
be wishful thinking. Despite the one sided anti-Hindutva
tirade of the English-language press, 'Hindu communalism"
has struck deep roots in India's modern sector. To
secularists, this is inexplicable. Therefore, rather
than comprehend the phenomenon of decent, non murderous
Indians opting for a new vision of India, the temptation
is to increase the decibel level of denunciation.
Second, there is no real attempt at dialogue. A rounded
understanding of Hindu nationalism would surely have
incorporated essays by those who perceive Hindutva as
legitimate and the BJP a natural beneficiary of the
exasperation with the status quo. Tragically, liberalism
and pluralism are in short supply within an academic
community under siege. Unable to digest the new stir-
rings in India they have taken recourse to a dialogue of
the committed-so much so that the spate of predetermined
citizen's inquiries never found it worthwhile to accept
the testimony of those on the "other" side. In his
article, Mushirul Hasan has rightly berated Muslim zea-
lots for the witch-hunt against him in Jamia Millia
Islamia. Has he, however, bothered to probe into the
intolerance faced by those who contest conventional
secularist wisdom? He may be pained to discover that
secular fundamentalism rivals religious bigotry in refus-
ing to countenance genuine dialogue.
A factor behind the charm of this purposeless dialogue of
the committed is the lavish patronage extended to "anti-
communal" studies and 'Sahmat'-type outfits by the state
and foreign universities. Creative anti communalism.
therefore, opens up new avenues of opportunities. It
also permits its practitioners to be both dismissive and
contemptuous about the outside world which they are
unable to comprehend.
A monstrous example of the desire to demonize the enemy
is Harbans Mukhia's essay "Communal Violence and the
Transmutation of Identities'. Originally a paper submit-
ted to a seminar on violence in politics in Normandy,
France, Mukhia takes delight in seeing Hindutva as an
expression of Hindu sexual inadequacy and perversion.
Centred on the speeches of Sadhvi Rithambara, he con-
cludes that 'the identity of the Hindus was being impart-
ed a unitary image-the aggressive, phallic image'. He
further adds: 'The metaphorical link forged between the
rapes and the demolition of the mosque at Ayodhya at the
instigation of Hindu religious leaders, the sadhus, lend
the rapist a halo of religious piety!"
Having witnessed Rithambara during the mobilization for
the 1990 kar seva and the 1991 election campaign, it is
pertinent to make certain observations. First, her
robust interventions were never at the centre of the
Ramjanmbhoomi movement. What conferred a mass dimension
to the movement was first, the Ramshila pujas of 1989
which informed the political class of the extent of
support for the temple and, second, L.K. Advani's rath
yatra which (as Manini Chatterjee has noted in her arti-
cle) heralded the creation of the "political Hindu'.
Rithambara's strident invocation of Hindu honour was an
add-on. The self-image of the those who participated in
the movement was summed up in the simple assertion garv
se kaho hum Hindu hain. In seeing sexual perversion as
the raison d'etre of the Ayodhya movement, Mukhia was
only providing insights into the cloistered fantasies of
some JNU dons.
Ploughing through some of the essays in this collection,
there seems to me a compelling case for undertaking a
psycho-profile (including sexual preferences) of the
secularist intellectual, a la Paul Johnson in Intellectu-
als. What's behind his deep contempt of indigenous tradi-
tions? What mental disorder prompts otherwise sane
individuals to trample over the feelings of millions and
demand that Ramjanmbhoomi be converted into a public toi-
let? Why are westernized Hindus so prone to self flagel-
lation? Is secularism a badge of commitment or an employ-
ment opportunity? Is there a link between anti-Hindutva
and upward social mobility? After the 1996 election,
another question has arisen: is there a correspondence
between those who despise Hindu nationalism and those who
see India as an ethnic menagerie?
The question may sound quite preposterous, if not unpar-
liamentary. However, every trial has a defence as well
as a prosecution. So far the prosecution has been in-
sisting on an ex-parte verdict. As yet, India has not
obliged. Reading collections such as this, they will
never oblige. Perhaps that is one reason why we should
insist on a mandatory translation of essays like this
into an Indian language. And wait gleefully for the
inevitable backlash.
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