An Example of Priorities of the Hindu Right Wing
Translation of Hindi Text: A Large Rally Against Illegal Bangladeshi Infiltration. Throw the Illegal Migrants Out…
I saw this old worn out poster of ABVP, the Hindu right wing students organization, in a village in Pali District in Rajasthan (a state in Western India). The problems the people of the village face are enormous. There’s poverty, corruption, a year of drought, illiteracy, inflation, mismanagement of NREGA, you name it! The current inefficient Congress government can be attacked on so many issues. But the issue they choose to pick up? Illegal infiltration from a country 1500 kms away from the village where this had been put up earlier this year. The jury is still out on the issue, and this post is not about illegal infiltration, terrorism and trafficking. The villagers here are absolutely unconcerned and unaffected by illegal migration.
Now some might point out that I choose to ignore the problem of infiltration, some of which results in fringe Islamic radicals entering into the country, and that the problems I mention of poverty, mismanagement etc are Congress’ doing. Hence my attack on ABVP is pure hypocrisy, typical of a “psedosecular”. Now let’s get something straight: the Congress has been so inefficient that it’s not even funny. The charges against it of “appeasement” do sometimes hold merit. (Note that I personally think Majoritarian Communalism is a degree worse than Minoritarian Communalism, although both are terrible; I’ll address this in a future post). Only today (the 3rd November, 2009) the Home Minister, P. Chidambram, attended a function by Muslim clerics which began with the denigration of the National Song of India, charging that it is un-Islamic (It might well be, dear self-proclaimed guardians of Islam. But that doesn’t mean you have to you have to be drama queens about it. Evidently, you give greater leverage to your religion than you do to your land).
Clearly then, India needs a strong and credible opposition that works for the people. The Leftists have no credibility and presence in most of India, and the states where they are in power are incredibly mismanaged. But the wort of the lot are the Hindu conservatives, who still are a party made up of, and supported by, India’s highest castes (statistical source: National Election Survey, EPW 10/2009). They choose to raise relatively unimportant issues that work more on xenophobia than on sound economics. They are as incompetent as the Congress, and then worse because their majoratarian xenophobic socio-religious policy is several degrees worse then the Congress’ ‘minority-appeasement’.
Anyway, the rally mentioned above by ABVP barely had a turn-out. People there (and elsewhere in India) are still waiting for a party that really cares about their concerns, and not feeds on Hindu chauvinism, to save them from the helplessness of voting for Congress every now and then.
I agree that we need a good opposition. The congress may not be good, but the BJP is out of the question!
Much better to have incompetence than dangerous hindutva xenophobia and incompetence!
My current hopes are pinned on the latest green party that’s being formed in Calcutta. It may be a while (if ever) before it becomes a National party, but one can dream na?
Hi Bhagwad.
Great to know about the Green Party launch. I always wondered why India didn’t have a Green Party yet. I mean even Pakistan has one for years! Anyway, hope it becomes big. Although I’m skeptical because they haven’t done well anywhere yet. I reckon they will do well in ‘developed’ countries before anywhere else. And I think the Indian Green Party should be localized. Even the name should be more Indian.
Cheers.
To the contrary – they’ll do worse in developed countries – especially the US where being “green” or “environmental” is looked down upon.
The developing countries are the only hope – maybe a little from Europe, but not the US.
Yes, I am aware of the situation in the USA and Europe. However, my point is this: In the West, conservatives do shun environmental issues and even dismiss them as a conspiracy by the “godless liberals”. But there is a large liberal university crowd that has made the environment it’s pet issue and are pretty vocal about it. The movement can only grow. On the other hand, in developing countries such as ours, while the environment affects the poor more than it affects people in the high income nations, there are several issues that affect the people to a much greater degree than the environment. The poorest in India, for example, are oppressed by caste discrimination, religious fanaticism, adivasis are effected be corporate plunder, you name it. The list is long. With these more important issues, any party addressing them will be far from just being a green party. Hence if Green Party addresses them, it will metamorphose into a party whose primary concern is not the environment. And if it doesn’t address these concerns, then it wont be successful.
Thanks for coming back to reply. Cheers.