Blog #85: Hinduism 2019

I'm very tired tonight, so I'm halfway cheating and posting an essay I wrote for my religion class a couple days ago. Here it is!

An Election Defined by Religion;

The Role of Hinduism in India’s 2019 General Election

    The Indian general election of 2019 is presently underway, with the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, and the Indian National Congress Party, or INC, fighting for control of the government. The element of the election which perhaps garners the most attention is the position of Prime Minister, where either Prime Minister Modi of the BJP will continue to hold his office, or Rahul Gandhi of the INC will take the position himself. And, although there are a number of differences between these men, their parties, and the multitude of issues to be addressed by the nation’s government, one overarching theme seems to be ruling much of this election; Hinduism.

    Now, it is nothing new for religion to be tied up in politics and elections— religion has been used as a political tool in countless elections around the world for years upon years. Yet, the deeply rooted cultural importance of religion in India, paired with past conflicts fueled at least partly by religion and the recently increased religious tensions under the BJP’s rule since 2014, has resulted in an election defined largely by religion, and more specifically, by Hinduism.

    Prime Minister Modi, called a Hindu nationalist by many, found his way to power through the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist paramilitary group. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, is comprised of volunteers who spread the message and virtues of Hinduism, occasionally through violence, and is considered the parent organization of the BJP. It is through his beginnings in RSS that Prime Minister Modi was able to find his way to the BJP and eventually become the Prime Minister of India, though he is not necessarily unique in this. Because of their ideological similarities, many members of the BJP come from the RSS, including nearly half of Prime Minister Modi’s ministers.

    The BJP in and of itself is a party largely based on Hinduism, and many have gone so far to claim that the party promotes Hindutva, an ideology which promotes the establishment of Hindu hegemony. From members of the party inciting violence against Muslims, calling them “dogs,” and even threatening to kill them, to policies soaked in Hindu ideology, such as the prohibition of cow slaughter, there appears to be a plethora of evidence to support this claim (Gettleman, 2019). Additionally, instances of religious-fueled violence have spiked since Modi and the BJP came to power in 2014. One example of this is cow vigilante violence. Even in states where cow slaughter is still legal, there have been a number of instances where people involved in this type of work were beaten or killed by Hindu nationalists, with little to no repercussions for those who committed such horrendous violence. Prime Minister Modi and the BJP have stayed remarkably silent in regard to such instances of religious-based violence, failing to condemn such Hindu extremism.

    Given this history, there is widespread concern about the BJP and Prime Minister Modi retaining power in this election. Because of their use of Hinduism as a tool of divisiveness, a reasonable fear of their continued power exists. If they are victorious, it won’t just mean continued religious divisiveness and tensions, it could constitute a threat to the nation’s democracy, which is grounded in its secular constitution. And, with this, the two sides of the coin are clear; on one side, there is Hindu nationalism, fueled by religious intolerance and Hindutva, and on the other, there is the desire to maintain secularism in India, which promotes religious tolerance and a government free from religious rule.

    At least, that’s what one would assume to be the case. And, although it is to a certain extent, the importance of Hinduism to India in general cannot be overlooked. So, although the BJP may place too much of an emphasis on Hinduism, their opposition cannot be seen as abandoning it either. As Bhavna Vij-Aurora points out, “The Congress (INC), unwilling to cede the whole (Hindu) ground to the BJP, is making an unabashed play for it to ensure voter sympathies don’t automatically gravitate to the other side.” Essentially, although the INC doesn’t promote Hindu nationalism, they also can’t afford to lose the Hindu vote, and therefore still feel the need to prove their ‘Hinduness’ to voters. This has led to an election filled with concerns over who is the rightest Hindu, who is more Hindu, who is the best Hindu.

    This competitive Hinduism is being displayed by both parties; a spokesperson for the BJP designated Rahul Gandhi’s visits to temples as “fancy-dress Hinduism,” and Gandhi himself claimed to understand Hinduism better than the BJP, claiming a difference between the BJP’s Hindutva-fueled Hinduism of “hatred, insecurity, and anger,” and the INC’s notion of Hinduism as a “liberal, progressive concept that teaches love and respect for others.” Accusations of ‘politicizing spirituality’ and practicing a Hinduism of ‘convenience’ rather than of ‘conviction’ abound (Vij-Aurora, 2018). The examples are countless, but the message is clear— this election is defined in many ways by Hinduism.

    So, with Hinduism at its center, what will be the ramifications of this election? Regardless of who wins, the battle over Hinduism has lurched the entire nation in that direction, willingly or unwillingly diminishing religious tolerance and cooperation to a certain extent. Violent Hinduism is facing a resurgence, and the election will only continue to exacerbate this. Additionally, Hinduism’s importance in Indian society has been solidified, yet again. With this much of a focus on the religion in the world’s largest democratic election, it would be difficult to interpret Hinduism as anything but integral to Indian society. Now, the only question is how important is Hinduism to India as a nation? That’s a question soon to be decided by this nation’s voters.

Works Cited

Gettleman, Jeffrey, et al. “Under Modi, a Hindu Nationalist Surge Has Further Divided India.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/world/asia/modi-india-elections.html.

Griswold, Eliza. “The Violent Toll of Hindu Nationalism in India.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2019, www.newyorker.com/news/on-religion/the-violent-toll-of-hindu-nationalism-in-india.

Isackson, Peter. “India's General Election: Communal Tension and the Threat to Democracy.” Fair Observer, 8 Apr. 2019, www.fairobserver.com/region/central_south_asia/india-general-election-narendra-modi-indian-news-today-33480/.

Jain, Snigdha. “BJP and Its Hindutva Politics―the Slow Saffronisation of India.” The Week, The Week, 25 Apr. 2018, www.theweek.in/news/india/2018/04/25/bjp-and-its-hindutva-politics-the-slow-saffronisation-of-india.html.

Sharma, Betwa. “Almost Half Of Modi's New Ministers Are From The RSS: Report.” HuffPost India, HuffPost India, 15 July 2016, www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/07/05/modi-cabinet-expansion_n_10824842.html.

Vij-Aurora, Bhavna. “Hindu, Hinduer, Hinduest: Will The 'Hindu Vote' Decide 2019?” Https://Www.outlookindia.com/, Outlookindia.com, 28 Nov. 2018, www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/hindu-hinduer-hinduest-will-the-hindu-vote-decide-2019/300941.

The three stripes on our foreheads are representative of Shaivism, a sect of Hinduism.