Unmasking Hindutva, Modi and majoritarian offensive
by REENA CHERIAN
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India Since 2002 by Mukul Dube (Foreword by Professor D.N. Jha); AlterNotes Press, New Delhi; 2015; pages: xii + 198; Price: Rs 380.
India Since 2002 is a collection of articles published by Mukul Dube in the weekly Mainstream. The earliest were written in the aftermath of the Gujarat pogrom of 2002. The fiftythree articles are reflective of developments since then in the socio-political climate of the country. Some capture the emergence, origin and political positions adopted by leaders, such as “Maun Mustanda: The Strong Silent Man”and “Having One’s Mahaprasad and Eating it Too”, while articles such as “A Fair Unfair to Books”and “On the Ramayanas Affair”deal with state control and Rightwing influence over literary expression and censorship. A wide spectrum of issues, debates, deliberations and political positions of politicians are at play in this anthology.
The wording of the article headings shows a precise and concise style of presenting the irony and solemnity of the issues, while the alliteration in article headings such as “The Path of the Parivar”, “One Voices and Two Noises”, “Haunted by History”, “Siddhartha Shankar Sibal” and “Memory and Modi” are indicative of the unique style of writing along with a tinge of cynicism and an apparent play with satire and humour.
The author has captured how conceptuali-sation and perception and meanings of words have changed post-2002. In “Black, White, No Grey” he illustrates this situation with the changed meaning of the word secularism. He describes what political dynamics led to the change in the meanings of these terminologies, and asserts that “the secular state must be nothing other than the secular”. (p. 10)
Speaking further on the selection and use of words, he says how words like sabhyata,asmita and apaharan were manipulated and bellowed by the Right-wing to form an impression of their being the forerunners of culture. Writing of the debate between tolerance and secularism, he points to the inherent nature of religions to compete and struggle with one another, each seeking to establish that it is the absolute truth.
There are vignettes. There is a detailed sketch of the image of the old hand Vinayak Damodar Savarkar as the face of Hindutva in the first part of “Heroic Hindutva” and of the neoteric Uma Bharti in the second part. “Maun Mustanda”, about Lal Krishna Advani, is about the veteran leader of Hindutva while Dubeji’s “Siddhartha Sankar Sibal” is a an amalgamated vignette of two Cabinet Ministers in Congress governments serving at different times but responding in the same manner to analogous circumstances.
Two articles deal with capital punishment for Afzal Guru. One is a critique of reliance on and adherence to circumstantial evidence, while the other is an appeal to the President on Mohammad Afzal Guru’s mercy petition. The article, “Some Observations on the Mohd. Afzal Case”, builds the context of the appeal made by him, N.D Pancholi and Harsh Kapoor. In 2012, he revisited Afzal Guru’s case after the hanging of Ajmal Kasab and disparaged the majoritarian response in both cases.
Mukul Dube criticises public response and opinion in the context of the Delhi Rape case by attributing it to the romanticism associated with the protest, which attracts people who are not truly committed to the fight. The July 2013 article, “The Importance of Being Ishrat”, vehe-mently opposes the “encounter” and the concerted campaign by the BJP, the Central Bureau of Investigation, and a section of the media to paint Ishrat Jahan as a terrorist.
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Critical reflections
by NAMITA JAINER
India Since 2002 is a collection of critical reflections by Mukul Dube on the socio-political happenings in India in the aftermath of the Gujarat genocide of 2002, previously published in the weekly Mainstream between 2002 and 2015. Dube’s principal focus in this anthology is the depredations of the Sangh Parivar, the torch bearer of the ‘Vedic Taliban’ and Hindu fundamentalism. Articles like ‘Maun Mustanda: The Strong Silent Man’ are accounts of the gelid attitude of the leaders during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule towards the Gujarat pogrom. The use of religion by the Sangh Parivar by meddling with history and mythology, Dube argues, is very dangerous for the secular traditions upheld by the Constitution of India. Dube warns, in ‘Tolerant and Secular’, that every religion thrives on the unquestioning acceptance of its followers, leaving no place for reason. The communal tactics of the ‘Parivar’ are closely analysed by Dube in articles like ‘The Path of Parivar’ and ‘Having One’s Mahaprasad and Eating it too’, by which they are able to deracinate constitutional supremacy and rationality by perpetuating mythological falsehoods. Dube discusses the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in ‘Justice is not Revenge’ and states that ‘The true name of this fine piece of legislation is the Persecution of Terrorised Act … Licence to kill, some call it’ (p. 59). He states repeatedly in this book through various examples that legislations like POTA have continually been misused against the Muslim minority. India Since 2002 analyses the growing culture of intolerance promoted by the ‘family’, the Sangh Parivar, especially its systematically executed agenda of ‘saffronisation’. In articles such as ‘A Fair Unfair to Books’, ‘On the Ramayanas Affair’, and ‘The Uses of the Past’, Dube scrutinizes the various strategies of the ‘saffron brigade’ and writes that literally,‘silencing opponents is one use to which political power has been put. The other side of the coin is the spreading of one’s own vicious ideas, their imposition on the nation, most particularly its children’ (p. 28).
Book Review Literary Trust for more
Engaging with communalism
by RAM PUNIYANI
Many progressive writers have taken up issues related to sectarian politics and violence, more so since 1992-93, when the horrific Mumbai violence took place, and later after the Gujarat carnage of 2002. Mukul Dube, like many other sensitive, progressive individuals, began to write on issues related to communal violence and politics in 2002. While religion and related politics were not his priority earlier, he started responding to such issues since they began to threaten the very existence of our democracy. His first book was The Path of the Parivar, and it was followed after a year by The Parivar Raj and After.
The volume under review is a compilation of articles originally published in the Mainstream weekly. They are arranged sequentially, the advantage being that one can trace the trajectory of the politics which has been driving our society in the name of religion in a chronological fashion. In this format one can see the evolution of the intensity of this politics over a period of time. Since the RSS is at the centre of communal politics, issues related to the RSS combine (Parivar) are a central part of the book.
Dube takes the issues upfront in a matter of fact way, with a sprinkling of sarcasm. His generous use of Hindi words fits in naturally with the theme, which he helps us understand in its entire broad expanse. He correctly sees 2002 as a major landmark in the strengthening of the RSS combine, the path to “Hindu Rashtra”. Gujarat, which is one of the major subjects of discussion, was labelled the Laboratory of Hindu Rashtra, and over time through other machinations the Parivar (RSS Combine) has come to dominate the national scene. Hints about times to come are sprinkled in many of the articles which were written much earlier.
Prof. D. N. Jha, the eminent historian of ancient India, in his foreword makes a very valuable point when he writes that “Hindu right wing fantasizes about the past, presents a distorted picture of Indian history and culture and acts as a moral police …. We have entered into a veritable dark age.” Dube says that he had to return to writing due to the events in Gujarat, such was the intensity of what happened there. Many articles here deal with the enigma of Godhra and the violence which followed. While many investigative pieces have appeared in periodicals like Tehelka, the incisive analysis in Dube’s articles have their own merit. The failure of state and central government to stop the carnage is brought out well. The role of Modi and Advani, who was the Home Minister at the time, is analysed, linking the violence to the violence witnessed earlier in the aftermath of the Rath Yatra led by Advani.
Advani’s keeping silent when the carnage was going on and later, while visiting the UK, saying that what happened in Gujarat was “outrageous and indefensible”, shows the hypocrisy of those trained in the RSS ideology. While most of the country is forgetting the role of Advani, who was the original hatchet man and who later tried to create an image of a moderate, Dube says that RSS pracharaks assume different roles at different times. Modi, who presided over the Gujarat carnage, is now trying to present himself as a moderate.
Milli Gazette for more