Hindu nationalism, once a fringe ideology in India, is now mainstream. Nobody has done more to advance this cause than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of India’s most beloved and polarizing political leaders.
And no entity has had more influence on his political philosophy and ambitions than a paramilitary, right-wing group founded nearly a century ago and known as the RSS.
“We never imagined that we would get power in such a way,” said Ambalal Koshti, 76, who says he first brought Modi into the political wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the late 1960s in their home state, Gujarat.
It’s only a small percent of the population, and I can only go by what I see from my own in-laws on Facebook and in person, but I sense that Sikhs are becoming wary of Modi and the BJP. At first, “anything but Congress” seemed good enough, and they were thoroughly sick of the Gandhi/Nehru families. Manmohan Singh was a nice blip, but it seemed after his tenure Congress were back to business as usual. BJP makes a lot of the fact that Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs are all part of the same faith tradition, so they are all “native” religions and not problematic. Given the other concerns, this was enough to want to give them a chance, especially partnered with a local conservative-leaning party in Punjab.
Now, after a decade of power, the bloom is off the rose (or the lotus, maybe). Modi’s tendencies are more obviously authoritarian and his economic policies are very much geared towards big business and the biggest cities. Punjab is still very agrarian, and many Sikhs have been at the forefront of the farmers’ protests in India. As support has eroded locally, the BJP’s grip on national politics has strengthened, and you’re basically seeing them re-create Khalistani terrorism out of thin air to have a scary label for frustrated farmers, mostly by going after fringe activists in India and the diaspora, in several cases carrying out extra-judicial assassinations on foreign soil.
Khalistani sympathies began a fairly quick and steep decline after Air India Flight 182 in 1985. Separatism was a relic of history in a pluralistic India, and the general sense I get is that while few Sikhs shed a tear for Indira Gandhi, it was all in the past. No one in my wife’s family thought Khalistan was worth even a passing thought until Modi started turning off the entire internet in Punjab and shooting kooky uncles in Vancouver. If it becomes any sort of serious movement, it will largely be Modi’s fault.
Then, with most of the “Fuck dem Muslims” items checked off the to-do list, you’re beginning to see the more brazen Hindutva types start to bring out the old saw that not only is Sikhism part of the same religious tradition, it’s not even distinct enough to be its own religion at all, but is just a provincial flavor of Hinduism. Devout Sikhs find this paternalistic and deeply offensive, and even less devout ones find it eye-rolling from the fringe but threatening coming from the mainstream.
It’s only a matter of not having enough Muslims to persecute before they begin to correct the errant faiths in order to ensure a true measure of “hindu-ness”. It’s a dark path India is traveling and Modi, for all his murderousness, is not the end. He’s a precursor.
Wow thank you for your super informative comment!
Which country do you belong to?
That’s a fair question. I am an American of European descent (i.e. “a white guy”) married into a half-Punjabi family with members in Punjab, New Delhi, the US, the UK, Canada, and elsewhere. I don’t claim to relate anything other than what I’ve heard and read and my perspective is necessarily a limited one, but I have a vested interest in the Sikh diaspora and am generally troubled by the larger trends I see with BJP governance in India.
What is the percentage of Sikhs in your country of total population? Modi has openly sat in satsang of Punjabis, shown immense respect to Waheguru, has a person called Hardeep Singh Puri in Union Cabinet handling the portfolio of ‘oil’. It is a crucial thing, especially after Russia-Ukraine war.
There are around half a million Sikhs in the US, so less than .2% of our population. They’re not evenly spread out across the country though. We have a huge South Asian diaspora in NJ; I grew up with a good number of Sikhs
Every time I see an article on this prick I think, “Well this fucking sucks.”
Anyway, this fucking sucks.
Why? (I have no idea…I’m not up on Indian politics at all).
He’s a soft dictator effectively. Suppressed minorities from all over the country. Has elevated militant Hindu nationalism to politics. All while supplying Russia with fuel and arms during the embargo and pissing off both US and China by trying to have his cake and eat it too.
Thanks for the explanation.
His party has a hold of all the media and the celebrities (Indians idolize celebrities a lot). He feeds hate to hate groups (the only thing that still keeps him and his position) while safeguarding his party members in powers even though there are many of them who are convicted of rape and other serious violence cases. Their party likes to spread propaganda against Muslims, and more they secure their holding through elections more they make their states nazi little by little.
Man your post history is littered with “just asking questions” shenanigans.
Probably…that was a legit question though. I have no opinion on India.
Sure, you’re just asking questions - biased, manipulative, on-your-knees-for-fascists questions.
Who kicked your puppy today?
Oppression of minorities
It’s really fucked up. And from what I understand, this asshole (and his downright fascist party) has insane popular support in India. Add to it the rampant abuse of control over the media and the courts, it’s getting really fucking scary
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“We never imagined that we would get power in such a way,” said Ambalal Koshti, 76, who says he first brought Modi into the political wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the late 1960s in their home state, Gujarat.
A few decades earlier, while Mahatma Gandhi preached Hindu-Muslim unity, the RSS advocated for transforming India — by force, if necessary — into a Hindu nation.
Modi’s spiritual and political upbringing from the RSS is the driving force, experts say, in everything he’s done as prime minister over the past 10 years, a period that has seen India become a global power and the world’s fifth-largest economy.
Born in 1950 to a lower-caste family, his first exposure to the RSS was through shakhas — local units — that induct boys by combining religious education with self-defense skills and games.
Today, the RSS has spawned a network of affiliated groups, from student and farmer unions to nonprofits and vigilante organizations often accused of violence.
In a nod to his Hinduism, he practices yoga in front of TV crews and the U.N., extols the virtues of a vegetarian diet, and preaches about reclaiming India’s glory.
The original article contains 1,265 words, the summary contains 193 words. Saved 85%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
India was considered part of the BRIC rapidly developing economies long before modi. Feels weird to give him credit for what was inevitable.
Booo… he needs to get out of power
They guy is old. It will change. Hopefully less religion. I consider religion based government states as flyover regions. Thanks but no thanks you can keep it all to yourselves.
Modi is old but his party has strong support from young people in India.
Sentiment analysis and automatic upvotes works well.
Hindutva folks truly inhabit an alternate reality, like all fascists. You do understand that votes are public and some folks are bored enough to look for manipulation on this platform manually right?
You are talking about the leader of Bharat and a billion people. I hope you do not misuse freedom of speech. Do you understand the ethics of a billion people?
I’m Indian and Hindu and I think Modi is a psycho despot who needs to be stopped. And I’ve thought that since he was in power. And I know quite a lot of Indians who feel exactly the same.
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No this idiot actually thinks people are using Lemmy of all fucking places to influence Indian elections. They’re just a dumb BJP fascist living in their own reality. He thinks the Indian state is going to hunt you down for taking bad about daddy modi after the election.
Fascists never fucking change man. No matter the country.
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Just because he is the leader of 32% of a billion people doesn’t give him a few pass to be a fascist dictator and a pussy. Man can’t even entertain questions from his own party worker. Vanakam.
This is why the hindutva admire Israel. Unfortunately for you, calling me anti-indian because I call your politico-religious movement fascist is as effective as calling me antisemitic for calling the slaughter in Gaza a genocide on this platform.
What
I wasn’t going to vote on this post, but now I’m going to upvote it, comment, and spread the word that Modi needs to get out.
I’m not in India, but the world needs less fascism.
What are you talking about?
I don’t know wtf this idiot is on about, but look at his comments. He’s lives in a different reality.
