BJP’s Gujarat woes: Hindutva now mirrors Wahhabi harshness

Strangely, it is unstated though virtual Islamisation of Hindutva that is somewhat backfiring on the BJP now in times of the Assembly elections in Gujarat, creating doubts about the fate of the party in elections despite its long invincible and formidable position in the state.

The party has perfected and nurtured the political arm of Hinduism, or Hindutva, in the state under the leadership of Narendra Modi so assiduously through the past decade-and-a-half that Gujarat has often been called a successful laboratory of Hindutva.

But in the process of doing so Modi and his lieutenants, including Amit Shah, have inadvertently, and may be unwittingly, ended up in tracing and toeing up stiff, strident, and militant shades of Islam to draw a blueprint for their brand of a flamboyant, unrelenting and unprecedentedly harsh Hindutva. So much so that now this looks like a Hindu, or sub-continental, counterfoil of West Asian Wahhabi Islam which is shorn of fellow-feeling, compassion and egalitarianism that the faith once signified, or which marked it through the better part of its past.

And this is how Modi bhakts, or his frenzied fans and followers, feel jittery when their main challenger and Congress’ top campaigner Rahul Gandhi visits one temple after the other during his tours of Gujarat. The Hindutva honchos think as if Rahul Gandhi is trampling over their sole and exclusive rights and preserve by entering the venerable and hallowed precincts of temples strewn across the state.

Not only is this but the BJP also looks flummoxed by the fact that the sectarianism that has cornered Muslims in the past to its huge benefit has come to dog the party by giving rise to a new generation of leaders of varied hues from the Hindu fold.

These leaders, including Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor, Jignesh Mevani and Chhotubhai Vasava, are now veering towards the Congress despite differences among the four in their bid to upstage the BJP by challenging the party’s bhakt-backed cult. Since the hero worship and cults do not allow other leadership to grow from within the formal ranks of supporters and followers, the new breed of leaders took the route of mass movements independent of the BJP by grabbing ideologies not only other than Hindutva but also those that can challenge it. This has badly breached the otherwise massive support base of the BJP in Gujarat.

The fear of Muslims and more so that of the underworld often dominated by them was sold by the BJP to the hilt so as to close the Hindu ranks. Yet, this led to a kind of regimentation of supporters and bhakts who cannot be trusted to be magnanimous enough to bring or ensure the kind of social parity through which the renewed bonds among Hindus could deepen or last as per the needs of lasting cohesion and expectations of its founders.

Thus, the architects of the strident Hindutva are now trying to bridge and fill this gap and deficiency by further and reinforced doses of fear that may come from “demonic” Muslims in case the BJP is not voted back to power once again in Gujarat.

These moves are obviously not working as effectively now as has been the case in elections held in Gujarat in the past. And the reason for this is that with the passage of years and decades of stridency a fatigue of sorts has come to hover over Hindutva and its appeal in its bastion called Gujarat.

Though both Modi and Amit Shah are still seen as relentless fighters, the magic of their poll campaigns in elections held in the past is now being put to test again. And this is because the Hindutva promises made in the past is nowhere near getting fulfilled. The backlog of promises made by the Hindutva stalwarts starts from the construction of Ram Janambhoomi temple at Ayodhya and goes on to the enforcement of uniform civil code and scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution.

The non-fulfilment of these was tried to be overcome by the promise of all round and universal development through the slogan Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas when Narendra Modi fought the last general elections successfully and became Prime Minister.

Among other things this also ignited hope of inclusion and mainstreaming for Muslims. Modi tried to keep this hope alive by trying to woo Barelvis among Muslims who are not only thought to be somewhat, or relatively, moderate but also happen to be opposed to Wahhabis and Salafis. Though Barelvis outnumber Wahhabis in India and also have a significant presence in the neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, the Wahhabi frenzy and stridency have always overshadowed Barelvis moderation, pacifism and spirit and urge of accord with others.

Despite these efforts, Modi could hardly find a soft corner among any of the sections of Muslims. This includes largely Barelvis as well. And the main reason for this is the fact that his own brand of Hindutva has palpably been so close to the Wahhabi variant of Islam that not even Barelvis, who are the staunchest opponents of Wahhabis, could warm up to buy it. And, thus, it cannot be hoped that Modi’s Hindutva will always be applauded everywhere. The test of the appeal left with it has just begun in Gujarat.