An uncivil ‘Hindu Rashtra’

The quest for civility-based relations remains the major demand of the Dalits and Muslims of India. Civility here is considered as simply practising “humane actions” while interacting with non-group members.

“Humane actions” mean the practice of fraternity and sensitivity towards non-group members’ demands and actions. But, even after decades of Independence, the Dalits are treated as untouchables and the Muslims are seen as outsiders. For the treatment meted out to Dalits, Hindu religious texts and Hindus are responsible, and for the Muslims, it is largely right-wing groups’ propaganda.

Civility, which emerges from the notion of humanity and strengthens through trust, has found little space in India.

In the case of Dalits, it is the institution of caste which creates multiple “trust circles” and “closed civilised groups” which act as a hurdle in the path of building an India based on civility. For Muslims, it is the orthodox ideology of “one nation, one culture, one religion” propagated by the right-wing and orthodox individuals that labels them as “outsiders” and hence targets of uncivil behaviour.  

The practice of caste-based hate and the idea of religious purity requires mass support. It cannot be sustained by a few individuals. While caste-based violence already had religious text to justify it, the violence against Muslims got inflamed only after the establishment of right-wing institutions in pre and post-colonial India.

The Indian Constitution, which came into effect after Independence, did try to dismantle the idea of caste and religious bigotry, but the mass support that these practices still enjoy – given the privilege which comes with supremacy – “outlawed” the frameworks and laws built to foster equality.

In the backdrop of this, the current domination of Hindu-Hindutva ideology in India has completely undermined and stalled any efforts towards civility-based relations among individuals. It has, rather, contributed to the making of “uncivil masses” and given them legitimacy.

“Uncivil masses” are those individuals and groups who are fed with caste supremacy and religious orthodoxy, those who are brought up on hate and are waiting for “revenge” against the Dalits and Muslims.

The rise of the two communities has hurt these “uncivil masses” brainwashed to see these groups as submissive and passive. This “uncivil” section of society has been in recent years creating its own rules, rules to protect and project their supremacy.

Dalits and Muslims have been humiliated, thrashed and even killed for breaking such “rules”. Remember the Dadri, Alwar and other lynchings, demands for grant ofstatus of ‘shaheed’ to Kasganj riot victim Chandan Gupta and draping of the Indian flag on the body of the Dadri lynching accused. The insistence on enforcing of diktats on Dalits has been visible in the thrashing of many for involvement in the cow-skinning and tanning trade or, more recently, for riding a horse during a wedding. Falling in love with someone from the “upper castes” has its own consequences.

Not only does the “uncivil” section of society create its own rules, but it also begins to judge on its own terms. For example, labelling of Muslims as “unpatriotic”, “Pakistanis”, “beef-eaters” and “lusty”, or of Dalits as “unintelligent” and “low caste”.

Such incidents and labels are not new but have got support with the rise of right-wing forces in the country.

The “uncivil” individuals and groups have been doing two things. First, breaking the civility among groups and second, super-imposing unscientific and unethical religious and social laws over judicial ones.

Both acts are antithetical to the idea of annihilation of caste put forward by Buddha, BR Ambedkar, Basavanna, Jyotiba Phule and other reformers and to the idea of equal rights for minorities put forth by the Constitution-makers and judiciary.

The rise of the “uncivil masses” has in recent years reshaped the inter-personal relationship between residents of the country, posing the greatest threat to civility. And the main motive behind the formation of such “uncivil masses” has been to create ground for the ultimate right-wing dream – of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.

The ‘Hindu Rashtra’ can, of course, not be created with Dalits as “assertive and progressive” social groups and with “active outsiders” like the Muslims. It requires passive Dalits and controlled Muslims. For the right-wing, a passive Dalit community can only be created by glorifying the past and controlling their present. And Muslims can only be controlled by demeaning their past and disciplining them in the present. This is exactly what is happening in India now.

To this end is also the creation of irrational discourse, to further proliferate the numbers of the “uncivil mass”. By irrational discourse I mean those conversations and mass cognitive biases that are meant to degrade the two communities.

Hate speeches by politicians and members of particular religious groups to communalise and spread hate among individuals are instance of such irrational discourse. The use of technology is central too, especially social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp. These are used to circulate morphed images, fake videos and news demeaning both these social groups.

The project of creating a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ with the help of the uncivil masses, irrational discourse and demeaning of social groups is thus anti-human and anti-democracy.