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By Subhash Gatade Badri Narayan’s book Fascinating Hindutva: Saffron Politics and Dalit Mobilisation attempts to deconstruct the tactics used by the Hindutva forces to politically mobilise dalits to its side. It explains how community myths have been appropriated and twisted to oppose the composite heritage of the people
Fascinating Hindutva: Saffron Politics and Dalit Mobilisation, Badri Narayan, 2009, Sage, Pages: 195 “…The Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world -- a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness -- an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife -- this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He would not Africanise America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face.” -- Du Bois (The Souls of Black Folk) The question of mapping ‘agency’ as it unfolds itself in the trajectory of the oppressed has been a recurring theme in the social sciences of the 20th century. In his historic treatise The Souls of Black Folk, the legendary African-American social scientist and activist, Du Bois, discussed the “double consciousness” that inhabits the Negro (this was the term used then for African-Americans) and tried to delineate the dilemma through which every oppressed individual/formation is condemned to pass. According to Du Bois, a black individual lives with a feeling of “twoness” in a dominant white society. On the one hand s/he is engaged in confrontation with the dominant white world to oppose racial discrimination, and on the other hand s/he also yearns to become an American “without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows”. If the feeling of “twoness” inhabited the blacks, is it possible to think about the dalits in a varna society along similar lines? The contradictory consciousness is very much visible in this case as well. On the one hand s/he is engaged in imitating/following the varna hierarchy (this process of upward mobility is variously described as Brahminisation/Sanskritisation by scholars like M N Srinivas) and, on the other hand, there is a strong current of resistance towards this co-option. Interestingly, 60 years after India became a republic – when, to quote Dr B R Ambedkar, we became a political democracy where one wo/man had one vote, but not a social democracy with one wo/man one value -- an altogether different situation awaits us. We have before us the zenith of dalit assertion, signified by a dalit ki beti becoming chief minister of the largest state in the Indian Union. The guest-actor role of the dalits in the Indian polity is becoming a thing of the past. Simultaneously, one encounters the ideological and institutional incorporation of a section of subalterns -- namely dalits, tribals, backward classes -- in the unfolding Hindutva agenda also coming to fruition. If the 1992-93 riots in Mumbai made us aware of the communalisation of a section of women who turned stormtroopers for the Hindutva brigade (discussed and debated in detail in the book Women and the Hindu Right), throwing our earlier assumptions about women’s empowerment to the winds, the Gujarat genocide in 2002 made us aware of the dangerous and anti-human detour of dalit consciousness. Interestingly, while it is easy to comprehend dalit assertion along autonomous lines, connecting it to the glorious tradition of cultural revolt led by the likes of Phule, Jyothee Thass, Periyar, Ambedkar and others, one is baffled by the co-option of a section of dalits in the Hindutva forces. Badri Narayan’s book, titled Fascinating Hindutva: Saffron Politics and Dalit Mobilisation (Sage, 2009), attempts to unravel the dynamics of dalit identity to “deconstruct the tactics used by the Hindutva forces to politically mobilise dalits” to its side. The articles in this book -- a few of which have appeared in different journals/magazines -- are based largely on original empirical data collected by the writer through extensive field trips to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, wherein he has looked at the recent goings-on in individual marginal communities and the manner in which the politics of identity is being played out in these communities at the behest of political forces on the right, namely Hindutva forces. The writer focuses his attention on four dalit castes -- Pasis, Nishads, Musahars and Dusadhs -- and their clever manipulation by the RSS-BJP. The book is divided into eight chapters and an introduction in which the author lays down the basic premise of his work and describes in detail how politically motivated communal forces are silently, but ingeniously, working among the common people. Communalisation of the identity construction of different communities, their positing against other communities which are, in turn, projected as enemies, conversion of the pride of a community in its identity into feelings of hatred for other communities, replacement of narratives of self-respect by narratives of violence against other communities -- essentially the modus operandi used by Hindutva forces -- have been explained at length. The book’s introduction examines the use of ‘pastness’ among individuals/communities, which is the source of the person’s/community’s identity and which is deeply entrenched in his/her/their dreams/desires. For the author, ‘pastness’ is “both the truth and the imagination of the past” that takes shape “during the process of remembrance of the past”. For communities, the sense of ‘pastness’ “helps fight anxieties and insecurities that arise from an increasing feeling of temporariness” -- a result of its “encounters with statehood, modernity, the onslaught of globalisation and changing forms of the market”. Political parties and other agencies engaged in impacting communities cleverly exploit this strong desire of communities to assert their identity. One notices a shift in the strategy of political mobilisation by these political formations. If earlier the emphasis was on making promises and offering inducements to the gullible masses, since the 1980s, with stronger dalit assertiveness, creative strategies are being employed to mobilise smaller castes/communities by arousing their sense of ‘pastness’. The interplay between these new mobilisation strategies and greater assertiveness by communities themselves has “led to the evolution of prevailing political strategy based on the exploitation of ‘pastness’”. This process unfolds in the picking out of heroes from myths, histories, and legends present in the oral culture of castes; reinterpretation, recreation and reconstruction of such heroes to suit the political ideologies of the concerned party; and their transmission back to the people as symbols of their own caste identity. The next stage involves celebration of these heroes by organising programmes, erecting statues, holding rallies, bringing out booklets and pamphlets praising these heroes, and narrating their legends in a form that suits the party’s political agenda. Although the phenomenon of identity construction and assertion is visible at an all-India level, for the author this political strategy is being most successfully carried out in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. This may be attributed to the social formation of this region that makes it amenable to those parties engaged in caste and identity politics. Interestingly, while most political parties here are engaged in the game of identity politics, the BSP and BJP may be considered the main players as far as politics in Uttar Pradesh is concerned. And both parties seem to be following diametrically opposite approaches to the issue. If the BJP is trying to win dalits over to its side by appropriating their past and identity as a Hindu past and identity, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) appears to be empowering dalit communities by providing them self-respect and confidence. It is debatable whether this understanding can be said to be still valid. A close look at the trajectory of the BSP during the last one-and-a-half decades shows a number of changes. When the strategy earlier was to challenge and question upper-caste hegemony, the slogan was ‘Tilak, Tarazu aur Talwar, Inko Maaro Joote Char’ [Tilak (Brahmins), Taraju (Banias) and Talwar (Kshatriyas), bash them up with shoes); today, when power considerations have led to new alignments, the key slogan is ‘Haath Nahin Ganesh Hai, Brahma Vishnu Mahesh Hai’ [It is not an elephant but Ganesh, it is also Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh]. Two inferences are unavoidable. One, that there has been no conscious attempt to stop/decelerate the process of Hinduisation of dalit identity; two, since attaining political power seems to have become a key goal for the BSP, alliances with upper caste-dominated forces like the BJP in UP, on three occasions, briefly during 1995 and 1997, and from 2002 to 2003, have definitely impacted the process of dalit assertion. One also comes across the re-creation of memories through myths, heroes and caste histories in a manner that suits the political formation. Sometimes, the same caste hero or myth invoked by the BSP is interpreted by the BJP in a more aggressive style and posited as an anti-Muslim hero. Another significant difference between the two parties seems to be that whereas the BSP focuses on myths of dalit women heroes of the 1857 revolt -- Jhalakaribai, Udadevi, Mahavirdevi, Avantibai and Pannadhai -- supposedly to buttress the image of its leader Mayawati, one rarely comes across myths of dalit women in the BJP’s political discourse. The manner in which the story of Suhaldev, caste hero of the Pasis, has been appropriated is a case in point. The dargah of Ghazi Mian situated in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, is very popular among the local populace. On any normal day, thousands of devotees throng there for a glimpse of the mazaar. Lakhs of people gather in the month of May when a fair is held in his memory. Interestingly, most of the devotees are Hindus. As popular perception goes, the dargah is a place where the wishes of all devotees are granted. There are two contesting versions about Ghazi Mian in the region. If the first can be said to be the popular folk version, the other appears to be the product of the machinations of communal elements. Ghazi Mian, whose actual name was Salar Masood and who was the nephew of Mahmood Ghazanavi, came to Bahraich to hunt. He was apparently approached by local people and asked to act as their saviour. This was the period when Suhaldev was king of the Bhar/Pasi community. Suhaldev was a cruel, oppressive king. When he heard about Ghazi Mian, he attacked and killed him and his entire army. Suhaldev too died in the battle. Ghazi Mian’s popularity arose from the fact that when his tomb was built, it supposedly acquired magical powers. Local people believe that both Hindus and Muslims are blessed after praying there. A parallel version, which has been consciously built and circulated by communal elements, talks of the great warrior Maharaja Suhaldev who defended Hindu religion and Hindus from the invader Masood who despoiled Indian cultural traditions, ravaged women and killed children and men. One can see that there are two reasons behind the contradictory stories surrounding the myth of Suhaldev. If the first pertains to the appropriation of the Pasis -- a dalit caste that, numerically, is second among them -- into the political fold, the second is to extend and construct a Hindu history against Islam to mobilise Hindus in the fold. In order to counter the popularity of Ghazi Mian -- where a majority of devotees are Hindus -- and bring straying Hindus back into the fold, Hindutva elements/formations have started organising parallel fairs and cultural programmes/events to commemorate the memory of Suhaldev. A number of programmes are organised to celebrate the king -- Kalash Yatra, yajna, sports competitions, a huge wrestling match, and a Ram katha. Here one witnesses the “spatial strategy” (to quote Satish Deshpande, page 85, Contemporary India, 2003, Viking) of Hindutva in full play. To quote: “The strategy based on the site has two facets. First, a chosen spot or site is invested with some unique particularity, such that it can be declared to be the only one of its kind; or if a site already has some such claims, these claims are refined and amplified. However, the criterion of selection is that the spot must implicate the ‘other’ deeply enough to prevent easy extrication. The combined result is to prepare a battleground where Hindu ‘pride’ or ‘self-respect’ can be defended only by inflicting an insult of some kind on the ‘other’.” Apart from projecting Salar Masood as a cruel person, the RSS emphasises repeatedly that the dargah was once the ashram of Balark Rishi. Salar razed both the ashram and the suryakund inside it to the ground. To denigrate Hindus who are believers in composite culture and heritage, the RSS claims that Hindus have forgotten the ‘saviour of the nation and Hindu religion’ and that they have no qualms about praying at the imaginary tomb of an ‘invader’. It is worth noting here that despite the feverish attempts by the RSS and its affiliated organisations to vitiate the atmosphere, the popular narrative of the people contradicts what is being peddled by them. This narrative looks at Suhaldev as a villain and Ghazi Mian as the hero. There is no denying the fact that the ‘construction of Suhaldev as a great warrior’ has helped Hindutva forces mobilise people and build up a solid constituency among the Pasis who are a significant population in the areas around Bahraich. For the Pasis, Suhaldev is an iconic figure who was born into their own community. Fascinating Hindutva: Saffron Politics and Dalit Mobilisation discusses similar interventions in other dalit communities as well. In the case of the Nishads, a sub-caste of the Mallah caste which is a ‘water-centric’ community whose primary occupation is boating and fishing, it discusses the use of cultural resources by other dalit parties. The metamorphosis of these ‘‘castes’’ into a ‘‘political constituency’’ that the “political parties are contesting to win” is explained in great detail. Narayan writes: “All these political parties are using the same mythical and cultural resources, with the common motive of winning the votes of these castes, but are reinterpreting and recreating them in different ways to suit their political agendas.” The book also finds that as an interesting side-effect of this process, the castes are acquiring power to negotiate with various parties in the fray. Taking advantage of the mythical hero of the Nishads, namely Nishadraj Guhya, who supposedly helped Ram, the BJP-RSS combine skilfully used the community during the infamous Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri mosque agitation. In 1990, when L K Advani was undertaking his rath yatra around the country, and his entourage was prevented from entering Ayodhya, the Nishads were mobilised to transport the kar sevaks to Ayodhya via the water route. In the case of the Musahars, the myths of Savari -- a character in a minor sub-plot in the Ramayana -- and that of two warrior brothers Dina-Bhadri have helped the community assert itself, raise itself in the social hierarchy, and develop social confidence. And they have become handy for the BJP-RSS to further its agenda. As the Musahars consider themselves descendants of Savari, the RSS-BJP has tried to mobilise the Musahars to help in the Ramkaj (incomplete work of Ram). The two brothers Dina-Bhadri are also projected as reincarnations of Ram-Laxman. The BJP-RSS however is careful not to highlight the struggle of the Nonia and Beldars against contractors and people employed by them to dig the land. The author laments the fact that left and other democratic forces have not understood the significance of using cultural resources to mobilise the Musahars and build up popular support. Fascinating Hindutva: Saffron Politics and Dalit Mobilisation is a welcome addition to the small, albeit growing, scholarly/popular works on the specific issue of Hindutva’s engagement with dalits. A combination of detailed field work laced with oral history, and a broad knowledge of the issue based on research adds novelty and authenticity to the book. Not only does the book successfully explain the dynamics of dalit identity, it also looks closely at the manner in which forces like the BJP-RSS -- that are opposed to the composite heritage of the people -- operate in our society. Through various case studies, the author conveys the danger that this situation poses to the dream of an inclusive, tolerant, just India. The book emphasises an important point that has not received the attention it deserves. Whenever there has been talk of the Hindutvaisation of dalits, witnessed as a phenomenon during the 2002 Gujarat genocide, attempts have been made to deny ‘agency’ to the dalits. The participation of a section of dalits in the anti-Muslim violence was explained on grounds that they were either misled or used by varna-dominated communal forces. The author rightly explains that the “success” of Hindutva forces in saffronising myths and legends belonging to dalits has not only been due to smart strategies employed by Hindutva forces but also a strong urge within dalit communities “to seek acceptance from the upper-caste Hindus who had always culturally and socially marginalised them”. The only drawback of the book is that it could have been edited better. The author could have avoided a lot of repetition that makes for dull reading. It is also surprising that the book does not mention other important publications on this phenomenon that appeared in the interim; notable among them is Hindutva and Dalits edited by Anand Teltumbde, 2004, Samya. In conclusion, one can only hope that a radical dalit community emerges which can critically engage with the reconstruction and reappropriation of its memory by vested interests, and move towards the emancipatory agenda put forward by Phule, Ambedkar, Periyar and others. (Subhash Gatade is a social activist, translator and writer whose writings appear regularly in Hindi and English publications and occasionally in Urdu publications. He edits a Hindi journal Sandhan) Infochange News & Features, August 2009
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