The drive of
vigilantism and violence by supporters of Hindutva has resulted in the erasure
of the secular democratic values and even compromised the sovereign monopoly on
the violence of the state. With key features of the republic constantly
dwindling, what will the Indian forces march for in coming years: the republic
or the Rashtra?
27 January 2022
The Republic of
India celebrated its 73rd Republic Day on January 26. It commemorates the promulgation
of the Indian Constitution in 1950 which declared India as a union of states
that is a “sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic” (the words
socialist and secular were added through a constitutional amendment in 1976).
However, since the forward march of Hindutva following the BJP government in
2014, all facets of the Indian republic seem to be fracturing. Rather the Sangh
Parivar, a conglomerate of Hindutva groups led by Rashtra Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS), now dominates the Indian socio-political landscape and aspires to turn
it into a “Hindu Rashtra.”
German sociologist Max Weber describes sovereignty as
the monopoly on violence by the state. The state enforces this monopoly by
using force that is legitimated by law and exercised through law enforcement
agencies (LEAs) and standing armies. The Indian state’s monopoly on violence
appears to be eroding as the state stands as a spectator before violence is
carried out by armed groups and mobs. According to data from
the National Crime Records Bureau of India, more than 51,600 cases of rioting
were reported in 2020. Meanwhile, the frequency of communal riots increased by
96 percent with 857 cases reported in the same year.
Read more: How RSS can be
described as India’s deep state?
Why minority is being targeted in India?
Following the spike in communal violence, a minority
rights group in India reported more
than 300 attacks on Christians during 2021. While in a gathering of Hindutva
groups organized in December 2021 in the Indian city of Haridwar, the
organizers called for a genocide of Muslims on lines similar to the Rohingya
genocide in Myanmar. In many such cases, the police and LEAs act as bystanders,
while in other instances the judiciary has to intervene to
order action against crimes against minorities. The apathy of the Indian ruling
elite and a loose hand to the violence of Hindutva groups under the RSS-led
Sangh Parivar shows how the Indian state has let loose its sovereignty to
extremists.
The increasing lack of concern for minority rights has
also meant a decline of secular democracy in India. The V-Dem Institute’s categorization of
India from democracy to an electoral autocracy and the country’s shift towards
totalitarianism mark a dangerous trend. Political theorist Hannah Arendt states
that totalitarian movements are dangerously effective in large populations due
to a conducive environment for mass killings and atrocities. According to
available data, the population densities were greater than the global average
of the time in at least five out of seven selected case studies of genocides
after 1945, by the Yale University’s Genocide
Studies Program.
Following the calls for Muslim genocide in India, the
famous Genocide Watch founder Gregory Stanton also warned once
again of a possible genocide in India, in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu
and Kashmir and Assam. The international Russell Tribunal on War Crimes in
Kashmir also warned the
same in December 2021, stating that “from the allegations we have heard, these
crimes [against humanity] seem to meet the definition of genocide.” Early signs
of genocide include marginalization of target groups (Muslims in this case)
through exclusionary and exceptional laws. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act
in Kashmir and the Citizenship Amendment Act in India are some prominent laws
in this regard.
Read more: Pakistan rejects
RSS chief’s “provocative remarks” against partition
What can be done?
Adoption of strategies involving mass atrocities and
genocide ultimately seeks to homogenize the society, a key aim for any
totalitarian movement. This homogenization is not carried out only by killing
the target group’s population, but by using violence to produce large-scale
demographic changes. According to a study on
the demography of genocide by professor Tadeusz Krugler, genocide and mass
atrocities do not affect group population merely by deaths but also by a host
of factors including emigration, disturbing age and gender distribution, and
changed birth rates due to trauma.
These factors have lasting implications on target groups
that include marginalization, loss of livelihood, and emigration to other
countries. This intent by Hindutva-based groups in India was also reflected in
a call for
a social and economic boycott (marginalization) of Muslims by Swami Anand
Swaroop so that they are forced to “embrace Hinduism.” Swaroop was also among
the organizers of a meeting at Haridwar that called for the
genocide of Muslims.
Read more: How the RSS transformed India?
The drive of vigilantism and violence by supporters of
Hindutva has resulted in the erasure of the secular democratic values and even
compromised the sovereign monopoly on the violence of the state. With key
features of the republic constantly dwindling, what will the Indian forces
march for in coming years: the republic or the Rashtra?
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