Modi-fied India's Growth-friendly Sectarianism _ OpenDemocracy
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Modified India's growthfriendly sectarianism SAROJ GIRI 18 May 2014 A secular rightwing and a growthfriendly communalism will be the new name for Hindutva's sectarian extremism. Narendra Modi. Flickr/World Economic Forum. Some rights reserved. India has now got itself officially Modified! The scale of the victory for the BJP in the recently concluded general elections in India is such that it is not just about India electing another Prime Minister in Narendra Modi. The shifts in the Indian polity are very deep and analysts have not even started to decipher all or even most of them. Sectarianism and Hindu communalism coupled with business friendly growth and neoliberal reforms are coming to the fore in a radical anti establishment guise. To start with, we must get over this debate about whether Modi's communalism or authoritarianism will be tempered by growth or by India's resilient democratic institutions. Obviously, big capitalist interests and 'ordinary people' do not want a riot every other day. In that sense, a tempered or moderate Modi is a banal possibility. Riots will be controlled or modulated in the interests of business as usual. But that does not mean Hindu communalism itself will be tempered. It might very well change its modality and reappear in a growthfriendly fashion. This tempered version might be more sinister, hydraheaded, than the extreme that has come before! So, as it stands, opposing communal violence or the extremistsectarian Modi is easier than unpacking a tempered communalism or the moderate Modi. The Economist as well as other growthfriendly commentators draw the line at Modi
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Transcript of Modi-fied India's Growth-friendly Sectarianism _ OpenDemocracy
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5/26/2015 ModifiedIndia'sgrowthfriendlysectarianism| openDemocracy
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ModifiedIndia'sgrowthfriendlysectarianismSAROJGIRI18May2014
AsecularrightwingandagrowthfriendlycommunalismwillbethenewnameforHindutva'ssectarianextremism.
NarendraModi.Flickr/WorldEconomicForum.Somerightsreserved.
IndiahasnowgotitselfofficiallyModified!ThescaleofthevictoryfortheBJPintherecentlyconcludedgeneralelectionsinIndiaissuchthatitisnotjustaboutIndiaelectinganotherPrimeMinisterinNarendraModi.TheshiftsintheIndianpolityareverydeepandanalystshavenotevenstartedtodecipherallorevenmostofthem.SectarianismandHinducommunalismcoupledwithbusinessfriendlygrowthandneoliberalreformsarecomingtotheforeinaradicalantiestablishmentguise.
Tostartwith,wemustgetoverthisdebateaboutwhetherModi'scommunalismorauthoritarianismwillbetemperedbygrowthorbyIndia'sresilientdemocraticinstitutions.Obviously,bigcapitalistinterestsand'ordinarypeople'donotwantarioteveryotherday.Inthatsense,atemperedormoderateModiisabanalpossibility.
Riotswillbecontrolledormodulatedintheinterestsofbusinessasusual.ButthatdoesnotmeanHinducommunalismitselfwillbetempered.Itmightverywellchangeitsmodalityandreappearinagrowthfriendlyfashion.Thistemperedversionmightbemoresinister,hydraheaded,thantheextremethathascomebefore!
So,asitstands,opposingcommunalviolenceortheextremistsectarianModiiseasierthanunpackingatemperedcommunalismorthemoderateModi.TheEconomistaswellasothergrowthfriendlycommentatorsdrawthelineatModi
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theextremistsectarian,butnotthemoderateModiwhoiswelcomedaspositive.Thishasbecomeawayforthesecularrightwingtoassertitself.Ifonlythingscomebacktonormal,businessasusual,then,itisasserted,thingswouldbefine.
AmartyaSenisattheforefrontofrejectingtheextremistsectarianismofModi.ButModialsooccasionsinhimayearningforastrongandflourishingrightwingpartythatissecular,notcommunal.Senpinesforaclearheadedpromarketprobusinesspartythatdoesnotdependonreligiouspolitics,remindinghimoftheshortlived'classicalliberal'SwatantraParty.
OrtakecorporatehonchoDeepakParekhandbillionaireconsciencekeeperNarayanaMurthywhooncebothcriticisedModiforthe2002Gujaratprogrom.ThatdoesnotstopthemfromnowbeingbigfansofModi'seconomicstoday(May11,2014).
ThebroadorientationofthisthinkingbecomesclearinShekharGuptawhothinksthatModiperhapsmightfinallybringaboutanendtoIndia'ssocialistlegacyandestablisharealcapitalistsystem.Thismightmeanmassivederegulation,privatisation,businessfriendlylabourlaws,luringFDIandcapitalintensivegrowth.
TherejectionoftheextremistModithenturnsouttobeavoteforanormalcapitalismandrejectionofanythingleftwingor'socialist'.ThisinsistenceondoingawaywithcommunalextremismcontainsnothingwhichwoulddeternormalHindumajoritariandominance.Hence,atemperedcommunalismiswhatrightwingsecularismwillgiveus,alowequilibriumcommunalismandafullblowncapitalism.
Thisdoesnotruleouttheoccasionalbigcommunalmassacrefollowedbyalongspellofthislowequilibriumcombination.PerhapsmoderateandextremeModiarenoteither/ortheycancoexist.
AsecretHindutvaagendaThepointaboutagrowthfriendlycommunalismisnotthatthereisasecretHindutvaagendabehindthegrowthstoryorthedevelopmentagenda,asmanyantiModiradicalsclaim(11May2014).TheHindutvaagendaistreatedassomethingseparatefromthedevelopmentagenda.InsteadthisagendaitselfmustbeunderstoodinitsowntermsandintermsofitssocialdeterminantsandnotjustasafacadetoamoresinistergameofHindutvabehindthecurtains.
Indeedthetonsofmoneypouredbybigmoneyedinterestsdoesnotjustcreatea'Modiwave'buthassocialimpact.Ithasmobilised,activatedandstrengthenedhierarchiesandoppressiverelationsacrosstheentiresocialspace.Itseemstohavemobilisedlumpenisedlowerelementsintoawiderconnectionwithbigcapitalistinterests,fundinganentirereactionaryphalanxacrossthesocialbody.Itisplainlyanintensificationoftheclassstruggle.Itgoestotheveryheartofthesocialquestion.
IdentifyingcommunalismintermsofitssocialdeterminantsallowsustogobeyondunderstandingModi's'softfascism'asonlysuppressionoffreedomofspeechorevenjustminoritypersecution.So,forexample,notjustHindutva,evengoodgovernancemightbearticulatedinextremistsectarianterms.Preventingriotsagainstminoritiesdoesnotseempartofgoodgovernance.NorwouldrepealingdraconianlawsliketheArmedForcesSpecialPowersActfallunderit.WemuststartdecipheringsomethinglikeHindutvaintheageofgoodgovernance,asinthecaseoftheMuzaffarnagarriots.Goodgovernance,thesecularrightwingdevelopmentmantratoday,canhardlybedisarticulatedfromatemperedcommunalism,ifnotHindutvaitself.
Hindumajoritarianismdoesnotinanycaseneedanexplicitlymurderouspolicytowardsminorities.Opposingreservations,opposing'minorityappeasement'
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andtheHinduuppercastemajorityplayingthevictimandcallingformeritocraticcompetitionallofthese'normal',nonextremiststancesalreadynurtureacertaincommunalism(andcasteism)withoccasionalopenlyviolenteruptions.ThisinitselfisnothingnewinIndia.Ittookplaceundertheearlierseculargovernments.Whatisnewisthatnowoppositiontosectarianextremismopensthewayforthesecularrightwing:agrowthfriendlysectarianism.
Thesecularleftparticipatestoovigorouslyinthisopposition,usingextremelanguageagainstModicallinghim'communalfascist'andsoonandyettheytendtooverlookthesocialdeterminationsofcommunalismandobscurethelineamentsofclassstruggleattheheartofthephenomenon.Theyarefullofmoraloutragebutultimatelyalignwiththesecularrightwingestablishment.
Indeed,theparliamentaryleftdecriesModi's'softfascism'butcannotbreaktheircringingdependenceontheCongresspartywhichintoday'sdiscourseisbasicallythearistocraticallyexpansiveNehruGandhiDynasty.ManysocialmovementstooaremiredinthisdependenceandhenceworkedthroughCongressagenciesliketheNationalAdvisoryCouncilchairedbySoniaGandhi.Thislefthasnocritiqueof'theideaofIndia'whichhascometobeassociatedwiththeDynasty.Naxaliteleftpartieswhohavealeftwingcritiqueofthis'ideaofIndia'arelabelledasterroristsoradventurists.ButtheNaxaliteleftdoesnotasamatterofprinciplecontestparliamentaryelections.Henceatonepointoranotherthetaskof'challenging'thestatusquoalwaysfallsupontherightwing.
Interestingly,theCongressinitiatedtheneoliberalreformswhichModivowstocontinuethesecularistsandthe'softfascists'havemuchincommon.InsteadofseeingthiscontinuitybetweentheCongressandBJP,theparliamentaryleftattackstheBJPonbehalfoftheCongressandnotindependently,onitsownterms.ModicouldthereforedelegitimisetheleftandothernonBJPopponentsoftheCongressbycallingthemtheBteamoftheCongressandtheDynasty.TheneoliberalreformsinitiatedbytheCongressarenowseizedbytheBJPandgivenaradical,antiestablishmentspin!Modi'sownlowercaste(OtherBackwardClass)statusandhisteasellerrisingtobethePMbackstorymadethisantiestablishmentpackagingeasier.
ThereforeModi/BJPhasbeenabletoposeasantiestablishmentandstandingforthesociallymarginalised.ItisinthiscontextthatModihasemergedasthestrongmanaboutwhomtheworldissupposedtowonder,'whoishelike?':Putin,LeeKuanYew,Ahmedijinad,ArielSharon,XiJinping,Thatcher,ShinzoAbeorReagan.PerhapsmostlikeSharon,withthedifferencethatModiwasmoredirectlyconnectedtothe2002pogrominGujaratthanSharonwastotheSabraandShatilamassacre.AndalsolikeThatcher,inhiscommitmenttoneoliberaleconomicsanddestroyingworkingclasspower.
