The BJP’s rule since 2014 has developed a new political culture that is based on religious majoritarianism, hyper Hindu nationalism, institutional failures, criminalizing dissent, a freebie state, purging Muslims, attacking Congress and many such things.
In this new political culture, the BJP has been successful in making the people active participants with agenda that’s filled with hatred against Muslims and other minorities.
It is apparent that the new political culture is shaping the future of India, giving it a definite direction of change, but its parameters are unfathomable.
The new political culture has been diligently nurtured by the BJP through various mechanisms. For example, control over the media, making institutions pliable, criminalizing dissent and aiding and abetting hate against the Muslim campaigns.
This new political culture in India has reached the stage where the command and control are no more orchestrated by the BJP’s top leadership but it has been naturalized by the lumpen elements, the hyper nationalists.
This is on open display in the country that needs to be examined to understand where it’s taking India.
The top on the agenda is the politics of religious majoritarianism. The BJP has been successful in demolishing the secular political discourse in the country. It has come out with an 80-20 political formula as new guidelines for the country. It has been able to convince the 80 percent of Hindus to unite against the 20 percent of others so that they need not share power with the others in India. This formula has worked out well with many emotive issues being circulated to cement majoritarianism among the Hindus and it is witnessed in most parts of the country.
The second most important component is hyper-nationalism. The new narrative is the territory of India belongs to Hindus alone and therefore nationalism is the prerogative of the Hindus alone. This means the Hindu religion is an Indian state and each Hindu identity is linked to India. In other words, Indian nationalism is coterminous with Hindu nationalism. This new political culture has taken a cynical form and there is none to stop this madness. The irony is the opposition political parties have failed to counter this narrative. In its absence, the new culture of hyper-nationalism is having a field day.
The new political culture of religious nationalism comes with the tag of ‘othering’ the Muslims of India. In this culture of hate, the Muslim identity is being subsumed by the majoritarian impulse. Hate Muslim campaign is being preached and practiced in the new dispensation.
The most conspicuous part of the BJP government is that it has outsourced law and order to the Hindutva goons. These criminals are roaming scot-free, brandishing swords and other killer weapons targeting Muslim individuals with a genocidal tone and tenure. In this new political culture, Hijab, Halal, Azan, Mosques, Dargahs, and other symbols of Muslim identity are targeted with the patronage of the ruling government.
The new political culture intends to subsume the distinct Muslim identity in India. This is happening both at the government level and also at the social level. The government is making legal changes toward conformity and to deface the Muslim identity in India. The CAA, NCR, Court judgment on Hijab, and other such legal provisions are to destroy Muslim identity in India. The government of the day is working overtime to obliterate Muslim identity and subsume it under the large Hindu identity. In other words in the new political culture in India, diversity has no place in the country.
The new political culture is being developed under authoritarian rule by the BJP government in the guise of democratic rule in the country. The Prime Minister of India and the Home Minister take all the administrative decisions of the country. There is no consultation with the council of ministers.
The government is controlling all the institutions of governance. All administrative institutions; Supreme Court, law enforcement agencies, RAW, CBI, ED election commission, etc. are under the control of the BJP government. The grip of the government on the organs of governance is tighter in the BJP-ruled states. It’s because of the government’s consent that murderers, criminals mob lynchers, arsonists, and violence instigators are having a free run. The police are being asked to be onlookers and bystanders and do nothing against perpetrators of the crimes against humanity. This tyranny of the state and the majority community has made Muslims helpless and hopeless in their own country. This is the new political culture in India.
Government controlling the mass media is the new political culture. There are several private newspapers, TV channels, and websites that are under the influence of the government and are refrained from criticizing the government. The media outlets instead of holding the government and criminals responsible for engineering riots and violence are blaming Muslims to be the cause. Media speaking against the victims and sufferers is the new political culture in India.
It’s not only through the news media that the government is propagating hate against Muslims but also through cinematic arts. Scores of movies that are inflammatory in the content against the Muslims have got the censor certificate by the government. The sole purpose of these movies is hate-mongering against Muslims. The latest movie Kashmir Files is the new addition to build the new political culture in India.
The right to dissent is being criminalized. This is seen during the CAA protesters arrested under the Unlawful Preventive Act were mostly Muslims. They are languishing in jail even two years after the arrest.
The new culture has made India a freebie state. Under the BJP rule, many freebies are distributed for electoral gains. Free ration, two free LPG cylinders, free public transport for women, free power for irrigation, interest-free loan, insurance, and pension, etc. The freebie culture that’s gaining popularity has given the BJP unprecedented political support. Recently the UP CM Yogi Adityanath announced to give Rs 1 lakh for the marriage of the daughters of the poor families in the state.
The BJP has a huge obsession with Congress and it blames the oldest party for all the shortcomings the country is facing. This is the BJP’s technique of mobilization of people in its favor. The saffron party talks about the past of the Congress party to shift the onus of evaluation from the present to the past to distract the attention of the people from matters of governance under its rule.
There should be no mistaking the fact that the BJP is engaged in developing a new political culture that is quite different from the past phases of India. The electoral success of the BJP is attributed to the new political culture in India.
One more dimension of the new culture is that it has weakened the social cohesion that has been in existence exists for centuries.
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com
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