Well-known for his Hindu nationalist approaches, Narendra Modi was appointed as India’s Prime Minister in India’s general election of 2014 (Hindu Nationalism in India’s Heartland, 2017). He was born on September 17, 1950, a few years after the Partition, in a small town in Gujarat, India. Even with tension between Hindus and Muslims at the time, Modi was raised in a community mixed with Muslims, and grew up with many Muslim friends throughout his childhood (Marino, 48). At the age of eight, Modi joined the RSS youth wing, where he began to realise his interest in debating about issues concerning the world. The RSS is an organization that was formed in 1925, with the purpose of promoting Hinduism, and after many years with the RSS, he was offered the position of the sambhag pracharak, which was the regional organizer. He was later promoted in 1990, becoming one of the seventeen members of BJP’s National Election Committee (Marino, 51). With each promotion leading up to his election as Prime Minister of India, Modi was determined to work towards his goals of remaking India and making Hindu nationalism a priority (Marino, 53).
In recent years, the Indian state has attempted to spread the religion of Hinduism across the country through reform and favouritism. Otherwise referred to as Hinduisation, this has been a particular goal for Narendra Modi and the BJP Party (Khalidi, 2008). Modi has been referred to as anti-Muslim because of his efforts in implementing Hindu culture across the country. His resentment for Muslims is associated with the Partition in 1947, which created tension that continues to remain amongst Muslims and Hindus even today. On February 27 of 2002, the Ram temple in Godhra was presumed to be attacked by Muslims, killing over 59 people. That same evening, Modi had televised the ceremony to the public, which unleashed violence towards Muslims as he blamed them for the attack (Jaffrelot, 2015). In many instances, Modi has been given credit for his use of both body language and different intonations, as they are said to demonstrate his strength as an orator for the public (Marino, 47). After the attack on Ram temple, one of Modi’s key tactics involved the manipulation of television with the means to provide reassurance and protection to the public. During the election period, one of his BJP television commercials consisted of a train pulling into the Godhra station, followed by terrified screams and the sounds of rifles being fired. Afterward, his image would be shown in order to demonstrate the protection he could offer against Muslim violence (Jaffrelot, 2015). This has remained to be one of his key tactics for gaining attention and popularity amongst Indian citizens.
In Hinduism, cows are seen as sacred animals as they are thought to represent different deities, motherhood and wealth (Lodrick, 71). To further prioritize Hindu nationalism in India, Modi had stigmatized the consumption of beef and slaughtering of cows in general. He created a ban on the consumption of beef, which was supported by many Hindus as the slaughter of cows is considered taboo (Hindu Nationalism in India’s Heartland, 2017). In one incident, a Muslim labourer was beat to death with bricks by Hindu nationalists for slaughtering a cow. These Hindu nationalists claimed that Muslims’ consumption of beef demonstrated disrespect to Hindus (What Hindu Nationalism Means for India’s Future, 2016). This incident along with others emphasizes the anti-Muslim sentiment many Hindus hold today as a result of Narendra Modi’s beliefs.
In September 2006, Modi’s BJP legislature passed a law against conversion to Islam, but enabled conversion to Hinduism, as Hindu assimilationists argued that conversion to Islam was viewed as a form of denaturalisation (Khalidi, 2008). This anti-Muslim sentiment held by many in India is also commonly held amongst others in different countries, and is also referred to as Islamophobia. The heightening of Islamophobia over recent years has become an important issue, as many Muslims are targeted for their culture. Although Donald Trump may be more of a well-known political figure that holds Islamophobic beliefs, Narendra Modi has proven more than once the resentment he holds for Muslims as well. He has played a significant role in India by trying to prioritize Hinduism over other religions, while also spreading anti-Muslim sentiments across the country. As he remains the Prime Minister of India, he is viewed as an influential leader, and therefore the beliefs he holds will continue to have a great impact on Indians as well as Muslims (Jaffrelot, 2008). In India’s current state, discrimination is most apparent through certain institutions restricting religious freedoms other than Hinduism, and Modi’s goal to remake India as a prominently Hindu nation continues to exist (Khalidi, 2008).
Mira Kashyap
Works Cited
“Hindu Nationalism in India’s Heartland.” Stratfor Analysis, Apr. 2017, p. 33. EBSCOhost, libaccess.mcmaster.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=123510972&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Jaffrelot, Christophe. “Narendra Modi and the Power of Television in Gujarat.” Television & New Media, vol. 16, no. 4, May 2015, pp. 346-353. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/1527476415575499.
Khalidi, Omar. “Hinduising India: Secularism in Practice.” Third World Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 8, 2008, pp. 1545–1562. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20455129.
Lodrick, Deryck O. “Symbol and Sustenance: Cattle in South Asian Culture.” Dialectical Anthropology, vol. 29, no. 1, 2005, pp. 61–84. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/29790728.
Marino, Andy. Narendra Modi: A political biography. HarperCollins Publishers India, 2014.
“What Hindu Nationalism Means for India’s Future.” Stratfor Analysis, June 2016, p. 1. EBSCOhost,libaccess.mcmaster.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=116776789&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
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