Friday, July 31, 2009

Hindutva and Youth

India has the fastest growing population of youth under 25. According to recent estimate more than 40% of Indian population falls in this bracket. So it’s just natural that they will be the one driving India’s future. As India increasingly embraces capitalistic ethos the consumption based culture will take deeper roots. I think this phenomenon, in particular, will provide biggest resistance to the spreading of Hindutva ideology. Forget about anti-Hindu media and Christian missionary supported national parties, the youth with insatiable thirst to buy newer cell phones, bikes and clothes may prove hardest to sell to the nationalistic concepts based on Hindutva.

At the same time the understanding about Hindutva philosophy is increasingly getting muddled because of activities that, in reality, has nothing to do with Hindutva. I think if we try to be true to the comment made by Supreme Court of India “The court came to the conclusion that the words "Hinduism" or "Hindutva" are not necessarily to be understood and construed narrowly, confined only to the strict Hindu religious practices unrelated to the culture and ethos of the People of India depicting the way of life of the Indian people” then we can attract more followers. The current youth population is nationalistic in every sense but their priorities have shifted drastically and we need to explain them the Hindutva in a language that they understand.

Sadly, the word Hindutva is usually associated with hooliganism. Shiv-Sena for example is known more about bashing parties and beating people on Valentine’s Day. The recent incident in Mangalore presents the whole concept in very poor light. I don’t think Hindutva is about not celebrating Valentine’s day or not going to pubs. I myself find Valentine’s Day etc. incredibly stupid but that doesn’t mean I have any right to resort to violent acts. Freedom of expression is paramount and should be protected at any cost.

Attacking MF Hussein’s paintings is a different scenario though. Because he offends the sentiments on purpose and law agencies or government doesn't take any action against him on purpose. If he paints paintings of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary in compromising positions or if he paints any picture of Allah then that's fine. His freedom to express his art should work both ways!

But such mundane stuff doesn't necessarily has anything to do with Hindutva either. Hindutva is a philosophy with wider spectrum. So, first, we need to distinguish between this kind of macho-Hindutva from real Hindutva.

The rise of capitalism, as mentioned in the beginning, is impossible to stop. . For the first in last couple of centuries Indians are finding opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty. And they are not going to stop for any ideological principal. Is Hindutva against Capitalism? I am not sure if it is related to any certain economic models. Any economic model as long as it benefits India and Indians is welcome. In current scenario, capitalistic economic model is proving boon to India (The situation may change in future but we should deal with it in future only)
I f, under the guise of Hindutva, organizations like Swadeshi moments attacks this model of economy then we are surely going to loose more base. Such ideology all though may sound legitimate to certain sections of the society should be dissociated from Hindutva.

Once we take out real Hindutva out of these incoherent and confusing acts done by organization related to Hindu politic then it will take spread for sure. Of course, that won't be it. But then we will be in a position to fight the real battle with staunchly anti-Hindu media and leftist academia.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Aftermath of Persian Elections

The fiasco in Iran seems to be finally over. I am not sure what and if it changed anything. We have an Islamic regime that barks at pretty much everyone. I must say that the regime probably does not reflect the general consensus in the country and that majority of the Persians do have sane mind. But anyone who denies existence of Holocaust must immediately be admitted to the mental asylum and arrested if that person is a head of the state. I can understand he wants to cater certain audience and he sincerely believes that his rants gives him certain aura but what he doesn’t realize is that his aura is aura of foolishness. But enough has been written about this madman.

The elections in Iran are different that how democratic elections that take place around the world. Persians do have right to vote and they do have candidates to choose from but the mandate can’t be used for quite a few matters related to the state and governance. For example, whether Persians believe that Israel should be wiped off the earth is irrelevant because the Revolutionary Guard - the powerful quasi-military institution in Iran, truly believes in ‘Zionist’ theory and that’s all it matters. The mandate of the people can be used only for intra-state governance. And even then the policies can’t step outside the gamut of Islamic principals.

The elected President then appoints whole bunch of officers through out the country increasing his strong hold over the bureaucracy. He is counseled by Revolutionary Guards as well as another of the religious council that sits between President’s arm of government and Revolutionary guard. And top of all this sits the Grand Ayatollah –the supreme leader, the ultimate arbitrary of all matters related to state. His words can not be doubted or his decisions can not be questioned. He sits above politics and yet he is heavily involved in all sorts of politics. He can dismiss anyone including the President. Like a King, he is not accountable to anything and to anyone. Though, the grand Ayatollah has not exercised his power frequently. At least, not visibly!

Whether Iran wants to hate US and UK is their choice. They don’t have to love western civilization nor do they need to embrace the western culture. If they want to be an Islamic republic and they should be an Islamic republic. Their grievances against UK and US are quite legitimate. Earlier in the days of Colonism and later under the guise of anti-Soviet build-up, these two western nations have messed up Persia quite unnecessarily. They were pawn for British Empire against Russian powerhouse and with the help of CIA, they overthrew democratically elected President in 1950’s. Later on they supported highly unpopular Shah Dynasty till 1979. But then whole of bunch of countries in the world were used and worse persecuted by British and American empires. Because that’s what Empires do. Similar case can be build against Turkish Empire or French colonial policies in Africa. Spanish empire! Anyone? The list is endless. But very few countries actually keep grieving. They rant, yes, but then they move on. They embrace capitalism whatever way is suitable and they try to attain progress. I think that’s where this proud civilization is slipping. And it is quite feasible that this frustration bubbled up through widespread protests.

At the same time we need to be little skeptical about the coverage in western media as well as relying on Facebook or Twitter. The protest seems to be or at least, recorded only in Tehran. The city’s the capital and metropolitan in every sense. And as is the case most of the world, the populace of big metros is usually more liberal. So, eruption of discontent in Tehran doesn’t mean folks in the other cities or in the countryside are sharing the same concern. But then, just to augment the contradiction further, protests in Tehran has been disruptive in the past. So, does recent protest has potential to herald Iran into another era of confusion and chaos? No one, including Persians themselves, knows the answer.

The protest was handled quite humanly if compared with such instances from the past. And in the face of strong warning, the protest fizzled out quietly. There seems to all most negligible use of force and very few people loosing lives. Of course, any loss of life is deplorable. But that’s how protest stuff works. The point is that Iranian rulers need to realize that they can enhance their own status and elevate their own country if they take this protest seriously. It’s absolutely retarded to keep blaming on western nations because even after the way this country is governed, if UK is still in the position to create mischief then all the Ayatollahs & Co. should resign in shame. The protest was genuine and they were peaceful. They simply wanted a recount, a legitimate request in any democratic institution. By calling them "dust" (who writes speeches for Ahmadinejad's?) or worse traitors is nothing but silly. Again they should not worry about what international media has to say. But to dismiss the huge protests on Tehran streets is showing cracks in the authoritative rule. The economy is still heavily based on Oil revenues and as oil prices has dropped like stone in the water in last couple of years, the macho attitude of the administration is not achieving anything. And when you are a supreme leader, you are not supposed to side with someone. And that's exactly Khamenie did. I think the protesters will be back in few years and that time it will be nastier than ever.

At the end of the day Persians are responsible of their own destiny. War-mongering, stupid brow-beating and constantly taking some ridiculous stand based on some ludicrous ideology is going to haunt the future of Iran for sure. World is moving on very rapidly and it's up to the folks in Iran to decide whether they want to part of the drama or just some loud bystanders.