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March30, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]Sumit and Tanika Sarkar on Aspects of Contemporary Indian >> |
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The NRI Becomes Aggressive Swastika Controversy and Beyond If it is true that the swastika is an integral aspect of Hindu culture, it is so by being a symbol of discrimination, hatred, religious bigotry, and fundamentalism, rather than anything inherently sacred about it. D Parthasarathy The Indian media seemingly cannot have enough of the achievements of NRIs. Governments of various hues fete them, spending lavish amounts. And Bollywood makes films exclusively for them. Amidst all the hype about the successes of the not so innocent Indian abroad, debates on two issues are either shut out of the media or are killed almost as soon as they are raised. For one, the ordinary working class, lower caste and non-Hindu population in the west Asia are rarely covered and feted, perhaps out of embarrassment that this would let out the secret of what India really is and that the situation of our migrants is not all that rosy everywhere. The second issue is not even talked about. In all the brouhaha of NRI success in the west, the fact that most of these are Hindu, upper caste, patriarchal Indians who perpetuate the same discriminatory practices with reference to caste and gender, and who still practise the same discriminatory purity and pollution rituals that they have done for millennia, the fact that their great triumphs in the global centres of capitalism have not made them one iota more liberal, or one bit more tolerant of difference ??“ these are facts that are well and truly hidden, lest they somehow spoil the pretty picture that has been painted to boost our collective egos, for our edification, amusement, and inspiration. Sooner rather than later NRIs in the west are going to be recognised for what they largely are ??“ illiberal, intolerant, racist, and patriarchal. States in Europe are wont to look at Hindu reactions to perceived affronts to their culture from a multicultural framework, but it will not be too long before they recognise the reactionary and fascist nature of such protests, be it the violent actions to stop the performance of the play ???Behzti??™ in England, campaigns to remove Hindu symbols from all kinds of clothing from socks to T-shirts, or the recent campaign against the proposed Europewide ban on the swastika. If nothing else, actions and campaigns by racist and right wing nationalist forces in the west highlighting the ???non-western??™ nature of such actions will force governments to see such protests in a different light. Backlash from such groups towards the cultural intolerance of the NRIs may be expected in the not too distant future. Western states and populations are yet to realise that the cultural intolerance and the ???quickness to take offence??™ attitude of NRIs are innate attributes of their location within the caste hierarchy. Rather than perceiving and reacting to perceived hurts to the NRIs??™ collective conscience through a multiculturalist prism, western states need to understand the larger designs behind the increasing aggressiveness of upper caste Hindus in the west in displaying and protecting their identity. This is best exemplified in the reaction of the ???Hindu??™ community in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to calls for a EUwide ban on the swastika in the wake of the recent controversy involving Prince Harry. Persons purporting to represent Hindus have stated that the swastika is a sacred symbol for Hindus, and argue that ???it is an integral part of Indian (read Hindu) culture???, being used widely as a symbol of good fortune and prosperity. Many in India including ???secular??™ activists have joined this chorus of calling swastika a symbol with ???positive??™ connotations and therefore needing to be reclaimed and purged of its Nazi association. Concerns regarding cultural imperialism and opposition to perceived attacks on the cultural freedoms of one??™s community and nation usually lie behind these persuasions. What is missing in this fairly widespread opinion is a critique of the swastika as used by Hindus, in particular its association with a hierarchical social structure, a society that discriminates on the basis of caste and gender. What is also missed is the not so hidden and fairly widespread admiration for Hitler and fascism among Hindu nationalists and fascists, a phenomenon that first emerged during India??™s freedom struggle and continues to the present. As an integral part of Indian culture, the swastika was and is principally a symbol used by the brahmins and the banias. Dalits and adivasis in India scarcely have reason to regard the swastika as a sacred symbol or as a symbol of fortune, prosperity or wisdom, since they were and are not allowed access to knowledge, education, high status occupations, and economic opportunities and political power. Dalit activists and organisations strongly associate the swastika with a brahminical social order and therefore are likely to have little sympathy for positions which give it a ???positive??™ connotation, whatever that may mean. As a symbol of prosperity we must remember that in much of rural India, the swastika is a sign that is usually found at the entrance to the house of the local moneylender. More importantly, the swastika remains a symbol of discrimination. In an ironic twist to attempts by upper castes to counter conversion of dalits to Christianity, the Shankaracharya of Puri a few years ago called for construction of low cost ???swastika temples??“ which would be open only to lower castes and tribals, and would be easily recognisable so that upper castes do not enter them by mistake. The move was highly resented by dalits who saw in it the continued resistance by upper castes in India to allow them entry into mainstream temples, and a part of renewed attempts to stymie any kind of interaction and contact between upper and lower castes in India. As far as talk about purging the symbol of its Nazi association is concerned, contrary to what is being said now about Hindus being opposed to Hitler and fascism, it is well known that Hindu nationalists for almost a century have repeatedly expressed their admiration for authoritarian leaders such as Mussolini and Hitler, as well as for the fascist model of society. It is not only the modern Hindutva protagonists who reveal, albeit in clumsy ways, their respect and veneration for fascism. For Hindu nationalists in general fascism offers methods and techniques to secure their domination over Muslims, Christians, other non-Hindus and lower castes. It is interesting to note that as far back as 1929, a prominent member of the Hindu Mahasabha, M R Jayakar, founded an organisation to exclusively promote the interests of Hindus and called it the Swastika League. In the context of attacks on Christian missionaries and large-scale state supported pogroms against Muslims in parts of India, Muslims and Christians have reason to look upon the Hindu sacred symbol of swastika with fear and loathing, just as it was and is abhorrent for Jews all over the world. India??™s diaspora in the west is largely upper caste. Scholars and activists have been alert to the fact that in recent years this diaspora has gone atavistic with a vengeance and actively provides Hindu fundamentalist and fascist forces in India with financial and organisational support. This explains why by and large the Hindu groups who are fighting the proposed ban on the swastika in Europe have little concern for the feelings and attitudes of millions of lower caste and tribal people and non-Hindus, who see nothing positive about the swastika. If it is true that the swastika is an integral aspect of Hindu culture, it is so by being a symbol of discrimination, hatred, religious bigotry, and fundamentalism, rather than anything inherently sacred about it. The swastika as a symbol has a diverse history and is associated with cultures from different parts of the world. It would therefore be wrong to generalise one particular use of it (by the Nazis) and embark upon acts (such as a widespread ban) which would impinge upon the ability of other cultures whose use of the symbol has little to do with Nazi fascism and the Holocaust. Having said that one must also be wary of adopting a blanket approach of attributing a neutral or positive connotation to the swastika wherever it is used by non-European cultures. Symbols are inherently powerful, and something as widespread and popular as the swastika is bound to be used as a tool for mobilisation, as a signifier of domination, and as a purveyor of coded messages used for whipping up hatred against the ???other??™, whether they be Jews, Muslims, Christians, or any other community which is the target of violence, genocide and discrimination. The increasingly aggressive opposition to the ???inappropriate??™ use of Hindu symbols in the west by Hindutva associates and their clones must be seen in terms of the changing demographic and socio-cultural composition of the NRIs and the new flow of people, finance, ideas, information and organisations between India and western countries. The minority status of the NRIs in the country of migration, their new found confidence as the richest among immigrant groups, their break from certain symbolically important kinship, family and caste relations and practices in India and the concomitant need for new symbols which tie, unite and create Hindu communities abroad ??“ all these are possible reasons for strong reactions in recent years to the specific usage of Hindu symbols for marketing various goods and products in Europe and in the US, and to perceived criticism of the Indian way of life, even if it means propping up or sweeping under the carpet issues related to gender and caste based oppression. The new aggressiveness of NRI campaigns against perceived insults to their culture however suggests that they are not in the least discomfited, embarrassed, or self-conscious about their discriminatory, abusive, and oppressive practices back home now imported into their migrant spaces. For the outcome of this attitude on host societies, one just has to wait and see. KRISHNA RAJ SCHOLARSHIP FUND An Appeal for Donations CURRENT STATISTICS Secondary Market Transactions in Government Securities and the Forex Market - Week Ending March 4/11, 2005 Macroeconomic Indicators (19 March 2005) BOOK REVIEWS Lessons from Romania Indian Economic History in Perspective Click Here for Weekly Email Content Alert EPW Index A comprehensive subject and author index to EPW for 2002 and 2003 is available. The index for each year is published in two half-yearly (six months) volumes: January-June and July-December. The price for the EPW index for each half-yearly volume and for each year is as below: Half-yearly Index: Rs. 25 each Index for one year: Rs. 40 each The index can be ordered from Circulation Manager, Economic and Political Weekly , Hitkari House, 284 Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Mumbai-400001. (Demand Drafts are preferred. In outstation cheques, please add Rs. 15 for collection charges.) ----------------------------------------------------------- Prof IK Shukla writes: I would urge Indiathinkersnet to display in full this well thought out and well written piece by D. Parthasarathy in the Econ.&Pol.Wkly, of Mumbai. It anayses the full spectrum of motives of, and motifs espoused by, neo-Hindu zealots whether in India or abroad. I call them neo-Hindu for a number of reasons. Essentially philistine, they suddenly invent themselves in the diaspora as patriotic and defenders of the failth. This patriotism is of the scoundrelly vintage. And this faith a throwback to recidivism and primitivism, clothed in "identity crisis", hence wayward, vulgar, and vacuous. I.K.Shukla http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.phpbroot=2005&;leaf=03&filename=8378&filetype=html |
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March30, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]Sumit and Tanika Sarkar on Aspects of Contemporary Indian >> |
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