Development and Hindutva!

The ideology of Hindutva is inherently inequitable, as it sees India as the land of a monolithic “Hindu” community and promotes the concept of the creation of a Hindu Rashtra. The members of other faiths are seen as aliens deserving no status, minorities are sought to be deprived of their basic rights as equal citizens of the country.

In fact, communalism in different parts of the country can be traced to the ideology of Hindutva as propagated by the BJP. It was this that led to the tragic demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in 1992, resulting in a rise in communal tensions. L.K. Advani’s Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya, which preceded the demolition, sought to remind Hindus of the ‘atrocities’ meted to them in history under Muslim rulers.

Communal clashes lead to curfews, vandalising of private and public property, arson and looting, bandhs, and so on, leading to losses in revenues. For instance, Gujarat lost over Rs 500 crore in sales tax due to the post-Godhra riots. The riots even haunted Narendra Modi government’s Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit in September this year, which turned out to be a flop show. “Who wants to invest in a state which can break into the riots any time? And who wants to invest in a state where the government itself is a party to destruction,” asked an industrialist during the summit. It is no surprise that the state, which was placed fifth in terms of human development four years ago, has now slipped to the 6th rank.

The contradiction in the claims of the BJP is clear. The fusion of Hindutva and development is not a possibility.