India: Another Orgy of Hindutva Chauvinism

by Michael Pröbsting, International Secretary of the RCIT, 11 November 2019, www.thecommunists.net

The recent verdict of India’s Supreme Court represents another victory for the right-wing Modi government and its Hindutva chauvinist supporters. It paves the way for building a Hindu temple in the town of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state. It shall be built on exactly the same site where the famous Babri Masjid mosque – built in 1528/29 – stood until it was destroyed by Hindu chauvinists in December 1992. In the aftermath, they killed at least 2,000 people in anti-Muslim pogrom.

The decision of the Supreme Court represents is a devastating blow for the Muslim minority. It is nothing but another orgy of Hindutva chauvinism! Only three month ago, the Modi government revoked Article 370 of India’s constitution which removed some formal autonomy rights of Kashmir – the only state with a Muslim majority. Since then, New Dehli has imposed de facto a state of emergency in the whole region which de facto transformed Kashmir into a huge concentration camp! [1]

It is urgent that all mass organizations of the workers, poor peasants, students and oppressed must denounce this reactionary decisions and mobilize for the rights of the Muslim minority. Our support for a secular state includes vigorous defence of the religious and cultural rights of minorities like the Muslims in this case.

While both issues – Kashmir’s autonomy and the Ayodhya temple – have been long-time demands of the BJP and the Hindutva chauvinists, it is no coincidence that the Modi government implements them exactly in this political conjuncture. The main reason for this is that Indian capitalism is entering a period of economic crisis, as we already pointed out somewhere else. [2]

Growth of gross domestic product growth has plunged to a six-year low of 5% and most industries registering weak or negative growth. In addition, gross non-performing assets in the banking sector have seen nearly a four-fold increase in the five years since the Modi government came to power. [3]

Add to this, the dramatic social and ecological crisis in New Delhi where authorities had to declare a public health emergency recently. They were forced to close schools and all construction activity as air pollution in the city hit its worst level this year. An index measuring the level of a deadly air pollutant hit 484 on a scale of 500! [4]

Hence, the Modi government escalates its chauvinist attacks against national and religious minorities in order to deflect attention from these pressing economic and ecological problems. This is a reactionary policy which is characteristic for all capitalist governments around the world!

The struggle for freedom of the Kashmiri people as well as for the religious rights of the Muslim minority in India must be part of the global struggle for freedom and justice. This is not an empty phrase but an actual demand of the hour when millions of people around the world are marching (and dying!) against tyranny and misery. From Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria, Sudan and Syria to Chile, Ecuador, Honduras and Haiti, from Catalunya to Hong Kong – we must fight hands in hands against imperialism, dictatorship and reactionary forces, for freedom and social justice!