Running out of enemies: Back to core competence in sectarian mobilisation

by Guest Mon Nov 27, 2017 12:32 am

What is to be done? How do we keep the majority angry, keep it on the boil, without coming across as “communalist”? To begin with, the Hindu vote-bank has to be constantly reminded of the dangers and threats from Muslims, at home and abroad. Even that endeavour is not easy to sustain. Triple talaq has been sorted out by the Supreme Court; the Muslims and their leaders are playing cool and have already made a tactical retreat into their ghettos.

The strategic question becomes: how to contain the incoming tide of disapproval and disenchantment? We need to invent new enemies. The foreign enemy has already been overdone. A re-think became necessary after Doklam, which did not quite produce the clear-cut outcome that could be kneaded into a victory narrative, or palmed off at the hustings. So, the hunt begins for enemies at home. History has to be enlisted.

We have to be inventive and innovative to keep the Hindu vote-bank intact. How to get us all stirred up? History or a certain version of it is to be flaunted to graze up our sore spot.

So, we find ourselves dragged by the scruff of our collective neck to smell the stench of historical prejudices and resentments. Anything that will stir up our visceral fears and prejudices would do: we will rename Dyal Singh College as Vande Mataram College. Oppose the move and run the risk of being painted black in the colours of deshdroh.

Or, in Karnataka, the next battleground, where a clever Chief Minister has instigated a Kanadiga sub-nationalism in opposition to the Hindutva's unifying prescriptions of prejudices and passions; Tipu Sultan comes in handy. He is to be demonised as just a Muslim ruler who inflicted great injustices on the Hindus.

The Padmavati controversy is not just an aria to the Rajput notions of chivalry; it is being fanned, perhaps even financed, to highlight the villainy of a wicked Muslim ruler towards a Rajput princess.

And, if all subtle doublespeak fails, Rahul Gandhi is to be compared with such medieval sultans as Alauddin Khilji and Aurangzeb.

Our ruling elites face a problem. The Hindu does not have the capacity for sustained emotional fervour or for open-ended hostility. In any case, the Hindu has been already drained out of his emotional capital these last three years. The Hindu may be tempted to ask the question as to how many jobs get created if Padmavati is banned. He also knows that Deepika Padukone is not a Pehlu Khan.

Short of a war-like situation, the Hindu is happy to return to the daily ritual of his karmic equanimity. He is at peace with himself and within himself. He does not feel the need to define himself in antagonism to some enemy figure. The Hindu has a positive, organic view of himself, his society and his country. This has been at the core of the Indian civilisational perseverance.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/running-out-of-enemies/502464.html