Abstract
Civil society, once boasting its democratic contribution, is now undermining the secular-democratic culture of India. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this chapter examines the role of Rajasthan Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad (RVKP), a Hindu nationalist organization, among the Bhil tribes of Rajasthan. The chapter argues that the RVKP has implemented several developmental projects as a medium to gain people’s trust. By claiming to represent tribal interests, the RVKP has established itself as a “counterforce” against local Muslims and Christians and projected them as the “threatening others”. In this regard, it has received economic and politico-legal support from the state of Rajasthan, which is governed by the Hindu nationalists. The chapter concludes that the exclusivist politics of the RVKP and the Hindu nationalist state in Rajasthan have not only created a insecurity amongst the religious minorities; they have also radically polarized the public life and threatened the secular-democratic ethos of Indian society.
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Notes
- 1.
According to the 2001 census, there are about 573 tribes with a population of 84.3 million constituting 8.2% of the country’s population. It is the second largest tribal population in the world, next only to Africa.
- 2.
Hinduism, Islam , Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism.
- 3.
The RSS was founded in 1925 by K.B. Hedegewar in Nagpur with two major objectives: first, to counter Muslim separatism and British colonialism , and second, to unite the Hindu community to form a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation). It drew inspiration from European right-wing groups during the Second World War.
- 4.
The membership in RSS is much larger than mentioned by Jayal because as Deo (2007: 145) states, even in a small state like Orissa, the Sangh Parivar boasts a reach of over a million members.
- 5.
According to Sangh organizational principles, “a shakha is meant to be the place where, led by the shakha instructor, swayamsewaks (volunteers or local-level workers) gather daily in the early hours of the morning and evening for their ideological and political education. They follow a regimen of physical and ideological training consisting of drills, games, and debates about national and local sociopolitical questions” (Chaturvedi 2011: 345–346).
- 6.
According to Freedom House (2015: 8), since 1974 the number of democratic political systems has more than tripled from 39 to 125 as of 2015.
- 7.
The Criminal Tribes Act enacted by the British in 1871 “placed restrictions on wandering, nomadic groups, many of whom were either newly landless tribals or former pastoralists and traders (such as the Bhanjaras), the indigent poor of the colonial system, some of whom had participated in the uprising of 1857…The oldest males in families of the specified ‘criminal tribes and castes ’ were required under this law to report on a weekly basis to the local police , to inform them of their whereabouts. The purpose was to dissuade them from vagrancy and criminal activities, to which they were regarded as being inherently inclined, as some quite probably were, although the reasons were practical rather than genetic” (Bates 2007: 81).
- 8.
Bhil, Mina, Damor, Kathodi, Garasia, and Sahriya.
- 9.
Hindu nationalism , represented predominantly through the RSS , uses a saffron-coloured flag as their quintessential symbol. Therefore, in academic literature “saffron” refers to the radical ideology of the Hindu nationalism.
- 10.
Previously, the BJP government had introduced the Rajasthan Dharma Swatantraya (Religious Freedom) Bill in the State Assembly. The governor refused to approve it, however, and returned the bill to the state government in May 2006 because it violated the fundamental rights to religion of the individual.
- 11.
According to Vandevelde (2011: 35), “the first well-organized and widely-known attempt at reconversion to Hinduism was made roughly between 1880 and 1930 by the Hindu nationalist movement the Arya Samaj (Society of Nobles), founded by Swami Dayanand Sarasvati in 1875 and centred in Punjab”.
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Interviews
Interview 1. RVKP activist in Kotra, 20 September 2006.
Interview 2. Teacher at the Modern School in Kotra, 23 September 2006.
Interview 3. RVKP activist in Kolyari, 25 October 2006.
Interview 4. Pastor in Jhadol, 26 November 2006.
Interview 5. Journalist in Kotra Interview, 29 January 2007.
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Sahoo, S. (2018). Dealing with the Intimate Enemy: Civil Society and Ethno-Religious Conflict in Contemporary India. In: Steiner, K., Önnerfors, A. (eds) Expressions of Radicalization. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65566-6_7
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