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book review

Hindu Nationalismand Bahujan Castes

Rowena Robinson

Religion, Caste and Politics in India by ChristopheJaffrelot(Delhi: Primus Books), 2010; pp 802, Rs 2,250 (hb).

A massive volume such as Religion,Caste and Politics in Indiaconsti-tutes a monumental task for any reviewer. Each chapter cannot be re-

viewed and I only mention particularchapters in each section. The volume con-tains 35 essays from Jaffrelots two dec-ades of writing on India. It is divided intosix sections: Secularism at Stake TheBirth and Rise of Hindu Nationalism, TheSangh Parivar, Communal Violence, TheRise of the Lower Castes, The PoliticalCulture (of Voting) in India, and India andthe World. It is obvious that there aremany overlaps and Jaffrelot had great dif-

culty in creating these divisions. In any case, the most important studies have todo with a detailed exposition of the rise of Hindu nationalist politics and its implica-tions for India and with the parallel rise of

the political in uence of the bahujan castes in many states of the country.

Jaffrelot sees himself as combininganthropology and history in his politicalanalysis, and he certainly shows a consi der-able command of his subject in the ways thathe is able to trace the roots of each politicalphenomenon he seeks to analyse and bringout its various manifestations and bran-ches. While he is very rooted in empiricalanalysis, he does take up or frame his chap-ters with conceptual and theoretical issuesand some of these are mentioned here.

Hindu NationalismThe rst section brings together Jaffrelotsessays on Hindu nationalism. He consid-ers Hindu nationalism to be the greatestcontemporary threat to Indian democracy.His analysis of Hindu nationalist ideasand ways of operating demonstrates theirfundamental anti-democratic leanings.Hindu nationalism seeks to work with

demo cracy only in terms of the rule of themajority and the sidelining of religiousminorities would make this automatically

into the rule of Hindus. In the rst chapteron the constituent assembly debates,Jaffrelot makes an interesting argumentthat India has a circumscribed version of the notion of multiculturalism, distantboth from the United States and France.India combines features of both: the Jacobinmodel of national identity with the multi-culturalist one. Though Hindu traditional-ists tried to make a dent in this area, theGandhian version of multiculturalism com-bined with an idea of secularism as mean-ing the equidistance of the state from allreligions was retained in India. It is today seriously threatened by Hindu nationalists.

The second chapter takes up the issue of linguistic states and the administrative mapof India. Ambedkar and Nehru both pro-moted the idea of territory which drewfrom the western, rational-legal state prin-ciples (Weberian model). Linguistic statesquestioned this map and Hindu nationalismrejects the state in favour of the nation,an idea of earth or bhoomi rather thanterritory inscri bed by a legal-administra-tive grid. Land is important for Hindus,more than for other ethnic movements. Akhand Bharat includes India, Pakistanand Bangladesh. Jaffrelot considers this acontradiction because it valorises land,but goes against the de nition of the na-tion as based on Hindu culture. Of course,

we know that Hindu nationalists viewIslam overlaying an original Hindu culturalbase in this larger region; hence the con-tradiction in the notion of Akhand Bharatdoes not arise from their point of view.

Jaffrelot has written extensively on

Hindu nationalism, analysing its roots,tracing its Maharashtrian core, decon-structing the strains and tensions between

the different elements of the ideology andthe different organisations through which itis actualised the Rashtriya Swayam sevak Sangh ( RSS), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad( VHP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP)

among others. Jaffrelot is aware of the indi- vidual contributions of particular ideo-logues to the construction or further inter-pretation of Hindu nationalism and theirrole in these different organisations. One of the chapters in this section traces in detailthe development of Hindu nationalism inthe Punjab from the workings of the AryaSamaj to the Hindu Samaj.

With regard to the conversion issue,Jaffrelot argues that for a long time Hindusociety was hostile to integration orreintegration of individuals who could notprovide the guarantees of ritual purity that orthodoxy required. It was only with-in a sectarian framework that shuddhi waspossible and permissible. However, withincreasing semiticisation, conversion orreconversion now models itself on othermajor religions allowing the transition of a person from one community of believersto another. The mimesis by Hindu nation-alism is carried further. The VHP has a

strategy of in ltration into festivals andtemple management. This enables it to try to construct an ecclesiastical structure onpar with Christianity, for instance, and tohold pan-Hindu festivals on the model of Christian or Muslim ones. However, theorganisation has been more successful inrecruiting the new, modern gurus thanthe traditional leaders of important sects.

In another chapter, Jaffrelot looks closely at the organisational structure of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh. He shows the linksbetween the RSS organisational strategiesand the sangathanist party-buildingpractices in the state. There is high party discipline and the very pertinent role of activists and their networks. They performsocial work at the grass roots and allowfor mass mobilisation around religioussymbols or other socio-economic issues. Hesees a contradiction between the activistsideologies and party politics within a gov-ernmental context, which has other com-

pulsions. The government tries to keepactivists happy without too much pressureon the budget, by means such as promoting

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Hindi or extending recognition to RSS-runschools and so on. Jaffrelot does not reachconclusions about Hindu nationalism thatare widely different from those of many Indian scholars and others, who have been

writing extensively about these issues inrecent times. However, what might be ap-

preciated is his very close analysis, his at-tention to detail, his grasp of the history andtrajectory of the movement and his ability tomove from analysis at the local or state levelto understanding the macro-issues involved.

Rise of Bahujan Castes Another important section in the book hasits focus on the rise of the bahujan castes.Jaffrelots question is: how did Indiascaste-based diversity translate into its pol-itics? For him, the Mandal affair was theturning point in the Hindi belt. The shareof Other Backward Classes ( OBCs) grew,

while that of caste MPs started to decrease.Some states show variants on this pattern.In Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, the Jats(Rajasthan and Punjab) and the Patidars(Gujarat) are very strong. The share of OBCs is low, except in Gujarat. In the Dec-can states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and

Andhra, the reign of what Jaffrelot callsthe peasant proprietary castes, remains

unchallenged. These are the Marathas inMaharashtra, the Lingayats and Vokkali-gas in Karnataka and Kammas and Reddisin Andhra Pradesh. It is in Kerala andWest Bengal that the upper castes, so-called, have managed to retain their in u-ence. Of course, Tamil Nadu shows themajority position of the OBCs. Jaffrelot re-alises, however, that in uence is not to bemeasured solely by numbers; one has tolook at positions and portfolios as well.

Elites and BahujansOne interesting chapter looks at the iden-tity of the Jats. They once claimed to beKshatriyas, then kisans and then claimed tobelong to the backward castes. These dif-ferent identities were claimed according tothe changing relation with other dominantgroups and the state. Jaffrelot asserts thatthe Jats have also occasionally emphasisedtheir Hinduness, due to their interest inbeing seen as part of the so-called upper

castes. The chapter on af rmative actionanalyses the two backward classes commis-sions and their political reception. The rst

report was rejected by a modernist, Nehru- vian government that saw India as develop-ing on socialist lines, wherein such socialdistinctions would disappear on their own.Further, it was argued that ef ciency wouldbe compromised by positive discrimination.

The Second Backward Classes Commis-

sion also based itself on caste criteria. Ithas not been possible to de ne the back-

ward classes without reliance on the dis-tinctions of caste. However, according toJaffrelot, the Congress and the judiciary and other sections of Indian elites haveresisted this caste-based identi cationbecause of the fear that a coalition of castescould emerge that would be demographi-cally and economically far more potentthan any alliance of dalit communities. Inanother chapter, Kanshi Rams politics isanalysed in relation to Ambedkars model.

Ambedkar wanted the dalits to have politi-cal power, but he was not clear which way to go to organise only dalits or to create alarger political base. In the end, the Repub-lican Party of India ( RPI) went the second

way, though Ambedkar himself was tohave his greatest success only with the Ma-hars. In Uttar Pradesh ( UP), the core groupof the Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP) was theChamars. The Chamars were relatively more

af uent as shoemakers and were alsodemographically the most signi cant of UPs dalit communities. They bene ted fromprogress under Mayawati, in educationand other spheres. However, the associa-tion of the BSP with the Chamars keptother dalit groups such as Balmikis away.

Kanshi Ram was critical of the RPI forfocusing on the Mahars. He included mi-norities in his de nition of bahujans, as they suffered from the same oppression as thoseconsidered low caste. In 1978, he createdthe All India Backward and Minority Com-munities Employees Federation ( BAMCEF).OBCs were also recognised by the BSP,

which made the implementation of theMandal Report into one of their slogans.This was a catch-all party, as Jaffrelotsays. The brahmins were also included.Indeed, Kanshi Ram considered that as-semblies should re ect the composition of society. Though Jaffrelot compares the

wider perspective of Ambedkar with that

of Kanshi Ram, it is doubtful if Ambedkarenvisioned a political alliance that broughttogether the brahmin with the bahujan.

In analysing voting patterns, Jaffrelotpoints out one of the crucial problems withthe Electronic Voting Machines ( EVMs)

voting patterns are revealed at the level of the polling station itself, allowing the easy identi cation of voting patterns of precisegroups. This could enable defeated candi-

dates to vent their anger on those who didnot vote for them, particularly marginalgroups if they are disorganised. In the lastsection, there is one interesting piececontrasting the political trajectories of India and Pakistan on ve grounds: Indiaand Pakistan despite being born at thesame time were not heirs to the samepolitical experiences. National security became too important in Pakistan andthus, the nature of the regime remainedunquestioned; the ways in which ethnicgroups operated in Pakistan hindereddemocracy but enabled the process inIndia. India and Pakistan were not equally endowed with political parties, and,Pakistan lacked particular forms of socialorganisation whereas in India caste aidedthe aggregation of interests.

Jaffrelot has clearly written on a rangeof interests but his essays are also very closely linked to each other. His grasp of contemporary Indian politics, both at the

national and the state levels is admirable;it is therefore surprising that he hasalmost nothing to say of the phenomenonof Maoist or Naxalite uprisings in differentparts of the country. There is only a men-tion of this in the introduction; through-out the essays Jaffrelot appears to hold the

view that it is the rise of Hindu national-ism that is contemporary Indias greatestpolitical concern. Another problem in the

volume is that several of the essays remainin the nature of descriptive notes, ratherthan analytical pieces. The reader is thusoverwhelmed with detail and there isconsiderable repetition. This may beconsidered unavoidable in a work which isa collection of the authors essays and arti-cles over a period of time. However, per-haps some of the pieces could have beenleft out. The volume is a valuable record of the analysis of recent decades of Indianpolitical history; its readability might havebeen aided with some pruning.

Rowena Robinson ( rowena@iitb.ac.in ) is withthe Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai.