Right-wing politics hold that certain social orders and hierarchies are natural, inevitable and even desirable. This view supports that inequality is the result of natural social differences. The stunning victory for the BJP, a party with the openly religious agenda in the last elections certainly showed us the way India was heading. The rise of the right wing and the continuing support that people give it is visible in the way that the party continues to generate support even so many leaders making inflammatory anti-minority statements, holding regressive views about women and those with different sexual orientation. The support continues despite poor economic decisions such as demonetisation, rising unemployment and rising crime against minorities.
Recently we have seen a marked departure from the tenets of Nehruvian socialism which supports social equality and egalitarianism and a concern for those who are economically and socially underprivileged. Not only have we seen an erosion of Nehruvian values, we have seen a concerted attempt to tarnish the personal and political legacy of India's first Prime Minister, the attempt to malign his character and cast aspersions on his motivations.
There is also the strong perception that the rise of the right-wing in India has seen a marked decline in the country’s liberal values, particularly the youth. There is a markedly conservative mindset displayed by Indian youth in matters relating to women's rights, their clothing choices, inter-caste marriages and so on. The widespread support for banning films or works of art that purportedly hurt religious sentiment is another indicator of the decline of liberal values.
So if the people of Athens pulled down a statue, the examples of vandalism because of supposedly hurt religious/regional/caste or any other sentiments are all around us in India. Vandalizing of art works, blackening of writers’ faces, threatening to cut off heads of filmmakers…we are all witness to these. It is typically the right-wing fringe elements that are found responsible for this. Worryingly the fringe is becoming more and more mainstream.
Do you have something interesting you would like to share? Write to us at [email protected]
