20131313

SHASHWAT JINDAL

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The Dadri lynching case and the rising Hindu
religious extremism in India!

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ABSTRACT!

The incident at Dadri,has been termed as an example of the rising hindu nationalism in
the country. This essay, addresses this rising issue for the nation and discusses its
adverse consequences for the nation. This essay has been divided into four
paragraphs. This paper begins, with a brief introduction to the incident, which had
occurred at Dadri, in which a Muslim family was attacked by Hindu fanatics, alleging
that the family had consumed beef. The second paragraph of this essay talks on the
rising Hindu extremist Nationalism in modern India. The third paragraph of this essay,
concludes with the effects, this for of nationalism has on the country. The fourth
paragraph is the concluding statement.!

20131313

SHASHWAT JINDAL

Family is the most important thing for a man. After a hard days work, a peaceful family
dinner and a good nights sleep, is the most beautiful thing a common man has in his
life. Imagine, after having a good dinner with your family, when you are about to sleep, a
mob, armed with sticks, stones and guns enters your house, they beat you and your
loved ones senseless and then one of your beloved family members is killed, right
before your eyes; the mere thought of such a thing happening can send shudders down
your body, now imagine, what Mahammad Sartaj would have gone through, when saw
his father killed and his brother grievously injured before him, over a rumor, that the
family had consumed the meat of missing calf in the village.Hindus in India, worship the
cow like a Goddess, and this 'mis-information', thus angered Hindus in the village, who
in turn formed a mob and attacked the family. The village priest and two youths from the
village, had spread this rumor(1). This incident occurred at Dadri village in UP, and has
created ripples across India, which have even reached foreign shores. !

This Washington post, headlined this incident as, "A lynching over beef-eating is part of a rising
tide of Hindu nationalism in Modi's India" and The Time has headlined it in an article as "In India,
Support for Lynching of Alleged Beef Eater Spurs Fears of Rising Hindu Nationalism"(2). This
case has been cited as an example of the rising hindu nationalism in India. The main philosophy
behind this movement of rising Hindu Nationalism or 'Hindutva', is that India, is that "a Hindu is
he who considered the land from the Himalayas or the Indus to the Indian Ocean as his
Fatherland (pitrubhumi) and Holy land (punyabhumi)."(3) This means that only followers of
these religions Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism are the true citizens of India and
those other religions, such as Christianity and Islam, should not be residing in India.This
philosophy of Hindutva, has led to rise of communal intolerance among Hindus towards other
religions, which has also many a times taken a violent turn. Since the time of the British Raj,
there have been many instances, where there has been a clash between Hindu extremists and
other communities, the Hindu-Muslim riot, during partition are an epitome of the same. In
present modern India also, there have a been many instances, where extremists Hindu groups,
have taken up violence, to fulfill their aims of showing Hindu Supremacy; examples of these are:
the Ajmer Dargah attack in 2007,the 2008 Malegaon attacks and the Mecca Masjid bombings in
Hyderabad, this form of extremism has also been called as Saffron Terrorism(4). The recent
movement, calling for the government to ban consumption of beef in India, is also an attempt to
promote Hindutva in India; Baba Ramdev, a Hindu yoga teacher, has said that "Consuming cow
meat in the name of scriptures such as Quran and Bible is an act of crime, which amounts to
"violence"" and should be banned. !

(1)PTI, Article: Temple announcement about beef triggered the lynching: Police - the economic
times (The Economic Times 2009), http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-andnation/temple-announcement-about-beef-triggered-the-lynching-police/articleshow/
49190181.cms.!

(2)Sankrant Sanu, Was the Dadri Lynching Really about Eating Beef?, Oct. 9, 2015, http://
www.rediff.com/news/column/was-the-dadri-lynching-really-about-eating-beef/20151009.htm.!

(3)V.D Savarkar, Essentials of Hindutva (1922).!

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SHASHWAT JINDAL

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(4)Christophe Jaffrelot, A Running Thread of Deep Saffron, Indian Express.!
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According to the preamble of the Indian Constitution, India is a "Secular Republic", which means
that all religions have equal right to co-exist in India, or that India is not biased towards any
particular religion(5). The promotion of such extremists theories, is an impediment towards the
progress of India. India as a nation, is an amalgamation of many castes and religions, which are
the building blocks of this nation; when the adhesive between these blocks is loosened, (due to
communal tension) the entire nation would tumble down. In a country like India, rise of such
extreme politics, has led to the rise of vote bank politics, which politicians are using to pursue
their own personal needs, nowadays, instead of people asking for votes on the basis of
character or political ideologies, religion has become a factor for voting in elections. A large
number of Indian youth, gets roped into these extremists groups and instead of using their
valuable time on productive ventures, they enter such extremist activities, and thus not only
create problems for themselves, but also for people from other communities, living with them.
Another reason, such form of extremism is harmful for the nation, is that this creates unrest
among other religions, which would lead them to retaliate (2010 Deganga riots and the 2013
Canning riots are examples of the same) in revenge or to intimidate, which would thus lead to
further unrest, or in an extreme situation, a civil war in the country.!

Thus, it may be concluded that, it is imperative for people in the country to become more
tolerant towards each other and instead of fighting each other, work hand in hand, towards the
development and progress of the country.!

(5)B.R Ambedkar, Constitution of India (1949).!