Asia Times, July 17, 1999
Jingoistic hysteria takes hold in IndiaBy Praful Bidwai
NEW DELHI - There has been a reshaping of Indian nationalism in the wake of Pakistan-backed infiltration in Kashmir, backed by a media campaign orchestrated by the ruling right-wing Hindu party.
As the body bags came in from the Line of Control (LoC), the current border with Pakistan, instead of rebuke and anger over the loss of hundreds of Indian lives - official tally Thursday was 407 - the opposite has been happening. Each coffin inspired slogans of "victory" and "martyrdom" and boosted the propaganda campaign of the militarist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which leads the caretaker coalition government.
BJP politicians have developed an elaborate, if gory, ritual centered on coffins. They were laid on platforms, specially erected in a number of cities, and draped in the national tricolor. Speeches were made praising the valor of those making the "supreme sacrifice for the motherland." Wreaths were laid by the military brass and local bigwigs.
This brand of body-bag politics invokes vengeful sentiments against Pakistan, describing it as a "rogue state" out to wreak havoc on the Indian state. It emphasizes "martyrdom" - in an ironically faithful replication of the Pakistan-based "mujaheedin" who claim to be waging a "holy war" to liberate Kashmir. Indian nationalism is being distorted and reshaped into a movement that is profoundly majoritarian, intolerant and hegemonic - analogous to the kind of nationalism professed by extremist proponents of Pakistan's "two-nation" theory, which holds that Hindus and Muslims are inherently inimical; India and Pakistan cannot reach conciliation and peace.
The BJP has consciously devised a media strategy to drum up what has been called "plastic patriotism". Although the government maintained that the Kargil conflict was not war, only a limited operation, it behaved as if it were a war. It staked India's "prestige" and "self-respect" on defeating the "enemy." This was done through a lurid, high-profile publicity blitz launched by the government's Directorate of Audio-Visual Publicity as well as statements to the media by government functionaries, BJP leaders and hawkish security experts. These last were drafted in to talk about Pakistan's perfidy and the imperative need to teach Pakistan a lesson.
The media campaign has been as much voluntary as it is government-sponsored. Many media organizations set up funds to help the war effort. These have been typically advertised in ways that strengthen chauvinism and nationalism. Taking part in the media blitz also proves patriotic proclivities, should they come into question.
Most privately-owned TV channels and newspapers have chosen to abandon an independent stance and have identified themselves with the "Indian nation in peril." Perhaps a surprising turn of events, considering that the Indian media has long been known for autonomy and pluralism. Now, for the first time in a situation where war or a state of emergency has not been officially declared, there has been a demand for censorship and suspension of independent analysis. And no one in the media seems prepared to get up in arms about this demand.
The demand came directly from high-profile former generals, admirals and diplomats. They said the Kargil situation "is a test of the national will and capacity to respond to aggression." Hence any "post-mortem by analysts should be suspended until the armed forces have restored normalcy." Analysts must stop talking about "any inadequacies and failures that have led to the crisis." The signatories are among the most prolific of India's hawkish commentators on foreign and security policy matters. Naturally, the injunction against analyses does not apply to them.
By the end of May, the government had banned the reception of Pakistani television in India - an action unprecedented in peacetime. It later blocked the Internet site of Dawn, published from Karachi. This liberal newspaper is Pakistan's largest-circulated English-language daily.
Complementing the media crackdown has been the government's persistent refusal to convene a special session of the upper house of India's parliament to discuss Kargil. The lower house was dissolved after the ruling coalition lost a crucial confidence vote in April, this year. The government's refusal stands in sharp contrast to the robust and open parliamentary debates that took place in the wars of 1962, 1965 and 1971 and also the military crisis of 1984 (over a limited confrontation with China) and a runaway military exercise ('Brasstacks') in 1986-87.
The BJP brand of nationalism is undermining the freedom of expression and democratic debate, and driving public opinion into a closed, ghetto-type, national security-obsessed mindset. This mindset sets nationalist loyalty tests for all, from the highest military commander to the lowliest street vendor. It calls upon artists to mobilize support for the nation. It brings schoolchildren into the streets shouting slogans against Pakistan.
One of the victims of this nationalistic fervor is Dilip Kumar, perhaps South Asia's most respected and popular film actor. Kumar, who was given Pakistan's highest civilian award in 1996, is under pressure from right-wing extremists such as the Shiv Sena (the army of Shiva, the god of destruction) - which rules in Maharashtra in alliance with the BJP - to return the award to prove his patriotic credentials. Kumar, born in Peshawar in pre-partition Pakistan, has lived in Bombay for 60 years. Remarkably, personalities in the film industry have not protested against this vicious campaign. Out of despair, Kumar sought a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to seek his advice. On July 11, Vajpayee merely told him the award was "personal": he could keep it if he so desired.
The BJP must be encouraged by the success of their hate campaigns. Before the Pakistani withdrawal began on July 11, its hardliners wanted Indian troops to cross the LoC and recapture so-called Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Some of its leaders openly demanded, "We Want War."
Even worse, the fervor is escaping from the original context of Kashmir. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP's Hindu ideological mentor, recently launched a vicious attack on all Muslims as "invaders," citing Kargil as only one instance of a "centuries-old" invasion of India. It advocated the use of nuclear weapons against Pakistan to teach Islamic "barbarians" the "final lesson."
Clearly, Indian society has paid a heavy price for the Kargil conflict, far beyond the quarter billion dollars a month it spent militarily. There has been an explosion of national chauvinism, an attempt to invoke jingoistic hysteria and to replicate the "jehadist" mindset of militants on the other side of the border. This can only further weaken India's democratic institutions which are already under strain, while legitimizing religious sectarianism and militarism.
(Inter Press Service)
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