BANGLADESH: Extremism squared

ACCORDING to a prominent local human rights organisation, Bangladesh has seen more than 4,000 attacks against its Hindu community since January 2013. Unfortunately, Bangladesh has witnessed such targeted persecution against minorities, and the Hindu community has seen the brunt of it, as have other minorities on several other occasions. We must admit and take solace in the fact that the overarching majority and mainstream of Bangladesh have not been antagonistic to minorities, nor does it hold any inherent grudges against or aversion to minorities that would trigger such abhorrent violations against minorities in the country. However, there are vested groups, even niche quarters that have committed these violations in the name of religion. Invariably, some sort of vested interest, ie, land grabbing or other personal vendetta, has been a key prompt for the violations against minorities. The anti-India sentiment that has prevailed for a long time in Bangladesh has been, for lack of a better term, abused for vested interests and violence, and violations have been carried out against Hindus. The religious extremists within the Muslim majority have caused much grief to many innocent Hindus.

Unfortunately and apprehensively, we are now noticing Hindu extremism rising in our country too, in narrative, social media interactions, and even action. The 'Hindu' mob-lynched death of two brothers in Faridpur in late April is just one instance of such extremist actions, and hopefully there will be no more. Social media and security experts inform us that there are increasing narratives that indicate an increasing radicalism in the narratives and messages shared on social media; this is not to say that the other side has become docile. The vested quarters ready to abuse religious frictions have also continued with their radical narratives of hate and antagonism. However, the phenomenon being witnessed among the minority members is a new one and begets attention

Rising Hindu nationalism in India under prime minister Modi and his party, the BJP, has caused the growing marginalisation of not only Muslim but other religious communities. There have been reports in previous years of acts of physical and sexual assault on Christians in Manipur; various acts too horrendous to mention demonstrate Hindu extremist tactics against Christian minorities. Furthermore, the demolition of churches and mosques has become the new normal in India. There have been not only media reports but also academic studies that underscore that violent extremism against religious minorities has been on the rise in India, particularly since 2014. Like in Bangladesh, religious violence in India is not a new phenomenon, but targeted violence against religious minorities has grown significantly. Government legislation in favour of cow protection and a Hindu nationalist political agenda has led to the emergence of new extremist organisations as well as the expansion of existing extremist organisations, either directly or indirectly supported by the BJP and its affiliated political and social groups. The political marginalisation of Muslims at the electoral level has also become a contributing factor, as seen in both the 2014 and most recent Indian elections in 2019. In addition to this, several of the BJP's Hindu nationalist policies, including the National Register of Citizens, the reignited debates over Kashmir's special status in the Indian constitution, and the construction of the controversial Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, have direct implications for Muslims in India, adding to increasing group grievances. Some scholars opine that constant state propaganda and communal violence have led to the development of a 'Nazi conscience' among the Hindu majority, which now perceives violence to be morally righteous. BJP and RSS propagated Hindu nationalism in the form of Hindutva, which has bred such a conscience in ordinary Hindus, which justifies and normalises violence against religious minorities, opine those experts.

The situation has impacted the Muslim majority of Bangladesh with trepidation and concerns, while emboldening Muslim extremists in Bangladesh. Disgruntled with the situation against Muslims in India, some Bangladeshi Muslims have retaliated against the Hindu minorities in Bangladesh through action or narratives. The situation warrants extra monitoring with heightened vigilance, as the tit-for-tat scenario may not be that improbable. An expert report says that the Hindutva ideology asserts that Hindus should treat the country's minorities in the same way as the Nazis treated the Jews. With the BJP in power, the RSS has succeeded in influencing the collective Hindu psyche to take vengeance against Muslims. The findings are reported by doctoral research focused on the conflict between human rights and religion, centred on Hindu nationalism, published on an online platform founded by twelve European universities as a project led by eminent political scientists. Violence has become an essential aspect of Hindutva politics. It is this collective psyche that has raised concerns for many globally, and it does so for Bangladesh too.

There are multiple scholars in South Asia and beyond that assess how Hindutva is constricting the political space for minorities, increasingly manifested through hate speech, violence, and exclusionary policies. The phrase 'Jai Shri Ram' has become a divisive chant, a tool of intimidation, it is the rallying cry for extremists. The concerns of this extremist manifestation are also reverberating across the world. Reports underscore this evolution, underscoring that the BJP's overseas offshoots have helped propagate this ideology abroad through various organisations and means. Leicester, UK, has witnessed the repercussions of this collective psyche manifesting into violence as young Hindu men marched through Leicester chanting Jai Shri Ram, attacking Muslims, resulting in one Muslim teenager being hospitalised after reportedly an unprovoked attack by the Hindu crowd.

With Indian elections on the way, prime minister Narendra Modi, the BJP, and the RSS have been parading anti-Muslim rhetoric. The impact of Hindu nationalism has now been enhanced to the extent that it does not remain within India's borders anymore. Moreover, the impact and form of this nationalism are evolving. The recent maps shared by many Hindu nationalists endeavour to indicate, rather strongly, that a proper map of India would include Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. There has been a sustained campaign to rewrite Indian textbooks of history that include the changing of maps to reflect what they believe are the proper borders of Hindu India. This is unnervingly an expansionist view of Hindutva-based India that can probably cause friction within Hindu and other communities of countries neighbouring India. Bangladesh is unfortunately not immune, but rather more susceptible to it.

Bangladesh-India relations are deep, significant, and have inherent affinities on multiple fronts. There are multiple commonalities and connectivity that naturally cause one issue in one country to have an impact on the other. Thus, the communal violence that has been targeted at minorities in Bangladesh can never really be considered an isolated incident. As one report underscores, doing so would only lead to overly parochial discernment. Thus, we need to be overly cautious and vigilant of any form of extremism and its manifestation in unwanted forms that may cause irreparable tears to the sociocultural fabric of Bangladesh. Extremism of any form is unlikely to placate easily, especially if there are multiple extremisms standing against each other with sore scars, unresolved grievances, and sensitive egos. The advent of Hindu extremism only exacerbates the situation that was already made bad by Muslim extremism. Here I would like to quote the great superstar Shahrukh Khan, who once said that extremists are just extremists; labelling them as Muslim or Hindu just makes matters worse. I agree, but unfortunately, keen assessments of such situations do not allow for much room to adhere to such commendable principles.

To conclude, we are seeing that Hindu pride and chauvinism have now manifested in a muscular form, aspired to by any proud nationality, and Hindu nationalism is no exception. Hindu nationalism permeated extremism, which has been under discussion since the early 2000s. Several reports and discussions indicate so, and the report by the Hudson Institute in 2004 is one prime example that spoke of the concerns of Hindu extremism. It is from a time when Muslim extremism had reached its peak and Bangladesh was already hit with a spike of militancy. Thus, we must exercise more caution and vigilance on multiple layers so that any form of extremism that seems to have squared in number does not cause damage to our society, which is already vulnerable; but that is a discussion for another time.