Rising intolerance in India

November 13, 2015
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FACULTY Q&A

Leela FernandesLeela FernandesSeveral writers, artists, scientists, historians and filmmakers in India are protesting what they call an environment of intolerance in the country.

More than 40 writers and 50 historians have returned their national and state awards as a mark of protest against the killing of activists and the lynching of a man over suspicions that he consumed beef.

This week, Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan joined the movement, complaining in an interview that there is “growing intolerance in India.”

Leela Fernandes, professor of women’s studies and political science at the University of Michigan, discussed the situation:

Q: Can you explain the environment of rising intolerance in India?

Fernandes: We are all waiting to see how it will play out. From my perspective, what is of concern is the fact that since the election of Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party, there has been low-grade violence against minorities. Low grade so it had evaded the global attention.

Last year, there were a series of attacks on churches, there was also a troubling campaign against religious intermarriage (between Hindu women and Muslim men). This year, the violence has escalated and there have been serious cases—for instance the lynching of a man for beef consumption. These are not random cases of local level violence. While they don’t conform to a pattern of mass communal violence, they are not isolated cases. Taken together, we see a pattern emerging of targeting the minority religious communities. This is serious as freedom of religion is a basic issue of safety and democratic rights.

Q: There have been public protests and many are returning awards. How important is this?

Fernandes: Public protests are important at this point. The nature of the violence has been scattered, and it goes away from the public’s and media’s memory quickly. So this is an important gesture to get a broader audience to understand that Modi’s election has marked a serious political shift. This shift has now been permeating intellectual and cultural life in disturbing ways—for instance, in some educational institutions and in the coercive policing of private social and cultural practices such as diet (as manifested in anti-beef consumption laws and movements).

Q: Has there always been a secular India?

Fernandes: The idea of secularism in India has always been fraught, never rosy.
There was violence during partition and India has seen periods of religious violence since then.

But in the 1980s, the rise of the right-wing Hindu nationalist movement changed mainstream Indian politics in significant ways. Suddenly, there was a normalization of inflammatory political rhetoric that has targeted religious minorities.

Q: There have been articles saying that India is becoming a “Hindu Pakistan.” How accurate is that?

Fernandes: We have to caution against knee-jerk comparisons to other countries.

India has a history of stable democracy, strong grassroots movements, vibrant writers, filmmakers, scientists and other groups who are very courageous and are not shying away from voicing their opinions.

There are also far-from-perfect but strong courts and secular civil society organizations. The concept of Talibanization does not do justice to the people who are contesting the rise of religious intolerance and violence.

Contact Fernandes: 734-780-7514, leelaf@umich.edu