"India's collective ethical identity is under enormous pressure. At the moment, we no longer seem to agree on what constitutes our common good." With this diagnosis, Rajeev Bhargava, one of India's best-known political theorists and long-time director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi, introduces his latest collection of essays ("Between Hope and Despair. 100 Ethical Reflections on Contemporary India", Bloomsbury 2022). Many people in India believe, Bhargava writes, that the country is now fortunately rediscovering its Hindu identity and finally becoming a great nation-state. Others see Hindu nationalism as a profoundly anti-democratic movement that is burying the notion of an inclusive, pluralistic India.
At a recent discussion on his book at the India International Centre in Delhi, Bhargava called for a return to the core aspects of India's constitutional democracy: "We dreamed of giving each person the opportunity and the ability to imagine a life he or she wanted to live. After our lives under British rule, we dreamed of finding a proper place in the post-colonial global order and helping other parts of the world achieve freedom and equality." India's constitution, adopted in 1949, admits that not every citizen has to follow a uniform idea of a good life. She recognizes the diversity of the country, which has many conceptions of a good life and many ways to self-fulfill.
The problem today, seconded Madan Lokur, a former judge of India's Supreme Court, is not the constitution, but the clique of political power that misinterprets and abuses it. The government lacked personalities "with character and integrity". The screenwriter and poet Javed Akhtar argued that there is no longer any point in juxtaposing religiosity with secularism. Religion is merely a pretext for Hindu extremist rulers to disguise their hunger for unquestioned power. And the now ninety-one-year-old Romila Thapar, grande dame of Indian history, coolly and clearly dissected the omnipresent anti-intellectualism as well as the constant search of Hindu nationalists for supposedly strong men in the history of India.
Intellectuals with their backs to the wall
The podium and the packed hall were largely unanimous in the fact that the talk of India as the "largest democracy in the world", which is still popular with the international press and Western politicians, has degenerated into hollow chatter. At the same time, one could not help but get the impression that the critical minds and intellectuals gathered here have their backs to the wall in today's India. Over the past decade, the government has made massive encroachments on academic and intellectual freedom through censorship and violence. At many universities and research institutions, party loyalists have been appointed to leadership positions to control the political behavior of staff and students and to establish or promote anti-Muslim sentiments. Issues classified as "sensitive" by the regime, especially those that supposedly offend "Hindu feelings" or concern matters of national security, can hardly be dealt with at scientific conferences. Many intellectuals and students of Muslim origin were imprisoned without trial.
At the same time, President Narendra Modi's propaganda machine is running at full speed. If you drive through Delhi, you will see huge billboards with his likeness everywhere. It even adorns the Indian Covid vaccination certificate. His vassals celebrate him as the "father of the new India" and construct an unbroken democratic line from Mahatma Gandhi to Modi. In his invocations of an "independent India", he diligently draws on the repertoire of previous governments, from which he tries to distance himself. His motto for India's G-20 presidency – "The world is one family" – was stolen from Indira Gandhi, whose reign has been subjected to harsh criticism by Hindu ideologues.
Meanwhile, censorship continues unabated. A new BBC documentary that critically examines Modi's role in the bloody riots in the 2002 state of Gujarat, in which around 2000,<> people died, is not allowed to be shown in India. Tax officials raided the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai. On the sidelines of the book presentation, many voices expressed great concern that Modi, if he wins the election again next year, will be even more merciless against any criticism. And Bhargava confessed that he actually wanted to call his book "Between Despair and Hope", but his publisher asked him to put hope first.