How Narendra Modi's personality cult was formed by a powerful Hindu nationalist group with a dark history

Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has resorted to religious polarization to try to rally its Hindu nationalist base in India's ongoing general elections, which end on June 1.

Just days after voting began last month, the main opposition party accused Modi of using hate speech when he called Muslim infiltrators at an election rally.

He also repeated a conspiracy theory that Muslims would one day overtake India's majority Hindu population by having more children. If the opposition Congress returns to power, he added:

[it] I will gather all your wealth and distribute it to those who will have more children.

The Congress party has made no such commitment. But this claim was repeated by BJP politicians during the campaign and presented in a video on the party's Instagram account.

Many argue that Modi's openly anti-Muslim speeches reflect a sense of nervousness over the the opposition is gaining ground in the elections. But there is no denying the fact that the BJP has succeeded in creating a perception of invincibility around itself. Why has he had such a powerful image for a long time despite economic distress?

To understand this, we need to look a little closer at the history of right-wing populism in India.

How Hindu Society Was Formed

In my research, I studied how the modern Hindu nation was constructed. In my opinion, Modi's popularity is based on a three-tiered pyramid.

The centuries-old Indian caste system serves as the basis. This system survives on the basis of a principle of exclusion of so-called lower castes and minorities.

The second layer is that of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the BJP. A Hindu nationalist paramilitary organization, it was founded in 1925 as part of a movement to unite all Hindus.

At the highest level is the personality cult of Modis. The social legitimacy of the Modis government comes from the bottom up, while the orders for its political project come from the top down.

RSS plays an important role in this structure. It reinforces the cult of Modi by invoking Hindu scriptures and describing him as the great redeemer of the Hindu religion. And the lower castes serve as foot soldiers to carry out the orders of the RSS.

Early influences of European fascism

The RSS was founded by upper caste Hindus, led by a physician and Hindu nationalist, KB Hedgewar. While the stated goal was to strengthen Hindu values, Hedgewar always denied participate in India's freedom struggle against the British.

In the 1930s, Hindu nationalist leaders repeatedly expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Hindu supremacist BS Moonje, Hedgewars' mentor, even traveled to Italy in 1931 to meet Mussolini and members of a fascist youth organization. Back in India, Moonje wanted to militarize Hindu society using fascist models.

The RSS never agreed with Mahatma Gandhis efforts to reconcile the differences between Hindus and Muslims. In January 1948, RSS member Nathuram Godse assassinated Gandhi. Although the organization claimed that Godse had resigned before the shooting, the RSS was briefly banned by the government.

Growing power in Gujarat

Since its beginnings, one of the remarkable qualities of the RSS has been its methodical approach to its long-term vision.

It began establishing shakhas, or cells, in Gujarat, today's BJP stronghold, in the early 1940s. Its membership tripled from about 20,000 to 60,000 from 194348.

In the 1960s, leaders of these cells began preaching the virtues of an aggressive form of masculinity among Hindu men and alleged atrocities committed by Muslims against Hindu women. According to historian Megha Kumar, this ideal Hindu man was implicitly encouraged to commit sexual violence against Muslim women.

In December 1968, provocative speeches were made at a large rally in Ahmedabad, chaired by MS Golwalkar, the second leader of the RSS, and attended by future Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh political party, the predecessor of the party. BJP. The group recruited another 8,600 men in the coming months.

As resentment against Muslims grew, violent riots broke out in September 1969, resulting in large numbers of sexual assault against Muslim women. Hundreds of people were killed.

This hardline religious nationalism began to shape Modi's worldview after he joined the RSS in Gujarat at the age of eight. Endowed with remarkable organizational skills, he rose through the ranks. In 1987, Modi's responsibility was to act as the bridge between the RSS and the BJP, then a new political party.

Modi has played a key role in facilitating road shows to capitalize on Hindu-Muslim tensions, including a procession in 1990 to support a new temple on the site of the historic 16th century Babri Mosque. The mosque was destroyed by Hindu nationalists two years later.

Once the BJP came to power in Gujarat in 1995, the state machinery began recruiting RSS sympathizers for important positions. Backed by the RSS, Modi became chief minister in 2001.

This was followed by violence anti-Muslim riots in 2002, during which more than 1,000 people were killed. Modi was accused of complicity for inciting riots, although a Supreme Court tribunal later acquitted him. He has denied the accusations he failed to stop the riots.

Since then, the BJP has not lost elections in Gujarat.

The massive reach of RSS today

Once considered a fringe group, the RSS and its ideology began to gain acceptance into mainstream Indian politics in the 1970s.

The BJP, in particular, needed a vast network of RSS cadres to mobilize Hindu voters. Even BJP candidates are selected based on feedback from RSS workers at the grassroots level.

Since coming to national power in 2014, the BJP has ensured that vice-chancellors And professors appointed to public universities and the universities in BJP-ruled states come from the RSS.

And the organization has penetrated almost every aspect of Hindu society. It manages a vast network of around 12,000 schools across the country, with more than three million students. These schools promote Hindu majority values.

The textbooks are being revised in other schools under the visible influence of the RSS. Darwin theory of evolutiona chapter on democracy and references to the 2002 Gujarat riots have been deletedfor example, as well as a chapter on Mughals the powerful Muslim dynasty that ruled India for three centuries.

Modi himself consult the RSS also on important political issues. When he presided over the inauguration of the controversial Ram temple at the site of the ancient Babri mosque in January, cricket heroes and film actors shared the stage with RSS members.

However, in a surprising change, the BJP has tried to distance himself of the RSS in recent weeks, suggesting that he no longer needs it to win elections. But it's unlikely the party can do without the network of grassroots workers' organizations.

The future of the world's largest democracy appears to be in the firm hands of a group that believes it can establish a monolithic Hindu state. Only India’s multicultural ethos and secular traditions can prevent this from happening.