Page 95 - Conflict, Terrorism, and the Media In Asia

84 Prasun Sonwalkar
than that of any other developing country’. India’s English-language press is
closely implicated with the values of the political and social elites, most of them
exposed to western ideas of modernity. On the other hand, the non-English lan-
guage press is considered to reflect more adequately the life situation of the vast
majority that is unfamiliar with the English language and western values. This
juncture within the Indian media was also evident during the coverage of Gujarat
2002 – widely dubbed as India’s first communal riot for the satellite television era.
The events reflected and reinforced a politics that, since the late 1980s, had
been enacted as ‘permanent performance’ on a stage carefully nurtured by the
pro-Hindutva forces. As Hansen observed,
Democracy in India has produced a culture of politics that is incredibly fluid,
situational and dynamic – where stable constituencies, alliances, equations
and ideological principles are in constant flux and redefinition. In such a
culture it is those who can create a collective mood, or the illusion of a col-
lectivity driven by a mood – both highly ephemeral phenomena – that can set
political agendas at least for some time...To perform this type of politics
depends, therefore, on the ability to stage public performances, to use and
employ a range of registers that can generate authority, and put the power of
rumours, myth and other cultural registers to effective use.
(Hansen 2004: 23)

Politics and political violence in India are framed against the shifting quicksands
of religion, caste, community, language, gender, region and individuals belonging
to influential groups or families. As Nandy (1970: 58) observed, ‘It is possible to
interpret the political process in India as a continuing attempt to reconcile older
categories of thought and social character to the demands of nation-building and
political culture as a complex of continuities’. Generating collective moods, par-
ticularly during elections, has been a key method of political mobilization. More
often than not, such mobilization also involves violence – indeed, violence has
been central to electoral politics in northern states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
But before setting out an overview of contemporary Hindutva-oriented politics,
it is important to set out definitions of some key terms used in the discourse:

● Sangh parivar This is the umbrella term used for various organizations
owing allegiance to the Hindutva ideology. These organizations – such as the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP; World Hindu Council) and the Bajrang Dal
(an organization of young devotees of Lord Hanuman, considered a symbol
of physical strength and power) – have been formed by, and work under the
close supervision of, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or the
national volunteers association. ‘Parivar’ is the Hindi word for family and
‘sangh parivar’ refers to the family of organizations spawned by the RSS.
● BJP Bharatiya Janata Party, which literally means Indian People’s Party. It
is the political front of the ‘sangh parivar’, and strives to capture political
power while aiming at reviving the Hindu social order and traditions in order
to reinforce and distinctively establish the dominance of Hindus in India.