Skip to main content

Alien to neoliberal Hindutva? Laissez-faire narrative, market, free choice, free individual

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*
Hindutva neoliberalism in India is a specific variant of capitalism that enforces economic and political oligarchy in the name of ethnic and majoritarian nationalism. It liberalises market for few to establish dominant corporate monopoly. It does not allow complete free market competition as a distributive mechanism. It allows few crony corporations to control the production processes, coordinate the distribution mechanisms, and determine the nature of demand and supply in Indian economy.
The laissez-faire led ideological narratives of neoliberalism around ‘free individual’, ‘freedom of choice’ and ‘free market’ are absent within ‘Hindutva neoliberalism’. The liberal ideals of market forces within neoliberalism is completely absent within the Hindutva variant of neoliberalism in India. It does not completely break away from the 19th century capitalism but continues with its old foundations.
It provides a new but robust direction to 21st century capitalism in which Indian state, BJP as a political party and Modi government work together in pursuit of corporate profit. The cultural nationalism of BJP and RSS is a hoax. It marginalises the masses by spreading false sense of nationalist pride with the help of populist electoral democracy shaped by corporate media.
There is a perceived the distinction between Hindutva neoliberalism and worldwide practice of neoliberalism as an ideological project. But there is no contradiction or any confusion between neoliberalism and Hindutva in India. Both the global and national capitalist forces find Hindutva a convenient cannon to capture Indian natural and human resources.
The Hindutva neoliberalism-led by RSS and BJP helps to break away from the ‘Washington consensus’, which advocates the framework of limited ‘capital-labour accord’ for the growth of capitalism. The Hindutva neoliberalism helps in striping away all workers’ rights and all protective measures by reforming labour laws before and during this pandemic.
The limited welfare state has no place within Hindutva neoliberalism. It neither believes in minimum governance nor in maximum governance, as claimed by Narendra Modi; the poster boy of Hindutva neoliberalism. The fascist and authoritarian character of Hindutva neoliberalism is concomitant with the undemocratic tendencies of neoliberalism.
There is absolute corporate consensus between obscurantist Hindutva politics and monopoly capitalism. The Hindutva forces make laws on agriculture, land, labour, water, mineral resources and environment to advance and insulate corporate forces from democratic discontents by declaring all forms of progressive political movements as anti-national.
The Hindutva neoliberalism facilitates capitalism in India by establishing political, social, religious and cultural dominance of Brahminical caste order. The majoritarian social relations controlled by the established caste hierarchy helps neoliberalism to pursue its agendas without any form of political and social barriers. The caste system is not only normalising exploitation but also naturalising all forms of inequalities in India. Such a feudal and authoritarian ideological framework established by caste and its cohesive order provides breathing space to both Hindutva and neoliberalism in India.
Deregulation, privatisation, reduction of corporate tax, dismantling the state command economy, and minimise the roles of government are common features between global neoliberalism and Hindutva neoliberalism. The global neoliberalism believes in trade liberalisation, but Hindutva neoliberalism believes in trade monopoly of few compliant corporations. Both work in unison despite of minor differences between global neoliberalism and Hindutva neoliberalism.
From Hayekians to Keynesians and from the Geneva School of policy making to the Chicago School of economists and policymakers were responsible to shape neoliberalism as an ideological project of capitalist alternative to communism. These ideological adherents have naively believed and afloat the idea that the liberal and welfare path can also defeat fascism and its other authoritarian variants by upholding ‘individual freedom and choice’ as sacrosanct.
These neoliberal ideologues have argued that the combination of individual liberties with desire-based capitalist markets can shape the future of democracy and prosperity in society. Such naïve philosophical formulations, economic myopia and political misunderstandings continue to expose itself and its utopian outlook as global neoliberalism continues to assault democracies across the globe.
The global neoliberalism has formed alliance with the most illiberal forces in politics, culture and society today. The Hindutva neoliberalism paves a new path for global neoliberal capitalism, where democracy, state and governments lost their public legitimacy in popular imagination. This is the best recipe to establish absolute control over people, planet and resources without any form of political resistance.
Limited welfare state has no place in Hindutva neoliberalism. It neither believes in minimum governance nor in maximum governance, as claimed by Modi
The ethnic authoritarianism is an invaluable means for global neoliberal capitalism to survive and expand itself with the growth of ethnic politics like Hindutva forces in India. The ethnic politics of Hindutva is not only destroying the unity of working people but also diminishing citizenship rights by othering religious minorities in India. Such processes weaken the conflicts between labour and capital. 
The Karma theory of reincarnation and salvation provides philosophical foundation to Hindutva neoliberalism by shaping ideals and naturalising it in a way in which individual blame their own Karma for their own miseries. Such processes of individualisation of ‘self’ and demonisation of ‘others’ help both Hindutva and neoliberalism in pursuit of their political and economic projects in India.
The culture of neoliberal fragmentation and project of identity based political mobilisation provide a coherent framework for Hindutva neoliberalism to establish itself as a formidable force in India. Both Hindutva and neoliberalism disciplines citizens and coverts them as mere customers, who are seeking satisfaction, utility and pleasure as mere consumers of commodities.
The wholesale normalisation of culture of consumerism under Hindutva neoliberalism dehumanises and dismantles societies, where unities and solidarities are becoming elusive. Therefore, lynching of Muslims, raping of women, sexual abuse of children, violence against women, Kashmiris, Dalits and tribals are not provoking mass struggles against injustices in India. This callous culture is an outcome of everyday Hindutva neoliberalism, which is practiced and promoted by the Modi led BJP government in India.
The Hindutva neoliberalism marketizes every sphere of life in the name of Hindu cultural nationalism at the cost of India and Indians. Narendra Modi and his party follow market-led media-mediated management of public opinion as human development index falls to the bottom of international development pyramid.
The manipulation of public mind with majoritarian dominance and reactionary values led by Hindutva neoliberalism have failed to obscure the mass miseries and marginalisation in India. The struggles for citizenship rights, the famers struggles against corporate control over agriculture, the resistance movements against privatisation and liberalisation, the struggle for justice led by women, students, Dalits, tribals and workers are hopes to reclaim India from Hindutva neoliberalism and its dehumanising values.
These resistance movements can only help in deepening constitutional democracy. The struggles are the only ways to repair the broken republic shattered by the Hindutva neoliberalism.
---
*University of Glasgow, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

From plagiarism to proxy exams: Galgotias and systemic failure in education

By Sandeep Pandey*   Shock is being expressed at Galgotias University being found presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog and a South Korean-made soccer-playing drone as its own creations at the recently held India AI Impact Summit 2026, a global event in New Delhi. Earlier, a UGC-listed journal had published a paper from the university titled “Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis,” which became the subject of widespread ridicule. Following the robotic dog controversy coming to light, the university has withdrawn the paper. These incidents are symptoms of deeper problems afflicting the Indian education system in general. Galgotias merely bit off more than it could chew.
4 comments
»

Covishield controversy: How India ignored a warning voice during the pandemic

Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD *  It is a matter of pride for us that a person of Indian origin, presently Director of National Institute of Health, USA, is poised to take over one of the most powerful roles in public health. Professor Jay Bhattacharya, an Indian origin physician and a health economist, from Stanford University, USA, will be assuming the appointment of acting head of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA. Bhattacharya would be leading two apex institutions in the field of public health which not only shape American health policies but act as bellwether globally.
Post a Comment
»

The 'glass cliff' at Galgotias: How a university’s AI crisis became a gendered blame game

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan*  “She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information.” These were the words used in the official press release by Galgotias University following the controversy at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. The statement came across as defensive, petty, and deeply insensitive.
3 comments
»

Growth without justice: The politics of wealth and the economics of hunger

By Vikas Meshram*  In modern history, few periods have displayed such a grotesque and contradictory picture of wealth as the present. On one side, a handful of individuals accumulate in a single year more wealth than the annual income of entire nations. On the other, nearly every fourth person in the world goes to bed hungry or half-fed.
Post a Comment
»

Thali, COVID and academic credibility: All about the 2020 'pseudoscientific' Galgotias paper

By Jag Jivan   The first page image of the paper "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" published in the Journal of Molecular Pharmaceuticals and Regulatory Affairs , Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2020), has gone viral on social media in the wake of the controversy surrounding a Chinese robot presented by the Galgotias University as its original product at the just-concluded AI summit in Delhi . The resurfacing of the 2020 publication, authored by  Dharmendra Kumar , Galgotias University, has reignited debate over academic standards and scientific credibility.
1 comment
»

Conversion laws and national identity: A Jesuit response response to the Hindutva narrative

By Rajiv Shah  A recent book, " Luminous Footprints: The Christian Impact on India ", authored by two Jesuit scholars, Dr. Lancy Lobo and Dr. Denzil Fernandes , seeks to counter the current dominant narrative on Indian Christians , which equates evangelisation with conversion, and education, health and the social services provided by Christians as meant to lure -- even force -- vulnerable sections into Christianity.
2 comments
»

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad   In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.
Post a Comment
»

Development at what cost? The budget's blind spot for the environment

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  The historical ills in the relationship between capital and the environment have now manifested in areas commonly referred to as the "environmental crisis." This includes global warming, the destruction of the ozone layer, the devastation of tropical forests, mass mortality of fish, species extinction, loss of biodiversity, poison seeping into the atmosphere and food, desertification, shrinking water supplies, lack of clean water, and radioactive pollution. 
Post a Comment
»

When a lake becomes real estate: The mismanagement of Hyderabad’s waterbodies

By Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava*  Misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided governance and management of urban lakes in India —illustrated here through Hyderabad —demands urgent attention from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), the political establishment, the judiciary, the builder–developer lobby, and most importantly, the citizens of Hyderabad. Fundamental misconceptions about urban lakes have shaped policies and practices that systematically misuse, abuse and ultimately erase them—often in the name of urban development.
1 comment
»