Skip to main content

Despite crisis, Modi's Hindutva strategy 'increased' mass base in society and polity

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* 

Narendra Modi and his RSS brethren can qualify as masters of fake claims. There is a long lists of lies spread by RSS, BJP and their IT cell workers. It is not a personality disorder or lying with fear. They are trained to defend Modi and his government’s decisions in whatever possible way. They defended demonetisation by arguing that it is “an important step” in his fight against black money and corruption.
Modi appealed Indians emotionally by his make-believe oratory in November 2016. He said, “I have asked the country for just 50 days. If after December 30, there are shortcomings in my work or there are mistakes or a bad intention found in my work, I will be prepared for the punishment that the country decides for me”.
Many months and years have passed, yet demonetisation failed to achieve any of the objectives. Modi has neither taken any moral responsibility nor maintained any political and democratic accountability. The demonetisation decision really destroyed the Indian economy. Similar strategy was adopted during the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and it killed small businesses and weakened Indian economy further.
Agricultural reform policies have further exposed Modi’s commitment to his capitalist cronies at the cost of Indian farmers and the Indian agricultural economy. His promises of employment to youths, women’s empowerment, fellowships to students and increasing farmers income are series of false promises made by Modi. His glaring failures from home to foreign policies and disgraceful management of the Coronavirus crisis reveals his fraudulent claims of good governance and promises of good days for India and Indians.
Indeed, governance by lies is a political strategy of Hindutva led by BJP and trained by the RSS in India. Modi’s inverse relationship with truth should not come as a surprise to anyone. Hindutva forces have always embraced false narratives to develop their irrational worldviews in the name of ‘cultural nationalism’ to serve its political project and economic objectives of their capitalist cronies. From the rewriting of Indian history to the Gujarat model of economic development is based on fraudulent narratives.
The love for falsehood is not unique to Hindutva forces. All fascists, anti-democratic, totalitarian and authoritarian leaderships and their ideologies are based on their excellent abilities in mainstreaming falsehoods. The culture of fake news, social media and new information technology is used by the 21st century to destroy scientific outlooks and reason among masses to control and domesticate people as subservient subjects.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 passed by the Modi government is not only intended to destroy citizenship rights of the religious minorities but also weaken citizenship rights of all Indians. The Hindutva fascists are against citizenship and democracy. This is why Hindutva protagonists are destroying and weakening all institutions of democracy in India.
The followers of Hindutva ideology believe in spreading hateful falsehood. Ironically, in spite of all the crisis, Hindutva forces have increased their mass base in Indian society and politics. The inherent political strategy of BJP and RSS capitalise falsehood to capture and uphold power at any cost. Deaths and destitutions do not disturb them.
It is not populism, but a political culture planted in India by BJP and RSS to weaken Indian state and democracy. They support violence and infuse fear as weapon to ensure that people accept their lies as truth. There is growing rape and violence against women and religious minorities in India as Hindutva forces encourage the fulfilment of their followers’ anti-Muslim and bottled-up sexual desires.
Hindutva forces stand with their followers in every action. They have organised public rallies in support of rapists and garlanded leaders of mob lynching. Everyday violence is their governing principle. It is a distinctive process developed and practiced by most of the fascists to serve their political, economic and cultural projects.
Truth is a reflection on realities of life and livelihoods. Hindutva forces don’t reflect on realities. They believe in truth that comes from mythology. They normalise and naturalise their falsehoods as truth with the help of mythology. Therefore, they rewrite Indian history to undermine material and scientific foundations of history and its relevance to people and their everyday life.
Fascists, totalitarian and authoritarian leaders and their ideologies are based on excellent abilities in mainstreaming falsehoods
The rewriting of history is a common project of Hindutva forces and their neoliberal supporters. Both these forces undermine the material conditions, spiritual harmony and social relationships between human beings and nature. This dehumanizing project is fundamental to militarise minds of people to normalise violence and falsehoods spread by Hindutva forces.
Hindutva isn’t a counter revolutionary movement. It is neither a nationalist nor a cultural movement of transformation of Indian society and politics. It is a revivalist movement established by Brahminical social order to uphold their caste hierarchy and economic interests in the society which is concomitant with neoliberal capitalism.
There is no economic, social development, health education and foreign policy to guide India today for the future of Indians and their country. The cabinet under Modi is virtually defunct. Everything runs on the basis of Modi’s instincts. There is no reason or rhyme in his governance. There is a constant effort to hide ignorance and failures.
Modi blames everyone including his predecessors to ignore and avoid his responsibilities as the PM of India. He and his supporters demonises Muslims, religious minorities, human rights activists, youth, students and farmers to reject truth and reality. From gas theory to cloud theory, Modi spreads unscientific and irrational outlooks in India which is opposed to the spirit of Indian constitution.
Knowledge and science is the enemy of Hindutva and their poster boy, whose classmates and qualifications are unknown. Modi’s public conduct encourages fraudulent culture in India. The electoral victory of Hindutva forces push India backward. It has put India and Indian in risk, destroying the present and wiping out conditions for a better future of Indians.
The revival of India and the future of Indians depend on collective struggles against Hindutva forces and their irrational, unscientific ideology and deceptive political strategies. In 2021, Indian nationalism and patriotism means to defeat Hindutva fascism from every sphere of Indian lives. It is a struggle between lies of Hindutva and everyday realities of people in India.
The history has witnessed the glorious victories of struggles against colonialism and fascism. Indians have nothing to lose but to defeat Modi and company to fortify the democratic and secular future of India in peace and prosperity.
---
*University of Glasgow, UK

Comments

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.

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.

Farewell to Saleem Samad: A life devoted to fearless journalism

By Nava Thakuria*  Heartbreaking news arrived from Dhaka as the vibrant city lost one of its most active and committed citizens with the passing of journalist, author and progressive Bangladeshi national Saleem Samad. A gentleman who always had issues to discuss with anyone, anywhere and at any time, he passed away on 22 February 2026 while undergoing cancer treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He was 74. 

From ancient wisdom to modern nationhood: The Indian story

By Syed Osman Sher  South of the Himalayas lies a triangular stretch of land, spreading about 2,000 miles in each direction—a world of rare magic. It has fired the imagination of wanderers, settlers, raiders, traders, conquerors, and colonizers. They entered this country bringing with them new ethnicities, cultures, customs, religions, and languages.

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.

Sergei Vasilyevich Gerasimov, the artist who survived Stalin's cultural purges

By Harsh Thakor*  Sergei Vasilyevich Gerasimov (September 14, 1885 – April 20, 1964) was a Soviet artist, professor, academician, and teacher. His work was posthumously awarded the Lenin Prize, the highest artistic honour of the USSR. His paintings traced the development of socialist realism in the visual arts while retaining qualities drawn from impressionism. Gerasimov reconciled a lyrical approach to nature with the demands of Soviet socialist ideology.

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.

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. 

Public money, private profits: Crop insurance scheme as goldmine for corporates

By Vikas Meshram   The farmer in India is not merely a food provider; he is the soul of the nation. For centuries, enduring natural calamities and bearing debt generation after generation while remaining loyal to the soil, this community now finds itself trapped in a different kind of crisis. In February 2016, the Modi government launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) with the stated objective of freeing farmers from the shackles of debt. It was an ambitious attempt to provide a strong safety net to cultivators repeatedly devastated by excessive rainfall, drought, and hailstorms.