The Violent Toll of Hindu Nationalism in India – By Eliza Griswold
…The militant Hindu nationalism that the group espouses is not new. Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Gandhi, on January 30, 1948, was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or R.S.S., a violent right-wing organization that promotes Hindu supremacy.
Members of the Bajrang Dal are the movement’s foot soldiers, deployed in instances of mob violence or for targeted attacks against Muslims and other religious minorities. Founded in 1984, the group was part of a movement to destroy the Babri Masjid, a sixteenth-century mosque located in Ayodhya, India, which was built by the emperor Babur.…
For much for the past thirty years, the Bajrang Dal has either been banned or has lurked at the margins of Indian society. But in 2014 Narendra Modi, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, or the B.J.P., a right-wing political party that was an offshoot of the R.S.S., was elected Prime Minister. Since then, the militant group has been legitimized and grown exponentially more powerful. In the past seven years, according to Factchecker.in, an organization that tracks hate crimes, there have been a hundred and sixty-eight attacks by Hindu extremists, in the name of protecting cows, against Muslims and other religious minorities.…
https://www.newyorker.com/news/on-religion/the-violent-toll-of-hindu-nationalism-in-india
SEE ALSO:
- The BJP led by Modi and Shah has enriched Indian culture with violence in daily life – Editorial (Mar 10, 2019, The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/the-bjp-led-by-modi-and-shah-has-enriched-indian-culture-with-violence-in-daily-life/cid/1686496 - India under Modi: from policy paralysis to chaos – By Puja Mehra (Mar 7, 2019, Asia Times)
https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/03/article/india-under-modi-from-policy-paralysis-to-chaos/ - By design and delusion, the project to radicalise Hindu India gains momentum – By Samar Halarnkar (Mar 9, 2019, Scroll.in)
https://scroll.in/article/915757/by-design-and-delusion-the-project-to-radicalise-hindu-india-gains-momentum - Narendra Modi’s ascension in a climate of hate – By Vrinda Gopina (Mar 8, 2019, News Laundry)
https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/03/08/narendra-modis-ascension-in-a-climate-of-hate
