Hindutva's political success always seems inversely proportional to the development of science and reason.
The Sangh Parivar’s project of cultural nationalism in India has
always rested on the premise of a revival of the “glorious ancient Hindu
past” of the country. This envisages a “modern” India which is based on
the identity and symbolism of Hindu nationalism. That is why, despite
the Parivar’s political wing positioning itself as an agent of
“development and economic growth”, these core beliefs continue to be
expressed and asserted repeatedly.
The remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration of a
hospital in Mumbai in late October claiming a scientific pedigree and
historical veracity for mythological references were followed by a rash
of statements by his party colleagues and ministers in the same vein.
The prime minister had claimed in Mumbai that modern medical
achievements – plastic surgery, cloning and in vitro fertilisation –
were all practised in India’s ancient past. In Parliament, when some of
his colleagues were questioned about these remarks by the opposition,
they were stoutly defended and further claims such as Indian astrology
trumped all sciences, that India had nuclear bombs and planes in ancient
times, etc, were made! Earlier, in his speech to the United Nations
General Assembly, Modi had suggested that climate change can be
mitigated by the practice of yoga.
The project of Hindutva has always approached modernity in
instrumental terms. Science and technology, which have spurred modernity
and development, are seen as necessary only insofar as they are needed
for generation of profits. Science and technology are seen as necessary
in order to advance business interests, and development is seen only in
these terms. The Hindutva project therefore has no qualms about
associating with what has originally been a western form of development.
Capitalist development, even of the kind that is fostered through
neo-liberalism, is not considered incompatible with the core beliefs of a
Hindu nation. But the other aspects of a modern world view, and its
most crucial components – rationality and the practice of critique – are
ignored and rejected in favour of blind faith in Sanatana Dharma and a
revival of a supposedly Vedic past.
There is a conflation of myth and superstition with the scientific
advances of the past; and then a spurious equivalence is sought to be
created between ancient myths and modern science. The technological
products of the Enlightenment are eagerly sought, while the critical
methods of science, which lead us to question every assumption and
belief, are firmly shut out. Science as a vehicle for rationality and as
an expression of reason is something that Hindutva strongly opposes,
even as it seeks the credibility of science for its myths. This explains
why the Hindu nationalists ruling India today celebrate technology
while constantly seeking to undermine scientific methods.
This Hindutva vision – or “political Hinduism” – is not dissimilar to
how every other religio-political project relates to Western ideas,
whether these are Muslim fundamentalists or Christian ones.
The project of revivalism is therefore not interested in
understanding what engendered the achievements in science and
technology in ancient India. Historian Romila Thapar recently argued
that early achievements in ancient and medieval science, such as
astronomy and mathematics, were never consolidated in India because of
opposition from religious orthodoxy; and philosophers who believed in
reason and science had to encounter opposition from dominant religious
authorities. It is an irony that the upholders of a monistic version of
Brahminical Hinduism are today claiming the achievements in ancient
Indian science for a political project whose lineage can only be linked
to those who opposed that very scientific endeavour.
The statements and appointments to positions in academia by the
Modi-led government also conflict with what the Constitution of India
explicitly mentions as fundamental duties – the development of a
scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform
(Article 51A(h)). The current form of state indulgence and support for
myth-making and irrationality has had its natural consequences. The
Government of Gujarat has already commissioned books authored by the
Hindutva activist Dinanath Batra for its school reading lists. Some of
the science texts among these books reproduce the myths about the
achievements of science and technology of the Vedic past.
These are difficult times for rationalists in India. The murder of
rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in Maharashtra last year was not
unrelated to his strident opposition to extremist Hindutva
organisations. The challenges have only increased since the coming to
power of our Hindu nationalist prime minister. It is even more incumbent
for political forces committed to secularism and constitutional values
to oppose the BJP government as it sets out to implement its Hindutva
agenda step by step.
