Hindufascism?

By Cernig

From the UK's Independent comes a report that a series of deadly bombings, at first blamed on Muslim extremists, may have been the work of the nation's first confirmed Hindu terrorist cell.

At least 10 people have been arrested in connection with several bomb blasts in the Muslim-dominated town of Malegaon in the western state of Maharashtra in September, which left six people dead. But reports suggest that police believe the cell may also have carried out a number of previous attacks, including last year's notorious bombing of a cross-border train en route to Pakistan, which killed 68 people. Among the alleged members of the cell are a serving army officer and a Hindu monk.

According to other reports, three other suspects are retired military officers. The serving officer, a colonel, is part of the military intelligence establishment. 

This isn't all that surprising, despite what the report describes as Indian "shock". Hindu supremacists, advocates of Hindutva, and their often violent tendencies have a long history in India, where the myth of a tolerant culture is exactly that. The Indie continues:

senior right-wing leaders have made no secret of their wish that Hindus should form suicide squads to protect themselves against Muslim extremists. Bal Thackeray, leader of a group called the Shiv Sena, which has been responsible for communal and regional violence in Mumbai, wrote recently in the party's magazine: "The threat of Islamic terror in India is rising. It is time to counter the same with Hindu terror. Hindu suicide squads should be readied to ensure the existence of Hindu society and to protect the nation."

All of this reflects badly upon the Bharatiya Janata Party, the current Indian government's main opposition and until recently the main partner in a ruling coalition. They've long made use of their Hindutva credentials in campaigning and have deep ties to over 100 militant Hindu groups, some of whom have been implicated in murder, rape and arson on sectarian grounds, directed at both Moslems and Christians.

But on a wider stage, the fact that a "paranoid, pathological kind of Islamophobia has been integral to all currents of Hindutva," has just as troublesome implications for the prospects of peace between Pakistan and India as trhe existence of extremist Caliphate Moslems does in Pakistan. That Islamophobia has also led the BJP to champion military co-operation with Israel, perhaps even on nuclear weapons, and to make common cause with the Israeli far Right.

Comments

[holy crap]

Hindu fascism? I always pictured them as being so peaceful. Oh well, another proof that every religion is nuts I suppose.