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February 03, 2017

How Hindu Supremacy Is Poisoning the Indian Military The politicization of the army poses a threat to democracy. (Teesta Setalvad)

alternet.org

How Hindu Supremacy Is Poisoning the Indian Military

The politicization of the army poses a threat to democracy.
By Teesta Setalvad

On Christmas day it happened. Retired veterans of the Indian army—ex-army chief General NC Vij, former IAF vice chief Air Marshal BhushanGokhale and Lt General Syed Ata Hasnain—shared the dais with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) head Mohan Bhagwat and a host of seers at the Dharma Sanskruti Mahakumbh. The event included the delivery of fiery speeches on Hindutva. Hindutva, for those who may confuse it with the eclectic faith of Hinduism, is the ideology that is straining to convert India into a theocratic Indian state.
The issue of the communalization of the Indian army has always come into focus when an RSS-driven National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has ruled the center.
In an interesting, if unsavoury, development, the Times of India reported on December 26 that it is Hindu religious heads who epitomize the fountainhead of India’s nationhood, a claim that is tinged with Hindu supremacy. "Do you know who is with the soldiers guarding the Siachen glacier — the Naga Sadhus. Both soldiers and sadhus lead a strict life in service of the nation and hence should get equal respect," said Amravati-based Jitendra Maharaj, whose devotees include alleged conmen Prashant Wasankar, Sameer Joshi and others now behind the bars for running Ponzi schemes.  The discourse pushed the envelope further. Denigrating Mughal rule as ‘Muslim’ rule, the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, said that in the last 1000 years, "the people of this country did not get a chance to rule, when that should have been the case in a democracy." [. . .]

Full Text at: http://www.alternet.org/world/how-hindu-supremacy-poisoning-indian-military