The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India’s Future
I randomly picked up this book by Martha Nussbaum at the Munk Center library the other night. I remember reading about both the Godhra train carnage, the controversy over the Ayodhya temple and the anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat, I think mainly through the Economist.
I am glad that I did, because it was an incredibly captivating read, providing far more insights than I had expected. Nussbaum outlines the background of the far-Right Hindu nationalist movement in India, tracing it back in time and showing how it is strongly influenced by Nazist and Fascist ideas from Europe. She starts off with a good overview over the events connected to Godhra, and continues to discuss the movement more globally, including interviews with prominent members. She also discusses the overseas aspect - how some elements of the overseas Indian community has attacked scholars and academic freedom, made death threats and rallied the community - which often just wants a place to feel ethnic and cultural affinity - to attack those who “denigrate Hinduism”. And this is demonstrated on her Amazon page, where there is an outpouring of vitriol for her book, with one reviewer beginning with: “The books is little more than an incitement to engage in the total genocide of Hindus.” (Rahul Bhattacharjee @ Amazon).
I know very little about India, and I cannot evaluate the various claims that Nussbaum makes independently, but it is a very cogent and convincing argument, that matches all that I have read and heard earlier. What’s more important is that her way of arguing is open-minded, logical, providing proofs - academic in the best sense of the word. And all the “other side” seems to offer up is hate-filled interjectives and defensive posturings. Throughout Nussbaum’s book there are displays of a deep affinity for Indian culture and the Hindu religion, and how the nation is resilient, proudly democratic, and accepting, even embracing of diversity. The attacks on her remind me too much of similar completely irrational attacks on a Chinese academic in Canada a few years ago at a conference, who had the audacity to mention that there were prostitutes in China. In both cases, I was taken aback at the incredible anger from the audience, and saddened by what I perceived as a clear insecurity and inferiority feeling, which would produce such displays.
It’s a book well worth reading!
Stian
