The similarities and contrasts between Zionism and Hindutva nationalism
Rewatch the lecture of Prof. Achin Vanaik from the 14th November 2024
Dear readers, we are very happy to share with you the recording of our second Decolonization in Dialogue lecture - “The similarities and contrasts between Zionism and Hindutva nationalism” - given by Prof. Achin Vanaik on the 14th November 2024. You will find with the video a summary of the session. Next week, we will post the recording of our third lecture (“Israel, Gaza and the Eternalization of War: Origins, Reality, and Future Scenarios” by Prof. Omer Bartov), and we will announce our January lectures before Christmas.
If you are interested in giving a lecture in 2025, if you know someone who would like to speak, or if there is a burning topic you would like to see covered, do not hesitate to contact us in our comments, or via our email address: decolonizationindialogue(at)posteo.com
Enjoy the lecture by Achin Vanaik!
The Decolonization in Dialogue team
Professor Achin Vanaik is a writer, social activist and retired Professor of International Relations and former Head of Department of Political Science at the University of Delhi.
In 1931, head of the Hindu Mahasabha (a Hindu nationalist political party), B.S. Moonji visited Benito Mussolini in Italy. He was fascinated[1][2] by Mussolini’s fascist organisation and the manner in which Mussolini took over power in Italy. Prior to leading the Hindu Mahasabha, Moonji was associated with the Indian National Congress (INC) – the nationalist organisation that included people like Gandhi. Moonji, during his time with the INC was at odds with two of their ideals; non-violence and secularism. Moonji left the INC to join the Hindu Mahasabha with an aim to militarise the Hindu society and create a homogenous religious nation state. Just like Mussolini’s fascism, Hitler’s Nazi ideology[3] in Germany attracted people like Mr. B.S Moonji and his successor, Mr. Savarkar as a point of reference to wake up the Hindus and fight for a Hindu nation state. Following the footsteps of the Hindu Mahasabha, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which is the backbone of the Modi-led ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was another organisation that took from both the Fascists and Nazi playbooks to propagate the militarisation and nationalism among Hindu youth.
A decade later, we are witnessing a budding bromance between Modi and Netanyahu, reflecting the close ties between Hindu nationalism or Hindutva ideology and Zionism. Over the last 15 years, it seems that leaders of the BJP and RSS have been using the Zionist template to expedite the creation of a Hindu nation state where non-Hindus, particularly Muslims and Christians are not welcome. At the same time, there is a greater economic exchange between the two countries with India becoming Israel’s important ally and their number one weapons trade buyer, accounting for upto 42% of Israel’s arms exports.[4]
As we witness the strengthening geopolitical and economic ties between India and Israel[5], and Modi’s visible support for Netanyahu, the second lecture of the Decolonization in Dialogue travelling lecture series discussed the similarities and contradictions between Zionism and Hindutva Nationalism. We invited Professor Achin Vanaik, a retired political science professor at the University of Delhi, writer and social activist to speak to us about it. Professor Vanaik gave us a succinct overview of where these ideologies not just converge, but also diverge. One of the strings that connect the two ideologies; Zionism and Hindutva nationalism is the ‘origin myth’. Both ideologies perceive only Jews and Hindus, respectively to be indigenous or original inhabitants of the current land they are living in. Second, they claim racial exclusivity where Zionism has a strong anti-Palestinian rhetoric while Hindutva nationalism identifies strongly with anti-Muslim sentiments. Third, the two ideologies converge on the myth of perpetual victimhood and vilifying the other (in both cases Muslims or Palestinians are conceptualised as an internal threat). In India, despite Muslims forming only 14% of the total population[6] and on average faring poorly across many socio-economic indicators[7], there is a cultivation of fear that Muslims are out to populate the country and take over the land. Finally, Professor Vanaik points to a similar sentiment of the right to return for both the Zionists and Hindutva nationalists. He spoke about the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) proposed by the Modi government that gave non-Muslims in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh the possibility to return to India. This list did not include the Muslim minorities in Pakistan or the Tamils in Sri Lanka[8]. In many ways, Professor Vanaik highlighted the tendencies of the Hindutva nationalist project to use the Zionist occupation as a rule book to convert India into a Hindu state.
Professor Vanaik continued to list the points of divergence between the two ideologies. While the state of Israel targets their everyday violence and lawlessness on the Palestinian people, the Indian state inflicts everyday violence and lawlessness on not just Muslims but also other marginalised castes, Adivasis, and population groups in north eastern parts of the country. Presently, there is more international support for Zionism than for Hindutva nationalism. Zionism is widely accepted as the basis of civil society and state structure in Israel, and anti-Zionism is often equated with anti-Semitism. This is not the case for Hindutva nationalism. Anti-Hindutva nationalism is not yet equated with being anti-Hindu. The state of Israel is very homogeneous and there is less diversity in the number of political parties. Over the last 80 years, there has been a clear open agenda of the state of Israel – more land for the Jews and less for the Palestinians. India on the other hand is extremely diverse and the political party propagating Hindutva Nationalism agenda are confronted by different kinds of internal political opposition. During the recent 2024 Lok Sabha elections in India, the Modi-led BJP party campaigned extensively on religious grounds, and made extreme efforts to manufacture an internal enemy against the Hindus. Modi, at multiple occasions, claimed that his party would win a clear majority[9]. Although he became the Prime Minister for a third term, his party failed to achieve a majority revealing a clear refusal of the Indian people to fall for any religion motivated divisive traps[10]. Another pertinent difference between the two states is that Israel with the support of countries like the US and Germany are a dominant military force in the region. Despite the desire of the Indian state, it is not yet successful in capturing military dominance given the strong presence of Pakistan and China in the Indian subcontinent. Finally, the state of Israel is an Ethnocracy and a settler colonial apartheid state. It is quite clear that the current Modi-led Indian state greatly admires policies of the state of Israel, but it cannot be classified as an Ethnocracy. At least not yet!
After the lecture, Professor Vanaik stayed back to answer some questions from the audience. One of the questions was about the forms of resistance emerging from the Indian people against the ongoing attempts of the Indian state to create a Hindu nation. Different forms of resistance are key to collectivising against any form of destructive and violent ‘ism’ be it colonialism, religious fundamentalism or capitalism. Without romanticizing it, the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli, US and German killing machines over the last 80 years has been remarkable. Given the extensive heterogeneity among the Indian people, collective resistance against Modi and RSS attempt at “Hindutva-fication”, needs to include dealing with existing fault lines across caste and religion, as well as the glaring economic inequality and internal geopolitical struggle. Finally, the Modi-Netanyahu relationship might be perplexing at first, given his predecessor’s admiration for European Fascism and the Nazi regime. However, the strong connection between the Indian and Israeli state clearly reflects the Hindutva nationalist project to follow in Israel’s footsteps and capture power combining a deathly mix of economic gains, ethno-nationalism, occupations and settler colonialism.
[1] Hindutva’s foreign tie-up in the 1930s: Archival evidence” written by Marzia Casolari in Economic & Political Weekly , January 22, 2000
[2] https://thewire.in/diplomacy/the-melodi-team-brings-to-mind-unsavoury-attempts-of-1930s-to-team-hindu-right-with-mussolini
[3] https://www.routledge.com/In-the-Shadow-of-the-Swastika-The-Relationships-Between-Indian-Radical-Nationalism-Italian-Fascism-and-Nazism/Casolari/p/book/9780367508272
[4] https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/thread-that-binds-hindutva-and-zionism
[5] https://jacobin.com/2023/06/hostile-homelands-india-israel-colonialism-palestine-kashmir
[6] https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/09/21/population-growth-and-religious-composition/
[7] https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/muslims-in-india-the-poorest-religious-group-with-high-inequality-and-limited-opportunities-data-analysis-reveals-101688097160955.html
[8] https://thediplomat.com/2024/04/indian-citizenship-laws-exclusion-of-sri-lankan-tamils/
[9] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/lok-sabha/india/bjps-400-paar-dream-lies-shattered-what-could-have-gone-wrong/articleshow/110695170.cms?from=mdr
[10] https://thewire.in/politics/whither-hindutva-what-the-ls-mandate-tells-us-about-competitive-counter-mobilisations-in-todays-india