An interview with Dr. Saarang Narayan on Shades of Swadeshism, Episode 47

Guest: Saarang Narayan (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali) Host and Producer: Maria Bach (University of Lausanne) A political poster issued by the Bharatiya Janta Party in recent years, promoting the Swadeshist message as part of their “Ghar Ghar Swadeshi” (Swadeshi in Every Household) campaign. A list of key terms with short explanations discussed in the episode Swadeshi is a Hindi/Hindustani word that literally means ‘of one’s own country’ (swa=one’s own/self; desh=country). The slogan gained popularity in the early twentieth century, especially in the popular movement against the partition of Bengal in 1905, and went on to inspire the founding of domestic institutions and the production and consumption of goods as modes of anti-colonial politics. Although it remained part of the discourse around developmentalism and economic planning in the mid-twentieth century, it regained popularity in the context of the public debates about globalisation and neoliberalism in the 1980s and 1990s. While it is comparable to slogans like ‘Buy British’ or ‘Buy American’, there is a characteristic ethical and socio-cultural dimension that separates Swadeshist principles from simple autarky or protectionism. This ethical and socio-cultural dimension concerns the definition of the Swadeshist ‘self’ along religious and cultural lines, often limiting it to Hinduism. Hindu Nationalism is a broad term used here to encapsulate those visions of nationalism in India that define the Indian identity and history through the lens of Hinduism. This is to say that Hindu Nationalists often link the modern nation-state to a primordial Hindu past, where the religious and cultural practices of the supposed ancient Hindu peoples defined their identities. While India’s contemporary Hindu far-right has spearheaded this form of nationalism, there have been other actors who subscribe to such a vision of the Indian nation. What makes the Hindu far-right different from other such actors is the former’s palingenetic, Islamophobic, and xenophobic interpretations of Hindu Nationalism. The Hindu far-right describes its mode of Hindu Nationalism as ‘Hindutva’ or Hindu-ness, as outlined in the works of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteers’ Union) was founded in 1925. It is the apex body of the Hindu far-right with the goal of (re-)establishing India as a Hindu Nation. The RSS was founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar as a para-militaristic body of Hindu men to arm Hindu society against its cultural enemies. The second supreme-leader of the RSS, Madhavrao Sadashiv Golwalkar, identified these enemies in order of the threat that they posed to Hindus as follows: Muslims, Christians, and Communists. The RSS primarily functions through local chapters (shakhas or branches) and is comprised of volunteers (swayamsevaks) and led by preachers (pracharaks). Although Swadeshist ideas were primarily popularised by political actors who were summarily opposed to the politics of the RSS, the RSS adopted Swadeshi in the 1950s, and it has remained at the core of its economic thought ever since. Throughout its century-long existence, the RSS has faced three major bans and, despite its majoritarian, fascistic goals, has adapted strategies of dynamism and flexibility in its tactics, ideas, and political language to meet these challenges. The first two decades of independent India were the lowest point in the RSS’s public and political presence, and it gained increasing popularity and political ground in the mainstream from the mid-1970s onwards. Part of its strategy of expansion has been the creation of smaller affiliate organisations, geared towards specialised tasks. This conglomerate of far-right organisations headed by the RSS has come to be known as the Sangh Parivar (Family). The current ruling party in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the electoral wing of the RSS, and many of its members (including Prime Minister Narendra Modi) started out as swayamsevaks in the RSS before joining the BJP.