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(RE)PRODUCTION OF HINDUTVA-DRIVEN POPULISM IN INDIA: AN ANALYSIS OF BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY’S POLITICAL MESSAGING IN TWITTERSPHERE

Year 2021, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 179 - 194, 31.12.2021

Abstract

This study develops an understanding of how India’s Bharatiya Janata Party used Hindutva doctrine for building populist discourse on Twittersphere during 2019 general elections. Keeping in view the close ideological connection of the BJP with extreme right wing Hindu organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – which laid ideological ground of modern-era Hindutva movement – and increasing incidents of persecution and exclusion of minorities under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014, this study uses the technique of critical discourse analysis to analyze the political messages posted of BJP and its leaders for developing themes and sub-themes of Hindutva-driven populism at micro, meso and macro levels. The study found that Hindutva ideology played a determining role in political messages of the BJP by constructing the people and us vs them notions, encouraging ostracization of others, promising Hindutva reforms in New India and building imagery of charismatic political leader through historical, mythological and ritualistic references. The study makes considerable contribution to the fields of communication and political science by pointing use of right-wing populist discourse as a tool of political communication to garner votes of dominantly Hindu population and pave way for reduced political liberties, undemocratic practices and Hindu chauvinism.

References

  • Andersen, W., & Damle, S. (1987). The Brotherhood in Saffron. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism. New Delhi: Vistaar Publications.
  • Baumgart-Ochse, C. (2009). Democratization in Israel, politicized religion and the failure of the Oslo peace process. Democratization, 16(6), 1115-1142.
  • Bhatt, C. (2001). Hindu Nationalism: Origins, Ideologies, and Modern Myths. New York: Berg.
  • Bhattacharyya, N. N. (1982). History of the Tantric Religion. New Delhi: Manohar.
  • Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  • Canovan, M. (1981). Populism. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
  • Canovan, M. (1999). Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy. Political Studies, 47(1), 2–16.
  • Canovan, M. (2002). Taking Politics to the People: Populism as the Ideology of Democracy. In Y. Mény, & S. Y., Democracies and the Populist Challenge (pp. 25-44). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Castells, M. (2007). Communication, power and counter-power in the network society. International Journal of Communication, 1, 238–266.
  • Chaudhuri, N. C. (1951). The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian. New York: Macmillan.
  • Chitkara, M. (2004). Hindutva Parivar. New Delhi: APH Publishing Corporation.
  • Di Tella, T. (1965). Populism and reform in Latin America. In C. Veliz, Obstacles to change in Latin America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Di Tella, T. (1997). Populism in the twenty-first century. Government and Opposition, 32, 187-200.
  • Diwakar, R. (2015). The 16th general election in India, April–May 2014. Electoral Studies, 37, 120-125.
  • Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Oxford: Polity Press.
  • Fairclough, N. (2013). Critical discourse analysis and critical policy studies. Critical Policy Studies(2), 177-197.
  • Filc, D. (2010). The Political Right in Israel: Different Faces of Jewish Populism. London: Routledge.
  • Frykenberg, R. (2008). Hindutva as a Political Religion: An Historical Perspective. . In G. R., M. R., & T. J., The Sacred in Twentieth-Century Politics (pp. 178-220). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Golwalkar, M. (1939). We or Our Nationhood Defined. Retrieved April 2020, from https://sanjeev.sabhlokcity.com/Misc/We-or-Our-Nationhood-Defined-Shri-M-S-Golwalkar.pdf
  • Golwalkar, M. S. (1966). Bunch of Thoughts . Bangalore: Rashtrotthana Sahitya.
  • Goyal, D. R. (1979). Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Delhi: Radha Krishna Prakashan.
  • Ionescu, E., & Gellner, G. (1969). Populism: its meanings and national characteristics. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
  • Jaffrelot, C. (1996). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the 1990s : Strategies of Identity-building, Implantation and Mobilisation. London: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers.
  • Jaffrelot, C. (2007). The Sangh Parivar and the Hindu diaspora in the West. What kind of ‘long-distance nationalism’? International Political Sociology, 3.
  • Jaffrelot, C. (2013). Refining the moderation thesis. Two religious parties and Indian democracy: the Jana Sangh and the BJP between Hindutva radicalism and coalition politics. Democratization, 20(5), 876-894.
  • Kanungo, P. (2002). RSS’s Tryst with Politics: From Hedgewar to Sudarshan. New Delhi: Manohar.
  • Kanungo, P. (2006). Myth of the Monolith: The RSS Wrestles to Discipline its Political Progeny. Social Scientist, 34(11/12), 51–69.
  • Kaul, N. (2017). Rise of the Political Right in India: Hindutva‐Development Mix, Modi Myth, and Dualities. Journal of Labor and Society, 20(4), 523-548.
  • Kazin, M. (1995). The populist persuasion: An American History. New York: Cornell University Press.
  • Kitschelt, H., & McGann, A. (1995). The Radical Right in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis. University of Michigan Press.
  • Kumar, G. S., & Muralidhar, B. V. (1997). Achieving Communal harmony and National Integration: A Dream for Every Indian. . New Delhi: MD Publication PVT LTD.
  • Lahiry, S. (2005). Jana Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party: A Comparative Assessment of Their Philosophy and Strategy and Their Proximity with the Other Members of the Sangh Parivar. The Indian Journal of Political Science, 66(4), 833.
  • Mudde, C. (2016). Europe's Populist Surge: A Long Time in the Making. Foreign Affairs, 95(6), 25–30.
  • Przeworski, A. (1991). Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Qureshi, M. N. (1989). Whither History? The State of the Discipline in Pakistan. In S. H. Hashmi, In The State of Social Sciences in Pakistan. Islamabad,: Quaid-i-Azam University.
  • Savarkar, V. (1924). Essentials of Hindutva. Retrieved April 2020, from http://www.savarkar.org/en/hindutva-hindu-nationalism/essentials-hindutva
  • Savarkar, V. (1989). Hindutva – Who is a Hindu? New Delhi: Bhartiya Sahitya Sadan.
  • Sil, N. (2002). Bande Mataram: Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay's nationalist thought revisited. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 25(1), 121-142.
  • Smith, D. (1966). South Asian Politics and Religion. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • Taggart, P. (2002). Populism and the Pathology of Representative Politics. In M. Y., & S. Y., Democracies and the Populist Challenge (pp. 62-80). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Taggart, P. A. (2000). Populism. Buckingham: Open University Press.
  • Tessler, M. (1990). Religious Resurgence and Politics in the Contemporary World. New York: State University of New York Press.
  • Thompson, J. B. (1995). The media and modernity: a social theory of the media. Cambridge: Polity.
  • Udayakumar, S. (2005). Presenting the past: Anxious history and ancient future in Hindutva India. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.
  • Westlind, D. (1996). The politics of popular identity: Understanding recent populist movements in Sweden and the United States. Lund University Press.
  • Zain, A. (2019). Rise of Modi's Tech-Populism. Moment: Journal of Cultural Studies, 6(1), 199-208.

(RE)PRODUCTION OF HINDUTVA-DRIVEN POPULISM IN INDIA: AN ANALYSIS OF BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY’S POLITICAL MESSAGING IN TWITTERSPHERE

Year 2021, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 179 - 194, 31.12.2021

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Hindistan Bharatiya Janata Partisi'nin 2019 genel seçimlerinde Twittersphere'de popülist söylem oluşturmak için Hindutva doktrinini nasıl kullandığına dair bir anlayış geliştiriyor. BJP'nin aşırı sağcı Hindu örgütü Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ile - modern çağ Hindutva hareketinin ideolojik zeminini oluşturdu - yakın ideolojik bağını göz önünde bulundurarak ve 2014'ten beri Başbakan Narendra Modi hükümeti altında azınlıklara yönelik zulüm ve dışlanma olaylarını artırarak Bu çalışma, mikro, mezo ve makro düzeylerde Hindutva güdümlü popülizmin temalarını ve alt temalarını geliştirmek için BJP ve liderlerinin gönderdiği politik mesajları analiz etmek için eleştirel söylem analizi tekniğini kullanıyor. Çalışma, Hindutva ideolojisinin BJP'nin politik mesajlarında belirleyici bir rol oynadığını ortaya koydu; insanları ve biz onlara karşı kavramlar inşa ediyor, başkalarının dışlanmasını teşvik ediyor, Yeni Hindistan'da Hindutva reformları vaat ediyor ve tarihi, mitolojik ve ritüelistik aracılığıyla karizmatik siyasi lider imgeleri oluşturuyor. Çalışma, sağcı popülist söylemin, baskın Hindu nüfusunun oylarını toplamak ve azaltılmış siyasi özgürlükler, demokratik olmayan uygulamalar ve Hindu şovenizminin yolunu açmak için bir siyasi iletişim aracı olarak kullanılmasına işaret ederek iletişim ve siyaset bilimi alanlarına önemli katkılar sağlıyor.

References

  • Andersen, W., & Damle, S. (1987). The Brotherhood in Saffron. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism. New Delhi: Vistaar Publications.
  • Baumgart-Ochse, C. (2009). Democratization in Israel, politicized religion and the failure of the Oslo peace process. Democratization, 16(6), 1115-1142.
  • Bhatt, C. (2001). Hindu Nationalism: Origins, Ideologies, and Modern Myths. New York: Berg.
  • Bhattacharyya, N. N. (1982). History of the Tantric Religion. New Delhi: Manohar.
  • Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  • Canovan, M. (1981). Populism. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
  • Canovan, M. (1999). Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy. Political Studies, 47(1), 2–16.
  • Canovan, M. (2002). Taking Politics to the People: Populism as the Ideology of Democracy. In Y. Mény, & S. Y., Democracies and the Populist Challenge (pp. 25-44). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Castells, M. (2007). Communication, power and counter-power in the network society. International Journal of Communication, 1, 238–266.
  • Chaudhuri, N. C. (1951). The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian. New York: Macmillan.
  • Chitkara, M. (2004). Hindutva Parivar. New Delhi: APH Publishing Corporation.
  • Di Tella, T. (1965). Populism and reform in Latin America. In C. Veliz, Obstacles to change in Latin America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Di Tella, T. (1997). Populism in the twenty-first century. Government and Opposition, 32, 187-200.
  • Diwakar, R. (2015). The 16th general election in India, April–May 2014. Electoral Studies, 37, 120-125.
  • Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Oxford: Polity Press.
  • Fairclough, N. (2013). Critical discourse analysis and critical policy studies. Critical Policy Studies(2), 177-197.
  • Filc, D. (2010). The Political Right in Israel: Different Faces of Jewish Populism. London: Routledge.
  • Frykenberg, R. (2008). Hindutva as a Political Religion: An Historical Perspective. . In G. R., M. R., & T. J., The Sacred in Twentieth-Century Politics (pp. 178-220). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Golwalkar, M. (1939). We or Our Nationhood Defined. Retrieved April 2020, from https://sanjeev.sabhlokcity.com/Misc/We-or-Our-Nationhood-Defined-Shri-M-S-Golwalkar.pdf
  • Golwalkar, M. S. (1966). Bunch of Thoughts . Bangalore: Rashtrotthana Sahitya.
  • Goyal, D. R. (1979). Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Delhi: Radha Krishna Prakashan.
  • Ionescu, E., & Gellner, G. (1969). Populism: its meanings and national characteristics. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
  • Jaffrelot, C. (1996). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the 1990s : Strategies of Identity-building, Implantation and Mobilisation. London: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers.
  • Jaffrelot, C. (2007). The Sangh Parivar and the Hindu diaspora in the West. What kind of ‘long-distance nationalism’? International Political Sociology, 3.
  • Jaffrelot, C. (2013). Refining the moderation thesis. Two religious parties and Indian democracy: the Jana Sangh and the BJP between Hindutva radicalism and coalition politics. Democratization, 20(5), 876-894.
  • Kanungo, P. (2002). RSS’s Tryst with Politics: From Hedgewar to Sudarshan. New Delhi: Manohar.
  • Kanungo, P. (2006). Myth of the Monolith: The RSS Wrestles to Discipline its Political Progeny. Social Scientist, 34(11/12), 51–69.
  • Kaul, N. (2017). Rise of the Political Right in India: Hindutva‐Development Mix, Modi Myth, and Dualities. Journal of Labor and Society, 20(4), 523-548.
  • Kazin, M. (1995). The populist persuasion: An American History. New York: Cornell University Press.
  • Kitschelt, H., & McGann, A. (1995). The Radical Right in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis. University of Michigan Press.
  • Kumar, G. S., & Muralidhar, B. V. (1997). Achieving Communal harmony and National Integration: A Dream for Every Indian. . New Delhi: MD Publication PVT LTD.
  • Lahiry, S. (2005). Jana Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party: A Comparative Assessment of Their Philosophy and Strategy and Their Proximity with the Other Members of the Sangh Parivar. The Indian Journal of Political Science, 66(4), 833.
  • Mudde, C. (2016). Europe's Populist Surge: A Long Time in the Making. Foreign Affairs, 95(6), 25–30.
  • Przeworski, A. (1991). Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Qureshi, M. N. (1989). Whither History? The State of the Discipline in Pakistan. In S. H. Hashmi, In The State of Social Sciences in Pakistan. Islamabad,: Quaid-i-Azam University.
  • Savarkar, V. (1924). Essentials of Hindutva. Retrieved April 2020, from http://www.savarkar.org/en/hindutva-hindu-nationalism/essentials-hindutva
  • Savarkar, V. (1989). Hindutva – Who is a Hindu? New Delhi: Bhartiya Sahitya Sadan.
  • Sil, N. (2002). Bande Mataram: Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay's nationalist thought revisited. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 25(1), 121-142.
  • Smith, D. (1966). South Asian Politics and Religion. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • Taggart, P. (2002). Populism and the Pathology of Representative Politics. In M. Y., & S. Y., Democracies and the Populist Challenge (pp. 62-80). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Taggart, P. A. (2000). Populism. Buckingham: Open University Press.
  • Tessler, M. (1990). Religious Resurgence and Politics in the Contemporary World. New York: State University of New York Press.
  • Thompson, J. B. (1995). The media and modernity: a social theory of the media. Cambridge: Polity.
  • Udayakumar, S. (2005). Presenting the past: Anxious history and ancient future in Hindutva India. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.
  • Westlind, D. (1996). The politics of popular identity: Understanding recent populist movements in Sweden and the United States. Lund University Press.
  • Zain, A. (2019). Rise of Modi's Tech-Populism. Moment: Journal of Cultural Studies, 6(1), 199-208.
There are 46 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Ali Zain

Publication Date December 31, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 5 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Zain, A. (2021). (RE)PRODUCTION OF HINDUTVA-DRIVEN POPULISM IN INDIA: AN ANALYSIS OF BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY’S POLITICAL MESSAGING IN TWITTERSPHERE. Asya Araştırmaları Uluslararası Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 5(2), 179-194.
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