Modi practices what can be called "Performative Hindutva", it entails endless photo ops performing pujas at temples and teerth, and dropping baits in speeches. What it doesnt entail is enduring change in policy, institutions and culture to strengthen Dharma.
How to understand Sangh's ideology? Answer is tricky, Sangh doesnt have any ideology, if by ideology we mean set of ideas accepted after deliberation.
Sangh has intellectual vacuum, in absence of any robust intellectual anchor, Sangh is actually influenced by two competing instincts.
First is a vague sense of cultural nationalism. Sangh derives its sense of cultural nationalism not from any deliberate thought but by popular sentiments and ressentiment , in this way Sangh lags rather than leads the masses.
The other is a vague sense of reform, here as well Sangh doesnt derive its sense of reform from any deliberative process but by current cultural/political fads, fads which are determined by cultural elites which are overwhelmingly liberals.
Thus, ironically, Sangh follows liberal fashion with a lag, this explains Sangh stand on Kanayadaan, fire crackers and (initial) stand on Sabarimala
Addendum: There is an additional aspect which contributes to ideological incoherence of Sangh.
Sangh is basically a scouts organisation where emphasis is on discipline and conformity, whereas disagreement and dissension are fundamental to intellectual activity. Hence Sangh's distrust and discouragement of intellectual activity.
There is a Johnny Cash song "Boy Named Sue". The song is about a boy who is named "Sue" by his absconding father, and as a result he has to face mockery throughout his youth. Boy, justifiably enraged swears vengenance on his father, but when he finally meets him, his father explains that he named him "Sue", so that he will grow tough and survive in the world without his father.
Now it is highly doubtful that Modi has actually heard of this song, but the way incipient RW has been cold shouldered in the last 7 years, it seems Modi has actually derived his philosophy from fugitive father. I do not know the exact reason for this treatment, though I have read Modi is not willing to create patronage network, without which any worthwhile ecosystem cant be created.
At any rate upshot of this is that RW ecosystem is forced to be "Aatmanirbhar", relying on its own resources or that it can raise for survival. Whether this will make right wing tough in the long run is anyone's guess.
On the ideological right (broadly defined), there is a tension between economic right (ER) and cultural right (CR). ERs insist that focus of politics and policy should only be economics, and cultural issues are either distraction in practice or outside the domain of government in theory.
This position has roots in materialistic view of society. This view posits that aim and basis of human society is acquisition of material goods for sensual pleasure. Further, ER argues, this can be best achieved if human society is arranged on basis of voluntary materialistic transactions.
CR contests both the premises. CR insists that aim of human society must be located in human nature, and to reduce human nature only to material and sensual is a mistake, which neglects commitarian, ethical and spirtual dimensions of human nature.
Even more important, material goods being scarce, framing society solely in terms of material pursuit, sets, in economic parlance, a zero sum game, which is unstable on its own. For stability, zero sum game need external scaffolding, which is provided by cultural norms.
Therefore, either premises of Economic rights are flawed, and cultural issues must be assigned priority in politics and policy, along with purely economic issues.
Latest statements by Mohan Bhagwat have once again raised heckles of Internet Hindus. Bhagwat said, " DNA of all Indians is the same and that those indulging in lynching are against Hindutva", further, he claimed "“If a Hindu says that no Muslim should live here, then the person is not Hindu", “Hindu-Muslim unity is misleading as they are not different, but one. DNA of all Indians are the same, irrespective of religion,” “We are in a democracy. There cannot be a dominance of Hindus or Muslims. There can only be the dominance of Indians.”
That Mohan Bhagwat is misguided is to put it very kindly. Any Hindu who is even cursorily familiar with religious scriptures or history of Islam knows that theological supremacism is intrinsic to religion and complete annihilation of unbelievers very ingrained part of its creed.
That Sangh which claims to be vanguard of Hindus is so much ignorant of even basic history of Hindu genocide at hands of Islamic zealots is a matter of grave concern.
Very frankly, Sangh is deluded, we can always interrogate causes of its delusion. For my part, I place cause of this delusion on intellectual incoherence of Sangh owing to what can be best termed as "Ascetic Arrogance".
Whatever be the cause, delusion of Hindu vanguard in presence of potentially fatal civilizational challenges is extremely dangerous to Hindus
It is seventh year of Narendra Modi's government, and by now except for the absolute naive (and knave), nobody should be in any doubt that there is no intention on Modi's part to engange on cultural matters.
Now, there are, among "right", a certain section which believes government should only focus on "development" and should jettison cultural baggage (except ofcourse as a cynical ploy to agitate masses during elections), they are wrong, but rebuting them is not intention of this post. The intention of this post is to highlight how dangerous is this "laissez faire" (lack of) policy.
India is not just a piece of land. It is a civilizational entity. It is encumbent upon us to defend our civilization. At present we are facing multiple threats on civilizational front. Secularism, Islamism, Christian predation, Cultural Marxism and Neo-liberal imperialism are seeking to erase our civilization by capturing all the social-cultural-education institutions and indoctrinating our masses (especially our children). There is incessant nefarious propoganda to portray our faith as maleovalent and our opressors as enlightened and benevolent. It is not exaggeration to say that we are in a terminal struggle over survival.
There have been some resistance to this nefarious program by individuals in past decade. However this organized "psyops" can not be countered without institutional support led by government.
It is here that Modi has completely abdicated his duty to defend Dharma. History will indict Modi for his betrayal
I pledge to stay true to Dharma. I pledge I will strive for truth, honesty, and compassion. I pledge I will remain loyal to nation, community and family. I pledge I will respect everyone who transverses any path to Dharma.
