Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
In the midst of the 2019 UK general election, a story broke that an affiliate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party, was openly campaigning for Conservative...Show moreIn the midst of the 2019 UK general election, a story broke that an affiliate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party, was openly campaigning for Conservative Party candidates in forty-eight marginal constituencies. The ideology of the BJP and its affiliates in the Sangh Parivar, Hindutva, has often been treated by scholars as a siloed entity that only affects India and the Indian or Hindu diaspora. Instead, this paper argues that Hindutva has become a transnational, right-wing populist vernacular that is grounded in the UK as a local political discourse through the principal Hindu nationalist organisational network, the Sangh Parivar. So, this paper asks; How has the organization and discourse of the Sangh Parivar vernacularised in the UK and affected the discourse of British politicians? Events such as Modi’s 2014 ascent to power and Brexit (2016) in the UK have facilitated the move of right-wing populist repertoires into the mainstream. This shift simultaneously enables the Sangh Parivar and Hindu nationalists’ growing confidence and organisational visibility. Thus, this paper updates previous scholarship's mapping of the multifarious network of the UK Sangh Parivar, highlighting the importance of identifying the component organisations of the Sangh Parivar to understand the discourse of global Hindutva. Moreover, this paper highlights how right-wing populist and far-right discourses intersect with Hindutva discourses in the UK. Right-wing, far-right and Hindutva discourses are networked in online spaces, such as social media platforms, where the difference between national and international discourses is often blurred. Finally, this paper argues that the activities of the Sangh Parivar have also affected the parliamentary discourse of British MPs. This effect shows the broader impact of Sangh Parivar discourses in the UK, and on other Hindu organisations that seek to represent British-Hindus and Indians. Thus, contrary to what previous research has assumed, the Sangh UK is political. Importantly, the Sangh Parivar UK has also contributed to the development of global Sangh organisations and collaborations. As such, the Sangh Parivar is a multi-polar, multi-directional and diffuse network of organisations that non-Sangh organisations and individuals, such as British-Hindu umbrella groups and parliamentarians, become entwined with. This can best be understood as ‘Sangh International.Show less
This thesis aims to research the heightened presence of Hindu narratives on Indian television channels and how these Hindu narratives both emerge from and produce the rise of Hindu nationalist...Show moreThis thesis aims to research the heightened presence of Hindu narratives on Indian television channels and how these Hindu narratives both emerge from and produce the rise of Hindu nationalist sentiments. This question is answered by analysing the Hindu narratives in multiple sets of material across websites and news portals on the Hindu televangelist channel Aastha TV and the entertainment channel Star Plus India. My analysis is based on Roland Barthes' Mythologies from 1972, which I use to distinguish three separate concepts -consumption, culture, and politics- which I argue, contribute to these televised Hindu narratives. Both Aastha TV and Star Plus India spread Hindu narratives by normalising a standardised form of Hinduism in daily life: this religious interpretation of the Indian identity creates a foundation for Hindu nationalism. Both channels also focus on the middle class as their target audience, which is both financially capable of buying products from these channels and politically significant in their support for Hindu nationalism. While the emphasis on religious and moral practice of Aastha TV allows for the explicit promotion of Hindu nationalism, the focus of Star Plus India on leisure and entertainment creates a space for the implicit presence of Hinduism in daily life. Star Plus India provides the groundwork for Hindu nationalism through its implicit emphasis on Hinduism as a foundation for Indian norms and values in “soaps”. Aastha TV explicitly promotes Hindu nationalism through its nationalist rhetoric and its focus on Hindu traditions through its use of Hinduism as moral and religious guidelines. Thus, Hindu narratives are present on Indian television channels in different forms. These narratives provide a foothold for Hindu nationalism to connect itself to leisure activities such as watching television and domestic values, and thus increase its visibility and authority over Hindu daily lives.Show less
