For some time now I've been saying that right-wing ideology is not confirmed to a few, isolated groups in India, who can be dismissed by election results which elect in a Congress government. The fact is that the ordinary Hindu walking the streets, not prone to any violence, not a member of any radical group can be a right-wing ideologue, embracing this idea of nationalism or at the very least sympathetic to the cause. There is now at least an acknowledgement that this phenomena exists and that it has found a voice on the Internet.
This in itself is not cause for concern. The Internet Hindu has a counterpart elsewhere; the talk show radio American and the tabloid Brit. If one listens to talk show America, which is the domain of Republican ideologues, one is immediately inclined to think that America is a rabidly racist country, whose idea of nationhood does not extend beyond blue-eyed and blond Americans. A similar trend of thought is echoed in Britain by tabloid newspapers who epitomise the mindset of a closed, insular society. These domains have quite a few features in common; they create a fear of outsiders, of anyone different, they claim to represent the nationalist point of view and they are drawn from what is traditionally the bulk of that homogenised group. It is disconcerting that the rise of this group in India, hails from the educated, middle-class section of society. This aspect is troubling and anomalous. These groups, as strong as they are in every society, find their bette-noire in the mainstream press and in the flood of liberal intellectuals that society generates. They are never eliminated, the only counter is to have their power neutered by counter-propaganda. The challenge for India is only this; that it must constantly be in the business of creating liberal intellectuals. That it must never muzzle the freedom to think and express. That it must invest heavily in an education with an emphasis on the liberal arts. Only by creating intellectual capital can there be coherence in our society. Best, Selma ________________________________
