Asghar Ali Engineer
(Secular Perspective November 16-30, 2009)
A presentation was made in our Centre’s in-house seminar by Ms. Chitralekha on comparative study of extremist violence by Naxalites and Hindu extremists which was quite interesting. It is important, from psychological point of view, to understand why extremists of any kind resort to violence. Here it would be important to include so called jihadi violence also which takes the form of bomb explosions or suicide bombing.
According to Ms. Chitralekha there are certain striking similarities between Naxal and rightwing Hindu violence. She divides them i.e. extremists of both types into three categories: 1) those motivated by ideology; 2) those who are simply drifters i.e. join extremist groups either by chance or to achieve some purpose and 3) sheer opportunists. According to her drifters in both the categories form majority roughly sixty per cent whereas those who commit violence for ideological reasons are in small minority.
It is not much different as far as terrorist violence by groups like Lashkar-e-Taiyyiba or Taliban or al-Qaida is concerned. For outsiders it appears that all the violent attacks by such groups is motivated by ideology and hence media immediately blames either Communism or Hindutva philosophy or Islam for these attacks. It is only in-depth study which leads to proper understanding of these violent acts, especially detailed and freewheeling interviews of the perpetrators and actors.
It was found through this study that many young persons join Naxalite Dals at a very young age when they hardly have any understanding, much less serious commitment. They are, in a sense, foot soldiers who carry out commands passed out to them. In case of Hindutva brigades those who attend RSS Shakhas or VHP and Bajrang Dal camps the young boys are used to commit violence. They are highly indoctrinated through Shakhas and camps without any serious understanding.
It was found in case of Naxalites in Bihar that many Rajputs and Yadavs also join these Dals when they are around 15 or 16 when they hardly have much understanding of Marxist ideology. Interviews with them showed that some of them join just for what Chitralekha called izzat i.e. prestige and honor. In villages of Bihar carrying a gun itself is a matter of prestige. It was found in the study that these boys of 15-16 years of age display their guns proudly. Some of them were scions of middle and rich peasants but instead of taking to agriculture took to guns. Some of them did so to avenge death of their caste people or fellow villagers or relatives.
Also there are those among Naxalites who have understanding of Marxist ideology and among these are members of Central committee or those whom we can call ideologues. They themselves do not commit violence but pass on orders to do so. Then there are those who belong to front organizations. They neither commit violence nor pass orders to that effect but justify violence. They are part of Maoist ideology, as interpreted by Maoists.
There is some similarity again in case of Hindu rightist organizations who perpetrate communal violence or anti-Muslim violence. Ms. Chitralekha had studied Hindu extremist organizations, actors and perpetrators in Gujarat 2002 violence. Here also there are various levels through which violent operations take place and motives, as discussed above, motivate various actors and perpetrators.
The foot soldiers and perpetrators are derived from Shakhas run by RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal. Their information base is extremely narrow. They do not read any literature except that of these organizations. Even if they read news papers or watch T.V. channels, they read those papers or watch those channels which are sympathetic to their ideology or ‘cause’. In many cases they do not have any access to alternative sources of information or wherever they have, they dismiss these sources as ‘biased’ and ‘hostile’.
In case of Hindu extremist violence, there is another section which participates in violence which can be referred to as rioters. Rioters could be from both sides and they just use the opportunity to loot or settle scores with neighbors with whom they have running feud. In case of Gujarat and other riots covered by this author, there are those, especially unemployed Dalits or Balmikis who get paid for killing and whatever they get by way of looting is their ‘bonus’.
Chitralekha also created a category in case of Gujarat which she calls those of killers and rapist-killer. These are those who act only on hearsay and justify their acts saying they heard Hindu women were raped and killed and so we avenged it. Or, they say they read in some Gujarati papers and they argue what appeared in news papers cannot be wrong. Newspapers always publish true stories. And those who know English among them, dismiss English papers’ news as ‘anti-Hindu’.
Then among Hindu extremists there are those who belong to leadership tanks from amongst RSS, VHP, and Bajrang Dal ranks. They are highly motivated by ideology and as in case of Naxalites they may not participate in violence themselves but pass orders. These leaders and ideologues always belong to higher castes and economically better off. It is not true that they come from poor and unemployed people.
Like Naxalites finding justification from Marxist ideology, the Hindu extremists also find justification from Hindu religion. Many of these extremists said they killed for Hindu dharma or called it dharma yuddha and considered themselves as part of Hanuman Sena. Also, many killed, as in the case of Naxalites, for izzat i.e. for social prestige and boasted of it among peer groups. Many of them came from OBC castes.
However, in case of Naxalites, the main motive is to fight for justice at ideological levels and also to counter state violence in the form of police encounters shooting down innocent citizens. It is also motivated by fight for unjust development which ruins tribals and Dalits and captures their land and very means of survival. But in case of Hindu extremists violence is motivated 1) by political considerations i.e. to capture Hindu votes and 2) by hatred of minority communities like Muslims and Christians whom they consider as ‘outsiders’ and enemy communities. The RSS ideology is based on hate and violence.
Now we come to what is known as ‘jihadi’ violence. Of course this was not the part of Chitralekha’s study. But there is again lot of similarities. Here also we find different levels of people who are part of ‘jihadi’ violence. First let us take the suicide bombers who blow themselves off in order to kill others. These suicide bombers are a mixed bag. Among them there are those who have extremely narrow base of information and they only believe what is told to them by their ideologues or immediate trainers. They too have no access to alternate sources of information.
Then have both religious as well as economic motivation or in some cases religious might outweigh economic and in some cases economic might outweigh religious. Many suicide bombers are highly motivated by religion and they think by blowing themselves off they will directly enter paradise and will enjoy eternal comforts compared to temporary life on earth. Also, if they die their families will be looked after by their organization and will not suffer economically.
They there are those suicide bombers who are promised that their family will be paid a considerable sum and are themselves unemployed and thus blowing themselves appears to solve their economic problem. But all of them may not be poor or unemployed. However their understanding of Islam is extremely narrow and flawed. They do not have access to alternate interpretations of Islam based on peace and love.
Then those who control jihadi organizations have again very complex motive. Some of them want to fight US imperialism and its unjust foreign policies. Some of them are frustrated by lack of freedom of opinion in their own countries like in many Arab countries and they find no other outlet for their grievances except setting up Jihadi organizations.
Then there are those from Kashmir who have faced violence at the hands of state institutions like army and police and think India is an occupying power in Kashmir and Kashmir ‘belongs rightfully’ to Pakistan and Kashmir cannot be liberated without an armed uprising. All these organizations depict their fight as ‘Islamic jihad’ to motivate their followers and foot soldiers. Like in case of Hindu extremist organizations indoctrination is well sustained and powerful through highly simplified propaganda.
In case of both Hindu and Muslim extremist organizations they control very powerful organizations flush with resources. While RSS, VHP organizations collect money in the name of Hindutva, Muslim extremist organizations control lot of money in the name of ‘jihad’. In both cases money is forthcoming easily as there are those who have accumulated fortunes by fair and foul means and having earned money in this way want to earn some ‘religious’ merit. It is very important aspect which has to be looked into in greater details. In case of Hindutva organizations money comes from US and UK from those middle caste Hindus who feel a sense of guilt for having left their country for the sake of material gains. They try to overcome their guilt by donating money to such ‘politico-religious organizations.
In case of Muslim extremist organizations oil rich countries are source of rich donations who think extremists are doing ‘great service’ to the cause of Islam and it also helps politically as this reinforces conservative religious order.
I do not know whether some social scientists or researchers have probed the minds of suicide bombers but it will be very interesting to do so.
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Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
Mumbai.
