The rise of communalism in recent years as the major claimant to power in India politics has posed a serious challenge to the survival of democracy and is even threatening the fabric of the Constitution. Coupled with the fact that political discourse in the international arena has been increasingly using the language of religion, this phenomenon has posed a serious challenge to human rights movements worldwide. The 17 original essays in this volume have been written against the backdrop of the 9/11 attacks on the USA; US attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq; the worldwide demonization of Islam; and, in India, the Mumbai blasts, the Gujarat riots, and the BJP-led NDA government’s covert support to the US-led war on terror, Collectively, they examine: The use of religion to evoke mass hysteria and to cushion any possible uprising among underprivileged sections; The manner in which liberalization, globalization and privatization appear to go hand-in-hand with the rise of religion-based politics; The fact that people like Osama bin Laden are the creation of the US, and that equating terrorism with Islam actually suits America’s ultimate aim of controlling OPEC countries; The myth of the educational backwardness of Muslims; NRI funding of Hindutva’s divisive politics; The Hindutva strategy of simultaneously oppressing and attempting to mobilize tribals, Dalits, women and other minority groups. Traversing a large canvas and critically interrogating Hindutva from multiple vantage points, this thought-provoking volume will interest students and researchers in the fields of politics, sociology, history and religion, as well as journalists and general readers.
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