Yogendra Yadav: “Communalism is being crowd-sourced under Modi”

After his split with the Aam Aadmi Party, Yogendra Yadav finds himself on the political fringes. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s a political scientist.

In a wide-ranging interview with Catch, Yadav explained certain social phenomena that have been on the rise since Narendra Modi‘s BJP-led government came to power.

He also talked about RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat‘s recent comments on reservation, and why BJP ministers going to meet the RSS is not necessarily a bad thing.

Reservations

In an interview to Organiser, the RSS mouthpiece, Bhagwat called for a review of the reservation policy, saying it had been politicised. He suggested setting up an apolitical committee to see who needs the policy and for how long.

Reacting to these comments, Yadav says it was an attempt at dismantling the entire affirmative action regime. He explains both sides to the reservation argument.

BJP-RSS contradiction

Yadav comments on how the contradiction over reservation between the BJP and the RSS will ultimately come up in the long run, and their good cop-bad cop relationship.

He also commented on how the Congress style of secularism is counter-productive.

Ministers meeting RSS

In a first-of-its-kind interaction since the Modi government came to power, senior BJP ministers met various RSS functionaries to discuss and deliberate on various national issues. Bhagwat presided over the meeting.

Yadav explains why he thinks it’s quite alright for any political party to refer to organisations that it’s ideologically affiliated to.

Rationalist killings

Rationalist Narendra Dabholkar was killed in Pune in 2013. Dabholkar had spent much of his life exposing sham rituals, miracles, black magic, and god men.

Then, on 16 February this year, veteran Communist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare was gunned down outside his home in Sagar Mala locality of Kolhapur city.

More recently, Kannada scholar and researcher MM Kalburgi was killed in Dharwad, Karnataka, on 30 August.

Yadav explains how an ideologically favourable political regime can encourage all forms of locally-sponsored activities and how communalism is crowd-sourced.

Communalisation

Yadav explains why ambient intolerance is on the rise in the country and how most of the intolerance is under the radar.

Hindu-ising cultural and academic institutions

Yadav talks about the agenda of saffronisaton, and the move to control all critical educational and cultural institutions by putting people who are ideologically convenient to the BJP.

Lack of talent’ in the Hindutva camp

Yadav talks about the complete lack of an intellectual force within the BJP, and what gives it the courage to go ahead with appointments like Gajendra Chauhan as the FTII chairman.

Mahesh Sharma and cultural pollution

In an interview to The Telegraph, culture minster Mahesh Sharma said, “We will cleanse every area of public discourse that has been Westernised, and where Indian culture and civilisation needs to be restored, be it the history we read, our cultural heritage or our institutions that have been polluted over years.”

Reacting to this comment, Yadav explains what Sharma is really trying to achieve.