Sure, there are some Sikh dissidents, the communists in Kerela, or the odd intellectuals like Arundhati Roy, but their voices are marginal. The loudest voices are in power. The air waves are ruled by Hindutvist intellectuals like J. Sai Deepak who will “rip you apart”.
Professor Akbar Ahmed states that Pakistan has ignored the voices of such “intellectuals” across the border, as the country is embroiled in an economic, political, and climate change crisis. He goes on to mention Dr. Shashi Tharoor’s inspiration Swami Vivekananda as the figure that could bring reconciliation in the subcontinent. However, this is not Pakistan’s narrative.
We cannot accept the parameters set by the Hindutvist fundamentalists. It would be akin to debating the mullahs on their own terrain of Islamic fiqh (jurisprudence) and the rules set by them. Anyone who is familiar with munazara (debate) knows that it is usually a clash of rhetoric. The loudest, passion inciting voice prevails. The late Khadim Rizvi is a classic example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwJIzHp43Mk
Additionally, a country seven times smaller and multiple times weaker must focus on getting its own house in order. While there is no shortage of Pakistani intellectuals like Taimur Rahman, Aasem Bakhshi, and Yasser Latif Hamdani, it is up to them to decide if the Hindutvist distortion is worth addressing.
The challenge posed by the Hindutvist intellectuals is primarily for Indian intellectuals. For the main target of extremists is usually their own religious cohort. This is because they aim to monopolise the discourse by removing competition that would dilute their voice. As an example, the late Khadim Rizvi reserved the strongest words for Dr. Tahir ul Qadri. Similarly, the main target of the director of Kashmir Files was not the Muslim bogeyman but secular Hindus. This response by an emotional movie goer is telling, as he expressed after watching that movie that “I have no hatred for Muslims but secular Hindus”.
Pakistanis are not taught Indian history. Therefore, they cannot be the interlocutors of the Hindutvist narrative. Pakistan Studies usually focuses on the time with Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the emergence of the Muslim League, and the political process with the Quaid e Azam.
For them the Mughals emerged in the age of empires when you conquered or were conquered. Conquest in the age of empires was primarily about resources, not religion. The ruling class would have been as concerned about the people as perhaps the Ambanis and Adanis today. A Punjabi speaking Muslim farmer today will have very little in common with a Turkic or Persian speaking Babur.
This video map shows how various empires vied for power in India for centuries prior to the invasion by Muslims from Central Asia, Persia, and Afghanistan. Despite the past, India enjoys good relationships today with Central Asian countries, Afghanistan, and Iran from whence emerged the warriors Babur, Ahmad Shah Abdali, and Nadir Shah. Prime Minister Modi has been awarded the highest or top civilian awards from Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Bahrain, Afghanistan, and the U.A.E.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN41DJLQmPk
Yet, the Hindutvist ire is reserved for the socio-economically disenfranchised Indian Muslim community. This focus on an easy minority target is generally true of extremist ideologies. Indeed, Nazism advanced an othering narrative and gradually targeted the minority Jewish community prior to the Holocaust.
Extremist anger is based on nurturing perceived grievances of an age long gone by. Just note all the Hindutvist trolls obsessed with Pakistani media pages. They continue to harp on what Aurangzeb did in the 17th century. It is as if they were living in the past and were personally slighted by Aurangzeb. Therefore, instead of the rich Gulf countries, they vent on an easy target.
This anger is also based on the bastardisation of decolonial theory. The radical right including the Islamists and Hindutvists wield it to ward off criticisms on their human rights abuses by deflecting to the colonialism and imperialism of the West. Yet, for all their talk of resistance, this anger is based on a deep-rooted inferiority complex that can only be resolved from within.
And this is why the greatest threat to Hindutvists comes from secular Hindus or those who are secure within themselves and their faith. For the Hindus show the Hindutvists to look within to become better human beings, just as Muslims tell the Islamists that they do not speak for the Muslim community.
Whichever direction India decides to go will eventually be settled by the clash of ideas between Hindus and Hindutvists. If the former cede ground to the latter, then India will become a Hindu rashtra (state). And if this is what the educated middle-class Indians want then so be it.
It will finally put an end to the dissidents of Pakistan’s independence and the bitter critics of the Quaid e Azam. Thus, despite Dr. Akbar Ahmed’s concerns on the rising tide of Hindutva, Pakistanis must stay away from futile debates and reserve their energies towards building, strengthening, and protecting Pakistan.