Rambhakts: Defining "Us" and Depicting "Our Story" 37Thus Muslim, the most important enemy of the Hindutva national con-
sciousness, stands reduced to a simple stereotype: "a habitual traitor, a
Pakistani spy, a religious bigot, a committed killer."^89 The Hindu commu-
nalists "either belittle [Islam's] importance or emphasise its foreignness."^90
For instance, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad argues, "Islam has never learnt
to argue its case with facts or logic. All through its history, it has relied on
the sword and street riots. In India, it used the sword for several centuries.
After the loss of its political power, it has relied on street riots. The weapon
has yielded and continues to yield rich results."^91
Another crucial component of this communal nationalism is its pen-
chant for militancy and violence aided by male chauvinism, maniacal
pride, and elaborate violent rituals to preserve the political unity. Not
knowing how to handle the nonviolence heritage of Hinduism that is
mentioned in the Upanishads and other religious texts, feeling ashamed
of the "weak Hindu" arguments, and equating all of these and the histori-
cal subjugations at the hands of the Mughals and the British to cowardice,
they panic to rewrite history with more militancy and heroism. Painting
a weak and abominable picture of the Hindus and taking the credit for
the name (Hindus) and even for Hindu nationalism, the Muslim commu-
nalists add fuel to this unquenchable inferiority fire.^92 Hence, the Organ-
iser argues in an editorial, "We will have to rewrite our history, to remake
our minds and Be Men. A gullible public is being taught to believe that
India became free through non-violent satyagrahas. One cannot imagine a
cruder falsification of history. For fact is that no country in the world ever
got its freedom more drenched in blood than we—the blood of some six
lakh men, women, and children."^93 Interestingly enough, what these cow-
ardly priests desire most is "masculinity, the great courage." So Golwalkar
argues, "We want a 'Man' with a capital 'M'. We want a virile, masculine
man. Now our people are feminine men."^94 Since everyone likes "to wor-
ship and admire the strong," Golwalkar presents some role models: Hit-
ler, who eliminated the minorities and expanded the German territory,
and Abraham Lincoln, who foiled the secession of the Southern states and
maintained the integrity of the United States.^95 There is an eagerness and
resolve to demonstrate the newfound militancy and heroism, and it ema-
nates in the assertive mobilizations, hate speeches, demolitions, and the
communal riots.
This meticulous groundwork does not suffice for massive following,
and there is a singular need to incite a sense of purpose and an urge for
redemption among the Rambhakts. And that takes some convincing rea-
soning. Golwalkar argues that the old Hindu seers fully understood the
concepts of nationality and national consciousness, and they emphasized
only country and race because religion, culture, and language were the
same all over their world. That was why Manu, the so-called law giver of
the Hindus, asked the people of the world to come to Hindusthan (coun-