Ramarajya: Envisioning the Future and Entrenching the Past 81tains and the rivers of India, and the forests and the broad fields, which gave us
food, were all dear to us, but what counted ultimately were the people of India,
people like them and me, who were spread out all over this vast land. Bharat Mata,
Mother India, was essentially these millions of people, and victory to her meant
victory to these people. You are parts of this Bharat Mata, I told them, you are in a
manner yourselves Bharat Mata, and as this idea slowly soaked into their brains,
their eyes would light up as if they had made a great discovery.^20As colonial education entrusted the teacher with grandeur and authority,
the Westminster-type political system granted the politician resplendence
and responsibility. Both schoolteachers and politicians have continued to
perform as important a political-socialization function in India as any-
where else.
The relatively well-meaning and expedient Nehruvian project pales
in comparison with the hate campaign of the Hindutva forces. Although
academic refutations in the form of modern secular historiography are
going on, they are presented mostly in English in largely poor and dated
textbooks, and those too have had limited reach in the country because
of mass illiteracy. The Hindutva forces dominate oral culture through
the audiovisual media, providing a simplistic hand-me-down history,
entrenching popular myths,^21 and expressing virulent anti-Muslim senti-
ments and avowed belief in violence. Some of the saintly cant uttered on
just one occasion include "Do you wish to live in a country dominated
by the aulaad (descendants) of Aurangzeb, who burned his father in oil?
Or do you want to live in a land ruled by the men of Ram, who fought
valiantly to save his brother at the cost of his life? Why should we tol-
erate those who eat the cows we worship? Why should Hindus give in
to those who want to overpower us with their multiple breeding and
anti-national views?"^22 Rithambara is one of the VHP speakers who have
earned national notoriety for hate speech. She crisscrosses the country and
addresses meeting after meeting. Moreover, her speeches are made avail-
able in audio and videocassettes. In one particular instance in Bombay, she
distributed katars (knives) in black sheaths to the Durga Vahini members
and exhorted them not to fail their weapons. In an hour-long speech, she
appealed, "If you are required to draw them out, ensure that your katars
taste blood," and the audience burst into frenzied applause.^23 Hate speech
has become an important component of political socialization that gives
rise to "communal atmosphere" in India.
IMAGING INDEPENDENT INDIA
The preindependence India had 88 "true kingdoms" whose rulers
were granted 11 or more gun salutes by the British on the basis of size
and historical importance.^24 There were also numerous small territories