Beyond Yoga, 'Ahimsa' And Vegetarianism: Carving Hindu Identity In The West Through Hindutva

Indian-origin Tory leader and a practicing Hindu, Rishi Sunak created history last week by becoming the first non-White, non-Christian person to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The appointment has brought the spotlight on multiculturalism and the rising popularity of the Indian diaspora in the West, both as a politically and economically strong force. Sunak's ascension to Downing Street has been touted by many including Indian media channels as an example of "Hindu representation". In an interview with Outlook, Dr Rinita Mazumdar, Prof. of Philosophy at Central New Mexico Community College, looks at the roots of the Indian diaspora in the West and the factors that have helped shape the "Hindutva ideology" in countries like the US. 

Do you think that there has been a global shift in the socio-political and economic positioning of the Indian diaspora across the world, especially the West (US, Canada, UK among others)?

I can only answer the above question in the context of Canada and the USA where I lived. We can divide the diaspora from the Sub continent roughly in three waves:

 - Early 1900: Mostly laborers for the industry and farmland workers.

- Immigrants in the 60s: Mostly technicians, scientists, engineers.

- Immigrants in 1990- present: IT workers

There has certainly been a shift in the economic positioning. There are most professionals and people in higher education from the Indian diaspora. There has been a huge number of IT workers and also students. The Indian diaspora is one of the wealthiest in the USA, mostly because of this second and third wave of immigrants.

According to the PEW Research Center as a religious groups the Hindus are the second most wealthiest after the Jews in the USA. It should be noted that Hindus in the USA, Canada, and Europe not only migrated from India, but also from Africa and the West Indies.

Regarding socio political shift: Usually, people from the Indian Sub continent who came during the first and second wave did not engage in political activities. During the 1980s and 1990s mostly Indian communities restricted themselves to festivals such as the Diwali or Durga Puja, that too within the community. There was no public participation as such neither were these festivals “global”. Nonetheless, since the second or third decade of the 2000 there has been a shift towards politicizing issues pertaining to the Indian diaspora. There is a general awareness that without political participation power cannot be wielded and demands of a community cannot be met. There has been organization around issues pertaining to South Asian concerns. We see organizations like Hindu American Foundation and the Hindu Students Council spring up. They are very active in issues pertaining to people who identify as Indian. For example, in school curriculum, there are misrepresentations of many issues such as what the caste system is and how it is dealt with in modern times, the origin of the Dharmic religions, and their present-day relevance. These are being debated and argued now by the Hindu American Foundation.

Further, during the attack on the Durga Puja festival many of the organizations of India origin have been vocal and active to bring to attention to the abuse of minorities in Bangladesh. Interestingly, also apart from the South Asian studies in various Departments, there are more people involved in various ways in activism around Indian, Hindu, and South Asian identities and the struggles to maintain these identities throughout history. This is no longer academic disciplines but also being debated and worked out. This is shown by the huge number of protests held in important cities across North America during the CAA protests (both for and against), and the atrocities on the Hindu minorities in Bangladesh during the Durga Puja in 2021.

What do you think has led to the rising sphere of Indian diaspora's influence?

I would say that the sphere of influence both in the USA and in Canada are still small compared to other groups, as the Indian diaspora is not as old as the European diaspora. Nonetheless, it is increasing as I said above. What factors led to the increase? Several:

1.     The increasing South Asian population who needed platforms to raise their concerns.

2.     The increase in Indian representation in spheres of education and business, means that they needed platforms to have their voices be heard.

3.     The increasing number of Indians in academia has considerably influenced the way people perceive many things including people of Indian origin their religion, custom, habits, and history.

Tell me a little about the Hindu identity in the West and how it has evolved over the years.

Unlike Continental Europe, where there was a plethora of Indology studies in the 19th century, in North America there was very little awareness of Hindu identity. Probably, the first major influence was Swami Vivekananda’s lecture on September 11, 1893. Post his arrival and lectures, there was a vague awareness about the “Oriental Mysticism” and a curiosity arose among people in North America. Since, there were no such thing as Indology Studies, this was not based on any prior knowledge.

The interest became a little deeper in North America since the Vietnam War. During this time America military came to know about “The East” and “Asia” in particular. Further, there was a huge change in the American society. There was a change that made Americans look elsewhere outside of their White middle class Christian ethos. Side by side, the Vietnam War and its aftermath created some sort of psychic scar within the American public who became increasingly suspect of their own political, social, and cultural systems. While looking inward to find the faults of their nation, they also started looking outward to find solutions. Looking inward they found that the so called liberal nation was based on slavery and colonialism, that were opposed to what was in the Constitution. At this time many spiritual Gurus came from India and established centers and gave lectures. The younger generation who were angry and frustrated started to look into these cultures that were foreign to them. Slowly departments also included South Asian and Hindu and Buddhist studies.

There is something tricky about how North America incorporated Hinduism. There was no scholarship called “Indology” or even “Tibetology” to build on the North American concept of Hinduism. So, they had to borrow that framework and sometimes had to start anew. A new and somewhat peculiar kind of concept of “Hinduism” evolved in the American psyche, that eventually became simultaneous with Yoga, meditation, vegetarianism, and non-violence of some kind. The latter was also influenced by Martin Luther King Junior's endorsement of Gandhis non-violence, although they still conflate Ahimsa with the way King implemented it, not in the philosophical sense of Gandhi. Buddhism had a stronger influence, and became the new “Indology” of the Americas like the Europeans. Hollywood stars became proponents of these “Eastern mysticisms” and somehow they became the “new age” religion for those who were trying to counter their “materialistic” culture.

Would you say that there has been a sharpening of the 'Hindutva' ideology in recent years? If so, what would you deem as factors that led to it?

I am not very sure about the connotation of “Hindutva” as an ideology, since a little research shows that it has several meanings. If we take “Hindutva” as similar to Zionism, as a political philosophy where India is the land for all who believe in some version of “Hinduism”, then we have a different explanation than if we take “Hindutva” as a force of resistance. With the immigrants, the majority of those who identify as “Hindus” perform their Hindu identity through participating in religious festivals and probably marrying within their community, identifying with some of the Hindu beliefs and prohibitions in custom, food habits, and so on. The vast majority of the Indian and Hindu diaspora do not adhere to the political ideology of Hindutva.

Since in the recent years there has been a shift to identify as Hindus and an awareness of their history there is a sense of civilization crisis that is showing among diasporic Hindu communities. By the latter I mean that there is a sense that somehow the religion of our forefathers that emanated from the Vedic tradition and then diversified into several branches is facing a threat and a crisis. There are academic debates around the sacred texts and how to interpret colonization and its influence to the civilization and how to create a voice of resistance. This is where the general public who never engaged in political activities are taking up “Hindu” as a political identity.

In psychoanalysis, specifically in the works of Sigmund Freud, identity develops around a threat, called castration complex, the threat of losing something, an organ of pleasure. In this case, there is a general awareness, that what is known as “Hindu” civilization is under threat of being annihilated or destroyed and a response and resistance is needed to save it. History has shown that other older civilizations have been destroyed over time via the encroachment of newer ideologies. This had led to the thinking that the politicization of “Hinduism” is needed, which has led to Hindutva ideology. The native American communities are examples of how colonization has led to the demise of their cultures. Hindutva is a modern ideology, that uses older tools and some European Indological ideology to create this space of resistance. A section of the diaspora has adopted it to assert their identity. It is both an internal fight against those who oppose it as not “Hinduism” and the internal threats of residual colonialism from the European and the Islamic Empires, as well as external fight against its diluting into a spiritual zombie consisting of Yogi, meditation, and vegetarianism.,

How do you think racism/anti-immigrant prejudices intersect with Hindutva in the West?

The “Hindutwa ideology” that I spoke about is a response to a civilization threat. In this sense, it is an resistance ideology and all resistance ideologies will have remnants of those that it resists. Hindutva in the West is not a response to the racism and anti immigrant prejudice, for those exclusionary policies are also being countered by left ideologies. Hindutva in the West is almost the same as it is in India, a response to a threat to civilization, an ideology to reclaim one’s cultural heritage, and an ideology to assert its identity against some aspects of modernism that threatens to engulf the civilization. The interesting thing is “Hindutva”, in its political ideology can accommodate some of the modern aspects of civilization and yet retain its identity and distinctness. In the West it is the same, it is a resistance identity, similar to other anti-racist ideologies and movements, but its root RE in India. It sees itself as a frontal worrier in a civilizational war. How it evolves we have to see in the future.