On the explanatory adequacy of the Hindutva-as-Brahmanical model
Keywords:
Caste, Hindutva, India, casteism, Brahmanism, politics, elections, Sangh Parivar, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), casta, hindutva, castaísmo, brahmanismo, política, elecciones, Partido Popular Indio (BJP)Abstract
One of the most significant and confounding anomalies facing experts and commentators is the Hindutva movement’s popularity amongst Dalit and OBC voters. If the Hindutva movement is Brahmanical, how can it be the choice of those it seeks to oppress? This article examines this conundrum. It addresses three central arguments in claims that the movement is Brahmanical, showing how these are based on arbitrary, incomplete data (such as the claim that the Sangh Parivar is against caste-based reservations), or hide conceptual contradictions (such as the argument that the Sangh’s opposition to proselytization is casteist). Furthermore, taken to their logical end, explanations for the movement’s success amongst Dalit and OBC groups raise fundamental questions for/contradictions to the received view on the caste system. This article concludes that describing the Hindutva movement as Brahmanical raises many questions for the received view on the caste system without furthering our understanding of the movement in any way.
Una de las anomalías más significativas y confusas a la que se enfrentan expertos y comentaristas es la popularidad del movimiento hindutva entre los intocables y los votantes de OBC (otras clases atrasadas). Si el movimiento hindutva es brahmánico, ¿cómo puede ser el elegido por aquellos a quienes busca oprimir? Este artículo analiza ese misterio. Se ocupa de tres argumentos centrales de las afirmaciones de que el movimiento es brahmánico, mostrando que esos argumentos se basan en datos arbitrarios e incompletos (como la afirmación de que el Sangh Parivar está en contra de las reservas basadas en la casta) u ocultan contradicciones conceptuales (como el argumento de que la oposición del Sangh al proselitismo es castaísta). Además, llevadas a su extremo lógico, las explicaciones del éxito de ese movimiento entre intocables y grupos de OBC suscita preguntas y contradicciones a la visión que se recibe del sistema de castas. Este artículo concluye que describir el movimiento hindutva como brahmánico levanta muchos interrogantes sobre la visión del sistema de castas sin ahondar de ninguna manera en nuestra comprensión del movimiento.
Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1334
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Copyright (c) 2022 Garima Raghuvanshy
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