The PK debate: It's not about Aamir Khan's film, Sangh parivar should stop relying on victimhood

The vandalisation of cinema theatres which were screening Aamir Khan’s PK by Bajrang Dal and other Hindu organisations reveals a pathetic mindset where every slight, real or imagined, must draw outrage. While it is possible that our filmmakers tend to handle minority sensitivities with greater care than they do Hindu ones, there is also a reason for it: the average Hindu has been more relaxed and flexible about his faith than the average Muslim or Christian. But prolonged periods of demonisation of Hinduism by Marxists and secularists have taught the Sangh’s outrage brigade that till you get violent, you will be taken for granted. Continuous proselytisation by various evangelical and other groups has convinced many Hindu organisations that their faith may be too weak to withstand the onslaught of Christianity and Islam - both of which are in a long-term contest for remaining, or becoming, the world’s largest faith. Given Islam’s growth demographics, evangelical organisations in the US are in a feverish mood to conquer India - and China, if it permits evangelisation at some point of time. [caption id=“attachment_2022883” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] AFP[/caption] To combat this pincer movement, Sangh strategists are - without admitting it - essentially moving their brand of Hinduism closer to the rigidities of Abrahamic faiths. While it is technically impossible to make Hindus believe in one god or one scripture, given our history, the movement towards fewer gods, visible symbols (trishul, tilak), and one main scripture (Gita more than Vedas) is clearly visible. This movement towards more rigidity in religion cannot happen without force - and force cannot be garnered without the excuse of outrage and injured sentiment. This is why even though few Hindus who have seen PK may have felt offended by its content, the Bajrang Dals make an issue of it by violence and vandalism. Outrage needs a sense of injury and feelings of victimhood - and this is what is being sought to be nurtured by the Sangh. This was the path taken by Christianity in its growth phases, where first feelings of victimhood were generated by the aggressive courting of martyrdom. These martyrs were later extolled as great souls who then served as advertisements for the growth of the faith. Today’s Islamic jihadis are all driven by real or imagined stories of past and present insults and injustices meted out to them by the West, by Israel, by India – or whoever they can designate as anti-Islam. Once you manage to create a sense of victimhood or martyrdom in a community, it starts feeling morally empowered to take the next step. Violence often follows as a victim is always seen as morally entitled to fight back or take revenge. It is now the turn of the Bajrang Dals to create their own (often false) narratives of victimhood to justify their actions. Despite the reality of India’s one-sided secularism, where the focus is only on Hindu communalism and minority communalism gets a free pass, the root cause of the rage among certain Hindu groups is the perceived strengths of rival faiths. Violent attitudes are the inevitable result of wrong perceptions about one’s own impotence when contrasted against the opponents’ imagined virility. A strong man does not need violence to make his point; a weak man will have a chip on his shoulder about it and resort to violence when it is safe to do so. This is one reason why the parivar is acting up with the ascent of Narendra Modi. If the RSS and its extended parivar truly believe in Hinduism’s plural character and its long-term destiny, they need to introspect on whether the mindless violence of some of its groups is going to serve their cause or ruin it by turning Hindus away from Hinduism. All the chest-thumping about conversions and Hindu Rashtra has probably cost them more by way for credibility than anything good they may have done in their lives. The parivar, in its blind rage, is sawing the branch on which Hinduism is sitting today. PK has nothing to do with it. They need to reimagine Hinduism by shedding the false sense of victimhood. Or else they will lead us straight to an Indian version of Pakistan.