Are Right-wing intellectuals making an impact in India?

There is a commonplace perception among the Indian thinking classes that the Right wing (RW) in general, and the Sangh Parivar more specifically, is intellectually deficient. Has the time come to rethink this notiom? I was recently at the annual Bharatiya Vichar Manch (BVM) conference in Ahmedabad on “Hindu Thought in the Context of Globalisation,” along with a host of nationally and internationally recognised academics, scholars, writers, and intellectuals. The two-day event, carefully organised and meticulously executed, was hosted by the Gujarat University, a historic centre of higher education, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and established in 1949 by public-minded and nationalist citizens of this mercantile and industrial city. A success by any yardstick, this conference signalled the mainstreaming of modern Hindu thought in a post-secular India.

The speakers included Vamadeva Shastri (David Frawley); Shailendra Raj Mehta, Director MICA; Tulsi Tawari, entrepreneur and strategist; Nivedita Bhide, Vice-President, Vivekananda Kendra, Neerja Arun Gupta, Principal, Bhavan’s College, Ahmedabad; Indumati Katdare, educationist; Rajendra Mishra, historian; Shankar Saran, Professor of Political Science, NCERT; Rakesh Kumar Mishra, professor and educationist; Rameshwar Mishra “Pankaj,” Director, Gandhi Vidya Sansthan; Rakesh Sinha, professor and Member of Parliament, and myself. The meet was inaugurated by Krishna Gopal, Joint General Secretary, and concluded by the Sarasanghachalak or Head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Over 850 people registered , with some 650 actually paying the Rs 500 fee to listen to us. Many of these participants were from outside Gujarat, over 30 per cent below the age of 30. There were over 120 teachers among them, 90 with Doctorates. 

The RSS recognised long ago the importance of cultivating thought in addition to promoting activism. As the BVM website says, “Thoughts influence one’s level of consciousness. Therefore, thought alone, in a right direction and noble spirit, is a starting point of creativity. … In turn, the degree of the level of consciousness in the common man determines the strength of a Nation.” The BVM, which began these conferences ten years back, has been more active in the last four year since Shreekant Katdare, a senior RSS activist, took charge. Under his leadership, BVM has organised several conferences and symposia, published books, and encouraged serious thinking on Bharatiyata. Inspired by the “great thinkers and seers of this country” BVM tries to foster a “harmonious relationship between apparently conflicting... entities such as self and non-self, individual and society or mankind, living and non-living” entities. Its “integral approach,” derived from the Vedas, motivates it to “encompass and embrace several divergent noble schools of thought.” 

The parent and sponsoring organisation behind the BVM is Prajna Pravah, which describes itself as a “nationwide intellectual movement rooted in Bharatiya ethos and traditions.” The underlying goal is quite ambitious, to hold aloft the flag of the Indian civilisation against the rising tide of globalisation, which “is sweeping across the continents, upsetting and uprooting longstanding cultures and traditions, values… and forcing radical changes whose consequences are unpredictable.” Indian civilisation is seen as the sole bulwark against “the onrush of a consumeristic and materialistic civilization, which has no foundation of a wholesome philosophy, or integral vision of life. For the sake of humanity’s future wellbeing, this threat has to be squarely faced at all levels. Prajna Pravah has been visualised as an intellectual forum which can take up such challenges effectively, through in-depth studies, research, and propagation of ideas among the elite and the common masses.”

In our BVM conference too, speaker after speaker highlighted the destructive and suicidal nature of consumeristic and devouring modernity. In his Valedictory Address, Bhagwat predicted that the world would turn to India, which was destined, once again, to offer guidance and spiritual succour. India was seen essentially not only as a spiritual but spiritualising civilisation, offering the antidote of self-knowledge and liberation to those who were looking for a way out. 

The harmonising and non-predatory thought of Bharat, represented by Sanatana Dharma, alone could save the world, it was contended. Whether or not one agrees with this assertion or its underlying philosophy, an eloquent restatement and reiteration of its primary tenets certainly offered a different perspective from the dominant Western orientation of our intellectual life and endeavours. It was certainly refreshing to experience the confidence and enthusiasm in our civilisational values expressed during the BVM. It remains to be seen whether such a view gains greater ground in the days to come.

Author is Director, IIAS, Shimla Views are personal