Hindutva versus economic growth

Two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states have been uber-conscientious about introducing decrees compatible with a Hindutva agenda. One is Uttar Pradesh, which records one of the lowest growth rates in India. The other is Karnataka, one of India’s faster growing states. Both states could find themselves struggling with the contradictions between the socio-economic aspirations articulated by their party and the deep saffron social agenda they have chosen to follow.

In UP, we can see the “love jihad” or UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance in action. Although other states have some form of restriction on inter-religion marriages, UP has raised the bar in unprecedented ways. The ordinance criminalises post-marriage conversions as a non-bailable offence with a six-month to three-year prison term.  It also requires the accused to prove himself innocent, a remarkable inversion of a legal system based on the assumption of innocence until proven guilty.

In real terms, as an Indian Express report shows, this has proven a carte blanche for the police and the Hindu community to interfere in any marriage between a Hindu woman and Muslim man, even though Hindu men converting to marry Muslim women also falls within the purview of the Ordinance. Of the 51 arrests made under this Ordinance, 49 Muslim men are in jail.

Reams have been written by liberal commentators about how this Ordinance denies women agency in their lives. This point bears reiteration as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seeks to stoke economic growth by relaxing labour laws and advertising the marvels of its single-window approval process for industrial proposals.

The CM is targeting manufacturing jobs that can put large numbers of people on assembly lines, where opportunities for women tend to be relatively narrow (mostly due to social prejudice). But growing economic activity tends to create a momentum of expansion in related activities that could expand the job market for women too. Gurugram is a good example of the multiplier effect for women not just in the IT and ITeS businesses but also in accountancy, travel, catering, housekeeping, beauty parlours and related services.  

So an expanding manufacturing sector in UP would mean a growing number of women will get to earn incomes as employees or entrepreneurs, a tiny step towards economic and social independence. A greater presence of women in the economic arena also means that they will meet men from other religions and castes outside of parental regulations. Inter-religious and inter-caste marriage can result from these interactions. Indeed, post-liberalisation has seen a rise in such unions.

The only way to ensure that this predicament does not befall UP’s Hindu women is to keep them at home, away from the unauthorised male gaze. Home is probably where most of UP’s women are now: Female participation in the workforce in the state was less than 10 per cent in both urban and rural areas in pre-Covid-19 years and has likely grown since.  

Now, the BJP’s election manifesto, which won the party such a huge majority in Parliament, explicitly states that the party is “committed to making women equal partners and equal beneficiaries of the progress and prosperity of the nation” and would focus on a road map “focussed on dramatically increasing the female workforce participation rate over the next five years.” The party also promises “to encourage industries and corporates (sic) to generate better employment opportunities for women”.

If we assume Mr Adityanath signed on to this agenda, then he must follow suit. But as long as “love jihad” permeates society in this current hostile and activist form, Hindu parents are unlikely to encourage their daughters to venture into the working world riven with risks of exposure to Muslim men in the workplace. How fast UP can grow by limiting job opportunities to men would be worth watching.

In Karnataka, the state government passed the Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, which is more draconian than anything other BJP-ruled states have passed. It outlaws the slaughter of buffaloes below 13 years in addition to cows, bulls and calves. Violations can attract imprisonment of three to seven years and the police have powers to search base on suspicion.

We have already seen the deleterious impact of cow slaughter bans in UP, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana over 2018 and 2019, where stray cattle rampaged through fields of standing crop. The projected long-term damage to milk production will soon be felt. But Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has resolved to double the share of agriculture in gross state domestic product from 16 to 30 per cent. Since dairying forms an important component of most farm incomes, it is difficult to see how the CM can achieve this if farmers cannot sell unproductive cattle, including buffaloes, for slaughter. Recently, sugarcane-growing farmers in northern Karnataka were encouraged to switch to dairy farming where the returns are better. They are unlikely to do so under the current dispensation. So neither the CM nor the BJP’s lofty ideals of doubling farm incomes are likely to be achieved. Economic progress demands all-round liberalisation. From “love jihad” to atmanirbhar, the forces of Hindutva are yet to understand that basic truth.