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Pride and Prejudice: The Impact of Muscular Nationalism

When Canada and India’s ties soured, the fascist forces’ muscular nationalism was evident on social media. Their rhetoric brazenly assumes India has the right to execute its enemies on international soil, regardless of the law. They may question, “Isn’t the US and the UK invading other countries?” They declared war and the entire world was aware about those exercises; they were not covert military operations.

This brand of Indian nationalism is pervasive, infiltrating everything with mass appeal. It is significantly contributing to the deteriorating behavior of Indian youth while unemployment is at a higher rate.

The revered status of the Indian Cricket team and its players, that of politicians and prominent figures who embrace divisive agendas that align with a brand of assertive nationalism, positions them in a dominant stature compared to their counterparts, both within India and on the global stage. For instance, behaviors like sledging by Indian players are often viewed with pride.

Additionally, filmmakers and actors who support nationalism can sway their social media followers, leading to the reinforcement of divisive notions like “Pakistan is for Muslims, and India is for Hindus.” This impact can be observed in movies like “The Kerala Story” and “Kashmir Files,” which have played a role in shaping social perspectives.

The favorite punchline of these social media brawls is a belligerent “Don’t mess with India!”

Fascists believe in their fabricated glorious past, where India was once the knowledge center of the world and its strongman leader, a Vishwaguru (universal teacher), who should be venerated across international boundaries.

Let’s take a look at prehistoric India to see who the original Indians were and how India became what it is today.

According to muscular fascists, Muslims (mainly) and somewhat other minorities, including Christians, are trespassers in the holy nation of India. Everything else, the people (mainly those following Vedic culture), its civilization, and its teachings to the world, have existed since time immemorial.

But scientific evidence tells a different story.

Like any other landscape, including the Americas and Europe, India has also seen huge waves of migrations, forming the multicultural country we know today. According to these scientific discoveries, everyone in India is a migrant, except the tribals who have kept themselves away from the impact of modern civilization.

Iranian farmers

Nearly 60,000 years ago, the first Indians moved Out of Africa and reached the Indian landscape. They must have mixed with the human brethren like Homo erectus and Neanderthals. Crossing an ice age, fast forwarding to around 8000 BCE, Iranian farmers from Zagros mountains moved near Balochistan. They mixed with the first Indians who moved out of Africa and became the creators of Harappan Civilization. 

During that age, there was no Vedic culture, faiths like Islam, Christianity, Buddhism. It’s a no-brainer that these things didn’t exist but still it is imperative to mention them so that the muscular nationalists can easily understand.

After the first migration of Iranian farmers, there were two more large-scale migrations.

The Austroasiatic and Burman-Tibetan migrants

The Austroasiatic and Burman-Tibetan migrants who came to India during prehistoric ages are the ancestors of the many tribal communities that live in India today. The Austroasiatic migrants came from Southeast Asia and are thought to have arrived in India around 10,000 years ago. They brought with them a knowledge of agriculture and are thought to have been the first people to cultivate rice in India. The Austroasiatic migrants settled in the eastern and central parts of India, and their descendants include the Munda, Santhal, and Bhil tribes. 

The Burman-Tibetan migrants came from Northeast Asia and are thought to have arrived in India around 3,000 years ago. They brought with them a knowledge of metalworking and are thought to have been the first people to introduce iron to India. The Burman-Tibetan migrants settled in the northeastern and eastern parts of India, and their descendants include the Naga, Kuki, and Assamese tribes. 

The Austroasiatic and Burman-Tibetan migrants played an important role in the development of Indian culture. They introduced new technologies and ideas to India, and their descendants continue to play an important role in Indian society today.

The Aryans

According to the brainwashed muscular nationalists in India, this is when time began roughly 4000 years ago. The Aryans, originally the Steppe Pastoralists, came from central Asia and moved to India. 

They were:

They are descended from ancient peoples who domesticated horses and other livestock and developed a nomadic way of life to follow their herds in search of fresh pasture.

Steppe pastoralists have a long history of being warlike. This is due to a number of factors, including:

• The harsh environment of the steppe, which forced them to be tough and resourceful.
• Their nomadic lifestyle, which made it difficult to defend themselves from attack.
• The need to protect their herds, which were their livelihood.
• The availability of horses, which gave them a significant military advantage.

A mixture of migrants

It is true that the Aryans significantly impacted the cultural evolution of India but not its only source. Their cultures mixed with the Harappan civilization, with that of the earlier 3 migrant population to become what it is today.

Many foreign powers invaded India throughout history, including the Persians, Greeks, Scythians, Huns, Muslims, and British. Of these, the Muslims and British are the most recent, and therefore the most hated, by Indian fascists. The fascists’ vision is limited to the past and the future, and they are unable to see the present for what it is.

And this short-sightedness is what gives them the audacity to call themselves the Masters of the Universe, like the same way how the Nazis called the Aryans the purest race. 

Reference: Early Indians, by Tony Joseph