The New AXIS of Ideologies

Whenever a war breaks out, it is not armies that kill each other and destroy one another's countries; those responsible for the destruction are ideologies. It is the nature of ideologies that determines whether states remain at peace with each other or wage ruinous wars. Human history is replete with many ideologies that have cost thousands, if not millions, of lives. In today's fractured global politics, ideologies like Zionism, Hindutva and Trumpian populism are triggering chaos and uncertainty. The instant piece of writing will throw light on these controversial ideologies and the damage that they have caused.

Zionism is a Jewish nationalistic ideology greatly promoted by its modern father, Theodore Herzl, in the late 19th century. Its proponents demanded that the Jewish people be granted a separate state in the land of Palestine to escape persecution in Europe. Even a huge number of Western leaders thought that the creation of a separate Jewish country would evade all the hostilities against the people of the book. Zionism, hence, succeeded with the Balfour Declaration, which helped create a Jewish state: Israel. However, with the passage of time, Zionism took an uglier turn. The Zionists are now claiming that the entire land of Palestine is their ancestral territory. They have also vowed to expand their country elsewhere in the Middle East – “Greater Israel" theory. For the completion of this disastrous project, Zionists have slaughtered thousands of innocent people throughout the region and destabilized several countries, with Lebanon and Syria being the most prominent.

As evident from its very name, Hindutva is a Hindu nationalistic ideology. It was first developed in 1923 by the Hindu nationalist leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who wrote a pamphlet titled 'Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?' This ideology places Hindu identity as superior to other identities in India. As per this ideology, only those who consider India both their fatherland (pitribhumi) and holy land (punyabhumi) belong fully to the Indian culture. Hindutva greatly discourages secularism and pluralism. Those who adopt this ideology also loathe the monarchs who conquered India and ruled over it, like the Mughal emperors. The current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Narendra Modi, also follows this ideology. The BJP has destroyed the secular norms of India by championing Hinduism over all other religions. Their primary targets are often Muslims who routinely face oppression at their hands. Moreover, Mahatma Gandhi, whom the world admired for his non-violence, was brutally killed by Nathuram Godse, a follower of this extremist ideology. Godse is hugely admired by the followers of Hindutva and the BJP.