Hatred is a disease spreading in a large number of nations: Ashis Nandy

Hate has gradually become a crucial part of the repertoire of a large number of nation-states, said Prof. Ashis Nandy, honorary distinguished fellow and member of the board of governors, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.

Delivering the Malcolm Adiseshiah Memorial Lecture ‘Regimes of hate; regimes of conviviality’, at the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai, on Tuesday, Prof. Nandy said: “Hatred is now large-scale, propagated in the media. It is a measure of your nationalism. This is a disease that is spreading. Once you start pushing your people to have hatred, that hatred is reciprocated. After a point it becomes part of your life.”

Pointing to the victims of genocide in the 20th century, Prof. Nandy said: “A huge majority of the roughly 225 million victims of genocide have been killed either directly or indirectly by their own states. Such states also often produce charismatic rulers with massive fan followers behind a facade of loathing. They become heroes of the hate culture. The Third Reich still remains the most unnerving example of such hate cultures. For the last word on these wildly popular leaders, we can borrow the words of a character in Aravind Adiga’s novel White Tiger who asks, ‘Do we loathe our masters behind a facade of love or do we love them behind a facade of loathing’.” 

Giving an example from the Gujarat riots of 2002, Prof. Nandy explained how Inspector-General of Police K.P.S. Gill spoke to a few politicians, before the riot gradually subsided. “Is it possible to master hatred or does one need to go to professional psychotherapists to unlearn hatred? Can ordinary citizens learn from everyday life accidentally or by being suddenly exposed to new, unavoidable experiences or extreme situations?”, Prof. N

Talking about regimes of conviviality, Prof Nandy said such regimes usually try to shun the idea of social engineering in all its forms, relying on the social changes brought about by the citizens. “First to qualify as a convivial regime, a country must shed its ambition of monopolising total power over all sectors of citizens’ life. A convivial regime never thinks of establishing a thought police, to force its citizens to obediently think exactly the way the ruling regime wants. Convivial regimes tend to be decentralised, they not only pay lip service to diversity but take seriously even the small ethno-cultural entities and voices. A convivial society values its intellectuals, independent or partisan, particularly journalists, publishers, writers, artists, and cartoonists. Alas, regimes of conviviality are few, regimes built on hate are many.”

Amrita Datta, Assistant Professor, IIT Hyderabad, delivered the Elizabeth Adiseshiah Memorial Lecture, ‘The Migration Question in India.’

“The pandemic and subsequent economic downturn have been associated with increasing informality and rising nativism in India’s cities. This, in a myriad of ways, has led to a backlash, and further marginalisation of migrant workers,” said Prof. Datta. ACJ chairman Sashi Kumar spoke.