Mahmood Farooqui is among the bloggers signed on to a new group blog project called Kafila, which I discovered via DesiPundit. (Other names on the roster include Shivam Vij, the omnipresent progressive blogger/journalist, and Nivedita Menon, a well-known, Delhi-based academic).
For his first post at Kafila, Farooqui reprints an essay he had published in Tehelka, on the uncomfortable position he finds himself in as a secular — indeed, atheist — Muslim intellectual in today’s India. The place to start might be where he lays his cards on the table:
Let me explain my locus. I am an atheist, I follow none of the Islamic taboos, but I live in a locality in the capital that can only be called a ghetto. I lived here for five years, when I was a student, when I was very self-consciously opposed to the Indian Muslim stereotype. I had grown up on Chandamama and Nandan, Holi was my favourite festival, Karna my hero, Shiva the great God, Hinduism a highly tolerant religion and I had dreams of attaining martyrdom fighting Pakistan. I was studying history and detested medieval Muslim rulers; I would expatiate on the reasons why Islam had trouble with modernity; I admired Naipaul and Rushdie; supported Mushirul Hasan during the Satanic Verses controversy — a novel I deeply admire in spite of its undoubted blasphemies — and I detested many things about Indian Muslims, except, predictably, Urdu literature and Sufism. I was, in short, a model Hinduised-Indian-Muslim, who always put India before Islam. I was desperate to leave Okhla. (link)
Okhla is a predominantly Muslim suburb (slum?) in south Delhi; Mahmood Farooqui has written a little more about life there in this article.
Tellingly, Farooqui had trouble leaving Okhla for Delhi’s posher (predominantly Hindu/Sikh) neighborhoods:
But I am now back in Okhla, arguing simultaneously for the legitimacy of difference and the fact of a universal human. Between the self-hatred of my youth and the current uneasiness with my earlier positions lies, possibly, a series of adult defeats — perhaps they have dulled my passions and my hatreds. However now I have, you could say, chosen to live here, after a series of eliminations — Defence Colony, Greater Kailash-I, Jangpura — on grounds of my being Muslim and/or not having a company lease. But, crucially, I came here because I was sickened by South Delhi and because I was incipiently aware of Okhla’s hospitableness. (link)
When he says “eliminations,” he means he was denied a lease — at least some of the time — because of his Muslim name. What happens to Farooqui as he tries to leave Okhla is a reflection of the double-bind he faces as he tries to balance his social identiy and background with a self-critical attachment to the idea of modern India as a nation. He fits in uneasily in Okhla, surrounded by conservative Muslim neighbors. But mainstream society isn’t very encouraging, and as a result the pull of his social loyalites remains alive:
More than this, however, my views, in conformity with the rest of the academic world, about the virtues of egalitarianism, liberty and a democratic welfare state are now far less uncomplicated than they were in my youth. I still search for vestiges of the narrative of liberty in Islamic pasts, I continue to valourise streams of pluralism in Muslim sultanates and extol those Indian Muslims of the past who were ecumenical and tolerant. I would still challenge descriptions of the medieval past that underline forced conversions or bemoan the second-class treatment of Hindus. If I do not have much truck with Islam, why then do I continue to search for narratives of tolerance in the Islamic past? Why do I smart when Vajpayee says that there is trouble and violence wherever Muslims live? Why is my attitude to Islam so defensive? (link)
In this essay (you should really read the whole thing), Farooqui doesn’t really come upon any answers to the double-bind he faces, but it is a remarkably forthright and careful attempt to articulate the problem of minority belonging — which isn’t so different from minority belonging in other national contexts.
More Mahmood Farooqui links:
Amit Varma’s post on a controversy regarding a possible instance of plagiarism in a book review Farooqui wrote
Dastan Goi, the lost art of storytelling
haha I know yellow is crude. How about Indians who resemble East asians in appearance? Hmm what about Madrasis being used as a term for all south indians? or is that mainly prejudice. there’ sother stuff of course. the sikh jokes are kind of annoying, especially since they are pretty much one of the most prosperous groups in India to my knowledge and are probably disproportionately represented in many important spheres. hehe I’m just an abd not plugged in to either the ABD or Indian born community. I’m just shooting off some observations gathered from online browsing. btw what are the most common Austo-Asiatic languages spoken in India? I could of course look it up.
And how many Muslim localities in India are going to let Hindus in?
To Razib the atheist, comment#37 “it can go the other way too. e.g., a muslim woman who marries a hindu man in the bangladeshi american community…lots of whispers and dirty looks (especially since the children were being raised hindu of course).”
In my experience most kids are raised under the mom’s religion because she’s the one who’s taking care of them most of the time. I know tons of half white/ half indian or pakistani kids, with all the dad’s being the indian or pakistani, and all the kids are either christian or just don’t have religion in their life.
fuck that. a positive stereotype is just as bad as a negative one.
how ?
In my experience most kids are raised under the mom’s religion because she’s the one who’s taking care of them most of the time. I know tons of half white/ half indian or pakistani kids, with all the dad’s being the indian or pakistani, and all the kids are either christian or just don’t have religion in their life.
this tends to be true in the USA (see kosmin’s american religious identification survey). less so in other countries. muslims bar females from marrying non-muslims cuz they believe that religion is passed through the father.
Builder, would you rather get the apartment or not? Would you rather face discrimination or not?
In an ideal world, people would understand us as we are. It’s not an ideal world, however, so I’m willing to accept accidental and misdirected blessings — since I’m anyway the victim of misdirected hostility often enough.
this sort of stuff really pisses me off – in my opinion, if this guys feel this way, leave india – he would be better off, and frankly india would be too – your muslim brothers are getting f*ed everywhere, be glad that you can live a better life in india
putting india before islam? the two are completely different things, and the fact that this guys even thinks about these two in the same line is sad
the BJP is not a radical hindu party, and anyone who dares thinks this is an ingrate – ofcourse, they support the hindutva movement, but by no means are they radical in their means unlike some other political parties in india
there are many mulsims who are ardent supporters of BJP and share the common vision of their brethren
and regarding vajpayee… the man is the greatest visionary and leader india has seen yet
Sena x, I don’t know if it’s really worth replying to your comments, since they’ve always seemed unreasonable to me before. But here goes:
You’re clearly misinterpreting Farooqui. His point here is, he wants to leave Okhla, and live in a mixed or mainstream community like Defence Colony. He’s hoping to join that mainstream, and live a normal life surrounded by tolerant people. Your attitude to his desire for tolerance is, by contrast, intolerant: if he says he’s a “Hinduised-Indian-Muslim,” he should just leave.
No, they are not two different things, and you know that. The standard charge against the Muslim minority from those on the right is, they’re unpatriotic, they’re rooting for Pakistan & the terrorists, etc. Indian Muslims have always been challenged, especially by chauvinists, to prove their loyalty. This writer is coming forward directly and stating that loyalty, as well as his frustration that it doesn’t seem to make any difference in terms of actually getting access to the privileges enjoyed by others.
Amardeep,
There are, in the author’s words, two kinds of Muslims. The nationalistic ones and the communalists. The writer himself made the statement that suggests that the only good Indian Muslim is a Hinduized one. He used to be one of those. He is not anymore. At one stage in his life he put India before Islam. He now suggests he does not do that. Setting aside the chest beating of the sainik, that was what I read from those statements.
I may have misread some of the nuance in the article by Farood. I got got a little lost in there.
I messed up the author’s name, Farooqui. Sorry.
JayV — I don’t think you got it.
Between the Scylla of disaffection — can an Indian Muslim be unmoved by the condition of Muslims — and the Charybdis of the illegitimacy of communitarian posturing, hangs the fate of the modern, secular Muslim
Clearly more than 2 categories.
Enough of the Muslim sob stories.. not just muslims, as someone already pointed out.. try getting an apartment for rent for a non-vegetarian in a vegetarian complex in India.. it is close to impossible..
But I do enjoy the irony of folks who migrate to the west (predominantly upper caste vegetarians) from India getting the same treatment from whites (for spicy cooking..) 🙂
you are right
why is that you dont here these “charges” against the sikhs,jains, and christians in the indian armed forces? so long as there are the likes of SIMI, Tableeghi Jamaat, and mullahs in india who daily deliver propaganda speeches about creating a separate muslim identity and so long as they continue to bicker about minor things such as the vande mataram being hindu, this is a healthy distrust and one that is essential for india
the only real answer for mahmood and all other moderate muslims is to be the voice of change
SenaX:
You got to be kidding me. Do you have any statistics to back that?
Most migrants to the west are probably so-called “upper-caste” but I don’t know if the majority are vegetarians. Even many of the 2nd gen Jains I know in America eat meat (and drink alcohol). In terms of the 1st gen, definitely a lot of the Gujjus and South Indians are vegetarian (even there a lot of the men will eat meat outside the home), but probably only a minority of the North Indians are veggie.
Big up peace between the two Punjabs
Mahmood touches on the feeling of many people torn between the clash of ideologies, what he says can be applied to anyone trying to navigate current conflicts without resorting to becoming mired in a seige mentality where one is forced to pick a side. Peace to the soul rebel brother
You got to be kidding me. Do you have any statistics to back that?
Not to endorse the sentiments by SenaX. There are few BJP leaders who are Muslims: Sikandar Bakht, Raj Babbar (he is currently not a formal member of BJP). Here is an interesting article.
Also I don’t know that its useful solely as an example of “minority belonging” although it does seem to apply there. I think it applies more to those who wish to live in pluralistic societies. Members of “majority” communities it seems to me would feel many of the same consequences. I think we should move away from the paradigm by which “we” as desis are a minority population. In a globalized world, every ethnic identity is a “minority” in a way, and also part of a “majority”. Unless you identify as an ethnic group without a regional base. But even then, within a certain sphere, every Other is an Essential. I think thats one reason 1st generation people adjust well often; they don’t percieve themselves as an Other because they have a memory of being Essential. The second generation sometimes forgets that and succumbs to a feeling of being a permanent Other.
Wakan Tanka bless
Kush – there’s a very negligible number of Muslims in the BJP, and all five of them are or have been in prominent positions or spokespersons, like Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Shahnawaz Hussain and Sikandar Bakht. If you look at the religious and caste breakdown of BJP party members and candidates, Muslims are also a teeny teeny percentage there, much lower than in other parties; ditto for breakdown of those who vote for the BJP. Looks like the strategy of putting Muslims in visible positions is working, though, if folks are getting the impression that they draw Muslim members in any significant way.
And Raj Babbar was Samajwadi Party, last I heard.
The BJP just did very well the UP municipal elections, winning 8/12 mayoral posts. When asked about her party’s lukewarm performance, Mayavati quipped “Muslims vote for ‘hardliners’, what do you expect?” or some such thing. The Samajwadi party has got to be the most appeasing party in India. Look at the behavior of one of its Muslim ministers right after the Danish cartoon controversy. I hope they take a good whipping in the assembly elections.
And Raj Babbar was Samajwadi Party, last I heard.
He got suspended from Samajwadi Party, and is….
Sure, BJP’s slice within Muslims is very tiny but not completely non-existent.
Isn’t Raj Babbar a Sikh? ???
Not to endorse the sentiments by SenaX. There are few BJP leaders who are Muslims: Sikandar Bakht, Raj Babbar (he is currently not a formal member of BJP). Here is an interesting article.
Can someone please post exit poll numbers (from a recent election) so we can get a better picture of Muslim support for the BJP.
Regarding mongoloid features in NE…. HAHA some one here just had problem with use of Negro by an economist. But such features known as pahadi in hindi are seen allover the foothils of himalayas so thats not just the NE. Kashmir,Himachal,kumaon,uttaranchal,UP,Bihar,Bengal, also have a lot of folks with such features. They are seen in many groups such as Jats and Rajpoots(many rajpoots married into other rajpoots and nepalis make a good section of rajpoots). Look at features of Subhash Chandra Bose\’s Granddaughter. Some tribals from SE india also have features that they can be mistaken for filipinos. also tidbid there is a group of malays in SriLanka… Interesting thing to note is an ethnic group in india is allways alleging central asian roots in a glorified vain way. But visualy they look nothing like that….I will check out what spencer wells journey of man had to say on that…. I dont think it had much to say on that. Also Raj Babbar is not a sikh I do know that for a fact
Isn’t Raj Babbar a Sikh? ???
He might be of mixed religion heritage, primarily a Jat.
I think he might have technically declared himself a Muslim when he had two wives: Nadira Babbar, and Smita Patil. Something like Dharmendra.
The Samajwadi party has got to be the most appeasing party in India
Hardly needs to be said, but appealing to the interests of Indian Muslims is not ‘appeasement’ — it’s responsive politics. Indian Muslims are Indians, not India’s enemy.
It looks like Farooqui is going through a phase of getting back to his roots and I think that is something a lot of us can identify with. Muslims get challenged in terms of identity in India quite often, and I sympathize with his position very much. I read two of his articles, and I found this line of his interesting : I was, in short, a model Hinduised-Indian-Muslim, who always put India before Islam.
It is not easy for me to think about how it might be to actually be Muslim in India. I went to a bunch of schools in India, and had a lot of Muslim friends. I didn’t really think about their being Muslim very much in the beginning. Like, remember Anwar in Tinkle? It didn’t even occur to me that Anwar was Muslim until I had been reading it for many years. I think it is just like that for many Indians. Even after I did realize it, it never really occurred to me to characterize their beliefs as “Hinduised-Indian-Muslim”. I have always thought of it as a case of modernized Islam (just as there is modernized Hinduism as opposed to Hinduism from the 14th century). Not that certain concessions, even economic ones, to Hinduism are not being made, but it would be interesting to know in what way such concessions are being made.
Perhaps other people might want to clarify with their own views on the matter. It seems to me so far that the big part of it is a move towards modernism and moderation. This is not to point fingers. I think that a big part of the solution to religious extremism, whether Hindu, Muslim or Christian, is religious moderation and Enlightenment values, and I hope that this question will be taken in that spirit.
Comments about Raj Babbar are truly hilarious. Raj Babbar – a Muslim, a Sikh, a BJP-ite. Well, well!
Raj Babbar is a Punjabi Hindu married to a Muslim Nadira Zaheer (daughter of Sajjad Zaheer of IPTA) and also illegally(?) married to the late Smita Patil by whom he had a son. Raj Babbar has never been a member of the BJP. He is opposed to the BJP ideology. He was with the Samajvadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav till he was thrown out and is now with the former Prime Minister of India, VP Singh, under a new political tag – Lok Janashakti Party – which seems to be in a state of desperate wilderness. Despite Kush Tandon’s surmise about his conversion, Raj Babbar did not convert to Islam.
As for the Muslims in the BJP – Sikander Bakht is no longer alive. The only two leaders of any consequence are Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Shahnawaz Hussain and enjoy absolutely no support amongst the Muslim community of India. They are the Hindu-Muslims – a sumpsumptive concept that Guru Golwalker – the RSS ideologue – had propounded in his infamous “Bunch of Thoughts”.
Correction: Sajjad Zaheer of IPTA should read as Sajjad Zaheer of PWA.
Well put Sahej
I hope it works to change the priorities and face of BJP. India badly needs a party thats right of the center, but the current political situation doesn’t seem to be headed that way. They should get another chance at the center to be able to break off the clutches of RSS and VHP.
But does that work in the interest of the muslim community? I have not followed the policies of SP to be able to make a conclusion on that, but would like to know if somebody here knows about it.
SP has a formidable presence in my home state (UP). They are often seen as “Muslim appeasers” primarily due to their one-on-one battle with BJP (‘Hindu appeasers’). During the Babri Masjid demolition, BJP gained a lot of ground in UP (esp amongst hindutva minded folks) and exploited the religion card. Mulayam Singh Yadav saw this opportunity to rally for the OBCs (esp. Yadav clan) and Muslims.
There are a lot or urban/semi-urban centers in UP which have a big Muslim base (Lucknow, Aligarh, Meerut, Mirzapur etc). In-spite of that, many people (mostly Muslims) in these places have repeatedly voted for “better” candidates (eg. Atal Behari Vaajpayee has been representing Lucknow for the last 15 years). SP’s tactics have yielded better returns in rural areas.
The only two leaders of any consequence are Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Shahnawaz Hussain and enjoy absolutely no support amongst the Muslim community of India.
From what I can tell, you are right on the mark.
There are a lot or urban/semi-urban centers in UP which have a big Muslim base (Lucknow, Aligarh, Meerut, Mirzapur etc). In-spite of that, many people (mostly Muslims) in these places have repeatedly voted for “better” candidates (eg. Atal Behari Vaajpayee has been representing Lucknow for the last 15 years).
brown_fov: Without exit poll numbers, I am not sure if we can accept as fact the assertion that a lot of Muslims vote/have voted for Vajpayee. Muslims dont constitute more than 25% of the electorate in Lucknow so Vajpayee can very well win comfortable majorities without getting any significant percentage of Muslim votes. Also Vajpayee was always considered a ‘moderate’ in the BJP so that might have something to do with Muslims voting for him.
Anyway, here some are exit poll numbers: From the election in UP in 98: Voting in UP was according to caste and religious lines. The BJP won 9 per cent of Muslim support.
From the 98 National Election: Another problem for the BJP remains its social base. While the party has more support than the Congress among Hindus, urban voters and the upper castes, it lags behind the Congress in the rural and lower-caste segments. Only six per cent of the Muslims support it. If voter turnout is high on election day, the BJP could find that its phenomenal growth is still not good enough for victory.
[i]The only two leaders of any consequence are Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Shahnawaz Hussain and enjoy absolutely no support amongst the Muslim community of India[/i]
You wish..
Shahnawaz Hussain, won the Bhagalpur by-poll for the BJP very recently defeating RJD and 13 other candidates
AMFD
9 percent is quite a substantial number for a Saffron party, one can wager it was much below that some years ago. Further the stats prove the BJP remains a favorite with the middle classes and the literate, and quite contrary to the dirges sung and obituaries read the BJP is set to regain power if the UPA were to fall. The MP, Bihar, UP by polls were not just won but swept. So Afzal supporters’ – party’s coming to an end!
Amardeep mentioned about indians being model minority. May be muslims in india behave like indians in USA (also, hindus in india should behave like whites in USA).
In case any one is still trawling thru the comments – here’s my 2 nickels.
For the record I live in India and a rather indifferent Hindu. I do believe in the basis of my faith and I like the fact that my being faithful does not obligate me to go to any extreme.
Anyway – I read Farooqui’s piece with interest. Here’s my poser:
He was a normal ‘hinduized-indian-muslim’. Obviously he thought that there was a lot of good in what he thought and believed.
If his stance has changed now, I for one would be interested in what has essentially changed.
Was it that he saw parts of India/Indians that he had not known earlier and hence the tilt to the other side? Was it that he discovered that the Ramayana and the other tome Mahabharata subtly demonized Muslims (joke)? Just what was it? If his belief was that all that is good comes from a syncretic Indian milieu I would say it was an extremely loosely held belief that a few riots and anti Muslim rhetoric has caused him to lose it? If he thought earlier that the vast majority of Indians were peacful and secular, there was evidence that this was indeed so post Gujrat.
My only point is this. Oh and this goes to all those who say ‘policies are driving Muslims into terrorists hands’. Hogwash I say.
Either you have strong beliefs that are based on sound judgements or your beliefs are not worth anything at all.
I dont mean to say that people should not change their beliefs, but to swing from one extreme to the other…is a bit much to stomach.
It’s actually just another more sophisticated way of playing the victim card, thats all.
Stop perscuting us with this kind of article or you will push more Hindu faces into the saffron balls!
Stop criticisng us. Articles that try to show we are not moderate are genocidal.
Hail Mogambo!
http://www.hindu.com/elections2004/verdict2004/stories/2004052000310700.htm
Al Mujahid, In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, BJP+ receieved about 11% of the Muslim vote nationwide, but there are great regional variations within that total – check out the link I provided. The NDA (BJP plus partners) beat the UPA (Congress plus partners) in both the so-called forward vote, and in the so called OBC vote (for the first time). They dramatically caught up with the UPA among tribals (which demonstrates their humanitarian efforts are working). The two places they do not do well are among Muslims and Scheduled Castes.
Risible: That 11% vote is the figure for BJP plus allies. So we dont really know what percentage of votes was for the allies and what percentage was for the BJP by itself. I cant find any numbers on the internet but I would be really surprised if a Non-Muslim BJP candidate could pull more than 2-3% of the Muslim vote. Muslims almost vote as a block against the party which is in the best position to beat the BJP. That of course might change as new alliances emerge.
Playing a victim card nothing else. Is this the ONLY type of discrimination? In Mumbai there are societies after societies which are Only Gujju, Only Marathi, Only Parsi, Only Christian and OFCOURSE Only Muslim. And why do we forget that there are manyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy places where everybody stays amicably. Ditto for rest of the cities.
I hate these cry babies. I am sick of it.
If only people consider the atrocities towards the minorities in Muslim majority countires and areas witin India one will have to admit that Muslims are having a very good stay. It is their home too as much as anybody elses.
Wonder if Muslims will be happy even after Islamizing the whole world also. Then other issues such as race and ethnicity will be reason for differences, fights and killings. people will try to impose there brand of Islam and so on…am sick of it all…why are muslims like this???????????
Lazyboy,
I don’t see any point in Farooqui’s comments where he suggests he’s turning towards extremism.
I speak from a completely “ABD” perspective here, so perhaps I’m missing something fundamental. But his experience does not sound dissimilar from that of many American Desis following the 9/11 attacks. Many minorities grow up believing that there is a fairly well-defined path to acceptance and success in a society. If you buy into the myths and ideologies of the majority, perhaps that majority will accept you. Perhaps you can overcome historical attitudes towards people like you (whether based on religion or race). But if this path does not provide the integration that it promised, I think it’s natural to feel confused and shaken. If acceptance is not possible among the majority, it’s natural to seek out community within your minority identity. But, to his credit, Farooqui remains very wary of the drawbacks of that option, especially as an atheist.
It may not be enough that “most” Indian Hindus are tolerant and peaceful. A vocal enough minority opinion can be a very frightening thing — particularly if it’s a vocal minority that holds a non-neglible amount of political influence. I know that I became much more interested in ethnic identity and community after members of the American Right began calling for ethnic profiling and indefinite detention. Sometimes, the fact that other people care about your identity (whether racial or religious) means a lot more than whether or not you do.
Ya, and in country like India everyone is a minority in some way or the other. Brahmins are minority, gay are minority, sikh, jain, parsis, jews, vegetarians, hindus in kashmir and parts of NE, working women, OBC doctors, physically challenged ……….
Now should we all start like cry babies for this reason or that…
The Congress gets the highest share of votes among the Muslims as well. But at 47 per cent, this is much lower than what the party would have liked or hoped for. The biggest challenger of the Congress for the Muslim votes is of course the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Left in West Bengal. Notwithstanding much hype about BJP making effort to secure Muslim votes, there is very little evidence to show any gains for the NDA. Its share of 11 per cent among the Muslims is actually about four points less than what the BJP and allies secured last time.
Now how much of this 11% is BJPÂ’s and how much JDUÂ’s (then Samta Party) is clear to those who know the virulent communal character of the BJP. Only the forces of right reaction permanently parked before the saffron mirror keep endlessly deluding themselves about the growing influence of the BJP amongst the Muslim minority of India.
It mustnÂ’t be forgotten that the same Shahnawaz lost the 2004 Elections by a whopping 160530 votes margin.
The 2nd para in my last post viz:
should be within inverted commas. It is a quote from The Hindu.
And yet there’s not a large gay Brahmin nation next door to stir up sentiment. Unless I’m more ignorant than I thought (and again, this is possible, being American-born & raised), perennial anti-Parsi riots don’t rock Indian cities. Millions of people weren’t displaced on the creation of “Working Women-stan”.
Don’t get me wrong, I know some politicians exploit these identity tensions and create a sense of affront for purely political gain. But that’s part of what Farooqui is reacting to. Reading his post on Kafila, it seems clear that he feels that it’s impossible to live independent of faith. Because of his name, his family, and his non-religious customs (eg: sitting out Holi, Diwali, etc…), he can’t just be “Mahmood Farooqui, random dude”, he will always be “Mahmood Farooqui, Muslim”. As a “Muslim atheist”, he is always called upon to renounce the religion of Islam, yet he continues to encounter the unequal treatment deriving from religion. At the same time, he cannot truly find community in his ethnic community, since he is an atheist. He is trapped in the middle. Make of that what you will, but it’s certainly an interesting quandry. I think these lines from his concluding paragraph summarize it best:
It’s an interesting problem, if nothing else.
Thanks for the analysis Panini. I dont know anything about this clown Shahnawaz and what he stands for. Over history, there have always been useful idiots for any ideological movement.