Technology and Nationalism in India: Cultural Negotiations from C ...

A look at the profile of the producers and consumers of online Hindu nationalism further enriches our view of the complex entanglements between technology and nationalism as embodied in technocultural Hindu nationalism. There appears to be a significant overlap between the respective profiles of the supporters of Hindu nationalism and Indians working in the technological field in India and overseas. The Internet seems to be the preferred medium and technology of choice for Indian professionals with Hindutva sympathies to promote the ideology and to wage war with competing narratives of national identity.

Following the liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991, IT products and services aimed at global and domestic markets now occupy the pride of place once granted to industrialization as the motor of the Indian economy. Greenspan observes that “inside India, there is no doubt that the IT industry has created jobs, strengthened exports and made substantial contributions to economic growth.”¹⁴ India’s value for the global economy is perceived as significantly dependent on its IT capabilities. Sachs, Varshney, and Bajpai note that “India is becoming one of the most important players of the world in the IT sector and it is the fastest growing foreign exchange earner for the country.”¹⁵ The Internet, in particular, is viewed as both agency and symbol of the benefits of liberalization and technological development. Wolcott and Goodman point out that “the Internet is central to the new vision of India as an IT power in many respects.”¹⁶ The importance of the Internet stems from its “core” role in IT development, its potential to profoundly change the nature of business and private communication, its widespread reach, and the fact that it is an agent of change in related “technologies, government policies, laws and services.”¹⁷ The Internet is one of the main attractions for American and European companies to set up back-office operations in Indian metros.¹⁸ The Indian central government and numerous Indian state governments seem to agree on the potential of information technology and the Internet for socioeconomic development.