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From last several months (April
2013) the Bihar Chief Minister Niteesh Kumar is becoming more
vocal about his opposition to his electoral ally BJP projecting
Narendra Modi as the Prime ministerial candidate. He went on to
say that the PM candidate should be one who has a secular image,
in obvious reference to Narendra Modi’s role in Gujarat carnage of
2002. He also said that it was ok to work with Vajpayee or even
Advani should be ok. It is clear that all three; Vajpayee, Advani
and Modi are from the same political stable of RSS. They are all
the trained swayamsevaks of RSS, believing in the ideology of
Hindutva, which wants to bring in Hindu nation in place of secular
democratic India. Vajpayee played his role in this direction in
his own way, i.e. projecting a liberal image at a time when nobody
was willing to touch the BJP even with a barge pole. At that time
its role in Babri demolition and consequent communal violence was
too fresh in peoples’ memory. Advani was the one to bring to fore
this divisive agenda. Same Advani later tried to put forward a
secular image by calling Jinnah as a secular leader.
Kumar and his likes have given respectability to the BJP starting
from Jaya Prakash Narayan. He has no ideological compunction as
the longing for power is what matters more to him. Today why is
there such an opposition to Modi? One reason may be to woo the
minorities for electoral purpose which is very clear. For all
those who wish to uphold democracy and the liberal democratic
space for struggle of weaker sections of society, it is much more
pertinent that Modi-BJP remain on the margins and defeated
electorally. Irrespective of the calculations of Niteesh Kumar it
is clear to any student of politics that now BJP is making a
transition from a party working for communal agenda to the
communal fascist party in action, especially with Modi as the
leader. This communal fascism was inherent in its agenda right
from the beginning but it is becoming apparent lately, more so
with Modi’s possible candidature.
This transition of BJP’s politics and Modi’s candidature for prime
minster ship is a signal of sorts of the descent of fascism in
India. This fascist potential may become actualized if ignored by
those political formations which are committed to the interests of
weaker sections of society and for liberal values. The classical
fascism which trampled Europe’s Germany and Italy had certain
characteristics, which are there in the policies of BJP and more
so with Modi being on the helm. The major party of UPA, Congress,
is also for some of the economic policies which BJP is insisting
on. There are more points which fit into Modi’s persona being a
fascist one. To begin with more than any other leader his harsh
unrelenting opposition to minorities is a ploy to consolidate the
majority community. Surely this communal polarization has been
going on in India more so from last several decades through the
communal violence. The latest in this is that RSS seems to have
outsourced some of its vehemence to the communalized state
apparatus. This was so much visible in the recent Dhule
(Maharashtra) violence where the police itself went on to kill the
Muslims on some pretext. The polarization along religious lines
and communal fascist mobilization is also being achieved through
the acts of terror, which are attributed to the Muslims,
irrespective of who does it. In this polarization; Modi is the
hero of the section of society, which is fed with the poison of
communal propaganda.
The communalization of different wings of state is now becoming
qualitatively different, as a section of bureaucracy in particular
is on the same page as the communal forces. The state of media,
where the divisive thinking is projected in a sensational way and
the outpourings of RSS family are highlighted is a more than just
a matter of concern. The societal culture, the retrograde values
being dished out through TV serials of the genre of Saas bhi kabhi…
have their own role. The hordes of God men have played no mean
role in glorifying the values which are a modern version of caste
and gender hierarchy. These values are the base of sectarian
politics.
Modi has, more than others become the darling of big business and
the IT-MBA class. This section of middle class were also the
fulcrum upsurge of Anna-Kejriwal-Ramdev trio, which tried to
create distrust in the parliamentary democracy and hyper projected
the symptom of corruption rather than looking at the system which
gives rise to this abominable phenomenon. The Tata’s, Adani’s and
Ambani’s are all gaga about Modi as he has been gifting away
subsidies and land to them in a manner which shows a clear
collusion between big business and Modi. Parallel to his creating
an illusion of development, Modi has successfully propagated about
himself, an image which is that of a mass leader. In the analysis
of political phenomenon of fascism in India one knew that fascist
onslaught is led by a mass charismatic leader. Now with the help
of self generated propaganda and supported by the big business
Modi has filled that gap.
The parties like Congress also have tried to work towards an
authoritarian state, trying to restrict democratic ethos. In
contrast Modi is a living embodiment of totalitarianism, wanting
to abolish any dissent and liberal space. Seeing the pattern of
politics prevalent in Gujarat one knows the total dominance of
Modi, where the opposition to the mass leader cannot survive in
any form. Many a friends try to confuse between authoritarian
regimes and totalitarian fascism.
Earlier many political streams
tried to label the emergency regime (Indira Gandhi 1975) as a
fascist one. The mistake in that is that emergency was not a
product of mass movement, which the BJP-Modi led movement is. Modi
seems to be filling the missing slot of the mass charismatic
leader in Indian scenario. Whatever be the reasons for Niteesh
Kumar to oppose Modi, we need to realize that yes Modi is
different in today’s context. Ashish Nandy was very accurate when
he said that Modi has a classic fascist persona. Nandy had also
written an article 'Blame the middle class’, that again sums up
the class base of Modi and the looming fascism in India.
Still the game is not lost. The unevenness of Indian political
scenario is a saving grace against the homogenizing totalitarian
politics of Modi and company. The regional diversity and struggles
of democratic and oppressed sections is the major force which can
halt the march of Communal Fascism with Modi as the leader. The
point however is; will this be actualized in practice as the role
of Congress has been very suspect as for as secular values is
concerned. In popular imagination Congress is held responsible for
the anti Sikh violence of 1984, which is true. It is also true
that Congress has indulged in opportunism as for as secular values
are concerned, and BJP-Modi are clever enough to capitalize on
that. Irrespective of the party affiliations and shades, one thing
is sure that unlike other electoral formations, which are fairly
opportunist in different degrees and do compromise as for as
secular values is concerned. Still none of these should be
compared with BJP-Modi as the latter are the electoral wing of RSS,
the organization wedded to the agenda of fascist Hindu Rashtra.
Unfortunately currently many a countries are witnessing the
fascist streaks in the garb of politics in the name of religion,
Islamo-fascism being another such tendency which has been
trampling our neighboring countries.
We need to realize that democracy has no substitute. The politics
masquerading in the name of religion is a sure recipe for the
destruction of democratic edifice in the country. In India the
other point to note is that here this fascism has been growing at
a comparatively slower pace, which may distract our analysis from
its real character. It is in tune with this that critics of
Hindutve fascism are labeled as being anti Hindus, that is a
propaganda which appeals to the raw religiosity of section of
society. It’s time that all democratic elements form a united
front to thwart to fascist onslaught on the country, if the
country is to be saved from long dark tunnel of totalitarian
politics represented by Narendra Modi and his ilk.
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Haj
2013
Ethnic
Violence
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