Ram Puniyani
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. rojecting 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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