Mangalore
January 29, 2009
The recent shocking events and exposes appearing in the print and electronic media manifest a dangerous streak of fascist tendencies in the society, which if not reined on time may turn out to be a Frankenstein that might not only damage the reputation of India internationally, but cause fear psychosis among the minorities, journalists, women, artists and even common law abiding citizens.
There had been sporadic attacks on artists and writers for their works which were construed to be hurting the religious, historical or moral sensitivities of a particular community. People may still remember the Hindu radical groups vandalizing the paintings of the world renowned painter M F Hussein allegedly ‘insulting’ Hindu deities, forcing him into self-imposed exile; destruction of rare historical manuscripts in the Bhandarkar Oriental Institute in Pune by the Sambhaji Brigade against James Laine’s book on Shivaji, which supposed to have contained derogatory remarks against the Great Maratha Warrior King; the self-styled ‘moral police’ attacking shops selling Valentine Day cards; tearing down posters of films for alleged obscenity, and many other such incidents including the recent one in Mangalore in which the hoodlums of the so called Rama Sene attacking the pub and abusing young girls in the name of protecting ‘Indian culture’.
Besides these above isolated incidents, the major events that have shocked the nation such as the Gujarat riots in 2002 and the past and recent attacks on Christians in Gujarat, Orissa and Mangalore, the attack on north Indians by the Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) are viewed as the test cases for the implementation of the fascist ideology that has been nurtured and promoted by certain reactionary and fanatical groups in the name of religion, nationalism, patriotism and a common predominant culture.
The very recent developments appearing in newspapers clearly indicate the fascist mental set-up of certain groups. A retired principal, Ashwini Dhongde of SNDT College in Pune, a panelist at a multi-lingual Brahmin convention organized by the Maharashtra Brahman Sabha was asked to apologize when she said that upbringing is more important than rituals and practices such as wearing a sacred thread. Shiv Sainiks in Mumbai went on a rampage at Hotel International in Andheri in favour of workers dismissed by the management. The Registrar’s office in the Mumbai University was ransacked by the members of the Maharashtra Navanirman Vidyarthi Sena and Samtavadi Chatrabharati demanding that no option of a Social Science in the place of Marathi or Hindi should be given to the outsiders.
Another revelation that has exposed the true fascist nature of certain hard core Hindu radical groups is that the Malegaon blast accused, especially Dayanand Pandey and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit had hatched a conspiracy to carve out a separate nation for the Hindus and even suggested that India should be registered with the UNO as ‘Hindu Nation’.
The above observations clearly show that the fascist forces are very much at work and may soon become the cancer of the society that will sap the inner strength of a vibrant Indian nation. These developments are not spontaneous or recent. There has been a planned ground-work and indoctrination that goes back to the origin and growth of communalism, especially during the freedom struggle. In this respect it would be worthwhile to trace the roots and historical context of the development of the fascist ideology in India.
Fascism was the ideology that was developed by the Italian dictator, Mussolini in 1920s and perfected by the German dictator, Hitler in 1930s in the name of Nazism. Fascist ideology is opposed to all forms of individualism, liberalism and democracy. It is based on the cult of hatred and violence against minorities and ideological enemies such as Communists and Socialists. Hitler massacred the Jews and Communists and in Germany in an attempt to make Germany for the Germans who he believed were the descendants of the superior Aryan race. Hence, he adopted ‘Swastika’ as the symbol of German nation. Both Mussolini and Hitler maintained the storm troopers who could intimidate the opponents by violent means including murder and mutilation.
As Germany was making great strides under the leadership of Hitler in 1930s, the Nazi ideology greatly impressed Hindu communalists, especially Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a great revolutionary and patriot of India who developed the ‘Hindutva’ ideology. Adopting some of the principles of Nazism Savarkar modified them to Indian condition. Many vernacular newspapers in Bombay and Maharashtra belonging to Hindu Mahasabha openly appreciated and preached Nazism and a Hindu Fuehrer on the model of Hitler and their choice was V D Savarkar. The Nazi propagandists were impressing upon the Hindus that they were the custodians of the Indian nation while the Muslims and the other communities were aliens like the Jews in Germany. They also highlighted the Nazi symbol ‘Swastika’ and the Aryan race theory.
Nazi propaganda in India in 1930s had reached even the remote areas of India. “The Karnataka Bandhu”, a small newspaper published from Gadag, Dharwad district of Karnataka, in its issue dated July12, 1939, carried an article under the caption: “The Germany we hear is different…Germany does not at all want war, the Nazis are peace-loving people…” The other propagandist passage in the article says: “… The Germans regard their leader with unshakeable and unfailing feelings of awe, reverence, love and confidence, and believe him to be a thorough lover of peace. To every Nazi, man and woman, Hitler is not merely a political leader but an example of lofty spiritual life…The Germans have reposed an unshakeable trust in Hitler and they believe Hitler to be a divine representative sent by God for the upliftment of the German people…”
Though the Nazi propaganda in India did not have much impact on the general public, Indian communalists, especially the irreconcilable reactionaries and fanatics such as the members of the Hindu Mahasabha were very much influenced by Hitler’s ideology and the Nazi organization of Germany. The Nazi doctrine with all its fascist principles was considered by the Hindu communalists as a vindication of their own doctrine of race and caste on the lines of the glorification of the Aryan race by the Nazis. They regarded the adoption of the Aryan symbol of the ‘Swastika’ by the Nazis as the manifestation of the proximity of Hitler’s philosophy to Hinduism.
The writings and speeches of VD Savarkar manifest his profound appreciation of Nazism and a desire to transplant the German Nazi experiment in India. His ideology of ‘Hindutva’ that was adopted by the Sangh Parivar including the Shiv Sena under the leadership of Bala Saheb Thackeray bears an unmistakable imprint of Nazism. In one of his speeches Savarkar had remarked, “Nazism believed that the German nation should be the symbol of German culture, German language and German civilization; in short Germany for Germans only. There is no place for a community, which had no faith in German ideas. If this is called communalism, then I see no reason why I should not be dubbed a communalist.”
Taking into account this historical perspective, it is easy to understand how and why the fanatical, reactionary, indoctrinated and misguided elements behave and act in the way they did in various cases mentioned above and many more. They have scant respect for the noble principles included in the democratic Constitution of India. The indoctrination of hatred, contempt and intolerance for all those things considered alien to the religion and culture of the dominant community is reaping its harvest. The civil society has remained a mute spectator to the cult of hatred and violence that is being unleashed by the so called ‘defenders of religion and culture’. The Indian society seems to be heading towards an exclusive majority community based on fascist ideology and methods rather than an inclusive society, which believes in welfare of all for the progress of the nation. Unless the true democratic nationalists and liberals stand up to the reactionary and fanatical forces, the nation may be heading towards a fascist society.
Dr Eugene D`Souza - Archives: