CPI(ML)-New Democracy
Contribution to the International Communist Seminar
"Imperialism, Fascisation and Fascism"
Brussels, 2-4 May 2000
The movements having the aim of bringing fascist rule are rising in several countires in the world. The process has been accentuated with the current offensive of imperialist capital to overcome its deepening crisis and contradictions bred by it. The rising burden on the oppressed masses of third world countries and the working class of imperialist countries due to global reorganizaiton of capital needs to be deflected from developing into powerful movements which can challenge the very policy framework of the imperialist offensive and undermine the imperialist system itself. Moreover, the growing deprivation and misery of the masses is sought to be utilized by the most reactionary sections of the ruling elite to impose fascism with its terroristic methods of rule. The growing resentment and anger of the people is sought to be utilized to launch the most barbaric attacks on the toiling masses.
Fascist forces in each country are trying to use specific sociocultural and political factors operating in those countries while every where they seek to intensify the loot and plunder the masses. The basis of Marxist-Leninist understanding of fascism is provided by writings of Com. Stalin and Demitrov. The essential features outlined by them continue to be valid even while fascist forces give nationalist coating to their movements in every country. Com. Chou Enlai's illustration of fascism in a semifeudal, semicolonial country is also helpful to undersatnd the distinguishing features of the fascist forces in such countries. India is a semicolonial, semifeudal country where the principal contradiciton is between the alliance of imperialism, comprador bureaucrat captialism and feudalism on the one hand and the broad masses of the people on the other. It is borne out of the compromise between the Indian compradors & feudals and imperialism. This system is totally opposed to the needs of the people and development of the vast country like India, is undergoing deepening crisis which has given rise to growing political instability. While the imperialism is intensifying its loot and plunder of the vast natural resources and cheap labour power of the country, this offensive has caused untold miseries to the people and undermined the ability of the rulign classes to keep the elites of different sections satisfied. Their mutal bickerings for power are getting intensified. In this milieu, with the backing of imperialist powers fascist forces are rising to overcome the present crisis by crushing the struggling forces. While the forces of fascism are quite old but the present crisis and the designs of imperialism have catapulted them from the periphery to the centre stage.
India is a vast multinational, multireligious, multiligual country with large sections of tribal population. Moreover, the largest religious community, Hindus, are further divided into heirachially arranged endogamous social groups called castes. India has not yet seen its democratic revolution which could wipe out these inequalities and organize the society along democratic lines. Colonialism in its two hundred years of direct rule and indirect imperialist rule over the last more than half century has thwarted the democratization of Indian society, has formed alliance with feudals and brought up a sizable class of comprador bourgeoisie. It is important to note that Indian ruling classes have been maintaining their anti-people undemocratic rule and for this they have been resorting to fascistic methods to crsuh resistance of the people.
The brutal suppression of Great Telangana armed struggle just after the transfer of power in 1947 and the suppression of Naxalbari, Srikakulam, Mushaheri, Lakhimpur Kheir, Debra-Gopiballvpur peasant armed struggles, Godavri Valley resistance struggle and other struggles led by communist revolutionaries demonstrate the fascist methods employed by ruling classes in suppressing the people's movements particualry those led by communist revolutionaries. This is to illustatrtate the point that the use of fascist methods of repression is quite routine in India in suprression of people's struggles and is rsorted to by all ruling class parties even though they do not have the declared aim of bringing fascism as is the case with the RSS.
II.
The ascendency and subsequent coming to power of the BJP has brought into focus the danger of fascist rule in India. BJP is the electoral wing of the Rashtriya Swyamsewak Sangh (RSS) which controls a number of organizations. RSS has been pursuing the programme of establishing Hindu Rashtra. Though at present BJP is leading a coalition with a number of parties most of which claim themselves to be secular and has temporarily shelved some of its pet issues from its agenda like construction of Ram Temple at the site of razed Babri Masjid, uniform civil code and abrogation of Article 370 providing for autonomy for Jammu & Kashmir. But nobody should be fooled or become complacent due to their temporary as well as calculated retreat. The Hindustan Times (New Delhi) rightly remarked in its editorial of March 10, 1998, "For the moment, they (the Sangh Parivar) may be lying low, but the fear is that their current reticence is no more than a tactics and that they will continue to exert pressure on the BJP from behind the scenes to implement their pet programmes in social, religious and cultural fields." Very rightly, the present tactical retreat should be viewed as the one imposed by the political situation and being utilized by the RSS-BJP for gathering forces. The concept of Hindu Rashtra has more to it than simply dominance of Hindus who constituting over four fifth of population have anyway been dominating the Indian state. It is a concept which treats minorities, particularly Muslims as enemies. It has been the characterisitc of the protagonists of Hindu Rashtra to target internal enemies, namely the minoriites as enemies and befriending the foriegn colonial rulers earlier and imperialist powers now.
The first clear enunciation of this concept of Hindu Rashtra was given by Bankim Chandra Chatterji in his novel "Anandmath" written in Bangla language. (Vande Matram song is part of this novel) This was the period in the second half of nineteenth century after the defeat of Indians in their first war of independence in 1857. This was the first war in which people from large part of India fought as one and it was a glaring example of Hindu-Muslim unity which had the colonial rulers on the run. Despite their victory, British colonialists had drawn the lesson of building the domestic base among the kings and landlords and developing a comprador class. For maintaining their rule they resorted to the infamous strategy of "divide and rule." It may not out of place to mention that Bankim, author of Anandmath was apponted directly to the post of Deputy Magistarte in the year 1858 by the then British Lt. Governor of Bengal. He was the first Indian to be appointed to such a post immediately in the aftermath of 1857. When he retired in 1891 as District Magistrate, he was conferred with the titles of Rai Bahadur and CIE by the British Crown. Anandmath, based on of Santan rebellion of late 18th century in North Bengal of India. The novel has two distinct thrusts, hatred against the Muslims and admiration for the British rulers. To illustrate the points, just a few quotations. Bankim wrote about Santan rebels in the novel, "they would go to the villages and enquire from Hindus, if they wanted to worship Vishnu? When the crowd collected they would torch the houses of Muslims. When those poor chaps ran for their lives, the Santans would plunder all their assets and distribute the spoils to new converts. These new converts would naturally be happy to receive the share of loot. Then they would taken to temple to swear allegiance at the feet of Mother. People realized that it was highly beneficial to become Santans .... Thus enticed, the number of Santans grew by leaps and bound .... They began to attack Muslims at sight ... Their whole villages were burnt to ashes." Now the admiration of British colonial rulers "The British are very tenacious. Then consider the question of courage: A Cannon ball falls only on one spot. But a crowd of Muslims would run away if one single cannon ball felll among them. On the other hand, not even a single Britisher would run away even if dozens of cannon balls should fall in their midst." The whole purpose of the rebellion and the prospect of Hindu Rashtra has been summed up by Bankim from the mouth of Bhawanand, the leader of the rebellion in the following words, "Without the British rule there is no chance of resurgence of Hindu Dharma... It is our duty to make the Britishers our rulers ... The Santan rebellion was organized with the sole object that the Britishers should be crowned the rulers ... The British are our friends and more over there no such power which can defeat the Britishers in war." It is clear from the foregoing that the Hindu nationalism was theorized against Muslims and in support of the British colonialism which had consolidated its control over vast lands of the country.
At the time when vast Hindu and Muslim masses were being subjected to untold sufferings by the British colonialists, were living in a state of penury and had struggled together in the first war of Indian independence in 1857, the reasoning of Hindu nationalists totally ignored the fact that Hindu propertied classes and elite were major partners of Muslim rulers in the feudal loot of the Indian people. The revenue records in the archives very clearly establish the fact that throughout medieval period (which is often described as the Muslim period) land ownership to a large extent remained in the hands of upper caste Hindus. II. After the First World War there was vast resentment and anger among the people against the burden of war imposed by the British imperialist rulers over the Indian people. The Indian elite had hoped that the British colonial rulers will give some sort of Home Rule to the Indians but the resultant Morley-Minto reforms were the caricature of the responsive governance. The British rulers sought to suppress the rising struggles of the people through represion and by intensifying their divisive acts.
In the course of the First World War an earth shaking event had ocurred with the Great October Socialist Revolution. The Socialist Soviet Union had come to inspire the struggles of the colonial and semicolonial countries. The imeperialists world over were mananced by the spectre of communism and were treating communists as their main enemies. In the 1920s and 30s fascism rose to power first in Itlay and then in Germany (Nazism). The role of western bourgeois democracies in the rise of fascism, a negation of democracy, is well documented. They had hoped to counter communism with the weapon of fascism. Fascism which arose in the milieu of the crisis of capitalist economies, sought to deflect the anger of the vast masses and use it to impose terroristic methods of rule in the interests of monopoly capital. What is of interest here to us the lesson it had for the Hindu fascists in India. While Italian fascism taught them to militarize the society, they learnt from Germany the way to solve the problem of minorities by killing them. This theory of minority as main enemies was not anyway alien to them as we have seen earlier.
III.
Rashtriya Swyamsewak Sangh (RSS) was formed in 1925 at Nagpur by Maharashtrian Brahmins. Mr. Savarkar had beocme the leader of Hindu Mahasabha. Their affinity in ideology and regular contacts in activities is well established. In fact the founder of RSS, Dr. Hedgewar was for a long time secretary of Hindu Mahasabha. Initially RSS was modelled as the volunteer corps of militant Hindu nationalism. In this respect, the influence of the Italian fascism has been well documented. Mr. Moonje, the mentor of RSS founder had travelled to Italy, met the Il Duce, seen the militarization of society and been impressed with it. Mr. Moonje had greatly commended the model of brown shirts to the RSS. As outline in a recent study fascist movements in Europe had attracted a lot of attention among the upper caste elites in Maharashtra at the time. RSS leaders were great admirers of the Hitler and his method of 'solving' the problem of Jewish minority in Germany. RSS ideologue Mr. Golwalkar (revered in RSS circles as Guruji) unhesitatingly said this in praise of Hitler's methods in his book "We or Our Nationhood Defined", "It is worth bearing well in mind how these old Nations solve their minorities problem. They do not undertake to recognize any separate element in their polity. Emigrants have to get themselves naturally assimilated in the principal mass of the population, the National Race, by adopting its culture and language and sharing in its aspirations, by losing all consciousness of their separate existence, forgetting their foreign origin. If they do not do so, they live merely as outsiders, bound by all the codes and conventions of the Nation, at the sufferance of the Nation and deserving no special protection, far less any privilege or rights. There are only two courses open to the foreign elements, either to merge themselves in the national race and adopt its culture, or to live at its mercy so long as the national race may allow them to do so and to quit the country at the sweet will of the national race. That is the only sound view on the minorities problem. That is the only logical and correct solution. That alone keeps the national life healthy and undisturbed. That alone keeps the nation safe from the danger of a cancer developing into its body politic of the creation of a state within a state." "From this stand point, sanctioned by the experience of shrewd old nations, the foreign races in Hindustan must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but those of the glorification of the Hindu race and culture, i.e., of the Hindu nation and must lose their separate existence to merge in the Hindu race, or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu Nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment, not even citizen's rights. There is, at least should be, no other course for them to adopt. We are an old nation: let us deal, as old nations ought to and do deal with the foreign races who have chosen to live in our country".
There is not a single word in Mr. Golwalkar's book about the British rulers who were then plundering the Indian people and nation. The book outlines only one programme, namely, to subjugate the minorities who neither controlled the state nor shared any political or economic power. More than 95 percent of them were artisans, poor peasants, landless agricultural labour or wage-earners. Golwalkar's Super Hindu Race had no antagonism towards the British rulers who in fact were foreigners in the real sense of the term and who had given only misery, hunger, poverty, and death to multitudes of Indians, the vast majority of whom were Hindus. It must be clearly understood that though Hindu fascists (RSS) had been influenced by Italian fascists and German Nazis, but had been loyally in service of the British imeprialist masters. They had deliberately and consciously kept themselves away from the freedom struggle, ridiculed its leaders and those sacrificing their lives for the country. They were busy in military training to their cadres which obviously was not to be used against the British imperialist masters. The fascist influence over them was sought to be used for their Hindu Rashtra under the patronage of British imperialists. Unlike Subhash Chandra Bose they were not seeking to utilize the fascist powers in struggle against British imperialism. In fact they were faithfully serving the British imperialsits by all efforts at communally dividing the people to disrupt their anti-British struggles. In contrast different streams of the Indian national movement had made sacrifices in the anti-British struggle for the freedom of the country. It is noteworthy that not a single RSS activist had braved repression what to talk of sacrificing his life singing Vande Matram unlike many others including Muslims. No wonder the book glorifying Adolf hitler was never banned by the British colonial rulers though they were later engaged in life and death struggle against German Nazism.
In the period prior to 1947 transfer of power, Hindu fascists were propagating that Muslims, Christians and Communists were their enemies. Obviously British imperialist rulers were not included among the enemy Christians, but these were the Christian missionaries and converts from among oppressed castes. It is quite pertinent to know at this point that the Indian believers in the theocratic state of both shades Hindus and Muslims and the British rulers always had very cordial and brotherly relations during the British rule. It should surprise nobody that during this period neither Hindu communalists (like the RSS ) nor Muslim communalists (like the Muslim League) were ever banned. They together can not present even a single personalitry who might have suffered under the British rule. Another notable feature of the patronage of feudal princes on them who were anyway supporters of the British colonial rule in India. Hindu fascists consistently glorified the fedual kings and even now this figures prominently in their symbols. They were opposing all people's movements against British rulers and Indian reactionaries. It is not surprising that in the early fifties a Pentagon sponsored study on RSS had concluded the role RSS could play against spread of communism in India. In the post-second world war era it had not been possible for pro-RSS elements to defend such shameless fascist attitudes towards minorities and neutrality towards the British masters. The book We or Our Nationhood Defined, which was openly circulated by the RSS during British rule and had gone into four editions, was now suddenly presented as if its authorship was disputed. The RSS machinery started spreading different theories about the authorship according to their own requirements.
IV.
The present day zealots of Hindu Rashtra are treading the same path. Muslims are their declared enemy number one. Muslim community is the greatest danger to the nation. Their population is increasing by leaps and bound and in next 50 years or so India would become a Muslim majority nation. The ideologues of the Hindu nationalism have been suggesting for some kind of genocide to control the Muslim population. It is also shouted from house tops that too much appeasement of Muslims has taken place. It is also propagated that Muslims by nature are anti-social elements. Every Muslim house-hold has illegal arms. Such poisonous propaganda will continue even if you underline the fact that despite 700 years long rule by the rulers with Muslim names, Hindus remained in absolute majority in this country. When Muslims could not form majority in 700 years, how would they turn into majority in next 50 years or so? They appear to be exercised over appeasement of Muslims. What kind of appeasement is this that socially and economically 95 percent of Muslims fall into the category of most backward sections of the Indian society. They do not have more than 2.5 percent share in total jobs of the country. They are not to be seen on the industrial scene, still the stigma of a pampered community will continue to hang. But it is not the end of the story.
The second dimension of Hindu Rashtra is of far greater consequence. In 'Anandmath' Muslims were targeted as the greatest enemies whereas in reality these were the Britishers as colonial masters who had subjugated whole of India. Today the champions of Hindu nationalisn are again bent upon fulfiling the same historical anti-national task of dividing the people of the country on the basis of religion specially when faced with the imperialist onslaught. Today with the increasing clout of World Trade Organization, World Bank, IMF and MNCs in the country, the livelihood of the people and the honour and prestige of the country are at stake. A BJP led government in Delhi with its economic policies is paving the way for total subjugation of the interests of Indian people to the diktats of world imperialist masters. These policies are causing great hardships to common people who are mainly Hindus. At a time when all patriotic forces agree to the fact that the Indian state is toeing the line of world imperialism led by USA; what kind of Dharma Yudha (religious war) have these champions of Hindu nationalism waged? Have they declared a war against WTO, IMF, WB, MNCs, hunger or exploitation? No, absolutely not. They are out on roads to teach a lasting lesson to the minorities of this country. Of course, it is irrelevent for them that Muslims or other minorities whom they are targeting are neither feudal lords, capitalists, big beauracrats nor belong to those classes which are selling this country to imperialists. The minorities in India are essentially part of the common masses; an integral part of the Indian working class and toiling peasantry. The champions of Hindu Rashtra can no more hide their real designs. They are there to weaken any resistence to imperialism. They do not want any substantial struggle to take shape against imperialists in our country.
It is relevant to know here that just before the razing of Babri mosque by the RSS, LK Advani was on tour of USA and Europe. Again it was not just a co-incidence that before his Rath Yatra- (in air-conditioned Toyota vehicle) he was in USA for many weeks. It is also not widely known that the week Babri mosque was razed to ground, the same week a top level delegation of the IMF was in India in order to facilitate the enforcement of more stringent conditions on India which were consequently accepted by the Indian government. There were no mass protests because the whole country was going through the post Babri mosque trauma inflicted by the zealots of Hinduism. We should not lose sight of the fact that creation of a division between Hindus and Muslims is not the most important task which champions of Hinduism have assigned to themselves. It is part of tactics only. The real interest of world imperialism lies in the strategic goal of Hindu fascists. These champions as per their delared intentions, want to deprive minorities of all their civil and human rights.
Thus the scenario in the Hindu Rashtra will be that about 18 percent of its population consisting of all minorities without any civil and political rights will be forced to work on any wage and in any kind of situation. This will further ensure lower wages for the whole of working class given the high degree of unemployment. This will be a welcome development from the point of view of the Indian monopoly capital, foreign investors, MNCs, European, American and Japanese industrial houses which are perturbed by high wages in their respective countries and want to shift their production units to thirld world countries like India eyeing abundant cheap labour in these places. The working class in India though poorly paid enjoys certain rights due to a long history of struggles and has been able to even fight for safeguarding these rights. In such a situation it will be in the interest of the imperialist capital to have a working class which enjoys no rights, holds no political leverage and is free of all encumrances. In fact Hindu Rashtra is bound to help the imperialism out of its rising wage bill in this part of the world. The champions of Hinduism thus have taken up the historical responsibility of helping imperialism once again. It is true that the champions of Hinduism single out Muslims and Christians for fascist treatment. There is another important reason behind this immense hatred.
The ideology and movement of Hindu nationalism have always been the prerogatives of upper caste Hindus specially the Brahmins. On the contrary, Muslims and Christians of India, to a very great extent are converts from out castes and lower castes of Hindu society. These people through conversion in the past tried to break the shackles of the barbaric subjugation perpetuated in the form of caste heirarchy and tried to elevate their social status. How could these out castes and lower castes, the wretched of the earth dare to do it? It was an unpardonable sin and the upper caste leadership of the champions of Hindu nationalism under state patronage is out to take revenge. Renegades have to be burnt, destroyed, maimed and terrorized in a manner that no outcaste in future dares to tread that path of seeking emancipation. In fact fascist hatred towards minorities is part and parcel of the fascist outlook of the Hindu upper caste oligarchy towards the oppressed castes. By depriving Muslims and Christians of all civil and human rights the upper caste leadership of Hindutva wants to solve another very serious internal problem of its society. This internal problem has been tearing apart the Hindu society and has been challenging the hegemony of the upper caste oligarchy over it. The out castes and lower castes of the Hindu society have been refusing to submit to the sovereignty of the oligarchy. They have been refusing to submit to their assigned fate. Such revolts which used to be exceptions earlier, are turning into rule. These sections have also threatened to convert to other religions enmasse. The high caste Hindu oligarchy believes that once the Hindu Rashtra is formed, Muslims and Christians as neo-outcastes will be relegated lower than Hindu outcastes and thus lose all appeal for conversion. It is pertinent to note that most brutal attacks agains tthe Christians are concentrated in the tribal areas where they are now trying to convert them to Hinduism having not botehred about them except to brutally exploit them till the advent of Christain missionaries.
V.
The zealots of Hindu Rashtra, after Muslims, pour maximum venom on progressive Hindus. This is quite understansable, too . The progressive elements in the Hindu Society vehemently oppose brahminical order, they are against oppression of minorities and for equality and are dead againest the evil designs of imperialism in our country. They are bound to attract attacks of Hindu fascists. Thus it is not difficult to understand the aggressiveness of pseudo nationalist, viz a viz progressive Hindus. The Hindu zealots have come down most heavily against the people's movments, particularly against the communist revolutionaries. They are naturally against the communist revolutionaries who are fighting against feudal oppression and imperialist exploitaiton, who oppose communal discrimination and caste oppression and who are involved in struggle for elimination of class exploitation. Obviously Hindu fascists can not but treat communist revolutioanries as their enemies. It is perfectly right that Union Home Minister Mr. L. K. Advani declared Naxalites as enemies of their dream of India. Naxalites are in fact sworn enemies of the RSS dreams about India. RSS-BJP are targetting communist revolutionaries as their treachery against the country becomes more and more brazen. It is part of their designs to crush the people's movments. They are bringing draconian law in the form of amendment to Criminal Procedure Code. Their activities against communist revolutionaries are most overt in the states where communist revolutionaries have significant influence i.e. Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. In Bihar they are openly patronizing the feudal-criminal gangs of Ranavir Sena which have committed a number of massacres of the poor landless peasants and agricultural labourers. In Andhra Pradesh BJP-RSS are openly supporting and abetting the Govt. of their ally, Chndrababu Naidu in crushing the communist revolutionaries. The number of fake encounters in the present year have scaled new heights in sheer number. Chandrababu Naidu the blue-eyed boy of the imperialist powers has openly declared Naxalites to be responsible for lack of imperialist investments and has vowed to exterminate them. The RSS-BJP represent the most reactionary sections of Indian society. As we have illustrated above their drive towards fascism is in service of imperialism and domestic reactioanry classes. We can conclude by saying that ideology of Hindu Nationalism, in its essence, is fascist, against equality and inhuman. It is pro-imperialist. Any urge to fight it out will have to take note of such integral dimensions of this ideology. It has to be fought in totality.