Surge of Indian Fascism and Its Grounds
How fascism surges in a nation? On what platform it surges? Is it an outcome of social political and cultural discontent? Hitler surged in Germany because of democratic government’s failure on all fronts. Democratic government could not save the pride of the nation. Jews in the minority were dominated the entire power scene in Germany at that time. They promoted everything that was against the majority and their interest. Minority communities always rule in the democratic setup. Jews were well read, intelligent, politically conscious and economically strong. They did all kinds of wrongs to the majority for their petty self interest in the name of democracy and progress though they were not progressives at all.
Democratic mind is identified with ’samjhauta’ even when the question would be vital to the nation. German democratic government was ’samjhauta wadi’ because of which other nations were able to exploit them that resulted in the exploitation of the whole Germany. Hitler saw it very closely and raised the nation against them, he accused Jews for the Germany’s downfall and rest is a history. Unlike Germany in India too it is happening. Our democratic governments are ‘compromising’ on every issue, whether it is terrorism, Maoism or cultural questions. Opportunism is so high that governments and people in governments forget that real goal for which they come in to power. Lumpenism and Gundaism are dominant in the politics and is one of the important features of our democracy. The spread of Maoism and Extremism tells us that how our government takes on these antidemocratic streams. In many cases leaders are associated with them. Democracy is a Lootocracy at present time, everyone in power is looting, extorting, exploiting; there is no rule of law. On cultural front too it’s all opportunism and looting; there has no progress been made. Cultural people steal everything from the west; they think transcending traditional means going west; there is no other way out. Entire cinema industry is stealing the imageries, ideas, subjects, effects, everything from the progressives.
They do not resolve the crisis in creativity because they come in cinema not for creation but to cash the opportunity. Creativity itself is an opportunity they don’t understand. Opportunism is so high that they would go on repeating the same story with the masala every time and would not feel any shame. Opportunism is so high that cultural people have made this word chaotic and a family dhandha; thus creating a closed circle and a vicious one they would carry on their business of creativity. This is other side of extortion; extortion through creativity. Aesthetician Walter Benjamin has written somewhere that only a valid creativity can fight evils not parasitic intelligence. With the fake spirit you can not fight the spirited. A Fascist or an Extremist is a spirited man on a mission this one should understand. Our democratic setup has created a culture that breaks spirited people; we don’t regard them perhaps people in the setup fear from them. Inspirited, unintelligent, boorish, men sitting on the powerful posts want regard from the intelligent and creative. This is a big truth of our fake progressiveness. Eight years back when I was doing a job of editing Purana stories for the children with a children book publisher; I left my job only because I loved mustache in my face while publisher did not want that on my face. He said choose whether you want job or mustache, there are only two options; I had to choose mustache. It was an ethical question that I fought and for which I suffered almost months.
Our democratic setup is bureaucratic and rationally speaking bureaucratic can not be progressive. Bureaucracy creates parasitism nothing else and this is because of it that bureaucratic system fails. Indian democracy from the very beginning started grooming it and it’s so much strong now that unless and until entire system is not demolished, it could not be removed. American democratic system too is bureaucratic but it is progressive, it does not bear weak unintelligent, boorish people in its system. It is because of this it resolves toughest situations quickly and intelligently. It gives an image of progressiveness in the society and promotes it because of which they are progressing. It is grounded at least on some values for which it fights. American leaders whatsoever of party were and are able to raise the spirit of entire nation on those values. American nationalism is grounded on the values of progressiveness. While in sixty years we have diluted the spirit of nationalism with the ideologies of non progressiveness and divide and rule. Unity that was achieved during independence is no more in existence; entire society is divided on petty economic interests.
What bureaucratic minded people did after independence to the great India: the nation in the making? In the name of progressiveness they came out with a nihilist ideology that says that everything cultural in India is Brahmanical hence must be rejected. The culture that was identified by Gandhi, renaissance leaders and social reformers as the only thread of unity was broken in to pieces. Entire post Nehruvian academic studies (Nehru took scientific methodology for progress but with nihilistic thinking) were done bearing in mind this nihilistic ideology. Its outcome is this that today we have orthodox Marxist intellectuals, cultural theoreticians, and cultural people who have not been able to provide any alternative thread (that is always cultural) with which people could identify themselves. They deconstructed people’s confidence and beliefs in their own culture and milieu and alienated them from their thousand years of old culture and knowledge. Progressives are breeders of confusion and disbelief and promoted a culture and way of life that was almost imported and alien to them. We can see all this in the movies of those days.
Progressiveness was identified with success; being success is being progressive without any question. In it every thing lost its relevance, it became the highest value, and for it everything is worth sacrificing. Thus, because of this value a new kind of mindset prevailed, a mindset of disbelievers, devalued and nihilists who justified everything that they thought good and profitable. Gradually this mindset culminated in a highest value that was founded on the fake spirit of progressiveness. Now this value has taken reign supreme and it is this which is most dangerous as it does not think and meditate on the problems; they would cleverly maneuver and postpone the problems. It’s pragmatic in its approach in solving problems. Now since India is facing serious fascist challenges on socio-political-cultural fronts, it sees no option other then perusing fascist values. After sixty years of progress we are still socially and culturally backward and moving fast in the backwardness. TV has become a great and effective stage where the spirit of backwardness is being perused and promoted. Every serial has feudal values in its core that it promotes, characters world be pragmatically materialists but heartily backward and dakiyanus (orthodox). It would be wrong to say that this kind of theatrics is an image of our society; its not an image of our society rather is an image of that society about whom I have referred above. It’s an image of the society that bases its values on fake spirit beneath which there lives a ‘devil’
A poet Muktibodha observed it remarkably and saw ‘a log tail’ in the bodies of progressives in his poems. His one important poem ” orangutan of the dark chamber of mind!” sheds light on their hypocrisy and pragmatism. It is this spirit that transforms itself into fascist spirit. Indian fascism knows it and is consolidating and using this spirit; their recent success is its proof. So our so-called democratic structure is itself promoting it however since it is largely pragmatic it does not see it. Policies of democratic governments, feudalist politics having no ideology, orthodox Marxists and their feudalism is largely responsible for the surge of the Saffron. Possibly at this juncture of time Fascism is much powerful then any other political force and would be able to command power in coming future. Indian fascism would not be unlike German fascism; I would appear in a democratic face. World would see the other face of democracy.
visit my website to read this article with pictures– http://theenlightenedworld.org/artsite/
Author is an art critic and writer of three books ‘ contemporizing Buddha’, ‘ Hindu Tantra Yoga’ and ‘Concerning The Spiritual In Art-an Indian modern art perspective’. He has been awarded with ‘Lalit kala Academy Scholarship Award’ for art criticism in 2005. Currently working on a book ‘Buddhist tantra yoga’. He lives and works in Delhi India.
