September 2008 
Year 15    No.134
Editorial


Indian brand of fascism

Fascism is defined by the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as an authoritarian movement.  Authoritarianism is further explained as a tyrannical state of affairs defined by an absence of freedom. The growing influence of the politics of supremacy and divisiveness within Indian democracy, which fortunately continues to observe the critical ritual of elections, has impacted not just on public discourse in general but the cultural sphere as well. The absence of real freedom is manifest through the Laxman-rekha of mass self-censorship that refuses to
acknowledge this selective and stereotypical world view and call a spade a spade.

The shameful breakdown of the rule of law, yet again, in the eastern state of Orissa has left about 50 people dead and 4,000 of the poorest of the poor homeless. For two weeks now trained cadres of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal have been given free rein in three districts of the state – Kandhamal, Phulbani and Gajapati. CC takes no pride in the fact that we have through 2003-2008 been showcasing the spread of an increasingly brazen brand of Hindutva in Orissa as it repeatedly targeted Indian Christians (and in a few stray cases Muslims as well).

What is as appalling is the absence of media uproar on the issue: no admonitory editorials, no harsh questions being asked of Naveen Patnaik, Orissa’s chief minister. Why he failed to call in the army on August 23 itself, immediately after Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, Orissa’s Hindutva icon, was killed? And worse, why he promptly allowed Praveen Togadia, international general secretary of the VHP, entry into the violence-ridden areas when in the same period the union minister of state for home, Sriprakash Jaiswal, was refused permission to enter. It is well known that in the past Togadia has been banned from entry into districts in Karnataka (2003-2004) and was even jailed for 10 days in Rajasthan (2003) for the distribution of trishuls and making incendiary speeches. He is a master of hate speech and a professional instigator of violence.

Why this silence from the media, why the absence of testimonies of Christian priests and nuns who suffered hurt and humiliation? Is the premeditated killing of Christians not ‘sensational’ news? Or is that this vital part of Indian democracy, the media, has accepted the parameters set by the Hindu Right, recognising that they not only break the law but have the right to do so and get away with it?

CC’s cover story last month, exposing the CBI’s complicity in covering up the Hindu terror network operational in India, together with the renewed attack on Christians in Orissa, resulted in a nationwide demand for a ban on the VHP and the Bajrang Dal. The explosion of bombs and the death of two activists of the Bajrang Dal in Kanpur on August 24 provided further proof that this network is not limited to Maharashtra alone. The CPI(M) politburo has backed this demand for a ban and CPI(M) member of parliament, Hannan Mollah, in fact wrote a letter to the prime minister endorsing the demand for a ban on these outfits and asking for the establishment of a special tribunal to monitor and supervise all terror investigations in order to check complicity and prejudice in the law enforcement agencies.

Such a step is critical if the Muslim minority, which itself is in a state of denial about outfits like the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and others (a state of affairs knowingly indulged by both the Muslim leadership and the Urdu media), is to reflect on the actions of the minuscule minority within their community that is being drawn to violence.

Imagery and mass communication as seen in the Hindi cinema of the late 1990s and the early years of this century also showcases the majoritarian vision that has pervaded Indian public discourse. This unidimensional world view, which stringently refuses to acknowledge the Hindu Right’s visceral hold on prejudice and stereotype, is visible even in those of our films that attempt to address the issue. CCs cover story this month devotes space to this debate while acknowledging the breakthroughs being attempted by some younger, braver filmmakers.

There is however one disturbing question that we Indians need to ask ourselves. Do we have the raw courage to make a film similar to Pakistan’s Khuda Kay Liye which lays bare the growth of Islamic fundamentalism on home ground? Discerning Indian audiences would welcome a film that showcases Hindu fascist terror and its penetration within our institutions.

— Editors

 


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