There is not much point really in hair-splitting debate on the degree of fascism of a party in power.I think we should direct more attention to the balance of forces in the nation,the degree of indoctrination of the masses,the condition of the media,the state of institutions that limit power,the strength of organizations opposing fascism,the attitude of the monopoly houses etc. as of greater salience.The fact that a party has an overflow of cash,that its goons by and large remain impune after committing untold crimes against minorities,that the police usually connive at and encourage such violence in certain large-scale pogroms,and nab,harass and torture the victims rather than protecting them clearly indicate that it has strong support from non-state sectors as well as the state.About the media the less said the better.The raucous, strident and a vicious sections of media hold considerable numbers of people under their spell.Even the Supreme Court has at times vacillated and temporised disastrously.At times it takes shelter under the doctrine that as long as governments do not infringe any specific law of the land it cannot be said to have violated the constitution to the confusion of law-abiding citizens.
It is thus a critical phase in the history of the nation where powerful forces that openly flaunt their scorn for the constitution have seized power and are poised to take over the state to remould it to their heart’s desire.Obviously they have met resistance on the way and are getting impatient at such impediments.They would like to brush it aside or hammer it to powder,but are waiting for an opportune moment.The intention is more than obvious.The strategy is to weaken democratic constitution by draining all its organs of energy.
It will not be content with being only ‘fascistic’,but seize power to enforce their writ and crush the vacillators.
It is important to realize this and work out a strategy to oppose and defeat the insidious though powerful offensive.And it is foolish to derive comfort from relief that well,at least they have not wrested total power yet.Agreed we must beware of impatient slap-dash action without thought.But are we prepared?Is it not perilous to imagine that since it is not full-scale fascism yet we can postpone preparation and resistance and limit ourselves to tokenism and inspection? And the present disarray among liberal democratic forces mired as they are in electoral calculations and considerations,might demoralise the people without a clear conception of the enemy and a plan of action.
Comparison with European fascistic parties are misleading.They are new-fledged and without sufficient experience of the working of the bourgeois liberal state.They do have greater electoral support.But they are yet to form disciplined corps of armed militia.They have not yet suborned the state.Ideologically they are still limited to emotive slogans and fiery hate messages. The media is not under their thumb.Here we have an organization of disciplined austere workers who can instantly turn into brutal soldiers but who otherwise remain engaged in various welfare services for the poor and needy.Very powerful religious sects and centres are constantly brain-washing multitudes.And they have rationally worked-out ideological systems that are being reproduced in millions of books and pamphlets on history,politics,moral conduct and issues of daily conduct.That organization is now claimed to number one million strong,with lakhs more as candidates.And they have now acquired several decades of experience of working the bourgeois democratic state to serve their goals.
The reason behind the present haziness may be the peculiar situation in Kerala,where the Congress and the CPI(M) are locked in furious combat,with BJP keen on edging in and widening the space for itself.The left party is forced to engage far more in fighting against Congress than in addressing the danger from BJP.But BJP has its own reason to work stealthily in the state.Its present plan to capture all the states is geared to the aim of securing its base in all parts of the country as it launches its final phase of campaign to seize total power.
An alliance between Congress and CPI(M) seems a dim prospect there, ruling out at present a joint resistance to BJP which has seized the opportunity to enlarge its base. The interesting remark by Tharoor that he has many options if he is eased out is sign of this quandary for Congress .
The hair-splitting analysis referred to has this backdrop.As long as the left has a proper grasp of the grave and imminent danger to the nation and is ready to act in concert with others to overcome it, the stress on analysis might not be very damaging. But it must not be overdone to the point of obviating the gravity of the danger.
Hiren Gohain is a political commentator
