I've often wondered why
'patriotism' so often collapses in upon itself like some wildly gyrating neutron
star trying to outshine the heavens. Hitler's patriotism was strong and
impassioned but when you can't see the common ties that bind the German people
to the rest of mankind over and above those that bound them to one another it
ceases being true patriotism and becomes instead a sort of mental virus. The
point of perfect equilibrium would be having respect and pride in one's own
culture/nation co-mingled with the recognition that these sorts of feelings are
the same the world over; others too are wont to view their country in like
terms, fancy that. Thus we must appreciate the animus that in all cases propels
the national spirit. A multi-national civilization, in fact, only becomes
possible when there's a mutual recognition and respect of these opposing forces
working within our own territory and by extension elsewhere.
As an example, I recall a passage in Mein Kampf where Hitler denounces the trend within the Austro-Hungarian Empire to grant greater autonomy and political rights to several of the nationalities who were hitherto excluded. In the case of the Austrian half he was livid with what he called "Czechisation" utterly oblivious or indifferent to the fact that it was the German speaking regions who still retained a virtual monopoly on political power and not even deigning to contemplate or entertain the notion that the Poles, Italians, Slavs, Czechs, Romanians and other nationalities within the empire may have had greviences of their own considerably stronger then the perenially "abused" Deutschesvolk.
In India, Rashtriya Swayaamsevak Sangh (RSS) or the "National Volunteer Movement" deliberately drew from the example of Mussolini and the Nazi Party (it was founded in the interwar period); such as the common uniforms, youth organisations, espousal of a definitively nationalist brand of cultural promotion, nationwide penetration etc. It was an RSS member who had assassinated Gandhi, presumably appalled by his pacifism and tolerance towards Muslims. All the ingredients are there in theory for a fascistic type movement but it is of a distinctively Indian variant. The RSS proper has some 2-6 million members but there are related chapters some dozen of whom have memberships up to 10 million, including one for Muslims. This extended organisation is known as the Sangh Parivar, or 'family' of Hindu nationalists and was actually begun by the RSS and composes the backbone of support for the BJP party with its leadership naturally drawn from the upper castes. Like the National Congress it has been forced into some unlikely alliances with lower caste political parties and so is constantly diluting its platform.
It's ugly side emerged during the Ayodha debate where it was claimed the Babri mosque built by the first Mughal emperor had displaced an earlier temple of the Hindu god Rama. The Liberhan Commission of enquiry into the destruction of the mosque was released in 2009 after 17 years deliberation and fact-finding. It held the RSS culpable and accused in particular 68 persons including L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Govindacharaya, Shanker Singh Vaghela, Atal Bihari Vajpayee (BJP Prime Minister, 98-04) and Kalyan Singh, then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Justice M S Liberhan said in his verdict; "They have violated the trust of the people.... there can be no greater betrayal or crime in a democracy and this Commission has no hesitation in condemning these pseudo-moderates for their sins of omission". Vajpayee, the future Prime Minister, he regarded as a 'pseudo-moderate' as he was then looked at as a moderating force within the wider Hindu nationalist community.
The commission’s report says Singh and his Cabinet allowed the RSS to directly run his government. It states that the government had "systematically and in a pre-planned manner removed inconvenient bureaucrats from positions of power, dismantled and diluted the security apparatus and infrastructure, lied consistently to the high court and the Supreme Court of India and to the people of India to evade constitutional governance and thus betrayed the confidence of the electorate".
The Liberhan report described the Sangh Parivar as; "a highly successful and corporatised model of a political party. . . Each time, a new demographic group has emerged, the Sangh Parivar has hived off some of its RSS inner-core leadership to harness that group and bring it within the fold, enhancing the voter base of the Parivar."
Maloy Krishna Dhar in his book "Open Secrets-India's intelligence unveiled" says in a meeting on the previous day (before the mosque was destroyed by a rioting mob), among the RSS, VHP, BJP and Shiv Sena leaders there was "silent resoluteness and agreement that Ayodhya offered a unique opportunity to take the Hindutva wave to the peak for deriving political benefit. The iron was hot and this was the time to hit." VHP is the World Hindu Council and the Shiv Sena is an ultra right wing political party based in Maharashtra. (V.S. Naipaul had noted the Shiv Sena's propensity for gangsterism and its mob connections in "A million mutinies now").
The fallout from the Liberhan report is ongoing and it is also interesting to note the
contestion occuring in the cultural domain over issues of ultimate identity and inheritance insofar as one of the figures implicated, Manohar Joshi, as Education minister within the 98-04 BJP coalition government changed the school history syllabus to validate the claims of Hindu nationalist historians that the Harappan Aryans were indigenous and not Indo-European immigrants or invaders. This is by no means extraordinary in itself as revisionist Indian historians have been chiselling away at this particular bugbear for some time now but it does indicate perhaps the level of concerns and depth of feeling sensed to be at stake here, certainly in some quarters.
Without passing judgement one way or the other it may be noted that identity politics exclusively pursued seldom produces anything but dangerous volatility particularly when that drama is played out amidst the backdrop of an often crushing poverty.
As an example, I recall a passage in Mein Kampf where Hitler denounces the trend within the Austro-Hungarian Empire to grant greater autonomy and political rights to several of the nationalities who were hitherto excluded. In the case of the Austrian half he was livid with what he called "Czechisation" utterly oblivious or indifferent to the fact that it was the German speaking regions who still retained a virtual monopoly on political power and not even deigning to contemplate or entertain the notion that the Poles, Italians, Slavs, Czechs, Romanians and other nationalities within the empire may have had greviences of their own considerably stronger then the perenially "abused" Deutschesvolk.
In India, Rashtriya Swayaamsevak Sangh (RSS) or the "National Volunteer Movement" deliberately drew from the example of Mussolini and the Nazi Party (it was founded in the interwar period); such as the common uniforms, youth organisations, espousal of a definitively nationalist brand of cultural promotion, nationwide penetration etc. It was an RSS member who had assassinated Gandhi, presumably appalled by his pacifism and tolerance towards Muslims. All the ingredients are there in theory for a fascistic type movement but it is of a distinctively Indian variant. The RSS proper has some 2-6 million members but there are related chapters some dozen of whom have memberships up to 10 million, including one for Muslims. This extended organisation is known as the Sangh Parivar, or 'family' of Hindu nationalists and was actually begun by the RSS and composes the backbone of support for the BJP party with its leadership naturally drawn from the upper castes. Like the National Congress it has been forced into some unlikely alliances with lower caste political parties and so is constantly diluting its platform.
It's ugly side emerged during the Ayodha debate where it was claimed the Babri mosque built by the first Mughal emperor had displaced an earlier temple of the Hindu god Rama. The Liberhan Commission of enquiry into the destruction of the mosque was released in 2009 after 17 years deliberation and fact-finding. It held the RSS culpable and accused in particular 68 persons including L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Govindacharaya, Shanker Singh Vaghela, Atal Bihari Vajpayee (BJP Prime Minister, 98-04) and Kalyan Singh, then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Justice M S Liberhan said in his verdict; "They have violated the trust of the people.... there can be no greater betrayal or crime in a democracy and this Commission has no hesitation in condemning these pseudo-moderates for their sins of omission". Vajpayee, the future Prime Minister, he regarded as a 'pseudo-moderate' as he was then looked at as a moderating force within the wider Hindu nationalist community.
The commission’s report says Singh and his Cabinet allowed the RSS to directly run his government. It states that the government had "systematically and in a pre-planned manner removed inconvenient bureaucrats from positions of power, dismantled and diluted the security apparatus and infrastructure, lied consistently to the high court and the Supreme Court of India and to the people of India to evade constitutional governance and thus betrayed the confidence of the electorate".
The Liberhan report described the Sangh Parivar as; "a highly successful and corporatised model of a political party. . . Each time, a new demographic group has emerged, the Sangh Parivar has hived off some of its RSS inner-core leadership to harness that group and bring it within the fold, enhancing the voter base of the Parivar."
Maloy Krishna Dhar in his book "Open Secrets-India's intelligence unveiled" says in a meeting on the previous day (before the mosque was destroyed by a rioting mob), among the RSS, VHP, BJP and Shiv Sena leaders there was "silent resoluteness and agreement that Ayodhya offered a unique opportunity to take the Hindutva wave to the peak for deriving political benefit. The iron was hot and this was the time to hit." VHP is the World Hindu Council and the Shiv Sena is an ultra right wing political party based in Maharashtra. (V.S. Naipaul had noted the Shiv Sena's propensity for gangsterism and its mob connections in "A million mutinies now").
The fallout from the Liberhan report is ongoing and it is also interesting to note the
contestion occuring in the cultural domain over issues of ultimate identity and inheritance insofar as one of the figures implicated, Manohar Joshi, as Education minister within the 98-04 BJP coalition government changed the school history syllabus to validate the claims of Hindu nationalist historians that the Harappan Aryans were indigenous and not Indo-European immigrants or invaders. This is by no means extraordinary in itself as revisionist Indian historians have been chiselling away at this particular bugbear for some time now but it does indicate perhaps the level of concerns and depth of feeling sensed to be at stake here, certainly in some quarters.
Without passing judgement one way or the other it may be noted that identity politics exclusively pursued seldom produces anything but dangerous volatility particularly when that drama is played out amidst the backdrop of an often crushing poverty.
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