This is not the first time that this has happened either.
Back in the 1970s there was a movement in the midst of the spread of Communism
all over the world that was different from the prevailing anti-imperialist
trend and that was Iran. The Iranian Revolution unlike the Communist upsurges
in various countries was a rising of a non-Secular movement against American
Colonialism of the time. Of course, this was a threat of a new kind to American
imperialism because it was anti-imperialism that didn’t need the “Godless
Communists” that America was focused on. Few Liberal commentators at the time
were equipped to understand that the primary goal of America was global
domination and not just the dismantling of Worker’s Movements and Socialism.
A little note on the series of events that led to the
Iranian Revolution. Iran was always a fiercely independent country. Through the
course of World War 2, however, it did become an important outpost for
resources for the war effort with the British and French having a presence
there. As the post-war decades rolled on, the influence of America became more
pronounced much to the chagrin of the local population. The election of
Mossadek ushered in the blowback, where the Govt of Iran decided to Nationalise
the oil industry. This resulted in the American sponsored overthrow of Mossadek
and the reinstating of the Shah of Iran as a dictator. Such a blatant act of
imperialism is what resulted in the Revolution. More importantly, it never
waned or reduced in fervor precisely because Iranians remember exactly what the
US tried to do.
Coming back to India, you see some similarities. Though
India was never really a Socialist state, it had controlled, if nothing else,
the Imperialist moves of the US. The ideological grounding of this resistance
was that Globally, the USSR still existed, and the ideology of the Freedom
struggle still prevailed. With the collapse of the USSR, the tide had turned
and the calls for the Liberalisation of the Indian Economy grew. The rich and
middle classes wanted to be the new bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie wanted to
control the state like it does in the US, and the State was now ideologically
committed to its fate as a puppet of the US – and to nurturing jingoism and
national pride to fuel popular support for a neoliberal agenda.
On the cultural side, Indian society cleaved even further
than its traditional Feudalistic hangover of Caste. There was now the Urban
elites and middle classes, the English Speakers, the Armchair intellectuals and
progressives, and on the other side – the uneducated, rural, conservatives. Now
in all fairness, due to the absolute size of India, neoliberalism was able to
send some wealth down the food chain to the rural populations. But as is seen
worldwide, the trickle down is always miniscule, skewed, and doesn’t accompany
in progressive thought.
A side note here is needed to reinforce what the Indian
state should have done. Post-Independence, under the Nehruvian socialists, the
focus was on Nation Building. This was in the form of infrastructure and
building facilities for modernity, food security, etc. It did not
correspondingly focus on destroying the Old – the conservatism that prevailed
through religion, feudalism, and ending the Fascist cult of the Hindu Terrorist
RSS. A fatal flaw. This is exactly why of all the post war countries in Asia,
India remains one of the most socially backward countries prevailing out to the
21st century.
As we look into this background and analyse today – in the
21st century where Capitalism is breathing its last and People’s
movements in the Left and Right are now pushing Liberal Capitalism out – we see
the shadows of the Iranian Revolution rearing its head again in India in Hindu
Nationalism. This can be seen in the rejection of a Secular agenda primarily.
What was the evil of American for Iran is the evil of Muslims and Communists in
India. What was the rejection of American cultural hegemony is the rejection of
intellectualism, English and a revival of pre-dark ages philosophy in India. Of
course, in India, all this is mostly rhetoric for the masses because the
economic model has not changed nor is it any less imperialistic. This phase of
Hindutva is also underscored as being the rise of the Conservative and Rural –
Rural from the perspective of the mind more than the physical or geographical.
What the future holds for India thus is more subject to the
vagaries of electoral rhetoric and economic realities. The growing
radicalization of the majority Hindu population is thus destroyed by the nature
of Capitalism pushing a progressive agenda where Nationalism and Insularity
cannot sustain itself. Also, it would take decades if not impossible to turn
the Indian population away from the lure of migration or of aspiring to ape and
be as Western as possible. We must also remember that Capitalism itself is
disdainful of insularity of the Indian Market and that corporations that worked
so hard to breach the defenses of the erstwhile Indian state will not give up
its victory ever.
What is more likely is that under the rule of the BJP, there
will be more and more assaults upon Working Class consciousness. This is the
real danger and most likely the inevitable death of Hindutva is simply the
installation of a Corporate fascist state – something that is not even
antagonistic to Hinduism as it is to Islam.
The other more likely assaults by Hindutva would be
colonialist in nature upon the rest of India – especially the South. This will
be a failed endeavor and any attempt to push the agenda aggressively would end
up in a civil war. Thus Political Entropy is achieved yet again.
