The parallels between the Iranian Revolution and Modi.

 With India in its 3^rd year under the jackboots of a Hindu Right-Wing, Nationalist and Proto-fascist Govt, as well as under severe Neoliberal and Imperialist assault, an Indian cannot help but wonder where the country went wrong and why. This is especially the case for those who have always been warning of the dangers of a genocidal leader like Modi, backed by the Hindu Terrorist NGO RSS. But there are also those who are newly disillusioned by what can only be described as prime rib incompetence at managing the economy. However, few people really look at the rise of the Hindu version of Religious Nationalism - which is otherwise manifest in the Muslim brotherhood in MENA, Buddhist Nationalism of Burma and Sri Lanka, and Tea Bagger Libertarians of the US – as a reaction to the economic assault of Global imperialist Capitalism.

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 21^st century.

As we look into this background and analyse today – in the 21^st 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.