Trail Of Symbols: Babri Demolition To Gujarat Holocaust!
By Anil Pundlik Gokhale
13 August, 2010
Countercurrents.org
If the road to heaven is paved with good intentions, then the avenues of the Third Reich are paved with symbols.-Leon Trotsky (What is National Socialism).
On 20 th August, we are approaching the 70 th anniversary of assassination of Leon Trotsky, the architect of the October revolution in Russia and pioneer of the art of insurrection. His writings on Fascism are the only credible articles of Marxist analysis of class characteristics of Fascism and Nazism and complex relationship it establishes with large industrial and finance capital. His “What is National Socialism?” provides us enormous insights into tragic trail of historical events that followed in India since 1980's, Babri demolition till Gujarat holocaust. .The significance of these horrific events compel us to trace the origins, growth and first order symbolic triumph of Hindutwa fascism in India after prolonged period of seven decades since 1920's. It shows how political liberalism and secularism trembles when threatened by combative organized Hindu Nationalists supported by large Industrial and finance capital. What began with installation of idols of Rama in Babri Mosque in 1947, grew in pell-mell and received catastrophic impetus in 1980's which finally crippled the state.
Fascism is built on the foundations of mass movement of petty bourgeoisie in despair and when it looses its precarious volatile independence from classes below it and above it and takes shelter into mysticism of symbols inherited from ‘resurgent past'. Intention of this write up is to disclose the anatomy and construction of symbols forming perpetual source of fascist violence in the name of ‘classless and casteless resurgent Hindu community'.
Blessings in Perils for advancing capitalism- Saints, OBCs and Bajrang Dal!
Since 1980s, for last twenty five years, capitalism in India has been shedding its skin, through series of economic slumps and rural draughts but it unfurled its global aspirations of emerging as imperialist super power. It made huge leap for integration into corporate global business and finance capital and rapidly assimilated modern technology. Centralization, concentration of global investment was accompanied by ruthless smiting down of gains of trade union movement over decades and throwing to the winds old industrial structure to the whims of closures and ‘disinvestments'. As a result, working classes threw out massive army of unemployed, ‘surplus labor' adding to the chronically unemployed mass of lumpens. But ruins of petty bourgeoisie was significant and phenomenal, across all regions and states in India creating most volatile political situation. Urban middle classes saw their hopes sinking with shutting down of old industry and found itself in neck deep trouble. It was joined by sections of mass of uprooted poor peasants and traditional caste based artisans which form the bulk of OBCs. Never before their plight was so acute as shear pace of the economic slumps from 1981 till 1990's brought complete misery into their life. The lowly caste based status prevented their entry into modern education system and also into new occupations. Recessionary slumps turned into sharp growth in anarchic and erratic socio political agitations in rural and urban India .
The dramatic change in class structure brought with it inflow of unemployed, traditional middle peasants, OBCs and small farm holders into cities and fused their miseries with plight of the semi urban and urban middle classes. Their cultural fusion created awesome mass of deranged, lunatics and hysterics striving for spiritual liberation and schizophrenic invalids possessed by ‘evil spirits'. Sections of them surrendered themselves into the arms of Hindu saints and sadhus. Embracing communal rituals and amalgamation with psychical life of chronically unemployed is reflected in to the jump in the estimated strength of instinctually starved mass of sadhus of India to six million. Road to heaven and mokshya paved through the ascetics preached by earthly demy gods. The vast communities of unemployed Sadhus formed the ready made cannon fodder for religious- political organizations. Spiritual ascetic leadership could compress all types of dissatisfactions of large mass of petit bourgeoisies and middle classes and could swing behind it large chunk of unemployed working population forming the backbone of anti-liberal revolt inspired by phantasised past.
The extermination threat from advancing capitalism exploded on job reservations bringing about vertical split in the ranks of OBCs. . Job reservation for Muslims in sate and central government within extremely limited opportunities was viciously projected by VHP as systematic plan hatched against the fundamental rights and interests of SC and OBCs. Scramble for jobs and with little, almost no schooling in class struggle, lifted the lead of social political repression over centuries. From the bottom of the social order rose the silt of symbols of blood, hatred and sacrificial imagery. It invoked rebellion of sections of OBC against their fathers to establish their own casteless Hindu identity freed from Brahmin domination! In Ram Janmabhumi or Babri demolition movement the propaganda against Muslim oppression, conversion, cow slaughter, marriages of Hindu daughters to Muslim youths infected the unemployed OBCs and poor peasants to the fullest extent. Swapan Dasgupta rightwing author of Hindu gospels writes, “ It is very clear that the established Brahmanical order is incapable of rising to the challenge. The Ayodhya movement became a mass movement because it was driven and inspired by earthy evangelists like Sadhvi Rithambara, Uma Bharati and Acharya Dharmendra (all OBCs). There was nothing Brahmanical or ‘high Church' about their mobilizing techniques. Yet, they created the environment for the largest Hindu mobilization in history”. Scattered sects of Sadhus united on single platform positioned themselves as ‘spiritual agents', formed the vanguard of the Ram Janmabhumi- Babri Demolition mass movement.
Eventually the internal dissatisfaction and despair of chronically unemployed youth succumbed to political promise by VHP of a magical land of equality for all Hindus. Finally it crystallized into hardened extreme right wing groups of ‘Bajrang Dal'. The youth from various sects revolted against the liberal creeds and confused their aggressive and violent activism aimed at overthrowing the yoke of “Islam and political liberalism' as revolutionary fight against perils of capitalism and liberalism and ended up as lethal organizational weapon in service of capitalism.
“Classless and Casteless Hindutwa”, the Fetish of pauperized petty bourgeoisie
The brewing regressive revolt of this terribly suppressed stratum of OBCs and poor peasants stirred up to the cultural surface the malice, filth and dirt accumulated over centuries of caste based social life. It enabled the upper caste political groups to resurrect a grandiose ideology of ‘resurgent Hindu community' freed from brahminical hierarchy. under the leadership of Sadhus and saints. Manjiri Katju, a staunch VHPite, writes in recently published “Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Indian Politics,” “ O ver the last decade, the VHP has become transformed from an organization of traders, petty industrialists and provincial bureaucrats to a grouping whose cadres are made up predominantly of Other Backward Castes (OBCs)” Even simple glance at the composition of VHP- Bajrang Dal is self evident. Pravin Togadia? Patel, sometimes classed as ‘Backwards'. Narendra Modi? OBC. Uma Bharti? (OBC and poor peasant), Sadhvi Ritambhra- (OBC and poor peasant from Punjab ), Vinay Katiyar of the Bajrang Dal? OBC. Acharya Dharmendra? OBC. Kalyan Singh? OBC. Most of the Bajrang Dal conveners and akhada chiefs have rose from the ranks of petty contractors, Anti Union or non- unionized government employees, lumpen and unemployed. The VHP is thus, today, a movement that has been described by her as a movement of ‘Shudra Hindutwa'. She says, “VHP's language of mobilization changed from mild socio-religious criticism to a vitriolic attack on the entire social and political ideology of the (liberal) state”.
It is not surprising that Manjiri prescribes, “successful targeting of the ‘other' (Muslims and Christians) helps paper over internal divisions and divert attention from sorely needed social reform”. Earlier efforts of V.D. Savarkar to tide over the caste barriers for uniting “Hindus' as fighting force by targeting Muslims seems to have yielded success in last decades of twentieth century. All credit goes to advancing corporate capitalism for summoning and providing much needed political crucible for the political forces of despair waiting in the dark for decades. Its barbaric strategy of turning the raging anger generated by extermination s, evictions and closures provided did not deter it. They discovered in it rich and dividend paying opportunity of pushing both sections of, drowning, tumbling and rising, petty bourgeoisies, as partners in despair. The right wing offered them avenues for violent articulation for creation of ‘symbolic virtual reality' for resurrection of ‘equality in hell', mythical neo ethno-religious Hindu community life. It united them under the ‘magic of orthodoxy' and ‘authority'.
It took one full decade for fusing and unifying of the discontent. In the cataclysmic event of Babri Demolition of 1992, it was VHP and BJD unified the ranks and files of ‘ascetic' sadhus living scattered and ‘cult' life of lumpen. Subsequently genocide of 2002 in Gujarat has provided supreme evidence of its racial edge, arrogance and strength of organized violence. Pauperization of Petit bourgeoisies facing ruins lost the cause of its existence and rays of hopes of the future. Fear of bourgeois cultural domination and frightening prospects of melting into sea of working mass, the petty bourgeoisie was pushed towards desperate search for new universal cutting edge ideology for venting out its psycho-sexual resistance to ‘cultural repression' by liberalism. It discovered in fairy tales ‘kidnapping of Seeta and burning of Lanka by Hanumana' a perfect holocaust symbol justifying the rage of the most obedient servant for protection of mother captivated by the monster, amalgamation of sexualized violence in streets and articulated as de-sexualized protection of ‘motherhood'. Traditional middle classes of high caste origins provided them the political and mythical umbrella to bring under its fold the pauperized layers of OBCs liberated and fooled by advancing capitalism. This has far reaching impact of freezing the ‘cultural imagination' and reification of full blown fetish, universal phantom, born in sexual rage but rused as “Classless & casteless resurgent Hindu Community”..
Emboldened Hindu Fundamentalist groups like Bajarang Dal, VHP, SS and politically trailing BJP (RSS Family) declared Civil War against Muslims and exhorted the mobs for avenging the centuries long imagined and phantasized, tormenting humiliations of Hindus by Mughals. RSS family obsessed with demolition of historical signs of demonic heritage of Babur's Mughal rule whiped up sexual imagery of raping of Hindu mothers and sisters, abduction of Hindu women, cow slaughters and demolishing the ‘domes' of Hindu temples. The force of sexual symbols makes secularism of Indian state vulnerable and polarizes the two conflicting religious cultures, Aryan (Hindus) and Islamic. From underneath the debris of the Mosque was re-discovered Ram's symbolized mythical birth place molested by Babur and paved a way forward for ‘Hindutwa' Fascist March to political power.
Ascendance of Hindutwa organized squads and groups
Cultural and political crisis of 1980s, ran up to the beginning of the twenty first century. The mounting anxiety of the petty bourgeoisies about the future of India and its identity were facilitated by turmoil of separatist Khalistan Movement, Operation Blue Star, Killings of India's prime minister and Anti Sikh Riots. 1984 formed the watershed which registered dramatic swing towards fundamentalism. Petty bourgeoisie needs enemies for defining nationhood. It needed national cause, other than issues bedeviling the working masses. Amidst the fears of crumbling of state VHP formed a front brigade of street fighters, Bajarang Dal, mainly from the ranks of OBCs, poor peasants and Sadhus. It showed its violent and destructive might in anti-Sikh riot, 1992 Babri demolition and 2002 Gujarat holocaust. It has an oath to fulfill, total annihilation of internal enemies and the liberal state!
Instigated by VHP, the rebellious petty bourgeois's lead by BJD assaulted political liberalism and seized the initiative in absence of trustworthy leftwing party and descending working class movement. VHP had learnt its first lessons of creating combative aggressive groups from Bal Thakere , who latter assumed the powers of Shiv Sena chief. Rising from the ranks of Brahminical Middle classes he became first to demonstrate powers of terribly abusive language of hatred, drenched in sexual and blood symbols and ushered the political art of fusing the petty bourgeoisie, middle classes and lumpens (created by crisis ridden textile industry) into oneness. Terrible hostility to the struggles of the proletariat, rude, loud mouthed cartoonist opposed communists, brought in local mafia, with the help of congress leadership and capitalists to rampage the Left hold on the workers trade-union movement. He emerged as the dictator by destroying the backbone of the leadership of the working class built over earlier sixty years.
Politically ambitious Thakre envious of Acharya Atre and communists for street support, was waiting in the dark for an opportunity and began targeting south Indians in a systematic and cleaver move to avoid discontent against capitalists who were chiefly Gujaratis and Marwaris. He raised the voice of middle classes in offices of industries aspiring for promotions. Impotent before big capital, the petty bourgeoisie hoped to regain its social dignity and pride as ‘Marathis' through the ruin of the workers. He lifted the Shivaji symbol, inherited from Samayukta Maharashtra agitation and resurrected imagery of a monolithic leader engaged in a triad against Muslims and Mughals ruling Delhi . Shiv Sena formed the Nazi type lethal groups for rampaging strikes and evolving strategy for physical annihilation of militant leaders and trade union movement at the behest of the leading capitalists in Mumbai. Bewildered by the unexpected, Trade union movement built by Leftists, had no strategy to combat and it collapsed like pack of cards. His strategy was a classical combination of Musolini and Hitler. Working class rallied around Dr. Datta Samant for a decade but defeat of the longest and biggest strike of Textile workers paved the way for ‘uncrowned' rule of Shiv Sena from 1984.
Riding on the back of defeated strike, in next eight years, Shiv Sena transformed itself into sole defendant of Hindutwa. In Babri- RJB violent agitation it found several ethno religious strands, tied to mythology and rule from Delhi . Thakre adopted ascetic saffron attire to hide brutal barbarous designs to evoke Vedic symbols of ‘fire' and ‘oblation' and threatened holocaust from time to time! His stream of Fascism merged with BJD- VHP crusade for Babri demolition from 1984. .
First formed in 1958, VHP sponsored spread of Bajarang Dal in 1984, at every Industrial- District, small and tiny business Towns and Government offices and at Taluka places (has 2.500 Akhadas) which indicates the significance of spread size of this ‘militant sect'. On one hand Ritambara and her sect through oratories, drenched in sexual and blood imagery resurrected the complex symbols of castration. The unattainable ecstatic probably was rehearsing her inherited but repressed infantile sexual phantasy that girls are boys who have been castrated or whose penis been ‘cut off (S. Freud- IOD). Out of terrible complex she was able to evoke multiple psychic fears of castration, strong desire to escape from castration and appeal to overthrow the ‘loss of manhood' and attain power. In the common hysterical exercise of identification with leader, the ‘gallent fighters' were prepared for ‘sacrifice of life' in the service of corporate capital. Bajarang symbol evokes and lifts the psychic repression on raging sexual instincts to cleanse the 'contaminated and corrupted' Islamic culture in defense of “ Classless & casteless resurgent Hindu Community'.
The “Islamic Satan” becomes the symbol of unlimited procreation, citadel of power of male sexual organs, of polygamy and of terrorism!. The oratory spells of Ritambhara are intended to excite envy for ‘male organ' with formation of a condescend image of Islam in Hindu psyche which is nothing but horror revenging ‘loss within one self'. It is often encountered in anxiety dreams, as superimposition and ossification of several images over and over again into that o a monster. The propaganda against ‘Muslim terrorists' directed at huge mass of unemployed youth, mostly from sections of OBC ranks has a diabolic design, plot and plan to hide the reasons of their woes, miseries and painful conditions of their life. It had overwhelming support of large ‘finance capital' to pitch the core of their psycho- sexual energies against ‘organized' labor, split the ranks of working masses. It decomposes spontaneous social production relations and freedom of association through imagery which is a ruse hiding distortion, displacement and repression. Thus this structural model aims at transforming the ‘neurosis as private religion' (Erich Form) to ‘religion as universal neurosis' – from private to public political culture. Thus Fascist agenda targets at transforming dream symbols or unconscious fantasies into political objects. The outbreak of political events in 1984 facilitated oozing out all the gibberish latent in the centuries of repressive culture of a nation into archaic political expressions.
Violence of the lumpen and Symbolic Serpent
Ram has been regarded as God of Hindus of all ‘sects' and whose kingdom is phantasized as ‘a-historic reality' with ideal ‘polity' (state) which was identified by Gandhi as “Ram Raj'. “Ram Shila Poojanyas” became associated with this mystical iconography. The madness and euphoria generated by ‘confrontation of rituals' of Ram Shila worship and and Babri Azam in 1989 was turned into ‘ritual of confrontations' of cultures. On the occasion of Ram Shila Pooja' Sadhvi Ritambara' and Uma Bharati relayed provocative messages to incite hindus against foreigners and pledged to protect the ‘Hindu culture' . The religious orator spoke, ‘The Ram Shilas will be death sentence for those who call mother India a “witch”. The slogans chanted claimed ‘two places for Muslims, Pakistan or graveyard.”. This outburst poisoning the audience is manifestation of transference of infantile strong rebellious emotive feelings of hatred, jealousy and dependency embedded in familial relations on to ‘other'. To paraphrase Freud, the process can be identified as “stereotypical plates laid down in infancy are activated” in the current despairing settings and relationships.
Ritembhara's oratory focus was on retrieving this phantasized experiences and practices of the mythical past for overthrowing the contaminated regime. It was intended to reinforce the belief that destiny of Hindus is at the disposal of ‘savior – prophet' born in every age' (Sambhavami Yuge Yuge). This political strategy of VHP was to mesmerize the parochial groups of semi urbanized villagers, artisans, unemployed, ascetics (Sadhus) and the peasants, still holding firmly to their chests old beliefs in Ram Raj.
Tapping, activating and mobilizing the deeper sources of the psycho- sexual energy oozing out from despair of the lumpen & petty bourgeoisies has always been used by Fascism for battering even the mildest resistance to capitalism. Over last five decades Hindutwa fascism has mastered techniques of achieving its goal. Beginning from V.D. Savarkar and RSS, it was well experimented by Shiv Sena initially and now in most affront form by Ritambhara- VHP combine. Bajarang Dal was the handy weapon modeled of storm troopers by Nazis in physically dismembering and mutilating the opponents and was perfected finally by Narendra Modi's state guided and planned violence and the holocaust aimed at total subjugation of Islam. Gujarat Holocaust and its aftermath laid the corner stones of the fascist political power and built its institutional and legal pillars. The rising graph and fascist fortunes passes through the ‘Arch of the Babri Demolition Triumph' .
Strong lumpen groups of three million Indian Saints (Sadhus & Sadhvis) formed the avant-garde of Babri Demolition drive from 1990. Long tradition of Saints (Sadhus), Tantriks and exorcists have unique place in Indian social order in keeping alive the ‘spiritual mysticism' and acting as guiding spirits of people and politicians. VHP's venomous propaganda propelled the communal tensions reaching to threshold of ignition and Sadhus provided ‘cultural- religious' leadership, support and protective cover to Hindutwa militias. This politico cultural framework proved conducive for series of fascist organized actions during and after demolition in 1992. They were the earliest symptoms of a genocide looming large as rabid leadership of VHP was working round the clock for formation of trained and lethally equipped militia from the ranks of social outcastes, t hieves, beggars, crude, lumpen, frustrated peasants and out of control mafias.
A scetics thronged at Babri site as ‘Kar Sevaks' under the broad based saffron umbrella of BJP, RSS and enjoying full support and sympathy of U.P. Government and blessings from central government fully busy with implementing ‘global liberalization policies paving the way for the expansionist aspirations of Global capitalism.
Narsinha Rao government pretended to be at sleep when Ritambhara was lashing at the impotent government and instigating, provoking the kar sevaks to shed the age old impotency of the Hindus, resort to organized violence and thus demonstrate their ‘man hood'. Evoking the imagined reasons of decline in glory and pride of Hindu community. The Punjab based poor peasant Sadhvi Ritambhara was boasting about India 's tradition of ascetics, Arbindo, Ramkrishna Paramhauns, Vivekanand, Savarkar and the modern political saints like Asaram Bapu for preparing the ground work of regressive Hindutwa philosophy. In demolition campaign Ritambhara was breathing fire in colloquial language marked with her hysteric outburst. Her louder voice and hate campaign was intended to remind the listeners about teachings of conversions through swords and unrelenting repressions in Koran. His successors Babur and Taimur, raped Hindu women and insulted ‘Vande Mataram'. The blood and castration imagery was at the heart of her discourse since it facilitated transformation of the repressed sexual energy into Political rage. She threatened, “Let there be violence, let the blood flow … we sadhus have come forward to wake you up from slumbers of ages”. Ritambhara extracts wild applause, yells and roars from the crowds!
Crowd responses were not surprising. Over decades political ascetics have learnt the art of spelling out hypnotic suggestions which can impinge upon the residing inherited depositories of symbols and images in unconscious representing sexual instincts, castration and incestuous desires. Most popular amongst all symbols are those of ‘Shesha', “Nag', the serpent symbol, on whose heads rests the world in equilibrium. Sexual roots of this symbols are well established in Hindu mythology and well entrenched in mythologies all over the world. Rajesh Pradhan ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Political Science, Cambridge ) in his “When the Saints Go Marching in” has well documented the significance and the multiple meanings of this venom pouring sexual serpent symbolism. Psychoanalysis has discovered that in neurotic phantasm or in dreams, serpent represents sexual erotic. As vanguards of Indian civilization, to quell or quench the threat or renounce eruption of sexual desires number of sects within Indian ascetics have, practiced most painful and barbarous means and age old techniques of kindling or awakening kundalini to achieve ‘internal orgasm'. Dr. Pradhan has summarized as “In the Kundalini Yoga , the most primordial energy, in the form of coiled serpent, lies at the base of individuals seat (lower end of the spine) It is coiled and dormant. When aroused with contingent events and techniques, that most potent energy rises towards the head and becomes potent for a while before recoiling again. In the Shakta / tantrik religious tradition, this serpent symbolism is a euphemism for having a spiritual internal orgasm, where semen rises upwards and inwards, instead of downward and upwards”. It seems that political Sadhvis and Sadhus know the art of awakening the “potent” moment in the psych of the audience, its own brand of storm troopers for activating and making it ready to take violent vengeance against the foes instead of “recoiling” to its base.
Sadhvi Ritambhara and Uma Bharti and other political fundamentalist ascetics have exactly used this techniques of transformation of psycho sexual potential energy into collective rage against Muslims. Irrespective of the validity of this mystical techniques it gives us a clue to crack the processes in collective unconscious in flushing out Fascist violence embedded in regression to symbols exhibiting true colors of practitioners of Holocaust! Babri demolition has become the sacred symbol of barbaric and brutal face of corporate capitalism's turn towards establishment of “Ram Raj” as ideal Polity and riding on the backs of petty bourgeoisies.
Symbolizing activity V.D. Savarkar to Bajrang Dal
Peculiar political circumstances of the 1980s was accompanied by deepening economic, institutional and ideological crisis. Working class militancy of 1960's, 70s was successfully and ruthlessly put down by capital and state. New era of mobilization of lower and backward castes began at a time when Indian brand of centrist cultural secularism and multi-religious-lingual core of the cultural order was in its death throes. These were all surface reflections of deadly crisis within the ranks and layers of the petty bourgeoisies. Time was now ripe for the philosophy and practice of despair to take roots into organized political mysticism of the mass of people and sink into mythical ‘past'.
1980's saw the reversal of a political situation that prevailed in 1920's, the last quarter of British crown's India rule. It was marked by increasing raking up of violent Hindu-Muslim conflict and simultaneously intensification of agitations against British imperialism. Overwhelming transgression of parochial consciousness and formation of near revolutionary movements of working masses and ‘salt march' of peasantry made possible agenda of ‘hope' and ‘freedom' to post victory over despair. M.K. Gandhi and congress party triumphed over the yells of despair by the handful well knit upper castes urban elite, money lenders and community of large land owners. The outgoing classes fumed at loss of their social dominance and glory they once enjoyed with rise of new financial institutions and new ways of life. The despair was expressed with an assault on Khilapat movement attempting to unify Hindus and Muslims against British rule. V.D. Savarkar, brought about a small split in the right wing of the National Congress Party who joined hands with R.S.S. The despairing Maharashtra based urban petty bourgeoisies stridently apposed the independent representations to Muslims and backward communities. The vitriolic anti- Gandhi- Anti Muslim campaign launched by V.D. Savarkar and his deafening silence on agitations against British rule continued after fall of Khilapat and finally he ended up as father of Hindutwa Fascism.
Freed from Andaman Jails in 1921 after several attempts and applications for clemency for release from British Jails Savarkar found himself broken to his core when released from rigorous punishment. His will to fight against British Imperial order had evaporated. His latter cultural- political campaigns manifested everything he inherited in Andaman Jails! The literature he produced during Andam period manifests his near psychotic state of mind and he remained prisoner of it throughout his life. In footsteps of his predecessors, the two distinguished ‘sadhus or saints', Dayanand Saraswati and Aurobindo he expanded the elitist theories of resurgent Hindu nationalism. Dayanand Saraswati searched for a ‘manly god and manly casteless Hinduism' of Vedic period. Obsessed with rage against conversions he founded the institution for ‘purification' for giving casteless identity to Hindu nationhood. Yogi Aurobindo, another militant mystic founded in 1906 secret societies to fight British rule and drew inspiration from epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata to justify strategy of violence. He also had ended up as protagonist of intolerant Aryan Hindu nationalism, founded the idea of sacred land and devised clear anti- Mahomedan, communalist political strategy. Savarkar, broken, insulted and humiliated by British, quickly assimilated the despairing regressive thought processes and program of this duo and rebelled. This time, revolt was not against the British Imperialism but against an psychically displaced images of ‘internal cancerous' enemy Muslims the invaders and conquers of pre- British India !
V.D. Savarkar's poetic creations and his literature in Andaman Jail expresses direction in which he was pushed by the inexorable blind forces of history. H e renounced anti- state activities and conducted first anti-Muslim riot in Ratnangiri Jail by using Hindu criminal prisoners. His obsession with impotency of Hindu coward flocks dates back to compounding of his childhood imagery of invasion of Mughals, temple destructions by Muhmud Gazni.and his anxiety of dieing childless in Jail! His obsession with the shameful defeat of Marathas in Panipat was deeply rooted in his memory and can be likened with Adolph Hitler's obsession with taking revenge against Imperialist Powers which forced upon Second Reich humiliating defeat and acceptance of Versailles terms of Treaty. It hung upon his mind as impotency and castration complex which needs to be aggressively countered. In 1920's, he was obsessed with the phantasies of Muslims scheming and hatching conspiracies against Hindus. He did not device any political agenda. He simply adopted what was handed over to him by the Sadhu duo. His obsessive ‘patriotic' political mission was to ‘reclaim the lost holy land' by avenging temple destructions, abduction and raping of Hindu women, slaughter of cows and conversions to Islam. This required stirring up of the Hindu conscience of the impotent and coward Hindus for defeating Islam and finally constituting resurgent aggressive ‘ castles Hindu political regime' with a military might.
The mantle of his elitist agenda of bringing to the centre stage politics of mobilization of casteless mass hatred and symbols guided violent political activism was carried forward and shouldered by fanatic VHP and Bajrang Dal Leadership. The astonishing identity of stereotype ethnic symbolic thinking between V. D. Savarkar and Bajrang Dal at various levels expresses the essential characteristics of fascist personality. These symbols exhibit and manifest neurotic repetition and timelessness of instinctual obsession and treats phantasies as ‘contemporary experience'. These typical symbols represent ‘human body' expressing instinctual stimulus! They are pictorial representations from dreams assimilated from elsewhere, from mythology, buffoonery and jokes. They are neurotic monotonous symptoms representing genitals, sexual processes and sexual intercourse. Noteworthy is the hierarchy of symbolism. Work subservience to capital and total acceptance of wage slavery is hallmark of Bajrang Dal which exhibit pride in symbol of Hindu deity Hanuman bowing before Rama (enslavement and obedience to capitalism), "liberating temples converted by Muslim rulers(Blood, Breasts and Sex)", cow slaughter(Mother Cow), "Muslim conspiracy to lure Hindu girls and marry them to Muslim boys” (Sexual possession, primal, incestuous relations)". Trident (Trishul) (Blood and violence) and physically manhandling ‘westernized females'(Anti modernity and Breast symbol). It is the contribution of psychoanalysis to discover from sexual etiology of neurosis and to centre this symbolizing activity on sexuality. What activates these symbols are hypnotic suggestions aimed at awakening the seething and despairing sexual striving for substitute satisfaction which triggers their ghastly expression.
V.D. Savarkar's ‘Andaman' poetry may illustrate core of the symbolizing activity in unconscious not only as of an individual but as general form. In him was the poet exploring world of his own childhood fantasies, which he never gave up, and fluffed them up to express romance, mourning and flared rage! . S eries of his poems during Andaman Jails can be identified as unfolding of series of dreams and phantasies (refer poem ‘ O sleep'), each one intertwined and born from previous one. T he introductions to his poems (Vol.7) note that they are remarkably ‘inward looking' and protracted articulations of ‘inner world' of fantasies and dreams, which he had been so fond of.
V.D Savarkar's epic poetic creation, Kamala is verbalization of his erotic phantasies, the lost repressed incestuous Oedipal relationship, primal desire, reappears as romance of the hero with ‘dreamt and mythisized woman' and has m ost horrendous and stunning end, when ‘loving beds turn into battlefields' against Muslims! The persistent psychic reality compels the release of the repressed energies as rage displaced on to ‘Mlenchas (Muslims). (Incidentally m ythical Kamala is accompanied by elephants, who pour jars of nectar on to her, symbolizes fertility). Savarkar was not Oedipus Rex to pursue the truth in his sreams, he simply turns his dream desires into holocaust! ‘Hindu Vimochan' is another metaphor flowering from myth “gajendra Mokshya'( Gajendra seeking deliverance). The metaphor or symbol is transplanted on to Hindu Vimochan' to portray muslims as crocodile. Religious symbols represents the mythical phantasies ‘archived' and engraved in the ‘child psyche' of socio- cultural groups This clear sexual phantasy of ‘trunk' plucking ‘lotus' is meant to summon the forces of sexuality to shake the foundations of civil society. The theories and poetry he propounded had to wait till 1980's, 90's and 2002 when they proliferated onto full blown violent fascist fury and holocausts!
Failure of Gandhian Asceticism
For Leon Trotsky M.K. Gandhi's non- violence is truly represented by his pious goat. which provided him the milk. Goat milk is the only milk which does not lead to sexual stimulation! He propagated & publicized his ‘experiments with truth for the benefit of Indian masses and facilitated sexual repression to control violence. It was M.K. Gandhi who sold and subscribed to Indian masses his own political ascetics of goat milk and khadi to keep at bay violence. This mysticism is in line with traditions of Indian ascetics and was essential to ensure that the mass struggle against British do not spell a doom for capitalism. Capitalism mushroomed under the umbrella of British imperialism by riding on the back of peasantry and urban petty bourgeoisies and soon established its political hegemony. In doing so it led to erosion of caste based social structure but awakening of the most oppressed OBCs, dalits and and emergence of it's deadly foe- the proletariat. By practicing the mysticism, Gandhian congress party became the ‘trustees'of Birlas & Tata.
Psychologist Erikson tried to trace the psychosexual and psycho-political evolution of M. K. Gandhi and his legacy of militant non –violence focused on keeping in check explosion of sexual energies. Gandhi established ‘Majoor Mahajan' Sangh on 4 th Dec. 1917 , trade union organization of textile workers of Ahemadabad and Surat workers with its slogan ‘ Long Live Workers piece”, committed to no strike policy and cooperation between labor and capitalist. Non- Violent freedom movement for thirty years affected the struggle against the British rule in multiplicity of ways. Gandhi led the large mass of peasantry and urban petty bourgeois towards their successful ‘submission' to aspirations of emerging large scale capitalism. His asceticism could put a successful ‘lid' on trade union movement and class struggles and at the same time established and firmly enhanced sexual repression, amongst mass of working people and the petty bourgeoisies, drove underground the sexual drives in the interests of the civilization. It fully supplemented the ascetic practices based on a religious motivation which include fasting, abstention from sex, and other forms of self-denials intended to increase religious awareness or attain a closer relationship with a purported "divine". In case of congress lead movement from 1920 till 1948 the Gandhian asceticism channelized the hopes of the masses by curtailing needs of peasants and class struggles of laboring masses.
Freud states in his ‘Civilization and Discontent” states that in the work of civilization, “amongst instinctual forces which are put to this use, sexual impulses are an important part” and forms its “precarious portion of its foundations”. And “society believes that no greater threat to its civilization could arise if the sexual instincts were allowed to be liberated and return to their original aims”. Capitalism in zest for capital accumulation or when in tatters is not afraid of patronizing the ‘threat' to civilization if the sexual instincts are redirected towards to carrying out barbaric holocaust in the name of ‘resurgence' of German Nation or “Hindu Nation Sate”. In last five decades despair of the petty bourgeoisies triumphed over the hope of Gandhian legacy and capitalism has favored giving final obituary to it's fetishistic ideology of political, secular liberalism and exhibit its core barbaric colors veiled under fetishism of ‘casteless Hindu resurgence'.
Political art of both, Gandhian ‘non violence' and Hindutwa ‘violence' consisted in fusing the petty bourgeoisie into oneness through its common hostility to the proletariat, first in the decades of hope and followed by the era of despair respectively. What must be done in order to be firmly in saddle? First of all, throttle those who are underneath- middle classes! Impotent before big capital, the petty bourgeoisie hopes to regain its social dignity, prestige and pride through the ruins of the mass of working people.
Capital is not hesitant to fulfill its lust of capital accumulation by using labor and to appropriate the deeper source of human energy, the sexual, for its survival. On realization that it ought to appropriate and extract deeper source of energy, it facilitates resurrection of institutes and organizations from within the ranks of the petty bourgeoisies and lumpen which commensurate with fetishes created from regression to archaic sexual symbols to reveal its own nakedness. It reveals its core ideology which is barbarism. Hindutwa fascism creates new fetishes, other than commodity fetishism in the ‘death' and ‘dead' in holocaust. Thanks to Babri Mosque demolition and subsequent fall out in Gujarat holocaust of 2002, this enabled capitalism to reestablish its firm authority by openly accepting fetishism of ‘casteless and classless Hindutwa State as its own on the grave yards of the oppressed, exploited and the dead??? The failure of ‘sexual repression' and ‘Gandhian ascetics' is back in full circle A New Fascist ascetics of re-directing the psycho sexual energies for demolition of the hated enemy and for demolition of organized powers of working class is born. The mighty event of Babri Demolition and Gujarat holocaust are manifestation of crowning strength of forces of despair of 1980's.
In the ruins of Babri mosque, Gandhian psycho-sexual repression for decades paid for itself in same coins. Venomous propaganda aimed at overthrowing the yoke of sexual repression gave full throated expression to sexual aggression during Gujarat holocaust. Ashgar Ali quotes in ‘Counter Currents'. “According to Rhonda, sexual violence played a fundamental role and was used 'as an engine of the mobilization of hatred and destruction.” The savagery of instinctual forces of sexuality unleashed by VHP, Bajrang Dal and RSS family is matched only to Nazi's sexual assaults on Jews for decades and on lakhs of prisoners in various concentration camps. Collective psychosis in Gujarat violence expresses the dynamics of activation of all symbols, sexual & de-sexualized. We cannot fail to see Leon Trotskey's insights in to this psycho- historical process when he says “the avenues of the Third Reich are paved with symbols”.
Bajrang Dal proposed design of New Indian Saffron Flag, with the sacred symbol ‘ Om ', Sword and Yellow Swastica displayed prominently, to replace tricolor reminds us of Hitler's final acceptance of the NAZI Flag design after several trials, a flag of red material with a white disc bearing in its centre a black swastika. Yellow Swastika again represents the cosmic seven headed serpent Ananta on whose head rests Vishnu in deluge. Babri demolition saw the awakening of this serpent which evoked and lifted the psychic repression on the recesses of the ridiculous sexual and aggressive instincts. In a single assault on Babri Mosque and its aftermath ghost of Nathuram Godse revisited the murder scene with a vengeance, but this time to persecute Islam with a vision of ‘final solution' and overturn the entire petty bourgeois sponsored liberalism founded by M.K. Gandhi to spearhead installation of capitalist hegemony in the garbs of constituted ‘Organized Hindu Community as Resurgent Nation'. Today the trustees of Tata Birla in 1920's have turned into prisoners of Ambanis, Mittals and Tatas and Narendra Mody has turned into Trustworthy representative of Capital.
Pillars of Fascism in ruins of Babri
To day we get glimpse into core values and functions of fascism by taking stocks of Gujarat today. It is the logical culmination of Babri Mosque demolition, horrendous events, of 2001-2002 and experimentations in ‘Hindutwa Laboratory' in Gujarat .
Genocide through violence, death and fear have altered everyday life of Ahemadabad and Gujarat . New landscape came into being in the corporate globalizing city and has announced the death of old Textile Industrial city. Fascist neo liberals and fascist politicians have annihilated Muslim ‘occupied territories' and ushered new culture dominated by Islam phobia. New educational systems are also humming with Hindu- Gujarati discourses with ethnic bias and eulogizing Aryan rule of Hitler
The ascetics of BD cadre wearing saffron strips around forehead and VHP sponsored ‘resurgence' has been highly profitable for Narendra Modi. Confederation of Industries have praised Narendra Modi for Industrial progress. Ratan Tata, Ashok Mittal , Ambani's …. have showered abounding praise on Narendra Modi. He has become the darlings of large Industrial and corporate finance capital. Tata Motors have shifted to Gujarat from the base station of unionism By making voting compulsory and legally binding in Panchayat elections compulsory Modi has demonstrated how to reinforce police centralization and dragnet to keep strict watch on voters in far remotest areas of Gujarat . It reminds us of Nazi Gestapo's tight hold on individualized masses.
Within India , Gujarat is the only state with largest number of SEZs. Labor laws are most restrictive and suffocating, anti-union and coupled with draconian TADA. Contract labor has grown many fold, diamond workers (polishing ) are the most productive and lowest paid amongst all international counterparts. Deadly chemical industry has flourished. Farm labor of hybrid cotton producers and overall child labor utilization in Gujarat is lowest paid and highest in numbers. Cotton seed farm labor works for more than 12 hours a day. What is clear is the super intensification of labor and exploitation through increase in absolute surplus value, lengthening of working hours. This trajectory is continuation of earlier decade. The façade of growth and ‘wadening of infrastructure' is being built on unprecedented growth of participation of adivasi- tribal population as casual laborers. They are being deployed in brick- kilns, rock queries ------with hazardous working conditions in arduous tasks with hard labor and life risks and very low wages! Gain of this sector is at the cost of –displacement and extermination of tribal and backward population caused by construction of new damns, highways, and huge occupation of hilly and forests areas by mining mafia parading under ‘development patriots'! Total collapse in wage structures and availability of ‘immense pool' of casual – unskilled work force, their super exploitation has been unheard in Indian history. Increase in length of ‘working day' has added to misery and brought animal status of the working population.
All this Hindutwa fascists, Togadia (Heart Surgeon and an advocate of human butchery), Narendra Modi who provided state sanctions for the holocaust of 2002 identify today's state of affairs in Gujarat as “Resurgence of Hindutwa', a virtual reality of ‘Casteless Hindu Community' has been built on the foundations of annihilation of resistance from working masses. We are reminded again words of Leon Trotsky on the occasion of assumption of power by Nazis. He hammered Hitler's agenda, “His tasks are assigned him by monopoly capital” and tears apart the veil of fascist fetishism and claims of the fans and beholders of Fascism. “ Despair has raised them to their feet; fascism has given them a banner. Everything that should have been eliminated from the national organism in the form of cultural excrement in the course of the normal development of society has now come gushing out from the throat; capitalist society is puking up the undigested barbarism. Such is the physiology of National Socialism”.
Anil Pundlik Gokhale is an engineer profession and the author of ‘Condensation And Condescension In Dreams And History: Essay - From Sigmund Freud To E P Thompson’ published by Author House London.
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