This is nothing but Fascism

Italian historian Dansk once said that the easiest way to define Fascism was to pen its history.

The everyday experiences prove how similar the extreme right wing, that’s rooted in Hindutwa which shuns the path of democracy and coexistence and adopts a culture of violence, is to Fascism. CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury was manhandled by two activists belonging to the fringe outfit Bharatiya Hindu Sena at AKG Bhawan, the CPM headquarters in Delhi on Wednesday. The heinous act is the latest instance of how far the Fascist tendencies disturb the daily lives of people. Due to the presence of prominent leaders including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who has already faced threats from the Sangh Parivar, at the Politbureau meeting, heavy police security was deployed at the AKG Bhawan. Despite all the safety measures, the group of men intruding the place, accosting and manhandling Yechury who was on his way to address a press conference, should be seen as a grave matter. According to the police, the arrested men were Bharatiya Hindu Sena workers. Whatever the name of the fringe outfits, the CPM strongly believes that that RSS was behind the attack. Since the practice of assigning different groups to accomplish different goals and fleeing when the incident turns into a controversy has been existing right from the birth of the organization, the denial of accusations shouldn’t be taken seriously. Extreme anti-democratic mentality is the trademark of Hindutwa. They have the right to harbor hatred towards the Communist ideology as well as the party and campaign against it if they have an aversion towards the party ideologies. But the belligerence of trespassing into a party’s headquarters, raising slogans against its Chief and manhandling him, shatters all stereotypes of democracy that has been nurtured for the past 70 years. Goondaism and democracy will never go hand in hand.

Hindu Sena Chief Vishnu Gupta said that the attack at AKG Bhawan was in protest against an article in the CPM weekly mouthpiece Peoples Democracy, criticizing the army’s move of using a Kashmiri man as a human shield. It’s clearly understood how greatly the antics of these groups to feverishly dub others as traitors impact the democratic lives of the nation. Branding a censure of an inhuman and a brutal move by the army in Kashmir as an insult to the army and lack of patriotism and at the same time faking themselves as patriots, is one of the usual cheap tactics of the hardcore right wing. Patriotism and cultural values as far as these groups are concerned, are mere mitigations to brand others as enemies and to unleash hate politics. After Narendra Modi came to power, it’s the third time the CPM party headquarters is being attacked. The Sangh Parivar protesting against Yechury in Nagpur and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Hyderabad and Mangaluru have clearly shown to the world the extent of the anti-democratic stance and outdatedness of the Hindutwa ideologies. A VHP leader from Ujjain had offered a price on the head of the Chief Minister. They fail to understand the reality that it’s the opposite of what they conspire that actually happens.

The CPM leadership could argue, that only the party displays the determination and will power in resisting the Hindutwa politics and that even the power at the Centre was insignificant before their commitment. The role of the party that leads the Left Front in raking up controversies regarding the recent curbs on the cattle markets by the Modi government and the interference in the food habits of the citizens might have annoyed those at the Centre. Attempting to suppress the voices of dissent instead of rectifying the mistakes is cowardice and idiocy. Yechury’s statements that the party won’t be cowed down by the attempts to silence them and that they would continue to battle for the soul of India, are surely audacious. It is the moment we take a pledge that our democratic culture which protects free communication, debates and discussions is not crushed by the prickly claws of fascist morons.