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Footprints of Fascism in India: Implications for Local Muslims
Abstract
Fascism, a twentieth century Eurocentric phenomenon, seems to be knocking at the world's doors through a number of populist regimes. Distinguished among them is that of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) led Narendra Modi government in India, which shares many characteristics with classical fascist regimes of Italy and Germany. Under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, India is steadfastly moving from its secular constitutional values to a rigid and fascist future which is exclusive of everything disliked by the Hindutva forces. The Indian minorities—Muslims, Christians and Dalits—have the same status in a Hindu India which Jews had in ‘Nazi Germany’ and Communists in ‘Fascist Italy.‘ This paper, while explaining the theoretical aspects of classical fascism, attempts to draw a comparison between classical fascist regimes and the present day India under the BJP's rule. It also examines the argument that the institutional mechanism of the state is not only supporting this fascist agenda but is actively involved in it. The paper then goes on to briefly analyze the response by different segments of the society to this form of fascism prevailing in India.
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Notes
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Ibid.
Arundhati Roy, Azadi: Freedom, Fascism, Fiction (London: Penguin Books, 2020), 81.
Muhammad Mujeeb Afzal, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian Muslims (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2014), 61.
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Forman, Fascism, The Meaning and Experience of Reactionary Revolution, 17.
Ibid., 16-17.
Afzal, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian Muslims, 58.
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Afzal, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian Muslims, 63-64.
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Forman, Fascism, The Meaning and Experience of Reactionary Revolution, 16.
Part III of the Indian Constitution exclusively deals with the Fundamental Rights. In this part, Article 15 ensures Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Article 17 abolishes untouchability. While the Articles from 25 to 28 ensure Right to Freedom of Religion including Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion; Freedom to manage religious affairs; Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion; and Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational institutions.
Christophe Jaffrelot, “The Fate of Secularism in India,” in The BJP in Power: Indian Democracy and Religious Nationalism, ed. Milan Vaishnav (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2019), https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/04/04/fate-of-secularism-in-india-pub-78689.
Afzal, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian Muslims, 66-68.
Bhatty and Sundar, “Sliding from Majoritarianism toward Fascism: Educating India under the Modi Regime,” 4.
Sigal Samuel, “India Just Redefined its Citizenship Criteria to Exclude Muslims,” Vox.com, December 12, 2019, https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/12/12/21010975/india-muslim-citizenship-bill-national-register.
Some details of each of these incidents have been discussed ahead.
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Hannah Ellis-Petersen, “Delhi Police Accused of Filing False Charges over February Riots,” Guardian, June 23, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/23/delhi-police-accused-after-charging-activists-over-february-riots.
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Bhatty and Sundar, “Sliding from Majoritarianism toward Fascism: Educating India under the Modi Regime,” 5.
“Assam NRC: What Next for 1.9 Million ‘Stateless’ Indians?” BBC News, August 31, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-49520593.
Afzal, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian Muslims, 165.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI, National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) 2015-16 (Government of India, 2017), https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR339/FR339.pdf.
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Helen Regan, Swati Gupta and Omar Khan, “India Passes Controversial Citizenship Bill that Excludes Muslims,” CNN, December 17, 2019, https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/11/asia/india-citizenship-amendment-bill-intl-hnk/index.html.
“Macropedia,” in Encyclopædia Britannica.
Forman, Fascism, The Meaning and Experience of Reactionary Revolution, 13.
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“Hindu Migrants from Bangladesh must be Accommodated: Narendra Modi,” NDTV, February 22, 2014, https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/hindu-migrants-from-bangladesh-must-be-accommodated-narendra-modi-551611.
Roy, Azadi: Freedom, Fascism, Fiction.
Ibid., 56.
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Kumar, “SC Verdict: What if Ram Temple was Demolished in 1992 Instead of Babri Masjid?” 48.
Thompson and Itaoui, Islamophobia in India: Stoking Bigotry.
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Thompson and Rhonda Itaoui, Islamophobia in India: Stoking Bigotry.
Abdul Basit, “State, Society and Extremism in India,” in Hindutva: Rising Extremism in India, 2nd ed., ed. Khalid Rahman (Islamabad: IPS Press, 2020), 25-38.
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