Spitfire List | Henrik Kruger

FTR #992 Hindutva Fascism, Part 5: Political and Historical Context (Connecting the Dots)

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ January 17, 2018 ⋅ Post a comment

This program concludes our FTR series on Hindutva fascism (Hindu nationalist fascism). In previous programs, we highlighted key features of the governance of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose BJP is a political front for the RSS. Formed along the lines of Mussolini’s Blackshirts in 1925, the RSS was the organization that assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. (We have discussed Modi, the RSS and the BJP in numerous broadcasts, including FTR #‘s 795, 889, 441, 442, 445, 988 and 989, 990, 991.)

In past discussions of the RSS and BJP, we have noted the following:

1.–Modi’s political fortunes were boosted with support and apparent financing from Pierre Omidyar, who also helped finance the rise of the OUN/B fascist successor organizatios in Ukraine.
2.–Modi and his BJP are viewed with great favor by Breitbart kingpin, former Trump campaign manager and adviser Steve Bannon. A number of Trump’s business associates in India are associated with the BJP.
3.–Bernie Sanders’ prospective Vice-Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard helped arrange the details for Modi’s American visit and is networked with the RSS.
4.–The above-mentioned Tulsi Gabbard is a member of the Hare Krishna cult, as is her husband, her in-laws, her parents and her Congressional staff.
5.–Gabbard is highly regarded by Modi admirer Steve Bannon as well.
6.–Gabbard was seriously considered for a cabinet position by Team Trump.
7.–Under Modi, anti-Muslim violence has dramatically accelerated, journalistic and civil free speech has been attenuated, opponents of the government have faced various forms of retaliation and oppression, journalists and activists critical of Modi/BJP/RSS have been murdered, a virulently anti-Muslim cleric has been appointed head of Uttar Pradesh (India’s largest province), voting machines have apparently been tampered with, and Indians have expressed positive feelings about martial law. BJP members have celebrated Gandhi’s murder.

In this program, we position the ideological/political tile of Hindutva fascism in the mosaic of what freelance Danish journalist Henrik Kruger (author of The Great Heroin Coup: Drugs, Intelligence and International Fascism) and Kevin Coogan (author of Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International) call “The Fascist International.”

Beginning with review of ideological and operational links between RSS Hindutva fascists and the followers of Hitler and Mussolini, we highlight key features of what may seem to many to be a classic case of political “strange bedfellows.” Key considerations in the Hitler/Mussolini/Hindutva fascist affinity include:

1.–Opposition to the British Empire (as constituted), admiration for the domestic agendas of the Fuehrer and Il Duce, as well as the military prowess shown by the European Axis nations: “. . . . In the decades prior to that momentous event, senior RSS members had direct links to both Benito Mussolini in Italy and Adolf Hitler in Germany. Part of the RSS’ fascination with these totalitarian regimes was their shared opposition to the British Empire — however, it went far beyond that. The RSS (as well as multitudes of other Hindu nationalists) admired the way Mussolini and Hitler reorganized their respective nations so quickly from the wreckage of war to build a powerful economy and military under the banner of patriotism and nationalism. . . .”
2.–The studied nature of the Hindutva/Hitler/Mussolini affinity: ” . . . . Marzia Casolari, an Italian scholar who studied Indian politics, once wrote of RSS’ connections with European fascism: The existence of direct contacts between the representatives of the [Italian] Fascist regime, including Mussolini, and Hindu nationalists demonstrates that Hindu nationalism had much more than an abstract interest in the ideology and practice of fascism. The interest of Indian Hindu nationalists in fascism and Mussolini must not be considered as dictated by an occasional curiosity, confined to a few individuals; rather, it should be considered as the culminating result of the attention that Hindu nationalists… focused on Italian dictatorship and its leader. To them, fascism appeared to be an example of conservative revolution. . . .”
3.–Belief in the common, mythological “Aryan” origins of India and Germany: ” . . . . Much of Nazi ideology and imagery came from the symbols and history of ancient India – indeed, the infamous Nazi swastika was based on a Hindu symbol of strength and good fortune. Moreover, the legendary history (some would say, myth) of the invasion of prehistoric India by the mysterious ‘Aryan’ tribes would (centuries later) provide Hitler with his notion of a ‘super master race’ that was destined to dominate the world. . . .”
4.–The enthusiastic embrace of Hitler and Mussolini by V.D. Savarkar, the ideological founder of Hindutva fascism and the primary architect of Gandhi’s assassination: ” . . . . Perhaps there was no greater admirer of Hitler and Mussolini in India than Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, another leading member of RSS.In a speech delivered in 1940 (after the Second World War had commenced), Savarkar said: There is no reason to suppose that Hitler must be a human monster because he passes off as a Nazi or Churchill is a demigod because he calls himself a Democrat. Nazism proved undeniably the savior of Germany under the set of circumstances Germany was placed in. . . .”
5.–The Hindu Mahasabha’s support for a Hitler/RSS conjunction: ” . . . . Indeed, many Hindu nationalists also derided Gandhi for opposing Nazism and fascism. In 1939, a spokesman for the Hindu Mahasabha (Hindu Party) intimately connected Germany with Indian culture and people. ‘Germany’s solemn idea of the revival of the Aryan culture, the glorification of the Swastika, her patronage of Vedic learning and the ardent championship of the tradition of Indo-Germanic civilization are welcomed by the religious and sensible Hindus of India with a jubilant hope,’ the spokesman blustered. ‘Only a few Socialists headed by… Nehru have created a bubble of resentment against the present government of Germany, but their activities are far from having any significance in India.’ He added: ‘Germany’s crusade against the enemies of Aryan culture will bring all the Aryan nations of the world to their senses and awaken the Indian Hindus for the restoration of their lost glory. . . .’ ”
6.–Other RSS leaders saw useful similarities in the ethnic chauvinist philosophy of both Hitler and Hindutva fascism. ” . . . . Another senior RSS member, Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, also praised Nazism and believed the ideology should be applied to India. ‘German race pride has now become the topic of the day,’ he wrote. ‘To keep up the purity of the race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic Races — the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is for races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindustan [India] to learn and profit by.’ Golwalkar enthusiastically advocated for an India dominated by Hindus. ‘There are only two courses open to the foreign elements, either to merge themselves in the national race and adopt its culture, or to live at its mercy so long as the national race may allow them to do so and to quit the country at the sweet will of the national race,’ he wrote. . . . ”
7.–The ethnic ideological paradigm of Hindutva fascism and Nazism meld well: ” . . . . If one were to replace ‘Hindu’ with ‘German,’ Golwalkar’s words would match Hitler’s rhetoric almost exactly. . . .”
8.–Savarkar also saw Nazi and RSS ethnic theory and policy as converging: ” . . . . Savarkar also spelled out why Hindus should rule India and others should either be expelled or merged into the Hindu majority. ‘The Aryans who settled in India at the dawn of history already formed a nation, now embodied in the Hindus,’ he wrote. ‘Hindus are bound together not only by the love they bear to a common fatherland and by the common blood that courses through their veins and keeps our hearts throbbing and our affection warm but also by the of the common homage we pay to our great civilization, our Hindu culture. . . .”

The late Savitri Devi was an embodiment of the Hindu/Nazi/Aryan ideological convergence. Devi has been among the elements synthesizing Hindutva fascism with the contemporary “Alt-Right.” Devi has been the focal point of renewed interest:

1.–” . . . . I filed her as a curiosity at the back of my mind, until the rising tide of extreme-right politics in Europe and America threw up the name ‘Savitri Devi’ once again. It isn’t hard these days to find discussions of Savitri Devi’s books on neo-Nazi web forums, especially The Lightning and the Sun, which expounds the theory that Hitler was an avatar — an incarnation — of the Hindu god Vishnu, and Gold in the Furnace, which urges true believers to trust that National Socialism will rise again. The American extreme-right website Counter-Currents hosts an extensive online archive of her life and work. . . .”
2.–More about the resuscitation of Devi: ” . . . . Her views are reaching a wider public, too, thanks to American alt-right leaders such as Richard Spencer and Steve Bannon, former Trump chief strategist and chair of Breitbart News, who have taken up the account of history as a cyclical battle between good and evil — a theory she shared with other 20th Century mystical fascists. Dark metal bands and American right-wing radio stations also roar about the Kali Yuga, the Dark Age of Hindu mythology, which Savitri Devi believed that Hitler was once destined to bring to an end. . . . ”
3.–The psychological and political foundation of the Aryan/Hindutva convergence is neatly summed up in the BBC Magazine article we excerpt: ” . . . . Savitri Devi herself is almost forgotten in India now, but the Hindu nationalism she espoused and helped to promote is in the ascendant, much to the concern of her nephew, the veteran left-wing journalist Sumanta Banerjee. ‘In her book A Warning to the Hindus, which came out in 1939, she advised the Hindus to cultivate a ‘spirit of organised resistance throughout Hindudom,’ he says. ‘The targets of this resistance were the Muslims, who were a threat, according to her, to the Hindus. And this is the same fear that is being echoed today.’ . . .”
4.–More about the dynamics behind the “Alt-Right”/Hindutva convergence: ” . . . . Hindutva is the official ideology of Prime Minster Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which claims that Muslims and secularists have undermined the strength of the Hindu nation. Though the party’s official spokesmen condemn violence, the riots that led to the tearing down of the Babri Mosque at Ayodhya in 1992 and the current waves of attacks — sometimes fatal — by vigilante groups on Muslims and dissenters tell a different story. . . . ”
5.–Highlighting the nature of the ideological similarity between Nazi ethnic policy and Hindutva fascist ideology: “In the US, racism, anti-communism and Christian fundamentalist notions about the impending apocalypse have together prepared the ground for the far right’s flirtation with occult Nazism and Hindu prophecies. And as in India, the traditional ruling majority’s fear of losing power has been an effective recruiting tool. . . .”

In addition to the position of Hindutva fascism in the Fascist International , we examine Pierre Omidyar, his espousal of neoliberal economic doctrine, his support for Modi’s Hindutva fascists and his support (along with U.S. intelligence cut-outs like the National Endowment for Democracy and the Agency for International Development) for the Ukrainian OUN/B successor organizations like Pravy Sektor, Svoboda and the Azov Battalion.

In FTR #889, among other programs, we highlighted Omidayar’s devotion to the Austrian school of economic theory.

The political/economic context of Omidyar’s efforts can be seen as a “neo-liberal” flanking maneuver: putting “free-market” forces in power and the Western and Southeastern flanks of Russia and China. Those two nations constitute much of what geo-politicians call “The Earth Island” or “World Island.”

Omidyar’s neo-liberal, Austrian economic school can be seen in Modi’s enthusiastic reception by Silicon Valley movers and shakers, at the same time that the Indian leader is moving to weaken his country’s child labor laws.

Program Highlights Include:

1.–The Omidyar-owned Honololu Civil Beat’s curious cover-up of Tulsi Gabbard’s participation in the Hindutva fascist Hare Krishna cult.
2.–The participation of Indian soldiers in the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS during World War II.
3.–Tulsi Gabbard’s co-sponsorship of a bill that would label opponents of Ukraine’s entrance into the EU as “terrorists.”
4.–Omidyar journalistic protege Glenn Greenwald had Andrew “Weev” Auerenheimer at his party celebrating Greenwald and Laura Poitras’s receipt of the prestigious Polk Award. Weev’s name has been bandied about in connection with the [alleged] hacking of DNC e‑mails. We note that Weev is apparently resident in Ukraine. ” . . . . [GOP operative Peter] Smith also reached out to “Guccifer 2.0”—an alias the U.S. intelligence community has linked to Russian state hackers—and was advised to seek the help of a white nationalist hacker who lives in Ukraine. . . . [Alt-Right media figure Charles] Johnson said he also suggested that Smith get in touch with Andrew Auerenheimer, a hacker who goes by the alias ‘Weev’ and has collaborated with Johnson in the past. . . .”

RIP, Jerry Meldon

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ August 1, 2017 ⋅ Post a comment

Researcher, author and Tufts University professor Jerry Meldon has drowned in a North Carolina lake at the age of 69. The translator for Henrik Kruger’s landmark text The Great Heroin Coup: Drugs Intelligence and International Fascism, Meldon has authored important articles covering much of the same material we have presented over the decades. (The Kruger text has been a mainstay of these programs and posts since its publication in 1980.) Some of the articles he penned for Consortium News include: stories about the CIA-drug connections; the Iran-Contra scandal; the Golden Lily operation and its significance for contemporary America and Japan; the Dulles/Nazi/CIA relationship; the ongoing influence of Nazis in post-war Germany.

FTR #869 The Assassination of Olof Palme, Part 2

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ October 16, 2015 ⋅ 9 comments

Continuing discussion and analysis from FTR #868, this program underscores the possible role of Swedish and Scandinavian fascists overlapping both WACL and Sapo, the Swedish intelligence service. Involved with escape networks forged to aid the international flight from justice of fascists and Nazis, the principals in these networks exhibited behavior around the time of the Palme killing that is suggestive. Worth noting in this regard is the late Stieg Larsson’s investigation of the Palme killing, which pointed in the direction of some of the same figures examined in the Kruger essay. The program concludes with an examination of the Bofors munitions firm and its corporate links to Third Reich industry and the postwar Bormann capital network, with which it may well be affiliated.

FTR #868: The Assassination of Olof Palme, Part 1

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ October 15, 2015 ⋅ 4 comments

The first of two programs highlighting the unsolved 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, the broadcast features a 1988 article by the brilliant freelance Danish journalist Henrik Kruger, author of “The Great Heroin Coup: Drugs, Intelligence and International Fascism.” Through this examination of the intersected networks that Kruger has termed (in “The Great Heroin Coup”) “The International Fascista,” we are able to observe the elements of Operation Condor, key individuals and institutions comprising the former World Anti-Communist League, individuals and organizations underlying “the Strategy of Tension” in Italy, as well as the cast of characters that managed the Iran-Contra machinations. Long the focal point of death threats and assassination attempts, Palme had earned the lethal ire of fascists in North and South America, as well as Europe. The failure to solve the killing, despite the passage of almost 30 years and some very strong evidentiary tributaries, underscores the gravitas of the forces that destroyed Palme. Kruger’s article also serves as something of an “in vitro” window into many of the political networks we have examined over the years.