A Final Flipping of the Bird to “The Summer of Love” 50th Anniversary Celebration
In FTR #991, we detailed the esoteric fascist/Nazi philosophy of Hare Krishna cult founder and head guru A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. On 1/29/1967, Prabhupada and his cult were the beneficiaries of monies generated by a concert and dance featuring the leading San Francisco psychedelic-era rock bands. The event also featured participation by LSD guru Timothy Leary. Leary’s activities and career are inextricably linked with the CIA. All of the contents of this website as of 12/19/2014–Dave Emory’s 37+ years of research and broadcasting–as well as hours of videotaped lectures are available on a 32GB flash drive. Dave offers his programs and articles for free–your support is very much appreciated. All of the contents of this website as of 12/19/2014–Dave Emory’s 37+ years of research and broadcasting–as well as hours of videotaped lectures are available on a 32GB flash drive. Dave offers his programs and articles for free–your support is very much appreciated.
FTR #992 Hindutva Fascism, Part 5: Political and Historical Context (Connecting the Dots)
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. . . .”
FTR #991 Hindutva Fascism, Part 4: The Hare Krishna Cult
Key points of interest/analysis include:
1.–Hare Krishna founder and chief guru Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada provided commentary on Hindu religious text “. . . . and often suggested that they had not actually been written by himself, but that God, Krishna, had revealed them to him. . . .” This was in order to “ . . . .underline the absolute position, superhuman qualities, and overall importance of the guru. [Basically, “guru” as “fuhrer”–D.E.] . . . .”
2.–Bhaktivedanta Swami was fundamentally opposed to democracy. “So monarchy or dictatorship is welcome. . . . Personally, I like this position, dictatorship. Personally, I like this.”
3.–Bhaktivedanta Swami felt that Hinduism was in a “fallen state” and that only his discipline/teachings could restore it to its proper place. In our discussions with Peter Levenda, we have noted that fascism manifests a longing for a bygone time–one that never really existed.
4.–Fascist philosophies frequently invoke a by-gone, mythical “golden age,” which the fascist cadre in question will restore, after the corrupting forces have been neutralized. ” . . . . He too believed that in bygone ages a divine and scientific social system had existed in India, and like Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, he too founded a movement whose express mission was to reestablish what he often referred to as the “perfectional form of human civilization,” varnashram dharma. . . .” Note that “foreigners” or what would be termed in our society today “immigrants,” “migrants,” “Mexicans,” or “Muslims” are blamed for this degeneration. ” . . . . . . . . Indian civilization on the basis of the four varnas and ashrams deteriorated because of her dependency on foreigners, or those who did not follow the civilization of varnasham. . . .”
5.–Bhaktivedanta Swami valued the traditional position of the Kshatriya warrior caste, to which the Nazi SS considered themselves as successors, according to Kevin Coogan’s brilliant analysis (in Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International.) “. . . . the kshatriyas should be taught how to fight also. There will be military training. There will be training how to kill. Kshatriya students in the ISKCON varnashram college were to practice killing: ‘Just like Kshatriyas, they have to learn how to kill.’ . . . . There is no single instance where Bhaktivedanta Swami speaks about kshatriya training without mentioning killing. . . . ‘Learn to kill. No nonviolence. Learn to kill. Here also, as soon you’ll find, the Kshatriya, a thief, a rogue, unwanted element in the society, kill him. That’s all. Finish. Kill him. Bas. Finished. . . .” It is not that because the Kshatriyas were killing by bows and arrows formerly you have to continue that. That is another foolishness. If you have got . . . If you can kill easily by guns, take that gun. All the royal princes were trained up how to kill. . . . A Kshatriya, he is expert in the military science, how to kill. So the killing art is there. You cannot make it null and void by advocating nonviolence. No, That is required. Violence is also a part of the society. . . .”
6.–Hare Krishna cult member Tulsi Gabbard’s political vector may be evaluated against the background of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s prognostication that the Hare Krishna cult could infiltrate and take over a key political party and/or government in a democracy. Recall that he viewed democracy with utmost contempt. ” . . . . Bhaktivedanta also thought that he and his movement could take over some government and rule some part of the world: ‘However in Kali-yuga, democratic government can be captured by Krishna conscious people. If this can be done, the general populace can be made very happy.’ . . . .”
7.–Bhaktivedanta Swami’s teachings dovetail superbly with Nazi occult philosophy. ” . . . . Bhaktivedanta Swami, however, speaks extensively about ‘the Aryans’–at least twenty-five of his purports and over a hundred lectures and conversations contain lengthy elaborations on the topic. He places all those whom he calls ‘non-Aryan’ in a category similar to his ‘unwanted population,’ thus dividing humans into two groups: a large group of varna sankara and non-Aryans on one side, and a small group of Aryans, ie those who follow varnashram, on the other: ‘Those who traditionally follow these principles are called Aryans, or progressive human beings.’ ‘The Vedic way of life,’ he writes, ‘is the progressive march of civilization of the Aryans.’ ‘In the history of the human race, the Aryan family is considered to be the most elevated community in the world.’ . . . . In more than one fifth of his statements he clearly describes or defines them in racial terms: The Aryan family is distributed all over the world and is known as Indo-Aryan. The Aryans are white. But here, this side, due to climatic influence, they are a little tan. Indians are tan but they are not black. But Aryans are all white. And the non-Aryans, they are called black. Yes . . .”
8.–Bhaktivedanta Swami’s philosophy saw Europeans and Americans as part of, and extensions of, the Aryan race: ” . . . . So we all belong to the Aryan family. Historical reference is there, Indo-European family. So Aryan stock was on the central Asia. Some of them migrated to India. Some of them migrated to Europe. And from Europe you have come. So we belong to the Aryan family, but we have lost our knowledge. So we have become non-Aryan, practically. You French people, you are also Aryan family, but the culture is lost now. So this Krishna consciousness movement is actually reviving the original Aryan culture. Bharata. We are all inhabitants of Bharatavarsha, but as we lost our culture, it became divided. So on the whole, the conclusion is that the Aryans spread in Europe also, and the Americans, they also spread from Europe. So the intelligent class of human being, they belong to the Aryans. Aryan family. Just like Hitler claimed that he belonged to the Aryan family. Of course, they belonged to the Aryan families. . . .”
9.–It should come as no surprise that Bhaktivedanta was pro-Hitler, viewing the Fuehrer as “a gentleman,” who had to kill the Jews because they were “financing” against him. “. . . . So these English people, they were very expert in making propaganda. They killed Hitler by propaganda. I don’t think Hitler was so bad [a] man. Hitler knew it [the atomic bomb] . . . . He was gentleman. He said that ‘I can smash the whole world, but I do not use that weapon.’ The Germans already discovered. But out of humanity they did not use it. . . . The activities of such men are certainly very great . . . Therefore Hitler killed these Jews. They were financing against Germany. Otherwise he had no enmity with the Jews. . . . Therefore Hitler decided, ‘Kill all the Jews.’ . . . .”
10.–An in-depth view of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s view of “shudras” reveals the deep racist/fascistic views of social class/caste. Described variously as “black” or “common,” shudras are the focus of deep ideological contempt. This should be seen against the background of the Aryan racial philosophy of Bhaktivedanta Swami. “. . . . ordinary people; the laborer class; once-born; the lowest class of men; non-Aryan; worker; the black man; he must find out a master; one who has no education; almost animal; just like a dog; he becomes disturbed; one who is dependent on others; they are ignorant rascals; unclean; equal to the animal; no training; fools, rascals. . . According to his understanding, people of black or dark skin color, as well as native Americans, are shudras, are third-class, degraded, and less intelligent: ‘Shudras have no brain. In America also, the whole America once belonged to the Red Indians. Why they could not improve? The land was there. Why these foreigners, the Europeans, came and improved? So Shudras cannot do this. They cannot make any correction. . . . A first-class Rolls Royce car, and who is sitting there? A third class negro. This is going on. You’ll find these things in Europe and America. This is going on. A first-class car and a third-class negro. . . .”
11.–Bhaktivedanta Swami did not feel that the black American slaves should be freed. ” . . . . Just like in America. The blacks were slaves. They were under control. And since you have given them equal rights they are disturbing, most disturbing, always creating a fearful situation, uncultured and drunkards. What training they have got? . . . That is best, to keep them under control as slaves but give them sufficient food, sufficient cloth, not more than that. Then they will be satisfied. . . . ‘So the Kiratas, they were always slaves of the Aryans. The Aryan people used to keep slaves, but they were treating slaves very nicely.’ And that the Kiratas were Africans, he had explained many times: ‘Kirata means the black, the Africans.’ . . . .”
12.–Bhaktivedanta Swami had some “choice” things to say about women: ” . . . . Generally all women desire material enjoyment.Women in general should not be trusted. Women are generally not very intelligent. It appears that women is a stumbling block [sic] for self-realization. . . . Although rape is not legally allowed, it is a fact that a woman likes a man who is very expert at rape. When a husbandless woman is attacked by an aggressive man, she takes his action to be mercy. Generally when a woman is attacked by a man—whether her husband or some other man—she enjoys the attack, being too lusty. . . .”
We conclude with review Tulsi Gabbard’s networking with Modi, the BJP and the RSS:
1.–Gabbard is also a big fan of Narendra Modi, having been involved with the planning of Modi’s U.S. visit and networking with BJP members: ” . . . . Gabbard, a strong supporter of Modi, is a Democrat Congresswoman from Hawaii. . . . She had spoken to Modi after his victory in the Indian general elections and congratulated him and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She has also been involved in the planning of Modi’s US visit and had last month met two BJP leaders Vijay Jolly and MP Rajyavardhan Rathore in that connection. . . .”
2.–On a trip to India, Gabbard networked with both the BJP and the RSS, the Hindu nationalist/fascist party for which Modi’s BJP is a cat’s paw. (All of Modi’s cabinet appointments were drawn from the RSS. Modeled on the German Nazi Party and Mussolini’s blackshirts, the RSS killed Gandhi.): “. . . . Speaking at a fundraising event for the BJP in August 2014 . . . Gabbard said that Modi’s election victory was only possible because ‘people stood up, one by one by one by one, and said we will demand that this change occurs.’ . . . Gabbard was treated as royalty on her visit to India last year. As she hobnobbed with the Indian prime minister and foreign minister among others, “The Telegraph,” a Kolkata-based newspaper, called her ‘the Sangh’s mascot’ in the US. The Sangh, a moniker for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is a right-wing hindutva organisation and the ideological guardian of the BJP party that rules India now. . . .”
Program Highlights Include:
1.–Review of the links between “esoteric Nazism,” the Hindu/Aryan myth.
2.–Review of Savitri Devi, a key exponent of the Hindu Aryan myth.
3.–Review of RSS founder V.D. Savarkar’s embrace of the “Aryan/Hindu” myth as it applied to the British colonial masters of India.
FTR #990 Hindutva Fascism, Part 3: Modi Operandi
Continuing our FTR series on Hindutva fascism (Hindu nationalist fascism) we highlight 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.)
Beginning with discussion of Modi’s appointment of Yogi Adityanath to be the governor of Uttar Pradesh province, India’s largest, we note:
1.-Yogi Adityanath is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). ” . . . . Adityanath, born Ajay Singh Bisht, found his vocation in college as an activist in the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing Hindu organization. . . .”
2.-Adityanath’s political foundation is the virulently anti-Muslim ideology of the RSS: ” . . . . As leader of a temple known for its militant Hindu supremacist tradition, he built an army of youths intent on avenging historic wrongs by Muslims, whom he has called ‘a crop of two-legged animals that has to be stopped.’ At one rally he cried out, ‘We are all preparing for religious war!’ . . .”
3.-Modi’s “pro-business,” “pro-development” political agenda has given way to what The New York Times predictably labels “populist”–the Hindutva, anti-Muslim fascism which has long been the mainstay of the RSS. “Adityanath (pronounced Ah-DIT-ya-nath) was an astonishing choice by Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, who came into office three years ago promising to usher India into a new age of development and economic growth, and playing down any far-right Hindu agenda. But a populist drive to transform India into a ‘Hindu nation’ has drowned out Mr. Modi’s development agenda, shrinking the economic and social space for the country’s 170 million Muslims. . . .”
4.-The governor of Uttar Pradesh is also seen as the frontrunner to become Prime Minister. ” . . . . Few decisions in Indian politics matter more than the selection of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, because the post is seen as a springboard for future prime ministers. At the age of 45, the diminutive, baby-faced Adityanath is receiving the kind of career-making attention that projects an Indian politician toward higher office. . . .”
5.-Adityanath is best known for encouraging vigilante death squads against Muslims. He also worshipped at the Gorakhnath Temple, whose head priest was arrested for encouraging Hindu militants to kill Gandhi only days before he was shot. ” . . . . He was so engrossed in the [RSS] group’s work that the first two or three times he was summoned by a distant relative, the head priest of the Gorakhnath Temple, he ‘could not find the time,’ he has said. . . . But religion and politics were fast converging. Gorakhnath Temple had a tradition of militancy: Digvijay Nath, the head priest until 1969, was arrested for exhorting Hindu militants to kill Mahatma Gandhi days before he was shot. His successor, Mahant Avaidyanath, urged Hindu mobs in 1992 to tear down a 16th-century mosque and build a temple there, setting off some of the bloodiest religious riots in India’s recent history. . . .”
Modi is realizing the repressive fascist agenda of the BJP/RSS. Censoring the press and conducting widespread surveillance of critics are now routine. In addition, there have been a number of hitherto unsolved assassinations of journalists and politicians critical of Modi and his agenda.
Prominent Indian journalist Gauri Lankesh was the latest victim:
” . . . . . Gauri Lankesh, one of India’s most outspoken journalists, was walking into her house on Tuesday night. It was around 8. The night was warm. She was alone. As she stepped through her gate, just feet from her front door, several gunshots rang out. She was killed instantly in what political opposition officials say appears to be yet another assassination of an intellectual who publicly criticized India’s governing party and the Hindu agenda it has pursued. In recent years, at least three other antiestablishment activists have been silenced by bullets. . . . On Monday, the day before she was killed, she shared a post on her Facebook page that was written by someone else. ‘The RSS is the terrorist organization,’ it read. . . . ”
The same gun was used to kill both Gauri Lankesh and another prominent victim, M M Kalburgi: ” . . . . . A preliminary forensic analysis of bullets and cartridges found at the site of the September 5 shooting of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh and those recovered from the killing of Kannada research scholar M M Kalburgi two years ago has revealed that the same 7.65-mm countrymade pistol was used for the two killings. This finding has been communicated to the Special Investigation Team that is probing the murder of the 55-year-old journalist and activist, sources involved with the two separate investigations have told The Indian Express. . . . .”
There are numerous other similarities between the killings of Lankesh and Kalburgi. Note that the assassins rode motorbikes with helmets in both crimes, making it difficult to identify the shooter. Note the motorbikes present in the photo of Adinyath’s Hindu Youth Brigade, visible above.
The same weapon used to kill Gauri Lankesh and M M Kalburgi was also used to kill Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar! ” . . . . Scholar and rationalist Kalburgi was shot dead at his home at 8.40 am by two unidentified persons who drove up on a motorcycle. The assailants knocked on the door of the home of the 77-year-old Sahitya Akademi Award winner and shot him on the doorstep with two bullets from a 7.65 mm countrymade pistol. Lankesh was shot dead in the front yard of her home at 8 pm on September 5 by one of two persons who came on a motorcycle and fired four bullets from a 7.65 mm countrymade pistol while she was opening the gates to her home. Investigations in the Kalburgi murder case by the Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department had revealed that the 7.65 mm pistol used to kill the rationalist was the same one that was used to murder 81-year-old Maharashtra rationalist and Leftist thinker Govind Pansare in Kolhapur on February 16, 2015 by two unidentified men. The forensic analysis had also revealed that one of the two guns used to shoot down Pansare in 2015 had also been used to kill Maharashtra rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, 69, in Pune on August 20, 2013 by a pair of unidentified men. . . .”
The recent assassination of Indian journalist-turned-activist Gauri Lankesh highlights the role of the Dalit (formerly “untouchable”) caste in the electoral strategy of Modi’s BJP (again, a political front for the Hindutva fascist RSS.) ” . . . . Ms. Lankesh was also an effective political organizer with the ability to bring together social and political groups — Dalits, indigenous tribals, leftists, Muslims and others — opposed to the Hindu nationalist attempts to transform India into a country primarily for the Hindus. . . .”
An effective political organizer who appeared to have the ability to bridge a key divide between the Dalits and the rest of the non-Hindu nationalist segments of Indian society–Ms. Lankesh–gets gunned down. She was the latest activist who possessed that ability to bridge divides to be assassinated in exactly the same manner in recent years: The other three were Daabholkar, Kalburgi and Pansare, who were slain with the same weapon–a gun that was used to kill Lankesh as well. ” . . . . In August 2013, the activist Narendra Dabholkar, who campaigned against religious superstitions, was murdered. In August 2015, M. M. Kalburgi, a scholar and outspoken critic of idol worship among Hindus, was gunned down at his own doorstep. In February 2015, Govind Pansare, a Communist leader, community organizer and columnist, was killed in a small town near Mumbai. Mr. Dhabolkar, Mr. Kalburgi and Mr. Pansare were murdered by assassins on motorbikes, who hid their faces with helmets and fled after the murder. Exactly as Ms. Lankesh was killed. The murdered intellectuals also wrote in regional languages and worked as activists. Each of them shared the quality of being acceptable to the leftist groups and Dalit groups. They could bring together communities opposed to the Hindu right. . . . ”
We note that the methodology of the RSS, the organization that killed Mahatma Gandhi, remains in place.
We also note that, if Modi wants to not only get reelected and also lead the BJP to a take over of parliament so he to fully implement his far-right agenda, he’s going to have to figure out how to get that Dalit vote: Ms. Lankesh and the other victims enumerated above stood in the way of that strategy: “ . . . . Caste, in short, remains perhaps the single most influential factor in Indian politics despite rapid modernization of the world’s largest democracy, as proven in the latest presidential contest. And Narendra Modi, who won a landslide victory by widening the party’s appeal beyond the orthodox Hindu class, is sure to milk it for all it’s worth. . . . Even though it has campaigned on preserving conservative Hindu traditions, including sanctity of upper-caste Brahmins, the BJP is dependent on the votes of Dalits and other lower castes to win crucial states. In the state of Bihar, the third most populous state, Modi and the BJP suffered a demoralizing defeat to the rival Rashtriya Janata Dal party in 2015 State Assembly elections. Bihar’s low-caste communities voted heavily in support of RJD and its leader, Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was able to strike a fruitful electoral alliance between Bihar’s Muslims and the state’s marginalized, cow-herding Yadav caste . . . . In March, the right-wing Hindu party secured a major victory in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, winning over the state’s lower-caste votes. Modi steered clear of potentially divisive language in his speeches, and the party was reported to have inducted members of the lower caste in leadership positions. Not surprisingly, Modi and the BJP are continuing this trend with the latest nomination of Ram Nath Kovind for president. . . .”
In addition to political assassination and state repression, it appears that Modi’s success may well rest, in part, on the manipulation of electronic voting machines, something that will ring familiar to students of American electoral politics. ” . . . . Expressing shock and disbelief over the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election results, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati today accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of tampering with electronic voting machines (EVMs). ‘How come the BJP managed to win in Muslim bastions in the state. [The BJP and its political muse the RSS are violently anti-Muslim as a matter of doctrine.–D.E.] The poll results are very surprising’, Mayawati said. Alleging that there was massive rigging of voting machines in the state to favour the BJP, the BSP chief said, ‘Most votes in Muslim majority constituencies have gone to the BJP. This makes it clear that the voting machines were manipulated.’ . . . . ”
Tragically, the chaos enveloping India–the assassinations, censorship, corruption and continued grinding social and economic inequality–has fueled sentiment for a military government, presided over by a “strong leader.” “. . . . A majority of Indians, 53 percent, support military rule, according to a Pew Research Center survey released last week. . . . At least 55 percent of Indians also back a governing system ‘in which a strong leader can make decisions without interference from parliament or the courts,’ the survey added, noting that support for autocratic rule is higher in India than in any other nation surveyed. . . .”
As Modi makes further moves to consolidate power, those moves may well have strong public backing. Especially with BJP voters: ” . . . . Supporters of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and urban dwellers ‘are significantly more likely’ to support military rule than backers of the opposition Congress party and rural residents, the Pew Research Center survey showed. . . .”
The program closes with juxtaposition of two grotesque actions by Narendra Modi–again the Prime Minister from the BJP, a political front for the Hindutva fascist RSS, the organization that murdered Gandhi. (See FTR #‘s 988 and 989 for detailed analysis of the RSS and the killing of Gandhi.)
In a deliberate attempt to conflate his public relations image with that of Gandhi, Modi has posed with a spinning wheel, which Gandhi saw as both a vehicle for combating British colonial textile policy and as a tool for realizing Satyagraha and the personal insight and discipline required by it.
Gandhi practiced what he preached, going about attired in a loincloth of “homespun” fabric. Modi, in contrast, was photographed in an expensive, pin-striped suit when entertaining the Obamas on a state visit. (The pin-stripes were actually Narendra Modi’s name, in fine golden print.) Valued at around $16,000.00, the suit was eventually auctioned off for the sum of $695,000.00. Gandhi’s soul must be weeping to see what has been done to his legacy. ” . . . . India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is noted for making bold statements — both in policy and fashion. When Modi sported a suit with pinstripes that spelled out his name in tiny gold lettering, his critics called it the height of vanity. But the controversial suit raised more than eyebrows: It sold at auction today for nearly $695,000. The ‘selfie’ suit was debuted when Modi wore it to a bilateral meeting with President Obama during his visit to India last month. . . . .”
Modi Government Ramps Up Repression
In numerous programs (most recently FTR #‘s 988 and 989) we have covered the Hindutva fascist RSS and its political cat’s paw the BJP. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is realizing the repressive fascist agenda of the BJP/RSS. All of the contents of this website as of 12/19/2014–Dave Emory’s 37+ years of research and broadcasting–as well as hours of videotaped lectures are available on a 32GB flash drive. Dave offers his programs and articles for free–your support is very much appreciated.
FTR #988 Hindutva Fascism, Part 1: The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, Part 1 and and FTR #989 Hindutva Fascism, Part 2: The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, Part 2
In previous programs, we have analyzed the Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) fascist character of the RSS and its political front the BJP, the party of current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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 fascists 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.-Under Modi, anti-Muslim violence has dramatically accelerated, while free speech has been attenuated. BJP members have celebrated Gandhi’s murder.
An entity patterned after Mussolini’s Blackshirts, the RSS was the organization that spawned the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Fascist organizations generally demonize a “malevolent other,” in the case of the RSS, it was India’s large Muslim population. (Before gaining independence, India and the modern nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of one large British colony.
The disturbing facts concerning Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination at the hands of the RSS and its ideological leader V.D. Savarkar was related by James Douglass in “Gandhi and the Unspeakable”. (Douglass is also the author of JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters–a book we have used on numerous occasions.)
In this program we set forth key features of the assassination of Gandhi including:
1.-The Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) fascist ideology of the RSS, the organization inspired by, and presided over, by V.D.Savarkar,which–along with its ideological leader–were deeply involved with Gandhi’s murder.
2.-The RSS’s organizational and ideological affinity with Mussolini’s Blackshirts.
3.-The organization’s (and Savarkar’s) cooperation with the British, whom Savarkar saw as potential partners in an “Aryan Empire.”
4.-The close relationship between the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha, a paramilitary organization that participated in the British colonial military during World War II and subsequently assumed prominence in the fledgling Indian national security establishment.
5.-The laxity of Indian police officials in pursuing an investigation into Gandhi’s killers following an earlier attempt at slaying the Mahatma.
6.-The apparent sympathy of complicit Indian security officials, many of whom had affinity with the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha.
7.-The apparent complicity of Indian Prime Minister Nehru and Home Minister Patel in the killings–failing to enact basic, formalized security procedures that would have protected Gandhi.
8.-The complicity of the Indian court trying Gandhi’s killers in obscuring the fundamental participation of Savarkar in the assassination conspiracy.
9.-The court’s acquiescence in allowing Gandhi’s self-confessed assassin Nathuram Godse (Savarkar’s personal secretary) to read a nine-hour condemnation of Gandhi and implicit defense of the Mahatma’s murder.
10.-The subsequent rehabilitation of Savarkar’s political reputation after the BJP (a political cat’s paw for the RSS) assumed power in India.
11.-The Orwellian re-write of Indian text books to omit any reference to the Hindutva fascist role in Gandhi’s killing.
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