The Anvil

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The Anvil

A Journal of Marxist Theory

'The Anvil' is a humble initiative in the direction of responding to the ideological and political challenges of the Marxist movement in India and the world, of problematizing the axiomatic and intuitive notions hindering the path of creative and critical thinking, of posing the right questions and initiating a fruitful debate among revolutionary communists.

14/07/2023

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*Bharat Jodo Yatra: Welding the Interests of the Working Masses to the Interests of the Bourgeoisie*
✍️ *Abhijit*
🖥️ *Online Link -*
https://anvilmag.in/archives/591
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The much hyped about _Bharat Jodo Yatra,_ led by Rahul Gandhi, has concluded. Rahul Gandhi has indeed proved his physical fitness and endurance by walking more than 3000 km, and also achieved an image makeover with this feat. The liberals are gung ho about this feat and are dreaming of a turn-around in Indian politics, and many even talking about a serious challenge to fascism. False hopes are also being created in the minds of the working class and the working masses about a new regime led by the Congress party. Despite all the pomp, and shine, and glitter around the _Yatra,_ it must not be forgotten that the roots of the Congress party remain deeply buried in the politics of neo-liberalism and in the service of the bourgeoisie. Given the state of economic crisis, and the need of the bourgeoisie to steer the ship of capitalism through these turbulent waters, any hopes of even a more liberal India under the Congress party are just a mirage. To understood this, one must look at the class character of the _Yatra,_ and the politics projected by the Yatra.

*A Capital-sponsored Spectacle*

Let’s begin with the less significant issues first. _Bharat Jodo Yatra_ was not a people’s movement, not a _yatra_ organized through efforts and contributions from common people, but a spectacle sponsored by a faction of the capitalist class. The comfortable _yatra_ has planning of portable tents, containers, vehicles, electricity, sewerage, drinking water for nearly 250 people. The stay of all covered nearly 2 acres of place. A vanity van was arranged for Rahul Gandhi which had the facility of toilet, bathroom, kitchen, AC, fridge, LCD, sofa, etc. There were 6 teams for cooking food for nearly 2000 people. The people were carried in a cavalcade of nearly 60 container-rooms. Nearly 100 people were full-time employed for professional management of the _yatra._ The _yatra_ was promoted by employing professional agencies, who employed techniques from drones to modern cameras and publishing content every-day. This was an expense of hundreds of crores of rupees, which was obviously financed by the corporates backing Congress. It is clear that the capitalist class financed the _yatra,_ because it does indeed intend to keep the non-BJP option of Congress alive and open, in the game of bourgeois political elections. This is how bourgeoisie as a political class functions. Even though the majority of the big capitalists are overwhelmingly supporting Modi and BJP right now, they are also aware of the problems that the fascist regime might face and in some sense is facing. Therefore, they also creating counter-balancing mechanism or a counter-weight, which can be used in the time of need. It was not surprising therefore that the _yatra_ got the required funds from a variety of sources.

However, one cannot judge the _yatra_ simply on the basis of its funding, but an analysis of the politics and ideology that it represented is imperative. We will undertake this task in all modesty in this political note.

*Converting the Already Converted*

The _yatra_ claimed to be against “hatred” and creating “love” in the hearts of those who have succumbed to propaganda of hatred. However, the _yatra_ attracted only those people who were already fed up with the rule of BJP, and the politics of the Sangh Parivar, namely the liberals, the petty-bourgeois, intellectuals, the social-democratic activists from all over the country, and a small section of students and youth. It is true that some sections of working masses also joined the _yatra_ who are against the BJP and the current fascist dispensation. Ever since the rise of fascist BJP in 2014, this section of the population has been filled with a sense of defeatism, and the _yatra_ attracted them. A section of farmers, workers and unemployed youth also participated in the _yatra,_ under the influence of the propaganda about the _yatra_ and in the hope that the _yatra_ might be a first step towards building an alternative to Modi regime. Many like college teachers and students also participated because the congress leaders running these institutions compelled them, but many also participated due to their own petty-bourgeois class character which circumscribes within the limits posed by bourgeois democracy and even in fight against fascism, they are unable to transcend those limits.

However the basic reality today is that the Sangh Parivar does command the support of nearly 20-30 percent of the population, repeatedly expressed through the ballot box and in the numerical strength of the cadre of the Sangh Parivar, who engage daily in the spread of “hatred”, that is fascist propaganda. The real question, that should therefore be asked is, how many of the supporters of the present fascist regime participated in the _yatra_ or had a moment of epiphany due to the _yatra_ and consequently joined it? The answer is negligible. The _yatra_ united only a subsection of those people who were already against the politics of “hate” and not many people who are under the sway of fascist politics and ideology. At most, it can be credited with uniting the scattered opposition among the masses to BJP politics, partially. May be, in the second proposed round of the _yatra_ it might succeed in uniting even more scattered opposition. As an exceptional conjuncture, an event, the 2024 election might witness significant decline in number of seats of the BJP and even its ouster from power by some coalition government led by the Congress or supported by the Congress. Even if that happens, which seems highly unlikely at the moment, what can the working masses expect?Would that be the decisive defeat of fascism in India? The answer to the second question is a resounding no as the history itself has shown. The answer to the first question can be deciphered only by a closer look at the politics and ideology that was being projected by the _yatra._

*Congress: Going Strong with Neoliberalism*

Much hype was created about the problems of unemployment, farmers issues, and inflation during the _yatra._ All these problems are results of the larger systemic crisis of capitalism, which has grown with the implementation of the neoliberal policies all over the world, which themselves were reactionary response to the preceding period of crisis. It was the Congress party that brought the policies of Globalization, Privatization and Liberalization (GPL) to the country on behalf of the big bourgeoisie of India, and it still wishes to continue these neoliberal policies that have intensified these problems. This is evident from the positions taken by the Party during the _Yatra_ itself.

The propaganda launched by Congress that only 2-3 big capitalists are benefiting during the rule of BJP is a plain lie. A capitalist state, and hence a government in a capitalist state, represents the long-term collective class interests of the capitalist class, and not a small minority of it. In reality, its not only the Adanis and Ambanis, but all the big capitalists including Tatas, Birlas, Bajajs, Firodiyas, Nadars, Jindals, Sanghvis, Kirloskars, Poonawalas, Kotaks, Godrej, Premjis, etc. which include many dollar billionnaires, have grown their wealth during the BJP rule. Its not without reason, that all of the big bourgeoisie have been funding the BJP all these years, making it one of the richest parties. Its true that BJP is the most favored party of the big bourgeoisie, however Congress is still their trusted party and they have kept funding it all the time, though it is right now negligible compared to the funds given to the BJP.

And despite of all its false propaganda, the Congress party itself is very closely associated with the house of Ambanis and Adanis as well. It was during the _yatra_ itself that Gautam Adani appeared on a stage with the Congress chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot and Rahul Gandhi publicly commented asking how can a Chief Minister reject offer of investment of Rs. 60,000 crores? He also reminded everyone that it was the Congress that started the process of liberalization, so how can the Congress be against it? This clearly shows that the whole talk about Adani-Ambani is nothing but a _jumla_ for the Congress. All talk is centred on cronyism, of which the BJP is certainly guilty, but only little _more_ than the Congress.

The most important of these revelations can be seen in the interview that Rahul Gandhi did with ex-RBI governor, and a darling of the big capitalist class, Mr. Raghuram Rajan. In this interview, despite all the attempted jugglery of words, Rajan and Rahul Gandhi can not hide the fact that they remain in support of increasing the pace of reforms, that is liberalization. Raghuam Rajan tries to confuse the people about his support for the big capitalists by saying “We can’t be against capitalism, but we can be against monopoly”, while at the same time saying that we need big and small businesses both! As if the monopolies are any different from the big businesses for the working masses! Further he argues for a ‘second green revolution’ by promoting food processing, cold storage chain, fruit and vegetables exports, thus clearly indicating their support for the big agricultural bourgeoisie which is the only true beneficiary of liberalization in agriculture. While trying to attract the “small and medium businesses” towards the Congress, both of them try to lure them by offering more loans, and facilities to grow to be a big business, however, Raghuram Rajan cannot hide the real change they want to bring in when he admits that the small firms in India are stuck at 10-20 employees because after that the regulations, that is regulations related to protection of workers, kick in! This clearly shows that the Congress is offering the carrot of further anti-labour laws and policies to the small and big capitalists both. Further, Rahul Gandhi clearly admits that the government cannot offer jobs to everyone, and only the private sector which is given incentives by the government, can really create jobs. How this private sector has created jobs in the last 30 years after the beginning of the neoliberal policy by the Congress government is before everyone. How much wealth has trickled down from the top rich to the bottom poor is also evident. It is clear Rahul Gandhi offers no major policy shift as far as the economy is concerned. The same neoliberal policies will continue if the Congress government comes, may be with some counter-balancing mechanisms and welfarist tokenism.

*Congress: Still a Trusted Party of the Bourgeoisie*

Congress has been a trusted party of the bourgeoisie from the era before independence. It has served their interests from the period of Nehruvian policies to the era of Neo-liberalism. However it is trying to portray its image as a relatively more welfarist party compared to the BJP, which is nothing but a ploy to attract more votes of the working class and common working masses.

The working class and common working masses must understand that the Congress party is a party of the capitalist class, itself funded by the big bourgeoisie. All its promises of development, against the rule of the BJP, are in fact promises to the capitalist class that the Congress can implement the policies of neoliberalism, much better than the BJP, with ensuring domestic peace and in a much more hegemonic way. The real purpose of the _yatra_ is to convince the working masses, that the interests of the big bourgeoisie are their interests too. The problem is simply cronyism, hatred, communalism, etc. What it hides is that these problems are products of the same capitalism system, especially in its neoliberal phase, that the Congress so vehemently supports. There is nothing for the working class to expect from the declarations made during the _Bharat Jodo Yatra,_ and it should not fall prey to any kind of false optimism. The only alternative before us is to rely on our own forces, organize them, win over the masses and establish the hegemony of the proletarian political line. Tailending this or that bourgeois force in the hope to dethrone Modi from power, and to mistake this dethroning with the decisive defeat of fascism, would be suicidal for revolutionary communist forces. Today, this statement has become more relevant than ever: ‘Those who don’t want to speak about capitalism should also keep quiet about fascism.’

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The Anvil, Issue 7

02/07/2023

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*One Year of Ukraine War: Inter-imperialist Rivalry Escalating*
✍️ *Anand*
🖥️ *Online Link -*
https://anvilmag.in/archives/589
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It has been one year since Vladimir Putin-led imperialist Russia invaded Ukraine with tens of thousands of troops from the north, east and south. As expected, this so-called special military operation turned out to be the biggest war in Europe since the Second World War whose end is nowhere in sight. It is an open secret that this conflict lingers on to this day because the imperialist US-led NATO has thrown its weight behind Ukraine with its advanced weaponry, military hardware, training and surveillance technology. Now there is hardly any doubt that this proxy war is a typical case of an inter-imperialist war that is threatening to escalate further.

This proxy war between the two imperialist axes is taking place at a time when the US led western imperialist axis is in decline while the Russia-China axis is in its ascendency. In fact, the war in Ukraine bears testimony to the fact that the change in the inter-imperialist equations is under way. The stand-off between the two imperialist axes reached its zenith on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Ukraine War when the leaders of the two imperialist axes openly challenged each other and held the other being responsible for the escalation of war. US president Joe Biden paid a surprised visit to the war battered Ukrainian capital Kyiv to make a point that the West is in control of the situation. The visit was also aimed at pursuing the EU countries to prepare for a fresh offensive. He vowed to permanently eliminate the threat from Russia and to liberate all the Ukrainian territory. In a tit for tat response, the Russian president Vladimir Putin responded to Biden’s war-mongering by suspending Russia’s participation in the New START treaty which caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the US and Russia could deploy. This competitive war-mongering by the two leading nuclear powers of the world has dismissed all the chances of any negotiated settlement in Ukraine and the future is set to be much more violent than the past.

In the one year of the war more than two hundred thousand Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have already been killed or injured. Ukraine is in rubble; roads, railway lines, power stations have been destroyed; its economy has completely collapsed; at least 40 thousand civilians have lost their lives and about 8 million Ukrainians have been forced to flee the country. Even as the people of Ukraine are at the receiving end of this terrible tragedy, their president Volodymyr Zelensky is busy travelling one western capital after another pleading to speed up the supply of more and more lethal weapons so that the Russia could be defeated. Not surprisingly, he is being felicitated by the western parliaments as some kind of war hero; after all he is fighting their rival! If in the process people of Ukraine have to face death and devastation, so be it! It is none of their concern. In fact, this destruction is profitable for their military industrial complex now and for their myriad corporations vying for getting contracts for rebuilding Ukraine.

*Major Developments During One Year of War*

After months of deployment of Russian troops along the Ukrainian borders, the Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered the tens of thousands of Russian troops to cross the border on February 24 last year. Moscow’s initial plan was to capture the capital Kyiv through a kind of blitzkrieg and force Zelensky to come to the negotiation table and compel him to agree to the annexation of Donbas region in the eastern Ukraine with Russia and to get the assurance that Ukraine would not join NATO. However, Russia failed to achieve this goal as Ukrainian forces emboldened as they were with the western support launched a counter-offensive due to which the Russian troops had to retreat from Kyiv.

In March 2022 Russia changed its strategy and instead of capturing the capital Kyiv, it started focussing on capturing the Donbas region. By July 2022 Russia had captured Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, the two major cities of Donbas. As expected, the US-led western imperialist powers slapped severe sanctions on Russia even at the cost of inviting energy crisis in Europe. They also started supplying tanks, missiles, drones, radars, munitions, trucks, training, surveillance instruments, etc. to Ukraine at an alarming rate. Also, Sweden and Finland expressed their interest to be part of NATO which has enraged Russia. All this was bound to escalate the conflict and it indeed did.

Emboldened by the western support Ukraine launched a counter-offensive which caused some serious setbacks to Russia in the latter half of the year. In September, Ukraine achieved significant gains in the Kharkiv region in north-east as it recaptured the sole rail hub supplying Russia’s front line. Also, in November, the Russia suffered yet another setback, this time in the south when it had to withdraw its troops from the west bank of the Dnieper River and had to restation them near the east bank. Russia had to withdraw from the city of Kherson as well. Incidentally, Kherson was the only regional capital captured by it during the war. Further, Ukraine also tried to disconnect Crimea from the mainland Russia by carrying out a terrorist attack on the Kerch Bridge which connects Crimea with the mainland Russia. However, Russia soon managed to repair the bridge and thereby the supply to Crimea were restored.

Responding to these setbacks Russia resorted to intensive missile attacks in the last weeks of 2022 especially targeting the energy infrastructure of Ukraine such as national grid which plunged Ukraine in darkness and cold. Towards the end of the year, Russia also despatched three hundred thousand fresh troops to consolidate its gains over the occupied territory in the eastern Ukraine and expand therefrom. In the new year, Russia intensified its attacks and captured salt-mining town of Soledar in eastern Donetsk province. In February, Russia is focussing its onslaught on the nearby city of Bakhmut and in all likelihood it will be able to capture it sooner than later. As of February, Russia has come to occupy around one-fifth area of Ukraine.

As the Russian onslaught was intensifying in the new year, Zelensky made repeated appeals to his western patrons not just to send more tanks, ammunitions and modern weapons but more importantly the fighter planes. By the time of writing this article, he has got assurance for German Leopard tanks in addition to the American Abrams tank but nor for the fighter planes, but many in Europe have started giving it a serious thought. ECR, a conservative group in European parliament, is openly saying that the aim of West’s war must include the break-up of Russia. UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has also said, “nothing is off the table”. Poland and The Netherlands have already offered F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine if the allies in NATO and the “Ukraine Contact Group” agree to go ahead. So, it would not be surprising if Zelensky’s plead of fighter jets is heeded to in future, however, since that could escalate the war to territories beyond Ukraine, the western powers are taking time to decide about it.

*Where are the Things Headed?*

Under the prevailing complex circumstances, it is difficult to predict how long this war will go on. But the likelihood of ending this war in near future looks bleak. Already there is a talk of spring offensive from both sides. After the fresh supply of American and German tanks the eastern Ukrainian forces would try to recapture the lost territory in the eastern parts of the country including Crimea. The different actors involved in the conflict have varying goals.

Russia wants to capture large part of the eastern Ukraine on the ground that it is dominated by ethnic Russians who wish to unite with Russia just like Crimea. It also wants to stall the eastward expansion of NATO by inflicting heavy defeat to Ukraine and thereby setting an example in the region. This is the main objective of Russia. However, things did not unfold in exactly the same way as visualised by Putin before the war as Russia could not capture Kyiv and Kharkiv and it suffered some crucial setbacks in the last one year mainly due to complete backing of the western imperialist powers to Ukraine. Despite these setbacks, Putin continues to drum up support for the war within Russia by citing the western support to Ukraine as proof for his claims of the potential threat to the Russian nation and thereby appealing to the nationalistic feelings and beliefs of the people.

Ukraine on the other hand wants to push back the Russian troops from its territories and align with the Western powers. With the backing of its western allies, it seeks to foil Putin’s design of dismembering it. While Ukrainian president was felicitated by the western ruling classes and its politicians the ordinary Ukrainians have to suffer the main brunt of this war. They have to pay heavily for the crimes committed by their rulers in the past who converted their country into a playground for the game of inter-imperialist rivalry. In a recent interview with BBC, Zelensky has openly said that he is in no mood to agree for any peace deal with Russia if it involved giving up any of Ukrainian territories; he Instead reposed his absolute faith in the modern weapons to speed up peace. Zelensky has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the speed with which the western powers are supplying the weaponry. It is also to be noted that despite Zelensky eagerness to join NATO the western powers have not admitted it because if Ukraine becomes part of NATO the western countries would be obliged to not just send the arms but also the troops which could escalate the war beyond control.

The plan of the US and the EU is to prolong this conflict to an extent that it ultimately weakens Russia militarily and economically. At the same time the EU countries are hesitant to escalate this conflict beyond a point as it runs the risk of inviting the war to the doorsteps of European imperialist powers which would prove to be detrimental to their investments in the region and it would be highly unpopular as well. Moreover, a hawkish Putin can take the war even inside Europe and even the US, if he is forced. This is something that the West certainly does not want. Hence, the slow pace of supply of military equipments and hesitation to supply fighter planes. Besides, the prolonged conflict is likely to continue putting upward pressure on inflation and deteriorate the energy crisis and the cost-of-living crisis in Europe which is already resulting into waves of mass protests in different European countries including France, Germany, Spain and UK.

Just like the two World Wars, The US is farthest from the conflict zone and hence its position is relatively safer physically in this war as well. The US ruling class is paranoid about the imminent prospects of the decline of its imperialist dominance over the world with the rise of economic and military strength of the Russia-China imperialist axis. Its strategy of slapping sanctions on Russia in the aftermath of the war could not prove to be very effective because Russia managed to find the buyers of its oil and gas despite the sanctions imposed by the western powers and despite the alleged act of sabotage by the US of the Nord Stream Gas pipeline. Also, its loss due to sanctions was compensated by the high prices of oil and gas in the world market. It is to be noted that the countries like India, China, Turkey, Brazil, Netherlands, Spain and Japan have seen increase in the trade volumes with Russia in last one year. India alone imported a record amount of crude oil from Russia last year despite the objections from the US. So only a military defeat of Russia could satisfy US imperialist ambitions of weakening Russia and thereby making a dent into the rival imperialist axis. No wonder it continues to pump billions of dollars in the war zone in the hope of inflicting severe loss to the advancing Russian army.

With these varying objectives and perilous goals, things are not under the control of any single actor. In the race for one-upmanship things can swiftly go out of control. When we consider the fact that both the warring imperialist blocks have stockpiles of nuclear weapons, the situation assumes even more dangerous proportion. Already the rhetoric of nuclear war has begun to be used.

Alongside the conflict with Russia, the US-led western imperialist axis is also intensifying their tussle with China, the other player in the rival imperialist axis. This rivalry came to the surface last year on multiple occasion, e.g. during the visit of US House of Representative’s speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. The recent stand-off regarding the shooting down of supposedly Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina also points towards increasing hostility between the US and China. Last year also witnessed the formation of Aukus, the new military pact between US, UK and Australia. Also, new military agreement was signed between UK and Japan and the increased NATO presence in the Pacific and repeated military skirmishes in the Pacific. The situation is fast reaching towards a situation when a flashpoint could lead to a full-blown war with China. In fact, a recent US Air Force general even went on to predict that the war with China is a real possibility by 2025. The western media is rife with the stories about the new cold war and the High-Tech war with China. Even in Ukraine, the US has been alleging that China is helping Russia militarily. While earlier US used to blame China for supplying non-lethal material support to Russia, recently US secretary of State Anthony Blinken issued a statement that China is planning to supply lethal material support as well to Russia. All these point towards increased stand-off between US and China also in future.

Clearly, the contradictions of global capitalism are taking us towards more and more terrible devastations. While millions directly face death and destruction in Ukraine, billions of people world over are likely to pay the price of war in terms of increased commodity and energy prices and the imminent threat of economic recession. At the same time this situation will also create scope for revolutionary interventions provided the subjective forces of revolution get their acts together. The coming years would be of utter chaos due to the deepening economic crisis and sharpening imperialist rivalry. This can create revolutionary situation in a number of countries. The challenge before revolutionary communists is to prepare themselves to play the role of the vanguard which can effectively intervene in such a situation.

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The Anvil, Issue 7

27/06/2023

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*INDIA: THE MODI QUESTION A Critical Review of the BBC Documentary*
✍️ *Lata*
🖥️ *Online Link -*
https://anvilmag.in/archives/585
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On January 17, 2023, BBC released the first episode of its documentary series, ‘India: the Modi Question’. The second episode was released on January 24. The January 17 release caused massive outrage among the Modi supporters, and criticism and allegations started raining from all quarters. Within hours the government of India announced a ban on the screening of the documentary. The Modi government invoked emergency laws to block the documentary. Twitter, YouTube and every other social media platform quickly removed the link and the videos. Twitter was the first to abide by the ban; it pulled out all the links and video snippets from its platform. Elon Musk’s ‘free speech absolutism’ seems to follow only absolutism. While YouTube spokesperson Jack Malon said the removal of the documentary was due to a BBC copyright claim, he declined to comment on takedown demands from the Indian government. The copyright claim is merely a face-saving logic as the documentary is freely available on other internet platforms. How Twitter, YouTube and other social media platforms reacted was unsurprising. These platforms are not totally autonomous from bourgeois states. They have always gave in to demands from reactionary governments if it fits their political alignment. Therefore, enlightened users keep no illusions regarding the freedom of speech available on these social media platforms. What is remarkable is the silence of the nations’ heads on the documentary release. Active support from right-wing elitists like Rishi Sunak was expected. Joe Biden, whose victory was widely celebrated by the liberals worldwide, did not comment, and his government denied even acknowledging the release of any such documentary.

The Modi Government retaliated weeks after the documentary’s release by sending the Indian excise authority to raid BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai on February 16. The British government has not reacted or released any statement against the raid. However, hours after the Indian tax authorities probed BBC’s office in Delhi and Mumbai, Narendra Modi held phone calls with Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron touting record orders of 470 planes by Air India Ltd. The silence on behalf of the US and French governments reflects the nexus between the fascist and the right-wing forces worldwide. Modi’s audacity to ban the documentary demonstrates the strategic importance India is gaining in international politics and the international economy. Today, Modi, who was slapped with a travel ban to US and UK and a diplomatic boycott by many countries after the Gujarat Riots of 2002, enjoys silent support from the ruling class of the US and the West. Active support or silence by the nations’ heads on Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujarat riot is also because India is seen today by the West and the US as a counterbalancing force against neighbouring China, a rising imperialist power challenging the US hegemony. India, realizing its strategic importance, also aspires to become a regional superpower with the backing of its western and US allies. We can also add to the fact that India is presenting itself as a lucrative market for FDI with a cheap labour force, cheap raw materials and almost negligible regulations. Under such a geopolitical and economic milieu, the silence from the West and the US was anticipated.

In response to the government’s reaction and ban, the screening and viewing of the documentary became a mode of protest among the students and the progressive community. In the universities, including EFLU, TISS Mumbai, HCU, and JNU, students tried to organize documentary screenings which met with strong fascist opposition and attack. The right-wing attack on the screening events made the documentary more popular, and it reached much more extensive sections than it would have reached in normal conditions. There is no doubt the ban made the documentary more popular, and many watched it as an act of defiance. However, the documentary has not come up with any exceptionally revealing evidence hitherto unknown. Many journalists in India have risked their lives in the past and have done exceptional investigations to show the brazen role of the Modi government in the 2002 riots. Without fail, the documentary raises some awkward questions about the role Narendra Modi played during the 2002 Gujarat pogrom. It was more awkward for Narendra Modi because the documentary series was internationally released. The positive side of this documentary is that it furnished some unsettling facts to a larger population in India and the world. The earlier investigations and reports failed to reach a broader population because they did not become a piece of mainstream news. Many investigations did not even see the light of day. They are lying somewhere in the moth-eaten files of the media houses. The mainstream media, after 2014, entirely shed its flimsy cover of independence, and their open nexus with the government is out in the open. The nomenclature ‘Godi Media’ suits them perfectly.

Returning to the BBC documentary, the two episodes show the rise of Narendra Modi to power in an authoritarian fashion. The documentary demonstrates the direct involvement of Narendra Modi in the riots, the erstwhile chief minister of Gujarat, his instructions to police and state officials to “let Hindus vent their anger”, his hate speeches and his rallying around communal lines to win elections. However, the documentary does not touch upon many aspects like the role Narendra Modi played in instigating violence; the role of VHP in manufacturing riots and conducting carnage; role of Amit Shah after the riot; the fascist takeover of state institutions; active support to fascist politics from big capital.

*Rise of Hindutva Fascism*

It is acceptable that a couple of documentaries cannot cover all; however, the approach conveys the message. The entire documentary revolves around one figure, Narendra Modi, and his rise to power. Narendra Modi is undoubtedly a significant figure in BJP’s quest for victory in Lok Sabha Elections. The mainstream media and the 2014 election campaigns projected him as an Iron Man, someone who could deal with any crisis and lead the nation to prosperity. However, he is the face of a politics deeply ingrained in Hindutva Fascism. Making him the sole architect of his rise to power would lead to a conclusion that his defeat in elections would solve the problems of communal violence and violence committed against minorities, Dalits, other nationalities and women. It is not just Modi’s strained relationship with Muslims and other minorities leading to a violent turn in Indian politics. It is the story of Hindutva Fascism making deep inroads in Indian society and state institutions. _Shakhas,_ schools, women and youth institutions that RSS runs produce brains trained in Hindutva Fascism every year in large number. People from these institutions are now part of the bureaucracy, judiciary, police, defence, media, colleges, universities and other institutions. Apart from the storm-troopers from the lower middle class and the lumpen-proletariat, these men and women in the state institutions actively cement fascist propaganda and politics. The same Supreme Court, which constituted a Special Investigation Team in 2010, acquitted Narendra Modi of all charges in the Gujarat riot case in 2018. An independent adviser to the Supreme Court strongly recommended that there was enough evidence to prosecute Modi in the Gujarat riot of 2002. But the SIT came out with the findings that there was not enough evidence. The control Modi, through RSS and its other organizations like VHP and Bajrang Dal, had over the state institutions in Gujarat has now become an all-India reality. Even if we witness a few defeats fascism in the coming elections including the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, which seems very unlikely at present, the deep pe*******on of fascism into the state institutions will not go anywhere. Such a defeat and a period of some kind of coalition government led by or supported by the Congress will only prepare the ground for an even more rabid kind of fascist rise, given the terminal crisis capitalism is facing the world over and the fact that any bourgeois party in this era of crisis is obliged to follow the same neoliberal policies that prepare the ground for the rise of various forms of extreme right-wing reaction. The documentary series starts from the 2002 Gujarat riots and comes down to lynching and CAA-NRC protests but miserably fails to highlight the fascist takeover of the state institutions and the rapid expansion of fascist ideology and institutions at the grassroots levels. It fails to raise to most essential questions, despite showing many elements of the reality of fascist rise.

*Review of Godhra Carnage*

The second major shortcoming of the documentary is to trace the preparation of the riots in the backdrop of the 2003 Gujarat assembly elections, which was just around the corner at that time. The BJP had lost the gram panchayat elections in 2001 and the three assembly by-elections the same year. The BJP was badly rattled by these defeats and feared massive backlash in the coming assembly elections. Already a sensitive state in terms of Hindu-Muslim riots, the political polarization on communal lines was brewing at the higher levels of state government. Dark clouds still hover around the cause of the Godhra carnage; however, the incident definitely came as a readymade political gain. The decision to bring the charred dead bodies to Ahmedabad, parade them in the open and then hand them over to VHP and Bajrang Dal were conscious decisions deliberately taken to harvest electoral gains. These acts were impossible to realize without orders coming from higher government quarters. The state, which was already running a communally volatile atmosphere, bringing charred and deformed dead bodies of Hindus _karsevaks_ and pilgrims in such a mood was a direct instigation for violence. Even a marginally sensible government would have prevented any such act. But the intentional violation of procedure was done solely to incite already heightened passion among the Hindus masses of the state.

*Role of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal*

A close examination of VHP and Bajrang Dal’s role in this perspective is a miss in the documentary. There are few simple questions which are enough to draw attention towards the immediate outburst of anger escalating to such a massive level of violence. The people from the ordinary and poor localities mostly participated in the riots and were armed with swords, Trishul, acid or petrol bombs and similar arms. The possibility that such a huge number of such arms and bombs could be mobilized spontaneously within twenty-four hours of the Godhra carnage seems unlikely. The ordinary household generally does not keep such arms. The quantum of these arms and other such objects was such that it conducted three days of pogrom despite ‘Gujarat Bandh’ announced by VHP and Bajrang Dal. The three days of murder, loot, r**e and destruction of property were so massive that they killed more than 2000 people, leaving many homeless and jobless. To conduct such large-scale violence and destruction requires thorough preparedness. There was, in fact a long-term preparation by VHP, Bajrang Dal and other outfits of RSS. The documentary failed to trace the Modi government’s and RSS’s active role in manufacturing the 2002 Gujarat riots. There should be a serious investigation into the channel through which the arms reached the rioters, allowing them to wage such massive violence. However, in the documentary, the reference of RSS comes only as a shaping mould of Narendra Modi’s personality and politics; and Bajrang Dal and VHP are mentioned only as rioters.

*Role of Amit Shah*

Various studies have demonstrated that the closeness of Amit Shah and Modi in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom coincided with the beginning of another episode of conspiracies, fake encounters, murders and arrests in the history of Hindutva Fascism in India. Amit Shah took up the charge of building Modi’s image as ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’. According to a number of studies and investigations, the duo turned every stone to cover up and eliminate each grain of evidence which could lead to Narendra Modi’s role in the riots. Starting from the murder of Haren Pandya to Ishrat Jahan’s fake encounter, Shahabuddin’s fake encounter, the murder of Tulsi Prajapati, Judge Loya’s mysterious death, one after other, the Gujarat state machinery was employed to wash off every evidence and manufacture a larger than life image of Modi.

The documentary has not at all touched upon these aspects. All the investigations and fact-findings were based on the responses of the Gujarat police and administration. We are not going into the details of all these cases as the focus of the article is highlighting the missing aspects of the BBC documentary. The point we are trying to make is that the rise of Narendra Modi is not the rise of a single man to power but the rise of fascism in Indian politics. Around the time of the Gujarat riot, fascism had not yet as deeply penetrated into the Indian state institutions as it is today. Therefore, according to various investigative studies, the Modi-Shah duo had to rely on criminal conspiracies, murder, extortion and fake encounters to save their skin. Now, gradually coming into the position of controlling appointments from clerks to CJI, it appears that the need to engage in such criminal conspiracies has disappeared that all the fascist objectives are fulfilled through state institutions themselves.

*The Gujarat Model*

Most importantly, the construction of the ‘Gujarat Model’ was not the model for the so-called ‘Hindu State’ but a model of ‘ease of doing business’ for the capitalist class of India and the world. BJP and RSS presented a blueprint to the capitalist class for rapid implementation of neoliberal policies of globalization and privatization. It also presented a model where labour rights were virtually absent and through brutal repression “industrial peace” and higher rates of profit were being offered which appealed to the bourgeoisie facing the first Great Depression of the 21st century. Modi, through the Gujarat model, proved that rampant privatization, unbridled exploitation of resources, negligible regulation and cheap labour are possible only under a fascist regime. It appealed to the capitalist class running through the crisis of a falling rate of profit. They poured billions into electing Modi in 2014 and then in 2019. Modi’s rise to power is not a mystery; it is backed by big capital and established by fascist ideology, a reactionary fascist social movement of the petty-bourgeoisie, and a cadre-based fascist organization.

To sum up, the BBC documentary helped to bring back the ghost of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom to mainstream political discussion, but its analysis has major flaws. The ban made it popular overnight, but in no way it could be categorized as revolutionary or radical. It definitely raises some troubling and unsettling questions regarding and direct involvement of Narendra Modi in the riots but a thorough analysis of the rise of Hindutva Fascism in India is missing. The report coming from an international platform was detrimental to the formation of a larger-than-life image of Narendra Modi, a man aspiring to register his name as holding Prime Minister office for three consecutive terms only after Jawaharlal Nehru in the history of Independent India. The documentary undoubtedly made a dent in the shining halo around the figure of Modi for some. However, this certainly is not sufficient to prevent the fascists coming back to power in 2024, especially when there is no political analysis of the fascist rise, of which, Modi is only a representative figure.

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The Anvil, Issue 7

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