Hitler, Hindutava And Its Allies

Balram

The world is burning. The violent dance of death is being played all around us. India is part of this whole scenery. The death tolls in places as far as J&K to Gujarat add inglorious colours to this grotesque picture.
In different places this violence presents itself in different garbs. At some places its form is imperialist while it grows in the name of Islamic jihad elsewhere.
It's clothed in saffron these days in India. This Hindutva terrorism in saffron robes which Gujarat has suffered and which is being sought to be spread in rest of India, is borne out of the same psycho-space where Jihadi terrorism takes roots. The political and historical reasons being proffered are nothing but auxiliary reasons. Basically both are the same. In the center of both is shallow egotism. On psychological plane both are in the same class. Both in their own ways give an organised and ideological form to separatism, fear, violence and animosity, which are all characteristics of the narrow egotism.
But then this is a just a pseudo-veil in which the torchbearers of these ideologies hide their peculiar psycho types. Actually this whole process of hiding takes place at sub conscious level. Most of the time even people are not aware about this. Normally their recognition is based on their surfacial activities. This is what leads to BJP and the organisations allied to it being called 'Hindu organisations'. As Dr Bipan Chander, the renowned historian says,
"Communalism is not a set of specific policies such as the building of a temple at Ayodhya or the enactment of a uniform civil code. Communalism is basically an ideology, a belief system, a way of looking at society and polity." (Dr. Bipan Chandra: The BJP's Ideology)Hitler termed this, 'Weltanschauung.'
Unfortunately this theory, though a profound one, is incomplete. An ideology in itself is a conscious system in which is incorporated super ego. But if we try to understand the saffron terrorism or its prototypes through this, then the elements of subconscious mind are left aside. According to Dr Bipan Chandra, "communalism is also not to be confused with communal violence, which is an indirect product of the spread of communal belief system away from people."
No one can deny that the communal violence is a by-product of communalism but the fact is that communalism can't enter forth into human consciousness if violent energy, fear and animosity are not already there. What is meant is that communal violence in all its forms is just an ideologisation of our egos. This shallow ego only encourages the spirit of bigotry, which gives birth to fear, which in turn is the progenitor of violence. The use of this fear in Gujarat by Narender Modi is an apt example of this.
Narender Modi is not the only one in this matter, nor is he the first one. His class is spread from Osama Bin Laden and Hitler to the mythological characters. From the beginning the people of this class have been exploiting this psychological fear and the resultant feeling of insecurity. While 'Miyan Musharaf' comes in handy for Modi, American ambitions are a fertile ground for Laden to grow. At the origin of all this is our narrow ego and its illusory fantasies.
All the religions of the world came into being to break free from this imagined imprisonment of ego. The sages of yore, who gave us the message of 'the whole world is a family,' have termed it as Moksha. But the aim of BJP, VHP, RSS and their affiliates is not only different from this, it is diametrically opposite. Their whole programme is based on glorification of separateness of ego. The roots of this process of glorification, which they call 'nationalism' is not in Vedas, Upanishads or Shrimadbhagwat Geeta but in the racial theories of Hitler.
Nearly seven decades earlier, the then Sarsanghchalak of RSS, M S Golwalkar, had declared 'Weltanschauung' of Hitler as his source of inspiration. His utterances in this regard are as relevant today:
"To keep the purity of the race and its culture, Germany shocked up the world by her purging the country, of 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 root to be assimilated to one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by." (MS Golwalkar: 'We or Our Nation Defined' P.35/43)
Sixty years later, Hitler's 'Mien Kempf' continues to be the source of inspiration of followers of Golwalkar.
Few excerpts from the autobiography of the Nazi would illustrate the parallels being played out by them: "First condition that has to be fulfilled in every kind of propaganda, namely, a systemically, a one sided attitude towards every problem that has to be dealt with? propaganda must not investigate the truth objectively, in so far as it is favourable to its side???? as soon as our own propaganda made the slightest suggestion that the enemy had a certain amount of justice on his side, then we laid down the basic on which the justice of our own cause could be questioned." (Mein Kempf P.158/159)
The propaganda of Sangh Parivar, since it inception revolves around these guiding points. That's why Advani began his Rath Yatra from Somnath. Modi's assembly elections campaign in Gujrat is the most glaring and recent example of this. The unfortunate and dangerous aspect of all this is that they seek to bring down the level of education also to mere propaganda. Whether it is history or science, they use all to glorify their ego, which they try to project as glorification of Hindu culture and race. This is not all. To force others to do so is an incontrovertible evidence of their Hitlerian philosophy. "? the foreign races in Hindusthan must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but those of the glorification of the Hindu race and culture, i.e. of the Hindu nation and must lose their separate existence to merge into the Hindu race, or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation, claiming nothing??.not even citizen's rights." (MS Golwalkar -ibid- P.47-48, 55-56)
Very clearly this ideology represents not the Indian philosophy but Fascist mindset. Not even the shadow of the cosmic consciousness of Buddha, Nanak and Upanishads has touched this. But these 'gloriful' words do not hold attraction for those who attach their identities with the word 'Hindu' in its narrow meaning. They are swayed by the rhetoric and are not able to fathom the hate, the violence and sectarianism behind all these. They are also driven by the split psycho-energy and their address is also to the same scattered psycho-space. The whole programme of these forces is to impose this internal battle on to the outer reality consciously and in an organised way. It is this that can be termed as ideologisation of the ego.
Here the problem does not remain political or ideological but becomes psychological. So it becomes clear that the solution to this problem is not in some political consciousness but in mutation of human consciousness. Before proceeding further it would be relevant to discuss some other general aspects related to this. As discussed earlier, this ideology is wholly antagonistic to all the saints like Buddha and Nanak.
In such a situation it might seem incongruous that some organisations deriving sustenance from the name of Gurus are hand in gloves with them. The situation becomes all the more unsavoury when these organisations claim to be the guides of the way. This self-claimed honorific of the 'guide' is not only untenable but also misleading.
The Akalis may do well to read what Golwalkar had to say about what he called 'Minorities Problem':
"The non-Hindu people in Hindusthan.., so long, however, as they maintain their racial, religious and cultural differences, they can not but be only foreigners......... there are only two courses open to the foreign elements, either to merge themselves in the national race, 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. That is the only logical and correct solution." (We or Our Nationhood Defined : P433-44)
This holds true, literally, for the Akali Dal led by Badal. Though their friendship with Sangh Parivar is decades old but their silence on the issue of inhuman incidents in Gujarat is a betrayal of Sikh values and the panth of Nanak. Just as the ancient sages can't be blamed for the ideology of the Sangh Parivar, the actions of these so-called leaders cannot be traced to the Sikh values. Their betrayal of the values of 'nirbhai' and 'nirvair'are akin to the crime of Judas.
Other regional parties can take refuge in the fact that they are with the NDA, not the BJP, but this is untenable for the Akalis. Anyway it is more than apparent now that the NDA government is nothing but a pseudo mask for the Sangh Parivar. The assertion of Dr Bipan Chander that the allies of the BJP have not been able to see the real character of BJP, has been proved baseless. To think that the issues of common civil code , Ram Mandir and Section 370 have been left in cold storage is like living in the fool's paradise. They are the victims of Adlerian complex. The inner void of inferiority complex can only be filled by power.
The relation of Akalis with BJP is qualitatively different from other allies. When other parties seem to be questioning their secular politics, the complicity of Akali Dalbecomes all the more blatantly sever. The question arises in natural course is whether the same Akali Dal which burnt the copies of sec 25 has come around to accept itself as the 'sword arm' of the Sangh Parivar. Do they still consider themselves as the representatives of minorities ?
The policy of the Sangh Parivar is clear in this respect. The militarisation of the Hindu society and its mindset is their declared aim. They assert that Sikh community is part of the Hindu nation According to them half the task of militarisation of Hindu society has been accomplished with formation of Khalsa panth. Afflicted with war neurosis, their 'love' for the 'Sikh community' is not for their own sake but "for the sake and the advantage of the army and the state" (Alfred Adler : 'The Practice and theory of Individual Psychology').
The so called anti Muslim history of Sikh panth is also a source of their inspiration which lends a qualitative difference to their relation with Akalis. It is a moot question that how far is the Akali Dal's claim of being representative of Sikh community true. But their traditional distance from secularism is another attraction for the Sangh Parivar. Another question arises as to what could be the reasons for the Akalis to have these ties. On surface level there are many. The history of anti Congressism is one reason. But this does not address the issue of minority mindset. Perhaps Akalis think that only Christians and Muslims have to bear the brunt of Hindutva. It is possible that they are not conversant with the character of fire and the negative psycho energy. Or may be their minds are in the grip of pigeon complex. The aim of the torchbearers of Hindutva is very clear, which poses a very complex question before them. "In this country Hindus alone are the nation and the Muslims and others, if not actually anti-national are at least outside the body of nation." (quoted from Bipan Chandra, ibid)
Now the poser is where does one find common ground between these and the Anandpur Sahib resolution. Or one may conclude that for the Akalis, this does not hold the same charm. They have entered into a new era, which they like to call 'Hindu-Sikh unity.' (One should not forget that this is a big achievement in the direction of Hindu nation or Hindu race for the Sangh Parivar)
Here is a psychological question before us that does love and creativityhave any place in the mindsets of the organisations based on the ego. In other words whether they are capable of doing anything creative for the interests of the community they profess to be serving? or if there is any place for doing anything creative in the interest of any community in a sectarian and destructive mindsets .
If the answer to any of these questions could be in affirmative then 'a-mani,' the beyond mind state of Kabeer, Shivoham Chetna (blissful consciousness) of Shankracharya and Guru Nanak's 'akal chetna' (a-temporal consciousness) would all be meaningless and irrelevant. These are requisites for creativity, which is not possible in mind's fragmented state and dualistic consciousness. If this were possible then Bulleshah would not have sung "mai beqaid, mai beqaid" .
From psychological point of view, the love of these forces for their people is merely a reaction. This doesn't exist on its own but is only a side effect of hate for their self-created enemies. Their love and hate are two sides of the same coin, which are interchangeable, and this change is mechanical. The quality of this love can be understood better by the example of a man who lovingly caresses his child after killing dozens of children. What would his touch feel like? It is possible that he might have forgotten his own violent state of mind but does that violent energy spends itself fully or is it present in the moment of love too, surreptitiously, and is polluting it. Whether our psycho state and their outward _expression are two separate entities? According to Carl Gustav Jung: "We would probably do best to regard the psychic process simply as a life process??.to life energy which includes psychic energy as specific parts." ('On the Nature of Psyche' P.19)
This is also clear that all real and possible movements in our psycho energy are inter connected. Jung goes so far as to say that it is possible to measure these. "As different forms of psychic work and psychic potentiality they can be transferred into one another. These energies posses quality and mass just like physical energy." (ibid, P.9)
All this discussion leads to but one conclusion that the issue of terrorism whether it is saffron based or of some other colour is not merely political but psychological one. If the Man wants to safe guard his existence he would have to undergo a psychological mutation. While not belittling the scope of political struggle against these destructive forces, it is imperative to delineate its limits here. The simple truth is that these organisations can manipulate us only as long as we are all embroiled in the web of our fragmented psycho energies. In the battle field of mind, to live consciously is not only improbable but also unbelievable. That is why every body is indulged in migrating from that unconsciously. A dream, personal or collective, is a way to this migration only. This era is no longer ideal for socialistic dreams and is being replaced by this so-called nationalistic and cultural renaissance.
But like always, these dreams are merely migratory and carry within them destructive energies. People lost in saffron dreams will have to wake up to this fact sooner or later that they are spinning a web, which is going to be their own nemesis. History has repeated often. What is to be seen is whether this dream ends before bursting.
'Haume dirag rog hai daru bhi is mahi,' said Nanak. The medication to this illness is in itself but it requires this dream to end before that. Without this realisation neither followers of Nanak will able to muster courage to compare their self-appointed leaders to Judas nor the Hindus would comprehend that what is being destroyed by this saffron Hindutva is the anhad bani of Vedas and Upanishads.