Who are you calling fascist, Mr Ramesh?

By Sunil Rajguru

Source:

SIFY

Last Updated: Sat, Jun 15, 2013 06:57 hrs

Union Minister Jairam Ramesh recently called Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as India's "first authentic fascist".

Fascist. Communal. Dictatorial. Genocide. Right-wing. Anti-civil liberties.

These are some of the words and terms that the Congress, mainstream media and the civil society loves using for Modi and the BJP. 

It is amazing how India is one large ostrich which has buried its head in the sand for more than 60 years now when it comes to the sins of the Congress. 

A closer look at all these terms...

Communal: Independent India's first major communal riot took place in Gujarat where more than 500 people were killed. The Congress was ruling the State at the time. That was the 9/11 of communal violence in India and since then riots have been taking place with great regularity in Congress-ruled states.

In fact Gujarat in the 1980s also saw similar riots where about 300 were killed. 1500 were killed in the Moradabad riots. 1000 were killed in the Bhagalpur riots. More than a thousand were killed in the Mumbai riots of 1992-93.

The BJP wasn't in power on any of these occasions and the usual suspect was always the Congress.

Dictatorial: Jawaharlal Nehru was India's first Prime Minister and he ruled like a benevolent dictator. Stalwarts like BR Ambedkar and C Rajagopalachari left the party because they could not function under him.

Indira Gandhi was the most autocratic of them all and people have simply lost count of the amount of offices that she has subverted. Rajiv Gandhi was dictatorial in his brief 5 years of rule from 1984-89.

Sonia Gandhi has been Congress President from 1998-2013, which has been totally unprecedented in the history of the party. Sitaram Kesri was humiliated and packed off. Who runs what more dictatorially? Modi—Gujarat or Sonia—Congress?

Of course the answer is Sonia.

Article 356 has also been used a lot by a Congress Centre to dismiss non-Congress governments in the state. 

Genocide: While many riots have taken place in India, there is only one where thousands of members of the minority communities were killed and virtually none from the majority community. The police watched as allegations of senior politicians participating did the rounds.

A record number of commercial establishments were burnt down. Miniscule legal action was taken after the riots. The Prime Minister grandly and insensitively declared: Jab bada ped girta hai tab dharti hilti hai (The ground shakes when a tree falls).

This was the most one-sided riot in the history of Independent India and was in fact a genocide.

Of course you know that I am talking about the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.

Anti-civil liberties: It is amusing to read of certain alarmist commentators say that Modi has crushed all dissent in Gujarat and the state lives in fear of him and the condition of civil liberties is pathetic.

There again no-one can beat the Congress. The Emergency. Section 66A. Indiscriminate use of Section 144: All Congress!

Right-wing: Many people use this term without even understanding it. 

Who caught hold of the economy and swerved it from Left to Right through liberalization in 1991-92? The Congress! In fact, the architect of that shift is today the Prime Minister of India in the form of Manmohan Singh.

The Right supports social hierarchy. The Congress supports dynasty. That's almost the same thing.

The Ram Janmabhoomi movement is also seen as a symbol of the far right. 

Well, the mysterious appearance of the idols of Ram, the opening of the locks and the destruction of the Babri Masjid all happened when the Congress was in power at the Centre and never when a non-Congress government was. 

The Ram Janmabhoomi movement has in fact been a perfect jugalbandi of the Congress and BJP.

Fascist: The fascist believes in a totalitarian state. Dictatorial leaders, Emergency, Section 66A, indiscriminate use of Section 144 and Article 356... all fit well in the fascist vision. The fascist believes that his is the only party fit to rule and that is another hallmark of the Congress. 

The biggest component of fascism is "devotion to a strong leader". The amount of "devotion" that a member of a Nehru-Gandhi dynasty encounters in the party is totally undemocratic and highly fascist in nature. 

The BJP leaders in contrast are all busy fighting and throwing mud at each other.

It is ironic Mr Ramesh that the Congress party is in fact India's "first authentic fascist".

Source: http://www.sify.com/news/who-are-you-calling-fascist-mr-ramesh-news-columns-ngpgVUffggb.html