On the Immediate Task of Building up the All India People’s Movement against RSS Fascism!
(Synopsis of Keynote Speech at the Anti-Fascist Convention on 6 December 2025)
Introduction
6th December, is the day when Sangh Parivar goons demolished the Babri Masjid 33 years ago, i.e., on 6 December 1992. 6th December is the death anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar too, and is observed as “Mahaparinirvan Diwas” (a term borrowed from Buddhism) to honour the great contributions of Dr. Ambedkar as the chief architect of Indian Constitution. True, Ambedkar is widely considered as the “greatest ideological enemy” of RSS and its Hindu Rashtra agenda as codified in Manusmriti (Code of Manu) which Ambedkar burned on 25 December 1927. And, when the Constituent Assembly adopted the Indian Constitution on 26 November 1949, RSS even proposed Manusmriti, which identified Dalits and Women as subhuman, as India’s Constitution.
Since the time of its founding on 27 September 1925, the RSS has been the proponent of “Sanatan Dharma” (as laid down in Manusmriti) that is synonymous with Indian Caste system, the most inhuman social institution in history. The “cultural nationalism” of RSS is rooted in Brahmanical “Sanatan Dharma”. Golwalkar, while interpreting “Hindu Nation” as synonymous with “Casteism” also defined “Hindus as a nation unto themselves”. As such, he also identified Muslims, Christians and Communists as internal enemies, with particular emphasis on Muslims as enemy number one. And, together with its genocidal hatred towards Muslims, the RSS totally dissociated from the Indian Independence struggle. Thus, the “cultural nationalism” of RSS has been a camouflage for its servility to British colonialism and betrayal of Indian independence struggle. Therefore, “cultural nationalism” of RSS is the antithesis of oppressed people’s “nationalism”, which is invariably anti-colonial and anti-imperialist in essence. Of course, before its proposal of Manusmriti as Constitution, the RSS was banned for some time following the assassination of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi by Godse in 1948. Since then, for almost two decades, i.e., till the 1970s, the RSS kept more or less a low profile.
RSS’ Sudden Shot Up Since the 1970s
Historically, fascist forces are adept in transforming crises into opportunities, and this is applicable to RSS also. Thus, the 1970s that witnessed turbulent political-economic crisis leading to the abandonment of “welfare state” and embrace of neoliberalism at a global level, had its repercussions in India too, leading to the declaration of Emergency in June 1975. This turned out to be a godsend opportunity for RSS to come to the political limelight from more than two decades of its relative obscurity. Taking advantage of the weakness of progressive-democratic forces, the RSS came to lead the anti-Emergency struggle that also enabled its pan-Indian expansion. After the Emergency, the RSS replaced Jan Sangh with BJP as its political tool in 1980. Today, the BJP has become the world’s biggest political party, whose ideological fountainhead is RSS, the largest and longest-running fascist organisation in the world.
Since the 1980s, the RSS had to traverse a series of Hindutva milestones marked by Ram Janmabhoomi movement that began in 1984, Shilanyas of 1989, demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992, ascendance of the first BJP government led by Vajpayee by the turn of the 21st century, 2002 Gujarat Pogrom on Muslims, and a number of riots (such as Nellie pogrom on Bengali Muslims, 1983; Anti-Sikh violence in Delhi, 1984; Bhagalpur massacre of Muslims, 1989; Kandhamal violence against Christians, 2008; etc.) targeted against minorities, more frequently against Muslims, finally culminating in the coming of Modi regime since 2014. And now under Modi 3.0, RSS’ fascist hold over the Indian state power is of unimaginable proportions. Today, RSS has its tentacles over the entire micro and macro spheres of Indian society. Using the BJP regime, it has systematically penetrated into all institutions of power including civil administration, military, judiciary, police, culture, education and even scientific research. Affiliated organisations or wings of RSS, which come under the umbrella Sangh Parivar, have spread across trade union, organisations of women, students, youth, tribals, medical service, media, legal profession, religion, industry, agriculture, finance, rural mission, cooperative societies and even charity and philanthropy. As such, though not a registered organisation and accountable to none, leading hundreds of secret and open organisations including innumerable overseas extensions and affiliates, RSS is now in a maddening pace towards the establishment of an intolerant, majoritarian, theocratic Hindu Rashtra.
Multi-Dimensional Political-Economic, Social and Cultural Impact of RSS Fascism
Obviously, with its far-right, pro-corporate political-economic agenda, coupled with Manuvadi and Islamophobic “cultural nationalism” as ideological basis, the brunt of the multifaceted fascist oppression unleashed by RSS-BJP is borne by common people comprising the super-exploited workers, caste-oppressed Dalits, Adivasis, Women and above all Minorities, especially, Muslims. While Modi himself is claiming that India is on the verge of becoming world’s third largest economy in his third term, according to the latest World Hunger Index, India’s rank is 105th out of 127 countries. With more than half of the world’s “extreme poor” (or “absolute poor”) people, India has become a “citadel of global poverty” and one of the most unequal countries of the world now. While 40% of the country’s wealth is appropriated by the top one percent of the superrich comprising crony capitalists like Adani and Ambani, the bottom 50% of the population holds only 3% of the country’s wealth. Parliament remains a spectator under ‘crony capitalism’ – i.e., close nexus between most corrupt capitalists and the regime that is transformed as a ‘corporate-facilitator’ – while policy decisions are taken in corporate board rooms or in RSS headquarters. Public assets and national wealth are systematically sold out to crony capitalists while laws pertaining to tax, labour and environment are liberalised for facilitating corporate plunder. More than 90% of the Indian working class now belongs to the category of informal or unorganised workers and are condemned to subsist as bonded labourers or contract workers, devoid of basic democratic rights. The draconian pro-corporate Farm Laws and Labour Codes were designed to deny peasants and workers their hard-earned rights, as they are increasingly driven to landlessness, unemployment, poverty and destitution.
Since 2014, concerted efforts have been in full swing to alter the basic structure and character of the Constitution, including undermining of Federalism, which Golwalkar interpreted as a “poisonous seed” of disruption. Many of the moves in this direction were aimed at the establishment of a unitary, majoritarian Hindu Rashtra. For instance, the superimposition of GST in 2017 undermined the economic basis of federalism in India. Islamophobic undertones of Abrogation of Article 370 that took away the special status of J&K, the CAA that incorporated religion as a criterion of citizenship, prime minister himself leading the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir constructed at the very site of demolished Babri Masjid, Waqf Act, move towards Uniform Civil Code and so on, are self-evident. And, the ongoing SIR is functioning as the re-incarnation of CAA and NRC, specially constituted for disenfranchising Muslims. For instance, according to reports, 24.7 lakh Muslims alone were removed from voter’s list through Bihar SIR. Move towards simultaneous elections to Parliament and Assemblies, and proposals like ‘one nation, one police’, ‘one nation, one language’, etc., are all aimed at altering the multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious character of India.
Meanwhile, by incorporating upper caste-oriented EWS into the Constitution through 103rd Constitutional Amendment, caste-based reservation is also undermined or diluted. On the one hand, RSS is trying to deconstruct various caste organisations by depoliticising and disorienting them, while on the other, a process of integrating the oppressed castes into the Hindutva bandwagon is also going on, thereby diverting attention from the badly needed Caste Census. A process of saffronisation, Sanskritisation and corporatisation of the entire education is taking place through the NEP. As part of it, Sanskrit, already a ‘dead’ language, and Hindi are superimposed on other linguistic nationalities in disregard of their cultural traditions. In tune with the Hindutva fascist agenda, vicious moves are there to re-write and falsify history through “new history writing”. Democratic and scientific thinking among the younger generation is obstructed through eulogization of Brahmanical, Casteist, Sanatan traditions, obscurantism, superstition and pseudoscience. Rejection of all values of modernity such as rational and critical thinking, worship of heroism and elitism, etc., have become the new normal. Those who question the fascist regime, or say their opinion freely, or express dissent and disagreement, are treated as anti-nationals and traitors and are subjected to draconian laws.
Building up the Broadest Anti-fascist Movement as the Immediate Task
In this horrific situation, it is the solemn task of all democratic forces and peace-loving people to come forward for building up the broadest possible anti-fascist front for resisting and overcoming the horrors of RSS fascism. Obviously, the political-economic basis of 21st century fascism at the global level is far-right, neoliberal-corporatism, the victims of which are the working and oppressed peoples everywhere. However, the ideological basis of Indian fascism led by RSS, whose ultimate aim is the establishment of a majoritarian patriarchal Hindu Rashtra, is Manuvadi caste system together with anti-Muslimness or Islamophobia. Viewed in this perspective, the anti-fascist movement has to evolve as the broadest peoples’ movement against corporate-Hindutva fascism and all its multifaceted political, economic and cultural manifestations. Taking the concrete specificities of linguistic states, and with the orientation of building up a pan-Indian anti-fascist movement, such an initiative has to unite with struggling organisations of workers, peasants, oppressed women, Dalits, and Minorities. While uniting with the most exploited workers, majority of whom being in the unorganised or informal sectors, and oppressed Dalits and Minorities, such an anti-fascist movement has to join with all like-minded organisations fighting for people’s right to livelihood and sustenance, basic democratic rights and freedom of speech and expression.
In this grave situation, along with the indispensable ideological and political struggles and campaigns against Manuvadi Brahmanical casteism, Islamophobia, and patriarchal measures of RSS-BJP, sustained struggles against the far-right, pro-corporate, anti-worker, anti-farmer and anti-federal policies of the fascist regime are indispensable. It is high time on the part of all anti-fascist, progressive and democratic forces, to come together and join with the super-exploited workers and all oppressed, to rise up for an all-embracing offensive against the vicious political, economic and cultural agenda of RSS fascism. To make this initiative effective and successful, it is also indispensable to put forward a common minimum agenda mutually acceptable to all the constituents of such an Anti-fascist Coordination.
P J James
General Secretary
CPI (ML) Red Star
