Let’s Intensify Our Effort to Resist RSS Neofascism as the Year 2023 Dawns – Editorial, Redstar January, 2023 Issue

Let’s Intensify Our Effort to Resist RSS Neofascism

as the Year 2023 Dawns

As the new year dawns, the RSS, world’s biggest and the longest-running fascist organization, which has established is stranglehold over the entire Indian regime through its political tool BJP is in a maddening pace towards its ultimate goal of establishing a Hindurashtra. As its manifestation, the Modi regime based on far-right turn in economic policies has unleashed a no holds barred corporatisation led by the most corrupt crony capitalists on the one hand, while strengthening Manuvad-Hindutva, the ideological basis of RSS fascism, on the other. As a result, along with horrific levels of wealth concentration with Adani-like crony capitalists, India is also becoming a citadel of global poverty and as its manifestation, unemployment, price-rise, deprivation, starvation and so on are becoming routine. Parliament is made a mere spectator, policy decisions are made in corporate board-rooms and the state itself become a facilitator of unhindered corporatization. Due to the systematic demolition of public enterprises in all sectors including industry and agriculture, the share of organized workers in total workforce is further reduced to less than 3 percent while more than 97 percent of the Indian work force is condemned to the category of informal or unorganized devoid of even minimum means of sustenance, even as all hard-earned rights of working class are systematically being taken away.  

Along with this far-right corporatization agenda, RSS and BJP are resorting to all avenues for further fortifying Manuvad-Hindutva, the ideology of RSS neofascism. Even the basic structure of the constitution is demolished by amending the Constitution through the incorporation of reservation for the elite upper castes under the guise of economic reservation. And even the apex court is becoming amenable to the brahmanical move against the oppressed castes. Along with this Manuist offensive against the oppressed castes composed of the SC/ST/OBC categories that comprise the vast majority of Indian people, the process of further alienation of the minorities, especially the RSS strategy of stigmatization of the Muslims is intensified further by making them second class citizens. The recent move on the part of Modi regime to implement the CAA through backdoor by opening up Indian citizenship route to non-Muslim categories totally excluding Muslim migrants in violation of the secular character of the Indian Constitution should be seen as part of this Hindurashtra agenda. Of course, these new developments including the move towards Uniform Civil Code, adding further teeth to the NIA with the proposal for establishing NIA offices in states and so on are in continuation of the saffronisation of the entire administration including civil and military spheres, judiciary, education and RSS’ full-fledged control over the entire macro and micro spheres of Indian society. 

Now the latest in the armoury of RSS neofascism is the further refinement and extension of the EVM as RVM (Remote Voting Machine) in the guise of enabling domestic migrants to exercise their franchise through remote voting. On account of many doubts raised by even technical experts regarding the security, accuracy, and reliability of EVMs, many technologically advanced countries have banned the use of EVMs in elections. It is in this context that since its ascendance to power, the Modi regime has been superimposing EVM in Indian elections in a fascist way. Now when the same is extended as RVM in the guise of enabling migrants’ voting, along with the already existing apprehensions regarding EVM, many unresolvable procedural, administrative and technical hurdles are going to arise. But in view of the saffron goons holding immense street power along with the RSS hold on state power, this sudden move on he part of Modi regime to resort to RVM, especially in view of the Election Commission’s own past doubts on the practicality of remove voting, is to be viewed in relation to the many possibilities of manipulating EVM/RVM. Hence all progressive-democratic forces along with all non-fascist forces must come forward resolutely opposing RVM as part of the immediate task of defeating RSS neofascism. 

In this context, in the latest Assembly and by-poll elections, though the BJP had a sweeping win only Gujarat, a close analysis of the election results clearly points to a further consolidation towards Hindutva and polarisation against Muslim minorities across the States. And the RSS/BJP centres using brute state power and with the backing of most corrupt corporate billionaires and saffron media are preparing themselves to use the forthcoming Assembly elections as a launching pad for the 2024 General Elections and towards the establishment of a majoritarian Hindutva regime whose ideological basis will be Manusmriti which the RSS put forward as India’s Constitution in 1949 November itself instead of that drafted by the Committee led by Dr. Ambedkar.  No doubt, in the coming days the fascist forces will resort to a series of Hindutva moves by whipping up Hindutva nationalism which is pseudo in essence and polarisation by spreading hatred and suspicion among people on the basis of religion and in gross disregard of diversities, and unleashing all kinds of divisive forces. 

This critical situation calls for concerted evaluation and intervention on the part of the Left, progressive and democratic forces who upholds the perspective of the working and toiling people along with all oppressed comprising the Dalits, Adivasis, women and minorities, especially in view of the possibility of extreme polarisation targeted against minorities  and dalits by RSS goons in accordance with Manuvadi-Hindutva. The intervention now calls for initiatives at two levels. First, on the basis of a minimum agenda against neoliberal corporatisation including all its manifestations on the one hand, and Manuvadi-Hindutva, the ideological basis of Indian fascism on the other, the Left-Democratic forces should form a political core. Based on this, sustained and uncompromising struggles against corporate-saffron-fascist forces are to be developed in all states according to the concrete situation. In the process, working and toiling people, especially the vast unorganised and informal sections composed of more than 95 percent of the Indian working class, peasantry, oppressed peoples including women, Dalits, Adivasis, Minorities, especially the persecuted Muslims, youth and students are to be mobilised against corporate onslaughts, displacement from habitat, environmental destruction, caste atrocities, communal oppression, violation of democratic rights and so on.  State-level initiatives led by revolutionary left, democratic and struggling forces that emerge from such interventions can create an atmosphere for the emergence of a national coordination against corporate- Hindutva fascism based on a common program.

Second is the task to form a united front that can be extended to electoral struggles by exploring the possibility of alliances with anti-fascist, anti-caste and secular sections according to concrete conditions in states. Based on this, efforts are to be taken to participate in the 2023 Assembly elections wherever possible. In continuation of this and utilising such experiences, efforts are required to form a broad anti-fascist movement taking advantage of   the contradictions among ruling class parties isolating reactionary parties and fascists. This should create solid foundations for uniting with all non-fascist ruling class parties also to resist and defeat the biggest challenge from RSS neo-fascism in the 2024 general election. While entering the new year, it is high time on the part of the revolutionary, left and democratic forces to think and act along these lines. 

(Editorial, Red Star January 2023)