There are innumerable references to the greatness of Hitler and Mussolini in the writings and speeches of several RSS ideologues.
In the deafening din last week about the Emergency, Adolf Hitler was remembered without any proper historical reference, rhyme or reason. Then there were those who eulogised the great political wisdom of the people of India who threw out the Emergency rule of Indira Gandhi by democratic means.
Both the statements eloquently demonstrate political and historical illiteracy.
It is not at all necessary to defend Indira Gandhi or the Emergency. But surely it is necessary to educate the likes of Arun Jaitley and others.
The north-south divide
At the outset, an electoral fact: The southern states had overwhelmingly voted for Indira Gandhi and roundly rejected the Janata Party. Out of 129 seats in the south, the Janata Party (fighting the election on the Bharatiya Lok Dal symbol) could win only six seats. The Congress and its allies in 1977 won over 80 seats.
The anti-Emergency vote was all in the northern states. For instance, in Uttar Pradesh, all 85 seats were won by the Janata Party. The same pattern was observed in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Delhi. Can we then say that the south supported ‘Hitler’ and the democratic uprising was only in the north?
One must not interpret political wisdom according to convenience.
The transformation of ‘Durga’
Does Jaitley know what he is talking about? Even as metaphor, it is not only ahistorical but blatantly misplaced. For instance, Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister in 1966, following the sudden demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent. Even after that, she did not automatically succeed Shastri as PM (as some dynasty theoreticians would want us to believe). She had to go through the intra-party election process and not through a Nazi drill. The “goongi gudiya”, as she was unflatteringly nicknamed, had to contest again within the party against Morarji Desai after the 1967 Lok Sabha election.
She won the 1971 election against the grand alliance of four leading parties, of which Arun Jaitley’s ideological parent Jana Sangh was a major partner. Despite the opinion poll (by the Indian Institute of Public Opinion) and most of the newspapers virtually campaigning against her, she won by a landslide majority.
The “wave phenomenon” came into the Indian election lexicon that year. That has come to be known as the first “populist” election, and according to some, the idea of povertarianism (with its “Garibi Hatao” slogan) began to get political sanction.
The 1971 election landslide was followed by her victorious leadership in the India-Pakistan war, resulting in the creation of Bangladesh. Opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee paid tribute to her by calling her an incarnation of ‘Durga’. Now, the same ‘Durga’ has been described as ‘Hitler’.
RSS’s fixation with Hitler
In RSS history, there are innumerable references to the greatness of Hitler and Mussolini in the writings and speeches of so many of their ideologues, from Hindu Mahasabha leader Balkrishna Shivram Moonje to K.B. Hedgewar to M.S. Golwalkar to V.D. Savarkar. Moonje had had an extensive discussion with Mussolini in Rome, way back in the late 1920s, to promote the idea of fascism in India. The RSS was to be the instrument of that ideology, according to Moonje. And on 12 December 2015, the BJP had celebrated Moonje’s birth anniversary.
Moonje, Golwalkar and Savarkar had propagated the idea of the militarisation of Hindu society on the lines of the Nazi Party and Hitler’s thoughts. Moonje and Savarkar had gone to the extent of making public statements that India needs racial cleansing of Muslims from ‘Hindoostan’, just as Hitler had started by eliminating Jews. There is nothing wrong in majoritarianism, Moonje said.
So, according to the old RSS thesaurus, the Hitler comparison can be regarded as a great compliment to Indira Gandhi.
Past unpredictable
This ‘Durga’ or ‘Hitler’ said she declared the Emergency to bring “widespread anarchy” under control. But more importantly, she called a general election on her own, after 19 months of Emergency, when she could have continued her rule for one more year. Hitler never called an election, and hence was never defeated, and therefore, never had to hand over power to anybody.
Of her total rule of 132 months up to and including the Emergency and the 58 months after the Janata debacle, Indira Gandhi had the iron grip of authoritarian control for a grand total of 19 months. That means Indira Gandhi was elected and ruled in a perfectly democratic manner for over 170 months.
But Jaitley apparently wants to condemn her entire era, including the ‘Durga’ period. In these days, it is not just the future that is uncertain — even the past has become unpredictable. From Tipu Sultan to Nehru, from Akbar to Rana Pratap, from Rani Padmavati to Indira Gandhi, history is being rewritten.
Who knows, after the 2019 elections, Nathuram Godse’s statues could replace Mahatma Gandhi’s. Who knows, even the freedom movement will have been led by the RSS, not by Gandhiji or Nehru.
Kumar Ketkar is a former editor and Congress member of Rajya Sabha.
Ketkar ji is blinded in the bhakti of Nehru Gandhi family. If Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini rose to some level, they must have certain qualities. People may have elected them adored them in the initial stages. Later on they turned into dictator. So the positive quality possessed by these people are appreciated. Similarly, Indira Gandhi also possessed certain qualities but turned into dictator at later stage.