[Reader-list] Gandhi and Gujarat

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear Pratap, et al,

point taken, the word "communalism" or "communal violence" are completely 
inadequate - an instance here of how I slipped into the completely useless 
vocabulary that the secular mainstream of national life has been accustomed 
to using- all the more reason to pay attention to speaking and writing and 
thinking in English or any other language with a modicum of precision, or 
thinking imprecision. 

You are right, the right and proper word, for the right and proper people - 
is, fascism, in the sense that there is an ongoing identification of the 
"oter", and a rational execution of a plant to get rid of the "other" and all 
else that is "uncomfortable", for the Hindi Hindu Hindusthani Hindquarter

One small clarification, I never implied and do not wish to, that you are in 
any way inspired by M.K.Gandhi (Bar at Law). May I say that I hold you in 
higher esteem, sir, than that! Alos, your variant of Bad Poetry is far dearer 
to me, sir, as compared to the Bad Poetry, or or, worse, verse, of Atal 
Bihari.

However, the words "Integral Humanism" have an interesting provenance, they 
were first used as the state ideology of the regime that was led by Dr. 
Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, the prototypical fascist intellectual and 
statesman, who ruled Portugal for many decades.

In an Indian context, Deendayal Upadhyay, intellectual, ideologue and 
respectable fascist  - who steered the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, afte rthe  
passing on of S.P . Mukherjee (Deendayal was on loan from the RSS, like 
Adani, Modi and Vajpayee are today) defined the ideology of the Bharatiya Jan 
Sangh as "Integral Humanism". Who knows what currents might have passed 
between Salazar and Deendayal. Unfortunately, there being no internet in 
those days, we cannot check to see a public online archive to see whether or 
not they exchanged e mails. We must surmise therefore, that it was a purely 
spiritual matter, a co-incidence of the spirit between Salazar and the 
kala-azar of the soul !

The BJP in its first, post Janata Party (Vajpayee led) incarnation said that 
its ideology was "Gandhian Socialism" . In the second Advani led phase, it 
returned officially to "Integral Humanism" (without, apparently, abandoning 
"Gandhian Socialism"). The BJP of today, is a happy amalgam of the two 
ideologies. This is just to show how varicoloured one particular desi version 
of fascism can be. Others have called their particular versions of fascism, 
liberal democracy. democratic socialism, scientific socialism, gandhian 
nationalism, etc.

Who knows, the happy Iberian climes of Goa, might well have inspired 
Vajpayeeji to once again be inspired at the font of Salazar !

Cheers

Shuddha