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The 6th lecture in the Democracy Dialogues series organized by the New Socialist Initiative was delivered by Com Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary of CPI (ML) Liberation on 20 the December 6 pm (IST) where he spoke on ‘Fascism, Democracy and the Left’
Abstract :
‘Fascism, Democracy, and the Left’
With the rise of the Modi
government, BJP has managed to establish a vicious grip on Indian polity.
Parliamentary democracy and the constitutional vision of a secular democratic
Indian republic have come under fierce attack. Instead of remaining busy with studying
historical parallels we should treat the present phase as the rise of the
Indian model of fascism and resist it with all our might. While we can locate
the present Indian developments in the context of global economic and political
trends in the post-Soviet world, there are strong roots in Indian history and
society. One should revisit Ambedkar and the warnings he had issued right at
the time of adoption of India’s Constitution.
The Left vision and role
in politics has been historically identified with ideas and experiments of
building socialism, but the challenge for socialism to offer a superior model
of democracy has remained fatally neglected. In the face of a fascist
offensive, the Left in India must emerge and assert as the most consistent and
reliable champion of democracy.
About the Democracy Dialogues Series :
The idea behind this series - which we would like to call
'Democracy Dialogues' - is basically to initiate as well as join in the
on-going conversation around this theme in academic as well as activist circles.
We feel that the very idea of democracy which has taken deep
roots across the world, has come under scanner for various reasons. At the same
time we have been witness to the ascendance of right-wing forces and fascistic
demagogues via the same democratic route. There is this apparently anomalous
situation in which the spread and deepening of democracy have often led to
generating mass support for these reactionary and fascistic forces.
Coming to India, there have been valid concerns about the
rise of authoritarian streak among Indians and how it has helped strengthen
BJP's hard right turn. The strong support for democracy here is accompanied by
increasing fascination towards majoritarian-authoritarian politics. In fact, we
would like to state that a vigorous electoral democracy here has become a
vehicle for hindutva-ite counterrevolution.
All videos of the Democracy Dialogues series lectures are available on New Socialist Initiative YouTube channel
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