Abhijit Banerjee & Fascism's recent echoes

Back in 1983, the JNU campus was the scene of a violent agitation which, ultimately, was severely repressed. Abhijit Banerjee was arrested and spent a few nights in jail. At the time, Indira Gandhi herself was believed to have given the order to clear out the campus and beat the students mercilessly. This was part of her tough, pro-Hindu, nationalism which ultimately led to her assassination. At the time, it made sense to speak of Fascism- albeit of a dynastic variety- in India. It was by no means certain that the Congress Party might not turn on the Left and slaughter it mercilessly. Meanwhile the Communists, at JNU, was internally divided. In 1989 there was a split between those who supported the pro-democracy movement in China and the orthodox comrades who followed the Party line. Since then, this type of Communism has collapsed in India though- for a brief period under UPA I- this was not obvious.

Currently, some campuses have entrenched Leftist parties who, it must be said, receive wide support because of their effectiveness in defending the vested interests of students- who may actually be criminals- staying in hostels and enjoying all sorts of perks. The BJP has found that Campus Leftism- because it gets disproportionate Media attention- is very useful in consolidating a 'Nationalistic' Hindu vote across caste lines. It is now pushing back on subsidies to 'students' because this is popular with mainstream youth. Gone are the days when people thought Higher Education would benefit the country. It is now obvious that it is a waste or resources.

The initial reaction to the JNU hostel fee hike was to create student solidarity under a Leftist leadership. However, when it became obvious that the Government would take a tough line- because that was popular on the streets- this solidarity collapsed. In particular, the student wing of the BJP decided to break ranks with the strikers. Things came to a head when the Left prevented them for registering their students. This meant a turf war was inevitable. The BJP brought in goons- though no doubt some students were involved- to beat up the Leftists. Suddenly the balance of power had changed. The 'street' could supply plenty of thugs to beat the Leftists- some of whom were genuine students- and thus to capture the Hostels and other University facilities. The police are sick and tired of 'anti-nationals'. They enjoy beating them. Now, the 'street' has joined in the fun. The Left will have to go back to competing on the basis of superior academic performance, not muscle power. But then, that's why the Left had risen up in the first place. A Right Wing ideologue was, speaking generally, a rustic retard. The Leftist spoke good English and quoted Urdu poets and was part of a much wider literary and intellectual culture. The jibe that 'the only difference between a communist and a fascist is tenure' did not hold water. The Fascist was ignorant. The Communist was smart. She knew some Mathematics- Marxism at that time was a formal Economic theory of an advanced Mathematical type- and her Literary Culture was Humanistic. Sadly, this has long ceased to be the case. The Left is intellectually bankrupt. It pays token allegiance to 'Grievance Studies' but promotes Casteist values. Its raison d'etre is that it is culturally superior to 'Backward Caste' people like Modi. But it refuses to promote genuine Dalits or Bahishkrits like Rohit Vemula. So they kill themselves and the Left weeps crocodile tears. But where are their own Dalit intellectuals? How come we can find plenty such in the ranks of the BJP but not a single one among the Left Liberals?

Abhijit Banerjee is a classic example of a deracinated High Caste man who has a romantic attachment to the slogans of his youth. According to Scroll.In-

Economist and Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee on Monday urged the Narendra Modi government to establish “the truth of what happened” at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday evening, when a mob of masked attackers assaulted several students and faculty members, News18 reported.

The trouble here is that everybody already knows the truth of what happened. The Left wanted to preserve their hegemony by preventing the ABVP from registering its clients. Then they were thrashed. They found they could not scare up enough muscle power to counter-attack. They are weeping and shifting all the blame to the RSS. But these guys only had salience because they were supposed to have enough muscle power of their own to thrash the RSS. If they have no physical force then they don't represent 'revolutionary potential'. They are simply play acting.

Consider what happened to the original 'antifa' movement. It was orchestrated by the German Communists. But, instead of beating up Brown Shirts it concentrated on attacking the Social Democrats. What was the result? The Nazis were seen as the revolutionary working class party. They beat the shit out of 'Liberal' professors, dismissed all the Jews and Heidegger saluted them for this great service to Philosophy. Hitler had shown that 'Necessity' was stronger than 'Knowledge'.

What happens to a country where students are beaten or killed if they wag their tail? Compare China to India and you get the answer to this question. Why do Indians pay a lot of money to attend a Chinese Medical College? It is cheaper than studying in India. If the students boycott exams or run amok, they will be beaten and shipped off to Labor Camps. Thus, a Chinese degree is better than an Indian degree. Repressive regimes- like Singapore- have Universities which are now considered superior to those in the West (which have always been more disciplined and results oriented). Meanwhile, Indian Universities have languished or are pricing themselves out of the market.

What is the image that China now has in the world? It is as a country which may overtake the USA in Science and Technology. What is the image of India? That of a basket case- except when Modi punishes the Pakistanis. Thus India is only doing well in comparison to Pakistan. No one speaks of it catching up with China. However, as a Hindu nation, it can do well if the pretense is dropped that 'Social Justice' can be achieved by quotas at crap Universities. In any case, everybody can get a bogus certificate showing they are a disabled transgender woman whose parents belonged to some caste so wholly abject as to have been incapable of reproducing.

“I think any Indian who cares about the nation’s image in the world should worry,” Banerjee, a JNU alumnus, told the news website. “This has too many echoes of the years when Germany was moving towards Nazi rule.” Banerjee has criticised the Indian government’s economic policies in the past and prescribed ways to bring the economy back on track.

 Economic policies based on bogus statistics are bound to misfire. 'Echoes of the years when Germany was moving to Nazi rule' are only alarming if military adventurism is in the background. Thus, only Pakistan needs to worry about this. India is immune.

Don't forget that Fascist countries which stayed out of the War still did better than either Communist countries or squabbling Democracies. Consider the 'Spanish Miracle' between '58 and '74. Only Japan had higher growth. The stage was set for Spain to join the EU as an affluent liberal democracy.

“The government needs to actually establish the truth of what happened and not let it get drowned in the chorus of counter accusations,” said the Nobel laureate, responding to a statement from the university registrar blaming students protesting against the hostel fee hike proposal for the violence.

But this is the truth. Student leaders enjoy power only if they can deliver benefits. Because JNU got an 'anti-national' tag, its students won't get a range of benefits. This means there is no motive to retaliate against coercive methods. If they beat you, call in goons to smash their heads in. That's it. That's the whole story.

Why did Communism collapse in Bengal? The answer is that Commie goons had the shit kicked out of them by TMC goons. Remember the 2014 Jadavpur University agitation? What was it about? Some TMC goons grabbed a girl and took her into a hostel they controlled. The students protested. The police and TMC goons beat the shit out of them. However, there was a risk that the Modi government would intervene so the V.C was replaced. However, the Jadavpur students have learned their lesson. They will jump whichever way the TMC tells them. Today, it is against C.A.A. But if the BJP wins the State Elections then a lot of goons will switch sides. The students will start demanding CAA implementation.

This is the problem with talk of Communism or Fascism. Both were about who beats whom on the streets. Students don't matter because the Streets can invade the Campuses.

There was a brief period, during the Sixties, when this was not obvious. Chairman Mao decided to use the students against his opponents. He said Exams were a tool of Bourgeois oppression. The students hearkened to him. But, once they had served their purpose, Mao brought in workers from the factories to beat the students with vim and vigor. Then they were exiled to the countryside. In 1989, they were foolish enough to wag their tail. The Party gave them enough rope to alienate the masses and then beat the shit out of them. This seems to be their tactic in Hong Kong as well. However, HK students become more productive thanks to their education. No one believes anything similar happens at JNU or Jamia Milia. So these students will be beaten and their hostels will fill up with goons belonging the to ruling party. Meanwhile, some kids from good families may- like Abhijit in '83- acquire some scars and war-stories which they can proudly display after gaining tenure at Ivy League. They can then speak of 'Fascism' because only Communists gained tenure in the old days. But this was so as to ensure that their 'Long March through the Institutions' would end in Imbecility and Impotence.