The Prospect of Fascism

The outcome of the meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)—CPI(M)—at Kolkata, from 19 to 21 January, to discuss, amend and adopt its Draft Political Resolution (DPR) has, understandably, aroused considerable interest in left and progressive circles. With far from unfounded apprehensions of the advent of semi-fascism, or fascism for some, if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister wins a second term in office in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the left will once more have a life-and-death duty to fulfil, an onus for which it is historically cut out. What has attracted some public and media attention since September 2016 is an internal debate about whether the “conditions ... in political, economic and class terms—for a fascist regime to be established” are at all in existence in India today, and if so, what kind of political fronts/alliances are necessary to take them on. 

The dominant view in the CPI(M), articulated by former general secretary Prakash Karat, is that the conditions for the emergence of fascism are absent or at most have a weak presence. But both from above, by means of some institutions of the state, and from below, through the “Hindutva brigade,” a determined effort is being made to reorder the society and polity along the lines of Hindutva, thereby posing a grave danger to democracy and secularism. As regards what needs to be done, the majority in the Central Committee believes that “neo-liberalism” and “communalism” have to be fought as part of a combined struggle. Therefore, the Congress party, which has been, like the BJP, “managing the neo-liberal order for the ruling classes,” cannot be an ally in this struggle.