[Imc-india] fascist alert on IMC India newswire

[boud]

<cross-post new-imc, imc-india, imc-mumbai, 
imc-hyderabad, wsfhyd at hd2.dot.net>

Followup suggested: imc-india at lists.indymedia.org

SUMMARY
########################################
   The IMC India newswire is being filled by fascists. 
** Examples from the newswire
   * The following are overtly fascist:
   * This one is more subtle.
** What can/should be done?
   * IMHO, making carefully argued and referenced comments  
   * Local/expat support
   * English speakers with no direct South Asian connection 
   * If the http://india.indymedia.org newswire is used for the ASF in Hyderabad, 
########################################


hi everyone,
   The IMC India newswire is being filled by fascists/fascist
supporters. (IMHO, this is confirmation that giving the alias
hyderabad.indymedia.org to the group in Hyderabad before they've been
through the process is risky, they risk being electronically
"attacked" without being prepared, and that for them to support the
IMC India newswire to start off with makes sense. Anyway, the point of
*this* email is to alert people to the http://india.indymedia.org
problem.)

There's no point just a single person like me trying to provide
counterarguments. i could only do this a couple of times, and i don't
have a monopoly on common sense nor on internet access (and i'm not
guaranteed to have either of these ;).  AFAIK, internet fora (usenet
groups, newspapers with open publishing of comments, etc.) have been
dominated by Indian fascists or fascist supporters, especially
expatriates in North America. 

Responses can only be made effectively if there is a bunch of 
people involved. There *is* resistance, there are many excellent
progressive sites on South Asia, e.g. the meta-site
http://www.zmag.org/southasia/southasia1.htm

See below for suggestions on what could be done. 

Please be clear that IMC India was certainly not started by fascists,
and the fascists (AFAIK) do not have any password access for central
column features.  They're just using the newswire, and because nobody
is responding, they give the impression that Indymedia is a Mussolini
propaganda supporter...

It's generally consensed upon that a major contributing factor to why
the world's largest democracy is presently run by a coalition of
parties of which the main party is an overtly fascist party (the BJP),
and why there was a pogrom (relious-based massacre) of several
thousand muslims with the support of the BJP leadership in the state
of Gujarat in 2002, is that many people of Indian origin in North
America support the fascist "family" of organisations in India, some
without realising it.
e.g. see
http://www.stopfundinghate.org

For background, please look up the many other excellent resources in 
the http://india.indymedia.org central column features, and of course
in the majority of the articles - until recently.

BTW, this is "fascism" as in Mussolini. The word is not used lightly.
If you wonder why some of the fascists on the newswire attack an
anti-communalist (something like anti-racist) magazine, Sabrang, this
is why:

http://www.sabrang.com/cc/comold/mar00/document.htm
> Hindutva's fascist heritage

> In the 1930s Hindu nationalism borrowed from European fascism to
> transform ?different? people into ?enemies?. Leaders of militant
> Hinduism repeatedly expressed their admiration for authoritarian
> leaders such as Mussolini and Hitler and for the fascist model of
> society.
> 
> The existence of direct contacts between the representatives of the
> (Italian) fascist regime, including Mussolini, and Hindu nationalists
> demonstrates that Hindu nationalism had much more than an abstract
> interest in the ideology and practice of fascism.
...
> Between February and March 1931, on his return from the Round Table
> Conference, Moonje made a tour to Europe, which included a long
> stop-over in Italy. There he visited some important military schools
> and educational institutions. The highlight of the visit was the
> meeting with Mussolini. An interesting account of the trip and the
> meeting is given in Moonje's diary and takes 13 pages.
> 
> The Indian leader was in Rome during March 15 to 24, 1931. On March
> 19, in Rome, he visited, among others, the Military College, the
> Central Military School of Physical Education, the Fascist Academy of
> Physical Education, and, most important, the Balilla and Avanguardisti
> organisations.


** Examples from the newswire

i've put very brief explanations for people who know nothing about
Indian fascism, but please read up yourselves if you want to judge.

   * The following are overtly fascist:
http://india.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=2601&group=webcast
> by Sudhanshu Bhargava 

> secularist and casteist/Ambedkarist ideologies

Ambedkar was a dalit (untouchable) who helped write affirmation action
for oppressed minorities into the Constitution.

> Secularists go on lambasting the Ram devotees 

The author supports the Ram devotees who destroyed a Muslim mosque.

> Secularism, which is purely a negative ideology,

Secularism is about having a state not based on religion.


[comment on same article]
Qualifications to be secular in India
by Kuldip Singh 5:24pm Tue Dec 31 '02

> Every Hindu politician or pen-pusher who aspires to pass the test has to 
...
> He should also keep quiet or look the other way when Muslims
> breed like rats;
> refuse to give modern education to their children;
> push their women into purdah;
> practise polygamy;
> start street-riots at the slightest pretext;


http://india.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=2604&group=webcast

Kanchan Mishra Case ! Why Human Rights Elite is Mum
by Jayshree Krishnamurthy 

> At the same time, if one of the ills facing the BJP is the excessive
> concern of its geriatric leadership with its own position, an equally
> serious problem...

There is no mention of the fact that the BJP was largely responsible
for a pogrom (massacre based on identifying people by religion) of
thousands of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002.


http://india.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=2611&group=webcast

> After his landslide victory, will Modi tackle problems like
> corruption, water, providing employments etc?Mukesh Patel
> 
> The proof of the pudding lies in its eating. There is no reason to
> doubt the competence of the Modi government in tackling development
> and administration.

Modi is coresponsible for a pogrom of thousands of Muslims. Calling
the Modi government "competent" is like calling George W. Bush a human
rights activist.


   * This one is more subtle.

Someone with no South Asian connection, and without doing a lot of
background reading and patience would have trouble showing that the
following is fascist, unless he/she responds with something like:
"please concentrate on the facts - what do you claim the *recent*
facts are, not those of 400 or so years ago?"

http://india.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=2600&group=webcast

> A case study in riot comment in India
> by Harmwwk Grewal 

** What can/should be done?
   * IMHO, making carefully argued and referenced comments  

   * Local/expat support
 In principle, best support would be by locals, or by expats who
understand the situation. i'm cc-ing this to imc-mumbai (where's
there's an active and open group) and imc-india (where there's the
Madurai collective, who don't make much open contact on the mailing
list) and the newly formed group who want to make an IMC in Hyderabad.
Maybe you should discuss this next week at the media session of the
ASF?

   * English speakers with no direct South Asian connection 
 might wish to make useful, constructive comments, carefully based on
information they can reference, but should be aware that if they want
to argue with someone like the author of article_id=2600, they're
going to have to learn a *lot* and be careful if they want to avoid
slipping into the fascists' distortions. However, this could be very
positive, and might help develop more understanding of Indian fascism
- and activism - by activists from other IMCs.

   * If the http://india.indymedia.org newswire is used for the ASF in Hyderabad, 
 with 90(?)  different venues, this should quite simply reduce the
fascist contributions to a small fraction of the newswire. But it
would leave the site to function as a database for the fascists (via
the URLs), unless there are comments following the articles to explain
that fascism is unacceptable, immunising the reader.

solidarity
boud