Preface

IN the name of ‘nationalism’, the Modi government and the Sangh Parivar have declared a veritable war on premier educational institutions like JNU and the Hyderabad Central University. They accuse these and every other institution that values debate, dissent and democracy of being ‘anti-national dens’. They have begun to charge citizens who refuse to sing the Sanghi tune with ‘sedition’, turning the whole country into an open jail. In the name of nationalism, we are thus being pushed back to the unfreedom and injustice of the colonial era.

What could be a bigger irony of history? Nationalism in India took shape in the course of the great national awakening and assertion for freedom from the British colonial rule. The RSS considered it a waste of energy – leaders of Hindu Mahasabha and RSS spent their time praising the British and, if ever put in jail, begging for mercy and serving as police informers. The anti-imerialist anti-colonial nationalism of Bhagat Singh and freedom-fighters of other ideological shades advocated communal harmony and secularism, cherished diversity and pluralism, celebrated the mosaic that is India. In stark contrast, the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha advocated ‘cultural nationalism’ – which was nothing but ‘majority communalism’ or ‘communal majoritarianism’ – which viewed Indian Muslims, not British colonialists, as the enemy, degrading minorities as second-class citizens who could live in India either by embracing Hindu culture or as ‘guests’ without rights accruing to the Indian citizenry!

The freedom movement unfurled the banner of democracy in India. In the preamble to the Constitution, the Indian people proclaimed India as a sovereign democratic republic (the words secular and socialist were admittedly inserted later, but were very much rooted in the spirit of the Constitution before any of the amendments came in) and firmly upheld the notions of ‘JUSTICE, social, economic and political’, ‘LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship’ and ‘EQUALITY of status and of opportunity’ as pillars of this democracy. The RSS, at the other end of the spectrum, wanted the Manusmriti, the charter of slavery inflicted on shudras, dalits and women in the Brahminical order, to be adopted as India’s constitution and when that did not happen, they began describing Ambedkar as the modern Manu of India!

Bhagat Singh and his comrades who shone as ever glowing stars on the firmament of every freedom fighter’s dream of a free India wanted India to march on towards a state of freedom where exploitation of man by man and nation by nation – the defining features of imperialism – will become a thing of the past. The Savarkars and Golwalkars stood diametrically opposed to this vision; they drew their inspiration from Mussolini and Hitler, their models were fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Today in power, their inheritors are bartering away India’s natural resources and hard won sovereignty to global capital and the military might of US imperialism. The quest for self-reliance and independent foreign policy has been sacrificed at the altar of FDI worship in the guise of ‘Make in India’ and the role of junior partner in a US-led global military alliance.

It is to divert people’s attention away from this naked collaboration with British colonialism then and US imperialism and other advanced capitalist countries now, that the RSS-BJP-ABVP whip up the bogey of ‘cultural nationalism’ so that the minorities and every dissenting voice are portraryed as ‘the enemy of the nation’ and US imperialism is presented as the best friend and biggest benefactor of India.

The fight for economic rights and constitutional liberties for common Indian citizens today therefore has grown into the real patriotic battle for saving India from the corporate-communal clutches of the Modi government, from the fascist project and ideological-political tyranny of the RSS and its communal cohorts and siblings. And in this battle, it is utmost important to resurrect the dreams and ideas of Bhagat Singh and Bhimrao Ambedkar, two of the greatest twentieth century fighters and visionaries of equality and democracy who had risen from the Indian soil. We must hold high the banner of Bhagat Singh’s patriotism that calls for an end to imperialism, the banner of Ambedkar’s democracy that calls for annihilation of castes. The saffron rulers are desperate to distort and appropriate Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar as their icons; and all over the country, students and teachers and enlightened citizens who are spreading the ideas of Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar are being attacked by the state and the goon squads of the RSS.

We must therefore spread the messages of Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar with renewed vigour and intensify the battle for democracy braving every repression and defying every assault of the Sangh brigade. Comrades of All India Students’ Association and Ryvolutionary Youth Association have decided to launch a countrywide “Utho Mere Desh” (Arise, My Country) campaign to carry the messages and spread the ideas of Bhagat Singh and Dr. Ambedkar to every nook and corner of India. Comrades Arindam Sen and Kavita Krishnan have compiled some key ideas of Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar in this booklet which we hope will serve as a useful handbook to combat the disinformation campaign of the Sangh brigade and encourage us to fight and win this crucial battle with all our courage and strength, energy and determination.

Dipankar Bhattacharya
General Secretary, CPI(ML)
Charu Bhawan, Delhi
23 March 2016