Framing Fascism: Portraits in Parliament

~Shayoni Mitra

The Indian Prime Minister and Pakistani President shown here as running from a mushroom cloud , in this chilling subversion of a famous WWII photograph. http://207.44.232.137/details.php?code=665 , Subvertize . Viewed on 4/4/04/

Almost exactly a year ago a seemingly innocuous public ceremony was about to take place - the unveiling of a portrait in the central hall of the Indian Parliament.   Yet the power corridors of Delhi shook with the implications.   Public protest, media disapproval and a boycott by the Opposition could not halt the wheels the BJP government had started rolling The message was unmistakable, this was the crowning moment of a fascist government that felt it had finally come into its own. That the disputed object is a painting is no coincidence. A systematic control over ALL the aspects of civilized/civilizing society is the cardinal feature of any neo- fascist state. But before analyzing the ramifications of this spectacular gesture is it necessary to recount the basis of the controversy.

Veer Savarkar is one of History's dark sons. Associated briefly with the Indian freedom struggle, his vision of Independent India was soon found unpalatable by most. In the 1930's he wrote an open letter to the British swearing his allegiance to the English Crown. This, a veritable renunciation of any revolutionary impetus that he might have possessed, did not prevent Savarkar from formulating an Indian nationhood IF India did indeed manage to gain independence. He had already founded the Hindu Mahasabha (Grand Assembly) in 1935. He was the first public figure to enunciate the "two-nation theory", that is that the British on departure should create not one but two countries, and the boundaries between them should be purely communal. This articulation of a Hindu India was later taken up by Jinnah as a Muslim Pakistan. Partition could not be stopped. On the eve of 15 August 1947 Pakistan was carved out of the Indian soil. Independent India still vowed to be secular. The Hindu Right however was undaunted. Though the Mahasabha had been banned, one of its members killed the sceptre of tolerance. Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated and Veer Savarkar was deeply implicated in the act.

http://www.blonnet.com/2003/02/28/stories/2003022800410800.htm. Viewed on 4/20/04.

But fifty-five years later history textbooks were being rewritten. Gandhi was no longer assassinated but died under dubious circumstances. An admirer of Hitler was to be etched as the new public icon. A party that had made its first nebulous overture at public popularity with the destruction of a mosque, had sealed its election victory with some of the worst rioting humanity has ever seen. In 2003 the time had come to commemorate this new age of ghastly heroism, and who better to do it with than a British loyalist, a country divisionist, and a public criminal. The BJP government placed Savarkar's portrait opposite Mahatma Gandhi's in the sanctum of the country's sovereign power on 26th February 2003. The installation ceremony is itself one worth remarking. The painting was unveiled by the Indian President A.P.J Kalam, also former nuclear physicist. The message was unmistakable - Hindu India was to replace the father of the nation with the father of the atom bomb. And in the world's largest democracy that not even one member of the Opposition was present at the ceremony simply did not matter.

So what exactly did the BJP government (hope to) achieve with this public gesture? And more importantly can the show be seen as a fascist performance? Certainly. Indeed it would not be facetious to argue that every feature of this act reeked of fascist politics. First of all it is important to remember that such a move could have been taken only by a government already in power - and assured of its popular support. The place and placement were, as already suggested, were themselves symbolic. The Parliament is seat of supreme power and the visceral opposition to Gandhi is paradigmatic. The recasting of Savarkar as the new hero smacks of the fascist urge to rewrite its national history casting it in the mould of its present vision - in this case a specifically Hindu one. So if the opposition was not there it became easy to pretend, at least for the multiple trained national cameras, that they simply did not exit. The BJP India was the only India. Hinduism being a creed of mysticism, called on its adherents to submerge themselves in an ideology easily manipulated by political greed. And lastly while the figure of the mad scientist now turned charismatic President was framed as endearing, lest anyone challenge this figurehead, Kalam was backed by an impressive line-up of Prime Minister, Ministers and leaders all of the extreme fascist to moderate electoral Right. The shades of difference in their politics is so subtle that indeed they are more to propitiate the masses than fool the discerning eye.

: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/3200208.stm. Viewed on 4/20/04.

A year has passed since Savarkar has settled into his new seat at the heart of the Indian democratic apparatus. And while it is perhaps futile to argue its installation anymore, the portrait is nonetheless useful as a public reminder. That was only the first act of a much longer show. As performance becomes crucial in 2004, the election year, one need only turn the calendar back twelve months to see the spectre that haunts secular India.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/3200208.stm. Viewed on 4/20/04.