Skip to main content

Critical of Marx's views on India, book calls Gandhi an apologist of Brahmanical system

By Harsh Thakor* 

The book ‘Of Concepts and Methods' by K Murali (Ajith) seeks to challenge the conventional approach of Indian Communist parties and elaborates how they dumped the issue of caste into the graveyard. Divided into seven chapters, the writer does not reveal a classical Marxist-Leninist touch but traverses into unexplored regions, taking an inventive approach.
The book projects the characteristics of Brahmanical fascism and how it infiltrated every sphere of Indian society. Delving into the fascistic aspects of Indian culture and the connection between Brahmanism and political fascism, it sets the tone for how intellectuals should approach and study Marxism and extricate it from mechanical tendencies.
The author narrates that in essence leaders like MK Gandhi were apologists of the Brahmanical system, endorsing many traditional values. The book illustrates that there is dialectical connection between the semi-feudal economic order and the hegemony of higher castes.
It narrates how Brahmanical philosophy was rooted in the practice of Gandhi, and in essence the Congress endorsed it. It recognises the contribution of Babasaheb Ambekar as an integral part of the revolutionary movement.
With outstanding insight and originality the book exposes Vedanta or Advaita. It most illustratively encompasses how traditional Hindu philosophy was interwoven with authoritarian rule and how colonialism absorbed the reactionary elements of it to assert its hegemony. In the chapter on materialist ethics he deals with how materialism rejects idealism or their fundamental dichotomy.
Ajith summarises the contribution of Lenin towards building the party concept, giving full justice to his efforts to create the first socialist state. He projects the people’s wars undertaken in the world as well as the achievements of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
He asserts how in important ways Mao ruptured from the practice of Stalin, traversing zones Lenin did not penetrate. A new dimension of the vanguard party too was projected, rejecting the traditional mechanical approach. He portrays instances of how new revolutionary democratic methods were cultivated to challenge bureaucratic tendencies within the party, especially in China.
Critical of post-modernist tendencies, he writes about Euro-centric tendencies with reference to writings of Marx and Engels and positive elements in the writers of the New Left. He delves into how Marx in his writings made no mention of penetration of caste with the economic superstructure.
In great detail he describes the fascistic ideology of the Savarna philosophy down the ages to the present times, which gave a crushing blow to anti-caste movements. He vividly analyses the descendents of neo-fascism of the Brahmanical Hindutva variety and how Independence of 1947 was a mere transfer of power. He writes about how as a political ideology it has its origins in the crisis-ridden monopoly capitalism of imperialist countries.
He projects the link between the repressive socio-economic order or semi-feudalism with the philosophy of Brahmanical fascism. He explains that there is virtually no dicthomy between the Brahamanical ideology and the semi-feudal system.
Ajith is critical of tendencies of personality cult within leadership. At the same time he has positively portrays contribution of Charu Mazumdar and Kanhai Chaterjee,upholding their touch with the roots of society. He probes into the sectarian aspects of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. He delves into the regions of mechanical, subjective and idealist approach by the Chinese Communist party and over idolisation. He is critical of Chairman Mao for not sufficiently countering trend of personality cult and promoting adulation of ideology.
Ajith narrates how Lenin and Mao progressively corrected some of the erroneous thinkings of Marx on Asiatic countries. He touches on the reactionary aspects of western Marxism, which in his view negated ground reality.
The main flaw of this book is it negates the proletarian essence of Leninism in junctures. It negates Stalin's role in the Comintern as well as approach to party building completely. It projects that there are weaknesses within Leninism itself and that Maoism is in many ways a rupture or dichotomy from it. Negating Stalin or ascribing Leninist or Leninism from having limitations sows the seeds of revisionism.
When projecting Brahmanical fascism it divorces from class struggle or proletarian angle and virtually projects it as the precursor of all economic exploitation. In Marxist-Leninist light Ajith does not propagate that only sustained class movements can overturn casteism.

Some quotes from the book

On Marx on India:

“Some of Marx’s views, based on faulty sources, such as the concept of an Asiatic mode of production based on supposedly stagnant village communities and a despotic state, have been abandoned by most Marxist historians. The fact that even the 'hereditary divisions of labour' congealed in the caste order (correctly seen by Marx as a decisive impediment to progress) was itself never immobile, is now widely accepted.
"Similarly his characterisation of hand spinning and hand weaving as the pivots of village society, his view on the absence of private property in land, of the paralysis of productive forces for want of means of transport, of state functions as merely plunder and public works (irrigation) also stand corrected. Marx’s opinion that British colonialism effected the 'greatest and... only social revolution...' in the subcontinent.
"To give it the halo of a 'classic' view of our history would be making a laughing stock of Marxism and a departure from the creative advances made in applying it to the study of this sub-continent. DD Kosambi, a pioneer in this matter, observed, 'The advance of agrarian village economy over tribal country is the first great social revolution in India: the change from an aggregate of gentes to a society'.”

On materialist ethics

“Given that ethics belongs to the realm of consciousness, of thinking, can there be a materialist ethics? Most idealist schools of thought rule out the very idea. If at all, it is grudgingly admitted, all that is acceded to materialism is an imperfect concept of ethics. Consider the critique of materialist ethics given by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in his Gita Rahasya. It is rooted in his definition of materialism as a system of thought that accepts only that which can be sensed by human sensory organs. What is left out in this simplistic definition is materialism’s insistence on the objective exis-tence of matter.
"Matter exists, regardless of our sensing it or not. This is the key difference it has with various shades of idealism. All of them ultimately deny the independent, objective existence of matter. Tilak’s main accusation is that materialism cannot comprehend the mind and all that comes in the mental realm. Relying on this assertion he goes on to claim that a materialist ethics, which tries to incorporate concern for mental satisfaction, must go against its own material premise."

On Brahmanical fascism

‘’Political ideology it has its origins in the crisis-ridden monopoly capitalism of imperialist countries. It is a form of bourgeois rule. The growth of neo-fascist political parties and the repeated electoral successes of Rightists in imperialist countries are directly related to the continuing economic slowdown experienced in those countries, triggered by the financial crisis of 2007-08. They are greatly aided by the resurgence of narrow nationalism, which portrays the 'other' (mostly identified as immigrants) as the main cause for economic stress.
“As a form of bourgeois rule, elements of the fascist ideology are quite often internalised by the modern ruling classes of the Third World, i.e. the oppressed countries, as well. It is blended with the autocratic, 'rule by edict' system of rule commonly seen in the past under feudal regimes all over the world. In the imperialist countries also, fascism resurrected aspects of the feudal polity, replacing bourgeois democracy’s 'rule of law' and 'formal equality.'
"But there is a difference in the oppressed nations stemming from persisting semi-feudal socio-economic and cultural relations. As a result, even when forms of bourgeois rule like the parliamentary system exist, they are inherently flawed. The blending is a permanent feature. The switch over from a formal parliamentary system with constitutionally assured rights to the blatant suppression of democratic rights, has an economic dimension even in an oppressed country.
"The difference lies in the near total permanence of economic distress. When it comes to the situation in India, the inherent flaw of the parliamentary system is often discounted or ignored by mainstream political analysts. They consider this country to be a mature democracy compared to other third world countries. The decade’s long sustenance of the parliamentary system and separation of powers between the legislature, executive, and judiciary, are given as proof. Fascist rule, like the one seen during the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, is taken to be an aberration."
---
*Freelance journalist who has written for a number of blogs and travelled all around India

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.