Skip to main content

When 'threat' of communal fascism doesn't concern secular camp, so-called Team India

By Prem Singh* 

For the last three decades, the mainstream political and intellectual circles of the country have been working with the spirit of team-work in erecting a Corporate-India (nigam-bharat). I call it Team-India. It evokes no amazement in me that I am doomed to be a part of this team-work at times. Indeed, the intellectuals/leaders of India who do not accept the fact of being part of this team-work are doomed to pseudo-thinking and conduct.
One wonders: shouldn't secularist intellectuals and leaders of India get united with Arvind Kejriwal on his demand of printing Lakshmi-Ganesh's pictures on Indian currency. Rather, the secular camp should also request its new specimen of corporate politics to replace Gandhi's picture with Ambani-Adani's, along with the demand of printing Lakshmi-Ganesh's. Lest the RSS/BJP take a beating in this matter.
Even though Kiran Bedi had called Anna Hazare a 'big' and Kejriwal a 'small' Gandhi, Gandhi has no importance in Kejriwal's politics. The 'ideals' of his politics are Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar. Hence, he is compulsively accepting the picture of Gandhi on the currency.
The secular camp should advise Kejriwal that this is the right time to get rid of Gandhi. By making such a demand, he can go far ahead of the RSS/BJP on the 'kartayva path' of corporate politics. The kind of constant troubles Gandhi is facing in Corporate-India alias Hindu-Rashtra, it is bound to happen sooner or later, sooner the better.
The secular camp's support to Kejriwal is natural. Because it has a blood relation with this bearer of the new hallmark of the communal right. This is not a truth hidden in the haze of history. This is the reality of the present going on before the eyes. By mentioning the list of this relationship once again, I would not like to become a part of further anger of this camp.
However, it is now well understood that why JNU became the main focus of the Youth for Equality (YFE) campaign against the Constitutional reservation system. Formed in Delhi in 2006, the organization tied up with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections the same year.
At that time ABVP said that we did not go to YFE, they themselves came forward and offered to support us. YFE's argument on its move was that 'they are basically opposed to the Congress-led UPA government. The issue of caste-based reservation and policies comes after that. We are supporting ABVP on the dictum of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'.
India's secular camp should not need to be told that YFE had the directions and funding of Arvind Kejriwal-Manish Sisodia and their Ford Foundation catered NGO running in its veins. The All India Students Association (AISA), which states itself as the most revolutionary student organization, tied up with the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), the student wing of the Aam Aadmi Party, in the 2018 DUSU elections.
It may be noted that YFE was formed in protest against the decision of the then Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh to give 27 percent reservation to the backward class students in institutions of higher education like central universities, IITs, IIMs.
It can also be understood more clearly now that the secular camp, which has repeatedly sought answers from the RSS/BJP on their pseudo-nationalism, pseudo-patriotism and fascism, has not sought any answer from the guru-disciple duo (Anna Hazare- Kejriwal) who had been active in the business of 'social-service' as to what was their opinion on the open dastardly killings of Sikhs in 1984, the Babri-Masjid-demolition in 1992 and the horrific communal riots that followed, the Gujarat tragedy of 2002.
When I raised these questions, everyone had adopted an attitude of 'maintain silence and ignore'. Some Marxists even started saying that I make false speculations. (Because only they have the patent for the scientific knowledge of what happened in the past and what will happen in the future.) Some socialists said that the Delhi conquest of Aam Aadmi Party should have opened my eyes. Now I must wait till it wins all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. That is, the one who wins is Alexander.
During the anti-corruption movement, when the truth came to light that Kejriwal had stolen 9 lakh rupees of the exchequer while in service, all of them lashed out at the 'corrupt' Congress in defense of their 'honest' hero through this same 'godi' media. Then the cheque of 9 lakhs was sent directly to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. They had no hesitation in defaming him by openly calling him corrupt.
Three decades after the corporate-communal nexus, the truth has well come to the fore that the 'new' India created in the last three decades could only become a 'Hindu' India, and that is what it has become. The RSS/BJP call it Hindu-Rashtra.
The intellectuals and leaders of the secular camp try to hide the truth from the working people of the country, the new generations and most of all the minorities by creating various illusions that Corporate-India alias Hindu-Rashtra is being formed with their approval and participation. If these people, as it seems, were true opponents of communal fascism, they would have at least opposed Kejriwal's communal politics in some way.
It is now clear that the threat of communal fascism is not the genuine concern of the secular camp. It is a pastime under which the flag bearers of the secular camp take pleasure in bashing the RSS/BJP and Narendra Modi.
The secular camp had laid the chess-board of the anti-corruption movement and paved the national highway for Narendra Modi on the one hand, and placed its bet on Kejriwal on the other. It was a truly an astounding period of political bankruptcy of the secular camp.
The entire camp used to sit and stand, wake up and sleep with Kejriwal's acrobatics. It used to daydream that the international rating of Kejriwal's popularity has gone above that of Narendra Modi. That whole story is recorded in the book 'Bhrashtachar Virodh: Vibhram Aur Yatharth'.
Since then, Kejriwal has become Robin Hood for the secular camp to stop Narendra Modi riding on the communal politics of Hindu majoritarianism. Just like Narendra Modi's 'godi' media, similarly Narendra Modi's opponent media is sitting on Kejriwal's lap.
Secular camp should also request its new specimen of corporate politics to replace Gandhi's picture with Ambani-Adani's
When Narendra Modi bought the media for building his image, he had been the chief minister of Gujarat thrice, and had become the trust-bearer of select industrialists. The secular camp is in a hurry to elevate Kejriwal to the status of Narendra Modi.
This camp is often a victim of attraction-repulsion regarding Rahul Gandhi. However, it has full faith in Kejriwal's prospects. It was on this belief that its future 'Hindu-Hridya-Samrat' reaped the entire crop of the peasant movement in Punjab.
Needless to say that in this camp one has to become a royal man, one has to get foreign funding, someone has to take prizes, and one has to earn a reputation of being an expert.
This business of the secular camp is going to grow in Corporate India alias Hindu-Rashtra. It has made good inroads in the private universities opened under the aegis of Corporate-India. All its members will be available for service in the foreign universities that will open here soon. Tomorrow foreign channels and newspapers will also come to India. In them too, the secular camp will get an opportunity to serve. There will be no dearth of posts and awards for them in the country and abroad.
The secular camp doesn't have to do much for this business to flourish. At present, elections are to be held in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The camp has to mobilize Muslims in favor of the Aam Aadmi Party especially in the Gujarat Assembly elections while ignoring Kejriwal's communal gimmicks as usual.
Muslims are negligible in Himachal Pradesh. There it can play a supporting role in selling the 'Delhi model' to the voters. Municipal Corporation elections are also going to be held in Delhi soon. Like in the earlier four elections, the secular camp should gear up to get the total votes of Delhi's Muslims in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party.
New readers may inquire as to who figures prominently in the pro-Kejriwal secular camp. Their brief description can be as follows -- democratic, progressive, secular intellectuals, including many eminent journalists and scholars; the three communist parties and their leaders who first recognized the 'ideology' of 'Kejriwal-revolution'; the weeds of the socialist movement, who were busy propagating themselves as the true harvest of the socialist movement; NGO personalities receiving international funding and awards; Dalit ideologues/organizations that operate with the intention of getting their share in every corridor of power; feminist scholars who cover up Kejriwal's opportunistic tricks on incidents of atrocities against women in lieu of getting posts-awards and for whom Kejriwal is the lone lion; and the intellectuals of the backward society, organized in recent years, who are ready for any compromise to increase their strength.
It is true that the Indian nation and society is going through its biggest crisis ever. The apoliticization of the last three decades has had a profoundly negative impact on the generations of this era. Still, in every generational consignment, many conscious and sincere youth/young women keep arriving on the socio-political stage.
They have to understand that the claimants to the solution of the crisis are in fact part of the crisis. Only then will they be able to assume their independent role apart from Team-India, which is involved in building Corporate-India alias Hindu-Rashtra.
---
*Associated with socialist movement, former teacher of Delhi University and fellow of Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla

Comments

TRENDING

Countrywide protest by gig workers puts spotlight on algorithmic exploitation

By A Representative   A nationwide protest led largely by women gig and platform workers was held across several states on February 3, with the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) claiming the mobilisation as a success and a strong assertion of workers’ rights against what it described as widespread exploitation by digital platform companies. Demonstrations took place in Delhi, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states, covering major cities including New Delhi, Jaipur, Bengaluru and Mumbai, along with multiple districts across the country.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Budget 2026 focuses on pharma and medical tourism, overlooks public health needs: JSAI

By A Representative   Jan Swasthya Abhiyan India (JSAI) has criticised the Union Budget 2026, stating that it overlooks core public health needs while prioritising the pharmaceutical industry, private healthcare, medical tourism, public-private partnerships, and exports related to AYUSH systems. In a press note issued from New Delhi, the public health network said that primary healthcare services and public health infrastructure continue to remain underfunded despite repeated policy assurances.

'Gandhi Talks': Cinema that dares to be quiet, where music, image and silence speak

By Vikas Meshram   In today’s digital age, where reels and short videos dominate attention spans, watching a silent film for over two hours feels almost like an act of resistance. Directed by Kishor Pandurang Belekar, “Gandhi Talks” is a bold cinematic experiment that turns silence into language and wordlessness into a powerful storytelling device. The film is not mere entertainment; it is an experience that pushes the viewer inward, compelling reflection on life, values, and society.

When compassion turns lethal: Euthanasia and the fear of becoming a burden

By Deepika   A 55-year-old acquaintance passed away recently after a long battle with cancer. Why so many people are dying relatively young is a question being raised in several forums, and that debate is best reserved for another day. This individual was kept on a ventilator for nearly five months, after which the doctors and the family finally decided to let go. The cost of keeping a person on life support for such extended periods is enormous. Yet families continue to spend vast sums even when the chances of survival are minimal. Life, we are told, is precious, and nature itself strives to protect and sustain it.

Report exposes human rights gaps in India's $36 billion garment export industry

By Jag Jivan   A new report sheds light on the urgent human rights challenges within India’s vast textile and garment industry, as global regulations increasingly demand corporate accountability in supply chains. Titled “Beneath the Seams,” the study reveals that despite the sector employing over 45 million people, systemic issues of poverty wages, unfair purchasing practices, and the exclusion of workers from decision-making persist, leaving millions vulnerable.

When resistance became administrative: How I learned to stop romanticising the labour movement

By Rohit Chauhan*   On my first day at a labour rights NGO, I was given a monthly sales target: sixty memberships. Not sixty workers to organise, not sixty conversations about exploitation, not sixty political discussions. Sixty conversions. I remember staring at the whiteboard, wondering whether I had mistakenly walked into a multi-level marketing office instead of a trade union. The language was corporate, the urgency managerial, and the tone unmistakably transactional. It was my formal introduction to a strange truth I would slowly learn: in contemporary India, even rebellion runs on performance metrics.

Silencing the university: How fear is replacing debate in academic India

By Sunil Kyumar*  “Republic Day is a powerful symbol of our freedom, Constitution, and democratic values. This festival gives us renewed energy and inspiration to move forward together with the resolve of nation-building”, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 26, 2026. On this occasion, the Prime Minister also shared a Sanskrit subhashita— “Paratantryābhibhūtasya deśasyābhyudayaḥ kutaḥ. Ataḥ svātantryamāptavyaṁ aikyaṁ svātantryasādhanam.”

Harsh Mander moves police over Assam CM’s remarks on Bengali-speaking Muslims

By A Representative   Peace and justice worker and writer Harsh Mander has filed a police complaint against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over public statements made on January 27 at an official event in Digboi, Tinsukia district, alleging that the remarks promote hatred, harassment and discrimination against Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam.