The publication of Nazariya Magazine from May 2023 and its blog earlier is a landmark occasion in the Indian democratic and Communist revolutionary movement. Three issues have been published of their printed journal. The magazine and blog are spearheading or playing vanguard role in constructing the nucleus of a genuine anti-imperialist, anti-feudal, anti-fascist movement, or organization. It has sowed the seeds for red roses to resurrect, in hour of Hindutva proto- fascism at a helm.
In recent times no legal mass journal of India has in such incisive depth given a constructive criticism of the neo-fascist structure in terms of offering a genuine Marxist Leninist alternative or as astutely defended ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism or Mao thought as Nazariya., Remarkably, it is run by a team of youth and students. All revolutionary democrats must congratulate the Nazariya team for this stupendous effort. The assessment of Nazariya reflects sound base of Marxist Leninist ideology.
Nazariya journal first unfurled year ago, germinating or having its seeds planted in a students study circle, concerned about the deteriorating state of affairs in India. It crystallized from a study circle into a magazine.
The goal of Nazariya was to build counter retaliatory resistance to combined attack of imperialism and fascism, which had it’s base planted in feudalism. Nazariya strived to explain how fascism attack is not merely of economic character but one which has endorsed or whipped up militarized religious and regional chauvinism.
Nazariya has dipped it’s ink in wide range of spheres from fascism, revisionism, post-modernism, casteism, woman’s question, economic mode of production, International Issues, people’s movements, nationality question etc.It has placed great accent on Brahmanical fascism and it’s link with economic production and culture as a whole. Nazariya left no space untouched in an article summarizing the neo-fascist essence of the Narendra Modi led BJP and it’s link with the socio-economic structure. Most analytically it investigated how parliamentary democracy was a camouflaged bourgeois dictatorship, and how it sowed the seeds of fascism.
It has made a very constructive criticism of neoliberal writers like Samir Amin , Navin Patnaik and David Harvey. Most symmetrically it dissected the various aspects that defined India as semi-feudal. Utilizing Marxist methodology it has characterized India as a semi-feudal economy, and tooth and nail refuted intellectuals who characterize India as capitalist. In a well constructed dissection it has encompassed almost every aspect linked with semi-feudalism. In detail and depth it unraveled how landlordism was still predominant and is the social base and how imperialist capital still flows and controls the Indian economic structure.
The Journal refuted the class collaborationist nature of Gandhism and it’s role in protecting the propertied.
Nazariya in an article rebuked the Communist Party of India(Marxist) for camouflaging itself as being a Marxist party .It highlighted how it controlled poor peasants in land reforms and patronized Shri Krishna as an icon of the communist party, a mythological character who championed Varnashrama Dharma and is the major icon of the Hindutva fascists.
Nazariya analysed imperialism from a Marxist-Leninist perspective and left no stone unturned in exposing the revisionist concepts.
At the very core of the heart it defended Hamas as an anti-imperialist movement and defended the legitimacy of the armed struggled led by the. In simple language it defended the armed movement of Naxalbari of 1969 .and it’s leader Charu Mazumdar.
No Marxist journal has so concretely linked Marxism and the caste question or in recent times upheld the genuine resistance struggles of Adivasis or landless labourers. With high consistency it has printed lines establishing how struggle against Brahmanical fascism was an integral part of a Marxist movement.
Nazariya projected briefly how China in 1949-76 established genuine revolutionary democracy or self-governance, and illustratively contrasted it to the autocratic nature of India after 1947.
Nazriya devoted a chapter on how Women’s revolutionary rebellion blossomed in land struggles in Bihar ,Jharkhand, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh, narrating experiences of Nari Mukti Sangh.,KAMS in Telengana and Vipllava Mahila Sanghatana in Andhra Pradesh. Issues like abolishing child marriages, forced marriage and dowry were highlighted as well as recognizing equal role of men and women in production relations.The chapter dealt with women’s historic role in land struggles ,including combating rape, battling for land rights, fighting domestic oppression etc.
Nazariya has dipped it’s ink in the merciless onslaught on university campuses by saffron forces protected by police and impact of anti0 CAA, NRC movements. It has printed articles on why education is turning into a monopoly of the rich.
To the last tooth, it condemned the genocidal demolition of Babri Masjid, and the celebration of saffron forces in Pran-Pratishta ceremony.
Nazariya exposed police attacks engulfing jungles of Bastar and hills of Orissa, through Operation Saamdhan Prahar.
In it’s latest issue Naazariya dealt with the hollowness of the Women’s reservation bill.the undemocratic imposition of Hindi as a language, how Nuh was resurrecting fascism, how World Social Forum only wore mask of being anti-globalization, but in essence backed it and promoted permeating of foreign capital.and how Ukraine was a launching pad for an Inter- Imperialist War. It firmly refutes that Russia is waging a just war for national liberation for Donbass, and analyses that just like America and the NATO block are utilizing the war to escalate their hold over the industries of Ukraine. In an article it investigated how USSR in post- Stalin years under Khrushchev, dismantled autonomy rights for national minorities and subjugated Ukraine as a nation, imposing state monopoly capitalism.Nazariya sees potential in the inter-imperialist war turning into a civil war, to prepare ground for liberation struggle.
From a Leninist mode of analysis Nazariya makes a critique of the World Social Forum, and how the Mumbai Resistance projected the correct approach. It concluded that The WSF negated the imperative need of armed struggle to fight imperialism and disallowed participation of those parties who were waging armed struggle in their countries against imperialism., while Mumbai Resistance endorsed the direct people’s struggle against imperialist globalization in any means. When globalization was debated WSF remarked that this globalization is an integral part of the imperialist system, and that an alternative world can only be built without imperialism.
Narariya in it’s blog did justice to the heroic struggle of the Kaimur Mukti Morcha in confronting corporate loot and waging a battle for the protection of the land and the basic democratic rights of the Adivasis living in Kaimur. It vividly portrayed the historical background and the neo-fascist conditions prevailing, in term s of repressive state machinery, highlighting NIA raids in Eastern Uttar Pradesh on wide strata of activists , demystify the targeted repression activists who are supporting the resistance on ground are facing. Nazriya analysed thatr “Jal, jangal and jameen” is the historical call of the toiling masses who are denied and water, with their identity and culture and very conscience, is integrally woven into it.
Fascism
In deep depth and clear cut analysis it forges the link between Marxism-Leninism and Saffron fascism, when narrating the Nuh incident, where the state behaved in a most partisan manner, arresting 300 Muslims, in 60 cases.Nazariya illustrates the class nature of fascism, tracing it back to the liberalization- globalsiation policies and how a crisis hit system needs to outright launch terrorism to survived. Summarising growth of fascism in era of imperialist expansion and how George Dmitrov defined ascendancy of fascism, the journal projected how fascism is a full fledged ideology to establish complete dictatorship of the bourgeoisie and not about just changing government ,with crisis of overall advanced counties, and imperialism escalating fascism. Pertinent that in this article it highlights how many Hindu youth from poor families or lower castes ,join the ranks of the RSS, due to rising unemployment and no political alternative.
Nazariya in2 successive articles explain how fascism has roots in the objectives of the expansion of capital. This is evident even in the integral role of big capitalists and media moguls in the rise of Hitler and the consolidation of Nazi Germany.
In it’s view fascist rhetoric of the establishment of a common enemy, based on eugenics, aimed to divert the people’s rage with the failure of the capitalist State and transfer the animosity of the people on the Jews .The Association of German Industrialists donated 3 million Reichsmarks to the Nazi Party for the 1932 election, patronising fascism’s rise to power. The crisis of capitalism pave way for the rise of fascism and the capitalist class engineered this rise as fascism endorsed dictatorship of capital’s interests.
In view of Nazariya, similar to the rise of Nazism in Germany, a fascism that centers Hindutva as well as the interests of imperialist capital is taking shape in contemporary India. It brilliantly sums up in the article how Hindu fascism evolved in Indian history. It illustrated how the history of the ancient times of India was continuously glorified and medieval history was looked down upon. The process of showing India as a nation begins by hiding the Brahminical atrocities of ancient times.
Nazariya made critical comments of concept of third worldism which only recognises labour in third world countries as a revolutionary class.
It analyses the character of Indian fascism, which originates from its political-economic character that differs from the capitalist character of Germany under which the Nazi state’s fascism arose. The historical character of the Indian state has been of Brahmanical Hinduism., which like the Third Reich’s fascism that demands annihilation of all except the community/ group accorded “superior” status.
It bridges the link between flourishing of modern capital in India and flourishing of capital., the Brahmanical suppression of other communities ,suppression of national consciousness in regions like Kashmir,.pro ruling class role of media and how fascism must be confronted.
In a semi-colony like India, where whilst direct colonial rule has ended, indirect control by the imperialist countries prevails, with proper democratisation of society not established. Hence, even the institutions, mechanisms and essence of bourgeois democracy is not functioning in India as it is in the advanced capitalist countries where proper establishing from feudalism to bourgeois democracy was created. In the semi-colonies, this process was cut off by imperialism, with the Indian parliament behaving like an organ of the semi-feudal ruling class of India.
In the view of Nazariya 3 new criminal law bills passed in the Rajya Sabha, in the absence of the Opposition. Gave a crippling blow to the safety and constitutional right of the Parliamentary to further elevate the rising tide of fascist repression in India.
Nazariya blog also made a significant coverage to how dissent was smashed by the UAPA law, how new IT laws ,patronised a surveillance state and how ‘Mann Ki Baat’ media programme addressed by Narendra Modi championed fascism and was similar to radios in the Nazi era, where the Prime Minister expressed his vison of a one-way democracy, where he gets to address the masses directly and project his propaganda with no way for the masses to convey their aspirations back.
Weaknesses
Although with good intentions in my view Nazariya undermines the role of CPI(ML)New Democracy in organising and uniting the dalit agricultural labour through Zameen Prapt Sangarsh Committee in Punjab and mistakenly labels that it characterises Punjab economy as capitalist and not semi-feudal. Infact in the communist revolutionary camp ,it’s the Maoist forces who have adopted the most sectarian approach in Punjab, soft-pedalling with Sikh extremism politics.
Although correct when analysing right deviationist trend in CPI (ML) _New Democracy in article on Prajapanda group using parliamentary tactics, it fails to highlight how the CPI(Maoist) tactics of boycott of elections has hardly escalated revolutionary democratic political consciousness in resistance zones and had a passive effect, with people not ready for assimilating it. Nor does it analyse the weakness of subjective factor of agrarian revolutionary movement, for the Maoists to wage armed struggle.
Nazariya correctly upholds line of peoples war but does not project how even the CPI(Maoist) has not built genuine base areas or established genuine revolutionary alternative, irrespective of it’s deep strides and penetration.
Nazariya does not recognize the positive role played by Tarimela Nagi Reddy/DV Rao in the construction of mass line in Andhra Pradesh coordination committee in late 1960’s to combat the left adventurist line of the AICCR and later the CPI(ML),led by Charu Mazumdar..Thus falls into the quagmire of recognising CPI(Maoist) as the sole torch bearers of Indian revolution.
Nazariya makes no critical assessment of the mistakes of Charu Mazumdar or line and practice of CPI(Maoist) today. I dearly hope Nazariya re -assess base of the mass line of T.Nagi Reddy and how it influenced mass movements.
Nazariya’s terminology of Brahmanism, in my view, is not coherent with Marxist-Leninist or negates class analytical approach. In my opinion, it is a little over critical of Hindu philosophy and does not synthesise the positive aspects of Hinduism. However oppressive Hindutva is possibly it prematurely asses that India is on the verge of turning into a fascist state, rather than remain dictatorial. I feel it incorrectly evaluates BJP or Narendra Modi wave of Indian neo or proto fascism as similar to that of Hitler and Mussolini, with today’s India not facing the similar crisis of capital.
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*Freelance journalist
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