Narendra Modi and Adolf Hitler

Narendra Modi and his BJP party have many similarities with Adolf Hitler and the rise of Nazis in Germany. Modi's victory in the Gujarat elections bodes ill for this nation.

In a state where Mahatma Gandhi was born, we have a leader who confesses his targeting of Muslims, and yet, people vote him back into power. Hitler used to openly confess his contempt for Jews and yet people backed him. India is going through similar circumstances that Germany went through in the late 1800s and early 1900s- revival of nationalism based on historic achievements closely tied to certain cultural roots that are unique to certain people of certain identity (in this case Hinduism, back then it was the Germanic race); targeting of the enemies within the state (in this case it is Muslims, back then it was Jews), who are not patriotic, and who incessantly ‘stab the nation in the back’.

A long campaign of such hatred and instilling of superiority preceded the rise of Hitler and his Nazis. Theories abounded which glorified the Germanic race and its achievements while continuing to distance itself from the enemies (mostly Jews, but also Slavs, and other inferior races). Efforts were made to find achievements of the Germanic race in distant past, including their links with other great culture elsewhere (Hindus and Tibetans).

Hitler came on board only to channel those sentiments to do something only he could do - Mass murder of millions of inferior people.

Modi comes onto the stage in a similar setting. Demonizing of Muslims in India began long ago. It has now reached unprecedented levels, even backed with scientific and elitist arguments. Theories abound why Muslims are different and how they cannot be integrated into a nation-state, how they are unpatriotic, how they keep ‘stabbing us in the back’. As in pre-WWII Germany, pogroms that target and kill these enemies of the state keep occurring.

Modi, like Hitler, targets certain sections blaming them for all ills of the society. Hitler unleashed his goons to target and kill people of one community while the state apparatus stood by to support, abet and sometimes participate in those killings. Modi did similar stuff in 2002.

Germany saw economic prosperity like never before under Hitler. Industrial output was at its highest. Production of coal, steel, etc, was unprecedented. Today’s Gujarat boasts of very high economic growth under Modi.

There are a few other trivial similarities. They are both bachelors and were hailed for non-corruptive practices. Modi is vegetarian, like Hitler, and has contempt for meat-eaters. Like Hitler, Modi practices and spends lot of time on mastering his oratory.

Modi is in-your-face candid about his crimes (like Hitler) which people see as a sign of honesty in comparison to other weak and corrupt leaders who seem to push the same agenda but are not honest about it. Many in Germany were vexed with the coalition government led by incompetent leaders who were seen as weak, dishonest and corrupt. They choose someone who was strong, charismatic and honest to lead them. Hitler was considered to be above the party and its ideologies. His personality was overwhelming. Not very different from how pundits write about Modi now.

According to many people in India, the opposition parties, the Congress and the Left have no better track record when it comes to protecting the interests of minority religions in this country. The difference is that Narendra Modi just accepts what he does. A known, strong and honest criminal is better than a hypocrite, weak and dishonest criminal - that seems to be the attitude of Indian people.

It's unfortunate that we have come to this. It's unfortunate that our leaders could not set right examples. The examples of Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, Shastri, Patel, Radhakrishnan, etc, are long gone. We are bereft of good examples. When everyone is a criminal, an honest and strong one is a definitely preferred. Hence, Narendra Modi!

Adolf Hitler came to power riding similar sympathies like Modi enjoys right now. Whenever Hitler was accused of a wrongdoing, he used that campaign to expose the weakness of his opposition and he grew stronger. He did not lie. He did not falter. That brought him more public support. When the Tehelka expose was circulated, Modi’s supporters used it to further their support for Modi. When Hitler spoke, he did not hide his contempt for Jews, and neither did he hide his agenda on how he is going to take care of Jewish Problem. When Modi speaks, he spews forth venom and contempt and openly confesses he subverted law of the land to kill the enemy. The people of Germany who were surrounded by weak-hearted and corrupt leaders that colluded to make marriages of convenience just to be in power, voted this man to power because they thought he would at least tell them what he does and what he intends to do, honestly. Many people in India admire Modi for his blatant honesty.

While some observers of the early twentieth century spelt doom on the rise of Nazis in Germany, many other politicians (in Germany and outside), weak at heart, diffident, and completely involved in their petty politics underestimated the rise of Hitler. They thought he was a tiny figure who would be swept away very soon. That never happened. They kept giving into his demands. He fed on that support and mass hysteria, and became a megalomaniac who plunged the whole world into its greatest war which ended up killing more than 50 million people in less than ten years.

Modi is on the rise in India. It is not a good sign for India. It bolsters and gives support to other elements that harbor similar thoughts in India. Hindutva forces already talk about emulating and replicating Gujarat in other states of India. People explain his win as a mandate of people. That's a sorry state of affairs. What if a majority of Indians vote to kill all the minorities in one stroke, will we accept that mandate? Is the law of the land and our Constitution subservient to people's mandate? We have a skewed and distorted view of what it means to be a democracy.

Indians have not learned to draw the line between what is acceptable and what is not. Here, in Gujarat, we have blurred those lines. We have legitimized crime that targets certain people based on their identity. The future is bleak. All this economic prosperity is not going to save us. Instead, this prosperity will only fuel such hatred to take it to the next level, where state participates in marginalizing, demonizing and then targeting of certain identities.

[Here is a Indian version of what is was published in Time Magazine on August 28, 1989]

First they came for the Sikhs, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Sikh.
Them they came for the Muslims, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Muslim.
Then they came for the Christians, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Christian.
Then they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Liberal Hindus, and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a conservative Hindu.
Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left
to speak up for me.

Here’s what one of the perpetrators of the Gujarat killings has to say. [Bhatt] [emphasis mine]

… pick up AK-56s because if you have to develop Hinduism, it is clear who the enemies are… There are two who are against Hinduism… Muslims, who are open… but the Christians… they are like a bacterial virus … and there’s a third, the Communists, who are developing now… red waale… If you have to fight them, you need power and that power will not come from the lathi… only the bullet will do…0674024826 we go to RSS shakhas … pick up the lathi and use it… All that is fine but now they should be replaced with AKs and a Hindu brigade should be formed…