India's continued feudal cum fascist inclination*

 

During Independence and immediately after,  Gandhi, Nehru, Tilak, Ambekar,  each dominated the mind space of Indians. Understandable,  as the freedom movement was vastly emotional and inspirational. Democracy was alien.

But after our first democratic government of Nehru, who along with others, ushered in a secular, socialist,  liberal democracy, we have strayed . He was unquestioned leader but not a fascist at all. But inspite that  a personality driven society took shape too.
  After  Nehru, a few ones( like Nanda , Sahstri)  were mild leaders. Then we had Indira . Later again after few more we had  Rajeev . Then again after three more we had Vajpayee and now  Narendra Gautam Modi. Those in between were not inspirational or dominating. The ones like Nehru, Indira, Rajeev, Vajpayee and Modi   actually promoted a  personality cult. Would be somewhat unsure here about Vajpayee though.
Many state CMs were merrily basking in thier glory  and  the people eugolised them. . In the South , mainly TN,    we had MGR. NTR, Karunanidhi, Jayalalitha, Karunakaran , while the west/ North / East  had  Abdullah, Jyoti Basu ( unsual for a leftist) Pawar, Pattnaik, Mayawati, Malayalam, Laluprasad,   Mamata etc.
In all these cases,  idealogy had lesser relevance and so did performance. Indians responded purely through their lotality and obeisance. These leaders  could sway opinion and behaviour. Rationality was never a factor. India is Indira Indira is India to thali banging during covid is testimony to this blinded bhakti.
Modi has been riding on this platform surely but he is also   vastly dependent on his hindutav narrative.
Feudalism and  fascisim  go hand in had sometimes. It has   ritualized loyalty: political bonds are cemented through public, sacred rituals. The ceremony of homage (submitting to a lord, say Ram)  and the oath of fealty (swearing fidelity on religious relics) make political betrayal a spiritual sin.
Feudalism and fascism are both authoritarian, hierarchical social systems,
Fascist Society is  radically centralized. Power is concentrated in a singular, omnipotent dictator or ruling party. The state aims for total control over public and private life, eliminating all independent institutions, regional autonomy, or decentralized power center.
The style of the above mentioned leaders dwelled around these two systems. Indira for a year and now Modi for two decades,  is fully and truly a classic example of feudal fascist ruler riding on  a personality cult.
India,  post independence,  tried to break away from this twin systems but Bharat kept us getting back to a fedual fascist doctrine. Slavery from the British to subjugation under a dictator? is this what we get? 

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