06-10-2009, 02:23 AM
brihaspati wrote:<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Since at least two posters here have expressed doubts about the applicability of "Left-Right" characterizations, can we have a clarification of what different posters understand by the two terms? More in terms of differences and contrasts, please?
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Very relavant.
This "Left-Right" characterizations of Indian politics and comparison to western model is flawed.
We have to understand the history of the political groups in India for the last 40-50 years and influence of the neo-liberal, neo-marxist, post-modernist movement on Indian elite.
After 1960s Indian elite was exposed to the western world and the internationalists movement of the 60s in large number as never before in Indian history. Indian elite before that were mostly the few rich upper class western educated in Oxford/Cambridge before Independence and were leftist like Jyothi Basu. This social transformation of the Indian intellectuals in the 60s/70s was significant since the internationalist movement/Green movement/leftist movement dominated the Indian political scene so much that there was no space for any other national ideology. WKK, peace movement, anti-nuclear movement and rights movement including human rights was appropriated by these groups.
Frankfurt school one such center was influential on the Indian elite.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_School
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_theory
The distorted leftist/marxist ideology inside India is due to these influences in the Indian elite an you can still see many national leaders showing the symptoms of these indoctrinations. Indian education and media shows these distorted Indian variations of all these "cultural theories" and "left ideologies". Indian education was the first victim of this influence with RT gaining prominance in the west with neo-marxist views of Indian history. This created a movement to change the Indian text books, media, cinema and all public intellectual space with pseudo secular, neo-liberal view points distorting Hindu values and Hindu thought process. Western trained sociologists deepened this penetration and actively started pushing social change inside Indian soceity with Mandal and other movement creating social tension.
Hindu tolerance, Hindu world view has been appropriated by the neo-liberal ideologies and groups and the leftist/socialists started showing pseudo secular behavior to represent historic Indian liberal social behavior.
In the 1970s the leftist consolidated their hold in WB and Kerala and joined the INC to create
leftist oriented media and education.Indira Gandhi and her period including emergency even made many nationalists and communists work together.
In the 1980s the political formation was centered around PM Indira Gandhi and parties opposing her. With Pakistan supporting the Khalistan and other left groups within India the Indian leftist was supporting many anti-state groups within India and joining the internationalists who had become dominant in the world.
Pakistan and jihadi Islamist indoctrination in the 80s created another dynamics which created problems for the leftist/socialist ideology. They became sympathizers for the Islamic jihadi movement internally in Kashmir and also external global Islamic/Jihad movement which was secretly supported by internationalists. Indian internationalists/leftist by the early 1990s ended up supporting(some without choice) Kashmir jihadis, Pak jihad movement and totally dominated the political representation of India in the west and elsewhere.
This dynamics of Indian left continued until 1992 when the nationalists and Hindutva groups marched ahead into the center stage with the Ayodhya movement. The left/marxists which until 1992 was mostly anti-Congress, anti-Indira Gandhi and anti-State found itself in the national politics with significant political power in the UF govt as a coalition group. The left even smelled power with the thought of Jyothi Basu as the Prime Minister in 1996. Home minister was a communist for the first time in Indian history. INC without a significant leader was receding and had no clear ideology.
Indian population was under the assault of Islamic jihad movement at the border. Regular unsuspecting Indians were under the assault of psuedo-secular movement by the neo-liberals who took complete control over the Indian media by the early 1990s. Indian economy was reeling under the socialist policy/license Raj setup by the INC since early 1960s by the neo-leftist. With the assassination of RG the leadership of the Indian polity was under shock and in this circumstance PM PVNR steered India towards stability till 1995.
In this mess by the late 1990s the EJs from the west poured more money and expanded their conversion activity inside India creating its own social tension. They increased more tension with the Hindutva group by provoking and creating conditions for violence. It increased more money for conversion and provoked demonization of Hindu groups and Indian culture in general.
We see the transformation of INC which was born as a nationalistic party for gaining the freedom from the British colonial occupation has transformed into a left/socialist party by the 1990s and formed govt with the left to keep away the nationalist from gaining power. In the 1990s the INC also took the leadership of liberalization and privatization of Indian economy while at the same time showing left/socialist image.
After the 1998 win of the NDA and the nationalists the left and INC joined together and defined themselves in term of non-nationalists and secular and even secular fundamentalists. INC has slowly absorbed all the left ideology and by 2009 was seen as the left/socialistic center of Indian politics and different from the nationalistic political center.
With all this mess and media confusion and heavy psuedo-secular propaganda the average Indian public is confused and lost trust with the media. Hindu tolerance, Hindu world view has been appropriated by the neo-liberal ideologies and pseudo secular movement distorting Hindu values, Hindu thought process and demonized Hindutva. Educated Indians have been indoctrinated to stop supporting Hindutva and nationalist cause with media campaign and distortions.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Very relavant.
This "Left-Right" characterizations of Indian politics and comparison to western model is flawed.
We have to understand the history of the political groups in India for the last 40-50 years and influence of the neo-liberal, neo-marxist, post-modernist movement on Indian elite.
After 1960s Indian elite was exposed to the western world and the internationalists movement of the 60s in large number as never before in Indian history. Indian elite before that were mostly the few rich upper class western educated in Oxford/Cambridge before Independence and were leftist like Jyothi Basu. This social transformation of the Indian intellectuals in the 60s/70s was significant since the internationalist movement/Green movement/leftist movement dominated the Indian political scene so much that there was no space for any other national ideology. WKK, peace movement, anti-nuclear movement and rights movement including human rights was appropriated by these groups.
Frankfurt school one such center was influential on the Indian elite.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_School
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_theory
The distorted leftist/marxist ideology inside India is due to these influences in the Indian elite an you can still see many national leaders showing the symptoms of these indoctrinations. Indian education and media shows these distorted Indian variations of all these "cultural theories" and "left ideologies". Indian education was the first victim of this influence with RT gaining prominance in the west with neo-marxist views of Indian history. This created a movement to change the Indian text books, media, cinema and all public intellectual space with pseudo secular, neo-liberal view points distorting Hindu values and Hindu thought process. Western trained sociologists deepened this penetration and actively started pushing social change inside Indian soceity with Mandal and other movement creating social tension.
Hindu tolerance, Hindu world view has been appropriated by the neo-liberal ideologies and groups and the leftist/socialists started showing pseudo secular behavior to represent historic Indian liberal social behavior.
In the 1970s the leftist consolidated their hold in WB and Kerala and joined the INC to create
leftist oriented media and education.Indira Gandhi and her period including emergency even made many nationalists and communists work together.
In the 1980s the political formation was centered around PM Indira Gandhi and parties opposing her. With Pakistan supporting the Khalistan and other left groups within India the Indian leftist was supporting many anti-state groups within India and joining the internationalists who had become dominant in the world.
Pakistan and jihadi Islamist indoctrination in the 80s created another dynamics which created problems for the leftist/socialist ideology. They became sympathizers for the Islamic jihadi movement internally in Kashmir and also external global Islamic/Jihad movement which was secretly supported by internationalists. Indian internationalists/leftist by the early 1990s ended up supporting(some without choice) Kashmir jihadis, Pak jihad movement and totally dominated the political representation of India in the west and elsewhere.
This dynamics of Indian left continued until 1992 when the nationalists and Hindutva groups marched ahead into the center stage with the Ayodhya movement. The left/marxists which until 1992 was mostly anti-Congress, anti-Indira Gandhi and anti-State found itself in the national politics with significant political power in the UF govt as a coalition group. The left even smelled power with the thought of Jyothi Basu as the Prime Minister in 1996. Home minister was a communist for the first time in Indian history. INC without a significant leader was receding and had no clear ideology.
Indian population was under the assault of Islamic jihad movement at the border. Regular unsuspecting Indians were under the assault of psuedo-secular movement by the neo-liberals who took complete control over the Indian media by the early 1990s. Indian economy was reeling under the socialist policy/license Raj setup by the INC since early 1960s by the neo-leftist. With the assassination of RG the leadership of the Indian polity was under shock and in this circumstance PM PVNR steered India towards stability till 1995.
In this mess by the late 1990s the EJs from the west poured more money and expanded their conversion activity inside India creating its own social tension. They increased more tension with the Hindutva group by provoking and creating conditions for violence. It increased more money for conversion and provoked demonization of Hindu groups and Indian culture in general.
We see the transformation of INC which was born as a nationalistic party for gaining the freedom from the British colonial occupation has transformed into a left/socialist party by the 1990s and formed govt with the left to keep away the nationalist from gaining power. In the 1990s the INC also took the leadership of liberalization and privatization of Indian economy while at the same time showing left/socialist image.
After the 1998 win of the NDA and the nationalists the left and INC joined together and defined themselves in term of non-nationalists and secular and even secular fundamentalists. INC has slowly absorbed all the left ideology and by 2009 was seen as the left/socialistic center of Indian politics and different from the nationalistic political center.
With all this mess and media confusion and heavy psuedo-secular propaganda the average Indian public is confused and lost trust with the media. Hindu tolerance, Hindu world view has been appropriated by the neo-liberal ideologies and pseudo secular movement distorting Hindu values, Hindu thought process and demonized Hindutva. Educated Indians have been indoctrinated to stop supporting Hindutva and nationalist cause with media campaign and distortions.