“Fascism in power is the open, terroristic dictatorship of the most reactionary, the most chauvinistic, the most imperialistic elements of finance capitalism.” – Karl Marx (1818 – 1883)
Advertisement by a political party in print media is absolutely democratic. If the ruling party has got the thumping majority in elections, celebrations are perfectly justifiable. The perplexing part is if the advertisement is put up by a ‘Communist’ party in most of the ‘Capitalist’ news papers, that also vouching for creating the ‘truly God’s Own Country’. The violence that gripped all over Kerala, especially among the party villages against the ideological opponents, is a clear indication of danger looming over the State that has a tradition of acceptance and assimilation much before the advent of Communism.
Firstly, asking for vote in the name of a popular face and then turning to a more ‘deterministic’ and hardliner leadership itself is a sign of Fascist-Communist jugglery. Elimination of competitive leadership within the party by all possible means is the art exemplified by Stalin and imitated by his followers in Bharat. The similar trait is visible in Kerala as well; first the popular leadership was cornered within the party by calling it a ‘revisionist’ and then negated the position ascribed by the democratic mandate. This can very well be termed as internal matter of a political party but certainly a fraud on the electorates in a democratic system.
The other significant attribute of this mindset is blatant use of violence as a political tool. If AP Abdullakutty, former Communist leader is to be believed, the ‘developmental’ face of Kerala Communist asked the party leaders to follow the “Bengal line” of killing political enemies without shedding a drop of blood. Abdullakutty, who is now with the Congress and helds from the same area of Kannur where CPM perfectly executed this Stalinist model of eliminating Opposition, alleged that Pinarayi Vijayan explained that this “model” involved kidnapping and burying alive political enemies with a sack of salt on them in deep ditches. This was by the present Kerala CM in a party meeting held at Azhikodan memorial party office in Kannur on March 5, 2008 and still, not resorted to any legal recourse against the allegations, alleges the two times MP from Kannur. The reality is whether in Bengal or in Kerala, the CPM has always resorted to strong arm tactics to ensure the Party’s survival. The recent series of violence has a death, serious injuries and ransacking of hundreds of houses of Opposition activists, of which, home District of the CM is the epicentre. It is spreading in Kasargod, Kozhikode and Thrissur District in the name of victory celebrations is a matter of concern.
Thirdly, the emergence of hardliner as head of the State has a dubious distinction in effectively dealing with finance capitalism while chanting the Communist mantra. Allegations of corruption in the SNC Lavalin case and bringing dubious investments while set up a commercial venture, Kairali TV are just few examples of this. The Malabar Pleasures Pvt Ltd is another Capitalist venture, believed to be a party subsidiary, is running with the objective of creating amusement parks, restaurants and theme parks. The new ‘development’ man of Kerala openly endorses such ventures with high stakes; a perfect example of tightly controlled finance capitalism, which is denied to other private entities through trade unionism.
Thus, the makeover attempt of Communism in Kerala perfectly matches the qualifications of ‘Fascism’ enlisted by none other than Karl Marx. In reality, both the ideologies of Communism and Fascism fed each other in the 20th century Europe and together brought an orgy of violence, killed millions and led humanity to its darkest hours, whether it is Gulag Camps of Stalinist era or Auschwitz Gas Chambers of Hitler times. The people of Kerala have voted against the UDF for being non-developmental and corrupt. The youth of Kerala, 25 per cent of whom voted for the BJP, are looking for jobs in the home State instead of forced migration. If their aspirations are not addressed, CPM has to keep in mind that the real fight would be with the emerging nationalist force and not with the Congress with whom Communist in Kerala used to play shadow boxing. If Communists are serious about turning Kerala into ‘truly God’s own country’, then shunning away from the Fascist-Communist mindset is the precondition. Hope this is part of the ‘makeover’ agenda of the new Chief Minister.
