Cultural Malware: The rise of India’s RSS – By Pieter Friedrich
In 2019, on Christmas Day, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) marched through the streets of the Indian city of Hyderabad in the state of Telangana. Armed with lathis — the iron-bound bamboo poles used by police — the uniformed cadres of the RSS paraded to the beating of drums and blaring of bugles.
It was a grand display of incredible discipline and military precision that, for some, conjured up images of another organization. “RSS today took a massive Nazi-style march,” wrote Ashok Swain, a professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Uppsala University in Sweden. Claiming the RSS was “inspired by the Nazis,” poet Meera Kandasamy wrote: “Their military style uniform, marching the way they go after one enemy is all in line with the fascists.”
Whatever the future holds, one thing is obvious: under the RSS regime in India today, the fascist vision of the founding fathers of the Hindu nationalist movement is swiftly being implemented with deadly consequences and, the longer that the RSS rules the roost, the deadlier those consequences will be.
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Fascim works swiftly, silently – By Anup Sinha (Mar 13, 2020, The Telegraph)
Delhi violence: Genesis of carnage – By Ram Puniyani (Mar 9, 2020, Sabrang India)
How Rightwing Media Outlets’ Obsession with Shaheen Bagh Led to False Reporting – By Omer Fayaz and Rayees Amin (Mar 11, 2020, The Wire)
