1. Left Vs. Right
If you’re a young guy in India who is having absolutely no clue about what’s happening around the political spheres and stuck within this concept of “Leftists vs Rightists”, you’re not alone. Even the most politically active personalities themselves can’t figure out the exact concept of Left vs Right.
For a simple textbook definition, let us see from where this actually originated, and this will help you understand the complex mechanisms in a simplistic manner.
So, it goes back to French Revolution, which started in late 18th century. Not going into the history of why this and that took place in France, I’ll skip to the main point.
France, which now wanted to make a new constitution with a relatively new concept at the time of “the rule of people” [I know Greeks were the first, don’t blabber in comments], was trying hard to adapt in this new way of being ruled by the people and the concept of democracy. So, they decided to vote if the King should have a full veto on the assembly’s decisions or just a partial veto- for obvious reasons to decide how Government’s decision making process is going to function. A huge crowd of 1500+ people gathered in the main hall to give their vote, but the delegates were deeply divided on their stance.
Thus, the ones who supported the Monarchy and the authoritarian rule of imperial culture over its citizens and that the King should have the absolute veto on decisions were asked to sit at the Right side of the hall, and those who wanted Equality, Liberty and Reforms were asked to sit at the left side of the hall {both relative to the presiding officer’s facing direction}: just for the sake of ease in voting process of 1500 people.
YES, THIS WAS JUST IT. NOTHING MORE.
Seeing at the initial concept, the left wing appears far better than the right wing opinion: they’re progressive, want equality and power to people. But, it was 18th century and now the process has reversed in Indian politics. So how did this simple solution of a grouping, for simply having some comfort in voting made into such a big mess nowadays? And what does it mean in context to India today?
2. Communism, Fascism and Capitalism
Now, in order to understand all of this mess, we also need to understand the concept of Communism, Fascism and Capitalism. You might have heard some opposition say that PM Modi is a Fascist, right? Let’s break it down in simple terms.
· Communism: “a theory or system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.”
(via Oxford). The idea seems lucrative, right? Just like the extreme “Left wing” idea you saw before- that all should be ruled by the people? You’re heading somewhat into right direction. [Many would counter this argument, but here we’re trying to understand the current scenario].
But, sadly Communism was interpreted in its own way by its practitioners, and the actual utopian theory was never forced into action in the perfect way Marx (the founder of the theory) had thought. Instead, most of communist leaders went on to indoctrinate people, using their labor for their own benefits (corruption increased highly in communist regimes), depriving people of their basic rights of liberty and equality. Getting swayed away from the original “Left” concept of liberty and reform, yes?
So- basically Communism was meant to create an anti-establishment reform, but instead was used to create dictatorial regime. In general, the Soviet Union was a communist state. There is a whole list of communism and its interpretations by own individuals or groups for their beneficial purposes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_communist_ideologies
· Fascism: Fascism is like extreme right side of communism. There is no exact definition of it and its intricacies still debated around by “experts”. According to Wikipedia, Fascism is “a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, as well as strong regimentation of society and of the economy which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.”
For example, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were Fascists. They killed their opposition leaders and journalists, and were “Dictators” using military force to rule their country. There would only be ultra-nationalist sentiment and anything opposing it would be destroyed. Hitler’s forces killed lakhs of Jews, whom he considered as lowlifes. To know more about the atrocities under Hitler’s rule, you can read lots and lots of information available on the internet about the World War 2.
Is this currently happening in India? Are opposition leaders like Mamta Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Tejashwi Yadav, Mayawati, Mulayam Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad and many more in jail or killed? Are anti-BJP reporters like Burkha Dutt or Gauri Lankesh in Jail? Their children kidnapped or killed? Is anyone who posts something against the BJP government jailed?
Nope, not at all.
Whenever you see people compare PM Narendra Modi’s government as “Fascist”, just ask them to read more about what happened during the rule of Adolf Hitler.
When we compare the rule of Fascist regime with that of Communist regimes when they started, both look pretty much the same.
For those who read it and still didn’t understand: Fascism is bad.
· Capitalism: “an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.”
This seems a better idea that you’ll bear the fruits of your hardwork and all the profits come to you. This creates a wealthy economy, just like the USA is.
However, it is seldom termed as “creating a gap between rich and poor, in which the rich just get richer and poor get poorer”; and this was the reason of the surfacing of Communism concept.
3. So which “theory” does India follow? Communism or Capitalism?
This was a matter of heated debate upon the formation of our Constitution, and is a topic of great significance and importance for India. However, we need to get to the point in simplest terms, as had been promised in the beginning of the article.
India is both a Communist and a Capitalist state. I would have mentioned Federalism and all sorts of stuff here, but those are topics of technicalities and would be too much for our young readers in a single go.
So, India is called a “Qasi-Federation”, which takes good principles from many constitutions of the world, including communist and capitalist states, taking the merits from both of these systems.
· Today’s scenario
To understand today’s political scenario, we have to accept that major changes came with the political reforms and change from the Congress-led UPA government to the BJP-led NDA government in 2014.
The NDA government immediately came into power and went through a drive to wipe off Congress from face of Indian soil, which it accused of immense corruption and nepotism in politics. Well not just accusations, many cases have actually been filed against the Congress’s supreme commanders: the Gandhi family.
From the Deccan Herald case to Gandhi family’s ties with Communist Party of China to using National Relief Fund’s money for their own party’s needs, the Congress leadership has been indulged in serious misadventures. I would say many parties do unethical things for their fundings, and is in no way justifiable.
What is “Left” and “Right” in India?
This is a very complex thing. Those who support Communism in the country are generally considered “Leftists” and those with Nationalism ideals are called “Rightists”. But why do these so-called leftists seldom go too extreme to criticize the BJP-led government, even criticizing the whole Nation, Religions, Cultural traditions and the Armed Forces? Take it as a food of thought.
In the end, I’d put the difference in simple words:
Right wing: Nationalism, Culture, Moral Strength, Discipline.
For example, on Criminals, the general perception is they are self-made criminals. Problems are with everyone, but all don’t choose to do crime. The evil-hearted people do crime.
Left Wing: Always against government, no religion/culture, openness, empathy, equality
For example, on criminals, the general perception is that they are just victims of the system.
I hope it helps. And, do try to observe if someone so-called leftist is actually right-winger or so-called rightist is actually a left-winger.
One of the members at the French hall where delegates were made to sit on either the left or the right, said:
“I tried to sit in different parts of the hall and not to adopt any marked spot, so as to remain more the master of my opinion,” one right-wing baron wrote, “but I was compelled absolutely to abandon the left or else be condemned always to vote alone and thus be subjected to jeers from the galleries.” (via History.com)
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