Amid moves toward mass detention of Muslims in Kashmir and Assam, a growing atmosphere of terror, and persecution of government critics, India’s arch-reactionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi cynically places an op-ed in the New York Times extolling Mohandas Gandhi on his 150th birthday. In Episode 40 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg calls this out as Orwellian propaganda, and documents the historical reality: Modi is not the inheritor of the tradition of Gandhi, but that of his assassin. Those who assert that Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has fascist roots are factually correct. Progressives in recent years have been rethinking the sanctification of Gandhi, and that is one thing. But Modi should not be allowed to get away with wrapping himself in the legacy of a man who was the antithesis of everything he represents. And US political figures like Tulsi Gabbard who pretend to be progressive while embracing the fascistic Modi must be exposed and repudiated. Listen on SoundCloud, and support our podcast via Patreon.
Music: Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram, performed by Shree Ram Bhajan
Production by Chris Rywalt
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Photo via Biography.com
Gandhi’s resting place vandalized
Just a day after his 150th birthday, and Modi’s NY Times op-ed, Gandhi’s resting place—the Bapu Bhawan memorial in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh—was vandalized. Some of his ashes were stolen, and the memorial defaced in green paint with the word “Traitor.” (BBC News)
Open glorification of Gandhi assassin
Big controversy in India following BJP MP Pragya Thakur’s remark that Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt (patriot). Yet somehow she has kept her parliamentary seat despite being a suspect in the deadly 2008 Malegaon attack that targeted Muslims in Maharashtra. (BBC News, PTI, Nov. 28)