Daily Times

Mark Twain said, “History does not repeat itself, but it certainly rhymes.”

The current rise of ultranationalist movements across the globe reminds me of a time almost 90 years back, arguably the darkest time in recent human history. Back then, it took the “civilised” world a decade to realise what a big threat the ultranationalists movements were, and it took another decade to react and that too out of necessity when danger was on the doorstep.

In the late 1920s and early 30s, Germany was a liberal democracy. It had a robust free press, with up to a dozen newspapers published in each big city.

“Before the deluge,” they read more books than any other country. They produced Nobel prize-winning scientists like Rontgen (Physics, 1901), Fischer (Chemistry, 1902), Baeyer (Chemistry, 1905), Robert Koch (Medicine, 1905), Ehrlich (Medicine, 1908) Braun (Physics, 1909), Planck (Physics, 1918), Nernst (Chemistry, 1920), Albert Einstein (Physics, 1921), Hertz (Physics, 1925), Bosch (Chemistry, 1931) and Heisenberg (Physic, 1932). Before the second world war, they had generated more Nobel laureates in scientific fields than any other nation, 43 in total. The first country to move towards universal health care, Germany launched a national health insurance system as early as 1883. Industrial employers were mandated to provide injury and illness insurance for their low-wage workers and employers were mandated to set up “sick funds” for their employees. Germany and particularly Berlin proved to be a fertile ground for artists and intellectuals. Weimar era was marked by explosive intellectual productivity. On top of a rich culture, they had a thriving film industry, which produced masterpieces like Der Student von Prag (The Student of Prague), a big critical and commercial success in 1913, Nosferatu in 1922, “one of the silent era’s most influential masterpieces”, Metropolis (1927), regarded as a pioneer in science fiction movie, M in 1931, probably holds the record for a film to appear in most “the greatest film ever” lists. In the early 20th century, Babelsberg Film Studio located just outside Berlin was, what Hollywood is today.

But with one mistake, it all went down the drain. In 1933, a leader came into power, who talked about putting Germans first. He was charismatic and a master of propaganda. He knew how to motivate the socially disadvantaged to his advantage. He knew how to divide in the name of the race to unite for his agenda. Despite not holding an absolute majority in parliament, the leader of the Nazi party wiggled his way into the seat of Chancellor, through a coalition. But he wanted more. As most fascist do, he gained absolute power in the name of a national emergency. On Monday, February 27, 1933, four weeks after Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor, there was an arson attack on Reichstag building, home of the German parliament. The day after the fire, Hitler issued the Reichstag fire Decree, suspending most civil liberties in Germany, including habeas corpus, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, the right of free association and public assembly, the secrecy of the post and telephone. Hitler blamed the fire on his opponents, who were banned and arrested. Rest is history.

In the same period, the Kingdom of Italy saw Blackshirts of Benito Mussolini – the Duce of Fascism, rise to power. Spanish civil war broke out in 1936, which claimed almost half a million lives. General Francisco Franco won the war and became head of state. Thence began his reign of political repression, forced labour and execution in concentration camps, that resulted in around 100,000 to 200,000 deaths in coming years. The rape of Nanjing, a six-week-long massacre started on December 13, 1937, the day when the Imperial Japanese army captured Nanking, then the capital of China. Mass murder and rape of unarmed civilians resulted in 300,000 deaths. 20,000 women from teenage to old age, including children, were assaulted, many gang-raped, all killed immediately after with explicit mutilation, by penetrating their organs with bamboo sticks, knives, rifles or bayonets. The Bolshevik movement started in imperial Russia, with a promise of the rise of working-class and “breaking of chains.”

We can all sit in our living rooms and analyse the barbaric behaviour of these authoritarian xenophobes, but in the 1930s, the world acted mostly indifferent

This dark era also saw that turn into a campaign of political repression, that led to the death of millions. The unimaginable horror of Holodomor, manmade famine under Joseph Stalin caused by confiscation of 1933 harvest in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Kuban. There were villages and hamlets, where not a single person remained alive. An estimated 10 million people died of hunger in one year. In the purges of 1936-1938 under Stalin, historians estimate the total number of deaths to be between 680,000 to 1,200,000.

Today, we can all sit in our living rooms and analyse the barbaric behaviour of these authoritarian xenophobes, but in the 1930s, the world acted mostly indifferent. When Franco levelled Guernica, carpet bombing the whole civilian population, he was rewarded by capture of Bilbao and victory in Northern Spain. When Hitler came into power, the front page of New York Times published an article suggesting that he would not act on all the mean things he said, the constitution and liberal forces in Reichstag would be able to reign him in. He put the country on lockdown and the world remained quiet. He introduced racist antisemitic Nuremberg laws, and the world gave a nonchalant shrug. When he was annexing one country after another, massacring millions, the world turned a blind eye. Apart from Winston Churchill, world leaders were either busy in appeasement or did not want to get involved. Before the tide turned and the red army swept the Nazis, the US thinktank was drawing post-war maps of the world, dividing it equally into German-controlled and American-influenced territories.

Propaganda was a crucial instrument in attaining and maintaining power in these fascist movements. The goal of propaganda is to establish enemies in the public mind and create an army of credulous oafs. The man who killed 90,000 Jews, told one of the investigators of Nuremberg trials Ben Ferencz, “I believed in Hitler and I believed that he knew more about Jews than I did.” Quoting Ivan Ilyin, the Russian religious and political philosopher, who believed that what mattered was not individual people but the living totality of the nation. He went on to write that Hitler and Mussolini were exemplary leaders who were saving Europe by dissolving democracy. Will it surprise you if I say that Vladimir Putin is energetically rehabilitating Ivan Ilyan? He has exhumed Ilyin, both metaphorically and literally, digging up and moving his remains from Switzerland to Russia, to honour him.

Whether it is lack of cognisance or complete indifference, inaction is the usual action by world powers to any rising threats. Like the 1930s, now there is again a rise of ultranationalist movements globally, which is the biggest threat to democracy and the existence of a fair and impartial society. There is a rise of right-wing populist leaders in the United States, India, Russia, Brazil, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Turkey and the Philippines. Brazil is probably at the forefront of this with her slump from “the golden decade in Brazil’s history”, to the rising poverty rates and declining economy under Jair Bolsonaro, one of the biggest advocates of right-wing policies. His campaign slogan, “Brasil acima de tudo, Deus acima de todos” (Brazil above everything, God above everyone), rhymes very much with Trump’s America first. The latter also owes his success to politics of division, instigation and hate. Steve Bannon former chief strategist in Donald Trump’s white house and a key player in his campaign success, promised in an interview that Trump era would be “as exciting as the 1930s.” Yes, the same 1930s that is the darkest era in recent human history. While the US’s rivals like Iran face one sanction after another, Trump does not mind holding hands with other fascist leaders of the world, whether its Putin or President Xi, Muhammad bin Salman or Narendra Modi. Hoping that he will play a role in any humanitarian crisis, is wishful thinking. In Kashmir conflict, Pakistan was blindly mistaken to consider the US as a mediator. Besides Trump is a conservative, ultra-nationalist businessman whose interest will always lie where the money is, and India is a big market. You will never hear any remote threat of sanctions over atrocities in Kashmir. On the contrary, even “friends of Pakistan” are extending their business and investments in India.

The rise of ultranationalists has seen the world’s largest democracy being hijacked by jingoistic xenophobes. The current ruling party in India, Bharatiya Janata Party can trace its roots to the Hindu nationalist organisation RSS. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh also called, “the Indian form of fascism,” has been involved in violence against Muslims and Christians on numerous occasions. Implicated twice in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, in 1948 literally and in 2019 metaphorically, organising communal riots in Jamshedpur in 1979, violence against Christians in Odisha in 2008, the Gujrat pogrom 2002. The last was presided over by Narendra Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujrat and has been accused of initiating and condoning the violence. The whistleblower of the incident, Sanjiv Bhatt, a senior Police Officer in the Gujrat intelligence bureau at the time of violence is facing life imprisonment, after alleging that Mr Modi told officials that Hindus should be allowed to vent their anger against Muslims. He was convicted in a murder case dating 30 years back. The ideology of RSS and BJP should be unacceptable in a self-proclaimed secular society. Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideology are the biggest threat to the defining characteristic of post-independence India, the ability to sustain democratic governance in face of striking ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity. Like all right-wing populist leaders, Modi can make his followers believe in him, more than they believe in the truth. 2014 was the first time BJP came to power with an outright majority. After establishing itself and weakening the opposition, in 2019 it is showing its true colours. The complete lockdown of Kashmir continues. It was the 48th day when US President Trump was holding hands with Modi, heaping unprecedented praise on him and declared him to be “Father of India,” an early birthday present for the former father of India, Mahatma Gandhi. A day before this gathering in Houston, Modi had a round-table meeting with the top CEOs and representatives from sixteen energy majors of the US. And three days later he was holding “Invest India” meeting with CEOs of 40 top US companies in New York. If the price is good, the champions of human rights choose to look away.

For Pakistan, India’s move on Kashmir could not have come at the worst time. From India’s perspective, this was shrewd timing. Pakistan is arguably facing one of the worst declines in her recent history in economic, diplomatic and political fronts. With major political and global figures either eliminated, exiled or behind bars, Pakistan’s representation on a global platform is diminished. The focus of intelligence and security agencies has been more on domestic issues. Not being able to predict and prevent India’s move in Kashmir is a lapse of intelligence and diplomacy on Pakistan’s part. Credit where due, Prime Minister Imran Khan is now putting forth utmost effort on both political and diplomatic fronts, but unfortunately, he has been outfoxed by someone who is one step ahead of him. All that is left now are speeches and PM Khan is a brilliant orator, but that is the beginning and the end of it.

The 1930s and the present day, many may not find this comparison perfect. That is because no comparison is perfect. History does not repeat but is a resource of patterns that can help us get our bearings in a time when we are not sure what is going on. And the patterns are showing us that if the “civilised” world does not act now, we will have an atrocity of magnanimous proportions, which the world would again be late to react. All that is left then is “thoughts and prayers.”

The writer is a freelancer