(Book Review - The Hindu, 21 February 2006)
MALAYALAM
Spread of fascism
B.R.P. BHASKAR
FASHISATHINTE NALUKAL: K. N. Panickar; Olive Publications Pvt. Ltd., Noor Complex, Mavoor Road, Kozhikode-673011. Rs. 160.
THIS BOOK is a collection of essays, talks and interviews by the eminent historian, K. N. Panikkar. P. P. Shanavas, a journalist, who compiled them, describes this as a book of remembrance of the six years when India fell into darkness.
The reference is to the period when the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance Government wielded power at the Centre.
In the opening piece, which is an account of a weeklong visit to Pakistan as a member of a cultural delegation, Panikkar makes an interesting observation about where the two neighbouring countries stand in relation to history. "Pakistan is a nation that has been denied history," he says. "Their history starts with the coming of Islam. India is a nation where history is being denied."
One of the most trenchant and consistent critics of the Sangh Parivar, Panikkar seeks to establish its fascist character through a scholarly analysis of its functioning.
He points out that fascism is not a political phenomenon that appears all of a sudden, but an idea that continually intrudes into the society and spreads to people's minds. It is not imposed; it is internalised.
Panikkar has been an active participant in the public discourse in Kerala.
He sees Kerala society as one that can easily move from communalism to fascism. Religion has intruded into the State's public sphere in a way no other force has.
He argues that a popular idiom suited to local conditions needs to be evolved to check the growth of fascism in the State.