Foreign ideologies and India: Reply to Chowgule

["Dr.SubrotoRoy" <sroy@vgsom.iitkgp.ernet.in>]

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Shri Ashok Chowgule,
VHP.

Dear Ashokji,

Thanks for your reply, reproduced below:

"Dear Dr Roy,
>Pranam,
>
>There was a chance single meeting of Shri Munje with Mussolini.  Shri Munje
>was supposed to be a mentor of Dr Hegewar.  Ergo, this is sufficient to
>establish the link between the RSS and fascism.

As you have rightly pointed out, at the time of the meeting the true
>character of Mussolini was not fully known.  However, what is now known is
>that Shri Munje was a senior member of the Congress party at the time of
the
>meeting!  >Also, what is now known is that Sonia Gandhi's father was a
supporter of
>Mussolini.  In a news report, the following was mentioned: >"Sonia's
father, Stefano Miano, owned a medium-sized construction company >and was
once a fervent supporter of Mussolini."
>"A way with dictionaries", The Sunday Times of India, April 12, 1998.>
>So what does that say about Sonia and the direction she wants to take the
>Congress party?>>Namaste. >>Ashok Chowgule."

The principal point I was trying to make was that a lot of people all over
the world have been led and/or misled by the large conflictinfg ideologies
that were seen in the 20th Century.   I do not have much doubt the founders
of the RSS as well as e.g. Netaji Subhas Bose were much impressed by what
they saw of fascism and perhaps of nazism at the time, just as it is clear
that Jawaharlal Nehru, the CPI, CPM, etc came to be much taken by what they
thought they were seeing in Russia and China.   I have with reasonable
consistency over the last 20+ years put forward a liberal point fo view for
India in contradistinction to the latter; I do not know enough of the former
to have done the same.

My thinking has been based on perception of Greek/Anglo/Franco/American
political theory at its best -- my actual experience though in England and
especially America made me learn that what exists on paper there and what
exists in practice are two quite different things.

Yours sincerely

Subroto Roy



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