Moving out of Leftist colonialism: How India's cultural revival can be of great benefit to all humanity

Colonial rulers have been exposed for their cruel exploitation of numerous countries, peoples and cultures worldwide. This includes the harsh oppression the British wrought on India, extending to famines that killed millions, as well as the devastation of India’s economy, traditional education system and profound dharmic culture. Yet apart from their military domination and pride of conquest, colonial administrations also tried to project a progressive side to their agenda, as if they were motivated by humanitarian concerns, liberalism and compassion, sharing the advanced civilization of Europe to replace the backward oppressive cultures that existed in the lands they invaded. The British portrayed themselves as the saviours of India, bringing modern education, medicine and technology, superior European art, philosophy and religion for the benefit of all. The British claimed to be civilising India, as if India was a poor, superstitious and uneducated country that never had any real civilisation of its own. They conveniently forgot the praise given to India since Greece and Rome long before the idea of Europe existed, along with India’s great spirituality, art, architecture, medicine, science and mathematics going back to the dawn of history. These what we can call as “liberal colonialists” saw themselves helping the countries under their rule like concerned social workers rather than foreign armies of exploitation, though they called upon the armies when needed to promote their agendas. Yet whether it was a destructive army, a condescending missionary or arrogant liberal administrator, the goal was the same, encouraging the people to abandon their culture as inferior to that of the West. This required getting Indians to view their own profound civilization as primitive, and instead aligning with the British to reform their own people and make them more progressive in the eyes of the West - in short, to make them into good citizens of the glorious British empire, who would guide India into a new age of development and advancement. These liberal British colonialists created a new group of British Indians to become the new ruling class that they would promote under the guise of progress and democracy. Leftist colonialism Over time there arose yet another group of self-styled progressives following another set of political, economic and cultural agendas to remake India and change its identity. These were products of the socialist left from Europe, which was opposed to the colonial right, and viewed it as oppressive. Yet though claiming to be anti-imperialists, they also sought to impose their Eurocentric views and political ideologies, similarly alienating the colonies from their own cultures and traditions. They looked upon traditional cultures as the enemy along with the colonial forces, as just different types of oppressors. The Communists were the most opposed to traditional cultures and aimed to destroy India’s civilization just as did the old colonial armies, using force as necessary. The Marxists worked to undermine native and non-western cultures, remaking them into good Communists instead. This meant honouring a superior European culture and politics, viewing traditional spiritual cultures as politically backward, unjust and needing to be conquered and overthrown. Marxism proved to be the worst form of colonialism and often the most violent and genocidal. We can see this in countries like China where Communists came to power. They promoted “cultural revolution” that destroyed temples, works of art and traditional Chinese culture overall, and supported Maoist-led genocides. The Pol Pot led genocide in Cambodia was another instance where millions perished in the name of the Communist upliftment of the country. They created the Maoist Naxalites, the largest terrorist group in modern India. Nehruvian liberal neocolonialism Under conjoined British education and Marxist views, a new elite arose in India, who followed British Fabian Socialism along with Marxist sympathies. The Congress Party under Jawaharlal Nehru’s control came to power after India’s independence at political, economic, media and educational levels, making themselves into the new ruling class. This Nehruvian colonialist elite looked down on traditional India, particularly its temples and festivals, with arrogance and contempt much like the British did. If one examines history textbooks that India’s Nehruvian Marxists like Romila Thapar or Irfan Habib developed, the views expressed were imitations of the European Marxist deconstructionist thought, which viewed India as a country with a dubious identity, a questionable history and rampant inequality direly in need of leftist political salvation to terminate India’s oppressive traditional culture and bring in the benefits of socialism and Communism to everyone. Yet their patrons did little to improve the economy or culture wherever they came to power in India but instead amassed wealth and power for themselves, creating their own dynasties. India under their influence developed a new leftist media strongly connected to the leftist/liberal media of the West, which denigrated India’s national culture and politics as regressive, right wing or fascist. Related secular missionaries appeared in a flood of NGOs coming into India, aiming to help India under the pretext of social reform, removing local and traditional cultures, much as the colonial administrators tried to do. Nehruvian education following such leftist agendas aimed to alienate the youth from their own traditions, and make them dislike and reject their own cultural background and historical identity. This Nehruvian neocolonialism kept India economically backward and culturally divided. The new India and its cultural revival Fortunately, India today after 75 years of independence is again awakening to its own civilisational power and depth, no longer in the shadow of European politics and its ongoing wars. This is a change as important as India’s political independence in 1947. Essential to it has been the political defeat of the Congress Party and its leftist-Marxist allies, discrediting the Nehru dynasty and its years of social control. India has been casting off the old Nehruvian/Marxist elite and exposing their hypocrisy and prejudices, including how they have amassed power and wealth for themselves. Not surprisingly, the leftist media in Europe and North America is trying to save this old leftist elite in India, labelling resurgent India as right wing and regressive regardless of how much it improves the economy and education in the country. This extends to old colonial voices like the BBC. India is throwing off the colonialism and anti-India prejudices of both the imperialist right and the Marxist left of Europe, including their Nehruvian representatives. Yet this cultural, intellectual and political battle for dominance in India is still raging, though the tide has turned. To deal with the old leftist forces requires discernment and determination, not compromise, apologetics or defensiveness. For this we must remember that leaders of India’s Independence movement were critical of western civilisation and honoured their own dharmic traditions instead, including questioning Communism and Marxism, which Sri Aurobindo notably portrayed as a great threat to India and the world. India must remember not just the evils of colonialism but also the dangers of liberal neo-colonialism, particularly its Nehruvian forms. Major changes in India’s education policies are essential in this awakening, reviving India’s civilisational ethos with depth and dignity, as well as creative and spiritual inspiration. This is what we see in the new India rising under Narendra Modi, which is rooted in India’s dharmic traditions rather than Europe’s socialist and Marxist views, which were just a more subversive form of colonialism. What then is the place of Rahul Gandhi, the Congress Party today and the other leftist political and social forces? Rahul represents the last phase of this Nehruvian neo-colonialism, as a shadow of the colonial past. He is still looking to the West to save India not for democracy but for his own dynasty. Nehruvian neo-colonialism is not the voice of India or the way for India’s economic and cultural development. For that one must look long before Nehru, the British or the Mughals to the great gurus and yogis that have arisen in India over many thousand years sharing a dharmic civilization with the world. India’s cultural revival can be of great benefit to all humanity, which is why India’s dharmic traditions have spread worldwide in recent decades. The writer is the director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies and the author of more than 30 books on yoga and Vedic traditions. The views expressed are personal. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.