Over a hundred years ago, in a letter to his fellow revolutionary – Motilal Roy, Sri Aurobindo remarked, “The intellect of Bengal has been so much fed on chemical tablets of thought and hot spiced foods that anything strong and substantial is indigestible to it.” Well, after Bengal briefly experienced a spiritual awakening in the 20th century, it seems things have undergone a full circle since Sri Aurobindo wrote those words to Motilal Roy. Meanwhile, in Kerala, things are as bad as ever. Political violence is reaching new heights and hardly a day goes by without news of one political leader or the other being attacked.
One common feature between West Bengal and Kerala is the overarching presence of Leftist influence.
While in Bengal, the CPI(M) has considerably weakened since Mamata’s rise to power, however, it still continues to wield a major share of influence among the intellectual classes of the state while Bengal still continues to suffer from the remnants of leftist tactics in the current political discourse. Meanwhile, in Kerala, while the law and order situation has deteriorated completely and there are serious concerns about an increase in the influence of Islamic fundamentalism among its youth, every criticism is silenced with screams of ‘Highest Literacy State!’
Liberalism is the stepping stone to Leftism, just as Leftism is a stepping stone to a more vicious form of Abrahamism. Extended periods of Leftist politics eventually creates a spiritual void which is eventually filled by one or the other Abrhamism. For instance, Orthodox Christianity has made a staggering comeback in Soviet Russia. China is all set to house the highest Christian population in the world in the near future. Islam is all set to takeover certain nations of the European Union with its gigantic welfare states. Similarly, in Kerala and West Bengal, the entrenchment of Leftist politics has created a spiritual void which has culminated into the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
Another gift of Communism is the never-ending cycle of political violence. Since Democracy itself is Leftist in nature, every Democratic state has to battle the threat of political violence to varying degrees. However, it’s particularly vicious in regions with extensive communist influence. Bengal has witnessed political violence for decades now and Kerala is witnessing violence like never before with a communist party in power. Trinamool Congress is merely carrying forward the legacy of the Left with its extensive use of aggression to intimidate and silence the opposition. Similarly, in Kerala, BJP leaders are murdered in front of their children and infants are thrown out of vehicles when leftist goons attack their opposition.
One particularly abhorring effect of Leftist politics is its creating an environment that encourages extensive hatred of native traditions and culture. In China, all sorts of efforts were made to destroy Confucianism. In the West, leftist politics has thoroughly compromised every traditional institution that sustains a civilized society and as an inevitable consequence, Islam is cutting through Europe like knife through butter. In Bengal, the morbid hatred that communists harbor in their heart for everything that is Hindu is revolting to put it mildly. One student of Jadavpur University had the audacity to draw Maa Kali as a prostitute sitting on the lap of a hippy Jesus with Buddha smoking in the background. The spiritual dearth that such a mindset reflects could only be the product of a person entrenched in Communism.
For all its claims of highest literacy, Kerala remains a state afflicted with a million malaise. With Islamic fundamentalism on the rise among its youth and the leftist government in power embracing violence with open arms to silence opposition, its future is in grave danger. The spiritual vacuum that will be created by such an approach will eventually be filled by something a lot worse if Dharma is not strengthened. In Bengal, it’s already being filled and filled quickly by Islam. One can only hope that the future generations will not be condemned by the actions of the present and they will find the strength in themselves to restore Dharma to its former glory in God’s Own Land. As for Bengal, all we can do at this point is pray that it’s already not too late and the wounds inflicted by the tides of time can be healed and all the trends which point towards a catastrophe at this juncture can be reversed with the strength of our convictions and the piety of our actions.
