Fascism is an act of contempt. Albert Camus made a detailed analysis of that contempt in his book, The Rebel . Conversely, said Camus, “every form of contempt, if it enters politics, prepares the way for, or establishes, fascism.” Those of us who are not victims of selective amnesia may remember certain mock-slogans such as Hum paanch, humara pachees which won the sloganeer tremendous popularity in the country. If from Mein Kampf the road led straight to the gas chambers of Auschwitz, the mock slogans of the country’s most eloquent orator have brought us to Dadri. Leaving aside a Nayantara Sahgal and an Ashok Vajpeyi, the intellectuals in the country are lulled into stupor by the eloquent contempt. Have we reached that stage where – as in Camus’s analysis of fascism – one leader, one people translates into one master, millions of slaves ? Finally when the orator broke his silence on the issue he took recourse to the counsel given by the President who is a soft-spo
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