The saffron swastika

When Rachel Maddow published her recent book, Blowout, claiming that Russia in confluence with the oil lobby had conspired to bring Donald Trump to power in revenge for the US punitive measures in response to the annexation of Crimea, I had taken an issue with her central premise based on two arguments: timeline and the rise of white nationalists. By the time the annexation of Crimea and the following opprobrium could have policy implications. several developments like the rise of populist leaders like Modi and the strengthening of white nationalist groups were already in motion. I do not think Maddow has done justice to that aspect. But one of her self-confessed admirers, Stephen Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, might be of some help.

Bannon believes in dharma and is a fan of the Bhagavad Gita. It is funny how these white nationalists and fringe ideologues take what suits them from the sacred book. For instance, his faith in his own dharma (righteous duty) owes itself to an interaction between Krishna (an avatar of Vishnu) and Prince Arjuna. The prince is refusing to fight a war and Vishnu through Krishna reveals his true and imposing form. This is also the source of Oppenheimer’s famous line, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”. We will return to Vishnu and the alt-right’s fascination with this deity and his destructive powers. Let us keep our eyes on Bannon for now.

Mumbai-based libertarian writer and podcaster Amit Verma has written a blogpost recollecting his meeting with Bannon and an unnamed woman (most probably Rebekah Mercer) in 2015, in New York, where he was asked if he would be interested in launching Breitbart India. Breitbart, originally a conservative online paper, has become a breeding ground for the alt-right. When Verma refused the offer Bannon told him, “Well, we think that Modi is India’s Reagan”. This is when Bannon had not joined the Trump campaign and barely personally knew the man. It is interesting how everyone who stands in Bannon’s way is destroyed. Bannon wants Andrew Breitbart’s job, he drops dead. Bannon wants Paul Manafort’s job, he is disgraced and forced to resign. He is wary of Roger Ailes stealing his thunder, he drops dead.

Bannon claims he is not a racist or a neo-Nazi but his views resonate with Hitler’s propaganda. Hitler would blame the political elite of Germany which betrayed its countrymen in consonance with global moneyed Jewry. Bannon believes that America’s permanent political elite has betrayed its people in consonance with what he calls the “party of Davos” (international business elite). Like Hitler, he is an accelerationist who wants to bring everything down to build it anew and is renting an 800-year-old monastery in Italy to train gladiators to fight the coming wars at an annual cost of €100,000 per annum from his own pocket. That is where Vishnu the destroyer of the world fits into his narrative.

Speaking of Vishnu and Hitler, I told you two weeks ago that Savitri Devi, a Hindu convert of European origin and of Nazi persuasion, believed that Hitler was an avatar of Vishnu. Savitri Devi’s works have worked as the Rosetta Stone of neo-Nazism and Hindutva connection. Her book, The Lightning and the Sun, led me back to Turner Diaries’ publisher National Vanguard Books and to its recent publisher Counter-Currents. Her book, A Warning to the Hindus, led me to Hindutva philosophy’s founder VD Savarkar whose brother SD Savarkar wrote the foreword of the book. The Nazis believed in the fundamental inequality of humanity but did not have a religious philosophy. Savitri Devi provided them one by deifying Hitler and through effective exploitation of the cast-ist theology of monism. The only problem with this invention is that today’s Nazis neither consider Indians as their equals or Aryans. It is a disaster waiting to happen as we will show you.

Interestingly, the man responsible for bringing Savitri Devi’s work to Counter-Currents is one John Morgan, who before coming to this publishing house, had co-founded another neo-Nazi house Arktos media in Budapest with Swedish white nationalist Daniel Friberg in 2009. In 2010, Arktos moved to India where it remained till (surprise surprise) 2014. During this period Friberg had a frequent truck with the RSS and BJP leaders and explored ways to work with them. Soon, Arktos would start publishing Hindutva books with equal fervour hitherto reserved for white nationalist literature. When in 2016 Morgan and Friberg split and Morgan joined Counter-Currents, Friberg combined forces with white nationalist and one-time Trump supporter Richard Spencer to establish AltRight.com.

The alt-rights online presence needs some closer scrutiny. It is commonly believed it emerged from gaming-related imageboards and websites like 4chan and Reddit. These websites, by the way, are infested with both neo-Nazis and Hindutva extremists. These origins are also important because Bannon in the documentary American Dharma made on his life let slip an illuminating anecdote. He talks about a nobody called Dave who one day dropped dead in his office and nobody, not even his family knew him well. However, in the gaming community, he was known as Ajax. And in a multiplayer game, thousands gathered to pay tribute to Ajax at his funeral. What it tells us is that the real meetings and planning of alt-right activities might be taking place in virtual and possibly gaming space.

And no wonder, the number of alt-right and neo-Nazi inspired groups keeps increasing. A recent group to emerge is called Boogaloo Bois which seems to be preparing for the second civil war. It calls itself libertarian not white nationalist, but the tactics employed are textbook Turner Diaries. What if like Bannon’s this is an attempt to obscure the truth and they all are separated pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that are assembled together whenever a race war and violent overthrow of the system is imminent. Bannon talks against the system, Alex Jones talks against the system and Boogaloo movement does so too. In Turner Diaries, the system is the name of a corrupt Jewish ruling elite that wants to turn whites into a minority. Bannon talks of the coming violent disruption as if it is imminent. Neo-Nazism 101.

One last piece of the puzzle: money. When Access Hollywood tape was leaked, everyone thought Trump’s campaign was over and donors were ditching, who came to his rescue? An Indian billionaire Shalabh Kumar. Is it too much to suggest that instead of America’s deep state the very same people who came to Trump’s rescue might be responsible for the tape’s leak so that they can isolate and have Trump for themselves? This money must have gone to some alt-right groups as well.

If a race war is being planned in America and Europe it cannot be anything for the immigrant population including the Indian expatriates. Here is a quote from Turner Diaries: “They have us vastly outmanned and outgunned, but not one of their leaders is motivated by anything other than self-interest. They are ready to betray the System the instant they can see an advantage in doing so. For now, we mustn’t let them know that they are all inevitably headed for the gallows. Let them think they can make a deal with us and save their necks when the System falls.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2020.

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