e_Paper, Sunday, August 20, 2017

Opinion 15
Wake up and smell the Nazis
The politics of hatred are everywhere
DT
SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017
off as he managed to impress
ultra-conservative catholic and
evangelical voters as well as
college-educated voters aspiring
for a less competitive job market.
And, meanwhile, in Germany,
Chancellor Angela Merkel received
backlash after announcing to
welcome refugees from war-torn
Syria.
Keeping it in the family
Another key characteristic of
these right-wing populist parties
is the promotion of economic
nationalism. They are the
promoter of “mercantilist” or
protectionist economic policies.
UKIP, National Front, Freedom
Party all are anti European Union
parties. UKIP had the front-line
role for the “Leave” campaign in
Brexit referendum.
Donald Trump repealed TPP
agreement after his presidential
win. He deliberately repeated,
somewhat in a loop, that he was
not a supporter of “free trade”
their political advantage to fuel
Islamophobia and raise fear among
their voters about “Islamisation.”
Telling tales
Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi used his ultra-nationalist
and pro-Hindu policy to bring a
“saffron storm” in state election
of Uttar Pradesh, the biggest
province of India during February-
March 2017. Without giving a
single nomination to Muslim
candidate in a state where 20% of
the population are Muslims. And
so, Modi and his BJP party sent
a clear signal that BJP will not
appease minorities.
Populist parties of Europe and
America promote each other in
direct and indirect manners.
1. Liberals believe that
Russian President Vladimir Putin
authorised the hacking of DNC and
influenced the election.
2. Donald trump himself
promoted Brexit and stands
against EU.
Anti-immigration, anti-EU, anti-Islam positions
and economic nationalism are the key ideals
advocated by these parties
There should be no room for such overt racism in the 21st century
REUTERS
• FM Arafat
The right-wing populist
movement has become
a dominant force in
Western politics in the
recent past.
Following Brexit and victory of
Donald Trump in the US election,
the surge of right-wing populists
is facing a test in wake of the
election in France and upcoming
German federal election.
The manifesto of right-wing
populist parties the world over
has shaken the core institutional
and pluralist values of Western
liberal democracies. The antiestablishment
populist movement
is bound to challenge the status
quo of the liberal political order
for the first time in the post WWII
period after the demise of Adolf
Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and
Francisco Franco -- all of whom
spearheaded Nazi and fascist
parties.
Anti-immigration, anti-EU, anti-
Islam positions, and economic
nationalism are the key ideals
advocated by these parties.
Sometimes, they propagate
“disinformation” or “fake news”
to create an axis of fear and
fuel insecurities and grievances
among people. There is a strong
assumption among Western
liberals that the spread of “fake
news” is orchestrated by Russia.
You aren’t welcome here
One of the focal points of the surge
of populist movements is its antiimmigration
motto. Because of the
economic recession of 2008-14,
people in the West were frustrated
and angry with their respective
governments.
In the meantime, major
terrorist attacks such as 9/11
and 7/7 perpetrated by illegal
or temporary immigrants made
people intolerant of immigrants.
The negative perception about
the immigrants fueled the rightwing
politics as many populist
parties like UKIP of UK, Freedom
Party of the Netherlands, and the
Tea Party movement of the US
were founded in the early 2000s.
Donald Trump, in his campaign,
accused migrants of stealing jobs
and prescribed building a wall
in US-Mexico border to prevent
illegal trespassing. Ultimately,
his anti-immigration policy paid
and that the US was being cheated
by codifying treaties like TPP or
TTIP. Such policies are getting
popularity among people because
of the false promise of creating
more jobs by populist leaders
as well as ultra-nationalistic or
patriotic message circulated by
them.
Divide and conquer
Growing “Islamophobia” is another
essential factor which led to the
surge of right-wing populism. After
the 9/11 attacks, Islam was seen
as the root of all evil by some who
did not understand the religion.
Subsequent terror attacks carried
out by Islamist fundamentalists
and the rise of IS consolidated the
general fear and hatred against
Islam.
On the other hand, the
Muslim population in Europe
is growing faster than the
Christian population because
of immigration. A report by the
Pew Research Centre predicted
that Muslim population in
Europe will be doubled by 2050
(up to more than 10% of total
population). Populist parties took
this information and used it as
3. Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage
visited the US during Trump’s
presidential campaign.
4. French far right leader,
Marine Le Pen visited Russia
to meet Putin in March which
invoked suspicion of Russian
involvement in French and
German elections.
Another integral part of the
populist surge which could not be
ignored is the leadership quality
of the leaders. The charismatic
leadership of Donald Trump
played a pivotal role in his victory.
To listen to what liberals claim to
be outright lies in his campaign
speeches, millions of people
attended his campaign rallies.
With growing Islamist and
Christian fundamentalism,
European and American politics
is passing a period of substantial
change.
It is apparent that the reality
of right-wing populism cannot
be ignored, and we can no longer
overlook how xenophobic or
bigoted it is. •
FM Arafat is a graduate student of
international relations at the University
of Dhaka.