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\u201cI am Muslim. I am a Democratic socialist. And\u00a0most<\/a>\u00a0damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this.\u201d (From Transcript of Mamdani\u2019s victory Speech)<\/p>\n Zohran Mamdani\u2019s victory as the mayor of major American and global city New York is a phenomenon of great significance from most angles. It is victory of the issues of average people over the domination of rich and affluent people\u2019s concerns, it is victory of a young man with dynamism and firm convictions over the entrenched vested interests, it is victory of hope for humanistic values over the crass selfish interests, it is victory of values of march of human society towards the dream of equality.<\/p>\n It can be analyzed from so many angles in a way. His march from the very negligible strength to the unassailable victory! One aspect which needs to be considered is as to why he had to say that he is a Muslim and democratic socialist in his victory speech? Surely both these terms have been demonized in the popular perceptions from the last many decades. The word socialist is equated with a close cousin of Communism which focuses on the welfare of average people and is looked down upon by the right wing, more so in America.<\/p>\n The fear mongering against communism in particular reached its peak in the cold war era. This was the period around which many colonies were getting independence from the clutches of colonial powers and trying to plant their roots as independent nations. Russia (USSR, that time) had also emerged as the major global super power. America had already established itself as the major power, inheriting the legacy of colonial powers of yesteryears. America in particular was keen that it establish its hegemony in the newly independent states. USSR by this time was also offering these states help in strengthening their roots.<\/p>\n The example of Pakistan and India is quite apt. While the USSR offered to build India\u2019s infrastructure, heavy industries etc., America was keen to sell the finished products rather than setting up the core industries here. India opted for developing its infrastructure while Pakistan generally depended on America to supply the finished products. The difference in the trajectory of two neighbors is very clear.<\/p>\n This was accompanied by the US propaganda machinery launching its tirade against Communism, this was practically supplemented by wars against such countries. America\u2019s war against Vietnam was the most atrocious part of their anti-Communist tirade.<\/p>\n Worldwide Communism became a bad word, American media leading in the game of propaganda. This was very well demonstrated by Noam Chomsky in his thesis \u201cManufacturing Consent\u2019, how the state deploys policies whereby the Media creates an impression of Communism being an evil force. In America itself its hostility to communism manifested in the form of McCarthyism, which was an attempt to root out the communists from the American administration, \u201cSENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY\u00a0rose to national prominence by initiating a\u00a0probe<\/a>\u00a0to ferret out communists holding prominent positions. During his investigations, safeguards promised by the Constitution were trampled.\u201d<\/p>\n The right-wing in India toed this line and supported the American policies against countries like Viet Nam. Mercifully American armies were badly mauled in Vietnam. Meanwhile in India the right wing RSS-BJS (Bharatiya Jansangh), took a similar line. Rahul Sagar explains that\u00a0Hindu nationalist parties like the Hindu Mahasabha and the Jan Sangh supported the U.S.-led anti-Communist positionduring the Cold War because of their \u201cdistaste for communism\u2026\u201d
He writes that these groups were \u201cdriven to seek friendship with the West\u201d for ideological reasons, though they\u00a0also feared<\/a>\u00a0Western materialism and U.S. attempts to \u201ccontain India.\u201d Jan Sangh, the previous avatar of BJP, was critical of India\u2019s non aligned policies and wanted India to have pro West policies. In accordance with all this M.S. Golwalkar; in his book Bunch of Thoughts writes that Hindu Nation has three internal threats, Muslims, Christians and Communists. All this created an anti-Communist-Socialist sentiments.<\/p>\n