Why Indian Right Wing Supports Russian Invasion Of Ukraine.

I am no geopolitics expert. Whatever I'm going to write is my opinion on only one aspect of the ongoing geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine.

The ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia has divided the world into two parts. Although, one is much bigger than the other. Most people globally are against this invasion and a lot of countries are doing what's in there capability to fight Russia, either by sanctions or supplying Ukraine with weapons and funds. All the nations are also careful to not give an excuse to Putin for waging a nuclear war, and thus are holding themselves back.

I will restraint myself from commenting on the historical tension between NATO, Ukraine & Russia, and will not formulate an opinion on who is right on the matter, given how little my knowledge in this subject is. Although I've been following this tension for almost 2-3 months now, I still do not qualify to be able to formulate an opinion upon which I can myself stand firmly on. But what I will NOT restraint myself from saying is that "Invasion of Ukraine by Russia is wrong". Don't get me wrong, I'm not commenting on the historical tension between the two countries, I'm only saying whatever the tension may have been (of which I do have some idea) does not in any way justify an invasion. We do not need to be a historian or a political expert to conclude that invading an independent country just because it (democratically) decided to join an organisation (NATO) you are afraid of. There is no justifying an all out war just because you are afraid the west's influence will grow near your nation. There are several diplomatic ways to solve it, even if there isn't, resolving to an all out war, to kill thousands of soldiers and civillians, to make millions of people flee their own home and country, destroy thousands of business, making childrens orphans, and dropping missiles on their home IS NOT AN OPTION, at least not a sensible one.

There is no question on whether this is right or wrong, right? NO. There are tonnes of people right now announcing their allegiance with Putin, the dictator of Russia. Even the Russians don't support Putin on this invasion and are protesting daily against it. But people of several other countries are pro Putin. One of those country is India. The Indian right wing (not all of it, only a fraction) has come out in support of Russia (although their support are worthless for Russia, except that it might make Putin smile a little). And this is scary, to see people support an invasion of a democratic country just because they wanted to join NATO democratically.

(NOTE- Following "justifications" are something I observed by exploring various tweets, subreddits, and under various pro Russian hashtags etc)

The first justification that Indian right wing gives is that Putin supported India during it's various border crisis, and is a major supplier for military equipments in India. Yes, that's their argument. Pretty laughable. It's like saying "I will support my friend in a mass shooting, because he's my best friend". It's that's stupid. And yet you see tonnes of people all over internet supporting Russia with this rationale.

The second justification they give (which was a major one on Indian subreddits) is that Ukrainians are racists. I can't even begin to express my disappointment with their thought process. The whole world is fucking filled with racists, murderers, rapists, robbers and what not. How does that justify an all out invasion of a country? Our own country, sadly, is infamous for caste related violence, religion related violence. Does that mean the world should invade India? Fucking no. We have our problems and we are trying to fight it, an invasion would not solve the problem but only increase it and cost thousands of people their life. I don't know why am I even trying to explain how dumb this justification is.

There's a third reason that I think is the prime cause of Indian right wing supporting Putin. The Indian right wing has long been fascinated by the idea of "Akhand Bharat" which is an imaginary boundary of a new India which devours most of its neighbouring country, establishing a new order. This has long been the dream of hypernationalists around our country. I do not know what their plan is, to execute the "akhand bharat project" but I've observed them often talking about invading these countries and making them a part of India by force. Anyway, the point is that Indian right wing loves the concept of revival of a great theocratic nation which was once broken into different factions. And this is what people assume Putin's ultimate goal is (although I think it's far-fetched), to revive the glorious Soviet union, for which the first step is to invade and take control of Ukraine. And the Indian right wing resonates with Putin in this nation expanding fantasy. And thus it makes them sympathise with Putin and support him in forming an "Akhand Russia". No, I'm not making this term or this theory up. Few days ago Hindu Sena, an Indian right wing organisation set up posters on statue of a Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, which said "Indian Hindus are with Putin and Russia in establishing the Soviet Union. Jai ho Akhand Russia. Jai Bharat."  

Vishnu Gupta, National president of the Hindu Sena said, “We only put up posters to support Russia in times like these. No war is good, but if we have to choose between good and better, we would stand in support of Russia, as Russia has always been a true friend of India… We pray and support Russia getting back their old Soviet Union and the country taking all necessary action to safeguard their borders.” source

Mr. Vishnu Gupta justified invasion of ukraine using two of the above reason that I mentioned.

Yes, this is no fictious theory. The Indian right wing actually supports Russia for having a similar goal as them. To be honest I don't think it can even remotely affect the outcome of the invasion, but it's quite scary to see such thought process. It's disheartening to watch people on the internet talk about how they support the invasion of a country with such ill justifications, and with no consideration of the suffering a war like this causes.

Although I'd like to say that the official Indian stance has been great so far on this tension. Indian government has played it's card right uptill now, and is succeeding in staying neutral. Neutrality is very important for India right now. We cannot afford to turn against either Russia or the west. We need both of them for strategical growth in future for various reasons, one of which is the ongoing tension with China.

I'd like to conclude it with saying, use your own reasoning, do not borrow anyone else's. Do not follow the herd blindly, nor go against the herd blindly. Formulate your opinions with logic and not emotion. And be open to change once presented with a more plausible argument/opinion.