All you need to know about right-wing extremism

Illustration/ Ravi Jadhav

To the right and left
Before getting to what right-wing extremism is all about, it is imperative to know how the terms 'left' and 'right' emerged to denote political divisions. According to Evan Andrews of History.com, "…they were originally coined in reference to the physical seating arrangements of politicians during the French Revolution. The split dates to the summer of 1789, when members of the French National Assembly met to begin drafting a constitution. The delegates were deeply divided over the issue of how much authority King Louis XVI should have. The anti-royalist revolutionaries seated themselves to the presiding officer's left, while the more conservative supporters of the monarchy gathered to the right." Andrews adds, "By the mid-19th century, "left" and "right" had entered the French vernacular as shorthand for opposing political ideologies.

Defining the extreme
Let's break down the term itself: 'Right wing' is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as, 'The conservative or reactionary section of a political party or system,' where as 'extremism' is defined as, 'The holding of extreme political or religious views; fanaticism'. Marry the two meanings and the concept takes shape: it is a belief system of those who identify as conservatives that results in fanaticism.

Right-wing terrors of yore
The Nazis
History remembers Nazism as a prime example of right wing extremism. The movement took root in the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi Party. After Adolf Hitler took over the reigns of Germany in 1921, he filled the country with concentration camps to eliminate anyone he considered unfit for his country. (Source: History.com)

The Ku Klux Klan
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) refers to "…either of two distinct U.S. hate organizations that have employed terror in pursuit of their white supremacist agenda." In pursuit of establishing white supremacy, they whipped and killed African-Americans as well as their white sympathisers.

Present day dangers
Neo Nazis and the Alt Right
In the 21st century, the Neo Nazis, and the Alt-Right have emerged as a group that adores Hitler and hates religious minorities and homosexuals. Both groups make heavy use of the Internet to promote their ideology. They are seen as an emerging security threat in the US. (Source: Southern Poverty Law Centre, NYT)

'Hindutva' terror
Back home, right-wing extremists have been those who want to promote a fascist form of Hinduism. From 1992, they've been accused of inciting riots and attacking minorities. Since 2013, they've also been held for the murder cases of Narendra Dabholkar, MM Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and most recently, Gauri Lankesh.

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