[BadHumans]

> Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement,characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.

Source: Wikipedia

This sounds like the very definition of fascism to me.

[Karrot_Kream]

Which part sounds like fascism?

The Awami League is ideologically a center-left party, it's not far right. The quota system that's being protested offers employment quotas to descendants of revolutionaries and minorities. It was the party that founded Bangladesh. Protests are occurring because of the corruption and joblessness that results from these quotas and because the law was overturned earlier but reinstated.

Moreover there's no belief in a natural social hierarchy or belief in subordination to the State. If anything the Awami League has historically claimed to champion minorities in the country like Hindus instead of championing Muslim identities like JeI. There's no concept of regimemting society at all by the Awami League, again that's more JeI's domain with its belief in Sharia.

Awami League is authoritarian and corrupt yes but not fascist. The Middle East has plenty of authoritarian dictatorships that engage in varying levels of human rights abuses but that does not make them fascist countries.

I'm sorry but your comment just comes off as really uniformed about Bdesh and South Asian politics.

[BadHumans]

I'm very uninformed about Bangladeshi and South Asian politics but yes the violent suppression of protests and killing of protestors are the parts that sound a bit fascist to me.

[Karrot_Kream]

Look I realize on lefty parts of the internet that fascism has colloquially become the same as authoritarianism but they are not the same thing. Fascist movements are usually authoritarian but not all authoritarian regimes are fascist.

It's an especially bad lens when you look outside the West because the second and third world has had plenty of trouble with left authoritarian regimes and comparatively less trouble with fascism and authoritarian right regimes.

[Terr_]

> Fascist movements are usually authoritarian but not all authoritarian regimes are fascist.

A simple example would be hundreds of years of authoritarian monarchies and theocracies. Nobody wants to retroactively label them as Fascist, and for good reason.

I prefer the "Palingenetic Ultranationalism" definition [0], where fascism is largely distinguished by what myths and stories people are using to demand power.

Often along the lines of: "Not too long ago This Nation was the best, but not anymore. There is one and only one chance to fix it, which will require a destructive resurrection that only Pure People Leaders can do. You have to give them all the power right now or else everything will be bad forever because impure people somehow."

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palingenetic_ultranationalis...

[alephnerd]

^^^ THIS

If you're part of the minority Hindu and Christian community in Bangladesh you support Hasina, because the opposition made a coalition deal with hard-core Islamists (JeI) who are supporting the gold digger wife of the former (1980s) Military Dictator who was a puppet (like every other politician in Bangladesh sadly)

This does NOT mean Hasina is good.

Anything but.

Authoritarian quasi-secularism means the only organized opposition is fundamentalist, like in Central Asia like Tajikia, Uzbekia, Kyrgyzia, Afghanistan, Parts of Pakistan, etc, or the India my parents grew up in during the 1980s.

Sheikh Hasina (literally) based her public persona on Indira Gandhi. All the Desis on HN know what that implies.

Sheikh Hasina is a left-leaning autocratic. She protects the Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist minority, but her authoritarianism against the religious Islamic community of Bangladesh (plus Khalida Zia's and moreso Shaibur Rahman's Pakistani funded bullshit) means the only organized opposition are non-secular.

As a Koshur-Hindu American, Hasina (and her enabler across the border) are playing with fire.

Bangladesh has strong institutions , diaspora, and economic relations (most factories in WB moved to BD because of bad policies and the FTA). Hasina is squandering them because of her childhood traumas.

Please please please become a Indonesia instead of a Myanmar

[gverrilla]

> the second and third world has had plenty of trouble with left authoritarian regimes and comparatively less trouble with fascism and authoritarian right regimes.

fake news

[arrowsmith]

You're also very uninformed about what the word "fascist" means.

[alephnerd]

> The Middle East

If Bangladesh is the "Middle East" then so is Burma/Myanmar and Thailand (which is at most 200 miles from the Bangladesh border)

[Karrot_Kream]

Bangladesh is definitely not the Middle East. I just figured the kind of person who thinks of authoritarianism as fascism is more likely to be familiar with authoritarian governments in the Middle East because they're covered in Western mainstream news outlets and aren't treated as fascist regimes.

[Tomte]

In English, Bangladesh is not Middle East. In German, it is. Israel is Near East from our perspective.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittlerer_Osten

[arrowsmith]

Wow, I had no idea that "Middle East" referred to different regions in different languages - that's interesting.

Btw we say "Near East" in English too and it's vaguely defined but it usually includes Israel. But I don't think it's wrong to say that Israel is in the "Middle East" too - the two terms overlap somewhat.

[tdeck]

I didn't read this as OP saying Bangladesh is in the middle east, but rather an example of authoritarian countries they'd assume we have all heard bad things about but nobody calls them fascist.

[alan-hn]

Many people want to either tiptoe around or flat out ignore the far right leanings of fascism to avoid what it says about the US

[arrowsmith]

"Leanings"?

[alan-hn]

You're right, that's too gentle of phrasing. Fascism is a 100% far right ideology. Please excuse my Ameribrain, I'm continuously bathed in conservative capitalist and neoliberal propaganda