Birlikism

Birlikism බිරලික Birlik
Ideology	Chandan nationalism Cultural nationalism Multiculturalism Chandan socialism Militarism Corporatism Guided democracy Republicanism
Political position	Right-wing (social) Syncretic (economic)

Birlikism (Chandan: බිරලික, Birlik, lit. "oneness") is a Chandan nationalist political ideology based on the theories and actions of the Five Leaders of Chanda and is the founding ideology of the Republic of Chanda. It promotes the development of a Chandan national identity through the leadership of a vanguard party ruling over a centralized republic. Since the declaration of the Republic in 1951, Birlikism continues to be the dominant political ideology of the country, practiced by the parties of the governing Chandan Socialist Birlik Front.

Birlikism promotes the formation of a pan-Chandan national identity based upon an adaptation of socialist patriotism and the legacy of the West Shalegho Commandery. It opposes the existence of ethnic nationalism, instead promoting social cohesion and cultural harmony between ethnic groups. However at the same time, it seeks to "modernize" their cultures by rooting out perceived social ills and "outdated" thinking. In order to implement these ideals, the ideology supports the creation of a one-party state along corporatist lines. It rejects political pluralism and democracy as long as there is a perceived threat to Chandan unity. Birlikism promotes its own version of socialism, although it diverges significantly from traditional Nemtsovite thought. Instead it promotes a distributist economic system where independent organisations are given a central role in managing the economy. In Birlik ideology, socialism is a method to form a national identity and economically develop the country, rather than a means to achieve a classless society.

History

Nurlan Sabir, member of the Five Leaders of Chanda who significantly influenced to Birlik thought.

Birlikism was formulated as a reaction to the growing infighting in the West Shalegho Commandery and the People's Liberation Army of Chanda during the late 1940s. The political and economic instability that followed allowed for the introduction of Birlikism and its takeover of the country.

In response to the growing instability in the West Shalegho Commandery, many Chandan intellectuals began to question Pardal thinking, especially the goal to create a pan-Coian state. The origins of the ideology began with political thoughts developed by the Five Leaders which began as an informal political club. Its most prominent members were Abdug'ani Yoʻldosh, Nurlan Sabir, Inomjon Alikhan, Wu Khar, and Kadri Badi together known as the Five Leaders of Chanda All five were members of the PLA, who originally developed their ideas independently until they encountered each other writings. The five men agreed that the Commandery no longer could fully serve the people of Chanda, and believed in the establishment of a republic. Influenced by the Imaharist concept of republicanism they embraced more authoritarian methods of rule.

The Five Leaders founded the National Front of Chanda in 1943, where the principles were established as its ideology, naming it Birlikism. The ideology would be continued to be developed by the National Front, under the leadership of Nurlan Sabir.

Doctrine

Nationalism

The central concept of Birlikism is nationalism (උනටෝඛචිලික; undeschilik), also known as Birlik nationalism. Birlik thought places the creation and continuation of a Chandan national identity as essential to the country's continued existence as an independent state. The Five Leaders sought to establish an national identity by adapting the socialist patriotism promoted by the Pardals into a pan-Chandan nationalism that could unite Chanda's culturally and religiously diverse population. They argued that since Chandan nationalism is a pan-nationalist ideology it would unite people into a common cause instead of dividing them. Furthermore it adopted the Nemtsovite concept of national liberation to argue that the Chandan people had to be united to defend against foreign imperialism.

Birlik nationalism explicitly rejects any kind of ethnic nationalism, labeling it as bourgeois nationalism and declaring it unworkable for Chanda's multiracial and multicultural society. Instead it promotes the multi-ethnic cultural unity of the people, and defines ethnic groups as "sub-divisions" of the Chandan people. Abdug'ani Yoʻldosh wrote in 1937 that "Chanda is of many races, languages, religions and cultures; to center an identity on any one would only serve to divide our country." As a result, he and other members of the Group vehemently opposed support of ethnic nationalism and especially separatism by any ethnic group. They believed that only with a single purpose, the country could achieve prosperity and defend its independence.

Multiculturalism

Birlikism seeks to prevent ethnic tension between the peoples of Chanda by promoting the concept of multiculturalism (Chandan: ඉව; iv), literally translated as harmony. Iv is viewed as the logical extension to Nationalism, as a united identity requires that there be no conflict between the diverse people of Chanda.

Birlik thought places the state as the active guarantor and protector of Iv. In 1938, Yoʻldosh wrote, "to secure multiculturalism, the new Republic must guarantee the principles of freedom, equality, equal representation, and progressivism." The principle of freedom is the basis that all the people of Chanda are able to express their own culture without facing restriction by the state or prejudice by their fellow citizens. Equality refers to the principle that all the cultures and religions of Chanda are of equal worth so they are all equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law. Next, representation establishes the principle that the peoples of Chanda are entitled to fair representation in Chandan society. The latter principle is achieved through corporatist ideals such as functional constituencies in legislative bodies and diverse regulatory institutions.

Progressivism is the last and most controversial concept. Under Birlik thought, while all cultures in Chanda are equal, it believes that some cultures contain certain cultural elements that should be suppressed in order for Chandan society to advance. In 1943, Inomjon Alikhan wrote that "every society is plagued with vice and corruption that harms the people. While often this is the fault of the individual, on occasion it is their society's permissiveness or even worse, support of behaviors, that lead to vice plaguing their society."

Socialism

Birlikism promotes its own interpretation of socialism (ඛමජවඩ, samajvad), which it claims is adapted for Chanda's unique cultural and economic situation. While it often invokes Nemtsovite principles, Birlikist socialism rejects several critical tenants and is a significant departure from classical leftist thought. The ideology views socialism as the most efficient method to achieve national prosperity, rather than a method to achieve a classless society. It openly opposes the confiscation of private property, the seizure of the means of production, class conflict, and leftist internationalism. Instead it embraces some principles of distributism, such as the widespread ownership of the means of production as well as class cooperation, and corporatism.

Birlikism rejects state socialism, contending that the state is not the most efficient means of implementing socialism. Instead it promotes the idea of an "patriotic" organisation with significant liberty over implementing economic policy while remaining accountable to the people and the government. The ideology explicitly implies that the military should fulfill the role under the militarist concept of dual function. The principle is inspired by the West Shalegho Commandery, where the People's Liberation Army played a major role in deciding and implementing economic policy, while the people were largely left to their own affairs.

See Also

• Imaharism
• National Principlism
• Sattarism