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Once again the
electoral farce is being thrust upon the Indian people in less than an a
year-and-a-half after the enactment of the last comedy known as the 12th general
election in February ’98. The fractured verdict in the last poll saw parties of
all hues coming together to form a government at the centre. But the 19-party
coalition led by the Hindu fascist BJP could stay on in power for just 13 months
which itself proved to be a tight-rope walk. The slogan of "able prime minister
and stable government" proved to be hollow as the disperate coalition partners
were at each other’s throats throughout the fragile tenure while dog-fights
raged severely within each party. These dog-fights have cost the people several
thousand crores of rupees due to the three general elections that were held in
the past 3 years.
In fact these
dog-fights within the ruling class parties reflect the social, economic and
political instability which is the main trend in India today which in turn is a
reflection of the great disorder characterising the contemporary world.
Growing
Attacks on the People
The 13-month-old rule
of the BJP led coalition had only increased the already existing social and
political instability in the country. Moreover it also created tensions in the
entire region of South Asia. Within the country the Hindutva forces, intoxicated
by power, went berserk. With no one to control the gangsters of the
BJP-RSS-Bhajarang Dal-VHP and other organisations belonging to the Sangh Parivar,
they tasted blood, this time pouncing on the Christians along with the Muslims.
The attacks on the
christians grew phenomenally ever since the BJP assumed power at the centre in
March 1998. The gang-rape of Christian nuns was described as an "act of
patriotism" by the leaders of the Sangh Parivar. Vajpayee and Advani themselves,
despite being at the helm of the government, justified the reaction of the
Hindus by stating that Christian missionaries were encouraging conversions of
Hindus into the Christian fold. Missionaries and churches became special
targets. Innocent adivasis became victims of the Hindu fascist attacks in the
Dangs district in Gujarat. The hindu fascists also stepped up their attacks on
the muslims and made attempts to demolish the Sufi shrine at Bababudangiri in
Karnataka. The aggressiveness with which the hindutva forces went about
propagating the hindu chauvinist agenda brought opposition even from its own
erstwhile supporters. The attempts at hinduising education in the name of "Indianisation,
nationalisation and spiritualisation"; mandatory rendering of Saraswati Vandana
in schools in states where BJP held power; changing the content of the text
books to give them a hindu view of history and of the world in general; and such
other measures had isolated them from even moderate hindus not to speak of the
religious minorities. The results of the polls held for the 4 state assemblies
in November 1998 showed the fragility of the so-called hindutva base of the BJP
: it was virtually wiped out even in its traditional strongholds in Delhi,
Rajasthan and MP within just nine months after it won with a thumping majority
from those same strongholds.
The attacks on the
revolutionary movement were stepped up during the BJP rule. In June 1998, it
formed the Joint Coordination Centre comprising AP, MP, Maharashtra and Orissa
to effectively coordinate to suppress the movement led by CPI (ML) [PW] in AP
and Dandakaranya. After the merger of the CPI (ML) (PW) and CPI (ML) (PU) in
August 1998, Bihar too was made part of the coordination. The BJP government
agreed to repay Rs. 380 crore which is said to have been spent by the TDP
government in AP in the past 4 years to crush the revolutionary movement. It
also released huge funds to the concerned states to suppress the movement. The
BJP has been evincing special interest to suppress the movement in Telangana
from where it had been earlier pushed out and hence wants to gain a foot-hold.
And in Bihar, the
Ranvir Sena has been propped up by the BJP and it helped perpetrate the ghastly
massacres of Dalits who are sympathetic to the revolutionaries in order to
create terror. Shankar Bhigha and Narayanpur are the latest in the series of
massacres perpetrated by this upper caste feudal army that has the backing of
the state and various parliamentary parties, particularly the BJP.
The attacks on the
nationalities and the adivasis too have grown during the BJP rule. Massive
forces have been deployed in Kashmir and the North East with license to arrest,
kill, rape and loot in these regions under the BJP’s hindu fascist directives.
The army has perfected the use of "rape" of muslim women as a weapon to suppress
the movement in Kashmir.
Sell-out:
Swadeshi Style!
In the economic
front, the BJP’s rule proved to be the most treacherous: it tried to fool the
people with "Swadeshi" rhetoric prior to the elections while at the same time
concluding secret deals with their videshi masters. No sooner had it come to
power than its swadeshi mask was ripped off revealing the ugly hideous videshi
features underneath.
Privatisation,
liberalisation and sell-out of our country to the imperialists proceeded at a
rapid pace — so rapid that Chidambrams and Manmohan Singhs look like pygmies.
The BJP government announced that 8 PSUs under the central government would be
closed down as they were suffering from heavy losses; quantitave restrictions
were removed on the import of most commodities; customs duties were reduced
further; the insurance sector was thrown open to imperialist capital by allowing
up to 26% privatisation; the patent act was amended as demanded by the
imperialists thereby mortgaging the country’s interests especially those of the
peasantry to the imperialists. They sold off some enclaves within country to
imperialist capital by allowing them freely into these free trade zones (FTZs)
or export processing zones (EPZs) by providing several concessions to the
imperialist companies while slashing the subsidies given to the indigenous small
scale sector and to agriculture. All these have resulted in the closure of
several local industries throwing out lakhs of workers into the streets. In the
Eastern Coal Fields alone around 71,000 workers will be losing jobs due to the
new coal policy. The new textile policy and the pro-imperialist, pro-big
business policies pursued by the BJP government led to a severe crisis in the
handloom and powerloom sector where lakhs of weavers and spinners and other
workers were thrown into the streets. Thus the small and medium bourgeoisie
(national bourgeoisie) too has begun to feel the effects of globalisation,
liberalisation and privatisation.
Politically, the BJP-led
coalition has begun to sell out even the nominal sovereignty of the country. It
has given assurances that it would sign the CTBT in September 1999. It has been
kow-towing before the World Bank-IMF-WTO and other imperialist agencies and
following all the conditionalities imposed by them; it has allowed imperialist
seed companies to destroy the traditional seeds of our country and has pushed
the Indian peasantry into the clutches of MNCs for even seeds by allowing field
trials of terminator seeds in about 40 agricultural centres all over the
country.
While selling out the
interests of the country and the people to the imperialists, at the same time
the BJP government wielded the carrot and the stick to deal with the
neighbouring countries of South Asia to force them to accept its status as a
regional power. It used the Pokhran nuclear blasts in May 1998 to step up
national chauvinism among the Indian people on the one hand and to force the
other weaker countries of South Asia into submission on the other. And against a
country like Pakistan which refused to bow to its dictates and to accept its
big-power status in South Asia, the BJP began to build up a war hysteria and
within a year after the blasts, it actually succeeded in realising its
long-cherished dream of war against Pakistan.Thus the Indian expansionists bared
their fangs during the 13-month-old BJP rule. The BJP’s National Democratic
Alliance, formed in mid-May, is actually an anti-National, Fascist Alliance.
Birds of the
Same Feather
The Congress, the
only other major parliamentary party that aspires to come to power with the
support of some of the anti-BJP parties, has no difference whatsoever with the
BJP on the economic policies : in fact, it was the Congress itself that had
initiated the so-called economic reforms in 1998; it was the Congress which was
directly involved in the massacre of thousands of Sikhs in 1984 and muslims in
several riots that took place in the past few years. Now it has become more
faction-ridden than ever before. Although Sonia’s entry into politics raised
some hopes within the Congress, these came to nought with a section of the party
splitting away and forming a new party — Nationalist Congress Party — which has
eroded the Congress base further.
The Sonia drama began
with her resignation as party president but soon withdrew the resignation after
the majority in the Congress expressed faith on the leadership of Sonia and
castigated those who spoke of her Italian origin. Infact, it was the open
support to Sonia by the CPI(M), that was instrumental in veering her around to
reconsider her decision. The crisis within the Congress reached such alarming
proportions that at the CWC meeting on 22nd May, several members of the CWC were
accosted by their fellow hooligans demanding the expulsion of Pawar and Co. who
questioned the issue of the foreign origin of Sonia. Three days prior to the CWC
meeting, PCC (I) chiefs, 5 Congress Chief ministers and several MPs tendered
their resignations appealing to Sonia to reconsider her decision. The days of
dynastic rule are long over and the Congress cannot refurbish its image with
Sonia’s entry.
The so-called third
front proved itself to be a front of third-rate self-seeking politicians. Most
of the partners of the third front have been experimenting with all three
alternatives : hobnobbing with the BJP and even becoming partners in the
coalition; supporting the Congress; or attempting to form a government with
Congress support. The two major partners — TDP and DMK — have exposed themselves
as rank opportunists and unscrupulous double-dealers; until recently they were
shouting from the roof-tops against BJP’s communalism but all of a sudden, found
the BJP a comfortable ally. The Janata Dal after undergoing split after split,
has been reduced at last to a handful of MPs, smaller than any major regional
party.
The CPI and CPI(M)
"comrades" who have done greater harm to the cause of communism than even the
most reactionary sections of the bourgeoisie, have split with their former
partners in the left front — the RSP and Forward Bloc — as the latter did not
approve their uncritical support to the Congress led by Sonia. They themselves
see the third front as a hopeless proposition which, they fear, would only harm
the Congress and bring back BJP to power. Hence they have been campaigning more
vigorously and steadfastly for the Congress than perhaps even Congressmen
themselves.
Increasing
Dog-fights
In the period since
the last General Election, the dog-fights in virtually every parliamentary party
have increased further. In UP, the factional fight in the BJP reached a peak in
mid-May with Kalyan Singh remaining adamant and refusing to accept any advice
from the high command after a revolt by 40-odd MLAs. The BJP high command seemed
helpless in the face of such "indiscipline"as backward caste supporters of
Kalyan Singh launched a campaign against the upper caste legislators within the
BJP demanding them to resign.
Close on the heels of
the UP developments, on 16 May, 60 BJP MLAs in Gujarat appealed to the party
leadership to change the chief minister Keshubhai Patel to "improve the party’s
image" in the state. In Haryana the BJP withdrew support to the Haryana Vikas
party bringing down the state government.
Even in the smaller
parties, the dog-fights became acute. The Akali dal in Punjab, for instance,
expelled Gurucharan Singh Tohra who was a former president of the Shiromani
Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. At a meeting of the party rebels and supporters
of Tohra on May 15 which included 5 ministers a call was given to "liberate" the
Shiromani Akali dal from the clutches of the "feudal, autocratic and
self-promoting caucus led by Prakash Singh Badal".
In AP, Chandrababu
Naidu’s TDP underwent another split with NTR’s son and son-in-law floating a new
party — Anna TDP. The Loktantrik Morcha which was formed last year amidst big
fan-fare imagined that through this unity the two Yadavs of the Hindi belt would
keep the two most populous states in India, which together account for over a
quarter of the total seats in the parliament, out of BJP’s reach, could not even
take a unified stand on the issue of supporting the Congress-led government at
the Centre after the fall of the BJP government. While Laloo was in favour of
supporting the government led by the Congress, Mulayam outrightly opposed and
instead suggested a government headed by CPI(M)’s Jyothi Basu.
The Crisis is
Much Deeper
All these dog-fights
are only a part of the story. They are a reflection of the much deeper crisis
and instability of Indian "parliamentary democracy" and the semi-feudal,
semi-colonial social system. Although coalition governments have become a
general pattern at present, one cannot rule out a situation when a party might
muster a majority by whipping up the passions of the people on some issues such
as the Indo-Pak war. But what is important to note is that even if a party gets
a majority, the crisis will only grow deeper.
The economic crisis
and instability that is deepening with every passing day cannot give political
respite, cannot bring about political stability, whatever crisis-management
measures one may adopt. The crisis in the Indian economy has aggravated
particularly after the introduction of the new economic policies of
globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation since 1991. All sections of the
population and all spheres of the economy have been severely affected.
Unemployment, i.e., counting only those in the live register of the employment
exchanges, has surpassed 4 crores. If the rural unemployed are counted, the
figure crosses 10 crores. Privatisation of industries; monopolisation of
industry and trade by the imperialist MNCs and their collaborators in India,
which grew phenomenally following globalisation and liberalisation; industrial
closures, lay-offs, retrenchments, wage cuts, slashing of social welfare
benefits, curbs on trade union activity, increase in the number of casual
workers have become an endemic feature of the industrial sector in India today.
With the progressive
deterioration of their living conditions due to the policies of privatisation,
globalisation, liberalisation and other anti-people policies of the government,
the various sections of the people are compelled to take up struggles everywhere
: the peasantry against imperialist exploitation; the working class against the
new economic policies that are leading to the closure of the industries and to
massive retrenchment; students and employees against the World bank-dictated
policies of the state and Central governments; the religious minorities and
secular forces against the Hindu chauvinist attacks; the various nationalities
against the policies of the national oppression pursued by the Indian ruling
classes and for their right to self-determination; the adivasis on their
day-to-day demands as well as for political autonomy; and so on and so forth.
The people are
disenchanted not only with the comprador big bourgeois-big landlord parties, but
also with the very system of so-called parliamentary democracy. As the system
has failed to resolve any of the basic problems of the people, their
dissatisfaction with the parliamentary hoax has grown even greater. Parliament
is seen as an instrument in the hands of the ruling classes to seek legitimacy
for their anti-people policies, black acts and World Bank-dictated budgets.It is
now exposed before the people as merely a "democratic" garb to justify the
brutal suppression of the struggles of the various nationalities and oppressed
people. Those who argue that people still have illusion on the parliament are
actually the ones who harbour illusions in the parliamentary system.
The so-called ML
parties like Liberation, Janashakti, New Democracy and others under the garb of
Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung thought are once again trying to create illusions
among the people on the parliamentary system in the name of utilising the
parliament for propagating the politics of agrarian revolution. In practice,
they are actually diverting the people from armed struggle and militant
extra-parliamentary struggles into the parliamentary mire. People should be
warned of the right danger which is still the main danger in the
Marxist-Leninist camp and the betrayal by the so-called Marxist-Leninist parties
that are bogged down in parliamentarism should be thoroughly exposed.
Hoax of
Parliamentary Democracy
But what actually has
been proved by the 50-year old history of our so-called parliamentary democracy
? That the parliament is only an ornament, a show-piece that has no use at all
for the people; that it is a gambling den where smugglers, criminals, traitors
who sell-out the country’s interests gather to gamble the stakes of the country;
that it is a gossip shop and a debating club where impressive orations are
delivered by unscrupulous demagogues about the duties of the citizens, the
duties of the government, interests of the people and the country and so on and
so forth even as the people’s and the country’s interests are sold off to the
imperialists in toto by these very traitors; that it is a forum through which
the ruling classes seek to gain legitimacy and approval to the black acts and
the anti-people policies.
Today, moreover, the
parliament and legislatures have lost even this nominal role of making
legislation. Most of the decisions are actually taken by the prime minister’s
office or by the cabinet and implemented through presidential ordinances and by
the executives at the various levels — of course, all at the behest of the
imperialists. Similar is the case with the state assemblies which hardly have
business to transact as it is the chief ministers and state cabinets who take
most of the decisions and rule through G.Os. Today, the World Bank is directly
dealing with the state governments and getting its dictates implemented without
the need for even a formal discussion in the assemblies. Moreover, it is the
closed-door meetings with Wolfenstiens (World Bank), Talbotts (US Assistant
Secretary of State), with the heads of states of the various imperialist powers
and the MNC bosses, which actually determine the government policies. Parliament
and assemblies have hardly any role in decision-making and, where they do have,
it is only to give a stamp of legitimacy to these anti-people policies.
Historical experience has proved beyond any doubt that elections cannot solve
any of the problems faced by the Indian people; that elections only decide which
robber gang, which brigand, which vulture or shark, will get the better chance
to loot and plunder the people. More important than who wins is the fact that
all parties are united in imposing the elections on the people since it is a
safe outlet — a safety valve — that checks the people’s wrath from going out of
control and seeks to keep it within legal bounds and peaceful channels.
Elections are used by the ruling classes to divert the people from the path of
struggle through the "democratic" farce they seek to gain legitimacy to their
exploitative rule. They strive to create illusion that people have an
alternative to choose from — a BJP, a Congress, a third front, a fourth front,
and so on.
What then is
the Alternative Before the People?
The only alternative
is to establish organs of people’s political power at various levels; to
concentrate first on the backward areas, liberate them from the influence and
control of the comprador big bourgeoisie and big landlord classes by : building
our own organs of people’s political power; building a vast people’s militia;
building a revolutionary united front consisting of the working class, the
peasantry, the petti-bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie; building a
people’s army that will assist the advancement of the anti-feudal,
anti-imperialist struggles. This is the only path before the Indian people,
however difficult and tortuous it may be, to liberate our country from the three
big mountains weighing heavily on the backs of the people — feudalism,
imperialism, comprador bureaucratic capitalism. There is no other shortcut. All
those Marxist-Leninist parties which have gone into the election fray have done
so only by diluting the class struggle and by abandoning the armed struggle
against the Indian state.
In some areas, the
people have spontaneously chosen election boycott as a form of struggle. This
form has to be popularised throughout the country and should be applied
creatively. People should be encouraged to hold election boycott meetings in a
big way, question those leaders and representatives of the parliamentary parties
when they come to the areas and prevent them from entering the villages wherever
possible; their rank opportunism, naked self-interest and their support for the
anti-people and pro-imperialist policies should be exposed before the people.
Their role in selling off the country’s interests to imperialists should be
brought out clearly.
Today, AP, North
Telangana, Dandakaranya and Bihar are showing the path to be traversed by the
Indian people to achieve genuine democracy and liberation; they are showing the
alternative before the Indian people and oppressed nationalities — the
revolutionary alternative of building the organs of people’s political power,
and the people’s army by relying firmly on the mass line. They are the shining
examples and models of a future New Democratic Society that has to be built not
through participation in parliament but through intense class struggles in the
vast countryside.
Let us boycott the
elections and build the people’s revolutionary alternative !
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