Volume 4, No. 6, June 2003

 

Boycott of Goods & CPI (M)’s Politics

Swapnonil

 

The US and British imperialists and their collaborators have waged one of the most unjust and savage wars of modern times against the land of the great Iraqi people by trampling underfoot all democratic norms and the sovereignty of that country. This war has caused tremendous loss of human lives, considerable damage to property and environment. In the name of liberating the people of Iraq from what they describe as the despotic rule of Saddam Hussain, these marauders have now physically conquered Iraq. They are now busy dividing the spoils among themselves by taking control of the entire oil resources of Iraq, which was the root cause behind this invasion. This war is not the manifestation of a ‘clash of civilisations’, but the manifestation of a clash between the cradle of human civilisation as represented by Iraq on the one hand, and savagery as represented by US imperialists and their henchmen, on the other. Not long ago, these savages had launched another predatory war against the people of Afganistan, took control of the oil pipeline routes and installed a puppet government in that country. And the recent war on Iraq is not the last in the list of such imperialist adventures. President Bush has declared that many other countries like Syria and North Korea will meet the same fate in the course of its march towards the conquest of the globe. History, however, has shown more often than once that it is the people who are the real masters of their own destiny and that these imperialist warmongers are lifting a rock only to drop it on their own feet.

In recent days, the war on Iraq has evoked a strong reaction among millions of people in most of the countries of the world as manifested in numerous, mammoth almost daily demonstrations by people who value independence and national sovereignty above everything else. In large parts of India (see report), anti-US/UK opinion is gaining ground. This anti-imperialist reaction has manifested itself in the forms of protest-processions, protest-demonstrations, distribution of leaflets, holding of anti-war conventions and attacks on Cocacola plants and Nike shops. Side by side, demands have been raised from the people to boycott American and British goods. The newly-formed ‘Matir Kella’ (Fortress of Mud) in the Metiaburuz area of Kolkata, ‘Jamiate Ulemar’, ‘Iraq Juddha-birodhi Committee’ (Committee Against the War on Iraq) and many other mass organisations have given the call for the boycott of American and British goods and have prepared a list of those goods which obviously includes Coke and Pepsi — the most visible symbols of imperialist presence. In this context, the leadership of the ruling CPI(M) party in West Bengal have made an interesting remark.

Biman Bose, a senior CPM leader, has said that the call for the boycott of British goods, which was given by M.K. Gandhi during the period of colonial rule was relevant at that time, but does not have any relevance today. Those days were so different from the days in which we live now. So any call for boycott now would go against the objective reality. He proceeded to remind the people of West Bengal that at a time when foreign investors are coming during the rule of Left-front government to invest capital in West Bengal, such a call for the boycott of US-British goods would send wrong signals to them. It clearly implies that in that case the American and British investors will no longer make capital investments in West Bengal. Such statements clearly show firstly that the CPM-leadership have a very poor knowledge of history, and secondly, that their economic tie-ups with the US and British imperialisms are so stro-ng that they are incapable of even pretending to launch some form of protest.

Firstly, Gandhi was not the first to give the call for boycott of British goods. Gopalrao Deshmukh of Pune was the first to advocate in 1849 the consumption of indigenous goods instead of foreign goods. The first person to argue forcefully in favour of the boycott of everything foreign was Bholanath Chandra of Bengal, who in the Mookerjee’s Magazine — a well-known nationalist magazine — wrote an article entitled ‘A voice for the commerce and manufactures of India’ during the 1870s. The anti-Partition movement of 1905 that followed was one of the most creative periods in the history of modern India. This political movement gave a definite impetus to the economic movement for national regeneration. ‘Boycott of foreign goods’ was one of the main slogans of the time which spread like a prairie fire to all parts of Bengal and beyond. Unlike what Biman Bose would have us believe, Gandhi was by no means connected with this boycott movement. He had been in South Africa at that time. A mistaken notion prevails among people about the call for the boycott of British goods given by Gandhi during the non-cooperation movement of the early 1920s. There is a common belief that Gandhi’s call for boycott was applicable to all foreign goods. The reality, however, was different. Gandhi’s boycott was meant only for British cloth, and not for all foreign goods. It was not definitely for the boycott of the British machinery. And this call was given not out of any patriotic motivation, but in the interest of the Marwari compradors and other brokers of foreign cloth. And the reason was a trade dispute over the rate of exchange between the pound sterling and the rupee. At that time, there was a change in the rate of exchange to the disadvantage of the rupee. From 2 shillings 10.5 pence in February 1920, it decreased to 1 shilling 3 pence in March 1921. The Marwari businessmen-marketeers of Bombay stood in favour of 2 shillings against 1 rupee. Lancashire refused; hence, the participation of the Marwaris like Birla, Khaitan and other businessmen in the non-cooperation movement. Later on, the events of Chauri Chaura provided the god-sent pretext to Gandhi to withdraw the movement unconditionally. Thus Gandhi was neither the author of the boycott movement during the swadeshi era, nor did his call for boycott have a universal application. On the contrary, a large number of swadeshi leaders and workers of various hues made repeated appeals during that period to the people along this line.

Secondly, Biman Bose asserts that there is no relevance for the call of boycott of foreign goods. He has, however, failed to explain why. The reality, however, is that the need for giving this call is more strongly felt today than any other period in post-colonial India. In fact, imperialist penetration, particularly US imperialist control over the Indian economy, politics, culture etc is so vivid that it is the urgent duty of all patriotic people to resist it by all conceivable means. It is pertinent to point out that although imperialist penetration, particularly American penetration in India was welcomed by the Indian ruling classes and their political representatives of all hues such as the Congress, Janata Party, BJP, CPI(M), CPI and other parties in different provinces in some way or other, the broad call for the boycott of US and British goods was not given in any previous period in India after 1947. It is true that in 1984, after the terrible human calamity in Bhopal in which the US-owned Union Carbide Company was directly involved (it belched poisonous gas from its factory leading to the death of a large number of people), some people stopped buying various products of Union Carbide such as the Eveready Battery. However, that call did not assume such a broad character at that time. Even during the war against Afganistan, such a demand was not raised. That is why, the call for the boycott of the products of transnational corporations is all the more relevant. Of course, it is not very difficult to understand why this call is irrelevant to Biman Bose and company. The CPM leadership have now-a-days become quite shameless and so they do not hesitate to declare that that would send a wrong signal to the foreign investors. This is the crux of the thing. Today under Buddhadav Bhattacharya’s regime, both foreign and Indian comprador investors are coming forward to invest capital in West Bengal. US agencies such as Cargill and Pepsi, Japanese firms such as Mitsubishi, the Tatas as also non-resident Indian millionaires are showing their interest in this CPI (M)-ruled state. The American Company Mckinsey is now their main advisor. In order to woo imperialist capital, labour laws are being changed, retrenchment of workers and the closure of factories are now the order of the day. Buddhadev is warning the workers against overstepping their limits and even showing the audacity to tell them to keep their struggle within the limits fixed by the government or face dire consequences. Education is being privatised and fees have been hiked to unbelievable proportions, thereby lifting education to a level beyond the financial reach of ordinary people. Unemployment by contract is going to become the order of the day. Medical facilities for people are becoming practically non-existent and the whole medical system is being grabbed by those who have the necessary money to pay. Electricity charges are being hiked at regular intervals, and a time is sure to come when common people will have to go without electricity because of their inability to pay. Interests on bank and post-office deposits of various type on which millions of pensioners depend for their maintenance are being reduced at regular intervals by the central government. At no other time in the history of our country has human life become so uncertain, so insecure and so miserable as the time we have been passing through now. The CPM leadership has of late been busy organising processions against the Iraq war. How do they hope to reconcile this so-called anti-imperialist procession with their refusal to issue a genuine call for boycott and the policy of wooing of foreign capital? Mr.Bose and company’s deception will not pay!

It is propagated through both government and private circles that investment of foreign capital and technology is absolutely necessary to bring about the advancement of the country. Only then would production increase, employment opportunities would be generated and all-round economic development would follow. The reality, however, is just the opposite. First, the type of technology that is suitable for progress in a particular country depends on the objective condition of that country. Thus a technology which is regarded as ‘advanced’ in a particular country may not necessarily be progressive in another country. It can or cannot be. In a country, which has a fairly large population, whose economy is based on agriculture, the development programme that is suitable is labour-intensive, not capital-intensive. In a country like India, the most suitable technology is that technology, which will increase employment opportunities and not decrease it. But the importation of foreign technology far from increasing employment opportunity has only decreased such opportunity, as the history of several decades after 1947 has amply proved. Secondly, foreign capital and technology do not make the recipient country self-reliant; on the contrary, it makes it more and more dependent on the foreigners. Since this is a contract between two unequal partners, the terms are dictated by the imperialist agencies. In fact, the more one stands on the crutches of imperialist capital, the more backward one moves. In reality, there is no substitute for a do-it-yourself programme in technology. Thirdly, each contract with foreign capital brings with it humiliating terms and conditions which enslave the country and the people. Each loan brings with it a huge amount of interest; to repay that loan, more loans are taken from foreign agencies, which in turn beget more interest until a time comes when there is no scope to get out of it. That is precisely the reason why the importation of foreign capital and technology can lead only to the impoverishment and enslavement of the recipient country. This truth is not unknown to the CPM leadership.

Some days ago, some of the well-known intellectuals of Kolkata decided at a convention that the boycott of American and British goods would continue till the end of the war. This can be a primary step, a step to start with. But one should not remain content with taking this step only. If we believe that imperialism itself means war, conquest of other countries, enslavement of other peoples, colonisation and the installation of puppet regimes throughout the world, then this struggle should spread to all parts of the country. And this struggle should not be confined to the call for boycott of foreign goods only; there should at the same time be the call to oust all transnational corporations/big compradors and the confiscation of their capital. After all, the policies of globalisation, structural adjustments, economic reforms, etc. achieves gradually for the imperialists, what the Iraq war achieved overnight. The academicians and intellectuals should boycott all invitations from the US and British governments and their agencies such as the USEFI, the American Center, the British Council etc. The youth and students should realise that they will be able to serve the interests of the country more meaningfully by taking part in the political struggles of the people than by going over to the USA and other imperialist countries for study and jobs. They should consciously stop this brain drain and thereby strengthen the anti-imperialist struggles of the people of our land. We should resolutely fight against the formation of these new East India companies as the people of our country had done so valiantly in the past, during British colonial rule. This struggle is to be directed against both imperialism and their domestic collaborators of all hues. In fact, we should give the call and strive to become self-reliant, because progress of our country, in the true sense of the term, depends on our ability to stand on our own feet and not by slavishly begging for foreign capital, like the CPM and others.

 

<Top>

 

Home  |  Current Issue  |  Archives  |  Revolutionary Publications  |  Links  |  Subscription