For any discerning
individual the election is a stunt show — a gigantic farce on the people of the
country at huge cost. It is a tragedy that so many people fall into its trap,
particularly the so-called progressives.
The farce is all the
more in the current round of elections, where each party competes for the
glamour of film stars to replace serious policy. Never before has the electoral
process been as vulgar, degenerate and cheap as the present campaign.
Immediately after the dissolving of the parliament the BJP spent Rs.400 crores
in advertising lies of its "achievements" in a blatant infringement of all
norms. Rs.400 crores could have fed millions of starving families for months. It
is criminal that such huge public funds go to promote a political party. Now,
film stars pose with politicians, and sell themselves to the criminal political
mafia in return for favours. For them it is like selling another TV brand
commodity — whether razor blades, Pepsi or BJP, it makes little difference to
these glamour icons of the prevailing gutter culture. This of course, is
over-and-above the flow of liquor, saris and crores of rupees for vote-buying
that always exists.
All this, no doubt
will be recovered with extra taxes after the election; together with the
Rs.2,500 crores paid in the last two month to international oil cartels due to
the hike in the international price of crude oil. Whichever party wins the price
of petrol is set to jump by Rs.5 per litre and diesel by Rs.3 per litre after
the election.
Yet, the tragedy is
that many still believe this to be a genuine democratic process. In fact it is
said to be the biggest democracy in the world. Many theories abound: "with
whatever flaws at least there is some democracy"; "should choose the
better of two evils"; "must not waste one’s vote"; etc. etc. But, in
spite of these "choices" there has been little change in the lives of the
people over the past 55 years, whichever party has come to power, whether right,
‘left’ or centre. Yet there is an illusion of democracy for many a progressive.
This is even more
surprising when the very Chief Election Commissioner, Lyngdoh, himself stated
(just prior to his retirement in an interview with the "Hard Talk" programme of
the BBC on Dec.24th) that no politician is committed to democracy, and likened
the politician to a "cancer" afflicting the body politic of the country.
He went so far as to add that "and we have not been able to find any cure for
cancer yet; so in due course if cancer is cured, we will have to find some other
expression". In other words, he said there is no hope from these criminal
politicians, though there may be some hope of curing cancer. Surprisingly he
ended his interview saying that "anyhow in half of Chhattisgarh, Jarkhand,
Bihar and parts of AP, the State belonged to somebody else" and that
politicians "dare not go there". "Their (politicians) writ runs only
in a small part of the territory. The rest belongs to somebody else, whoever it
is, whether it is the underground or PWG or whoever — they dare not go there".
Surely the CEC should
know better than anyone else the nature of Indian democracy and its politicians?
But being part of the very system they, normally are the chief promoters of the
farce. But when the CEC himself said this it shows to what depths the rot has
reached. Yet, we have many a progressive who continues waxing eloquent about "Indian
democracy".
Unfortunately this
farce is given legitimacy by the ‘left’ and even a section of the so-called
Maoist (like the Liberation Party) forces in the country. And now, as the last
refuge of this discredited system, the NGOs have sought to put up candidates
with a clean image. They ask that "honest" people be elected — once again in a
bid to give credibility criminalised electoral system. Medha Patkar’s floating
of the new party, the People’s Political Front, and supporting some NGO
candidates, is nothing but the last ditch attempt of the establishment to
maintain people’s faith in this rotten system.
Most of the issues
promoted by the parties are either mundane or a set of lies. Caste and communal
factors play a major role in their scheme of things. This time the main theme of
the proponents is "India shining" with an admixture of Hindutva on the
one side, and the hackneyed theme of "secularism" on the other. Lets take
a look at both.
Is India Shining?
Neither does the BJP-led
NDA stand for a shining of the Indian people nor do the opposition stand for
true secularism. For the BJP if a small elite class (and themselves) makes pots
of money and wealth, India is shining for all. Their "Vision" goes not
beyond their small circle of extreme rich and NRIs. And as for the opposition,
they never fight the Hindutva fascists at the ground level, but merely use the
‘secularism’ label as a vote-catcher.
The India Shining
or the "feel-good factor" propaganda is nothing but the populist slogans
to promote the policies of ‘economic reforms’ — liberalization, privatisation
and globalization (LPG). These policies of LPG are supported (and implemented)
by all the parliamentary parties, not just the BJP-led NDA. The Congress chief
ministers of Karnataka, Mahrashtra and other states are as aggressive
implementers of the LPG; so also is the CPM government in West Bengal. The
difference, at best, is only in the degree or speed of implementation; not the
fundamentals of the policy. Though it is true that the BJP, TDP type parties are
the most servile tools of the imperialists, particularly of the US; yet the
others are not far behind.
As far as the people
go, it is their living standards that should be the key to any policy. In other
words the economic policies are the most important as that effects their lives
more than anything else. With economic reforms, not only are their lives not
"shining" but it has been deteriorating. Massive unemployment, rural
impoverishment and huge cuts in welfare/subsidies have devastated the lives of
crores of families. The supposed 8% growth rate in the current year will only
give crores more to the moneybags and the rich. There will be nothing for the
poor, as jobless growth is a feature today all over the world. The high foreign
exchange reserves (see other article in this issue) will only give big profits
to the foreign/NRI speculators who make windfall profits through stock market
manipulations and the high interest rates (compared to international standards).
So also the stock-market boom is only the result of the pouring in of hedge
funds amounting to billions of dollars, not a sound economy.
Even the good monsoon
last year was not even throughout the country. Tamilnadu was hit by a drought
last year for the third year in succession. Farmers have lost five paddy crops
in a row since 2002. The rural economy is shrinking fast. Debts of small and
marginal farmers have been soaring. Chennai itself faces massive water shortage
with a deficit of 54% rainfall last year. Also Karnataka is in its third year of
drought. Inflows into the Cauvery water reservoirs have reduced drastically. In
Maharashtra, the kharif crop failed in 71 tehsils of 11 districts — was the 4th
year of drought in these regions. In Kerala, Palakkad district is facing the
worst drought in its history. With all the 16,000 ponds in the district gone dry
and even Kerala’s biggest dam, Malampuzha, unable to provide water for the
second crop, while the Pepsi and Coke plants in the district continue to guzzle
up the ground water, pushing the water table lower and lower.
Though droughts are
ravaging the countryside, expenditure on water management of the state
governments is falling lower and lower, no matter which party is in power. For
example in Maharashtra, expenditure on water management fell from 14.7% of the
budget in 1995/96 to 5.1% in 2002/03. Overall, in the 29 States, water
management expenditure fell from 8.5% in 1995/96 to 5.6% in 2002/03.
So the Congress’s
slogan of "Agriculture First" in its manifesto is as much of a hoax as
the BJP’s "Vision" statements. In "shining India" the GDP growth
rates have actually dwindled under the BJP-led government. Between 1994-97, the
annual average growth rate of GDP was 7.5 % but fell to 5.3 % between 1997-98 to
2002-03 and registered a low of around 4 % by 2002-03. The worst effected sector
has been agriculture. Between 1997-98 to 2002-03, the average growth rate of
agriculture fell to 1 %.
In "Shining India"
750 million do not have basic toilet facilities; 510 million do not have access
to essential drugs; 300 million adults are illiterate; 60 million destitutes and
widows are without a roof; and India has the largest population in the world
that goes to bed without food, that has no clothes to wear and the largest
nimber of beggars. The policies of ‘economic reforms’ has so aggravated the
situation that for the first time ever, thousands are committing suicide each
year — due to indebtedness in the rural areas (as institutional credit has been
de facto stopped); and due to unemployment and bankruptcies in the urban areas.
The shine and gloss is only in the make-believe TV/Film world and in the
consumerism of a select class. The BJP, as all other parties, belongs to this
world; the masses do not.
So, regarding the key
issue concerning the livelihood of the masses not a single party has a policy
different from the ‘economic reforms’ of the present government. And these
‘reforms’ play havoc with the lives of the masses. So what real difference is
there between all the parties? Just as one has the right to vote so also one
must have the right to boycott the elections and propagate the politics of
boycott. But the call of boycott creates panic in the rulers, and out comes the
GUN — "VOTE OR ELSE".
Hindutva vs
Secularism
The BJP is no doubt
aggressive about its Hindutva fascist agenda. Advani’s Rath Yatra, from March
10th is to cover 7,871 km and 121 parliamentary constituencies spread across 12
States. Though he talked "development" all the symbolism was of Ram, Ayodhya and
Hindutva of so-called "resurgent nationalism". This Rath Yatra was
intrinsically linked to the earlier two — the Ram Rath Yatra of 1990 and the
Swarna Jayanti Rath Yatra in 1997.
In fact in the
changed strategy of the BJP, as Hindutva does not get large number of votes any
longer, it keeps that as the continuing background theme while focusing
hypocritically on people’s issues. As part of its "resurgent nationalism"
theme it attacks the foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi, while at the same time
licking the boots of all foreign capitalists. With Vajpayee’s popular rating
said to be 47% (Advani’s is a mere 2% for prime ministership) it also focuses on
the leadership issue, though there is a continuous power-struggle for the top
post.
Besides, this time
the RSS is closely involved in the BJP election strategy. Also it is well known
that the Sangh Parivar continues on its Hindutva orgnisational work utilising
the vast resources now available to it through its control over the central
government and firm backing of US imperialism and top NRIs. Saffronisation of
education, promotion of unknown Hindu festivals (as Rakshabandhan and Ganapati
in the South and the hijacking of the 10-day Mahamaham festival in TamilNadu);
co-option of dalits and more particularly tribals on a huge scale; and the
aggressive promotion and arming of the neo-fascist bodies like the Bajrang Dal —
are all an ongoing process for the Sangh mafia. Regular anti-Muslim (and to a
lesser extent anti-Christian) pogroms and actions helps to maintain its tempo of
hate.
In other words,
imperialist-backed aggressive Hindutva fascism is the essence of BJP rule
(whether alone or with allies), and so becomes the main enemy of the people and
of the democratic forces of the country. So special attention would have to be
paid to target the BJP and its allies, whether during the elections or after it.
But having said that
what about the so-called secular forces. There is a tendency amongst
progressives that seeks to vote for the opposition in the name of defeating the
Hindu fascist forces, as was sought in the Gujarat elections after the
horrifying pogroms. This is wishful thinking of some progressives who expect
fascists to be defeated through the electoral process. But the fascist’s main
focus is outside the electoral framework as seen in Sangh parivar work mentioned
above. The fallacy of these progressives arises from the fact of not seeing the
essence of the forces behind the Hindutva fascists and their class character,
nor the farcical nature of the electoral process in semi-feudal semi-colonial
countries like India.
Hindutva fascism is a
necessary outcome of the vicious attack on people’s living standards due to the
policies of LPG. It has got sanction from powerful imperialist forces,
particularly in the post 9/11 atmosphere of anti-Islamic hysteria with the US’s
"war against terrorism" and Zionism’s aggressive attacks on Palestinians. It is
also backed by a sizable section of India’s big business houses, the bulk of
who, for example, turned a blind eye to the most brutal pogroms of the Modi
government in Gujarat, backed by the Centre.
So Hindutva fascism
is a systemic need of the Indian ruling-classes and a section of the
imperialists that dictate to them. It will not so easily go from the Indian
scene. It can only be beaten back by a vigorous movement of the masses not by
electoral semantics. Besides the folly of the argument for voting ‘secular’
against the Hindutva is enhanced by the fact that the Congress is far from
secular and has, at best adopted a soft Hindutva policy, at worst it has openly
supported Hindutva elements at the grass root level. This was blatantly seen in
the Gujarat elections, where they were routed. It is also seen by the pro-Hindutva
approach of the very Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, etc. and
the erstwhile Chief Ministers of MP, Chattisgarh and other places. The CPM too
adopts an anti-Muslim bias in States it runs as in West Bengal and never comes
out in open action against the fascists — they replace action for rhetoric; and
a policy of appeasement in place of confrontation (not to mention the close
liaison between the West Bengal CM and Advani).
It is in fact this
total lack of support to the Muslims from any quarter that is then forcing them
into the arms of the fundamentalists. Not able to get support from any, they
quite naturally seek recourse from those in their own community that hit back.
One cannot expect any real fight against the Hindutva fascists relying on such
weak elements as the Congress, CPI/CPM, etc. and their vote machines. In fact
policies of appeasement and soft Hindutva only go to whet the appetite of the
Hindu fascists as it gives them much sought after legitimacy.
The only way to
really fight the Hindutva fascists is to take the battle to the streets by
building up a mass upsurge against them and their storm-troopers. This can only
be achieved by the revolutionary forces taking the lead, uniting with all
democratic and progressive elements and giving total support to the victimised
minorities and dalits. Whoever may win at the electoral game, the Hindu fascists
will continue their offensive as most (RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Durga Vahini, etc)
anyhow operate outside the pale of the electoral system. It is only a militant
mass upsurge that can beat them back. If thousands, for example, blocked
Advani’s Rath Yatra and chased Yatris away from the scene, even at just
one or two places, that would have a thousand-fold more impact than giving votes
to the weak-kneed Congress and social-democrats. The tragedy is that the Rath
continued its journey throughout the country unhindered.
Is India Really
Democratic?
India being a
semi-feudal country it is not even a bourgeois democracy like that which exists
in capitalist countries of the world. Here the vote-machine has been merely
superimposed on a highly autocratic structure — which is becoming more and more
autocratic with each passing day. The passage of POTA, the ban on the right to
strike, the numerous preventive detention laws, the proposed introduction of the
Malimath Committee recommendations (designed for revamping the criminal justice
system), etc. are reducing even the limited rights that exist. In addition it is
a prison house of nations where the oppressed nationalities of Kashmir and the
North East live under direct army occupation. In this scenario to talk of
democracy is even more laughable.
Besides, in this
semi-feudal system there is no democracy in ordinary life itself — the family is
patriarchal, with women being discriminated against; the lower castes and dalits
have no rights whatsoever due to domination of the higher castes and heinous
practices like untouchability; in villages, autocratic feudal authority is
exerted by upper-caste landed elements; the bureaucracy is highly autocratic and
unaccountable to anyone; the police are a sort of mafia of their own, harassing
and humiliating the ordinary citizen; the main political parties of the country
are dominated by one individual or a coterie who dictate terms to all and sundry
in their fold — where total servility is demanded as the price for political
rewards; and even the trade unions are dominated by a small coterie of political
leaders, whose word is law. In addition today, the right to strike, association
and free speech is virtually non-existent, except under severe police watch and
according to the rules they lay down. Added to all this, political dissent is
now de facto banned (unless it is within their bounds) and a gigantic
intelligence network has made even ordinary travelling and renting houses a
nightmare. The planned introduction of voter-identity cards for all adult
citizens is yet another attempt to keep tabs on every citizen of the country.
Under such conditions
of a fascist-like reality in our daily life what does the mere vote, once every
five years mean? That too a vote machine dominated by money-power,
caste-alignments, booth capturing and film star gimmickry.
To give a vote means
to give legitimacy to this entirely autocratic system and the farcical democracy
that exists in the country. It means becoming a party to ruling-class tricks to
dupe the people. It means becoming a tool, however innocent, in the schemes the
money-bags seek to play. With or without the elections there is hardly an iota
of democracy in people’s lives in the prevailing system; and it is this that
needs to be changed from its very roots if genuine democracy is to be achieved
in the country.
And as the farce of
this system is getting more and more exposed, with corruption and opportunism at
its peak and politicians openly crossing the floor in flocks and smashing each
others heads when not given a seat — numerous attempts are being made to give it
some legitimacy. Persistent propaganda on the radio and TV to cast your "precious
vote", gimmicks of the Election Commission of ‘stringent action’ to give a
show of authenticity, massive election coverage in the newspapers and TV and
their talk-shows to create the ‘right’ atmosphere, and last but not least public
statements by cricketers, film stars and other icons of the masses to come out
and exercise your franchise — are the attempts of the rulers and their hangers
on to somehow build people’s interest in the elections. Yet, the common refrain
is "sab chor hai"; only there is no alternative visible to them.
In addition to all
these attempts, legitimacy is now being given by the so-called Maoists standing
for elections and the bid by NGOs to enter the electoral process — in real
terms, both merely act to serve the ruling-classes by showing that the electoral
arena is not just the last refuge of scoundrels but also a platform for ‘decent’
and even ‘revolutionary’ individuals.
So, the Liberation
party will contest 65 Lok Sabha seats in 16 States. As its influence reduces the
number of seats it stands for, increases. They claim to try and strengthen the
‘left’ forces in parliament, even when they have been ignored by the CPI/CPM
despite their "best efforts". Pathetic beggars of ‘left’ unity that the
Liberation are, they still do not realise the dynamics of vote-bank politics
where the bigger revisionists see these upstarts as mere snatchers of their
potential votes. No wonder they are ignored in spite of their "best efforts".
And now, added to
this, comes the legitimacy sought to be given by the NGO lobby seeking "honest"
candidates. Medha Patkar’s newly formed PPF will back Magsasay Award winner
Aruna Roy and Gandhian Siddharaj Dhadha, besides others. She calls for a joint
struggle against "communal, corrupt and corporatised" forces through
electoral games. The PPF has also become part of the politics of ‘secularism’
saying that the winning candidate will extend support to secular parties, and
see that the secular vote will not be fragmented. In other words, as there is
not likely to be any constituency where there is no opposition party, the PPF
candidate, at the ground level, seeks backing from all opposition forces.
Today any fight for
real democracy is inconceivable without exposing the fake electoral system that
exists. This is more easier done by boycotting the elections than by
participating in the farce. But then what is the alternative?
Boycott Elections, Build/Support New
Peoples’ Power
It is portrayed as
though those who boycott this farce are against elections and democracy. Nothing
could be further from the truth. They are for genuine democracy, a peoples’
democracy, and for a transparent and proper electoral system. More than that,
they are for the democratisation of entire society all relations at every level,
not merely the appearance of democracy.
This is not possible
in the existing set-up; so it is to be boycotted. Seeking real democracy entails
smashing the present system and only then building the foundations of a genuine
democratic edifice. A house with a weak and faulty foundation cannot be
strengthened; it has to be raised to the ground and a new structure built. Even
assuming a good candidate wins, what can he/she do when the entire bureaucracy,
administration, police force, army and an economic system dominated by big
business, is pitted against his/her good intentions? Either they must get
co-opted, or opt out. The CPI/CPM are already co-opted; a part of the ruling
classes. The others are on their way there.
Boycott of course is
a negative action; it must be followed by something positive to be more
meaningful. There are forces in this country that seek to build a new and
genuine democratic system. Quite naturally the alternative would be to
participate with these forces in building the new system; or at least lend
support to them.
These forces are the
revolutionary Maoists in the country leading people’s wars. Ofcourse, all
violence is per se sought to be portrayed as anti-democratic. But this very
‘democratic’ state system thrives on the most brutal and inhuman forms of
violence. So, building a better system unfortunately cannot be a very humane or
peaceful process. Yes, a humane and peaceful society can only be built through
constructing such a powerful force that can stand up to the terror of this
monstrous system. So, the question of violence has no direct relation with the
question of democracy. The Iraqis armed resistance against the US/British
occupation is their democratic right to throw the aggressors out. In India,
where similarly the sovereignty of the country is infringed upon, though
indirectly, (i.e. through their stooges), the people also have the democratic
right to take arms against the rulers to give genuine independence from
imperialist and neo-colonial controls and for a true democracy.
How then is the
question of democracy linked to the people’s wars being led by the Maoists? Take
then those being led by the MCCI and the CPI(ML)(PW).
Firstly, the
revolutionary Party, unlike the parliamentary parties, is not controlled by any
individual or coterie, but functions on democratic centralism. This is far more
democratic than the functioning of any of the parliamentary parties in the
country. All Party leaders are accountable to their cadres and the entire Party
is accountable to the masses. Regular criticism and self-criticisms helps the
process of checking bureaucratic tendencies, and debates and two-line struggle
facilitates the democratic process of consultation in decision-making.
Secondly, all feudal,
autocratic relationships are strongly fought against — particularly patriarchy
and all caste biases. Relations between all are built around equality; and women
and dalits are specifically encouraged to take leadership roles. Discrimination
in any form is severely reprimanded. Respect and authority is given on the basis
of the person’s commitment to the revolution and oppressed masses and their
experience, not on such feudal criteria as age, education or hierarchy. Modesty
and simplicity are encouraged, not arrogance, ego and domination of others. The
feudal/braminical approach of looking down on labour (the pundit mentality) is
countered, with building the approach of the dignity of labour. Man-women
relations are encouraged on the basis of free choice, not any other extraneous
factors. Such is the democratization process taking place within the Maoist
circles, which is a far cry from what is taking place in society outside — where
vulgar westernization is being complimented with the consistent promotion of
feudal, anti-democratic values and relations.
Thirdly, and most
important of all, is the democratic process seen in the embryonic forms of the
New Power being created in the areas of intense armed struggle as in
Dandakaranya, Bihar-Jarkhand and parts of AP. In its full-fledged form it is
more clearly seen in neighbouring Nepal, where in the Base Areas the New Power
is being run. In the course of the revolutionary process the autocratic
structures of the existing bureaucracy, government departments, police,
judiciary, politician-business-trader-moneylender combine, etc. have already
been smashed. In its place the New Power, the RPCs (Revolutionary People’s
Committees), is elected in a gram sabha, which also has the right to
recall the representative if found not suitable. Justice is administered through
people’s courts not the bureaucratic and expensive procedure of lawyers and
judges far removed from the scene. The RPCs, when able to function (where police
repression is intense this is not possible), implementation of development
works, education, health and welfare are their primary tasks. Women are
encouraged to play an active role in the social, political and military life of
the village. As the New Power is led by the agricultural labourers and poor
peasants, the dalits invariably play a leading role. Caste segregation in any
form whatsoever is discouraged and marriage based on the free choice of the two
is encouraged (even if opposed by the elders) — thereby breaking the
centuries-old caste barriers. There is no standing army or police that live as
parasites off the people in the existing system, but there are the village
defence committees and militias, the bulk of whom are involved in production. In
all activities and relationships the social consciousness of "serving the
people" is sought to be replaced with the approach of personal material
incentives. This then is the New Power growing in the Guerrilla Zones and Bases
under growing Maoist influence.
Compare all this to
what exists today in the so-called democracy in the rest of the country. These
are steps towards real and true democracy. Of course in this new system the
moneylenders, landlords, bureaucrats, police, traders, politicians and
businessmen will no longer have the ‘democratic right’ to fleece the people and
run their lives. This will, no doubt, be curbed. They may therefore shout from
the roof-tops that their ‘democratic’ right to rob and loot is being curbed, and
the imperialists may look into the ‘human rights violations’ of this scum, but
the majority of the masses will enjoy a genuine democracy.
Today, in the
forthcoming elections, while boycotting the elections it is the incumbent duty
of anyone serious of democracy to participate in (or at least support) the new
democratic experiments taking place by the Maoists. Let us all exclaim in
unison;
BOYCOTT ELECTIONS!
SUPPORT AND BUILD NEW
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S POWER IN THE COUNTRY!!
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