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Contents
INTRODUCTION
Background
Dynamics of Globalisation in India & the
Comprador Bureaucrat Class
No self-respecting Indian can tolerate the extent of
foreign/imperialist domination of our country witnessed since 1947, and, more so
since 1990.
No patriotic Indian can remain silent at the gigantic foreign
loot each year from our country, devastating our economy.
No sensitive Indian can ignore the mass impoverisation of our
people, due to this monstrous robbery.
And no average Indian can hope for a better future for
themselves and their country, unless they rise up in revolt against this
existing order, and replace it with an India that is self-reliant.
Seventy years back Bhagat Singh demonstrated the necessity to
revolt. Little has changed since then; only direct rule by the British has been
replaced by indirect rule of the imperialist powers, the TNC outfits and their
multilateral agencies. The British hanged Bhagat Singh after a mock trial;
today’s revolutionaries are shot dead in fake encounters by the traitorous
rulers, dispensing with even the pretense of a trial.
180 year’s of colonial rule devastated our country, sending
it back to the medieval ages. 50 years of neo-colonial exploitation has retarded
any significant development. Of this, the latest 15 years of globalisation has
drastically reversed what little development took place in the preceding 35
years.
The past four years of economic stagnation is further
evidence of the debilitating impact of economic reforms pushed through by the
rulers, at the behest of the WTO-IMF-WB gangster combine. Though earlier
‘growth’ benefited only big business, having little impact on the lives of the
masses; with the present stagnation, the impact on their lives is horrifying.
Starvation and death now ravage the country.
These vultures prey not only on the living, but also on the
dead. Mass impoverisation has led to widespread disease and death, giving
windfall profits to the giant pharmaceuticals, privatized health insurance
business, and the mushrooming growth of private hospitals. Even the dead bodies
of the Kargil soldiers were traded for profit by the likes of a Fernandes —
sharing the booty with a US coffin making company. Human embryos are sold to
American stem-cell research institutions. Now, hundreds of unknowing patients in
public/private hospitals are being used as live guinea pigs for experimentation
by Indian agents (scientists) for US research institutes. There is no end to
this gruesome loot. Indian body-parts are being extracted from the poor by
vampires indulging in lucrative business in the international human organ’s
market — eyes, kidneys, livers, genes, all are sold as any other commodity! And
now our womenfolk are being enticed to sell their bodies on a mass scale to
promote foreign tourism, the cosmetic industry and the sex trade.
The imperialist attack on the country is not only
humiliating; it is savage, barbaric and inhumanly cruel. Such an
all-encompassing attack would be inconceivable without the assistance of
collaborators and traitors within the country, who act as the chief vehicles
through which these monsters operate. It is these politicians, big business
houses, top bureaucrats and their hangers on, in the varied fields of the
socio-economic life of the country, that act as the lackeys of this
international mafia, taking their huge cuts and commissions, safely tucked away
in secret Swiss bank accounts.
In this booklet we shall try and understand the implications
of globalisation on our country in all its ramifications. How, under its
signboard, it has allowed for the increased stranglehold of international
finance capital over all the life-lines of our economy; how it is determining
political decision-making; how it is penetrating every aspect of the
social-cultural life of the people; and how, and to what extent, it is impacting
on the economy, the people and the country as a whole. We shall also try and
understand how such an onslaught is possible in a supposedly independent
country, without a physical attack — we shall try and understand the traitorous
role of the collaborators. Finally, we will discuss the role of the various
political forces vis-à-vis globalisation, and what it entails to achieve a free,
self-reliant India.
But before coming to its impact in India let us first try and
understand the reason for the ‘globalisation’ of the world economy. Though
imperialism itself is a global phenomenon, and the imperialists have always run
global economies, in its present phase this has reached gigantic proportions.
Why
Globalisation?
‘Globalisation’ is basically a crisis-management programme to
retrieve the imperialist economies from the recurrent recessions hitting them.
After the post World War II boom, the Oil Shock of 1973 shook the world
capitalist system..... and since then, the tremors in the economy continue to
recur. Simultaneously, the US’s involvement and defeat in Vietnam and the
resulting devaluation of the doller led to the collapse of the Bretton Woods
agreement of fixed exchange rates. In quick succession it faced two more severe
crises, in 1980-81 and an even more severe crash in 1991-92. Though there have
been intermittent and partial recoveries, the overall depression is only
deepening, as can be seen by the 1997 events in South-East Asia and then Russia,
the decade-long stagnation in Japan, the complete crash in the economies of
Argentina, Ecuador, Turkey and now Brazil, and the ongoing recession in the
major economies of the world.
‘Globalisation’, ‘neo-liberalisation’, etc. are the
imperialist answers to the crisis — that is, a restructuring of their economies
in order to face the crisis. It has two basic aspects: first, to restructure
capitalism by a wave of mergers and acquisitions to form bigger conglomerates,
and to increase surplus value (profit) through massive attacks on the working
classes in their home countries. Second, by an aggressive expansion of their
markets abroad, with greater controls over their wealth and cheap labour
resources. Though it is the second factor that effects backward countries like
India, the two are inter-related and interdependent. Let us look at both
aspects.
First, the question of restructuring. In the home countries
of the imperialists, the massive wave of Mergers and Acquisitions, creating ever
more gigantic conglomerates, has resulted in the elimination of smaller and
weaker industries. The M & A wave, which is now slightly reduced, had, two years
back, reached the astronomical figure of over $1 trillion a year. Through this
process, the bourgeoisie was able to get over the immediate effects of the
crisis. First, faced by shrinking markets (and over-production) it was able to
extend its markets by capturing those of the company acquired; second, the large
stock of accumulated capital, which was unable to find an outlet in new (or
expanded) production due to shrinkage of the market, was now utilised (in the
acquisition of the other company/companies). And third, through mergers,
‘rationalisation’ of production was achieved by introduction of high technology
and big cuts in labour — thereby restoring the falling rate of profits. Together
with this restructuring of their capital and production, there was a
simultaneous attack on the working class — through huge cuts in the labour
force, defacto wage freeze, big utilisation of part-time and contract labour,
extension of hours of work, outsourcing of production to low wage areas,
gigantic cuts in government’s social welfare, etc. — resulting in not merely
restoration of the rate of falling profits, but in a windfall increase in
profits.
Now, the second aspect of ‘Globalisation’ — the aggressive
expansion of their markets and tighter control over the backward countries, and
also many of the ex-socialist states. With the collapse of Soviet social
imperialism, much of its markets throughout the third world had been replaced by
the Western (and Japanese) imperialists. Besides, the markets of the ex-Soviet
Union and East Europe too opened out to them. With the collapse of China and a
setback in the international communist movement, not only has the Chinese
markets been opened to imperialist loot, but an aggressive policy of hegemony
and domination of the underdeveloped countries of the world is being adopted, to
enhance the existing loot tenfold. In these backward countries, under the
banner of ‘globalisation’, TNCs are gobbling up large parts of private industry,
public sector industries, finance, banking and insurance, small scale industry
and also their natural resources (agriculture and mining). Trade, is becoming
even more distorted, leading to a huge invisible outflows of wealth to the
imperialist countries. And enormous manipulations on the financial markets have
led to windfall profits to international speculators, while simultaneously
destroying local currencies and stock markets.
These then, are the two major aspects of globalisation. The
second is being facilitated by the governments and ruling classes of the
backward countries, who, acting as conscious betrayers of their country’s
interests, are introducing extensive reforms in policies, laws, regulations,
rules etc. in order to allow this brazen robbery.
And so it is with India. It matters little which government
is ruling at the Centre or in the States, all have been prostrating before their
new god — the Dollar. If the Congress(I) went all-out to open up the economy
between 1991 and 1996, the UF ‘achieved’ in one-and-a-half years (in the sphere
of economic reforms) what the Congress achieved in five. And, as for the BJP, it
has always maintained, that from the very beginning they have been opposed to
so-called Nehruvian socialism and in favour of liberalisation and opening out of
the economy. After coming to power they have proceeded with the opening up of
the economy, at a pace faster than that of the Congress and UF put together. And
as far as the States go, it matters little whether it is the Shiv Sena, BSP
ruled states, or the DMK/AIADMK, Telugu Desam or any of the regional parties, or
even the revisionist CPI/CPM — all have competed with each other, in
their mad desperation to attract foreign capital. So we find ‘globalisation’ of
the Indian economy taking place at break-neck speed.
But before looking at its direct impact on the country, let
us first briefly trace the background of foreign penetration that finally ended
with the country falling prey to globalisation.
Background
At the point of a sword Robert Clive conquered India,
established the East India Company; and so began the 180 years saga of colonial
rule in India. In these years, a class of faithful compradors was created from
amongst the Indian elite, who facilitated British rule in our country, acting as
their agents, and eating off the crumbs from the British dining table. The
feudal Maharajas and the big zamindars were their earliest collaborators. In
later years, this class was joined by the big business houses, and a class of
top bureaucrats educated and nursed by the British themselves. It was these
classes that compromised and stabbed in the back the great freedom struggle,
which continued for over three decades. When the British found it impossible to
continue their direct rule due to the mass upsurge, they transferred power to
these faithful lackeys. The process was facilitated by the rise of a new
imperialist power after World War II, America, which sought to break British
hold over markets throughout the world, and supported such changes.
In 1947 power was transferred from the British to their
Indian lackeys, and India turned from a colony to a semi-colony. British
interests were not touched. To British capital was now added American capital.
Yet, the tempo of the huge anti-colonial mass movement that swept the country,
led to certain reforms vis-à-vis the colonial period.
Then, in the late 1950s capitalist restoration took place in
the Soviet Union, and within the span of a decade the USSR turned from a
socialist country into a social-imperialist country (i.e. socialism in words,
imperialism in deeds), and then into a rival superpower, competing for markets
throughout the world with the US imperialists. Riding piggyback on various
national liberation movements (particularly in Africa and S.E.Asia and to a
lesser extent in Latin America), they sought to oust US influence. Also, many
recently formed semi-colonial countries, like India, sought to use this rivalry
to their advantage to seek some concessions from the imperialists and
social-imperialists. Countries like India, Afghanistan, etc. went into the
Soviet imperialist camp. Social-imperialist ‘aid’ became the backbone of India’s
public sector, which dominated the economy. That same class of feudals, big
business and top bureaucrats that served the British and the Americans, now also
served the USSR.
Then, in the late 1980s the Soviet Union collapsed. China had
already forsaken socialism a decade back. The communist and national liberation
movements were in setback. The field completely opened out to the only existing
superpower, the US, to aggressively push for world domination. With the rise of
rival economic (not military) imperialist centers in Europe and Japan, the US
moved fast. This was facilitated by the leaps in knowledge in information
technology, whose main center of discovery was the US.
Besides, the imperialist system had been in a state of
continuous crisis since the two oil shocks of the 1970s. The crisis deepened in
the 1980s. Drastic solutions were sought. This resulted in the three-pronged
attack already mentioned — that is, an attack on the working-class in their own
country to increase the rate of exploitation and raise profits through what came
to be known as Reganomics and Thatcherism; next, a massive reorganization of
capital through an unheard of wave of Mergers & Acquisitions (M & A), whereby
big capital became giant in size; and third, a new offensive against the
backward countries of the world, to further extend their markets, seize more and
more sources of cheap raw materials, and increase their loot tenfold.
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was this latter
phenomenon that came to be called globalisation. ‘Globalisation’ is nothing
but a nice-sounding word for the ruthless offence of international finance
capital on the backward countries of the world. Earlier, the colonialists
termed their despotism as the civilizing rule of the whites over the darks.
Today, these new colonizers have their own Rudyard Kiplings, in the form of the
Fukuyama’s End of History, that give a sense of inevitability to the new
form of banditry. Besides, the vast leaps in technology, bringing worldwide
events to every home throughout the world by means of TV and Internet, gives a
false image of the so-called global village. Villages there are, and that too
most backward ones throughout the world, but it is the metropolis that dominates
and runs them, particularly the US.
The already weakened economies of the backward countries
through decades of colonial and neo-colonial loot were utilized to batter them
further in the name of ‘aid’. Their battering ram was the IMF-World Bank combine
(later the WTO), which bulldozed these economies with Structural Adjustment
Programmes (SAPs). So, India too, caught in a Balance of Payments crisis, first
in 1981, and again in 1991, also fell into the trap. And as our ‘leaders’ keep
repeating, there has been no looking back to the economic reforms since
initiated, no matter which party is in power at the Centre or in the States. In
the name of globalisation, international finance capital, particularly that of
the US, has, in just this past decade, increased its octopus-like grip, not only
over all spheres of the Indian economy, but also over every aspect of the
socio-political life of the country.
Countries like India are facing the danger of turning from
semi-colonies into neo-colonies — i.e. colonies of a new type.
Dynamics of Globalisation in India & the
Comprador Bureaucrat Class
Clive had to capture India through the sword. No such
problems were faced for the robber barons of globalisation. They were provided a
red carpet. They marched in, to a hero’s welcome, with the fawning ruling elite
beating the drums, cringing for attention and pleading for favours. The
slave-like mentality, nurtured by two-and-a-half centuries of colonial and
neo-colonial forms of exploitation and control, is deeply ingrained in the blood
of these classes, who gain their power and strength, through the regular
infusion of dollars (for their forefathers it was the pound). Witness Clinton’s
arrival in India. Witness how quickly the fundamental laws of the land are
changed, at merely a hint by these foreign upstarts. Witness how our big
business community, merely parrot all the suggestions handed out from the
IMF-WB-WTO combine. Witness how our top bureaucrats produce pompous ‘commission’
and ‘vision’ statements, which are nothing but carbon copies of those
prepared at New York. Witness also how even the Indian Army is beginning to take
orders from top US generals, and Indian intelligence is getting deeply
interwoven with Israel’s Mossad. Witness how Blackwill and other top US
officials freely visit sensitive areas at the border, in Kashmir and the North
East, where ordinary Indians are strictly forbidden to go.
Who then are these collaborators? Are they undercover secret
agents? No doubt, these too exist, but they are not the prime culprits. The
chief agents are the very pillars of this society, what can be called the
class of comprador bureaucrat capitalists.
They comprise a nexus of top politicians, top bureaucrats and
the big business houses. These three categories are interwoven into a network of
interdependence, each thriving on the spoils of the other. Big business makes
fat profits (both white and black) on the concessions handed down by government
policy. In return the business houses fund politicians, gives them kickbacks,
grants them favours and finances their electoral expenses. Besides, the
government’s financial institutions (FIs) and mutual funds (UTI) own a large
percentage of equity capital in these business houses, and public sector banks
give them concessional loans. FIs and banks also have their representatives
(bureaucrats) on the board of directors of these companies. Top bureaucrats (IAS,
IFS, IPS, officers) are the main hatchet men for both the business houses and
the politicians. These three categories have hundreds of other visible and
invisible inter-linking connections. And it is this gangster combine that can be
referred to as the class of comprador bureaucrat capitalists.
Now, into this scenario enters foreign capital and the
imperialists.
The problem with the Indian bourgeoisie was that from its
very birth it was the illegitimate child of British imperialism and Indian
feudalism. Though large in size it never had a totally independent existence of
its own. In this period of globalisation the existing tie-ups have been not only
strengthened but also extended. Not only that, in many cases, they have
completely taken over the local company, turning the earlier owners into their
managers or sales agents. In existing joint ventures (JVs) they have, in
numerous cases, reduced the Indian partner to a minority share with no
management control, making these compradors even more dependent on them.
Wherever there has been any clash of interests the government has always come
out on behalf of the TNCs. The latest example being the introduction of FDI into
the print media, which was opposed by major sections of the media world (and
even by the parliamentary committee appointed to study the problem and present a
report), yet passed by the cabinet. So, Indian big business is being tied ever
more tightly to the apron stings of international finance capital, with their
spokespersons being one of the strongest protagonists of economic reforms.
But, even more servile are the top politicians and
bureaucrats. With no independent source of wealth generation (except of course,
through looting the treasury) they are the worst boot-lickers of the
imperialists who can be bought for a few dollars. In this period of
globalisation they have bowed before the imperialists, particularly the US, even
more than what was asked for. To prove their loyalty, they have sabotaged their
own constitution, they have crudely altered existing laws, they have given
gigantic concessions to TNCs, they have gifted our natural wealth and existing
PSUs to them at throw away prices, and have even mortgaged our land to them in
the name of promoting exports. They have opened out, and are handing over to
them, not only all industry, finance and commerce, but also mining, forestry,
water resources, electric power, agriculture, social sector (health and
education), media, and even our genetic wealth. By bowing to WTO stipulations
they have allowed a flood of imports, destroying our huge small-scale sector and
even agriculture. They have opened out even defense production to foreign
capital. Each day, news comes in, of further capitulation.
It is for this reason that, unlike Clive, neither Clinton nor
Bush has had the necessity to wield the sword. No doubt, any hesitation to
capitulate fully will bring, not swords but guns, battleships and a rain of
bombs as has happened in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. And of course, for
those that dare to oppose and fight this gangster alliance, like the Communist
Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)(People’s War), Maoist Communist Centre, and
others, they must face their full wrath, with the US and World Bank directly
intervening. For the present though, it is an exceedingly cozy relationship
between India’s ruling classes and the imperialists, particularly the US.
So, today what governs the people is not parliament, but this
AXIS of the imperialists (particularly the US) and India’s comprador bureaucrat
class; and it is they who determine all policy in this country. It is they who
have aligned with the backward semi-feudal power structures in the vast
countryside, to keep in check any growth of democratic consciousness and a
democratic movement. It is this backwardness that acts as a major bulwark
against democratic and anti-imperialist awakening. Quite obviously, the fanning
of Hindutva adds to this retrogression and is warmly welcomed by this AXIS.
Having seen, in this introduction, the origin and source of
globalisation in this country, this book shall now analyse in depth its impact
on all spheres of the economy and social life of the country. In this book we
shall first look at its economic impact; then its political impact, and finally
its social impact. In conclusion we shall analyse the alignment of the various
class forces within the country, vis-à-vis this AXIS and the People’s answer to
it.
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