• A just and lasting peace in Kashmir can emerge only on the basis of resolute opposition to imperialist politics in the region!

• The struggle must continue!
  On the formation of 3 new states of Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand:
  The struggle must continue!

• Down with the brutal killing of protesting demonstrators in Hyderabad

• Comrade Hardial Bains

• Memorial meeting in Chandigarh in honour of the life and work of Comrade Hardial Bains

• What kind of Communist Party?
  I. Necessity for a unified vanguard party of the Indian working class

• Eleventh Finance Commission:
  Further Accentuation of the Crisis of Indian Federalism

• Workers in Mumbai hold seminar on Independence Day

A just and lasting peace in Kashmir can emerge only on the basis of resolute opposition to imperialist politics in the region!

The people of India are fed up with the violence and terror that has become the order of the day for the past decade and more in the Kashmir Valley. This has brought nothing but tragedy and ruin for the Kashmiri people, and disgrace for the Indian armed forces and the Government of India, within the country as well as internationally. Kashmir is today a military camp with nearly half of India’s armed forces stationed there as an occupation force, indulging in rape, torture and killings on a scale unparalleled, which has been condemned by democratic public opinion in India and worldwide — as genocide.

For a decade and more, ever since the youth and students of Kashmir rose up in rebellion against injustice and oppression, the government has answered to every appeal of the people with bullets and bayonets, forcing the people to take up arms to secure justice. Refusing to address any of the concerns of the people, the Indian state has indulged in a scorched earth policy, organised terrorist groups to unleash mayhem on the ordinary people, as well as systematically unleashed communal killings to divide the people on communal lines. Thousands of people have been forced to flee the valley and live as refugees on the sidewalks of Delhi and other places in India.

For a genuine and lasting peace to return to Kashmir, it is essential that the forces that are responsible for the terrible plight of the Kashmiri people are clearly identified and isolated. The imperialist-reactionary policies of these forces towards the Kashmiri peoplein particular and to all the peoples of South Asia in general must be exposed and opposed.

Anglo-American imperialism has had a big hand in the Kashmir problem. The partition of India including the partition of Kashmir was organised by Anglo-American imperialism to keep the peoples of India divided and at each other’s throats and perpetuate imperialist economic and military stranglehold over the entire region. The Anglo-American imperialists have played the game from all sides, now backing Pakistan and now India, and at the same time shedding crocodile tears about the fate of the Kashmiri people. Today too, they have devious designs and are fishing in troubled waters as they pretend to be for a peaceful solution of the Kashmir problem.

The Anglo-American imperialists openly negate the right of nations and peoples to self-determination, even as they use the stick of "human rights violations" and "humanitarianism" to pick and chose in which region of the world to intervene militarily and extend their hegemony. Behind the smokescreen of bringing peace to the valley, they are coordinating their plans today with the Indian ruling class to establish a strategic partnership in the region. History is record of the fact that the US imperialists were the chief backers of the state of Pakistan during the Cold War period, as well as were very close with the Yugoslav leadership both during Tito’s time and afterwards. Both these alliances were directed at containing the then Soviet Union. After the end of the Cold War, US imperialism has been working out new arrangements in all parts of the globe to establish its hegemony over the whole world. In the process, it ditched its old friend the Yugoslavs and has together with other European imperialists forcibly dismembered Yugoslavia. Nearer home, it is ditching its ally Pakistan and seeking new arrangements with India. The people of Kashmir as well as the people of India must ponder over the lessons this holds for them. What has happened with Pakistan and Yugoslavia today can happen tomorrow with Kashmir as well as with India.

There is need for uncompromising opposition to collaboration with US imperialism. The designs of Anglo-American imperialism needs to be thwarted if the people of the subcontinent are to make any headway in solving the Kashmir problem or any other problem.

The solution to the Kashmir problem cannot be left in the hands of the ruling class of India or Pakistan either. The Indian ruling class has its hands drenched in the blood of the Kashmiri people. Its approach to the land and resources of the Kashmiri people is a typically imperialist territorial approach. The Pakistani ruling class too views Kashmir as an apple to be eaten and not from the viewpoint of the rights of the Kashmiris. Neither the Indian nor the Pakistan states recognises the right of the Kashmiris to determine their own destiny. Both have always played the games of the imperialists to the detriment of all the peoples of the subcontinent.

The people of India must force the Indian State to unconditionally accept the sovereignty of the Kashmiri people, their right to determine their own destiny. The people of Pakistan must do the same in the part of Kashmir that is in Pakistan today. All those responsible for the genocide of the Kashmiri people must be punished and the armed forces withdrawn into the barracks. The peoples of the subcontinent must fight for the unity of all the peoples of South Asia against the imperialist-reactionary policies of the Indian ruling class and its dangerous and ever growing collaboration with US imperialism.

The peoples of the sub-continent are brothers and it is the ruling class of India and Pakistan and the imperialists who have divided them. They must condemn the policies of their respective rulers and work for lasting peace and friendship in the region. Lasting and genuine peace in Kashmir, and a democratic solution of the Kashmir problem will emerge through the conscious act of the peoples. It will not come by leaving the question of peace in the hands of the rulers, the foreign imperialists or their numerous agencies.

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The struggle must continue!

The demand for the creation of these states is a product of the deep-seated sense of alienation and resentment of the peoples of these regions over many years. What commonly characterizes the situation in all these regions is their economic backwardness and deprivation, low standards of living and very meagre sources of livelihood for the peoples living there, despite some of these regions being rich in human and natural resources. Besides, in all these regions, the peoples have a distinctive culture and sense of identity evolved over centuries, but this distinctive identity has not been adequately recognised or protected or allowed to have a political form. The common grievance of the peoples of all these regions is their resentment over being ‘ruled from afar’, with all major decisions relating to their regions being taken outside, with themselves having little or no say at all.

Among the peoples of Uttarakhand, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand, broad-based struggles have been waged over many years against these conditions, and these struggles have found a focus in the demand for separate states. At the present time, when the statehood bills have found a relatively easy passage through the Lok Sabha, it is important to remember how those in power at the Centre and in the concerned states, from different political parties, ruthlessly sought to crush the struggles at various stages. No one can forget, for instance, the bestial repression unleashed on the fighters for Uttarakhand at Mussoorie and on their women protestors at Muzaffarnagar just a few years back. Apart from direct repression, every legal and parliamentary trick in the book was used to frustrate the struggle for statehood. The passage of the bills for statehood now in the Lok Sabha is naturally an important victory that testifies to the steadfastness and courage of those who have made huge sacrifices for it over the years.

It is also important to recognise that the same conditions that have fuelled the demand for separate statehood in these regions – that is, economic backwardness and exploitation, poverty, repression, lack of representation in the circles of power, and so on – also characterise the situation in the remaining part of the states from which Uttarakhand, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand have been carved, as well as the situation in the rest of India as a whole. What does this tell us? It shows that these conditions are part and parcel of the overall political and economic system in India, and are not just a function of a lack of statehood. It shows that the fighting people of Uttarakhand, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand simply cannot afford to relax and expect that, now that they have their own separate states, conditions for the people will automatically change for the better.

The capitalist system in place in India is the source of the exploitation and poverty of the masses of toiling people in whichever part of the country. It has led to the devastation of once prosperous regions, regions rich in resources, and to uneven development, as the pattern of economic development is dictated by the profits of the rich propertied classes rather than by the wellbeing of the majority. The source of the deep-seated alienation of the people from power, on the other hand, is the system of parliamentary democracy itself, and the configuration of the present-day Indian Union. Parliamentary democracy keeps the exercise of power away from the hands of the masses of people and puts it in the hands of intermediaries and power brokers like the political parties of the rich. The present-day Indian Union too is not based on the principled recognition of the sovereignty of the various nations, nationalities and tribal peoples that constitute India, but is an arrangement of convenience in which the controlling powers lie with those who control power at the Centre. The same Parliament that can grant statehood one day can also take away, or in some other ways tamper with, statehood when it decides.

To really enjoy the better life for which they aspire, and for which they have fought for so long, the peoples of Uttarakhand, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand cannot afford to relax at this stage. A much longer and harder struggle awaits them, against even greater obstacles than they have faced so far. Battle-hardened and made more conscious through their long struggles, they must not now give up the initiative to those who will make empty promises about how they will solve all the people’s problems if they are voted to membership in the new legislatures and governments. Nor should they allow the fruits of their struggle and sacrifice to be appropriated by those who will now undoubtedly squabble for kursis, for ministries and the perks of office. With no let-up, and basing themselves entirely on the high morale and organised strength and consciousness of their peoples, they must continue to fight in defence of the people’s rights and livelihood, and for the genuine empowerment of the people.

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Down with the brutal killing of protesting demonstrators in Hyderabad

Chandra Babu Naidu’s government had earlier banned the demonstration but had to give in at the last moment in the face of severe opposition from all sections of the people. The demonstrators defied prohibitory orders and tried to break the police cordon to advance towards the assembly, when they were shot at like pigeons. Horrified press reporters watched persons collapsing right in front of them after being hit by bullets. The police fired intermittently for 45 minutes while thousands of demonstrators advanced in waves holding the red flag aloft and raising slogans against the government. The government later banned a TV broadcast by Siticable which showed people being fired at from close range. Such is the real face of Naidu’s "liberal" government.

To justify the brutal assault, Naidu has blamed that "extremist elements" tried to create violence and that the Congress(I) has "allowed itself to be led into an alliance with Marxist-Leninist groups".

Two statements by political observers capture the essence of the people’s protest in Hyderabad. One statement said that Mr. Naidu was "making a mistake if he thinks of suppressing a people’s movement through gun power". Another statement said that from now on, "the people themselves will decide the form of agitation".

These statements reflect precisely the mood of the workers, peasants and all other sections of people who are now vigorously opposing all the measures of the big bourgeoisie in the name of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. There are very few Indians now who are not convinced that these reforms of the ruling classes have benefited no one except the big moneybags and has brought ruin and starvation to vast sections of the working people.

In recent times, it is in Andhra Pradesh, which is being promoted by the Indian ruling classes as well as imperialists the world over as the role model of "economic progress", that people have mounted massive protests against privatisation, price hikes and withdrawal of subsidies. The power workers in the state have been agitating against the proposed privatisation for many months now. It is in this state that hundreds of peasants have committed suicide, unable to cope with the ruinous market forces. It is in this state that millions of children die at birth, millions of people are illiterate and millions of others live a denigrating life in extreme poverty and want.

The growing protests and demonstrations all over India reveal the immense frustration and anger of the working people against the economic reforms which the big bourgeoisie has been pushing as a panacea for all the ills in Indian society, while in actual fact they have exacerbated the problems even more.

It is the right of the working people to defend their livelihood and dignity. It is also their right to decide the form of agitation they think is effective. Finally, it is their right to demand that it is they who should decide the economic and political orientation of India!

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Comrade Hardial Bains August 15, 1939 — August 24, 1997

Comrade Hardial Bains was the architect, the theoretician, the inspirer and founder of our Party. Comrade Hardial Bains lived and worked in the period in which great anti-imperialist revolutionary struggles raged in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and when the youth and students of North America and Europe rose in revolt against the unjust order. This was also the period in which modern revisionism in the Soviet Union and other former socialist countries, as well as in the communist parties of various countries, began its deadly assault on socialism and the science of Marxism-Leninism, culminating in the collapse of the Soviet Union and the retreat of revolution on a world scale. Comrade Bains’ theoretical and practical work bear the indelible mark of a communist who fought in all these varied conditions, guided by the compass of Marxism-Leninism, for the victory of revolution and communism in India as well as the whole world.

Comrade Hardial Bains was a true revolutionary fighter. In the tradition of the ghadari babas of the first half of the twentieth century, he inspired the new generation of Indians who went to Canada in search of livelihood to fight for their rights against the racist discrimination of the Canadian state. What is more, he took up the cause of the proletariat of the country of his adoption, and was the founder and architect and leader of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) till his last moments. He also founded the Hindustani Ghadar Party (Organisation of Indian Marxist-Leninists Abroad) in 1970 and inspired a whole band of communist revolutionaries to come to India and take up the banner of the Indian revolution.

Comrade Hardial Bains made an invaluable contribution to our party and the communist movement in the present period of retreat of revolution. He did this, first of all, by preparing the party and the communists in advance and taking theoretical and organisational measures to face the new situation. Secondly, he began the work of elaborating afresh the fundamental principles of our doctrine in the new conditions, so as to enable the party and the communist movement to face the assault against communism by imperialism and reaction and to capture and expand the space available for communism in these conditions.

Our Party, the Communist Ghadar Party of India, boldy marches ahead today to fulfil the unfulfilled mission of Comrade Hardial Bains and so many other communist revolutionaries, of putting an end to the man eating system of capitalist exploitation and oppression and ushering in the bright new communist dawn in India. This is the way we honour the memory of this great revolutionary.

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A communist from Chandigarh initiated the meeting and read out a brief statement on the life and work of Comrade Hardial Bains prepared by the organisers. Following this, a patriotic Indian living in Canada for over thirty years, addressed the gathering. In a beautiful and moving way, from his own life experience and perception, he portrayed the rich all-sided personality and the glorious work of Comrade Hardial Bains in the struggle in defence of the community, both in Canada and in India. He brought out how from the very first meeting that he attended in Canada, the personality and character of Comrade Bains inspired confidence in the future and the cause. He traced the heroic struggle waged by the South Asian community in Canada against racist violence under the leadership of Comrade Hardial Bains and the East Indian Defence Committee which resulted in the fostering of self-respect and pride in the community. He explained the work of Hardial Bains in uniting the working class and people of Canada cutting across racial and national differences, and building the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist). He spoke about the great work of Comrade Bains in uniting people against state terrorism and in defence of human rights, at a time when Punjab was under the jackboots of the armed forces and state terror was the order of the day. The work of Hardial Bains "The Call of the Martyrs" cut through the lies and slanders of the ruling class and its apologists and gave a correct perspective on the nature of the struggle, he pointed out. He brought out the sharp contrast in which the majority of political parties in India capitulated to the line of the Indian state and became apologists for state terrorism.

Following this presentation, comrades of the Communist Ghadar Party of India addressed the assembly. They spoke passionately of how Comrade Hardial Bains had inspired so many revolutionary workers and youth who had gone for a livelihood or to advance their career to North America to take up the cause of revolution and communism. They spoke about the glorious role of Comrade Hardial Bains and the party he founded, the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) in defending and elaborating the principles of communism in the conditions of the time. Comrade Bains carried out his revolutionary activity in the heartland of Anglo-American imperialism and he was characterised by the deepest love for the proletariat and people of Canada and the most uncompromising attitude towards Anglo-American imperialism. Comrade Hardial Bains was a true internationalist who worked for communism wherever he lived and worked. He worked first in the period of the rise of revisionism in the Soviet Union and was its bitterest opponent, and steadfastedly defended the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism. He founded the Hindustani Ghadar Party (Organisation of Indian Marxist-Leninists Abroad) and he was the inspirer, the architect and the founder of the Communist Ghadar Party of India. In the period following the collapse of Soviet Union where revolution had suffered retreat, Comrade Bains was at the forefront of the struggle of communists worldwide to elaborate contemporary Marxism-Leninism in order to prepare the communists for the next round of revolutions. He left us with his work unfinished. The real tribute to Comrade Hardial Bains is for the communists of today to pour all their energies into completing his unfinished work, and stepping up the struggle to end the man eating system of exploitation and ushering in the communist society in India.

The leader of the Punjab State Committee of the Communist Party of India next addressed the gathering. He hailed the work of Comrade Hardial Bains in organising the Indian community against racist violence and called for the restoration of communist unity.

Justice Ajit Singh Bains, Chairman of the PHRO and eldest brother of the departed leader spoke movingly about his younger brother and comrade in arms, his steadfast commitment to principles, his readiness to brave all sacrifices for the cause he upheld.

The final speaker was the host of the gathering, the secretary of the Punjab Kala Kendra. He spoke passionately about the deep impression that Comrade Hardial Bains had made when he had met him in Vancouver in 1981. The simplicity, the love for the people that characterised Comrade Bains and his deep love for Punjabi folk culture had deeply moved him. Here was a man who came from a family that was cultured and well established, a highly educated man who had willingly and voluntarily forsaken luxury and a comfortable life within the system for the cause of revolution by organising a party of revolution in a foreign land. For this he had to face persecution from the Canadian state, but this never deterred him from his chosen course. The speaker announced that the Punjab Kala Kendra, had dedicated that days street theatre show to the memory of Comrade Hardial Bains. Among others who participated in the program was noted human rights activist Inder Singh Jaijee.

The memorial meeting concluded in an atmosphere of vigorous informal discussion on the future of communism in India.

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The ruling big bourgeoisie of India declares that there is no alternative to the "second generation of reforms". It has openly declared that its program is "not negotiable". This program of the bourgeoisie means more intense exploitation and plunder of the land and labour of the working class and people, jointly by the Indian and foreign monopolies. It means sell-out of national assets to the highest bidder. The ruling big bourgeoisie is imposingits self-serving and anti-social program on the working class and people through its two major parties —the BJP and the Congress Party.

The so-called economic reforms which the BJP led NDA Government has begun to implement involves the further accelerationof privatisation and liberalisation, including hike in food prices in the PDS, in rates charged for power, water and other essential needs. It involves cutting down subsidies to agriculture. It is being justified by the credo that whatever is good for big business is good for the whole country, and that the State should withdraw from the provision of public services and each man, woman and child should fend for themselves.

The working class has begun to assert its claims and contest the claims of the bourgeoisie. However, the capacity of the Indian working class to make use of the opportunity to isolate the bourgeoisie is being seriously hampered by the divided and diverted state of the Indian communist movement. Different parties and trends within the communist movement continue to send conflicting signals to the working class, thereby undermining the efforts of the class to act as one conscious force to turn the tide in favour of the toiling and oppressed people.

In order to isolate the bourgeoisie and triumph over it, the working class needs to overcome all divisions in its ranks and present an immediate fighting program to lift Indian society out of the crisis—a bold scientific socialist alternative of reorienting the economy to provide for all. The working class needs to rally the peasantry and all other exploited and oppressed around such a fighting program. In order to do so, the working class needs a single unified vanguard communist party at its head. It needs a party that is strictly of the class, a part of the class, consisting of the most conscious, courageous, disciplined, self-sacrificng and far-sighted elements of the class. It needs a party capable of leading the working class and people in battle against the anti-social offensive and linking this with the strategic aim of overthrowing capitalism and the colonial legacy and building a prosperous, modern, socialist India free from any form of exploitation or oppression of persons by persons.

What kind of Communist Party does the movement need in India today? It is important to discuss and clarify this question, as a condition for restoring the unity of Indian communists and the fighting unity of the working class.

Should the Communist Party be a parliamentary party, which participates in the existing political process and seeks a share of the existing power in its own hands? Such a party necessarily will spread illusions about the existing political power and be preoccupied with the building of vote banks among the workers and other oppressed masses. Such a party will be nothing but an electoral machine that serves to maintain the existing system based on exclusion of the toiling masses from political power.

Or should the Communist Party be a revolutionary party that organises and empowers the working class and all the oppressed to overthrow the rule of capital and establish a new power where the people can begin to govern themselves?

More than 150 years ago, Marx and Engels clarified in the Manifesto of the Communist Party, that the working class has to organise itself as the ruling class, in order to put an end to the system of production based on the exploitation of labour, and pave the way for classless society. In order to become the ruling class, and remain the ruling class throughout the period of transition from capitalism to communism, the working class needs its own vanguard political party, its most organised and advanced detachment.

Lenin elaborated the main features required of a Communist Party of the new type in the era of imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. This is the era when the proletariat has to take up for solution, as an immediate practical task, the question of replacing the bourgeois dictatorship with a new political power, the dictatorship of the proletariat. This new political power will preside over the suppression of the exploiters and the transformation from capitalism to socialism. It will be the broadest possible democracy that defends the rights of all the peoples to livelihood and to sovereignty. The vanguard party of the working class has to play its leading role as the instrument for the empowerment of the working class and people.

The rise and fall of socialism in the USSR has brought home to all communists today that the approach to the question of political power defines the class character of a political party in modern times. A bourgeois party seeks power in its own hands within the system and process of bourgeois representative democracy. The Communist Party on the other hand seeks to organise the working class to establish a new kind of democracy, proletarian democracy, based on empowering the broad masses of people to crush the exploiting classes. The Bolshevik party played this role during the first stage of socialist revolution in the Soviet Union. As a result, the working class became the ruling class. However, at a later stage, after the death of JV Stalin, particularly in the wake of its 20th Congress, the Bolshevik party became transformed into an instrument to keep the working masses out of the political process. The working class lost its position as the ruling class.

The modern Communist Party cannot substitute itself for the class or for the state power. It cannot build a party dictatorship in place of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Any party that does so will either go out of being altogether, or degenerate into a bourgeois party, into an instrument for restoring and maintaining the rule of capital. This is an important lesson from the negative experience in the Soviet Union.

One of the most important principles of a Leninist Party of the new type, a party of revolution, is that its foundation lies in basic organisations, which are cells of class struggle in the midst of the class and its natural allies. It is this quality that makes the Communist Party an instrument for the empowerment of the working class and all the oppressed. It distinguishes the communist vanguard of the working class from the parliamentary parties of the bourgeoisie.

In order to theoretically and ideologically arm all the Indian communists and working class activists, People’s Voice / Mazdoor Ekta Lehar will regularly carry this series called What kind of Communist Party? The series is expected to cover several important themes, such as: the question of building the basic organisations in the class, parliamentarism and excitative terrorism, necessity to develop Indian theory, relation between the party and the class, collective leadership and individual responsibility, role of the party press, etc.

Readers are invited to participate in the discussion of these themes around the question: What kind of Communist Party? They are encouraged to send their contributions in writing.

All the basic organisations of the Party are urged to participate actively in the discussion of this important question. The political aim of this discussion is to enable the restoration of unity of Indian communists, which would enable the Indian working class to triumph over the bourgeoisie and open the door to the progress of Indian society.

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Eleventh Finance Commission:

Further Accentuation of the Crisis of Indian Federalism

The EFC was specifically asked, in its terms of reference issued in 1999, to find a way to "restructure the finances of central and state governments" so as to instill fiscal discipline all around and bring about financial stability. An addition to the terms of reference, added at a later stage, asked the EFC to also develop "indicators of fiscal performance" by the states and use these for distributing some portion of the resources among them. However, far from any stability or common discipline, the EFC award has led to an acute division and controversy among the states, creating an embarrassing situation for the Central Government.

The recommendations of the EFC have been met with strident opposition on the part of the relatively more prosperous or less poor states, including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Punjab. This group of states, led by the AP Chief Minister Naidu, an important ally of the NDA Government, has accused the EFC of "punishing the better performing states" rather than "rewarding good performance". The poorer states such as UP and Rajasthan, on the other hand, have welcomed the award of the EFC and accused the critics as being callous towards the needs of the poorest states. The division between the different states has created problems for the Vajpayee Government in New Delhi, which relies on support from parties that are represented on both sides of the divide.

The controversy over the award of the EFC is a sign of the intractable nature of the crisis of Indian federalism today. The basis for this crisis lies in the economic crisis of capitalism and the accentuation of uneven regional development. As a result of the capitalist crisis and the efforts of the big bourgeoisie to get out of it through liberalisation and privatisation, the inequality among the states has become more acute, raising the requirements of the poorer states for financial support. On the other hand, the very same process of globalisation through liberalisation has accentuated competition and rivalry among bourgeois groups belonging to the more developed states, none of whom are willing to concede a greater share of resources to the poorer states.

As far as the working class and people are concerned, the issue is not to support or to oppose the EFC Report. That is not how the question is posed. What is the solution to the crisis of Indian federalism? Can it be solved within the existing framework of the Indian Union, as it is constituted, through the mechanism of Finance Commissions that are appointed once in 5 years? Or does the Indian Union need to be reconstituted afresh, with sovereignty vested in the hands of the peoples, in order to lift India out of the crisis? That is how the question is posed.

To begin with, the Indian Union is not a voluntary union of various constituents who decided to come together. The powers of the Union Government, as defined in the 1950 Constitution of India, are not derived from its constituents. Rather, supreme power is vested in the Union, including all residual powers, while some specific responsibilities and limited taxing authority are devolved to the states. The states derive their powers from what the Union gives to them, which can also be taken away at any time under Article 265 of the Constitution, in the name of "law and order" and "threat to internal security".

The Central Government concentrates the bulk of financial resources in its hands, both revenues and borrowed resources. It then distributes a part of these resources among all the states according to a prescribed formula, based on the recommendations of the Finance Commission and on the advice of the Planning Commission.

The program of the working class is to redefine the relationship between the Union and its constituents on a modern democratic basis. This means, first of all, that the sovereignty of each constituent people is recognised and affirmed in the constitution. The Union then will get those powers that are assigned to it by the constituents, on a voluntary basis.

Under such a program of reconstitution, it is not the Central Government that will concentrate the bulk of resources in its hands and distribute them among the states. On the contrary, each constituent will have claim upon the resources generated by its people and the Union will only get to allocate those resources that the constituents willingly surrender to it.

Such a reconstitution of the Indian Union on a voluntary basis is required to lift India out of the crisis. Only then can a new arrangement be established where every nation, nationality and tribal people within India will want to remain part of the Union because they benefit from this arrangement. Only such an Indian Union can be stable.

Once political stability is secured, financial stability, economic security and prosperity can also be secured by carrying forward the program of reorienting the economy to serve the needs of all members of society. Ultimately, only the transformation from capitalism to socialism through the revolution can secure the future of the Indian Union as a civilised polity that contributes to the flourishing of all the peoples in India and internationally.

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As the meeting began, additional chairs had to be brought in and they had to be brought closer together to fit the more than 300 participants of the seminar, a majority of whom were workers. A good section of the participants were women and many were students.

Com. Radhika welcomed the participants on behalf of CGPI and called upon the representatives of other organisations to take their place on the dais. She explained that the reason for starting the meeting late was the police harassment of the leaders of the procession for shouting slogans on the road without their permission. She then explained the importance of discussing the unfinished tasks of the Freedom movement, saying that only the working class was capable of defending genuine democracy and of eliminating the legacy of the British imperialism.

This was followed by different sessions on various themes. Between sessions many participants intervened giving experience of their own struggles and concerns. Many of the interventions were made by youth from the working class.

The first session focussed on the direction of the Indian economy. The opening speaker pointed out that the existing capitalist system had not even been able to solve the basic problem of satisfying the essential needs of the people. She stressed the need to eliminate the role of middlemen in the trade of essential items of mass consumption with the purpose of protecting the interests of both the agricultural producers as well as the consumers, and also to do away with parasitic expenditure in the form of payment for foreign debt and war preparations. The funds thus saved should be diverted to serve the needs of the working masses.

The next speaker challenged the assertion of the ruling class that the economy is too difficult for the workers to understand. He drew a comparison between managing the economy of the country with the management of household expenses. In a family, if the head of the family squanders away the income for personal luxury at the expense of the needs of the children, then it will be considered wrong and unacceptable. In the same way the current direction of the country’s economy is wrong and unacceptable because it permits a minority to live in luxury while even the basic needs of the majority are not satisfied.

Com. V. K. Murthy elaborated on how the lives of the working class have been going from bad to worse. 28 crore children of our country go to schools which have no blackboards or teachers. On the Human development scale our country is rated not sixth, but hundred and thirty sixth! The anti-social offensive started by the Congress (I) govt. is also being carried on by the BJP led NDA govt. He cautioned the workers to be vigilant and not let their leaders sell-out their interests through treachery and deceit.

The representative of Kamagar Adhikar Manch emphasised the need for unity for building a bright future for the working people. The working class movement would be strengthened when workers got organised in their own places of work and linked up with other workers. The legacy of the British in dividing the working people had to be eliminated yet. The large population in the countryside could not be ignored, he stressed.

In her address, the speaker from Lok Raj Sangathan said that we were always told in school that we Indians are one, but actually we are two – the toilers and the exploiters. She cautioned the workers not to have illusions about the different arms of the State. The army and courts are not neutral but work for the interest of the exploiters. She called for building a new system that would work for lok kalyan, in which the toilers would enjoy the benefits of economic progress while those who don’t want to work would remain hungry.

The next speaker spoke of the struggles that were going all around the country. She urged the workers to take on their historical role of leading these struggles into a mighty storm that would uproot the existing oppressing system.

The comrade of Ladaku Garment Mazdoor Union exposed the nature of bourgeois democracy that existed in our country. This democracy was "for the rich, of the rich and by the rich", he said. Masses of the people had no role in influencing decisions and policies of the country. The workers needed to hold the full control over power in their own hands if they wanted to have their say in how the resources of the country were deployed.

The next speaker then pointed out that whatever hope that the masses had had of improving their lot after Independence has been smashed by the experience of the last 53 years. All bourgeois parties have become discredited, and that is why the ruling class is resorting to more and more criminal and communal means to impose their dictate. The criminals who perpetrated heinous crimes against the toilers in communal massacres of 1984 and 1992-93 are still not punished because it was the rulers themselves that were behind these pogroms. The speaker pointed out that in spite of massive military and paramilitary presence in Kashmir, innocent people were getting killed every day.

Concluding the seminar, Com. Radhika said that it is correct to say that "Yeh azaadi adhuri hai, desh ki janata bhookhi hai". It is also not wrong to say that the "gora angrez" had been replaced by the "kale angrez". The British rulers left their legacy behind in the form of the Constitution, laws and institutions. If the working class movement has to make headway, it has to smash this colonial legacy.

Com Radhika further stressed that for the working class to advance it was necessary to strengthen the party of the working class, the communist party. The working class needed a party to advocate its interests just as the ruling class needed bourgeois parties to defend their interests. However, a communist party differs from the bourgeois parties in a fundamental way. The aim of the communist party is to prepare the working class to rule the country. Bourgeois parties are run by High Commands, whereas in the Communist party, the highest body is the collective of members.

Under the leadership of the Communist party, the speaker concluded, it is possible for the working class to reorient the economy so that it fulfils the needs of the toilers, to renew the political process so that people have say in all decision making, and to bring lasting peace and friendship between the countries of this region and the world.

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