PEOPLE'S
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PEOPLE'S
VOICE
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Internet
Edition: March 1-15, 2003
Published by the Communist Ghadar Party of India |
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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The
Next Step The militant march to Parliament by lakhs of workers from all over India on February 26th marks an important event in the struggle of India’s workers and peasants, women and youth, against the anti-social offensive launched by the bourgeoisie, Indian and international. What should the workers do when they get back to their respective areas after this historic march to Parliament? What is the next step in the struggle against the bourgeois offensive? What should the organisers of the working class focus on at this time? For a start, it is essential to engage as many workers as possible in the discussion of the program to defeat the bourgeois offensive. Such discussion must take place in the trade unions, co-operatives, and other associations and organisations of workers, peasants, women and youth. There is a need for discussion forums amongst the workers, peasants and all the oppressed. There is a need to discuss and grasp the necessity for an organised, persistent and collective struggle against the anti-social offensive. There is need to grasp the alternative to the program of the bourgeoisie. The aim of that alternative program is to bring workers and peasants to power so that the economy can be oriented to ensure prosperity and protection for all the toilers and tillers of the land. The urgent need is to attract and bring together all those who are opposed to the bourgeois offensive and aspire for a new India. The need of the hour is to establish sangharsh samitis as organs to defend the rights of the people against the attacks of the bourgeoisie and its state. Such samitis must not be allowed to become the tool of this or that parliamentary party to come to power. Sangharsh samitis are needed in factories and workplaces, as well as in residential areas. The toiling and oppressed masses need these samitis so as to oppose all forms of oppression, including national oppression, caste discrimination, state terrorism and communal violence. They need their own samitis in order to assert their claims — the claims of the toilers, tillers, women and youth. The Indian working class has shown its readiness to come out on the streets to oppose the medieval, barbaric and imperialist course on which the big bourgeoisie is dragging the country. In order to change the course of India, the working class has to unite around its own program to reorient the economy, empower the hitherto oppressed people and reconstitute India as a voluntary union of nations and peoples, and as a modern democratic Worker-Peasant Republic. Democratic renewal of India—the demand of the toilers! Workers, Peasants, Women ands youth, We constitute India, We are her masters! Inquilab Zindabad! |
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Democratic centralism – indispensable weapon of the working class and its monolithic communist party India is a class divided society. On the one side stand the exploiters headed by the big bourgeoisie, with the means of production and state power in their hands. On the other side are the exploited masses, headed by the working class. The working class has neither any means of production nor state power in its hands. All it has is the strength of its numbers, its revolutionary capacity and no other interest than to end its exploitation. In order to use its strength effectively to lead all the oppressed and defeat the bourgeoisie, the working class needs to be led by a vanguard party that is organised on the basis of the principles of democratic centralism. Democratic centralism is the most advanced theory of organisation, given birth to by the most revolutionary class in society, the modern proletariat. The principles of democratic centralism were elaborated by Comrade Lenin and put into practice to build the Communist Party of Soviet Union (Bolshevik), which led the working class to seize political power and build the world’s first socialist country in the 20th century. Bourgeois parties are centralised on an exclusive basis, with the majority of members having no say in decision making. Supreme power is exercised by a ‘high command’, whose decisions the ‘rank and file’ members of the party are supposed to implement. The Communist Party, as the party that leads the working class in revolution, cannot be centralised on an exclusive basis, that is by excluding the membership from decision making. It can and must be centralised on a democratic, i.e., inclusive basis. The working class, because of its very class nature, gravitates towards socialism. It is characterised by the singularity of its class aim of eliminating all forms of exploitation of persons by persons. In order to realise this aim, the working class must transform itself into a united political force, with the advanced section organised into the vanguard party. Such a party must be democratic in order to draw on the strength and initiative of all its members, and centralised in order to act according to a single plan and as a monolithic force that strikes at the weakest point of the bourgeoisie. The deviation of the CPSU(B) from the principles of democratic centralism, its conversion into a bureaucratically centralised party of a privileged stratum, is responsible for the decay of socialism and its conversion into social-imperialism during the latter half of the 20th century. This retrogressive process led ultimately to the complete disintegration of the Soviet Union. Democratic centralism means that the supreme decision making power in the party lies with the Party Congress(the general assembly of delegates selected by the entire membership, through their respective organisations). The Congress sets the general line of march, adopts the political program of the Party and elects the Central Committee, which is the highest decision making body in between two successive Congresses. The Central Committee leads the work of the entire Party in the period between two Congresses in accordance with the direction set by the Congress of the Party. The Central Committee does not have the right to overturn the decisions of the Congress that elected it. Another Congress has to be convened to make such changes. The Communist Party is a system of organisations, with every party member required to work in at least one of the party organisations. The minority is subordinate to the majority in every party organisation; and the decisions of lower bodies are subordinate to the decisions of the higher bodies. The entire party acts according to a single line of march, fighting to implement one single plan and program. The Communist Party is a voluntary union of individual communists, where party discipline is conscious discipline, not involuntary and imposed from above. The discipline of fighting for unity around the party line is based on every party member recognising the necessity for monolithic unity in order for the working class to win victory in the class struggle. Decision making power in the Communist Party does not lie in the hands of any individual at any level. It lies in the meeting of the party organisation. It is only the meeting of the party organisation that makes the decisions, assigns responsibilities to individual members and checks up on their implementation. Each and every member is empowered to have his or her say in decision making of the party organisation. Decisions are arrived at only after thorough discussion, respecting and enabling the exercise of the right of every individual to express his or her view during the discussion. Once the discussion is over, a decision is taken either by consensus, or when differences of views persist, by a democratic vote. While those in the minority enjoy the right to have their opinion recorded for subsequent consideration as needed, no member has the right to violate the decision of the party organisation to which he or she belongs. He or she has the duty to fight for the implementation of the decisions taken. In a Communist Party that is organised on the basis of democratic centralism, the individual is not subordinate to the collective, nor is the collective subordinate to the individual. The individual plays his or her role in harmony with the collective. Only with every individual playing his or her role with maximum initiative is it possible to have a vibrant party that is capable of attracting and concentrating the best of the working class and providing leadership to the revolutionary movement. Democratic centralism is the most inclusive method of centralising political action, i.e., of organising collective human action for achieving very definite changes in the material conditions of society. The time-tested theory and principles of democratic centralism constitute an indispensable weapon for the working class to build its vanguard party and emerge victorious in the class struggle against the bourgeoisie. |
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The ideas of the Communist Manifesto are immortal One hundred and fifty five years ago, in February 1848, the Manifesto of the Communist Party, written by Marx and Engels, was published. This publication, which has come to be known as the Communist Manifesto (or the ‘Manifesto’ for short), has been translated in hundreds of languages and is one of the most widely read written works in the history of the world. The ideas presented in the Manifesto are valid until today and serve as a guide to the working class in its struggle for emancipation from exploitation. The central idea that is developed in the Communist Manifesto is that the history of society so far has been a history of class struggle, which will necessarily lead to the downfall of the bourgeoisie and the victory of the proletariat. With historical facts and irrefutable logic, the Manifesto shows that the capitalist mode of production, which is a product of historical evolution and periodic revolutions in society, represents a particular stage in the development of society, the last stage of exploitative class society. Bourgeois society is a society where the production of material needs is highly socialised, while the relations among human beings in the course of the production process is based on private ownership over the means of production. As a result of this contradiction at its base, between social production and private ownership and appropriation, capitalist society inevitably lands itself repeatedly in crises of ever increasing intensity. The very development of capitalism poses the problem of the need for a qualitative leap from private property to social property as the basis for social production. The Communist Manifesto argues powerfully for the necessity for the crisis-ridden capitalist mode of production to go out of being, giving way to the next higher stage of society, which is socialism, the initial stage of communism. The Manifesto also identifies the proletariat as the material force to lead this transformation, giving it the role of the "grave-digger of the capitalist system". The success, although short-lived, of the Paris Commune in 1871, brought to light important lessons that confirmed as well as enriched the thesis of the Manifesto. The earth-shattering victory of the proletariat in 1917 in the form of the Great October Socialist Revolution and the establishment of the Soviet Union as a worker-peasant state, provided living proof of the correctness of the ideas of the Communist Manifesto. Ever since the capitalist restoration in the Soviet Union led to its ultimate disintegration in 1991, the imperialist bourgeoisie and world reaction have been shouting themselves hoarse that the Communist Manifesto has become irrelevant. They are asserting that the Manifesto has itself "become history", meaning that it is no longer relevant for the contemporary world. However, they are unable to hide the ever-deeper crises that continue to envelop the capitalist world, resulting from the fundamental contradiction between social production and private ownership of the means of production, just as predicted in the Manifesto. The Manifesto presented in very clear terms the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation, which holds that as capitalism develops, and as greater and greater wealth is concentrated in fewer and fewer capitalist hands, the lot of the working class and toiling masses necessarily deteriorates. The rich become richer and the poor become poorer. Ever since the publication of the Communist Manifesto, the bourgeoisie has been trying through might and main to "refute" its conclusions. However, facts are stubborn things, which force the bourgeoisie to adapt to the situation and find new justifications and apologies for continuing with the crisis-ridden capitalist system. It would be comic, if it were not so tragic, that the main preoccupation of thousands of highly paid economists and ‘experts’ of the World Bank and other such organisations today lies in painting a rosy picture of capitalist development as being "pro-poor growth". In his monumental work called Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, Lenin described how capitalism had developed to its highest and last stage, the stage of monopoly capitalism, the stage of capitalist imperialism. He showed how the parasitic character of monopoly capitalism had developed on the basis of the economic laws discovered by Marx. Lenin analysed the operation of the basic economic law of capitalism under conditions of monopoly capitalism and concluded that the capitalists, headed by the financial oligarchy, seek the maximum rate of profit by exacting tribute from every cell of the society. Leninism developed by defending the theory and conclusions of Marxism from all attempts at distortion by the bourgeoisie and its agents within the working class. The socialist Soviet Union marched from one success to another as long as the theory of Marxism-Leninism was defended and developed as the guide to action. Socialism began to decay and the state became a roadblock to progress ever since the theory was revised by Khrushchev and those who followed him at the head of the Communist Party of Soviet Union (Bolshevik). We are living in the epoch of imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. The imperialists and monopoly capitalists of the world are seeking to further concentrate power in their hands, to raise to a higher global level the process of exacting tribute from all other classes in society. The Indian monopoly bourgeoisie, at the head of a continental country with the second largest population, is one of the important contingents of world imperialism and reaction. The Indian working class, which has to play the role of the ‘grave-digger’ of the Indian bourgeoisie and of capitalism on Indian soil, is an important contingent of the international working class movement. The Indian working class can play its historic role only if it is led by a Communist Party that bases itself on the scientific ideas of the Communist Manifesto, and its further development in the course of the revolutionary movement, both before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Indian communists must base themselves on contemporary Marxist-Leninist thought, which is the summation of the experience of applying Marxism-Leninism in the struggle for socialist construction and against capitalist restoration, and in the struggle against fascism and every backward and retrograde social and political trend. The ideas of the Manifesto are immortal because they are true, because they reflect the real objective laws of social development. These ideas cannot be destroyed any more than the real world can be destroyed. They are not only true ideas but they constitute a material force to change the world. |
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Over
10 million all over the world protest against war on Iraq On February 14-15, nearly 11.5 million people in cities all across the globe poured out on to the streets in massive protests against the impending US led war on Iraq. From London to Canberra, masses of people denounced with one voice, the plans of the US imperialists to attack Iraq as well as their governments’ support for this war. They unequivocally raised their voices in support for peace. "No to war on Iraq!", "No blood for oil!", these were some of the slogans raised as well as inscribed on placards carried by the demonstrators. The day of protest began in New Zealand, where thousands gathered in cities all over the country in protest against the war. About 5000 people marched through the streets of the Australian capital, Canberra, while 100,000 came out in Melbourne. In London, two million demonstrators came out in the biggest ever anti-war protest, to express their opposition to the war and to Prime Minister Tony Blair’s support for the US war plans. Many cities all over Europe witnessed huge anti war demonstrations. Hundreds of thousands marched through Berlin. Hundreds of Italians took to the streets to oppose the war and vehemently denounce their government’s support for the US war plans. Three million people in Madrid, Spain marched in opposition to their government’s support for the war on Iraq. Amsterdam and Copenhagen witnessed huge anti-war demonstrations of tens of thousands of people. Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungary and Belgium also observed similar protests. Huge anti-war rallies were also organised in major cities in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. In Syria, two lakh protestors marched through Damascus. Many thousands demonstrated in South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Moscow. In South Africa, more than five thousand marched against the war in Capetown and four thousand in Johannesburg. Five thousand marched in Tokyo and two thousand in Dhaka. Two hundred and fifty thousand people marched in huge anti war demonstrations in New York, near the UN headquarters. The protestors included relatives and friends of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in that city. Two thousand people protested in Chicago, while twenty five thousand marched in Hollywood. The developments of the last few weeks reveal that the working class and peoples of the world are resolutely coming out on the streets in unprecedented numbers to express their opposition to Anglo-American imperialism’s war preparations against Iraq. Significant also is the fact that not only in the US, but also in Britain, USA, Spain and Italy—the states whose governments have pledged to participate in the war against Iraq—the protests have been unprecedented. The anti-war protests in London, Madrid and Melbourne have been the biggest ever such protests in these countries history. In these protests, the protestors have furiously targeted their own rulers as well. Today, as never before, it is clear that the imperialists of US and Britain and their allies in war preparations are acting in complete contempt of their own people. However, the working class and peace loving peoples of the world are clearly saying that they will not accept this state of affairs and will fight to change it. The struggle of the working class and peoples of the world against imperialist war is part and parcel of the struggle against the anti-social offensive of the imperialist bourgeoisie. It is part and parcel of the struggle for the thoroughgoing democratic renewal of relations between the different countries as well within each country. People’s Voice hails the militant struggle of the working class and peoples of the whole world against imperialist war. |
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Budget
Session of Parliament This year’s budget is no different from those of the previous years. Its only aim is to further the interests of the big bourgeoisie and shift the burden of the present crisis onto the backs of the workers, peasants and other small producers. Earlier, the Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, had announced that he means business, i.e., he will leave no stone unturned to see how provisions can be made in the budget to keep the profits of big business intact while creating the mirage that everyone’s interest is being balanced. This is exactly what he has done now. Mr Singh announced at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) summit in Hyderabad a few weeks back that the finance ministry will come out with "policy initiatives" almost on a daily basis and not wait for the budget session to discuss and ratify these policies. The idea behind this deluge of "policy initiatives", as expressed by the minister himself, was to put the economic reforms on a fast track. This has been the approach of the Indian ruling class in recent years – to go ahead with policy changes with the approval of a small coterie in the Cabinet, bypassing the legislature. The actual budget session of Parliament deals only with the nitty gritties of taxation and expenditure and not on any substantive discussion on the course of the Indian economy. The entire exercise of getting rules and legislation passed by executive decree has made a mockery of ‘representative democracy’, exposing further that not only the people but even the ‘representatives’ they elected have no say in the economic affairs of the country. Since Jaswant Singh presented the Mid-Year Economic Review, the Central Government has gone ahead with various measures that will have a far-reaching impact. They include measures for the sell-out of public enterprises and handing over control of the nation’s resources, such as water, oil and minerals, to big Indian and foreign multinationals. The Union Cabinet also approved the setting up of a Serious Frauds Investigating Office, in pursuance of the Naresh Chandra Committee report on corporate governance. Apart from deception and covering up of the capitalist loot and plunder of what belongs to the people, the aim of establishing this Office to investigate frauds is to attract more foreign capital by meeting international norms of ‘corporate governance’. The government has also announced various measures to remove restrictions of the flow of Indian capital abroad and the flow of foreign capital into India. It declared recently that individuals, companies and mutual funds would be allowed to make equity investments in listed foreign companies. This is perceived as an initial move towards capital account convertibility, where capitalists will have total freedom to import and export capital. According to the finance minister, individuals (meaning capitalists) could make unlimited investments in the shares of foreign companies; and domestic corporates could invest up to 25 per cent of their net worth in listed foreign companies that have at least 10 per cent stake in any unlisted Indian company. The government has also provided greater freedom for Indian companies to buy properties for business abroad. These decisions have been prompted by the huge foreign exchange reserves that the Indian big bourgeoisie has built through the sweat and blood of the Indian people, and which it thinks should be put to maximum use to increase their profits and further their imperialist ambitions. The budget session of parliament is an occasion for the working class to advance its own demands, in the interests of all the working people of India, in contrast to the narrow selfish demands of the bourgeoisie. The table below highlights some of the main contrasting demands. Demands of the bourgeoisie RK Somany
Ashok Soota
AC Muthiah
Demands of the working class
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US imperialism unveils its colonial ambitions towards Iraq Over a year ago, when US imperialist chieftain Bush labeled Iraq as part as of an "axis of evil" in his state of the Union address of January 2002, he indicated that his government wished for a "regime change" in Iraq. He contended that the Iraqi people are suffering under a ‘dictator’ and that they would love to be ‘liberated’. Now, as the Anglo-American imperialists wish to ride rough shod over the full weight of international public opinion into a most unjust war, his government has unveiled plans for complete control of all aspects of public life in Iraq for "at least five years"! According to plans made public by US government sources on 21st February 2003, the Commander in chief of the US Central Command is to maintain military control over post war Iraq for an extended period after vanquishing the Iraqi forces. US government sources stated that "appropriate lessons" had been drawn from the experience of the developments in Afghanistan after the imperialist aggression of October 2001 in which various forces allied with the Anglo Americans participated. As a result, those forces such as the so-called Iraqi opposition in exile which have allied themselves with the Anglo Americans are to be given only a minimal "consultative" role, while the US imperialists set about imposing a constitution, government, and legal system of their own on the Iraqi people! These plans show the growing isolation of the Anglo–American imperialists, who are wary of trusting even the few allies that they now have. The rapacious greed of the US imperialists is so great that they do not wish to share the spoils of war with anyone, not even their most trusted lieutenants and lackeys! After all, the enormous cost of going to war – estimated at over a trillion US dollars – needs to be recouped and burgeoned! People’s Voice calls upon all the freedom loving peoples of the world and all the governments who have been able to see the horrendous consequences of pursuing the Anglo —American imperialist path to unite as one in stopping the warmongers in their tracks! |
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U
S imperialist military actions in the Philippines Pentagon officials confirmed on February 20, 2003 that the US imperialists will send more than 1,700 troops to the Philippines in the next few weeks. The alleged purpose is "to fight Muslim extremists" in the southern part of the country. Early last year, a 1,300- strong US force was sent to the Philippines officially as ‘advisors’ fighting ‘side by side’ with the Phillipino forces to "root out terrorists". They were barred from opening fire on their own. This time, however, the US forces will not only be heavily armed, they will also conduct combat patrols on their own. Even according to the US imperialists, the strength of the "extremist group" which is being hunted in the jungles of Sulu province is only 250. About 750 ground troops will form the main core of the US forces, who are to be deployed "as long as necessary to disrupt and destroy" them! Besides, about a thousand US marines, armed with Cobra attack helicopters and Harrier AV-8B attack planes, will stand ready aboard two ships offshore to act as a quick-response force. The US imperialists are using the slogan of fighting "Muslim extremists" in the Philippines to establish a military base in a country from where they had to flee following popular protest. As the former colonial ruler of the Philippines, US imperialists are thoroughly detested by the people there. The former dictator Marcos, a staunch ally and puppet of US imperialism during the Cold War period, was one of the most hated persons in the country. The overthrow of the Marcos regime in the nineteen eighties in a popular uprising weakened the positions of US imperialism in the region. The present Philippines Constitution specifically prohibits foreign troops from carrying out unilateral combat missions. The present Philippines government has however declared that the US imperialist forces will play a "supporting role" in a Philippine-led operation. In order to allay widespread criticism that the mission last year would lead to a permanent American encampment, the US imperialists and the Philippine government took many well-publicized ‘restraining measures’. Now the Philippines government is doing away with the farce and brining in a larger and deadlier US imperialist force without any such ‘restraining measures’! The US imperialists want to demonstrate to the world that they can fight on more than one front at a time. Thus in addition to Iraq, they have opened up fronts in the North Pacific (Korea) and South Pacific (Philippines) as well. The conquest of Asia has been put on the agenda as a prelude to the conquest of the world. The operations in South Asia, Iraq, Philippines, Central Asia and East Asia are part of the plan to conquer Asia. Within this, various regimes, like the regimes in India and Pakistan, the regime in Philippines, are playing a short sighted game guided by narrow interests totally against the interests of the peoples, of peace and security of the peoples and nations. The peoples of the world can expect only death, devastation and bondage from the US imperialists and their collaborators anywhere. Opposing US imperialist military operations everywhere in the world is of utmost importance for the peace and independence of all peoples and nations! |
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Shameless
deceit, distortion and intimidation by US imperialism The massive opposition which people around the world have demonstrated over the February 14—15, 2003 weekend to US imperialist—led aggression on Iraq shows the growing isolation of the US imperialists on this question. Nevertheless, they are continuing with their nefarious activities in other parts of the world as well, notably on the Korean peninsula, where they persist in blackmail, indulge in provocative military exercises and threaten nuclear "pre-emptive strike" against the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK). While the media blitz of the imperialists has tried to portray the DPRK as one that is bent on nuclear subterfuge, the fact is that it is the US imperialists who have been most untruthful on this issue as well. The leadership of the DPRK has declared that they will defend their country at all costs, and has fittingly warned the US imperialists of its resolve. As part of their intimidation of the DPRK, the US imperialists announced plans to send an additional 12 B-52 bombers and an equal number of B-1 bombers to the Korean Peninsula, along with 2,000 extra troops to serve alongside the 17,000 already stationed on the border between north and south Korea. The USS Carl Vinson may also be deployed, the U.S. announced while the USS Kitty Hawk has already taken up a "strike position" in the waters off the peninsula, it is reported. The US imperialists also announced that "annual joint military exercises" would take place from March 4 to April 2, 2003 on the Korean peninsula. In the face of these provocations, the government of the DPRK has said "…pre-emptive attacks are not the exclusive right of the US…" Thus, they have made it very clear that they vow to do whatever it takes to defend their sovereignty in the face of the US imperialist threat. The government of the DPRK is demanding that the US government directly negotiate with it to address the crisis, and sign a no–aggression pact with it. Can there be a surer way to vouch for peace? Nevertheless, the US imperialists are trying to internationalize the situation for their own hegemonic interests, claiming that other countries like China, Japan and Russia also "have a stake"! However, Kim Dae-Jung, the President of South Korea, a country which has perhaps the biggest stake along with the DPRK in a peaceful resolution of the crisis, responded with a call for direct Washington-Pyongyang dialogue. The DPRK has repeatedly told the world that it faces a severe shortage of power, made worse by the US imperialists not keeping their commitment to supply fuel oil in the required quantities as per agreed-to schedules. This has made it all the more important for the DPRK to develop nuclear power as a source of electricity. On the other hand, it is precisely the US imperialists, who, forty five years ago, started stockpiling nuclear weapons in South Korea to threaten the DPRK. To date, at least 1,000 nuclear weapons have been deployed by them in South Korea. The nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula is thoroughly attributable to the shipment of the nuclear weapons into South Korea by the US imperialists and the key author of the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula is none other than the US imperialists. Yet, on February 8, 2003, U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the Munich Conference on Security, "Here’s a country that’s the world-leading proliferator of ballistic missile technology with the likelihood that by May or June will have nuclear material to make six or eight additional weapons." To maintain that the US nuclear weapons in south Korea do not pose any threat, but that the DPRK’ s nuclear activity whose purpose is to generate electricity poses a threat! Such is the Hitlerite logic of the US imperialists! The shameless deceit and distortion by US imperialists, their aggression and drive towards the Korean people deserves to be condemned by all peoples and governments of the world. People’s Voice hails the resolve of the Korean people and the government of the DPRK to defend their unity and the sovereignty of their country. Nuclear
proliferation and subterfuge
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Heightening
inter – imperialist rivalry The peoples of the world, across all continents, and especially the peoples of Britain and the US, have strongly demonstrated that they are completely and robustly opposed to the war which the Anglo American imperialists wish to unleash on Iraq. It is abundantly clear to all that this war is not about "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq which are allegedly a threat to world peace, but about oil and strategic resources which the Anglo Americans want to control. While the Anglo American imperialists deliver one ultimatum after another to the members of the UN to support their war against Iraq, it is also apparent that the rivalries between blocs of imperialist powers have intensified to an unprecedented extent. The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) had great difficulty in reaching agreement on protecting Turkey, which shares a border with Iraq, in the event of possible attack. This agreement, reached after a week of negotiations, bypassed France, an important member of NATO. As soon as the accord reached on 16th February 2003, was publicized, Belgium, France and Germany immediately issued a joint statement emphasizing that the NATO decision to defend Turkey should not "prejudge" diplomatic efforts to resolve the Iraq crisis by the three of them within the framework of the UN. This clearly highlighted the tensions within NATO. The European Council meeting in Brussels on February 17, 2003, had been hastily convened by Greece, which holds the presidency of the EU, in an attempt to establish unity within the EU and particularly between the big European powers, France and Germany on the one hand, who had publicly expressed their opposition to war, and Britain, the most zealous warmonger and closest ally of US imperialism on the other. The declaration which emerged from the European Council meeting certainly acknowledges the strength of the opposition to war amongst the peoples of Europe, as also the centrality of the UN in international affairs and the principle that "force should only be used as a last resort". However, Britain and France again publicly quarrelled over the role of those countries that are applying to join the EU. The British government has sought to encourage these countries, mainly those from eastern and southeastern Europe, to support its warmongering position and that held by the US. The contention between the big powers was evident not only on the question of the future of Iraq, but also over the relationship between the EU and the US and over the future balance of power within the EU itself. The serious contentions were once again evident in the meeting of the G 7, (rich industrialized countries – US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Japan) held in the second half of February 2003. The imperialists were unable to come out with a common plan to deal with the situation in the event of war in Iraq. Governments of countries opposed to the Anglo American imperialists naturally pose as the upholders of international public opinion. Nevertheless, they too are directed by self interest or more precisely the interest of their "own" monopolies, rather than the interests of the peoples of either their own countries or those of the rest of the world. Thierry Desmarest, CEO of Total, the big French oil monopoly which is the worlds’ fourth largest oil company, was frank enough to admit this in a recent interview. If his company were provided with a "level playing field", it too could succeed in Iraq, he said. The contention between the big powers show that their differences are not based on any principles that favour the people of Europe, Iraq or other parts of the world. It is really the rivalry for resources and markets, driving them to seek re-division of the world. The rivalry between groupings of monopolies is indeed a sinister threat to world peace. The strong voice of millions of people resounding across the globe over the February 15 – 16, 2003 weekend has told the warmongers in no uncertain terms what the people desire. It is only the peoples of the world who can decisively bring about peace and stability. |
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Livelihood of peasants under threat world-wide The increasing capitalist orientation of agricultural production and distribution, genetic engineering of food and globalisation of trade in agriculture have created widespread poverty and bankruptcy among peasants. Everywhere in the world, food production is becoming a negative economy, with farmers spending more to buy costly inputs for agriculture than the price they receive for their produce. The consequence is rising debts and epidemics of suicides in many countries. Capitalist orientation of agriculture is leading to the rapid concentration of the seed and agro industry in the hands of multinationals, increased use of environmentally polluting pesticides, and, finally, increased indebtedness of the peasant. Capital-intensive, corporate controlled agriculture is spreading into regions where peasants, though poor, had been self-sufficient in food. In the regions where capitalism in agriculture has advanced, where peasants have been exposed to the vagaries of the commodity market and globalisation of trade, this self-sufficiency in food has been destroyed, because cash crops have better value as commodities than food crops. A combination of devaluation of currencies, increase in costs of production and a collapse in commodity prices worldwide have driven them bankrupt. Farmers everywhere are being paid a fraction of what they received for the same commodity a decade ago. The Canadian National Farmers Union put it like this in a report to the senate this year: "While the farmers growing cereal grains - wheat, oats, corn - earn negative returns and are pushed close to bankruptcy, the companies that make breakfast cereals reap huge profits. In 1998, cereal companies Kellogg’s, Quaker Oats, and General Mills enjoyed return on equity rates of 56%, 165% and 222% respectively. While a bushel of corn sold for less than $4, a bushel of corn flakes sold for $133 ... Maybe farmers are making too little because others are taking too much." A World Bank report has also admitted that "behind the polarisation of domestic consumer prices and world prices is the presence of large trading companies in international commodity markets." While farmers earn less, consumers pay more. In India, it is reported food prices have doubled between 1999 and 2000. The consumption of food grains in rural areas has dropped by 12% because of this. On the other hand, trade in food has increased and pseudo surpluses in foodgrains have been created. More food is being traded while the poor are consuming less. When so-called growth increases poverty among those who feed the nation, when the real productive sector becomes a negative economy, and speculators are defined as "wealth creators", then it is clear that the present system works only for the benefit of a few. Recently, the McKinsey corporation said: "American food giants recognise that Indian agro-business has lots of room to grow, especially in food processing. India processes a minuscule 1 per cent of the food it grows compared with 70 per cent for the U.S...". This is a gross misnomer because Indian people do not eat raw food. Ninety nine per cent food processing is done by women at household level, or by the small cottage industry because it is not controlled by global agribusiness. The big monopolies and multinationals in the food processing industry are eyeing this huge market. They are using their control and influence over the state to destroy the small producers in this sector. Thus for example, small scale local processing of edible oil was banned in India through a "packaging order" which made sale of open oil illegal and required all oil to be packaged in plastic or aluminium. This shut down tiny "ghanis" or cold pressed mills. It destroyed the market for our diverse oilseeds - mustard, linseed, sesame, groundnut, coconut, etc. It is estimated that this takeover of the edible oil industry has affected 10 million livelihoods and that the take over of flour or "atta" by packaged branded flour will cost 100 million livelihoods. |
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Farmers in the Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan have been carrying on a militant agitation to secure their rightful share of irrigation water from the Bhakra-Nohar Canal Project. They have formed a Kisan Sangharsh Samiti comprising farmers from many of the villages of the district for this purpose. The Sangharsh Samiti has been organising protest actions including dharnas to highlight their problems. Rajasthan has been suffering the fifth year of drought this year. The Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan bordering Punjab and Haryana gets irrigation water according to the terms of the Bhakra-Beas project which divides water from the Beas between the states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. However, even this lifeline for the few areas that benefit from this irrigation water has been threatened in recent months. The state authorities tried to set the farmers of Rajasthan against those of Haryana by spreading the canard that water inflow at the border between the states was less, implying that farmers from Haryana were responsible for the problem. However the vigilant Sangharsh Samiti carried out investigations and found out that water was being illegally syphoned out and sold by the officials to select big farmers in Rajasthan for a bribe and this was the reason for farmers being deprived of water down stream. Many corrupt officials have been caught by the farmers red handed and the state has been forced to hastily backtrack in the face of the ire of the farmers. After a militant gherao of district officials, the government has started de-silting the canals as well as begun to make a pretence of catching and punishing the corrupt officials. The struggle of the farmers is spreading to more and more villages, according to reports last received. |
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Haryana peasants step up their struggle Peasants in Haryana have been waging a protracted struggle against the anti-farmer policies of the so-called "farmer friendly" government of Om Prakash Chautala. The ire of the peasants has been particularly directed against the drive of the Chautala government to extract surplus from the peasantry under the slogan of "recovering electricity dues" as well as the slogan of ending electricity subsidy. Last summer, peasants in Haryana totally rejected the offer of Chief Minister, Mr. Om Prakash Chautala, to pay 25 per cent of the electricity bills pending against them. According to Mr. Ghasiram Nain, President, BKU in Haryana, "On December 31, 2001, an eight-point agreement was signed between the state government and the BKU. However, instead of implementing the agreement, the government started a crackdown on the BKU on April 13". "Mr Chautala thought that there would be no protest against his policy as the farmers would simply adore the 75 per cent waiver scheme". Under the leadership of the Bhartiya Kisan Union, during the past one year, the peasants have organised sit-ins, rallies and blockades in Jind and other districts on many occasions. The agitating farmers continuously put pressure on the state government to withdraw cases filed against their leaders relating to incidents in Kandela in Jind district, in 2002, when the peasants took 7 hostages including two senior police officers. Eight farmers were killed in the agitation facing bullets while dozens more were injured and many put behind the bars. Repression, police firing and arrests did not deter the spirits of the agitators and the agitation became more and more militant. The government’s efforts to crush the agitation failed miserably. There is wide discontent in the rural areas of Haryana due to the anti-social measures of the Indian state in the name of globalisation and liberalisation. These measures have led to widespread unemployment, declining produce, closing down of industries and reducing demand. In this background, the farmer under the burden of severe debt has been driven to commit suicide. The burden of debt on farmers has been continually increasing. Recently, a survey of the middle-peasant dominated village, Harikishanpura in Bathinda district of Punjab, revealed that all households of the village had a debt of at least Rs. 6 lakhs and the total amount of debt could easily put the whole village property on auction. The confrontation over the nonpayment of the electricity bills is only a reflection of the deep-seated discontentment in the rural areas over lack of any kind of security of life and livelihood. Haryana is one of the states where the green revolution brought in the rapid development of capitalism in agriculture and the commercialisation of agriculture. The introduction of high yielding varieties of seeds, required increased use of fertilizers and pesticides. Abundant water and electricity became a condition for agricultural growth. The privatization of power and increased electricity tariffs has brought the issue of state support to the peasantry to the forefront. |
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Record-level unemployment – an indicator of the severity of the capitalist crisis An ILO report estimates that world unemployment will continue to rise after reaching a record 180 million. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned that unemployment around the world is likely to continue rising after reaching an estimated record of 180 million in 2002, up more than 10% in two years. According to an ILO report ‘Global Employment Trends’, another 550 million ‘working poor’ live on $1 or less a day. Women in export sectors such as textiles, and young people trying to get their first job, have been particularly hard hit by the worsening economic situation, the report said. "The world employment situation is deteriorating dramatically. While tens of millions of people join the ranks of the unemployed and the working poor, uncertain prospects for a global economic recovery make a reversal of this trend unlikely in 2003," says ILO director general Juan Somavia. Unemployment rates have rocketed in Latin America and the Caribbean. They have also risen in other regions such as Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, the report says. Unemployment is nearly 10% in Latin America – particularly due to the severe crisis in Argentina — and 18% in West Asia and North Africa. In Southeast Asia, where exports have suffered from the information technology slump, it is 6.5%. Unemployment is a fellow traveller of the capitalist system. This system needs a standing army of semi-employed and unemployed for its very survival. The army of unemployed ensures that reserve labour is always available wherever capital needs it, wages can be kept under pressure, full-time workers can be pitted against part-time and semiskilled workers, and profits can be maximised. In all the capitalist countries, there is a floating population of millions of workers who are employed in what is called the "informal sector" where workers have no job security, earning just enough to survive. The ILO report says that even this has broken down. "Unlike in the past, the informal economy in developing countries was not able to absorb all those who could not find formal employment," the report says. The "informal sector" employs some 1.6 billion people worldwide, more than the 1.2 billion who work in the "formal sector". "The (UN) millennium development goal of halving poverty by 2015 is endangered," Claire Harasty, the report’s author, told a news briefing. She also added that, "Secondly, there is a risk that an exacerbation of the alarming situation just described may lead to social instability throughout the world." This is more than evident throughout the world where protests and demonstrations against the antisocial offensive of capitalist regimes have been rising. The war preparations of the American imperialists against Iraq are bound to further exacerbate the unemployment crisis. In the Middle East and North Africa, where nearly a quarter of the workforce is unemployed in some countries, war means further misery for young people looking for jobs. |
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