Contemporary Communism and the Relation of the Party to Political Power

Below we are reproducing the summary presentation by Prakash Rao, Spokesperson of the CC of the CGPI, submitted for a Panel Discussion on Communist Theory and Practice Today organised by the Editorial Board of the paper, Revolutionary Democracy, in New Delhi on March 5, 2005

We are living at a time when the greatest offensive is being carried out by imperialism and the reactionary bourgeoisie against the theory and practice of communism. The degeneration of the Bolshevik Party and the social system in the Soviet Union created the spectacle of a caricature of communism. In particular, it led to the conversion of the dictatorship of the proletariat into the dictatorship of the party of the new bourgeoisie. Imperialism and the international bourgeoisie screamed against this "one party dictatorship" as they organised the final destruction of the shell of socialism and ushered in classical capitalism and the multi-party dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.

From the negative experience in the Soviet Union, the bourgeoisie and its ideologues draw the self-serving conclusion that socialism is equal to "one party dictatorship", which is the negation of democracy. They conclude that there is no better alternative to the multi-party representative democracy that exists in India, the United States, Britain and other capitalist countries.

The real problem with Soviet democracy was that the role played by the working class and cooperative peasants in the exercise of political power ceased to develop, after the initial stage of socialism. The Communist Party started concentrating all decision-making power in its own hands, instead of playing its role as the advanced consciousness and enabler of the working class to exercise power. The Communist Party of Soviet Union (Bolshevik) succumbed to the imperialist pressure and embraced modern revisionism. It failed to play the leading role as enabler of the toiling masses to rule themselves, consistent with their capacity and consciousness at the stage of socialism that existed in the Soviet Union after the end of the Second World War. It degenerated from a party of revolution into a tool of the new elite.

When the party ceased to play its role as the vanguard of the working class, the nature of political power began to change. The dictatorship of the proletariat degenerated into the dictatorship of the party of the new elite. The socialist state was converted into a social-imperialist superpower. Discontent spread among the masses of people, which was used by imperialism and the emerging Russian bourgeoisie to wipe out the Soviet Union itself, along with all traces of socialism.

The lesson to draw from this experience is that the communist party, as the leader of the working class, must be the organised conscious factor at every stage of the revolution. Once the economic base of socialism had been established in the Soviet Union, the Communist Party had to further develop its leading role. The 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union recognised the necessity to empower the mass organisations of workers, cooperative peasants and other working people to exercise their right to select and elect deputies to the decision making bodies, and to recall them at any time. No political party was permitted by law to select candidates. However, this enactment was not taken to its logical conclusion. The World War interrupted the course of development. Once the war ended and the reconstruction efforts were over, the party began to concentrate decision-making power in its own hands, in direct contrast to the direction envisaged in the 1936 Constitution of the USSR.

The degeneration and ultimate disintegration of the world's first proletarian democratic state gave a new lease of life to the crisis-ridden capitalist democracy. It ushered in this period when the retrogressive forces are on the offensive, and have escalated their disinformation campaign against the theory and practice of communism. It is a period when multi-party representative democracy has become a tool for the negation of rights, and an instrument of rule by decree.

In insisting that there can be no system of democracy other than the multi-party representative system, the Anglo-American imperialists and their allies are negating the fundamental right of every people to the political theory and system of their choice. They want to deny that the working class had given birth to a new system of proletarian democracy in the 20th century, far superior to the system of bourgeois democracy. They want to deny that the peoples of the world who fought for liberation from Nazi-fascist rule, colonialism and imperialism during and after the Second World War were profoundly influenced and inspired by the Soviet Union and its model of democracy, rather than the Anglo-American models. They want the people to forget history and accept the fashionable prejudice of the day, that red is dead and there can be nothing better than bourgeois democracy. They want the peoples to reconcile themselves to live with the mere illusion of power, as the best that they can hope for at all times.

The pressure of imperialist bourgeois ideology and the illusion of power created by the parliamentary system will not be such big problems if the communists and other progressive forces draw the appropriate lessons from the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Far from drawing the lessons and modernising the theory of proletarian democracy, there are parties within the communist movement that are conciliating with the system and political process of capitalist democracy. Such class conciliation within the communist movement is the main roadblock to the strengthening of united struggle of the working class and all the oppressed in this period.

The most important lesson from the rise and fall of proletarian democracy in the 20th century is that a communist party cannot and must not strive to bring itself to power, or keep itself in power. A proletarian party, by definition, seeks power for its class and not for itself. In order to achieve this goal, it must build the united political front of all the oppressed, and imbue the working class with the consciousness to lead the oppressed masses in the struggle to overthrow the bourgeoisie and establish proletarian democracy.

The classics of our doctrine teach us that the communist party is the vanguard party of the working class in which the advanced sections of the class militate. The communist party cannot substitute itself for the class. It must refresh and develop its role as the vanguard of the class at each stage of the revolution and socialism. A communist party that fights for power for itself, at any stage, will become transformed into a bourgeois party.

There are some who, in the name of opposing the parliamentary path to socialism, advocate "seizure of political power through the barrel of the gun". Left in the shade is the question: seizure of political power by whom? By the workers and peasants or by a party claiming to represent them? A party that fights for power in its own hands, whether through the parliament or through the barrel of the gun, objectively works against the establishment of the rule of the working class and peasantry.

If the workers, peasants and broad masses of people have to become the rulers of this country, the Communist Party must be built and strengthened as the vanguard of the working class, and the United Front of workers, peasants and other oppressed must be built and strengthened as their instrument for seizing and exercising political power. These tasks have to be taken up for solution on an urgent basis. This is the most important challenge facing contemporary communist theory and practice.

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Congratulations to the Third Congress of the CGPI

Sir,

I am writing this to congratulate the delegates of the Third Congress of the Communist Ghadar Party of India for the resounding success of the Congress. My best wishes are also with the newly elected Central Committee of the Party, General Secretary as well as the Spokesman of the Party.

The CGPI was at the forefront of the struggle against Soviet revisionism, and social imperialism during the period of the cold war, and in the period after the end of the cold war, at the forefront of upholding the line for the need for revolution and in the struggle against surrendering the working class movement to the pressure of social democracy. This struggle needs to be continued and intensified in the coming period. The Congress has emphasized the need for continued party building and strengthening the line in this period of the ebb of the revolutionary tide. While the rulers themselves are united behind the cause of entrenching the capitalist system, their inner contradictions as well as their contradiction with the exploited masses are manifesting themselves in daily crises in the political, economic and social spheres.

Thus, there are reasons to believe that the revolutionary leadership should use the current period for preparation to lead the masses towards the rule of the workers and peasants. Finally, I hail the decision of the Congress to build solidarity with all the myriad movements across the country which are resisting the atrocities of the present economic and political system.

Sincerely,
A. Narayan
Bangalore

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Stop Demolition!

Sir,

This is in response to the article in the columns of PV regarding the atrocities in Mumbai that go under the name of demolition of 'slums'. I concur with the demands put forth by several organizations demanding that all demolitions be stopped, and that demolished dwellings be reconstructed, and the general line of your article on housing being a basic human need. This truism seems to have escaped a minister of the Deshmukh Government who reportedly stated that the Government is not legally bound to provide alternative housing to the affected persons. It seems that one cannot actually question the veracity of this statement.

Indeed, one can then question the very framework of the law within which such an atrocious state of affairs can take place. It may be recalled that many of the fundamental rights supposedly guaranteed by the Constitution of India merely exist on paper, for the simple reason that it does not provide any mechanism for enforcing such a guarantee. The Constitution of India embodies the experience of the colonial rulers and their model of statecraft, and provides a framework for the Indian bourgeoisie and agricultural rich to carry out their activities oriented towards the maximizing of their own profits. If there have been some social benefits over the course of the last 58 years, it is only incidental and also geared towards the perpetuation of the capitalist system. One acute crisis faced by the masses under the aegis of this economic and political system has been the lack of any kind of public welfare program, manifesting itself in water shortages in some cities, transport problems elsewhere, lack of employment and food in the countryside, and that of housing in many cities, especially in the great industrial city of Mumbai. The bourgeoisie has found it fit to create a mass exodus from the countryside into the cities when it found the need for the labour of the masses in its mills and factories, and now faced with recession in the manufacturing sector states that these people are now redundant and they may be sent back to where they came from.

This brutality and inhumanity must be combated at all costs by all sections of justice seeking society.

Sincerely,
G. Rajan
Chennai

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Oppose Privatisation, Foreign Ownership and 'Merger' Plans in the Banking Sector!

Bank employees are out on the streets in opposition to the moves of the Congress Party led UPA Government to further expand the space for private and foreign capital in the banking sector. They are opposing the plans announced by Finance Minister Chidambaram for merging public sector banks to form a handful of giant monopolies that would operate in competition with private monopolies, Indian and foreign. They are demanding that outstanding and overdue loans be recovered from all capitalist corporations, as the first step to improve the performance of the Public Sector banks. The struggle of the bank employees deserves the support of the entire working class, the entire peasantry and other small producers in the cities and villages.

The UPA Government has announced measures to permit majority foreign ownership of private Indian banks, and to permit both private and public banks to engage in speculative activities in the interest of reaping the maximum rate of profit, such as commodity trading, "futures" trading and derivatives.

The bourgeoisie has been arguing for the past 15 years and more that liberalisation is good for the country because it encourages competition. This fraud stands totally exposed today, when the bourgeoisie is calling for the merger of public sector banks alongside the expansion of space for private banks, both Indian and foreign. These measures are aimed not at enhancing but at restricting competition. They are aimed at creating giant monopolies and oligopolies in control of the financial resources of the country.

Given the extremely crucial role that banking plays in the economic life of society, opening up this sector for profiteering by monopolies is an extremely dangerous proposition. It is dangerous not only for those who work in the banks, who face layoffs and measures to intensify the degree of their exploitation, but also for the millions of peasants who need credit at affordable rates. It is dangerous for the millions of working families that need security of their hard earned savings. It is dangerous for the stability of the Indian economy and society as a whole.

We, the toilers and tillers, can and must demand that banking should be run as a social service, which is accessible and affordable to all members of society and which covers its costs through the fees and interest it charges. This will require charging lower interest on the small borrowers and higher interest on the larger borrowers, the exact opposite of what happens today. It will require, as a first step, an immediate halt to privatisation. It will require firmly closing the door to the penetration of foreign capital in Indian banking. It will also require closing the door for banks to engage in speculative activities.

Support the struggle of bank employees against privatisation!

Oppose the moves to expand the space for foreign ownership in the banking sector!

Banking should be run as a social service, accessible and affordable to all!

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Peasants in Tamil Nadu Demand that Cotton Procurement be Revived

The central undertaking, Cotton Corporation of India, has procured about 1,07,00,000 quintals of cotton in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and others, this financial year. In Andhra Pradesh alone, the CCI has procured about 31,00,000 quintals of cotton. But, in the major cotton growing state of Tamil Nadu, not even one quintal of cotton has been procured by the CCI.

Tamil Nadu peasants are angrily saying that when they asked the district authorities the reason for this discriminatory logic, the answer was that "this year it has been decided to concentrate procurement from those areas where peasants have committed mass suicide"! This reveals the cynicism of the central government towards the actual state of affairs of the peasantry. It has no concern for the peasantry who have been devastated by continuous drought. Instead it wants to use discriminatory procurement of the cotton crop as a weapon to advance certain narrow aims.

The peasants cultivating cotton have rejected this perverse logic of the ruling class with extreme anger. They have retorted with the question that "do they expect that we in Tamil Nadu should also commit mass suicides, like our brethren in other states, so that our voices are heard too?"

Grievance committee meetings are being held religiously by district authorities to "understand" the problems faced by the peasants in the region. But, if this is the only response of the administration to the plight of the peasantry, then they have to face the severe wrath of the peasants.

The struggle of the cotton peasants of Tamil Nadu has brought to the fore the inadequacy of the present procurement system. The procurement policy of the central state is based on the premise that procurement is a privilege that the central state bestows on the peasants. According to this policy, the central government will decide on which crops to procure, from where and at what price. This policy has been used to concentrate capitalist development in particular regions of the country to the benefit of the big bourgeoisie and also to keep peasants constantly beholden to the central government for their livelihood. It is a policy which at the same time is used to divide the peasantry of one state and region from their brethren in other states and region; the peasantry sowing one crop from the peasantry sowing another crop.

The peasants are demanding an end to this policy. They are demanding that procurement should be a right of the peasant and not a privilege bestowed by the ruling class. The state should ensure that all agricultural commodities meant for sale are procured by the Indian state at remunerative prices. The place, nature and quantity of procurement cannot be dependent on priorities determined by the big bourgeoisie and the party in power in the centre around their interests.

People's Voice supports the just demands of the cotton peasants of Tamil Nadu and urges on them to continue their struggle without let for the fulfilment of their demands.

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Lowering Import Duties for Agricultural Commodities Devastates the Peasants

Tapioca is an important crop in several districts of Tamil Nadu such as Salem, Namakkal, Erode and others. About 450 factories are engaged in producing flour from the tapioca grown in the state and also by-products such as barley. About 75,000 workers are employed in these factories directly and indirectly. About 1.2 lakh farmers and another 2.5 lakh agricultural workers depend on tapioca farming for their livelihood.

Of the total production of tapioca and barley in India, eight districts in Tamil Nadu meet 90 percent of the requirement.

Recently, imports of tapioca, barley and starch from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, China and Netherlands have increased following the lowering of customs duties on these agricultural products. Particularly in the last 4 years, imports have increased tremendously. In 2004, about 9,800 tonnes of tapioca related products were imported, and this caused a steep fall in tapioca prices from Rs 1081 to Rs 827 per bag. Peasants engaged in tapioca farming have been devastated. About 300 factories have already been closed down.

The lowering of customs duties and the removal of restrictions on imports of agricultural commodities have caused immense hardship to lakhs of small agricultural producers, and agricultural and agro industry workers.

Small producers and workers in the agriculture sector, such as the Tamil Nadu tapioca farmers and workers, have been vigorously opposing the lowering of import duties, and the opening up of international trade to giant agro-corporations under the WTO agreements which have devastated their families. They have rejected the argument advanced by the central government that "there is no alternative" but to reduce import duties because the WTO agreement is binding. The peasant organisations have pointed out that the Indian government has deliberately not invoked the provisions within the WTO agreements which would enable it to protect the livelihood of peasantry. Guided by the big bourgeoisie's vision to emerge as a global player, it has deliberately opened up the doors of India for the plunder and ruination of agriculture.

International trade and commodity prices are manipulated by the big multinationals and finance capitalists in their favour, so that they can make super profits at the expense of the livelihood of the small producers. It is the duty of the state to protect the livelihood of the peasants and workers. It is also the duty of the Indian state to deploy whatever trade barriers that are necessary to protect Indian agriculture and the livelihood of the peasantry. The positions that India takes in forums such as the WTO should be dictated by the interests of the peasants and workers and not by the self-serving interests of the big multinationals and financial corporations.

The plight of the peasants and workers engaged in agriculture and the agro-industry reiterates the necessity for taking up the task of building the alliance of workers and peasants on an urgent basis. Without establishing the rule of workers and peasants it is not possible to ensure that the inviolable rights of workers and peasants for a livelihood and decent existence are defended and that the country takes up positions in international forums consistent with the aspirations of workers and peasants.

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Message of Greetings to the Third Congress of the Communist Ghadar Party of India from the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)

Comrade Lal Singh,

Comrades of the Presidium,

Fraternal Comrades

Comrade Delegates and Friends

It is my greatest honour to bring to you the greetings of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) and of all its members and supporters, who stand as one with you in this most important event in the life of your Party.

Comrade Sandra Smith has asked me to convey her warmest greetings, and her regrets that she cannot be here in person to share this most important moment with you. The revolutionary enthusiasm with which you are tackling the problems of the Indian revolution and party-building, so as to provide your revolution with the leadership it requires to culminate in victory, are a source of encouragement to all those around the world who are doing the same.

Today, the world as a whole and your country, in particular, is reeling under the weight of the crisis exacerbated by the retreat of revolution. But of greatest significance is the headway the peoples of this country are making by stepping up their resistance to the merciless oppression and exploitation by the native and foreign capitalists. Everyday through every action they show their determination to thwart all attempts to deprive them of any role in bringing about the necessary changes. We are certain that this is way to open society's path to progress.

Dear comrades, permit me on this occasion, to quote from our founder and leader, Comrade Hardial Bains, the truest son of the people of Punjab and India and product of the revolutionary struggle of the Canadian working class, of which the people of India are an integral part:

"Our hearts throb with the throbbing of the hearts of millions upon millions of workers. It is this which gives us our ideology, which tells us what is truth and what is falsehood, and on this basis we advance."

We are not wrong when we put real life as the basis of our development and Marxism-Leninism as our guide, Comrade Bains said. On this basis, we identify with those who have taken up the task to carry out everything consciously and with a plan, he pointed out.

Today, it does not matter which question is taken up, the bourgeoisie cannot find a solution. It activates the anti-human factor, anti-consciousness, and for its own vainglory, it has embarked on a brutal path of destroying everything humankind has achieved in the past. It must not pass.

Comrades, we are pleased to inform you that CPC(M-L) has embarked on the third fiver year plan of its Historic Initiative so that in this defining moment for people of world, consciousness plays its decisive role. Considering that bringing the role of consciousness into play will create the conditions for social progress, CPC(M-L) is going all out to mobilise the Canadian working class and people to find a way out of the crisis on a basis that favours their interests, not those of the international financial oligarchy. In this regard, the sharpest struggle is taking place on the question of kind of democracy and the kind of system which should be established in every country according to each people's needs, concrete reality and thought material.

We are striving to create the kind of party, which can intervene in this situation in a manner which favours the working class and people, which puts the working class at the head of a nation-building project and opens society's path to progress. We are convinced that it is the work for the democratic renewal of the political process, which is crucial to rid humankind of the Anglo-American imposition of the system called a representative democracy. This system is so anachronistic and reactionary that it permits the most degenerate and backward elements in the society to take decisions, which deepen the all-sided crisis, block society’s progress and pose the ever-greater danger of fascism and war.

Our Party firmly believes that every effort must be devoted to enable the peoples at every level of society, in every endeavour, to participate in providing the problems they face with solutions in a manner that favours them under the concrete conditions and circumstances.

It is not for nothing that the more this system shows how rotten it is, the U.S. imperialist chieftain George W. Bush uses the occasion of his inauguration as a fraudulently elected president for a second term, to threaten the whole world with even more terrible consequences if the peoples refuse to implement this system. This would mean negating their right to self-determination, which means that their very right to be, and succumbing to the U.S. dictate.

In the opinion of the CPC(M-L), the right of each people to decide the kind of system they want to have is not merely a political point. Comrade Bains pointed out that for us to have proletarian internationalism, to create one human race, the precondition is the thinking of all peoples within their own national conditions. This is the first step to seizing power, the kind of power, which is the result of the claim of the oppressed class for definite aims. By intervening in the real life struggles of the people with the aim of empowering them, we learn and gain the confidence to go from one level of struggle to the next. This is what safeguards the revolutionary interest and ensures that we remain revolutionary Marxists-Leninists as the people demand of us.

Comrades, permit me to express my personal great joy at being in the midst of the best representatives of the heroic Indian people about whom legends are written and in the homeland of Comrade Bains, with whom I fought side by side since the first days of the Reorganisation of the Internationalists in 1968 in Montreal. Thanks to the leadership of Comrade Bains and the Party he founded and led for nearly thirty years and which today marches militantly following his example, I am not only a Canadian proletariat and an ardent Greek patriot, an ardent anti-imperialist and Marxist-Leninist communist, but also able to continue making my own contribution on the revolutionary road.

Like the millions of sons and daughters of the peoples of South Asia, for generations, we Greeks have fought for our freedom, for our dignity, our culture. We have been forced into emigration, far from our homeland and suffered great indignities. But this has also afforded us the possibility to proletarianise ourselves and unite with our class brothers and sisters all over the world so as to strengthen our fight to bring into being the next stage of social development, the other world which lies in the bosom of the old and which is striving to be born.

Personally, this visit is a voyage of discovery. Not only is this the land that Alexander, King of Macedonia, was unable to conquer in spite of his great feats, but it is the land which has given rise to its own thought material on governance which is calling out to be brought into the present and put in the service of the coming generations. Far from accepting the misrepresentation of the rendering of Greek philosophy as love of wisdom, our philosophy, speaking as both a person of Greek origin and a Canadian Marxist-Leninist, like yours seeks to elucidate the relations between human beings and human beings, and between human beings and nature so as to further develop these relations in a manner which creates a social and natural environment fit for human beings.

Permit to express our confidence that the deliberations of your Third Congress will guide you in making further advances in the coming period and the conviction that today, it is the peoples who are the heroes and heroines who will save this world from disasters the imperialists and all reactionaries have in store for them. Guided by their revolutionary Marxist-Leninist party, which uses Marxism-Leninism as a guide to its thinking and action, they will be invincible.

Hail the Third Congress of the Communist Ghadar Party of India!

Long live the fighting unity between our two Parties!

Glory to Marxism-Leninisim!

Workers and oppressed peoples of all countries unite!

Vigorous Protests Mark First Anniversary of "Regime Change" by US Led Occupation Forces in Haiti

A year ago, towards the end of February, 2004, US troops landed in Haiti, kidnapped the democratically elected President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and transported him on a special plane to the Central African Republic, on his way to exile. The UN Security Council dutifully sanctioned this "regime change" orchestrated by the US, France and Canada. Prior to this forced "regime change", the US had instigated the infamous "killer squads" of the former Haitian dictator Duvalier, to begin an "uprising". These reactionary forces, armed and financed by the CIA and other imperialist agencies, began to go on the rampage, indulging in calculated violence and sabotage, setting the stage for the “restoration of democracy” by the overthrow of the democratically elected Aristide government.

The Haitian people have a long and proud history of fighting against colonialism and imperialism. The imperialists have not been able to cover up, even a year after the invasion, the profound anti-imperialist and patriotic feelings of the Haitian people. Despite being a small and impoverished nation in the "backyard" of the US, the people of Haiti have never given up the struggle. Meanwhile living conditions for the people have greatly worsened under the new regime. The people are demanding the removal of foreign troops from their land. Even many of those who had been misled to believe that the Aristide government needed to be replaced now demand the removal of foreign troops from their land.

Vigorous actions were held in Port-au-Prince, Cap-Hatien and other major cities across Haiti to demand the return to constitutional order on February 27, 2005. People demanded the return of deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, and an end to UN participation in illegal arrests, detentions and killings of Lavalas Party supporters. The next day, over 10,000 people demonstrated in the Bel-Air neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince. People carried signs, umbrellas and posters all calling for the return of democracy and Aristide. Despite the presence of UN troops in the area, the Haitian National Police viciously attacked the demonstration. They first fired tear gas, then bullets, at peaceful demonstrators, killing at least five people and wounding at least twenty. The demonstrators showed exemplary solidarity in the face of this dastardly violence. They refused to let a UN ambulance remove the body of a protestor who had been shot in the head. Instead, they proudly draped it in the Haitian flag and took it away.

In solidarity with the Haitian people, demonstrations were organised in cities across North America, including Montreal, Ottawa, Windsor and Vancouver in Canada; Tucson, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Charleston, Portland, Boston, Minneapolis, New Jersey; Brooklyn, and New York City in the US. Actions were also held in Dublin, Ireland and Paris, France.

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