Who are the real terrorists?

Dear Editor,

I would like to express my strong agreement with the principled position taken by the CGPI on the horrendous blasts in Mumbai and Srinagar, as reflected in the Party's statement published in the last issue of People's Voice. The statement is absolutely right when it says that the only way to understand who is the mastermind behind such bestial crimes is by thinking who benefits from them. Any other way only leads to misleading and dangerous speculation. The aftermath of the blasts shows that the obvious “beneficiary” of the blasts is the propaganda in favour of the so-called “war against terrorism”. This has been raised to an incredibly high pitch in the wake of the blasts. A witch hunt has been launched against all types of Muslim organisations and individuals, not just in Mumbai or Kashmir, but in all parts of the country, on the assertion that all of them are “terrorists”, even when there is absolutely no evidence connecting them to the blasts. At the same time, extremely jingoistic calls are openly being voiced to wage war against Pakistan, and these are being given full publicity in the media.

As People's Voice has rightly pointed out many times, there is a growing struggle of the millions of workers and other toiling people in this country, in defence of their economic and political rights, and in defence of national rights. This struggle is a major obstacle to the agenda of the monopoly capitalist class both in India and abroad to step up the exploitation of the people, whether in the name of “second generation reforms” or something else. The Indian people have also refused to be drawn into the US-led “global war against terror” and campaign against “Islamic fundamentalism”, despite the attempts of our rulers to bind us closely with the strategic designs of US imperialism. Indian people have opposed the US imperialist crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as its hostile maneuvers against the Iranian and other peoples. Now it is well known that both imperialism and the Indian ruling class have a proven track record of fomenting communal discord and violence as a means of disrupting and diverting the struggle of our people and using the ensuing confusion to push ahead with their own reactionary agendas. Given this bitter history, it is incumbent on all activists in the working class and people's movements, and all politically-minded persons in general, to suspect the hand of imperialism and the state agencies in the organising of such heinous crimes, and to expose their sinister propaganda linking terrorism with “Islamic fundamentalism”.

However, it is appalling to see a leading member of the CPM, Sitaram Yechury, do just the opposite, in an article which was published in the aftermath of the blasts in the Hindustan Times. In his article Yechury unequivocally asserts that “the needle of suspicion points to the involvement of Islamic terrorist organisations”. Naturally he doesn't feel the need to justify his assertion, since he is merely parroting the official propaganda. What is worse, he then proceeds to talk of “Islamic terrorist organisations” and “Islamic fundamentalism” in the same breath. This is confusion-mongering at its worst. What is fundamentalism? Fundamentalism is nothing other than strict adherence to the the teachings or doctrine of a religion. In India, lakhs upon lakhs of people strictly adhere to their religious beliefs and practices, whether of Islam or some other religion. Does this make them terrorists? Can the millions of people who follow the letter and spirit of the precepts of their religion be considered as the source, or potential source, of terrorist attacks such as those that recently took place? Yechury then tries to modify his attack on Islamic fundamentalism by saying that Hindu fundamentalism is equally bad and that the two reinforce each other. But in doing so he only compounds his original crime of equating terrorism with the religious beliefs of the people, and giving a clean chit to the State and its agencies.

As a Marxist, Yechury should know that terrorism does not emanate from ideas in the minds of the people, but is a form of politics traditionally engaged in by the most reactionary class interests. The whole world can see today that the US imperialist state is itself the biggest terrorist on the world scale, raining death and destruction on millions of men, women and children all over the globe in pursuit of its aims. Yet it is US imperialism that has launched a so-called “war against terror” which it blames on “Islamic fundamentalism”. The Indian state too would like to make out that the main problem in India today is not the system that denies broad masses of the people the right to food, water, shelter, health and other basic necessities of life, but terrorism linked with “Islamic fundamentalism”. This notion is reinforced every time a bombing of innocent people or some such horrendous crime takes place, and the state agencies declare that Islamic militants are responsible. The nature of such crimes is such that people are never allowed to see clearly who carries them out and what are the links connecting them to those forces that have masterminded them. In such conditions, it is shameful that those who consider themselves Marxists should just sidestep the question of the political interests that benefit from such events, and blithely parrot the imperialist and state propaganda about the responsibility of “Islamic fundamentalists”.

A great danger arising from the campaign against “Islamic fundamentalism” is that it helps to justify growing denial of the democratic rights of the people and increased state repression of the people in general. If “the enemy” is supposed to be lurking in each neighbourhood, or institution or association of people, then it follows that the state will feel justified in stepping up surveillance of ordinary people, intruding into their lives, and cracking down on their liberties. Already, there are calls to revive the notorious POTA and other draconian laws, which had to be scrapped on account of the sustained opposition of so many democratic organisations and people. As the statement in People's Voice says, the working class and people must not allow the ruling class to use the excuse of terrorism to browbeat them into giving up their struggles, but must actually step up their struggles while exercising ever greater vigilance against efforts to weaken them.

Yours etc.
S. Rajan