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Internet Edition: May 1-15, 2006
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One working class, one program, one communist leadership! Defeat the class conciliators within the working class movement! Statement of the Central Committee of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, 1 st May 2006 Comrade workers! May Day 2006 is coming at a time when the struggle against imperialist war, fascist attacks and capitalist ‘reforms’ is mounting on the world scale. The workers and youth of France have managed to put a brake, however temporary, on the bourgeois offensive to deny the hard won rights of labour. The working people of Nepal have forced the King to step down in view of the mass sentiment. The anti-imperialist and anti-war protests all over the world have deepened the divisions among the big powers, posing serious problems for the US imperialist war plans on Iran.
The ruling bourgeoisie in our country is rapidly pursuing its aim of becoming a global imperialist power by 2020. To achieve its own imperialist aim, it has agreed to a strategic alliance with US imperialism, creating new dangers for the people of India and of other countries. The imperialist drive of the Indian bourgeoisie is being pursued in the name of “reforms with a human face”, while facts show that it is at the expense of the rights and well-being of the workers, peasants and the majority of the population. The struggle of the Indian working class is being compromised by those within the communist movement who are following a two-faced policy. These are the leaders who shout militant slogans against the bourgeoisie at mass demonstrations, while extending support to the UPA Government headed by the Congress Party, arguing that it is the “lesser evil” compared to the BJP. Two years have passed since this UPA came to power at the centre. For all its pretensions of being against communalism, what action has it taken against those guilty of communal crimes? It has not even arrested Narendra Modi, well known for being the chief executive officer of the genocide in Gujarat in 2002. What use is such a regime for fighting against communal forces? May Day 2006 is an occasion to unite around our basic demands and strategic aim of replacing capitalism by socialism, and resolve to defeat those within our movement who are conciliating with the program of the bourgeoisie. It is an occasion to reiterate the economic and political aims of the working class, thereby laying the basis for a united movement with one program, with one unified communist leadership. Comrade workers! Facts are showing more and more clearly with each passing day that the UPA Government’s reform program with a ‘human face’ is nothing but a continuation and extension of the ‘second generation reforms’ of the NDA Government, with some frills attached. The essence of this program is to put more into the hands of the big corporate giants, at the expense of the toilers and tillers, with the aim of developing India into one of the global imperialist powers of the 21 st century. In the name of ‘Urban Renewal’, the UPA Government is paving the way for corporate giants led by Wal Mart to capture prime land in the cities. In its drive to convert our cities into a heaven for the biggest capitalists of the world, the State is mercilessly attacking the homes and livelihood of workers, small and medium-scale traders and other urban family businesses. In the name of ‘Bharat Nirman’, policies are being changed at the central and state level to allow giant agro-business corporations to get hold of the surplus generated by our hard working peasantry. Giant corporations have begun to dominate agricultural trade, and they hope to subsequently also get hold of the most fertile tracts of land so as to reap maximum profits through the maximum possible degree of plunder. The bourgeoisie claims that putting more into the hands of monopoly capital, by robbing those who labour and by plundering the natural wealth, is the best possible path for India. The truth is the exact opposite of this lying claim of the bourgeoisie. It is precisely the orientation of maximisation of private profit in the hands of the biggest corporations and banks at any cost, which is leading to the destruction of productive forces. The human productive forces of our country are under utilized today, with millions having no employment or only partially employed, because the economy is run in the private interests of capitalist corporations, who invest only when and where they are assured of maximu m profits. This is also the reason for the rapid depletion of forest cover and other forms of environmental degradation. Budgetary allocations for essential social services are going down because too much is consumed in servicing the public debt, in unproductive militarization, arms spending and other hand outs to big business. The path to all-round progress in favour of the working people lies in putting an end to the system of exploitation and plunder, not in expanding and further perfecting this system, or giving it a ‘human face’. The working class demands and fights for the reorientation of the economy to fulfill the needs of the toilers and tillers. The economy must be managed with the aim of putting more into the hands of the toilers and tillers, to raise their standard of living year after year. This must become the central aim of the economy, the aim of the key investment decisions that are made. Investing in the productive forces requires, first and foremost, investing in the well-being and productive capacity of the human beings – the workers and peasants, whose labour produces the wealth of India. What we have today is an economy that is geared to fatten the super rich on a daily basis, through maximum possible degree of exploitation of labour and plunder of natural resources. While this is how the economy runs, day after day, the government allocates some meagre resources for some ‘safety net’ schemes. After wholesale robbery of the toiling masses, a small part is returned to save some poor souls. Such schemes play the role of a safety valve, to prevent revolutionary pressure from building up too much against the exploitative order. The bourgeoisie is arguing that allowing capitalists to flout labour laws so as to super-exploit workers is the necessary condition to achieve accelerated growth in GDP and employment. “More intense exploitation is good for the working class”, they claim. The truth is exactly the opposite. Steady growth of consumption by the broad masses of people will be the most stable basis for rapid growth of production of all essential needs of human life. The aim of the working class is to put an end to exploitation being the basis of social production, and build a society where the means of social production are socially owned. This will be achieved by the working class, in alliance with the peasantry, taking charge of the social surplus and deploying it to ensure prosperity and protection for all. With this aim and perspective, we must oppose and contest the false claim of the bourgeoisie that denial of labour rights and lowering of wages will promote economic growth and employment. On the contrary, what will be best for the economy is a rise in wages commensurate with the rising productivity of Indian labour and the rising level of human needs. We must demand and fight for universal application of the rights of labour, which have been won and recognised in law for one section of the working class. These rights must become inviolable rights of every worker, without exception. We must demand and fight for an immediate halt to the program of capitalist reforms and ‘flexibility’ in the terms of employment of labour. We must demand a moratorium on servicing the debt to all external lending institutions, and on interest payments to domestic banks. We must demand cutbacks in arms spending. We must demand that the money thus saved be reallocated for investing in the working people and their well being. Stop fattening the corporate giants! Put more into the hands of the toilers and tillers! Comrade workers! The bourgeois parties and coalitions that are contending for power in the ongoing state assembly elections are unable to hide the fact that they are all committed to implement the same program of liberalisation and privatisation, in one way or another. Unable to convince the voters that it can provide prosperity and protection for all, the bourgeoisie is reviving old time-tested diversionary tactics, such as OBC reservation and the building of Ram mandir at Ayodhya. Workers and peasants, who constitute the productive majority of the population in the country, must remain at the tail of one or another faction of the propertied bourgeois class – those who live off the labour of others. This is what the bourgeoisie and its parties want. They wants us to be pre-occupied with choosing between one capitalist party and another, one coalition and another, both of which are known to be committed to implement the same program to fatten the corporate giants. What the working class needs is a new political system and political process where the majority – the toilers and tillers – will exercise power. This means that it is we, the workers and peasants, who will send delegates from our midst to all the decision making bodies. And we will be able to recall such delegates at any time. In such a workers’ and peasants’ democracy, we will have a say in how the country is run, in what policy decisions are taken and in whose interest. We need to build a political front for people’s power – that is, for a democratic dictatorship of the working class and peasantry, to replace the existing fascistic dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. We must reconstitute India as a voluntary union of consenting nations and peoples, rather than its present structure, which is a colonial imposition from above, backed by brute force. We need to build people’s committees in local areas, a network of such organs at the local, district, state and all-India levels, as the building blocks of the future system of workers’ and peasants’ democracy. The working class must lead by example, by fighting for unity in action in each factory, in each industry, in each state and throughout the country, and by actively participating in building the organs of a new political power. Lay the foundation of a Workers’ & Peasants’ Republic and a voluntary Indian union! Comrade workers! May Day 2006 is an occasion for all workers to ponder over the fact that the Indian working class, which has one common aim of replacing capitalism by socialism, has numerous political parties that speak in its name. Some of these parties that speak in the name of the working class have been propping up Congress rule at the centre, and been acting as the faithful supporters of the bourgeois program of capitalist reforms with a ‘human face’. They have made common cause with the UPA and its so-called National Common Minimum Programme. The role being played by such parties is acting as the single most important factor preventing the working class from making any advance in its struggle against the bourgeois offensive. It has therefore become essential to discuss and debate this question openly at this time. Every communist agrees, at least in words, that if the Indian working class is politically united around one program and led by one communist party, then it will be an invincible force. Why then can we not overcome the disunity in the movement? The reason lies in the fact that some within the movement have conciliated and merged with bourgeois democracy. They are compromising with the capitalist-imperialist course of globalisation through liberalisation and privatisation. They have accepted the bourgeois assertion that there is no alternative except to give capitalist reforms a ‘human face’. They are seeking to become the best party for implementing the bourgeois program and reconciling the workers and peasants to this course. Such class conciliators need to be defeated in order to forge the unity of communists and of the working class on a revolutionary basis. While one set of parties that call themselves communist have become champions of bourgeois democracy and its vote bank politics, there are others who advocate individual acts of terror and permanent boycott of the political process. Both these trends are serving the interests of the bourgeoisie and not of the working class. They are preventing the workers from building political unity of all the discontented people. They are preventing the unity of communists from being forged around the revolutionary alternative. It is high time that workers begin to confront such leaders and tell them, “Comrades, we are sick and tired of voting for one or another parliamentary coalition or not voting at all. Why do you not unite with all communists to build a popular front – a worker-peasant alliance with one unified communist leadership?” The popular front must be built from below and from above, but mainly from below. There is no use if one more Third Front is formed by the leaders of various ‘recognised’ parliamentary parties other than the BJP and the Congress Party. We have seen many such coalitions before that have been formed only from above, in which the leaders of CPI and CPI(M) have participated. Such coalitions have only served as temporary arrangements for maintaining bourgeois rule, until the Congress or the BJP is ready to take charge. What we need is a new kind of coalition, a popular political front, where all those forces that are left out of the existing democracy can militate. We need to build such a popular front by forging unity on a political basis. We must build unity around the concrete aim of replacing one kind of political power, which excludes the toiling majority, by another kind of power that includes the majority. Reject bourgeois coalitions! Build a popular front under working class leadership! Comrade workers! Since its inception more than 100 years ago, May Day has represented a day when we workers reiterate our resolve to defend and fight for our common interests. Today, our common interests are facing a grave threat. Workers, peasants, women and youth, the peoples of oppressed nations, nationalities, tribal peoples, displaced people, linguistic and religious minorities, dalits – are all being threatened by the greed of big business, the aggressive drive of US imperialism and its rivals, and the imperialist drive of the Indian bourgeoisie. Let us resolve to unite in defence of the rights of labour, without any compromise or conciliation under any pretext. Let us resolve to continue the struggle for an immediate halt to the anti-worker, anti-peasant, anti-national and anti-social program of liberalisation and privatisation, and not be satisfied with any ‘human face’ being added to capitalist super-exploitation and imperialist plunder. Let us resolve to step up the anti-imperialist struggle, to halt the aggressive drive of US imperialism and undermine the US-India strategic alliance. Let us resolve, on this May Day 2006, to unite around the program for ushering in a workers’ and peasants’ democracy, in place of the existing party dominated capitalist democracy. Let us resolve to build committees at every level, as organs to empower the people. Let us resolve to strengthen the political unity of the workers, peasants and broad masses of people, in the form of a popular front for the democratic renewal of India – placing the toilers and tillers at centre-stage. Let us redouble our efforts to restore the unity of Indian communists on a revolutionary basis, by opposing and defeating the class conciliators within our ranks. Workers of all countries, Unite! Workers and peasants of India, Unite! We have nothing to lose but our chains! We have a whole world to win! Inquilab Zindabad! |
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Assembly elections in four states: This political process is designed to legitimise bourgeois dictatorship The assembly elections to 4 states and one union territory in April-May 2006 are exposing further the fact that in this largest democracy of the world, the majority of people, including the workers and peasants, have no say in setting the course of society. They only have the right to choose which party or coalition should execute the will of the bourgeoisie, the minority of exploiters in society. In India, elections, in general, are nothing but a process of legitimising the rule of the bourgeoisie. They also serve the bourgeoisie to sort out the contradictions between different sections of propertied interests, which find reflection in the form of electoral rivalry between different bourgeois parties. It is a process that serves the ruling class to select and install the combination of horses that seems best suited, at any particular time, to lead the capitalist drive. The bourgeoisie selects that party or combination which will execute its will, while at the same time making the people believe that it is their government, elected by them and working for them. In the present round of elections, the bourgeoisie is seeking to legitimise its program of capitalist reforms with a ‘human face’– aimed at fattening the biggest domestic and multinational capitalist corporations and enabling India to become a major imperialist power by 2020. It is being held at a time when the ruling UPA combine at the centre is about to complete two years in office, and is facing internal divisions and a threat of potential collapse before it finishes its 5-year term. In Assam, where the Congress Party was hoping to get re-elected, the surveys are predicting a hung assembly. The majority of people are faced with a choice between one gang of exploiters and another, with little hope that these elections will help address the national question and rights of tribal peoples in Assam, or the lack of economic development, widespread unemployment, pressure on agricultural land, displacement as a result of capitalist-imperialist plunder, etc. In Tamil Nadu, both the ruling AIADMK and its rival, DMK, are committed to implement the liberalisation and privatisation program to fatten the biggest capitalist corporations and attract more multinationals into the state. The DMK is trying to exploit the anger among the people against the attacks of the Jayalalitha government on the rights of workers, peasants, teachers, government employees, fishermen and others, while hiding its past crimes. They are both advancing the same slogan of “reforms with a human face”. The so-called human face they are presenting is the age-old promise of subsidized rice (Rs 2 per kg promised by DMK) and fixed amount of free rice (10 kg free promised by AIADMK). The CPI and the CPI(M) have joined hands with the DMK and the Congress Party in these elections, asking the workers and peasants to put their faith on the “lesser evil” between two capitalist forces. They are conveying the message to the working class and peasantry that there is no alternative to capitalist reforms and the imperialist course of India, with some crumbs for the people in the name of a ‘human face’. In Kerala, lakhs of poor peasants and plantation workers, as well as the owners of small and medium-scale businesses, have experienced enormous distress over the past decade as a result of import liberalisation and the consequent slump in the prices of coffee, tea, spices and rubber. The CPI(M) led ‘left and democratic front’ is trying to ride on the discontent of the people with the ruling Congress led ‘united democratic front’. People of Kerala are witnessing the double-speak of the leaders of CPI(M), who are blowing hot in Kerala while sounding soft and supportive in New Delhi. To the voters in Kerala, the leaders of CPI(M) are conveying their strong opposition to the Congress Party and the Indo-US strategic alliance. To the international media correspondents in New Delhi and elsewhere, they keep reassuring that they will not topple Congress rule because it is a ‘lesser evil’ than BJP rule. In West Bengal, the ruling CPI(M) is presenting itself as the best party to implement capitalist reforms with a ‘human face’, better than the Congress at the centre. In fact, in order to dispel any lingering illusions, the present Chief Minister Budhadeb Bhattacharya has shamelessly and openly declared that his CPI(M) led government is engaged in building nothing else but capitalism and is vigorously implementing the reforms of the bourgeoisie. He has warned that the working class should adjust to this agenda. The CPI(M) is also putting across the point that an electoral victory in the current elections will be used to legitimise the capitalist path pursued by their government. The Congress Party, BJP and the Trinamool Congress have no better alternative to offer. The concerns of the working class, peasantry and urban petty bourgeoisie have no effective channel of expression in these conditions. These include legitimate concerns about privatisation, about permission being given to capitalists to flout labour laws in selected sectors and special zones, and conversion of trade unions into organs for reconciling workers to their miserable and deteriorating conditions under capitalism. In essence, the driving aim of the bourgeoisie—it’s imperialist global aims, its strategic partnership with US imperialism in pursuit of this aim, its contention and collaboration with other powers, its vicious attack on the rights of the working class to facilitate the plunder of Indian labour by Indian and foreign multinationals, its agricultural policy that spells doom for millions of peasants and riches for the agro- monopolies--is what drives the campaign of the ruling and opposition parties in all these states. This is reflected in the repeated assurances of the contending parties that they all stand for reforms and that they will stoke further the fierce competition with their neighbours to make their state a better haven for plunder by capital. The role of the CPI(M) and other parties in the communist movement who are playing parliamentary games raises the question about the role of communists in the context of such elections. Communists must never forget the assessment of Lenin about bourgeois parliamentary democracy and its political process. When they participate in this process, including in elections, it must always be to advance the interests of the working class and other oppressed, and to further expose and deepen the crisis of bourgeois democracy. The line pursued by CPI(M) and its followers does not advance the interest of the working class. It serves the interest of the bourgeoisie, by reconciling the working class to capitalism with a ‘human face’ and reducing it to a tail of the Congress Party and the ‘secular bourgeoisie’. The present round of elections, the large and growing number of small parties and independent candidates who are contesting in them, shows the desire and readiness that exist among the broad masses of people to break the stranglehold of the status quo parties over the political sphere. The duty of communists is to work to ensure that this desire and readiness to act does not remain scattered and vulnerable, but is turned into one organised movement for the democratic renewal of India – that is, for replacing the existing bourgeois dictatorship with a workers’ and peasants’ republic, as the instrument for carrying out the transformation from capitalism to socialism and communism. |
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Hail the militant struggle of the people of Nepal! The people of Nepal must decide their own political future! Yet precisely when the people of Nepal are meeting with significant success in their struggle, it is most necessary for them to be vigilant. The foreign powers that all along have backed the monarchy are now rushing to its rescue. In the event of the total collapse of the monarchy, they are trying to ensure that whatever emerges in its place is in their best interests. The Indian state is playing the most visible role in this respect at the current time. It has pulled out of retirement the former monarch of Jammu & Kashmir, Karan Singh, to talk to Gyanendra, while the Foreign Secretary of the Indian government, who admitted that he was “very worried”, went to talk to the top army commander in Nepal as well as the leaders of a couple of the political parties. The people of Nepal must be under no illusion that the Indian government is acting on their behalf. It is merely trying to salvage what it can of the dominant position that it has been exercising all these years under the monarchy. It is also acting on behalf of world imperialism, headed by the US, to ensure that Nepal does not break out of the global imperialist chain. The Indian working class and people must demand that the Indian government, and all foreign powers, stay out of the affairs of the people of Nepal! The Nepali people must be free to decide on the future of their own country and the form of political power that they want, in the manner that they choose. In their struggle, they can count on the wholehearted support of the working class and people of India. |
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Condemn the bomb blasts in Jama Masjid as an attempt to break the unity of our people ! Statement of the Delhi Regional Committee of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, April 15, 2006
On the same day, serial bomb blasts took place in Kashmir, leaving yet another tragic trail of death and destruction. Although both these tragedies look disconnected, there is a common thread that runs through all such tragedies, including the blasts in Varanasi and others earlier. Immediately following the blasts in Jama Masjid, the government has come out appealing to people to 'keep calm and maintain communal harmony', while at the same time the media has been floating theories as to how people belonging to one community or the other could be responsible for organizing the blasts. As in every such case, the police and the state agencies have got active in harassing and arresting innocent people as 'suspects' while the real culprits are not likely to be ever identified. What could be the real aim of these bomb blasts? Who stands to gain by these bomb blasts? What kind of message is being propagated by these blasts? Only by addressing these questions can we find out the real culprits. Just last month, during the visit of American imperialist chieftain George Bush, the Jama Masjid area was the scene of large public meetings, where people from all sections of society actively participated, opposing the visit and the designs of American imperialism, and the growing partnership between the Indian and American states. These protest actions reflected the dominant sentiment of a vast section of our people, of opposition to US imperialism, its unjust aggression and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and its war preparations against Iran. In recent weeks, Delhi has also been the scene of several popular and resolute struggles in defence of the livelihood and rights of the people, against the anti-social offensive of our rulers. The struggle of the displaced and devastated adivasis of the Narmada Valley for justice and rehabilitation, the 21 year long struggle of the Bhopal gas victims and many other such struggles are highlighting day by day the cruelty of this political and economic system in which the masses of people are totally marginalised. The opposition of shopkeepers and small entrepreneurs of Delhi to the attacks on their livelihood and the plans of the big bourgeoisie, to convert Delhi into a 'world class city' in which only the Indian and foreign monopoly capitalists will dominate, has created quite a crisis in the ruling circles in Delhi. The overwhelming support for these struggles shows that people are no longer willing to accept the present state of affairs and are coming out in united actions, wanting to change this situation. The bomb blasts in Jama Masjid are meant to create the condition for turning around the sentiments of the citizens of Delhi and directing them against this or that community. They serve to divert and divide the people’s opposition to the vicious attacks on our livelihood and rights by the big bourgeoisie, the united opposition of all sections of our people to imperialism and the US designs. Their aim is to break the growing unity of our people in defence of our rights and our sovereignty. The needle of suspicion therefore points in the direction of the Indian ruling class, which needs to quell and disrupt this growing unity of our people. It needs to do this in order to go ahead unhindered with its plans of becoming a world class power, by riding rough-shod over the livelihood, lives and rights of the masses. The Indian state has a long and dirty record of organising such terrorist activities to break the unity of the people, then blaming this or that community or section of the people and itself pretending to be the saviour, the 'preserver of communal and social harmony'. The life experience of our people has taught us time and again, to see through this charade. The Communist Ghadar Party of India calls on the people of Delhi to be vigilant against these criminal aims of the Indian ruling class and imperialism. We have to strengthen our unity and step up our struggles, to give a fitting reply to the nefarious anti-people plans of our rulers. |
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The Budget proposals do not address the real problems While presenting the budget for the year 2006-07, the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, gave a rosy picture of how agricultural credit has been increasing by leaps and bounds in recent years. In 2004-05, farm credit amounted to Rs. 125,309 crores. For the year 2005-06, it is expected to cross Rs 141, 500 crores. For the financial year 2006-07, he has recommended in the budget that the credit should further increase to the level of Rs 175,000 crores and that another 50 lakh farmers be brought into the portfolio of the lending banks. The Finance Minister also announced that as a gesture of 'compassion' to farmers in difficulties, he proposed to set aside Rs 1700 crore as a subsidy against the interest cost of farmers' loans. The Finance Minister may pretend that facilitating borrowings by farmers is the solution for their distress or for the crisis in agriculture. However, an objective analysis of the unfolding phenomenon of farm distress shows very clearly that the problem is deep seated. It is rooted in the capitalist economy that prevails in Indian agriculture. Increasing commercialisation and intensification of capitalism in Indian agriculture has meant that from the small to the large peasants, every cultivator is producing for the market and is vulnerable to risk at every turn. The peasant is caught between rising input costs and widely fluctuating output prices; this is made worse by an absence of guarantee of quality of inputs, dismantling of the state procurement system, with no insurance or protection from the government. In such a context, the farmers have been forced to sell their assets to pay just the interest costs, let alone repay their loans. The data from the Situational Assessment Survey of Farmers carried out by the NSSO in 2005 clearly reveals the condition of farmer households with respect to income, expenditure and indebtedness. According to the survey, the average annual income from cultivation of the farmer household was Rs.11,628, while the corresponding expenditure on cultivation was Rs.8,791, leaving an annual net income from cultivation of Rs.2,837. Aggregating income from all sources, including wage earnings, the average annual income of the farmer household at the all-India level was Rs.25,380. The average annual consumption expenditure of such a household was Rs.33,240. It is this condition that is causing farmers to borrow continuously and become indebted. Data from the same NSSO Survey confirmed that the share of debt for non-business purpose was very high — as high as 76 per cent for rural households which owned assets valued at less than Rs 15,000. This means that the majority of households are in such dire straits that they have to borrow even for day-to-day necessities. In such a situation, it is clear that subsidising interest cost of borrowings or replacing the money-lender by institutional credit will bring very little relief to farmers. Most small and medium farmers are so heavily indebted (at the time of the survey, indebtedness ranged from 44% to 66% across different sizes of holdings varying from less than 0.01 ha to more than 10 ha). that only waiving all loans can bring any relief to them. But even this step can only postpone the crisis point that is driving hundreds of farmers to suicide across several states in the country. The fundamental problems of Indian agriculture and the producers lie in the outmoded relations of production in which millions of small peasants are eking out their survival on small plots of land and have to compete with the biggest farmers; further, with the thrust on "agri-business," policy is moving towards increased monopolisation of agricultural trade, placing the farmers at the mercy of giant corporations for sale of their produce.. Only a thorough overhaul of the present system, which is dictated by the interests of the big multinationals, financial empires and industrial conglomerates, can make any change to the farmers' lives. Unless the workers and peasants take their future into their own hands and establish their own rule, the situation is not going to change for the vast majority of the working people of India. |
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PM’s call to usher in Full Convertibility of the Rupee: In the service of the Indian bourgeoisie Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has recently issued a call to usher in full convertibility of the Rupee; and a second Tarapore Committee has been appointed to prepare the roadmap. What is full convertibility? Full convertibility means absolutely free movement of funds in and out of the country, without any restrictions and with no questions asked. What exists now is called ‘current account convertibility’, which means there are no restrictions on movement of funds in and out of the country for the purpose of current account transactions, while there are various restrictions and caps on capital account transactions. Current account transactions refer to the import and export of goods and services, royalty, technical fee payments, and workers’ remittances. Capital account transactions refer to borrowing and lending, investing in shares and other financial instruments. At the present time, Indian companies can acquire financial assets abroad, and foreign companies can invest in the Indian stock market, but with specified limits and for specific purposes that need to be reported to the Reserve Bank of India. Full convertibility implies that the rupee, which has value only in India at this time, would become acceptable all over the world, like the dollar, pound sterling, yen and euro are today. It would mean that Indian capitalists can raise funds from anywhere in the world, in any currency of their choice, and also park their funds anywhere, legally and with no questions asked. Why now? About 10 years ago, when the Indian economy had emerged from an acute balance of payments crisis and the first generation reforms had been launched by the Narasimha Rao government, the IMF and the World Bank were advocating full convertibility of the rupee as part of the policy agenda. However, the Indian ruling class decided to follow a more cautious path, following the advice of an expert committee called the Tarapore Committee that was constituted to examine this question (see Box). The acute crisis that hit the East Asian ‘tiger’ economies in 1997, leading to rapid capital flight out of these countries and a huge crash in the value of their currencies, vindicated the position of the Indian bourgeoisie. The Indian economy did not follow the path of the East Asian economies. The rupee did not crash in value, because of the controls on capital account transactions. Why has the issue been revived now, at a time when there is no pressure from the IMF or the World Bank or any international body? The Indian bourgeoisie wants to go towards full convertibility, because it wants Mumbai to become the foremost financial hub of Asia, for which a fully convertible rupee is a necessary condition. Full convertibility would enable the bourgeoisie to access financing at the best possible terms and to create ‘rupee zones’ abroad, as part of its drive to expand its foreign markets and spheres of influence. It is a stepping stone towards the imperialist vision of India.
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The struggle of the Narmada Valley Oustees continues
With the current ruling, the Supreme Court has contradicted it own earlier rulings of October 2000 and March 2005, according to which the construction work will not be allowed to outpace the rehabilitation work. The Ministerial group constituted by the Centre government and headed by the Water Resource Minister, Mr. Saifuddin Soz found, based on their investigation, that tens of thousands of already displaced have not been displaced. In light of this fact, the Supreme Court ruling shows that it is nothing but a tool for fulfilling the ambition of the ruling class to become a world-class imperialist power. In their drive to achieve this, the Indian ruling class is pushing through its agenda of globalisation through privatisation and liberalisation with no concern for how it affects the masses of the people. |
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Partial victory for Bhopal Gas Victims
The main four demands which have been accepted are – Formation of a National Commission for the victims; making potable water available, removal of polluted waste; and construction of a memorial for the victims of this tragedy. Their other two demands – a ban on Union Carbide’s Dow Chemicals; and that the accused company be responsible for removing poisonous substances from soil and water – were not agreed to. The struggle of Bhopal gas victims is of immense importance as it not only exposes the cruelty of this imperialist system but has also set an example for fighting tirelessly for justice. This struggle has to be taken forward till all the demands are met. |
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‘Office of Profit’ Controversy: No new law can cover up the stench of the party system of governance All the parliamentary parties have been rocked by the "Office of Profit" controversy, which has been snowballing since the disqualification by the Election Commission of Jaya Bacchan, Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP. This action followed a complaint to the EC by a UP Congress leader. Since then, the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and two other Congress MP's have resigned their parliamentary seats, expecting their own disqualification on the same grounds. With all the major parliamentary parties caught up in this controversy, the Parliament is expected to pass a new legislation on this question in the coming session, scheduled to begin around 10 th May. Hectic consultations are on between the ruling party and the opposition to come up with a "unanimous" legislation to tide over the controversy. In the midst of all the noise surrounding this issue, what must not be forgotten is that in the existing system, to derive private profit from occupying public positions is not an exception but the general rule. The party system of governance is the most suitable method of rule for the bourgeoisie – a class that is driven by the maximization of self interest. The main political parties of the bourgeoisie engage in cut-throat competition for control over the state machinery. They do so in order to loyally carry out the bidding of the bourgeoisie and in order to loot the state exchequer. Candidates of the major parties spend large sums of money out of their pockets on their election campaigns, with the expectation that if elected, they can recoup their investments and much more. The Indian political system, like systems in other capitalist countries, has evolved its own mechanisms for elected representatives to recoup their campaign expenses and favour their patrons. These include special allocations of public funds for legislators to spend in the name of constituency development, as well as the distribution of chairmanship of various agencies and authorities to legislators who do not make the ministerial grade. Such positions can be as profitable as some of the ministerial posts. While ruling party MP's and MLA’s have been principal beneficiaries, the system has been developed to also keep the parliamentary opposition happy. For instance, legislation has been passed to give the rank of minister to the leader of the opposition in parliament, with accompanying privileges. In the past decade and half, the party system of governance in India has been rocked by repeated crises of legitimacy. With coalitions becoming common both at the center and in many states, more and more legislators needed to be kept ‘happy’, either with ministerial posts or some other profitable positions in order to ensure governmental stability. This led to situations wherein the size of ministries became enormous, with many ministers having no designation or department under their control, nor any formal role to perform. The ruling bourgeoisie has been desperately trying to shore up the sagging credibility of this system through various measures. These include the imposition of limits on the number of ministers in the central and state governments, and the strengthening of the anti-defection law to ensure that at least 2/3 of the legislative wing of a party must defect in order for their defection to be ‘recognised’. The court decisions and proposed new legislation on ‘offices of profit’ are also part of the efforts of the bourgeoisie to shore up the sagging credibility of the existing democracy. There can be no illusion that the introduction of a new law can change the rotten and corrupt nature of the party system of governance. In order to take control of their destiny and deploy the resources of this land for their common benefit, the workers, peasants and other toilers need to put an end to the party system of governance, and put in place mechanisms that will ensure that they can govern themselves. Political parties will then play their rightful role as instruments to empower the people, instead of being electoral machines that keep people out of power. With decision making power in their hands, the working class and people will reorganise the economy in their common interests and in the general interest of society. Only then can the use of public office for private gain be actually ended, or reduced to an exception, and not be the general rule, as it is today. |
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People's Voice (English Fortnightly) - Web Edition |
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