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Developments

 

Seminar on Economic Crisis
and Saffron Politics


Forum for Democratic Initiatives, a newly floated platform of democratic and progressive intellectuals has been actively involved in fostering discussions within the Delhi intelligentsia on democratic issues that are at stake under the BJP regime. In this regard the forum had taken good initiatives in channeling public opinion against the bomb.

Recently, the forum organised a seminar titled "Economic Crisis and Politics of Swadeshi" at Gandhi Peace Foundation, Delhi on 13 August. The speakers at the seminar included Dipankar Bhattacharya, Polit Bureau member of CPI (ML), Sitaram Yechury, Polit Bureau member of CPI (M), H. Mahadevan, Deputy general Secretary of AITUC, Ram Sharan Joshi, eminent journalist, Kamal Mitra Chenoy and Jayati Ghosh, both from JNU.

Eminent journalist and editor of Nai Duniya, Ram Sharan Joshi in his lecture wondered why there was a certain kind of apathy among the people inspite of the grave economic problems being faced by them. H.Mahadevan, in his speech made a scathing attack on the BJP government for its doublespeak on economic matters. Jayati Ghosh, in her brief speech, made some interesting observations on the real crisis afflicting the economy. She said that the present crisis though began with the earlier Congress regime, yet has been critically aggravated during the past 4 months of BJP rule. Sitaram Yechury in his speech highlighted the fact that strong political alliance between the bourgeoisie and the feudal forces hindered the process of free capitalist growth in India. He expressed hope that the in the coming days the left and democratic forces will mount a severe attack on the BJP-led government. Speaking on the occasion, Kamal Mitra Chenoy recounted some interesting episodes from the past 50 years of India’s history pointing to the fact that all through private capital was being strengthened under the facade of state socialism.

Dealing with the present economic crisis, Com. Bhattacharya pointed out that this crisis must not be viewed only in the terms of price rise etc., neither in the terms of general economic crisis of capitalism as some people do. Rather it was the crisis of the new economic policy imposed on the country by the ruling classes that has become now intense under the BJP rule. So to fight this economy means to fight fascism being imposed on the country by the Sangh Parivar. Commenting on the strategy of the Left he said that rather than search for the illusive bourgeois support, the left should concentrate on the working class as the real and definite answer to combat the growth of fascism. In this regard he said Sangh parivar’s politics could be termed saffron Swadeshi and that the toiling masses who are largely denied any benefits from this elitist process of liberalisation would define a new Swadeshi that will be truly nationalist in character.

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