Stop Imperialism’s War on the World! Foil the Fascist Conspiracy in India!

Intensify the Communist Movement! Make the CPI(ML)’s Seventh Congress a Great Success!

Friends,

How shall we prevent the fascist cabal at the Centre from carrying out further destruction of our beloved motherland? How shall we give them a fitting rebuff? Today, this one question has unquestionably emerged as the foremost challenge in Indian politics. From Srinagar to Salem and Surat to Silchar, the whole of India is today crying for a reassuring answer to this one question. The forthcoming Seventh Congress of the CPI(ML) to be held at Patna from 25-30 November will address itself to this greatest challenge facing the country.

The men in khaki shorts whose ‘greatest credential’ before coming to power was the act of demolition of a five-hundred-year-old mosque have proved beyond doubt that they can only operate as a demolition squad. Once in power, they have effectively insulated themselves from the much-trumpeted long hand of the law so that they have all the freedom on earth not only to resume their temple campaign but also to execute Gujarat-style genocides, and then add insult to the injury by painting the genocide as the ultimate glory for a province which used to be mistakenly associated with the Gandhian gospel of truth and non-violence.

On the economic front they have been true to their reputation of being merchants to the core. They have been liberally selling away the profit-making ‘navratna’ companies, the so-called jewels in the public sector crown. Bush and his men may have to wage war on Iraq to gain control over its oil economy, in India they do not even have to ask for it. The ‘swadeshi’ government of Vajpayee and Advani has adopted a policy of not only privatising the oil sector but also ‘inviting’ one hundred per cent foreign equity participation in this field of strategic importance.

Instead of handing out food and fertilizer subsidies, this government is doling out deaths. Mortgaging Indian agriculture to the WTO and giant agribusiness firms is what it calls its new agriculture policy. For the vast majority of our farming population, this policy means nothing but sowing distress and reaping a harvest of suicides and starvation deaths. Meanwhile, innovative ways are being devised to fill up the coffers of the rich and the powerful. Bank assets worth more than Rs. 58,000 crore are described as ‘non-performing’, a euphemism for money that has been systematically looted by private moneybags from the public kitty. And huge amounts having already been swindled away in a series of scams, the government is now coming up with enormous ‘bailout packages’ so that the ‘loot mela’ can continue unhindered.

Complementing this limitless loot and plunder is the macabre dance of medieval vandalism and obscurantism in the arena of culture and education. The cultural czars of the Sangh and Shiv Sena have taken it upon themselves to decide the kind of culture people should have access to, the dress and behavioural code that women must abide by and the kind of textbooks students must read in schools. In their history books Islam and Sikhism have already ceased to exist as major religions in India, the great Russian Revolution has been reduced to a coup hatched by Lenin and even the fact that a man called Nathuram Godse with unmistakable saffron connections had assassinated Gandhi has been conveniently consigned to oblivion. Reinforcing this new social and cultural order is a POTA-powered ‘effective state’ and a model of ‘good governance’ that begins by bidding goodbye to all notions of human rights.

The RSS progeny in power may thus have thoroughly exposed themselves as a bunch of thugs and vandals, murderers and scamsters, but perhaps for this very reason they continue to be blessed by India’s current and former masters - the Bush-Blair combine. In lieu of their loyal support to the Bush doctrine of global war, they enjoy local rights as a strategic partner and civilisational ally, standing guard as global capital explores and exploits the vast grazing ground called India. If in its formative years the RSS had distinguished itself as a network of police informers and carriers of the communal virus produced by the British colonialists, today they have the reputation of imparting the best knee training to perfect the art of genuflecting to the US imperialists.

Apart from the backing of the global masters, the saffron brigade also has its pool of domestic collaborators. The Congress of course claims to be the biggest contender, but a closer look at the Congress track record reveals that the party has really been the biggest benefactor for the saffron brigade. Between Indira Gandhi’s reign of Emergency and the Rajiv-Rao era of acquiescence over Ayodhya, it is the Congress which has constantly supplied arms and ammunitions to the saffron brigades’s arsenal. And as though the sustenance provided by the Congress was not enough, unscrupulous sections of the non-Congress camp came up with crucial doses of legitimacy. Opportunist politicians who never tire of invoking the legacies of Lohia, JP and Ambedkar have proved to be an excellent prop for the disciples of Golwalkar and admirers of Hitler.

When we talk about offering effective resistance to the fascist cabal of the Sangh Parivar, we must therefore keep in mind the brigade’s nefarious nexus with the imperialists on the one hand and the sundry opportunist forces on the other. Defeating such an enemy calls for a massive and militant countrywide mobilisation of all democratic forces. Only a popular awakening propelled by a powerful revolutionary ideology and organisation can halt the fascist offensive and transform the prevailing climate of ideological bankruptcy and political opportunism. We need a strong and resurgent communist movement to thwart the fascist threat.

From the days of the Gandhian satyagrah movement in Champaran through the Quit India movement of 1942 to the student-youth upsurge of 1974 and the continuing heroic quest of the rural poor for a life of dignity and justice, Bihar has been the foremost battleground in the fight for national independence, political democracy and social-economic transformation. If the saffron brigade is trying to use Gujarat as the laboratory for their fascist experiments, Bihar has been the surest seed-bed of revolution. On the occasion of the Seventh all India Congress, delegates from all over the country and honoured guests from the international anti-imperialist movement will assemble in Bihar to chart the course for a powerful communist resurgence, for a strong and united left and democratic counteroffensive against the saffron design of fascist subversion. We look forward to your wholehearted support and solidarity to fulfil this task and carry forward the march to a new democratic India, a socialist India.