>Date: Fri, 01 Jan 1999 02:11:28 +0530 >From: "CPI(ML) LIberation" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >CENTRAL COMMITTEE RESOLUTION >On the Developing National Situation and Our Tasks >(7-9 September, 2000) > > >1. Speedier implementation of the ongoing economic reforms has resulted >in an all-round socio-economic crisis. The direction of the deepening >crisis is perhaps best indicated by the recent agitation against the >steep hike in power tariff in Andhra Pradesh. If the current year had >begun on a resurgent note of united working class resistance in Uttar >Pradesh against power sector privatisation, in Andhra we have just seen >the explosion of a powerful popular upsurge against the disastrous >impact of neo-liberal reforms in power sector. > >The multi-pronged reforms, propelled by a package of measures like >industrial closure, retrenchment, downsizing, >disinvestment/privatisation, commercialisation, reduction/removal of >subsidies, has now started affecting every field of economic activity >and public service including agriculture, infrastructure, education and >public administration. Alongside the social divide between the affluent >and deprived sections, regional disparities are also fast accentuating >creating a sharp polarisation between the beneficiaries and victims of >economic reforms. Cheaper and unrestricted imports of various raw >materials including agricultural products and minerals under the WTO >regime of so-called free trade has caused serious disruption in many >productive sectors. Consequently, more than ever before, popular anger >has started snowballing into powerful mass action over a whole range of >issues with workers, petty producers, farmers and various sections >related to agro-based industries, small traders, students and unemployed >youth rising in major struggles in many parts of the country. > >Faced with such growing unrest, the Sangh Parivar has stepped up its >communal and diversionary campaign while the government is intensifying >its repressive measures to make India an �effective state� in Advani�s >words. While various components of the saffron brigade may be speaking >in different voices and focussing on different issues, there is also a >concerted attempt to develop a second saffron wave targeting Pakistan >and ISI. This jingoistic propaganda of course goes hand in hand with >ever-increasing attempts to woo the United States and emerge as the >exclusive US client state in South Asia. With Vajpayee�s current mission >to America, India�s saffron rulers have stooped further in their bid to >forge an Indo-US strategic partnership. To issue the right signals for >Washington, the visit has been preceded by a whole set of policy >announcements favouring foreign capital and several price hike >announcements are now awaiting Vajpayee�s return. > > >2. Kashmir continues to be the Achilles� heel of the NDA government. The >intriguing contrast between the summary rejection by the Centre of the >Abdullah government�s autonomy resolution and Vajpayee�s readiness to >hold parleys with the Hizbul Mujahideen has surprised many saffron >hardliners and camp-followers alike. But the Vajpayee government�s >absurd and arrogant refusal to talk to Pakistan led to a quick collapse >of the talks and withdrawal of the unilateral ceasefire announced by the >Hizbul Mujahideen. We are now witnessing a dangerous slideback in the >situation and conditions are once again acquring near-war dimensions >between India and Pakistan. By refusing the Pakistani offer for dialogue >in his speech delivered at the UN General Assembly, Vajpayee has once >again revealed his government�s jingoistic approach. >Without engaging both Pakistan and Kashmiri militants in a serious >dialogue, India cannot hope to achieve a negotiated political solution >to the Kashmir question. But the so-called track-II diplomacy and >political initiatives of the Vajpayee government on Kashmir remain >hostage to a predominantly military approach and the shadow of American >design on Kashmir is also becoming increasingly clear. The politics of >pitting one militant group in the valley against another, provoking >Jammu and Ladakh against the Valley and perpetuating confrontation >between India and Pakistan bears the unmistakable imprint of White >House. While saffron hardliners and parties like the SP who would now >like to beat the BJP in its own game of Pakistan-bashing are clamouring >for a pro-active policy of hot pursuit, we must remain firm in our >advocacy of a negotiated political solution to the Kashmir question >while opposing every indication of American meddling on the issue. While >a final solution to the Kashmir question cannot be expected overnight, >all sections of the people in the state and especially in the Valley >want an immediate restoration of peace and normalcy and end of custodial >killings, rapes and other forms of brutal repression by security focres >as well as indiscriminate killings of innocent people by various >militant outfits. We share this popular quest for peace and normalcy and >raise our voice against every incident of state repression as well as >militant-sponsored mindless violence. > > >3. The creation of three new states after decades of dillydallying has >come as a pleasant surprise to the people at large. While the >overwhelming majority of the people in these three states have welcomed >their newly acquired statehood, only a handful of regional parties have >opposed the move in their narrow regional interests. The CPI(M) too has >opposed the move probably on regional considerations. >While welcoming the new states we cannot lose sight of the fact that the >creation of these three new states at this stage has essentially been a >move from above and the degenerated regional lobbies in these three >states are already well integrated into the all-India power structure of >the ruling classes. Yet the movements had considerable democratic >content and the emergence of the new states cannot but bring to the >fore a whole range of democratic and developmental aspirations among >the broad masses in these states. While positioning ourselves anew in >the politics of these new states, we should try and champion the >unfulfilled democratic aspirations of the broad masses. > >It is a matter of welcome relief that in spite of the RJD�s sectarian >provocations, there has been absolutely no backlash in Bihar to the >creation of a separate Jharkhand state. However, given the extreme >economic backwardness, all-pervasive poverty and prevailing anarchy in >Bihar, there is widespread concern about the future of the state. Such >concern is generally sought to be misappropriated and misdirected by the >ruling class parties, but in Bihar these parties suffer from a >tremendous crisis of credibility and we have a great opportunity of >developing a militant mass movement on the agenda of Bihar�s >development. The so-called cross-party core group of Bihar MPs headed by >Nitish Kumar and comprising all parties from BJP to CPI(M) is making >some empty noise on the subject of a special package, while Ram Vilas >Paswan is busy making a parallel move. But these ministers and MPs do >not have any credibility on this issue and supporters of New Economic >Policy and globalisation cannot fight for Bihar�s development for the >existing crisis of the state has only been aggravated as a result of >these new policies. Our concept of an alternative package based on >concrete plans and projects and our mobilisation of the rural poor, >workers and students and unemployed youth of Bihar in the August 21 >March to Parliament have on the other hand attracted a lot of popular >response and goodwill. However, we must not look at this fight for >development as a negation of our basic agenda of class struggle or as a >convenient escape route from the class confrontation in the countryside, >rather it presents us with a rare opportunity of raising the level and >expanding the frontiers of our ongoing class struggle. > >The creation of the three new states has also fuelled a revival of >several other statehood and autonomy demands. Among these, the demand >for a creation of an autonomus state comprising the hill districts of >Assam as provided by Article 244 A of the Indian Constitution occupies a >unique position. The demand for an autonomous state was earlier rejected >or avoided by successive central governments including the current NDA >government on the plea that it would mean opening a veritable Pandora's >Box. Now that three new states have actually been created amidst a >general advocacy of smaller states, there is no rational basis for the >Centre to deny autonomous statehood to Karbi Anglong and NC Hills. The >time is indeed ripe for a vigorous resurgence of the autonomous state >movement. With regard to the remaining statehood demands, we are in >favour of resolving them preferably within the framework of regional >autonomy. However, it is also time for setting up a Second States >Reorganisation Commission to go into the relatively more serious and >persistent statehood demands and come out with a time-bound plan of >reorganisation. > > >4. On the eve of the first anniversary of the NDA�s third term, the BJP >finds its political stock plummeting quite rapidly. Operation Kalyan has >not marked the end of dissidence within the party, rather dissidence is >steadily acquiring more serious proportions. In the struggle between the >Vajpayee and Advani camps, portrayed rather simplistically as a tussle >between liberals and hardliners within the party, the former appears to >have gained the upper hand both in the government and party. The RSS >under Sudarshan is on the other hand exhibiting a new stridency and the >contrast between the BJP�s limited and immediate agenda and the real and >long-term goal of the RSS is often coming to the fore. Instead of >mistaking this contrast merely as a contradiction, we should however see >it more as a combination, as an intricate division of labour within the >Sangh Parivar. Contrary to VP Singh�s advocacy of banishing communal >forces from both ruling as well as opposition spaces, we now have a >diametrically opposite situation with communal forces trying to occupy >and control both the spaces. > >The RSS understands it full well that there can be no resurrection of >the orginal saffron wave around Ayodhya and anti-Mandalism, and the >attempt to create a second saffron wave therefore banks heavily on >whipping up a jingoistic frenzy against Pakistan focussing on Kashmir >and the alleged activities of ISI. Simultaneously the BJP is trying to >corner the Congress on the issue of economic reforms and undercut the >social justice camp by acquiring a pro-dalit and possibly even a >pro-Muslim image. The catapulting of Bangaru Laxman as the first dalit >president of BJP and his cultivated �Laxmanspeak� appeals to Indian >Muslims provide clear pointers in this direction. Simultaneously, by >promoting Kalraj Mishra as the President of BJP�s UP unit, the Sangh >Parivar is also trying to revive the party�s waning Ayodhya fervour. >However, in spite of these recovery attempts, the BJP is clearly losing >ground in Uttar Pradesh and the Nagpur meeting of its national executive >remained silent on UP while expressing concern over the party�s >continuing stagnation in many parts of the country. > >The process of revival of the Congress seems to have slowed down >considerably. The party has not been able to hold on to the early gains >made in UP at the time of the last Lok Sabha elections and the party >finished a poor fourth in the recently concluded panchayat elections in >the state. Nationally too, the party has failed to sustain the momentum >generated on the controversial Gujarat circular regarding RSS. For >obvious reasons the party has little credibility or interest as an >opposition party on the economic front and it failed miserably in >forcing a rollback on the issue of subsidies. The party�s declining >profile as an effective opposition party has earned it the dubious >distinction of being the NDA�s twenty-fifth partner. It is a measure of >the CPI(M)�s political bankruptcy and betrayal that the Congress is >being handed over so much of opposition space and initiative in Andhra >Pradesh. >After a lot of initial noise, the moves of the four ex-PMs have begun to >yield diminishing returns. They too have little credibility as >detractors of globalisation and liberalisation, nor do they have any >distinct voice on issues like Kashmir and Veerappan. From the beginning, >the SP showed little interest in promoting a third front under the >leadership of VP Singh and his group of four ex-PMs and now the CPI(M) >too has been pushed back into a defensive position by the developments >in West Bengal. The resultant fluidity in the opposition camp is surely >an advantageous factor for us and based on our increasing assertion in a >few key states we can surely play a larger role in national politics as >well. We have already succeeded in raising our oppositional profile in >Bihar with powerful and timely initiatives on issues like massacres, >Bihar�s development and police atrocities. The BJP and NDA, on the other >hand, is beset with a lot of problems in post-bifurcation Bihar and >their political stock is declining in the state. Once again we have a >great opportunity to regain our political initiative as not only the >foremost Left party but even as the most effective voice of opposition >in Bihar. In Andhra too, with limited subjective strength we have taken >impressive political initiatives in the ongoing agitation against hike >in power rates and this has immensely energised our ranks and opened up >possibilities for raising our political profile in the state. > > >5. Among the Left parties, the CPI(M) is passing through a particularly >critical phase. Both inner-party dissidence and public resentment >against West Bengal�s longest-serving Left government seem to be peaking >around the same time, one reinforcing the other. This has also been the >period of major inner-party debates in the party centring around the >ongoing exercise to update the party�s programme. Even though media >reports focus on the challenges facing the party�s centrist programme >from a full-blown liberal or right-opportunist current, by all accounts, >the debate also has another parallel strand which questions the party�s >overall rightist and parliamentary cretinist tilt from a leftwing >orientation. >In West Bengal, the CPI(M) has suffered a series of electoral reverses >indicating a qualitative increase in the influence of the TMC-BJP >combine. In spite of the Congress leadership�s formal or official >refusal to join the much-debated grand alliance or mahajot in West >Bengal, such an alliance is increasingly becoming a social reality. >Moreover, sections of dissident CPI(M) forces are also effectively >pooling their strength and influence with the TMC-BJP combine, thereby >adding to the scale and depth of such a grand alliance. > >Currently, the TMC is spearheading a vicious campaign to oust the Left >Front. The campaign is essentially three-pronged: (i) application of >terror and violence to destroy the CPI(M)�s famed rural fortress, (ii) >shrill populist propaganda against the Left Front which has tremendous >backing from the media, (iii) utilisation of the TMC�s clout with the >NDA coalition at the Centre to keep the LF on the defensive through an >effective combination of populism and threat of central intervention. >However, in spite of overwhelming popular support, the TMC still lacks >organisational muscle and its alliance with the BJP is still rather >tenuous. >The LF on its part is weighed down by the growing weight of its own >omissions and commissions, damaging exposure of the numerous skeletons >accumulated in its cupboard over its much-celebrated protracted >stability and the crisis of transition to a post-Jyoti Basu era. While >dissidence within the CPI(M) is rising alarmingly, and differences >within the LF are also sharpening, the CPI(M) is making sustained and >conscious efforts to woo the extra-LF Left including the SUCI and ML >groups. There are also attempts to give a certain face-lift to the LF >government�s much-worn-out pro-poor image. And most importantly, the >party is resorting to heavy doses of counter-terror as well as what can >be trermed pre-emptive terror to protect its rural strogholds. >CPI(M) ideologues are attributing the spread of the TMC to the rural >interior of West Bengal as Bengal�s version of the �Ranvir Sena >phenomenon�, as a counter-revolutionary backlash propelled by the >landlord-kulak victims of agrarian reforms. They are however unable to >explain why it took full two decades for these forces to strike back, or >more importantly, how these forces have succeeded in reorganising >themselves after the much-trumpeted land reforms and panchayati raj >revolution. Political and academic observers however have a different >story to tell. It is well known that the reforms in Bengal went hardly >beyond the Operation Barga and the fruits of so-called empowerment >through panchayti raj institutions were cornered mostly by the new rural >rich and middle classes. Against this backdrop of stalled reforms and >middle-class dominated panchayati raj, large sections of the old >Congress base among the rural rich had shifted their allegiance to the >CPI(M) and the Left Front. However, the TMC�s growing penetration in the >countryside cannot be attributed to a mere return of the old Congress >social base. There are ample evidences of a growing disillusionment >among the rural poor and agricultural labourers. CPI(M)-sponsored >massacres from Karanda in Bardhaman in 1993 to the recent killing of a >dozen agricultural labourers in Suchpur in Nanur block of Birbhum bear >gory testimony to this shocking agrarian reality of Left-ruled West >Bengal. >Developments in West Bengal also coincide with a virulent anti-Left >hysteria in the entire domain of politics and culture. Indeed, a >possible fall of the LF in the coming election in West Bengal can >trigger a major anti-communist backlash in the country. The crisis in >our Party in Karbi Anglong has also supplied a lot of grist to the >anti-communist propaganda mill in Assam and even in the national media. > >The present period is however also witnessing a real growth of political >cooperation between our party and various sections of the Left as >exemplified by our ties with the CPI in Bihar, the deepening of the >nine-party agitation in Andhra, joint action with CPI(M) dissidents and >the MCPI in Punjab and revival of joint initiative among ML groups in >West Bengal. In Rajasthan too, the Left parties are coming together to >launch a joint campaign against power sector reforms which have caused >great resentment among farmers and all sections depending on >agriculture. While the growing anti-Left hysteria is a real threat, we >must learn to take it in our strides and face it by launching a vigorous >counter-offensive. It is important to understand that any radical >realignment of forces within the Left can only come about through a >broader political upheaval and we must therefore firmly hold on to our >ground while losing no opportunity to expand and raise the level of >political cooperation with various sections of the Left. > > >6. We have already noted that ten years of economic reforms have created >serious socio-economic instability and imbalance in the country. The >predominantly middle class euphoria about the miracles of free market >and the recent hype about IT and new economy have started giving way to >loud warning signals and cries of crisis from many quarters. Opposition >to the reforms is not confined to the organised working class, we are >witnessing the beginning of a real popular resistance to the multiple >disasters being wrought by globalisation. >The Left parties and their mass organisations have generally been on the >forefront of the campaign against new economic policies. But the >betrayal of the Left-led state governments and the Left-backed UF >government at the Centre and the Left�s deep-rooted economistic approach >have reduced the Left-led resistance to a low-key lack-lustre affair. >Especially, on the question of globalisation, the Left has failed to >take the lead in emerging as the champion of economic nationalism and >tearing asunder the swadeshi mask of the pseudo-nationalists of RSS. >While gearing up all our mass organisations and Party units for playing >a more vigorous role in the growing popular resistance against >globalisation and liberalisation, we should also take some additional >and complementary initiatives in this regard. The situation especially >seems ripe for the following two moves: > >(a) We can take the lead in launching a patriotic platform against >globalisation which would also serve as a bridge with the popular quest >for democracy. Such a forum may be launched after an intensive and >extensive national mobilisation of activists early next year (say around >23 march, Bhagat Singh�s martyrdom day) and it can provide a structured >room for expanding our contacts among, and enlisting the cooperation of, >many like-minded organisations and individuals. >(b) We can take the initiative to promote cross-sector workers� >solidarity from below especially on a common plank of opposition to >privatisation and downsizing. AICCTU alone is certainly not sufficient >for tapping the growing unrest among organised segments of the working >class, nor are we in a position to launch independent unions among such >organised sections. A network of solidarity platforms, launched in major >industrial centres or points of concentration of workers and employees, >can effectively complement our efforts within AICCTU or at departmental >levels and give a new impetus to our work on the entire working class >front. Such forums can be coordinated nationally, particularly through a >popular working class journal suited to the changing conditions of >working class action. > >In the course of the ongoing Strengthen the Party campaign we have >directed our primary attention to the revitalisation of our rural work >and promotion of sustained local activism on the student-youth front. >While keeping up the momentum generated by the campaign and >consolidating the gains in terms of Party-building and all-round mass >political dynamism, we should also revive our united front efforts. As >emphasised by the Sixth Party Congress,��We must persist with our >efforts to build a united front of broad cross-sections of democratic >forces. And for that, in the first place, we must champion the cause of >progressive nationalism against imperialism and nattional chauvinism and >put greater emphasis on anti-imperialist tasks.�� >END. > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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