People's Democracy

IN his election campaingning in Kerala, where the main opponent of the LDF, is the Congress-led UDF, CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet severely criticised and attacked the Congress on three comments : 1) the genuineness of the Congress present stances on secularism, 2) the Congress responsibility in introducing, implementing the globalisation policy and its impact particualrly on the agriculture sector, and 3) the Congress decline and loss of popular support.

Questioning the genuineness of the present day Congress credentials regarding secularism, he told the people that Congress was as much responsible as the sangha parivar forces in the destruction of the Babri Masjid, whereby the secular fabric of this great republic was irreparably damaged. He challenged the Congress to prove otherwise, if they had any other argument regarding the position adopted by the then Congress prime minister of India Mr P V Narasimha Rao, who remained a silent spectator to what was happening in Ayodhya on that fateful day. Could a Prime Minister of India remain with so much complacency as did Mr Rao at that time? And it is this congress party that is questioning the CPI(M) credentials in protecting the minority interests in the state of Kerala! He mocked at the UDF claim of safeguarding minority interests with innumerable examples. But for the presence of the communist movement in the states of Kerala and W.Bengal, the majority communalists led by the sangha parivar forces would have tried to molest the minority houses of worship and created troubles for the minorities as a whole.

In this connection, he wondered at the attitude taken by the IUML, which is said to represent the minority interests. The present stand of the IUML, instead of protecting minorities, will in the long run lead to a wholesale massacres because the IUML is trying to help create chances for the RSS-led BJP to open their account in the Kerala Assembly. He warned the IUML that history would never pardon them if the BJP succeeded in getting representation in the Kerala Assembly, which till date has presented this repugnant political curse of the nation to enter its portals.

Surjit also told the people that both the Congress and the BJP were equally responsible for the present plight of the farmers and peasants of the country. He reminded them that the imperialist countries protected their farmers and the agricultural sector by enhancing their subsidies, while the central government of India reduced subsidies to our agricultural sector is facing the danger of being annihilated. Fertile Panjab and the Doab and the Raichur Doab, and others various parts of the country are no longer cultivating foodgrains; in stead, the peasants are being virtually evicted by the multinationals in order to produce their industrial requirements in these once fertile plains of India. Although the land belongs to the peasant, he has no right to cultivate it according to his pattern. The peasants of Andhra Pradesh and the north Indian states are committing suicide as a result of this central policy.

The Export-Import policy of the central government is dictated by the WTO. Imports characterized by the influx of articles which are abundantly produced in the country. One peasants are at a loss to understand why coconut, arecanut, pepper, etc., which they produce in surplus are being imported into the country? India has been reduced to the status of a colonial market. Any country can dump anything in our markets as a result of the central policy of imports. Several types of edible oils like the coconut oil are produced in plenty in the country, but palm oil and palmoline are imported without any restrictions. At the same time the central government has issued orders to wipe out even the smallest restrictions on import of the commodities and products, which are made in the country.

When Narasimha Rao started the globalization policy, it was explicitly stated that only products which cannot be produced with the available technology in India would be imported. But the Congress and the BJP say one thing and do the quite the opposite. What they say, they cannot practise. Preaching and practising are different.

Surjit reminded the people that during every election the Congress and other bourgeois parties present their manifestos, but after the elections, these manifestos become mere sheets of worthless paper and then authors it would appear cannot understand what they meant by what they had written. But the LDF of Kerala and the LF of W Bengal are not like that. They have tried in the past to implement what is promised in their manifestos. That is why the People’s Plan Programme has been a success in Kerala. That is why electricity could be produced in sufficient quantities to meet the requirements of the people.

Surjit had a word of caution for the people on the congress undermining of the federal nature of the Republic of India. This disregard for the federalism of the country was conducive to developing fissiparous tendencies in different parts of the country. Congress has begun to consider its temporary political gains more important than the unity and culture of the nation. But as a result it has been reduced to a miniscule minority in the parliament of the nation.

Once Congress had enjoyed the privilege of returning more than 400 members to parliament. But what is its position now? It has only 113 members now. In states like UP and Bihar, the Congress has become a thing of the past. This is because of the Congress’s purely partisan attitude in matters of national importance. That party has openely compromised national ideology. But federalism and secularism are the cardinal elements of the constitution of the Republic of India. That is why we became a Republic.

While the same pattern is followed by the BJP, there is a slight difference between the ways of the two parties. Congress thinks only of the political mileage it can gain, while the BJP always thinks of the communalization possibilities of their policies and work. The RSS is treating the people of India in different stratificati, trying to throw the minorities into ghettoes as the Fascists and the Nazis did in the first half of the twentieth century.

Surjit warned the people, if the federal character of the nation were damaged, it would be the beginning of the disintegration of the nation. Every one who desires to see our nation standing united should defeat both the Congress and BJP in the elections in Kerala and elsewhere. Against the anti-federal character of both the Congress and the BJP, the People’s Front is being formed and popularized under the leadership of Jyoti Basu and Mulayam Singh Yadav. This is the beacon of light in the otherwise dark picture of Indian politics. If the People’s Front is to survive and grow, and if our nation is to be saved from the evils of globalization, if our peasantry is to be protected, the LDF should be returned to power in Kerala and the LF in W Bengal. The parties sharing power with the BJP and the sangha parivar must be defeated.

To the Congressmen of Kerala Surjeet stated, the central Congress leadership should have taken the initiative in the struggle against enslaving India to the imperialist countries. However, it is not doing so, and in this background the People’s front under Jyoti Basu and Mulayam Singh Yadav become highly relevant. This Front has to be strengthened if India is to survive. He was confident that the people of India would not exhume the decayed corpse of colonialism and become a part of it. India’s freedom struggle had always a mainstream and minor streams, and these diverse elements had all but one aim, to make India a fully independent nation. It is this objective that has been forgotten by the Congress and the BJP. For the latter, there never was a tradition of anti-imperialist struggle. But the Congress has a great tradition. He advised the congressmen not to forget it.

He also reminded the people of Kerala that they had the great tradition of putting an end to the power monopoly of the congress party. The LDF government, the first to complete its full tenure, has recorded substantive achievements for the people and the state of Kerala. He called upon the people to uphold this tradition and contribute to the development of the state, while strengthening the federal and secular structure of the Republic.

Surjit’s meetings and rallies all over the state were marked by the attendance of thousands, particularly in Purameri and Naduvannur in Kozhikode district. Purameri is a village where the recent Nadapuram violence unleashed by the IUML extremists had some effect. But the crowd that assembled there surpassed all former assemblages of people, and Surjeet’s presence proved a big boost to the LDF workers all over the state.

- May 4, 2001