People's Democracy

SOCIALISM is the future; the future is ours. This was the basis on which the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) was founded on November 3, 1980 in Ludhiana. This was followed by 21 years of progressive youth struggle. At that time we were 12 lakh, 59 thousand and 671 only; but over the years we have been able to grow to one crore and 12 lakh.

At the time of the DYFI’s foundation, the international scenario was complex. Youth had a dream in their eyes of a socialist state where there is no poverty, no menace of unemployment. Our organisation grew steadily towards fulfiling this dream. We followed the scientific ideology. The strength of socialism, we thought, is the strength of the ideology.

After completing 21 years of struggle, the DYFI has now entered its 22^nd year. For us each day of the past 21 years is a day of victory for our struggle, victory for our comrades who have sacrificed their lives for the struggle.

In any society, youth are known for their own special characteristics. During the last one decade, we had to work in a changed world which appeared to be a new one. During this period following the break-up of the USSR, the first socialist state, the socialist ideology got a big jolt and the dreams of the youth got shattered. This allowed imperialism to try to hegemonise the whole world. It is making all-out efforts to spread its tentacles to all walks of life — economic, political, cultural. It shattered the youth’s dream to change the country into a socialistic state. The capitalist outlook is that not everybody in society had a right over wealth in the past and that the situation will remain unchanged even in future. The new situation was, challenge to our aim of socialism, and to the very existence of our organisation.

Today, communalism has also become a great threat to our society. It is controlling the state machinery. Communal organisations are trying to incorporate the fascist ideology in state administration. Despite the widespread despondency, we have to keep the organisation flourishing in the midst of this severe ideological adversity.

The youth of our country are victims of moral degradation. It is evident in every field of life. So we have to be always on the alert to save the organisation from it at any cost. To achieve this, we have to ceaselessly work within the organisation. This vice may debase any one, if she or he is off guard, and we do have a few instances of degradation among our youth.

Our ideology brings not only a new political consciousness to us but higher values of life as well. Our comrades have to associate themselves with all sorts of social work. The aim of this association will be to take the ideals of the organisation to the youth. It is our responsibility to counteract the debasing trend and to inculcate healthy values of life among the youth.

Keeping in view the impact of international situation on our national life, our responsibility is to win over a large number of youth through political education. This will strengthen our fight against the enemy and enable us to stand against any sort of adverse political attempt. Today our aim is to have an organisation that can provide political leadership to the younger generations.

Our organisation has given a direction not only to the youth but to the whole society by organising mass movements. Movements are our strength.

The central government of our country, a coalition of 23 opportunistic parties, has brought the country face to face with extreme dangers --- economically, politically and socially.

The ruinous policies adopted by the Congress government in the beginning of the 1990s are now being pursued more vigorously by the present NDA government. These policies are posing a severe threat in all walks of life. Mills and factories have closed down, profitable state owned organisations are being sold out at a low price. Insurance and other sectors are being denationalised. Foreign capital has got free access to all the economic sectors.

These policies have tremendously affected agriculture and cottage industries also. The prices of agricultural products have come down. Small-scale industries have fallen into a crisis in the face of unequal competition. The class of workers associated with agriculture is facing unemployment. Food grains stocked in central government’s godowns are rotting while the people of the country are going hungry. There had been starvation deaths all over the country. While capitalists and blackmarketeers are getting economic concessions, people in general are groaning under the burden of taxes. Under the so-called voluntary retirement scheme employees of banks, factories and mills are being forced to give up their jobs, while there is no new employment.

The situation is also a challenge to our independence and sovereignty. The power-loving political parties do not even raise their voice against this misrule. We, along with 56 other organisations, have raised our voice against the anti-people policies of the government. We have to face and fight and rebuff this fearful situation at every stage. We have to train the younger generations to protest against injustice. For that, we have to formulate action plans to propagate our views and educate the youth.

The secular fabric of our country has been under sense strain ever since the NDA came to power. The secular character of the state is at stake. Facts of history are being distorted to meet the requirements of the RSS ideology. Nationwide movements and struggles need to be organised against the communal ideology of the Sangh Parivar.

How Yugoslavia was devastated in a war by the US and the NATO for 78 days, is still fresh in our memory. We have also not forgotten the military interventions of the USA during five long decades in Chile, Indonesia, Panama, Columbia, El Salvador and many other countries. Attacks on Iraq have been going on at intervals, during the last decade. The US is unrepentent for its barbarism in the Vietnam war.

The whole world was shocked when the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York were attacked by terrorists. To wipe out terrorism, the US president George W Bush has launched a war against Afghanistan which is harbouring the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, who is alleged to be behind the tower attacks. The US war has crossed all the norms of a civilised world and revealed the barbaric face of the US once again.

For, in the name of suppressing terrorism, the imperialist US has set out on a course of devastation and death. Terrorism and imperialism are two sides of the same coin. Without exaggeration, one may even say that the US government has been promoting all sort of terrorism. It cannot deny its patronage, directly or indirectly, to terrorist activities all over the world.

Putting at stake our very sovereignty, the Vajpayee government has joined hands with the imperialist US. Like-minded people including students, artists, writers and journalists have raised their voice of protest against the imperialist war. Our organisation has been, from its very inception, in favour of peace and against war. We want the termination of this bloodthirsty war.

We are proud of our struggle against imperialism. With a vigilant eye on the situation, we have to be up and mobilise others for our cause. The future of our democracy and our movement is dependent on this struggle. Our struggle is for socialism. Our aim is to make a new history through the participation of all. To come out victorious in the ensuing strife, we have to rally more and more youth to our cause.