People's Democracy

Mahesh Kumar

HELD at Kathmandu on occasion of the fifth national conference of Democratic Nepali Youth Federation (DNYF), the Asia-Pacific regional meeting of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) was marked by two more events. One of these was a seminar on "Terrorism and Religious Fundamentalism" and the other, a meeting in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

As the WFDY’s coordinator for the Asia-Pacific region, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) placed a work report, detailing the programmes organised by member organisations in the region and the decisions taken to forge a campaign against imperialist aggressiveness. Placing the report, DYFI joint secretary K N Balagopal said the imperialist onslaught against the peace-loving world peoples has become more challenging after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He further pointed out how the fight against imperialist aggressiveness has become all the more important in the new, post- September 11 situation. But the report also noted that the campaign against imperialism has gained momentum in the region in the same period. The WFDY’s member organisations in the region have played an important role in mobilising the youth against US high-handedness. Millions of youth took to the streets against imperialist intervention in various countries, at the call of these organisations. The meeting concluded with the call to intensify the struggles against all forms of loot and aggression by imperialist powers.

The seminar on terrorism and fundamentalism took place in this very background. Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML), inaugurated the seminar, with K N Balagopal presiding over the inaugural session. In his inaugural address, Nepal said the youth of the world would have to face the twin challenges of terrorism and religious fundamentalism head on, in order to provide a correct orientation to their movement. In today’s world, the growing link between religious fundamentalism and terrorism is posing a serious threat to world peace, democracy and human rights. The alliance of Taliban with Al-Qaida, for example, brought immense misery and destruction to the Afghan people, and provided ground for imperialist intervention there.

The CPN(UML) leader also pointed out how terrorist organisations are growing in almost all countries of South Asia. Fundamentalists are widening their base here to the detriment of the movements for peace, democracy and human rights, built with participation of hundreds of thousands of youth. The aggression on the Palestinian people and Israeli intrusion into Palestinian territory has disturbed peace and stability in the Middle East and pushed the region to the threshold of a war.

About his own country, the CPN(UML) leader said the terror unleashed by Maoists has created a very serious situation. Thousands of innocent people have been killed in the last six years. The Maoists are misguiding the youth by instigating them to take to arms, in complete disregard of the national and international situation. At a time when the possibility of bringing social transformation through peaceful means in the country does exist, the Maoists have plunged the country into a bloodbath. At the same time, the government of Nepal is misusing its security forces in different parts of the country in the name of curbing Maoist insurgency, instead of taking initiative to defuse the conflict through peaceful dialogue.

Nepal concluded by asking the youth to raise their voice against the US hegemonistic drive that has intensified after September 11 last year. The US is trying to intervene in other countries under the pretext of curbing terrorism. In this process, it has branded some countries as sponsors of terrorism and named them as the possible targets of US attack.

Taking part in the discussion, J N Khanal, member of the CPN(UML) standing committee and chief of its Department of International Relations, said the world is undergoing a great change today. Due to the latest round of revolutions in science and technology, particularly in the field of information and communication, the whole planet is shrinking. Internet has become the fastest growing tool of communication in the history of human civilisation. The convergence of information technology, the Internet and E-commerce may well herald a new transformation as the industrial revolution had done in the past. He said this new development provides a new basis to bring the entire humanity closer. The rapid process of interaction between different countries, nations and peoples is creating a new global society, culture and relations.

At the same time, contradictions between different cultures and religions are becoming acute. The world is experiencing an uneven development today, unprecedented in the history of mankind. Global capitalism and a few multinationals are using most of the opportunities created by the revolutions in science and technology by to earn a lot of superprofit. They have concentrated a huge amount of capital in their hands and marginalised a large number of people. We know that the world’s per capita income amounts to more than 5000 dollars today, but more than two billion people are compelled to live below the income of 2 dollars a day. The picture is serious in developing and underdeveloped countries. More than 50 per cent the world’s poor are in South Asia.

This very exploitation, repression, discriminations, unemployment, and poverty are the basic sources of violence and all kinds of conflict. Ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural discriminations are generating different kinds of fundamentalism that are another source of terrorism. The US has been trying to widen the gaps between the masses and using religious fundamentalism and terrorism for its nefarious ends.

The September 11 events sparked a new polarisation among the nations. The US, the only superpower in today’s world, has mustered widest possible support in its hyped campaign against terrorism after the second world war. The US role in this regard has to be taken note of. US policy-makers during Kennedy’s presidency wrote, "Third world nationalism is a major threat to the US-led world order," and wanted to crush it. The US administrations went to the extent of propping up and arming insurgent groups in Iran, Nicaragua, Somalia, Brazil, Honduras, Indonesia, South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Lebanon, Namibia, Afghanistan and many other countries, as a means of protecting its interests and destroying the support base of the USSR. Many so-called heroes of the bin Laden kind were created. And now the US imperialists are making attempts to destroy world peace and democracy in many countries in the name of the terrorist threat. Today, on the pretext of ending terrorism, US imperialism is threatening Cuba, DPRK, Iraq and some other countries.

Others to participate in the discussion included Harchand Singh (general secretary, WFDY), Tra (Vietnam), Pareira (Sri Lanka), John (Sweden), Mukti (Bhutan) and N N Balagopal and Soni Thangmum (India). All of them stressed the need for a powerful movement against imperialist aggressiveness and its weapons like terrorism and fundamentalism. The seminar concluded by announcing the US as the number one terrorist, and urged the youth and students the world over to come together to fight the dangers being posed by imperialist powers.