People's Democracy

 THINKING TOGETHER

The People's Democracy devoted a number of pages in three of its issues criticising the ASI report on excavation of the Babri Masjid area. A number of dailies also carried the article of Professor Suraj Bhan criticising the ASI report. It gives an impression as if the CPI(M) is a party in Masjid case against Mandir, as it shows more enthusiasm in the  matter than the Muslim Personal Law Board.  Does it not look as if the party supports Muslim communalism while opposing Hindu communalism?

--- Rajan Sharma, Jhansi

THE only enthusiasm the CPI(M) shows and will continue to show is in the defence of the secular democratic character of the Indian republic. 

The ASI report on the excavations in the Babri Masjid area is a contentious issue. The court had itself given the contending parties six weeks time to respond before it took a decision on the matter. In the defence of the Indian republic, it is necessary that all its agencies like the CBI, the NCERT or the ASI maintain their independence and integrity. However, we have seen how the credibility of these institutions, alongwith a number of other educational bodies, is being systematically eroded to further the communal agenda of the RSS/BJP, which is antithetical to the secular democratic republic. 

The editorial in the September 7 issue of People's Democracy lists out in detail the CPI(M)'s attitude towards the ASI report. This need not be repeated here; you may yourself refer to it.

The CPI(M)'s efforts to prevent and protest against the misuse of  institutions to further the political agenda of the present ruling party can never be construed as supporting Muslim communalism while opposing Hindu communalism. The CPI(M) has always maintained and continues to maintain that Hindu communalism and Islamic fundamentalism feed on each other. In the process, both spread communal poison deeper, threatening the very fabric of our country's unity and integrity. Both act against the interests of the majority of the people they claim to represent. If India is today a secular democracy, it is because a majority of Hindus and Muslims rejected such politics.

Capitalism, with all its defects, thrives under a multi-party democracy. Can socialism not be sustained under a multi-party democracy? What does socialism in Indian conditions mean?

--- Dr S Balachandra Bhat, Kerala

THE 14th party congress of the CPI(M), in its Resolution on Certain Ideological Issues, clearly answered these and connected questions:

“7.7 It is only after the establishment of people's democracy and completing the anti-imperialist, anti-feudal, anti-monopoly capital tasks, can the Indian people advance towards socialism. What does socialism in Indian conditions mean?

“7.8 It means, first and foremost, that people's power would be supreme. That democracy and democratic rights would be inseparable elements of the socialist juridical, political and social order.

“7.9 It means that the socialist economic construction will be based on the socialised means of production and central planning. As long as commodity production exists, the market is bound to exist. As noted earlier, the market forces, however, shall be subsumed under the guidance of central planning. While various forms of property can and will coexist, the decisive form will be that of the social ownership of the means of production.

“7.10 Under socialism, the right to dissent, freedom of expression and plurality of opinion will flourish with the aim of strengthening socialism. The question of whether other political parties exist or a multi-party system will prevail, depends crucially on the role that these parties have played during the process of revolution and socialist transformation.

“7.11 Socialism in the Indian conditions also means the creation of the basis for enriching and strengthening the existing democratic rights. It means the providing of the economic basis, the fundamental and essential requirement for the continuous deepening and development of the quality of human life, on whose foundations socialist democracy will flourish.”