People's Democracy

11^th Int�l Meeting of Communist & Workers� Parties Concludes

Overthrow Capitalism for the

Better Future of Humanity

G Mamatha

Darbar-e- watan mein jab ik din sab janey waley jayenge

Kuch apni saza ko pohanchenge, kuch apni jaza le jayenge

Aey khak nasheenon uth baitho, woh waqt kareeb aa pohancha hai

Jab taj uchhalay jayenge, jab takht giraey jayenge

Ab toot gireingi zanjeerein, ab zindan'on ki khair nahin

Jo darya jhoom ke utthe hain, tinkon se na ta'llay jayenge

Kat'te bhi chalo, barhtey bhi chalo: bazoo bhi bahut hain, sar bhi bahut

Chaltey bhi chalo, ke ab derey manzil hi pe da'ley jayenge

SUMMING up his speech with a poem of Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and head, international department of the Party,  underscored the need to overthrow capitalism and establish socialism as this is the only real alternative for the better future of humankind. In a rousing public reception marking the conclusion of the 11th  international meeting of the communist and workers' parties organised on November 22, 2009 at Mavlankar Hall in New Delhi, Yechury said the current global recession is a systemic crisis of capitalism and is no aberration based on the greed of a few individuals or lack of effective regulatory mechanisms. No amount of reform can eliminate exploitation under capitalism. He emphasised the need to intensify ideological and political, working class led popular struggles to overthrow capitalism. 

Presenting an overview of the three day meeting, he said about 14 lakh crore dollar bailout package  was given to the big corporates in order to facilitate enriching their profits even in the time of crisis, even as unemployment, hunger and poverty is rising across the world. Had this money been pumped into public investment, it could have, instead, led to more employment, thereby increasing the purchasing power of the people, which is the only real way out of the present crisis. But the capitalists� greed for profit maximisation and a quick way out of the crisis, would never allow them to resort to this path. Yechury, in this context, said that the Left poses alternatives to expose capitalism's inherent inability to provide relief to the people, and thereby mobilise people and intensify class struggles to overthrow capitalism.

Concluding his speech, Yechury said, as once a baby comes out of the mother's womb, no matter how many problems it faces, it can never go back to the womb, similarly once socialism is born, there is no going back and exhorted the audience to create opportunities and not wait for opportunities to present themselves, in order to advance the movement for revolutionary transformation.

The venue of the public meeting overflowed with activists from both the CPI(M) and CPI. The meeting began with the rendering of revolutionary songs and felicitating all the foreign delegates with red roses.

In the public reception, the participants witnessed a rare occasion where delegates from Cuba and America, from Palestine and Israel were seen embracing each other, demonstrating that communists are not against the people of the world, but against the exploiters of all hues, a symbol of proletariat internationalism. Delegates from Cuba, USA, Israel, Palestine, Portugal and Greece spoke in the meeting for a brief period.

Addressing the gathering, Oscar Israel Martinez from the Communist
Party of Cuba congratulated the organisers and said that Cuba is moving ahead in the path of socialism, making better efforts to build this just system. At present there are favourable conditions present in Latin America and Cuba is trying to integrate the progressive forces in the region politically, economically, socially and culturally. He said the battle of ideas, the ideological battle against imperialism, has to be strengthened more to take on imperialism.

Speaking next, Scott Marshall of the Communist Party of USA said they are friends of American people and not of American imperialism. Expressing confidence in the victory of the struggle for socialism, he concluded saying, �we will win.�

Fawaz from the Palestine Communist Party said that the inhuman occupation of Palestine is continuing because of the US imperialism�s support to the Zionist occupation. He called upon all the progressive forces to stand in solidarity against occupation and for liberation of Palestine.

Raising slogans, �Down with Imperialism� �Down with Palestinian Occupation�  Faten Kamal Ghattas of the Communist Party of Israel, emphasised that they stand united against Palestinian occupation, as also against occupation in Syria and Lebanon, and will continue the fight until Palestine is liberated and the Zionist occupation is finished. He said Israel is the child of imperialism and said we stand united in the fight against imperialism and for establishing socialism. The Communist Party of Israel is the only party where both Jews and Arabs are members of a single party. It has three members out of 150 in the parliament, of which, two are Jews and the other one an Arab. This, indeed, reflects the kind of unity among the people that a communist party strives for achieving!

Speakers from Greece and Portugal reiterated their commitment to proletarian internationalism and the common struggle against imperialism.

Speaking in the public reception, Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI(M) said that on the eve of the meeting between prime minister Manmohan Singh and president Obama, the US officials increased their pitch in demanding the opening up of insurance, defence production and education sectors for more foreign direct investment. US is keen to rope in India as a key partner in its strategic alliance and also to capture its market. He brought to the notice of the participants that South Asia has become a major focus for imperialism. The US-NATO forces have been waging the war in Afghanistan for the past eight years. The �Afpak� strategy of the United States seeks to draw India into its strategic designs. The huge market that India represents is prized by imperialist finance capital.

Prakash Karat said, the determination of the Communists and the Left to resist neo-liberal policies and oppose the strategic alliance with the United States has made them the target of a concerted attack by the ruling classes and imperialism. At the present juncture, the Left in India is working to overcome the electoral setbacks that it suffered in the last parliamentary elections. As far as the Left is concerned, this can be accomplished not by compromising the struggle against the neo-liberal policies and imperialist pressures but by steadfastly fighting for alternative economic policies, defending the rights of the working people and rebuffing all attempts by the reactionary communal forces to divide the people and to divert their attention from the growing nexus of the ruling classes with imperialism.

Concluding his speech, Prakash Karat said the resistance to the imperialist offensive, its assault on national sovereignty and the imposition of neo-liberal policies can succeed only when we organise powerful struggles in defence of the rights of the working people and their livelihood. This becomes the basis for the political platform for alternative policies.

The general secretary of CPI, A B Bardhan addressing the gathering, asked the people who pronounced the death of socialism, to come and see for themselves  the advance of forces working for socialism all over the world. He expressed confidence in the victory of the struggle against imperialism. RSP general secretary T Chandrachoodan and All India Forward Block leader Dr Ghosh also addressed the meeting.

The meeting concluded with the singing of Internationale. While the song was sung in Hindi, all the foreign delegates joined along singing the Internationale in their own languages, reflecting the common bond of humanity against oppression.