People's Democracy(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
Vol. XXXIV
No.
02 January 10, 2010 |
ANDHRA
PRADESH
CPI(M)
Stand Driven by
Principle
Thammineni
Veerabhadram
FOR
the last one month,
the state of Andhra Pradesh has been reeling under the impact of
agitations for
separate Telangana and integrated Andhra Pradesh. Apart from the issue
of whether
the state remains unified or divided, it is unfortunate that the people
are
divided vertically on this issue. The political parties in the state
are each
adopting differing stands.
As
the CPI(M) has made
it clear right from the beginning, it
remains committed to its stand in favour of linguistic states and
believes that
the development of Telangana is possible only in a unified state of
Andhra
Pradesh. The Party cadre in different regions have stood united with
this stand,
which is a matter of pride.
It
is not just some
political leaders who are seeking a separate state of Telangana, but a
large
section of common people also are strongly in favour of this. This is a
fact.
In a democracy, should political parties not follow people's wishes?
Why dont you
also demand a separate Telangana in line with people's wishes? These
are the
questions being posed to the Party by some people. It has been proved
beyond
doubt that the CPI(M) is not only committed to democracy in theory but
also in
practice. But in this context, it should be stated that many people are
making
a mistake in interpreting the word �democracy� itself.
Let
us keep aside the
issue of whether all people in Telangana region are seeking a separate
state or
only a few. For argument sake, even if we take that all people are in
favour of
a separate state, it is not correct to say that democracy means that
political
parties should change their stance accordingly. Communists would do
everything
that is in the interest of the people, but they do not do everything
that
people want. Sometimes, lacking a long term perspective, people may
believe �things�
to be �good� for them which are actually inimical to their interest.
People
have been electing Congress party despite of its anti people policies,
and just
because of this fact, it would be wrong to ask CPI(M) to certify the
anti-people rule of Congress. However, since majority of people have
voted for
that party, we need to respect the verdict of the people. Similarly,
whatever
the stand of the CPI(M) on separate Telangana, if the government
decides to
form it, that will become a reality.
Therefore,
we have been
insisting that the process of consultations must begin. It is by taking
the
opinions of people and all political parties would it be possible to
emerge out
of this crisis with minimum damage. The CPI(M) wants both the centre
and the
state government to initiate this dialogue immediately and thus pave
way for
restoration of normality in the state.
All
political parties in
the state are 'actively' involved in agitations on the one hand in
Telangana
and on the other in both Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. Many are
asking why
does not the CPI(M) also actively participate in these agitations,
particularly
in the agitation for integrated state, a demand which is in line with
the Party�s
stance. The CPI(M) is of the firm opinion that no action should be
taken which
harms the unity of the people. Therefore it is our policy that a
solution must
be found on the basis of talks and there should not be any movements on
any �slogan�.
It may be surprising for many that a party based on struggles like CPI(M) is taking a position against this
movement.
There is no doubt that CPI(M) is a movements based party. But the
movement
should be against the exploiters and their exploitation. It would never
support
movements that pit people against people. When differences arose among
dalits
in the state and rival movements arose, CPI(M) did not support them.
Those
presently carrying
on these agitations in the state are acting opportunistically. The
opportunism
of the Congress party in particular, which is ruling both at the centre
and in
the state, is reaching its peak. Its ministers from Telangana region
resign for
the sake of Telangana while its MPs from other regions resign for an
integrated
state. The party doesn't pull up anyone. On an issue which is shaking
the
foundations of the state, Congress appears more interested in
strategising
rather than making its stand clear officially. Everyone claims that
their
leader Sonia Gandhi has said this or something totally contrary to
that. But
she herself never utters any word. Why dont those who celebrated after
the
December 9 statement of the home minister, seek action against those
who waged
a counter agitation against that decision? Or, why dont the coastal
Andhra and
Rayalaseema leaders seek action against Telangana ministers who quit
after the
December 23 statement of home minister making amends to his earlier
statement?
It
is not just Congress
that is resorting to such opportunism. Others are no less in this
regard. We
are witnessing leaders taking stance region-wise and still declaring
that their
bosses remain the same. This is nothing but under-estimating the
consciousness
of the people, or more correctly insulting the people. What is more
absurd is
that these very parties� leaders holding a dharna demanding the
resignation of
CPI(M) MLA on this issue! Do we take that they are demanding that the
CPI(M)
also must join them in this opportunism?
Telangana
is
under-developed and one of the reasons for this is the bias of the
rulers. But
the main reasons are the feudal rule in this region before
It
is the Communists who
fought for the formation of linguistic states in the country and Andhra
Pradesh
came into being thus. By remaining committed to linguistic states, the
CPI(M)
is upholding that legacy. The CPI(M) has not taken this stance due to
sentiment,
but out of the necessity of upholding the unity of people in struggles.
During
British rule, people of various nationalities were scattered in various
regions. Communists have been demanding that people speaking one
language must
be brought together in one state and accordingly reorganisation of
states must
be done. Why was this demand raised? In order to rouse the fighting
spirit of
people, it is necessary for people speaking same language to remain as
a unit.
It is possible to rouse and enthuse them through language.
That
is why those
seeking to bring people into struggles would seek people's unity.
During
freedom struggle, the Congress party also sought this. It passed a
resolution
in the 1920
However,
post-independence, the Congress party made a U-turn on the linguistic
states
and opposed them. It was not surprising. When it was a party leading
the
freedom movement, it sought unity of people through linguistic states.
And when
it became a ruling party, it wanted the divisions among people to
continue.
Only after various struggles were conducted through out the country for
formation of linguistic states, was the Fazal Ali Commission formed and
reorganisation of states done. For people and parties fighting against
exploitation, people's unity through linguistic basis is essential even
today.
Similarly those who seek to perpetuate exploitation prefer people to be
divided. The opportunism and flip-flops of the ruling bourgeois parties
on this
issue of division of state have to be seen in this context.
The
big bourgeoise feels
that smaller states are useful in carrying on their exploitation
without
hindrance. If strong states are weakened in this manner, the centre
would
become all powerful. For the multi-lingual, multi-cultural,
multi-national
people of
In
such a situation, we
must note that if states are further reduced in size, the domination of
centre
would increase manifold. Moreover, this will not stop with just
Telangana.
After the December 9 announcement of home minister, similar demands and
agitations arose for creation of 15 more states from various parts of
the
country. The dangerous game being played by the ruling classes is
apparent from
this.
The
galloping prices of
essential commodities are ruining the lives of common people. Lakhs of
people
who got BPL ration cards before the elections are being denied ration
in the
name of weeding out bogus cards. Despite scrutiny of new applications
for grant
of ration cards was completed, they are not being given cards. Due to
increased
prices, more than a crore of people have joined the ranks of below
poverty line
population. Despite such a grim scenario, the governments, both at
centre and
the state, are doing nothing to tackle the situation. The promises made
by the
previous chief minister, late YSR before the elections are being
ignored. In
fact, it appears there is no government in the state. Majority of the
political
parties are busy in politicking. At least now the government must take
steps to
mitigate the sufferings of people.
Although
on the outside
it appears that the bourgeois political parties in the state are a
worried lot
unable to find a solution to the problem of division of state, but in
actuality
they would be gleeful internally at the prospect of people remaining
divided
and lack of united opposition to their exploitative World Bank dictated
policies.