People's Democracy

CPI(M) Adopts Draft Resolution

On Some Ideological Issues

G Mamatha

ON April 6, 2012, the Draft Resolution on Some Ideological Issues was introduced by Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member in the 20th Congress of the CPI(M). Speaking about the importance of the juncture at which this resolution is being discussed, Yechury said this resolution is coming before us at a time when there is an acute global economic crisis. This crisis is not a regular cyclical crisis, but has come about as a result of the structural changes in capitalism. The aggressiveness of imperialism can be seen in all the fields – political, social, economic, cultural and ideological spheres. He said the theme of the ideological resolution is to understand and analyse these changes, while the objective is to change this system.

Introducing the resolution Yechury said, capitalism cannot exist without crisis and without exploitation of mankind. The resistance to this exploitation and struggles against it are increasing across the world, which establishes that the US led hegemony is not going unchallenged. But these have not reached the level of a political alternative. No matter the severity of the crisis, capitalism does not fall on its own. It has to be overthrown. “Now, how are we going to do this in our country, is the core of this resolution. How to strengthen the subjective factors is the objective of this resolution”, he said.

Yechury explained that the need for combating the ideological offensive against the Party and its ideology is a legacy we carry forward. “The fight against revisionism to advance the Indian revolution steeled us to uphold the revolutionary tenets of Marxism-Leninism, and apply these to the concrete Indian conditions. Soon after, the Party had to contend with the Left adventurist sectarian deviation and ideologically combat it. Combating the ideological offenses is a continuous process. This is a heritage we inherit. History demonstrates that the working class struggles paved way for achieving the labour rights; Telangana Armed Struggle, Punnapra Vayalar, Tebhaga, Worli Adivasi revolt led to land reforms being put on the agenda; Visalandhra, Aikya Kerala movements brought the linguistic re-organisation of the states to the fore. These formed the pillars of modern Indian Republic.  The success of the struggles against the ideological deviations, combined with our inheritance of the legacy of the glorious militant struggles of the Indian people, resulted in the emergence of the CPI(M) as the strongest and leading Communist and Left force in the country. This resoundingly vindicated the correctness of our Marxist-Leninist positions in these ideological battles”, he said. 

Yechury noted that today there is a sharp increase in economic inequalities as a result of the process of imperialist globalisation. The growth that we are witnessing is a jobless growth. The purchasing power is declining in the hands of world’s population, which puts a brake in the capitalist production. Therefore, this process of globalisation is unsustainable and has burst out into this crisis. Cheap credit was extended to pump in purchasing power to increase demand, as Marx had pointed out that capitalism creates not only objects for the subjects, but also creates subjects for the objects.

“Efforts were made to overcome the crisis. State under capitalism resurrected the collapsed bubbles and corporates. As Engels had pointed out, as capitalism gets out of a crisis, it sows seeds for a deeper crisis. The corporate insolvency paved way to a sovereign insolvency. State bail-outs of the corporate debt led to sovereign debt. The European crisis is a case in point. Austerity measures were adopted which saw a reduction in government expenditure and increasing the burdens on the common people. In Greece alone, within a span of 10 months, there were 13 general strikes. The only redemption, the only way out is to overthrow capitalism and establish socialism”.

Yechury said, “Since the last three Congresses, we have noted the features of the internationalisation of finance capital which transcends all over the globe and with the rapid changes in information and communication technologies, it is instantly mobile. All other forms of capital get enmeshed under the leadership of the international finance capital. In order to ensure its profit maximisation, it seeks to create such a world order that has no barriers for its movement across the nation States and removes obstacles for its unhindered movement”.

He said, imperialist globalisation is a result of the internal dynamics of capitalism itself. For profit maximisation, newer avenues have to be created and for this it prises open the economy of the third world countries, seeks privatisation of the public sector, of services and goods and unhindered access to mineral, natural resources. It does not allow a sovereign country to exercise its sovereignty and control the movement of the international finance capital.

Yechury said, we are witnessing de-industrialisation not only in developing countries but also in developed countries. Today, primitive accumulation through forcible expropriation is the key feature of imperialist globalisation. This primitive accumulation explains the aggressiveness of imperialism to capture resources of the world. As explained in the Draft Resolution, imperialism has set itself three objectives. “The first seeks the dissolution of the remaining socialist countries; the second, to render impotent either through defeat or co-option, third world nationalism, which materialised the Non-Aligned Movement following the decolonisation process; and, finally, the establishment of an unequivocal and unambiguous military and economic superiority over the world in general and particularly over perceived competitors”. 

Sitaram Yechury said, the efforts by imperialism to impose a unipolar world order under its tutelage are buttressed by a powerful ideological offensive. Imperialism equates democracy with free markets. Under this garb and in the name of upholding its conception of democracy, it intervenes politically and militarily against regimes which oppose its hegemony, challenge neo-liberal economic reforms and the imposition of 'free markets'. 

Imperialism, in the name of upholding so-called 'human rights' and 'universal values', militarily intervenes against independent sovereign nations. The bourgeoisie of the advanced capitalist countries, which had earlier championed national sovereignty as being sacrosanct, are today militarily intervening to subvert and negate national sovereignty of independent countries in the name of protecting 'human rights'. 

Following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the 'Global War Against Terror' launched under the leadership of US imperialism is being used as the justification for brazen military intervention, as seen in Iraq and Afghanistan and the threats against Iran today, for trampling national sovereignty and to impose a 'regime change' to suit its interests. It is being used today to violate the national sovereignty of independent countries and the basic human rights of its people. 

Imperialism has unleashed vitriolic anti-Communist propaganda and has currently equated Communism with totalitarianism and fascism. It is important to note how the Socialist countries are facing these challenges, he said.

Yechury said all the socialist countries have gone into reforms. In backward countries where socialism came about, Lenin had said - raise the level of productive forces to that higher than capitalism. One of the ways Lenin suggested was through building State capitalism; he said build solid gangways of capitalism under socialism. China embarked on the reform process in late 1970s after a great period of turmoil. The main contradiction in China is between the people’s aspirations and the capacity to meet these aspirations. To resolve this contradiction, China went through various stages which finally led to this reform process. Tremendous gains have been made in China. But there are some problems like presence of inequalities, uneven development, corruption, decision to allow capitalists to become Party members etc. These are issues of concern, which can lay the seeds of counter-revolution. The future of socialism in China will depend on how successfully China will handle these issues. We extend the communist solidarity to China for safeguarding socialism, he said.   

In Latin America, the political alternative to the rule of capital is yet to arrive. It is facing imperialist globalisation by building alternatives within capitalism, which could eventually pave way for transformation of the society.

Dealing with socialism in Indian conditions, Yechury said that while no blueprint can be detailed till the People’s Democratic Revolution is successfully completed, “we can only outline and develop further our understanding contained in our earlier ideological documents. We have to meet the anti-Marxist ideological challenges and strengthen our popular support and mass base by the effective use of parliamentary and extra parliamentary means of struggle and the building of the worker-peasant alliance. This is a period of transition from capitalism to socialism. There is no linear progression for capitalism. We are in a dynamic period of intensified class struggles and there may be a shift in the correlation of class forces”.

He concluded by saying that the necessary tactics are worked from time to time which dovetail our strategic objective of changing the correlation of forces amongst the Indian people towards strengthening the class struggles for the people’s democratic revolution. 

Sitaram Yechury then placed a report on the pre-congress amendments. 1,014 pre-Congress amendments were considered for the Ideological Resolution of whom 38 were accepted. Additionally, delegates to the Congress moved 235 amendments for the Ideological Resolution.

42 delegates participated in the discussions on the Draft Resolution on Some Ideological Issues and enriched the document with their experiences. They shared their concerns about the various international developments, particularly the developments in socialist countries, Latin America and the recent protest movements that were witnessed across the world. The delegates shared their analysis of the four social contradictions and how they are sharpening today. The delegates also spoke about the growing influence of identity politics, the ways and means to counter the divisive tendencies and build unity among the exploited classes in our country. They also expressed their opinions on strengthening extra-parliamentary struggles and also effectively using parliamentary forums for highlighting the real issues of the people.

Yechury replied to the discussions on April 8 and spoke on the amendments moved in the Congress. After the reply, the draft was put to vote. One delegate out of 727 had voted against the resolution and three had abstained. The Congress adopted the resolution with an overwhelming majority.