Sir,
Sir,
This is in response to the statement of the CC of the CGPI dated June 4, 2014 entitled `Good times for big capitalists means hard times for workers and peasants’ coming on the heels of the swearing in of the Narendra Modi Government of the BJP at the Centre. Whereas the mainstream media has been celebrating the fact that India will now have a stable government that will last a full term, and one which promises `less government and more governance’, it is important to ask what this really means for the people of India. Such a question can be asked only with the full recognition that India today is polarized into a society with the big bourgeoisie at the head of the first camp, and the vast masses and the working peoples in the other camp.
Whereas Mr. Modi promises `sab ka saath, sab ka vikas’, it is contingent upon us to ask whether such a thing is actually possible. Indeed, Gujarat from where Mr. Modi hails is well-known for a popular brand of tea known as the `wagh-bakri’ chai (tiger-goat tea) whose emblem is one where the tiger and the goat drink from the same cup. Is India such a cup where the bourgeoisie as well as the working people can partake in such a feast? Does life experience teach us whether or not such a thing is possible? What are the acts of the Government that show us where the country is headed?
Indeed, while a couple of months have already elapsed since the Government has taken power, there is no sign that there is any piece of the pie for the common working people. Indeed, there is only talk of more conducive environment of investment and for FDI and terms such as PPP (public-private-partnership) are now more talked of than ever before. One may go down the list of what the people of India would expect from a principled government such as a policy on education, security, PDS, right to conscience, rights of nations to name a few, and there is little to suggest any optimism on these fronts. But rather that the new Government will defend the existing order, with more might and more resolve than ever before.
There are several examples cited in the statement of the CC, including the declaration by Ministers on privatization of Air India, attitude to environmentally sensitive sectors, Land Acquisition Act to name a few. Thus, a Government that has been swept to power basically on an anti-incumbency wave, on a wave where the people of India have shown their disgust for toadyism, cronyism, corruption and anti-people policies, is only likely to do more of the same. Indeed, all the features above are the grease of the existing capitalist system. Thus, those expecting any kind of `mukti’ from this government will end up disillusioned and broken. The only way forward is a socialist revolution that will vest power in the hands of the working people. Let us all work for such a situation, so that slogans such as the one bandied about by Mr. Modi will be returned to their true legatees, namely the people of India. I am writing to thank you again for carrying this principled and detailed statement of the CC.
A.Narayanan,
Bengaluru