The issue is not to “clean up” this Republic but to replace it

Statement of the Central Committee of Communist Ghadar Party of India, 19th January, 2014

On 26th January, 2014, it will be 64 years since the proclamation of the Republic of India following the adoption of its Constitution.  As the 65th year begins, it is an undeniable fact that workers, peasants and the vast majority of people in our country are n

Statement of the Central Committee of Communist Ghadar Party of India, 19th January, 2014

On 26th January, 2014, it will be 64 years since the proclamation of the Republic of India following the adoption of its Constitution.  As the 65th year begins, it is an undeniable fact that workers, peasants and the vast majority of people in our country are not satisfied with their conditions of life under this “secular, democratic and socialist” Republic.

 All wage and salaried workers are extremely angry with the inexorable rise in consumer prices and consequent squeeze on the purchasing power of their monthly incomes.  They are being made to work such long hours that they have no time for their families.  Crores of workers on contract are denied even a modicum of job security.  Exploitation of labour is being intensified in all sectors under the banner of privatisation, liberalisation and global competitiveness of Indian capital.  Even the basic right of workers to form unions is flagrantly violated in the name of creating a favourable investment climate for capitalists.

Peasants face extreme insecurity of livelihood.  They are at the mercy of capitalist corporations and other monopoly merchants and hoarders, in addition to being vulnerable to drought and floods.  Even possession of the land they till is not secure in their hands, as both central and state governments are acting in the interests of corporate land grabbers.  The livelihood of tribal peoples is being destroyed by capitalist mining companies and governments that are committed to fulfil their greed.

Crores of working people in town and countryside have been protesting against the course of globalisation through liberalisation and privatisation, which has been followed by successive governments since 1991, led by Congress Party, BJP and a Third Front. 

The toiling majority of people are protesting the fact that the economic system does not fulfill their claims.  They are angry that the political system of representative democracy does not represent their interests. 

As the 65th year begins, we are witnessing the campaign for the Lok Sabha election due in a few months’ time.  Congress Party and BJP, the two principal executors of the capitalist reform agenda and the unleashing of state terrorism and communal violence, are once again shamelessly presenting themselves to the people as the best choice to govern the country. They have both openly committed to continue with the drive towards globalisation through liberalisation and privatisation.  They are in fact appealing to the big bourgeoisie, each claiming to be the best party to push the capitalist-imperialist agenda while pretending to be against corrupt politicians and against “crony capitalism”. 

Narendra Modi is taking full advantage of the spate of corruption scandals that have hit the Congress-led government over the past ten years.  He is portraying Congress Party rule as the source of all problems and BJP rule as the solution, besides portraying himself as an “aam aadmi”, a former tea seller.  

Rahul Gandhi, heading the campaign of the incumbent Congress Party, is presenting himself as having zero tolerance for corruption. He wants people to forgive Congress Party for all its crimes of the past and believe that this new young leader will bring forward younger and honest candidates in the coming elections, to pursue the liberalisation and privatisation program allegedly without corruption.

The impression is being created that corrupt politicians are the number one problem in our country.  The truth is that corrupt politicians are only one of the ugly symptoms but not the source of the disease.  The source of our problems lies in the economy being based on exploitation of the toiling majority by a minority of private owners of the means of production, and the Indian Republic being an organ to defend and preserve the dictate of the exploiting minority. 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing a press conference on 3rd January, admitted that the Indian economy is caught in the grip of a severe crisis.  Apart from blaming the downturn in the global capitalist economy for the decline in exports and industrial stagnation since 2012, he stated that corruption charges against his government have stalled the reform process.  What he meant is that if so many charges of corruption had not been made, his government could have pursued the capitalist reform agenda more aggressively.  In other words, he is admitting that the aggressive pursuit of rapid capitalist growth will inevitably be accompanied by progressively higher degrees of corruption.

Capitalism has already developed to its highest stage of monopoly capitalism and imperialism.  It is a stage in which capitalism is highly parasitic.  Competition among the monopolies is carried out through criminal and corrupt means.  Monopoly capitalists, by their very nature, are eager to use every possible means to secure maximum profits for themselves and under-cut their rivals.  They use their special connections and big money power to influence the decisions of ministers, senior bureaucrats and judges.  This is how the system functions, on a daily basis.  This is the case not only in India but also in the US, Britain and other capitalist countries.  Corruption is inherent to monopolistic capitalist competition.

Moreover, the Indian Republic is characterized by widespread corruption at all levels because it is a relic of the colonial state.  It was built to enslave our people and maximize the loot and plunder of our land and labour.  It preserves the colonial institutions and methods of elite accommodation, privilege distribution and communal division.  

The aim of the anti-corruption agenda being promoted by the bourgeoisie is not to address the fundamental problems afflicting our society and State.  It is to address the problem facing the big capitalists – that is, to find a way to divert people’s attention, prettify and stabilize bourgeois rule and push ahead with the program of maximum exploitation and plunder of our land and labour.

The big capitalists want to get rid of some forms of corruption, especially some which directly affect masses of working people.  They want to create excitement about corruption being tackled.  They want to divert public attention away from the exploitative capitalist system, the oppressive state machinery, the unrepresentative parliamentary democracy and the anti-worker, anti-peasant and anti-national program of globalisation through liberalisation and privatisation. 

Aam Aadmi Party, which recently formed the state government in Delhi and is preparing to challenge the two main parties of the bourgeoisie in the coming elections, is campaigning on an anti-corruption platform.  Its main agenda is to enact a strong anti-corruption legislation to create strong anti-corruption agencies within the existing Indian Republic.  It advocates the promotion of “honest” persons from all classes, including capitalists and salaried workers, to positions of authority within the existing state.

The truth is that the problem of exploitation, oppression and exclusion of the majority cannot be solved within the existing framework.  The framework of this Republic is designed to impose the dictate of the bourgeois class, headed by the monopoly corporate big wigs who call themselves India Incorporated.  And the interests of the capitalist class and the working class are irreconcilably opposed to one another.

In his recent press conference, Manmohan Singh stated that the “Constitution and institutions of our democracy are the cornerstone of Modern India. All of us who wish to build a better India, rid of poverty and corruption, must respect these institutions and work through them. They are the legitimate instruments in our hands, with all their limitations.”  The truth is the exact opposite of what the outgoing Prime Minister has stated.

The Constitution of this Republic was formulated by an unrepresentative Constituent Assembly formed with the blessing of British colonialism.  It was adopted by this body without ever presenting it to the people for approval. 

It is a Constitution that preserves the framework of political power that was created by the British Raj to enslave all Indians.  While claiming to be modern, it is a state that perpetuates the remnants of old outdated relations including the oppression of persons on the basis of caste, gender, nationality and religious belief. 

The solution to the problem requires getting rid of the existing Republic and replacing it with an entirely new State that would be an organ of rule of the working class in alliance with the peasantry and all the hitherto oppressed.  Communists have to lead the working class in rallying all the oppressed to create that new State. 

The Constitution of the new State must guarantee the rights of every worker, every tiller of the soil, and every human being.  It must guarantee the rights of every nation, nationality and tribal people.  It must guarantee the democratic rights of every adult citizen, including the right to elect and be elected, to initiate legislation and to recall elected representatives at any time. Such a state would be an instrument in the hands of the working people to prevent our land and labour from being exploited and plundered for the private profits of a minority.

On the occasion of the 64th anniversary of this republic, let us all pledge to join hands and work for the Navnirman of India!  Let us fight for the replacement of the existing state of bourgeois rule with a new state of worker-peasant rule, a voluntary union of the nations, nationalities and peoples of this ancient land!

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