People's Democracy
(Weekly
Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
No. 04
January 23, 2005
(Weekly
Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
|
Vol.
XXIX
No. 04 January 23, 2005 |
DRAFT
POLITICAL RESOLUTION
FOR THE 18TH
CONGRESS
1.1
The world has witnessed a sharp escalation in the aggressive moves by US
imperialism. On the pretext of a global war on terrorism, the US unleashed a
major war of aggression on Iraq, part of its plan to reorder the middle-east to
suit its global hegemonic plans.
1.2
The political resolution of the 17th Congress had correctly
warned that utilizing the September 11, 2001 attacks, the US would seek to
expand the imperialist offensive. The occupation of Iraq followed the attack on
Afghanistan. The US is targeting the two other countries in Bush’s ‘axis of
evil’ – North Korea and Iran. The sanctions and blockade of Cuba have been
tightened; the progressive government of President Chavez in Venezuela has
repeatedly been sought to be destabilized.
1.3
Characteristic of this phase of US imperialism is its brazen readiness to
use military force, violating the UN charter, international law and
national sovereignty. The US has set out a doctrine of preemptive war. Under its
direction, the eastern expansion of NATO has taken place. NATO has adopted the
new strategic doctrine of intervention outside Europe.
1.4
During this period, the world has seen imperialist war and aggression,
the unilateral flouting of international laws and trampling of national
sovereignty. This has made the world more unsafe, spawned rather than suppressed
terroristic violence and given rise to a host of sectarian and irrational
ideologies.
1.5
The war and occupation of Iraq has dramatically exposed the predatory
nature of US imperialism which has no compunctions in trampling upon national
sovereignty and in resorting to brute force to garner a vantage position to
consolidate its hegemony. It has exposed the true nature of the US war on
terrorism. Iraq had no al-Qaeda, nor any weapons of mass destruction. What it
has is the world’s second largest oil reserves and a regime that was not
willing to bow to US diktat.
1.6
The decade-long sanctions inflicted a terrible toll on the Iraqi people.
The invasion and occupation regime has led to deaths of over 100,000 Iraqis,
mostly civilians. The brutal torture of prisoners by the Americans was stoutly
exposed in pictures of Abu Ghraib prison. Violence against women is spiraling
and the secular nature of Iraqi society is being seriously undermined.
1.7
Iraq highlights the central position of the middle-east in the US global
strategy. The control of the oil resources of the middle-east and Central Asia
is a key factor for the US to maintain the imperialist system and its own
hegemony of the imperialist bloc. Iraq has therefore become the central issue in
the struggle against imperialist hegemony.
1.8
American leadership and dominance of the imperialist system was
established after the Second World War in 1945. That remains intact despite some
vicissitudes in the past when the decline of US economic power led to challenges
from the other two centers, Europe and Japan. The US with its vastly superior
military power is playing the role of hegemon and arbiter in the imperialist
bloc. The US alone spends nearly fifty per cent of the total global military
expenditure. It has in the nineties and after September 11 extended its military
reach and established military bases and presence in new areas like Central Asia
and former Soviet republics. It promotes the militarisation of Japan which
prompted the Koizumi government to send troops to Iraq and embark on production
of new weapons.
1.9
The United States shares with the advanced capitalist countries of
Western Europe and Japan the common interest of backing global finance
capital and the transnational corporations. Being the strongest power, it acts
as the hegemon of the imperialist system.
1.10
But while doing so, the US makes sure its national interests are served
and its preeminent position protected. The US seeks to hegemonise the resources
of the world. The control of oil resources is not confined to the middle-east.
It extends to the Caspian Sea basin and the policing of the oil-pipelines being
laid from the Caucasus and Central Asia. The absence of the Soviet Union and the
ascendancy of the neo-conservative right wing circles in the US have led to the
open advocacy of the imperialist role for America and the efforts to impose an
imperial order by use of force, economic coercion, blockades and illegal
threats.
1.11
The US has in this period adopted a new strategic doctrine which spells
out how it will seek to retain world domination. For the first time, the
strategy declares that the US will not allow any other foreign power to catch up
with the huge lead the US has established since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Further, the strategy calls for use of force to desist potential adversaries
from surpassing or equalling the United States in military strength. It
advocates preemptive military strikes against countries or terrorist groups who
threaten America’s security interests.
1.12
The US withdrew from the anti-ballistic missile treaty of 1972 in order
to build new weapons and missile systems such as the National Missile Defence.
It refused to ratify the biological weapons convention. While reserving the
right to produce new weapons and expanding the use of nuclear weapons, the US
embarked on a counter-proliferation campaign targeting countries such as Iran,
North Korea and Brazil to prevent them developing nuclear technology. In
contrast, Israel, under the special protection of the US, is allowed to keep
nuclear weapons.
1.13
The United Nations’ role has been subverted. The United States has
brazenly disregarded the UN Charter. There is no scope for a rule-based
international system which is just and democratic without a United Nations which
is restructured to prevent unilateral US diktats. Democratization of the UN
system assumes importance as a check to imperialist hegemony.
1.14
With the reelection of President Bush, the aggressive reactionary
sections of the US ruling classes will continue to espouse the doctrine of a
neo-liberal imperialism which intervenes globally to establish ‘democracy’
and free markets and goes about this business with a big stick in hand.
1.15
Fighting this dangerous face of US imperialism, opposition to war
and the imperialist sponsored suppression of movements for national liberation,
defence of national sovereignty and opposition to economic coercion and
blockades are the key tasks of this period.
1.16
The current crisis of imperialism is fuelled by the crisis in the world
capitalist system and by the contradictions of world capitalism today.
Programmes of liberalization and structural adjustment are a response to the
present crisis of capitalism. At the same time, the drive to impose programmes
of liberalization and privatisation indiscriminately on the people of the world
has aggravated the crisis of capitalism and just as the offensive of
international finance has increased the instability of the world capitalist
system.
1.17
The 17th Congress was held at a time when the global economy
was in a recession. This specific period, which began in 200l, ended by
mid-2003. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the annual rate of
growth Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the world rose to 3.9 per cent in 2003
and was estimated at 5.0 per cent in 2004. This recovery, however, was far from
uniform, and the average figures for the world conceal great unevenness and
variation in the economic growth experienced by different countries and regions.
1.18
On the one side, the
annual rate of growth in the United States rose to 3 per cent in 2003 and has
been estimated at 4.3 per cent in 2004. The main reason for the change from
recession to growth in the United States was the increase in military
expenditure, which increased more than 40 per cent in 2003 alone. Another reason
for income growth at the international level was robust growth in China and
growth in some Asian countries. By contrast, increase in national income was
limited or even non-existent in many advanced capitalist countries, and economic
growth bypassed many less-developed countries entirely. In the euro currency
region, the annual rate of growth of GDP was 0.8 per cent in 2002 and 0.5 per
cent in 2003, and an optimistic estimate of growth in 2004 is 2.2 per cent.
Japan has faced recession for a decade, and the annual rate of change of its GDP
was actually negative, - 0.3 per cent, in 2002. Although this figure rose to 2.5
per cent in 2003, by the end of 2004, analysts predicted that Japan’s economy
was slowing down again.
1.19
Recent economic growth in the United States has been driven by military
expenditure. This military expenditure was financed by public borrowing, which
led to a decline in the fiscal surplus and the creation of a fiscal deficit. In
2000, the US had a fiscal surplus of 2.0 per cent of the GDP; this was converted
into a fiscal deficit of 3.3 per cent in 2003 and 4 per cent in 2004. As a
result of the fiscal deficit, there was a sharp increase in imports, which, in
turn, widened the balance of payments deficit. This phenomenon of ‘twin
deficits’ - fiscal and balance of payments – in the US is the underlying
cause of the recent decline in the value of the dollar and of fears of a
collapse. The ‘twin deficits’ illustrate the unsustainable nature of the
recent capitalist boom.
1.20
The US has been able to finance this deficit because of its position as
the leading imperialist power, which makes the dollar the world’s reserve
currency, and the currency in which the world’s financial wealth is mainly
held. The status of the dollar helps attract capital flows into financial assets
that are denominated in dollars and in the US. This perception by international
capital of the United States being a safe haven is, clearly, not determined by
the economic strength of the US but by its military might, which strengthens the
conviction that it has the brute power to rearrange world economic relations to
sustain its economic growth. The advanced capitalist countries realise that a
decline in the value of the dollar is inevitable; nevertheless, they do not want
a sudden crash in its value. In other words, efforts to ensure a soft landing
rather than a crash are under way.
1.21
The current recovery in the world capitalist economy, such as it is, has
been characterised not just by jobless growth, but by ‘job-loss’ growth,
thus showing that capitalism is unable to transfer any of the benefits of growth
to the working people. In the US the unemployment rate rose from 4.0 percent in
2000 to 6.0 per cent in 2003. In the advanced capitalist countries as a whole
the corresponding figures were 5.8 per cent and 6.6 percent.
1.22
The fierce onslaught of modern finance-driven capitalism against the
working class and its hard-earned gains continues to characterise the advanced
capitalist countries. In the countries of the European Union, and in Russia and
Eastern Europe, where capitalism has been restored, the public sector is being
privatised, the remuneration of workers reduced, and social security cut back.
1.23
Increasing unemployment, tax cuts for the rich and massive reductions in
welfare measures for the poor are among the pernicious features of contemporary
capitalism.
1.24
The global power of finance capital and its mobility tends to mute
inter-imperialist contradictions. But this does not prevent conflicts occurring
as during the Iraq war between the US and France and Germany. Cooperation and
conflict now coexist in inter-imperialist relations. The European Union has been
expanded and now has 25 countries. The expanded European Union with the new
draft Constitution is constructed in a manner to serve the interests of big
business and finance capital. Such a set up contains the basis for cooperation
with the US while conflicts remain. The Communists endeavour to shift Europe
away from the grip of transnational capital and the Atlanticist alliance as
against the social democratic stance of integration with transnational capital.
1.25
The seamy side of US-style predatory capitalism has repeatedly been
exposed. The exposure of fraud led to the collapse of the Enron Corporation;
subsequently, a series of big corporations were found to be cheating the public
and cooking their books. Thousands of employees lost their jobs when such
companies closed down or had to be merged with others.
1.26
The Bush administration’s close links with the oil and arms industry
shapes its anti-environmental outlook. It is not surprising that the U.S., which
promotes wasteful and environmentally harmful policies to fuel the super profits
of big business, has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol. The drive for profit
and the consumerist nature of contemporary capitalism cause and intensify the
now serious problems of depletion of the ozone layer, climate change and loss of
bio-diversity.
1.27
The morals-free pursuit of wealth is closely linked to the burgeoning of
corruption and crime. The degeneration of human values can be seen in the
pornography industry, now worth billions of dollars, and in the enormous growth
in trafficking in women and children. The drug and narcotics trade generates
funds that are ploughed back into pernicious business activities.
1.28
Finance capital dominates current-day capitalism. Its expansion drives
the imperialist assault on the economies of less-developed countries. Its
current offensive involves not just opening the markets of less-developed
countries to commodities and foreign direct investment from the advanced
capitalist countries, but also opening up the financial sector. Large profits
are to be made by speculation in the stock and capital markets. The inflow of
such capital imposes a sharp decline in public expenditure in the recipient
countries.
1.29
Finance capital is against deficit-financed state spending for a variety
of reasons. The strategies pursued by dominant classes in the Third World
countries have increased their dependence on global finance capital. In order to
appease global finance, Third World governments have had to open their economies
and cut back on state expenditures, especially expenditures on capital formation
and welfare, in order to curtail deficits. Such policies have had the effect
also of reducing national income-growth in the less-developed countries. In
addition to these stresses and strains, the steep rise in oil prices from
mid-2004, fuelled mainly by speculation, has hit the oil-importing developing
countries very hard.
1.30
Evidence of the harmful results of such policies is overwhelming. Large
parts of the developing world are characterized by persistence of poverty,
hunger, disease and illiteracy. Of the 4.9 billion people in developing
countries in 2000, around 1.1 billion lived on less than a dollar a day, more
than 950 million were illiterate, 1.2 billion lacked access to an improved water
source and 2.7 billion lacked access to basic sanitation. Nearly 104 million
children of primary-school-going age were out of school. The gap between the
richest strata in the developed world and the developing countries has grown
rapidly. In 2001, the wealth of 497 billionaires was greater than the combined
incomes of the poorest half of humanity. The GDP of the poorest 48 nations (i.e.
a quarter of all nation-states) is less than the wealth of the world’s three
richest people combined. The contradiction between imperialism and the
developing countries has further intensified.
Resistance
1.31
The picture of the imperialist offensive will not be complete without
underlying the intensifying resistance to it. US imperialism has the power to
intervene militarily and politically around the globe, but contrary to its
expectations, it is unable to achieve a smooth conclusion and consolidation. The
centre-piece of the current resistance to the imperialist offensive is the
struggle against the US occupation of Iraq. In the last twenty-one months, the
popular resistance has grown in intensity and scope. It has succeeded in
upsetting the US plan to plant a pliant regime in Iraq which is the first step
towards ‘democratising’ the middle-east.
1.32
The other important centre of resistance is the Palestinian movement for
independence and statehood. During the past three years, the US backed Israel in
its military attacks in the occupied territories, subverting the peace accord
and in its efforts to sideline Yasser Arafat. The Israelis committed heinous
crimes through continuous military attacks and by building a security wall
across the West Bank, an act declared illegal by the World Court. Despite the
connivance of the client Arab rulers with the US, the Palestinian struggle has
gone on. The death of Yasser Arafat will not weaken the resolve of the
Palestinian people.
1.33
The struggles in Latin America against imperialist globalisation, the
imposition of neo-liberal reforms and attacks on national sovereignty form an
important part of the world-wide resistance. Important struggles against
privatization of electricity, water and natural resources took place in Bolivia,
Peru, Colombia and of the landless people in Brazil. The defeat of every attempt
by the US-backed opposition forces to topple President Chavez in Venezuela is an
important landmark. Venezuela under the progressive leadership of Chavez is
taking steps to break up the power of the oligarchy, undertake land reforms and
provide health, education, food and housing for the poor. The election of Lula
as President in Brazil on a left platform and the election of a leftwing
candidate in Uruguay for the first time reflects the political impact of these
movements.
1.34
Working class struggles against the attacks on jobs, social security and
livelihood are taking place in all the major capitalist countries. The trade
union movement and the working class resistance constitutes the core of the
movement against imperialist-driven globalisation.
1.35
The mass mobilizations against imperialist globalisation which began in
Seattle in 1999 during the WTO meet, became a regular feature subsequently when
meetings of the Fund-Bank or G-8 took place. With the threat of war looming on
Iraq, this movement became an anti-war movement. Millions of people joined the
anti-war protests of 2002–03 with unprecedented mobilization being seen on
February 15, 2003 in major cities around the world. The World Social Forum and
the regional forums became broad platforms for bringing together the anti-globalisation
and anti-war forces.
1.36
In the WTO arena, the advanced capitalist countries sought to impose
onerous conditions in the Doha round of negotiations. The fight against such
imposition met with some success when China, India, Brazil and South Africa
decided to coordinate their stand and were joined by other countries, making the
group of 21 during the Cancun summit. Faced with this setback, the rich
countries sought to regain ground through the recent Framework Agreement arrived
at in Geneva.
1.37
China’s rapid economic growth and all-round progress has led to its
emergence as a major power in the international arena. China has been
registering over 9 per cent GDP growth annually in the last decade, making it
the fastest growing economy in the world. The Chinese government and the
Communist Party are engaged in tackling the problems of unemployment, regional
disparities and the rise of corruption which are a product of China’s rapid
growth and engagement with the global capitalist system. Vietnam has maintained
steady progress after adopting measures to reform the economy and its
management. Vietnam achieved 8 per cent annual GDP growth from 1990 to 1997 and
around 7 per cent from 2000 to 2003 making it the world’s second fastest
growing economy.
1.38
Cuba has withstood a new spate of hostile measures and sanctions by the
Bush administration. It has steadfastly adhered to the socialist system and has
not allowed the sanctions and blockade to erode its public health and
educational system. The DPRK has refused to be intimidated on the nuclear issue
by the US blackmailing tactics. It is pursuing the line of engaging South Korea
for normalization of relations and creating the atmosphere for progress towards
reunification. The socialist countries have to continue to work in an
international situation which is hostile to the existence of the socialist
system. They have to strengthen their economic base and raise the living
standards of the people while safeguarding the socialist system and its
ideological base.
1.39
It is in this international setting that we have to see the developments
in South Asia and India’s neighbourhood.
1.40
Imperialism has spread its tentacles further in the countries of South
Asia. The United States has strengthened its grip and influence over Pakistan
after getting the Musharraf regime to cooperate with the war on Afghanistan and
to eliminate the Al Qaeda. In Nepal, in the context of the Maoist insurgency,
the United States is supporting the King and providing military assistance. In
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the United States has signed military and security
collaboration agreements and is regularly conducting joint exercises.
1.41
In both Pakistan and Bangladesh, the forces of Islamic fundamentalism
have grown in strength. The growing US influence and the Islamic fundamentalist
activity in Bangladesh has repercussions in the region. In Sri Lanka, the end of
hostilities and ceasefire between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the Tamil
tigers have not yet yielded any substantial progress in peace talks. In all
these countries, the conditions of the working people have deteriorated under
the impact of imperialist globalisation and the anti-democratic measures taken
to suppress the struggles of the working people.
1.42
Sectarian and divisive trends have been on the rise in the region. The
struggle for democracy and the rights of minorities is an important issue in
many of these countries. It is necessary to strengthen regional cooperation in
South Asia through the SAARC forum and to promote bilateral trade and economic
ties between India and its neighbours. The CPI(M) stands for increased
cooperation between the anti-imperialist and Left forces in South Asia.
1.43
Imperialism poses the greatest threat to humanity. US imperialism is the
spearhead of the reactionary offensive. Predatory finance capital and
neo-liberal reforms have intensified the exploitation and poverty of billions of
people. Imperialist war and aggression are a threat to the national sovereignty
of countries. Imperialist oppression and violence spawns terrorism promoted by
fundamentalist and sectarian ideologies. With the dismantling of socialism in
some countries and the entry of imperialist finance capital, ethnic and
sectarian conflicts are the results. Terrorism motivated by religious
fundamentalism which wreaks havoc on innocent people has to be firmly combated.
But the elimination of all forms of terrorism requires an end to imperialist
aggression and violence, state terrorism and the rapacious exploitation and
abject poverty perpetuated by an unjust and hegemonic world order.
1.44
The fight against US imperialism cannot be conducted by a fundamentalist jehad, or by relying upon sectarian ideologies. Imperialism can be
fought only by a progressive mobilisation of all the Left, secular and
anti-imperialist nationalist forces. The CPI(M) will support all the currents of
resistance against imperialism – the struggles for national liberation, the
fight against neo-liberal economic policies and for the defence of national
sovereignty, opposition to imperialist aggression and for the defence of the
interests of the developing countries against imperialist capital.
1.45
The CPI(M) will actively support and establish relations of solidarity
with the national liberation movements. It will support the socialist countries
and espouse close relations with them. It will cooperate with all the platforms
set up to fight against imperialist globalisation and will actively participate
in the anti-war movements. The anti-globalisation and the anti-war movements
should converge into a broad and powerful anti-imperialist movement.
1.46
The CPI(M) will continue to strengthen relations with the communist and
progressive forces in different countries so that experiences are shared and a
common outlook develops. The CPI(M) is committed to building up the worldwide
struggle against US imperialism. Mobilizing the Indian people, who number 1.2
billion, against imperialist hegemonism and in defence of national sovereignty
will be an important contribution to this global movement.
2.1
The most significant political development at the national level since
the 17th Congress has been the resounding defeat of the BJP-led NDA
government in the Lok Sabha elections of May 2004. The people of India overthrew
the RSS-controlled regime on account of its anti-people and pro-imperialist
economic policies, its communal and divisive platform, its massive corruption
scandals and its attacks on democratic rights. The simultaneous elections to the
Andhra Pradesh assembly saw the even more decisive defeat of the TDP government,
which had all along acted as the foremost agent of the World Bank. Three months
later, the BJP-Shiv Sena communal combine was humbled in the Maharashtra
assembly elections.
2.2
The Lok Sabha elections resulted in the formation of the Congress-led
secular UPA government at the Centre, which is dependent for its majority on the
outside support of the Left parties. The CPI(M) and the Left increased their
representation in Parliament to the highest figure so far. All these are welcome
developments, which testify to the correctness of the political line adopted by
the 17th Congress and of the electoral tactics employed in consonance
with that line.
2.3
The BJP-led government ruled uninterruptedly for six years from March
1998 to April 2004. The danger posed by the RSS-guided BJP controlling the
levers of power was evident during this period. The 17th Congress
Political Resolution termed it as “the most reactionary government in
independent India.” The policies of the BJP-led government in the economic,
political, social and foreign policy spheres in these six years confirm this
assessment. After the 17th Congress of the Party, the last two years
of BJP rule witnessed the horrific fallout of the Gujarat pogrom. The Modi
government actively worked to cover up all the crimes and refused to punish the
guilty by subverting the police and prosecution machinery. After the victory of
the BJP in the assembly elections the state continues to treat Muslims as second
class citizens.
2.4
The Vajpayee government sought to undermine the judicial process on the
Ayodhya dispute and sought to push the VHP agenda for handing over the disputed
site to the Hindus by utilizing intermediaries to persuade the Muslims to give
up their claim. The Vajpayee government continued the work of communalization of
the educational system by introducing anti-secular ideologies in the curriculum
and text books. History books were rewritten on communal lines. Artists, writers
and cultural institutions who refused to accept the sectarian communal outlook
were subjected to intimidation and assaults.
Agrarian
Distress
2.5
Under the BJP rule, neo-liberal economic policies were pushed with
greater vigour. It was claimed, falsely, that these policies result in higher
growth. Actually, the decade of the nineties had a lower rate of growth in
agriculture and industries than in the eighties. The growth rate in the three
years 2000–01 to 2003–04 was lower than the decade of the nineties. Whatever
output growth that took place was not accompanied by any significant growth in
employment. The annual rate of growth of rural employment was 0.58 per cent
between 1993–94 and 1999–2000 compared to the rural population growth rate
of 1.5 per cent. The unemployment situation in rural India has worsened
dramatically while urban employment growth has come down markedly.
2.6
In rural India, worsening unemployment has been caused by the decline in
agricultural growth rates and in particular foodgrains. Foodgrain production has
in fact fallen below the rate of population growth during the nineties leading
to an absolute decline in per capita food output. The average number of days of
work for agricultural workers has sharply declined in most parts of the country.
Rural development expenditure which was 14 per cent of GDP during the 8th
plan period stands at only around 5 per cent currently. This drastic cutback is
the most immediate cause for the acute distress among the rural poor.
2.7
Rural distress is not confined to the rural poor alone. Large sections of
the peasantry, caught in a pincer between higher input prices and lower output
prices, are faced with acute crisis. The withdrawal of subsidies on a host of
inputs, the rising costs of electricity, irrigation and the decline in priority
sector lending by banks have forced peasants to go to moneylenders to borrow at
exorbitant interest rates which has resulted in increased costs of production.
2.8
Procurement operations by the government that provided some succour to
the peasantry have got progressively whittled down; extension services by the
government that were so important a feature of Indian agriculture have been
virtually withdrawn from large parts of the country leaving the peasantry to the
mercy of MNCs and spurious seed distributors; and lack of investment by the
government has run down the infrastructure that sustained agricultural growth.
2.9
Steps to dilute land reforms were taken in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh, Orissa, Assam and Jharkhand, either by raising the ceiling levels or
handing over surplus land to private parties. Such steps would make farming by
large owners and corporate houses a certainty. Such policies would reduce the
extent of land for redistribution, accelerate the loss of land by poor peasants,
and worsen inequalities in the rural areas.
2.10
The volume of rural credit declined and the distribution of credit
shifted further in favour of large landholders. Village level data from India
show that the exploitation of the poor in the informal credit market – by
moneylenders, that is – intensified as a result of financial liberalisation.
2.11
The new trade regime (and in particular, the removal of quantitative
restrictions on the import of agricultural products) and the emphasis on
export-oriented production intensified the struggle of the poor and middle
peasantry for their very survival. This problem is particularly intense in the
present context of a sharp fall in the prices of primary commodities
internationally. The new trade regime also has very serious implications for
land use, cropping patterns and the future of self-sufficiency in food.
2.12
The new trade and patent regime leaves the field of agricultural research
at the mercy of multinational corporations, thus weakening public sector
national agricultural research systems as well as open-access international
research institutions. Further, this regime infringes on the rights of farmers
and indigenous plant breeders and threatens to lead, as has been written,
“from biodiversity to genetic slavery.”
2.13
Continuing failure to deal with problems of water management, and to cope
with problems of drought and floods has increased the suffering of the
peasantry. The agenda of privatizing water resources is being pushed through
which will drive the small peasantry who can’t afford the rates, off their
lands.
2.14
As a result the country is
experiencing the worst agrarian crisis since independence. The entire
agricultural sector is in disarray, and thousands of peasants have committed
suicides. This crisis is the direct result of neo-liberal economic policies:
these policies dictate the withdrawal of the State from all supportive roles
other than the support of international finance capital; and agriculture cannot
survive the withdrawal of the support system of the State.
Adverse
Impact on Industry
2.15
While the agrarian economy has been the most visible victim of the
neo-liberal economic policies, large sections of the urban petty producers and
small capitalists have also been hit by the policies of “trade
liberalization” enforced under the WTO, and by higher input costs (including
for credit and electricity). This has had a direct bearing on urban
unemployment. The BJP-led government accelerated its onslaught on the public
sector in its last years in power. After privatising VSNL, Balco and Maruti, the
government was poised to go ahead with the privatisation of the HPCL and BPCL
oil companies before it was ousted from power. Practically every sphere was
opened up for privatisation and entry of foreign capital. Defence production was
opened up for 100 per cent private enterprise with 26 per cent FDI. Even in the
print media, 26 per cent FDI was allowed.
UPA
Government on Same Path
2.16
The fiscal policies of the BJP-led government reflected in its successive
budgets, led to India having one of the lowest tax-GDP ratios in the world. Tens
of thousands of crores were gifted as concessions to big business and the rich
while indirect taxes were heaped on the common people. Public expenditure in the
social sector and agriculture was cut to contain the fiscal deficit.
Liberalisation under BJP rule meant a bonanza for the rich and growing
deprivation and unemployment for the common people.
2.17
The UPA government is pursuing the same policies of liberalisation and
privatisation. Notwithstanding certain policy measures in the Common Minimum
Programme, the government is unwilling to change course and, in essence, pursues
the same policies as that of the Vajpayee government. Some instances of this
are: the UPA government wants to further liberalise the financial sector by
facilitating the takeover of Indian private banks by foreign banks by
implementing a proposal to allow 74 per cent FDI in Indian private banks
announced by the previous government. It desires to privatise the insurance
sector further. It is going ahead with the privatisation of the Delhi and Mumbai
airports, a step initiated by the BJP-led government. It proposed the raising of
the FDI caps in telecom and insurance in the Union budget of 2004–05 which has
been halted due to opposition of the Left. It seeks to circumvent the commitment
not to privatise profitable PSUs by gradually disinvesting shares in these units
to meet its budgetary deficit.
2.18
The UPA government has shown itself eager to fashion policies favourable
to big business and international finance capital while being tardy or negligent
in protecting the interests of the working class and the working people. For
instance, it cut the EPF rate of interest to 8.5 per cent while pushing forward
with the plan to privatise the pension fund of government employees. It has
abolished Press Note 18 which provided some protection for Indian companies
which enter into joint ventures with foreign companies. It’s fiscal policies
seek to curtail expenditure by cutting down subsidies necessary for the common
people, while proposing tax concessions to the corporate sector and the rich. It
has resorted to successive increases in the prices of petroleum products which
are leading to price rise of essential commodities, while being reluctant to
revise the excise and import duty structure which gives undue benefits to the
oil companies. The government seeks to fulfill the CMP commitment to adopt an
Employment Guarantee Act but has prepared a bill which dilutes the provision of
providing minimum 100 days work for one adult in every rural household on
minimum wages.
Conditions
Of The People
2.19
The most visible symptom of the agrarian rural distress among the rural
poor is the drastic curtailment of their per capita food availability and
consequently its intake. Per capita foodgrain availability which stood at 180
kgs at the end of the 1980s has seen a drastic decline to an average of 155 kgs
in the three years 2000–01 to 2002–03. This is the result of the
“reforms”, a product of BJP rule. In fact the per capita foodgrain
availability in the country as a whole is now down to the level of what it was
on the eve of the Second World War.
2.20
The number of farmers’ suicides has reached levels unheard of since
independence. Such suicides have taken place in major parts of the country, with
Andhra Pradesh topping the number of peasants ending their lives in desperation.
More than 7,000 farmers committed suicide in the state in the space of three
years. Thousands of farmers died in a similar way in other places.
2.21
The “targetted” public distribution system actually led to the
dismantling of the existing public distribution system which itself was
inadequate. This dismantling of the public distribution system has hit the poor
the hardest, with the worst affected being the tribal areas where hunger and
starvation deaths have become a regular feature.
2.22
Lakhs of families working in traditional industries whether they are in
handloom, beedi, coir, cashew, or artisans have been rendered jobless and are
forced to live in hunger and deprivation. Small scale and tiny sector units have
closed by the thousands and the plight of the unorganized workers worsened.
2.23
The urban industrial workers have experienced not only growing
unemployment but also a substantial increase in lockouts, cuts in the social
wage, increase of insecurity and a reduction in their bargaining strength
through attacks on trade unions and through attempts to deny them the right to
strike. Labour laws, which offer limited protection are being undermined.
Contract and casual work is being introduced on a large scale to deprive workers
of legal benefits. Pension funds are sought to be privatised. Minimum wages and
other protections are denied to workers in the unorganised sectors. The plight
of the plantation workers in tea gardens has worsened with thousands jobless and
their families starving.
2.24
Children up to 18 years constitute 44 per cent of the population. The
record with regard to children’s welfare is shocking. 47 per cent of children
below three years are malnourished. 40.7 per cent of children enrolled at the
primary school stage drop out. Child labour is rampant with children undertaking
arduous and hazardous work with no rights or protection whatsoever.
2.25
Unemployment has become the single largest problem for the people. This
is a result of the liberalisation and privatisation policies pursued over the
years. Rural unemployment, unemployment for the youth, educated unemployment and
unemployment for women have blighted the lives of millions of families. The rate
of growth of employment under BJP rule was a dismal 1.13 per cent. Existing jobs
in the public sector and organised sector are being done away with.
Centre-State
Relations
2.26
The fiscal crisis of the Centre, which is precipitated by the neo-liberal
reforms through its various tax measures is sought to be passed on to the state
governments. The Centre compounds the problem by charging exorbitant rates of
interest on loans given by it including those given from small savings, loans
raised within the states themselves. When the state governments are reduced to a
mendicant status, the Centre then thrusts upon them neo-liberal policies. During
the nineties, the tax revenue raised by the state governments together as
proportion of GDP did not decline while the tax revenue raised by the Centre
did, and yet at the end of the decade it was the states which faced the fiscal
squeeze.
2.27
Accentuation of uneven development has led to the growth of inter-state
and intra-state disparities. This is giving a fillip to the demands for separate
states based on the argument of backwardness, such as Telengana and Vidarbha.
The Party will fight for the development of backward regions while adhering to
the principled position of opposition to the division of linguistic states.
Another aspect of growing concern is the inter-state problem with regard to the
sharing of river waters and water resources. Such conflicts are growing given
the increasing demand for water in agriculture and the unscientific use of water
resources.
Issues
of National Unity
2.28
The situation in the North-East is characterised by the continuing
activities of the armed separatist groups and ethnic conflicts. The situation is
complicated by the fact that the neighbouring country of Bangladesh has become a
sanctuary for most of these extremist groups and imperialism is very much active
in aiding them. Of particular concern is the role of the ISI of Pakistan which
is well-known for its links to the US intelligence agencies. The ULFA leadership
is based in Bangladesh and most of the ULFA cadres who fled Bhutan after the
army operation are sheltering there. The two major extremist groups of Tripura,
the NLFT and the ATTF, and the separatist groups in Manipur have their camps
across the border. The heightened intervention of foreign agencies poses a
serious threat to national unity.
2.29
The growth of separatism and extremist activities are also the result of
the wrong policies adopted by the Centre towards the North-East over the
decades. The lack of special attention to develop the region which has unique
characteristics, the reliance on a nexus of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats
to implement developmental work, and the insensitivity to the cultural and
nationality sentiments of the different communities has created the space for
separatism and foreign intervention. Excesses committed by the security forces
have alienated and angered the people. In Manipur, a popular upsurge took place
after the brutal killing of a woman by the para-military forces. The political
process of providing regional autonomy to substantial tribal communities and a
genuinely democratic set-up needs to be taken forward seriously. Steps have to
be taken to protect the identity of the various peoples by stopping illegal
migration from across the border. The North-Eastern region requires priority in
building infrastructure, communications and generating employment for the
educated youth.
Jammu
& Kashmir
2.30
The elections in late 2002 saw the formation of the PDP-Congress
coalition government headed by Mufti Mohd. Sayeed. The National Conference was
defeated, being discredited by its joining the BJP alliance at the Centre and
its corrupt misrule. Elections were held in a relatively free manner compared to
the past. But the BJP-led government did not utilise this situation to advance
the political dialogue. Its resolute opposition to autonomy and the RSS backing
the idea of a trifurcation spoilt the chances of a dialogue. The extremists
sought to disrupt the peace by repeated attacks. After the UPA government
assumed office, there has been no notable initiative to revive talks, along with
the Indo-Pakistan dialogue.
2.31
The CPI(M) strongly advocates the provision of maximum autonomy for
the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Without assuring the Kashmiri people that their
identity and culture will be fully recognised and their aspirations met in a
democratic set-up within the Indian Union, the feeling of alienation cannot be
removed nor the separatists countered. An autonomous set up should be created,
with the regions of Jammu & Ladakh being given regional autonomy within this
framework. Meanwhile, efforts to restore people-to-people relations between the
two parts divided by the LoC must be encouraged. The steps taken by the
Indo-Pakistan dialogue of a ceasefire on the LoC and reduction of military
forces should be accompanied by suitable political measures. The J&K state
needs serious efforts by the centre to reconstruct its shattered economy
especially in the sphere of employment generation.
Foreign
Policy
2.32
The BJP-led government had steered foreign policy on to a
pro-American path. It proclaimed that Indo-US relations were the history of
“fifty wasted years” implying that non-alignment was a mistake. It sought to
subordinate India to the global strategic interests of the US provided India was
given de facto recognition as a nuclear power and a preeminent status in South
Asia. The only result of this was to place India at the same level as Pakistan
as one of the two allies of the US. The Bush administration belied the BJP’s
hopes by relying on Pakistan in its war on terror and giving it the status of a
major non-NATO ally. The Vajpayee government also cultivated strategic ties with
Israel and went to the extent of advocating an India-US-Israel axis.
2.33
The UPA government has to adhere to an independent foreign policy as
declared in the Common Minimum Programme. To achieve this, the Manmohan Singh
government must make sure that issues such as the joint missile defence
programme with the US are not pursued as they are not in the country’s
interests. Nor should India make any commitment to join the US proliferation
security initiative or accept continuance of US military forces in Iraq. To
promote multipolarity in international relations, India should have close ties
with Russia, China and Europe and Japan. Special emphasis has to be placed on
ties with major developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America.
India’s ties with its South Asian neighbours have to be strengthened. It is
essential to review and end the strategic military and security cooperation with
Israel, which is one of the most lawless states in the world and which continues
to defend it occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands. The CPI(M) will endeavour
to see that the harmful legacy of the Vajpayee government’s foreign policy is
removed.
2.34
The one and a half decades of liberalisation have worsened the
conditions of women in terms of access to employment and being marginalized in
the market. The closure of factories and the decline of traditional industries
have led to women losing jobs on a large scale. The female work participation
rate in urban India is extremely low, between 13 and 15 per cent. Women in the
organized sector constitute only 18 per cent. 93 per cent of women workers in
manufacture are in the unorganized sector where there is no protective
legislation. Male domination and traditional prejudices have reinforced gender
discrimination which is revealed in the most glaring form in the declining sex
ratio. The 2001 census has shown that in the juvenile age group there is a
considerable decline with the sex ratio being 927:1000. Discrimination and
prejudice against females is reflected in the elimination of the girl child.
2.35
Promotion of market and consumerist values depict women as being sex
objects while traditional feudal attitudes are responsible for vicious violence
against women as witnessed in honour killings which are taking place in states
like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The atrocities against women whether they are
through dowry murders, sexual assault or domestic violence are on the increase
with the legal machinery unable to promptly punish the perpetrators. The CPI(M)
supports the women’s movement which is fighting against all types of
oppression and violence. It calls for new legislation against domestic violence,
sexual assault and child sexual abuse. Women must be entitled to equal property
rights including in ancestral property and the long delayed one-third
reservation for women in parliament and state legislatures must be passed into
law.
2.36
The caste system contains both
social oppression and class exploitation. The dalits suffer from both types of
exploitation in the worst form. 86.25 per cent of the scheduled caste households
are landless and 49 per cent of the scheduled castes in the rural areas are
agricultural workers. Communists who champion an end to caste oppression and
eradication of untouchability have to be in the forefront in launching struggles
against the denial of basic human rights. This struggle has to be combined with
the struggle to end the landlord dominated order which consigns the dalit rural
masses to bondage. The issues of land, wages and employment must be taken up to
unite different sections of the working people and the non-dalit rural poor must
be made conscious of the evils of caste oppression and discrimination by a
powerful democratic campaign. There are some dalit organisations and NGOs who
seek to foster anti-Communist feelings among the dalit masses and to detach them
from the Left movement. Such sectarian and, in certain cases, foreign-funded
activities must be countered and exposed by positively putting forth the
Party’s stand on caste oppression and making special efforts to draw the dalit
masses into common struggles.
Fight
Caste Appeal
2.37
The intensification of the caste appeal and fragmentation of the
working people on caste lines is a serious danger to the Left and democratic
movement. Taking up caste oppression, forging the common movement of the
oppressed of all castes and taking up class issues of common concern must be
combined with a bold campaign to highlight the pernicious effects of caste-based
politics. The Party should work out concrete tactics in different areas taking
into account the caste and class configurations. Electoral exigencies should not
come in the way of the Party’s independent campaign against caste-based
politics. Reservation is no panacea for the problems of caste and class
exploitation. But they provide some limited and necessary relief within the
existing order. Reservation should be extended to dalit Christians. In the
context of the privatisation drive and the shrinkage of jobs in the government
and public sector, reservation in the private sector for scheduled castes and
tribes should be worked out after wide consultations.
2.38
The 8.43 crore (84.3 million) tribal people are the worst victims of
the new phase of capitalist development under liberalisation. They are subjected
to the predatory exploitation of not only moneylenders and contractors but also
big business and multinational companies who are being given access to the
mineral wealth in tribal areas. Recent years have seen a sharp cutback in the
public distribution system and welfare schemes which have driven tribals to
starvation and hunger deaths. The Forest Act and the bureaucracy deny them
access to the forest and evict them from their traditional habitats. BJP rule
saw the deep penetration by RSS outfits in tribal areas with efforts to
communalise the adivasis and pit them against Christians and Muslims. The
provision of regional autonomy in tribal-majority areas is necessary to protect
tribal interests in land, culture and self-development.
2.39
The Party formulated a tribal policy document in 2001. This should be
the basis for work in the tribal areas and for countering the disruptive forces
which seek to foster separatism or communal tendencies among the tribal people.
The UPA government has not scrapped the objectionable tribal policy document of
the NDA, nor the eviction orders of tribals from forests which were issued by
the NDA government. The Party will have to take up these issues. The Party must
take up the issues of land, access to forests, wages and development of the
tribal areas so that tribal people are ensured educational and employment
opportunities.
2.40
The Party must identify with the aspirations and assertions of all the
socially and economically oppressed sections. The Party bases itself on the
basic classes, the working class, the semi-proletarian masses in the urban and
rural areas, the poor peasantry and agricultural workers, both men and women. In
order to link the Left with the other socially oppressed sections, the Party
should champion:
the
cause of the dalits against caste oppression, making their demand for social
justice a part of the common democratic platform;
the
rising consciousness and movement of women for equality and gender justice
viewing the women’s question as not only a gender issue but a class issue;
the
struggle of the adivasis-tribal people for land, access to forests, an end
to the inhuman capitalist and feudal exploitation, and protecting their
identity, cultural and linguistic rights; and
all
social causes which help fight obscurantism, socially regressive customs and
patriarchal and feudal practices.
2.41
The Party has been opposing untouchability, caste discrimination, dowry,
female foeticide and minority baiting. Based on the experience of recent
campaigns against some of these evils, the Party should take the lead in taking
up social issues for campaigns and struggles.
2.42
The CPI(M) is for championing the legitimate rights of the minorities
against discrimination and fighting off the attacks by majority communalism. At
the same time, the Party stands for democratic and progressive reforms within
the minorities. It opposes fundamentalism and minority communalism which seeks
to ghettoize and breed intolerance amongst the minorities. The Party is for
special measures to provide education and access to jobs for the Muslim
minorities. Attention has to be paid to the rights and needs of the working
people and the poorer sections amongst the minorities and to bring them into the
common class and mass movements.
2.43
The six years of BJP rule were notorious for the determined attempt
to revamp the educational system on communal lines with text books and writing
of history being the focus. Simultaneously, there was a stepped-up drive to
privatise and commercialise education to the detriment of students and the
people at large. The National Curriculum Framework and the Model Act for
universities were drawn up with these twin goals in mind. The BJP-led government
allowed private universities through the back door by providing for deemed
private universities by amending the UGC Act. More than 170 private deemed
universities were set up in the last two years. The Supreme Court judgement in
the TMA Pai [if this is a name, it should be T.M.A.]
case promoted rampant commercialisation with private professional colleges
free to set up their own norms for admissions and fee structure.
2.44
The UPA government must bring forward a central legislation to enable
state governments to regulate admissions and fees in private unaided
institutions. While the UPA government announced a 2 per cent cess for
education, it did not take any steps to increase expenditure on higher education
in the Union budget of 2004–05. The promise to spend 6 per cent of the GDP on
education in the CMP needs to be pursued seriously. The provision of free and
compulsory education up to 14 years of age must be also implemented stringently.
The government has taken some steps to detoxify education, set up the Central
Advisory Board of Education and withdraw flawed textbooks. However, much more
needs to be done to undo the damage caused by prolonged BJP-RSS interference in
education.
2.45
Neo-liberal economic reforms pursued since 1991 have further weakened
the public health infrastructure in the country. Public expenditure on
healthcare is just 0.9 per cent of GDP, one of the lowest in the world, and
private expenditure is 84 per cent of total health care costs, making the
country’s health infrastructure one of the most privatised in the world. The
present government has promised in its Common Minimum Programme that public
expenditure on health will be increased to 2 to 3 per cent of GDP over the next
five years. However, the first budget of the UPA government did not, in any
manner, reflect this commitment. The government is finalising a Rural Health
Mission, but wider discussions are necessary to ensure that the mission dos not
become a prescription for further privatisation of the country’s health
infrastructure.
2.46
The ordinance brought in to amend India’s Patent Laws, in order to
make it TRIPS compliant, is deficient in terms of its ability to safeguard
national interests and will lead to an increase in prices of drugs. There are
attempts to reverse the national consensus arrived at in the National Population
Policy, 2000, regarding the eschewing of a target-oriented population control
programme, which is a matter of concern.
2.47 The CPI(M) demands that public expenditure on healthcare be increased to 3 per cent of GDP in the next five years and further to 5 per cent of GDP over a period of time. These resources should be utilised to strengthen the primary health infrastructure at all levels, so that comprehensive healthcare is made available by the government to all sections of the people.
2.48
The problems of deforestation, soil erosion, pollution of air and
water resources are all contributing to the degradation of the environment with
resultant adverse effects on the well-being of the people. Government policy on
environment often takes the wrong direction because it is not based on a
people-oriented development framework which integrates environmental concerns.
Instead of targetting the tribal and forest communities, the government has to
act against the contractors and their patrons who are primarily responsible for
the destruction of forest cover. Strict control must be exercised against
industrial units using hazardous technology which affects the health of workers
and the neighbourhood, rather than indiscriminately closing down factories in
cities throwing out lakhs of workers from their jobs. Vehicular pollution can be
checked by developing mass-transit and public transport systems and levying high
taxes on luxury cars. There is an urgent need to check soil and river erosion
which is damaging the lives of millions of people. The draft national policy on
environment of the UPA government does not meet the requirements of a
people-oriented, sustainable development based on environmental concerns.