People's Democracy

EDITORIAL 

Strengthen Struggles for an Alternative Policy Direction 

THE recently concluded 19th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has reaffirmed that the future of India and its people is crucially dependent upon the successes achieved in bringing about a change in the policy direction in the country. This is true at multiple levels. 

First, the future of India and the prosperity of its people centres around strengthening the unity and integrity of our country and its social order. The plurality and diversity that define the Indian society is unprecedented in its vastness compared to any other country in the world. As repeatedly stated in these columns, given these realities, the unity and integrity of India can be consolidated only by strengthening the bonds of commonality that run through this rich diversity. Any effort to impose a uniformity --- religious, linguistic, ethnic, cultural etc --- upon this diversity will only strengthen the centrifugal forces that can destroy the unity and integrity of our country. Communalism seeks precisely to impose such uniformity upon our versatile mosaic of diversity. This it seeks to do by attempting to transform the secular democratic character of the modern Indian republic into a rabidly intolerant fascistic RSS version of “Hindu Rashtra.” 

Clearly, the future of India and the struggles for a better livelihood of our people cannot succeed unless the unity and integrity of the country is, first and foremost, protected and strengthened. The fact that the communal forces are currently mounting such a threat is, in itself, a testimony to the inadequacies in the policy directions aimed at strengthening our unity and integrity. Communalism needs to be squarely combated. It cannot be subdued or defeated through compromises. The policy of ‘soft Hindutva’ or ‘pale saffron’ will only add grist to the mill of the communal forces. Thus, a decisive shift in policy direction is essential to combat this communal menace and, consequently, to strengthen India’s unity and integrity. It is no mere coincidence that in the three CPI(M)-led Left ruled states of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, the BJP does not have a single elected representative in either the state assembly or the parliament. 

Secondly, the trajectory of neo-liberal economic reforms pursued by the Indian ruling classes in the last two decades has resulted in a rapid growth of economic inequalities, imposing miseries on our vast millions. The hiatus between the ‘shining’ and ‘suffering’ India has been growing. There is, thus, the need to strengthen popular struggles to force a shift in the policy direction of the ‘reforms’ from being solely preoccupied with enlarging  corporate profits --- both domestic and foreign --- towards improving the people’s welfare. Today, 54 percent of India’s population is below the age of 25 years. If these youth are provided with quality education, health and employment, they shall lead India’s resurgence as a power to reckon with in the world. Clearly, therefore, the objective of  significantly improving the prosperity of the Indian people lies in the successes achieved in the struggles against the neo-liberal economic trajectory. 

Thirdly, one of the consequences of the neo-liberal trajectory has been the widening of regional economic imbalances in our country. This is happening in the context of our social plurality that we noted above. The struggles against regional backwardness, in this situation, often find negative expressions --- in demands of secession, separation from existing states, etc. These not only contribute to raising the levels of social tensions but also at times succeed in diverting the energies of the people away from the struggles against the neo-liberal policies. Clearly, therefore, an alternative policy direction that strengthens the federal content of the Indian constitution through granting greater financial and political autonomy to our states is imperative for building a better India with significantly higher levels of prosperity for its people. 

Fourthly, the strength of India in the comity of the world’s nations is dependent upon strengthening its economic and political sovereignty. This, in turn, is contingent upon strictly adhering to an independent foreign policy. The current process of imperialist globalisation inherently seeks to undermine the economic sovereignty of all developing countries, including ours. Under these circumstances, any domestic effort to shift India’s foreign policy direction towards being subservient to US imperialism can only be disastrous for both the country and its people. The current efforts of the Indian ruling classes to seek the status of a ‘subordinate ally’ of US imperialism are thus not in our interest. The struggle for building a better India with a significantly higher quality of livelihood for the vast majority of our people is, therefore, crucially dependent on the successes the Indian people could achieve in the struggles against imperialism and the efforts of the Indian ruling classes. 

Thus, at these four crucial levels, apart from others, there is an urgent need to strengthen popular struggles for an alternative policy direction in the country. In order to achieve this, the CPI(M)’s 19th Congress has called for the building of a political alternative with such political parties as would be prepared to join us in strengthening these struggles. A non-Congress anti-BJP third political alternative, based on an alternative policy direction, is the need of the hour. The CPI(M) calls upon the Indian people to strengthen popular struggles  for building a better India, with greater prosperity for the vast majority of our people.