HOW THE ELECTION SHOULD BE VIEWED IN PEOPLES’ INTEREST

Comrade President, Comrades and Friends,

You have heard that the 3rd Congress of the SUCI(Communist), the Party founded by Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, the great Marxist thinker, has been held in Ghatsila from 21 to 25 November 2018. The open session is organized here in Jamshedpur today (26 November 2018). You know that the  big bourgeois parties like the BJP, the Congress, regional parties like BJP, BJD, DMK, ADMK, JMM, Shib Sena, TMC, JDU, TDP etc. and the left parties like the CPI (M) and CPI all  have already  jumped into the fray of forthcoming parliamentary election. Speculations are ripe as to who would capture power at the Centre, who would defend their seat of power in Delhi and who would bag how many seats in different areas. Hectic preparations are going as to who would use what propaganda weapon against whom in the campaign and who would use which community of people as vote bank by inciting communal-casteist-parochial-chauvinist sentiments.  Alongside, there is usual mud-singling against each other. Both the print and electronic media are every day and night giving wide publicity to the speeches, claimed record of performances and future promises of the leaders of these parties. In such a political atmosphere , we, guided by Comrade Shibdas Ghosh Thought, had discussed in the Party Congress how class and mass struggles on the burning problems of life of the workers-peasants-middle class, pressed under the grinding wheel of ruthless capitalist oppression, can be developed and, in the process, preparations can be made for accomplishing anti-capitalist socialist revolution in future. With that objective, the subject of our deliberations was how we could further strengthen the Party ideologically-politically-culturally-organizationally-morally. We are not an election-oriented party. Ours is a revolutionary party. Our Party believes that the basic problems of people’s life can never be solved through election. This is the teaching of Marxism-Leninism-Shibdas Ghosh Thought. Long back, great Lenin had said “A democratic republic is the best possible political shell for capitalism, and, therefore, once capital has gained possession of this very best shell it establishes its power so securely, so firmly, that no change, either of persons, of institutions, or of parties in the bourgeois-democratic republic, can shake it….To decide once every few years which member of the ruling class is to repress and crush the people through parliament — such is the real essence of bourgeois parliamentarism.”1 On this issue, Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, ardent student of great Lenin, had observed : “When people get disgusted and resentful against the government, another government steps in through elections. The common people hold some persons to be dishonest, they think that it will bring them good if only the dishonest were removed and in their place honest men were installed. Bourgeois parliamentary politicians resort to this type of propaganda with the object of confusing the people under cover of a ‘principle’ or ‘ideology’. So, I would caution the workers, peasants and the common people not to be swayed by this type of deception. Because, only through a change of government the basic problems of the common people had never been resolved, will never be resolved…..the emancipation of the people from the capitalist yoke and the oppressive capitalist system will be impossible to achieve through change of government a thousand times, through elections, or through attempts to rewrite the letters of the laws. The only way to achieve emancipation is to gradually build up the invincible revolutionary united strength of the people through conduct of democratic movements on the correct base political line and to accomplish socialist revolution under the leadership of the revolutionary working class party.” ² He further said: “Election is bourgeois politics. If the masses lack political consciousness, if the working class is not in the midst of struggle and does not have its own class organization, if there is no mass movement and if the people are not armed with the strength of a conscious organization, the big industrialists, businessmen and the reactionary forces create such a hype with the help of money and media power that the common masses get swayed by that just like the way a sheaf of thatch-grass gets swamped by rush of water.” ³   

Harrowing spectacle of the country

Since 1952, there have been so many parliament elections. The Congress ruled for a long period with the slogan of garibi hatao (Remove Poverty). The BJP had also ascended to power with the promise of ushering in achhe din (Good Days). What has been the outcome you know well from your own bitter experiences. You are undergoing every day unbearable sufferings. All these parties claim that there have been much progress and development during their respective rules and more of that would take place in future if they are saddled in power. But what does the spectacle of the country hold out?  Though from your experience, you are familiar with this objective reality of the country, I shall read out before you a few facts. These facts and figures are not provided by us. All these are from either official or authentic unofficial sources.  Just a couple of years back, India ranked 100 out of 119 countries on the Global Hunger Index. Now it has further slid down to 103. This is the kind of progress that has been taking place! 203 million (20.3 crore)) people go hungry every day in India. The number of hungry has gone up substantially in recent times. 7,000 people die every day because of starvation. India is home to 1/3rd of global poor. So far, over 3 lacks 50 thousands peasants have committed suicide. Almost 122 Indians per 100,000 die due to poor quality of healthcare each year. Daily, 3,000 Children die due to malnutrition. Out of a total population of 123 crores of the country, around 70 crores are unemployed or semi-employed. Just a few days back, the Railways gave notification for filling up 90,000 vacant posts. Over 2.8 crore unemployed youth applied for those posts. Just imagine the perilous condition of the countrymen! For 368 posts of peons in UP, 23 lakh applications were received. Among the applicants, 255 were PhD holders and many others were graduates and postgraduates. 18 lakh applications were received for 5,400 Group D posts in West Bengal. Among them were also PhDs and holders of master’s degrees, doctors and engineers. This is the grim spectacle of the country. This is one side of the picture.

Who has prospered over these years?

Has there been no prosperity in the country over these years? Yes there has been. It is the big industrialists and businessmen who have made huge fortunes. In 2016, 1% of the super-rich held 51% of the total wealth of the country. Within two years, 73% of the country’s wealth has been concentrated in the hands of those 1% super-rich. Just 57 billionaires own wealth equivalent to what 90% of the countrymen possess. Wealth of Mukesh Ambani, the industrial tycoon, has jumped to Rs 3,71,000 crores as on 31 July 2018. He is reported to have added Rs 300 crores daily to his coffer in the last year. Dilip Sanghvi, another giant monopolist, has added Rs 1,28,122 crores to his coffer. Net worth of Gautam Adani and Aziz Premji, two other top industrialists, stand at Rs 1,70, 230 crores and 1,30, 251 crores respectively. The wealth of Amit Shah, the BJP President, has increased by 300%.  Revenue from company owned by his son Joy Shah jumped from just Rs 50,000 to over Rs. 80 crores in a single year registering a 16,000 times increase. Even saffron-clad Baba Ramdev has registered an increase of 173% in his wealth. All of them have thus amassed fabulous wealth and are billionaires.

Besides them, the ministers, MPs and MLAs are all also having wealth worth millions of rupees. In the name of serving the people, they are minting money like anything. Corruption of the industrialists, big businessmen, ministers and bourgeois political leaders has virtually become a normal feature. To put it the other way, corruption has become the law of the land. The only difference is who is stealing more and who is stealing less, who is caught and who is escaping unscathed. The government is bankrupt. So, budget deficit is soaring. To finance this growing deficit, the government is borrowing heavily from both internal and external sources, rampantly increasing the tax burden on people and pushing up the price line. The government is reported to have earned over Rs10 lakh crores from levies on petrol and diesel between 2014-15 and 2018-19. Now the government is trying to grab public money deposited with the Reserve Bank of India by asking the latter to transfer its surplus reserve to the government kitty. On the pretext of running short of funds, the central government is curtailing budget allocations to education and healthcare and also handing over these two crucial sectors to the private operators for being run on commercial basis and making fabulous profit by squeezing people. The government is making no effort to prevent calamities like drought and flood nor is it taking any step to improve irrigation facilities or supply of drinking water. On the contrary, it has allowed the monopoly houses and large corporates to usurp around Rs10.25 lakh crores of bank loans. Not only that. These monopoly houses and corporate giants have been granted waiver of due tax to the tune of as high as Rs 2.72 lakh crores. So far, as high as Rs 100 lakh crore worth of black money is estimated to have been allowed to accrue to the super-rich. This is the other side of the picture.

Two India

So, there are two India. One India belongs to the giant monopolists and big business whose wealth is multiplying at astronomical rate. The other India is of the multitudes of toiling millions— wretched, hungry, unemployed—who are starving to death, committing suicide and selling children for a pittance. You are to examine which side the vote-based national bourgeois and the regional bourgeois parties represent—the thriving super-rich or the penury and misery-stricken myriads of toiling countrymen.

Apart from these, there are other revelations as well. It has come in the media that the information commission has been refused by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to share details of the quantum of black money brought back from abroad on the pretext that it would impede the investigation and prosecution of the offenders. The PMO has also declined to give the details of complaints of corruption against the union ministers, saying that providing such information “may be a subjective as well as cumbersome exercise”. The PMO similarly has rejected the demand for releasing the names of the industrial houses who have been mega-defaulters of bank loans. The reason is clear. Names of the some others fugitive defaulters like Vijay  Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi who are close to the BJP would feature on that list. So, the government is averse to making the list public. Whose interest is the government serving then? Definitely you would have to examine that.

India of growing unemployment, misery and penury

Today, there are millions of unemployed in the country. Millions of workers are retrenched. No new job opportunity is created. Shutters are downed on the industries. It is argued by the ruling quarters that the factories are closing down because there is no market. Whatever little labour is engaged is also not on permanent but contractual basis. There is no fixed hour of work, no fixed wage. Contract labour— a new system of appointing casual labour at throwaway wage– has been made operational. There is no labour law in the interest of labour, no right of the workers at the places of work but owners can close factories, retrench and reduce workers at will. Look at the villages. The vast rural belts have been turned into deserts. There is hardly any young people — both male and female–in the rural India because there is no job, no means of earning a livelihood in the villages. So, they are migrating to this or that city, even going abroad in search of jobs as ‘migrant’ labour. They have no fixed jobs anywhere. You might not be aware that 30 million of young men of this country were cheated by dangling carrot of employment and sold abroad by the agents of vested interest as slave labourers. These slave labourers are not allowed to return home. They are made to work round the clock and provided only that much of food which is needed for bare survival. There is no guarantee of any wage. Even they are not allowed to venture out of their places of dwelling. Imagine what unbearable poverty compelled 3 crores of young men of the country to work as slaves in foreign countries!  A group of businessmen has been luring thousands of girls from the villages with promise of providing jobs or arranging marriages. Then they sell these hapless girls to the flesh market within and outside the country. This flesh trade is now thriving day by day. This is another horrifying picture of ‘development’ of our country. On  26 January, the Republic Day, is approaching. There would be much pomp and grandeur. The leaders would give long speeches and deliver tall talks. There would be gorgeous carnivals in the 5 or 7 star hotels with bursting of crackers followed by sumptuous dinners. When the leftovers would be thrown into the dustbins, the street children would be found scavenging for some eatables from the dump. These  children are all human beings. Lakhs of children are born and die on the footpaths. No one bothers about them. These destitute children do not even know who their parents are. And once darkness descends, our sisters and daughters in large number would flock the railway stations, bus terminuses, market places and street corners of the cities and towns to sell themselves as prostitutes. They have no other means to feed their starving children or ailing husbands. This is the kind of ‘development’ the country has achieved over these years! The Congress has ruled for a long period. Now the BJP is saddled in power. Both of them have endowed this ‘development’ to the countrymen. They have only ensured the flourishment of the big industrialists and big businessmen who have been piling heaps of profit by squeezing even the last drop of blood of the oppressed people. Is it the kind of independence for which Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh had laid down his life? Did the thousands of blooming youth court martyrdom to create such an independent India? Did Netaji Subhas fight for achieving this independence?

In place of British imperialist rule,

it is now a rule of the national bourgeoisie

In place of British imperialist rule, an oppressive capitalist rule has been established in the country. This is what Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, our revered leader and teacher, had shown. He said that though the country has become politically independent, real freedom has not been achieved by the people. Only a handful of capitalists have earned the freedom to loot, plunder and exploit at will. He showed that the Indian  society is class-divided. On the one side is the ruling capitalist class whose whole and sole objective is to earn maximum profit by maximum exploitation. On the other side are the vast masses of poor people, the workers-peasants-middle class, oppressed and repressed to the core. He also pointed out that outwardly there appear to be many opposing forces in politics. But, in reality, there are only two contending forces in politics. One faithfully serves  the big industrialists and businessmen, abets wanton loot and exploitation and protects the oppressors and plunderers. Starting from the Congress, the BJP to all other regional bourgeois parties — all practise this very politics. The other force represents the politics for building people’s struggle against ruthless capitalist oppression. This is revolutionary politics based on higher ideology-culture-ethics which paves the way for bringing about anti-capitalist socialist revolution. The SUCI(C), the genuine revolutionary party on the soil, is the torch-bearer of this revolutionary politics. With this objective, we have been conducting our struggle.

Capitalist attack is now mounting on each and every walk of life. Scope for education and cultivation of knowledge is being curtailed more & more. Academic curricula are being oriented towards religious education and spiritualism. But, Raja Rammohan Roy and Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, the doyens of  the Indian renaissance, categorically stated that not the Vedas and Vedanta, not Sanskrit  language but science, logic and scientific philosophy is what we want in the syllabus. They held that this kind of secular democratic education should be introduced to build man worth the name in this country. The person who received the title of ‘Vidyasagar’ (ocean of knowledge) by thoroughly studying religious scriptures in Sanskrit had, after coming in contact with higher knowledge of renaissance and democratic thoughts of the West, firmly declared: “Samkhya and Vedanta are false systems of philosophy…. let the students be taught …western philosophy, so that they learn that there is no truth in Samkhya and Vedanta…” ⁴ He further said, “The bigotry of the learned of India, I am ashamed to state, is no less than that of the Arabian Caliph. They believe that their Shatras have all emanated from omniscient Rishis and therefore, they cannot but be infallible.” ⁵ He was an atheist. There was no discussion on religion or god in the text books authored by him. Though Ramkrishna requested him to visit Kali Temple of Dakhshineswar in the northern fringe of Kolkata. But he did not go. Despite knowing that Vidyasagar was a non-believer, Ramkrishna, Vivekananda and all greatmen who came afterwards had profound respect for him. This is the bicentenary year of this great renaissance personality. But how many of our countrymen remember him today

Attack on this secular scientific outlook and approach of Indian renaissance first came from  the Congress. The BJP has gone a step further in killing the scientific bent of mind, destroying rational outlook and banishing polemics so that no one raises any objection, any question or enters into any debate on any issue but only follows blindly what the RSS-BJP leaders say. So, they have introduced religious education with a view to fostering blind irrational faith. They are also inciting religious fanaticism.

Competition over Rama in narrow electoral interest

Now there is a tug of war centring on Rama. Claims and counter-claims are made in regard to who is carrying the true legacy of Rama. In narrow sectarian electoral interest, a competition has started among the leaders of the BJP and the Congress over temple-hopping— who would enter which temple first and thereby be one up in proving to be a devout Hindu. A rat race is going on centring on that. The leaders of our freedom movement were free from such hypocrisy. Now devout piousness of these self-styled leaders is overflowing. Alongside, they are also rushing to the mosques and the churches by congress leaders lest votes of other religious communities should elude them.  Rama is a mythological character, not a historical one. You would not find any reference of Rama on the pages of history. Buddha, Mahavira or Shankaracharya are the names you would find in history. Rama is an imaginary character. There is no mention of Rama in the four volumes of the Veda, six volumes of the Upanishad, the Gita and the Advaita Vedanta of Shankaracharya.  Now, keeping an eye on election, a hype is created around Rama. Can these self-proclaimed disciples of Rama be called true Hindus? As the saying goes, Valmiki had written the Ramayana before the birth of Rama and predicted what would happen in future. But nowhere did he mention that Babri Masjid would be built by destroying Rama temple in Ayodhya. The Ramacharitmanas written by Sant Tulsidas is acknowledged and regarded as an authentic work. Babri Masjid was in existence during the time Tulsidas penned this book. Did Tulsidas say anywhere that Babri Masjid was built on the site of Rama’s birth? Even Vivekananda had said: “Take the case of the Ramayana…it is not that in order to acknowledge it as an inviolable authentic epic, one has to believe that there was really anyone like Rama at any point of time… The glory of religion sung in the Ramayana or the Mahabharata does not depend on the existence or non-existence of either Rama or Krishna. Hindu religion is not at all contingent upon any specific individual. In order to examine how far the philosophical truth upheld in any of the mythologies was authentic, it is not at all necessary to scrutinize whether the characters described in those mythologies really existed or they were all fictional.” ⁶ What is seen then? Did Vivekananda believe that there was someone as Rama and he was born in Ayodhya? Rather, he said that without creating too much of hullabaloo over existence of Rama or Krishna or whether they were imaginary or real characters let proper lesson be drawn from the Ramayana or the Mahabharata.

I want to ask another question. In the life time of Sri Chaitanya, Ramkrishna, Vivekananda whom the Hindus obey as pivots of Hinduism Babri Masjid existed. But none of them ever said that Babri Masjid lies on Rama’s birthplace. Are we to presume that all of them were cowards? It was the Congress which first generated this Rama Janmabhumi-Babri Masjid controversy. Rajiv Gandhi, former Congress prime minister, opened the lock of Babri Masjid in 1986 and started worshipping Ramlala there obviously with the aim of garnering Hindu votes inciting religious sentiment. The RSS-BJP sensed danger when they found that the Congress was going to use Rama as a ploy to corner Hindu votes. Immediately, they embarked on a rathajatra (chariot march) and orchestrated communal riots round the country. Then, with the help of the then Congress Prime Minister, the RSS-BJP demolished Babri Masjid in 1992. Now, once again, on the eve of the next parliamentary election, a nasty game has been started by way of raking up fanaticism over construction of a Rama Temple in Ayodhya.

For quite some time from now, the RSS-BJP have raised a bogey of banning cow slaughter. They have even lynched quite a number of people alleging them to be cow slaughterers or cow traffickers. I want to ask, is it the injunction of Hinduism? Then why did Chaitanya, Ramkrishna or Vivekananda not raise this demand? Were not they Hindus? Now I would like to refer to some religious scriptures. In the 14^th mantra of the 86^th sukta of the 10^th mandal of the Rigveda, there is a prayer to Indra (considered in Hinduism as the king of the gods),  “ You cook 15 to 20 oxen for me so that I could fill up both sides of my stomach and gain fat.” ⁷ In the 14^th mantra of the 89^th  sukta of the same 10^th mandal, it is urged upon Indra: “as the cows are slaughtered in the slaughter-houses, our enemy Rakhshashas should also be killed likewise by your weapons and made to go to and lie on the earth.” ⁸ In the 54^th chapter of the second part of the Valmiki Ramayana, it is written that when Rama, Sita and Lakshmana reached the hermit of saint Varadwaj,  the meal arranged for them by the saint consisted of beef and fruits. ⁹ Will the RSS-BJP leaders now issue fiats to burn the Rigveda and the Valmiki Ramayana? And what punishment would they mete out to Rama, Lakshmana, Sita and saint Varadwaj for having consumed beef? In the ancient period, consuming beef was common among all the sections of people of this land. It was Buddhism and Jainism which first stopped animal killing. Thereafter, presumably because of use of cattle and other domestic pets for land cultivation and other practical purposes, cow slaughter ceased to exist among the upper caste Hindus. It has no connection whatsoever with Hinduism or Hindu scriptures. Otherwise, why did Vivekananda severely scolded the pracharaks (propagators of ‘cow preservation association’? “They (pracharaks) went to Vivekananda to seek donation for rescuing the ‘mother cows’ from the slaughter-houses and set up a cow-shed for keeping the disabled cattle. Vivekananda asked them: ‘Central India is in the grip of severe famine. Indian government has published a list of 9 lakh people who have died of starvation. What steps your association has taken to help the affected people there?’ They replied that they did not offer any help to the famine victims. They were only extending help to protect  the cow-mothers. Vivekananda said, ‘You are not helping your fellow countrymen who are dying but raising donations for protecting cow-mothers?’ They replied that people were dying because this famine had been caused due to their wrongdoings in their past life. ‘As they sowed’, so they reaped, the Association members said. Vivekananda was much enraged at their replies. But he suppressed his anger and said, ‘I have no sympathy for those associations or organizations that do not empathize with the suffering human beings, who do not arrange for some morsel for their starving brethren and save their life but, instead, distribute heaps of grains to the birds and animals. I do not believe that by such acts, any good is done to the society. If one pleads that people are dying because of their past sins, then making efforts for doing anything in this world would deem to be an abortive exercise.’ Vivekananda further said, ‘Then, same can be said about your work as well that the cow-mothers are being transported to the slaughter-houses and killed because of their past sins. We have nothing to do for that.’ The Pracharak who said so (slightly taken aback) replied, ‘What you say is correct, but our scriptures tell the cow is our mother’. Vivekananda replied laughing, ‘I fully realize that cow is our mother. Otherwise who would give birth to such accomplished offspring!” Hearing these, the pracharaks left after saluting him. Vivekananda turned to his disciples and said, “What a rubbish they have uttered! Is it that hapless people are dying because of the sins of their past life? This bears ample proof of what low degeneration this country has stooped to. Have you seen where does the philosophy of work as described in your Hinduism stand now? Are those who are not pained at the distress and suffering of their fellow human beings worthy of being called as man?’ While telling these, it appeared as if the whole body of Swamiji was trembling in anger.” ¹⁰ Now lakhs of people are dying of starvation and lack of medical care. But, not even rudimentary help is received from the governments run by the vote-merchants of different hues for keeping such hapless people alive. Instead, both the BJP and the Congress have now entered into a competition for constructing cow-sheds by spending crores of rupees from public exchequer funded by the tax paid by the common masses. Now you yourselves decide what should the BJP or the Congress leaders  be called if you are to view this so called cow vigilantism from Vivekananda’s approach and outlook.

Are RSS-BJP genuine votaries of Hinduism?

        We, the Marxists, are atheists. But I want to raise a pertinent question. Do the RSS- BJP really believe in Hinduism? Vivekananda had said—”first give food to the hungry and then talk of religion.” ¹¹ He further said, “I do not believe in that god who cannot give me bread in my earthly life but would ensure me all welfare and permanent happiness in the heaven.” ¹² Even by crying shame on the excess over temple and worship etc. without giving food to the hungry, he said, “Millions of rupees are spent on opening and closing the gates of Kashi and Vrindavan temples. Once the god is changing clothes while at other time, he is eating rice or chiding at the sons of barren women. On the other hand, living gods are dying without food and clothes.” ¹³ He further said, “We want to take mankind to that end where is no Veda, Bible or Koran but all works will be performed through integration of the Veda, Bible and Koran…. we not only tolerate all religions but believe all of them to be true…¹⁴ He also had no hesitation to say, “If I had a son…in course of growing in age he would have accepted Christ, Buddha or Muhammad, whoever he would have wished to. …It is very natural that simultaneously with full freedom and without having any conflict, my son could be a Buddhist, my wife a Christian and myself a Muslim.” ¹⁵

Ramkrishna, the mentor of Vivekananda, had offered namaz in the mosques for months, offered prayers at the churches and at the same time worshipped goddess Kali. Were they representatives of Hinduism or the present day RSS-BJP leaders are votaries of Hinduism? Ask the RSS-BJP why have they been fomenting frenzy and fanaticism over Hindutva? Is it not for buttressing petty interest of reaping electoral benefits? Whenever election knocks at the door, the Rama Mandir issue is raked up and communal venom spewed. It is assuming a dangerous proportion.

The RSS-BJP are having twin objectives behind promotion of Hindutva doctrine. First is of course  brightening  their electoral prospect by consolidating Hindu vote. The other objective is to disrupt the unity of the oppressed people. Let the impoverished workers-peasants-middle class nurture hatred towards each other. I am a Hindu, you are a Muslim. I am of higher caste, you belong to lower caste. You are dalit, he is tribal and so forth. Likewise, a divide is wedged among the various sections of the toiling masses so that they cannot stand united and fight against the ruling capitalist class and its subservient bourgeois governments. That is why, the fire of communal-casteist-ethnic-chauvinistic fanaticism and violence is stoked in a planned way.

Why scientific thinking is being attacked

The other objective is to inculcate blind religious faith in people. The communal-fundamentalist-bigoted forces like the RSS-BJP are playing the devil by telling the common people—’Why are you poor and unemployed?  It is because of your ill fate. You are  atoning for the sin you committed in your previous birth. The monopolists like the Ambanis and Adanis who are plundering millions and millions of rupees and ruthlessly exploiting people had done so much of pious services  in their previous births that god has now sent them to merrily suck the blood of the poor.  So you, the poor and destitute, let you happily die of hunger and without any medical treatment. If you die happily without protesting, you would achieve salvation and would get respite in your next birth. So, never raise any question or argue, never seek to know the cause behind growing oppression-repression of yours. Because, all these are ordained by god, all are his contemplations and hence fait accompli. As the saying goes, ‘Man proposes, god disposes’, everything is  ‘Khooda ka Marji, Nasib ka Khel’. So, do not hold anyone responsible for your misery and poverty. Curse the sin you had committed in your previous birth and your fate.’ These kind of devious preachings are going on.

So, the RSS-BJP leaders seek to be impress upon all that modern science has not discovered anything new. Everything was discovered by the ancient saints and stated by them in the religious scriptures. The very objective of theirs is to foster religious fanaticism and obscurantism by creating anti-science mindset. But, when Netaji Subhaschandra sat in a hunger strike inside the jail before leaving the country, he called upon he youth and students to totally depend on modern science for knowing the truth. He said, “On the question of as to the nature of the world of phenomena, we better keep an open mind while making note of all that science has revealed to us so far. More light is bound to come, as science makes further advance. Meanwhile, we should bear in mind that the old conception of materialism has broken down completely. It has been under a crossfire, being attacked by scientific research on one side and by philosophical reasoning and speculation on the other.”¹⁶ This appeal of Netaji Subhas ought to be remembered by the students and youth of the country.

Who are real patriots?

        On the other hand, what is the past history of the RSS-BJP who are now proclaiming to be true champions of ‘patriotism’? When the genuinely patriot youth, students and common people were shedding blood and sacrificing life in the anti-British imperialist freedom struggle, what was the role of the RSS, the mentor of the BJP? The leaders of the RSS then totally opposed the freedom struggle and called it a reactionary movement. M S Golwalkar, the ideologue of the RSS, openly said that “The theories of territorial nationalism and of common danger, which formed the basis for our concept of nation, had deprived us of the positive and inspiring content of our real Hindu Nationhood and made many of the ‘freedom movements’ virtually anti-British movements. Anti-Britishism was equated with patriotism and nationalism. This reactionary view has had disastrous effects upon the entire course of the freedom struggle, its leaders and the common people…¹⁷. He also said, “Those only are nationalist patriots, who, with the aspiration to glorify the Hindu race and Nation next to their heart, are prompted into activity and strive to achieve that goal. All others are either traitors and enemies to the National cause…” ¹⁸ According to this formulation of the RSS ideologue, anti-Britishism (meaning struggle to free the motherland from the colonial rule of the British imperialists) was no proof of patriotism and nationalism. Only the thought of Hindu nationalism was correct. The leaders and people who were engaged in anti-British imperialist freedom struggle were all reactionary, un-patriots, and traitors. That is why; the RSS had boycotted the freedom movement. This theory of the RSS ideologue also implies that the revered leaders of the freedom struggle starting from Deshbandhu Chittaranjan, Netaji Subhas, Balgangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat, Gandhiji to martyr Kshudiram, Bhagat Singh, Chandrasekhar Azad, Surya Sen and such others were not real patriots but reactionaries. In the face of such questions, the present RSS chief has said that they would drop this view of their Guru (teacher) Golwalkar. By pretentious dropping of Golwalkar’s view, they might try to hoodwink the countrymen. But will they be able erase from history the defaming role of theirs in the freedom struggle? Cautioning people of this despicable role of the RSS, Netaji Subhas correctly pointed out at that time that, “…since the Hindus are majority in India, there is a bogey of Hindu state. These are all utopian thoughts. A small section of self-seeking persons from their petty individualist, self-centred motive is fomenting disaffection, quarrel and strife among the two communities (Hindu-Muslim) – it is necessary to brand such sections of people as enemies of the freedom movement.”¹⁹ Many are not aware of the fact that the then Home Secretary of the British Government had given a certificate of appreciation to the RSS for its refusal to join the mass upheaval in August 1942.

Only in socialism, conflicts and oppressions centered on religion, caste, region, language or ethnicity can be abolished

        You need to be cautioned about another aspect. The BJP and the Congress leaders are competing with each other in shedding crocodile tear over the hardship and distress of the dalits, tribals and other backward sections of the people. They are also giving a host of colourful promises for the betterment of such marginalized communities. While the BJP is openly proclaiming itself to be the flag-bearer of Hindutva, the Congress is peddling soft-Hindutva and simultaneously claiming to be the ‘saviour’ of the minority community. Alongside the BJP and the Congress, many regional parties have also emerged in last few decades. Some of them claim themselves to be protectors of the various sections of ‘lower caste’ people, oppressed and persecuted for long by the upper caste Hindus. Another group of such regional outfits proclaim to be messiahs of the minority population. Some others declare themselves as the defenders of the interest of the tribals and other poor forest dwellers driven away by the outsider Aryans and champions of the cause of various regional and linguistic segments. What is the cause behind sprouting of such regional outfits based on casteist-religious-ethnic slogans? As we all know, the Indian independence movement was led by the compromising Indian national bourgeoisie. They had not taken up in right earnest the required struggle for democratizing the socio-cultural sphere based on scientific secular humanist thoughts and eradication of feudal fads. Instead, they had sought to preserve the age-old medieval bigoted backward thoughts with a view to keeping people disunited and non-enlightened. The freedom movement was mainly led by the upper caste Hindus. So most of the ‘lower caste’ Hindus and the Muslim populace did not join it. Similarly, bulk of the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe population as well as backward linguistic communities of various states were also made to stay away from the freedom movement. So, though politically a kind of national unity had developed based on anti-British independence struggle, a comprehensive nationalist mental make-up rising above casteist-religious-ethnic-regional-linguistic differences did not grow. On the other hand, the ruling capitalist class and its servitors are trying utmost to ensure that the common people remain ignorant about the cause of all their wails and woes. So that they fail to understand that it is capitalism which is breeding all the crises. If the very cause of their distress and unbearable sufferings remains unknown to the oppressed toiling masses and they remain divided over caste, religion or ethnicity, they would not be able to stand united against capitalism, the root of all evils.  With that objective, the ruling capitalist class and its subservient political parties are trying to pit one section of the toiling masses against another, stoking the fire of mutual distrust and hatred and orchestrating communal-casteist-ethnic-parochial-chauvinistic clashes and violence. Both the BJP and the Congress are using this precipitated divide among the people to create their respective vote banks. Also, certain political parties and leaders from among such oppressed backward people, calming as representatives of the respective oppressed segments of people. Though they shed tears for the predicament of the respective groups or communities, and becoming MPs, MLAs and minsters and thereby inflate their coffers. In fact, though pretending to be representatives of the so called lower caste, religious, regional or ethnic minorities, these power-greedy political parties and leaders for all practical purpose serve as appendages to the ruling bourgeoisie and are found to indulge in all kinds of unlawful and corrupt activities as is common with any other bootlicker of oppressive capitalism. Their motive is to bargain with the big bourgeois parties for pelf and power. Though they do not admit openly, they too, like any other bourgeois party or leader, want the oppression and repression on their respective marginalized penurious communities to exacerbate so that they could use the accumulated grievances of the masses to build treasurehouse of their own. So, these regional-parochial-chauvinist forces prompted by narrow sectarian self-interest never want to disclose that not only economic oppression, all socio-cultural oppressions are also bred by ruling capitalism, now in its decadence moribund stage. So, it is only the anti-capitalist socialist revolution and the struggle for accomplishing the same which can pave the way for abolishing all conflicts, divides and oppressions centered on religion, caste, region, language or ethnicity. The oppressed people belonging to various marginalized and persecuted communities must be made to understand this truth. Otherwise, the bourgeois parties would repeatedly use them as thatch-grass by dangling the carrot of false promises and the so called parties and privileged leaders springing from among the various backward groups would continue to serve their vested interest feigning to be upholding the cause of their respective groups of people. But the oppressed deprived deceived masses belonging to such backward or persecuted communities would go on dying out of starvation and in absence of medical care, languish in abject poverty and continue to be humiliated and ill-treated. 

Reckless promotion of obscenity and vulgarism

to shatter moral backbone of the youth

        There is another grave conspiracy. When the British imperialists were in power, they wanted the students and youth of this country to be self-seeking careerists and wage-slaves. But that was in vain. Innumerable students and youth happily gave up their studies, did not care for any material benefit or so-called comfort of family life and spurned job offer to join the freedom movement. They went to jail, faced bullets and batons of the imperialist regime and embraced martyrdom. That was emblematic of genuine fervent youth. Today, the ruling bourgeoisie and its servitors are destroying the essence of youth. They are exhorting the young boys to eat, drink and be merry, to go to the gambling dens, be wine & drug-addicts and remain engaged in vulgar discussion over female body. They are spreading reckless obscenity and sex-perversion through incessant promotion of blue films and lascivious material through various media including cyber network. Just think how low things have stooped to that neither a six month old baby girl nor a 100 year old lady is spared from being brutally raped. Daughter is accusing father of rape, student is accusing teacher of rape and molestation. What a horrible situation! Even to usurp the property, sons and daughters are driving the old parents out from home or even killing them. There is hardly any love, affection, tender feelings, and finer values in even family life. What a country we are living in! This is the kind of ‘progress’ the ruling class and its lackeys are boasting of. Rape and gang-rape do not happen even in the animal world. The capitalist class is pushing the youth of the country to the precipice of decadence so that they are dispossessed of human essence, conscience, all finer human qualities and be emasculated from within. If the youth are degraded and degenerated, if their moral backbone is shattered, they can easily be bought and can be engaged in any kind of criminal activities against payment of money. Now, the next parliament election is drawing near. These unemployed and culturally polluted young people would enrol themselves as volunteers of either the Congress or the BJP or any such other bourgeois party for getting money to buy liquor, be intoxicated and indulge in merry-making. They would neither protest against any wrong or injustice in the society nor join the path of struggle. For fulfilling this objective, the ruling quarters are ensuring that there is no cultivation of the lives and thoughts of Netaji Subhas-Kshudiram-Bhagat Singh-Chandrasekhar Azad-Ashfaqulla Khan. Many countrymen particularly the youth do not recall Rammohan-Vidyasagar-Vivekananda-Rabindranth-Saratchandra-Premchand-Jyotiba Phule-Subramania Bharati- Jyotiprosad- Gopabandhu Das and other greatmen the country had produced. The ruling class has been arraying its entire arsenal to make people forget these luminaries so that they are stripped of human qualities and turned into inhuman creatures. In that event, no danger would be posed to the ruling exploitative bourgeoisie. This is the nature and height of capitalist oppression and conspiracy. The political parties subservient to ruling capitalism are instrumental in bringing down all such ruthless oppressions on the people. Our Party wants to make people aware and alert of this gruelling capitalist exploitation and intrigue and awaken again the fervent vibrant self-dignified youth. Just think, had Vidyasagar, Jyotiba Phule, Subhaschandra, Vivekananda, Bhagat Singh, Deshbandhu Chittaranjan, Lala Lajpat Rai or Subramania Bharati been alive and witnessed the state of  affairs of the country today, what would have they said to the countrymen? Would have they told to be engaged in slavery of the Congress or the BJP or demolish mosque to build up temple? Would have they advised to be liquor-addict, indulge in vulgar consumerism and behave indecently with women? Or they would have called upon all to fight these menaces and rottenness and stand firm based on human essence and take up cudgels against all wrongs and injustice? Only our Party guided by Marxism-Leninism-Shibdas Ghosh Thought are cultivating the glorious lives and contributions of the great men and martyrs of the yester years whom the ruling capitalist class is trying to push into the abyss of oblivion. Our Party is also struggling to resurrect that fervent youth, foster cultivation of human qualities, higher culture, ethics and morality.

Reason behind corruption and moral-ethical bankruptcy

of bourgeois leaders and remedial course

I would like to remind you that holding the freedom fighters in high esteem, people used to call them ‘swadeshi’. People at that time viewed politics with high respect. Saratchandra, the great secular humanist litterateur, observed: “Serving the country is not a matter of merely words. This is the noblest activity of man. There would be no self-interest, no penchant for name or fame, not even fear of life. On the one side, there would be service to the country while on the other side, there would be one’s own country. There would nothing be in between. Only that person who would be able to sacrifice fame, money, grief, sin, virtue, good or bad everything for the country would be able to become true patriot.” ²⁰ All the patriots during the period of freedom movement were like that only. And today, does anyone feel showing any respect for the leaders of the BJP, Congress, TMC, SP, BSP, RJD, BJD, JD (U), Shiv Sena, NCP, Telegu Desham, DMK, ADMK, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha etc. and even of the CPI (M) and CPI? Do people believe anyone of them? What is the cause of degeneration of these leaders? Why are they often alleged of indulging in corruption and dishonesty? If we seek a proper scientific answer based on history, we need to know that the character of any person in a class-divided society depends on which class interest he or she, knowingly or unknowingly, serves?  The interest of the oppressive rulers or that of the oppressed masses?  Once the religious thoughts had appeared in the society with the call of emancipating the slaves from the clutches of the oppressive slave masters. At that time, religion was progressive. It brought in its wake the concepts of justice and injustice, right and wrong, moral and immoral. The religious preachers of that period were all greatmen. They did play a positive role in social development. Many of them were oppressed and repressed, even brutally killed by the exploitative rulers. Religion then endowed the mankind with higher human essence and character. Promising establishment of a religion-based moral society, feudalism or monarchy replaced the slave-system. In course of time, religion became a tool in the hands of the feudal lords to oppress the subjects and serfs. At that juncture of history, religion lost its earlier progressive role and could no more be a guide to acquiring higher human essence and character. Now, religion has become a tool in the hands of the ruling bourgeoisie to divide people or keep them arrested within the confines of backwardness and obscurantism. So you can find that no great character worth following is appearing based on religion today. No religion is protesting or fighting against the spate of sins and injustices that are taking place in the society. Rather, all such evils and aberrations are ratified as ‘commands of god’. Every religion is trying to arrest people within the four walls of rituals and ceremonies. Most of the religious organizations and their heads have become fabulously rich and turned utterly corrupt. But, at a particular stage of history in 18^th & 19^th century, rising capitalism declared war against obsolete feudal system, brought the concept of renaissance based on the call for scientific secular humanism parliamentary democracy and equality-liberty-fraternity as against oppressive monarchical rule and accomplished bourgeois democratic revolution by organizing the serfs. Capitalism at that period thus championed individual freedom. At that particular period of its advent, capitalism preached for individual ownership on property or property right in place of absolute feudal ownership. It also called for establishing parliamentary democracy by overthrowing feudal monarchical rule and granted right to expression. In view of all these, bourgeois individualism as an essential component of bourgeois humanism then discharged a progressive role in the context of social development. This concept of individualism then provided higher character to people and opened before them a new horizon of higher human qualities and essence. But following inexorable law of history, capitalism later entered the stage of imperialism, assumed the character of a ruthless oppressor and became utterly reactionary. At this period of decadence, its whole and sole objective became to derive maximum profit by maximum exploitation of the workers. Concomitantly, bourgeois individualism had turned against social interest, was stripped of all values, became synonymous with crude self-subservience and self-centeredness and thereby began destroying the very base of character and human essence. Once, during the period of bourgeois democratic revolution, capitalism had given birth to many great characters. But in the current period of reactionary capitalism, the politicians subservient to bourgeois class interest have become utterly corrupt, hypocrite, dishonest, cheats and liars. As the sole aim of the ruling capitalists is to fetch maximum profit by ruthlessly exploiting the working class, both in the country and abroad, without caring a fig for any scruple or principle, the sole aim of the politicians committed to serve bourgeois class interest is to anyhow appease and curry favour with the capitalists, deceive people with false promises, corner votes and thereby become MPs, MLAs and ministers and make as much money as possible. So, it has to be borne in mind that these bourgeois politicians traversing the path of capitalism, as ordained by the course of history, are bound to become corrupt, avaricious, despots and frauds. Today, only revolutionary politics of accomplishing anti-capitalist socialist revolution based on Marxism-Leninism-Shibdas Ghosh Thought can produce higher characters and provide higher human qualities. Those who know our Party do believe that it is only our workers who are honest, courteous, disciplined, ethical, cultured and possess a moral character. But they need to understand how could such workers be produced amidst all-pervasive darkness? What is the source of their growth and development? The source is the higher revolutionary ideology and cultural standard as contained in the teachings of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh. Comrade Shibdas Ghosh had said, “essence of revolutionary character lies in its higher cultural standard”. That is why, maximum emphasis is given at all levels of our Party on the relentless struggle for acquiring higher revolutionary knowledge and attaining higher communist character. So, it would be unfair if one shies away from politics out of their disgust of the degenerated bourgeois politics. It would be erroneous to conclude that “all parties are similar” and “all leaders are crooks’. Politics is determining everything of your life, governing the country and administration. Even if you try to avoid politics, politics would not spare you. And expressing frustration by saying that “there is no one worth to be called as man” or “everyone is crooked” would lead you to nowhere. It would be equally futile if being swayed by false promises or carried away by lure of money or confused by media propaganda, one rallies behind this or that vote-oriented party. As members of the oppressed class, you need to understand what your class interest is and which party is carrying the banner of class struggle, mass struggle and revolution against capitalist oppression and exploitation and showing the path of acquiring higher human qualities and character. 

CPI (M) is branding the Congress as secular in petty electoral interest

We shall also participate in the election but not by abandoning leftism and revolutionary ideology. Unlike the CPI (M) or CPI, we do not consider the Congress to be ‘secular’. The very word secularism bears a definite meaning. Philosophically, secularism means non-recognition of any super-natural entity and acceptance of the material world as the only objective reality. Politically, secularism means, to speak in the language of Subhaschandra, “Religion should be totally kept out of politics. Religion should be one’s personal matter. There should be full liberty for an individual to profess any religion he wants as a human being. But politics should not be guided by religion or any supernatural concepts. Politics should be guided by economic, political and scientific reasoning.” (Speeches at Forward Block conference, Bombay,1939) Bhagat Singh had espoused for this secularism. Rabindranath-Saratchandra-Premchand-Nazrul had spoken of this secularism. But the Congress right from its inception has propagated religion-based nationalism. Gandhiji also advocated this in the interest of the Indian national bourgeoisie who did not want any cult of scientific outlook. This very religion-based nationalism ultimately turned into Hindu-religion oriented nationalism. Thereafter, the British imperialist rulers pulled strings from behind to alienate the Muslim community from the freedom movement, foment Hindu-Muslim divide and finally create Pakistan. Otherwise, such a catastrophe  like partition of the country would have never taken place. So, the Congress was never secular. Even today it is not. Just because it is opposing the BJP in the field of election, so it is secular—such formulation is nothing but a blatant lie, simply purported to confuse people. The CPI (M) and the CPI are engaged in tailism of the Congress simply from electoral interest, just for getting some seats. We do not practise such opportunist politics. The way the BJP has repeatedly been engineering riots and genocides and thereby causing fratricidal bloodbath, the Congress too, similarly, orchestrated communal conflagration in Rourkela (Odisha), Bhagalpur (Bihar), Nellie (Assam) and Delhi. The same Congress is now called ‘secular’ and ‘democratic’ by the CPI (M), CPI. We do not indulge in such palpable falsehood just for the sake of vote. While in power either at the centre or in the states, this very Congress in course of brutally curbing democratic mass movements killed hundreds of youth-students-workers-peasants. It was the Congress which had clamped emergency, abrogated civil and democratic rights, muffled voice of protest, curtailed freedom of the press and promulgated black Acts like TADA, MISA, ESMA etc. Just for the sake of petty electoral interest, the CPI (M) in the name of fighting communalism and by abandoning leftism is branding the Congress as ‘secular and democratic’. As in the same way, the CPI (M) under the garb of opposing the ‘autocracy’ of the Congress had joined the hands of the Janata Party having RSS-BJP within its fold in 1977. Thereafter, the CPI(M) had joined the BJP in anointing V P Singh to prime ministership. Let alone revolutionary politics, even leftism has no connection with such crass opportunism. This is pure and simple petty electioneering. By doing such things, the CPI (M) has caused immense damage to leftist movement. 

Anti-Marxist role of undivided CPI during freedom movement

We have always maintained that though the CPI (M) and CPI talk of Marxism, they are not Marxists. Their past history does not say so. Their role in the freedom movement was also not in consonance with Marxism. Many of you know that during the freedom movement, the national bourgeoisie conspired to capture power through compromise keeping Gandhiji in the forefront. For that the Congress never allowed secular scientific thought to come to the fore and opposed revolutionary struggle. In the name of pursuing non-violence, it sought to thwart surge of revolutionary movement. It is pertinent to mention that there was an uncompromising revolutionary trend within the freedom movement which was represented by Subhaschandra,  Bhagat Singh, Surya Sen, Kshudiram, Chandrasekhar Azad and such others. The protagonists of this trend believed in armed struggle. Both the British imperialists  and  the Indian national bourgeoisie were afraid of this revolutionary trend. For that reason, though Subhaschandra won the post of Congress President second time by defeating Pattavi Sitaramaiya, the nominee of Gandhiji, just before the Tripuri conference of the party, he was ultimately forced to resign because of a combined conspiratorial move by the British imperialists, Indian national bourgeoisie and Gandhiji. Thereafter, such a great patriot was expelled from the Congress. Because, he, as a representative of petty bourgeois revolutionism, adopted an uncompromising revolutionary line in the freedom movement, was a supporter of Marxism and Soviet socialism, called for involving the workers and peasants in the struggle for independence, demanded abolition of the zamindari system (landlordism) and conducted even at that time working class movements against the Indian capitalists like Tata and others. In 1925, Comrade Stalin provided a guideline to the leaders of undivided CPI by pointing out that, “The fundamental and new feature of the conditions of life of colonies like India is not only that the national bourgeoisie has split up into a revolutionary party and a compromising party, but primarily that the compromising section of this bourgeoisie has already managed, in the main, to strike a deal with imperialism. Fearing revolution more than it fears imperialism, and concerned more about its money-bags than about the interests of its own country, this section of the bourgeoisie, the richest and most influential section, is going over entirely to the camp of the irreconcilable enemies of the revolution, it is forming a bloc with imperialism against the workers and peasants of its own country… the Communist Party can and must enter into an open bloc with the revolutionary wing of the bourgeoisie in order, after isolating the compromising national bourgeoisie, to lead the vast masses of the urban and rural petty bourgeoisie in the struggle against imperialism.” ²¹ But undivided CPI did not pay any heed to this advice. Instead, it repeatedly opposed Subhaschandra and supported the compromising Gandhites. In order to consolidate the left forces an alternative to rightist Gandhites, Subhaschandra had organized a leftist conference (left consolidation) at Ramgarh, now in Jharkhand. But in spite of his repeated requests, the undivided CPI did not participate in that conference. Because of that, a great opportunity was lost. In China, the communist party led by great Mao Zedong had consolidated the left forces keeping Sun Yat-sen, a nationalist leader, in the front. Similar strategy could be adopted in India keeping Netaji Subhas in the fore. But the undivided CPI did not do that and thereby ignored the guideline provided by great Stalin. Similarly, it opposed the August upheaval of 1942 for which Stalin severely rebuked the CPI leaders in 1952. Dr Ranen Sen, the then front-ranking leader of the undivided CPI, has mentioned that in his book. ²² It would not be incorrect to believe that had not Subhaschandra been compelled to resign and then expelled from the Congress and if CPI had responded to the call of left consolidation and thereby strengthened left movement, he might not have moved out of the country. He might have provided leadership to the August upheaval of 1942 staying in the country. In that event, the revolutionary leftist trend would have been dominant in the freedom movement and history would have been different. The undivided CPI even called Netaji Subhas ‘quisling’ and agent of Japanese imperialism and decried the heroic struggle of Azad Hind Fauz as well. Not only that. Undivided CPI at that time joined the Hindu Mahasabha, Muslim League and RSS in supporting division of the country by bringing about a queer theory that the Hindus and the Muslims are two nations. Likewise, in every step, it adopted non-Marxist approach and acted accordingly. This legacy of undivided CPI is being carried by the CPI (M), CPI and the Naxalites today.

Immense harm caused by the CPI (M), CPI to left-democratic movement 

West Bengal once was the nerve-centre of left-democratic movement. Both undivided Bengal and then West Bengal after partition carried the legacy of Subhaschandra and other revolutionaries. Leftism here was also strengthened by the influence of Soviet socialism and world communist movement. The Congress virtually had no influence here among the educatedpeople and students & youths. During its 34 years of uninterrupted rule, the CPI (M) had thrown leftism into the dust and brutally crushed the democratic movements against the multi-nationals and domestic monopolists and even did not hesitate to kill large number of agitating peasants, students and youth. It established absolute party control on all the organizations, institutions as well as on different branches of the administration including police. It also despotically used the criminals, freely distributed licences and permits to keep the beneficiaries under its command, provided jobs to the handpicked based on naked nepotism, created scope for the chosen ones to make money through contractor and realty business, recklessly rigged elections and muzzled the voice of the opposition with a view to ensuring its control and domination on every sphere. So deep-rooted was the base of leftism in this state that even a personality like Shyama Prasad Mukherjee also could not succeed in making RSS and Hindu Mahasabha penetrate into this soil. The CPI (M) leaders have taught such a ‘leftism’ to its cadres that after electoral debacle, a good number of them switched to the TMC and BJP. As a result, the CPI(M) overnight was reduced to a third force in the electoral contest. Now it is desperately trying to emerge as the second force by holding the hands of the Congress and invigorate its cadres by vending the dream of regaining the lost power. This is the kind of ‘leftism’ the CPI (M) stands for. I would like to recall in this connection a very valuable and relevant warning of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh. Way back in 1969, he said: “In this situation, the fissiparous groups and religious fundamentalist like the Jana Sangh (forerunner of the present day BJP) are waiting in the wings. They are waiting for opportune moment.  As soon as whatever attraction the people still have towards left movement destroys, they would come out in the open. The ruling CPI (M) leaders are not conscious of this danger. Throwing to the wind the communist ideology and its quintessence, they are going on misleading the people with tall talks and sweet words, just as the Congress did. Thus they are maligning down the prestige of communism.” ²³ Now, the TMC is virtually following the same policy. I would urge upon the honest CPI (M) workers and supporters to ponder over all these aspects.  

Centring on the conflict over economic interest, the camp of the Indian big bourgeoisie is divided. One section is supporting the BJP and the other is backing the Congress in parliamentary politics. Besides, the contradiction between regional and national capital is sharpened with the result that voices  of regional parties have become stronger. If CPI (M)- CPI leadership had minimum concern for class struggle and mass movements, they would have seized this opportunity created by the division in the camp of the ruling bourgeoisie and strengthen united left movement. But regrettably, ignoring our repeated request, the CPI (M) leaders did not traverse that way. Instead, they brought Rahul Gandhi and other bourgeois leaders at the recent peasants’ rally in Delhi. Did not the peasants commit suicide during the Congress rule? Did not the Congress government open fire on the peasants? This type of opportunist politics might help them to bag 2 or 5 MLA or MP seats, but it would further weaken the left movement which is already limping. Our Party does not  practise such opportunist politics. You must have also noticed that the bourgeois media give wide publicity to the CPI (M), CPI and the Naxalites just like all other bourgeois parties. Even if the gathering in their meetings or rallies are poor, the media poses those to be massive ones so that people presume them to be the communists-leftists and thereby get confused. The bourgeoisie also extend financial assistance to them. You would get confirmation of this in the report of the Election Commission. On the other hand, we meet our Party expenses by collecting donations from common people in the streets and by door-to-door approch. We conduct so many big movements; organize so many mammoth meetings and rallies. But the bourgeois media do not give any coverage. Such a huge gathering has taken place in this meeting of Jamshedpur. But you would hardly get any coverage in the mainstream media. At best, some local press or TV would give some news. Why is it happening? Because, the ruling Indian capitalist class knows that the SUCI(C) cannot be purchased by money. Our Party dos not hanker for power. This party poses immense threat to the ruling capitalists. It is their class enemy and the force of anti-capitalist revolution. So, growth of our Party is dangerous for them. The bourgeoisie and its pliant media want that people believe the CPI (M), CPI or the Naxalites represent communism. In that case, no threat would be posed to the ruling dispensation. Let me recall a valuable teaching of great Lenin. He said that do not get carried by the slogans like “Long live Marxism” or “Long live Revolution”. Closely watch the role and character of the parties who are rising these slogans. When he had detected the revisionist degeneration of the Second International founded by great Engels, he had dissociated from that and formed the Third International. For the same reason, he came out of the RSDLP, then known to be the Marxist party in Russia, and formed the Bolshevik Party, the genuine communist party on that soil.

Insurmountable crisis of world imperialism-capitalism

As you have been witnessing every day, world imperialism-capitalism is mired in acute insoluble crisis. Oppressed wretched people have no purchasing power. So, the capitalist market is continuously shrinking. US, known to be the locomotive of world capitalism-imperialism, is now sinking in the Pacific ocean. It was the US which once advocated  globalization. Now it is saying that globalization is to be discarded. Instead, the US rulers are talking of “America First” meaning  that the interest of America would have primacy. Because, US is now having  severe unemployment problem. There is no job for the American youth. Just the other day, the country was shaken by the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. Now social-imperialist China where capitalism has been restored after socialism was brought down through counter revolution, has appeared as a formidable imperialist contender. Along with China, imperialist Russia where also capitalism was restored by counter revolution, imperialist Japan and the united bloc of European imperialist powers are also posing challenge to US domination. America, Europe, China, Japan, Russia are all ridden with insurmountable crisis endemic of the capitalist system and hence are vying with each other to grab markets.

Though all of them are trying to grab others’ markets, they themselves are refusing entry of others in their respective domestic markets. Clash on a large scale has ensued centring on market. All of them are augmenting their military power. The first and second world wars were generated because of the contradiction among the imperialist powers over grabbing of market. Now it is a matter of concern where would this current trade war among the imperialist powers lead to. Another aspect is also worth taking note of. During the days of industrial revolution, capitalism had moved with the aim of developing national markets with the slogan of national interest. Now, the same capitalism after reaching the stage of monopoly and imperialism has given birth to multi-nationals. Abandoning national interest, multi-nationals are  running after investing capital in any other country where it would be able to exploit cheap labour and raw materials and thereby maximize profit. Moreover they are also making profit by selling the goods, so produced overseas at a cheaper cost, in their respective domestic markets. Thus a contradiction has developed between the interest of the multi-nationals vying for profit maximization by setting up production units anywhere in the world and the aggregate interest of the US imperialist state.  Hence, the US imperialist state is opposing globalization while the US multi-nationals are in favour of that. The position of other capitalist-imperialist countries is also the same. The multi-nationals and corporate houses of the Indian imperialist state are also investing capital abroad and not in India. Capitalists today does not care for the people, country or the nation. Wherever it would find scope for profit maximization, it would go there. At the same time, if necessary, it would use its own state to further its interest.  The entire capitalist-imperialist world is facing growing recession. India too is no exception to that. So long as capitalism is in power, there can be no escape from this spiralling recession. Because, the capitalist market economy by its own law gradually squeezes and destroys the market. This is inevitable in capitalism. As a result, unemployment and retrenchment are wreaking havoc in the life of millions. People are getting pauperized, wretched and ruined. They have no purchasing power. So, recession is bound to increase, as capitalism is after maximum profit. So, it needs extreme and wanton oppression of the working people. Earlier production used be based on people’s demand. It was known as demand-driven economy. Today, the demand has fallen drastically and continues to fall with every passing day. So, in order to artificially stimulate demand for arresting dip in production, bank loans are being granted liberally to the people. This is called credit-driven economy. As a result of this, debt burden on people is increasing. The borrowers are defaulting repayment of loans. Apart from that, the industrialists are also plundering the banks at will. So, the banks are becoming bankrupt. Every capitalist-imperialist country is having huge budget deficits. The bourgeois governments are limitlessly borrowing from the market to subsidise the banks and the shortfalls in revenue receipts because of plethora of tax concessions, waivers and evasions allowed to the capitalists. The budget deficit is also financed by printing of extra currency notes and imposing more taxes on the people. Consequently, the inflation is rising and prices of all goods including essential items are soaring. Like all other imperialist-capitalist countries, India is also having high sovereign debt.

Capitalism was born in the womb of feudalism during the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries. During the days of its advent, it had blossomed, developed and upheld the flag of scientific thought, democracy, democratic values, humanism and equality-liberty-fraternity and accomplished bourgeois democratic revolution by defeating feudalism. Following inexorable law of history, the same very capitalism after reaching the stage of monopoly and imperialism has been trampling underfoot all democratic norms, values and practices as well as humanist ideals and building up fascist autocracy keeping a façade of parliamentary democracy. When monopoly had not appeared by destroying small capital, the capitalists needed multi-party democracy. But today, in the stage of monopoly, parliamentary democracy has virtually been reduced to 2-party democracy. During the rising period of capitalism, there was relative autonomy of and separation of power among the legislature, judiciary and executive—the three wings of capitalist state. Decadent moribund capitalism today has abolished that also. Similar attack is being mounted on the independence of the media. Freedom of expression is being drastically curtailed. In order to satisfy the greed for maximum profit, reactionary capitalism is pushing people to starvation and death. Rudimentary medical assistance is eluding these hapless people. Not only that. The same lust for profit had generated two world wars, has now been aggressing and occupying foreign lands, engineering local and partial wars, triggering global trade war, polluting the environment through global warming without paying any heed to the repeated warning by the scientists, causing ecological disbalance and natural calamities, threatening the global lands by allowing melting of the ice of the north and south poles and aggressive extension of the seas. This greed of profit maximization is annihilating all creations of civilization including the spheres of knowledge, art-literature and culture. This capitalism is the worst enemy of mankind. In the primitive age, men were cannibals. Today, capitalism is devouring the entire civilization. So modern capitalism has turned into modern cannibalism. Hence, there can be no end to the unbearable misery of the people by keeping the labour-capital relationship intact, preserving the capitalist state, allowing profit maximization and exploitation of the workers to remain as it is and changing the government through vote. What is needed is anti-capitalist socialist revolution.  

Emancipation lies in socialism

So, only alternative is to overthrow capitalism and establish socialism. The great November Revolution of Russia in 1917 had shown the way. Soviet socialism lasted for 70 years. In Soviet Union, there was no unemployment, no retrenchment. Education and healthcare were free. Houses were available at a very cheap rent. Only the workers and peasants could contest in the elections. Soviet Union registered a spectacular all-round growth and development within a very short period. It showed what Marxism and socialism could provide to the people. So all leading lights like Romain Rolland, Bernard Shaw, Einstein, Rabindranath, Saratchandra, Premchand, Nazrul, Subramania Bharati, Subhaschandra were all effusive in praise of Soviet socialism. They all stood by this new socialist civilization. Now, the bourgeois media is recklessly spreading canards against great Stalin. But when Rabindranath visited the Soviet Union, it was making bold strides ahead under the stewardship of Stalin. Rabindranath was so fascinated that he wrote in a letter in 1939: “…I would see the shape of a new era for mankind in that hermitage and so I became full of joy and hope. Nowhere else in the history of mankind did I observe such a permanent cause of joy and hope. I am aware that Russia has established this new era on a revolution;… This prayer — that their struggle be victorious — eventually comes into being out of its own.” ²⁴ Just before being hanged, Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh wrote to Sukhdev, his close compatriot, “You and I may not live but our people would live. The ideal of Marxism and communism would surely emerge victorious.” ²⁵ After defeat of INA, Netaji Subhas in his Singapore radio speech broadcast on 25 May 1945 said, “If there is one man in Europe today who holds in his hands the destinies of the European nations for the next few decades, that man is Marshal Stalin. The whole world, and above all, Europe will, therefore, follow with breathless anxiety the moves of Soviet Union in the days to come. We have come to the conclusion that the European countries have no alternative but to adopt the plan that Soviet Union has successfully implemented.”²⁶ Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh had even declared himself as a communist. This socialism was dismantled because of the revisionist conspiracy and the machinations of the defeated capitalism from within and aided as well as abated by the imperialists-capitalists from outside.  As I mentioned before, we know from history that the advent of religion took place during the slave-master society. At that time, religion had played a progressive role in the interest of the oppressed slaves. Every religion claimed that they were empowered by divine endowment. Yet, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam—all the religious movement suffered  defeats  after defeats at the initial stages, once victory, again defeat, then again victory for hundreds of years. If we take into account the period between the dawns of renaissance to the establishment of the parliamentary system, the history of bourgeois democracy would be of 350 years. Bourgeois democracy also went through the cycle of periodic defeats and victories. Now about socialism you should keep in mind that Soviet socialism had to fight for abolition of class exploitation which had lasted for thousands of year right from the slave system to feudalism and then to capitalism. In the context of this gigantic task, 70 years of existence of socialism is minimal in terms of time. Though imperialism-capitalism has been temporarily successful in dismantling socialism, but, in order to fulfil the necessity of emancipation of people from the yoke of exploitation, socialism must be made victorious once again.

Bourgeois election is a big deception today

As regards the question of bourgeois elections today, does the election result reflect the verdict of the people? Is it “by the people, for the people, of the people’? Hundreds of millions of rupees are pumped in during the elections. Who provide this enormous amount of money?  The answer is none but the capitalists and the big businessmen. The BJP and the Congress are their servitors. On riding to power, these parties work like the servants of the ruling capitalists, carry out their orders faithfully. Now both the parties are spending huge sum of money. They are distributing freebies in the form of mobile phones, TVs, Laptops, cycles and so many other things. If the people ask for the moon now, they would even agree to that in order to get votes. And the hapless pauperized people think that since they would not receive anything in normal course, they better avail of this opportunity to get whatever little is offered to them by the vote-seeking parties. Whether it is a bicycle, or a tubewell or a pair of dresses, it is viewed as gift though, in reality, it is nothing but bribe. Who is financing all these freebies? It is the ruling capitalists who are providing the funds. They are giving this little to recover from the people several times of the cost later by way of increasing tax and escalating the prices of essential commodities. This is the underlying motive. Election today is nothing but a farce, a big deception for the people. In order to expose this farce, to make people conscious of the fact that no basic problem can be solved by election, we take part in the election. We shall have to contest election with our distinct revolutionary base political line till the time people are prepared for revolution. This is the teaching of great Lenin. The way we, as a revolutionary party organize people with all our might and build up class and mass struggles on the burning problems of life, in election also we shall fight as a part of this ongoing struggle. The CPI (M), CPI have been duping people by joining hands with the national as well as regional bourgeois parties and also the casteist parties simply in opportunist electoral interest. We do not deceive the people with such opportunism. We want unity of the left-democratic parties and forces for developing class and mass struggles based on ideology and definite principles.

People must understand politics, distinguish between friend and foe

Comrades and friends, I sincerely make an appeal to you. During the freedom movement, the sons and daughters of poor and middle class families sacrificed their life. But the state power has been captured by the Indian capitalist class. Why could this happen? The main reason was that the people did not try to understand politics. The compromising bourgeois leaders also wanted the people to remain ignorant and blindfolded. People also thought that since they were incapable of understanding so many complexities, twists and turns of politics, let the leaders decide the course of action. The compromising leaders took advantage of that. At that time, people could not make out what was the difference between Subhaschandra’s line and Gandhiji’s line. They did not understand why was Subhaschandra removed from the post of Congress president and finally ousted from the party. If people still continue to be ignorant, if they still take decision as to whom they would vote on the basis of the bourgeois propaganda in the media and on the consideration of the amount of money and freebies a party would  give them, then once again they would be deceived. There is a saying that ‘whoever goes to Lanka becomes a Ravana’. This is not correct. According to the Ramayana, Rama, Lakshman, Sita and Hanuman had all gone to Lanka. But they did not become Ravana. Rather, the teaching of the Ramayana is that had Sita been able to identify Ravana who came in the disguise of a saint, she would not have invited the disaster she faced. Sita ignored the warning of Lakshman and crossed the chalk mark. So, she suffered. Today, the vote-merchants are coming by aeroplanes and helicopters to the villages and the towns, begging for vote with folded hands and requesting the electorate to give them a chance. They pretend to be committed to serve the people. They are all backed by money-power and would bare their real face once they ride to power. Please do not be carried away by their false promises and deceptive talks.

Common people must understand politics. They must be able to distinguish between friends and foes. They must acquire the necessary consciousness and outlook to identify which party is working for the oppressing class and who is upholding the cause of the oppressed toiling masses. People are dying of starvation, plagued by growing unemployment and job loss. Families are breaking up, old parents are driven out of the house by their children who are refusing to take the responsibility of their maintenance, wife is killed for dowry, thousands of girls are raped, woman trafficking  is rising. Would all these continue unabated? Or there has to be a remedy to all such miseries, maladies, aberrations, crimes and deceptions. The remedy lies alone in accomplishing anti-capitalist socialist revolution. Our Party is holding aloft the banner of that revolution based on Marxism-Leninism-Shibdas Ghosh Thought. Once again, I call upon you to understand politics, close your ranks and be organized under correct revolutionary leadership. Do not get swayed by media propaganda. You would not find that much of coverage of this meeting in the media. We hold mammoth meeting of lakhs of people. But the monopoly-controlled media do not care to give news of those meetings of ours. Because they know that SUCI (Communist) is the only enemy of the ruling class. Without any media support, our Party is growing. Struggling comrades from 25 states have assembled here. We have no MLA, no MP, no media publicity. Braving all odds and difficulties our comrades are inspiring and rousing people, in both urban and rural areas, based on higher revolutionary ideology and spurred on by Comrade Shibdas Ghosh Thought. Strengthen and consolidate this Party more and more so that we can spearhead more intense and powerful struggles in the coming days.

Today we need thousands of Kshudiram, Surya Sen, Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Ashfaqulla Khan, Pritilata and such other blazing characters who would hold aloft the flag of anti-capitalist socialist revolution. With that objective, we have been trying to imbue the oppressed people particularly the students and youth with Marxism-Leninism-Shibdas Ghosh Thought, the noblest ideology of the era and building up the class and mass struggles over the legitimate demands of the workers-peasants-students-youth-women-middle class. We have been trying utmost to involve the other left parties and their workers in these struggles. Rally behind us, strengthen our Party so that we can organize more powerful movements, release more intense struggle in the days to come. In course of this relentless struggle, we shall fight election. After election also, we shall continue the struggle. With these words, I conclude today.

Long Live SUCI (Communist)

Long Live Revolution

Long Live Marxism-Leninism- Shibdas Ghosh Thoughts

Long Live Proletarian Internationalism

Red Salute to our leader, teacher and guide Comrade Shibdas Ghosh

Sources of quotations—

1.State and Revolution

2.Independence on 15th August and Problems of Emancipation of People

3. From an unpublished speech

4. Letter to Ballantyne , Vidyasagar Rachana Sangraha

5. Letter to F. J. Mouat, Vidyasagar Rachana Sangraha

6. Discussions with Vivekananda, Udbhodan Publication, Vol. IX

7. Epic and fundamentalism –Jayantanuj Bandopadhyay, religion and food

8. ibid

9. ibid

10. Works and Gospels of Vivekananda, Udvodhan Publishers, Vol. IX

11. ibid

12. Works and Gospels of Vivekananda, Udvodhan Publishers, Vol. VII

13. Ibid

14. Works and Gospels of Vivekananda, Vol III, 

15. ibid

16. Crossroads

17. Bunch of Thoughts

18. We or our nationhood

19. Collected Works, Vol. II

20. CW of Saratchandra, centenary edition, Vol. V

21. The political Task of the University of the Peoples of the East

22. The History of Communist Party of India—Ranen Sen

23. UF Politics and Party Work, SW Vol. III

24.  Letters of Rabindranath Tagore, Vol II, Viswabharati Granthan dept.

25. Letters of Bhagat Singh

26. Subhaschandra and National Plan by Sankari Prosad Basu