Sunday, February 22, 2015

SYRIZA: When they say that meat is actually fish by KKE ( Communist Party of Greece)



We still remember the image of monks in the Middle Ages, who said that meat was actually fish in order to overcome the difficulties of the endless fasting. This image perfectly fits the developments that have been unfolding in Greece in recent days under the SYRIZA-ANEL government. Here is some data to support this:

SYRIZA, as an opposition party, had promised to tear up the memoranda, which the previous governments had signed with the foreign lenders (the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund), and which contained the antiworker-antipeople measures. SYRIZA as the party of government revealed that it agrees with 70% of the “reforms” included in the memoranda and disagrees with 30%, which it describes as “toxic”. Indeed it states that it will not act unilaterally, but seeks a new agreement with the lenders which this time will not be called a memorandum, but a program, agreement or bridge.

SYRIZA, as an opposition party, declared war on the troika of foreign lenders and said that it would put an end to it. SYRIZA as the party in government states that it will talk with and answer to the “institutions”. Which ones? The European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary fund.  Indeed exactly the same people who constitute the troika are taking part in the talks in Brussels on behalf of the “institutions”.

SYRIZA as an opposition party was scathingly critical of the ND-PASOK government, which supported and participated in the EU’s sanctions against Russia and accused them of being servile because of this stance. 

SYRIZA as a party of government supported the same EU sanctions and their escalation as well, characterizing its government’s stance as being a “significant success”.

SYRIZA as an opposition party took a position against privatizations. Now, as the government, according to the statement of the Finance Minister, Y. Baroufakis, it states that “We want to move on from the rationale of cut price sales to the rationale of their development in partnership with the private sector and foreign investors”! 

So it both adopts privatizations in order to reinforce the private sector and it also tries to present other methods of privatizations, like public private partnerships and concessions to business groups etc as being beneficial.

SYRIZA as an opposition party characterized the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as being the “black book of neo-liberalism”. 

SYRIZA as the government party received in Athens, in the very first days of its tenure, Ángel Gurría, President of the OECD, who had a meeting with the Prime Minister A. Tsipras. The OECD, according to the SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government, is the organization that will help draw up a list of measures in order to safeguard (capitalist) development in Greece. 

Measures that will replace the “toxic” part of the Memorandum, the notorious 30%.

SYRIZA as an opposition party had denounced the decision of the previous government to pay “tens of millions of euros to companies providing legal services and financial advice”. The SYRIZA-ANEL government hired the “Lazard” company as a consultant on issues of public debt and fiscal management, obviously appreciating the expertise it provided to previous governments of PASOK under G. Papandreou. 

This is not by chance! Besides the new Finance Minister, Y. Varoufakis (he used to be a consultant of G. Papandreou) resorted to the services of the former advisors of G. Papandreou, J. Galbraith and Elena Panariti, former MP of PASOK. The former is an American economist, professor at the University of Texas, an official of the Levy Institute, a well-known apologist for capitalism and a supporter of a more expansionist formula for the management of the crisis. The latter has worked for the World Bank. In other words, both serve the system and their mechanisms.

We could add more to the list of SYRIZA’s and its “left” government’s retractions,   like the fact that a series of promises made before the elections e.g. the increase of the minimum wage, are postponed to the distant future. Likewise, we could point out other more striking examples of officials and advisors from the social-democratic PASOK that are now serving the “left” government. However, the most crucial issue is to clarify what kind of negotiations the current Greek government is conducting with the EU and the other creditors.

The negotiations have a concrete content which is not related to the “alleged end of austerity” in Greece and Europe, as SYRIZA and the other parties that participate in the Party of the European Left claim. Besides, Y. Varoufakis has clearly stated that in the years to come, under the government of SYRIZA the working people must continue to live “frugally”. The negotiations are related to the needs of the business groups that arise from the consequences of the deep capitalist crisis as well as from the course of the uncertain capitalist recovery in Greece and in the Eurozone as a whole.

These negotiations are taking place on a terrain hostile to the people. This is proved by the identification of the Greek government with countries such as France, Italy and above all the USA, with all the negative implications this stance entails. These countries may exert pressure on Germany for their own interests but continue the same harsh political line against the people.

Despite its noisy propaganda about the negotiations with the EU and the creditors, SYRIZA states at the same time that its shares a lot with them and that it will continue the anti-people commitments of the country vis-à-vis the EU and NATO.

Thus, the Greek people and the other peoples should not fall into the trap of being separated into “merkelists” and “obamites” and divided in a struggle under “false” flags. They have to organize their struggle and demand the recovery of the losses as regards their income and their rights. They should demand the solution of all workers’ and people’s problems according to their contemporary needs. 

They must struggle for the way out that will bring hope: the socialization of the monopolies, the disengagement from the imperialist unions of the EU and NATO with the people holding the reins of power.  This will pave the way for the only timely and realistic path that leads to the true emancipation of the people: the construction of a new, socialist society.

German austerity dictate proves impossibility of “social Europe” by Wilhelm Langthaler

 
 
        Wilhelm Langthaler

      
The Brussels agreement to extend the EU programme for Greece means a humiliating defeat for the Sýriza government. Their attempts to rally support within the union’s governments miserably failed. The German imposition uncompromisingly defending the narrow interests of the financial oligarchy prevailed bearing witness of the impossibility of a social turn within the power structures of the EU. Game over?

We believe that there remains a possibility to thwart the EU starvation programme.
      
Up to now the bold posture of the Greek prime minister Aléxis Tsípras against the European oligarchy and especially the German rulers has won him the hearts of the popular masses – this is true not only for Greece. Across Europe Tsípras has become the rising star of the victims of neo-liberalism and the capitalist crisis directly challenging Angela Merkel’s leadership.

His message was crystal clear: an end to the lies of the elites, who say salvation can be brought only by driving down peoples’ living and social standards – while the oligarchy continues to shamelessly enrich itself. The new Greek government defies the appalling logic of the financial markets, the alleged reason of the economy, which has continuously been widening the gap between poor and rich. Democracy is back, and the social interests of the majority do matter again. Ordinary people were rejoicing, and jubilation could have grown even further.

However now it appears that its own audacity frightened Sýriza. Some harsh words of the taskmaster of the creditors, Wolfgang Schäuble, were enough to corner them. For Sýriza did not only promise to end the starvation dictate, but at the same time promised remaining within the Euro zone. The Greek finance minister Yánis Varoufákis placed his bet with high stakes and without securing the only possible trump in his hands – an active break with the capitalist elite, a self-determined exit from the Euro zone. The current conjuncture would have offered a formidable possibility for a mass mobilisation to back such an historic decision.

Sýriza is prisoners of its own past, its origins in the euro-communist Synaspismós. For them the European Union has been the greatest achievement of the post-war period. Only they would need to make it more socially inclined. They failed to understand that the very raison d’être of the EU is to destroy the welfare states which historically had grown within the nation states.

Certainly, the people longs for security. Their vote is endorsing the balancing act between ending austerity and remaining keeping the Euro. They want to be part of the club of the rich countries and fear to be pushed again into the poor periphery. This is understandable. The latest developments however make it more than clear that this is impossible – the capitalist centre will not accept it. To end the hunger dictate Greece must get rid of the rule of the EU’s elite dominated by Berlin before Berlin kicks Greece out on German terms.

Sýriza has been more and more hinting to the mandate given by the vote, but this is turning into a pretext, a cover to hide behind the people. While the people start to understand and demonstrated their overwhelming support of a hard line against Berlin, Sýriza is turning into the rear guard blocking the rapid process of popular radicalisation. The answer to Berlin and Brussels would be obvious: If you insist on starving us, we will send the creditors to hell. In such a case, it would be Schäuble's and the Goldmen’s turn to panic. That cancelling the debt is indeed possible has been demonstrated by governments that are much less left-leaning than Sýriza – see Argentine or Iceland.

At the end of the day a broad coalition for a break could have emerged – reaching far beyond Greece including forces like Podemos and others. The contours of the real social Europe would have appeared on the horizon – on the rubble of the Euro and the capitalist EU. By signing the agreement Tsípras and Varoufákis have done a great disservice to Julio Iglesias of Podemos in Spain.

Sýriza backed down despite their yells of victory. Yes, they will try to continue negotiations. But the oligarchy set the frame which they eventually accepted. It was all about to make clear who is in command and who has to obey. The rest is about window dressing and sales pitch. The rulers pushed Sýriza, the “radical left”, one important step towards becoming their instrument to impose their starvation programme. If this is confirmed, Sýriza is doomed to sooner or later die away.

What would follow next cannot be predicted in detail. In any case rightist forces would consolidate. One pole would be around the old elites directly linked to the Brussels elites. The other pole might be a fascist one of Golden Dawn type. But we have not arrived at that point as of yet.
One battle might have been lost, but the struggle is far from over. The exact conditions of the starvation programme are still to be defined. Any attempt to break out of the cage defined by the troika will be responded by the bankers’ caste with the threat of being kicked out. The default is going to be a permanent threat demanding a permanent capitulation. Given the fact that the neo-classical neo-liberal recipes do not work even in purely capitalist terms the severe crisis will drag on and will even deepen. Not even renouncing sovereignty and accepting the EU’s guardianship will secure the permanence within the Euro zone. Sooner or later Greece will have to leave anyway.
The possibility to end the starvation programme as promised by Sýriza is still there. We strongly doubt that the popular masses as well as many political forces within Sýriza and outside of it will accept that nothing should change. The people will continue to demand social improvements. Sýriza cannot simply turn within a few days into a new Pasók. Sýriza is more than the old Synaspismós guys who tied their fate to the EU. A broad front rejecting the capitulation and chalking out a plan B can be built addressing also large parts of Sýriza. Maybe the only possibility is a kind of popular revolt against Synaspismós accompanied by an internal coup – to regain audacity!

The central demands in the interest of the popular classes are: Exit from the euro – break with the capitalist centre.

Following steps could follow suit:

• capital controls
• repudiation of the debt
• nationalisation of the banks
• public investment programme
• exit from EU and NATO
• turn to Russia and China for economic support in view of an international co-operation independent of the imperialist west

The incipient popular movement is needed to avoid capitulation. We call for international solidarity to all forces fighting the starvation programme that proved to require the immediate break with the Euro regime.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Greece: Syriza Will Have to Choose between Scylla and Charybdis by Jerome Roos

     

Greece’s leftist government will soon have to confront a critical question: will it accept its creditors’ demands,or will it take unilateral action?

 
In Homer’s epic Odyssey, the Greek King Odysseus of Ithaca was forced to navigate a narrow strait between the mythical sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis. As it was impossible to steer a clear course between the two, avoiding the one inevitably meant confronting the other. Eventually, Homer’s hero opted to avoid the whirlpool of Charybdis — which could easily have swallowed his ship — and pass by the six-headed monster Scylla instead. After putting up a strong fight, Odysseus and his men lost a number of sailors but saved their ship.

                                                                       Today, Greece’s young leftist government finds itself on the horns of a similar dilemma. On the one hand, it stares into the whirlpool of a deflationary debt trap that risks swallowing Greek society whole, confining its impoverished and exasperated citizens to decades of debt servitude. On the other, it faces the eighteen-headed monster of the Eurogroup — with the German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble at its center — which insists on smashing Syriza’s radical experiment and making an example of the leftists by ejecting them from the eurozone if they refuse to stay the disastrous course of austerity.

                                                                     This epic standoff between tiny Greece and its mighty creditors has left the Syriza-led government stuck between a rock and a hard place. While its defiant rhetoric has energized Greek society and raised popular expectations to unprecedented highs, this same defiance has angered the country's creditors and united Europe’s “extreme center” in a desperate bid to contain the fallout of the Syriza phenomenon. Rapidly closing ranks to prevent the leftists from setting a positive precedent, the creditors' message is clear: inside the eurozone, there can be no alternative to austerity and repayment.

                                                                       And so the “frenzy of reasonableness” that Greece’s oracular finance minister Yanis Varoufakis had pledged to unleash now appears to be hitting the wall of German intransigence. Reality is dawning: either Syriza faces down the Eurogroup to defend its radical project, or it capitulates and drifts back into the debt-deflationary spiral.

                                                                      After Monday’s emergency talks collapsed in acrimony, Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem added an ultimatum to make Syriza’s options even more explicit: either the government accepts an extension of the existing bailout program by Wednesday evening, or Greece will simply be cut off from further credit by February 28.

                                                                      Since Greece remains dependent on foreign financing to service its outstanding obligations and fight the deep humanitarian crisis at home, this would put the leftists in the awkward position of having to choose between honoring their obligations to foreign creditors, who expect the debt to be repaid in full and who continue to insist on strict fiscal discipline, or honoring their obligations to Greek pensioners and civil servants, who have collectively pinned their hopes on Syriza’s pledges to defy the creditors and put an end to austerity. In a word, repaying one will require defaulting on the other.

                                                                  This Homeric dilemma is in turn forcing Syriza to confront a long-standing internal rift among party cadres over the merits of continued eurozone membership. Syriza’s moderate leadership, which according to central committee member Stathis Kouvelakis has steadily distanced itself from the party base in recent years, remains committed to the euro and aims to reform its fiscal and monetary architecture. Inspired by Keynesian visions of demand management and public investment, Tsipras and Varoufakis hope to wield the failure of austerity in Greece as a wedge to transform Europe as a whole.

                                                                     But not everyone inside Syriza shares this “good euro” vision. The party’s rank-and-file, and especially its radical internal opposition — the so-called Left Platform — holds a very different view, insisting that Greece should keep all its weapons on the table, including the threat of unilateral default and a “progressive exit” from the eurozone. The Left Platform, in other words, would like to see Syriza face down Scylla to avoid Charybdis, defying the Eurogroup to save the ship and evade a lethal debt-deflationary spiral inside the monetary union — even if this comes at a high cost.

                                                             Inspired in part by the analyses of SOAS economist Costas Lapavitsas, who is now a Syriza MP, the Left Platform has a more pessimistic analysis of power relations within the monetary union. Unlike the party leadership and Finance Minister Varoufakis, Lapavitsas believes that continued eurozone membership will sink Syriza’s radical project before the leftists even get a chance to hoist their sails or raise their weapons. The internal opposition therefore intends to wield what they consider to be the inevitable failure of the debt negotiations as a wedge to progressively pull Greece out of the euro. It is safe to say, then, that the fault-lines of the eurozone power struggle extend into the top ranks of the Greek government, with the Left Platform constantly exerting pressure on the party leadership to abide by its radical project.  This explains the tricky balancing act that Tsipras has been engaging in this week. The prime minister knows that he cannot be seen to capitulate to his creditors and backtrack on his campaign pledges. Domestically, he has to appease the Left Platform and stick to his defiant anti-creditor stance, which has sent the leftists soaring to an absolute majority in the polls.      

                                                           At the same time, however, it is becoming increasingly clear that the political economic analyses of Lapavitsas and the Left Platform are turning out to be disturbingly accurate: it is simply proving impossible to steer a clear course between meaningful debt cancellation, on the one hand, and multilateral negotiations on the other. To put it bluntly, Germany and its allies are just not interested in negotiating a debt restructuring or a meaningful easing of Greece’s repayment terms. Their entire strategy is based on being as unreasonable as possible and not granting Syriza a single inch of leeway.    


                                                             This tough creditor stance appears to be intended purely to torpedo Syriza's progressive program, which is based on the notion that both Scylla and Charybdis can be avoided and Greece and its foreign creditors will arrive at a common solution that benefits all. Yet even if this win-win scenario would indeed be the optimal outcome from a game theoretical point of view, it is proving to be unacceptable to the Germans from a political point of view. For this reason, Syriza's leadership will soon find itself forced to choose between the demands of its creditors and the demands of its internal opposition.

                                                                      The bottom-line is that Germany and its allies do not seem intent to let Greece off the hook. The reasons for this are clear. If the country’s anti-austerity government were to set a successful precedent of debt restructuring, Podemos in Spain would certainly be next — and who knows what other claimants would step forward if Greece successfully canceled its debts? It is now becoming clear that there are only two possible outcomes: either Greece faces down the eighteen-headed monster of the Eurogroup by unilaterally defaulting, or it will stick to the rules of the eurozone and continue to service its debts.

                                                                      Needless to say, both options will come at a very high cost. Yet it now seems increasingly obvious that a costly standoff with Scylla is the only way to avoid a deadly dance with Charybdis and save the ship. Without default and exit, Greece will be sucked into the whirlpool of a deflationary debt trap for decades to come. Sooner or later the left-led government will be compelled to choose between a radical experiment outside the euro or a painful defeat within it. As the heroes of Greek antiquity knew well, there can be no glory without struggle — and no victory without sacrifice.

                                                                    Jerome Roos is a PhD researcher in International Political Economy at the European University Institute and founding editor of ROAR Magazine. Follow him on Twitter @JeromeRoos.

Aam Admi Party: All That Glitters Is Not Gold (Part 2) -Ajay

    
 
This article was first published on Towards a New Dawn an excellent publication from India - we advise you to visit  Towards a New Dawn's site here :http://toanewdawn.blogspot.co.uk/


B. New Mantra Of Imperialist Plunder: The Government Has Nothing To Do With Business

In 1991, Manmohan Singh started a structural adjustment program based on the concept of imperialist agenda for neo-liberalism and gave the slogan to end the inspector rule. Subsequently, the Governments of different colors reduced the number of employees in the pretext of cutting the government expenditures along with the financial deficit as per the directions of World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Labor laws were loosened. The contract system was promoted in the factories and Government institutions. The Public Sector Units (PSUs') were sold to the private hands; promoted privatatisation in each sector; acquired the lands of peasants forcibly and increased inflation by allowing future trading of the essential commodities of everyday use. Mines were given to the corporate sector. And finally in 2009, the government waged a war with Operation Green Hunt against its own people who had resisted the government's move to hand over water-land-forest and other natural resources to the corporate.  Despite all these anti-people policies, the advocate of free market economy, Manmohan Singh failed to revive the deep economic crisis. The Indian economy is going through its worst phase.  The growth of GDP fell to 6.7% in 2011-12 and it further declined to 4.5% in the year 2012-13. The state of industrial production is even worst. The growth rate declined from 2.7% in 2011-12 to only 0.3% in 2012-13. The recent growth rate is the lowest in the last 12 years.  [10]

The advocates of free market economy started calling Manmohan Singh a “weak Prime Minister” who failed to revive the country out of the economic crisis and was also unsuccessful in making India favorable to the foreign investment. The largest Credit Rating Agency in the world Standard and Poor made a very pointed observation on Manmohan Singh while rating India very low

"It would be ironic if a government under the economist who spurred much of the liberalization of India's economy and helped unleash such gains were to preside over their potential erosion." [11]

At the end of 2013, the same credit agency had already set agenda for the next government before the upcoming elections. According to this agenda, the next government will have to manage the financial accounts on a stronger basis. It will have to end the financial help for the expansion of food and diesel subsidy along with introducing nationwide goods and service taxes. For them, Narendra Modi is more appropriate than Manmohan Singh for this job. As per the Goldman Sachs Research Report, politics has now proved a trump card for economy. And it has expressed hope in the potential political change under the leadership of prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.  Since there are clashes within congress on the issues of serious liberalization , so they need a person like Modi. The report “MODIfying Our View” has clearly mentioned that Narendera Modi has focused on basic infrastructure and capital expenditure. So BJP government will prove to be beneficial in increasing the demand for more investment. [12]

In the current period of economic crisis, the pro-imperialist intellectuals value the idea that market must have the autonomy with no government intervention. The market cannot fail and any interference by the government will only further deteriorate the condition.  The favorite face of the corporate sector, Narendra Modi had chanted in this imperialistic tone

“The government has no business to be in business. It should play the role of a facilitator. In my state, investors don't have to grease the palm of politicians or bureaucrats. There are well laid-out policies. I believe that country can progress only if we end red-tapism. No red tape, only red carpet, is my policy towards investors.” [13]

That is why Modi has become the favorite of the corporate houses and also a symbol of fascism. One part of the ruling class that dreams to crown Modi as prime minister does not want to maintain the “human face of globalization in India”. It wants that the government should cut the expenditure under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme and Food Security Act to strengthen the financial condition. It aims to impose its economic policies on the people that is why Jai Ram Ramesh, the representative of World Bank, has favored the closure of minimal economic reforms in the pretext of economic downturn who said that financial growth rate was more in UPA's reign that is why the welfare schemes like the MNERGA, wavering of agricultural loans, village heath programmes, construction of roads in rural areas, electricity in the villages, rural housing schemes, forest right acts, food security act etc. have been implemented and If the financial growth is not high, it would be impossible to continue these welfare schemes.  [14]


C. Aam Aadmi Party: Vying To Become The Favorite Of The Corporate Sector

AAP, the new player vying for power has repeated the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) statement of Kejriwal in its manifesto that the government will have no business to be in business. Thus AAP also used the same rhetoric as used by BJP and Congress. At the same time, AAP has claimed in its manifesto to develop infrastructure, to improve the lack of investment in the productive economy, to move on the path of higher growth and global competition to construct a world class infrastructure. It has also announced to develop a system to provide every entrepreneur or community an access to capital, information, basic infrastructure in such a way that the productive and ambitious business sector will become new engines of the increasing growth of the country. It also emphasized on the need to identify the active participation of the private sector in creating jobs. [4] AAP also promised to construct the world level infrastructure to ensure the dynamic economy in both villages and cities. AAP has also joined the line of BJP and Congress in their claims to make the cities of India just like Shanghai, London and Paris so as to facilitate the International and their domestic comprador corporates to continue their loot. In his reply to the 10 questions asked by the CPI (Maoist), AAP party leader Prashant Bhushan made it clear that they do not oppose the foreign capital investment.  [15]

With the declaration to let the state control on the natural resources like minerals, water and forest, AAP has made it clear that it will not become hurdle in the way of  the multinational and domestic companies. Rather than giving the mineral-mine rights to the Adivasis, AAP professes to give the mere share of profit to the public. This move has already been opposed by the anti-displacement activists as the share of the profit would make the people dependent on the company. [16] All decisions would be taken by the companies and second, they know all the tactics to maximize or minimize the profit of others. So this policy will eventually lead the public to bankruptcy.

We all are aware that right on water-land-forest and other natural resources have remained a bone of contention between the common people and the government-ruling classes. AAP openly endorsed the interests of the ruling classes by justifying the control of state on water-land-forest and other natural resources and delimited itself to the implementation of anti-people Forest Rights Act, 2006. Similarly, it rhymed the words of other 'mainstream' parties by declaring that it would protect the rights of Indian peasants in WTO rather than moving out of it and would demand the democratization of IMF.

Claiming to be an alternative to Congress and BJP, AAP also endorses the same imperialist-dictated policies of liberalization, privatization and globalization which are responsible for the suicide of 2.7 million farmers in the past 15 years; Small industries were shut down in large number, as a result millions of unemployed youth was forced to run from pillar to post; The land of the farmers was forcibly acquired; Even the rivers were sold due to which the people had to face fierce shortage of water; and the government employees were sacked in the name of VRS of public servants and Golden Hand Shake. As a result, the discontent of the masses has increased to take the shape of mass movement and armed rebellions. This discontent has risen to the extent of armed rebellion in the Central and Eastern India led by the revolutionary Maoists.

The language of AAP is no different than those of Congress and BJP about the pro-imperialist model of development which cannot be implemented without using state violence. So there are complete chances of AAP also moving on the same path of state repression adopting which Modi has become the favourite of the corporate sector ahead of Manmohan Singh of Congress. Along with it, some activists may be co-opted into the system by the rhetoric of AAP that had risen from the mass movement.
 

5.  Parliamentary Politics Of AAP: Targeting People's Movements

The party leader Yogendra Yadav unveiled the future strategy of AAP after an unexpected victory in the Delhi elections

“In the last three decades the most creative energy in our public life has not come from within politics proper but from outside politics — from people's movements on issues such as displacement, Dalits, farmers, women, right to food, right to information and above all, jal, jungle, zameen (water, forests, land). The difficulty is that this energy did not have a political expression, hope, and a political vehicle. In my dream script, the AAP is the natural political hope for these energies.” [17]

AAP wants to take the leaders of the people's movements to the same blind alley of parliamentary politics where many leaders of these movements have lost their whole lives grappling in vein in the corridors of parliament and strengthened the system by enhancing the same imperialist and feudal exploitation and oppression.

A. Parliamentary Politics: A Machine To Co-opt  In The Revolutionaries Into The System
 
The exploitative ruling class of India is trying hard to bring a major part of every mass movement into the parliamentary folds. Taking a cue from the revolt of 1857, the Victorian regime had formed Congress through an English official so as to delimit the further intensification of the freedom movement. Congress had restricted the agenda of independence only to the participation in British Raj. Similarly, after Telangana Armed Struggle, the Communist Party of India also became the victim of the same parliamentary system in 1950.

In the 70s of 20th century, when the Naxalite movement reached far and wide in the country and roused its people, Indira Gandhi had declared immediately after imposing emergency to muzzle the voices of this movement

“any person who manages or assists in promoting a meeting of these organizations, promotes or assists in promoting a meeting of any members of these organizations, attends any such meeting, publishes any article or advertisements relating to any such meetings invites persons to support these organizations is liable for action under the law” [18]

Before the government could impose any restriction, some of these leaders already refused to participate in any armed movement after the emergency. When the prominent leaders like Kanu Sanyal, Satya Narayan, Aseem Chatterjee, and Santosh Rana also started looking towards the parliament for change in the system, they lost the edge to fight and revolution became a far-fetched dream.

The absconding leaders like Satyanarayan of the great revolutionary struggle not only fielded CPI (ML) to contest for the electoral politics but also extended its support to Janta Party in the assembly elections declaring it “anti-fascist popular power”. It is to be noted that these leaders, who are themselves stranded in the parliamentary marsh and are evoking to prevent these Hindu fascist powers through elections, were in coalition with these Hindu Fascist forces in 1977 in the name of combating fascisms of Indira led regime. And once they are trapped in the labyrinth of parliamentary politics, these great “revolutionaries” of India in the name of preventing one kind of fascist actually create space for some others. They get themselves exposed in the eyes of people rather than exposing the illusion of parliamentary politics.  Indian parliament is a machine that renders the revolutionaries to reformists by incorporating them in the system. Similarly, the once a revolutionary party like CPI (ML) Liberation was also become a part of the ruling class power enterprises under the leadership of Vinod Mishra whom FICCI, the organization of the industrialists, also admires. [19]

The leaders of the mass movements who became the part of parliamentary system in Latin America also took to build and strengthen the same neo-liberal economy against whose policies these movements had once risen. James Petras, an expert in Latin American issues, has written extensively about this phenomenon. He added that the rulers of Latin America resorted to 'Principle of Free Market' in 1976 which reached at its peak in 1999. The rulers surrendered before the directions of World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) by adopting the policy of Neo-Liberalism. The key sectors of economy were privatized once nationalism was wiped out. Banking and financial system were de-regularized. Nearly a trillion dollars profits in the form of principal amount, rent and illegal money were put in the pockets of European Banks and Corporate houses.

Later the economic crisis and financial down turn in 2000, there were popular uprisings in South America from 2000 to 2005; as a result dozens of presidents were sacked. In the year of 2001-02, three presidents of Argentina were swept aside in the mass movements. The corrupt presidents of Ecuador were sacked amidst the popular revolts from 2000 to 2005 and Mr. Korra of “Citizen's Coalition” was elected as the president. In 2003-05, two pro-Washington presidents of Bolivia were sacked after the 'Workers-farmer-Indian' revolt and Coca peasant and tribal leader Mr. Evo Morales was elected as the president in 2005. The same story was repeated in Venezuela, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile in the years 2005, 2010, 2008 and 2005 respectively and in Brazil in 2002 and 2006. The Indian Communists also clapped the beat after the leaders of mass movements came to power, that the socialism can be brought in India through parliamentarian path.

Many leaders of the left became the victims of this rhetoric of “New Left” and “Anti-neo-liberalism”, whereas the capitalist snare of multinational companies kept on expanding in Latin America. The coalition of new authorities with multinational companies has ousted the working class of all profit and revenues. New professional middle class, technicians and foreign investors actually enjoy the share of the working class. The new middle class came to power by using their social contacts with old leftists and mass movements. Later on, their control on the state only benefited these leaders of the movements by strengthening the power. The new middle class rulers organized many leftist, environmental and ethnocentric conferences and forums to legitimize their rule. These new middle class rulers became rich through the cooperative ventures in agriculture and mineral capitals, by levying the taxes and sharing the profits. This “developmental” state confined the new capital to the petty circles of the high and middle level bureaucrats. This new class is also the new bourgeois. The bourgeois essence of this developmental rule is visible in excessively increasing the gap between property and income, lopsided transference of the state income to the bank creditors, in lending financial help and loans to the agro-mineral exporters. While the condition of the poor has changed nominally, their minimum wages are still very low. 

In the lines of Latin America, AAP is also trying to bring all those mass movements that have resisted against the imperialist dictated policies of liberalization, globalization and privatization or neo-liberal policies under its own flag by raising the pseudo slogans of 'system change', 'crony capitalism', 'swaraj', and 'decentralization of power'. However all these steps will only strengthen that very system against which these mass movements had risen. The effect of this financial crisis could be perceived on this new rich class. And under the influence of AAP, this crisis-ridden section would also assimilate in the present system rather than changing it inside out.

B. New Weapon To Undermine The Revolutionary Movement

By making AAP a medium, the ruling class of India also intends to erode the mass base of the Maoist movement which is termed as the “greatest threat” for the “internal security” of the country by Manmohan Singh, declaring it as the biggest obstacle in the way of foreign capital. He declared in 2010

"Naxalite violence is yet another problem and naxalism today afflicts the Central India parts where the bulk of India's mineral wealth lies and if we don't control naxalism we have to say goodbye to our country's ambitions to sustain growth rate of 10-11% per cent per annum…” [20]

It is clear from this statement how the ruling class is eager to eliminate the Maoists who are a hurdle in their way to maintain their profits and to continue the plundering of natural resources of the country unimpeded. Here Manmohan Singh affirms to maintain the same economic growth rate which AAP has also promised to maintain in its manifesto that is why AAP has not written even a single word to oppose the war on people waged by Congress and BJP in these areas in the name of 'Operation Green Hunt'. On the contrary, it is also being looked upon as a weapon to eliminate the Maoist led mass movement that is why Nepal's Baburam Bhattarai who turned a to be a traitor and an tout of Indian state from a revolutionary has hoped after AAP formed the government in Delhi that it will take the place of the Maoist movement in India

“Maoists in India need to shed their sectarianism and realise that the Indian state is too powerful to be defeated. AAP needs to reach out to their base, and not just intervene at the level of the superstructure. Their combination could present a new alternative politics.”  [21]

This is an old method of the Indian ruling classes which is quite evident in the statement of Cabinet minister Jai Ram Ramesh

“Lack of political mobilisation is the biggest weakness in these areas – you need mainstream political party activity…Democracy by itself won't solve the problem..People need to have confidence in political parties and instruments of state such as the judiciary”. [22]

The ruling class of India looks at AAP to play the above said role when this party will help to dash the enthusiasm of the evolutionary masses by trapping them in the illusion of “parliamentary politics”. Earlier this work was successfully executed by CPI and CPM which are otherwise considered to be socially democratic parties. But the strong answer by the masses to them on issue of forcible land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram has completely tarnished their image in the public. Now AAP is busy in becoming a new pillar of the ruling class by using a strong rhetoric. This may become the medium to co-opt the democratic and revolutionary mass movements into the “democratic structure” by showing them a way to parliament. Repeating the rhetoric of Vinod Mishra, a report released by FICCI emphasized on the inclusion of CPI Maoists leaders into the “mainstream democratic structure” by identifying the leaders in them having political aspirations to contest elections. FICCI report also advises to take a lesson from the communist parties of Kerala to trap the people into the illusion of reforms. ) [18]

The public opinion about the politicians and courts has reached at the level of frustration in this time of widespread corruption and ineffective rule of the government.  The resistance of the oppressed and exploited masses is taking the form of armed rebellion amidst the deepening economic crisis, the ruling class wants to undermine the revolutionary movements so that the imperialist plunder and feudal exploitation may continue unimpeded. It directly means that by the opening doors of the parliament for the leaders of the mass movements, the system wants to co-opt them into the “democratic structure” of FICCI using AAP as a political medium.

This is the reason that more than 150 domestic and foreign NGOs which are feeding on the imperialist capital campaigned for AAP candidate Soni Sori from Bastar parliamentary seat. The purpose was only to take the “resistance” of people to “some safe place”. She was introduced as a “symbol of struggle against the oppression of the pro-capitalist government by some intellectual from Bastar claiming

“Bastar parliamentary elections will not only decide the defeat or victory of Soni Suri but also determine the number of people who still support the democratic set-up, who still believe that democracy is the only way despite the Naxalites' attempts to dissuade them.”[23]

This is the same Indian democratic system that on the one hand gives the right to reject all candidates but on the other hand, thousands paramilitary troops are deployed to  force the people to cast their votes. A report in Hindustan Times confirms that the scared people of Bastar will vote only to avoid the interrogations by the armed forces. [24]

Soni Sori who has been constantly presented as a symbol of struggle against oppression, released a manifesto on a stamp paper of Rs. 1000. She announced to give a privilege of granting a relief to work for 20 days in a month for police and paramilitary forces based on the model of Andhra police. At the same time, she announced to compensate those police and paramilitary forces that die in counter-violent activities with ten million rupees and would be honored as “martyrs”.  One wonders that the woman who provides compensation to repress the tribals would be a symbol against the state oppression or only a puppet at the hands of state machinery to intensify the repression. Actually AAP in its manifesto has also declared to tackle with Naxalism by adopting security-based methods.

Thus, it is predetermined that AAP would eventually become a weapon of destruction and repression for the common masses and damaging the revolutionary movement rather than becoming pro-people. It will only implement the pro-imperialist policies of liberalization, globalization, and privatization based on which Congress has built an impoverished India and Modi presented his ugly “Gujarat Development Model” over the dead bodies of Muslims.  In fact there is no basic difference in Rahul's Congress, Modi's BJP and AAP of Kejriwal. It echoes destruction in their slogans of development, good governance and corruption free country.


5. Combating Fascism – Theory Of Lesser Evil And AAP
 
The leader of International Communist Movement Dimitrov in the fight against the fascism of Hitler and others summarized fascism in the following words,

 “The imperialist circles are trying to shift the whole burden of the crisis onto the shoulders of the working people. That is why they need fascism. They are trying to solve the problem of markets by enslaving the weak nations, by intensifying colonial oppression and repartitioning the world anew by means of war. That is why they need fascism. They are striving to forestall the growth of the forces of revolution by smashing the revolutionary movement of the workers and peasants and by undertaking a military attack against the Soviet Union -- the bulwark of the world proletariat. That is why they need fascism. In a number of countries, Germany in particular, these imperialist circles have succeeded, before the masses had decisively turned towards revolution, in inflicting defeat on the proletariat, and establishing a fascist dictatorship. But it is characteristic of the victory of fascism that this victory, on the one hand, bears witness to the weakness of the proletariat, disorganized and paralyzed by the disruptive Social-Democratic policy of class collaboration with the bourgeoisie, and, on the other, expresses the weakness of the bourgeoisie itself, afraid of the realization of a united struggle of the working class, afraid of revolution, and no longer in a position to maintain its dictatorship over the masses by the old methods of bourgeois democracy and parliamentarism.”

He concluded the class character of Fascism as, “Comrades, fascism in power was correctly described by the Thirteenth Plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International as the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital.” [25]

Today, India could also be perceived as a volcano in light of the deepening economic crisis. The mass movements addressing water, forest land and natural resources have gained pace. The masses are constantly rejecting the old governing system and practices. It has transformed into armed struggle in Central-Eastern India. On the other hand, the present economic crisis is so deep that it has become almost impossible for the ruling class to camouflage it in the garb of reform movements or put up a human face. That is why Modi has become the first choice of corporate world whose Hindutva-fascist ideology has led them to dream of emerging from this crisis.

In such era, many of India's intellectuals and leaders of mass movements felt that AAP can bring in an end to the wagon of fascism in India whose charioteer is Narendra Modi, as a result of which these progressive people supported AAP on the basis of the Theory of Lesser Evil. But doesn't the nature of the policies of AAP also lead towards establishing fascism? Can fascism be thwarted through parliamentary elections or could this party be a medium to strengthen the fascist machinery?

It is clear from the above analysis that AAP wants to continue pro-imperialist policies under the guise of populist slogans as to lead the dissent to safe space.  AAP did not oppose even once the fascist groups formed in the name of Hindutva. Whereas Modi's Hindutva aims to facilitate the pro-imperialist policy by creating fissures in the unified voices of people and by crushing them through repressive actions; AAP aims to co-opt all mass movements against imperialist, feudal exploitation and plunder into the current system and thereby striving to blunt their edge. This way, AAP's thinking of shrouding the imperialist plunders through populist slogans and Modi's thinking to maintain Hinduist fascism is only to strengthen the system and both will only complement each other in  maintaining the pro feudal pro imperialist system in India.

AAP also contains the seeds of fascism because in any occasion it did not oppose the Armed Force Special Power Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) acting as tools to repress the people's movement. It did not advocate the retreat of army, paramilitary and police forces deployed in Kashmir, North-East and Middle-East India to repress the masses. On the contrary, AAP not only claimed that Kashmir is an integral part of India, but also favored the continuity of the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) in Kashmir. Miming BJP's rhetoric, it has addressed the freedom fighters of Kashmir as cross-border terrorism. That is why AAP is in the favor of continuing the war on the people of the country started by Congress that can also move towards establishing open dictatorship or fascism in accordance with the needs of the ruling class.

In the beginning of the twentieth century, many countries of Western Europe were embroiled in politics of parliamentary elections in the name of combating fascism rather than waging a decisive struggle to establish socialism by uprooting capitalism despite the mature conditions for revolutions which ultimately proved to be useful in establishing the fascist regime. In Germany, the progressive and social activists had thought of thwarting fascism through legal defense, elections, ballot or gentle bourgeois government instead of forging a united front with the fighter communists seeking radical changes, whereas, in Austria, social  democrats had almost supported the fascist dictator Burning Dulfos by considering him “lesser Evil” who eventually restored fascism.[26] Recently in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, instead of transferring the people's resistance against the policies of neoliberalism into social revolution, took some reformist steps while keeping with the old state machinery and co-opted the leaders of people's movement into the establishment. As a result fascism is spreading its fangs there.' [27]

The world history shows that fascism can be combated in India only when a decisive war will be waged to bring radical change in the imperialist capitalist and semi feudal system responsible for economic crisis and destitution of the people, at the same time abrogating the fascist forces ideologically and physically. The basis of this war must be the unity of all exploited, oppressed masses and nationalities that would form a united front by intensifying the struggle against the exploitation of imperialism and their comprador bureaucratic capitalists and feudal forces to build a genuine federal, democratic, self-reliant and sovereign India. The revolutionary masses in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh have proved by combating fascist state oppression, Salwa Judum and the fascist groups like 'Santi Sena' , that “Jantana” government can be formed by defeating the exploitative ruling class. This is the only way to thwart the nefarious plans of the exploitative ruling class and their followers.

Rather than curbing the revolutionary movement treading on the path of Naxalbari, the focus should be on striving to stand in solidarity with these ideas or we would only further strengthen the ruling classes by being trapped in the system. Fascism can be combated only through resistance on a grass root level; any other short cut method would only lead to fascist regime. It is the only method that can open the path to salvation from imperialist- capitalist and financial crisis, and feudal exploitation and oppression. The rhetoric of AAP would only lead us to the pit of destruction and bankruptcy. By doing this, we would only invite such a power that favors the open dictatorship or fascism of the capitalists to continue the dominance of exploitative-oppressive class. Social revolution through people's movements is the only way to thwart fascism. The world history tells us that social-democratic parties like AAP have only contributed towards bringing in fascism rather than thwarting it.

 
 

References

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(concluded)