The Real Face of the Mountbatten Award by Communist Party of India in 1948

The Mountbatten Award comes as a culmination of the betrayal of the revolutionary struggle by the National Congress and the League leaderships.

Though the bourgeois leaderships parade the story that independence has been won, the fact is the freedom struggle has been betrayed and the national leadership has struck a treacherous deal behind the back of the starving people betraying every slogan of the democratic revolution.

The Mountbatten Plan partitioned India.

The National leaderships of the Congress and the Muslim League which had always opposed the solution of the communal problem on the basis of the just and revolutionary principle of self determination of nationalities accepted the imperialist principle of partition on the basis of religion.

This enabled imperialism to organize the ghastliest  riots and butcheries of minorities.creating permanent hostility between Hindu's and Muslims and to work up war fever between the two states when required in imperialist interests.

The partition is a ready made weapon to organize riots and sidetrack the revolutionary movement by war appeals.

It is one of the biggest attacks on the unity and integrity of the democratic movement and also used to weaken the bourgeoisie of both states vis a vis Imperialism.

Secondly the plan keeps the Princes, the age old friends of the imperial order intact and enhances their bargaining power,enabling the national leaders to parade their accession as a real triumph, for the princes are now supposed to be independent.

Thirdly the economic strings are still in the hands of the imperialists who successfully use them to make the bourgeoisie move against the masses, crush the democratic revolution and establish a new line up for imperialism, princes landlords and bourgeoisie.

The Mountbatten Plan is the expression of this alliance against the democratic revolution- the alliance that seeks to drown the revolution in blood.

It crowns the process of of bourgeois vacillation and final capitulation. It is the fruit of the national leadership's compromising policy, culminating in an avowedly anti national and anti people and anti revolutionary policy.

What the Mountbatten plan has given is not real but fake independence.

Through this award British Imperialism has partitioned India on communal lines and gave to the bourgeoisie an important share of state power,subservient to itself.

Britain's domination has not ended but the form has changed. The bourgeoisie was for so long kept out of state power and in opposition to it : now it is granted  a share of state power in order to disrupt and drown the national democratic revolution in blood.

The supreme organs of the State, the army, the navy the air force and the bureaucracy are controlled by the servitors of imperialism. They are dominated by upper class elements officered by them, by old bureaucrats that have pronounced pro British sympathies and bitterly hate all democratic advance.And the final imperialist control will be registered through military missions and military advisers.

The behaviour of the military, the police and the civil service in face of the riot offensive of communal elements clearly demonstrates how anti popular, anti democratic and pro imperialist elements control these organs of the state - elements of which the bourgeoisie safely relies for the law and order collaboration.

At the same time representatives of the bourgeoisie, the traditional leaders and the national movement are handed the reins of government while being dominated by imperialism through trade pacts and an open military alliance is in the process of formation.

The Mountbatten Award does not really signify a retreat of imperialism but its cunning counter offensive against the rising forces of the Indian people.

This is demonstrated by the communal carnage and the setback to the democratic and anti Imperialist struggle after August 15th.

British Imperialism was forced to change the forms of its domination as a result of the rowing popular upsurge for freedom and democracy during the war and post war days.

Faced with the alternative of quitting India, it has given a share of power to the capitalists and the landlords in order to be able to remain.

To parade this new status as national freedom or as national advance is to shield imperialist designs and the subservience of the national bourgeoisie.