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1. Origins of a Revolutionary
In an age when empires seemed eternal and monarchs ruled by divine right, a quiet boy from Simbirsk—born on April 22, 1870—began asking dangerous yet thought-provoking questions. His name was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, but history would remember him simply as Lenin—the man who dared to challenge one of the world’s most powerful empires, forged by Tsar Alexander III, and ultimately restructured the operating system of civilization.
To Lenin, ideas were mightier than weapons. He studied law and passed the bar in 1892, briefly becoming a lawyer. However, his immersion in Marxist circles soon drew him deep into revolutionary activism.
But Siberia could not suppress him, and exile did not silence him. On the contrary, it strengthened his resolve.
The Menshevik-led February Revolution had ended the monarchy, but that was not enough for Lenin. In October, he led the Bolsheviks in a swift and nearly bloodless coup that overthrew the Provisional Government. From the Winter Palace to the furthest Siberian outposts, power shifted overnight. The world stood stunned.
Lenin was never a rigid ideologue; he was a coder rewriting a crashing system. His seminal works—Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, What Is to Be Done?, Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder, One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, and his theses at the First International—challenged existing orthodoxy. One of his key positions on the Third World and India, originally contested by an Indian communist intellectual, was later accepted by Lenin himself, showcasing his intellectual flexibility.
In a 21st-century world governed by data, networks, and decentralization, Lenin's legacy is being re-examined—not merely as a figure of the past, but as an early hacker of global structures. Whether you view him as a visionary or a cautionary tale, Lenin remains a towering figure in modern history—proof that ideas, when sharpened by experience and wielded with purpose, can still shake the world.
Russia-India
Relations: A Strategic Shift in Global Geopolitics
S Deman*
Abstract
India's recent strategic overture toward Russia,
reportedly accepting a significant geopolitical offer, signals a notable shift
in international alignments. This development not only strengthens the
bilateral relationship between the two long-standing partners but also has
far-reaching implications for global geopolitics, military strategies, and the
balance of power. This paper examines the motivations behind India’s decision,
the scope of the emerging agreement, and the international responses it could trigger.
It evaluates the benefits and risks involved for India, explore the broader
impact on international institutions such as BRICS, and consider how this
evolving partnership might reshape the global order.A Love Story
Introduction
A seismic shift is underway in global geopolitics.
India has reportedly accepted a substantial and unprecedented offer from
Russia—an action that could potentially recalibrate the balance of power in
Asia and beyond. As Western powers seek to contain Russia following the Ukraine
conflict, India's decision to deepen its strategic ties with Moscow marks a
significant departure from its previously cautious diplomacy. This paper
explores the motivations, content, and consequences of this move, as well as
its implications for the global order.
The Nature of the Agreement
1. Defense and Technology
Transfer
At the heart of the agreement is an expansive
defense cooperation framework, reportedly involving advanced military
technologies. Speculation suggests Russia has offered India not only weapons
platforms but also full-scale technology transfers. These could include
next-generation combat aircraft, hypersonic missiles, air defense systems, and
submarine components. This aligns with India's "Atmanirbhar Bharat"
(self-reliant India) initiative, enhancing domestic production capacity and
reducing long-term reliance on foreign imports.
2. Energy Security
Another major component is a long-term energy
partnership involving preferential pricing on Russian oil and gas. Amidst
global energy volatility, access to reliable and affordable energy is crucial
for sustaining India's economic growth. The deal may also include alternative
financial mechanisms such as rupee-ruble trade arrangements, insulating both
countries from Western sanctions.
3. Diplomatic and Strategic
Alignment
India's alignment with Russia also signals closer
diplomatic cooperation in global forums such as the United Nations and BRICS.
This is seen as an attempt to challenge Western hegemony and promote a more
multipolar world order.
Historical Context: The
India-Russia Partnership
India-Russia relations are built on a foundation of
trust, strategic alignment, and historical goodwill dating back to the Cold War
era. During a time when India struggled to secure advanced defense technology from
Western nations, the Soviet Union emerged as a reliable partner, supplying
critical equipment and diplomatic support—most notably through the 1971
Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation.
The co-development of the BrahMos supersonic cruise
missile exemplifies the success of this partnership. Even today, over 60% of
India’s defense equipment originates from Russia or the former Soviet Union,
creating a lasting interdependence. This historical cooperation sets the stage
for the present deepening of ties.
Strategic Timing and Motivations
1. Assertion of Strategic
Autonomy
Western pressure to distance itself from Moscow has
paradoxically strengthened India’s resolve to pursue a multi-vector foreign
policy. By embracing a deeper relationship with Russia, India is asserting its
strategic independence.
2. Security Concerns: The China
Factor
The ongoing border tensions with China,
particularly in the Himalayas, necessitate rapid military modernization.
Russia, unlike Western suppliers, may be more willing to offer cutting-edge
technologies without bureaucratic or geopolitical constraints.
3. BRICS and the Multipolar Vision
India's growing role within an expanded BRICS
provides a conducive platform for deeper cooperation with Russia. The two
nations, alongside others, aim to reduce dependency on Western institutions by
promoting trade in national currencies and strengthening the New Development
Bank.
Global Reactions
1. Western Powers
The United States and NATO allies are likely to
perceive this development as a threat to their Indo-Pacific strategy, where
India plays a pivotal role in countering China. Potential repercussions could
include diplomatic pressure, sanctions under CAATSA (Countering America's
Adversaries Through Sanctions Act), and revaluations of defense and technology
partnerships.
The European Union may echo these concerns, raising
the possibility of trade frictions and political misalignment.
2. China
While China may welcome a disruption in U.S.-led
alliances, it may also be wary of Russian military technology empowering a
regional rival. This could strain the China-Russia dynamic.
3. Middle East and Global South
Countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia may view the
India-Russia axis as a stabilizing force and a potential boost to regional
initiatives like the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
Implications for India: Benefits
and Risks
Potential Benefits
Key Risks
Future Outlook: What Happens
Next?
India’s acceptance of Russia's strategic offer is
only the beginning. The global response—especially from Washington—will heavily
influence the direction of this new alignment. If met with harsh retaliation,
India may pivot further toward non-Western partners and reinforce BRICS-related
initiatives such as de-dollarization, national currency trade, and governance
reform.
Expect increased India-Russia military
collaboration, joint research, and potentially greater intelligence sharing.
This could further entrench the partnership and act as a catalyst for a broader
shift in the global power structure—from a unipolar to a multipolar order.
Conclusion
India’s decision to deepen its partnership with
Russia represents a calculated gamble—balancing geopolitical risks with
strategic imperatives. It reflects a desire to maintain autonomy, secure
national interests, and reshape its global role amidst a turbulent
international environment. Whether this will usher in a new global order or
provoke new conflicts remains to be seen. What is certain is that the
India-Russia alliance will play a pivotal role in shaping the contours of
21st-century geopolitics.
* Director,
Centre fir Econ & Finance, London
References
1.
Ministry of External Affairs,
Government of India. India-Russia Relations. New Delhi: MEA, 2024. https://mea.gov.in/india-russia.htm
2.
Stratfor. "Russia’s
Strategic Partnerships in Asia." RAND Corporation, 2023.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA1621-1.html
3.
Krishnan, Murali. "India’s
Energy Ties with Russia Deepen Despite Western Pressure." The Hindu,
March 15, 2024. https://www.thehindu.com
4.
Mukherjee, Arpita. "India to
Buy Russian Oil in Rupees to Sidestep Sanctions." Reuters, April
10, 2024. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/india-russian-oil-rupees
5.
Saran, Shyam. India’s Quest
for Strategic Autonomy: A Diplomatic Balancing Act. New Delhi: Carnegie
India, 2023. https://carnegieindia.org/2023/11/20/indias-strategic-autonomy
A Historical Perspective on NATO, Russia, and Western Interventionism Europe in general—and the UK in particular—continue to suffer from a deep-rooted Russophobia. To this day, no solid evidence has been provided by President Biden or any Western leader to support claims of Russian interference in European affairs or in Donald Trump’s first presidential election.
Historically, Kyiv was the capital of ancient Rus'. Crimea, meanwhile, was handed over to Ukraine by Nikita Khrushchev due to his Ukrainian heritage. Even Mikhail Gorbachev had Ukrainian roots. Following the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the U.S.-led NATO alliance began to unilaterally expand, bully, invade, and orchestrate CIA-backed coups and regime changes around the world. According to a report by a group of professors at Brown University, the U.S. has intervened in 97 countries since then.
In the early post-Soviet years, Russia was governed by Boris Yeltsin—a weak and ineffectual leader, often ridiculed for his drunken behavior. Under his leadership, the country fell into disarray. Key public sector enterprises were sold off for peanuts, often to oligarchs with close ties to the West. Many of these individuals, particularly of Jewish background, took their money and moved to Germany, Finland, the U.S., and possibly even France.
When Gorbachev agreed to German unification, it was on the condition that NATO would not expand eastward. Later, Western leaders backed away from this commitment, claiming there was no formal written agreement.
Fast forward to 2008: at the NATO summit in Bucharest, the alliance declared that both Ukraine and Georgia would one day become members—yet provided no roadmap. Despite repeated warnings from President Putin, NATO kept pushing eastward. Five countries joined first, followed by seven more that encircled Russia. The only remaining access point for Russia to the rest of Europe was through Ukraine—a border stretching over 2,000 kilometers.
In 2014, NATO’s involvement in Ukraine escalated after the Maidan coup, widely viewed as U.S.-supported. This further inflamed tensions. Then came the Minsk Agreements, signed by France’s President Macron and Germany’s Chancellor Merkel, which were supposed to de-escalate the situation. However, in 2022, both leaders admitted their real aim was to buy time to arm Ukraine and prepare for conflict—a clear act of bad faith.
In April 2022, during peace talks in Istanbul, an agreement was nearly reached to end the conflict. However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson flew to Kyiv on the orders of Washington to persuade President Zelensky not to sign the deal—prolonging the war unnecessarily.
Putin’s requests to address Russia’s security concerns were consistently ignored by the West. Left with no diplomatic path, he was forced to act to secure Russia's sovereignty—no longer the weak state it was in the 1990s.
NATO’s track record speaks volumes: from the bombing and dismantling of Yugoslavia with the support of far-right groups, to the 1990 invasion of Iraq, the 2001 war in Afghanistan, and the 2003 re-invasion of Iraq that led to the deaths of over half a million civilians. The West also backed extremist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS in Syria, and orchestrated the brutal killing of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.
This cycle of regime change and destruction was not going to be allowed to continue—at least not without resistance. Of course, the West may have the last word in the media, but perhaps some of us will have the last laugh when history writes its final verdict.
Marxist Historians
Harsh Thakor*
May 11th we commemorated the 10th death anniversary of one of the greatest-ever Marxist intellectuals. Suniti Kumar Ghosh. I was privileged to have personally met him in Kolkata in March; 2009.
Applying Marxist mode, in diverse spheres he classically delved into a refuting
distortion of Indian history and the autocracy of the Indian state
I greatly admire his tenacity in the most adverse of situations to
refute the ruling class and revisionist propaganda and still never going
overboard.
When many intellectuals fell into the quagmire of bankruptcy after the collapse
of the Soviet Union in 1991 Ghosh stood relentless like a rock. Till the very
end, he grappled with the problems and concerns of the rebuilding of the
communist revolutionary movement in India.
EARLY LIFE
Suniti Kumar Ghosh was born on 18 February 1918 in the
Sibpur area of district Howrah in West Bengal. After matriculating from the B K
Paul Institution, Sibpur, he joined St. Paul's College, Kolkata, and received
his BA with honours in English literature and an MA degree in English from the
University of Calcutta. He adopted teaching as his career and taught at nearly
eleven colleges encompassing East and West Bengal as also Bihar. He was an
active participant in the Tebhaga movement (l946-47) and joined the Communist
Party of India (CPI).
POLITICAL LIFE
Suniti Kumar Ghosh joined the Communist Party of India
(Marxist) sometime after its formation in 1964 and was associated with the
editorial boards of Desh Hitaishi and People's Democracy—the
two organs of the CPI(M). Being disappointed by the CPM’s revisionist he
revolted against it he associated with a radical Bengali periodical (magazine) known
as Kalpurush along with Saroj Datta and others. He wrote a series of articles
that reflected the ideology of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in
China and the impact of Mao Tse-Tung's Thoughts on it.
The 'Naxalbari, propelled Sunitibabu into action. He accepted
the role of editor of organs such as Deshabrati and Liberation which
propagated the mass-line of the Indian revolution and became highly popular.
He was an integral part of the movement for the rest
of the decade, and only returned home when burnt to the last straw. In that
decade of the revolutionary movement not only his family (his wife Anima and
his two daughters, but he was subjected to turmoil.. He never forgot the
martyrs of that movement, to whom he dedicated several of his writings. “I owe
to those who, sharing my ideals and braving immense risks, gave me shelter and
food when shelter was more precious than food.”
In 1974 Ghosh was
instrumental in the formation of the Central Organising Committee of the CPI
(ML), which made a constructive self-criticism of past errors of CPI (ML). In 1977 he officially left the party stating.
“The COC held that the battle
of annihilation of class enemies, carried out by secret squads of militants,
cannot solve our problems nor can it serve as the beginning of the guerrilla
war. That is why the COC considered it necessary "to participate in and
lead mass struggles of the people on all fronts – economic, political and
cultural – and establish the Party's political leadership over mass
organizations to organize armed struggles of the peasantry based on an Agrarian
Programme and for building up base areas in the countryside.“
2ND PHASE
Thereafter he ventured on a second phase, in which he
methodically welded a treasure house of literature: The Indian Big Bourgeoisie: Its Genesis, Growth and Character
(1985, then revised and enlarged in 2000); India
and the Raj 1919-1947: Glory, Shame and Bondage (vol. 1: 1989; vol. 2: RUPE,
1995; re-published as a single volume in 2007 by Sahitya Samsad); The Historic Turning-Point: A Liberation
Anthology (in two volumes,1992 and 1993); The Tragic Partition of Bengal (2002); Naxalbari – Before and After:
Reminiscences and Appraisal (2009). Apart from these, he published several
shorter publications or booklets: Development
Planning in India: Lumpen Development and Imperialism (RUPE, 1997, 2002); Imperialism’s Tightening Grip on Indian
Agriculture (1998); India’s Constitution and Its Review (RUPE, 2001); The
Himalayan Adventure: India-China War of 1962 – Causes and Consequences (RUPE,
2002); and India’s in journals such as Aspects of India’s Economy, Bulletin of
Concerned Asian Scholars, Economic and Political Weekly, Frontier, Monthly
Review, and Visvabharati Quarterly. He dipped his pen as late as 2010, at
the age of 92, after which his body simply gave in.
Since the 1980s, Ghosh
was not politically active and did not formally belong to any political
organization, but handed over the baton to those activists who waged
revolutionary struggles in the following years. His academic vigour and
political activism were intertwined. The root of his academic work was the
Naxalbari struggle, and his academic work planted the theoretical breeding
ground for the activists to bloom in the later phases of the revolutionary
movement.
His arduous toil in the
second phase were never ends in themselves; but part and parcel of serving the
same cause to which he devoted his energies in the earlier phase. Now no longer
in a position to directly participate in the revolutionary movement, he took up
the mantle of neglected political tasks of that movement as if it was his very
duty, in particular, the analysis and substantiation of the character of
India’s ruling classes, the nature of modern India’s historical development and
political economy, the revolutionary struggles of the Indian people to
transform Indian society, and the political leadership of that revolutionary
movement. No author has as classically analyzed the nature of
the Indian big bourgeoisie.
He nourished
revolutionary optimism at every juncture and placed unwavering faith in an
India emancipated from exploitation and that the Indian Communist revolutionary
movement would emerge triumphant sometime in the near or distant future. Many
of his old associates were disillusioned with the future of the Indian
revolution and joined the reactionary camp, but Ghosh never relented in holding
the baton of the ideals he cherished. No intellectual gave the politics of
Naxalbari such a concrete frame or shape to revive its politics.
SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT BOOKS BY GHOSH
In India and
the Raj 1919-1947, no historian has as analytically diagnosed the
collusion or complicit role of the bourgeoisie with imperialism and exploded
the myth of conventional historiography of 1947 independence as Suniti Ghosh
did. He surgically contrasts the domain of the politics of the people of
revolutionary violence with the domain of elite politics, which seeks to secure
a place within the social order.
The book investigated Gandhi’s early experiments with Satygagraha, the
collaboration of the Indian bourgeoisie with imperialism, the repression in
Jallianwala Bagh and Chauri-Chaura, civil and criminal disobedience, the
hypocrisy of nonviolent nationalism and goals and strategies of the Congress.
In his book, he illustrated how the Gandhi-led Congress consistently acted on
the behest or patronized the industrialists and landlords, as well as appeased
religious politics and a grounded analysis illustrated how the Congress was
devoid of genuine mass character and never took into its fold genuine
anti-colonial uprisings. He projects the economics of a comprador bourgeoisie with
intrinsic detail that did not divorce links with imperialism and explained how
Congress leaders appeased or operated in hand and glove with the landlord
classes. Ghosh evaluated how the Tat as, Birlas, or Singhanias acted as brokers
for British capital and differentiated the comprador bourgeoisie from the national
bourgeoisie.
In ‘Himalayan Adventure –India-China 1962 War, Ghosh most
comprehensively analyzed how it was India or Nehru who was on the offensive in the
1962 Indo-China War, by violating the McMahan line agreement. Even some Indian
generals admitted this. He extensively quotes Neville Maxwell.
Ghosh logically probed the collusion of superpowers, the USSR and the US
to conspire against China and promote Indian expansionism. They backed India’s
declaring war on China and India’s claim over Tibet, which was part of China. Earlier appeals from
China for negotiations for a peaceful settlement found no echo in the hearts of
the Nehru. However, in 1960 Nehru agreed
to Chou En-lai’s proposal to meet. The Chinese prime minister accompanied by
Chen Yi, China’s foreign minister, came to India in April 1960 to negotiate a
peaceful settlement. However, the hosts
were not quite friendly; Nehru had assured the Indian hawks that there would be
‘talks’ but no ‘negotiations’. The decision of the Indian ruling classes to go
to war with China was, as the Times of India noted, a political
decision – a decision that conflicted with military advice. This political
decision invited a rebuff from China under which the Indian army, the Indian
government, and Nehru reeled. In a short
span of 20-24 October, the Chinese
forces overran Indian positions, penetrated the NEFA territory, and occupied
Towang (not far south of the McMahon line), but halted and again began
diplomatic exchanges. But Nehru was his
old self-righteous, apt to turn truth on its head and determined not to enter
into negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the boundary problem.
In Naxalbari before and after, in incisive detail, Ghosh made a balanced appraisal of the CPI ((ML), formed in 1969. Most illustratively, he showed how Naxalbari revolutionized Indian history and how the party shaped the rebellion of all oppressed classes. Ghosh most dwelled in his analysis of how the movement was based on the mass character and how it was a turning point in the history of India. He projected how the party, uprising, and masses were an integral part of revolutionary change and symmetrical synthesis of the party with the armed struggle and mass movement.
Although a great admirer of Charu Mazumdar, CPI(ML), and Naxalbari , Ghosh
was critical of left adventurism’. He refuted the abandoning of mass organizations
and movements, the path of ‘annihilation of the class enemy ‘, and the party's
authoritarianism which was unable to obstruct all forces to converge. Instead
of placing the blame on Charu Mazumdar solely, he asserted that the fault of
the setback was due to a lack of collective leadership.
He dwells on the crystallization of the
evolution of the Naxalbari revolt into the broader ideological zone,
illustrating the dichotomy between the theory of armed struggle and the
peaceful, parliamentary road to socialism.
Ghosh’s critique lucidly portrays the
leader’s autocratic style of functioning, while it has no reflection of
factional rivalry or personal bitterness. His book revealed that Mazumdar
negated from the party the criticism of his line by Zhou Enlai and Kang Sheng,
the two top CPC leaders, when the former emissary, Souren Bose, met them in
Beijing in mid-1970.
In India’s
Constitution and Its Review Suniti made a scientific
dissection of the essence of the Indian Constitution, portraying its class character,
exploring how the Constitution could not protect the genuine rights of the
people and how in practice lot of what was enshrined was nonexistent.
WEAKNESSES
In my personal view, Ghosh failed to analyze in what ways the path of the
Indian revolution had unique characteristics being divergent from the Chinese
path of people's war or how its semi-feudalism erred.
I also disagree with his
evaluation that the 1947 independence was a mere transfer of power or his
complete negation of the role of MK Gandhi as a colonial agent, denying his
role in bridging the link of Congress with the masses.
However penetrative his analysis was Ghosh failed to expose the
autocratic nature of the formation of the CPI (ML) in 1969 or give comrades
like Tarimela Nagi Reddy, DV Rao, Kanu
Sanyal, Kanhai Chaterjee or organizations like the Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee or
Dakshin Desh, their proper due contribution to the revolutionary movement.
*A freelance Journalist. Thanks for the information from the Research Unit for
Political Economy and Amit Bhattacharya in Frontier Weekly. He personally met
Suniti Kumar Ghosh in Kolkata in 2009.
The fascist BJP has to be defeated in the 2024 Elections but only through a genuine revolutionary alternative and not the tailiism of bankrupt political parties.
HarshThakor, Freelance Journalist
The 2024 elections are starting when India is on the verge of turning proto-fascist. In every sphere, the Hindutva saffron brigade has penetrated every sphere or rung of the social order and destroyed the very fabric of the constitution. Persecution of minorities, particularly Muslims has reached heights unscaled, laws or bills have been passed violating constitutional norms and jeopardising the projection of farmers and industrial workers like never before, economic disparity is wider than ever before, inflation and unemployment have sky-rocketed at an unprecedented level, democratic dissent has been crushed more mercilessly than ever in the nation’s history, corporates have been given free license to plunder at a level unmatched, and communal fervour has gripped every corner the nation, giving overtones of fascist regimes of the 1930s.
The political scenario e
of India has been dramatically reversed after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when
the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance emerged victorious. Development
was the only agenda of the BJP government in the election of 2014, which shifted
to Kashmir and CAA-NRC in 2019. Recently, the Indian government has amended the
preamble and scrubbed the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ without any
constitutional amendment. The government thus unscrupulously evaded the very
base of constitutional morality in the Indian constitution. Regretfully there
is no organised mass movement sprouting in the country, which illustrates the
need to elevate the process of development of consciousness with historical bondage
n of religious beliefs and feudal relations and practices far stronger than
democratic values.
Background (based on CPI-Maoist statement)
India is going for elections to the 18th Lok Sabha in
7 phases starting from April 19th to June 1st, 2024. The proto-fascist
BJP is fortified to the last tooth converting the country into a Hindu state.
Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) has been on its agenda for a long time along
with the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and the present decision to implement CAA
just before the announcement of the election schedule was to win over the majority
Hindu votes, which will strip the minimum rights of the people of all other
religions. While the electoral parties are busy trying to make alliances to
defeat the BJP, their disunity in seat sharing only helps the BJP.
Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindutva
organisation has around forty crore members together in its affiliated
organisations penetrating various classes and sections of people all over the
country. This is where BJP is rooted in its neo-fascist ideology with the
saffron forces constituting above one-third of voters of the country fed brainwashed
with Hinduism, that unleash brutality at
its most ruthless height on the people. With this massive penetration and
absolute support from the imperialists and big corporate houses, the BJP
government is carving the path to build ‘Vikasit Bharat’ (Hindu Rashtr) by 2047with
this election is playing a major role in achieving its agenda.
Parliamentary democracy in India is illusions
Elections violate democracy and the percentage of polling in any General
election is just 60 percent. Real democracy can never materialise in the
existing semi-feudal conditions where money power, caste power, and religious
frenzy are dominant..
While the ruling classes of India project it to be the
biggest democracy in the world they mask an autocratic country where
Parliamentary elections are held only to consolidate and strengthen comprador bureaucracy
and to stabilise the exploitation and oppression by the imperialists of the
world, domestic comprador bureaucratic bourgeois and feudal classes on the
oppressed people of the country. Despite the t natural resources aplenty, the
government is making the country more and more subservient to imperialist aid
and technology. ‘Vikasit Bharat-2047’ road map, Make in India, Digital India,
Smart Cities, Start-up India, Skill India, and Fasal Bima schemes are examples of
instruments of domestic and foreign corporate companies.
When the BJP captured power for the second consecutive
term in 2019, it enforced several anti -Muslim, anti-nationality, anti-tribal
traitorous Acts such as Triple Talaq, CAA, etc. UCC and other such Acts that transform
the country into a Hindutva fascist autocratic state if it comes to power for
the third time.
Manipulating proceedings for
election victory
The issue of electoral bonds exposed the BJP government‘s
merciless strategy to escalate it’s monopoly. The bonds were money donated to
the electoral parties, in lieu of expenditure on elections. The Supreme Court
directed the State Bank of India 2 (SBI) to give all details. It must convey to
the Election Commission the names of bond buyers, the dates and amounts of
purchase, and the names of those who benefited. The Election Commission should
communicate the data on its website to the people. Bonds already bought but not
deposited were ‘directed’ to be returned.
When the SBI finally submitted the details of the 18,871
purchases and 20,421 encashment of the electoral bonds worth Rs. 12,551.1
crores, out of which BJP owns Rs. 6,060 crores, it lacked details of the
alphanumeric numbers and the serial numbers that reveal accurate details.
BJP is plundering funds in a big way to spend it in
elections. ‘Buying’ the elected candidates, creating pandemonium in the state
governments, and bringing them into its fold. It is robbing the funds of the
opposition parties in the name of silly matters only to help BJP come to power.
So, this is not at all a true democracy as it claims to be.
The facts about the expenditure of BJP on
advertisements additionally show the extent of its corruption. BJP spent Rs. 30
crores in 30 days starting from the end of January this year on streaming ads,
mostly videos according to Google Ads Transparency Centre data. It clearly shows
that the present fascist rule of the BJP in India is no more a
‘democracy’.
Communal thrust
Another major problem faced by the people under BJP
rule, especially tribal and Muslim people was evacuation. According to a report
“Forced Evictions in India: 2022 & 2023” by The Housing and Land Rights
Network (HLRN), 58.7 percent of the evictions were in the name of ‘slum
clearance’, ‘removal of encroachment’ or ‘beautification of the city’. 35
percent were for infrastructure projects, 4.7 for environmental projects, and
0.7 percent for disaster management. One and a half lakh houses were demolished
by the government in which 7.4 lakh people were forcefully evicted. In 2023
alone, more than 5 lakh people were evicted in Delhi being in the first place.
Courts always were in favour of evictions. This is nothing but marginalisation
of tribal and Muslim communities from society. The elections would intensify attacks
on these communities with the goal of the BJP to provoke Hindu sentiments and gain votes.
The inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on 22nd January was one issue that the BJP used as a weapon its political propaganda. Crores of people’s money was spent for the purpose. The construction of Ram Mandir, also a part of the agenda of Brahmanic Hindutva was done at the time before elections to exploit the sentiments of the majority Hindu people of the country. It also illustrated the Supreme Court’s anti-people character that gave judgment in favour of the construction in 2019.
Modi government created a propaganda machine of Nazi
scale against the ongoing people’s movements through feature films. After the
infamous ‘Kashmir files’ and Kerala story’ that Modi personally also promoted
in his public speeches, ‘Bastar, the Naxal story’ and ‘Joram’ in the background
of the revolutionary movement in Bihar-Jharkhand were released in March.
Regressive political economy
In the past decade of BJP’s rule in the leadership of
Modi, Lakhs of workers and employees were deprived of employment in favour of
modernisation of corporate enterprises. Casualisation and outsourcing of labour
intensified in unprecedented volumes. Lakhs of small and medium-scale
industries were closed to facilitate big corporate tycoons. 26 crores of
agricultural labours are living miserable lives. 2.7 lakh central government 3
permanent employees were removed in the name of lay off and VRS. 15 lakh
workers were removed from 7 big public sector organisations. Employees, small
traders, students, unemployed, women and all the oppressed sections are facing
the wrath of Brahmanic Hindutva Fascism. The Hindutva forces in power are
making these oppressed classes a scapegoat in favour of the corporate houses.
Such policies gain validity through winning the elections.
BJP Modi government about India projects India as the
third biggest economy, and the everyday turnover of various sectors testify
that it is development pertaining to domestic and foreign corporate companies.
As per the fresh assessment of IMF, the GDP of the US is 26.8 trillion dollars,
and per capita income is 80.41 thousand dollars. India is in the 5th place with
a GDP of 3.7 trillion dollars and per capita income of 2.6 thousand dollars. As
per the statistics of per capita income, our country is the poorest in the G-20
alliance.
The loan on the people of the country is estimated to
reach Rs. 169 lakh crores by March 2024. In addition to this, the state
governments made a loan of another Rs. 76,09,926 crores. The government
collected more than Rs. 26, 51,919 crores from the people in the name of fuel
taxes on petrol, diesel, and cooking gas. An amount of Rs. 1,70,000 crores are
being collected per month in the name of GST. In addition to all the taxes paid
by the people, the central government collects cess (special taxes) in
education, health, agriculture, railways, coal mines, roads, infrastructure,
exports, and other sectors. 6,68,400 hectares of forests were destroyed in our
country in 2015-2020 under Modi’s rule. India is in the 155th place among 188
countries in the World Environment Protection Index in 2021.
These facts and figures illustrate that the
governments elected through elections only serve the coffers of imperialists,
comprador bureaucratic capitalists, and big landlords.
Weaknesses within the anti-fascist
Movement and correct approach
Unlike Western developed
nations, Indian parliamentary democracy only had a semblance of bourgeois
democracy, being still subservient to imperialism after 1947, with landlordism,
morally not abolished.
It is incorrect
to equate the fascist tendencies of the ruling classes in
India with the historical fascist phenomena in Nazi
Germany or Italy. In those countries, these
phenomena crystallized as
a tirade against bourgeois democracy - while in
a country like ours, bourgeoisie democracy
never completely established its social base. Thus it is
fruitless to adopt an anti-fascist classical model applicable to fascist
countries of the 1930’s in Europe.
Regretfully there is no
organised mass movement sprouting in the country to check the fascist wave which
illustrates the need to elevate the process of development of consciousness
with historical bondage n of religious beliefs and feudal relations and
practices far stronger than democratic values.
The last mass movement
was against the CAA-NRC which engulfed almost every part of the country. The
way that the students took part in this movement was outstanding exposing the
general masses to the draconian laws of the country, under which a number of
activists were arrested on fabricated charges of UAPA. It projected the
character of the proto-fascist nature of the state, where the entire Delhi
police administration rallied behind the RSS forces and even the Apex court accepted
the Delhi Police’s biased investigation into the Delhi pogrom
case. However, this movement scarcely mobilised the peasantry and
working-class population. Being controlled largely by petty-bourgeois leaders
and limited constituency-holding forces. (This para is based on views of
Nazariya)
The farmers' movement of Samyukta Morcha, has waged
valiant resistance but its leadership has in important stages blunted the
revolutionary resistance, and been complicit in promoting electoral politics.
The traditional left parties hardly undertook
political education inside their trade unions to build solidarity on the class
line and instead projected Hindu-Muslim Ekta. The parties were correct to
build communal harmony between the two communities, but they failed to wedge class
solidarity and a working-class movement to force fascist forces to retreat. The
opportunistic tendency of left parties misleads common people that all left
parties are bidding for only gaining votes and winning a few seats in the
election. Here, we need to distinguish between the opportunistic tendencies of
the progressive section
Today most organized forces of the state and the
on-ground fascist movement are operating complicity and are working hand-in-hand
to suppress the people’s voice.
The history of Congress and other ruling parties in
India is more or less the same. The Congress never eradicated or even
restricted the flow of foreign finance penetration from imperialists. Under the
regime of Congress, the first idol of Ram-Sita was installed inside Babri
Masjid, and entry was restricted. Congress stormed into Nagaland to suppress
their demand for nationhood. It paid no heed to the Sachhar Committee report in
the interest of minorities, Congress introduced draconian laws like AFSPA, NSA,
UAPA, etc. It was sold Indian agriculture to the WTO. This very Congress opened
the gates of Babri Masjid in 1986 to sponsor Rath Yatra and brick worship. This
very party opened the gates to globalisation and liberalisation, which sold out
India to corporates. It was Congress, which gradually dismantled the industrial
sectors. It never effectively combated RSS-like organizations and morally and craftily
tried to support the idea of Hindutva Nationality. The BJP has merely sharpened
the path that Congress was treading in the past. It
has also been a common e phenomenon of opposition parties like Aam Aadmi Party
or Janata Dal to pamper Hindu politics and the indirect agenda of Hindutva and corporations.
To stir a revolutionary wave or combat against
fascism, the independent initiative of the proletariat is an imperative task. The
independent initiative of the communist party is essential to establish its own
base within the masses. Without an
independent initiative, the communist party will ultimately be tailing behind
the big parties (they might be social-democrats or comprador bureaucratic
parties). The electoral left parties firmly adhere to the fact that the current
regime can only be toppled through the electoral means and there is no other
way to combat it. They also endorse the idea that the current political regime
of BJP-RSS is fascist, and must be overthrown in the election. (This para is
the view of Nazariya journal).
A united front like the Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) under the leadership of Congress will not check the wave of fascism, because most of the parties harbour fascist inclinations and show electoral opportunism. The history of fascism manifested that it takes a violent mass movement stirred by the direct influence of the ruling class. There. We have witnessed throughout history that, if the communist forces delay action the feeling of nationality blunts the class consciousness of the working class too. The working-class people rallied behind the Nazi forces not because they cherished d the working condition or facilities provided by Hitler, but due to the weakness of the proletarian leadership to act on time.. If democratic forces fail to undertake collective organized action against fascism, it will rob us of time to cut its weeds.(view of Nazariya)
There are also deviationist trends amongst Communist
revolutionaries. Some like the CPI (Maoist) call for election boycotts, without
establishing alternative organs of democratic power or requiring revolutionary
democratic consciousness. In spite of great sacrifices and strides the people
often become hapless spectators and indirectly the Maoists give support to
ruling class candidates. On the other hand CPI(ML) factions like ‘Red Star’,
‘Mass-line ‘, or ‘Class Struggle’ participate in the parliamentary process
without properly securing a re-organized vanguard party., with the Communist party
being in scattered bits. This is capitulationism. The only correct approach is undertaking
an active political campaign, calling for building a democratic alternative,
utilising contradictions of ruling class parties.
Therefore, to confront the fascist attack of the Modi government, the true
secular and democratic sections of the people need to garner a common solution around class and democratic
issues. All the people of the working classes, including the tribals,
Dalits, Women,
oppressed religious
minorities, and oppressed nationalities who are victims of the
special oppression of the special Indian state, intellectuals, journalists, and other democratic sections, who are under the attack of this Hindutva corporate fascist attack need to
build a front. This fascist attack needs to be combated at the ideological political plane as
well as in the arena of practical class struggle. Communal nationalism
in particular should be strongly fought in
the ideological field, with anti-imperialism
the real Rashtriyaism (concluding para is stand of Punjabi journal Surkh Leeh).
I recommend reading the pamphlet of the Democratic People’s
Front of India convened by Arjun Prasad Singh which in the most balanced manner
projects what the doctor orders in 2024. Elections.
Harsh Thakor is a
freelance journalist .Thanks information from Nazariya blog, Surkh Leeh and
CPI(Maoist) statement on Maoist path.