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Organise Intensive Campaign Everywhere:
Not Imperialism, Socialism is the Only Path
Forward
THE IMPERIALIST BUBBLE has burst again, with unprecedented seriousness this time,
creating havoc to the working class and all oppressed people more than ever. The
financial markets working as casinos with speculative parasitic forces, the bandits of
profit, in control have once again proved that imperialism is becoming more moribund
than ever, more barbarous than ever. Still the ruling classes in India and their political
representatives, irrespective of the colour of their flags and names are faithfully pursuing
the neo-liberal policies enslaving the country to neo-colonisation, concealing the
grievous consequences of the global imperialist crisis to our people. All of them are
proving themselves as more and more comprador, lackeys of imperialism, than ever.
When the fundamental contra-diction between ever increasing socialisation of
production and ever-narrowing private appropriation of products, the basic feature of the
imperialist system is causing havoc to world people, it is proved more profoundly than
ever that only by resolving this contradiction through socialisation of ownership of all
products the crisis can be overcome. That is why Marx and Engels, and following their
teachings Lenin taught that capitalism and its monopoly stage, imperialism, cannot serve
as the alternative for the people. Only socialism can become their alternative to advance
to an exploitation-free, classless society, communism.
When Soviet Union which had degenerated to capitalist path had disintegrated, the
imperialists and their lackeys all over the world were shouting ‘end of history’, and that
socialism has become obsolete. But today after the present imperialist bubble has burst,
it is once again proved, more vehemently than ever, that Not Imperialism, Socialism is
the Only Path Forward for human race. We appeal to all Marxist-Leninist forces to
organise a vigorous campaign everywhere all over the country with the above
slogan in the month of November along with the observation of the anniversary of
the Great October Revolution.
Down with Imperialism!
Long Live October Revolution!
March Forward Along the Path of Socialism!
Economic Notes
Can Neo-Keynesian Medicine Solve the Crisis?
P.J. James
AS WORLD IMPERIALIST SYSTEM is going through what is widely acknowledged to be the
greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, and as the financial parasitism,
criminality and social decay associated with unbridled private capitalist appropriation
with no historical precedent have totally exposed, we are witnessing the grotesque
picture of various imperialist powers attempting to bail out their largest banks and
leading financial institutions by adopting neo-Keynesian economic policies. That is, the
current crisis has dealt a massive blow to the credibility of neo-liberalism at an
international level. The ruling classes the world over that most persistently preached the
gospel of free markets, private enterprise and individual self-reliance till the other day
are now espousing the virtues of state intervention and market regulation.
In fact, as already became clear, the crisis relates to the particular form of wealth
accumulation by the financial elite in which wealth accumulation has become almost
entirely detached from the production of real value. This is the essence of financial
parasitism, which Lenin in 1916 defined as the essential character of moribund
capitalism. Obviously, today, the gigantic scale of the parasitism of the imperialist
bourgeoisie is exponentially greater than anything that existed in Lenin’s day. The
growth of financial speculation has proceeded along with, the dismantling of large
sections of industry and the outsourcing of manufacturing to cheap-labor regions around
the world. This decay in the productive base of imperialist economy is the sharpest
expression of this global crisis. But neo-Keynesians who firmly uphold private
appropriation of wealth have no solution to offer for this.
As a matter of fact, the application of Keynesianism was made possible in the US by
the immense stimulus provided by war production for World War II. In the war, the US
demonstrated the superiority of its advanced production methods, far outstripping the
capacity of Germany and Japan to turn out planes, ships, tanks and bullets and feed and
equip their soldiers. At the end of the war, the supreme power of American imperialism
was rooted in this war oriented production together with its military supremacy. During
the period following World War II, four out of every five cars sold throughout the world
were produced in the US; America, which had 6 percent of the world’s population,
produced and consumed one-half of the world’s goods. Its gold reserve was almost 70
percent of the world total. America’s gross domestic product rose from $100 billion in
1940 to $300 billion in 1950 and $500 billion in 1960- - a five fold increase during a span
of two decades. However, the ageing and decaying American economy today has none
of these advantages for a renewed application of the Keynesian medicine.
Of course, the Keynesian prescription was based on the uncontrolled expansion in
finance arising from the growth in American debt and the circulation of dollar
everywhere. This led to an unprecedented inflation. Consequently, in the 1970s
Keynesian deficit spending policies broke down in the face of “stagflation.”. It signaled a
decision by the American finance capitalists to defend its wealth and its international
position by launching an offensive against both the American working class and
oppressed peoples of the world. It marked the end of ‘temporary compromise’ with
labour that had been initiated under the New Deal by Roosevelt in the 1930s in the
context of the ascendancy of socialism and national liberation movements at a global
level. Thatcherism and Reagonomics followed. The central aim was to roll back the
economic and social gains that had been achieved by the working class over the
previous 40 years. This was to be achieved by shutting down major sections of US
industry that could no longer provide a sufficiently high rate of profit and using mass
unemployment as a weapon to attack the unions and break the resistance of the working
class. This so called “deindustrialization of America” marked a decisive shift of American
capital from productive forms of investment to purely speculative forms of wealth
accumulation.
It is highly noteworthy that the previous bourgeois offensive against the American
working class that began after World War I and lasted into the first years of the
Depression coincided with a continued expansion of US industry. That was during the
rising arc of American capitalism. The new offensive took place within the context of an
accelerating decline, and in the critical respect of America’s industrial base took the
opposite form. Meanwhile, the neo-conservative policies were given legitimacy by the
media and academia, which hailed the emergence of the “post-industrial society”.
In reality, the 1980s saw a catastrophic decay in the foundations of American
imperialism. Between 1981 and 1986, the US share of world exports slumped from over
20 percent to 13.8 percent. Between 1973 and 1983, US steel production fell 44 percent.
The national debt more than doubled under the Reagan administration. In brief, the
period of uncontrolled financialization of imperialist world economy began since then.
Amidst waves of corporate downsizing, financial speculation played an ever-greater role
in economic life and assumed new and more parasitic forms. One speculative bubble
succeeded another: the East Asian collapse was followed by the rise and fall of the
dot.com bubble, and was quickly replaced by the sub-prime mortgage bubble.
Securitization of debt became the new model of American banking, based on the
conception that high-risk and high-yield investments, sustained by an exponential growth
of debt, could continue to expand without limit, since the banks could offload much of the
debt to other investors around the world. There is an organic connection between the
colossal growth of economic parasitism and the ever more brazen concentration of
wealth at the pinnacle of society. CEO compensation exploded in an environment of
uncontrolled speculation and political reaction. An ever-greater share of the social wealth
was funneled from the working class to the financial elite. The collapse of the unions
deprived the working class of any organized means of resisting the plundering of the
national wealth. Purchasing power of the masses fell to an abysmally low level. The
present crisis has emerged in this over all background.
In this context, the expectation of the ruling classes including both reformists and
neo-Keynesians that another dose of Keynesianism and regulated capitalism can bring
order and stability to the system is mere illusion. The root cause of the present crisis lies
in the inherent contradiction in imperialism—that is, the social nature of production and
its private appropriation—that has become so acute. No amount of Keynesianism or
state regulation is capable of removing this contradiction which lies underneath. And the
crisis is bound to reappear in deeper and deeper forms. What is required is a bursting of
imperialist production relations along with the bursting of the speculative bubble and the
ushering in an era of socialism. On the other hand, ruling classes and reformists, using
neo-Keynesianism as an ideology, are diverting the whole issue as one of lack of
regulation and state intervention under capitalism. They are camouflaging the historical
fact that it was a quarter century of Keynesian treatment following World War II that
ultimately led to the growth of the financial bubble.
At the ideological sphere, imperialism is trying to grant legitimacy to neo-
Keynesianism. As a manifestation, this year’s Nobel prize in Economics is being
awarded to Paul Krugman of Princeton University, a neo-Keynesian in economic
thinking. Of course, the ideological counterpart of the financial crisis is the immediate
decline in the financial orthodoxy espoused by the neo-conservatives. In policy making
as well as in bourgeois economic thinking, neo-Keynesians are getting adequate
representation. Imperialism is profusely utilizing the services of economists who pursue
even Marxist methodology in their analysis, to alleviate the acute crisis confronted by
them. An example is the incorporation of the renowned Indian left economist, Prabhat
Patnaik in the Committee constituted by the UN to study the present international
economic situation and suggest recommendations. Interestingly, the Chairman of this
Committee is none other than Joseph Stiglitz, former Chief economist of the World Bank,
who is also a critique of unfettered financial speculation.
However as already noted, though the imperialist world is witnessing a reaffirmation
of Keynesian prescriptions, its prospects are feeble. US led imperialist world economy
today is several times more parasitical and moribund than the situation in the 1930s
when the Keynesian medicine was applied first. Today the malignancy of the system is
too severe to be rectified by the Keynesian prescription which imperialism had discarded
in the seventies. In particular, the American economy today is more weak- decline of
dollar, relative erosion in its productive potential, growth of financial bubble, etc,- to
enforce the rules needed for an international Keynesianism. Domestically, the
Keynesian policies will not work as the resource mobilization required for the public
spending is difficult to be found. Firstly, additional taxes are not feasible in a situation of
stagnation. Secondly, deficit financing is not possible in the prevailing conditions of high
levels of inflation as it will aggravate the situation further. In other words, the objective
situation- coexistence of stagnation and inflation, that is, stagflation—which led to the
abandonment of Keynesianism in the 1970s still prevails today. The remaining third
option is borrowing from other countries. This will further worsen the debt burden which
has already reached its extreme limits crossing the $12 trillion mark as of now.
Therefore, the entire burden of this neo-Keynesian treatment will once again fall on the
shoulders of working people. In brief, this is an opportune moment before the
international proletariat to rise to its historic task of overthrowing the decadent imperialist
world system.
National Scene
15th Lok Sabha Elections: Limitations and
Possibilities
K.N. Ramachandran
THE ELECTIONS to the 15th Lok Sabha is taking place at a critical time in the history of
our country. In the context of the worst ever crisis faced by the imperialist system as a
whole, especially US imperialism, and as a result of the last five years of Congress-led
UPA rule, our country is in the grip of unprecedented crisis as a consequence of the
neo-liberal policies and of integrating its economy to the global financial capital, which is
getting increasingly dominated by speculative and parasitic character. As a result, the
dreams during the century-long independence struggle and the vision of a new India
cherished by the heroic martyrs are being shattered. While struggling for the
independence of the country, the people’s movement had the vision of an India free from
imperialist yoke, a federal democratic self-reliant and secular republic, a new vibrant
society that settles accounts with the colonial past and feudal relations, an India where
secular democratic values and socio-economic equality shall flourish for all sections of
the people in all spheres.
But today, six decades after the 1947 transfer of power the national unity and
democratic values developed through many decades of strenuous countrywide anti-
imperialist and anti-feudal struggles are abandoned, vast majority of the people have
become increasingly pauperised while a tiny minority is becoming rich or super-rich, the
country has increasingly devastated under the imperialist globalization policies pursued
by the ruling classes and the political parties representing them, and whatever
sovereignty it had achieved is systematically decimated reducing this country to the
strategic subservience of US imperialism.
Consequences of Five Year Rule of the UPA Government:
The election to 14th Lok Sabha was held in 2004 when six years of BJP-led NDA
rule had led the country to dangerous situation by speeding up imperialist globalisation
policies in a frenzied manner and intensifying command fascist moves including the
Gujarat massacre. Though BJP leadership tried to cover up its, anti-people policies
through its ‘India Shining’ campaign, along with its allies it lost the election. Congress-
led UPA supported by the Left Front took over based on a Common Minimum,
Programme (CMP) claiming to reverse the NDA govt’s policies. But from the beginning
it further speeded up imperialist globalization- liberalisation – privatisation policies
including enactment of numerous laws for SEZs , CMZ, opening the economy further to
global finance agencies and MNCs.
It allowed corporates and MNCs to enter in to procurement of agricultural products,
while the government agencies were withdraw from it. The Public Distribution System
(PDS) was further weakened. In the name of establishing parity with international
market rates, prices of petroleum products and other essential commodities were
repeatedly hiked leading to inflation and thereby price rise reaching double digits. Fields
of education, healthcare etc ere surrendered to privatisation and market-oriented forces.
All welfare measures are further cut down or eliminated.
The rights of working class, adivasis, dalits and all oppressed sections wee snatched
away pauperizing them further in all respects. Even existing land ceilings were reversed
to assist land concentration with corporates, land lords, mafias etc. The de-
industrialisation, that is, closing down tens of thousands of labour-intensive industries,
continued. In the name of export-oriented industries, self-reliance was further eroded,
giving one-sided emphasis to IT and service sectors. MNCs were more freely allowed to
enter in all fields. Speculative and parasitic capital was allowed a field day.
In the name of establishing strategic relationship with US imperialism, throwing
overboard whatever sovereignty was left, numerous military pacts were signed crowned
by the Indo-US Nuclear Act. It led to acting in IAEA and in other fields at the dictates of
US, even abandoning the extremely fruitful Iran-Pak-India Natural Gas Pipeline. It has
led to estrangement of relationship with the neighbouring countries further. Whatever
positive character the country’s foreign policy had is destroyed. What has happened as
a result of all these policies is that effects of the ‘bubble economy’ has taken over this
country also. That is why the oft-repeated high GDP growth and industrial growth rate
has gone down and Indian economy is also rocking with the present imperialist crisis
starting from the US.
If the neo-liberal policies have led to economic ruin for vast majority, with only a
minority getting enriched, contrary to the claims of the UPA government about
combating communal offensive of the Sangh Parivar, its communal appeasement
policies have led to the communalization of all walks of life in the country reaching
dangerous levels. Everything including terrorism is communalized and the minorities are
criminally targeted by the state machinery while the Sangh Parivar forces are allowed to
escape even after reputation of the Gujarat massacre like acts in Orissa and
elsewhere. The caste divide and suppression of dalits and adivasis have also
intensified. Utilizing growing uneven developments, parochial forces also have gained
strength. In the name of combating these military is deployed in many areas and state
terror is unleashed wantonly. All these have led to erosion of the national unity and
strengthening of the destabilizing forces in the country as desired by the US
imperialists.
Five years of UPA government has witnessed further cutting down of all social
welfare policies, sky-rocketing price rise and unemployment. There was further
snatching away of democratic rights, and utilization of black acts. Corruption has
become rampant in all fields. Exploitation of and atrocities on women and children have
intensified. The Devastating ‘development policy’ has led to further ecological
destruction. The number of people below poverty-line had also gone up considerably
Forces of degeneration and disintegration getting strengthened:
During the post -1947 decades, especially after imposition of imperialist globalization
the big bourgeoisie growing in to a powerful corporate class has increased its
subservience and collaboration with imperialists, especially US imperialists. The
bureaucracy, fattening more and more through corruption is increasingly collaborating
with global capital interests. Though feudal relations have considerably changed, the
feudal remnants along with the Kulaks, the big landlord class are combining well with the
big bourgeoisie and bureaucracy to amass wealth and to run the ruling system
collaborating increasingly with the imperialists, especially US imperialists. The various
ruling class parties, big or small, are serving the interests of these classes. As a result
none of these parties are ready to wage any struggle against imperialist globalization
which is ruining the country and pauperizing vast majority of the masses, their savage
consequences like cutting down of all welfare measures, price rise, unemployment,
deprivation of democratic rights etc. All of them are getting increasingly alienated from
the masses. So they want to get people’s attention diverted from the burning issues they
are facing. They promote forces of degeneration and disintegration for this purpose.
They are taking lessons from the imperialist forces who are post-masters in these, and
who have serious interest in destabilising the country.
As the election campaign for the six state assemblies has gained momentum, as the
elections to the Lok Sabha are coming nearer, all these parties are consciously avoiding
any serious discussion on the consequences of global economic meltdown that has
started from the US, on imperialist globalization which has integrated Indian economy
with the global capital-market system leading to grieves consequences for the country
and the people, on Indo-US Nudear Treaty and other policies which have led the country
to strategic subservience to US imperialism, the devastating consequences of the
present neo-liberal ‘development’ policies pursued etc. All basic socio-economic-political
issues are in the main side-lined.
Along with this, divisive policies like communal, caste, parochial, chauvinist issues
are highlighted. Such tendencies are provided encouragement to act criminally dividing
the people. For example take the case of BJP and the Sangh Parivar forces. They are
spreading Hindutha- based communal fascism wantonly. Gujarat pattern is being
repeated in Orrissa, Karnataka like states to consolidate vote bank. Each and every
issue is communalized. They spread terrorism and when others try to retaliate in the
same way it is communalized targeting the Muslims. As the state machinery is already
communalized to large extent, it is becoming handy for them to attack the minorities. As
far as Shiv Sena is concerned, while utilizing the Hindutua communal card, it is
extending it to utilizing the parochial sentiments targeting the North Indian migrant
workers to incite the chauvinist hatred of local youth, propagating that this migration is
the cause for their unemployment.
While the BJP-led state governments are promoting these communal fascist,
chauvinist tendencies, the Congress-led central and state governments refuse to act
against these. Congress and its alhes are afraid of loosing Hindu’ votes. So they indulge
in communal appeasement. Bajarang Dal, VHP like forces are allowed to indulge in
wanton communal fascist acts. While Musilms are targeted as a whole for terrorist acts,
the Hindu fundamentalist forces are allowed to escape. Similarly the Congress-NCP
Maharashtra government allowed Raj Thackeray and his MNS, an offshoot of Shiv Sena
to grow in to a criminal gang assaulting the North Indian migrant people. Against
communal fascist assaults of Sangh Parivar like forces, Congress and its allies are
pursuing communal appeasement policies, often reducing the state machinery to silent
spectators of this wanton, criminal communalization of all walks of social life and politics.
Since consecutive central governments had refused to take steps for the political
solution of J&K and North East peoples’ struggles for self-determination, the antagonism
in these areas is intensifying, with their increasing communalization. As military
occupation of these areas is continuing, it is only intensifying the contradictions there.
And the very same political forces responsible for prolonging the agomy in these areas
are utilizing it for their narrow political ends.
Uneven development and its intensification are inherent characters of the present
comprador ruling system. Consecutive governments at centre and in the states are only
promoting them further. Utilizing people’s grievances created by this uneven
development, parochial forces come up and thrive on them. All political parties purse
opportunist policies allowing them to grow. And they are utilized as allies to promote vote
banks. Worse is the case with the caste question. Instead of putting down caste-based
suppression of dalits and other oppressed sections and promoting a casteless society,
caste is increasingly utilized as a vote bank, not only by BSP like caste-based parties,
but by all other ruling class parties.
As a result of all these forces of degeneration and disintegration are getting
strengthened day by day, and they are dominating the political spectrum. The a political
approach spread by the NGOs contribute to their growth further. Imperialists, especially
US imperialists, have vested interest to promote these forces to intensity their neo-
colonization drive. The comprador parties are playing as convenient tools of imperialist
powers and corporate houses in this nefarious game. As election dates are drawing
nearer the corporate media also play a major role in de-politicizing the campaign. Along
with it, money, mussle and liquor power is profusely utilized. The corrupt and
communalized state machinery also play its dirty role. Thus the basic issues involved in
the election are covered up, communal-caste-parochial-fringe issues are highlighted,
individuals are projected above political positions and the election is reduced to a farce
in practice, so that different political parties or their fronts sharing basically similar lines
can continue to share power. All of them are interested to make the elections a game of
musical chair. The drama being enacted in US elections for president between
Republicans and Democrats is repeated in a more shabby form here. Evaluating the
extent to which these elections can be utilized to intensity class struggle, to propagate
party line and to strengthen the party organization correctly, the revolutionary left forces
should use it to expose the ruling system and the reactionary, reformist character of the
various political parties.
Rally for Anti-Imperialist People’s Democratic Alternative
It is repeatedly proved that during the last two decades, after the imposition of
imperialist dictated policies, the imperialist servitude of the big bourgeois - big landlord-
bureaucratic classes has further intensified. Those small sections of capitalists who
were left with any national sentiments and the top layer of middle classes have also
gone over to worshipping the market system. The change of power at centre from BJP
led NDA to Congress-led UPA government has only further accelerated the neo-liberal
policies. Led by Congress and BJP, all the ruling class parties, including various
regional parties, remnants of erstwhile socialist movement, other communal parties and
BSP and other casteist parties, as well as the CPI(M) led Left Front have proved
wherever they are in power, alone or through united fronts that they are colluding and
competing with each other to implement the globalisation – liberalisation –Privatisation
policies in practice. Their conflicts are reduced to mere struggle for power under the
ruling system. Even their commitment or not to secularism is also proved a maneuver to
mislead people. While BJP openly advocates hard Hindutua policies, creating
communal massacres, Congress advocates ‘soft Hindutha’ as well as appeasement of
all brands of communal forces. Similar is their opportunist approach to caste question
also. Even after they are voted out, once they come back to power they pursue the very
same policies of the government which is voted out more vehemently, and promote and
corruption, vote-bank politics and mafia power further in this process.
In short, all of them serve the very same interests of the imperialists, especially US
imperialists, and of the reactionary ruling class system with marginal differences. Even
though they fight each other for seats of power, all of them have reduced to become part
and parcel of the ruling system.
At the same time, against the neo-liberal policies of the central and state
governments run by these ruling class parties and their various fronts, ever-intensifying
spontaneous and organized movements with more and more participation of the working
class and other masses of people are taking place all over the country. The growing
people’s anger against the governments in power is reflected frequently by voting them
out at centre and in the states.
Though money power, muzzle power, media and state machinery are utilized at
election time to create polarization between the main ruling class fronts, suppressing the
people’s dissent, the growing people’s mass movements against the ruling class policies
have thrown up possibilities for the real polarisation between all the ruling class
alternatives on the side and the anti-imperialist people’s democratic alternative of
revolutionary left and patriotic, secular, democratic forces on the other side. Only such a
people’s alternative can mobilize and provide militant leadership to the numerous
people’s movements coming up against imperialist globalization, SEZs, CMZ, corporate
farming, snatching away of workers rights, sky-rocketing price rise, unemployment,
growing adivasi-dalit-women oppression, marketisation of each and every field of social
life and activities etc.
Such a polarization of anti-imperialist, anti-feudal, national, democratic and
genuinely secular, anti-caste forces will be in the true tradition of the great heritage of
the two centuries of anti-British freedom struggle and anti-feudal movements, and six
decades of class struggle by the vast masses of the exploited and oppressed against the
anti-people central and state governments. Only such a polarization shall lead to uphold
and carry forward the great heritage of anti-imperialist, anti-feudal struggles of the
masses spanning the period of freedom struggle and six decades after transfer of power
in 1947, in which tens of millions of people participated heroically and tens of thousands
of great martyrs sacrificed their lives. Such a people’s alternative shall symbolize the
great aspirations of these heroic fighters for people’s democracy and socialism,
repeatedly asserted from the days of martyrdom of com. Bhagat Singh and his
colleagues, and from the early days of Indian communist movement. It shall concretely
symbolise the great Telengana -Naxalbari path in present situation. The election
campaign should be vigorously utilized by the revolutionary forces who uphold these
great traditions.
Mock Parliament
LENIN CALLED bourgeois parliaments pigsty. They are nothing but talking shops when all
executive works done behind it. As capitalism reached its moribund stage, imperialism,
whatever democratic qualities they had also are destroyed. In countries like India under
imperialist domination, the parliament is turned along back into mere show-piece, with all
the constituents there reducing it to a mere absurd theatre. With the introduction of live
shows all the performances there through TV channels, all members are vying with each
other to out perform others. This degeneration was fully exhibited in the latest session of
both houses of parliament.
That the UPA govt. is mortally afraid of convening a full session of the Lok Sabh
after squeezing through the vote of confidence is very clear. So the monsoon session is
almost dispersed with and in its name a five days mock session was called. The
Congress and its allies were interested to somehow get over it as they are unsure of the
government’s majority support, and as the relations among the constituents are not so
friendly.
In this case much was expected from the opposition by many. As action is already
taken against some MPs for cross voting, opposition could effectively attack about it in
the parliament. It could get a resolution passed to cut diesel-petrol prices and
condemning the government for continuing price rise. It could raise a serious discussion
on the perilous consequences of the global financial crisis to Indian economy. Nothing of
them happened.
On the contrary, like the ruling alliance, the opposition was also not interested to
take up any of these serious questions for discussion. So al the time was spent on
shouts and counter shouts, MPs entering thewell, confrontationwith a speaker whose
only interest is to exhibit his loyalty to the UPA and dismissals of sessions after
sessions, utlimately the whole session ending in a most laughable manner.
This mock parliament session has once again proved that the political players
represented in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are not ready for any serious
discussion on vital issues before the people as all of them are in essence having no
fundamental differences on basic issues. Similar is the case with the election campaign
now going on for the state assemblies. Similar will be campaign for Lok Sabha
electionsalso. Whether Congress, BJP, BSP or the CPI(M) on the other side of the
spectrum, all are birds of the same feather, sharing power and enjoying the benefits of
the corrupt, anti-people ruling system. It shows the urgency and dedication with which
the revolutionary left and the patriotic democratic forces to intensify the struggle in all
fronts to expose and defeat these forces and to bring about radical change.
International Scene
Eezham Question in Sri Lanka Demands Political
Solution
THE SRI LANKAN Government is preparing itself for the final onslaught on LTTE’s last
strongholds in Northern tip of the island country, to put an end to the more than two
decades long civil war raging in the country. The Sri Lankan armed force’s offensive in to
the Tamil areas has naturally created havoc and miseries to the Tamil people who are
becoming refugees in larger numbers, day by day. As India government is taking firm
steps to prevent the spilling over of the refugees to Tamilnadu, they are forced to
become refugees in their own country, fleeing from the war zones. Those who are
caught in the cross fires or not getting opportunity to flee are in acute stress. Though the
Sri Lankan government has announced that all steps will be taken to safeguard the
Tamilian civilian population, it is a fact that the war waged at an unprecedentedly furious
level is going to seriously affect lakhs of families.
DMK chief Karunanidhi’s government in TN is trying to utilize the miseries of the
Eezham people for his political benefits by appearing as their champion. He has even
threatened that all parliament members of DMK and its allies will resign if necessary
actions are not taken, by 28th October to safe guard the Tamil people’s interests in Sri
Lanka. Countering him the ADMK chief Jayalalitha has stated that Karunanidhi is trying
to protect an international terrorist like LTTE chief Prabhakaran. ADMK is for wiping out
LTTE, but without any harm to the Eezham people. All other parties playing big or small
role in the ruling system are divided between these two positions. Only exception is
MDMK, whose chief Vaiko is arrested for openly siding with LTTE.
The DMK’s threat has put the UPA government in a quandary. How can it take any
pro-active step in Sri Lanka when it itself is engaged in decades long civil war deploying
huge armed forces in Jammu and Kashmir and North East, suppressing the struggle for
self-determination waged by them, and refusing to seek a political solution to these
problems? When the consecutive governments have treated the people’s struggles in
these areas antagonistically, and in Bush’s foot steps as a ‘war on terror’, how can the
UPA government ask for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka now to help the LTTE to get out of its
present impossible situation? There is another angle also to this question. In the early
1980s when Indira Gandhi government was supported by Soviet Union, which had by
then degenerated to social imperialism for world hegemony, establishing influense in Sri
Lanka also had become a part of this contention. It is for this with Soviet support, the
intensifying suppression of Eezham people was utilized by Indira Gandhi government to
train LTTE and other militant Eezham groups to wage a war of secession. But later LTTE
exterminated other groups, established its hegemony in Eezham struggle and posed a
threat to Sri Lankan government. In this situation the Sri Lankan government changed its
stand, manipulated Rajiv Gandhi government to send IPKF to suppress the LTTE. The
IPKF had a criminal track record and it had to be withdrawn. LTTE avenged it by killing
Rajiv Gandhi and still its chief Prabhakaran is wanted in India as accused number one in
Rajiv murder case. Karunanidhi is not unaware of all these. But like any other
reactionary political leader he is trying to gain cheap popularity by posing as a defender
of Eezham people to win the coming Lok Sabha elections. Thus Sri Lankan army’s
offensive against LTTE has become a hot political issue in TN and pressure is mounting
on UPA government to come to some understanding with Sri Lankan government to
save DMK’s face. Past experience shows that neither DMK, ADMK and its allies, nor the
central government is interested to save Eezham people’s democratic rights. All of them
are playing opportunist politics. By supporting DMK’s stand in TN, Congress as well as
CPI (M)-CPI are also joining this opportunist game. Mean while the microscopic
chauvinist groups including the ‘Maoists’ are trying to parade themselves as the
champions of the Eezham people by supporting LTTE, almost like the MDMK.
In this context the CPI (ML) state committee has issued a press statement on 16th
October and organized poster campaign explaining that Eezham question is one of self-
determination of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka which should he resolved politically
through dialogue with both Sinhala and Tamil people. While LTTE’s secessionist stand
and Sri Lankan government’s insensitivity to Tamil people’s plight have intensified the
issue, the problem should be resolved by working for unity of Sri Lanka based on self-
determination of both Sinhala and Eezham peoples, creating a genuinely federal state
with devolution of power. The Indian government’s interference in Sri Lanka based on
big brotherly attitude had only worsened the situation there. Besides, so long as it is
pursuing a policy of military solution to J&K and North East issues, it forsakes its moral
right to plead for Eezham people.
So the TN state committee had appealed to the people to put pressure on the
central government to resolve J&K and North East problems politically and set an
example in South Asia. DMK, ADMK and Congress like parties who do not fight for the
rights to J&K and North East peoples are only shedding crocodile tears and cheating the
people of Eezham. The TN state committee has demanded that the government of India
stop all arms aid and sale to Sri Lankan government. The statement has appealed to
both Sinhala and Tamil people in Sri Lankan to put pressure on the government to
resolve the Eezham problem politically, devolving power and creating a genuine federal
state. It has appealed to the Sri Lankan government not to aggravate the miseries of the
Tamil people by targeting them for the LTTE’s actions. It had condemned all the ruling
class parties for utilizing the Eezham people’s miseries as another divisive issue to gain
votes, instead of putting pressure on the central government unitedly to appeal to Sri
Lankan government to save the Eezham people from their present plight, and to stop all
arms sale to Sri Lanka.
Science
The Dialectics of the Large Hadron Collider
Sanjay Singhvi
THE LARGE HADRON collision experiment that was started in September in the CERN
facilities on the border of France and Switzerland had caused a great deal of
consternation all over the world with the doomsayers even going so far as to predict the
end of the world. This in itself was quite ridiculous given the fact that collisions with much
greater energy take place upon the border of the earth’s atmosphere each day or even
every second. The present experiment would only allow that scientists would be able to
observe the effects of such a great particle collision.
However, there are many facts and facets of this experiment which go to prove the
dialectical method of analysis and thinking. This experiment is likely to prove that there is
something in common between particles with mass and those without mass (like
photons, commonly known as particles of light or energy). Newton, when he first
examined the nature of light, came to the conclusion that it was made up of minute
particles. Huygens, defying Newton, showed by his double slit experiment and the fact of
“interference” that light was made up of waves.
It was Max Planck who advanced the quantum theory in the early 20th century. He
himself could not understand fully the meaning of his equations, which fitted all the
experimental results that all energy (including light) was transmitted in discrete quanta
(packets). It was Einstein who took Planck’s quantum theory seriously and applied it to
explain the studied results about the photo-electric effect. So now we had packets of
waves (both particles and waves) in keeping with the dialectical unity of opposites. It
also illustrates a good example of the idea of “negation of the negation”.
It was Einstein again who used the ideas of quantum physics to postulate mass-
energy equivalence. Till that time mass and energy were thought of as distinct entities.
But Einstein’s famous equation E=MC2 led to the idea that mass and energy were only
two forms of the same entity. This was still another form of dialectics providing the
solution. It may be mentioned here that Einstein had a long and fruitful association with
the Indian-Bangladeshi scientist Satyendranath Bose. It was to honour Bose that the
postulated particles which flow from one body to another are called Bosons. (The recent
Large Hadron Collider experiment is mainly to find the “Higgs Boson” – also known as
the “God particle”)
The French Scientist Louis De Broglie then used the equations in a new direction
and postulated that if waves, of which energy is made (electro-magnetic waves, like light
waves, etc.), can have a particle form and if matter, which is definitely made up of
particles, is the same as energy, then matter can also be thought of as waves! Actually
he did not come up with this idea in such a clear and conceptually concise form. Rather,
he found that treating electrons as waves served to explain how the model of electrons
put up by Neils Bohr could be explained. But, in any case, it once again proved that the
dialectical method of analysis had triumphed.
Today, at the cutting edge of science, it is largely accepted that there are four
different kinds of fundamental forces – gravitational, electro-magnetic, and two types of
nuclear forces – the weak force and the strong force. Seeking ultimate harmony in the
Universe – or in their interpretation of it – scientists have long been on a quest to unify
the four forces into one fundamental interaction. Abdus Salam, the Pakistani scientist
was the first to theoretically show the unity of the electromagnetic force and the weak
force (He received the Nobel prize in 1979 along with Steven Weinberg and Sheldon
Glashow for this work). The postulated unified force is now often referred to as the
electroweak force.
Today, the most accepted and popular model to explain the universe is what is
called the Standard Model. We will not go into the details of this Model (which is quite
beyond the field of expertise of this author and of this publication) but again point only to
a few more instances of dialectical thinking in this theory. The Standard Model
postulates that like the gravitational field and the electromagnetic fields, which exist all
over the universe including in empty space, there is also another field, often called the
Higgs field. It postulates that all the fundamental particles of which all matter is made
would all move at the speed of light if there were no Higgs field. It postulates that the
Higgs field affects certain particles to a greater of lesser degree causing them to have
“inertia”. It is this quality of “inertia” that essentially gives “mass” to matter. Now, instead
of Newton’s laws which gave inertia as a quality of all matter, we have inertia as a result
of the Higg’s Field giving rise to matter! Another example of negation of the negation. It
is postulated that to give a large enough jolt to this field will cause a wave in the field
itself – or a particle – known as the Higgs Boson.
The CERN experiment may or may not prove the existence of “Higgs Boson” and
therefore may or may not advance the veracity of the Standard Model but the veracity of
the dialectical materialist way of thinking will certainly stand proved. However, all this
also clearly underlines the crying need for a study of the latest discoveries of science on
a Marxist basis, on the lines of Engels’ “Dialectics of Nature”.
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