SFI: THE RUNAWAY PRIDE!

The SLL&CS annual School GBM will be reconvened to elect the EC members again. Such situation has arise because of the EC members elected in the earlier GBM were intimidated, threatened, abused, humiliated to such extent that they were forced to resign! The hooliganism done on the day of the first SLL&CS GBM (9^th October) by the SFI-AISF against the EC was extremely shameful and completely unbecoming of an organisation that claims itself to be Left! Such hooliganism and violence are rather the trademark of the right wing lumpens of ABVP/JPF.

In the extra ordinary situation this year there were three reports being presented instead of one in SLL&CS as there were no particular convener. The SFI-AISF apprehending a defeat of the report presented by their own councilor simply ran away from the scene. Nothing new in that! In the recent past only we have seen the SFI brigade first scuttling and running away to prevent a UGBM from happening, followed by running away from the reconvened UGBM after all their resolutions were routed by the students. They are simply maintaining their tradition of running away! What was most disturbing in the current GBM is the way they had put the blame blindly on the EC to ‘rationalise’ their escape!

The EC in JNU are democratically elected from the students themselves. This year because of the extra-ordinary situation the EC was asked to chair the GBM in SLL&CS. The ‘discrepancy’ of votes between the first two resolutions which the SFI-AISF is ridiculously accusing of, could not be because of the fault of the EC. It was rather due to students choosing to vote on one resolution and not the other! Such blames are therefore completely baseless and empty. But maligning and attacking the EC for that was a dangerous thing to do!

It is on the students to strengthen the democratic institutions rather than attacking them with such unfounded hostility! With the threat of the onslaught from Lyngdoh Committee looming on ourselves one can not act with such irresponsibility to undermine and intimidate the EC in order to cover up their own defeat. This would directly invite administrative intervention into the process of election which had so far been conducted by the students in JNU themselves. The ‘democratic ethos’ of this campus should not remain confined in mere slogans, but should be reflected in practice by all responsible and sensible students and organisations.

FASCISM BREEDS WELL IN FEAR AND SILENCE: DON’T LET THEM COMMUNALIZE THE CAMPUS OR THE COUNTRY.

When the entire country is facing an imminent threat from Hindu fascist upsurge, this time over the Setu Samudram project, can JNU be far behind? The campus of late has seen a renewed attempt at communal violence from the little Hitlers and little Narendra Modis of the campus, the ABVP hooligans. Starting with the frenzy created during the ‘celebrations’ of victory of India over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, it went on to take uglier forms. Iqbal Zia of Lohit hostel was threatened and brutally assaulted by the notorious ABVP goon Sudhanshu. In a deliberate attempt to create communal tension, intoxicated communal goons of Narmada hostel poured alcohol in the mess water cooler just before Sehri. This was followed by the extremely intimidating and vulgar protests launched by ABVP (using a rubbish pseudonym) in response to a BSF pamphlet. RSS pracharaks, the masters of politics of hate, are campaigning in the messes. A large section of the student community is feeling threatened and insecure. These symptoms of an invigorated hooliganism and communal fascism have, naturally, been a cause of concern for the democratic and progressive sections of the campus.

The imaginary enemy: The practice of whipping up of communal sentiments to cover up the lack of real development in every aspect of social lives of this country had been an old and regular tactic for the Indian ruling classes. The right wing parties, be it the Congress or the BJP and their various allies have always used the communal card to misdirect the real grievances of the people regarding their deplorable material conditions. Just like the Nazis did with the Jews in Germany, the Hindutwa brigade picks out the Muslim community as the scapegoat for all the problems, real or imaginary. And then we have the masjid demolitions. The post-Ayodhya riots. The Gujarat genocide.

No, Gujarat killings did not improve the lot of retrenched ‘hindu’ mill workers in Ahmedabad, the riots did not bring irrigation water to the destitute ‘hindu’ farmer in middle India, it didn’t create jobs for the millions of unemployed ‘hindu’ youth or emancipated ‘hindu’ women from the shackles of patriarchy. Quite the contrary, it only reinforced the age-old inequalities and discriminations, not only against muslims, but against dalits and women, against peasants and workers. Do not for a second think that the RSS-BJP-ABVP speaks for or represents the ‘hindus’! They represent only the ‘hindu’ landlord, the semi-feudal authorities in villages and the ‘hindu’ big bourgeoisie, whose interests today are tied to the apron strings of American Imperialism and the global finance capital. Their overwhelming love for George W. Bush, the poster boy of the regressive christian right, is a case in point. So, while the most visible target of the Sanghis is the religious minority, they are by no means the only target. The whole point of communal fascism is to keep the people from correctly identifying the forces that keep them in their deplorable condition. To project an illusory enemy in order to shield the real. To keep the people divided, and make the ruling classes and their parties more secure in their seats of power. Little wonder then that while the communal frenzy and riots can change governments, it never ever changes the anti-people economic policies of the Indian state. Be it NDA or UPA, Narendra Modi or Buddhadev Bhattacharya, the IMF-World bank dictated new economic policy continues at both the centre and state level.

Whose India, whose Ram? The fight against the frenzy created around Ram or ‘hindutwa’ is thus also a fight against the economic and social policies that dispossess people of their land and livelihoods, which creates the conditions for mass suicide of farmers, that ruins small traders by redesigning the retail sector according to MNC diktats. It is the underdevelopment and the economic crisis that feeds the fire of communal fascism. So, Sangh Parivar can’t be fought by just projecting the ‘soft hindutwa’ line of Congress as the ‘secular’ alternative. While the RSS-BJP is communal fascist in a programmatic way, the Congress too is given to communalism in an opportunistic way. The Congress has not only used the religious communal card time and again for its own benefit (one just can’t wish away the anti-Sikh riots), it has also, many a times stood silent spectator or tacit supporter when communal frenzy has rocked our society (think of Ayodhya, think of Mumbai riots, think of Gujarat). The same can be said for almost all the parliamentary parties one can think of.

Actually, the very fabric of the Indian state is woven with a brahminical ideology. From Golwalkar to Gandhi, the ideal nation-state is always infused with brahminism; bharat mata is always the upper caste hindu nari. And, without exception, all parties, structures and interests that are involved in running the state carry that legacy forward in practice, their rhetorical differences notwithstanding. Even the so-called ‘left front’ government tries to give a communal colour to the anti-SEZ, anti land grab people’s movement in Nandigram by citing the presence of a large number of muslim peasants and a few muslim organisations in the struggle. For these parties, ‘secularism’ is restricted to ‘iftaar parties’, to having a few token muslim ministers or leaders, and giving certain sops to the muslim elite. Nothing in the name of economic and material opportunity ever really trickles down to the muslim masses, who are routinely demonized and discriminated against. The Sachar Committee report bears testimony to the appalling condition of the muslim community throughout India, including in the ‘left’ ruled states. So much for ‘minority appeasement’!

The base of Indian economy is agriculture, where the social and production relations are to a large extent constructed along caste and religious lines. These brahminical discriminations spill over into all aspects of social life, and the same brahmanical structure is also the bedrock of the Indian state. The very basis of secularism is the complete separation of the religion and the state. In India, with its backward, semi-feudal agrarian economy, it remains a distant dream. Religion is not allowed to remain a matter of personal faith, but is constantly invoked in the public sphere, explicitly or implicitly, as a political trump card or a tool of statecraft.

Can we count on the official ‘Left’ to fight the fascists? The official ‘Left’ in this country (and, by extension, in this campus) have always been the self proclaimed leader in the fight against communalism. Yet, they consistently refuse to acknowledge the fact that the communal fascist Sangh Parivar (and its little children in campus) thrive on certain material social conditions and discriminations, and tries to perpetuate and reinforce the same inequalities and discriminatory systems. The fight against communal fascism is not just ideological, but is a struggle the whole social structure, on which the Indian state is based. As Marx says, “The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusion.” The fight against communal fascism is linked to the fight against the caste-ridden, semi-feudal authority in the countryside. It is equally a fight against the imperialist onslaught that strengthens feudal forces, destroys jobs and lands and livelihoods, and creates a huge army of the unemployed. These masses are communalized and lumpenised, provided with an illusory enemy and manipulated to safeguard the very system that is crushing them.

The parliamentary ‘Left’, however, have failed to see the communal specter being rooted into the material conditions of the society. This willful blindness is understandable, because they too are intrinsically a part of the same system that breeds the fascists. Naturally, their opposition to the hindu right is restricted to supporting the Congress in place of BJP. The same congress, whose neo-liberal policies create the ground for communal fascism. In fact BJP’s chief claim to fame before their imperialist masters is that they can implement this policy even better than Congress (for a demonstration, a tour of their Gujarat laboratory is recommended). Buddha Bhatatcharya is following the same policy in his state in a bid to woo investors. Of course, this doesn’t stop them from waging a rhetorical war against communalism, which is more ideological than material… but on ground the Hindu Bhadralok rules. The watchdog (as Sitaramji famously described the ‘Left’ parties) has mastered the art of barking and wagging its tail at the same time. And it never bites.

Then there are the parliamentary exigencies. The so-called ‘left’ parties (actually, all parties) frequently ally with former or future partners of BJP, making a mockery of the struggle against communalism. Even the more-radical-than-thou CPIML-Liberation (the parent party of AISA) who have been courting the CPI & CPM for national level alliances, ended up tying the knot with Nitish Kumar’s Samata party, who went on to join the BJP bandwagon and now rules Bihar. Liberation’s ally in the last Bihar assembly elections, Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP is a former ally of BJP. Such is the magic of India’s parliamentary politics! In JNU too, we see furious courting of ABVP and JPF votes by the so-called left during the JNUSU elections. The JNUSU leadership makes very little effort to socially marginalize these elements. Naturally, the administration, which represents the policy makers and the powers that be, turns a blind eye to the consistent communal attacks and threats.

There’s only one force in the campus that can stop these hooligans. The hooligan’s know it too. It is the collective strength of the general students. It is you and your friends. We, the students are the majority. These communal fascists are the real minority in this campus. We must make sure that they do not grow. We must protest every incidence of right-wing violence or abuse. We must resist the communally charged right-wing propaganda, whether in the name of Ram or the so-called ‘Ram Sethu’. Our resistance has to meet the quantum of attack. They must be answered in a language they understand. Our silences strengthen them. The fascists thrive on fear. Let us all stand in solidarity and support with our friends who are being systematically attacked by these communal goons. And prevent any future attack steadfastly. We must show the hooligans that it is they, who should be afraid of us, and not vice versa.

WHERE DISPLACEMENT, DESTITUTION, DESTRUCTION, AND DEATH IS CALLED DEVELOPMENT!

You tell us to take land in Gujarat, you tell us to take compensation. For losing our lands, our fields, for the tress along our fields…but how are you going to compensate us for our forests? ...How will you compensate us for our river- for her fish, her water, for the vegetables that grow along her banks, for the joy of living beside her? What is the price of this? ...Our Gods, and the support of our kin what price do you put on that? Our adivasi life- what price do you put on that!
-Excerpts from a letter from Bava Mahaliya of Jalsindhi village in Jhabua district to the M.P Chief Minister in 1994

The tale of displacement of millions of people for the sake of ‘development’ and ‘industrialization’ driven by and for the rich and the powerful had been the most burning reality of India since its so-called independence. The same story runs true in virtually all the states of this country ruled by various parliamentary parties of different hues. The worst affected sections who are subjected to forceful displacement are the most marginalized sections of the country that is, the dalits and the adivasis, the number displaced mounting up to more than ten million! Orissa is one state where ‘developmental’ displacement is perennially acute.

Orissa is rich in its natural and mineral resources. It has a large adivasi population who had inhabited and possessed these resources for centuries. The rich mineral resources of Orissa since the last few years had been the prime target of the foreign and export oriented Indian MNCs who are looting the state of its mineral resources. The HindalCo, POSCO, AlCan, Vedanta, Aditya Alumina…the list is endless. These MNCs want to plunder the minerals, be it bauxite, sponge iron, manganese or iron ore to facilitate industrialization in the first world countries. In the process they displace and dispossess millions of native dwellers as well as destroy the natural resources, the mountains, fields, forests and rivers. Needless to say they have the full consent and support of the state government and the Parliament who safeguard their interests and facilitate this complete sellout. The only offer the looters hold against the forceful displacement of the people is a ‘rehabilitation package’!

The fact remains that NO rehabilitation is possible. Nothing can ‘rehabilitate’ the people who had been dispossessed of their fundamental lives and livelihood. Cash compensation can never suffice for the loss which people suffer after being completely uprooted from their homes and livelihood. Or else, they are forced to take up barren lands or migrate to cities and live a completely alien and dispossessed life. The farce of compensation has left the majority of the victims high and dry. Moreover, the ‘consent’ of the adivasis to give up land is also managed with force and fraudulence.

So are we suggesting status quo? Taking a stand against this mal-development is not to suggest that there should be no change, and that the marginalized sections are otherwise living a well-off life. However, the logic given to justify this model of ‘development’ is that of employment generation and interest of the ‘nation’ [like said Chacha Nehru to the displaced population of the Hirakud Dam, “if you have to suffer, you should do so in the interest of the country”]! The nation for these propagandists of the model comprise of the rich and powerful only, as the limited employment opportunity created by these models of industrialization are solely reserved for the highly technical, urban educated elite mass, who can buy the highly commodified education. The myth of ‘employment generation’ thus falls flat on its face as the number of impoverished masses grows in leaps and bounds with the ‘growth’ of this underdevelopment. In Orissa too, incidents of extreme poverty vividly contradicts the myth of ‘development’.

Today, the entire country, irrespective of the urban and the rural, has been transformed into a firing range where the mercenary police and paramilitary and the goondas of the ruling parliamentary parties are brutally trying to crush the agitating people who want to protect their Jal, Jungal and zameen—their sources of livelihood. Be it the reactionary right wing or the pseudo parliamentary ‘left’, all are queuing up the doors of World Bank with begging bowls for FDIs. All of them take recourse to extreme state violence to secure land and resources from their actual possessors, at throw away prices to the foreign capitalist masters. From Kalinganagar in Orissa to Nandigram in West Bengal, the colours of the ruling flags vary. What does not change is the tale of land grabbing for the sake of the capitalists, the flying of bullets, the killing of the most marginalized sections.

However, the tale is not of one-sided exploitation and oppression by the state and the comprador bourgeoisie and foreign capitalists. The people’s resistance against this development is an equally burning reality which the state has to grapple with. Be it Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala or elsewhere…the movement of the people in various modes is widely strengthening to reject these imperialist ploys to displace millions of people from their lives and livelihoods. It is only a militant peoples’ movement which can reclaim their resources, lives and livelihoods from the rule of the sold-out parliamentary parties, the apologists of the imperialist forces. And with the peoples’ participation and struggles lie the road towards building an alternative to the present model of development which has brought nothing but displacement, destitution, destruction and death to the most oppressed sections of the society.