========================================================== II PPPPPPPPPPPP SSSSSSSS GGGGGGGG II PP PP SS SS GG GG II PP PP SS GG II PP PP SS GG II PPPPPPPPPPPP SSSSSS GG II PP SS GG GGGGG II PP SS GG GG II PP SS SS GG GG II PP SSSSSSSSS GGGGGGG ========================================================== Newsletter of the Indian Progressive Study Group, Los Angeles August 1996 ------------------------------------------------------------------- India After the 11th Lok Sabha Elections by B. Pain The 11th Lok Sabha elections are now over and for the third time in a row, no single party has emerged with a majority. As is now well known, a BJP government was formed in Delhi, and replaced soon after by a United Front government, backed by various splinters of the Indian National Congress. It is now being freely admitted that crores of rupees were put on the table to influence the outcomes of the "votes of confidence" during those fateful days. What do these phenomena reveal? Why did the crores of rupees not secure a majority for one party in the first place? What made the BJP government unacceptable to the ruling circles of India? Why did they need the United Front to administer the Indian state at this time? What should the electorate, which has been a spectator from the sidelines, do? Five years ago, when the Rao government took over the reins of power, there was a lot of euphoria generated about the miracle of liberalization and privatization. Earlier this year, even Narasimha Rao had to admit in his Red Fort address to the country that the beneficiaries of the economic reforms have been the rich, and nothing has trickled down to people. Far from elevating people from the quagmire they were in, far from creating conditions where people can secure means of livelihood, those "reforms" have increased their insecurity and have made life more difficult for many more. Consider, for instance, according to an Economic Times survey, the 500 top industrial houses posted profits in excess of 300%, while the real incomes of both urban and village dwellers had fallen since 1990! What needs to be underscored is that "liberalization and privatization" provided a cover for, as well as facilitated, what was already going on in India, both before and during these reforms. Whether we speak of the period of building the "socialistic pattern of society" or that of "Garibi Hatao" or "modernization", what has remained constant is that under the existing economic and political system there has been continued accumulation of wealth for the rich and accumulation of misery for everybody else; an unmitigated denial of rights; the use of state terrorism to settle disputes involving the Indian state; and a striving of the Indian ruling circles to become a major regional and world power. In fact, "liberalization and privatization" was and is considered by the Indian big business best suited to achieve their goals within the changed domestic and international situation. However, the more openly these programs of "structural adjustments", "privatization" and "cutbacks" are pursued, the more the discontent of people has grown, not only in India, but all over the world. In the face of such discontent, the "market reformers" have been replaced by "socialists" in many countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In France, the workers paralyzed the capital city for weeks last winter in protest against lowering of their living standards. In Canada, city after city has witnessed strikes by workers, students and women. Some 350,000 workers are out in the streets in Germany, in protest against the cutbacks. In Sri Lanka, the workers of the Electricity Board went on a three day strike to oppose privatization of the electric utility companies, causing a massive dislocation of life. One analyst estimated that the striking workers have done more loss to the Sri Lankan economy in these three days than the entire civil war of the last decade! When the working class engages in such struggle, its power is there for everybody to see. It is to contain this resistance of the working people, to deflect and manipulate this struggle, to ensure that these spontaneous skirmishes do not emerge into an organized, pro-active movement of people - that the financial oligarchy all over the world are making adjustments to their "market reform" policies. An illusion is being created that people do not need to activise themselves, that a good government with "pro-people" politicians and with well-meaning policy objectives will take care of their problems. With the mood of the working class, peasantry and large section of youth being very critical of the "market reforms", the Indian ruling circles have decided that they need "reforms with a human face", something which the Rao government failed to deliver. Who will provide this "human face"? It could not be done by a BJP government at this time. The Indian big business is calculating that the United Front with it socialistic credentials will do the trick. Just see how quickly the new Prime Minister elaborated a "common minimum program" with promises such as "assistance for every shelterless person", "efficient public health services", "provision of basic minimum services to villages" and so on - reminiscent of ""Garibi Hatao" slogans of the seventies. In those years of "Garibi Hatao" campaign also, nothing changed in terms of main direction of the society. Between 1972-1983 the assets of the biggest industrial houses rose by 212% while the real wages of the industrial workers fell by 150%. Whether they are successful in fooling people remains to be seen, but there is no doubt that the "left" in the Indian parliament will implement programs that are consistent with the interests of the big industrial houses. All the parties of the "left" have already declared that they are "pro-reform"; the Prime Minister himself has amply demonstrated his trustworthiness from his record as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, and from the way he has sternly put down the KRRS agitation. It is indeed laughable that this "leftist" government is now pretending to chart out something different from what the previous Congress(I) government had done, while its main prop is the same old Congress(I) party. What all this is telling us is that the developments in the coming months and years are going to educate people about the grand deception being perpetrated under the "left" banner. Within those conditions, the BJP is gearing up to present itself as the "true" alternative. The regrouping of parties inside India may take the direction of having two broad political formations, in the style of the US or Britain. But let there be no illusion that these developments will bring any relief for people in their quest for livelihood and rights or bring any social advance. These developments will be to stop any movement of the people for real transformations of Indian politics and economy in their favour. At this time, people have a breathing space, an opportunity to prepare, so that they can turn things in their favour when the times change. There is a need to draw a balance sheet of what has happened to the country and the world in the last 50 years and set an agenda on the basis of those conclusions. For instance, the value system behind the Indian state and society is one that the European capitalism gave birth to. One of its cornerstones is to uphold the institutions of "civil society". What problem was this institution supposed to solve? According to Adam Smith, one of the forefathers of this capitalism, "Wherever there is property there is in inequality.... It is only under the shelter of the civil magistrate that the owner of the valuable property ... can sleep a single night in security. The acquisition of valuable and extensive property, therefore, necessarily, requires the establishment of civil government". Should this be basis of Indian society, whereby the raison d'être of the government is to uphold the primacy of private property? Or consider another case: the rule of law. The rule of law was imposed on India in the most vicious way to maintain the colonial system. The same tenets of the rule of law exists in India at this time, whereby the Parliament and the executive branch legalize violation of rights through numerous Black Laws and use various forms of state terrorism or outright plunder of the state treasury. Can the Indian people expect to overcome the problems they face by using these notions, which have become quite anachronistic all over the world? It is a time to stop reacting to whatever happens in the "West" or in India and set a pro-active program and a vision. There is a need to organize and unite people and create mechanisms so that they can be effective in implementing that agenda. It is a time to organize people engaged in defensive economic and political struggles and other protest movements so that they acquire a vision and gain confidence in their strength. People continue to be under pressure to be passive and mere bystanders and this has to be changed. We must seriously think about rejecting the notion that Indian society is divided between two-warring groups of "left" and the "right" and people should choose sides between these two warring groups. Both the "left" and the "right" in the Indian Parliament represent the Indian monopolies and oligarchies, as is the case in Italy, the US, Canada or elsewhere in the world. The existing political process has a role for the "left" and the "right", but it allows no role for people to change their conditions. To line up behind this "left" and "right" divide is to accept the status quo and to give up the struggle to create an alternative. The alternative is a vision of a society organized to fulfill the needs of people. The well-being of people and not the wealth of a minority is the motive of society in this alternative vision. In place of divides and demarcations, we need unity of people for this alternative vision. The alternative is a vision of a society organized to fulfill the needs of people. Well-being of people and not the wealth of a minority is the motive of society in this alternative vision. .... No problems big or small can be sorted out without organization and participation of people themselves. The twentieth century is a living history of liberation of peoples. As it is coming to a close, the monopolies and oligopolies of the world have caused a temporary defeat for people by imposing the Paris Charter of "structural adjustment" and "multiparty democracy". With a renewed vision and sound organization, people will be able to turn the tide. Building those organizations of people is another urgent task at this time. No problems big or small can be sorted out without organization and participation of people themselves. I was recently present at the regional meeting of the Standing Conference of South Asians(SCSA) in New York city, where I saw first hand how such endeavors are taking place. There are other organizations, and there is a need for all of them to come together and pool their resources for the common cause. Lastly, we have to build living links with fighting organizations in India. The Mazdoor Ekta Committee in Delhi, for example, is trying to unite all the segments of workers to have their own vision for an India led by the working class and have carried out a number of important actions to oppose privatization policies, state terrorism and individual acts of terrorism, in defense of rights etc. A number of left parties and groups in India are at this time carrying out serious assessment of what the division of the communist party in 1964 has accomplished or not accomplished and want to restore the unity of the Indian communist forces. These developments will be very important in future, and this is the time to consolidate all these fronts of work. The eleventh Lok Sabha elections will not mark a shift in the direction of Indian society. That shift will come when we are able to awaken India's Kumbhakarna - the people of India.