Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Derams- Chapter 529
Palash Biswas
http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/
The CPM on Monday dismissed as "rubbish and false assertions" ex-Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's scathing comments on party chief Prakash Karat and said they "are just post-facto justifications of a person who defected to the ruling establishment".
The CPM also claimed Chatterjee had agreed to quit as the Speaker before the vote of confidence in the UPA government in July 2008 but had backed out later reneging on his commitment given to the party.
I was Never associated with CPIM as we considered it Revisionist as CPIM treated CPI the same. I landed in Dhanbad and involved myself in Jharkhand Movement and Investigative Journalism in Coalfields in 1980, the year after the Marich Jhanpi genocide. Jyoti Basu, Jatin Chakrabarti, Ashok Mitra and Pramod dasgupta were in Control of Left Front and the Party. In fact, I came to know the Parliamentarian so much respected only after he was defeated by Ms Mamata Banerjee, a First Timer, in Jadavpur in 1980. But I considered him one of the best Parliamentarian CPIM had, only after he reprented Bolpur. But when I came close to the Party as a Social Activist fighting for the Citizenship, Civic and Human Rights of the Black Untouchable refugees countrywide, I could know the Party Affairs better. But the Capitalist ways of Buddha, Somnath and Nirupam Trio disappointed me rather very fast. Betrayl of the marxists and Genocide Culture Unfolded, the Scientific Brahaminical Marxist Gestapo Genocide Culture EXPOSED only after Nandigram Massacre!
Accusing Somnath Chatterjee of making "false assertions" in his forthcoming book in which he launched a scathing attack on General Secretary Prakash Karat, CPI(M) today said the former Speaker had agreed to quit over the Indo-US nuclear deal issue but had backed out later.
"Somnath Chatterjee had earlier in a letter to the party dated July 9, 2008 agreed to abide by the decision of the party and resign from the post of Speakership. He later backed out from this commitment to abide by the party decision," CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement here.
Chatterjee had launched a vitriolic attack against Karat in his book saying that "disastrous" policies and "misguided" actions of the current leadership had resulted in the major debacle in the 2009 general elections.
"Thanks to the disastrous polices and misguided actions of the current leadership, the Leftist movement in the country has become almost irrelevant", according to excerpts from the book titled Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a Parliamentarian.
Personally, I oppose the Indo US Nuclear deal and I believe that the Opposition to US Cor[poarte Imperialism has NOTHING to do with the DEBACLE of the Marxists in Bengal.Not Prakash Karat, but the Bengali Brahamins including Somnath da have been responsible for the DEMISE of CPIM. But the party seems to be divided on SOMNATH and the debate is IGNITED once again with the Memoirs of a Parliamentarian!81-year-old Chatterjee, who had targeted Karat in his latest book for the party's debacle in the 2009 General Elections, was also slammed for dragging late party stalwart and former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu's name into the controversy over his resignation as Speaker.
Left parties are in talks with 'secular' parties to corner the government in Parliament on the price situation and today submitted adjournment notices to demand a discussion on the issue.
While informal consultations have been held with some parties, top Left parliamentary leaders would meet their counterparts from parties like TDP, BJD and AIADMK tomorrow to discuss the strategy as to how they would take forward their struggle on rising prices, Left sources said.
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Leaders of the CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc, who met here today, said they have sent notices for adjournment of the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha tomorrow to take up a discussion on rising prices and deregulation of prices of petroleum products.
The sources were hopeful of support from the NDA on the price rise issue even though the Left parties do not have any floor coordination with the BJP-led opposition alliance.
While the government has made it clear that it would not agree to an adjournment motion on the price rise issue on the ground that it was not a "recent occurrence", Left parties maintained that de-regulation of prices of petrol and diesel was a decision taken after the budget session of Parliament.
Today's meeting was attended by Sitaram Yechury and Basudeb Acharia (both CPI-M), Gurudas Dasgupta and D Raja (both CPI), Barun Mukherjee and Narahari Mahato (both Forward Bloc) and Manohar Tirkey (RSP).
Besides price rise, the Left parties would raise the issue of mining scam and seek to take the government to task on the Bhopal gas case verdict and its repercussions, the sources said.
They would link the liability and compensation issues in the Bhopal gas case with the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill, which is pending before a Parliamentary Standing Committee, they said.
During the session, members of the four parties would also raise the issue of instances of terrorism by Hindutva fundamentalists and the progress in implementation of Ranganath Misra Commission's recommendations on education and job-related problems faced by the minorities.
A comprehensive law on food security that would guarantee a universal distribution system too would be demanded by the Left parties, which would also seek passage of the long-pending Women's Reservation Bill by the Lok Sabha. The legislation has already been approved by the Rajya Sabha.
In a statement, the CPM Poliburo accused the 10-time MP of making "false assertions" while a senior member Biman Bose said the remarks were rubbish and in bad taste and an attempt to malign the party.
"I feel that these are rubbish. If somebody wants to malign the party, that is in bad taste and is sad," Bose, the state party secretary, told reporters in Kolkata to a query on Chatterjee's accusations.
Chatterjee, who was expelled from CPM for refusing to resign from the post of Lok Sabha Speaker before confidence vote in Parliament in July 2008 ignoring a party decision, has made several comments on Karat and the present party leadership in his book 'Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a Parliamentarian'.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Monday said former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee's allegation that "disastrous" policies and "misguided" actions of the current leadership led to poll debacles was a view expressed by "a person who defected to the rulingetablishment".
The CPI-M said Chatterjee has made "a number of false assertions" in his forthcoming book ("Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a Parliamentarian").
Under attack from veteran leader Somnath Chatterjee over the Left's electoral debacle, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday remained tightlipped about criticism of his leadership and said his party would react to it.
"I won't respond. My party will react (to Chatterjee's charge)," Karat told reporters here emerging from the two-day state committee meeting of the CPM which concluded today.
"He (Chatterjee) is not in the party. So I don't need to react," he said when asked on the charge that he has made the Left movement irrelevant.
Before leaving for Delhi, he said that the extended Central Committee meeting of the CPM in Vijaywada next month would decide on programmes against the neo-liberal policies pursued by the Congress-led UPA government.
In a blistering attack on Karat, Chatterjee, who was expelled by the CPM in July, 2008 after he refused to abide by the party directive to resign as Lok Sabha Speaker, has said "disastrous" policies and "misguided" actions of the "current" leadership had resulted in the major debacle in the 2009 general elections.
The former Lok Sabha Speaker has given vent to his dismay over the state of affairs in the CPM in his book titled 'Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a Parliamentarian' to be released later this month.
The veteran parliamentary was expelled by the party in July 2008, after he refused to resign as Lok Sabha speaker.
"It is totally wrong to say that five members of the politburo decided to expel him the day after the trust vote session of the Lok Sabha was held," the CPI-M said in a statement in New Delhi.
Chatterjee has attacked CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat and the Left party's leadership in his book to be released later this month.
Explaining the circumstances under which Chatterjee was expelled, the CPI-M said "the decision to take disciplinary action against Chatterjee was taken at a pull Politburo meeting held July 19, 2008".
"The politburo decided to convey to Somnath Chatterjee once more, the decision that he should forthwith resign from the speakership and not preside over the Lok Sabha session on the trust vote.
"The politburo concluded that if he refused to do so he should be expelled from the party as it would amount to helping the Congress-led government," the statement said.
"Somnath Chatterjee had earlier in a letter to the party dated Aug 9, 2008 agreed to abide by the decision of the party and resign from the post. He later backed out from this commitment to abide by the decision," it said.
"All the other views expressed by him are just post-facto justifications of a person who defected to the ruling establishment," it added.
Hitting back at Chatterjee, the CPM Politburo said " he had earlier in a letter to the Party dated July 9, 2008 agreed to abide by the decision of the Party and resign from the post of Speakership. He later backed out from this commitment to abide by the Party decision."
The CPM maintained that all the views expressed by Chatterjee "are just post-facto justifications of a person who defected to the ruling establishment".
It said Chatterjee has made "a number of false assertions" and maintained that it was "totally wrong to say that five members of the Politburo decided to expel him the day after the trust vote session of the Lok Sabha was held".
Rebutting his charges that Karat and a few others had decided to expel him, the statement said a meeting of the full Politburo on July 19, 2008, had taken the decision to take disciplinary action against Chatterjee. The Left parties had then decided to withdraw support to the UPA-I government over the nuclear deal.
The Politburo also maintained that it was "unfortunate that Chatterjee has sought to draw Basu's name into this matter when he is no more".
Biman Bose also criticised Chatterjee in this regard. "Anybody can present a dead man's comments anyway he wants. Whether he has really said that cannot be confirmed or denied."
Chatterjee had said that Basu during a meeting on July 12, 2008 had advised him not to resign as Speaker.
'Arrogant' Karat to blame for Left's plight: Somnath Chatterjee
Mohua Chatterjee, TNN, Jul 25, 2010, 12.58am ISTTags:Somnath Chatterjee|autobiography|CPM|Prakash Karat|former lok sabha speaker|Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a Parliamentarian
'Arrogant' Karat to blame for Left's plight, says SomnathSee photo
NEW DELHI: Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's tell-all autobiography not only chronicles the drama that led to his expulsion from the CPM and the Left's withdrawal of support to UPA-I, it launches a scathing attack on "arrogant and intolerant" CPM boss Prakash Karat. He writes that Karat has been responsible for making the Left movement "irrelevant".The book, titled "Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a Parliamentarian", will be released by PM Manmohan Singh on August 21. Excerpts, exclusively seen by TOI, have Chatterjee bitterly attacking Karat and other members of the current leadership for becoming conceited because they were being consulted by the PM. He says they lost perspective and left the CPM at the mercy of "political marauders".
Chatterjee also discloses that his mentor, the late Jyoti Basu, had defied the leadership and the party line to advise him to not resign as Speaker. He had even communicated this to Sitaram Yechury, but Chatterjee wonders if Basu's views were really debated by the leadership.
Chatterjee says his expulsion was totally undemocratic. "When I refused to bow to the party's diktat...Prakash Karat gave vent to his ire by summarily expelling me...it was the saddest day ... since the passing away of my parents." Chatterjee says the decision was taken by just five members of a 17-member politburo and even that was not unanimous.
"That his (Karat's) arrogance and intolerance had reached a peak was clearly demonstrated by the fact that he decided to expel me summarily, without even a show-cause notice. that anyone in the party could defy his diktat was inconceivable to him!"
The veteran Communist believes that the "Karat line" of brinkmanship on the Indo-US nuclear deal is to blame for the Left's rout in its strongholds. With the CPM currently reeling in West Bengal (in Kerala, too, it won just four seat in the 2009 LS polls), Chatterjee's criticism of Karat may reflect the differences between the Bengal party and the central Marxist leadership.
In the book that is published by HarperCollins, Chatterjee narrates how Jyoti Basu advised him to preside over the trust motion as the Speaker and that Chatterjee had mentioned it to Sitaram Yechury. He writes: "...I have received a lot of guidance...from Jyoti Basu... I felt I should take his opinion at that critical juncture. I met him in Kolkata on July 12, 2008 and showed him my communication with the party... he advised me that I should preside over the proceedings of the House on the confidence motion. My resignation, he felt as I too believed, would suggest that I was compromising my position as Speaker and allowing my actions to be dictated by my party, which would be wholly unethical..."
He further writes, "Around 15/16 July 2008, Yechury came to my residence...I informed him about what had transpired during my meeting with Basu, who, as I was told by a reliable source, had sent a note to the general secretary (Karat). I do not know whether this note was placed at the politburo meeting or circulated...
"The first thing the party did the following day...was to hold a meeting of five local members of the politburo, which has a membership of 17." Two days later, he got an expulsion notice, which said "unanimously". "Later, I understood that even among the five, the decision had not been taken by a majority," he adds.
"Prakash Karat met me at my residence a few days after the party had decided to withdraw support... He said he felt insulted and betrayed... on the Indo-US nuclear deal. Because of what he called breach of promise, the party, according to him, had no option but to break with the UPA. In 2004, CPM had decided to support the UPA from outside," Chatterjee writes, to keep "the perceived greatest evil, a BJP-led NDA from coming to power...The party did not join the UPA government as it did not want to be held responsible for the government's acts... When the matter of joining the government came up, I had expressed my reservations about remaining outside...
"The PM and other senior leaders of the UPA were regularly meeting Karat and other Left leaders for every proposed action...the Left leaders were wielding the real authority...Thus, leaders like Karat, Bardhan and others came to acquire a larger-than-life image and influence. Too much proximity to the PM and the UPA chairperson and the accommodative attitude of the government... gave the latter the belief, if not the conviction, that their decisions would be the last word... they forgot their true strength in the House and wanted their decisions to be treated as final."
Chatterjee links this spell of Left arrogance with its electoral debacle. "In May 2009, the Left, as I had apprehended... suffered a major debacle... thanks to the disastrous policies and misguided actions of the current leadership... the Leftist movement in the country has become almost irrelevant and comrades who made sacrifices to build the party have become victims of political marauders."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Arrogant-Karat-to-blame-for-Lefts-plight-Somnaths-autobiography/articleshow/6212137.cms
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Top Maoist among 8 extremists killed by security forces
WEST MIDNAPORE/RANCHI: In a setback to the Maoists, eight extremists, including a top leader and a woman, were gunned down on Monday by security forces in two operations in West Bengal and Jharkhand.Sidhu Soren, chief of the Sidhu-Kanhu Gana Militia -- the armed wing of the Naxal-backed People Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), was among six Maoists killed during the raid by CRPF and Special Action Force on a Maoist hideout in dense forests in Golatore area in West Midnapore, which also left a commando of the specialised anti-Naxal force SAF dead.
"We have found six bodies, including of a woman cadre and Sidhu Soren, chief of the Sidhu-Kanhu Gana Militia," West Midnapore Superintendent of Police Manoj Verma told PTI.
Soren, who was running the militia after the arrest of PCPA convenor Chhatradhar Mahato, was wanted in several cases of murder and kidnap, besides for setting afire Lalgarh police station, Verma said, adding that the encounter stretched for four hours.
Police claimed that the Maoists were planning to attack a police station and a CPI(M) party office.
Verma said that the nearby Sarenga police station and a CPI(M) party office in the area were marked on a map found from the encounter site. "It is certain that the Maoists had a definite plan to attack these two places," he said.
Special commando Ashish Tiwari, who was critically injured in the gunbattle, died while being taken to hospital.
Another top Maoist Kundan Pahan, however, managed to escape during an encounter in Kunthi district of Jharkhand which left two other Maoists dead.
Khunti is the operational area of Pahan who Jharkhand police believes plotted the beheading of Special Branch officer Francis Induwar last October.
Security forces unearthed a Naxal camp following the fierce 12-hour encounter along the Ranchi-Khunti border and a "large cache of weapons and explosives" were recovered.
"Two Maoists were killed in the encounter," Deputy Inspector General of Police (Chhotanagpur Range), R K Mallick said. The bodies were, however, taken away by the Maoists.
The operation involving personnel from specialised state force for Naxal operation - Jaguar, CRPF and Special Action Force had begun yesterday following intelligence inputs about the presence of Pahan in the forests of Rabou village.
However, the encounter ended following heavy rains and security forces suspect Pahan escaped.
Police said one SLR rifle, one INSAS rifle, one 9 mm pistol, two .303, two 12 bore rifles, three country-made guns and a huge quantity of ammunition were seized after the encounter in West Midnapore.
This was the second major success for the security forces in the district. Earlier, on June 16 the joint forces had shot dead 12 Maoists, including three women cadre, at Ranja forest under Salboni police station.
Soren was also the secretary of the PCPA and was in the news earlier this year after he fell out with the political leadership of the outfit and spurned Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's offer for talks.
BJP, Left to give notices for adjournment motion
Keen to put the government on the mat on the price rise, the opposition, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left parties, have decided to give notice for an adjournment motion on the issue on Tuesday, the second day of the monsoon session of parliament.Both the BJP and Left parties said Tuesday that they will give notice for an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha on the government's decision in June to hike the prices of petroleum products.
The Samajwadi Party that supports the government from outside, also affirmed that it was with the opposition in its demand for moving an adjournment motion on price rise.
The BJP said it will give notice for an adjournment motion on hike in prices of kerosene and LPG effected after the budget session, as it did not want the government to oppose the move on the grounds that it was not a matter of recent occurrence.
The rules provide that an adjournment motion should be restricted to a specific matter of recent occurrence involving the government.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said that the party will give a notice on Tuesday in the Lok Sabha for an adjournment motion on the rise in prices of kerosene and LPG cylinders which were announced after the budget session of parliament ended.
Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Basudeb Acahria told IANS that the Left parties will give notice for adjournment motion on price rise, particularly the hike in prices of diesel, petrol, kerosene and LPG.
The Samajwadi Party, which had not voted against the government during the cut motions in the budget session and had staged a walk out, said on Tuesday it will support the opposition's demand for an adjournment motion.
"We want the issue of price rise to be discussed under an adjournment motion," part spokesman Mohan Singh told IANS.
Apart from the BJP and the four Left parties, various non-United Progressive Alliance parties, including the Biju Janata Dal, Janata Dal-United (JD-U), AIADMK, Indian National Lok Dal, Shiv Sena, Janata Dal-Secular, Telugu Desam Party and Shiromani Akali Dal had joined the call for a nationwide shutdown on July 5 against the price rise.
JD-U leader Sharad Yadav said on Monday that the increase in prices of essential commodities was a major issue and the battle against price rise would continue.
Indicating larger opposition unity on price rise, he said: "We are determined to fight on the issue."
The opposition leaders also feel that the government's allies such as DMK and Trinamool Congress will find it hard to defend the government on price rise and hike in prices of petroleum products
Kerala CM flayed for 'Muslim conspiracy' comment
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan has incurred the ire of Muslim organisations and political parties for stating that radical outfit Popular Front wanted to turn the state into a Muslim-majority through their communal and divisive activities.Regardless of their political differences, almost all Muslim organisations, including the mainstream party Indian Union Muslim League, dubbed Achuthanandan's statement as "dangerous" and meant to "insulting the entire community."
The 86-year-old CPI (M) veteran, while talking to reporters in New Delhi on Saturday, said the Popular Front, under scanner for chopping off the hand of a college lecturer, was indulging in communal and divisive activities with the aim of turning Kerala into a Muslim majority state.
While dubbing Achuthanandan's comment as "deplorable" and "dangerous", UDF leaders suspected it was part of a strategy of his party to play "Hindu card" in the forthcoming civic and assembly polls "as a last-ditch attempt" to regain the eroded support base of ruling LDF, as reflected in Parliament elections last year.
"Through his statement, chief minister is testing waters if the LDF could garner votes of the majority community since it has incurred the wrath of the minority communities through its policies," UDF convener P P Thankachan said.
Thankachan, a senior Congress leader, dared CPI(M) leadership to come out with its position on Achuthanandan's statement.
BJP said the chief minister's comment betrayed the "double standard" of his party on the issues of communalism and extremism.
If Achuthanandan was serious in his concerns on the growth of communal and extremist forces, he should be ready to outlaw Popular Front and issue a white paper on the radical outfits working in the state, BJP state president V Muraleedharan said.
Two months back, Achuthanandan surprised political circles in the state by saying Muslim and Christian communalism had been gaining strength in Kerala.
However, he later clarified that he only meant that certain elements in these communities were trying to push their communal agenda, it was interpreted by his political adversaries as a tactic to win the majority support.
CBI is not 'Congress Bureau of Investigation': PM
The CBI is not the "Congress Bureau of Investigation", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday, refuting the Bharatiya Janata Party's allegations of conspiracy behind the arrest of its leader Amit Shah."CBI... is not Congress bureau of investigation. CBI is not a mouthpiece of the Congress," Manmohan Singh told reporters outside Parliament before the beginning of the monsoon session on Monday.
He was answering questions on the opposition party's allegation that the Congress-led central government was behind the arrest of former Gujarat minister Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh staged shootout case.
The prime minister stressed that the investigation into the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh killing was initiated by the Supreme Court and the central government had nothing to do with it.
How a 15-yr-old vendor became a 'dead Maoist'
Supriya Sharma, TNN, Jul 25, 2010, 12.02am IST
BASTAR (Chhattisgarh): On June 3, late at night, in a clearing where the fields of Murdunda village merge into the jungle, a patrol party of CRPF's C168 battalion is fired on by the Maoists. The CRPF returns fire. The jawans see a figure emerge from the bushes and break into a run. They take aim and shoot. The figure is hit. It collapses. It turns out to be a young boy.
Till this point, the narratives converge — that of the police and the dead boy's family. But from here on, there are vastly different versions about what happened. The police say they found explosives near Lalu's dead body. "He was a Sangham (group) member of CPI Maoist and was planting a bomb at the spot," says Vijay Chauhan, officer in-charge of the Awapalli police station.
But Lalu's father, Unga Ooyam, says his 15-year-old son had gone to the fields that night simply to relieve himself. "He had gone to Awapalli to sell vegetables and buy rice. On the way back to our village Tekmetla, he stopped for the night at Murdunda. Past midnight, he woke up his cousin and asked him to accompany him to the fields. His cousin groggily refused, so Lalu stepped out alone. Next morning, townspeople alerted us that his corpse had been carried into the thana at Awapalli," he says.
Ooyam pulls out Lalu's picture from his shirt pocket. With it, tumbles out his membership card for 'Divine Life', a spiritual movement founded by Swami Sivananda. Its ashram near Dantewada has a substantial following among Bastar's tribals. Ooyam's entire family are devout believers. So was Lalu, says Ooyam.
Could the dead boy have been both Maoist and Divine Life believer? No, says the entire town. He was just another boy, insist many of them walking up to this correspondent on the muddied main avenue of Awapalli. "He sold vegetables right here," points one woman, adding, "Even the CRPF men bought lemons from him."
As the conflict intensifies in Bastar, Lalu's case could be a pointer to its complex faultlines. To start with, there is the classic counter-insurgency dilemma: how do you target the rebels without harming innocent civilians?
Security experts say 'mistakes' are bound to happen in any conflict, but it is best to acknowledge these as "regrettable civilian deaths" instead of denying or falsifying them as that turns the tide of public opinion against the security forces.
Take Munjmeta village. In 2006, the Maoists targeted a CRPF party near this village in Narayanpur. An exchange of fire took place not too far from the village pond. Two young brothers, bathing in the pond, were hit by bullets. The older died, the younger one was injured. Their grandmother rushed to look for them, with her neighbour, local barber Kishan Lal Srivas chasing after. "That's when the CRPF picked up my husband. They were angry since they had lost some men. He was repeatedly bludgeoned in the chest," recounts Kishan's wife Meena Bai. "He died on the seventh day."
Meena says she went to register a police case but "they said if you give in writing that your husband was killed by Naxals, we'll ensure you get compensation. But I refused. I thought if I did that, the next thing we know the junglewaale (Naxalites) will come and trouble us."
An investigation by a district judge found Meena's allegations against the CRPF 'prima facie true'. Her case is now being tried in the high court at Bilaspur. She still waits for compensation.
So far, there is just one instance of the security forces owning up to a mistake. In 2008, a woman and a child were killed in Cherpal, when a CRPF jawan fired at a man who was running away. The police gave the families Rs 1 lakh each as compensation. The state has given Rs 10 crore as compensation to the victims of Maoist violence but just Rs 1 lakh to those killed by security forces.
But compensation is not what preoccupies Ooyam. Sitting on the steps of a temple in Bijapur, he recounts: "When I saw my son's body, the policemen simply said he has been killed in a Naxal encounter." It was a shock to find out later that the police had labelled his son a Maoist.
A senior police officer claims the inability to separate civilians from the rebels limits the CRPF's operational ability. "Instead of being trigger happy, the CRPF men are timid, unwilling to shoot, scared they might get into trouble."
"These Naxals are clever people. Their leaders are first circled by the jan militia of armed adivasis, then protected by the Sangham of unarmed villagers. A lungi-chhaap walking past us often returns fire," says a jawan, betraying his frustration.
But a CRPF officer explains the reluctance to own up: unlike the Army that enters a conflict zone with immunity from criminal law, the state police and CRPF jawans are liable to be tried and sentenced under the normal legal process. "They could face a homicide sentence for an accidental civilian killing."
What complicates matters further is the hardening of the ideological divide in Chhattisgarh. The state government has skirmished long and hard with its critics, some of whom, it believes, act as a front for the Maoists, deliberately implicating the security forces in cases to cripple the fight against the rebels.
It doesn't help that the Maoists have a reputation for sophisticated propaganda. Truth or paranoia, this has made the state evade acknowledgement of error, lest it be seen to have ceded ground to the human rights lobby.
This intense ideological warfare leaves little middle ground for those caught in the crossfire — those like Lalu, whose death incidentally is not even on the radar of human rights groups.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/How-a-15-yr-old-vendor-became-a-dead-Maoist/articleshow/6212001.cms
Why Amit should fear DSP Narendra Amin
TNN, Jul 25, 2010, 03.33am ISTAHMEDABAD: Of all the police officers behind bars in the Sohrabuddin encounter case, he is the one the Narendra Modi government distrusts the most.
If someone has to officially spill the beans one day on the murky goings on before the murder of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kauserbi, it is Narendra K Amin, a former DSP of crime branch in Ahmedabad.
At one time, he was among the cops who were closest to outgoing minister of state for home, Amit Shah. But the long period of incarceration - it is almost 40 months since Vanzara and Co. were jailed - seems to have turned Amin against his political masters.
A doctor by profession before he joined the Gujarat Police, Amin's proximity to Shah can be gauged from the fact that the two had telephone conversations 32 times during the week preceding the twin killings in November 2005.
Amin had the reputation of being a brave encounter specialist, having even fired at a mob in Hyderabad, killing one person, when the Gujarat Police went to pick up alleged plotters of post-Godhra reprisals.
In jail, Amin and Vanzara are said to have fought openly, exposing chinks in the defence. There have been indications in the past that the CBI would like to turn him into an approver. Even though booked for murder, Amin's role in the case is rather peripheral.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Why-Amit-should-fear-DSP-Narendra-Amin/articleshow/6212564.cms
India to get 57 more Hawk jet trainers for Rs 9,400 crore
With British PM David Cameron slated to come visiting next week, India is getting all set to order another 57 British Hawk AJTs (advanced jet trainers) in a project worth around Rs 9,400 crore.As reported by TOI earlier, this will be "a follow-on" order to the ongoing Rs 8,000-crore AJT project, finalized in March 2004 with BAE Systems, under which IAF is already getting 66 Hawk AJTs.
The AJT project has been dogged by some controversy, hit as the Hawks were by the disruption in the supply of some spares from BAE Systems. But the glitches seem to have been ironed out now.
As per the original contract, while IAF received 24 of the twin-seater trainers in "flyaway condition" from BAE Systems, the other 42 are being progressively manufactured indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd under transfer of technology.
The Navy will get 17 of the 57 new Hawks, which will also be manfactured by HAL, for its own aircraft carrier-based fighter training. Towards this, Navy inked a Rs 3,042-crore deal with HAL on Friday. "We will get the delivery over 36 months from 2013 onwards," said a Navy officer.
The Hawks already inducted at the Bidar airbase are being used to train rookie IAF pilots on the intricacies of combat fighter jet flying.
The AJTs help the young pilots to bridge the quantum jump from flying sub-sonic aircraft like HPT-32 and Kiran trainers to directly handling the supersonic 'highly-unforgiving' MiG-21s, without any transitional training to improve inadequate flying skills as was the norm earlier.
Apart from their sheer usefulness in training rookie pilots, the Hawks can also be used as ground attack or air defence aircraft in times of war, capable as they are of carrying 6,800 pounds of weapons, rockets, bombs and air-to-air missiles.
Kabul to top agenda on Nirupama's Russia trip
Sachin Parashar, TNN, Jul 25, 2010, 02.55am ISTNEW DELHI: Close on the heels of the security meet in Kabul, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao will travel next week to Moscow where she will engage the Russians over the issue of political settlement in Afghanistan.
The visit will be yet another initiative in recently intensified attempts by India to garner support from like-minded nations to prevent the Taliban from coming back to power.
Highly placed government sources said on Wednesday that India and Russia were on the same page in the sense that both believe there can't be good Taliban and that the visit by Rao will explore further the extent to which the two countries can cooperate in dealing with the emerging situation in Kabul.
"The Russians are clearly allergic to putting boots on the ground in Afghanistan but they are a very important player in the region.
"They can use their sphere of influence in the region to provide transit facility to Afghanistan. We are looking at how we can cooperate with Moscow on this issue," said an official.
US condemns massive leak of Afghan war files
WASHINGTON: A whistleblower leaked tens of thousands of secret military files on the Afghan war on Monday, documenting the deaths of innocent civilians and how Pakistan's spy agency secretly supports the Taliban.
The leaks prompted a furious reaction from the White House, saying they put the lives of soldiers at risk, but the man behind the revelations said the controversy vindicated the decision to break cover.
In all, some 92,000 documents dating back to 2004 were released by the whistleblowers' website Wikileaks to the New York Times, Britain's Guardian newspaper and Germany's Der Spiegel news weekly.
They carry allegations that Iran is providing money and arms to Taliban insurgents, and details how widespread corruption is hampering a war now in its ninth year.
The New York Times said the archive illustrated "in mosaic detail why, after the United States has spent almost 300 billion dollars on the war, the Taliban are stronger than at any time since 2001" while the Guardian said the files painted "a devastating portrait of the failing war."
The Guardian said the files acknowledge at least 195 civilian deaths, adding "this is likely to be an underestimate because many disputed incidents are omitted from the daily snapshots reported by troops on the ground".
The bulk of the deaths are shootings by jumpy soldiers manning checkpoints. But they include details of how a deaf and dumb man who ran "out of fear and confusion" when a CIA squad entered his home village was then shot dead after he could not hear shouted orders to stop.
The most controversial allegations center around claims that Pakistan, a key US ally, allows its spies to meet directly with the Taliban.
According to the Times, Pakistan agents and Taliban representatives meet regularly "in secret strategy sessions to organize networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and even hatch plots to assassinate Afghan leaders."
In one document, Pakistan's former Inter-Services Intelligence spy chief Hamid Gul is described at a January 2009 meeting with insurgents following the killing of an Al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan named Zamarai, also known as Osama al-Kini.
"The meeting attendees were saddened by the news of Zamarai's death and discussed plans to complete Zamarai's last mission by facilitating the movement of a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device from Pakistan to Afghanistan through the Khan Pass," it said.
The Times noted that it was unclear whether the attack ever took place, and said that despite the official end of Gul's tenure at the ISI in 1989, "General Gul is mentioned so many times in the reports, if they are to be believed, that it seems unlikely that Pakistan's current military and intelligence officials could not know of at least some of his wide-ranging activities."
The White House issued a condemnation shortly before the leaks were posted online, saying the information could endanger US lives. It said concerns had already been raised about links between Pakistan intelligence and Afghan insurgents.
"The United States strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organizations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national security," said White House National Security Advisor James Jones.
But while calling the leaks "irresponsible," he promised they will not impact President Barack Obama's commitment "to deepen" partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, said the leaks consisted of "unprocessed" field reports that "do not reflect the current onground realities."
The White House released remarks made in the past by top officials expressing concern about links between Pakistan spy services and militants in Afghanistan.
In one dated March 31, 2009, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that Pakistan's ISI spy agency's contacts with extremist groups were "a real concern to us."
A US official, who asked not to be named, said he did not think that "anyone who follows this issue will find it surprising that there are concerns about ISI and safe havens in Pakistan.
The official said that Wikileaks wass "not an objective news outlet but rather an organization that opposes US policy in Afghanistan."
Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, said the reactions vindicated his organisation's mission.
"It is the role of good journalism to take on powerful abuses, and when powerful abuses are taken on, there is always a back reaction," Assange, an Australian former hacker and computer programmer, told the Guardian.
In an interview with The New York Times, Assange said the documents reveal broader and more pervasive levels of violence in Afghanistan than the military or the news media had previously reported.
"It shows not only the severe incidents but the general squalor of war, from the death of individual children to major operations that kill hundreds," he said.
South Korea, US stage anti-submarine drill in warning to North Korea
ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON: US and South Korean warships staged anti-submarine drills Monday as part of a major naval exercise intended to send a warning to North Korea despite its threats of nuclear retaliation.The two allies, who accuse the North of sending a submarine to torpedo a South Korean warship, have assembled about 20 ships including the 97,000-ton carrier USS George Washington, 200 aircraft and 8,000 personnel.
Four F-22 Raptor stealth fighters are flying missions in and around Korea for the first time to show Washington's strong commitment to deter and defeat any provocative acts, Lieutenant General Jeffrey Remington, commander of the US 7th Air Force, told reporters.
Seoul and Washington say the four-day exercise which began Sunday -- their biggest for years -- is intended to stress that future attacks will meet a decisive response.
In addition to the current exercise, the first in a series this year, the United States has announced new sanctions to punish the North for the sinking and push it to scrap its nuclear weapons programme.
The communist North denies responsibility for the attack on the South's corvette in March which cost 46 lives. It describes the drill named "Invincible Spirit" as a rehearsal for war.
Monday's manoeuvres "focus on better detecting intrusions by an enemy's submarines and attacking them," a spokesman for the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters.
The South's military came in for strong criticism for failing to detect the alleged submarine attack near the disputed Yellow Sea border.
Hundreds of sailors lined the flight deck of the George Washington as 28 planes made a ceremonial fly-over in several waves, according to a pool report from the ship.
The exercise is being held in international waters in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), 200 km (125 miles) south of North Korean waters.
But the North's powerful National Defence Commission said Saturday the country's army and people "will legitimately counter with their powerful nuclear deterrence the largest-ever nuclear war exercises to be staged by the US and the South Korean puppet forces".
Ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun reiterated the criticism Monday, but less stridently.
"The sabre-rattling is a prelude to the second Korean War, to all intents and purposes," it said in a commentary, one day before the 57th anniversary of the armistice which ended the three-year conflict.
The US and South Korea "will have to pay a dear price if they persist in the criminal act of harassing peace and security on the peninsula, defying our repeated warnings," the paper added without restating the nuclear threat.
Rear Admiral Dan Cloyd, commander of Carrier Strike Group Five, told a pool reporter the war games are purely defensive in nature.
"Our intent is to improve defence capabilities in areas such as anti-submarine warfare, air defence and anti-surface warfare," Cloyd said.
"Our intent is not to provoke reactions from any nation, be it North Korea, or any other here in the Western Pacific region."
In response to Beijing's protests, the current exercise was switched from the Yellow Sea separating China and South Korea to the eastern side of the peninsula.
Somnath Chatterjee
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Somnath Chatterjee | |
* | |
Speaker of Lok Sabha | |
In office 4 June 2004 – 16 May 2009 | |
Preceded by | Manohar Joshi |
Succeeded by | Meira Kumar |
Member of the Lok Sabha for Bolpur, West Bengal | |
In office 1971–2009 | |
Born | 25 July 1929 (1929-07-25) (age 81) Tezpur, Assam |
Political party | None (2008-) CPI-M (1968-2008) |
Spouse(s) | Renu Chatterjee |
Children | 1 son and 2 daughters |
Residence | Kolkata |
As of September 17, 2006 Source: [1] |
Somnath Chatterjee (born July 25, 1929) is an Indian politician who had been associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for most of his life, though he is currently an independent. He was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha (House of the People) from 2004 to 2009.
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[edit] Education and family background
Born in Tezpur, Assam, into an aristocratic Calcutta family, his father, Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee, was a prominent lawyer and intellectual around the time of India's independence, and his mother, Binapani Debi[1] ran the home. Somnath was educated at Mitra Institution School, Presidency College and then the University of Calcutta in Calcutta. He also attended Jesus College, Cambridge and graduating with a B.A. in 1952 and a M.A. in 1957, both in law, has been awarded an honorary fellowship by the college in 2007. He was called to the bar from the Middle Temple in London and took up legal practice as an advocate at the Calcutta High Court before joining active politics.
His father N.C. Chatterjee at one time had been a Hindu revivalist, and was one of the founders and one-time president of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, but he developed differences with the Hindu nationalist tone espoused by the party, which is a forerunner of today's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).[2] In 1948, when the communist party was banned in India and party leaders arrested, he formed the All India Civil Liberties Union, and agitated for their release. In the process, he came close to Jyoti Basu. He eventually left the Hindu Mahasabha when he got elected to the Parliament with CPI(M) support.
[edit] Political career
Somnath Chatterjee was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) from 1968 to 2008. In 1971, he was nominated to contest an interim election caused by the death of his father, who had been elected from that constituency. He became a Member of the Lok Sabha in 1971 and was elected the first time as an independent candidate supported by the CPI(M). Subsequently he was re-elected nine times, except once when he lost to Mamata Banerjee in the Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency in 1984. From 1989 until 2004 he was the leader of his party in the Lok Sabha. He was elected for the tenth time in 2004 as a member of the present 14th Lok Sabha from Bolpur Lok Sabha constituency, which is considered to be a CPI(M) stronghold. Following the election, on June 4, 2004 he was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha.
[edit] Expulsion from the CPI (M)
After the CPI (M) withdrew its support for the United Progressive Alliance-led government in mid-2008, the party included Chatterjee's name on its list of MPs who were withdrawing their support from the government, despite his non-partisan position as Speaker. Chatterjee, however, appeared unwilling to follow the party line to vote against the government in a crucial July 2008 confidence vote, as voting against the government would mean voting alongside the right-wing opposition BJP.[3] Ignoring the party's instructions, he decided to stay on in his post as Speaker of the House, acting in this capacity during the confidence vote. Following the vote, which the government survived, on July 23, 2008, the CPI (M) expelled him from the party for violation of party discipline.[4] A CPI (M) press release said, "The Politburo of the Communist Party of India-Marxist has unanimously decided to expel Somnath Chatterjee from the membership of the party with immediate effect. This action has been taken under Article XIX, clause 13 of the Party Constitution for seriously compromising the position of the party."[5] Bengal secretary Biman Bose said "Chatterjee may have acted according to the Indian Constitution but the party constitution is supreme in [the] case of party members."[6]
According to Chatterjee, the expulsion was "one of the saddest days" of his life. He suggested that future speakers should resign from their parties while serving in that office to help ensure its non-partisan standing.[7] His constituency of Bolpur had already been reserved for the Scheduled Castes, meaning he would have been unable to contest the seat in the next election; he announced in August 2008, following his expulsion from the CPI(M), that he would retire from politics at the time of the next election in 2009. He was broadly respected in his constituency; the CPI(M)'s 2009 candidate, Ramchandra Dom, expressed admiration for Chatterjee and vowed to continue his work, while the Congress candidate, Asit Mal, said that the people of Bolpur were "hurt at the way [Chatterjee] was driven out of the CPI-M" and that their feelings would "be reflected in the results".[8]
[edit] Awards and honors
In 1996 he won the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award. During Jyoti Basu's tenure, he was the Chairman of WBIDC and in that capacity he made countless overseas trips to promote FDI in West Bengal. His penchant for signing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), many of which never came to fruition, earned him the nickname "Mou-da"! After Buddhadeb Bhattacharya became the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Somnath's influence within the party and the state government waned considerably, although as Speaker of the Lok Sabha he held a constitutional position of importance.[9]
[edit] Controversies
In 2005, he was caught in a controversy over his statement on the Supreme Court orders related to the vote of confidence in the Jharkhand Assembly. He said that the Supreme Court was encroaching on the right of the Legislature by issuing orders on the proceedings of the Jharkhand Assembly.[10] He asked for a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Indian Constitution. This remark was criticised by BJP] which supported the Supreme Court's decision.[11]
The Opposition demanded his resignation because he held an office of profit as Chairman of Santiniketan Sriniketan Development Authority (SSDA). He argued that since he did not profit from the office, the demand was baseless.[12]
[edit] Personal life
Chatterjee married Renu Chatterjee, who comes from the zemindar family in Lalgola, on February 7, 1950[2]. The couple have one son, Pratap and two daughters, Anuradha and Anushila.
Somnath Chatterjee is known for his fiscal integrity. When in 2004, as speaker, he moved into the official residence at 20 Akbar Road, he discontinued the practice of paying for toiletries and tea from the national exchequer[13]. On trips abroad, he bears the expenses of any accompanying family members.
[edit] References
- ^ http://164.100.47.134/newls/Biography.aspx?mpsno=73
- ^ a b http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/340802.html
- ^ "Speaker adamant, may quit both House and party", Hundustan Times, July 17, 2008.
- ^ "Somnath pays price for violating party line", IANS (headlinesindia.com), July 23, 2008.
- ^ CPI-M fails to pull down Govt, sacks Somnath. CNN IBN. July 23 2008. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/somnath-chatterjee-shown-the-door-by-cpim/69418-3.html?xml. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
- ^ The Telegraph. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080724/jsp/frontpage/story_9593437.jsp.
- ^ Santosh H K Narayan, "No taker of Speaker's suggestion", headlinesindia.com, August 1, 2008.
- ^ Sirshendu Panth, "Retired Somnath Chatterjee omnipresent in old constituency", IANS (thaindian.com), April 3, 2009.
- ^ Zee News Bureau. "Somnath Chatterjee -- Profile". http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=457419&sid=NAT.
- ^ "The Conscientious Marxist" Tehelka Retrieved 2008-08-18
- ^ Speaker to seek Kalam's view on SC order, The Tribune India, 10 March 2006. Accessed 27 September 2006.
- ^ Not holding any office of profit, says Somnath, The Hindu, 25 March 2006. Accessed 27 September 2006.
- ^ http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=328584
[edit] External links
- Biography of Shri Somnath Chaterjee
- News article in the Hindu Business Line: Somnath Chatterjee likely to be Speaker
- Biography from Calcutta Yellow Pages.com
- Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
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Speakers of the Lok Sabha (India)
G.V. Mavalankar · M.A. Ayyangar · Sardar Hukam Singh · N. Sanjiva Reddy · G.S. Dhillon · Bali Ram Bhagat · N. Sanjiva Reddy · K.S. Hegde · Balram Jakhar · Rabi Ray · Shivraj Patil · P.A. Sangma · G.M.C. Balayogi · Manohar Joshi · Somnath Chatterjee · Meira Kumar
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somnath_Chatterjee"
Categories: 1929 births | Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge | Alumni of Presidency College, Kolkata | Bengali politicians | Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians | Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge | Indian barristers | Living people | Recipients of the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award | People from Kolkata | Speakers of the Lok Sabha | University of Calcutta alumni | 14th Lok Sabha members
Use power to bring welfare, not to dominate people: Somnath Chatterjee
Indrani Dutta
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Sushanta PatronobishTRIBUTE: Schoolchildren place near a statue of veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu during a function to mark his 96th birth anniversary in Kolkata on Thursday. Photo: Sushanta Patronobish.
Power has to be used to help bring about people's welfare and not as a means to dominate them. One cannot afford to ignore the feelings and perceptions of the common man.
These oft-repeated words of veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu were recalled by Somnath Chatterjee, former Lok Sabha Speaker, at a meeting here on on the occasion of the 96th birth anniversary of the former West Bengal Chief Minister.
Delivering the first Jyoti Basu Memorial Lecture, Mr. Chatterjee said that as Mr. Basu always emphasised, "only in the hands of a united and eternally vigilant citizenry and a leadership committed to the cause of the people will democracy be safe."
The lecture, organised by the West Bengal Forum for Parliamentary Studies, was held on a lawn in the Assembly where Basu sat for many decades, either on the treasury benches or in the opposition.
The former Chief Minister, Siddhartha Shankar Ray, one of Basu's friends, sent a letter saying that although his kidney ailments bound him down, he hoped that Mr. Basu's spirit lived on in the House.
Invoking the name of the leader again and again in his speech, Mr. Chatterjee said Mr. Basu always believed that "it is man and man alone who creates history," and "despite many crests and thrusts, the people will finally emerge victorious and gain freedom in a classless society, free from exploitation of any form."
Mr. Chatterjee said Mr. Basu had tremendous capacity to assess the significance of developing situations, political or otherwise, and could quickly react to them most aptly.
"He set an outstanding example of how to run a coalition government in harmony, and with understanding among the partners," Mr. Chatterjee added.
The implementation of land reforms and devolution of power of governance to the grass-root level were among Mr. Basu's greatest achievements, but with his pragmatism, he also ushered in the 1994 Industrial Policy of the State government, Mr. Chatterjee said.
Striking a poignant note during his brief speech, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said it was a painful moment for him to talk about a man whose association had been an asset in his life.
"Mr. Basu was imprisoned without trial, but he never meted out that treatment to anyone. Rather, he pioneered the setting up of a State-level Human Rights Commission. He held aloft secular ideals, and the image and stature that has got inextricably linked with him is one that does the State proud," Mr. Bhattacharjee said.
Keywords: Basu birth anniversary
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(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Vol. XXXIV
No. 30
July 25, 2010
Problems of Dalits
RESOLUTION ADOPTED AT THE
ALL INDIA CONVENTION ON PROBLEMS OF DALITS,
NEW DELHI – FEBRUARY 22, 2006
1. A MARXIST PERSPECTIVE ON CASTE OPPRESSION
The thoroughly reactionary varna and caste system has hounded Indian society for thousands of years. India is the only country in the world where such a system came into being and still exists. The varna and caste system was sanctified by Hindu religion and by Vedic scriptures. This was the main reason for its consolidation. The notorious text, Manusmriti, codified the then prevailing social norms and consigned the shudras, atishudras and women to a thoroughly unequal and miserable existence. The distinctiveness of the caste system was that it was hereditary, compulsory and endogamous. The worst affected by the caste system and its social oppression have been the dalits, or atishudras, or scheduled castes. Albeit in a different way, the adivasis or scheduled tribes in India have also faced social oppression over the ages. The stories of Shambuka in the Ramayana and of Ekalavya in the Mahabharata are classic testimonies of the non-egalitarian nature of Hindu society in ancient India.
Along with the curse of untouchability, the dalits had no right to have any property. They had to eat the foulest food, including leftovers thrown away by the higher varnas; they were not allowed to draw water from the common well; they were prohibited from entering temples; they were barred from the right to education and knowledge; they had to perform menial jobs for the higher castes; they were not allowed to use the common burial ground; they were not allowed to live in the main village inhabited by the upper varnas; and they were deprived of ownership rights to land and property, leading to the lack of access to all sources of economic mobility. Thus, dalits were subjected to both social exclusion and economic discrimination over the centuries. In one form or the other, this continues even today in most parts of the country.
As Comrade B.T. Ranadive pointed out "the three powerful class interests, the imperialists, the landlords and bourgeois leadership were acting as the defenders of the caste system, by protecting the landlord and pre-capitalist land system." It will be seen from here that the interests of the bourgeois class rested in maintaining the status quo. There has been no basic change in caste system after nearly 60 years of independence after independence as the bourgeoisie compromised with landlordism fostered caste prejudices. After independence also, the basic structure of land relations, overhauling of which would have given a blow to untouchability and the caste system has not been changed.The 19th and 20th centuries saw great social reformers like Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Sri Narayan Guru, Jyothiba Phule, Periyar E. V. Ramaswamy Naickar and others. These social reform movements conducted many struggles against the caste system, caste oppression and untouchability in many ways. But, despite the struggles against caste oppression, the social reform movement did not address the crucial issue of radical land reforms. It got delinked from the anti-imperialist struggle. The Congress-led national movement on its part, failed to take up radical social reform measures as part of the freedom movement.
Diametrically opposed to the progressive role of the reform movement was the thoroughly reactionary role on social issues that was played by the RSS and the Sangh Parivar ever since its inception. Apart from its rabid communal ideology, the RSS adopted a Brahmanical stance right from the beginning. With this understanding, the RSS opposed the amendments to the Hindu Code Bill after independence. The BJP's opposition to the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations was also on this basis.
Wherever the BJP is in power in the states, atrocities on Muslims, dalits and adivasis have increased markedly. At the same time in some areas, they sought to pit the poor people belonging to dalits and tribal community against Muslims and Christians. So, the fight against caste oppression and communalism are interlinked.
The experience clearly shows the need to link the fight against caste oppression with the struggle against class exploitation. At the same time, the class struggle must include the struggle for the abolition of the caste system and all forms of social oppression. This is an important part of the democratic revolution.
2. THE CPI (M) ON THE CASTE QUESTION
The CPI(M) Programme updated in 2000 succinctly summarises the caste question as follows: "The bourgeois-landlord system has also failed to put an end to caste oppression. The worst sufferers are the scheduled castes. The dalits are subject to untouchability and other forms of discrimination despite these being declared unlawful. The growing consciousness among the dalits for emancipation is sought to be met with brutal oppression and atrocities. The assertion by the dalits has a democratic content reflecting the aspirations of the most oppressed sections of society. The backward castes have also asserted their rights in a caste-ridden society.
"At the same time a purely caste appeal which seeks to perpetuate caste divisions for the narrow aim of consolidating vote banks and detaching these downtrodden sections from the common democratic movement has also been at work. Many caste leaders and certain leaders of bourgeois political parties seek to utilise the polarisation on caste lines for narrow electoral gains and are hostile to building up the common movement of the oppressed sections of all castes. They ignore the basic class issues of land, wages and fight against landlordism, which is the basis for overthrowing the old order.
"The problem of caste oppression and discrimination has a long history and is deeply rooted in the pre-capitalist social system. The society under capitalist development has compromised with the existing caste system. The Indian bourgeoisie itself fosters caste prejudices. Working class unity presupposes unity against the caste system and the oppression of dalits, since the vast majority of dalits are part of the labouring classes. To fight for the abolition of the caste system and all forms of social oppression through a social reform movement is an important part of the democratic revolution. The fight against caste oppression is interlinked with the struggle against class exploitation."The Political Resolution of the 18th Congress of the CPI(M) held in 2005 gives concrete guidance to the Party to take up caste and social issues. In the section titled "Caste Oppression and Dalits", it says, "The caste system contains both social oppression and class exploitation. The dalits suffer from both types of exploitation in the worst form. 86.25 per cent of the scheduled caste households are landless and 49 per cent of the scheduled castes in the rural areas are agricultural workers. Communists who champion abolition of the caste system, eradication of untouchability and caste oppression have to be in the forefront in launching struggles against the denial of basic human rights. This struggle has to be combined with the struggle to end the landlord-dominated order which consigns the dalit rural masses to bondage. The issues of land, wages and employment must be taken up to unite different sections of the working people and the non-dalit rural poor must be made conscious of the evils of caste oppression and discrimination by a powerful democratic campaign. There are some dalit organisations and NGOs who seek to foster anti-communist feelings amongst the dalit masses and to detach them from the Left movement. Such sectarian and, in certain cases, foreign-funded activities must be countered and exposed by positively putting forth the Party's stand on caste oppression and making special efforts to draw the dalit masses into common struggles."
In the section titled "Fight Caste Appeal", the Political Resolution says, "The intensification of the caste appeal and fragmentation of the working people on caste lines is a serious challenge to the Left and democratic movement. Taking up caste oppression, forging the common movement of the oppressed of all castes and taking up class issues of common concern must be combined with a bold campaign to highlight the pernicious effects of caste-based politics. The Party should work out concrete tactics in different areas taking into account the caste and class configurations. Electoral exigencies should not come in the way of the Party's independent campaign against caste-based politics. Reservation is no panacea for the problems of caste and class exploitation. But they provide some limited and necessary relief within the existing order. Reservation should be extended to dalit Christians. In the context of the privatisation drive and the shrinkage of jobs in the government and public sector, reservations in the private sector for scheduled castes and tribes should be worked out after wide consultations."
3. THE POSITION OF DALITS IN INDIA TODAY
According to the 2001 census, scheduled castes comprise 16.2 per cent of the total population of India, that is, they number over 17 crore. Scheduled tribes comprise 8.2 per cent of the population, that is, they number over 8 crore. Both together constitute 24.4 per cent of the Indian population, that is, they together number over 25 crore.
The six states that have the highest percentage of scheduled caste population are Punjab (28.9), Himachal Pradesh (24.7), West Bengal (23.0), Uttar Pradesh (21.1), Haryana (19.3) and Tamil Nadu (19.0). The twelve states that have the largest number of scheduled castes are Uttar Pradesh (351.5 lakhs), West Bengal (184.5 lakhs), Bihar (130.5 lakhs), Andhra Pradesh (123.4 lakhs), Tamil Nadu (118.6 lakhs), Maharashtra (98.8 lakhs), Rajasthan (96.9 lakhs), Madhya Pradesh (91.6 lakhs), Karnataka (85.6 lakhs), Punjab (70.3 lakhs), Orissa (60.8 lakhs) and Haryana (40.9 lakhs).
Almost every socio-economic indicator shows that the position of scheduled caste families is awful. In many cases their plight is getting worse. Let us have a look at some of the major indicators.LAND: In 1991 70% of the total SC households were landless or near landless (owning less than one acre). This increased to 75% in 2000. In 1991, 13% of the rural SC households were landless. However, in 2000 this saw a decline and was 10%. As per the Agricultural Census of 1995-96, the bottom 61.6% of operational holdings accounted for only 17.2% of the total operated land area. As against this, the top 7.3% of operational holdings accounted for 40.1% of the total operated area. This gives an indication of land concentration in the hands of a few.FIXED CAPITAL ASSETS: In 2000, about 28 % of SC households in rural areas had acquired some access to fixed capital assets (agricultural land and non-land assets). This was only half compared to 56 % for other non-SC/ST households who had some access to fixed capital assets. In the urban areas, the proportion was 27 % for SCs and 35.5 % for others.
AGRICULTURAL LABOUR: In 2000, 49.06 % of the working SC population were agricultural labourers, as compared to 32.69 % for the STs and only 19.66 % for the others. This shows the preponderance of dalits in agricultural labour. Between 1991 and 2001, the number of agricultural labourers in India increased from 7.46 crore to 10.74 crore, and a large proportion of them were dalits. On the other hand, the average number of workdays available to an agricultural labourer slumped from 123 in 1981 to 70 in 2005.
CHILD LABOUR: It is reported that out of the 60 million child labour in India, 40 % come from SC families. Moreover, it is estimated that 80 % of child labour engaged in carpet, matchstick and firecracker industries come from scheduled caste backgrounds. The tanning, colouring and leather processing, lifting dead animals, clearing human excreta, cleaning soiled clothes, collection of waste in slaughter houses and sale of toddy are some of the hereditary jobs generally pursued by Dalit children.
PER CAPITA INCOME: In 2000, as against the national average of Rs. 4485, the per capita income of SCs was Rs. 3,237. The average weekly wage earning of an SC worker was Rs. 174.50 compared to Rs. 197.05 for other non- SC/ST workers.
POVERTY: In 2000, 35.4 % of the SC population was below the poverty line in rural areas as against 21 % among others ('Others' everywhere means non-SC/ST); in urban areas the gap was larger – 39 % of SC as against only 15 % among others. The largest incidence of poverty in rural areas was among agricultural labour followed by non-agricultural labour, whereas in urban areas the largest incidence of poverty was among casual labour followed by self-employed households. The monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) for all household types was lower for SCs than others.
EMPLOYMENT: In 2000, the unemployment rate based on current daily status was 5 % for SCs as compared to 3.5 % for others in rural and urban areas. The wage labour households accounted for 61.4 % of all SC households in rural areas and 26 % in urban areas, as compared to 25.5 % and 7.45 % for other households.
RESERVATIONS: 15 % and 7.5 % of central government posts are reserved for SCs and STs respectively. For SCs, in Group A, only 10.15 % posts were filled, in Group B it was 12.67 %, in Group C it was 16.15 % and in Group D it was 21.26 %. The figures for STs were even lower, at 2.89 %, 2.68 %, 5.69 % and 6.48 % for the four groups respectively. Of the 544 judges in the High Courts, only 13 were SC and 4 were ST. Among school teachers all over the country, only 6.7 % were SC/STs, while among college and university teachers, only 2.6 % were SC/STs.
EDUCATION: In 2001, the literacy rate among SCs was 54.7 % and among STs it was 47.1 %, as against 68.8 % for others. Among women, the literacy rate for SCs was 41.9 %, for STs it was 34.8 % and for others it was 58.2 %. School attendance was about 10 % less among SC boys than other boys, and about 5 % less among SC girls than other girls. Several studies have observed discrimination against SCs in schools in various forms.HEALTH: In 2000, the Infant Mortality Rate (child death before the age of 1) in SCs was 83 per 1000 live births as against 61.8 for the others, and the Child Mortality Rate (child death before the age of 5) was 119.3 for 1000 live births as against 82.6 for the others. These high rates among the SCs are closely linked with poverty, low educational status and discrimination in access to health services. In 1999, at least 75 % of SC women suffered from anaemia and more than 70 % SC womens' deliveries took place at home. More than 75 % of SC children were anaemic and more than 50 % suffered from various degrees of malnutrition.
WOMEN: While dalit women share common problems of gender discrimination with their high caste counterparts, they also suffer from problems specific to them. Dalit women are the worst affected and suffer the three forms oppression -- caste, class and gender. As some of the above figures show, these relate to extremely low literacy and education levels, heavy dependence on wage labour, discrimination in employment and wages, heavy concentration in unskilled, low-paid and hazardous manual jobs, violence and sexual exploitation, being the victims of various forms of superstitions (like the devadasi system) etc.
SANITATION: Only 11 % of SC households and 7 % of ST households had access to sanitary facilities as against the national average of 29 %.
ELECTRICITY: Only 28 % of the SC population and 22 % of the ST population were users of electricity as against the national average of 48 %.ATROCITIES, UNTOUCHABILITY AND DISCRIMINATION: During 16 years between 1981 to 2000 for which records are available, a total of 3,57,945 cases of crime and atrocities were committed against the SCs. This comes to an annual average of about 22,371 crimes and atrocities per year. The break-up of the atrocities and violence for the year 2000 is as follows: 486 cases of murder, 3298 grievous hurt, 260 of arson, 1034 cases of rape and 18,664 cases of other offences. The practice of untouchability and social discrimination in the matter of use of public water bodies, water taps, temples, tea stalls, restaurants, community bath, roads and other social services continues to be of high magnitude.
4. EFFECT OF LIBERALISATION POLICIESWith the onset of the imperialist-dictated policies of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation by the ruling classes of our country during the last decade and a half, the problems of dalits, adivasis, other backward castes and the working people as a whole have greatly aggravated. The drive to privatise the public sector has directly hit reservations for the SC/STs. The closure of thousands of mills and factories have rendered lakhs jobless and this has also hit dalits and other backward castes. The ban on recruitment to government and semi-government jobs that has been imposed in several states has also had an adverse effect. The growing commercialisation of education and health has kept innumerable people from both socially and economically backward sections out of these vital sectors. In this background, reservation in private sector has become very important because the joblessness among the SC and STs has witnessed a steady increase in the recent period.
The most disastrous effects of these policies can be seen in the deep agrarian crisis that has afflicted the rural sector. Rural employment has sharply fallen and this has hit dalits, adivasis and women the most. Mechanisation of agriculture has further compounded the problem. The real wages of agricultural workers, of whom a large proportion are dalits, have fallen in many states. No efforts are made to implement minimum wage legislation even where it exists, and periodic revision of minimum wage is also conspicuous by its absence. The dismantling of the public distribution system has increased hunger to alarming proportions. An overwhelming proportion of the malnutrition-related deaths of thousands of children in several states is from dalit and adivasi families. Thus, the neo-liberal policies have accentuated both the economic as well as the social divide in the country.
5. COMMUNIST STRUGGLES AGAINST CASTE & FEUDAL OPPRESSION
There is no doubt that due to the whole range of alternative policies pursued by the Left-led state governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, the position of dalits and adivasis have markedly improved in these states. But even before the Left came to power in these states, Communist leaders staunchly fought on the issues relating to caste oppression. In Kerala, in the pre-independence period, Communist leaders, while leading class struggles, also led temple entry satyagrahas for the dalits in the teeth of upper caste opposition. In West Bengal, the Communists made conscious attempts in practice to carry forward the rich legacy of the glorious social reform movement in the state. In Tripura, too, the Communists raised the issue of caste oppression as an integral part of the class struggle. In Tamilnadu in East Thanjavur area the struggle led by communists against the class and caste oppression of dalits formed the base for a strong kisan movement.It was in the great anti-feudal peasant struggles led by the Communists in the 1940s that India for the first time got a glimpse of the possibility of the annihilation of caste and communalism once and for all. Historic struggles like Telangana, Tebhaga, Punnapara Vayalar and others squarely targeted landlordism and imperialism and in this process, they succeeded in forging the unprecedented unity of all toilers, cutting across caste and religious lines. The struggle reached its highest point in Telangana. Thousands of villages were liberated from landlord rule and actual land redistribution to the landless was carried out. A large number of the beneficiaries of this land reform were dalits and adivasis, who got possession of land for the first time. The remarkable class unity of the peasantry that was forged in this struggle struck the first blows at caste and communal ideology and practice.
In more recent times, the CPI(M) and the mass organisations in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere have been leading a concerted statewide campaign and struggle for the last few years on the issues of untouchability and caste oppression. This is meeting with encouraging public response, with dalits being attracted to the Left.
6. THE POSITION OF DALITS IN LEFT-RULED STATES
The first Communist ministry in Kerala, the Left Front governments in West Bengal and Tripura and the Left Democratic Front regimes in Kerala took up land reforms as their priority task. They combined this by strengthening panchayati raj.
In West Bengal, of the more than 13.81 lakh acres of agricultural land vested in the state, 10.69 lakh acres have been distributed among 26.43 lakh people. The significant feature is that 56 per cent of the beneficiaries belong to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. This is almost double their proportion in the population. Of the land distributed, 4.48 lakh pattas were issued jointly to men and women and 52,000 pattas were meant exclusively for women. It is a creditable record that 18 per cent of the total ceiling surplus land of the country and 20 per cent of the total distributed land of the country is in West Bengal alone.Besides this, the rights of nearly 15 lakh sharecroppers have been recorded, covering 11.08 lakh acres of land, and 5.44 lakh poor families have been given homestead land. Over 42 per cent of the recorded sharecroppers belonged to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Now nearly 72 per cent of the land in West Bengal is managed by poor and marginal farmers. As a result of land reforms and other measures taken by the Left Front government, agricultural production has increased by 250 per cent and more. Landless agricultural labour has been guaranteed a minimum wage and is provided with work during lean months. A large proportion of the beneficiaries of these measures naturally belong to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. In the three-tier panchayat system, the representation of SCs, STs and women is considerably higher than the reserved quotas in both West Bengal and Tripura. Panchayat Raj institutions in these states are largely controlled by poor peasants and agricultural labourers, unlike in most other parts of the country, where they are in the grip of landlords and rich peasants.
The West Bengal LF government has also initiated a large number of schemes to specifically support dalits and adivasis. Scholarships are provided to 1.1 lakh dalit students and 80,000 adivasi students. 240 hostels for primary and secondary students from the dalit and adivasi communities have been constructed. 32,000 dalit students and 28,000 adivasi students are provided with expenses for living in hostels at the pre-secondary level. An SC/ST Development and Finance Corporation has been established to support poor dalit and adivasi families by providing finance for household-based self-employment schemes. As against the poor national average that we saw above, 26 % of primary teachers and 29 % of secondary teachers in West Bengal come from the scheduled castes. For scheduled tribes, the percentage is 9 and 11 respectively.
The Tripura Left Front government also has a creditable record in the upliftment of the SCs and STs. In 1991, while the overall literacy was 60.44 %, the SC literacy was 56.66 %. The 2001 census figures of literacy are not yet available, but they are expected to show a considerable increase. Female SC literacy doubled from 23.24 % in 1981 to 45.45 % in 1991. A striking feature in the state is that SCs are not confined exclusively to 'Paras' or 'Bastis' like in some other parts of the country. They by and large live and intermingle with each other. There are no bonded labourers among SCs in the state. Provision of minimum wage to agricultural labourers, many of whom are SCs, is stringently implemented. SC families are legally protected against exploitation by money-lenders. Reservations in services, posts and educational institutions are strictly monitored and implemented. All scavengers engaged in carrying night soil by head load were liberated in 1991 itself and special schemes were undertaken for their rehabilitation. In the small state of Tripura, 40,000 SC students are being given pre-matric scholarships by the government. 2000 meritorious SC students are being given the Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Memorial Award each year. The sum of the award ranges from Rs. 400 to Rs. 1500 per annum. 30 hostels for SC boys and girls have been set up. Special schemes have been started for providing housing and medical assistance to SCs. Special development programmes for welfare of SCs are taken up and implemented every three years.It is as a result of a long process of struggle combined with the above governmental measures, and an intensive ideological campaign by the Party and the Left that untouchability and caste oppression against dalits and adivasis have been reduced to a large extent in West Bengal and Tripura under Left Front rule. Atrocities against dalits and adivasis, which abound in many other parts of the country, are almost unheard of in these two states. Thus, in 2001, at the All India level, there were 33,503 cases of crimes committed against scheduled castes, of which 716 were murders, 1316 were rapes and 400 were abductions. In West Bengal that year, there were only 10 such crimes and in Tripura there were only 2 such crimes. In the same year, at the All India level, there were 6,217 cases of crimes committed against scheduled tribes, of which 167 were murders, 573 were rapes, and 67 were abductions. In West Bengal that year, there were only 2 such crimes and in Tripura there was not a single such crime. All this conclusively shows that it is only a Left alternative that can show the way to ending the age-old scourge of untouchability, caste oppression and social discrimination.
6. IMMEDIATE TASKSTaking into account the severity of the caste problem, Com. E. M. S Namboodiripad wrote in 1979, "One has to realize that the building of India on modern democratic and secular lines requires an uncompromising struggle against the caste-based Hindu society and its culture. There is no question of secular democracy, not to speak of socialism, unless the very citadel of India's 'age-old' civilization and culture, the division of society into a hierarchy of castes – is broken. In other words, the struggle for radical democracy and socialism cannot be separated from the struggle against caste society."
On the basis of above understanding the convention calls upon all the units of the Party to take up the social issues as an important task of the Party. Party units should study the position of social oppression in their area and work out the concrete demands to organise campaign and struggles. The mass organisations should take up the specific problems of dalits and organise special campaigns and struggles to achieve their demands.7. CHARTER OF DEMANDS
This convention sets out the following charter of demands to ensure a better life for the crores of dalits in our country and it calls upon them to join the common movement of all toiling, oppressed and exploited sections of our country to win these demands and also to effect a radical social, economic and political transformation of our country.-
LAND REFORMS: The central and state governments must immediately set in motion a process of land reforms whereby land will be redistributed to the landless agricultural labourers and poor peasants gratis. All loopholes in the present laws must be plugged. All schemes to reverse land reform legislation and give away land to multinational corporations and big business houses should be scrapped forthwith.
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RESERVATIONS: All the backlogs in reserved seats and posts and in promotions for SCs, STs and OBCs must be filled forthwith with special recruitment drives. The three Constitutional amendments made to correct the three OMs issued in 1997 diluting reservations for SCs and STs should be implemented. The pre-1997 vacancies based roster should be restored. A comprehensive legislation covering all aspects of reservation for SCs/STs in employment and education both public and private institutions should be enacted.
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SPECIAL COMPONENT PLAN: Special Component Plan should be properly implemented in all the states with proper allotment of funds according to the population of dalits. A National Commission should be set up to assess the real position of dalits including reservation. The state level commissions should be set up to oversee the implementation of all schemes connected with the SCs including reservation.
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INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT: Infrastructure development in the scheduled caste areas like road, water, health, culture and other needs has to be given proper importance. When allotting fund for infrastructure development, a separate allotment for scheduled caste areas should be provided.
A comprehensive National Programme of Minor Irrigation for all irrigable but unirrigated lands of SCs and STs through wells, community wells, bore-wells, community bore-wells and tube-wells, bandheras, check-dams, lift, etc., should be immediately undertaken and implemented.
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ROOTING OUT UNTOUCHABILITY: All forms of untouchability must be rooted out of the country by strengthening the relevant laws, ensuring their strict implementation and most importantly, by launching a mass movement of the people.
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PROTECTION FROM ATROCITIES: The Central Government should amend and strengthen the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, providing for special courts with judges, investigating officers and public prosecutors unburdened by any other work. Social and economic boycott and blackmail should be included as substantive crimes. Full economic rehabilitation of victims and their survivors must be ensured.
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EMPLOYMENT: The privatisation drive should be stopped as it leads to loot of national assets, greater unemployment, a curtailment of reservations and also a spurt in corruption. The Central Government should enact a bill to provide reservations in the private sector, which has been a long-standing demand of SCs and STs. Special schemes to provide self-employment to SC youth should be started. The Right to Work should be incorporated as a fundamental right in the Constitution.
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EDUCATION: The commercialisation of education should be stopped since the massive fee and donation structure of private educational managements is something that socially and economically backward students cannot afford. For this, the central government must increase its own outlay on education to 6 % of the GDP. SC/ST students should be given special scholarships to pursue their studies. The stipends in Social Welfare hostels should be raised and the quality of these hostels improved. Steps should be taken to universalise primary education and expand secondary education. Special measures to curb the drop-out rate among SCs should be undertaken.
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AGRICULTURAL WORKERS: The Minimum Wages Act for agricultural workers must be stringently implemented throughout the country. A comprehensive bill for agricultural workers is another long-standing demand and it must be enacted without delay. Homestead land must be provided for SCs, STs and agricultural workers.
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RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEME: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act must be strictly implemented all over the country by involving the people, their mass organisations and the panchayati raj institutions. It should be extended to all districts and also to urban areas of the country.
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PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM: The public distribution system must be universalised to ensure food to all. Until this is done, BPL ration cards must be issued to all poor families, many of whom are from SCs and STs. The grain under the BPL scheme should be made available at Antyodaya prices.
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CREDIT: Agricultural credit to peasants and agricultural workers must be made available at 4 % rate of interest. For SCs and STs in both rural and urban areas, credit facilities should be expanded and the credit given at concessional interest rates.
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BONDED LABOUR AND CHILD LABOUR: The total liberation and full rehabilitation of bonded labourers must be ensured. The pernicious practice of child labour must be abolished and children properly rehabilitated and educated. Similarly, total liberation and full rehabilitation must be ensured for Safaqi Karmacharis who are engaged in scavenging.
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SCAVENGERS: Ensure total liberation and full rehabilitation for scavengers (safai karamcharis), ban engagement of contract labour in safai services and other services where SC and ST numerically predominate and instead introduce necessary improvements by involving such Karamcharis; and reactivate the Central Monitoring Committee for Liberation and Rehabilitation of Safai Karamcharis and State, Municipal and District Level communities.
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INTERCASTE MARRIAGES: Intercaste marriages should be encouraged by giving special subsidized housing and other facilities to married couples immediately after their marriage. We should consciously try to uphold such inter-caste marriages and make them an event of big social participation and sanction.
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Comments on Civil Nuclear Liability Bill
Date:14 July 2010The Civil Nuclear Liability Bill bears the handiwork of the US nuclear industry lobby. This is not the path India should tread. The Bill in its current form should be scrapped as it has been drawn up keeping the interests of the nuclear suppliers and operators. A new Bill which starts with the interests of the victims of such an accident as its core concern needs to be drafted instead.Comments onThe Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010By Prakash Karat General Secertary, CPI (M)(Submitted to the Standing Committee of Science and Technology and Environment and Forests) On July 12, 2010The UPA Government has introduced the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill in Parliament, which seeks to cap the liability of nuclear plant operators and the equipment suppliers in case there is an accident involving a nuclear installation.This legislation is being pushed by the Government because of pressure from the US equipment suppliers and investors put through the US administration at the highest levels. The US has made a precondition that India must put a cap on liability of the nuclear operators and virtually remove all liabilities of the equipment suppliers before it delivers on its promises in the India US Nuclear Deal. This is the genesis of the current Bill and not the interest of the victims of a nuclear incident.We give below the major concerns that we have with the Bill in its current form.Convention on Supplementary CompensationThe Government has made it clear that it is interested in joining the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) and the proposed Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010 has been drafted to make it compatible with CSC. It is important to note that making it compatible with CSC follows directly from the commitment made by the UPA government when it entered into the Indo-US nuclear deal. This commitment was made in writing by the then foreign secretary, Shiv Sankar Menon in a letter to the US under secretary, William Burns, (September 10, 2008), which stated,It is the intention of the Government of India and its entities to commence discussions with nuclear energy firms and conclude agreements after entry into force of the Agreement for cooperation in the construction of nuclear power units at two sites approved by the Government of India which would be capable of generating a minimum of 10,000 MWe…India also recognises the importance of establishing an adequate nuclear liability regime and it is the intention of the Indian Government to take all steps to adhere to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) for nuclear damage...US nuclear industry and the US Administration want all countries which receive US manufactured nuclear equipment to sign the CSC and indemnify the US suppliers. The key difference between the CSC and other similar international conventions is the degree of protection offered to the suppliers – CSC provides the maximum protection to the US suppliers. The reason that the US Government is pressing India to draw up a Nuclear Liability Bill that is consistent with CSC is simply because it protects the suppliers completely from litigation from damages from the victims and the operator.Omer F Brown, the key spokesperson for the US nuclear industry articulated the US position on the need for nuclear liability law in India while speaking at a business summit in Mumbai in December 2006:Currently, India does not have a nuclear liability law covering its facilities. Therefore, concerns over nuclear liability would be a major impediment to any nuclear trade with India…Most US nuclear suppliers would not be willing to work in India without nuclear liability protection.US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake informed House Foreign Affairs Committee last year, "We are hoping to see action on nuclear liability legislation that would reduce liability for American companies and allow them to invest in India…". Recently, he said in an interview (10th March 2010):We also are very much hoping that the Indian government will proceed with very important legislation on nuclear liability, that will be very important protection for American companies who are seeking to do more business in the civil nuclear area, in India. And, we were very gratified to learn that the President of India has announced India's intention to introduce this bill in the current session of the Indian Parliament.The Statement of Aims and Objects of the Bill makes it clear that the Bill has been drawn up to be consistent with CSC. It further goes on to state that a Nuclear Liability Bill is required as there is no provision currently to handle compensation and damage in the event of a nuclear accident. This is incorrect as the current law as clarified by the Supreme Court in its judgement on the Oleum leak case from Sri Ram Food and Fertilisers in 1987 had made clear that the industry operating hazardous plants had absolute liability including that for environmental damage. The only issue is how this liability is to be translated into practice – the modalities of handling liability claims. Under the guise of drawing up the modalities of handling claims, the Bill seeks to change the fundamental character of the liability regime itself in the case of a nuclear accident.The government has argued that by joining the CSC, it can access international funds to compensate victims of nuclear accidents including trans-boundary victims. Only 13 countries have joined the CSC out of which only four have ratified it, the only major country being the US, which was the country steering this Convention. In the case of a nuclear accident, the amount from this Convention would be a small amount (computed by some experts to only about $ 50 million). Therefore indemnifying supplier from all liability in order to get a mere $ 50 million from CSC does not appear credible.Suppliers' LiabilityIn line with the CSC, Nuclear Liability Bill exempts the suppliers from virtually any liability to pay compensation for the damages caused. What Westinghouse and General Electric want is that even the limited liability which accrued to Union Carbide in the case of Bhopal gas leak ($470 million as per the settlement approved by the Supreme Court) should not fall on them.The government has argued that as per clause 17 (a), a foreign supplier can be liable if such a clause is included in the contract between the operator and the supplier. What it does not say is that neither the public sector Nuclear Power Corporation of India, which is the Indian operator, nor the American company, which will be the supplier, will include such a liability clause in the contract. If this law is passed and if there is a faulty design or a manufacturing defect in a reactor supplied by a US company, the operator or the victim of an accident has no right to claim damages from the supplier. The other clause, 17 (b), cited by the government is the one by which the operator has the right to recourse against the supplier only if the nuclear accident has resulted due to a "wilful act or gross negligence" on the part of the supplier. This makes it extremely difficult to hold the supplier liable as proving that faulty design or other defects are due to wilful action or gross negligence will be well nigh impossible.The Government has also provided a cap for liability of Rs. 500 crore for the operator. Since the right to recourse belongs only to the operator in this Bill, this automatically caps whatever residual liability remains with the supplier to a sum of Rs. 500 crore. The clauses 35 and the clause 46 as currently drafted do not allow any role of the courts in any liability claims against the suppliers.Cap on the OperatorThe cap put on the liability of the operator is Rs 500 crore while the overall financial liability for a nuclear accident is capped at around Rs 2140 crore. The reason why the liability of the operator is limited to Rs 500 crore is because the government wants to bring in private operators in the nuclear sector. The law will, therefore, limit the liability of Indian or foreign private companies who operate reactors to Rs 500 crore. Any amount to be paid above this cap will be footed by the government. In this manner, the government will subsidise private operators, including foreign companies, in the future.Thus, the people will have to pay with their lives or health in the case of a nuclear accident, but the profits of US companies and the corporate sector in India will be protected by limiting their liability. In the case of Bhopal, the compensation paid by the Union Carbide amounted to Rs 713 crore ($470 million) at the exchange rate prevailing in 1989. A nuclear accident may involve casualties on a much larger scale than Bhopal. Given that a serious nuclear accident can cause damage in billions, the small cap of 300 million SDRs (Rs 2140 crore) proposed shows the scant regard the Central Government holds for the Indian people.Any damage beyond this will not be compensated either by the Government or by the nuclear operator,which in the present case is a state operator. Given that accidents like Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, the two most well known nuclear accidents in history, have caused billions of worth of damages; this effectively means abandoning the victims in case of a nuclear accident. Such low caps on the operator will provide a perverse incentive on the operator to cut costs and play with plant safety. Many more Bhopals and Warren Andersons could recur if such a liability regime is put in place.Scrap the BillIf there are lessons to be learnt from the tragic episode of Bhopal, it is that there should be strict laws which will assign civil liability and ensure that criminal liability is also pinned down. There can be no compromise with the lives and safety of the Indian people.The Civil Nuclear Liability Bill bears the handiwork of the US nuclear industry lobby. This is not the path India should tread. The Bill in its current form should be scrapped as it has been drawn up keeping the interests of the nuclear suppliers and operators. A new Bill which starts with the interests of the victims of such an accident as its core concern needs to be drafted instead.Bookmark/Search this post with:-
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Communist Party of India (Marxist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"CPIM" redirects here. For other uses, see CPIM (disambiguation).This article may need to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information, and remove this template when finished. Please see the talk page for more information. (January 2010) Communist Party of India (Marxist) Secretary-General Prakash Karat Leader in Lok Sabha Basudev Acharia[1] Leader in Rajya Sabha Sitaram Yechuri[1] Founded 1964 Headquarters New Delhi, India Newspaper People's Democracy (English),
Lok Lehar (Hindi)Student wing Students Federation of India Youth wing Democratic Youth Federation of India Women's wing All India Democratic Womens Association Labour wing Centre of Indian Trade Unions Peasant's wing All India Kisan Sabha Ideology Communism
Marxism-LeninismECI Status Recognised Party Alliance Left Front Seats in Lok Sabha 16 Seats in Rajya Sabha 14 Election symbol Website Official Website Politics of India
Political parties
ElectionsThe Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated CPI(M) or CPM) is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2010, CPI(M) is leading the state governments in these three states. The party emerged out of a split from the Communist Party of India in 1964. CPI(M) claimed to have 982,155 members in 2007.[2]
Contents
[hide]- 1 History
- 1.1 Split in the Communist Party of India and formation of CPI(M)
- 1.2 Early years of CPI (M)
- 1.3 1967 General Election
- 1.4 Naxalbari uprising
- 1.5 Dismissal of United Front governments in West Bengal and Kerala
- 1.6 Elections in West Bengal and Kerala
- 1.7 Formation of CITU
- 1.8 Outbreak of war in East Pakistan
- 1.9 1971 General Election
- 1.10 1970s, 1980s, 1990s
- 2 Controversies
- 3 Party organization
- 4 State Committee secretaries
- 5 State governments
- 6 Name
- 7 Splits and offshoots
- 8 Election results
- 9 External links
- 10 See also
- 11 References
History
Split in the Communist Party of India and formation of CPI(M)
CPI(M) emerged out of a division within the Communist Party of India (CPI). The undivided CPI had experienced a period of upsurge during the years following the Second World War. The CPI led armed rebellions in Telangana, Tripura and Kerala. However, it soon abandoned the strategy of armed revolution in favour of working within the parliamentary framework. In 1950 B.T. Ranadive, the CPI general secretary and a prominent representative of the radical sector inside the party, was demoted on grounds of left-adventurism.
Under the government of the Indian National Congress party of Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India developed close relations and a strategic partnership with the Soviet Union. The Soviet government consequently wished that the Indian communists moderate their criticism towards the Indian state and assume a supportive role towards the Congress governments. However, large sections of the CPI claimed that India remained a semi-feudal country, and that class struggle could not be put on the back-burner for the sake of guarding the interests of Soviet trade and foreign policy. Moreover, the Indian National Congress appeared to be generally hostile towards political competition. In 1959 the central government intervened to impose President's Rule in Kerala, toppling the E.M.S. Namboodiripad cabinet (the sole non-Congress state government in the country).
Simultaneously, the relations between the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of China soured. In the early 1960s the Communist Party of China began criticising the CPSU of turning revisionist and of deviating from the path of Marxism-Leninism. Sino-Indian relations also deteriorated, as border disputes between the two countries erupted into the Indo-China war of 1962.
During the war, a faction of the Indian Communists backed the position of the Indian government, while other sections of the party claimed that it was a conflict between a socialist and a capitalist state. Hundreds of CPI leaders, accused of being pro-Chinese were imprisoned. Some of the nationalists were also imprisoned, as they used to express their opinion only in party forums, and CPI's official stand was pro-China. Thousands of Communists were detained without trial.[3] Those targeted by the state accused the pro-Soviet leadership of the CPI of conspiring with the Congress government to ensure their own hegemony over the control of the party.
In 1962 Ajoy Ghosh, the general secretary of the CPI, died. After his death, S.A. Dange was installed as the party chairman (a new position) and E.M.S. Namboodiripad as general secretary. This was an attempt to achieve a compromise. Dange represented the rightist faction of the party and E.M.S. the leftist faction.
At a CPI National Council meeting held on April 11, 1964, 32 Council members walked out in protest, accusing Dange and his followers of "anti-unity and anti-Communist policies".[4]
The leftist section, to which the 32 National Council members belonged, organised a convention in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh July 7 to 11. In this convention the issues of the internal disputes in the party were discussed. 146 delegates, claiming to represent 100,000 CPI members, took part in the proceedings. The convention decided to convene the 7th Party Congress of CPI in Calcutta later the same year.[5]
Marking a difference from the Dangeite sector of CPI, the Tenali convention was marked by the display of a large portrait of the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong.[5]
Communism in India Communist Party of India
AITUC - AIKS - AIYF
AISF - NFIW - BKMU
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
CITU - AIKS - DYFI
SFI - AIDWA - GMP
Naxalbari uprising
Communist Party of India (M-L)
Liberation - New Democracy
Janashakti - PCC - 2nd CC
Red Flag - Class Struggle
Communist Party of India (Maoist)Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)
AIUTUC - AIMSS
AIDYO - AIDSOA. K. Gopalan
E. M. S. Namboodiripad
B. T. Ranadive
Charu Majumdar
Jyoti Basu
S. A. Dange
Shibdas Ghosh
T. Nagi ReddyTebhaga movement
CCOMPOSA
Telangana Rebellion
Comrades AssociationCommunism Portal At the Tenali convention a Bengal-based pro-Chinese group, representing one of the most radical streams of the CPI left wing, presented a draft programme proposal of their own. These radicals criticised the draft programme proposal prepared by M. Basavapunniah for undermining class struggle and failing to take a clear pro-Chinese position in the ideological conflict between the CPSU and CPC.[6]
After the Tenali convention the CPI left wing organised party district and state conferences. In West Bengal, a few of these meetings became battlegrounds between the most radical elements and the more moderate leadership. At the Calcutta Party District Conference an alternative draft programme was presented to the leadership by Parimal Das Gupta (a leading figure amongst far-left intellectuals in the party). Another alternative proposal was brought forward to the Calcutta Party District Conference by Azizul Haque, but Haque was initially banned from presenting it by the conference organisers. At the Calcutta Party District Conference 42 delegates opposed M. Basavapunniah's official draft programme proposal.
At the Siliguri Party District Conference, the main draft proposal for a party programme was accepted, but with some additional points suggested by the far-left North Bengal cadre Charu Majumdar. However, Harekrishna Konar (representing the leadership of the CPI left wing) forbade the raising of the slogan Mao Tse-Tung Zindabad (Long live Mao Tse-Tung) at the conference.
Parimal Das Gupta's document was also presented to the leadership at the West Bengal State Conference of the CPI leftwing. Das Gupta and a few other spoke at the conference, demanding the party ought to adopt the class analysis of the Indian state of the 1951 CPI conference. His proposal was, however, voted down.[7]
The Calcutta Congress was held between October 31 and November 7, at Tyagraja Hall in southern Calcutta. Simultaneously, the Dange group convened a Party Congress of CPI in Bombay. Thus, the CPI divided into two separate parties. The group which assembled in Calcutta would later adopt the name 'Communist Party of India (Marxist)', in order to differentiate themselves from the Dange group. The CPI(M) also adopted its own political programme. P. Sundarayya was elected general secretary of the party.
In total 422 delegates took part in the Calcutta Congress. CPI(M) claimed that they represented 104,421 CPI members, 60% of the total party membership.
At the Calcutta conference the party adopted a class analysis of the character of the Indian state, that claimed the Indian big bourgeoisie was increasingly collaborating with imperialism.[8]
Parimal Das Gupta's alternative draft programme was not circulated at the Calcutta conference. However, Souren Basu, a delegate from the far-left stronghold Darjeeling, spoke at the conference asking why no portrait had been raised of Mao Tse-Tung along the portraits of other communist stalwarts. His intervention met with huge applauses from the delegates of the conference.[8]
Early years of CPI (M)
The CPI (M) was born into a hostile political climate. At the time of the holding of its Calcutta Congress, large sections of its leaders and cadres were jailed without trial. Again on December 29–30, over a thousand CPI (M) cadres were arrested, and held in jail without trial. In 1965 new waves of arrests of CPI(M) cadres took place in West Bengal, as the party launched agitations against the rise in fares in the Calcutta Tramways and against the then prevailing food crisis. State-wide general strikes and hartals were observed on August 5, 1965, March 10–11, 1966 and April 6, 1966. The March 1966 general strike results in several deaths in confrontations with police forces.
Also in Kerala, mass arrests of CPI(M) cadres were carried out during 1965. In Bihar, the party called for a Bandh (general strike) in Patna on August 9, 1965 in protest against the Congress state government. During the strike, police resorted to violent actions against the organisers of the strike. The strike was followed by agitations in other parts of the state.
P. Sundaraiah, after being released from jail, spent the period of September 1965-February 1966 in Moscow for medical treatment. In Moscow he also held talks with the CPSU.[9]
The Central Committee of CPI(M) held its first meeting on June 12–19, 1966. The reason for delaying the holding of a regular CC meeting was the fact that several of the persons elected as CC members at the Calcutta Congress were jailed at the time.[10] A CC meeting had been scheduled to have been held in Trichur during the last days of 1964, but had been cancelled due to the wave of arrests against the party. The meeting discussed tactics for electoral alliances, and concluded that the party should seek to form a broad electoral alliances with all non-reactionary opposition parties in West Bengal (i.e. all parties except Jan Sangh and Swatantra Party). This decision was strongly criticised by the Communist Party of China, the Party of Labour of Albania, the Communist Party of New Zealand and the radicals within the party itself. The line was changed at a National Council meeting in Jullunder in October 1966, were it was decided that the party should only form alliances with selected left parties.[11]
1967 General Election
1967 CPI(M) election results (seats won / seats contested / seats total / votes / % of total vote) Lok Sabha: 19 / 59 / 520 / 6246522 / 4.28% Elections to State Legislative Assemblies:
Andhra Pradesh 9 / 83 / 287 / 1053855 / 7.61% Assam 0 / 14 / 126 / 61165 / 1.97% Bihar 4 / 32 / 318 / 173656 / 1.28% Haryana 0 / 8 / 81 / 16379 / 0.54% Himachal Pradesh 0 / 6 / 60 / 3019 / 0.39% Kerala 52 / 59 / 133 / 1476456 / 23.51% Madhya Pradesh 0 / 9 / 296 / 20728 / 0.23% Maharashtra 1 / 11 / 270 / 145083 / 1.08% Manipur 0 / 5 / 30 / 2093 / 0.67% Mysore 1 / 10 / 216 / 82531 / 1.10% Orissa 1 / 10 / 140 / 46597 / 1.16% Punjab 3 / 13 / 104 / 138857 / 3.26% Rajasthan 0 / 22 / 184 / 79826 / 1.18% Tamil Nadu 11 / 22 / 234 / 623114 / 4.07% Tripura 2 / 16 / 30 / 93739 / 21.61% Uttar Pradesh 1 / 57 / 425 / 272565 / 1.27% West Bengal 43 / 135 / 280 / 2293026 / 18.11%
In the 1967 Lok Sabha elections CPI(M) nominated 59 candidates. In total 19 of them were elected. The party received 6.2 million votes (4.28% of the nationwide vote). By comparison, CPI won 23 seats and got 5.11% of the nation-wide vote. In the state legistative elections held simultaneously, the CPI(M) emerged as a major party in Kerala and West Bengal. In Kerala a United Front government led by E.M.S. Namboodiripad was formed.[12] In West Bengal, CPI(M) was the main force behind the United Front government formed. The Chief Ministership was given to Ajoy Mukherjee of the Bangla Congress (a regional splinter-group of the Indian National Congress).
Naxalbari uprising
Main article: NaxaliteAt this point the party stood at crossroads. There were radical sections of the party who were wary of the increasing parliamentary focus of the party leadership, especially after the electoral victories in West Bengal and Kerala. Developments in China also affected the situation inside the party. In West Bengal two separate internal dissident tendencies emerged, which both could be identified as supporting the Chinese line.[13] In 1967 a peasant uprising broke out in Naxalbari, in northern West Bengal. The insurgency was led by hardline district-level CPI(M) leaders Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal. The hardliners within CPI(M) saw the Naxalbari uprising as the spark that would ignite the Indian revolution. The Communist Party of China hailed the Naxalbari movement, causing an abrupt break in CPI(M)-CPC relations.[14] The Naxalbari movement was violently repressed by the West Bengal government, of which CPI(M) was a major partner. Within the party, the hardliners rallied around an All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries. Following the 1968 Burdwan plenum of CPI(M) (held on April 5–12, 1968), the AICCCR separated themselves from CPI(M). This split divided the party throughout the country. But notably in West Bengal, which was the centre of the violent radicalist stream, no prominent leading figure left the party. The party and the Naxalites (as the rebels were called) were soon to get into a bloody feud.
In Andhra Pradesh another revolt was taking place. There the pro-Naxalbari dissidents had not established any presence. But in the party organisation there were many veterans from the Telangana armed struggle, who rallied against the central party leadership. In Andhra Pradesh the radicals had a strong base even amongst the state-level leadership. The main leader of the radical tendency was T. Nagi Reddy, a member of the state legislative assembly. On June 15, 1968 the leaders of the radical tendency published a press statement outlining the critique of the development of CPI(M). It was signed by T. Nagi Reddy, D.V. Rao, Kolla Venkaiah and Chandra Pulla Reddy.[15] In total around 50% of the party cadres in Andhra Pradesh left the party to form the Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries, under the leadership of T. Nagi Reddy.[16]
Dismissal of United Front governments in West Bengal and Kerala
In November 1967, the West Bengal United Front government was dismissed by the central government. Initially the Indian National Congress formed a minority government led by Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, but that cabinet did not last long. Following the proclamation that the United Front government had been dislodged, a 48-hour hartal was effective throughout the state. After the fall of the Ghosh cabinet, the state was but under President's Rule. CPI(M) launched agitations against the interventions of the central government in West Bengal.
The 8th Party Congress of CPI(M) was held in Cochin, Kerala, on December 23–29, 1968. On December 25, 1968, whilst the congress was held, 42 Dalits were burned alive in the Tamil village of Kilavenmani. The massacre was a retaliation from landlords after Dalit labourers had taken part in a CPI(M)-led agitation for higher wages.[17][18]
The United Front government in Kerala was forced out of office in October 1969, as the CPI, RSP, KTP and Muslim League ministers resigned. E.M.S. Namboodiripad handed in his resignation on October 24.[19] A coalition government led by CPI leader C. Achutha Menon was formed, with the outside support of the Indian National Congress.
Elections in West Bengal and Kerala
Fresh elections were held in West Bengal in 1969. CPI(M) contested 97 seats, and won 80. The party was now the largest in the West Bengal legislative.[20] But with the active support of CPI and the Bangla Congress, Ajoy Mukherjee was returned as Chief Minister of the state. Mukherjee resigned on March 16, 1970, after a pact had been reached between CPI, Bangla Congress and the Indian National Congress against CPI(M). CPI(M) strove to form a new government, instead but the central government put the state under President's Rule.
In Kerala fresh elections were held in 1970. CPI(M) contested 73 seats and won 29. After the election Achutha Menon formed a new ministry, including ministers from the Indian National Congress.
Formation of CITU
Main article: Centre of Indian Trade UnionsFollowing the 1964 split, CPI(M) cadres had remained active with the All India Trade Union Congress. But as relations between CPI and CPI(M) soured, with the backdrop of confrontations in West Bengal and Kerala, a split also surfaced in the AITUC. In December 1969, eight CPI(M) members walked out of an AITUC Working Committee meeting. The eight called for an All India Trade Union Convention, which was held in Goa April 9–10, 1970. The convention decided that an All India Trade Union Conference be held on May 28–31 in Calcutta. The Calcutta conference would be the founding conference of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, a new pro-CPI(M) trade union movement.[21]
Outbreak of war in East Pakistan
In 1971 Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) declared its independence from Pakistan. The Pakistani military tried to quell the uprising. India intervened militarily and gave active backing to the Bangladeshi resistance. Millions of Bangladeshi refugees sought shelter in India, especially in West Bengal.
At the time the radical sections of the Bangladeshi communist movement was divided into many factions. Whilst the pro-Soviet Communist Party of Bangladesh actively participated in the resistance struggle, the pro-China communist tendency found itself in a peculiar situation as China had sided with Pakistan in the war. In Calcutta, where many Bangladeshi leftists had sought refuge, CPI(M) worked to coordinate the efforts to create a new political organization. In the fall of 1971 three small groups, which were all hosted by the CPI(M), came together to form the Bangladesh Communist Party (Leninist). The new party became the sister party of CPI(M) in Bangladesh.[22]
1971 General Election
With the backdrop of the Bangladesh War and the emerging role of Indira Gandhi as a populist national leader, the 1971 election to the Lok Sabha was held. CPI(M) contested 85 seats, and won in 25. In total the party mustered 7510089 votes (5.12% of the national vote). 20 of the seats came from West Bengal (including Somnath Chatterjee, elected from Burdwan), 2 from Kerala (including A.K. Gopalan, elected from Trichur), 2 from Tripura (Biren Dutta and Dasarath Deb) and 1 from Andhra Pradesh.[23]
In the same year, state legislative elections were held in three states; West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Orissa. In West Bengal CPI(M) had 241 candidates, winning 113 seats. In total the party mustered 4241557 votes (32.86% of the state-wide vote). In Tamil Nadu CPI(M) contested 37 seats, but drew blank. The party got 259298 votes (1.65% of the state-wide vote). In Orissa the party contested 11 seats, and won in two. The CPI(M) vote in the state was 52785 (1.2% of the state-wide vote).[24]
1970s, 1980s, 1990s
In the 1977 election, the CPI(M) gained the majority in the Legislative Assembly of the State of West Bengal, defeating the Congress (I). Jyoti Basu became the chief minister of West Bengal, an office he held until his retirement in 2000. The CPI(M) has held the majority in the West Bengal government continuously since 1977.THE PARTY ALSO WON IN TRIPURA WINNING 49 OF THE 60 SEATS. IT HAS 3 MLAS IN RAJASTHAN ASSEMBLY. IN BIHAR IT HAS AN ALLIANCE WITH CPI(ML)L AND CPI. it has 1 seat in andhra pradesh.it also has strong bases in the stata. in tamil nadu it has worked for dalit causes.
Controversies
Corruption charge
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, in a report said that Pinaryi Vijayan (member of Politburo and Kerala state secretary of CPI(M)) had struck a deal as electricity minister of Kerala in 1998 with SNC Lavalin, a Canadian firm, for the repair of three generators, which was a huge fraud and had cost the state exchequer a staggering Rs 3.76 billion. On 16 January 2007, Kerala High Court ordered a CBI enquiry into the SNC Lavalin case.[25]. On 21 January 2009, CBI filed a progress report on the investigation in the Kerala high court. Pinarayi Vijayan has been named as the 9th accused in the case.[26][27]. CPM has backed Vijayan saying the case is politically motivated[28][29][30]. The CPM led Kerala Governemnt decided not to let Vijayan to be prosecuted in the case[31]. Overruling the cabinet recommendation, the Governeor allowed CBI to prosecute Vijayan based on prima facie evidence[32]. This is first time in the history of the party a politburo member is being prosecuted in a corruption case [33]. Later on Central Bureau of Investigation gave clean chit to Vijayan in this case.[34]. The accusition of corruption on vijayan was accused to be moved by political reasons, and his party CPIM has always backed vijayan on this issue.[35]
Disciplinary action against V.S. Achuthanandan
On 12 July 2009, CPIM central committee has decided to remove Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan from its politburo. This decision invoked widespread criticism from general public and party workers, as the decision looked favoring Pinarayi Vijayan who is accused in a multi-crore corruption case and against the anti-corruption stand taken by V.S.[36][37][38][39].
Criticism of Economic Policies
The CPI(M) faces criticism from leftwing sectors regarding its governance policies.[40] Some CPI(M) insiders have also raised questions about CPI(M) compromising with corporate interests. Budhadeb Bhattacharya's own cabinet minister (Land Reform Minister) and CPI(M) leader Abdul Razzak Mollah opposed Buddhadeb's supposedly "neo-liberal" line.[citation needed] He opposed the provisions of the land acquisition bill in the West Bengal state assembly. Former West Bengal finance minister and former CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Dr. Ashok Mitra also expressed his disagreements with what he sees as CPI(M)'s ideological shift towards economic liberalisation.
In Kerala, Prof. M.N. Vijayan, former editor of the CPI(M) owned "Deshabhimani weekly", argued that CPI(M) policies are now influenced by neoliberalism and rebelled against the influence of foreign fund on party functioning, influence of capital in the cultural field, and attempt to replace class politics with that of identity politics.[41] Under M.N. Vijayan's leadership, in Kerala Adhinivesa Prathirodha Samithi (Council for Resisting Imperialist Globalisation), was formed.[42]
Prabhat Patnaik, a CPI(M) economist, has also questioned the influence of the logic of industrialisation using the Grande Industry route as being the sine qua non of industrial policy in West Bengal.[43].[40]
Criticism for use of violence
Like many other political parties of Democratic India, CPI(M) too accused of using violent means, as a means to respond power struggle, among different political parties.[44][45] [46][47][48] It is accused by the opposition parties of using violent means against them.[49]
Party organization
CPI(M) got 5.66% of votes polled in last parliamentary election (May 2004) and it has 43 MPs. It won 42.31% on an average in the 69 seats it contested. It supported the new Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, but without becoming a part of it. On 9 July 2008 it formally withdrew support from the UPA government explaining this by differences about the Indo-US nuclear deal and the IAEA Safeguards Agreement in particular.[50]
In West Bengal and Tripura it participates in the Left Front. In Kerala the party is part of the Left Democratic Front. In Tamil Nadu it was part of the ruling Democratic Progressive Alliance led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). However, it has since withdrawn support.
Its members in Great Britain are in the electoral front Unity for Peace and Socialism with the Communist Party of Britain and the British domiciled sections of the Communist Party of Bangladesh and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). It is standing 13 candidates in the London-wide list section of the London Assembly elections in May 2008.[51]
Membership
As of 2004, the party claimed a membership of 867 763.[52]
State 2001 2002 2003 2004 % of party
members in
electorateAndhra Pradesh 40785 41879 45516 46742 0.0914 Assam 10480 11207 11122 10901 0.0726 Andaman & Nicobar 172 140 124 90 0.0372 Bihar 17672 17469 16924 17353 0.0343 Chhattisgarh 1211 1364 1079 1054 0.0077 Delhi 1162 1360 1417 1408 0.0161 Goa 172 35 40 67 0.0071 Gujarat 2799 3214 3383 3398 0.0101 Haryana 1357 1478 1477 1608 0.0131 Himachal Pradesh 1005 1006 1014 1024 0.0245 Jammu & Kashmir 625 720 830 850 0.0133 Jharkhand 2552 2819 3097 3292 0.0200 Karnataka 6574 7216 6893 6492 0.0168 Kerala 301562 313652 318969 316305 1.4973 Madhya Pradesh 2243 2862 2488 2320 0.0060 Maharashtra 8545 9080 9796 10256 0.0163 Manipur 340 330 270 300 0.0195 Orissa 3091 3425 3502 3658 0.0143 Punjab 14328 11000 11000 10050 0.0586 Rajasthan 2602 3200 3507 3120 0.0090 Sikkim 200 180 65 75 0.0266 Tamil Nadu 86868 90777 91709 94343 0.1970 Tripura 38737 41588 46277 51343 2.5954 Uttaranchal 700 720 740 829 0.0149 Uttar Pradesh 5169 5541 5477 5877 0.0053 West Bengal 245026 262882 258682 274921 0.579 CC staff 96 95 95 87
Total 796073 835239 843896 867763 0.1292 Leadership
The current general secretary of CPI(M) is Prakash Karat. The 19th party congress of CPI(M), held in Coimbatore March 29-April 3, 2008 elected a Central Committee with 87 members. The Central Committee later elected a 15-member Politburo:
- 1 History
- Prakash Karat
- Sitaram Yechury
- S. Ramachandran Pillai
- Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
- Manik Sarkar
- M.K. Pandhe
- Biman Bose
- Pinarayi Vijayan
- K. Varadarajan
- B.V. Raghavulu
- Brinda Karat
- Nirupam Sen
- Kodiyeri Balakrishnan
- Mohammad Amin
The senior most member, V.S. Achuthanandan was removed from the Polit Bureau on July 12, 2009.
The 19th congress saw the departure of the last two members of the Polit Bureau who had been on the original Polit Bureau in 1964, Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Jyoti Basu.[53]
State Committee secretaries
- Andaman & Nicobar: K.G. Das
- Andhra Pradesh: B.V. Raghavulu
- Assam: Uddhab Barman
- Bihar: Vijaykant Thakur
- Chattisgarh: M.K. Nandi
- Delhi: P.M.S. Grewal
- Goa: Thaelman Perera
- Haryana: Inderjit Singh
- Jharkhand: J.S. Majumdar
- Karnataka: V.J.K. Nair
- Kerala : Pinarayi Vijayan
- Madhya Pradesh: Badal Saroj
- Maharashtra: Ashok Dhawale
- Orissa: Janardan Pati
- Punjab: Charan Singh Virdi(Acting)
- Rajasthan: Vasudev Sharma
- Sikkim: Balram Adhikari
- Tamil Nadu: G.Ramakrishnan
- Tripura: Baidyanath Majumdar
- Uttaranchal: Vijai Rawat
- Uttar Pradesh: S.P. Kashyap
- West Bengal: Biman Bose[54]
The principal mass organizations of CPI(M)
- Democratic Youth Federation of India
- Students Federation of India
- Centre of Indian Trade Unions class organisation
- All India Kisan Sabha peasants' organization
- All India Agricultural Workers Union
- All India Democratic Women's Association
- Bank Employees Federation of India
- All India Lawyers Union
In Tripura, the Ganamukti Parishad is a major mass organization amongst the tribal peoples of the state. In Kerala the Adivasi Kshema Samithi, a tribal organisation is controlled by CPI(M).
This apart, on the cultural front as many as 12 major organisations are led by CPI(M).
Party publications
From the Centre, two weekly newspapers are published, People's Democracy (English) and Lok Lehar (Hindi). The central theoretical organ of the party is The Marxist, published quarterly in English.
Daily newspapers
- Ganashakti (West Bengal, Bengali)
- Deshabhimani (Kerala, Malayalam)
- Daily Desher Katha (Tripura, Bengali)
- Theekathir (Tamil Nadu, Tamil)
- Prajasakti (Andhra Pradesh, Telugu)
- Desh Sewak (Punjab, Punjabi)
Weeklies
- Abshar (West Bengal, Urdu)
- Swadhintha (West Bengal, Hindi)
- Desh Hiteshi (Bengali)
- Janashakthi (Karnataka, Kannada)[55]
- Jeevan Marg (Maharashtra, Marathi)
- Samyabadi (Orissa, Oriya)
- Deshabhimani Vaarika. (Kerala, Malayalam)
- Ganashakti (Assamese, Assam)
Fortnightlies
- Lok Jatan (Madhya Pradesh, Hindi)
- Lok Samvad (Uttar Pradesh, Hindi)
- Sarfarosh Chintan (Gujarat, Gujarati)
Monthlies
- Shabtaab (Urdu)
- Yeh Naya Raste (Jammu & Kashmir, Urdu)
- Lok Lahar (Punjabi)
- Nandan (Bengali)
- Marxist (Tamil language)
Theoretical publications
Publishing houses
- Leftword Publication
- CPI(M) Publication
- National Book Agency (West Bengal)
- Chinta Publication (Kerala)
- Prajasakti Book House (Andhra Pradesh)
- Deshabhimani Book House (Kerala)
- Natun Sahitya Parishad (Assam)
State governments
As of 2008, CPI(M) leads state governments in three states, West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. Chief ministers belonging to the party are Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, V.S. Achuthanandan and Manik Sarkar. In West Bengal and Tripura, the party had a majority of its own in the state assemblies, but governs together with Left Front partners. In Kerala, the party is the largest component of the Left Democratic Front.
Name
In Hindi CPI(M) is often called मार्क्सवादी कमयुनिस्ट पार्टी (Marksvadi Kamyunist Party, abbreviated MaKaPa). The official party name in Hindi is however Bharatiya Kamyunist Party (Marksvadi).
During the initial period after the split 1964, the party was often referred to as 'Left Communist Party' or 'Communist Party of India (Left)'. The CPI was then, in the same parlance, dubbed as the 'Rightist Communist Party'. The party decided to adopt the name 'Communist Party of India (Marxist)' ahead of the March 1965 Kerala Legislative Assembly election, in order to obtain an election symbol.[56]
Splits and offshoots
Main article: Various Communist/Leftist Parties in IndiaA large number of parties have been formed as a result of splits from the CPI(M), such as Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Marxist Communist Party of India, Marxist Coordination Committee in Jharkhand, Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy, Communist Marxist Party and BTR-EMS-AKG Janakeeya Vedi in Kerala, Party of Democratic Socialism in West Bengal, Janganotantrik Morcha in Tripura, the Ram Pasla group in Punjab, Orissa Communist Party in Orissa, etc.
Election results
Main article: CPI(M) election resultsIn the 2009 Lok Sabha election the party lost several seats in two of its strongholds, West Bengal and Kerala, whilst retaining dominance in the third stronghold, Tripura.
External links
Communist parties - CPI(M) election website
- CPI(M) web site
- Leftword Books CPI(M) publishing house
- CPI(M) Andhra Pradesh State Committee
Party publications
- People's Democracy
- Daily Desher Katha
- Deshabhimani
- Ganashakti
- Lok Samvad
- Prajasakti
- Theekathir
- Janashakthi
Articles
- Search For Ways To Keep Marx Alive Opinion on party structure by Sumanta Sen. The Telegraph Calcutta, India. March 31, 2005. Accessed April 1, 2005.
- Veteran Communists Honoured News article on Party history conference. The Hindu. April 6, 2005. Accessed April 8, 2005.
- All you wanted to know about CPI-M News article on CPI-M. Rediff News. April 8, 2005. Accessed April 8, 2005.
- An Upbeat Left by Venkitesh Ramakrishnan. Frontline Volume 22 - Issue 09, April 23 - May 6, 2005
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Communist Party of India (Marxist) - List of political parties in India
- Politics of India
- List of Communist Parties
- Co-ordinating Committee of Communist Parties in Britain
- Communist Marxist Party, in Kerala, south India
- Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists, in West Bengal, India northern areas
- Election Results of Communist Party of India (Marxist)
- Marxist Communist Party of India
- Marxist Communist Party of India (United)
- Marxist Periarist Communist Party, in Tamil Nadu, India
References
- ^ a b http://cpim.org/content/pr-dasmunshis-statement
- ^ "Political-Organizational Report adopted at the XIXth Congress of the CPI(M) held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, March 29-April 23, 2008". http://cpim.org/documents/2008-19%20cong-pol-org%20report.pdf.
- ^ The bulk of the detainees came from the leftwing of CPI. However, cadres of the Socialist Unity Centre of India and the Workers Party of India were also targeted.[1]
- ^ The 32 were P. Sundarayya, M. Basavapunniah, T. Nagi Reddy, M. Hanumantha Rao, D.V. Rao, N. Prasad Rao, G. Bapanayya, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, A.K. Gopalan, A.V. Kunhambu, C.H. Kanaran, E.K. Nayanar, V.S. Achuthanandan Removed, E.K. Imbichibava, Promode Das Gupta, Muzaffar Ahmad, Jyoti Basu, Abdul Halim, Hare Krishna Konar, Saroj Mukherjee, P. Ramamurthi, M.R. Venkataraman, N. Sankariah, K. Ramani, Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, D.S. Tapiala, Dr. Bhag Singh, Sheo Kumar Mishra, R.N. Upadhyaya, Mohan Punamiya and R.P. Saraf. Source: Bose, Shanti Shekar; A Brief Note on the Contents of Documents of the Communist Movement in India. Kolkata: 2005, National Book Agency, p. 37.
- ^ a b Basu, Pradip. Towards Naxalbari (1953-1967) – An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000. p. 51.
- ^ Suniti Kumar Ghosh was a member of the group that presented this alternative draft proposal. His grouping was one of several left tendencies in the Bengali party branch. Basu, Pradip. Towards Naxalbari (1953-1967) – An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000. p. 32.
- ^ Basu, Pradip. Towards Naxalbari (1953-1967) – An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000. p. 52-54.
- ^ a b Basu, Pradip. Towards Naxalbari (1953-1967) – An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000. p. 54.
- ^ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 17-18
- ^ The jailed members of the new CC, at the time of the Calcutta Congress, were B.T. Ranadive, Muzaffar Ahmed, Hare Krishna Konar and Promode Das Gupta. Source: Bose, Shanti Shekar; A Brief Note on the Contents of Documents of the Communist Movement in India. Kolkata: 2005, National Book Agency, p. 44-5.
- ^ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 234-235.
- ^ In Kerala the United Front consisted, at the time of the election, of Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the Muslim League, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Karshaka Thozhilali Party and the Kerala Socialist Party.[2]
- ^ According to Basu (in Basu, Pradip; Towards Naxalbari (1953–67) : An Account Of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000.) there were two nuclei of radicals in the party organisation in West Bengal. One "theorist" section around Parimal Das Gupta in Calcutta, which wanted to persuade the party leadership to correct revisionist mistakes through inner-party debate, and one "actionist" section led by Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal in North Bengal. The 'actionists' were impatient, and strived to organize armed uprisings. According to Basu, due to the prevailing political climate of youth and student rebellion it was the 'actionists' which came to dominate the new Maoist movement in India, instead of the more theoretically advanced sections. This dichotomy is however rebuffed by followers of the radical stream, for example the CPI(ML) Liberation.
- ^ On July 1 People's Daily carried an article titled Spring Thunder Over India, expressing the support of CPC to the Naxalbari rebels. At its meeting in Madurai on August 18–27, 1967, the Central Committee of CPI(M) adopted a resolution titled 'Resolution on Divergent Views Between Our Party and the Communist Party of China on Certain Fundamental Issues of Programme and Policy'. Source: Bose, Shanti Shekar; A Brief Note on the Contents of Documents of the Communist Movement in India. Kolkata: 2005, National Book Agency, p. 46.
- ^ This press statement was reproduced in full in the central CPI(M) publication, People's Democracy, on June 30. P. Sundarayya and M. Basavapunniah, acting on behalf of the Polit Bureau of CPI(M), formulated a response to the statement on June 16, titled 'Rebuff the Rebels, Uphold Party Unity'. Source: Bose, Shanti Shekar; A Brief Note on the Contents of Documents of the Communist Movement in India. Kolkata: 2005, National Book Agency, p. 48.
- ^ Some perceive that the Chinese leadership severely misjudged the actual conditions of different Indian factions at the time, giving their full support to the Majumdar-Sanyal group whilst keeping the Andhra Pradesh radicals (that had a considerable mass following) at distance.
- ^ Dalits and land issues
- ^ Untitled-1
- ^ officialwebsite of kerala.gov.in
- ^ Indian National Congress had won 55 seats, Bangla Congress 33 and CPI 30. CPI(M) allies also won several seats.ECI: Statistical Report on the 1969 West Bengal Legislative Election
- ^ Bose, Shanti Shekar; A Brief Note on the Contents of Documents of the Communist Movement in India. Kolkata: 2005, National Book Agency, p. 56-59
- ^ The same is also true for the Workers Party of Bangladesh, which was formed in 1980 when BCP(L) merged with other groups. Although politically close, WPB can be said to have a more Maoist-oriented profile than CPI(M).
- ^ ECI: Statistical Report on the 1971 Lok Sabha Election
- ^ ECI: Statistical Report on the 1971 Orissa Legislative Election, ECI: Statistical Report on the 1971 Tamil Nadu Legislative Election, ECI: Statistical Report on the 1971 West Bengal Legislative Election
- ^ "Kearala to go by HC order in Lavalin case". The Hindu Business Line. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/blnus/27161507.htm.
- ^ "CBI finds Pinarayi guilty in Lavalin scam, moralistic CPM yet to act". http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/CBI_finds_Pinarayi_guilty_in_Lavalin_scam_moralistic_CPM_yet_to_act/articleshow/4014521.cms.
- ^ "CBI seeks nod to prosecute CPM's Kerala unit chief". http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cbi-seeks-nod-to-prosecute-cpms-kerala-unit-chief/413768/.
- ^ "CPM backs Pinarayi Vijayan, says CBI move is politically motivated". The Times of India. 23 January 2009. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/CPM_backs_Pinarayi_Vijayan_says_CBI_move_is_politically_motivated/articleshow/4018616.cms.
- ^ "Does C in CPM mean corruption?". The Economic Times. 27 January 2009. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Does_C_in_CPM_mean_corruption/articleshow/4034604.cms.
- ^ "CPM conspiracy theory falls flat in face of facts". The Economic Times. 27 January 2009. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/CPM_conspiracy_theory_falls_flat_in_face_of_facts/articleshow/4031752.cms.
- ^ "Kerala govt not to prosecute Vijayan in Lavlain case". The Times of India.. 6 May 2009. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Kerala-govt-not-to-prosecute-Vijayan-in-Lavlain-case-/articleshow/4490668.cms.
- ^ "Governor allows CBI to prosecute Vijayan". The Times of India.. 8 June 2009. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Governor-allows-CBI-to-prosecute-Vijayan/articleshow/4629178.cms.
- ^ "CBI gets Governor nod to book Pinarayi". The Indian Express.. 8 June 2009. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/CBI-gets-Governor-nod-to-book-Pinarayi/472895.
- ^ Article in Hindustan Times
- ^ PB Comminque(CPIM) on SNC Lavalin case
- ^ "VS ' sacking rocks 'red forts'". The Indian Express.. 14 July 2009. http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=VS+'+sacking+rocks+'red+forts'&artid=CCdPSZedzH8=&SectionID=1ZkF/jmWuSA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=X7s7i.
- ^ "CPI-M the loser in Achuthanandan-Pinnarayi war". CNN IBN.. 14 July 2009. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cpim-the-loser-in-achuthanandanpinnarayi-war/97057-37.html.
- ^ "Founding member 'outdated' for CPM". The Indian Express.. 14 July 2009. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Founding-member--outdated--for-CPM/488534/.
- ^ "CPM action against Achuthanandan may widen Kerala unit split". Hindustan Times.. 12 July 2009. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=a1207c67-2436-437d-be0c-c1d6e2ea0cd2&ParentID=52189a16-362a-441c-afa2-6db62613316f&Headline=CPM+action+against+Achuthanandan+may+widen+Kerala+unit+split.
- ^ a b "Reflections in the Aftermath of Nandigram. Article written by a "CPI(M) supporter"- Economic and Political Weekly [3]
- ^ "Kerala Intra-party differences". Article in Economic and Political Weekly. [4]
- ^ Mainstream article about M.N.Vijayan and Council for resisting Imperialist Globalization.[5]
- ^ "In the aftermath of Nandigram" article by Prabhat Patnaik, CPI(M) Economist and Party Member. Mr. Patnaik is the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman of CPI(M)led Kerala Govt. [6]
- ^ CPIM activist murdered by RSS
- ^ Shahbuddin RJD MP murdred so many people
- ^ BG Verghese on Crimanalisation of politics
- ^ BJP's hand in Naroda Patiya Messcare of GUJRAT RIOTS
- ^ Congress's involved in 1984 ANTI SIKH RIOTS
- ^ BJP to campaign against CPM violence - The Pioneer 20 November 2007
- ^ article in The Hindu, 9 July 2008: Left meets President, hands over letter of withdrawal
- ^ Unity For Peace and Socialism homepage
- ^ Membership figures from http://www.cpim.org/pd/2005/0403/04032005_membership.htm. Electorate numbers taken from http://www.eci.gov.in/SR_KeyHighLights/LS_2004/Vol_I_LS_2004.pdf. Puducherry is counted as part of Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh counted as part of Punjab.
- ^ "Nine to none, founders' era ends in CPM", The Telegraph (Calcutta), April 3, 2008.
- ^ List of State Secretaries
- ^ Janashakti has replaced the previous CPI(M) organ in Karnataka, Ikyaranga
- ^ Basu, Jyoti. Memoirs - A Political Autobiography. Calcutta: National Book Agency, 1999. p. 189.
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Marxism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaPart of a series on Marxism Communism portal Part of the series on Communism Marxism is a particular political philosophy, economic and sociological worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and a view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The three primary aspects of Marxism are:
- The dialectical and materialist concept of history — Humankind's history fundamentally is a struggle between social classes. The productive capacity of society is the foundation of society, and as this capacity increases over time the social relations of production, class relations, evolve through this struggle of the classes and pass through definite stages (primitive communism, slavery, feudalism, capitalism). The legal, political, ideological and other aspects (e.g. art) of society are derived from these production relations as is the consciousness of the individuals of which the society is composed.
- The critique of capitalism — Marx argues that in capitalist society, an economic minority (the bourgeoisie) dominate and exploit an economic majority (the proletariat). Marx argues that capitalism is exploitative, specifically the way in which unpaid labor (surplus value) is extracted from the working class (the labor theory of value), extending and critiquing the work of earlier political economists on value. Such commodification of human labor according to Marx, creates an arrangement of transitory serfdom. He argued that while the production process is socialized, ownership remains in the hands of the bourgeoisie. This forms the fundamental contradiction of capitalist society. Without the elimination of the fetter of the private ownership of the means of production, human society is unable to achieve further development.
- Advocacy of proletarian revolution — In order to overcome the fetters of private property the working class must seize political power internationally through a social revolution and expropriate the capitalist classes around the world and place the productive capacities of society into collective ownership. Upon this, material foundation classes would be abolished and the material basis for all forms of inequality between humankind would dissolve.
Contemporarily, Karl Marx's innovative analytical methods — materialist dialectics, the labour theory of value, et cetera — are applied in archaeology, anthropology,[1] media studies,[2] political science, theater, history, sociological theory, cultural studies, education, economics, geography, literary criticism, aesthetics, critical psychology, and philosophy.[3]
Contents[hide]
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[edit] Classical Marxism
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008) |
The term Classical Marxism denotes the theory propounded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.[citation needed] As such, Classical Marxism distinguishes between "Marxism" as broadly perceived, and "what Marx believed"; thus, in 1883, Marx wrote to the French labour leader Jules Guesde and to Paul Lafargue (Marx's son-in-law) — both of whom claimed to represent Marxist principles — accusing them of "revolutionary phrase-mongering" and of denying the value of reformist struggle; from which derives the paraphrase: "If that is Marxism, then I am not a Marxist".[4] To wit, the US Marx scholar Hal Draper remarked, "there are few thinkers in modern history whose thought has been so badly misrepresented, by Marxists and anti-Marxists alike".[5]
[edit] Marx and Engels
Karl Heinrich Marx (5 May 1818—14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political economist, and socialist revolutionary, who addressed the matters of alienation and exploitation of the working class, the capitalist mode of production, and historical materialism. He is famous for analysing history in terms of class struggle, summarised in the initial line introducing the Communist Manifesto (1848): "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles". His ideas were influential in his time, and it was greatly expanded by the successful Bolshevik October Revolution of 1917 in Imperial Russia.
Friedrich Engels (28 November 1820–5 August 1895) was a nineteenth century German political philosopher and Karl Marx's co-developer of communist theory. Marx and Engels met in September 1844; discovering that they shared like views of philosophy and socialism, they collaborated and wrote works such as Die heilige Familie (The Holy Family). After the French deported Marx from France in January 1845, Engels and Marx moved to Belgium, which then permitted greater freedom of expression than other European countries; later, in January 1846, they returned to Brussels to establish the Communist Correspondence Committee.
In 1847, they began writing The Communist Manifesto (1848), based upon Engels' The Principles of Communism; six weeks later, they published the 12,000-word pamphlet in February 1848. In March, Belgium expelled them, and they moved to Cologne, where they published the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, a politically radical newspaper. Again, by 1849, they had to leave Cologne for London. The Prussian authorities pressured the British government to expel Marx and Engels, but Prime Minister Lord John Russell refused.
After Karl Marx's death in 1883, Friedrich Engels became the editor and translator of Marx's writings. With his Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State (1884) — analysing monogamous marriage as guaranteeing male social domination of women, a concept analogous, in communist theory, to the capitalist class's economic domination of the working class — Engels made intellectually significant contributions to feminist theory and Marxist feminism.
[edit] Early intellectual influences
Different types of thinkers influenced the development of Classical Marxism; the primary influences derive from:
- German philosophers: Immanuel Kant, G. W. F. Hegel, Ludwig Feuerbach et al.
- British political economists: Adam Smith & David Ricardo et al.
- French social theorists: Jean-Jacques Rousseau; Charles Fourier; Henri de Saint-Simon; Pierre-Joseph Proudhon; Flora Tristan; Louis Blanc et al.
and secondary influences derive from:
- Ancient materialism, e.g. Epicurus, Lucretius et al.
- Aristotle
- Giambattista Vico
- Lewis Morgan
- Charles Darwin
[edit] Principal ideas
These are the principal concepts of Marxism:
[edit] Exploitation
A person is exploited if he or she performs more labour than necessary to produce the goods that he consumes; likewise, a person is an exploiter if he or she performs less labour than is necessary to produce the goods that he consumes.[6] Exploitation is a matter of surplus labour — the amount of labour one performs beyond what one receives in goods. Exploitation has been a socio-economic feature of every class society, and is one of the principal features distinguishing the social classes. The power of one social class to control the means of production enables its exploitation of the other classes.
In capitalism, the labour theory of value is the operative concern; the value of a commodity equals the total labour time required to produce it. Under that condition, surplus value (the difference between the value produced and the value received by a labourer) is synonymous with the term "surplus labour"; thus, capitalist exploitation is realised as deriving surplus value from the worker.
In pre-capitalist economies, exploitation of the worker was achieved via physical coercion. In the capitalist mode of production, that result is more subtly achieved; because the worker does not own the means of production, he or she must voluntarily enter into an exploitive work relationship with a capitalist in order to earn the necessities of life. The worker's entry into such employment is voluntary in that he or she chooses which capitalist to work for. However, the worker must work or starve. Thus, exploitation is inevitable, and that the "voluntary" nature of a worker participating in a capitalist society is illusory.
[edit] Alienation
Alienation denotes the estrangement of people from their humanity (German: Gattungswesen, "species-essence", "species-being"), which is a systematic result of capitalism. Under capitalism, the fruits of production belong to the employers, who expropriate the surplus created by others, and so generate alienated labourers.[7] Alienation objectively describes the worker's situation in capitalism — his or her self-awareness of this condition is unnecessary.
[edit] Historical Materialism
The historical materialist theory of history, also synonymous to "the economic interpretation of history" (a coinage by Eduard Bernstein),[8] looks for the causes of societal development and change in the collective ways humans use to make the means for living. The social features of a society (social classes, political structures, ideologies) derive from economic activity; "base and superstructure" is the metaphoric common term describing this historic condition.
[edit] Base and superstructure
The base and superstructure metaphor explains that the totality of social relations regarding "the social production of their existence" i.e. civil society forms a society's economic base, from which rises a superstructure of political and legal institutions i.e. political society. The base corresponds to the social consciousness (politics, religion, philosophy, etc.), and it conditions the superstructure and the social consciousness. A conflict between the development of material productive forces and the relations of production provokes social revolutions, thus, the resultant changes to the economic base will lead to the transformation of the superstructure.[9] This relationship is reflexive; the base determines the superstructure, in the first instance, and remains the foundation of a form of social organization which then can act again upon both parts of the base and superstructure, whose relationship is dialectical, not literal.[citation needed][clarification needed]
[edit] Historical periodisation
Marx considered that these socio-economic conflicts have historically manifested themselves as distinct stages (one transitional) of development in Western Europe.[10]
- Primitive Communism: as in co-operative tribal societies.
- Slave Society: a development of tribal progression to city-state; Aristocracy is born.
- Feudalism: aristocrats are the ruling class; merchants evolve into capitalists.
- Capitalism: capitalists are the ruling class, who create and employ the proletariat.
- Socialism: workers gain class consciousness, and via proletarian revolution depose the capitalist dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, replacing it in turn with dictatorship of the proletariat through which the socialization of the means of production can be realized.
- Communism: a classless and stateless society.
[edit] Class
The identity of a social class derives from its relationship to the means of production; Marx describes the social classes in capitalist societies:
- Proletariat: "those individuals who sell their labour power, and who, in the capitalist mode of production, do not own the means of production".[citation needed] The capitalist mode of production establishes the conditions enabling the bourgeoisie to exploit the proletariat because the workers' labour generates a surplus value greater than the workers' wages.
- Bourgeoisie: those who "own the means of production" and buy labour power from the proletariat, thus exploiting the proletariat; they subdivide as bourgeoisie and the petit bourgeoisie.
- Petit bourgeoisie are those who employ labourers, but who also work, i.e. small business owners, peasant landlords, trade workers et al. Marxism predicts that the continual reinvention of the means of production eventually would destroy the petit bourgeoisie, degrading them from the middle class to the proletariat.
- Lumpenproletariat: criminals, vagabonds, beggars, et al., who have no stake in the economy, and so sell their labour to the highest bidder.
- Landlords: an historically important social class who retain some wealth and power.
- Peasantry and farmers: a disorganised class incapable of effecting socio-economic change, most of whom would enter the proletariat, and some become landlords.
[edit] Class consciousness
Class consciousness denotes the awareness — of itself and the social world — that a social class possesses, and its capacity to rationally act in their best interests; hence, class consciousness is required before they can effect a successful revolution.
[edit] Ideology
Without defining ideology,[11] Marx used the term to denote the production of images of social reality; according to Engels, "ideology is a process accomplished by the so-called thinker consciously, it is true, but with a false consciousness. The real motive forces impelling him remain unknown to him; otherwise it simply would not be an ideological process. Hence he imagines false or seeming motive forces".[12] Because the ruling class controls the society's means of production, the superstructure of society, the ruling social ideas are determined by the best interests of said ruling class. In The German Ideology, "the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is, at the same time, its ruling intellectual force".[13] Therefore, the ideology of a society is of most importance, because it confuses the alienated classes and so might create a false consciousness, such as commodity fetishism.[citation needed]
[edit] Political economy
The term political economy originally denoted the study of the conditions under which economic production was organised in the capitalist system. In Marxism, political economy studies the means of production, specifically of capital, and how that is manifest as economic activity.
[edit] Marxist schools of thought
[edit] Marxism-Leninism
Note: this is a discussion of Marxism-Leninism as a school of thought. For a discussion of its political practice, see subsection Marxism#Marxism as a political practice below.
At least in terms of adherents and the impact on the world stage, Marxism-Leninism, also known colloquially as Bolshevism or simply communism is the biggest trend within Marxism, easily dwarfing all of the other schools of thought combined.[14] Marxism-Leninism is a term originally coined by the CPSU in order to denote the ideology that Vladimir Lenin had built upon the thought of Karl Marx. There are two broad areas that have set apart Marxism-Leninism as a school of thought.
First, Lenin's followers generally view his additions to the body of Marxism as the practical corollary to Marx's original theoretical contributions of the 19th century; insofar as they apply under the conditions of advanced capitalism that they found themselves working in. Lenin called this time-frame the era of Imperialism. For example, Joseph Stalin wrote that
" | Leninism grew up and took shape under the conditions of imperialism, when the contradictions of capitalism had reached an extreme point, when the proletarian revolution had become an immediate practical question, when the old period of preparation of the working class for revolution had arrived at and passed into a new period, that of direct assault on capitalism.[15] | " |
The most important consequence of a Leninist-style theory of Imperialism is the strategic need for workers in the industrialized countries to bloc or ally with the oppressed nations contained within their respective countries' colonies abroad in order to overthrow capitalism. This is the source of the slogan
" | Workers and Oppressed Peoples of the World, Unite![16] | " |
which is Lenin's twist on the traditional socialist slogan.
Second, the other distinguishing characteristic of Marxism-Leninism is how it approaches the question of organization. Lenin believed that the traditional model of the Social Democratic parties of the time, which was a loose, multitendency organization was inadequate for overthrowing the Tsarist regime in Russia. He proposed a hardened cadre organization that disciplined itself under the model of Democratic Centralism.
Marxism-Leninism was closely associated with the figure of Joseph Stalin until his death. Eventually after the death of Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev became the leader of the Soviet Union, an act which ultimately lead to the splintering of the Marxist-Leninism into several competing schools of thought.
[edit] Post-Stalin Moscow-aligned communism
At the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev made several ideological ruptures with his predecessor, Joseph Stalin. First, Khrushchev denounced the so-called Cult of Personality that had developed around Stalin, which ironically enough Khrushchev had had a pivotal role in fostering decades earlier. More importantly, however, Khrushchev rejected the heretofore orthodox Marxist-Leninist tenet that class struggle continues even under socialism. Rather, the State ought to rule in the name of all classes. A related principle that flowed from the former was the notion of peaceful co-existence, or that the newly emergent socialist bloc could peacefully compete with the capitalist world, solely by developing the productive forces of society.
[edit] Eurocommunism
Beginning around the 1970s, various communist parties in Western Europe, such as the Partito Comunista Italiano in Italy and the Partido Comunista de España under Santiago Carillo tried to hew to a more independent line from Moscow. Particularly in Italy, they leaned on the theories of Antonio Gramsci, despite the fact that Gramsci happened to consider himself an orthodox Marxist-Leninist. This trend went by the name Eurocommunism.
[edit] Anti-revisionism
There are many proponents of Marxist-Leninism who rejected the theses of Khrushchev, particularly Marxists of the Third World.[citation needed] They believed that Khrushchev was unacceptably altering or "revising" the fundamental tenets of Marxism-Leninism, a stance from which the label "anti-revisionist" is derived. Typically, anti-revisionists refer to themselves simply as Marxist-Leninists, although they may be referred to externally by the following epithets.
[edit] Maoism
Maoism takes its name from Mao Zedong, the erstwhile leader of the Peoples Republic of China; it is the variety of anti-revisionism that took inspiration, and in some cases received material support, from China, especially during the Mao period. There are several key concepts that were developed by Mao. First, Mao concurred with Stalin that not only does class struggle continue under the dictatorship of the proletariat, it actually accelerates as long as gains are being made by the proletariat at the expense of the disenfranchised bourgeoisie. Second, Mao developed a strategy for revolution called Prolonged People's War in what he termed the semi-feudal countries of the Third World. Prolonged People's War relied heavily on the peasantry. Third, Mao wrote many theoretical articles on epistemology and dialectics, which he called contradictions.
[edit] Hoxhaism
Hoxhaism, so named because of the central contribution of Albanian statesman Enver Hoxha, was closely aligned with China for a number of years, but grew critical of Maoism because of the so-called Three Worlds Theory put forth by elements within the Communist Party of China and because it viewed the actions of Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping unfavorably. Ultimately, however, Hoxhaism as a trend came to the understanding that Socialism had never existed in China at all.
[edit] Marxism-Deleonism
Marxism-Deleonism, is a form of syndicalist Marxism developed by Daniel De Leon. De Leon was an early leader of the first US socialist political party, the Socialist Labor Party. This party exists to the present day. De Leonism lies outside the Leninist tradition of communism. The highly decentralized and democratic nature of the proposed De Leonist government is in contrast to the democratic centralism of Marxism-Leninism and what they see as the dictatorial nature of the Soviet Union. The success of the De Leonist plan depends on achieving majority support among the people both in the workplaces and at the polls, in contrast to the Leninist notion that a small vanguard party should lead the working class to carry out the revolution. Daniel De Leon and other De Leonist writers have issued frequent polemics against 'democratic socialist' movements, especially the Socialist Party of America, and consider them to be "reformist" or "bourgeois socialist". De Leonists have traditionally refrained from any activity or alliances viewed by them as trying to reform capitalism, though the Socialist Labor Party in De Leon's time was active during strikes and such, such as social justice movements.
[edit] Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the usual term for followers of the ideas of Russian Marxist Leon Trotsky. Trotsky was a contemporary of Lenin from the early years of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, where he led a small trend in competition with both Lenin's Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks; nevertheless Trotsky's followers claim to be the heirs of Lenin in the same way that mainstream Marxist-Leninists do, hence the preferred self-designation amongst Trotskyists of Bolshevik-Leninists. There are several distinguishing characteristics of this school of thought; foremost is the theory of Permanent Revolution. This stated that in less-developed countries the bourgeoisie were too weak to lead their own 'bourgeois-democratic' revolutions. Due to this weakness, it fell to the proletariat to carry out the bourgeois revolution. However, with power in its hands the proletariat would then continue this revolution (permanently), thus transforming it from a bourgeois to a socialist revolution, and from a national to an international revolution.
Another shared characteristic between Trotskyists is a variety of theoretical justifications for their negative appraisal of the post-Lenin Soviet Union; that is to say, after Trotsky was expelled by a majority vote from the CPSU[17] and subsequently from the Soviet Union. As a consequence, Trotsky defined the Soviet Union under Stalin, as a planned economy ruled over by a bureaucratic caste. Trotsky advocated overthrowing the government of the Soviet Union after he was expelled from it.[18]
[edit] Left Communism
Left communism is the range of communist viewpoints held by the communist left, which criticizes the political ideas of the Bolsheviks from a position that is asserted to be more authentically Marxist and proletarian than the views of Leninism held by the Communist International after its first two congresses.
Although she lived before left communism became a distinct tendency, Rosa Luxemburg has been heavily influential for most left communists, both politically and theoretically. Proponents of left communism have included Herman Gorter, Anton Pannekoek, Otto Rühle, Karl Korsch, Amadeo Bordiga, and Paul Mattick.
Prominent left communist groups existing today include the International Communist Current and the International Bureau for the Revolutionary Party. Also, different factions from the old Bordigist International Communist Party are considered left communist organizations.
[edit] Western Marxism
Western Marxism is a term used to describe a wide variety of Marxist theoreticians based in Western and Central Europe (and more recently North America ), in contrast with philosophy in the Soviet Union, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or the People's Republic of China.
[edit] Structural Marxism
Structural Marxism is an approach to Marxism based on structuralism, primarily associated with the work of the French theorist Louis Althusser and his students. It was influential in France during the late 1960s and 1970s, and also came to influence philosophers, political theorists and sociologists outside of France during the 1970s.
[edit] Neo-Marxism
Neo-Marxism is a school of Marxism that began in the 20th century and hearkened back to the early writings of Marx, before the influence of Engels, which focused on dialectical idealism rather than dialectical materialism. It thus rejected economic determinism being instead far more libertarian. Neo-Marxism adds Max Weber's broader understanding of social inequality, such as status and power, to orthodox Marxist thought.
[edit] The Frankfurt School
Part of a series on the |
Frankfurt School |
---|
Major works |
Reason and Revolution Dialectic of Enlightenment Minima Moralia Eros and Civilization One-Dimensional Man Negative Dialectics |
Notable theorists |
Max Horkheimer · Theodor Adorno Herbert Marcuse · Walter Benjamin Erich Fromm · Friedrich Pollock Leo Löwenthal · Jürgen Habermas |
Important concepts |
Critical theory · Dialectic · Praxis Psychoanalysis · Antipositivism Popular culture · Culture industry Advanced capitalism · Privatism |
The Frankfurt School is a school of neo-Marxist social theory, social research, and philosophy. The grouping emerged at the Institute for Social Research (Institut für Sozialforschung) of the University of Frankfurt am Main in Germany. The term "Frankfurt School" is an informal term used to designate the thinkers affiliated with the Institute for Social Research or influenced by them: it is not the title of any institution, and the main thinkers of the Frankfurt School did not use the term to describe themselves.
The Frankfurt School gathered together dissident Marxists, severe critics of capitalism who believed that some of Marx's alleged followers had come to parrot a narrow selection of Marx's ideas, usually in defense of orthodox communist or social democratic parties. Influenced especially by the failure of working-class revolutions in Western Europe after World War I and by the rise of Nazism in an economically, technologically, and culturally advanced nation (Germany), they took up the task of choosing what parts of Marx's thought might serve to clarify social conditions which Marx himself had never seen. They drew on other schools of thought to fill in Marx's perceived omissions.
Max Weber exerted a major influence, as did Sigmund Freud (as in Herbert Marcuse's Freudo-Marxist synthesis in the 1954 work Eros and Civilization). Their emphasis on the "critical" component of theory was derived significantly from their attempt to overcome the limits of positivism, crude materialism, and phenomenology by returning to Kant's critical philosophy and its successors in German idealism, principally Hegel's philosophy, with its emphasis on negation and contradiction as inherent properties of reality.
[edit] Cultural Marxism
Cultural Marxism is a form of Marxism that adds a critical theory based Marxist analysis of the role of the media, art, theatre, film and other cultural institutions in a society, often with an added emphasis on race and gender in addition to class. As a form of political analysis, Cultural Marxism gained strength in the 1920s, and was the model used by the Frankfurt School at Columbia University; and later by another group of intellectuals at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham, England.
[edit] Autonomist Marxism
Autonomism is a term applied to a variety of social movements around the world, which emphasizes the ability to organize in autonomous and horizontal networks, as opposed to hierarchical structures such as unions or parties. Autonomist Marxists, including Harry Cleaver, broaden the definition of the working-class to include salaried and unpaid labour, such as skilled professions and housework; it focuses on the working class in advanced capitalist states as the primary force of change in the construct of capital. Modern autonomist theorists such as Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt argue that network power constructs are the most effective methods of organization against the neoliberal regime of accumulation, and predict a massive shift in the dynamics of capital into a 21st Century Empire.
[edit] Analytical Marxism
Analytical Marxism refers to a style of thinking about Marxism that was prominent amongst a half-dozen analytically trained English-speaking philosophers and social scientists during the 1980s. It was mainly associated with the September Group of academics, so called because they have biennial meetings in varying locations every other September to discuss common interests. The group also dubbed itself "Non-Bullshit Marxism" (Cohen 2000a). It was characterized, in the words of David Miller, by "clear and rigorous thinking about questions that are usually blanketed by ideological fog". (Miller 1994)
[edit] Marxist humanism
Marxist humanism is a branch of Marxism that primarily focuses on Marx's earlier writings, especially the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 in which Marx develops his theory of alienation, as opposed to his later works, which are considered to be concerned more with his structural conception of capitalist society. It was opposed by Louis Althusser's "antihumanism", who qualified it as a revisionist movement.
Marxist humanists contend that 'Marxism' developed lopsided because Marx's early works were unknown until after the orthodox ideas were in vogue – the Manuscripts of 1844 were published only in 1932 – and it is necessary to understand Marx's philosophical foundations to understand his latter works properly.
[edit] Marxist theology
This section may contain previously unpublished synthesis of published material that conveys ideas not attributable to the original sources. See the talk page for details. (May 2009) |
Although Marx was intensely critical of institutionalized religion including Christianity, some Christians have "accepted the basic premises of Marxism and attempted to reinterpret Christian faith from this perspective."[19] Some of the resulting examples are some forms of liberation theology and black liberation theology. Pope Benedict XVI strongly opposed radical liberation theology while he was still a cardinal, with the Vatican condemning acceptance of Marxism. Black liberation theologian James Cone wrote in his book For My People that "for analyzing the structure of capitalism. Marxism as a tool of social analysis can disclose the gap between appearance and reality, and thereby help Christians to see how things really are."[20]
[edit] Key Western Marxists
[edit] Georg Lukács
Georg Lukács (April 13, 1885 – June 4, 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher and literary critic in the tradition of Western Marxism. His main work History and Class Consciousness (written between 1919 and 1922 and first published in 1923), initiated the current of thought that came to be known as Western Marxism. The book is notable for contributing to debates concerning Marxism and its relation to sociology, politics and philosophy, and for reconstructing Marx's theory of alienation before many of the works of the Young Marx had been published. Lukács's work elaborates and expands upon Marxist theories such as ideology, false consciousness, reification and class consciousness.
[edit] Karl Korsch
Karl Korsch (August 15, 1886 - October 21, 1961) was born in Tostedt, near Hamburg, to the family of a middle-ranking bank official.
In his later work, he rejected orthodox (classical) Marxism as historically outmoded, wanting to adapt Marxism to a new historical situation. He wrote in his Ten Theses (1950) that "the first step in re-establishing a revolutionary theory and practice consists in breaking with that Marxism which claims to monopolize revolutionary initiative as well as theoretical and practical direction" and that "today, all attempts to re-establish the Marxist doctrine as a whole in its original function as a theory of the working classes social revolution are reactionary utopias."[21]
Korsch was especially concerned that Marxist theory was losing its precision and validity - in the words of the day, becoming "vulgarized" - within the upper echelons of the various socialist organizations. His masterwork, Marxism and Philosophy is an attempt to re-establish the historic character of Marxism as the heir to Hegel.
[edit] Antonio Gramsci
Antonio Gramsci (January 22, 1891 – April 27, 1937) was an Italian writer, politician and political theorist. He was a founding member and onetime leader of the Communist Party of Italy. Gramsci can be seen as one of the most important Marxist thinkers of the twentieth century, and in particular a key thinker in the development of Western Marxism. He wrote more than 30 notebooks and 3000 pages of history and analysis during his imprisonment. These writings, known as the Prison Notebooks, contain Gramsci's tracing of Italian history and nationalism, as well as some ideas in Marxist theory, critical theory and educational theory associated with his name, such as:
- Cultural hegemony as a means of maintaining the state in a capitalist society.
- The need for popular workers' education to encourage development of intellectuals from the working class.
- The distinction between political society (the police, the army, legal system, etc.) which dominates directly and coercively, and civil society (the family, the education system, trade unions, etc.) where leadership is constituted through ideology or by means of consent.
- 'Absolute historicism'.
- The critique of economic determinism.
- The critique of philosophical materialism.
[edit] Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse (July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a prominent German-American philosopher and sociologist of Jewish descent, and a member of the Frankfurt School.
Marcuse's critiques of capitalist society (especially his 1955 synthesis of Marx and Freud, Eros and Civilization, and his 1964 book One-Dimensional Man) resonated with the concerns of the leftist student movement in the 1960s. Because of his willingness to speak at student protests, Marcuse soon became known as "the father of the New Left," a term he disliked and rejected.
[edit] Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre (June 21, 1905 – April 15, 1980) was already a key and influential philosopher and playwright for his early writings on individualistic existentialism. In his later career, he attempted to reconcile the existential philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard with Marxist philosophy and Hegelian dialectics in his work Critique of Dialectical Reason.[22]
Sartre was also involved in Marxist politics and was impressed upon visiting Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, calling him "not only an intellectual but also the most complete human being of our age".[23]
[edit] Louis Althusser
Louis Althusser (October 16, 1918 – October 22, 1990) was a Marxist philosopher. He was a lifelong member and sometimes strong critic of the French Communist Party. His arguments and theses were set against the threats that he saw attacking the theoretical foundations of Marxism. These included both the influence of empiricism on Marxist theory, and humanist and reformist socialist orientations which manifested as divisions in the European Communist Parties, as well as the problem of the 'cult of personality' and of ideology itself. Althusser is commonly referred to as a Structural Marxist, although his relationship to other schools of French structuralism is not a simple affiliation and he is critical of many aspects of structuralism.
His essay Marxism and Humanism is a strong statement of anti-humanism in Marxist theory, condemning ideas like "human potential" and "species-being", which are often put forth by Marxists, as outgrowths of a bourgeois ideology of "humanity". His essay Contradiction and Overdetermination borrows the concept of overdetermination from psychoanalysis, in order to replace the idea of "contradiction" with a more complex model of multiple causality in political situations (an idea closely related to Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony).
Althusser is also widely known as a theorist of ideology, and his best-known essay is Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses: Notes Toward an Investigation.[24] The essay establishes the concept of ideology, also based on Gramsci's theory of hegemony. Whereas hegemony is ultimately determined entirely by political forces, ideology draws on Freud's and Lacan's concepts of the unconscious and mirror-phase respectively, and describes the structures and systems that allow us to meaningfully have a concept of the self.
[edit] Hill, Hobsbawm, and Thompson
British Marxism deviated sharply from French (especially Althusserian) Marxism and, like the Frankfurt School, developed an attention to cultural experience and an emphasis on human agency while growing increasingly distant from determinist views of materialism. A circle of historians inside the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) formed the Communist Party Historians Group in 1946. They shared a common interest in 'history from below' and class structure in early capitalist society. Important members of the group included E.P. Thompson, Eric Hobsbawm, Christopher Hill and Raphael Samuel.
While some members of the group (most notably E.P. Thompson) left the CPGB after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, the common points of British Marxist historiography continued in their works. They placed a great emphasis on the subjective determination of history. E. P. Thompson famously engaged Althusser in The Poverty of Theory,[25] arguing that Althusser's theory overdetermined history, and left no space for historical revolt by the oppressed.
[edit] Post-Marxism
Post-Marxism represents the theoretical work of philosophers and social theorists who have built their theories upon those of Marx and Marxists but exceeded the limits of those theories in ways that puts them outside of Marxism. It begins with the basic tenets of Marxism but moves away from the Mode of Production as the starting point for analysis and includes factors other than class, such as gender, ethnicity etc., and a reflexive relationship between the base and superstructure.
Marxism remains a powerful theory in some unexpected and relatively obscure places, and is not always properly labeled as "Marxism". For example, many Mexican and some American archaeologists still employ a Marxist model to explain the Classic Maya Collapse[citation needed] (c. 900 A.D.) - without mentioning Marxism by name.
[edit] Marxist Feminism
Marxist feminism is a sub-type of feminist theory which focuses on the dismantling of capitalism as a way to liberate women. Marxist feminism states that private property, which gives rise to economic inequality, dependence, political confusion and ultimately unhealthy social relations between men and women, is the root of women's oppression.
According to Marxist theory, in capitalist societies the individual is shaped by class relations; that is, people's capacities, needs and interests are seen to be determined by the mode of production that characterises the society they inhabit. Marxist feminists see gender inequality as determined ultimately by the capitalist mode of production. Gender oppression is class oppression and women's subordination is seen as a form of class oppression which is maintained (like racism) because it serves the interests of capital and the ruling class. Marxist feminists have extended traditional Marxist analysis by looking at domestic labour as well as wage work in order to support their position.
[edit] Marxism as a political practice
Since Marx's death in 1883, various groups around the world have appealed to Marxism as the theoretical basis for their politics and policies, which have often proved to be dramatically different and conflicting. One of the first major political splits occurred between the advocates of 'reformism', who argued that the transition to socialism could occur within existing bourgeois parliamentarian frameworks, and communists, who argued that the transition to a socialist society required a revolution and the dissolution of the capitalist state. The 'reformist' tendency, later known as social democracy, came to be dominant in most of the parties affiliated to the Second International and these parties supported their own governments in the First World War. This issue caused the communists to break away, forming their own parties which became members of the Third International.
The following countries had governments at some point in the twentieth century who at least nominally adhered to Marxism: Albania, Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Republic of Congo, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Ethiopia, Grenada, Hungary, Laos, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, North Korea, Poland, Romania, Russia, the USSR and its republics, South Yemen, Yugoslavia, Venezuela, Vietnam. In addition, the Indian states of Kerala, Tripura and West Bengal have had Marxist governments. Some of these governments such as in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Chile, Moldova and parts of India have been democratic in nature and maintained regular multiparty elections, while most governments claiming to be Marxist in nature have established authoritarian governments.
Marxist political parties and movements have significantly declined since the fall of the Soviet Union, with some exceptions, perhaps most notably Nepal.
[edit] History
The 1917 October Revolution, led by Vladimir Lenin, was the first large scale attempt to put Marxist ideas about a workers' state into practice. The new government faced counter-revolution, civil war and foreign intervention. Many, both inside and outside the revolution, worried that the revolution came too early in Russia's economic development. Consequently, the major Socialist Party in the UK decried the revolution as anti-Marxist within twenty-four hours, according to Jonathan Wolff.[citation needed] Lenin consistently explained "this elementary truth of Marxism, that the victory of socialism requires the joint efforts of workers in a number of advanced countries" (Lenin, Sochineniya (Works), 5th ed Vol XLIV p418.) It could not be developed in Russia in isolation, he argued, but needed to be spread internationally.
The 1917 October Revolution did help inspire a revolutionary wave over the years that followed, with the development of Communist Parties worldwide, but without success in the vital advanced capitalist countries of Western Europe. Socialist revolution in Germany and other western countries failed, leaving the Soviet Union on its own. An intense period of debate and stopgap solutions ensued, war communism and the New Economic Policy (NEP). Lenin died and Joseph Stalin gradually assumed control, eliminating rivals and consolidating power as the Soviet Union faced the events of the 1930s and its global crisis-tendencies. Amidst the geopolitical threats which defined the period and included the probability of invasion, he instituted a ruthless program of industrialization which, while successful, was executed at great cost in human suffering, including millions of deaths, along with long-term environmental devastation.
Modern followers of Leon Trotsky maintain that as predicted by Lenin, Trotsky, and others already in the 1920s, Stalin's "socialism in one country" was unable to maintain itself, and according to some Marxist critics, the USSR ceased to show the characteristics of a socialist state long before its formal dissolution.
In the 1920s the economic calculation debate between Austrian Economists and Marxist economists took place. The Austrians claimed that Marxism is flawed because prices could not be set to recognize opportunity costs of factors of production, and so socialism could not make rational decisions.
Following World War II, Marxist ideology, often with Soviet military backing, spawned a rise in revolutionary communist parties all over the world. Some of these parties were eventually able to gain power, and establish their own version of a Marxist state. Such nations included the People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Romania, East Germany, Albania, Cambodia, Ethiopia, South Yemen, Yugoslavia, Cuba, and others. In some cases, these nations did not get along. The most notable examples were rifts that occurred between the Soviet Union and China, as well as Soviet Union and Yugoslavia (in 1948), whose leaders disagreed on certain elements of Marxism and how it should be implemented into society.
Many of these self-proclaimed Marxist nations (often styled People's Republics) eventually became authoritarian states, with stagnating economies. This caused some debate about whether Marxism was doomed in practise or these nations were in fact not led by "true Marxists". Critics of Marxism speculated that perhaps Marxist ideology itself was to blame for the nations' various problems. Followers of the currents within Marxism which opposed Stalin, principally cohered around Leon Trotsky, tended to locate the failure at the level of the failure of world revolution: for communism to have succeeded, they argue, it needed to encompass all the international trading relationships that capitalism had previously developed.
The Chinese experience seems to be unique. Rather than falling under a single family's self-serving and dynastic interpretation of Marxism as happened in North Korea and before 1989 in Eastern Europe, the Chinese government - after the end of the struggles over the Mao legacy in 1980 and the ascent of Deng Xiaoping - seems to have solved the succession crises that have plagued self-proclaimed Leninist governments since the death of Lenin himself. Key to this success is another Leninism which is a NEP (New Economic Policy) writ very large; Lenin's own NEP of the 1920s was the "permission" given to markets including speculation to operate by the Party which retained final control. The Russian experience in Perestroika was that markets under socialism were so opaque as to be both inefficient and corrupt but especially after China's application to join the WTO this does not seem to apply universally.
The death of "Marxism" in China has been prematurely announced but since the Hong Kong handover in 1997, the Beijing leadership has clearly retained final say over both commercial and political affairs. Questions remain however as to whether the Chinese Party has opened its markets to such a degree as to be no longer classified as a true Marxist party.[citation needed] A sort of tacit consent, and a desire in China's case to escape the chaos of pre-1949 memory, probably plays a role.
In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed and the new Russian state ceased to identify itself with Marxism. Other nations around the world followed suit. Since then, radical Marxism or Communism has generally ceased to be a prominent political force in global politics, and has largely been replaced by more moderate versions of democratic socialism—or, more commonly, by neoliberal capitalism. Marxism has also had to engage with the rise in the Environmental movement. A merging of Marxism, socialism, ecology and environmentalism has been achieved[where?], and is often referred to as Eco-socialism.
[edit] Social Democracy
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Social democracy is a political ideology that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century. Many parties in the second half of the 19th century described themselves as social democratic, such as the British Social Democratic Federation, and the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. In most cases these were revolutionary socialist or Marxist groups, who were not only seeking to introduce socialism, but also democracy in un-democratic countries.
The modern social democratic current came into being through a break within the socialist movement in the early 20th century, between two groups holding different views on the ideas of Karl Marx. Many related movements, including pacifism, anarchism, and syndicalism, arose at the same time (often by splitting from the main socialist movement, but also by emerging of new theories.) and had various quite different objections to Marxism. The social democrats, who were the majority of socialists at this time, did not reject Marxism (and in fact claimed to uphold it), but wanted to reform it in certain ways and tone down their criticism of capitalism. They argued that socialism should be achieved through evolution rather than revolution. Such views were strongly opposed by the revolutionary socialists, who argued that any attempt to reform capitalism was doomed to fail, because the reformists would be gradually corrupted and eventually turn into capitalists themselves.
Despite their differences, the reformist and revolutionary branches of socialism remained united until the outbreak of World War I. The war proved to be the final straw that pushed the tensions between them to breaking point. The reformist socialists supported their respective national governments in the war, a fact that was seen by the revolutionary socialists as outright treason against the working class (Since it betrayed the principle that the workers "have no nation", and the fact that usually the lowest classes are the ones sent into the war to fight, and die, putting the cause at the side). Bitter arguments ensued within socialist parties, as for example between Eduard Bernstein (reformist socialist) and Rosa Luxemburg (revolutionary socialist) within the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Eventually, after the Russian Revolution of 1917, most of the world's socialist parties fractured. The reformist socialists kept the name "Social democrats", while the revolutionary socialists began calling themselves "Communists", and soon formed the modern Communist movement. (See also Comintern)
Since the 1920s, doctrinal differences have been constantly growing between social democrats and Communists (who themselves are not unified on the way to achieve socialism), and Social Democracy is mostly used as a specifically Central European label for Labour Parties since then, especially in Germany and the Netherlands and especially since the 1959 Godesberg Program of the German SPD that rejected the praxis of class struggle altogether.
[edit] Socialism
The term "socialism" could be used to describe two fundamentally different ideologies - democratic socialism and Marxist-Leninist socialism. While Marxist-Leninists (Trotskyists, Stalinists, and Maoists) are often described as communists in the contemporary media, they are not recognized as such academically or by themselves. The Marxist-Leninists sought to work towards the workers' utopia in Marxist ideology by first creating a socialist state, which historically had almost always been a single-party dictatorship. On the other hand, democratic socialists attempt to work towards an ideal state by social reform and are often little different from social democrats, with the democratic socialists having a more leftist stance.
The Marxist-Leninist form of government has been in decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union and its satellite states. Very few countries have governments which describe themselves as socialist. As of 2007, Laos, Vietnam, Cuba, and the People's Republic of China had governments in power which describe themselves as socialist in the Marxist sense.
On the contrary, electoral parties which describe themselves as socialist or democratic socialist are on the rise, joined together by international organizations such as the Socialist International and the Fourth International. Parties described as socialist are currently dominant in Third World democracies and serve as the ruling party or the main opposition party in all European democracies. Eco-socialism, and Green politics with a strong leftist tinge, are on the rise in European democracies.
The characterization of a party or government often has little to do with its actual economical and social platform. The government of mainland China, which describes itself as socialist, allows a large private sector to flourish and is socially conservative compared to most Western democracies. A more specific example is universal health-care, which is a trademark issue of many European socialist parties but does not exist in mainland China. Therefore, the historical and cultural aspects of a movement must be taken into context in order for one to arrive at an accurate conclusion of its political ideology from its nominal characterization.
[edit] Communism
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A number of states declared an allegiance to the principles of Marxism and have been ruled by self-described Communist Parties, either as a single-party state or a single list, which includes formally several parties, as was the case in the German Democratic Republic. Due to the dominance of the Communist Party in their governments, these states are often called "communist states" by Western political scientists. However, they have described themselves as "socialist", reserving the term "communism" for a future classless society, in which the state would no longer be necessary (on this understanding of communism, "communist state" would be an oxymoron) – for instance, the USSR was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Marxists contend that, historically, there has never been any communist country.
Communist governments have historically been characterized by state ownership of productive resources in a planned economy and sweeping campaigns of economic restructuring such as nationalization of industry and land reform (often focusing on collective farming or state farms.) While they promote collective ownership of the means of production, Communist governments have been characterized by a strong state apparatus in which decisions are made by the ruling Communist Party. Dissident 'authentic' communists have characterized the Soviet model as state socialism or state capitalism.
[edit] Marxism-Leninism
Marxism-Leninism, strictly speaking, refers to the version of Marxism developed by Vladimir Lenin known as Leninism[citation needed]. However, in various contexts, different (and sometimes opposing) political groups have used the term "Marxism-Leninism" to describe the ideologies that they claimed to be upholding. The core ideological features of Marxism-Leninism are those of Marxism and Leninism, that is to say, belief in the necessity of a violent overthrow of capitalism through communist revolution, to be followed by a dictatorship of the proletariat as the first stage of moving towards communism, and the need for a vanguard party to lead the proletariat in this effort. Those who view themselves as Marxist-Leninists, however, vary with regards to the leaders and thinkers that they choose to uphold as progressive (and to what extent). Maoists tend to downplay the importance of all other thinkers in favour of Mao Zedong, whereas Hoxhaists repudiate Mao.
Leninism holds that capitalism can only be overthrown by revolutionary means; that is, any attempts to reform capitalism from within, such as Fabianism and non-revolutionary forms of democratic socialism, are doomed to fail. The first goal of a Leninist party is to educate the proletariat, so as to remove the various modes of false consciousness the bourgeois have instilled in them, instilled in order to make them more docile and easier to exploit economically, such as religion and nationalism. Once the proletariat has gained class consciousness the party will coordinate the proletariat's total might to overthrow the existing government, thus the proletariat will seize all political and economic power. Lastly the proletariat (thanks to their education by the party) will implement a dictatorship of the proletariat which would bring upon them socialism, the lower phase of communism. After this, the party would essentially dissolve as the entire proletariat is elevated to the level of revolutionaries.
The dictatorship of the proletariat refers to the absolute power of the working class. It is governed by a system of proletarian direct democracy, in which workers hold political power through local councils known as soviets.
[edit] Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself a Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party. He considered himself an advocate of orthodox Marxism. His politics differed sharply from those of Stalin or Mao, most importantly in declaring the need for an international "permanent revolution". Numerous groups around the world continue to describe themselves as Trotskyist and see themselves as standing in this tradition, although they have diverse interpretations of the conclusions to be drawn from this.
Trotsky advocated proletarian revolution as set out in his theory of "permanent revolution", and he argued that in countries where the bourgeois-democratic revolution had not triumphed already (in other words, in places that had not yet implemented a capitalist democracy, such as Russia before 1917), it was necessary that the proletariat make it permanent by carrying out the tasks of the social revolution (the "socialist" or "communist" revolution) at the same time, in an uninterrupted process. Trotsky believed that a new socialist state would not be able to hold out against the pressures of a hostile capitalist world unless socialist revolutions quickly took hold in other countries as well, especially in the industrial powers with a developed proletariat.
On the political spectrum of Marxism, Trotskyists are considered to be on the left. They fervently support democracy, oppose political deals with the imperialist powers, and advocate a spreading of the revolution until it becomes global.
Trotsky developed the theory that the Russian workers' state had become a "bureaucratically degenerated workers' state". Capitalist rule had not been restored, and nationalized industry and economic planning, instituted under Lenin, were still in effect. However, the state was controlled by a bureaucratic caste with interests hostile to those of the working class. Trotsky defended the Soviet Union against attack from imperialist powers and against internal counter-revolution, but called for a political revolution within the USSR to restore socialist democracy. He argued that if the working class did not take power away from the Stalinist bureaucracy, the bureaucracy would restore capitalism in order to enrich itself. In the view of many Trotskyists, this is exactly what has happened since the beginning of Glasnost and Perestroika in the USSR. Some argue that the adoption of market socialism by the People's Republic of China has also led to capitalist counter-revolution.
[edit] Maoism
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Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (simplified Chinese: 毛泽东思想; traditional Chinese: 毛澤東思想; pinyin: Máo Zédōng Sīxiǎng), is a variant of Marxism-Leninism derived from the teachings of the Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong (Wade-Giles transliteration: "Mao Tse-tung").
The term "Mao Zedong Thought" has always been the preferred term by the Communist Party of China, and the word "Maoism" has never been used in its English-language publications except pejoratively. Likewise, Maoist groups outside China have usually called themselves Marxist-Leninist rather than Maoist, a reflection of Mao's view that he did not change, but only developed, Marxism-Leninism. However, some[who?] Maoist groups, believing Mao's theories to have been sufficiently substantial additions to the basics of the Marxist canon, call themselves "Marxist-Leninist-Maoist" (MLM) or simply "Maoist".
In the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong Thought is part of the official doctrine of the Communist Party of China, but since the 1978 beginning of Deng Xiaoping's market economy-oriented reforms, the concept of "socialism with Chinese characteristics" has come to the forefront of Chinese politics, Chinese economic reform has taken hold, and the official definition and role of Mao's original ideology in the PRC has been radically altered and reduced (see History of China).
Unlike the earlier forms of Marxism-Leninism in which the urban proletariat was seen as the main source of revolution, and the countryside was largely ignored, Mao believed that peasantry could be the main force behind a revolution, led by the proletariat and a vanguard Communist party. The model for this was of course the Chinese communist rural Protracted People's War of the 1920s and 1930s, which eventually brought the Communist Party of China to power. Furthermore, unlike other forms of Marxism-Leninism in which large-scale industrial development was seen as a positive force, Maoism made all-round rural development the priority.
Mao felt that this strategy made sense during the early stages of socialism in a country in which most of the people were peasants. Unlike most other political ideologies, including other socialist and Marxist ones, Maoism contains an integral military doctrine and explicitly connects its political ideology with military strategy. In Maoist thought, "political power grows from the barrel of the gun" (a famous quote by Mao), and the peasantry can be mobilized to undertake a "people's war" of armed struggle involving guerrilla warfare in three stages.
[edit] Left communism
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Left communism is the range of communist viewpoints held by the Communist Left, which criticizes the political ideas of the Bolsheviks from a position that is asserted to be more authentically Marxist and proletarian than the views of Leninism held by the Communist International after its first two Congresses.
Two major traditions can be observed within Left communism: the Dutch-German tradition; and the Italian tradition. The political positions those traditions have in common are a shared opposition to what is termed frontism, nationalism, all kinds of national liberation movements and parliamentarianism and there is an underlying commonality at a level of abstract theory. Crucially, Left Communist groups from both traditions tend to identify elements of commonality in each other.
The historical origins of Left Communism can be traced to the period before the First World War, but it only came into focus after 1918 . All Left Communists were supportive of the October Revolution in Russia, but retained a critical view of its development. Some, however, would in later years come to reject the idea that the revolution had a proletarian or socialist nature, asserting that it had simply carried out the tasks of the bourgeois revolution by creating a state capitalist system.
Left Communism first came into being as a clear movement in or around 1918. Its essential features were: a stress on the need to build a Communist Party entirely separate from the reformist and centrist elements who were seen as having betrayed socialism in 1914, opposition to all but the most restricted participation in elections, and an emphasis on the need for revolutionaries to move on the offensive. Apart from that, there was little in common between the various wings. Only the Italians accepted the need for electoral work at all for a very short period of time, and the German-Dutch, Italian and Russian wings opposed the "right of nations to self-determination", which they denounced as a form of bourgeois nationalism.
[edit] Disputing these claims
Some academics[who?] dispute the claim that the above political movements are Marxist. Communist governments have historically been characterized by state ownership of productive resources in a planned economy and sweeping campaigns of economic restructuring such as nationalization of industry and land reform (often focusing on collective farming or state farms.) While they promote collective ownership of the means of production, Communist governments have been characterized by a strong state apparatus in which decisions are made by the ruling Communist Party. Dissident communists have characterized the Soviet model as state socialism or state capitalism. Further, critics such as Leon Trotsky and Rosa Luxemburg have often claimed that a Stalinist or Maoist system of government creates a new ruling class, usually called the nomenklatura.
Marx defined "communism" as a classless, egalitarian and stateless society. To Marx, the notion of a communist state would have seemed an oxymoron, as he defined communism as the phase reached when class society and the state had already been abolished. Once the lower stage towards communism, commonly referred to as socialism, had been established, society would develop new social relations over the course of several generations, reaching what Marx called the higher phase of communism when not only bourgeois relations but every class social relations had been abandoned. Such a development has yet to occur in any historical self-claimed socialist state.
Some[who?] argue that socialist states have contained two new distinct classes: those who are in government and therefore have power, and those who are not in government and do not have power. Sometimes, this is taken to be a different form of capitalism, in which the government, as owner of the means of production, takes on the role formerly played by the bourgeois class; this arrangement is referred to as "State capitalism". These statist regimes have generally followed a command economy model without making a transition to this hypothetical final stage.
[edit] Criticisms
Criticisms of Marxism are many and varied. They concern both the theory itself, and its later interpretations and implementations.
[edit] Right
Marx and Engels never dedicated much work to show how exactly a communist economy would function, leaving Marxism, at least in its classical form, a "negative ideology," concerned primarily with criticism of the status quo. Later generations of Marxists have attempted to fill in the gap, resulting in several different and competing Marxist views of the way a communist society should be organized.
Prominent economist Milton Friedman was of the opinion that free markets are the best and most efficient way of running the economy for the benefit of all.[26] In the economic calculation debate between Austrian Economists and Marxist economists, the Austrians claimed that Marxism is flawed because without a market for productive factors, which Marxism would abolish, productive factors could not be labeled with market prices and therefore, so the Austrians say, Marxism makes rational economic calculation impossible and would lead to social collapse. This criticism could also be seen as part of the Austrian School's general criticism of command-control-type mathematical modelling and Keynesian "fine-tuning" of the economy generally, which Austrian economists believe is not possible due to the inherent complexity of market participants' ever-evolving subjective choices.
Individualists disagree with the basic approach of Marxism, that of viewing all people as acting under the influence of socio-economic forces, and instead focus on the differences and unpredictable actions of individuals.
[edit] Left
Criticisms of Marxism have come from the political left as well:
- Democratic socialists and social democrats reject the idea that socialism can be accomplished only through class conflict, violent revolution and dictatorship of the proletariat.
- Anarchists reject the need for a transitory state phase on the road to a classless society; they believe that the state and capitalism should be dismantled simultaneously and without coercion.
[edit] See also
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Bridget O'Laughlin (1975) Marxist Approaches in Anthropology Annual Review of Anthropology Vol. 4: pp. 341–70 (October 1975) (doi:10.1146/annurev.an.04.100175.002013).
William Roseberry (1997) Marx and Anthropology Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 26: pp. 25–46 (October 1997) (doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.26.1.25) - ^ S. L. Becker (1984) "Marxist Approaches to Media Studies: The British Experience", Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 1(1): pp. 66–80.
- ^ See Manuel Alvarado, Robin Gutch, and Tana Wollen (1987) Learning the Media: Introduction to Media Teaching, Palgrave Macmillan.
- ^ See MIA introduction at "The Programme of the Parti Ouvrier"
- ^ Not found in search function at Draper Arkiv
- ^ Elster, pp. 79–80.
- ^ "Alienation" entry, A Dictionary of Sociology
- ^ Evans, p. 53; Marx's account of the theory is the Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859). [1]. Another exposition of th theory is in The German Ideology. It, too, is available online from marxists.org.
- ^ See A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859), Preface, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1977, with some notes by R. Rojas, and Engels: Anti-Dühring (1877), Introduction General
- ^ Marx does not claim to have produced a master-key to history. Historical materialism is not "an historico-philosophic theory of the marche generale, imposed by fate upon every people, whatever the historic circumstances in which it finds itself", K. Marx, Letter to editor of the Russian newspaper paper Otetchestvennye Zapiskym, 1877) He explains that his ideas are based upon a concrete study of the actual conditions in Europe.
- ^ Joseph McCarney: Ideology and False Consciousness, April 2005
- ^ Engels: Letter to Franz Mehring, (London 14 July 1893), Donna Torr, translator, in Marx and Engels Correspondence, International Publishers, 1968
- ^ Karl Marx, The German Ideology
- ^ For example, the Communist Party of China alone has more than 66 million members. See http://www.chinatoday.com/org/cpc/
- ^ http://www.marx2mao.com/Stalin/FL24.html#c1
- ^ http://www.workers.org/2008/us/ww_1982_1120/
- ^ http://www.plp.org/books/Stalin/node14.html#SECTION00500000000000000000
- ^ "The characterisation of the anti-bureaucratic revolution as "political revolution" referred to the fact that the bureaucracy had politically expropriated the proletariat ..." http://www.radicalsocialist.in/index.php/articles/marxist-theory/100-capitalist-restoration-in-the-former-soviet-union
- ^ "Marxist Theology" in The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology, p. 352.
- ^ [2] Marxist Roots of Black Liberation Theology[unreliable source?]
- ^ Karl Korsch (1950) Ten Theses on Marxism Today
- ^ [plato.stanford.edu/entries/sartre/ Jean-Paul Sartre on Stanford Encyclopedia.]
- ^ Anderson, Jon. Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life. 1997 p.468
- ^ Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses: Notes Toward an Investigation is available in several English volumes including Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays
- ^ Thompson, E. P., (1978). The Poverty of Theory & other essays Merlin, 1978. ISBN 085036-231-8.
- ^ Free to Choose, Milton Friedman
[edit] References
- Avineri, Shlomo (1968). The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx. Cambridge University Press.
- Dahrendorf, Ralf (1959). Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Jon Elster, An Introduction to Karl Marx. Cambridge, England, 1986.
- Michael Evans, Karl Marx. London, 1975.
- Kołakowski, Leszek (1976). Main Currents of Marxism. Oxford University Press.
- Parkes, Henry Bamford (1939). Marxism: An Autopsy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- Robinson, Cedric J. : Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition, 1983, Reissue: Univ North Carolina Press, 2000
- Rummel, R.J. (1977) Conflict In Perspective Chap. 5 Marxism, Class Conflict, and the Conflict Helix
- Screpanti, E; S. Zamagna (1993). An Outline of the History of Economic Thought.
- McLellan, David (2007). Marxism After Marx. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
[edit] External links
[edit] General resources
- Marxists Internet Archive (MIA)
- Marxist Economics Site
- Marxmail.org
- Marx Myths & Legends
- Marxism Page
- London Philosophy Study Guide on Marxism (offers many suggestions on what to read, depending on the student's familiarity with the subject)
- Libertarian Communist Library Marxism archive
- Marxist.net Marxist Resources from the Committee for a Workers' International (a Trotskyist organization)
- Marxism FAQ at the website of Youth for International Socialism (a Trotskyist organization)
[edit] Introductory articles
- Introductory article by Michael A. Lebowitz
- History of Economic Thought: Marxian School
- Modern Variants of Marxian political economy
[edit] Marxist websites
- MRZine a project of the Monthly Review Foundation
- World Socialist Web Site
- La Bataille socialiste information and documents for living Marxism
- CPI(M) Website
- In Defence of Marxism website of the International Marxist Tendency
- KarlMarx.net Marxist website of news and analysis.
- League for the Fifth International Website the League for the Fifth International
- Pathfinder Press online Marxist bookstore
- Rethinking Marxism a journal of economics, society, and culture
- Socialist Project issues, events, theory, and debate
- Solidarity Economy Marxist theory, analysis, and debate
- World Socialist Movement
- For Democratic Communism
[edit] Specific topics
- Debating Marxism Michael Albert (ParEcon) vs. Alan Maass (Marxism)
- Marx and Engels on India and colonialism and Marx on caste and the village community from anti-caste
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