[Assam] Communism is on the wane in India - Rediff News

[Ram Sarangapani]

This from Rediff News.

A comment from a reader in the Discussion Board, basically tells us why it
is next to impossible (in their pure forms) for Communism and Democracy to
co-exist.

India, is possibly the only country that allows such a free flow of even
extreme ideas to thrive & grow. If, from the start, the GOI had swung into
action to put down these upstarts, India wouldn't be facing the problems
from these ingrates.

The Chinese form of true Democracy is what is needed in India :-)

And there are a few poems too (in the Disscussion board). It's not just
Leftists who can put words to rhyme :-)

--Ram

Communism is on the wane in India
April 29, 2010 14:10 IST

*Communism and its unruly offshoots Naxalism and Maoism will continue to
lose public support in India [
Images<http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=india>] but a
solution to the Naxal problem is still a few years away, writes
Pramod Kumar Buravalli.*

**

**

When you consider the Left wing politics of India, the first thing that
comes to mind for many old timers and history buffs in India, is the
non-participation of elements within the Communist Party of India in the
Indian Independence movement, the 1962 Indo-China War and the 1971
Indo-Pakistan war over Bangladesh.

The Communist movement in India is known for its vertical-horizontal and
ideological-nationalist splits that have occurred over the years. Special
mention needs to be made about the serious rift that developed within the
CPI in 1962. One reason was the Sino-Indian War, where a faction of the
Indian Communists backed the position of the Indian government, while other
sections of the party (including B T Ranadive, P Sundarayya, P C Joshi,
Makineni Basavapunnaiah, Jyoti Basu [
Images<http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=jyoti+basu>]
and Harkishan Singh Surjeet [
Images<http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=harkishan+singh+surjeet>])
claimed that it was a conflict between a socialist and a capitalist
state, and thus took a pro-Chinese position. Ideological differences and the
stance taken by various splinter groups in 1962 thus lead to the split in
1964 into CPI and CPI-Marxist.

Later on and ever since 1964, a large number of parties have been formed as
a result of regular splits from the CPI-M [
Images<http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=cpi-m>], such
as the CPI-Marxist-Leninist, Marxist Communist Party of India,
Marxist Coordination Committee in Jharkhand, Janathipathiya Samrakshana
Samity, Communist Marxist Party and BTR-EMS-AKG Janakeeya Vedi in Kerala [
Images <http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=kerala> ], Party of
Democratic Socialism in West Bengal [
Images<http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=west+bengal>],
Janganotantrik Morcha in Tripura, the Ram Pasla group in Punjab [
Images <http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=punjab> ], Orissa
Communist Party in Orissa, etc.

Most of these revolutionary parties are either banned by the government of
India or have been disbanded on the outside for lack of public support.

Today, the worldwide Communist movement is confused and is either getting
localised depending on the reality of the country of operations or is
totally being decimated in electoral politics.

Though anti-democratic in doctrine, Communist parties around the world are
adopting and practicing centrist and democratic ways of politics in order to
compete and survive in the interconnected market driven world of today. The
last bastion of Communism, China started taking the Deng Xiaoping route of
market economy way back in the late 1970's forming large international
corporations that today compete with the best of the best multinational
corporations of the world. Do you call that Communism or controlled
capitalism?

Coming back to India, over the past decade Communism and Naxalbari inspired
far left revolutionary movements have been on the decline in semi-urban and
urban areas. It is only in under developed and heavily forested tribal
corridors of India that the far left movement has gained substantial
stranglehold. Aided and financed by dimwitted intellectuals and outside
powers, this movement has spread to over 200 districts of India.

The recent Dantewada massacre where 76 jawans of the central paramilitary
were surrounded and butchered in cold blood by well armed Naxalites [
Images<http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=naxalites>] is
a reminder of the challenges the Indian government faces in
eliminating
these terrorists.

With every such violent incident, Communism and its offshoots Naxalism and
Maoism are beginning to lose the support of many Indian intellectuals who
earlier used to romanticise the *Lal Salaam *(red salute). The Communists
lost heavily across the board in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and are most
likely to lose their bastions in Kerala and West Bengal in the next few
years.

*Conclusion *

India is the largest spiritual nation on this planet and any ideology that
does not believe in a higher authority will never win the hearts and minds
of large swathes of the population.

It is very unfortunate that most of the Naxalite stories which originally
began as mass movements against oppressive land owners and industrialists
have now become organised mafias of land grabbers, kidnappers, smugglers and
terrorists.

Concerted action by the central paramilitary troops, intelligence agencies
and state police departments have already begun to turn up the heat against
these gun-totting hordes of extremists. But, it is understandable that a
final or comprehensive solution is still years away.

Development and infrastructure overhaul in Naxalite-affected areas have to
be a simultaneous part of the long-term solution. Most importantly, weaning
away the local support base, stopping funding from outside countries and
pulling up the pro-left liberals must also be part of the Track II
initiatives that need to be taken by the government of India.

Naxalism is a national security issue and multiple voices from the public,
governing class, the democratic opposition and the media will only act as a
drag to the comprehensive action that needs to be taken without any delay.
Pramod Kumar Buravalli

<http://news.rediff.com/column/2010/apr/29/communism-is-on-the-wane-in-india.htm#write>