To All Left, Democratic, Secular and Patriotic Forces.
Comrades and friends,
The central Committee of CPI(ML)
is presenting the draft Election Manifesto for the 16th General
elections to the Lok Sabha expected to be held in May-June 2014 for your study,
criticisms and suggestions. Even if you reject it please let us know your
criticisms. At a time when vast majority of the people are facing acute crisis
as a result of the policies pursued by the consecutive governments, when they
need a people’s alternative, come forward and send all your suggestions so that
it can be developed as the Manifesto of the masses of people.
K.N.Ramachandran,
General Secretary, CPI(ML)
Dated 1st July 2013.
Rally for Anti-Imperialist People’s Alternative.
( Draft Election Manifesto of the CPI(ML) for discussion among the
people.)
Introduction
1.1. the Elections to the 16th Lok Sabha are taking place at a critical time
in the history of our country. In the
context of the worst ever crisis faced by the imperialist system as a whole,
especially US imperialism, and as a result of the last ten years of
Congress-led UPA rule, our country is in the grip of unprecedented crisis. As a
consequence of the neo-liberal policies and integrating its economy to the
global financial capital, which is getting increasingly speculative and
parasitic, leading to present global financial crisis, the attacks on the
masses of people have intensified unprecedentedly. As a result, the dreams nourished during the
century-long independence struggle and during the more than six decades of
people’s struggles against the ruling system and the vision of people’s democracy cherished by
the heroic martyrs are all shattered.
While struggling for the independence of the country, the people’s
movement had the vision of an India free from imperialist yoke, a federal,
democratic, self-reliant and secular republic, a new vibrant society that
settles accounts with the colonial past, an India where anti-caste, secular
democratic values and socio-economic equality shall flourish for all sections
of the people in all spheres.
1.2. But, six and
half decades after the 1947 transfer of power the national unity and democratic
values developed through many decades of strenuous countrywide anti-imperialist
and national liberation struggles are in grave danger. Vast majority of the
people have become increasingly pauperised, while a tiny minority has become
super-rich. The country is increasingly devastated under the imperialist
globalization/ neo-liberal policies pursued by the central and state
governments, the whole administration, serving the ruling classes in spite of
whichever political party or parties are leading them. Whatever sovereignty was
achieved is systematically decimated, reducing the country to the strategic
subservience of US imperialism.
1.Consequences of Ten
Year Rule of UPA Government
1.3. The
elections to the 14th Lok Sabha were held in
2004 when six years of BJP-led NDA rule had led the country to a dangerous
situation by speeding up imperialist globalisation policies in a frenzied
manner and intensifying communal fascist moves including the Gujarat massacre. Though BJP leadership tried to cover up its
anti-people policies through an ‘India
Shineing’ campaign, the NDA led by it lost the election. Congress-led UPA
supported by the Left Front took over
based on a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) claiming to reverse the NDA
government’s policies. But from the very beginning it acted against these
promises. It further speeded up imperialist
globalization-liberalisation–privatisation policies including enactment of
numerous laws for launching SEZs, CMZs etc, opening the economy further to corporate
houses, global finance agencies and MNCs. It allowed corporates and MNCs to
enter agricultural sector on a larger scale, and in to procurement of
agricultural products, while the government agencies were withdrawn from
it. The Public Distribution System (PDS)
was further decimated. In the name of establishing parity with international
market rates, prices of petroleum products and other essential commodities were
repeatedly hiked leading to inflation and price rise reaching unprecedented
levels. Fields of education, healthcare
etc were surrendered to privatisation and market-oriented forces. All welfare measures were further cut down or
eliminated.
1.4. The rights
of the working class, adivasis, dalits and all oppressed sections were snatched
away pauperizing them further in all respects.
Even existing land ceilings were reversed to assist land concentration
with corporates, land lords, mafias etc.
The de-industrialization, that is, closing down tens of thousands
of labour-intensive industries, continued. In the name of export-oriented
industries, self-reliance was further eroded, giving one-sided emphasis to IT
and service sectors. MNCs were more
freely allowed to enter in all fields.
Speculative and parasitic capital was allowed a field day. In the name
of establishing strategic relationship with US imperialism numerous military
pacts were signed crowned by the Indo-US Nuclear Act. It led to voting in the IAEA and in other
fields at the dictates of US, even abandoning the extremely fruitful
Iran-Pak-India Natural Gas Pipeline. It led
to estrangement of relationship with the neighbouring countries further. Whatever positive character the country’s
foreign policy had was destroyed. .
1.5. These
neo-liberal policies have led to economic ruin for vast majority, with only a
minority getting unprecedentedly richer. Contrary to the claims of the UPA
government about combating communal offensive of the Sangh Parivar, its communal
appeasement policies led to further communalization of all walks of life in the
country, taking it to dangerous levels. Everything including terrorism is
communalized. The minorities were criminally targeted by the state machinery while
the Sangh Parivar forces were allowed to escape punishment even after
repeatition of Gujarat massacre like atrocities in Odisha and elsewhere. The caste divide and suppression of dalits
and adivasis also intensified. Thus the first term of UPA government witnessed further
cutting down of all social welfare policies, sky-rocketing price rise and
unemployment. There was further
snatching away of democratic rights, and imposition of black acts. Corruption became more rampant in all fields.
For suppressing increasing people’s resistance to these anti-people policies,
the state terror was intensified wantonly.Exploitation of and atrocities on
women and children also intensified. The devastating ‘development policy’ has
led to further ecological destruction. The number of people below poverty line
went up. In short, five years of Congress-led UPA rule propped up by the LF had
led to further intensification of the neo-colonial slavery, pauperization of
the masses and communal fascist threats to unprecedented levels. It had further weakened the national unity
and led to the growth of forces of disintegration.
1.6. By the time
the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha were held in 2009, the Congress
led UPA government was reduced to a minority and there was growing resentment
against it. But, BJP was the only alternative to it in many states and due to
its communal and divisive policies and as anti-BJP sentiments were still strong
among the masses, it could not become a powerful alternative to Congress. Besides it was advocating
the very same neo-liberal policies the UPA was imposing with disastrous
consequences to the masses. In W. Bengal and Kerala, where the CPI(M) led Left Front
was in power, the Congress and TMC could get benefit from the growing sentiments
among the masses against the LF brand of neo-liberal raj. As a result, Congress
could manage to come to power for another term making opportunist alliance with
a conglomeration of regional parties.
1.7. Under the second
term of the UPA government as the neo-liberal policis are imposed more ferociously, among the BRICS
group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) India’s rank
is the lowest, with a per capita GDP of $1340,even much below South Africa’s $1610. India is ranked 140th
in the world in GDP growth.. Based on definitions of poverty/human development,
India’s ranking in the U.N. Human Development Index, which includes life
expectancy and education, is 134 out of 182 countries. The
Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) developed by the United Nations defines
the poor as those who face multiple deprivation with respect to education,
health and living standard (including water, sanitation, and electricity), and
measures the extent of their poverty by the range of their deprivations. It
puts the number of MPI poor people in India at 645 million, or 55.4 per cent of
the population. Thus there are more MPI poor people in eight Indian states
alone (421 million in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal) than in the 26 poorest African
countries which have a combined population of 410 million.
1.8. Another
definition of poverty, which tries to take into account various minimum food
and non-food (clothing, shelter, medical care, electricity, etc.) needs for a
dignified existence, yields poverty rates of 84.6 and 42.4 per cent for rural
and urban India, and an average of 68.8 per cent all-India.
A large majority of the population does not attain the minimum calorie levels
required for rural and urban areas which form the original basis of the
official Indian poverty line methodology (87 per cent of the rural population
gets less than the rural cut-off of 2400 calories/day, and 64.5 per cent of the
urban population gets less than the urban cut-off of 2100 calories/day). 48.5
percent of the adults and 53 percent of the children are undernourished. The number of child labourers is put at 10
crores. India has about 61
million children under the age of 5 who are chronically malnourished, compared
to 150 million children worldwide Average
life expectancy of 62 at birth is one of the lowest in the world. Total expenditure
on education of central and state governments at 4 percent of GDP is one of the
lowest in the world, even less than that of poorest African countries. Arjun Sen Gupta Committee
of the Indian Planning Commission has recorded that more than 80 percent of the
Indian population has a daily earning of only less than Rs. 20 a day. . GDP growth rate has declined from 9.5 percent in 2005-06
to around 5 percent in 2012-13.
1.9. Even when the GDP
growth rate was 9.5 percent, employment growth rate was only 1.06 percent.
Whatever employment generated under Manmohanomics
is in the informal sector where no social security is available. Unemployment rate increased from 8.9 percent
in 2005 to 10 percent in 2011. 70 percent of the Indian labourers have only
below primary level education. If the present trend continues, within a decade
unemployment in India will reach 30 percent of the population and the total
people unemployed in India will reach 25 crores.
1.10.
Agriculture is in chronic stagnation while Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
comprising capital, intermediate and consumer goods decelerated from 3.7 percent
in 2011 to 0.7 percent in 2011. Production of pulses marks an absolute decline from
18.24 million tons in 2010-11 to 17.28 million tons in 2011-12. Rice production
has declined from 96.69 million tons in 2007 to 95.98 million tons in 2011.
Groundnut production has declined from 9.18 million tons to 6.94 million tons
during the same period. Per capita availability of food grains declined from
162.5 kilograms in 2006 to 162.0 in 2011.
It was 171.1
kilogram in 1961. Only 47 percent
of the people have drinking water facility within the premises. Only 29 percent
use LPG for cooking and the remaining use firewood, crop residue and cow dung. 53 percent do not have
toilet or drainage facilities on premises. 60 crores of Indians have no
electricity at all.
1.11.
Under present ruling regime
india has become one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It tops the worldwide list
for black money with almost $1,456 billion stashed in Swiss Banks alone. At the same time, total corporate tax
exemptions based on Statement of Revenue
Foregone (see, Annexure 12 to the Receipts Budget) since 2004 under the UPA
government now reach the alarming figure of Rs. 35 lakh crores! During 2006-11 alone,
according to official estimates, the total revenue forgone under corporate
income tax, excise duty and customs duty amounted to more than 20 lakh crores
of rupees! While the
total food and fuel subsidies in the 2013-14 budget is reduced to Rs. 155000
crores from Rs. 181880 crores in 2012-13, the defence spending has risen from Rs.
1.79 lakh crores to Rs. 2.03 lakh crores during the same period.
1.12.
The contribution of the petroleum sector
by way of taxes to the central exchequer rose from Rs 112,000 crore (Rs 1.22
trillion) in 2009-10 to Rs 136,000 crore (Rs 1.36 trillion) in 2010-11; state
government taxes were an additional Rs 72,000 crore and Rs 80,000 crore
respectively. Instead of this, the Government is not
ready to hike direct taxes on the
corporate sector and the rich, or hike the indirect taxes on luxury commodities
(including additional taxes on automobiles and their use which would also help
to curb the use of petroleum products) and can reduce prices and inflation. But
that would go against the class interests the rulers and so is ruled out.
Meanwhile to make the Reliance richer the UPA government has approved doubling
of the price of natural gas to $8.4 which will further hike of gas and
electricity rates.
1.13.
In short, during its second term the UPA
government has proved itself as the most corrupt and anti-people government during
last six and half decades. The prices of all essential commodities and rates of
basic services, unemployment , expenses for education, healthcare, housing and
transport have reached unprecedented levels. In order to help the imposition of
neo-liberal policies, communalization, caste based divisions and oppression,
and state terror are intensified. Under the name of war on terrorism the Muslim
youths are tortured and arrested in large numbers, while in spite of clear proofs the saffron brigades
and majority communalists are allowed to escape. Using war on
Maoists as a cover, all democratic movements are suppressed and adivasis in
larger numbers are forced to bear the brunt of police raj. Jammu and Kashmir
and Northeast are still languishing under military occupation. AFSPA and other
black laws are imposed creating an emergency like situation. Along with the
displacement of millions of dalits, adivasis, and other oppressed sections from
their lands, the so-called development policy imposed under the neo-liberal
policies are devastating nature and create catastrophes like the one witnesed
recently in Uttarakhand. Signing of a number of open and secret agreements with
the US imperialists, UPA goverment has intensified strategic subservience of
the country to US imperialism. All these developments have led to
intensification of people’s anger in all fields including massive upsurges like
the ones witnessed in Delhi streets against corruption and gang-rape. The 16th
Lok Sabha elections are taking place when vast masses of the people are fed up
with the ruling system and are looking
forward for an alternative which will better their living conditions and
provide a democratic atmosphere.
2.Socio-Political situation in the country.
2.1. To
maintain and strengthen the colonial state apparatus, the British colonialists had
promoted upper caste Hindus and feudal forces while pursuing the ‘divide and
rule’ policy of fomenting communal rivalry between Hindus and Muslims, in
addition to favoring the growth of Christian evangelism in the country. The post-1947
Indian state, in the interest of imperialism and comprador ruling classes,
pursued the same policy of appeasing communal and casteist forces often
resulting in communal riots and massacres in different parts of the country. This
communal appeasement policy got an added momentum with the intensification of
neocolonial plunder and growing contradictions and crisis within the ruling
system. This provided a fertile ground for the Hindu fundamentalist forces
spearheaded by the RSS through its political arm, Jan Sangh till the seventies,
and BJP since then, to penetrate entire apparatus of state power. The growth of
majority fundamentalism has led to the
growth of Muslim and other minority communal forces also. If the Congress
government in 1992 allowed the RSS Parivar to demolish Babri Masjid to divert
attention from the imposition of the imperialist globalization policies, this
dangerous and sinister step has led not
only to the communal fascist BJP coming to power at center in 1998, and
consolidating its grip in few states, but also to the growth of all religious
fundamentalist forces, especially Hindu fundamentalists, leading to
communalization of the society to a large extent.
2.2. In
a similar vein, the ruling classes effectively utilized the caste based vote
bank politics, going against the demand raised by the renaissance movement and
anti-caste movement during the independence struggle for the annihilation of
the caste system. The Indian state
encouraged land concentration and opposed democratization of land relations
based on land-to-the-tiller principle. It never upheld caste-based reservation
as a democratic right. Using parliament and even judiciary the central
governments often tried to dilute the reservation policy by incorporating such
concepts as creamy layer. At the same time, from Congress and BJP to all
regional parties are using the caste-based vote banks. Along with the political
degeneration and intensification of neo-colonisation, the anti-caste campaigns
became weaker and dalit and backward caste parties also started emerging,
mainly focusing on caste votes. Though the Mandal Commission Report provided
new enthusiasm for the backward sections to demand their rights, the caste
based parties and feudal social set up like Khap panchayats, etc. soon
intensified the caste based strife to unprecedented levels. As a result, the
caste system continues all over India with specific characteristics in
different areas, influencing all religions with its ugly features like caste
hatred, caste discrimination, caste oppression, untouchability etc.
2.3. The
adivasis who constitute nearly 10 percent of Indian population have a great
history of heroic struggles against British colonialists and fighting for their
rights after the transfer of power. They have not established autonomous
councils in a progressive manner or protected their rights to land. On the
contrary, as part of corporatisation, in
the name of expanding the mining and plunder of natural resources and
establishing corporate projects they are displaced in ever larger numbers.
2.4. Contrary to the promises during the
independence struggle, though more than six decades passed after transfer of
power, successive governments have
refused to unite the peoples of India based on their right to self
determination. Even for achieving linguistic states the people had to wage long
struggles. Military is deployed in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast for six
decades or more refusing to implement their right to self determination through
political settlements. . Since consecutive governments refused to take steps for political solution
of J&K and North East peoples’ struggles for self-determination, the
antagonism in these areas is intensifying, with their increasing
communalization. As military occupation of these areas is continuing, it is
only intensifying the contradictions there. And the very same political forces
responsible for prolonging the agony in these areas are utilizing it for their
narrow political ends. As the uneven development under
neo-colonisation is intensifying, giving rise to demand for separate states,
they are ruthlessly suppressed instead of trying for their political
settlement. In the absence of progressive decentralization, devolution and
democratization of the political power, strife based on nationality and ethnic
questions also is intensifying. Even existing federal principles in the
Constitution are undermined by autocratic Congress and BJP for appeasing
corporate interests as a unitary structure is more conducive for their plunder
2.5. Women
who constitute half of the population are victims of worst forms of
exploitation, attack and oppression under the neo-colonial, neoliberal regime.
Under the confluence of feudal patriarchy and neoliberal consumer culture
propped up by the Indian ruling classes, commodification of women has assumed
worst forms today. Ever-mounting sexual atrocities including even murdererous
assaults unleashed on women have assumed highly deplorable proportions that the
capital city, Delhi has got the synonym of ‘rape capital’. Religious
obscurantism and Khap panchayats like
caste institutions patronized by the upper castes and ruling classes for vote
banks have further enslaved women who are already at the receiving end of
patriarchy and private property. The practice of female infanticide especially
in northwestern states has made the proportion of women in total population
abysmally low in these regions. A recent growing trend is large-scale
employment of women in low-wage export-oriented works including outsourcing for
facilitating the surplus value-extraction by corporate capital. The police and
all the bureaucratic apparatus of state have become anti-women. Growth of
religious fundamentalism is aiding and abetting the growing attacks on women.
2.6. During
the post- 1947 decades, especially after the imposition of the neo-liberal
policies, under the policies implemented in the name of development ecological
devastation has become an ever intensifying danger. ‘Global warming’ like
phenomena, nuclear catastrophe created by the nuclear
arms race, and the mad rush for new nuclear plants, which are ‘nuclear time
bombs’ as once again proved by Fukushima meltdown are threatening the future of
human race. Imperialists are dumping industrial and nuclear waste in countries
like India. All these developments have made the struggle for ecological
protection one of the basic components of social progress.
2.7. In
order to perpetuate the reactionary ruling system and to promote
neo-colonisation, along with medieval and feudal culture and various forms of
superstitions, the imperialist cultural values are also promoted brazenly,
commercializing and commodifying culture. Utilizing extensive growth of
information technology and electronic media, culture is increasingly linked
with the market interests of imperialist system and its lackeys and turned in
to an industry. Communal forces colluding with imperialists are communalizing
all spheres of social life including culture. All these serve as ideology of
national servitude and strive for destruction of all progressive and democratic
cultural consciousness.
2.8. Along with all round criminalization of the
society, corruption has become one of the worst malice threatening the social
fabric. It has taken gigantic proportions with the speculative capital playing all
pervading role under neo-liberal policies. The corruption in the state
apparatus including the government machinery from top to bottom, the defense
and police services, the electoral system, and even the judiciary have reached
unprecedented levels. Under the Manmohan regime, economic policy-making itself
is being exposed as rooted in corruption and almost 40 percent of the members
of Lok Sabha are charged with
corruption, rape and murder, pinpointing
the extreme decay of the necolonial
ruling system.
2.9. With the introduction
of the neo-liberal raj, the foreign policy was speedily adjusted by the ruling
system to suit its present role of a junior partner of the imperialists,
especially US imperialists. As a result, India’s relations with the countries
subjected to imperialist aggression, bullying and domination, and especially with
the neighbouring countries have deteriorated fast. It is engaged in imposing
its dictates over the neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka,
Bangla Desh, Pakistan and Nepal, forcing them to view it suspicion. A vigorous
campaign for an anti-imperialist foreign policy, which will focus on
strengthening relations with all oppressed countries, especially the
neighbouring countries, subjected to aggression, plunder and bullying by the
imperialists, especially US imperialists, is the need of the hour. Urgent
efforts are needed to strengthen fraternal relations at the international level
and to develop people to people relations.
2.10. During
the post -1947 decades, especially after imposition of imperialist globalization
the big captialists growing in to a powerful corporate class has increased its
subservience and collaboration with imperialists, especially US imperialists.
The bureaucracy, fattening more and more through corruption is increasingly
collaborating with global capital interests.The kulaks or rich peasants and capitalist
agriculturists are combining with the big bourgeoisie and bureaucracy in collaborating
increasingly with the imperialists, especially US imperialists, to run the
ruling system. The various ruling class parties, big or small, are serving the
interests of these classes. None of these parties are ready to wage any
struggle against imperialist globalization which is ruining the country and
pauperizing vast majority of the masses, against its savage consequences like
cutting down of all welfare measures, price rise, unemployment, deprivation of
democratic rights etc.
2.11. While
consciously avoiding the focus on burning issues of common people, divisive
policies like communal, caste, parochial, chauvinist issues are highlighted by
them..The BJP and Sangh Parivar forces are spreading Hindutha-based communal
fascism wantonly. Gujarat pattern communal riots were repeated in Odiaha,
Karnataka like states to consolidate vote banks.and each and every issue is
communalized. They spread terrorism as proved in the investigation of Malegaon
bomb blasts in which the involvement of many leading figures of Sangh Parivar
and their links with army officers were exposed. When others try to retaliate
in the same way it is communalized, targeting the Muslims. As the state
machinery is already communalized to a large extent, it is becoming handy for
them to attack the minorities. As far as Shiv Sena like forces are concerned, they are utilizing the Hindutua communal card, and provoking
parochial sentiments targeting the North Indian migrant workers to provoke
chauvinist hatred of local youth, propagating that this migration is the cause
for their unemployment. Similar parochial venom is spread in different regions.
Along with these frantic communalization, as the elections are coming nearer
BJP has foisted Narendra Modi as their prime ministerial candidate as prompted
by the RSS. He is projected as vikas
purush, projecting Gujarat under his rule as a development model. Under
development, the fascicisation promoted under his leadership is covered up,
resembling the Nazi propaganda of Germany to foist Hitler.
2.12. While
the BJP-led state governments are promoting these communal fascist, chauvinist
tendencies, the Congress-led central and state governments refuse to act
against these. Afraid of loosing Hindu votes they indulge in communal
appeasement. Under a decade of UPA rule, the Bajrang Dal, VHP like forces were
allowed to indulge in wanton communal fascist acts, while Musilms were targeted
as a whole for terrorist acts. Similarly the Congress-NCP Maharashtra
government allowed Raj Thackeray and his MNS, an offshoot of Shiv Sena, to
grow in to a criminal gang assaulting the North Indian migrant people. Against
communal fascist assaults of RSS Parivar, Congress and its allies are pursuing
communal appeasement, often reducing the state machinery to silent spectators
of this wanton, criminal communalization of all walks of social life and
politics.
2.13. Uneven
development and its intensification are inherent characters of the present
comprador ruling system. Consecutive governments at centre and in the states
are only promoting them further. Utilizing people’s grievances created by this
uneven development, parochial forces come up and thrive on them. All political
parties purse opportunist policies allowing them to grow. And they are utilized
as allies to promote vote banks. Worse is the case with the caste question.
Instead of putting down caste-based suppression of dalits and other oppressed
sections and promoting a casteless society, caste is increasingly utilized as a
vote bank, not only by BSP like caste-based parties, but by all other ruling
class parties.
2.14. As
a result of all these, the forces of degeneration and disintegration are
getting strengthened day by day, and they are dominating the political
spectrum. The apolitical approach spread by the NGOs, Self Help Groups, New Social Movements etc contribute to
their growth further. Imperialists, especially US imperialists, have vested
interests to promote these forces as safety valves to intensify their neo-
colonization drive. The comprador parties are playing as convenient tools of
imperialist powers and corporate houses in this nefarious game. As election
dates are drawing nearer the corporate media also play a major role in
de-politicizing the campaign. Along with it, money, mussle and liquor power is
profusely utilized. The corrupt and communalized state machinery also play its
dirty role. Thus the basic issues involved in the election are covered up,
communal-caste-parochial-fringe issues are highlighted, individuals are
projected above political positions and the election is reduced to a farce in
practice, so that the different ruling class parties or their fronts sharing basically
similar lines can continue to share power. All of them are interested to make
the elections a game of musical chair. The drama which was enacted in US
elections for electing the president and the elections in other imperialist
countries are repeated in a more shabby form here. While highlighting these
basic characteristics of elections under the bourgeois democracy, evaluating
how far these elections can be utilized to intensity class struggle, to
propagate party line and to strengthen the party organization correctly, they
should used to expose the ruling system and to project the people’s alternative
against all ruling class alternatives.
3. Whom do the various political
parties serve?
Indian
National Congress.
3.1. The Congress is the oldest political representative of the big
capitalist – big landlord classes to whose hands British had transferred power
in 1947 after communally dividing the subcontinent. Its claims of the heritage
of the independence movement against the British imperialists who colonized and
ruled the country for more than two centuries call for srutiny. Its formation
itself was by two former servants of British rule – A.O.Hume and Wright. It was
founded as a safety valve for articulating grievances against the colonial
masters so that people’s upsurges like the one witnessed during 1857-58, the
First War of Independence, could be avoided. The Congress leadership cannot
uphold the glorious heritage of this struggle Later when the Gadar Movement
founded in Canada and US tried to mobilize the overseas patriotic forces to
overthrow the British rule through revolutionary upsurge during the initial
years of the First World War, the Congress leadership supported the British
rule to brutally suppress it. During 1920s and early 1930s when under the
leadership of Bhagat Singh, Chandrasekhar and others the revolutionaries tried
to overthrow the British rule,the Congress leadership supported its brutal
suppression, calling them terrorists. When Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose called
for more active resistance to British rule, in spite of getting elected
president in 1939,he was forced out of it and his attempt to form the Indian
National Army and to wage war against British rule using the favorable
opportunities created during Second World War was opposed. The Congress
leadership was always contended with dominion status within the British
Commonwealth. It was under compulsion of popular forces it adopted Purna Swaraj
as its slogan.later. But after 1947 transfer of power it made India part of British Commonwealth betraying the martyrdom
and sufferings of millions who fought for the liberation of the country. The
country is still maintained in that condition.
3.2. The First War of Independence was a glaring example of Hindu-Muslim
unity with Bahadur Shah declared as the leader of the independent India by the
liberation forces. Only by spreading communal divisions as they tried to divide
the liberation forces in Avadh foisting artificially created Ayodhya question the
British could suppress the movement. Immediately after suppressing it, the
colonialists intensified their’divide and rule’ policy by spreading communal
venom through all heinous means including the founding of Hindu, Muslim
universities and supporting the religious fundamentalist forces of all hues to
prevent the strengthening of secular democratic patriotic sentiments.The
Congress never opposed this policy of the colonialists and itself pursued a
policy of appeasment of all religious, communal forces, instead of separating
religion from political, social fields. Similarly, right from the beginning
Congress was upholding the caste system and Brahmanic values. When Ambsdkar
raised the slogan of ‘Caste Annihilation’ and struggled for reservation for the
socially suppressed sections, these were opposed by the Congress in practice.
3.3. During the post-Second World War years, British imperialists
transfered power to the comprador classes, promoting the ‘two-nation theory’ in
order to continue their control over the region. At the same time, the ‘Bombay
Plan’ of Tata-Birla also advocated the formation of unitary states even if it
needed division of thecountry. Congress supported the ‘Bombay Plan’ and stood
with the Britishers for the communal division of the country. Following transfer
of power, Cingress faithfully continued the ruling system built by the colonial
rulers. Though the Constitution adopted in 1951 contains a progressive
preample, it has incorporated all the basic contents of the 1935 Government of
India Act adopted by the British parliament. Instead of solving the national
question of Jammu and Kashmir and Notheast based on the right of
self-determination of the peoples, it imposed military rule there which is
still continued after six decades using AFSPA like blak laws. Lack of
initiative to resolve the border questions with the neighbouring countries and
big-brotherly attitude have worsened relations with neighbouring countries. Its
foreign policy always favored closeness to the imperialist super powers,
firstly with US, then with Soviett social imperialism and now once again to
strategic alliance with US interests.
3.4. Internally, in the concrete conditions that emerged following the
World War II, it opened the country to the domination of finance capital,
market forces and technological penetration under IMF-World Bank and MNCs as part of the
neo-colonial policies initiated by US led forces. It was as a part of it, in
continuation to the US led policy of Keynesian welfare state measures, under the
sign board of Nehruvian socialism, ‘the import substitution’ industrial policy
as well as the policy of building powerful public sector etc as demanded under
the ‘Bombay Plan’ were pursued. But as this Keynesian phase of neo-colonization
led to further intensification of the crisis of the imperialist system, and
neo-liberal policies were initiated to overcome it from 1970s, the Congress
government introduced the globalization-privatization-liberalization policies
in 1991, cutting down all welfare policies, replacing ‘import substitution ‘
with ‘expost promotion’, and increasingly reducing the role of the state to
infrastructure development and maintaining law and order. It has led to growth
of a small section of elite classes and impoverishment of the vast masses. It
led to intensification of price rise,
corruption and unemployment. The Congress led UPA governments taking
imperialist globalization and neo-liberal policies to unprecedented levels, have
enslaved the country and people to neo-colonial slavery in all fields. In spite
of the fact that the global market system is in a worse crisis, more serious
than the ‘Great Depression’ of 1930s, it has thrown the country at the mercy of
MNCs and corporate houses. It has
surrendered whatever sovereignty is left, by signing the notorious Indo-US Nuke
Deal and many other unequal treaties leading to strategic subservience to the
US imperialists.
3.5. The claims of Congress about fighting communal fascism of Sangh Parivar
are also proved hollow. Under UPA rule, utilizing its communal appeasement
policies, the communal forces, especially the Hindutua forces, have become
stronger spreading its tentacles far and wide. Under it, state machinery is extremely communalized. It
is communalizing terrorism, targeting Muslims as a whole for all terrorist
acts, while Bajrang Dal, VHP like RSS Parivar outfits and BJP leaders are left
scot free even after their involvement in demolition of Babri Masjid, in
Malegaon, Samachauta Express like terrorist attacks, and in the communal
massacres in Gujarat, later in Orissa and elsewhere are fully exposed. The
Congress led UPA could regain power in last general elections in 2009 as the
anti-BJP sentiments among the people was strong, as the regional parties had no
agenda to put before the people, as the
CPI (M) led Left Front parties had got disgraced due to their mis-rule in W.
Bengal and Kerala, and as there was no viable alternative to Congress. Or, Congress
could come to power only because of these negative factors. In spite of it,
during the last five years Congress has created unprecedented record of misrule
and mega scams, making the life of people intolerable through sky-rocketing
prices of all essential commodities,
increasing unemployment, increasing travel, electricity, fuel, water,
housing, education and healthcare expenses etc. Millions are uprooted from
their habitats through displacement for so-called development projects.
Corruption in all fields has reached unheard of levels. All these have made the
people immensely angry. There are massive upsurges against the neo-liberal
projects all over the country. Even Delhi streets witnessed many people’s
upsurges, whether against corruption, gang rape of a student or rape of the
child etc. Congress led UPA rule has
become extremely unpopular. Its support base is shrinking fast. Still it is able to continue in power as the opposition parties are
severely fractured and very few forces want to align with the BJP. Its major
advantage is that it is the communal BJP and Modi with the record of Gujarat
massacre are its major adversaries. The absence of a progressive secular party
with all India base has made the task of throwing out Congress from power very
difficult. This is the grave challenge to be taken up by the revolutionary
forces.
BJP
3.6. The Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) is the political front of the Sangh Parivar led by RSS. It has
fully exposed its communal character and fascist orientation while in power,
and through its activities as the main opposition party at centre. It is
working under the RSS agenda of turning India in to a Hindu Rashtra, a
fascist Hindu fundamentalist state implementing the neo-liberal policies at
very fast pace. Or, communalism is its most important tool to pursue its
servitude to the ruling classes spearheaded by the corporate houses and to
imperialism, especially US imperialism.
Under its communal agenda, cultural and racist intolerance, national
chauvinism, negation of secular democratic values, criminal attacks on
minorities and democratic forces, it is pausing growing threats to people’s
unity and national security. The BJP-led NDA is acting as an effective Hindutua
tool of the RSS Parivar, and in practice the Congress led UPA and BJP led NDA
work as two sides of tha same coin to serve the ruling reactionary syatem. Six
years of BJP-led NDA rule at centre has proved it, besides its still continuing
rule in a number of states.
3.7. The RSS policy is to communalize the society and the state
apparatus systematically by penetrating all walks of social life and
administration. BJP is a mass party and the different mass organizations of RSS
ranging from BMS, to ABVP with millions of members, the vast net-work of
educational institutions, so-called cultural fronts, Viswa Hindu Parishad,
Bajrang Dal etc are functioning as a vast net work to mobilize and communalize
the masses spreading Hindutua chauvinism and communist hatred. In order to
perpetuate its colonial rule, the British rulers had utilized RSS and other
Hindutua forces alongwith the Islamic fundamentalists to implement their
‘divide and rule’ policy. Under neocolonization, the imperialists, especially
US imperialism, is utilizing the religious fundamentalist organizations all
over the world alongwith caste/ race based organizations with more finesse,
even providing an ideological fervour with ‘identity politics’like theories, for
imposing their ‘divide and control’
policy.
3.8. In spite of the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 using Godhra
incident as cover, through wanton
promotion of corporate forces, Narendra Modi is projected as a ‘vkas purush’
and future prime minister of India. It is a clever ploy by the prominent
section in the BJP to win over a section of the middle classes who are thinking
that present imperilaist development model is the best and a Modi like strong
men are needed to implement it! Almost this was the same tactics used in
Germany, when that country was in a crisis following the defeat in First World
War, to foist Hitler. After the debacle in Karnataka in normal sense it is difficult
for BJP and ipresent NDA allies to reach anywhere near majority. So the Nazi trick to whip up support for a
strong prime minister, is utilized for gaining power. Congress leaders and their storm troopers
appearing under various guises are trying to whip up anti-Modi phobia to cover
up the reactionary record of a decade of
UPA rule and to win over the support of all progressive, secular democratic
forces and the vast masses. In this situation, Modi or anti-Modi form of
polarization will help BJP to consolidate its base on the one hand and Congress
to overcome its alienation from the masses by projecting the fascist danger
symbolized by Modi on the other. But in effect, both are two sides of the same
coin, engaged in perpetuating the present reactionary ruling system and
neo-colonial slavery. So, while exposing the Modi card of Sangh Parivar the
progressive forces should be alert about the danger of a repetition of the
Congress led rule also.
Other Bourgeois, Petti-bourgeois Parties,
and Regional Parties.
3.9. The alienation of Congress from the masses, and the various forms
of contradictions among the ruling classes have led to the emergence of
numerous political parties in different regions competing with each other for
seats of power while basically united in implementing the ruling class
policies. Though these parties express many diverse things in their programmes
and election manifestos, experience of last four and a half decades have shown
that all of them are united in working for the big-capitalist, big landlord
classes and the state policies put forward from time to time in the service of
the elite classes. After the imperialist globalization and neo-liberal policies
were imposed in 1991 all of them, big or small, are united in implementing them
when in power or sharing power.While doing so all of them are promoting
vote-bank politics reflecting their narrow interests, based on caste, communal,
parochial interests. The still continuing proliferation of these parties have
only led to intensification of the further autocratisation and anti-people
character of the ruling system, making the whole system including the social
life unprecedentedly corrupt and decaying.
3.10. Among these the NCP and many state level parties are split away
parties from Congress. The Samajvadi Party (SP) of Mulayam Singh, RJP of Lalu
Prasad Yadav, Janatha Dal (United), Janatha Dal (secular) like parties are
descendents of earlier socialist parties. The different groups of Republican
Party, BSP like parties started with dalit-identity politics. In multinational
India implementation of the neo-colonial policies have already led to acute uneven development among the states and
among regions within the states. It has led to emergence of numerous regional
parties, with one of these, DMK, coming to power in TN as early as in 1967. They
have proliferated to AIADMK, TDP, TRS BJD and many others. But, abandoning
their earlier positions on self-determination, centre-state relations, strengthening
of federal values etc, wherever in power, all of them are faithfully
implementing all the ruling class policies including imperialist
globalization. Neither they have any
consistent stand against communal or casteist forces. On the other hand, they
are also using communal, caste cards alongwith the regional cards as their vote
banks. They are neither anti-imperialist, nor secular, nor democratic. By
becoming the apologists, or executioners of the ruling class policies, they are
competing with other parties in pursuing the reactionary comprador policies.
Such parties are coming up even now demanding separate states as in the case of
Telengana, Vidarbha, Gurkhaland etc. Before, during or after the elections all
these parties may align with Congress or BJP, or any other ruling formation as
proved in the past. All these parties also basically support the ruling class
policies, and any form of politiical alliances is not possible with any of
them, as far as the left and democratic forces are concerned.
CPI(M) led Left Front Parties.
3.11. The Communist movement in India started its activities from early
1920s under Communist Party of India
(CPI) organizing the working class movement and the movement of the peasantry
against the feudal forces. It had a glorious history of leading numerous
struggles of the working class and of the peasantry, alongwith struggles of other
sections of people. But, it committed grave mistakes in applying Marxist-Leninist teachings and the
line of Communist International acording to Indian conditions and in analysing
the character of the big bourgeosie and the Congres leadeship which were
collaborating with British colonialism. It refused to take anti-imperialist
task as the principle one and did not try to establish the leadership of the
working class and the communist party in the independence struggle. It failed
to oppose the imperialist conspiracy for communally dividing the country and to
transfer the power to the comprador classes and their political
representatives. As a result, in spite of the numerous anti-feudal and working
class struggles it led, in the independence struggle it could not make any
independent left assertion.
3.12. After 1947, though once again it led many workers and peasant
struggles against the Congress governments at centre and in the states, it once
again failed to recognize the rightist and pro-imperialist character of the
Congress leadership and to wage political struggles against it. Soon the CPI
leadeship, degenerating to economism and parliamentarism, compromised with the
Congress leadership and abandoned the path of leading People’s Democratic
Revolution. It abandoned the path of class struggle and took the line of class
collaboration, reducing all activities to parliamentary work. It inflicted a
major setback to the communist movement in the country.
3.13. It was during the struggle against this reformist line, the 1964
split took place and the CPI(M) was
formed. It declared that it shall fight against the class collaborationist line
of the CPI, and shall struggle for People’s Democracy
and socialism. But, it also refused to accept the comprador character of the
Congress leadership which was representing the big capitalist-big landlord
classes and collabirating with imperialism. In 1967 general elections, it
forged opportunist alliance with CPI, dissident Congress parties, communal
Muslim League etc and came to power in W. Bengal and Kerala. Once in power, the
CPI(M) and CPI leaderships refused to
utilize the opportunity to intensify the political struggle against the ruling
system represented by Congress. They were afraid of implementing land reforms
based on “land to the tiller” slogan. When the landless and poor peasantru in
Naxalbari region in North Bengal organized an uprising and seized the land
illegally held by the tea-garden owners and jotdars, the CPI(M) led government
suppressed it brutally with the help of the Indira Gandhi government at centre.
In spite of adopting a class collaborationist approach to Naxalbari peasant
uprising and trying to work under the limits defined by the ruling syatem, the
CPI(M)- led Left Front consisting of CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP could not
continue in power for long. Congress unleashed fascist rule in the 1970s to
eliminate the CPI(ML) which was formed in continuation to the Naxalbari
uprising, and to suppress the Left Front parties. But following the withdrawal
of the emergency rule imposed by
Indira Gandhi government, in the general elections in 1977, the CPI(M) led Left
Front came to power with thumping majority in Bengal and continued in power for
34 years.
3.14. But it refused to use this
power to put forward an alternative to Congress policies and to develop the
class struggle with an all India pespective. It degenerated to implement the
policies of the central government. Except for left slogan-mongering, it
embraced ruling class positions in practice. When the neo-liberal policies were
imposed by the Congress government in 1991, the LF governments in the states of
Bengal, Kerala and Tripura tried to implement them competing with other state
governments, announcing that ‘there is no alternative to it’,. At a time when
the popular governments which came to power in Venezuela, Bolivia etc. in Latin
America were trying to go for nationalization of MNCs and for pro-people
policies taking anti-imperialist stand, these LF governments in India were
competing to implement the neo-liberal policies to the extent of suppressing
the people’s resistance against displacement in Singur and Nandigram W. Bengal.
These policies isolated them from the people and in 2011 both in Bengal and
Kerala they lost the elections. Moreover the record of these governments, instead
of enthusing the masses, damaged the image of the left movement in the country as
a whole.
3.15. When the people were looking forward for an alternative to
neo-liberal policies pursued by the Congress and BJP led governments, when the
BJP led NDA was defeated and Congress led UPA was in minority after 2004 general
elections, instead of utilizing their presence in the parliament to fight for
independent left positions, the LF parties propped up the thoroughly anti-national, anti-people UPA
government for almost five years and voted for all its anti people policies, in the name of keeping BJP out of power.
Their claims about weakening the communal forces in this way was proved hollow
as, not only the Sangh Parivar, all other hues of communal forces gained
further foothold during the UPA rule, as it was pursuing a policy of naked
communal appeasement. During this period the caste forces also gained further
foothold and the suppression of the dalits and other oppressed sections
intensified. While supporting UPA govt. in the name of opposing communalism,
the LF parties were concealing the class base and economic agenda of the
communal forces, and the relation between imperialist globalisation and spread
of communalism. By pursuing these
opportunist policies, from apologists of neocolonisation, the CPI(M) and its
allies have further degenerated to collaborators or executioners of
neo-colonial policies. So, even though
these LF parties led by CPI(M) is contesting the elections with left
slogans uniting CPI(ML) Liberation like
forces who have degenerated to revisionist path and propagating a post election
third front, it cannot become an
alternative to ruling class alternatives. In the post election scene it may
once again support the Congress led forces in the name of opposing modi led
fascist forces.
3.16. The CPI(Maoist) is claiming the heritage of the Naxalbari uprising,
but is pursuing the anarchist path of reducing all activities to armed squad
actions. Through this sectarian
practice it is providing an alibi to the
central and state governments to attack the Marxist-Leninist forces and all
people’s movements dubbing them as ‘Maoist’ or terrorist. Even after the set
backs it suffered in AP and in other states, it is now joining hands with the
NGOs, with parochial forces, regional parties with chauvinist agendas etc. Its
‘boycott election’ slogan is more of a hoax to hoodwink the masses. It is neither put into practice by taking a
political campaign for it, nor it is having the mass base or capability for doing
it. At the time of elections it take opportunist positions supporting Congress
in AP in 2004, JMM in jharkhand in last two elections and TMC in 2011. The
CPI(ML) is contesting the elections representing the revolutionary heritage of
the nine decades of the communist movement, exposing all ruling class parties,struggling
against the opportunist line of CPI(M) led LF forces and anarchist line of the
CPI(Maoist) with the slogan: Rally for
People’s Alternative against all Ruling Class Alternatives, striving to
unite all genuine left and democratic forces in the Democratic People’s Forum based on its anti-imperialist ten point
program.
Rally for Anti-Imperialist People’s Alternative
4.1. The CPIML) is putting forward this draft Election Manifesto
before the people much in advance so that a discussion on it can take place at
all levels. Through this process it expects to incorporate all positive
suggestions put forward, so that it becomes a People’s Manifesto, a manifesto for the People’s Alternative. Through
this process the CPI(ML) expects to bring togother the left and democratic forces who agree with the basic
orientation of the Manifesto in the People’s Alternative. A vigorous
countrywide political campaign against the various ruling class alternatives is
required with the perspective of making the debate during election political.
In this way the CPI(ML) shall fight against the attempts of the vested
interests and the ruling class parties to make the election a theatre
of the absurd, in order to help the candidates with maximum money, liquor,
muzzle, caste and communal power to get elected. The CPI(ML) calls for
uncompromising struggle to transform the election in to a serious political
campaign fighting against all manipulations of the ruling class parties and
vested interests who are behind them. It considers the election a part of the
ever intensifying class struggle taking place in the country including the
numerous mass upsurges against the neo-liberal policies. The CPI(ML) is playing
active role in all these struggles and is trying to build aplatform of these
people’s movements at state and all India level.
4.2. The present election campaign should be seriously waged as a
continuation of these struggles taking place against the neo-liberal policies
imposed by the central and state governments. The imperialist globaization was
imposed along with liberalization and privatization in 1991 to integrate the
economy of the country in every aspect with the international finance capital
system. It opened up the natural and human resources to the MNCsand Corporate
houses’ loot. For facilitating this, in the name of infra-structural
development based on public-private
partnership (PPP), construction of many Expressways, Business Corridors etc
are opened up. Under all these projects millions of families are displaced,
forcing many to migrate to urban slums. In the name of export promotion and
liberalization all natural resources: water, mines, rivers, etc are sought to
be transferred to MNCs and Corporates. Special Economic Zones like havens for
Corporate loot are opened. Even private ports are promoted in large numbers.
Against the imposition of these policies and displacement of millions numerous
spontaneous struggles are taking place across the country and CPI(ML) and
class/ mass organizations led by it are active in many of them.
4.3. Under imperialist globalization, the petroleum and all other core
sectors were opened up for Corporate loot. The Krishna Godavari Basin was
transferred to Reliance through which it has become virtually the owner of it,
and forced the government to hike the natural gas price at well-head to an
unheard of $8.4. The CPI(ML) has united like minded forces and has launched a
campaign to Throw out Reliance from KG Basin, to Repeal New Petroleum Licensing
Policy and to Nationalize KG Basin. Similarly the mining mafia, Reddy Brothers,
has devastated vast areas of Karnataka by looting and exporting iron ore. The CPI(ML)
led a struggle leading to its exposure and temporary closure. Now CPI(ML) has
launched a movement with the demands: Confiscate all wealth of mining mafias
and Nationalize Bellary-Hospet iron ore
mines. In other states also it is engaged in launching similar movements.
4.4. The UPA government has opened the retail trade to FDIs, MNCs and
Corporates making many millions engaged in this sector devastated. CPI(ML) has
started struggle against it in a number of states uniting the traders and
workers. In all the Expressways constructed under PPP, tolls are collected
enhancing the rates of passenger and goods traffic. Against these many
spontaneous struggles are taking place and CPI(ML) is actively participating in
many of these. Against the Nuke Deal signed with the US imperialists and the
nuclear plants initiated at a number of places like Jaitapur in maharashtra,
Chutka in MP, Farukkabad in Haryana and at other places the people’s resistance
is mounting and CPI(ML) has taken initiative to form a People’s Initiative against Nuclear Power to coordinate these
struggles. Against the devastation of nature under imperialist dictated
development policies which is leading to catastrophes as the latest one in
Uttarakhand, CPI(ML) with like minded forces have organized a Save Western Ghat
Movement calling for implementing Gadgil Committee Report. It is campaihning
for a sustainable development paradigm.
4.5. Against price rise, unemployment, increasing corruption and other
consequences of the neo-liberal policies Party is active in numerous struggles.
Similarly against commercialization of education, healthcare, housing etc also
party and mass organizations are struggling. Against attacks on dalits and all
forms of caste based opprssion many struggles are waged. Under the initiative
of Party and like minded organizations the Caste Annihilation Movement is
launched hich is spreading its activities fast. Against communalization under
the banner of DPF a mass rally of thousands was organized at Ahmedabad on 7th
November, 2012, before the assembly elections in Gujarat. The All India Krantikari
Adivasi Mahasabha has organized many campaigns for adivasi rights to land and
forests. Against attacks on women many campaigns and struggles were organized.
The successful convening of the Ninth Party Congress which called for an all
out movement against neo-colonization in all fields and to strive for
countrywide mass upsurges against the ruling syatem has paved the way for
intensifying all these struggles and to unite the Marxist-Leninist forces at
their van.
4.6. During the last four years’ of UPA rule witneesed frantic speeding
up of neo-liberal policies opening the country to further to FDIs, FIIs, MNCs
and Corporates. Forest, real estate, mining, coal mafias ere given open licence
to loot. Corruption became more rampant in all fields. Against these people
have become increasingly angry. Numerous spontaneous struggles and upsurges are
taking place voicing their protest. Day by day the resistance struggles against
the anti-people policies are getting strengthened. It calls for a polarization of
anti-imperialist, national, democratic and genuinely secular, anti-caste forces
in the true tradition of the great heritage of the two centuries of
anti-British freedom struggle and anti-feudal movements, and more than six
decades of numerous struggles by the vast masses of the exploited and oppressed
against the anti-people central and state governments in which tens of millions
of people participated heroically and tens of thousands of great fighters
sacrificed their lives. Such a people’s
alternative shall symbolize the great aspirations of these heroic fighters for
people’s democracy and socialism, repeatedly asserted from the days of the 1857
First War of Independence, martyrdom of comrades of the Gadar movement, of
Bhagat Singh and his colleagues, and of comrades who fought from the early days
of the working class movement. It shall uphold the heritage of great Telengana
and Naxalbari like struggles. The CPI(ML) appeals to all left and democratic
forces to utilize the election campaign to uphold these great traditions, to
expose and weaken the comprador and social democratic forces and to mobilise
and strengthen the anti-imperialist
people’s alternative.
Program of the Anti-Imperialist
People’s Alternative.
5.1. All the political parties that are ruling or have ruled at the
centre or in the states ranging from Congress and BJP to regional parties and
the CPI(M) led Left Front either jointly or individually are implementing
neoliberal policies with their own interpretatations. In other words, these
parties and the fronts already floated or going to be floated by them are
nothing but different shades of the neo-liberal political spectrum composed of
communal, casteist and corrupt forces.
Their programs or manifestos are ruling class alternatives intended to
serve the present anti-people, pro-corporate reactionary ruling system. In this
context, the CPI (ML)’s manifesto for
the 16th Lok Sabha elections seeks to advance a
People’s Alternative composed of a comprehensive political, economic, social
and cultural perspective providing
basic orientation to bring together the revolutionary left, and patriotic,
secular, democratic forces under the banner of Democratic
People’s Forum (DPF) both at the central and state levels in the struggle against all ruling class
parties and alliances as well as against the reformist, social democratic
forces, during and after the elections. The CPI(ML) appeals to the left masses,
workers, landless-poor peasants and agricultural workers, women, youth,
students and all other anti-imperialist, anti-ruling class patriotic, secular,
democratic forces and sections to vote for this program and to get mobilized to
continue the country wide struggles for realizing this program as elucidated
below.
1.Immediate Constitutional Tasks
5.1.1. An essential condition for building up
people’s alternative against all ruling class alternatives is that the basic weaknesses and
limitations of the Indian Constitution, which are on account of its inherent colonial
legacy which got further strengthened under more than six decades of neo-colonisation,
have to be rectified. Therefore, one of the principal tasks of the next Lok
Sabha and a people’s government if it is formed under the initiative of CPI (ML)
shall be to appropriately amend it to make it capable of protecting people’s
interests. Presently, the legislature, executive, and judiciary, the three
components of the parliamentary system, are subjected to the hegemony of
finance capital under neocolonisation. They are displaying increasing symptoms
of decay such as growing autocratic tendencies and corruption. The parliament,
which is enshrined in the Constitution as the supreme body representing
people’s will, has become a rubber stamp of the executive. Hence it shall be transformed as the genuine
representative body of the Indian people.
5.1.2..As a legacy from
colonial days, the parliament is forced to endorse decisions taken by the executive on
matters regarding adoption of basic economic policies and
international relations,as in the case of introduction of neo-liberal policies from
the 1980s and in becoming member of WTO, etc.
The Constitution shall be amended so as to ensure prior consultation with and ratification by
parliament on all decisions concerning all basic economic, political and
international issues. Power should be
vested with the people to recall the elected representatives at the central,
state and local levels through referendum, if they are found as corrupt or
involved in anti-people and/or anti-state activities . The present administrative system is becoming
more and more bureaucratic, authoritarian and anti-people. Appropriate steps
shall be initiated to transform it in to
a people-oriented administration. Fundamental overhauling of the
administrative, police and judicial system of the country in conformity with
the people’s alternative is an urgent task. The present policy of treating
defence as a holy cow above parliamentary scrutiny shall be ended; it shall be
brought under complete civilian control and all accounts pertaining to defence
shall be subjected to parliamentary auditing.
5.1.3.India being a
country of continental size and
diversities composed of different nationalities and sub-nationalities, the
understanding during the independence struggle was that it shall be a federal
India with due respect to the right of self-determination of different nationalities, which alone can ensure
people’s unity. However, though the word federal was inscribed in the Preamble
of the Constitution, in course of time, federal
principles were relegated to the background. To facilitate the pan-Indian
plunder of the ruling classes, in
effect, the federal concepts are replaced with unitary structure through
various legal and administrative steps including the deployment of army in vast areas and imposition
of draconian black laws such as AFSPA, UAPA, etc. Problems of Jammu and Kashmir
and North Eastern States shall be politically settled by the people’s
government, recognizing their right of self-determination. Today, the UPA
government has further accelerated this unitary trend by deploying military to more
areas , extending AFSPA and through administrative
steps such as National Counter Terrorism Centre. All these unitary and
authoritarian steps shall be annuled.
5.1.4.India shall be
turned in to a genuine federal country through devolution of more power to the
Panchayats at different levels and to the states. Urgent steps to create genuine federal structure shall form essential
part of the people’s alternative. Except foreign affairs, defence, currency,
international trade, national public utilities and central planning, all other tasks should be vested with the states
and local governments. The local bodies
with gram panchayat as the base should be entrusted with the task of
micro-level planning pertaining to agriculture, agro-based, small and medium
industries, housing, healthcare, school education, panchayat courts and ecological
protection. Constitutional devolution of powers to states and local bodies, along
with appropriate democratic and administrative structures at the grass root
level including police and judicial functions for effective decentralization of
power should be carried out.
2.Administrative Reforms
5.2.1. Under
neo-liberal policiies, the bureaucratic concentration and centralization
together with the rapidly growing inter-personal and inter-regional
inequalities and uneven development are intertwined with the profit orientation
in all fields of human activity. On the
other hand, the entire orientation of the people’s alternative put forward here,
with its basic reorganization of national production including goods and
services, need-based distribution of the national products among the people,
and altering the consumption pattern in an equitable and sustainable manner,
calls for its inseparable linking up with the broadest possible participation
of the people at all levels of administration.
5.2.2. This is
possible only through a genuine multi-layered decentralization and devolution
of administrative power to the lowest levels such that unity of people
organised in work-based committees should be capable of wielding real power in
their habitat, surroundings and neighbourhoods, eliminating the present
bureaucratic stranglehold everywhere. Instead of the hitherto sham and
reformist moves taken by ruling classes in this regard like their much
published ‘Panchayati Raj’, which in effect have only led to decentralization of corruption down to the
panchayat levels, amendments in the existing Constitutional framework are
urgently needed to achieve this. It should start with the total removal of all
forms of bureaucratic control of the elective bodies from down below, and
vesting power fully in the elcted bodies.
5.2.3.The
increasing uneven development among the states and within different regions of
the states has given rise to demands for separate state like Telegana,
Viidarbha, Gurkhaland etc. Even some of the problems which are left overs of
the 1956 states’ reorganization are also not settled till today. The
consecutive governments are trying to suppress these movements instead of
finding political solution to them. The people’s government shall appoint a commision
to study these problems including the people’s demands on these questions and resolve
them as early as possible. It shall appoint an inter state council to study all
inter state problems including the sharing of river water and other naturl
resources and to find immediate solutions for them.
4.Linking Development with Democracy
5.4.1.The
whole concept of development evolved along with capitalist modernity and
industrialism revolves around the entire process of capital accumulation.
Accordingly, unhindered capital accumulation with its ruthless plunder of
people and nature has been acknowledged as the driving force behind
development. This mainstream development paradigm has never acknowledged people
as the focus and primary agent of development. Since expansion of people’s
democratic and political rights are considered as a barrier for capital
accumulation, the capitalist-imperialist ruling classes and their ideologues
always explained the curtailment of avenues of democracy as a necessary
sacrifice for development. With the transformation of industrial capitalism
into finance capitalism which subjected every social, economic and political
sphere for unfettered financial speculation, the bourgeois democratic space
began to shrink further.
5.4.2..The
erstwhile socialist experiments including that in Soviet Union and China made attempts
to reorient the process of development from the perspective of the working
class and broad sections of the toiling people. But such attempts became
unsuccessful due to the inability to accomplish a paradigmatic shift in
development and infuse new qualitative content in it as against the one being
evolved by industrial capitalism. Hence ultimately these efforts failed to
expand the realm of democracy in a sustainable manner.
5.4.3.However,
the ideological-political advancement of the socialist forces and national
liberation movements during the immediate postwar years compelled imperialism
to impose temporary restraints on unhindered financial speculation through
state intervention and the paradigm of welfare state with its social democratic
functions even in neocolonial countries. The ‘import-substitution’, state led
development and growth of public sector during this period went hand in hand
with the attainment of certain minimum democratic rights by the people.
5.4. 4.But the
ideological-political setbacks suffered by the socialist and progressive forces
since the 1960s enabled the crisis-ridden finance capital to launch
neoliberalism from 1970s that required the neoliberal state to abdicate its
developmental and welfare functions and an abject contraction in the apparent
democratic space that prevailed during the quarter century following second
world war. Today, the de-industrialization and casualisation of the workforce
on the one hand and the horrific financial speculation and plunder of nature
leading to unprecedented wealth concentration, pauperisation of the masses and
ecological crisis on the other have completely denied all the hard earned
democratic and political rights to the people. It has made the very sustenance
of workers and oppressed people difficult. Under neoliberalism, any talk on
democracy for the people, and welfare or workers’ democratic rights is treated
as obstacle to development. Therefore, under neoliberalism democracy and
development are treated as contradictory categories.
5.4.5.In this
context, the CPI(ML) puts forward a people-oriented development perspective
that is capable of expanding and nurturing genuine democracy for the people,
assimilating lessons from all hitherto experiments in history including that in
erstwhile socialist countries, and in conformity with the concrete realities of
India. In general, it is the fundamental task of the anti-imperialist people’s
alternative to concentrate on fundamental transformation in the social,
economic, political and cultural realms of India which alone can bring about a
development that is pro-people, pro-nature and pro-women.
6. National Self-reliant Economy
5.6.1. The
people’s government shall totally reject the neoliberal policies that devastate
people’s life. It shall take urgent steps to build a national, self-reliant
economy with the orientation of people-oriented, democratic development.
5.6.2..The
people’s government shall quit IMF, WB and WTO and put an end to all forms of reliance on imperialist capital, technology
and managerial expertise and replace them with domestic resource mobilization
and indigenous scientific and technical know how, which are indispensable part
of this people’s initiative. Foreign market orientation of the economic
policies should be replaced with self reliant domestic orientation.
5.6.3.It is
not the lack of resources or scientific and technological capabilities or
skilled labour that makes Indian people the most oppressed and backward. It is
the comprador class character of the ruling elite who are concerned only with
their share of neocolonial plunder, including their Swiss Bank deposits,
responsible for it. Immediate steps shall be taken to bring back such funds
deposited in foreign tax havens and to
invest them productively.
5.6.4.All avenues
for operation and interferences of the freely flowing speculative finance
capital, which is the hallmark of neo-colonialism under neoliberal
globalization today, shall be stopped with immediate effect.
5.6.5.The
globally moving imperialist capital penetrating the country in search of quick
profits has nothing to do with production or employment generation. Instead,
they result in intensification of speculation, corruption, ecological
destruction, cultural degradation etc. The indispensable condition for any
national development today is prohibition of the operation of MNCs in the
country and confiscation and nationalization of their assets. Such initatives
in Venezuela and other Latin American countries are proved progressive. A
people’s government shall take such steps which shall release the badly needed
resources for providing the basic services to the people.
5.6.6.
Together with this, all imperialist
debts including those to imperialist governments, neocolonial financial
institutions, banks and funding agencies are to be repudiated.
5.6.7. All strategic, key and core sector
industries, services, infrastructures and public utilities including petroleum,
electricity and energy sources, mining, steel, communications, ports-roads-railways-airways, etc. and such other sectors which are
deemed necessary by the people’s government shall be nationalized and brought
under public sector. The trend towards privatization shall be reversed.
5.6.8. The corporate houses,
swindlers and big mafia sections are junior partners of imperialist capital.
They are engaged in the plunder of the public wealth and natural resources in
diverse forms. They are stumbling blocks in the path of self-reliant national
development. Nationalisation of their assets in agriculture, industry and
service sectors, along with bringing back all their deposits in foreign tax
havens is indispensable for strengthening people oriented development.
5.6.9.The
flourishing corruption and scams under neoliberalism are products of the
capital oriented economic policy and the state-corporate nexus. The
confiscation of the wealth of the elite classes accumulated through corrupt
practices shall serve elimination of the avenues of corruption from the top.
The people’s government shall unearth and confiscate all black money including
those connected with religious and spiritual institutions.
5.6.10.The
people’s government shall abolish all tax exemptions to all elite classes and
corporates. It shall strengthen progressive taxation on the corporate and rich
sections on the basis of their taxable capacities; increase the marginal rate
of corporate/income taxation on the super-rich to above 50 percent of their
profit/earnings. It shall abolish indirect taxation on necessaries and
essential items such as food and fuel used by the vast majority of people.It
shall pursue a policy of stable prices especially regarding goods and assets
used by the common people, as inflation and price rise are a tax on the people.
It shall control money circulation by completely prohibiting all forms of
speculation, real estate and money-spinning businesses and through appropriate
monetary policies; It shall establish price stability in the interests of
workers, peasants and other toiling masses.
7.Agrarian Policy
5.7.1.The people’s government shall Implement
radical land reforms based on the principle of land to the tiller, by fixing a
ceiling of five acres of fertile irrigated land or equivalent un-irrigated land
to a family fully dependent on agriculture, and by fixing a ceiling of two acres for a family whose
means of livelihood is not mainly agriculture.
It shall clearly identify and earmark all forest lands, ecologically
sensitive wet lands, mangroves and other lands required for ecological
conservation, the land required for public spaces and public purposes, lands
indispensable for water shed areas of irrigation and electric projects, and
land necessary for public works and needs such as education, health, people’s
recreation and industrial sites. All
lands in excess of this, shall be distributed to landless peasants and agricultural
worker’s families. It shall eliminate still surviving feudal remnants,
landlordism and illegal occupations by land mafia. Co-operative and collective
farming shall be encouraged along with providing all assistance for developing
agriculture. It shall give particular attention for all avenues of organic
farming and sustainable irrigation projects including rain harvesting. It shall
stop bio-fuel cultivation and replace export-oriented cash crop agriculture
with special orientation towards food self-sufficiency It shall link
agricultural development with employment generating agro-industries.
5.7.2.The people’s government shall take
over and distribute all surplus lands, government land, land belonging to mutts/trusts,
and land held by religious and caste
organizations and trusts after fixing a land ceiling for such agencies. It shall take over the plantations, farms, etc. held
by MNCs, corporate houses and land mafia and shall be brought under workers’
control. It shall take over lands owned by NRIs, bureaucrats, high income
sections, industrialists, big traders, etc., and distribute them among the
peasantry.
5.7.3.The people’s government
shall resolve the serious problems confronted by adivasi/tribal sections who constotute 8 to 10
% of the country’s population. It shall strictly implement all existing laws
and promulgate new laws for the protection of their land including the
establishment of adivasi autonomous councils in all tribal-majority areas, and eliminate all forms of exploitation
against them. It shall protect land, culture and languages of all tribal people
through appropriate legal and administrative steps.
5.7.4.The people’s government shall defeat
all neoliberal moves to reverse even existing land ceiling acts and to promote
land concentration in corporate and mafia hands. It shall strictly stop conversion of prime
agricultural land for SE2s, tourism zones, townships, airports and industrial
sites. It shall issue pattas to land already distributed or in possession of
landless peasants and agricultural workers, cancel all debts of peasant
families owning up to 5 acres of irrigated or 10 acres of un-irrigated land,
and of landless peasants/agricultural workers.
5.7.5.It shall implement comprehensive
agricultural workers act ensuring all welfare measures, including food, shelter
and education-healthcare facilities. It
shall implement proper rural employment programs with guaranteed minimum wages.
It shall empower gram panchayats and village level people’s committees to end
all displacement of peasantry and defeat the involvement of corporate and real
estate mafia in the country-side.
5.7.6. It shall stop corporatization of
agriculture and throw out MNCs and corporate agribusinesses from the seed-fertile-pesticide
sectors. It shall eliminate corporate
control over agricultural input and output prices. It shall abolish all anti-peasant
import, price, and credit policies. It shall ensure all agricultural inputs
such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, credit, electricity, etc.,
at subsidized and affordable rates to peasants. It shall abolish all forms of
usury by extending cheap credit for peasants on a priority basis from public
sources through a network of rural banking. It shall provide adequate support prices for all agricultural products
and ensure procurement of all agricultural surplus at remunerative prices by
public sector. It shall put an end to private procurement, hoarding and
speculation of agricultural products including food grains by corporate traders.
8.Industrial and Technological Policy
5.8.1.More than two decades of imperialist
globalization and liberalization and privatization policies have demolished
whatever self-reliant, import-substituting, domestic-oriented and employment-generating
industrialization policies were initiated as part of the Keynesain policies implemented
during post-1947 decades. The people’s government shall take urgent steps to abolish
this neoliberal trend. It shall take steps to bring all key and core-sector
industries and infrastructures under public sector.
5.8.2.The peopl’s government shall evolve a national and people oriented
industrial policy with adequate and proper relation among large-scale, medium
and small-scale industries on the one hand and agriculture and service sectors
on the other. Location of industries shall be decided based on proper planning
to avoid the evils of urbanization and displacement of people from their
habitats. As far as possible industries shall be diversified, decentralized and
made labour-intensive as part of the national democratic development policy. It
shall avoid the harmful effects of urbanization and environmental pollution.
5.8.3.It shall evolve a national ,
people-oriented industrial research and
development policy, demolishing the present imperialist dictated, WTO led
patent and intellectual property system that put all scientific and technical
know how under the custody of corporate capital. All scientific, technological
and research institutions in the country shall be brought under people’s
democratic control and people should have free access to them.
5.8.4.The people’s alternative government
shall decentralize the whole process of scientific research with adequate
provisions for incorporating people’s initiatives at all levels. To facilitate
such an indigenous research and development, the people’s government shall end the
present dependence on imperialist research centres including the present
stature of Indian Research Institutions as appendages of foreign research
centres. As the so called “brain drain” like phenomena are directly correlated
with lack of correspondence between country’s needs and the ongoing
technological research here, as even the much trumpeted IT industry lacks
domestic linkages and is purely based on outsourcing. It shall develop appropriate linkages of
industrial development and research with all sectors of the country, which are
indispensable.
5.8.5.Presently most of the ecological
questions such as global warming, ozone depletion, fresh water scarcity,
deforestation, desertification, extinction of species, loss of biodiversity,
chemical pollution, radioactive contamination from nuclear industry and so on
are directly connected with corporate greed. They have become the biggest
challenges associated with development. In such a situation, the people’s
government shall strive for an appropriate science and technology policy that
is fully compatible with the preservation of ecology and habitat of the
people. The basic orientation of such an
industrial policy shall not be to catch up with the GDP growth of any
capitalist country, but to develop a basically different people oriented and
sutainable development policy.
9.Energy Policy
5.9.1.The people’s
government shall take up the development of an energy policy that is
independent of all sorts of corporate control and in conformity with the priorities
of the people’s development in all fields. As fossil fuels which form the major
source of energy today are going to be depleted within a period of 50 years,
and as the nuclear energy is scientifically and economically unviable, the imperialist
research institutions are already focussing on the development of
non-conventional forms such as solar, wind and tidal energies. In this
situation, as the very nature of these new energy sources such as solar and
wind power are conducive for decentralised , employment oriented and
eco-friendly industrial and economic pattern, the people’s government shall
give maximum attention to them, linking
this policy with the people’s development
alternative. Providing special attention to the geographical and climatic
advantages of the country, it shall give special attention and take appropriate
measures for solar energy like sources which will help India to fully solve its energy problem in a
self-reliant manner ending imperialist hegemony in this regard.
5.9.2.At the same
time, the people’s government shall expose and repudiate the present distorted
approach to energy consumption propped up by capitalist-imperialist consumer
culture interpreting the level and quality of development in terms of per
capita energy consumption. The people’s
development perspective shall advocate and educate the people for the
development of a culture minimizing energy consumption which is ecologically
sustainable and economically efficient. At the present stage of scientific
development, as nuclear energy is totally untenable and unworkable, it shall reject
all nuclear plants, including the newly proposed ones and strive for universal
nuclear disarmament.
10.Transportation Policy
5.10.1.Developing
and strengthening public transport system affordable to the broad masses of
toiling people should form the core of a people’s transportation policy.
Proliferation of private vehicles and the growth of a road lobby in unholy
alliance with the politician-bureaucratic – corporate- contractor nexus shall
be ended through appropriate measures.
5.10.2.In view of
the geographical diversities of the country, instead of relying heavily on any
one particular mode of transport, an integrated transportation policy composed
of road, rail and water transport, both coastal and inland, has to be adopted.
Along with this the neoliberal policy of constructing infrastructures including
road, rail, ports, etc. on BOT/PPP basis that allows corporates to indefinitely
and unscrouplessly carry on their plunder of the people shall be reversed by
the people’s government.
11.Domestic Trade
5.11.1.For
providing employment and livelihood, the importance of retail trade in India is
second only to agriculture. Around 95 percent of the retail trade in the
country is in the informal/unorganized sector that provides direct employment
to about 5 crores of people upon whom
another 10 crore people depend for their sustenance. However, global retail
MNCs and corporate speculative traders with the connivance of comprador Indian
rulers have identified Indian retail sector as an inexhaustible source of
plunder. Except the corporate greed, no political or economic justification has
been put forward by vested interests for opening up the retail sector to MNCs.
5.11.2.Hence,
protecting the retail sector from imperialist invasion by banning FDI in retail
trade and ensuring the livelihood of a large section of the people is an urgent
task. Such a step is also important to maintain the essential relationships and
linkages among agriculture, industry and trade from the perspective of a
national, self-reliant democratic development.
5.11.3.The
people’s government shall progressively introduce cooperatives and local
outlets under local bodies along with the universal Public Distribution System
to ensure all essential goods for the masses of people.
12.Social Services and Public Distribution
5.12.1.The peope’s
government shall ensure the right
to food, clothing, housing, education, healthcare and employment for all by
incorporating it as fundamental right in the Constitution and taking
appropriate steps for its implementation.
5.12.2.The neoliberal approach of cutting
subsidies for food and fuel should be ended and the public distribution system
shall be strengthened and expanded further by extending statutory rationing not
only for food items, but for all essential commodities. The people’s government
shall implement urban land ceiling and taxation of urban property.
5.12.3.It shall reverse all policies of
commercialization and corporatization of education forthwith. Develop and implement national, scientific,
secular, democratic education policy, starting with community schools. It shall
romote and develop all national languages. It shall ensure universal free
education in the mother tongue up to the secondary level. Private agencies including religious and
caste organizations and other reactionary forces shall be totally excluded from
the field of public education.
5.12.4.Ensure universal and affordable
primary health facilities for all. Domination of pharmaceutical MNCs in the
country’s health sphere shall be abolished. Medical profession shall be
democratised by evolving an integrated medical system drawing the positive
aspects from various traditions. Corporatisation of medical education and using
of Indian people as guinea pigs by MNCs with the connivance of the ruling
classes shall be abolished.
5.12.5.Housing based on a minimum 500 sq.ft.
house shall be ensured to all with water supply, electricity/gas connection and
sanitation. Demolition of the slums shall be stopped till all slum-dwellers are
provided with the above minimum housing nearer to their place of work. A
maximum ceiling for building of family houses shall be introduced progressively.
13.Employment and Trade Union Rights
5.13.1.The people’s government shall strive
for strictly implementing six-hour work and five-day week in all sectors and
establishments and ensure employment for all. It shall abolish contract labour
system and ‘hire and fire’ policy. In case of unemployment, compulsory unemployment allowance shall be
provided equal to the statutory minimum wage enforced by the people’s
government.
5.13.2.It shall ensure statutory pension and
retirement benefits including provident funds to ensure a safe retirement life.
It shall ensure that the pension-provident funds shall be managed by the
government. Corporate thugs shall be kicked out from its management.
5.13.3.It shall abolish all inequalities
including gender-bias towards women in the work places. It shall ensure equal pay for equal
work. It shall ensure democratic and
trade union rights, the right to form trade unions and to strike for all
workers.
5.13.4.It shall abolish all forms of bonded
labour and child labour practices. It shall rehabilitate all bonded labourers
and child labourers shall be sent to schools with their total expenses met from
public exchequer.
14.Equality for women
5.14.1.The
people’s government shall guarantee equality of women in all fields and abolish
all forms of gender inequality based on patriarchy. It shall ensure right of women for
inheritance of property including land.
As the Indian women are facing ever-mounting patriarchal oppression in
diverse forms, the urgent task of the people’s government shall be to eliminate
all sorts of violence, exploitation and oppression of women within the family
and at workplace.
5.14.2.It shall abolish prostitution
including child prostitution and ensure their rehabilitation. It shall end commodification of women and sex
tourism.
5.14.3.It shall implement a uniform civil
law for marriage and strictly implement anti-dowry law with people’s
participation. It shall ensure the right to all to select their mates without
interference from caste, religion and other obscurantist forces.
5.14.4.Implement 50 percent reservation for
women in all elected bodies up to Lok Sabha, in the judiciary, police and in
administration.
5.14.5.It shall ensure full maternity
benefits to all women including six months’ leave with full wage/salary with
provision for extension if such need arises. It shall ensure community day-care
facilities for all children in the pre-school stage with full guarantee for their
healthcare and recreation, as inalienable tasks of the people’s government.
15.Youth Policy
5.15.1.The rapid
changes under neoliberalism including those relating to employment and culture
have their serious impact on the material conditions and mental make-up of
youth which ultimately will have their far reaching effects for the society as
a whole. Taking the specificities of the contemporary situation and the
particularities of youth in to consideration, the people’s government shall
develop a scientific youth policy.
5.15.2.While
feudal prejudices prevent the universal involvement in sports and games, under
the imperialist influence they are commodified like every other field. The
people’s government shall develop a national sports policy for the country.
Sports and games facilities shall be developed at all levels. It shall
effectively prevent the entry of speculative and betting agencies in to the
field.
16.Tasks for Caste Annihilation and
Secularism
5.16.1.The people’s government shall implement the first and
foremost task for the caste annihilation, and implementation of the democratic and revolutionary land reforms
based on land-to-the-tiller principle, which shall help to break the backbone
of the caste system.
5.16.2.It shall promote all initiatives for organizing powerful campaigns and broad-based democratic
movements for the total abolition of caste system. It shall take specific
administrative steps required to stop all forms of caste based oppression, caste
discrimination, untouchability, and Khap panchayats like reactionary institutions. It shall ensure reservation based on caste
as a democratic right in all fields including private sector till the social
inequalities are abolished.
5.16.3.It shall abolish all religion-based discriminations, and ensure
the protection of all religious minorities.
It shall take necessary steps to make the state genuinely secular. It
shall take all steps necessary to stop all forms of religious intervention in
political, economic or administrative matters. It shall take all necessary
steps to put an end to all communal interferences in matters connected with
education and culture including art, literature and media. It shall take strict
action against all who indulge in unlawful activities irrespective of their
religious beliefs. All victimization of the minorities in the name of action
against terrorism shall be put an end to. It shall take steps against all forms
of communal appeasement at all levels.
17.On Expanding People’s Culture
5.17.1.The people’s government shall initiate
steps in alliance with all progressive and democratic forces to develop and strengthen
rational and scientific thinking among the people.
5.17.2.It
shall put an end to all attacks on democratic cultural values, institutions,
and on cultural activists by communal fascists, casteists and other reactionary
forces and shall stop their interferences in education, research, art,
literature and media. It shall oppose
efforts of religious fundamentalists of all hues and casteists to impose their
decadent cultural values, especially the imposition of the Hindu Rashtra
concept by Sangh Parivar forces by infiltrating or overpowering social,
cultural and educational fields.
5.17.3.It shall oppose feudal and
imperialist cultural values and efforts to turn culture itself as a realm of
profit accumulation. It shall take all steps necessary to prevent the invasion
of cultural field by imperialist promoted ideologies, MNCs and imperialist
agencies. Promote scientific outlook in
all fields and eradicate all forms of superstitions and reactionary revivalism.
18.Protection and Expansion of Democratic
Rights
5.18.1.More than two decades of neo liberal policies have snatched away
all democratic rights won through numerous struggles by various sections of
people including the working class and all other sections in the country. The people’s
government shall resist this and the trend towards fascicization of the state
machinery. It shall stop all attacks on
the existing democratic rights; protect them and shall strive to expand them.
It shall stop the terrorization of the masses and their large scale harassment
in the name of putting down terrorism.
5.18.2.It shall stop bureaucratization of existing bourgeois democratic
institutions. It shall take all steps against the growing threats of
fascicisation in all walks of life. It shall repeal all black laws enacted by
central and state governments including AFSPA, ESMA etc. It shall put an end to utilizing military,
paramilitary and police forces for suppressing people of J & K and North
East and people’s struggles in different parts of the country.
5.18.3.It shall take drastic steps to put an end to criminalization of
politics and society at large through money, muscle, liquor power. It shall enforce strict control over liquor
trade and take all steps necessary to end alchoholism.
5.18.4.It shall introduce as an urgent task fundamental reforms to
transform the police forces who are presently notorious for their anti-people
character. It shall promote genuine and meaningful involvement of the people at
the local and grassroots levels to take active part in the democratization of
the police syatem.
5.18.5.It shall evolve and Implement democratic reforms in the entire
judicial system and in the jail administration.
Provision for death penalty shall be removed from the statute book.
19.Policy on Migration and Urbanization
5.19.1.Large-scale
displacement of peasantry due to corporatization of agriculture, their
unparalleled migration to urban areas, mushrooming of slums and growth in the
number of jobless, underemployed shelterless, pauperized slum-dwellers and all
the attendant evils of urbanization are integrally linked to the neo-colonial,
neoliberal development policies pursued by consecutive governments. The
people’s government shall consistently try to take concrete steps to reverse
this abominable trend.
5.10.2.In the
meanwhile, as an immediate task, the people’s government shall implement a
comprehensive rehabilitation policy ensuring food, housing, drinking water,
jobs, healthcare, education, and recreation with full social security for slum
dwellers. It shall make the slum dwellers entitled to an adequate share in
urban property. It shall take steps to put an end to all forms of urban mafias,
including the real estate speculators in land, building and urban services with
people’s participation.
20.Approach towards NGOs, Self Help Groups
etc.
5.20.1.As a part
of the neo-colonization process initiated from 1940s, the UN agencies and
various imperialist agencies have initiated numerous Non Governmental
Organizations and later Self Help Groups and Micro- Finance Groups which are now growing in number very fast with
the support of the central and state governments. The UN, World Bank and other
institutions on the one hand, and the central and state governments on the
other, are funding many of them also. The post modernist ideas are providing
the theoretical basis to these. They are taking up many people’s problems and
try to seek solutions to them within the existing neo-colonial ruling system.
Large number of intellectuals and youth frustrated with growing social
problems, who are not satisfied with the present left movement, and who seeks
employment are flockimg to them. Large number of unemployed women are attracted
to SHGs and Micro-Finance Agencies also. The people’s government shall take a
policy of “unity and struggle” with these agencies. While using their services
in any progressive movements, the absence of a wholistic appraoch and their
‘reformist’ ideas should be struggled against. Through the alternative
development paradigm put forwward here the youth and intellectuals shall be won
over to the path of people’s alternative.
21.Democratization of Media
5.21.1.The media
or the so called fourth estate which
is intended to represent and mould public opinion has evolved as an informal
institution during the bourgeois democratic revolution. However, on account of
the transformation of industrial capitalism into moribund finance capitalism
and its further decay under neoliberalism, along with all parliamentary
institutions, the media is also being degenerated into ‘corporate media’. As is
evident from the notorious Radia tapes
and innumerable reports on “paid news”, corporate media is involved not only in
numerous scams and corruption scandals that rock the country but also in the
policy making by politician-bureaucrat-corporate nexus and even in elections.
5.21.2.The
people’s government is duty bound to reverse this trend with the full participation
of people by unleashing democratization of the media so as to make it capable
of upholding democratic and progressive public opinion and values without fear
or favour. In this context, the lessons
from the experience of the ‘new social media’ are to be examined. The peopple’s goevernment shall initiate specific
administrative measures intended to curtail the hold of corporate capital on
media.
22.For a Progressive Foreign Policy
5.22.1.Developing
a foreign policy based on equality and fraternity among all countries is an
inalienable component of a people’s government. As a first step towards this,
the people’s government shall take immediate steps to get India out of all
unequal economic, political, military and cultural treaties and agreements so
far signed by the hitherto governments.
All treaties signed with USA, including the latest military and economic
treaties, Nuclear Agreements and Indo-US Agricultural Initiative which lead to
India’s strategic subservience to US
imperialism shall be scrapped. Efforts shall be made together with like-minded
countries to come out of the present US led neocolonial international and
regional economic institutions such as IMF, WB, WTO, ADB, etc. and to replace
them with appropriate democratic economic, monetary and trade arrangements and
cooperation agreements.
5.22.2.The UN system, including
its Security Council, was created to serve the essential political functions of
neocolonialism. In the postwar decades, on account of the relatively strong
ideological and political presence of the socialist countries and progressive forces at the international
level, the UN tried to put on a reformist garb. But under neoliberalism, all
such reformist initiatives and institutions propped up by UN are practically
defunct. It is exposed as the political arm of US led imperialism. Since efforts
to reform the UN system have so far found futile, the people’s government shall
take initiative, joining hands with like
mibded governments, to build necessary institutions and arrangements for
facilitating fraternal international cooperation among peoples of different
countries and to democratize the international relations.
5.22.3.In the same vein, it shall
try to evolve regional economic and political cooperation among countries in
Asia with particular attention on building friendly relations with South Asian
countries including Pakistan based on equality, shedding the present posture of
India, under consecutive governments, as South Asia’s big brother under its
strategic subservience to US imperialism. The people’s government shall take
initiative to resolve the boundary disputes with the neighbouring countries,
which are left overs of the colonial period, through bi-lateral discussions. It
shall fight against all forms of neocolonialism and establish unity and
solidarity among oppressed countries and peoples of the world; strive for world
peace, abolition of arms race and universal nuclear disarmament.
CPI (ML)’s Appeal
it was at an important juncture in the history
of our country, when two decades of
Congress rule had intensified the contradictions between the ruling
system and the people, and when CPI and later CPI(M) leaderships abandoned the path of national liberation and
democratic revolution and degenerated to reformist, opportunist positions, the
Naxalbari uprising took place in 1967. Putting forward agrarian revolution with
land to the tiller, and pledging to advance towards people’s democracy
and socialism, the Communist Revolutionaries formed CPI(ML) in 1969.
Though the movements was influenced by
sectarian tendencies for some time in the beginning, it has overcome these and
has played a historic role in radicalizing the socio-economic-political-cultural
scene, struggling against all
reactionary and reformist positions. It has a consistent legacy of many great
struggles and sacrifices, a legacy of thousands of martyr
comrades and cadres who inspired the toiling millions and continue the fight
for people’s democratic India.
When the imperialist globalization policies
were imposed and the country was being opened to IMF-WB-WTO-MNCs and
capital-market system, and when almost all prominent political parties from
Congress and BJP became its executioners, and even CPI (M) led LF surrendered
to it stating ‘there is no alternative’ to it, the CPI(ML) along with other communist
revolutionary and democratic forces went on opposing and struggling against it
from the beginning. While launching
anti-imperialist movements, it took up struggles against all reactionary
policies of consecutive governments. In some states it developed agrarian
movements with land to the tiller slogan besides struggling for the rights of
all oppressed classes and sections.
The CP(ML) is uncompromisingly exposing the
degeneration of CPI (M)–led Left Front’s ruling class positions and the
sectarian and anarchist lie of the CPI(Maoist) and trying to unite all
Communist forces under the banner of CPI(ML), developing activities all over
India and pursuing militant mass line.
During the two terms of UPA government, it has led numerous struggles
against its anti-national and anti-people policies, fighting bitterly against
surrendering the country to strategic subservience to US imperialism. Along with its efforts to develop
anti-imperialist movements uniting the Marxist-Leninist parties at
International level against US imperialism and its allies in solidarity with
the Iraqi, Afghan, Palestinian and other peoples, CPI (ML) is always in the
forefront to develop resistance to UPA government’s moves including signing
many agreements enslaving the country to US masters and other reactionary
policies which have devastated people’s lives.
In a number of states the Party and class/mass organizations are
continuously waging struggles against the UPA government’s and state
governments’ anti-people policies. Besides, the party and the landless
peasants-agricultural workers organizations led by it have launched many
struggles for land, against displacement and
against the mining mafias.
The CPI (ML) is contesting the Lok Sabha
elections fielding a number of candidates in most of the states based on this
Election Manifesto. It calls for building the Anti-imperialist People’s
Alternative based on it against all ruling class alternatives. At a time when
the neo-colonial stranglehold, communal and fascist onslaughts and influence of
caste politics are intensifying day by day, when imperialism, especially US
imperialism, is engaged in accelerating its efforts to impose hegemony in all
fields, building such an alternative uniting all genuine left, patriotic,
democratic, secular forces has great significance.
The CPI (ML) appeals to the working class, the
landless-poor peasants and agricultural workers, to all other toiling masses
and the patriotic democratic secular forces to rally for building this People’s
Alternative.
The CPI (ML) appeals to the people of the
country, to the toiling masses, to all patriotic democratic secular forces to
exercise their right to vote in support of the Election Manifesto put
forward by the Party, to vote for the candidates fielded by the party and the
DPF candidates supported by the party based on this orientation. Come forward,
let us vigorously utilize the election
to fight the ruling system and to initiate the building of the People’s Alternative.
Central Committee
Communist Party of
India (Marxist-Leninist)
