India
Elections Which Will Solve Nothing
Farmers rally in Barnala,
Punjab, May 26, 2024
General Elections are taking place in India and, as is the case in all the countries in which the electoral process no longer provides equilibrium and stability to the system of governance, they will not provide a single problem facing the polity with a viable solution.
On the home front Modi rule is known for its high level of corruption, pogroms against Muslims, Punjabi Sikhs, Dalits and Adivasis, while its service to the global oligopolies whose aim is to dispossess farmers and Adivasis and get rid of all toilers it considers disposable.
Abroad, India is caught between a rock and a hard place as concerns where to ally itself. Its hopes of basing its transportation, communications, energy and security corridors linked to those of Netanyahu's "greater Israel" are not working out for it while historical relations with Russia still smoulder as do problems with China which means that the peoples of Pakistan, Kashmir, Punjab, Nepal and other countries which straddle the borders of both countries continue to suffer.
Whether Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) forms the next government or there is a change of government to the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a coalition of the Congress Party and 16 other opposition parties, with Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister, these problems will still need to be addressed which these ruling elites do on the backs of the peoples of India who are turning new corners in the long struggle to empower themselves by adopting mass democratic methods which put the decision-making power into their own hands.
For instance, far from dividing their ranks behind this or that cartel party, farmers across India are asking politicians questions about their track record and promises. They launched a Jawab Do Hisaab Do campaign (Answer Us, Render Account). In thousands of villages they have put signboards up with 11 questions and they are asking the politicians to answer those questions. If they fail to do so, they are not permitted to enter the villages.
In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has ordered police to attack farmers, women and other people who are asking questions of candidates of different political parties. Harinder Singh Lakhowal, national coordination committee member of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), said, "The repression of farmers by Punjab police clearly indicates that the AAP is acting as the BJP's B team. We are warning the state government to release the farmers, or else we will intensify our struggle."
Following the arrest of farmer union leaders, effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann were burned in many villages across the state. In Haryana and Rajasthan also people are driving the candidates out of the villages as they do not want to engage in discussions with people. On May 12, in a Mahapanchayat (mass meeting) in Haryana, thousands of farmers passed a resolution to keep asking questions. Women, youth, Dalits are putting questions to MPs and other leaders about what they have done in the last five years. They are also asking the candidates why they are asking for the farmers' votes now after calling them anti-national, khalistanis, terrorists and much more during the farmers Morchas.
At a Mahapanchayat of farmers in Sisauli, Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh (UP) on May 15, the farmers once again resolved to intensify their struggle for Jal, Jungle and Jameen (Water, Forest, Land), no matter what the outcome of the elections. Calling it Sankalp Diwas (Day of Determination), farmers pointed out that a gang of oligarchs which represent narrow global private interests have taken over the central government and state and they are calling the shots. They also said that they will keep fighting until in the short term they get guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) while they are fighting for Faslon Kai Faislaiyy Kisan Karaig (the farmer will decide the crop) in the long term .
At a press conference on May 18, farmers warned the leaders of BJP not to threaten them for asking questions. They were referring to a statement by a BJP member of parliament who had said that they will deal with farmers after the elections are over and will teach them a lesson. Farmers said that these leaders behave like kings and think that they can run roughshod over people. All we want is answers to our questions, they said. In this vein, Punjab farmers invited representatives of all political parties to answer their questions in a rally in Jagraon on May 21.
Farmers in their thousands gathered at a rally in Kaithal Haryana on May 19, to discuss their ongoing struggle against the ruling elite and its attempt to steal their lands. A young woman farmer pointed out that there is a life and death struggle between two visions of the future. The vision of corporates and WTO is to steal lands, do industrial agriculture, turn farmers into labourers on their own lands, force them to go to cities and live in slums. This vision is promoted by all the political parties; BJP, Congress, AAP and others. The second vision of the future is the vision of farmers and other toilers who want to protect the land, receive a fair price for farm produce, control cost of inputs,, raise the standard of living of everyone so that they are not turned into charity cases by receiving 5 or 10 kilos of grain every month. She said that farmers and toilers have to do it. None of the political parties is interested in doing this as they all are funded by the corporates and defend their interests.
Thousands of farmers demonstrated with black flags, placards and signs at Prime Minister Modi's election rallies in Patiala, Jalandhar and Gurdaspur in Punjab. Army, paramilitary and police laid siege of these cities before his rallies and many leaders of the farmers were arrested and confined to their villages. Farmers broke through the barricades and reached the cities. They wanted to ask the Prime Minister questions, but he would have none of it. As usual he made big claims, complete lies, incitement of hatred and even claimed that his lineage is from one of the Panj Pyaras of Guru Gobind Singh (five baptized (Amritdhari) Khalsa Sikhs who act as institutionalized leaders for the wider Sikh community). In this way he constantly claims divine origins.
The rally held on May 21 in Jagraon, Punjab was massive. Farmers had invited candidates of all political parties to come and answer their questions but none of the candidates of BJP, Congress, AAP, or Akalis showed up. Farmers declared that they will ask questions to Modi when he comes to canvass for the BJP. On May 22, in sizzling 50 degree Celsius heat more than 200,000 farmers gathered on Shambhu, Khanauri, Ratanpuri and Dabwali borders on the 100th day of their protest for guaranteed MSP and other demands. Farmers declared that if it takes 100 months for demands to be fulfilled, they will stay there. They decided to ask questions to Modi.
Farmers' rally in
Jagraon, Punjab, May 21, 2024
A woman farmer pointed out that both Modi and Rahul Gandhi are claiming that they will give us this and that. Who are they? We are the producers of all the wealth, so who are they to make these claims as if they are doing us a favour? Another farmer said that some well-meaning people are forgetting that BJP has been in power only for the last ten years, before that for 60 years Congress and others were in power, they are the ones who signed agreements with the World Trade Organization (WTO ) and decided to steal the lands of the farmers.
Promises of every sort are raining down from the leaders of the cartel parties. Modi started with his "guarantees" followed by Rahul Gandhi's "guarantees" and also those of Kejariwal once he was released from prison on bail, tears in his eyes. Long ago, with his "tryst with destiny" in 1947, with tears in his eyes, Nehru "guaranteed" that he would wipe away the tears from every eye in India. Earlier Queen Victoria herself, having declared herself Empress of India, gave the "guarantee" of "peace, order and good governance." What the peoples of India got was plunder, looting, massacres and oppression. This has been the experience of the people of India for 166 years. Kejariwal, Modi and Rahul Gandhi are once again fooling around in a failed attempt to divert the polity. To claim he represents the peoples of India, and posture that his Congress Party is part of the solution, Rahul Gandhi stated the obvious, saying he accepts that 90 per cent of people have not benefitted from the policies of the last 70 years.
In governance, the current Indian state was first created in 1858 by the British and their local collaborator Maharajas and Jagirdars such as of Patiala, Sindhia, the Jagat Seths and industrialists such as Tata, Birla and others. In the economic realm, a top heavy totalitarian organization called a corporation was established by the British East India Company as a mechanism which destroyed local infrastructure and carried out production and extraction for huge profits. The Indian state remained dominated and controlled by these private interests after independence with the result that the peoples are in dire straits as never before. People are more determined than ever to create new formations and mechanisms that serve their needs and interests. They have been stepping up their struggle for affirmation of the rights of all.
Workers, women, farmers, toilers, Adivasis, oppressed castes have raised the demand for community control of resources, where people decide themselves what has to be produced, how much and at what price it has to be exchanged. In their mass meetings, the cartel parties do not mediate the electoral process and people participate in making the decisions on the course of action they need to take. This has become a historic necessity.
In the current election, they seek to defeat the present dispensation. If they can wrench some concessions, they will experience a small measure of relief. Secondly, they are clear they cannot harbour illusions about any party or coalition which comes to power. On the contrary, they are working to strengthen their unity and organizations which empower them and weaken the stranglehold of the corporations. No cartel party is interested in doing this. All of them are part of the cartel party system whose aim is to keep them out of the decision-making power.
Kisan Morcha, which the farmers call Kisan University, has presented a prototype for people to reproduce and readjust according to their needs depending on Desh Kaal (concrete conditions). The experience of the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) is another model that has come into being by women's own efforts that offers an alternative of economy and collective decision-making. In tribal areas also people have created self-organizing formations to protect their Jal, Jungle and Jameen (access to land, water and forest resources) for production, exchange and distribution. All these models are based on people relying on their own forces and keeping the neo-colonial state, corporations and cartel parties out of their formations. They open a path for a future needed by the people.
The two visions of India are clashing in these elections. The one promoted by the corrupt mass media is filled with reports of rampant voter suppression, rigging and violence against the people.
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 35 - May 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS543514.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca