The socialist Party expresses its gratitude towards the Bihar voters who have voted for its candidates in the Bihar Assembly elections. They have cast their vote in favour of the collective heritage of the Freedom Struggle, the Indian Socialist Movement and the Indian Constitution. The Socialist Party has resolved to create an alternate to the nexus of the neo-liberal and communal forces on the basis of this very heritage.
The Socialist Party welcomes the result of the Bihar Assembly elections. If Mulayam Singh would have remained a part of the Mahagathbandhan, then this win would have been even more emphatic. If the secular parties could have come together in coalition at the time of the Parliamentary elections also, then the result could have been different. At the same time, the socialist Party appeals to the citizens of the country to give a serious thought to the prevalent politics based on the nexus of the neoliberal and communal forces. It is a good thing that the intellectuals have heaved a sigh of relief because of the win of the Mahagathbandhan in the Bihar elections. But the common populace, especially the minorities, are not going to get any real or enduring relief. The Socialist Party believes that calling the Bihar Assembly elections result a win of secularism against communalism is simplistic.
Indian history, since the time of the Freedom Struggle, clearly shows that the scourge of communalism has been wrecking havoc every once in a while. Communalism led to the division of the country wherein more than ten lakh people were massacred and Gandhiji was murdered. In independent India too, thousands have lost their lives to communal riots. Within these too, most of the victims are from the minority communities, whether they be Muslims, or the Sikhs who were massacred in the 1984 riots.
The communal character of the RSS-BJP and the communal fascist mentality of their current top leader Narendra Modi is an open truth. It has also been openly proved that they can go to any extent for getting the power and once they have the power then in their efforts of communal polarization. The truth that in the last three decades of neo-liberalism, the communal politics of RSS-BJP has enjoyed a lot of success is evident to everyone. It has sown the seeds of communalism deep into the society. Even in Bihar, communalism has made deep inroads. It won 31 out of 40 seats in the Parliamentary elections and even in these elections it has managed to get a good number of votes. It has become the foremost national party in the country after defeating the Congress.
All the satraps from all the states, including Nitish Kumar from Bihar, have played some role in helping the RSS-BJP reach the pinnacle of success. This automatically exposes the reality of the weakness of the secular politics in India. But the secularists shy away from this reality and celebrate the win of secularism in this or that election win.
According to the Socialist Party, it is also simplistic to call these results a victory of social justice. Winning political power through mobilisation of the dalit-backward votes is an important strategy of the politics of social justice. But this only if the political power thus gained is employed against the neo-liberal policies and moves towards the goal of social justice on the basis of the Directive Principles enshrined in the Constitution. The government policies should be designed on the basis of the fundamental values of the constitution like democracy, socialism and secularism; rather than on the dictate of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and national-international corporate houses.
It is an important indication that in the Parliamentary elections, the person who managed the election campaign of the big player of corporate politics, Narendra Modi, also prepared the election campaign for Nitish Kumar. If Nitish Kumar is not a player of corporate politics then he should at least fight against Modi government’s recent decisions of relaxing even more the foreign investment laws. He should give his complete support to the struggle going on to save the Indian education from the clutches of WTO. He should also challenge the open exploitation and loot of the country’s resources by the leaders and corporate houses. The intellectuals, who are excited about the results of the Bihar Assembly elections, should start a decisive struggle against the menace of neo-liberalism.
The mindless inflation in the name of development unemployment, migration, farmers’ suicides and a serious hit to the interests of small traders and businessmen is continuing under the present government even with more thrust. The reality of Modi’s empty promises is now evident. People are now aware that Modi is the ‘Pradhan Sewak’ of the corporate houses. As a result, the anger of the people against the central government is increasing. RSS-BJP will keep on fuelling communal sentiments to keep the people’s attention away from the real issues. If the grand struggle to destroy the neo-imperialist stranglehold continues, then the space for communalism will keep on shrinking.
Bhai Vaidya
President
