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April 22nd is here
again. On this the 35th anniversary of Party formation we commemorate this
entire issue to the question of the boycott of elections — a tactic that was
central to the CPI(ML), which inspired an entire generation to reject the
present system and take to the path of people’s war. The boycott of the
elections was the central symbolic aspect of this new line for the rejection of
all forms of revisionism and reaction. It was the single most important concrete
step demarcating the new revolutionaries — products of Naxalbari — from all
earlier types of parliamentary Marxists. The clarion call from Com. Charu
Mazumdar was Boycott Elections; Initiate Armed Struggle!!
Elections have been
associated with parliamentary cretinism; all forms of self-indulgence,
corruption and degeneration of communist values; passive resistance instead of
violent revolution; legalism instead of secret organization; bourgeoisfication
of the Party instead of its proletarianisation; ideological putrification
instead of creative application of Marxism to the Indian reality; and, in
essence, promoting class collaboration instead of class struggle. The course the
CPI/CPI(M) has traversed is witness to this. The CPI participated in elections
even before the transfer of power, gaining British colonial legitimacy. They
have since graduated from being reformist parties to ruling class parties and
now the CPI(M) has turned into social-fascists.
Today, 35 years
later, how valid is the slogan "Boycott of Elections"? Some, who have
given up the Naxalbari path, say it is outdated. Some say we can use it as a
tactic in the period of preparation, which never appears to finish and continues
for decades. Some say that it amounts to anarchism and sectarianism. And the
rulers equate the boycott of elections with ‘terrorism’. To answer all these
questions in the light of the forthcoming elections, People’s March brings out
this "Special Election Issue" .
Those who boycott
have to face criticisms from all sides — the revisionists, the neo-revisionists,
rightist elements within the Maoist camp, as also the outright open
reactionaries. Though they may argue from many angles their essence is the same
"join the ‘mainstream’"; seek acceptability and respectability in the
eyes of the ruling classes and their dominant media; give up the path of
revolution and armed struggle.
Many of these
organsations criticize the PW and MCCI as anarchists without any mass base, yet
it is they who continue to remain as fringe groups with little mass base, while
the former have a huge sweep in vast tracts of AP, Bihar, Jarkhand, Dandakaranya,
and a presence in 10 to 15 more states of the country. Even the outright
revisionists of the CPI(ML) Liberation, has seen its mass base in its home turf
of Bhojpur shrink and whatever little growth there may be in other areas is
geared to vote-catching, not struggle. As far as the other ‘M-L’ groups go
(except for the Janashakti, which has its major mass influence in their armed
struggle areas), they mostly exist in isolated pockets with the bulk of their
‘mass work’ being economistic in character. So, it is a false bogey sought to be
created by the neo-revisionists and right wing ‘Maoists’ that those who boycott
and lead armed struggle have no mass base, while those who do not, have great
mass work. In fact it is the opposite that is the ground reality, if anyone
would care to take a close look, beyond the rhetoric. Besides, it can be seen by
all, that it is the real revolutionaries who are the most selfless fighters for
the oppressed masses living frugally with the poor people and giving their most
precious lives for the cause of revolution, while the parliamentarians have only
their eyes focused on climbing up the ladder to ‘better’ their personal lives
for them and their families; with corruption being synonymous with
parliamentarism.
Comrades and Friends,
The world-over we see
this ‘democratic’ farce being re-enacted by the imperialists, whether it be
after the occupation of Afghanistan or now in Iraq. Desperate to give a
democratic mask to their puppet regimes they seek to push some form of
elections. The Loya Jigra in Afghanistan is another such stunt, where the puppet
Hamid Karzai (an ex-employee of the oil giant, Unocol) heads a government whose
reach does not extend beyond Kabul. In Iraq the situation is even more farcical,
when on Jun. 30th the US plans to "hand over the reins of power to the
so-called local government". The present puppet regime of mafia expatriates,
brought up in the west, is sought to be legitimised by some fake elections under
the safe protection of bombs and tanks of the US-led occupying forces. The
situation in Iraq has a stunning similarity with India under British rule, which
implanted parliamentary ‘demo-cracy’ whose scope was systematically extended,
proportional to the development of the people’s upsurge. Even in the developed
countries of the world, while elections may continue, within its umbrella,
increasingly fascist measures are being introduced in the name of fighting
‘terrorism’ — like the homeland security system in the US. The spectre of George
Orwell’s 1984, of every citizen under a 24-hour scrutiny of "Big Brother",
haunts not the communists but the bourgeois system.
Democracy is a
much-abused word in the current world. It is conveniently used to counter all
forms of resistance to reactionary rule. It is now used to portray the
superiority of western civilization, in its effort to denigrate the entire
Islamic world with theories like that of the "Clash of Civilisations". It
is used by the anarchists, NGOs and WSF-types to negate systematic organized
resistance to the reactionaries and imperialists, and create ineffective,
impotent platforms that are convenient for the powers that be. It is also used
by post-modernists to negate any new power that they claim will only replace
existing bureaucratic power with another one — thereby, indirectly giving
legitimacy for the continued existence of the present reactionary, or even
fascist power.
So, those who boycott
are not anti-democratic, but in fact the most democratic as they refuse to
accept a gigantic hoax on the masses, where a highly anti-democratic regime is
made to look like a democracy through the five-yearly routine of casting votes.
Particularly in a country like India where every aspect of the life of the
people is autocratic — not just its polity (which is now growingly becoming
fascistic), but even its social, cultural and economic life — the electoral
framework is all the more farcical. What those who boycott seek to achieve is a
genuine democracy for the majority of the people of the country — for the
oppressed masses, the middle classes and even a section of the small indigenous
bourgeoisie that stands up against imperialism and feudalism. Of course the
imperialist robber barons, their comprador agents and the semi-feudal elite will
have no place in this new and real democratic system. Their ‘democratic’ right
to loot the country and its people will not be allowed.
On the occasion of
the 35th anniversary of the CPI(ML) formation let all revolutionaries once again
vow to continue on the path set by Naxalbari, not mechanically, but by creative
application to the present context. The urgent need is to build a single unified
Leninist Party in the Country that can lead the Indian revolution through all
the twists and turns. The call of the hour is to boycott the forthcoming
elections, expose the gigantic hoax of India being the largest democracy in the
world, and march forward on to the Maoist path set by the great martyrs of the
Indian revolution.
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