Struggle For the Release Of Political Prisoners & For Democracy
The CPI (M)-led Left Front once again proved that there is no leftism left in them. The recent spate of state-terror would remind old-timers of the reign of terror of the seventies unleashed by the then Congress government led by the infamous man Siddhartha Roy. In those days it had been the whole of Naxalites that were attacked and a virtual war was declared against them.. Presently the apparent target of the L.F. government is one of the fractions of them—the Peoples' War Group. Night swoop on residential quarters with a large posse of armed police, arrest without mandatory arrest memo, despatching the detenues to unknown destinations, inhuman torture— both physical and mental, threat of re-arrest after gaining bail orders, etc.—all these old methods of state-terror of the seventies are now being found to be re-enacted. Political workers and even distant sympathisers are being arrested just on suspicion that they are connected with the PWG. Curiously, those who had parted way with PWG some months earlier were not spared. Add to it the recent news paper (TOI) report on CPI (M) sources saying that POCA is necessary to tackle also the increasing social unrest due to retrenchment and unemployment and we reach the inescapable conclusion that the present happenings in the state are nothing but a prelude to a bigger attack on the people and democracy.
Thanks to the continued coverage by the print and electronic media of the incidents of inhuman torture in police lock-up of Kaushik, a university teacher and forced suicide by Abhijit, a young customs officer, amongst others, the society seemed to have received a rude shock and stirred at the sudden exposure of state repression and that too by the Left Front government. The urban middle class, particularly the intelligentsia, were perhaps not prepared for the possibility that they would have to confront such experience in this state of West Bengal under the Left Front rule. In fact, police repression became a social issue, thanks to the media exposure. But if we look at the experiences of the workers and peasants during the last few years we shall find the same scenario in the fields and factories where the state repression has been continuing unabated, however of different shape and dimension. So long the urban society has been maintaining a cruel silence since all these have been happening outside the viewing range of this society. It is a common experience that whenever the workers in the face of the ever-increasing onslaught of the employers on the wake of the New Economic Policy, tried to fight back after organising separately abandoning the old established unions, they had to confront all out repression of the police and administration and also of the goons of the parties in power, particularly of CPI (M). Starting from the denial of union registration to attacks on struggle-camps near the factory gates, frequent arrests of worker leaders and intimidation in the police lock-ups, terrorising the workers and others by occasional police-raids in workers' 'mohallas'— all these show what would be the fate of the workers if they refuse to sing to the tunes of the old unions serving the capitalists. What else could call it other than state terror? Not the workers alone, but the landless and poor peasants are also being subjected to the same state repression, sometimes more violent wherever they dare to defy the authority of CPI (M) in particular. All these remain almost unnoticed. The long arm of the media does not reach these areas. But there is no doubt that one can not really oppose the state terror being forced by PWG at the moment and the torture on Kaushik, Partha and others by brushing aside the silently continuing state repression on the workers and peasants and their struggles. And then we will fail to truly uphold the flag of democracy.
It will, however, be an oversimplification to say that West Bengal has returned to the period of the seventies in its entirety. It is not because those in power have concern for democracy. It is because the ruling classes are still not finding it expedient to totally dispense with the mask of democracy, i.e. to throw overboard whatever little democracy we have in our country and lay bare before the people the full face of the basically autocratic state. In fact, the situation is not compelling for this. Since the defeat of the world proletariat the working class of our country, as an integral component of the international proletariat, is yet to turn around and the long continuing phase of submission to the ruling classes is not yet over. It had been a nice strategy of the ruling classes to use the degenerated old communist parties to corrupt the class consciousness and organisations of the workers and turn the people an appendage to the parliamentary framework on one hand and on the other, use the sharp teeth of the state machinery whenever necessary. The strategy is still there, thanks to the fragmentation of the proletarian vanguards. But if both the ever-expanding fascist preparation of the Sangh Parivar and the open attack on democracy in the state by the L.F. government are viewed in connection, then it is to wonder how long the present strategy of the ruling classes is going to stay and what a dreadful future lies ahead. Hence it is undoubtedly important to protest immediately, but it is more important for the class-conscious workers to link the present with the preparation for the future.
Anyway, it is becoming evident in this backdrop that the CPI (M) and its allies now care little for their left image, which has brought them to power in West Bengal. As they moved more and more to the right and finally took to the policy of globalisation, liberalisation, privatisation etc. in their own government, then they had to naturally shed off their erstwhile left-wing image and gradually abandon their petty-bourgeois reformist position. In fact, the incidents of political arrests and torture in the police lock-up, moving undauntedly towards the enactment of POCA and more particularly the declaration of the Chief Minister about the continuation of the police action which, in real terms has given a free hand to the police and that too in spite of protests even by intellectuals who are in their good book, clearly demonstrates the left mask has now become redundant to them. It is evident from the way they are appeasing the Indian big capital and the multinationals in a desperate bid to attract investment in the name of upliftment of West Bengal that correspondingly they must, with the same goal and ruthlessness, pounce upon even a small resistance of workers, even though, at present, these are mainly confined in the T.U. plane and are far off from the real resistance to the onslaught of the ruling classes. Needless to say that the Left Front, particularly the CPI (M) is not alarmed for the present only, they seem to observe an alarming future for them in the new unions and struggles and the emerging trend of defiance against CPI (M) in the landless and poor peasants. Because it is within their knowledge that although the communist revolutionaries are still disunited, it is either one or the other communist revolutionary group that is mainly in the leadership of these struggles or primary resistance of the workers and peasants or revolts against the old leadership. This is significant and CPI(M) is surely aware of it. It will, therefore, be a mistake to assume that the emerging struggles are the only their target of attack the political organisations in the leadership of these struggles are not in their consideration. The class-conscious workers must understand that what started today with PWG cannot be the end in itself. Why PWG is chosen first for attack is a different question; may be they have found it to be expedient and convenient for the moment.
Meanwhile, the class-conscious proletariat may not endorse the political-ideological line of the PWG, their approach towards the question of working class leadership and the particular use of revolutionary violence, but will never fail to consider these differences or deviations as problems within the working class movement to be dealt only within the parameter of ideological struggles. And it cannot and should not miss the point that state repression against PWG is an onslaught on democracy. It is an attack to stifle opposition that would dare to move beyond the limit imposed by them. It is an attack on whatever little rights to organise and struggle still exist and on one's right to follow any ideology according to one's personal conviction. The class-conscious proletariat, at the same time, must not succumb to the vigorous propaganda, both covert and overt, by the bourgeois ideologues justifying the use of violence on the part of the ruling classes, their state and army as their natural prerogative and painting any violence on the part of the masses, even if forced, as a crime against the society. They must not loose sight of the working class ideology of revolutionary violence, obviously not by a handful of persons, but by millions and millions of downtrodden and oppressed people. Irrespective of the existing political-ideological differences, it is for the cause of the people and for upholding the banner of struggle for democracy the recent spate of police actions— arrests and tortures— against political activists by just branding them as PWG activists should be opposed unitedly and to the last.
Yes, the people of West Bengal have opposed. There have been several protest rallies and conventions under the banners of APDR and Bandi Mukti Committee (Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners) separately and jointly. Middle class intelligentsia, ranging from teachers, professors to writers and artists belonging to various faculties raised their voices of protest and indignation that naturally received a wide coverage in the media. Although quite a good number of workers and peasants took part in a big protest rally in Kolkata in August, but they are on the scene in the way they should be and the movement itself demands. The most consistent and the leading fighter for democracy— the working class—is conspicuous by their absence as an organised force. It is obviously the absence of an united proletarian party and the generally prevailing passivity and disorganisation of the working class that are responsible for this sorry state of affairs. But what is more unfortunate is that no serious and conscious effort is being made by the communist revolutionary groups in general for preparing and organising the workers and the poorer sections of the peasantry for this struggle. The major trend in the present struggle for the release of political prisoners is found to be for more reliance, sometimes exclusively on the participation of intelligentsia, presumable reason being media coverage and urban effect. Most alarmingly, some can find another underlying trend that is influencing the movement in no less away. This is to harbour inhibition about a 'left image' of the Left Front leaders and sending covert overtures to them with the expectation of ?leftist? response on the question of release of Kaushik and others. This is not only opportunism, but also really dangerous for the movement. However, the importance of rallying all sections of the people, particularly the middle class intelligentsia is not to be undermined at all. But the point of concern lies in the denial of the fact that the struggle for the release of political prisoners being essentially a struggle for democracy, the present protest movement will not be able to overcome the limitations and develop into a real resistance struggle against the aggressive state terror unleashed by the L.F. government with the full backing of the ruling classes, unless the most consistent fighter for democracy, the working class, along with the peasantry, come forward and take the front rank in the struggle for upholding the great banner of democracy. It is hoped that the Bandi Mukti Committee will make conscious and consistent efforts towards mobilising the workers and peasants to infuse real strength to the protest movement they are leading. It is further hoped that the Bandi Mukti Committee will free itself from a even a slightest inhibition about the 'leftism' of the Left Front leaders.
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