RECENTLY, the government had to retract its proposal to tax withdrawal on provident fund deposits. Apart from sharp criticism and opposition from labour unions, there was also an overwhelming opposition from the employed sections, both government and private, who were not organised, to this proposal. A petition opposing taxing of EPF went viral and social media platforms were abuzz with witty criticisms against the government on the above two issues. What is most noteworthy is, this was the section that voted for Narendra Modi and was carried away with his plank of development before elections. The events unfolding thereafter are indications of the fading illusions of people on Modi and his government. Resentment of people gets reflected in such spontaneous incidents. Most important is that these are passive forms of resistance which are erupting spontaneously amongst the middle-classes.

Modi, since he assumed office at the Centre, has his focus on furthering the interests of the ruling class and consolidating his power politically. The resentment among the workers found its reflection in the general strike of September 2, 2015. The strike call, given by Central Trade Unions and independent national federations, had a massive response all over the country. Crores of workers and employees in almost all sectors of economy participated in the strike. It is also important to note that it was the first nationwide industrial action against the Modi government.

The ‘Occupy UGC’ movement and protests at FTII, UoH, JNU and Allahabad University are progressing from the path of agitation to struggles. On the issues of ‘Net Neutrality’ and ‘Free Basics’, lakhs of people participated in passive resistance methods and ensured scrapping of these policies that were not in favour of India. Though they appear to be spontaneous responses to the authoritarian attitude of the government, they have to be seen as reflections of growing dissent amongst youth. The days of ‘no-to-politics’ have gone. Such a change is not in the interest of the capitalist world order, so they would muster all strength to stop progressive thoughts from seeping into the mainstream. All these are indicators of a change towards progress.

The pre-2014 poll slogan of 'development' was perceived by a large section of the youth as stability in their livelihoods with development offering them employment and security. The promise of bringing back black money stashed abroad in 100 days created an illusion among the people who believed that the money would be used to generate employment with the establishment of industries. Failure to do so even after two years, is one of the reasons why BJP is being ridiculed. Rise in unemployment and the menace of under-employment is brewing. There are about 1.5 million students graduating from professional colleges every year and less than 10 per cent of them are getting absorbed into the industry. As a consequence of 'contractorisation' of employment, the implementation of reservations even in the government undertakings has gone for a toss. Recruitment to vacant posts for SC, ST and OBCs has also been kept in abeyance. All these are leading to increasing dissent amongst the educated marginalised sections of the society, as not even a single promise of Modi has been realised.

Though petroleum prices have gone down internationally, here in our country high rates are continuing with fluctuations. Against this background, the Modi government has given subsidies and tax concessions worth of lakhs of crores of rupees to the Indian big corporate sector. The government is completely engaged in serving the Ambanis and Adanis, aid crony capitalism, and protect Mallya, Sujana Group and IVRCL etc. Farmers, distressed due to drought, are being penalised, attacked, insulted and humiliated for not paying loans, while agri-business MNCs like Monsanto are being given tax concessions worth Rs 250 crore in the name of agriculture. Farmers are becoming a prey of usury where the state machinery and police at times are siding with the usurers, which is further intensifying distress and resulting in the increase of farmer suicides. Even the urban spaces are seeing notorious and nefarious forms of usury where families of those affected are being forced into human trafficking. One such large scale scandal that was brought to light was the 'Call Money' in the state of AP. This method is being pursued in many urban places across India.

The crisis that started in the US in 2008 has travelled through Europe and has hit our shores too. Economy has been slowing down since the last three years and is pitched for a further downfall. The crisis has started showing its impact on people and most significant is the impact on the youth. The hope that one would get absorbed into the labour market after graduating or completing education has been belied. The ambition of going abroad by taking loans is no more the popular mood, what confronts them is the very fear of being left unemployed even after completing education and carrying with them the burden of loans. The absence of confidence about one’s future and the glaring political corruption are resulting in rising dissent. Amongst the aspiring youth in particular and all sections in general, the iconic illusion of a 'capable hero with a 56-inch chest', has begun to fade.

Under the leadership of Central Trade Unions and industrial federations, the nation is once again gearing up for another general strike on September 2, 2016. We are also seeing a tide of struggles by municipal workers, anganwadi and scheme workers and many other sections of unorganised workers in all parts of the country. The recent kisan struggle in Nashik saw a massive participation of farmers. The government was forced to assure that their demands will be met within three months. The spread of dissent from workers, peasants, students, middle classes to all sections of the society is acting as a deterrent for the BJP from going ahead with its neo-liberal agenda.

The ruling party, aided by its fascistic parent organisation, is putting all efforts to divert the attention of people from the issues and concerns raised by people. It is in this context Modi has buried the slogan of 'development' and surfaced the debate of “nationalism vs anti-nationalism” to divert the attention of people from their day-to-day livelihood problems. For their inability to win a debate, they are engaging in violence and stifling of voices of dissent. On the one hand they speak of “minimum government, maximum governance” in their bid to opening up the economy to facilitate corporate loot and on the other hand, they do their best to intervene in the day-to-day lives of common people. They dictate what an individual should eat and wear and how to behave. The government is engaged in setting up a huge surveillance infrastructure that monitors all calls, emails and what individuals browse from every form of electronic communication. India’s keen interest in associating with US surveillance is well known, the recent being, the CIA outsourcing a certain part of drone operations to India. A civilian monitoring system to cut the benefits to people and create fear of being under the scanner is being put in place using Aadhaar. These are efforts to silence dissent and curtail democratic rights. With all its might, the government is set to suppress resistance. This suppression is multi-pronged, it operates in the sphere of ideology, physical attacks, deeply intrudes and wants to control the spiritual and cultural space. Science and Technology is effectively used to popularise pernicious predatory thought processes and reactionary ideology. The combine of government machinery and RSS organisational infrastructure is being used to unleash suppression.

Modi continues to pedal the neo-liberal reform agenda of Congress which, in turn, continues to extend its support to neo-liberal agenda that is being furthered by BJP. This is a visible phenomenon as was seen in the case of 'land grab' bill and other bills in Parliament. The Congress is very inconsistent in the fight against communalism. This inconsistency in compromising with the communal forces is evident historically since the post independence period, which precisely was the reason for the growth of communalism and communal forces in the country. Suspension of AIMIM MLA in Maharashtra Assembly was with the congress support and worse was a censure motion in Madhya Pradesh Assembly moved by Congress MLA. The Congress’ approach on dealing with the caste and communal issues is only to gain electoral benefits without any commitment to protect peace, harmony, people’s unity and national integrity. Where the Congress is in power, it is unleashing repression on mass movements, similar is the case of regional bourgeoisie parties.

The events unfolding clearly indicate a change in the objective situation which is now favourable for the re-emergence of Left in India. The change in perception among the youth will pave the way for us to reach out to them. The tendencies of careerism, earning money by any means, self-centred approach and individual well-being devoid of societal well-being will tend to further weaken in the coming days. It is this change that is motivating them to contest and question the ruling classes. There is a transformation of opinion from 'no to politics' to 'good politics'. Good governance without corruption, democracy free from dictatorship, secularism free off communal violence, peace from warmongering, development model without inequalities and an economic model without unemployment are some of the questions that are concerning youth.

To sum up, there is now a polarisation of those who are progressive and those who are regressive.  These are the questions that are knocking the agenda of Sangh Parivar and challenging them politically as well and this is precisely the reason for their intolerance. The current generation, which will be at a crossroad, has to decide on whether to be progressive or regressive and there is no mid way. It is after a gap of 25 years we see such ideas sprouting. It is in this background, particularly in the last three months, in the political and ideological arena, a Left vs Right battle has surfaced. This discussion is providing a space for the Left amongst the current generation. This space has to be utilised for the re-emergence of Left. We should thank Modi for giving birth to new forces and uniting all progressive forces including the Left and social streams!

CHALLENGE

BEFORE THE LEFT

The 21st Party Congress of the CPI(M), held in Visakhapatnam, has correctly visualised the changes that would be coming and the developments have proved our assessments to be correct. The Party Congress had reviewed our experience in the last three decades and stated the reasons why the BJP, the Congress, and regional bourgeois-landlord parties cannot be an alternative and has given a call for building a Left Democratic Front. With all the experiences we had of dealing with different combinations of regional and national bourgeoisie parties, it was concluded that the alternative is to build an LDF. The Plenum on Organisation, held in Kolkata, has laid the concrete steps that are to be taken to achieve our task of building a Left Democratic Front. The 21st Party Congress categorically directed, “The fight against communalism cannot be conducted in isolation. It has to be integrated with the struggle against the neo-liberal policies and in defence of the people’s livelihood.” The present situation demands that the Party show the alternative path to the new generation who are at a crossroads and in search for an alternative. (END)