All-India convention against fascist offensive staged in Delhi- Part 1

HAIL THE GLORIOUS CONVENTION COMBATING THE POISON OF SAFFRON FASCISM.EVEN COMRADES OF THE MAOIST CAMP OR OF THAT TREND FELT IT WAS AN OUTSTANDING SUCCESS IN DEALING WITH FASCISM AT ITS VERY BASE,LIKE COMRADE RAVI NARLA,FORMER APRSU LEADER AND SUKHWINDER KAUR OF LOK SANGRAM MANCH. PUNJAB. A GLORIOUS CHAPTER WAS WRITTEN IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FASCISM IN HE COUNTRY.MAJOR CONTRIBUTION HERE OF CPI ML (NEW DEMOCRACY) BEING THE CHIEF ARCHITECTS.GREAT SPEECHES BY ARUNDHATI ROY AND VENUGOPAL RAO.


By Harsh Thakor

Around 800 people from all over India congregated the hall for the All-India convention against fascist offensive staged in Delhi on February21-22nd. It was arguably the most significant and progressive event in the progressive revolutionary movement today when Hindutva fascism has reached it's ultimate crescendo or a height not attained since Independence. Hindu Safron ideology has penetrated every rung of society deeper than ever before. Democratic voices have been stifled at a level surpassing even the emergency with the foisting of false cases and arrests of genuine democratic activists like Sudha Bharadawaj, Rona Wilson, Anand Teltumbde etc. If the present BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) regime wins the next elections even the limited rights or liberties prevailing in bourgeois democracy may be stripped. The Muslim minority has never lived in such peril as today with the administration virtually given a license to attack them.

A glorious chapter was written in the struggle against Hindutva fascism. I congratulate the forces particularly of the  Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) C.P.I.(M.,L.) New Democracy, being the main organizers of this historic convention. They did most painstaking work in preparing people for this event. The majority of the ranks that participated were from this stream. The group did remarkable work in mobilizing their mass organization forces here like Punjab Students Union, Indian Federation of trade Unions, Naujwan Bharat Sabha. Etc. Significant that workers, peasants and students participated. Main participation was from Punjab, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh but also some people from Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar etc. However cadre from other streams also participated. Comrades from the pro-C.P.I.(Maoist) ranks like Ravi Narla and wife Anuradha and Sukhwinder Kaur of Punjab Lok Sangram Manch greatly praised the convention, terming it as an outstanding success. Thus generally Maoist stream supported the approach here. Also notable support from the C.P.I.(M.L.)PCC whose leader addressed the convention. Negligible participation from streams like C.P.I.(M.L.), C.P.I.(M.L.) Liberation and C.P.I.(M.L.) Red Star which reflected the sectarianism prevailing today. The ranks of the C.P.R.C.I.(M.L) supported the event from outside but did not wish to join the preparatory committee .They felt that it was only focusing on the B.J.P. fascism and shading no light on the Congress. It also felt there was not adequate emphasis on revolutionary class struggle to fight fascism. Notable that Narain Dutt of Inquilabi Kendra became part of the preparatory committee formed.

Prof Manoranjan Mohanty, in his capacity as head of the reception committee, welcomed the delegates and the dignitries on the dias. The inaugural address was made by Justice (retd.) Janardhan Sahai of Allahabad High Court, followed by the address by acclaimed writer Arundati Roy.

The most impactful speech was by Arundhati Roy. First she thanked the organizers ,spoke about the great diversity of people present in the hall. and how all the speakers would redress the apects of land, workers, peasants, education, adivasis etc. when India had still to emancipate the workers ,peasants and a divasis who were still living in a state of turmoil. Caste, Capitalism, communalism and corporatism in her view were an integral part of India's social order. under Narendra Modi. She placed stress on the aspect of inequality and need for re-distribution of wealth. She reflected on the question of divide and rule which she felt did not originate in the time of British rule but in the Social system prevalent thousands of years ago which gave birth to the caste system. Caste was capitalism in her view. She explained that today corporate monopoly in agriculture had replaced the traditional semi-feudal order, thus creating phenomena of corporate feudalism. In her view today we are strangulated by the Emergency of communalism ,attack on minorities linked to emergency of inequality -Arundhati referred to the 1967 naxalbari struggle in this context with light to land to the tiller, equality, re-distribution of wealth. Made a comparison of days of naxalbari to today on issue of adivasi land. She gave an example that the wealth of the 9 richest people in India was more than the rest of the population of the nation together. The wealth of Ambani itself was in her view more than the total money invested by the govt. in the people. Arundhati demanded tax on wealth, regulation on inheritance ,cap on how many businesses one could own and other curs on the filthy rich. Spoke about how the so many TV channels were controlled by the Corporate forces which brainwashed the people .Felt we really have to talk about structures to the, particularly polarization of attacks dalits. Privatization of education has destroyed any gains achieved by dalits through reservation etc. Since 1947 the army has been deployed in every boundary of the country to suppress various sections of the people. She felt we must demand justice and not just human rights. Spoke about artificial intelligence or automation which was robbing people of employment and replacing all manual labour with robots. Everyone must have a minimum wage right to health, education etc. She explained the new surveillance system made we must return to our most revolutionary demands of an equal society and justice in her view.

AIKMS national president Comrade V Venkaramaih  Pradeep of IFTU Rajinder of Punjab Students Union, Aparna of IFTU, Anil Sadagopal, Biswasjeet Chakraborty, Uma Chkraborty, Sead Naqvi Mashkoor Ahmed Usmani (last year's president of Aligarh Muslim University Students Union), Chandrashekar Azad (Bhim army) and Venugopal Rao also adressed the convention. Venugopal Rao with elaborate detail summarized the socio-economic conditions of India and its connection with the govt. policies. related how Hindu saffron fascism was accentuating the economic crisis and aggravating the poverty or disparity. In depth he described the fascist nature of the RSS-BJP combine and how it was destroying the very backbone of constitutional democracy. Pradeep summarized the objectives of the convention and the general economic crisis in relation to politics of Hindutva. Senior journalist Saeed Naqvi spoke of the role of the mainstream media in Fascist Onslaught and the possibilities for alternative media. Prof Biswajeet Chakrabarty from Assam addressed the issue of 'National Citizens Register' and the 'Citizenship Amendment Bill. 'Known Hindi journalist and political critique, Anil Chamadia addressing the session on 'Media and the Fascist Onslaught' 3 plays were staged on caste oppression.

At the end an 11 member preparatory committee was elected.

Significantly the social media blanked out .This is a perfect illustration of how the media functions as a tool of the Corporate houses and also blows the trumpet of Saffron ideology.

The expected blanking out by the media notwithstanding, successful conclusion of the 'All India Convention Against Fascist Onslaught' on the 22nd shall definitely add to the ongoing struggle against 'Hindutva Fascism.'

RESOLUTION 

Resolution adopted at the end of the convention

We have come together at the All India Convention Against the Fascist Offensive, here at New Delhi this 21st and 22nd February 2019,

Recognizing that:

There is a grave threat of fascism both here at home and abroad. As the world faces a deep and possibly irrecoverable crisis of capitalism and growing competition with in imperialist countries: in many countries across the world we are witness to growing fascism in the form of racist movements of white supremacy and anti-immigration;

In India, since coming to government in May 2014 the BJP-RSS have attacked religious minorities especially Muslims, women, Dalits and Adivasis in order to create a homogeneous society rooted in the RSS’s ideology of Hindutva as the sole conception of nationalism;

The BJP governments, both at the centre and in the states have allowed Sangh Parivar promoted vigilantes to set about enforcing their hegemonic majoritarian ideology through mob lynching and violence while the government has supported the vigilantes through inaction and failure to enforce law;

The ideological hegemony of Hindutva has been sought to be pressed through legislative change in the form of the beef ban, the NRC, the Citizenship Bill, the Triple Talaq Ordinance etc.;

There is a concerted attack on rationalist and scientific thought – including through the day light murders of Dhabolkar, Pansare, Kulburgi and Gauri Lankesh – on universities, on student unions and on the education system as a whole;

The BJP in government at the centre has sought to destabilize parliamentary democracy as it exists with the executive abrogating to itself powers away from the legislature, undermining the independence of judiciary and devaluing agencies of government that are autonomous of the executive;

The BJP through its commitment to fiscal conservatism has presided over an economic policy that serves the interest of the big bourgeoisie and big land lords resulted in rising inequality resulting in the huge transfer of incomes from the poor to the rich, demobilizing of the agrarian economy resulting in the immiserisation of the peasantry, undermining of the manufacturing industry through devaluing the public sector and opening the economy up for FDI in all areas and destabilising the financial system by attacking public sector banks; and therefore presiding over the largest levels of unemployment in five decades; and promoting demonitisation and GST to centralise the economy;

There have been various amendment through B JP state governments in relation to LAAR Act, resulting in continuing displacement, and labour laws, devaluing the limited workers rights enjoyed, and various attempts by the union government to do so;

The BJP government has attacked the right to nations and peoples through the unrelenting attack in J&K, and the north eastern states persisting with deployment of the army an d providing it cover under AFSPA, seeking to advance a foreign policy that demonises Muslims and targeting Pakistan; promoting jingoism, bigotry and xenophobia in the name of nationalism, indulging in war mongering and creating at times a war like situation;

The BJP has actively compromised with imperialist forces in advancing its agenda;
By creating the spectre of the ‘urban naxal’ and such other the BJP has sought to create a climate of ‘anti-nationals’ and to this end has employed the draconian laws of UAPA and NSA, in order to put away democratic rights defenders, intellectuals, lawyers and trade unionists in order to supress dissent, the freedom of speech an d create fear and attacking the right to freedom of association;

Understanding that:

There is a growing resistance to the agenda of the BJP-RSS from a range of forces including at the level of states and from our own organisations through various platforms and fronts;

Yet, the agenda of the BJP-RSS being pressed through the strengthening of the executive, centralizing control of society and the economy and promoting aggressive nationalism in terms of majoritarian Hindutva makes for the basic structure of a fascist state that calls upon us to build a stronger countrywide resistance;

The rising fascist offensive has to be met and fought back by the broadest possible united front bringing together all democratic, progressive and militant forces together to fight against the fascist organizations and the state.

And so as to advance this struggle countrywide we come together and go forward from here as “All India Forum Against Hindutva Fascist Offensive’

Calling upon all democratic, progressive and militant forces to come together and unite to reverse this offensive and in so doing join our energies and our strengths in one voice and in one struggle against imperialism and fascism through countrywide actions on:

23rd March 2019 marking the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh &

13th April 2019 marking the 100 years of the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre.

To be continued=>