[Marxism] Landless: The Struggle Continues

[Sayan Bhattacharyya]

On 7/2/07, Marla Vijaya kumar <marlavk at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> Sayan wrote: Yes, even while the CPI(M) is itself dispossessing small
> farmers and the landless in Singur and Nandigram. Ironic, isn't it?




      Sayan,
>       I  am sick and tired of the stink on foil about the meaningless
> tirade on  mainstream left by a bunch of armchair revolutionaries like Sukla
> Sen and Garga  Chatarjee. Enough of that nonsense. Do not drag Marxmail into
> the flame wars.


This has nothing to do with "Foil". The CPI(M)'s active role in
dispossessing small farmers and the landless in Singur and Nandigram, has
been discussed extensively on Marxmail itself.

Early on, until March-April of this year, I, too, thought that the criticism
of the CPI(M) in this regard was unjustified. However, as more and more
facts came to light, it became undeniably clear that the CPI(M) was engaging
in double standards.

The CPI(M) is reaping the fruits of the contradiction of a purportedly
marxist party accomodating and adapting to bourgeois politics.

During the 1977-2000 era, this may have served a useful purpose, because
within the Indian polity (albeit in isolated regions) the CPI(M) could and
did push through its progressive agenda -- land reform being the salient
example.

In the era of neoliberal globalisation, however, when the external framework
is no longer the bourgeois-nationalist state but global capital itself, this
adaptationism becomes lethal and regressive, because global capital is so
strong that there is no room for accommodating/adapting to it AND pushing
through a progressive agenda.

I don't for a moment doubt the good intentions of the CPI(M)leadership.
However, it is becoming clear to me that the contradictions of the situation
are increasingly pushing the CPI(M) to an indefensible position.

      The  struggle of the landless in Andhra Pradesh is a peoples' movement
> involving hundreds  of thousands of landless poor. Not only CPI and CPM, but
> factions of the  CPI(ML) also are participating in this. The Congress
> government in the state  has finally given in and called the left parties
> for talks tomorrow (3rd.  July). Not that there will be any agreement. But
> the Congress government is  scared of the momentum this struggle is picking
> up. Incidentally, the land  struggle in Andhra Pradesh is more than six
> decades old.



That's all good. However, it doesn't alter the fact that the CPI(M) is being
forced into playing a double game -- employing one set of standards where it
is  in power (West Bengal) and another where it is not (Andhra).