PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2011 ID-6274
.
Critique of Gandhian Leadership .
HI have sajd that the present movement... is bound to end in some sort ofcompromise or complete failure. .
I said that, because in my opinion, this time the real revolutionary forces have not been invited into the arena. This .
.
~ue .
is a struggle dependent upon the middle class shopkeepers and a few capitalists. Both these, and particularly the 1-eUl\ latter, can neyer dare to risk its property or possessions in any struggle. The real revolutionary armies are in the .e~r~ villages and in factories, the peasantry and the labourers. But our bourgeois leaders do not and cannot dare to J tackle them. The sleeping Iion once awakened from its slumber shall become ·irresistible even after the achieve-OJ!V .
/\OH.
ment ofwhat our leaders aim at. Afier his first experience with the Ahmedabad labourers in I920 Mahatma Gandhi .
( declared: "we must not tamper with the labourers. It is dangerous to make political use ofthe factory proletariat'' uaf..a (The Times, May 1921). Since then, they never dared to approach them. There remains the peasantry. The Bardoli sn~aJ.
'' ~ resolution of 1922 clearly depicts the horror the leaders felt when they saw the gigantic peasant class rising to e34! .
c .
shake offnot only the domi_nation ofan alien nation but also the yoke ofthe landlords. !J e U!.
l .
It is clear that our leaders prefer a surrender to the British than to the peasantry...." ssoJ:>, .
j" The War that exists at the heart of our 'democracy' JO:I39 .
, aJaM.
j .
In Bhagat Singh initial writings, there is an inclination towards anarchism and revolutionary terrorism, but he was quick to .
~NO~H .
recognize and grasp the superior revolutionary essence of Marxism. He spoke of the indispensable need for an organized ""Aa4l.
~ communist party and the centrality of a communist politics for independence and socialism. He emphasized the proper .
Od 34J..
.
combination of all forms of struggle and prepared a draft revolutionary programme that was marked by a consistent and.
l .
te >t:>eq.
.
' comprehensive revolutionary approach. .
\) a:UO}.
) The India of Bhagat Singh's dreams was no ram rajya, nor an idealized world of milk and honey. He warned against the .
terrifying dangers of communal politics and spoke in no uncertain terms against the brutal realities of caste oppression..
J ~4l pue .
The India that we live in today is no longer a British colony and the sun has long set on the British Empire. It is, howeve~ the 44=>!4M .
!p le;qa .
.
land ofthe brown sahlbs that Bhagat Singh warned against. 70% ofour people live on less than 20 rupees a day, but our rulers .
seM a4.
are far too busy attending banquets organized by the US President, leader of the biggest imperialist power in the world. Our .
sovereignty has been mortgaged to foreign interests. Love for the country has been redefined as 'love for the corporates". .
;od a41 .
Vast enclaves of land are being given over as tax-free havens of corporate loot and plunder. When people suffer, the state pu!4aq turns a blind eye; when they protest, it turns a deaf ear. A state of war has been declared: it goes by the name of 'Operation .
I UO!~aJ .
Green Hunt' whose targets are the poorest people: the dalits and the adivasis of our land. The Indian state today is as .
>pa\qo .
unafraid as its colonial predecessor to shoot down people when they raise the flag of protest. O!Se..lqesatJnlut.
From Bbagat Singh's last ~'Petition to the Punjab governor": . . . "Let us declare that the state ofwar does exist andshall exist so long as the Indian toiling masses and the natural od a41 resources are being exploited by a handful ofparasites. They may be purely British Capitalist or mixedBritish and .
p Ata"!s Indian or even purely Indian. ... All these things make no difference. ... The war shall continue. .
It may assume different shapes at different times. It may become now open, now hidden, nowpurely agitational, nowfierce life anddeath struggle. It shall be waged ever with new vigour, greater audacity and unflinching .
determination till the Socialist Republic is established and ... every sort ofexploitation is put an end to and the .
humanity is ushered into the era ofgenuine andpermanent peace." .
The face of freedom .
Yet Bhagat Singh lives on in the struggles of our times and the cry of "lnquilab Zinda bad" still resounds. Beyond the films, .
.
beyond the statues in parliament, beyond the attempts of India's ruling class to subvert Bhagat Singh's revolutionary legacy, .
'~ .
his memory endures. It has lived on in Kayyur and Punnapra-Vayalar, in Tebhaga and Telengana, In Naxalbari, Srikakulam, .
Bhojpur and Nandigram. .
BhagatSingh's nationalism began with the students and the youth. He urged that they should go deep among the masses, to .
the colonies of workers and hamlets of the rural poor. For all those of us who wish to fight for an Anti-Imperialist and pro-.
I .
people patriotism, Bhagat Singh is the face of that freedom. For those of us who wish to raise the voice of protest against .
imperialist agendas, against corporate loot, against draconian laws, against caste violence, religious fundamentalism and .
patriarchy, Bhagat Singh provides us energy and inspiration. .
We remember also the words of Com. Chandrashekhar, who responded to a question asked to him during the JNUSU Presi-.
dential debate with the fearless reply: 'Yes, I have ambitions. My ambitions are to live like Bhagat Singh and die like Che .
.
GuevaraI' .
To speak ofBhagat Slngh-Sukhdev-Rajguru, to speak ofrevolutionary poetAvtarSingh Paash, to speak ofChandrasekhar .
.
is to reclaim our history, to make it our own, to declare this country is ours; It does not belong to Imperialist capital or its 1ua8seM .
t\:IHN a4J..
Indigenous agents. It Is to declare that while we are witness to the suffering ofourstruggling people, we shall also bear .
witness to their liberation! Ol·£·oz .
Sucheta.
ShephaJika .
Gen. Secy, AISA, JNUPresident, AISA, JNU .
"'1'1"" -. . . . .
.
PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2011 ID-6274
.
Critique of Gandhian Leadership .
HI have sajd that the present movement... is bound to end in some sort ofcompromise or complete failure. .
I said that, because in my opinion, this time the real revolutionary forces have not been invited into the arena. This .
.
~ue .
is a struggle dependent upon the middle class shopkeepers and a few capitalists. Both these, and particularly the 1-eUl\ latter, can neyer dare to risk its property or possessions in any struggle. The real revolutionary armies are in the .e~r~ villages and in factories, the peasantry and the labourers. But our bourgeois leaders do not and cannot dare to J tackle them. The sleeping Iion once awakened from its slumber shall become ·irresistible even after the achieve-OJ!V .
/\OH.
ment ofwhat our leaders aim at. Afier his first experience with the Ahmedabad labourers in I920 Mahatma Gandhi .
( declared: "we must not tamper with the labourers. It is dangerous to make political use ofthe factory proletariat'' uaf..a (The Times, May 1921). Since then, they never dared to approach them. There remains the peasantry. The Bardoli sn~aJ.
'' ~ resolution of 1922 clearly depicts the horror the leaders felt when they saw the gigantic peasant class rising to e34! .
c .
shake offnot only the domi_nation ofan alien nation but also the yoke ofthe landlords. !J e U!.
l .
It is clear that our leaders prefer a surrender to the British than to the peasantry...." ssoJ:>, .
j" The War that exists at the heart of our 'democracy' JO:I39 .
, aJaM.
j .
In Bhagat Singh initial writings, there is an inclination towards anarchism and revolutionary terrorism, but he was quick to .
~NO~H .
recognize and grasp the superior revolutionary essence of Marxism. He spoke of the indispensable need for an organized ""Aa4l.
~ communist party and the centrality of a communist politics for independence and socialism. He emphasized the proper .
Od 34J..
.
combination of all forms of struggle and prepared a draft revolutionary programme that was marked by a consistent and.
l .
te >t:>eq.
.
' comprehensive revolutionary approach. .
\) a:UO}.
) The India of Bhagat Singh's dreams was no ram rajya, nor an idealized world of milk and honey. He warned against the .
terrifying dangers of communal politics and spoke in no uncertain terms against the brutal realities of caste oppression..
J ~4l pue .
The India that we live in today is no longer a British colony and the sun has long set on the British Empire. It is, howeve~ the 44=>!4M .
!p le;qa .
.
land ofthe brown sahlbs that Bhagat Singh warned against. 70% ofour people live on less than 20 rupees a day, but our rulers .
seM a4.
are far too busy attending banquets organized by the US President, leader of the biggest imperialist power in the world. Our .
sovereignty has been mortgaged to foreign interests. Love for the country has been redefined as 'love for the corporates". .
;od a41 .
Vast enclaves of land are being given over as tax-free havens of corporate loot and plunder. When people suffer, the state pu!4aq turns a blind eye; when they protest, it turns a deaf ear. A state of war has been declared: it goes by the name of 'Operation .
I UO!~aJ .
Green Hunt' whose targets are the poorest people: the dalits and the adivasis of our land. The Indian state today is as .
>pa\qo .
unafraid as its colonial predecessor to shoot down people when they raise the flag of protest. O!Se..lqesatJnlut.
From Bbagat Singh's last ~'Petition to the Punjab governor": . . . "Let us declare that the state ofwar does exist andshall exist so long as the Indian toiling masses and the natural od a41 resources are being exploited by a handful ofparasites. They may be purely British Capitalist or mixedBritish and .
p Ata"!s Indian or even purely Indian. ... All these things make no difference. ... The war shall continue. .
It may assume different shapes at different times. It may become now open, now hidden, nowpurely agitational, nowfierce life anddeath struggle. It shall be waged ever with new vigour, greater audacity and unflinching .
determination till the Socialist Republic is established and ... every sort ofexploitation is put an end to and the .
humanity is ushered into the era ofgenuine andpermanent peace." .
The face of freedom .
Yet Bhagat Singh lives on in the struggles of our times and the cry of "lnquilab Zinda bad" still resounds. Beyond the films, .
.
beyond the statues in parliament, beyond the attempts of India's ruling class to subvert Bhagat Singh's revolutionary legacy, .
'~ .
his memory endures. It has lived on in Kayyur and Punnapra-Vayalar, in Tebhaga and Telengana, In Naxalbari, Srikakulam, .
Bhojpur and Nandigram. .
BhagatSingh's nationalism began with the students and the youth. He urged that they should go deep among the masses, to .
the colonies of workers and hamlets of the rural poor. For all those of us who wish to fight for an Anti-Imperialist and pro-.
I .
people patriotism, Bhagat Singh is the face of that freedom. For those of us who wish to raise the voice of protest against .
imperialist agendas, against corporate loot, against draconian laws, against caste violence, religious fundamentalism and .
patriarchy, Bhagat Singh provides us energy and inspiration. .
We remember also the words of Com. Chandrashekhar, who responded to a question asked to him during the JNUSU Presi-.
dential debate with the fearless reply: 'Yes, I have ambitions. My ambitions are to live like Bhagat Singh and die like Che .
.
GuevaraI' .
To speak ofBhagat Slngh-Sukhdev-Rajguru, to speak ofrevolutionary poetAvtarSingh Paash, to speak ofChandrasekhar .
.
is to reclaim our history, to make it our own, to declare this country is ours; It does not belong to Imperialist capital or its 1ua8seM .
t\:IHN a4J..
Indigenous agents. It Is to declare that while we are witness to the suffering ofourstruggling people, we shall also bear .
witness to their liberation! Ol·£·oz .
Sucheta.
ShephaJika .
Gen. Secy, AISA, JNUPresident, AISA, JNU .
"'1'1"" -. . . . .
.