[Reader-list] anti corruption movement in india a different view

[Rajkamal Goswami]

Instead of jumping to quick conclusions, sweeping assumptions, you
would have done better by posting a simple answer to a pretty
straightforward question. And whats the deal about 'you people'? Who
are these 'you people'? And how did you come to know that I represent
'you people'?

On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 1:20 PM, asit das <asit1917 at gmail.com> wrote:
> this is outright stifling totalitarianism more dangourous than thought
> police
> how shamelessly you people talk about pluralism, difference, democracy and
> liberalism.
> You just cant tolrate a different view point, different from the media
> frenzy and right wing
> euphoria.
>
> What do you mean by left extremism left is left, right is right. One has to
> make a choice.
> Do you mean that the list should only subscribe to right wing ideas,
> communal, castiest and pro-corporate view point or should the list be
> reserved for the Sangh parivar.
>
>
> Regards
>
>
> ASIT
>
> On Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 11:56 PM, Rajkamal Goswami
> <rajkamalgoswami at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> It is highly disappointing to read this piece of trashy propaganda
>> literature in Sarai. Before I begin my comprehensive critique of this
>> propaganda, I just wish to ask the folks who are subscribed to the
>> list: Is this list dominated by persons holding left-extreme left
>> ideology?
>>
>> regards
>> Rajkamal
>>
>> On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 12:16 PM, asit das <asit1917 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Manufacturing Dissent, Making Mahatmas: Manu, Market, Media
>> > And The Anti-Corruption Sham
>> >
>> >  *By Democratic Students' Union (DSU) *
>> >
>> > *All historical struggles, whether they occur in the political,
>> > religious,
>> > philosophical or some other ideological domain, *
>> > *are in fact only the more or less clear expression of the struggles of
>> > social classes – Engels *
>> >
>> >
>> > *When two events occur in the same space and time, more often than not,
>> > there is a correlation between the two. *On the one hand the Indian
>> > Army,
>> > paramilitary and police forces — acting so plainly and clearly on behalf
>> > of
>> > the Indian ruling classes and multinational corporations—which continue
>> > to
>> > mount a war on the people of central and eastern India in order to
>> > facilitate a naked appropriation of the region's resources is given
>> > marching
>> > orders to fight the most dispossessed yet resilient masses. Then there
>> > are
>> > 80% of the country's population forced to eke out a living on a mere
>> > Rs.20
>> > per day and over half of the children suffer from the permanent
>> > malnourishment because of the genocidal famine conditions their families
>> > have been placed under; land acquisition of a mammoth scale affects
>> > millions
>> > of people whose sole means of livelihood is being alienated from them;
>> > thousands of small peasants are forced to find ‘escape' from an endemic
>> > agrarian crisis by committing suicide; over 2700 bodies of Kashmiris
>> > murdered by the Indian army once again reveals a Kashmir under
>> > occupation by
>> > India and the crushing of its struggle for national liberation—to name
>> > but a
>> > few instances revealing the brutal and systemic exploitation, oppression
>> > and
>> > occupation. And people are waging resilient struggles in many parts of
>> > the
>> > country against the ruling classes. On the other hand a base,
>> > distasteful
>> > drama is unfolding in front of us—the drama of an ‘anti-corruption
>> > drive',
>> > which is supposed to serve India a ‘second independence'. Needless to
>> > say,
>> > although this latter ‘struggle' seldom refers to the first set of
>> > struggles,
>> > events and phenomena, there is so simple a connection between the two
>> > that
>> > the silence over the relation between the two sets is nothing but
>> > deliberate.
>> >
>> > *The ‘Second freedom struggle' is nothing but an attempt of the ruling
>> > classes to consolidate themselves. *The Indian ruling classes today face
>> > an
>> > immense crisis, and are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain the
>> > mask of ‘world's largest democracy'. Given the onslaught on the people
>> > and
>> > their livelihood—through the acquisition of resources such as land,
>> > forests
>> > and other means of livelihood; the steep price rise of basic
>> > commodities;
>> > the privatisation of health, transport, water, electricity and education
>> > —
>> > the state faces the resistance of militant peoples' movements. And
>> > everywhere, the state is responding to this discontent and resistance
>> > with
>> > brute force. In addition to this central crisis, the ruling classes were
>> > reeling under the exposure of a series of scams such as 2G, Commonwealth
>> > Games, Adarsh Housing, etc. involving unimaginable amounts of money. It
>> > is
>> > precisely these circumstances that have given rise to an
>> > ‘anti-corruption
>> > drive' led by the so-called civil society and made it possible for the
>> > corporate media to project a reactionary like Anna Hazare as a hero in
>> > the
>> > eyes of the urban middle classes. Sweeping under the carpet more urgent
>> > structural issues affecting the vast majority of people and their very
>> > survival, ‘Team Anna' has projected corruption as the central issue
>> > plaguing
>> > Indian society. The anti-corruption drive and the Jan Lokpal have been
>> > likewise offered as the solution to all the problems. By seeking a
>> > solution
>> > within the existing system and by demanding a more coercive institution
>> > within it to check ‘corruption', the Anna Hazare-led mobilisation has
>> > appeared in the political scene as a much-needed respite to the
>> > crisis-ridden ruling classes. This ‘second freedom struggle' led by
>> > ‘Team
>> > Anna' is nothing but the mobilisation of a section of the ruling classes
>> > aiming to rid themselves of the deep contradictions and the crises that
>> > threaten them to sweep off their feet. Through a draconian bill
>> > (government's Lokpal bill and the ‘Jan' Lokpal bill are the two sides of
>> > the
>> > same coin), the ruling classes are aiming for further centralisation of
>> > authority. No legislation can provide an answer to the deep-seated
>> > exploitative structures of the society and the social relations which
>> > are
>> > the root cause of so-called corruption.
>> >
>> > *Corruption: A Mere Symptom of Structural Exploitation and Oppression.
>> > *Through
>> > its exclusive focus on corruption, 'Team Anna' in effect blinds us to
>> > the
>> > system where wealth created by peasants and workers is appropriated by
>> > the
>> > ruling classes. No doubt, a bribe running into crores is mind-boggling.
>> > Yet,
>> > we are asked to ignore a simple fact—the amount of wealth appropriated
>> > by
>> > the corporations in the first place, which enables them to provide
>> > bribes of
>> > such an amount. Corruption itself is not a new phenomenon in India; it
>> > has
>> > been endemic to the exploitative and oppressive semi-feudal
>> > semi-colonial
>> > system which concentrates wealth and power in the hands of a few. But
>> > just
>> > as imperialist globalization has heightened the exploitation of the
>> > masses,
>> > resulted in the intensified feudal appropriation of the rural labouring
>> > people, massive corporate loot of resources, the selling of the
>> > country's
>> > land and other natural resources at ridiculously low prices to corporate
>> > houses already reaping benefits in the form of tax holidays, the scale
>> > and
>> > intensity of corruption has also increased in proportion. A disease
>> > cannot
>> > be cured by suppressing its symptoms; rather, the symptom subsides only
>> > when
>> > the disease is cured. Similarly, corruption will only disappear with the
>> > revolutionary transformation of society.
>> >
>> > *A Special Drama, its Sponsorship and Mobilisation: *Corporate Funding
>> > and
>> > RSS Backing of the Anti-Corruption Drive. That the anti-corruption drive
>> > is
>> > a diversionary tactic of the ruling classes is clear not only from its
>> > programme and its goals, but also from its funding. It was clear from
>> > its
>> > very inception that this drama is funded by the corporations and
>> > business
>> > houses –Ambanis, Tatas, Jindals to real-estate developers – that are
>> > involved in the most massive of scams. It is now also public knowledge
>> > that
>> > among the list of sponsors funding the key figures of this drama are the
>> > likes of Lehman Brothers and Ford Foundation. Hazare claims to have the
>> > full
>> > support of army and the police: the two most corrupt institutions of the
>> > country. Moreover, the chief engineer of this Gandhian and so-called
>> > non-violent mobilisation is the fascist RSS. The same fascist force that
>> > killed thousands of Muslims in the Gujarat pogrom, massacred Christians
>> > in
>> > Kandhamal, and organised the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid, Malegoan
>> > and
>> > Ajmer Sharif blasts is now mobilising for this ‘peaceful' second freedom
>> > struggle. As usual, the rhetoric of nation and nationalism is deployed
>> > to
>> > serve the interests of the ruling classes. The imagery, the slogans, the
>> > objectives of the movement are all brazenly replete with right-wing
>> > ideology
>> > which are proudly casteist and communal. The lead actors of this drama
>> > have
>> > notorious histories of being anti-reservation and pro-sangh parivar. The
>> > corporate media is therefore comfortable in exalting this movement with
>> > its
>> > ceaseless hyperbole. They have projected this movement as ‘unprecedented
>> > mass movement'. Last time it was the anti-reservation reactionary
>> > movement
>> > which had caught its attention. When huge masses had hit the streets of
>> > Kashmir demanding azadi, or in Lalgarh, Odisha, Chhatisgrah against
>> > corporate loot, the media remained silent.
>> >
>> > *AISA/CPI(ML) Liberation: The cheerleaders of ‘Team Anna' *. As far as
>> > AISA-Liberation is concerned, history is repeating itself, but this time
>> > as
>> > a farce. AISA was formed in the context of the anti-Mandal agitation—not
>> > as
>> > a progressive force in support of reservations, but using all the tricks
>> > in
>> > the book to oppose the Mandal recommendations through a sleight of hand.
>> > Liberation's Vinod Mishra, who opened up the portal through which the
>> > party
>> > forever exited its role as a communist vanguard, and instead became a
>> > trickster serving the ruling classes, went to extent of stating at the
>> > juncture of AISA's unholy birth that ‘just as we do not approve of those
>> > politicians who want to take revenge on the present-day progeny of
>> > Babar, we
>> > also reject those theoreticians who would punish the present-day
>> > offsprings
>> > of Manu for the crimes of their ancestors'. This is evidence not only of
>> > the
>> > party's characteristic double-speak, but is also blatantly right-wing —
>> > in
>> > short, Muslims are being called ‘Babar ke aulad'; reservations are seen
>> > as
>> > crimes against ‘upper'-castes; and the caste system itself is projected
>> > as a
>> > crime that occurred only in the past. Thus, while AISA in fact rode on
>> > the
>> > crest of the anti-Mandal mobilisation to consolidate itself in
>> > campus-spaces
>> > in pockets of north India, it is trying desperately to repeat its
>> > ‘success'
>> > formula — this time, by wedding itself to this RSS engineered and
>> > corporate
>> > funded anti-corruption drive of ‘Team Anna'. Indeed, they cry foul of
>> > the
>> > ‘undemocratic' Annas for not allowing them enough space to participate!
>> > Although in JNU they have maintained a crafty silence on Anna Hazare
>> > till
>> > now, the degeneration of AISA became blatant when on 16th August, they
>> > joined hands with ABVP in Delhi University's north campus in a
>> > ‘spontaneous
>> > protest' against Anna Hazare's detention, shouting together ‘patriotic'
>> > slogans like ‘Vande Mataram' and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai'!. When they filled
>> > the
>> > walls of DU with anti-corruption slogans, these were all appropriated by
>> > ABVP by a simple brushstroke — in each case, by simply replacing AISA's
>> > insignia with its own. The justification put forward by Liberation/AISA
>> > and
>> > some ‘enlightened' intellectuals for joining the cacophony of ‘I am
>> > Anna' is
>> > to save it from RSS and to replace ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai' with ‘Inquilab
>> > Zindabad'! Social-democrats of Germany also gave similar justifications
>> > for
>> > allying with the Nazis which ultimately helped the rise of Hitler and
>> > the
>> > crushing of the German revolution. The convergence of the
>> > communal-fascists
>> > and the ‘Marxist-Leninists'/civil-society/NGOs therefore speak volumes
>> > not
>> > only of AISA /Liberation's political bankruptcy, but is also a wake-up
>> > call
>> > for the progressive, democratic and revolutionary forces to prepare for
>> > a
>> > new phase of battle.
>> >
>> > *Hazare is a convenient blindfold for the middle classes. *Many of the
>> > people who are out on the streets now, genuinely want an end to the
>> > brazen
>> > corruption and the scams. But Hazare and his team have been entrusted
>> > not to
>> > raise the real questions but to shroud the real struggles. The end to
>> > corruption can only take place when the current economic policies are
>> > repealed, when the MoUs signed with various corporate giants are
>> > scrapped.
>> > And the Indian state, a loyal lapdog of imperialism will never change
>> > its
>> > policies on its own. To end corruption, the corrupt system needs to be
>> > overhauled. And that is what the revolutionary armed movement which is
>> > spreading like prairie fire across the country is fighting for. It is
>> > the
>> > resilient struggle of the revolutionary masses and not the
>> > corporate-funded,
>> > RSS-backed and media-hyped theatrics that will resolve the burning
>> > problems
>> > afflicting the people of this country.
>> >
>> > *Democratic Students' Union* (DSU) is an independent students'
>> > organisation
>> > active in JNU and Delhi University in the state of Delhi. It is a
>> > constituent of the All India Revolutionary Students' Federation (AIRSF),
>> > and
>> > works towards attaining the ideals of the New Democratic Revolution.
>> > _________________________________________
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Rajkamal
>
>



-- 
Rajkamal