Launching ‘Elaan’

While launching “elaan”, the clarion call of the New Socialist Movement, one cannot but recall the opening lines of the “Manifesto of the Communist party” written by Marx-Engels way back in 1848:

“A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies…”

Yes, a spectre, though young and embryonic, has indeed come into existence to become the beacon for the struggling masses of Gujarat and ofcourse, the spectre to fear, hate and to be exorcised by exploiters of all hue!

Ever since the middle of the nineteenth century, the capitalist world has been fondly waiting for the spectre of communism to vanish and they really believed that it had happened  with the fall of Soviet Union in 1990s; the old communist parties that carried out the gigantic historical tasks of transforming the Soviet Union and China from backward semi feudal stage to the post second world war advanced societies, were  perhaps not equipped to lead the peoples struggle in the post colonial period after the second world war. Dialectics, however, do not cease to operate. Like the fresh new leaves after the grey autumn, new ideas bloom. New parties are born. Some struggle to break away from the past whereas some are born free.

The soil of Gujarat however, has never been fertile for any communist movement to take roots; the working class movement under the Majoor Mahajan Sangh, influenced as it was by Gandhiji’s ideas of trusteeship, not only destroyed the working class militancy but stifled the growth of any progressive or revolutionary ideas. This void allowed the BJP led forces to capture the centre stage and create a formidable rightist state machinery by 2000. All political opposition was subdued including the weak CPI(M) and CPI. Under these fascistic conditions, the dialectical opposite was born. The New Socialist Movement (NSM) which was functioning as a quasi-political organization ever since 1989 alongwith its two sister organizations, the Gujarat Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) and the Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM), decided to shed its ambiguity and declare itself as a political party in 2002.

The birth of NSM was a direct consequence of the situation created after bloody massacre of the Muslims who were systematically butchered with the help of the State machinery in 2002. NSM firmly stood by the side of the minorities and led a militant anti-communal struggle in every possible front including in the legal battles. In the specific conditions of Gujarat on and after 2002, the party adopted an anti-communal, pro-democracy mass-line within a broad anti-globalization coalition. Different struggles of different marginalized sections were brought under a common banner and the communal division was combated through joint struggles

Elaan will be initially published in English and Gujarati language and will share with the readers its experiences of the past seven years both in the sphere of practice as well as theory.

The happenings in West Bengal are ofcourse of foremost interest to all communists since the events of Nandigram, Singur and now Lalgarh reflects the deep malaise of the left forces in India. We deal with that event as well as the latest development in the Nanavati Commission at the other end of the country. The consolidation of the trade union struggles under the banner of the Trade Union Centre of India at the national level would perhaps create the genuine revolutionary mass organization that the left movement desperately needs today. We are proud that the first issue of Elaan starts with the clarion call to the working class to participate in the national protest day on 13th August, 2009.

Elaan is not just the declaration of the struggle of the New Socialist Movement but is a determination to be the voice of the new left!

5) OPINION: Fascism through Farce

By Sriram Ananth

If the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat led by the Sangh Parivar showcased the execution of fascism through cold-blooded violence, the Nanavati Commission , even after seven years has unraveled nothing to give justice to the victims.

Throughout these seven years however, one movement has bravely withstood the odds and fought the good fight. A people’s David against a venomous multi-headed Goliath, Jan Sangarsh Manch has left no stone unturned to publicly corner both the state and the Commission (now synonymous with one another) in its fight for justice. Withstanding heavy pressure and intimidation early on as well as later laughable attempts at legal badgering from the state, JSM has doggedly pursued a legal struggle in bringing the main leaders of the pogrom to book.

Most recently, in what can be a huge shot in the arm for justice, JSM retrieved phone records clearly pointing to the role of numerous leaders in the 2002 pogrom, especially in the massacres of Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gam, including records from Narendra Modi’s office. Based on this evidence, a petition has been filed for the Special Investigation Team to investigate into the role and conduct of the CM and other leaders in both the communal handling of the Godhra incident as well as their involvement in the post-Godhra pogrom. The phone records along with the extra-judicial confessions of numerous mid-rung Sangh Parivar leaders during the 2008 Tehelka sting operations have shown beyond a shadow of doubt the venomous culpability of the Sangh Parivar in the 2002 pogrom.

It remains to be seen how much longer it will take for justice to be served, and what more venomous counter-measures the fascist state will take in protecting their cowardly behinds. However Jan Sangarsh Manch has proved that even in the heart of fascism in India, progressive civil society can ultimately prevail if it’s willing to fight it out. In standing up to the fascists with a smile, telling them that they can lash out at us all they want but no matter what, we will not be terrorised into submission, a small battle has already been won. The people’s David will indeed prevail, and the fascist Goliath will fall, history beckons it to…however the path will not be easy or short, and will not be lacking in struggle.