CPM in theoretical dilemma: Dalits *Pioneer News Service | Kochi* As the official, neo-liberalist leadership of the CPI(M) in Kerala is groping in the dark to formulate some new class theory to define the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as a sub-class in the Marxist scheme of dialectical advance of history, thousands of Adivasis and Dalits are agitating braving rain and shine in various parts of the State to win their basic right to live.
The CPI(M) is suddenly finding that "war against caste oppression is part of class war" (as general secretary Prakash Karat said) but Dalits and Adivasis say that the newfound love of the Marxists for SCs is nothing but a well-planned strategy to defeat the ongoing struggles and to restrict them into three cents or so of land as the party has done through its history of existence. Dalit activists point out that the CPI(M) is trying to make inroads into the SC and ST bastions knowing fully well that the current stirs in different parts of the State are capable of shaking the very foundation on which the Marxists have built their political empire. Almost all Dalit activists agree that the CPI(M) has never tried to bring the Dalits and Adivasis into the mainstream social life by considering them equals and by providing them with what they want - land. In this sense, the so-called revolutionary - land reforms movement - initiated by the communists as back as in 1957 was absolutely against the marginalised people of the State, who were the real workers who toiled in the lands. They say that when the "revolutionary" movement led to the birth of a new ruling class in the place of the old one and the real working people were pushed more and more to the margins of the society. "The agitation in Chengara is thus a war call against all the anti-Dalit policies of the Marxist party, and more and more people - even those in the CPI(M) - are coming to understand the truth. Just like the party had protected the interests of the big lords during the land reforms movement, they are now trying to protect the interests of the plantation bosses and the spreading land mafia. Chengara and other agitations are explicit challenges to everything the CPI(M) stands for and the party just cannot stand it," said a leader of Sadhu Jana Vimochana Samyuktha Vedi, which is spearheading the Dalit-Adivasi agitation in Chengara. Dalit activists say that the CPI(M) is now caught between the horns of a huge dilemma. "On the one side it has to protect the interests of the big bosses in plantation sector and real estate business. At the same time they have to create an impression that they are the real saviours of the Dalits in a bid to further marginalise them while at the same time assuring their support. This dilemma is seen in its new class formulation efforts," said the Vedi leader. The Dalit leader said that the same party which wanted to give land to the Dalits and Adivasis were terming their struggle for land as extremist act. "What they mean to say is that we should be satisfied with what they can give us without disturbing the interests of the old and new lords of land. They say they want to increase the area under agriculture but they say land cannot be allotted to the real workers for agricultural purposes," he said. Another Adivais leader pointed at the contradiction in the new position of the CPI(M). He said CPI(M) State secretary was trying to mystify the minds of the entire Keralites by saying that the Dalit activists were demanding land from the middle class and lower middle class. "He is playing some kind of silly game. The party practically holds that no land available to the Government can be given to the people who deserve it while it wants the huge plantation owners to continue to own the land violating all laws of the land. At the same time, it wants to pitch us against the common people with a foul argument against extremist loudmouth-ism. In fact, this all shows how poor the party has become ideologically and practically," he said. -- Dileep R I thuravoor --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
