In lieu of Editorial
[ Issued by CPI(ML) Central Committee ]
2018 has sharpened the battle lines between the democracy-loving people of India and the fascist Modi regime. And even as the fascist forces have intensified their aggression, we see a resolute popular assertion in this epic battle between fascism and democracy. Defying the crushing burden of an acute economic crisis, the repressive might of the Indian state, the misleading propaganda of the media and the stifling violence of the communal lynch mobs, the people are fighting back inspiringly. The growing signs and strength of popular resistance have now been clearly visible in the BJP's defeat in three hitherto BJP-ruled states. The BJP has suffered a crushing rout in Chhattisgarh, a major setback in Rajasthan and big blows in Madhya Pradesh.
The anger of the people has prevailed over the BJP's aggressive and desperate attempt to hold on to power. In Chhattisgarh they unleashed a fierce propaganda against the 'urban Naxal' bogey and through Yogi Adityanath they also unleashed a virulent communal campaign. And yet it failed spectacularly. The people of Uttar Pradesh ignored the competitive Ayodhya expedition undertaken by the Sangh brigade and the Shiv Sena. Instead, it was the Delhi march of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee which attracted the attention of the entire country. From Gorakhpur to Kairana and now from Chhattisgarh to Telangana, the people of India have said a loud and resounding NO to the communal fascist campaign of the Sangh brigade.
With every passing day, more and more Indians are now realising that the Modi government has hit India like an unprecedented disaster. From the economy and society to every institution of democracy and the very framework of constitutional governance, every aspect of our existence as a modern republic has been badly undermined by this disaster. For all democratic and patriotic Indians, the challenge is to rescue the country from this devastation, bring the republic out of this fascist eclipse. From this immediate rescue and relief work to the challenge of rehabilitation and reconstruction, communists must play their historic role at this juncture as the most consistent and determined defender of democracy.
The corporate media which had built up the myth of the electoral invincibility of Modi-Shah duo has now started talking of a Congress revival and this in turn is being attributed to the Congress under Rahul Gandhi trying to acquire and project a Hindu image. The BJP will of course try to build its Lok Sabha campaign around the socalled indispensability of Narendra Modi, and will spare no attempts to whip up an environment of fear and communal and nationalistic frenzy in the run-up to the next Lok Sabha elections. But if we take a close look at all the elections and by-elections in 2018 that have reflected and strengthened the developing anti-fascist resolve of the democratic forces, we can clearly see that the 'secret' of this growing electoral and political turnaround lies not in the Hindu overtures of the Congress but in the courage and sacrifice of the voices of dissent and in the unity and fighting resolve of various sections of the society who have been the victims of the Modi-Shah-Yogi raj – the students, the unemployed, ill-paid and ill-treated youth, women, Dalits and Adivasis, peasants, workers and the middle classes. It is this resistance of the people that will have to deliver the final blow to the fascist Modi regime in 2019. And what better way of beginning the new year can there be than an all-out people's strike on 8-9 January called by the working class of India?
In the stormy decade of the 1970s, the CPI(ML) revived itself through the battle for democracy. In the face of the brutal state repression of the Emergency era, the party remained steadfast in fighting for the rights and dignity of the most oppressed people. In the 1990s when the BJP unleashed its communal fascist agenda, the party came overground to shape a powerful communist counteroffensive. From the Fifth Congress of the CPI(ML) held in Kolkata in December 1992 in the wake of the shocking demolition of the Babri Masjid till the Lucknow CC meeting six years later when he breathed his last, Comrade Vinod Mishra dedicated all his energy and attention to this greatest challenge facing the Indian communist movement. Today we have to uphold this glorious legacy of the CPI(ML) with all our might and make our fullest contribution to the cause of defeating fascism and taking India forward on the road to people's democracy.
