When you consider an Indian Communist, what image comes to mind? Most of you may picture a man in his at least sixties, dressed in a white kurta, donning spectacles, and sporting a fake smile. He appears to be delivering a speech while shouting ideological jargon, including terms like "revolution" and "cholbe na," which are frequently used. However, there is a virtual barrier of disconnection between the leader and the followers, preventing the former from inspiring the latter. The reputation of the Communist parties in the nation has been tainted by empty pledges, sluggish bureaucracies, and violent tyranny. The Communist Party of India (from hereon, CPI) from being the second largest party in the first election, have fallen from grace, where in the latest general election, all Communist parties could only gain control of mere five seats. What could have been the reasons for this collapse? This blog would try to precisely answer this question.
Rising From the Bottom
The CPI split into several factions during the 1964 Indo-China War, although the majority of them remained loyal to the two most widely supported factions—the one supported by the Soviet Union and the one supported by China. While the CPI's power waned, the CPM maintained its long-standing supremacy in the states of Bengal and Kerala. The reader should be aware that in the future, both parties frequently ran as a "left-front" in order to prevent votes from being split between the two Communist parties.
One must take into consideration the so-called "Kerala Model," where the Left Front oversaw significant reforms in the state, when evaluating the function of Communist parties in India. Kerala has consistently outperformed other states on the Human Development Index (HDI), particularly in the areas of health and education. In order to enable the healthcare system to closely collaborate with the community, the government effectively decentralised a number of programmes, putting primary healthcare centres and sub-centres under the supervision of local governments with enough funding. The same was true of schooling. Additionally, the government was successful in eliminating tenancy, which benefited more than a million households.
In contrast to now, the public's perception of the Communist parties in India in the 1960s was significantly different. The Congress party was described as being "rotten to the core" in an article published in the journal The Atlantic, with the party leaders only succeeding because of the heritage of the liberation war. Given its successes in numerous rural areas of India, the CPM was perceived as a serious danger to the Congress party's viability. In Bengal, where there was a "class struggle" against the feudal landed nobility, the party supported landless farmers and sharecroppers (known as "Bargadars" in Bengali).
In 1978, they began Operation Barga, one of the most drastic land reform initiatives ever. This enabled Bargadars to be free of exploitation, with them having protection against the eviction of their land, coupled with the government buying their crops at a fair price to prevent big landowners from securing crops at exploitative prices. Despite Congress’ continual efforts to topple Bengal’s state Government, CPM ruled Bengal unopposed till 2011. Then happened Singur and Nandigram.
A Point of No Return
India has reached a stage where the heritage of communism has been irreparably damaged. The Communist parties have come to be associated with bureaucracy, violence, authoritarianism, and ideological rigidity. Given that these organisations have made no attempts to change the party from within, the majority of the populace continues to be sceptical of the promises made by them. The lack of youth involvement in the party structure and the nearly total control of ageing party leaders deter young Indians from considering the possibility.
Is there any potential for Communism in India? Probably not in the state it is in now. We can see, though, that not every issue can be solved by the current system. India is rich, but the majority of it is concentrated at the top. A UN report claims that 77% of the nation's wealth is owned by the wealthiest 1% of citizens. Indians in the top 10% earn 96 times more than those in the bottom 50%, according to the World Inequality Index 2022. Large corporations are displacing SMEs, which results in significant job losses. The cost of housing and basic commodities is always rising, making city living more and more expensive. The kids are becoming more and more wary of the current system. Is there a need for resistance? Is there a requirement for higher workers militancy to achieve improved working conditions amongst the exploited? Can Communism answer these questions? I’ll leave this to the opinion of the reader.
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