Political Significance of the 12th Congress of CPI (ML) Red Star
The 12th Party Congress of CPI (ML) Red Star successfully held during September 24- 29, 2022 at Kozhikode, Kerala, has been at a critical situation when neo-fascism is on the ascendance at a global level. Integrally linked up with it, neo-fascist Modi regime propped up by RSS, the longest-running and biggest fascist organisation in the world is on its way towards the transformation of India as a Hindurashtra whose ideological basis is Manusmriti that denies basic human rights to the people categorised under oppressed castes and minorities, especially Muslims. In this context, the Party Congress based on a concrete evaluation of the international and national situation, has adopted the immediate tactical and long-term strategic steps required for resisting and defeating RSS neo-fascism and moving towards democracy and socialism. From this perspective, all the documents adopted in the Congress are in conformity with the various tasks that the Party has to take up in this situation.
Till now, the CPI (ML) Red Star Party Program has been that adopted at the 9th Party Congress in 2011 that basically altered the 1970 Program of CPI (ML) with the addition of minor amendments in the 10th and 11th Congresses of the Party. However, during this period, especially after the World Crisis of imperialism in 2008, neofascism has been an increasing trend across the world, irrespective of imperialist and neocolonialy dependent countries. During this period, using most reactionary ideologies as its basis, and according to the concrete situation of countries, corporate capital has succeeded in installing neofascist regimes in many countries. Its outcome has been a sharpening of all inherent contradictions of the world imperialist system, intensification of far-right neoliberal policies and super-exploitation of the working class by corporate capital effectively utilising a whole set of 21st century “frontier technologies”, further oppression and marginalisation of the oppressed peoples of the world, terribly destructive wealth appropriation by a few financial elite, unprecedented joblessness and sky-rocketing prices of essential items of sustenance leading to massive growth in poverty, hitherto unknown levels of migration and refugee crisis, and above all a global ecological crisis of horrific proportions. RSS neofascism rooted in the inhuman caste system with its concomitant repercussions is flourishing in India in this global context.
Therefore, the Congress resolved to update the Party Program based on a concrete evaluation of these international and India-specific developments, self-critically taking into account the ideological-political weakness of the communist movement today in putting forward a people’s alternative that too in view of the all-round ideological pollution created by imperialism. In this regard, compared with the 2011 Program which acknowledged the inseparable role of caste in the class analysis of India, the crucial role of uncompromising ideological and political attack on caste system and the subsequent formation of the Caste Annihilation Movement, the updated Program as adopted in the 12th Congress based on more clarity on caste, has incorporated a specific portion situating class struggle in India in the whole course of transformation of caste system based on Manuvadi-Hindutva. As a testimony to this, in a historic resolution unanimously adopted by the Party Congress, all Central Committee members of the Party have decided to give up all their caste surnames.
At the same time, the stage of Indian Revolution being still that of People’s
Democracy which calls for resolution of the anti-imperialist and democratic tasks, though sufficient updating has been there, the Path of Revolution adopted by the 12th Congress has no basic departure from that adopted in the 9th Congress and concretised in the 10th Congress. However, the concrete evaluation on the sharpening contradictions at the international and national context and the emergence of RSS neo-fascism as reflected in the Party Program are reflected in the adopted Path of Revolution too. Similarly, from the perspective of the updated Party Program and based on the organisational experiences since the 11th Congress in 2018, the 12th Congress adopted the various amendments to the Constitution. It also adopted the Central Committee’s Political Organisational Report since the last Congress.
Together with the adoption of the basic documents, the most striking initiative of the Party Congress has been the adoption of the Political Resolution taking up the immediate task of building up the broadest anti-fascist front against the neo-fascism of RSS. Of course, the Political Resolution adopted in 2018 at the 11th Party Congress, in view of Modi.1’s ruthless unleashing of all round fascist offensives, had called for a broad movement of “all revolutionary, left, democratic and struggling forces … against corporate saffron fascistisation at the all India level” based on a minimum program. However, with the ascendancy of Modi.2 and shift to full-fledged neofascism led by RSS with its multi-dimensional manifestations, the Political Resolution adopted by the Party Congress called for a coordinated all-out offensive among all non-fascist forces to throw out fascism as the urgent and indispensable task.
Here, the ideological-political weakness of the communist movement today should not be a justification for refraining from such a task. Therefore, acknowledging the absence of a powerful communist movement capable of fighting and defeating neofascism, the Political Resolution calls for a tactical alliance with all non-fascist forces including that of social democrats and non-fascist ruling classes. While being part of such an anti-fascist alliance, the communists who are bound to stand with the interests of the working class and oppressed, and being fully conscious of the overlapping interpenetrating class interests among all ruling classes, should not have any laxity in upholding their ideological line linked with class struggle. A specific aspect connected with RSS neofascism that is now moving at a maddening pace towards a majoritarian Hindurashtra as manifested in its manipulations towards denying even citizenship rights to Muslims in tune with the “cultural nationalism” of RSS, is the inhuman brahmanical caste system whose ideological basis is Manusmriti. Hence, as stressed by the Party Congress, appropriate ideological-political and cultural interventions joining with all democratic forces and progressive intellectuals and like-minded forces against Manuvadi-Hindutva are inseparable aspects of anti-fascist struggle in India.
Along with this clear perspective on fighting RSS neo-fascism, the Party Congress also underlined the urgent need for taking appropriate initiatives for resisting the dangerous trend of neofascism gaining ground at a global. Like Indian fascism that uses majoritarian Hindutva or “political Hinduism” as its ideological basis, everywhere corporate-finance capital is adept in effectively utilising majoritarian religion and other reactionary ideologies as the ideological basis of neofascism. Evangelism in the Americas, political Islam in West Asia, Zionism in Israel, neo-tribalism in Africa, Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Myanmar are examples. In taking up this global task of challenging neofascism based on proletarian internationalism and in accordance with unity of working class and oppressed, the Party Congress resolved to strengthen ICOR’s (International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organisations in which CPI (ML) Red Star is a constituent) efforts to build up an anti-imperialist, anti-fascist united front at the international level. While shouldering this responsibility, the Party has also decided to carry forward the theoretical and ideological initiative for developing the Marxist understanding on imperialism today, along with the required bilateral interventions in this regard.
Among other things, the Party Congress decided to speed up the process of party-building class and mass movements and people’s movements based on the ideological-political line and organisational guidelines as laid down in the Party documents. More specifically, the 12th Congress appealed to all cadres to move forward and build up the Party by grasping the most advanced revolutionary theory and based on practical experience from the past and from leading people’s struggles, assimilating the interrelationship among class struggle, the relentless struggle against caste system, the struggle for gender equality and for ecological protection. This will lead to the development of various struggling fronts and movements involving workers, peasants, women, Dalits, adivasis, oppressed minorities, youth, students, cultural and environmental activists which will also enable to bring about a revolutionary left core that can also play a major role in the fight against neofascism. It shall also immensely contribute to arrive at ideological clarity among the revolutionary sections and in exposing and isolating both adventurist and opportunist trends.
Lastly, but significantly, the various resolutions adopted in the Congress highlighting the pathetic living conditions of the people called for the immediate repeal of the far-right neoliberal policies that have transformed India into a citadel of world’s extreme poverty on the one hand, and fabulous wealth appropriation by a tiny corporate-financial elite closely integrated with the neo-fascism everywhere. To put it precisely, the struggle against neoliberal-corporatisation, the manifestations of which among other things are unprecedented unemployment, galloping prices, environmental destruction, etc. is to be taken up as integral part of Party’s strategic task of advancing towards people’s democracy and socialism as laid down in the Program and Path of Revolution adopted by the 12th Congress of CPI (ML) Red Star.
(Editorial, Red Star October 2022)
