What distinguishes Marxist Leninists from the bourgeois liberals in their approach to the world events is that MLs are vigilant, they do not act based on the event by itself. They question and try to understand any event in its dialectical connection with the entire world events and developments. Such major events do not happen by itself as a coincidence but in most cases, if not all, is a by-product of the conflict in the world in general. It is understandable for average people to react to the news subjectively and without any evidence accept the bourgeois media narratives as the “fact”. However, for vigilant Marxist Leninists it is a grave mistake to do so.
We live in an era of transition from unipolar world order to multi polar world order in which the US is declining both economically and militarily. US has been staging government changes and proxy wars in order to weaken its opponents. BRICS is one of its main target in order to save its financial hegemony, so are the countries within BRICS. Conflicts and wars at the doorsteps of its enemies, in this case China and Russia cannot be a coincident.
US inherited from the colonizer Britain the art of divide and rule policy and practices, developed it to the level of an unimaginable dimensions and fields. The expertise, knowledge and skills of the US in exploiting every difference in a specific country or region, creating conflicts, civil wars and wars between the countries are historically remarkable and they do deserve the Nobel price for that.
Lately, they have been trying to get Erdogan’s Turkiye involve in “peace deal” for Ukraine and most likely a “peace keeping Turkish military force” in Ukraine. This is not a sincere act of diplomacy or an act of desperation as some may argue. This “diplomacy” act has overreaching insidious policy goals to drive a wedge between Turkiye and Russia by causing a rift or strain relationship between them.
Similarly, the “terror incident” in Kashmir that caused the straining of already existing rift between India and Pakistan cannot be taken as a coincidental incident especially when it happened soon after the visit of US VP Vance to India.
India is the US’s most important trump card in its fight against China. Just listening and reading the Indian Mainstream media easily confirms the fact that they carry the narratives of anti-China faction of US Neo-Cons. Both countries, Pakistan and India have good relations with Russia and US. Pakistan has recently improved its relations with China, disappointing and angering the US. A war in the region benefits neither India nor Pakistan but the US. Neither China nor Russia would like to have an ongoing war between two nuclear powers at their doorsteps. US Neocons, with their unending fantasy of driving a wedge between China and Russia is playing another card in its sleeve. They hope that China who is having good relations with Pakistan will have diplomatic problems with Russia who has good relations with India. That is of course in addition to desire to exploit and benefit from the war which inevitably will harm BRICS.
No “terrorist” organisation has claimed the responsibility for the attack. Usually one of the US-Mossad fed and backed Islamist organisations claim the responsibility. Under these conditions who can say which government is behind this attack? Looking at the history, and the current world conflict in the world, it seems that the most plausible conclusion would be the “declining empire” is behind this attack.
That is not our subject to discuss here. One should ask the question of "who benefits from this “terrorist attack” in order not to fall into the usual trap and repeat the bourgeois narrative. Our subject is the attitude and statement of the so called Communist Party of India (Marxist) to the war and its comparison with the statement of Pakistan Communist Party.
The Indian CP (Marxist) presented what chauvinism really is with its statement on the possibility of an all out war against Pakistan . A great practical example of what chauvinism really is.
Indian CP does not even defend the right of self determination for the hundreds of oppressed nations in India. Like some others behind the mask of Marxist Leninists, they disregard the right of self determination but are eager to defend the right of self determination for the Neo-Nazi Ukraine.
Most national struggles against the fascist Modi Government, currently the ongoing genocidal war against Naxalite indigenous people and its Maoist Guerillas never mentioned by these chauvinists. Guerilla warfare is being waged in India since 1960s especially in Western Ghats and Aravalli Range, recently civil war started in Manipur. Western Ghats run parallel to the western coast of India, while the Aravalli Range is located in the northwest of the country, mainly in Rajasthan. Manipur borders Myanmar.
These chauvinists are asking their racist, fascist government to punish the “terrorists” and Pakistan, they are congratulating the fascist government’s attack on Pakistan for “being non-escalatory and successful.” They are giving advise to the fascist government to “continue the pressure on Pakistan”.
Most importantly, their statement to the fascists; " The Indian government should ensure that the unity of the people and integrity of the country are protected", is the worse kind of chauvinist statement that only a fascist can speak of. Because India is not a unified country. There are hundreds of different ethnic and religious groups under oppression and fighting for their right of self determination. Claiming to “protect the integrity” of such a country has nothing to do with Marxism Leninism.
With their fantasy and chauvinism they are not even able to see the concrete condition and situation of India. As a proxy to US anti-China policy and practices, a protracted war with another US proxy Pakistan -with the sin of being in relationship with China and improving its relationship - will inevitably bring about the fragmentation of India. With over 200 million Muslim population which makes up of over %14 of population, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and hundreds of ethnic minorities under oppression and subjected to genocide, there is no “unity” of people in India other than the unity of Modi and fascist government followers. Most of these minorities are already fighting for their rights and a direct war will make it easier for them to gain their independence.
The delusion of these chauvinists deriving from the unipolar world order era, they forget the fact that now we are living in an era of multi polar world. It is not coincidence that these so called “Marxist left” are mouth pieces of dominant classes which in fact clearly points to their social-chauvinist nature.
The delusion and fantasy that India is a “superpower” must be contagious even the “left” believes in and defends. India ranks 126th out of 143 countries, alongside with Pakistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Congo in MPI -Poverty index. India ranks 111th out of 125 countries on Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2023, with “serious” hunger severity. Although GDP PPP is a better indication of a country’s economy (GDP divided by the population) which provides a measure of average income. India’s GDP per capita in reality is lower than many other countries, reflecting the large population and income inequality.
Now lets read and compare the statement of Communist Party of Pakistan to that of India CP;
Statement of the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party of Pakistan on the escalation of military tension between India and Pakistan:
"The Communist Party of Pakistan, grounded in the Marxist-Leninist tradition, firmly condemns the military aggression initiated by the Indian bourgeois state and the counter-aggression launched by the Pakistani ruling class. These are not wars of liberation, nor are they in the interest of the proletariat, they are the wars of rival bourgeois military aggression for regional hegemony at the expense of the working class.
We assert that the working masses of India and Pakistan have no stake in the nationalist sabre-rattling of their respective ruling classes. In a region armed with nuclear weapons, these provocations risk plunging the subcontinent into catastrophic annihilation, an outcome that would spare neither caste, creed, nor class, but would disproportionately destroy the lives and livelihoods of workers, peasants, and the poor. Such military posturing is a diversion, a smokescreen to veil the deepening crisis of capitalist exploitation, inflation, unemployment, and social unrest. It is a tactic long used by bourgeois regimes to stoke reactionary nationalism and crush the rising tide of class consciousness.
The Communist Party of Pakistan calls upon the working class and progressive forces across South Asia to reject this false nationalism and embrace proletarian internationalism. Our struggle is not with the workers across the border, but with the comprador bourgeoisie, feudal remnants, and military-industrial complexes that profit from bloodshed. Let there be no illusion the path to lasting peace lies not in diplomatic band-aids between warring states, but in the revolutionary transformation of society through the overthrow of capitalism, the dismantling of bourgeois militarism, and the unity of the working class beyond borders.
Let the war drums of chauvinism be silenced by the battle cry of international solidarity.
Workers of the world, unite! Inquilab Zindabad!"
The Indian CP (Marxist) presented what chauvinism really is with its statement on the possibility of an all out war against Pakistan. A great practical example of what chauvinism really is. Indian CP does not even defend the right of self determination for the hundreds of oppressed nations in India.
I fully agree with this statement. I just assume (with zero background knowledge) that communist groups criticising the war get extra government scrutiny and oppression.
that communist groups criticising the war get extra government scrutiny and oppression.
They do but CPI is known for shit like this. They are the CPUSA of india, maybe worse.
Yeah CPI(M) ia a good ezample of what happens when a socialist organization subverts itself to bourgeois electoralism. There are many parallels with the SPD and trying to defend their officials and cater to mainstream liberal discourse and inatitutions. But they have little excuse, as this approach haa been tried and always fails, and is literally the antithesis of what MLs have learned from history. CPI(M) saddles itself with so many albatrosses, is so lackadaisical, and fails to have basic coherent theory and solidarity. Unsurprisingly Vijay Prashad has these same chauvinist hangups and is himself a member of CPI(M).
But they have little excuse, as this approach haa been tried and always fails, and is literally the antithesis of what MLs have learned from history
I will have agreed with you if you made it clear that you are referring to the Global North/Imperial core. However, to say this for the entirety of the Global South will mean that you are throwing under the bus Kerala, Nicaragua and Venezuela. It is important to analyze the material reality of each country and avoid false generalizations.
In other words, there is no ONE true way to bring revolution and every ML in each country have to analyze their own material conditions to find their own.
Kerala is a limited experiment and hardly an example of socialists winning. CPI(M) is constantly losing Kerala. The wins in Kerala are comparable to social democrats in the global south, which is not nothing, but this also does not mean they are following a communist program - which you can see in their chauvinist takes.
Nicaragua had a socialist revolution. It is a challenging one highly disrupted by the Unites States. They are doing surprisingly well given their geological position. Sandanismo has not fully subverted itself to electoralism, it still has an armed wing and internal struggle.
Venezuela is run by SocDems. The current Venezuelan government is actually cracking down on MLs.
The wins in Kerala are comparable to social democrats in the global south
This is false equivalence. Social democrats in the Global South spend more time appeasing capitalists and imperialists rather than eradicating poverty.
Sandanismo has not fully subverted itself to electoralism, it still has an armed wing and internal struggle.
They are working there way out of electoralism after the coup in 2018. They even improved their constitution to create a DOTP. I posted about Nicaragua a couple months ago regarding this topic.
Venezuela is run by SocDems. The current Venezuelan government is actually cracking down on MLs.
This ain’t true. Socdems for me are like Lula from Brazil who have no clear intent to abandon capitalism and goes as far as to ditch Marxism. In the case of Maduro and the Venezuelans, there is a clear intent to create a DOTP and they are actively creating the conditions to do it. You can investigate more about this searching for the Comuna projects.
About the cracking down on MLs, you will have to be more specific about this because there was a wave of counter revolutionaries posing as Trotskyist and factions of PCV. These factions actively appealed their members to side with Maria Corina Machado, the pro zionist right winger, and called for sabotage the past year. This was even mentioned in this instance here -> https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5298363 and the other faction of the PCV was discussed here -> https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5309060
If these “MLs” were calling for sabotage and appealing for collaboration with the fascists, then they are fascists collaborators that have to be exposed as they are and it is good that the gov’t is cracking down on them.
These factions actively appealed their members to side with Maria Corina Machado, the pro zionist right winger, and called for sabotage the past year.
This is an important point to note, as i’ve seen too many communists criticising the Maduro government on this without looking at who these supposed communists are and what positions they take in Venezuela. Just because a group calls themselves communists does not automatically make them a comrade, as we see in the example of so many Eurocommunist parties in Europe, or the CPI(M) which you highlighted in this post.
This is an important point to note, as i’ve seen too many communists criticising the Maduro government on this without looking at who these supposed communists are and what positions they take in Venezuela.
This is what scares me the most because these type of “comrades” divide movements and destroy solidarity like COINTELPRO. When our comrades in Venezuela needed solidarity, these pests came out in full force bashing the Venezuelans and actively shared counter revolutionary propaganda(same old same old cracking down workers/ML/communists without actually investigating if those people were saboteurs or counter revolutionaries). Trotskyst have been doing this with China as well.
They never do an in depth analysis about any topic and just go with “feels communist” groups that are counter revolutionaries. It is disappointing.
Also, you know what is crazy about them? They don’t even know that Venezuelan comrades are traveling to China and learning governance to implement DOPT. After studying, Venezuelan comrades come back and share it with the gov’t. I have never seen a gov’t and its people so interested in learning and pushing for socialism like Venezuelans and Nicaraguans. Sad that these “communists” like the other guy in this thread never see this BUT LOVE counter revolutionaries.
Well there goes my plan to join CPI in uni.
Similarly, the “terror incident” in Kashmir that caused the straining of already existing rift between India and Pakistan cannot be taken as a coincidental incident especially when it happened soon after the visit of US VP Vance to India.
Interesting take. I was under the impression that the ‘incident’ was orchestrated by the govt to stir up hindu-muslim sentiments ahead of two major state elections (Bihar and Delhi). Previous elections have had CAA-NRC, 3 Talaq etc.
Just listening and reading the Indian Mainstream media easily confirms the fact that they carry the narratives of anti-China faction of US Neo-Cons.
Sadly true. China is portrayed as a threatening neighbour who wants to gobble up Kashmir and the North East states.
One should ask the question of "who benefits from this “terrorist attack” in order not to fall into the usual trap and repeat the bourgeois narrative.
Definitely the incumbent. There’s already memes portraying Modi and the External affairs minister as ‘sigma’. Every newspaper is applauding them for their ‘strong response’ and supposed bravery; while simultaneously deriding Pakistan for not de-escalating. There’s a tendency among ordinary citizens to label anyone even slightly critical of the army as terrorist and ‘Paki’ (from ‘Pakistani’ ie a citizen of Pakistan).
Most national struggles against the fascist Modi Government, currently the ongoing genocidal war against Naxalite indigenous people and its Maoist Guerillas never mentioned by these chauvinists. Guerilla warfare is being waged in India since 1960s especially in Western Ghats and Aravalli Range, recently civil war started in Manipur.
‘Maoists killed in encounter’, ‘Armed Naxalites surrender’. I read these headlines like these everyday. The tone in these articles is celebratory. It is never explained why they are apparently bad, or what their motive is; it’s as if these things are to be taken for granted. However, I guess I can’t expect newspaper columnists to explain the entire history of the conflict in a two para article. If anyone can provide some reading material, it will be much appreciated.
Most of these minorities are already fighting for their rights and a direct war will make it easier for them to gain their independence.
This point is a bit confusing. I am expecting the opposite to happen. Anytime there’s a conflict, the government’s hammer comes down hard. It give them an excuse to cover up oppression. For ex. a muslim man was arrested today for allegedly posting ‘pro-Pak’ slogans on social media. This is being celebrated and the man already been branded a terrorist by the media.
Contrast this to a few months ago, when a child was arrested for raising pro-Pak slogans during an India Pakistan cricket match. The authorities razed his house with a bulldozer (read about ‘bulldozer justice’ if you want to further deminish your faith in humanity). However, the Supreme Court took a grim view of this. This time, I expect the courts to side with the government, citing ‘national security’.
The delusion and fantasy that India is a “superpower” must be contagious even the “left” believes in and defends.
I could say so much. However, I’ll give just one example. Modi has said in public rallies that India is a ‘Vishwa Guru’, which roughly translates to ‘world’s teacher’. Make of that what you will.
India ranks 126th out of 143 countries, alongside with Pakistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Congo in MPI -Poverty index. India ranks 111th out of 125 countries on Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2023, with “serious” hunger severity. Although GDP PPP is a better indication of a country’s economy (GDP divided by the population) which provides a measure of average income. India’s GDP per capita in reality is lower than many other countries, reflecting the large population and income inequality.
These and any other study/research that highlights India’s real condition are all labelled as having anti-India bias by the minister of external afairs. I have come to call it the PR ministry as of late.
Now lets read and compare the statement of Communist Party of Pakistan to that of India CP;
Theirs is better. No doubt about it. Shame on CPI.
spoiler
someone pls rescue me from this god forsaken country
Thanks for your comments on this article.
Sadly true. China is portrayed as a threatening neighbour who wants to gobble up Kashmir and the North East states.
Wow, this is sad. 😨 When I read this, I was not sure if this was true or not. Thanks for confirming it!
More evidence that India is the most glaring and baffling inclusion into BRICS, I have seen way too much praise for CPI M even here on the grad, and it always made me uncomfortable, just from knowing their general foreign policy positions, but their reaction to this recent string of events is disgusting and has solidified in my mind that this country is nigh irredeemable and needs to be dismantled. A fascist government carrying out genocides, threatening wars, forcibly occupying peoples, and a society perpetuating cruel discriminatory caste and religious divides. All while aligning with the US to antagonize China, and arming and supporting the genocide in Palestine.
And to top it all off, it’s all but confirmed that there exists no principled left wing force to reverse this situation either. Infuriating and disappointing.
From the top of my head (and not in contradiction to your post):
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CPI(M) in India is not homegenous though collectively they engage in social chauvinism (I used to dismiss the Kerala CPI but this an incorrect idealistic take. You cannot separate the advancement of kerala from their political economy. Though they could be as an organistation/collectively potentially socdem, it took MLs navigating a capitalist country to make these reforms. In other words if they were like every other bourgoisie party then why weren’t these strides replicated elsewhere? You end up having contradictions, therefore, such as hosting hamas/advancing trans rights/high HDI while still endorsing operation Sindoor.)
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the rural naxalites, not discounting their trial and tribulations and have made significant strides in a capitalist society, have an incorrect line and engage in adventurism (which then means terrorism). We should not romanticise them otherwise you get the likes of liberal feel-gooders like A. Roy
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the naxalites vs CPI is effectively what you get if you break up the sickle and hammer respectively; the rural naxalites need the urban proleteriat to have access to development and correct relation with land reform, the urban proleteriat need the peasants to avoid social chauvinism
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the break-up of Indian subcontinent into India/Pakistan/Bangladesh is hindutva chauvinism/fascism for India and defense against that for the latter two. Nationalism for one and attempts at national liberation for the other two.
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therefore, as others have said India too should reject hindutva chauvinism
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this is not to coddle social conservatism in any religion but within India, given the above, Hindutva and Islamic fundamentalism is a complete false equivalence, and because of the western geopolitics we cannot divorce the islamophobia domestically to what is happening on the world stage. Kashmir, the subjugation of the Indian muslim population and Gaza are all on the same wavelength
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- western tech failing (israeli, french etc by India) against chinese tech (by the Pakistan) is going to change the course of global politics and global arms procurement (Russia is also seeing how far more advanced chinese tech is). Indian ceasefire echoes western losses/retreats - overpriced outdated tech against cheaper more advanced ones.
I don’t have time to write a proper post, so the above will do for now
This is an excellent and very thorough comment! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
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the overuse of bolded phrases in the original article makes it harder to read
Hope this post could ease that or my formatting was also lacking?
Any feedback will be appreciated
imo, your included text was better because it dropped the bold. thank you