Category: Reposted Content

Basanta: The Volcano of Revolution in South Asia Today
Reposted Content

Basanta: The Volcano of Revolution in South Asia Today

The following talk was given on July 2, in Istanbul, during the European Social Forum’s seminar on South Asia’s revolutions.

By Basanta (Indra Mohan Sigdel)
member, Politburo of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)

Dear comrades and delegates, revolutionary greetings!

I would like to take this opportunity to extend our revolutionary salutation on behalf of our party, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), to the organiser, the European Social Forum, who invited our party to attend this august programme in Istanbul, Turkey.

In addition, I would like to extend our revolutionary greetings to the entire delegates participating in this seminar. I feel honoured to be here with all the delegates from around the world.

But, more than that I would like to utilise this opportunity to share experiences that the working class all across the world has gathered through their valiant struggles against imperialism and its anti-people and neo-colonial policies like privatisation, liberalisation and globalisation, and as well the ruling classes subservient to it.

Dear comrades,

Our party has assigned me to speak here on the revolution in South Asia as requested by the organisers. It is a vast course, a very difficult task to cover in a few minutes. However, I will try my best to be brief but certainly I will focus on the key points to help you reach to the basic understanding of the possibilities and challenges, the revolution in South Asia is confronting now.

South Asia consists of seven countries namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. More than one-fifth of the world’s population inhabit in this region. It is the most populous and densely populated geographical region in the world. Agriculture, which contributes to only 22% of the total GDP of the region, employs 60% of the labour force. Next to Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia is the poorest region on the earth. As per the information provided by the World Bank, in 2008, more than 40% of the people dwelling in this region earn less than 1.39 dollars per head per day. On the other, the total wealth of the 25 richest Indian capitalists is equivalent to 192.3 billions of dollars. [Source: http://www.forbes.com]. It is equal to the total yearly earnings of more than 379 millions of the lowest poor people from this region, which is about 31.6% of the total population of India alone. Around 2.1 million of children die of malnutrition every year in this region as per the report published by UNICEF in 2008. This gives a short glimpse of class composition in the South Asian countries. Continue reading “Basanta: The Volcano of Revolution in South Asia Today”

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Haiti six months after the earthquake – the deadly realities of imperialist aid

(Esteban Felix/Associated Press)19 July 2010. A World to Win News Service. Following is an abridged version of an article that appeared in the issue dated 25 July 2010 o f Revolution, newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (revcom.org).

It has been six months since a catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti in January. The city of Port-au-Prince is still literally buried in rubble, making transportation difficult and rebuilding nearly impossible. There is little recovery and rebuilding. Why?

First of all, this reflects the fact that Haiti is an impoverished country that has been economically and politically stunted because it has been dominated by imperialism, especially U.S. imperialism. Experts estimate that it would take 1,000 trucks three years to remove all the rubble. So far only 2 percent has been cleared. But the media reports that Haiti only has 300 trucks [working on clean-up].

And then there are the rules of capitalism – in which nothing gets done unless there is a profit to be made. So millions of trucks and other heavy equipment in the U.S., including tens of thousands of pick-ups and SUVs sitting unsold on car lots because of the depressed economy, are not used to help hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti who are suffering. Continue reading “Haiti six months after the earthquake – the deadly realities of imperialist aid”

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BBC Global Poll: Wide Dissatisfaction with Capitalism — Twenty Years after Fall of Berlin Wall

Originally post and full report available here.

Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a new BBC World Service global poll finds that dissatisfaction with free market capitalism is widespread, with an average of only 11% across 27 countries saying that it works well and that greater regulation is not a good idea.

In only two countries do more than one in five feel that capitalism works well as it stands–the US (25%) and Pakistan (21%).

The most common view is that free market capitalism has problems that can be addressed through regulation and reform–a view held by an average of 51% of more than 29,000 people polled by GlobeScan/PIPA.

An average of 23% feel that capitalism is fatally flawed, and a new economic system is needed–including 43% in France, 38% in Mexico, 35% in Brazil and 31% in Ukraine.

Furthermore, majorities would like their government to be more active in owning or directly controlling their country’s major industries in 15 of the 27 countries. This view is particularly widely held in countries of the former Soviet states of Russia (77%), and Ukraine (75%), but also Brazil (64%), Indonesia (65%), and France (57%). Continue reading “BBC Global Poll: Wide Dissatisfaction with Capitalism — Twenty Years after Fall of Berlin Wall”

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Harpal Brar on Khrushchevite Revisionism and the Collapse of the Soviet Union

Brar is the Chairman of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist). The rest of the videos are continued after the break.

Continue reading “Harpal Brar on Khrushchevite Revisionism and the Collapse of the Soviet Union”

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International situation: FAVOURABLE or UNFAVOURABLE?

by C. P. Gajurel ‘Gaurav’, Secretary of UCPN-Maoist

Communist Movement is an internationalist movement. Goal of all communists, provided they are truly communists, is communism. We should not be confused about vulgar distortions of communism whether it is ‘National communism’ or ‘Euro communism’. Internationalist nature of communists is characterized by the principle ‘either we all reach or none of us’. This is the basis of proletarian internationalism.

International situation is not same as proletarian internationalism.

Apart from the domestic situation, which is decisive, Communist movement is definitely influenced by international situation of the given time. Development of communist movement of a single country definitely depends upon the favourable or unfavourable international situation. Success or failure of revolution of individual country also largely depends on favourable or unfavourable international situation. In many cases, the question of ‘unfavourable international situation’ is being (mis)used by rightists or revisionists to justify their degeneration from a communist or revolutionary to a revisionist or a bourgeois politician. None of the revisionists of the world declare themselves as revisionists; rather they try to show that they are revolutionaries and are still communists. Capitalist class is an exploiter and oppressor class. So it is quite natural that the politicians openly representing the class interest of this class will not be able to garner support from the broad masses.
Continue reading “International situation: FAVOURABLE or UNFAVOURABLE?”

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Communist Party of Iran (MLM): “Prepare to bury the Islamic Republic!”

8 February 2010. A World to Win News Service. Following are excerpts from a leaflet by the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist) of Iran. Dated 5 February, it was put out on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the people’s uprising that toppled the Shah in 1979.

As millions of Iranian people all over the country await 11 February their hearts are beating hard.. Brave women and men are planning to turn that date into a decisive day. The enemy is also planning to stay in the field and not lose its perilous balance. The chants of “Down with the Islamic Republic of Iran!” will come from the heart and find echo in other hearts.

Over the last eight months the Iranian people’s anti-regime movement has significantly inspired the people of the Middle East and other parts of the world. They too are enthusiastically looking forward to 11 February. The Western imperialists and Russia and China who are all as reactionary as the Islamic Republic are already speculating about “Iran after 11 February” and expressing their concern about the “future of the Middle East and Iran” – which means concern about their interests in Iran and the Middle East!

Continue reading “Communist Party of Iran (MLM): “Prepare to bury the Islamic Republic!””