By Raka Chatterjee
Communism is a political and economic ideology based on communal ownership and the absence of class. The term Communism was a brainchild of Karl Marx and this idea had shaken up the concept, the very roots of capitalism.
The Communists divide the society into two classes, the haves and have-nots. The people belonging from the poorer section of the society or the grassroots level are termed as proletariats and the ones having the means of production are known as Capitalists.
The major Communist states of the world had been Soviet Russia and China. Mao Zedong formulated Maoism, a violent form of communism in China. Communism is of the following types: Marxist, Non Marxist, Liberal, Radical.
The CPI was established on 26 December 1925 at the Kanpur Conference. It is one of the most significant political parties of India.
This party follows the Bolshevik or Russian communism, considering it as the fountainhead. The reasons why they did not follow Chinese communism is as follows:
- The CPI tended to consider the Chinese Communism as an extension of Russian communism.
- Nehru and others conferred certain legitimacy to the party and its Marxist Leninist ideology. They did not want to lose it by following the Chinese communism.
- They outrightly rejected the idea of violence. Moreover Moscow was determined not be overshadowed by the CCP, by allowing its revolutionary ideals to inspire colonies and semi colonies.
After the split in the CPI in 1964, CPI (M) was formed. CPI (M) was at first inspired by the ideas of Chinese communism. The CCP was successful in persuading CPI (M) to turn to the poor and middle peasant as the motor force of revolution and adopt concepts, in the context of Indian realities. However, the CPI (M) rejected the CCP on 3 grounds:
- The Indian capitalism is separate and distinct from its counterpart in China.
- It rejected the Chinese philosophy of revisionist country.
- The CPI (M) refused to adhere to the Maoism and repudiated the fact that Maoism is the only manifestation of Marxism-Leninism, they being alien in character.
Communist Party of India (Maoist)
The CPI (Maoist) is an underground political party, which attempts to overthrow the Govt. of India through people’s war. Formed on 21 September 2004, the ideologies that this Party follows are Maoism, Marxism-Leninism, and Communism.
The Govt. of India, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, designates this party as a terrorist organization. They are also termed as Naxalites after the event of Naxalbari. Maoism has a high impact in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. This is known as red corridor.
Being involved with the Naxalites is a crime. It is unconstitutional in nature. Certain cases in this regard are Ram Khelawan Sharma and Ors. v. State Of Bihar, 1999(2) BLJR 1080, Government of A.P. and Ors. v. Thota Jangaiah 2002(6) ALD 12, Bachchu Mahto v. State of Bihar 2003(4) PLJR 798 etc.
Communist Party being a National Party
The criteria for being a national party is that either it must have polled 6 per cent of the valid votes polled in any four states along with at least four seats in the Lok Sabha or it must receive 2 per cent of the total seats in Lok Sabha from at least three states.
The Election Commission of India recognizes it as a national party. Though it has strong foundation in West Bengal and Kerala, it is still one of the major political parties of India.
It is a political party of the Indian working class. The agenda of this party is abolishing class conflict and equal wealth distribution. This ideology appealed to the intellectual middle class and the poor and peasant community of West Bengal (WB) and Kerala.
Communism in West Bengal
The major population in Bengal consists of peasants. They were always exploited either by the Zamindars in semi feudal India, or by the American corporate in the semi colonial India. CPI(M) has been able to create a successful ‘brand’ of politics in rural West Bengal. It came into power in 1977 and was in power for 34 yrs. However, their focus was on financial stability of the state rather than other social issues.
Reasons for failure
- Improper Land Reforms
- the focus shifted from socialism to the question of caste and religion
- failure to stop CPI (Maoist)
- mass killings at Nandigram
- the Singur issue
- stagnation in development of Private Sector
- lack of leadership
Communism in Kerala
The Communists are still the ruling party of Kerala. They have done a very praiseworthy job for improving the State. Kerala is better than WB with respect to the matters of mortality, education, especially female education, health services, declination of fertility, etc.
Conclusion
The Communists divide the society into Capitalists or the rich and the Proletariats or the poor and exploited. The Constitution of India states that right to life does not mean mere animal existence it means living with dignity. This is in nonprofessional term is what the communists want. They aim at equality among everybody.
The Communists do not follow the idea of caste system as prevalent in India; they have a bipolar view of the society, and divide it into the rich and poor. Moreover, in the modern India, there is a paradigm shift, the caste system is no longer the pillar of the society, it is the class that matters. That is why the Communists have a stronghold in India.