Article by Dr. Das, Joint Secretary of Kamgar Ekta Committee
British colonialists used to say about people of India that we are uncivilised people, savages etc. and that it is their duty to make us “civilised”. They used to call it “white man’s burden!”.
On the same lines we the working people are always told that “you are born to work, work and work. You are incapable of governing or ruling”, and that responsibility of governing and ruling can be handled only by their “experts”. In a two part series we examine these assertions.
The ruling class of capitalists is unfit to rule!
Working people are always told that you are born only to work, work and work. You are incapable of governing or ruling. It is the job of “experts” of capitalist class. But we say that the ruling capitalist class and its experts are unfit to rule!
Why do we say that? Well, it is no secret that the plight of the working class as well as people at large in our country (and in most countries of the world as well) is going from bad to worse. We are facing all sided attacks on our livelihoods and rights. At the same time, we see that the capitalist class is thriving; while the number of billionaires has increased and some of them are among the richest in the world, the gap between the rich and poor has been continuously increasing.
Today India is among the last few in every important Human Development Index, including health, nutrition, quality and coverage of public services like health, education and transport, women’s development… the list is very long.
Governments that dance to the tune of capitalists are totally unaccountable to the workers, peasants and people at large. They do not listen to the people. They do not even fulfil the demands won by people with great sacrifice. The kisan andolan is a prime example. After the martyrdom of hundreds and other sacrifices of lakhs, after crores in the country and even all over the world supported it, this epic struggle was victorious – on paper! After more than a year, the assurances given to them about MSP and other demands show no signs of being implemented, while the government has been repeatedly trying to go back on its word and pass the Electricity Amendment Act.
Let us go through a quick questionnaire that will emphasise the point that we are making – that the ruling class of today is unfit to rule!
- Should there be hunger and malnutrition in our country when the godowns are filled with food?
- Should there be massive unemployment at one pole and inhumanly long working hours for those who do have jobs?
- Should the public sector that has been built up with people’s money and the hard work of its workers be sold to greedy monopolists to multiply their profits?
- Should the quality of public education, transport and health be improved or not?
- Should vacancies in vital sectors like railways, electricity, education, health, transport, etc. not be filled?
- Should harmony between diverse religions and cultures be promoted or enmity stirred up?
- Should those who attack women be punished or should the victims be shamed and tortured?
We are sure all of us will have identical answers to all these questions. What we want is in fact what any common woman or man wants. If we compare it with what is actually happening, we will see that these so called specialists who are ruling our country are specialists in doing exactly the opposite of what we want!
The problems that face our country are so basic that even a child will be able to understand that under the present rule, the country is going in an entirely wrong direction. This is not a question of this particular ruling party alone. The country was going in the same direction – the gap between the rich and poor was continuously increasing, irrespective of the party in power! This happened during the era of the British rule, and it continued even after 1947. Every year, irrespective of the party in power.
It thus is very clear that capitalist class is unfit to rule in the interests of working people.
In the coming days there will be great pressure on many to accept the so-called lesser evil as an alternate to the ruling party. Friends, evil is evil! Congress and BJP are two sides of the same coin. That is why people can jump from one to the other so easily! Moreover, they implement the same policies, for instance that of globalisation through privatisation and liberalisation. They are servants of the same ruling capitalist class headed by big monopoly corporate houses.
There has to be a better way! In this context, we would only like to quote from the Mazdoor Ekta Committee Appeal:
“If this rule of the capitalist class continues, then the coming years are going to be a very dark period for all of us. To change this situation, we have to take the reins of the future of our country in our own hands. If we workers together with the kisans unite as one organised force, we can succeed in halting the capitalist offensive. If we establish workers’ and peasants’ rule, then we can certainly build a bright future.”
Many in our country do not believe that the working class can rule. In the next article we will show that it definitely can rule, and rule in a way that benefits all those who work!