Anticommunal front needed in Punjab THE ELECTED government of Punjab state was ousted by a decree of Rajiv Gandhi on May 11. He put the state under direct rule from Delhi, under President's Rule, a procedure permitted by the Indian constitution but which is an important limitation of parliamentary rule in a country such as India.
The present prime minister's mother, the former prime minister Indira Gandhi, used this procedure many times to eliminate political challenges. She went on to impose emergency rule over the country as a whole for a period. The following article explains what this step means and why it was taken. M NAVID T HE IMPOSITION of President's
Rule in Punjab, unjustifiable though it is, did not come as a surprise. It only confirms the bankruptcy of the Central government's policy.
Far from helping to contain and reduce communal polarization in Punjab, it is guaranteed to make the situation worse, as the forces of "law and order" are let loose to widen the repression. That will further alienate the Sikh masses of the state and push them to support those sections of anti-Centre militants who argue that the only solution is formation of a separate country ruled by a Sikh theocracy - Khalistan.
The Punjab Accord signed between the prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, and
Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, leader of the "moderates" in the Akali Dal, is as good as dead. The Accord was in some respects a concession to Sikh communalism as represented by Akali Dal. As such, some of its provisions had to be opposed. But it also recognized certain genuine grievances — not just of Sikhs, but of Punjab itself — and promised to redress these.
For example, a commission was to be set up to investigate the riots in New Delhi and other towns following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, in which thousands of Sikhs lost lives. A tribunal was to adjudicate on the distribution of the waters of the Ravi-Beas rivers to the three states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, all of which were clamouring for more.
Innocent people arrested in the Golden Temple at the time of the Operation Bluestar assault were to be released. Chandigarh, the dual capital of Haryana and Punjab (but a Union territory) was to be transferred to Punjab (in fulfillment of a promise made by the Centre as far back as 1970), and nearby Hindispeaking areas in Punjab were to be transferred to Haryana in exchange.
The Accord was never a solution to the Punjab problem, but if at least those clauses that offered redress to real grievances had been properly implemented, it might have reduced tensions, checked the growing alienation of Sikhs, weakened the thrust towards Khalistan and thus bought time and space for building a genuine anti-
Delhi aggravates communalism
Such a front would attack Hindu and Sikh communalism, as well as the communalism of all political parties, especially of the Congress and of the Akali Dal, the class party of rich Sikh farmers. The latter, by pandering to communal fears, had obtained the support of other sections of the Sikh community, including landless labourers, urban traders and professionals.
Akali Dal was itself divided into different factions. There was a "moderate" faction headed by Surjit Singh Barnala (Longowal's successor), chief minister of Punjab until the imposition of President's Rule, who had pinned his hopes on co-operation with the Centre and implementation of the Accord.
Other factions led by people like Amrinder Singh and Prakash Singh Badal were willing to forge links with Sikh fundamentalist groupings of various kinds, including terrorists, in order to put pressure on the Centre to remove Barnala and do a deal with them. Even in Barnala's faction there were state cabinet ministers who were close
INDIA Disaster for
Rajiv
OUT OF 90 seats in the Haryana state parliament, the Congress party had won only three, with 84 results decided, The opposition parties had won at least 70.
However, Congress had gone into the election with a commanding majority of 61.
This election marked the sixth defeat for Congress out of seven state elections after Raj's landslide victory following the assassination of this mother, Indira. But this debacle dwarfs all the others, especially since it came in the Hindi-speaking belt that represents the traditional bastion of the prime minister's party. Already demands are being raised that the prime minister resign. After a spectacular rise,
Indira's son seems to be setting to some of the terrorist groups and shared their hostility to the Centre.
The Barnala government, which came to power through popular elections, never had any chance of stabilizing its position. The Centre was never serious about implementing the Accord, although that alone would have given some credibility to the Barnala government and enabled it to widen its base Sikh militant groups, including Khalis-
These forces had once again begun to assert their dominance within the Golden Temple [the Sikh religious centre] and the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), the supreme religious body of Sikhs, on which the Akali Dal depends financially and from which it derives its moral and religious authority as defender of Sikh interests.
• To this day, almost three years af ter Operation Bluestar, people are still being detained in Jodhpur who have not been charged.
• The Mishra Commission, which up to investigate the riots, came up after two years with a final report that was an utterly disgraceful and shameless cover-up. This report said the anti-Sikh riots were essentially spontaneous. It made scapegoats out of a few low-level policemen, and absolved all Congress leaders of note 1 who had actually organized those riots.
Numerous people have since torn the Mishra report to shreds, exposing its dishonest biases, its refusal to even
1
look at hard evidence contradicting its findings, and its unwarranted conclusions from the data it did collect. June 29, 1987 • International Viewpoint
INDIA
The end result was only to confirm the view that Sikhs could expect no justice from the Congress-ruled Centre or its "tool," the Barnala wing of the Akali Dal.
• The question of granting Chandigarh to Punjab should have been separated from the vexed problem of finding nearby Hindispeaking areas in Punjab to give to Haryana. As it is, Chandigarh remains a Union territory and a running sore.
• The final award of the Eradi Tribunal on river waters was a farce. Afraid of alienating any of the states, the tribunal "discovered" addi-
Militant Sikh fundamentalists in the Punjab (DR) be distributed to all the states, everybody gets more than before, especially Haryana.
However, what this amounted to basisimply statistical and pretence, since the sources are at best seasonal streams that can only provide more water at the right time if there is first immense investment in barrages and in the SutlejYamuna canal link
Even then, the "extra" ter would be much less than the amount
Why has the Centre imposed President's Rule? Unwilling to implement the Accord in a serious way, it had nothing to fall back on except police repression led by India's "super-cop", Julius Ribeiro, who has an unmatched reputation for ruthlessness.
Though terrorists are still active, there is no satisfactory evidence of any rise in the rate of the killing of innocent people (who in recent months have been more frequently Sikhs than
Sikh fundamentalist campaign losing ground
Nor had the Sikh-fundamentalist inspired "social reform movement" gathered momentum. Indeed, this campaign to force the closure of liquor, tobacco, meat and barber shops was beginning to lose ground steadily. (According to Sikh fundamentalist beliefs, Sikhs must not smoke, drink alcohol, eat beef or shave.) Cross-migration of Sikhs and Hindus in and out of Punjab had not
2 reached any serious level either.
It seems certain that the principal reason for imposing President's Rule was to pander to Hindu communalism, International Viewpoint • June 29, 1987 above all in Haryana, sembly elections are scheduled for June 17. These elections are crucial for the Congress, which has lost a series of state elections recently.
In fact, if Congress should lose in Haryana, Rajiv Gandhi's leadership in the Congress will be gravely jeopardized, especially in the present context. Because of corruption scandals, credibility of the government and of
Congress Party is at an all time
The opposition Lok Dal party in Haryana, although divided, had been making enormous capital out of the Accord and the unruly state of Punjab. Before President's Rule, the Congress had no chance of retaining Haryana. Now it has a slim possibility of doing so.
But what of Punjab? The Centre has said that President's Rule is temporary, a claim that only reinforces the view that the Haryana elections were the factor determining the decision. Since the Barnala faction is discredited, if the Centre wants to restore civilian rule (in and not merely a law-and-order solution), then it will have to do a deal with some other section of the Sikh elite, perhaps the religious leaders who today control the SGPC and the Golden Temple itself.
Many Sikh political figures are opportunist in their "hostility" to the Centre. These people would probably be willing to do a deal with Delhi, if gives them some concessions, as well as helping them to take up the reins of political power in the
However, the fundamental problems of Punjab remain untouched. No communal force (which means the existing bourgeois parties of the state) can successfully de-communalise the situation, or fairly address the grievances and fears of both the Hindus and Sikhs of Punjab. Neither the pro-Khalistan forces nor the openly Hindu communalist organizations, such as Patit Pawan, Shiv Sena and so on (which are growing in Punjab and Haryana), will be curbed, let alone defeated. Revival in anti-communalist activities
Only the construction of a truly secular, anti-communal front can point a way out of the tragic morass. In recent in parts of Punjab, been something of a revival in genuine anti-communalist activities, such as street plays, demonstrations terrorist killings, unitary activities between Hindus and Sikhs in villages. Cadres of the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of IndiaMarxist and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist have played a prominent part in these activities.
Whatever the failings of the political line of these parties, the secular beliefs and commitment of these cadres are beyond question. The success of these actions has made their organizers targets of the terrorists (hence the rise in the number of left cadres assassinated). But it also testifies to the still strong bonds of friendship and solidarity between ordinary Hindus and Sikhs, especially in the villages and small towns
This remains a strong foundation on which to wage the communalism. * 1. See "Rajiv's fading star," International Viewpoint 121, June 1, 1987.
The snowballing
ECONOMY currencies of the third world and the so-called socialist countries.
There are some currencies occupying an intermediary position. Some examples are the pound sterling, which oscillates between the dollar and the EMS financial crisis FOREIGN EXCHANGE markets are in turmoil. The dollar is plummeting; there is a new explosion of gold prices. What is the meaning of this new stage in the financial crisis? Is the devaluation of the dollar in relation to the yen and the currencies of the European Monetary System simply a weapon in the trade war that American imperialism has launched against its main competitors? Or does it also reflect a more basic financial crisis in the US and in the whole international monetary system, which is still not completely detached from the dollar? ERNEST MANDEL
HE PROBLEM of the dollar debt is not solely - or even primarily — a problem of the so-called third world countries. Admittedly, with a $1,000,000 million debt these countries are particularly vulnerable, given the size of it compared to their export revenues, or even more so to their national income.
Nevertheless, this sum only represents barely 15% of the total world debt in dollars, to which must be added debts made out in other convertible currencies. This brings the total third world debt up to around $7,500-8,000 million. Finally, only 15% of the total debt is owed by 60% of the world's population, if one includes the People's Republic of China. The saying "Only lend to the rich" is truer than
In addition to the debts of the third world and the so-called socialist coun tries, there are four other major sources of world indebtedness: the foreign debt of other imperialist powers (France, for example, has a foreign debt amounting to $55-60,000 million); the internal debt of the US, where 15-20% of purchases are made on credit; business debts (all the amalgamations and takeover bids in the US and Britain have been financed by credit); and, finally, the rapid growth of the US public debt.
World flooded with US dollars
Between 1976 and 1980, it was primarily the debt of the third world and the bureaucratized workers' states that grew more quickly than the overall debt. The effects of the 1974-75 recession were cushioned a little because of this, to a point where "third world aid" appeared more like aid to the export industries of the imperialist countries.