No safety of life for the common masses of working class and exploited people in decadent capitalism

Decadent world capitalist system – the real breeding ground of increasing wars and terrorism

Working masses in shopping mood on the eve of the biggest festival of the year in Delhi, the capital of the Indian bourgeoisie witnessed with horror and shock the same barbarous repetition of heinous crime. Terrorist bombs exploded almost simultaneously in two crowded market places and in a bus stop in the evening of 29th October. According to preliminary reports 60 persons including children have died so far in this heart rending, grossly abominable act of the ever rising heights of barbarism. About two hundred persons have been injured, some of them very seriously. Common masses of people have been terrorized and panic stricken.

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The threat of war between nuclear powers casts a terrifying shadow across the whole world. It is not an empty threat, an episode of sabre-rattling where India and Pakistan will just go to the brink before ‘seeing sense’ and coming to an agreement. “The British and American Governments are seriously contemplating a doomsday scenario in which there is an unstoppable momentum toward a nuclear war in India and Pakistan that would kill millions of people and make millions more homeless across the sub-continent” (The Times, 1/6/02). In an inferior position - Pakistan has 700,000 troops to India’s 1.2 million, 25 nuclear missiles with a lesser range than India’s 60 - “Pakistan has already made it clear that, in the face of a superior enemy, it would be prepared to initiate a nuclear confrontation” (Guardian 23/5/2). British “diplomatic and defence sources” have suggested that neither President Musharraf of Pakistan nor Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee “appeared to be taking into account the sheer scale of the disaster that would follow if nuclear weapons were used, and that they seemed incapable of visualising the disaster that would overwhelm their countries as a result” (The Times, 1/6/2). While “military sources” felt that “neither leader was thinking logically or with any common sense” (ibid), in reality it is a gruesome illustration of the insane logic of the imperialist appetites of the ruling class. Here we have the ruling classes of two countries, where poverty, disease and death stalk the majority of the population daily, setting in motion theie blame for all this with ‘religious fundamentalism’. The Indian ruling class blames Pakistan-backed Islamic fundamentalists for terrorist attacks in Kashmir and on the Indian parliament. On the other side, the Pakistan ruling class blames the fervent nationalism of the Hindu fundamentalism of the ruling BJP party in India, in particular with its brutal counter-insurgency against ‘freedom fighters’ in Kashmir. As for the ‘democratic’ and ‘civilised’ bourgeoisie in the West, they weep crocodile tears about the ‘intransigence’ of the leaders of both countries and call on them to be ‘reasonable’ and seek peace under the guidance of the leaders of the very countries, such as Britain and the US, that train and provide the weaponry for their armed forces.

War today has become a permanent feature of daily life under capitalism the world over. Since the Gulf War, the world working class has again and again been confronted with the reality of war � numerous wars in Africa and Yugoslavia, the war in Kosovo, the Chechen war, the war in Afghanistan and now the war drive in India and Pakistan where two nations with nuclear weapons are at each others’ throats.

On 5th December 2000, 600,000 postal workers in India went on a nationwide strike. All sections of postal workers, in all corners of India, were involved in this strike that lasted till 18th December 2000. From day one of the strike the entire media and state machine, including the highest courts, were directed toward attacking and discrediting the postal workers as a selfish and irresponsible sector holding ‘society’ to ransom. The state used all the tricks short of direct violence to crush the militancy of the workers. It declared the strike illegal, proclaimed no work, no pay, enforced the ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act), called paramilitary and military units to man postal services. All this was accompanied by propaganda about how private courier service operators were managing the situation very well and the government was not bothered about the strike.

The World Social Forum, that has so far met annually in Porto Alegre, Brazil, this year met at Mumbai, India between Jan 16 and 21, 2004. The WSF at Mumbai was no different from other such gatherings. It had all the trappings of a gigantic fair (it was held at National Exhibitions Grounds, a venue of Trade Fairs) with pronounced 'ethnic' and 'tribal' flavour. The show was definitely big - nearly 80000 people from 132 countries are supposed to have participated in 1200 events around the WSF. Even more are supposed to have joined the Anti-American rally on 21st Jan 2004 at the end of the WSF.

Floodwaters are ravaging through many parts of India and Bangladesh. Floods, cyclonic storms in some parts of these countries and drought in other parts have become almost annual catastrophes. The fury of the floodwaters rages unhampered through villages, towns and cities, through agricultural lands and industrial centers. Thousands of people die and many more are injured and millions are rendered homeless. The working class and the exploited masses are the principal victims of these disasters.