Democratic Palestine : 7 (ص 24)

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Democratic Palestine : 7 (ص 24)

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On Indira Gandhi’s Death
To Prevent India’s Fragmentation
The bullets that were fired by the
Sikh guards not only put end to the life of
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, but also
threatened to end the firm grip of the
Congress Party on India.
However, it is not that the Congress
Party had such a strong grip on the
affairs of the Indian subcontinent until
Mrs. Ghandi’s assasination. On the con-
trary, the Congress Party, which had
suffered splits in the past few years, was
day by day losing control. It was due to
the extraordinary capacities of Mrs.
Gandhi that the party had managed to
retain power. The party has been
plagued by serious contradictions. This
had a negative influence on its ability to
run the affairs of India, which suffers
increasing social, economic and political
problems.
The contradictions inside the party
stemmed from the differences in the
points of view between the old leading
members and the growing new genera-
tion. These points of view concerned the
basic economic and social policies of the
Congress Party. Parallel to the augmen-
tation of internal contradictions, the Con-
gress Party had been losing influence in
several regions of India.
The Congress Party established its
power as the ruling party in all regions of
India immediately after independence.
For many years, the program of the
party, which was mainly one of national
independence, managed to survive. Yet
later with the accumulation of social,
economic and ethnic problems, the
party’s program became unacceptable
to broad sectors of the Indian people and
even to the young generation of the Con-
gress Party.
However, all the alarm signals
failed to influence the attitude of the
Congress Party leadership which
insisted on retaining the role of the party
as the ruling one at a time when other
parties were growing and acquiring
popular support in various regions of
India. The program became insufficient
and the party became weaker, relatively
speaking; it was no longer the indisputa-
bie ruling party.
These developments were due to
the accumulating problems of India. As
became apparent in the seventies and
24
eighties, these problems required diffe-
rent programs and methods. Politically
speaking, India came under a great deal
of pressure from the USA, because of
the non-aligned stance practiced by the
Congress Party. Economically, the line
chosen by the Congress Party helped to
develop India’s industry and thus led to
an expansion of the working class. At the
same time, the party's policy did not
restrict private enterprise and invest-
ment. The contradictions between the
public and private sector grew to the
extent that the big bourgeoisie started to
pressure for further concessions on both —
the economic and political levels.
Throughout all this, Mrs. Gandhi, with
her abilities, managed to maintain the
balance. Yet this did not change the fact
that the Congress Party was losing its
ability to lead and that social problems
were increasing.
The assasination of Indira Gandhi,
in a single blow, brought all these con-
tradictions dramatically to the surface.
Inside the Congress Party, Rajiv, her
son and successor, supports and is sup-
ported by the advocates of a more
«open» economic policy. This means
that the contradictions between the sup-
porters of his mother’s policies and his
own supporters will develop rapidly. The
eventual result will be the further
weakening of the Congress Party, while
social and economic problems will
become more acute. Rajiv, who is
known to be pro-Western, will encounter
increasing difficulties with no Indira Gan-
dhi to steer things.
Thus, India stands at a crossroads.
The program of the Congress Party will
not suffice to cool the problems of the
country. While other political forces are
not capable of leading the country, if any
one force insists on imposing its own
program, India will face fragmentation.
The only solution for the present period
is the establishment of a coalition bet-
ween the Congress and other democra-
tic parties on the basis of a joint program
to solve some of India’s problems and
maintain its non-aligned status.
This has importance which extends
beyond India’s internal situation, since
India constitutes a decisive factor in the
regional balance of power. United, non-
aligned India has presented an obstacle
to imperialism's hegemonic ambitions in
this strategic area, especially by being a
counterweight to the dictatorship in
Pakistan and its role in the US military
plans. Accordingly, India’s fragmenta-
tion would mean a change in the reg-
ional balance of power which would be
favorable to imperialism and local reac-
tion.
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