Solution to resolve the agrarian crisis

The Editor,

Sir,

This is to express my thanks for carrying the statement of the party entitled "Only the immediate establishment of worker-peasant rule can put an end to the misery of peasants," dated July 10, 2006, in the July 16-31 issue of PV. Of particular significance was your sound denouncing of the Prime Minister’s so called "relief packages" which do little more than to mock the desperate plight of the peasantry across the length and breadth of the country. What was supposed to have been a problem in Andhra Pradesh spread rapidly to neighbouring Karnataka and has now seized the Vidarbha region in its vice-like grip.

Despite much tom-tomming by the ruling elites about the wonders brought about by liberalization and privatization, agricultural production is at a standstill and articles appear daily in the media on the acute food crisis that is a definite prospect in the near future, with buffer stocks at record lows. The tevastation of the small and medium peasant is gaining great momentum and one is witnessing great monopolization in this crucial sector, in the hands of multinational and domestic food conglomerates.

In this scenario, there is a desperate need for the revolutionary camp to engage in a thorough discussion on what the path forward is for the peasantry. It is imperative that in the country a confluence of interests of the workers and the peasants will occur when they unite on the plank of getting rid of the reactionary bourgeoisie. They must replace the present parasitic economic system, with one that serves their needs and that of the entire people of India. One must be particularly watchful of those in the revolutionary camp who themselves fear revolution, and instead advocate a middle-path of seeking relief within the system. There are those who would like to offer palliatives in the existing system which can at best satisfy the needs of a tiny minority, while the rest are left to languish. The history of the last 59 years of so-called independence has brought nothing but disaster to 75% of the population that lives in the countryside. The resolution of this problem is one of the most important facing the revolutionary camp. It is my fervent hope that the statement of the party referred to earlier will be a harbinger of the desperately needed unity in the revolutionary camp on the question.

A. Narayan, Bangalore