In the month of June, 2001, the Central Committee of the Communist Ghadar Party of India organised an important conference to discuss and implement the decision to enable the youth of India to organise on a political basis. Young communists, progressive girls and boys and organisers of youth, from different parts of India, participated actively in the day-long conference. The day concluded in very high spirits, with the youth expressing their determination to take charge of the future of India.
This conference was organised to implement one of the decisions of the Second Congress of the Party, reiterated at the recent plenum of the CC, to assist the youth to organise and emerge as a political force. The decision of the Second Congress was to "assist the youth of India to fight for their rights, emanating from the fact that they are the future of society, to elaborate their vision for the kind of society that they must create and to unite around the program for the democratic renewal of India" (Resolution No. 11, Second Congress of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, October 1998).
The keynote presentation, delivered on behalf of the Central Committee, pointed out that "there are only two paths facing the youth and all the oppressed masses of Indian people. And whether India will progress or not is dependent on what path the Indian youth will take today. Are they going to march on the high road of civilisation, organised to the gills, with the most advanced science and the most up to date theory guiding them? Or, are they going to straggle along, each one chasing their own individual dreams, then only to be consumed by this man-eating society?"
The keynote presented a clear analysis of the political situation facing India and the forces that threaten our future. It emphasised that youth have to be in the political arena, in the forefront of the struggle against the anti-people and anti-national program of liberalisation and privatisation. They should plunge into the struggle with the perspective that if the youth join hands with the working class and all the oppressed, it is possible to win some decisive battles against the ruling class and block various "reforms" that are on the agenda at this time.
The keynote presentation called on the youth to reject the lie that there is no alternative to capitalism and market reforms. It declared boldly that there IS an alternative. That alternative is to open the path for the revolutionary transformation of society to socialism and communism. Summing up the experience of the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, the presentation drew the conclusion that socialism began to decay and was finally destroyed because the Communist Party, instead of developing and enhancing its role further as an instrument for the empowerment of the working people, began to substitute itself for them.
Changing the world requires not only the most advanced theory but also a most advanced organisation, which would ensure that all its members release maximum initiative and at the same time act according to one unified plan. The presentation of the Central Committee stressed that the youth need to take up the challenge of building an all-India organisation that would unite all the youth in struggle against the status quo. They need to be guided by the summation of the experience of the struggle for emancipation from all forms of oppression, in India and on the world scale. The task of Indian communists is to provide the necessary guidance.
In conclusion, the keynote presentation pointed out: "It is well known that India is home to a significant proportion of the youth of the world today. All the imperialists of the world are eyeing India as the source of technical manpower. They are looking at our girls and boys as the source of cheap labour for their future super-profits. If Indian youth make up their mind, and work in close unity with the working class, they can foil the plans of imperialism and the bourgeoisie. The plunder of India can be ended. With political power in their hands, the workers, peasants, women and youth will be able to ensure that there is work for all. They will ensure that what is produced is geared towards providing adequately for all members of Indian society".
The Central Committee, by organising this conference, created the enabling environment for young communists and progressive youth to take up the task of organising the youth of India as a powerful force in the political arena. The youth responded enthusiastically. They vigorously developed the discussion on a wide range of important issues.
Young women and men, boys and girls of 13-30 years of age came forward boldly to the stage and freely expressed their views. They discussed the current political situation and what kind of organisation of youth is required. They spoke about the vision of the future that Indian youth should adopt today. They discussed the theory and experience of communism, including the positive and negative experience in the Soviet Union. Many emphasised that communism is the inevitable destiny of Indian society and the youth should organise with this perspective. Many also emphasised the immediate task of ending the anti-social and anti-national offensive being championed by the Vajpayee Government in New Delhi and other party governments in various states. They declared that if the youth build their own organisation and the party assists them, then it is possible to make definite advances in this struggle. And in conclusion, they resolved to carry out the necessary preparations for giving birth to an all-India organisation of youth united in struggle for the renewal of India.
This important conference demonstrated and reaffirmed, in a lively way, the correct conclusion of the party that the youth of India deserve the highest culture, highest political consciousness and advanced science. They need their own organisation based on such collective consciousness. It is the task of the Communist Party to provide assistance and enable the youth to accomplish the above.
People's Voice (MEL) hails this successful conference organised by the Central Committee on the necessity for the youth to organise to change the world. People's Voice (MEL) will reproduce, as part of a special edition during July, 2001, the keynote presentation delivered on behalf of the Central Committee at this important conference.
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