Petite bourgeoisie mindset from any quarter amounts to radicalism

3 December 2013 06:42 pm - 0 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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There is a discussion on the question of the commemoration of the Tamil liberation struggle and those killed in the war. Extreme views were expressed by the Bodu Bala Sena and other such organisations. While claiming that TNA MP S. Sridharan should be arrested over the speech he made in Parliament glorifying the LTTE leader, the Bodu Bala Sena accused the Parliamentarians present in the house during the speech, for not immediately reacting to it.

“We all know that the Parliament is not a place with much discipline. MPs in there are always creating chaos. The most unfortunate thing we witnessed with the speech of MP S. Sridharan was that no one stood up or objected to it. Instead they listened to the speech with much care,” BBS General Secretary Galagoda Atte Gnanasara Thera told a news conference.

"Populist politics produced the worst type of humbugs and corrupt leaders. People were made leaderless as left parties came to defend the collapsing populism. Terrorist politics was a byproduct of this political crisis"

However, the Thera praised those who spoke against the speech in Parliament when it was over and said MP Sridharan had violated the Lankan Constitution by making a speech on a slain terrorist leader, right where the Constitution was drafted. Sinhala radical petite bourgeoisie is very similar to the Tamil radial elements represented by the LTTE.
They are like twins; in fact the LTTE has much to share with the JVP. This similarity arises out of the similar conditions the petite bourgeoisie, particularly the village layers face in the global system today.

After the Second World War the developed world was dominated by social democracy with welfare states. Workers were happy with the gains in social welfare. In fact many believed that state intervention and social welfare would gradually lead to socialism.
There was a parallel political change in the South among the developing countries. There was a wave of populism lead by liberal nationalist leaders. Nikruma, Nasser, Nehru, Benbela, Bandaranaike etc. dominating the non-aligned movement. They all claimed to be socialist of one kind or the other. Castro was at the extreme end with the support of the Soviet block.

"The JVP as a radical Sinhala chauvinist party that uses socialist language was one of the pillars of support to the campaign of Mahinda Rajapakse. Riding on this majority the government launched the war and ventured to pass on the latter’s resources to local and foreign investors"

But crises of capitalism changed all this and we were made to realise that exploitation and plunder remains the main theme of capitalism. Neo-liberalism displaced the social democracy and welfare state in the developed world. In the developing world the change was much more painful. Populist politics produced the worst type of humbugs and corrupt leaders.

People were made leaderless as left parties came to defend the collapsing populism. Terrorist politics was a byproduct of this political crisis. Both the JVP and the LTTE have a common origin in this political scenario.
The JVP as a radical Sinhala chauvinist party that uses socialist language was one of the pillars of support to the campaign of Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Riding on this majority the government launched the war and ventured to pass on the latter’s resources to local and foreign investors. Among the Sinhala villagers, peasantry and fisher folk, the government maintained its base by running Sinhala populist campaigns and providing some economic benefits.

"There was a wave of populism lead by liberal nationalist leaders. Nikruma, Nasser, Nehru, Benbela, Bandaranaike etc. dominating the non-aligned movement. They all claimed to be socialist of one kind or the other. Castro was at the extreme end with the support of the Soviet block"

One of the main benefits given was the fertiliser subsidy to all cultivators. However, now one of the main partners of the government has started a campaign against the pro-imperialist policies of the government. This has taken form as an attack on western imperialism. While the main policies of the government are according to the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the issue of Casinos is used as a means of attacking western powers.

The global powers have come to a conclusion that the war classified by them as a war against terrorism has a content of national oppression.
They have been forced by facts and figures to reassess the LTTE as a movement for Tamil emancipation in spite of its terror tactics. Both the LTTE and the JVP in practice became partly socialist and partly nationalist. In the 88/90 period the JVP became an ultra nationalist terrorist organisation that killed over 7000 civilians. Their terror was no second to that of the LTTE.

Since 1974 the new Left consistently maintained that the Tamil national liberation aspect of the LTTE had to be considered seriously.
The struggle of the Tamil people has created a mass uprising throughout the world. It has become something akin to the Palestinian issue. At least in India it has shaken the regime of Sonia Gandhi.

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Petite bourgeoisie mindset from any quarter amounts to radicalism

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