DELHI (India), July 31— India has elected a new President. Droupadi Murmu will be the first tribal person (and the second woman) to be elected President in the history of India. This is a largely symbolic post much like the royal family in the UK.
India is emerging as a new imperialist power, with major investments in Africa and elsewhere. This position will project India as a progressive country with a female president coming from the most exploited tribal community in India.
In truth, Murmu represents the fascist Indian state. Its rulers, led by BJP, are attacking the most vulnerable tribal communities. There are about 104 million people (8.6% of the population) from about 705 tribes known as Adivasis (Indigenous people) mostly living in forest lands.
The land occupied by the Adivasis has rich deposits of minerals like iron, bauxite, uranium, gold, and coal. There is also a vast land mass of oil and gas. The forested rivers are converted into hydroelectric dams.
In 1985, the government started privatizing minerals and formed over 100 blocks within the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). The blocks where most Adivasis live came under the jurisdictions of corporate interests. They started forceful evictions of large numbers of Adivasis. The mining mafia formed private armies to terrorize the Adivasis.
The land once communally occupied by Adivasis for thousands of years has now become private ownership of the corporations like Adani, Mittal, and Vedanta.
The state of Orissa, where Murmu was once a junior minister, has registered over 16,000 cases of rapes of Adivasis every year since the 1990s. The real numbers of evictions and rapes are hidden since the government is controlled by the BJP rulers.
Members of ICWP started organizing the Adivasi youth in the state of Chhattisgarh. The entire state was carved out in 2000 because it has the largest deposits of minerals. Our comrade reported that the local police are using endangered tigers as a pretext for uprooting these Adivasi youth. The youth know that the real goal is to clear forest areas for mining.
We explained to the youth that only under communism we will find ways for the masses to live in harmony with their surroundings because nothing will be bought or sold for profit. In a capitalist society, vast resources of minerals are lifted from the earth only for profit. For example, 79 million cars were produced in 2021 for an automotive industry of 2.7 trillion dollars.
Communist society will have efficient public transport that will eliminate private cars that are choking our roads, creating massive gridlocks, causing harmful emissions, and consuming oil. Communist society will explore ways to produce mass transit that can last for hundreds of years.
These youth were fascinated by the possibility of a communist world. They saw a bright future compared to the racist harassment they face every day in their life.
However, to achieve this goal, we must organize a mass ICWP with their friends and family. Many NGOs and other parties are organizing them to try to make their life a little better under the profit system. They are misleading the masses of people, just like Murmu is.
We must organize to change the world. We have introduced this group of Adivasi youth to ICWP and opened a new world of communist organizing. They are distributing our Red Flag. They are preparing the groundwork for another visit for an even bigger ICWP in the near future.
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