India: Masses Protest Freeing of Islamophobic Rapists

 ICWP Collectives in India Call on Workers to Unite Against the Capitalist Rulers

DELHI (India), August 22— Masses greeted with disbelief and disgust international headlines about the release of eleven convicted Islamophobic rapists. They had taken part in the massacre of over a thousand Muslim people in Modi’s state of Gujarat in 2002.

Bilkis Bano, a Muslim woman, was 21 and pregnant when she and 24 other women, men, and children were forced to hide in the aftermath of the massacre led by Modi’s fascist BJP. They survived underground for a week with the help of Hindu neighbors but were eventually betrayed. Bano’s hus­band was separated in the commotion. Hindu fascists mobbed the others. Bano was gang-raped and left for dead. The fascists murdered fourteen family members, starting with her 3-year-old child.

Even the fascist-ruled Modi governments couldn’t avoid convicting the eleven men in four different court cases. They were sentenced to life. Last week the courts released all of them. The fascist BJP gave them a hero’s welcome.

Young Women Communists Lead

The news of the released Islamophobic rapists infuriated masses, includ­ing two young women comrades of the International Communist Workers’ Party, one born to a Hindu family and one to a Muslim family. The first comrade met ICWP eight months ago after fleeing Ukraine. “Communism is the only solution to growing worldwide fascism and war. It means ICWP must spread everywhere,” she declared.

The second comrade joined ICWP about two years ago after renouncing identity politics and deciding to mobilize the masses for communism.

These two young women have taken a leadership role in our party col­lective. They are determined to spread our communist commitment to the workers and to deepen our ties with the working class.

Our collectives in Delhi and a newly formed collective in Bihar wrote a leaflet urging workers to unite and turn their anger against the capitalist rulers who offer the masses only extreme ex­ploitation, hunger, and starvation. We explained that the bosses will literally get away with murder while they can divide us by religion, gender, caste, and nationalism.

Several dozens of ICWP comrades and sup­porters went to the working-class neighborhoods. We crisscrossed streets and towns around Delhi and Patna. We armed ourselves with thousands of leaflets, Red Flag, and a condensed version of Mobilize the Masses for Communism.

We spent time with the workers in their homes. Some comrades stayed with the many workers who were impressed with our ideas of communism.

Learning How to Mobilize Masses for Communism

These activities built on our history of mobi­lizing the masses during the massive 2019-2020 Shaheen Bagh sit-ins against anti-Muslim citi­zenship laws. During the fascist anti-Muslim pogroms of Delhi in 2020. During the monumen­tal farmer and farmworker protest encampments in 2020-2021. The Covid crisis.

We are learning that we must mobilize the masses to take on the fascist forces and confront them. The bosses use tear gas, water cannons, and military to protect the interest of the wealthy cap­italists like Ambanis and Adanis.

As our relationship with the masses deepens, we are organizing our forces for different meth­ods of actively expanding our recruitment. We have established three safe areas from where Red Flag will be printed. We are looking at two other locations.

The young comrades in Delhi are determined to recruit workers and youth to our International Communist Workers’ Party in large numbers that will eventually end capitalism with a communist revolution. We are striving internationally to deepen their connections with the rest of our party.

From Delhi to Port Elizabeth, among garment workers from El Salvador to Sri Lanka and Ben­galuru, from Chennai (India) autoworkers to MTA transit workers in Los Angeles (USA) to Boeing workers in Seattle (USA), we are fighting for one class, one party, and one goal – communism.

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