India General Strike
Fight to Destroy Capitalist Bosses, Not to Defend Them–Communist Soldiers Can Change the World
INDIA, March 27— “When I read the story of an Indian medical student in Ukraine, I was very inspired,” a comrade declared. “Her life-changing experience taught me that we can turn these horrific wars into the fight for communism.
“Her story is the story of millions around the world. Instead of feeling like victims of war, we have an opportunity to build a secure future for our class where there is no money, no profit, no banks,” she continued.
“Comrades in my collective, with whom I meet only occasionally because I am far from the city, have asked me to organize ICWP in my village. I will print out a copy of Red Flag tomorrow because some young people in our village are on a leave of absence from the army.”
She reported the next day: “I was nervous and excited because the young soldiers whom I had known as young boys are stationed in Kashmir. About 700,000 Indian soldiers are deployed in Kashmir, which has a population of 13 million. This area has more troops than anywhere else in the world. Across the borders, in Pakistan and China, another half a million soldiers face the Indian army.
Soldiers Welcome Communist Pamphlet and Compare Kashmir to Ukraine
“On that sleepless night, I read and reread the ICWP pamphlet “Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines; Crucial to a Communist Workers’ Revolution.”
“Every word of this pamphlet is true. It said, ‘We have been used to put down strikes and anti-racist rebellions. We have been mistreated while being deployed, put in harm’s way, ordered to kill other soldiers and civilians who are members of the working class, like us. Soldiers are crucial for maintaining the bosses’ power, both at home and during imperialist wars. Soldiers will be crucial in taking that power from them and using it for the working class.’
“In the morning I was ready. My confidence level was enormous after reading the pamphlet and I urge all of you to read it now.”
When the young soldiers arrived, each one got the pamphlet. The comrade did not have to ask what they thought of it. One started talking very emotionally. “We are an army of occupation,” he said. “Our job is to kill, kill and kill. We kill the civilians, women, children, older people. The army covers up by saying we were chasing Pakistani infiltrators. Men have escaped because they are fearful. Only children and women are the victims.”
Another soldier said, “I think of what is happening in Ukraine. Soldiers on both sides are killing each other for who is going to control oil. The civilians are the victims. This is exactly what is happening in Kashmir. This war is about which boss is going to control.”
Indian Rulers Push Islamophobia and Genocide
In another meeting with this group, soldiers told us that “The Islamophobic bosses of RSS/BJP [the ruling party] have been massively showing a hateful movie, The Kashmir Files. It shows the masses of Muslim workers in Kashmir as aggressors trying to kill minority Hindus. This is a lie! Muslims have lived with Hindus for centuries. When the insurgency started, Muslims saved Hindus, and many were killed trying to protect them.”
The soldiers described the effect of this movie. The officers and big bosses are trying to tell us that to defend Greater India, we must eliminate Muslims. They call this Saffronization. This is the color of the fascist BJP.
None of the soldiers in our meeting agreed with this genocidal ideology. They reported that the army is very divided. Most people are like them. But they follow orders. And the orders come from the officers, who are all BJP supporters.
Chinese Red Army Showed that Communist Soldiers Can Change the World
Some of the soldiers thought they would be willing to fight China to protect India’s border. So we read the ICWP pamphlet carefully. It was eye-opening to read about the Chinese communist Red Army. A small group grew to millions, defending the poor peasants against the onslaught of the capitalist bosses. But they made the mistake of supporting “good bosses.” History has shown that there are no good bosses.
After two hours, we made several important decisions. First, the soldiers will find a way to read our literature and show it to other soldiers that they trust. Second, the comrade in the village will struggle with young students in the village, many of whom will join the army. We agreed that these soldiers have the power to change the world.
Read and distribute Red Flag and the ICWP military pamphlet to soldiers, sailors, workers, and youth everywhere
INDIA, March 28-29—Millions of industrial workers, electrical workers, bank employees, transportation workers, and metro drivers joined health care workers and some garment workers in a two-day general strike against the economic policies of the fascist Modi government. ICWP members participated in Chennai and Bengaluru. One comrade was inspired to send Red Flag to relatives of comrades in the army. Full story in the next issue.
Read Our Pamphlet “Soldiers, Sailors, Marines: Crucial to Workers’ Communist Revolution” here