1E CHALLENGE TODAY IN KERALA
ALL DEMOCRACY BE OVERTHROWN:?

By R. PALME DUTT

c { by Franco in Spain a generation ago.

be quite clear of the
e clashes, the hoolgan-
and arson, the consequent
arrests and firing, and
hs through police fir-
all these are tragic and
» things to happen in a
vhose poverty - stricken
were only seeking ele-
reforms and improve-
of their conditions
h the peaceful methods
Ilot box.
t all these violent events

been deliberately pro-
by a reactionary min-

feated at the polls, and
airing of reversing the
verdict, they have
proclaimed the aim of
ting and provoking in-
s in order to oust the
ament of the people —
_the basis of popular
for their reactionary
ut by compelling the
“government to inter-

emocratic government
failed to meet such a

Fe Biuite parliament-
rity in March 1957.
Communist Party and
Ss won 65 seats, the
43, Praja Socialist
ght-Wing Socialists

ves: with the commu-
em League) nine, and

State governments
provincial govern-
in India have only
yowers. The new Com-

“no fundamental
ges, ‘such as nationaliza-
On. of the foreign-owned

ntations. All this is under
rol of the central gov-

all independent observ-
have testified that the
lé corruption and mis-

ent, which had made
byword during the

ding decade, came to an

ith the Communist gov-

The Communist  govern-
ment has carried through
very elementary reform meas-
ures to improve a little the
conditions of the people.

What, then, is all the fuss
about? Nominally, the agita-
tion has been over three
measures:

(1) The Education act;

(2) The Agrarian Reform
Bill;

(3) The District Councils
Bill.

The irony is that all three
are measures corresponding to
Congress All - Indian policy
and carried out by Congress
in other states.

The Education Act proposals
were “passed and approved in
Delhi.”

There was no question of
taking over the private
schools owned by the religi-
ous sects, or even of nomi-
nating their teachers (al-
though all the salaries are

-paid by the government), but

only of ensuring, on the same
lines as in other states in In-
dia, that there should be a
panel of qualified teachers
from whom the schools can
select.

This clause — which has
been made the supposed is-
sue of agitation and indigna-
tion — was actually passed
unanimously by the Assembly.

Similarly, the Agrarian Re-
form Bill has exactly carried
out what the Congress Party
originally proposed in its
election program, but never
carried out when in power

And the very modest Dis-
trict Councils Bill was actual-
ly criticized by the Congress
representatives in the As-
sembly, on the grounds that
“adult franchise is dangerous
in the hands of the people
who do not know how to use
ite :

Since these supposed is-
sues are thus transparent pre-
texts, what is the real cause
of the violent campaign to

oust the government by un- :

constitutional means?

The real cause is simple.
The opposition parties have
lost hope of defeating it by
constitutional means,

Byelection results ‘since the
general election show a fur-
ther sweeping Communist ad-
vance.

In all the Panchayat (local
council byelections from April
1957 to February 1959) the
Communists have won 54
seats, Congress 34, Praja Soc-
ialist Party three.

These results indicated to
all the political parties that,
at the next general election
in’ 1962, the Communist. gov-
ernment would be returned

“with an increased majority:

Hence the alarm of Con-
gress on an all-India scale.
They fear that the Kerala ex-
ample will be followed by a
number of other states at the
next elections.

Special Congress Commis-
sions have been sent down
under the former President
Dhebar, and under the new
President, Indira Gandhi
(Nehru’s daughter), to report
on the position.

Yet how to oust a constitu-
tionally elected government
without discredit to the Con-
gress?

To solve this problem the
local leaders have’ had resort
to the old foul PEO: of
communalism.

A. “direct action” campaign
has been organized under the
leadership of the old commu-

PRIME MINISTER NEHRU

nal agitator Sri Mannam,
representing the most reac-
tionary sections of the
wealthy Hindu Nairs — and
long notorious under the
British Raj for his support of
the princely autocracy against
every democratic movement,
including the Congress.

Alongside him, the digni-
taries of the Catholic Church,
powerful in Kerala, have
raised the slogan of “religion
in danger,” and issued open
incitements to “shed blood”
in the holy cause.

The secular Congress has
solved the problem of how to
associate itself with this foul
communal campaign—by an-
nouncing that it does not par-
ticipate as an organization,
but issues permission for in-
dividual Congressmen to par-
ticipate.

On June 12, “Deliverance
Day,” the campaign of dir-

-ect action to oust the. govern-

ment was launched.

How little the supposed is-—

sue of the private schools had
popular support was shown
by the fact that, in all the

calls to close the schools and

for hartals of shopkeepers, no
attempt was made to call on
the teachers or scholars to
strike—because it was known
any such call would win no
response,

Instead, the schools were
closed by the private board of
managers against the teach-
ers and scholars. If the police
intervened on behalf of the
teachers and scholars to open
the schools, then the hooli-
ganism and stone - throwing
would begin, in order to pro-
voke “scenes of violence” as
a pretext for central govern-
ment intervention.

That the real aim is not the
question of the schools, but to
overthrow the government, is
openly proclaimed by the or-
ganizers. Sri Mannam declar-
ed on May 3: ©

“It will not be possible for ~

them ((thesKerala Ministry)
to save themselves by effect-
ing some changes in the Edu-
cation Act or in the Land
Bill, because our aim is to re-
move the Communist govern-
ment.”

On May 31, the Times of
India reported from Kerala
the formation of the: “secret
seven-man council” with local
“dictators” organized “to oust
the 26-month old Communist
Ministry.”

* On May 10 the Vicar of the

Catholic Church at Mundoor
told his flock after Sunday
prayers: “Christians, men and
women, will have to shed
their blood . . . If they try to
kill you, kill them.”

Where do Nehru and the
All-India Congress govern-
ment stand in relation to all
this?

At his» press conference on
June 10, Nehru declared that
he was ‘‘opposed to the use of
unconstitutional means to
overthrow the government.”
He was “disturbed” at the
introduction of communalism,
with special reference to the
Nair ‘Service Society and-
Catholic organizations in Ker-
ala; he was “opposed to any
picketing of schools.” -

But then came the charac-
teristic facing-both-ways ad-
dition (just as over Tibet)
that there seemed to be
“strong feeling’ of “large
sections of the people.” He
made no attempt to deal with
the tactics of the local Con-
gress, or call on them to
cease participation in the anti-
democratic campaign.

Hence the danger arises
that the reactionary forces
of the Congress machine ge
ahead in practice, under
cover of the public democratic
sentiments and reputation of
Nehru or Indira Gandhi.

_ The attack on democracy
in Kerala is of international

_concern, It is the counter-

part, within Indian conditions,
of the- Algiers plot, which
placed de Gaulle in power in
France,\or the overthrow. of
democracy in Pakistan.

Expressions of solidarity
from Britain and other coun-
tries with the democratic gov-
ernment in Kerala may assist
the supporters of democracy
in Kerala, in “the Indian Na-.
tional Congress and in the
All - India Central Govern-
ment to stand firmly united
to defeat this new offensive
of the buccaneers of reaction.

Labor body wants
top level talks

LONDON — The National
Council of Labor, represent-
ing the Trade Union Congress,
Labor Party and Cooperative
Union, has approved a reso-
lution favoring a summit
conference,

“The peoples of the world,”
it says, “would feel universal
dismay if attempts at an im-
provement in relations be-
tween East and West were
abandoned before such a sum-
mit meeting had been held.”

July 3, 1959 = PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 3