Communism and Confusion-ism

I know that if you talk about Communism today, the most common implications would be that you are either a Naxalite or supporter of the erstwhile USSR or China. In most of the Western world communism has become synonymous with autocracy and lack of freedom, and the feeling is not without a reason. The way USA (and other non-communist countries) have advertised the atrocities of the Communist governments of the China and the USSR, we are bound to think of it as something that should never happen to us. Well, I could have comfortably thought that way but for two reasons. One, I was born to a man who is a hard-core communist, a worker in the Bokaro Steel Plant, an active member of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and a firm believer in the fact that Communism will one day wipe out all stresses of human life. The second reason is my little exposure to China. Well none of the two reasons were strong enough to make me a supporter of communism, but at least helped me have an unbiased view about them.

My father was a communist since his late school days. Born to a Congressman freedom fighter, he was heavily influenced by the local Communist leader Prabhu Narayan Rai, who also remained an MLA for a long period of time. Imagine my dad's time, when the country has just got free and the fruits of independence had not yet reached the villages. The fight in the village remained against the zamindars and their autonomous authority. Prabhu babu (as he was famously called) was actually a zamindar himself, with a soft heart. He felt that the peasants had a right over the land they till and himself led many a revloutionary movements. He was known for his simplicity and his innumerable donations of land to the cause of the village. Most noted of them remained his donation to Vinoba Bhave in the Bhoodan movement. Prabhu Babu was undoubtedly the most impressive, most famous and most liked personality of the area. When elected the MLA for the region, his fame went beyond. It was not surprising that my dad, then in his early youth, along with his friends, became a great admirer of him and his policies.

Prabhu babu inculcated the culture of equality and brotherhood in the village and youngsters like my dad became his active campaigners. There were many in Prabhu babu's family who later also made a mark in politics, S.P.Rai, being one of the most noted ones as he also became a health minister in the State government. My dad spent his young days studying about Marx and Lenin and how the Czar was ousted in Russia and USSR was formed. He came to work in Bokaro Steel Plant which was an epitome of Nehruvian socialism and was Asia's 4th largest steel plant established with the help of USSR. He became a more active member of the Communist Party of India after joining the plant.

I was born and brought up in Bokaro, hearing the stories of Prabhu Babu and how I should become like him. We would hear about Somnath Chatterjee and Jyoti Basu as the pillars of Communism in India. I also got to read the Marx's masterpiece "Capital" translated in Hindi when I was still in school. Reading Lenin's biography, knowing about Bhagat Singh and his ideas and understanding Nehru's dream for India remained my childhood memories.

But times changed. And they changed very fast. Communism was not meant to be a terror. It was meant to be a system that shall have everything for everyone. A utopia- if you may call it.
But the application of Communism in USSR and China, did not exactly match the ideas of Marx. They were more Lenin-ism and Mao-ism, if I may call them.

Somehow, I feel that Communism confused itself when it got implemented in the two biggest countries of the world. But the fact that it succeeded to take power in these two countries is in itself a big achievement for that old bearded German writer Marx. We have never seen any philosopher's or sociologists ideas being adapted like that ever before or ever again. Even Gandhism could not last after Gandhi's demise in India. I can't understand where did Marx mention an aversion to change that both these governments became so rigid. If I understand correctly, socialism(or communism) was all about bringing a change in the way the world operates normally in order to distribute the resources of the world in an more equitable manner rather than leaving men to fight each other like animals. But while implementing the Marxist ideas, the implementers became a little stiff in the way they interpreted Marx. If you come to China today, after about a decade of opening up, you will understand what I mean. USSR was stiff, but China was ready to accept that it needs to change. China is still a communist nation but it is doing really well.

Shanghai is a brilliant example of how the Neo-Communism (if i may call it) of the 21st century can bring a huge change to the world. I agree that the initial advent of Communism in China killed the entrepreneurship of Shanghai and it almost became dormant for a long period. But the government was open to accept that change was required. After the foreign companies were allowed in China, Shanghai boomed, but communism didn't die. I think the idea of communism was not to kill enterpreneurship but to ensure that nobody is left hungry. Look at the way the government has promoted infrastructure developments in the city and you will know what Communism is capable of. Talk to any Chinese about communism and you can see a sense of pride in their eyes. There is no complaint, only hope.

I think Communism needs to change according to time, if it wants to survive, the way democracy has changed and moulded itself according to time. If someone asks me which one is a more efficient system, I would anyday vote for Communism, but if someone asks which will last longer, it shall be deomcracy. Communism needs to revist its roots, understand why it was formed and then decide how it should work. May be it needs many more Prabhu Babu to exemplify what it means.