Socialism of the Future / Future of Socialism

Talking about the ASF process, Pradeep Giri, a senior Nepali Congress leader, informed that a year back he was called by Vijay Pratap to attend a meeting regarding holding of the ASF meeting in Nepal. Giri said how he had agreed to the idea and how very shortly democracy was put on the backburner in his country as King Gyanendra took all executive powers in his hands against the will of the people.

Referring to the socialist unity, Giri said that the two streams of socialism have the same roots. Before 1917, Social International was one. Both Lenin and Stalin were in that International. He said the point was about unity and if the WSF process was to be further strengthened, it was essential to identify issues for threadbare discussions. For this, unity of both the streams was vital. Giri emphasised the need for using a terminology, which could be understood by the common people. Terms like capitalism, colonialism, neo-feudalism, etc., were not easily understood by the people.

He said it was true that there could not be socialism unless there was a commitment to the austerity. Gandhiji was correct in saying that resources of the whole world were not enough to satiate human greed but the Mother Earth had everything for complementing the basic human needs.

He hoped that the WSF process would succeed in the end. People must learn from their mistakes and past. “If people like Kanu Sanyal, Surendra Mohan, and Dipankar Bhattacharya were sharing the same dais it meant something significant, significant for the socialist unity in the country. The point is that we all must learn from our mistakes of the past,” he pleaded, adding that time was not for indulging in the intellectual debates but accepting mistakes committed earlier.

He said all doors seemed closed except the one that led to dialogue and strengthening of the socialist movement. And the masses have to be awakened to take the message further. Common people’s traditional skills have to be honed and self-esteem restored. Giri said the west was not necessarily the model. “This false sense has been instilled in us during last 300-year history of subjugation by the British. This is a misplaced notion that only west can train us. If this thinking continues, the WSF movement will not survive,” he asserted.

Giri said it was noteworthy that the WSF movement has started from the developing countries. The developed world also has to learn so many things from the developing world as it was basically a reciprocal process. He called on the participants to learn from anywhere, from different experiences of different countries like China, Cuba, and even Nepal. He also spoke about the dynamics of violence vis-à-vis socialism, capitalism and US imperialism. Giri pointed out that the urge to use violence in politics has to be understood in the right perspective.

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