Unfortunately, the local population does not share in the benefits of these vast natural resources; instead, many of the poorest communities reside in the very regions that are rich in minerals. This situation underscores the severe disparity in wealth distribution stemming from these natural assets, creating a “paradox of plenty” that perpetuates poverty and hunger, both of which are frequently reported at national and international levels.

Since gaining independence, Odisha has favored a pro-business approach alongside mining-led industrialization. Various political parties, including the Congress, Swatantra Party, Janata Dal, Janata Party, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have consistently supported mining corporations under the guise of promoting economic growth. Sadly, rather than foster equitable economic development, this has resulted in mining corporations undermining democratic processes and transforming the resource-rich state into one suffering from a resource curse.

The rent-seeking behavior of the Odisha government has not only stalled economic or human development but has also fortified the influence of caste, class, and elite groups, allowing them to maintain control over resources and governance. This has fostered a neopatrimonial relationship characterized by the collusion of the state, government, and mining entities, thereby cementing the power of these corporations at the expense of fair development.

Consequently, mining corporations exert significant control over democracy in Odisha, contributing to ongoing political and economic crises for the state’s residents. The “Performance Audit of Systems and Controls in Assessment and Collection of Revenue from Major Minerals for the Year Ended March 2022 (Report No. 6 of 2024)” by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reveals that the state has facilitated mining corporations’ interests, leading to severe losses in mining revenue.

The state treasury has suffered tremendously due to the undervaluation of mineral ores by the Odisha government. This excessive support for private mining enterprises has been accompanied by significant political contributions, with mining corporations in Odisha donating ₹601 crore in electoral bonds to various political parties. Major political players, including the BJD, BJP, and Congress, have all benefited from these contributions, with the BJD receiving ₹453 crore and the BJP receiving ₹145 crore from just six active mining companies.

Who is concerned about the ₹22,392 crore loss in mining revenue to the Odisha treasury? Who is addressing the ₹10,294 crore lost due to ore undervaluation? Who prioritizes the welfare of the people and environment in Odisha’s mining regions? Mainstream political parties, mining companies, and ruling and opposition elites collaborate to safeguard their mutual interests, while ordinary citizens in Odisha endure ongoing unemployment, poverty, hunger, underdevelopment, and health issues.

Successive governments have provided uninterrupted support to mining firms and extractive industries, operating under the assumption that governance is intended to serve these corporations rather than the people of Odisha. This collusion not only erodes democracy but also undermines the essential conditions for genuine democratic governance within the state.

Both the ruling and opposition parties benefit from political donations which bolster mining interests

The intertwining of mining corporations with politics is eroding democratic institutions in Odisha. Both the ruling and opposition parties benefit from political donations which bolster mining interests. This crony capitalism, driven by mining companies, has detrimental impacts on the state’s economy, environment, and democratic integrity. While the BJP recently unseated the BJD after more than two decades in power, their policies regarding mining are strikingly similar.

Both parties demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the interests of mining corporations. Newly appointed Chief Minister Mr. Mohan Charan Majhi, despite hailing from a tribal background, appears unfazed by the displacement of tribal communities due to mining, actively facilitating the transfer of forest land and tribal territories to mining operations without hesitation.

Political leaders across the spectrum are influenced by mining corporations, which establish a foundation for pro-mining stances through regular financial incentives, regardless of party affiliation. In Odisha, mining has become a risk-free endeavor, undeterred by regulation. Protecting land and natural resources, as well as the livelihoods that depend on them, is vital for peace and prosperity in the state.

History demonstrates that mining-led industrial growth does not eradicate poverty or hunger. Instead, fostering cooperative and equitable management of natural resources can significantly alleviate these issues in Odisha. In light of this, the people of Odisha must advocate for a new political paradigm that positions them as stakeholders and custodians of the state’s mineral wealth.

The initial step involves mobilizing the workforce to challenge mining corporations and dismantle their political influence. Advocating for radical alternative politics in Odisha necessitates policies that promote equitable resource distribution while emphasizing principles of equality, justice, and liberty as enshrined in the Indian Constitution.

Author is  Scholar based in UK 

Courtesy: CounterView

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Hindutva forces, as allies of Western imperialism, are unleashing everyday street violence against Muslims in India in the name of creating an exclusionary Hindu state (Hindu Rashtra) by dismantling the egalitarian citizenship rights granted by the Indian Constitution.

Amidst the backdrop of the othering and ghettoisation of Muslims, the victory of Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate and communist leader Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami in the Kulgam constituency of Kashmir in the recently concluded elections offers hope, as it shatters both imperialist propaganda on the international stage and Hindutva campaigns within the country.

Despite the dominant narrative of religious and majoritarian identity-based political campaigns, the communists managed to retain their electoral victory in Kulgam, largely due to people’s trust and political efforts led by the Communist Party under the leadership of Tarigami, who focused on addressing the everyday issues of the people.

Although the majority of people in the Kulgam constituency are Muslims, they did not vote along religious lines. Instead, the Muslims of Kulgam rejected religious polarisation by defeating the hardline, Jamaat-e-Islami-supported candidate. This marks Tarigami’s fifth victory in Kulgam, having also won the constituency in the 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014 elections. By voting for communist leader Mr. Tarigami, the people of Kashmir have rejected the religious politics of the Hindutva-PDP alliance, instead choosing secular politics.

The victory of the CPI(M) candidate reflects the fact that the Muslims of Kulgam opted for class politics over majoritarian religious identity politics of dominance. This election result offers hope for the future of class-based politics in Kulgam, Kashmir, and India as a whole.

The victory of class politics in this Kashmir constituency also reflects the democratic resilience of the communists, who are fighting against all odds in the contemporary political landscape of regional and national politics in India. However, mainstream media portrays this victory as the isolated success of a leftist leader, aiming to undermine the political consciousness of voters and their support for the Communist Party in the elections.

Such a ruling-class agenda serves to perpetuate stereotypes against Muslims. This victory of the communists in Kulgam dispels two dominant myths about Muslims: first, that Muslims vote along religious lines, and second, that Muslims are not secular.

Mr Tarigami has always believed and argued that “the tradition of Kashmir has always been the sacrifices of the working class, and we are hopeful that it will continue. The Zaldagar martyrs of 1865 laid the foundation of a struggle against the exploitation and atrocities on the artisans, a prominent section of the working class. The Shawlbaff protest launched at Zaldagar against the ruling class has given vent to numerous movements of the working class which are awaiting successful culmination.”

Such a political approach underscores the historical foundations of working-class politics represented by Mr. Tarigami, rooted in a legacy of solidarity and radical struggles for livelihoods, human rights, and better working conditions in Kashmir and beyond.

The victory of class politics in Kulgam demonstrates that the struggles of the working class are central to various communities and their efforts for effective political mobilisation for democratic, secular and scientific transformation aimed at achieving social, economic, and political justice and equality. Religious politics domesticates individuals and their creative labour, serving to uphold the interests of both ruling and non-ruling elites.

Voting for religious politics within an electoral democracy often facilitates capitalist interests, which are contrary to the needs of the working masses. In contrast, working-class politics can truly uphold and realise the aspirations of the people while promoting the sustainability of the planet.

The rise of class politics is essential for defeating imperialist geopolitics, religious fundamentalism, and terrorist violence in Kashmir, which undermine peace in the region. Grassroots activism focused on the everyday issues faced by people can ensure peace and prosperity while deepening democracy and empowering inalienable and universal citizenship rights as outlined in the Indian Constitution.

For now, it is time to celebrate this significant victory of class politics in the Kashmir elections.

Author is Scholar based in UK

Courtesy: CounterView

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However, the Government of Odisha continues to adhere to the failed policies of the neoliberal project by categorizing children based on severe, acute, and moderate malnutrition. Such a policy is an extension of the policies pursued by the Congress Party and BJP at the center, which dismantled the universal Public Distribution System (PDS) of food. The malnutrition of children is a consequence of the dismantling of the distribution of food under the universal PDS. The universal PDS was dismantled and replaced with revamped PDS and targeted PDS in the name of making it more effective. In reality, the neoliberal onslaught on universal PDS led to the rise of starvation and malnutrition-related deaths in the state. The universal PDS was a policy designed to support the production and distribution of food that could be available and accessible to all, irrespective of their background. It was intended to control food prices in the market and manage market linkages and leakages of food grain from the Food Corporation of India in the distribution process. The dismantling of food security under the universal PDS resulted in rising food prices, a lack of accessibility and availability of food for all. It also led to the rise of a food market dominated by corporations like Reliance.

The Government of Odisha is jeopardizing children’s food and malnutrition security by categorizing them as severe, acute, and moderate malnourished. The universalization of health and food security is the only way to eliminate the shameful hunger and malnutrition-related deaths in the state. This can be achieved if the BJD-led government abandons the failed policies of the neoliberal project pursued by the Congress Party and BJP at the center.

The Odisha government is developing multiple policies that accelerate the privatization of health in the state.

The gods and goddesses in Odisha receive more funds for the rehabilitation of their abodes with amenities, while Odia children suffer from malnutrition deaths and receive less funding from the government. This is a disturbing trend in governance where the welfare of gods is deemed more important than that of Odia children, who are the future of the state. The health infrastructure is in a dilapidated condition, yet the Government of Odisha continues to develop health policies and projects that transfer public funds to private hospitals, accelerating the business of sickness. The universalization of public health is crucial for developing healthy citizens who can contribute to the well-being of the state, society, and families in Odisha. Unfortunately, the state government promotes short-term populist health policies that undermine public health and favor private healthcare in the state.

The Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, launched on 15th August 2018, represents a policy of transferring public wealth to private hospitals and healthcare providers in the name of universal health coverage in the state. This is a temporary response to the acute public health crisis in the state. It is neither sustainable nor capable of resolving the long-term health issues. The development of public health infrastructure, the establishment of medical and pharmaceutical colleges, hospitals, and improving the accessibility and availability of local hospitals and medical professionals are essential for addressing the public health crisis in the state.

The practice of private healthcare has proven unsuccessful worldwide in meeting people’s healthcare needs. Therefore, the expansion of public healthcare infrastructure in the state is the only alternative that can serve people during all forms of health crises. The Government of Odisha must ensure a sufficient health budget to develop a technologically advanced healthcare system that serves all, irrespective of their purchasing power and backgrounds. Health is not a commodity, and the business of illness must come to an end. Privatization is not a public policy but a project for profit-making by depleting the public treasury and citizens’ pockets.

The Articles such as 21, 23, 24, 38, 39, 41, and 42 under the Indian Constitution directly and indirectly deal with public health and human welfare. The right to health is fundamental to the right to life under the Indian Constitution. The Government of Odisha needs to ensure health for all in both letter and spirit by enhancing all health policies and promoting public health. Healthy citizens are crucial for the development of a prosperous and peaceful state, where human dignity is not undermined for the sake of populist religious politics. Modern states are built on healthy citizens, not merely on the abodes of gods and goddesses.

Bhabani Shankar Nayak, University of Glasgow, UK

Courtesy: CounterCurrent

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Indians are going to unfurl the tricolour to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence on 15th of August 2022. Indian freedom struggle has not only shaped India as a modern constitutional democracy but also shaped the nature of state, society and citizenship. The anti-colonial, anti-capitalist, anti-feudal and anti-imperialist struggle were the four pillars of Indian freedom struggle that laid the foundation of a sovereign nation state promised to pursue a society based on socialist, scientific and secular values to ensure egalitarian citizenship rights without any form of discrimination. These inalienable values are central to the unity, integrity, peace, prosperity and progress of India as a multicultural society and secular state. It is time to celebrate these values and promises of Indian independence, a product of struggles and sacrifice of millions of working-class people across the country. India at 75 is still a young nation but old enough for a critical introspection and evaluation of all the achievements, failures and challenges ahead.

The post-colonial India has manged to pursue economic progress, advancement in science and society in an unprecedented scale.  The United Nations Development Programme has released its 2019 Multidimensional Poverty Index which documents that India has lifted 271 million people out of poverty in a decade a decade. The growth of availability and accessibility to health and education has increased considerably over the years. The infrastructure for transport and communication is visible across the country. These significant improvements are testimonies of welfare state in India.  These achievements are not enough for the masses because of unequal outcomes of a class, caste, gender and urban bias development process. The widening gap between rich and poor, men and women, rural and urban areas, rising unemployment, poverty, homelessness, hunger and food insecurities are crucial challenges India is facing today. These challenges are accelerated by the capitalist development policies followed by the Hindutva government led by Mr Narendra Modi.

The Hindutva government is also trying to transform the nature of state and society concomitant with exclusionary ideology of Hindutva shaped by the RSS. The Hindutva forces led by RSS did not participated in the anti-colonial struggle for Indian independence, but these forces manage to pursue electoral democracy as a means to establish a capitalist Hindu Rastra (state) incompatible with constitutional, liberal and secular democracy in India. The Hindutva ideas and visions are completely opposed to the ideas and visions emanating for the Indian freedom struggle. The flag waving Hindutva nationalism is historically anti-national forces in India. The farmers, youth, students, Dalits, tribals and women were the flag bearers of Indian freedom struggle whereas Hindutva forces were collaborators of British colonial rulers.

Mr Narendra Modi, the Hindutva poster boy and PM of India is campaigning to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence by flying the tricolour Indian flag in each houses and families (Har Ghar Tiranga). How do the hungry belly raise their hand to unfurl the national flag Mr Narendra Modi? More than 2 million Indians are homeless. Where do all these homeless people unfurl their national flag Mr PM?  These Indians are not homeless by choice. These people are homeless due to the economic policies pursued by the erstwhile Congress Party and BJP. The successive governments including the Hindutva government today do not care for poor and homeless. These Hindutva and non-Hindutva elites only care for their crony capitalist friends whose profit is expanding in an unprecedented scale while masses are suffering from multiple forms of marginalisation in the country. Hindutva politics is also ruining the multicultural, multi ethnic, multi religious and multi lingual society in India to pursue the idea of Hindutva, Hindi and Hindustan. These monolithic ideas are posing serious challenges to unity, peace, prosperity and progress in India.

The tricolour within Indian flag represents egalitarian, inclusive and secular values of Indian freedom struggle. It represents the sacrifice of all Indians who participated in anticolonial struggles unlike Hindutva forces. It is time to celebrate the achievements of the struggles of the masses for the independent India and equal citizenship rights. Har Ghar Tiranga exposes the hollowness of Hindutva, it is therefore the responsibility of all progressive and democratic Indians to reclaim the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign to defend the values of Indian constitution enshrined in the Constitution of India that the Hindutva forces are destroying on a daily basis, because Indian Constitution is not compatible with Hindutva ideals and visions. Indian state and the government belongs to all the people in India, let’s reclaim it from Hindutva forces and their crony capitalists for the future generation of Indians. The celebration of the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence on 15th of August 2022 is an opportunity to defend Indian constitution and defeat Hindutva in politics, society and culture in India.

Bhabani Shankar Nayak, University of Glasgow, UK

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.

Courtesy: https://countercurrents.org

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What is happening to democracies across the globe? Neoliberalism and the rise of authoritarianism are moving together and, by dismantling social harmonies and states, are threatening democracy’s very existence. In fact they are combining and consolidating in different forms, of which three look more remarkable.

First, there is the rise of nationalist populism. The success of Donald Trump in the USA, Narendra Modi in India, Boris Johnson in Britain, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, Jair Messias Bolsonaro in Brazil and many others is not only an example of the symptoms but also the result of a democratic deficit in the present world. Old political forces are losing ground (for instance traditional conservative, liberal, and social democratic parties) and, following Gramsci, “the field is open for violent solutions, for the activities of unknown forces, represented by charismatic ‘men of destiny’[1].”  Local, national and international politics is increasingly driven by ethnic, racial and religious conflicts in Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East; examples are the wars in Kashmir and Myanmar, or the ‘proxy’ wars between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The populist upheavals have not changed the old-world order; they are rather reinforcing it more vigorously, by imposing a harsher neoliberalism and creating an illusion of welfare only for the national/religious/ethnic community of choice[2]. Religious fundamentalism, national glory, lawlessness, vulgar wealth and huge inequalities are five common features between old and modern world. They have laid the foundations for reactionary nationalism and authoritarian capitalism across the globe;democracy and states have become tools of such a dangerous worldwide process.

Together with nationalist populism, the world has witnessed the rise of two other types of authoritarian political form. In Europe, the continental union has increasingly imposed its rules as a technocratic infrastructure mainly aimed at incorporating Eastern and later Southern European countries into a neoliberal (more specifically, or do liberal) system in which democratic choices are marginalised in the name of a repressive ideology of austerity masked as ‘technocracy.’ Far from being a neutral instrument for the common good, rule by experts has proved instrumental to the wishes and interests of Western European corporations, their supporters in ‘core’ countries (especially Germany), and their allies in the so-called ‘periphery.’ The third type of authoritarian neoliberalism has emerged in countries where authoritarianism was already a reality (for example, China, Russia, Central Asian states), and in which it has taken on more nationalist, protectionist, and repressive features, mostly as a response to pressure coming from the neoliberalising West. Russia and the various ex-Soviet -stan have embraced more authoritarian forms after being catapulted to neoliberalism in the 1990s. China has become more authoritarian in reaction to its growing engagement with the global economy, and also to defend the economic benefits, if limited, its hundreds of millions of citizens have earned over the last four decades.

Authoritarianism, in short, is spreading in a variety of forms.

The pioneers of globalisation and lovers of free market argued that they would bring peace and prosperity by ending war and conflicts. They also argued that it would help in the growth and establishment of vibrant and multicultural democracies, and even put an end to history itself. In reality, globalisation has expanded the conflicts and old world inequalities. The rich have become richer and the poor, poorer. The class, gender, race, caste and regional fault lines continue to grow. The neoliberal capitalist project has out manoeuvred the ideal alternatives of the October and French revolutions and the promises of anti-colonial struggles. All idealisms are in a downward spiral. How do we analyse these upheavals? Is it a sign of the Westphalian nation state’s end?

It is impossible to offer alternatives for a better tomorrow without understanding the present predicaments and their history.

Lineages and transformations of the state

The democratic deficit of the state is embedded within the history of the capitalist and Westphalian nation state. The peace Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 set the conditions for the emergence of capitalist forces by establishing states based on the idea of territorial sovereignty. It helped to end thirty years of savage war in Europe and complemented the changes leading to the industrial revolution in Britain[3]. Together with later peace treaties (for example, Utrecht in 1713), it also helped Europe plunder other continents with colonial rule in different parts of the world. The resources of the colonies were used to establish different institutions of economic development and democratic governance in Europe.

Therefore, ‘Westphalian’ states are innately colonial, capitalistic and authoritarian by nature but dressed up as democracies. Their democratic deepening depended to a large extent on the exploitation of vast regions of the world, clearly a non-democratic process. The referendum results and debates over Britain leaving the European Union (EU) are a classic example of democratic deficit and its relationship with European capitalism as embodied by the EU.

The post-colonial states emerged after the success of anticolonial struggles. The post-colonial states promised democratic governance based on ideals of liberty, equality, justice and welfare of all their citizens. Nehru’s India or Nkrumah’s Ghana are just two examples of a variety of new political forms that attempted to combine liberty and equality, national unity and non-Western ideas of cosmopolitanism. The anticolonial struggle had positive influence on European states. It transformed the nature of the states in Europe by making them more democratic, secular and multicultural in terms of citizenship rights with welfare orientations. Similar processes occurred in the USA, where the 1960s where the age of the ‘Great Society’ and witnessed the struggle and emancipation of women, African-Americans, and other minorities. Yet since the late 1970s the neoliberal Washington consensus has led to the universalisation of neoliberalism by ending ideals of democratic welfare state. The centralisation and securitisation of state became the order of the day to uphold the interests of the private capital which has grown enormously since the implementation of neoliberal policies of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation.

We live in a world where Vox Populi, Vox Dei (the voice of the people is the voice of God) is replaced by the order of capitalism where market and money dominate the social, economic, political, cultural and even religious sphere. It is within this context that democracy and the state face challenges. Neoliberal authoritarianism emanates from a political and economic project that creates a culture of democratic deficit and a privatised state. The legitimacy crisis of the state creates the vacuums where ruling and non-ruling elites control the masses and all the resources with the help of securitised, centralised and authoritarian states. The ideological narrative of neoliberalism was based on individual freedom but in reality, we live in a society where people are in free prisons of market where prices are independent and free. It means the dead capital is free and lively labour in chains.

The quest for an alternative manifesto

The crisis created by democratic deficit, neoliberal authoritarianism and rise of reactionary right wing politics is a global phenomenon. Local and national contexts are important in the search for alternatives, even if the current political and economic crisis needs international solutions. It is imperative to develop a pluriversal praxis that is applicable to the world today. With this aim, four steps are particularly important.

The first step is to dismantle the structures of the Westphalian capitalist state system and all its affiliated supranational and international organisations. This is only possible by creating a solidarity of all grassroot movements for alternative democracy, for peace, the environment, development and prosperity as inalienable citizenship rights. International institutions should become fully democratic and inclusory, starting with those dealing with peace and development such as the United Nations and the European Union. It is also important to have a continuous solidarity of struggles to develop conditions for non-discriminatory, pluriversal and inalienable rights based on progressive and scientific ideas.

The second step is to develop conditions where local communities can control and manage their local resources based on their needs and desires with egalitarian distributive mechanisms. For example, Kurdish communities in Northern and Eastern Syria are currently at the heart of a system in which private property serves the needs of communities and is complemented by strong elements of cooperation and egalitarianism.
The third step is to develop local, national and international struggles against all conflicts, wars and industries affiliated with them including nuclear weapons. The defence industry (the ‘military-industrial complex’, still existent despite the end of the Cold War thirty years ago) creates wars to expand its profits. According to SIPRI, the USA spends on the military a staggering 649 billion dollars annually, more than the sum of the other nine top spenders. At the same time, the USA ranks 35 out of 37 OECD countries in terms of poverty and inequality.

The fourth one is a continuous struggle against all forms of authoritarianism and all forms of discrimination in every sphere of life. Racism, gender-based discrimination, persecution of LGBT groups, and disrespect for any diversity have regained ground in the West and much beyond it. International institutions should fight them more effectively and promote inclusion at all levels.

[1]Gramsci A (1971) Selections from the Prison Notebooks. London: International Publishers.

[2]Nordensvard J and Ketola M (2015) Nationalist Reframing of the Finnish and Swedish Welfare States – The Nexus of Nationalism and Social Policy in Far-right Populist Parties. Social Policy & Administration 49(3): 356-375.

[3]Teschke B (2003)The Myth of 1648. Class, Geopolitics, and the Making of Modern International Relations. London: Verso.

Bhabani Shankar Nayak, Coventry University, UK
Ernesto Gallo, Regents University, London

Courtesy: Counter Current

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