PEOPLE’S LITERARY AND CULTURAL MOVEMENT. {DOCUMENT}
Any culture is expressed in human relations, thoughts, actions, life styles
and social activity. In one word, culture is nothing but an expression of
economic, political and social life of a given society. Since the emergence of
class society, literature, art and culture had seen representing the interests
of a definite class or classes. So, every class society has two kinds of
literature, art and culture. One is the literature, art and culture of the
exploiting ruling classes and another is the literature, art and culture of the
exploited and oppressed classes struggling to free themselves from the old
society and herald a new society. The contradictions-struggle-unity that
manifest in the sphere of literature, art and culture, therefore, are only a
reflection of struggle between the old and new social system and class forces.
The exploiting ruling classes always try to negate, undermine and suppress the
literature, art and culture representing the interests of the exploited and
oppressed classes and promote and protect the literature, art and culture that
represent their own interests. They project their own literature, art and
culture as that of entire society. They indulge in all rubbish talk like’ art
for art’s sake’, ‘non-class art’ or ‘art for common good’ only with an aim to
smoothen the way to market the literature, art and culture that serve their own
interests. The struggle between the old and new literature art and culture
together with the struggle for or against the social change is continuing in
India too ever since India was divided into a class society. The people’s
literature, art and culture in our country have a long and tortuous course of
development and glorious history.
India is faced with an all-round cultural crisis today. Everywhere we find
poisonous and degraded values polluting the minds and social atmosphere.
Retrogressive culture and values in the name of past heritage and decadent
culture and values in the name of modern culture are reining the scene. This is
very disturbing situation for everyone who is concerned about the future of
India.
Feudalism
of Middle age is historically out dated in India too as was the case with many
countries in the world. But the colonialists first, then the imperialists and
the exploiting ruling classes in collusion with them had neither allowed
feudalism to meet its natural and inevitable death not tolerated the struggle
of new social forces to drive it into the grave with all its traces. They retained
it with certain modifications together with the culture and values associated
with feudalism to use the same to prevent the onward march of the social
forces.
The
feudal culture is playing a key role in sustaining the backward, retrogressive
and antidemocratic ideas and forces in the society. It is preventing the growth
of people’s consciousness from questioning the exploitation and oppression of
the feudal and other exploiting classes and their authority, egos and
hypocrisy. The cast system and caste chauvinism which are eating away the
vitals of Indian Society are continued fundamentally by the feudal productive
relations. For generations, the women are looked down as second-rate citizens.
They are weighed down heavily by the customs, traditions and patriarchal
system. The theory of fate or destiny in the name of god and religion, the
concepts of previous birth or rebirth that are being injected into the brains
of the people are playing like opium to keep the people buried under the
influence of many superstitions, myths and illusions. The mindset of the people
is being diverted to seek spiritual solutions for the real problems faced by
them in their lives. In the midst of phenomenal advance in the sphere of
science and technology, various blind beliefs, vaastu and astrology etc.,
continue to guide or dictate the lives of our people. Bhakti, devotion to god
and blind beliefs, superstition are being promoted as a big industry. The
religious superstitions and fanaticism would not allow the rational thinking,
creativity and scientific genius of the human beings. All these are an integral
part of feudal culture. In the attempt to impose and legitimize the monopoly of
a ’gifted’ few over the mental and material resources of people, the feudal
culture preaches that the social qualities take a shape and flourish out of
one’s birth, caste, religion and position but not in accordance with the
economic, political and cultural conditions. Thus the feudal culture represents
a historically obsolete social system and is playing the role of holding back
and arresting the onward march of Indian society. The progressive, democratic
writers and artists are therefore; faced with the challenge of breaking the
shackles of feudal culture and adding strength and impetus to the people who
are struggling to put an end to feudalism and win a New Democratic Society.
The
British colonial rule ended in 1947 but their plunder continued in India. The
Indian rulers had opened doors of the Indian economy wide for the imperialist
loot and plunder and consequently several imperialist powers, especially the
US, came to dominate every aspect of life in India. It got further intensified
many times with the policy of globalization adopted by the Indian ruling
classes.
The
imperialist penetration and control are not limited to economic and political
spheres. The education, research, media, literature, art and culture, for that
matter every branch of intellectual and cultural activity suffers from the
pernicious influence and domination of imperialism. A Culture of slavishly
eulogizing and imitating the western culture, infatuation for the English
language, addiction to consumerism and denigration of one’s own mother tongue,
fancy for US are systematically injected into the brains of our people. Many
deceptive and sophisticated methods are being employed for this purpose. The
unquenchable thirst for profit and share in the loot-a basic nature of
capitalist’s selfishness, taking an indifferent, casual and non-concern
attitudes towards events, trends and forces that are seriously affecting the
larger sections of people and society, social neglect, disrespect to human
values, drug addiction, anarchism, criminality, pub-culture, treating women as
commodities, hedonism, spreading hate towards Muslims in the name of war
between religions or civilizations – all a part of the imperialist culture are
being spread in the Indian society. The agencies and forces funded and guided
by the imperialists are working overtime to pollute and poison the mind of our
people. They are doing everything to disarm the people and social forces as
well as people’s movements by open and hidden attacks and unrelenting attempts
to confuse, shatter confidence, fragment and dismantle progressive ideas,
scientific ideologies and leaderships.
The
imperialist globalization had further intensified and speeded up this course of
decadence. It is bent on trampling under the foot the principles of democracy
and independence and the struggle of our people for highest forms of democracy,
independence and progress. It is bent on distorting, vulgarizing and ultimately
wiping out the natural, diverse and live forms of national and ethnic cultures
and replacing them with perverted and decadent imperialist culture. The MNCs
and Indian corporate houses and other countless agencies, various forms of
media, TV channels, cinema and advertising agencies are working overtime to
spread the cultural pollution, set the mindset, habits, mannerisms, life
styles, food habits, attitudes towards beauty, glamour and social stature to
boost up profits for the imperialist companies. The so called IT sector has
become a big Centre not only for the ruthless loot of our country’s mental
wealth but also a Centre to mould a section of our intellectual cream into
tools of a neo colonial form of plunder and domination. All this is making the
anti-imperialist and anti-feudal literature, art and cultural movement more
difficult and at the same time, all important.
The
bourgeois ideas and culture had flown into India from the world. They had also
sprouted on the Indian soil along with the emerging capitalist forces. Yet they
could not grow in a healthy manner. They lacked a sound and independent basis
of capitalism as the main cream of capitalists in India allowed themselves
shamelessly to be tied by thousand and one strings of dependence and
compradorism to the imperialists. Thus they had reduced themselves into
vehicles to spread the imperialist culture in India. With this, we came to have
a peculiar situation where the identification of bourgeois culture presents
itself as uphill task without subjecting it to the acid test whether it
demarcates itself from the retrogressive feudal culture and decadent
imperialist culture. So, the progressive and democratic writers and artists are
faced with the challenge of liberating our people and society from the shackles
of imperialist culture and paving the way for a democratic, independent and
prosperous India.
We stand for people’s literature, art and culture. By
this we clearly mean that the literature, art and culture which represent the
aspirations, urges and struggles of exploited and oppressed people for a social
system sans exploitation and oppression. In the present situation of our country,
it is anti-feudal and anti-imperialist in its nature and represents the
aspirations, urges and struggles of the exploited and oppressed people forces
for a New Democratic Society.
The struggle of the democratic and
revolutionary classes and forces to end the present semi-colonial and
semi-feudal economic and political system clears the ground and lays the basis
necessary for the scientific, democratic and national culture to take root and develop.
Similarly, the cultural movement by the developing the scientific, democratic
and national culture will create the favorable cultural atmosphere and add
strength and impetus to the struggle of the democratic and revolutionary
classes and forces to end the present social system and build a new democratic
society. So, the writers and artists must take inspiration from it and
represent the aspirations and struggle of the oppressed classes for social
change as it is the basis of the ideological revolution they are committed to
achieve.
As writers and artists committed to the
social objective of ending the feudal and imperialist exploitation and
oppression in our country and advancing towards the ultimate goal of a society
and a world free from inequality, exploitation, oppression and war we naturally
own and identify with the struggles in the world with similar causes. We own
and inherit every achievement in the realm of literature, art culture and human
thought by our people in the past as well as in the world. Also the
achievements won in the course and as a result of their struggle against the
forces to hold back the onward march of human society. We declare ourselves as
the inheritors of all humanists, progressive and cultural ideology achieved by
the different oppressed people as a result of their cultural struggles. We own
the patriotic and democratic values that are reflected and depicted in the
Indian literature in the past. We take inspiration from the First War of
Independence in 1857 and various freedom struggles, Telangana, Naxalbari
uprisings, the struggles of peasants, workers, adivasis, women, students,
youth, dalits, minorities and middle classes.
India is a country of various nationalities
in different stages of development. Every nationality has its own distinct
features, language and culture. While the Indian ruling classes representing
the interests of feudalism and imperialism are doing everything to scuttle the
rights of these nationalities and entangle them in fratricidal and diversionist
quarrels, we are committed to own their contributions to the wealth of
progressive and democratic literature and art, respect their distinct features
and forms and enrich the anti-feudal and anti-imperialist content of the
people’s literary and cultural movement in India.
The Indian ruling classes are utilizing the
ideological fields to intensify contradictions, divisions and conflicts among
the people well that the united people would eventually grow in strength
capable of overthrowing the present system. They are using religious fanaticism
and fundamentalism as important tools not only in the gamble for power and vote
banks but also keep the people divided, diverted and submerged in the dark
world of retrogressive ideas. 1984 massacre against the Sikhs; 1993 Babri
Masjid demolition by the Hindu fundamentalists led by the Sang Parivar; 2002 Gujarat
genocide and the tensions and clashes that are occasionally bursting out in one
place or the other in India in the last six decades are only a part of this
game of the ruling classes. While the Muslim communal and fundamentalist forces
are striving to hold back the masses of Muslim people from coming into the
progressive and democratic stream of struggles by offering the spiritual and
communal solutions, the Hindu communal and fundamentalists are resorting to
aggressive methods to impose the hegemony of Hindu religion over Muslims by
projecting Hindu religion as synonym to nationalism, the feudal culture based
on Hindu religion as Indian culture. We the writers and artists oppose
religious fanaticism, fundamentalism, inequality and discrimination. We stand
for democratic, secular and scientific culture and use the literary and art
forms to strengthen the unity of the oppressed classes of all faiths.
India is the country of the different
languages. Each language is rich in it and has contributed a lot to the
cultural and intellectual development of the respective nationality. Respecting
each language (Mother tongue), treating al languages as equal and as a valuable
wealth of our country and people must be our policy. However, the British
colonialists had pursued a policy of neglect and undermining towards the Indian
languages and impose English as the ruling language. The Indian ruling classes
too are continuing this policy. They are encouraging linguistic fanaticism, a
policy of imperialism giving royal treatment to certain languages. The
imperialist globalization is engaged in renewed attempts to make English to
dominate all other Indian languages. In the last six decades, the writers,
artists, educationist and the lovers of mother tongue in different states
carried on and are still carrying on a movement for equality of languages, use
of mother tongue in educational and administrative fields and better conditions
for its development. We are a part of this movement. When we declare our
respect to mother tongue and equality of all languages we also mean that we are
belittling other languages and we
recognize one’s right to learn the languages of her/his choice, including
English.
The real inexhaustible source of people’s
literature and art lies in the life and struggles of the oppressed people. The
writers and artists must, therefore, avail themselves of every opportunity to
link themselves, closely study, feel and analyze the sufferings, aspirations
and struggles of the masses of oppressed people against the feudal and
imperialist exploitation and oppression and use the same as the content of
their literary and art forms. The masses
of oppressed people are not only the real source of content for the literary
and art forms but also are the real arena where the literary, art forms are put
to use in the interests of oppressed people, hence, the need to go to the
people.
On the whole, the people’s
literary, art and cultural movement in our country had developed unevenly and
with ups and downs. It had gone through the periods of infancy, adolescence,
full blossoming, stagnation, disintegration and again the period of revival.
Its development is closely linked with the strongly influenced by the
developments and trends in the ideological and political sphere as well as ebbs
and flows in the people’s movement for social change. The spread of scientific
and progressive ideas brought a sea change in the orientation of writers and
artists regarding the very purpose of literature and art. It gave a big boost
to the production and spread of peoples literature and art. It has moved
several dozens of intellectuals, writers and artists to undertake studies and
researches into the origin and development of scientific, materialist and
progressive ideas in India in various branches. They had dug out the
contributions by the toiling and oppressed people to the cultural and
intellectual progress of our country. These contributions have blasted several
myths, irrational and superficial ideas such as ‘unquestionable beliefs,
eternal and sacred truths’ or knowledge said to have emanated from the Almighty
to sanctify and perpetuate the exploiting system. These contributions had not only
connected us with our own past but also provided a dependable basis and weapon
to fight against the retrogressive and reactionary ideas and forces and take
the ideological revolution to new heights.
The formation of All India Progressive Writers Association
(AIPWA) and Indian Peoples Theatre Association (IPTA) in 1936 marked a big leap
forward in the literary, art and cultural movement. These moves gave a concrete
and organized shape and thrust to an all India movement. This movement had blossomed
and added the strength and momentum to the people’s movement for social change.
The period of Telangana peasant struggle (1946-51) provides a shining example
for how beautifully the literature, art and cultural movement and the movement
for social change can march hand in hand, gain strength and momentum from one
another and unite in a common cause. Same was the case with the literary, art
and cultural movement in Bengal, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Orissa, UP, Punjab, Assam,
Maharashtra and other states. The people’s literature, art and cultural
movement made its own impact and contributed to the advance of struggles for
social change wherever and to whatever extent the writers, artists and creative
workers with scientific, progressive and people orientations made conscious and
organized work. Kazi Nazrul Islam, Rahul San krutyan, Kishan Chander, Sri Sri, Koku,
Anna Bhaau Sadhe, Makdum Mohiyuddin, Sunkara, Sukanta Bhattacharya, Faiz Ahmed,
Sadat Hasan Manto, Tarashankar bandopadhaya and many others had contributed a
lot to the people’s literature and art. The literature and art produced by them
had played a significant role in taking the socialist, materialist, democratic
and patriotic ideas among the widest masses of oppressed people. These literary
and art forms, rich in content and form, could influence the intellectual
sections in good number and bring them into the stream of progressive and
democratic movements. Some of the progressive writers and artists integrated
themselves closely and had become virtually an inseparable part of the then
ongoing anti-feudal and anti-imperialist peoples’ movements and contributed to
their advance. The progressive writers and artists had done a great service in
bringing valuable literature from other languages within the reach of Indian
People.
The State of stagnation and disintegration experienced by
the people’s literary, art and cultural movement in its life was a direct
consequence of serious setbacks suffered by the revolutions in the world as
well as India owing to revisionist ideas gaining dominance in the ideological,
political and practical spheres. This situation made the task to uphold,
restore and assert the correct orientations in the ideological and political
spheres as well as in the sphere of class struggle and social revolution more
difficult, tortuous and complex. More so was in the sphere of literature, art
and culture. The all India structures such as PWA and IPTA had virtually
collapsed under the onslaught of reformism. The reactionary ideas, trends and
forces had intensified their attempts to gain from it and occupy the space and
become more aggressive in their attack against the scientific and progressive
ideas and forces.
However, the writers, artists and creative workers who
remained unshaken in their commitment to the cause of social revolution sought
to swim against the adverse conditions and continued the creative work. They
tried to keep them in touch with the developments in the country, masses of
toiling and oppressed people and their struggles. They sought to depict the
lives, feelings, aspirations and struggles of the toiling people. In their
writings, various art forms and through available means of mass communication
they sought to keep alive the finer aspects of culture, democratic values,
uphold the rights of people, expose the rot in the present system and raise the
consciousness of the people. They responded to all positive turns and advances
in the ideological and political struggle, upswings, militant or revolutionary
turns in the struggles and movements of toiling and oppressed people. They
extended solidarity and support whenever the people came under the brutal
attack of the retrograde, reactionary and dark forces or communal holocausts or
natural calamities. They worked through the writers groups, cultural troupes or
organizations, at local or state level or as individuals. Thus they sought to
the best of their ability to keep alive and spread the values and traditions,
represented by the people’s literary and cultural movement.
The revolutionary situation in the country as reflected
in the Naxalbari peasant uprising in 1967 and other peasant revolutionary
movements had infused new life into the progressive literary and cultural
activity. Revolutionary literary and cultural organizations came into existence
in different states. However, extremism which came to dominate the scene
including the sphere of literature and art had negatively affected the efforts
to unite the writers and artists, to fully use their talents in the interests
of developing a progressive literary and cultural movement and people’s
revolutionary movement. At the same time, there are certain sections which
continued efforts with the orientation of people’s literary and cultural
movement taking the experiences of all these revolutionary and progressive
literary and cultural groups. Now it is time to make the efforts with renewed
vigor to build an all India people’s literary and cultural movement.
We, welcome all efforts and struggles in the world
directed against the imperialist globalization. We extend our solidarity to the
struggles of working class and oppressed people for a world free from
inequality, exploitation, oppression and war.
It will be our constant and unrelenting endeavor to
further deepen our understanding and orientation by studying the masters in the
world literature and literacy criticism. It will be our goal to add strength
and momentum to the struggle of our people to end the present system and for
New Democracy. It is our task to rally all writers and artists with this social
objective into an organized all India people’s literary and cultural movement.
IN conclusion, we reiterate: 1. since the masses of toiling and oppressed
people are the real source of literature and art as well as the field of
activity for the writers, artists and other creative workers it is natural we
go to the people and integrate ourselves with them fully and whole-heartedly.
We study and analyses every aspect of their life and struggle so that we can
produce the literature and art better in quality and effective in serving the
cause of people. 2. The social cause is the guiding star for all forms of
creative work. We believe that the scientific, democratic and national
literature, art and culture cannot develop fully and in an unhindered and all
round manners without sweeping away the feudal and imperialist plunder and
oppression which are dominating our society fully and completely from the face
of our society and building a new democratic society. So we strive to rally and
unite all the writers, artists and every one interested in using their creative
energies and talents towards in the end. 3. The people’s literary, art and
cultural movement, we wish to develop is all India in its character. We respect
the culture of working class and other classes taking part in the New
Democratic Revolution. We also take note of diverse and distinct forms of
culture, literature and art that the nationalities and ethnic groups came to
have in the course of their development. While forging unity among the writers,
artists and other creative workers on the basis of common cause of fighting for
a New Democratic India, we own, protect and help the development of diverse and
distinct forms of culture, literature and art of different nationalities and
ethnic groups. We encourage them to learn from one another with the aim of
achieving higher level of cultural development and raise the unity and struggle
of toiling and oppressed masses of Indian people for the common cause to a
higher level.
Published by
Contact
Address:
K.Ravibabu
on behalf of: K. Ravi Babu
All India People’s Literary Forum. 30-7-6
Annaparthi Vari Street,
Annadanam Samajam
Road
Durgha Agraham, Vijayawada
Andhra Pradesh
Pin code: 520 002.
