(Asian independent) On the historic occasion of the completion of 90 years of India’s socialist movement, a Youth Socialist Convention has been organized in Delhi on Acharya Narendra Deva Jayanti Day 31 October – 1 November 2025. In the convention, the country’s policies regarding education, health, employment, economy, agriculture, development, culture, and so on, will be discussed from a socialist perspective in the current context of the corporate-communal political nexus.
The young men and women of the country associated with the socialist movement are invited to participate in the convention. Youth from other streams associated with transformative politics are also welcome in the convention. Senior socialist comrades are cordially invited to guide the youth.
Base Paper of the Convention
Prepared by Dr. Prem Singh
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Enough of defining and explaining imperialism; what is needed is to eliminate it from the world.
The socialist movement of India, with its revolutionary ideology and praxis, has some original characteristics:
* It was born from the womb of the Indian Freedom Movement. Therefore, it assimilates all the streams of the anti-imperialist struggles that happened before and after the Revolt of 1857.
* It does not assign the essential task of changing the social structure of India to the economic system alone. It rather considers social change as a parallel task, which to a large extent, is independent of the economic system. It views the questions of class, class-consciousness and class-struggle in the context of caste. It is in natural alliance with the movements and leaders for social change in India, especially against caste system and patriarchy.
With reference to the vitally important issue of transformation of the country’s social system, the socialist movement has followed the objective of unleashing the inherent potential of India’s Bahujan and for achieving liberation from the shackles of feudalism-colonialism permanently.
Dr. Lohia’s aim to bring Dalits, Adivasis, backward castes, women and poor Muslims forward in the social structure, in the service sector and in politics, was a revolutionary suggestion in order to transform the socio-economic-political-cultural structure of the country, on a permanent basis. Lohia saw the maximum possibility of hope through the de-Brahmanization and de-colonization of the minds of these marginalized communities. Lohia believed that the ‘mind’ of the marginalized communities has been largely free from the grip of old Brahmanical and the new colonial value systems. In this sense, it could be a strong and unyielding opponent to communal fascism and capitalist imperialism.
The same can be suggested in the context of two-thirds of the world. But this idea, particularly suggested by Lohia, with its deep possibilities for bringing about a revolution in the socio-political-cultural structure of India, was reduced to the crude level of sheer casteism by the leaders following politics of social justice. Not only this, the entire marginalized groups were also reined into the service of communal fascism and capitalist imperialism. It is unfortunate that many progressive intellectuals too perceive this idea of Lohia solely from an electoral perspective. In this entire exercise, the vast marginalized population, instead of becoming citizens of modern India, has become imprisoned in the identities of castes, tribes and religions.
* It propounds an independent socialist ideology which is not fully defined but distinct from capitalism and communism. It is different from the one propounded by European social democrats and democratic socialists. Its reference point for defining socialism are the colonised countries that have been victims of colonial plunder for centuries. It accepts that capitalism, witnessed from the beginning of the day, becomes possible only by being imperialist. It seeks colonies outside to make its manifestation possible. If colonies are not available outside, it establishes internal colonies within the country. That is why in socialist ideology, in view of the development of two-thirds of the world, emphasis has been laid on the change not only within capitalist production relations but also on the means of production i.e. technology.
* It rejects the capitalist and communist model of development in the view of the simultaneous development of two-thirds of the world in all its dimensions including technology and production/exchange. It is also opposed to indiscriminate exploitation of resources resulting in environmental destruction for accumulation of capital. It advocates prosperity with equality instead of contributing to extreme consumerist culture.
* India’s socialist movement does not divide means and ends into two separate compartments. It believes that the justification for every step/action in the struggle towards achieving the goal should be clear and visible in the step itself.
* It recognizes the non-violent mode of action countering the unjust system, situation and law when legal/legislative measures are insufficient. It considers the method of Satyagraha/Civil Disobedience to resist injustice to be the greatest revolution the world has seen so far. Under this method of resistance it is not only a group/class which can launch a protest but even a single individual can take a position to fight against injustice.
* It is inherently democratic. Hence, civil liberties and individual freedom including freedom of expression are part of its ideological structure. It gives special importance to the freedom of women towards the creation of a socialist civilization. It is also in favour of the freedom of culture, literature and arts from state control. In this way, it has made a significant contribution towards making a modern, democratic and independent human society.
* India’s socialist movement considers decentralization of power, governance and resources as essential for a socialist system as against centralist hegemony. The concept of Chaukhambha-Raj (Four Pillar State) has been proposed for decentralisation of political power, resources and administration.
* It advocates establishing equal relations between all countries along with a system of equality within countries, and for that, it presents the idea of a world government and a visa-free travel.
* While accepting Indianness as pluralistic, it offers to view and understand culture, philosophy, art, literature, language and religious traditions from a rational progressive perspective. It rejects fanaticism and essentialism for the good health of a society and nation.
* It accepts politics as the art of exploring and achieving the truth. Hence, it advocates complete transparency, honesty and accountability in politics, the political parties/leaders who carry it out, and the power-game inevitably associated with them. It believes that if the structure and functioning of a political party is not democratic, then the democratic system will inevitably be distorted. It does not accept the rule of one party, one person, and one family as democratic by any argument/logic. In this way, it is a philosophy that proposes a civilization of a socialist political conduct in world politics.
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To understand the socialist ideology of India, the literature of its major thinkers Acharya Narendra Deva, Jayaprakash Narayan, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, Kishan Patnaik, Sachchidanand Sinha and other socialist thinkers/leaders inspired by them, should be studied and understood. While observing the socialist literature in its entirety, one will find that the socialist ideology is an open ideology. Its aim is to completely eradicate inequality, injustice and weapons from the world. Its mentors have applied the filter of Gandhism to the socialist system that they envisioned.
It can be mentioned here that the period of the organised Indian socialist movement spanned from 1934, at the time when the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was formed within the Congress, to 1977, when the Socialist Party was merged with the Janata Party. The parties that were formed by the new and old socialists after the disintegration of the Janata Party took full political advantage of the remnants of the great movement, but often side-lined the ideology.
Unfortunately, the socialists who used to criticise this kind of individualistic/dynastic/casteist politics by calling it a defamation of socialism, even their role was not that of a saviour/liberator of the movement and ideology. The youth of the country have to understand that most of the post-Janata Party socialists have themselves damaged the socialist movement in the country.
Needless to say, for a political ideology to come true, a political party is a must. After 1977, there has not been a strong socialist party on the political scene of the country. However, there have always been some ideologically committed groups and individuals, who will remain so in the future too. Such people formed Samajwadi Jan Parishad (1995) and Socialist Party India (2011) to counter the neo-imperialist slavery coming through the New Economic Policies imposed in 1991. Both these parties were, however, not able to garner expected strength.
The youth have to seriously understand that if India (and two-thirds of the world) have to free themselves from the corporate-communal nexus and neo-imperialist clutches, it can be possible only on the basis of the socialist ideology. They have to understand that socialist ideology is not the legacy of only those who call themselves socialists. It is the common legacy of all Indians and poverty and conflict-ridden world. One must remember that the Congress Socialist Party formed within the Congress was to be the alternative to the Congress in the future.
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For this, it is important to create awareness and understanding of the socialist ideology among the young generation of the country. Programs are being organized across the country on the occasion of the completion of 90 years of India’s socialist movement. In this series, a two-day Youth Socialist Convention is being organized on 31 October – 1 November 2025 in Delhi under the aegis of Youth Socialist Initiative (YSI). Its prime resolution is that for the next 10 years, i.e. till the completion of 100 years of Indian socialist movement, such programs will be organized for and by the youth across the country. All these programs will conduct the necessary goal of creating awareness and understanding of the movement among the youth.
In the convention, the country’s policies regarding education, health, employment, economy, agriculture, development, culture, and so on, will be discussed from a socialist perspective in the present context of the corporate-communal political nexus. For this, brief resolutions have been prepared with the help of eminent scholars to discuss the country’s education policy, health policy, employment policy, economic policy, agriculture policy, development policy, culture policy etc. from a socialist perspective.
Youth from other streams associated with the socialist movement and transformative politics will debate these resolutions and give their suggestions. Needless to say, the resolutions call for making constitutional policies as against the policies implemented by the present corporate-communal nexus governed politics/governments. All the resolutions presented and approved in the convention will be published in the form of a booklet and be taken to the people of the country.
The Youth Socialist Convention has been organized with the spirit of ‘if not now, then never’. The objective of the convention is to create a spirit of decisive opposition to the neo-imperialist corporate-communal nexus in the minds of the youth. If the mind of young people in India changes, then the conditions outside will also undergo a change in real terms.
The struggle will be hard and long. If India has to remain an independent, self-reliant, sovereign nation with its socialist, secular and democratic spirit on the world stage, then the youth will have to take on this challenge. For this, it is necessary to create awareness and understanding of socialist ideology in the mind of the young generation of the country.
Released by
Dr. Hiranya Himkar (Mobile: 9716668206)
For
Youth Socialist Initiative
