Intl meet on democracy, socialism concludes

• Latin America hailed for upholding democracy & socialism
• Per capita income seen rising, but not food consumption
• Capitalist tendency to displace peasants decried

Hyderabad: Songs in praise of Telangana struggle, a declaration and pledge to work for an egalitarian society by Telangana Vidyavantula Vedika (TVV), Centre for Dalit Studies and Democracy Ideologues marked the conclusion of the four-day international seminar on ‘Democracy and Socialism and visions for the 21st century here on Monday. Mallepalli Laxmaiah of Centre for Dalit Studies said that the objective of conducting the seminar in the city was to learn from the peoples’ movements from across the world as Telangana stood at a crucial juncture. Chukka Ramaiah, an ex-MLC and eminent educationist, said that he was a witness to three major movements for Telangana state and that ‘Land to the tiller’ was the message that the people of Telangana gave to the world with their successful struggle for a new state.

“In the past, the people in this part used to look at former Soviet Union, but today they take inspiration from Latin American countries. Some say socialism is dying, but Latin America provides a beacon of light.” He added, “Telangana has always been a fertile ground for peoples’ movements and socialism would blossom in the region.”

Left front in France, Left Block in Portugal, Socialist Party in Netherlands, the Red Green Alliance in Denmark, Syriza in Greece and the students’ movement in Chile and Britain gives hope, said Ramesh, an activist.

Prabhat Patnaik, Marxist economist and political commentator said that capitalism has an element of spontaneous force and it divides societies with its own logic. The question is not of class and caste but when caste is touched by capital without wage there would be no development.

Globalisation has led to international capital and results in moving away from peasants and workers. Capitalism has sudden spurts of growth which results in rise in per capita income, but there is decline in the per capita food consumption. Public investment in land augmentation is not taking place and the capitalist tendency to displace peasants is evident.

“Capital in the globalised world has led to the decline of the welfare measures and the welfare state. Food security has been compromised and Africa is a fine example of the consequences,” said Prabhat Patnaik.

Laxmaiah said that the delegates foreign as well as Indians were enriched as a lot of experiences were shared in the seminar.

For the people of Telangana, the seminar was of great importance as Telangana is about to be formed in a few months time. The experiences of Latin American countries especially Venezuela and Bolivia would be useful and inspire people.”