Revolution #150, December 14, 2008
On the Mumbai Attacks
A series of attacks on public buildings, tourist destinations, and other places in Mumbai, India began on November 26, and continued through November 29. News sources report that over 188 people were killed and some 300 more people were injured in these attacks. At this time it is unclear who was behind these acts and what they were aiming to do.
Nobody should accept the explanations of the news media and government leaders at face value. But some things ARE very clear:
One: whoever was behind this and whatever their intent, their acts, besides causing the death and suffering of many innocent people, actually benefited the imperialist system and the regime in India that is part of that oppressive global setup. These bombings will be seized on by the imperialist rulers of the U.S., as well as the reactionary Indian regime, as a pretext to try to intensify repression, unleash extreme chauvinist reactionary forces within India, and to expand the so-called “war on terror”—actually a war for empire on the part of the U.S.
Two: the imperialist system is the cause of massive suffering in the world and ultimately holds responsibility for creating the conditions that give rise even to very wrong-headed actions in opposition to it. But things like the attack in Mumbai are most definitely NOT in the interests of the masses of people, all over the world.
Three: Around the world, what is urgently needed—as opposed to this kind of harmful stuff—is the building of truly massive political resistance and opposition to what these imperialists, led by the U.S. imperialists and the regimes they back and sponsor, are doing—the many crimes they have committed and are continuing to commit—and to the way in which they will seize on this incident to seek to justify and to carry further these crimes and their overall juggernaut of war and repression.
Finally: a genuinely emancipating revolution—a communist revolution—is a struggle involving millions and millions of people, who are determined to bring about a radical change in society and the world. This communist revolution aims to overturn the grotesque and horrific systems and relations in the world that cause such untold and unnecessary suffering for literally billions throughout the globe, and which themselves also give rise to and are ultimately responsible for grotesque forms of opposition to this. The nature and aim of this revolutionary struggle is nothing less than the conscious and determined struggle of millions and ultimately billions, throughout the globe, to bring into being a whole new world without exploitation, oppression, and social inequalities. It is a serious thing and it must be approached in a serious way—soberly, with science, commitment, and maturity.
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