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The relevance of Marxism to the Indian society

 

A very commonly used argument which comes from circles that do not have any idea of what Marxism is (needless to say about the right wing!? ), is that Marxism is not relevant to Indian conditions.

The argument becomes even more farcical when it is supported by the claim that it is because Marx never lived in India or didn't know about the "peculiar" Indian conditions, and thus his theory is only relevant to Europe. But how true is such a claim?


To answer this, we again need to recall as to what Marxism is. Marxism is a method of studying human society. It provides a broad framework through which one can conduct the study of a society and of its elements.

This way, Marxism is specifically, a science. Marx has given a method, which can be applied on different societies of different conditions.

Lets go through a simple analogy. Say Galileo Galilei has given a formula to calculate speed of an object. This formula requires certain inputs like time and distance. Now these inputs can be different due to different conditions but the formula of deriving speed remains same.

Let me cite another example, Say Newton who gave formula for gravitational force, again required some inputs which changed according to the conditions, but the formula remained the same, be it for Earth or be it for Mars, even though, Newton NEVER visted it.

Not just the spatial but also arguments of Marxism going irrelevant can be defeated through the same logic that Galilei might have given out the formula having seen only a bullock cart in his life, however, today the same formula is applied on variety of fields!

Marxism is not a political message or idea given by a politician which becomes irrelevant when space or time changes. Marxism is like a broad and general formula in which inputs can be given according to different time and space, but the method remains the same.

Apart from the above arguments, it is also argued that the Indian society has some peculiar elements which are not given due under Marxism, for it being focused on class. This is again an argument arising from the lack of understanding of Marxism or by the wilful derogation of it.

Marxist theory is not only about "economic class" but also takes into account various social conditions that exist in a society. And no matter how peculiar a society is, it still is a human society.


Marx's view of society is based on material- which is common to all humans and thus, not only Marxism gives these social conditions its due but can also be used to understand these conditions in a way that actually gives out method of against them.

Also Marx was the first thinker to draw sharp attention to the highly deleterious impact of caste on Indian society and its causal link with the relations of production.

In his famous essay on "The Future Results of British Rule in India", Karl Marx characterized the Indian castes as “the most decisive impediment to India’s progress and power”. Marx correctly argued that the caste system of India was based on the hereditary division of labour.

To summarise: Marxism is a science which aims the establishment of a communist society. In the modern scenario, along with the working class there arises a variety of other oppressed classes too, such as oppressed by religion, casteism, racism, sexuality and more...

Just like any principle of science Marxism is too have the universal validity. It is the voice of the oppressed class irrespective of the country/state which it belongs to.
The aim of Marxism is to attain communism along with the liberation of the oppressed classes.

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