The escalating tension between India and Pakistan is once again revealing the barbarity of imperialist capitalism through the blood of the Kashmiri people. India’s military operations in the disputed Kashmir region and Pakistan’s reprisals have already claimed the lives of dozens of civilians. We should not underestimate the tension in the region by saying that the India-Pakistan tension has been ongoing for decades, with low-intensity conflicts. The strategies of the bourgeois ruling classes of the two countries to divide the working class and consolidate their power by fanning nationalist hatred are now overlapping more with the conflicts of interest of larger imperialist powers. The US-India approach balances the strategic partnership between China and Pakistan. Meanwhile, Israel supports India and Turkey, and Iran supports Pakistan. In short, the imperialist wars spreading around the world, rising nationalism, and trade wars could make this latest war between these two nuclear powers much bloodier than the previous ones.
Chauvinism: The Bourgeoisie’s Tool to Divide the Working Class
The Hindu chauvinist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi, has been pursuing a fascist policy for years, dividing Indian workers based on religion and nationality, and oppressing minorities. The removal of Kashmir’s autonomous status in 2019 has led to India intensifying its repressive police state practices in the region. Similarly, in Pakistan, the military and ruling classes are poisoning the people with chauvinism, obscuring real class struggles.
Bourgeois governments in both countries are deliberately stoking identity conflicts to divide the working class and maintain the capitalist system of exploitation. The strategic importance of Kashmir and its division is at the heart of these policies. Yet the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination is being systematically usurped by both states.
The Danger of Nuclear War and Imperialist Hegemony
The fact that India and Pakistan possess nuclear weapons increases the risk of a conflict having devastating consequences on a global scale. The US's support for India as a “counterbalance to China” and China’s military-economic cooperation with Pakistan are transforming the region into a proxy war zone for imperialist powers. The escalating tensions could turn into a global conflict that threatens not only South Asia but the entire world.
The Betrayal of the So-Called Communist Parties and Revolutionary Internationalism
Unfortunately, the Stalinist-rooted communist parties in India, the CPI and the CPI(M) (these parties were the ruling parties in Indian states such as Kerala for many years), share the chauvinist line and support the BJP’s aggressive policies. These parties, which have historically continued the tradition of class collaboration and nationalism, are an obstacle to the internationalist, united struggle of the working class.
However, the solution lies in the joint struggle of the working class of India and Pakistan, defending the right of the Kashmiri people to self-determination. The antidote to imperialist wars and bourgeois chauvinism is revolutionary internationalism.
Socialism or Barbarism!
The only alternative to the system of war and exploitation created by capitalism is the unity of the working class without borders. The massacres in Kashmir can only be stopped by the struggle of the workers of India, Pakistan, and all over the world against chauvinism.
Long Live the Internationalist Proletarian Struggle!
Socialist
May 9, 2025 03:03
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