United Press International: "Asia Speaks" series, March, 1960
The Swatantra Party very recently declared itself in favour of a more constructive foreign policy so as to put up an efficient barrier against communist aggression.
While pledged to peace, the party has declared, India should build up a joint and well-knit opposition on the part of the nations of South and South-East Asia so that communist ambitions in Asia could be contained.
If necessary, it holds that Western help may be sought, where it is available for this purpose, on the basis of a united non-communist front without complicating the mutual situation among these nations.
In internal matters, it may be, summed up, that the Swatantra Party stands for priority being given to production before equalization of wealth and to efficiency of administration, stamping out corruption and favouritism which are the outcome of State monopolies favoured by the Congress Party.
The party is only six months old but it has already made such progress that the ruling party's main target of attack is no longer the Communist Party but the Swatantra Party.
The meetings held under the Swatantra Party's auspices in urban as well as in rural areas compete well with the gathering that Mr. Nehru and his followers attract, notwithstanding all the glamour inherited from Congress history. The Government, Intelligence Department is in active service to attend and report meetings of the Swatantra Party.
All accounts show that the ruling party looks upon the Swatantra Party as its principal opponent throughout the country. The mutual criticism of the Congress and communist parties have now almost ceased. Every occasion is used to attack only the Swatantra Party and its leaders.
Apart from the fast-growing strength of the new party, independent observers have noted that much needed re-thinking has started in the ruling party's counsels as an immediate result of the impact of the Swatantra Party.
The Congress Party's adoption of the goal of a socialistic pattern of society, and the direction of Government policies to that end, led to the founding of the Swatantra Party pledged to, the protection of the freedom of the individual and the fundamental rights required for making that freedom a reality.
The Constitution of India adopted in 1950 guaranteed these rights. It was framed to exclude socialism and to, protect through courts of law the means to freedom. But since then, encroachments and amendments have been made to, enable the State to take over any property and to create State monopolies, and to expropriate without letting courts assess proper compensation.
A policy of compulsory expropriation of freehold lands has been taken up now in all the States at the instance of the Congress Party. A general drive is set on foot to mop up all savings and to organize production from the Centre. Private enterprise is given a permissive role and stands to be starved out.
The decentralized industrialization of the country, such as is needed to supplement its agricultural economy, has no chance of growth under the socialist policies of the Congress Party. Centralization of all power has become the Government pattern.
Collectivization of land which has been adopted as the Congress policy in the name of co-operative farming and 'ceilings' on private landholdings threatens to disturb the mechanism of agricultural production in the country at a time when greater production of food-grains is the most urgent problem for the nation.
The larger holdings that offered a chance for mechanization are ordered to be dwarfed by the 'ceiling' proposals. The limit set by the Congress Party and put through by legislation is an area fetching an annual income of about 700 dollars, irrespective of the family's position in regard to debt and obligations or the absence of other income.
Cultivation of small holdings is essentially a family occupation wholly unsuitable to be forced into any collective pattern. Yet this academic policy is persistently adhered to. The Swatantra Party wants the State to assist the peasant proprietors of land and not to force them into collectivization through direct and indirect pressure.
The Swatantra Party is bent on opposing the socialism of the Congress Party, as it will kill enterprise and initiative in the agricultural field and frighten foreign capital in the industrial private sector.
The party stands for decentralization of State power and a policy of creating opportunities and facilities for small-scale private industries widely distributed over the country.
The Swatantra Party is pledged to justice and equality of opportunity for all people without discrimination on the ground of political affiliation. It holds that the progress and happiness of the people depend on individual initiative and enterprise, and stands for the principle of maximum freedom for the individual and minimum interference by the State, consistent with the obligation to prevent and punish anti-social activities. This is just the opposite of the Congress Party's present policy.
The will-o'-the-wisp of socialist dogma has led the Congress Party to forget that national production is made up of individual production and this is best furthered through the eagerness to excel and that full and accurate knowledge which follow from personal interest.
Among those engaged in significant productive occupations, there is now a prevailing sense of insecurity and uncertainty generated by the socialist goal of the Congress. The Congress Party's hesitant procedure towards its declared goal only adds to the vicious uncertainty that deters enterprise.
The Swatantra Party is pledged to the fostering of spiritual values and to resisting the dominance of a purely materialist philosophy of life and the encouragement of class hatred which are the inescapable results of the socialist drive of the Congress Party.
The party stands for reducing the burden of direct and indirect taxation and for thrift in official expenditure. It seeks a reversal of financial policies leading to excessive inflation and high prices.
