NOTES 55 to forge such a front which he calls the 'national democratic front5 or 'left democrotic front5. In this, he banks on the emergence of a ^relatively independent petty-bourgeoisie5. Further he accepts the working class, working peasantry, urban petty-bourgeoisie "as the driving forces of the United Front of which the 'non-monopoly bourgeoisie5 is a member.55 But his definition of non-monopoly bourgeoisie is curious, as the following statement shows, '^Tt is a moot point as to whether the congress would remain as a block of the non-monopoly bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie...55 Clearly, the Congress, under whose control monopolies have flourished and landlords have effectively put the squeeze on land reforms , while small-scale industry has collapsed and crafts are severely crippled, cannot be described in the above terms without any attempt at substantiting them. ^theoretically, it is impossible to accept his charaterisation of the ruling party as being backed by the non monopoly bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie. It is a pity to ,{*to) remind marxist authors that the class nature s of a government is not determined by the class origins of its individual leaders, but by the class nature of its policies, that is, whom it fosters and whom it hinders. In the end it may be said that the era of classical colonialism resting ^ on direct political rule has given way to the phenomenon of neo-colonial-ism in the declining phase of imperialism and rising national liberation struggles enjoying wide-spread mass support. Although there are variations in the forms of these struggles which emanate from differences in the objective conditions prevailing in different parts of the erstwhile colonial world, the fact remains that imperialism is an international phenomenon which is on the decline. The growth of class contradictions ( within the imperialist countri es, the increasing contradictions within the t imperialist camp, the growing might of the 'socialist world5 and the rising tempo of mass upsurge in the newly independent states etc. are enough to illustrate this trend. 1 Imperialism, A Historical Survey, Harry Magdoff; The Indian Capitalist Class And Imperialism Before 1947, Bipan Chandra; Imperialism, Nationalism And Class Struggle in Latin America, Andre Gunder Frank; The National Democratic Front— Indian Experience, Mohit Sen^ The Implementation of Progressive Socio-E conomic Transformation As The Necessary Pre-condition of National Independence In The Struggle Against Imperialism And Neo-Colonism, G G Kotovsky; How Imperialism Functions; Role Of Foreign Aid And Investment, K K Subramaniam; The Inter-nationalisation of Capital, Stephen Hymer; Metropolitan Private Capital And Structural Dualism in South And East Asia, Boydhayan Chatopadhyay; Ind ian Capitalist Class And Imperialism: Some Crucial Questions, A R Desai; Role of Military In Third World, Jack Woddis; The Operation Of Multinational Corporations And The Export Of Capital And Know-how; New Trends In Trade And Investment, M Barrat Brown; Strategy For Peace, H D Malviya; Class Structure And Paths Of Social Transformation: Some General Issues P C Josfei; trench Imperialism And Developing Countries, Michel Chatlet; The Political Role Of Military In Less-Developed Countries : Classes Of Pakistan And Thailand Jayanta Kumar Ray. 2 R Palrne Dutt, India Today, Calcutta, 1970, P XIV, V C