2 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
mean the end of the anti-imperialist struggle. It follows that the contention for hegemony over the anti-imperialist struggle is not a matter of the past; it still continues. An assessment of the past "mistakes" therefore must be done not in the spirit of what might have been, but in the spirit of what can be. It is not a matter of regret and rancour, but of rectification and praxis.
Secondly, notwithstanding all the "mistakes" made, notwithstanding all the "failures", the history of the Communist Movement in India is a saga of incredible sacrifice., courage and dedication. No discussion of this history would be complete for anyone sensitive to the interests of the people without a grateful tribute, such as is paid by Habib at the end of the paper, to the heroism of the countless Communists.
Elsewhere in this number we have Manjari Katju discussing the early years of the Vishva Hindu Parishad, contrasting it with its post-1983 incarnation and yet seeing the roots of the latter in this early period. We also have a paper by Vijaya Ramaswamy focussing on the intervention by women like Neelambikai Ammaiyar andMoovalur Ramamritham Ammaiyar not merely in the gender politics, but in the maintream anti-colonial politics of Tamilnadu.