ABSTRACT
Western Orientologists advocate a theory which says that the countries of the East should develop in their own peculiar way having nothing in common with the general laws typical of the rest of the world. This theory is very often used by those who would like to drive a wedge between the newly-liberated countries of Asia and the socialist countries. Apart from the development of capitalist relations and the emergence of an industrial proletariat, it was also this factor which significantly contributed to the spread of socialist ideas to countries struggling for their independence. In this respect it is very instructive to refer to India’s national-liberation movement since it has always had in it a radical current the representatives of which have been particularly receptive to progressive ideas coming from the West—i.e., the ideas of scientific socialism. The development of the Indian proletariat consolidated the social base the ideological expression of which was scientific socialism.
