[Marxistindia] Central Committee Communique

[news from the cpi(m)]

January 30, 2024

Central Committee Communique

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in
Thiruvananthapuram on January 28-30, 2024. It has issued the following
statement:

Ayodhya: Temple Inauguration

The Temple inauguration at Ayodhya on January 22, 2024 has virtually sounded
the death knell of secularism, defined as the separation of religion from
the State, administration and politics. The whole programme was a State
sponsored event directly involving the Prime Minister, UP Chief Minister, UP
Governor, and the entire state machinery. Both the President and Vice
President of India sent congratulatory messages to the Prime Minister
variously hailing him as having 'redeemed a pledge', "India's tryst with
destiny in its civilizational trajectory" etc. The whole function was a
direct violation of the fundamental principle of the governance of India as
reiterated by the Supreme Court, which is that the State under the
Constitution should have no religious affiliation or preference.  

This was an event directly aimed at political and electoral gains. The
RSS/BJP mounted a massive nationwide campaign in the run-up to this event.
Public screenings of the live telecast were organized at various places on
giant screens. Educational institutions were closed for the day. All Central
government offices were shut till 2.30 pm in order to facilitate the
participation of employees. So was the case with many public sector
institutions and organizations including banks. It is planned to mobilise
people to visit the temple from every state and Parliamentary constituency.
This will be spaced out till March 2024, i.e., till the eve of elections. 

This event also signals that the Places of Worship Act, 1991 which mandates
that the status quo of all religious places except Ayodhya, will remain the
same as it was on August 15, 1947 will now be put in cold storage. The
disputes in Kashi and Mathura have once again surfaced with a degree of
judicial connivance. Modi profusely thanked the Supreme Court for its
Ayodhya Verdict.

The CPI(M)'s policy has been to respect religious beliefs which are the
personal choice of every individual. The Party has steadfastly upheld the
right of every individual to pursue their faith. But at the same time it has
consistently opposed the efforts to misuse and convert people's religious
belief as an instrument for political gain and merging religion with the
State. 

Assembly Elections

In the last two rounds of the Assembly elections, the BJP registered
victories in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, while Congress won
in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana amongst the major states that
went to polls. 

BJP's victories were mainly due to the consolidation of the Hindutva
communal vote combined with a pernicious exploitation of caste sentiments.

Hindutva communal consolidation must be confronted in a forthright manner.
The recourse to competitive soft Hindutva and pale saffron positions only
lead to further strengthening the hold of Hindutva on significant sections
of the people. This provides the RSS/BJP and all other Hindutva outfits the
opportunity for further communalizing the society and targeting the
minorities.

BJP: Brazen Misuse of ED and Money Power

Despite the blatant misuse of religious sentiments generated centering
around Ayodhya and these recent electoral victories, the BJP appears to be
unsure about the outcome of the 2024 elections. 

BJP has resorted to brazen and aggressive misuse of the ED and money power
to engineer defections among the opposition parties ruling in states and
forging alliances with former rivals hoping to improve its Lok Sabha
electoral prospects. It has done this earlier in Maharashtra, later in
Karnataka, and now in Bihar the JD(U) has set an inglorious record of the
largest number of flip-flops. Nitish Kumar was sworn in for a record 9th
time as CM of Bihar, this time with BJP support. The people in these states,
who had defeated the BJP, will teach such turncoats a lesson.

CAA: Since December 2019, the Modi government has not framed the Rules under
this Act. Now, on the eve of the general elections, it is pushing for its
implementation with a view to further sharpen communal polarization and
hoping to reap electoral gains, particularly in Eastern India.

INDIA bloc

Despite the JD(U) deserting the INDIA bloc and collaborating with the BJP,
the CPI(M) will make all efforts to further strengthen this formation and
continue the activities to defeat the BJP in order to safeguard the secular
democratic character of our Constitutional Republic. 

The focus is to complete the ongoing state level talks on seats sharing
between its constituents at the earliest and then proceed to reach out to
the people on the basis of core issues that are aimed at improving their
livelihood and defending Constitutional values. 

Kerala

The Central Committee congratulated the people of Kerala and the LDF
government for the highly successful programme of Nava Kerala Sadas. This is
a unique programme undertaken by any state government in the country. 

Governor: Unfit for the Post: The Kerala Governor has over-stepped all
boundaries with his constant political attacks on the elected state
government and his grossly erratic behavior. The latest has been his sit-in
on the Kerala roads ostensibly to protest against a perfectly democratic and
peaceful student demonstration. In an unprecedented fashion he sought and
procured protection from Central security forces with the highest
permissible security cover for himself. His statements like "beginning of
the collapse of the Constitutional machinery" are threats leveled against
the state government which will be rejected outright by the people of the
state.  

 

The Congress party is adopting a negative and anti-democratic approach to
the LDF government and making baseless allegations against the Chief
Minister. It keeps silent on the Centre's assault on the rights of Kerala
which helps the BJP in its maneuvers against the state government. The
people of Kerala will reject this disruptive approach of the Congress party.


 

West Bengal: The Central Committee congratulated the youth of Bengal on the
successful Insaf Yatra that marched across the state culminating in a
massive brigade rally.

 

Tripura: The one-party dictatorial BJP government in Tripura is intensifying
its fascistic terror attacks casting serious apprehensions for holding free
and fair elections. The CPI(M) cadres are being targeted and this is being
resisted.   

 

 

CC Calls

 

1.     All state units should continue to intensify the struggles against
growing unemployment, price rise and assaults on people's livelihood by the
policies of the Modi government.

2.     Simultaneously with the protest Dharna organized by the Kerala state
LDF government in New Delhi on February 8 against the Modi government's
discriminatory policies towards Kerala and assaults on the rights of the
states and federalism, all state committees must organize protest programmes
in the states. 

3.     The Central Committee expressed solidarity with the call given by the
Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the joint platform of Central Trade Unions for
country wide protest actions on February 16, 2024. 

4.     Given the widespread concerns over the functioning of the EVMs, the
Party will campaign across the country that there should be the following
re-sequencing of the electronic units in the polling booths - voting units,
control units and VVPAT. At least 50 per cent of VVPAT must be tallied with
that recorded in the control unit.

 

 

 

(Muralidharan)

For CPI(M) Central Committee Office

 

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