[Marxistindia] P.B. Communique

[news from the cpi(m)]

August19, 2025

P.B. Communique

 

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met on 18 August
2025 and issued the following communique. 

 

The Polit Bureau expressed condolences on the death of more than a hundred
people who died in the recent natural disasters in Uttarakhand and Jammu and
Kashmir.

 

PM's Independence Day Speech: The Polit Bureau strongly condemned the
reference to RSS in the Independence Day address of the Prime Minister.
Through this, Modi is attempting to legitimise the RSS, which played no role
in the Indian freedom struggle. Apart from the anti-people reforms he
announced, the Prime Minister also announced the formation of a 'Demographic
Mission', which will be used to target and harass Muslim minorities in the
name of identifying infiltrators. This is intended to legitimise the RSS
campaign portraying all Muslims as infiltrators who need to be pushed out of
the country.

 

The Prime Minister also announced that the GST rates will be reduced on
Diwali. The government should ensure that the benefits of this reduction
reach consumers and not corporates. The Union government should compensate
the states for any resultant loss of income.

 

SIR and ECI: From the very outset, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in
Bihar was mired in controversy, as the announcement on 24 June was not
preceded by consultations with political parties, contrary to established
convention. Intensive revisions have invariably required long periods of
preparation and consultation. Since the very first Election Commission (EC),
the general principle has been the universality of voting rights for every
citizen, and the responsibility of drawing up the electoral roll has rested
entirely and exclusively on the EC to ensure compliance with Article 326.
Under the laid down procedure, names can be deleted from the draft roll only
on the basis of verified objections, in consultation with the Home Ministry.

 

The SIR prescribed a procedure of house-to-house enumeration accompanied by
the submission of a written application together with any one of eleven
documents - most of which have extremely low coverage in Bihar. In effect,
this implied non-inclusion in the roll because this was a de novo exercise
in which undocumented citizens were deemed non-citizens and subject to
automatic deletion. This was in complete violation of Article 326 and the
principle of universal franchise. The opposition parties collectively met
the EC but were summarily dismissed, without any assurance that the
situation, which threatened mass disenfranchisement would be corrected.

 

Consequently, the opposition parties moved to protect citizens from
disenfranchisement. After lengthy deliberations, the Supreme Court directed
the Election Commission to publish the names of all 65 lakh persons removed
from the voters' list during the SIR, together with the reasons for their
deletion. This is a welcome development, as the EC has failed to maintain
transparency throughout the process. As many researchers have pointed out, a
substantial number of those disenfranchised belong to minority communities,
women, and poor households. There is widespread discontent in Bihar
regarding the exercise. All opposition parties have united in opposing this
process. The partisan character of the EC, which is implementing the RSS's
agenda as articulated by Prime Minister Modi in his 15 August address from
Red Fort against so-called 'ghuspetiyas', must be exposed by campaigning
among the people and mobilising them.

 

Protests against the SIR rocked Parliament and outside, in Delhi in public.
The INDIA bloc met after a long gap to discuss the joint stand that needs to
be taken on this issue, which is a positive development. The INDIA bloc has
decided to conduct a 16-day 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' covering 25 districts of
Bihar, which will conclude with a massive public rally in Patna on 1
September.

 

Apprehensions are growing against the EC, a constitutional body mandated to
play an independent role, for its failure to address the unfolding of a
massive 'vote theft' in one of the Bengaluru assembly constituencies during
the Lok Sabha elections. The expose was based on documentary evidence
sourced from the EC's own records. The CEC, publicly treated these
allegations with derision, peddling a tissue of lies, further establishing
the EC's partisan attitude that clearly favours the BJP.

 

Parliament Session: The monsoon session of Parliament witnessed intense
protests by all opposition parties. The government refused to allow a
discussion on the issue of the SIR in Bihar. Amid opposition protests, the
Union government pushed through a number of bills, including the Sports
Bill, which infringes on the rights of state governments. The government
intends to introduce bills amending the Mines and Minerals Act and the
Nuclear Liability Act. These bills are being introduced to facilitate the
entry of private and foreign capital into the vital sectors of mineral
exploration and nuclear energy production.

 

The Polit Bureau appeals to all political parties to oppose these bills,
which are against the interests of the country. The government's obdurate
refusal to allow discussion on serious issues reflects its authoritarian
character. As a result, many issues affecting the people that need to be
discussed in Parliament are never finding a mention.

 

Tariffs on India: The United States announced 50 per cent tariffs on India -
25 per cent for failing to reach a trade deal and 25 per cent for purchasing
oil and gas from Russia. This will severely impact India's agricultural,
fisheries sector and MSME, particularly textile manufacturers. Stopping oil
purchases from Russia will increase inflation, as the prices of all
commodities will rise due to the higher prices we would be forced to pay.

 

The US wants the Indian government to reduce Russian oil imports and rely
more on the US for its energy needs. Hoping to secure concessions, the
government also sought to appease the US by promising a significant increase
in defence purchases from US aviation firms. The Indian government should
not succumb to US pressure. Instead, it should focus on diversifying its
relations and strive to strengthen multi-polarity.

 

Jammu and Kashmir: It has been five years since the abrogation of Article
370 and the bifurcation of the state into union territories. None of the
stated objectives have been met. The Union government has failed to
eliminate terrorism or provide security to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The gruesome terrorist attack in Pahalgam exposed the false claims of the
BJP-led Union government. It is unfortunate that the Supreme Court, instead
of holding the Union government accountable for failing to honour its
promise of restoring statehood within six months, observed that this is not
the time to discuss statehood because of the Pahalgam attack. Throughout
these five years of direct Union administration, the democratic rights of
the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been trampled upon. There is widespread
discontent and anger among the people of all regions - Jammu, Kashmir and
Ladakh - as none of the promised development has taken place. People should
be mobilised to demand the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir,
along with its autonomy.

 

Appeal Against High Court Verdict in Malegaon Blasts Case: The Maharashtra
state government reacted differently to two Bombay High Court verdicts
related to terror attacks - the Mumbai train blasts case (2006) and the
Malegaon bomb blast case. In the Mumbai train blasts case, where the accused
were mostly Muslims, the government immediately appealed to the Supreme
Court and obtained a stay on the High Court order. In contrast, in the
Malegaon blasts case, where the accused were Hindutva extremist elements,
the government did not appeal the acquittal. This clearly exposes the
communal bias of the BJP-led state government in Maharashtra.

 

The Polit Bureau demands the Maharashtra state government to file an appeal
before the Supreme Court against the High Court's order in the Malegaon
blasts case and ensure that the accused are properly tried and convicted.

 

Vice Presidential Elections: The Polit Bureau discussed the upcoming
election for the post of Vice President, necessitated by Dhankar's sudden
resignation. The CPI(M) will coordinate with the other opposition parties
and the INDIA bloc for the success of the common candidate, Justice B.
Sudershan Reddy.

 

 

(Muralidharan)

For Central Committee Office

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://cpim.org/pipermail/marxistindia_cpim.org/attachments/20250819/1b4de8b4/attachment.html>