People's Democracy

BIHAR CONVENTION ON FDI

Left not to Give up Rollback Demand

ON December 1, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party jointly organised at Patna a state level convention against foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail trade. The convention received good response from workers of the Left parties, intellectuals and also non-party people from in the state. The venue of the convention was the Janashakti campus which was packed to capacity an hour before the scheduled time of its start. Those who came afterwards had to stand outside along the adjoining roads. It was a great event for the audiovisual as well as print media, and they turned up in large numbers and covered the programme till the end.

The Left parties had also invited the Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist)’s leaders to attend the convention and Rajaram and K D Yadav attended on its behalf. In his greetings, CPI(ML) Central Committee member Rajaram not only pledged full support to the cause but also mentioned that the CPI(ML) general secretary was himself keen to attend the convention but could not because of his prior engagements.

The Left parties placed a joint resolution at the convention, strongly opposing the central government's notification on FDI in retail trade and declaring their intention to launch an all-out militant struggle against this anti-retailer, anti-peasant and anti-people step of the UPA government. The resolution dealt at length the evil intension and design of the neo-liberal economy which will not only weaken our economic sovereignty but also destroy our economy. It will be dangerous for Bihar too, as the people uprooted from agriculture are increasingly migrating to other areas, while those who are left behind try to eke out their living from some kind of retail trade. The resolution said the FDI would deprive all such people of even one meal a day. The resolution demanded total withdrawal of the FDI notification and pledged to continue struggle till the government is forced to concede the demand.

The Left parties also called for a Bihar Bandh on February 20-21, 2013 when the central trade unions have given the call for a general strike. The railways and national highways will also be blocked on those two days.

The convention was presided over by a presidium based on Vijay Kant Thakur of the CPI(M), Rajendra Singh of the CPI and Vakil Thakur of the FB. Former CPI general secretary A B Bardhan, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, Rajaram Singh of the CPI(ML) and Vakil Thakur of the FB addressed it, while Rajendra Singh moved the resolution and Vijay Kant Thakur seconded it. Ahmad Ali and Kishori Prasanna Yadav presented revolutionary songs and U N Sharma of the CPI proposed the vote of thanks.

The convention also decided that the issues of FDI in retail trade and of food security would be taken up together in the movement, and the Left parties will also publish small booklets for the campaign. The convention said if the UPA government continued with its anti-people policies, it was not going to come back in the next elections. Whatever be the configuration and shape of the government, the convention asserted that the Left demand would stand – roll back these policies!