People's Democracy

I CONSIDER it both an honour and a privilege to be with our Vietnamese comrades on this historic occasion of the 9th national congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. It gives me great pleasure to convey to you warm fraternal greetings on behalf of all the members and a large body of sympathisers of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Peoples of Vietnam and India share very strong emotional links. The heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, first against French imperialism and them defeating US imperialism, continues to remain a source of inspiration for all people’s struggles for their liberation and emancipation.

The bonds of solidarity amongst the communists of our countries have been particularly strong. The slogan of Amaar nam, Tomaar nam, Vietnam, Vietnam remains as relevant today as it was through the years of the courageous struggle. We cherish with fondness and inspiration the visit of Comrade Ho Chi Minh to our country. Comrade Ho Chi Minh’s name has become a household name in our country. It is his contribution to Vietnamese revolution which is popularly called as the Ho Chi Minh thought. We hope that in recent months the efforts to strengthen the bonds between our two countries have further materialised in the formation of the Indo-Vietnamese Friendship Association.

Comrades, your congress is being convened in a complex international situation. Following the end of the cold war period, the natural tendency in international developments is the movement towards multipolarity. US imperialism, however, is making all efforts to sabotage this natural movement and convert it into a hegemonic unipolarity. The new NATO doctrine gives US imperialism the self-proclaimed right to militarily intervene anywhere in the world. The persistence in carrying out the nuclear missile development (NMD) programme reveals the true character of US imperialism to impose its nuclear hegemony over the world.

Economically, US imperialism is seeking to recolonise the third world countries. These efforts are being intensified through the instruments of World Bank, IMF and the WTO. In the name of globalisation and liberalisation, what is happening is the classic intensification of economic exploitation of billions of people who inhabit the third world. In many a country the ruling classes are acquiescing to this imperialist strategy, imposing unprecedented burdens on the mass of the people.

In India too, we are today witnessing the unfolding of such an imperialist strategy. The Indian people are today involved in grim battles to protect their livelihood from further erosion. The vast mass of peasantry is being made vulnerable to international price fluctuations. This has already resulted in a large number of distress suicides. The working class, on the other hand, is in the midst of intense struggles to defend its rights and protect the state-owned public sector from being privatised with consequences of large-scale unemployment and penury.

At another level, the Indian people are involved in a serious struggle to safeguard the secular-democratic foundations of the Indian republic. The rise of the right-wing Hindu religious fundamentalist forces has created a growing sense of insecurity amongst not only religious minorities but the mass of secular minded people in the country. The CPI(M), alongwith the other Left forces, is seeking the unity of all secular and democratic forces to forge a political alternative to the current ruling reactionary combine.

In a few weeks, elections to some state assemblies will take place in India. These include the two Left-ruled states of West Bengal and Kerala. For us in the CPI(M), this is an important electoral battle. All reactionary forces are seeking to combine to ensure the defeat of the Left. The people of these states, however, are seeking to safeguard and consolidate the unprecedented democratic and economic rights that they have received due to the existence of these Left-led governments.

Comrades, we in India are keenly following the path-breaking developments taking place in Vietnam. The process of socialist consolidation embarked upon by the Communist Party of Vietnam through economic reforms, we hope, will strengthen socialism in Vietnam. Unlike in India where economic "reforms" are leading to an intensification of capitalist exploitation, in Vietnam, the reforms are aimed at strengthening socialism and consolidating people's power. We wish you all success in these endeavours.

On behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), I once again convey my revolutionary greetings to the delegates of this congress and through them to the people of Vietnam.