People's Democracy

LIKE the Bengal of yesteryears West Bengal of today is always a crusader and rebellious. Bengal bled protesting and resisting the British colonial rule but did not surrender the Santhal rebellion, Sanyasi- Fakir revolt, Titumir's revolt, Chuar uprising, Indigo revolt and Sepoy Mutiny (first war of independence) were all defeated. Yet the wheel of history could not be driven back. In the wake of Renaissance in the nineteenth century, the consciousness of Bengal and Bengalees grew sharper. The stream created by Rammohan, Vidyasagar, Michael Dirozio, with Rabindranath standing at the confluence, coalesced into the great sea of people.

Khudiram, Benoy, Badal, Dinesh and Masterda always illumined the soul and consciousness of the Bengalees. Bengal accepted Gandhiji, yet its heart was overwhelmed by Netaji's heroic deeds. Independence came through famine, riots, partition, the revolt of workers and peasants and people’s uprising. Bengal suffered but did not bend its head.

In the post-independence period, the people of West Bengal carried this tradition and organised themselves again and again against oppression and exploitation, participated in protest rallies, processions and strikes. The movement for prevention of famine, the teachers movement, the movement for release of political prisoners, the food movement reverberated the streets of Kolkata. It was through the peasant movement in the villages, workers’ protest actions in the factories, and the wave of student movement that, amid blood and tears, the background of the present Left Front was created.

The unity of Left parties developed through relentless struggle against the Congress government and its anti-people policies, the first manifestations of which were witnessed in the then United Front, Rastriya Sangram Samity and 12 July Committee. In 1967, for the first time in the state, the Congress rule was rejected and a United Front government was formed. A new chapter was opened in the history of people's movement in this state. But the United Front government was not tolerated for long by the centre and president's rule was imposed. But the people of the state did not accept this crime lying down. The United Front came back to power in 1969. A struggle was on in the United Front also. The United Front moved along the path of unity and disunity. The two governments survived for 9 months and 13 months respectively. But within this short existence, they added a new meaning to the peasant struggle, workers’ struggle and the democratic movement. Till then the influence of the Leftists was confined to urban and semi-urban areas of workers, employees and middle class. The zamindari system in rural areas was the mainstay of the Congress. The organised peasant movement hit this power base. The movement for land reforms, recording of bargadari right and enhancement of remuneration of agricultural labourers began to change the balance of power in the villages. The consciousness of the rural poor grew sharper. In the 1971 election, the CPI(M) came out as the biggest party among the Leftists forces. People of the state were overwhelmingly moving towards the Left. They were still holding their head aloft. In between these developments came the Naxalbari deviation and anarchism, the semi-fascist terrors of Siddhartha Shankar Ray and the Emergency. Yet there was no power to stop the march of the people’s power.

In 1977, the poor people of this state, deprived of education but politically conscious, gave their verdict against Indira Gandhi for her crime of clamping of Emergency. The Congress was routed in the Lok Sabha election. In June 1977, the Left Front came to power, defeating both the Congress and the Janata Party. After the United Front the Left Front thus began a new chapter of advancement.

The Left Front started its journey by ending the regime of autocratic oppression and by ensuring a democratic environment in the state, establishing the rule of law and restoring the constitutional rights. Individual freedoms, trade union rights and the freedom of press were restored. As per the decision of the first cabinet meeting of the Left Front government all prisoners detained on political grounds were released. Those who were forced to go underground returned home. Offices of the party and the trade unions which were forcibly occupied, were recovered. The CPI(M) called upon its members and supporters not to indulge in retaliation against the opposition who perpetrated crimes against the people during the dark days of the semi-fascist terror. The basic point of the Left Front election manifesto was about restoration of the democratic system and moral values. Accompanying that was the economic programme of which important points were: (1) fixing the prices of essential commodities of daily consumption and strengthening the public distribution system, (2) allowances for the unemployed, (3) special help for small and cottage industry, (4) to set up new industries, (5) to take initiative to open the closed factories, (6) representative trade unions through secret ballot, (7) to take steps for removal of problems of bustees, (8) introduction of free education upto secondary stage, (9) protection of minorities rights, (10) giving legal rights to refugees for the lands occupied by them, (11) confiscation of the surplus illegal land, (12) providing job and minimum remuneration to the landless labourers, and (13) to ensure an equitable and rational division of wealth between the centre and the states .

At the beginning of the journey, the chief minister declared that we would not conduct our administration only sitting in the Writers' Buildings. With this objective in mind, a new law was passed and election was held for establishment of a three-tier panchayat system which had no existence during the Congress rule. The new system heralded a new chapter in the political life in the rural Bengal.

It must always be borne in mind that, within the parameters of semi-feudal and semi-colonial conditions and fundamental limitations, we took initiatives to implement a modest minimum programme. It was not with the aim of establishing socialism or communism in a state at one end of the country; it is simply not possible. The quest for an alternative path was our objective. Conscious as we are about the socio-economic reality of the country, we aimed at helping the working people of the state to march forward through the alternative path. Obviously, the task was very tough as the road was never traversed by anybody in the past.

Our success during the 25 years of this long journey is beyond dispute. Our enemies too know it. A clear picture of this success is discernible, in our villages where the lion’s share of cultivable land is in the hands of the rural poor. The dominance of the rural poor in the panchayats has been possible for this very reasons. Within this framework of law, land distribution, recording of bargadars’ rights, increasing remuneration of landless labourers and multipurpose plan for the development of villages have been taken up. This has not only ushered in success in agriculture, but has also acted as motivation for mobilisation of new political forces around the Left Front. The political and administrative leadership has come from the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and women. The purchasing power of peasantry has increased. Sale of industrial products has gone up, as have increased the small savings. The biggest onslaught against poverty has been made in the state. Alongside with the panchayats, the municipalities in the towns have gained new strength on the crest of decentralisation of power by the state government. The pace of urban development has been accelerated. Democracy has developed and taken deep roots through the participation of the people in thousands in the administration of local autonomous bodies. In the whole country, this state is the first to implement free education upto higher secondary level. Teachers have regained their honour. The plan for power generation has been fruitful. The crisis of load-shedding has receded gradually. Urban development works got momentum. Roads, housing, water supply projects and control of garbage have raised the quality of life in the metropolis and the adjacent suburbs.

During the early 1990s, the wind of liberalisation started blowing. Yet in this situation, we took advantage of the abolition of the licencing system. Declaration of an industrial policy in 1994 was an important direction for the Left Front government to follow. Private capital has been welcomed along with the state sector. In specific areas where indigenous technology is absent, foreign capital has also been welcomed. The main target of all this is to enhance the job opportunities for which the Left Front government is committed. The growth of investment since the mid-90s is an outcome of our correct industrial policy. The Haldia petrochemical complex and the Bakreswar thermal power plant are the symbols of our success. We have turned around against deprivation and non-cooperation of the central government.

In the last election, the people of the state made the Left Front victorious for the sixth term. This was a historic verdict and has no parallel in the country and abroad. There is no ambiguity about the judgement. In the election, our enemies raised the slogan of a change. We also called for change. Our slogan was: Development, not anarchy; Democracy, not terror; Secularism, not fire of communal strife. We also want change: from Left Front to a better Left Front. We are not starting from zero. We want to make another advance towards development. The aim is to consolidate the path we have traversed and the successes we have earned. We have to rectify the lapses, which have created roadblocks in our march, by an attitude of self-criticism. The experience of our success in the last 25 years will provide us with the materials to move forward.

The BJP government at the centre has brought the economy of the country to the brink of a disaster. Such a danger has never been there in the past. The GDP is gradually declining. Industrial and agricultural production is in shambles. State-owned industries are being sold indiscriminately or closed down, branches of nationalised banks are being closed along with reduction in workforce. Unemployment and price rise have surpassed all records. The new export-import policy will ruin our agriculture and industry, particularly small and medium sized ones. It is in the face of such a situation that we have to move forward. When the whole country is in the grip of a grave crisis, our state cannot remain immune from it.

Maintaining the success in agriculture, irrigation system will have to be improved to cover 75 per cent of agricultural land compared to the present 65 per cent. While maintaining the pace of rice production, we will have to lay emphasis on production of wheat, pulse, oilseed and development of fruits, flowers, vegetables, fish and animal husbandry.

In the industrial sector, we still lay emphasis on cottage, small and medium industry. Alongwith handloom, silk, hosiery and leather industry, have now come chemical and plastic industries. Modernization is going on in hosiery and silk industry. We are trying to set up a centre exclusively for hosiery industry. A new growth centre for leather industry is coming up. Once completed our state will rank first in the whole country. With the advent of Haldia petrochemical complex, around 450 downstream industrial units have come up and have generated direct employment for around 10,000 people, apart from three times more indirectly. Projects twice this number are awaiting implementation. And the new industry which has opened a new horizon is the information techonology. Around 14,000 professional employees are working in 156 software units. Last year we exported software worth Rs 935 crore. This undoubtedly is encouraging. We have decided to set up a centre of excellence for bio-technology with a view to applying most modern technology in pharmaceutical industry and agriculture. The crisis of closed factories is now a national problem. Attacks have come down from the central government on engineering, steel and mining. Many state owned and private concerns are sick. Extreme uncertainty prevails in jute industry. Our aim is to revive these industries. Where revival is not possible, we are committed to social security for the workers. Allowance for the workers of the closed units and provident fund scheme for workers of unorganised sector have been implemented.

Keeping in mind the large number of the unemployed in the state, we have laid stress on self-employment projects and self-help groups in cities as well as in villages. Self-help groups of women have already achieved some success.

At present literacy rate in the state is 70 per cent and it is possible to raise it to 80 per cent in the next five years. Two years back, we had only 9 engineering colleges. Now the number has gone upto 38. A law university of international standard has been set up. We plan to establish a medical university and two centres of excellences --- one for bio-technology and another for social sciences.

Seventy per cent of the people of our state can avail of the facilities provided by government health service. In terms of birth rate, death rate and child death rate, the record of our state is the third best in the country. Child mortality is in Kolkata is lowest in the whole country. Our problem is to improve the administration of and ensure discipline and proper environment in the health centres.

We must be more vigilant about solving the problems of the backward tribals and scheduled castes. The purpose of North Bengal Development Council, Western Development Council and Sundarban Development Council is to accelerate the growth of the backward areas inhabited by the backward sections of our population.

The communal situation in the whole country is very critical. A fundamentalist party is leading the government at the centre. On the question of Ayodhya issue they have gradually complicated the situation; they have attacked our tradition, history, culture and even our constitution. In this dirty atmosphere, West Bengal must hold aloft its head. Our commitment to secularism has been tested in the past. Even now, we are ready to make any sacrifice for secularism. Our strength lies in the history and culture of the people of the state. We will never tarnish our proud tradition in the cultural world. Let there be a debate on man and society in all streams of cinema, literature and theatre. Let a hundred flowers blossom.

People are the base of Left Front government. Our strength and support have to be expanded. Still now a section of working class is in the enemy camp. We must win them over by our activities, policies and ideology. We must reach every individual, every family. A section of the media will always oppose the Left Front. Here grave the responsibilities devolve on our workers. We must be above board in the matter of personal conduct, efficiency, political consciousness, ethics and moral values.

We believe in the truth that it is the people who will say the last word. So the government will go on, as also the struggle. To the so-called globalisation, dominance of the rich countries over the poor countries, World Bank, IMF and WTO, there is no question of surrender. Throughout the world this struggle is getting strengthened. We are part of the struggle for the pursuit of self-reliance. We must mobilise all forces and plunge into action. We must bring to the people the truth and the real picture of the political situation in the country. We have covered a long journey but still a long way we have to go. History does not move backward. We too have to move forward. We have to move towards a spotless dawn of humanism with modern science and technology, through debate and with healthy moral values and rich cultural consciousness.