SRP REPLIES TO DISCUSSION ON POL-ORG REPORT, PART III & IV

Call To Launch Powerful Peasant Movement At All-India Level

Naresh ‘Nadeem’

DURING the discussion on Part III and IV of the political organisational (polorg) report to the 18th CPI(M) congress, as many as 39 delegates put forth the viewpoints held by their respective state delegations or mass organisations.

Replying to the points raised and queries made by delegates, Polit Bureau member S Ramachandran Pillai described them as indicative of an increased collective understanding of the political situation in the country. The interventions by delegates also highlighted that there was ground for intensifying our efforts with the aim of expanding the base of the party in various parts of the country. The discussion had made it clear that the steps taken by the party leadership in the last three years were in the right direction, had indeed yielded some result, and therefore the need was to intensify efforts along the same lines.

During his reply, SRP again touched upon the concept of priority states (and also of priority districts in other states), adding that planned efforts are required to make use of the immense opportunities that are there in these states/districts. But this requires that we should first get rid of our own weaknesses and shortcomings. He reiterated how, immediately after the last party congress at Hyderabad, the PB and CC had held discussions with the leadership in these states, chalked out one-year plans for the concerned states/districts, selected the areas for concentration of efforts, and organised review exercises at the end of the one-year period. Though some problems and shortcomings still persisted in these states/districts, SRP said some advance was indeed noticed in these areas. He therefore proposed to carry this process forward after the 18th party congress. For the purpose, the PB and CC would again hold meetings with the concerned state committees, concretise the tasks to be undertaken and organise agitations on the issues facing the people. Yet, SRP stressed, this is not a one-time affair; rather the party leadership at various levels will have to undertake reviews on a regular basis.

During the discussion, some of the delegates had pinpointed our weaknesses in conducting the ideological work. To SRP, this was a valid point and an important cause of concern. We are living in a society in which feudal and semi-feudal ideas and practices still prevail, while the media are acting as carriers of the decadent imperialist culture of the developed western countries. On the other hand, a large bulk of the CPI(M)’s membership consists of those who joined the party after 1992, and the party leadership cannot escape the responsibility of arranging for suitable ideological training for these cadres. But the process of ideological classes for the party members and of the agit-prop work for the masses at large cannot be a casual affair. Rather it needs to be a continuous process, so that our cadres are properly equipped to face the rigours of the situation and discharge their task.

Apart from making efforts to strengthen the agit-prop set-up, SRP said the CC and PB would also examine how to ensure better coordination between various party papers through a central news organisation.

Taking up the issue of mass organisations, the CPI(M) leader said there could be no expansion of the party without an expansion of the mass organisations led by it. Dwelling upon the role of mass organisations in mobilising various sections of the people for struggle, SRP said it is through the mass organisations that the party reaches out to the masses. Moreover, the party gets cadres from among those who have proved their mettle during mass work. One recalls that Part IV of the polorg report was exclusively devoted to the situation facing our mass organisations, and, therefore, some of the delegates had also put forward their views on behalf of their organisations. Hence, without going into the details of the situation facing one or another mass organisation, SRP assured the 18th congress that the party leadership would carry out, preferably within the next six months, a comprehensive review of the state of mass organisations.

The question of an agrarian movement came up during the party congress in a powerful manner, and many delegates sought to underline its importance for our advance. This is natural for a country like India where more than two third of our population still lives in the countryside and is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture. That is why the CPI(M) describes an agrarian revolution as the axis of the people’s democratic revolution that it envisages. During his reply, SRP also took up this issue and stressed the need of a powerful all-India movement on the general and partial issues facing the peasants, agricultural workers and other rural sections. However, he said there could be no easy parallel with the trade union movement in the country; a movement of the peasants and agricultural workers has its own problems and would follow its own course. In his reply, the CPI(M) leader referred to certain limitations that we are facing while striving to build a powerful all-India organisation of the peasants or agricultural workers; in fact, the bulk of membership of the AIKS is concentrated in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. On this occasion, however, he assured the delegates that after the party congress the PB and CC would chalk out the programme to forge a well-coordinated agrarian movement at the all-India level.

Referring to the issue of caste oppression and gender oppression raised by some of the delegates, SRP agreed that the party has to take up such issues on a priority basis. In this context, the cadres have also to realise that the phenomenon of caste oppression contains within itself class exploitation as well, and therefore they can’t afford to ignore it. Some of the state committees, like Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu, have indeed taken up the issue in a big way and got encouraging response from the people. In Tamilnadu, for instance, some 30 per cent of the CPI(M) membership comes from the scheduled castes, the most downtrodden section of our society. But much more needs to be done to take up this fight at the all-India level and in a vigorous way.

Regarding the problems facing the party unit in Kerala, SRP said the Polit Bureau and Central Committee would take some urgent steps after the party congress to address these problems and unify the party in the state on a principled basis.

During the discussion, several delegates had expressed concern over the fall of membership in certain, to be precise eight, states. Referring to it, the CPI(M) leader pointed out specific causes in some states. For example, a group of disrupters has caused serious harm to the party in Punjab. Similarly, tightening of the membership recruitment process was one of the causes, but certainly not the sole cause, of the fall in membership in Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. Yet it does not and cannot justify our laxity in these states and party members have to vigorously move in order to overcome the problems at the earliest. The absence of any CPI(M) led student organisation in Jammu & Kashmir, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh is yet another shortcoming to be taken up and redressed.

After his reply to the discussion on Part III and IV of the polorg report, SRP assured the delegates that after the congress the PB and CC would duly consider the amendments and suggestions advanced by the delegates, and would incorporate all such amendments and suggestions as are found in accordance with the general tenor of the document. That the assurance was taken in a positive manner, was evident from the fact that these two parts of the report were unanimously adopted as soon as they were put to vote together.