People's Democracy

KERALA 

"THE aim of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the coming general election is to defeat the BJP and communal, fascist forces while expelling the anti-people Congress party from the government", said Prakash Karat, the general secretary of the Party at a massive rally held at Kochi in connection with the three-day Central Committee meeting of the Party. Prakash inaugurated the rally. He said that the Party will try to bring into power a third front without either the BJP or the Congress in it. CPI(M) is in consultation with the anti-communal, democratic forces of the country for this purpose. Karat said that there has been a considerable triumph in this attempt of the Party. It has come into an understanding with Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh, AIADMK in Tamilnadu and Janata Dal(S) in Karnataka. The Party is holding dialogues and discussions with the other democratic forces of the country.

Prakash Karat said that it is certain that the history of 2004 would not repeat in India after the general elections. The third front against the communal forces and the anti-people Congress Party should be formed on the basis of alternative policies. The Party is confident that this endeavor would triumph ultimately. The Left Democratic Front in Kerala is working for the welfare of the people and for the protection of the national interests. The Party is confident that in the coming elections too, the LDF would get massive support from the people.

The UPA government at the centre is pursuing an anti-national foreign policy and an anti-people economic policy. This must be stopped and for this the Congress will have to be voted out. The CPI(M) had rendered support to the UPA government for about four years. The Party supported the UPA government as the only possible alternative to communal governance by the Sangh parivar forces; the anti-people economic policies of the UPA government were opposed even while supporting it. Due to this opposition, the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh and assisted by P Chidambaram could not fully implement their globalisation policies. This has helped the nation to withstand the global economic recession, while the capitalist world as a whole is facing severe crisis.

The Left forces under the CPI(M) are fighting a relentless struggle against the pro-imperialist foreign policy and the anti-people economic policy of the UPA and the divisive policies of the BJP. In the coming general elections also, the Party would campaign on these issues, Prakash Karat said.

He said that the UPA government is punishing the people of Kerala by not giving the quota of ration grains it deserves. There is a record collection of edible grains in the central pool preserved in central ware houses. But the central government has reduced the Kerala quota to 25 per cent of the earlier quota. The Kerala chief minister has time and gain requested the centre to provide the whole quota. But the central authorities are dumb and deaf to the request. This is nothing but political vendetta, he said.

India too is facing the angst arising from the global economic recession. The estimate is that within the coming six months nearly ten million people would lose employment. A number industrial units are in trouble. The price of the cash crops is coming to an ever abysmally low levels. The recession has proved that globalisation has no life, no existence. Socialism is the only alternative to capitalism. The centre should be ready in the earnest to invest more in the public sector and evolve policies to protect the life and employment of the people.

The central government is just paying lip service to meet the challenges of terrorism. It is dangerous that the government of India is trying to meet the challenges of terrorism with the help of the United States. US is the chief source of terrorism the world over. It is the US that helped and supported the state terrorism of Israel in Palestine. US helped ISI in Pakistan and Taliban in Afghanistan. The central government pretends to support the people of Palestine but this show of sympathy is sham as long as buying weapons and arsenals from Israel continues.The attempt to alienate the minorities from the CPI(M) will not fructify.

The connivance of certain political outfits in Kerala to alienate the minorities from the CPI(M) under the pretext of the report of the Law Reforms Commission will not win in the state, said Pinarayi Vijayan, CPI(M) Kerala secretary and Polit Bureau member. The Law Reforms Commission headed by Justice V R Krishna Ayer is a purely independent body. The Commission was appointed to recommend reforms of certain laws which were outdated and worn out. The Commission has not so far submitted the report to the government; neither the government nor the LDF nor the CPI(M) has held any discussion on the reforms.

Pinarayi assured the people of Kerala that the report, when received would be discussed in detail and any decision on it would be taken only after taking into account all ground realities in the state.

He severely criticised the Indian Union Muslim League in his speech. He said that the IUML has begun to show "great love for the Muslim Community" only after it lost power. IUML is appealing that all Muslim organisations should rally behind it! These organisations were denied the bare minimum they deserved while the IUML was in power. They began to attain some of their rights only after the LDF came to power. Only a handful of the wealthiest were in its ranks and the poor Muslims were totally forgotten. Muslims began to rally behind the CPI(M) on the basis of the lessons they learnt from their experience. Pinarayi said, �IUML has adopted a resolution to break the diplomatic ties with Israel, while the national president of the IUML is still a deputy minister in the central government. What does this mean? IUML would stoop to any level to stick to power. What did they do when the Babri Masjid was demolished? They shared power with the Congress who silently allowed the Sangh parivar to demolish the historic monument.�

Some organisations in the state are trying to create confusion regarding the reservation policy. The policy of the CPI(M) regarding reservation is crystal clear. The reservations to OBC, SC/ST should be continued while the poorest among the forward communities should be given some reservation; this has been the policy of the Party at all times. The hysteric reaction of certain caste organisations over this policy is merely a political gimmick. He appealed to the people of the state to rally behind the Party and the LDF to consolidate the achievements, the people gained, through the LDF rule.

The meeting concluded with V S Achuthanandan�s speech which dealt with the pro people policies of the Left ruled states.