People's Democracy

BIHAR

Party to Conduct Struggles and Consolidate Organisation

Arun Kumar Mishra

MOBILISE the agricultural workers, poor peasants, unorganised sector workers, middle class employees and other sections of toiling masses on immediate issues and forge links with the new sections of unorganised masses and expand the Party organisation to usher in the revolutionary change in the society � this was the message given by CPI(M) Polit Bureau  member S Ramchandran Pillai to the Party cadre in a series of general body meetings addressed by him in Bihar.

The Party state committee in its last meeting had decided to prepare for a sustained long-term struggle on immediate issues concerning the agricultural workers, poor peasants, urban unorganised sector workers, dalits and other exploited sections of the state. Since then the Party has organised state and district level agricultural workers conventions, staged demonstrations and dharnas in different blocks and  district headquarters exposing the so-called development mantra chanted by Nitish Kumar government. It also highlighted the miserable conditions faced by the rural and urban poor. Rising prices and collapse of public distribution system are taking a big toll on the poor peasants and agricultural workers who are forced to migrate to different states in the hope of getting employment.
The distribution of food coupons by the government is a big hoax as the people are not getting rations on those coupons. The government has failed to utilise Rs 2000 crore meant for NREGA scheme. All the pro-poor schemes are mired in stinking corruption. The recent report of Bandopadhyay Commission on Land Reform has fully exposed the pro-feudal bias of Nitish government which does not want to implement the recommendations of the commission. The shameful spectacle of accusations among the bourgeois landlord parties on this issue is the ample proof that bourgeoisies parties are hand in glove with the feudal forces and do not want to implement land reforms, which is crucial for the future development of Bihar. Even the World Bank in its report has suggested to empower the share-croppers by giving them right to possession of the land they till. But all these recommendations have been thrown into dustbin.

The recent by-election debacle faced by Nitish government, has made it jittery and it has meekly surrendered before the ravings and rantings of landed gentry and its pompous declaration of implementing land reform lies in tatters.

The Left parties which are always on the forefront in spearheading the movements for safeguarding the interests of the share croppers, took up the cudgels on their behalf. A joint convention of Left parties was organised at Patna on October 31 which gave a call to mobilise the common people against the back-breaking price rise, for strengthening of PDS, implementation of NREGA scheme in a transparent manner and for the implementation of positive recommendations of the Bandopadhyay Commission.

In the background of emerging political scenario in Bihar, S Ramachandran Pillai�s tour of four organisationally strong districts has given a new thrust to the preparations for new movements and organisational initiatives. The first general body meeting was held in Laheriasarai at the Darbhanga Kamla Memorial Hall, which was jampacked to its capacity. While addressing the Party cadre, SRP emhasised the distinctness of the Communist Party which openly declares itself a party of the working class that seeks to bring about a revolutionary transformation of the society. He recalled the glorious past of Bihar where there was all-round development of education, culture and democratic experiment. He mentioned particularly the names of Nalanda and Vikramshila universities and the democratic experiment in Vaishali. This was possible due to the sweat and blood of toiling masses of Bihar with its rich soil and abundance of water. He felt Bihar can beat Punjab and can turn into the main granary of India.

SRP recalled the anti-imperialist role of Bihar people during national liberation movement as also the glorious peasant movement conducted under the leadership of Sahjanand Saraswati and later under the leadership of the Communist Party. He said the Communist movement in Bihar got weakened due to the revisionist and extremist disruption in the Communist movement and several other reasons. He said that the Party is now trying to strengthen and expand the organisation all over the state. To achieve such a breakthrough, we must work on two fronts. On the one hand we should propagate our long term goal and to reach that goal we should take up the immediate issues of the toiling masses and wage struggles in a sustained manner. We should try to get some relief within the present set up and forge our links with the unorganised masses. The Communist Party can be strengthened and its mass base increased by bringing these forces into struggles and waging class struggles along with struggles againstr social and gender oppression. The Darbhanga district committee of the Party collected one lakh rupees for state centre.

At the meetings in Madhubani district, SRP spoke about the decision of the recently-concluded central committee meeting of the Party to organise all India movement against the neo-liberal policies which have created all round crisis for the common people and the toiling masses of the society. The recent decision  of the UPA government to disinvest the navratna companies, its inability to tackle soaring prices, the crisis in agriculture, cultivation of GM Brinjal etc came in for severe criticism. He referred to the coming together of all the central trade unions to fight against the anti-people and anti-working class policies of the UPA government. On the Liberahan Commission report, SRP demanded that all the indicted leaders of BJP and sangh parivar should be prosecuted immediately. Regarding the Copenhagen meeting on climate change, he criticised the UPA government for its pro-US tilt and demanded that government of India should lead the developing countries and make common cause with them and thwart any move of the imperialist countries to impose their unilateral decisions regarding carbon emissions.

CPI(M) state secretary V K Thakur also spoke demanding implementation of the Bandhopadhyay Commission report on land reforms and emphasised that no development can take place in Bihar unless the land reforms are implemented. He mentioned about the joint state-wide movement with other Left parties on issues concerning common people and toiling masses of Bihar. On December 16, Left parties will organise a state level massive dharna on these issues..

SRP later inaugurate the newly constructed district committee office of the Party. he addressed the party cadres who had assembled on the occasion.

The meeting at Narhan College campus at Bibhutipur in Samastipur district on November 29 was hugely successful. Gangadhar Jha, a state committee member and a senior leader of the Party, presided over the meeting. Ajay Kumar, district secretary of the Party, briefly narrated the experiences of the recently launched movement against non-availability of fertiliser, ration, corruption in NREGA scheme and other issues concerning the peasants and common people of Samastipur district. He informed that the authorities were forced to act on the above mentioned issues after the agitation launched by our Party and mass organisations. Special committees have been formed at different levels to monitor the situation regarding availability of rations to the poor and fertilisers to the peasants. The movements and agitations launched by Samastipur district committee yielded positive results and the Party has decided to continue its effort and widen its base.

SRP highlighted the ganging up of class enemies ranging from extreme right to extreme left to thwart our onward march. Everyday comrades are being killed in West Bengal and other parts of the country. He declared that the history is on our side and nobody can turn the wheel of human progress backwards. He congratulated the Samastipur unit for organising movement and agitations on the pressing problems faced by the common people and forging its links with newer and unorganised sections of the toiling masses.

In the last leg of his tour, SRP addressed a meeting in Town hall of Beusarai where he spoke at length on the organisational weaknesses and alien trends that have crept into the Party and the immediate need to weed them out. Referring to the central committee finalised rectification document, he said that rectification campaign is an ongoing process and we must endeavour to fight the wrong trends at every level. He declared that inactivity at any level and of any individual Party members are alien to communist nature. We must remain always with the suffering and oppressed masses, take up their cause and give courage and confidence in their struggles. He harshly criticised the factionalism, individualism and federalism which are the bourgeois and petty bourgeois trends that corrode the communist quality and incapacitates the Party to take initiative. He criticised in particular the absence of collective functioning of the Party committees at different levels and called upon the Party members to boldly speak against the wrong trends inside the respective committees. He cautioned them against mud-slinging and cover-ups. SRP emphasised the need for introspection and find the solutions that afflicts our organisation at different levels. State secretariat member Rajendra Prasad Singh presided over the meeting.