People's Democracy

CPI(M) Greets CP of Sri Lanka on its 19th National Congress

The following is the text of the message of greetings delivered by T K Rangarajan, Central Committee member of the CPI(M) to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka on the occasion of its  19^th National Congress held in Colombo from August 27-29.

Communist Party of Sri Lanka

DEAR Comrades,

At the very outset, on behalf of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) let me greet the 19^th national congress of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka and through you all the members of your party. We sincerely hope that the deliberations of your congress would help in the further expansion of the communist movement and strengthening of the struggle for a socialist society.

Sri Lanka and India, two close neighbours, also share close bonds dating back to many centuries. Both the countries share a similar colonial history, the Portuguese being the first colonialists to set their foot on our soil, only to be ousted finally by the British who had ruled our lands for many years. The struggle for freedom too, shares many similarities – of course, both were ripened with the concrete experiences and enriched by the participation of the people of our countries. As sister-communist parties, we inherit the rich legacy of the freedom struggle of our respective countries and are engaged in the thick of struggles to realise the dreams of all those freedom fighters who had sacrificed their lives for our better future. This becomes all the more relevant in today's conjuncture, as we are witnessing a severe onslaught on the livelihoods of the people across the world.

Comrades,

The world today is still in the midst of a severe recession, in what is being termed as the 'Great Recession'. This is contrary to the claims made by many countries that the 'black days' of crisis are over. The current crisis of international financial capital is by much estimation, far graver than any other crisis in the history of capitalism. It is a systemic crisis with its impact felt across the world. Unemployment is still rising at enormous proportions. Factories are 'off-loading' their workforce, reducing working hours and many units are being closed. Millions of people have lost their jobs. The social impact of the crisis too is being felt everywhere with rising discontent and increasing protests. Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy and many countries are witnessing massive protest demonstrations against the attempts of the ruling classes of these countries to shift the burden of the crisis onto the shoulders of the working people.

Capitalism, as Marx has shown, is a system that is based on the exploitation of man by man and nation by nation. It can never be a crisis-free system and this fact has been once again vindicated by the present day crisis. It has exposed the unsustainability of the path of globalisation pursued for the past few decades and also the bankruptcy of neo-liberalism – its ideological mask. No amount of reform can make capitalism an exploitation free system.

Comrades,

Our country too is affected by the crisis, though the impact is only to a limited extent because of the role played by the CPI (M) and other Left parties. Unfortunately, the Congress-led UPA government did not learn correct lessons from the crisis and now buoyed by the fact that it no longer depends on the Left for its survival, is implementing the very same neo-liberal policies that in the first place, had led to this crisis. In our country, we are in the midst of various struggles taking up the issues of the various sections of the society who are reeling under the attacks of the neo-liberal policies pursued by the government at the behest of the imperialist forces.

The present coalition government led by the Congress, is desperate to forge a strategic relationship with the United States. The Indo-US nuclear deal and the civil nuclear disaster liability bill that legally absolves any responsibility of the US nuclear firms that supply reactors in case of a disaster, are all detrimental to the interests of our people and adversely affect the sovereignty of our country.

The ruling classes in our country are trying their best to isolate our party and are attacking it from all directions. In West Bengal, one of the strongest bastions for our party in the country, there is a broad ranging coalition forged by all political forces from the extreme right to the extreme left including Maoists and some NGOs. More than 300 of our comrades have lost their lives in this province alone, killed by the Maoists who were emboldened by this broad alliance. The party is thick in the fight not only resisting all these efforts intended to isolate our party but also in defence of the rights of the toiling people.

Comrades,

We are closely following the developments of your country, particularly the issue of bringing peace and stability to the country. Our party recognises the need for an expeditious political settlement of the Tamil question which would involve the devolution of powers and autonomy for the Tamil-speaking areas within the framework of united Sri Lanka. We feel that such a political solution will strengthen the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka. Together with striving for such a political solution, we feel immediate priority should be given to address the concerns of the three-R's – relief, resettlement and rehabilitation of the Tamil civilian population. The CPI (M) always made a clear distinction between the Tamil civilian population and the LTTE. While we are sympathetic to the genuine concerns of the civilian population, we were always opposed to the extremist activities of the LTTE. With the end of the prolonged war, the rehabilitation of the displaced Tamil people is a major concern as reports indicate that still thousands of people are living in relief camps.

Comrades,

We hope that the discussions and decisions you would arrive at in this congress would rally all the progressive and democratic forces in the society and carry forward the struggle for the establishment of a socialist society. While such a struggle would be long and arduous, on behalf of the CPI (M), we assure you our fraternal solidarity and support.

Long Live the unity of the people of Sri Lanka and India.

Long Live Marxism-Leninism.

Central Committee

Communist Party of India (Marxist)