The
Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New Delhi on
September 17, 2004.
It has issued the following statement:
The
Polit Bureau discussed the overall political situation.
It heard reports of the situation in Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur and the
north-eastern region.
The extremist groups are utilising Bangladesh
territory to conduct operations in the neighbouring states.
In Jammu & Kashmir, the UPA government should work out a fresh
initiative with a clear political content which can elicit a favourable response
for a dialogue with all concerned groups within the state.
This should accompany the Indo-Pakistan dialogue which will be carried
forward after the
recent Foreign Ministers meeting in Delhi.
The
Polit Bureau welcomed the decision of the Cabinet to repeal POTA.
The Polit Bureau urged the UPA government to ensure that the ongoing POTA
cases be
brought under the purview of the repeal. Cases which need to be continued
can be pursued under the relevant provisions of the IPC.
In
the recent period, the BJP has once again shown by its stance and
activities that it has nothing to fall back on but its communal agenda.
On the Savarkar issue, the BJP-RSS combine is engaged in glorifying a
person who symbolised the ideology of communal hatred which resulted finally in
the conspiracy to assassinate Gandhiji.
In the Uma Bharati
affair, the BJP has sought to wrap itself around
the national flag when the actual incident in Hubli was part of the
typical RSS ploy of creating Hindu-Muslim tensions in sensitive places. Uma
Bharati had been used for such a provocation at the Idgah maidan.
The
BJP’s campaign on such issues has not found any popular response. It only
shows how desperate the BJP leadership has become after their defeat in the Lok
Sabha elections.
Both
these campaigns underline the necessity to firmly counter and expose the
disruptionist ideology and politics of the forces
which draw sustenance from Hindutva.
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) calls upon all the secular and democratic
forces to firmly counter the efforts of the BJP to introduce the communal idiom
in politics in some garb or the other.
A special responsibility devolves upon the UPA government and the
Congress leadership in this regard. They have to show the political will and the
ideological firmness to rebuff all such attacks on secular-democratic values.
The
CPI(M) will contest in the assembly elections with the aim of defeating the Shiv
Sena-BJP combine.
The Maharashtra state committee of CPI(M) has drawn up a list of seats to
be contested where the Party can put up an effective fight and to rally the Left
and democratic forces to project alternative policies.
The Party’s endeavour will be avoid the division in the secular votes
to the extent possible.
The
Polit Bureau discussed the issues which are of immediate concern to the people
and which require the implementation of the pro-people measures in the Common
Minimum Programme.
As a priority, the proposals for employment generation such as the
Employment Guarantee Act, increase in
public investment in agriculture and revival of the public sector units
and increased public expenditure in education and health have all to be taken up
in a time-bound manner.
The Left parties have already decided to discuss the implementation of
the CMP proposals in the next meeting of the UPA-Left Coordination Committee.
The
Polit Bureau is of the firm opinion that measures such as
raising the FDI caps in telecom and insurance and the privatisation of
the airports in Delhi and Mumbai do not conform to the direction set out in the
CMP. The
needless controversy created by the inclusion of representatives of the World
Bank and other international agencies in the consultative bodies
of the Planning Commission shows a lack of awareness of the popular
feelings in the country.
The
Polit Bureau discussed a draft document on mass organisations which will be
placed before the next Central Committee meeting. It also finalised
some guidelines for the conduct of Party conferences.
The
next meeting of the Central Committee will be held from October 29 to 31, 2004.