P.B. Communiqué

October 7, 2013

Press Communiqué

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New Delhi on October 6, 2013. It has issued the following statement:

Railway Fare Hike

The Polit Bureau strongly opposed the 2 per cent hike in rail fares in express and mail trains for all categories of passengers. The freight tariff has also been increased by 1.7 per cent. This hike is consequent to the decision to periodically hike the rail and freight fares. The Polit Bureau demands the rescinding of the fare hike and an end to the system of periodically increasing the passenger and freight fares based on the fuel prices.

Privatisation of Airports

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) condemned the decision of the government to hand over the running of the two metro airports of Chennai and Kolkata owned by the Airports Authority of India to private parties. Along with this 12 other airports are to be similarly outsourced to private companies.

In both Kolkata and Chennai it is the Airport Authority of India which built the new terminals and these public funded airports are now to be handed over to private companies. Apart from handing over public assets, the future of the employees of the Airport Authority of India will be jeopardised.

The central government should immediately scrap this privatization plan.

Allocation of Resources to States

The allocation of resources and funds to the states has always been a contentious issue. The CPI(M) has been demanding that fifty per cent of the central taxes and revenues should be allocated to the states.

The Raghuram Rajan Committee report on indexing backwardness of the states has been submitted to the government. The recommendations of this report should not be implemented without first consulting the state governments.

The Finance Commission is the constitutionally set up body for devolution of resources to the states. The question of equitable allocation of resources to the states and also taking into account the backwardness of states should be decided only after consultations with the states.

PM’s Washington Visit

A joint declaration on defence cooperation has been issued after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s talks with President Obama in Washington. Steps for deepening defence cooperation include buying more US weapons and joint production. This will open the way for American arms companies to set up joint ventures in India. The clear intention is to make India a close ally of the US.

The CPI(M) is against India being drawn into such a close military collaboration with the US. It will adversely affect our national sovereignty, carrying out an independent foreign policy and our strategic autonomy.

West Bengal Attacks

Attacks on the CPI(M) and Left Front cadres and activists are continuing in West Bengal. The Trinamul Congress under the aegis of the state government is responsible for this violence against the opposition. After the results of the panchayat elections, six cadres and members of the CPI(M) have been killed, the latest being the brutal murder of a member of the zonal committee of the party in Bardaman district.

The Polit Bureau demanded that such attacks should be stopped forthwith and the state government must take steps to end this violence against the opposition. The Polit Bureau appealed to all democratic forces in the country to protest against this violence and attacks on democracy.

Muzaffarnagar Riots

The Polit Bureau expressed its deep concern at the major outbreak of communal violence in Muzaffarnagar on September 7-8. Forty five people were killed, hundreds injured and some women were raped. Around forty thousand people had to take shelter in camps.

This communal violence has come in the background of the systematic efforts to raise communal tensions and provoke violence by the RSS outfits. The Uttar Pradesh administration was not vigilant and did not intervene promptly to prevent the situation from developing into such a conflict.

In this connection, the Polit Bureau wants the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill to be taken up expeditiously and adopted.

Convention for People’s Unity

And Against Communalism

The Polit Bureau extended its full support to the holding of a convention on October 30 which is meant to mobilize the people to maintain people’s unity and to combat the communal forces.

P.B. Communique

August 9, 2009

Press Communiqué

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New Delhi on December 15, 2003. It has issued the following statement:

Outcome of Assembly Elections

The Polit Bureau discussed the outcome of the recent elections to the five state assemblies. An analysis of the results and voting trends was conducted. The defeat of the Congress in three of the four northern states, shows that it has lost ground among some of its traditional support bases. This is particularly so in the case of the tribal areas in the three states. The outcome of the elections is a rejection of the record and performance of the Congress governments in these states. The attack on the people’s livelihood as a consequence of the liberalization policies pursued by the Congress state governments engendered acute discontent amongst different sections of the people. In the eyes of the people, there was no difference between the economic policies of the BJP and the Congress.

In rejecting the Congress, the BJP being the main opposition party in these states, has benefited. There is no endorsement of either the Centre’s performance or the BJP’s right wing economic policies. The BJP’s success is sought to be propagated as due to a mythical mix of the Centre’s performance and the development agenda. The BJP has won on the negative vote against the Congress, by using the communal agenda, particularly in the tribal areas, caste appeal and massive use of money power. The RSS and its outfits were fully deployed to take the Hindutva platform amongst the tribal people which enabled the BJP to win a big majority of the scheduled tribe reserved seats (75 out of 99) for the first time.

The verdict is therefore a boost to the RSS combine and the forces who wish to subvert the secular basis of the polity. It will embolden them to push forward with their real agenda under the cover of the BJP-led Central government and the newly elected state governments.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) underlined the necessity to counter the BJP with an agenda which is based on alternative economic policies and a firm commitment to fight the communal and divisive forces. The Congress leadership failed to come up with such a policy platform which has been graphically brought out by this election outcome.

Deteriorating Living Conditions

The Polit Bureau noted with deep concern that the living conditions of the people continue to deteriorate. The massive unemployment is blighting the lives of millions of young people and those who have lost existing jobs. The recent attacks in Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra on people from other states, while highly condemnable, stems from the root cause of chronic lack of employment opportunities. Divisive and parochial forces seek to utilise this discontent.

For the rural and urban poor, there is no respite from the rising prices of food items and the disastrous effects of the deliberate dismantling of the public distribution system.

The tea and plantation industry in general is in deep crisis, aggravating jobloss and threatening the livelihood of ten of thousands of families. Similar is the plight of many traditional industries.

The privatization spree of the public sector continues and new methods are being devised to sell of valuable public sector assets.

Instead of acknowledging these serious problems, the Vajpayee government is busy in painting a rosy picture of economic revival and growth.

Defence of Right to Strike

The Polit Bureau took stock of the countrywide campaign in defence of democratic rights and in defence of the right to strike. The Supreme Court judgement which declared that government employees have no right to strike has been opposed by all democratic sections. In this connection, the Polit Bureau decided to extend full support to the proposed one-day strike being called by the state government and central government employees’ federations to defend their right to strike. Other trade unions are expected to join and support this strike. The CPI(M) will actively work to support this strike action which is in defence of the democratic rights of all citizens of the country.

The Polit Bureau considers the bill to amend the Pota as an ineffective and meaningless piece of legislation. The provision for review committees to go into appeals by those detained under the act will in no way stop the basic misuse of this draconian law. The Polit Bureau reiterated its stand that Pota be scrapped.

Iraq

Since the occupation of Iraq by the United States and Britain, the resistance to the colonial style occupation has steadily grown. The arrest of former President Saddam Hussein by the US military is part of the American drive to impose a pliable regime in the country. The apprehending of Saddam Hussein will not end the ongoing resistance against the US occupation. It is an opposition based on the national traditions of the Iraqi people of fighting against colonisation and imperialism.

The US war on Iraq and its occupation is an illegal act of aggression. Eight months after the war it has become evident that the pretext for the war, Iraq’s possession of “Weapons of Mass Destruction” was a concocted and false one. The United States has therefore no right or legitimacy to be in Iraq. The occupying forces should immediately withdraw and arrangements made for a representative and sovereign Iraq government to take over.

February Campaign of Party

The Polit Bureau decided that at the current juncture it is essential to put forward the CPI(M)’s and Left and democratic platform, both political and economic, before the people. This is an alternative provided by the Left and democratic forces as against the BJP’s communal platform and the economic policies pursued by both the BJP and the Congress. It is necessary to mobilise the people against chronic unemployment, the collapse of the public distribution system and the indiscriminate privatisation drive. At the same time the divisive role of the communal forces has to be exposed and countered in the interests of national unity.

The Polit Bureau therefore decided to conduct a national campaign against the communal forces and against the harmful economic policies of the government based on the above issues. This campaign will be conducted from 1st to 15th February all over the country through public meetings, jathas, pickettings and rallies.

Next Central Committee Meeting

The Polit Bureau decided to hold the next meeting of the Central Committee of the Party from January 29 to 31, 2004 at Hyderabad. The Polit Bureau will meet on 28th, prior to the Central Committee meeting.