SOCIALISM is the only means to fight the reactionary and disruptive forces operating in the State. The purity of Marxism-Leninism will have to be preserved in the face of heightened aggression from the ultra-leftists. CPI(M) to follow the path shown by Comrade Muzaffar Ahmed in order to usher in socialism in India. This was the clear cut message that emanated from the meeting organised to commemorate the 117th birth anniversary of Comrade Muzaffar Ahmed. The meeting was addressed by veteran communist leader and Polit Bureau member of CPI(M) Jyoti Basu and CPI(M) State Secretary and Polit Bureau member Anil Biswas and was presided over by Biman Basu, Left Front Chairman and Polit Bureau member.
On this occasion, author Debkumar Basu and Bangladeshi writer Baharanuddin Khan Jahangir were awarded Muzaffar Ahmed Memorial Award. They were introduced by Central Committee Member and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen by giving a brief account of their work. A document titled ‘Communist Movement in Bengal and its Relevance today’ was also released by Polit Bureau member and Chief Minister Buddadeb Bhattacharya.
Jyoti Basu speaking on the occasion said Comrade Muzaffar Ahmed was a tireless worker, who played an important role in building the communist movement in India. In the days of British occupation, he braved the British repression and selflessly worked to build up the party irrespective of tremendous hardship that he has to face. He said that he will always be an inspiration and guiding force for all of us in the communist party and the he asked the young party members who have joined recently to read his books in order to gain a better insight into the development of the communist movement in Bengal.
Anil Biswas said, the slogan, raised by Comrade Muzaffar Ahmed, 85 years ago are still relevant to build a communist movement in India. The communist movement and the CPI(M) in particular must play a leading role in the fight against imperialism and communalism. He said the defeat of the communal BJP and the installation of the UPA Government at the Centre was decisive first step in the fight against communalism. The Left with 61 MPs in the Lok Sabha is in a position to influence policy making of the Central Government. The more progressive role the Left plays at the Centre and influences the national discourse, the greater will be the internal contradictions in the reactionary forces like the RSS. This contradiction accentuated with the dislodging of the BJP led NDA Government at the Centre in the last elections. With the decisive rejection of the communal combination, the Sangh fraternity’s slogan of Hindu Rashtra appears inconsistent with Indian ethos which is and will remain secular.
Still there is no scope for complacency. As their internal contradictions intensify, it takes the form of disruptive activities and incitement of communal passions. The coming to power by engineering communal riot in Gujarat and the recent disruption of the Parliament procedures by boycotting the entire budget session bears testimony to this. He said we must be careful and vigilant to thwart all such attempts in undermining democracy and secularism.
Commenting on the UPA Government, he said that it is only due to the consistent opposition of the Left, the UPA Government has not been able to implement many of the anti-people policies which the NDA Government implemented. This is a positive development and the Left will always strongly oppose all such policies which go against the common people.
He lambasted the bourgeois media for concocting stories of differences in the CPI(M) as regards the recent defence agreements with the US. He said that there is a difference between the foreign policy followed by the UPA and the NDA government. The UPA foreign policy is still independent and did not go to the extent of sacrificing our sovereignty to be in the good books of the US. He said that Left has strong reservation as regards the strategic military tie-up, the defence framework, global fight against terrorism and spreading democracy in US terms, because this means subjugating our independent and sovereign foreign policy to serve the US interest and aiding them in their imperialist expansionism designs.
He welcomed the Governments initiative to improve relationship with China and Russia and said that India should work towards strategic relation with these two countries.
Anil Biswas gave a clarion call to integrate the fight against communalism and imperialism with the fight for emancipation of the impoverished masses. It is here that Comrade Muzaffar Ahmed’s works become relevant. We must draw inspiration from him to fight both communalism and imperialism and at the same time preserve the purity of Marxism-Leninism against the Maoist marauder’s, who in the name Marxism-Leninism has unleashed terror in rural Bengal by killing innocent people.----Vineet Menon
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