22 April 2013 marks the 44th anniversary of the foundation of CPI(ML). This year as we observe this historic day and rededicate ourselves to the revolutionary tasks and goals the Party was formed to fulfil, we draw strength and inspiration from the success of the recently concluded 9th Congress of the Party. Hosting a weeklong Congress of 1200-plus delegates, observers and guests in Ranchi was a major organisational challenge and the Party in Jharkhand proved it was equal to the task. With the Congress just a few weeks away municipal elections were suddenly announced in Jharkhand on 7 April – and for Ranchi on 8th April – forcing us to change the date and venue of the post-Congress Jan Vikalp Rally. To top it all, Maoists declared a 48-hour bandh in Bihar and Jharkhand on 6-7 April disrupting transport. Yet the entire Congress was conducted smoothly and the turnout in the April 7 rally once again proved the determination of the people to march ahead and defy all the odds.
On the eve of the Congress we lost Comrade Gangaram Kol, General Secretary of our tea garden workers’ union in Assam and a popular and resolute leader of the people and the Party. Powerful protests organised by the Party and supported widely by the people and various opposition forces forced the Assam Government to order a CBI probe into the murder. Comrades of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts stayed back to carry on the agitation. While the Congress was on, news came from Karbi Anglong of the passing of Comrade Monsing Bongrung, President of the KANKIS in Langsomepi Block, and the house paid him homage. And on 3rd April evening we lost one of our delegates from Siwan district of Bihar. Comrade Ghughali Prasad, member of Siwan District Committee of the Party and popular leader of the rural poor in the district, succumbed to cardiac arrest and the entire Congress bade him a solemn farewell as the comrades of Siwan had to leave the Congress midway to organise the funeral of their beloved comrade. The grief caused by the loss of these comrades strengthened the resolve of the Congress and the Party.
The 9th Congress paid glowing tributes to all our martyrs and departed leaders and reiterated its resolve to fight for the release of all Party leaders and members who are imprisoned in various jails of Bihar and Jharkhand. Comrades Shah Chand, BN Singh, and Pradip Vishwakarma who are currently lodged in jails in Bihar and Jharkhand, sent inspiring messages to the Congress. The Congress brought to the fore the rich experiences of ongoing struggles led by our comrades on a variety of issues and in newer areas. The spirited participation of large number of young delegates – for many of whom this was the first opportunity to attend a Party Congress – indicated the potential of a new generation of revolutionary activists. Likewise, the participation of women delegates in the Congress deliberations left a noteworthy impact. The presence and participation of veteran comrades who defied age and health factors left an inspiring imprint.
The presence of leading comrades from various AILC constituents marked the growing understanding and cooperation within AILC even as the inaugural session stressed the need for a new model of broad-based and fighting unity of the Left and development of closer ties of cooperation between the Left and various adivasi streams in Jharkhand in anti-corporate anti-displacement struggles. The presence of fraternal delegations from Nepal, Bangladesh and Australia and messages of greetings received from Venezuela, France, US, Philippines and Sri Lanka struggle brought home the renewed appeal of socialist imagination in the era of deepening crisis of global capitalism.
The Congress has called upon the entire Party to take the lead in building and spearheading popular struggles over various democratic demands of the people and give a fitting rebuff to the growing corporate-fascist clamour in the country to make Narendra Modi India’s next PM and rob the people of all their resources and rights. The fact that Modi has been allowed to get away with the Gujarat genocide and emerge as a corporate darling by riding roughshod on the aspirations and rights of the people of Gujarat despite a decade of UPA rule at the Centre makes it amply clear that the UPA is no answer to Modi. Nor can Nitish Kumar claim to provide an alternative having been hand in glove with Modi’s party since the inception of NDA. It is height of opportunism to claim to fight Modi while sharing power with his party in Bihar and serving the communal and feudal agenda embodied by the BJP. While targeting the NDA and UPA we will also boldly expose the opportunism and betrayal of regional parties in power. The Left movement must vigorously oppose the TMC in West Bengal, JD(U) in Bihar, SP in UP, BJD in Odisha and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.
We must understand that Modi has not dropped from the sky, he has grown precisely on the economic and political soil cultivated by our ruling classes; he is the most aggressive face of the pro-corporate anti-people policies imposed on us by NDA-UPA coalitions at the behest of US imperialism. Modi can therefore never be weakened or defeated without a rollback of the present policies that fatten corporate coffers while depriving and dispossessing the people. The present juncture therefore calls upon us to carry forward the battle against corruption and corporate plunder and for democracy and people’s rights over national resources. CPI(ML) must increase its strength and expand its role and initiative at this juncture to emerge as the most powerful voice of popular assertion, at the helm of a whole range of class and mass struggles of various sections of the Indian people.
The Party will have to face major electoral battles in the coming months. Beginning with the Assembly elections in Karnataka and panchayat elections in West Bengal and Punjab, the forthcoming electoral battles will include elections to several State Assemblies as well as the Lok Sabha. The Party must seize this opportunity to boldly raise the voice of the people and strengthen the people’s movement by all means. Undeterred by the electoral reverses suffered in 2009 and 2010, the Party exhibited its growing strength and determination through powerful mobilisation in political struggles. And now the 9th Congress has demonstrated the growing organisational capacity and political maturity of the Party. Every member and every branch of the Party contributed to the success of the 9th Congress. The increased strength and resolve of the Party must now lead to an improved performance in electoral battles too.
Armed with the achievements of the 9th Party Congress, we must now once again mobilise the entire Party and the revolutionary masses, strengthen and streamline the Party organisation on every level and intensify the movement on every front.
Red Salute to all our Great Martyrs and Departed Leaders!
Central Committee
CPI(ML)
Commute DS Bhullar’s Death Sentence,
Abolish Death Penalty
The Supreme Court verdict rejecting the plea for commutation of death sentence for DS Bhullar is most unfortunate. The case against DS Bhullar rested almost wholly on custodial confession. In 2002, when the majority bench of the SC upheld the death penalty for him, Justice Shah in his minority judgement had actually argued for acquittal, on the grounds that custodial confession was inadmissible as evidence. In a case where even guilt is in such doubt, there can be no justification for the death penalty.
In the past the Supreme Court has held that long delay in carrying out the sentence could be grounds for commutation of the sentence of death into life imprisonment. However, the Supreme Court this time has held otherwise. In doing so, the apex court, instead of judging the matter on the grounds of principles of justice, has instead invoked the growth of terrorism “in recent years.” How can a matter of principle be subject to change on the grounds of subjective opinions and assertions of judges?
The SC has also chosen to make comments against human rights activists, accusing them of raising “the bogey of human rights.” In the case of Bhullar, it was a judge of the Supreme Court, not a human rights activist, who had called even his conviction into doubt on the grounds of insufficient evidence! If the Supreme Court considers ‘human rights’ as a ‘bogey’, which institution is there to check the state from riding roughshod on human rights?
Last year, 14 retired judges wrote to the President of India, admitting that the Supreme Court had wrongly awarded the death sentence to 13 people. It is unacceptable in a democracy to risk such grave miscarriage of justice. Moreover, it is overwhelmingly those from marginalised sections of society who face the death penalty: offenders from privileged sections are rarely subjected to such punishment.
In the interests of justice, CPI(ML) demands that DS Bhullar’s sentence should be commuted. In the light of the inconsistency and bias in awarding of death sentence and grave errors in this regard admitted by retired judges of the Supreme Court, CPI(ML) supports the growing demand that India abolish the death penalty or at least honour the UN resolution to uphold a moratorium on death penalty with a view to its eventual abolition.