news from the cpi(m)
March 24, 2009
Appeal To The People By The Left Parties
The Left Parties – Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party
of India, All India Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party –
have decided to present before the people of India the joint Left
platform for the 15thLok Sabha elections.
Five years ago, after the 2004 general elections, the Left Parties
decided to extend support to the formation of the UPA government. We did
that keeping in mind the verdict of the people, which rejected the BJP
and its alliance. Though the Left Parties have some basic differences
with the Congress, we decided to extend support to keep the communal
forces at bay and in the expectation that the Congress-led government
will abide by its National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP).
Role of the Left
During the past five years, the Left Parties have played a consistent
role in defence of secularism and the economic interests of the people,
to protect national sovereignty and to oppose any strategic link up with
US imperialism.
In the four years that the Left supported the UPA government, it tried
to ensure that the pro-people measures contained in the NCMP are
implemented. Whether it be the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,
or, the legislation for provision of land rights for tribal people in
the forest areas, or, ensuring an effective right to information
legislation – the Left endeavoured to see that these are taken up in
Parliament and adopted. The Left can rightfully claim that these three
pieces of legislations were improved and their scope expanded due to the
Left's intervention in Parliament and in the UPA-Left Coordination
Committee.
The Left Parties were vigilant to check the policies and measures, which
were formulated by the UPA government based on their neoliberal outlook.
The Left Parties worked in this period to protect the public sector from
moves like disinvestment of shares in the 'navaratna' companies like
BHEL. They halted some of the disinvestment in profitable public sector
units. The Left Parties pushed for revival of some of the loss-making
public sector units. The Left Parties consistently advocated for
increased public investment in agriculture; increasing the allocation
for education and health to reach the target set in the NCMP of 6 per
cent of the GDP and 2-3 per cent of the GDP respectively. The increased
allocations in education and health and some of the measures taken to
revive agriculture can be attributed to the constant pressure of the
Left Parties.
The Left Parties were firm in resisting all such measures which would
have harmed employment, livelihoods and those which would have eroded
national sovereignty. One important area in this regard was the
financial sector, which was sought to be further liberalized and opened
up to foreign capital. The Left opposed legislations on banking and
insurance, which would have given foreign capital a grip over these
vital sectors. The Left stood firmly against the pension funds of
government employees being privatized and invested in the stock markets.
This legislation not being passed has saved the hard-earned savings and
retirement benefits of lakhs of government employees. The recent
financial collapse in the West has led to the wiping out of billions of
dollars of pension funds, which were invested in the stock markets.
The Left stood against FDI in retail, as it would have led to the
displacement of lakhs of small shopkeepers and traders. The Left opposed
corporate entry in agriculture and demanded regulation of corporates in
retail trade.
Increasingly, the Manmohan Singh government acted on the basis of the
agenda of the Indo-US CEO Forum. This was an outcome of the strategic
alliance forged with the United States when the Prime Minister visited
Washington in July 2005. Pressure to change the course of independent
foreign policy, the military cooperation agreement, the Indo-US nuclear
deal and the US-dictated economic agenda taken together was a negation
of the NCMP put out by the UPA Government on which basis the Left had
supported the government.
When the Congress-led government decided to go ahead with the Indo-US
nuclear deal, disregarding the widespread opposition voiced by a
majority in Parliament and showed no urgency in addressing the serious
problems like price rise and the agrarian crisis, the Left Parties were
compelled to withdraw support.
The UPA government survived the vote of confidence by shameless resort
to large-scale money power being used to bribe, intimidate and purchase
members of Parliament.
Subsequently, the UPA government, in the remaining months of its tenure,
has shown both contempt for Parliament and sought to push ahead with
neo-liberal policies.
At a time when the global economic crisis has discredited the
neo-liberal model of finance-driven capitalism, the Congress-led
government has sought to further open up to foreign financial flows and
announced revised FDI guidelines which virtually allow backdoor entry of
foreign capital in all sectors. The manner in which the government is
handling the impact of the global crisis in our country displays its
class bias. There are bailouts for the big corporates and financial
speculators but nothing is being done for the lakhs of people who are
losing their jobs. The government ignores the fact that the crisis is
affecting agriculture and the peasantry.
The Left Parties have, while opposing the anti-people policies of the
UPA government, never relaxed its fight against the BJP and the communal
forces. The BJP, in the last five years when it has been in the
opposition, has proved that its core outlook is communal and its
character is defined by its link with the RSS. All across the country,
there has been the disturbing spectacle of attacks on minorities, both
Muslim and Christian. Kandhamal in Orissa and Mangalore in Karnataka are
the manifestations of attacks on the Christian community. The series of
incidents of communal violence in Vadodara, Aligarh, Gorakhpur, Mau,
Indore, Jabalpur, Bangalore and Dhulia were all targeting the Muslim
minority.
The BJP-run state governments protected and covered up such acts of
violence by the various Hindutva outfits. The least that the UPA
government could have done was to ban the Bajrang Dal, which was
involved in the barbarous violence in Kandhamal and Mangalore, but firm
action was not taken.
The Left Parties have consistently fought against the forces of majority
communalism politically, ideologically and organisationally. It has
shown determination not to allow minority communalism to succeed by
feeding on the fears and alienation of the minority community.
The Left Parties are clear that all forms of terrorist violence must be
firmly combated. Terrorism of domestic origin, or, with external links
seeks to disrupt our society and create communal divisions and harm the
democratic framework. The Left Parties have stressed that people must
unitedly fight terrorism whatever is its origin. At the same time, the
Left has opposed the efforts to pose the problem of terrorism from a
communal angle as the BJP does.
The Left Parties have been advocating alternative policies as against
the policies, which are in the interests of the big capitalists,
landlords, big contractors, foreign finance capital and multinational
companies.
Left Platform
The Left Parties platform consists of the following:
Defence of Secularism: Preventcommunal violence and ensure justice to
all riot victims; Act firmly against attacks on minorities, ban Bajrang
Dal; Promote secular values in education and culture; Combat terrorism
effectively; Revamp the intelligence machinery, modernizethe security
forces; Remove draconian provisions of anti-terror laws
Economic Policies: Increasestate intervention and undertake massive
public investment to generate employment in rural and urban areas and
develop agriculture, social sectors and infrastructure; Mobilise
resources by increasing taxes on the affluent sections and speculative
capital, removing tax concessions to corporates and launching a drive to
unearth black money; Scrap FRBM Act
Agriculture:Implement land and tenancy reforms; Expand MSP coverage to
more crops, ensure agricultural credit at a maximum 4% rate of interest,
expand public investment in power, irrigation, seed and fertiliser;
Protect biodiversity and the safeguarding of traditional knowledge
rights; increase tariff protection for cash crops
Food and PDS: Universal PDS to ensure food security; Providing all
essential commodities including sugar, pulses and edible oils through
the PDS; strengthening public procurement of foodgrains through FCI;
curb on private procurement and prohibition of futures trading in
essential commodities
Industry:Strengthen the public sector in the core and strategic areas;
Encouragement to small and medium enterprises in labour intensive
sectors, protection of traditional industries such as handloom, coir,
etc.; Prohibit FDI in Retail Trade, encouragement to small and
unorganised retailers; Review of FDI norms in sensitive sectors; Review
SEZ Act and Rules; Modernize mining companies in the public sector;
Increased public investment in infrastructure
Financial Sector: Maintain predominant state control over banking and
insurance sectors; strict controls on the outflow and inflow of finance
capital and discourage speculative finance; No privatization or
diversion of pension and provident funds to the stock market
Employment and Social Sector: Remove 100 days ceiling onthe NREGAand
extend it to urban areas; IncreasePublic expenditure on education to 6%
of GDP and on health to 3% of GDP, reverse privatization and
commercialization of education and healthcare; Ensure Right to
Education; Universalise ICDS
Rights of Working People: Increase minimum wages for all urban and rural
workers; Strict implementation of labour laws; Defend right to strike;
Universal social security for unorganised sector workers; Separate
social security legislation for agricultural labour; Waive farmers'
loans owed to private money-lenders; Universalisation of crop insurance;
Protect the rights of fishing communities
Social Justice: EnactWomen's Reservation Bill; Comprehensive law against
sexual harassment; Eradication of dowry and female feoticide;Provide
reservations for SC/STs in the private sector; clear backlogs in
reserved seats and posts for SC/STs; Properly implement the Scheduled
Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act 2006; Expand welfare measures in the tribal areas; Formulate
a minority sub-plan to implement Sachar Committee recommendations;
Expedite development in the sphere of employment, education and health
in Muslim dominated districts; promote Urdu language and modernize
madarsa education
Foreign Policy: Pursue an independent and non-aligned foreign policy;
Review the 123 Agreement and Defence Framework Agreement with the US;
Resist discriminatory nuclear treaties like NPT and CTBT while pursuing
universal nuclear disarmament; promote multipolarity in world relations;
Strengthen the UN and democratize the Security Council; Promote SAARC
cooperation and coordinate efforts with South Asian countries to combat
terrorism and religious extremism; Pursue Iran-Pakistan-India gas
pipeline; Extend support to the Palestinian cause; Sever military and
security ties with Israel
In the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, we appeal to the people to
support the Left Parties and their alternative platform.
The Left has to be strengthened:
If secularism is to be firmly defended
If national sovereignty is to be protected
If a self-reliant economic path of development that is
balanced, equitable and just is to be attained
If social justice is to be rendered for the working
people, dalits, adivasis, women, minorities and all
oppressed sections of society
If the country is to emerge with a strong and
independent foreign policy
The Left Parties are working with the non-Congress, non-BJP parties, so
that after the elections, there can be an alternative secular
government, that will pursue pro-people policies.
Strengthening the Left and supporting its alternative platform will
ensure that the struggle for a new direction to policies will go ahead.
Strengthen the Left
For an alternative secular government
For pro-people policies
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Communist Party of India
All India Forward Bloc
Revolutionary Socialist Party
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