news from the cpi(m)
September 6, 2009
Press Communique
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New
Delhi on September 5-6, 2009. It has issued the following statement:
Overall Political Situation
The Polit Bureau noted that the Congress-led government's record in the
first hundred days of its tenure have confirmed that it will pursue the
same neo-liberal policies. It has announced that it will further
liberalise foreign direct investment in various spheres, go in for
disinvestment of the profitable PSUs on the pretext of ensuring
"people's participation" in the public sector and provide for further
tax concessions to the corporate sector.
The direct tax code announced by the the government is regressive.
Persons earning above Rs. 10 lakhs annually get a cut in their tax
rates, corporate taxes are being reduced from 30 to 25 per cent and
there is a further dilution of the wealth tax. This at a time when big
business has earned enormous profits and the wealth of the richer
sections has increased substantially.
Price Rise & Drought
The first three months of the UPA government have been marked by the
relentless rise in the prices of food and essential commodities. There
has been a steep rise in the prices of dal, edible oil, sugar and
foodgrains. Half the country has been hit by drought owing to deficient
monsoon. The government has done little to address the situation besides
liberalising imports of commodities like sugar and announcing a diesel
subsidy for the farmers.
The drought is going to lead to a fall in agricultural production with
rice production being badly hit. This will further aggravate the price
situation. The drought will cause great hardship to poor peasants and
agricultural workers who will suffer from lack of employment. Poor
peasants are being forced to sell their cattle for lack of fodder. In
many places there is a scarcity of water.
The Polit Bureau reiterated the steps to be taken immediately to check
price rise. These include ban all future trade in essential commodities,
strengthening the public distribution system, ensure de-hoarding and
taking of strong action against hoarders and black marketeers, and
withdrawing the price hikes in petrol and diesel.
In drought affected areas the urgent steps required are: ensure
distribution of food grain to all affected families in drought hit areas
on an emergency basis; help State Governments through urgent allocation
of resources to start widescale NREGA projects to ensure real incomes of
at least rupees one hundred per work day in drought areas. Remove
ceiling of 100 days and give work on demand. Where required food grain
can also be used as part payment along with cash; ensure regular supply
of drinking water and ensure fodder for cattle.
The Polit Bureau endorsed the call given by the National Convention on
Food Security and Against Price Rise and the Left parties to hold state
level conventions on the issue of food security, drought and price rise.
This is to be followed by rallies in the state capitals in the month of
November, The Polit Bureau appealed to all its Party units to make this
campaign a success.
Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN
The Polit Bureau noted with concern that the government has signed a
free trade agreement with the Asean countries despite apprehensions
raised about its adverse effects. The state governments which are going
to be affected by such an agreement were not consulted. The free trade
agreement is going to lead to abolition of tariffs or lowering of duties
on a range of agricultural commodities and industrial goods. Kerala is
going to be badly hit as commodities such as pepper, tea, cardamom and
palm oil are all items which will see liberalised imports.
WTO Talks
The informal ministerial meeting held in New Delhi on the Doha round of
negotiations in the WTO has decided to resume the negotiations on
agriculture and NAMA at Geneva shortly. The Indian initiative to break
the so called deadlock is intriguing. The negotiations had got
deadlocked last year when India had taken a firm stance in defence of
Indian agriculture and farmers. The text being negotiated does not
provide effective protection to the livelihood of millions of small and
marginal farmers against the surge of cheap imports of products from the
advance countries who continue to heavily subsidise them. In the case of
non-agricultural market access (NAMA) the tilt against developing
countries is more blatant.
The Polit Bureau wants the Central Government not to take any steps
which compromise the interests of the farmers and agriculture and of the
workers and domestic industry.
EUMA & Ties With US
The End Use Monitoring Agreement signed during the Hillary Clinton visit
provides for inspections of weapons and equipment bought from the US.
These intrusive inspections are an affront to India's sovereignty.
India has also committed to adopt a civilian nuclear liability law under
US pressure. Under this proposal, the level of compensation will be
capped at $ 450 million in the event of a accident in a nuclear
facility. Moreover, the responsibility for compensation will not lie
with US supplier of the reactor but on the Indian operator, in this case
the Nuclear Power Corporation of India.
The Polit Bureau appealed to all democratic forces to oppose such a
liability law being passed by parliament.
BJP Disarray
The crisis in the BJP and the prolonged differences on the leadership
issue is sought to be resolved with the intervention of the RSS. The RSS
had maintained that it will not interfere in the decision making process
of the BJP as it is a cultural organisation. This fiction has been
exposed by the manner in which all the BJP leaders were summoned by the
RSS chief and a formula worked out to resolve the leadership issue.
The BJP is nothing but the political instrument of the RSS. By this
latest intervention the RSS will be further tightening its grip over the
party with the consequent repercussions on the party's ideology and
policies. Given the adherence of the BJP/RSS combine to the Hindutva
ideology, the struggle to expose the disruptive communal ideology and
politics should be carried forward.
Assembly Elections
The Polit Bureau heard reports on the preparations for the Maharashtra
and Haryana assembly elections by the Party. It approved the decision of
the two concerned state committees on the list of seats to be
contested.
Attacks in West Bengal
The Polit Bureau condemned the ongoing attacks on the Party and its
cadres in West Bengal. The spree of killings by the Trinamul combine and
the Maoists have not stopped after the parliament elections. In the
Lalgarh area the Maoists continue to indulge in targetted killings of
CPI(M) cadres and supporters. In some areas like Khejuri in East
Midnapur, hundreds of families have been displaced from their homes due
to attacks by the Trinamul.
The Polit Bureau heard a report on the steps being taken by the Party
politically and organisationally to meet the situation.
The Polit Bureau decided to step up the all India campaign against the
anti-democratic attacks on the CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal and to
express solidarity with them.
Sri Lanka -- Sentencing of Journalist
The Polit Bureau expressed its strong condemnation of the sentencing of
J.S. Tissanayagam, a journalist in Sri Lanka, to 20 years rigorous
imprisonment. This severe sentence has been passed against him for
expressing some critical views in his column.
The use of the draconian anti-terror law against a journalist who
expresses dissenting views is a disturbing situation. The Polit Bureau
urges the Sri Lankan government to take steps to get the sentence
rescinded and stop the repression of the media.
Rectification Campaign
The Polit Bureau had a discussion on the content of the document for the
rectification campaign. On the basis of this discussion a draft will be
prepared to be placed before the next Central Committee meeting.
Next Central Committee Meeting
The next meeting of the Central Committee will be held from October 23
to 25 at New Delhi. The Polit Bureau will meet before that on the 11th
of October.
end
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