Marx Bicentenary Symposium

CPI(ML) organized a symposium on 16 September 2018 to mark the occasion of Karl Marx’s bicentennial anniversary year at Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan. The symposium was attended by hundreds of Party activists from the district and other Left organizations, democracy-loving people and intellectuals. CPI (ML) General Secretary Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya was the main speaker on the occasion. Addressing the symposium Comrade Dipankar said that Marxism shows the way to freedom from oppression. Even 170 years after the writing of the Communist Manifesto, it is Marxism which provides the theory and analysis to understand the rampant inequality across the world due to capitalism. That is why Marx is being read again all over the world and continues to inspire the working class to fight against this socio-economic inequality. The RSS and BJP try to reject Marx by saying that he is a foreigner but the truth is that as early as the 1850s Marx had spoken about freedom for the people of India from British colonization. The truth is that the very people who are today breaking statues of Lenin who followed Marx, are also breaking status of Gandhi, Periyar and Ambedkar. The greatest danger to the country today is the capital-backed communal-Brahministic-feudal forces in the form of fascism. Marxist ideology shows the way for the working class of India to fight against the danger looming over our Constitution and our democracy. Comrade Dipankar expressed full confidence that the united strength of farmers, workers, and democratic forces will hand a resounding defeat to fascist forces bent on destroying the Constitution of the country.

Central Committee member Com. Sudha Chaudhary said that Left forces and the Dalit movement must come together to defeat the feudal fascist forces strengthened by capitalism. CC member Com. Phool Chand Dheva said that young people should read and get inspiration from Marxist ideology. Politburo member Com. Prabhat Chaudhary said that the people of India have realized the truth about the Modi government’s gimmicks and lies about corruption, black money, price rise, and employment and will not be fooled again; the BJP will fight the 2019 election not on ‘development’ but on the politics of communal polarization. Left, democratic and secular forces must come together to defeat them. State Secretary Com. Mahendra Chaudhary said that Marx had explained the crisis of capitalism very well. The capitalist class used the Modi government to shift its economic burden on to the common people through demonetization and GST. Demonetization brought the common man’s money into the banks and this money was used for granting loan waivers worth lakhs of crores to rich capitalists and letting the likes of Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi go scot free, whereas the government remains silent on loan waivers to farmers who are facing grave distress and an unprecedented agrarian crisis. State Committee member Com. Shankar Lal Chaudhary said that those who talked of the end of Marxist ideology 3 decades ago are now taking the help of Marx to understand the global economic crisis, and there has been a resurgence of the Left in the bastions of capitalism like America, Britain and Europe. The symposium was presided over by Comrades CD Yadav, CPI, Com. Madan Yadav, CPI-M, and Com. Om Prakash Jharoda, CPI(ML).