Resolutions of the CPIML Polit Bureau Meeting

The CPI(ML) Politburo meeting held on July 31- August 1, 2024 at New Delhi has adopted following resolutions:

On Marxist Coordination’s Merger with CPI(ML)

The Polit Bureau of the Central Committee of CPI(ML) heartily welcomes the decision adopted by the Central Committee of Marxist Coordination of Jharkhand, founded by Comrade AK Roy and other leaders in 1972, to merge with the CPI(ML). Under the inspiring and iconic leadership of Comrade AK Roy, MCC played a key role in the Jharkhand movement and also in the struggle for nationalisation of India's coal industry. The unification of this significant trend of the Communist movement of Jharkhand with its glorious legacy of struggles against injustice and oppression with the CPI(ML) at today's critical juncture will energise the fighting forces of Jharkhand in intensifying the ongoing struggles against the fascist onslaught of the Modi government and the Sangh brigade and defending the rights and unity of the working class, Dalits and other indigenous communities and deprived people of Jharkhand. The Polit Bureau calls upon the Jharkhand State Committee of the party to initiate necessary measures and steps to accomplish the process of unification with respectful accommodation of the entire membership of the Marxist Coordination Committee.

On SC Verdict regarding Sub-classification within SC Reservation

The Supreme Court verdict has approved sub-classification, based on empirical data of relative marginalisation, within SC reservation. Sub-classification will therefore require caste census without which there is no realistic basis to assess the degree of relative deprivation of diverse castes. A caste census and a proportionate formula of reservation to ensure due and adequate representation of all under-represented groups is thus the most crying need of the hour.

While giving state governments the power to design sub-quotas, the judgement has gone beyond the scope of the case to suggest the applicability of ‘creamy layer’ concept within SC reservation, as also the idea that reservation should be limited to only one generation.

SC reservation as an affirmative action is meant to counter and mitigate the continuing reality of social exclusion and marginalisation facing India’s Dalit-Adivasi population. To suggest that this discrimination is prevalent only in rural areas and urbanisation itself reduces this discrimination is a gross misrepresentation of Indian reality where SC students and scholars continue to face atrocities even in reputed universities and other centres of higher education like IITs, IIMs and medical and engineering colleges.

Any attempt to undermine the constitutional basis of reservation in the name of delivering greater justice to the more deprived is not acceptable.

At a time when the constitutional provision of reservation as a tool for social justice and equality, nay the constitution itself, is under increasing attack, we need greater unity and solidarity among all deprived sections of the society. As such we have to make sure that the SC judgement does not lend itself to promoting more division and rivalry among the oppressed and the deprived and serving the divide-and-rule strategy of the powerful and the privileged to reinforce their social and economic domination.

On the Report on the Mismatch in Polled and Counted Votes in Lok Sabha 2024 Elections

A report 'Conduct of Lok Sabha Elections 2024' released by Vote For Democracy on 22 July reveals a massivs mismatch in number of votes polled and votes counted during the Lok Sabha elections 2024. The report finds a total increase of 4,65,46,885 votes in all constituencies. This discrepancy may have benefited BJP/NDA in at least 79 seats in 15 states where the winning margin has been less than average number of extra votes per constituency. The ECI owes an answer and its silence only lends credence to the doubts about electoral manipulation.

On the Statements by BJP Leaders Instigating Division of West Bengal

Recently many BJP leaders have issued conspiratorial statements calling for divisions of West Bengal. In one such statement BJP MP and WB State President Sukanta Majumdar advocated integration of North Bengal with the North-East India. Another BJP MP Ananat Maharaj has proposed merger of Coochbehar with districts of lower Assam to form separate Greater Coochbehar state. BJP MLA from Kursheong Vishnu Prasad Sharma has demanded declaration of Gorkhaland as union territory by including whole North Bengal areas. BJP MP from Jharkhand, Nishikant Dubey argues for merger of Malda, Murshidabad and districts of North Bengal with districts of Bihar’s Seemanchal including Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnea, Araria to form a separate state or UT. We must foil this divide and rule strategy of the Modi government and stop its bid to subvert India's federal framework and reduce states to outposts of an over-centralising centre.

On the Coaching Centre Flooding Tragedy in Delhi

Deaths of three UPSC aspirants on 27 July in a waterlogged basement library of Rau’s IAS Institute have exposed the shoddy state of the coaching industry that functions without any accountability and safety standards. Students accuse the police of hiding the shocking details and the real scale of the tragedy. The Modi government's systematic assault on the rights of the Delhi government and the vindictive arrest of CM Arvind Kejriwal have pushed Delhi into a state of chaos and anarchy and Delhi citizens are having to pay a heavy price for this dirty political game of the Modi government. The nexus between the LG and the Union Home Minister must take full responsibility for the Rajendra Nagar tragedy, release a detailed report and arrest the owner of Rau IAS Institute owner and others complicit in this act of criminal negligence. Delhi needs a safety audit of students’ residential areas and strict compliance with all relevant safety norms and proper check and certification by relevant authorities.

On the Budget 2024

The first full budget of the third term of the Modi government has left even large sections of the middle class support base of the regime highly disillusioned and angry. A budget coming in the wake of an election in which the economic crisis cast such a long shadow and the ruling party lost its majority could not remain completely quiet about the concerns haunting the country. Yet the budget said nothing about the most pressing issue of soaring prices, food inflation in particular. The economic survey also noted that the corporate sector was not creating jobs in spite of huge gains made from tax cuts. The government must therefore take the lead in job creation while holding the corporate sector accountable for its performance. The budget however refused to follow this course.

Heavily indebted farmers and jobless youth were the major social forces behind the 2024 mandate. The budget once again betrayed both these forces. The government continues to evade the farmers' long-pending demand for legal guarantee to MSP as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission in spite of an assurance given to the farmers' movement. The question of debt relief too remains unaddressed despite continuing farmer suicides. Partial acknowledgement of some symptoms of the economic crisis means nothing without policy reorientation and course correction. There can be no economic justice for India's toiling millions without a clean break with crony capitalism.

The Modi government follows the opposite direction - increase revenue by taxing the poor and the middle classes and keeping the budget deficit in check by reducing social sector and welfare spending. The ₹5,000 crore wedding celebration of the Ambani family gave us the truest picture of what the annual budget means in Modi's India - endless celebration of the ultra-rich at the cost of the poor and the middle classes. India needs an urgent course correction to lift the people out of this morass.

On Wayanad Landslides Tragedy

We share the sorrow and pain of the people affected by landslides and deaths in Wayanad, which has resulted in the loss of more than 185 lives and hundreds of people caught in debris. Thousands of people have become homeless, lost their hard earned materials and money. We are deeply saddened by the heartbreaking catastrophe. CPIML stands in solidarity with the people of Wayanad and Kerala in this disaster.

We demand that the Wayanad landslide tragedy shall be announced as a national disaster and the central relief shall immediately be offered by the Modi led Union government. We also urge the state and central agencies to study and investigate the reasons behind such tragedies and landslides and adopt a proper strategy that can prevent loss of lives and hard earned properties of the people of the region.

On Situation in Bangladesh

The Polit Bureau strongly deplores the crackdown unleashed by the Sheikh Hasina government of Bangladesh to suppress the popular upheaval of students and dissenting citizens. Instead of finding a peaceful negotiated solution to the student demand for quota reform, the Awami League government chose to suppress the movement by unleashing all-out violence perpetrated jointly by the state and the state-sponsored private militia which has already taken a heavy toll of lives. The Polit Bureau expresses solidarity with the fighting people and the progressive secular democratic forces of Bangladesh in their ongoing struggle for justice and democracy and calls upon the Hasina government to stop repression and punish the guilty. We hope the secular democratic legacy of the Bangladesh liberation war will guide the people to find a solution through the present phase of turbulence.

On Palestine Situation

The ongoing United States backed Israel's genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people, including 16,314 children. Apart from the widespread bombing destruction of Gaza, the Israeli occupation forces are using starvation of civilians, including deliberate attack on humanitarian convoys as a weapon of war, leading to a catastrophic humanitarian and medical crisis.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, in an attempt to clinch to power amid massive protests across the country demanding his resignation, is plotting to stroke a region wide war.  The recent assassination of Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, wave of targeted killings in Lebanon and creating obstacles to the Ceasefire-Hostage release deal by the Netanyahu regime has pushed the region to the brink of widespread war.

The politburo meeting expressed its steadfast support for the people of Palestine and their struggle for liberation, and has demanded an immediate end to Israel's war on Gaza.

On Elections in France

The politburo congratulates the people of France for stalling the fascists in the recently held elections. France, the land which had issued the clarion call of liberty, equality and fraternity way back in 1789 and which had also produced the first glimpse of socialism through the historic Paris Commune of 1871, is once again emerging as a key theatre of anti-fascist resistance with the Left as the leading player.

On Elections in Venezuela

The politburo meeting expressed its complete solidarity with the people of Venezuela and their struggle in defence of the socialist Bolivarian revolution in the face of the ongoing US backed far-right violence in the country post the July 28 Presidential elections. The pro-corporate, pro-imperialist international media and far-right opposition, even before the elections, had refused to accept the people's mandate and proclaimed the defeat of the Bolivarian process and President Nicholas Maduro in an attempt to create a fertile ground for post-elections violence and chaos. The recently held presidential elections, reflect the democratic mandate of the people of Venezuela against the US imperialism's blatant aggression, economic blockade and neo-Monroe doctrine that aims to destabilise the country, and it's Bolivarian revolutionary process.