Inaugural Address By The General Secretary

A PARTY congress is an important occasion in the life of a Communist Party. A party congress makes an assessment of the international and national situations, reviews the changes that have occurred in the situation since the previous party congress, reviews the line adopted by that congress, and makes whatever changes it thinks necessary to meet the new situation. Now at Hyderabad, in the land of the glorious Telangana struggle, this 17th congress of the CPI(M) is meeting at a time when the international situation has undergone dramatic changes. Immediately after assumption of the office of president, George Bush began trying to browbeat the third world countries into submission. This was further intensified after the September 11 attacks in the US. Using this opportunity, he declared a so-called "war against terrorism" and said that those who were not with the US were terrorists. Bush has now propounded the "axis of evil" theory that directly threatens Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Libya. The US has, unilaterally, abrogated the Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABM) Treaty and announced that it would pursue the plan to build a National Missile Defence (NMD) system. The US stands stripped naked in relation to the West Asian crisis. In total violation of all the Security Council resolutions, the US is openly backing the Sharon government of Israel against the Palestinians. Emboldened by this support, the Sharon government is launching brutal attacks on Palestinian territories, strengthening the economic blockade against the Palestinians, and violating the clauses of the Oslo peace accord. Simultaneously, the US-led imperialist camp is also trying to economically subjugate the third world through the IMF-World Bank-WTO trio. It is in such an international background that this party congress has to assess the developments that have taken place in the national arena. When our 16th party congress met at Kolkata, the BJP had already assumed the reins of power. It was vehemently pursuing the LPG policies. Attacks against the Christian minority were taking place. Our secular ethos and federal polity was under attack. Way back in 1988 the 13th congress of the party, held at Thiruvananthapuram, had warned of the danger the rise of the BJP would pose. At that time the BJP was not a ruling party. The 13th congress gave the call of defeating the Congress party and isolating the BJP. Then the 14th party congress, early in 1992 at Madras, pointed to the menacing growth of the BJP, and in April 1995, the 15th (Chandigarh) party congress reiterated the growing threat and called for defeating both the Congress and the BJP. By the time our 16th congress met in Kolkata, the BJP had already assumed power. This meant a basic change in the situation. The BJP-led government has placed unprecedented burdens upon the people --- increased the tax burdens on the people, destroyed the public distribution system, drastically reduced the interest rate on small savings, and done away with most of the subsidies meant for the people. Simultaneously, bumper concessions are being given to big business. The policies of the government have hardest hit our peasantry and agriculture. The regime refuses to purchase foodgrains from the peasants any more. The growth rate in agricultural production has sharply declined and is now less than the rate of population growth. Starvation deaths took place in Orissa even though the FCI godowns had a bumper buffer stock of 62 million tonnes. On the other hand, the government liberalised imports, including imports of agrarian produce; this caused a sharp crash in their prices. As a result, in several states several hundred peasants have committed suicide. The BJP-led regime has also launched several attacks on our federal structure: twice it has used article 356 against the RJD government of Bihar. Its refusal to cooperate with the government of Tripura is directly threatening national unity and integrity. It has also set up a Constitution Review Commission to do away with certain important features of our constitution, including federalism. The BJP-led regime has proved to be the most unashamed pro-US government in independent India. This is true not only for matters economic, but even for matters diplomatic and military. It has lowered our prestige among the NAM countries where not very long ago India was regarded as a leader. Lastly, the threat to our secular ethos, our syncretic culture and our national unity was never so great in post-independence period as it is today. Minorities are being systematically targeted in many parts of the country, and the recent anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat shows to what extent the RSS-led brigade can go to fulfil its ambitions. The way the RSS-controlled outfits have behaved in recent days on the question of Ayodhya, makes it clear that they would not hesitate in taking recourse to not only lies and deceit, but even conspiratorial methods. All these developments vindicate the assessment made by our 16th party congress. Defending the people’s lives and livelihood, the economic bases of our self-reliance, our federal set-up and secular traditions, our unity and diversity, our foreign policy of non-alignment, peace, disarmament and anti-imperialism --- these are the paramount tasks today. Over the last four years, the BJP and allies have suffered defeat in as many as 19 out of 23 assembly elections, but a democratic alternative to the BJP-led combine has not yet emerged in many of these cases. The Congress party’s tally in Lok Sabha is the lowest since the first general elections. However, unfortunately, in many states the Congress was the only party for which the people could vote in their bid to oust the BJP or its allies. In case there existed any other viable force in a state, the people voted for it in place of the Congress. This is what happened in UP. However, taking the country as a whole, the CPI(M) and the Left in general are not a big force. This is the background in which the CPI(M) has given the slogan of a third alternative, and the Lok Morcha’s formation is a step in that very direction. Also, while strengthening and activating the Lok Morcha, we must not forget that we have to move towards building the Left and democratic front; that is, the real alternative in the present stage. This requires launching joint as well as independent struggles. As for joint struggles, we have not yet been able to properly implement the united front tactic. The basic purpose of this tactic is to bring into action the masses following other parties, and to reach out to them. This party congress will have to come to grips with the problems of consolidation and expansion, facing us today. There is no doubt that the CPI(M) enjoys immense prestige in the country because of the role it has played over these past years, but we have not been able to convert this prestige into organisational strength. In particular, we have to think about how to make a breakthrough in the vast Hindi belt. These are some of the major issues over which I am sure the delegates will deliberate in the coming sessions. A historic responsibility rests on the shoulders of our party today. I am confident that from this 17th congress, we shall emerge as a unified force focusing on the immediate task of safeguarding the secular democratic content of the Indian constitution from the assault of the communal forces, sharpening our independent struggles and working for building the political alternative which alone can salvage the country and provide relief to the people.