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Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Secretary	Prakash Karat
Lok Sabha Leader	Basudev Acharia
Rajya Sabha Leader	Sitaram Yechuri
Founded	1964
Headquarters	27-29, Bhai Vir Singh Marg, New Delhi - 110001
Newspaper	People's Democracy (English), Lok Lehar (Hindi)
Ideology	Marxism-Leninism
Alliance	Left Front
Seats in Lok Sabha	44
Seats in Rajya Sabha	14
Website
cpim.org
Politics of India Political parties Elections

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated CPI(M) or CPM) is a political party in India. It has strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2007, CPI(M) is leading the state governments in these 3 states. The party emerged out of a split from the Communist Party of India in 1964. CPI(M) claimed to have 867 763 members in 2004.

History

Split in the Communist Party of India and formation of CPI(M)

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HistoryColonial period and partition Communism in the independence movement Conspiracy cases Peshawar Kanpur Bolshevik Meerut Kakori conspiracy Foundation of the CPI Tanka movement Quit India Movement Telangana Rebellion 1946 Naval Uprising Tebhaga movement Punnapra-Vayalar uprising Post-independence and Cold War 2nd Congress of the CPI Goa liberation movement 1957 general election in Kerala Angamaly police firing Sino-Indian border dispute 1964 split in the CPI Historic Eight Documents Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Naxalbari uprising Timeline Left Front Tripura West Bengal Rajan case Operation Barga Left Democratic Front Indravelli massacre Contemporary history Bara massacre Laxmanpur Bathe massacre Maoism in the Nandigram violence Salwa Judum 2013 Naxal attack in Darbha valley
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CPI(M) emerged out of a division within the Communist Party of India (CPI). The undivided CPI had experienced a period of upsurge during the years following the Second World War. The CPI led armed rebellions in Telangana, Tripura and Kerala. However, it soon abandoned the strategy of armed revolution in favour of working within the parliamentary framework. In 1950 B.T. Ranadive, the CPI general secretary and a prominent representative of the radical sector inside the party, was demoted on grounds of left-adventurism.

Under the government of the Congress Party of Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India developed close relations and a strategic partnership with the Soviet Union. The Soviet government consequently wished that the Indian communists moderate their criticism towards the Indian state and assume a supportive role towards the Congress governments. However, large sections of the CPI claimed that India remained a semi-feudal country, and that class struggle could not be put on the back-burner for the sake of guarding interests of Soviet trade and foreign policy. Moreover the Indian National Congress appeared to be generally hostile towards political competition. In 1959 the central government intervened to impose President's Rule in Kerala, toppling the E.M.S. Namboodiripad cabinet (the sole non-Congress state government in the country).

Simultaneously, the relations between the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of China soured. In the early 1960s the Communist Party of China began criticising the CPSU of turning revisionist and of deviating from the path of Marxism-Leninism. Sino-Indian relations also deteriorated, as border disputes between the two countries erupted into the Indo-China war of 1962. During the war, a faction of the Indian communists backed the position of the Indian government, while other sections of the party claimed that it was a conflict between a socialist and a capitalist state, and thus took a pro-Chinese position. There were three factions in the party - internationalists, centrists, and nationalists. Internationalists supported the Chinese stand where as the Nationalists backed India. Centrists took a neutral view. Prominent leaders including S.A. Dange, A. K. Gopalan, and E. M. S. Namboodiripad were in the nationalist faction. B. T. Ranadive, P. Sundarayya, P. C. Joshi, Basavapunnaiah, Jyoti Basu, and Harkishan Singh Surjeet are among those supported China. Ajoy Ghosh was the prominent person in the centrist faction. In general, most of Bangal communist leaders supported China and most others supported India. Hundreds of CPI leaders, accused of being pro-Chinese were imprisoned. Some of the nationalists were also imprisoned, as they used to express their opinion only in party forums, and CPI's official stand was pro-China. Thousands of communists were detained without trial. Those targeted by the state accused the pro-Soviet leadership of the CPI of conspiring with the Congress government to ensure their own hegemony over the control of the party.

In 1962 Ajoy Ghosh, the general secretary of the CPI, died. After his death, S.A. Dange was installed as the party chairman (a new position) and E.M.S. Namboodiripad as general secretary. This was an attempt to achieve a compromise. Dange represented the rightist fraction of the party and E.M.S. the leftist fraction.

At a CPI National Council meeting held on April 11, 1964, 32 Council members walked out in protest, accusing Dange and his followers of "anti-unity and anti-Communist policies".

The leftist section, to which the 32 National Council members belonged, organised a convention in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh July 7 to 11. In this convention the issues of the internal disputes in the party were discussed. 146 delegates, claiming to represent 100,000 CPI members, took part in the proceedings. The convention decided to convene the 7th Party Congress of CPI in Calcutta later the same year.

Marking a difference from the Dangeite sector of CPI, the Tenali convention was marked by the display of a large portrait of the Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong.

At the Tenali convention a Bengal-based pro-Chinese group, representing one of the most radical streams of the CPI leftwing, presented a draft programme proposal of their own. These radicals criticised the draft programme proposal prepared by M. Basavapunniah for undermining class struggle and failing to take a clear pro-Chinese position in the ideological conflict between CPSU and CPC.

After the Tenali convention the CPI leftwing organised party district and state conferences. In West Bengal, a few of these meetings became battlegrounds between the most radical elements and the more moderate leadership. At the Calcutta Party District Conference an alternative draft programme was presented to the leadership by Parimal Das Gupta (a leading figure amongst far-left intellectuals in the party). Another alternative proposal was brought forward to the Calcutta Party District Conference by Azizul Haque, but Haque was initially banned from presenting it by the conference organisers. At the Calcutta Party District Conference 42 delegates opposed M. Basavapunniah’s official draft programme proposal.

At the Siliguri Party District Conference, the main draft proposal for a party programme was accepted, but with some additional points suggested by the far-left North Bengal cadre Charu Majumdar. However, Harekrishna Konar (representing the leadership of the CPI leftwing) forbade the raising of the slogan Mao Tse-Tung Zindabad (Long live Mao Tse-Tung) at the conference.

Parimal Das Gupta's document was also presented to the leadership at the West Bengal State Conference of the CPI leftwing. Das Gupta and a few other spoke at the conference, demanding the party ought to adopt the class analysis of the Indian state of the 1951 CPI conference. His proposal was, however, voted down.

The Calcutta Congress was held between October 31 and November 7, at Tyagraja Hall in southern Calcutta. Simultaneously, the Dange group convened a Party Congress of CPI in Bombay. Thus, the CPI divided into two separate parties. The group which assembled in Calcutta would later adopt the name 'Communist Party of India (Marxist)', in order to differentiate themselves from the Dange group. The CPI(M) also adopted its own political programme. P. Sundarayya was elected general secretary of the party.

In total 422 delegates took part in the Calcutta Congress. CPI(M) claimed that they represented 104,421 CPI members, 60% of the total party membership.

At the Calcutta conference the party adopted a class analysis of the character of the Indian state, that claimed the Indian big bourgeoisie was increasingly collaborating with imperialism.

Parimal Das Gupta’s alternative draft programme was not circulated at the Calcutta conference. However Souren Basu, a delegate from the far-left stronghold Darjeeling, spoke at the conference asking why no portrait had been raised of Mao Tse-Tung along the portraits of other communist stalwarts. His intervention met with huge applauses from the delegates of the conference.

Early years of CPI(M)

The CPI(M) was born into a hostile political climate. At the time of the holding of its Calcutta Congress, large sections of its leaders and cadres were jailed without trial. Again on December 29-30, over a thousand CPI(M) cadres were arrested, and held in jail without trial. In 1965 new waves of arrests of CPI(M) cadres took place in West Bengal, as the party launched agitations against the rise in fares in the Calcutta Tramways and against the then prevailing food crisis. State-wide general strikes and hartals were observed on August 5, 1965, March 10-11, 1966 and April 6, 1966. The March 1966 general strike results in several deaths in confrontations with police forces.

Also in Kerala, mass arrests of CPI(M) cadres were carried out during 1965. In Bihar, the party called for a Bandh (general strike) in Patna on August 9, 1965 in protest against the Congress state government. During the strike, police resorted to violent actions against the organisers of the strike. The strike was followed by agitations in other parts of the state.

The Central Committee of CPI(M) held its first meeting on June 12-19 1966. The reason for delaying the holding of a regular CC meeting was the fact that several of the persons elected as CC members at the Calcutta Congress were jailed at the time. A CC meeting had been scheduled to have been held in Trichur during the last days of 1964, but had been cancelled due to the wave of arrests against the party. The meeting discussed tactics for electoral alliances, and concluded that the party should seek to form a broad electoral alliances with alliances with all non-reactionary opposition parties in West Bengal (i.e. all parties except Jan Sangh and Swatantra Party). This decision was strongly criticised by the Communist Party of China, the Party of Labour of Albania, the Communist Party of New Zealand and the radicals within the party itself. The line was changed at a National Council meeting in Jullunder in October 1966, were it was decided that the party should only form alliances with selected left parties.

1967 General Election

Template:CPI(M)1967 In the 1967 Lok Sabha elections CPI(M) nominated 59 candidates. In total 19 of them were elected. The party received 6.2 million votes (4.28% of the nationwide vote). By comparison, CPI won 23 seats and got 5.11% of the nation-wide vote. In the state legistative elections held simultaneously, the CPI(M) emerged as a major party in Kerala and West Bengal. In Kerala a United Front government led by E.M.S. Namboodiripad was formed. In West Bengal, CPI(M) was the main force behind the United Front government formed. The Chief Ministership was given to Ajoy Mukherjee of the Bangla Congress (a regional splinter-group of the Indian National Congress).

Naxalbari uprising

At this point the party now stood at a crossroad. Some sectors were wary of the increasing parliamentary focus of the party leadership, especially after the electoral victories in West Bengal and Kerala. Developments in China also affected the situation inside the party. In West Bengal two separate internal dissident tendencies emerged, which both could be identified as supporting the Chinese line. In 1967 a peasant uprising broke out in Naxalbari, in northern West Bengal. The insurgency was led by hardline district-level CPI(M) leaders Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal. The hardliners within CPI(M) saw the Naxalbari uprising as the spark that would ignite the Indian revolution. The Communist Party of China hailed the Naxalbari movement, causing an abrupt break in CPI(M)-CPC relations. The Naxalbari movement was violently repressed by the West Bengal government, of which CPI(M) was a major partner. Within the party, the hardliners rallied around an All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries. Following the 1968 Burdwan plenum of CPI(M) (held on April 5-12, 1968), the AICCCR separated themselves from CPI(M). This splits divided the party throughout the country. But notably in West Bengal, which was the epicentre of the violent radicalist stream, no prominent leading figure left the party. The party and the Naxalites (as the rebels were called) were soon to get into a bloody feud, a conflict which continues until today.

In Andhra Pradesh another revolt was taking place. There the pro-Naxalbari dissidents had not established any presence. But in the party organisation there were many veterans from the Telangana armed struggle, who rallied against the central party leadership. In Andhra Pradesh the radicals had a strong base even amongst the state-level leadership. The main leader of the radical tendency was T. Nagi Reddy, a member of the state legislative assembly. On June 15, 1968 the leaders of the radical tendency published a press statement outlining the critique of the development of CPI(M). It was signed by T. Nagi Reddy, D.V. Rao, Kolla Venkaiah and Chandra Pulla Reddy. In total around 50% of the party cadres in Andhra Pradesh left the party to form the Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries, under the leadership of T. Nagi Reddy.

Dismissal of United Front governments in West Bengal and Kerala

In November 1967, the West Bengal United Front government was dismissed by the central government. Initially the Indian National Congress formed a minority government led by Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, but that cabinet did not last long. Following the proclamation that the United Front government had been dislodged, a 48-hartal was effective throughout the state. After the fall of the Ghosh cabinet, the state was but under President's Rule. CPI(M) launched agitations against the interventions of the central government in West Bengal.

The 8th Party Congress of CPI(M) was held in Cochin, Kerala, on December 23-29, 1968. On December 25, 1968, whilst the congress was held, 42 Dalits were burned alive in the Tamil village of Kilavenmani. The massacre was a retaliation from landlords after Dalit labourers had taken part in a CPI(M)-led agitation for higher wages.

The United Front government in Kerala was forced out of office in October 1969, as the CPI, RSP, KTP and Muslim League ministers resigned. E.M.S. Namboodiripad handed in his resignation on October 24. A coalition government led by CPI leader C. Achutha Menon was formed, with the outside support of the Indian National Congress.

Elections in West Bengal and Kerala

Fresh elections were held in West Bengal in 1969. CPI(M) contested 97 seats, and won 80. The party was now the largest in the West Bengal legislative. But with the active support of CPI and the Bangla Congress, Ajoy Mukherjee was returned as Chief Minister of the state. Mukherjee resigned on March 16 1970, after a pact had been reached between CPI, Bangla Congress and the Indian National Congress against CPI(M). CPI(M) strove to form a new government, instead but the central government put the state under President's Rule.

In Kerala fresh elections were held in 1970. CPI(M) contested 73 seats and won 29. After the election Achutha Menon formed a new ministry, including ministers from the Indian National Congress.

Formation of CITU

Following the 1964 split, CPI(M) cadres had remained active with the All India Trade Union Congress. But as relations between CPI and CPI(M) soured, with the backdrop of confrontations in West Bengal and Kerala, a split also surfaced in the AITUC. In December 1969, eight CPI(M) members walked out of a AITUC Working Committee meeting. The eight called for an All India Trade Union Convention, which was held in Goa April 9-10, 1970. The convention decided that all All India Trade Union Conference be held on May 28-31 in Calcutta. The Calcutta conference would be the founding conference of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, a new pro-CPI(M) trade union movement.

Outbreak of war in East Pakistan

In 1971 Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) declared its independence from Pakistan. The Pakistani military tried to quell the uprising. India intervened militarily and gave active backing to the Bangladeshi resistance. Millions of Bangladeshi refugees sought shelter in India, especially in West Bengal.

At the time the radical sections of the Bangladeshi communist movement was divided into many factions. Whilst the pro-Soviet Communist Party of Bangladesh actively participated in the resistance struggle, the pro-China communist tendency found itself in a peculiar situation as China had sided with Pakistan in the war. In Calcutta, were many Bangladeshi leftists had sought refugee, CPI(M) worked to coordinate the efforts to create a new political organization. In the fall of 1971 three small groups, which were all hosted by the CPI(M), came together to form the Bangladesh Communist Party (Leninist). The new party became the sister party of CPI(M) in Bangladesh.

1971 General Election

With the backdrop of the Bangladesh War and the emerging role of Indira Gandhi as a populist national leader, the 1971 election to the Lok Sabha was held. CPI(M) contested 85 seats, and won in 25. In total the party mustered 7510089 votes (5.12% of the national vote). 20 of the seats came from West Bengal (including Somnath Chatterjee, elected from Burdwan), 2 from Kerala (including A.K. Gopalan, elected from Trichur), 2 from Tripura (Biren Dutta and Dasarath Deb) and 1 from Andhra Pradesh.

In the same year, state legislative elections were held in three states; West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Orissa. In West Bengal CPI(M) had 241 candidates, winning 113 seats. In total the party mustered 4241557 votes (32.86% of the state-wide vote). In Tamil Nadu CPI(M) contested 37 seats, but drew blank. The party got 259298 votes (1.65% of the state-wide vote). In Orissa the party contested 11 seats, and won in two. The CPI(M) vote in the state was 52785 (1.2% of the state-wide vote).

1970s, 1980s, 1990s

In the 1977 election, the CPI(M) gained the majority in the Legislative Assembly of the State of West Bengal, defeating the Congress (I). Jyoti Basu became the chief minister of West Bengal, an office he held until his retirement in 2005. The CPI(M) has held the majority in the West Bengal government continuously since 1977.

Party Organization

CPI(M) got 5.66% of votes polled in last parliamentary election (May 2004) and it has 43 MPs. It won 42.31% on an average in the 69 seats it contested. It supports the new Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, but without becoming a part of it.

In West Bengal and Tripura it participates in the Left Front. In Kerala the party is part of the Left Democratic Front. In Tamil Nadu it is part of the Progressive Democratic Alliance.

Membership

As of 2004, the party claimed a membership of 867 763.

Leadership

The current general secretary of CPI(M) is Prakash Karat. The CPI(M) MP Somnath Chatterjee is the speaker of the Lok Sabha (2004). The 18th party congress of CPI(M), held in Delhi April 6-11 2005 elected a Central Committee with 85 members. The Central Committee later elected a 17-member Politburo:

• Harkishan Singh Surjeet
• Jyoti Basu
• V.S. Achuthanandan
• Prakash Karat
• Sitaram Yechury
• S. Ramachandran Pillai
• R. Umanath
• Anil Biswas (died on March 26, 2006)
• Biman Bose
• Manik Sarkar
• Pinarai Vijayan
• M.K. Pandhe
• Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
• Chittabrata Mazumdar (died on February 20, 2007)
• K. Varadarajan
• B.V. Raghavulu
• Brinda Karat

The principal mass organizations of CPI(M)

• Democratic Youth Federation of India
• Students Federation of India
• Centre of Indian Trade Unions class organisation
• All India Kisan Sabha peasants' organization
• All India Agricultural Workers Union
• All India Democratic Women's Association
• Bank Employees Federation of India
• All India Lawyers Union

In Tripura, the Ganamukti Parishad is a major mass organization amongst the tribal peoples of the state. In Kerala the Adivasi Kshema Samithi, a tribal organisation is controlled by CPI(M).

This apart, on the cultural front as many as 12 major organisations are led by CPI(M).

Party Publications

From the Centre, two weekly newspapers are published, People's Democracy (English) and Lok Lehar (Hindi). The central theoretical organ of the party is The Marxist, published quarterly in English.

Daily Newspapers

• Ganashakti (West Bengal, Bengali)
• Desabhimani (Kerala), Malayalam)
• Daily Desher Katha (Tripura, Bengali)
• Theekathir (Tamil Nadu, Tamil)
• Prajashakti (Andhra Pradesh, Telugu)

Weeklies

• Abshar (West Bengal, Urdu)
• Swadhintha (West Bengal, Hindi)
• Desh Hiteshi (Bengali)
• Janashakthi(Karnataka, Kannada) (Ikyaranga's publication is stopped now)
• Jeevan Marg (Maharashtra, Marathi)
• Samyabadi (Orissa, Oriya)
• Deshabhimani Vaarika (Kerala), Malayalam)
• Ganashakti {Assamese,Assam}

Fortnightlies

• Lok Jatan (Madhya Pradesh, Hindi)
• Lok Samvad (Uttar Pradesh website- http://www.lok-samvad.page.tl/, Hindi)
• Sarfarosh Chintan (Gujarat, Gujarati)

Monthlies

• Shabtaab (Urdu)
• Yeh Naya Raste (Jammu & Kashmir, Urdu)
• Lok Lahar (Punjabi)
• Nandan (Bengali)
• Marxist (Tamil language)

Ideological Publications

• Marxist (English)
• Marksbadi Path (Bengali)
• Chinta (Malayalam)
• Marxist (Telugu)

Publishing Houses

• Leftword Publication
• CPI(M) Publication
• National Book Agency (West Bengal)
• Chinta Publication (Kerala)
• Prajasakti Book House (Andhra Pradesh)
• Deshabhimani Book House (Kerala)
• Natun Sahitya Parishad (Assam)

Name

In Hindi CPI(M) is often called मार्क्सवादी कमयुनिस्त पार्टी (Marksvadi Kamyunist Party, abbreviated MaKaPa). The official party name in Hindi is however Bharat ki Kamyunist Party (Marksvadi).

During the initial period after the split 1964, the party was often referred to as 'Left Communist Party' or 'Communist Party of India (Left)'. The CPI was then, in the same parlance, dubbed as the 'Rightist Communist Party'. The party decided to adopt the name 'Communist Party of India (Marxist)' ahead of the March 1965 Kerala Legislative Assembly election, in order to obtain an election symbol.

Splits and offshoots

A large number of parties have been formed as a result of splits from the CPI(M), such as Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Marxist Communist Party of India, Marxist Coordination Committee in Jharkhand, Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy, Communist Marxist Party and BTR-EMS-AKG Janakeeya Vedi in Kerala, Party of Democratic Socialism in West Bengal, Janganotantrik Morcha in Tripura, the Ram Pasla group in Punjab, Orissa Communist Party in Orissa, etc.

Election results

see CPI(M) election results.

Controversies

Criticism of economic policy in CPI(M) ruled states

CPI(M) is criticised of moving away from its ideological moorings and becoming a Social Democratics outfit. Some CPI(M) insiders have also raised questions about CPI(M) compromising with corporate interests at the expense of ordinary people. Budhadeb Bhattacharya's own cabinet minister (Land Reform Minister) and CPI(M) leader Abdul Razzak Mollah opposed Budhadeb's neo-liberal line but was silenced. In a desperate attempt to call the attention of CPI(M) party cadres to his serious reservations regarding the Budhadeb line, he publicly opposed provisions of land acquisition bill of his own Left Front Government inside the Assembly. Former West Bengal finance minister and former CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Dr. Ashok Mitra, who is also a prominent economist and columnist, submitted a document to the CPI(M) expressing his disagreement on this ideological shift. In an article published in Anandabazaar Patrika, with an introductory note "Till death I would remain guilty to my conscience if I keep mum", Mitra, without mentioning the name, blamed Budhadeb's role in taking party away from its moorings. The only one living ministers who took oath along with Jyothi Basu in the first ever Communist led government in West Bengal, even prophesies that if the neo-liberal policies are not corrected, the alternative that may emerge in the state would be that of fascist forces. Prof. M.N. Vijayan, former editor of the CPI(M) owned “Deshabhimani weekly”, warned that CPI(M) policies are now influenced by neoliberalism and rebelled against the influence of foreign fund on party functioning, influence of capital in the cultural field, and attempt to replace class politics with that of identity politics. Under M.N.Vijayan's leadership, in Kerala Adhinivesa Prathirodha Samithi (Council for Resisting Imperialist Globalisation), was formed by CPI(M) activists. For Marxism, transformation should mean dynamic changes in the structure of society. The word Change today means nothing other than adjustments, compromise and even surrender. “This is degradation, and under neoliberalism it has assumed the character of greater individualism and vulgar depoliticisation.” Vijayan warned that neoliberalism was determined to end the political influence in society. By acquitting M.N. Vijayan in a related court case, the court has endorsed Vijayan's charges against Shastra Sahitya Parishad, a science forum led by section of CPI(M) leaders, of accepting imperialist funding. Prabhat Patnaik, a CPI(M) economist, has also questioned the influence of the logic of industrialisation using the Grande Industry route as being the sine qua non of industrial policy in West Bengal.. Criticism against CPI(M) is that by raising TINA argument now, it is allegedly taking the Third Way. These critics argue that CPI(M)’s Social Democratic deviation limits CPI(M) to operate only within the constraints of the existing capitalist orientated economic system, and buy into the capitalist system to such an extent that they eventually become indistinguishable from conservatives. Corporates and right wing political leaders have expressed happiness on CPI(M)'s rightward shift.Ratan Tata expressed happiness saying "Budhadeb has showed loyalty to TATA even at the risk of sacrificing his political career." and Ravi Kant MD Tata Motors expressed happiness the way Budhadeb served TATA.. But the critics argue that there was secret understanding to take over public property, between Chief Minister and TATA which was not revealed even after several petitions were filed under the Right to Information Act. The allegation is that TATA helps Budhadeb's political career in return of gifting thousands of acres of land free of cost to TATA.

Mass killing in Nandigram

A SEZ was planned in Nandigram in West Bengal, which received opposition from resident villagers who adopted a violent means of protest, which included driving away ruling party partisans away from the village. On March 14, 2007, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya ordered a "police action" against the villagers that led to the deaths of 14 villagers and 70 injuries.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and CPI(M) has come under heavy criticism not only from opposition parties (such as the SUCI & Trinamool Congress) and other Left Front coalition allies like CPI, RSP and Forward Block, who had threatened to back out from the ministry on this issue, but also from the state's former Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu. On March 15, 2007 Jyoti Basu criticized the failing to restrain the police action in Nandigram. Bhattacharya and CPI(M) tried to justify the police firing at Nandigram, although the party has also expressed regret for the shootings. This incident has resulted in the many of the left intellectuals, writers, singers and actors declaring their mistrust on CPI(M) and Buddhadev Bhattacharya and many authors returning their state-given awards like Rabindra Puroskar, Bankim Puroskar, Vidyasagar Puroskar or stepping down from their honorary posts in various state-government cultural organizations. The CPI(M) has declared that they are totally behind Bhattacharya and support the police action and have drawn "plans" to placate his critics. CBI officials in charge of the firing probe have arrested 8 people from a local brick kiln called Janani Itbhata, and seized arms, ammunition and CPI(M) flags. The arrested people are alleged to be CPI(M) supporters, who had fired at the villagers in co-operation with the police . .

Vir Sanghvi has referred to the CPI(M) as "Thugs and murderers" for the massacre in Nandigram and went on to draw parallels with Mao and Stalin and the finest traditions of ‘global communism’.The latest drubbing that the Buddhadev Bhattacharya government's March 14 action received was from the High Court at Kolkata, when, on 16.11.2007, a two judge bench consisting of the The Hon’ble Chief Justice S. S. Nijjar, and the Hon’ble Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose,declared that "The action of the police department to open fire at Nandigram on 14.03.2007 was wholly unconstitutional and cannot be justified under any provision of the law" and further that "The action of the police cannot be protected or justified on the ground of sovereign immunity." and also that "The action of the police cannot be justified even under the provisions of Criminal Procedure Code; The Police Act, 1861 for The Police Regulations, 1943". The Hon'ble judges also ordered that "we direct the State of West Bengal to pay to the victims of the deceased as a result of the indiscriminating police firing on 14th of March, 2007 immediate compensation in the sum of Rs.5 (five) lakhs each".

Red terror in Nandigram

A fresh round of violence came up in Nandigram in November 2007. The media called Nandigram was captured by the CPI(M). Evidence pointed that the operation was conducted entirely by the party keeping the state administration inactive. The party eulogized the operation with its state chairman describing it as "a new dawn" and the chief minister as `paying them back in their own coin'. The situation was described as one of "Red Terror". A 62-year-old retired schoolteacher who assaulted by CPM supporters told:

A group of people stormed into my house at 8 am and asked for my son. They started beating me up, saying 'why haven't I taken part in our rallies', and threatened to burn my house.

A villager who was dragged to a CPM office and beaten by CPM cadres told:

Where have you hidden guns and pistols, they kept asking me. They beat me mercilessly.

Nationwide protests have resulted from the new offensive. On November 12, 2007, the National Human Rights Commission of India has issued a notice to the West Bengal Government directing it to submit a factual report on the conditions prevailing in Nandigram. The Parliament of India decided to discuss Nandigram with urgency, suspending the regular question hour sessions, on 21 November 2007 after two days of complete suspension of the proceedings owing to the heated debates between CPI(M) and opposition party members in both the houses. CPI(M) was alienated in the issue by all the other ruling UPA allies considering the fierce nation wide sentiments against the massacre

Forced expulsion of Taslima Nasrin

On 21 November 2007, a protest was started by the Islamist "All India Minority Forum" in Kolkata against granting of Indian visa to Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who received death threats from Islamic fundamentalists. As a consequence, she has been forced to leave Kolkata and seek refuge in New Delhi, as both Bengal and Rajasthan Governments hurriedly shifted her out of their states. . The state secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist) Biman Bose said that the author's visa should be cancelled if her presence was causing problems. The author's defenders, including some Muslim figures such as Dr Mansoor claim she is being used by the West Bengal government as a way of diverting attention from the dispute in Nandigram. Taslima said: "In the last three months I have been put under severe pressure to leave Bengal by the police.".

Electoral fraud

CPI(M) and the opposition Trinamool and Congress parties in West Bengal have traded accusations of vote-rigging and intimidation. In 1999, opposition parties in West Bengal complained largescale rigging by CPI(M) activists in many constituencies, although the CPM had also called for repolling in over 100 booths alleging they were captured by Trinamool activists. Journalists were threatened by CPI(M) activists and they were preventing from entering vote-booths. In the 2005 municipal election, opposition parties complained that the police and state administration had joined hands with the CPM cadres in rigging, while members of the Trinamool Congress were accused of bomb-making and rioting by the state government and the police.

Allegations of casteism

The CPM has been criticised for alleged upper-caste Brahmin-domination (Brahmins are the highest caste in the Indian Caste System) at the top echelons of the party hierarchy.. However, some of the parties leading figures come from lower castes as well as the Muslim and Sikh communities. The CPM has also made public declarations against what it sees as Brahmin domination of politics at a state level and has stated that fighting caste oppression is an integral part of socialism.

CIA documents and CPI(M)

The Central Intelligence Agency has recently declassified documents related to "the Sino-Indian war and what it claims as the role of the Communist Party of India in China's favor in the process. The accusations CIA has made can be downloaded and viewed from CIA's foia site

Highlights include:

1. CPI(M) heavyweight HK Surjeet influenced by Communist Soviet Russia to setup an underground organization
2. CPI(M) did proceed to recruit a secret organization within the Indian Army.
3. The Peoples Republic of China and Soviet Russia both insisted that the CPI(M) must develop a standby apparatus capable of armed resistance, while intensifying penetration of Indian Military forces.
4. With the People's Liberation Army now present along the Indian Border the Indian Party had a channel of support for Armed Operations and a potential "liberator" in the event of mass uprisings - 13 Sept 1959
5. 4 powerful radio sets had been installed in the office of the China Review in Calcutta to listen to broadcasts from Beijing
6. Chinese Financial Subsidies to sections of the CPI(M) particularly the left faction strongholds in West Bengal
7. A foreign supply base was now available for the underground organizations with the Chinese occupation of Tibet and other frontier areas.
8. Letter asking for collaboration in Indian underground organization work aimed at an eventual revolution, because China has a border with India and can provide arms and supplies.
9. Also Jaipal Singh, head of the illegal organization within the Indian Army decided to reactivate his organization in May 1961 following the hard left faction gaining control of the party.

Incompatibility with Indian culture

Communists in India, in particular, the CPI(M), have been criticized for advocating various forms of European socialism that are inappropriate for Indian society. They are accused of advocating an ideology that is not sensitive to India's ethnic and cultural diversity. Some also accuse them of failing to engender a new form of national identity, which has allegedly led to the failure of Communist parties to establish a national following. David Frossard criticizes the CPI(M) in Kerala for ignoring the inherently Capitalist nature of the agrarian system in the region and trying to impose collectivist and allegedly Stalinist economic policies. He alleged that the CPI(M) has failed to unite Hindu castes in most of India.

External links

Articles

• Search For Ways To Keep Marx Alive Opinion on party structure by Sumanta Sen. The Telegraph Calcutta, India. March 31, 2005. Accessed April 1, 2005.
• Veteran Communists Honoured News article on Party history conference. The Hindu. April 6, 2005. Accessed April 8, 2005.
• All you wanted to know about CPI-M News article on CPI-M. Rediff News. April 8, 2005. Accessed April 8, 2005.
• An Upbeat Left by Venkitesh Ramakrishnan. Frontline Volume 22 - Issue 09, Apr. 23 - May. 06, 2005

Party related websites

• CPI(M) web site
• CPI(M) Andhra Pradesh State Committee
• People's Democracy
• Leftword Books CPI(M) publishing house
• Ganashakti
• Deshabhimani
• Prajasakti
• Lok Samvad

See also

• Communist Party of India
• List of political parties in India
• Politics of India
• List of Communist Parties
• Co-ordinating Committee of Communist Parties in Britain

References

1. ^ http://cpim.org/statement/2007/11132007-nandigram-dasmunsi.htm
2. http://www.jstor.org/cgi-bin/jstor/viewitem/00223816/di976533/97p0420z/0?frame=noframe&dpi=3&userID=ca4491e6@iitb.ac.in/01cce4405e00501c2d76b&backcontext=page
3. The bulk of the detainees came from the leftwing of CPI. However, cadres of the Socialist Unity Centre of India and the Workers Party of India were also targeted.
4. The 32 were P. Sundarayya, M. Basavapunniah, T. Nagi Reddy, M. Hanumantha Rao, D.V. Rao, N. Prasad Rao, G. Bapanayya, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, A.K. Gopalan, A.V. Kunhambu, C.H. Kanaran, E.K. Nayanar, V.S. Achuthanandan, E.K. Imbichibava, Promode Das Gupta, Muzaffar Ahmad, Jyoti Basu, Abdul Halim, Hare Krishna Konar, Saroj Mukherjee, P. Ramamurthi, M.R. Venkataraman, N. Sankariah, K. Ramani, Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, D.S. Tapiala, Dr. Bhag Singh, Sheo Kumar Mishra, R.N. Upadhyaya, Mohan Punamiya and R.P. Saraf. Source: Bose, Shanti Shekar; A Brief Note on the Contents of Documents of the Communist Movement in India. Kolkata: 2005, National Book Agency, p. 37.
5. ^ Basu, Pradip. Towards Naxalbari (1953-1967) – An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000. p. 51.
6. Suniti Kumar Ghosh was a member of the group that presented this alternative draft proposal. His grouping was one of several far-left tendencies in the Bengali party branch. Basu, Pradip. Towards Naxalbari (1953-1967) – An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000. p. 32.
7. Basu, Pradip. Towards Naxalbari (1953-1967) – An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000. p. 52-54.
8. Basu, Pradip. Towards Naxalbari (1953-1967) – An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000. p. 54.
9. Basu, Pradip. Towards Naxalbari (1953-1967) – An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000. p. 54.
10. The jailed members of the new CC, at the time of the Calcutta Congress, were B.T. Ranadive, Muzaffar Ahmed, Hare Krishna Konar and Promode Das Gupta. Source: Bose, Shanti Shekar; A Brief Note on the Contents of Documents of the Communist Movement in India. Kolkata: 2005, National Book Agency, p. 44-5.
11. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 234-235.
12. In Kerala the United Front consisted, at the time of the election, of Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the Muslim League, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Karshaka Thozhilali Party and the Kerala Socialist Party.
13. According to Basu (in Basu, Pradip; Towards Naxalbari (1953 - 67) : An Account Of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 2000.) there were two nuclei of radicals in the party organisation in West Bengal. One 'theorist' section around Parimal Das Gupta in Calcutta, which wanted to persuade the party leadership to correct revionist mistakes through inner-party debate, and one 'actionist' section led by Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal in North Bengal. The 'actionists' were impatient, and strived to organize armed uprisings. According to Basu, due to the prevailing political climate of youth and student rebellion it was the 'actionists' which came to dominate the new Maoist movement in India, instead of the more theoretically advanced sections. This dichotomy is however rebuffed by followers of the radical stream, for example the CPI(ML) Liberation.
14. On July 1 People's Daily carried an article titled Spring Thunder Over India, expressing the support of CPC to the Naxalbari rebels. At its meeting in Madurai on August 18-27, 1967, the Central Committee of CPI(M) adopted a resolution titled 'Resolution on Divergent Views Between Our Party and the Communist Party of China on Certain Fundamental Issues of Programme and Policy'. Source: Bose, Shanti Shekar; A Brief Note on the Contents of Documents of the Communist Movement in India. Kolkata: 2005, National Book Agency, p. 46.
15. This press statement was reproduced in full in the central CPI(M) publication, People's Democracy, on June 30. P. Sundarayya and M. Basavapunniah, acting on behalf of the Polit Bureau of CPI(M), formulated a response to the statement on June 16, titled 'Rebuff the Rebels, Uphold Party Unity'. Source: Bose, Shanti Shekar; A Brief Note on the Contents of Documents of the Communist Movement in India. Kolkata: 2005, National Book Agency, p. 48.
16. Some perceive that the Chinese leadership severely misjudged the actual conditions of different Indian factions at the time, giving their full support to the Majumdar-Sanyal group whilst keeping the Andhra Pradesh radicals (that had a considerable mass following) at distance.
17. http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1712/17121050.htm
18. http://nhrc.nic.in/Publications/NHRCJournal2002.pdf
19. http://www.kerala.gov.in/knowkerala/political.htm
20. Indian National Congress had won 55 seats, Bangla Congress 33 and CPI 30. CPI(M) allies also won several seats.ECI: Statistical Report on the 1969 West Bengal Legislative Election
21. Bose, Shanti Shekar; A Brief Note on the Contents of Documents of the Communist Movement in India. Kolkata: 2005, National Book Agency, p. 56-59
22. The same is also true for the Workers Party of Bangladesh, which was formed in 1980 when BCP(L) merged with other groups. Although politically close, WPB can be said to have a more Maoist-oriented profile than CPI(M).
23. ECI: Statistical Report on the 1971 Lok Sabha Election
24. ECI: Statistical Report on the 1971 Orissa Legislative Election, ECI: Statistical Report on the 1971 Tamil Nadu Legislative Election, ECI: Statistical Report on the 1971 West Bengal Legislative Election
25. Membership figures from http://www.cpim.org/pd/2005/0403/04032005_membership.htm. Electorate numbers taken from http://www.eci.gov.in/SR_KeyHighLights/LS_2004/Vol_I_LS_2004.pdf. Puducherry is counted as part of Tail Nadu, Chandigarh counted as part of of Punjab.
26. Basu, Jyoti. Memoirs - A Political Autobiography. Calcutta: National Book Agency, 1999. p. 189.
27. "Reflections in the Aftermath of Nandigram. Article written by a "CPI(M) supporter"- Economic and Political Weekly
28. Dr.Ashok Mitra against Budhadeb's madness- Tehelka report
29. Original article appeared in The Anandabazaar Patrika Translated to English and published Sanhati
30. "Kerala Intra-party differences". Article in Economic and Political Weekly.
31. Mainstream article about M.N.Vijayan and Council for resisting Imperialist Globalization.
32. "Mathrubhumi" the Malayalam daily newspaper on 27th Sept, 2007 reported that M.N. Vijayan was acquitted from the defamation case filed by Pappootty, Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) President, endorsing allegations that some CPI(M) leaders and KSSP indeed received imperialist funding. Though KSSP and Thomas Isaac had filed defamation cases against M.N. Vijayan and others, they stood by their allegation in the court. Thus the acquittal by court is an indirect endorsement of their allegations against a section of CPI(M) leaders.
33. Hindu report: M.N.Vijayan acquitted in defamation case.
34. "In the aftermath of Nandigram" article by Prabhat Patnaik, CPI(M) Economist and Party Member. Mr. Patnaik is the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman of of CPI(M)led Kerala Govt.
35. "Reflections in the Aftermath of Nandigram. Article written by a "CPI(M) supporter"- Economic and Political Weekly
36. "Neo Liberal Leninism in India and its Class Character" by Pratyush Chandra. Countercurrents.org A critique of the writings of Malini Bhattacharya, Prabhat Patnaik, and others after Nandigram by Kavita Krishnan, Sanhati.com
37. Indian Express article.
38. Hindustan Times article republshed in TATA's website.
39. Tehelka interview of Ravi Kant, MD Tata Motors by Shoma Chaudhury.
40. "Bengal Shows the way" article by Shoma Chaudhury, in Tehelka. First part.
41. "Bengal Shows the way" article by Shoma Chaudhury, in Tehelka. Second part.
42. "Bengal Shows the way" article by Shoma Chaudhury, in Tehelka. Third part.
43. "SINGUR: WHERE THE LEFT TURNS RIGHT" Article by Vijayan.M.J. Tehelka.
45. NDTV November 14, 2007
46. ^ "Red terror continues Nandigram's bylanes".
48. National Human Rights Commission
49. | title = Lok Sabha to discuss Nandigram today
50. http://in.news.yahoo.com/071123/43/6nmj8.html
51. ^ Shunned writer Taslima Nasreen arrives in Indian capital, earthtimes.org / 23 November 2007
52. Condemned to life as an outsider The Guardian, November 30, 2007
53. ^ Oppn parties allege rigging by CPM
54. Violence mars Bengal municipal elections
55. "Harrison has called "(the CPM is) a Brahman boys club", Urban Life and Populist Radicalism: Dravidian Politics in Madras Lloyd I. Rudolph, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 20, No. 3 (May, 1961), pp. 283-297 doi:10.2307/2050816
56. "much of the communist leadership is Brahmin",Altbach, Philip, "The two Indian Communist Parties, Government and Opposition, Volume 2 Issue 2 Page 289-295, January 1967 P 289-295, doi:10.1111/j.1477-7053.1967.tb01167.x
57. W. Klatt, Caste, class and communism in Kerala, Asian Affairs, Volume 3, Issue 3 October 1972 , pages 275 - 287, DOI: 10.1080/03068377208729634
58. Fanzone, Megan, Postcolonial Studies at Emory University, Fall 1997
59. Chandhoke, Neera, ed. Understanding the Post-Colonial World. Sterling Publishers Private Limited, 1994.
60. Narain, Iqbal, ed. State Politics in India. Begum Bridge: Meenaksi Prakashan, 1966.
61. Frossard, David. "Kerala: An Indian Experiment in Social Reform.", Colorado School of Mines 1996-7.

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