9. P. Sundarayya Zindabad Observe P. Sundarayya Birth Centenary
May 1, 2012 marks the birth centenary of the revolutionary Communist leader, Comrade Putchalapalli Sundarayya. P. Sundarayya is one of the major figures of the Indian Communist movement who was drawn into the social reform movement and the freedom struggle at a young age.
Attracted to the Communist Party through Comrade Amir Hyder Khan, Sundarayya played a key role in building the Communist movement in south India during the 1930s.
Comrade Sundarayya established the first union of agricultural workers. He was the Secretary of the Andhra Communist Party Committee which was formed in 1934. He played an important role in leading the Telangana armed struggle. That struggle paved the way for the liberation of people from the feudal yoke of the Nizam rule.
P. Sundarayya became a member of the first Central Committee of the Communist Party. From then onwards, he played a pioneering role in building the Communist Party.
Comrade Sundarayya made a big contribution to the approach of the Communist Party on the agrarian revolution. He made a detailed study of the agrarian sector and helped to formulate tactics to build the peasant movement.
As a committed Marxist-Leninist, he applied the theory to Indian conditions to build the revolutionary movement. When revisionist and ultra Left trends came to the fore, he fought them and safeguarded the correct Marxist-Leninist line.
Sundarayya became the General Secretary of the CPI (M) from its inception in 1964 and played a major role in establishing the Party as a leading force in the Left movement in the country.
As a Member of Parliament and state legislature, Sundarayya set an example of how to take up people's issues.
Comrade Sundarayya reared successive generations of cadres and inspired them by his life and example. He donated his whole property to the Party and lived a simple and exemplary life.
The life and work of Comrade Sundarayya is that of a builder of a Communist movement, a relentless fighter for the emancipation of the exploited classes and the embodiment of a revolutionary with Marxist-Leninist commitment. The birth centenary of such a great revolutionary should be commemorated by the Party and all Left and progressive circles.
The 20th Congress calls for a year-long observance of the birth centenary of Comrade P Sundarayya from May 1, 2012. It authorizes the new Central Committee to chalk out the programmes regarding the observance.
Attracted to the Communist Party through Comrade Amir Hyder Khan, Sundarayya played a key role in building the Communist movement in south India during the 1930s.
Comrade Sundarayya established the first union of agricultural workers. He was the Secretary of the Andhra Communist Party Committee which was formed in 1934. He played an important role in leading the Telangana armed struggle. That struggle paved the way for the liberation of people from the feudal yoke of the Nizam rule.
P. Sundarayya became a member of the first Central Committee of the Communist Party. From then onwards, he played a pioneering role in building the Communist Party.
Comrade Sundarayya made a big contribution to the approach of the Communist Party on the agrarian revolution. He made a detailed study of the agrarian sector and helped to formulate tactics to build the peasant movement.
As a committed Marxist-Leninist, he applied the theory to Indian conditions to build the revolutionary movement. When revisionist and ultra Left trends came to the fore, he fought them and safeguarded the correct Marxist-Leninist line.
Sundarayya became the General Secretary of the CPI (M) from its inception in 1964 and played a major role in establishing the Party as a leading force in the Left movement in the country.
As a Member of Parliament and state legislature, Sundarayya set an example of how to take up people's issues.
Comrade Sundarayya reared successive generations of cadres and inspired them by his life and example. He donated his whole property to the Party and lived a simple and exemplary life.
The life and work of Comrade Sundarayya is that of a builder of a Communist movement, a relentless fighter for the emancipation of the exploited classes and the embodiment of a revolutionary with Marxist-Leninist commitment. The birth centenary of such a great revolutionary should be commemorated by the Party and all Left and progressive circles.
The 20th Congress calls for a year-long observance of the birth centenary of Comrade P Sundarayya from May 1, 2012. It authorizes the new Central Committee to chalk out the programmes regarding the observance.
10. Resolution on Palestine
This 20th Congress of the CPI (M) condemns Israel's continuing occupation of Palestinian territories in complete violation of international law and many United Nations resolutions. The brutal siege of Gaza, arbitrary arrests and the detention of thousands of Palestinians in West Bank and Israel without trials, targeted assassinations etc. show Israel's total contempt for international law. The Zionist government has been fully backed and supported by the US government in all its illegal actions. Indeed, the utter duplicity of the US was seen in its opposition to the recognition of Palestine as a full-fledged member of the United Nations although such a demand has widespread support.
The West Bank has been broken up into small cantons, separated from each other by settler-only roads and numerous checkpoints. The Occupation is tightening its grip on Jerusalem, demolishing Palestinian houses, enlarging Israeli settlements thereby seeking to change the demography of Jerusalem. The "peace process" is now virtually dead, with Israel continuing to expand its settlements in Palestinian territories.
The Indian people have always supported the Palestinian cause and opposed the illegal occupation of Palestine. India was among the first non-Arab nations to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974, and was the first non-Arab country to recognize Palestine as an independent state in 1988. India has always opposed the continued illegal occupation of West Bank and Gaza.
While this remains the official position of the Government of India, first under the BJP-led NDA Government and subsequently the two UPA Governments, India has also built close security and military ties with Israel. India is now the largest buyer of arms from Israel and buys more than even the Israeli armed forces. India's launching Israeli spy satellites and joint research with Israel on missiles and drones must be seen against the background of the targeted assassinations that Israel routinely carries out using such drones and spy satellites. All this makes India complicit in Israel's occupation of Palestine, in contradiction to its avowed policy of support to the Palestinian cause. It also damages India's relations with other countries in the region.
The 20th Congress demands the following:
The West Bank has been broken up into small cantons, separated from each other by settler-only roads and numerous checkpoints. The Occupation is tightening its grip on Jerusalem, demolishing Palestinian houses, enlarging Israeli settlements thereby seeking to change the demography of Jerusalem. The "peace process" is now virtually dead, with Israel continuing to expand its settlements in Palestinian territories.
The Indian people have always supported the Palestinian cause and opposed the illegal occupation of Palestine. India was among the first non-Arab nations to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974, and was the first non-Arab country to recognize Palestine as an independent state in 1988. India has always opposed the continued illegal occupation of West Bank and Gaza.
While this remains the official position of the Government of India, first under the BJP-led NDA Government and subsequently the two UPA Governments, India has also built close security and military ties with Israel. India is now the largest buyer of arms from Israel and buys more than even the Israeli armed forces. India's launching Israeli spy satellites and joint research with Israel on missiles and drones must be seen against the background of the targeted assassinations that Israel routinely carries out using such drones and spy satellites. All this makes India complicit in Israel's occupation of Palestine, in contradiction to its avowed policy of support to the Palestinian cause. It also damages India's relations with other countries in the region.
The 20th Congress demands the following:
- The end to the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and all other occupied territories
- The immediate lifting of the inhuman siege of Gaza
- The Right of Return for all Palestinians
- The dismantling of the Apartheid Wall and all illegal settlements on the West Bank.
- Israel to stop its brutal denial of basic democratic rights to its Arab population.
- The release of all Palestinian political prisoners
The 20th Congress calls upon the Indian Government to return to its position of genuine support to the Palestinian cause, and break its military and security ties with Israel. The 20th Congress gives a clarion call for building a strong anti-imperialist movement in support of the Palestinian people.
11. Planning Commission's Poverty Estimates – Fraud on the Poor
The 20th Congress of CPI (M) considers the recent manipulations of the Planning Commission of the poverty estimates are deliberate efforts to underestimate the level of poverty in the country. It has chosen Rs. 22.40 per day for an adult in rural areas and Rs. 28.65 per day for an adult in urban areas, in 2009-10 as the poverty line. Anyone spending more than that is being categorized as non-poor. These are extraordinarily low amounts and no Indian can fulfill even a part of his/her basic daily requirements with these amounts. Rather than poverty lines, they should be called destitute lines. To use such absurd cut-offs to estimate the poor in India is nothing but a cruel joke on their conditions of life and work.
In order to arrive at these absurdly low figures, the Planning Commission has reduced the per capita calorie norms required for an average Indian from 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 per person per day in urban areas to 1770 calories per person per day. This it was lower than the minimum set by the 15th Labour Conference (1957) of 2700 calorie. Now Planning Commission cites that FAO had recommended 1770 calories as the amount of energy required for light or sedentary activity. Such a definition cannot be taken as the calorie requirement of the poor in India, who are primarily engaged in heavy manual work.
On the basis of the new calculations the Planning Commission has claimed that the proportion of BPL persons has gone down by 7 per cent between 2004-05 and 2009-10. Given the enormity and acuteness of mass poverty in India, even a slight change in the poverty line can result in significantly different conclusions regarding the number of poor. There is little to differentiate between people just above the poverty line and those below the poverty line.
The Planning Commission has under taken this fraudulent exercise to reduce the number of poor eligible in various poverty alleviation programmes. This is part of the neo liberal fiscal strategy to squeeze public expenditure and contain budget deficits. It also is an ingenious effort to camouflage the growing process of immiserisation in India and create an impression that liberalisation has succeeded in reducing poverty.
The identification of BPL households, whose maximum numbers are already determined, has been carried out through BPL surveys, which are notorious for manipulation by the vested interests. As a result, crores of people deprived of the minimum basic needs in their daily life have been wrongly classified as APL across India. A large section of the poor in India are denied access to subsidised food purchase under the PDS, health insurance schemes, accident insurance schemes, housing schemes, pension schemes and self-employment programmes. Their ability to lead a dignified life is permanently disabled by this erroneous policy.
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demands that the government reject the poverty estimates of the Planning Commission. The 20th Congress demands delinking of Planning Commission's poverty estimates to allocations and benefits of government social sector schemes. The 20th Congress reiterates the demand for universal PDS, health, education and social security pensions.
In order to arrive at these absurdly low figures, the Planning Commission has reduced the per capita calorie norms required for an average Indian from 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 per person per day in urban areas to 1770 calories per person per day. This it was lower than the minimum set by the 15th Labour Conference (1957) of 2700 calorie. Now Planning Commission cites that FAO had recommended 1770 calories as the amount of energy required for light or sedentary activity. Such a definition cannot be taken as the calorie requirement of the poor in India, who are primarily engaged in heavy manual work.
On the basis of the new calculations the Planning Commission has claimed that the proportion of BPL persons has gone down by 7 per cent between 2004-05 and 2009-10. Given the enormity and acuteness of mass poverty in India, even a slight change in the poverty line can result in significantly different conclusions regarding the number of poor. There is little to differentiate between people just above the poverty line and those below the poverty line.
The Planning Commission has under taken this fraudulent exercise to reduce the number of poor eligible in various poverty alleviation programmes. This is part of the neo liberal fiscal strategy to squeeze public expenditure and contain budget deficits. It also is an ingenious effort to camouflage the growing process of immiserisation in India and create an impression that liberalisation has succeeded in reducing poverty.
The identification of BPL households, whose maximum numbers are already determined, has been carried out through BPL surveys, which are notorious for manipulation by the vested interests. As a result, crores of people deprived of the minimum basic needs in their daily life have been wrongly classified as APL across India. A large section of the poor in India are denied access to subsidised food purchase under the PDS, health insurance schemes, accident insurance schemes, housing schemes, pension schemes and self-employment programmes. Their ability to lead a dignified life is permanently disabled by this erroneous policy.
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demands that the government reject the poverty estimates of the Planning Commission. The 20th Congress demands delinking of Planning Commission's poverty estimates to allocations and benefits of government social sector schemes. The 20th Congress reiterates the demand for universal PDS, health, education and social security pensions.
12. For Implementation of the Ranganath Mishra Commission Report
The 20th Congress of the CPI (M) protests against the deliberate delay on the part of the Central Government to initiate steps for the implementation of the Ranganath Mishra Commission report. While there are several positive recommendations for the advance of the status of minorities, this Party Congress draws attention specifically to two of the recommendations.
The first is for reservation of jobs for Muslims on grounds of the social and economic backwardness of the vast majority of the community. It has recommended 10% of reservation in jobs and education for backward sections of the Muslim minority and 5% for other minorities. This will require a law to end the present limitation of 50 per cent on the total reservations arbitrarily imposed by the Supreme Court.
The recommendation for reservations comes in the background of the Sachar Committee report which painted a graphic picture of the discriminations that Muslims face particularly in the field of employment. Although there were several weaknesses in the report regarding Statewise details, as for example it's non- recognition of land distribution to Muslims in West Bengal as part of the land reform measures etc. or employment of Muslims as teachers in Madrassas and other educational institutions at Government salaries, it does not detract from its overall assessment that the Muslim minorities in general have faced injustice in employment in Government and public sector and the police forces, even more than SCs and STs who have constitutional protection. There is thus an urgency to take specific measures to redress this injustice to Muslim communities. This is a democratic and secular demand.
This Congress notes that instead of discussing the report in Parliament and building a democratic consensus, the Congress party tried to utilize the issue of reservations for minorities as a poll gimmick in the recently held UP elections. By doing so it gave a handle to the communal forces on the one hand and caused confusion among other social sections on the other. In spite of consistent demands from the Left parties and others it has continuously refused to clarify the Central Government's position on the recommendations. This shows its non-seriousness on the issue.
This Party Congress notes that it is only the then Left front Government in West Bengal which implemented the recommendations by reserving 10 per cent of the jobs for the socially and economically backward sections of the Muslim minority.
The second significant recommendation of the Commission is to include Muslim and Christian dalits in the Scheduled Caste lists. The 1950 Presidential Order and the further amendments to it were discriminatory against Scheduled Castes who had converted to either Islam or Christianity while recognizing the rights of those who had converted to Buddhism or Sikhism. The Ranganath Mishra Commission has sought to make it religion neutral and recommended the amendment to the Order to end this injustice.
The 20th Party Congress condemns the communal campaign of the RSS-BJP combine against this legitimate right of the minorities for reservation in jobs and education and against the legitimate claims of dalit Muslims and Christians.
It demands that the Central Government, without any further delay, accept the recommendation for 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and additional reservation for other minorities in employment and education. The necessary mechanisms including legislation and/ or constitutional amendment to make this possible must be worked out and brought in the next session of Parliament.
It also demands inclusion of Dalit Christians and Muslims in the SC list. The percentage of reservation for SCs must be suitably increased to include these sections.
The 20th Party Congress calls on all Party units to actively champion the cause of the minorities against discrimination and for equal citizen rights for employment and education as recommended by the Ranganath Mishra Commission.
The first is for reservation of jobs for Muslims on grounds of the social and economic backwardness of the vast majority of the community. It has recommended 10% of reservation in jobs and education for backward sections of the Muslim minority and 5% for other minorities. This will require a law to end the present limitation of 50 per cent on the total reservations arbitrarily imposed by the Supreme Court.
The recommendation for reservations comes in the background of the Sachar Committee report which painted a graphic picture of the discriminations that Muslims face particularly in the field of employment. Although there were several weaknesses in the report regarding Statewise details, as for example it's non- recognition of land distribution to Muslims in West Bengal as part of the land reform measures etc. or employment of Muslims as teachers in Madrassas and other educational institutions at Government salaries, it does not detract from its overall assessment that the Muslim minorities in general have faced injustice in employment in Government and public sector and the police forces, even more than SCs and STs who have constitutional protection. There is thus an urgency to take specific measures to redress this injustice to Muslim communities. This is a democratic and secular demand.
This Congress notes that instead of discussing the report in Parliament and building a democratic consensus, the Congress party tried to utilize the issue of reservations for minorities as a poll gimmick in the recently held UP elections. By doing so it gave a handle to the communal forces on the one hand and caused confusion among other social sections on the other. In spite of consistent demands from the Left parties and others it has continuously refused to clarify the Central Government's position on the recommendations. This shows its non-seriousness on the issue.
This Party Congress notes that it is only the then Left front Government in West Bengal which implemented the recommendations by reserving 10 per cent of the jobs for the socially and economically backward sections of the Muslim minority.
The second significant recommendation of the Commission is to include Muslim and Christian dalits in the Scheduled Caste lists. The 1950 Presidential Order and the further amendments to it were discriminatory against Scheduled Castes who had converted to either Islam or Christianity while recognizing the rights of those who had converted to Buddhism or Sikhism. The Ranganath Mishra Commission has sought to make it religion neutral and recommended the amendment to the Order to end this injustice.
The 20th Party Congress condemns the communal campaign of the RSS-BJP combine against this legitimate right of the minorities for reservation in jobs and education and against the legitimate claims of dalit Muslims and Christians.
It demands that the Central Government, without any further delay, accept the recommendation for 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and additional reservation for other minorities in employment and education. The necessary mechanisms including legislation and/ or constitutional amendment to make this possible must be worked out and brought in the next session of Parliament.
It also demands inclusion of Dalit Christians and Muslims in the SC list. The percentage of reservation for SCs must be suitably increased to include these sections.
The 20th Party Congress calls on all Party units to actively champion the cause of the minorities against discrimination and for equal citizen rights for employment and education as recommended by the Ranganath Mishra Commission.
No comments:
Post a Comment