CPIM Delegates welcomed in Vietnam

The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) should continue promoting their relations through the exchange of delegations and theories as well as the sharing of experience in party building and economic development, said a senior CPV official.

Dinh The Huynh, Politburo member and Secretary of the CPV Central Committee, made the statement at a reception for a visiting delegation from the CPI -M led by Politburo member M.A. Baby in Hanoi on March 26.

Huynh described the March 25-31 visit as a vivid manifestation of the traditional friendship between the two parties and peoples.

He expressed his wish that the CPI -M, with its important role in the Indian political arena, will continue to make active contributions to further consolidating the Vietnam-India multi-faceted cooperation and strategic partnership.

For his part, M.A. Baby congratulated the Vietnamese people on great achievements they have made in the renewal process.

He said he believes that the Vietnamese people, under the leadership of the CPV, will speed up the nation’s industrialisation and modernisation process, as well as realize the target of turning Vietnam into a strong country with prosperous people and a democratic, fair and civilised society.

He affirmed that the CPI-M will try its utmost to continuously consolidate and further develop the traditional friendship between the two parties and peoples, thus strengthening the two nations’ strategic partnership.

Left parties calls for Andhra Pradesh bandh on April 9

Leaders of Left parties have called for a State-wide bandh in Andhra Pradesh on April 9 to protest against the hike in power tariffs and the fuel surcharge adjustment. At a meeting of the leaders of these parties  on Wednesday, it was resolved to intensify the agitation, starting with protests in every mandal and district headquarters town across the State on April 1, culminating in a bandh.

Earlier in the day, all seven leaders of Left parties on a hunger strike for the past four days were discharged from Gandhi Hospital.

The Left parties’ leaders declared that they would not relent till the government realised its folly and came up with a people-friendly energy policy, also absorbing the entire burden of the FSA.

Sri Lanka Resolution: Ground Realities Not Considered

RESOLUTION OF THE TAMIL NADU STATE SECRETARIAT OF THE CPI(M), March 27, 2013

The Tamil Nadu State Secretariat of the CPI(M) is of the view that the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils today (March 27, 2013) has been passed without taking into account the ground realities facing Sri Lankan Tamils.

Even though four years have passed since the end of the war between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan armed forces, the Sri Lankan government has not found a solution to the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils.

The war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan armed forces against the Sri Lankan Tamils in the final stages of the war and the violations of human rights have had severe consequences. Forty thousand innocent Tamils have been killed in the final stages of the war. It causes great distress that the trials and tribulations faced by Sri Lankan Tamils continue without end.

The CPI (M) urged in 2009 itself when the war between the LTTE and the SriLankan Armed Forces reached its peak that the United Nations and the government of India must intervene to stop the war, make efforts to devolve powers in Sri Lanka through negotiations between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE and prevent the deaths of innocent people trapped in the war zone.

From the beginning, the CPI(M) has continuously insisted that armed conflict will not solve the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka, that the Northern and Eastern provinces (of Sri Lanka) where Tamils live must be merged and given greater autonomy and that the Tamils and the Tamil language must receive equal treatment in Sri Lanka at all levels. It has also urged that both as a member of SAARC and as a neighbour, India must intervene diplomatically to help find a political solution to the question of Sri Lankan Tamils.

The immediate need of Tamils affected by the war is that of ensuring basic livelihood and guarantee of rehabilitation. Along with the withdrawal of armed forces from areas where Tamils live to create a democratic atmosphere, Sinhalisation should be stopped. A political solution and devolution alone will enable Tamils to live on a basis of equality with the Sinhalese people. No other proposed solution will help put an end to the travails of the Sri Lankan Tamils.

Demanding a referendum on the demand for a separate Eelam or announcing that Sri Lanka is not to be regarded as a friendly country will not only not help solve the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. It will in fact complicate the issue further.

The immediate task before us today is not to demand an international inquiry into the war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan armed forces. Instead, we must make the Sri Lankan government agree to conduct a credible inquiry by an international panel of judges and punish those found guilty. We must raise our powerful and united voice urging upon India and the United Nations to put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to grant maximum autonomy including devolution of powers to Sri Lankan Tamils.

The CPI(M) shares the feelings underlying the struggles conducted by students in Tamil Nadu for several days now condemning the atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamils and urging devolution of powers. In view of the fact that all democratic forces in Tamil Nadu and the people of the state have raised their united voice in support of Sri Lankan Tamils, the CPI(M) appeals to the students to end their agitations and pay attention to their curricular tasks.