A THIRD FRONT GOVERNMENT WILL STAND AGAINST IMPERIALIST FORAYS

KOLKATA, 14th APRIL: Once a Third Front government comes into office in Delhi, and the prospects for this to happen were getting more and more illumined with the passage of every week, the days of imperialist forays in India would be severely numbered. The same would apply for the forces of religious fundamentalism of every kind. This was said by Prakash Karat, CPI (M) general secretary at the rally organised at Kolkata’s Mahajati Sadan by the Shahid Yadgaar Samity on the occasion of the Jalianwalabagh Day in the late afternoon.

Prakash Karat also said that the new governance once it assumed office would cancel the three ‘deals’ the Singh government had worked out with the US. These were the defence deal, the nuclear deal, and the deal on following the US dictates in running the Indian economy.

Launching an attack on the Hindu fundamentalist and communal forces as represented politically by the BJP-RSS combine, Prakash Karat said that L K Advani had recently written letters asking support to 1000 sadhus and sants from the list prepared by the RSS. In the letter, the BJP leader had assured the religious persons that he would form a committee comprising their ranks once a BJP-led government assumed office in Delhi. At the same time, the BJP-RSS axis has kept up its assaulting forays on minority communities of every kind. The Congress has always compromised with this force of violent communalism.

The Rajinder Sachar committee despite its weaknesses has exposed the conditions of the Muslims in India. The Left had called upon the UPA government to draw up a sub-plan for the minority communities in the 11th planning period and had also demanded that the UPA government set aside 15% budgetary allocation for the minority communities. The same demand has been raised by the Bengal chief minister before the central government. The central government has expressed its inability to comply with the requisition. The self-same Congress now sheds crocodile’s tears for the minorities as the elections approach.

In Left-led states, the state governments have set up plans for the minorities to the extent it is possible given the financial handicap within which these governments have perforce to function. There could not be an overall development of the minorities in India if the central government chose to ignore the issue with a callous outlook.

Prakash Karat said that there was continuous infiltration of imperialism into every sphere of the nation, be it economy, culture, and society as a whole. For this, both the NDA and the UPA central governments are responsible. The people fought the imperialist forces 62 years ago. Even after gaining political independence, the struggle against imperialism continued. A wide unity of the masses must be built up and the imperialist forces fought off, concluded Prakash Karat who also released a CD of election campaign material. Present at the rally also were state secretary of the CPI (M) Biman Basu and the two Left Front-nominated CPI (M) candidates from Kolkata, north and south, Mohd Salim and Rabin Deb. All the speakers recalled the Jalianwalabagh massacre and said that the struggle that followed provided an element of strength in the anti-imperialist fight in India.