The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sunday condemned the violence indulged in allegedly by the Trinamool Congress and its allies in various parts of West Bengal after the polls to the local bodies. It urged the Centre to look into the role of a Union Cabinet Minister in it.
Five activists and supporters of the CPI(M) were killed in Birbhum, Mushirabad and Bankura districts, and there were also attacks on the houses of CPI(M) supporters, the Polit Bureau said.
The party appealed to all democratic forces to condemn such violence which it said “is a blatant violation of minimum democratic norms. The Central government should look into the role of its own Minister in inciting such violence.”
At the end of its two-day meeting here, the Polit Bureau said in a statement that it received a preliminary report on the elections to 81 local bodies, in which the CPI(M) and its allies suffered losses. The State Committee would conduct a review of the party's performance, on the basis of which necessary steps would be taken to win back the confidence of those sections that moved away from the party.
Condemning the derailment of Jnaneswari Express in West Midnapore district, the CPI(M) said the sabotage by the Maoists-People's Committee against Police Atrocities combine was a “terrorist act” directed at innocent people. It exposed the true face of the Maoists. Firm action should be taken against such elements to deter such violence, it said.
The Polit Bureau said various communal and caste forces were being mobilised against the CPI(M) and the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala.
“These forces are sought to be consolidated behind the Congress-led United Democratic Front. The increasing intervention of religious and communal bodies in politics does not augur well for the secular polity in Kerala,” it said, promising to launch a vigorous campaign.
On the economic front, the Polit Bureau warned the Centre not to increase the prices of petroleum products, arguing that the move would be “totally unwarranted” and impose a crushing burden on the people, who were already reeling under the continuing increase in the food prices and inflation.
As for the proposed food security legislation, it said the party was opposed to the Manmohan Singh government's approach to providing legal sanction to the exclusion of vast sections from the public distribution system, based on “flawed poverty estimates.”
The party demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the affairs of the Indian Premier League, contending that the matter could not be disposed of with some routine inquiries conducted by the agencies under the Finance Ministry.
‘Israel behaving like a rogue State'
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has regretted the lack of condemnation by the Manmohan Singh-led government of the attack by Israeli armed forces on a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza and demanded that the Government of India work for lifting the blockade.
Expressing strong condemnation and outrage at the attack on international waters, in which nine people were killed and many injured, the party Polit Bureau said: “Israel behaves like a rogue State in enforcing the blockade of Gaza.”
In a statement, the Polit Bureau said: “It is highly regrettable that the UPA government has not even condemned Israel by name for this attack in a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs and confined itself to regretting the loss of lives and the use of force.”
It demanded that the government work actively with other countries to get the blockade of Gaza lifted. It also demanded that India stop all military and security collaboration with Israel as long as Tel Aviv illegally occupied Palestinian and Arab territories.
