The untimely demise of Sitaram Yechury, the General Secretary, CPI (M), a personable and astute leader also considered to be an ace tactician, less of a pragmatist, more of an orthodox Leninist,  of the  Communist Party of India (Marxist), has created a huge vacuum. Yechury contributed significantly to the understanding of Hindutva politics in India.

This article is an attempt to chart out the contribution of Sitaram Yechury to comprehend the contemporary political reality in order to realise the goals of the Left in India, which is the apparent purpose of the conduct of these such a Conference.

The Political Resolution is an important document in the history of all Communist Parties which sets out their international outlook, assesses certain core ingredients of the country’s politics and sets out a road map for action.

The Political Resolution adopted by the CPI (M) at its 21^st Congress is such an important document The question of resurgence of Hindutva politics was finally acknowledged by the CPI (M) only at its 21^st Congress wherein the Party, in the opening remarks of the resolution observed, “The advent of the BJP government represents the consolidation of the rightward shift in Indian politics. It welds together the neo-liberal thrust and the Hindutva drive with a pro-imperialist orientation. Already, the impact can be seen in the nakedly pro-big business policies which will further deepen social inequalities and intensify the exploitation of the working people. This combined with the offensive of the Hindutva forces poses new and serious challenges to our aim of changing the correlation of class forces in favour of the working people.” Further the 21^st Congress categorically declined any kind of electoral understanding with secular parties as it declared, “(Para) 2.71: The Party will give primary attention to developing and building the independent strength of the Party. At the same time, the Party will strive to develop united actions on people’s issues, defence of national sovereignty, states rights and against imperialism with other democratic forces and non-Congress secular parties. Joint platforms for mass movements and united struggles are necessary if the Party is to expand its independent strength. The united actions of the class and mass organisations will seek to draw in the masses following the Congress, the BJP and the other bourgeois parties.” (emphasis is mine)

In consonance with this finding, one would have expect the Party which developed this tactical line under the leadership of ace tactician Prakash Karat to come up with a concrete tactical approach. The tactical line adopted by the 21^st Congress was detailed from Paras 2.68 to 2.72. A bare analytical reading of the same reveals the confusion within the leadership of the Party.

Going by the tactical line adopted at 21^st Congress it appears that the first and foremost task of the CPI (M) is to defeat the BJP and its Hindutva politics. Accordingly it was held that, “(Para) 2.68: The Party has to fight against the BJP and Modi government’s policies. This is the main task at hand. This requires a concerted opposition to the Modi government’s economic policies and its Hindutva oriented social, educational and cultural policies. The Party has to conduct a political-ideological struggle against the BJP-RSS combine. However, the fight against communalism cannot be conducted in isolation. It has to be integrated with the struggle against (the) neo-liberal policies and in defence of people’s livelihood(s).”

The above enunciation reveals that the Party had yet to make up its mind to defeat the BJP and remove that party from the seat of power, at any cost. It was merely confined to fight against the BJP’s policies by opposing the Modi governments economic and Hindutva oriented social education and cultural policies. Though it called for a bold initiative to take on the politics of the landed (land-lord) bourgeoisie parties, nothing concrete had been chalked out at least to strengthen the historical bases of the Party such as West Bengal, the then undivided Andhra Pradesh and Assam. The strengthening of the party was primarily seen through the lens of the Party in power in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala. Once the Party lost its core base Bengal, a question that was posed was about the very survival of Left politics in India.

Subsequent developments however and the policy orientations of the BJP lead by Modi which had bulldozed the foundations of parliamentary democracy caused a serious re-think within a section of the Party. Adhering to the call given by the 21^st Congress to devise a bold initiative the then General Secretary conceptualised a broader alliance of secular forces including Congress, proposed an alliance in the wake of the collusion (unspoken alliance) between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and BJP. This strategy was agreed upon after detailed discussions and arriving at a majority within the Bengal State Committee of the Party. Accordingly there was an alliance with the Congress in terms of seat adjustments in the 2016 assembly elections. However, given electoral arithmetic (s) and mutual suspicions that developed between the core constituencies of both parties, this alliance tottered.

Surprisingly — and to the astonishment of all Indians aspiring to an alternative politics — the Polit Bureau followed by the Central Committee, both, heavily weighed down in favor of a sectarian approach, resolved that the Party in West Bengal had violated the Party’s understanding. Thereafter it was decided –by the Central Committee –to convey this (report) to CPI-M cadres across the country. With undue haste, almost a kind of one-upmanship, the Party ignored the fact that the very same leadership has scripted the Paragraph 2.288 of the Political Resolution, wherein it had been stated, that, “(Para) 2.88: The struggle for building Left and democratic unity will proceed differently in different states. Various types of Left and democratic combinations will emerge in the states and they will contribute to the building of the Left and democratic front at the all India level. The focus of all the tactics adopted by the Party should be for the realisation of a strong Left and democratic front.” Thus the Central Committee Resolution which castigated the West Bengal State Committee for its electoral understanding with the Congress, was itself, in a way, clearly against its own Political Resolution adopted at the 21^st Party Congress of the CPI-M at Visakapatnam.

Despite having such a solid tactical footing, the then General Secretary, without confrontation, allowed the resolution to be passed adhering to the principle of democratic centralism. This is another instances where the top leadership of the Communist movement in India, often, does not read, its own document and adopts a less rigorous approach.

Despite such a retreat, Sitaram Yechury gradually educated his party’s Central Committee towards the need of not merely battling against Hindutva politics, but also towards a clear-cut strategy to unseat Hindutva forces from the seat of power. Towards this end, he took inspiration from the amended Party Programme. The Party Program, amended at the CPI (M)’s 2000 Special Conference categorically stated, at Para 7.14 that “(Para)7.14: Reactionary and counter-revolutionary trends have existed even after Independence. They make use of the backwardness of the people based on the immense influence of a feudal ideology. In recent decades, making use of the growing discontent against the Congress leading to its steady decline, they are making serious efforts to fill the void left by the Congress Party. The Bharatiya Janata Party is a reactionary party with a divisive and communal platform, the reactionary content of which is based on hatred against other religions, intolerance and ultra-nationalist chauvinism. The BJP is no ordinary bourgeois party as the fascistic Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh guides and dominates it. When the BJP is in power, the RSS gets access to the instruments of State power and the State machinery. (The) Hindutva ideology promotes revivalism and rejects the composite culture of India with the objective of establishing a Hindu Rashtra. The spread of such a communal outlook leads to the growth of minority fundamentalism. This has serious consequences for the secular basis of the polity and poses a serious danger to the Left and democratic movement. Besides, a substantial section of big business and landlords, imperialism headed by the USA, is lending all-out support to the BJP”. (emphasis is mine).

The portion of the paragraph emphasised here had a direct reference to the 21^st Congress resolution wherein it called for, “(Para) 2.83:  There has to be a bold initiative to take on the politics and ideology of the bourgeois-landlord parties and to counter them with the CPI (M)’s political line and the Left and democratic programme. The Party must intervene and take up struggles on social issues.” Finally, sectarianism won and the West Bengal committee got castigated for its alleged violations. Being a leader who follows the core organisational principle of democratic centralism which says minority has to follow the majority decision, Sitaram agreed to follow the majority decision of the 2016, sometime in August that year.

This was the time when the Party castigated its own elected General Secretary to be an ‘agent of Congress’ whereas this electoral understanding with Congress revived the Save Democracy theme which had been coined by the then Party State Secretary, Bimon Basu. The 2016 Bengal elections were a watershed as they were in 2011. The 2011 elections focused only on defeat of the Left Front government by an electoral alliance sans a goal and ideology whereas the 2016 electoral understanding of 2016 focused on the Save Democracy theme in the wake of an onslaught by the a authoritarian regime in the state supported by a more authoritarian regime in center.

(In the second Part, the author, Y Venugopal Reddy, a cultural critic and practicing as advocate at Hyderabad, will deal with the evolution of the Party’s approach towards BJP’s Hindutva politics by examining its discourse towards 22^nd Conference of the Party)

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.

Part 2 and 3 can be read here

Evolution of the Left [CPI (M)] approach towards Hindutva politics: A Reading of its own documents – Part 3

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The figures mentioned in the list are taken from the Press Releases issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) at different times. The Committee noted that the Election Commission of India have not provided the absolute numbers of absolute data parliamentary wise, CPI (M) prepared this data very comprehensively.

The data prepared by the CPI (M), provides State/UT wise figures for Parliamentary Constituencies, Total Electors, Percentage of poll and Total Votes polled for all 7 phases.

The absolute figures of polled votes prepared by CPI (M) can be read here:

However, on May 25, the Election Commission of India released the absolutes numbers of voters for only 5 Phases. ECI added that Voter turnout data was always available 24X7 on facilitative Voter Turnout App from 9:30am in the morning of poll day of each phase. It publishes estimated voter turnout on two hourly basis till 1730 hrs. After 1900 hours when the polling parties start arriving, data is continuously updated. By midnight on the poll day, the Voter turnout app will show best estimated “Close of Poll (COP)” data in percentage form. Different media organizations pick up data at different points in time as per their convenience to report next morning. After the arrival of the poll parties, depending on geographical and weather conditions, the data of voters attains finality on P+1 or P+2 or P+3 or more days, depending upon arrival of parties and number of re-polls, if any.

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Much to the astonishment of the political analysts, the BJP managed to win 18 seats in West Bengal with a total votes share of 40.25%. In 2014 the BJP managed only 2 seats with a total votes share of 17.02%.On the other hand the Trinamool congress which had won 34 seats in 2014 with a total votes share of 39.05% have been reduced to only 22 seats in 2019 but their share of votes have actually increased to 43.28%.

The Communist Party Of India( Marxist), have massively lost it’s political grounds to the Trinamool Congress since 2009. In 2014 the party managed to win just 2 seats but their total votes share was hovering around 30%. This year, The CPI(M) was handed the biggest disappointment as the party could not even manage to open it’s account and their votes share declined to a mere 6.28%.

The congress party managed to win 2 seats with a votes share of 5.61%. In 2014 the congress had won the same number of seats with 9.58% of the total votes.

While the Trinamool congress has a positive swing of around 4% in the total votes share, the BJP is clearly the top gainer in these elections which managed to get 23% more votes than the last time. The congress party has also lost around 4% than the previous occasion, while the CPI(M) is the biggest loser with a 23% negative swing in terms of votes share.

The numbers show that large number of voters who had voted for CPI(M) in 2014 have chosen to vote for the Bharatiya Janata party in this election. The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) which had actually fared better than the last general elections in terms of votes share, have been stranded by the large chunk of anti-incumbency votes going BJPs way. It is quite obvious that the Congress too had lost it’s voters to the BJP but it could still maintain their 2014 performance while the CPI(M) not only lost the 2 seats that they owned last time, it had been completely wiped out in this election. The communist party has been gradually losing it’s political grounds in the state since 2009 when the TMC had massively capitalized on the anti-land acquisition movement in Singur. CPI(M) since then have failed to win the trust of the voters and lost significantly in the subsequent Loksabha and Vidhansabha elections. In this general elections of 2019, the CPI(M) has been completely thrashed and rejected by the people of Bengal. The party has lost it’s political relevance completely and now heading for further embarrassments in the next assembly elections which is suppose to take place in 2021.

A large chunk of grass root cadres of the CPI(M) who remained with the communist party all these years despite heavy political dominance by the Trinamool Congress, finally gave in and supported the BJP which provided a safe shelter for these grass root CPM workers who had been facing great atrocities and fear due to local political dynamics. With the rising popularity, the BJP had managed to strengthen their organization in almost every corner of the state and the CPM cadres were left with no other choice but to support the saffron party at the local levels to vote out the TMC. It is a failure of the communist leadership that it could not ensure safety or shelter for it’s cadres who had to join hands with the right wing party to fight against the Trinamool Congress. More worrying is that the BJP could strengthen it’s organization and mobilized huge number of local youths who were motivated to fight against the wrong doings of the TMC but the left could not capitalize and rise to the situation. One can argue that the Bharatiya Janata Party banked upon the hindutwa politics and mobilized large number of hindus and pitted them against the TMCs pro-muslim image but the real communist failure lies in the fact that within a span of only 8 years since the communists were dethroned, the political culture took a religious turn and the BJP could rise to a level of strength that is now impossible to ignore. Like the rest of the country, in Bengal too the upper caste hindus have suddenly found their religious identities and dominant social positions, in trouble and fell prey to the BJPs Hindutwa Project. The nature of majoratarian politics is such that the dominant majority which enjoy certain social benefits and incentives would not bother about the issues of minorities and further in a country like india with economic distress spread across all the religions and castes, it becomes way more easier to polarize the majority and gain significant electoral relevance. The cleverly created narratives that the social positions of the Hindus are under threat and that the poor economic conditions of the Hindus are a result of reservations and incentives given to the minorities is almost impossible to counter in the current socio- political scenario as the majority Hindus would not find a reason to not relate to this narrative. More concerning is that the soft hindutwa approach soon converts into extreme polarization and the irrational narratives like Kashmiri’s are terrorists, Muslims are pro-pakistan or sympathizers of the minorities are anti-nationals, become dominant perceptions which had given the BJP great electoral benefits in this election. In West Bengal too, the BJP had found it’s political grounds by projecting the Mamata Government as Muslim appeasers. It had constantly raised the issues of illegal immigrants from the Bangladesh entering into the Indian side through active support from the ruling party in Bengal. The BJP had also been hugely successful in brain washing the educated urban upper caste Hindus who now believe that Mamata’s special favors for the Muslim community is a threat for the Hindus. Ridiculous narratives decided the fate of this election in Bengal. A very common perception among the Urban Hindus in Kolkata is that Mamata is actually a Muslim herself and thus has a special bias towards the Muslim community and the Hindus are being neglected because of that. Although the CPI(M) is no where in the political fray and the party is just a mere spectator in this political battle royal but the very idea on which the political battle is currently fought in Bengal, shows a massive failure of the Communists who ruled the state for more than three decades.

It is still understandable that the rural grass-root cadres of the communist party in their quest of survival chose to support the local saffron groups as the powerlessness of the communists, weakening grass root organizations of the party could not provide adequate support and most importantly safety to these people who had been even made to escape from their own villages and stay in exile for long years but the peculiar case of the urban ardent CPI(M) supporters have no real explanation or logic.

A lot of ardent CPI(M) supporters in Kolkata suddenly started to believe that the saffron party is the need of the hour to vote out the Trinamool Congress. A very common narrative that is surfacing in the city is that the BJP under the leadership of Modi will be able to eradicate the ill- governance in the West Bengal. Strangely enough a large section of the committed CPI(M) voters have opted to vote for the BJP citing reasons of under development and deterioration in the political culture in the state. A lot of people also feel that the BJP will end the Syndicate Raj in Kolkata and will provide good governance. The most disturbing fact is that even the committed CPM supporters had bought into the anti Muslim narratives and many could be seen blaming Mamata for favoring the Muslim community. In short, even the long time supporters of the communist party considered BJP as an alternative to the TMC and not CPM. Call it the political awareness or misguided political orientation but it is a fact that the urban committed CPI(M) supporters have chosen to go with the flow and vote for the BJP to root out the TMC. Talking to the people,one thing is very clear that it was a conscious political choice to go with a party which has more chances of winning against the current incumbents.

The CPI(M) leadership need to worry that even their most trusted lot have been relying on the BJP to end the misrule of the TMC. It is indeed should be a deep concern for the CPI(M) that the so called communists are keen to replace a fascist government with another fascist right wing party which have been gaining politically by religious polarizations, bigotry, divisive policies and relied heavily on false and misleading communications through different means to spread their agenda. If the communists are not being able to see the threats of a BJP rule in India even after the first five years of the saffron regime, there needs serious introspection among the communist leadership to find out what exactly had went wrong in their organization building processes. It should investigate why the hindutwa biases are so strong even within the party workers and ardent supporters that it is dominating the major issues like under development, economic distress, joblessness, atrocities on the minorities, exploitation and vulnerabilities of the tribals. The secular values that the communists claim to have injected among it’s party workers and supporters have vanished , soon as the party lost power. However this great debacle for the communists and the great rise of BJP in Bengal has shown that the core values have never been strongly rooted even among the most dedicated communists.

Now Bengal is witnessing a very strange political chaos. Many leaders and thousands of party workers from the TMC have joined the BJP in the last couple of weeks. There is a speculation that as the BJP grow more , many top level TMC leaders will also join BJP and are currently in talks with the BJP leadership. So very soon, Bengal will have a strong BJP with half of the TMC induced in it. One can however argue that Narendra Modi will magically convert TMC goons into saints.

The CPI(M), riding on the victory of the BJP, now have been able to open a few party offices, which were closed for years since the TMC came into power and took control of the localities. Much to the embarrassment of the leadership, the local cadres have been openly talking about supporting the BJP in the recently concluded elections.

Winning from Singur, the BJP’s MP Ms. Locket Chatterjee had declared that she will try and bring the TATAs back to the Singur. Soon after the BJP won the seat, several farmer’s rallies could be observed demanding the return of the Nano factory in Singur. Incidentally during the time of the famous Singur protest, Ms. Locket Chatterjee was a member of the TMC party and had been actively involved in that movement.

The Crime Bureau of Investigation(CBI), meanwhile had given a clean chit to Mr. Budhhadev Bhattacharyya in the case of Nandigram Police firing, citing that it was not him who ordered the firing.

It is a strange political phase in Bengal where a right wing party is becoming stronger with support from the committed left voters and the left minded progressives are choosing a right wing party over the communist party in order to eradicate another fascist party. Now with several TMC leaders joining BJP, it is inevitable that the BJP will be more powerful and it will leave the left more emaciated.

The Left ideology may still be alive in the street actions and public movements but the bigger question is, will the left become like an NGO and will continue issue based mobilization or will it re-organize the internal structures and functions. The Bengal results raise a very pertinent question, can the left survive without the left supporters completely subscribing to the left ideologies?

Debmalya Nandy is a social Worker

Courtesy: https://countercurrents.org/
 

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In a statement, Salim, says “In The Times of India, Kolkata edition, dated 9th May, 2019, a story headlined, ‘When Red takes on a shade of saffron’, with a subhead, ‘CPM cadres silently help BJP in fight against Didi’, by one Mohua Chatterjee, contains a series of pernicious lies about the Communist Party of India-Marxist, its members and supporters. The writer seeks to present shocking falsehoods about the CPIM, in a manner, that may even harm the social harmony of West Bengal in the short run.”

The TOI story cites anonymous sources from the BJP claiming that they have received support from CPI (M) cadres and cites the example of Kolkata Uttar where BJP’s Rahul Singh hopes to oust TMC’s Sudip Bandopadhyay. The TOI story claims, “CPM workers have offered help and BJP is tapping them. BJP’s poll managers are holding regular, but discreet, meetings with them to plan door-to-door campaigns in some pockets, silently and without slogans.”

Hitting out at the publication for not following the ‘basic journalistic norms’, Salim has said that the report, claiming that CPIM workers were helping BJP in managing the booths during the ongoing elections, doesn’t even include any verification from the CPIM members, even anonymously. “There is no quote of any CPIM cadre or polling agent, not even an anonymous one, nor has any effort been made to get the party’s version. The entire report is based on statements by an unknown BJP member, which may well be a figment of the writer’s imagination”, said Salim.
 
Further accusing TOI for its biased journalism, Salim said, “It is well known to the politically conscious voters of West Bengal that The Times of India, along with other publications, receives advertisements worth lakhs, if not crores, from parties like Bharatiya Janata Party and Trinamul Congress.”

Salim has also expressed concerns regarding omissions and under-reporting of key issues by the media in West Bengal. He cites the example of the month-long hunger strike by aspiring SSC teachers demanding transparency in the recruitment process. He also points to lathi charge by Kolkata police at the computer teachers who were protesting for the payment of their full salaries, among other instances of stories that he feels did not get adequate attention in the press. Pointing out rampant corruption and violence under the TMC, Salim also highlighted how even journalists in the state were facing brutal attacks.

Meanwhile, according to the TOI story, West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, has warned her party workers against this alleged bonhomie between CPIM workers and BJP. At various rallies, she has said, “Harmads (referring to CPIM workers) are doing it again, beware of them, they are helping our enemies, be careful, be alert.”

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Image courtesy Madras Musings

Singaravelar was far more than one of the country’s earliest Left thinkers. He was a multi-linguist who spoke German, French and Russian.

Speaking to Newsclick and the Indian Cultural Forum, G Ramakrishnan, the Tamil Nadu State Secretary of CPI, recalls Singaravelar as a social reformer too.  When Singaravelar gave his presiding address at the Kanpur Conference in 1925, also referred to as the First Indian Communist Conference, he spoke of the need to eradicate untouchability in Tamil Nadu. He was a fierce campaigner for scientific temper and knowledge. Calling him “a pioneer in this aspect”, Ramakrishnan points out that Singaravelar wrote extensively on these themes in EV Ramasamy’s journal Kudi Arasu,. Speaking to the Indian Cultural Forum, Pulavar Veeramni, one of the foremost researchers in Tamil Nadu on Singaravelar, also spoke of his commitment to science, rationality and social reform. Singaravelar was originally a Congressman, but left the party in 1928. Until the mid-1930s, he stayed with Periyar and the Self-Respect Movement, writing on critical topics like environmental conservation, translating works of people like Freud into Tamil, and writing scientific commentaries on themes such as the Theory of Relativity, the Nebular Hypothesis, and the contributions of Giordano Bruno, for Kudi Arasu. After leaving Periyar over ideological differences, he continued to publish similar articles in his own scientific journal called Pudhu Ulagu (A New World). He also translated works of Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, and Herbert Spencer into Tamil. Reportedly, his insightful critique of Das Kaptial was the reason he was invited to give the presiding address at the Kanpur Conference in the first place.

Pualvar Veeramani tells us that Singaravelar also wrote on and envisioned a “world without war” as a reaction to the terrible fallout of the First World War. He stood his ground when Sardar Patel did not want to include sex education in schools based on conservative sentiments. 

His writings on caste, education, science and more are available in Tamil publications even today. 

Singaravelar courted arrest for his participation in the South Indian Railway Strike in 1928, serving a four and a half month prison sentence in 1930. He died in 1946. The then Chennai Collectorate was named Singaravelar Maaligai in his honour, as was the M. Singaravelar Memorial Group House Scheme.

Courtesy: Two Circle

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Image Courtesy: NDTV

Mumbai: Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the BJP should see to it that CPI candidate from Begusarai and former JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar does not get elected to the Lok Sabha in a report by Times of India on Sunday. Raut described Kanhaiya as a “bottle of poison,” in a signed article in Sena’s mouthpiece Saamna.  
 
Kanhaiya is contesting against BJP’s Giriraj Singh in Begusarai, Bihar.
 
In the article, Raut also said that Kanhaiya’s victory would mean the defeat of the Indian Constitution. “Even at the cost of tampering EVMs, Kanhaiya Kumar should not get elected to the Lok Sabha,” he said, TOI reported.
 
“When Kanhaiya Kumar sought to raise funds for his election, a sum of Rs. 5 lakh was given to him in flat 10 minutes… Those who offer funds to terrorists are seen as their lackeys. How should one describe Kanhaiya’s well-wishers?” asked Raut, also the executive editor of Saamna, TOI reported.
 
Raut also advised Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar to go to Begusarai and ensure Kanhaiya Kumar’s defeat. “Ambedkar is straining every nerve to defeat Congress veteran Sushilkumar Shinde in Solapur. Instead, he should try to defeat Kanhaiya Kumar. That would be a tribute to the Constitution,” said Raut.
 
While stating that the NDA would return to office, Raut also said a strong Opposition is needed to stop the advent of authoritarian rule in the country.
 
Kanhaiya responded to this story on Twitter. “Bringing into the notice of Independent and Autonomous Election Commission of India,” he tweeted.

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They are afraid that his ideas will appeal more to Indian people and uproot their own retrogressive ideology.

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“It is clear that under the false allegation of being ‘anti-national’ the RSS-BJP have mounted an all-India attack against the Indian people,” the statement added. It appealed to all progressive, left and secular forces to join the protest under the “Defend People’s Constitutional Rights” banner.

The Left parties demanded that the JNU Students Union president, Kanhaiya Kumar must be released and all cases of sedition filed against students must be withdrawn forthwith. “No harassment and witch hunting must be allowed. The truth has now come out that most of the evidence produced by the government was fabricated. Those who have fabricated the evidence and propagated it must be punished under the law,” said the statement.

The statement strongly condemned “the attack mounted by the RSS under the patronage of this BJP-led NDA government” against the Jawaharlal Nehru University stating that this was part of “a larger design by the communal forces to carry forward their agenda in institutions of higher learning”. This systemic pattern, it stated, was clearly visible in the incidents in Film & Television Institute of India, Hyderabad Central University leading to the tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula, the incidents in IIT Chennai and now in Jadavpur University.

“It is clear that the RSS-BJP is mounting an open attack on the democratic and constitutional rights of the people. Further, such attacks are part of the efforts to sharpen communal polarisation in the country to also divert the attention of the people from the growing burdens being imposed upon them by the total failure of this NDA-led Modi government on all fronts”, the statement added.

The joint statement was issued today following a meeting in Delhi. It was attended by Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat and S Ramachandran Pillai [CPI(M)], Sudhakar Reddy, Gurudas Dasgupta and D Raja [CPI], Swapan Mukherjee [CPI(ML)-Liberation], Abani Roy [RSP], Pran Sharma [SUCI(C)] and Debabrata Biswas [AIFB].
 

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Courtesy: http://newsclick.in/india/attack-jnusu-and-left-built-lies

In an unprecedented move, today morning (February 12, 2016) Kanhaiya Kumar, the president of the JNU students' union and an activist of AISF, was arrested by police in plain clothes, charged with sedition and conspiracy, and sent to custody for three days. The case was filed over holding of an event against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. The move came as a shock for many as the JNU students union had come out with a statement criticizing the slogans raised in the event. It had explicitly mentioned that their protest was against the cancelling of the event by administration under the pressure created by the ABVP. The arrest has drawn criticism from various progressive groups and individuals. The left organisations and parties have criticised the slogans raised by a group of students but have also condemned the arrest in strong words. They pointed out that the entire propaganda by the right wing is to malign the left forces in the country and is built on lies. While this report was being written, more than thousand students were marching inside the JNU seeking immediate release of the JNUSU President. A source in the administration says that the newly appointed VC, and the Registrar have given a written authorisation to the Delhi Police to enter and take any action they want in the campus.

The CPI (M) in a statement issued on behalf of the Polit Bureau condemned the arrest and demanded his immediate release. The statement said that, “an isolated incident, which does not reflect the opinion of the vast majority of the students, is now being blatantly used as an excuse to clamp down on the progressive and democratic student movement. This has been a long harboured design of the RSS and its camp followers.  This anti-democratic authoritarian attack on JNU campus, seen in the light of State sponsored efforts by the BJP central government to silence dissent in premier educational institutions, has serious implications.” The General Secretary of the CPI (M) Sitaram Yechury also compared the times to that of emergency and said in a tweet that, “Police on campus, arrests and picking up students from hostels. This had last happened during Emergency.”

The deans of various departments of the university and the JNUTA have also come out in defense of the student’s community. The deans in a statement issued have said that, “As he belongs to the All India Students’ Federation, his views and political associations are well-known, and to accuse him of sedition is beyond the bounds of credibility. The only previous occasion when the President of the JNUSU had been arrested was during the Emergency of 1975-77, and the present situation on the campus brings back memories of the Emergency days.” The JNUTA extended support to the JNUSU and said that , “ The teachers of JNU have always stood for upholding the Constitution of India and values enshrined therein and are opposed to any unconstitutional activity in the campus or outside. This very sentiment makes us express our strong opposition to attempts to use the law and the police to suppress democratic dissent and conduct a witch-hunt on our campus. The fact that the JNU Students Union (JNUSU) President is the first to be arrested establishes it. The JNUTA, following its Emergency Meeting, expresses its deep concern on the recent developments on our campus. The teachers of the University condemn the massive police presence and the attempt to escalate tensions.”

The former JNU students who had been arrested during emergency have issued a statement condemning the act of arrest.  The statement read, “Coming in the wake of the dastardly conspiracy of connivance and blatant discrimination that forced Rohit Vemula to take his own life, the storming of the hostels and the arrest of the president of JNUSU are signs of the imposition of an undeclared emergency that need to be opposed, confronted and defeated.”

The events preceding the arrest could be closely compared to that of Hyderabad Central University. After a complaint lodged by BJP law maker Mahesh Giri and ABVP, the case was registered yesterday under Section of 124 A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC against unknown persons at Vasant Kunj (North) Police station.  Early morning the Home Minister took matters in his hand and said that, “If anyone raises anti-India slogans, tries to raise questions on country's unity and integrity, they will not be spared. Stringent action will be taken against them. “He was closely followed by MHRD minister Smriti Irani who is known for writing 5 letters to UoH asking them to take action of research scholar Rohith Vemula. Such interventions by the ministers are politically motivated and are attack on the autonomy of the insitutions.

Kumar, a third year student of PhD had won elections after an electrifying speech by securing 1029 votes.  He is known for his oratory skills and staunch logical critique of the right wing forces. In a event yesterday, he was vocal about the negligible involvement of the RSS in the freedom struggle. He pointed out that the JNU students community  does not need the certificate of being nationalist by organizations like RSS and ABVP which have not participated in the freedom movement and do not believe in the constitution.

References:
1. No, the slogans of the JNU students don't count as sedition under the law http://scroll.in/article/803522/no-what-the-jnu-students-did-doesnt-count-as-sedition-under-the-law
2. Freedom of speech at JNU: Is there really any difference between sedition and blasphemy? http://scroll.in/article/803511/freedom-of-speech-at-jnu-is-there-really-any-difference-between-sedition-and-blasphemy
3. Anti-national? Not my son, says mother  http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160213/jsp/frontpage/story_69039.jsp#.Vr7pyEDk8cA
4. Do not disagree: JNU arrests over Afzal Guru event are ill-judged, threatens basic rights http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/afzal-guru-film-jnu-student-protest-do-not-disagree/
5. JNU storm intensifies, students accuse Centre of political vendettahttps://sabrangindia.in/node/4296/edit http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/students-accuse-govt-of-vendetta-as-jnu-storm-intensifies/story-R1HHVXgCsg8ClxJgtB1etK.html
6. The problem with JNU: Too left for liberals, too liberal for leftists  http://scroll.in/article/803517/the-problem-with-jnu-too-left-for-liberals-too-liberal-for-leftists

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