(Resolutions adopted by the CPI(ML) Central Committee in its meeting held in Puducherry on 21-23 December 2017)
Left Alliance Win in Nepal:
The Central Committee warmly congratulates the Left Alliance (alliance between CPN-UML and CPN Maoist) of Nepal for its victory by a comfortable majority in the Parliamentary Elections in Nepal. These results are especially significant, given that these are the first elections to be held in Nepal under the newly elected Constitution.
The performance of Nepal’s communist parties is very inspiring for communist movements all over the world, and especially for the communist movement in India as it battles fascist forces.
We extend our best wishes for the Nepal communists’ united efforts to take forward the democratic aspirations of Nepal’s people.
In Solidarity With the Cyclone Ockhi Affected People:
The Central Committee of the CPI (ML) stands with the cyclone-affected fisher people and farmers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It expressed its sympathy and solidarity with the families of fishermen who have been killed, injured, or missing. It condemned the Prime Minister and Central Government for remaining engaged in Gujarat elections rather than promptly extending support to the cyclone affected people. It demanded why the Central Government had declared that Cyclone Ockhi could not be declared a national calamity.
Justice For PRICOL Workers:
The Central Committee expressed concern about the fact that the Supreme Court had not admitted the appeal against the conviction and life sentence for two Pricol workers in spite of the fact that the Madras HC verdict had commented on several fabricated aspects of the whole case and questioned the role of the police. Instead the Supreme Court has admitted the appeal of the Pricol management against the acquittal of seven Pricol workers, one of whom had been acquitted even by the lower court. The Central Committee urges the Supreme Court to at least admit the appeal of the Pricol workers and examine it on its own merits based on the facts on record, as appreciated by the Madras HC.
Return to the Paper Ballots:
The CC took note of the many doubts and apprehensions being raised about the EVM machines, as well as the many instances of malfunctioning of EVM and VVPAT machines. The CC noted that even the EC exercise of comparing VVPAT slips and EVM votes in randomly selected booths failed to set the fears at rest, since the EC admitted that some mismatch of votes was found in 4 booths. The CC therefore calls for a return to the system of paper ballots in future elections.
On the 2G Scam Acquittals:
The acquittal of all the accused in the 2G scam raises serious questions about the role of the prosecution and the CBI and its seriousness about pursuing the case and bringing the offenders to justice. It is relevant here that the judgement too takes the prosecution to task for weakening the case in its latter stages. It may be remembered that Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Anil Ambani in the 2G case later became the Additional Solicitor General for the current Government. The current regime headed by Narendra Modi rode to power harnessing the national outrage against crony capitalism epitomized by the 2G Scam and promising to bring the corrupt to justice. Today, all the 2G scam accused stand acquitted, a short time after Modi met and embraced the DMK Chief Karunanidhi, whose party leaders and family members were among the main accused. The onus is on the current Government to give an account for its failure to ensure the conviction of those accused in the scam that the Prime Minister never tires of invoking in every speech as a symbol of the corruption of the previous UPA regime.
On the Conviction of Lalu Prasad Yadav:
The conviction of RJD President and former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav in a case related to the two decades old fodder scam by a special CBI court has raised more questions about the unmistakable political and social bias in the functioning of the CBI than securing a credible closure in this much discussed scam. Contrast the convictions in the fodder scam to the wholesale acquittal in the more recent and much bigger 2G scam, thanks to the CBI’s spectacular failure or refusal to furnish any credible evidence and it becomes clear that the functioning of the CBI, dubbed the caged parrot by the judiciary, is guided primarily by considerations of political expediency. The adoption of different standards for different accused persons – in this case acquittal of one former CM (Jagannath Mishra) and conviction of another (Lalu Prasad Yadav) – can only point to a definite political and caste bias. While some cases are pursued and some leaders are punished to settle political scores, some cases are shelved and the accused blackmailed to serve the current political interests of the ruling dispensation. The contrasting response of today’s rulers in Delhi and Patna to the fodder scam and the much bigger Srijan scam is a clear case in point. While fighting against corruption we cannot let the CBI be used as a political handmaiden of the powers that be.
Victories of Comrades Jignesh Mevani in Gujarat and Rakesh Singha in Himachal:
The Central Committee extends warm congratulations to Comrade Jignesh Mevani of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch for his victory in the Vadgam seat of Gujarat and Comrade Rakesh Singha of the CPIM for his victory in the Theog seat of Himachal Pradesh, and is confident that they will make the voices of people’s movements heard in the Assemblies of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh respectively.
On Jerusalem:
The CC condemns the US move to legitimize the occupation of Palestine and make a mockery of any notion of a two-state solution by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The CC welcomes the fact that barring a small handful of countries, most countries of the world backed the UN resolution condemning the US decision, in spite of the open attempts by the US to bully and threaten those countries opposing the decision.
Against Killing of Mohammad Afrazul:
The CC called upon the entire party to strive to mobilise every section of people – students, workers, peasants, women – against the killing of Mohammad Afrazul by a saffron terrorist and the spree of attacks on Muslims and Christians in India.
Against Arrests and Incarceration of Activists:
The CC condemned the continued incarceration of the Bhim Army leader Chandrashekhar Azad Raavan under NSA and the use of the draconian Goonda Act to evict CPI(ML) and Kisan Mahasabha leaders Afroz Alam, Manzoor Ali, Ravindra Mahajan and Radhey Shyam from Pilibhit district. The CC welcomes the Guwahati HC verdict quashing the NSA detention order against peasant leader Akhil Gogoi. The CC condemned the unprecedented move by the JDU-BJP Government of Bihar to invite employee leaders Comrades Rambali Prasad and Premchand Sinha for talks on the demands raised by striking health workers (ANM-Rs) and then arrest and jail them.
