SINCE its inception in 1920, the Communist party has played a major role in the struggle for the emancipation of women from the chains which enslave them in exploitative socio-economic systems in India. Communist leaders like EMS Namboodiripad, AK Gopalan, P Sundarayya, BT Ranadive played pioneering roles in taking up the issues of women in direct action. Communist initiatives in supporting, mobilising and organising different sections of women in class and democratic struggles on women’s demands got a huge fillip with the formation of the CPI(M). The CPI(M) led governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura took many significant initiatives in enhancing the status of women and their rights in these states, to name a few, in the spheres of women’s right to land, women’s rights in panchayats, women’s role in decentralised decision making bodies like the Kerala Kudumbshree movement and the SHG movements in the other two states apart from improving educational and health indicators. From the historic Seventh Party Congress in Calcutta which adopted the Party programme to the updated Party Programme adopted by the Special Conference in 2000, in successive Party Congresses and organisational reports, the issues of women and the perspective towards communist work among women have played an important role in developing the democratic movements of women in India. In addition, the CPI(M) has also developed a clear ideological and political perspective which has been of great significance in dealing with the multidimensional role and issues facing women in a complex society like India. At the same time, the development of the communist movement has seen the tremendous work and sacrifice of communist women shoulder to shoulder with their male comrades and in particular when the Party has been under attack by the ruling classes. For example, in the seventies in West Bengal under semi-fascist terror and in the eighties in Tripura under the terror regime of the Congress, communist women played a heroic role in defence of the Party. When we remember and salute our martyrs on the historic occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Party, we recall that among the countless martyrs are the brave women martyrs who sacrificed their precious lives for the red flag and in the struggle for social and economic emancipation and for the cause of Socialism. That tradition continues even today as can be seen in the heroic role being played by women communists and sympathisers against the terror of the ruling regime in Bengal. NEED FOR IDEOLOGICAL CLARITY No communist party can develop its work among any section of the masses without a clear ideological and political framework. Among communist and Left wing supporters, The “Women Question’ has been a matter of debate from the time that Frederich Engels wrote his seminal work on The origin of Family Private Property and the State, when August Bebel wrote his thesis on “The Woman Question.” The debates recorded by Clara Zetkin in her discussions with Lenin on the other aspect which is the practical work of organising women, also throw light on the differences there were among communists on the issue of organisation, should there be a separate women’s organisation or should all women work only in class organisations and so on. In India with a very specific socio-economic framework where there is an intersection between class, caste and gender among a substantial section of what are called the “basic classes” along with the specific trajectory of growth of capitalism intertwined with feudal and semi-feudal relations, the Women’s Question had to be looked at with an Indian lens. EARLIER APPROACH As part of the freedom struggle, communist women worked in broader women’s organisations like the AIWC, the one condition being commitment to the freedom struggle against British rule. However in the forties, in some states, notably Bengal, in 1942 communist women took the initiative to form the Mahila Atma Raksha Samity with the main focus to work among poor women in the context of the terrible famine sweeping Bengal. Women were most active in the Tebhaga movement also. In Maharashtra, communist women were active in the trade union movement focusing their work among women workers in the textile industry. In Andhra Pradesh, communist women played a heroic role in the Telangana movement. In Tripura, it was communist work among tribal women which resulted in the huge upsurge against the forcible collection of feudal “titun” leading to the martyrdom of three tribal women. After independence, all these different streams merged into a national women’s organisation, namely the National Federation of Indian Women which was formed in 1954. Thus as far as India is concerned, from the time of the united communist party, the issue of whether or not there should be a separate broader women’s organisation in which communist women should play a role, was settled in the united communist party. There were many state level organisations post 1964 in which CPI(M) women were working. These came together to form a national organisation, the All India Democratic Women’s Association in 1981. However the issue remained, what should be the focus or the perspective with which communists should work among the mass of women in India. Secondly, what is required to ensure that the mass character of the organisation remains intact and does not constrict or reduce itself to an appendage of the Party. 1964 PARTY PROGRAMME AND OTHER DOCUMENTS The 1964 Party programme placed the issue of social oppression within the context of the agrarian revolution. It stated the requirement of “sweeping measures of reforming the social system through which such remnants of pre-capitalist society as the caste and other social systems keep the villages tied to backwardness.” In its projection of the Peoples Democratic Front, the 1964 programme specified as part of the PDF programme, “equal pay for equal work, removal of all social disabilities from which women suffer, equal rights with men in such matters as inheritance of property, enforcement of marriage and divorce laws, admissions to professions and services.” These essentially anti-feudal tasks in the original programme were updated and expanded in the 2000 updated programme. While the essential context remains that of the tasks to complete the agrarian revolution, given the growth and expansion of capitalist relations in the countryside, the programme has expanded its analysis on the “women’s question.” In the Peoples Democratic Revolution programme, it adds to the earlier section a significant sentence ‘Suitable support systems in childcare and domestic work will be part of the thrust to democratise family structures.” Thus the programme brings in an important Marxist position against the sexual division of labour and the need to expand democracy into the “sacrosanct” sphere of the family. In the section on agrarian revolution, it describes the “social systems” mentioned in the 1964 programme as ‘caste and gender oppression.” Again in Para 5.13, the updated Party Programme builds on the 1964 programme including the experience of liberalisation “which has brought in its wake newer forms of gender exploitation in both the economic and social spheres, leading to increased violence against women.” The Party programme indicts “five decades of bourgeois landlord rule (which has) perpetuated patriarchy in every sphere.” Significantly, the CPI(M) programme describes the exploitation of women at different levels “as women, as workers, as citizens.” This understanding was further elaborated in the Central Committee document on the “Party’s Perspective on Women’s Issues and Tasks” adopted in December 2005. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the CPI(M)s approach to the “Women’s Question.” There is an important addition in this document which details a Marxist approach to domestic work. It says “The amount of time the worker spends in a working day to produce the value of her or his means of subsistence was defined as necessary labour by Marx and the value produced over and above that was called surplus labour. The domestic tasks performed by women (for the reproduction of labour power) is an invisible component of necessary labour and keeps the cost of subsistence of the worker down.” Thus a class analysis is extended to the sphere of women’s work within the family, drawing out its links with a dimension of capitalist exploitation of a workers family. These three documents set out the ideological and political framework of communist work among women. In doing so, they also answer the ill informed or biased critiques of Western and some Indian feminist groups that communists subsume the gender question to class doing injustice to women’s secondary status. The approach can be summarised as follows: (1) Women’s exploitation and oppression in India have a direct connection to the capitalist socio-economic framework which co-exists with feudal and semi-feudal relations. The struggle for women’s emancipation is linked to the struggle against this exploitative framework (2) At one level as women, all women have a stake in the struggle against discrimination suffered by them because of patriarchal cultures across class. Thus one aspect of the struggle involves women of all sections of society (3) Women workers face double burdens facing class exploitation as well as gender oppression. Thus the exploitation of a woman worker has an added dimension other than those faced by the male worker. (4) Caste systems have added the third and most toxic tier to women’s oppression and exploitation. Dalit women who are at the bottom of the social and economic ladder have the highest stakes in the struggle for systemic change including for the elimination of the caste system, which is a critical component of the Party programme (5) As citizens, women face discrimination in attitudes and cultures which impact on women’s lives in a myriad ways including the attitude of the State (6) Within the family, communists stand for democratisation and equal relations between men and women. In the context of the current right wing offensive of the corporate backed communal forces, the programmatic understanding of the Party against communalism and the right wing communal forces in support of minority rights including the rights of Muslim women have a deep significance. It shows that the Party does not view the threat of communalism as en electoral issue reduced to the issue of the votes these forces get or do not get, but as an instrument of the ruling classes to further their rule whenever required and also to divide the working people on communal lines. Since fundamentalist and communalists of all hues target women first, this aspect of the programme has a special significance for women. ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS The ideological framework informed the debate within the Party at the time of the formation of the all India women’s organisation in 1981. In fact, it was the debate among women in the CPI(M) which necessitated a wider discussion on the role of mass organisations and their links of mass organisations with Party. At that time the main issue was the different aspects of women’s oppression and exploitation as stated above, of women’s status in India. One section of the women comrades believed that communists should only work among “toiling women” and that working on any issue with women across class would be “reformist” politics. This debate was summed up in the important document on Mass Organisations brought out by the Central Committee in 1981. It put forth the approach of working with different sections of women, including women of social sections other than the labouring classes. It further put into perspective the role of a mass organisation. It stated, “The PB members participating in the meeting (with women leaders) pointed out that the Marxist-Leninist understanding of broad non-party mass organisations over which through correct political leadership and the disciplined functioning of Party members, the Party secures authority. The differing approach on the other hand, is that the mass organisation turned into an appendage of the Party. This approach hampers the process of extending the activities … among non-Party democrats…” On this basis, the mass organisation has grown into one of the largest mass organisations of women in India. It has attracted a wide range of members and supporters from all social classes, even as the bulk of the membership remains, as it should, with the “toiling women.” Communists working among women have been able to sustain the dynamism of women’s movements in India. While critiquing and opposing sectarian or divisive trends in the movement, or the total NGOisation of the movements of women, it has adopted a flexible approach building united struggles involving much wider sections of women on issues of mutual importance. However, as discussed in recent reviews, it is very necessary to further ensure the independent functioning of the mass organisation. The forthcoming Party plenum will surely address this issue and how to take forward the understanding developed in the earlier documents mentioned here. The struggle against violence on women in contemporary India, the issues of young women and the demand for autonomy to make self choice partnerships, the issue of the decriminalisation of same sex relationships and so on, have been a part of joint struggles. While the Party has maintained its focus on the issues concerning the labouring classes among women, the CPI(M) is one of the few parties in India’s political scenario which has taken an unambiguous position of direct support in struggles against all forms of violence against women, against religious fundamentalism which deeply negate the very concept of equal citizenship. WOMEN WORKERS WITHIN THE TRADE UNION Before the formation of the mass organisation of different sections of women, the CPI(M) had taken the initiative to start the discussion with the major trade union centre to form a separate platform within the trade union for working women and a separate committee for working women to co-ordinate their work. It is leaders of the CPI(M) working in trade unions who took the first initiative in India to set up such a platform. This was again part of the all encompassing approach regarding the status of women in India and the understanding of the double exploitation and oppression that working women face as workers and as women. Such initiatives as the formation of the working women’s committee led to a sea change in the approach of trade unions towards women. It also, while maintaining a separate identity as well as unity with all workers within the same trade union, established a new method of organising working women and their issues. It also was an appropriate response to some NGOs who were advocating the splitting of trade unions and separate trade unions for women. It led to significant and important initiatives among different sections of working women, and helped to increase the numbers of women in trade unions. A close coordination between the mass organisation of women and the committee working among women workers as well as sub committees of women among the agricultural workers organisation or the peasants organisation, is the key to the expansion of the women’s movement in India. WOMEN IN THE PARTY In the Pol-Org report of the Eighth Congress in 1968, it is stated that at that time “In the whole of India the number of women Party membership will not exceed 750 i.e., about 1 percent of the party membership.” The report was sharply critical of this aspect. It went on to say “Another serious defect in our Party organisation is our failure to develop women’s movements or to draw women into the class organisations and also to recruit women into our Party. It calls it ‘neglect of our work…’ Most of the Party leaders and most of the ordinary members do not take an interest in building the women’s movement and organisation even to the extent they do in other organisations.” How much have we been able to change these attitudes? The Party has assessed in its report at the 20th Congress, that although there has been improvement in the recruitment and promotion of women cadre, in the approach to assisting the development of women’s movements, there is much ground for further improvement and advance. At present, the national average of the women’s Party membership is around 15 percent. Tripura has crossed 25 percent. Many committees have taken decisions to increase the women’s membership in each branch. If this decision is properly implemented it will be a fitting way to observe the 50th anniversary of the CPI(M). The Central Committee in its guidelines to the Party committees has included an important proviso to increase the numbers of women in the Party committees. Today in the CPI(M), there are thousands of women at different levels who are committed and capable of shouldering more responsibilities in the organisation. The process must start from the branch level to the highest bodies with increased numbers of women. The Fiftieth Anniversary of the CPI(M) is an occasion to remember our heritage, the tremendous sacrifices that thousands of cadre including women cadre have made for the red flag since the formation of the CPI(M), to be proud of our achievements and at the same time to face the difficult times with renewed energy, ideological clarity and unity. In conclusion on this fiftieth anniversary, we salute the great women communists of the CPI(M) who inspired younger generations of women to join the Party and the movement. Among the numerous revolutionary greats Godavari Parulekar, Vimal Ranadive, Ahilya Rangnekar, Kanak Mukherjee, Pankaj Acharya, Sushila Gopalan, Janaki Ammal, Pappa Umanath, Mangaleshwari Deb Barma, Ila Bhattacharya, Lakshmi Sahgal, Swarajyam, M Udayam and many others. To them our Red Salute.