THE Central Committee has decided to observe the 50th anniversary of the Seventh Congress and has called upon all Party units to observe the anniversary. Accordingly, we are also holding programmes in West Bengal to mark this historic occasion. Though, in the overall assessment, we could not succeed much to achieve our revolutionary goals, we have a long history of building our Party. The Communist Party of India was founded abroad by a small group of revolutionaries in exile on October 17, 1920 at a meeting held in Tashkent, Russia. Subsequently, the revolutionaries working here in different parts of India had initiated concerted and ceaseless efforts to build the Communist Party on the Indian soil. Comrade Muzaffar Ahmad was one of the pioneers in building up the Communist Party in India on the basis of Marxist-Leninist ideology during the early 1920s. The Communists, while participating in the freedom struggle, made it a point at the very outset to utilise various forums to spread their radical politics and programmes. Comrade Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Swami Kumarananda, on behalf of the Communists, raised the demand for Poorna Swaraj and forwarded a resolution for this in the Ahmedabad Congress Session in 1921. The Communists repeated the same demand in the Gaya Congress Session next year. In fact, the Communists were the first in India to raise the demand for complete independence. The Communists played an important role in organising militant movements of the peasants, workers and various sections of the working people across the country during the 1920s and 1930s. The national organisations like the AITUC, AIKS, AISF, AIPWA and IPTA were thus formed and strengthened during the period in which the Communists played pivotal role. In 1934, a meeting of the Communist leaders was held in Bombay to build up an all India Party Centre and they decided to spread the organisation across the country. In response to the call given by the Communist Consolidation in 1934, the First Congress of the CPI was held in Bombay in 1943. The Second Congress of the CPI was held in Kolkata in 1948, the Third Congress in Madurai in 1953-54, the Fourth Congress in Palghat in 1956, the Fifth Congress in Amritsar in 1958, followed by the Sixth Congress (1961) in Vijaywada. In 1951, the All India Special Party Conference met in Kolkata in which a new Party Programme and Tactical Line were adopted. But the new Party Programme, which was finally endorsed in the Third Congress, carried certain mistakes particularly in assessing the stage of revolution. During the mid-1950s, differences cropped up within the Party on certain ideological issues and on assessment of the class character of the Indian State. A new Party Programme was needed within the organisation. But that could not be formulated. Serious differences had developed within the CPI before the Amritsar Congress (1958). It was resolved to place a draft Programme in 1961 Vijayawada Congress. Ultimately, due to the stiff ideological differences that too could not be done properly. A split was avoided in the Sixth Congress with a decision that the Party general secretary would make a speech on national and international issues and no Political Resolution was adopted. Besides, the political outlook of the Soviet Communist Party (CPSU) and the Soviet government had also been changing following its 20th Congress (1956), particularly on maintaining relations with the governments and the Communist parties in different countries. In the backdrop of such a world situation on one hand and hesitation of the then Party leadership to finalise the tasks on the basis of correct assessment of the class character of the bourgeois-landlord government led by the Congress on the other, created increasing problems before the Communist movement in India. The stand of the Communist Party began to face open criticism from the advanced sections of the people. On April 11, 1964, 32 members of the National Council were compelled to walk out of its meeting in Delhi in protest against anarchic situation in the Party and indecisiveness of the leadership. Was it possible for a Communist Party to move ahead without a Programme of its own? Not indeed. Of great importance then was the joint statement of the 32 members, explaining the reasons for the break-up with the ‘revisionists’. The All India Convention of the Party in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh in July 1964 resolved to reorganise the Communist Party on the basis of Marxist-Leninist principles aiming at coming out of the existing tumultuous phase of the Communist movement in the country. It was the decision of the Tenali Convention to convene the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of India and accordingly it was held at the Tyagraj Hall in Kolkata from October 31 to November 7, 1964. The Kolkata Congress was attended by 422 delegates representing the 1,04,421 Party members who comprised 60 percent of the Party members enrolled at the time of the Vijayawada Congress. It was my privilege to stay inside the Tyagraj Hall as an aide to the office staff and I can still recall the spirit and enthusiasm of the delegates who attended the Congress and took part in the deliberations. I still remember Comrade M Basavapunnaiah’s speech and the way the delegates responded with thunderous applause to his interventions one after another. The Seventh Party Congress is undeniably a milestone in the Communist movement and organisation in India. The Seventh Congress discussed and analysed the national and international developments, assessed the class character of the Indian State, conditions of the workers, peasants and common people, prioritised the issues for launching mass movements and struggles, in the light of the teachings of Marxism-Leninism, to change the correlation of class forces. The Seventh Congress finally adopted the much-awaited Party Programme and a new constitution of the Party. It is worth mentioning that after the Seventh Congress concluded successfully, the Party that we belonged to was ascribed as the Left Communist Party. Even some described our Party as the pro-China Communist Party to malign us in the eyes of the common people. We were not really bothered by this malicious campaign, as it was decided in the run up to the Party Congress that a separate ideological document would be prepared on the basis of Party’s independent political stand. This very document was prepared neither following the Soviet Communist Party nor the Chinese Communist Party. In the Plenum in 1968 in Bardhaman, the ideological document of our Party, that is the Communist Party of India (Marxist), was given the final shape. However, even after the Seventh Congress, our Party was known as the ‘Communist Party of India’. It was just before the Kerala mid-term election in 1965, the Election Commission of India declined to recognise both the parties in the same name and asked our Party to change the election symbol of ‘Ears of corn and sickle’. Because of the Election Commission’s denial, we had to opt for the new symbol of ‘sickle, hammer and star’ at the time of contesting the Kerala assembly elections. Subsequently, we got to be known as the Communist Party of India (Marxist). After the Seventh Party Congress, a number of foreign Communist Parties including the CPSU considered our Party a ‘splinter group’ of the CPI. Even, after several years, others including the CPSU, labelled us as a ‘parallel Communist Party’. Later, watching the strength of our Party in leading the mass movements and struggles, our increasing support-base among the common masses, and successive electoral gains, we started to be considered as the ‘mainstream Communist Party’. Our Party played very important role in combating the communal disturbances in our state in 1964. Again, in 1965, when the problem involving Indo-Pak conflict cropped up, we demanded a peaceful solution through dialogue. But we were dubbed as the ‘spy’ of Pakistan. During 1965-66, we were at the forefront in the struggle of the Joy Engineering workers and our Party played a pivotal role in the Food Movement and the struggle against price rise. In this backdrop, in spite of malicious campaign against us, our front, the United Left Front (ULF), emerged as the winner in the assembly poll in 1967 with a significant number of seats. On both the occasions, in 1967 and in 1969, the CPI(M) being the the single largest party took a principled stand and sacrificed the post of chief minister only in the interests of strengthening the United Front. Ajoy Mukherjee, the leader of the Bangla Congress, assumed the charge as the chief minister. This was a unique stand in the history of our political system. Though, we gave up claim on the post of chief minister, but we never compromised on the issues of workers and peasants movement. As a result of our uncompromising role in the mass movements and struggle, the CPI(M) in the 1971 elections emerged as the single largest Party in the West Bengal state assembly with 111 seats. The semi-fascist terror tactics were let loose in the state after the imposition of the president’s rule when the Congress Party-Bangla Congress combination failed to run the State administration due to their internal squabbles. Finding no possibility to get an absolute majority in the state assembly, the Congress resorted to wholesale rigging in the elections, held in March 1972. The ruling party backed hoodlums even started to snatch ballot papers the day before the poll. Also the counting process was manipulated by pressurising the returning officers. The installation of the Congress government did everything possible to rob the democratic and civil rights of the people. Voice of democracy was seized. Trade union rights were snatched. Students were denied rights to elect their unions in universities and colleges. It was truly a suffocating situation. Notably, Patrick Moynihan, former US ambassador to India, had confessed in his book, A Dangerous Place, two instances of interfering with the internal politics only to extend help to the ruling Congress Party; first, in 1957 in Kerala, and the second time in 1971, to contain influence of the Communists in West Bengal. We should keep it in our mind that it was in the light of the Programmatic stand of the Party adopted at the Seventh Congress we organised intensive struggle in various parts of the country against the repressions and exploitations unleashed by the landlords and zamindars and recovered benami lands. We achieved substantial success in such resolute land struggles in the states like West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. Even in places where the Party organisations were not much strong, the workers showed greater enthusiasm in mobilising consistent movements and struggles and they were attracted to organise trade union organisations. The workers movement was intensified especially in Kerala, Tripura and West Bengal. The positive impact of the call of the CPI(M) to forge unity among the working classes and the Party’s firm stand in defending the trade union rights in the face of anti-worker privatisation process of industrial units and systematic attack on the workers in one or another pretext, was evident. The understanding of the Party Programme is reflected also in our role inside Parliament and in the extra-parliamentarian struggles during this period. In the year 1974, the common citizens of our country were attracted to the role of the Party in Parliament and in our struggle outside, during the historic all India railway strike. We should not forget even for a moment that Party exemplified the uncompromising fight and sacrifices in combating the communal danger across the country. It has been recognised by the people in general that our Party has been the defender of communal amity. It is still fresh in my mind the way our Party comrades in the year 1969 fought valiantly risking their own lives to quell communal disturbances in Telinipara of Hooghly district. The second United Front government was at the helm and Comrade Jyoti Basu, who was deputy chief minister then, took almost no time to rush to the spot at midnight and had directed the district police superintendent to take firm measures like ‘shoot-at-sight’, so that the rioters, irrespective of religious groups they belonged to, were checked. The communal riots were thus brought under control. This is the history of our uncompromising role against the communal danger. We are going to attend the 21st Congress of our Party in the coming April. We will deliberate on the Political Resolution and the Political-Tactical Line. We should keep in our mind that we did achieve successes in the journey of our Party during the post-Seventh Congress period. But undeniable is the fact that there are failures too. The Party organisation is yet to spread across the country. Right now, in West Bengal we are passing through an unfavourable situation. We have to build up widespread movement and struggle to reverse the political situation. We all have to take a determined stand to implement the programmatic understanding of the Seventh Congress and the directions of the updated Programme (2000) of the Party. It is our responsibility to enlighten the new generations about the political-ideological debates on the Party Programme, the political organisational issues behind the failure of the undivided CPI to adopt a Party Programme based on correct political ideological lines and the new revolutionary directions presented by the Seventh Congress. We should pledge to become disciplined soldiers with the objective to bring a fundamental change, in the true sense of the term, in the existing condition of the Indian people.