CPI(M) state secretary Suryakanta Misra has called upon all democratic and secular people of West Bengal to unite in the fight to restore democracy and defend secularism. He asked CPI(M) activists to reach to every such people in the state, to try mobilising them in struggle.

Misra, addressing a seminar on ‘Struggle for democracy and Comrade Promode Dasgupta’, on his birth anniversary, asserted that the Left will strive to safeguard democracy and will rebuff the attacks on it. Terming the TMC as the biggest danger for democracy in the state, Misra said, to defend democracy and secularism, TMC has to be ousted from holding the reigns in the state. Therefore the first slogan of the struggle is ‘Oust TMC, Save Bengal’. And the second slogan of the same struggle is ‘Oust BJP, Save India’. In order to achieve, we have to mobilise the Left outside the Left Front, and democratic and consistently secular people. Many democratic and secular minded people are there in the bourgeoisie parties. We must mobilise them, he said.

Referring to the period when Comrade Promode Dasgupta led the struggle, Misra said, we have alerted at that time that the attacks on the Left in West Bengal would not be confined to the state alone, and that warning came true when internal emergency was imposed. In Bengal, the situation is much more dangerous today. Opposition parties are not allowed to hold meetings.  We have to organise political gatherings without permission. In Delhi, there is a rightwing government. Like West Bengal, one man rules the centre too. The attacks in Bengal today will not be limited to the Left alone.

Misra said, the true nature of bourgeoisie democracy is democracy for one percent. No radical transformation can take place in such a democracy. In such a democracy, 99 percent suffers at the cost of comforts to one percent. In India too, the wealth of 100 families is equal to that of 51 percent of people. For the Left, the meaning of democracy is land reforms; full democracy for millions of workers, peasants and toiling people; assertion of common people. The nature of democracy is judged by the class bias. Whom does the government represent – rich, chitfund owners, extortionists, rapists or the people. The hypocrisy in the name of democracy is exposed in this indicator.

Permanent Party School Starts Functioning

STATE Party School of the CPI(M) in West Bengal has started functioning with three series of six day classes. The permanent school has been named after Comrade Promode Dasgupta. It has been constructed on the land and house donated to Party by Party leader and former MP Nirmal Chatterjee and leader of teachers’ movement Mira Chatterjee. The building has been named as “Nirmal Mira Bhaban” after the departed communist couple. The building is in Baguhati, adjacent to Kolkata.

CPI(M) in West Bengal was seized of the importance of imparting ideological-political education for the entire rank and file for quite some time now. Vigorous initiatives have been taken in this regard and frequency of political classes has increased considerably in the last few years. It has been decided that political education would have to be continued despite intensive terror against the Party. With this perspective, a permanent school was an absolute necessity.

Though it was formally inaugurated a few months back, the first series of classes started from July 4. It continued till 9th.  Biman Basu inaugurated the state level class. The teachers included Suryakanta Misra, Shyamal Chakraborty, Mridul de, Ashim Dasgupta and Sridip Bhattacharya. On the concluding day, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury deliberated on communalism. The classes were lively with group discussion and long question-answer sessions.

Permanent school has an audience capacity of nearly 150 participants and accommodation for 60 persons. A library will also be added.