Q A Marxist party is supposed to be opposed to religion but in Loklahar's issue in hand (and also in People's Democracy) I have found news reports of "Roza Iftar" organised and 'Eid Celebrated in Sriram Colony'. You had also brought out an issue on "Babri Masjid". But in Dipawali issue, I saw call for class struggle. Is Marxist party's opposition to religion is limited only to Hindu rituals and Brahmanical norms?

                                                                   Bhavesh Marolia

Sadulpur, Rajasthan

THERE are two issues involved in your question. First is about CPI(M)'s attitude towards religion. You, like many others, seem to think that our party is opposed to religion as such, but this notion is not correct. Our party is not opposed to religion per se. Actually, believers of any religion can also become members of our party. Though our party bases itself on Marxist Philosophy, that has Dialectical Materialism as its core, still our party does not make giving up one’s belief in religion a pre-condition for giving membership. Of course, party expects its members to keep their religious beliefs to their personal life only. Religious beliefs cannot be allowed to interfere with working for implementation of party's programme.

Actually a Communist's opposition to religion starts only when religious beliefs and religious bodies start getting misused against social, economic, political and cultural interests of workers and their advancement. The Communists are dead against all kind of efforts to divide the working masses in the name of religion. Communists also oppose all the efforts of using religion for clouding workers perceptions of their own real interests and weakening their class consciousness. Communists are opposed to all such misuses and distortions of religion so that all the workers, cutting across religious divides, could be united for bringing about social change. This includes opposing all kinds of orthodoxy and not just brahmanical rituals. On other hand, Communists can even cooperate with religious organisations in case they play a role that is helpful in bringing social change. In Latin America, we have seen many examples of Communists’ cooperation with radical clergy. Thus it's clear that Communists are not opposed to religion as such.

Now we can take the second part of your question. You make a mention about two news items in the party organs. If one reads these items carefully, one will find that these are not news items only of celebrations of Eid or organising of Roza-Iftar. Actually Marxist party neither opposes religion as such, nor organises religious festivities. Out of two news items you have mentioned, news of Eid celebrations is about Sriram Colony in Delhi where, in a predominantly Muslim locality, RSS deliberately tried to create trouble on occasion of Eid to intensify communal polarisation. This news item is more about resisting the RSS game plan, in which our party and police played a significant role.

Similarly, news about Roza-Iftar is about Ekata Colony in Muzaffarnagar. This is a colony built by CPI(M) for families uprooted in the ghastly Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013. All the families so resettled are Muslim. Actually, this news is indicative of a degree of normalcy coming back in lives of these riot victims. Similarly, our organ's bringing out a special issue on 20 years of demolition of Babri Masjid is not so much about the mosque as it is about reminding the nation that culprits of this worst naked assault on our secular structure and constitution, led by RSS-BJP, are yet to be brought to book.