BHARATHI Puthagalayam has organised a two-day workshop on Communist Manifesto on July 27 and 28 in Ooty, Tamil Nadu. The idea is to conduct readings of the Communist Manifesto and popularise it in 10,000 places and to take one lakh copies of the book to the Left activists, sympathizers and general public using various means and avenues.

The workshop was attended by CPI(M)  Polit Bureau members MA Baby, G Ramakrishnan, state secretariat member N Gunasekaran, state committee member Badri,  and a noted intellectual M Sivalingam, who, with a small team of comrades is working for popularising Marxist Classics for many years and whose new translation of Communist Manifesto in contemporary Tamil is published by Bharathi Puthagalayam.

After a brief welcome address by Badri, the workshop was inaugurated by N Gunasekaran, whose talk set the ball rolling. MA Baby spoke about the genesis, journey, and about the translations into various languages and the contemporary relevance of the iconic book. He touched upon the successful culmination of the great October Revolution and its setback and disintegration in the light of Communist Manifesto and urged to go back to Communist Manifesto and other classics to pick up the thread and rebuild the movement. G Ramakrishnan and Sivalingam explained various facets of the book with reference to Indian and Tamil Nadu political and social situations.

K Nagarajan and P K Rajan (respectively publisher and editor of Bharathi Puthagalayam) explained the background of the Red Books Day and proposals to conduct various events in Tamil Nadu to culminate on February 21. Seventy six comrades from various walks of life, mass organisation and trade union leaders – young and experienced participated. Nearly half a day was spent for exchange of their ideas and suggestions. 

K Chandra Mohan of Nava Telangana greeted the participants. The district committee of CPI(M), Ooty, under their secretary Baskaran had done all the arrangements in a shoe string budget. Now the striving continues in various districts of Tamil Nadu and various trade unions and mass organisations to make 10,000 readings and one lakh copies of Communist Manifesto a reality.

The LeftWord Books publications, in collaboration with Tricontinental magazine has come up with the ‘Red Books Day 2020’ initiative which will be organised across the country on February 21, 2020. The date is significant as it is the date of the release of Communist Manifesto in 1848.

Red Books Day is a demonstration of resistance against the attack on the Left intellectuals, writers and publications by the upsurging fascist and other right reactionary forces; and to express solidarity with the victims, public readings of the Communist Manifesto would be held on February 21. Other programmes would be held to bring attention to the Communist Manifesto.

As part of the effort, LeftWord along with other publications like National Book Agency of West Bengal, Deshar Katha,Tripura, Chintha of Kerala, Prajasakthi from Andhra Pradesh, Nava Telangana of Telangana is also planning various events centered around Communist Manifesto and its public reading.