THE “Red Book Day” of reading the Communist Manifesto generated great enthusiasm in Tamil Nadu and it will not be an exaggeration to say that it has been a great success. Events were organised to mark the day in 1,800 to 2,000 centers all over Tamil Nadu.
After the initiation by LeftWord, the publisher Bharathi Puthakalayam in Tamil Nadu took many commendable steps to lay the ground for this event. The target of 10,000 reading events and sale of 1,00,000 copies of the Manifesto was fixed. In order to make it possible a fresh translation in Tamil was planned. M Sivalingam, a Marxist scholar, was roped in for translation. He did a great work in attempting the translation as simple as possible without diluting the content of the monumental work of Marxist founders. In fact, Sivalingam even studied German language in order to understand some of the intricate words of the Manifesto which was published in that language first.
A state-level workshop was held at Ooty in the month of July 2019. Polit Bureau members M A Baby and G Ramakrishnan participated in addition to M Sivalingam, the translator. The presentations and interaction greatly helped the state-level participants to grasp the various aspects of the Manifesto. It also helped to have an idea and the method by which the Manifesto could be taken to the rank and file of the Party and mass organisations not to mention the public wherever possible.
The next important task was to take this concept to the district level. Almost all the district committees took the task seriously and organised the meetings to prepare the facilitators who could be able to take the Manifesto contents to the ground level. These comrades really plunged themselves in studying the Manifesto and articles written by many Marxist scholars both nationally and internationally. The writings at the time of Manifesto Centenary in 1948, the articles written in 1998 at the time of 150th year served the basis for preparation. The particular mention has to be made about the book published by LeftWord during 150th year of the Manifesto. The editorial article by Prakash Karat and articles by Aizaz Ahmed, Irfan Habib, Prabhat Patnaik helped to great extent. Also articles by Marxist Scholars like Eric Hobsbawm, Samir Amin etc also were studied by facilitators to update themselves.
In interaction with comrades at district level, it was felt that not only Manifesto needed to be explained in the context of its period but also the present contemporary relevance had to be explained. It created the necessity to understand the unbelievable growth of the tools of production in what is called the fourth industrial revolution in the era of finance capital. Also the great disruptions and miseries it had brought to the working people and society in general.
The two important questions raised in the interaction need to be mentioned. One was about the relevance of the Manifesto in Indian context since it was addressed to Europe. The related sub question was why the Manifesto did not speak caste factor. It was explained that the Manifesto’s basic formulations are as relevant to Indian context as any other nation. Further Marx extensively dealt with the Indian context exactly after four years of the Manifesto. From 1852 onwards he wrote many articles for New York Daily Tribune on the impact of British rule in India. In these articles, Marx also dealt with the caste factor and how it was a big obstacle in the progress of Indian society.
The second important question was related to the leading role of the working class in the revolution. The doubt was raised whether the working class could be the agency of social revolution in the age of internet. The doubt was related to both quantity and quality of the leading class. The contention was that the number of workers was going down due to advent of the machines especially robots and artificial intelligence. It had to be explained that according to various figures the actual number of workers was on the increase. But the internal structure of the working class is undergoing a change in that non permanency and informal nature as in India is taking place.
As far as the quality of the working class related to its leading role, it was explained that the revolutionary role of the class arose in its relationship with the means of production and it was the only class which had no ownership of means of production whatsoever. While one could not underestimate the weakness prevailing among this class, modern revolution was not possible without its leading role. This is more relevant in Indian context where the working class has to build the axis of democratic revolution by organising other toiling masses especially rural poor. Further this class has to be educated of its leading role by the organisation which happens to be the Communist Party. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury released a copy of the Manifesto marking its sale of 1,00,000 copies during Chennai Book Festival and gave a speech on it.
Red Book Day: Communist Manifesto Read Out
V B Ganesan
LEFTWORD along with other Left publications launched a movement called ‘Red Book Day’ on February 21 across the world. As part of this, Bharathi Puthakalayam devised a plan to organise the Communist Manifesto reading session in 10,000 centres and publish and sell one lakh copies of the manifesto for this occasion. Sitaram Yechury released the one lakhth copy in January at a special function organised on the sidelines of Chennai book fair 2020.
As decided the manifesto reading session began earnestly across Tamil Nadu. Every district, taluk and branch committees organised these sessions. In the reading session organised at the state committee office, T K Rangarajan, CCM extolled the necessity of reading Marxist literature like manifesto and connecting those lessons with our field activities. He said that the experience gained at the ground will enrich our understanding of the writings of Marx, Engels and Lenin and help us to work among the people with more clarity. On this occasion G Ramakrishnan, PBM felicitated M U Sivalingam who has given a new version of Tamil translation which is being used for this reading session across the state.
In the evening those who are serving in IT industry organised a reading session at Thorappakkam IT corridor, which attracted a large number of youth towards the Communist Manifesto. The session began with an introduction on the publishing history of manifesto and its relevance in today's chaotic world.
According to reports received from many parts of the state, the reading session was held in more than 10,000 centres and it took many forms. In many districts, members of Left parties and their mass organisations were involved. In Thanjavur along with the reading session, a symposium was also held. This movement kindled a new urge among the youth and women to read Marxist classics afresh. Already a discussion is underway to select a book of Engels for such a reading to commemorate the 200th birth anniversary of Frederick Engels.
On the whole, this celebration of Red Book Day and the reading session of Communist Manifesto has given a new impetus among the youth to read the Marxist classics and find their relevance to our struggle to create a just and loveable new world for humankind. Those who have participated in these sessions resolved to go further in this direction.
