Condemn Israel’s Genocidal Attacks on Gaza

THE 24th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) condemns Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza and demands an immediate and permanent ceasefire. Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza, Palestine after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. More than 50,021 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more injured in this barbaric onslaught.

Israel restarted its attacks on Gaza immediately after the completion of the first phase of ceasefire. Since then, it has cut the supply of food, water, fuel, aid and all other essentials to Gaza. Israel intends to strangulate and push Gaza towards starvation. It carried out attacks on hospitals, aid convoys, UN refugee shelters, schools, masjids and churches, leaving no space safe in Gaza. 60 per cent of the people killed in Israel’s attacks are women and children. Journalists and UN aid workers were also targeted and killed. Crops were destroyed. All these attacks demonstrate the genocidal character of the Israeli State. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) taking cognisance of it, issued arrest warrants on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders.

Israel is actively encouraging Zionist settlers to occupy Palestinian land in the West Bank and establish Jewish settlements. In this manner, it is slowly annexing Palestinian territory in the West Bank. All these acts are intended to drive away Palestinians from their homeland and completely annex Palestine, as a part of realising its agenda of establishing Greater Israel.

The United States and other imperialist countries in Western Europe are actively supporting Israel in its attack on Palestine by arming and standing by it in international forums. Trump’s announcement of his condemnable plans for converting Gaza into a tourist paradise by pushing out all Palestinians living there, suits Israel’s interests.

The BJP central government watered down the long-held official position of India on Palestine. Instead of resolutely standing with the people of Palestine and demanding action on Israel, the BJP government is now siding with Israel. As a result, for the first time, India voted against or abstained on UN resolutions demanding a ceasefire and condemning Israel. Such positions dented India’s credibility among the developing countries and it is now seen as an ally of Israel and the US.

In order to defend its positions, the BJP, along with the Sangh Parivar is projecting the Israeli attack on Gaza as a religious war. The RSS shares close ideological bonds with the Zionists in identifying nationality with religion and their hatred towards Muslims. It is this ideological affinity that is behind the BJP government’s support to Israel.

The 24th Congress of the CPI(M) demands an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Israel should be declared as an apartheid State and acted against accordingly. It demands that the BJP government stop supporting Israel and revert to the established Indian policy of supporting Palestine. Lasting peace in the region is possible only by the establishment of a Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital and with pre-1967 borders.

The 24th Congress expresses its solidarity with the people of Palestine, and calls upon the Indian people to stand firmly with the people of Palestine in their just struggle for their homeland.

Stand in Solidarity with Socialist Cuba

THE 24th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its deep solidarity with Cuba in these most difficult times. Socialist Cuba represents the hope and the example that it is possible to confront the might of imperialism and fight for the construction of a better world.

The US always considered the whole of Latin America as its backyard, and cannot tolerate even the slightest assertion of sovereignty by any country. Ever since the Cuban Revolution declared itself to be socialist, the US has been trying hard to break the spirit of the Cuban people and ensure the country’s collapse.

Since 1962, Cuba has been subjected to a genocidal economic blockade by the US. The intention is to economically suffocate the Island. The blockade has resulted in Rs 1,29,69,717.04 crore losses for the Cuban people and hindered their productive processes.

In spite of such huge losses to their economy, Cuba ensures that every Cuban gets free education, free healthcare and excels in sports, arts and such other cultural fields of their choice. Cuba sends its medical doctors and nurses to any country in the world, which faces natural calamities or pandemics. This is Cuba’s commitment towards internationalism and concern for humankind, extending its hand of friendship even when it itself is suffering.

Due to the illegal economic blockade, Cuba has been going through a critical situation. The US is ignoring the nearly 31 resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly condemning the US imposed economic blockade. On the other hand, the US is carrying out its attacks on Cuba. It spends millions of dollars every year to fund terrorist and anti-Cuba forces.

Due to the blockade, Cuba experienced prolonged interruptions in the supply of electricity. Cuban people are facing a shortage of raw materials for the production of medicines. The screws of the economic blockade are being tightened to strangulate Cuba, by denying it access to food, fuel and raw materials.

In addition, Cuba is arbitrarily included in the spurious list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, one of the many unilateral coercive measures applied as part of the economic war against countries that refuse to bow down to the dictates of the US.

Cubans are bravely resisting all such attempts to subjugate them. They are heroically defending their country. Now it is the time for the world to stand in solidarity with Cuba and help it overcome the imperialist-created crisis. Being with Cuba is joining the struggle against imperialism and in defence of socialism.

The 24th Congress of the CPI(M) resolves to stand in solidarity with Cuba and join the call of the National Committee for Solidarity with Cuba for mobilising the maximum financial assistance, before August 13, 2025, the birth centenary of Comrade Fidel Castro. All the members of our Party and class and mass organisations must be approached and asked to contribute any amount from Rs 10 to a day’s wage, if not more. We have to approach people and seek financial assistance so that we could buy medicines and generators for Cuba. This is part of our anti-imperialist task.

Support Countrywide General Strike on May 20, 2025 against Labour Codes

THE 24th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) extends its full and active support to the countrywide general strike called by the joint platform of central trade unions and independent all India sectoral federations on May 20, 2025, against the implementation of the four Labour Codes by the Modi-led BJP-NDA government.

The so-called ‘labour law reforms’ under which 29 existing labour laws have been repealed and claimed to be subsumed into four Labour Codes, are a part of the neoliberal agenda being aggressively pursued by the Modi government. They are meant to drastically curtail the hard-won basic rights of the working class, related to their working conditions like working hours, minimum wages, social security and more importantly their right to organisation and collective action including their right to strike.

Contrary to the claims of the Modi government that the Labour Codes are meant to universalise coverage and simplify labour laws, Labour Codes in fact exclude large sections of workers including those in the organised sector who were earlier covered by protective measures under the existing labour laws. The Code on Social Security provides scope for social security benefits like EPF and ESI to be tampered, weakened and for establishments to exit from these schemes without the need for any Parliamentary amendment to the relevant Acts. Social security for hundreds of thousands of workers in industries like beedi, iron ore, mica, limestone, dolomite mines, most of them dalits, adivasis and OBCs, who were earlier covered with sector specific Acts will now be thrown into uncertainty as the government has abolished all related provisions for cess collection.

In addition, the Modi government is using provisions under Acts like UAPA, PMLA and BNS to suppress the basic rights of the workers. Collective actions like lodging complaint or even making a representation to the Labour Department are being interpreted as ‘organised crime’ under section 111 of BNS and trade union leaders are imprisoned without bail. At the same time, through the Jan Vishwas Act, the government has decriminalised 180 offences under 41 legislations, withdrawing the provision for imprisonment for violations and limiting punishment to fines. The last Union Budget proposed to decriminalise 100 more provisions.

The Labour Codes and all the other measures being implemented in the name of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ are nothing but attempts to weaken the trade unions, the organised strength of the working class and enable unbridled exploitation by the big corporates, both domestic and foreign, by imposing conditions of virtual slavery on workers.

Attempts to amend labour laws in favour of the capitalist class have intensified since the onset of neoliberalism. The Modi government has initiated the process of codification soon after returning to power in 2019 and passed the four Labour Codes in 2019-20. But till now it has not been able to implement the Labour Codes, one of the major reasons being the stiff resistance of the united working class movement.

The 24th Congress of the CPI(M) fully supports the united struggle of the working class demanding repeal of the Labour Codes and calls upon all its committees and branches to actively support the countrywide general strike on May 20, 2025.

Withdraw the Divisive and Unjust ‘Waqf Amendment Act’ Immediately

THIS 24th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) condemns the passage of the ‘Waqf Amendment Bill’ by Parliament. This legislation is an assault on the Constitution and the rights of minorities. The CPI(M) calls upon all secular people and organisations of the country to protest against this Act which will only increase communal polarisation and damage the secular fabric of the nation.

The earlier Waqf Act was a legal framework governing Waqf properties (Islamic endowments) and ensuring their proper administration, protection and utilisation for religious and charitable purposes. It provided guidelines for the regulation of Waqf properties, preventing their misuse and unauthorised sale.

The amended Act makes significant changes which will undermine the foundational principles laid out in the earlier Act. Through this amendment the BJP government is pushing its Hindutva agenda, aiming to divide people. It has been repeatedly claiming that the earlier Act has been used for extensive land grab by Muslims.

Despite Islamic injunctions prohibiting non-Muslims from managing Waqf properties, the amended Act includes non-Muslims in Waqf Boards. This is an attack on the Constitutional right of the Muslims to practice their religion.

By making it mandatory that only a Muslim who can prove that he/she has followed the religion for at least five years, the amended Act is opening the way for harassment of Muslims and can actually prevent them from creating or contributing to Waqf properties. Many non-Muslims also contribute to the building of Mosques etc and this expression of brotherhood and fraternity will no longer be possible under the amended Act.

By abolishing Section 40 of the Waqf Act, the Waqf Board will lose its authority to determine the nature of Waqf properties. Waqf properties primarily fall into four categories: Waqf by Deed (documented), Waqf by Oral Declaration (verbally declared), Waqf by Use (established through prolonged usage), and government-granted lands. Under the new amendments, the majority of Waqf properties in the country – those declared orally or through usage – will become vulnerable to government takeover. 

States with the largest Waqf holdings, such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala, will face targeted appropriation of these assets through the proposed amendments. 

By transferring the authority to determine Waqf properties from the Survey Commissioner to government-appointed revenue officials, the government aims to seize places of worship, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and vocational centres, thereby consolidating control over Waqf assets. 

The new mandate requiring the registration of thousands of Waqf properties historically established through long-term usage exposes the government’s covert agenda to confiscate them. 

By stripping the Waqf Tribunal of its powers, the Waqf Board itself will be alienated from the community it serves. 

Through these amendments, the central government is advancing its agenda of eradicating the rights of Muslims, mirroring the exclusionary intent of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). 

To safeguard the secular and democratic fabric of the nation, all secular and democratic-minded citizens must unite to demand the withdrawal of this divisive Waqf Amendment Act.