THE tragic suicide of a kisan during the Aam Aadmi Party rally in New Delhi last week sharply brought out the real face of the deep agrarian distress that has gripped our country. Though these columns were highlighting this growing crisis and distress in Indian agriculture periodically, the depth of what this means to India in general and rural India in particular came under sharp focus with this suicide. Official governmental records show that nearly three lakh farmers have been driven to distress suicides during the last two decades.

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on April 27.THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has given a call to all Party units to collect funds to provide relief to the people of Nepal who have suffered from the devastating earthquake which has led to thousands of deaths and massive damage to homes, property and infrastructure.As an immediate response, the Polit Bureau has decided to donate Rs 10 lakh for the relief and rehabilitation work. 

Dear comrades,We are sending our hearty greetings to you – the delegates of the 21st Congress of the fraternal Communist Party of India (Marxist), to all members of the Party and your supporters. You have got together for your Congress at one of the most crucial moments in the history of the modern world. World economic crisis has had a great impact on the situation of the broad masses of people. Imperialist aggression has intensified. Fascism regenerates. Wars and conflicts are raging in many parts of the world.

IT is a great honor for the Communist Party of Cuba to send a message of greetings to the members, cadres and delegates to 21st Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) held in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, on April 14-19.
This is an exceptional opportunity to express our gratitude to the Indian communists for their constant solidarity with the Cuban Revolution. The recent victories of our people, including the return to the homeland of our Five Heroes, are also the result of the militant solidarity of the CPI (M).

The 21st Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) salutes the 104 martyrs who sacrificed their precious lives in the period since the last Party Congress. It extends its warm greetings to the courageous fighters in West Bengal who have defended the red flag and the Left Front and Left movement in the face of unprecedented and multiple forms of violence unleashed by the Trinamool Congress with the backing of the State police and under the patronage of its top leaders, including the Chief Minister in league with reactionary forces.