The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met online on September 12, 2020. It has issued the following statement on September 13COVID PANDEMIC: GRAVE SITUATIONIndia has reached a very grave situation with the Covid pandemic rampaging across the country making India the country with the highest daily record of positive cases in the world. The central government and the prime minister Modi have virtually abdicated their responsibilities and left the people to fend for themselves.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on September 13THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is shocked by the brazenness with which the Delhi Police, acting under home minister, Amit Shah has tried to implicate prominent political leadership, academics, cultural personalities and activists in connection with the horrific communal violence in North East Delhi in February.
THE intervening period between the Fifth Congress and the Sixth Congress saw many momentous developments in the political life of the country and also within the Communist Party. Two biggest events that had dominated the Indian political scene after the Amritsar Congress, were the developments in Kerala and the deterioration of India-China relations.
THE central government has used the pandemic to pass ordinances that significantly changed agricultural legislations to open up agricultural markets and serve interests of large companies and corporate capital. The Karnataka government has followed in the footsteps of the central government to promulgate the Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 (henceforth the Karnataka land ordinance) on July 13. This ordinance seeks to further corporate and private interests in agricultural land.
A DECISION to request the Central Election Commission to postpone the Kuttanad and Chavara assembly by-elections was taken on September 11, at an all-party meeting chaired by Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
THE Himachal Vidhan Sabha is convened for a short period of 10 days at Shimla. For three consecutive days from September 14 to 16, there were three protests held by SFI, CITU and DSMM respectively.SFI BANGS PLATES OUTSIDE THE VIDHAN SABHAOn September 14, the SFI state unit held a demonstration outside the state assembly and banged plates as a form of protest to wake up the government.
SPEAKING in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on September 15-16, Dr Harsh Vardhan, union health minister made a number of self-congratulatory claims regarding the “success” of the government’s lockdown and its Covid-19 policies. What was striking about his claims is its ostrich-like refusal to address the current reality of surging Covid-19 cases.
CPI(M) Tamil Nadu state secretariat member and former MLA, Comrade K Thangavel passed away on September 13, 2020. Comrade K Thangavel got admitted to a hospital for coronavirus treatment in Coimbatore on August 30 and since then he could not come out of his illness. CPI(M) expresses its deep sorrow and condoles the death of Comrade K Thangavel. He was aged 68 years and is survived by his wife and daughters.Comrade Thangavel was born in a family with a humble background; he worked as a labourer in a hosiery company.
STUDENTS and youth came out onto the streets in large numbers on September 15, demanding end to anarchy in education and demanding jobs for all. At the call of eight student-youth organisations, thousands of students and youth joined in protest rallies and demonstrations throughout West Bengal.In Kolkata, as the rally began from College Street, police tried to stop it. But the militant mood of the rally forced them to clear out. The rally, decorated with yellow umbrellas with demands written on them, marched upto Esplanade.
Moreover, such actions prevent the members of Parliament from carrying out their constitutional obligations of questioning, debating, discussing and scrutinising government policies and actions.THE decision to go without “question hour” during the monsoon session of parliament, beginning September 14, has evoked serious concerns about the democratic functioning of the institution. Question hour is not only an opportunity for the members to raise questions, but it is a parliamentary device primarily meant for exercising legislative control over executive actions.