Q The common criticism about the Communists is that they have ignored the reality of caste in India and harp only on the class factor. How does the CPI(M) view the question of caste and what is its role in fighting caste oppression? R Ramachandran, Coimbatore The reality of caste, caste oppression, caste mobilisation, caste identity and intra-caste differences cannot be ignored by anyone living in India, least of all by a political party that seeks to unify the oppressed against the oppressors. The horrors of caste oppression and discrimination practised against the untouchables (as they were known as before independence) and sections of the backward castes were issues that communists campaigned and fought against soon after they organised themselves into small groups in different parts of the country, even before the Communist Party of India was established. Struggles of the landless and the rural poor could not have taken place if the questions of untouchability, the violence and humiliation meted out by the upper castes against those at the lowest strata of society and of the inhuman nature of the caste system had not been made central issues as important as the issues of wages, tenancy and freedom from bondage. This is not to deny the centrality of the issue of class for communists. Class according to us is the main economic and social marker. Very often there is also an overlap between the rural and urban working classes and the socially oppressed castes and between the exploiting landlord and capitalist classes and the upper castes. But this is not a permanent and unchanging overlap. With changes in social and economic relations, the overlap between the capitalists and the landlords and the upper castes undergoes changes. Not only are impoverished sections of all castes to be found among the rural and urban poor as a result of the uneven development of capitalism in our country which has been accompanied by large-scale and ever-increasing unemployment and landlessness, for example, but political changes and changes in land relations have also seen the entry of certain sections of the OBCs into the ranks of capitalists and capitalist farmers. It would, therefore, be wrong to formulate either that caste oppression is the only form of exploitation in our country or that class oppression can be fought without simultaneously fighting against caste oppression, especially of the dalits. The dalits still constitute the vast majority of the landless in the countryside and also of the most exploited and poorest of urban workers, most of them still confined to the unorganised sector. Communists must fight for their social rights in order to be able to draw them into the common struggles against economic inequality and against exploitation. It is a fact that even 68 years after independence, dalits continue to face the worst violence and atrocities. Their attempts to exercise their equal rights of citizenship are opposed in the most brutal fashion. Waging effective struggles against all forms of social discrimination has to be a priority for all Communists. It is not correct to state that the CPI(M) is not working on the basis of this understanding. In many parts of the country where it has been leading state governments that have brought it wide-ranging land reforms like Kerala, Tripura and West Bengal, there has been a tremendous change in the status of the dalits and the kinds of atrocities that are so common in the rest of India have, for the most part, become a thing of the past. In Andhra Pradesh (now Telengana and Andhra Pradesh) and Tamil Nadu, the CPI(M) is in the forefront of united struggles against untouchability and for the rights of dalits. Even in North India where these struggles are still sporadic and weak, in a state like Haryana it is only CPI(M) women and men who have confronted the khap panchayats and tried to take up the issues of violence against dalits which is so commonplace over issues like inter-caste marriages, sexual exploitation of dalit girls and women. The Party has acknowledged the need to take up social issues and conduct struggles on them especially in the Hindi-speaking states. Q: Lok Lehar was started two months after the Salkia Plenum which was held in December, 1978. It reached a peak circulation of 15,000 in 1988 according to the circulation figures. This showed how members joining the Party read Party papers. At the time of the 21st Party Congress Party membership was 10,58,750, but the Lok Lehar circulation was only 8000. What is the difference in the situation then and now? What are the reasons for the decline? Gopal, Delhi There has been a decline in the circulation of the Party central papers according to the report of the 21st Congress. The Lok Lehar circulation was 10,354 at the time of the 20th Congress and this declined to 8031 at the time of the 21st Congress. Both in the case of People’s Democracy and Lok Lehar, the largest circulation was in West Bengal. There was a drop in the Lok Lehar circulation in the state in the past three years. This was mainly due to the difficult situation prevailing in the state which has affected the work of the Party organisation and sale of papers. Further, there has been stagnation in circulation in the Hindi speaking states and some decline in a few states. This reflects the weakness of the organisation in the Hindi-speaking areas and the failure to instill the importance of reading and subscribing to the Party papers amongst the Party membership and supporters. The sale and distribution of the Party papers and publications is an important part of political and organisational work. We have to continue to stress on this aspect of Party work.