WHEN we are celebrating 75 years of independence, our country is ruled by the very forces which never participated in the freedom struggle and are now undermining the cherished values of democracy and secularism. Karnataka which has a great tradition of renaissance and progressive ethos is now under attack from these communal forces. Karnataka should revive its ethos and defeat the attempts of converting it into a testing ground of communalism in south India, CPI(M) Polit Bureau Member and Kerala Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan said. He was addressing a mammoth gathering on September 18 at Bagepalli in the Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka. He inaugurated the state-level political convention on communal harmony and development, organised by the Karnataka state committee of the CPI(M).

In his address, Vijayan recounted movements and struggles in Karnataka against caste exploitation, untouchability and inequality, and the dangerous manipulations of the communal forces that poison the minds. Sangh Parivar outfits have become hate factories. They are hell-bent on communalising the young minds through revision of textbooks, he added.

Dwelling on the alternative being successfully projected by the LDF government, he described how the Communist-led governments in Kerala took forward the work done by the leaders of renaissance movements to develop it into a state leading the country in every social indicator. Kerala is a state where there are no communal disturbances. Even the NITI Aayog and the UN rated Kerala as the number one state in sustainable development. It is a state which topped the public affairs index for three years in succession, with zero corruption, lowest infant mortality, and quality public education. Kerala is the only state which provided remunerative support prices to vegetable growers and turned all PSUs profitable. Though Kerala is not a wealthy state, it could win many such national and international laurels. Therefore, the central government is making all attempts to throttle the state. But the LDF government which has won its place in the hearts of the people has been beating back all these attacks, he said.

CULTURE OF TOLERANCE UNDER THREAT

In Karnataka also, whose culture of tolerance is being threatened by the hate politics of the communal forces and “resort politics” of the BJP, the Left forces, though politically not so strong, have led many social and economic battles, Vijayan said. The coming days are days of struggles. The Left forces should be able to create awareness about the danger posed by the communal forces and unite all secular minds. He gave a call to the Communists and Left forces in the state to carry forward this struggle to defeat the divisive politics of fake nationalism.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau Member, B V Raghavulu, speaking about the political situation in Karnataka, described the so-called “double engine” government as rusted. He recalled the contribution of Bagepalli in the Communist movement in Karnataka. He reminded the gathering of the development works done by Party MLAs elected thrice in the past and also who despite being alone shook the ruling class on people’s issues. He gave a call to again send a representative to the next Assembly who can be the voice of the toiling masses.

CPI(M) state secretary, U Basavaraj talked about the objective of the political convention and stressed the necessity of sending representatives of left and democratic forces to the assembly in the elections to be held next year. Party leaders, S Varalaxmi, Munivenkatappa and Anil also addressed the convention. CPI(M) Polit Bureau Member, M A Baby attended the meeting. The convention followed an impressive procession of more than 20,000 people.