Party units throughout the country responded to the call given by the Polit Bureau to “Save Democracy and to Defeat the Violence and Terror in West Bengal”, on August 7.
West Bengal
In West Bengal thousands of people marched through the streets of Kolkata led by CPI(M) State Secretary and PB Member Biman Basu, Polit Bureau member Suryakanta Mishra and other leaders of the Left Front.In a public meeting after the procession, Biman Basu condemned the violent attacks on Left Front activists and general people during the elections. He said, the erstwhile Left Front government declared general amnesty to all political prisoners immediately after assuming office in 1977. In contrast, TMC government is blatantly using the administration to arrest hundreds of opposition activists in false cases.
Suryakanta Misra said that the Left parties conducted struggle for democracy before the Left government took office, during their tenure in office and the fight will continue despite terror. He said that the people have sent a warning signal to TMC government. If they fail to respond to the signal, they will face wrath of the people.
In Kerala, solidarity meetings were held in all district headquarters under the auspices of the District committees of Left Democratic Front.
In Thiruvananthapuram, a huge meeting was held at the BTR Bhavan. Inaugurating the meeting, CPI (M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, has said that, TMC goons have sabotaged the people’s verdict in Panchayat elections, by unleashing widespread rigging and booth capturing.
They have not even spared Left Front’s candidates and agents. Many Left front workers were killed in these attacks. In West Bengal, the politics has been criminalized under TMC rule. Anarchy prevails in the state and women are not safe there, Pinarayi said.
He also warned Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy not to terrorize the people of Kerala who are poised to launch and indefinite secretariat picketing from August 12.
CPI state executive member P Ramachandran Nair presided over the meeting. LDF convener Vaikom Vishwan, CPI (M) politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, central committee member Dr. T M Thomas Isaac, RSP leader N K Premachandran, CPI (M) district secretary Kadakampalli Surendran also spoke in the occasion.
Tripura
The whole state Tripura of stood in solidarity with the struggling masses of Bengal on 7th August as the call to observe “Save Democracy in Bengal” day received huge and spontaneous response throughout the state. In all the Subdivisions head quarters of the state processions and meetings were organized by the Divisional Committees of CPI(M). In other areas to meetings were organized by the local committees.In Agartala, braving incessant downpour, people participated in a procession which started from the Children’s Park which turned into a rally at the Paradise Chowmuhoni.
Addressing the gathering Bijan Dhar said, that all the democratic norms were thrown to wind. Orders of constitutional bodies including SEC, High Court, even the Apex Court were disobeyed. Despite all these the CPI(M) fared well in the areas where it offered resistance. Bijan Dhar said, these incidents are not new to people of Tripura. Here too people’s resistance led to the defeat of the semi fascist rule of Congress and TUJS. He said, in Bengal today the attack is not confined to CPI(M) or Left Front alone. TMC is not sparing even its former ally Congress or its ally SUCI. History shows that it is not the Communists but the reactionary bourgeois parties who try to uproot the bourgeoisie parliamentary democracy. Expressing solidarity with the people of Bengal Bijan Dhar said, “We believe Parivartan of Parivartan in Bengal is invincible.”
Jharkhand
In a programme organized by CPI (M) Jharkhand State Committee at Ranchi, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Com. Brinda Karat addressed a mass meeting and said that the State sponsored violence and terror in West Bengal is not only against the leaders and activists of CPI(M) and Left parties but also against the people in general of West Bengal including intellectuals, students, youth and women.She said during the Left Front rule from 1977 to 2008, the panchayats of West Bengal had shifted the class balance in favour of the poor. Through land reform maximum land was distributed among landless and poor during the tenure of the Left Front government. These were the reasons that during the Left Front government rule free and fair panchayat elections were held and women, dalits and the minorities not only won in reserved seats but also in from general seats. The attacks on the people in general were aimed to shift the class balance from the poor to the rich and to weaken the panchayati system.
Gopikant Baksi, secretary of Jharkhand state committee of CPI (M) presided over the meeting. Radhakant Jha, State secretary of RSP, Ajay Kumar of the CPI and Jayant Pandey of AIFB also addressed the gathering.
Andhra Pradesh
In Andhra Pradesh also rallies, hall meetings were held across the state. Impressive processions were taken out in Khammam and Warangal districts as also in Srikakulam town while hall meetings were held in Medak, Karimnagar, Guntur, East Godavari districts. Speaking at Karimnagar, CPI(M) central committee member S Veeraiah termed the Mamata Banarjee regime as a fascist one. Effigies of Trinamool Congress government were burnt in many mandal headquarters.
On August 02, 2013,CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, speaking at a solidarity meeting organised by the CPI(M) Andhra Pradesh state committee held in Sundarayya Vignana Kendram, called upon people to extend support and solidarity to the heroic fight of Bengal comrades to defend democracy and rights of the people. Among others who spoke included CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) state secretary B V Raghavulu, CPI state secretary K Narayana, RSP secretary Janakiramulu, Forward Bloc general secretary B Surender Reddy and CPI(ML) Liberation leader Uday Kiran. The CPI(ML) sent a message expressing solidarity with the fighting comrades of Bengal.
Karat in his speech depicted the grim picture of Trinamool violence in Bengal during the recent panchayat polls. He said it was during the Left Front regime of 34 years that the panchayat system in Bengal came into existence and became an important instrument of empowering the poor peasants, agricultural workers and others in governance. This had resulted in a big change in rural Bengal. The main aim of Trinamool Congress behind this violent campaign to sieze the panchayats is to undo this empowering.
Sitaram Yechuri said what is happening in Bengal is a serious class struggle. The TMC government is bent on reversing the land reforms programme of the Left Front by which over 11 lakh hectares of land was transferred from the rich to the poor. He drew attention to the events of 1967, 1972 in Bengal and the imposition of national emergency in 1975. “We had warned then also that it is not just an attack on the Left but an attack on democracy itself. Now also it is an attack on democracy and the rights of people. He warned that if unchecked, the violence and undermining of democracy in Bengal would result in undermining of democracy at the all India level and called for widespread solidarity actions. Earlier, a booklet brought out in Telugu detailing the present situation in Bengal was released by Yechury.
Punjab
Punjab observed the day by taking out rallies and demostrations were organized Ropar, Raikot, Ludhiana Satnaur, Hoshiarpur, Nangal, Bhawanigarh and Balachaur.
Addressing the rally at Ropar, Raghunath Singh said that all the democratic, peace and justice loving people of Punjab would stand like a rock by the left Front of West Bengal which protected the lives of thousands of Punjabi people in 1984 when the whole country was in the grip of anti-Sikh riots.
The protests rallies were also addressed by Bhoop Chand Channo, state Secretariat member, Jatinder Pal Singh, Darshan Mattu, Sukhminder Saikhon PCMS, Mahinder Kumar Badhonwan and several other party leaders.