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Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation

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Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation
भारतीय कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी (मार्क्सवादी-लेनिनवादी) लिबरेशन
LeaderDipankar Bhattacharya
Founded1974
HeadquartersU-90, Shakarpur, Delhi-110092
NewspaperLiberation (English) Aajker Deshabrati (Bengali)
Student wingAll India Students Association
Youth wingRevolutionary Youth Association
Women's wingAll India Progressive Women's Association
Labour wingAll India Central Council of Trade Unions All India Agricultural Labour Association
IdeologyCommunism,
Marxism-Leninism,
Mao Zedong Thought[1]
Political positionFar-left
ColoursRed
ECI StatusState Party[2]
Seats in Lok Sabha
0 / 545
Seats in Rajya Sabha
0 / 245
Election symbol
File:Cpimllelectionsymbol.png
Website
http://www.cpiml.org

The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation is a communist political party in India

CPI(ML) Liberation is the largest faction of the 1970s CPI(ML) the survived all the twists and is now a prominent factor in national left politics. It has presence in several the states of the country where ir operates through various mass organisations (workers, farmers, women, youth, student unions).

History

Background

The Telangana Rebellion in 1948 resulted in seizure of vast stretches of land by the farmer from the ruling Nawab of Hyderabad.2,500 villages were organised into communes by the peasants under the leadership of Communist Party of India (CPI). The event lasted between 1946 to 1951. The movevent subsequently lead to a debate within the party on what will be the direction of Indian Revolution.

This lead to the genesis of the Andhra Thesis which declared that the revolution of India should follow the Chinese path of protrcted people's war.[3]

The debate finally lead to the formation of Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) from CPI. However the two parties reconciled to a degree during the formation of United Front (1967) through the joining of United Left Front (1967) (under the leadership of CPIM) and People's United Left Front (under the leadership of CPI which included the Bangla Congress).[4][5]

During the CPI-CPIM split the radical communist section aligned itself with CPIM and left CPI. But this reconciliation further ensued the old debate lead by the radical communists within the CPIM. The debate on what will be the direction of Indian revolution further concentrated with the writing of Historic Eight Documents by Charu Majumdar.[6]

Emergence of CPI(ML)

The inner-party debate lead the radical communist to form a new centre for revolutionaries, All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR). in 1967. The AICCCR further developed and lead to the formation of Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) under leadership of Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal on 22 April ( Lenin's birthday) , 1969.[7]

The first part congress of the CPI(ML) was held in Kolkata on May 1970.

Naxalbari Uprising[8]

A militant peasant uprising started in Naxalbari in 1967 area under the leadership of Kanu Sanyal and Jangal Santhal. The rebel cadres under leadership of Charu Majumdar started seizing the lands of landlords, the workers of tea gardens of Darjeeling district of West Bengal stopped working after a tribal youth was attacked by the "goons" of landlord for ploughing his land.[9] The tribals in retaliation started seizing the lands of landlords.[10] The movement spread through out India in the states of Bihar(then undivided), Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and others. The movement got a new gear in the terrains of Srikakulam.[11] The central and state government lead a harsh crackdown.[12]

The crackdown and aftermath

The crackdown led to severe repression of the movement by 1973. Several Party leaders and cadres were either killed in police encounter[13]. or arrested The party's press which released party documents were raided.[14] This lead to confusion within the party and further the party splintered into numerous groups.

In 1973 the original Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) was split into two factions, with one group led by Sharma and another by Mahadev Mukherjee. Vinod Mishra initially belonged to Mukherjee's party, but he and the Burdwan Regional Committee broke with Mukherjee in September 1973. Mishra sought contact with the Sharma group, but the Burdwan Regional Committee was later divided and Mishra denounced the political line of Sharma (a critique, which amongst other things, called for the formation of open mass organizations, a move that almost constituted a heresy in the CPI(ML) movement at the time).[15]

In 1974 Mishra came into contact with Subrata Dutta (Jauhar), a leader of armed struggle in the plain areas of Bihar. On 28 July 1974 (the second death anniversary of Charu Majumdar) a new party Central Committee was formed with Jauhar as General Secretary and Mishra and Swadesh Bhattacharya (Raghu) as members.[15] The reorganized party became known as the 'anti-Lin Biao' group (whilst the faction of Mahadev Mukherjee constituted the 'pro-Lin Biao' group).[16] The anti-Lin Biao group became known as the CPI(ML) Liberation.[17]

Mishra served as West Bengal secretary of the new party organization. Under Mishra's leadership new dalams (guerilla squads) were formed.

In November 1975 Jauhar was killed. Mishra became the new party General Secretary in a reorganized five-member Central Committee. Mishra organized a second party congress, held clandestinely in the rural areas of Gaya district in February 1976. The congress unanimously re-elected Mishra as General Secretary.[15]

Reorientation and rectification

Mishra was the political architect of the process of re-orientation of CPI(ML) Liberation.[15] By 1976 the party had adopted a position that armed struggle would be combined with building a broad anti-Congress democratic front movement.[17] The process further elaborated through an internal rectification process initiated in late 1977. Party study circles and party schools were started from central to block level of the party structure. The theory of two line tactics started to develop.

In 1981 party tried to unify the other splintred ML factions. The party organised a unity meet with 13 ML factions to form a unified leading core . But the initiative was a failure.

The IPF

In the early 1980s CPI(ML) Liberation began building an open non-party mass movement (in direct to the original policy of CPI(ML)), the Indian People's Front (founded in April 1982). Nagbhushan Patnaik became the president of IPF. The construction of IPF, through which the underground party could develop links to other democratic forces on the basis of a popular, democratic and patriotic programme, was based on interventions by Mishra.[15] However although Mishra broke with the dogmas of the early CPI(ML), he never renounced Charu Majumdar's legacy.[16]

In the third party congress it was decided that IPF will participate in parliamentary elections. In 1989 IPF's Rameshwar Prasad (won the Loksabha seat from Ara (Bhojpur). In 1990, IPF won 7 seats from Bihar Legislative Assembly. Special initiatives taken foe restructuring the party and open up. IPF hold its first rally on 8 October, 1990 in Delhi.

The ASDC

In 1985, the party launched People's democratic Front (PDF) in Karbi angling district of Assam which won a seat in state assembly. In 1987 PDF was transformed to Autonomous State Demand Committee. A sustained mass movement by ASDC help it to sweep district council elections in 1989. In 1981, ASDC's Jayanta Rongpi became a MP in Parliament. In 1996, ASDC was able to send its five member group in Assam assembly as MLA.

In 1992, after the Fifth party congress(Held in Kolkata), the party comes out in the open from its underground status.[18] Mishra was re-elected General Secretary of the party at the sixth congress of CPI(ML) Liberation in Varanasi in October 1997.[15]

Present

Kavita Krishnan

The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, led by Dipankar Bhattacharya and Kavita Krishnan, is the largest surviving faction of the CPI (M-L) and is now a prominent factor in national left politics of India. It has a presence in most of the country. Liberation has established legal overground structures (trade unions, student groups, peasant organisations etc.) and participates in elections. In the Lok Sabha elections in 1999 the party won 0.3% of the votes and one seat (the former ASDC-seat from Assam). In the 2004 elections the seat was lost, mainly due to a split within ASDC. As of 2016, the party has been able to send its representatives to the state legislative assemblies of Bihar and Jharkhand as well as the panchayats of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Punjab.

Publications

The English-language publication of the party is Liberation, and thus the party is called CPI(ML) Liberation. Apart from Liberation, the party publishes a central Hindi weekly organ, Samkaleen Lokyuddh. Some state party committees publish their own organs, like the weekly AjkBer Deshabrati in West Bengal, Nabasphulinga in Tripura, Teeppori in Tamil Nadu, Telugu Liberation in Andhra Pradesh, Kannada Liberation in Karnataka, Samkali Lok Morcha in Punjab, etc.

Mass organizations

The main mass organizations of the party are:

States

Bihar

The party has a longstanding conflict with the feudal landlords since the beginning of CPI(ML). Siwan, Bhojpur, Patna, Jehenabad, Arwal are the citadel of CPI(ML) movement.[19]

Bihar Legislative assembly Election 2015

CPI(ML) Liberation emerged as the third largest party in Bihar Legislative Assembly Election 2015. The party contested jointly along with CPI,CPI(M),RSP, Forward block, and SUCI(C) as a third alternative to the National Democratic Alliance and the Mahagathbandhan of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar. The party won three seats from Siwan district (Satyadeo Ram from Darauli ), Katihar district (Mahboob Alam from Balrampur) and Bhojpur District (Sudama Prasad from Tarari) each. The party has a vote percentage of 1.5% in the state. All the left parties together have a vote percentage of 3.59%.

Jharkhand

Giridih, Jharkhand

Since the separation of Jharkhand from Bihar important places like Ranchi, Dhanbad, Giridih, Koderma, Jamtada and others have been field of work of the party. In Jharkhand the party is the representative of regional adivasis who have conflicts with corporates and government against improper land seizure without proper rehabilitation. The party also has conflicts with the local coal mafias.[20]

Jharkhand Panchayat Election 2015

In Giridih district the party emerged as the single largest party and won 11 zila Parishad seats during the panchayat election of 2015.[21]

Jharkhand Legislative Assembly Election 2014

The party contested in cooperation with state left parties like Marxist Coordination Centre(MCC), CPI, and CPI(M) as an alternative to the BJP and INC led alliances. The party won one seat from Giridih district (Rajkumar Yadav from Dhanwar). The party got 1.5% of vote in the state. All the left parties together got 2.5% vote in the state.

Punjab

The party here represents the landless dalit labourers through the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha which is affiliated to AIALA. The Green revolution mechanised the agriculture since the rule of Indira Gandhi. But the landless remained land less.[22]

Mansa, Punjab

The Malwa Uprising

In 2009 there was a land siege by the landless farmers in the Malwa region which includes Singrur, Mansa, Bhatinda under the leadership of the CPI(ML) Liberation.This was as a result of unprovided free land as was promised by the rulling parties as per Punjab Land Consolidation and Fragmentation act of 1961. The protesters struck a deal with the government to legally allot them lands as per provisions within three months. The government demanded immediate vacation of the seiged lands. The famers were ready to leave but demanded allotment of lands within thee month, but the government did not agree to their demands which led to their defiance and a government crackdown on May 21.[23]

References

  1. ^ http://www.cpiml.org/pgs/partyprogram/cpiml_gen_prog.htm
  2. ^ "List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification Dated 18.01.2013" (PDF). India: Election Commission of India. 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  3. ^ "History of Naxalism". http://www.hindustantimes.com/. 9 May 2003. Retrieved 24 November 2016. {{cite news}}: External link in |newspaper= (help)
  4. ^ "Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation CPI(ML) – The Firm Defender of the Revolutionary Legacy of Indian CommunistsCommunist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation". cpiml.org. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  5. ^ "History of Naxalism". http://www.hindustantimes.com/. 9 May 2003. Retrieved 24 November 2016. {{cite news}}: External link in |newspaper= (help)
  6. ^ "Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation CPI(ML) – The Firm Defender of the Revolutionary Legacy of Indian CommunistsCommunist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation". cpiml.org. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  7. ^ "Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation CPI(ML) – The Firm Defender of the Revolutionary Legacy of Indian CommunistsCommunist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation". cpiml.org. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  8. ^ "Road to Naxalbari". www.frontline.in. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  9. ^ "History of Naxalism". http://www.hindustantimes.com/. 9 May 2003. Retrieved 24 November 2016. {{cite news}}: External link in |newspaper= (help)
  10. ^ "History of Naxalism". http://www.hindustantimes.com/. 9 May 2003. Retrieved 24 November 2016. {{cite news}}: External link in |newspaper= (help)
  11. ^ "Road to Naxalbari". www.frontline.in. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  12. ^ "History of Naxalism". http://www.hindustantimes.com/. 9 May 2003. Retrieved 24 November 2016. {{cite news}}: External link in |newspaper= (help)
  13. ^ "Countering the Maoists | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dna. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  14. ^ "History of Naxalism". http://www.hindustantimes.com/. 9 May 2003. Retrieved 24 November 2016. {{cite news}}: External link in |newspaper= (help)
  15. ^ a b c d e f Sen, Arindam. The Life of Vinod Mishra
  16. ^ a b Karat, Prakash. Naxalism Today; At an Ideological Deadend. The Marxist, Volume: 3, No. 1, January–March 1985
  17. ^ a b Frontline. The road from Naxalbari. Volume 22 - Issue 21, 8–21 October 2005
  18. ^ "Long March from Naxalbari : Most Memorable Moments". archive.cpiml.org. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  19. ^ "Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation Siwan, Shahabuddin and the CPI(ML)Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation". cpiml.org. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  20. ^ "Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation CPI(ML) at the Hustings in JharkhandCommunist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation". cpiml.org. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  21. ^ "Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation Jharkhand Panchayat Elections : CPI(ML) Emerges as the Biggest Party in Terms of Seats in Giridih DistrictCommunist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation". cpiml.org. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  22. ^ "Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation Punjab: Popular Struggles and Left AssertionCommunist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation". cpiml.org. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  23. ^ "Peasant uprising in Punjab". Hindustan Times. 11 June 2009. Retrieved 18 November 2016.