CPI(M) congress adopts resolutions on Palestine, delimitation, ONOE, census

Madurai | The CPI(M) national congress on Friday adopted a special resolution condemning Israel's attack on Gaza. It accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of watering down India's long-held official position on Palestine.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also adopted resolutions opposing the 'One Nation, One Election' and delimitation proposals, and supporting conducting of a caste census along with the delayed decadal census.

The special resolution on Palestine condemned Israel's "genocidal attack" on Gaza and demanded an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

"More than 50,021 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more injured in this barbaric onslaught," the CPI(M) resolution said.

The Left party also slammed the Union government, accusing it of watering down India's stand on Palestine.

"The BJP-led Central government watered down India's long-held official position on Palestine. Instead of resolutely standing with the people of Palestine and demanding action on Israel, the BJP government is now siding with Israel," the resolution said.

"As a result, for the first time, India voted against or abstained from the United Nations resolutions demanding a ceasefire and condemning Israel. Such positions dented India's credibility among the developing countries. It is now seen as an ally of Israel and the US," it said.

The resolution also strongly opposed the 'One Nation, One Election' initiative and called it "a drive of the RSS-BJP, which wants to create a centralised unitarian State".

"It is an extension of their slogan of 'One Nation, One Religion, One Language, One Culture, One Leader'. They have lifted and modified this slogan from Hitler's fascist era," it said.

The resolution said the proposal undermines both democracy and federalism, and called upon the people of India to oppose this anti-democratic and anti-federal drive.

In another resolution, the CPI(M) expressed grave concern that the decadal census, which was due in 2021, has not been held so far, and demanded that a caste census be held with it.

"A caste census will help in understanding the link between caste and socio-economic and educational development, assess the impact of ruling class policies and reservations for the welfare of the backward classes," the resolution said.

"To ensure that policy-making is driven by scientific data and to ensure justice for all oppressed sections in society, it is imperative to demand that the much-delayed 2021 census, along with a caste census be held immediately," the Left party said.

The party also opposed any delimitation process that diminishes any state's proportional share of representation in Parliament.

"Any delimitation framework must prevent the disproportionate advantage to any particular region or state, and the interests of states that have successfully controlled population growth must be protected," the CPI(M) resolution said.

The party said a pro-rata seat increase should be adopted while maintaining the existing proportional seat distribution among states, ensuring fair and balanced representation. The proportion of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes seats in different states must be protected.

The resolution added that Government of India must conduct comprehensive consultations with all states, and in absence of a broad consensus, the freeze on seat allocation should be extended.

All resolutions were adopted unanimously.

The CPI(M) national congress, which started on April 2, discussed the Draft Political Resolution on April 3 and 4.