A broad unity is the need of the hour to combat fascism

(Comrade Dipankar’s speech at the Jharkhand State Conference)

“Why did they kill my son? Why did they hit him on the head with a lathi? Who gave them the right?” Prem Kumar Mahato’s mother was sobbing and asking me these questions. On April 3, displaced apprentices had gathered to demand jobs. They didn’t get jobs- they got death instead. A 24-25 year-old youth, Prem Kumar Mahato, was martyred in this lathi charge. I have no answers to his mother’s questions. If the displaced are demanding jobs, on whose orders were these lathis swung? This pain is spread across Jharkhand. Those fighting for water- forest- land, the youth fighting for jobs, and those opposing privatization must unite. Only this united struggle can bring us justice. Today, the question of justice is rising from every corner of the country.

Rohit Vemula stands before us as an inspiring symbol, who was forced to take his life because he was Dalit. Prem Kumar Mahato has also emerged as a symbol for us, killed for being unemployed and demanding a job. He was martyred. Prem Mahato represents the pain of countless youths across India.

We are waging a battle to save the Constitution. Some people see the Constitution in discrete fragments. The Constitution encompasses the rights of everyone. It speaks of reservations, citizens’ rights, the freedom to practice different religions, and the protection of minorities. The Modi government is attacking all of these. We are passing through an era of fascism. The hallmark of fascism is that it divides everyone into separate groups and attacks them. When one group is attacked, others think they are safe. But fascism attacks everyone, one by one. Don’t wait for your turn. Wherever an attack happens, we must resist it collectively. Otherwise, justice will not be delivered.

During the farmers’ movement, it was labelled a movement of ‘farmers’.  During Shaheen Bagh, they called it a movement of ‘Muslim women’.  If we remain divided like this, we cannot achieve justice. Now, in the ongoing Waqf issue, people say that it is a matter concerning Muslims. This is the hallmark of the attack by our adversaries — dividing us, sometimes in the name of language or religion or nationality. We all find ourselves posited as minorities in some way or the other. If the Waqf Board land is seized, will your land be spared? It’s not wise to remain in delusion. We, the Leftists, speak for workers, students, women, Dalits, and Adivasis. If we don’t stand with oppressed communities today, the red flag in our hands will lose its relevance.

The Waqf issue is currently being debated in the Supreme Court. The Waqf law makes the registration of  land and property mandatory along with production of the supporting documents. From where will one get documents pertaining to a 400-year-old mosque? In the course of registration for the citizenship law, we know that about 20 lakh people could not produce the required documents. These people weren’t immigrants, nor did they come from Bangladesh. They were from this country- poor people who did not have the papers. In a country where the Prime Minister’s degree is under suspicion, asking everyone for documents is highly offensive. The Supreme Court questioned the need for mandatory documents for Waqf properties. It also observed that land disputes may be possible, but why bring non-Muslims into Waqf? There is religious freedom in the country. Will the same criterion apply to temples tomorrow? The government has no answers to these questions raised by the court.

The malaise is deep-rooted. A Supreme Court judge was told- “You are a Hindu, you shouldn’t speak like this.” The judge had to say, “At this moment, I am not a Hindu or a Muslim. I am a Supreme Court judge, and my job is to protect the Constitution.” Reacting to the judge’s remarks, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said such a judge will spark a civil war in the country! The BJP-RSS is rattled by the Supreme Court’s comments. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who once as Bengal’s Governor implemented the Centre’s conspiracies, now attacks the Supreme Court, saying it had become a ‘super parliament’. It’s shameful for someone in a constitutional position to make such a statement against the Supreme Court.

In Tamil Nadu, the current Governor has been there for a long time. He kept holding back bills passed by the assembly. A Governor’s job is to approve them or send them back once for reconsideration. The Tamil Nadu Governor held back many approved bills for as long as five years and, misusing the President’s office, got some of them rejected. The Supreme Court reprimanded the Governor and advised the President to pass bills within a set timeframe. It is not just Dubey- the entire BJP system is now out for blood of the Supreme Court.

Article 142 empowers the Supreme Court to pass judgment on any matter that relates to conserving the fundamental character of the Constitution, irrespective of the fact that this judgement may relate to any law passed in the parliament, action of the Governor or whatsoever. The Supreme Court endorsed the bills that had been deliberately kept in abeyance by the Governor.

So we can see how critical the fight against the judiciary has become. It is not necessary that every decision of the Supreme Court is commendable. What is alarming is that if the Supreme Court speaks of protecting the Constitution, it is to the chagrin of the government. If you talk about the Constitution and justice, you will have to confront the government’s wrath, irrespective of whether one is in the media, rights organizations or student movements. Whoever speaks for the Constitution, no matter who they are, the Modi government wants to crush them. It is not just workers and farmers- there’s a conspiracy to silence everyone who has something to say. The attempt to snatch workers’ rights through labour codes—rights for which Babasaheb Ambedkar also fought—requires a united struggle to protect them. We must stand with the Adivasis of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, against whom the government has declared war. We must stand with students, women, and Dalits.

This is a critical juncture at a decisive time. It is Modi’s third term with a coalition government. One might be sceptical about how the Modi government can suddenly declare a Hindu Rashtra? If the Modi government can suddenly change all criminal laws, it can do this as well. If the courts do not rein it in, the Modi government can abruptly impose a Hindu Rashtra. A father-son lawyer duo from the Jain community, both infamous for digging up mosques to find temples, are crying foul at the government for demolishing an ancient Jain temple in Mumbai. If one is complacent, thinking that someone else’s house is being demolished, it won’t take long for trouble to reach you. The bulldozer will come to your doorstep too.

History has identified bulldozing as a distinguishing feature of fascism. We should learn from history. We know that those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. We have the history of the last century before us—the Russian Revolution, World War II, Hitler and Mussolini, the fall of the Soviet Union. We also have the history of our country’s independence, including the RSS’s betrayal in it. Those who were lackeys of the British yesterday are lackeys of America today. The past and the present are before us to learn and act.  We must build unity with all the streams and ideologies which struggled during the independence movement and that still exist today. The Left must unite.

We must take along those who are ready to walk a step with us and those who want to walk a hundred steps. We must move forward with all fighting forces, with every voice of resistance. We are happy that such forces are united in Jharkhand. It takes great courage, great strength, great patience, and a big heart. Any kind of narrowness in these times will be fatal. We must fight fiercely on today’s issues, but being a communist requires more than that. As Maheshwar’s song says, “With tomorrow’s song on our lips, the fight continues today.” Look at the Communist Manifesto! Communists must sow the seeds of tomorrow in today’s struggle.

Today, Comrade A.K. Roy is not among us. In the era when CPI(ML) was being formed in 1969, the Marxist Coordination Committee was established in 1972. Two organizations from the same era are uniting at this critical juncture when unity is most needed. It is heartening that CPI(ML) and Marxist Coordination Committee comrades have come together wholeheartedly to build a stronger Communist Party.

Coincidently, this is the centenary year of the communist movement in India. CPI comrades are celebrating their hundred- year old history. A hundred years ago, there was only one Communist Party, so we don’t consider this just CPI’s centenary; we see it as the centenary of India’s organized communist movement. Today marks a hundred years of the communist movement. On the other hand, it’s also a hundred years of those who betrayed independence and are conspiring to impose fascism on the country. On one side, a hundred years of traitors bent on the country’s ruin: on the other, a hundred years of forces fighting against them. We must carry this historic battle to victory.

The end of the Soviet Union didn’t end socialism, just as the end of Hitler and Mussolini didn’t end fascism. The RSS has been carrying forward its ideology for the past hundred years. Now that they have power, they will try to advance fascism. We must harbour no illusions about them. We cannot weaken our fighting strength by talking of different types or early stages of fascism. We must unite everyone against fascism. Home Minister Amit Shah has declared that by 2026, not a single Naxalite will be left alive. This is an open statement against the Constitution. But are only Naxalites the target? They want to eliminate the opposition, attack students. They are also targeting our party.

If you try to understand the need for alliances only from the narrow perspective of your own position or assembly constituency, you may fail to grasp its significance and underestimate fascism. Other parties may remain in delusion, but as a revolutionary communist party, we are moving forward with no illusions about fascism. As long as this era persists, alliances will be necessary, from movements to elections. There may be defeats in elections, but we must correct our weaknesses. We must grasp the truth from ground realities, analyze booth-level data, and engage with people. We cannot blame others for our weaknesses. We must not shy away from analysis and facing the truth. Any delusion or arrogance will weaken us further. We must move beyond individualism and election-centric fantasies to strengthen the party on the ground. The party’s strength will also strengthen us in alliances. We did not join the government so that we could fight for people’s rights.

The Pahalgam incident deserves all condemnation. The killers must be punished. But what are the Modi government and RSS doing? They are turning it into Pulwama 2. They are stoking anti-Muslim hatred under the guise of this incident. Though the terrorists killed the victims after enquiring about religious identity, even Muslims were among those killed. We must stay vigilant and thwart every RSS conspiracy to fuel communal frenzy. We won’t retreat an inch under the pressure of lies and hatred.

Youth are fighting— in Jharkhand, Bihar, and across the country. We must stay connected with them. AISA is continuously winning at JNU. Students from Bihar and Jharkhand are winning there. We must organize them here too. Women are joining our party. They don’t need guardians or protection; they need equality. In Koyalanchal, from youth to elders, everyone is working day and night under CPI(ML)’s leadership to fulfil A.K. Roy’s dreams. We must enrich our conference and organization with this energy and move forward.

Comrades of Jharkhand will advance with great unity. People here have shown trust in CPI(ML). The energy in the struggles of workers, for water-forest-land in Jharkhand, for the displaced, Adivasis, and self-respect—if this energy unites, great possibilities emerge. Welcoming these possibilities and trusting that you will realize them, I conclude my speech. Today is our party’s foundation day and the birthday of the great revolutionary Lenin. We are all struggling for change. We must win this struggle for change.

Long Live the Revolution! Down with Imperialism! Death to Fascism! Victory to Socialism!