July 28, 2023 marks the 51st anniversary of the martyrdom of Comrade Charu Mazumdar, the founder General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). It also marks the 49th anniversary of the reorganisation of the party following the severe crackdown and setback of the early 1970s. We pay our deepest respect to all our martyrs and departed leaders and comrades on this occasion.

We started this year with the successful holding of the 11th Congress of our Party in Patna. The “Save Democracy, Save India” clarion call issued by the Party Congress today resonates across the country. Powerful protests and struggles are breaking out in different parts of India on the burning issues of the day. The process of forging a broad-based unity of opposition parties initiated from our Congress has gathered momentum.

After two rounds of meetings of several opposition parties, a broad coalition has taken shape under the banner of INDIA – Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. Along with a whole range of non-BJP parties, our Party is a committed constituent of this coalition. We will have to intensify our efforts and expand our role on all fronts to carry forward this process.

The success of our political initiatives depends first of all on our organisational strength, our ties with the oppressed and toiling masses and the progressive intelligentsia and our ability to assert as a fighting political force in all our areas of work. The emphasis on grassroot level Party organisations – Party branches and Party Local Committees – must be kept up and taken as the key link to ensure a vigorous and all-out mobilisation for the crucial electoral battle ahead of us.

The people of India have suffered immensely over the last nine years of Modi regime. The anti-people policies and repressive measures inflicted by the state and the reign of hate, violence and fear unleashed by the lynch squads and mobs instigated by the hate campaign of the Sangh-BJP brigade have landed the country in an unprecedented crisis. What happened in Jammu and Kashmir since August 2019 and what is happening in Manipur since May 2023 are not isolated examples; we have before us glimpses of what is going to happen across India if this BJP rule and domination continues any longer.

We must therefore summon all our strength and energy, courage and determination to defeat the BJP and vote out the Modi regime in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. In the process we must emerge as a powerful voice of the people’s movement and as a leading Left force in the political arena of India. Let all of us pledge our best efforts and highest contributions for the success of this mission. Long live revolution, long live CPI(ML)!