The 2nd Karnataka State Conference of CPI(ML) Liberation was held over two days on December 9th and 10th, in Sindhanur taluk of Raichur district. As part of the conference, a ‘Karnataka Against Fascism’ rally and public convention was held with participation of over 2,000 people.
Raichur is part of Hyderabad-Karnataka region, which is socio-economically backward. In the last five years, our party has grown in this region with the mine-workers struggle in Ballari and consolidation of work in Vijayanagar and Koppal districts. The work in Raichur district was an added strong force to the party. It is in this context, that the party chose to host the 2nd state conference in Raichur. The ‘Karnataka Against Fascism’ rally and public convention was organized as an attempt to consolidate working class forces against the communal hatred being sown by the BJP-RSS, despite their electoral defeat and Congress staking claim of the government recently. The rally and public convention gave a call to the people of Karnataka to undo the damage caused by the BJP’s rule and to detoxify our society.
In the public convention, CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Comrade Dipankar congratulated the people of Karnataka for voting out BJP and said that the BJP-RSS has unleashed a fascist assault on the people of this country, which is corroding democracy, is anti-people and against Babasaheb Ambedkar's given constitution. “Today’s rally and convention is a very important step towards building unity against the fascists and to defeat BJP in the upcoming elections. A communist party will always stand against injustice, and our effort is to bring communist and other parties together to fight against fascism,” he added.
AIPWA National President Comrade Rati who addressed the gathering said that we must fight against the corporate, communal and casteist assault of the BJP-RSS. She said, “Women face the brunt of the Manusmriti that the Sangh Parivar propagates and wants to replace the Constitution of India with. Women, therefore, have to come together to lead the struggle for equality, democracy and fraternity”. CPI(M) State Secretary Comrade U Basavaraj said that the recent developments in the country is disconcerting. “The people are facing unprecedented economic crisis. Workers who create wealth for the country are in utter poverty. Farmers who grow food for the country are dying of starvation. After 75 years of independence, we see that the corporate-communal nexus is destroying our country,” he said. CPI leader Basmiya said, “We may have defeated the BJP in Karnataka, but they are getting stronger as they are spreading communal hatred amongst the people. We have a long fight ahead of us to uproot the very ideology they are sowing in our society”.
Comrade Dipankar addressed the delegates of the conference and said that we have to build a strong and united party, by equipping ourselves with ideological clarity and taking up consistent initiatives to stand with the people. He said that this will equip us to fight the fascist forces.
Kalpana Wilson of South Asia Solidarity, London addressed the delegates and said that the international solidarity over the genocide of the Palestinian people has been overwhelming. She said, “It is important to build international solidarity, especially when we are witnessing a global rightward shift in ideology. AIPWA National President Comrade Rati also addressed the delegates on the occasion.
At the state conference, documents on the political situation in Karnataka and the party organization report were presented and after deliberations, was unanimously adopted by the house of delegates. A 23-member state committee was elected with Comrade Clifton being re-elected as the State Secretary. The conference saw the participation of 160 delegates, observers and guests.
The conference gave a clarion call to build a strong party in Karnataka, which alone would be a fitting response to the fascist forces, especially since the country is headed towards the Lok Sabha elections in the coming year.
