The Delhi Regional Conference of the Party held in June reviewed the work of the Party since the last Conference in April 2009, and charted the future course of action. The delegates reflected the work of the party — workers, student and youth activists, veteran comrades, as well new comrades who have come forward to join the ranks of the party inspired by its ideals and its work. Nearly 40% of the delegates were women.
The Delhi Regional Conference of the Party held in June reviewed the work of the Party since the last Conference in April 2009, and charted the future course of action. The delegates reflected the work of the party — workers, student and youth activists, veteran comrades, as well new comrades who have come forward to join the ranks of the party inspired by its ideals and its work. Nearly 40% of the delegates were women.
Welcoming the delegates, the secretary of the regional committee commended the work of the comrades who have worked hard to build and strengthen the party organization. This has been done in the course of taking the line of the party among the masses of working people, organizing working people around the program of the party, and militantly fighting in defence of the rights of the working masses.
The Report of the Secretary applauded the fact that new members of the party are being organized into basic organizations, even as the existing basic organisations are being strengthened. It noted the constant effort of the Party to strengthen the ideo-political level of all comrades. It highlighted the struggle to ensure that the basic organizations of the Party are established as schools of communism.
The Report pointed to the work to build and strengthen the Party in the working class. The Party is in the forefront of the struggle being waged by workers for minimum wages, against anti labour legislations and against price rise. Wherever workers have faced attacks, whether it be the Rico workers in Gurgaon, or the Lakhani shoe workers in Faridabad, or the Air India workers, our Party has defended their rights. Our Party and mass organisations have worked closely with other workers organizations in defence of the common interests of the class, while exposing and fighting the line of class conciliation.
The Report assessed the work of organizing the toiling masses around the program of the Party. In this period, RC has been actively mobilizing people in struggle for the right to food. Public rallies and meetings, public presentations, study and discussion, dharnas fighting for ration cards—these have been taking place literally every day. We have discussed with the working people how the government is not serious about ensuring food for the people, how the PDS has been deliberately destroyed. We have been agitating for a modern, universal PDS which will ensure sufficient availability of not only food grains but also other essential items of consumption such as edible oil, pulses, sugar, fuel, etc. of good quality at affordable prices for all the working people. Hundreds of people have joined this campaign.
Our efforts to build people’s samitis are beginning to take concrete shape. Problems of water, housing and sanitation are also being taken up.
The mass organizations of workers, women and youth are playing an active role in these campaigns, with our party comrades playing a leading role. Their membership is expanding, they are being strengthened. The youth organization of the party has been extremely active in mobilizing youth for communism, in the course of organizing people for their rights.
During the General Elections of 2009, the bold and clear propaganda, through the manifesto issued by the party, calling on the people to vote for a candidate from among their own midst, a candidate who would be accountable to the people and would step down if found lacking in his commitment to the people – this set our election campaign apart from those of the other candidates of the established political parties. The Election Campaign, carried out through innovative forms of propaganda, in which hundreds of activists and supporters of the party and mass organizations actively and enthusiastically participated, has greatly increased the reach and influence of the Party amongst lakhs of working people in the city. This is part of the constant work of the Party in the region to mobilize the masses of working people around the alternative political system and process put forth by the party, to enable the working masses to become decision makers.
The Report pointed out that particularly in the past one year, special attention had been made to develop the work of the party amongst women and girls. The Party Conference held in April 2010 was an important milestone in this work. Women comrades of the area have been actively organizing various programs together with other women’s organizations and mass organizations, to mark the centenary year of international women’s day, They discussed with working women and girls what is the source of oppression of women and what kind of political power would actually empower women. In the context of the huge propaganda blitz regarding the Women’s Reservation Bill, we have discussed with women that the political system and process we have in India, which does not empower the masses of workers and peasants to take crucial decisions that affect their lives, cannot empower women or relieve them of their exploitation and discrimination by merely reserving a certain quota seats for women. We have been active in defence of the rights of women, against the harassment of women in the city, against state terror directed against women in Kashmir and the North East, etc. The Report called upon the comrades of the region to pay special attention to organize the large number of activists from women and girls, as well as youth, who are coming around the party and mass organizations.
The delegates to the Conference vigorously contributed to the discussion and made important suggestions to take the work forward. All those present in the meeting had contributed in some aspect or other of the work and felt their own efforts reflected in the reports. The report of work was unanimously accepted.
The work and challenges ahead for the Party in the Delhi Region was then discussed. Summing up the discussion, the Secretary pointed out that inducting new members into the basic units and organizing and running these units more effectively, not merely for planning work schedules but as schools of the party, where comrades are trained as soldiers of the party, is one of the most important of tasks confronting the Party.
The Secretary emphasized the importance of building organizations of the party among the workers working in large scale industry and services. In particular, attention must be paid to the workers in some of the relatively new sectors who are highly skilled, working with modern technology, with a large youthful workforce. The struggles of auto workers in Gurgaon, air line workers all over the country, suburban train drivers in Mumbai are an example and inspiration of the power of the class to the entire working class. The struggle to build a new society demands that the most advanced sections of the working class take up the banner of the party and the class. In the coming period we will make special efforts to develop the work in these sections of our class with this aim.
The Secretary affirmed that the work that is going on, of mobilizing workers and working people, in defence of their rights, of building and strengthening party organizations and peoples samitis, has to be expanded and taken forward to newer areas.
The spokesperson of the CC of the party emphasized the role of the leadership of the party in all our work and the importance of building and strengthening the basic organizations of the party amidst the working class and all oppressed sections of the people. Only a party such as ours, based firmly on the science of Marxism-Leninism, can lead us through the myriad twists and turns, the illusions and roadblocks that the bourgeoisie places in our path, to take our struggle forward. In this context, he raised the importance of study of Party literature and the classics of Marxism-Leninism in the basic organizations. The organ of the CC of the party, Mazdoor Ekta Lehar, is an organizer, the scaffolding around which the party is built. All comrades must study the party paper in the basic organizations, take the paper widely among the working class and actively discuss with the workers on the issues raised in MEL, write for the paper and encourage workers to write about their struggles and concerns in MEL. “Let us march ahead vigorously, on the path we have chosen, to wipe out exploitation of all kinds from the face of India and build the new society where we – workers, peasants, women and youth – shall be our own masters”, he said in conclusion.
The song ‘Communist Ghadar Party ne…’, enthusiastically rendered by the youth comrades, succinctly brought out the line and program of the party and also fittingly summed up the discussion on the work and challenges before the party in the Delhi region. The conference concluded with the powerful rendition of the Internationale in Hindi.