JCP Delegation In Kolkata

B Prasant

 A six member high-powered delegation of the Japanese Communist Party led by Kazuo Shii, chairman of the Executive Committee, was in India at the invitation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).  After holding talks with the CPI(M) central leadership in Delhi, the delegation  left on a two day visit to West Bengal. The other members of the delegation were: Yasao Ogata, director of the International Bureau, Kimitoshi Morihara, member of the Executive Committee and the JCP secretariat, Fuoki Ozaki, member of the International Bureau, who also acted as the interpreter, and Shinji Yamasaki and Kodama, reporters attached to Akahata, the daily newspaper of JCP.

Following is a brief report on their visit to West Bengal:

  by the chairman of the executive committee of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), Kazuo Shii, a six-member JCP delegation came to Kolkata on December 18 where they met the state leadership of the CPI (M) and visited the Amdanga Gram Panchayat in north 24 Parganas district.

At the state committee headquarters, Muzaffar Ahmad Bhavan, the CPI (M) leadership welcomed the JCP delegation.  In the discussion that took place, the JCP leaders explained the process through which the Party was able to organise its success in the civic polls of Japan.  Several city corporations are presently run by the JCP, which has substantially gained in strength, especially over the recent past.

The JCP leadership described the Bengal Left Front government as an example before the world for pro-people governance.  They praised the Panchayat system and the system of the redistributive land reforms and noted that over the past 25 years, no communal disharmony had taken place in Bengal.

State secretary of the CPI (M), Anil Biswas said that the CPI (M) and the Left Front could organise a vast popular support base but that there were substantial dangers lurking in the shape of a religious fundamentalist and reactionary union government.  The CPI (M) stood for social stability and communal amity in the country, Biswas added.

Besides Anil Biswas, CPI (M) leaders Biman Basu, Benoy Konar, Nirupam Sen, Chittabrata Majumdar, Dipak Dasgupta and others were present at the discussion held with the JCP delegation at the Muzaffar Ahmad Bhavan. 

Earlier, the JCP leaders met Bengal chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and health minister, Dr Surya Kanta Mishra at the Writers’ Buildings.  They also visited the Ganashakti Bhavan where they went around the various departments.  On December 19, the JCP delegation went to the Amdanga Gram Panchayat and visited agricultural farms and a school there.