C P Bangladesh Holds Eighth Congress

Gautam Das

THE Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) held its eighth congress in the national capital Dhaka, from May 6 to 9, in the backdrop of a critical situation in the world and in the subcontinent. The congress went underway with an open rally at Mahanagar Natya Manch at Gulistan, amid great enthusiasm and in a militant mood. Over and above the Leftist parties of Bangladesh, leaders of all secular and democratic parties of the nation as well as representatives of several fraternal parties attended the rally and the congress.

ENTHUSIASTIC RALLY

Presided over by CPB president Manjunul Ashan Khan, those who addressed the rally included the party secretary Mujahidul Islam, Bangladesh Workers Party president Rasheed Khan Menon, Dhaka mayor Sadek Hussein Khoka, Awami League general secretary and member of parliament Abdul Jalil, Bangladesh Socialist Party leader Khalequjjaman, S N Sahidullah (leader of the movement for protection of national resources), Workers and Peasants Socialist Party leader Nirmal Sen, Gana Forum leader Pankaj Bhattacharjee, distinguished intellectual Professor Sardar Fazlul Karim, and veteran communist leader Hena Das. The speakers from among the fraternal parties included Nguen Hue Kuang (vice president of Vietnam Communist Party Central Committee’s Commission for International Relations), the CPI(M)’s Tripura state secretariat member and Daily Desher Katha editor Gautam Das, and the CPI’s national council member Manju Kumar Majumder. The arrival of fraternal delegates from certain countries was cancelled at the eleventh hour due to the SARS epidemic, though they did send congratulatory messages.

Despite the intense heat wave, the huge hall of the Dhaka municipal corporation was full to the brim. Among the participants of the open rally were the toiling men and women as well as the intelligentia from Dhaka and several other districts. Many of them had been members of the Communist Party in undivided India and later in East Pakistan. Many of them came with their families, priding themselves on their communist identity.

ECONOMY IN DOLDRUM

The congress deliberated on two documents --- the Central Committee’s draft report and political resolution. On the current situation in Bangladesh, the draft report opined that the formation of the BNP government in coalition with the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami through the eighth national parliamentary polls held in 2001, and the induction of the war criminals and opponents of the Bangladesh freedom movement, the razakars, into the cabinet has posed a new political threat, causing a far right retrogression in the political scenario of Bangladesh. The predatory capitalism, the so-called free market economy, the ruthless impact of the capitalist-imperialist globalisation, the bankruptcy of bourgeois politics, etc, have pushed the country further towards a catastrophe. People’s anger over the existing order of things is steadily on the rise. Despite the desperation of the people for an alternative path, no palpable and powerful, effective alternative has come to the fore as yet.

Portraying the picture of the economy that is badly dependent on foreign debt and doles, the report said the quantum of external assistance has steadily gone up over the 1990s. About 80 per cent of external assistance consists of loans, yet fresh foreign debt is being incurred to repay the instalments of the principal and interest on earlier loans. In 1998-99 the per capita debt liability was 116 dollars, up 18 times from 6.6 dollars in 1973-74. Of the foreign capital, 25 per cent has been invested in industry and 75 per cent in trade and commerce. Massive disinvestment and denationalisation is the order of the day. The present government closed down the Adamji Jute Mill, the biggest jute mill in Asia, upon which depended the livelihood of 2 lakh cultivators and 30,000 workers.

Agriculture contributes 25 per cent to the economy and 50 per cent of the population depends on it. But as the report pointed out while exposing the disorder in the country’s agricultural economy, no land reform has been brought about in Bangladesh. On the other hand, subsidies on essential inputs like fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, diesel, electricity, agricultural machinery have steadily dwindled. No less than 50 per cent of the total arable area in Bangladesh (2,26,80,000 acres) is in the possession of just 6.37 per cent moneybags, with small and marginal farmers losing their lands fast. Multinational companies have captured the market of modern agricultural inputs including seeds. A survey report in 2000 brought to light that 7 crore people (47.5 per cent) of the country’s population) live below the poverty line, defined on the basis of income and food intake. The income gap between the rich and the poor is steadily widening, the rate of increase being 20 per cent over the past decade. The real income of the poor plummeted 20 per cent during the period, while 23 per cent affluent people possess 50 per cent of the total wealth. The government has slashed the social security outlays; just 50 paise per head is its allocation for the development of slums and only 20 per cent of the population have access to the state-run health care facilities. According to the UNICEF, 70 per cent children as well as pregnant and lactating mothers are suffering from anemia. Above 3 crore youth, educated and uneducated, are unemployed. The state’s outlay on education is 2.2 per cent and 8 crore people (60 per cent of population) are still illiterate.

LAWLESSNESS ON THE RISE

Voicing concern over the law and order situation, the report said above 4,000 people including elected members of municipal bodies, journalists and students were murdered in 2002. Atrocities on women have assumed a formidable proportion, rising by 14 per cent every year. Incidents of acid attacks on women, rapes, sexual harassment, murders and abductions are on the rise. An average of 7,000 women are being smuggled out to India, Pakistan and Middle East countries. Child abuse is also on the rise. In 2002, 584 children were murdered, 686 raped, 83 killed after rape, 151 attacked with acid, and 538 were kidnapped. There were above 60 lakh child labourers in 2002.

The report went on to say: since the parliamentary polls in 2001, the Hindu minority has been subjected to politically motivated massive persecution, crossing all earlier records of crime, and stoking migration by instilling into them a sense of insecurity. The report testified that, with the Vested Property Act yet to be scrapped, 20 lakh acres of landed property worth Rs 190 thousand crore, belonging to about 50 lakh Hindus, have been usurped.

The draft report also dwelt on how the terrible oppression and deprivation of small ethnic communities and tribals has become a permanent feature. 

POLITICAL SCENARIO

The political resolution said the aggressive activities of US imperialism in Bangladesh and overall in Asia have of late shot up. The US has already made an agreement of “Human Assistance Needs” with Bangladesh and is bringing pressure for a “Status of Forces Agreement” to establish US military bases on Bangladesh land as well as in sea. The infamous American Peace Corps are still there in Bangladesh. According to CPB, the US aims at plundering the oil, gas, electricity, port, natural resources of Bangladesh and at utilising the country’s geo-political position to expand the American military presence.

About the country’s political scenario, the resolution said ever since winning the elections on a negative vote, the BNP-Jamaat coalition government has pushed the country towards the far right. Jamaat-e-Islami, that opposed the freedom movement and was a partner in the 1970-71 genocide, holds an influential position. Achievements of the freedom movement are under attack in the spheres of culture and ideology. The Jamaat has spread its network all over the country with foreign arms and funds, and consolidated its base with the help of government funds. It is acting as the most reactionary and aggressive force on behalf of imperialism and capitalism while paying lip service to Islam. It is engaged in multifarious activities against the Left Front, against the progressive, democratic and patriotic forces and against any modern social idea or practice, while inflaming extreme communalism and fundamentalism.

The political resolution also noted that the internal and international exploiting classes are trying to promote a two-party system for ensuring an uninterrupted exploitation of the country.

The resolution said the current world situation has undisputedly proved that imperialism and capitalism are the root of all human misery and that socialism is the only way out of this crisis. The CPB has adopted a programme for the growth of secular, democratic and progressive forces as its immediate aim. To that end, the CPB and the Left Front have to make utmost efforts and build up a massive movement so as to combat the conspiracy of extreme communal forces and counter the serious challenges. An endeavour to build bridges with the Workers Party and other such parties and forces is a must for this purpose.

Following threadbare discussions, the CPB congress unanimously approved the draft report and political resolution.

The CPB congress decided to slash the size of the Central Committee from 53 to 39 members and of the presidium from 11 to 7, and amending the party constitution to that end. Besides, it decided upon the formation of a National Council also. The congress elected 33 Central Committee members who, in turn, elected a 7-member presidium. Manjurul Ashan Khan and Mujahidul Islam were re-elected president and general secretary respectively.

Evening-time cultural functions, with the participation of eminent artists, dotted the eighth CPB congress on three days. Almost all newspapers of Bangladesh carried news and photographs of the open session of the congress.

One will note that following the country’s partition in 1947, Communist Party was banned in Pakistan and its leaders were either put behind bars or forced to go underground for long spells. While party in erstwhile East Pakistan could hold its first congress only in 1968, it held its second congress in 1973 after the formation of Bangladesh. The third to the seventh congresses were held in 1980, 1986, 1991, 1995 and 1999.