AMN / KOLKATA
Senior CPM leader Prakash Karat Sunday urged the Supreme Court to ensure that local courts don’t entertain petitions against a 1991 law that forbids one religion’s sites to be converted to another’s. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, which stands as a bulwark against a flood of petitions before lower courts that seek a handover of the sites of several mosques and dargahs to Hindus on the claim that these had been built by demolishing temples, should be enforced in letter and spirit, the CPM politburo coordinator reminded the Supreme Court. Karat was in Kolkata to attend the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) meeting from January 17-19, 2025 at Kolkata
“Mosque-temple disputes are raked up again. We all know what happened in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh and the court has entertained the petition on Ajmer Sharif Darga. People are going to the courts and the local courts are entertaining these petitions, violating the ‘Places of Worship Act – 1991, which says that all places of worship that existed during independence, (and) no disputes can be raised against it,” Karat said in Calcutta.
In violation of the Places of Worship Act 1991, petitions questioning the character of various mosques and allegation that temples existed beneath them have been filed in local courts and requesting for surveys to be conducted. This has happened in Sambhal in western Uttar Pradesh, where the court ordered a survey on the very same day the petition was filed. Subsequent events, which led to protests and the death of five young Muslim men showed how the state government and the district
authorities were carrying forward the agenda of the Hindutva forces.
Subsequently, in Ajmer, a local court entertained a petition for a survey of the Ajmer Sharif Dargah. The Supreme Court, hearing a challenge to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 by some petitioners of Hindu organisations, has
put a stay on all litigations and surveys going on in the lower courts.
Political objective to bring the Opposition on a single platform was evident when raised the issue of a constitutional amendment bill to enable simultaneous elections at the central and state levels.
“The party strongly opposes this bill, viewing it as a direct assault on state legislatures and federalism, leading to an undesirable centralisation of power. Most opposition parties share this stance, and the ruling coalition needs the two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha which they don’t have and so they have sent it to the JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee),” the CPM veteran said.
Karat said that central government is trying to bring changes in regulations of UGC which grant governors or chancellors unilateral authority to appoint selection committees for state-run universities, undermining the state governments’ roles in managing education.
“Education is on the concurrent list but what the BJP government is trying to do is against the federal structure of the country. There are a total 481 state-run universities and if this happens then all the vice-chancellors will be of their choice. In a way they are trying to snatch the constitutional right of the states,” he said. Speaking about the recently concluded central committee meeting, the CPM leader stated that preparations for the 24th Party Congress in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, are on in full swing, with a strong emphasis on critical political and national developments. The draft political resolution for the congress, which has been discussed and finalised, will be released on February 1. It will be distributed for discussion at the party congress and made available in the public domain.
Responding to the verdict on RG Kar, CPM state secretary Md Salim, who flanked Karat, said: “The TMC and the BJP are hand in glove. Kolkata police and CBI have lost their credibility. They are working on the instructions of their political bosses. The doctors are being humiliated and the people who wanted justice are being threatened. We know how to get justice. We will do that.”
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) held its meeting from January 17-19, 2025 at Kolkata. It has issued the following statement:
Ceasefire in Gaza
The Central Committee welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which is coming into effect from January 19. For more than fifteen months, there has been a genocidal war waged by Israel against the Palestinian people of Gaza, which resulted in over 46,000 deaths and over 1,20,000 injured.
It is important now to ensure that after the first phase of the ceasefire lasting six weeks, the ceasefire is extended till peace and a political settlement is restored. The government of India should work diplomatically to ensure that peace is established and steps are taken for the formation of an independent Palestinian State.
Bills for Simultaneous Elections
The Central Committee took note of the two legislations introduced by the Modi government in Parliament to bring about simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislatures. The first is the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, which proposes amendments to three existing clauses and introduction of a new clause in the Constitution. One of the amendments states that if the Lok Sabha is dissolved before the end of its full term, elections will be held for the next Lok Sabha only for the period of the unexpired term. This means that if the Lok Sabha is dissolved after three years of its term, the next election will only be for a Lok Sabha for a two-year term. A similar amendment is proposed with regard to the term of the state legislatures. If a state assembly is dissolved mid-term, then elections will be held only for the remaining part of the term. This goes against the basic scheme of parliamentary democracy set out in the Constitution. This truncation of the tenure of a state assembly has serious implications for federalism and the rights of elected state legislators.
The two Bills have been referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for further scrutiny and consideration. The CPI(M) has already campaigned against the `One Nation, One Election’ system. The Constitution Amendment Bill must be opposed by all those who value democracy and federalism.
UGC Draft Regulations
The Central Committee strongly opposed the Draft University Grants Commission Regulations 2025, which is a direct assault on the rights of tates on the question of selecting Vice Chancellors in state-run universities. The guideline gives the Governor-cum-Chancellor the power to appoint a three-member Selection Committee in which the Chancellor’s nominee will also be the Chairperson. The state government will have no say in who is being appointed in the Selection Committee. At one
stroke, through these guidelines, the Centre can appoint Vice Chancellors of its choice in all state-run universities through the Governors-cum-Chancellors. Already we have seen how Governors are arbitrarily using the Chancellor position to bypass all norms and impose Vice Chancellors, who have affinity to the BJP-RSS camp. This is a dangerous provision, which must be opposed. If the Draft is given final shape, it will be necessary for the concerned non-BJP state governments
to challenge these Regulations in the Supreme Court.
Draft National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing
This policy framework is an attempt to bring back aspects of the three farm laws which were withdrawn due to the farmers’ agitation. The Draft proposes the establishment of private wholesale markets, direct farm gate purchases by corporate processors and exporters, replacement of traditional market yards with corporate control, warehousing and silos and introducing a unified state-wide market fee and trading license system. The Draft proposes that big corporates can purchase produce
directly from farmers bypassing APMC market yards.
The Central Committee extended its full support to the agitation launched by the Kisan Sabha and Samyukta Kisan Morcha against the Draft Policy. It called upon all its Party units to mobilise people against this policy.
Party Congress Preparations
The Central Committee discussed the Draft Political Resolution’ to be placed before the 24th Party Congress to be held in Madurai from April 2 to 6, 2025. The Central Committee finalized the Draft Political Resolution. This will be released for discussion in the Party at all levels on February 1, 2025. The Central Committee decided to meet on March 22-23 for finalizing the Draft Organisational Report’ for the Party Congress.