JYOTI BASU 102ND BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION PROGRAMME

Bengal celebrates Jyoti Basu's birth centenary

IANS, Tuesday, July 08, 2014, 22:57

Kolkata: West Bengal Tuesday celebrated the birth centenary of Jyoti Basu - one of the most revered Indian politicians and the state's former chief minister - with blood donation camps, seminars and cultural programmes.

The Marxist patriarch, who holds the record in post-independence India for the longest chief ministerial tenure and narrowly missed becoming the country's prime minister, is credited with having successfully made centre-state relations a major debating point in the late 1970s and 1980s and emerging as a central figure in anti-Congress political space at the national level.

In the morning, Basu's portrait was garlanded in the assembly by Speaker Biman Banerjee and Leader of the Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), of which Basu was a founding member, organised programmes across the state to celebrate the occasion.

Basu's photos were garlanded outside CPI-M offices and those of its various mass organisations in the city and the districts. The party organised blood donation camps, discussions and seminars, highlighting his life and contribution and dwelling on the present political scenario in the country and the state.

The central function was held at the sprawling Nazrul Mancha where Left Front leaders stressed on Left unity and reflected on the errors committed during recent elections.

CPI-M state secretary and Left Front chairman Biman Bose said Basu's life was a shining example for young comrades in abiding by party discipline.

Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary Manju Kumar Majumdar questioned the call given for an anti-Congress and anti-Bharatiya Janata Party alternative during the recent elections in the absence of any solid understanding among Left parties.

"Had Jyoti Babu been there, such a slogan would have not come out," he said.

All India Forward Bloc state secretary Ashok Ghosh expressed concern for the Left parties suffering a serious loss of their mass base.

"When we address these issues we can pay the real tribute to Jyoti Basu," said Ghosh.

Basu had stewarded the state's Left front government as chief minister from 1977 to 2000, that earned him accolades from both within the country and abroad for his skills in running a coalition successfully in a multi-party democratic set-up.

Basu's close aide Sarit Bandyopdhyay Asaid he was a "multifaceted personality" with a razor-sharp memory and had a open mind on all matters. He also followed sports.

Refering to the turn of events in 1996 when the CPI-M prevented Basu from becoming prime minister at the head of the United Front government, Bose said that Basu accepted the party decision like a "true communist". However, later Basu had dubbed the decision a "historic blunder".

Basu's successor as chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said Basu had placed the struggle of peasants and working classes at the centre of politics.

"The fight for land was carried forward by providing pattas (land titles) to landless farmers. The rights of sharecropeprs was also protected," he said.

The CPI-M politburo minister also recalled how the "secular" Basu ensured that Bengal remained free from communal strife in 1984 after the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

Economist Prabhat Patanik also addressed the programme.

Born July 8, 1914, Basu joined the CPI in 1940 and began his work in the railway trade union movement. In 1946, he was elected to the Bengal legislative assembly from the Railway constituency.

He played a key role in the development of the CPI in India and was the secretary of its provincial committee from 1954 to 1960. He became a member of the central committee of the CPI in 1951. When the CPI-M was formed in 1964, he became one of the founder politburo and central committee members.

He passed away Jan 17, 2010. His body was handed over to the SSKM hospital in deference to his wish that it be donated for medical research after his death. His eyes were used to give vision to a till-then blind person.

Rajarhat-Newton rechristened 'Jyoti Basu Nagar'

Kolkata, Oct 7^th, 2010: The Rajarhat-Newtown, located on the city's North-Eastern fringe and sprawled over a land area of 3,080 hectares, was today named after CPI(M) patriarch late Jyoti Basu, who breathed his last in January this year.

Addressing a huge crowd that stood in the rain for hours to be present at the occasion, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said that the town was a result of years of planning by the State government and Jyoti Basu had also been closely involved during the initial stages. Chief Minister pointed out that “those who gave their land for the project have not been forgotten and that most of them will find jobs and homes within Jyoti Basu Nagar.” It was in the year 1995, the township was envisaged by Basu, the Chief Minister recalled.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee was also present, sharing the dais with Mr. Bhattacharjee and senior leaders of several political parties.Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and other party leaders, however, stayed away.

Comparing the naming of the town after Jyoti Basu with that of the nearby Salt Lake area after another political stalwart of the State, Bidhan Chandra Roy, also a former Chief Minister, Mr. Chatterjee said that “the process of urbanisation cannot be stopped in the State.” People are continuously pouring into cities from villages in quest of a better life, he said.

Speaking about the vision for Jyoti Basu Nagar, Mr. Bhattacharjee said that once the town was fully developed, ten lakh people will live there permanently and another five lakh will find employment in the various offices and knowledge-based industry that will be set up there. Besides, a Rabindranath Tagore campus, housing the works of the poet, would come up in the township.

“For historical reasons, Kolkata has remained the only major city in the State. But, 70 lakh people live in Kolkata and the pressure on the city is far too much,” he added.

"It is remarkable that such a huge project with so many roads and houses had been implemented without any government-money,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said, appreciating the efforts of cabinet colleague and Minister for Housing, Gautam Deb.

Mr. Bhattacharjee also pointed out that about 50 percent of the town's housing facilities had been set aside for people from the lower and middle classes. Around 50 per cent of the township would comprise human habitation, including water bodies, and an art gallery be set up on a land area of ten cottahs, Mr Bhattacharjee added. The Chief Minister also unveiled the plaque for a children's park in the area.

''The statelite town will ease the pressure borne by Kolkata. People hailing from both rich and middle classes would reside in the township that will also house a financial hub armed with banking facilities,'' Mr Bhattacharjee informed and said facities for opening embassies would also be provided.

Addressing the gathering, state Minister for Housing Gautam Deb said the township had so far witnessed an investment of Rs 13,000 crore, adding altogether 20,000 IT personnel were working in various units across the area.

An Embodiment of Valiant Courage

By Buddhadeb Bhattacharya

JYOTI BASU is the real emblem of the country’s Left movement. I have seen him as a party leader. He was the dearest leader of the working class and the middle class employees. He was also dearly loved by the peasants and farmers of the state. His administrative ability, too, was above all disputes. It was he who had formulated the present industrial policy that we are currently following in the state. He never ever did hesitate to take the right decision at the right time. Apart from this, I have seen Jyoti Basu as a person who had abundance of human courage. The moment I try to reminisce about him, a host of fond memories flashes before my eyes. Many incidents flicker before my eyes and I can still visualise the gutsy and courageous “Jyoti Babu.”

Right now I can recollect a particular days’ experience. Jyoti Babu was going to Birati and I was accompanying him. It was for a party meeting. It was the year 1971. To prevent us from going there and to jeopardise our meeting, bombs were being hurled from all sides. A high intensity commotion ensued. The driver of our car was unnerved by the commotion. But Jyoti Babu told us not to stop but to move forward. Our car advanced. It was amid bombs and rioting that we made our way through. The meeting was ultimately held. Many other people too were witness to similar incidents. I, myself, have memories of many such incidents. But how easily could Jyoti Basu express himself in such situations! How lucid was the way he spoke!

I still remember 1972 --- An era not experienced by this generation. Large scale rioting and arson was going on in the state. A state of instability was there everywhere. One day Mrinal Sen told me that he wanted to meet with Jyoti Basu. I conveyed his wish to Jyoti Basu and he readily agreed. Mrinal Sen came and questioned him, “What is happening? I cannot fathom anything about it.” Jyoti Babu told, ‘How can you understand’? Even I myself cannot understand what is happening.”

We deeply condole the demise of our respected Comrade Jyoti Basu. In politics, he was referred to as a Living Legend. He had earned a special place of respect in the foreign and national circles alike. It was in the 1940s, seven decades back, that he associated himself with the communist movement. He was an object of love and good wishes of the common people. He has also left a glorifying mark in consolidating the Left and democratic movement in the country. The role that he played in constituting the Left Front government is widely known. On a consecutive basis for five times at a stretch, he had led the Left front government. He was also our guardian. For a long period, he had associated himself with the workers’ movement. On the other hand, peasants and other village people too used to love him intensely. As a communist leader, Jyoti Basu could easily captivate the minds of the people in a whisker.

With his death, the party, the Left Front movement and the country have suffered from a huge loss. The country has lost a great leader. The country’s Left and democratic movement has suffered from a huge loss. He was especially needed for the country and the state during the present times. His glorious role will remain permanently sketched in the history of India.

Jyoti Basu asks CPI(M) leaders to reach out to people

KOLKATA,24th May: Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) patriarch Jyoti Basu has asked senior party leaders to reach out to the people of West Bengal to find out the reason for the party's poor showing in the Lok Sabha polls, his personal aide said. 

"Basu has asked his party leaders, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and CPI(M) state secretary Biman Basu to reach out to common people and find out why the people had not voted for the communists in the Lok Sabha elections," Basu's personal assistant Joykrishna Ghosh said. 

"Basu has asked both of them (Bhattacharjee and Basu) to look into the issue seriously. He also instructed them to make people understand the policies of the Left Front (LF) and what they are willing to do for the common people in Bengal," he said. 

Declining to divulge any further details of the talks, Ghosh said that Basu had separate dialogues with Bhattacharjee and Bose at his Salt Lake residence. 

Meanwhile, the CPM leaders also held a state committee meeting here on Sunday to discuss the dismal result of the Left Front in the general elections. 

According to figures available, the Left Front got 43.3 percent of the votes (about 18 million) while the Trinamool Congress and the Congress jointly secured 45.67 percent of the votes (a little over 19 million) in the Lok Sabha polls.

Biman Basu calls on CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu

Kolkata,19th May: CPI(M) state secretary Biman Basu on Tuesday called on marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu and briefed him about the Polit Bureau deliberations on the party's debacle in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal and Kerala.

The two leaders, according to party sources, discussed in length about the drubbing that the CPI(M) has received at the hands of Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.

Biman Basu's visit came a day after Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee met Jyoti Basu seeking his advice about strategies to be adopted by the CPI(M) in view of the disastrous poll performance of the party.

Bhattacharjee's meeting with the former chief minister had came in the backdrop of reports that he was mulling stepping down owning moral responsibility for party's poll debacle. The party politburo, however, has dismissed such reports.

Meanwhile, the members of CPI(M) state Secretariat, including the chief minister, met here this evening to review the party's poll performance in the state.

Buddhadeb meets Jyoti Basu

KOLKATA,18th May: West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, called on veteran Marxist leader, Jyoti Basu, at his Salt Lake residence here on Monday even as the Left parties were trying to come to terms with their dismal showing in the State in the Lok Sabha elections. This was the first time the two leaders met since the election results were announced on May 16.

Mr. Bhattacharjee had decided against attending the meeting of the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in New Delhi, and instead chose to stay back in the city to oversee the post-poll law and order situation in the State, according to party sources.

Reports of violence have been pouring in from different parts of the State ever since the results were out.

Mr. Bhattacharjee’s meeting with Mr. Basu came amid reports in a section of the media that he had offered to resign as Chief Minister in the wake of the Left Front’s debacle in the State.

The reports were dismissed as baseless by Biman Basu, Secretary of the CPI(M)’s West Bengal State Committee in New Delhi where he had gone to attend the Polit Bureau meeting.

“I can say with authority that the Chief Minister has not spoken of offering to resign; neither did he discuss the matter with Jyoti Basu”, senior leader and secretary of the State Committee of the All India Forward Bloc, Ashok Ghosh told mediapersons.

JYOTI BASU TO HARKISHAN SINGH SURJEET

Beloved Comrade Surjeet,

I am deeply grieved to hear about your continued illness. I was just now reminiscing how for long years we have been working together particularly after the split of the party. I can never forget the role you played in organising and giving leadership to the Party.

I particularly remember the day when due my illness I wanted to leave the responsibility given to me by the Party, as Chief Minister of West Bengal. You came and met me in my house. Then you seemed to be nervous, thought that this may adversely affect the Party. After discussion then we worked out a formula that we would create a new post of Deputy Chief Minister, who will later on be the Chief Minister and I shall not stand for election. That formula worked very well. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was very well accepted both by the Party and the people of West Bengal. So, at the end of my tenure, I resigned and Buddhadeb took over the Chief Ministership. I also remember with pride how you helped the Party to flourish in different provinces.

I also remember how you did agree with me that the unity of the Left parties in West Bengal is essential and I feel proud that the Left Front government carried on thirtyone years with the support and love of the people of the state.

I remember you also played host to my family when we went to Punjab. Though I am older than you and now almost bedridden, I am confident that our Party will go forward from success to success in many parts of India. Despite many crests and ebbs people will finally emerge victorious and go in for a classless society free from exploitation of any form.

At the end, I want to remember with pride the role you played in the new political situation in country to keep the communal BJP at bay. We extended our outside support to Congress, incumbent upon the basis of the Common Minimum Programme and the interests of the people and the country.

Jyoti Basu
Kolkata,
May 21, 2008

From India News Network (INN)
Kolkata, May 21, 2008

INTERVIEW: FRONTLINE, May 20 - June 02, 2006

`We are happy

but not complacent'

Q:What are your feelings on the Left Front's huge victory in the Assembly elections?

JYOTI BASU :

I am extremely happy that we have got a two-thirds majority, with more votes and more seats. Before our State secretary Anil Biswas passed away... I was very happy to hear him say that we would win this time with more votes and more seats. I took up his statement in the meetings that I addressed... I told people that I wanted to see the seventh Left Front government and requested voters to make it happen... Seven times in a row - this has happened nowhere else in India before. ... But first of all, I am thankful to the people of West Bengal, and not just to those who voted for us, for making it such a peaceful election, like all elections since 1977, and we have been praised by the Election Commission.

But why five-phased elections, I haven't yet understood. I feel it was an insult to the people of West Bengal. And we maintained that they would give a fitting reply to the E.C. [Election Commission]. That has also happened.

I have also been saying in speeches that in parliamentary democracy, the Opposition is very important, whether big or small. But it should be a responsible Opposition. I have requested the Opposition in my speeches that we should get together to pass resolutions unitedly the Assembly. But being the Opposition of course it is their duty to oppose the policies they think are anti-people. We in our turn will go to the people to tell them of our programmes, and finally let the people be the ultimate judge. But of course, we don't have a responsible Opposition yet. With this huge mandate, our responsibility has grown.

We are happy and rejoicing, but we are not complacent. We were able to implement 90 per cent of the projects we undertook in the last government. The remaining 10 per cent, for one reason or another we could not achieve - maybe [the] Central government was responsible, maybe we were. That has to be seen to. You see, we never hide anything from the people, even our negative points. We ask our workers to listen to the criticism against us and if there is anything positive that can be done, then it has to be done. If not, then the people should be told so directly. This is the job of the people's representatives in the panchayats and municipalities...

After we won the election in 1977 a huge crowd had gathered to greet us. I told them then that we would not rule from Writers' Buildings [the main State Secretariat] alone but also with the people. The same policy is being pursued. When I decided to retire on grounds of my failing health we created the post of Deputy Chief Minister, which went to Buddhadeb [Bhattacharjee]. He has done well and has led the team properly. He has been accepted not only by the party, but also by the people.

Q: When neoliberal policies are being pursued at the Centre, what challenges will the CPI(M) face in both supporting the UPA government at the Centre, and protecting the interests of the working class, trade unions and the small farmers?

JYOTI BASU:

This is a peculiar political situation in India now. The Congress - we have been fighting it for 45 years. We are now supporting it at the Centre - but on condition of implementing of the Common Minimum Programme [CMP]. Unfortunately we are not happy with all their economic policies and foreign policies. We have always supported the Congress non-aligned foreign policy from [Jawaharlal] Nehru's time down to Indira Gandhi's. But we feel they have abandoned that way, and dependence on America is growing. We don't like it at all. We have said, for example, in profitable industries, foreigners must not get the majority share. [Prime Minister] Dr Manmohan Singh, earlier when he was the Union Finance Minister, started following the advice of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund [IMF]. That must not happen, for these organisations are not always correct in their assessments. Some of the Congress recent economic policies, such as the privatisation of airports and so on we find to be anti-people. Now that the elections are over, we will meet and review how much they have digressed from the CMP, both in economic policies and in foreign policy.

It is clearly written in the CMP that we will pursue an independent foreign policy, but they are leaning on the side of the U.S. [United States], the World Bank and the IMF, who are not always correct. As I have said, there are always conditionalities attached. While we want foreign investments, which will be of mutual interest, generate employment and spread knowledge, we will not accept any conditionalities.

To give you an example, when I was Chief Minister, we asked the World Bank to lend us Rs.900 crores for infrastructure and road development. At that time I went to Washington. They gave me a good lunch, spoke very well, and I thought that the project was happening. But after three months a World Bank team came and asked the Finance Minister to show them the finance budget. He said they were welcome to see the budget that has been passed, but it would be illegal to show them the State's future budget. So we didn't get that money, and had to borrow Rs.500 crores from the Asian Development Bank.

In 1994, when I was Chief Minister, I placed a statement on our industrial policy on the floor of the Assembly that was accepted by the Left parties, and we have been pursuing that. We emerged first in agriculture, fisheries and social forestry, but we were not progressing in industry, where we were the best among the States at one time. Now I think we are fourth. But we are not to be blamed for that. It was the Congress government's licensing policy and freight equalisation policy of iron, steel and coal, the foundation of all industries, that set us back.

Q: What are your views on the reformist agenda followed by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government?

JYOTI BASU :

I don't know why newspapers go on writing that some of us are against reforms. We are not against reforms. Buddha, in the time of the last government went abroad a few times to get investments into the State; I went to Munich twice to get Siemens here; I went to Holland to [see] Philips for them to expand their activities here. Abroad too, I found, there was propaganda against us; industries should think twice before investing in West Bengal because they strike work all the time. This is very incorrect. It is true, we have given the right to strike not only to workers, but also to government employees, which is prevalent nowhere else in India. But there have been no major strikes in the last 30 years. We keep telling the workers that it is in their interest to look after the industry, if you have demands then place them in front of the management. If there is no agreement then come to the government. Our Labour Department will look into it. But if the management does not listen to legitimate demands, then you can go on strike. We shall never send the police to break up a justified strike.

As for reforms, what is the panchayat system? Is that not a major reform? More than 70 per cent of our people live in the countryside. Take the case of [the] Haldia Petrochemicals complex, a project worth over Rs.5,000 crores. I had to wait for 11 years to get permission from the Central government. That project is making huge profits now, and more than 70,000 people are getting employment in the downstream industries. I remember there was an electronic project that Indira Gandhi had promised to help us with. After keeping me waiting for one year she said that her officers, who had set up a committee to look into this matter, unanimously told her that no investment in electronics should be made in West Bengal, because it is a border State. Ridiculous!

But there is no denying the fact that poverty is still here. Quite some time ago there was a report by the World Bank, which said that 53 per cent of the people of West Bengal live below the poverty line. This was brought down to 23 per cent a few years ago. I don't know exactly what it is now. Unemployment is a very serious issue all over India. Our government has laid a lot of stress on dealing with this problem and the results are showing. The Salim Group has come from Indonesia, the Tatas will be manufacturing their Rs.1 lakh car here, Wipro is here. We are trying to promote small and medium industries to meet the unemployment situation. But our infrastructure is not that good. The seventh Left Front government will have to remedy this.

These are all reforms, and the whole process of reforms started from 1977. So I don't understand what the newpapers mean when they talk about us as anti-reformists.

Q: Soon after the victory you said that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's role at the Centre should increase. Could you elaborate on that?

JYOTI BASU : We have won not only in West Bengal, but in Kerala also, and very convincingly. So the Left is strengthened, and the Congress-led government depends on the Left's support, because we are in a position to throw them out of power any time. But we don't want to do that, and we are having our Polit Bureau meeting [May 27 - 28] to discuss the situation. Personally, it is getting very difficult for me and I shall ask them to release me, but I know they won't do that. This time our meeting will be on our relationship with the Centre.

Q: You were the longest-serving Chief Minister in the country. Please tell us something of the changes that have occured in the CPI(M) and the Left Front since coming to power in 1977.

JYOTI BASU :

The Communist Party split in 1964, and our party, the CPI(M), came into being. Our policy was to unite Left forces. Earlier also we had formed coalitions to form governments with some leaders who had left the Congress and formed a new party called the Bangla Congress. That government lasted for nine months and then 13 months. In 1971, when the Bangladesh War was on, we put up a great performance, and that too at a time when Indira Gandhi's popularity was at its highest, and she was winning wherever elections were held. At that time we tried to unite the Left parties and that had a great effect on the people. There has been a change in our party constitution. We are working in a capitalist system in a parliamentary democracy and we should take whatever little advantage [there is] from that system to come closer to our goals, which is of course far away. I don't know whether it will take 50 years or 100 years for a classless society without exploitation to come into being.

We are also looking at what is happening in China. The Communist government was set up there one year after our Independence. What they are doing is Marxism-Leninism with Chinese characteristics. That is essentially Marxism, for nowhere has Marx said that the pattern should be the same everywhere. We are studying the Chinese system, we have been to China and met their leaders and we want China to come here too. In fact, China is setting up a power project in one of our districts, and the power [it will produce] is expected to be among the cheapest in the country. We want more trade between India and West Bengal and China.

The sixth government also laid a lot of stress on the diversification of agriculture and food processing. Though not much advance has been made in that field, the seventh Left government will complete that process.

Q: What is the future of the Left in Indian politics?

JYOTI BASU : In the last party congress held in New Delhi, we got reports from all the States. It is very unfortunate that though we are very strong in three States, in some of the other States, even though we have good mass organisations, the party is not strong. We took a decision that, from the position we occupy in Central politics now, we should strengthen our party and mass organisation, for strengthening only the party will not help. Unfortunately, mass organisations are not there in most parts of India, but of late there has been some growth, for example this time in Tamil Nadu we got nine seats. But that is not enough. We have to advance in for instance, places like Uttar Pradesh and Madhaya Pradesh, [where] we hardly have any base.

Q: So how long do you think it will be before there is a Left government at the Centre?

JYOTI BASU : I don't know if I will be alive to see that [smiles]. I don't think it will be possible in the immediate future, but an attempt has to be made to strengthen ourselves and also talk to other non-communal parties. The older generation has seen us in the Opposition here, they have also seen the amount of repression we had to suffer. Our party was declared illegal after Independence in 1948. Most leaders were jailed or went underground. Then, after the High Court gave us legal status, we contested the first elections in 1952, and, without practically any organisation, we got 28 seats. I think at that time there were 280 seats in the Assembly. Since then we have been growing. There was a time when we thought that no Left government would be allowed. In fact, E.M.S. Namboodirpad was removed from office in Kerala by Jawaharlal Nehru and President's Rule was imposed. Indira Gandhi was the president of the Congress. But we never gave up. But our one defect has been that the Marxism-Leninism we talk about [has] not spread among the younger generation. But all that has started [to] change. It is very important to raise their consciousness.

Interview taken by SUHRID SANKAR CHATTOPADHYAY

Published on FRONTLINE, Vol. 23 :: No. 10

May. 20 - Jun. 02, 2006