Sitaram Yechuri Urges Defense of India's Secular Democratic Values Amidst Rising RSS

In Calcutta on Wednesday, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechuri said that the RSS's goal of creating a "Hindu Rashtra" preceded the nation's independence and urged the secular, democratic political environment of the nation to guarantee the BJP's separation from the state apparatus.

Speaking at the "Challenges to safeguard Secular, Democratic, Republic" conference, Yechuri was commemorating the laying of the foundation stone for the Jyoti Basu Centre for Social Studies and Research in New Town.

The celebration took place on the 14th anniversary of the chief minister of Bengal who had served the longest.

"The India we now have is not the India that Jyoti Basu intended to create. The defense of the democratic, secular republic is the current struggle. Our Prime Minister is not the only one who brought about peril. The threat that exists now is due to him, but it was caused by an ideological conflict that existed before independence, according to Yechuri.

The head of the CPM was alluding to the ideological resistance of the Muslim League and the RSS to the concept of a secular democratic republic because they want a country founded on religion.

The topic of discussion was the nature of an independent India. The general consensus was that India ought to be a secular democratic republic given the diversity of the country. Communists like Jyoti Basu agreed that a secular democratic republic was a good concept, but they also stated that society should advance toward the type of socialism that Bhagat Singh had in mind. However, Yechuri said that the Muslim League and the RSS twins want an Islamic Republic and a Hindu Rashtra.

In order to preserve the four pillars of the Constitution—secularism, economic independence, sovereignty, and federalism—like-minded political parties and the general public were called upon by the CPM leader to make it clear that the bigotry that has engulfed India is not the product of "one Prime Minister" but rather an objective of the RSS.

In the midst of a nationwide frenzy surrounding the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, Yechuri called on people to take all necessary steps to "separate the RSS-guided BJP from state power" and "save the secular democratic republic" as India heads toward another Lok Sabha election.

Yechuri said that the struggle against the BJP will include resistance to everyone involved in the saffron environment, without mentioning any political party.

Following Yechuri, Md Salim, the state secretary of the CPM, reminded the crowd that the RSS likewise had the goal of weakening the independence movement.

Despite being unable to attend due to obligations in their home states, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan offered written condolences for the occasion.

Basu was praised by Nitish as a towering leader of the democratic-socialist heritage and an inspiration to follow. Vijayan remembered the role played by the past chief minister of Bengal in safeguarding the democratic institutions of India.

A research center honoring Basu was also welcomed by Nobel winner Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee.