The CPI (Marxist), an atheist party that has always regarded religion as “the opium of the people”, has begun using Durga Puja in West Bengal to promote the sale of Red books. “There is a good tradition in Bengal to take up literature sales campaigns on the occasion of Puja every year. The entire month of September 2011 was observed as the month for political education in the state,” CPI(M) central secretariat member V. Srinivasa Rao wrote in the latest issue of The Marxist.
Red cadres are also being asked to pay to shore up their Marxism. In states where the party is weak (now almost the entire country) they are being asked to pay for classes teaching the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism.
Heavily driven by ideology, party schools and workshops over the years have mostly been free. Politically demolished, the CPI(M), led by general secretary Prakash Karat, apparently doesn’t have the money to train its cadres in ideology. The party also faces a dearth of teachers and Marxist literature in regional languages. “These classes can be used as occasions to raise funds that would help in the general functioning of the party,” Mr Rao wrote. “In a situation where a particular committee is not in a position to bear the expenditure, fees should be collected from the students. For the classes conducted for comrades working in middle class (sic) and trade unions, the whole expenditure can be raised from them.”
Weak finances, non-availability of Marxist literature in regional languages, dearth of teachers and poor attendance of local-level members is plaguing Hindi-speaking states like Uttar Pradesh, he said. Incidentally, Mr Karat is in charge of the UP unit of his party.