– Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has strongly condemned the Modi-led BJP government, accusing it of supporting Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and deepening communal divisions in India. At the conclusion of its three-day Central Committee meeting in Delhi, the party demanded that the government immediately stop arms exports and cut all military and security ties with Israel.
CPI(M) General Secretary M.A. Baby, addressing the media on Friday, said the party would launch a nationwide campaign to expose the authoritarian and opportunistic role of the RSS, both during the Emergency and in today’s political landscape. He said the BJP-RSS combine is exploiting global conflicts and domestic terror incidents for political gain, accusing the regime of surrendering India’s foreign policy to imperialist powers and using terrorism and war hysteria to intensify communal polarization at home.
In a resolution, the CPI(M) termed Israel’s military actions in Gaza a “genocidal campaign aimed at complete destruction and annexation of Palestinian land.” It criticized India’s continued military and intelligence cooperation with Israel, despite growing civilian casualties, and warned that the BJP government has abandoned India’s long-standing pro-Palestine stance to please its global allies.
The party announced that its entire machinery would hold nationwide protests to oppose both Israeli aggression and the Indian government’s silence. Baby said this is not just about foreign policy, but a matter of India’s moral and constitutional duty to uphold justice and human rights. The party accused the government of damaging India’s independent foreign policy, especially in the Global South, by aligning more closely with the U.S. and Israel, and warned that India’s strategic autonomy is being compromised for the benefit of crony capitalists.
On the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, the party accused the BJP and RSS of using the incident to stir up communal hatred and marginalize Muslims and Kashmiris. Baby said while people in the region reacted with unity and condemned terrorism, the BJP used the tragedy to incite a hate campaign. He claimed the government is “weaponising” military operations like ‘Operation Sindoor’ for electoral benefit, citing the Prime Minister’s speeches in Bihar and West Bengal as examples of using tragedy for political capital. Baby noted that Modi’s comment that the operation is only “paused” indicates it may be revived as needed for political gain.
The CPI(M) also accused the government of allowing its supporters and troll armies to spread hate against victims’ families, military officials, and diplomats while the party leadership remained silent, calling this silence a form of approval.
Marking 50 years since the Emergency, the CPI(M) announced a week-long campaign to defend democracy and expose the RSS’s alleged hypocrisy. Baby said RSS falsely claims to have fought against the Emergency, pointing out that its then-chief Balasaheb Deoras wrote to Indira Gandhi offering full support to the Emergency to protect RSS’s organizational interests. He said the current government is following the same authoritarian playbook—jailing dissenters, criminalizing protests, muzzling the press, and using investigative agencies to target opposition leaders. The CPI(M) sees the present regime as an extension of Emergency-era authoritarianism, now in the form of neo-fascism. He also criticized current RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments on the two-nation theory, reminding him that the RSS has always promoted the idea of a Hindu Rashtra and Akhand Bharat.
On the issue of the 2027 Census and caste census, Baby said the government must immediately convene an all-party meeting to clarify the modalities, as its announcement has raised doubts about its real intentions. As per the Constitution, the number of Lok Sabha seats remains frozen until 2026, and any delimitation must be based on a post-2026 Census. While the Ministry of Home Affairs claimed Home Minister Amit Shah assured southern states that their concerns would be addressed, CPI(M) stressed the need for transparency and consensus.
The party warned that the Modi government’s centralization of power, bypassing of Parliament, and erosion of federal institutions pose a serious threat to Indian democracy, calling it a “creeping coup on the Constitution.”
CPI(M) also accused the government of spreading economic misinformation. It said the claim that India is becoming the world’s fourth-largest economy ignores the reality of low per capita income, growing inequality, and widespread unemployment. Baby said while the rich are getting richer, the poor are falling deeper into hardship. He condemned the privatization of defence, nuclear energy, and mining sectors as unconstitutional and dangerous for national sovereignty. The party warned that amending nuclear liability laws to suit U.S. corporations and allowing foreign players into strategic sectors amounts to selling out the country’s assets in the name of reforms.
To resist what it calls a broad assault on democracy, federalism, and secularism, the CPI(M) will hold a campaign in June focusing on terrorism, war-mongering, and communal hate—using the Pahalgam terror attack as a central point. Baby will lead a delegation of MPs including Amra Ram, K. Radhakrishnan, Su Venkatesan (Lok Sabha) and John Brittas, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, and A.A. Rahim (Rajya Sabha) as part of this initiative.
The party also condemned the government’s alleged efforts to override the Supreme Court’s ruling on the powers of governors, calling it a direct assault on India’s federal structure. Baby concluded by warning that the time has come to resist not just the visible failures of the regime, but its deeper plan to turn India into a theocratic, militarised, corporate state.
