Need to counter communal forces philosophically, theoretically: Prabir Purkayastha

Prabir Purkayastha releases book honoring Sitaram Yechury, discusses relevance of Lenin in combating religious fanaticism in India.

NewsClick editor Prabir Purkayastha released a book Priyatama Netaku Akshara Nivali, a tribute to Sitaram Yechury, the CPI(M) general secretary who passed away recently, here, on Sunday. 

CPI(M) organised a meeting on ‘The Relevance of Lenin in the Present Day’, coinciding with the centenary of Communist leader V.I. Lenin’s death. The book was also released at the meeting.

On the occasion, Mr. Purkayastha said that India was currently facing a severe threat from religious fanaticism, with the BJP and RSS aiming to divide the people and society. It was the need of the hour to counter such forces both theoretically and philosophically, he said.

Mr. Purkayastha stressed that the RSS opposed the Constitution that represents all religions and castes. The Indian Constitution was under attack, he said. The RSS believes the Constitution should be based on Manusmriti, which grants no rights to the working class, he said. The BJP-RSS are promoting Hindu nationalist projects and hence putting forward  ‘Hindi-Hindu’ and ‘One Nation, One Election,’ he said.

Lenin applied dialectical materialism to understand nature and the world. He added that by examining science and history from a dialectical perspective, Lenin taught the necessity of class struggle for the welfare of humanity and the advancement of socialism. 

CPIM State secretary V. Srinivasa Rao, State secretariat member Ch. Babu Rao and others were present.