Modi Govt threatening India's social fabric: Yechury

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Central Government is threatening country's social fabric, said Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday.

He was speaking after inaugurating 22nd Congress of the CPI-M here.

"The current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government, whose reins are controlled by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, is pursuing policies that have imposed unprecedented miseries on the people and, at the same time, grievously threatening the unity and integrity of our social fabric," Yechury said.

He added: "The assault of neo-liberal economic policies has assumed unprecedented dimensions. The sharpening of communal polarisation is tearing asunder the unity of our social fabric as never before."

The CPI-M General Secretary also talked about Kathua and Unnao rape incidents and said, "It is shameful to see rape being used as a weapon for communal polarisation. This must be resisted and defeated."

The inaugural session was chaired by former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, which started with a solemn homage to those who passed away during this period and paid tributes to recently killed party workers in West Bengal, Kerala, and Tripura.

Sarkar also trained guns the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

"This government has been pursuing the very obnoxious policy of divide and rule, destroying our cherished cultural ethos of secularism, attacking our democracy and acting as a junior partner of US imperialism. Other than working class, working people, peasantry, agricultural workers, students, youth, women, especially Muslim minorities and Dalits are under severe attack," Sarkar said.

Mallu Swarajyam hoisted the red flag of the CPI-M 22nd Congress and marked the beginning of this significant gathering of 765 elected delegates and 74 observers of the CPI-M from all parts of India. The Party Congress will be in session from April 18-22.

The draft resolution was placed by former CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat on behalf of the Central Committee.

The minority point of view of the Central Committee was placed before the delegates by Sitaram Yechury.

The report on pre-Congress amendments was also placed. The Central Committee had accepted 286 amendments to the Draft Political Resolution.

The Conference saw the reflection of Left unity in the presence of leaders of six left parties: Sudhakar Reddy, General Secretary of CPI; Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary of CPI(ML); G. R. Shivashankar, Secretary, Central Committee of AIFB; Manoj Bhattacharya, member of Central Secretariat of National Committee, RSP and Asit Bhattacharyya, member, Polit Bureau, SUCI (C).