 Hello and welcome to NewsClick. Today, we are joined by Shujukanta Mishra, the State Secretary of the CPI in West Bengal and also the Politburo member of the Communist Party of India, Marxist. Thank you so much for joining us and we're going to be talking about the situation in Bengal, the efforts being made by the left to work for the issues, the people, as well as the situation regarding Communalism there. So to begin with, could we first, could you first talk a bit about right now what's happening regarding the COVID-19 situation and also after Cyclone Amphan came and caused more devastation? So there's been a lot of criticism of the government's response as well. So could you talk a bit about how the government's response has been and what are the failures identified by the left? No, we were in the COVID pandemic before Amphan came. So the people, you know that whatever the country, the job losses and the say, the migrant workers stranded in other states and no time the government didn't have any plan and all that the sufferings they had to go through. And on the first day, day one, this became the one of the urgent problems that we had to address to see how to connect them, how to reach them wherever they are in whichever state, contacting our party, Peruvian had taken independent initiative, students, youth and women, these other people, master organizations, they had taken their initiative. So that was the challenge. But the government simply didn't do anything. And besides that, we had to take care of the people here in our state itself, the right from tea garden to duty industry to all these industries closed and these shops establishments, all these unorganized workforce in particular. And they had no salary. And naturally this particular the unorganized sector, they had I mean, it's a hand to mouth situation. And that even that without the salary, it become difficult. And the government response was very poor. I mean, the union government or the state government. And they were not prepared also. So it is that time that in such a situation, we had been trying to reach them, organizing people on the locality, it was a decentralized initiative. It's not much central thing, but it's a very good response from the people, the local people. They organized the community kitchens and there is the people first with the awareness program, providing them so sanitizers and we'll leave it about what is to be done and what not to be done. And also then they put and we had helpline organized by some organizations like people select committee here and these students health home, they organized helpline so that people can contact, particularly for non-covid cases that become a problem. And then the other thing that is it is such a difficult situation that it become complicated with this someone and it's a devastating effect on at least eight districts, particularly the coastal districts here. And the situation when you can't talk about physical distancing and all that, they don't have women all that, they have to leave for shelters and water, food, all this became a problem. And there also the government could not reach them. And because of unfunness, there have been interruptions of electricity, no network, the connectivity, all this became a very difficult situation and ultimately it depended upon the local initiative of the people, which is that's a great thing that the people did come out and we could reach almost everywhere. And but after this someone, I mean that stage is over that but rehabilitation of the people, providing them shelter and reconstruction, ultimately house and all that. And the demand that we made for declaring these as a national calamity was not accepted by the government of India. They provided some thousand throats. And the state government here also this the water taken, there are a lot of transparency, this way they did it. And the people who have two-storey, three-storey building, what the housing, I mean the the the construction of the houses where the homeless people didn't get anything. So also it happened to the residents, the residents having the MR shops and their supply. All the front we had to work even electricity has to be restored because of the lot of trees that are structure that we created and we had to remove them. That's there also, government was late so. But now the situation as it stands that what we say forward and month back, the gimmick is in a stage of community transmission that has started. Government fired them. Now of course the state government yesterday, yesterday they have started saying there are evidences of community transmission. So this is what we said. And we said that we have lot more to see because the challenge I had is much more worse than what you see today. Maybe the peak could be somewhere in September, so the full month of August before us. And it has become so difficult because of the lack of testing that is right or key words to face this pandemic that is testing, testing and testing, then tracking, then isolation, then quarantine treatment, all these things were not taken care of. So now the situation has gone beyond the control, I should say, the region government or the state government and the two states that had, I mean, number of testing is the lowest among the states with RAT in West Bengal, so and that becomes a problem. One rule by BJP, the time is just straight and then by PMC, yeah. So we also said that it's not only the antigen testing, RTPCA, but we should go for rapid or antibody testing to monitor these, the course, the pandemic takes and how it is spreading and all that. So that didn't do. In fact, we in our self, we had to start with my state committee members for antibody too. But some district committee members in the district committee meeting were able to attend physically when it could be possible. But the government does not take it up. So the basic things that the management of the, to manage this pandemic were neglected. And the livelihood issues have now come into the forefront. The question is that how long the people who are starving are going to abide by the physical distancing and all that. When the choice is between COVID-19, corona and starvation, as we know that people say that we must live fast, then we can fight corona. That's, I can die without food. So that thing and the, it is under such a difficult situation, I should say, but whatever could be done, it is because thanks to the people and the effort the, the help that they extended and the martial organizations and the other volunteer organizations and all that, they also had some initiative. But these, now this blood has started in North Bengal also that is another problem adjoining a calm and all that. So it's a multi-dimensional problem and the attack is also multi-dimensional. I mean, the government policies, union government policies, the response of the state in that. And as you said, the, the type of polarization that is taking place in the country and how this pandemic and the disaster management act, all these were utilized to intensify the attack on the livelihood of the people, live and livelihood of the people. Number two, on the democratic rights and right to protest. And then of course utilize pandemic to further arise to intensify the polarization based on the religion and all that, communal polarization for the purpose that they want. So that's why it becomes a multi-prong challenge that we have to face. And I believe that it's now that to the help of the people initiative and all that, we are in a situation when some degree of confidence has been, I mean, there have been a situation when people can move past the situation with more confidence, but we keep on telling them and we believe that it's very important that not to be panic in this situation, not to be careless also. I mean, this awareness campaign has been intensified and we had been trying our best to see whatever government is not able to, that's, as I said, the vote or the, I mean, the awareness campaign or this blood, when it comes to the question of blood donation also, it's all people who donated blood. When it came to the helpline, it's made before the migrant worker or made before somebody suffering from a non-COVID element. The helpline is, we had to do it, we had to arrange it for these things, even somewhere, education, I mean, primary. So in all these cases, we are trying to give an alternative, whatever is possible. It's not simply criticizing the government, but to see that whatever you can do that, mass initiative can be unlist. So in this context, I also wanted to ask, because there have been a lot of reports in recent times about how the parties are going to places where until recently, due to violence, they did not, but they were not able to have much of a presence, offices are being reopened. So could you talk a bit also about the kind of response that has come from the people to the relief work, organized by the CPIM and its mass friends and how the, how the CPIM itself is seeing this relief work? No, you see, we, as I said, we had two wrong initiatives. One is to unleash the initiative of the people. You see, I mean, looking for some thing that the government provides without waiting for that. And at the same time, fighting against the anti-vehicle policy of the government, the management of COVID is concerned, the response after Amphan or even the flood now, all that situation. And so, and the corruption, I mean, the massive corruption, that means, as I said that the house building grants were given to people who were three-story, four-story building, have car and air condition in their rooms, and they belong to BJP or, I mean, TMC, these people in Panchayat, and the municipalities, corporations and all that. So the movement against that, the movement for the food, movement for the ration, movement was that 7,500 rupees to reach these families. And also the movement against the union government policy now to sell away the public sector units to the corporates, whether national or foreign, and this enrichment in all the state sector, all sectors. So and the attack on the workers, the working hours and all this. So we had to organize movements. We had a very successful strike in the whole sector, in the coal mine. I mean, 95% people responded in the strike, three days continuous strike in this period and also in other industries. So besides the movement of the students against the type of attacks they are facing, particularly now, the proposal of this, having this online exam and all that. The youth particularly, they were in the forefront in all these struggles, whether providing relief or, see, the quarantine camps for those who returned, they're not looked after by the government. They simply said that we have spent so much and but we have to arrange it. It's their accommodation, their building and all that and to look after them. And at the same time, the movement as you see that helped us to reach areas and the people where we were not able to reach because of the terror that has been unleashed, I mean, since 2011 right now, also. But this is the first time that we could break through in many areas. And the people, there's a sort of upsurge in people in some areas. And I would not say that it is, that everywhere it could be possible. But in many areas that you could reach people and the offices which were closed since 2011 for nine years or over nine years now are now being opened. And newer people coming to us, even people who, I mean, for some reason or rather had been with the TMC or gone to TMC or VJP. There's hundreds of them come back every day and join our movements. That's a development, I think. I think we have a lot more things to do and a long way to go. So in this context, we are still of course dealing with the issues of the pandemic. But at the same time, there is talk about the elections that are coming up next year and a key component in this is the role of the BJP. And now we have seen over the years, especially in the last two to three years, there's been a massive amount of polarization on the ground, a very concerted attempt to create divisions in society. So could you talk a bit about what is happening on those lines and how the left is fighting back? Oh, polarization is nothing new now. It's whatever happening in the country. But the Bengal situation is a bit different. It is because it is this TMC, it's a normal Congress, which brought VJP into the state. I mean, during this government time, the RSS could, I mean, increased its number of the Sakas branches or whatever. I mean, it is almost troubled or vulnerable in some areas, particularly not Bengal in particular. And because it is this, whatever our chief minister or TMC chief speaks against VJP, would not utter a word about RSS. That is the thing they have allowed to grow. And now because of the composition of the population of our state, the partisan, the adjoining borders and all that make it more sensitive. It's also a fertile ground for the communal forces to further communalize and I mean, polarize the communal polarization and intensify the communal polarization. So it has been a challenging task. And when particularly when this government, the state government takes such a stand, it appears to fight VJP, but on the long run, so far policies are concerned. They are no different. The same policies, so the corruption scandals are concerned. They are no different. And the attack on democracy, it is here that it started first and had helped VJP to grow. The attack on the left and trying to marginalize the left, the main force that will ideologically fight the right, political right, I mean, the communal forces. And so it has been a dual role that the ruling party here is saying and trying to confuse people. Now, fortunately, because of these developments now and after all that, the migrant workers had to go through. And when they're coming back home, they have learned from their experience, the character of the state and the union government. And that helps us to fight this polarization better than it was possible before. So far as the party is concerned, the four, I mean, the direction, the movement one is of independent activity of the party. Second, we have left front. This is historically it was formed in, I mean, 1970s, the latter half. And so to consolidate the unity among the left. And since there are left parties outside the left front, we have brought a broader combination of the left front, left outside the left front and others, secular parties and I mean, those who had been with the left with the left. So there are now 16 parties or so and sometimes 17 parties in certain program. We can jointly move, so far the movements are concerned. And so independent initiative, left front, left plus, and then all the anti TMC and anti VJP forces, secular forces, anti TMC, including the Congress, but it's not only Congress, all anti TMC anti VJP forces, forces means forces, it's not parties only, it's parties, forces, individuals, groups and all that. They're all welcome. And so there are issues broad when particularly the campaign against the NRC and the CAA and all that, like that. He's the first me. And so many other issues like that, where we could have on my initiative together and given it a, I mean, formidable step. So that effort continues and that's the United struggle. We have been trying to broadest platform of the United struggle. Left front has to have the, there's a front. Front means it has some political alliance having an understanding about the agenda, I mean the agenda of the left or even left outside the left front. But besides that, we are trying to reach the other secular democratic forces that we can mobilize. So that platform of struggle, that is very important. Elections and all that, I mean, yes, it will come next year only. But that is not the testing thing now, but what is important is the struggle of the people, the unity of the people against this polarization, against the VJP and particularly the communal polarization, that is getting intensified. And as I said, the situation has been utilized by the ruling class and the ruling party in the center and state to further polarize it. And that's why broadest possible unity of the people has become a matter of serious concern that we have been trying to force. Thank you so much sir for talking to us. Thank you very much. I think that we'll have other occasions when the situation develops further. Absolutely. That's all we have time for today. Keep watching.