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CPI(M) hoists Indian flag for first time in 57 years
The CPI(M) was formed in 1964 after a split in the CPI. The national flag was never raised at CPI(M) offices in any state although some of the frontal organisations of the party observed the custom like most of the other partners of the Left Front.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), hoisted the national flag at its offices in Bengal and other states for the first since the party’s formation in 1964.
In an apparent bid to come closer to the masses, the CPI(M) central committee, which virtually met recently, decided to celebrate the 75th Independence Day by hoisting the national flag at its state and district offices across India.
During Independence, the undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) raised the slogan, ‘Yeh azaadi jhoota hai” (This is false independence). The CPI(M) was formed in 1964 after a split in the CPI. The national flag was never raised at CPI(M) offices in any state although some of the frontal organisations of the party observed the custom like most of the other partners of the Left Front.
“The central committee decided that the party will observe the 75th anniversary highlighting the role of the Communists in the freedom struggle, the Communist party’s contributions to building modern India and consolidating the ‘Idea of India’…,” the central committee said in a statement on August 9. It, however, did not mention the decision to raise the national flag.
Octogenarian Biman Bose, a member of the central committee and chairman of the Bengal Left Front on Sunday raised the flag on the roof of the state party office at Alimuddin Street in central Kolkata.
“We decided to celebrate because this is the 75th anniversary of Independence,” said Bose without getting into the old controversy.
The national flag was also raised at A K Gopalan Bhawan, the CPI(M) headquarters in Delhi, and party offices across the nation.
