CPM REFORMS ALIENATE RELIGIOUS BELIEVERS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000028

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV IN
SUBJECT: CPM REFORMS ALIENATE RELIGIOUS BELIEVERS


1. (SBU) Summary: Efforts by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
(CPM) to revamp itself after its disastrous performance in the 2009
parliamentary elections received a setback in Kerala with a former
CPM Member of Parliament quitting the party in protest of
CPM-imposed curbs on religious expression. CPM General Secretary
Prakash Karat's explanation that rank and file party members are
free to keep their religious faith but that party leadership is not
has only aggravated the situation. The debate could turn out to be
a major problem in building bridges with electorally significant
religious groups in the 2011 state elections in Kerala. End
summary.

Church over party: Catholic CPM leader quits party
--------------


2. (U) On January 8, Manoj Kurisinkal, a popular CPM leader from the
coastal Alapuzha district of Kerala and former Member of the Lok
Sabha, resigned from the party citing reasons of faith. Manoj's
resignation letter said that he disagrees with CPM's ongoing
internal "rectification campaign", in particular, the party's recent
directive urging members to refrain from participating in religious
ceremonies. "This I found difficult because I have a strong belief
in my religion", he told the media after faxing the letter to the
CPM local committee.


3. (U) Manoj has always been an ardent Catholic. He was the
President of Kerala Catholic Youth Movement and a non-political
social worker when the CPM identified him as a candidate for the Lok
Sabha elections of 2004. Manoj beat the immensely popular Congress
candidate V.M. Sudheeran, by making inroads into the constituency's
significant "Latin Catholic" community. In the 2009 elections,
however, Manoj lost out in a Congress wave that swept most of the
state.

Karat: okay for members to pray, not leaders though
--------------


4. (U) The CPM national leadership quickly sensed the political
fallout of Manoj's resignation and tried to do damage control. On
January 17, General Secretary Prakash Karat wrote an elaborate
editorial in "People's Democracy" entitled "CPM, Rectification and
Religion." In the editorial Karat clarified that "while the CPM
upholds the materialist outlook, it does not bar people having
religious faith from joining the party...The CPM has no hesitation
to join hands with believers and religious leaders who espouse the
cause of the poor, or act in defence of the rights of the working
people." But he added an important caveat: "leading party cadres
such as leaders of state committee, district committee, zonal/area
committees etc. are expected to uphold progressive values in their
personal and social lives. They should not organize religious
ceremonies or personally conduct religious rituals."

Double standard, say Catholics
--------------


5. (U) The Catholic church was quick to react to the "double
standards" in the party's setting different rules for party members
and leaders. Father Paul Thelakat, a spokesman of the Catholic
Synod pointed out that the rules introduce "a kind of caste system
within the party". "The CPM will have no future if it does not
leave aside this outdated ideology," he said. Manoj called it
"duplicity in attitude." In a rejoinder to Karat, Manoj said: "the
party wants believers to stick posters, shout slogans...and become
martyrs but will not allow them to become leaders and participate in
the decision making forum of the party. This is sheer feudalistic
attitude."

Muslim Communist leader forced out in 2009
--------------


6. (SBU) In March 2009, the Kerala CPM forced out A.P. Abdullakutty,
a dynamic young Member of Parliament from the state's substantial
Muslim community. The immediate cause was Abdullakutty's public
praise for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's economic policies,
but his confrontation with the party had its roots in his Islamic
faith. In an interview Abdullakutty, now a Congress member of the
state legislative assembly, alleged that CPM leaders had criticized
him for taking a pilgrimage to Mecca and attending Eid prayers.
Later, he wrote in his blog: "Marxist indoctrination played a major
role in my metamorphosis from a faithful follower of Islam to a
hard-boiled atheist. Now the wheel has come full circle. When I
recently visited Makkah to observe the Uumrah, it became a talking
point for the media. Somewhere along the way I had regained my
faith in Islam and I did not wish to keep it a secret. And I was
prepared to face the consequences."


7. (SBU) Comment: After its rout in the 2009 parliamentary
elections, the CPM initiated a much publicized "rectification"
campaign aimed at correcting the "wrong trends and shortcomings" of
both its leaders and general membership. The party hopes that the

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rectification campaign will help spur a dramatic turnaround before
the 2011 state assembly elections in its two traditional
strongholds: Kerala and West Bengal. But the effort to regain
ideological purity may actually have the opposite effect by
hampering much needed efforts to broaden its popular base. The
party's recent decisions make the party seem hostile to
religious-minded people, which could seriously harm it in Kerala, in
particular, where Christians, Muslims, and devout Hindus make up a
substantial portion of the electorate. End comment.

SIMKIN