NEW DELHI: There is no getting away from the nationalist fervour of the day even for the CPI(M), which is known for not having nationalist sentiments. After burning its fingers by celebrating Janmashtami recently, the party that is struggling to retain its ideological existence is turning nationalistic.
The party has directed its district units to observe all national days — including National Science Day, National Environment day, National Youth Day, National Migrants Day, National Martyrs Day, National Reading Day and the likes — with great fervour. The celebrations will start with Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 .
“It is important to celebrate national events. There is a risk of them being hijacked by fundamentalist fascist forces,’’ said a senior CPI(M) leader. When asked about the late decision on the importance of national days, he said the CPI(M) had never been “anti-national”. “We may never have worn our nationalism on our sleeves. The anti-Left propagandist made use of this opportunity to paint the CPI(M) as anti-national,” he said. Though the directive has been given to all state units, the most expressive manifestation of these “national celebrations” is expected to be seen in Kerala, where the party had recently burnt its hands trying to marry Karl and Krishna on the birthday of Lord Krishna.
CPI(M) had organised a march of “little Krishnas” with portraits of Karl Marx, which boomeranged. It made the CPI(M) realise that its attempts to stop BJP from winning over its Hindu cadre through such gestural politics was a blunder.