CPIM dubs violence against Left workers as 8216;class war8217;

CPIM said these "fascist" attacks were aimed at reversing land reforms and rights of the poor.

The CPIM today termed the post-poll violence against workers of the Left parties in West Bengal as 8220;class war8221; and said the 8220;fascist8221; attacks were aimed at reversing land reform measures and the hard-earned rights enjoyed so far by the poor.

8220;Clearly,this is a class war that is aimed at weakening the CPIM and the Left Front,thus weaken the strength of the exploited classes who had immensely gained from the policies of land reforms and panchayati raj in Bengal over the last three decades and more,8221; Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said.

He alleged that the electoral defeat of the Left was being used by 8220;the ruling classes to mount a class offensive to undo the gains made by the people during the Left Front rule. This is precisely what is being attempted through these assaults8221;.

In an editorial in the 8216;People8217;s Democracy8217;,he said the erstwhile landless agricultural labourers and poor peasants who got land under the reforms initiated by the Left Front,were being attacked or drawn into litigations. 8220;In some places,peasants are not being allowed to harvest the crop.8221;

Working hours of agricultural workers have been 8220;forcibly increased and their daily wages decreased8221; and the over three decade-long tradition of providing rice and meals to agricultural workers during work,was being stopped,he claimed.

8220;Employing fascist techniques reminiscent of how Hitler mounted an attack against Communists after the fascists themselves set fire to the Reichstag,arms are being placed in CPIM offices and houses of the leaders and the police is being called to arrest the comrades for possessing illegal arms,8221; Yechury said.

Maintaining that over 400 CPIM activists have been killed since 2009 Lok Sabha elections,he said houses of Left activists and party and trade union offices were being ransacked and torched.

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8220;Red Flags were torn down with the forcible hoisting of the Trinamool flag8221; and even the boards on which party daily Ganashakti is displayed at street corners were being destroyed,he alleged.

Recalling violent attacks against the Left in the 1970s and the 8220;massive rigging8221; of the 1972 Assembly polls in the state,Yechury said over 1,400 cadres were killed then and 22,000 Party families 8220;relocated during the successful resistance,defeating this semi-fascist terror8221;.

Observing that the people of West Bengal had not only reposed faith in the CPIM-led Left Front in 1977 elections but continued to do for the next 34 years,he asserted 8220;this time around too,the current class offensive will be met and defeated8221;.