New Delhi: CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat on Tuesday said Communists recognised the role of caste in socio-economic formations in India and how it influenced the class structures.
As far as caste is concerned, he said he told a recent meeting in Cambridge that "we should understand both in theory and practice how class structure in India is influenced by and integrated with structures of hierarchy, discrimination and oppression that are particular to Indian society reflected for instance in caste system."
"Stating that Communists recognise the role of caste in the socio-economic formations in India is far from saying what has been attributed to me," he said.
Karat said certain reports of his speech at the Memorial Conferencefor Victor Kiernan in Cambridge quoted him as saying that "we (Left) committed 'a historical blunder' in not recognising the role played by caste in politics and society. It is also alleged that I said that Communists are "stuck in the forties" as far as their theory and practice is concerned, he said in a statement.
He described the news reports on his speech in Cambridge as "inaccurate in parts and midleading".
Karat said that contrary to reports which quoted him as saying that Communists were "stuck in 1940s" what he had told the Cambridge meeting was that bulk of the support for the Communist Party even today comes from the movement areas and outlying region, where mainly in the 1941 to 1948 period, the Communists succeeded in bringing together and leading the two main historical currents of people's struggles -- the struggle against the colonial power and the struggle of rural masses for freedom from exploitation.
He said he concluded his speech by noting that the agenda of the 40s such as land reforms and struggle for land is still being pursued by the Communists.
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