Don`t hit bottle, practice martial arts: CPI-M tells cadre

Palakkad: Do not hit the bottle, stay away from religious functions and form clubs that engage in martial arts for self-defence, the Communist Party of India-Marxist has told party cadre in Kerala.

A 62-page report under discussion at the three-day plenum of the CPI-M that began Wednesday and will conclude Friday includes instructions for greater discipline and adherence to party ideology. The report is under discussion at the meeting. Party general secretary Prakash Karat, in his inaugural speech Wednesday, asked members to see that they exercise restraint as they have to work in close cohesion with the working class. The document, which found its way to the media Thursday, instructs members to steer clear of alcohol. It also speaks of the need to keep away from religious functions and to ensure that functions in one`s home, like house-warming for instance, are not religious. It also instructs party cadres to avoid extravagance in such functions as marriages. The report instructs party workers to keep away from real estate and illegal money lending businesses. In a bid to deal with rising instances of attacks from religious and fundamentalist forces, the report encourages party cadre to engage in martial arts for self defence. The 62-page report also considers ways in which the party can reach young people and seeks to find means to get people who have left the party to return to the fold. Speaking on the report, critic and Left follower Basurendra Babu said the CPI-M was the only political party engaging in introspection in such depth. "That is why the CPI-M is able to keep its flag flying high," Babu told reporters after hearing of the contents of the report. The report also takes a swipe at the state secretariat of the Kerala unit for leaking decisions and discussions in secretariat meetings to the media with great promptness. This must end, the report says.