[President, CPB. Inaugural Ceremony of 11th National Congress(Unofficial translation)] Leaders of the central committee, Honourable comrades from brotherly parties, Guests, Respected party veterans, Councilors and observers, Journalists and media representatives, Dear brothers and sisters I welcome you to the inaugural ceremony of the 11th Congress of the Communist Party of Bangladesh. Red salute to you all on behalf of the central committee of CPB. The Communist Party of Bangladesh is a party of people from the working class, who are being always deprived. Communist party is the party of justice, party of revolution. In spite of facing a lot of ups and downs, the party has kept itself engaged in the struggle of the working class, with a view to establish a free society of free people. We fought in every important periods of Bangladesh’s history keeping up the spirit of the red flag. This party has played pivotal roles in all the progressive democratic movements in Bangladesh including the great language movement, liberation war etc. We have always been in the front line of any movement related to the working class including labours-farmers-day labours or the struggling class. Many comrades sacrificed their lives, left behind personal luxuries and faced imprisonment in order to stay with the common people. None of the other parties in the country had to face so many sacrifices. I congratulate all the working class people of the world and also the people who are engaged in the fight against imperialism, supremacy and exploitation; and for establishing a society of inequality, peace, independence, democracy and progressiveness. I do want to state with a strong voice in this historic Sohrawardy Udyan that we won’t let your sacrifices and fighting spirit go in vein. Dear brothers and sisters, The Communist Party of Bangladesh was not established in a day. We contributed greatly in laying the foundation for liberation war, and also fought bravely along with our countrymen with arms in hands. The common people from various sectors of our country took part in the liberation war with an aim of fulfilling their dreams. The people expected that basic pillars of socialism, secularism, democracy and anti-imperialistic nationalism would be implemented in every sector of independent Bangladesh. That expectation was not fulfilled. Many governments came into power during the 45 years of independence. However, the common people’s desire of establishing the basic principles of the liberation war could not be fulfilled. The people were cheated. The political parties, inclined to the rich people have distanced themselves from the basic four principles of the Constitution of 1972. Those who attained power with the slogan of implementing liberation war’s principles have also separated themselves from those principles and are driving the country in favour of the riches. Communalism has spread its presence in almost all sectors of the society because of this politics of plundering. Democratic practice is on the verge of distinction, the state institutions are being destroyed and obstacles for freedom of speech are increasing day by day. The country is becoming more and more dependent on the imperialistic countries, rather than progressive nationalism. The bourgeois political parties have demolished the concept of liberation war. However, our party has never distanced itself from that concept. The new generation created a historic mass movement in 2013. They demanded for not only the execution of the criminals against humanity, but also for driving the state according to the concept of liberation war. The communist party will go ahead with this concept. No politics against the liberation can stay in this country. So, we need to create such a political atmosphere where both the government and opposition parties are in favour of the concept of liberation war. Dear friends, We are organising this year’s

Congress of the communist party in a transitional period of time. The plundering is still there in the society, and exploitation and inequality are increasing day by day. People have already lost their minimum voting rights. After losing the people’s support, the ruling party Awami League has got into the power by organising a one-sided election. The Jatiya Party is playing the role of a domestic opposition party in the parliament. BNP has failed totally to play the role of an effective opposition party. They have made the war criminal Jamaat-Shibir as their coalition partner and wanted to get into the power by means of killing people through violence. The people don’t trust this party any more. Our party should be prepared to fulfill the vacuum created in the place of an effective opposition party. Dear brothers and sisters, The extremist terrorist organisations are trying to become more and more powerful, taking advantage of the political vacuum and the state’s negligence. In one hand, they are killing people from other religions, free thinkers, cultural activists, foreign guests, and on the other hand, they are also spreading the criminal ideology of communalism. Dear friends, The garments workers, non-residential labours, poor farmers are playing a pivotal role in keeping the economics strong. The government is telling the story of development, showing the result of these peoples’ struggles. However, basically some mega-projects like flyovers are being built in the name of development. The benefits of this development are not going to the struggling people. Looting is common in all the sectors now. You all know about the incident of reserve theft in Bangladesh Bank, of other scandals like stock market-Sonali Bank-Hallmark etc. The government has started distributing rice in a cheap rate of Taka 10/- per kilogram. However, looting is going on in that project as well. The values of the society are decreasing everyday. Crimes like murder-rape are increasing day by day. Incidents of women and child topmentation are also in the rise. Nobody is getting justice, the workers of the ruling party is enjoying indemnity for almost all kinds of crimes. Torturing the minorities and indigenous people has not stopped yet. The imperialistic powers are paving way for their benefit by establishing control over the resources of our country. The government is also keeping good terms with these powers, in order to stay into the state power. It is taking various projects, even at the cost of the country’s interest. They are not thinking twice in destroying the nature in the name of development. In spite of strong resistance from the common people, the government has already signed a treaty with the NTPC of India for establishing a coal-based power plant in Rampal that would eventually destroy the Sundarbans. The activities of the previous government led by BNP-Jamaat were even worse. In these circumstances, people don’t want to continue with the bi-party political system of the Awamy League and BNP. They want to see the rise of an alternative political power. During recent years, mass movements have held in the issues like protest against killing of labours in Rana Plaza, Tazrin Garments or Tampaco Industries. The farmers have protested demanding guarantee of work throughout the year. Movement against VAT in private universities, movement for protecting schools, movement against sexual harassment has also happened during the recent years. The communist workers have played important roles in these movements. They are also active in the movement of the National Committee to preserve the country’s interests. Dear brothers and sisters, On the international front, the imperialistic powers are trying to impose political supremacy on many countries, in the name of neo-liberalism. The imperialistic countries are making direct interventions on different countries including the Middle East, in the name of “War on

Terror”. However, the deprived people all over the world are getting involved in movement against neo-liberalism, free trade and the corporate culture. Dear friends, Politics should be taken out of the bi-party culture of Awami League and BNP. There should be a rise of the alternate left-democratic front. The communist party is ready to play the role of front-runner in this fight. We should make the left-democratic front visible and more effective by becoming stronger. This is a tough job. However, the foundation for this job has already been made. Now is the time to take initiatives to take the left-democratic front into state power. We will engage ourselves in that job from this Congress. In order to achieve this goal, we should be engaged in not only the electoral struggle, but also in making mass movements for different sectors of the society. Dear friends, The people of this country are fed up of the deception of bourgeois politics. The leftists should become stronger and more reliable in order to save the Bangladesh of liberation war. I urge all the communists to be united. Come, let’s be united. I urge all the leftist, progressive, and democratic parties of the country to establish an alternative front. Come; let’s fulfill the incomplete work of the liberation war by implementing the real concepts of liberation war. The power of people must win. Red salute. Long live revolution. 28th October Sohrawardy Udyan