Posting on behalf of Karthikeyan Shanmugam iamsjkk AT gmail DOT com.

"Open access to scientific and technological knowledge is critically important to developing nations. The information technology sector and the free software movement have shown that new technologies and methodologies can be developed by cooperative communities without monopoly ownership – either through copyrights or patents. There is a need to develop similar ways of promoting “science/knowledge commons”, across many different scientific and technological disciplines, like biotechnology and drug discovery.

The above is excerpt from XIX Congress Political Resolution of CPIM in 2008 Part II NATIONAL SITUATION Under 'Science & Technology'

CPI(M) supports Free Software for a long time. If CPI(M) makes promise people can trust. It's NOT true with BJP,one of election agendas of BJP in 1998 is 'Swadeshi' BUT immediately after it came to power in April 1998, it follows the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank.BJP came into power with slogan of 'swadeshi'. Immediately after assuming power it announced the ExIm(Export Import) policy which shifts 340 items to the list of Open General Licence (OGL) imports which led to liberal imports.

Today BJP may say it supports Free Software after come into power it will kick the Free Software and dine with M$.

As Yashwant Sinha wrote 'Confessions of a Swadeshi Reformer: My Years as Finance Minister' some IT minister of BJP may write 'Confessions of Free Software supporter : My Years as IT Minister'.

I do NOT want to discuss in depth politics here if you are interested please send me a mail, I'll send you a document what BJP did between 1998 and 2004."