Wednesday, May 25, 2011

ML Update 22 / 2011

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 14, No. 22, 24 – 30 MAY 2011

POSCO: Glaring Instance of Corporate Loot and Corruption

In spite of ample evidence of rampant violations of laws on part of the Korean company POSCO and the Odisha State Government, the UPA Government's Ministry of Environment and Forest has given POSCO a 'green' signal of forest and environmental clearance. In doing so, the MOEF has ignored the reports of two expert Committees appointed by the Ministry itself, which had concluded that the Odisha Government violated the Forest Rights Act to benefit POSCO.

Following the clearance, forced land acquisition in the Jagatsinghpur area has begun, with heavy police deployment in the area. The villagers who have been bravely resisting land grab are threatened with intensified repression if they challenge the ongoing land grab.

The MOEF has granted clearance to POSCO, accepting the Odisha Government's claim that the resolutions by the Palli Sabhas of Dhinkia and Govindpur in which 65 % of the villagers participated and rejected the proposal to divert land, are false. Ironically, in his order, the Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has said, "Faith and trust in what the state government says (is) an essential pillar of cooperative federalism" and "the bona fides of a democratically elected state government cannot always be questioned by the Centre." On what basis does Ramesh conclude that the democratically expressed mandate of the gram sabhas carries less weight than the word of a state government? Does his respect for democratic mandates extend only up to state government – not to the village-level democratic bodies, in which villagers directly express their mandate?

Actually, Ramesh's remark about federalism lets the cat out of the bag: the UPA Government is acting in shameful collusion with the Odisha Government in violating laws to appease corporate interests. In his order Ramesh admits that the "provisions for the export of iron ore" (POSCO will have rights to mine 600 million tonnes of ore over 30 years, of which 60% will be exported to POSCO's Korean steel mills) made him "deeply uncomfortable with this project." He has also admitted that he "could well have waited for the MOU to be renewed and for a final decision of the Supreme Court" before giving clearance. The Supreme Court is hearing an appeal on the Orissa High Court's verdict cancelling the Orissa Government's out of turn allotment to POSCO (jumping a queue of 200 applicants) and huge iron ore mining permits. Ramesh's clearance is all the more legally questionable because they are being granted on the basis of a 2005 MOU, which has lapsed and is yet to be renewed.

Anti-corruption activists have pointed out the similarities between the POSCO case and the 2G scam in which spectrum was handed over cheap to companies in violation of regulations in the 2G scam. In the POSCO case, massive natural resources - iron ore, land, forests, water, and a harbour – are being handed over to a company in violations of law. It should be noted that the captive port for POSCO was hastily cleared in the very last phase of A Raja's tenure as Environment Minister. Raja is now in jail in the 2G case, and the CBI is investigating corruption during his tenure as Telecom Minister as well as his earlier tenure as Environment Minister. Why has Ramesh granted clearance to POSCO without even waiting to see if the CBI finds any evidence of corruption in Raja's role in clearing the captive port for POSCO?

In January this year, Ramesh had remarked on POSCO's "strategic significance for the country" (i.e relations between Korea and India); and now he is citing 'faith and trust' in state governments. These indicate that the clearance for POSCO is not based on whether or not POSCO has the necessary legal basis for clearance, but on political considerations. Not long ago, when the UPA Government had been forced to distance itself from the Vedanta project, Rahul Gandhi had called himself the 'soldier' of the adivasis of Odisha in their battle against land grab. The 'soldier' is silent now as his Government colludes with the Odisha Government to wage war on laws, democracy and people's survival – all to appease huge MNCs.

The POSCO 'scam' – in which laws of the land are violated to allow a private MNC to loot precious natural resources of the country and make profits to the tune of lakhs of crore rupees – at the cost

of livelihood and survival of tribals and poor villagers in one of the poorest states of the country – is the latest shameful instance of corruption and corporate loot, facilitated by the Odisha Government and the UPA Government at the Centre. It calls for cancellation of the project, a thorough investigation and punishment to those guilty of breaking the laws to benefit corporate interest.

The Collapse of the 'Left Front' in West Bengal and the Way Ahead for the Indian Left

- Dipankar Bhattacharya

The inevitable has finally happened. The Left Front government of West Bengal, the longest-serving government in India's parliamentary history, has been trounced quite miserably in the recent Assembly elections. The defeat certainly has not come all of a sudden – all recent elections including the 2008 panchayat elections, 2009 Lok Sabha elections, 2010 municipal elections and several by-elections had clearly revealed that the CPI(M)-led dispensation had been losing ground quite alarmingly. The 2011 Assembly elections marked the culmination of this process of decline of the CPI(M) in West Bengal.

Large sections of the mainstream media, in West Bengal as well as elsewhere, have tended to treat the defeat of the CPI(M) and its allies in West Bengal as a turning point signifying an end of sorts for the Left in India. They also understandably rush to attribute it to the Left's dogmatic opposition to neo-liberal policies and Indo-US strategic partnership. The advice naturally follows that if the Left has to stay relevant it will have to shed its dogma and reduce Left politics to just providing better governance without challenging the policy environment and the politico-economic direction chosen by the ruling elite.

The problem with this analysis is that it has nothing to do with what has actually happened in West Bengal. In fact, the Left Front government of West Bengal had precisely begun to follow this much advised path of ruling class wisdom. A few years ago, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was the greatest darling of the corporate media, much like Chandrababu Naidu in his heyday or Narendra Modi, Naveen Patnaik and Nitish Kumar in their current phases. Some media houses had even enthusiastically elevated him to a new brand of Left politics in India, 'brand Buddha' as they fondly called it. The CPI(M) has not gone down in West Bengal resisting the LPG policies, it has just paid the price for daring to implement those policies by trampling upon the rights and interests of the rural poor and the labouring peasantry.

Let us look at the context and circumstances of the CPI(M)'s ouster in West Bengal. Its government has not been toppled by a hostile Centre. Nor has the ouster been scripted by the Tatas or some major corporate lobbies for being denied entry into West Bengal or being driven out of West Bengal through militant trade unionism. What has cost the CPI(M) its flagship state is not a feudal backlash against the party's much-trumpeted record of land reforms. Nor is it a revolt of an upwardly mobile middle class angered by the non-fulfilment of its consumerist dreams of globalised grandeur. On the contrary, it is essentially a peasant rebellion on the good old plank of land, livelihood and democracy which has gone on to produce this most spectacular electoral drubbing for the CPI(M).

If the dominant media analysis of the CPI(M)'s West Bengal debacle is totally misplaced, and the therapy suggested mischievously motivated, the CPI(M)'s own response is nothing but characteristically evasive and hollow. Ever since the peasant protests started in Singur five years ago, the CPI(M) dismissed them as an anti-industry campaign and accused whoever stood by the protesting peasants of Singur of being a Narodnik or Luddite. When Nandigram happened, the CPI(M) called it an anti-Left conspiracy hatched jointly by the far-right and the ultra-left. When Lalgarh revolted against police atrocities, the CPI(M) made common cause with the Centre to unleash a combined paramilitary campaign. It is only after the drubbing in Lok Sabha elections that the CPI(M) started admitting that something had gone wrong and promised to rectify and bounce back.

But there was never any clear admission of major political mistakes, no sincere apologies tendered for the forcible land acquisition in Singur or the massacres in Nandigram and certainly no attempt at course correction. This is why Nandigram was repeated in Netai and CPI(M) leaders continued to make arrogant boasts and several leaders went on to deliver vulgar sexist speeches, reflecting a feudal-patriarchal mindset, all through the election. The debacle in the Lok Sabha election was reduced to a simple statistical deficit of only 11 lakh votes and words went around that the deficit could easily be neutralized by ensuring a few additional votes in every booth!

Even now CPI(M) leaders talk in terms of bringing back the 'deserters' and regaining the confidence of the people who have been 'alienated'. There is absolutely no recognition of the sense of derailment that all sincere Left activists and well-wishers feel so acutely and of the fact that what the CPI(M) is now confronting is its own increasing isolation and even insulation from the broad masses of working people and large sections of the progressive democratic intelligentsia, and not just the problem of managing a few 'dissidents' or 'deserters'!

Trying to put up a brave face, CPI(M) leaders now present the West Bengal debacle as a mere defeat in one election after seven victories in a row. They would like us to believe that the people of West Bengal had desired change just for the sake of it, perhaps because of some time-induced fatigue and there is nothing more to it. They also tell us that elections are just a part of their overall political activity, and a poor showing in one election has therefore no political implication. But however much they may try to downplay the impact of the Bengal blow, the fact remains that West Bengal is not just any average state for the CPI(M). For three and a half decades now, West Bengal was the biggest bastion of the CPI(M) and what the CPI(M) has just experienced in Bengal is not a normal election defeat as it experiences in Kerala in every alternate elections, but a veritable collapse of its 'impregnable fortress'.

We are reminded time and again by CPI(M) propagandists of their achievement in carrying out land reforms in West Bengal and establishing the panchayati raj in West Bengal. This inspires little conviction today when the CPI(M) is being indicted by the rural poor precisely for reversal of land reforms, eviction of peasants and share-croppers and large-scale denial of routine panchayat benefits to the deserving and the needy. It is quite like the Congress talking of bringing independence and parliamentary democracy at a time when the people experience growing US domination in every sphere and systematic assault on democracy through draconian laws and military campaigns!

Ironically, the West Bengal elections have not only extracted a heavy price from the CPI(M) for its shameless acts of opportunism and renegacy, they have also exposed the utter political bankruptcy of the Maoists. In the wake of the peasant revolt of Nandigram and the adivasi resistance of Lalgarh, Maoists had found a fertile political ground in the forested areas of the western region of West Bengal called Jangalmahal. They flowed with the growing tide in West Bengal, declared their support for Mamata Banerjee as the next CM and got sensational and often sympathetic coverage in the West Bengal media. But they were only interested in their kind of armed actions, indiscriminately targeting CPI(M) leaders and activists and derailing the powerful militant mass upsurge of Lalgarh in the face of heightened state repression. When Chhatradhar Mahato, the main surviving face of the Lalgarh movement decided to contest the Assembly election from Jhargram, the Maoists virtually disowned him and many of them projected it as a diversion that would help the CPI(M) and damage the TMC's prospect! In the event, while the TMC candidate won the seat, Chhatradhar finished third with an impressive support of 20,000 votes.

The Mamata Banerjee-led dispensation has now taken over. As reflected in the thumping win of the TMC-Congress combine, one can clearly see expressions of a massive popular euphoria on the streets of West Bengal. Perhaps such early euphoria is quite understandable at this hour of change and transition, and there is undoubtedly an element of spontaneity in it, but one can also clearly discern the beginning of a very conscious, concerted and comprehensive campaign by the Right to use this euphoria as a veritable licence to launch all kinds of attacks on all streams of Left politics and ideology. An aggressive rightward shift would of course be out of tune with the overwhelming spirit of the West Bengal verdict and revolutionary communists will have to boldly invoke and nurture the popular democratic core of the protest movements of the recent past to challenge and confront the unfolding rightwing agenda.

It remains to be seen how the CPI(M) proposes to reinvent itself as an opposition party in West Bengal. After 34 years of government-centric existence, the implications of the party being forced to go back to the people as an opposition party, and what is more, as a professed party of class and mass struggle, will be quite interesting to watch. For revolutionary communists and all sections of sincere Left forces, the present juncture is surely an hour of profound possibilities and challenges both within West Bengal and on the national political plane. The CPI(M) model of government-centric 'Left unity' has suffered an unprecedented blow and the time has surely come for the fighting Left to regroup and march ahead with the agenda of people's struggles.

In December 2007, the CPI(ML)'s 8th Congress held in Kolkata had issued the clarion call: "People's Resistance, Left Resurgence". There has been no dearth of powerful struggles in the country during the last two decades of neo-liberal offensive, the Left can move forward only by forging stronger ties with the people and organically championing and leading the struggles of the people through to the end. And with the government-centric, CPI(M)-centric image of the Left getting a body blow, it is indeed time that the role of the Left as a consistently democratic and fighting force acquired greater prominence and the revolutionary Left came to the fore as the driving force of the Left camp in India.

UP: Statewide Programmes to Demand Resignation of Mayawati Govt

CPI(ML) Observed 23 May in Uttar Pradesh as demand day to press for the resignation of the Mayawati Govt in the State citing deep involvement of the State Govt in corruption, patronising the criminals, smothering the democratic rights by virtually banning dharna and demonstration and killing of the framers in Bhatta-Parsaul villages recently.

Dharnas and demonstrations were organised at district headquarters and memorandums for the Governor were handed over to the respective dist. magistrate as part of the demand day. CPI(ML)'s State Secretary Comrade Sudhakar Yadav led the dharna and demonstration at Mirzapur dist. HQ. Rallies were taken out in Chandauli, Varanasi, Jalaun and Robertsganj and Ghorawal under Sonbhadra. An impressive march was held in Sitapur followed with dharna at the Dist. HQ. Dharna was also held at Ballia, Mau, Kanpur and Ambedkar Nagar. Demand day was also observed in Lucknow, Gonda, Lakhimpur Khiri and Deoria among other districts.

Protest Rally against POSCO by Left Parties in Bhubaneswar

The callous and unaccountable Naveen government of Odisha showed it's anti-people brutal face again on 20th May when the police force stealthily entered Polang village in Jagatsingpur district of Odisha at wee hours to acquire land for handing over to the POSCO Company. Prior to this game-plan, the State Government had informed the media on 18th May 2011 that there would be no acquisition of land. Now it's confirmed that the state government was lying to the people of the State and create confusion for smooth acquisition and handing over of land to POSCO.

Huge police force is currently camping at Balithutha, the strategic entry point to the proposed villages. It was informed that at around 4 a.m. on 20 May, 4 battalions of police entered Polang village and started destroying the beetle vines. The process is supervised by the district administration of Jagatsingpur and Industrial Development Corporation (IDCO). The administration is planning to destroy the beetle vines, take into control the plantations, prawn cultivation areas, agricultural lands and the homestead land of the people. Four Left Parties – CPI(ML)Liberation, CPI(ML)New Democracy, CPI(ML) and SUCI jointly held a protest rally in front of the State's Legislative Assembly to protest this and demand withdrawal of troops immediately from the area. The rally was participated by seven hundred activists.

Comrades Khitish Biswal (Odisha State Secretary of CPIML-Liberation), Sivram from CPI(ML), Raghunath Padhi of CPIML-New Democracy and Sadasiv Das from SUCI addressed the protest meeting. Com. Mahendra Parida and Com. Ashok Pradhan of Liberation conducted the protest meeting. A memorandum was also handed over to the Governor for immediately stopping the acquisition of land in violation of all laws.

All India Kisan Mahasabha Holds Massive "Chetawani" Rally in Dehradun

Hundreds of poor people from the forests of Uttarakhand (dwellers of forest-villages and forest-settlements), carrying red flags and banners marched on the streets of Dehradun on 18th May raising revolutionary slogans and demanding their just rights from the Govt. The "Chetawani" (warning) rally started from the railway station that culminated into a mass meeting at Gandhi Park.

All India Kisan Mahasabha has been undertaking campaigns for quite some time to highlight the issues of and organise the dwellers of forest-villages and forest-settlements in the foothills of Uttarakhand and the people of hilly origins. It is to be noted that even after 65 years of Independence these people are yet to see even basic civil rights. Panchayatiraj is still a distant dream for them and neither NREGA seems to have been made for them. Even the Forest Rights' Act 2006-07 could not provide concession or relief for the hundreds of thousands of dwellers of these forest villages and settlements. These people hardly ever get even after herculean effort the election photo identity card, ration card, birth and death certificates etc. – which the Govt. holds so necessary. The Forest Dept treats them as if they are its permanent slaves. Forest Dept extracts fees for various livelihood activities by these people. It doesn't even allow them to erect tin-shades to protect them and their cattle from winds and storms. These are only but a few examples of the exploitation and torture by the forest dept.

The AIKM has launched the campaign to end this situation responsible for their horrible living conditions. On 2nd February it had organised a big rally in Haldwani which was one of the biggest demonstrations in Haldwani. That rally had made the Nainital administration to wake up and take note of this.

As part of the preparations for the 18 May rally, activists and comrades campaigned in forest-villages and settlements from Nainital upto Haridwar. They even mobilised people (though the participation was not thick) from those villages which were declared Maoist by the Uttarakhand administration and even meetings were not being allowed by the police in the villages.

The rally was addressed by CPI(ML) Central Committee member Comrade Rajendra Pratholi who emphasised on militant peasant movement to protect the interests of poor peasants today when the governments are hell bent on implementing pro-corporate policies. Various other AIKM and Party leaders – Comrades Raja Bahuguna, Purshottam Sharma, Bahadur Singh Jangi, Mohammad Momin, Kailash Pandey, Man Singh Pal and Anand Negi among many others addressed the rally. A memorandum for the Chief Minister was received by the city magistrate at the meeting venue. The rally also passed several resolutions.

AISA Demo against Corruption and Donations at Davanagere

AISA organized a demonstration at Davanagere on 24 May 2011, in front of the office of the District Commissioner, as a part of an all-India campaign against corruption and also against capitation fee and donations in college admissions. The protestors demanded stringent action against the corrupt and against all-pervading corruption.

The protestors demanded a Monitoring Committee comprising academicians, students and parents with sufficient powers to act upon the institutions and colleges that collect illegal donations from students. They also demanded reduction in entrance fee, free application forms for admissions and return of extra fees collected for revalutaion of II PU exam papers. Com. Prasad, State Convenor and NEC member led the demonstration while NCM Manju, District convenor Prakash, District president Rekha, VP Sushma, secretary Manoj and Ganesh addressed the gathering.

Demonstration Against Suvarna Krishi Bhoomi Scheme at HPHalli

The BJP state government in Karnataka declared a Suvarna Krishi Bhoomi Scheme which is to benefit small farmers who own less than 5 acres of land. The government will provide an assistance of Rs.5000 per acre, limited to a ceiling of Rs.10000 for 2 acres, for each acre of cultivation of particular crops that include arecanut, coconut, oil seeds, pulses, fruits and cotton in a new plot of land and not on the existing one. Paddy and other popular crops are not included that excludes vast majority of farmers from the purview of the scheme. The government has also stipulated so many riders for cultivating inter-crops that finally makes poor farmers ineligible to get any benefit out of the scheme. It has also introduced lottery system to decide beneficiaries.

AIALA and the party organized a demonstration on 23 May 2011 at Harapanahalli demanding an assistance of Rs. 50000 to all small and marginal farmers without any conditions. The protestors also condemned lottery scheme instead of extending benefits to all. The Party State Secretary Ramappa led the demonstration while Chowdappa, AIALA state secretary, Parasuram, district president, Prasad, AISA Convenor addressed the gathering along with others.

Condolence for Mahendra Singh Tikait

The All India Kisan Mahasabha (AIKM) expresses condolences at the passing of farmers' leader Mahendra Singh Tikait. Mahendra Singh Tikait will be remembered as a peasant leader who expressed peasant anger against India's rulers in this era of liberalisation and agrarian crisis, which are causing severe distress and even suicides among the peasantry. AIKM General Secretary Com. Rajaram Singh and Vice President Com. Prem Singh Gehlawat attended the funeral at Sisoli in Uttar Pradesh on 16 May.

 

Edited, published and printed by S. Bhattacharya for CPI(ML) Liberation from U-90, Shakarpur, Delhi-92; printed at Bol Publication, R-18/2, Ramesh Park, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi-92; Phone:22521067; fax: 22442790, e-mail: mlupdate@cpiml.org, website: www.cpiml.org

Friday, May 20, 2011

ML UPDATE 21/2011

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 14, No. 21, 17 – 23 MAY 2011

The May 13 Mandate: Lessons for the Left

Eection outcomes in India continue to surprise poll analysts. Even though most exit polls and post-poll surveys had quite accurately predicted the landslide against the CPI(M) in West Bengal, nobody had predicted that Tamil Nadu would witness an even bigger landslide against the DMK-Congress alliance or that the UDF would come to power in Kerala with the slenderest of margins, or for that matter the Congress would have such a smooth sailing in a most fragmented and diverse polity like the one in Assam.

 
The Congress would like us to believe that the May 13 mandate is a big yes for the Congress and the UPA government at the Centre, and the opposition should now allow the UPA to complete the remaining three years of its present term without any hindrance. This is a most fanciful and distorted reading of the May 13 mandate. Tamil Nadu was the biggest theatre of the 2G scam and the Congress model of coalition politics, and there the DMK-Congress alliance has suffered a total rout. In neighbouring Kerala, the UDF has won power with the barest of margins and that too thanks to the good showing of Congress allies like the Muslim League and the Kerala Congress.
 
In Puducherry, the Congress-DMK alliance has been voted out by the NRC-AIADMK combine. And as if this was not enough, the Congress tasted humiliating defeats in the Andhra by-elections where the widow and son of YSR have posed a challenge to the Congress that could well assume the proportions of the NTR era when the TDP emerged victorious by pitting Telugu pride against the dictatorial domination of the Congress High Command. It is only in Assam where the Congress has really won a big victory and that too because instead of pursuing the typical Congress strategy of Operation Greenhunt or the AFSPA regime as witnessed in Manipur and Kashmir, the Congress in Assam is playing the Gogoi card of 'politics of peace'.
 
Contrary to what the Congress claims, the May 13 mandate has served a serious warning to the Congress and exposed its utter vulnerability on the two most explosive issues of the day – price-rise and corruption in high places.
 
The BJP had little direct stake in these elections except perhaps in Assam. The outcome shows the BJP has lost out badly in Assam and its attempt to forge a stronger presence has also failed in the remaining states. Yet the BJP is quite jubilant primarily because the CPI(M) has been routed in West Bengal. According to BJP ideologues, the ouster of the CPI(M)-led government in West Bengal after 34 long years is a sure proof of the irrelevance of Left ideology! Moreover, the BJP believes that with the weakening of the CPI(M) the 'third front' phenomenon will fade away leaving the electoral arena increasingly bipolar where the BJP-led coalition will emerge as the exclusive or principal beneficiary of any decline in the electoral fortunes of the Congress and its allies!
 
Regardless of how the Congress and the BJP interpret the May 13 mandate, Left activists and well-wishers all over the country will surely have to make sense of the poll outcome in West Bengal. The writing on Bengal walls was clear to the entire country except perhaps the CPI(M) leadership in Alimuddin Street and AKG Bhawan. Since the 2009 Lok Sabha debacle, the CPI(M) has been talking of a vague 'rectification' leading to a sure 'turnaround', but the truth of both 'rectification' and 'turnaround' has been exposed mercilessly in West Bengal. In Kerala, if the CPI(M) managed to put up a creditable performance, it was clearly because of the credibility and goodwill enjoyed by VS Achuthanandan thanks to his image of a crusader both within and outside the CPI(M). In West Bengal, it is Mamata Banerjee who has developed this image while the CPI(M) leaders, in stark contrast, appear to be completely cut off from the reality of the state and the mood of the people, their anger and aspirations. The arrogance displayed by most CPI(M) leaders in the course of the election campaign and even after this huge defeat can only be attributed to their growing disconnect from everything that stands for the glorious legacy of the communist movement in this country.
 
After the Singur episode, there were two strands of critical opinion within the CPI(M) in West Bengal. One strand saw Singur as an administrative failure and pitted the success of the Rajarhat model against the failure of the Singur misadventure. Rajarhat is a new township developed on the outskirt of Kolkata where land acquisition took place gradually and surreptitiously, suppressing every opposition with brute force and taking most opposition parties on board, thereby manufacturing consent through complicity. The architect of this model was Gautam Dev, the arrogant propaganda bomb unleashed by the CPI(M) in the 2011 elections, whose aggressive propaganda blitzkrieg may have galvanized a few camp-followers but surely put off many more, driving more and more people towards the TMC camp. Dev has been a huge failure and the loudest liability of the CPI(M) in the 2011 elections.
 
The other critical voice which remained suppressed all through was that of the land reforms minister Abdur Razzak Molla who had been consistently critical of the Left Front government's attempts to subvert the land ceiling legislation and push for mega industrialization through forcible land acquisition. It is interesting to note that while most CPI(M) ministers have been trounced in these elections, Abdur Razzak Molla has been a rare exception who has retained his seat. Indeed, for all the CPI(M)'s brave rhetoric of land reforms, land reforms ministers had remained the most marginalised and suppressed in the Left Front cabinets and provided some of the most authentic critical voices from within the CPI(M). The late Benoy Chowdhury, the former land reforms minister, was the first to publicly slam the growth of the contractor syndrome under Left rule, and now Abdur Razzak Molla has come out openly against the CPI(M)'s subservience to big capital at the cost of its rural support base.
 
Some people have begun to liken the ouster of the Left Front government in West Bengal with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Mamata Banerjee and her colleagues are already talking about a second independence of West Bengal! By all indications, the parties of the ruling classes and the dominant media are gunning for a fierce all-out campaign against the Left. This campaign must be resisted and defeated. And the best way to do this is by reviving the Left movement both within West Bengal and beyond. In 1977 the CPI(M) had come to power on the plank of democracy and it had consolidated its rule with the help of a package of rural reforms. More than three decades later, the CPI(M) finds itself defeated and discredited precisely because of its renegacy on the question of democracy, progressive rural reforms and people's struggles.
 
If the CPI(M) has suffered such a humiliating defeat in West Bengal, it is certainly not because of the CPI(M)'s adherence to any 'outdated Left dogma'. The CPI(M) in West Bengal had embraced the neo-liberal policies without any qualms, the Chief Minister telling the whole world that his brief was to build corporate capitalism in West Bengal. The CPI(M) has had to pay the electoral price for championing the neoliberal 'development' model and abandoning the agenda of land reforms halfway. However much anti-communist propagandists and communist detractors may try and paint the West Bengal verdict as a mass rejection of Left ideology, the fact remains that the people in West Bengal have just voted out an arrogant regime that had begun to trample upon the people's basic democratic rights in the name of 'rapid development' and 'mega industrialisation'. No matter how the CPI(M) reviews this defeat and what lessons it draws from this debacle, Left activists will surely draw on this experience and learn the right lessons to carry forward the Left movement with renewed strength and resolve.
 
CPI(ML) In Solidarity With Agitating Farmers in UP
 
The UP Government has gone all out to forcibly acquire land for the Yamuna Expressway Project, firing on protesting farmers, cordoning off the affected villages and clamping down on all protests across the state. Farmers of the Bhatta and Parsaul villages in Greater Noida have alleged that the land sold to a corporate house for the project had not even been formally acquired from the farmers. The farmers are demanding proper compensation at 80% of land cost at prevailing market rates as well as return of 50% of the acquired land after development. They have also demanded fit compensation and share in development for the landless whose livelihood will be affected.
 
Police firing has claimed several lives in Bhatta Parsaul (the exact number is difficult to verify because access to the village has been restricted). There are allegations of rape and murder too. Yet peasants' groups, people's movement representatives and so on have not been allowed to meet the people and ascertain the facts.
 
A team comprising of AIKM Vice President Prem Singh Gehlawat, peasant leaders from UP Ishwari Prasad Kushwaha as well as Rohtas Bharti, along with CPI(ML) State Secretary Sanjay Sharma, and other CPI(ML) activists Srikant, Kapil Sharma, and Shyam Kishore went to Bhatta Parsaul on 12 May to meet the affected villagers. This team was prevented by the police from entering into the Bhatta village.
 
In the wake of Bhatta incident, the district administration imposed 144 in whole of the Gautam Budhh Nagar district, and even a pre-scheduled protest 40 km away from Bhatta by the CPI(ML) in NOIDA, for BPL cards and housing etc. was not allowed to be held. The city magistrate handed over a notice citing a six year old SC order as a pretext to ban the protest, claiming it was necessary to maintain peace and order. The same situation prevails all over UP.
 
The CPI(ML) has held protests in Lucknow as well as other parts of UP against the brutal repression on farmers as well as the clampdown on democratic protests. Highlighting the life sentence for two BSP MLAs in crimes relating to violence on women, kidnapping and murder, as well as the undeclared Emergency imposed in the state, the party has demanded resignation of the Mayawati Government.
 
The CPI(ML) has also called upon people to expose the Congress' politics and hypocrisy on the issue of land acquisition and repression. Rahul Gandhi is posing as a supporter of the farmers' struggle in Bhatta Parsaul. Not long ago Rahul had similarly claimed to be a 'soldier' of the tribals at Niyamgiri. But what happened to Rahul's promises and poses when the UPA Government has recently given clearance to the POSCO project, in spite of the evidence of rampant violations of the Forest Rights law, people's fierce protests and severe repression?
 
Moreover the UPA Government's much-touted Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill continues to allow ample leeway for corporate land grab. This Bill allows even mining to come under the definition of 'public purpose' for which land can be forcibly acquired. It also allows state governments to acquire land for private interests.
 
The CPI(ML) stands in solidarity with the farmers' protests against land grab and repression, and demands an immediate end to the clampdown on democracy in UP, withdrawal of the cases against the Bhatta Parsaul villagers, punishment for the police officials responsible for firing at Bhatta Parsaul, a stop to all forcible land acquisition, and proper compensation and share in development as demanded by the agitating farmers.
 
CPI(ML) Calls Upon to Resist Steep Hike in Petrol Prices
 
New Delhi, 15 May 2010. Further increasing the burden of price hike on the people, the UPA Government has instituted a steep Rs 5 hike in petrol prices. This is the eighth hike in fuel prices since the deregulation of fuel prices in June last year. Further increased in diesel and cooking gas are said to be on the cards.
 
International oil prices are subject to enormous speculative manipulations - by deregulating petrol price the government has exposed the Indian people to the speculative manipulations of the international market.
 
The fact that the oil companies waited till Assembly poll results were out before announcing this latest and steepest hike shows that the hike, and its timing, were surely political decisions for which the UPA Government is responsible. Such cynical opportunism in the timing of the hike will only add fuel to the fire of public anger against the relentless rise in prices.
 
The CPI(ML) calls upon people all over the country to protest the steep increase in petrol prices and demand a rollback of deregulation of fuel prices.
 
Protests against Hike in Petrol Prices
 
Tamilnadu: A Protest demonstration against steep price rise of petrol was held in Virudhachalam of Cuddalore dist. S.Rajasankar state committee member of AISA conducted the proceedings of the demonstration. Thenmozhi, State President of AIPWA, Dhanaval, dist. organizer of RYA of Cuddlaore, S.Ammaiappan, Dist. Secretary and SCM of CPIML and others spoke. CPI(ML) State Secretary, Comrade Balasundaram, addressing the demonstration severely condemned the steep rise in the price of petrol and warned against the decision to hike the prices of diesel and cooking gas. He criticized the New Chief Minister for not condemning the price rise and warned against hobnobbing with the Congress against the people's mandate. This was the first public protest activity after the May 13 election results.
 
Uttar Pradesh: Dharnas and demonstrations were organised on 16 May in different districts including Gorakhpur, Sikandarpur in Ballia, Dist. HQ, Saidpur and Bhadaura in Ghazipur. Effigy of UPA Govt. Was burnt at some places. Memorandums were also sent from some districts to Central Govt for rolling back the hike.
 
Demonstrations and protests in various forms have also been held in Bihar, Jharkhand and other states of Party's work.
 
CPIML's Participation in Assembly Polls
 
In West Bengal, the party's election campaign had targeted the coalitions ruling in both Kolkata and Delhi, and called for a resurrection of the fighting Left. Our campaign had highlighted the demands for repeal of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894; SEZ Act; UAPA (Amendment) Act; immediate withdrawal of 'Operation Green Hunt' and atrocities on people's struggles; return of land to the peasants at Singur; as well as other demands related to BPL/MNREGA etc. The party fielded 37 candidates in West Bengal who polled 71249 votes in all – this is our maximum vote in West Bengal till date.
 
In Assam, our election campaign had highlighted corruption, price rise, extremely tardy implementation of welfare schemes, unresolved border problems with neighbouring states, acute unemployment and abysmally low wages, loot in tribal welfare schemes and rejection of the demand of tribal autonomy, and construction of a highly dangerous mega dam. We had fielded 8 candidates, polling nearly 25,000 votes including 12784 votes in Bihali in Sonitpur district where we finished third.
 
In TN, our election campaign focused on exposing the hollowness of the freebies competitively announced by the rival DMK/AIADMK, and had instead highlighted the demands for land reform, right to employment and the rights of workers including trade union collective bargaining rights. We had 11 candidates in all, and polled a total of 8477 votes.
 
In Kerala, we contested a single seat - Nenmara in Palakkad District – where we polled 735 votes, and our campaign highlighted the demand for reversal of liberalisation policies and takeover of lands from corporate houses. LCC comrades polled more than 10,000 votes in one constituency.
 
The party had also contested three seats in Puducherry, highlighting the demands of the working poor and homeless people, polling 528 votes in all.
 
"Challenges to anti-corruption Movement today"

Seminar in Patna

 
A seminar on the above mentioned topic was organised by AISA and RYA in Patna's AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences on 8th May. The seminar hall was packed with progressive intellectuals and social activists of Patna as well as activists and cadres from rural areas along with the students and youth.
 
The speakers included Razi Ahmad, Director of the Gandhi Museum, Prof. Bharti S Kumar of the Dept. Of History of Patna University, Prem Kumar Mani, Legislative Councillor from JD(U), Jansatta's senior journalist Ganga Prasad who mentioned of the form of corruption prevalent at the higher levels in print media where the greed of newspaper owners for fatter profits has made the print media a saleable commodity and Govts and capitalists have come to dominate that sector, well known social activist Arshad Ajmal, Professors Daizy Narayan and Vinay Kanth, Prof. Naval Kishore Chaudhary of Economics Dept. At Patna University and CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya as the last speaker.
 
Comrade DIpankar underlined the characteristic features of corruption today as compared with those of 70's and 80's. He said that today legislative, executive, judiciary, armed forces, media and big names are involved in corruption, each instance of which is hundred times bigger or even more than those against which anti-corruption movement of '74 and '89 took shape. Gates to economic policy in this country has been fully opened for corporates and their intervention has been made virtually legitimate. Still, the huge companies are not satisfied with favourable policies alone, they want persons of their choice at the helm of power to establish their monopoly and for this they are authoring bigger and bigger scams. Spectrum scam is one example of this. Referring the mining sector as second biggest area of loot he used the example of how the foreign TNCs are selling the same iron ore at Rs.4000/tonne in international markets that they buy here in our country at Rs.400/tonne. To run unhindered this machine of national resource loot, corruption is used as lubricant. He said that when the people lose faith in all big ruling parties, in such situation of a kind of a "political vacuum" the role of 'civil society' becomes prominent. Lokpal Bill may be a good beginning where CBI and CVC have been made toothless, but limiting the anti-corruption movement to Lokball Bill is neither necessary nor a compulsion. The reach of anti-corruption movement must spread to poor-peasants-workers and this must be led by students and youth. The political leadership of this should be in the hands of democratic forces and communist forces being the most consistent democratic force will naturally remain in the forefront of this struggle.
 
AISA's State Secretary Abhyuday introduced the topic and RYA's General Secretary Kamlesh Sharma gave the vote of thanks.
 
In Memory of Comrade J Shankaran
 
In memory of Com. J Shankaran, former party state secretary of Karnataka, a meeting was held at Bangalore on 15th May to commemorate his death. The modest gathering that covered various cross sections including Tamil cultural and social groups, workers, party members, friends and few ML organizations fondly recollected the social and political life of Com. Shankaran spanning four decades, which was brimming with commitment to the Marxist ideology, dedication to the people's cause, strong ties with working masses and ample instances of personal sacrifices.
 
Dr. Lakshminarayana, Karnataka state convenor of Indian Institute of Marxist Studies (IIMS), recalled Com. Shankaran's role in publishing 'Flames of War in Bhojpur' in Kannada and in party building and developing new contacts in a situation of heightened state repression. Dr Rati Rao, VP of AIPWA, recalled his humane qualities and his contributions in evolving party work. Poet Irayadian said that Shankaran was a people's poet in his youth, whose literary potential was not fully exploited. Com. V Shankar, CCM, said that the process of transformation from being a fighter for the emancipation of Tamil masses to the position of a communist fighting for the emancipation of the Indian people as a whole is something to be learnt from the life and struggles of Com. Shankaran. He underlined the role of Com. Shankaran in establishing contacts with the central party after its reorganization in late '70s for Karnataka comrades. Further, he emphasized Shankaran's life as a model that explains how a revolutionary is indeed a great humanist. Com Gopal, another former state secretary, who presided over the meeting stated that Com Shankaran lived as a communist till his death and will live forever in our memories as a cherished communist leader.
 
Other speakers in the memorial meeting included V Sekar, former state secretary of the party, who carried the baton from Com. Shankaran, Appanna, District president of AICCTU, C Rajan, Karnataka Tamil Makkal Iyakkam, poet Maruthu, Prof. Manivannan, editor Vedhakumar, Manohar, Anbumani, CP Mani and Alphonse.
 
Edited, published and printed by S. Bhattacharya for CPI(ML) Liberation from U-90, Shakarpur, Delhi-92; printed at Bol Publication, R-18/2, Ramesh Park, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi-92; Phone:22521067; fax: 22442790, e-mail: mlupdate@cpiml.org, website: www.cpiml.org

 

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

ML UPDATE 20 / 2011

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 14, No. 20, 10 – 16 MAY 2011

Osama Is Dead –

But US Imperialism's World Wide War Lives On

 
The US has proclaimed its success in its decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden, culminating in the killing of Laden by US military operatives in a house in Abbotabad in Pakistan. As the televised triumphalism and images of hyper-nationalist celebrations in the US fade, however, the US' heroic narrative is being subjected to uncomfortable questions.
 
Ironically, Osama's death has come, not in the wake of 9/11 when he was at the peak of his strength, but at a time when Osama and his al-Qaeda were effectively sidelined in an Arab world that is witnessing a democratic awakening and upsurge. This fact too robs the US narrative of some of its sheen.
 
The US itself has put forward conflicting versions of the night-time raid by its military team. The initial US claim of an intense fire-fight has now been discarded, with the US admitting that in fact, only one man opened fire on the US operatives. The claim that Osama himself opened fire too has been withdrawn, and the US has admitted that he was in fact unarmed. Osama's killing is said to have been witnessed by his 12-year-old daughter. Apart from Osama and his son (whose bodies were speedily disposed off in the sea), at least three other men and one woman were killed, while many have been injured.
 
Why was it necessary to kill an unarmed Osama rather than arrest him and bring him to justice? Why has his body been hurriedly disposed off in a way designed to prevent the possibility of any closer scrutiny of the manner and circumstances of his death? The US has yet to answer these questions convincingly. Moreover, an armed attack on a sleeping household including several children, the killing of an unarmed terrorist in the presence of his child, and the killing of other unarmed men and a woman – these are not the stuff of a heroic encounter with a dreaded terrorist.
 
US President Obama has claimed the killing of Laden to be the crowning achievement in the war on terror. Some have even tried to glorify it with comparisons to the end of Hitler and the defeat of fascism. Such inflated claims are quite baseless. The end of Hitler did mark the end of WWII and a world historic defeat and decline of fascism. The killing of Osama, in contrast, spells neither the end of terrorism as a phenomenon nor the end of the US imperialist 'war on terror.'
 
Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda are known to be the most dangerous by-products of the anti-Soviet strategy pursued by the US in the 1980s using the popular resentment in Afghanistan and the Islamic world against the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. Modern-day terrorism is largely a US strategy that has backfired, and this cannot be contained or ended by the end of Osama. Rather, continuing US occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan and wars on Libya are likely to keep spawning more terrorism.
 
The most immediate political effect achieved by the Osama killing is the sharp rise in popularity ratings of Obama, who is soon to face elections. The Osama coup has effectively taken the wind out of the sails of the aggressive Republican/Tea Party campaign that had been gathering momentum in the backdrop of growing unemployment and continuing economic crisis in the US and the huge politico-economic costs of the US misadventure in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, Obama's claim to have avenged 9/11 may well outweigh the propaganda of his rivals.
 
There are indications that the despotic Saudi rulers, threatened by the Arab uprising and seeking a convergence of Arab ruling interests and those of US imperialism and Obama in particular, helped deliver Osama to the US.
 
Pakistan's military establishment is facing tough questions within its own country about how much it knew and concealed of Osama's hideout, which was a stone's throw away from a military academy. The Raymond Davis episode, Wikileaks revelations of Pakistan's rulers' doublespeak on US drone attacks, and now the Osama episode have created some ferment in Pakistani society about the nexus between the Pakistani ruling class, military establishment, terrorism and US imperialism.
 
The Pakistani rulers and military as well as the US are wary of possible reverberations of the 'Arab spring' in Pakistan. Whether Pakistan will indeed witness some version of an 'Arab spring' remains to be seen, but it must be stressed that only a democratic and anti-imperialist awakening of the people can be an effective answer to both imperialism and terrorism (which, after all, is nothing but an imperialist ploy gone berserk).
 
In India, we are witnessing some hawkish clamour to use the US' Osama operation as a precedent for unilateral action to hunt down the masterminds of 26/11 inside Pakistan. The Indian Army and Air Force Chiefs have indulged in irresponsible statements about India's preparedness for a similar operation against terrorists in Pakistan. Instead of indulging in such misplaced jingoism, India should re-examine its own relationship with the US in the light of the US treatment of Pakistan.
 
The Osama operation, like the Raymond Davis episode, has underscored the sheer contempt the US has for the sovereignty and independence of its so-called allies and partners. All US 'partners' including new members of the club like India should be warned. Terrorism and imperialism pose similar threats to both Pakistan and India. With the increased US presence in South Asia, with its accompanying spiral of terrorism, people of both countries need to recognise the need to come closer to tackle these twin challenges of terrorism and imperialism effectively.

 

OBITUARY

Comrade J Shankaran, former Party Secretary of Karnataka, passes away

 
Comrade  J Shankaran, former Party secretary of Karnataka, breathed his last on 5th May. He was suffering from lung cancer. Comrade J Shankaran leaves behind four decades of dedicated association with the Party. He was the secretary of the Party for two decades, spanning the tumultuous days of Emergency and underground days of the Party. He hailed from the modest background of a migrant Tamil worker in Indian Telephone Industries (ITI). His unwavering commitment to the left movement and working class served as the foundation for the Party which in later years spread its roots in the local culture and politics. Even though Party had only a small group of activists then in Bangalore, he held the party banner high during anti-Emergency actions. During the Public Sector working class struggles in the 1980s, Com. Shankaran played an active role.
 
He felt very happy and inspired when contacts were established in the late 1970s with the Party centre under the leadership of Comrade Vinod Mishra and distributed more than 100 copies of booklets on Bhojpur struggle and a collection of articles of Charu Mazumdar among the workers and progressive activists in Bangalore in 1977. In 1978, under extraordinary organizational circumstances, Shankaran and a few workers stood with the Party firmly, upholding Comrade CM's exhortation to build the Party among workers and landless peasants and to keep it alive amidst enemy repression and organizational disturbances. In spite of his ailing physical conditions, he displayed an exemplary communist spirit till the end. He was very happy to see the Party's recent growth in Karnataka, especially the first major political march organized under Party banner on March 14 this year demanding resignation of the corrupt BJP government in the state.
 
Comrade Shankaran played an important role as a popular worker organizer during the public sector workers' struggle in Bangalore during the early 1980s, especially against the goondaism sponsored by the then Congress CM Gundu Rao. After the July 1983 massacre of Tamils in Sri Lanka, Shankaran emerged as a key organiser for the Tamil cause in Bangalore. He used to organize Tamil literary meetings almost every month. Invoking the rich cultural and literary heritage of Tamils, he gave migrant Tamil workers in the burgeoning metropolis of Bangalore an identity based on progressive left ideals and values. He also spent a good part of his earnings to help the education of many poor slum children, especially from Kannadiga background, striving constantly for the class unity of all sections of the poor and working class.
 
Before joining Indian Telephone Industries, even while working as a day-labourer and earning meagre wages to support his family as the main breadwinner, he used to spend whatever little money he could save to buy books on classic Sangham literature and Marxist classics. His collection of books eventually grew into the People's Library which in turn became a major centre for Marxist-Leninist activists and sympathizers in Bangalore.
 
His warm ties with the people extended beyond Party circles. He was always known for his affection, kindness and cordial nature. He gave everything to the Party and the needy people and has set an example for working class comrades to follow. Com. Shankaran will always be remembered as a leading architect and torch-bearer of the Party and working class movement in Karnataka.
 
Red salute, Comrade J Shankar!

Condolence Meeting at Bangalore

 
Spontaneous participation of workers, party and Tamil activists in the funeral of Comrade J Shankaran who departed from us in the early hours of 5 May 2011 in Bangalore was really moving for bystanders. The condolence meeting at the place of funeral of Com. J Shankaran, in itself was an indication of the goodwill and respect that he enjoyed among the people and the activists. All activists who addressed the condolence meeting recalled fond memories of their association with the departed Comrade and the famous 'People's library' that played a key role in spreading Left ideas in the period of repression on ML movement and on Tamil movements. One Comrade recalled how the People's Library was the centre in shaping up his own revolutionary and progressive ideas in his youth. Another Comrade recalled the publication of progressive books in that period. Com. Ismail, Bellary District Secretary of AITUC said the ideals of comrade J Shankaran should be taken forward. Comrade Rajan of Karnataka Tamil People's Movement said that demise of Com. Shankaran is a great loss. Com. Marudhu, the poet fondly recalled the ever-smiling and humane nature of a revolutionary comrade. Iraiyadiyaan, another poet and a close associate circulated copies of poems of Com. Shankaran from his earlier period.
 
Comrade V. Shankar, CPI(ML)'s Central Committee member said that this is not the time to be upset and frustrated but to learn from the model of a working class comrade whose love towards Tamil language and people transformed him into a Marxist–Leninist and a revolutionary. He also said that Comrade Shankaran was one among very few who are capable of writing the history of Marxist–Leninist movement in general and CPI(ML) (Liberation) in particular. He also recalled that the library was not only a place to read books but also a centre for revolutionary Left and progressive forces in Karnataka.
 
Comrade Selvaraj from ITI Employees' Union, Rajan from Karnataka Tamil Makkal Iyakkam, Celene of Vimochana, Prabhakar, a civil rights activist, close friends Manivannan, Karthiyayini and Alphonse also addressed the gathering along with AICCTU Bangalore district leaders Somu, Manju, Gaddappa, Ashok and comrades Arumugam and Baskar. The condolence meeting was conducted by Com. VK Sekar, former State Secretary of the Party.

 

Shahid Darash Ram Sahu's 21st Martyrdom Day in Chhattisgarh

 
On 6 May, Shahid Darash Ram Sahu's 21st martyrdom day was observed by CPI(ML)'s Bilaspur unit. The Sankalp Sabha was organised at Lalkhadan Darash Ram Sahu Bhawan. Comrade Raja Ram, CCM, hoisted the red flag followed by garlanding on Martyr's photo.
 
Comrade Darash Ram Sahu was a popular leader of workers, CPI(ML) leader in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh and was also a sarpunch. He was killed by land mafias. Other leaders present at the martyrdom day celebrations were Comrades Sushila Bai, Lalan Ram, Bhagat Pal, Uma Pal and Majnu Nishad.

 

CPI(ML) Observes Black Day in UP against Police Firing on Farmers in Gr. Noida

 
CPI(ML) observed balck day throughout the state of Uttar Pradesh on 9th May to protest the police crackdown on farmers' agitation. The Party stated that the incident took place because of dictatorial behaviour of Mayawati Govt on the sensitive issue of land acquisition. This Govt has no right to stay in power after this incident of firing in which 3 farmers and 2 policemen were killed, for which Mayawati Govt. is wholly responsible.
 
The Party has said that Mayawati Govt. has always been insensitive on the issue of land acquisition. This Govt. has been forcefully acquiring fertile land of farmers at throw away prices and without making proper alternate arrangements for their rehabilitation, while handing over the land to capitalists. The farmers of Bhatta Parsaul had been on dharna for last four months asking for better compensation, but the Govt remained deaf to their plight.
 
CPI(ML) has strongly condemned the attack on farmers' dharna, use of force and burning of their fields and properties by the policemen. Many peasants are still missing and Govt. should immediately declare about their whereabouts and conditions.
 
Observing the black day, CPI(ML) members throughout the state wore black bands, held protest meetings at district HQs and handed over memorandum meant for the Governor to district administration. Party has also demanded high level judicial enquiry of the incident of 7 May attack on Bhatta Parsol. Black day programmes were held at Ballia, Lakhimpur Khiri's Palia block, Ghazipur, Jamania, Saidpur, Mirzapur, Jamalpur, Sonbhadra, Jalaun, Lucknow and Muradabad among many other blocks and districts.

 

Some More Reports of May Day Celebration

(In the last issue of ML Update, we published May Day reports of various states. Below is the remainder report of May Day celebrations)

 
March in Aurangabad on the Occasion of May Day and Maharashtra Din: Men and women workers went on a march through Aurangabad, on 1 May, labour day and the anniversary of the Sanyukta Maharashtra movement. The march, which started at 6 pm from Paithan Gate, went through Gulmandi, City Chowk, Sarraffa, Gomatesh Market, to return to Paithan Chowk. Around 200 industrial workers, both men and women, participated in the march. Slogans about workers' unity and about workers' demands, as well as political slogans were raised during this march. An open meeting was held at the end of the march. During the meeting, on behalf of the Joint Committee of the Kamgar Karmachari Sanghatan, Com. Praveen Wagh, addressed the participants, along with Comrades KN Thigale, Bhawalkar, Buddhinath Baral and Bhimrao Bansode.
 
Uttarakhand: May Day programmes were organised at Nainital, Pithoragarh, Ramnagar, Rudrapur in Kumaon region and Srinagar in Garhwal. The programmes at all the places save Rudrapur were jointly organised with other TUs. The rally at Nainital was one of the biggest in its history and employees rally were held at Ramnagar and Srinagar. Comrade Raja Bahuguna attended the Nainital as well as Rudrapur programmes on the same day.
 
Karnataka: Hundreds of workers marched on the streets of Gangavati on 8 May 2011 as a part of May Day celebrations of AICCTU in Karnataka. The rally that marched through main roads of Gangavati town culminated in a public meeting at Gandhi Chowk. The rally was held in the backdrop of successful struggles of rice mill workers in contrast to the opportunism and collaborationism of social democratic trade unions. Various sections of unorganized workers including auto mechanics, construction labourers and tractor drivers participated in the rally.
 
Comrade Ayyappa Hugar of CPI(ML) (Red Flag), Vittappa of Koppal Bachao Andolan, Basavaraj Soolebhavi of Ladai Publications addressed the gathering along with E.Ramappa, state secretary of the party, C.Javaraiah, state secretary of AICCTU and J Bharadwaj, district secretary of the party, who played an active role in organizing the successful rally.

 

AIKM Holds Kisan Diwas in Kurukshetra

 
Coinciding with the 154th anniversary of 1857's freedom struggle and great peasant uprising, the All India Kisan Mahasabha held a Kisan Diwas on 10th May at Kurukshetra in Haryana. The programme that went on for two hours was addressed by Comrade Prem Singh Gehlawat. The meeting raised and discussed various issues- especially corruption, price rise and state repression.

 

Dharna in front of Mumbai Municipal Council

 
A day long dharna was organised by Municipal Kamgar Karmachari Purogami Union on 5 May at Azad Maidan in front of Mumbai Mahanagar Palika to press for housing units for safai karmacharis (sanitation workers). Sanitaion orkers from various other unions were also present at the dharna in large numbers.

 

"Young India against Corruption - Young India for Democracy"

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Edited, published and printed by S. Bhattacharya for CPI(ML) Liberation from U-90, Shakarpur, Delhi-92; printed at Bol Publication, R-18/2, Ramesh Park, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi-92; Phone:22521067; fax: 22442790, e-mail: mlupdate@cpiml.org, website: www.cpiml.org