Thursday, October 27, 2011

ML Update 44 / 2011

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 14, No. 44, 25 – 31 OCTOBER 2011

'Liberation' of Libya:

Challenges for the Arab Spring and American Autumn

It was Iraq in 2006. It is Libya today in 2011. In 2006 Bush Administration had celebrated the conquest of Iraq by exhibiting the mutilated body of Saddam Hussein as a prized trophy. The spectacle of celebration of Libya's 'liberation' is turning out to be remarkably similar. On 20 October 2011 the world came to know about the ruthless elimination of Libya's deposed ruler Muammar Gaddafi. He was captured alive – and unlike in the Saddam case there was no pretence of a trial – only to be murdered brutally and his blood-streaked body was put on display in a commercial freezer at a shopping centre in Misrata town. Around the same tIme his son Mutassim was also captured and killed in Sirte, reportedly the last stronghold of the Gaddafi regime. While Obama Administration and NATO immediately hailed the 'liberation' of Libya, American and French flags could be seen being waved on Libya's streets alongside Libyan flags.

It is indeed a queer irony of history. On the one hand, the Arab Spring that had started in Egypt and brought an end to the three-decade-old reign of Hosni Mubarak has reached the American soil in the form of the Occupy Wall Street movement, on the other hand the US-NATO war campaign is desperately trying to subvert and subjugate the Arab Spring to its strategic objectives and calculations. Libya is strategically no less important than Iraq – both for its oil reserves and its standing as the geo-political gateway of Africa. The post-Gaddafi transition in Libya will be as messy as post-Saddam Iraq providing enough opportunities to the US and other NATO powers to tighten their grip on Libya and use it as a launching pad for a veritable invasion of Africa and for toppling other regimes in the Middle-East.

There can of course be no denying the fact that in recent years the Gaddafi regime in Libya, like the Saddam regime in Iraq, had lost its legitimacy and momentum. There was a period in the 1970s and 1980s when Gaddafi led the building of modern Libya – he nationalized the oil economy in this former British colony, built the infrastructure of a modern country, stood by Palestine against Zionist aggression and occupation, and extended full support to the anti-colonial anti-racist assertion all over Africa. But over the years Gaddafi earned increasing notoriety as a ruthless dictator. Meanwhile, the sanctions imposed in the wake of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing incident (in which Libya was falsely blamed) had also crippled the Libyan economy considerably. In the wake of the collapse of the USSR and more recently, the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, Gaddafi was known to have developed a working relationship with Britain and other Western powers perhaps in the vain hope that Libya would be left alone.

Mired militarily in Afghanistan and Iraq, and faced with a stubborn recession at home, the US has been looking for a different tactic to cater to its strategy of global domination. It has chosen to ride piggyback on the Arab Spring. Using the local resistance and opposition to dictatorial and unpopular regimes in the Middle-East, the US is seeking to effect regime changes and acquire greater economic and political control over the process of transition. The tactic seems to have worked quite effectively so far in Libya. Apart from gaining control over oil and gas and other key natural resources including land, the US also looks to counter the growing economic presence of China in Africa. It is well known that while the US is busy spreading its military tentacles all over the world, China has deepened its economic role in Africa through growing infrastructure projects and other related investments.

The 'liberation' of Libya would surely encourage the US to intensify its scramble for Africa. Towards the end of the second term of Bush Presidency, the US had established a unified military command called AFRICOM to direct US' military role for all the 54 countries of Africa. Fully operational since 1 October 2008, AFRICOM is aimed at protecting US national interests 'from transnational threats emanating from Africa' and remaining ever prepared 'to prevail against any individual or organization that poses a threat to the United States, our national interests, or our allies and partners'. With Libya secured, the US is already busy strengthening its military role in Africa in the garb of 'humanitarian intervention' and 'peaceful engagement' in countries like Congo, Uganda, recently bifurcated Sudan and several other African countries.

This US-NATO game plan clearly poses a frontal challenge to the spirit of both Arab Spring as well as American Autumn. While the Arab people want to run their countries independently and democratically, the Occupy Wall Street movement has come out against both corporate greed and plunder and US military bases and interventions across the world. The OWS movement is informed by a painful realization that the working people of the US are reeling under the burden of not just economic recession and enormous bailout packages handed out to Wall Street but also the crushing weight of the Empire what with the growing cost of US military expeditions the world over. The spirit of the OWS movement is thus directed as much against Wall Street as the Pentagon. But while acknowledging the frustration of the American people and the stubbornness of the recession, the Obama Administration continues to fuel the US war machine. The democratic aspiration underlying the Arab Spring and the American Autumn will therefore have to squarely challenge the US imperialism's entire design of global domination.

Condemn the Heinous Killing of Muammar Gaddafi

(Party General Secretary's statement - 21 Oct)

Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been killed at the hands of NATO-backed fighters. Reportedly, he offered no resistance when discovered in hiding, and even requested his captors not to shoot. Yet he was shot dead in cold blood.

It is ironic that such a blatant war crime is being welcomed by the imperialist US and its allies, as a harbinger of democracy in Libya! The US-NATO aggression on Libya is yet another instance when the imperialist quest for oil and strategic dominance in the region is being dressed up as an altruistic support for democratic regime-change.

After its costly military misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US is trying a new tactic in Libya to usurp the spirit of the Arab Spring, capture precious resources like oil and strengthen its geo-political stranglehold in this region of strategic importance. The US-NATO gameplan in Libya must be condemned and resisted as strongly as the whole world has rejected the US-led war, occupation and intervention elsewhere in the world.

 Towards AICCTU's 8th National Conference

(11-13 November 2011, Shankar Guha Niyogi Nagar (Bhilai, Chhattisgarh), Darashram Sahu Hall)

The 8th National Conference of All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) is being held in the backdrop of the pro-corporate, anti-worker, anti-people new economic policies which have been dominant for the past two decades has been thoroughly exposed. Corporate Loot and corruption, land grab, escalating prices and all-out attack on democracy and people's rights are the essence of these economic policies. The mass disillusionment and anger against these policies is exploding in the form of demonstrations and street battles throughout the country and mass resistance ranging from cities to villages, towns and tribal areas. The high level of people's participation in the recent anti-corruption movement and subsequent retreat by the UPA Govt in the face of this movement has given a big boost to the ongoing country wide movement against corporate loot and corruption. In this situation of turmoil, the working class must play a vanguard role in targeting the hegemony of corporates and capitalists and their agents in all the vital spheres of national life.

Increasing Globalization of Working Class Resistance: On the other hand, in the international arena, the chief proponents, responsible for thrusting the policies of loot and plunder on the world, the US and the Europe, are neck deep in a serious financial crisis. World-wide, huge and militant strikes and demonstrations of workers and common people are being witnessed against cuts in social welfare and jobs in the garb of crisis. The anger and protest is getting globalized against the policies of globalization. An unprecedented solidarity of workers of the world is developing against the loot and plunder of imperialists and their agents.

The ever intensifying struggle of the Indian working class: The movement of Indian working class is continuously intensifying against the policies of privatization, contractualization, and repression and for better wages, social security and Trade Union rights. The success of the most recent nation-wide strike of bank employees against privatization and outsourcing was unprecedented with the participation of employees of private sector banks in large numbers. The coal workers too could achieve some victory after warning of a 3 day strike in coal industry. The public sector workers' movement is strengthening against privatization, outsourcing and contractualization.

Regarding the struggles for TU rights, the ongoing movement, particularly of contract and other non-permanent workers of Maruti-Suzuki Plant (in Manesar) is exemplary. Some time back, the workers of Pricol and Nokia group (Foxcon) in Tamil Nadu set an example of struggle and sacrifice on the issue of achieving TU recognition. The Tea garden workers were successful in holding a general strike and bandh in 6 districts of North Bengal for their demands including better wage, and thus created a newer height of their struggle.

A huge section of contract workers created in the public sector, government departments and private sector as a direct result of new economic policies are getting organized and waging struggles for TU rights, better wages and secure jobs. A vast section of workers recruited on the basis of honorarium or commission, particularly women workers like ASHA in the government sectors like health, education and social welfare, are compelled to work in the most insecure and inhuman conditions. These new workers are getting organized in big numbers today and their assertion can be seen from the state to national level, as on 5 September at Jantar Mantar in Delhi under the banner of AICCTU. These lakhs of honorarium/commission workers and crores of contract workers are unitedly giving a militant, movemental form to the ongoing TU movement. Also, the pensioners and the general workers are on the path of struggle in various states on the issue of guarantee of a fixed minimum pension and other old age social security measures. On 25th August - during the monsoon session of Parliament - these state level struggles found their echo at national level, when hundreds of pensioners and workers under the banner of AICCTU held a sit-in against the government's new pension scheme, EPS '95 and privatization of pension.

Joint Trade Union Actions: Basing on this onward motion of workers' movement, the joint trade union actions are also gaining momentum. Following the last year's historic General Strike of 7th September and the massive united Workers' Parliament March on 23rd February, the joint nationwide campaign and actions are intensifying further. Now, all the major central trade unions are gearing for the coming Jail Bharo action programme in the month of November. And as a culmination of the ongoing joint action, a general strike action, much bigger than before, is being planned. In taking this joint move forward and also in terms of mobilization of workers in this move, the left trade unions are playing a frontal role, and AICCTU is an important part of this all India Joint Action.

Growing people's movement against corrupt, scam-tainted governments - from UPA to all state governments: In this ongoing situation, AICCTU proved to be the only trade union organization to take initiative on the same issues at national level by organizing nation-wide Jail Bharo programme on 9th August.

Strengthen the AICCTU, Make the AICCTU National Conference a great success: AICCTU is relentless in its struggle for a national minimum wage as 11,000/- per month, secured jobs and job security and trade union rights and against privatization and contractualisation. It has organized many campaigns and struggles on these issues in last few years and in the process uniting with all forces of struggle to carry forward the basic issues of toiling masses. AICCTU is in the forefront to raise powerful voice for the reversal of policies of privatization and liberalization, which are at the root of corporate loot and corruption, attack on trade union rights and democracy.

Let us strengthen the AICCTU, Make the 8th national conference of AICCTU a great success and strengthen the independent assertion of Indian working class in today's challenging situation.

AIALA's 4th National Conference

Comrade Ram Naresh Ram Hall (SK Memorial hall, Gandhi Maidan,Patna)

21-22 November 2011

• Stop the 26-32 game, ensure the names of each and every poor person in the BPL list !

• Stop corporate loot and land grab. Make a national policy for the development of villages and rural poor!

• Guarantee Food Security Right for the poor and the Right to land for the landless!

• Ensure Rs 250 wage in MNREGA and 200 days of work, implement National Pension Scheme for agricultural labourers and rural workers!

Against hunger, corruption, and freedom from repression

And for land, livelihood, social security and dignity

Dear toiling-rural-poor brothers and sisters,

The poor in our country are facing an intensive offensive as national wealth worth crores of rupees is being siphoned off, as millionaires and billionaires are exercising their control and domination in the Parliament and legislatures, and as a result of the pro- rich and pro- corporate policies of Manmohan and Montek Singh. The rural poor, who are already facing displacement, land grab, price rise and feudal-kulak attacks, now are going to be cheated and removed from the BPL list. It is nothing but a cruel joke that a poor person, who is spending Rs. 32-26 daily (on clothes-food, education -health, medicines, transport, shelter and living facilities), is being faced with eviction from the BPL list, as per the affidavit filed by the Planning Commission. Despite widespread protests across the country, the government is unwilling to withdraw this affidavit, and instead has begun to peddle falsities of extending schemes meant for BPL beneficiaries to others. Infact the government is going all out to hide the 86 crore poor in the country from the glamour and glow of

its pro-rich growth model, and further encourage corporate loot and subsidies. Actually it wants to avoid enacting a broad based Food Security Act and turn away from the provision of social security and the Right to health and education.

In the current pro-rich, corporate zamindari environment, states have bid goodbye to land reforms, worse they are actually reversing the steps towards land reform, so much so that now it has become a character of all governments to not even legally recognise share-croppers. In a signs of increasing assaults on the rights of the landless in recent times, the newly formed Mamta Govt in West Bengal has called the collective assertion on land by the poor and taking its control as a case of "land robbery", while Nitish Kumar has begun legal eviction of the poor from seized land.

Housing rights and homestead land movements have been facing severe state sponsored assaults in various places and lakhs of farmers and adivasis are facing relentless displacement drives as a result of these policies. It has also become a practise to attack movements and get the activists implicated in false cases and arrests. It has also become a feature of our times that amidst a host of announcements, poverty levels increase, as do corrupt politics and politicians indulging in loot and black money. In a government made by the votes of the Dalits and poor, in a country of 86 crore poor people, the schemes and policy maps have no place for the poor, instead they are being converted into a populace for distributing relief crumbs.

The downsizing of the much talked about MNREGA has already started and it has become a means for looting and cheating in the name of Gandhiji. The limited welfare schemes for the poor have already been offered as a tribute to a corrupt system and the panchayats handed over to middle men and wheeler dealers. Nitish government is running away from its promise of giving ration and kerosene to one and half crore poor people and three decimal land to the landless, instead it is handing over few rupees in the name of ration and thereby snatching away the right of the poor to get its due from the public distribution system. In all the states, fabrication and falsification of BPL lists and PDS is rampantly present, and robbers are having a field day in the name of the poor. The BJP led government made universal PDS into a targeted PDS, and now the Congress led UPA II government is trying to limit the Food Security Act further by making fun of the hunger faced by the poor and deprive them of their rights. The Central and state governments are negligent of the rights, security and dignity of lakhs of migrant workers, who move out of their villages in search of a livelihood and are acting in favour of communal, regional mafia.

Friends! In this all around attack and assault on the poor, the governments from Delhi to the states are involved. The faces of Mayawati, Mamata, Marandi, and Nitish are all the same in the mirror of the poor. It is the need of the hour that the rural poor and agricultural labourers are organised to become a massive class force so that these sycophantic governments of the rich, feudal, corporate houses, and its leaders and policies can be given a befitting reply. This is the only way that the land, livelihood social security and dignity of the poor can be guaranteed, and freedom be attained from hunger, corruption and repression. This fourth Conference of AIALA is dedicated to this objective. The preparations for the Conference be made into a broad-based campaign in villages and among its poor and in one voice declare that the poor are not to be trapped within quotas, committees and commissions. All the poor must be registered in BPL lists and a guarantee must be made for ensuring their food, land, shelter, education, health and other social security.

In the movement against corruption, from the panchayat and block levels to the scams at the top levels, the role of the rural poor must be increased. CPI-ML's 'Combat Corruption, Save Democracy' rally on 21 November at Patna is presenting a big, revolutionary political base to the national conference of the rural poor and agricultural labourers.

Come! Ensure the success of the Rally and Conference.

Appealed by, AIALA, National Council

• In Bihar, one and half crore families will have to be given BPL cards and ration and kerosene!

• All the landless in the state must be given 3 decimal homestead land.

• The AC-DC Bill and the Biada land scam must be investigated by the CBI.

• Implement the land reform commission's report and make a law for share croppers.

UPA and NDA are friends in arms, ever willing to put up the country on sale!!

Participate in several thousands in CPIML 's Combat Corruption, Save democracy rally, 21 November, Gandhi Maidan, Patna

 

 

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, October 19, 2011

ML Update 43 / 2011

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 14, No. 43, 18 – 24 OCTOBER 2011

Resist the Saffron Politics of Intolerance and Intimidation

The attack on Prashant Bhushan by men claiming to belong to the 'Sri Ram Sene' and 'Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena' is the latest instance of saffron thuggery. The Supreme Court advocate and activist was assaulted by attackers who barged into his chambers at the Supreme Court. He was targeted because he had, at an interaction with the press two weeks ago at Varanasi, recommended withdrawal of the AFSPA and army presence from Kashmir, and, if the Kashmir issue still remained unresolved, a referendum to allow self-determination for the people of Kashmir.

Such physical assaults on intellectuals, activists and artists who express views that are contrary to the reactionary worldview of Hindutva are a hallmark of communal fascism in India. They bring to mind the fascist brigades in Mussolini's Italy who would target intellectual voices of dissent. From women who wear jeans or visit pubs and artists of Muslim origin to historians who document truths that are inconvenient to Hindutva's mythology and individuals who challenge the jingoistic discourse on Kashmir – all become targets for organized violence by these self-styled custodians of morality and patriotism.

It is all the more deplorable that the attackers choose to cloak their brand of intolerance and violence with the name and legacy of Bhagat Singh. In doing so they attack the very memory of Bhagat Singh – whose life and death was dedicated to the reasoned revolutionary politics inspired by Marxism and Leninism; who was not only committed to fighting for Indian freedom but also for international working class unity; and who was not only an atheist but a lifelong opponent of communal hate-mongering. The young Bhagat Singh was moved to join the freedom struggle after visiting Jallianwala Bagh – the site of brutal colonial repression. Can anyone genuinely inspired by Bhagat Singh today fail to denounce the thousands of mass graves in Kashmir which contain the victims of custodial killings by security forces?

The Shiv Sena – itself known for similar acts of vandalism and violent intimidation – has hailed those who attacked Prashant Bhushan. The BJP and RSS have tried to distance themselves from the attackers. But it is quite undeniable that the attackers have had close links with the BJP and Sangh. Advani has been unable to deny an old file photograph in which he is seen closely clasping the hands of Tejinder Bagga, one of the perpetrators of the attack on Prashant Bhushan. Actually, the attackers have the same relation with the Sangh Parivar that Pragnya Singh Thakur (the Malegaon blast accused), Dara Singh (killer of Graham Staines) and Nathuram Godse (Gandhi's assassin) did. They are very much products of the same ideology and political culture of the Sangh-BJP, and the latter is only too happy to make political use of such foot-soldiers of their fascist politics until their actions become an outright political liability.

Congress spokesperson Digvijay Singh has displayed the Congress' characteristic willingness to embrace the right-wing jingoistic posture and slogans when it is convenient. Digvijay claimed to denounce the attack on Prashant Bhushan, but he himself mounted an ideological edition of the physical attack by asking Anna if it was "proper" for him to associate closely with Bhushan given his views on "basic issues of the country's unity and integrity." Till yesterday Digvijay had been accusing Anna of being RSS-backed – and now, the same Digvijay has no qualms about attacking Anna from the same RSS-brand of jingoist ideology, that inspired Prashant Bhushan's attackers, and that seeks to silence any discussion of state repression and self-determination in Kashmir by branding it a threat to 'unity and integrity.' In opportunistically joining the Ram Sene-Shiv Sena chorus against Prashant Bhushan, Digvijay and the Congress have, once again, emboldened the forces of chauvinism and communal fascism.

The episode has also posed a challenge to 'Team Anna' from the perspective of democracy. Anna's supporters too were beaten up in court by supporters of Prashant Bhushan's attackers. Anna and his team did condemn the attack, but distanced themselves from Bhushan's remarks on Kashmir. Their dismay and discomfort with Prashant Bhushan's views on Kashmir – and therefore with his political views beyond the narrowly defined corruption issue – was palpable. When Anna Hazare was jailed, a wide spectrum of democratic forces protested the arrest as an assault on democracy. When Prashant Bhushan was attacked, too, many protested – but the Anna 'Team' itself conspicuously failed to organize any demonstration of protest.

Saffron terrorists, perpetrators of communal violence and organized acts of vandalism and intimidation are emboldened by a long history of being let off lightly. We must demand that the attackers be put behind bars and such groups that perpetrate organized violence be proscribed. The forces committed to secularism and democracy must strive to expose and resist the fascist forces who masquerade as 'patriotic' and 'nationalist'. The ideological brethren of Savarkar (who betrayed the freedom struggle and begged pardon of the British rulers) and Godse (who assassinated Gandhi) cannot be allowed to lay claim to the legacy of Bhagat Singh.

Solidarity with the Maruti Workers

CPI(ML) leaders, leaders from All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) and student activists and leaders of AISA in Delhi have been regularly visiting the striking Maruti workers in Gurgaon, Haryana. On 15th October a team comprising CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya, Party's Haryana incharge Comrade Prem Singh Gehlawat, Delhi State Secretary Comrade Sanjay Sharma, AICCTU's Delhi GS Comrade VKS Gautam and a students' team led by AISA General Secretary Ravi Rai visited the striking Maruti workers at Manesar in Haryana. On 17th, again a team of student activists of AISA visited them to express solidarity.

Comrade Dipankar's Address to the Striking Maruti Workers

The struggle of workers of Maruti Suzuki has not only changed the identity of Manesar Industrial Area, but also sent a message to the whole country. The company owners felt that they could repress the workers according to their whims, and that workers would have no liberty to fight. The 'goonda-raj' that was being thrust on the workers has been challenged by the Maruti workers and the workers all over the country are glad that the fight that has begun at Maruti will end the repressive regime of capitalists and looters everywhere in the Country.

The workers had a very simple demand of having a union of their own choice, which is their right. This is a right of the workers all over the world. This law came into existence in India in 1926 - even though the country was then not free and still under the British Rule. Every worker has the right to form a union, whatever industry/sector s/he is employed in. But workers are being denied this right in free India!

This struggle has sent out the message to all the company owners and managements in the country that the workers have the right to form unions which managements will have to recognise, and that the workers will defend and achieve this right. The issue of right to union is linked with the issue of freedom, Constitution and democracy, and is a fundamental issue of the workers' struggle in the country.

When the SEZ Act was passed no party in the Parliament opposed it, but when the Act was being imposed, the peasants and farmers have opposed it everywhere. No matter what laws get passed in the Parliament and what the governments say, the workers, peasants and the people must have the final say.

Threats are being given that the factory will be shifted to Gujarat if the struggle is not ended. They want to silence people's struggles by branding the struggles as a threat to 'investment.' This is not a situation in the Maruti Factory alone, or even of Manesar alone, the situation will have to be changed all over Haryana and the country. Earlier people commented that workers' struggles are limited to Bengal, Maharashtra; Shankar Guha Niyogi did it in Bhilai. They said there cannot be a workers' struggle in Haryana, red flags will not be allowed here, but the workers here have shown that if their problems are not addressed then the red flag will flutter everywhere in Haryana and a new situation will come to prevail. And when such a situation will come to prevail everywhere in the country, no owners and managements will have the guts to try to frighten the workers with the threat of shifting the factory to other states.

The Maruti struggle will definitely change the prevailing circumstances and strengthen the workers, their identity will be strengthened and the morale of the capitalists will surely go down.

Some say that change is happening everywhere. Earlier they used to say that after the collapse of the Soviet Union only the rule of capitalists will prevail. However, at the capitalist headquarter, i.e. in the US itself, the workers and the youth are out on the streets opposing their government. They are protesting the bailouts and immunity given to the capitalists.

The Maruti struggle has created history. We will definitely try to mobilize more workers, students and common people in support of your struggle. These days the media does not speak in support of the workers, only the capitalists have a voice there. It advises the Maruti workers to have patience, that they should maintain discipline. We are only demanding that the Union be registered and the management should talk to the workers' union. If a simple demand of a union cannot be accepted then what remains of democracy in the country. Will this country be only for the capitalists? Will only their goons and the govts that work for them continue to run the country? Definitely a wider debate will rage on this issue in the country. All those who are fighting against corruption, inflation, loot and pro-rich regime will surely join in in this struggle.

Our Party has always fought for the rights of the poor and working class. This is a huge modern factory, but inside it, you workers are being treated in the most backward and exploitative way, where the rights that workers won centuries ago are being overturned and denied. A battle is raging in the country against such repression and exploitation, and for democracy, and the Manesar workers are definitely at the forefront of that battle. I offer the red salute to you on behalf of my Party and the nation-wide workers' organizations and we will make efforts to spread your struggle all over the country. No matter what pressures the govt brings upon, you will definitely win this struggle as all democracy loving people , struggling people and all working class organizations in the country are standing with you.

Inquilab Zindabad!

Condemn Police Firing in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh

The CPI(ML) strongly condemned the recent police firing in Darrang, Assam, which took the lives of four jute farmers demonstrating against denial of remunerative prices. The increasingly repressive face of the Congress Government of Assam has come to the fore in the incidents of firing on protestors in Guwahati some months ago, and the recent firing at Darrang.

The CPI(ML) also condemned the brutal STF and CRPF action against young students celebrating Durga Puja in Roing, Arunachal Pradesh. The unprovoked and brutal firing has seriously injured nine students including a girl. Shockingly the security personnel even tried to fire in the air and storm the hospital premises where the injured were admitted, till students' protests finally turned them back. This act of repression is an attempt to intimidate the local population that has been protesting against the Dibang Dam. The public hearing for the dam is due on October 31. The repressive measures are being unleashed to instill fear and prevent people from expressing their opposition to the Dam. The Congress Government of Arunachal Pradesh is defending the heinous act of firing on young students celebrating a festival by branding anti-dam protestors as 'Maoists.'

The police and security personnel responsible for the heinous firing at Assam and Arunachal Pradesh must be punished swiftly and severely.

Statewide Protests

Protesting the killing of 4 peasants, CPI(ML) organized protest programmes at different places in Assam. The Assam Police killed four peasants and injured many when it opened fire on hundreds of peasants on 10th October at Bechimari under Dolgaon Police Station of the north Assam district. While condemning the brutal killing, CPI(ML) held protest programmes at Tinsukia and Chabua on 12th Oct,  Jorhat on 11th Oct, Nagaon 12th Oct, Behali 11th Oct and Barpeta 11th Oct. District Committees and local committees of the Party burned effigies of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and demanded a high level enquiry into the incident. The Assam State Committee and Hills Party Committee jointly submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Assam on 13th October that demanded an investigation into the Bechimari incident immediately and to publish the report within a week; and also demanded Rs.10 lakhs to every victim's family and Rs.3 lakhs for every injured peasant. It also demanded to stop repressing the peasants, to fix and declare minimum support price before harvesting and to purchase agricultural produce directly, provide subsidy on manure, seeds, pesticides and distribute them through fare price system.

March to Raj Bhawan on Autonomous State and Corruption Issues

CPI(ML) Hills party committee (HPC) organised a march to Rajbhawan on 13th October on the issue of Autonomous State and rampant corruption in Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council. More than 200 marched from Latasil field near Guwahati High Court and sat on dharna at Raj Bhawan. A team led by Party's PB member Com. Rubul Sarma and HPC Secretary Selawar Bey, Ravi Kr. Phangcho, Mahen Bey, Laison Inleng met the Governor and submitted a memorandum on threse demands: (i) creation of an autonomous state under article 244(A), (ii) investigate corruption in the Congress run Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and Dima Hasao districts, and (iii) removal of clause 8 of BLT accord of 2003. It may be worth mentioning that Bodos are recognized as ST in plains all over Assam, but BLT accord under this clause recognized them as ST hills in Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts. Indigenous hill tribes are opposed to this clause and it is feared that if the clause is not scrapped it would lead to social tension between various ethnic groups.

Protest Held Against Attack on Prashant Bhushan

Hundreds Protest Against Saffron Brigade's Politics of Intolerance and Intimidation, Burn Effigy of Sri Ram Sene

Hundreds of students, university teachers, intellectuals, cultural activists and people's movement activists gathered at Jantar Mantar on 14th October to protest against the attack on noted activist and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan by goons belonging to the Sri Ram Sene and other saffron outfits. The protest was organised by the All India Students' Association (AISA).

The protestors raised slogans against the assaults on freedom of expression and demanding arrest and stern action against the perpetrators of the attack on Mr. Bhushan. The protestors also raised slogans against police failure to act against the perpetrators of the attack on Mr. Bhushan's supporters inside Court premises in full view of the police.

The protest meeting was addressed by a range of democratic activists. The meeting was conducted by Ravi Rai, General Secretary of AISA. The meeting was addressed by N D Pancholi of PUCL, NK Bhattacharya of Janhastakshep, Arvind Gaur of Asmita, Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary of CPI(ML) Liberation, filmmaker Ajay Bharadwaj, Manipuri activist Seram Rojesh (CPDM), Rakesh Kumar of Socialist Front, Sandeep Singh, National President of AISA, Ram Krishna Reddy (Delhi Telangana Joint Action Committee), Mahtab Alam, Ameek Jami of AIYF among many others.

Similar protests were also held by AISA at many places in the Country including Banaras, Patna, Arrah, Kolkata and Chandigarh.

Demonstration against Mamta Govt in Kolkata

Party's Kolkata District Committee organized a militant protest demonstration in Kolkata on 18th October against the highhanded gesture made by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during her visit to the troubled Jangalmahal, belying all the poll promises made by her before the assembly elections held early this year. Her party and she herself had promised that the Joint Forces operative in Jangalmahal would be withdrawn, all the political prisoners would be freed and UAPA would be given a go by. So her visit to the place evoked lot of expectation among the poor tribal people inhabiting that place, who have been reeling under acute state terror prevailing in that area because of the repressive attitude of the Joint Forces. She has totally gone back on her promises and instead, issued open threat of fiercer action in the name of containing the Maoists. To make matters worse, a tribal woman named Shibani Singh was brutally raped by the Joint Forces personnel, while they entered her house in search of her absconding husband. She had to be hospitalized and the police refused to register an FIR.

Assembling at Subodh Mullick Square, the demonstrators led by District Secretary Kalyan Goswami took out a colourful and militant procession to Esplanade, where the Jangalmahal policy of the Mamata Government was burnt. We demanded withdrawal of the Joint Forces, all the political prisoners be unconditionally released, UAPA Act be revoked and exemplary punishment be meted out to the rapists of Shibani Singh immediately. The demonstration, the first of its kind since Mamata government took over office, evoked positive response from the masses.

From Tahrir Square to Times Square: Protests Erupt in Over 1500 Cities Worldwide

Tens of Thousands Flooded the Streets of Global Financial Centers, Capital Cities and Small Towns on 15th Oct.

After triumphing in a standoff with the authorities over the continued protest of Wall Street at Liberty Square in Manhattan's financial district, the Occupy Wall Street movement has spread worldwide today with demonstrations in over 1,500 cities globally and over 100 US cities from coast to coast as of 15th October. In New York, thousands marched in various protests by trade unions, students, environmentalists, and community groups. As occupiers flocked to Washington Square Park, two dozen participants were arrested at a nearby Citibank while attempting to withdraw their accounts from the global banking giant.

"I am occupying Wall Street because it is my future, my generations' future, that is at stake," said Linnea Palmer Paton, 23, a student at New York University. "Inspired by the peaceful occupation of Tahrir Square in Cairo, tonight we are coming together in Times Square to show the world that the power of the people is an unstoppable force of global change. Today, we are fighting back against the dictators of our country - the Wall Street banks - and we are winning."

While the spotlight is on New York, "occupy" actions are also happening all across the Midwestern and the Southern United States, from Ashland, Kentucky to Dallas, Texas to Ketchum, Idaho. "People are suffering here in Iowa. Family farmers are struggling, students face mounting debt and fewer good jobs, and household incomes are plummeting," said Judy Lonning a 69-year-old retired public school teacher. "We're not willing to keep suffering for Wall Street's sins. People here are waking up and realizing that we can't just go to the ballot box. We're building a movement to make our leaders listen."

Protests filled streets of financial districts from Berlin, to Athens, Auckland to Mumbai, Tokyo to Seoul. In the UK over 3,000 people attempted to occupy the London Stock Exchange. "The financial system benefits a handful of banks at the expense of everyday people," said Spyro Van Leemnen, a 27-year old public relations agent in London and a core member of the demonstrators. "The same people who are responsible for the recession are getting away with massive bonuses. This is fundamentally unfair and undemocratic."

In South Africa, about 80 people gathered at the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, and protests continued despite police efforts to declare the gathering illegal. In Taiwan, organizers drew several hundred demonstrators, who mostly sat quietly outside the Taipei World Financial Center, known as Taipei 101.

600 people have begun an occupation of Confederation Park in Ottawa, Canada today to join the global day of action (15 October). "I am here today to stand with Indigenous Peoples around the world who are resisting this corrupt global banking system that puts profits before human rights," said Ben Powless, Mohawk citizen and indigenous youth leader. "Native Peoples are the 99%, and we've been resisting the 1% since 1492. We're marching today for self-determination and dignity against a system that has robbed our lands, poisoned our waters, and oppressed our people for generations. Today we join with those in New York and around the world to say, No More!"

In Australia, about 800 people gathered in Sydney's central business district, carrying cardboard banners and chanting "Human need, not corporate greed." Protesters will camp indefinitely "to organize, discuss and build a movement for a different world, not run by the super-rich 1%," according to a statement on the Occupy Sydney website.

The rapid spread of the protests is a grassroots response to the overwhelming inequalities perpetuated by the global financial system and transnational banks. The organizers said that the Occupation of Liberty Square in Manhattan will continue indefinitely.

Occupy Wall Street is a people powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan's Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Italy and the UK, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people who are writing the rules of the global economy are imposing an agenda of neoliberalism and economic inequality that is foreclosing our future.

Source: www.occupywallstreet.org

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, October 14, 2011

ML Update 42 / 2011

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 14, No. 42, 11 – 17 OCTOBER 2011

'Occupy Wall Street' –

Sit-In At The Seat of Global Capitalism And Corrupt Corporate Power

For the past three weeks, a very remarkable protest has been unfolding at the heart of US economic power and global capitalism. Thousands of American people have 'occupied' a site near Wall Street, and hundreds of solidarity actions and sit-ins have followed both in the US and in other countries. Describing themselves, the protestors have declared, "We are the 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%."

The protest has given voice to the growing anger of ordinary Americans, especially working class Americans, against being made to bear the burden of the economic crisis while the corrupt corporations responsible for the crisis in the first place, are being bailed out. The choice of venue and the slogans raised say it all – Wall Street houses the offices of the notorious Goldman Sachs, Lehmann brothers and other companies implicated in the 2008 economic crisis, and the demonstrators shout, "Banks got bailed out; we got sold out!" and "We will not pay for your crisis," and "We Want The Sacks Of Gold Goldman Sachs Stole From Us."

The protests are an outpouring of the accumulated resentment and sense of betrayal that the US people feel against President Barack Obama, who won a popular mandate promising change, but who has delivered nothing but a fresh edition of continued war and pro-corporate policies.

It is significant that the Occupy Wall Street movement coincided with protests marking one decade of the US war and occupation of Afghanistan. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq stand exposed as wars to defend and expand the interests of US imperialism, specifically the US corporations and US economic interests. The protestors, in selecting Wall Street as a target, are aiming at US corporate power that fuels US imperialism. In doing so, their protest resonates with the entire world which is facing the economic and military offensive of US imperialism. Not only are the plunderers on Wall Street, protected by the US Government, responsible for growing unemployment and deprivation in the US, they are responsible for global hunger and poverty, for the impoverishment of countries and global loot of resources, and for the economic policies and military aggression used to batter down the resistance of reluctant countries and pave the way for US corporations.

As the protest has persevered and grown, some of New York's biggest unions – such as the Transport Workers' Union of workers in the city's public transport system and the SEIU 1199 healthcare workers union have declared their support for the occupation. The unions have raised the issue of pay cuts, lay-offs and attacks on workers' right to organise. Many participants in the occupation of Wall Street claim inspiration from the occupation, in February this year, of the state legislature in Madison, Wisconsin in protest against a Bill to restrict collective bargaining rights of state workers. That workers' protest failed and the Bill was passed, but even in its failure it has sparked the imagination of American working people, and the occupation of Wall Street is one of the outcomes.

The Occupy Wall Street protest draws on the legacy of the anti-globalisation protests at Seattle in 1999, the global anti-war protests that followed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia and several other countries.

Thousands of students in universities in New York and other US cities have joined the protests, linking it to steep increases in tuition fees and privatisation of education. Protestors have noted that the economic crisis has been used by the ruling class to push through privatisation of social security and cut-backs in public services, while the corporates responsible for the crisis have continued to enjoy undiminished profits. While protestors have faced mass arrests (in one instance, 700 demonstrators were arrested together), they point out that not a single corporate banker implicated in large-scale corruption and malpractices that devastated people's lives has been arrested.

The Occupy Wall Street movement has much in it to inspire Indians. By targeting Wall Street, the demonstrators in the US have directly taken on the corrupt corporations and the US government and imperialist economic and military policies that are protecting and promoting them at the cost of the ordinary citizens. We have just witnessed huge public protests against corruption in India too. But the dominant current in the anti-corruption movement has avoided naming and targeting the corporate plunder that is the fountainhead of the worst corruption.

We in India must hail and support the sustained protest by American citizens at the very seat of global capitalism and US imperialism. In India too, the anti-corruption protests need to recognise and confront the pro-imperialist, pro-corporate policies that are behind some of the worst scams and scandals in our country – including the scams in telecom, minerals, and land, and the cash-for-vote scam.

People's Rights Over People's Resources!

Left Resurgence Through People's Resistance!

All India Convention of AILC at Jalandhar

The All India Left Co-ordination (AILC) held an all India Left Convention on 10-11 October, 2011 at the historic Desh Bhakt Yadgar memorial for the martyrs of the Gadar movement at Jalandhar.

Delegates from the four constituent parties of AILC - CPI(ML) Liberation, Lal Nishan Party (Leninist), Left Coordination Committee Kerala and CPM Punjab - had gathered from all over the country to attend the Convention. Apart from this, delegations and representatives from the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM) from Darjeeling, the Marxbadi Mancha of West Bengal and CPM Haryana also attended the Convention.

The Convention began on 10th with the hoisting of the red flag and floral tributes to the martyrs. The delegates' session began with the constitution of a Presidium comprising Comrades Harkanwal Singh of CPM Punjab, Krishna Adhikari of CPI(ML) Liberation, Uddhav Shinde of LNP(L), and Chandrashekhar of LCC Kerala. The Presidium welcomed the leaders of the four AILC constituents – Comrades Mangat Ram Pasla, Secretary of CPM Punjab, Bhim Rao Bansod, General Secretary LNP(L), KS Hariharan, Secretary, LCC Kerala, and Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary, CPI(ML) Liberation - on stage, along with Comrade Taramani Rai, General Secretary of CPRM, Comrade Jayanta Gupta Bhaya, General Secretary of Marxbadi Mancha, and Comrade Balvinder Singh Thind, Secretary, CPM Haryana.

A six-member delegation from LCC Kerala attended the Convention, as well as several comrades from CPRM. Among other leaders who participated in the Convention were CPI(ML) PB member Kartick Pal and CPI(ML) CCMs Sanjay Sharma, Prabhat Kumar, Sudhakar Yadav, Rajaram Singh, Bahadur Oraon, and Kavita Krishnan, as well as leaders of All India Kisan Mahasabha, AISA and other mass organizations.

At the very beginning of the session, the house adopted a resolution paying tribute to the recently deceased revolutionary cultural activist Comrade Gursharan Singh. Com. Mangat Ram Pasla then delivered a welcome address, reflecting on the past year's experience since the formation of the AILC, and the need to take the experience further. He said that apart from the parties participating in the Convention, some other parties – such as the DCPIM of West Bengal and Godavari Parulekar Manch of Maharashtra – had been unable to participate but had expressed support and good will for the Convention.

Next, Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya outlined the perspective of the draft resolution which had been placed before the house for discussion. He began by saying that the AILC Convention was being held a year after the launching of the Coordination at Delhi, in the backdrop of the shared urge for a powerful, united intervention of the Left forces on the burning issues facing the country. The AILC has made advances in the past year, and the present times call for even greater advances. In the wake of the Soviet collapse, capitalist ideologues had declared the end of history, the victory of capitalism, and the irrelevance of the Left. Two decades later (and one decade after the beginning of the US-led NATO war on Afghanistan), ordinary American youth, workers and other sections of society have launched the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement targeting the very citadel of global capitalism and imperialism. In India, too, people have been on the streets against corruption, rising prices, unemployment, and the UPA Government has certainly emerged as the main target for people's resentment. Commenting on Advani's rath yatra, which was due to begin on 11 October, said that this was the BJP's attempt to ride the wave of people's anger and cover-up the corrupt and communal face of its own state governments and leaders.

He said that at such a time when the popular mood all over the world and in India is one of anger and resistance against the corruption and greed of the ruling classes and capitalists, it is urgently needed of the Left movement to accept the challenge of channeling this anger in a progressive direction while exposing the hypocrisy and hollowness of right-wing forces who are trying to capitalize on the anger. The AILC's March to Parliament on 14 March and Jail Bharo on 9 August were some of the efforts in the direction of a Left response to the political situation, stressing that the roots of corruption lie in pro-corporate policies.

Comrade Dipankar reflected that the CPI(M)'s defeat in West Bengal and Kerala was a fitting punishment for its betrayal of the basic principles and classes of the Left movement. But the ruling class is trying to describe the CPI(M)'s setback as a setback for the whole Left. This ideological and political anti-Left offensive can be met only by a powerful assertion of the fighting Left forces, which should be visible on the streets on the issues and challenges faced by common people today – be it corruption, price rise, land grab, hunger, unemployment, and assaults on democracy. It is in this backdrop that the all-India Convention was being held at Jalandhar, to forge an effective response by the AILC to the political challenge of the day.

Elaborating on some of the specific issues discussed in the draft resolution, he said that the AILC did not view corruption as an issue of bribery alone; rather corruption today is unquestionably linked with the question of corporate loot of land, minerals and other natural resources and the assaults on people's movements challenging this loot. Therefore while struggling for an effective Lokpal, the central slogan in these times for Left and progressive forces is "People's Rights Over People's Resources." The question of land reform, he said, is integrally linked with the struggle to defend land from land grab. If land were in the hands of peasants, it would not be so easy for governments and corporations to grab land. Comrade Dipankar said that the ruling class has tried to silence people's movements against corruption by trying to pit parliament against people. At the same time, there has also been an attempt by some forces to claim that political parties and political movements are irrelevant and only NGOs are legitimate. The fighting Left forces reject both these arguments firmly, and have called for the urgent need for 'Left Resurgence Through People's Resistance.'

Next, Comrade Bhimrao Bansod of LNP(L) addressed the Convention. He stressed that all around, people's movements were on the rise and the scope for the Left was widening. This was the time for the AILC to reach out to other forces of struggle. Comrade Kumarankutty of LCC Kerala said that the CPI(M)'s bankruptcy and betrayal had led to the loss of its government in two states including its bastion of West Bengal. Unfortunately the entire Left movement was being discredited in the name of the CPI(M). At the same time, the rising tide of people's struggles has also created a felt need for a consistent, revolutionary Left force. Comrade Taramani Rai, General Secretary of CPRM, Comrade Jayanta Gupta Bhaya, General Secretary of Marxbadi Mancha, and Comrade Balvinder Singh Thind, Secretary, CPM Haryana also addressed the Convention.

The discussion on the draft resolution followed, with many comrades from various states sharing experiences and lessons of diverse struggles. The draft resolution, adopted after incorporating various suggestions at the end of the discussion, called for resistance to corruption and corporate plunder, price rise, land grab; struggles for food security and universalisation of PDS, land reform and making the right to work a fundamental right; and defending democracy, resisting feudal-mafia assault and state repression. The resolution concluded with the call, "Let the motto of 'People's Rights over People's Resources! Left Resurgence through People's Resistance!' guide us towards forging closer unity among all fighting Left forces and powerful Left assertion against the ruling class parties of all hues."

On the concluding day (11 October), the delegate session was resumed. Com. Rajaram Singh, addressed the gathering, stressing the agrarian crisis, peasants' struggles and growing assaults on such struggles. Several resolutions were then placed and adopted: on the global economic crisis and its impact on India, and hailing the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement in the US; against Advani's rath yatra; against recent incidents of communal violence in Bharatpur and Rudrapur and the victimization of whistleblower Sanjiv Bhatt in Gujarat; against police firing on jute farmers in Assam and repression on an anti land grab protest in Punjab; calling for constitution of a Second State Reorganisation Commission to ensure a speedy and sympathetic resolution to the separate statehood movements in Telangana and Gorkhaland; and demanding land reform and homestead land for all agricultural labourers and tea garden workers in the country.

A resolution was also adopted calling for nationwide protest by the AILC in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament, on the issues of price rise, corruption, land grab, unemployment, food security and state repression. The resolution also extended AILC's support to the forthcoming conferences and initiatives of various mass organizations of workers, peasants, student-youth and women.

The delegate session concluded with summing up by the main leaders of the four AILC constituents. Comrade Hariharan of LCC Kerala said that there was an objective basis for Left assertion today, and the AILC represented an attempt by genuine forces of struggle to put aside their differences and unite in the field of struggle. Comrade Bansod said that in the past year, various progressive left forces have reached out to the AILC, and the AILC as a platform of struggle is becoming ever more relevant. Comrade Pasla said that the Jalandhar convention had been an opportunity for the AILC constituents and other friendly groups to understand each other better. He stressed the need for AILC to reach out to masses affected by the issues outlined in the resolution and draw them out on the streets and in the Left movement. Comrade Dipankar said that the AILC provided an alternate model of Left unity. The CPI(M)'s Left Front model was mainly a model of running governments, whereas the AILC was a fighting model of unity. He said that the challenge was for this unity to reflect the diverse democratic struggles in our country. Breaking the bounds of our specific geographical location and historical evolution, the AILC constituents had come together to address the need of history. He stressed the need to learn from the CPI(M)'s defeat: the CPI(M)'s victory in 1977 came in the wake of the issues of land, democracy and resistance to state repression. Even the Naxalbari movement had brought these issues to the fore, and the CPI(M) had reaped the benefit in the elections of 1977. But three decades later, the CPI(M) faced crushing defeat precisely because it betrayed the issues of peasants, land, democracy. We need to remind ourselves that the Left, if it is to advance, must respond to democratic issues and struggles. There is no wall dividing class struggle from the left's responsibility to champion the democratic aspirations of women, dalits, minorities, and youth. In this journey, we are certainly moving forward.

The delegate session concluded with rousing slogans. In the afternoon, an open session was held in the shape of a public meeting in the Comrade Jwala Singh memorial hall. The meeting in the packed hall was addressed by Comrades Dipankar Bhattacharya, Bhimrao Bansod, Kumarankutty, and Mangat Ram Pasla as well as Comrade Krishna Adhikari.

 Protest Marches, Dharnas and Street-corner Meetings as Part of Protest Programmes to Expose LK Advani's Rath-yatra

Bihar: Terming LK Advani's latest rath-yatra as a sham-yatra, students and youth organised under the All India Students' Association (AISA) and Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA) held protest programmes in Patna and various districts of Bihar on 11 and 12 October which were attended by a large number of students-youth and common people. In Patna a large number of protesters started their march from Patna University and passed through Ashok Rajpath, Gandhi Maidan, Frazer Road and Dakbungalow Chuaraha before culminating in a public meeting at Patna Jn Station roundabout. The meeting was addressed among others by Prof. Vinay Kanth, Prof. Daisy Narayan and Comrade Kamlesh Sharma (General Secretary, RYA) who said that the NDA formation whose governments in Uttarakhand, Karnataka and other states have already been revealed as most corrupt and anti-people govts are trying to usurp Bihar's militant legacy against corruption and authoritarianism, which will be completely thwarted by the students and youth and Bihar. If Nitish Kumar is under any illusion of being absolved of various multi-billion rupees scams (such as Treasury-AC-DC Bills scam, MGNREGA-BPL-India Awaas scams, BIADA land scam) by flagging-off 'anti-corruption' chariot of a communal-fascist like Advani, the State-wide protests being held by students and youth should open his eyes to the reality. AISA's National Vice President Abhyuday said that the youth recently brought the UPA Govt to its knees and now its the turn of corrupt Nitish-Modi and NDA govts. Nitish is the betrayer of '74 movement and the students-youth who are on streets today are the true inheritors of '74 movement and they have firmed themselves up to challenge the corrupt Nitish and Modi. Several student-youth and CPI(ML) leaders attended the programme at Patna.

The programmes were also held in Bhojpur, Rohtas, Jahanabad, Arwal, Gopalganj, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Purnia and other districts that are on the route of Advani's yatra on 11-12 October - Buxar, Rohtas, Kaimur, Nalanda, Gaya and Aurangabad on 12th October. The protesters at Mohania in Kaimur were lathicharged brutally and 50-60 people including Vijay Yadav and district's main leaders have been arrested.

Delhi: More than 250 students under AISA's banner rallied in JNU campus and burnt an efiigy to protest Advani's rath Yatra on the evening of 11th October.

Comrade Nagbhusan Patnaik's 13th Smriti Diwas Commemorated

13th Smriti Diwas of great revolutionary leader Comrade Nagbhusan Patnaik (who departed on 9 October 1998) was commemorated at Bhubaneswar on 9th October. Hundreds of CPI(ML) activists and members assembled at Nagbhusan Bhawan to pay tributes to Comrade Nagbhusan. On this occasion a seminar on "Progressive Land Reforms versus the Land Acquisition for Corporate Interests" was also held.

Comrade Kshitish Biswal recalled the revolutionary struggles led by Comrade Nagbhusan for land for the toiling poor in relation to the situation today in Orissa. He called upon the party activists to intensify the struggle against corporate land grab by Mittals, Posco, Tata etc. The meeting was also addressed by Comrades Mahendra Parida, Binod Singh, Bidyadhar Patra, Satyabadi Behara (AIALA), Ashok Pradhan (AIKM), Tirupati Gamango. These speakers put forth their experiences and views for effective struggles to protect agricultural land, water bodies and forests from corporate looters. The meeting was also addressed by Sudhir Patnaik, Editor of Samadruti. The meeting also raised the demand for adequate relief for the flood victims.

National Convention in Jharkhand

The All India Kisan Mahasabha (AIKM) organised a National Convention at Ranchi, Jharkhand, on 27 September to oppose the LARR Bill 2011. The Convention took place at Birsa Munda Auditorium (Gossner Theological Hall). More than 600 delegates from Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand participated in the Convention. Activists and intellectuals of anti-displacement struggle were also present. A 7-member presidium comprising Comrades Ruldu Singh (AIKM's President), Rajaram Singh (AIKM's GS), KD Yadav, Kartik Pal (VP of AIKM), Bahadur Oraon, Rajaram (CPIML CCMs) and Subhash Kakuste conducted the convention.

Inaugurating the Convention, CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya said that the issue of land acquisition is not merely a peasant question, rather it is one also of rescuing our lives, our Country's traditions and legacy. Describing the recent Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (LARR) Bill as a cunning move of the UPA Govt he said that during the last few years peasants and tribal people launched notable struggles against land acquisition and displacement and the old law of British times is not helping the Govt. Hence a new Act that ensures complete freedom to corporates for plundering the land. The Bill is that of Ministry for Rural Development, but its provisions are designed in a way so as to cheat peasants of all kinds of their land, sacrificing agriculture-farming-rural development at the altar of urban luxuries. This is the dangerous outlook of development that has thrown an open challenge to all Left, peasants, tribals and anti-displacement forces.

Comrade Rajaram presented the theme paper for the Convention on which numerous delegates put forth their views. The convention was addressed by many other speakers. A resolution to hold a maha-dharna jointly with other peasant organisations and forces of struggle at the Parliament when the winter session begins was passed unanimously. An attractive poster exhibition depicting struggles against land acquisition and cultural performances by Jharkhand Jan Sanskriti Manch were other highlights of the Convention.

Memorial Meet in Delhi for Gursharan Singh, Kuber Dutt and Ramdayal Munda

Jasam organised a memorial meet in New Delhi on 7th October to pay tributes to cultural stalwarts Comrades Gursharan Singh, Kuber Dutt and sociologist Ramdayal Munda. More than hundred cultural personalities, activists, artists, writers, poets attended the smriti sabha. Many others including Jasam General Secretary Pranay Krishna and CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar was also present as were other senior Party leaders and students from DU, JNU and Jamia.

Among those who spoke about their association and experiences with Gursharan Singh, Kuber Dutt and Ramdayal Munda were- renowned historian Uma Chakravarti, Gautam Navlakha, Swapan Mukherjee (AICCTU Gen Sec), poet Ibbaar Ravi, film maker Ajay Bhardwaj, artist Ashok Bhowmik, theatre person Arvind Gaur, critic Murlimanohar Prasad (JLS) and Vishwanath Tripathi (PLS) among several others.

The meeting took a resolution to organise drama festival every year on 27-28 to commemorate Gursharan Singh, Kuber Dutt Memorial Lecture and two-day long event every year on tribal art and culture in memory of Ramdayal Munda in Jharkhand. The meeting was presided by Manager Pandey, Pesident- Jasam, conducted by Gopal Pradhan.

 

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, October 5, 2011

ML Update 41 / 2011

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 14, No. 41, 04 – 10 OCTOBER 2011

Dethrone UPA Scamsters, Unmask NDA Pretenders –

Intensify the Battle against Corruption

With Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee formally distancing himself from the March 25, 2011 note sent by his ministry holding former FM P Chidambaram responsible for not stopping the 2G scam, Chidambaram has described the whole thing as a closed chapter. But the Finance Ministry note and Pranab Mukherjee's subsequent clarification has not only made Chidambaram's culpability clear but also exposed the complicity of the entire government in the scam as well as in all the ugly cover-up bids that have followed. Pranab Mukherjee has described his ministry's note as nothing short of an inter-ministerial background paper based on inputs from the law ministry as well as the PMO even though he says he does not agree to all the inferences contained in the note.

The UPA ministers know that they must swim or sink together and so it is not difficult to understand how the instinct of political survival has prevailed over both Mukherjee and Chidambaram prompting them to reach a truce. But the Finance Ministry's note does not disappear with the Finance Minister personally distancing himself from some of the observations and inferences. From the day the lids blew off the 2G scam, anybody familiar with the parliamentary mode of governance could guess that a scam of that magnitude involving such a key sector and major players could not just be a matter of omission or commission by just the telecom minister alone. It could only be a case of 'collective responsibility', the cardinal principle that is so often invoked by governments in parliamentary democracy.

Manmohan Singh always knew that action against any individual minister would trigger a chain reaction. That is why he delayed taking action against A Raja for as long as he could. With Raja in jail, Dayanidhi Maran, his predecessor in the telecom ministry has already followed suit, and whatever Mr. Pranab Mukherjee may now say in defence of his 'valued colleague' Chidambaram, we all know it very well that A Raja has also been insisting that Chidambaram be summoned as a witness! Manmohan Singh and his ministers may now bend all rules and subvert all norms of propriety to save their skin, but as far as public perception is concerned the Congress party and the UPA government just cannot go out of the coverage area of the tainted network of 2G scam.

The Congress has just no excuse to extricate itself from the mega scams that have emerged as a veritable hallmark of Congress/UPA rule. Congress leaders seek to argue that the CAG's projection overestimates the loss as though the scam would have been any less a crime if the projection would have been Rs. 76,000 crore in place of Rs 176,000 crore! Sometimes they say the UPA merely followed the policies introduced and pursued by its predecessor. This too does not absolve the UPA scamsters of their crime. Indeed, the scams are rooted in policies that have been followed uninterruptedly by successive governments since 1991 and it all goes back to the initiation of the policies of liberalization and privatization by a Finance Minister handpicked by the IMF and the World Bank who now happens to be the Prime Minister!

Even as prices soar and scams multiply under the UPA regime, the BJP is making a desperate bid to regain power. While Narendra Modi, the director of the 2002 Gujarat genocide, now talks of 'Sadbhavna Mission', Advani talks of 'clean politics' even as two BJP chief ministers have had to resign in the wake of disclosure of massive scams. Newspapers are replete with stories of a Modi versus Advani rift brewing in the BJP, with Advani not visiting Somnath on the 21st anniversary of his infamous 1990 Ayodhya rathyatra and Modi terming Advani's forthcoming rathyatra a futile exercise! Be that as it may, Adavni's rhetoric of 'clean politics' is as spurious as Modi's new-found rhetoric of 'sadbhavna' and secular-democratic forces cannot concede any quarter to the BJP and the NDA, no matter which BJP leader chooses to wear which mask.

It is an irony of history that in 1990 Advani had started his rathyatra from Gujarat and it was in Bihar that his rath was finally stopped. Two decades later, Advani launches his latest rath from Bihar with CM Nitish Kumar flagging it off. It is a grand convergence of political opportunism – while Advani seeks to appropriate the legacy of Jayprakash Narain by launching his yatra on JP's birthday from his place of birth, Nitish Kumar sees this as an opportunity to project himself as an anti-corruption crusader and push up his brand value within NDA.

This is an outright mockery of the legacy of the 1974 JP movement and an insult to the spirit of the ongoing anti-corruption movement of the Indian people. The JP movement was about dethroning the corrupt and not replacing one set of corrupt with another, and before Nitish Kumar certifies Advani's mission of 'clean politics' he owes an answer to the people of Bihar and India about the credentials of his own government. The treasury fraud has grown to Rs 16,000 crore and the BIADA land allotment scam has just hinted at the kind of corruption and nepotism that is thriving under Nitish Kumar.

While intensifying the battle against the scamsters of UPA, consistent fighters against corruption will also have to reject the BJP-NDA politics of pretension and hypocrisy with the contempt it deserves.

Release and Protect Sanjiv Bhatt

CPI(ML) condemns the arrest of Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt. The arrest is nothing but an act of intimidation and victimization of a police officer who has blown the whistle on the complicity of the Modi Government in the communal genocide of minorities in 2002 as well as in acts of murder and custodial fake encounter.

Sanjiv Bhatt is a key witness in the Zakia Ahsan Jafri case who has put on record detailed evidence that threatens to indict the Modi Government and Narendra Modi himself for facilitating the communal violence of 2002. He has also put forward evidence suggesting that former Gujarat Miister Haren Pandya was killed by Tulsiram Prajapati (who was then killed by Gujarat police in a fake encounter). He had, in an affidavit in the Gujarat High Court, stated that the CM and his former Home Minister Amit Shah had pressurized him to withdraw his report and destroy evidence to this effect.

Bhatt's arrest only shows that the Modi Gvernment has reasons to fear, discredit, and silence Bhatt. CPI(ML) demands that Sanjiv Bhatt be released forthwith and provided sufficient protection as a key witness in several cases of national significance.

 Condemn the Intimidation of PUCL Activist

The police raid by the Chhattisgarh Special Task Force in collusion with Rajasthan police on the Jaipur home of human rights activist and PUCL General Secretary Kavita Srivastava is a condemnable act of intimidation.

It is clear that the Chhattisgarh police has not learnt its lesson even after being thoroughly exposed and discredited in its framing and incarceration of Binayak Sen. The witch-hunt of activists continues, and the Congress-ruled states like that of Rajasthan as well as the Central Government continue to collude with the extra-constitutional acts of the BJP's Chhattisgarh Government and police force.

CPI(ML) stands in solidarity with Kavita Srivastava in the face of such acts of intimidation, and calls to intensify the protest against the witch-hunt of human rights activists.

CPI(ML) Observed National Protest Day on 30 September Against Rs. 25 a Day Definition of Poverty

Rs 26 / Rs 32 Poverty Line is a Starvation Line

Party Demands Resignation of Manmohan Singh and Montek Singh Ahluwalia

On 30 September 2011, CPI(ML) held protests and condemned the Planning Commission's affidavit, approved by the Prime Minister's Office, to the Supreme Court, laying down the norms for identifying BPL households, according to which anyone who spends more than Rs.32 in urban areas and Rs.25 in rural areas will not be considered poor and hence excluded from the BPL list. The Party had called for nationwide protests that culminated on 30 September in an all-India Protest Day demanding redefinition of poverty to automatically include all occupations coming under Minimum Wage Act and casual/contract/honorarium based workers and universalisation of social security and social benefits as well.

The Planning Commission and the Indian Government are headed by the World Bank's favourite Indian economists- Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Manmohan Singh respectively. According to them, a person in a city is not rich if he/she spends, per day: Rs 5.5 on food grains / Rs 1.02 on pulses / Rs 2.33 on milk / Rs 1.55 on edible oil / Rs 1.95 on vegetables/44 paisa on fruits / 70 paisa on sugar / 78 paisa on salt and spices / Rs 1.51 on other foods! For rural centres, naturally, the amount would be even less. What about the sky-rocketing prices of each of these food items, which the Government is unable (or unwilling?) to quell?! If a family is forced to spend a paisa more than these 'generous' amounts on its members, it must not be listed as a BPL household according to the UPA Government!

New Delhi: A large number of protesters- construction workers, street vendors, domestic labourers and slum dwellers gathered at Jantar Mantar and marched towards the Yojana Bhavan (Planning Commission office) holding banners of CPI(ML), AIALA, AICCTU, AIPWA and AISA. The heavy barricading at Parliament Street was challenged by protesters and one cordon was felled also. Police tried to arrest and the protesters sat there and held an hour long meeting. Delhi State Secretary Comrade Sanjay Sharma and AIALA's National President Comrade Rameshwar Prasad addressed the meeting among others. He said that the PM, Manmohan Singh, is ex-officio Chairman of the Planning Commission, and therefore directly responsible for this utterly callous mockery of the poor millions in India. A memorandum was also given to the Planning Commission.

Patna: Protest march was held in different blocks of Patna district on 25 September. Roads were blockaded and effigies of Manmohan Singh and Nitish Kumar were burnt at Fatuha, Sampatchak, Dhanarua, Masaurhi, Dulhinbazaar and Naubatpur. At some places the programme was disrupted due to rain and at Fatuha the protesters did not let ruling party MLA Anant Singh break the road blockade.

Rajasthan: Raising slogans like "Shameless Manmohan Singh Stop Snatching Food from the Mouth of Poor"...etc, spirited demonstrations were held at 8 centres in Jaipur- that includes 5 district HQs and 3 Sub-divisional offices on 30 September.

In Jaipur demonstration was hled at the Statue Circle led by CPI(ML) CCM and AIPWA's National President Comrade Srilata and Party's State Secretary Comrade Mahendra Chaudhary. In Udaipur district the activists handed over a memorandum to the DC at Udaipur and to the Sub-Divisional officer at Salumber sub-division. More than hundred participated here led by Comrade Gautam Lal Moreela. Local Congress leaders, their agents and State Govt officials are openly demanding bribes of Rs.1000-5000 for distributing pattas of forest land and NREGA work. At Pratapgarh district HQ scores of protesters demonstrated led by Comrade Sambhu Lal Rawal at DM's office. Comrade Bhanwari Bai led the protest at Ajmer's DM's office.

Maharashtra: A dharna was held from 8 am- 11 am on 1st October outside Boisar Railway Station, led by Comrade Shyam Gohil, Secretary of CPI(ML)'s Mumbai-Thane Committee. Dalits and tribals from adjacent Jobhlepada, Vavey, Kurgaon, Ambaatpada etc. participated in the dharna. Boisar is a large industrial area of Maharashtra where massive number of workers comes daily from various places to work. The dharna was held outside the Station to address these workers.

WFTU's International Day of Action organized in India

On the call of WFTU (World Federation of Trade Unions), International Day of Action was organized in India including Delhi on 3rd October 2011, by Left trade unions which are its affiliates or friendly organizations. On this historic day in 1945, WFTU was founded in Paris.

The historic 16th World congress of WFTU organized at Athens, Greece, between 6-9 April 2011 had given this call. International Day of Action was organized throughout the world on following demands: lGovernment funded Social Security for all, lRight to form trade unions and Right to collective bargaining, lBetter wages for Decent living, lWorking hours – 7 hours per day, 35 hours per week on a five day week, lSolidarity with the people of Palestine, lFreedom to the 5 Cubans who are illegally kept in US Jail on false charges.

In Delhi a workers' convention was organized at Rajendra Bhawan by all Left trade unions. It was addressed by Swapan Mukherjee, General Secretary of AICCTU, H. Mahadevan, Deputy General Secretary of AITUC and WFTU, A.K. Padmanabhan, President of CITU, RK Sharma, Secretary of AIUTUC, Abani Roy, Secretary of UTUC and PN Diwedi of TUCC. Vote of thanks was given by Swadesh Dev Roye, Secretary CITU and secretariat member of WFTU. On behalf of AICCTU Rajiv Dimri, Secretary, was in the Presidium.

Comrade Swapan Mukherjee in his speech emphasized upon the need of strengthening the coordination among left unions in the present situation of turmoil. He said that the coordination among left unions should be strengthened in line with the WFTU's anti-imperialist orientation, and this will sharpen the ongoing joint trade union movement against the Government's imperialist-dictated policies of globalization, privatization and liberalization.

Odisha: AICCTU, along with CITU, AITUC, AIUTUC observed the International Action Day on 3rd October at Bhubaneswar.

AISA Wins Students' Union Election in Odisha

The All India Students' Association (AISA) registered its first electoral victory in Odisha by winning four Students' Union posts in Gunupur College. Gunupur is also the hometown of Comrade Nagbhushan Patnaik.

AISA won on the posts of President (Biswanath Dandsi), General Secretary (Jaganath Panigrahi), and secretaries of Drama Society (Deepak Patnaik) and Literature Society (Regula Vinod) of the College. Holding a students' rally after the victory, AISA activists and students resolved to strengthen and spread the organisation all over Odisha. AISA has been mobilising students in the State in support of people's movements like anti-Posco struggles apart from students' issues.

CPI(ML) Organises Protest on 17th Anniversary of Muzaffarnagar Incident

The Party observed 2nd October as protest-day in Uttarakhand on the 17th anniversary of Muzaffarnagar events. In 1994, when the activists for separate statehood of Uttarakhand were proceeding to Delhi for demonstration, the police of Govt headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav had brutally assaulted young and old and committed mass rapes of women activists. The DM Anant Kumar and DIG Bua Singh who led the whole assault are still unpunished. Even after the new State was formed, contrary to people's expectations, these officials were not only not prosecuted, they have been promoted by the SP, BJP, Congress and BSP govts.

The protests were held at Lalkuan in Nainital district, Bhikiyasainne in Almora and Karnaprayag in Garhwal region. The protesters observed two minutes silence to remember the martyrs of separate statehood movement.

Delhi State Conference of Construction Workers' Union

Construction Workers' Union (or Building Workers' Union) held its Delhi State Conference on 2nd October at Mandawali in Delhi. This is the first conference that is being held after crossing membership strength of twenty thousand. 85 delegates representing 11 committees spread in seven Assembly constituencies participated. The main resolution that was adopted is that the issue of socio-economic conditions of the construction/building workers will be raised prominently. The main demands are the formation of a board for construction workers and workers' representation in the board. Comrade Swapan Mukherjee (AICCTU General Secretary) was the main speaker. A 41 member State Council was elected at the end of the Conference with Comrades Om Prakash Sharma, Ram Abhilash and VKS Gautam as Executive President, President and General Secretary respectively.

Protest on BIADA Land Scam in Bihar

A dharna was held at Fatuha and Bihta block HQs in Patna district on 16 September under the banner of Kisan Mahasabha (AIKM) to demand return of BIADA land back to the peasants or compensate them at the rate prevailing currently. The dharna also demanded withdrawal of LARR bill.

AIKM's Demonstration and Dharna in Lucknow

Hundreds of peasants under the banner of All India Kisan Mahasabha (AIKM) from various districts of Uttar Pradesh held a march and dharna in Lucknow on 30 September against fertiliser crisis and its blackmarketing. The dharna also demanded scrapping of anti-peasant Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011, and adequate compensation to the farmers ruined by the recent floods and heavy rains in eastern UP, among other important demands pertaining to MSP for cane etc. The programme was led by Comrade Ishwari Prasad Kushwaha, Statte Convenor of AIKM. The peasants came from Gazipur, Chandauli, Mirzapur, Azamgarh, Gonda, Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Khiri, Sitapur among other districts.

AIALA's 4th Bihar State

Conference Held

All India Agricultural Labourers' Association (AIALA) held its 4th Bihar State Conference on 26-27 September at Comrade Ram Naresh Ram Nagar (Purnia). Gareeb Ekjut-ta Rally (unity rally of the poor) was organised on 26 September which was addressed by CPI(ML) General Secretary. The Conference was based on the achieved membership strength of 8,60,139 and 761 delgates plus 42 guests-observers from all 35 districts of Bihar participated in the Conference. Women delegates numbered 65. The Conference elected a 103 member State Council and 31 member EC. Comrades Satyadeo Ram and Birendra Gupta were reelected President and Secretary respectively. Main demands are fulfilment of all promises made to the poor, scrapping the BPL limit proposal of Montek- Manmohan, land to all landless people, legislating new sharecropping act, CBI enquiry of AC-DC Bills and BIADA land scam. The delegates also resolved to give a befitting reply to the increasing attacks on poor and dalits.

AIPWA's 3rd Conference in Ajmer

All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) held its 3rd Ajmer District Conference on 22nd September. Hundreds of women from Ajmer and its vicinity participated in the Conference. A seven member EC was elected. The demand for punishing the killers of Bhanwari Natt, curb price rise and corruption, NREGA programme for urban areas, removing the conditionality of 25 years for pension schemes etc. were the main demands.

Tribute

Comrade Gursharan Singh

Upholder of Shaheed Bhagat Singh's legacy in the field of art and culture, renowned cultural personality of Punjab and founding President of Jan Sanskriti Manch, Comrade Gursharan Singh breathed his last on 28th September 2011 (incidentally also the birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh) in Chandigarh at the age of 82. Bhagat Singh was his biggest inspiration and he invariably depicted the Shaheed-e-Azam's life and ideals quite invigoratingly through his plays.

Comrade Gursharan Singh took the membership of Communist party at a young age of 16 and remained committed to communist ideals throughout his life. He never compromised with any regime, nor wavered even momentarily from his principles. He played important role in Bhakra Nangal Dam while working as research officer in Punjab Govt's irrigation dept. It was during his tenure here that he started his journey in 1956 of revolutionary plays. All family members including his daughters would get involved in the plays. He staged thousands of plays nationally and internationally. Staging plays with very less resources, he brilliantly potrayed and spread awareness among people with his every subject- feudal oppression, capitalist loot, repression, imperialism.

He never limited himself to Punjab and played a crucial role in the founding of Jan Sanskriti Manch in 1985, an organisation primarily centred in Hindi-Urdu regions. He never shied away from participating in active politics. He was founder of Punjab Lok Sabhyachar Manch and Inquilabi Manch, and was also a member of advisory council of the IPF. He remained a close sympathiser of CPI(ML) and always participated in its programme with all enthusiasm.

A huge number of common people and cultural activists were present during the funeral. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and his entire revolutionary legacy.

Red Salute to Comrade Gursharan Singh!

 

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