ML UPDATE 17 / 2012

ML UPDATE

 

17/2012

 

From Nandigram to Nonadanga:

The Change That Never Happened

 

The TMC regime came to power in West Bengal with a promise of 'Poriborton' (change) from the policies of state repression and eviction of the poor pursued by the erstwhile CPIM-LF Government. But the promise of change is unraveling fast, and all sections of the people in West Bengal are witnessing all-out fascist assaults on democratic rights.

 

Land grab and brutal eviction of peasants at Singur and Nandigram had unleashed widespread resentment and protest, resulting in the unseating of CPIM's Government and helping Mamata Banerjee's TMC win power with her slogan of 'Ma-Mati-Manush' (Mother-Land-Humanity). Recent developments in TMC-ruled W Bengal, however, appear a cruel mockery of that slogan. Slum-dwellers at Kolkata's Nonadanga (mostly refugees rendered homeless by the Aila hurricane) were forcibly evicted by the State Government, and when they protested, a ruthless lathicharge followed, injuring many including a pregnant woman and an infant. When concerned citizens protested against the eviction and the police repression, 68 protestors were arrested. Seven of the protestors were jailed, and shamelessly, the TMC regime has re-opened cases against some of them, relating to the protests against land grab at Nandigram! For Mamata Banerjee, it seems, the show of sympathy for the protests at Singur and Nandigram was only a ploy to secure power.    

 

In yet another incident, a protest organized by the auto-drivers' union (incidentally one that was supportive of the TMC) was subjected to an assault by TMC goons. TMC goons also beat up people marching in a procession organized by a civil liberties' group against the Nonadanga eviction.   

 

A spate of rapes in the State was blatantly denied by the Chief Minister, who accused the complainants of lying to malign her Government. In a recent incident in South 24 Parganas, a retired scientist and his daughter were beaten up and the latter stripped naked: reportedly by their landlord and members of a local 'club', to pressurize them to vacate their rented flat. Significantly, the assailants reportedly included both TMC and CPM supporters.         

 

The West Bengal Government's offensives are ominous – with a touch of the ludicrous and farcical. A Jadavpur University professor was beaten up by TMC goons and arrested past midnight – for the 'crime' of circulating a light-hearted and witty cartoon lampooning the Chief Minister. Earlier, the Chief Minister banned a range of leading newspapers from public libraries. A TMC Minister has asked people not to marry 'CPIM workers.' The State's CID is policing social networking sites, seeking to remove any cartoons that are 'derogatory' to the Chief Minister. Mamata Banerjee has asked the Centre for measures against 'cyber crimes': apparently referring to cartoons and comments critical of her on the internet! 

 

It must be noted that in Mamata-ruled West Bengal 'CPIM worker' and 'Maoist' are shorthand for any form of dissent or criticism of the Government, and for every form of Left activism. Everything from cartoons to rapes to deaths of babies in hospitals are blamed on 'CPIM conspiracy', while all forms of agitations and protests are branded as 'Maoist,' as a pretext for cracking down on them. What West Bengal is witnessing today is a virtual anti-communist witch-hunt, with every shade of democratic dissent being intimidated, gagged, and punished.   

 

In TMC-ruled West Bengal, as in CPIM-ruled West Bengal, you can expect eviction from your land and slums if you are poor, and you can expect attacks by police and cadres, as well as jail if you protest such eviction. But there is an added fascist dimension in today's Bengal: your gatherings at Coffee House will be policed, the Government will decide what you are allowed to read, and laughing at the Chief Minister can land you in jail.       

 

But the ray of hope in West Bengal lies in the sustained protests against the assaults on democracy – protests that continue undeterred by the Government's campaign of crackdown and intimidation.   

 

Condemnation and Protests Against Acquittal of All Bathani Tola Accused   

Terming the Bihar HC verdict acquitting all 23 perpetrators of the Bathani Tola massacre to be the result of a conspiracy against the poor, the CPI(ML) pointed to complicity of the Nitish-led BJP-JD(U) Government in protecting the perpetrators of feudal atrocities.

 

On 11 July 1996, the feudal private army, the Ranveer Sena, conducted a gruesome massacre at the hamlet of Bathani Tola, hacking to death 21 landless poor people, mostly from the Dalit and other oppressed castes and the minority community. Children and pregnant women were especially targeted in manner which can be said to have provided a template for the Sangh Parivar's genocide against Muslims at Gujarat in 2002. Then President KR Narayanan had termed the massacre to be a national shame. After Bathani Tola, the Ranveer Sena perpetrated similar massacres at Laxmanpur Bathe and Miyanpur.

 

A lower court in 2010 had convicted 23 persons for the massacre, passing a death sentence on three and sentencing the rest to life imprisonment. The recent Bihar HC verdict has shockingly acquitted all 23.

The HC order observed that "The investigation was not fair in respect of the persons who perpetrated the ghastly crime ... Apparently investigation has directed in a particular direction far from the truth and not above suspicion." Therefore it is clear that the state machinery and police in Nitish-ruled Bihar is doing all it can to weaken the case and protect the guilty. Not long ago, Ranveer Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh, notorious as the Butcher of Bathani Tola, went free after the Government failed to oppose his bail plea! Earlier, the RJD Government which had been in power at the time of the massacres, had also done its utmost to protect Brahmeshwar and others of the Ranveer Sena. The Nitish Government, as soon as it came to power, disbanded the Amir Das Commission, which had been about to name several political leaders including many from the BJP-JD(U), as patrons of the Ranveer Sena. In Nitish's Bihar, mahadalits are sentenced to death for the Amausi massacre while perpetrators of feudal atrocities against dalits and the rural poor go scot free.

 

The CPI(ML) has demanded that in view of the glaring complicity of the Bihar Government with the perpetrators of feudal massacres, the Supreme Court should take cognizance of all cases relating to such massacres at Bathani Tola, Bathe and Miyanpur, and pass an appropriate order to ensure that justice is not subverted. 

 

Condemning the verdict which exposed the hollowness of Nitish's promises of 'Justice Along With Development,' CPI(ML) held protests all over Bihar, at the capital Patna and at Bhojpur, Jehanabad, Arwal, Sasaram, Bihar Sharif, Siwan, Gopalganj, Champaran, Gaya, Navada, Muzaffarpur and other districts. In Patna the protest march was led by Politburo member Ramji Rai, CC Members KD Yadav and Saroj Chaubey, AISA State Secretary Abhyuday, SCMs Naveen Kumar, Anita Sinha, and RYA National President Kamlesh Sharma.  

 

The Call of April 22, 2012:

Intensify the Battle against Corruption and Corporate Offensive!

Launch all-out Preparations for the Party's 9^thCongress!

Recent times have seen a great worldwide upswing in popular struggles and India is surely no exception. The country continues to pulsate with powerful struggles against mega corruption, land acquisition, mining loot,and arrogant, autocratic governance. The scam-ridden UPA governmenthas been pushed back on several occasions. Be it the issue of FDI in retail, fare hike in the railways or the move to give sweeping powers to the Intelligence Bureau in the name of countering terrorism, the government has had to either withhold or roll back its decisions. The situation calls upon us to deliver more powerful blows to the powers that be to press for substantive policy changes and push back the growing corporate assault on the Indian economy and polity.

Meanwhile, the list of scams continues to get longer with explosive revelations emerging from within the top layers of the system. A leading newspaper has published a draft CAG report exposing the process of allotment of coal blocks to private companies causing an estimated loss of about Rs. 11 lakh crore to the national exchequer, more than six times the magnitude of the 2G scam that came to light in 2010. This has once again brought to the fore the need to establish public control over our precious national resources.

In a series of stunning statements, none else than the Army chief himself has raised his voice against massive corruption and irregularities in defence purchases. This year's budget has provided a huge sum to the tune of nearly Rs. 2 lakh crore for defence expenditure. Defence outlay constitutes the single biggest item of budgetary allocation in every successive budget. Clearly the huge expenditure which is always sought to be justified in the name of national security has become a source of limitless loot by a corrupt nexus of arms dealers, army top brass, top bureaucrats and ruling politicians. Enforcing strict monitoring and absolute accountability of defence expenditure is the need of the hour and this must go hand in hand with reduction in arms imports and greater emphasis on improved indigenous defence production.

A third shocking example of political corruption has come once again from Jharkhand where in an unprecedented move Election Commission had to cancel the RajyaSabha elections and the High Court had to order a CBI probe into the horse-trading of MLAs cutting across political divides. As ever, the lone CPI(ML) MLA in the Jharkhand Assembly has been the most honourable and consistent exception and bold voice of protest to this murky politics.

The Constitution of India envisioned the RajyaSabha as a Council of States, a federal complement to the LokSabha or the House of the People. The federal nature of the RajyaSabha was first undermined by parties like the Congress using the RajyaSabha for backdoor entry of leaders from states on the basis of false residential claims. Thus Manmohan Singh entered the RajyaSabha from Assam just as Pranab Mukherjee once came from Gujarat. With the legalisation of this system, the RajyaSabha has now become an easy destination for corporate moneybags. The RS poll scandal makes it crystal clear why the MPs and MLAs must be brought within the purview of the proposed Lokpal/Lokayukta Act and why the original character of the RajyaSabha must be restored to stop corporate representatives from subverting the federal principle and trespassing into the RajyaSabha.

To carry forward the battle against corruption we must rebuff this growing corporate assault and this is where the communist movement must take the lead and show the way to all patriotic and democratic forces in the country. On the 43^rd anniversary of Party foundation let us dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly to this challenging task.

The results of the recent Assembly elections in five states have clearly shown that the people are getting increasingly fed up with the two main parties of the ruling classes. Popular disenchantment can also be seen to be growing in states where governments had come to power in the last elections with massive majorities. West Bengal and Bihar are two significant cases in point. In states like Gujarat and Karnataka where notorious BJP governments have been in power for years together, there are now unmistakable signs of decline and even an element of disintegration in the BJP camp.

The situation seems favourable for the rise of non-Congress non-BJP forces and the UPA and the NDA are both feeling the heat. But there are little signs of any third front yet, and without a powerful resurgence of the Left movement there can be no third front that can pose any major challenge to the two-decade-old neoliberal policy regime that has been playing havoc with the resources of the country and livelihoods of the working people.

In the first four months of 2012 we have successfully concluded Party conferences in four major states. Within a year from now we will hold our Ninth Congress. The coming months will require us to work hard on every front so we can expand our organisation and unleash powerful initiatives in terms of mass and class struggle and ideological-political intervention. The entire Left camp is passing through an intense churning and a successful Ninth Congress will take us ahead towards our cherished goal of bringing about a powerful resurgence of the revolutionary Left. Let us pool all our strength and make our best possible efforts to fulfil the tasks ahead.

Central Committee

Communist Party of India

(Marxist-Leninist)

 

9^th CPI(ML) Bihar Conference Concludes at Darbhanga

We have, in the last issue of ML Update, reported on the first two days of the 9^th Bihar State Conference of the party. In continuation, we report on the concluding session of the Conference.  

On 11 April, the third day of the CPI(ML)'s Bihar State Conference began with an address by Politburo member Comrade Swadesh Bhattacharya who drew the attention of the delegates to the changing land and agrarian relations in Bihar and the need to intensify land struggles and organize the share-croppers and tenants as a core force of the peasant movement. Following this, the central observer, CC Member Comrade Sudhakar, presided over the election of the new State Committee. The conference elected a 53 member State Committee and the newly elected State Committee then elected a 21-member Standing Committee, and Comrade Kunal was elected as the new State Secretary.  

In his address, Comrade Kunal emphasized the need to respond to changing conditions and organize struggles of the new generation of workers in urban and rural areas. The central observer Comrade Sudhakar expressed the confidence that the party in Bihar would rise up to the occasion and meet the challenges and possibilities posed by the political situation in the state.    

Addressing the concluding session, party General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya observed that the past year was one of serious challenges for the party. Veteran leader Comrade Ram Naresh Ram passed away. Results of Assembly and panchayat polls were disappointing. Recently, our young comrade BhaiyyaramYadav was assassinated. He congratulated the outgoing state committee and its leadership for successfully steering the Party in the face of these challenges.  

He said that in spite of disappointments, we should not stop dreaming big: the focus of our discussion should be whether we are making appropriate plans and putting in our best efforts and making effective use of all the resources at our command.

Pointing to the growing disillusionment with the Nitish regime, Comrade Dipankar called upon the conference to meet people's aspirations for an effective Left opposition and take all-round initiatives.

Comrade Dipankar called upon the delegates to stay ideologically alert and politically agile without unnecessarily stretching and elevating small differences arising in the course of practical work to some presumed ideological-political plane. He reminded the conference of the 8^th Congress emphasis on the integral nature of our tasks where political, ideological and organizational aspects merge into a single whole. Instead of treating the Party as a sum total of different mass fronts and remaining preoccupied with Party's relations with mass organisations, he stressed the need for everybody to focus more on expanding and developing our mass organisations within the masses of concerned classes and social strata and building Party within the advanced elements produced by this mass practice.

He emphasized that we need to pursue both expansion and consolidation: only by expanding to new areas and among new sections of people can we consolidate existing areas of work. Feudal domination in society continues, but the leaders, slogans, and forms of such domination change. While keeping our basic anti-feudal orientation, we must take all the new initiatives and new issues and forms necessary to contend with the changing situation. He ended by expressing confidence that the new committee would take on the task of taking the party and movement to new heights.

 

The Conference ended with a rousing rendition of the Internationale. Around 150 volunteers had worked day and night to make the Conference a grand success.           

 

 

Protests Against Life Sentence for Rupam Pathak

The All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) held protests all over the country against the life sentence to Rupam Pathak of Bihar for the culpable homicide of BJP's Purnea MLA Raj Kishor Kesri, terming the verdict of the CBI Court to be a "gross miscarriage of justice." 

In the national capital on 11 April, women protested with a dharna at Jantar Mantar, raising slogans and placards saying, "Why Is Rupam Convicted While Her Rapists and Their Protectors Go Free?" Addressing the demonstration, Uma Gupta, National Executive Member of AIPWA conducted the protest meeting. Addressing the meeting, Kavita Krishnan, National Secretary of AIPWA said that since Rupam's accusations against Kesri and Rai have not been investigated, Kesri will be hailed as a martyr, Rai will continue his political career without a stain on his character, while Rupam, branded a murderer, will languish in jail all her life. Actually the severe life sentence to Rupam is a life sentence for a woman's voice demanding justice against rape and sexual harassment and taking on the ruling political establishment to which the rapists belong.       

Others who addressed the protest meeting included Sucheta De, JNUSU President, CPI(ML)'s candidates in the Delhi MCD polls – Shakuntala Devi from Ashok Vihar (Wazirpur), and Rasheeda Begum from Narela, and AIPWA activist Renu. Sheela, the CPI(ML) candidate from Kondli, AISA activists Rajrani, Anubhuti, Sunny, Farhan, and others too participated in the demonstration.

On the same day, AIPWA held a protest march in Ranchi culminating at Albert Ekka Chowk, where a protest meeting was addressed by AIPWA State President Guni Oraon, AIPWA Ranchi Secretary Sarojini Bisht, and other participants included Shanti Sen, Lalo Devi, Shanti Kacchap, Neela Devi, Chando, Singi Khalko, Mamta and other AIPWA activists.

On 12 April, AIPWA held a protest march from BHU gate to Ravidas Gate in Banaras, culminating in a protest meeting addressed by AIPWA National Executive member Kusum Verma. 

On 14 April, AIPWA held an impressive 'Chakka Jam' all over Bihar in protest against the verdict. All over the state, women blockaded roads, highways, and rail routes, demanding justice for Rupam Pathak.  

 

Campaign in Jharkhand Against Corruption in the RS Polls

On 16^th April, the CPI(ML) in Ranchi flagged off a statewide campaign (16 April-3 May) callinf for popular vigilance to monitor the rampant corruption and horse-trading in the Rajya Sabha polls. The RS polls, which had to be cancelled in view of evidence of corruption, is being held again in the State.

The campaign, pointing out that MLAs were found engaging in rampant horse-trading and corruption, will again demand that all MLAs and MPs need to be brought under the ambit of the Lokpal Bill. Reminding that the Rajya Sabha had been envisaged as the Council of States, the campaign will point out that Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee began the trend of undermining this spirit of state-specific representation. The campaign will demand a return to the constitutional spirit of state-specific representation, demanding that activists and individuals connected to the Jharkhand movement and other democratic concerns in the State must be candidates for election to the Rajya Sabha. The JVM led by Babulal Marandi has been posing as the champion of the protests against corruption in RS polls. But the campaign is pointing out that the JVM has no right to speak on this issue, since it is yet to initiate any action against its own MLAs from Rajdhanwar and Jamua, who were implicated in the scandal!         

These issues were raised at a Citizens' March called by the CPI(ML) in Ranchi on 16 April, where a large procession marched from Sainik Bazaar to Albert Ekka Chowk and held a public meeting there. Participants in the march and public meeting included Prof. B P Kesri, activists Dayamani Barla, Faisal Anurag, and Gladson Dungdung, and journalist Srinivasan, and CPI(ML) leaders including State Secretary Janardan Prasad, Bagodar MLA Vinod Singh and CC Member Bahadur Oraon. The public meeting was presided by Comrade Anil Anshuman, and Comrade Sunil Minz thanked the participants.

Till 3 May, the campaign will continue in various forms in districts all over the State.

 

Workers Movement in Bhind, MP 

Since 5 April, the AICCTU-affiliated Hamaal Palledaar Mazdoor Union' (load bearers' union) at the agricultural market at the district headquarters at Bhind, Madhya Pradesh, had been striking for their demands – including increase in wages for loading sacks onto trucks. The strike had been notified on 5 March and on 31 March, the administration was again reminded that the strike would take place if the demands were not met by 4 April. The workers went on strike when the demands were ignored.

During the strike, workers held sit-ins, demonstrations and processions. The administration kept favouring the traders, but the workers remained united. By 12 April, the situation became tense, when traders beat up the striking workers, and police, instigated by the traders, arrested several including CPI(ML)'s Bhind Secretary Comrade Suraj Rekha Tripathi, as well as 11 workers  including AICCTU National Council member Vinod Suman and leading activist Comrade Prabhudayal. In protest against the arrest, workers gheraoed the police station, and held processions in main parts of the city. By evening the administration released Comrade Suraj but the other 11 were jailed.

The movement continued, and CPI(ML) leader Comrade Devendra Singh Chauhan convened an all-party meeting of non-Congress non-BJP  parties on 13 April. The SP and Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, CPI, CPIM and various organizations participated, and it was decided to jointly call for a Bhind Bandh. The Bandh was successful, with sit-ins and militant demonstrations by workers, and several rounds of talks with the administration took place.

On 16 April, the District Collector held talks with a joint struggle committee led by Comrade Devendra Singh Chauhan, and the 11 workers were unconditionally released, and the rate for loading sacks was increased to Rs 10 as demanded by the workers. 

ML Update 16 / 2012

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 15, No. 16, 10 – 16 APRIL 2012

Life Sentence for Rupam Pathak:

Another Instance of Skewed Justice in Nitish's Bihar

In a gross miscarriage of justice, a special CBI Court today passed a life sentence on Bihar school teacher Rupam Pathak, holding her guilty of culpable homicide of Bihar's Purnea MLA Raj Kishor Kesri.

It must be remembered that the Bihar CM was forced to order a CBI enquiry into the Rupam Pathak case precisely because of public protests against the Bihar Government's attempts to smear Rupam Pathak's character and suppress the history of her complaints of rape and sexual harassment against the BJP MLA Kesri and his aide BN Rai. But the CBI enquiry has merely probed the killing of Kesri, and has failed to investigate Rupam Pathak's complaint of sexual harassment. Not only that, BN Rai was not even arrested – allowing him to be free to influence and threaten witnesses. While rape-accused BN Rai remained free, Rupam Pathak herself was denied bail, and prevented from having any opportunity to clear her name!

Rupam's long-standing complaint of rape and sexual harassment by Kesri and his aide BN Rai had been ignored by the Bihar police and the BJP-JD(U) alliance, of which Kesri was a prominent leader. She had sought justice by filing an FIR, but had withdrawn her case on the eve of the Assembly elections, obviously under political pressure. Seeing no hope of justice, Rupam Pathak was pushed to take the desperate step of confronting Kesri in his own house, in full public view.

After the incident, prominent leaders in the Government including the Deputy CM of Bihar, as well as Opposition leaders such as Laloo Yadav, branded Rupam Pathak a blackmailer and a killer, while extolling praises of Kesri's pure character and heroism.

The verdict, by failing to take into account the extreme provocation and desperation Rupam felt, due to the faint prospect of any justice against her powerful rapists and sexual harassers, and awarding her a punishment as severe as life sentence, displays a gender bias. In the landmark Kiranjit Ahluwalia case of Britain, a life sentence awarded to a woman victim of domestic violence who took her husband's life, was relaxed following a sustained campaign by women's groups, which resulted in domestic violence being recognised as a mitigating circumstance of extreme provocation. The Rupam Pathak case ought to be a similar instance in Indian jurisprudence, where desperate acts by women who have been subjected to sexual violence ought to be seen in the context of the failure of our systems to provide a credible prospect of justice for women. This ought to hold true especially in cases of repeated and prolonged sexual abuse or harassment, where attempts to secure justice through the police have been subverted or crushed.

The Rupam Pathak verdict is reminiscent of other cases of skewed justice in Nitish's Bihar, where the ruling forces patronise criminals and perpetrators of atrocities towards women and Dalits. In the Amausi massacre case, 10 mahadalits have been sentenced to death on flimsy evidence, while the chief of the feudal private army Ranveer Sena, Brahmeshwar Singh, received bail in cases relating to horrific massacres of Dalits, because of the State Government's politically guided decision not to counter his bail plea. Similarly the notorious feudal criminal Sunil Pandey has been acquitted in bank robbery and ransom cases, as police officials failed to give evidence against him; and subsequently he has been rewarded by becoming JD(U) MLA from Tarari.

The rulers of Bihar are eager to consign Rupam to jail and suppress her accusations of rape and sexual harassment because they threaten the image of the ruling political alliance. We must demand bail and justice for Rupam Pathak, the immediate arrest of BN Rai, and a re-investigation by the CBI into the whole case in the light of Rupam Pathak's complaints of sexual violence.

Countrywide Protest against Life Sentence

The All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) held protests all over the country on 11 April against the life sentence to Rupam Pathak of Bihar for the culpable homicide of BJP's Purnea MLA Raj Kishor Kesri, terming the verdict of the CBI Court to be a "gross miscarriage of justice."

In the national capital, women protested with a dharna at Jantar Mantar, raising slogans and placards saying, "Why Is Rupam Convicted While Her Rapists and Their Protectors Go Free?"

Women delegates at the CPI(ML)'s Bihar Conference at Darbhanga yesterday held a protest march, while protests are being held at several places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal and other states.

Party's Ninth Bihar State Conference

Party's ninth Bihar State Conference was held on 9-10 April 2012 at Darbhanga in north Bihar. The inaugural highlight was a massive worker-peasant unity rally at Darbhanga Raj Maidan. CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar addressed the thousands of workers and peasants who came mainly from north Bihar's Mithilanchal and border areas. A large number of the participants were working class women.

Comrade Dipankar said that CPI(ML) is creating a new alternative along with strengthening the voice of opposition in Bihar's villages, towns, muhalla's, fields and farms and on the streets even if there is no opposing voice in the State's Legislative Assembly. He said that the road for Bihar's progress can only be laid through the united struggles of workers and peasants. The development that is being projected by Nitish Kumar through his propaganda machinery has never reached the poor, workers-peasants and the youth. On the one hand price-rise and unemployment is growing due to the policies of Central and State Govts and on the other a cruel joke is being played on the poor by reducing the requirement for being designated a poor. Nitish Kumar has conspired to seize the achievements and legacy of Bihari people and distort history by trying to convey through Bihar centenary celebrations that whatever is good in Bihar is due to his seven-year rule. No matter how high the claims are of good governance and development in Nitish's propaganda, the real achievement of this Govt is that it has boosted feudal dominance and today Bihar's women are insecure. Govt's injustice in Rupam Pathak case is there for all of use to see. Serious questions are being raised constantly on this Govt's wrong means of incurring expenditures. Providing open patronage to a criminal like Sunil Pandey and the continuation of their criminal businesses under state-patronage exposes the real face of 'development with justice'. That the Govt has emboldened the feudal-criminal forces is evident from the daylight murder of CPI(ML)'s Rohtas district secretary Comrade Bhaiyaram Yadav. Comrade Dipankar accused the Nitish Govt of instigating and encouraging communal forces by propagating about Mithilanchal as a new centre of terror; but the identity of Darbhanga or Mithilanchal is its labour and not communalism, the whole country is dependent on labour from Mithilanchal. Bihar's identity is labour and struggle and only through its forward movement can Bihar be transformed fundamentally.

The rally was also addressed by Party leaders- Comrades KD Yadav, Rajaram Singh, Saroj Chaubey, Satyadeo Ram and Mahboob Alam. The proceedings were conducted by Comrade Dhirendra Jha, Party's Mithilanchal incharge and Central Committee member.

The delegate session began in the evening at Comrade Ram Naresh Ram Auditorium (University Auditorium). The city of Darbhanga has been renamed as Jankawi Nagarjun Nagar (People's Poet Nagarjun city) on this occasion. The dias and platforms from where the delegate session was conducted was named after Comrades Chandrashekhar and Bhaiyaram Yadav. About 500 delgates, guests and observers attended the Conference.

On the second day deliberations and debates continued on the draft document presented by the outgoing State Committee. The issue of land reforms and share-croppers was intensely discussed and a resolve was taken by the house to intensify the struggles against eviction of sharecroppers from land and freeing up the land of parchadharis (land entitlement holders) from illegal occupation. The Conference also discussed strategy to intensify and reorient the anti-corruption movement in the State in light of the scattering of this movement coupled with continuing massive loot of public resources in the name of good governance and development. The Conference discussed bringing students-youth to the forefront of anti-corruption crusade in Bihar where several scams- AC/DC Bill scam, mining scam, bicycle scam and many others during Nitish's rule that needs to be exposed. The Conference also discussed bringing students-youth to the forefront as a force for radical change while intensifying movement on the issue of education and employment.

CPI(ML) Conference has emphasised on developing fighting, progressive culture based on worker-peasant unity against the regressive culture of state-power based on women's exploitation, feudal violence and communal prejudice. The Conference also discussed the issue of enhancing membership strength and expanding and consolidating organisational networks of its mass based organisations- AIKM, AIALA, AIPWA, AISA and RYA etc.

Of the 500 delegates from 36 districts of Bihar a good number was of women. There was a wide propaganda for the Conference and red flags and banners were visible all over the Darbhanga city. Several welcome gates were raised in the names of martyrs and leaders of the communist movement- Brajesh Mohan Thakur, Ram Sharan Sharma, Maheswar Bhagat, Bhogendra Jha, Dr. Nirmal, Santu Mahto, Mahendra Singh among others. Buildings where the delegates have been accommodated were also named after communist leaders.

More than hundred local comrades served as volunteers to make arrangements and make the Conference a great success.

A Powerful Left Movement is a Pressing Need against the Plunder of Natural Resources

CPI(ML) General Secretary also addressed a press conference on 10th April in Darbhanga, concluding day of the State Conference. He said that all streams of the Left should come on a single platform based on a common programme of struggle against corruption, feudal-communal conspiracy and imperialism, and this is what CPI(ML) understands about Left unity. A powerful Left movement is the pressing need to establish people's control over natural resources against its massive loot.

Replying to a question about the relations between armed forces and the Govt, he said that the issues raised by the army chief is important and it must be deliberated upon. The demand by JD(U) leader Shivanad Tiwari for his expulsion shows that they are not interested at all in fighting corruption. He also said that the defence budget has progressively spiralled to two lakh crore rupees and there should be accountability of defence expenditure too as it is people's money. The issue of corruption in defence establishment has not surfaced for the first time.

Terming the CBI court's verdict in Rupam Pathak case as one-sided he said that the probe should have been conducted comprehensively. Rupam reached a psychological state to kill because she did not get justice in time and she was pressurised to withdraw the case. Today this is not merely an issue of an individual woman but a larger social question. The Govt that claims about women empowerment, 50% reservation for women and development with justice should have stood-up with the victimised woman, but the JD(U), BJP and its Govt are set against her. Referring to CBI's role in probes related to comrades Chandrashekhar, Mahendra Singh and Ajit Sarkar, he said that the CBI was wearing a muzzle when it's the issue of political conspiracy whereas in RUpam Pathak's case a prompt verdict has been announced. The question will surely rise about the role of BJP, JD(U) and Bihar Govt behind this verdict.

CPI(ML)'s 9th TN State Conference

Through 5 years of struggle and two years of party work which includes participation in assembly and local body elections, Party in Coimbatore hosted 9th State Conference from 30 March to 1 April. The whole city was decorated in red flags and hoardings carrying the message and slogans of the conference. The billboards displayed in the run up to the rally and conference had the slogan 'Comrades of Appu, March to Coimbatore' evoked nostalgic emotions from the people of Coimbatore and the general public referred to the rally by the slogan. The conference and the rally had the pervading imprint of working class throughout the 3 days and the impact of 5 years of struggle was felt by everyone in the conference and the rally.

The rally held on 30 March was impressive and spectacular in which more than 2000 working people from all over the State participated. 200 workers of Coimbatore were clad in red T-shirt, white trousers, white cap and black belt-black shoes and carrying red flags marched in the forefront. Before them were a group of young Pricol workers who carried the torch honouring the memory of the martyrs from the memorial of Chinniyampalayam Martyrs. Before them were 5 women comrades in red saree-white blouse uniforms and 4 men comrades in uniforms carrying huge sized red flags.

The rally and the public meeting were led by Com. K Balasubramaniam, District Secretary of Coimbatore Party. Comrade Swadesh Bhattacharya, Politburo member, received the torch from the comrades. Comrades S Kumarasami, PBM, S Balasundaram, State Secretary of the Party, Bhuvana and Bharathi, SCMs addressed the gathering. State AISA comrades who have been constantly involved in organisational work for the last four months handed over Rs.30,000 toward Theepori fund.

The Conference formally began on 31st March with Comrade Ponraj, Party veteran hoisting the red flag. It was followed with leaders and comrades paying homage at the martyrs column. A poster exhibition themed 'Story of Capitalism and the Story of Struggles against Capitalism' was opened by Com. Swadesh Bhattacharya, who compared the exhibition to a workshop.

Comrade Swadesh Bhattacharya delivered the inaugural address who pointed out the opportunities for the revolutionary Left ahead and called the delegates to make all-out preparations, that the Party and the mass organizations grab the opportunities bring about revolutionary change in the state.

A nine-member presidium was formed to conduct the conference. Com. Balasundaram, Secretary of the outgoing State Committee presented the draft report. 63 delegates including 9 women delegates placed their views on the draft document. The report was unanimously adopted after discussions on 5 points viz., TN political situation, working class front, agrarian work, other mass organizations and party building. Apart from these points delegates also discussed other relevant issues in the draft report.

Comrades S Balasubramaniam, State Secretary of Puducherry, John K Erimeli, State Secretary of Kerala, Chandran of LMW, Simson of Liberation Front of the Oppressed, also addressed the conference. Comrade Venugopal of Kerala also attended the conference.

277 delegates including 51 women delegates, 15 observers and 4 invitees attended the conference. The conference elected a 31-member state committee after elections and Com.Balasundaram was elected as State Secretary. Com. S Kumarasami, in his concluding speech called upon the delegates to make the organization stronger as the iron is hot and the hammer is to be strong to wield a strong blow. The conference came to a close with comrades singing the Internationale.

The delegate kit consisted – apart from the usual stationery - a plate and a water bottle with a sticker carrying the message of the conference. It was a delight for many women comrades in the conference who have to wash utensils at home, to see all the men comrades wash their own plates. It was an exercise for many male comrades who seldom perform domestic chores at home and during deliberation on the draft, one of the delegates even appreciated the idea and asked all the comrades to follow the same after returning home.

Message from the CPI(ML) to the 21st Congress of the CPI

(Party General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya's address at the inaugural session of the CPI Congress held in Patna)

Dear comrades,

It is a great pleasure to see the oldest communist party of the country hold its 21st Congress here in Patna and I feel honoured to have this opportunity to address the open session of this important event. Thank you for your comradely invitation. On behalf of the Central Committee and the entire membership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), I extend warm revolutionary greetings to all of you assembled here and convey our best wishes for the success of the Congress.

Let me also take this opportunity to extend a very warm welcome to our esteemed guests from the international communist and anti-imperialist movement and reiterate our shared commitment to defeat the sinister design of the US-led imperialist camp and the exploitative forays of global capital.

As we meet here today we keenly feel the loss of many of our veteran leaders and dear comrades. Comrade Bhogendra Jha, Comrade Jagannath Sarkar, Comrade Chaturanan Mishra are no more amidst us. We have also lost veteran CPI(ML) leader Comrade Ram Naresh Ram who had begun his communist life in the undivided CPI. I pay homage to all our departed leaders who have guided the communist movement in Bihar all these years.

Comrades, for all the tall claims of record-breaking economic growth, poverty is increasing in Bihar. And contrary to the professed gospel of good governance, the people are witnessing growing attacks on democracy. Communist leaders and activists continue to be targeted by feudal-communal forces and criminals enjoying political patronage. Recently Comrade Surendra Yadav of the CPI(M) was killed in Samastipur. Just two weeks ago, Comrade Bhaiyaram Yadav, secretary of CPI(ML)'s Rohtas District Committee and a popular leader of people's struggles was gunned down by JD(U)-backed goons at Nasriganj. Red salute to all our martyrs who have laid down their lives for the cause of the people!

Implicated in false cases and convicted on false charges, many communists are languishing in the prisons of Bihar. Comrade Shah Chand and 13 other CPI(ML) comrades are undergoing life imprisonment under the draconian TADA. I salute all our imprisoned comrades who continue to inspire us from behind the bars.

Comrades, your Congress is taking place in a changing international environment. Capitalism is facing a serious crisis not just in the periphery but at the centre, and this growing crisis has begun to find its echo in the political arena as well. From the Arab Spring to the Occupy movement, we have seen an inspiring upswing in class struggle and popular protests across the world. Quite significantly, this is also energising a renewed quest for socialism, for a systemic alternative to an increasingly decadent and crisis-ridden capitalism.

In our own country, we are witnessing powerful struggles against the ruling neo-liberal policy regime. Under popular pressure, the government has had to withhold the move to allow FDI in multi-brand retail and withdraw large-scale fare hikes announced in the recent rail budget. The response to the February 28 general strike has been quite encouraging as have been results of student union elections in some premier universities. The time is ripe for all of us in the Left to intensify the movement and press for a decisive reversal of the whole gamut of pro-corporate pro-imperialist policies, insisting especially on protection of agricultural and forest land and public control over mineral resources. Simultaneously, the Left must also emerge as the leading current in struggles against corporate loot and state repression across the country.

Results of the recent Assembly elections have once again highlighted the decline of the two big all-India parties of the ruling classes. The coalitions led by the two parties have naturally come under pressure. Yet, we cannot miss the fact that most of the non-Congress non-BJP governments are treading the same neo-liberal policy trajectory and are more interested in bargaining with the central government and bailing it out at critical junctures than offering any sustained opposition on the growing assault on the people and their democratic rights. For any credible third front to take shape, the Left must raise the level of its own assertion on the basis of shared struggles against the neo-liberal assault, imperialist offensive and communal mischief.

The country looks to the Left for a real political alternative. If we can accord the highest priority to the interests of the people and uphold the best traditions and the core vision of the Left movement, we can surely unite and move ahead in this direction. We in the CPI(ML) remain committed to this course and look forward to marching together with the broad spectrum of Left and democratic forces. We hope your Congress will strengthen the political will in the Left camp to forge a broad-based struggle-oriented model of Left unity. Recent electoral reverses have emboldened the forces of right reaction to mount a strident anti-Left ideological campaign and even violent physical attacks on the Left which must be rebuffed with all the strength at our command.

Comrades, in a decade or so from now, the communist movement in India will complete its centenary. As we approach this historic milestone, let us resolve to work tirelessly to bring about a powerful communist resurgence in the country, ensuring greater unity among all communist and Left forces, enlisting greater participation of the youth and spreading the communist message far and wide across the country. Once again, I wish you all a successful Congress and thank you for inviting us to the open session.

Red salute to the glorious legacy of the communist movement in India!

Inquilab zindabad!

Obituary: Com. Promode Gogoi

We have learnt about the sad news of demise of Com. Promode Gogoi, President of AITUC. I, on behalf of entire organization of AICCTU, express our deep condolences on the demise of Com. Gogoi, a veteran communist and trade union leader. He will be always remembered for building working class and left movement in Assam, and as well, his leading role in oil workers' movement.

We share this moment of grief with the comrades of AITUC. Red Salute to Com. Promode Gogoi.

Swapan Mukherjee, General Secretary, AICCTU

 

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

ML Update 14 / 2012

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 15, No. 14, 27 MARCH – 02 APRIL 2012

Bihar 'Centenary': Official Myth and People's Reality

22 March, 2012 marked the first centenary of Bihar as a separate administrative unit. After the British colonial rulers were forced to undo the partition of Bengal, they shifted the capital from Kolkata to Delhi and downsized Bengal by according the status of separate states to Bihar and Odisha. Before quitting India in 1947, the British colonialists of course saw to it that Bengal was partitioned into not just two states but two countries. The march of history and the process of administrative reorganisation have however not stopped with the exit of the British. East Bengal did not accept the absurdity of being called East Pakistan for long and emerged as the independent republic of Bangladesh in December 1971. The geographical boundary of Bihar too has not remained the same, the southern part of the twentieth century Bihar has become Jharkhand in the twenty-first century.

Is there really much point then in celebrating a centenary of an administrative event, especially in a state like Bihar which has a rich and glorious history spanning not only centuries but millennia? The current rulers of Bihar are of course bent upon seizing the centenary as a 'windfall gain' gifted by history. Nitish Kumar is using the centenary celebration to project himself as a beaming beacon of light for Bihar, the grandest thing to have happened to Bihar since the halcyon days of the great Nalanda University. The propaganda blitzkrieg unleashed by the Bihar government reveals the plot with giant billboards virtually limiting the century to the last seven years and lauding Nitish Kumar for engineering 'waves of revolution restoring the lost glory of the state'!

It will however be wrong to see the centenary celebration as just yet another image-building exercise by the ruling regime of Bihar. It is also not just another platform for Nitish Kumar to project himself as the champion of Bihar against the Centre and stake his claim in the national political arena. What Nitish Kumar is trying to do is something much more insidious – he is trying to rewrite the history of Bihar and reconstruct and reinterpret the Bihari identity. He would like us to believe that it is only with the rise of his government that Bihar has got something to pride itself on, and his biggest contribution to the cause of Bihar is the replacement of the erstwhile stigma of 'shame' with a new-found sense of 'pride'. His halo of 'pride' thus rests on the acceptance and internalisation of the 'shame'.

Let us take a closer look at this so-called theory of shame and pride. All through the feudal-colonial era, Bihar has been known as the land of labour. From the days of the indentured labourers transhipped from Bihar to foreign destinations along the colonial trajectory and early internal export of labour to the tea gardens and jute mills of Assam and Bengal to the more recent migration to green revolution pastures of Punjab and Haryana and the continuing exodus of labour to virtually every corner of India, labour has been the biggest motive force in the modern history of Bihar. And in an environment of decadent feudalism and retarded capitalism, this labour has historically been denied its basic freedom and dignity.

If the migrant labourer from Bihar has had to battle constantly against insecurity and indignity, those labouring within Bihar, agrarian labour as well as the labouring peasant, have had to face much fiercer modes of oppression and exploitation and patterns of bondage and feudal-patriarchal violence. The brutalities inflicted on the toiling and oppressed people of Bihar should be a matter of shame for anybody who values freedom and dignity. This shame is not Bihari but universal human shame, and it does not lead to a sense of guilt to be expiated by some benevolent ruler, rather it arouses anger against injustice and steels the resolve to fight it.

It is no wonder then that Bihar has been a key battleground in modern India's quest for dignity and emancipation. If the rulers have been treating Bihar as a labour-exporting internal colony tied down to the feudal-colonial yoke, the people of Bihar have never missed an opportunity to rise in anti-feudal, anti-colonial struggles and challenge the chains of bondage and backwardness. Whether one looks at major pre-independence milestones from the revolt of 1857 and Gandhi's peasant satyagraha to the Quit India movement of 1942 and the radical assertion of Sahajanand Saraswati's Kisan Sabha, or post-1947 upheavals like the early communist-led peasant movement, the 1974 student-youth movement or the CPI(ML)-led battle for social transformation and the emancipation of the oppressed, Bihar has always stood out as the bastion of mass uprising.

There can be no talk of a Bihari identity removed from this historical reality. If one has to discuss the physiognomy of this identity, it is labour which constitutes its core, its face lit up by the glow of resilience in the face of adversity, both natural and man-made, and its heart beating to the pulsating rhythm of the drumbeats of struggle. The stigma of shame has no place in it.

Equally facile and fictitious is Nitish Kumar's empty talk of pride. While his government has done everything to block the passage of land reforms and deny a life of opportunities and dignity to the toiling millions, it is presiding over a regime of land scam and treasury loot bolstered by bureaucratic control, feudal-communal offensive and police brutalities. While he has been waxing eloquent about record-breaking economic growth, in the last seven years another five million people have been pushed below the poverty line which itself has been reduced by our Planning Commission to the level of what can only be described as the starvation line.

Bihar has always fought simultaneously against external invasion and deprivation as well as internal loot and bondage. Behind the veil of the benevolent ruler delivering Bihar from 'shame' to 'pride', Nitish Kumar is actually busy colluding with the forces, both within and outside of Bihar, that have historically sought to hold Bihar back. Bihar is therefore little amused by the state-sponsored spectacle of an administrative centenary and the attempted construction of a synthetic Biharipan (Bihariness ) which is singularly devoid of the fighting spirit of Bihar.

The vision of a New Bihar is inseparably intertwined with the vision of a New India and this newness can only emerge and flourish on the basis of a decisive victory over the forces and policies of bondage and backwardness. Just as the British colonialists had propped up and colluded with the feudal gentry to suppress the great war of 1857, today once again global capital is seeking to exploit and suppress Bihar in local alliance with feudal-communal forces. Nitish Kumar's slogan of regional pride seeks to mask the truth of this dangerous alliance and sacrifice Bihar's aspiration for development at the altar of institutionalised loot. The toiling and fighting millions of Bihar will reject this misleading trap and move ahead in their battle for a life of freedom and dignity and development and democracy, to realise the dream of a people's Bihar in people's India.

On Coal Scam

Barely one and a half years after the 2G spectrum scam, yet another massive scam has been unearthed by the CAG. In both cases, the CAG has pointed out the same underlying problem – loss to the public exchequer due to a policy of handing over precious natural resources on a "first-come-first-serve" basis rather than being auctioned. Out of the estimated loss of Rs 10.7 lakh crores to the state exchequer from the allocation of 155 coal blocks without competitive bidding, private steel and power companies have benefited to the tune of Rs 4.79 lakh crores. These allocations took place when the coal ministry was in the hands of the Prime Minister.

In the case of an exhaustible natural resource like coal, the issue is not merely one of pricing. The allocation of coal blocks to public sector is justified in the public interest. But private players cannot be allowed to own and exhaust coal, mineral, or gas reserves for profit, robbing future generations of these precious natural resources.

The privatisation of mining policy must be reversed, and mining policies amended to ensure that private corporations are not allowed to own coal blocks, mines or gas reserves. There must be a transparent process of companies buying raw materials including minerals from the government.

The coal scam is the latest in the series of huge scams and cases of corporate plunder of natural resources that have taken place during the UPA Government's regime. Necessary action must be taken on the basis of the CAG's findings, to restore the losses to the national exchequer and punish all those responsible for the scam.

On Army Chief's Statement and Defence Scams

The Army Chief's statement alleging that a 14 crore bribe was demanded over procurement of trucks in 2010 has once again brought to the fore the  continuing reality of defence scams in India.

India is the largest arms importer in the world, and the national capital is hosting a huge Defence Exposition in which hundreds of Indian and foreign armament firms are flocking to secure thousands of crores worth of contracts. Undoubtedly such huge procurements bring kickbacks and scams in their wake.

The CPI(ML) demands measures to ensure strict accountability and transparency in defence expenditure; and reduction in defence budget which is clearly inflated to make allowance for overpriced purchase of armaments.

CPI(ML)'s Jharkhand State Conference

CPI(ML)'s fourth Jharkhand State Conference was held at Koderma on 23-25 March. The town had been rechristened Comrade Mahendra Singh Nagar, and the Conference venue was named after Comrade Ibn-ul Hasan Basru.

The Conference was preceded by an impressive 'Rally Against Loot, Repression, Displacement' on 23 March. Thousands of women and men marched to gather at the rally ground, raising slogans against the rampant corporate loot of natural resources, and repression and displacement of adivasis and poor peasants. Gates dedicated to Bhagat Singh and other revolutionary martyrs, and red flags decorated entire town of Koderma.

A day before the rally, on 22 March, the brother of the local BJP MLA Amit Yadav deliberately vandalised red flags. Resisting attack by BJP goons, party supporters broke down the compound wall of the MLA's brother's house.

The rally was presided over by the party's Central Committee member Comrade Bahadur Oraon, and conducted by the Koderma district secretary Comrade Prem Prakash. Speakers at the rally included elected Party's MLA in Jharkhand Assembly Comrade Vinod Singh, Zila Parishad members Comrades Basudev Yadav and Ramdhan Yadav, and Vice-Pramukh Shyamdev Yadav, AICCTU State President Devdeep Singh Diwakar, JHAMAS (agricultural labourers' organisation) State Secretary Parameshwar Mehto, AIPWA leader Geeta Mandal, Garhwa Zila Panchayat Chairperson Sushma Mehta, and party State Committee member Comrade Rajkumar Yadav. Comrade Kavita Krishnan, CC member was the main speaker at the rally.

The rally passed several political resolutions presented by Comrade Bhuneshwar Kewat, secretary of the party in Ranchi, condemning the anti-people Union Budget, demanding a speedy probe into the coal scam, condemnation of the horse-trading that took place as all the ruling parties vied to woo Jharkhand MLAs over the Rajya Sabha elections, and demanded intervention by the Governor to ensure a probe and appropriate punishment for the corrupt MLAs among others.

The delegate session of the Conference began 23rd March evening. Two minutes' silence was observed in memory of the martyrs. Inaugurating the Conference, Politburo member Comrade Swadesh Bhattacharya called on the CPI(ML) to emerge as a powerful revolutionary force of resistance to corporate plunder and struggle for people's rights in Jharkhand. Outgoing state secretary of the party, Comrade Janardan Prasad, presented the draft document for discussion at the Conference.

On 24 March, delegates discussed and debated the document, which discussed the party's work since the last conference, the political situation, and the political and organizational tasks and challenges facing the party. In the course of the day, several guests also addressed the conference, including Lokyuddh editor and Central Committee member BB Pandey, Liberation editor and CCM Kavita Krishnan, Central Control Commission member Comrade Rajaram, and Politburo member Comrade DP Buxi. The presidium read out a moving and inspiring letter by CPI(ML)'s Garhwa leader Comrade BN Singh, sent from Hazaribag Jail where he has been incarcerated since 2003 on false charges by feudal forces.

Teams and individual singers of the Jharkhand Jan Sanskriti Manch presented rousing revolutionary songs. At the end of the day, Comrade Janardan concluded the debate on the document, responding to many questions and issues raised, and following this, the document was unanimously passed by the house. Addressing the delegate session, party General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya called upon the party in Jharkhand to overcome all the attacks by ruling forces and its own subjective weaknesses, and to prepare with all vigour for the party's Ninth Congress which is to be held in Ranchi next year.

On 25 March, the house elected a 39-member State Committee, which reelected Comrade Janardan Prasad as Secretary. The Central Committee observer of the Conference, Comrade Prabhat, addressed the delegates, congratulating the party on its successful Conference and looking forward to the party's growing assertion in the state.

Delivering the concluding speech, party General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya said that after the Assembly poll results, the powerful response to the All India Strike and the protests against the Union Budget, in the situation with a weakened UPA and NDA, has led some to talk of a non-Congress, non-BJP Third Front. However, even if such a Front were to materialize, comprising erstwhile constituents of the UPA and NDA, could not possibly provide any genuine alternative or resistance to the neoliberal, anti-people policies, corporate plunder and repression. The only hope for a genuine political alternative, could emerge only from intensifying people's resistance to these policies. In Jharkhand, CPI(ML) has always been at the forefront of such resistance on the streets, and has been the sole voice of revolutionary opposition within the Assembly. The party must take up the challenge of consolidating our expansion and increasing our political assertion in Jharkhand. He said that the preparations for the Ninth Congress of the party to be held in Ranchi in 2013 presented not just an organizational but also a political challenge – as could be gauged by the repression unleashed on the party in Garhwa, and the attacks by BJP goons on party supporters in Koderma in the course of preparations for the state conference.

Volunteers were felicitated and thanked for their efforts in making the Conference successful. The Conference passed a series of political resolutions, including a detailed plan of political campaigns, mass organization conferences, fund collection, and other preparations for hosting the Ninth Congress. The Conference concluded with the rendering of the Internationale, and with rousing slogans.

On Verdict in Comrade Chandrashekhar's Murder

Former JNUSU President Comrade Chandrashekhar was shot dead on 31 March 1997, at the behest of RJD MP Mohd. Shahabuddin, while addressing a street-corner meeting at JP Chowk, Siwan, for a Bihar Bandh called by CPI(ML). Another CPI(ML) activist Comrade Shyam Narain Yadav, and a street vendor Bhuteli Mian too were killed. The murders were followed by a huge movement of students and civil society, and eventually the Central Government was forced to order a CBI enquiry.

On 23 March this year, 15 years after the murder, the CBI Court in Patna pronounced three of the killers – Dhruv Kumar Jaiswal, Sheikh Munna, and Iliyas Warsi – guilty, sentencing them for life. Another accused, Riyazuddin, died during trial, and a fifth, Rustam is still facing trial. This verdict can only be termed deeply disappointing and inadequate – because it fails to recognize the political character of the killing and nail the real political mastermind – criminal politician Shahabuddin – behind the murder.

All the shooters were well known to be Shahabuddin's henchmen. The FIR had named the five men chargesheeted by the CBI, and also Shahabuddin, whom CBI is yet to chargesheet. Shahabuddin is currently serving a life sentence for the abduction and suspected murder of another CPI(ML) activist, and he was behind the killings of a large number of CPI(ML) activists in Siwan. It is high time that the CBI charge-sheet Shahabuddin as a conspirator in the assassination of Comrade Chandrashekhar. The delay in charge-sheeting Shahabuddin points to a political motive on part of the CBI, to protect the criminal politician who is known to have been a right-hand man of the RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav.

The student movement demanding that Shahabuddin be punished for the assassination of Chandrashekhar, became a landmark struggle against criminalization of politics. Now, 15 years after the murder, there can be sense of closure or justice until and unless the mafia politician Shahabuddin, the mastermind and main conspirator behind the assassination, is charge-sheeted, convicted, and awarded the sternest punishment.

AISA has called for countrywide protests on 31 March, including a Protest Sit-In at Jantar Mantar (3 pm onwards) to assert that the struggle for justice for Comrade Chandrashekhar will not end until Shahabuddin's role as the key conspirator is recognized, and he is convicted.

CPI(ML) to Gherao Bihar Legislative Assembly to Demand CBI Probe in Comrade Bhaiyaram Yadav's Murder

Massive Sankalp Sabha Held on 23rd March

On historic 23rd March- Bhagat Singh's martyrdom day- a massive turnout of people at Nasriganj in Rohtas district (Bihar) paid tribute to martyred Comrade Bhaiyaram Yadav at the Sankalp Sabha and pledged to resolutely carry forward and further the struggles that he sacrificed his life for, especially the struggles to end the reign of social oppression and exclusion, poverty, crime, corruption and loot in Bihar.

Comrade Bhaiyaram was shot when he was returning after supervising work for installation of Shaheed-e-Azam's statue. The people led by district and state leaders of CPI(ML) first marched to his in-laws village where his family members had assembled along with other comrades. Then the march proceeded to the huge compound of community centre where the statue of Bhagat Singh was installed through Comrade Bhaiyaram's efforts. It was unveiled by CPI(ML)'s Politburo member Comrade Ramji Rai in presence of thousands of people and amidst resounding slogans of Red Salute to Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, Red Salute to Comrade Bhaiyaram and Long Live Comrade Bhaiyaram, Long Live all our Martyrs.

The Sankalp Sabha began with observing a minute's silence to mark the martyrdom of Comrade Bhaiyram followed with rendering of revolutionary songs sung by Nirmal Nayan, Santosh Jha and KK Nirmohi. Thereafter, the meeting was conducted by CPI(ML) leader (and ex-MLA) Comrade Arun Singh. He said that Bhaiyaram's murder is a political conspiracy at the behest of a politician-police-criminal nexus and this nexus is patronised by Nitish Kumar. Comrade Bhaiyaram had challenged the extreme excesses perpetrated by this nexus such as raping young girls and women, he had also organised struggles for ensuring voting rights of the poor. The feudal-criminal section who have been emboldened in Nitish's rule thought their excesses could not be challenged in JD(U)-BJP rule and assassinated him.

Comrade Jawaharlal Yadav, district committee member of CPI(ML) confidently declared that the people will overcome this nexus and their feudal arrogance will be smashed. Party's Bihar State Secretary Comrade NK Prasad said that it is an attempt to murder the struggles and movements of the poor of Bihar and Bhaiyaram's killers will have to pay the price along with the Nitish Govt that patronises them. Drawing parallels between this and Chandrashekhar's murder in Siwan in 1997, Comrade Ramji Rai said that the recent incident is similar to the 1997 attempt at killing the potential of political leadership of the poor. In Rohtas itself 17 years back same attempt had been made with the assassination of Comrade Mani Singh. All India Kisan Mahasabha's GS Comrade Rajaram Singh exposing the hollowness of Bihar's centenary celebrations said that those who have been the real heroes of socio-economic empowerment of the millions of poor and oppressed classes in Bihar find no mention in the centenary celebrations. No one there is even mentioning of the historic roles of Master Jagdish, Rameswar Ahir and Vinod Mishra. Comrade KD Yadav, Party's CC member and Kaiser Nihaal also addressed the Sankalp Sabha.

CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar addressing the massive assembly said that Comrade Bhaiyaram's murder is a larger political conspiracy. Nitish Kumar, upon becoming the CM had immediately given a hint of his political intentions by quickly disbanding the Amirdas Commision that had been constituted to expose the politicians that provide patronage to those that have killed vast number of poor and workers through planned massacres. After that he further emboldened the anti-poor pro-feudal class politics by nominating murderer and criminal Sunil Pandey from the assembly constituency of Comrade Ram Naresh Ram. Presently, such criminals are ruling the roost at different places in Bihar and the police provide them protection. While the Govt is squandering crores of rupees on centenary celebrations the number of poor in Bihar, as per Planning Commission's report, has gone up by fifty lakhs. Comrade Bhaiyaram was empowering these poor of Bihar that are daily victims of these criminals protected by Bihar Govt and that is why he had to sacrifice his life. But no one can stop the struggles and forward march of poor through repression and murders and Shahabad's history is a witness to this. General Secretary called upon the entire gathering and whole Party to carry Bhaiyaram's message to every village. He called upon to gherao the Bihar Legislative Assembly on 30 March to demand for a CBI probe into this murder.

Comrade Bhaiyaram's wife Comrade Usha Yadav spoke to the assembled masses and very resolutely said that his dreams are unfulfilled that must be realised. He has laid down his life for the issues of struggling people. This confidence and militant mood is the identity of Bihar's struggling poor and it was quite apparent on every face at the Sankalp Sabha.

Rajasthan: 23 march, Bhagat Singh Divas was celebrated by a cadre meeting in the Jaipur State Office in which Party's State Secretary Comrade Mahender, Srilata, Mahesh Chaumal, Usha and many others participated in a lively discussion on the relevance of Bhagat Singh in the present times vis-à-vis corruption, the various scams, the budget etc.

23rd March was observed by almost all Party units  all over the country through different programmes.

 

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

ML Update 13 / 2012

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 15, No. 13, 20 – 26 MARCH 2012

 

Comrade Bhaiyyaram Yadav's Murder:

Feudal Criminality Behind Nitish Government's Façade of 'Good Governance'

Much media hype has been manufactured about Bihar's Nitish Government's model of 'good governance' (sushasan) and development, which have supposedly made the notorious criminality and feudal violence things of the past. The murder of Comrade Bhaiyyaram Yadav, CPI(ML)'s Rohtas District Secretary, by feudal criminals enjoying BJP-JD(U) patronage, has busted such hype, proving that feudal forces and criminals are striking back with renewed confidence in Nitish's Bihar.

Comrade Bhaiyyaram Yadav was shot dead in Nasiriganj, by armed assailants on 14 March evening. The police had failed to come to the spot even after being informed of the shooting, and the accused assailants are yet to be arrested.

A member of the CPI(ML)'s State Committee, Comrade Bhaiyyaram had been leading several struggles against instances of feudal atrocities and criminal violence. He had organized a major struggle demanding punishment for the notorious feudal strongmen responsible for the gang-rape and murder of a 6-year-old dalit girl late last year. However, the rapists, who are known to be close to the ruling BJP-JD(U), brazenly roam free in Rohtas. Instead, Comrade Bhaiyyaram had been jailed on cooked-up charges of assault. He was killed soon after being released on bail – at the behest of the same feudal criminals backed by the ruling combine whose arrogance and atrocities he had been challenging.

One of Nitish Kumar's first acts, on becoming CM for the first time, had been to disband the Justice Amir Das Commission that was about to submit its report on the links of political parties to the feudal private army, the Ranveer Sena, that had perpetrated massacres against dalit landless poor. Since then, the Nitish Government has displayed its loyalty to its primary support base of feudal sections, time and again. While the Nitish Government's promises to mahadalits, MBCs, and sharecroppers stand betrayed, it is the feudal forces which have felt emboldened. In Nitish's Bihar, Ranveer Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh goes scot free, but a popular mahadalit leader, along with nine other mahadalits, has been sentenced to death on flimsy grounds for the Amausi massacre.

In sharp contrast to such blatant hypocrisy and opportunism, Comrade Bhaiyyaram represented the idealism of young people inspired by the values of Bhagat Singh. Just before his death, Comrade Bhaiyyaram was in fact supervising preparations for installation of a Bhagat Singh statue on 23 March.

From Bhagat Singh to Bhaiyyaram, the ruling classes have killed revolutionaries but failed to stifle their ideas and politics. Defying murder and repression, the legacy of Bhagat Singh will continue to live in the example of youth like Comrade Bhaiyyaram and Comrade Chandrashekhar – inspiring future generations of young people!

CPI(ML)'s Press Releases on Railway and General Budget

Union Budget 2012-13: All-out Attack on Common People

CPI-ML demands Rolling Back of Hikes and Restoration of Subsidies

New Delhi, 16 March: After the massive fare hikes announced in this year's Railway Budget and the 1.25% reduction in the interest rate on Employees' Provident Fund, the General Budget marks the third successive blow on the common man in the ongoing budget session. While the Finance Minister has taken every care to appease the rich and the corporate sector by refusing to increase corporate tax or income tax on higher income brackets, he has come down heavily on the common man by slashing subsidies and effecting an across-the-board hike in service tax from 10 to 12 per cent.

Priority sectors like agriculture, public health and education have once again been neglected. No improvement has been made in MNREGA provisions nor has any announcement been made for the urban unemployed. Public health workers like those involved in ASHA and Anganwadi schemes have once again been taken for a ride. There is also no provision for adequate and universal food security. By contrast, the already high defence outlay has been raised further by 17%, taking India's defence budget to an incredibly high level of nearly Rs. 200,000 crore.

The Budget makes no serious attempt to bring back black money or penalize tax evaders. Despite every evidence pointing to the disastrous consequences of the policies of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation, the budget has again announced a whole set of measures to further open up the economy for global capital and the corporate sector. The civil aviation sector is being opened up for foreign airlines and private airlines have been allowed to borrow foreign funds to the tune of 1 billion dollars. The government also continues to push for backdoor privatisation by setting a high disinvestment target of Rs 30,000 crore.

The CPI (ML) calls upon the working people and all sections of small producers, traders and consumers to mount pressure on the government to roll back the hikes affecting the common people, expand MNREGA and PDS provisions, restore subsidies and increase allocation for social sectors and especially health and education by increasing taxes on companies and higher income groups and reducing defence outlay.

Withdraw Hike in Railway fares

New Delhi, 14 March 2012: The Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) demands immediate withdrawal of hike in railway passenger fare and freight. The Railway Budget 2012-13 presented today in Lok Sabha has announced massive and all round increase in Railway fares which is a crushing burden on common people, who are already reeling under unprecedented price rise for last many years. 'The first railway fare hike in ten years' has turned out to be an accumulated hike in railway fares even though the travelling by trains continued to become costlier in these years by other means. Not even platform ticket fare has been spared.

The Railway Minister's logic of 'Increasing fares to accumulate funds for improving the safety and amenities of Railway passengers' is a cruel joke on common people, and is nothing but a logic of liberalization. Further, The Railway Minister's explanation of this hike as a few paisa per kilometer and nothing more is an insult to the intellect of common people.

With Assembly Polls out of the way, the UPA Government now feels safe in imposing this massive fare hike without political consequences. The UPA ally, TMC, is claiming to oppose the hike – which none other than the Railway Minister from its own party has introduced!

Immediate withdrawal of the hike in fares is the only solution that can be acceptable to the common citizens.

CPI(ML) Liberation

Central Committee

Protests against scaling down of EPF Interest Rates, Rail and General Budget

Delhi: Workers from both organized and informal sector gathered at Jantar Mantar and burnt the effigy of anti-poor, pro-rich Budget and held a demonstration. The students of AISA also participated in the demonstration.

The demonstration was addressed, among others, by Swapan Mukherjee, General Secretary of AICCTU; Santosh Roy, Delhi State Secretary of AICCTU; Sanjay Sharma, State Secretary of CPI-ML, AICCTU leaders Ardhendu Roy and Sankaran.

Terming the both Budgets as an all-out attack on common people and demanding the withdrawal of hikes and deduction in interest rate of EPF and restoration of subsidies, Swapan Mukherjee said that after the massive fare hikes announced in this year's Railway Budget and the 1.25% reduction in the interest rate on Employees' Provident Fund, the General Budget marks the third successive blow on the common man in the ongoing budget session.

West Bengal: As a part of national protest day by CPI(ML), several district units in West Bengal organized protest rallies. Rallies were taken out at Howrah Maidan in Howrah, Jadavpur and College Street in Kolkata, Dharmada bazar and Bethuadahari in Nadia, Burdwan proper and Kalna in Burdwan and Siliguri in Darjeeling district. At Hashmi Chawk in Siliguri, an effigy of Manmohan Singh was also burnt. At College Street student activists burnt draft copies of the general budget.

Maharashtra: Protest demonstration was held by Maharashtra Sarva Shramik Mahasangh and AICCTU in front of the Dadar Station in Mumbai on 19 March. About 200 workers- textile, domestic women and others – participated in this demonstration that was addressed by Comrades Uday Bhatt, Mahendra Sagar, Shyam Gohil and Dheeraj.

Tamil Nadu: On 15 March itself Party's Villupuram unit held a demonstration against the anti-people railway budget and the general budget. The demonstration was led by Com. Kaliamurthi, member of the District Committee. Com. M Venkatesan, State Committee member addressed the demonstration.

On 19 March 2012 protests were held all over Tamilnadu against the anti-people budget, reduction in EPF interest rate and for Indian govt's support for resolution against Srilanka. In Coimbatore gate meetings of Pricol workers were held in two units in which over 1000 workers participated. Com. S Kumarasami, Politburo member of the Party addressed this meeting. In Chennai a public meet was organized by the Party which was presided over by Com. S Sekar, City Committee Secretary of the Party. Com. Thenmozhi, State President of AIPWA and Com. Jawahar, State President AICCTU addressed the meeting.

In Namakkal, a demonstration was held on 19 March that was led by Com. Pugalendhi, DC member. Com. A Govindaraj, SCM, addressed the demonstration. In Salem also a demonstration was held for two hours with Com. Velmurugan presiding over and Com. Chandramohan, SCM, Com. Viswanathan, AICCTU State working committee member addressing the protesters. In Cuddalore demonstrations were held at 2 places. Com. Ammaiappan, SCM attended these protests. Posters were released in Tiruvallore district.

Assam (19 March) - Dharna was held at Guwahati and Tinsukia, street corner meeting and effigy burning took place at Dibrugarh.

Jharkhand: A protest march was held on 15 March condemning the massive fare hike in the railway tickets. The march culminated in a mass meeting at the Albert Ekka roundabout that was addressed by Party leader and CC member Comrade Subhendu Sen.

Demonstration in TN Demanding arrest of Policemen who Raped Adivasi Women

On 20 March, a demonstration was organised by the All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) in Villupuram, as part of the sustained protest demanding arrest of policemen who raped Adivasi women. Com. Thenmozhi, State President of AIPWA, and Com. Shenbagavalli, State Secretary of AIPWA, led the demonstration. Com. M Venkatesan, SCM also addressed the gathering.

Martyr's day observed in Siliguri

Darjeeling District committee commemorated on 19 March 2012 the 10th death anniversary of Com. Tapan Chakraborty (Sona), the then west Bengal state committee member and Darjeeling district secretary of cpiml, who passed away way back in 2002. In a befitting manner district and local committee leaders gathered at district party office and paid homage to the revolutionary ideals of their deceased leader. Among the state and district party organizers Com. Basudeb Bose, Com. Nabendu dasgupta,Com. Gouri Dey, Com. Abhijit Mazumdar, Com. Sarat Singha, Com. Apu Chaturvedi, Com. Mojammel Haque , Com. Pulak Ganguly, Com. Paisanju Singha spoke on the present political challenges and our tasks. A minute's silence was observed.

Meeting of ML Parties in Mumbai

Four ML parties – Liberation, Red Flag, Red Star and New Democracy – held a joint meeting in Mumbai's Dadar area on 18 March to discuss and decide on a joint movement in Maharashtra and to mobilise support for the movement against Shahi Dam in Shahpur, on which the State Govt has let loose repression. The meeting discussed the large scale displacement taking place of peasants and common people through various Govt projects in the State. The meeting emphasised on united movement of ML parties against such projects as Jaitapur atomic power project and participating in the ongoinf movements. A coordination committee will be formed next month after inviting more Left and democratic forces.

Odisha: Movement of Sanitation Workers

East Coast Safai Karmachari Sangha of Puri Railway Station are agitating for minimum wages, EPF, ESI and proper recreation and other benefits by the contractors as well as the principal employers. The movement has been on for over a week now under the banner of AICCTU. The contractor is denying minimum wages i.e. Rs. 171 per day at Puri. The RPF (railway police) is threatening workers of preventing their entry into station premises and the contractor is trying to employ other workers through local goons. The situation is very tense, however the AICCTU is in soliadrity with the movement of Safai Karamcharis. The AICCTU also held dialogues with the railway authorities to find a solution.

CPI(ML)'s 4th Ranchi District Conference

CPI(ML)'s 4th District Conference against Corporate Loot, Revision in CNT Act and Repression was held on 11-12 March at Shaheed Mahendra Singh Smriti Bhawan in Parmeshwar Singh Munda Nagar, Ranchi . The Conference began with paying homage to the martyrs of communist movement. The inaugural session was addressed by State Secretary Comrade Janardan Prasad who said that Jharkhand has become hotbed of corporate loot, for the continuation of which a revision in the CNT Act is being considered after doing away with the Urban Ceiling Act.

53 delegates from Ranchi, Bundu, Tamad, Rahey, Adki, Namkum, Ormanjhi and Burmu blocks participated in the conference. Comrade DP Bakshi (incharge for Jharkhand) and CCM Comrade Bahadur Oraon were present among others. The Conference elected a 15 member District Committee with Comrade Bhuwaneswar Kewat as the new Secretary.

Protests against Murder of Comrade Bhaiyyaram Yadav

Bihar: Protests were held all over the State on 15th March demanding arrest of the criminals without any delay. Hundreds of infuriated protesters in Patna marched from JP Chowk to Station where a protest meeting was held. This meeting was addressed by Party's Central Committee member Comrade Saroj Chaubey, AIPWA General Secretary Comrade Meena Tiwari among others. In SIwan more than 300 people led by Party leader (and ex-MLA) Comrade Amarnath Yadav marched in protest. At Darbhanga hundreds of protesters were led by Comrade Dhirendra Jha, CC member. Comrade Niranjan Kumar – District Secretary of Gaya – led the protest march in Gaya, at Nalanda it was led by District Secretary Comrade Surendra Ram and at Bhagalpur it was led by Comrade SK Sharma. Protest demonstrations were also held at Bhojpur, Buxar, Aurnagabad, Arwal, Jehanabad, Nawada, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura, Munger, Gopalganj, Begusarai apart from other district headquarters on 15th March.

On 17 March, a bandh was called in the Shahabad region that comprises of four southern districts of Bihar. The bandh was total in the region and a Sankalp Sabha (pledge meeting) will be held on 23rd March (Bhagat Singh's martyrdom anniversary) at Nasriganj to be addressed by CPI(ML) General Secretary.

Jharkhand: A protest rally was held that marched to Albert Ekka roundabout in Ranchi.

Delhi: Protest demonstration was held at Jantar Mantar on 17 March, against the murder of the party's Rohtas (in Bihar) District Secretary, Comrade Bhaiyyaram Yadav by BJP-JD(U)-backed criminals. The protest in the national capital coincided with the party's call for a bandh in the Shahabad region of Bihar (comprising the districts of Bhojpur, Rohtas, Kaimur, and Buxar).

Addressing the protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar, the party's Delhi State Secretary Sanjay Sharma said that Comrade Bhaiyyaram Yadav was killed by feudal forces backed by the ruling BJP-JD(U) combine, because he had been at the forefront of people's struggles in the area against feudal violence. AISA General Secretary Ravi Rai, addressing the demonstration, said that the murder of a young activist like Comrade Bhaiyyaram, who was committed to Bhagat Singh's ideals, at the hands of criminals patronized by BJP-JD(U), has exposed the reality of the Nitish Government's claims of 'Sushasan' (Good Governance). In Nitish's Bihar, those protesting against feudal atrocities and crimes on women were being assassinated, while the perpetrators of such crimes were protected by the administration and police.

After the demonstration, a delegation went to submit a memorandum to the Governor of Bihar (via the Resident Commissioner at New Delhi) demanding that the killers named in the FIR be arrested without delay, and the DM and SP of Rohtas district be penalized for protecting rapists and criminal killers. The memorandum demanded that the JD(U)-BJP Government of Bihar stop protecting the criminals who, confident of the patronage of the ruling BJP-JD(U) combine, were killing activists who challenged their feudal reign of terror.

Red Salute to Comrade Bhaiyyaram Yadav

Comrade Bhaiyyaram Yadav was shot dead in Nasiriganj, by armed assailants on 14 March evening. He had just been supervising the preparations for installation of a statue of Bhagat Singh (to be inaugurated on 23 March), and was returning to the party office, when he was shot in the gut by armed men on motorbikes. Even after being intimated that Comrade Bhaiyyaram was shot and lay injured, the police did not come to the spot.     

Comrade Bhaiyyaram Yadav was killed by feudal forces backed by the ruling BJP-JD(U) combine, because he had been at the forefront of people's struggles in the area against feudal violence. Notably, Comrade Bhaiyyaram had been active in organizing a powerful struggle against the gang-rape and murder of a 6-year-old dalit girl in December 2011 by feudal forces (the rapists included the Rajput strongman Luv Singh, known to be close to the BJP and JD(U)). The local police and administration have yet to arrest the accused rapists.

On 9 February, former pramukh Anil Singh and his brother, ex-Zila Parishad member Babhan Bahadur Singh, also well-known to be close to BJP-JD(U), were involved in a shoot-out against those from oppressed castes who objected to their riding motorbikes at high speed in residential areas. The police, instead of arresting the instigators falsely implicated Comrade Bhaiyyaram in this case on cooked-up charges of assault, and had him jailed. Once Com. Bhaiyyaram was released on bail, the feudal forces in collusion with BJP-JD(U) leaders and local administration, have assassinated him.

Bhaiyyaram joined the CPI(ML) in 1986, inspired by the party's resistance to feudal terror in Nasiriganj (Karakat) and Bhojpur. As an activist of the party and youth organization, he helped organize the youth from among the rural poor. Since 2007, he was the Secretary of the party's Rohtas District Committee, and in 2008, was elected to the Bihar State Committee.

Hundreds of local youth and common people joined the funeral procession of their beloved 'Bhaiyya', and protests were held all over Bihar on 15 March. The CPI(ML)'s bandh in the Shahabad region (districts of Ara, Rohtas, Kaimur, Buxar) on 17 March evoked a good response and support from people. On the same day, a protest was held at Parliament Street in New Delhi, demanding that the JD(U)-BJP Government of Bihar stop protecting the killers, and take action against the DM and SP of Rohtas district.

 

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