ML UPDATE 21 / 2012

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol.  15      No. 21                                        15 - 21 MAY 2012

SIT Closure Report on Gujarat

Shameful Cover-Up of Modi's Role

The closure report filed by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT on the 2002 communal violence in Gujarat has belied all expectations that it would help justice be done, by shamefully attempting to cover up the role of CM Narendra Modi. In its desperation to defend Modi from the complaint filed by Zakia Jafri, the SIT often contradicts its own preliminary report of 2010, and endorses some of Modi's worst communal statements.

 

The SIT goes out of its way to discredit intelligence officer Sanjiv Bhatt's evidence that he witnessed Modi at a meeting on February 27, 2002, instructing police officers to allow Hindus to vent their anger. In the SIT's preliminary report, several police officials claimed that they could not recall if Bhatt had been present at the meeting. But in the closure report, the memories of these same officers has magically improved, and they categorically state that Bhatt was not present!

 

Worse, the SIT closure report states that even if Bhatt's evidence were assumed to be true, "mere statement of alleged words in the four walls of a room does not constitute an offence." Which means that according to the SIT, even if a Chief Minister instructs police officers in a closed door meeting not to act against Hindu perpetrators of violence, it would not amount to a crime!     

 

In 2002, Narendra Modi had infamously justified the communal violence with talk of 'action-reaction.' The SIT closure report approvingly quotes Modi's 'action-reaction' logic, claiming that by firing at the mob, Ehsan Jafri 'provoked' it to massacre those sheltering in the Gulberg Society. The fact that Jafri fired on a mob armed with weapons, firearms, petrol and incendiaries, after waiting in vain for police to respond to his desperate calls, has been blithely discounted, and Jafri's action branded as one of provocation rather than self-defence.  

 

The SIT closure report does not even make much effort to appear credible. For instance, in order to back up its claim that Modi was unbiased and committed to cracking down on communal violence, it cites five public statements by Modi where he promised 'exemplary punishment' for those guilty for the attack on the train at Godhra. The complaint by Zakia Jafri says that Modi passed an order that ensured that police did not punish post-Godhra rioters. The SIT's answer is to show that the Modi wanted exemplary punishment for the Godhra train attack! It does not cite a word by Modi promising punishment for the perpetrators of violence against Muslims.

 

Further, the SIT report ignores blatantly communal public speeches by Modi, such as the one in which he referred to relief camps for riot-survivors as "children-producing centres," saying 'We 5, our 25.' The SIT's preliminary report had refused to accept Modi's explanation that this statement was a general one on family planning, saying that it was clearly a reference to Muslim's supposed population growth. But the closure report discounts the communal implications of this speech.

 

In trying to defend Modi, the SIT report actually ends up further strengthening the case against him, since it justifies his 'Let Hindus vent their anger' remark and echoes his 'action-reaction' remarks. It is urgent that the evidence pertaining to Modi's role be re-examined afresh, and steps taken to ensure that truth and justice are upheld. Narendra Modi must be held accountable and punished for his role in the Gujarat communal violence!

 

AILC Delegation Visits Kerala to Protest Killing

 

An AILC delegation comprising Comrades Mangat Ram Pasla, General Secretary of CPM (Punjab), Swapan Mukherjee and Shankar V, Central Committee Members of CPI(ML) visited Onchiyam, Vadakara and Calicut on May 11, 12 and expressed deep condolences and solidarity to the party and bereaved family of the martyred comrade TP Chandrasekharan (TPC), the secretary of Left Coordination Committee (LCC) in Kerala.

 

Despite the gruesome killing and the CPI(M)'s politics of intimidation, the family members and comrades of Com. TP remain ever more committed to the courageous path he had chosen in forming the RMP and joining the AILC to strengthen the Left movement in the country. During the delegation's visit to their house at Onchiyam on May 11, they could witness the determination to fight back the politics of killing and intolerance. Visitors of various political hues, including Chief Minister Ommen Chandy and VS Achuthanandan of CPIM, have been visiting their house ever since the incident. VS was of course the lone CPI(M) leader to visit the family.

 

On the same evening, at the LCC organized condolence meeting in Vadakara town hall, people turned out in huge numbers despite heavy downpour. CPI(M) party activists too turned out in good numbers defying party dictates. Com. N Venu, the newly elected Onchiyam secretary of RMP (Revolutionary Marxist Party), presided over the meeting.

 

Com. Swapan Mukherjee condemned the killing in unequivocal terms and said that such killings can never halt the onward march of alternative and genuine Left movement in Kerala and in the country. He said that a clique of corrupt and degenerate leadership has taken over the CPIM party affairs in Kerala. CPI(M), instead of mobilizing Left and democratic forces as declared by their party Congress, is, in fact, acting against the genuine and alternative Left. He also called upon the people to rejuvenate the Left movement by upholding the legacy of historic struggles of Punnapra Vayalar and Onchiyam.

 

 Com. Mangat Ram Pasla deplored and denounced the growing intolerance within the CPI(M) leadership and their reliance on intimidation and killings and refusal to face the growing ideological-political debate against the CPI(M)'s departure from the principles of the Left movement and surrender to neo-liberal policies. He said the CPI(M) had unsuccessfully tried similar means in Punjab too to try and stop the CPM Punjab which has emerged as a stronger alternative to the official CPI(M) unit in Punjab. The condolence meeting was also addressed by leaders of various political parties barring CPI(M) and also by Left and democratic intellectuals in the district.

 

The AILC delegation along with comrades Hariharan and Kumaran Kutty addressed the press on May 12.

 

This was followed by an impressive convention of political and cultural activists at Calicut condemning the killing of Com. TPC. People from all walks of life and with various political affiliations participated in the meet. Renowned writer Mahasweta Devi inaugurated the convention. Speaking on the occasion, Com. Mangat Ram Pasla asserted that TPC was not a 'traitor' as Vijayan wants to portray him but a brave fighter upholding the legacy of the communist movement in Kerala.

 

The state convener of Left Coordination Committee (LCC), Kerala, Com. KS Hariharan presided over the meet. Minister for Panchayat and Social Welfare MK Muneer, Socialist Janata (Democratic) leader MP Veerendrakumar and writers from various parts of the State attended the programme.

 

Comrades Hariharan, state convener, Kumaran Kutty and Prakashan, state leaders of LCC, John K Erumeli, state secretary, Venugopal and Joy Peter, State Leading Team Members of CPIML in Kerala, Javaraiah, State Leading Team member of CPI(ML) in Karntaka, Manju and Sunil of AICCTU of Karnataka also accompanied the visiting delegation.

 

JNUSU Takes Up Cause of Myanmar Refugees

 

Around 2000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, from 623 families from the northern Rakhine state in Myanmar have been in India for the past two years, forced to wander from one place to another in search of shelter and survival. They had been in Delhi since 9 April, to take up the matter of their refugee status with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

 

JNUSU took up the matter of their shelter, relief, and right to humanitarian treatment as refugees. After several relocations, these refugees were staying on the open grounds of a mosque in Sultangarhi near Vasant Kunj, where they faced eviction by police as well as communal threats. In their camp, there was neither proper shelter, nor water, sanitation or medical facilities. Children were severely malnourished, and two women delivered babies under the open sky, open to sun and rain. 

 

JNUSU and JNU students had been arranging drinking water, medical camps, and other relief measures, and on 10 May had held a demonstration along with the Myanmarese refugees at the UNHCR office. The UNHCR, following a dialogue with the JNU Students' Union on 10 May, gave a date of 15 May for consideration of their petition. But the Delhi Police kept trying to evict them from Delhi even before they could get a hearing at the UNHCR. 

 

Since 12 May night JNU Students' Union members were not allowed by police to meet the refugees and hand over a relief amount that had been collected for them. On 13 May, all day, there was tension, as the police attempted to load the refugees on buses and take them to an unknown location. In the course of the day, hundreds from local villages in the area, accompanied by the local BJP MLA, gathered to demand removal of the refugees. The fact that the refugees are Muslims, has made them especially vulnerable to being targeted as 'infiltrators.' The VHP issued a press release demanding 'deportation' of 'Myanmarese and Bangladeshi' refugees, whom they branded as infiltrators and a 'security threat'. JNUSU refused to be intimidated, and continued to try and explain matters to the villagers. Several intellectuals and concerned people including former Chief Justice Rajinder Sachar, senior journalist Kuldip Nayar, advocate Sanjay Parikh, Dr Sunilam, Anand Swarup Verma, Wilfred D Costa, Anil Chaudhary, Pushpraj, and Gopal Krishna, urgently faxed the Delhi Police Commissioner asking that the refugees be allowed to remain in Delhi safely till the UNHCR heard their case. Eventually, these efforts succeeded, and the JNUSU could hand over relief to the refugees by evening.

 

On May 15, JNUSU SSS Councillor, Shivani Nag along with human rights lawyer went to Sultangarhi to accompany the refugee leaders to UNHCR. Two journalists were also present. However, they had to face considerable hostility from the police personnel stationed there who consistently tried to instigate the refugees against the presence of JNU students. The refugees however didn't get influenced by the instigation and continued to insist that the lawyer and the JNUSU representative be included as the participants in the meeting. Police however and didn't even allow the refugees to speak to the JNUSU representative and took them to the UNHRC Office in three separate cars. The JNUSU representative, the lawyer and the two journalists nonetheless reached the UNHRC office in a separate vehicle to monitor situation.

 

The meeting transpired for nearly three and a half hours during which the JNUSU representative, lawyer and journalist were subjected to highhanded behaviour by the police not even being allowed stand in the vicinity of the office premises. After the meeting, the refugee representatives were whisked away by police, and two of them were detained by the police illegally for hours, with other refugees and JNUSU having no knowledge of their whereabouts.

 

On May 15, the JNUSU leaders along with Myanmar refugees' representatives also met Delhi CM Sheila Dixit, and Congress MP Digvijay Singh.

 

At a separate briefing to concerned parties including the JNUSU, the UNHRC Chief assured that they would continue to work towards ensuring that the basic rights of safety, education and health facilities are not denied to refugees once they return to the places in India from where they had come. They also assured that concrete steps would be taken to ensure that all the rights available to those with the Asylum Seeker's Card which included that they are not unduly deported or detained are guaranteed.

 

JNUSU will keep up the mobilization and vigilance that have been built up during these days to ensure that the government, government agencies, UNHRC continue to honour their commitment towards protecting the rights of the refugees.

 

First Uttarakhand CPI(ML) Conference

 

The first State conference of CPI(ML) in Uttarakhand was held at Haldwani on 13-14 May. The Conference site was named in memory of late party leader Comrade Dipak Bose who had initiated the work of building the CPI(ML) as an organised party in Uttarakhand.

 

On the first day, an open session was held with a seminar on the challenges of building an Uttarakhand free of corruption and mafia rule. Speakers at the Seminar included CPIM State Secretary Com. Vijay Rawat, Uttarakhand Jan Sangharsh Vahini Shamsher Singh Bisht, and several other intellectuals from Haldwani. The main speaker was CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya.

 

In-charge of the Uttarakhand Leading Team, Comrade Raja Bahuguna, presented a detailed document on the political situation, the party's history in Uttarakhand, its initiatives after state-formation, and an assessment of its work and organisation. The report was adopted by the house after being discussed and debated enthusiastically by the delegates.

 

Party GS Comrade Dipankar, addressing the Conference, warmly congratulated the comrades for holding their first state conference, saying that the party's long-standing work in a hill state like Uttarakhand had added a valuable chapter to the all-India party's experiences. The party had been active at the time of the movement for separate statehood. After formation of the new state, big capital and mega projects are making inroads into the state, bringing mega loot in their wake. We must champion the struggles to resist the loot of water, forests, and land, and organise workers, peasants, and women in mass movements. He stressed the need to give a strong organisational shape to the party's mass struggles in Uttarakhand, and said that the party would gain strength from forging closest possible unity with the masses.         

 

Under supervision of Central observer, CCM Com. Dhirendra Jha, a 13-member State Committee was unanimously elected by the house, which in turn unanimously elected Comrade Rajendra Pratholi as State Secretary. The rest of the State Committee comprises Comrades Raja Bahuguna, Purushottam Sharma, Bahadur Singh Jangi, Nishan Singh, Indresh Maikhuri, KK Bora, Kailash Pandey, Jagat Martoliya, Anand Singh, Man Singh Pal, Malti Haldar, and Surendra Brijwal.

 

Addressing the Conference, State Secretary Comrade Rajendra Pratholi said that the newly elected committee would strive to implement the directive adopted by the Conference, and to build a strong revolutionary party in Uttarakhand.       

 

Central observer Comrade Dhirendra Jha said that there is a strong team of leading comrades in Uttarakhand, who will certainly take on the challenge of ensuring continuity of workers' and peasants' struggles and building the party on firm foundations.

 

The Conference passed several political resolutions including a demand of CBI enquiry into the 121 scams which took place in the past decade of BJP-Congress rule; condemning CM Vijay Bahuguna's support for NCTC, SEZs and anti-people hydroelectric projects and his move to hold a Cabinet meeting at Gairsain without declaring it as the permanent State Capital; withdrawal of all false cases against CPI(ML) activists and other people's movement activists since state formation; and demanding punishment for those responsible for the brutal police assault on AIKM leader Comrade Rajaram Singh.

 

Bihar Bandh

 

The May 10 Bihar Bandh called by the CPI(ML) demanding dismissal of the DM and SP responsible for the brutal police assault on protestors against Aurangabad's Chhotu Mukhiya, especially the attack on CPI(ML) CCM Comrade Rajaram Singh, received a very warm response. Several train routes were blockaded, and the GT Road as well as other national highways and state highways and main roads connecting district HQs with blocks, were blockaded for hours.

 

In the state capital, Patna, the first contingent of Bandh supporters marched from Patna Railway Station to Dakbangla Crossing, which they completely blockaded. This contingent was led by CCM Comrade KD Yadav, AIALA National President Rameshwar Prasad and General Secretary Dhirendra Jha, RYA GS Kamlesh Sharma, State Committee members Umesh Singh, Satyanarayan Prasad and others.  

 

The main contingent led by party GS Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya, PBMs Ramjatan Sharma, Nand Kishor Prasad, Amar, State Secretary Kunal, Central office secretary Prabhat Kumar, AISA State Secretary Abhyuday, and others marched from the south gate of Gandhi Maidam at 11 am and converged at Dakbangla Crossing, where a mass meeting was held, addressed by Comrade Dipankar, AISA-RYA leaders Comrades Abhyuday and Kamlesh, and other senior party leaders.  

 

AIPWA State Secretary Shashi Yadav and Patna town committee member Murtaza Ali led a sizeable procession in the Chitkohra-Aneesabad area, which blockaded the junction for hours. Another huge procession led by AICCTU State Secretary Ranvijay and party town committee member Pannalal closed shops and markets in Kankadbad. This procession too reached Dakbangla Crossing and joined the main gathering there.

 

AIPWA State Joint-Secretary Anita Sinha and party town committee member Satyendra Sharma led scores of bandh supporters to blockade the Bailey Road at Ashiyana turning for two hours, holding a mass meeting there. In Patna City, CPI(ML)'s Area Committee secretary Naseem Ansari, peasant leader Shambhunath Mehta, RYA leaders Ramnarayan Singh and Suresh Sahni led a massive procession which closed down shops in the mandi area, and then blockaded Shaheed Bhagat Singh crossing.      

 

Addressing the mass meeting at Dakbangla Crossing, Comrade Dipankar said that the successful bandh, supported by all sections of people, is a challenge to Nitish's rule, and that the struggle to ensure justice for the victims of Forbesganj firing, Comrade Bhaiyyaram, Comrade Surendra Yadav, Mukhiya Chhotu Mushwaha, and to ensure a CBI enquiry into the Aurangabad murder and police barbarism, dismissal of the DM and SP of Aurangabad, and immediate release of the 29 jailed protestors including Comrade Rajaram Singh, and justice for Bathani Tola victims, would continue.

 

Scores of bandh supporters were arrested all over Patna, and including Party General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya, State Secretary Comrade Kunal, and several PBMs and CCMs.    

 

The Purva Express was stopped at Ara, truck traffic was completely stopped at Jehanabad, and the Patna-Gaya train line could not function. Trains were stopped at Darbhanga, Vaishali, Biharsharif, Forbesganj, Siwan, Sikta, Gaya, Kaimur and West Champaran. Huge processions stopped the functioning of Courts at Gopalganj and Jaynagar. Buses, schools, and shops remained non-functional under pressure from bandh supporters at many places all over the State.

 

District secretaries of Samastipur, Biharsharif, Bhabhua and CPI(ML)'s Rohtas leader Jawahar Yadav were among those arrested while blockading highways and streets, and mass arresting took place at Madhubani, West Champaran, Bhabhua, Chhapra, and Ara. 

ML Update 20 / 2012

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 15, No. 20, 08 – 14 MAY 2012

Resist Rising Injustice, Crime and Repression 

in Nitish's Bihar

With every fresh, glaring instance of feudal criminality and mockery of justice, the Nitish Government's slogan of 'development with justice' is being exposed.

The latest instance is the severe repression on CPI(ML) Central Committee member and former MLA Comrade Rajaram Singh and other activists leading the struggle against the murder of a young panchayat mukhiya (head) in Aurangabad district of Bihar. On 29 March, 32-year-old Chhotu Kushwaha, an RJD-supported panchayat mukhiya, was murdered. The facts indicate that the murder was executed by a criminal gang led by ex-Ranveer Sena leader Sushil Pandey (also an accused in the Laxmanpur Bathe massacre), who is known to be close to the JD(U) MLA from the Goh constituency, Ranvijay Sharma, who also has criminal antecedents and is behind bars.

What is even more notable is that the local police and administration are directly implicated in the murder. The young mukhiya had been raising his voice against the grab of gairmazarua land (common land meant for redistribution among landless) by powerful landowners, one of whom is related to the local BDO. The mukhiya was murdered when returning from a visit to the BDO's office, from where he had left, accompanied by a police constable.

The CPI(ML) had played a leading role in the resistance to the murder. A struggle front against the murder, of which the CPI(ML) is a leading constituent, is demanding a CBI enquiry into the murder, in which so many powerful people including the MLA, BDO and SHO, are implicated. Under the banner of the joint struggle front, a massive demonstration took place on 2 May at the Aurangabad DM's office. The police launched a brutal lathi-charge on the protestors, singling out former MLA Comrade Rajaram Singh for the severest assault. In the presence of the SP, Comrade Rajaram Singh was severely beaten, on the street as well as twice inside custody. 29 protestors including Comrade Rajaram Singh have been jailed.

The murders of Chhotu mukhiya and CPI(ML)'s Rohtas secretary Comrade Bhaiyaram Yadav by JD(U) backed feudal-criminal forces are part of a larger pattern. In Aurangabad itself, the Sushil Pandey gang and JD(U)-backed criminals are implicated in a series of murders of elected representatives and common people from the dalit-backward communities. The Nitish Government had already shown its true colours when it disbanded the Amir Das Commission, shelved the recommendations of the land reform commission, and allowed Ranveer Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh to get bail: and the acquittal of the accused in the Bathani Tola massacre followed as a natural consequence. Meanwhile, while Brahmeshwar Singh and his team of killers are free, Bodhan Sada and nine others from the musahar community (rechristened 'mahadalit' by Nitish) stand sentenced to death on the weakest of evidence, in the Amausi massacre case. Earlier, in the Forbesganj police firing, the Bihar police under Nitish Kumar had shown its class and communal hatred for the poor and minorities who dare to resist powerful and corrupt land grabbers.

In this backdrop, the CPI(ML) has called for a Bihar bandh on 10 May, demanding justice for Bathani Tola and Forbesganj, Bhaiyaram Yadav, Chhotu mukhiya, and Bodhan Sada, and protesting the repression against protestors including Comrade Rajaram Singh.

Popular resistance will continue to grow, upholding the urge for and commitment to justice and democracy – and resisting the regime of repression and injustice!

Heinous Assassination of Comrade Chandrashekharan: 

CPI(M) Has Questions to Answer

The brutal killing of Comrade TP Chandrashekharan, Secretary of the Left Coordination Committee (LCC) Kerala on the night of 4 May, has shocked democratic people in Kerala and all over the country. The circumstances of the murder raise disturbing questions about the CPI(M)'s complicity with the worst form of political violence.

Comrade TP Chandrashekharan had been a state-level SFI leader and former CPI(M) Area Secretary of Onchiyum, one of the historic birthplaces of the Left movement in Kerala. He left the CPI(M) in 2008, and in order to uphold and defend the fighting Left movement, joined other likeminded comrades in forming the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP). The Left Coordination Committee (LCC) was then formed along with RMP and other Left groups that had broken away from the CPI(M). The LCC Kerala is one of the founding constituents of the All India Left Coordination (AILC) that also includes the CPI(ML), CPM Punjab, Lal Nishan Party (Leninist) of Maharashtra, and Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM).

Comrade Chandrashekharan was hacked to death with sharp instruments, and his face so badly disfigured that only his body could be identified. Assailants threw bombs to keep people away from the spot. The horrific brutality of the killing was greeted with widespread outrage and condemnation in Kerala and outside.

There are many reasons why the Kerala CPI(M) is implicated in the murder. Foremost is the fact that ever since the formation of the RMP and LCC Kerala, their cadres have been at the receiving end of physical attacks by the CPI(M). And on February 19, not long before the CPI(M)'s Kozhikode Party Congress, a bike rally by LCC comrades preparing for the RMP's Onchiyam area conference was attacked by CPI(M) cadres, followed by attacks on LCC offices. On the same day, CPI(M) State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had given a speech at a CPI(M) public meeting, warning that 'heads would roll.' On February 21, hired goons attacked the home of one LCC comrade and severely injured him with a sword. Comrade Chandrashekharan being hacked to death by hired goons is clearly no isolated instance – it follows a series of physical assaults and threats against the RMP by the CPI(M), including attacks of a very similar nature – i.e. sword attacks by hired goons.

Among the large number of public figures who paid final homage to Comrade Chandrashekharan at Kozhikode and Vadakara, were the Chief Minister Oomen Chandy and CPI(M)'s veteran leader Comrade VS Achutanandan. The latter paid glowing tributes to Comrade Chandrashekharan, calling him a brave communist. Former CPI(M) MLA and SFI leader Simon Britto also paid tributes to the martyred comrade. But the official CPI(M) leadership in Kerala, while disowning and condemning the killing, exposed its disrespect for Comrade Chandrashekharan even in death. The CPI(M) State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said that VS' remarks hailing Comrade Chandrashekharan's communist character were his personal opinion, which the CPI(M) would not care to endorse!

An all-party Kerala bandh called by a range of Left organisations (excepting the CPI(M)), and also by the ruling UDF, to protest the murder received a warm response. The CPI(M) has claimed that the murder was orchestrated to falsely implicate the CPI(M) in the murder in order to benefit the UDF on the eve of the by-poll in the Neyyattinkara Assembly constituency that is due in early June. But this claim appears far-fetched, given the recent history of similar attacks by CPI(M) on the RMP cadres, and the official CPI(M) leadership's pointed distancing from any gesture of respect for the martyred comrade.

The CPI(M) is no stranger to the culture of political violence – and it is the CPI(M) which, above all, must answer for the heinous and unforgiveable murder of Comrade TP Chandrashekharan. The CPI(ML) demands a speedy enquiry to identify and punish not just the actual killers, but the political conspirators who hired them. Red Salute to Comrade TP Chandrashekharan!

Protests Follow Brutal Lathicharge 

and Arrest of Comrade Rajaram Singh

The RJD-supported mukhiya of Sonhattu panchayat in Haspura block of Aurangabad district in Bihar, Chhotu Kushwaha was shot dead on 29 March. He had been opposing the grab of gairmazarua land meant for the landless poor, and as a result of his efforts, the land was to be officially measured on 30 March. 38 decimals of gairmazarua land had been grabbed by Bindeshwari Sharma and Narayan Sharma, and the latter is related to the Haspura BDO. On 29 March, Chhotu mukhiya was called to Haspura by the BDO. On his return journey by bike, he was initially accompanied by a police constable, who however alighted from the bike on the way, and the murder happened soon after. The suspected killers are of the Sushil Pandey gang, close to the criminal JD(U) MLA Ranvijay Sharma who is in jail. Since the MLA, SP, SHO, and BDO are all implicated in the murder, we have demanded a CBI enquiry into the killing.

On 2nd April, a Haspura bandh was observed on CPI(ML)'s call. The Mukhiya Sangh supported the call, and the protest meeting on the day of the bandh was addressed by former CPI(ML) MLA Comrade Rajaram Singh, and former RJD MP Kanti Singh. A huge gathering attended a Sankalp Sabha on 5 April, at which the Chhotu Mukhiya Hatya Virodhi Sangharsh Morcha (struggle front against the murder) was formed, and it was announced that if Sushil Pandey was not arrested within a month, a massive protest march would be held on 2 May.

The DM's permission had been especially sought and taken for the 2 May procession. Yet, the police launched a brutal lathi-charge, attacking not just the protestors but even common bystanders. Rajaram Singh, who is the main leader in the struggle, was especially targeted for the most severe beating, which took place in the presence of the SP. Even inside the police station, Comrade Rajaram Singh was beaten twice. Chhotu mukhiya's wife was also beaten up and arrested, but later released. But 29 protestors, most of them CPI(ML) supporters as well as Comrade Rajaram Singh, have been jailed.

On 2 May itself, CPI(ML) protests against the brutal repression took place at Daudnagar, Arwal, Kurtha and Jehanabad. A state-wide protest day and an Aurangabad bandh called by CPI(ML) was observed on 4 May. On 5, 6 and 7 May, a 3-day dharna was held by the CPI(ML) at Patna. State Secretary Comrade Kunal visited Comrade Rajaram Singh in jail. A Bihar Bandh has been called by the party on 10 May, 'Against Rising Injustice, Crime and Police repression, for Justice and Democracy', highlighting the questions of the Bathani Tola verdict, murders of Comrade Bhaiyaram and Chhotu mukhiya, the death sentence for Bodhan Sada, and the Forbesganj firing.

'Save Land Rights' Rally 

Against Subversion of CNT Act in Jharkhand

In Jharkhand, the BJP Government has for long been making moves to dilute the CNT Act, one of the crucial and historic pieces of legislation to protect tribal land rights that was won by tribal struggles. The CNT Act and other land rights legislations are a hurdle in the path of corporate plunder of land, minerals, and forests.

But since diluting the CNT Act outright is not easy, the Government has tried to subvert the Act by underhand means. In Ramgarh district, the Bedia tribe is one of the main beneficiaries of the CNT Act. In order to deny the Bedias the benefits of the CNT, and therefore to free their land for corporate land grab, the Government recently changed the status of Bedias from Scheduled Tribes (ST) to Other Backward Classes (OBC). The move paves the way for land grab by the corporates, mainly the Jindal corporation, which has widespread mining and other interests in the region. Since then, the affected people have launched a struggle to protest the move. On 8 May, a Bhoomi Raksha Adhikar (Save Land Rights) Rally was held by CPI(ML) in Bhurkunda, in Patratu block of Ramgarh district, in which more than 3000 local people participated. The rally was addressed by CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI(ML) MLA Comrade Vinod Singh, as well as local CPI(ML) activists and struggle leaders Comrades Devaki Nandan Bedia and Neeta Bedia, and Party's State Committee member Chandranath Bhai Patel. District Secretary Mohan Dutta as well as Politburo member DP Buxi, and State Secretary Comrade Janardan were also present.

Condemn US Secretary of State's Meddling 

in India's Policies and Internal Politics

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to West Bengal is fraught with dangerous political implications for India's sovereignty. Clinton spoke of West Bengal's crucial place in the 'Silk Route' of economic and trade relations, and is said to have made forays on several policy matters including sharing of Teesta waters between Bangladesh and West Bengal.

Diplomatic relations are between countries, and the trend of representatives of foreign states dealing directly with State Governments to discuss policy matters, violates this basic parameter of international relations. In particular, the US Secretary of State's statement advising India against the oil pipeline with Iran encroaches on India's sovereignty and is highly objectionable. Statements attributed to her that apparently welcomed the change of political power in Bengal, treads on the internal political territory of the country, and are condemnable.

The Wikileaks cables had revealed the dealings of US representatives with the CPI(M)'s West Bengal Government and its Chief Minister, and the latter's friendly overtures to US capital, as well as imperialist political representatives. However, this is the first time a US Secretary of State has made a visit of this kind expressly to meet a Chief Minister. The latter has expressed gleeful 'pride' in getting an approving American pat on the back.

The US is clearly seeking to play politics in India, and exploit the new regime in West Bengal to further its economic and geopolitical interests in the region. These attempts, and the cosy complicity of the West Bengal Chief Minister, are highly condemnable and deserving of sharp protest.

May Day 2012

Some May Day events were reported in the previous issue. Here we carry the rest.

DELHI: Thousands of workers participated in a joint May Day rally from Ramlila Maidan to Chandni Chowk in the evening, where it culminated in a meeting. Comrade Santosh Rai addressed the massive meeting on behalf of the AICCTU. The rally was led by AICCTU, AITUC, CITU, HMS, AIUTUC, TUCC, UTUC, Workers' Unity Committee apart from federations from Railway, Bank and Insurance. AICCTU-affiliated union in Lala Ram Swaroop TB Hospital observed May Day where Sangwari rendered revolutionary songs and Comrades Ram Kishan and Kavita addressed a meeting. The Union Office was also inaugurated. A rally was held in Wazirpur led by Comrade Mathura Paswan. MTNL Employees Unity Union also observed May Day.

CHHATTISGARH: Rally and meeting was held at Ghadi Chowk and Supela in Bhilai. A meeting was held at Maroda Gate of Bhilai Steel Plant in the evening. A rally was held at Rajnandgaon that started from Railway Station and culminated in a meeting at Imam Chowk. May Day was also observed at Bilaspur and Raipur.

PUDUCHERRY: Party and AICCTU flags were hoisted in almost all Party branches and wherever we have trade union work. At CPI(ML) State Office in Puducherry Comrade S Balasubramanian, State Secretary, hoisted the Flag. All State Committee members (SCMs) were present. All India Central Council of Trade Union' (AICCTU's) Flag was hoisted by Comrade S Motilal, State Secretary of AICCTU.

In the evening AICCTU organised a special May Day Convention at Puducherry. The convention was on "The Issues and Demands of Interstate Migrant Workers in Puducherry". Speakers in the convention were Comrades S. Balasubramanian, Puducherry's Party State Secretary and Comrade Hirapaswan, a CPI(ML) leader from Bihar among others.

The following resolutions were passed by the convention: (1) immediate notification of Inter-State Migrant Workers' Act 1979 (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) and its rules, (2) Abolition of Contract labour system in Puducherry through government's notification, (3) All labour welfare laws should be extended strictly to all interstate migrant workers in Puducherry UT, (4) Minimum Floor Level wages should be Rs. 11,000/- irrespective of trade or industry; among some other resolutions.

A large number of interstate migrant workers and their spouses were present in the convention along with local workers. An interactive session was also held during the convention. Many migrant workers including women spoke about their challenging existence and difficulties at workplaces.

KARNATAKA: May Day rallies and hoisting flags visibly marked the growth of AICCTU in each passing year. We began with a single union in readymix concrete industry in Bangalore and now spread across various sections of workers and various districts of Karnataka. May Day programmes were held in Bangalore, Koppal, Davanagere, parts of Bellary and Mysore. New expansion this year is Mangalore.

In Bangalore alone, we hoisted flags at more than 17 places spread across the length and breadth of the city. Bangalore unit of AICCTU organised a colourful and impressive rally on May Day. Workers of corporate and MNCs participated in the rally in good numbers. High pitched slogans against the UPA government at the centre and the BJP government at the state made a difference in a scenario of apolitical or limited political slogans raised by other trade unions.

CPI(ML) State Secretary Comrade Ramappa called upon the workers to join political mainstream to challenge the powers that be. He called upon workers to join the political struggle to unseat the anti-worker BJP from state power. Comrade Shankar, VP of AICCTU reemphasised the need to launch major struggles once again demanding 8-hour workday and abolition of contract labour system. He called upon workers to join the struggle beyond four walls of the factories.

In Gangavati of Koppal district, AICCTU organised an impressive rally led by Comrade Bharadwaj, State President of AICCTU. The rally focussed on the issue of keeping attendance registers and minimum wages to rice mill workers. The rallyists also resolved to carry forward the struggle until the demands are fulfilled. District administration and labour departments were given an ultimatum of 15 May to ensure attendance registers in all rice mills. Various cross sections of workers including tractor and taxi drivers, auto technicians, brick kiln and construction workers, vendors and domestic workers participated in the rally. AICCTU workers of Mangalore marched on the streets after hoisting their first May Day flag.

TAMILNADU: In Chennai, a total of 700 workers and cadres participated in various May Day programmes. In Ambattur area comrades hoisted flags at gates of 15 different factories and 15 residential areas where Party or TU branches exist. CPI(ML) Flags were hoisted at 10 centres. In Tiruvellore district, All India Agricultural Labourers' Association (AIALA) flag hoisted at 6 places and AICCTU flag hoisted at 15 centres.

In Kanjipuram, flag hoisting at 10 places, mostly construction workers' localities. At many places veteran comrades and especially women comrades hoisted the flag. In the evening a public meeting was held that was addressed by Comrade Janakiraman, State GS of AIALA and Comrade Palanivel, State Secretary of AICCTU among others. A good number of migrant workers participated in the meeting.

In Tanjore, union flags hoisted at 16 centres where union branches are functioning. In Dindigul, AICCTU flag hoisted at 6 places. In Tiruchi, contract workers of Ordnance Factory took out a rally and hoisted AICCTU flag led by Comrade Desikan, State Secretary. In Karur, AICCTU flag was hoisted at Velayudhampalayam, residential area of tailors working for export garments. In Pudukottai district, AIALA flags were hoisted at 27 centres by 3 teams of Party and AIALA cadres. In Tirunelveli, CPI(ML) and AICCTU flags were hoisted at 22 places. A cycle rally of 50 cadres criss-crossed Tirunelveli town, Pettai and Mukkodal covering the 22 centres which includes beedi union branches, load-workers union and auto drivers union.

In Salem, hundreds of workers took part at various centres of AICCTU flag hoisting. Co-optex employees union observed May Day. In Coimbatore more than 100 cadres drove motor bikes observing May Day by hoisting flags at 20 centres. In Namakkal district flag hoisting and union boards were put up at 10 centres. In Villupuram district, AIALA flags were hoisted at 5 places. In Dindivanam, Load-workers working in civil supplies corporation observed May Day by hoisting their union flag. Newly formed construction labour union also hoisted their flag. In Dharmapuri, a convention was organized by State Electricity Board Union and AICCTU state office bearers Comrade Jawahar and Chandramohan addressed the gathering. More than 100 employees participated.

ODISHA: May Day was celebrated in Bhubaneswar, Rayagada, Puri, Kendrapara, Rourkela, Khurdha, Gajapati. The East-coast Railway Sweepers' Union, Motorboat Workers Union, Construction Workers Union, Rickshaw-Cooli Workers Union, Garage Workers Union and Steel Workers Union among others participated in different places.

JHARKHAND: 400 construction workers and non-gazetted employees participated in the May Day march in Ranchi. Flags were hoisted and sankalp sabhas held at different places in Dhanbad's coal-belt. Flag hoisting and march held at Chas and Bokaro. Public meeting was held in evening and street-corner meetings were held on two consecutive days prior to May Day. Marches were held in Bermo and Chandankiyari.

A large number of construction workers participated in the march and public meeting at Ramgarh town. Unorganised workers participated in a meeting at Argadda in Ramgarh district.  Flag hoisted at Ara and Giddi 'C' collieries and a joint seminar organised at Giddi by AICCTU, CPI and MCC. Workers from Banjhedih power plant in Koderma held a dharna and later marched to Jhanda Chowk where they held a meeting. March culminating in a meeting took place in Devghar, Naunihaat and Shikaripada in Dumka district, at Bagodar in Giridih district, and Bengabad. May Day was also observed at Gawan, Rajdhanwar, Jamshedpur and Jamtada.

BIHAR: Flag hoisting and marches, rallies were observed on May Day throughout the State. Flag was hoisted at Nalanda Biscuit Factory, at the gates of Patna Dairy and Bankosh Company in Patliputra Industrial Area, hundreds of AICCTU cadres assembled at the office in the afternoon for hoisting the flag. Here, a meeting was held. From the State office of AICCTU a rally was taken out that marched through Industries Association and merged with joint Central Trade Union rallies. The rally was addressed by Comrade RN Thakur, State GS of AICCTU, on behalf of the AICCTU.

A large number of construction workers marched in Jehanabad and two places in Bhojpur where meetings were also held. In Gaya, the May Day celebration began very early at 4 a.m. and comrades covered 35 km with red flags on 25 motorbikes. Meeting was held at Govt. Press. Construction workers hoisted flag and held a meeting in Manpur. May Day was also observed in Bhagalpur with more than 500 workers participation, and AICCTU march throughout the town, Vaishali, Leheriaserai, Darbhanga, Nalanda, Bihar Sharif and Saran (Chhapra).

 

 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 18 / 2012

ML UPDATE 18 / 2012

26 Apr 2012

 

Stand by Bathani Tola in the Battle for a New and Just Bihar

Nearly 16 years ago Bathani Tola had shocked and shamed the nation as yet another site of a gory massacre in Bihar. An obscure sleepy hamlet in Sahar block of Bhojpur district in Bihar, Bathani Tola experienced a brutal feudal assault on a fateful July afternoon in 1996. As many as 21 lives, including 11 women, seven children and two infants were killed with a kind of barbarity that was to be seen on a much bigger scale six years later in Gujarat. Bathani Tola was indeed a precursor to the 2002 Gujarat genocide. With Bathani Tola, the country woke up to the sordid reality of the Ranveer Sena, an upper caste feudal private army massacring the oppressed rural poor with the avowed aim of exterminating the CPI(ML) and the radical peasant movement.

Sixteen years later, Bathani Tola is back in the news. The oppressed poor of this obscure village, who have been waiting for justice for years together, have experienced yet another massacre. This time round, it is a judicial massacre perpetrated by the High Court of Bihar which has overturned the verdict of the lower court and acquitted one and all who were convicted for their heinous role in executing this barbaric massacre. While acquitting the guilty, the High Court has apologised to some of the accused even as it has termed the witnesses liars spinning tales. Nothing could perhaps demonstrate the farcical nature of the judicial system than the failure or refusal of the system to mete out any punishment to anybody for a massacre of 21 persons that had taken place not in the darkness of night but in broad daylight.

When Bathani Tola happened Bihar was being ruled by Laloo Prasad with the slogan of social justice. The government banned the Ranveer Sena but the ban was never enforced and the Sena went on massacring people at will. Laxmanpur Bathe, Shankarbigha, Narayanpur, Miyanpur – the list of massacres got longer even as Laloo Prasad himself told his audience in a public meeting that he was ready to team up with the devil to finish the CPI(ML) off. On one level Laloo Prasad waxed eloquent against the BJP, but in Bihar his own government continued to connive with the most reactionary organ of feudal-communal violence. Sixteen years later Bihar today is ruled by Nitish Kumar with the backing of an increasingly aggressive BJP. The slogan of social justice has given way to the rhetoric of development with justice. But for the predominantly dalit, and as in the case of Bathani Tola also Muslim, victims of feudal violence, justice clearly remains as elusive as ever.

What has happened to the Bathani Tola victims is no judicial accident. This has rather been the norm in Bihar and if this exposes for the umpteenth time the caste-class bias of the judiciary we must remember this bias is reinforced by the government of the day. This was true of Congress-ruled Bihar when upper caste politicians used to dominate in the government, and it has remained true all through the last two decades when Laloo Prasad and Nitish Kumar have been in the helm with slogans of social justice or good governance. We must remember that the first thing that Nitish Kumar did on assuming power was to abandon the Amir Das Commission set up in the wake of the Laxmanpur Bathe massacre to probe the political links of the Ranveer Sena. His government also made sure that Brahmeshwar Singh, the infamous supremo of the Ranveer Sena, came out on bail to vitiate the trial of various massacres cases. And Sunil Pandey, another notorious lynchpin of the Sena had already been acquitted and today he is the JD(U) MLA from the post-delimitation Tarari constituency that Bathani Tola comes under.

The abandoning of the Amir Das commission and the subsequent dumping of the Land Reform Commission reports have been two key steps of the Nitish Kumar dispensation that clearly reveal the pro-feudal character of the regime. The verdict delivered by the High Court is just a natural consequence. Equally 'natural' in Nitish Kumar's Bihar is the conviction of people challenging the feudal order. Rupam Pathak, a teacher who had been fed up with being subjected to continuous sexual harassment by a BJP MLA has been issued life sentence and Bodhan Sada and his comrades, who had been fighting for the land rights and dignity of the landless rural poor of the Musahar community, christened Mahadalit by the Nitish government to win the community's votes, have been handed out death sentences.

Even as Bathani Tola grapples with this judicial massacre, ruling class politicians continue to play their political cards. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram wonders why nobody is speaking out in favour of the Bathani Tola victims, Bihar government says it would now approach the Supreme Court for justice! While challenging the feudal bias on every front and level, the battle for justice for the Bathani Tola victims will have to rebuff this pretentious politics of crocodile tears. The renewed massacre and shame of Bathani Tola has revealed like nothing else what continues to ail and retard Bihar. For everybody aspiring for a better future for Bihar in the centenary of its administrative birth, the message is loud and clear. Bihar can only move forward by effecting a decisive rupture with the still well entrenched feudal forces and mindset, and the continuing politics of appeasement of and alliance with feudal forces is the biggest betrayal to the cause of both justice and development for Bihar. Let us stand by Bathani Tola in this battle for a new and just Bihar.

 

Convention Demands for Victims of Bathani Tola Massacre

 A Convention was held in the national capital on 'Bathani Tola Acquittal: Political Complicity and Issues of Justice in Feudal and Communal Massacres', on 23 April in the evening, at the Gandhi Peace Foundation. The Convention was organized by the CPI(ML) in the backdrop of the Bihar HC verdict acquitting all the accused in the Bathani Tola massacre.  

Introducing the issue, Kavita Krishnan, Central Committee member of the CPI(ML) said that the Bihar HC verdict had serious implications for the struggle for justice, not only in the Bathani Tola case but for all victims of feudal-communal massacres in Bihar and the rest of the country. The verdict disbelieves the evidence of eyewitnesses, by suggesting that had they really been present, they too would have been killed by the perpetrators. The verdict therefore implies that only the dead can be accepted as truthful witnesses to a massacre! If we declare it impossible for there to be any survivors and eyewitnesses to a massacre, then how can we ever convict any perpetrators of a massacre? 

Prof. Anand Chakravarty spoke about the deep chasm between the rule of law and 'justice'. He said that 'justice' should be understood not just in a judicial sense but in the wider sense of economic, social, and political justice. Citing instances of judicial bias against the dalit and adivasi agrarian labourers, he quoted the Tamil Nadu High Court verdict in the Kilvenmani massacre of 1969, which had found it 'astonishing' and 'difficult to believe' that 'rich men, owning vast extents of land', one of whom even 'possessed a car', could be guilty of burning alive 42 dalits! In the context of the Rupaspur (Purnea) massacre of 14 adivasi sharecroppers in 1971, he quoted the words of a well-known advocate who had justified the massacre, "It is because of me (i.e the landlord) that he had the land, it is because of me that he had a livelihood ... Now he is violating that relationship by refusing to share the crop; this is a breach of trust which cannot be tolerated." Prof. Chakravarty spoke of the principal social contradictions of Bihar, in the backdrop of which the Ranveer Sena had conducted more than 23 massacres in Bihar in the 1990s. The apparent reason for the massacres lay in contestations over land, wages and social dignity, he said, and the mobilizations of the radical Left groups on the latter issues, he stressed, were largely demanding rights within the Constitutional framework. The real reason for the massacres, he felt, was that the assertion of the underclass was viewed as an act of defiance against the hierarchical class and caste order. He held that the Bihar Government today, for all its rhetoric, is actually deeply inimical to the economic, social and political entitlements of the oppressed classes, and that therefore the prospects of justice for the latter are quite weak.

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan spoke about the entrenched upper class and caste biases in the judiciary, and about how difficult it is for the poor and oppressed to approach the Courts for justice, or even to prove their innocence when they are falsely framed for some crime by the state machinery.   

Prof. Nandini Sundar of Delhi University said that we should be hopeful and confident that the people of Bathani Tola would get justice – not so much because one has faith in the judiciary, but because one has faith in the commitment of the people and the party towards the struggle for justice. She said that the verdict seems to blame the survivors and witnesses for the weaknesses of the police investigators and prosecutors. She questioned the underlying assumption that the Bathani Tola massacre was a result of group rivalries (i.e between CPI(ML) and the Ranveer Sena), and that the survivors' political affiliation made them 'unreliable witnesses.' She said that P Chidambaram was being opportunist when he asked why no one demanded justice for the Bathani Tola victims; since he himself was in the habit of branding those who raised such matters as 'Maoist sympathizers.'

Jaya Mehta, economist and activist, spoke of her visit along with a team, to Amausi in Khagaria district of Bihar, which was the site of a massacre in 2009. She pointed out that in stark contrast to Bathani Tola where the Ara verdict had come out in 14 years later, a verdict sentencing 10 musahars ('mahadalits') including Comrade Bodhan Sada to death had come out within four years. She held that Amausi verdict to be deeply unjust and out of sync with the facts on the ground as emerged from the team's preliminary enquiry. Noting the Bihar Government's back-tracking on the question of land reform, she stressed the need for a united Left movement on the question of land reform and land rights to the oppressed.    

Comrade Ramji Rai, politburo member of the CPI(ML), said that 16 years ago, Ranveer Sena committed the massacre in Bathani Tola, but now, what we are witnessing is a judicial massacre of Bathani Tola. And the foundations of this massacre of justice, he said, were laid long ago: when the Nitish Kumar Government came to power and disbanded the Amir Das Commission that been set up to enquire into the political patrons of the Ranveer Sena.

He reminded that the Bathani Tola massacre was a virulent feudal-communal backlash against the bid at political and social equality by the poor and oppressed of Bhojpur. The CPI(ML) had won two Assembly seats at Sahar and Sandesh in 1995 – and this was the immediate backdrop in which the Ranveer Sena came into being. He recalled speaking to Sheetal Choudhury from Ara, who had said that Bhojpur had witnessed a 'little revolution' (chhoti moti kranti) that had forced the feudal forces to accept the dalit and landless oppressed as political and social equals. The massacre was intended to punish this assertion and reestablish the old order.   

He pointed out the strong ideological and political linkages between the Ranveer Sena and the Sangh Parivar, and the communal overtones of the feudal massacre at Bathani Tola, in which Muslim families had been singled out for the most barbaric crimes. There was documentary evidence, he said, that the Ranveer Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh had called to 'throw out the red flag from India's soil.' Reminiscent of the Bajrang Dal, Brahmeshwar had called for liquidation of the 'Naxalites,' saying that when Hanuman burnt Lanka, he had not spared women and children. Brahmeshwar Singh, mirroring the nationalist posturing of the Sangh Parivar, had called his organization the 'nationalist' (rashtravadi) peasant organization. Nitish's predecessor Laloo Prasad, in spite of his anti-communal posturing, had never acted against the Ranveer Sena. Brahmeshwar Singh, the Ranveer Sena chief, had never been named in any of the FIRs of massacres. And the Nitish Government had failed even to oppose the bail plea of Brahmeshwar Singh, allowing him to walk free!       

Comrade Ramji Rai called for a countrywide declaration of rejection of and struggle against the 'judicial massacre' represented by the Bihar HC verdict on Bathani Tola. 

The Convention ended with recitation of poems by the people's poet and balladeer Vidrohi.

 

Day-long Sit-In at Patna Against Bathani Tola Acquittal

 The CPI(ML) held a day-long sit-in at Kargil Chowk, Patna, against the acquittal of all accused in the Bathani Tola massacre case. CPI(ML) CC member KD Yadav presided over the dharna, which was conducted by party State Committee member Comrade Sudama Prasad. CPI(ML) activists from Ara, Jehanabad, Arwal, Nalanda, and Patna, as well as Bathani Tola massacre survivor Nayeemuddin, who lost six family members in the carnage, participated in the sit-in. Leaders of several Left-democratic parties, and progressive intellectuals participated in the sit-in and condemned the Bihar HC verdict.

The sit-in was addressed by CPI(ML) Bihar State Secretary Kunal, CPI State Secretariat member Chakradhar Singh, CPI(M) State Secretary Vijaykant Thakur, Arun Singh of SUCI (C), Forward Bloc State Secretary Vakeel Thakur and State Executive member Shri Narayan Singh, CITU leader Arun Mishra, CPI(M) State Secretariat members Sarandhar Paswan and Rajkumar Choudhury, Anoop Ram of the Bihar State Non-Gazetted Employees Association, AITUC leader Gaznafar Nawab, national secretary of Shoshit Samaj Dal Dr. Sant Singh, as well as CPI(ML) CC member Rameshwar Prasad, AIALA GS Dhirendra Jha, AIPWA State President Saroj Choubey and State Secretary Shashi yadav, AIKM leader Arun Singh, Chandradeep Singh, CPI(ML)'s Arwal district secretary Mahanand, Umesh Singh, Gopal Ravidas, Ramnarayan Singh, CPI(ML)'s Nalanda

district secretary Surendra Ram, and Jehanabad district secretary Sriniwas Sharma, AICCTU leader Ranvijay Kumar, Ward Councillor Tota Choudhury, AISA State President Raju Yadav, RYA State Secretary Naveen Kumar, Naseem Ansari, Mo. Shamim and other activists. Social activist Mohd. Ghalib also participated in the sit-in.

The participants in the sit-in accused Nitish Kumar's Government of shielding the perpetrators of feudal massacres in Bihar. They pointed out that in this regime, the Amir Das Commission had been disbanded, the notorious Butcher of Bathani and Bathe, and Brahmeshwar 'mukhiya' released from jail, and that these events had set the stage for the acquittal of the perpetrators of the Bathani Tola massacre. Bathani Tola massacre survivor Nayeemuddin said he was stunned by the acquittal, and would appeal in the Supreme Court against it.

The sit-in resolved to take forward the struggle for justice for the victims and survivors of the Bathani Tola massacre and other feudal-communal massacres committed by the Ranveer Sena.      

   

Violence on Dalits in Dadri

Dalits in Chamravli Ramgarh village of Dadri (Distt. Gautambuddh Nagar) in UP, not far from the national capital, were brutally assaulted by the dominant sections, in order to punish them for refusing to cooperate with attempts to alienate dalits from their rightful land and sell to real estate lobbies and builders.

On March 14, the Gram Pradhan of Ramgarh, Kuldeep Bhati and his goons attacked the dalit settlement of the village, entering homes and beating up men, women, and elderly alike with sticks and iron rods. Several were injured, and three of those severely injured by sharp weapons had to be hospitalised in intensive care. More than 10 men and women had broken limbs. A few narrowly escaped bullets. A large number of women were badly injured. The police, when it finally arrived on the scene, did nothing to arrest the assailants who brazenly remained at the spot. More than a month after the incident, no one has yet been arrested for this criminal assault in broad daylight. The dalit youth are being threatened, the perpetrators roam free, and the entire dalit community lives in fear.       

At the bottom of this attack is piece of gram panchayat land of about 5 bighas, which is part of the panchayati land reserved for the use of dalits, which Gram Pradhan Kuldeep Bhati has illegally grabbed by force. The dalit homes which for years have been on this land, have been surrounded by a 7 foot-high wall. Virtually imprisoned, they have to scale that wall every time they want to go out of their homes. Every day, every time.

Ever since a written complaint about this encirclement and attempted land grab was submitted to the SDM on 24 January, the offensive on the dalit families, especially on youth, has intensified. There have been attempts on the life of Brahm Jatav, the youth who made the complaint.

Quite a while ago, many Valmiki (dalit) families have already been beaten up and forced to leave the village, and their land has been occupied by the dominant sections. In neighbouring Bironda village, too, there have been attacks on dalilts by the dominant sections, over land.  The dalits and the poor are the softest target of the drive by corporate houses like JP and Ansals to corner land for huge apartment complexes, malls, elite cities, and so on. The spreading real estate bazaar has, on the ground, created a dangerous nexus of feudal criminals, local authorities, elected representatives, and land mafia.In the entire Gautam Buddha Nagar district, this nexus is conspiring to encircle dalits and forcibly make them give up their rightfully allotted land.  And all this is well known to the authorities, and both in the earlier Mayawati regime and now in the SP regime, the nexus is actually being encouraged to alienate dalits from their land by hook or crook.

CPI(ML)'s Noida city activist Comrade Chandrabhan Singh got to know of the incident and made contact with the affected people. A CPI(ML) fact-finding team CPI(ML)'s Gautam Buddh Nagar In-charge Comrade Shyam Kishore; Noida City CPI(ML) leaders Comrades Chandrabhan Singh and Shivji Singh; AISA National President Sandeep Singh, JNUSU General Secretary Ravi Prakash, RYA leader Aslam Khan; and AISA activists Anubhuti, Anmol and Harsh visited the village on 27 March 2012. On 29 March, the villagers under the banner of CPI(ML) demonstrated at the DM's office, and a delegation including Brahm Jatav, some of the injured women, and CPI(ML) leaders, met the DM, who assured them that action would be taken. But instead of arresting the perpetrators, the latter have been let off on bail one by one on some pretext or the other.

The village youth have formed a unit of the Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA), and have called for a protest meeting in the Ramgarh village itself on 25 April.   

All over UP, there have been several instances of attacks on Dalits after the SP victory. In the Noida-NCR region, however, the main factor behind the attacks and harassment of Dalits is the agenda of forcing Dalits to vacate their rightful land which will then be sold by dominant sections to real estate builders – and this agenda carries over from the previous regime to the new one.

 

Party Foundation Day

The 43rd Party Foundation Day of CPI(ML) was observed by party members and units all over the country on April 22. Saluting the legacy of Comrade Lenin on his birth anniversary, and the legacy of the Naxalbari movement, party members hoisted the party flag, held meetings at district and state levels in all states, and adopted the party's call resolving to 'Intensify the Battle against Corruption and Corporate Offensive and Launch all-out Preparations for the Party's 9thCongress'.

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.