ML Update 29 / 2012

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol.  15            No. 29                                                                    10 - 16 JUL 2012

Massacre of Adivasis in Bastar:

Operation Green Hunt Must Be Scrapped And

Chidambaram Must Resign 

On June 28 night, 17 people of adivasi villages of Bastar (Chhattisgarh) were killed in firing by CRPF, COBRA, and local police teams.  

This horrific incident, and the State's response to it, has served to rip the mask off 'Operation Green Hunt', and expose it irrevocably as an open war on the people. Nothing exposes the 'Green Hunt' lie more than the changing official versions of the incident. 

The day after the massacre, the Chhattisgarh Government hailed it as the 'biggest encounter of Naxals', claiming that '17 Naxals' had been killed. The Home Minister P Chidambaram too held a press conference to claim that the 'encounter' was a major 'success' in the operation against Maoists. The official version was that the security forces were heading for a different spot, following intelligence reports of a major Maoist meeting, when they were fired upon en route, and retaliated, resulting in the deaths.    

Some journalists reported the villagers' version – that the security forces fired unprovoked on a village meeting, and that all those killed were villagers, including many children. This version was also corroborated by the Chhattisgarh's Congress leaders, and the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, KC Deo. The Chhattisgarh Government declared this to be a lie, and its leaders were seen on TV channels listing the names of the '17 Naxalites' who had been killed, and denying the presence of any villagers or children among the dead.        

 Subsequently, incontrovertible evidence emerged that 7 of those killed were children and teenagers. Then, the Chhattisgarh Government changed its tune, and said that the Maoists had used villagers and children as a 'human shield.' P Chidambaram had previously referred to one of the victims, 'Rahul' as an 'important Naxal'; it emerged that 'Rahul' was actually a 15-year-old schoolboy, who used to reside in the Government hostel near the CRPF camp, and was bright at mathematics. Chidambaram now said he was 'sorry' if any innocent citizens were killed.

However, both Chhattisgarh Government and the Home Ministry continued to claim that most of those killed were 'wanted Naxals'. It is clear from the investigative reports of journalists and civil liberties' groups, that there were no Maoist leaders amongst those killed. There were a few who had flimsy cases against them, of 'firing on police parties', and one who had escaped jail during the Dantewada jail break. But all these had been living in the village with their families openly, and their behavior in no way suggested they had anything to hide.           

The Chhattisgarh Government and Home Ministry have given ever-changing versions of the number of 'Naxals' killed in the 'encounter' – ranging from '17' to 'five or six' to 'seven' to 'two'. 

Finally, hard-pressed to prove any 'Nexal' records of those killed, the Chhattisgarh CM has declared that even those without criminal records cannot be said to be 'innocent' villagers. He argues that ordinary villagers, with neither Maoist uniforms nor weapons nor criminal records were 'Jan Militia' recruited by the Maoists. In other words, the 'Jan Militia' theory allows the State to brand all the 'jan' (people) as Maoists – without any proof whatsoever!    

While the official versions, increasingly desperate to cover up the gory massacre, have shifted and changed and contradicted each other daily, the villagers' story has remained constant. They were holding a meeting related to their village sowing festival, when the security forces attacked. The firing went on for hours, killing unarmed and innocent villagers, including children. Several teenage girls were molested and beaten. And one young man who escaped the firing, was shot in the back the next morning as he tried to run towards the safety of his house – and when he did not die from the bullets, he was beaten to death with bricks. 

These villagers had been forced to flee in 2005 when the Salwa Judum evacuated the villages. Only recently, they had returned and begun to pick up the threads of their life. The massacre has again proved that 'Operation Green Hunt' is a war on these adivasis for the evacuation of land in order to facilitate corporate loot.

In spite of the fact that the official versions have been mutually contradictory and changing according to convenience, and the villagers' version has been consistent, the State and Central Governments are shameless in their refusal to order a convincing and impartial judicial probe. The State Government has ordered a judicial probe by a sitting judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court. The experience of the Binayak Sen trial, however, is a reminder that a probe within Chhattisgarh carries a high likelihood of bias.

A high-level judicial probe, conducted by judges based outside of Chhattisgarh, is a mandatory first step in the direction of establishing the truth about this massacre. And the Home Minister responsible for shamelessly defending this heinous massacre of adivasis, and even branding a child as a 'wanted Naxal' in a willful attempt to silence questions about the encounter, must resign. And the infamous Green Hunt operation, which is a war on adivasis, must be scrapped without delay.      

Fact-finding on the Kottaguda massacre
28 June 2012

(A three member team, consisting of JP Rao, Kopa Kunjam and Prof. Nandini Sundar of Delhi University visited Kottaguda, Sarkeguda and Lingagiri villages of Bastar on 3rd and 4th July 2012. We carry excerpts from their findings as well as a statement by villagers.)

The three villages merge into each other and have been carved up in an arbitrary fashion between different panchayats (Korsaguda and Chipurbhatti panchayats). The field where the firing took place is an open area surrounded by houses, some of which are in Kottaguda and some of which fall in Rajpenta. The villagers had returned only in 2009 after Salwa Judum had burnt their village in 2005, and are still struggling to put their cattle together and rebuild all houses properly. The meeting on the 28th night was held to discuss how to help those without cattle and single women headed households, and also to plan the holding of the bija pondum (seed sowing festival). The three villages share a common earth shrine – which means they celebrate all their festivals together. 

The villagers say that there were no Maoists present, and that the police were most likely injured in cross-firing. The absence of any Maoist leaders is supported by the fact that had there been a squad in the village, there would have been sentries posted in the direction of Basaguda thana.

Whatever the CRPF's claims, what is indisputable is that they knew they were in the middle of a village and yet did not use night flares or observe even the most basic precautions when firing. In all 17 persons have been killed, of which 7 are minors; 9 have been injured, and at least 5 women have been beaten/assaulted. One cow has died and one bull has been injured, and there are bullet marks on the houses.  Two people were killed by Salwa Judum and security forces in 2005, and almost all the houses in all three villages were burnt.

What is shocking is not just the massacre itself but the cover up that followed with the CRPF and Home Minister claiming that they had shot top Naxal leaders, when they could clearly see that they had killed villagers including small children, since 16 of the bodies were sent back that night. The CRPF version also does not explain why one person was killed in the morning.

We met Mr. Kuruvanshi, the SDM appointed to investigate the incident. He seemed amused at our visit, and asked why the villagers were meeting at night. When asked, he also said he had no plans to visit the village, and if the villagers wished, they could come and see him. Subsequently, the villagers have been summoned to his office on the 9th of July.  

We are enclosing a statement signed by family members of each of the deceased, three of the girls beaten/molested and other witnesses from the village.

JP Rao, Kopa Kunjam,
Nandini Sundar

4th July 2012

Village Kottaguda, Thana Basaguda, Zilla Bijapur

Statement by families of victims

On 28th June 2012, we were having a meeting in Kottaguda of three villages – Rajpenta, Kottaguda and Sarkeguda – to discuss the upcoming seed sowing festival and also how to help those families without cattle and those households headed by widows. Since we were busy ploughing and repairing our houses during the day, we decided to have the meeting in the evening. We three villages share a common earth shrine.

The meeting started around 8 pm. Around 9-10 pm, the CRPF, SPOs and police came and surrounded us from all sides and started firing without warning. It lasted one hour. Sixteen people were shot and killed at night and also axed. Their bodies were taken away at night. The force camped in the grounds all night. Three girls who were taking shelter in a house at the edge of the meeting ground were pulled out, their hair pulled, beaten and assaulted and threatened with rape. 5 injured persons were also taken away at night. Madkam Shanti and Kaka Sarika were also beaten.

In the morning, Irpa Munna s/o Raju, age 27 approximately was killed when he came out of his house. When he did not fully die he was bludgeoned to death with bricks. His body was taken away in the morning along with two more injured.

Irpa Dinesh s/o Raju who has four small children was shown as a Naxalite commander, Somlu, from Korsaguda. His body was not returned to the village.

They also stole Rs. 2000 from Madkam Nagesh's house, Rs. 5000 from Irpa Raju's house and Rs. 30,000 from Irpa Narayan's house. They also took Madkam Dilip's mobile and Apka Meetu's cycle.

In the morning we all villagers went to the Basaguda thana but we were not allowed in; nor did any police come out. They had taken the injured and also arrested some 25 others. The bodies, except for Irpa Dinesh's, were returned on 29th evening and we cremated them the next day. Dinesh's body is buried in the PS.

Our villages have suffered terribly under Salwa Judum. All 30 houses were burnt in Kottaguda in 2005, 10 out of 12 houses were burnt in Rajpenta, and 27 out of 30 houses were burnt in Sarkeguda. Two people were killed by Salwa Judum and police. Korsa Bhima s/o Korsa Dora, age 15 was taken from Sarkeguda village in 2005 and killed in the thana. Madkam Balla, s/o Dula, age 35, was killed in Basaguda thana when he had gone to buy nails for house building. There has been no FIR and no compensation. We all ran away to Andhra Pradesh and returned in 2009.

We were just getting back to normal life when the CRPF attacked us again.

AISA Welcomes
SFI-JNU's Decision to Oppose CPI(M) Stands on Pranab, TPC, Singur-Nandigram 

The JNU unit of the Student's Federation of India (SFI) decided at a general body meeting held on the night of July 5th, to oppose CPI(M)'s support for UPA's Finance Minister in the upcoming presidential polls. The resolution passed on July 5 by SFI's JNU unit states that CPI(M)'s position is "unconvincing" and "not in the best interests of the left and democratic movement" (see http://sfijnuweb.wordpress.com/).

In a subsequent leaflet, the SFI-JNU also distanced itself from the stances of the CPI(M) on the murder of comrade TP Chandrasekharan, and also land acquisition and repression at Singur-Nandigram.

AISA welcomed the stand taken by the SFI-JNU. Earlier, AISA had also welcomed the resignation of the former SFI leader Prasenjit Bose from the CPI(M). AISA pointed out that "Left and democratic student opinion has time and again debated and overwhelmingly rejected SFI's support of CPI(M)'s indefensible decisions: whether it is the forcible land acquisition and state repression in Singur and Nandigram, CPI(M)'s support for UPA's anti-people legislations like the SEZ Act, or the CPI(M)'s dilly-dallying on the issue of the Indo-US nuke deal, or CPI(M)'s support for the draconian AFSPA. The SFI's JNU unit's refusal to defend CPI(M)'s support for Pranab Mukherjee, which is a welcome departure from its norm, is to be seen in this light."

AISA also observed, "Going by the CPI(M)'s track record of elimination of Comrade TP Chandrasekharan, expulsion of Prasenjit Bose, restraining of Abdur Rezzak Mollah from joining the March to Singur recently, and rejection and ridicule of VS Achuthanandan's solidarity with TP Chandrasekharan's party and family, and ignoring of the constructive criticism of intellectuals like Prabhat Patnaik and Ashok Mitra, it is clear that the CPI(M) has, time and again, responded with contempt for any inner-party struggle against right deviation. It remains to be seen whether the SFI as an all-India organisation, and the CPI(M) party, take heed of this realisation and ferment in its unit in a leading Left campus of this country."

Subsequently, the SFI All India leadership dissolved the SFI JNU Unit, and expelled four SFI leaders who are from JNU, from primary membership of SFI. The SFI-JNU have said that they will continue to function as SFI-JNU. Their statement says, "The decision to expel 4 SFI Delhi State Committee members from JNU because the SFI-JNU Unit has taken a collective decision on a political issue, smacks of an authoritarian, undemocratic and vindictive attitude. The All-India leadership seems to be under the misconception that by targeting a few individuals they will be able to browbeat the entire unit and divert attention from the relevant political issues... SFI-JNU Unit will carry forward the legacy of Study and Struggle and continue to function in the name of SFI-JNU and retain its adherence to the SFI Programme and Constitution. It is the All-India leadership of the SFI who have acted against the SFI Programme and Constitution. We appeal to SFI Units across the country, SFI State committees and SFI CEC members to register their protest against such violations and reverse the undemocratic decisions." 

Explaining why SFI-JNU held a GBM to decide its stand on support for Pranab, the SFI-JNU leaflet said, "In the past few weeks the SFI came under severe attack from ultra-Left organizations like the AISA over this issue. Students were asking about SFI's position and we could not afford to remain silent."

The same leaflet observed that SFI in JNU had failed to win a single office bearer's post in 2007 and 2012 JNUSU elections, and that political reasons, "primarily those related to Singur-Nandigram and the general state of the Left movement in the country," were responsible for this. SFI-JNU held that "In a left leaning political campus like JNU, these developments have eroded the SFI's support base among the progressive and democratic minded students. The developments since 2007 have made the SFI vulnerable to attacks of 'double-speak'" by AISA which "gained at SFI's cost."

The SFI-JNU leaflet also held, "The interests of the SFI-JNU are intrinsically linked to these political issues. Neither can SFI-JNU defend unconvincing political decisions in public like support for Pranab Mukherjee in Presidential elections nor can it remain silent on acts like the recent murder of RMP leader TP Chandrasekharan in Kerala. Several CPI (M) functionaries have been arrested in the case so far, while investigations continue. The outrageous statement made by a CPI (M) leader M.M.Mani has only made matters worse. This has become a major political issue in Kerala as well as JNU. The SFI-JNU has taken a principled position on the issue and demanded action against the guilty irrespective of political affiliations. The all-India leadership of the SFI has not adopted any stand on these issues till date."

Thanks to AISA's intervention, political debate in a Left-leaning campus of JNU has sharply rejected any apologia for CPI(M)'s right-revisionist tendencies. This in turn has resulted in the realisation by the SFI-JNU comrades, that CPI(M)'s positions on a range of issues are indefensible among progressive and Left-minded sections of society. 

CONVENTION

JUSTICE FOR

BATHANI TOLA 1996

PUNISH THE GUILTY

15 July

Speaker's Hall,

Constitution Club,

New Delhi

12 Noon – 6 pm

To be addressed by Bathani massacre survivors, Ara students whose hostels were attacked after Brahmeshwar Singh's killing, as well as a range of jurists, intellectuals, and activists

Organised by

Citizens for Justice for Bathani Tola

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: 22518248, e-mail: mlupdate@cpiml.org, website: www.cpiml.org

ML Update 28 / 2012

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol. 15, No. 28, 03 – 09 JULY 2012

Presidential Polls: Cross-Coalition Currents and the Course of the Left

The President of India is the ceremonial head of the Indian state. In the early years of Indian Republic when the Congress ruled the roost both at the Centre and in almost all states, election for the post of the President was also a largely ceremonial affair. The fourth Presidential election held in 1969 was the first exception when VV Giri won the Presidency defeating the official Congress nominee and second preference votes had to be counted to reach the result in this most keenly contested Presidential election till date. This happened in the wake of the first major breach in the Congress monopoly in 1967 and led, in turn, to the first major post-Independence split in the Congress.

The era of one-party domination has however long been over and for the last two decades the country has been passing through what has been termed the era of coalition politics. Two coalitions seem to have acquired a degree of stability in the shape of the Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA. But since Presidential election also involves the State Assemblies, the ruling coalitions at the Centre have to look for additional support to ensure victory for their candidates in Presidential elections. Presidential polls in the coalition era have therefore been witnessing hectic pre-election bargaining often generating considerable cross-coalition traffic in the process.

Two bargaining chips have now become fairly commonplace – the Centre using the CBI as a smart weapon to secure support from regional leaders facing corruption charges, and states demanding 'packages' in lieu of extending support. With a growing bipartisan or cross-coalition consensus on key policy matters, ruling class politics is fast getting reduced to a dynamic demand-and-supply management in the electoral marketplace. This is seen quite crudely in Rajya Sabha elections; only the other day elections to Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand even had to be cancelled. The 2008 trust vote on nuclear deal had also become a veritable political scam.

The current Presidential poll has already witnessed an interesting cross-coalition alignment and the Congress has already secured enough support for its candidate even though the TMC, currently the second largest constituent of the UPA, is yet to declare its final stand. While political observers are trying to decode the bargaining terms and calculations that have prompted various non-UPA parties to rally around the Congress candidate, the Left camp is witnessing an important debate on what should have been the principled course for the Left following the CPI(M)'s decision to support Pranab Mukherjee. Interestingly this debate has now come up from within the CPI(M), accusing the CPI(M) Polit Bureau of violating the line adopted by the party's most recent 20th Congress held in Kozhikode. The debate has forced Prakash Karat to offer an elaborate explanation for the party's decision, giving us a graphic picture of the growing delinking of the party's tactics from its strategic proclamations and perspective.

The arguments of Prakash Karat can be summarised as follows. His basic argument is that the presidential poll should not be seen as another platform of struggle against neo-liberalism or imperialism, the only concern for the Left should be to ensure that the President is not open to the BJP's influence. And he says since 1992 the CPI(M) has accordingly always voted for the Congress nominee, 2002 being the only exception when the Left had to put up its own nominee as the Congress supported the BJP's candidate! If the party agrees to this basic formulation, other considerations become really redundant. The additional arguments furnished by Karat are –(i) the CPI(M) must not get bracketed with the TMC – so if TMC has its own reasons not to be enthusiastic about supporting Pranab Mukherjee, the CPI(M) must discover or invent its own reasons to support the same Congress candidate, (ii) supporting Pranab Mukherjee's candidature will widen the rift between the Congress and the TMC and help the CPI(M) regain its base in Bengal and hence help the Left cause nationally, (iii) the CPI(M) has kept in mind the choice made by other non-UPA parties like SP, BSP, JD(U) and JD(S), and (iv) abstention would have blunted the party's 'intervention in the developing political scenario'.

Limiting the agenda of the presidential election to 'secularism' even when there is no chance of the BJP nominee winning the elections, and when the Congress candidate in question is a key custodian of the neo-liberal, pro-imperialist order in every realm of policy-making and governance, clearly shows the real meaning of the CPI(M)'s ranting against neo-liberalism and imperialism. The CPI(M) had demonstrated it during its 2004-08 phase of collaboration and cohabitation with the Congress/UPA, and it is doing it again in this presidential election. Karat ends the first paragraph of his explanatory article on the presidential election with the following observation: "This election is not to be seen as just a contest between these two candidates. Beneath the surface are stirrings and a churning process that presage a political realignment." Evidently, we should also see the CPI(M)'s decision in the same context of 'the stirrings, the churning and the political realignment,' and the message is loud and clear.

By supporting Pranab Mukherjee, the CPI(M) hopes to widen the rift between the Congress and the TMC and revive the party in Bengal. Little does the CPI(M) realise that its growing proximity and identification with the Congress would grant much bigger leeway to the TMC to exploit the growing countrywide resentment against the Congress, and also consolidate its image as a regional force fighting for Bengal! A weakened Lalu Prasad had similar dreams in Bihar, he shed his anti-Congress past and image and courted the Congress as a secular ally only to leave Bihar in the hands of the JD(U)-BJP alliance. Time will tell us what happens to the CPI(M)'s fond dreams of using the Congress for its revival in Bengal.

In indirect elections where it is difficult for the Left to have its own nominee (Presidential election, Rajya Sabha elections, elections to form boards in panchayats and municipalities where the Left has very limited presence), abstention can often be the only principled and effective course of action for the Left. Yet Karat rules it out with the flimsy argument that it would blunt his party's intervention in the developing scenario. What he suggests on the other hand is virtually a permanent policy of support to the Congress, and one wonders how that could sharpen the edge of the CPI(M)'s 'political intervention'!

The base the communists have built in this country has almost always been through direct struggles. Instead of developing and implementing tactical measures that would help consolidate and broaden that base and strengthen its independent political projection, defensive and opportunist tactics have often blunted the edge of communist politics. The dream of stronger political intervention cannot be fulfilled with tactical measures that only blunt the edge of struggle and sacrifice opportunities and platforms to propagate, project and popularise the political agenda of the Left for 'presumed' gains that are invariably more wishful and transient than real and enduring. The exacting reality of class struggle never allows communists the luxury to pass off acts of surrender as tactical masterstrokes!

CPI(ML)'s Politburo Statement on Assam Floods

The CPI(ML) expresses deep concern at the floods that have affected Assam. The worst ever flood in the state in the last decade, it has affected 20 lakh people and claimed 77 lives till date. 23 out of Assam's 27 districts are affected, and of these, three are completely submerged.

The response to this terrible natural tragedy, however, is highly inadequate, and affected people are desperate for the most basic rescue and relief efforts.

The CPI(ML) demands that the floods in Assam be declared a national calamity, and the state and central governments immediately ensure rescue, relief, and rehabilitation for the flood-devastated people.

 Statement on Chhattisgarh Massacre of Adivasis

The CPI(ML) condemns in the strongest terms the massacre by police and CRPF in Kotaguda village of Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, in which 20 adivasi villagers, including a woman and five children aged between 12 and 15, were shot dead or hacked to death with axes. Villagers have also alleged that the security forces sexually molested four young girls.

The police and CRPF claim that those killed were Maoists who opened fire, the villagers have said that the forces wantonly attacked a village meeting, continuing the attack for several hours.

The Chhattisgarh Government initially claimed that all those killed were dreaded Maoists and attempted to deny the deaths of children and civilians. Shamefully, the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram too declared the massacre to be a genuine encounter, without ascertaining the facts and the version of villagers. Subsequently, the Chhattisgarh Government has tried to explain away the deaths of civilians by claiming that Maoists used villagers and children as a 'human shield.'

It is imperative that a credible and impartial judicial panel enquire into this heinous incident so as to establish the truth and ensure that those responsible do not enjoy impunity.

It is clear that such crimes and tragedies will continue to recur as long as the state's war in the forest and tribal areas in the name of combating Maoism continues. 'Operation Green Hunt' must be called off without delay, and efforts for dialogue and peace must be pursued in earnest.

Citizens for Justice for Bathani Tola Calls for Convention

In solidarity with the Bathani Tola massacre survivors' quest for justice, and to protest the acquittal of the entire massacre accused by the Bihar HC, a committee – Citizens for Justice for Bathani Tola – has been formed.

Members of the Citizens for Justice for Bathani Tola include:

Filmmakers Anand Patwardhan and Ajay Bharadwaj, noted academics and public intellectuals Bela Bhatia, Uma Chakravarti, Anand Chakravarti, Nandini Sundar, Anand Teltumbde, V Geetha, Tulsi Ram, Tanika Sarkar, Nivedita Menon, and Manager Pandey, Simpson (activist of a Tamilnadu based group Odukapattor Viduthalai Munnani), journalists Seema Mustafa, Anil Chamaria, Jaspal Singh Siddhu, Satya Sivaraman, Kiran Shaheen, poets Nirmala Putul and Manglesh Dabral, economist and activist Jaya Mehta, noted critic and social scientist from Assam Dr. Hiren Gohain, Nirmalangshu Mukherjee, PK Vijayan, Sanghamitra Mishra, and Uma Gupta of Delhi University, Kamal Chenoy, Anuradha Chenoy, and KJ Mukherjee of JNU, Ashok Bhowmick, painter and cultural activist, Sucheta De (JNUSU President), Pranay Krishna and Sudhir Suman (Jan Sanskriti Manch), Chittaranjan Singh (PUCL), and Kavita Krishnan.

At a press conference held in Delhi on 3 July, Nirmalangshu Mukherjee, Satya Sivaraman, and Kavita Krishnan on behalf of the committee, announced plans to observe the anniversary of the Bathani Tola massacre.

On 11 July, the anniversary of the Bathani Tola carnage, members of the committee will join a massive public meeting to be held at Ara town, in which survivors of the Bathani massacre will participate. On behalf of the Citizens for Justice for Bathani Tola, Nandini Sundar (Head of the Dept. of Sociology at DU, and petitioner in Supreme Court against Salwa Judum) as well as Kavita Krishnan will participate in the Ara mass meeting.

On 15 July, Bathani Tola massacre survivors will attend and address a Convention called by the Citizens for Justice for Bathani Tola. The Convention will be held at Speaker's Hall, Constitution Club, on 15 July, from 12 noon – 6 pm. Students from Ara's dalit hostels, which were attacked by Ranveer Sena supporters this month following the killing of Brahmeshwar Singh, will also speak at the Convention. A documentary film on the Bathani Tola massacre will also be released at the 15 July Convention.

The members of the committee demanded protection for the eyewitnesses of the massacre and other common people in Bathani Tola and condemned the pro-Ranveer Sena bias displayed by the Bihar Government as well as judiciary. They said that the country would not accept such an unjust verdict, and citizens all over the country would reject it and continue the struggle for justice.

Save Democracy Convention by AILC at Kolkata

To commemorate the anniversary of declaration of emergency on 26th June, the All India Left Coordination organized a convention on the demand of "Save Democracy" on the same day this year in the historical University Institute Hall, Kolkata. More than a thousand people enthusiastically attended the convention which was presided by Comrade Partha Ghosh, Secretary, West Bengal State Committee of CPI(ML). The speakers included Comrades Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI(ML) General Secretary, Taramoni Rai, General Secretary of Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM), Aloke Nandy, General Secretary of Democratic Communist Party (DCP), Nabarun Bhattacharya, renowned poet, Prof. Ambikesh Mahapatra of Jadavpur University, who was manhandled and arrested in the cartoon episode recently, Prof. Partha Sarathi Roy, Scientist, who was arrested for supporting the anti-eviction movement at Nonadanga in Kolkata. The convention was attended also by Comrade Abdur Rezzak Mollah, MLA and peasant leader of CPI(M), who, in the wake of CPI(M)'s defeat in the Assembly elections, made public criticism of the anti-peasant policies of the previous Left Front government of which he had been the Land and Land Reforms Minister.

Comrade Dipankar said that "today we are passing through a period of undeclared emergency in West Bengal where the space for democratic rights has considerably shrunk. Liberalisation of the economy has given rise to unprecedented corporate and imperialist loot and politics is being drastically changed and tailored to facilitate that loot. State terrorism is being intensified together with increase in joblessness, poverty and price rise. War is being thrust on different countries in the name of countering terrorism, whose real target is a particular community. Muslim youths are being branded as terrorists. Young people leaving Azamgarh district in search of jobs elsewhere are being arrested and killed. As many as 32 Muslim youths belonging to Azamgarh have been arrested during the last six months by branding them as terrorists. He said, the Left Front government started its journey with the assurance that it would restore democracy and remedy all the anti-democratic deeds of the Congress government in the seventies. Far from that, it itself started to snatch people's democratic rights. The new TMC government seems to have taken over the mantle from its predecessor. Any democratic opposition is being branded as 'Maoist' or opposition (in this case CPM) conspiracy". He further stressed that, in this hour of crisis for democracy, peasants, agricultural labourers, students, teachers, cultural personalities, intellectuals, all have to unite. He called upon all the fighting Left to unite.

Taramoni Rai exposed the parochial policies of the GJM in the hills of Darjeeling and the evil design of the TMC government to create unrest and division in the hills for narrow political gains. Aloke Nandy warned the audience about the signs of the impending autocratic rule in West Bengal. Prof. Ambikesh Mahapatra recounted the repressive and disgracing action against him by the TMC government in the cartoon issue. Partha Sarathi indicated all the inherent symptoms of a fascist regime, which seriously manifested itself in the functioning of the present Govt. Comrade Rezzak Mollah said that he had "come to the convention taking great risk, and it was necessary to take that risk to swim against the tide".

The convention gave a call for "March to Singur" on 3rd July, 2012 in view of the impasse created there due to the recent judgement delivered by the Calcutta High Court and the immense miseries caused to the peasants, bargadars and agricultural labourers of Singur, who are almost on the verge of ruin. Comrade AR Mollah wholeheartedly endorsed the Convention's call for a March to Singur on July 3.

AILC's Singur March

In response to the call given by the AILC convention of 26th June, a 3,500 strong rally packed the roads of Singur on 3rd July demanding repeal of Land Acquisition Act, 1894, return of land and right to till to the peasants of Singur whose land has been locked in a legal tangle, one time compensation of Rs. 7 lakh and monthly compensation of Rs. 7 thousand to each affected peasant for loss of cultivation for the last 7 years, unconditional withdrawal of all Singur-Nandigram-Lalgarh related false cases and exemplary punishment for the rape and murder of Tapasi Malik and murder of Rajkumar Bhul during the Singur movement. The rally was obstructed by the TMC goons, but ultimately backed off in the face of the militant mood of the marchers. The rally, adorned with red flags and banners and filled with militant zeal, marched 10 kilometres raising revolutionary slogans through the villages of Gopalnagar, Bajemelia and Beraberi, where most peasants are the victims of forceful land acquisition during the LF regime for facilitating setting up of the Tata Nano factory. The rally culminated in a mass meeting at the Beraberi market, where Comrades Partha Ghosh and Kartick Pal, Politburo member of the party spoke.

Abdur Rezzak Mollah, CPI(M) MLA and former Land and Land Reforms Minister of the LF Government, eventually could not make it to the March, reportedly prevented by his party.

A series of programmes on the Singur issue from 10th July were declared in the meeting, which include Dharna in Kolkata on the same day and subsequent programmes at Singur and other places.

CPI(ML) Observes Emergency Day in Uttarakhand

The CPI(ML) held dharnas and demonstrations all over Uttarakhand on 26 June on the occasion of the anniversary of the Emergency, protesting against corruption and repression on people's movements, including cases filed against CPI(ML) activists and repression on khattavasis and workers.

Dharnas were held at Lalkuan, Bhikyasain and Munsiyari, and a memorandum addressed to the CM was submitted through tehsil authorities in all these places.

Campaign for Student-Youth Rights

The All India Students' Association and Revolutionary Youth Association (AISA and RYA) have undertaken an intensive countrywide campaign for students' and youth rights – for education and employment, and against corruption and corporate loot. Despite the summer heat, students and youth in many states have begun campaigning daily, performing street plays, holding street corner meetings, and distributing leaflets. The campaign will culminate in a 'March to Parliament' in August.

Around 30 AISA activists from three universities in Delhi – JNU, DU and Jamia Millia Islamia– began their campaign in the national capital on April 30, at Delhi University's North Campus. A street play prepared by students was staged, which exposed the nexus of the government with corporate, that results in massive scams, loot of natural resources for private profit. The street play shows how the exchequer is being looted to serve corporate interests, while, on the pretext of 'fund crunch', education is being privatised, and jobs with dignity are not being created. The campaign received a good response with students signing a demand charter and taking AISA membership in good numbers.

The campaign followed in coming days in the student localities with a door to door campaign in hostels, and staging of the street play in public squares. Throughout the campaign, the activists engaged students and young people in conversation about their own lives, problems, and views. In this first phase of the campaign, 700 signatures on the demand charter were collected, and 60 students took membership of AISA.

The campaign also took place in the Batla House locality near Jamia Millia Islamia campus. The response was positive, especially from students and youth, who showed an interest in interacting with campaigners on the issues of corruption, privatization of education, and lack of opportunities of dignified employment, that had been raised through the play and speeches by activists.

The campaign also reached Bersarai and Katwaria Sarai near the JNU campus, and in the working class localities of Wazipur and Mohan Nagar. It was heartening to find that many of the students and people recalled AISA from last year's campaign against corruption and corporate loot.

In UP, the campaign is underway at Allahabad, Lucknow, Ghazipur, Ballia, Chandauli, Pilibhit, Faizabad, and Varanasi. Large numbers of students and youth have participated in the mass meetings organised in the course of the campaign. In Allahabad, there is widespread resentment against the Akhilesh Yadav Government's move to introduce the CSAT system in the UP-PCS (State civil services) exam, making English and Maths compulsory. It must be remembered that the Mulayam Singh Government had earlier opposed compulsory English in schools, and making Maths compulsory makes it difficult for students from humanities disciplines to clear the civil services exam. AISA's stand is that it would be discriminatory to make these subjects compulsory until and unless a common school system ensuring the same level of affordable and good schooling for all, is established. 1In Pilibhit, meetings have been attended by students from rural background.

In Bihar, the campaign was initiated with cadre conventions and signature campaign at Patna, Bhagalpur, Darbhanga and other districts. The issue of the attack on dalit hostels in the wake of Brahmeshwar Singh's murder is being raised by the AISA-RYA campaigners all over the state. AISA is leading a protest against fee hike at Patna University.

Cadre Conventions were held at various places in Maharashtra (Nagpur, Nasik, Pune, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad), and plans for the campaign in the state were made. AISA's President Sandeep Singh attended most of these Conventions. In Bhind (Madhya Pradesh), and in various centres in Tamil Nadu, AISA comrades have started the campaign, distributing leaflets and interacting with students, and the latter have responded warmly, signing the demand charter. In Jorhat (Assam), a student-youth convention was held with 100 participants, who then undertook the campaign in the state. The student-youth campaign has begun enthusiastically at Giridih and Hazaribagh in Jharkhand. RYA and AISA organised a workshop on the 'Right to Education and Employment' in Punjab.

 

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 27 / 2012

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol.  15            No. 27                                                            27 JUN - 03 JUL 2012

Presidential Poll 2012:

Opportunist Realignment in Coalition Politics

If Mamata Banerjee's TMC is threatening to break ranks with the UPA, JD(U) and Shiv Sena have already extended support to the Congress candidate. Having waited for the Congress to declare its candidate, the BJP now complains about not being consulted by the Congress and has chosen to back PA Sangma, the candidate proposed by the AIADMK and BJD, who had to quit his own party NCP to join the Presidential race. The SP and BSP, the two heavyweight parties from UP, are both busy in a competitive bargain with the Congress and the Centre. And the Left bloc too has now got divided with the CPI(M) and Forward Bloc supporting Pranab Mukherjee's candidature even as the CPI and RSP have decided to abstain.

The BJP would have loved to use the Presidential poll as an opportunity to attract more allies, yet ironically enough, it finds two of its oldest allies ditching it on this occasion. Why did Nitish Kumar choose this time to oppose the prospect of Narendra Modi as the NDA's prime ministerial candidate to join hands with the Congress and UPA on the presidential poll? This may well be Nitish Kumar's way of staking his own claim against Modi and a tool for bargaining with the Centre for greater funds for Bihar, but the most pressing reason lies within Bihar where his government is drawing flaks from all quarters for its growing non-performance, failure and betrayal, and Nitish Kumar obviously needs to divert the public attention elsewhere.

The CPI(M)'s support for Pranab Mukherjee has come with the most bankrupt of arguments. Prakash Karat has now joined Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee to argue that the presidential poll should be delinked from the political battle against neo-liberal pro-imperialist policies! 'Oppose Pranab Mukherjee as Finance Minister but support him as President' is the AKG Bhavan's latest doublespeak. Karat also argues that Mukherjee should be supported as he already enjoys 'the widest acceptance' and the CPI(M) should therefore play ball and not spoil the party! He has also candidly reminded everybody that it has been his party's normal practice to support Congress candidates in presidential election, the only exception being the 2002 election when APJ Abdul Kalam was viewed as the BJP's candidate and hence opposed.

Sixteen years ago, it was the CPI(M) which refrained from participating in the UF government at the Centre even as the CPI joined the Union cabinet. Prakash Karat had then famously vetoed Surjeet's proposal to make Jyoti Basu the Prime Minister of the UF government. The circle has now been completed with Prakash Karat reportedly giving his 'casting vote' to prevail over an evenly divided polit bureau and clinch the decision to support Pranab Mukherjee. And ironically, it is now the CPI which has refused to fall in line.

The CPI(M) decision to go with the Congress in the presidential poll has begun to create some ripples within the party with the convenor of the party's research cell resigning from the party in protest. Coupled with the ongoing crisis in Kerala and Prabhat Patnaik's salvo against what he calls the 'feudal-Stalinist' culture in Kerala CPI(M), the debate over the presidential poll may well herald another 'July crisis' for the CPI(M). For all those who had taken the CPI(M)'s Kozhikode Congress call for 'Left and democratic alternative' as sign of a 'leftward restoration and rectification' within the party, the recent Kerala developments and now the decision to support the Congress nominee in presidential election should serve as important 'reality checks'.

It is height of opportunist bankruptcy to suggest that the presidential election has nothing to do with the struggle against the anti-people policies of the government. Equally irrelevant in this case is the CPI(M)'s other stock argument of supporting the Congress to keep the BJP out of power. The only principled course for the Left in this presidential election could have been to abstain, and abstain precisely as a statement of opposition to the policy trajectory of the ruling classes and its disastrous outcome which has pushed the country deep into an all-pervasive crisis marked by unbridled corruption and corporate loot, massive pauperisation, growing imperialist interference and systematic assault on democracy. Thus alone could it forcefully register its political independence and use this occasion to assert its basic position for the approaching political battles. q

CPI(ML) GS Visits Bangladesh

CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya visited Bangladesh on the occasion of the 8th anniversary of the reorganisation of the Revolutionary Workers' Party of Bangladesh (14 June 2012). He was accompanied by Comrade Basudev Basu, standing committee member of the Party's West Bengal State Committee and one of the National Secretaries of AICCTU.

On 13 June, they visited all important national memorials in Dhaka and paid homage to the martyrs of the Bangladesh liberation war and language movement. On the evening of 14 June, they addressed a seminar on imperialist aggression in South Asia and the fight for people's liberation held in the National Press Club. Comrade Saiful Huq, General Secretary, presented a paper on behalf of RWPB. Other speakers from Bangladesh included economist Anu Muhammad, Secretary of the Committee to Protect Water-oil-gas-power-port, a popular broad-based Left platform of struggle in Bangladesh, and several left leaders and writers. Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya spoke on behalf of the CPI-ML.

The next day a daylong central delegate session of RWPB took place in which the two parties had an intensive exchange of experiences. On the morning of June 15 there was a get-together with Trade Union leaders of Bangladesh and in the evening there was a seminar on capitalism, corporate media and struggle for people's liberation held in RC Mazumdar Auditorium of Dhaka University. This was organised by the RWPB monthly organ Janoganotantro (People's Democracy) to mark its 8th anniversary. The Speakers included Prof Sirajul Islam Chaudhury, Emeritus Professor of English and noted Marxist intellectual, Nurul Kabir, editor of the English daily The New Age, Benzin Khan, writer, and Comrades Saiful Huq and Dipankar Bhattacharya. The seminar was chaired by Banhisikha Jamali, editor, Janoganotantro and the proceedings were conducted by Dr. Akhtaruzzaman, CCM RWPB and Professor, Food and Nutrition Science, Dhaka University. On the afternoon of June 17 a discussion session took place with leaders of various Left parties in Bangladesh in which CPB President Comrade Monzurul Ahsan Khan, Marxist writer Samsuzzoha Manik, Jonaid Saki, convenor of People's Solidarity Movement, leaders of Basad (Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal), and various leaders of Ganotantrik Bam Morcha (Democratic Left Alliance) participated.

Experiences of revolutionary communist movements in both countries were exchanged, and discussion took place on issues of bilateral and regional importance, and it was resolved to intensify united anti-imperialist struggle, sectoral cooperation and people-to-people contact and exchange. India's growing strategic proximity and partnership with the US, delay in resolving various issues of bilateral concern and lack of time-bound fulfilment of various commitments made by India in bilateral declarations and agreements are matters of serious public concern and anger in Bangladesh.

The visit will help deepen mutual understanding between the CPI-ML and RWPB, strengthen mutual ties and contribute to the coming together of revolutionary Left forces in South Asia.  

CPI(ML) Dharna on Emergency Day

 Marking the anniversary of the Emergency, the CPI(ML) held a dharna at Jantar Mantar on 26 June against the 'undeclared Emergency' of today, in which various draconian laws and repressive measures are being used to crackdown on dissent and crush democracy. 

CPI(ML) Central Committee member Prabhat Kumar said that the UPA Government is attempting to crack down on the growing people's anger and protest against price rise, corruption and corporate loot. People protesting against corporate land grab and loot are being jailed under draconian laws like 'sedition,' 'waging war on the state' and UAPA. In Bihar, the Government has brutally beaten up and jailed leaders, including the former CPI(ML) MLA, for leading struggles demanding a CBI enquiry into the murder of political activists like Bhaiyyaram Yadav of CPI(ML) and Chhotu Kushwaha. But following the killing of the notorious perpetrators of mass massacres of dalits, Ranveer Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh, the same Government allowed his supporters to go on a rampage and attack public property and dalit hostels, unchecked. 

CC Member Kavita Krishnan said that draconian laws are being enacted and existing laws amended to violate people's rights and suppress dissent. She cited the instance of Binayak Sen, and condemned the conviction of Seema Azad and Vishwavijay in UP under the clause of 'waging war against the State.' She said that in West Bengal, the CM Mamata Banerjee is jailing anyone who criticizes her – including schoolteachers, university professors and cartoonists! In the North East and Kashmir, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act is being used to protect men in uniform who indulge in the murder of civilians.   

The dharna was conducted by CPI(ML) leader and former President of Kumaon University, Girija Pathak, said that every people's movement is facing a major crackdown: from the adivasis' struggle against land grab by Korean company POSCO in Odisha, to anti-nuclear struggles at Jaitapur and Koodenkulam, to struggles against land grab at Jharkhand, and struggles of forest dwellers at Uttararakhand for their rights.

CPI(ML) Delhi State Secretary Sanjay Sharma said that increasingly spaces for democratic protest are shrinking even in the national capital. Democratic protestors are being forced to seek 'permission' for protests.    

AICCTU Delhi Secretary Santosh Roy said that workers all over the country especially in the Delhi NCR region, are routinely denied their legal right to form unions and demand their rights. He cited the instance of the Air India workers and extended support to their struggle.

AISA National General Secretary Ravi Rai said that Students are being prevented by the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, from enjoying the freedom to elect student unions of their own choice. All over the country, Muslim youths are being picked up on charges of 'terrorism' – but they are jailed even when there is no evidence against them, and subjected to torture.

The dharna was also addressed by youth from Ramgarh village who spoke of the attack on dalits in their village; by Shivani Nag from JNU, Farhan from Jamia Millia Islamia; social activist Himanshu Kumar, RYA leader Aslam Khan, AICCTU leader Mathura Paswan, and many others, who called to intensify the protest against this undeclared Emergency, break the shackles and free democracy.   

Struggle Against Attacks on Dalit Hostels in Ara

Following the death of Brahmeshwar Singh, his supporters attacked dalit hostels in Ara on June 1. There was widespread arson and loot, with police doing nothing to stop the miscreants. 16 ground floor rooms were fully burnt, and belongings looted. 100 students' marksheets, certificates, and other documents were burnt. 40-50 cycles and 3 motorcycles were burnt. Laptops, TV sets, gas cylinders, cookers, vessels were either destroyed or looted. A bust of Dr. Ambedkar was vandalised.

The Ambedkar Kalyan Hostel at Katira was attacked thrice, and there were also attacks at dalit hostels at Chandi Lodge near Jain College, and at Maulabag.

On 18 June, hostel students organized by AISA gheraoed the DM. Students broke police barricades at the main gate of the DM's office, and held a mass meeting for three hours. Yet the DM did not see fit to meet the students. Instead, students were arrested. The DM met students only at 4 pm on 19 June. AISA demanded compensation and speedy hostel accommodation for the students, and criminal cases against assailants.

On 20 June, AISA and RYA held a militant demonstration to the Chief Minister, led by AISA State Secretary Abhyuday and RYA State Secretary Naveen Kumar. Students marched at noon, clashed with the police at Dakbangla crossing, broke the barricades and marched towards the IT crossing. They were stopped by police at Kotwali Thana and arrested. Inside the police station too they continued to demand to meet the CM. Late in the evening, an AISA-RYA delegation met the SC/ST Welfare Minister Jitanram Majhi, and also sent a letter to the CM, demanding that the hostel be properly rebuilt speedily, and legally allotted to students; students be compensated for the losses they suffered; degrees that were destroyed be reissued to students speedily; students be provided with full security, and provided with alternative living and food arrangements in the interim till the hostel is rebuilt. AISA also pointed out that the dalit hostels are in a sorry state all over Bihar, and demanded an investigation into the diversion of funds meant for SC/ST welfare, as well as the rampant scams in dalit students' scholarships.   

AIPWA State Conference In Odisha

The first State Conference of All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) was held in Odisha on 17 June. Around 148 delegates participated in the state conference from different district of Odisha, including from Rayagada, Bhadarak, Puri, and Kendrapara.

Com Sabita Baraj presented a report of AIPWA activities, which was passed by all members.  A 27-member state council was elected with Comrade Sanjukuta Panigrahi  as President and Comrade Sabita Baraj as General Secretary, Comrades Sita Das, Padmini Gamango and Srimati Das as vice presidents.

The Conference adopted several resolutions – condemning the growing rape and atrocities against women during Naveen Patnaik's rule, especially demanding justice for the dalit rape victim at Pipili; a stop to the promotion of alcohol; condemning the repression on struggles against corporate loot and eviction of women from their land; against sex-selective abortions, trafficking of women; demanding measures to reduce outmigration of women from Odisha in search of work, and social security for women migrants. 

Rickshaw Pullers' Protest at Bhubaneswar

The Rajdhani Rickshaw Cooli Sangha protested at the Bhubaneswar office of the East Coast Railway on 7 June. Around 60 rickshaw pullers marched from Kalinga Hospital, shouting slogans. The rally was led by Mahendra Parida, Secretary of AICCTU and Seema Sethi, General Secretary of the Rickshaw Cooli Sangha. The Rally was culminated at the East Coast Railway office and a mass meeting was held, addressed by Janaki Rao, President of Rajadhani Bastibasinda (slumdwellers') Sangha , Ravi Das, CPI(ML)'s Bhubaneswar local committee member, Seema Sethi and Mahendra Parida. After the meeting, a 5-point charter of demands was given to the General Manager of the ECR by a 5-member delegation. The demand was to provide a permanent rickshaw stand at the Railway Station campus, stop police atrocities by RPF, allow rickshaw pullers inside the railway station to call passengers on hire, and issue the rickshaw pullers permanent passes to enter the railway platform. 

AICCCTU Initiatives in Odisha

On June 4-5, a two-day workshop of construction workers was conducted at Nagabhushan Bhavan. 22 activists from the districts of Gajapati, Kendrapara, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Sundragarh and Keonjhar participated. RN Thakur, General Secretary of the All India Construction Workers' Federation attended as a resource person and Mahendra Parida of AICCTU also assisted. The workshop stressed the need to unionize construction workers and bring them to the fold of AICCTU and AICWF. The participants took up a target of 3000 membership between June to October 2012 and to hold districts conferences.

East Coast Railway Sweepers' Union conducted movements in Puri and Bhubaneswar. Members of the Puri sweepers' union wore black badges demanding that three comrades be taken back on the job and against retrenchment of two workers in Bhubaneswar railway station, as well as provision of PF, ESI, and 4 holidays in a month. After Cormades Dilip Samal, Mahendra Parida and Bharat Ghadei held talks, the workers were taken back on the job.

AIPWA Team Investigates Murder of Woman Gram Pradhan in UP

An AIPWA team visited Sukrit village in Sonbhadra district of UP to look into the murder of a woman gram pradhan. Sonbhadra is a stronghold of land mafia forces, where the latter grab land and indulge in illegal mining. The local police colludes with this loot machinery. Sukrit village in particular is a centre of stone quarrying. Gram pradhans who refuse to be a part of the illegal trade in stone are eliminated by the nexus of land mafia and police. Two women gram pradhans in Sukrit village were recently murdered in such circumstances.

On 5 June, 45-year-ol Dhunna Devi, an adivasi woman gram pradhan was shot dead near her home. The AIPWA team went to the village and met her family and other villagers. The family members told the team that the police was pressurising Dhunna Devi's sons and her husband through torture and beatings to force them to confess to the murder. Villagers said the family was in a state of terror and insecurity. The AIPWA team held a press conference at Robertsganj which was also addressed by Dhunna Devi's family members, and demanded a high-level enquiry into the incident and punishment for the killers; Rs 10 lakh compensation for Dhunna Devi's family; protection for Dhunna Devi's family; and a job for a member of her family.

The team compromised Kusum Verma, Shikha Singh, and Bhagmati from AIPWA as well as CPI(ML) State Secretary Sudhakar Yadav, and activists Shashikant and Rampravesh.        

Convention of Xomox Employees' Union 

To commemorate the silver jubilee of their union, workers of Xomox Sanmar Limited (an American MNC), Tiruchi, Tamilnadu, organized a convention under the banner of Xomox Employees' Union on 17 June, with a slogan "Union will continue to fight for the better working and living conditions of workers". Com A S Kumar, Deputy General Secretary of the State AICCTU was the chief guest. The Convention was addressed among others by Comrades K G Desikan, state secretary of AICCTU and also Ex- President of the union, N Balakrishnan, District President of AITUC and also a labour lawyer, and Selvaraj, Pudukkottai district secretary of CITU. A delegation of factory level union leaders of various constituent companies of Sanmar group like Flowserve, Fisher etc from Chennai also participated.

Almost all factory level leaders of various corporate companies in Tiruchi addressed the convention. Workers of Sanmar group companies , TVS, Rane TRW, Shri Ram Fibres, Cethar Vessels and Ordnance Factory participated. A delegation of contract labour union of Rane who were on the strike for the last 140 days also attended.

All speakers of various streams of TU movement recognized the fighting spirit and solidarity role played by AICCTU in all these 25 years of journey of Xomox employees' union and Industry level struggles of other unions.

Rally in Valsad (Gujarat) for Implementation of Forest Rights Act 2005

CPI(ML) held a rally at Valsad district headquarters in Gujarat on 22 June protesting the non-implementation of Forest Rights Act and reigning terror of land mafia working in nexus with the bureaucrats and politicians in the district. This nexus exposes the reality of Narendra Modi's Vibrant Gujarat' and explains to some extent from where his 'vibrancy' is coming from!

A large part of the Umargaon block of Valsad had been acquisitioned by the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation long back, and now it has been turned into a big industrial zone. Now, whatever part of land is left is inhabited by the local tribal population who are consistently under the threat of land grabbers and goons. The adivasi living there for generations, have no land records in their names. The Gujarat govt. as well as land mafia both are using forged land records and goons to evict them. The CPI(ML) has been active and struggling for adivasi rights in the area since last five years. Last year there were even organised attacks on villages where party is having people's supprt. The Party continues to resist the land grab attempt going on very aggressively and on a massive scale in many panchayats including Punat, Sarigam, Dili, Malkhet, Manekpur, etc. in this block. There is perfect understanding between Congress and BJP at the grassroots level on how to grab the lands in favour of big capital-mafia nexus. The local MLA Raman Patkar is from BJP have a reputation of a successful land-grabber-cum-mafia. On the other hand, the biggest name in land grabbing is said to be of one Haju Sheikh in this region, who is a known Congress face and incidentally, also an accused in 'Bombay Blast' case.

The nearby Kaprada block covers large forest tracts, but here too eviction of adivasis by forest officials in a routine affair. Instead of providing them land rights documents under Forest Rights Act 2005, the forest lands are being taken from them in the name of building nurseries, or for development of forest produce, and being given to various agencies, mainly the NGOs. The records of adivasis habitations have yet not been prepared in Palsana and Silada panchayats where around hundred families are residing on nearly 500 acres in forest for many generations.

This rally was organised is this backdrop, where hundreds of adivasi toiling masses enthusistically took part with red flags and banners. A large number of participants were women. Rally was addressed by CPI(ML) CC member Prabhat Kumar, and Gujarat State Committee member Laxman Patanwadia, Party's Valsad leader Laxman Varia, RYAs Amit and many others. The Rally gave a memorandum demanding 1- Giving land rights of all adivasis living on their land for generations and making proper documents in this regard, 2- Reclaiming those lands which have been snatched from adivisis by the land mafia in various ways, 3- To implement Forest Rights Act 2005, 4- to Constitute a Special Task Force for this purpose, and 5- to punish those guilty of attacking poor adivasis, activists and CPI(ML) leaders in the past and to speedily resolve court cases against them in order to provide justice to the common adivasis and struggling activists.

Obituary

Comrade Neema Nagarkoti

The Party mourns the untimely demise of Com. Neema Nagarkoti in a road accident on 9 June, 2012 while she was on her way to Pithoragarh to attend the Uttarakhand State Committee meeting of AICCTU. Com. Neema was a dedicated party worker, and an active leader of AICCTU and the ASHA workers' Union.  She was an able organizer, energetic leader and a fighter for whom our best tribute would be to work harder towards the vision of a just and oppression-free India.

35 year old Com. Neema faced and overcame many obstacles in her personal life. Struggle made her strong and she brought the same faith in struggle and the same strength to her work in public life too. Initially she was district secretary of an NGO-run ASHA Workers' Union.  In May 2011 she came into contact with the Party and AICCTU, and became the President of the Moonakot Block Unit. Com. Neema actively participated in the district level workshops, the rally in Delhi on September 5, 2011 and the National conference of AICCTU in Bhilai in November 2011. Her dedication as a member of CPI-ML, State committee member of ASHA Union and District committee member of AICCTU was remarkable.

Red Salute to Com. Neema!

Comrade Dipankar Mukherjee

The CPI(ML) expresses heartfelt condolences on sudden demise of Comrade Dipankar Mukherjee, senior leader of the CITU.

He passed away at Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi on 18 June 2012, following a bout with pancreatic cancer. He was 69.

As a trade union leader, and as a parliamentarian (he had been a Rajya Sabha MP from the CPI(M) for 12 years), he resisted the policies of privatization. He was known for his deep grasp of working class issues.

Like many on the Left, he felt deep concerns about the direction of the Left movement in India. It is a sign of his abiding hope and faith in the Left movement that, just a few months before his sudden illness and demise, he had visited the CPI(ML) office to meet with the party General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya.

Comrade Dipankar Mukherjee's passing is a deep loss to the working class movement and the Left movement.        

Red Salute to Comrade Dipankar Mukherjee!