ML Update | No. 37 | 2014

ML Update

 A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol.  17 | No. 37 | 9-15 SEP 2014

 Modi Hijacks Teachers' Day

Former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan wanted his birthday celebrated as Teachers' Day in India – a day set aside for teachers, rather than about his own birthday. 

Till 2014, when Narendra Modi, in the very opposite of Radhakrishnan's spirit, turned a day dedicated to teachers, into a day about himself.

Schools were ordered by the HRD to make arrangements for students all over the country to view Modi addressing an assembly of schoolchildren in the capital, and answering 'questions' that students had been coached to ask. Schools had to change timings in the last minute, to suit Modi's schedule. So teachers spent the day making hectic arrangements for Modi's speech rather than enjoying some well-earned rest, relaxation and respect.

All over the country, thousands of ill-paid, overworked, contractualized 'para-teachers' work in humiliating and exploitative conditions without basic job-security, salary and training. Modi said not a word on Teachers' Day about improving their conditions and regularizing them, in keeping with their long-standing demands.  

The HRD Ministry had said listening to the speech would not be mandatory. But what was the truth? Several schools, including schools in Delhi, warned that students would face tests on Modi's speech, and warned students of 'strict action' for failing to attend the speech. The Delhi Directorate of Education issued a directive warning Delhi schools that "Any laxity in the arrangements shall be viewed seriously."  

Teachers' Day, then, became an exercise in regimentation. Schools and students were roped by force into Modi's image-building exercise, and Modi imposed his views on them.

The speech and 'interaction' was also a political exercise. Kids asked Modi 'questions' that were obviously tutored, to allow him to give a calculated political response, and repeat some of his pet phrases from his speeches.   

In a so-called 'live interaction', a girl student from Bastar asked the PM about education in Bastar, Dantewada, giving Modi a chance to praise BJP CM Raman Singh and commend the girl on asking "a question on education that too from a land where there has been lot of blood due to Maoists." Modi did not speak of the blood of little school-going girls and boys, shed by CRPF in the same areas in firings on harvest festival gatherings of adivasis. In the 2012 Sarkeguda massacre, 15-year-old Kaka Rahul and Madkam Ramvilas, students at a government school in Basaguda who were home on vacation, were shot dead and branded as 'Maoists.' 12-year-old Kaka Saraswati also was killed. Modi also didn't speak of the rapes of little adivasi schoolgirls in Government-run schools in the same region – that the Chhattisgarh Home Minister blamed on 'bad stars'!    

Modi hijacked the day that Dr. Radhakrishnan dedicated to teachers with a mandatory viewing of his speech. Meanwhile Dinanath Batra's textbooks, with a preface by Modi, that are mandatory reading in Gujarat schools, hijack Dr Radhakrishnan himself, turning his name into a vehicle for racist ideas. Those textbooks tell a racist tale of how the country's second president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan had told the British that white people were like undercooked rotis and Black people were like burnt rotis, while Indians  were "rotis cooked right by God." 

With Modi using Teachers' Day as an image building exercise and Batra's absurd and reactionary textbooks being legitimized by Modi, the 'thought control' in India's schools is entering into a new and intensified phase. However, the struggle against saffronization and privatization of education, and for regularization of contractualized teachers, will also be intensified. 

Delhi Police Files Charge-sheet Against AIPWA, AISA, RYA Activists for Anti-Rape Protests Post Dec 16

The Delhi Police has informed activists of AISA, RYA and AIPWA, including AIPWA Secretary Kavita Krishnan, AISA activists Anmol Rattan of DU and Om Prasad of JNU, and RYA activist Aslam Khan that a charge-sheet has been filed against them for their participation in a protest on December 19th 2012 against the December 16th rape, at Sheila Dixit's house.  

This protest action had been one of the key protests that galvanized more protests all over Delhi and the country. At this protest, the Delhi Police had used water cannons for the first time against the anti-rape protesters. Also, a speech made by AIPWA Secretary Kavita Krishnan at that protest, went viral with thousands of people across the country feeling that it reflected their own sentiments. 57,615 people till date viewed the YouTube video of the speech, that asserted women's right to be "adventurous", rejected curbs on women's freedom in the name of "protection", and demanded that Governments protect women's right to "fearless freedom." The speech had been spontaneously translated into many Indian languages as well as English, and shared. In many ways, that protest, and the speech made at that protest, came to symbolize, for people in India and all over the world, the spirit of the anti-rape protests in Delhi.   

Police brutality, high-handedness and harassment against protesters were notorious at the time – even the Justice Verma Committee commented on it. 

It is highly unlikely that leading December 2012 anti-rape protesters would have been charge-sheeted by the Delhi Police more than a year later, without a political green-signal from above. The Delhi Police falls under the Union Home Ministry. Why are the charge-sheets being filed against key AISA organisers in DU and JNU, days before DUSU and JNUSU polls where AISA is a major contender?

The BJP, at that time, had attacked the Congress Govt and the Delhi Police for its brutality to anti-rape protesters. Why, now, is the Delhi Police under the BJP Govt filing charge-sheets against the same protesters now?

Clearly, the Modi regime, like the Manmohan regime before it, holds protesters, especially those who speak of women's freedom, to be criminals.

Just as the anti-rape protesters anticipated way back in December 2012, 'protection' for women from 'love jehad' and 'rape' has quickly come to mean moral policing and restrictions on freedom. Even as this charge-sheet is filed against people agitating for women's freedom, Sangeet Som, the BJP MLA who incited mobs in Muzaffarnagar, has again called for a 'mahapanchayat' - this time against 'love jehad'. Leaders of such mahapanchayats are the same khaps that kill daughters and their lovers - in the name of 'honour.' Now, in the name of the 'love jehad' bogey, they will legitimize harassment of inter-community couples, and justify family/community/khap surveillance on adult women. Recently, the Gujarat police issued posters asking parents to maintain surveillance on their daughters' mobile phones. For such reactionary and patriarchal politics, the very idea of 'women's freedom' and the freedom of young women and men to love each other without fear is dangerous.

The AISA, AIPWA and RYA demand that the case against all protesters in the anti-rape agitation of 2012-13, including its own activists, be withdrawn immediately.

The charge-sheeted activists declared, "We and thousands of others will continue to protest and demand the right of women, as well as of every one, including men and women from Dalit, Muslim and other marginalized identities, to be free and adventurous, as we did on December 19th. If this Government and the Delhi Police holds that this a crime deserving our arrest, so be it."  

Contract Workers' Protesting Illegal Retrenchment

22 contract sanitation workers of Raja Harishchandra Hospital, run by Delhi Govt. retrenched illegally by the contractor. They were working there for 5-7 years or more. They and their families are protesting since 8 Aug 2014, sitting in front of the Hospital on an indefinite protest.

They, organised under the banner All India General Kamgar Union, affiliated to AICCTU, had protested on same reasons last year too, but after few weeks of struggle they were all reinstated by the contractor. That was time when elections were near. This year the contractor is adament on not taking them back, he also sometimes reminds workers their last year's 'mistake' of fighting for their job security. Now we have a 'stable' BJP govt. in centre to boost contractor's confidence to the extent that he is even ignoring advice, though a feeble one, of the hospital administrator for taking them back.

The Delhi State Commission for Sanitation (Safai) Workers had given a letter to the workers' Union that no sanitation workers will be retrenched from any hospital in Delhi even if there is a change in contractor. But this direction of a statutory body like the Commission is proving futile in face of the prevailing nexus of the contract workers mafia with hospital administration and Delhi Govt.'s Health Deptt. ! They are adament on teaching lessons to the workers who dare to raise their voice for rights and secure livelihood.

Local AICCTU organiser and CPIML leader Surender Panchal has met the LG of Delhi along with state leadership of AICCTU to submit a memorandum on behalf of the these workers. Though received positive assurances, though not in writing, they later proved to be false promises.

This is not the story of a single govt. hospital in National Capital. Workers in many hospitals had to protest repeated attacks on their livelihood, thanks to draconian and anti-worker CLARA and governmental policy of implementing so called 'reforms'. Recently contract sanitation workers in Ambedkar Hospital held out a protest after sudden retrenchments, though it proved to be one of the unsuccessful attempts at saving their livelihoods. Workers in central govt. hospitals like Sufdarjang Hospital too feel very insecure and terrified in front of contractors highhandedness and repressive tactics. The labour laws are never implemented in favour of the workers by the government and administration. In LRS TB Hospital near Mehrauli almost all contract workers who were employed there for years were retrenched by the hospital administration and contract as soon as they heard of rumours that the contract workers are unionising themselves. Many of those were working in that hospital for decades, first as casual workers and then they were forcibly moved to the hands of the some contractor. Workers and their families are continuing their protests in Narela.

Demonstration in Odisha

On 28th August 150 CPI (ML) activist protested in front of Saharapara block of Keonjhar district led by state committee member Mahendra Parida  along with  local committee secretary Sucharu Nayak. A 10 point charter of demands was submitted to the local BDO and Tahsildar, demanding a stop to corruption in MNREGA , forest land rights and permanent land patta to all tribals and dalits living in forest areas, demanding conducting of pallisabhas, an end to police atrocities and witch hunt of adivasis branded "Maoists", also proper education and health care for children. The activists warn that if the demands were not met within three months, the BDO office would be closed by protesters. The Tahsildar assured the activists that the demands would be met. 

Sanitation Workers' Strike in Bangaluru

Sanitation workers of BBMP organised under the banner of Guttige Powarakarmikara Sangha (BBMP Contract Workers Union affiliated to AICCTU) went on strike on 27-29 Aug. 2014 demanding VDA Rs. 2204 and Government declared minimum wages and other benefits, including timely disbursal of wages.

In a subsequent meeting with Labour Minister and Labour Commissioner, the Labour Minister assured he will immediately talk to the BBMP Commissioner to release the pending wages to all contract workers and will arrange a meeting with Labour Secretary, BBMP Commissioner and other concerned officials with AICCTU leaders for releasing VDA as demanded by the union.

The striking workers held out a march to the residence of Labour Minister on 27th.

Hundreds of Sanitation workers of Sunkadkatte and Anjananagara wards of Bangalore city led by AICCTU took part in this strike action.

AICCTU leaders Com. Clifton, Maitreyi, Nirmala, Shankar and AICCTU Vice President and Karnataka State President, Comrade Balan addressed the workers.

Against Victimisation of Trade Union Office Bearers

AICCTU led Hospital Assistants of central government run hospital, NIMHANS, were on a dharna in front of the office of the Director demanding withdrawal of illegal transfers of 21 contract workers and cancellation of the contract of Swachata Corporation. The administration and the contractor have violated Sec. 33 (a) of ID Act, 1947 that prohibits any change or alteration of service conditions prejudicial to the interests of workers during the pendency of an industrial dispute before the conciliation officer or any other competent legal authority. The transfer of 21 workers, including the union General Secretary Basavaraj, Organising Secretary Guru Datt, Vice President Pillamma, Joint Secretary Pramila and ECM Narayan were resorted to by the NIMHANS in spite of clear advise by the conciliation officer on the contrary. The government run hospital authorities refused to follow the advise of another competent dept authorised by the same central govt.

NIMHANS hospital does not have a proper qualified HR officials in spite of employing more than 4000 employees of various categories. The responsible officials do not even know the legal position that ultimately, Principal Employer, in this case, NIMHANS is responsible for the wrongs of the contractor.

It was unfortunate that the Director and other responsible officials of one of the reputed hospitals in the country were completely careless about the welfare of its own employees. They even refused to meet union leaders who rushed to resolve the issues amicably.

Finally, forced by the workers struggle and instructions from the conciliation officer, the administration and the contractor temporarily withdrew the transfers on the same day. Still, transferred workers were not allowed to work for a day in their previous place of work. Second day, all but one was allowed to work in the previous department. It needed written letter from the labour department to reinstate all workers in their previous place. The central government owned hospital which is supposed to be a model employer is violating laws and resorting to unfair labour practices prohibited by the ID Act. The government run institution, NIMHANS, in addition to illegal, victimised transfers of contract workers for being active in the trade union, does not have a transfer policy even. Workers were transferred because they questioned the illegal nature of contractor who has not renewed the license and who has employed hundreds of workers more than the sanctioned strength. AICCTU leaders Comrades Balan, Shankar and Appanna led the demonstrators.

Tribute to Shubhradeep Chakravarty

A voice of dissent falls silent

- By Anand Patwardhan

"En Dino Muzaffarnagar by Shubradeep Chakravorty and Meera Chaudhary is going to be recorded in history as the first documentary film banned under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gagging order came on 30th June. Today we applied in Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) for redressal of our grievances. We will not go down without a fight."

These are the last words posted on Facebook by Shubhradeep Chakravorty, one of India's bravest documentary filmmakers. Shubhradeep passed away from a brain hemorrhage on August 25, while battling a numbing censorship bureaucracy and the pain of cynical rejection.

I first met Shubhradeep in 2002 after he had made his debut film, Godhra Tak. He had been a journalist but the horror of Gujarat turned him into a filmmaker. He focused on the train-burning incident that killed 59 Hindu passengers. The Gujarat government had allowed a public display of the charred bodies and when pogroms against Muslims began, allegedly looked the other way. Word spread that Muslims had poured petrol into the train. Godhra Tak looked at forensic evidence that questioned this theory as well as the systematic demonization of Muslims. With BJP led governments in Gujarat and the Centre proclaiming that "Islamic terror"was breeding in Gujarat, several strange incidents followed.

That year "Muslims terrorists" attacked the Akshardham Temple with firearms, killing 33. Two attackers were killed. 6 more were arrested, of which 3 were sentenced to death. In May 2014 the Supreme Court acquitted all six and pulled up the Gujarat police for shoddy investigations.

A series of encounter killings followed in Gujarat. Shubhradeep's next film Encountered on a Saffron Agenda looked at four separate "encounters", the most infamous being those of Ishrat Jahan and others in 2004, and Sohrabuddin and others in 2005. In every case the authorities claimed that the dead Muslim "terrorists" were on a mission to kill Narendra Modi. Shubhradeep's brilliant investigation exposed in meticulous detail how each encounter was probably a cold-blooded murder. The courts finally took cognizance and several encounter perpetrators were jailed for varying periods of time including top police officers like D G Vanzara, and Modi's right-hand man, Amit Shah. Some of them are free today, but few doubt that fake encounters took place.

Following screenings in Jaipur and Bhopal, Shubhradeep was physically attacked, narrowly escaping serious injury. But his courage and determination never waned. In 2012 he made two important films, Out of Court Settlement about the ordeal of human rights defenders like the martyred lawyer Shahid Azmi and After the Storm about youths who had been acquitted of terror charges but still faced trauma and stigma.

In April 2014 we invited Shubhradeep to Vikalp@Prithvi in Mumbai to screen his work-in-progress, En Dino Muzaffarnagar. Newly married, he was accompanied by his partner and co-director, Meera Chaudhary. They were like teenagers in love and it was infectious. In the Q and A after the film Shubhradeep attributed all the moments when the camera was in the right place at the right time, to Meera. "Whenever she is there something happens. She is my lucky charm," he beamed.

The film itself was a departure from his earlier work. Always compelling in content, his films tended to be utilitarian in form. Now camera and sound were excellent and the film was complex, showing not just the perpetrators of atrocities but also ordinary individuals from warring communities who had resisted the communal urge. Jat and Muslim farmers had historically worked together in unions and the region enjoyed communal harmony even in times of national strife.Shubhradeep's partner Meera is a Jat from Muzzaffarnagar, which gave her access and insight. Above all, the film dissected the story of how a riot can be created from scratch and how peaceful neighbours can become mortal enemies once a Machiavellian force begins its handiwork.

As we watched the film at the end of April with elections underway, the writing was already on the wall. The very word 'secularism' was under attack, both in the electronic and print media.

Whoever rules India, censorship is always hard. At times it gets harder. In 2002, under the NDA, our anti-nuclear War and Peace was denied a CBFC certificate. Of the 21 cuts demanded, the first was: "Delete the visuals of Gandhiji being shot by Nathuram Godse". History books at the time were being rewritten to say merely that a madman killed Gandhi. The Censor Guideline 2(xii) used to justify the cut was "visuals or words contemptuous of racial, religious or other groups are not presented". A year later the high court ordered our film passed without cuts.

The CBFC has used the same clause to ban En Dino Muzzaffarnagar. The Appellate Tribunal confirmed the rejection. Their order states: "It (the film) is highly critical of one political party (BJP) and its top leadership by name and tends to give an impression of the said party's involvement in communal disturbances."

They may as well issue an outright ban on investigative journalism.

These are dark days Shubhradeep, but times will change. Some day this nation will remember its real heroes — those who fought not for their own narrow caste or creed but for the truth and humanity that will never die.

ML Update | No. 36 | 2014

ML Update

 A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol.  17 | No. 36 | 2-8 SEP 2014

100 Days of Betrayal and Warning

100 days – mostly hard and bitter, not of the dreamy and sweet kind promised before the elections – have elapsed since Narendra Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India's first BJP-majority government. The new government may not yet have unveiled any clearly formulated policy agenda, but we already have enough pronouncements and indications to assess which way the government is headed. And when Narendra Modi and the BJP are at the helm of governance, it does not make sense to focus our attention only on the government. The actions of the party and its numerous Sanghi siblings and coalition cousins clearly have no less impact on the overall milieu.

Talking of policy initiatives, the new government is pursuing the familiar UPA agenda with greater intensity. Almost the entire economy has now been thrown open to foreign capital, with Narendra Modi dramatically inviting foreign capital to "come, make in India" on the anniversary of India's independence from colonial rule. From railway to finance and even defence, every sector will now see greater penetration of foreign capital. And in a bid to make a final rupture with the Nehruvian legacy of economic governance, the new government has decided to do away with the Planning Commission. With systematic disinvestment, private corporations will now have a free run on India's rich resources, cheap labour and growing market.

While giving a freer hand to big capital, the government seems committed to subverting and weakening the framework of rights for the working people. Major amendments are being mooted in labour laws, food security and employment guarantee legislations are being rendered toothless, and safeguards against indiscriminate land acquisition are being planned to be systematically subverted. Instead of ensuring universal rights to food, shelter, sanitation, health, education and employment, the government is promising development through MP/MLA funds and so-called corporate benevolence. The Jan Dhan scheme is high on symbolism and low on substance: it promises financial inclusion through bank accounts, debit cards and pretentious insurance covers without any indication of augmentation of the abysmally low income levels for the toiling masses.

Modi has also been trying to project a range of foreign policy initiatives beginning with the surprising invitation to leaders of South Asian countries during his swearing-in ceremony. The promise of opening a new chapter in relations with neighbouring countries has however already given way to the reality of cancellation of talks with Pakistan. His government's silence on Israel's war on Gaza and the refusal to adopt even a parliamentary  resolution condemning Israeli aggression have signalled a new low in India's international profile, reducing India virtually to an appendage of the US-Israel war machine. While Modi was most unimpressive at the BRICS summit in Brazil, in Japan he went so far as to invite Japanese investment representatives to become a part of India's 'decision-making process.' With his oblique comments against China, he has left no one in any doubt about his government's keenness to drag India into an anti-China axis with US and Japan.

While Modi thus looks determined to shed the last vestiges of the Nehruvian legacy in economic and foreign policy domains, in the arena of governance he is in a hurry to inculcate the Indira style of centralisation of power and authoritarian rule. The PMO has emerged as the super cabinet monitoring every minister. Contrary to the poll rhetoric of 'cooperative federalism', Governors appointed during the UPA period have been forced to step down and are being replaced brazenly with political appointees to tighten the Centre's stranglehold around the states. From appointment of judges to dealing with various institutions – executive interference and partisan control have become the order of the day. The Modi cult has also brought about a metamorphosis in the BJP, reducing the party which once used to ridicule the Congress for its culture of sycophancy to a veritable fiefdom of Modi and his Man Friday who manages the party presidency.

The biggest worry for the common Indian is however not that Modi has forgotten his poll promise of 'achchhe din', it is the impunity and brazenness with which the entire Sangh brigade is enforcing its agenda of communal polarisation. Communal targeting of the Muslim youth is spreading dangerously across the country. The brutal murder of software professional Mohsin Sadique Shaikh in Pune shortly after the May 16 Verdict and Modi's refusal to condemn the killing were dangerous early warnings that have now assumed alarming proportions with the BJP crying 'love jihad' at every instance of a Muslim man marrying a Hindu woman and Yogi Adityanath spewing communal venom as the incharge of the BJP campaign for the forthcoming UP by-polls. Meanwhile RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has begun his sinister campaign to redefine India and Indians – the word Hindu is coterminous for him with Indian! From physical violence to ideological assaults, the power-drunk BJP and Sangh brigade have started going berserk.

The signs of sanity have come from the people in the by-polls in July and August. The people have made it abundantly clear that the verdict for Modi in May was no licence for the BJP to ride roughshod on the people's livelihood and civil liberties. Modi has gone on record complaining that he has not been given the kind of honeymoon period that new rulers are traditionally supposed to enjoy. A demagogue who betrays the people does not deserve any benefit of doubt. The developmental aspirations and democratic determination of the Indian people must prevail over every authoritarian whim and communal conspiracy.

Modi Speaks Communal Language in Foreign Lands
While Rajnath Promotes State Terror At Home  

Rajnath Singh, Home Minister in the Modi Government, in his speech to the Rajasthan Police Academy at Jaipur, reminded cops that while he had been the CM of Uttar Pradesh, he had assured cops that they could 'tackle and eliminate Maoists', without any worries about questions asked, since he as CM would shield UP police officers from having to face the NHRC! He assured that now, as Home Minister, he would do the same. He described the questions asked by Human Rights Commissions as 'harassment' of the police. 

If the Home Minister of the country describes 'human rights' and civil liberties as a minor inconvenience and obstacle, he is openly calling upon cops to commit murder and massacre. Civil liberties and rights are mandated by the Constitution of India. The Home Minister is showing his open contempt for India's Constitution, and ironically he does so in the name of 'protecting the nation'! 

Police and security forces treat 'Maoist' as code for 'adivasi' or dalit. Rajnath recounts his days as UP CM as a model, let us recall what that model meant. When Rajnath Singh was UP Chief Minister, on 9^th March 2001, UP cops shot dead 16 people, mostly agricultural labourers and 2 schoolboys, all Dalits or adivasis, in Madihan, Bhawanipur, eastern UP. One of the 2 schoolboys was in Class VIII and the other in Class IX. The massacre was claimed to be an 'encounter' with Maoists. The truth was that the villagers of Madihan were sleeping after a feast celebrating the gauna ritual of the son of one of the villagers. 

In Chhattisgarh, similarly, security forces routinely massacre adivasi villagers gathered for the Bija Pandum harvest festival. The Kottaguda-Rajpenta-Sarkeguda massacre of 2012 in Bastar was one such massacre, in which the CRPF shot dead 17 people, including 7 children, including a 10 year old boy and a 12 year old girl.  

Assured that CMs and Home Ministers will shield them from being accountable to Human Rights Commissions, cops rape and kill in custody: all they have to do is declare that the victims are 'Maoists' or 'Naxalites'! The current Bastar IG, SR Kalluri, is accused of having raped Ledha Bai in custody, while another top cop Ankit Garg raped Soni Sori in custody. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tokyo today, spoke as though he were a PM of his dream Hindu Rashtra, not of a secular democratic India. He commented that "secular friends" would kick up a fuss and TV debates over his gifting a copy of the Bhagvad Gita to Japanese Emperor Akihito. By making the comment, he himself marked the Gita as the property of Hindus alone, rather than part of India's own diverse cultural legacy. His own choice of the Gita as a gift and his comments on top of it, are a calculated insult to India's secularism and diversity.

How can the PM of India mock at and refer to secular people as 'they'? As PM, he himself is duty bound to uphold and protect the constitution of India, a sovereign socialist secular and democratic republic – and yet he openly mocks at secularism, and his Home Minister openly mocks at Constitutionally mandated democratic rights!

Worse, speaking in a public gathering in Tokyo on climate change, he used a communal 'cow-slaughter' analogy to caution against exploiting nature. He said, "At best you have the right to milk nature. You can milk a cow, but cannot kill the cow." For Modi, climate change also is a topic that can be communalized – even as his Government rushes through environmental 'clearances' of forest land and fertile land, all to benefit corporate and real estate sharks, grabbing this land from adivasis and peasants. 'Building infrastructure to combat Maoism' is the latest excuse to justify the grab of forest land.

When Modi says 'no red tape only red carpet, it isn't only for Japanese investment. He is telling corporations and MNCs that environmental clearances and so on are mere 'red tape' and he will sweep all this aside to spread the red carpet for corporations! Similarly of course, his Home Minister says that human rights of adivasis and Dalits are mere 'red tape' that he will 'take care of', so that cops can shed blood with impunity, so that a red carpet can be spread in forest areas for the corporations!    

Modi also told college girls in Tokyo that "only in India God is conceptualized as a woman" and that "in the Hindu pantheon, Saraswati is education minister, Lakshmi finance minister and Annapurna the Food minister." The irony of course is that in India, women are saying loud and clear that they do not want to be treated as Goddesses, chained to a pedestal, they are demanding equal rights and liberties as human beings. 

AICCTU Dharna to Protest 100 days of Betrayal of Modi Government And Increased Attacks on Workers' Rights

Factory workers, street vendors, DTC workers, construction workers, domestic workers, health and sanitation workers were among those who, under the banner of the AICCTU, held a powerful Dharna at Jantar Mantar on 3 September 2014 to protest a 100 days of the Modi Government's betrayal of its promises to the people.   

Protesters raised slogans demanding to know why the promise of 'acche din' has turned into the reality of 'bure din', and why Modi Sarkar was behaving like UPA-III.

At the dharna, AICCTU National Secretary Rajiv Dimri said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to bring "good days" for the working people in his election campaign. Angered by the anti-people policies of the Congress-led UPA government that led to price rise, unemployment and corruption, the people gave a huge mandate to Mr Modi. After assuming power, however, the same Modi government is pursuing the same economic policies as the UPA Government. Now in power, Modi is asking people to bear hardships for the nation – while continuing to dole out generous sops to corporations. Price hike goes unabated, hoarding has remained beyond control, the hike in railway ticket and freight prices are quite unprecedented and it is likely to maintain an upward trend like petrol prices in the future."

All India Agricultural Labour Association (AIALA) National General Secretary Dhirendra Jha addressed hundreds of workers gathered where he said, "First three months and the budget indicate without doubt that the Modi-led government is implementing the policies of the earlier government even more ruthlessly than before. If good days have come, it is for Ambanis, Adanis, Tatas and Mittals - not the common people of this country." To sell off the public sector, the government has a disinvestment target of 43 thousand crores. It has increased the limit of FDI to 49 percent in the defence sector and 100 percent in the railways. In the planned US trip this September, Modi has two gifts to give - one is insurance sector and the other is defence. On the one hand, the corporate sector has got a relief of 5.32 lakh crore and on the other, much investment of public money has been made in rail, road and ports which through the PPP model would benefit corporate players. The road to acquire forests, land and minerals by corporates is also being made easy by the government. In the social sector, budgetary allocation on health, education, NREGA, social security has not received any favour whatsoever. While the government is claiming to make efforts to generate employment, it's real effort is to try and turn NREGA, that guarantees employment to a certain degree, to a mere scheme now.

AICCTU Delhi State Secretary Santosh Rai said, "Modi, the self-proclaimed 'mazdoor number one', has gone for an all out attack on rights of working class. In these first three months of 'good governance' offered, there is a plethora of proposals to amend labour laws in favour of corporate capital. These amendments would push much of the existing work force out of the purview of labour laws like Factory Act, ID Act, CLARA, Trade Union Act. The right to unionise and attain recognition of their union is going to be taken away. Women workers would be susceptible to more exploitation at the work place, including sexual harassment due to amendments in Factory Act."

V.K.S Gautam, President of Delhi State Unit of AICCTU said that Delhi is now governed by the LG on behalf of the BJP government and here too the same anti-people policies are making headway. Owing to the policy of privatisation of transport, electricity, water and education, the plunder by corporates and contractors is at the highest level and so is rampant corruption. The entire unorganised sector has come under the grip of contractualization. The Labour Dept. has become incompetent, corrupt and totally ineffective now. Access to BPL card and election I- card has become more difficult. He added that the recent Jan-Dhan Yojna of Modi is a gimmick which can't fool working class. He said that if PM Modi thinks by giving a bank account with an accidental death cover of Rs 1 lakh workers won't assert for their rights to get Minimum Wages, PF/ESI than he is living in a fool's paradise.

AICCTU appeals to the working people of Delhi to strengthen and continue the struggle against the Modi government, exposing its true colours testifying its betrayal of the people. AICCTU also appeals that the working class should be cautious and stand strongly against the ploy of 'Modi Sarkaar' to divide their unity by divisive politics based on promoting hatred among people on religious line.

CPIML Politburo member Prabhat Kumar and Delhi State Secretary Sanjay Sharma also addressed the protesters. Others who addressed included AICCTU leaders Saurabh Naruka, Ardhendu Roy, Munna Yadav, Ajay Kumar, Surender Panchal, Virender Kumar, Satvir Shramik, Jagnarayan, Omprakash, Shankaran, Balmiki Jha, Rajesh Kumar, Shakuntala, Jan Sangharsh Morcha Narela's President Ramkumar Bauddh, Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA) vice-president Aslam Khan, Mahesh Upadhyay and many other others.

The meeting was conducted by AICCTU Delhi Vice President Mathura Paswan.

Rally held to demand 6^th phase of Bhilai Steel Plant House Lease Scheme

The House Lease Sangharsh Samiti took out a rally on 17 August demanding the implementation of the 6^th phase of the Bhilai Steel Plant house lease scheme. The rally started at the main gate of the steel plant and, after passing through the different sectors, culminated in front of the residence of the CEO. More than 500 people along with cars, motor cycles, and autos participated in the rally. Rajendra Parganiha and Shyamlal Sahu from the Centre of Steel Workers played a leading role in organizing this rally. Workers of the Bhilai Steel Plant as well as former workers who are around 1500 in number are struggling for the implementation of the 6^th housing scheme.

During the recession between 2001 and 2003 the Steel Authority of India had introduced the house lease scheme in all their units in order to compensate their losses. Under this scheme around 4500 workers in Bhilai obtained a 30 year lease on company quarters. In 2007-2008 various workers' organizations as well as the Officers' Association launched a struggle for the 6^th phase of this house lease scheme, following which the Steel minister in the UPA government Ram Vilas Paswan announced at a meeting in Bhilai that the 6^th phase would be implemented. However, it has not been implemented till date.

Under pressure from the rally on 17 August, the General Manager (Personnel) of the BSP came to the CEO's residence where he heard the demands of the people and assured them that he would arrange a meeting with the Executive Director (P & A). An 11 member delegation of the House Lease Sangharsh Samiti met the ED on 19 August, who said that this matter was not within his jurisdiction but that he would forward a copy of their demands to the SAIL Board. It is noteworthy that the CITU, the officially recognized union by the BSP, was against the movement for this demand, and the attitude of the other unions was also wishy-washy. Around 1500 former workers are living in BSP quarters under the license system and they are the backbone of this movement. The representatives of the Sangharsh Samiti also met the local MP and people's representatives in this regard. The MLA from Bhilai Nagar and Minister in the State government Prem Prakash Pandey has rejected the demand for the implementation of the 6^th house lease scheme and has termed the movement for its demand as playing around with the people's emotions.

Joint Anti-Imperialist Rally in Kolkata by Left Parties

On September 1^st, a joint anti-imperialist rally by 15 Left parties including the CPI(ML) Liberation was held in Kolkata against US-Israel aggression on Gaza. Starting from Ramlila Maidan in central Kolkata, the rally marched to Deshbandhu Park urging people to come together against the attack on Gaza, against US interference in India and to seek answers from the NDA government on why it was cozying up to Israel and caving in to US pressure to embrace FDI across crucial sectors. The rally called for reverting back pro-US, pro-Israel foreign policies of the government of India. The rally was held on the day that marks the beginning of the Second World War with fascist Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939.

The CPI, CPIM, CPIML Liberation, RSP, Forward Bloc and SUCI as well as other parties and groups, participated in the protest demonstration. Thousands of people joined the demonstration and raised slogans "Us imperialism Hands off Syria", "End Us aggression in Middle East and Israel's aggression on Palestine".  

Starting from Ramleela Park in central Kolkata, the rallyists marched up to Deshbandhu Park. The rally was addressed by CPIML Politbureau member Com. Kartick Pal, Suryakanta Mishra of CPI(M), Manju Majumdar of CPI, Manoj Bhattacharya of RSP, Hafiz Alam Sairani of FB, Soumen Bose of SUCI (C), and Santosh Rana of PCC-CPIML.  

Struggle Against Sexual Violence in Vishwa Bharati

The students of Vishwa Bharati University in West Bengal are engaged in a struggle against cases of sexual harassment and violence in the University, and the apathy and collusion of the University authorities as well as the police.  

A woman student of the University, from Sikkim, has complained that she was abducted, disrobed, and molested by three senior students on repeated occasions, who then blackmailed her and extorted money from her, threatening that they would circulate photographs of her if she complained. The exploitation and even severe violence continued for two months.       

When the woman student eventually complained, the University authorities tried to hush up the matter and restrict the complainant and her father from approaching the police. But they persisted, and students of the University also protested vigorously, and eventually an FIR was filed against the accused, who were also suspended from Vishwa Bharati.

On 30^th August, the AISA Unit of Vishwa Bharati, along with the USDF, led a mass deputation of common students of the University to the main office of the University and met with the Registrar, demanding expulsion and arrest of the accused, setting up of an elected GSCASH body, and measures to ensure that the woman student could continue her studies safely.   

The University, instead of responding by acting to prevent and punish sexual harassment, has imposed restrictions on women students' movements and timings on the campus! Students are further protesting against this moral policing.   

Again, on 2^nd September, the AISA as well as USDF and North East students' groups, together held a massive demonstration at the VC's office demanding justice.

 It is indeed ironical that the University is trying to control the comings and goings of women students in the name of their safety, given that their own VC and even senior administrators face sexual harassment charges! In 2004, when the current Vishwa Bharati VC was a Director at the SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, a colleague had accused him of sexual harassment, a charge that had been confirmed in March 2005 by a committee set up by the Science and Technology Ministry.

In spite of this, it is a shame that the same person was appointed VC of Vishwa Bharati, and the last UPA Government had even tried to award him a Padma Shree (this was perhaps withdrawn following letters of protest by many women's groups). 

Last year also, a student from the North East had accused a teacher of sexual harassment, and the latter had only been transferred. A Dean had also been charged with sexual harassment, and had received a most nominal punishment. Two woman students have apparently left the campus and discontinued their studies as a result of sexual harassment.

The Vishwa Bharati functions in an extremely undemocratic manner, with little democracy allowed to students and teachers. The Central Governments of various dispensations are squarely responsible for this state of affairs.

But many other educational institutions in West Bengal too have an undemocratic and sexist milieu, again, nurtured by the current TMC dispensation now and earlier by the CPIM dispensation too.

In another horrific incident of sexual violence, a woman student of Jadavpur University has complained that a gang of 10 male students dragged her into a men's hotel and molested her. In this case, too, the University has tried to delay action, and hush up the incident.  

The culture of sexism, bred by political dispensations in Kolkata as well as the Centre, is fertile ground for sexual harassment. The struggle for democratization and gender justice in Vishwa Bharati continues.  

Tribute to Balraj Puri

-N.D. Pancholi

In the sad demise of Shri Balraj Puri at Jammu India has lost a great champion of human rights and a political analyst of high repute. He was 86. He was participant in momentous political events such like 'Quit India Movement' of 1942' and  'Quit  Kashmir Movement' of 1946'   in association with Sheikh Abdullah and Pt. Prem Nath Bazaz against Dogra Ruler Maharaja Hari Singh. He did his utmost to prevent outbreak of communal violence or check its spread  in Jammu  in 1947  and  on many occasions thereafter- even at the risk of his life. Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India,  sought his opinion on Kashmir affairs on crucial occasions. Puri always tried to bridge the gap between Nehru  and the Sheikh Abdullah. He  rendered great help in the conclusion of Indira-Gandhi-Sheikh Abdullah Accord in 1974. 

Puri's activities encompassed various fields– from active social and political to academic  and journalistic work of high standard. His friends and associate are writing about  his many-faceted work  elsewhere. However, I would confine here myself  to some aspects of his human right work  in which I had the privilege to associate with him on few  occasions.

Jayprakash Narayan had inaugurated the Citizens For Democracy in April 1974 at Delhi  and he became its founding member.  I came in touch with him at that time. He  was also founding member of the PUCL in 1976.  He was member of the National Council of both the organizations for several years and was very  active.  

Militancy had started in Kashmir at the end of 1989 and by the start of  January 1990 Jammu & Kashmir was  under Governor's rule under Jagmohan.  Militancy was at its height leading to killings of large number of people– both Muslims and non-Muslims whom the militants suspected as government agents and it led to exodus  of Kashmiri Pandits  on large scale. On the other  hand  the  entire Kashmir valley was placed under army rule and the Kashmir police was sent to the barracks by Jagmohan as he  suspected almost all the Kashmiris. Clashes between militants and security forces were the daily occurrences and indiscriminate firings by the security forces in retaliation was resulting into large number of casualties of the innocent people.  Curfew used to be imposed  between 21 to 22 hours daily which was causing great deal of misery and hardship  to the people and this situation continued for several months. Patriotic Indian journalists were crying for blood and asking Governor to block the electricity, water supply and the other essential necessities from reaching the people with a view to discipline them. There were frantic messages to the PUCL and CFD from the people in the valley  requesting for  sending a team to investigate into human rights violation by the security forces.   

It was with the initiative and assistance of Balraj Puri  that a team of PUCL & CFD was formed for the purpose which  visited the valley in the last week of March 1990. The team members were  Justice V.M. Tarkunde (Retd.), Justice Rajinder Sachar  (Retd.),  Balraj Puri, Inder Mohan, Ranjan Dewedi, T.S. Ahuja and myself. On the first day when we were at Hazaratbal in Srinagar in connection with an incident, suddenly 4/5 militants with AK-47 rifles appeared and began to enquire about us and our purpose. Our  local guide conversed with them in Kashmiri. However he told the militants  that we were Christians and not Hindus as he felt afraid that militants might do some harm if they come to know that  team members were Hindus. We did not know Kashmiri but Balraj Puri knew and as soon as he heard the team members being described as Christians he became angry and reprimanded our guide.  He told the militants that we were not Christians but Hindus and that we were not representing the Govt. or any party but were representing Indian Human Rights Organizations and had come to the valley for the cause of 'Insani Haquq'. Militants appeared to be confused and after some deliberations among themselves disappeared from the scene. 

The report which was brought out  by the team exposed the darker side of the rule of Jagmohan at that time and was widely discussed and debated nationally and internationally. Subsequently several  human rights teams used to visit the Kashmir valley and in most of them Balraj puri  either used to be part of the team or adviser. He not only took up the issues of human rights violations in Kashmir but also of Punjab, North-East and other parts of India.

He had deep commitment for human rights issues and  his whole life was a supreme dedication to the cause of secularism.  He has always been a great inspiration to me and many others in the human rights movement.   

ML Update | No. 35 | 2014

ML Update

A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Vol.  17 | No. 35 | 26 AUG - 1 SEP 2014

By-poll Pointers: Early Warning for the Modi Government     

The by-poll results from Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, and earlier from Uttarakhand, have come as a veritable blow to the BJP's political ambitions revolving around the Modi government at the Centre. By-polls are of course by-polls and these have all been assembly by-polls at that. Moreover, except Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, the three other states where by-polls have taken place so far are all ruled by non-BJP governments. Political commentators would therefore naturally plead for caution and refuse to jump to any conclusion as to what the by-polls foretell about the forthcoming round of Assembly elections. But viewed together, the by-polls have definitely sent out an unmistakable early warning to the Modi government.

In Uttarakhand, where the BJP had swept the polls in May, all the three by-poll results have gone in favour of the Congress. In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress has wrested one of the three seats that went for by-polls from the BJP. In Punjab, the Congress has retained the Patiala assembly seat despite losing out to AAP in the Lok Sabha elections. In Karnataka, the Congress has claimed the Bellary rural seat by a massive margin while the BJP has managed to retain the seat held earlier by party strongman and former CM Yeddyurappa only by a slender margin of 4,000 votes (the BJP's lead during the Lok Sabha election from this segment was an astounding 70,000). The most stunning and representative results have come from Bihar where the BJP has managed to win just 4 out of 10 seats – a loss of two seats from its 2010 tally and a much bigger drop of five seats compared to the 2014 LS leads. 

The Bihar results are being generally attributed to the coming together of the JDU and the RJD-Congress combine. While the coalition arithmetic has certainly played a big role in the BJP's defeat, we must note that the BJP's vote share has gone down by as much as 8% (45.3% in the LS polls to 37.3% in August). Not all these votes have gone to the RJD-JDU-Congress alliance whose vote share has increased by 4.6%. The united Left bloc of CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M) has also succeeded in improving its vote share, polling close to 50,000 votes from the 9 seats contested, none of which is  known to be a significant Left stronghold in recent times.

Another round of by-polls is to be held next month in UP and Gujarat before we go for the next big series of Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi. Assembly elections in Bihar are also only little more than a year away. Viewed in this context, the by-poll results clearly mark an early warning against the BJP government at the Centre and the BJP's attempt to enforce its corporate-communal agenda and its unilateral political domination over large parts of the country. There were many takers for Modi's election rhetoric of 'better days' and 'inclusive governance', but today more and more people are expressing their resentment over the post-poll reality of rising prices and escalating communal violence.

It will be most unrealistic to expect the BJP to heed the democratic voice of the people. The BJP only knows how to pay lip-service to democracy in the interest of its ultimate agenda of communal division and corporate tyranny. Communal polarisation played a big part in the BJP's stunning poll victories in UP and the party is working overtime to spread the communal venom in the hope of replicating its UP success across the country. While Modi is busy laying foundation stones and inaugurating projects in poll-bound states, thugs of the Sangh brigade are busy invoking every possible bogey to create chaos and spread communal mischief. It should be noted that even as by-poll results were being announced in Bihar, BJP activists were on a rampage in Ranchi in the name of decrying what they call 'love jihad'.

While serving an early warning to the BJP, the by-poll results have also sent out a message of encouragement for all those who are fighting against the BJP's authoritarian mode of governance and corporate-communal agenda. The Congress or the RJD-JDU-Congress combine may have been the primary electoral beneficiaries of the developing popular mood in the given situation, but the Left must champion the underlying aspirations of the people and emerge as a stronger political force in opposition to both NDA and UPA.

 

Gana Mancha Enquires Into Rape-Murder of CPI(M) Supporter

A seven-member delegation team from Ganamancha, comprising of representatives from all the constituents of Ganamancha – Amalendu Chowdhury, Chandrasmita Chowdhury and Archana Ghatak of CPI(ML) Liberation, Prasenjit Bose, Subhanil Chowdhury of Left Collective, Ajoy Bakshi of MKP, Bodhisatwa Ray of Radical Socialist and others – visited Sunai village in Contai on 21 August for a fact-finding on the barbaric gang-rape, torture and lynching of a woman who was a CPI(M) supporter and the wife of a CPI(M) activist. The team was joined in Contai by the CPI(ML) Liberation's Purba Medinipur leaders Ashish Maity and Sukchand Mandal. The TMC goons who brazenly perpetrated this heinous crime are henchmen of Dipendu Adhikari, the brother of TMC leader and Tamluk MP Suvendu Adhikari.

When the team announced its decision to visit the village, the police at first tried to dissuade them from going there, citing security reasons (that the police will not be able to provide security to anyone who visits the village)! Despite such attempts the team reached the victim's village around noon. An atmosphere of complete terror and silence loomed large and people were terrorized of political backlash to even talk about the matter. The two women members of the delegation, Chandrasmita Chowdhury and Archana Ghatak, spoke at length with the victim's family and her mother-in-law. The delegation also spoke to the victim's husband in Tamluk town, later during the day.

The victim's family members spoke about the long torture they faced from the TMC henchmen. The husband of the victim, who was a local committee member of the CPI(M), had been forced to flee the village along with their young son ever since the TMC came to power in 2011. The victim had been staying with her in-laws since then. The victim worked as an Integrated Child Development Scheme worker. The woman was under continuous threat for her family's political affiliation. On 15th, her brother-in-law was kidnapped by the TMC goons and the family was asked to pay ransom for his release. The TMC men came to their home and beat up all members of the family including her, the sister-in-law and even the old mother-in-law and asked them to pay a huge sum of money (12 lakhs) as "fine" imposed by the TMC men. This so-called "fine" was nothing but a pretext for what was to follow. The men threatened to expect them again. When the victim refused to pay and fled to a nearby village in fear she was forcefully dragged, gang-raped, brutally tortured, and lynched to death. Her body was found hanging from the ceiling in her house. Liquor bottles, an iron rod (with blood stains), chilli powder and pointed objects like safety-pins (purportedly used for torture) were found lying at the place of crime. The TMC men tried to masquerade the lynching as 'suicide' and the police made the brother-in-law write a coerced statement (supervised by the Tamluk IC himself) to hush-up the brutal rape-murder. Before the truth came to everybody's attention, the victim's husband gave the full statement and a hush-up was no longer possible.

During the 2 days (15th to 17th) of kidnap, threat and torture several phone calls were made to the police. But nobody came to rescue till the woman was dead. After the matter came to media spotlight, the police under pressure have arrested three small fries, but the masterminds named by the victim's husband are at large and continue to roam free. This horrifying incident as well as the continuous assault on democracy in West Bengal's villages continues brazenly even as TMC leaders like the infamous MP Tapas Pal and his likes continue to instigate their local henchmen to rape, murder, arson in order to silence all political opposition. This trend has been continuing in Purba Medinipur for long, and all the left activists of the CPI(M), CPI(ML) Liberation and others have been on the receiving end of such attacks.

A more detailed fact-finding report will be released soon. In the days to come, Ganamancha, CPI(ML) and other democratic forces, AIPWA and other women's organizations will jointly take the struggle forward till justice is achieved for the victim. The struggle for democracy and against TMC terror cannot and will not rest in West Bengal.

 

Tea garden workers rally for rights

Thousands of workers from tea gardens affiliated to 22 labour unions of north Bengal organised a rally at Siliguri in Darjeeling on Wednesday demanding a minimum wage structure for workers of tea gardens.

The workers who had assembled from nearly 300 tea gardens in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri , Alipurduar and even from smaller tea gardens of Uttar Dinajpur district walked a three-km stretch in Siliguri town. The representatives of the 22 labour unions submitted a memorandum to the Joint Labour Commissioner, North Bengal Zone. The protests took place in the wake of starvation deaths of workers of locked-out and abandoned tea gardens.

The protest was addressed by Abhijit Mazumdar on behalf of AICCTU, among others.

Below is an excerpt from the memorandum to be submitted to the Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

 

Reclaiming the rights of the tea workers in West Bengal 

India remains the second largest tea producing country in the global arena. Notwithstanding this deep market penetration of the captains of the industry, the huge working population (more than 4 lacs permanent labourers) engaged in the tea sector in West Bengal are rendered impoverished and malnourished, living on a lower than subsistence wage structure and are being deprived of the statutory entitlements due on them as per The Tea Plantation Labour Act, 1951. Presently 6 tea gardens in the Dooars region are lying closed, the resident workers are dying in hordes (the death toll reached beyond 100 in the last 6 months or so) in absence of basic living amenities like food, medical facilities, potable drinking water, access to alternative employment opportunities and minimal wages, suffering from prolonged malnourishment and starvation. The erstwhile managements of all 6 closed tea gardens and scores of purportedly declared sick gardens, as speculators, amassed huge surplus during market booms without spending a farthing either for labour welfare or the rejuvenation of their plantations, and refusing to shoulder the associated social cost or liabilities. They left their gardens leaving the entire working population to their fate, defaulting even on the amount of money to the tune of crores payable to the workers as PF and gratuity.

The very recent report based on a thorough survey of all 276 organised tea gardens, conducted by West Bengal State Labour Department is full of incriminating evidences against the managements of several closed, sick and even open gardens.

The gravity of the prevailing situation warrants a strong and effective intervention on the part of the Central Government machinery to chart out a viable course for immediate opening and revival of the closed tea gardens in West Bengal.

The Tea Plantation Labour Act, 1951 enshrining the basic rights of the working population is rampantly flouted and in the name of revamping the act the planters are pleading to revisit it towards scaling down further such statutory rights vis-à-vis need-based wages (ascertaining the base on 3 consuming units), subsidized rations, proper housing facilities, supply of fuels, medical and educational facilities for the workers and their wards etc.

TPLA ought to be reinforced with vigour and any violation of any sort must be met with penal actions.

The Tea Board of India, formed under the provisions of Tea Act 1953, must ensure its avowed assistance to the tea sector in terms of replantation, rejuvenation of poor yielding and old aged tea-bushes, modernization of operations, spreading popularity of tea domestically and globally, creation of irrigation facility, drainage and transportation facility, assistance of product diversification, improving labour productivity, skill improvement, upgradation, value addition etc. It must look through and monitor that no measure of such assistance be falsified by the planters and engaged in maximizing profit and siphoning off the surplus by adopting unfair means.

 

Palestinian statement on murder of Mike Brown and solidarity with Ferguson

(Even as it comes to light that the weapons deployed by the US cops against black anti-racist protesters in the streets of Ferguson, Palestinians have come out with a statement of solidarity with the people of Ferguson. The statement, posted on Electronic Intifada, was endorsed by a large number of Palestinian Citizens and activist groups.)

We the undersigned Palestinian individuals and groups express our solidarity with the family of Michael Brown, a young unarmed black man gunned down by police on August 9th in Ferguson, Missouri. We wish to express our support and solidarity with the people of Ferguson who have taken their struggle to the street, facing a militarized police occupation.

From all factions and sectors of our dislocated society, we send you our commitment to stand with you in your hour of pain and time of struggle against the oppression that continues to target our black brothers and sisters in nearly every aspect of their lives.

We understand your moral outrage. We empathize with your hurt and anger. We understand the impulse to rebel against the infrastructure of a racist capitalist system that systematically pushes you to the margins of humanity.

And we stand with you.

We recognize the disregard and disrespect for black bodies and black life endemic to the supremacist system that rules the land with wanton brutality. Your struggles through the ages have been an inspiration to us as we fight our own battles for basic human dignities. We continue to find inspiration and strength from your struggles through the ages and your revolutionary leaders, like Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Kwame Ture, Angela Davis, Fred Hampton, Bobby Seale and others.

We honor the life of Michael Brown, cut short less than a week before he was due to begin university.  And we honor the far too many more killed in similar circumstances, motivated by racism and contempt for black life: Ezell Ford, John Crawford, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Tarika Wilson, Malcolm Ferguson, Renisha McBride, Amadou Diallo, Yvette Smith, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Kathryn Johnston, Rekia Boyd and too many others to count.

With a Black Power fist in the air, we salute the people of Ferguson and join in your demands for justice.

Birth Centenary of Late CPI GS Chandra Rajeswara Rao

On 11th August, leaders of left parties addressed a mass gathering in Hyderabad to mark the birth anniversary of the Communist leader, late Comrade Chandra Rajeswara Rao (popularly called CR), who had been General Secretary of the Communist Party of India for 28 years.

In the gathering of thousands, there were some 1500 volunteers in red shirts. On the dais were CPI General Secretary Sudhakar Reddy, CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, senior RSP leader Abani Ray, as well as CPI Secretaries from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and organisers of the Centenary Celebration Committee.

Speaking on the occasion, Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya recalled Comrade CR's participation in the Indian People's Front Vijayawada Conference in February 1992, and his emphasis on militant peasant struggle and movement-oriented Left unity. All the Left leaders hailed Comrade CR's legacy from the Telangana days and in anti-communal mobilisation and stressed the need for broad unity of Left and democratic forces and joint struggles against the Modi regime and the heightened corporate-communal offensive.

On 10th August, an international seminar on 'Social Movement and the role of the Left' was held as part of Centenary celebrations. Representatives from Cuba and Vietnam, and leaders of Communist Party Bangladesh, and Workers Party of Bangladesh addressed it. It was inaugurated by veteran CPI leader AB Bardhan, and Prabhat Patnaik delivered the keynote address. CPI(ML) Liberation CCM Comrade N Murthy also addressed the seminar.

 

OBITUARY

UR Ananthamurthy

We are saddened to hear of the demise of towering Kannada litterateur UR Ananthamurthy. Born in an orthodox Brahmin household, his first novel Samskara was a powerful critique of the hypocrisies of Brahminism. He was one of the pioneers of the Navya movement in Kannada literature. His literary oeuvre includes five novels, one play, eight short-story collections, three collections of poetry and eight more of essays.

In his writing, and as a public intellectual, he was a scathing critic of communal and casteist bigotry, earning him physical assaults as well as threats and abuse. In spite of this, he remained one of the country's most steadfast voices in defence of secular, democratic values. His public stand against the rise of Narendra Modi who personified the fascist danger for him, made him the target of threats to his safety in the past few days. But he continued to defy the threats, declaring that bullies should not be allowed to turn citizens into cowards.

CPI(ML) salutes the memory of UR Ananthamurthy!      

 

Comrade Bishuda

Comrade Bishuda (Biswaranjan Das) of Potiram, South Dinajpur district, veteran of the historic Tebhaga peasants struggle, and former member of Party's West Bengal State Committee died breathed his last in Balurghat hospital. He was 94. He was a key leader of Tebhaga movement in Khanpur region of Dinajpur. He joined CPI(ML) Liberation in 1994. Despite his advanced age and physical ailments, his mental involvement and ideological commitment remained unshaken till the end.

Red Salute to Comrade Bishuda!