CPI(ML) HOME Vol.10, No. 6 6 - 12 FEB 2007

The Weekly News Bulletin of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)(Liberation)

U-90, Shakarpur, Delhi 110092. Tel: (91)11-22521067. Fax(91)11-22518248

 
In this Issue

Kashmir: Killing Fields of 'Security' Forces

Last month, the Army Chief of Staff J J Singh announced a set of 'Ten Commandments' for force involved in counter-insurgency operations – injunctions not to rape or molest, torture to kill or maim, and so on. Visiting Manipur on the eve of impending elections, Sonia Gandhi has repeated the by-now jaded 'hint' that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act may be 'humanised' or even lifted from Manipur. 
The graveyards of Ganderbal in the killing fields of Kashmir tell another story. For the past week, TV screens and newspapers have carried images of bereaved families and angry villagers of Kashmir protesting against systematic, cold-blooded staged 'fake encounter' killings of innocent people by the police and army in Kashmir. The bodies of five people have been exhumed – those of Abdul Rehman Paddar (a carpenter), Nazir Ahmad Deka (a perfume vendor), Ali Mohammad Padroo (a government employee), Ghulam Nabi Wani and Showkat Ahmad Khan (a former Imam). The Ganderbal police force and the Rashtriya Rifles (a Counter Insurgency unit of the Army) are implicated in the killings, which all roughly took place between March and October last year. All the victims had been passed off as 'top-level' militants, 'Pakistani commanders of LeT' and the like. 
These killings were not 'blunders'; the victims were not 'mistaken' to be terrorists – they were ordinary Kashmiris, from poor village families, cold-bloodedly picked up at random to be killed as 'Pakistani militants' to earn police officers awards. In at least one case, the victim was lured into police clutches with the promise of a job. The vulnerability and desperation of Kashmiri citizens was ruthlessly exploited to force them to be fodder for the 'counter-insurgency' racket. 
While there is deafening silence from the UPA Government, the police, Army and State Government are of course trying to pass off the incidents as an 'aberration'. Kashmiri people know better. Winding queues can be seen outside the headquarters of the J&K Police, of families of thousands of disappeared people hope against hope to find the dead bodies of their loved ones.
Fake encounters and 'disappearances' of Kashmiri youth passed off as 'militants' are a daily phenomenon in the Valley. According to the Association of Parents of the Disappeared (APDP), over 8000 people disappeared between 1990 and 2005 alone. Even the State Governments have from time to time admitted to several thousands of disappearances. One particularly infamous episode was that of the killing at Pathribal during Clinton's visit, when security forces claimed to have killed five militants responsible for the Chittisingpora massacre. Protests forced an investigation, which revealed that the 'militants' were ordinary villagers picked up from the Anantnag district and shot dead in cold blood.    
Since 1990, the AFSPA has been operational in J&K, which empowers any commissioned or non-commissioned officer in the Army a license to kill at their own discretion – and protects them from legal prosecution. This impunity coupled with immense power enjoyed by the Indian Army – the power of life and death – over the Kashmiri population enables and encourages such human rights abuses. (The level of impunity can be gauged by the fact that the very same Ganderbal SP Parihar who has been arrested after the recent revelations, was not arrested for the abduction and murder of a young photographer in 1997, despite orders by the Human Rights Commission in April 2000 and High Court in October 2003. The fact is that the very policy of the Indian State towards Kashmir – a policy that crushes underfoot the aspirations, lives and voices of the Kashmiri people – is an abuse of justice and human rights.
Clearly, terror-tactics and murders masked as encounters are routine for the security forces. The Ganderbal exhumations reveal that the security forces in Kashmir are capable of picking up villagers (not on suspicion, not on any charges, but simply because they could). For thousands of such ordinary Kashmiris, Mohammad Afzal's cry that he was tortured and made a pawn by the STF is a cry from their own heart, a cry that echoes the daily nightmare that constitutes life for them and their loved ones.
The fact is that repeated 'commandments' by Army top brass, as well as statements by the Prime Minister promising an end to 'excesses' by the armed forces are not enough – and ordinary people in Kashmir and vast areas of the North East are living under siege. Systematic state terror in these regions can only be ended with the withdrawal of the Army and scrapping of the AFSPA. This is a necessary precondition for a political solution to Kashmir. 

Cadre Convention in Patna

A state level cadre convention was organised by Bihar state unit of the Party on 5 Feb. in Patna which concluded with a resolve to make the forthcoming Inquilab Rally to be held in Delhi on 23 March, the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, a historic event. More than a thousand party leaders and activists, up to block level, took part in the convention. The convention began after paying homage to the departed leader Comrade Ajanta Lohit and others.
Comrade Dipankar was the main speaker in the Convention. He said that the Inquilab Rally is being organised on the historic occasion of 150th anniversary of the first war of independence of 1857, the birth centenary of Shahid-e-Azam Bhagat Singh and 40th anniversary of great heroic struggle of Naxalbari and we must pour in every effort to make this event a great success. He reminded the participants of current political scenario where, at international scene, people in Iraq are waging a struggle despite the heavy presence of American occupation army in that country and even after Saddam Hussain has been hanged. Our rally must reflect the sentiment that the people of India are at the fore front of the struggle against the US imperialism, he added. Speaking on the ten-points people's charter that will be presented to the Govt. of India through the 23 March Rally, he said that this charter is basically a programme of people's struggle against the UPA Govt.'s anti-people policies and its manipulation of the Common Minimum programme. We have to organise and intensify the struggles for withdrawal of SEZ policy and to see that the agricultural land remains with the peasants. We have to struggle to stop the farmers' suicides and starvation deaths, to fully implement the NREGA, and to ensure a legal and constitutional right to education, health and employment for every citizen. We will also have to wage a militant struggle for the rehabilitation of project displaced people and against the displacement of tribals and rural poor, to stop the violent attacks on dalits, adivasis, women and minorities, to demand the scrapping of draconian laws and of Indo-US Nuclear Deal among other issues.
He deplored the fact that parties like CPI and CPI(M) have not opposed the SEZ Act inside the Parliament when it was brought into force in 2005, and said  that, when people are raising their voices against the Special Economic Zones from every corner of the country and valiant resistance struggles have forced the government to temporarily halt its implementation, Narendra Modi and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya both are looking equally perturbed. The pseudo-left now stands exposed in Nandigram of Bengal.
The question of land, whether its land reform or grabbing land from peasants, has become an important issue today. It is an irony that government takes permission before seizing lands from the landlords but it snatches land of poor peasants without their consent and does not feel any need to properly rehabilitate them. He said that the time is over for the Mandal-Kamandal era and the basic issues of the people are coming to the fore. The people are desperately looking for an alternative and the ruling classes are trying hard to divert them from their quest and making every effort to limit the ongoing struggles encompassing a wider spectrum into a limited sphere. He cautioned against this conspiracy and called upon to intensify and broaden the people's movement on basic issues.
Condemning the tendencies among some streams of dalit and minority politicians of seeking places in ministries and starving for getting accommodated into the existing power structure, he said that it is the time we should strengthen the struggles of these sections for land, dignity and rights and hailed the fact that Indian muslims are waging a relentless struggle against US imperialism in a country where they faced tragedies like Babri Masjid and Gurajat carnage. He also cautioned against the pseudo-leftists and pseudo-socialists who are following the footsteps of Congress and the BJP respectively and called upon to hold high the flag of socialism against such forces.
Bihar State Secretary of the Party Comrade Nand Kishore Prasad, while addressing the convention, declared to hold a massive rally of agricultural workers and peasants before the State Assembly on 23 February and said that various movemental initiatives will be undertaken at grassroots as part of the preparations for the 'Inquilab Rally'. Convention was also addressed by Polit Bureau member Ramjatan Sharma, AIALA National President Rameshwar Prasad, AIALA General Secretary Dhirendra Jha, and others. District Secretaries of Samastipur, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Mujaffarpur, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan, Vaishali, Jahanabad, Arwal, Gaya, Aurangabad, Buxar, Rohtas, Kaimur, Bhojpur, Purnea, Katihar, Bhagalpur, Begusarai, Patna rural and Patna city also addressed the Convention. Comrade Ramji Rai conducted the proceedings.
The Convention concluded after passing the resolutions demanding scrapping of Indo-US Nuclear deal and SEZ Act 2005, to stop land acquisitions, to rehabilitate all displaced people, and to implement NREGA, etc. The Convention condemned the Nitish Kumar Govt. for its criminal neglect in implementation of NREGA and continuing starvation deaths in Bihar and for neglecting the real issues of the people. The convention vehemently condemned the RSS and BJP for terming the people's movements going on under the red flag as terrorist and reminded of their betrayal of the freedom movement and their imperialist leanings. The convention pledged to take the message of 'Our country, Our history, Our freedom, Our rights' campaign to every corner of the country and termed the ruling classes' attempts of forgetting the legacy of 1857 and birth centenary of Bhagat Singh as an act of betrayal with the people of the country.

CPI(ML) to Intensify Countrywide Resistance against Corporate Land-Grab Campaign

(handout issued by CPI(ML) General Secretary DipnakarBhattacharya and Orissa State Secretary Khitish Biswal at press conference held at Nagbhushan Bhawan, Bhubaneswar, on 31 January, 2007)
CPI(ML) congratulates the people of Kalinganagar for continuing their resistance and reiterates its full support for the just struggle of Kalinganagar. In the last twelve months the Naveen Patnaik government of Orissa has done absolutely nothing to address the burning demands of the Kalinganagar people. There can be no settlement of the Kalinganagar agitation till the key demands like "land for land" and punitive action against killer officials and ministers are met.
It is deplorable that instead of restraining the government from the ongoing pro-corporate land-grab camapign, the Orissa High Court is egging the government to uphold the interest of the Tatas at the expense of the just demands and rights of the aggrieved people of Kalinganagar. The judiciary has never taken the government to task for non-fulfilment of land reforms and continuing shame of starvation in the KBK region. But the same judiciary is now directing the government to go all out to serve corporate interests.
Kalinganagar has ignited a national debate and it has inspired the people in other parts of the country to stand up in favour of their land rights. From Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal, people have everywhere shown great courage and spirit to defend their land and democratic rights in the face of brutal state repression. CPI(ML) is determined to intensify this movement and press for complete repeal of the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 and SEZ Act, 2005.
A massive Inquilab rally  will be held in Delhi on 23 March, the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, to assert the people's inalienable right to land and liberty. The rally will also press for immediate extension of the Employment Guarantee Act to the whole of India to cover both rural and urban unemployment.
In Orissa, the CPI(ML) has also resolved to intensify the ongoing movement for land redistribution, effective rehabilitation of all displaced people, strict implementation of the Employment Guarantee Act and against corruption and violation of democratic rights. Party activists are contesting the Februrary panchayat elections with the purpose of using the panchayats as a platform for intensification of the movement in this direction.

Construction Workers Demonstrate in Delhi

The Building Workers' Union, AICCTU and AIPWA held a protest demonstration in front of the Delhi Secretariat on Feb. 1 to press for the demand of BPL Cards to all workers in unorganised sector and that the membership of these workers with their respective unions or their registration with the Building Workers Welfare Board be treated as their proof of identity. Protesters also demanded strong punishment to the dealers and officials found guilty of corruption in the PDS. It was also demanded to raise the quota under PDS so that every person of a family must get at least 10 Kg. of food grain per month and that the 'Antyodaya' and BPL Schemes be merged and the prices be kept a Rs. 2 per kg. for wheat and Rs. 3 per Kg. for rice. Delhi State Secretary of CPI(ML) Rajendra Pratholi and Building Workers' Union leader VKS Gautam addressed the protesters and said that the Congress Govt. in Delhi is giving priority to shopping malls, multiplexes, flyovers, etc by undermining the issues of lakhs of poor families living in the city.

Obituary

Red Salute to Comrade Ajanta Lohit

Comrade Ajanta Lohit (nee Nandi) was born on 5 September 1957 in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. Ajanta did her schooling in Kuchaikot, Gopalganj, then Goriakothi in Siwan, in Daltonganj, and Bachchwara in Begusarai. She completed her B.A. in Med. History, Sociology and Political Science in 1978 and L.L.B. in 1981 from Banaras Hindu University.
Comrade Ajanta had joined the AISF while she was in BHU. She became the State Vice President of AISF in 1979. She contested Student elections in BHU in 1979, 1980 and 1981. She joined the NFIW in 1983. She had been elected as Gopalganj President of the organization too. She joined Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan in UP in 1992 and was elected National Secretary of AIPWA in 2000 and again in 2003.
She had been founder member of the IPTA in 1988 in Basti district. She went to jail in the "Job or Jail" movement in 1980 for the first time. In 1996, Comrade Ajanta Lohit contested for the Mahona Vidhan Sabha Seat in Lucknow. Even after her first bout with breast cancer, she was imprisoned for a week while taking part in the Shaheed Mela in 2002 at Faizabad. She was again arrested in Lakhimpur Kheri on the issue of foodgrain scam in 2003. Even in her very last few weeks, she enthusiastically participated in demonstrations against Saddam Husseins execution, against the Nithari killings.    
 Comrade Ajanta Lohit had been inspired to join the Communist movement by her (primary) school teacher; who was under the influence of Naxalism and was also an atheist and also by her father Dr. Radharaman Nandi, who was also a Marxist and who was the President of the IPTA, Gopalganj Unit.
Comrade Ajanta was the Secretary of the Lucknow unit of the CPI (ML) and had been State Committee member from 1998 onwards.  Besides CPI(ML) work she also participated in plays and while in Gopalganj she was the President of the Bahurupi Natya Sanstha.  She had also been the Vice President of the Gopalganj Bar Council.
She was National Executive Member of the Jan Sanskrit Manch and a voracious reader and prolific  writer too. Her  articles have been published in Aadhi Zameen, Lokyuddha, Women's Voice and other journals. She was incharge of the Lenin Pustak Kendra in Lucknow and was member of the committee responsible for Party Publications at State Level.
Comrade Ajanta first suffered breast cancer in 2001 and underwent treatment for many months. But the disease spread to the liver in 2006. She underwent 6 chemotherapy sessions and was declared cured in December 2006 by AIIMS. The disease again raised its ugly head in January 2007 and this time was told by PGI that no further treatment was possible. She had to take recourse to Ayurvedic treatment under the HUMA Cancer Society, But she went into coma on the 29 of January. On the 2nd of February, Ajanta succumbed in her struggle against the disease at 3 pm.
Com Ajanta was a valiant fighter and her struggle during her best days, during her days of illness and even in the face of death will continue to inspire millions of people all over the world for all time.
Red Salute to Comrade Ajanta Lohit ! 

Comrade Hare Ram Paswan

Comrade Hare Ram Paswan passed away on 29 January '07 . He succumbed to a brain haemmoreage. He played an important role in organising and building the party in Darbhanga since its very beginning and was a leading figure in the organisation. He was very much respected among comrades for his relentless effort in organisation building as well as his unique quality of being integrated to the rural poor and the landless. He hailed from a landless peasant family but his understanding of Marxist ideology was remarkable and he always adhered to the Marxist positions and the party line even amidst the most vulnerable times of castiest politics.
We will always remember him for his revolutionary qualities and he will remain a source of inspiration for the younger comrades.
Red Salute to Comrade Hare Ram!

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

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