In this Issue
Signals from Vijayawada and Lalgarh –
Challenges before Revolutionary Communists
- Dipankar Bhattacharya
Contrary to media speculations predicting a veritable showdown between the so-called Bengal line and central line in the CPI(M), the Vijayawada ‘mini-Congress’ of the CPI(M) ahead of the crucial West Bengal and Kerala polls of 2011 turned out to be a rather tame affair, saving the real fireworks maybe for a later-day post-mortem. The much-hyped ‘rectification campaign’ was quietly forgotten and the revived ‘anti-Congressism’ on the national level was carefully calibrated by Prakash Karat himself with his remark ‘never say never’ regarding a possible future alliance with the Congress. And of course, weaning the Congress away from the TMC remains the ultimate tactical dream of the comrades in both Alimuddin Street as well as AKG Bhavan.
The Vijayawada session adopted a special resolution on West Bengal and Kerala which seeks to once again describe the CPI(M)-led governments in these two states as products of history and decades of struggles. The resolution would like to appropriate every development in these states – from increased rice production to reduced infant mortality – as a CPI(M) achievement, and demand popular sympathy as a besieged and beleaguered victim at the receiving end of a grand conspiracy of the ruling classes. Imperialism, the Indian big bourgeoisie, foreign-funded NGOs, the corporate media, the Maoists and the ‘so-called intelligentsia’ are apparently all colluding to oust the CPI(M) from power because of the CPI(M)’s opposition to neo-liberal policies.
What the resolution does not do is to explain the paradox as to why and how most of these conspirators who were all praise for the CPI(M) model in West Bengal till the other day suddenly turned against it. The DFID, ADB and World Bank have been closely involved in both West Bengal and Kerala; Ratan Tata’s press conference with Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the full-page newspaper advertisement praising the dynamism of CPI(M)-ruled West Bengal are too recent to fade from even the proverbially short-lived public memory; and the corporate media’s love affair with the charming ‘Buddhadeb Babu’ and the Bengal intelligentsia’s organic ties with the ‘ministry of culture’ administered personally by the ‘culture’-loving Chief Minister have never been a secret.
Regarding Kerala, the resolution talks of the threat of fundamentalist forces and an anti-CPI(M) ganging up of casteist and communal forces. Here again, the CPI(M) is silent about its own selective policies of covert and even overt alliances with the same casteist and communal forces. In the last election, the CPI(M) was busy courting some Muslim organisations and now the CPI(M) Chief Minister invokes Hindu fears and prejudices by talking of a conspiracy to turn Kerala into a Muslim-majority state! The Vijayawada resolution is eloquent in its attempt to project the CPI(M) as a great champion of the democratic rights of the Muslims, but conspicuously silent about its own Chief Ministers (both in West Bengal and Kerala) periodically invoking the communal prejudices propagated and nurtured by the RSS whether in the name of combating Bangladeshi infiltration, fundamentalism or terrorism.
Clearly, as long as the going was good, the CPI(M) never adopted a resolution to explain all this in the light of the glorious communist legacy it claims to inherit and follow! Today when the tide has turned, the CPI(M) is trying to fall back on history and portray itself as a beleaguered victim of a grand anti-communist offensive. The CPI(M) says the ruling classes never gave up their conspiratorial offensive, but how come they are able to sway the people today in a way they could never in the recent past? The resolution says the CPI(M) has detected a few errors in its system and is fixing them and the people can once again trust the CPI(M) establishment. So much for the CPI(M)’s grand ‘rectification’ rhetoric!
But if one reads between the lines, the truth does have its own way of asserting itself here and there – the main resolution, for instance, has this to say with regard to strengthening the CPI(M)’s independent role: “The Party’s work among the basic classes should be given priority. The lag in the work amongst the peasantry and the rural poor in building class and mass struggles has to be overcome. … This is necessary to give a struggle orientation to the organization.” Here one can read the confession of fear of a party which knows it has only been paying lip-service to the idea of struggle and is facing serious isolation from the basic classes. But giving ‘a struggle orientation to the organisation’ is not a linguistic question – it has never been achieved just by inserting two sentences and paragraphs in resolutions which are otherwise mortally afraid of facing up to the truth.
While the CPI(M) was busy brainstorming in Vijayawada, on August 9 Mamata Banerjee held a professedly ‘apolitical’ rally at Lalgarh accompanied by the likes of Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh, addressing masses mobilised primarily by the Maoist-backed PCAPA. Her address was meant primarily for the Maoists – she asked them to rethink their boycott strategy (which she says only benefits the CPI(M)), promised them ‘development’ (school, hospital and jobs for all in railway factories!) and dialogue, hinted at a possible conditional moratorium on the operation of joint forces and had a word of grief for the killing of Azad (“the way Azad was killed was not right”). The CPI(M) keeps asking the Congress to explain Mamata’s ties with the Maoists – but she is merely pursuing the strategy already perfected by the Congress in Andhra Pradesh. The Maoists had readily played ball in Andhra and paid a heavy price. They seem to be ready to repeat the course in West Bengal, busy as they are eulogising Mamata even as her government spearheads the Operation Green Hunt.
Mamata Banerjee has been around in West Bengal politics for several decades, her dramatic rise began as a young Congress MP way back in 1984, but her brand of maverick populism never really got a broad support in rural Bengal as well as among the urban intelligentsia till Singur and Nandigram happened. Ever since, she has acquired an iconic status as the only immediate alternative to a thoroughly discredited and considerably degenerated CPI(M) establishment in West Bengal. While all kinds of forces are marketing her as the personification of change (Swami Agnivesh, for instance, concluded his 9 August speech at Lalgarh with the categorical exhortation “Naya Zamana Aayega, Mamata Banerjee ka Zamana Aayega” – Bengal will witness the birth of a new era, the era of Mamata Banerjee), revolutionary communists will have to summon all their perseverance and courage to expose and challenge her politics precisely on the touchstone of ‘change’ – the most popular political word in Bengal today.
The CPI(M) is not wrong in talking of a concerted anti-Left offensive on the part of the ruling classes. But it is surely wrong in hoping that it could selectively use one part of the offensive (Operation Green Hunt – the entire CPI(M) resolution is not only conspicuously silent about it but also tacitly endorses it) for its own benefit (the CPI(M) talks so much about the semi-fascist terror of the 1970s but has hardly learnt anything from it). And the CPI(M) is completely dishonest about what has triggered the anti-Left offensive – what has enabled the ruling classes to go on the offensive is not the CPI(M)’s professed opposition to neo-liberalism, but its readiness to embrace it even at the risk of alienating and antagonising the peasantry and the working people.
The CPI(M) will have to pay the price for its opportunist sins and revolutionary communists can have no sympathy for it on this score. Any meaningful defence of the legacy and gains of the Indian communist movement and resistance to the anti-Left offensive of the ruling classes at this critical juncture imperatively calls for a firm and decisive struggle against the CPI(M)’s opportunism.
Excerpts from CC Circular
The Central Committee of the Party met in Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh) on 1-3 August and took stock of the unfolding situation and various initiatives and ongoing efforts by the Party. The deliberations and decisions of the CC, as well as some of the political resolutions adopted are summarized below.
Present Situation and our Tasks:
The CC discussed various aspects of the unfolding national situation and our response and tasks, with special emphasis on the following issues: rising prices and the question of food security and wage increase, the popular protests and brutal repression in Kashmir, corruption (CWG scam, illegal mining scam in Karnataka, treasury fraud in Bihar), the rising feudal-patriarchal violence manifested in the form of ‘honour killings’, Operation Green Hunt, and the battle against forcible land acquisition and for land reforms. CC resolutions on these and other specific issues are below.
The CC welcomed the growing mass anger and protests against the UPA government as reflected in a series of recent strikes. The UPA-II is already engulfed in a growing crisis of credibility and conditions are ripe for all-out mass initiatives and struggles. The forthcoming September 7 strike called by central trade unions assumes considerable significance in this context and we must take this opportunity to mobilize larger sections of the working class and intensify the campaign against the callous, corrupt and repressive UPA government. Student-youth comrades must get actively involved in the strike campaign.
Bihar Elections and our Preparation:
On the eve of the forthcoming Assembly elections, Bihar politics has been rocked by a massive scam of unaccounted withdrawals from the state treasury. The CAG reports that formed the basis of the Patna High Court order of a CBI probe – a verdict that has subsequently been stalled by the same court – have revealed not only huge amounts of unaccounted withdrawals (for every 100 withdrawals not even 10 bills have been submitted during Nitish Kumar’s much trumpeted reign of ‘good governance’ and for every Rs. 100 withdrawn from the treasury only around 5 Rs. have been accounted for) but also fraudulent withdrawals related to virtually every scheme of rural development and people’s welfare.
In rural Bihar, people have been acutely aware of numerous leakages in development schemes and loot of public money in panchayats and blocks and the Nitish Kumar government has been increasingly identified with an increasingly corrupt and unaccountable bureaucracy. The CAG revelations and High Court order have corroborated this public perception and exposed the rot at the top. The Bihar state committee has already initiated a month-long mass campaign in August to take this issue to the people in a big way.
The entire party in Bihar must gear up for an aggressive election campaign against the Nitish government’s reign of loot and lies, exposing his ‘secular’ and ‘pro-mahadalit’ pretensions. Nitish Kumar’s alliance with the BJP – the number one feudal and communal party in Bihar and India – dates back to the mid-1990s when in the wake of the demolition of Babri Masjid, most opposition parties refused to have any truck with the BJP and yet Nitish Kumar seeks to project himself as a friend of the oppressed poor and the minorities.
The Congress is trying to use its central power to improve its political fortunes in Bihar, but not much of revival of the Congress is noticeable on the ground. The RJD-LJP combine is sticking together and running a powerful campaign, but as of now there is little general support for these discredited parties. Our recent political initiatives have been quite successful and we must keep up the tempo and make the fullest possible assertion of our mass strength as the growing Left pole in Bihar politics. The CC appeals to all members, committees and friends of the Party to contribute generously to the Party’s Bihar election campaign fund.
Other Election-bound States:
Jharkhand is currently under President’s Rule, and the Assembly is kept in suspended animation. But chances of any government being formed appear quite remote and the state may in all likelihood be headed towards another round of elections. We must remain fully ready for such an eventuality.
Elections to the Assemblies of West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are also due before the middle of next year and chances of elections being advanced by a few weeks or months cannot be ruled out. We must therefore step up our preparations in all these states. Now that the TMC is smelling power, it has conveniently forgotten all the specific issues like land acquisition, political terror and state repression; in fact reports from Nandigram show that it is now the TMC which is resorting to terror to stop even the Congress from holding meetings in the area. At this hour of transition we must remain firm and use every opportunity to expose the TMC’s populist pretensions. The response generated by the July 15 Singur march has once again demonstrated the potential of the unresolved issues and we must keep up the momentum.
In Assam and Tamil Nadu, the Party has identified a set of constituencies for special attention and efforts are on to strengthen the Party’s overall work in these areas.
CC Resolutions on Issues of Major Current Concern
Ongoing Repression against Mass Resistance in Kashmir
The killing of Kashmiri protestors due to firing by security forces on mass protests continues unabated; in the past two months, nearly fifty civilians have lost their lives, many of them children and youth. Meanwhile the mass resistance of the people of Kashmir continues to swell and spread with every instance of killing of a young person in the massacre on the streets. The participation of the mass of women, as well as youth from all sections of Kashmiri society is a significant and visible feature in this struggle.
The UPA Government's response to this situation has only intensified the alienation and anger of the Kashmiris. The Home Minister, while praising the security forces for their 'restraint,' has laid down the condition that Kashmiris must cease to protest if any dialogue is to be initiated. A Government that makes the cessation of protest a precondition for addressing the grievances of the protestors ought to surrender all claims of democratic governance. The UPA Government's policy of deliberate denial of the legitimacy and authenticity of the Kashmiris' protest is adding fuel to the fire of their anger.
We demand immediate and unconditional beginning of talks with the Kashmiri people, immediate withdrawal of troops from Kashmir, an admission by the Central Government of the long history of rights violations and denial of justice in Kashmir, and speedy action against the security personnel implicated in the range of fake encounters, disappearances, tortures and killings.
Intensify Protest against Price Rise,
Make September 7 All India Workers’ Strike a Great Success
People's resentment against price rise, in particular against the Centre's decision to deregulate petrol and hike prices of fuel and cooking gas, has been powerfully expressed in a variety of recent popular protests. Protest calls – whether the July 7 All India Rural Strike called by the CPI(ML) or the July 5 Bharat Bandh called by NDA, CPI-CPIM and other opposition parties – have received a widespread response from people.
The conduct of the parliamentary Opposition parties, however, is a far cry from meeting the aspirations of the people on this burning issue. The current session of Parliament began with Opposition parties, including the NDA, the CPI-CPIM and the RJD making a great show of uncompromising determination to corner the Congress and the UPA Government on price rise. They declared that they would not budge from their demand of a debate and a vote on the issue of price rise on the floor of Parliament. But what began with a bang has ended with a whimper, with these parties capitulating to agree on a tame resolution expressing consideration for the "inflationary pressure on the economy" and urging the government "to take further action to contain its adverse impact on the common man."
Further, the parliamentary Opposition withdrew its posture of protest without any effort to force the Government to withdraw the policy measures that have intensified the assault of price rise. The run-up to the September 7 Strike is a good time to intensify the struggles against price rise on the streets while indicting the Government and exposing the betrayal of the range of parliamentary opposition parties on price rise.
Resistance to Land Grab and Repression
The death of four persons in police firing on the peasants’ resistance to corporate land grab at Sompeta in Andhra Pradesh is the latest reminder that governments of all hues continue to deploy repression against people’s struggles while condoning the illegalities committed by corporations.
Recently however, people’s movements have scored some victories. At Sompeta, the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA), following the firing, quashed the environment clearance which had previously been granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to the NCC and ordered that no new power project be approved in AP till a survey of all wetlands is completed. At Jagatsinghpur (Orissa), too, the MoEF has ordered a halt to land acquisition for the POSCO project, alleging violations of the Forest Rights Act. A similar recommendation in the case of the Vedanta project at Niyamgiri in Orissa is said to be in the offing.
While the MoEF’s decisions are a welcome response to powerful people’s struggles, the question does arise how the MoEF granted clearance in the first place to these projects, in spite of the violations of the laws that the MoEF now concedes?
Expressing solidarity with the ongoing people’s struggles against corporate land grab and state repression, we demand a halt to the POSCO and Vedanta projects and criminal prosecution of officials guilty of fudging facts and granting illegal clearance to projects.
Telangana By-elections
The results of the recent by-elections in Telangana have confirmed the overwhelming mood and aspirations of people for a separate state of Telangana. In the by-elections – popularly perceived as a mini-referendum on Telangana statehood – the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) swept 11 out of the 12 constituencies, while the Congress and TDP drew a blank. The rout of the Congress indicates the groundswell of resentment at the vacillation of the ruling party on its promise of statehood. The Srikrishna Committee is due to present its report by December 2010 – if the Congress Government at State and Centre is seen to be stalling on implementation of its promise, the region is set to witness a resurgence of people’s protests on the issue. We demand that the UPA Government honour its promise and take immediate and concrete steps towards creation of a separate state of Telangana.
Bellary and Mining Loot
The Karnataka Lokayukta’s resignation in protest against government complicity with illegal mining in the State (notwithstanding his subsequent withdrawal of the resignation) has again brought the issue of corporate-political nexus in mining loot to centre-stage. The Karnataka Government has announced a ban on export of iron ore – but this measure can hardly curb the unrestrained power enjoyed by mining corporates like the Reddy brothers of Bellary, who are ministers in the BJP government in the State. The Lokayukta’s revelations of massive mining loot and the stranglehold of corporate criminals on governance give impetus to the demand for nationalisation of mining and an end to corporate loot of mineral resources.
Sohrabuddin Case and Amit Shah’s Arrest
The arrest of a senior member of Modi’s cabinet in the BJP Government of Gujarat for his role in the fake encounter of a small-time criminal Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausar Bi is a welcome step in the direction of truth and justice.
Shah’s arrest has caused a furore in the BJP because his arrest brings the whole matter of fake encounters to the door of the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The facts indicate that Shah headed an extortion racket in which Sohrabuddin was a pawn, and that the latter was eliminated when his utility was exhausted. The Gujarat police and government capitalised on this murder by passing it off as an encounter with a terrorist. Kausar Bi was reportedly raped and then killed to silence her, as was another eyewitness Tulsiram Prajapati.
The stubborn opposition of the BJP and the Gujarat Government to the CBI probe and Amit Shah’s arrest marks a panic reaction in the BJP camp. The Narendra Modi government has no right to continue in office and must resign forthwith. There can be no real justice to victims of communal violence and state terror in Gujarat as long as the Modi government is in power.
WikiLeaks Revelations:
Truths about US War in Afghanistan Exposed
The whistleblower website WikiLeaks has recently published thousands of classified US military documents pertaining to the US war in Afghanistan. The documents reveal evidence of widespread killings of civilians and violations of human rights by US troops and their allies.
In India, the reaction to the leaks has focussed on the revelation of the role of Pakistan’s ISI in funding the Taliban, with Indian policymakers and analysts using the news to demand that the US corner Pakistan on its role in supporting terrorism. The leaked information however clearly implies that the US is aware of the fact that while it is supposedly waging war on the Taliban in Afghanistan, the same Taliban is receiving funds siphoned to it by Pakistan, which itself receives massive US funding too! The information thus once again exposes the organic role of US money and state support in the proliferation of Taliban-type terrorism.
In the light of the revelations, there is no ground either for the continuation of the US war in Afghanistan, or for the Indian support to the US presence in Afghanistan. We demand an immediate end to the US occupation of Afghanistan and the UPA government’s continuing support to the US-led war in Afghanistan.
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