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Tehelka and After : Vajpayee Will Have to Go
Corruption charges against the powers that be are nothing new in the Indian republic. Since the Bofors and HDW submarine scandals in the late 1980s, several defence purchase deals have been mired in controversies. Indeed, the Congress is still haunted by the spectre of Bofors. But if the tehelka revelations have still managed to stun the nation, the reasons are perhaps twofold. One, it is the Vajpayee-led NDA government which has now fallen from the high pedestal of its moral pretensions. Two, never before has the country been confronted with such tell-tale evidences of corruption in high places. Planted middlemen representing fictitious firms are videgraphed greasing the greedy palms of the presidents of BJP and Samata Party and a whole chain of defence officials. The government could not dismiss the validity of the tehelka tapes. Heads have begun to roll...
several army officials have been suspended while the political leaders in question have had to resign.
Yet far from initiating criminal proceedings against the guilty, Vahjpayee has proposed to set up a judicial inquiry. The purpose and fate of such inquiries are too well known in this country. Movreover, in the same breath Vajpayee has also said that "no deal is actually struck, no minister is involved", that "the allegations are patently false" and worse, "hurling such allegations is criminal". Then there are the ususal insinuations about ISI and political consipracy to weaken and demoralise India's armed forces. The proposed inquiry would actually be directed against this alleged consipracy. Clearly, Vajpayee's response is characteristic of a power-crazy autocrat who is bent upon suppressing all truths and facts and bending all rules and norms in order to save his throne. The RSS has also taken this opportunity to renew the Ayodhya threat, confronting the country with a 'choice' between tolerating corruption in high places or facing yet another communal bloodbath.
The tehelka tapes leave little room for any inquiry. Vajpayee is right when he says that the cancer of corruption has spread deeper and wider than the defence department. Every disinvestment or foreign investment deal is soaked in megabuck corruption and the PMO serves as the corrupt and extra-constitutional fountainhead supervising the bartering away of India's key national interests for a few dollars more! It is well known that surgical removal of the tumour is key to the treatment of cancer in any part of the human body, and in this case an early removal of the Vajpayee government is the crying need of the hour.
The questions thrown up by the tehelka tapes of course go beyond the government of the day and touch the very core of our rotten state system. We have to question and change the political economy of official secrecy and burgeoning defence budgets. We have to reject the ever louder cries of jingoism and threat to national security. We have to see through the authoritarian propaganda which glorifies the Indian army as the most reliable institutional pilar underpinning our beleagured republic. The call for ouster of the Vajpayee government, therefore, is not an end in itself, it has to be seen as a necessary first step in the direction of far-reaching democratic changes.
For the parliamentary opposition, the tehelka storm only signifies as opportunity to rework the parliamentary arithmetic to come to power. In the Bangalore AICC session, the Congress has already signalled its post-Panchmarhi readiness to embrace coallition politics. Sections of the non-Congress opposition have formed a so-called People's Front, primarily as a bargaining counter to engage the Congress in cobbling a possible post-Vajpayee coalition regime. The job of really invoking and involving the people has to be taken up by revolutionary communists and all others interested in basic democratic changes. While the Sangh Parivar wants to tame the tehelka storm within judicial confines and the parliamentary opposition bargains for small changes through parliamentary pulls and pressures or at best through a palace coup, the issue really lies with the biggest court of the country : the people. And this time round, let the people give a categorical verdict against all the traitors. The people's caravan for change shall not stop midway.
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Party Launches Nationwide Campaign against Corrupt Vajpayee Govt.,
Condemns Cold-blooded Massacre by Police in UP,
Demands Immediate Arrest of Shahabuddin
Reacting to the Prime Minister's brazen self-defence in his televised address to the nation on 17 March, CPI(ML) General Secretary annouced that "We will launch a nationwide campaign from tomorrow, which incidentally is also a historic day, the day the JP movement was launched in 1974".
On Bhawanipur Massacre in UP, Com. Dipankar said, "The March 9 fake encounter of alleged Naxalites in Bhawanipur village of Mirzapur in UP has been conclusively established as a cold-blooded carnage sponsored by brutal administration of Rajnath Singh. ... CPI(ML) is spearheading a democratic protest campaign against this massacre demanding punishment to guilty police officials and a public apology from the Chief Minister. A bandh will be observed as part of this campaign in the three districts of Mirzapur, Sonebhadra and Chandauli on March 21.
Commenting on Shahabuddin-Police encounter in Siwan on 16 March, Com. Dipankar said that "By obstructing the CBI inquiry into the assassination of AISA leader Chandrashekhar the BJP-led central government has been equally guilty of protecting and patronising Shahabuddin as the RJD-Congress government of Bihar. We demand that Shahabuddin and all his accomplices be brought to book forthwith, the CBI inquiry into Chandrashekhar's assassination be expedited and exemplery punishment meted out to the culprits.
Com. Dipankar and Other Leaders Observed Dharna
Demanded Resignation of Vajpayee Government
As part of the nationwide mass campaign demanding resignation of the corrupt Vajpayee government, a massive dharna was organised at Income Tax Roundabout in Patna on 18 March, which was led by Party General Secretary Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya. Other participants included Com. Ramjatan Sharma, Bihar State Party Secretary, Party CC member Com. KD Yadav, Com. Devendra Singh Chauhan, Madhya Pradesh State Convenor of Indo-China Friendship Association, Com. Ramji Rai, Editor of Samkalin Lokyudh, Com. Yogeshwar Gope, President of AICCTU, Com. Rameshwar Prasad, Convenor of Bihar Pradesh Khet Mazdoor Sabha, Ratneshwar Prasad, Advocate, RYA National President Mithilesh Yadav and State Secy. Paramhans Kumar, Party legislators Com. Satyadev Ram and Mehboob Alam, Kisan Sabha leader Shivpujan Yadav, AISA State Secy. Suraj Kumar, Pramod Kumar of Hirawal, Town Committee Secy Com. Manohar and others. The meeting at the dharna was presided over by Com. Kamlesh Sharma, State President of RYA.
Com. Dipankar while addressing the dharna participants said that it was on 18 March that the historic JP movement had started. Many of the so-called inheritors of that movement have today submerged themselves into the mire of corruption, criminalisation and autocracy in the Centre as well as the state. But the great movement for democracy will never forgive even a single traitor. Other leaders said that although the autocratic BJP govt. led by Vajpayee has not accepted to bow out of power, no further proof is needed to show its corruption and treachery. They stand fully exposed.
After the dharna a procession started from there which under the leadership of Com. Dipankar went up to the Radio Station. Participants in the march shouted slogans "Traitor, commission agent Vajpayee, quit the seat of power!" It was announced that the movement will continue and intensify.
Effigy of PM Burnt in Uttarakhand
Demanding resignation of Vajapyee govt. over Tehelka expose, effigy of Prime Minister was burnt at Srinagar and Pithoragarh. In Srinagar it was led by Com. Kailash Pandey, Party spokesperson for Garhwal region, Indresh Maikhuri, President of Garhwal University Students Union, Anuj Bisht and others. In Pithoragarh it was led by Com. Govind Kafalia and Mukesh Pant, AISA leader and Students Union President. A mass meeting was held at Nainital addressed by Uttarakhand Party Incharge Com. Raja Bahuguna, CC member, City Party Secy. Com. Kailash Joshi, Anil Rajwar and others.
March to PMO in Delhi to Protest Corruption in Defence Deals
Protesting against involvement of top BJP-Samata leaders, army top brass and PMO bureaucrats in corruption in defence deals CPI(ML) staged 'March to PMO' on 16 March. Starting from Jantar Manar in Delhi, hundreds of Party activists shouting "Traitor and wheeler-dealer Vajpayee Govt., Step down!" reached Parliament Street Police Station where they were stopped by the police. The agitators held a protest meeting there which was addressed by CC members Com. Swapan Mukherjee, PV Srinivas, Party leaders Rajendra Pratholi, Ranjit Abhigyan, Rajiv Dimri, Santosh Rai and Suneeta. The effigy of Atal Bihari was also burnt. The speakers said that such criminal corruption in defence deals was a treachery amounting to mortgaging national security and sovereignty.
Atal's Effigy Burnt in Mansa of Punjab
On 14 March, several organisations led by CPI(ML) held a protest demonstration against corruption in defence deals at Mansa rail gate and burnt the effigy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. They held a meeting addressed by Com. Rajvinder Rana, Secy. of Punjab state unit, ex-MLA Buta Singh of CPI, Sukhdarshan Natt, Bhagwant Singh Samau, Shivcharan Das and Surinder Singh. Speakers said that it was for the purpose of getting increasingly more kickbacks in the arms deals that the pseudo nationalists provoked jingoism against Pakistan and China. They demanded immediate resignation of the central government led by Atal Bihari.
Effigy Burnt in Patna
Party activists took out a procession on 14 March in Patna demanding resignation of Vajpayee-led government and burnt the effigy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Addressing the protestors, Com. KD Yadav said that it is a stark example of treachery with the nation. Other leaders including Com. Kamlesh Sharma, Anita Sinha of AIPWA, Dhanajay Sharma of AISA, Anil Tiwari of State Party Secretariat etc. also participated in the protest programme.
Statewide Protest in U.P. Against Massacre by Police in Bhawanipur
Protesting against the cold-blooded massacre of 16 rural poor people by police in Mirzapur district on 9 March, three main left parties observed statewide protest day on 14 March. Prior to this, a party team led by CPI(ML) State Secy. Akhilendra Pratap Singh and a PUHR-PUCL group led by Chittaranjan Singh had jointly visited Bhawanipur, the site of the massacre.
The joint dharna at GPO Park, Lucknow on 14 March, was led by CPI(ML) leaders Com. Ambarish Rai and Lal Bahadur Singh, CPI State Secy. Com. Ashok Mishra and CPI(M) State Secy. Com. Ram Sumer Yadav. Protestors demanded registration of cases of murder against culprit police personnel and high level judicial enquiry of the whole episode. The speakers said that Bhawanipur massacre is the outcome of the instruction issued by Rajnath Singh just after assuming power to kill four persons for the killing every policeman. But in this case 16 innocent persons were killed without a single policeman being killed or even seriously injured. The police has killed two students of Class 7 and 9 and instead of handing over the corpse to the relatives has stealthily burnt them. Even identifiaction was not made in a number of cases. So, the chief minister and high officials are directly responsible for this massacre and their role must be probed by a High Court judge.
Paricipatants in the dharna included COI(ML) leader Shabbar Hussain, MK Sherwani of All-India Muslim Forum, Dr. Rooprekha Verma, ex-VC of Lucknow University, literateur and journalists including K.N. Kakkar, Akhilesh Mishra, Ajay Singh, Anil Sinha, Mohan Thapalial, Rakesh of IPTA, Dalit writer Brij Bihari, Com. Ramswaroop, MLA of CPI(M), Alok Bharati of CPI, Socialist leader Vishambhar Vidyarthi and Shobha Singh of AIPWA.
The three left parties launched statewide campaign from 14-21 March culminating in Mirzapur-Sonebhadra-Chandauli bandh on 21 March.
Under this programme, 300 people staged a dharna at Chandauli. Dharna and demonstrations were also organised at Mirzapur, Pilibhit, Ghazipur, Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar and elsewhere.
Karmchari Ekta Manch Formed in Delhi
A workers' and employees' convention was organised at Constitution Club in Delhi on 13 March in which representatives of employee organisations from postal, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL), railway, bank, health, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), Central Govt., Super Bazar, Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB), oil sector, school teachers etc., as well as from General Kamgar Union, Okhla, Jan Adhikar Sangathan, Panipat and Nirman Mazdoor (construction workers) Union participated. After paying homage to people died in Gujarat earthquake and Dhanbad coalmine, leader of health employees Com. Ram Kishan presented the approach paper. Senior postal employees leader RAP Singh in his presidential speech emphasised the need of forging a common forum to fight anti-worker steps of the government which is serving big domestic and global capital. Com. Swapan Mukherjee, Gen. Secy. of AICCTU expressed his hope that this initiative will go a long way to intensify working class movement in the country. The convention elected Com. RAP Singh and Ram Kishan as joint convenors and also elected a 15-member working committee taking representatives from various sectors. The convention decided to soon launch protest campaigns against privatisation of public transport system, increase in electricity rates, BALCO deal and anti-people budget.
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Dharna Demanding PM's Resignation in Delhi
On 18 March, demanding resignation of Prime Minister owning responsibility for corruption in defence deals, CPI(ML) Mandawali unit held a day-long dharna at Laxminagar crossing in Delhi, participated in by around a hundred people. Participants in the dharna were addressed by Com. Rajendra Pratholi, Secy. Delhi State Committee, Ranjit Abhigyan, Central Secretariat member, Suneeta, Mandawali Party Secy., Party leaders Com. Gautam, Himmat Singh, Samundar Paswan, Surjit Panchal, RP Singh, Vimal of Narmada Bachao Andolan, Rajbala of AIPWA, RS Thakur of Bharatiya Jan Adhikar Society. On the same day, around 50 Party supporters burnt the effigy of PM at Haiderpur in West Delhi on the same issue.
Police arrested 9 activists including Party leaders Com. Shashi Bhushan, Mithilesh and Kanhayya at Nathupura in East Delhi on 19 March, when they along with 50 activists and supporters started a dharna on the demand of resignation of Vajpayee-led government and against the decision of withdrawal of non-CNG buses from 1 April and eviction of industries from Delhi.
Dharna in Raiganj, W.B. Against Illegal Occupation
On 8 March, day-long armed people's dharna was staged by the Party at Maharaja More in 6-Rampur area of North Dinajpur district demanding vacating illegal occupation of homestead land by local tyrants and ensuring communal harmony. More than 3,000 people participated in the dharna. It was addressed by Com. Ajit Das, Distt. Secy, Party leaders Com. Ganesh Chhetri, Sushanta Sarkar, Shivani Mandal and Babloo Soren.
UMKS Rally in Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand Mazdoor Kisan Sabha (UMKS) held a 500-strong rally at Dehradun, capital of Uttarakhand, demanding proper legitimising the revenue village status to Bindukhatta, which was rehabilitated by the Party more than a decade ago after a protracted and intense peasant struggle, but revenue village status was not accorded to it. The rally was led by Bahadur Singh Jangi, Convenor of UMKS, Bhuvan Joshi, Anand Singh Sijawali and others.
March to Parliament to be Held on 23 March
Party's Delhi State Committee will hold a massive "March to Parliament" on 23 March, the martyrdom day of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, to demand resignation of the BJP-led Union government in the light of Tehelka expose. All patriotic and democratic forces and personages are requested to join the march. Assemble at Jantar Mantar at 11 a.m.
Third National Conference of AIPWA
The third national conference of All India Progressive Women's Association started at Vidyapati Bhawan in Patna on 17 March. Before the inaugural session thousands of women marched from Hardinge Park in a procession shouting slogans "Nari shakti-Nari Mukti" (women's power would ensure women's liberation) The procession also raised slogans demanding resignation of the anti-national Vajpayee govt. and arrest of the culprits of the defence scams.
The conference was inaugurated by AIPWA National President Srilata Swaminathan and conducted by Saroj Chaubey, State President of Bihar AIPWA. Chief Guest Kalpana Wilson of South Asia Solidarity Group said that globalisation is fast attacking India of which women are the worst victims, first to face mass unemployment. Consumer culture spreading fast in the wake of globalisation has reduced women to the status of a commodity. And in the name of 'Indian culture' women's freedom and protests are being suppressed by forces which are selling the country. She firmly expressed the hope that women's struggles for achieving equal status in an egalitarian society would finally succeed. Ms Margaret of Democratic Socialist Party of Australia in her speech said that women's movement all over the world shared the same commitment to struggle for women's liberation and for replacing the capitalist system by socialist one. AIPWA Gen. Secy. Kumudini Pati, the main speaker, emphasised the importance of holding AIPWA conference in Bihar in the context of assault of feudal forces on women and the latter's resistance. She also said that BJP's sham nationalism stands miserably exposed in the light of current expose. Kavita Krishan, President of AISA, Guni Oraon, a coal worker and CPI(ML) leader of Jharkhand and Dr. Shahida Hasan also addressed the inaugural session. Veteran Geeta Das, former president of AIPWA was felicitated at the occasion.
The second day in the delegate session, debates on issues related to independent identity of women and their rights, organisational issues and future strategy and tactics took place for which Kumudini Pati presented the report. Presidium comprised of Anju Barkataki, Ajanta Lohit, Bhuvana, Chaitali, Jita Kaur, Mina Kumari, Shashi Yadav and Vidya Rajwar. Around 40 delegates participated in the debate. They sharply attacked the BJP-led govt. at the centre for its fascist acts, selling out the country and held that the govt. had no right to stay after tehelka expose. They expressed strong discontent on the attitude of non-left parties on the issue of women's reservation. As reservation to women has not been granted, the forthcoming Panchayat elections in Bihar would be only half-way democratic, they said. In UP, introduction of harvester machines is depriving rural women of employment. Therefore, in the coming cropping season, women under AIPWA banner would launch movement against introdution of harvesters.
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Convention Against Globalisation at Rudrapur in Uttarakhand
A convention on "Impact of Economic Policies of Globalisation and Liberalisation on the society" was organised under the auspices of Jan Ekta Manch, Rudrapur on 18 March. Participated in by around 100 representatives from bank, insurance, education and other service sectors, the convention was conducted by Dev Raj, convenor of Jan Ekta Manch. The main speaker was Com. BB Pandey, who said that after ten years of these policies, people of all walks of life, in fields and factories, in institutions and colleges, have tasted its disastrous consequences and are now rising in protest. Based on this new consciousness an unprecedented countrywide mass movement is in the offing that will not only unseat the powers that be but change the system itself. He said that the present downslide in morality revealed in Tehelka exposure is only because of rejection of the ideals of nationalism and socialism by the rulers and only comprador morality has overtaken the system. The impact of these policies on workers, unemployed, downtrodden and peasantry is simply devastating and our national self-dependence and sovereignty is at stake. As there are no sign that the rulers can go back, the imminent mass upsurge is bound to create a turmoil upturning everything. But for success of this movement the ideological weapon of socialism and nationalism is necessary. Other speakers included Nishan Singh of teachers' front, VM Tiwari of Krantikari Lok Adhikar Sangathan, AISA Uttarakhand Secy. Yogesh Pandey, Rajendra Gupta of CPI, Smt Chandrakanta Nyal, Manoj Gupta, GC Joshi, Dayashankar Rai, Santosh Pandey and others. An appeal was made by the organisers to the participants to take part in National Conference against Globalisation to be held in Delhi on 21-23 march and hold a joint demonstration on 1 May under Jan Ekta Manch banner.
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