Jammu Must Not Lead to Another Kargil

Words can scarcely be strong enough to condemn the recent spate of killings in Jammu. One can understand the violence in the valley, the clashes between the militants and the security forces. But the killings of innocents in Jammu and that too on a communal basis defy all logic. The mainstream of the secessionist movement in Kashmir has never been communal. Indeed, the Kashmir valley has witnessed very little communal violence over the last one decade of secessionist insurgency. It is well known that the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley was instigated and manipulated by Mr. Jag Mohan when in a thoroughly ill-advised move he was sent to Srinagar as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir by the VP Singh Government in 1989. Clearly, the Jammu killings must be the handiwork of armed groups which are bent upon communalising the Kashmir problem. Ironically, such killings work to the advantage of the states in both India and Pakistan as well as Washington. Indiscriminate killings of innocent people, mostly Hindus and Sikhs, in Jammu enable the Sangh Parivar to present the entire Kashmir question as a kind of grand anti-Hindu communal conspiracy. It makes it so much easier for the saffron jingoists to whip up their brand of communal nationalism. The Indian state gets an alibi for intensifying its brutalities in Jammu and Kashmir. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act has already been extended to all over Jammu and Kashmir except Ladakh. Pakistan too needs no better excuse for stepping up its support for the insurgency in Kashmir. And with the Indo-Pak arms race hotting up, the ground remains fertile for greater American intervention and for the realisation of the notorious American design of communal fragmentation of Kashmir. For the beleaguered Sangh Parivar, the Jammu killings could not possibly have happened at a more appropriate time. Just when the regime was reeling under the combined pressure of the failed Agra summit and the UTI scam, and the cracks were deepening in the NDA, the Jammu killings seem to have granted a new lease of life to the Vajpayee government at the Centre. Since the scuttling of the Agra summit, a modicum of 'family peace' has returned to the Sangh Parivar. Sangh outfits like the BMS which were earlier screaming for the scalp of the 'criminal and treacherous' finance minister Yashwant Sinha remained notoriously silent on the UTI-Cyberspace scam. Vajpayee has put an end to his much-acclaimed reticence and sense of diplomatic dignity with strongly-worded statements in Parliament blaming Pakistan for the failure of the Agra summit. And the hawks in Sangh Parivar are back to their favourite chant of 'hot pursuit across the LOC' and 'pro-active' approach on Kashmir. Like Lahore, Agra too seems to be heading inexorably to another Kargil.

Democratic forces in India and Pakistan must now assert boldly to prevent the process of Indo-Pak dialogue from degenerating into another Kargil. The NDA government must not be allowed to get away with its all-round failures and numerous betrayals. And the Sangh Parivar must not be permitted to get the upper hand on the eve of the crucial UP elections. In other words, the challenge is not to walk into the familiar jingoistic trap over Jammu. While opposing the Jammu killings in no uncertain terms, we must keep up pressure on the government for a political settlement of the Kashmir problem. Ironically, while the National Conference government in Srinagar has endorsed the Centre's declaration of Disturbed Areas all over the state except Ladakh, the NDA government in New Delhi has once again summarily rejected the NC's demand for dialogue on the question of effective autonomy for the state. It is this rigid approach of New Delhi which continues to push more and more people in Kashmir to the secessionist option. In 1948 Kashmir had sided with India in resisting Pakistan. Even as the overwhelming majority of Kashmiris grew disillusioned with the Kashmir policies of successive central governments, the Azadi movement never contemplated joining Pakistan as against India. But with New Delhi slamming the door on all options towards a political solution, fundamentalist militants are naturally gaining the upper hand in the valley who clamour for freedom from India at all costs even if it meant going back on Kashmir's secular history and becoming part of a crisis-ridden military-ruled Pakistan. If we claim Kashmir to be an integral part of India - not just a piece of land but part and parcel of our lives as Indians, as Vajpayee put it in Parliament - then we must also learn to treat the Kashmir problem as primarily our own doing and not blame Pakistan for whatever happens in Kashmir. Pakistan may certainly like to fish in the troubled waters of Kashmir, but it is India's responsibility to keep the waters clean and clear in the first place.

As the two neighbours celebrate their respective independence days on August 14 and 15, the biggest challenge facing the subcontinent and especially India is saving the only region which defied the logic of communal partition and two-nations theory in 1947. If communalism is allowed to grow in Jammu and Kashmir and the state is fragmented on communal lines, that will be the end of India, not just the India that Bhagat Singh and Gandhi had fought for, but also the India we inherited in the post-Partition era and have known so intimately for the last fifty-four years. Securing a political solution to the Kashmir question therefore reamins as integral a part of saving India as resisting imperialism and sweeping away the rotten vestiges of feudalism.

Party Demands Vajpayee's Resignation

CPI(ML) members all over the country observed the historic Quit India Day today by staging road and rail blockades and courting arrest en masse, demanding resignation of the Vajpayee government at the Centre. Protests were held in Delhi as well as more than ten state capitals and nearly a hundred district headquarters, where more than 50,000 people took part in today's countrywide protest campaign. The protesters indicted the BJP-led NDA government for its all round failure on all fronts and vowed to thwart the growing threat of imperialist plunder and communal fascism. They described the Vajpayee government as the biggest threat to the people's welfare and to the independence and national dignity of the country.

Peasants and agricultural labourers took part in these blockades in large numbers demanding cancellation of India's unequal agreements with WTO, revocation of the New Agriculture policy and reimposition of quantitative restrictions on all agricultural and allied imports. Members of the AISA and RYA too joined these protests calling for a halt to the ongoing saffronisation of education and annihilation of jobs and job opportunities in the country. Describing 9 August protests as the beginning of a protracted campaign for saving the country and the people from saffron betrayal and disaster, Party General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya called for intensification of the movement through still broader participation of the people.

On 9 August, Quit India Day "Vajpayee Hatao, Desh Bachao" Campaign Observed

"Vajpayee Hatao"(Oust Vajpayee)demand, that was articulated spontaneously all over the country in the wake of the Tehelka revelations, has gained momentum in the more than five months that followed it, and Vajpayee govt. was found to be involved in many more scams, the recent being UTI scam in which PMO has its hands. The new economic policies have turned the country into a graveyard for industry and agriculture while scamsters continue to make merry. The government's blatant support for the missile-crazy Bush administration and the shameless offer to host possible US military bases in the country have thoroughly tarnished the country's image, reducing the world's second biggest country with more than a billion people to the pitiable position of a vassal state of Washington. Linking all this to the ongoing unrest in the countryside against govt.'s anti-peasant surrender to WTO, the Party in order to intensfy "Vajpayee hatao" movement, issued a call to observe 9 August, the historic Quit India Day, as a day of expressing protest through rasta roko, rail roko and jail bharo movements throughout the country. The call "Vajpayee hatao, Desh bachao"(Oust Vajpayee, Save the Nation) against the onslaught of globalisation and communal fascism evoked widespread response among Party ranks, activists of mass oranisations and masses all over the country. Roads were blocked, trains were stopped blocking the tracks at several places, processions were brought out and tens of thousands of people were arrested in 'Jail Bharo' programmes in various centres in Bihar, Jharkhand, U.P., West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Delhi.

In Bihar, around 25,000 people were arrested in various cities and towns. In Patna, a large anti-globalisation march participated in by more than 5,000 activists and supporters led by Com. Ramjatan Sharma, Rameshwar Prasad, Saroj Chaube, Rajaram Singh, Mithilesh Yadav, and others courted arrest. They raised slogans like "stop selling the country at the instance of World Bank" "down with traitors" etc. In Rohtas, more than 2,000 people led by Com. Pawan Sharma brought out a procession at Dehri-on-Sone. In Katihar, police lathicharged at Kursela on peasants blocking NH-31. At Kachna in Barsoi, a train was stopped for hours. In Nawada, a train was stopped for hours and thousands participated in a march in the city and courted arrest at the station. In Siwan, Mairwa railway station was paralysed. Com. Amarnath Yadav, Satyadev Ram and Amarjeet Kushwaha were arrested along with thousands peasant activists. In Arrah, more than one thousand peasants led by Com. Chandradeep Singh, Chandrama Prasad and others brought out a procession and courted arrest. Similar programme was observed in Jahanabad, led by Com. Ramadhar Singh, Kunti Devi, etc. Reports of court arrest are there from Gaya, Samastipur, Chhapra, Begusarai, Darbanga and Madhubani. In Bettiah of East Champaran, more than 4,000 peasants, workers, students and youth participated in a procession, largest ever in Bettiah of East Champaran, and gheraoed the Collectorate. The DM came out and admitted that he is unable to arrest this large number of agitators. Reports of arrests are there from Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur, Bhabhua, Dhamdaha, Saharsa etc.

In Jharkhand, Party and allied mass organisation activists blocked road at four points in Garhwa, of these the police resorted to lathicharge at Bhavnathpur. A procession was taken out in Ranchi city and traffic at the main centre Firayalal was stopped for one hour. Roads were blocked in Palamu, Barwadih (Latehar), Bundu (Ranchi). Naional highway was blocked at three points in Hazaribagh, in which around 1,000 comrades participated in Hazaribagh. Roads were also blocked at Koderma, Dumka and Gumla. In Giridih, around 4,000 people blocked GT Road, and around 1000 blocked another highway at Birni. In Dhanbad, around 500 comrades blocked roads at 4 places including Nirsa. In Bokaro, police resorted to lathicharge in the city and some 700 people participated in road blocks at Jaina More, Phusro. In all, 11,000 people participated in the road block programmes.

In U.P., more than 5,000 activists took to the streeets implementing the national call, while the demand of ouster of police-mafia saffron govt. of Rajnath Singh to restore democracy in the state was also raised along with it. At Mailani station, police lathicharged on demonstrators led by Com. Krishna Adhikari and even resorted to firing in the air. Around 20 activists got injured but people resisted police attack and kept Ruhelkhand Express blocked. A dozen of activists were arrested and sent to jail, and false cases including under 307 Cr.PC were clamped on 16 activists including Party CC member Krishna Adhikari, State Committee member Jawaharlal and Distt. Secy of Kheri Ramdaras. In Mughalsarai, around 2,500 activists led by Com. Akhilendra Pratap Singh marched through Mughalsarai bazar where people spontaneously supported and shops were closed showing the people's anger against Rajnath Singh's anti-naxal campaign. After blocking the railway traffic for two hours, at Mughalsarai Jn. activists courted arrest. In Karnalganj of Gonda district, dharna on railway line went on for two hours. In Pilibhit, 400 activists were arrested while blocking Assam Road. Processions were brought out in Ballia and Bhatpar of Deoria, Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Ghazipur and Jalaun, where hundreds and thousands participated. In Lucknow, the procession led by Com. Lalbahadur Singh were arrested by police at Hazratganj. In Kanpur activists were arrested and effigy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was burnt.

In Rajasthan, Jhunjhunu bandh was widely successful. The procession here was brought out under the leadership of Com. Mahendra Chaudhary and Phoolchand Dhewa. Mass meetings were held at Banswada, Salumber and Dhariawad of Udaypur distt. Pratapgarh in Chittor district. In Dungarpur, chakka jam and dharna led by Com. Ramprasad Dindor took place. In Jaipur, Party activists led by Com. Srilata Swaminathan took part in a joint programme under the banner of People's Campaign against Globalisation, blocked road and courted arrest.

In Madhya Pradesh, around 200 youth and women activists, workers and intellectuals participated in a dharna in Gwalior led by Com. Rajaram, Gurudatt Sharma, Vinod Rawat, Narendra Pandey and others. Dharna was also held at Bhind.

In Chhattisgarh, workers took out a rally in Bhilai and then staged a dharna at Power House. It was led by Com. Shambhu Singh, Ashok Miri, Shekhar Rao and others. In Raipur, dharna was staged at a central place Motibagh, led by Narottam Sharma and others. Similar programme was also taken up at Bilaspur.

In Punjab, Party, AISA and RYA activists staged a protest demonstration in Ludhiana, led by Com. Ramesh Sharma, Harbhagwan Singh and Bhagwant Singh.

In Haryana, Party and mass organisation activists led by Com. Prem Singh Gahlawat, RK Khokhar, Mahendra Chopra, etc. stopped traffic at Ambedkar Chowk, Karnal, where they were all arrested. Prior to this a meeting was held at Karna Park.

In Gujarat, Party activists, workers, student-youth etc. led by Com. Ranjan Ganguli, HJ Pagare, Laxmanbhai Patanwadia, veteran communist Kantilal Dabhi, Amit Patanwadia and others, brought out a militant rally and held a mass meeting.

In Karnataka, public meeting in Bangalore was attended by more than hundred people. Com.V Govindarajan, TM Poonacha, Subramani, GA Srinivas etc.the gathering. At demonstration held in Mysore, Com. Raghu and Javaraiah spoke.

In Assam, road was blocked at Noonmati in Guwahati, where various worker and employees unions, peasants and cultural organisations took part. In Silchar, road block programme was participated in by nearly 300 activists. Protesters came out for road block at Jorhat, at Moran under Dibrugarh district, at Pathsala in Borpeta district and Behali and Ratowa in Sonitpur district.

In Karbi Anglong and NC Hills, road block was total in the two hills district. In South Tripura, Com. Jayanta Das, Babul Pal and Jagdish Munda led a protest demonstration held at Belonia. Activists led by Com. Mrinmoy Chakravarty, Partha Karmakar and Gopal Roy courted arrest in Udaipur. Activists led by Com. Rajjab Ali, Nijjaram Tripura and Amit Chakravarty courted arrest in Amarpur. At Kailashahar in North Tripura, around 150 activists led by Manik Pal and Chiranjib Bhattacharjee were arrested at SDO office.

In West Bengal, highways and important roads were blocked for one hour from 11 to 12 at noon in more than 35 places where number of participants ranged from 25 to 1000. In Debagram, Nadia, police arrested Com. Krishna Pramanick and 40 activists. In Kolkata sit-in programme was taken at Hazra More for 6 hours where state and district leaders addressed the gathering.

In Delhi, around 700 Party and mass organisation activists held a meeting at Jantar Mantar and then marched militantly towards Parliament. They were stopped and arrested at Parliament Street Police Station. The meeting was addressed by Poliburo member Com. Swadesh Bhattacharya, Kumudini Pati, Swapan Mukherjee, Rajendra Pratholi, Ranjit Abhigyan, Sunita and Santosh Roy.

Brutal Lathicharge, Firing at Mailani Protested by Party,
Joint Protest atKheri

In a letter faxed to Home Secretary, Govt. of India and Governor of U.P., Party protested against brutal lathicharge and firing by police on CPI(ML) activists at Mailani in Lakhimpur Kheri district when they were observing all-India "Azadi bachao" campaign on 9 August. Party said that the arrest of 16 Party leaders including CC member Com. Krishna Adhikari and UP State Committee member Com. Jawahar and clamping of false cases including Sec. 307 against them sending them to jail is undemocratic, unwarranted and against the spirit of democracy. The letter demands unconditional release of the arrested comrades.

A joint meeting of left-democratic forces to condemn the incident of police attack was held at Kheri in U.P. on 12 August. It was conducted by Com. LB Singh. A joint communique signed by CPI(ML) and CPI was also issued. UP State Committee observed statewide protest day against the incident on 13 August, under which protest dharna was held at Kheri.

Road Block at Khiri in UP

Party activists blocked the Palia-Khiri Road for 5 hours on 7 August demanding action against a sub-inspector who had held illegally kept two peasants in custody for five days. Ultimately the administration had to suspend the sub-inspector and release the peasants from custody.

Demonstration in Ahmedabad

Toiling people of Dudheswar crematorium-Mahakali temple area, with a good number of women among them, staged a militant demonstration before the Collector on the questions of water, electricity, sanitation, primary school, dispensary etc. under the banner of Ahmedabad Chali-Chhapra Jan Sangathan Samiti. It was led by Com. HJ Pagare, veteran communist Com. Kantilal Dabhi, Party Gujarat incharge Com. Ranjan Ganguli and others. A meeting was held at Collecotrate and a delegation met the Addl. Collector and submitted a memorandum to the government.

In memory of martyrs of Baranagar-Cossipur mass killings

The Baranagar-Cossipur mass killings had taken place in Kolkata of West Bengal during Siddharta Shankar Roy's Congress regime in 1971 where more than 150 CPI(M-L) activists and sympathisers were brutally murdered by congress goons. In memory of these martyrs, and demanding an enquiry comisssion to be set up to probe the killings and punish the criminals, Party State Committee staged a dharna on 12-13 August before Maryrs' Column at Sinthi More, Baranagar. Party General Secretary Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya, State Secy. Com. Kartick Pal and other leaders along with 200 activists participated in the programme. On 12 August, the programme started with the garlanding of Martyrs' Column by Com. Dipankar and others. Eminent personalities like Amitava Dasgupta, Jiad Ali, Tarun Sannyal, Madhumoy Pal, Ajijul Hak and comrades from Shramik Sangram Committee and CCR and Com. Pradip Banerjee of 'Unity Initiative' participated in the programme. Cultural performances like songs, recitations, ballets were performed by Agnibina, Thakurnagar Sanskritik Sanstha and others. On 13th August, a mass meeting was held at Sinthi More where Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya, Kartik Pal, Santosh Rana and others addressed the gathering.

Mahamichhil at Kolkata

A 'Mahamihhil' (large procession) against the eviction of poor people residing near Tollynullah in Kolkata demanding proper rehabilitation before eviction was organised on 10 August. Nearly 10000 hawkers and other victims of eviction participated in the procession under the baner of different mass organisations. Starting from College Street the procession led by Party leaders Arijit Mitra and Joyatu Deshmukh and Shaktiman Ghosh of Hawkers Sangram Samity, and others ended at Gariahat More.

Hindu Priests on Govt. Payroll in Gujarat

"The BJP-ruled Gujarat Government will soon pay monthly salaries to priests of Hindu temples in the state. In the first phase, one priest of the 354 Government-controlled 'devasthans' temples would be entitled to a monthly salary of Rs 1000 per month from September", reports Hindustan Times, 12 August, 2001. "Now, the BJP Govt. will govern the temples and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and temple trusts will govern the government!" was the comment by an observer.

Historic Prison Struggle in Turkey

Muharrem Horoz, 28, a member of the banned Turkish Workers Communist (ML), who had been fasting for 236 days at northwest Kandira prison, died in the hospital. With this martyrdom, number of Turkish prisoners dying due to hunger strikes reached 30. An epic yet painful struggle is taking place in Turkey's prisons, in which over 1,000 Turkish political prisoners and their supporters have participated in a protest hunger strike against prison conditions since last October -- one of the longest recorded such actions in world history.

The 48-nation Council of Europe and various countries have called on Turkey to make concessions to end the protest. But no response form this NATO member and US ally. The Turkish political prisoners are protesting government plans to transfer them from dormitory-like incarceration wards to so-called "F-type" facilities modeled on U.S.-style prisons (replete with behavior modification features and isolation in tiny cells), because with this the Govt. aims to break down the high level of solidarity and organization among Turkish prisoners in the wards. The hunger strike was organized by prisoners from the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHAKA-C), the Communist Party of Turkey-Marxist-Leninist (TKO-ML), and the Communist Workers Party of Turkey (TIP), but inmates from other political organization soon participated. There are about 12,000 political prisoners in Turkey, representing the left and revolutionary forces, the Kurdish struggle, militant Muslim groups and independent progressives. Left-wing and human rights groups and true democrats around the world have condemned the Turkish government.

CPI(ML), while condemning the gross human right violation, urges the Turkish Govt. to give up the prison barbarism and concede the democratic demand of the political prisoners instead of killing the fighters for a better society in its death chambers.

Message to South Asian Diaspora

In a message of greeting sent to the organisers of South Asian Diaspora Conference held in Canada on 10-12 August, the CPI(ML) Central Committee extended its whole-hearted support and solidarity to the endeavour. The message says that the Party is confident that "this conference will pool the wisdom of our compatriots to address the challenges before the South Asians in their region, which is passing through a very critical point in its history, as well as around the world. "Inspite of the odds, the trend of social transformation is a developing one", observes the message.