CPI(ML) HOME Vol.5, No.26 June 26 - July 2, 2002

 

In this Issue:

Editorial...

The RSS Agenda and the
Ayodhya-Gujarat-Kashmir Trident

Ayodhya, Gujarat and Kashmir constitute a veritable trident in the hands of the saffron brigade. It is with this trident that outfits of the Sangh are threatening to launch bigger assaults on Indian democracy and the Indian people in the coming days. Events of the last week provided a glimpse of the Sangh's new action plan with this trident.

The VHP leadership held yet another conclave of self-styled sadhus at Haridwar. After Vajpayee's Goa gospel against alleged "Islamic intolerance" and Advani's remark that Gujarat reminded him of Partition, it was Ashok Singhal's turn to fire the next salvo. He accused Muslims of harbouring a conspiracy to divide the country and threatened to reduce Muslims everywhere to the status of refugees seeking shelter in makeshift relief camps as in Gujarat. Meanwhile, the killer Modi government in Gujarat has begun preparations for early elections. Relief camps are being closed down even as Muslim survivors are being forcibly and systematically prevented from returning to places that were till recently their homes. Monster Modi, on the other hand, is busy plotting yet another mercenary mission in the form of rath yatra.

On Ayodhya, the VHP has once again gone back on its earlier assurance to abide by the Supreme Court's verdict even if it went against the saffron brigade. The conclave has reiterated the Sangh's original claim that Ayodhya is a question of faith and as such it is outside the purview of any court. Is the Supreme Court, which sentenced Arundhati Roy to a day's imprisonment for alleged 'contempt of court', listening? The Kanchi Shankaracharya too has once again expressed his readiness to mediate on the Ayodhya issue. Meanwhile, Faizabad MP and former Bajrang Dal chief Vinay Katiyar has been made the President of the UP unit of BJP. The stage is thus set for yet another round of murky behind-the-scene negotiations as well as some rabble-rousing road shows.

The VHP did not however confine itself to Ayodhya or Gujarat. It also demanded the carving of Jammu and Kashmir into four parts including a special Union Territory for Kashmiri Pandits. Singhal and his men have also threatened to organize a Hindu Mahasammelan in Jammu in July. The cat is finally out of the bag! The Sangh has long been known to be toying with the idea of completing the partition of Kashmir. The migration of Kashmiri Pandits was to a large extent engineered by Jag Mohan when he was sent to Jammu and Kashmir as the Governor of the state in 1990 and now the VHP plans to 'rehabilitate' them in a truncated Union Territory! In Modi's Gujarat, the RSS has already moved the 'Indo-Pak border' back from Kuchh to Ahmedabad, and now the VHP clamours for a 'smaller and purer' Kashmir. The Sangh's dream of 'Akhand Bharat' is exposing itself to be nothing but a sinister ploy for a few more rounds of nightmarish partition resulting in a smaller Bharat and bigger Pakistan.

While the Sangh Parivar articulates the American vision of a communally fragmented Jammu and Kashmir, the Abdullahs have revived their call for greater autonomy. But inside Kashmir, the people are getting tired of the National Conference leadership's empty rhetoric and opportunist politics of running with the hare and hunting with the hound. While the Abdullahs rend the Srinagar air with cries of autonomy, in Delhi the NC continues to do 'business' with the sworn enemies of Article 370 and any notion of Kashmiriyat or Kashmiri identity.

While the Sangh Parivar brandishes the trident, we must strengthen our shield of anti-imperialist national unity and secular-democratic resolve. No trident, however sharp, can manage to pierce a powerful iron shield. Chances are that the trident itself will get blunted and broken. All the three battlefields of Gujarat, Ayodhya and Kashmir may then be known by one common name for the saffron brigade. Waterloo.

CPI(ML) Called Convention Announces Action-Plan of Countrywide Protests.
Massive 'Rasta Roko/ Rail Roko/ Jail Bharo' Agitation on August 9.

The CPI(ML) called 'National Convention against Communal Fascism and Imperialist Intervention' held at Mavalankar Auditorium in New Delhi on June 26 resolved to launch a nationwide 'Save Democracy, Save Independence' Campaign. The Convention announced a series of anti-fascist-anti-imperialist action-programmes which will culminate in a nationwide 'Rasta roko/ Rail roko/ Jail bharo' agitation on August 9.

The Convention witnessed broad based participation of Left and democratic organizations including CPI(ML), CPI, SUCI, Forward Block, RSP, the break-away Punjab unit of CPI(M), ML groups like 'Red Flag' and 'Unity Initiative' as well as Narmada Bachao Andolan and several other groups. A large number of intellectuals, social activists, and journalists also joined the Convention.

Nearly a thousand people form working class to youth and students mainly from Delhi, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and some centers of Uttar Pradesh took part in the convention. A contingent of Left activists from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal also joined it. CPI(ML) held meetings and conventions at several centers in Bihar, UP, West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to mark the beginning of the campaign.

At the beginning of the Convention, a two minute silence was observed in the memory of those killed in state-sponsored genocide in Gujarat.

Addressing the convention, the CPI(ML) General Secretary outlined the perspective of the Convention and presented a twelve-point Charter of Resolutions. He said, "twenty-seven years ago, Indira Gandhi had sought to curb democracy in India by imposing a state of Emergency. In less than two years, the Emergency was overthrown by the people of India. Today, democracy faces a still more serious threat as the BJP tries to divide the country on communal lines and mortgage its hard-earned independence and national dignity to the US imperialists."

"We cannot let this happen. India is not a piece of real estate for the Sangh Parivar to play with. It is the common land of a billion people who celebrate their unity in diversity and democracy. It is the shared legacy of our great martyrs who laid down their precious lives for the country and the people. We must save and reclaim India. And to do this we need a massive democratic resurgence of the people. We need a shared resolve, a new vision, and a powerful, united resistance", Mr. Bhattacharya said.

Coming down heavily on what he called 'disastrous saffron governance and politics', the CPI(ML) General Secretary said the divisive politics of communal polarisation, denial of political liberty and subversion of democracy which the country is witnessing in Ayodhya, Gujarat, Kashmir, Bihar, Jharkhand and the entire North-East is a serious danger to our national unity, secularism and democracy. Only a broad-based movemental unity of all Left and democratic forces can resist this danger.

"The illusion of containing and resisting communal fascism within the confines of Parliament has been thoroughly shattered and the country has to be saved by a powerful anti-fascist-anti-imperialist mobilisation of the people", he said.

Condemning the government for conniving with the VHP and Bajarang Dal on Ayodhya and Gujarat issue, Mr. Bhattacharya demanded dismissal of the Narendra Modi government, arrest and public trial of the saffron rioters and police officials involved in the killings and ban on the VHP and Bajarang Dal. He said, "there should be no early elections to the Gujarat State Assembly in the communally surcharged atmosphere. Relief camps must not be closed and relief and rehabilitation work must be stepped up". He condemned and rejected the idea of fragmentation of Jammu and Kashmir on communal lines recently echoed by the VHP.

Expressing serious concern on the prevailing situation in Kashmir and calling for immediate restoration of peace, normalcy and complete political liberty in the state, CPI(ML) General Secretary warned the Vajpayee government against playing with the Kashmiri people's aspirations for effective autonomy. He also accused the ruling National Conference in the state of paying mere lip service to the cause of autonomy and said that unless the National Conference showed the courage to dissociate itself completely from the NDA, its renewed clamour for autonomy was liable to be construed as a mere pre-poll rhetoric.

He called upon the people to vigorously oppose the increasing imperialist intervention in South Asia and called for immediate demobilization of troops, complete restoration of all diplomatic ties and resumption of unconditional bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan.

CPI leader Atul Anjan, RSP leader and MP Abani Roy, SUCI leader Ashutosh Banerjee, Forward Bloc leader Ram Charan Gaur, leader of the break-away Punjab unit of CPI(M) Chandra Sekhar, Red Flag leader K N Ramchandran, Unity Initiative leader P K Murthy and several other prominent people including noted social activist Medha Patkar, senior journalist Prabhash Joshi, Ahmedabad based writer Achyut Yagnik, senior journalists Kuldip Nayar, Javed Naqbi and Seema Mustafa, Ex-Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Rajender Sachar and socialist leader and former MP Surendra Mohan also attended and addressed the Convention. They congratulated the CPI(ML) for taking this timely initiative and underlined the need of building up a powerful resistance against the saffron offensive. They described globalisation and communal fascism as two faces of a growing rightist offensive. The Left sponsored Presidential candidate and veteran freedom fighter Laxmi Sehgal also attended and addressed the Convention.

The Convention was chaired by veteran communist revolutionary and trade union leader P K Murthy and conducted by CPI(ML) Central Committee member Swapan Mukherjee. Among others who attended and addressed the convention include CPI(ML) leaders Akhilendra Pratap Singh, P V Srinivas, Kumudini Pati, Srilata Swaminathan, Raja Bahuguna, Prem Singh Gahlawat, Rajendra Pratholi and Ranjit Abhigyan. (The Convention was still in session at the time of writing this report.-- Ed.)

Resolutions for Discussion and Adoption at the
National Convention against
Communal Fascism and Imperialist Intervention

(Mavalankar Auditorium, New Delhi, 26 June, 2002)

1. This convention demands that the killer government headed by Narendra Modi in Gujarat be dismissed forthwith and Narendra Modi and all his cohorts from the Sangh Parivar as well as police officials involved in the killings be arrested and put on public trial. The VHP and Bajrang Dal must be banned for their role in the state-sponsored genocide in Gujarat. The convention also calls for drastic augmentation of relief and rehabilitation efforts in Gujarat, early reconstruction of all damaged and destroyed tombs and religious sites in the state and an effective ban on the proposed rathyatra programme of the Sangh Parivar. There should also be no early elections to the Gujarat State Assembly in the communally surcharged atmosphere with large sections of the electorate living in utter terror and insecurity. This convention condemns the heinous attacks by Saffron forces on journalists and peace campaigners like Medha Patkar, lauds the efforts already made by various organizations and individuals for restoration of peace and sanity in Gujarat and calls for intensification of countrywide initiatives to secure justice for the genocide-affected people of Gujarat.

2. This convention calls for immediate and total demobilisation of troops to peacetime levels, complete restoration of full-scale diplomatic ties and resumption of direct and unconditional bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan. The peace-loving people all over the country should be vigilant against the Vajpayee government undertaking only token measures to play to the international gallery and build up sufficient popular pressure for peace to force the government to withdraw from the present path of planned escalation of tension and sustained war hysteria.

3. This convention strongly denounces the Bush-Blair alliance for trying to fish in the troubled South Asian waters in the name of "facilitating a dialogue" between India and Pakistan and patrolling the LoC even as the two imperialist powers promote a disastrous arms race between India and Pakistan by selling arms to the two neighbours. This convention also condemns the Indian and Pakistani rulers for their shameless and competitive surrender to imperialism even while escalating hostility against each other and rejects the Indian foreign and defence policy of growing strategic subservience to the US imperialists.

4. This convention hails the nascent anti-war campaign in India and Pakistan and protests by the sub-continental diasporic communities across the world and calls for further intensification of the same. The convention notes with satisfaction that the synchronized protests in India and Pakistan by left parties and other democratic forces on June 13 mark a positive beginning and calls for all-out efforts to promote peace and friendship between India and Pakistan.

5. This convention expresses serious concern about the prevailing situation in Kashmir and calls for immediate restoration of peace, normalcy and complete political liberty in the state. Elections to the J&K Assembly under conditions of complete denial of political liberty would only make a mockery of the democratic process. The vicious cycle of state repression and terrorism is steadily spiraling up in the state. An atmosphere characterized by political killings, indiscriminate arrest and detention of senior Hurriyat leaders, and continued state terror against the people of Kashmir, especially the youth, to crush their democratic aspirations is hardly conducive for the people to fearlessly exercise their choice. This convention rejects the sinister idea of fragmentation of Jammu and Kashmir on communal lines echoed most recently by the VHP. It demands general amnesty for all political prisoners, restoration of political liberty, revoking of all black acts and withdrawal of Army and other central paramilitary forces from the state before the elections.

6. This convention strongly condemns the crackdown at Faizabad on activists who had gathered there to observe Shaheed Mela as a mark of tribute to the legacy of the great martyrs of the 1857 First War of India's Independence on May 10-11. It calls upon the people and the Supreme Court of India to take serious note of the VHP's latest threat of not abiding by the court verdict on the issue of Ayodhya. Organisations and individuals making such irresponsible and provocative utterances must be duly punished and prevented from further vitiating the atmosphere.

7. This convention calls for an immediate repeal of the draconian POTA and demands quick release of all detained under it. The recent spate of arrests in Kashmir and the threat of its use in Gujarat and elsewhere against members of minority communities and democratic activists have only confirmed the widespread apprehensions on POTA. All the assurances advanced by the government against its misuse have turned out to be patently false and hence there is no justification for this black act to remain in the statute books.

8. This convention is highly apprehensive and critical of the "holy consensus" that has developed around the NDA-sponsored candidature of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam who symbolizes India's growing military-industrial complex and dangerous nuclear-missile ambitions. It denounces the BJP's devious and desperate design to use the Presidential election to whitewash its crime in Gujarat and promote its agenda of aggressive militarisation.

9. This convention denounces, and calls for resistance against, incessant attempts by Sangh Parivar forces to saffronise the curriculum, their takeover of the academic institutions and trampling of their autonomy only to promote their Saffron agenda, their denial of artistic freedom and highhanded censorship of documentary films like "War and Peace", and their browbeating of artistes and, worse still, their attempt at communalising the administration and police as witnessed in Gujarat.

10. This convention demands scrapping of the divestment of VSNL to Tatas, IPCL to Ambanis and Maruti to Suzuki & Co and sacking of Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie for pushing through such murky deals. It also demands withdrawal of proposed labour law reforms that seek to truncate and even deny the basic trade union rights of the Indian working class. It calls for enactment of a comprehensive welfare legislation to safeguard the basic interests of agricultural labourers who constitute the biggest contingent of the working people of India.

11. This convention demands that the Indian government immediately abrogate the WTO dictated Agreement on Agriculture in view of the massive subsidies envisaged under the US Farm Bill, protect our farmers from unequal trade, and roll back hikes in prices of diesel and electricity. It unequivocally condemns the police firing on protesting farmers in Haryana led by the Bhartiya Kisan Union and the crackdown on Maan Dam oustees in Bhopal led by the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

12. This convention appeals to all patriotic, democratic and secular forces to conduct a nationwide "Save Democracy, Save Independence" campaign from June 26 to August 9. It underlines the need for greater unity in action among the left, democratic and patriotic forces. The convention calls for massive countrywide protests all over the country, in the form of militant rasta roko/rail roko/jail bharo agitation on August 9, and appeals to all those concerned to undertake diverse programmes to prepare for this in the intervening campaign period.

First Jharkhand State Conference of CPI(ML) in Giridih

The CPI(ML)'s first Jharkhand State Conference began at Giridih Town Hall christened as "Shaheed Laldhan Mahato Hall" in "Com. Vinod Mishra Nagar" in Giridih on June 23. The conference being attended by more than 300 delegates and observers will end on June 25. Inaugurating the conference on June 23, the CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya called upon the ranks of the Party as well as the people in the state to march ahead with much more strength and energy to defeat the communal fascist forces. He said, "braving all police terror we have resisted several attacks of the Marandi government on the people in Jharkhand and their democratic aspirations. Situation has come when we should redouble our strength and energy and go for a decisive offensive against the anti-dalit, anti-adivasi and anti-minority Marandi government."

Speaking on national situation, the CPI(ML) General Secretary said that the RSS led Vajpayee govt. has become a deadweight for the country. The Sangh Parivar and its affiliates are dividing the country on communal lines and mortgaging the sovereignty and independence of the country to the US imperialists. From Jharkhand to Assam and from Gujarat to Kashmir, the govt. is playing havoc with national unity and democracy. He said, "We are determined to take all-out initiatives for broader mobilization to resist these devious designs of the Sangh Parivar and BJP".

CPI(ML) General Secretary called for demobilization of troops from Indo-Pak border, complete restoration of all diplomatic ties and immediate resumption of direct bilateral dialogue with Pakistan. "By refusing to return to the negotiating table with Pakistan, the Vajpayee govt. is inviting more and more American intervention", he said. Speaking on 'Missile Man' APJ Abdul Kalam's Presidential candidature, he called upon the people to be vigilant against BJP's aggressive militarisation. He said the symbolism, meaning and the message, which the candidature of Dr. Kalam carries with it, is very dangerous. He demanded ban on the VHP and Bajarang Dal for its role on Ayodhya issue as well as in the genocide in Gujarat.

CPI(ML) legislator in Jharkhand assembly Mahendra Singh and veteran communist leader Md. Bashruddin, who has quit CPI recently along with more than six hundred workers and joined the CPI(ML), also addressed the inaugural session of the Conference. Party Polit Bureau Members Swadesh Bhattacharya and DP Bakshi were among those present in the session. Com. Subhendu Sen, state secretary of the Party in Jharkhand conducted the session. The organisational session of the conference began next day on 24 June.

 

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