POTA :
Political Opposition Targeting Authority

Jayalalitha's invocation of POTA against MDMK leader Vaiko has stirred a hornet's nest. She had first taken up the issue with none other than LK Advani in a well publicised letter. The latter however chose to remain silent leaving it to his deputy, ID Swami, to respond to the letter bomb from Chennai. The BJP now cries foul saying that POTA is being misused in this case. Law and order being a state subject, New Delhi however cannot dare ask Chennai to drop the charges against Vaiko. While the BJP does not exactly tell us why it opposes the application of POTA in this case, Vaiko has been forthright in revealing the open secret that POTA only pertained to Pakistan-inspired terrorism.

Vaiko is a known defender of LTTE. Even after the latest incident, he has emphatically reiterated his support for LTTE. There can also be no dispute about the fact that the LTTE is internationally recognised as a terrorist organisation. It is also not correct to say that LTTE has no record of operating on the Indian soil. Several operations have been carried out by LTTE activists in India including the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991. And if one has to go by the drastic provisions of POTA, open proclamation of support for a terrorist organisation is certainly enough for any person to invite punishment under this draconian law. It is not for nothing that POTA has been universally condemned as one of the blackest Acts in the legislative history of post-1947 India.

There may be only two undeclared 'political' or 'ideological' reasons for opposing the application of POTA against Vaiko. The first is that Vaiko belongs to the ruling camp while POTA is intended only for the opposition. But then, is not Jayalalitha doing precisely this, targeting an opposition party in her own state? The second objection has already been aired quite loudly by Vaiko himself: POTA is all about terrorism inspired or engineered by Pakistan.

Vaiko is of course not being completely frank and honest in saying this. Any genuine RSS activist would tell you that POTA is meant for 'Islamic terrorists' and 'leftwing extremists'. This truth about POTA is borne out by the way it has been invoked so far to ban certain organisations and arrest activists in Kashmir and Gujarat. Saffron terrorism is of course not recognised as terrorism at all, it enjoys the official tag of being the biggest and greatest mass movement in post-Independence India. Vaiko's has clearly been the first case in which POTA has been 'misused against a wrong target'!

Whether one supports the applicability of POTA against Vaiko or not, this case has laid bare all the dangers and biases inherent in such a draconian legislation. The Act is so absurdly sweeping in its 'definition' of terrorism, that almost anybody and everybody can be booked under this Act. The decision to use or not use POTA has to be purely political. When POTA is used against a bourgeois politician like Vaiko, there will of course be a lot of hue and cry. But most of the parties who are bitterly opposing the invocation of POTA against Vaiko would remain conspicuously silent when the same POTA is applied against activists of the democratic movement or innocent citizens. The Vaiko episode has clearly exposed the ease with which POTA can be used to target the political opposition. This Act itself is an instrument of terror. There can be no democracy in the shadow of such draconian laws. For the forces and defenders of democracy, there can be only one slogan: Repeal POTA, lock, stock and barrel.

Party's Position on Judicial Commission and EC's Order

On 8 July, Party Politbureau member Com. Swadesh Bhattacharya attended an all-party meeting convened by the government to seek views on National Judicial Commission and Election Commission's Order of 28 June. While welcoming the idea of formation of a National Judicial Commission, Party suggested that the NHRC Chairperson should be made an ex-officio member and the panel should also comprise two renowned civil libertarians to be nominated by the President. In a representation submitted to the government, Party said, "We would prefer the panel to be completely autonomous and free from governmental intervention. However, if the Union Minister of Law and Justice is made an ex-officio member of the panel, we believe the Leader of the Opposition should also be included in the panel".

On Election Commission Order of 28 June, the Party held that "the delay in convening this all-party meeting has enabled the Election Commission to issue the June 28 order to uphold the time frame mandated by the Supreme Court. Had consultations been held more promptly, this situation could have been avoided. We are afraid that the amended affidavit as prescribed in the EC's 28 June Order does not quite meet the proclaimed objective of checking criminalisation of politics."

The Party expressed apprehension that "Instead of making specific provisions for precluding notorious history-sheeters from contesting elections, the prescribed affidavit would tend to penalise honest and dedicated activists of the democratic movement. It is well known that such activists, especially those working for the toiling masses, are often implicated in false cases by powerful hostile local interests and often an equally hostile local administration. Whereas professional criminals, underworld dons and mafia elements are seldom convicted and often acquitted (for lack of evidence), movement activists end up languishing in jails for years together." The prescribed affidavit demands details of ongoing cases, which would "amount to an additional trial for such activists by a generally hostile administration", Party said.

Regarding Point 6 of the affidavit demanding details of educational qualification of a candidate, Party held it "totally superfluous and incompatible with the notion of democracy based on universal adult franchise". Party apprehends that "such a complicated and elaborate affidavit could lead to a lot of arbitrary rejections of nomination papers as the Returning Officer is exclusively authorized to assess whether a defect or discrepancy is of substantial character and should merit rejection." In its representation the Party urged the Government to seek a review of the EC's order and the corresponding Supreme Court judgement and insist on a simplified affidavit which does not militate against the participation of the toiling poor people and their representatives.

Vajpayee Govt. Appoints VHP Counsel as Governor of Jharkhand

To fit into the shoes of Prabhat Kumar, the ex-Home Secretary of UP accused of abetting Babri Masjid demolition, the Centre has now decided to appoint Retd. Justice M. Rama Jois as the Governor of Jharkhand. Who is this Mr. Jois? He is president of the Bharat Vikas Parishad, an RSS frontal organisation, and has been known to be a key part of the VHP's 'legal brain' in its blood-stained Ayodhya campaign. As recently as in March last he put in an appearance as the VHP counsel in the Supreme Court during the hearing on the petition for a so-called 'symbolic puja'. The appointment of such a person as the Governor of a sensitive state like Jharkhand conforms to the Advani doctrine of hijacking all key posts through strategic deployment of handpicked men of the Sangh Parivar.

In the wake of the genocide in Gujarat, when the secular-democratic opinion of the country is demanding nothing short of a ban on the VHP and arrest and trial of its functionaries, the government has adopted a policy of rewarding VHP men and deploying them in key posts. Ironically, the announcement of the appointment of Mr. Jois as the Governor of Jharkhand coincided with the VHP central committee's meeting in Ranchi which reiterated its stand not to abide by the court's verdict on the Ayodhya issue. The CPI(ML) and the people of Jharkhand are determined to foil the Sangh's conspiracy to turn Jharkhand into another Gujarat. Just as the BJP had earlier been forced to call off Mr. Prabhat Kumar as the Governor of Jharkhand, the political game plan behind the choice of Mr. Jois would not be allowed to succeed either.

CPI(ML) Supports Campaign for Justice to Bhopal Gas Victims

On 25 June, following a demonstration, a relay dharna was started at Jantar Mantar to press demands of Bhopal gas victims, while Rasheed Bi, Tara Bai and Satinath Sarangi started an indefinite hunger strike on 29 June. Party General Secretary met the justice seekers on 8 July and expressed full solidarity with them.

Successive governments at the Centre have turned a blind eye to the pressing need for adequate medical attention and proper rehabilitation of the gas victims. Consequently, the Bhopal death toll continues to mount and for the more than 120,000 survivors life is a biter battle for survival and justice. Justice for the gas victims cannot be secured without proper trial and exemplary punishment of the Union Carbide Corporation and its officials. On this score, the role of successive governments, including the present RSS-backed government which waxes eloquent in the name of Swadeshi, has been the most contemptible. It was shocking to learn about the CBI's attempt to dilute the charges against Warren Anderson from homicide to negligence. This is a clear sign of connivance and capitulation on the part of the Government of India. While condemning the backstabbing of the Bhopal victims by the NDA government in the strongest possible terms, the Party supported the July 10 call of international action.

The Party holds that the campaign for justice for Bhopal victims is an integral part of the ongoing national resistance against neo-liberal economic policies and the growing threat of neo-colonial plunder. It is an integral part of our shared quest for freedom and democracy.

CPI(ML) Condoles Demise of Forward Bloc leader Comrade DD Shastri

CPI(ML) expresses its heartfelt condolences at the unfortunate demise of veteran freedom fighter and left trade union leader Comrade Dev Dutta Shastri, national president of All India Forward Bloc, on 28 June. Party General Secretary Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya attended the condolence meeting held in his memory on 8 July at Constitution Club and paid floral tribute to the departed leader. The meeting was also attended by CPI General Secretary Com. AB Bardhan, CPI(M) Politbureau member and CITU General Secretary Com. MK Pandhe, RSP General Secretary Abani Roy and others.

Police Repression Growing in W.B.

Reacting to the growing incidence of police repression and high-handedness in West Bengal, CPI(ML) General Secretary Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya said in a fax letter to West Bengal chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya on 9 July: "It was ironical that just four days after the Left Front celebrated the silver jubilee of its coming to power in West Bengal, the echo of the notorious midnight knock of June 25, 1975 was heard in your state."

Citing incidents like the arrest of Party's Darjeeling District Committee secretary Abhijit Mazumder from his Siliguri residence, brutal firing on the workers of Chandmoni tea estate near Siliguri on the next day, in which two persons were killed and several injured, arrest of Professor Kaushik Ganguly of Rajabazar Science College on 4 July from his residence in Kolkata and his subsequent illegal detention and brutal torture, and arrest of Abhijit Sinha, a young official with the Central Excise Department, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances on 8 July morning, Com. Dipankar noted that "in all these cases the police and responsible members of your cabinet are raising the bogey of naxalites in a desperate bid to justify the ongoing witch-hunt and suppression of basic democratic rights of the working people and political activists. The firing on tea workers at Chandmoni estate, you will recall, was preceded by incidents of police firing on beedi and jute workers in Murshidabad and Hooghly districts respectively."

Further underlining that "contrary to the promise made by the Left Front in 1977" LF govts "have done nothing to punish the police officials and criminals and political leaders who were responsible for the large-scale murder of democracy in West Bengal during the Congress regime in the 1970s", the letter notes that "similar symptoms are growing once again and under your Left-led dispensation. At a time when the spectre of communal fascism and heightened state repression is haunting the entire country, these developments in West Bengal are a cause of worry and shame for all of us who would like to see the Left as the staunchest defenders of democracy in the country". He called upon the LF govt. to order an immediate halt to this growing trend of police repression and high-handedness. "In particular, we demand that a high-level judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the Kolkata High Court be instituted immediately to bring the guilty to justice", the letter says.

Dalit Killings on the Rise in Bihar

Around midnight of 3 July, a criminal gang led by Sinha Yadav and Pappu Singh blasted the house of Subodh Paswan (35), a Party supporter, at Jaitipur village of Bihta block in Patna district. After this the gang fired bullets to kill Subodh Paswan and his would be brother-in-law Sohrai Paswan. Just one day before the police had searched the houses of these poor dalits and misbehaved with their families.

On 25 June last, the elder brother of Sobodh Paswan, Com. Sivnath Paswan, a member of Block Panchayat Samiti who was also member of Maner Area Committee of CPI(ML), had been killed by the same gang and another brother Sripat Paswan was abducted. Protesting this killing CPI(ML) had organised a march and held a large protest meeting at Bihta.

Immediately after the incident of 3 July, Com. Rameshwar Prasad, GS of Khet Mazdoor Sabha visited the spot and on investigation unearthed the fact that Pappu Singh-Sinha Yadav gang has relations not only with the OC of Bihta Police Station but also with the PWG. Also its linkages with both RJD and BJP are close. The chief of this gang, Satyendra, was the BJP candidate from Danapur legislative assembly segment. CPI(ML) has demanded Rs. 2 lakh compensation to the victims' families, arrest of the criminals and stern action against the OC of Bihta PS.

In another incident on 6 July at Ekauna Olipur village of Masaurhi in Patna, when the sister of Jitendra Majhi took her pigs to grazing, a local evil gentry Renu Kumar beat her. When Jitendra Majhi protested, Renu fired to kill him on the spot. Jitendra Majhi is a local CPI(ML) activist while Renu has close links with PWG. In protest 700-800 local people gathered and razed Renu Kumar's house to ground. His uncle fell to the wrath of local people and got killed.

Agrarian Labour Dharna at Bihar Assembly

Around 1,000 agrarian labourers from various districts of Bihar assembled in a massive protest dharna held in front of the Bihar Assembly in Patna on 2 July. It was part of the ongoing statewide agitation on various demands including institution of CBI enquiry on Red Card scam, sacking of the corrupt RJD minister Purnamasi Ram and immediate distribution of red cards to all BPL families. They also demanded guarantee of job and minimum wages throughout the year and enactment of a state level legislation for agrarian labourers. They also demanded steps to stop the ongoing killing spree of dalit agrarian labourers, lowering of the land ceiling and strict implementation of land reforms. The dharna was addressed by party Polit Bureau member Com Ram Naresh Ram, state secretary Com. Ramjatan Sharma and other party and Khet Mazdoor Sabha leaders including Rameshwar Prasad, RN Thakur, Rajaram singh, Kunti Devi, etc. It was presided over by Com. Nandji Ram. A statewide call of Agrarian Labour Strike on July 22 was also issued from here.

Around 800 agrarian labourers staged a militant demonstration recently at Naugachhiya block in Bhagalpur. The Dhamdaha block of Purnea also witnessed a militant demonstration participated in by 500 agrarian labourers. In several blocks of West Champaran agrarian labourers have already launched strike. On 6 July feudal goons attacked an fired indiscriminately on the striking labourers at Muhangta village of Narkatiaganj, in which five people got injured.

Laxmi Sehgal Visits Party's Bihar Office

Renowned freedom fighter and presidential candidate put up by the Left Laxmi Sehgal visited CPI(ML) state party office. She was accompanied by CPI(M) politbureau member Sitaram Yechuri. State CPM leaders including state secretary Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Subodh Roy MP, Ramdev Verma, MLA etc. and CPI State Secy. Jalaluddin Ansari. Party PB member Ram Naresh Ram, State Secy. Ram Jatan Sharma, KD Yadav, Saroj Chaube, Rajaram Singh and RN Thakur welcomed her.

Left Parties Held Convention to Oppose Budget in Punjab

Four left parties, namely CPI (ML) Liberation, CPM (Punjab) led by Com. Pasla, MCPI and the Punjab unit of All India Forward Bloc jointly called a convention at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall, Jalandhar, Punjab on 6 July to expose and oppose the anti-people budget recently presented by the 4-month old Congress regime in Punjab. Notable among those who addressed the 1,200-odd activists assembled in the convention were veteran communist and general secretary of MCPI Com. Jagjit Singh Layalpuri, state secretary of the CPM (Punjab) Com. Mangat Ram Pasla and CPI(ML) Central Committee member Com. BB Pandey. Com. Rajvinder Singh Rana, Party's Punjab unit secretary and BKU (Ekta) senior vice president Ruldu Singh also spoke at this occasion. In the beginning Com. Harkanwal, CPM (Punjab) leader read out the resolution primarily agreed at by the four parties, opposing the anti-people policies of Congress government and the rising trend of state repression in Punjab. Several resolutions were added later.

All the speakers decried the opportunist left for hobnobbing with Congress and welcomed this new trend of unity of genuinely struggling left parties under the red banner which carries immense possibilities of changing the destiny of the state. Terming the convention as historically significant, speakers emphasised that the need of the hour was to carry the message of this unity against both communal fascist forces led by BJP and anti-people Congress to the fields and factories and build a powerful and militant mass movement in Punjab. To this end a rally will be soon called at Jalandhar in which central leaders of these left parties are expected to participate. Com. Pandey appealed to the assembled activists to participate in the ongoing anti-communal fascist, anti-imperialist campaign and join the 9 August programme to be held in Delhi.

Six Left Parties to Hold All-India Convention in Bombay

Six left parties, namely CPI (ML) Liberation, CPI (ML) New Democracy, CPI (ML) Red Flag, CPI (ML) Unity Initiative, COI (ML) and MCPI met on 25 June and decided to hold an All India Convention at Dr. Ambedkar Bhawan, Dadar, Bombay on 20 July, coinciding with the International Anti-Imperialism Day. The convention will be centred on issues like opposing imperialist globalisation, communalisation and Gujarat genocide, war jingoism and subservience to imperialism, particularly US imperialism. Revolutionary left organisations active in Maharashtra are also being invited in the convention.

Worldcom Collapse: The Bubble Finally Burst

The fallout from the financial crisis at WorldCom, the second-largest long-distance telephone service provider in the US is incalculable. It controls over 70% of internet traffic at some point, about 30% of consumer long-distance phone calls, and 50% of all corporate communications in the US. It has triggered a monumental crisis where there are too many sellers and not enough buyers.

Of a predominately non-union workforce that once totalled 80,000, some 6,000 have already been axed and another 17,000 workers would be laid off immediately. Workloads of the remaining workers will increase dramatically.

With the bubble finally bust, the hope for a vigorous recovery from the 2001 recession is fading. This is just the tip of the iceberg, questions are now raised about the sustainability of the US model of capitalism, known as shareholders' capitalism.

A wave of bankruptcies and accounting scandals has laid bare what is going on in the giant financial and corporate institutions. Corporate/banking heads and many of their boards of directors have stacked the books with phony profits to rip off billions of dollars in bloated salaries, stock trading, stock options and bonuses. Huge losses that were covered up have now come to light. WorldCom was just one of many corporations that gave its top executives exorbitant freebies while covering up $3.8 billion in losses.

Now the result is a falling dollar -- now at its lowest level against the Euro in 28 months -- huge government and corporate debt, and the flight of international capital, which had been a key factor in US economic expansion. Most significantly, consumer confidence dropped to a four-month low, the second biggest drop since Sept. 11.

The bursting bubble of the vast telecommunications industry threatens to affect many other Fortune 500 financial/corporate titans. Most significantly, the roll call of the 20 behemoths reveals that they, too, are not immune from a growing economic crisis -- the declining rate of profit. Overproduction inhibits them from expanding and investing in new technology. It is estimated that over $2 trillion has been lost in the financial markets since the Enron debacle.

The workers will bear the brunt of this collapse. Since the recession began in March 2001, 1.2 million US workers have been laid off, nearly 170,000 of them from the telecommunications industry. More will be laid off now that the bubble has burst. Sooner or later this is bound to give rise to a new and qualitatively different wave of working class movement.