It's None of Your Business, Mr. Powell

President Musharraf's internationally televised address has been widely welcomed as a landmark speech coming from the head of a trouble-torn Islamic state like Pakistan. Within Pakistan, it has been compared to the modernist vision of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, while internationally, parallels have been drawn to Kamal Ataturk of Turkey and Abdul Nasser of Egypt. In the face of increasing pressure from fundamentalist quarters, Musharraf boldly articulated the vision of a modern, vibrant Pakistan, low on religion and high on nationalism.

Musharraf's address was of course not confined to the theme of regulating Pakistan's mosques and modernising its madarsas. He was categorical in his condemnation of the October 1 attack on Srinagar Assembly as well as the December 13 assault on the Indian Parliament. He followed up his earlier strictures against militant outfits like LeT and JeM by banning these and certain other organisations and declaring that the soil of Pakistan would not be allowed to be used to wage terrorist activities against any other country.

On Kashmir, he predictably reciprocated Vajpayee's Kashmir-resides-in-our-heart rhetoric with Kashmir-runs-in-our-blood. While reiterating Pakistan's long-standing commitment of extending moral, diplomatic and political support to the cause of Kashmir, he opposed terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, even if it was perpetrated in the name of Kashmir. The demand for extraditing Pakistani citizens accused of crimes in India to the Indian government was rejected, but Musharraf was open about citizens of other countries.

Musharraf had two categorical offers for Vajpayee. As President of Pakistan, he repeated his offer for resumption of India-Pakistan dialogue, while as the commander of Pakistan's armed forces he warned any country against attempts to intrude into Pakistan's territory. And he also took this opportunity to appeal to the international community, especially the US, to mount pressure on India for putting an end to state terrorism in Kashmir and securing a political solution to the Kashmir question in accordance with the aspirations of Kashmiri people and the resolution of the UN Security Council.

The saffron establishment in India has welcomed the part of Musharaf's speech which deals with the modernisation of Pakistan. This is hypocrisy of the ugliest and most reprehensible kind - the same crooked fundamentalist minds, the same 'modern' harbingers of medieval barbarity, who want to teach 'Vedic Astrology' in Indian universities patronisingly welcome Pakistan's self-critical attempts to combat fundamentalism.

They are critical of the rest of Mushharraf's address which they say fell far short of Indian expectations. Who are they trying to befool? Hours before Mushharraf's address, General Padmanabhan went to the media issuing a thoroughly unwarranted and condemnable nuclear threat to Pakistan. How could anyone expect Musharraf to ignore it and reward India with more sops?

As for Mushharraf's plea to the international community, human rights organisations, and to the US, we surely cannot endorse his call for American intervention. But let us not forget, even on this score it is New Delhi which is showing the way. Advani was right there in Washington while Mushharraf was delivering his address. What was he doing there except seeking Bush's blessings who is reported to have found in Advani 'a direct and blunt guy', the kind he likes most? The only difference between India and Pakistan is that while India seeks American intervention in the name of combating terrorism (Advani wants to open a Centre for Counter-terrorism in New Delhi with the help of CIA and Mossad), Pakistan does that in the name of a political solution to the Kashmir question.

We must not forget that before Advani left for Washington, the NDA government had formally rejected Powell's offer for sending an envoy, but now Powell himself is coming to 'mediate' between India and Pakistan. Clearly, all that the tough-talking, 'direct and blunt', Home Minister of India achieved in his mission to America was to upgrade the level of American mediation in the subcontinent!

Every peace-loving democratic citizen of India must now mount pressure on the Indian government to respond positively and adequately to Musharraf's address. We must call for immediate demobilisation of troops on both sides of the border. No dialogue can take place in the shadow of yet another war between the two neighbours. And we must make it clear that India and Pakistan are capable of not just avoiding war, but also resolving all outstanding issues through a constructive bilateral dialogue without any third-party intervention. The message must immediately be delivered loud and clear to Mr. Powell when he sets his feet on the subcontinental soil. It's none of your business, Mr. Powell.

CPI(ML) to Hold 'Powell-Go-Back' Protests on 18 January

Addressing a press conference in Kolkata on 11 Jan., Party GS Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya took strong exception to LK Advani's visit to Washington and the parleys held there with FBI and CIA officials. Earlier, Advani had paid a similar visit to Israel and Advani's this trip to Washington was also preceded by Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres' visit to New Delhi. He strongly denounced the underlying saffron vision of a US-Israel-India axis.

He called upon all state and district units of the party to organise countrywide protests on January 18 against the forthcoming visit of Colin Powell. The party will appeal to all democratic and peace-loving Indians to mount pressure on the Indian government for reversing its present policy of downgrading and disrupting diplomatic ties with Pakistan in the name of a diplomatic offensive. He said that weakening of India's direct ties with Pakistan is only emboldening and enabling the US to deepen its intervention in the subcontinent which can only prove suicidal for the basic interests of both India and Pakistan.

He also opposed the re-promulgation of POTO as well we central government's moves towards imposition of war-taxes on the people in the form of enhanced excise duties and the proposed hike in petrol, diesel and LPG prices. He said that strengthening of the country's defence calls for immediate removal of the Tehelka-tainted coffin thieves from the defence ministry and services including the infamous defence minister George Fernades and not pumping of more funds. Party will build up nationwide public opinion against war hysteria and arms race. Its Nalanda unit has already been conducting a vigorous campaign in this direction in the Lok Sabha constituency of the defence minister.

The January 18 Powell-Go-Back protests will be a part of a countrywide campaign against the growing imperialist and communal fascist danger to the Indian Republic. The campaign will start on January 15 and will continue till the Republic Day eve on 25 January when the Party will renew its pledge for a secular and democratic India.

He said that Party will independently contest nearly thirty seats in UP and ten seats in Uttaranchal, in Punjab it will field some half a dozen nominees as part of a broader electoral understanding with CPI(M) dissidents.

He congratulated the people of West Bengal on the unprecedented success of the January 10 bandh called in protest against hikes in essential service charges and the proposed repressive legislation POCA. The success of the bandh has not only expressed popular resentment against the anti-people policies of the state government, it has also highlighted the possibility that with sincere resolve and timely initiative, Left forces can occupy the oppositional foreground in the state and relegate the Trinamul to the background, he said. Recently a bandh on similar issues was held in Tamil Nadu and Kerala too witnessed a strike on similar grounds on 10 Jan. He said that the CPI(M) leaders have only exposed themselves by following double standards in different states. It is an irony of history that the CPI(M)'s opposition to the bandh in West Bengal was shared by the BJP and the Congress and its pro-market policies are now being applauded by the same bourgeois opinion makers and corporate sector which have otherwise been critical of the Left. The logic of power and the cause of the people are now at loggerheads and the CPI(ML) is determined to espouse the cause of the people against all odds.

Successful Bandh against LF Govt. in Bengal on 10 Jan.

The 24 hour Bandh on 10 January in West Bengal, called by our party along with SUCI and also supported by other ML groups, in protest against hikes in essential service charges and the proposed repressive legislation POCA, was a grand success, although the Left Front Govt. and the CPM leadership left no stone unturned to foil it. The Govt issued stringent circular that any govt. employee absent on the bandh day will be severely punished, the police machinery had been posted in all important places to stop processions and foil road-jam or rail-block. Threats to arrest bandh supporters on non-bailable charges were issued and the CPM leadership asked their party cadres to remain in the streets to foil the bandh exercising their 'democratic right'.

West Bengal people, however, responded to the bandh vigorously against these loud threats of the govt. The police and the RAF entered our district party office in Siliguri to arrest the bandh suporters, in Dhanekhali and in Pandua (in Hooghly) all the activists in a rally and the rallyists in Kolkata who were only shouting slogans were arrested. When the bandh supporters in Kaliachak (in Malda), in Barasat, in Halisahar, in Thakurnagar (in 24 Parganas) took out processions or blocked rail or road police conducted lathi-charge and arrested our comrades. This happend in Purbasthli, Balagarh, Dhubulia, Bankura, Baharampur. In Raiganj and Balurghat around 400 comrades were arrested for simply holding mass meetings in support of the bandh. Altogether 700 comrades, including eleven state committee members and seven district secretaries of our party were arrested under 151 & 283 of the IPC. All the shops-business houses, the banks, school-collage-universities remained closed throughout the state. The bandh was total even in Asansol, Haldia and other industrial areas.

Our party has decided to carry on the movement to its logical end. The movement in form of mass meettings, rallys, even rail-roko, rasta-roko ( rail-blockade, road-blockade) will continue until the govt. rolls back the hike and withdraw the idea of invoking 'POCA' in Bengal.

Summary of CC deliberations, Kolkata, 7-10 January, 2002

Campaign against War Hysteria and American Intervention :

The CC expressed grave concern over the rapid deterioration in Indo-Pakistan relations and the calculated escalation of war hysteria between the two countries since the widely condemned terrorist attack on Indian parliament on December 13. In the name of intensifying diplomatic offensive against Pakistan, the NDA government has embarked on a course of truncating and disrupting India's direct bilateral ties and letting Washington increase its strategic intervention in the region. Even as Pakistan has started initiating measures against Pakistan-based militant and fundamentalist organisations, Vajpayee chose to rake up bilateral issues concerning India and Pakistan in the recently concluded SAARC summit in Kathmandu.

The CC took strong exception to LK Advani's visit to Washington and the parleys being held there with FBI and CIA officials and the proposed launching of a Centre for Counterterrorism in New Delhi with the help of the notorious CIA and the Israeli Mossad. The CC also noted that while Advani's trip to Washington was preceded by Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres' visit to New Delhi, it was scheduled to be followed by yet another subcontinental trip by the US Secretary of State Colin Powell. CC expressed grave concern over these visits and strongly denounced the underlying saffron vision of a US-Israel-India axis.

The CC, however, also pointed out the fact that like the new economic policy, the ruling classes have also succeeded in creating a bourgeois 'national consensus' around this pro-US, pro-Israel and anti-Pakistan foreign policy. Instead of criticising or restraining the BJP in matters of foreign policy, the Congress as well as centrist parties like the SP and RJD and so-called 'liberal' former prime ministers like VP Singh and IK Gujral are only clamouring for war. Even the CPI and CPI(M) have failed to demarcate themselves adequately on this question.

The CC reiterated that war was no answer to terrorism. Two nuclear-powered neighbours like India and Pakistan must resolve all outstanding issues of bilateral concern through a comprehensive dialogue, and war of any kind could not be an affordable or acceptable option to the people of either India or Pakistan.

The CC therefore decided to conduct an urgent nationwide political camapign against the looming threat of war between India and Pakistan and against growing American intervention in the internal affairs of the region. All peace-loving democratic Indians must mount pressure on the Indian government to reverse the pro-US pro-Israel orientation of the present foreign policy and to restore full-scale diplomatic relations with Pakistan and resume negotiations at the earliest. The campaign will expose and denounce all attacks on India's sovereignty, democracy and secularism by focusing on issues like Powell's visit, POTO, resignation of George Fernades and weeding out of corruption in the armed forces and defence ministry as revealed by successive scams from Tehelka to the CAG report on the purchase of coffins for Kargil martyrs and other irregularities in defence purchases,the saffron threat to begin construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya by March 12, subversion of the Constitution and saffronisation of history and education and the worsening economic situation. As part of the campaign, the CC has called upon all state and district units of the party to organise countrywide protests on January 18 against the visit of Colin Powell. The campaign will conclude on the Republic Day eve on 25 January with an emphatic renewal of the people's pledge for a secular democratic India.

Afghanistan Situation and Anti-imperialist Protests:

Regarding Afghanistan, the CC noted that the ragtag band of Taliban soldiers could not hold out for more than a month against the overwhelming military might of the US. While popular opinion in many parts of the world opposed the US war in Afghanistan, most states are still rallied around the US in the so-called global coalition against terrorism. The retreat and fall of the Taliban almost without a fight has been quite surprising especially to those who were expecting a Vietnam like resistance in Afghanistan. Belying such fond hopes, Afghanistan has rather exposed the limits of Islamic fundamentalism as a fighting force against US imperialism.

Yet there can be no doubt that the Karzai government which owes its existence to a delicate negotiated settlement between the US and other external forces claiming to have a stake in Afghanistan does not enjoy the confidence of the Afghan people. With the US presence continuing in Afghanistan, the popular mood in Afghanistan is going to turn increasingly against the US imperialists and this can only intensify the pulls and pressures around the interim government of Hamid Karzai. Also, while the western world and even Russia and China have so far extended a general support to the US campaign in Afghanistan, any extension of the Afghan war, both within and beyond Afghanistan, is bound to invite opposition from many of America's allies.

The CC also noted with satisfaction that while the fall of the Taliban regime signalled an abrupt end to anti-war protests in most Islamic countries, anti-imperialist anti-war protests sponsored by leftwing forces continued unabated. In fact, the biggest anti-war protest was seen in London on November 18, a few days after the fall of Kabul. It is also encouraging to note that the anti-globalisation movement has successfully survived the aftermath of September 11. With the global economic slowdown showing little signs of abating and especially the US economy still reeling under recession, protests against globalisation are continuing all over the world. The recent protest in Brussels against the EU summit and anti-WTO protests during the Doha ministerial summit have made it clear that the anti-globalisation movement is here to stay. And the recent popular uprising in Argentina has amply illustrated the explosive situation prevailing in the third world and the tremendous potential it holds for carrying forward the popular resistance against neo-liberal policies through giant strides.

The CC also took note of China's eventual entry into the WTO and the long-awaited introduction of Euro as a near pan-European currency. Both these events have the potential of sharpening the global trade war and intensifying economic competition between the three poles of the US-Europe-China triad. This may assume greater significance especially against the backdrop of the prevailing synchronised global slowdown or recession.

Campaign against POTO and State Repression:

The CC expressed satisfaction over the continuing countrywide protests against POTO. However, following the December 13 terrorist strike on Parliament, the bourgeois opposition to POTO has got pretty diluted. The winter session of Parliament ended prematurely on a note of consensus and POTO has been re-promulgated with a few cosmetic amendments. The opposition to POTO is further weakened by the fact that similar repressive laws are already being implemented or contemplated by various state governments including even the Left Front government of West Bengal. It is of course encouraging to note that the NHRC is still voicing serious reservation against the re-promulgated ordinance. The CC emphasised the need to develop closer interaction with the human rights movement and promote anti-POTO anti-repression joint campaign through all possible avenues. However, there is no room for undertaking any joint action exclusively with anarchists or insurgent groups and we must maintain clear demarcation with such forces.

POTO is however symptomatic of a growing autocratic or fascist consolidation. Even without or prior to POTO, the state had been becoming increasingly repressive. An undeclared state of Emergency prevails in large parts of the country. While Advani cries for a hard state, even West Bengal's LF government echoes it with a ban on road and rail blockade agitations in the state. Such repression is only likely to intensify in the days to come. The key to facing such a situation lies in enhancing the Party's ideological, political and organisational cohesion and consolidation, and, of course, in championing the cause of the people still more vigorously.

Challenges Facing Different State Units:

The CC discussed the review reports of different states for the year 2001. The CC welcomed the agitational initiatives being taken in different states and called for seizing the opportunities opening up in different states to expand raise the Party's profile and expand the Party organisation. The growth possibilities have been particularly pronounced in Jharkhand, eastern region of Uttar Pradesh and northern and eastern parts of Bihar. The victories scored by the Party in panchayat elections in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu must be utilised properly and purposefully to consolidate and expand our rural work. In Assam, we have had to suffer a setback in the hill districts and the Congress has staged a comeback in both Karbi Anglong and NC Hills. The CC called upon the Party unit in the hills to focus on its new role as a party of opposition, and regain political initiative by reviving the autonomous state movement and developing class and mass organisations and movements on other issues of the toiling masses. In Jharkhand, the challenge before the Party lies in consolidating the organisation, strengthening the Party's work among adivasis and workers in both organised and unorganised sectors, and attaining greater mastery over combining our parliamentary and extra-parliamentary roles and initiatives. In Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Kerala, the states which had Assembly elections in May 2001, people are already getting disillusioned with the new governments. The combination of industrial recession, agrarian crisis and growing commercialisation and privatisation of essential services is producing an explosive situation ripe for major agitational measures.

Among the states going to the polls in February, the Party will put up candiadtes in Punjab, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh. In UP we will contest independently in around 30 seats while in the newly created state of Uttaranchal, we will have nearly a dozen nominees in the fray. In Punjab we will contest three to five seats in possible electoral adjustment with the breakaway CPI(M) group led by Comrade Pasla. The CC called upon all Party committees to raise election funds for the election-bound states especially Uttar Pradesh. Funds thus raised must be made available to the Party Central Office by 10 February, 2002. On the basis of the recommendations of central observers, the CC ratified the state conferences held in Bihar and West Bengal.