Patriarchal Doublespeak in Indian Parliament

The budget session of Parliament is over. The session that had begun with the widely condemned installation of Savarkar's photo in Parliament's central hall ended with revealing glimpses of patriarchy and doublespeak in Indian Parliament.

We all know that bourgeois parliaments all over the world are essentially talking shops and that the Indian parliament shares the same genetic code. The job of the parliamentary forum is essentially to shroud the undemocratic and illegitimate acts of the government and the state in illusions of democracy and legality. But few parliaments in the world can probably hope to match their Indian rival in terms of sheer criminalisation of politics and vulgarisation of the political debate. Which other parliament can hope to stoop to the level of vulgarity that has been recorded in India in terms of the Women's Reservation Bill, which has been 'deferred' yet again on the alleged ground of there being no consensus? Since when has consensus become a prerequisite for introduction of a bill?

The gimmick surrounding the women's reservation bill has now become absolutely sickening. The government would reiterate its commitment to the cause of reservation of seats for women in Parliament and State Assemblies, a handful of MPs from parties like the Samajwadi Party, RJD, JD(U) and Samta Party would then go berserk in Parliament and then the bill would be deferred indefinitely amidst talks of a 'gender war'. If the BJP and the Congress are really in support of women's reservation then the bill should have an assured support of more than 60 per cent members in both houses of Parliament. And yet we are told that the bill cannot be introduced because there is no consensus! Was there a larger consensus for POTA? What prevents the Speaker from enforcing the necessary discipline and decorum in the Lok Sabha and allow the bill to be tabled and debated? It is now open knowledge that the 'socialist' MPs who display all their lung power and physical prowess to stop the women's reservation bill are actually cheered and encouraged by many MPs of the BJP and the Congress. Supporters of women's reservation will have to identify and expose this larger patriarchal alliance at work.

Contrast the NDA government's alacrity to defer the women's reservation bill to the secretive, almost guerrilla manner in which three bills including the controversial bill to repeal the IM(DT) was placed at the last moment of the budget session. It was a Friday listed not for any government business but only for bills proposed by 'private members'. Yet the government and the Speaker invoked an extraordinary provision to legitimise the introduction of these bills at the fag end of the budget session.

Contrary to the enormous amount of discussion that has already taken place on the Women's Reservation Bill, there has been little national debate on the scrapping of the IM(DT) Act which applies only to the state of Assam. It is a demand raised originally by the AGP but now hijacked by the BJP. In fact, the BJP recently organized a rathyatra in Assam around this and some other demands and the rathyatra turned out to be a damp squib. The BJP argues that the Illegal Migrants' Deportation Act has actually hindered the process of identification and deportation of foreign nationals in Assam. Almost all non-BJP non-AGP parties in Assam however believe that the repeal of IM(DT) would give a free hand to the administration and the police to harass the religious and linguistic minorities in Assam. Such a 'free hand' is however necessary in the BJP's scheme of autocratic majoritarianism and police state. So the BJP convenes a joint session of Parliament to manufacture a majority for POTA, it introduces a bill proposing to scrap the IM(DT) on a Friday afternoon minutes before Parliament was to conclude the budget session, but the women's reservation bill continues to be held up by a 'few' unruly MPs!

Clearly, the issue at stake is not merely of a couple of bills, but that of patriarchal and majoritarian subversion of the parliamentary system.

Anti-Imperialist March to Lucknow Residency

The All India Students' Association (AISA) and the Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA) observed 'Anti-Imperialism Day' on May 10, anniversary of India's first war of independence in 1857. Thousands of students and Youth from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Uttaranchal and Delhi assembled in Lucknow and took out a massive anti-imperialist 'Residency March' and held a bonfire of American and British goods.

The agitators demanded that the memorials of 1857 martyrs at the Lucknow Residency be set up and the name of Residency be changed to Wajid Ali Shah Memorial. They said that the Lucknow Residency witnessed the three-month long historic siege by the freedom fighters of the 1857, but there were no statues or pillars to commemorate the martyrs. The agitators said, "there is nothing to honour the memory of Maulvi Ahamadullah, Lakshmibai, Udabai, Begum Hazarat Mahal, Mangal Pandey, Kunwar Singh or the thousands of peasants who laid the foundations of India's progressive secular nationalism with their blood. Instead, there are pillars erected by the British which refer to Indian freedom fighters as the 'enemy' and praise Lawrence, Neil and other British officers notorious for the barbaric massacres of thousands of Indians".

The protesters denounced Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee for his shameful collaboration with the US imperialists and said "Nothing is more shameful than the fact that the residency is situated in Lucknow, the parliamentary constituency of country's Prime Minister".

Shouting slogans like 'Wipe out colonial legacy', 'Uphold anti-colonial-anti-imperialist tradition of Indian nationalism', 'Set up Memorial of 1857 martyrs at the Lucknow Residency', 'Neither Oil nor Soil - Occupation forces quit Iraq', 'Oppose American intervention in India's affairs', 'Resume bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan', etc. the protesters took out their march from Charbagh and covered several parts of the city and later converged into a mass-meeting at the Residency. Activists of the CPI(ML), Uttar Pradesh Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, All India Progressive Women's Association and Jan Sanskriti Manch also joined the march.

Veteran Freedom fighter Com. R. N. Upadhyay flagged off the march.

Addressing the student-Youth protesters, CPI(ML) UP state Secretary Akhilendra Pratap Singh called upon them to further intensify their movement for a modern progressive nationalism.

Also in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh a convention was organised to commemorate the martyrs of 1857 and it was demanded that the memorials be built of those martyrs who led the masses against British army in and around the Bhind region.

Towards an All-India Agricultural Organisation -- Bihar Takes the Lead

The 7th Party Congress of the CPI(ML) called upon to "reemphasise the primacy of agrarian struggles and extensive mobilisation of the rural poor on basic issues of radical agrarian reform and democracy". To this aim in view, the Party has resolved to organise agricultural labourers in an all-India organisation on a strong membership foundation.

Agricultural labour comprise majority of our nation's work-force. The highest number of working women also are found in this sector producing food for the entire population, raw material for industries and export potentials for the nation. They are the backbone of the nation and key forces for radical agrarian reforms and democracy. The clutches of capitalism and subsequent impact of imperialist globalisation has added salt to the injury. Although it gave rise to this category of work force further, but did not recognise them as workmen/women even at par with the norms of capitalism. Even today, they do not enjoy any social and economic security or legal and political protection. They are pushed to semi-slave conditions though they are 'free' to migrate within the country.

This is the political class which can resist and thoroughly fight out feudal remnants, capitalism of all hues including globalisation and reactionary ruling-nexus in present day rural India.

This is the political class which is the closest and strongest alley of the Indian proletariat for its struggle for democracy and socialism.

The Party has, therefore, planned to intensify its work among them, organise them as a class in their class organisation at national level. Party's Bihar unit has taken up this task as a campaign. It has fixed an initial target of ten lakh membership. Party leaders are directly leading the campaign to reach upto the last person in the village. To facilitate the task, Panchayat has been taken as unit. All the Party members, activists and Party Branches are being mobilised. "Jatha" headed by a leader goes to village, organise meetings and enroll membership on mass scale. This will culminate into Panchayat/Block level conference with large participation of the rural workers. "This will give a new lease of life to the ongoing movement in rural Bihar", commented a district Secretary.

The struggle for the enaction of an Agricultural Labour Law in states and at centre will provide a fresh momentum in our ongoing efforts to organise them as a political class.

The agricultural Labour Law must have provisions for trade union rights to agricultural labourers, setting up of a competent authority for the registration of all agricultural labourers, security of employment and employment guarantee schemes with at least 100 days of assured employment, revamping of minimum wage formula and more effective implementation machinery, dispute settlement machinery in every block, equal wages for men and women, 8-hour work, old age pension scheme, maternity benefits, social security and other benefits through a welfare fund, extension of medical benefits and ESI coverage, compensation for accidents, safety measures relating to agricultural machinery, fiscal and. other direct curbs on labour displacing mechanisation, ban on crop diversification away from labour intensive foodgrains in areas of acute unemployment like Kuttanad of Kerala, statutory monitoring committees up to district levels with representations to agricultural labourer organisations to oversee the implementation of Agricultural Labourers Act, self-employment loans, land redistribution, end to bonded and child labour, distribution of waste land, banjar land and forest land for joint forest management, soft loans for group farming and for self-cultivation of small plots, house-sites, strict implementation of Civil Rights Act/SC-ST Act, Anti-Atrocities Act etc., special courts for speedy trial of cases involving atrocities on rural labour, holding SP and DM responsible in the case of massacres of agricultural labourers, special packages for migrant labourers and so on.

Jharkhand Gears up for a New Phase of Movement

CPI(ML) has geared up for a vigorous campaign in Jharkhand against the BJP-led Govt. for its betrayal of the Jharkhandi People. The last session of the Jharkhand Assembly had witnessed a drama of face-change of Chief Minister. At the same time it has heard charges and counter-charges of corruption and irregularities between the ministerial colleagues belonging to JD(U), a NDA partner, and the Chief Minister. It has also witnessed the honourable speaker, in collusion with members of Samata Party as well as CM's own party BJP, claiming to form the govt. in league with the opposition members, treasury bench accusing the speaker indulging in horse-trading right on the floor of the Assembly. This model practice of BJP's coalition-drama came as a cruel joke to the pompous celebrations of five years of BJP's NDA-rule in the centre. CPI(ML) has demanded a white paper on Jharkhand episode.

The Party has extended its active support to the May 21 All India Industrial strike called by the Left trade union centres against policy of globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation affecting large scale closures, unemployment, wage cut, etc. rendering the working class to insecurity and utter misery throughout the country.

In Jharkhand, the public sector industries, known as "mother plants of industrialisation of mother India" have already been pushed to the verge of closure, the vast mining sector, popularly known as "treasure of wealth" have been pushed to a dying condition. Rural Jharkhand is crying for minimum infrastructural facilities for Agriculture, proper rehabilitation of the displaced sons and daughters of the soil, employment, minimum wages, water and electricity. Everything is getting worse. If anything has flourished, that is Mafia-raj all over the state including forests, plains, industries and mines. A corrupt criminal nexus of ruling elites-contractors-police-administration rule the roost.

The Party is determined to uphold people's voice and lead their struggles. It has called upon other Left parties, organisations and the people at large to join hands for a Jharkhand Bandh on May 21 to lodge the people's voice of discontent and to sound the bell for a massive movement in the days to come.

The district committees of the Party have drawn comprehensive plan for a mass awakening campaign and popular movement combating the nexus, effectively resisting state repression and politically encountering armed groups naming themselves as PWG/MCC which has nothing to do with anti-feudal-anti-state movement of the people and are busy in hobnobbing with the corrupt-criminal ruling nexus threatening the rural poor asking them to abstain from joining "Maley" or face gun. The multi-pronged initiative that the comrades in Jharkhand are striving to carry forward finds its expression in following slogans:
* "Heighten the political intervention. Draw the distinct line of demarcation between bourgeoisie-liberal opposition and proletarian revolutionary democratic opposition!"
* "Intensify and expand the people's movement further! Consolidate and expand political mass-base among agricultural labourers, small and lower-middle peasant, urban toiling masses, student-Youth, Dalit, Adivasis and other weaker sections.
* "Take up Panchayat as the unit for day-to-day mass work and mass movement, for building mass organisations and expanding mass base establishing people's supervision and control over developmental work and all other affairs of the village through village committees, enrolling each and every workmen/women in the Panchayat as member of Jharkhand Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (JMKSS), for developing Party network and strengthening the political initiative further."
* "Go by popular exposure of PWG/MCC, isolate them effectively, create conditions to make them come along people's movement or else face people's resistance."

CPI(ML) Statement on Indo-Pak Relations

The CPI(ML) has welcomed the Pakistani Parliamentary mission in India and said that serious and sincere efforts, open and above-board, at various levels between the two countries would ease the relations and lead to mutual friendship and cooperation. The Party, however was critical over the Prime Minister Vajpayee's conspicuous silence on America's systematic and necked attempts of meddling in Indo-Pak relations. "India should categorically come out to say No to American intervention. India is competent enough to carry on its own business including relations with neighbours. Let the American Govt. settle accounts with its own people and tell the world as to when the US-occupation troops are going to leave oil and soil of Iraq", the Party said.

The CPI(ML) welcomes and supports any movement for restoration of democracy in Pakistan, but at the same time it rejects the Indian Govt's occasional bouts of moralising on the internal politics of Pakistan. The Govt. of India must deal with the Pakistani govt. of the day and absence of a proper parliamentary democracy in Pakistan can be no excuse for New Delhi to disrupt or dilute normal diplomatic relations with Islamabad. It was also added that we must not ignore or underestimate the implications of American involvement in the region. The Bush-Blair combination in openly fuelling the arms race between India and Pakistan. Time and again, real life has refuted the simplistic notion that peace between India and Pakistan can be ensured through a balance of terror and nuclear parity. By the Indian Govt's own admission, the enormous deployment of troops on the boarder has failed to have any impact on the scale of what it calls cross-boarder terrorism. If anything, it had only drained the national exchequer and added to the level of bilateral tension. In short, nearly a year of eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation has revealed the utter futility of the Indian Govt's doctrine of coercive diplomacy.

Welcoming the new initiatives, the CPI(ML) called for immediate restoration of complete bilateral relations and resumption of a free and open dialogue on all outstanding issues including Kashmir. "India's refusal to deal directly with Pakistan on the Kashmir question has only allowed US to deepen its intervention in the region", the Party added. The CPI(ML) called upon the people of both nations to mount pressure on the respective Govts to make a positive response, settle their matters themselves and ask emissaries of Bush and Blair to go back.

Panchayat Elections in West Bengal

The sixth Panchayat Eelections in West Bengal were held on May 11. Three distinguising features were noticeable in this election. The first being the terror unleashed by CPM against all the political parties including its front partners. The pre-poll violance took 17 lives and on polling day 11 were killed in clashes. Rigging, intimidation, capturing of booths, snatching of ballot boxes were the common features in this election especially in South Bengal districts of Murshidabad, North and South 24 Parganas and Hooghly region. The second one is clashes among Left Front partners especially between CPM-RSP and CPM-FB which were a result of disagreement over seats sharing. The front partners had 'friendly' contests on nearly 10,000 seats. Many such 'friendly' contests gave rise to armed clashes and took many lives. The third one is 'uncontested' win of over 6283 seats by the CPM. These 'uncontested' wins is a clearcut reflection of terror unleashed by the CPI(M) in rural Bengal. Never before such huge number was declared uncontested in any Panchayet election of West Bengal.

CPI(ML) contested on 778 seats in gram panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parisads with the slogans "Defeat newly emerged corrupt and bureaucratic regime in Panchayats", "Build up autonomous and pro-people Panchayats", "Include all poor peasants into BPL list", "Ensure peoples' supervision and compulsory attendance of the 50% people in panchayat meetings", "Ensure honour, respect and rights of the women", "Implement minimum wages for the agricultural labourers and job for the whole-year ", "Defeat the alliance of riotist and reactionary forces of BJP, TMC and Congress", "Defeat the hypocrite, terrorising, anti-peasant left front candidates", and "Ensure jobs for the rural Youth". The main slogan of the CPM's campaign was consolidation of gains in the rural areas in the last 25 years which is nothing but a roll back of the social democratic reforms namely decentralisation of power through Panchayats, the operation barga and the ceiling surplus land distribution. After coming to power for the sixth term in West Bengal under the leadership of Buddhadve Bhattacharya the whole process has taken a reverse turn. The Buddhadev Govt. is pursuing a new agricultural policy which is nothing but a true-copy of centre's policy on agriculture. A crisis is deepening in rural Bengal. The so called 'decertralisation of power' has bred to local kulaks who have now captured the Panchayats at all levels with criminalisation of politics in rural Bengal as the net outcome. This panchayat election truly reflects and exposes the political process as unleashed by the CPM in its rule.

B R I E F S

1. The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta) and the CPI(ML) resumed their protest movement in Punjab from 21 April on the issues and problems of the farmers in the state. Protesting the betrayal by the state govt. to honour its commitments made last month, nine leaders of BKU (Ekta) and CPI(ML) sat on indefinite hunger strike in Chandigarh. The struggle centered on demands like free supply of water and power, increase in the MSP of wheat, formalisation of scheme for waiving loans, revoking of sections 63-C and 63-A of the Cooperative Act, freeing Cooperative Societies from Markfed, withdrawal of tax on fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides and payment of compansation for the previous paddy crop. This agitation forced the Chief Minister Amrinder Singh to announce waiver of 4 percent sales tax on pesticides and to lower by Rs. 1200 the cost of the electricity charges besides other reliefs for the farmers.

2. The armed goons of the MCC killed Com. Shravan Kumar, a CPI(ML) supporter, on May 9 at Imamganj Bazar in Jehanabad district. Com. Shravan had recently joined the Party after quitting People's War Group. Enraged by this incident, people blocked the Arwal-Jehanabad road for hours and gheraoed the persons involved in supporting and sheltering the killers. Police too faced the wrath of the People. A protest meeting was held at Imamganj Bazar. The Party has demanded immediate arrest of the killers.

3. The twelfth Biennial Conference of All India Central Govt. Health Scheme Employees Association was held at Meerut on May 6-8. Com Swapan Mukherjee General Secretary of AICCTU was the chief guest. 98 delegates and observers from 18 cities attended the Conference. A 9 member central working committee headed by Ramkishan as president and T. Trivedy as Secretary was elected. The conference decided to go on 2 hours daily strike from 19-23 May and for indefinite strike from June 3 against anti-worker policies of the Health Ministry.

4. A public meeting was held by AICCTU in Peenya industrial estate, Karnataka, on April 26 to expose the recommendations of the Second Labour Commission. A booklet was released on the occasion. Attractive posters depicting the plight of the workers due to Globalisation were also on display in the venue of the meeting.

Condolence Message

The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) deeply condoles the death of legendary South African leader Mr. Walter Sisulu, who passed away on May 5.

The world will remember him as a frontline leader of African National Congress who shaped the history of his nation by leading a powerful anti-racist, anti-imperialist and pro-democracy movement in his country. He remains a source of inspiration for all the forces who are fighting against neo-colonial projects of the imperialist powers. The CPI(ML) also condoles the death of Comrade Ashutosh Bannerjee, a senior leader of the Socialist Unity Centre of India who passed away on May 8 in Kolkata. We will remember him as a veteran leader who always pursued for principled Left Unity in the country.