ML Update: a CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine

Suddenly there is a flurry of activities on the Indo-Pak diplomatic front. From the brink of a near- total disruption of diplomatic relations a year ago, the two countries now seem to be fast returning to a presumably full-scale restoration of ties. Both India and Pakistan have named their new envoys. Pakistan has just released a batch of Indian prisoners. A group of Pakistani parliamentarians paid a weeklong goodwill visit to India. Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has even reportedly suggested that the two neighbours could begin by expanding the scope and volume of bilateral trade.

The swiftness with which things have started moving is indeed quite breathtaking. While the liberal Indian opinion is euphoric about the ?magical impact? of Vajpayee?s ?hand-of-friendship? offer, it will be height of naivete to miss the fact that the current moves between India and Pakistan are taking place in the shadow of what Washington calls its road map to peace and stability in South Asia. Soon after the Saddam Hussein regime had been toppled in Baghdad, Colin Powell had let it be known that after Iraq washington would now devote greater attention to resolving the Kashmir dispute. The US military administrator for Iraq, Jay Garner even went on to indicate that the American road map for Kashmir would be implemented by December 2004.

In his own vague way Vajpayee too has located his latest peace initiative in the emerging international context after the Iraq war. What Vajpayee did not spell out was that this emerging context was one of growing American intervention and entrenchment in different parts of Asia including our very own subcontinent. And that his government was going out of its way to facilitate this American objective in Asia. Far from being a direct bilateral engagement with Pakistan, the current Indian ?peace initiative? is only an exercise in deepening and institutionalising America?s involvement in Indo-Pak affairs.

While Richard Armitage was on his way to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, India?s National security Adviser Brajesh Mishra was in Washington propounding his thesis of forging a US-Israel-India axis. But however much India may like to gloat about her presumed superior status vis-…-vis Pakistan in the US scheme of geo-politics, the fact is both India and Pakistan are treated by Washington as two loyal clients competing for greater American favour. While Mishra was in the US, the chief of Pakistan?s ISI, Lt.-General Ehsan-ul-Haq, was already there talking to the CIA director, FBI chief and US Vice-President Dick Cheney. And in June the US is set to play host to both President Musharraf of Pakistan, who will be a special guest of Bush at his Camp David retreat, and the Indian Deputy PM L.K. Advani.

Vajpayee has said his current initiative is his third and last attempt at peacemaking with Pakistan. What other option has he then got if the current initiative fails? After the attack of December 13, 2001 on Indian Parliament, India had launched the so-called diplomatic offensive against Pakistan which included virtually snapping India?s diplomatic ties with Pakistan and unprecedented military mobilisation along the entire length of the Indo-Pak border. Major international missions were undertaken with a view to indicting Pakistan for the attack. But all these attempts came a cropper and after ten months the troops had to be asked to return gradually to their peacetime positions. This shortsighted jingoistic campaign cost the exchequer a hefty Rs 8,000 crore and nearly 400 soldiers died and more than a thousand suffered major injuries in this exercise. The Vajpayee government must never again be permitted to stage such a military fiasco.

The other danger that stares India and Pakistan in the face is an inevitable internationalisation of the Kashmir dispute. We must not forget the UN Security Council Resolution 1172 adopted in the wake of Pokhran II. Pokhran provided a readymade opportunity to the UN Security Council to discuss the task of policing what the US describes as one of the world?s most dangerous regions ? Kashmir, divided and sandwiched as it is between two nuclear-weapon wielding war-mongering neighbours. The necessary infrastructure for a US-led imperialist intervention in the subcontinent is thus already in place. Instead of petitioning for greater American attention and intervention, India and Pakistan must resolve all outstanding disputes through bilateral negotiations without any external interference. And that can only happen if the domestic public opinion in the two counries can generate adequate pressure for peace.

25 May 1967 : Historic peasant uprising begins at Naxalbari in Darjeeling district of West Bengal under the leadership of revolutionary communists belonging to the then CPI(M).

The arrival of CPI(ML) on the Indian political scene takes the whole country by a veritable storm.

Indian state unleashes all-out white terror but cannot prevent Naxalbari from kindling a million hearts ...

25 May 2003 : The Party salutes the three-and-a-half glorious decades of Naxalbari -- a saga of revolutionary heroism, supreme sacrifice and absolute determination and reasserts:

Revolutionary peasant struggle continues to assert itself with agricultural labourers at the forefront.

This is a common feeling nowadays that the rail journey has become worst as far as safety is concerned. But where are you safe? Public safety, security, protection, welfare, etc. do not find any room in the agenda of globalisation and liberalisation and, therefore, government is least concerned about these things. Yes, if there is enough scope to commodify them, then no problem!

Look, Nitish Kumar has assured us that he would switch over to ?fire-proof? coaches. Fine! We may not be sure, keeping the previous experiences in mind, it will satisfy the people?s desire that their loved ones will not be killed while travelling in a train, or whether Nitish Kumar himself really believe and find it practicable to replace the existing huge number of coaches with the ?fireproof? ones. But one thing is certain that the heap of black-ashes of burnt coaches and charred passengers has smoothened the way for our Railway Minister to finally say good-bye to government owned coach building factories and hand over this sector to foreign multinationals, which they were aspiring for long. You may call it trading on corpses! But if George could trade over the coffins of the Kargil martyrs right under the nose of the PMO, why should Nitish Kumar be blamed for this cruel joke now?

?The Frontier Mail disaster epitomises the very worst of India, the tragedy brought about by a cruel combination of factors that include criminal negligence, disregard for safety, public contempt for the law and official apathy about enforcing it?, commented ?The Hindu? in its editorial on May 17. It also correctly observed that ?the overall circumstances that resulted in the tragedy raise a number of elementary but disturbing questions: why are there not strict checks to ensure that inflammable substances are not brought on board? Why can?t the rule to prevent smoking be ruthlessly enforced? What does it reflect when an organisation fails to ensure that the only mechanism of communication between passenger and engine driver is functioning? How can anyone have faith that can not keep so rudimentary a device as the humble emergency chain in proper working condition? If the Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar, feels an iota of embarrassment, he would have resigned by now?. The very question of criminal negligence and disregard to safety - outdated track, condemned bridges, inadequate signalling system, thousands of open and unmanned rail-goomties and, above all, matters of general maintenance, have been raised in past also. Nitish Kumar chose to evade these elementary questions this time too as he did on the earlier occasions.

Life has catapulted Nisha, a resident of Noida, to fame. She has emerged as a brave girl who challenged her ?marriage sell-out? (dowry) and called police to arrest the bridegroom on May 11 on the day of her marriage. She refused to tie herself up with the person asking for more dowry. Despite the fact that she did not ?revolt? initially when the groom?s family first demanded dowry and that she was able to acquire enough courage only when increasing demand for dowry became unmanageable for her father, what Nisha did was certainly a brave and inspiring act. And we all must welcome it. Delhi witnessed another act of courage on May 14 when Anupama walked out of her marriage with a greedy CRPF man under similar circumstances.

These brave acts have once again reliven the debate on the menace of dowry and the role of our social system in perpetuating and advancing it. Dowry as a dark culture pervades our entire social-cultural milieu. It is no longer just a feudal ramnant and is getting newer dimensions every passing day. No section of society is immune to it. Politicians, bureaucrats, judges, academicians, engineers, doctors, businessmen and even varieties of progressives and reformists solemnise this pernicious culture which is rooted very deep in our social system. We may find ministers, administrators, top police officials, etc. attending or celebrating marriages where the practice of dowry menifest its ugliest forms and becomes a status symbol! Some elitist women organisations even go to the extent of equating ?dowry? with ?right to property?. Above all, it is a common knowledge that FIR is not lodged in most of the cases and there are rare incidents of punishing police official for not lodging FIR. This happens even in cases of abductions and rapes. Moreover, the conviction rate is almost negligible in such cases.

The economic foundation of our system and social climate in which we live provides sufficient ground to this criminal practice.

So it is not just a question limited to certain Nishas or Anupamas braving these evils. It?s a question to be addressed by the society -- a question of democratisation of society. Issue of opposing dowry must be viewed in a much wider framework. Equal status to women and their right to property should also be addressed simultaneously. All concerned individuals and organisations must intensify their efforts and view this problem as an integral part of general democratic agenda. The sooner the better.

American multinational giant Coke is facing a stiff resistance by the people in Palghat in Kerala as it is causing immense ecological and environmental as well as sociological havocs. The water table around the area where Coke factory is situated has gone down drastically resulting in an adverse impact on agriculture as well as the farmers. Now it is reported that the Coke has planned to shift its factory from Palghat to Sivgangai district in Tamil Nadu. But people near Sakthi Sugar Factory, owned by P. Mahalingam, a business tycoon with whom the coke is collaborating, at Padamattur in Sivagangai, the new location for the Coke factory, have already started to oppose this shifting and are now facing repressive tactics by the police and local administration.

Shifting of Coke will further decrease the water level in the relatively dry area of Sivgangai. Rural masses are agitated around the Sakthi Sugar Company and a ?joint action committee against Coke and for preservation of land water? has been formed comprising of CPI(ML), CPI(M), many self help groups and NGOs. On April 29 a massive rally was conducted at Sivgangai. Though police refused to give permission for this rally, people demonstrated in large number and broke the police cordon. Police registered a case on 2000 people including 1500 women. Rally was led amongst others by Com. D. Pandiyan of CPI(ML) who has also been named by the police along with many other leaders in the FIR.

Many groups of cultural activists held out a protest march on May 10 in Patna with the demand for the unconditional release of AISA leaders Abhyuday, Navin and Vikas Kumar who were arrested while leading protests after the death of a student after collision of two school buses in Patna on April 24. Protesters marched through the streets of the city and held a mass meeting in Patna College compound. They also staged the play ?Saabut Bacha na Koi?. Hirawal, Abhiyan, Akshara Arts, IPTA and many other organisations took part in the programme besides SFI, AISF, AIDSO, DSU and AISA.

All India Progressive Women?s Association and ?Shahari Garib Morcha? (Urban Poor?s organisation) held a dharna on May 14 to protest the demolition of slums in Stalin Nagar and other places of the city and handed over a six-point memorandum to the District Magistrate in Patna. Besides compensation to the victims of demolition and strong punishment to the responsible persons, it was also demanded to arrest the rapists of Malti Devi and kidnappers of Manjari who has not yet been recovered.

Department of Political Science and Indian Institute of Public Administration of Mysore University along with IIMS organised a seminar on ?Understanding Ambedkar? on May 13. Dr.Velarian Rodrigues, HOD, Pol. Science dept of Mangalore University and author of the book ?Essentials of Ambedkar? delivered a lecture. He characterized Ambedkar as a Radical Liberal Democrat. The seminar was also addressed by Dr. Dayananda Mane, HOD of Pol. Science department and P.Venkataramaiah, former Vice-Chancellor of Kuvempu University. Dr. Lakshminarayana emphasized the need for understanding Ambedkar in the present context and foil the rightists? attempts of appropriating Ambedkar.

The local unit of CPI(ML) in Kaharwari area of Giridih town started a fast unto death in front of the Deputy Commissioner?s office on May 7. Around 50 Party members sat on an indefinite fast with the demand to start an already approved scheme for water supply which was not being implemented owing to some apparant political pressure by the local MLA. This agitation created enough mass pressure and forced the local administration to give a written assurance that the said scheme will be implemented within ten days.

While in Deori block of Giridih hundreds of women agriculture labourers protested for the implementation of Minimum Wages Act on May 5. People here also gheraoed BDO on various local issues.

The Koderma district Secretary Mahendra Das was arrested by the police on April 26 in order to divert the investigation process of Markachcho firing and save the guilty police personnels. A demonstration for his release was held on May 1 at Jhumri Talaiya while a dharna was staged before the DC office in Koderma to demand immediate stop to the illegal arrests by the police and release of the investigation report of Markachcho firing incident.

On May 5, plans by Vienna's right-wing conservative government to implement drastic cuts in the pension system resulted in the first major political strike in Austria in over 50 years which was called by the Federation of Austrian Trade Unions (™GB) and its constituent unions. About half a million people took part in the strike-far more than expected. Walkouts occurred throughout the public and private sectors. Thousands of strike actions in the form of workplace meetings and demonstrations paralysed broad sections of public transport throughout the day. Railway workers blocked freight trains; many schools and offices remained closed. Workers in the metal and textile industries-participated in the strikes and Newspaper and printing industry had to suffer as only emergency editions of newspapers were published. Large demonstrations broke out in several major cities in Austria.

The ruling coalition in Austria intends to implement massive cuts in pension benefits, to be reduced on average by about 20 percent, for all workers. The reform of the pension system constitutes the first stage in the plundering of the entire social welfare system. The next step will be a fundamental reform of the health system.

Conservatives, right-wingers as well as the social democrats have been attacking the social security system for more than 10 years. But the ruthless manner in which the government is now attempting to push the law through parliament in only a few weeks is inciting intense opposition. It is generally feared that the attack on pensions heralds a much broader offensive against social welfare.

The strike received a massive response despite the fact that the trade union leadership around OGB boss Fritz Versetnitsch (SPO-Austrian Socialist Party) hesitated for a long time before organising a strike and even after the strike they were determined to confine and keep it at an apolitical level in order to stave off a general mobilisation against the government.

The opposition parties-Social Democrats and Greens-are trying to exploit the strike for their own political purposes. Over the past few days, Astrian Socialist Party, Greens and trade union representatives tried to draw the government back to the negotiating table. Their concern was not about any change to the pension system; rather, they were worried about the danger of losing control of the protests. Alexander van der Bellen, leader of the Greens, warned the government of a radicalisation of the population.

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"As the imperialist warmongers go on choosing their targets one after another, pushing the world to the brink of yet another war, the anti-globalisation movement faces a real test. The limited social movements dealing essentially with the disastrous humanitarian and environmental consequences of new-liberal policies will now have to speak out squarely against imperialist war and military interventions, the real material foundation that props up the new-liberal framework of loot and plunder."

"Vibrant and consistent proletarian internationalism backed by decisive class struggle against the reign of domestic reaction has been the proven strategy of effective resistance of imperialism."

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Lorik Sah, Leader of Bihar Pradesh Khet Mazdoor Sabha in West Champaran district, was kidnapped by Kisan Sangh, an army of feudals in the area, on May 11 in Langda-Didiliya village of Narkatiaganj Block. He was leading the membership campaign of BPKMS in the area. Later he was murdered and his body was burnt at the banks of Bailore river by the killers.

Before this incident Kisan Sangh?s heavily armed goons, led by a local feudal Sheikh Munsif, attacked a group of BPKMS activists when they were conducting the membership campaign. This attack was foiled by the local people who gave a stiff resistance to the goons. But enraged and frustrated goons somehow managed to kidnap comrade Lorik. The local police in connivance with the killers had not taken a quick action. Thousands of people gheraoed the police party which reached the spot many hours late. The BPKMS and CPI(ML) called for a Narkatiaganj Bandh in protest and jammed the Railway station for many hours on May 14. The Party has pledged to intensify the struggle against police-feudal nexus in the district.

On May 15, comrade Somraj Pandit, a Party activist in Sahar of Bhojpur district was murdered brutally by Ranvir Sena near Dhanhuhan village. Comrade Somraj went there to distribute Lokyudh. The Party has demanded immediate arrest of the killers. We pay our sincere condolences to the martyred comrades and pledge to sharpen the struggle till such feudal armies are put out of existence.