No Indian Troops to Serve the US War in Iraq

Between September 1915 and April 1916, thousands of Indian soldiers had died in the then Mesopotamia fighting Britain’s war against Turkey. They were among the 90,000 Indian troops killed during the First World War in whose memory stands the colossal and colonial India Gate at the heart of New Delhi. The British cemeteries of the British Indian Army victims of World War I along the banks of the Tigris in Iraq are however seen by the Iraqis as nothing better than unwanted memories of foreign occupation. Last month, American soldiers reportedly restored one such cemetery at Al Kut, a town between Basra and Baghdad in eastern Iraq. It was soon desecrated again by Iraqis angry over the unfurling of the British flag over it.

The US wants the Indian Army to relive the experience of the British Indian Army in Iraq. Yes, if Indian troops are sent to Iraq they will be joining their predecessors who fought Britain’s wars against Germany, Japan and their allies during the two World Wars. Indian troops in occupied Iraq will be a fundamentally different proposition from the 37 UN missions in which Indian forces have participated over the last fifty-odd years of Indian independence since 1947.

The very expression ‘stabilisation force’ is different from the standard terminology of peacekeeping missions or reconstruction efforts. Indian troops are supposed to assist the Anglo-American forces in combating Iraqi instability. Right now American troops in occupied Iraq are engaged in major military assaults, after Operation Peninsula Strike they have now launched a new operation codenamed Desert Scorpion. While hundreds of Iraqis have been killed since Bush declared on May 1 that major combat was over in Iraq, the Americans are also losing at least one soldier every day. Indian troops are being asked to walk straight into this morass. No amount of UN ‘cover’ or autonomy of the Indian forces will alter the fundamental character of the role of the Indian troops in occupied Iraq.

The NDA government says there is no American pressure on India on sending troops to Iraq. Call it American persuasion or Indian passion, the fact is this one single question dominated all of Advani’s recent meetings with US leaders. Advani himself has distinguished his second visit from the first on the basis that the former was seen to be rather Pakistan-centric. Bush has already sent a Pentagon team to India to clarify Indian doubts while Vajpayee has launched a campaign to manufacture a ‘national consensus’ with his meeting with Sonia Gandhi.

Following the Vajpayee-Sonia meeting, Yashwant Sinha has said that the final decision would be taken in the best national interest. Who and what will define this best interest of the nation? The comprador greed for a share in Iraqi spoils or the Indian ruling elite’s delusion of grandeur which believes that the service and sacrifice rendered by the Indian troops in Iraq would cement New Delhi’s strategic ties with Washington and give India an entry into the big league of global players? The democratic and progressive Indian opinion rejects this basis with the contempt it deserves. The principles of democracy and anti-imperialism which can unite the needs and aspirations of the Indian people with those of the Iraqi people as well as the freedom- and justice-loving people of the whole world can be the only acceptable basis for determining India’s best interests.

We have been told that no decision on sending troops would be taken till there is a national consensus. But on the question of Iraq, there already exists a national consensus expressed in the form of the parliamentary resolution of April 8 which categorically condemned the illegal and unjust war imposed by the Anglo-American alliance and called for an early withdrawal of all foreign troops from the soil of Iraq. How can the Government of India now take a step in violation of this resolution, a step that will legitimise American occupation and add more foreign troops?

By entertaining the idea of sending Indian troops to Iraq, the BJP and the Congress have already violated and challenged the existing national consensus. Well, there can always be a US-inspired BJP-Congress deal on the subject, but there can never be a national consensus. Let the real nation stand up and defeat the ruling classes’ attempts to manufacture and market a fraudulent national consensus.

No Indian troops to Iraq! No US bases in India!

BPKMS Enters Into second Phase of its Membership Campaign

The task of strengthening the organisation of agricultural labourers and other rural poor and intensifying the struggle against deepening agrarian crisis is being taken up by the Bihar unit of the Party as a four point campaign with proper emphasis given to expand agriculture labour organisation (BPKMS) by recruiting new members and strengthening intervention in the panchayati raj institutions.

The first phase of this campaign saw a large scale recruitment and achieved its target of inducting more than 3 lakhs members. A massive membership campaign was launched in almost all districts. Bhojpur witnessed highest membership with nearly 70,000 members and is likely to achieve its target of 1 lakh during the next phase while reports from Rohtas (45,000), Aurangabad (20,000), Patna Rural (50,000), Nalanda (32,000) and Muzaffarpur (15,000) are also encouraging. All the district committees have taken up this campaign with full commitment and in very few districts where a slow pace was observed initially, committees resolved to overcome ideological-political weaknesses in this regard and called for all leaders and cadres to take up the task by going to villages to lead the campaign personally. This gave a new impetus to the campaign and helped activists to unleash their full vigour and strength.

Now in the second phase, emphasis is being given to further broaden and expand the base among various sections of agricultural labourers in new areas and villages.

This campaign also witnessed militant mass resistances when two of CPI(ML) activists working on agricultural labourers’ front were killed by feudal forces in West Champaran and Bhojpur districts. Protest and Pledge-taking meetings were held at both the places where a large number of agricultural workers and rural poor participated.

OBITUARY ML Update pays its deepest condolences to Comrade Somraj Pandit who was killed by Ranvir Sena in a cowardly manner on 15 May 2003 in Dhanahuan village of Bhojpur district. He was campaigning for BPKMS. He was the block committee member of BPKMS and a popular leader. A mass meeting was organised on June 11 in his native village Amruhi to pay tributes to Comrade Somraj. It was addressed by Party’s senior leader Comrade Ram Naresh Ram. Comrade Ram condemned Ranvir Sena’s fresh attempts to again destabilise the Sahar region and appealed to the people to give a befitting reply to Ranvir Sena. People’s desire to completely wipe out Ranvir Sena was evidently manifested in the massive and militant participation of the people in the meeting. Local committee has launched a massive campaign to punish the Sena leaders and killers of Comrade Somraj.

CPI(ML) Team Visits Talhan in Punjab

A team of CPI(ML) and CPI(M) (Pasla) leaders visited Talhan village in Jalandhar district of Punjab on 14 June where police opened fired on a dalit demonstration on June 5 resulting in the death of a youth. Earlier this village witnessed clashes between dalits and Jats over the demand of representation of dalits in Gurudwara management committee that hit the headlines in the national dailies. This incident has triggered tension in the whole of doaba belt of Punjab and the dalits have come out into the streets and, consequently, Jalandhar witnessed violent clashes and long curfews.

Though the local administration denied permission to the team to meet people or enter the village, all sorts of Congress leaders as well as the notorious extremists of the Damdami Taksal were allowed to move in the curfew bound village. Even the Damdami Taksal chief Mokam Singh was allowed to hold press conference inside the disputed gurudwara. Congress govt. was trying to fish in the troubled waters by aligning to the fundamentalist outfits. The Akali Dal is openly supporting the old management committee which refused to give proper representation to dalits exposing its anti-dalit position.

The team strongly felt that the dalits, who constitute more than 70% of Talhan village, must be given proper representation in the affairs of the said gurudwara.

The team also demanded to arrest and punish the people who gave the call for social boycott of dalits in the village in February. Team criticized the administration for not taking any action at that time and allowed to worsen the situation further. The team demanded strong action against officials who have not arrested the culprits.

The team condemned the Congress govt. for not allowing the democratic and Left organisations and media to meet people in Talhan and visit the disputed Gurudwara. The team also called upon the govt. to immediately call off unnecessarily imposed indefinite curfew which is causing untold miseries in this summer season and to involve all political, social organisations and democratic personalities to normalise the situation.

Finally, the team called upon the people of Punjab to fight the dangerous policies of one-up-manship being played by the Congress and Akali Dal to vitiate the atmosphere of peace in the state and push the class issues to the background. The serious agrarian crisis and stagnating economy coupled with the growing assertion of the oppressed sections is bringing more and more people in the movement. It was felt that the conspiracy to divide the people by giving credence to fundamentalist and reactionary forces can only be defeated by building a strong united Left assertion.

The team consisted of Swapan Mukherjee, S. Nat and M. P. S. Khurana from CPI(ML), H. Singh, Chandrasekhar and Baldev Singh from CPI(M)(Pasla), Editor of ‘Jaikara’ Narvinder and noted journalist and Secretary of Kendriya Lekhari Sabha Sushil.

Against US Occupation of Iraq:
Meeting in Delhi to Protest Vajpayee Govt.’s Move to Send Indian Troops to Iraq

A public meeting was held at Constitution Club in New Delhi on 16 June to oppose and protest the Vajpayee Govt.’s preparedness to send Indian troops to Iraq. The meeting was held under the banner of ‘Committee Against War on Iraq’. Meeting demanded that the Vajpayee govt. must stop acting as US agent and reject the US demand and pressure for sending Indian troops to Iraq and expressed apprehension over the developing deal between the BJP and the Congress on this issue. A number of leaders representing several political parties addressed the meeting.

Speaking at the meeting the CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said, “pro-American establishment in India is trying to manufacture a fake national consensus on this issue. There can always be a US-inspired BJP-Congress deal, but there can never be a national consensus. There already exists a national consensus in the form of April 8 Parliament Resolution which condemned the US aggression and demanded withdrawal of invading Anglo-American forces from Iraq.”

Comrade Dipankar said, “the talk of UN cover is a smoke-screen to camouflage the real issue. No amount of UN cover will alter the fundamental character of the role of the Indian troops in occupied Iraq. Indian troops will only be used to assist the Anglo-American forces who are creating havoc in Iraq and being resisted by the Iraqis.”

The meeting was presided over by CPI(M) Parliamentarian Somnath Chatterjee. CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat, CPI leader D. Raja, Forward Bloc leader G. Devrajan, JD(S) leader Kunwar Danish Ali and RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh addressed the meeting. Noted writer and columnist Syed Shahabuddin, Praful Bidwai and Mani Shankar Aiyar also addressed the meeting. Mr. Aiyar said that he was attending the meeting in his own capacity and he was personally opposed to the idea of sending Indian troops to Iraq. Praful Bidwai said that this should be seen as a continuation of the anti-war movement. The question of UN cover must not be allowed to divert and dilute the fundamental and principled opposition of the Indian people to the war and its aftermath. He said that if war was unjust, so is the ongoing occupation even if it has been legitimised by the U N.

CPI(ML) on Vajpayee’s China Visit

The CPI(ML) has described the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to China as important and called upon the government to give emphasis to the points of unity among two nations in order to counter the growing threat of American hegemony. But simultaneously, Party apprehends that the foreign policy being pursued by the Vajpayee govt. is the major obstacle in this direction.

The Party General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has said that while strengthening of relations between India and China will be an important factor in countering the growing US-led imperialist threat in the Asian region at this juncture, the government is working in an entirely opposite direction to appease the US which is being manifested in the advocacy of a US-Israel-India axis.

War may have killed 10,000 Iraqi civilians

At least 5,000 civilians may have been killed during the invasion of Iraq, an independent research group has claimed. Iraq Body Count (IBC), a volunteer group of British and US academics and researchers compiled statistics on civilian casualties from media reports and estimated that between 5,000 and 7,000 civilians died in the conflict. Three completed studies suggest that between 1,700 and 2,356 civilians died in the battle for Baghdad alone. As more evidence is collated, the report says, this figure could reach 10,000.

“The totality is now producing an unassailable sense that there were a hell of a lot of civilian deaths in Iraq”, said the author of the report, John Sloboda, professor of psychology at Keele University. He further said, “there was nothing in principle to stop a total count being made using forensic science methods similar to those used to calculate the death toll from the September 11 attack: It was a question of political will and resources.”

Lieutenant Colonel James Cassella, a US defence department spokesman, said the Pentagon had not counted civilian deaths because its efforts had been focused on defeating enemy forces rather than aiming at civilians. He said that under international law the US was not liable to pay compensation for “injuries or damage occurring during ‘lawful’ combat operations”.

The Iraqi authorities estimated that 2,278 civilians had died in the 1991 Gulf war.

- Courtesy Guardian,UK.

CPI(ML) Boycotts Legislative Council Elections in Bihar

Bihar State Committee of CPI(ML) has reiterated its earlier demand to abolish Bihar Legislative Council as it does not serve any fruitful purpose and decided to boycott the ongoing elections of MLCs from local bodies quota.

The Party has said that the Legislative Council is a useless institution and it is in the interest of the people of the state to abolish it as soon as possible in order to save crores of rupees being spent on it. This money could have been used for much needed developmental projects in the state.

Legislative Councils are in existence only in five states of the country. While in many states it never came into existence and many like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal have already abolished it. It only serves as a back-door entry for the power hungry at the cost of state exchequer. The legislative Council is an unnecessary body is evident in the fact that the ongoing process of elections to the Council from local bodies quota, which is approximately one third of total seats, is taking place after a gap of nearly 25 years as there were no local bodies elections in Bihar in that period. Even though the need to hold these elections was never felt.

B R I E F S

ð Comrade Prabhunath Singh, CPI(ML) leader in Duddhi, Sonbhadra, sat on a 48 hour hunger strike on June 4-5 demanding rehabilitation package for the people displaced by Kanhar Dam project and an immediate solution to the drinking water problem in villages.

ð The admission assistance booth by AISA in Delhi University is attracting good number of students. As yet it has distributed more than 10,000 forms on first day itself and helping freshers by giving all necessary assistance.

ð The Shahari Gharib Morcha (Urban Poor Organisation) in Arrah has launched its membership drive and campaigning for the issues directly affecting the poor by daily conducting mass-contact and propaganda in various localities in a planned way and has covered five localities so far.

Millions Join One-Day Strike in France

French government workers, joined by private-sector employees, halted public transport, postal services and other basic services in a massive one-day strike on June 10. The strike—the third such one-day labour mobilisation in the past month—was called to coincide with the opening of debate in the National Assembly on the government’s bill to slash pension benefits for millions of workers. The measure would require government employees to work 40 years before retirement, rather than the 37.5 years required now, and would be further extended to 42 years. It amount to a pension cut of 30 percent or more. Postal workers, rail workers, state bank employees, telecommunications operators, nurses, teachers, gas and electricity workers, and employees in justice, defence and customs offices joined in the nationwide strike. Police officers also participated.

Tuesday’s action was called by all of the main trade union federations with the exception of the CFDT (French Democratic Confederation of Labour), which has signed onto the pension “reform” drafted by the government. The CFDT is traditionally linked to the right wing of the Socialist Party. The CGT (General Confederation of Labour), which has long-standing ties to the Communist Party, and the FO (Workers’ Power), which has links with the Socialist Party, are opposing the government measure.

Although the political parties of the “plural left” parliamentary opposition, led by the Socialist Party and the Communist Party, have kept their distance from the movement of strikes and protests and leading figures in the Socialist Party, including former Prime Minister Michel Rocard, have openly come out in support of the government bill, the government workers have broad support in the general population. A poll published June 7 by Le Figaro reported that 66 percent of respondents supported or sympathised with the strikers.

While officially supporting the strike movement, the CGT and FO leadership have been working assiduously to limit it’s scope and head off a more generalised mobilisation that would pose a direct political challenge to the Chirac-Raffarin government. The centre-right coalition has a large majority of deputies in the National Assembly, and Prime Minister Raffarin has repeatedly declared that he intends to push the pension bill through. On June 10, more than 50 cities in France witnessed demonstrations involving millions of workers. The mood of the demonstrations was very serious which manifested a grim determination.

Edited, published and printed by S. Bhattacharya for CPI(ML) Liberation from U-90, Shakarpur, Delhi-92; printed at Bol Publication, R-18/2, Ramesh Park, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi-92; Phone:22521067; fax: 22518248, e-mail: mlupdate@cpiml.org, website: cpiml.org