A Stronger Left for a Weaker BJP and a Safer India 

COME THE END OF THE year and it has now become a sort of tiresome annual ritual for India to amuse herself with the musings of a prime minister whose speeches are nowadays best known not for the words spoken but the pregnant pauses punctuating them. This year the prime minister was repackaged as a birthday boy and the BJP virtually rechristened itself as a Bizarre Janamdin Party! With the December Assembly elections delivering three more important state governments into the party's kitty, Vajpayee used the occasion not just to break into some impromptu poetry, but most importantly to blow the first bugle for the big elections coming up next year. Elections in or within May are now being openly hinted at by the BJP top leadership.

The BJP had already set its electoral goals for the 2004 elections and on Vajpayee's birthday it launched the official campaign with the new catchphrase "a stronger BJP for a stronger India." While on the face of it an upbeat BJP is talking about securing 300 seats all by itself and a decisive two-thirds majority in alliance with its partners, in real life the party is actually working on a series of crisis-management options. As of today, there is little chance of UP and Bihar returning as many BJP or NDA MPs as they did in 1999. Much of the real gameplan therefore revolves around striking effective equations with parties like Mulayam Singh's SP and Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP and even mending fences with prodigals like Kalyan Singh.

The latest BJP slogan is yet another big lie. The NDA framework and the so-called NDA agenda have always been a matter of compulsion and not choice for the BJP. To its own social base and core support groups, the party has always promised to carry out the unabridged and untrammeled RSS agenda if only it could secure a clear majority on its own. But now the NDA is being projected as an end in itself, as a preferred mode of governance to a single-party arrangement. And the trappings of a Hindu Rashtra envisioned by the RSS are being sought to be hidden under the enigma of a 'strong' India. The BJP has already been responsible for weakening India in every respect, and a stronger BJP can only mean a still weaker India.

The whole notion of a strong and resurgent India is being conjured around a 'feel-good factor' exclusively for the better-off, and it has little correspondence with the hard structural reality and actual trends even in the short run. Record foreign exchange reserves and good rains do not stop starvation deaths or suicides by indebted farmers and retrenched workers. Similarly the seemingly improving ties with Pakistan do not in any way brighten the prospects for domestic peace. The hard reality is that for oppressed castes and minority communities, violence has become more endemic and is being reinforced by large-scale ethnic and regional violence. While caste massacres and communal killings go on unabated, the country is now also witnessing unemployment-induced regional clashes.

While the BJP tries to consolidate the head-start it has secured through its impressive Assembly election performance, the Congress is yet to come to terms with the comprehensive rout it suffered outside Delhi. There is renewed noise about a 'compact alliance', but it is yet to evoke any response. Ironically, while parties like the DMK and MDMK in Tamil Nadu which have pulled out from the Vajpayee cabinet have reiterated their decision to extend issue-based support to the NDA, the Congress is having growing problems with its existing coalition partners and especially over the issue of Sonia Gandhi's leadership. And on top of it, the party faces growing infighting and dissension in states like Punjab, Maharashtra and Kerala where it is in power.

As the D-day approaches, the Left must of course avoid the lure of walking into the Congress-laid trap of a compact and comprehensive alliance. But more importantly, the Left must emerge as a stronger force in national politics. Only a stronger Left can deliver a decisive blow to the BJP. A stronger Left is the surest way for saving the country from the clutches and designs of the Sangh Parivar.

Thus Spake Lyngdoh

Last week a bombshell to batter the bourgeois polity in India came from the least expected quarter -- the chief election commissioner JM Lyngdoh, who is to retire in February. Although by now it has become fashionable for the seniormost bureaucrats to explode just before their retirement against the powers that be, the super-sensationality of the outburst lay in the sanctity enjoyed by the office of the CEC in a bourgeois parliamentary democracy. The people are supposed to hand over the reins of power to a handful of persons through the elections certified to have been conducted in a "free and fair" way by the EC. And to those handful of persons Mr. Lyngdoh offered the Christmas Day presents in "Hard Talk" -- with emblems like "cancer" and "cheats". In his own words, EC is the "fourth" (elective?) organ of the state, apart from legislative, administrative and judicial organs, although not formally separated in the Constitution. Indeed, corruption has become institutionalised in the Indian bourgeois polity; it is no more a news -- even bourgeois politicians admit it now and then. But Lyngdoh, who in the same breath boasted that he could "turn around" a state like Bihar in less than a 6-month period, should have shown a little courage to admit his own complicity. Has he not played a tool in the hands of the system to promote this "cancer" and "cheating", in the name of policing it? At least ex-DGP Mr. DP Ojha of Bihar was candid enough to admit the "mistake" of rescuing Laloo Yadav in the past, implying that he had sometimes played a 'bad cop'; though he kept the facts regarding the episode up his sleeve. From Sheshan to Lyngdoh, all the while EC moved forward to discourage parties representing the poor and shower facilities on the parties representing the rich. Mr. Lyngdoh never realised his own part in making it difficult for the poor to contest, and easier for the rich to expend lots of black money and recruit muscles in the elections. His proposal of merging booths in the name of promoting a hi-tech voting system is meant at snatching away the voting rights of dalits and weaker sections.  Was all this stuff truly democratic? No, it was all part of his class nature.

East Godavari Party District Conference

The 6th district conference of the Party was successfully held at Tuni of East Godavari district on 18^-19 December 2003. Prior to the conference a colourful rally was organised in which more than 500 people participated. The rally culminated in to a public meeting addressed by Polit Bureau member and Incharge of South Zone Comrade D.P. Baxi, Party's Andhra Pradesh State Secretary Com. N. Murty, Central Committee members M. Malleswar Rao, B. Bangar Rao, and State Committee member Com. D Harinath. Com. S. Prakash presided over the meeting.

The Conference, attended by 74 delegates, was inaugurated by Com. DP Buxi. Com. D. Harinath was present in the conference as the State Observer. A draft work report was submitted to the house by the outgoing district secretary Com. B. Bangar Rao. Following the discussions, an eleven member new district committee was elected. Com. B. Bangar Rao was reelected as the District Party Secretary.

Campaign against Criminal-Police-Politician Nexus Launched in Bihar

Responding to the CPI(ML) call to smash the criminal-police-politician nexus and rebuild a New Bihar, All India Students Association (AISA), Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA) and All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) observed "Struggle Day" on the first anniversary of Ashiana Nagar incident in which three students were shot dead in the name of "encounter" by the police in cold blood and consequently an unprecedentedly powerful outburst of people's anger against Laloo-Rabri regime had refreshed the memory of 1974 movement. This year, on this day, a 'Sangharsh Yatra" was initiated in the form of four caravans of student-youth from four centres of Bihar: Patna, Arrah, Siwan and Begusarai, to cover the whole state. Flagged off on 28 December, the caravans will ensure a struggling unity of student-youth and peasants and workers to build a powerful movement to bring about a social transformation in Bihar. In the course of the Yatra, hundreds of meetings would be organised in almost all districts of Bihar by the caravans. The main call of this week-long agitational campaign is "Takht Badal Do Taj Badal Do, Criminal-Mafia Raj Badal Do" (Change the Rule and Change the Ruler, Overthrow the Rule of Criminal-Mafia).

CPI(ML) Polit Bureau member Comrade Ram Naresh Ram flagged off the Yatra caravan from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Memorial at Arrah. Led by AISA National Secretary Comrade Abhyuday and RYA Bihar Secretary Comrade Paramhans, this caravan would travel through Bhojpur, Rohtas, Kaimur and Buxar districts.

Another Yatra caravan was flagged off from Ramnagri Chowk of Ashiana Nagar in Patna by Bihar State Secretary Comrade Ramjatan Sharma, which would pass through Patna, Jehanabad, Gaya, Nalanda and Nawadah. This caravan is being led by AIPWA National Secretary Saroj Chaube, RYA State President Kamlesh Sharma and AISA leader Digvijay Singh. A Sankalp Sabha was held at the flagging-off ceremony addressed by Central Committee member Comrade KD Yadav, AIPWA State Secretary Com. Shashi Yadav and others.

Kaushalya Devi, mother of martyr comrade Chandrashekhar, flagged off the third Yatra caravan from Bindusar (the native village of chandrashekar) in Siwan, which was led by AISA leader Dharmendra Sushant and RYA leader Amarjeet Kushwaha. It would travel through Chhapra, Siwan, Gopalganj, and East and West Champaran districts.

CPI(ML) Begusarai District Secretary Com. Chandradev Verma flagged off the fourth Yatra from Comrade Vinod Mishra Memorial at Begusarai. This yatra was led by AISA State President Suraj Kr Singh and Manoj. It will pass through Begusarai, Samastipur, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur.

At all the four places of flagging off the Yatra, Sankalp Sabhas (Pledge-taking meetings) were held. Addressing the Sankalp Sabha at Patna, Comrade Ramjatan Sharma said that the criminal-politician-police nexus rules the roost in Bihar even after one year of Ashiana Nagar episode. Paying tribute to the martyrs of the episode he said that the movement launched after the incident reflected the ambition of Bihar people for a radical transformation. Left and democratic forces must respect and stand up to that expectation. That transformation is only possible under the leadership of a revolutionary party and through a popular mass upsurge. This change cannot be brought about by judges, spies or bureaucrats.

He also call upon the people to make 7 January Bihar Bandh a historic success. This Bandh has been called by Left parties including CPI(ML), CPI, CPI(M), Forward Bloc, RSP and SUCI on a Five-point charter of demands including publication of Amir Das Commission Report and the Report filed by DP Ojha, as well as on issues related to the unemployed and peasantry.

Vietnamese Labour Delegation Meets AICCTU

A two-member delegation of Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) comprising of Com. N.V. Dung, Member of Presidium and Director of International Dept. and Com. C.N. Bins, Deputy Head of International Dept. of VGCL visited the AICCTU Central Office in Delhi on 16 December, 2003. The delegation was warmly received by Comrades Swapan Mukherjee, Rajiv Dimri and Santosh Roy. During the discussion held in a very warm and friendly atmosphere, the two sides agreed to further develop mutual fraternal relationship. Com. N.V. Dung showed keen interest in the evolution of AICCTU and the issues and movements of unorganised sector workers, particularly of agricultural labourers. Later, CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya met the delegation to extend Party's revolutionary greetings. He particularly highlighted the glorious anti-imperialist struggle of Vietnamese people, which still continues to have a deep impact on the Indian Left movement.

5th CMWU Conference

The 5th conference of Coal Mines Workers' Union (CMWU) was held on and from 18-19 December, 2003 at Comrade Vinod Mishra Nagar, Dhanbad. The conference began with a militant rally of coal mine workers which started from the Railway Station, and after covering a distance of 3 km it culminated into a mass meeting. The meeting first paid homage to Comrade Vinod Mishra on the fifth anniversary of his demise. It was then addressed, among others, by CPI(ML) State Secretary of Jharkhand, Com. Suvendu Sen; AICCTU State Secretary Com. Tarun Sarkar and AICCTU General Secretary Com. Swapan Mukherjee. After the rally, the conference began at Comrade Jagdev Sharma Hall. It was inaugurated by Com. Swadesh Bhattacharya, PB member of CPI(ML) and Party Incharge of Jharkhand. Around 200 delegates from different coal subsidiaries like BCCL, CCL, ECL, NECL etc. participated in the conference, which elected a 27-member committee. Com. Mahendra Singh, MLA and Party CCM was re-elected as President, Com. Swapan Mukherjee as Working President and Com. Upendra Singh as General Secretary. Apart from adopting several resolutions against the threat of privatisation and outsourcing; demanding social security, dignified and better living conditions for the unorganised sector workers and a legislation for agriculture labour by both Jharkhand and Central governments, the conference issued a call to the coalworkers to make full preparations for the proposed nationwide strike in February, 2004. The conference ended with enthusiasm and resolve to fight the government onslaught through militant mobilisation and movements.

AICCTU Greets 11th CITU Conference

On behalf of the AICCTU, a message of greetings was sent by Comrade Swapan Mukherjee, General Secretary of AICCTU, wishing success to the 11th national conference of CITU being held in Chennai. The messages noted that after 100 years of heralding trade union movement in the country, Chennai had witnessed the most brutal repression on the struggling 13 lakh state government employees. Also recalling the recent incident of brutal repression of the struggling tea garden workers demanding bonus in Assam, where police opened fire to kill 8 workers, the message noted that "it is the most challenging time for the Indian trade union movement. The process of disinvestment has been extended to the strategic sectors like Power and Oil. A united working class resistance to face this all-out attack is the need of the hour. In this context, the most important task is strengthening of Sponsoring Committee of Trade Unions, which has played central role in putting up united resistance against the imperialist-dictated policies". The message further noted that "the trade union movement today particularly demands of us to seriously introspect certain issues. Some of the issues which need urgent attention are: Our failure to activise the sponsoring committee and NPMO to give fighting and political edge to the ongoing resistance and the recent incidents in tea gardens in West Bengal, which exposed the serious isolation and even degeneration creeping into the trade union movement. I am sure that this important conference will take up these serious issues to develop a powerful resistance against the anti working class policies".

Western Hemisphere Workers' Conference Against FTAA

Western Hemisphere Workers Conference Against FTAA (Free Trade Area of Americas) was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil on December 12-14, 2003. It was participated in by delegates from trade unions, popular and youth organizations from the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Guadeloupe, Ecuador, Bolivia and Uruguay. Criticising the Miami Ministerial Declaration (20 November) of the FTAA, the Conference held that the declaration represented a trap aimed at confusing, dividing and demobilizing the peoples of the Americas, whose mass protests to stop the FTAA have gained great momentum, North and South. They held that the FTAA is part and parcel of the imperialist war drive carried out by the Bush administration and its allies to destroy nations across the globe, as is occurring today, for example, in Iraq. The policies of "free trade" and "globalization" are aimed at destroying all vestiges of national sovereignty to increase the rate of exploitation of the labour force and thereby increase the hunger and misery the world over. They are aimed at increasing the attacks on the rights and working conditions of millions of people in the interests of the multinational corporations and the speculators.

Delegates from the United States and Mexico told how in the past 10 years of NAFTA, millions of Mexican peasants have been forced off their ancestral lands by "free trade." The country has been transformed into an importer of corn, wheat and soy beans. The entire Agrarian Reform plan, wrested through bitter struggles in the 1930s, has been undermined and reversed. The country also has been inundated with "maquilas" (sweatshops) where unions are banned. Against this onslaught, more than 100,000 workers responded to the call from their unions and mobilized this past November 27 in Mexico City behind the banner, "No to the Privatisation of Electricity! No to Fox's Counter-Reforms! The Mexican Nation is Not For Sale!"

The Conference opposed US military bases in Ecuador and Columbia and hailed the plebiscite against privatisation and joint-venture plan with the large U.S. oil corporations in Uruguay and the revolutionary mobilisations of the workers and people of Bolivia. It proposed a mass action in the form of International Day of Action Against War (withdraw all foreign troops from Iraq) on 20 March 2004; Struggle Week against FTAA in the last week of April and formation of an international commission of trade unionists to investigate the infringement of workers' rights in the maquiladoras in the Mexican region bordering with the U.S.

Paying Tribute to Comrade Mao Tsetungon the occasion of his 110th Birthday Anniversary

Now U.S. imperialism is quite powerful, but in reality it isn't. It is very weak politically because it is divorced from the masses of people and is disliked by everybody and by the American people too. In appearance it is very powerful but in reality it is nothing to be afraid of, it is a paper tiger. Outwardly a tiger, it is made of paper, unable to withstand the wind and the rain. I believe the United States is nothing but a paper tiger. ...Only when imperialism is eliminated can eace prevail. The day will come when the paper tigers will be wiped out. Buthey won't become extinct of their own accord, they need to be battered by the wind and the rain.
                                                        (July 14, 1956, from Selected Works vol. V, p.310)