The advent of February found the BJP election
campaign hotting up amidst a lot of fanfare and characteristic
fraudulence. Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit to Ranchi on February
1 to address the golden jubilee of the RSS-affiliated Vanvasi
Kalyan Kendra, the return of the prodigal Kalyan Singh to
the BJP family, and Jaswant Singh's continuing 'sop' opera
in lieu of Budget 2004 marked the three major early February
flashes.
Vajpayee's February 1 visit to Ranchi was his first since
the formation of the new state three years ago. The Prime
Minister was there to address a so-called Vanvasi Sammelan.
Even though the BJP had to give up on its attempt to rename
Jharkhand as Vananchal, it insists on terming Adivasis as
Vanvasis. Adding new chapters to the BJP's litany of feel-good
falsehoods, Vajpayee chose this occasion to make the utterly
false claim that his government had not allowed any Indian
to die of hunger and wax eloquent about his pet 'river networking'
project. He was however conspicuously silent about his government's
directive to evict adivasis from their homeland. While the
Sangh Parivar uses the ideological loaded term 'vanvasi' for
adivasis in the country, the BJP-led government describes
the same 'vanvasis' as encroachers and calls for their wholesale
eviction.
And of course, nobody expected Vajpayee to remember the state-sponsored
slaughter of adivasis which shook Ranchi and the whole of
Jharkhand in February 2001. Unarmed adivasis demanding scrapping
of the Koelkaro project were gunned down by the trigger-happy
Jharkhand police on February 2, 2001 and no action has been
taken till date against the erring police officials.
While the mini-budget announced in January had already doled
out sops worth some Rs. 20,000 crore to the rich, the vote-on-account
(appropriately described as 'on account of votes' by a leading
cartoonist) shorthands for the railway and general budgets
added more items to the feel-good mockery. In the midst of
peace talks, the government announced a Rs. 25,000 crore defence
modernisation fund. Fuel subsidies have been drastically reduced
and immediately after the elections there will be a hefty
rise in the prices of cooking gas and kerosene. Indebted farmers
have however only been offered more loans and ATM-compatible
kisan credit cards. And the exponentially expanding army of
the jobless remained unnoticed as ever.
Instead of addressing any of the issues thrown up by the current
agrarian crisis, Jaswant Singh talked glibly about a second
green revolution. If the first green revolution was supplemented
by significant quantum of public investment in agriculture
and a network of procurement and distribution systems, the
present policy is marked by systematic withdrawal of the state.
The theory and practice of the first green revolution revolved
around a narrow 'betting on the strong' strategy and instead
of the resultant prosperity trickling down to the labouring
peasantry, the agrarian crisis has begun to hit the very sections
who had once beem among major beneficiaries of the green revolution.
The so-called second stage of green revolution is based on
a further narrowing down of the agrarian strategy with agriculture
becoming 'big business' for the kulak-trader-corporate sector
nexus while relentlessly pauperising the vast majority of
the agricultural population.
While Parliament was reduced to a theatre for the NDA's sop
opera, the BJP also entertained the country with its political
circus. Kalyan Singh who had sworn to finish off the BJP returned
to the party with a vow to deliver all the votes and seats
that have been eluding the BJP in fortress UP. Meanwhile,
Mayawati kept everybody guessing with her next step even as
the BJP keeps sending feelers to her to spoil any chance of
a Congress-BSP tie-up. Denying the Congress any 'alliance
advantage' and shoring up the party's own plummeting prospects
by getting Kalyan Singh back on board are the twin pillars
of the BJP's immediate strategy for the biggest electoral
marketplace of the country. Between the Atal-Kalyan express
and the Rahul-Priyanka road show, UP will continue to witness
desperate attempts by the two biggest parties of India's ruling
classes to regain some lost ground.
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The Party is gearing up for the forthcoming Parliamentary
Elections which have been imposed by the communal fascist
BJP regime prior to its scheduled time that was due in September.
Preparations to the electoral battle are being taken up in
the form of the strengthening of the organisation and induction
of new members. A massive propaganda to expose the fascist
regime and policies of liberalization and globalisation is
also taken up right upto the village and panchayat level.
Party structures are being reorganised in branches and booth
committees and their GB meetings are being held in villages
in all the districts.
Conventions will be held in Bhojpur, Jehanabad, Siwan and
Kaimur in the second week of February, while Nalanda district
committee held its convention on Jan 29. CPI(ML) General Secretary
Dipankar Bhattacharya will address 'Mazdoor-Kisan Unity Rallies'
in Mujaffarpur, Nalanda and Kaimur from Feb 25-27. The preparations
for these rallies are going on on a large scale. These rallies
are being organised to put forth the agenda towards building
a people's 'new Bihar' that can provide security and dignity
to women, education and employment to the students and youth
and equality to all oppressed and dalit sections.
It is also intended to highlight important people's issues
like land and wages, housing and basic amenities, social security
and dignity, profitable and viable agriculture for the poor
peasants by decreasing input costs vis-a-vis WTO and LPG,
Sangh Parivar's attempts to broaden communal divide and poisoning
Indian polity, and above all, Jangle raj of Laloo-Rabri regime
in Bihar, etc. and bring them to the forefront of the agenda
of the coming elections through these rallies and massive
and continued propaganda and relentless mass-work.
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A massive People's Parliament (Jan Sansad) was organised
by the CPI(ML) on January 31 in Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand,
and vehemently condemned the attacks on democratic institutions
including Parliament and State Assemblies by the BJP-led fascist
bandwagon. The Jan Sansad concluded that the highest representative
institutions are more and more ineffective while the BJP and
Sangh Parivar attacking democratic polity by undermining decisions
of legislative bodies on the one hand and regressively effecting
changes in important policy matters of the state on the other.
The severest of dangers to democracy comes from deliberate
neglect of the issues and most basic requirements of the weakest
and most neglected social groups and the importance being
given to unimportant issues pertaining to the small numbers
of the richest and most privileged sections. Passiveness and
lack of commitment towards poor and toiling masses is explicit
through actions of the government when national resources
are being 'seized' through 'civilised and peaceful means'
and the people and their representatives who raise issues
like hunger, poverty, illiteracy, employment and equality
are being subjected to face feudal barbarity and state repression.
This is quite saddening that our democratic polity and institutions
are being made instruments in the hands of the forces of social
oppression directly attacking rule of the law and the democracy.
The Jan Sansad resolved to fight against such forces and also
to make the legislative bodies accountable toward the people
and the nation. It also raised the question of democratising
the basic institutions through a comprehensive restructuring
of polity to achieve a real people's democracy. It appealed
to all progressive sections of the society to come to the
fore to achieve this yet unfulfilled agenda.
The Jan Sansad appealed to defeat the anti-people and fascist
BJP and NDA in the coming Parliamentary elections by bringing
to the fore the issues like hunger, corruption and police
repression on the electoral agenda and by uniting all struggling
forces. It was resolved to strengthen the revolutionary flag
of the Left to ensure political rights for the advasis, dalits
and backwards, and for the rights of the peasants and workers
towards building a new Jharkhand.
Jan Sansad also condemned the protection provided by the state
to the murder policemen of Tapkara incident and decided to
observe Feb 2 as Black Day in protest.
Jan Sansad sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister and demanded
to cancel the Central Environment Ministry's circular that
displaces adivasis from their own lands occupied after 1980,
inclusion of Sarna tribals in voter list under their own religion
and not as 'hindus', declaration of a National Rehabilitation
policy, an inquiry against former CM Arjun Munda, to revoke
the decision of closure of Sindri Fertilizer Plant, to hold
panchayat elections in the state, to give more rights to village
panchayats in Scheduled Areas, to stop implementation of anti-tribal
CNT and SPT Acts and to scrap POTA in view of its widespread
misuse in Jharkhand.
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The interim budget of the NDA govt. is the confirmation
of its anti-people-pro-foreign capital economic policies.
The Budget exposed the govt.'s nonserious approach towards
the ongoing peace process as it allocates Rs. 25 thousand
crores for the defence modernisation, whereas completely fails
to address the issues of more than two crores unemployed youth,
starving rural poor, large number of workers of the closed
industries and the unorganised sector.
The govt. gave total tax exemption to the BPO companies which
is the continuation of NDA govt.'s policies of surrendering
to the US. The so-called agricultural credit cards and low
interest agricultural loan always benefit the creamy layer
of the rural population.
We also strongly condemns the NDA govt.'s nefarious designs
to use the constitutional bodies like the Parliament for narrow
electoral interests.
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The armed goons of People's War Group killed Tribhuvan Bind,
a Party sympathiser, near Poawan village in Masaurhi block
of Patna on Feb 2 evening. After the killing PW goons planned
to attack the Poawan village with clear cut intentions of
perpetrating a massacre. But thanks to the people's initiative
in the village which led to retreat of all goons and thus
saved many lives.
People are relentlessly struggling against PWG's reign of
terror in this cluster of villages where it receives political
support from the RJD and other ruling combines against the
Party. The Poawan village mukhiya is a leading activist of
the Party and he is continuously facing attacks by PW. His
house has also been damaged. PW also severely beaten up two
old people in Soniawa village out of frustration few day ago.
After the killing of Tribhuvan Bind people gheraoed DSP and
thana in-charge in protest and condemned them for giving protection
to such criminals. The road was also blockaded for many hours.
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Railway Artisan Staff, under the banner of "Indian Railway
Artisan Staff Union", demonstrated at Kancharapara and
Jamalpur workshops on 27 January and 30 January respectively.
A good number of artisan staff took part in the demonstrations
and raised the demands against the anti-worker clause in the
"Cadre Restructuring Order" issued by Railway Board
which pertains to surrender of thousands of posts in the name
of matching savings and provision of Trade-Test for artisan
cadre only.
A memorandum, addressed to the Chairman, Railway Board (New
Delhi) submitted through Chief Works Managers in Kanchanapara
and Jamalpur.
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Poor dalits in Parasam village of Jalone district of UP bore
the brunt of upper cast feudal ire and had to face severe
beatings and attack on their households. In protest of this
incident of repression CPI(ML) State Committee member Ramesh
Singh Senger along with a group of party activists sat on
a 30-hour-hunger strike at the district headquarter in Urai
on 28 January to demand immediate arrest of upper caste feudal
goons who committed this crime. Although the representatives
of police and administration have came to dharna to collect
the memorandum and assured of arrest of the accused, the district
administration is consciously trying to underplay the incident
and the police has not even registered an FIR, the Party has
decided to go for the movement on a wider scale.
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The episode of issuance of the arrest warrants to the President
and other top constitutional authorities has once again reminded
the resemblance of the Vajpayee-led NDA government with the
jackal of the age old story in which he somehow got painted
his body in colour and declared himself the king of the jungle.
But colour coating could not hide his realbeing and he failed
to resist his urge to hawl after hearing the sound of his
fellow jackals.
With the mammoth exercise undertaken by BJP of voluminous
manufacturing of mass consciousness and the propaganda of
"feel good" and "India shining", NDA government
is embarking upon the trail of stealing peoples mandate. But
the jackals are jackals, afterall, and can not hide stark
social realities of Indian society surfacing more prominently
than ever.
Recent drama in Gujarat is one such case. One journalist paid
Rs 40000 to bribe a Judge and obtained an arrest warrant against
A P J Abdul Kalam, President of India and V N Khare, Chief
Justice of India! Chief Justice of India comments (in desperation)
that the country is at the mercy of God! Certainly not. It
is the people of this country who will be decisive. And who
will send the present govt. and the Sangh Parivar to the dustbin.
In fact, this is only a glimpse of the face of the contemporary
Indian reality - the hallmark of Vajpayee government -- which
is institutionalising corruption and attacking apex institutions
of the country. And this may be the reason for Vajpayee government
and the divisive fascist regressive forces whose India, they
feel, is shining, to feel good! But not for the people who
toil and starve. Should this regime be tolerated any more?
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AISA organised protest dharnas at different campuses in UP
including Lucknow University on 27 January demanding implementation
of promises made by Mulayam Singh for academic fee reduction
and unemployment allowance, filling the vacancies and various
facilities to students in campuses.
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Terai-Bhabar Kisan Sabha (TBKS)
is leading a movement of poor peasants who supply milk to
the milk producers' cooperative federation, Lalkuan in district
Nainital of Uttaranchal for more than a month. In spite of
good public support and genuine demands, the leader of TBKS
Bahadur Singh Jangi, AISA State President Indresh Maikhury
alongwith Devendra Rautela, President AISA unit in Nainital,
Pankaj Vidrohi, and Gajendra Sah, a TBKS activist have been
arrested by the administration on fake charges and sent to
jail while dozens of Party leaders are now facing arrest warrants
against them.
The struggle started after an intensive campaign to get rid
of corruption in the co-operative dairy federation and to
provide appropriate prices of milk being sold by peasants
to the cooperative and other demands on a 12-point charter.
After a series of protest programmes the federation's elected
management was forced to come to the negotiation table but
it did not agree to the demands, many of which bear importance
at policy level as far as the development of the newly constituted
state is concerned. Now the administration and Congress led
govt. has adopted a repressive attitude to suppress the the
agitating people.
TBKS activists are sitting on an indefinite hunger strike
in Lalkuan since Jan 18 and till now three batches of hunger
strikers have been removed by the police after arrest and
forced feeding. Every time police forcibly take away a batch
of hunger-strikers, a new one immediately comes in place of
the former. On Jan 24 agitators held a chakka-jam in Lalkuan
for more than two hours on the national highway and gheraoed
the elected Chairman of the Uttaranchal Cooperative Dairy
Federation when hundreds of angered people forcibly entered
inside his lush offices. On Jan 28 morning, Comrade Jangi
was forcibly taken away by the police from the site of the
hunger-strike and severely beaten up on the way to jail inside
the police car. Later he was implicated under the 7 Criminal
Amendment Act along with many other criminal sections of the
IPC.
This was widely protested in many places and on Jan 30 a much
bigger protest and road blockade was held at Lalkuan which
jammed the highway for the whole day.
Later on Feb 3, three above-mentioned AISA leaders and Gajendra
Sah were picked up by the police from the dharna site and
sent to jail. This was done a day before the Chief Minister
ND Tiwary had to address a gathering organised by Congress
for the coming elections in Haldwani, clearly to avoid any
protest in front of him. As the movement is gaining momentum
and a large number of women, who play a significant role in
Uttarakhand's agriculture, are taking part in this movement,
it seems that the administration has adopted the tactics of
selectively picking up all leading figures in this struggle.
This profit making cooperative, established in 1948, is one
of the oldest in the country and markets milk and milk-products
with brand name 'Anchal'. It has a membership-base of more
than 18000 members spread throughout the district and almost
every peasant household with small land holding of terai region
in Nainital owes a part of his livelihood through this cooperative.
Peasants have been demanding a Rs. 3 per litre hike in milk
procurement prices (which vary with the fat contents of the
milk and currently is in the range of Rs. 6-10 per litre)
and scrapping of a joint venture agreement with the Mother
Dairy of Delhi by which this cooperative has virtually been
handed over to the Mother Dairy. The latter is being viewed
as the move equivalent to privatisation and an attack on the
basic concept of cooperative movement and self-reliance. The
Terai-Bhabar Kisan Sabha is also demanding a scientific reevaluation
of the price-fixing criterion which has now become decades
old. The joint venture agreement is also being opposed by
the employees' union of the cooperative.
Now a protest is being organised to be held at the district
headquarters in Nainital on Feb 5 to demand the immediate
release of Bahadur Singh Jangi and other leaders and to take
back all cases framed against them and to force the administration
to come to an agreement on the demand charter.
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AIALA Convention in Udham Singh Nagar
A Convention on the "Land Redistribution and the Wage
Question" was organised in Rudrapur on Feb 2. This widely
attended convention raised various important and specific
issues pertaining to this district which is seen as one of
the most agriculturally developed areas in the country and
has a large number of ethnic minorities and migrant labour
as well as some so called best 'examples' of the large scale
capitalist farming. The main speaker of the Convention was
AIALA Vice-President Krishna Adhikari.
Besides raising the demands for a central legislation to agri.
workers, minimum and equal wages, BPL cards to all agri. workers,
etc., the convention demanded to implement Ceiling Act and
land reforms, occupation on land which were allotted to the
migrant Bengali and local tribal population decades back but
is now being tilled by the big farmers who also hold a powerful
political clout in the state. It was also demanded to scrap
the farms being run in the name of cooperatives and owned
by big capitalists and redistribute those lands to the landless
and agri. workers. This demand was being raised by the CPI(ML)
for nearly two decades.
Being an area of developed agriculture, the agrarian crisis
of present day India is seen in its complete severity here.
The real wages have fallen by 30-40 percent as compared to
the wages a decade back. Moreover, number of working days
for agri labourers have decreased to nearly half and most
of the rural population is been forced to migrate in search
for the employment in lean days. This district also witness
one of the highest number of migrant workers. Kulak-farmer
lobby enjoys support from all bourgeois parties mainly Congress,
BJP and SP. There is a history of militant agri. workers'
struggles in the district which met severe repression by the
kulaks and the governments.
The Convention strongly condemned the arrest of Bahadur Singh
Jangi and other leaders and demanded their immediate release.
Convention was addressed by CPI(ML) Uttarakhand Incharge Raja
Bahuguna, AIALA Secretary Sanjay Sharma, AISA State President
Indresh Maikhury and AIALA National Councillors KK Bora and
Achinto Mandal and leaders of many Left organisations working
in the district.
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CPISolidarity Greetings to MLPD, Germany
The CPI(ML) extended its good wishes and revolutionary greetings
to the Central Committee of the Marxist Leninist Party of
Deutschland (MLPD) on the occasion of its Seventh Party Congress.
In a communique sent by the CC, CPI(ML), Party called for
an enhanced unity and cooperation between two parties saying
that "the internationally coordinated anti-war movement
against US aggression of Afghanistan and Iraq has been a major
development of our times, which has brought to the fore the
fact that no corner of the world is safe for globalising imperialism.
The unprecedented participation of workers in broad fronts
in Germany and other imperialist countries including the USA
against the enemy number one of the world people, the US superpower,
is a welcome development."
The era of imperialism continues to remain the era of proletarian
revolution and the advance of revolution, which can be the
best contribution to the global peace movement on our part.
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