The Battle Begins

Political atmosphere is hotting up as Bihar , Jharkhand and Haryana go to polls on and from the third of this month. The appointment of a new committee of enquiry by the railway minister to probe the Godhra incident and the intelligently timed release of its interim report have produced desired results. Archrival Nitish Kumar and the BJP leadership have reacted strongly and in an unseemly development even Justice Nanavati of the older commission probing the Gujrat carnage has joined them. The UPA government on the other hand has decided to upgrade the status of the Banerjee committee to that of a commission, inviting another round of protests from NDA leaders. The political game thus goes on, but there is hardly any progress in the matter of bringing the culprits to book. Of course, there is nothing unusual about this : witness the Nanavati Commission’s interim report absolving the then Congress leadership of all responsibility in the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom. Commissions and committees of enquiry in our country are constituted primarily to kill time, to deflect popular anger, or to serve narrow partisan motives.

 Commission politics, however, cannot erase the hard fact of continuing deprivation and marginalisation of minorities in Bihar , as recorded in a recent survey of the State government. Laloojee was so prompt about the Godhra enquiry, ask Muslims in the State, why cannot the perpetrators of the Bhagalpur carnage be brought to book in 15 years? The answer is known to one and all. The killers and looters enjoy the patronage of the ruling party. And in many parts of Bihar today, Yadav kulaks owing allegiance to the RJD are growing more and more reckless to rob the weaker sections including Muslims of their property, dignity and traditional rights in very many ways. As the old MY (Muslim-Yadav) alignment which stood the RJD in such a good stead for such a long time begins to fall apart, a considerable erosion in its Muslim vote bank is predicted by all observers while Ramvilas Paswan is all set to walk away with a fair share of dalit votes. Thanks to the growing internal disgruntlement, Sri Laloo Prasad will also have to face not a few of his erstwhile confidants in the hustings. It is only the official Left which, despite having serious grievances about seat sharing, clings helplessly and shamelessly on to the discredited big brother of Bihar . But then this will be of little help to the RJD in electoral terms.

Currently the issue of kidnapped children – the latest and most cruel manifestation of mafia raj – tops the list of controversies. Irrespective of class, caste and political preference, people are voicing strong protest against these and sundry other failings and misdeeds of a government of criminals, by criminals, for criminals. The popular masses are waking up to the rude reality of 15 years of betrayal under the banner of social justice. And it is our party alone, with its history of 35 years of militant movement including 15 years of struggle inside the assembly, which is in a position to represent and lead this democratic mass awakening. Defying all sorts of threats, physical attacks, false cases and arrests, our cadre and candidates are working day and night for a class polarisation breaking through the post-Mandal caste equation. In the process, the Party has emerged as the strongest tribune of revolutionary democracy, as the most visible symbol of the expanding horizon of people’s unity for the redressal of their accumulated grievances. For us, this is valuable not simply for the elections, but more importantly for post poll political assertion of the toiling masses of Bihar , the builders of a new Bihar in a new India .

In adjoining Jharkhand the hated BJP government faces great popular resentment and there is tremendous response to our campaign. The extent of spontaneous popular enthusiasm for comrade Vinod Singh, son of comrade Mahendra Singh and our candidate from Bagodar, has to be seen to be believed. Very soon the reactionaries will learn an old lesson over again: every drop of martyr’s blood only strengthens the resolve of revolutionaries and spreads the winds of change far and wide.

Murder of Comrade Mahendra Singh: Voicing Protest and Resolving to Fight Back

Democratic Socialist Perspective, Australia condemned the killing of Comrade Mahendra Singh and expressed their anger and outrage at this atrocious act and sent petitions to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Chief Election Commissioner, Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission and Director General (Investigation), National Human Rights Commission urging them to immediately arrest the killers, set up a CBI inquiry - especially the role of BJP Minister Ravindra Rai in the killing, the Election Commission of India to take cognisance of the murder and order dismissal of SP Deepak Verma and the National Human Rights Commission send a high-level team to the area to investigate the cases of human rights violations at the hands of this notorious SP and forces which have been actively patronising his activities in the region to throttle the voice of democratic protest against oppression of the common people that was represented by Mahendra Singh.

General Secretary of the Labour Party, Pakistan , Farooq Tariq, also sent similar petitions and protested the killing of Comrade Mahendra and said "We want to make it absolutely clear that we in Pakistan will organise a protest demonstration in front of Indian High Commission in Islamabad and also in Lahore if our demands are not met till 30th January 2005 . The working class in Pakistan will not sit quite on this brutal murder of a comrade whose has spent all his life for the betterment of the working class in India . "

Secretary General of Parti Sosialis Malaysia , S.Arutchelvan, sent his solidarity and condolence message to all party members of CPI(ML) and family of Comrade Mahendra Singh saying "The Socialist Party of Malaysia condemns the coward killing of Comrade Mahendra Singh. We share your sorrow while we salute your courage to fight on !"

Lal Nishan Party (L) and Krantiveer Bhagat Singh Brigade held jointly a memorial meeting on Jan 22 at Pune to condemn this cowardly attack and demanded to bring to book and severest punishment to the real perpetrators of this crime who gave 'supari' to the killers. The condolence resolution which was passed in the meeting said Comrade Mahendra Singh "was the real opposition leader of Bihar and Jharkhand Legislative Assemblies to which he was elected thrice. Through his ceaseless and devoted work in the cause of toiling people, he had acquired a high position in the minds of masses which the vested interests envied. His death has caused enormous damage the cause of not only the CPI(ML) but for the entire working class movement. If, however, the ruling classes feel that they can put an end to the movement of the working class against exploitatin and domination, they are badly mistaken."

CPI(ML)-Red Flag expressed shock and anguish at the murder of comrade Mahendra Singh and conveyed its condolences to the Central Committee and the family of comrade Mahendra Singh saying "The reactionary forces have succeeded in eliminating such a heroic comrade who has for years fought heroically for the exploited and oppressed people." PK Murthy of CPI(ML)(Kanu Sanyal) also condemned this heinous crime and payed tribute to the martyred leader.

Feroz Mehdi from Alternatives, Canada expressed heartfelt condolence to all party members and his family members and said, "It is a great shock to us on learning the killing of Comrade Mahendra Singh. We had met him on several occasions and he always came out to us as a dedicated member of the Party and a leader who commanded respect and admiration of all members and workers. Many people known to us in Jharkhand from other associations like the literacy movement, had tremendous admiration for him as a militant and visionary political activist."

Film Maker Anand Patwardhan sent his condolences saying "the murder of Comrade Mahendra is a tragic loss for the country and for the cause of justice. The murderers must be exposed and brought to book and I dont mean only the ones who did the deed but more importantly, those who masterminded it. Please convey my condolences to the family. Shaheed Mahendra ko laal salaam.Shaheed Mahendra ke hatyare prajatantra aur samaajvaad ke dushman hain."

Many friends in the Indian diaspora have also sent their letters of protest to the government.

In Lucknow , UP unit of CPI(ML) held a protest dharna on Jan 20 in front of the Assembly to demand immediate arrest and dismissal of Ravindra Rai, and Deepak Verma.

Assam State Committee of the Party organised a Protest demonstration in Guwahati on 24 January and sent a memorandum to the Governor of Jharkhand demanding CBI enquiry into the Killing of Comrade Mahendra Prashad Singh and arrest and removal of Giridih SP Deepak Verma and Ravindra Rai and capital punishment to the killers. Demonstrators brought out a procession and marched to the DC office and handed over the memorandum. Protest demonstrations were also held at Tinsukia on 19 January and at Bargang on 21 January. Apart from sending memorandum in Tinsukia demonstrators burnt the effigy of Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda.

Memorandum to the Home Minister, EC and NHRC

A delegation met Union Home Minister Shiv Raj Patil on Jan 27 and ugred him to immediately set up a CBI inquiry into the heinous incident of political killing of CPI(ML) MLA in Jharkhand on Jan 16 and arrest and suspension of then Giridih SP Deepak Verma to pave the way for a fair inquiry.

The delegation told the Home Minister that Comrade Mahendra Prasad Singh raised questions inside the Jharkhand Assembly regarding above mentioned SP of Giridih in recent past on two occasions. He had also mentioned in the Jharkhand Assembly about the threats to his life from the SP of Giridih, Deepak Verma, and the nexus that he had exposed in the report placed by him in the Assembly in December 2004.

The delegation included journalist and human rights activist Kuldeep Naiyar, Swami Agnivesh, CPI(ML) leader Rajendra Pratholi and civil liberties activist ND Pancholi.

CPI(ML) Jharkhand State Committee had also requested to the Election Commission, exactly a month before this gory murder, to transfer the SP of Giridih and relieve him of all election related responsibilities in order to ensure a free and fair election in Giridih district.

A separate delegation also met National Human Rights Commission and submitted a memorandum asking to send a Special Investigation team by the Commission to thoroughly investigate into this murder as well as past service record of SP Deepak Verma as he had also been named, in the past, in a number of incidents of human rights violations, fake encounters and was even accused of contract killing of a lawyer in Hazaribagh who was investigating a case against this SP’s atrocities. While a delegation requested Election Commission of India to send special observers to Giridih district to ensure the 'free and fair elections' during ongoing Assembly polls. This delegation also included socialist leader Manju Mohan and PUCL's Pushkar Raj.

BRIEF REPORTS : Cadre Meet of Tea Workers in Assam

Asam Sangrami Chah Sramik Sangha (ASCSS) held a state level  cadre meet at Nagaon on 18 January which was participated by more than 70 leading tea workers from around 30 tea gardens covering Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Jorhat, Nagaon and Sonitpur. It was conducted by Vice-President of ASCSS Com Gongaram Koll and a paper was presented by Vibek Das, General Secretary, ASCSS in which he exposed the conspiracy against tea workers by the ruling Congress and BJP. Programme was also attended by AICCTU State Secretary Subhas Sen and CPI(ML) PB member Rubul Sarma.

The meeting vehemently condemned and condoled the barbaric killing of Com. Mahendra Singh. The meeting traced on two major demands of Minimum wage of Rs. 75 and homogeneity of electricity bills of tea workers along with other outstanding demands like Sunday wages etc. It was decided to organise circle and bock level cadre meets in the month of February while district level protests will be held in the month of March which will conclude in a massive protest rally in Guwahati.

The meeting also pledged to make a success the forthcoming AICCTU national conference and the mass rally to be held in Guwahati.

Land Seizure in East Godavari

On Jan 7 hundreds of agricultural labourers held seizure of 96 acres of ceiling surplus land in Prathipadu mandal of East Godavari district which was under the illegal occupation of a local MLA. The police, in connivance with the MLA, has filed case against 3 CPI(ML) activists. A false case has also been filed against CPI(ML) CC member Bangar Rao. Protesting the false imposition of cases, a demonstration was held at mandal headquarters to demand the settlement of land dispute in favour of landless agricultural labourers.

There is large amount of ceiling surplus land in the district under the illegal occupation of land-lords, who wield enough political clout and let loose their repression on the landless in the region.

Protest in UP against Imposition of Goonda and Gangster Acts

A 48-hours mass hunger strike was started in front of UP Assembly on Jan 31 to demand withdrawal of all framed cases on Comrades Kranti Kumar Singh and Ramdaras Chauhan, AIALA National Councillor and CPI(ML) Lakhimpur-Kheri district Secretary respectively, on whom Goonda Act has now been imposed by the district administration for leading movement against land-mafia and foodgrain scam involving crores of rupees meant for very poor under PDS scheme. These two leaders are already facing charges under Gangster Act and other criminal laws. The district administration and police, especially the Superintendent of Police of Kheri, have openly come forward to protect the mafia lobby and to suppress the democratic movement in the district.

While the Party has strongly criticized Mulayam Singh govt. for launching attacks on left activists, it has also been resolved to intensify the agitation in face of increasing repression by the police. CPI(ML) has demanded CBI inquiry into the foodgrain scam, withdrawal of all cases under draconian laws from party leaders, an impartial inquiry into the role of district administration and the SP of Kheri, institution of a land commission and fulfillment of various demands of the agricultural labourers.

Earlier on Jan 20, AIALA held statewide protest day was organised in UP on this issue and dharna and demonstrations were held at many places including Gazipur, Mau, Sonbhadra, Jalaun, Robertsganj, Azamgarh and Lucknow. A citizens' convention was held in Kheri which was addressed by UP State Secretary Akhilendra Pratap Singh.

Peasants' Struggle in Rayagada

While the ongoing peasants' struggle for land in Rayagada's Bissamcuttuck block has created a good impact in the region with many people joining CPI(ML) after leaving their traditional allegiance from parties like Congress or BJD, a local politician and BJD leader has started launching organised attacks on our mass base and leaders. When Sharat Chandra Tripathi, a DC member in Rayagada, and other comrades were returning from Gunupur after holding a protest meeting against Comrade Mahendra Singh's assassination, they faced a brutal attack by BJD goons. But many women from a nearby village promptly came to rescue them and put up a stiff resistance and forced the goons to flee. later an FIR was lodged and SP of Rayagada was informed of this attack and feudal goons' intentions to kill Comrade Sharat. The same ex-MLA - himself a tribal, tried to create a division among the landless agricultural labourers into tribals and non-tribals by holding a demonstration two days later on Jan 28 demanding land primarily for the tribals. This was only a ploy meant to divide and dilute the land movement.

Next day, CPI(ML) organised a much bigger rally led by comrades Malleswar Rao and Kshitish Biswal in front of police station and demanded immediate action against the attacker goons. The speakers warned the administration for taking sides with the landlords and his goons and emphasised on the need for the unity of all toiling landless, tribals as well as non-tribals, for a protracted struggle for the land and democracy. They exposed nasty designs of landlords and ruling class politicians whose interests converged when rural poor start organising against feudal repression and governmental apathy. Still, the goons are threatening the villagers while police, conniving with the feudal goons, is maintaining a criminal silence despite repeated FIRs being lodged against threatening by goons. The tension in prevailing in the area.

Govt. Must Stop Making False Claims of Relief Operations and Come Up with Concrete Rehabilitation Plans for Tsunami Victims

A Fact Finding Team exposed the fallacy of claims of relief operations of the Congress government at the state and at the centre. The government is sitting tight but for making some announcements while leaving the entire relief activities to a group of voluntary and church related organizations. The amount of compensation for catamarans and small boats is very meager; the houses are not yet built; a vast section of non-fishermen who are seriously affected no less than fishermen are completely left out of the purview of relief operations; people are being evacuated from their own land while the entire coastal areas are left to all kinds of commercial and business activities; and the list is endless.

The fact finding team comprising Shankar, CCM, Balasubramnaian, State Secretary, Sankaran, Motilal, Dr.Shiva, Mr.Charles, a journalist, and Comrade Poarkodi visited Tsunami affected areas of Pondicherry on 25-26 January. This CPI(ML) team demanded immediate disbursement of Rs.3000 pm to all victims, including fishing workers, agrarian labourers and small peasants, sufficient compensation for loss of small boats and catamarans, recognition of the people’s right to the land and stopping rampant commercialisation of sea shore in the pretext of Tsunami, speedy construction of houses to victims' families, constructing safe and strong community shelters in case of any emergency and exigencies, special scholarships to the children of Tsunami victims, guaranteeing employment to at least one person in a family to begin with, etc.

CPI(ML) also decided to organize a People’s Court where charge-sheets against the government will be filed by the victims and a Rasta Roko, if the government failed to respond to the people’s demands

LIST OF CPI(ML) CANDIDATES IN BIHAR FOR THE THIRD PHASE OF ASSEMBLY POLLS