Forward to a People’s Republic in Nepal
Following the coup of February First, the steamroller of royal repression has started rolling in the land of the Sagarmatha. Arrests and house arrests, press censorship and harassment of journalists, abrogation of all civil and fundamental rights and incidents like aerial strafing of agitating students in Pokhra have already been reported. And in the absence of communication facilities you don’t really know whether military crackdown on Maoist rebels is already on in the remote rural areas.
As we join the global voice of protest, we must sharply demarcate our position from that of reactionary forces, the Indian government in particular. The central concern of New Delhi (and of Washington, London, Paris for that matter) is not democracy in Nepal, but the apprehension that king Gyanendra’s foolhardy venture would prove counterproductive in containing the Maoist insurgency and that this would have a contagion effect on India. The ruling elite in our country believes in repression with a democratic (or should we say human) face, it is for a two-pronged strategy where ruthless repression is combined with political engagement within a parliamentary set up to obtain better results. This is the model they want the Nepal naresh to follow. Moreover, the existence of two power centres – the king and an elected government – offers the Indian rulers greater scope for political maneuvers. So it would be as foolish to take their democratic pronouncements at face value as it would to believe Gyanendra when he says he did what he did to save democracy!
In the name of fire walling the Maoists from Indian soil, authorities here are gearing up for escalated repression on revolutionary communists and their support base in the bordering regions of India. This is a conspiracy consistent democrats must expose and oppose. They should also condemn India’s role of a regional hegemon as expressed in the unilateral decision to spoil the scheduled SAARC summit to convey disapproval of what happened in the mountain kingdom. If the UPA government really wanted to go beyond rhetoric to take effective action, it should hold up military supplies to the tyrant who is running roughshod over his own people, till he lifts emergency and restores democracy. In fact this is what we the people of India should demand of our government as a concrete expression of solidarity with the people of Nepal. Over the last three years India has supplied around Rs. 450 crore worth of arms and ammunition to the Royal Nepal Army which operates under the exclusive control of the king – no more of that. No arms from our country to kill our brothers and sisters up there.
Right from the adoption of the multi-party Constitution in 1959 and suspension of parliament the very next year, through the new panchayat-based Constitution of 1962, the constitutional referendum of 1980 that ushered in direct elections without political parties, and the Constitution of 1990 that created a multiparty parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy, our northern neighbour has traversed a long and tortuous course full of ups and downs. We are confident that the masses and their revolutionary vanguards will learn from experience to overcome their weaknesses and consolidate the achievements, forge a fighting front on an appropriate political platform and continue their forward march with great vigour.
The movement of 1990 did extract a major concession from the monarch. But the democracy it established was of a partial nature in that the monarchy itself – the bulwark of feudal reaction and the source of many a subsequent trouble – was not abolished. Now with the royal backlash the movemental cycle that started some 15 years ago has completed itself and a new, higher one has begun. The challenge today is not only to resist the crackdown and restore democracy, but to carry the struggle further ahead – to its consummation, to the replacement of constitutional monarchy by a full fledged democratic republic. The brave and industrious people of Nepal would definitely be victorious in this protracted war.
Down with the Despot!
No Arms, No Interference from India!
Forward to a People’s Republic in Nepal!
Press Statement:
CPI(ML) Condemns Emergency in Nepal ;
Supports People’s Movement in Nepal for Restoration of Democracy without any External Intervention
New Delhi , 2 February.
CPI(ML) joins the people of Nepal and the international democratic opinion to denounce the imposition of Emergency by King Gyanendra and to demand immediate restoration of multi-party democracy in Nepal . Since the Palace Massacre of 2001 and the rise of King Gyanendra, the Royal Palace of Nepal has been systematically subverting the fledgling democratic system established through the powerful people’s movement of 1990. The declaration of Emergency is nothing short of a complete royal coup and a total war on the democratic rights and aspirations of the Nepalese people.
Of late, Western foreign powers led by the United States have stepped up their intervention in the internal affairs of Nepal . There is every reason to suspect that US imperialism will try every trick to exploit the present impasse in Nepal to intensify its strategic intervention in the region. While expressing fullest solidarity with the people of Nepal in their battle for restoration of democracy, the CPI(ML) calls upon the Indian people to oppose any move by any foreign power to use the present situation in Nepal as a pretext for any kind of external intervention.
It is the prerogative of the people of Nepal to defeat the present state of Emergency and foil the royal conspiracy to win the battle for developing Nepal as a constitutional democratic republic.
Many Political Parties Condemn Abrogation of Democracy in Nepal
In a meeting held on Feb 5 in New Delhi, representatives of various political parties strongly condemned the abrogation of democracy in Nepal and decried the army crackdown and repression unleashed on innocent people.
It was decided to extend all moral and political support to the democratic forces in Nepal and the people of Nepal who will not take this attack on democracy lying down.
The meeting called upon the Govt. of India that it should be made clear to Nepal that this palace coup is unacceptable and demand the restoration of democracy in Nepal immediately.
The meeting was attended by leaders of CPI(ML), CPI(M), CPI, Forward Bloc, NCP, RJD, Socialist Front and SJP. RSP, JD-Secular and Samajwadi Party conveyed their agreement with the decisions of the meeting.
It has also been decided to hold a national convention for the restoration of democracy in Nepal on 24 February at New Delhi.
Earlier, on Feb 3, many left and democratic organisations including All India Students' Association, Forum for Democratic Initiatives, AINFSU, Akhil Bharatiya Nepali Vampanthi Yuva Morcha, JNU Students' Union held a protest demonstration under the banner of 'Anti Monarchy Front' to condemn this blatant attack on democracy and the people of Nepal. The demonstrators were arrested by the police in a bid to prevent them from reaching in front of Embassy of Nepal. Later the protest was held at Parliament Street. CPI(ML) Delhi unit condemned the police action terming it quite reprehensible.
Red Waves Overflowing at Both Banks of River Sone
Bhojpur district of Bihar has undoubtedly come up as the unparalleled field of revolutionary left’s experimentation with the combination of almost all forms of struggle at the present juncture, be it day-to-day battle against domination of the feudal lords in the village lanes, or seizing the authority of grassroots village administration from the age old rulers through panchayats to implement the development agenda - coming up as the supreme heroic fighter against the upper caste landlords’ most dreaded and ruthless Ranvir Sena and at the same time championing the cause of development in the interests of the common people in Assembly constituencies like Sahar, from where our sitting MLA Comrade Ram Naresh Ram has emerged as the most upright and respected politician of Bhojpur in the recent history. Therefore it is not strange to witness the visible sense of respect among the people of Bhojpur not only in the rural areas but in towns like Arrah towards the candidates set up by the CPI(ML)-Liberation!
It is really a pleasant surprise to hear predictions about victory of our candidate from Arrah, as if it comes true, the town will go down in the history of Party as the first urban constituency from where we, a party with predominantly rural poor mass base, would be able to send a CPI(ML) representative into the Bihar Assembly. Even otherwise, Bhojpur has already earned the distinction of sending the first CPI(ML) representative to Parliament and as many as four members to the Legislative Assembly of Bihar. In 1990, for the first time we won 7 Assembly seats in Bihar - namely from Peero, Jagdishpur, Sahar and Sandesh. Taken Shahabad range as a whole, (encompassing four districts of Bhojpur, CPI(ML) has also sent its representatives from Bikramganj and Karakat, both belonging to the present-day Rohtas district. The problem of combining parliamentary and extra-parliamentary forms of struggle in all their rainbow spectrum has really been a jinxed issue in the annals of communist movement in India and the revolutionary left has been historically charged with the responsibility of resolving the riddle, mainly in this Hindi heartland of Bihar. The success of Maley in this endeavour can also be gauged by the fact that it is Bhojpur where both the extremist left and opportunist left could not find any positive response from the toiling people of the district, despite their vehement efforts. It is for a third successive term that Comrade Ram Naresh Ram is seeking election from Sahar, the first citadel of Naxalbari struggle in Bihar. It includes Ekwari, birthplace of Master Jagdish, the hero of Mahashweta’s novel ‘Master Sahab’. This time the constituency is witnessing a new phenomenon. After a protracted battle of attrition, our archrival Ranvir Sena has lost the support of lower sections of its cast base. As regards our battle against corruption and for development in this region, a movement that has earned Sahar the distinction of a model constituency in Bihar, even our enemies admit its genuineness. It is an unwritten rule in Bihar to grab 15% to 20% of the fund allocated for developmental works, in addition to awarding of the quota to one’s kith and kin or near and dear, but Sahar is among a few exceptions (incidentally other such constituencies are again the ones held by Maley legislators!)
Another constituency Sandesh, a no less prospective battlefield for Maley, is almost set to send the Maley candidate Comrade Rameshwar Prasad to the Legislative Assembly for the second time. Sandesh has been such a stronghold of Maley that its victory from the constituency was being predicted as early as in 1990 elections. But powerful regrouping of the ruling classes against the IPF in the wake of and as a backlash to the maiden success in the Parliamentary elections held in 1989 defeated our aspirations. However, we won this constituency in 1995. In 2000 notorious criminal Bijendra Yadav won this seat for RJD in an unprecedented match of booth-capturing between him and an ex-Minister Sonadhari Yadav, the 1990 MLA from this constituency. However, this time not only Bijendra Yadav is facing strong discontent among Yadavs, and stars are generally against RJD in Shahabad range (Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas and Kaimur-Bhabhua), another powerful mafia Anil Samrat has jumped into the fray to drag Bijendra from behind.
On the other hand CPI(ML) has constantly improved its image during the past five years, fighting against crime and corruption of the sitting MLA Bijendra Yadav and led the rural poor in successful land struggles. So much so that in Belaur, the birthplace of Ranvir Sena, a good section of poor Bhumihars (10-15 households) have come out openly against Ranvir Sena siding with Maley. All this has driven the political scenario in our favour and particularly our candidate, once the MP from Arrah, enjoys a tall stature above caste and communal settings.
In Arrah Sadar seat Amarendra Pratap Singh, the sitting MLA of BJP, is in deep trouble not only because political wind is against his party in this state, but consequent to the Congress fielding another Rajput candidate, nephew of cooperative mafia Tapeshwar Singh, who was spurred by the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s rare appearance in Arrah this time. However, Congress itself has no solid base in this constituency and is banking mainly on the improved image of the party among Muslims. As for RJD, its candidate is Muslim (Anwar Hussain) but in the past five years the RJD gangleaders in the constituency have earned the notoriety of oppressors of Muslims, particularly because they have seized the Karbala (Bibi Jan) land and converted it into their own property. Even Momin Society has appealed among Muslims not to vote for RJD this time. To double the trouble, an ex-MLA of RJD Abdul Malik has fielded his nomination as a rebel candidate. During this span of five years, BJP has tried five times to break the communal harmony in Arrah town, sometimes even employing Ranvir Sena openly, on the issues like Panch Pir, but despite mouthing secularism garrulously, neither RJD not Congress came to champion the cause of Muslims and it was CPI(ML) which always stood against the riot mongers. Our candidate Sudama Prasad, who has been runner up in this constituency twice, enjoys credibility among vaishyas, traditional vote bank of BJP, apart from having the image of a hero among the urban downtrodden strata like rickshaw pullers, hawkers, peddlers, sanitation workers, poor slumdwellers and even government employees and professional like lawyers for his upright and fighting record. The overwhelming superiority in our popularity in Arrah became apparent from the unprecedented election meeting held at Arrah on 31 January 2005 which broke all the past records in this district not only in terms of numbers but also the broadness of spectrum of mobilization of people in the favour of CPI(ML).
Another constituency where CPI(ML) has good prospects this time is Piro. In 1990, when we fought elections under the banner of IPF, we had won from this constituency. Since then our candidate Chandradeep Singh, a loyal and worthy Maley leader, has always been at the forefront of the struggles waged by the rural poor led by CPI(ML) against the local feudal lords, despite belonging to Rajput community. His efforts at winning over a section of upper caste poor peasants into Party’s fold have paid rich dividends in establishing the supremacy of the notion of class struggle over the so-called caste struggle in this region of Bihar. An indicator of our struggle against the local administration is the fact that 30% to 40% of our cadres in this assembly constituency are presently lodged inside the jail. In Piro the independent sitting MLA, nominated by JD(U)-BJP this time, Sunil Pandey, a ruthless criminal of Ranvir Sena origin. Accused of infamous Dr. Ramesh Chandra abduction case, Sunil Pandey frequents between jail and his criminal world outside, and at present seriously suffering from the crisis of credibility even within his own social base. Suspended from the party for the time being despite being nominated as a candidate from this constituency, Sunil Pandey epitomizes the farce promise peddled by BJP-JD(U) to give Bihar a crime-free rule. In addition, RJD has fielded Kesho Singh, husband of RJD MP and Central Minister Kanti Singh, and this act has stirred up rebellion within his party because by doing so the RJD has denied ticket to local aspirants. One rebel Kashinath Yadav has secured nomination on Lok Janshakti Party ticket. In this four-cornered contest the main contest seems to be between CPI(ML) and Sunil Pandey.
In the context of this summary picture of the situation in four key constituencies of Bhojpur district of Bihar, one cannot fail to notice the zeal and upbeat visible even among the left and democratic intellectuals and professionals in Arrah town, and even those who have been critic of Maley in the past are awaiting the election results eagerly. This is all about the red waves of Sone overflooding the western banks, i.e., constituencies falling in Bhojpur. In the next installment we will have a look on the impact of this wave on the eastern bank, i.e., the surge of Maley in the equally vibrant constituencies of Arwal, Obra and Paliganj.
Lakhimpur-Kheri:
More than Hundred Sent to Jail for Protesting Scams and Imposition of Goonda Act
Ignoring statewide protests in UP against the police repression on the movement of agrarian labourers in Lakhimpur-Kheri and imposition of Goonda and Gangster Acts on CPI(ML) leaders, the UP govt. has further stepped up repression and let loose its reign of terror on Feb 4 when hundreds of party activists were stopped from holding a demonstration, in spite of prior permission by the administration, at Kheri and sent to jail. A heavy police posse encircled nearly 500-600 protesters and arrested before they could start the demonstration. The arrested include large number of women and even children. Many people were stopped on the way to Kheri by the police. The protesters were led by CPI(ML) State Committee member and AIPWA leader Ajanta Lohit and Terai Kisan Sabha's Convener Alauddin Shashtri. The protest was organised to demand withdrawal of Goonda and Gangster Acts imposed on comrades Kranti Singh and Ramdaras, CBI inquiry into the foodgrain scam, institution of a Land Commission in UP and, above all, restoration of democracy against police high-handedness and mafia-police nexus.
Police also arrested Didar Singh, one of the poor peasants whose lands were captured by the land-mafia after showing 'documentary proof' of his 'death' and who was sitting on indefinite dharna for last few days at the collectorate to demand possession over his own land.
This act is being widely condemned by various democratic organisations and human rights activists. People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUHR) protested in Lucknow on Feb 8 while AIPWA will hold statewide protest day on Feb 11. The role of SP of Lakhimpur-Kheri was also widely condemned as she is brazenly leading and manipulating all these repressive acts with special interest apparently due to some tacit political reasons. She has not spared even women activists and journalists. The houses of party leaders and party office is regularly being raided by the special operations group (SOG) in Kheri under her direct supervision. The family members of party leaders are also being harassed.
CPI(ML) has strongly condemned this repression terming it continuation of fascist policies of ousted BJP regime by the Mulayam govt. and demanded immediate and unconditional release of all activists. This is a conspiracy by the UP govt. to sabotage the growing movement of rural poor under the leadership of CPI(ML).
Striking Small Powerloom Owners in TN
End of textile quota regime is witnessing strikes after strikes in the textile belt of Tamil Nadu, interestingly by job-working, small powerloom owners. The strike series started with Pallipalayam of Namakkal district at the end of December, followed by small powerloom owners of Somanur, Palladam areas of Coimbatore district in January. It is the turn of Kumarapalayam of Namakkal district, now in February. Around 20000 to 30000 small powerloom owners are involved in the strike while around 2 lakhs of workers are affected by the strike. In Kumarapalayam, small powerloom owners are on strike since Jan 31, demanding 50 percent increase in existing rates of Rs.4.75 per meter given by big manufacturers and big traders who control the entire industry by supplying yarn to the job-working units. AICCTU is demanding 50 percent of what job working, small powerloom owners would get and also a temporary relief of Rs.50 per day, from the government, if the strike continued for long.
The demonstration on Feb 4 by AICCTU, extending support to striking powerloom units and demanding wage hike and relief for workers, was well attended. Subsequent public meeting on Feb 6 insisting on the same demands received a huge response and more than 500 workers participated in it. Workers led by AICCTU are on move on a daily basis since Feb 4, conducting street corner meetings, small processions, padayatras, dharnas, etc. The strike is still continuing. AICCTU intervened in the Pallipalayam strike with the demands of workers' wage hike and 3 of our workers, including Venkatesan, DCM were arrested in the process. In Coimbatore , AICCTU organized a poster and leaflet campaign.
AIPWA Protest for Tsunami-affected Womenfolk
The Pondicherry state unit of AIPWA took out a rally of more than 500 fisherwomen on Feb 3 to press for the demands of tsunami-affected women of Pondicherry state. It was demanded to pay Rs 3000 per month and 20 kg rice and ten liters of kerosene to all Tsunami-affected fish vending women, alternate employment, compensation of Rs 1 lakh to all widowed and destitute women, a deposit of Rs. 10 lakhs to every female orphaned child, liberal grant of loans, and special medical care and nutrition to all Tsunami-affected women and children.
AIPWA Protest in Dindigul
AIPWA organised a protest meeting in Koviloor in Dindigul district on Feb 1 to demand the arrest of the killer husband of a dalit women. It also called for a bandh jointly with other organisation on Feb 2. Earlier, the local unit of AIPWA intervened in this case and successfully brought the killers to the book and also succeeded in pressurising the administration to suspend the SI of police who was conniving with the killers.
AIALA district Conference in Mansa
Mazdoor Mukti Morcha, affiliated to AIALA, held its second district conference in Mansa on Feb 29-30. The conference elected an 11-member District Committee with Ballam Singh as President and Surinder Singh as Secretary. AIALA National Councillor Jeeta Kaur was the main speaker. A widespread membership campaign and conferences in four blocks of the district were also held before the district conference.
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