In this Issue
Nepal's Quest for A Democratic Republic
uite predictably, the municipal elections in Nepal have turned out to be a huge farce. We have seen similar farces enacted on a few occasions in India when voter turnout in Assembly elections in states like Assam, Punjab and Kashmir has dropped way below the ‘normal'. As part of their 12-point understanding reached last November seven major political parties of Nepal as well as the Maoists had called for an active boycott of the polls and it proved highly effective. In spite of trying all kinds of intimidating techniques and fraudulent means, the Royal Palace could not inflate the official turnout beyond 20 per cent! King Gyanendra's attempt to claim international political legitimacy even as his regime denies basic democratic rights and civil liberties to the people, keeps major opposition leaders almost permanently under house-arrest and routinely attacks mass demonstrations for democracy has thus fallen flat – even the US has been compelled to describe the elections as a ‘hollow exercise'!
The failure of the municipal polls has left the illegitimate Gyanendra regime further weakened and discredited. The popular movement for restoration of democracy is again gathering momentum and the King's attempt to check the movement by killing pro-democracy activists and putting senior leaders including the CPN(UML) General Secretary Madhav Nepal under renewed and extended house-arrest is only adding to the people's anger. The growing isolation of the King has also been underlined by the 12-point understanding reached between major political parties including the Nepali Congress and the CPN(UML) and the Maoists who have been waging a major armed struggle for the last ten years. The domestic balance in Nepal is daily tilting against the King and the regime has to rely increasingly on international (read American) support for its survival.
Where does Nepal go from here? The Nepali Maoists who have accumulated considerable military might in the course of their one-decade-long people's war now seem to be positioning themselves for a major political intervention. The first indication came in the form of the 12-point understanding which conspicuously did not mention the word republic but called for abolition of the present “autocratic monarchy” through a “nationwide storm of democratic protests” and holding of elections for the formation of a constituent assembly under the aegis of the UN or some other suitable form of international supervision. The political thinking underlying this charter has now been elaborated by the CPN(M) chief Prachanda himself in a couple of recent interviews.
Prachanda's interviews clearly convey the urgency with which the Nepali Maoists now want to have an effective political say. The understanding reached with the seven parties and the calculated silence regarding the future of monarchy, leaving everything to the constituent assembly and the people's verdict are all intended to create an immediate political space for the Maoist movement. While combining the military and political aspects, the CPN(M) also expresses its commitment to the multi-party framework and to international mediation. The proposal for suitable international mediation, not only to supervise elections but also to facilitate the dialogue process leading to the formation of an elected constituent assembly, seems to be an anticipatory move to pre-empt any possible US intervention in Nepal. In this context, Prachanda also expresses satisfaction over the positions adopted by India and China with regard to the present situation in Nepal.
The political imagination and initiative of the Nepali Maoists stands in a refreshing contrast to the dogmatic militarism and political bankruptcy of their Indian counterparts. In his interview Prachanda also provides an example of ‘international mediation' when he advises Indian Maoists to subject themselves to political competition while trying to persuade the Indian government that any positive contribution from India to the cause of democracy in Nepal would also go a long way to solve India's own ‘Maoist problem'. At a time when Indian foreign policy is locked in a grand ‘enlightened convergence' with the global military and political objectives of US imperialism, what positive contribution can New Delhi make to the cause of ‘total democracy' in Kathmandu is anybody's guess. We in India must always remain alive to the danger of any kind of imperialist intervention in the region even if the intervention takes on an appearance of ‘peaceful mediation'. Have we forgotten the IPKF expedition in Sri Lanka?
Following the failure of the February municipal elections, America's ambassador in Kathmandu James F. Moriarty has publicly asked the King and the seven political parties to resume negotiations and end the present deadlock. According to Moriarty, only the Maoists have gained from the current stand-off between the parties and the palace (the two pillars of Nepali democracy!) and if the stalemate is not quickly resolved Nepal would only be inviting the spectre of a Maoist victory, a terrorist and totalitarian takeover in American eyes. Does not Moriarty's ‘advice' bear a keen resemblance to the kind of ‘opinions' that Mr. Mulford is daily offering to us in India? The Mulfords and Moriartys are only acting in a manner that they consider to be the prerogative of American ambassadors in today's world. It is for us, the fighters for sovereignty and democracy in India and Nepal to give a fitting rebuff to this ugly imperialist arrogance.
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Intensify Campaign for the Mass Registrations Under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
A district level review camp was organised by the All India Agricultural Labour Association in Darbhanga on Feb. 15 to assess the actual state of implementation of the NREGA and to discuss the problems being faced by the village/panchayat level activists in the process of registration for the the job cards under this Act. Nearly 100 representatives from 70 villages participated in this camp.
It was a general complaint that the government has supplied the application forms in limited number at panchayat levels and the panchayat Secretaries are brazenly showing discrimination in distribution of these forms. Moreover, there are reports that the application forms are being sold by concerned officials at a cost, up to Rs. 50 per form. Additional money, Rs. 35 - 50, is also being charged for the photographs. The government proforma for the application form does not have a counter-foil for the receipt. Receipts are not given against the forms that are submitted by the applicants.
Various AIALA units have printed application forms in Bihar and other states to help the aspirant poor families in view of limited supply of the same by the governmental agencies. At most of the places it was found that Panchayat Secretary and Block office are not willing to accept those forms, unless enough mass pressure was created through the agitation, as this will break the existing monopoly of the ruling elite in controlling the scheme.
In contravention of the provisions of the Act, neither meetings of gram sabhas have been called by the concerned block and district authorities nor any survey was conducted to facilitate the registration process. At almost all the places central and state governments have not accomplished the ground work to fulfil the requirements for the implementation of the scheme, as was supposed to be done before the commencement of the Act.
AIALA unit in Dharbhanga has taken up an agitational programme from Feb. 24 to Mar. 6. Mass submission of application forms through organised demonstrations will be done from Feb. 16-24; ‘Ghera Dalo- Dera Dalo' programmes will be held at all blocks on Feb. 24-28. and a massive Collectorate march will be held on March 6 in this campaign. Similar programmes will also be undertaken in other districts of Bihar. The review camp was presided over by AIALA General Secretary Dhirendra Jha.
Bhojpur: Irregularities were observed from the very first day when job cards were issued to many without properly completing registration process, while many workers failed to submit even their application forms. Applicants have no proof of their applications submitted as no receipts are being given as required by the law. Many people could not submit their forms as Panchayat Secretary and village heads were absent at many places.
AIALA took up agitations and organised cadre meets followed by sit-in programmes at block level. More than 3000 people gheraoed BDO Office in Sandesh, while hundreds of people entered inside the hall where BDC meetings were going on at Piro and Jagadishpur blocks, in protest. A demonstration of more than a thousand people was held at Udwantnagar Block office. These protests created enough pressure over the administration and the latter had to agree to the demands, at least in principle, and ordered the panchayats to issue the receipts for every application.
Initiatives in Jharkhand:
Jharkhand government declared to launch a campaign for the registrations and to conduct a propaganda to 'educate' the rural poor from 2-15 February. Big advertisements were published in newspapers but nothing was visible at the ground level. Prospective candidates for this scheme are very poor and in villages no one reads a newspaper. A large section of them are illiterate. It was also announced to hold gram sabhas at panchayats, but these were not held at most of the places. And wherever they were held, respective officials were either totally absent or went there to complete the formality and came back in 10-15 minutes. Moreover, adequate number of registration forms were not there when gram sabha were being held. At some places only 10 or 20 forms were available and those were sold at a price of 2 to 20 rupees. When CPI(ML) and Jharkhand Mazdoor Kisan Samiti distributed application forms, they were not accepted with officials saying that only government printed forms are valid. Which is a false propaganda by the govt. machinery.
The proforma of the application forms as given in the 'NREGA Operational Guide Book' does not have a space for the receipt (counter-foil). Keeping in view the attitude of the authorities it is not difficult to understand that this is being used to dilute the provision for providing employment within fifteen days or the unemployment allowance. If receipts were made as part of the proforma, it would help spread awareness about mandatory and time bound provision for employment guarantee. Since applicants have no proof of the date of application made, it is impossible for them to claim their right.
One more problem is providing photographs. Photography for the job cards is to be done by the authorities and a proper funding mechanism has been described in the Act. But, photos are being demanded from the applicants along with the forms, and an atmosphere is created that without photos they might be left out. If these practices are not stopped immediately, such atmosphere will pave the way for greater corrupt practices ultimately making this Act as ineffective as its predecessor schemes.
JMKS has taken an initiative for the mass registrations and has printed two lakh forms for the campaign. At many places forms have been submitted to the appointed officers and wherever panchayat officials are showing reluctance, mass submissions are carried out through big mass protests. In Barwadih block of Latehar district administration is still insisting for the photographs. It has agreed to accept forms only after the mass protests held at panchayats and block. In Daltonganj and Chainpur blocks in Palamu, agitations forced the administration to accept forms of those people who were earlier denied for the same. As individual receipts were not given to the applicants, JMKS forced the authorities to issue a collective receipt to the organisation with total number of forms accepted clearly mentioned. Administration in Garhwa had to agree to the JMKS demand for conducting photography of the applicants, after a series of protests. Now district authorities have assured to provide cameras at every block.
In the mean time decisions are being taken by other blocks and district level committees for massive mobilisations and protests in order to cull the corrupt and anti-people attitude of the administration at the initial stage itself. District level bigger mobilisations will be organised in coming days.
But a question still remains, and will acquire prominence when the actual work under this scheme really commences. That the wage to be provided under this scheme stands equal to the minimum wage for the agricultural workers in the respective state. It is Rs. 58 per day in Jharkhand. The current wage rate for the heavy earthworks like digging and transporting soil is Rs. 74 or more. Is the minimum wage rate as decided for the Act is justified?
Seventh West Bengal Conference of AIPWA
Around 250 delegates from 13 districts, mostly from rural background, actively participated in the conference. On behalf of the outgoing State executive committee, comrade Chaitali Sen presented a brief report that reviewed the activities over the past three years and stressed the need for planned, concentrated work among women agrarian workers and other sections of working women. About 25 delegates shared their lively experiences. We must fight not only against violence on us, said a brick kiln worker from the outskirts of Kolkata, but for our right to employment. An agrarian worker from Hooghly narrated her bold struggle against the panchayat boss belonging to the ruling party who had impregnated her but later refused to take responsibility of the baby. So on and so forth, the delegates came up with their own realisations. The draft was unanimously adopted and a 29-member State Council and a 19-member Executive Committee were unanimously elected. Comrades Geeta Das and Chaitali Sen were reelected president and secretary respectively of the State unit.
Killer Bush
head of the American war-machine
and imperialist pirate-brigade
Go Back
Down With UPA Government's Pro-US Foreign Policy
Let us reject the spinelessness of India's ruling elite and reaffirm with all our strength the people's spirit of independence, national dignity and anti-imperialism.
Let March 2006 witness a grand celebration of this indomitable spirit at every nook and corner of
our great country
Join
Nationwide Protests
On 2 March '06
Against Bush Visit to India
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