In this Issue
The Bush Visit and After: Battle Lines Have Been Redrawn
Predictably enough, Indian advocates of a strategic partnership with the US have begun to describe Bush's just concluded maiden visit to India and the Indo-US nuclear deal as a huge diplomatic breakthrough for India's foreign policy. With Bush ruling out the possibility of a similar nuclear deal with Pakistan , there is an obvious element of additional glee in this camp. America 's relationship with India , they argue, has now entered a qualitatively new phase – it is now a really special and exclusive relationship. And what better international role can India really cherish than being identified as the most trusted American partner in Asia ! So never mind if Manmohan Singh had to throw all diplomatic protocols to the winds to personally rush to the airport to be patted patronisingly on the back by the US President and, if unconfirmed media reports are to be belived, also to be frisked by US security agencies.
The nuclear deal, the much talked about centrepiece of the Bush visit, supposedly recognises India as a nuclear power and entitles her to receive nuclear fuel and technology from the US and other members of the Nuclear Supplies Group in lieu of India's commitment to abide by the norms and requirements of ‘nuclear non-proliferation'. While the deal is yet to be ratified by the US Congress and the details of the so-called ‘India-specific safeguards' are yet to be worked out, India's nuclear programme now clearly stands subjected to an international inspections regime and legally binding eternal and intrusive safeguards. Contrary to Manmohan Singh's solemn assurance to Parliament last July 29 to acquire the same rights and benefits as the other nuclear powers and never accept discrimination, the deal has signalled an end to India's long phase of nuclear untouchability only to grant her second-class citizenship in the nuclear world.
The nuclear deal is full of both military and civilian implications. Militarily, it is bound to trigger a disastrous arms race in the subcontinent and the size of India 's so-called ‘minimum nuclear deterrent' will steadily go up. The enormous costs of this escalating arms race will obviously have to be shouldered by the common Indian people who would be called upon to sacrifice more and more of their basic needs and rights for ‘national security'. The nuclear deal also marks a major shift in India 's energy matrix in favour of nuclear energy which Bush has described as the ‘cleanest and most reliable way' of meeting India 's energy needs. This means India will be ‘encouraged' to rely more on nuclear energy, to be generated increasingly by imported reactors dependent on imported fuel, and ‘dissuaded' from exploring alternative channels of energy supply like the gas pipeline from Iran or cooperation with China in the international oil market. In other words, the deal promises to revive the decrepit US nuclear power industry while thwarting India 's energy independence.
Meanwhile, Bush has been pretty blunt in listing the ‘other responsibilities' that India will have to discharge. In his Purana Qila address, he has categorically asked India not only “ to continue to lift its caps on foreign investment, to make its rules and regulations more transparent, and to continue to lower its tariffs and open its markets to American agricultural products, industrial goods and services” but also to stand by the US in opening up global markets and carrying freedom and democracy to “the darkest corners of the earth”. In other words, the US wants India both as an unfettered market as well as a loyal ally in its ‘mission' to engineer regime change in any country that may dare oppose American hegemony. Whether it is in relation to China or North Korea , Iran or Syria , Venezuela or Cuba , India will now have to toe the US line without fail. Indeed, what else could an unequal strategic partnership possibly mean?
In stark contrast to the euphoria of the ruling elite and the mainstream media, the people of India hit the streets in large numbers to express their anger and opposition. They are angry with Bush and his worldwide war on democracy, progress and humanity, and fuelling this anger is the Indian rulers' policy of spineless capitulation to the American drive for global hegemony. Many of the parties ‘sponsoring' these protests may well be accused of being highly inconsistent and even hypocritical in their anti-imperialism, but the scale and intensity of the protests indicated a veritable countrywide outrage against imperialist domination, a popular Indian outcry for national dignity, independence and anti-imperialist internationalism. One of the most heartening features of the protests was the mass participation of the Muslim community and the prospect of growing political proximity between the communist movement and the Muslim masses. Indeed, in the Indian people's spirited opposition to US imperialism we have the basis of a new, necessary and vibrant Indian nationalism. Communal forces and the Indian state will of course do all they can to disrupt this militant secular anti-imperialist unity of the Indian people. We have already seen such derailment attempts in Lucknow and anti-imperialist forces must act promptly to foil such communal designs. The Bush visit has done its bit in terms of redrawing the battle lines both inside India and in the international arena, and the challenge now is to intensify the battle and carry it forward to victory.
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CPI(ML) Condemns Banaras Blasts,
Appeals for Vigilance Against Communal Fallout
In a statement issued today, the CPI(ML) strongly condemned the multiple blasts in Banaras , terming them as an act of mischief targeted against innocents, calculated to disturb the peace and foment communal tension in Uttar Pradesh and the country. The party called for a speedy and credible probe to be ordered to identify the guilty and ensure swift punishment. Party expresses condolences to the families of those killed and injured in these blasts.
The CPI(ML) has also condemned the Mulayam Singh government in UP for not taking pre-emptive steps to stop any occurance of such violence. The UP Govt. has utterly failed in containing communal tension on earlier occasions in recent past. After the Mau riots and the tension in Lucknow following firing on anti-Bush protests, the Banaras blasts could be used as a trigger for communal polarisation by vested political interests in Uttar Pradesh. The party called for an alert vigil by civil society, as well as prompt and effective state action to nip any attempt at communalisation in the bud.
CPI(ML) team reached to the spot immediately after the blasts and engaged in relief operations at the blood splattered railway platform. The UP unit of Party observed a two-day dharna at Varanasi on 8-9 March which was led by UP State Secretary Akhilendra Pratap Singh. Party CCM Ramji Rai and Deputy leader of CPI(ML) Legislative group in Bihar Assembly Arun Singh also participated in this dharna.
Protest against Bush visit and Growing US intervention in India and South Asia
CPI(ML) organised nationwide protests on February 2 against the visit of George Bush, the chief of the American war machine and imperialist pirate brigade. Various programmes were held at different centres in the country with the slogan 'Killer Bush, Go Back'. Party condemned through these protests UPA Govt.'s spineless surrender before the US Imperialism endangering country's sovereignty.
In New Delhi , various left and democratic parties and organisation held a massive protest march and rally from Ramlila Maidan to Jantar Mantar. Addressing the mammoth Anti-Bush rally in the Parliament Street, CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya called upon the patriotic people of India to rise with the spirit of ‘Progressive Nationalism' of Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh against the so-called ‘enlightened nationalism' of Man Mohan Singh, which is nothing but an euphemism for naked surrender to US imperialism. He said that recent statements of US ambassadors in India as well as Nepal were statements of ‘Viceroys' rather than ambassadors. He made a fervent appeal to strongly combat the capitulationist policies of UPA Government. Taking strong exception to Manmohan Singh`s statement that people criticising India`s vote with US in IAEA against Iran are indulging in minority appeasement, Com. Dipankar remarked that Manmohan Singh is speaking in Advani`s language. The US has already identified Iran as the next potential Iraq in Asia and by invoking the bogey of Iran 's nuclear programmes the US is planning to impose crippling economic sanctions on Iran . The Bush Administration has also announced an 85 million dollar programme to promote dissent in Iran much on the lines of the infamous Iraq Liberation Act of the US Congress, the precursor to US invasion and occupation of Iraq . India must come out openly against this new American war campaign in Asia.
He strongly condemned US support to the autocratic Monarchy of Nepal. He said that Kashmir issue should be resolved by India , Pakistan and the people of Kashmir rather than by US dictating terms to the two governments.
He appealed to all patriotic Indians to rise in powerful mass protests against US intervention in our internal affairs and the UPA government's increasingly pro-US policies.
Comrade Dipankar added that the Bush visit also marks an intensification of US intervention in India and South Asia . India 's nuclear programmes and the entire energy economy are being mortgaged to the US while US interference in Nepal , Kashmir and various other aspects of Indo-Pak relations is also on the increase. He called upon the people to foil this ugly American design and categorically reject the growing pro-US tilt in the UPA government's policies.
Militant protests were also held in almost all the state capitals and important centres in the country including Patna , Ranchi , Lucknow , Dehradoon, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Kakinada , Hyderabad , Kolkata, Guwahati, etc. While the protests were organised in Bihar in all the district headquarters, a massive protest was held in Ranchi and other centres, including Ramgarh, Hazaribagh, Daltonganj, Latehar, Garhwa, Panki, Giridih, Bagodar, Rajdhanwar, Saria, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Koderma, Gumla, Lohardagga, Debghar, Dumka, etc., of Jharkhand where effigies of George Bush were burnt in a large number. In Lucknow , an effigy of Bush was burnt in front of UP Assembly. In Uttaranchal, protests were also held in Haldwani, Rudrapur, Shrinagar and Gauchar towns. In Chennai, a joint rally was held by the left parties and a convention was organised in Tiruvottiyur. Protest demonstrations were also held in Tirunelveli, Namakkal, Karur, Tuticorin, Virudunagar, Madurai , Cuddalore, Sirkazhi districts. Police arrested CPI(ML) activists in Tirunelveli. In Assam , protest progrmmes were held in different places on 2 March. In Guwahati a protest march was held at main area of Panbazar. A joint programme with other left and democratic parties was also held at Guwahati. Similar programmes were also held at Dibrugarh, Jorhat, and Biswanath Chariali. Rajasthan witnessed protests in Jhunjhunu and Udaipur and also a joint protest at Banswara. A demonstration was also held in Mansa of Punjab. Massive protests were held in Kolkata on the eve of Bush arrival on 1 March, while in Hyderabad , where Bush spent his second day in India , saw a big protest rally by all left and democratic parties.
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Assembly March in Chandigarh against murderous assault on AIALA Leader Com. Bant Singh
A militant Assembly march, in protest against the murderous assault on AIALA leader Com. Bant Singh was organised in Chandigarh on March 3 demanding arrest of Congress Sarpanch of Jhabbar village, the main conspirator, and action against SHO of Joga Police Station. More than 5000 agricultural labourers, brick-kiln workers and other rural and industrial workers participated in the programme.
Com. Bant Singh who was brought from hospital to attend the programme, raised his remaining hand, amputed below elbow, as red salute, the whole meeting resounded with full throated revolutionary songs. He also sang two revolutionary songs epitomising the death-defying spirit of the Indian agricultural proletariat.
Com. Gursharan Singh delivered a powerful, spirited speech on this ocassion. After the meeting , a militant rally was taken out towards the Assembly which was stopped by police at Matka Chowk. Sensing the militant mood of the masses, the govt. was forced to send OSD to Chief Minister to the Matka Chowk to receive the memorandum. The Punjab Govt. was warned that if demands were not fulfilled by 10 March, the movement will be intensified further. The protest meeting was adddressed by Comrades Srilata Swaminathan, President of AIPWA, Swapan Mukerjee, General Secretary of AICCTU, Raja Ram Singh, Convenor, All India Kisan Coordination Committee, AIALA National Executive Member Bhagwant Samaon and Tarsem Jodha, Brick Kiln Workers' leader and others.
Protest at the Indian High Commission in London
Coinciding with the protest held in Chandigarh on 3 March, a protest was organised in London at India House, The Aldwych, at the initiative of South Asia Solidarity Group.
A letter was sent to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, through Indian High Commission, urging him to take action. Protesters demanded an independent inquiry into the incident to ascertain whether the Punjab government is shielding powerful people involved in planning the attack due to their affiliation with the ruling Congress Party. The letter said "We are deeply concerned by the attempts by senior police officials to dismiss any link between the attacks on Bant Singh and his courageous struggle against those who raped his minor daughter in 2002. The successful sentencing of the rapists to life imprisonment by a Sessions Court in 2004 is a very strong motive for the repeated assaults by upper caste men on Bant Singh over the past year, and must not be swept aside as irrelevant to the case."
The letter has been endorsed online by 600 individuals including Jeremy Corbyn MP, John McDonnell MP, Chairperson, Punjabis in Britain All-Party Parliamentary Group, Kalpana Wilson, South Asia Solidarity Group, Avtar Jouhl, General Secretary, Indian Workers Association (GB), Iqbal Singh, Punjab Human Rights Internet, Ramesh Klair, Sri Guru Ravidass International Organization for Human Rights, Sarbjit Johal, Asian Women Unite!, David Haslam, Chairperson, Dalit Solidarity Network, Aisha Gill, Chairperson, Newham Asian Women's Project, Amrit Wilson, Chairperson, Imkaan Asian women's refuge network, Pardeep Singh Rai, DEEP (Defenders of the Environment and Ecology of Punjab). An online petition was launched at http://new.petitiononline.com/ Bant06/ petition.html in support of Bant Singh.
Kisan Maha-dharna in Patna demanding Comprehensive Agricultural Policy
A Maha-dharna was organised in Patna demanding comprehensive agricultural policy for the development of Bihar on March 6.It was attended by thousands of peasants converging from all parts of the state. The protest meeting was presided over by Com. Raja Ram Singh, President , BPKS and ex-MLA.. Addressing the meeting, Kisan leaders alleged that the new government ,so far has, not declared a comprehensive agricultural policy. It is making all-out efforts to woo the big capital,domestic as well as foreign, but neglecting the peasants and agriculture,They demanded immediate declaration of the agricultural policy centering on the land reforms.The previous government took a policy decision to shift the responsibility for the maintenance of canals and tube-wells to the kisan committees. It will completely ruin them which are already in bad shape.
The whole irrigation system will fall in the clutches of contractors. The peasant leaders warned the government not to shun its responsibility of looking after the maintanance of canals and tube-wells. There is a drought condition in many districts of the state but the government has so far made no arrangements to tackle the situation. So many starvation deaths have taken place in Bihar in the last few years,but the government seems to be least concerned about it. Peasant leaders termed the central budget as anti-farmer and claimed that loans at 7% interest rate will not improve the lot of peasants drowned in debt-trap.Referring to Bush speech in New Delhi emphasing doing away with all import barriers, Com. Raja Ram said that agricultural policy dictated by Bush and WTO is ruining the lives of our farmers. Strongly criticising the frequent hikes in diesel prices,speakers demanded to bring down the prices.
Among others Comrades Ram Jatan Sharma,State secretary CPI(ML), K. D. Yadav, CC Member, Arun Singh, MLA, Amar Yadav, MLA, Shiv Sagar Sharma, peasant leader, Vijai Yadav and Vishwambhar Yadav addressed the Mahadharna.
State-level Kisan Workshop in Patna
Bihar Pradesh Kisan Sabha organised two day- long state level workshop in Patna . Com. Brij Bihari Pandey discussed in detail about the impact of W.T.O. on Indian agriculture, its anti-peasant , anti-national character. He opined that if this process of modernisation continues through liberalisation of capitalist market, as claimed by WTO then it can only result in the bifurcation of world into two poles-US and Europe on the one hand and billions of marginalised and impoverished peasants, in the South , on the other. The two are complimentary but most certainly, confrontation between the two is inevitable. In other paper, Com. Raja Ram Singh, Convener, All India Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, concluded. The present crisis in agriculture is rooted in dismal land reforms, lack of infrastructural development, poor purchasing power of the rural poor, declining public investment in agriculture and low rate of capital formation. Globalisation is increasing this crisis and in the name of resolving it, it is proposing such methods which only benefit the multinationals and make Indian agriculture puppet in their hands. Thus capitalism is transferring its crisis on the shoulder of farmers. Farmers must, under working class leadership, defeat this gameplan of capitalism.' Another paper presented by Com. Ashok Kumar, Sub-editor Lok Yudh, discussed the agrarian problems of Bihar particularly and the emerging contours of peasant movement .Besides above, the issue of Patents Act and Seeds Act, too, were discussed.
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CPI(ML) Uttaranchal Unit
Protest Before Parliament
Hundreds of CPI(ML) activists from Uttaranchal held a protest dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to press for a very long pending demand of giving revenue village status to Bindukhatta and other similar villages developed on forest lands decades ago but not yet accorded official status of a 'village'. This situation has deprived nearly two lakh rural population in Uttaranchal of their basic democratic rights including electing a panchayat. The demonstrators submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister demanding immediate declaration of the status of the revenue villages to all villages developed in khattas in Uttaranchal, in the current budget session.
The day-long dharna was led by Uttaranchal Party In-charge Raja Bahuguna besides State Committee members Bahadur Singh Jangi, Girija Pathak and Kailash Pandey. Delhi State Secretary of CPI(ML) Rajendra Pratholi and CCM Prabhat Kumar also addressed the dharna.
Comrade Raja, while addressing the meeting, told that when the governments in UP failed to implement the land ceiling laws in the terai region of the Uttarakhand, the poor rural people took inititatives on their own in the seventies and seized lands under the leadership of the communist party. They braved many barbaric incidents of state repression and many of CPI(ML) cadres faced false criminal cases and jail terms at that time. But the Party continued the movement, and now, the people in Bindukhatta have acquired many basic facilities banking on the power of the masses. Though no political party can oppose this demand now, all ruling parties have tried to dilute it owing to their vested political interests. The role of Congress and the BJP remains to break the unity of rural people. He called upon to intensify the struggle if Parliament fails to accord the status of revenue village in the current budget session.
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