In this Issue
Condemn the dastardly serial bomb blasts on local Mumbai trains
CPI(ML) condemns in the strongest words the dastardly serial bomb blasts on local Mumbai trains, which have killed, maimed and injured hundreds of rush-hour commuters. We express our solidarity with the families of the victims in this hour of terrible grief. We demand a speedy probe to identify those guilty for the blasts, so that those responsible for the mindless carnage may be sternly punished.
The citizens of Mumbai have displayed exemplary courage and humanity in the face of terror: spontaneously and fearlessly rushing to help the injured and coordinate relief efforts. The same remarkable spirit will be tested in the days to come – when the people of Mumbai will have to be alert and vigilant to foil the attempts of communal political forces to fan up a frenzied ‘reaction' to the blasts. Such a ‘reaction' can only plunge the innocent people of Mumbai and India into further terror and tragedy, and the Governments at Maharashtra and the Centre must take responsibility to ensure that all attempts to make communal capital over the blasts are put down. |
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Brutality at Bajhera Khurd:
The Cost of Proving ‘Reliability' to Reliance
At Gurgaon, police brutalised protesting workers to defend the interests of the Japanese MNC Honda. At Kalinganagar, police shot tribals dead when they were protesting against the acquisition of their land by Tata. And now, at Bajhera Khurd near Dadri in Western UP, the police has once again flexed its muscles – this time against farmers defiantly tilling their land acquired for a Reliance power plant.
At Bajhera Khurd, the police went beyond repression on the farmers at the actual protest site – the PAC went on the rampage in the village, beating up women, children and old people black and blue, and looting the villagers' possessions. A small child lost his vision due to the assault, and several women and old people are badly injured. According to the accounts of the farmers, the police had also used force to coerce them into accepting a meagre compensation for their land (according to newspaper reports, 2500 acres of agricultural land) – far below the market price. The land was then leased to Reliance at a ridiculously low price.
Assaults by feudal forces are common wherever the poor wage struggle to enforce the implementation of land ceiling laws and to lay a claim to the public lands illegally held by landlords. Last week, goons attacked the CPI(ML) office at Bissamcuttack in Orissa, seriously injuring activists who had led a successful land struggle there. At Nalanda in Bihar and Sitapur in UP too, CPI(ML) and agrarian labour activists leading land struggles have been killed by feudal forces. At Bajhera Khurd, it is the State machinery itself that has taken on the role of brutal assaults on those who assert their right to land. In fact, the it is the Government itself which is cheating and robbing the poor to subsidise corporates like the Ambanis.
The Mulayam Government has taken refuge in a High Court order providing for ‘protection' of Reliance employees at the Dadri power plant, in order to justify the horrific crackdown at Bajhera Khurd. The ruling Samajwadi Party's close nexus with corporates and especially the Ambanis is no secret; but it is joined by the BSP too – which has taken issue with the forces supporting the farmers, and recommended that petitioning the courts would have been better for the farmers than protesting on the streets. The ruling forces and would-be ruling forces are united by the love for corporates and their betrayal of the farmers. In Haryana too, farmers have complained of meagre compensation for the land that was acquired from them to be handed over to Reliance for a massive Special Economic Zone.
The UPA Government at the Centre has recently passed a law enabling the setting up of 150 SEZs all over the country. In the light of this, the events at Bajhera Khurd, Gurgaon and Kalinganagar are a curtain raiser for what is to come. With those events, the Samajwadi Party and the BSP in UP, Hooda's Congress in Haryana, BJD in Orissa are repeating the message that the BJP Government gave to Enron: they vie with each other to prove their reliability before Reliance and other corporates!
At Bajhera Khurd, farmers pointed out that the power plant itself would need only a fraction of the 2500 acres of land acquired by Reliance. What would the rest of the land be used for? Malls, residential complexes and amusement parks – if one goes by Reliance's own track record, and that of other corporates at SEZs, which has shown that SEZs are nothing but ‘Super Exemption Zones' for the corporates, and ‘Super Eviction and Exploitation Zones' for the poor. Real estate giants have scrambled to apply for SEZs, aiming to acquire land and sell it dirt cheap for massive profit. Rather than zones that provide for expansion of Indian exports, they promise to be enclaves where corporates can nestle in order to enjoy a break from taxation. And the conditions in the Honda Factory, where workers labour for twelve hours and have to ask permission for rationed visits to the toilet, are the model for existing SEZs.
The protest at Bajhera Khurd – joined by villagers from a hundred neighbouring villages – is a sign of growing protest against the State's sell out of people's interests and its extension of repressive machinery in the service of corporate capital. The ‘Reliance' of ruling political forces on corporates is being met with the defiance and resistance of the evicted, marginalised and brutalised.
Chetana March in Mansa, Punjab
A revolutionary 'Chetna March' was organised in Mansa of Punjab on 28 June by the Punjab unit of CPI(ML). This was led by the Party General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya. The march passed through several of villages in Mansa district which has recently witnessed a sharpening of struggles of the agricultural labourers and poor peasants. The march started from Mansa with the chanting of revolutionary slogans after a veteran communist leader of the region Comrade Kirpal Bir flagged it off. Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya along with the many central committee members and the state leadership of the Punjab unit of the Party stood on open jeeps heading the long caravan and received greetings from comrades and common people of Mansa town. A cultural troupe was accompanying this caravan singing revolutionary songs at the beat of 'nagara' from atop a bus decorated with banners and flags. A group of motorcyclists was clearing the way for this revolutionary kafila .
The march stopped for a while at main chowk in Mansa where Comrade Dipankar addressed the masses. Then it left for the historical village 'Tamkot' which is the birthplace of a great guerilla commander of armed peasant uprising of early 1950s, Comrade Ishar Singh 'Tamkot', here the caravan received a warm welcome from the peasants of the village. Then the caravan proceeded to the village Jhabbar, which has recently been a centre of struggle against the feudal atrocities of an influential Congress backed landlord on Comrade Bant Singh, an AIALA leader hailing from the same village. Both the arms and one leg of Comrade Bant Singh had to be amputated after a brutal attack. Comrade Dipankar and Comrade Bhagwant Singh Samao addressed a large gathering of agricultural workers here who had gathered to greet the caravan. The participants were offered 'sharbat' by the villagers.
The next stop of the caravan was the village of Late Comrade Hakam Singh Samao , who was one of the pioneering leaders of the Naxalbari movement in Punjab . He led peasant struggles for land in those years and was instrumental in freeing of one large tract of land from the clutches of an absentee landlord in 1969 in his own village. The leaders paid homage to the late leader and then addressed a rally of peasants. The State Convener of Punjab Kisan Union, Ruldu Singh, honoured CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya by presenting him a sword. He also read out a charter of peasants' demands and hailed the efforts of CPI(ML) for a relentless campaign for the rights of the poor peasants. The scene of the rally was painted red at this moment with red flags waiving all around, chanting of revolutionary slogans followed by singing of revolutionary songs.
At around 5 PM , the march reached Boha, which had also recently witnessed a struggle of agrarian labourers under the banner of AIALA's Punjab wing Mazdoor Mukti Morcha. Here people waged a successful struggle for enforcing Minimum Wages Act as well as for the equal rights for women. Hundreds of agricultural labourers and poor peasants welcomed the caravan and organised a rally which was addressed by Dipankar Bhattacharya, along with CPI(ML) Punjab State Secretary Rajwinder Singh Rana, State Secretary of Mazdoor Mukti Morcha Bhagwant Samao, Punjab Kisan Union Convener Ruldu Singh and AIPWA leader Kumudini Pati.
The march concluded its day-long hectic journey back at Mansa at around 8.30 PM, after leaving an indelible impression on the poverty ridden, indebted agrarian labourers and poor peasants devastated by the deepening agrarian crisis. Around twenty thousand people became a part of this day-long march through various rallies and meetings and thousands of pamphlets were distributed during the day.
CPI(ML) Representatives Must Act as an Effective Opposition
"Elected panchayat representatives belonging to CPI(ML) must strengthen the pro-people tradition established our people's representatives earlier, from Parliament to the panchayat level. It is through such efforts that Bhojpur can be liberated from the clutches of tainted and anti-people representatives belonging to other political parties." Addressing newly elected panchayat representatives of Bhojpur district Comrade Dipankar spoke these words. He elaborated, "Governments try to co-opt people's representatives within their corrupt system, but the representatives of CPI(ML) will play the role of effective opposition to the government and administration while the representatives of the parties of the ruling classes are interested only in looting of development funds. The honest implementation of development schemes is to be ensured by us, the genuine oppositional force. CPI(ML) representatives will fight for the implementation of NREGA, distribution of job cards, ensuring jobs to the poor and timely wages." He said that CPI(ML) representation has changed faces, but the task of changing the society and the system is yet to be accomplished. Our elected representatives will continue to take initiatives on socio-political issues, along with their official responsibilities. Those who have lost in these elections, will also continue to struggle for people's rights in the panchayats.
"The poor toiling masses of Bihar , under CPI(ML) leadership, pushed back the tyrannical regime of Congress and then they fought against 15-year long Lalu-Rabri raj. Today again, the responsibility lies on our shoulders to combat the designs of pro-feudal, mafia raj of Nitish Govt. To expose the Nitish government's so called 'love' for dalits and MBCs as well as restoration of Amir Das Commission, our representatives, too, will have to wage a battle at all levels", he said.
Comrade Rameshwar Prasad, Ex-MP and President of AIALA, concluded the proceedings of this convention. It was also decided to hold a state level convention of elected panchayat representatives of Bihar on July 28 in Patna and a march to Raj Bhavan for the restoration of Amir Das Commission on the same day.
REPORTS
Statewide Protest against Killing of AIALA Leader in UP
On July 8, Comrade Rambux Singh, Block Secretary of AIALA in Sitapur, was murdered by local feudal lord Shiv Kumar Singh and his henchmen. The upper caste goons who killed Comrade Rambux, an agrarian labourer of dalit origin, belong to Bahujan Samaj Party. And BSP is shamelessly supporting them. These feudal goons have even captured the land allotted for the cremation etc. let alone let alone the other GS lands. Comrade Rambux was spearheading a battle against the illegal occupation and redistribution of these lands among the poor.
Party and AIALA staged a powerful protest, with his dead body, for two days in Sitapur and on July 10 protest programmes were organised in various district headquarters in the state, including Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Moradabad, Sonbhadra, Mirzapur, Chandauli, Lakhimpur-Kheri, Gazipur, Ballia, etc. CPI(ML) State Secretary Akhilendra Pratap Singh led the protest in Sitapur where he condemned the Mulayam Singh Govt. for a complete collapse of the rule of law and democracy in UP, and for boosting the morale of mafia, criminals and oppressive and dominant elements at local levels. He said that the repression of CPI(ML) activists from Sonbhadra to Sitapur continues unabated in Mulayam regime. He demanded immediate arrest of the killers.
Four Left Parties in Tripura Protest Framing of Charges on CPI(ML) General Secretary
Comrades Prosanto Kopali, Shyamal Roy, Shibani Das and Mrinmoy Chakraborty, the State leaders of CPI, All India Forward Bloc, SUCI and CPI(ML) respectively in Tripura, have sent a protest letter to the Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda asking him to immediately withdraw charges against CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya. The letter says that the charges are thoroughly fabricated and such attempts to repress the democratic movements can not be tolerated.
Protest Demonstration Against LF Govt.'s Anti-Peasant Policy
West Bengal unit of AIALA demonstrated at different district headquarters on 3 July in protest against the acquisition of agricultural land by the Left Front Govt. of West Bengal to promote big corporates. AIALA also raised the demands of dillydallying of the state Govt. in issuing BPL cards to the poor and the corruption in panchayats. At Chuchura, the district headquarter of Hooghly , AIALA and CPI (ML) staged a sit-in demonstration. This was addressed by Kartick Pal, the State Secretary of CPI (ML), Prabir Halder, District Secretary of Hooghly, Sanat Roy Chowdhury, veteran left leader, Sajal Adhikary and Kalyan Goswami, both CPI(ML) West Bengal State Committee members. The leaders vehemently protested against the state govt.'s anti-peasant policy as well as the LF Govt.'s attitude to seize the land in the name of industrialisation at Singur and elsewhere in the state. It should be recalled that the LF Govt. has an agreement with Tata's to offer a large chunk of arable land (approximately 1000 acres) to set up industries at Singur.
A 4-points charter of demands was submitted to the additional district magistrate which was addressed to the Land and Land Reform minister of the state.
At Bankura Sudarshan Basu, CPI(ML) District Secretary, AIALA's Bablu Banerjee addressed a gathering organised on this issue at the district headquarter. In Krishnanagar, the district headquarter of Nadia, AIALA staged a protest demonstration in which Basudev Basu, AICCTU WB unit State Secretary, Kajal Duttagupta, Amal Tarafdar, Bijoy Saha, Jiban Kabiraj, Gokul Haldar and Ansarul Haque led the demonstration.
At Burdwan, in front of district headquarter, AIALA staged a sit in demonstration on the same issue. In this demonstration Srikanta Rana, the National Secretary of AIALA, Bapan Bakshi, Haru Biswas and Kunal Bakshi addressed the gathering. At Hasmichak of Siliguri in the district of Darjeeling, AIALA staged a mass demonstration. Abhijit Mazumdar, CPI(ML) Darjeeling District Secretary, Gauri De, Mozammel Haque and AIALA leader Sarat Singh addressed the demonstrators.
Memoranda were submitted to the District Magistrates through these demonstrations. In a joint move, CPI(ML) Liberation, CPI(ML) Kanu Sannyal faction and CPI(ML)-ND organised a protest march at Singur on 9 July. Cadres and supporters of these parties campaigned door to door in a mass contact programme at Singur and expressed their solidarity with the agitating peasants in the fight against the state govt.'s anti-peasant policy. Kartick Pal, CPI(ML) State Secretary, Subodh Mitra of CPI(ML) Kanu Sannyal faction, Pradip Singh Thakur of CPI(ML)-ND, AICCTU leader Prabir Haldar and AIALA leader Sajal Adhikary addressed public gatherings on this occasion.
Construction Workers Struggle in Ranchi
The Jharkhand Govt. has not implemented the central legislation for the construction workers though a decade has passed since its inception. Jharkhand CM Arjun Munda also looks after the affairs of the labour ministry. The Jharkhand General Mazdoor Union (GMU) is continuously trying to draw the authorities' attention, but the former prefers to ignore the sorry plight of the construction workers in the state. When a delegation of GMU was denied even a meeting with the Labour Secretary of the state it was planned to hold a workers' court which in turn decided to raise the daily wage to Rs. 100. The new wage rates were displayed at sign boards in the major markets and a simultaneous campaign was launched for the same, also for the equal wages for men and women. This created a good impact and at some places workers outside the union's influence also stood up against their employers and contractors for the wage hike.
GMU also held a gherao of the DC in Ranchi for the Ration cards to construction workers and submitted 1000 applications. This pressurised the authorities who assured to issue ration cards within a month. A torchlight demonstration and protest was also held on 7 July with the demand to implement the central legislation, constitution of a Welfare Board, to put a stop on the blatant violation of labour laws by builders and contractors and to curb price rise. A symbolic road blockade was held during this protest.
The GMU has now decided to widen and intensify the agitation and, simultaneously, filing a litigation against the state government for the judiciary's intervention on non-implementation of various Acts including Building and other Construction Workers Act 1996 and Building and Other Construction Workers Cess Act 1996.
Attack on Workers Condemned
CPI(ML) Haryana unit has strongly condemned the brutal police attack on agitating workers of Liberty Shoe Company in Karnal and termed it a continuation of anti-worker tirade of Congress govt. to favour the big corporates. Party has demanded a CBI inquiry, action against responsible officials, to stop the police attacks on nearby villages, release of arrested workers and fulfillment of their demands.
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