In this Issue
Foil the UPA Government’s Bid to
Undermine the RTI Act
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the
Right to Information Act - the Congress has never tired of dangling these two widely publicised pieces of legislation to showcase the UPA government’s professed concern for the aam aadmi and the Common Minimum Programme. But with every passing day, the UPA government can be seen increasingly reneging on these two points of its supposedly sacrosanct contract with the rural poor and the democratic intelligentsia. The chinks in the NREGA armour have already started showing in each of the 200 districts where the Act is supposed to be currently in force. Now the government’s decision to amend the RTI Act within ten months of its enactment has exposed the utter hollowness of the UPA’s so-called commitment to the twin ideals of good governance and empowerment of citizens.
The Union Cabinet has decided to present a bill to amend the RTI Act in the forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament. The amendment will prevent people from securing information regarding file notings made by bureaucrats. This will effectively insulate the entire process of decision-making in the bureaucracy and government from the domain of public accountability and transparency. It is ironical that while the overwhelming majority of our people are still not aware of the provisions and potential of the RTI Act with no official infrastructure yet in place in many states, the Union Government is already ready with amendments that will kill the very spirit of the legislation. The government’s pretensions regarding transparency and accountability could not even survive for one full year.
Clearly most government departments and institutions are still not comfortable with the very idea of the people claiming a right to information. Even after six decades of independence, the bureaucracy in India remains heavily immersed in the feudal and colonial culture of secrecy and arbitrary functioning. The problem however lies not just with the various rungs of bureaucracy but also with the political ‘masters’ themselves. The powers that be in India have been only too accustomed to the privileges that lie behind the wall of ‘classified information’. Such conditions come in handy not only for scams of all sizes but also for stonewalling any kind of inconvenient public debate or scrutiny.
For instance, the government has refused to make available the correspondence between former President Narayanan and Prime Minister Vajpayee during the crucial period from February 28 to March 15, 2002 which could have thrown important light on the Vajpayee government’s collusion with the Modi government of Gujarat in allowing the post-Godhra genocide.
If the amendment becomes a reality, then people will only be able to know decisions without any knowledge of the actual process of decision-making. Right to Information campaigners have rightly pointed out that it would be tantamount to robbing the Act of its very essence by protecting the beneficiaries of bureaucratic secrecy in perpetuity. This is yet another example of how the lofty democratic principles and rights enshrined in our Constitution are violated in real life. The RTI Act was projected as a definitive proof of the changing character of the citizen-government interface in our democracy; now the amendment will show how democratic aspirations continue to be throttled by bureaucratic privileges. Coupled with the office-of-profit amendment bill, which an adamant UPA government is reportedly planning to resend to the President rejecting his suggestion for reconsideration, the RTI Amendment Bill would showcase the UPA’s continued commitment to political and bureaucratic corruption and denial of transparency and accountability.
While the government is busy placing embargoes on the people’s right to information, sensitive defence information and military secrets are being systematically sold to foreign powers. Even as the real dimensions of the ‘Naval War Room Leak’ case are still unfolding, the country has come to learn that a computer systems operator at the National Security Council Secretariat has been arrested by the Delhi Police on charges of espionage. The operator, SS Paul, had passed on secret NSC documents to Rosana Minchew, a CIA operative working under cover as a Third Secretary at the US embassy in New Delhi. With India’s growing strategic partnership with the US, we can only expect an explosion of such ‘free trade’ in Indian military secrets in the days to come. And it need not necessarily be through channels of espionage. After all, the Indo-US nuclear deal now being finalised by the US would enable the US to officially gather every bit of information regarding India’s nuclear programmes. The American public may well have a right to such classified information from India but the Indian people will never have the right to collect information from the privileged bureaucratic domain of the making of decisions that would affect their everyday lives.
There can be no real right to information as long as the present information hierarchy is not dismantled and the beneficiaries of secrecy are not dislodged from their current position of domination.
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Stop the War on Lebanon!
US-Israel Hands off West Asia! CPI(ML) Calls for all-India Lebanon Solidarity Day on 27 July
New Delhi, 24 July, 2006.
The Central Committee of the CPI(ML) has called for observing a nationwide Lebanon Solidarity Day on 27 July. The day will be marked by protest marches against the ongoing war on Lebanon in Delhi and as many state capitals and major cities as possible.
The ongoing war on Lebanon and the repeated assaults on Palestine mark a major escalation of the aggressive US-Israel campaign in West Asia. Like the US-led war and occupation of Iraq, the war on Lebanon is equally unjust and must be opposed tooth and nail by the forces of peace, freedom and democracy the world over.
Unfortunately, even as the Israeli war machine (funded by the US and with the entire arsenal of US military corporations) continues its bid of ethnic cleansing of the people of Lebanon and Palestine, with India too being forced to evacuate thousands of its own people, the Indian Government’s response remains one of shocking silence. Out of concern for India’s growing strategic embrace with both the US and Israel, the UPA Government has failed to express outrage against Israeli aggression, and against US attempts to extend the war to Syria and Iran.
While calling for an immediate end to the war on Lebanon, the 27 July protests will also denounce the UPA government’s policy of shameful betrayal of solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese people, and stress the need for pan-Asian anti-imperialist solidarity to defeat the dangerous designs of the US-Israel war machine.
U.S.-Israel, Hands Off Gaza and Lebanon!
Down with imperialism and racism!
Victory to the forces of peace, freedom and democracy!
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All India Protest Day Against Displacement and Assaults on Democracy
July 20 was observed all over the country as a Protest Day against displacement of the poor in the name of development, against state repression and witch-hunts against activists of people’s movements. Protestors demanded that the Jharkhand Government immediately withdraw the false murder charges framed against CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and other activists, for participating in the Assembly March against the firing on tribals protesting displacement at Tapkara. Meanwhile, some news reports in the Jharkhand dailies reported that the Jharkhand Government had shown signs of withdrawing the cases. These indications are yet to be put into action, but they do show that the popular protests are putting pressure on the Munda regime.
At Delhi, CPI(ML) activists observed the protest day by holding a massive dharna at Jantar Mantar, protesting against the increasingly authoritarian and brutal attitude of the ruling political forces, police, and even the Courts, against slumdwellers in Delhi, peasants in UP, and tribals in Orissa, the Narmada Valley, and Jharkhand.
In Jharkhand, the CPI(ML) held a massive People’s Convention at Ranchi on the issues of Displacement and Democracy, in which representatives of people’s movements and political forces condemned the way in which tribals in the mineral-rich states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Orissa are being evicted to make way for loot by national and multi-national corporations. The Convention resolved to intensify the struggle against the repression being unleashed on those who protest against such policies, and demanded withdrawal of the false charges against CPI(ML) activists in Jharkhand, including Comrade Dipankar and Comrade Rajkumar Yadav. It also declared that the Munda Government had no right to turn Jharkhand into a grazing ground for MNCs and corporates, and demanded that all standing MoUs be scrapped immediately. The Convention demanded action against Dipak Varma, now SP of Garhwa, who is implicated in Comrade Mahendra Singh’s and advocate Prashant Sahai’s murders, and who has recently molested a woman activist and framed false murder charges against CPI(ML) activists. The Convention, presided over by CPI(ML) State Secretary Shubhendu Sen, was addressed by CPI(ML) CC Member and AICCTU’s All-India General Secretary Swapan Mukherjee, CPI(M) State Secretary Gyanshankar Majumdar, former MLA and leader of the Jharkhand Movements Coordination Committee Bahadur Oraon, journalist and Jan Sanskriti Manch leader Xavier Kujur. A Convention was also held at Koderma.
In Bihar, CPI(ML) observed the day as a Protest against the Nitish Government’s brutal lathicharge on a demonstration of para-teachers, and its disbanding of the Amir Das Commission appointed to probe the political links of the Ranveer Sena, as well as against the false charges imposed on CPI(ML) leaders and activists in Jharkhand. In the capital Patna, a dharna was held at the Income Tax circle. Protest Marches were held at Paliganj, Masaurhi, and Dhanarua in Patna District, and dharnas were held at Bihta, Naubatpur and Maner. More than 2000 people took part in the March at Masaurhi. In Bhojpur, dharnas were held at block headquarters, and mass meetings were held at several spots in the district headquarter Ara. Street-corner meetings were held at Dehri, Karakat, Vikramganj, and Nasiriganj in Rohtas district, Buxar, Dumraon, Dhansoi, and Kaseth in Buxar district, at the block and district headquarters in Jehanabad, Gaya, Nawada, and Nalanda, and at Chanpatiya, Sikta, and Betia in West Champaran and Motihari, Chaudadano, and Ghodasahan in East Champaran. A massive Protest March was held at Bhabua in Kaimur district, and also at Gopalganj, and at Muzaffarpur. At Arwal, a protest march was held and Nitish Kumar’s effigy was burnt. At Siwan, thousands of CPI(ML) activists participated in a dharna at the District Collectorate. At Bhagalpur, a mass meeting was held at the Station Circle.
In Tamilnadu, a demonstration was held at Erode, and the mass gathering was addressed by the Tamilnadu PUCL General Secretary Balamurugan, Mohan Raj of Omkar Textile Employees Union, Puli Pandian of the Communist Front for Abolition of Caste, Kannan of Tamilnadu Tribals’ Association, and V Shankar, CC Member of CPI (ML). At Salem, a demonstration was held, and the protestors submitted a memorandum to the President of India through the Salem District Collector. A demonstration was also held at Karur. Demonstrations were also held at Chennai (where comrades from Tiruvallore and Kanchipuram also joined the protest), Sirkazhi, Kumbakonam, Tirunelveli and Dindigul,
In Bengal, mass meetings were held at Kolkata and Siliguri; a road blockade was held at Curzon Gate in Bardhaman town; at Krishnanagar (Nadia), Chunchura (Hooghly), and Barasat (North 24 Parganas), a deputation met the DM and submitted a memorandum.
In Andhra Pradesh, on July 19, activists of AISA and RYA at Osmania University in Hyderabad, collected 270 signatures of intelligentsia and students on a protest letter addressed to the Jharkhand CM, and submitted it on July 20 to the district collector to be sent to Arjun Munda. On July 20, at Vijayawada, a booth was set up near the CPI(ML) office, where a mass signature campaign was conducted and nearly 1000 signatures were collected. On the same day, a dharna was held at the Sub-Collector’s office, and a protest letter was sent to the Jharkhand CM through the district collector. At Kakinada, 160 people held a dharna and sent a protest letter. In Cudapa, members of dalit organisations met the collector and submitted a protest letter. In Medak, a delegation of 15 freedom fighters led by Bhaskara Reddy met the collector and gave a protest letter. In Nalgonda, members of ‘Saahiti Mithrulu’ met the collector; in Devaruppalapadu of Warangal district, a delegation of women belonging to backward caste organisations met the MRO; and in Siddipeta, representatives of 11 organisations met the officials and gave the protest letters.
The Assam State Committee of the party organised a protest meeting on 20th July at the Guwahati Press Club, addressed by party State Secretary Rubul Sarma, SUCI State Committee leader Vimal Nandi and Janata Dal (S) State Secretary, veteran socialist leader Harendra Deva Goswami, Viren Kalita, General Secretary of the Guwahati Refinery Union, as well as P. K. Barman, General Secretary of the North East Oil Workers’ Coordination Committee, and Loknath Goswami.
At Tripura, a protest meeting in Agartala was held under the banner of the People’s Solidarity Forum, addressed by eminent writers, journalists, as well as a range of political forces, who demanded withdrawal of false charges against CPI(ML) activists in Jharkhand. Speakers included CPI(ML) State Secretary Mrinmoy Chakraborty, CPI State Secretary Prasant Kapali, RSP State Secretary Sudarshan Bhattacharya, Forward Bloc State Secretary Shyamal Roy, and Budhu Debbarma, Vice President of National Socialist Party of Tripura. In Amarpur in South district, Udaipur (district HQ of South Tripura) and at Kailashahar and Dharmanagar in North Tripura, processions and protest meetings were organised. Protests were also held at Jaipur and Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, Haldwani, Rudrapur and Joshimath in Uttaranchal, and Bhiwani in Haryana. In Uttar Pradesh, protest programmes and effigy burning were held in various districts. In Lucknow, a protest was organised in front of the State Assembly where effigy of Arjun Munda government in Jharkhand was burnt.
The South Asia Solidarity Group also submitted the online petition demanding withdrawal of the false charges from against CPI(ML) activists, with over 500 signatures collected from around the world, to the President of India. Comrades of the Lal Nishan Party (Leninist) also sent a protest memorandum.
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Hands Off Gaza and Lebanon! Hands Off Gaza and Lebanon!
End US-backed Israeli Occupation and Genocide!
Israel is threatening to expand its bombardment of Gaza and Lebanon into a full-scale war - and the toll of casualties continues to rise as the entire civilian population of these areas face the US-sponsored muscle of the Israeli Army. Israel, and George Bush too defend the aggression as Israel’s justified ‘self-defence’ following the capture of a couple of Israeli soldiers. But the fact is that Israel itself holds the entire Palestinian nation captive, having turned it into a virtual prison - and the present assault is part of an older game-plan to crush the self-defence and struggles for freedom of the people of that region. Under the garb of various “peace plans”, Israel and US have in recent years pursued what Noam Chomsky calls a “program of annexing the valuable lands, most of the resources, including water, of the West Bank and cantonizing the rest and imprisoning it.” The present assault, far from being ‘retaliation’, is in fact part of the US-Israel game-plan to establish unchallenged sovereignty in the region.
We, the people of India, must resist this shameful betrayal of solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese people, and we must demand that Israel end its attacks, and also its long reign of racist colonialism.
We reproduce below, a statement issued by various Left groups in Lebanon.
Appeal from the left: Call for Action Against Israel’s War on the Palestine and Lebanon
The Israeli war machine continues with its war for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and Lebanon. Attacks against civilian targets are continuing, resulting in scores of dead and wounded in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, with the vocal and tacit support of the international community. For the past three days, attacks on Lebanon resulted in the destruction of major civilian roads cutting-off whole areas and hindering relief efforts.
Whole families are being trapped under rubble in South Lebanon. The southern suburbs of Beirut, one of the most densely populated and poor neighbourhoods in the country, are currently witnessing intensive bombardment with the majority of civilians trapped due to the bombing of bridges and roads. Just as in Gaza, Israel is attempting to ethnically cleanse a population under the pretext of replying to the legitimate acts of the resistance.
The issue for us is clear. It is the presence of a fascist and racist regime in Israel. US imperialism, its allies and military power in Israel, proves that the issue has nothing to do with democracy or freedom. Their democracy is nothing but murder, destruction of houses, bombardment of electrical and fuel installations, and the indiscriminate targeting of children. The Israeli regime has indicated that they will not stop. In these days, there is no space for compromise. It is either resistance or collaboration.
The international community is fully responsible for the massacres against the peoples of Lebanon and Palestine. Our reply is a full scale popular resistance against imperialism and its allies in the Arab regimes and the west. In the past several days, a group of organisations in Beirut initiated an open sit-in in the centre of the city to mobilise for actions against Israeli aggression against Gaza and in support for the legitimate acts of the resistance. With the targeting of Lebanon, the sit-in has turned into a meeting point for mobilisation of relief and solidarity actions.
We call on all our friends in the world to act in solidarity with the people of Palestine and Lebanon through demonstrations and rallies outside Israeli and US embassies calling for an immediate and unconditional end of the occupation, the release of all prisoners of war in Israel, and the right of people.
No to Imperialism and Occupation!
No to the Indifference of the “International Community”!
No to Dictatorships!
-- Leftist Assembly for Change, ATTAC Lebanon, Ajial Community Center, Lebanese Communist Party Youth, Union of Democratic Youth in Lebanon, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (Youth Section), Fatah (Youth Section), Palestinian Cultural Clubs (American University of Beirut,
Lebanese American University, Beirut Arab University, Lebanese University), No Frontiers (AUB), Pablo Neruda Group (LAU),
Independent Left Group (LAU, Byblos), AUB Women’s Rights Club, Helem LGBT |
