CPI(ML) HOME Vol.9, No.31 01 - 07 AUGUST, 2006

The Weekly News Bulletin of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)(Liberation)

U-90, Shakarpur, Delhi 110092. Tel: (91)11-22521067. Fax(91)11-22518248

 
In this Issue

Push back US-Israeli axis from West Asia

The 30 July air strike on the Lebanese village of Qana , which left some 60 civilians including 37 children dead and many more wounded, marked a new high point in the Israeli aggression against Lebanon . US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she felt ‘sad' over the loss of innocent lives, but stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire. As if to echo this cruel joke on humanity, Israel suspended bombings for about 24 hours, only to re-launch the same with greater intensity. Over 750 Lebanese civilians, mostly children, women and old people, have so far been killed in the war that started three weeks ago. Many among the killed were those fleeing from south Lebanon in response to leaflets dropped from Israeli planes calling upon the civilians to evacuate the area for their own safety. And the dead children include those who had sought shelter at a camp of the UN force, only to be hooted out like stray dogs. In two separate incidents, three Indian soldiers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) have been injured. Israel has felt no compunction even about deliberately targeting a UN observer post in an arrogant display of confidence that so long as Uncle Sam is on its side, it can do with impunity whatever it likes to.

CPI(ML) Calls for
United Massive Protests
and
Sustained Broadbased Movement
Throughout the Country
Against
Anti-Worker, Anti-Peasant
Anti-People and Pro-US Policies
Desperately being Pursued by the UPA Govt.
Affecting Toiling Masses and
Dalits, Adivasis, Women and Minorities

Join and Strengthen
CPI(ML)'s Nationwide Campaign
from
6 August to 18 August

Observe 6 August as Anti-US Aggression Day
(the day when first Nuclear Bomb was dropped by US over Hiroshima in 1945)
Observe Agrarian Strike in Bihar on 10 August
Join Jan Sunwai (Public Hearing) of Agricultural Labourers in front of the Parliament on 17 August, to be organised by AIALA on:
"The Employment Guarantee Act: Tall Claims and Ground Reality" and "Increasing Price Hike, Deteriorating Public Distribution System and the U.P.A. Government"
Join the Students-Youth March to Parliament on 18 August
Participate in various other programmes to be organised throughout the country during this campaign

"Employment and Food Security is what India needs"
"Stop Price-Hike, Ensure Jobs, or else Quit"
"Hold High the Revolutionary Red Flag"

Against this cruel campaign of mass destruction, it is heartening to note, a small voice of protest is growing powerful within Israel itself. A “refuser movement” (soldiers and air force pilots refusing to join the war) is gaining ground there. A coalition of “refuser groups” like the Yesh Guvl and left-leaning parties organised a spirited peace march in Tel Aviv on July 22. Israeli newspapers put the number of participants between 2500 and 5000 (if that sounds small, please recall that the population of Israel is approximately 1/40th that of the United States !). Among the slogans raised, one offered a Hebrew version of a Vietnam era cry: “Defence Minister Amir Peretz, how many kids have you killed so far?”

Protest movements in other parts of the world, including ours, are also mounting. It seems, however, that there is a need to make the movement more focused on two points. One, the aggression against Lebanon is not merely ‘a disproportionate reaction to Hezbollah rocket attacks', as is often made out to be. It is a racist war waged against Muslims in West Asia and the Middle East . So Israel deserves to be punished by the same kind of sanctions as were once imposed on South Africa for its policy of apartheid. Those sanctions, coupled with popular struggles from within, succeeded in bringing the racists in South Africa to their knees. Why should we then allow this hangover from the 20 th century to be carried into the 21 st ? It is thus not enough to demand immediate end of hostilities followed by a vaguely conceived “long term solution”. The bedrock of that solution must be a UN resolution imposing strict sanctions on the rogue state of Israel . Secondly, it is necessary to emphasise that opposition to Israel will remain empty and worthless unless extended to its principal mentor. Why does the US shamelessly support Israel ? Obviously because the latter acts as a tool in executing its game-plan in West Asia and the Middle East as part of the imperial overdrive for world hegemony. People's movements against the current Israeli aggression must therefore be conducted in close conjunction with the long-term struggle against US imperialism.

Following the Qana massacre and in the face of growing anger at home and abroad, the Government of India has been forced to issue a statement condemning the continued war on Lebanon . But this is too little too late. Thanks to the pro-US, pro-Israel foreign policy pursued by both the NDA and the UPA governments, India is now the world's second largest customer of Israeli weapons, buying 1.5 billion dollars worth of arms every year. This is a national shame and we cannot bear with it any longer. The severity of the Zionist crime demands that New Delhi not only stops arms purchase from Israel as a temporary gesture, but terminates all military relations as well as intelligence and security cooperation with the killer regime. Consistent democrats and peace-loving people from all walks of life should unite to compel the government to take this course of action and, simultaneously, to scrap the anti- nation nuclear deal with America.

Martyrs' Day Observed on 28 July

On 28 July the entire Party paid homage to its Founder General Secretary and legendary leader Comrade Charu Mazumdar and observed 35 th Anniversary of his Martyrdom. In West Bengal , each and every branch committee observed the day organising group meetings, processions and seminars. The cadres and members took oath to revitalize the people's movement which was upheld by the great leader.

In Tripura, cadre conventions were held in all the districts on this occasion where tributes were paid to the martyrs and pledge to tread ahead on the path shown by Comrade Charu Mazumdar was taken. At Udaipur , district headquarter of South Tripura , the convention was chaired by Party's State Secretary Mrinmoy Chakraborty. A mass programme was organised in Dharmanagar which was addressed by AIALA leader Manik Pal, Subirjit Sinha and Aurobinda Teli. A local party office was also inaugurated on this occasion. A cadre convention was held at Sonamukhi in Kailashahar which was attended by a large number of tea garden workers. This was addressed by Party's State Committee member Chiranjeeb Bhattacharjee. A programme of protest meetings, padyatras, and massive dharnas for the party's 'Janadhikar Campaign' to be held from 6 to 18 August was chalked out in these conventions.

Bihar Party unit organised a 'Jan-adhikar' Convention in Patna which was attended by Party's Panchayat representatives, District Secretaries and other leaders. Party General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya addressed the convention as main speaker.

CPI(ML) Observes ' Lebanon Solidarity Day' Across the Country

The CPI(ML) observed Lebanon Solidarity Day all over the country on 27 July and organised protest marches in many state capitals and urban centres. In Patna , CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya led hundreds of protesters who marched through the main streets of the town. Comrade Dipankar strongly criticized the ongoing war on Lebanon and said that this war exposes the imperialist designs of US and Israel . He condemned Govt. of India's silence and termed it harmful for those aspiring for freedom and democracy. He also urged all the Asian nations to unite against this war and appealed to the United Nations to force Israel to end this war.

In New Delhi , a protest was held at Parliament Street where protesters vehemently opposed the unjust war on Lebanon and burnt the effigy of US and Israel . Slogans like 'Stop the war on Lebanon ' and 'US-Israel hands off West Asia, hands off Gaza and Lebanon ' rent the air. Addressing the protest meeting, the speakers said that the war on Lebanon was totally unjust and against the humanity and should be opposed tooth and nail by the forces of peace and democracy. While calling for an immediate end to the war on Lebanon , the protesters also denounced the UPA Govt.'s shameful silence on this issue. They called for a pan-Asian anti-imperialist solidarity to defeat the forces of US-Israel war machine. Out of concern for India 's growing strategic embrace with US and Israel , the UPA Govt. has failed to express outrage against Israeli aggression, and against the US attempts to extend the war to Syria and Iran . CPI(ML) CC members Swapan Mukherjee and Prabhat Kumar led this protest. Comrade Swapan demanded from the Govt. of India to cancel all the strategic weapons' purchases from Israel because the Israel is using that money to suppress the people in the middle east. Journalist Javed Naqvi and Professor in Delhi University Ali Javed also addressed the protesters.

In Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan, a memorandum was sent through a joint protest to the Prime Minister of India demanding that the Indian Govt. must immediately condemn the inexcusable aggression by Israel, supported by US, in Gaza and Lebanon, a resolution should be passed in Parliament condemning the Israeli aggression and calling for a stop to war, and to cancel all arms purchases from Israel. It was also demanded from the Govt. of India to send immediate aid to the suffering people of Palestine and Lebanon , and to ask the US and Israel , through United Nations, to pay compensation to the people of these countries. The protest was jointly held by CPI(ML), Janata Dal (S), PUCL, Samajwadi Party, Samagra Seva Sangh, National Muslim Women's Welfare Society, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Boddh Mahasabha.

In Guwahati, party activists held a sit-in protest, led by Party Central Committee member and Ex-MP Jayanta Rongpi. Though it was a peaceful dharna, Assam Govt. could not tolerate this minimum protest and arrested protesters including Com. Jayanta Rongpi, Naren Borah, Pankaj Das, Balindra Saikia and detained at Panbazar Police Station up to the evening. Assam State Committee of the party condemned this attack on the democratic right to protest.

Protest marches were organised in front of the State Assembly and many district headquarters in UP. A memorandum was submitted to the Governor of UP in this regard. In Varanasi , effigies of US and Israel were burnt outside the Cantt. Railway station. Comrade Narendra Pandey led this protest. In Allahabad , many parties and organisations joined CPI(ML)'s call and held out a march that culminated in a mass meeting as Subhash Chandra Bose square where the Israeli flag was burnt in protest. This was also participated by CPI, Jagrat Samaj, Socialist Front, Azadi Bachao Andolan, Indian Justice Party, Pagarisheel Lekhak Sangh and Jan Sanskriti Manch. People here demanded to declare Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and US President Bush as war criminals.

Similar protests were held at many places in Tripura, and effigies were burnt.

In Kolkata CPI(ML) organized a protest demonstration in front of the Esplanade metro rail station. The speakers vehemently criticised the US-backed Israel 's anti-Lebanon policy butchering the common people of Palestine . Partha Ghosh, CCM, CPI(ML), Nabendu Dasgupta, State Committee member of CPI(ML) and AICCTU leader Mukul Kumar address the protest demonstration. Protests were also held in states like Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry , Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, etc.

A Poor Peasant Humiliated for Seeking Antyodaya Card, Forced to Commit Suicide

A poor peasant, unable to feed his family, asking for a red ration card was subjected to such a barbaric kind of humiliation by the authorities and the police in Pilibhit that he in desperation attempted suicide by setting himself on fire on 19 July and later succumbed to his injuries on 31 July. CPI(ML) and AIALA protested in Pilibhit in front of DM office with the dead body of Chhatrapal and gheraoed the DM for many hours demanding him to take responsibility of this killing as well as the arrests of all the accused.

Chhatrapal of Pansoli village in Amaria block of Pilibhit district could not sustain the continuing trauma of seeing his starving family, and went to the village pradhan and panchayat secretary to demand an Antyodaya ration card, for which he was fully entitled, in the hope of guaranteeing at least 25 Kg of foodgrains for his children in a month. But his repeated requests, in absence of a bribe which he was asked to pay, provoked the gram pradhan to such an extent that her husband and other family members beat him up mercilessly. She also lodged a false FIR with the police. The police in Jahanabad PS sided with the erring pradhan as usual, inflicted further insults to Chhatrapal and even forced him to lick his own spit in the thana . Chhatrapal ultimately made to apoligise for his crime of daring to demand an Antyodaya Card. Seeing no hope, the hapless poor starving peasant set himself on fire in the night of 19 July. He sustained 60 percent burns and ulitmately died.

The CPI(ML) started an agitation against this ghastly crime from 20 July and in view of the continued apathy of the local administration Comrade Kishanlal, Advocate, Party's District Committee member and an elected member of the Zilla Panchayat in Pilibhit, sat on an indefinite hunger strike from 24 July in front of the DM Office. Party demanded a compensation of Rs. 2 lakhs, for his family, immediate arrests of persons who forced him to take such a drastic step, and punishment to the officials.

AIALA held a demonstration before UP Assembly on July 27 where Mulayam Singh Govt. in UP was strongly condemned for protecting kulak-criminal-politician-bureaucrat nexus in the state. Besides demanding to punish those who let loose a medieval kind of barbarity on Chhatrapal, it was also demanded to punish the perpetrators of large scale scams in the food and ration cards distribution in the state. This protest was led by AIALA State President Krishna Adhikari. The incident of a fake encounter of a poor peasant by police Biketi tehsil and murder of three children in Chinhat of Lucknow were also raised in this protest.

The apathetic administration was forced to accept the case as 'genuine', issued a meagre sum of Rs. 25,000 as financial help and referred him to a Lucknow hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. This gave rise to a fresh wave of outrage throughout the district. Now Chhatrapal has been issued an Antyodaya Card and the administration promises to punish the criminals. It has also promised to recommend a compensation from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. But the fight will continue till all the demands are met. S. R. Darapuri, Advisory Committee member of the Right to Food Commission, has also started a probe into this incident. He talked to the villagers of Pansoli. AIALA also handed him over a memorandum and apprised him of the ground reality. AIALA has resolved to continue the struggle till its demand for issuing BPL and Antyodaya card for every deserving poor was met and those who made Chhatrapal to commit suicide are arrested and duly punished.

ACTIVITIES

Anti-Repression - Anti-Eviction Day Observed in WB

CPI(ML) WB state unit organised mass demonstrations at different parts of the state on 20th July to implement party's nationwide call for the anti-repression and anti-eviction programme . At Hajramore in Kolkata, a demonstration and a publick meeting was organised. At Burdwan, G.T.Road blockade was done near Curzan Gate by the CPI(ML) and AIALA cadres and supporters. Similar demonstrations were held at Budge Budge, South 24 prgs., Pandua and Chuchura of Hooghly district, Barasat of North 24 prgs., Siliguri of Darjeeling, Krishnanagar of Nadia and Baharampur of Murshidabad. At Krishnanagar, a charter of demands was submitted to the district officials and leaders addressed a gathering in front of DM Office. Partha Ghosh, CCM and Dist. Secretary of North 24 pags. led a delegation at Barasat.

Mass signatures were collected from all over the state in support of repealing the false charges framed against CPI(ML) GS Dipankar Bhattacharya and 4 other party members by the Arjun Munda Government of Jharkhand. The petitions with signatures have been sent to the President of India demanding to repeal the false charges framed against CPI(ML) leaders.

Pass the Women's Reservation Bill in the Current Session

The All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) has demanded to pass the long pending Women's Reservation Bill in the current session of Parliament without any delay and without any attempts of diluting the Bill in the name of consensus. AIPWA demands that in case of a lack of consensus the Bill should be put to vote.

Struggle against Custodial Death

A poor peasant died in the lock-up in Gonda on July 9. Police hurriedly burried the body under the shadow of the guns after conducting a fake postmortem. CPI(ML) and People's Union for Human Rights (PUHR) intervened into this custodial killing and demanded an inquiry into this ghastly incident and punishment to the guilty police officials. A protest was organised in Karnalganj Tehsil on July 19 where hundreds of people pledged to avenge the killing and declared that if no action was taken by the administration then there will be a blockade on August 9.

Panchayat Representatives March

Hundreds of newly-elected panchayat representatives of the CPI(ML) staged a ‘Raj Bhavan march' in Patna on July 28 to press for the demand of revival of the disbanded Amir Das Commission probing alleged links between politicians and the outlawed Ranvir Sena. A delegation of party leaders submitted a memorandum to the Governor through his Principal Secretary. The demand for the withdrawal of cases under TADA against party activists was also reiterated through this protest. The march was led by AIALA's National President Rameshwar Prasad.

Haryana Briefs

An agricultural workers' meet was organised in Asandh in Karnal District on July 26, where demand to redistribute ceiling surplus land to the landless agricultural workers was raised. Pattas were issued to hundreds of agrarian workers during 1967-72 period but those lands are still under the possession of the landlords.

Edited, published and printed by S. Bhattacharya for CPI(ML) Liberation from U-90, Shakarpur, Delhi-92; printed at Bol Publication, R-18/2, Ramesh Park, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi-92; Phone:22521067; fax: 22518248, e-mail: mlupdate@cpiml.org, website: www.cpiml.org

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