Expose the Hyde Act’s Assaults on India’s Sovereignty: Scrap the Nuke Deal!

No more can anyone peddle the fiction that the Indo-US Nuke Deal would not have US strategic strings attached. Contrary to the claims of Manmohan Singh that the Act passed by US Congress last week is a welcome one, despite some ‘extraneous and prescriptive’ provisions, the Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 (Hyde Act) signed by the US President on December 19 makes it abundantly clear that the restrictive and prescriptive strategic strings, far from being ‘extraneous’, form the warp and weft of the Deal and are nothing short of a noose for Indian sovereignty and self-respect. The Hyde Act goes far beyond the Deal itself – it spells out what kind of relation the US visualises with India: a relation a client state that is fully ‘compliant’ with the US master. 
‘Civilian nuclear cooperation’ as defined by the Hyde Act is hedged around with restrictions, giving the US ample leverage to control and punish Indian behaviour. It spells out that India can receive nuclear fuel or nuclear reactors but not any technology that could be used for its nuclear fuel cycle – be it fuel enrichment, fuel reprocessing or heavy water production. Further, India is barred from building up any strategic reserves of nuclear fuel to run its reactors, and the Hyde Act warns that in case the US decides to cancel fuel supplies due to any but market reasons, it will ensure that other NSG suppliers also are barred from supplying India with fuel.
The version of the Bill introduced in Congress stated that India could qualify for the Deal if it ‘has a functioning and uninterrupted democratic system of government, has a foreign policy that is congruent to that of the United States, and is working with the United States in key foreign policy initiatives related to non-proliferation’. The fact that these words do not appear in the final version is cosmetic – the intention continues to suffuse the Hyde Act.
In Section 105 of the act, the US President is called upon to submit a ‘written determination that … India is fully and actively participating in United States and international efforts to dissuade, sanction, and contain Iran for its nuclear program consistent with United Nations Security Council resolutions.’ That the US was using the Nuke Deal to twist India’s arms over Iran was always obvious, and the UPA Government, with its anti-Iran vote in the IAEA, showed its abject eagerness to ‘comply’ even without any written obligation. The US is no longer even bothering to veil its intention to secure India’s ‘full and active participation’ in the US efforts – be they mere bullying or military aggression - to ‘dissuade, sanction, and contain’ Iran.  
The PM in his Parliamentary address in August gave an assurance that the Nuke Deal would insist on ‘India-specific’ safeguards in the IAEA, rather than the IAEA’s existing Modified Additional Protocol. It is now obvious that that assurance was deliberately misleading. According to Section 107 of the Hyde Act, not only is India bound to open up its nuclear facilities to the intrusive IAEA regime as it applies now – ‘in the event the IAEA is unable to implement safeguards’, US inspectors will be empowered to do so.
Several clauses of the Hyde Act require the US President’s ‘report’ and ‘certification’ of India’s ‘compliance’ with a range of US ‘non-proliferation’ objectives. The Hyde Act leaves no doubt that the Nuke Deal is an attempt to bind India to the highly unequal non-proliferation US-sponsored regime of CTBT/NPT by the backdoor, by barring India from producing ‘fissile material’ and imposing ‘compliance’ with NPT as built into the Nuke Deal.
The UPA Government is now peddling the myth that India need not bother itself about the Hyde Act since it is internal to the US; all that concerns us should be the bilateral 123 Agreement which is yet to be signed. But the 123 agreement gets its name from Section 123 of the US’ Atomic Energy Act. Since both Section 123 and the Hyde Act both are part and parcel of US law, it is ridiculous to imagine that they might contradict each other. The fiction that the restrictions and prescriptions of the Hyde Act may not apply to ‘123’ just doesn’t pass muster.  
In August the CPI(M) had restricted its critique of the Nuke Deal to the apprehension that the US was ‘shifting of goalposts’, and accepted Manmohan’s assurances as a ‘sense of the House’, though his actions of repeatedly voting against Iran at the IAEA flew in the face of those very assurances. Basic questions were ignored: What were the goals for which the original goalposts were fixed? Were there ever any other goals but those of the US’ strategic and hegemonic ones? Now, it seems the CPI(M) is finally asking the UPA Govt to ‘walk away from the Deal’. But even at this point, the CPI(M) is ambiguous; Prakash Karat has called upon the UPA Govt to ‘renegotiate the Deal’, not scrap it. The CPI(M) had hailed the very fact that the Deal is being discussed in Parliament as a victory for the Left forces and an assertion that India’s democracy was paramount. But the ‘debate’ in Parliament will be a mere genuflection, an empty gesture to ‘democracy’; unless democracy is exercised to actually stop the Nuke Deal in its tracks and scrap it. The indications are that by opting for a ‘debate’ rather than a vote, the CPI(M) will once again show that its bark lacks bite, even on this most crucial matter of safeguarding India’s sovereignty.   
The Act passed by US Congress reeks of the cocky confidence that the Indian ruling class and Indian Parliament lack the spine to stand up to the US and reject a humiliating and enslaving Deal. Indian Parliament is only too willing to justify that confidence; it is upto the Indian people to build up a democratic assertion on the streets that can show the ruling class the consequences of such a shameful blow to India’s sovereignty and self-respect.

  Forest Rights Act: Partial Victory of People’s Struggles

The passage of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2005 (Forest Rights Bill) in the ongoing session of Parliament is a landmark recognition, though belated, of the right of forest dwellers, mainly tribals over forest land. Certain provisions of the draft Bill which had drawn massive protests have been amended. The 1980 cut-off date which sought to restrict the forest rights to those residing in forests prior to 1980 has been amended to December 2005. Further, instead of the earlier proposal of allowing 2.5 hectares of forestland to each family dwelling in the forests, the new Act allows for 4 hectares to be given to these families. The UPA Government has been forced to withdraw its highly divisive threat of introducing separate bills for tribal and non-tribal forest dwellers.
However, activists have pointed out several ambiguities and omissions in the Act. The definition of “forest dwelling Scheduled Tribe” and “other traditional forest dweller” are such that will serve to exclude many forest dwellers – both tribal and otherwise. The Act fails to invest adequate rights in the gram sabhas, thus allowing forest bureaucracy to continue its tyranny, and also allowing Governments to continue to evict tribals and hand over forests to mines and industry.
In a deliberate bid to avoid transparency, amendments to the Bill were left to the last minute. It is claimed that the Government did not accept the amendments it had agreed to in the re-drafted bill during a meeting External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had with the JPC members in the morning, just before the official amendments were finalised.
Among the major amendments the Government had agreed to accommodate was inclusion of allowing hand-carts and cycles by dropping the word “transport” which is not permitted in the forest area. Another such agreement that was apparently dropped at the last minute was to include waterbodies as forest produce and to hold consultations with experts on identification of national sanctuaries. Another ‘agreement’ that never made it to the final Act was that there would be adequate representation of gram sabhas on the final committee that would go into the listing of beneficiaries.
Of course, while the passage of the Forest Rights Act is a significant achievement of years of struggle, the movement to implement it will only begin now. We must remember that recognition of land titles alone is no guarantee against eviction – as shown in Kalinganagar, Narmada, Dadri and Singur. Further, the right of tribals and other marginalized groups to land titles is a very limited right – and cannot be isolated from the powerful assertion of tribal movements for political autonomy, against massive corporate takeover of resources and against some of the worst instances of state repression.

CPI(ML) and AICCTU Congratulate Workers for Unprecedented Success of All India Strike

The CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya congratulated workers for the unprecedented success of the All-India General Strike called by the central trade unions on December 14. The CPI(ML) participated in massive state level bandhs in Assam, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, while in the states of Bihar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Pondicherry successful and militant 'Chakka Jam' was conducted and Party workers courted arrest in large numbers. The CPI(ML) mobilised thousands of agrarian labourers and peasants in the strike, protesting against the corruption and non-implementation of the NREGA and against SEZs, under the banner of its Khet Mazdoor and Kisan Organisations. In West Bengal, the Party workers rallied against the acquisition of farmers' land in Singur while in Jharkhand, despite active opposition and disruption by INTUC and BMS, work in the entire Coal Belt was paralysed. In Assam thousands of tea workers participated in the strike while in Uttar Pradesh, workers took out protest marches in several districts. Unorganised workers participated in large numbers too. The message of this strike has been driven home -- a total negation of the anti-worker, anti-people policies of the UPA Government and the Party heartily congratulates workers and peasants for this.
The All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) congratulated the working people of India for making all-India General Strike a success. The working masses and the toiling people of the country have once again shown their resolute resistance to the anti-worker, pro-corporate, pro-MNC policies of UPA government and have sent warning once again to the UPA govt. This was the second all India general strike called by the Sponsoring Committee of central TUs against the policies of UPA govt.
In W. Bengal AICCTU specifically raised the issues of repression on the peasants of Singur and participation of IT workers in strike condemning the stand of WB CM Buddhdeb to “keep IT sector out” of 14 Dec. General Strike. Led by AICCTU, thousands of workers courted arrest/demonstrated at several places in states like Assam, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Orissa, Pondicherry, Karnataka, U.P., Gujarat, etc. AICCTU along with CPI(ML) and its other mass organisations played a leading role in organising successful Chakka Jam and Bandh in several states like Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Orissa and Pondicherry. Unorganised sector workers particularly agricultural and construction labour participated in large numbers against the constant betrayal by the central govt. on the issue of bringing bill for their social and job security despite promise for the same in CMP. In Bihar CPI(ML) MLAs boycotted the assembly. In Delhi, a “Save DTC” rally of DTC employees was held from DTC HQ to Delhi Secretariat. This apart, AICCTU played a leading role in organising strike in industrial areas of Patparganj, Jhilmil and area of Narela and NOIDA.
In Ranchi, workers led by CPI(ML) State Secy. Suvendu Sen, AIALA National Secretary Janardan Prasad and MLA Vinod Singh courted arrest. National highway remained blocked for several hours here. Similarly, GT Road was blocked at Bagodar. In Jamshedpur CPI(ML) CCM Rajaram and AICCTU leader Om Prakash led the court arrest. Several districts including Garwha, Kodarma, Dumka, Latehar, Devgarh, Ramgarh, Lohardagga, Gumla, etc witnessed complete Bandh. In all around 2000 activists courted arrest throughout the state. Rail roko was organised in Barwadih.
In Bihar, chakka Jam was organised by AIALA in Bhojpur and many other districts, in which agricultural workers participated in large number. Arrah town observed complete bandh. In Gaya and Bhagalpur, thousands of construction workers observed strike and took out rallies. In Patna an impressive rally of construction workers and state govt. employees was held ending in court arrest at Dak Bunglow Chowk. In Bihar Sharif, a rally of Bidi and construction workers was held. The state govt. employees in Bihar and Jharkhand went in support of the strike. The torch light processions were also held on the eve of the strike at many places including Patna.
Unions affiliated to AICCTU picketed at six points in Pondicherry. Road block and rail roko was also organised. The LPG Bottling plant remained closed. Construction workers also observed strike. Workers held out a rally in Bangalore and at HP Halli at Bellary in Karnataka. In Gangawati a demonstration was held.
AICCTU organised rallies in several cities including Lucknow, Anpara, Robertsganj, Kanpur and Allahabad in UP. The road was blocked in front of LML factory in Kanpur.
In Sabarkanta district in Gujarat AICCTU played a leading role among ceramic industry workers and Ambuja group company. A dharna was also held at collectorate.
The Maharashtra Rajya Sarva Shramik Sanghthana organised successful strike in sugar industry, in several factories and Municipalities in 4 districts. Agricultural workers also participated in strike in large numbers. An impressive rally was held in Jaipur by AICCTU along with other central TUs.  Thousands of brick-kiln, construction and agricultural workers stopped work and took out rallies at several places like Bhikhi, Moud (Bhatinda), Mansa, Sunam (Sangrur) and Ludhiana in Punjab. A dharna was held at secretariat in Port Blair in Andamans.

ACTIVITIES

UP State Conference of AIALA

Uttar Pradesh Khet Mazdoor Sabha held its 3rd State Conference in Sitapur on 15 December. The Conference began with the flag hoisting by veteran communist leader Comrade Ishwar Chandra and paying tributes to the martyrs of the movement. Sitapur town was renamed on this occasion after Madari Pasi, the hero of 1942 struggle, and the Conference hall was named after martyred comrade Rambaksha Arakh, who was killed by the feudal landlords few months ago during a land-struggle in Sitapur district.
The open session was attended by a large number of agricultural labourers from Sitapur district, the delegates and a number of guests. Rameshwar Prasad, AIALA National President, addressed the session as chief guest. He said that the strength of agricultural workers in the country proved decisive in ousting the NDA government in the centre but the present UPA government, under the garb of ‘human face’ continues with the same set of policies. This govt. is not showing any interest in enacting the legislation for agricultural labourers and has deliberately not created the necessary infrastructure for the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which was brought under pressure of the struggles. Only a strong and organized force of agricultural workers can now force this government for implementing the rights of the poor. UP State Secretary and Polit Bureau member of CPI(ML) Akhilendra Pratap Singh addressed the open session where he strongly condemned the Mulayam Singh Govt. of UP for making the state a killing field as spate of deaths of agricultural workers due to starvation, peasants’ suicides and death of large number of children owing to lack of medication and proper nutrition continues.  He said that the state government has not shown any concern with the safety and livelihood issues of the common people while at the same time criminals, mafia and big capitalists are enjoying its protection. The popular announcements like ‘Kanya Vidya Dhan’ and unemployment allowance is only a political gimmick as crores of rupees are being wasted in the functions organized for this purpose. While the Congress and the BJP are primarily responsible for bringing Uttar Pradesh to such a deplorable plight, the Bahujan Samaj Party also stands on the same side with Mulayam Govt. because both are equally obliged by the same big business houses and are bound to protect latter’s interests. The company which got cement factories of Dala, Churk and Chunar for peanuts in Mulayam regime is the same which was entrusted for building the Taj Corridor under Mayawati government. Now one can understand why Mulayam’s cabinet gave a clean chit to Mayawati in Taj Corridor case, he added. This session was also addressed by AICCTU Secretary Dinkar Kapoor, Secretary of People’s Union for Human Rights Dr. Brij Bihari, Ram Prasad and Gaya Prasad.
Comrade Shriram Chaudhary presented the work report on behalf of the outgoing committee. The delegate session of the conference reflected the spirit of struggles when experiences were shared by comrades from different districts. They told the stories of their struggles and narrated about the government’s unwillingness in implementing NREGA and other welfare schemes, presence of the nexus of corrupt politicians-police-bureaucrats-criminals-mafia-feudal forces in every village, rising attacks on agrarian workers and their leaders, oppression of dalits, adivasis, and women, repression of democratic movements by the state, and many more issues.
CPI(ML) Polit Bureau member and AIALA Vice President Swadesh Bhattacharya delivered the concluding speech where he stressed the need to strengthen the organization of agricultural workers against the nexus of feudal elements and the state and to establish effective people’s control over various development schemes. He also called upon to launch intensive campaign to strengthen the assertion of the rural poor in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state.
The conference passed many resolutions including demand for Rs. two per kilogram rice and wheat and Rs. two per liter kerosene for agricultural labourers and rural poor, constitution of a land commission in UP, waiver of all loans of poor peasants, to include all districts under the NREGA, employment guarantee for round the year, Rs. 100 as the minimum wage, to stop proposed eviction of peasants for SEZs and High-tech City, to withdraw cases from the leaders of the agricultural workers’ struggles, and to punish police and administrative officials responsible for the torture and arrest of CPI(ML) and AIALA leaders in Sitapur and at other places.
The conference unanimously elected a 47-member State Council, which in turn elected a 23 member State Executive with Krishna Adhikari as State President and Shriram Chaudhary as General Secretary. Narendra Pandey, Ajai Rai, Rajesh Sahni, Kranti Singh and Sunila Rawat were elected as Vice Presidents and Rakesh Singh, Arjun Lal, Radhey Shyam, Ramayan Gaud and Ramkrit Kol as Secretaries, and Kaushal Kishore as Office Secretary. The conference concluded amidst the singing of the Internationale.

AIKSS Team Visits Vidarbha

A team of All India Kisan Sangharsh Samiti and Lal Nishan Party visited, on 7-8 December, areas of Yavatmal district in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra from where a large number of farmers’ suicides is being reported. The team was comprised of AIKSS national convener Rajaram Singh, Prem Singh Gahlawat, Ishwari Prasad Kushwaha, Harvinder Singh, and Lal Nishan Party’s Central Committee member PK Mude, and VM Patangrao.
The team found that almost every farmer was under debt as they have no other choice than to take loan at every crop season because of highly increased input costs and their crops going to the market at a loss. The team visited Pusad, Umar Khed, Digras, and Darwah talukas of Yavatmal district and met family members of many farmers who had commited suicides. It was found that even the compensation money meant for the families of the deceased farmers was not properly given. The family of Shankarrao Sitaram Ajmire, a farmer who commited suicide, received no compensation although his name was in the list of beneficiaries at the DC office.
The common demands of the peasants of this region were - complete loan waiver (governmental as well private), to lower the interest rate, procurement price of cotton to be raised to Rs. 2700 and to guarantee the purchase of their produce, to provide appropriate seeds and pesticides, and to provide water for irrigation.
The AIKSS strongly condemned the police firing on farmers in Wani of Yavatmal district and demanded a compensation of Rs. Five lakhs to the family of the killed farmer and Rs. 50,000 to each injured. This incident has shown total governmental apathy towards the needs of the peasants. AIKSS also condemned the killings of a dalit family in Kherlanji and demanded strong action against the perpetrators.

Public Hearing against Starvation and Suicides

AIALA organized a public hearing on December 10 in Pilibhit against starvation and suicides. More than three thousand agricultural workers and rural poor took part in this hearing where they strongly criticized the policies of UPA Govt. in the centre and Mulayam Govt. in UP and demanded Antyodaya and BPL ration cards for every poor. The issues of illegal money-lending and debt trap and eviction of rural poor from their fields adjoining the forest in the name of Tiger Project were also raised.
The Jury for the Public Hearing included Senior Advocate Kishan Lal, Member of the Advisory Committee of the Food Commission constituted by the Supreme Court SR Darapuri, Sandip Pandey, AIALA UP Vice President Kranti Kumar Singh, and former Public Prosecutor Suresh Chandra Saxena. AIALA President Rameshwar Prasad and Vice President Krishna Adhikari also addressed the gathering.
465 participants including women, handicapped, old aged, and widows, submitted written statements to the jury that they are living on the brink of starvation and their names were not included in the BPL list while panchayat secretary, village pradhan and BDO are selling BPL cards for Rs. 200-500. Nearly thirty five people narrated their stories and demanded justice. The widows of Chhatrapal, who was humiliated by village pradhan and police for demanding Antyodaya card and later committed suicide, and Narayan Haldar, who committed suicide after his five acres land was auctioned for his inability to pay the bank loan, were present at the hearing.
The jury held UP Govt. responsible for starvation deaths in the state and for not issuing BPL cards to the poor. A charge-sheet was also read out to the audience and resolutions were passed.

Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat in Mansa

Thousands of agricultural workers and poor peasants assembled in Mansa town of Punjab on December 11 to participate in Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat organized by the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha against the failure the government in addressing the grave agrarian crisis in Punjab. The Panchayat raised the issues like increasing trap of moneylenders as well as confiscation of property in case of non-payment of governmental loans, implementation of land ceiling Act and redistribution of surplus land, eviction of peasants in the name of SEZs and recent take over of lands in favour of Trident Industries, increasing hold of traders, bureaucrats and big businesses over the agriculture, trend of absentee landlords, wages of agrarian workers, rampant corruption, linking of remunerative prices with the Price Index, to provide interest-free loans to agricultural workers and small peasants, provision of basic amenities, employment guarantee and unemployment allowance at minimum Rs. 3000 per month, old age pension at Rs. 1000 per month, regularization of contract and casual workers, inclusion of every poor in BPL and availability of food-grains through PDS, guarantee of water for irrigation, and subsidized seeds, fertilizers, machinery, pesticides, diesel, etc. for every farmer having land up to ten acres.