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ML International Newsletter October 2002 *********************************************************************** An update on news and ideas from the revolutionary left in India. Produced by: Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation international team *********************************************************************** Website: www.cpiml.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and [EMAIL PROTECTED] PART:1 Table of Contents 1) Stop these Warmongers, Stand by the People of Iraq! 2) Anti-War Protests Worldwide 3) Against Communal Fascism: March and Convention in Ahmedabad 4) Indian Youth Pledge to Struggle for Martyr Bhagat Singh's Vision 5) Agricultural Labourers Organise in Champaran, Bihar The Iraq Crisis Stop these Warmongers, Stand by the People of Iraq! From: Liberation, October 2002. The Bush administration had planned to 'celebrate' the first anniversary of September 11 by mounting yet another murderous offensive on Iraq. As the anniversary approached, the intent was declared quite openly with a combined Anglo-American air attack on Iraqi targets. For the time being, Saddam Hussein has however spoiled the celebrations by offering to cooperate unconditionally with the UN programme of weapons inspection. This has robbed the Bush administration of its pet excuse to pound Iraq with another round of lethal bombing. The warmongers of Washington have been left fuming with blind rage. President Bush and his men have arrogantly dismissed Iraq's offer as just a tactical move to cheat and retreat, to delay, deceive and deny. They are worried that the inspection may yield nothing. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld therefore has already started arguing that an "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence of weapons of mass destruction." To defuse Saddam's 'tactical move', the Bush brigade is now invoking its strategic vision of a unipolar world in which the US has every right to act unilaterally. In his latest Annual Report to the US Congress, President Bush has discarded all notions of a multilateral balance of power and the strategy of deterrence as outdated remnants of the Cold war period. The key word now is pre-emptive or preventive action, anticipatory strike to crush all potential threats from all quarters. This latest Pentagon paradigm has also been elaborated in an article published in the current (September-October, 2002) issue of Foreign Affairs, the journal of the US Council on Foreign Affairs. Since terrorism has gone transnational, Washington, we are told, cannot be expected to have any respect for any notion of national sovereignty or international law in dealing with terrorism. In other orders, the new global order recognises only one power a s sovereign, the imperial power of the US. Everything else is just a piece of paper that can be consigned to the wastepaper basket of this American Empire. It was Afghanistan yesterday. Today it is again Iraq. Tomorrow, it could be any other country. The entire world is now on the hit list of the world's biggest terrorist agency. This is the real rogue state phenomenon that confronts the world. With the number one rogue state threatening to go berserk, the number two has followed suit. Israel has stepped up its anti-Palestine military campaign. A vicious attempt is on to exterminate Yasser Arafat in his besieged West Bank headquarters. The 73-year-old leader and two hundred of his supporters are crammed in four rooms of the devastated Ramallah compound. In Iraq, not less than a million children have already perished as a result of the prevailing sanctions which entail an embargo on even basic life-saving drugs. These sanctions have been the real weapons of mass destruction while the US continues to reduce the whole of Iraq to rubble in the name of destroying military capabilities that the US itself had bestowed on Saddam Hussein during the pre-Gulf War periods. Those were the days when the US used to treat him as the best American bet in the region against Iran and the Kurdish rebels. How long can the world turn a blind eye to this limitless hypocrisy? Halting the Bush-Blair-Sharon war machine at all costs has become the crying need of the hour. It is reassuring to see that from the third world to the first, more and more people are now joining hands against the real source of war and terror. Chinks are once again becoming visible in the grand global coalition Washington had cobbled with such effortless ease in the wake of last year's strikes on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon. Russia, China, France and Germany have all expressed their strong opposition to any unilateral American action. Indeed, Bush became a major agenda in the German elections and was rightly compared by some people to his only peer in history. Adolf Hitler. As the slogan goes, "Jo Hitler ki chal chalega, woh Hiter ki maut marega." (Whoever steps into Hitler's shoes will meet with Hitler's fate.) Anti-War Protests Worldwide From: ML Update, Oct. 2-8, 2002. Amidst consolidating consensus fast emerging against American war designs worldwide, people took part in anti-war demonstrations in very large numbers in many important cities of the world on Sept. 28. London witnessed a huge anti-war demonstration which was unprecedented in its recent history as atleast 3,50,000 people marched and rallied. March leaders used bullhorns to shout through the gates of Blair's 10 Downing Street residence as they headed toward Hyde Park. Recent polls in Britain and Italy have shown that 70 percent citizens of these nations oppose Britain joining a U.S.-led military action. The demonstration was jointly sponsored by the Stop the War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain. It was endorsed by 12 national trade unions, numerous Muslim and anti-racist organisations, Members of Parliament and the Mayor of London. The march was also meant as a protest of Israel's policies in the West Bank and Gaza, and many protesters expressed sympathy for the Palestinian cause." Organisers have called for another protest-"Don't Attack Iraq Day" on Oct 31. In British Parliament too, Prime Minister Blair is facing opposition by a section of his own Party colleagues who have staged a revolt against his Iraq policy. The Liberal Democratic Party, the third largest in the UK, has also declared its opposition to what it called the U.S.'s "imperialist" policy. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Rome the same day carrying red flags and chanted anti-war slogans. People also marched through Madrid in Spain in thousands to demand that the U.S. President George W. Bush must not go to war with Iraq and urged Spain's government to refrain from supporting it. Earlier, hundreds of Greek Cypriots rallied peacefully on 22 Sept. against the presence of British bases on the island, which could be used in an attack on Iraq. Anti-war protest drew thousands in San Francisco protesting possible U.S. military action in Iraq. Protesters carried banners reading slogans like "Drop Bush not Bombs" and "Terrorists wear pinstriped suits". Thousands of people opposing war with Iraq also marched to the residence of the US Vice President Dick Cheney in Washington on 22 Sept., culminating three days of demonstrations. Against Communal Fascism March and Convention in Ahmedabad: A Great Success - Girish Gildiyal On September 28th more than 1000 people belonging to CPI (ML) and other left parties, various mass organizations, several secular and democratic personalities led the march for peace and harmony in Ahmedabad and addressed a convention in the city. Before the march, Party General Secretary Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya met all the 33 injured victims of the terrorist attack on a temple of the Swaminarayan sect in Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. The injured include 7 security personnel. In Ahmedabad, the march began from the city railway station and went through the main streets of the city before reaching Ambedkar Hall. The convention witnessed a broad based participation of the Left-democratic stream. Communist and Socialist leaders, trade union activists, Gandhians, Ambedkarites and large number of activists of social organisations and civil liberty movements attended the Convention. Activists from Rajasthan and Maharashtra also joined the march and the Convention. The Convention began by observing a two minutes silence in the memory of those killed in the terrorist attack on the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar in Gujarat. The Convention was addressed among others by CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, former member of the Planning Commission S. P. Shukla, 'Red Flag' General Secretary K. N. Ramchandran, Unity Initiative leader and trade unionist P. K. Murthy, noted social activists and intellectuals Achyut Yagnik, Aseem Roy, Mukul Sinha and known Gandhians Chunni Bhai Vaid and Prakash Shah. The functionaries of local units of CPI and CPI(M) in Gujarat as well as the leaders of organisations like SUCI, MCPI, Lal Nishan Party (Leninist), Lal Nishan Party, Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti, Gujarat Khet Vikas Parishad, Lok Adhikar Sangh, Gujarat Ekta Manch, Insaf, Prashant, Punaruthan, Gujarat Adivasi Sabha, Banaskantha Zila Dalit Sangathan and Dalit Panther also joined the march and Convention. The solidarity received from Communist Parties and many organisations of South Asians living abroad were read out in the convention. The Convention passed several resolutions. Addressing the Convention, the CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya condemned the terrorist attack on Swaminarayan temple in Gandhinagar and called upon people in Gujarat and all over the country to maintain peace, vigil and harmony and make sure that saffron fascists are not allowed to create fresh round of trouble once again in Gujarat. He said, "Gujarat is crying for peace - peace based on justice - and this justice and peace can not be achieved through terrorist path. Gujarat needs a powerful left-democratic intervention. It calls for a vigorous political mobilisation of all the concerned secular-democratic forces. Only such a mobilisation can check the politics of competitive Hindutva, between BJP and Congress, and can save Gujarat from reducing to a graveyard of democracy and laboratory of fascism. Com. Dipankar said, "first they used the widely condemned Godhra carnage to unleash a series of well planned anti-Muslim pogroms. Now, they want to use the temple tragedy to further capitalise on their communal gameplan". Talking about the BSP-BJP joint venture in Uttar Pradesh and its celebration held in Lucknow on 28 September in which L. K. Advani also participated , the Com. Dipankar said that Mayawati had no scruples about endorsing the saffron agenda whether in Gujarat or at Ayodhya. Com. Dipankar called upon all communists and socialists as well as Gandhians and Ambedkarites and concerned social activists in Gujarat to a common platform. Celebrating the Infusion of the Socialist Vision Indian Youth Pledge to Struggle for Martyr Bhagat Singh's Vision - Girish Gildiyal On 28th September,in Delhi, nearly fifteen hundred activists, mainly students and youth from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam and Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Punjab, marched from New Delhi railway station to Ferozshah Kotla Ground. It was led among others by Rajendra Pratholi, Ranjit Abhigyan, Lal Bahadur Singh, Kavita Krishnan, Mithilesh Yadav, Sunil Yadav and Md. Saleem. The march culminated into 'Sankalp Sabha' (meeting to take pledge). The meeting commemorated the Shahid-E-Azam Bhagat Singh's foundation of Hindutan Socialist Revolutionary Association and pledged to carry forward Bhagat Singh's legacy of struggle against imperialism and communal fanaticism. A book titled "Bhagat Singh: Vichar Aur Sangharsh", published by AISA and RYA, was released on this occasion by Sri Jagmohan, General Secretary of Punjab Jantantrik Sabha and Bhagat Singh's nephew. This was also addressed by the former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Rajinder Sachar, noted journalist Jawed Naqvi, Jan Sanskrit Manch General Secretary Ajay Singh, former President of the Benaras Hindu University Students' Union Anand Pradhan and others. Professor Subhendu Ghosh of Delhi University and several other cultural activists presented songs on this occasion. March and demonstrations were also held at several other centers including Patna, Bhagalpur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Pilibhit and Kolkata, Raiganj, Jalpaiguri, and Siliguri. Challenging the Roots of Power: Agricultural Labourers Organise in Champaran (Bihar) - Kalpana Wilson Below we present an account of a new chapter in the ongoing struggle for economic and social transformation being waged by the rural poor - mainly dalit agricultural labourers and poor peasants - in the state of Bihar. For the last two-and-a-half decades, this struggle, led by the CPI(ML) has revolved around the key issues of land, agricultural wages, and social dignity and an end to discrimination. Strategies have included strikes over wages and conditions, mass occupations of land for redistribution, campaigns to bring powerful men who have raped rural poor women to justice, contesting elections (in the process breaking down the effective disenfranchisement of the rural poor), and demanding basic amenities such as water electricity and roads and schools which an endemically corrupt administration has systematically denied the rural poor. As the following report demonstrates, this movement involves challenging the very roots of agrarian power, which is based on a potent combination of land ownership, political position, crime, corruption and caste dominance, and despite being met by brutal repression from the landowners and the state, it continues to grow in strength. West Champaran: Ruled by The Estates West Champaran district lies in the northwestern corner of Bihar, and is adjacent to the Terai region of Nepal. In terms of socio-economic development it is one of the most 'backward' districts of Bihar.Whichever party has ruled over Bihar, West Champaran has remained under the sway of feudal estates and this continues even after 55 years of independence and a series of land reforms which have remained on paper. There are half a dozen estates possessing thousands of acres each and around a hundred more feudal landlords, each illegally occupying hundreds of acres of land. At a particular time these estates may be associated with a particular party but they always maintain amicable relations with the leaders of all political parties. Often different members of the family belong to different ruling parties. Their children usually receive education abroad. In general the estates utilise various criminal gangs as their own private armies and offer them patronage in return. In Champaran abduction and robbery are common. Never however one would come across an incident of robbery in an estate or abduction of a member of any estate family. Each estate has its own managerial office (Kuchehary), where private employees reside, looking after accounts of the land. Land is given on lease to peasants and in return rent and various taxes are extracted from them. Begari (unpaid labour services) is still practised in these estates. Wages are given in hatai measure (a wooden vessel used for measuring grain). Apart from these old landlord estates, there are around hundred feudal families having 500 to 1,000 acres of land under their possession. These include a number of neo-rich families, who have achieved their present prosperity through corrupt and criminal means. These include for example the present Food & Supplies Minister of Bihar Purnamasi Ram, notorious for his role in the Red Card scam, the Rajguru family and Rana Ranvijay Singh of Bettiah and Markanday Pandey of Mainatanr. They also own market complexes, petrol pumps, gas or kerosene agencies, cinema halls and passenger buses; some of them bag contracts. Almost all representative institutions in the district are dominated by these feudal or neo-rich families. At the other end of the spectrum, almost 80 per cent of the district's population are landless labourers, condemned to work for a pittance as agricultural labourers in the district or to migrate to the distant states of Punjab and Delhi in search of work. However, despite their great numeric superiority agrarian labourers have till recently remained a marginal force in terms of politics. Landlords, the administration, criminal gangs and almost all the bourgeois parties have formed an unholy alliance against them. Whenever agrarian labourers raise their voice for minimum wages or dignity, they face bullets. (Continued in Part-2) ____________________________________________________________________________ _________ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
