>Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 16:09:53 +0530 >From: "CPI(ML) LIberation" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >ML Update >Vol. 3; No. 20; 23 May 2000 > >Editorial > >No Intervention in Sri Lanka and Fiji > >As the war for Jaffna gets hotter, the Government of India appears to be >shifting gear from its earlier declared policy of �no military >intervention, only humanitarian assistance� and �mediation on request >from both sides� to �any step, as and when necessary�. A similar �all >options are open� position also lurks behind the customary �close watch� >being kept by the external affairs ministry in the ongoing political >developments in Fiji where Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry has just >been deposed in a coup. Mr. Chaudhry was the first prime minister of >Indian origin in Fiji. >Indian diplomacy vis-a-vis Sri Lanka has oscillated between the one >extreme of funding and training LTTE in the early and mid-80s to the >subsequent IPKF operation against LTTE. This has cost India dearly not >only in financial and military terms but also politically and >diplomatically. The Sri Lankan crisis is rooted in the island�s >political history and the two warring sides will have to arrive at a >solution. Any attempt at Indian intervention in Sri Lanka�s internal >affairs can only expose the inconsistency of Indian position on, let�s >say, the Kashmir problem. >Consistency in India�s Sri Lanka policy is also necessary in view of the >spillover effect of the island�s war on Tamil Nadu and consequently on >the country as a whole. While the earlier policy of aiding and abetting >LTTE tended to drag Tamil Nadu into the island�s internal civil war, >rendering India suspect in the eyes of Sri Lanka, the IPKF mission was >obviously too heavy a compensatory price to be paid for the initial >folly. Had it continued any longer, it would have dangerously alienated >India�s own Tamil nationality. >Regarding Sri Lanka, we also have to remain vigilant against the >sinister Hindu supremacist view which views the national question in a >neighbouring country as an extension of the Hindu cause or the project >of Hindutva. Of late Tamil-Buddhist clashes have been on the increase in >Sri Lanka and it is remarkable that a man like Bal Thackeray has emerged >as the latest champion of Indian intervention and support for a separate >Tamil Eelam! >Regional policing is just another name for an expansionist or >interventionist policy. If India seeks to play such a role in South Asia >as the American global cop�s most trusted lieutenant in the region, it >can only invite greater international isolation and internal tension for >India. Democratic opinion in the country must therefore prevail over any >saffron temptation to meddle in the ongoing military showdown between >the Sri Lankan state and LTTE insurgents. >The coup in Fiji also needs to be looked at in the specific context of >Fiji where people of Indian origin today occupy the commanding heights >in the country�s economy and polity. The Chaudhry government was widely >perceived in Fiji as an ethnic Indian-dominated regime and consequently >social tension and ethnic strife had been brewing there for quite some >time. While expressing concern over the future of democracy and ethnic >harmony in Fiji, we must not confuse the coup with the imperialist and >often racist humiliation that ordinary NRIs have to face in the West or >with the growing plight of Indian workers in the Gulf countries. > >Press release > >CPI (ML) Boycotts the Meeting Called by Bihar Chief Minister > >"Hugging the criminals on the one hand and calling a meet to control >crime on the other, how can the two things go hand in hand?" asked >CPI(ML) State Committee Secretary Com. Ram Jatan Sharma in a press >statement issued in Patna on 22 May. The approach paper circulated by >Bihar government for calling an all-party meeting on crime control and >law and order issue carries no mention of concrete planning to control >crime, he revealed. It only carries government's achievements gained in >the campaign for curbing extremism and its future plans in this regard. >It also carries demand for help from the Centre in this regard. To cap >it all, the report brackets CPI(ML)(Liberation) with the banned outfit >Ranvir Sena and takes pride in listing among its achievements the arrest >of 509 persons belonging to CPI(ML). With this bias against forces who >are fighting criminalisation, how can this government have any effective >plan to control crime, he asked. >Com. Sharma said that everybody knows there is a close nexus between >crime and politics in Bihar. After all, why a criminal chieftain like >Shahabuddin was not expelled from RJD? Why no effective step has been >taken against the BJP-backed Ranvir Sena? Who in Bihar does not know the >fact that both RJD and NDA have become havens for criminals? >He said that unless political dependence on criminals is done away with >and criminals are expelled from political parties, crime control is just >idle talk. But poor people in Bihar can no more be duped by the antics >of crime control. CPI(ML) will continue its fight for democracy against >mafia and criminalisation, he said. > >Protest > >Party Staged Dharna on Panchayat Election Demand > >A dharna was staged under the banner of CPI(ML) at Income Tax square in >Patna on 18 May led by Com. KD Yadav, member of Party Central Committee. >Addressing the agitators he criticised the government for suppression of >democratic rights and administrative corruption and arbitrariness, which >breeds the ground for criminalisation of politics. > >AIPWA Protests Rape in A Buxar Village > >A dalit woman Umawati Devi was raped by feudal gangsters on 5 May in >Barari village of Bagen P.S. in Buxar district of Bihar. In protest a >mass meeting was held at Jagdishpur block on 14 May. Speakers included >AIPWA state leader Anita who decried political patronage enjoyed by the >feudal gang from RJD and BJP and called for a decisive struggle against >the gang and their protectors. > >. >18 May Assam Bandh Evokes Encouraging Response > >In protest against the Central Govt.'s discrimination against people of >hill region in Assam, i.e., Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills, >CPI(ML)-ASDC called a 12-hour Assam Bandh on 18 May which evoked >encouraging response. While Bodo community organisation had also called >a bandh on the same day, organisations belonging to Mishing, Rabha, Tiwa >and other communities extended support to the call which was total in >Hill districts and partial in Guwahati, Nagaon, Sonitpur, Tinsukia, >Jorhat and Dibrugarh. > >Party MP on Dharna at Parliament > >On the last day of the budget session, i.e., 17 May, when the NDA >government was supposed to table bills to grant statehood to Jharkhand, >Uttarakhand and Chattisgargh, CPI(ML) Member of Lok Sabha Dr. Jayanta >Rongpi staged a dharna at the main entrance of Parliament to protest >against central government's discrimination against statehood demands of >people of hill districts of Karbi Anglong and N.C. Hills. It is to be >noted that article 244-A of Constitution already provides for creation >of state within state for the two districts and the demand for >implementation of the article has been neglected by the central >government for the last 15 years since people of the two districts >launched agitation under the leadership of CPI(ML)-ASDC. The dharna was >also joined in by Bodo M.P. Mr. Bwismatari and RPI MP Mr. Ramdas >Athawale, who are agitating for seperate Bodo and Vidarbha states. > >Party Criticises Maneka on Women's Bill > >Party has strongly condemned Maneka Gandhi's views opposing 33% >reservation to women in Parliament and legislative assemblies. Party CC >member and GS of AIPWA Com. Kumudini Pati said that women at large must >become aware of the true colours of these self-styled spokespersons who >deviously side with anti-women bill forces while intoning about their >commitment to the cause of women. She said that BJP, Congress or the >parties of so-called social justice camp have all only tried to stall >the bill, only communists have taken a consistent stand. >Criticising Maneka and others for dishing up an "alternative" bill, in >which the parties are being asked to allot 33% seats to women >candidates, Justice Rajinder Sachar said that the proposed alternative >could run into a constitutional problem. Nor would it ensure the >required women's strength in an elected house. He therefore gave a call >for exposing the opponents of the women's bill. > >Fast Unto Death at Darbhanga : Woman protest > >Under the guidance of AIPWA, a dalit woman Hira Majhi along with her >3-year old daughter started fast unto death from 12 May at Darbhanga >district headquarters to demand punishment to the criminals and proper >compensation to the victim. The victim had been lured by a local neo >kulak Lalo Chaudhry on the promise to find a job for her and raped in >March this year. Although an FIR had been lodged against the culprit but >the police on receiving a hefty graft from him started repeatedly >pressurizing her to withdraw the case. Therefore she had no other way >but to take up the course of fast unto death. AIPWA too launched a >movement in her support under its own banner. Ultimately the >administration had to bow down on the third day and the IGP and the DM >had to promise immediate arrest of the criminals, institution of a fresh >enquiry by a DIG and a pucca house, widow pension and compensation to >the victim for her husband's untimely death before she broke the fast. > >Reports > >Congress Goons Attack CPI(ML) Activists in Bihali > >The Congress facing grim future in Assam has set out on a >self-destructive path. In their bid to sabotage the rising autonomous >state movement in Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills and check the >phenomenal rise of CPI(ML) and ASDC there, it has been backing extremist >UPDS composed of the Congress-floated KPF and KNV. Now in Bihali of >Sonitpur district, it has resorted to terror tactics, launching physical >attacks on CPI(ML) activists and its trade union leaders organising tea >garden workers for their rights and dignity. >In Bihali, the Congress and AGP patronising tea-garden owners and labour >contractors took umbrage at CPI(ML) organising tea garden workers on the >demands of wage rise and better living conditions, as a consequence of >which the wages had to be increased from Rs.38 to Rs.48 per day. >Recently on May 18, Party's district level leader Lila Sarmah along with >another comrade were kidnapped by Congres-AGP goons. Party organised a >masive procession on May 20 to protest against the kidnapping. Workers' >mobilisation forced the goons to set CPI(ML) leaders free. However, >following the procession the goons again launched attack at Tilenga >Basti in Bihali. Comrades Rupen, Kartik, Bhumidhar and Lila got >seriously injured and hospitalised. Police by remaining silent is only >helping the goons. > >Death Thy Hast to Be Natural >Six inmates of Lampur Beggars' Home, euphemistically called Sewa Sadan, >at Narela in Delhi died in the hospital on 18 May. Actually it took an >agitation from the inmates to compel the authorities to rush the victims >to the hospital. Enquiry by SDM has not yet completed. But the concerned >minister came up with a candid statement that such deaths were natural. >Whatever may be outcome of the police and administrative enquiry, the >minister has revealed a priceless truth -- the poor have the natural >fate to become beggars and then to naturally face death! What is there >to enquire about? > >Investigation > >CPI(ML) Team Visits Drought-hit Rajasthan > >A CPI(ML) team comprising Party CC member Com. Srilata Swaminadhan, >Rajasthan State Secretary Com. Mahendra Chaudhary, and President of >Rajasthan Kisan Sangathan Com. Ambalal Gometi visited 50 drought hit >villages of Udaipur, Dungarpur, Rajsamand, Banswada and Chittorgarh >districts in Rajasthan and came to the conclusion that the famine >situation there has been artificially maintained by the ruling class >parties. Till date both Congress and BJP have taken no initiative to >resolve the problem due to their narrow political interests. They warned >the government that if the workers employed in famine relief programmes >are not paid minimum wages the Party will be forced to take direct >action against the government > >Commentary > >Trade Kidney, if not cotton and Chillies > >If, despite all the praises showered by Clinton, the "infotech" market >faces severe crisis in the country, there is a real boom in the kidney >market in Chandrababu Naidu's cyber state of Andhra Pradesh. At least 26 >peasants got compelled to sell their kidney to clear off the debts piled >up. Around another one thousand are in a queue. They have already got >medical check up formalities completed. The figure is from a single >area, namely Palanadu in Guntur district. During the past five years >more than hundred small farmers in the district have sold their kidney >to doctors in Delhi. >Agents suggest this to be better than suicide, the course peasants have >been adopting in the face of bankruptcy. Living with two kidnies has >become a luxury for the small farmers, cultivating on leased lands, who >cannot face consequences of any adverse climatic condition. Ironically, >the villages now well known for kidney sales border the perennial >Krishna river and an irrigation channel from the Nagarjunasagar dam also >flows through this region. Yet the same regions often fell into the >clutches of drought. >This situation forces peasants to migrate or face starvation death. For >instance, recently a woman in Mehboobnagar district, whose son migrated >to Maharashtra in search of livehood, died due to starvation. Several >such cases have been reported in the same mandal of this district in the >recent past. A study says that about 12 lakh people out of 36 lakh total >population in Mahboobnagar have migrated to other areas in search of >livelihood. It is probably the largest labour migration anywhere in the >world! The reason? Total neglect of minor irrigation sector, of local >percolation tanks and an utter lack of political will in expediting >irrigation projects. Despite two major rivers, Krisna and Tungabhadra >flowing in the district, it has only 15% assured irrigation. Bore-well >technology has only added miseries to the farmers and majority of them >have gone dried. This has led to extensive crop damage in all the 64 >mandals in the district. >This is a glimpse of cash crop producing Andhra, a state claimed to be >the pathbreaker of modernisation. This is not a Kalahandi turned into a >desert or a coastal district of poor Orissa ruined by oceanic wrath. Nor >even a rain poor state of Rajasthan, where ruling parties are playing >with the politics of drought. The story however is the same, of death >and untold sufferings of the peasantry, a consequence of completely >surrendering self-reliance in agriculture and bidding farewell to public >welfare. >Mr. Vajpayee has recently told the chief ministers categorically to >forget about the subsidy. By implication there will be no state >assistance to infrastructure in agriculture, come what may. Irrigation >has taken a back seat and even in building big dams it is electricity >and not irrigation that may be the target. Therefore, the same market >that pushed the peasants to go for cash crops further pushes poorer ones >to market their kidney. The promise to make peasants rich by diverting >them to cash crops has culminated into making them a pauper. And >Chandrababus keep on playing with their laptop. The collapse of Rome may >not be far away with such Neros at the helm. > >Commentary > >Neo-revisionism to Fit into Neo-liberalsim >A Contribution by Indian Kautsky > >The other day West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu said his government >would not tolerate �vandalism� in the name of trade union activities >(Where lies the thin line of demarcation between the two, Mr. Chief >Minister?). >�The Left Front Government had asked the trade unions to restrain >themselves in the wake of economic reforms (Workers, now cope up with >job losses, real income losses and accept hire and fire policy because >privatization, liberalization and flexibilization of labor have become >inevitable for us!). It has also urged the trade unions to give more >stress to quality and productivity in view of the competitive market >"(Economic reforms call upon you workers to rally behind your own >capitalist to enable him defeat his rivals, this is the only way you can >keep your job safe and bonus multiplying!). Arn't we hearing economic >arguments of the political line that led to collapse of the Socialist >International during the First World War?) >"The State Govt. has arrested several trade union activists who had >indulged in vandalism and initiated criminal proceedings against them,� >he said (Hindu. 20-5-00). Day in and day out violent attacks are being >launched on the working class movement all over the country in the name >of economic reforms. Not willing to stay behind, Left Front Govt. in >West Bengal has vowed to prove its credentials to the bourgeoisie. >A day preceding to this proclamation, Surjeet, while releasing the draft >of the party�s updated program, acknowledged that his party�s >participation in a non-left govt., which was so long restricted to >states, has now been extended to the center. According to The Hindu >correspondent, the CPI(M) sources clarified that the question of >participation is a tactical issue, not part of the program, which spelt >out long-term objectives and explained them in ideological terms. So the >man favoring a broad front including Congress may now argue that attacks >on the workers were an issue of governance, they have nothing to do with >program or tactics. Don�t �mix-up� tactics or ideology with intricacies >of governance. All this further paves the way for Jyoti Basu assuming >the leadership of the third path, the social democratic path of >capitalism. Indeed, neo-revisionism fits well into the shoes of >neo-liberalism! > >Commentary > >Death Syndrome of the Grand Old Party > >Congress has now reached a point of no return. The organisation under >Sonia has become a model of dysfunctional anarchy. Pawar could only >leave a scar on the skin of Congress body by raising the foreign >national issue. But the present multiple explosions can either destroy >the Party or resurrect it, the outcome in any case will not be the same >Grand Old Party. >If Jayaram Ramesh chose Asiaweek to announce that under Sonia�s >leadership Congress would not return to power for 50 years; Jithandra >Prasad and Rajesh Pilot chose Jhansi rally to call upon the grassroot >workers to rebel against the UP leadership and even the high command. >Then Vasant Sathe in his article appearing in Congress organ Sandesh >provided a list of Sonia�s handicaps. According to VN Gadgil, she never >had any inclination to politics. >While Sonia was tirelessly campaigning against the conspiracy of >constitutional review, Vasant Sathe was openly favouring the review and >amendment of the Constitution. In Rajya Sabha, the leader of opposition >Manmohan Singh declared support to the NDA�s tough decision of cutting >subsidies on the same day when Sonia was leading Congressmen to the PM's >residence demanding restoration of subsidies. >Then, temptation to flirt with the saffron through the intermediary >Trinamul is high in West Bengal to the extent of defeating one's own >candidate in Rajya Sabha elections against Trinamul candidate. No wonder >Ghani Khan chose to lead Congressmen into the Grand Alliance of Mamata. >To CWC member K Karunakaran, BJP is no more untouchable. Taking the >trend to its logical end, veteran VN Gadgil said he was in favour of >open soft Hindutva to revive the Party and opposed calling RSS and BJP >as communal and fascist. He felt that Congress sympathy with Muslim >grievances would alienate it from 82% Hindu voters. >All these are the manifestations of total bankruptcy in direction and >discipline. But at the same time they reveal that at the present >juncture Congress is grappling with so far the gravest test of its >political relevance. > > >Around the World > >Brazilian Landless Workers' Observe a Festive May Day > >When Europe was witnessing May Day demonstrators targeting capitalism >and engaging in pitched battles with rightists like neo Nazis, Latin >America witnessed two spectacular events. One was in Cuba, where >according to the Brazilian radio, more than fifteen lakh people, >including children and women, marched for the release of little Elean >from United States with Castro at the head. Another was the Land less >workers upheaval in Brazil. >Centring May Day, thousands of landless laborers across the country took >over several government buildings. Though the protest demonstrations on >May Day over low minimum wages and high unemployment were mostly >peaceful, yet that calmness was only a prologue to the next day's >violent confrontation of landless workers with the police, in which >several workers were injured. The landless peasants' movement (MST) had >called for observing May 2 as national day of struggle in response to >�lack of a policy of agrarian reform.� The movement called for more >farming credits and permanent settlements for the approximately 100,000 >families living in camps on occupied land of rural roadways. >Police used rubber bullets and tear gas against landless peasants who >had arrived in Curitiba�s outskirts aboard dozens of buses coming from >the state�s interior. The MST protesters tried to take over the cities' >public buildings as their counterparts did in other state capitals. In >other parts of the country the primary target was the ministry of >Finance whose policies, the MST says, obstruct agrarian reform and >agricultural development. In Sao Paulo, the Capital of Brazil, some 500 >landless demonstrators clashed with the police in an attempt to take >over the ministry of Finance headquarters. Many were arrested including >the leaders. But the protesters were successful in 17 other state >capitals throughout Brazil, where thousands of landless peasants were >able to take over or close down Govt. buildings. In Rio de Janeiro, >Central offices of the National Banks were the targets. In the northeast >and western cities, more than thousand people were involved in the >takeover. Police surrounded the building the protesters occupied. >Landowners organized under the Democratic Ruralist Union had announced >that they would respond to the invasion of their property with weapons >if necessary. The Govt. showed greater willingness to use forces. MST >had stepped up its takeover of unused rural lands on April 18 and >carried out more than 140different land occupations and then set their >sight on Govt. buildings. > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
