>ML Update >A CPI(ML) News Magazine >Vol:3; No.32; 16-8-2000 > > >Editorial: > >53rd Anniversary of India�s Independence : > >Intensify the Fight to Free >�Freedom� from its Fetters > >As India observes the 53rd anniversary of independence, the air is thick > >with all kinds of threats and challenges. Independence in this country >always evokes mixed memories � freedom from colonialism had been marked >by the worst kind of communal bloodbath and a division of the country >into two warring twins. Since 1947, the spectre of communalism has never > >stopped haunting India. Today, the communal situation has been rendered >particularly explosive by the ruling BJP�s systematic drive towards >saffronisation. Muslims apart, Christians also find themselves at the >receiving end of the saffron brigade�s persecution campaign. Minorities >have never felt as insecure as they are feeling today after more than >fifty years of freedom. > >If Independence had anything to do with the vision of a self-reliant and > >industrially developed India, that vision has also been all but >shattered by India�s ruling classes. The industrial structure developed >under the public sector is being steadily dismantled. Like feudal >aristocrats squandering away their family fortunes, the ruling saffron >Nawabs of India are busy destroying the valuable national assets built >up through decades of hard toil and sacrifice by the working people of >India. Notions of food security and agricultural self-sufficiency have >also been sacrificed as cannon fodder for a growing imperialist invasion > >of Indian agriculture. Come April 2001 and the remaining list of 700-odd > >items will also be freed from all import restrictions. > >In the Nehru-Nasser-Tito era of Non-Alignment, Indian foreign policy was > >considered by many to be the epitome of the Indian ruling classes� >yearning for independence. We need not stop here for a post-mortem of >that policy of non-alignment, what concerns us most today is the >complete subservience of the Indian foreign policy to Washington�s >strategic pursuit of global hegemony. If Clinton�s weeklong visit to >India early this year demonstrated America�s new-found clout over India, > >Vajpayee�s forthcoming fortnightlong trip to the US will be a strategic >statement of India�s complete surrender. It is significant that Vajpayee > >will be visiting the US in September when the country will be busy >electing its next President. Obviously Vajpayee�s visit is timed to >prove India�s strategic commitment to the US regardless of whichever >party holds the oval office in the White House. > >The dark American shadow over India is perhaps most clearly visible in >Kashmir. The raging insurgency in Kashmir over the last ten years has >claimed thousands of lives. As long as the movement had a predominantly >secular character and demanded an independent Kashmir, the Indian ruling > >classes were egged on to follow a one-track policy devoid of any >political initiative and relying exclusively on military manoeuvres and >repressive counter-insurgency measures. The US was allowed to fish >leisurely in Kashmir�s troubled waters. Now everybody can see the >disastrous consequences of the American gameplan: forces of >ethno-communal disintegration of Kashmir are clamouring for their own >shares of the cake, New Delhi is prepared to go beyond the >constitutional framework to negotiate with the Hizbul Mujahideen and the > >US has got a permanent foothold in this region of crucial strategic >importance. >Whatever Vajpayee may say from the ramparts of Lal Qila, there can be no > >suppressing the real picture of India�s official celebration of the 53rd > >anniversary of Independence. We have serial blasts rocking the whole of >Kashmir, Mumbai trying to survive in the borrowed mercy of Bal >Thackeray, the Ranvir Sena striking at will in Bihar and down south the >Karuna-Krishna-Naidu model of e-governance being held to absolute ransom > >by Veerappan�s parallel government in the jungle (when will Advani >discover the ISI hand behind Veerappan?). > >India is obviously awaiting her real tryst with real independence. Let >us intensify the fight for freeing �freedom� from its fetters > > >Red Salute to Com. A.N. Das > >Condolence Meetings Held in Memory of >Com. Arvind N. Das > >Party Central Committee organised a condolence meeting to pay homage to >Com. Arvind N. Das at South Avenue MP Club on 13 August. It was attended > >by academicians, journalists, social and political activists as well as >people from other walks of life. > >Earlier, when Com. A.N. Das's mortal remains arrived from Amsterdam in >the night of 10 August, apart from family members and friends of Com. >Das, Party leaders Com. BB Pandey, Kumudini Pati, P.V. Srinivas and Jita > >Kaur were there at the airport to receive them. The mortal remains were >taken to Bihar Bhawan from where on the next day, 11 August, at 11 a.m. >the funeral procession started to Nigambodh Electric Crematorium. Party >General Secretary Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya, PB member Com. Swadesh >Bhattacharya, Com. Kumudini Pati, Party M.P. Com. Jayanta Rongpi, Com. >Ranjit Abhigyan and others attended the funeral and bade the last salute > >to the departed comrade. > >Speaking on behalf of the Central Committee at the condolence meeting on > >13 August, Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya said that Com. A.N. Das was a >versatile intellectual with a total commitment to the integral vision of > >a secular democratic modern India. He highlighted his contribution to >creative applications of Marxism to the Indian context. "At a time when >the Indian intelligentsia is exposed to tremendous pressure of >saffronisation, Arvind will continue to serve as a great source of >inspiration for every stream of creative resistance to fascism and >committed defence of democracy", he said. > >Senior journalist Harish Khare recalled Times of India days and said >that Arvind was a rare example who kept on nurturing his critical >intellect while working with the corporate press. Senior Hindi >journalist Vishnu Nagar said that while working with Navbharat Times he >regarded Arvind as a person who could be always relied upon for >orientation, who had filled in the chasm between Hindi and English >press. Those who paid their tributes to Arivnd included CPI National >Secretariat member Com. Atul Kumar Anjan, Prof. Uma Chakravarty, Prof >Kamal Mitra Chenoy, poet Pankaj Singh, Editor of Revolutionary Democracy > >Com. Vijay Singh, journalists Vishweshwar Mishra and Urmilesh, social >activist Suman Sahai and Dhananjay, a student of JNU. The meeting was >conducted by Com. BB Pandey. > >In the evening a condolence meeting was held by AISA at Sutlej Hostel in > >JNU, attended by around a hundred students. Speakers paying tribute to >included Prof. Amiya Bagchi, Prof. Prabhat Patnaik, Prof. Utsa Patnaik, >Prof. Probin Jha, Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy and Party Central Committee >member Com. Brij Bihari Pandey. > >In Lucknow, a condolence meeting was organised by Jan Sanskriti Manch on > >9 August at CPI(ML) State Party office to pay homage to brilliant >Marxist intellectual Arvind N. Das. Presiding over the meeting G.P. >Mishra, Director of Giri Institute of Development Studies said that the >focal point of personality of Arvind was his ideological firmness and >commitment. He was a rare combination of depth in social science, >journalism and ideology. A large number of intellectuals, journalists, >writers, performers and political and social activists had gathered to >pay tribute to the departed soul. The meeting was conducted by Ajay >Singh, General Secretary of JSM. The speakers included Com. Lal Bahadur >Singh, General Secretary of RYA, senior journalist Hemendra Narain, >Sudarshan Bhatia, Rajiv Ranjan Jha, PWA secretary Virendra Yadav, >writers Mudrarakshash and Shaqil Siddiqi, IPTA general secretary Rakesh, > >JSM Lucknow unit convener Ashok Chandra, PUCL Vice President >Chittaranjan Singh, Prof. Ramesh Dixit, AISA state president Rakesh >Singh and Krishnavatar Pandey, ex-director of basic education. >In Patna , a condolence meeting was organised at State Party office on 7 > >August. Those who paid tributes to Arvind included Prof. Shashi Bhushan >of AN Sinha Institute, writer Shekhar, poet Vidyanand Sahai, Khursheed >Alam and Dr. Shamim of IMC, Prof. Arvind, Party leaders Com. Ram Naresh >Ram, Nand Kishore Prasad, KD Yadav, Arun Kumar, MLA, RN Thakur and >Jagdev Prasad of AICCTU. Com. Ramjatan Sharma gave an account of >Arvind's association with CPI(ML).. > > >March against Communalism and Backwardness > >The state unit of CPI(ML) brought out a march in Patna on 14 August >against imperialism, communalism and backwardness of Bihar, which >started from the state Party office and went up to Radio Station chowk. >A meeting was held there addressed by Central Committee member Com. KD >Yadav. > >Earlier the Party organised a dharna at Railway Station Chowk on 9 >August from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. demanding special status to Bihar and a >central package for its development. Apart from Party leaders, AISA, >RYA, AIPWA, AICCTU and IMC leaders were also present. On the same day >dharnas were held by Party in Muzaffarpur and Begusarai. > > >CPI(ML) Condemns Firing on Farmers in Rajouri > >CPI(ML) strongly condemned the incident of army atrocities on innocent >farmers in Rajouri on 9 August. Security forces had destroyed the >standing crops of farmers and protesting farmers were greeted with Army >bullets killing one farmer and injuring several others. Coming in the >wake of disclosure that the people killed recently in Pahagam were >victims of CRPF bullets, Rajouri incident reveals a dangerous pattern of > >wanton violence by security forces. Party has appealed to the National >Human Rights Commission for immediate and exemplary intervention. >With its shrill chauvinistic campaign for scrapping Article 370 and >jingoistic cries of forcibly capturing the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, >the BJP has been singularly responsible for the aggravation of the >situation in Kashmir. The summary rejection of the J&K Assembly >resolution on autonomy also reflected the quintessentialy chauvinistic >aproach which treats Kashmir as a piece of real estate with sheer >contempt for the aspirations of the people of Kashmir. > >The same BJP leaders however rushed to hold parleys with Hizbul >Mujahideen, even agreeing to go beyond the framework of the >Constitution, as Vajpayee put it. Now that the Hizbul Mujahideen has >withdrawn its unilateral ceasefire, Advani has accused it of reading out > >the Pakistani script. But the nation owes an answer from the BJP top >brass as to why the NDA government is reading out the American script on > >Kashmir. > > >District Offices Gheraoed in U.P. by Khet Mazdoors > >Khet Mazdoor Sabha organised gherao of district offices in Eastern U.P. >on 9 August under 'Dam bandho, Kam do' movement. Their demands included >ensuring at least 100-days' work in a year, seizure and distribution of >ceiling surplus land among landless and agrarian peasants, arrest of >feudal elements and kulaks who trampled underfoot labour laws and >enactment of Bataidari (sharecropping) Law in the state as well as >checking the eviction of poor sharecroppers. More than 1,500 agrarian >labourers participated in the demonstration held at Chandauli. In the >afternoon the agrarian labourers joined with RYA-AIPWA activists who >were demonstrating on their own agenda, and blocked the main road at >Chandauli. The blocade was lifted only after ADM himself came and >received the memorandum and assured to take prompt action on the >demands. Hundreds of activists participated in similar dharnas held at >Ghazipur, Sonebhadra and Deoria district headquarters. > > >RYA-AIPWA Joint Dharna at District Hospitals in U.P. > >Demanding withdrawal of hike in medical fee recently promulgated in >government hospitals in U.P., RYA and AIPWA jointly organised >demonstrations at district headquarters throughout the state and at a >number of places blocked the road. In Kanpur, around 400 activists >including 150 women blocked the busiest road in front of Ursula Hospital > >for hours and held a mass meeting there, and later handed over a >memorandum to the authorities. In Chandauli, hundreds of activists >participated in dharna in front of the district hospital. In Pilibhit >200 activists blocked the road in front of the hospital whereas in >Lakhimpur Kheri a large number of people gathered around the mass >meeting being held in front of the district hospital. In Bijnor, 100 >women and youth brought out a procession and held a mass meeting in >front of district hospital. In Allahabad, besides staging dharna in >front of district headquarters, activists brought out a procession and >burnt the effigy of the U.P. Chief Minister at Teliarganj. > > >Human Chain Against Fee Hike in Varanasi > >Recently university students of eastern U.P. held an Eastern Zone >Students Convention at Gyanpur (Bhadohi), in which AISA also >participated. The convention called for observing 9 August as protest >day against disproportionate hike in university admission fee, imposing >age bar on contesting student union elections and forcible eviction of >students from hostels to impose the hike. Observing the protest day, >AISA and other student organisations in Varanasi mobilised students from > >universities and local colleges and formed a human chain in front of DM >office. Later they held a militant demonstration cum mass meeting that >was conducted by AISA General Secretary Sunil Yadav and addressed by >various student leaders. Next the students of Eastern zone will stage a >demonstration before the Vidhan Sabha in Lucknow on 18 August. > > >CPIML-RYA March in Delhi > >Hundreds of activists under the banner of CPI(ML) and RYA, marched in a >procession in Shahdara area of East Delhi to DCP office on 8 August and >held a mass meeting there. They were protesting against gross >irregularities and utter violation of labour laws by factory owners, >which had resulted in death of a worker by electrocution a few days ago. > >The meeting was addressed by Com. Rajendra Pratholi, Delhi Party Secy., >Com. Sunita, local RYA leaders Shashi Bhushan, Ram Abhilash, Dharmendra >Kumar Sharma and others. A delegation met the DCP and demanded >time-bound investigation into the accident and prompt action on that >basis. > > >Cadre Training Camp > >Party cadre training camp of Patna Rural District Committee was held at >Cooperative Hall, Chitkohra on 9-10 August. Main speaker was Com. Nand >Kishore Prasad, Party PB member. The main topic of discussion were >documents of 6th Party Congress. > >Paliganj Area Committee of Patna Rural district held a convention on 13 >August. After the convention a march was brought out pledging to >eliminate Ranvir Sena and demanding withdrawal of false cases against >party cadres. > > >Lathicharge on Protest to Nuclear Power Scheme > >On 9th August, the Nagasaki Day, various science, health and democratic >organisations held a protest march in Calcutta to oppose the West Bengal > >LF government's decision to instal nuclear power project in South >24-Parganas. It was attended by eminent personalities including Dr. >Sujan Basu, Dr. Pradip Dutta, Ajit Narayan Basu, Sujato Bhadra and >political leaders Santosh Rana and Arijit Mitra. At the end of the >march, when the speakers were addressing the agitators, police started >lathicharge on the peaceful meeting, injuring several people including >women and arrested more than 40 people. > >Against this barbaric attack as well as the decision to instal nuclear >power project, the above organisations decided to observe a protest week > >holding protest marches all over the state and giving a deputation to >the Chief Minister on 18th August. > > >Workers Move Against Management's Illegal Acts > >The management of Kakinda Jute Mill in West Bengal has on the one hand >increased the workload and on the other illegally shifted factory work >to the contractors. When the workers protested against it, the >management suspended two workers. This gave rise to agitation and the >management declared lock out in the Mill and gave notice to the workers >to collect due wages. The factory union led by AICCTU staged >demonstration before the factory gate and blocked the roads against the >lock-out, threatening that the workers would forcibly enter the factory >if the illegal lock-out was not withdrawn. Under the pressure of the >movement, the Management retreated and agreed to pay the due wages and >reopen the Mill. > > >Cadre Convention in Chhattisgarh > >A CPI(ML) cadre convention of Chhattisgarh was held in Bhilai on 10 >August. It was attended by 60 cadres from Bhilai, Raipur and Bilaspur. >It was felt that the role of the Party must increase after the formation > >of Chattisgarh state. Addressing the convention CC member Com. Rajaram >highlighted the necessity to strengthen the Party in this context. On 11 > >August, Chhattisgarh Leading Team was formed and Com. Shambhu Singh was >appointed its secretary. > > >Check Regional Disparity ! >Ensure Bihar's Development !! > >The Party has welcomed the formation of Jharkhand on behalf of working >people and democratic opinion of the county and greeted the toiling and >adivasi people of Jharkhand. Party has wished them greater success in >their struggle for all round development of Jharkhand and against mafia >forces engaged in oppression and loot. > >Bihar has been suffering from backwardness even when Jharkhand was its >part. Formation of Jharkhand thus has no relation to this backwardness, >which is solely because of the anti-development forces within and >outside Bihar, wrong policies and approach of Central govt in >particular. We have to encounter these forces within and outside Bihar >to ensure all round development of Bihar and reverse these wrong >policies. Parties like BJP-RJD-Samata-JD(U) are trying to dupe the >people of Bihar by demanding several hundred crores of rupees for its >development, but in fact they are looking forward to an opportunity of >further scams. We instead have demanded a special package for Bihar's >development and look forward to the plans and policies which on >implementation can change the fate of Bihar. > >In continuance of this campaign we have demanded a 5-point package and >we will hold a massive demonstration before Parliament on 21 August. The > >package contains: > >1. State of Bihar should be allotted special status, all the loans >extended so far to Bihar by the Centre be waived off, and financial >assistance to the state for the next ten years be considered as grant; > >2. Plan for all round development of agriculture along with implementing > >complete land reform and enacting an integrated law for agrarian worker; > >quick development on the basis of largescale government investment on >improving irrigation, electricity and road transport; > >3. A complete plan of industrial development be chalked out by >renovating all the sick and closed industries; > >4. Flood control plan be implemented at war scale to save north Bihar >from the ravages of flood; and > >5. Complete overhauling of education system in Bihar, Patna University >be awarded status of central university to check brain drain, institutes > >of higher learning and technology such as IIT be established in Patna >and software technology park be developed in the state. > >CPI(ML) appeals to all the toiling people, democratic and progressive >forces who have a concern for development of Bihar to participate in the > >march to Parliament > > >Propaganda and Agitation > >(From the thesis of the 3rd Congress of Communist International 1921- A > >Summary.) > >* The principal form of Communist propaganda are: (i) Individual verbal >propaganda. (ii) Participation in the industrial and political labour >movement. (iii) Propaganda through the party press and distribution of >literature. Every member of a legal and illegal Party is to participate > >regularly in one or the other of these forms of propaganda > >* Where a large majority of the proletariat has not yet reached >revolutionary consciousness, the Communist agitation must be constantly >on the lookout for new forms of propaganda in order to meet these >backward workers halfway and thus facilitate their entry into >revolutionary ranks. The Communist propaganda with its watchwords >(slogans) must bring out the budding, unconscious, incomplete, >vacillating and semi-bourgeois revolutionary tendencies which are >struggling for supremacy with the bourgeois traditions and conceptions >in the minds of the workers. At the same time, Communist propaganda >must not rest content with the limited and confused demands or the >aspirations of proletarian masses. These demands and expectations >contain revolutionary germs and are a means of bringing the proletariats > >under the influence of Communist propaganda. > > * Communist agitation among the prolitarian masses must be >conducted in such a way that our Communist organisation appears as the >courageous, intelligent, energetic and ever-faithful leader of their >labour movement. In order to achieve this, the communist must take part >in all the elementary struggles and movements of the workers and must >defend the workers cause, pay great attention to the concrete questions >of working class life, help the workers to come to a right understanding > >of these questions and help them to formulate their demands in a >practical and concise form. It is only through leading the working >masses in the petty warfare against the onslaught of capitalism that the > >Communist Party will be able to become the vanguard of the working >class, acquiring the capacity for systematic leadership of the >proletariat in its struggle for supremacy over the bourgeoisie. > __________________________________ 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] ___________________________________
