From: "cpimllib" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Fri, 1 Jan 1999 01:23:37 +0530 To: "Sipila_Kominform" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [ INDIA] ML Update, Vol:4; No.22; 30- 5- 2001. ML Update A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine Vol.-4; No.-22; 30-5-2001 Politics of (Cease)fire At a time when the BJP-led government at the centre is on the one hand facing severe crisis of credibility finding its expression in the mandate of the recently held elections, and on the other, the never-ending sequence of dissentions within the NDA with the potential of ripening into desertions has produced fresh episodes, a sword of uncertainty is visibly dangling on its head. To suppress the pain from the wounds thus suffered, apparently sharper than the one deriving from his own knee problem, Mr. Vajpayee has found a recipe in playing with ceasefire that would yield as a by-product a diversion of the national attention to the more wounded regions of the country : Kashmir and Northeast. That the talks with Pakistan are necessary to resolve the vexing Kashmir issue is acknowledged by all but saffron hawks. No saner voice would not welcome a governmental step forward in this direction. However, the more important task has always been to bring back normalcy in Kashmir by ensuring human rights there. On this front the government has moved backwards by quashing the ceasefire, although by itself the ceasefire, during the past six months, brought no improvement in human right conditions in the Valley. Had the government's own record been straight, and people of Kashmir would have not only been taken in confidence but given a scope to participate in such peace process on an equal footing with the two governments keen on deciding their fate, the story would have been completely different. Then no US pressure, direct or indirect, could be frequenting New Delhi and Islamabad, no solutions drafted in Washington to this problem between the two neighbours be whispered in their ears. But then, such options can be entertained only governments that care for people, for national sovereignty, national unity and integrity. In another way, or as the other side of the same coin, the same approach is manifest in the government's dealing with problem of militancy in the Northeast. Instead of resolving the whole set of problems of tribal autonomy, the government is sending every reinforcement to prolonging the existence of militant groups. For example, whereas the government shows no concern for granting a genuine self government to Bodos, it has struck ceasefire with Bodo Liberation Tigers, which as ground reality means licence to BLT squads roaming in jeeps with all sophisticated arms such as AK-47 in Bodo-dwelling areas and terrorize people there, be they Bodos, other tribals or non-tribals, with impunity. Similar is the case with Naga problem. Now, on 31 May, a high level meeting presided over by Prime Minister has decided to extend the ceasefire with NSCN(IM) for one year, accepting the NSCN condition that the ceasefire would extend to the Nagas living in the entire northeast! This would simply mean extension of the scope of movement of NSCN squads to the regions dominated by other peoples like Karbis, only because some Nagas reside there too. Political forces like ASDC struggling for autonomy in a peaceful democratic way will face armed intervention of these squads. Would it not result in intensification of ethnic clashes? Does it not tantamout to pressurising peace-loving communities to relinquish hopes on peaceful means and go for militancy? Dialogue With Pakistan Must be Backed by Sincere Steps CPI(ML) in a press statement on 24 May said that the Indian government talks with Pakistan are welcome but devoid of measures like an end to the culture of custodial killings and rapes by security forces, general amnesty to the imprisoned Kashmiri youth and exemplary punishment to the guilty officials of the security forces, and also talks with all representatives of Kashmiri people, one cannot hope to achieve success in negotiated political settlement of the vexed Kashmir problem. Party Opposes Power & Transport Tariff Hike CPI(ML) strongly opposed the steep hike in power tariff from June as well as proposed rise in public transport fares in Delhi. Party said that fundamental reason behind the chaos and anarchy prevailing in the social sectors like power and public transport is administrative ad-hocism, loot and corruption as well as its inclination towards private interests and not the so-called "revenue deficit". In place of addressing and resolving these snags, the government is burdening the poor people with exhorbitant hike in these two primary necessities of urban life. This is a part of overall drive of privatisation which both the BJP-led NDA central government and the Congress-run state government of Delhi are pursuing in all sectors, particularly in social service sector including sanitation, health, water supply and education, apart from power and public transport. CPI(ML) will launch a vigorous agitation angainst these anti-people policies. Movement Against Power and Transport Fare Hike Party's Delhi State Committee condemned the hike in power tariff and fares of public transport by Delhi govt. and blamed it for doing nothing to reduce transmission and distribution losses in electricity and checking corruption in transport administration. In protest, Party organised a street corner and effigy burning at Mandawali Subzi Mandi on 26 May, held similar programme at Shashi Garden in Patparganj area on 30 May and organised a dharna at Narela on 31 May. Also, street corner and effigy burning programme was held at Nangloi on 1 June. Similar programmes are slated to be held at Shakarpur chowk and Ganesh Nagar under AICCTU and AIPWA banners respectively. Central Committee Meeting Held in Delhi Party Central Committee meeting held in Delhi on 28-30 May primarily discussed election results in five states and the present national political situation. The CC first reviewed the election results. It was noted that the performance in Kerala and Pondicherry was more or less satisfactory in view of the primary stage of work there. In West Bengal, results were more or less on the expected lines. Performance in Tamil Nadu was satisfactory but i ntrospection is demanded in Villivakkam industrial area. In Assam, particularly in Karbi Anglong, there was a gap in our understanding of the objective situation. The CC adopted several resolutions on political situation. While it welcomes Indian Govt.'s offer of talks with Gen. Musharraf, it also observed that the government was doing nothing to normalise situation in Kashmir and instead, ceasefire had been lifted resulting in killing 10 militants on the very first day. The CC also criticised the government for bending on knees to endorse Bush's National Missile Defence plan and completely surrendering Indian govt.'s independence in foreign policy matters. The CC condemned the continuing opening up of Indian market as a result of WTO conditionalites, particularly lifing of QRs, and hailed working class unity on the question of opposing the opening up of defence production for private and foreign MNC investment. It was noted that with the clinching of BALCO deal, Ajit Jogi's Congress govt. stood fully exposed, revealing that the whole hullabaloo was raised only to strike a bargain with Sterlite. The CC criticised the govt. for its dubious deal with Naga militants resulting in extension of the ceasefire along with concessions detrimental to the cause of peoples' unity and peace in the Northeast. It also noted that the BJP govt. was conspiring to prolong the ad-hoc nature of Uttaranchal BJP govt. by not expediting delimitation of constituencies in the state so as to hold elections there on that basis along with UP. All India Peasant Struggle Committee Met in Patna The All India Peasant Struggle Committee (AIPSC) held its first meeting in Patna on 21-22 May. Representatives from Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP and Chhattisgarh were present in the meeting. It discussed the problems presently being faced by peasants and farmers as a result of imposition of WTO conditionalities as well as food stocks and PDS and decided to launch a campaign on these issues. A mass contact campaign to collect one million signatures is to be taken up from June to October. For this a freedom charter for Indian peasants would be prepared (covering freedom from WTO, freedom from suicide deaths, freedom from starvation deaths, freedom from debt, freedom from predatory MNCs) and an Azadi Abhiyan week from 9-15 August will be observed. On 9 August rasta roko/jail bharo agitation will be launched on these demands. At block level, conventions are to be held within this week. Some new members were inducted in the Committee and four co-convenors were appointed: Mahendra Chaudhry(Rajasthan), Ruldu Singh(Punjab), Rajaram Singh(Bihar) and Mahesh Singh(UP). It was decided to hold a national level conference in Punjab in September which will be hosted by BKU (Ekta), where a decision will be taken in mobilise peasants and farmes in a Parliament march to be held in November. Central Trade Unions on Defence Production Units A meeting of central trade unions including AICCTU, CITU, TUCC, UTUC, UTUC(LS), INTUC and BMS, it was decided to launch a nationwide movement against privatisation of public sector undertakings (PSUs) including defence, against changing labour laws in favour of employers, for immediate enactment of a comprehensive bill for agricultural labour, against removal of quantitative restrictions detrimental to the national interests and against policies leading to aggravation of joblessness and unemployment. The meeting decided to hold solidarity rallies in state capitals and important industrial zones in the first week of July, the day defence employees go on indefinite strike, to hold state-level conventions, rallies, dharnas and to hold a march to Parliament on the 2nd day of coming Monsoon Session. The meeting decided to intensify the joint movement in the coming days, culminating in an all-India strike action. May Day in Bangalore Bangalore unit of AICCTU conducted a week-long campaign against the draconian anti labour amendments proposed in the union budget and against the impact of globalisation from April 23 to May 1, among the vast sections of working class in the Peenya industrial estate. On April 25, a workers meeting was addressed by Com. Govindarajan, Subramani, Poonacha, Srinivas, Manjula and Devarajan. As a culmination of the campaign, May Day dharna was held at Gandhi statue, where Com. Chabaque, leader of Central Govt. Employees Federation and some others spoke. An effigy depicting the anti-labour policies and globalisation was hung to death. Crisis in Garment Industry Sinha succumbed to the powerful business lobby when he imposed 16% excise levy on garments in the recent Central Budget, resulting in a price hike leading to an estimated 40% reduction in the domestic demands. At a time when there was a marked slow-down in the first quarter of this year as well as the warning that Bangladesh is going to surpass India in apparel export in the next year, this policy is disastrous. Along with this, abolition of quantitative restriction for flooding of foreign germents will be "the final nail in the coffin of the beleaguered textile mills already reeling under the impact of the high production costs and global competition", according to representative of the Garment Rojgar Bachao Andolan. Some of the industries have already announced plans to shift manufacturing base to Bangladesh and other medium and large-scale units too are contemplating shifting production base to neighboring countries. The Small and tiny units are worst effected, but it is the workers families who are reeling under starvation and joblessness, cutting across the size of the units. According to an estimate 25% of the 58,000 medium scale readymade garments manufacturing units have already closed down. A report says 134 lakh workers employed in 83 lakh Garments units in the country are facing an uncertain future. Naxalbari Day Observed in UP Districts Naxalbari Day was observed in various districts of UP on 25 May, remembering the heroic peasant struggle and the martyrs who laid down their lives to herald a new revolutionary struggle in the post-independent India. In Lakhimpur-Kheri, the district Party Committee brought out a procession and held a meeting in which 250 people participated. It was addressed by Com. Purushottam Sharma, District Party Secretary. In Bijnor, a procession was taken out from Lalwala village which went up to Tanda Maidas on tractor-trollies. Pledging to oust BJP govt., the participants held a meeting there. It was presided over by Com. Charan Singh and conducted by Com. Rahman. Distt. Party Incharge Com. Shamshad Hussain, Md. Mohsin, Mukhram Singh, Md. Abid, Barkat Jahan, Purushottam and Dinesh Sharma. Agrarian policies of Vajpayee government were the main target of attack of the speakers, who declared to fight for land to the landless. In Lucknow, a seminar was held at State Party Office on the topic "Naxalism and State Repression". Party State Committee member Com. Lal Bahadur Singh shed light on 34 years' history of Naxalism and brought to the fore the issue of repression in adivasi-dominated areas of Chandauli-Mirzapur-Sonebhadra region. Ajay Singh, Gen. Secy. of Jan Sanskriti Manch, Shyam Ankuram and others spoke at the seminar. It was decided to send a delegation to the Governor. The delegation comprised eminent writer Krishna Narayan Kakkar, noted poet Naresh Saxena, JSM Gen. Secy. Ajay Singh, Party Lucknow Secy. Ajanta Lohit, and RYA General Secretary Lal Bahadur Singh. A memorandum was submitted which demanded that a high level inquiry be ordered into Bhawanipur massacre, the "encounter" killings in eastern UP, particularly in Chandauli-Mirzapur-Sonebhadra be stopped, "Karmnasha Package" to deal with "naxalites" in this region be withdrawn. The Governor assured that he will draw ministry's attention to these problems and ask them to adopt a human approach to mass movements. Movement Against Police Firing in Varanasi Police fired indiscriminately on peasants demanding compensation for the land acquired for Babatpur Aerodromme on 21 May, in which one peasant was killed and several injured. CPI(ML) condemned the incident and demanded arrest of culprit police officials as well as registration of murder case against them. An investigation team led by Com. Akhilendra Pratap Singh, State Party Secretary went to the spot which revealed that there were only some 40 peasants, mostly those whose lands were being seized without any prior legal acquision notice. Moreover, the peasant was killed by a bullet fired by SDM himself, who opened fire without provocation. Party's Varanasi district committee observed protest week starting from Naxalbari Day on 25 May and staged a dharna at District Collectorate, which continued till 31 May. Dharna Against Police Atrocity in Kheri In Fulbehar PS of Lakhimpur Kheri district, police had implicated innocent people in false cases and tortured them. The district Party unit intervened and made it an issue of mass movement. An indefinite dharna by rural people was started before the DM on 15 May. They demanded institution of murder and loot cases against the DSP. Initially the FIR could be registered only by a court order. However, finally the DM was forced to accept the demands and the dharna was lifted on 24 May. ASDC Cadre Conference Held in Diphu A cadre conference was held at Taralangso in Diphu on 26 May to review the election results. In this conference, all district committee members from Karbi Anglong as well as five members each from fraternal organisations of ASDC were invited. In all there were 350 participants. Cadres and student-youth representatives from North Cachar Hills also attended the conference. A document was placed on the performance of ASDC(P) and analysis of the mandate. Firstly, it was evident that a section of ASDC cadres and supporters were under confusion as a result of the split, and they had sided with the renegades; so it has become a crucial task for ASDC to win them back into the movemental organisation. Secondly, in the situation obtaining following the elections, we will have no representative inside the Assam Assembly this time, therefore, extra-parliamentary struggle must be stepped up in order to compensate for the lack of voice inside the Assembly. Thirdly, it has be accepted on the basis of the mandate that the anti-autonomous movement forces have at present become dominant. Hence, sincere efforts must be made to beat them back with all our might because this is a life and death question for the autonomy movement. In response to the unofficial moves by the renegades in the name of "reunification", ASDC felt that this may be a ploy to instigate defection and maintain a hold on the autonomous council by hook or by crook in the forthcoming test of strength, where, consequent to the renegades' alliance with AGP and BJP, now Congress has decided to part ways with them. The conference also decided to hold a dharna by 500 people (100 from each constitueny) before the Assembly on 30 May when it commences and place the demands concerning autonomous state. In another decision, the task of building people's guard to counter the wholesale rigging as witnesses in the recently held elections was taken up in right earnest and in this regard a workshop will be held shortly. Ethnic Strife Threatens Jharkhand "Speakers at the Kurmi Maharally on 25 May (in Ranchi) have played up the so-called 27-73 (population percentage) divided between tribals and non-tribals in Jharkhand, to hint at a possible new socio-political equation emerging in the state... Possibly taking a leaf out of RJD supremo Laloo Yadav's politcal notebook, the rally has come as the most blatant display of caste-based identity since the formation of Jharkhand. A good part of the venom spewed was in reaction to attempts by BJP MP Salkhan Murmu's Adivasi Janadhikar Manch to unite tribals on the issue of job reservations."(Hintustan Times, 28 May 2001) Cultural Session in Lucknow A story-poem-discussion session was held at Lenin Pustak Kendra, Lalkuan in Lucknow on 23 May. It was presided over by senior writer Mohan Thapalial. Budding story-writer Kusum Verma read out her story "Madariwala", then senior Urdu poet Tashna Alami recited some of her poems. Whereas "Madariwala" catches the clash between tradition and modernity, Tashna's poems comment on the irony of the current socio-economic situation and the conspiracy hidden there. It was followed by a discussion participated in by KN Kakkar, Rakesh of IPTA, Ruprekha Verma, Shyam Ankuram, Ajanta Lohit, Kaushal Kishor, Anil Sinha, RK Sinha, during which craft and fabric of Kusum Verma's story was acclaimed despite some weaknesses. Ajay Singh conducted the session and moved the vote of thanks. General Strike Against Cutback in Greece Greek workers staged the second general strike within a month on May 17 against government plans to cut pensions and raise the retirement age. Transportation in the capital city of Athens was completely paralysed. Schools and hospitals shut down as well. Tens of thousands of workers marched on the parliament building during the day of protest. Strike Hit IMF Austerity Plan in Columbia Hundreds of thousands of teachers and medical workers walked off the job on May 15 to protest the Colombian government's IMF-backed austerity plans. The apprehension was that the government's economic plans would slash spending on social services. Around 300,000 teachers - members of the militant union FECODE - and 90,000 medical workers joined the strike the first day. Unions warned that the strike would continue indefinitely until the government backed down from its budget-slashing. AKEL wins Cyprus elections The Communist Party of Greek Cyprus AKEL has come out victor in the island's general elections beating the ruling Democratic Rally (DISY) by one seat. In a fiercely contested poll, with a 92% turnout, AKEL, the Progressive Party of the Working People, polled 34.71 per cent over DISY's 34.1%. Thus AKEL is the biggest single party in the Nicosia parliament with 20 seats, followed by DISY, which bagged 19, Democratic Party won 9, Movement of Social Democrats 4 and United Democrats 1 - all down one seat from the previous parliament. Three new parties, New Horizons, the Fighting Democratic Movement and the Ecologists, entered parliament for the first time winning one seat each in the 56-strong House of Representatives. During its rule, DISY govt. has been under fire for the stock exchange crash amid accusations of insider dealing by ministers. Ministers have been accused of nepotism and graft, staggering rise in crime, drugs and prostitution. The first task of the new parliament, which meets on 7 June, is to prepare legislation for the divided island's entry into the European Union. The growing support for the communists makes AKEL well-placed to challenge President Glafcos Clerides when he comes up for re-election in 2003. Message of Solidarity with Struggle for Democracy in Burma We, on behalf of the whole Party and the people of India, resolutely stand by the very legitimate aspiration of the Burmese people for genuine democracy. We earnestly believe that a democratic Burma alone can unleash all out initiative of the whole people for the social and economic development which has been crippled and distorted by the military dictatorship. Instead of building Burma as a prosperous country, the military junta has wasted national resources & energy for forty long years while continuing to suppress and terrorise the people. ... We are fully confident that the Burmese people and the international forces of democracy will not allow the military junta to maintain status quo indefinitely by hook or crook. CPI(ML) extends its full support to the demand for implementation of the 1990 election results and enforce democratization of Burma, release of all political prisoners and implementation of human rights. Our party also expresses solidarity with the Burmese people's struggle for Restoration of Democracy in Burma. [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cpiml.org _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
