ML Update A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine Vol. 6, No. 32, 6 - 12 Aug 2003
EDITORIAL THE 'GAME OF LAW' IN BIHAR On July 30 the DGP of Bihar made headlines by ordering immediate arrest of the notorious RJD MP from Siwan, Md. Shahabuddin. The DGP's communication to the state Home Secretary also found its way to the Patna press. His recommendations included a suggestion to the State Government to refer the Gopalganj bank dacoity case to the CBI, to reopen nine cases in which the lower court has apparently acquitted the don for want of 'evidence' and transfer of all the thirty-odd criminal cases, in which Shahabuddin figures as a prime accused, to Patna. Apart from his continuing reign of terror in Siwan, Shahabuddin is also known to be involved in inter-state and international crime syndicates including collaboration with the Dubai-based Dawood Ibrahim gang. The wide-ranging criminal record of the Siwan don has long been open public knowledge in Bihar and beyond, but this is the first time a senior police official of the rank of a DGP described him as the biggest challenge to any notion of the rule of law in Bihar. Much water has however already flown down the Ganga since the DGP's open outburst. On July 30, both Shahabuddin and Laloo Prasad were away in Delhi. Laloo Prasad has since returned to Patna. Shahabuddin too was slated to return to Siwan, but at the behest of Laloo Prasad he apparently got down somewhere in UP. The chief of the Special Task Force dispatched to Siwan has already been summoned back. By all indications, the DGP's bold recommendations are set to end up as empty 'sound and fury, signifying nothing'. Instead of the fate of Shahabuddin, the focus of public interest has already shifted to the future of the DGP and the terms of yet another emerging rapprochement between the RJD chief and the Siwan don. While various motives are being attributed to the DGP's sudden move, it is widely believed that the whole show is blessed by Laloo Prasad who is in desperate need to reassert his political authority within RJD and divert public attention and anger from the growing spate of abductions and other crimes in the state. The last time Shahabuddin was sought to be arrested was in March 2001 when sections of the police force in Siwan had virtually rebelled against his reign of terror and the Siwan SP had personally swung into action. But the outcome was an immediate shunting out of the SP followed by a royal display of bonhomie between Laloo Prasad and Shahabuddin. Many believe that history is all set to repeat itself in August 2003. Contrast the Siwan developments to the scene in Arwal-Jehanabad and the entire picture of Bihar will fall in perspective. Comrade Shah Chand, a respected CPI(ML) leader and the popular mukhiya of Bhadasi panchayat of Arwal block, who had finished a close second in the last election for the Arwal assembly seat, and fifteen other persons have just been convicted under TADA. Incidentally, the Bihar government has been the most vocal against black laws like the TADA and POTA and it keeps claiming that these laws have never been and will never be invoked in Bihar. Yet even in the face of a massive nationwide outcry against the misuse of TADA it has not exercised the power vested with it to withdraw such patently false and preposterous cases of TADA as the one concerning Comrade Shah Chand and others in Arwal. Selective use of all kinds of black laws and every brutal weapon of state repression against communist revolutionaries and leaders and activists of people's movements and blanket protection of real criminals and terrorists - this is the real picture of 'law and order' in Laloo's Bihar. Those who mourn the absence of 'rule of law' in Bihar must be prepared to direct their attention to this absolutely skewed and farcical use of law, this utter travesty of justice in the state. Law in the state has become a private weapon of the feudal-bureaucratic-mafia-minister nexus. No rule of law can be established without thwarting the 'game of law' played by the wielders of political, economic and social power in the state. In other words, the need is to overhaul the established 'power structure' in the state. Friends of liberty and the rule of law must therefore come to the aid of the forces of the people who are the worst victims of the existing power structure and yet who are also the most courageous and dedicated fighters for change and democracy. OBITUARY Comrade Brajesh Stood Rock Firm in the Face of Trying Conditions On the morning of 30 July Comrade Vinay Kumar Singh (Brajesh), a member of CPI(ML) Bihar State Committee and Secretary of Gaya District Committee, succumbed to brain hemorrhage in Magadh Medical College and Hospital, Gaya. Only last night he had attended a local party meeting called to review the Khet Mazdoor Sabha membership campaign in Tekari. He was only 39. Born in Tiskhora village of Masaurhi (Patna), Com. Brajesh became a whole-timer of CPI(ML) in 1984. Working in Patna rural he displayed an exemplary boldness in the struggle against Bhoomi Sena. He was deputed to work in Jahanabad (for a short while in Chatra as well) before he was entrusted with the complex responsibility of reviving Party work in Barachatti which had suffered a setback due to wrong class line and subsequent desertion of the party incharge and the MLA elected from there under the IPF banner. Developing a series of land movements with his arduous work, Com. Bajesh not only revived the Party but posed an effective challenge to the anarchist line of MCC. Consequently the MCC was marginalized in that area. He was again sent to Jahanabad after Ranvir Sena had perpetrated the heinous Bathe massacre. In this period he suffered the brunt of repression unleashed against CPI(ML). He was arrested and kept in police lock up for four days where he was subjected to inhuman torture and then sent to Gaya Central Jail. Coming out of the jail, Com. Brajesh once again plunged into Party work with renewed vigour. Recognising his outstanding role as an emerging leader, he was elected to Bihar State Committee in its Sixth Conference in 2001. He was once again given responsibility as Party secretary of Gaya District Committee. Carrying out his new responsibilities he gave a new impetus to the Party work there and played an outstanding role in developing mass resistance in Konch-Tekari area of Gaya. A number of villages under MCC influence came over to CPI(ML) fold in this process. Com. Brajesh was known for his determination in the service of Party, revolution and people in the most trying situations. His demise is a loss for the whole party and his memory will always remain a source of inspiration to us. CPI(ML) DEMANDED ARREST OF SHAHABUDDIN CPI(ML) demanded arrest of the notorious criminal Shahabuddin, an RJD MP from Siwan, who had masterminded the killing of Comrades Chandrashekhar and Shyam Narain Yadav apart from indulging in scores of murders, dacoity and other heinous crimes, against which cases are pending in the courts of law. The Party said that while such a criminal is roaming scot free, CPI(ML) activists are being implicated in false cases and arrested under TADA which has already been repealed. Against this discrimination by Bihar government, CPI(ML) declared to observe protest programme allover Bihar on 6 August and hold dharna on 8 and 9 August. With the intensification of the protest movement programmes like Bihar Bandh and Chakka Jam will follow. THE MYTH OF NDA AGENDA LIES CREMATED AT AYODHYA With his categorical assurance to overcome all obstacles to fulfil the last wish of Ramchandra Paramhans, Vajpayee has dropped all his earlier pretensions of distancing himself from the Sangh's Ayodhya agenda. His arrival at Ayodhya and the chorus he sang with Advani, Sudarshan and Singhal marked a new readiness on the part of the BJP to fight the next elections on the issue of Ayodhya. The myth of an independent NDA agenda has now been finally cremated on the banks of the Saryu. A return to Ayodhya today however signifies only the growing weakness and desperation of the BJP. For the overwhelming majority of Indians, the BJP government has proved to be nothing but a harbinger of all-round economic crisis, unprecedented violation of democracy and shameless subservience to the Anglo-American imperialist axis. The Left and democratic forces must frustrate the BJP's efforts to use Ayodhya as an emotional veil over this sordid reality. LAND SEIZED BACK FROM UNDER THE LANDLORD'S POSSESSION On 17 July 2003, peasants led by Party's Hematabad Local Committee recaptured 10 bighas of land in Guthin village of Hematabad block in North Dinajpur district of West Bengal. The land which actually belonged to Comrade Suleman Ali, was forcibly kept under possession by a landlord Kamaluddin for the past 30 years. The landlord is known for his notoriety and even the police and the block land revenue officials worked in his interest. The BLRO had registered the land as barga in the name of the landlord. The case was brought first to the District Court and then to the High Court and in this process the real landowner Com. Suleman Ali had to suffer for 10 long years. One year back the court finally decided in his favour but still the landlord held the land under his possession with the help of goons. Then the peasants led by the local Party had to go for land seizure. Local Committee Secy. Com. Karim-ul-Haq led this movement. AICCTU CWC MEETING AT PUNE, MAHARASHTRA The Central Working Committee of AICCTU was held on 19-20 July 2003 at Pune in Maharashtra. The meeting was presided over by Working President Comrade S Kumaraswamy. It was inaugurated by Comrade Ashok Manohar, General Secretary of Lal Nishan Party (Leninist) and a well-known trade union leader in Maharashtra. A five member delegation from Karbi Anglong Workers' Welfare Association attended the meeting as invitees. Other invitees who attended the meeting were Com. Pradeep Jha, Editor, Shramik Solidarity, Krishna Singh, CMWU, Jharkhand, Chandra Bhan, Bank Employees' leader from UP, BK Ambre and Vijay Kulkarni from Girni Kamgar Union, Mumbai and Ram Balak Singh from Bihar. The meet adopted a 4-point resolution and decided to observe all India protest day on 13 September against Indian government's policy of surrender to WTO, when the ministerial level meet is going to be held at Cancun. PEASNATNS CONFERENCE HELD IN BILASPUR, CHATTISGARH A Kisan conference was held on 25 July under the banner of Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, Masturi branch of Bilaspur district in Chhattisgarh, in which peasant activists from Bilha and Masturi blocks participated. Addressing the meet Comrade Rajaram urged the participants to launch mass movement on a peasant package in every panchayat and gherao the block administration. The peasant activists raised the problems of migration of the rural poor, lack of irrigation system, lack of power supply to villages, etc. Com. Majnu Ram presided over the conference. CIVIL DIOBEDIENCE OBSERVED IN WEST BENGAL LF TAX-REGIME Around 3,500 Party activist courted arrest observing Civil Disobedience movement on 25 July throughout West Bengal, particularly in Kolkata, Balurghat, Chuchura, Howrah, Bardhaman, Krishnanagar, Jalpaigudi, Siliguri, Barasat, Kalna and Raigunj (North Dinajpur). Terming the present Left Front government as the "Tax Regime", the agitators demanded withdrawal of the recently imposed land rent and cess, hike in electricity tariff and hike in education fees, demanded a check on deterioration of health management resulting in increasing death of children (in the year 2002 alone 4500 children have died) and revision of BPL list. In North Dinajpur, police resorted to lathicharge over hundreds of CPI(ML) activists and sympathisers who broke police barricades set up in front of the DM office. Intensifying the movement on these demands, the Party has decided to hold block level programmes on 11 August and called for Bengal Bandh on 21 August to be observed along with SUCI. MARTYR'S MEMORIAL IN AURANGABAD On 11 August, the day seven students braved police bullets during the anti-imperialist movement of 1942 in front of Patna Secretariat, a martyrs' memorial will be reconstructed at Kharanti, the village to which Jagatpati, one of these martyrs, belonged. It will be inaugurated by Com, Rajaram, MLA of Obra and convener of All India Kisan Samiti and Comrade KD Yadav, CC member of CPI(ML) will be the chief guest. CONVENTION ON LAND QUESTION IN ANDHRA On 3 August, CPI(ML) unit in Guntur district held a convention on "The Government's Attitude on the Land Question" attended by 150 people, particularly youth. The convention was addressed by comrades N. Murthy, State Secretary, D. Harinath, P. Satyanarayana and District Parly leader of Guntur Com. Murali Krishna. AIPWA PROGRAMME IN ANDHRA PRADESH Under the call to observe All India Demands Day on Women's Reservation Bill, the A.P. unit of AIPWA conducted an impressive rally and dharna on 25 July in Vijayawada. The rally reached the Sub-Collector's office where it was culminated into a dharna. The dharna was addressed by R. Nagmani, convener, T. Aruna, and P. Mariamma, members of the convening committee. A delegation of five members met the Sub-Collector to submit a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister. PEASANTS' MOVEMENT IN BAGODAR-BIRNI, JHARKHAND In Simrabera village of Koiridih panchayat of Bagodar Block, the adivasi landless peasants had captured 25 bighas of land 10 years back. Recently when a BJP-backed feudal lord Manoj Singh tried to recapture that land by means of fabricated papers, hundreds of adivasi peasants encircled and beat the feudal goons. An adivasi peasant who was arrested by police under the complaint lodged by the feudals was also released unconditionally. In Khaki Pipar village of Birni Block of Giridih, Ex-MLA and landlord had illegally occupied a gair mazarua land and was selling it. The poor peasants, mostly belonging to Muslim community got assembled and seized 5 bigha of this land. On 10 July, 67 peasants redistributed the land to construct their houses. The landlord gave the incident a communal colour and tried to instigate a riot. He tried to utilize BDO and OC of local Police Station to browbeat the people but the peasants stood firm and the landlord had to beat a retreat. MEMORANDUM TO SCRAP CLAUSE 8 BTC ACCORD HANDED OVER TO ADVANI A joint delegation of the political parties and elected representatives of Karbi-Anglong, Assam led by CPI(ML) Central Committee member Dr. Jayanta Rongpi, MP (Lok Sabha) met Union Home Minister LK Advani on July 26 and handed over a memorandum to him demanding scrapping of Clause-8 of the Memorandum of Settlement on Bodoland Tribal Council and amending certain provisions having negative consequential and subsequential effects on the Scheduled Tribes list in the state of Assam, particularly the Hill Tribes. Apart from MLAs, an old Congress leader and ex-minister, the chairman and one member of Autonomous Council were also there in the delegation. W.B. Students Demand Withdrawal of Fee Hike On 23-24-25 July, AISA in West Bengal held dharna and fast at College Square, Kolkata to protest the hike in admission fee (a variant of capitation fee) for higher education, privatisation of education, etc. The dharna was led by Nabakumar Biswas, Malay Tiwari and other AISA leaders. RED SALUTE TO COMRADE ASHOK MANOHAR The CPI(ML) Central Committee deeply mourns the untimely demise of Comrade Ashok Manohar, General Secretary of Lal Nishan Party (Leninvadi) who succumbed to a massive heart attack at Pune in the early hours of 31 July. He was only 54. His demise is a great loss not only for his own organisation but equally for the CPI(ML) and the left movement of the entire country. He was a firm and consistent fighter not only against the offensive of US imperialism and the Indian ruling classes but also against the danger of political opportunism that threatens to weaken and derail the Left movement from within. A frontranking communist leader of Maharashtra, he had devoted his entire life for the radicalisation of the working class movement in the state. He had started his political journey in the early 1970s as part of a leftwing political tendency known as the Magowa group in Maharashtra. After spending his early years in organising landless tribal people in Dhule district he joined the Sarva Shramik Sangh led by the Lal Nishan Party in 1976. As a leader of the LNP he organised and led vast sections of the working class in the Pune-Kolhapur region ranging from the workers of advanced factories like TELCO, Bajaj Auto and PNG Tools to the municipal workers and employees of Pune and sugar mill workers in neighbouring districts. He and other leading comrades of the LNP were also keenly involved in the historic textile workers' strike in Mumbai and Maharashtra in the 1980s. Even after the strike the LNP remained a key political current within the textile workers' movement. In 1988, Comrade Ashok became a member of the LNP Central Committee. Within the organisation he fought vigorously against all kinds of pro-Gorbachev illusions and a pro-Congress tilt and played a key role in the eventual formation of the Lal Nishan Party (Leninvadi). In the face of the frenzied imperialist propaganda following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he took up the challenge of revitalising the communist movement and rekindling the socialist vision and exerted all his energies to this end. As General Secretary of the LNP(L) he laid great emphasis on the political consolidation of the trade union movement. At the time of his death he was in the midst of a massive statewide campaign demanding reopening of closed sugar mills in the state. In the early 1990s, through Comrade Arvind N Das he came in contact with the Indian people's Front and the CPI(ML). This early contact soon grew into very close ideological-political ties sustained by periodic mutual exchanges and joint campaigns between the LNP(L) and CPI(ML). Even after the dissolution of IPF, Comrade Ashok Manohar remained associated with every major CPI(ML)-sponsored initiative to unite broad sections of Left and democratic forces. From the brief experiment with formation of a National People's Front in 1994 to the People's Conference against Globalisation held in Delhi in March 2001, he was always there with his characteristic warmth and enthusiasm. Liberation and our central educational endeavours have also benefited in no small measure from his contribution. He had great respect for the revolutionary peasant movement in Bihar and visited Patna on several occasions. He addressed several big rallies of the Party and the AICCTU in Bihar including the Samajik Parivartan Rally held in March 1994, the open session of the third AICCTU conference in September 1995 and the Loktantra Bachao Rally in March 2002. In December 1998, he braved his own ill health to rush all the way from Pune to Patna to take part in the funeral procession of Comrade Vinod Mishra. Barely ten days before his sudden demise, at his invitation, the Central Working Committee of the AICCTU met at Pune. The meeting turned out to be an excellent opportunity for the AICCTU leadership to learn first-hand about the trade union movement led by comrades of LNP(L) in Maharashtra and get inspired by Comrade Ashok Manohar's passion for forging closer ties between the urban working class movement and its rural counterpart and harnessing this worker-peasant unity as the backbone for a Left resurgence in Maharashtra. Comrade Ashok Manohar's premature demise is a heavy blow to all of us. Carrying forward his vision with renewed energy and zeal can be the only tribute to his great communist spirit. -- Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary, CPI(ML) Liberation ______________________________________________________________________ Phone:22521067; fax: 22518248, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.cpiml.org ______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
