Only the red flag can protect the poor : Budhadeb Bhattacharya

“Choose carefully between the red flag of the Left Front and the tri-colour flag of the Trinamool Congress for bringing about peace and development in agriculture, industry, electricity and education in West Bengal,” Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee cautioned people on Saturday while highlighting the alleged corruption of Trinamool Congress-run zilla parishads and the false promises made by the party to people.

He also criticised the Centre's silence over the State Government's appeal to subsidise essential food commodities for sale through public distribution system saying that the government at the Centre was only for the rich.

Addressing a rally organised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) at Basirhat in the State's North 24 Parganas district, Mr. Bhattacharjee accused the Trinamool Congress of protesting against and obstructing every other development project initiated by the State Government and asserted that only the “red flag” can bring about development in the State and work for the poor.

Speaking on the State's industrialisation drive, he said: “Just because they (Trinamool Congress) could stop setting up industry at Singur, they cannot stop us in every project. They are now protesting against the land acquisition for Rajarhat township near Kolkata…I want to tell them that the State Government will demolish all such obstacles to the State's progress.”

Taking a dig at the slogan of “change” popularised by the Trinamool Congress, Mr. Bhattacharjee wondered if it means giving back land from the poor to the landlords or doing away with the panchayat system that the Left Front had established.

“The two zilla parishads run by the Trinamool Congress have scored highest in corruption and even funds allotted for Aila victims have been swindled by them. A false propaganda by the party that the State Government will forcibly acquire land from the minority population is baseless,” he said.

Alleging that the Trinamool Congress is creating unrest in colleges and lawlessness in the State, Mr. Bhattacharjee reiterated that it has joined hands with the Maoists in Paschim Medinipur district to kill CPI (M) leaders and supporters.

(The Hindu)

Political use of religion hurts science: Yechury

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury has said that misuse of religious sentiments for political gain is the biggest barrier in the development of science in the country.

He was speaking at a seminar on ‘Science and Secularism' organised by the All India People's Science Congress here on Saturday.

“Unlike common belief, science is not against religion but it is against the conditioning of the human consciousness which became more and more dependent on religion,” Mr. Yechury said.

Communalism

He said communal forces in the country were trying to mix philosophy with theology and mythology with history. “They prevent development of science in an attempt to maintain their domination over people,” Mr. Yechury said.

One form of class conflict that was going on was between those who tried to bring the fruits of scientific inventions for the benefit of masses and those who wanted to commodify science and research findings, Mr. Yechury said.

Criticises Centre

“India's secular democracy is a sham. Only an elite class is enjoying the democratic and secular rights.” Mr. Yechury said the Union government's stand against a joint parliamentary committee investigation into the 2G spectrum row was demeaning to Indian democracy.

C.P. Rajendran of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, public health activist B. Ekbal, All India People's Science Congress president C.P. Narayanan, general secretary Amit Sen Gupta, Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad president Kavumbayi Balakrishnan and others spoke.

The seminar was organised as a prelude to the five-day All India People's Science Congress to be held in Thrissur from December 27.

(Source : The Hindu)

CPI(M) Tamil Nadu State Committee seeks State intervention on quota for Arundhathiyars

The State committee of CPI(M) on Saturday sought the State government's intervention to ensure that separate reservation for Arundhathiyars was implemented in the recruitment graduate teachers and technical assistants in TNEB.

Explaining a resolution adopted in the State committee meeting, secretary G. Ramakrishnan said the Madras High Court also had ruled that reservation for Arudhathiyars should be followed in all jobs since the State government had enacted a legislation.

Mr. Ramakrishnan said though State government had ordered for implementation of reservation for Arundhathiyars in graduate teachers' recruitment after CPI(M) pressed for it, employment exchanges failed to follow the government's instruction.

Similarly, there is no sign of implementing the legislation in the recruitment of technical assistants in TNEB.

(Source : The Hindu)