Working group meeting of communist parties in Beirut

Part of the preparations to the 13th meeting of the communist parties and workers'  to be held in Athens - Greece between November 9 to 11, 2011, at the invitation of the Lebanese Communist Party, held a working group meeting in Beirut between 22-23 October  

  Work Group opened its meeting with the political leadership of the Communist Party of Lebanon, represented by the Secretary General of the Party. Khaled blacksmith, and the Deputy Secretary General of the Party d. Marie Nassif - molasses, and the President of the Constitutional Committee, and members of the Political Bureau and the Committee on Foreign Relations in the party. Participated in this meeting, representatives from Greek Communist Party and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Communist Party in Brazil and the Portuguese Communist Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party in South Africa, as well as the first Secretary General of the Syrian Communist Party consolidated.

 

Meeting was opened by Secretary General of the Lebanese Communist Party, The members visited the "working group to meet with communist parties and unions", accompanied by Secretary General of the Lebanese Communist Party and the Deputy Secretary General of the Party President of the Republic of Lebanon General Michel Suleiman, who presented on how to take advantage of the globalization of human and social aspects and the importance of developing the foundations of democracy. He also welcomed the proposal to host the President of Lebanon to meet with communist parties and unions.

 

The delegation also visited Shatila camp and look closely at the conditions of Palestinian refugees. Comrade Sitharam Yechury, CPIM PB member participated in the meeting on behalf of CPIM.

Andhra Pradesh State ignored drought alert: B V Raghavulu

CPI (M) State secretary B. V. Raghavulu on Monday lashed out at the State government accusing it of failing to come to the rescue of farmers despite being forewarned about drought-like conditions a couple of weeks ago.

Mr. Raghavulu, accompanied by the party Central Committee member T. Veerabhadram and district secretary P Sudarshan Rao, inspected the withered crops at M. Venkatayapalem and Walya Tanda in Khammam rural mandal.

The farmers narrated their tale of woe and the magnitude of crop damage suffered by them on account of the continuous dry spell, scarcity of water and erratic power supply.

Mangi Satyam, a tenant farmer of Walya Tanda, showed his withered paddy field where he allowed cattle to graze. He told the delegation that his entire labour and investment of Rs. 2 lakh private loan had gone in vain due to the withering of a major part of his paddy and cotton crop barring a minor component of chilli crop.

Talking to mediapersons later, Mr. Raghavulu lamented that the farmers had already incurred a huge loss to an extent of nearly Rs 12,000 per acre on account of the dry spell and the apathy of the government.

“Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy is busy shuttling between Hyderabad and New Delhi on the pretext of tackling the ‘Sakala Janula Samme' leaving distressed farmers in the lurch,” he charged.

Cotton, paddy and other crops had been damaged in over 30 lakh acres spread in more than 450 mandals across the State, he pointed out and alleged that the State government was depriving affected farmers of compensation.

He demanded that the government immediately declare all the affected mandals drought-hit areas and secure adequate compensation to the farmers from the Central government.

(Source : The Hindu)

National Committee in Support of Jaitapur Struggle

A National Committee has been constituted to support the struggle against the Jaitapur nuclear project in Maharashtra.

The people of the Jaitapur and the surrounding areas in Ratnagiri district have been struggling against the setting up of the giant nuclear project which will have six nuclear reactors bought from the French Areva company. This project has displaced farmers and mango orchards who were cultivating. The livelihood of thousands of fishermen are threatened. There is a serious threat to ecology and environment of the region. The Areva EPR reactors have not been commissioned anywhere in the world, not even in France. They are prohibitively expensive and the technology is untried and untested. After the Fukushima disaster in Japan, there are serious concerns about the safety and the health of the people in the region.

The popular protests in Ratnagiri district have been met with severe police repression and permanent restrictions on holding protests. False cases have been instituted on many activists.

To extend support to the people’s struggle in Jaitapur and to mobilise people’s support all over the country to demand a halt to the Jaitapur project, it has been decided to set-up a National Committee in Solidarity with the Jaitapur struggle. A 15-member committee has been constituted consisting of political leaders, members of Parliament, eminent scientists and leading activists. The committee will organise a countrywide campaign against the Jaitapur nuclear project. The list of the members of the committee is given below. Some more persons will be added to the committee.

1. Shri Prakash Karat, General Secretary, CPI(M)

2. Shri A.B.Bardhan, General Secretary, CPI

3. Shri Nama Nageswara Rao, Leader, Telegu Desam Parliamentary Party, Lok Sabha

4. Shri Ramvilas Paswan, President, Lok Janshakti Party and MP, Rajya Sabha

5. Shri Danish Ali, National General Secretary, Janata Dal (Secular)

6. Shri N.D. Patil, President, Peasants and Workers Party

7. Dr. A. Gopalkrishnan, Former Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board

8. Shri Sitaram Yechury, Leader of CPI (M) in Rajya Sabha

9. Dr. Sulabha Brahme, Adhayksha, Konkan Bachao Samiti

10. Shri D. Raja, Leader of CPI in Rajya Sabha

11. Shri Bhai Vaidya, National President, Socialist Party (India)

12. Shri S.P.Shukla, Former Union Finance Secretary

13. Shri Pravin Gavankar, President, Janhit Seva Samiti

14. Shri Vivek Monteiro, Secretary, Maharashtra State Committee, CITU

15. Shri Prakash Reddy, Secretary, Mumbai Committee, CPI

SFI alliance retains Hyderabad Central University students union

For the second year in a row in University of Hyderabad alliance between Students’ Federation of India and the Ambedkar Students’ Association (SFI-ASA) won the students union poll.

The united Left combine of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) swept the elections to the Hyderabad Central University Students Union (HCUSU) winning all the positions with a comfortable majority.

The presidential candidate Prashanth polled 1,513 votes and won with a margin on 554 votes while general secretary candidate Sampath of SFI polled 1,442 votes and won with a margin of 492 votes.

Office bearers

The other office bearers who won include Ravi Kumar (vice-president), Srinivas (joint secretary), Mohd. Nazma Begum (cultural secretary), and Subash (sports secretary). Kanthi Nanduri and Manisha Sampath won the posts in the Gender Sensitising Committee Against Sexual Harassment. 

The nearest rivals in all the positions were from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) who polled more than 900 votes for all the posts except the joint secretary post.

The Telangana Students Association (TSA) that associated itself with Bahujan Students Front (BSF) to project the Telangana issue finished third while the candidates supported by the NSUI secured the least votes.

Com. Sambath, who has been elected as the general secretary, said the election is a victory of the ideas upheld by the Students’ Federation of India.

Suresh G, SFI unit president, credited the victory to the achievements of the outgoing union under the same alliance. The average margin of victory of the newly- elected bunch of students was more than 680 votes. It has to be noted that SFI started an unit in HCU only in 2004.

Killing of Muammar Gaddafi

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

 

The main aim of the US-Nato intervention in Libya has been fulfilled with the killing of MuammarGaddafi. From the outset, the blatant aggression of the US-Nato was to effect a regime change in Libya even though it was proclaimed as an intervention to save the Libyan people and for the establishment of democracy. The claim that the killing of Gaddafi marks an end of despotic rule is sheer hypocrisy since it is the US and its allies which prop up the most despotic regimes.

 

It is the people of Libya who have to decide what type of Government and political system they want in their country. This is not something which can be imposed by the US and Nato by force of arms.

CPI(M) to launch nine-day agitation in Tripura

The CPI(M) Tripura State Committe has decided to launch a nine-day agitation from November 1 to press for five demands.

The demands were control of the price hike of essential commodities, introduction of a strong Lokpal bill, distribution of fertilizers to farmers at subsidized rates, filling up the vacant posts in government services and stop foreign investment in retail.

State secretary Bijan Dhar said the campaign would start from November one and continue till November 8.

Attacking the proposed Food Security Bill, Dhar said the bill needed to be changed to ensure food security for every person in the country. The party demanded distribution of rice or wheat at Rs 2 per kg and 35 kg of the food for each family. "We demand a strong central act which would ensure bearing of all costs of distribution of the food grains to the ration shops from FCI godowns at government cost, he said.

CPIM PB Communique

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New Delhi on October 17-18, 2011. It has issued the following statement: 

Anti-Corporate Movement

The `Occupy Wall Street’ movement in the United States and the various protest actions in Europe and other parts of the world are a manifestation of the growing anger of the people at the predatory role of big banks and finance capital. The people have seen how the corporates and banks have been bailed out while the ordinary people are made to bear the burdens of the crisis.

The CPI(M) extends its full support and expresses its solidarity with the protest actions against the rapacious exploitation by big capital and finance. It is necessary to step up and broaden the struggles against the neo-liberal policies in India.

By-Election Results

The Congress party has fared poorly in the by-elections to Hisar Lok Sabha seat and other Assembly seats. These results indicate how corruption and the failure to curb price rise are causing the people to reject the Congress all over the country.

Advani’s Yatra

The yatra undertaken by the BJP leader L. K. Advani against corruption has only succeeded in highlighting the record of corruption of the BJP. The arrest and jailing of former Chief Minister Yeddyurappa on corruption charges has highlighted how the BJP government in Karnataka has been part of the nexus with the mining mafia. The record of the earlier NDA government also shows how the BJP is no different from the Congress when it comes to the question of high level corruption.

Kerala : Suspensions Condemned

The Polit Bureau condemned the action of the UDF government in getting two of the CPI(M) MLAs suspended from the Assembly. The Oommen Chandy government has resorted to brutal police repression on protesting students. When this matter was raised in the Assembly by the opposition, it has resorted to this undemocratic step. People of Kerala can see through the political motivation behind such an action.

Maruti Workers Struggle

The Polit Bureau condemned the repressive tactics and victimization of workers at the Maruti Suzuki plant at Manesar. The workers in this factory have been waging a determined struggle to defend their rights to form a union. The management has resorted to suspensions and dismissals to break the struggle. The Haryana state government has connived with the management in this anti-labour action. The Japanese multinational company should realize that the right to form a union of their choice is a basic right of the workers. The CPI(M) extends its full support to the struggle of the workers.

Ideological Resolution

The Polit Bureau discussed the draft of an ideological resolution. The draft after finalization will be placed before the Central Committee for its consideration in its November meeting.

Campaigns and Protest Actions

The Polit Bureau renewed its call to the Party units to conduct a week-long campaign from November 1-7 on the following five demands: (i) Curb price rise and ensure universal right to food (ii) Take firm action on all corruption cases and adopt an effective Lokpal Act (iii) Ensure supply of fertilizer at subsidised prices to farmers and stop black marketing of urea (iv) Steps to curb unemployment and fill up all vacancies in government posts (v) Stop FDI in the retail sector; protect the interests of small shopkeepers and traders.

The Polit Bureau called upon all its Party units to support the November 8 `Jail Bharo’ protest action called by the Central Trade Unions.

E Balanandan Research Centre Foundation Stone Liad

CPIM General Secretary Com. Prakash Karat Laid the foundation stone for the E. Balanandan Research Foundation centre at Kalamassery on Friday.

“Big business is the fountainhead of corruption in high places in India, Unless the neo-liberal economic policies which favoured big business were not reversed, corruption in high places could not be eliminated,  He said.

He contended that the neo-liberal economic policies had led to the unholy nexus between big business, ruling politicians and bureaucrats. This nexus had spawned massive corruption all over. The economic policies made the way for big business to make unjustifiably large profits and hence the corporates paid huge bribes to ministers and bureaucrats.\

Referring to Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid's statement that if the top businessmen were put in jail it would hit foreign investment in India, Mr. Karat said the Union Government itself was defending corrupt businessmen.

Hazare's campaign

He said that his party supported Anna Hazare's campaign for an effective Lokpal law which should be enacted by Parliament. But he regretted that Team Anna had failed to understand that it was the neo-liberal economic policies that spawned corruption and that without changing the economic policies corruption could not be eliminated.

Mr. Karat wanted all the 122 spectrum licences issued through illegal means be cancelled.

Referring to the spreading economic recession in Europe, Mr. Karat said it was caused not by workers but by greedy capitalism. Workers and trade union movements were trying to fight off recession and also putting up a defence against governments that tried to cut jobs and curtail wages.

In the U.S., trade unions were now supporting the ‘Occupy Wall Street' movement that was spreading to dozens of cities. The workers' organisations were thus proving their relevance.

Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan said E. Balanandan was a great communist revolutionary who had through his revolutionary struggles risen to become the all-India president of CITU (Centre of Indian Trade Unions). The current CITU national president A.K. Padmanabhan, state president K. N. Raveendranath and State secretary M.M. Lawrence spoke.

CPI(M) lays siege to Khammam District Collectorate

Activists of the CPI (M) laid siege to the Khammam District Collectorate in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday in protest against the alleged failure of the government to come to the rescue of the farmers who were badly affected by water and electricity problems.

Party activists in large numbers gathered in front of the Collectorate and staged a massive demonstration resenting the government's alleged indifferent attitude towards mitigating the woes of farmers.

Addressing the gathering, party district secretary Pothineni Sudarshan Rao alleged that the government was responsible for the present miserable plight of the farmers who were reeling under severe water and electricity shortage.

“Minister for Horticulture R Venkat Reddy owes an explanation to the farmers for motivating them to go for cultivation of paddy and depriving them of adequate water and power at this crucial juncture,” he said alleging that the government should own up responsibility for the suicides by distressed farmers. He cautioned that the party would launch a massive agitation if the government failed to release adequate water from Nagarjunasagar reservoir to the canals in the second zone and supply assured electricity to the agriculture pumpsets forthwith.

Party leaders Nunna Nageswara Rao, P. Venkateswara Rao and others spoke.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

CPI (M) announced candidates for Manipur Assembly Poll

The central committee member of CPI (M), Nurul Hooda has announced the first list of candidates who will be contesting in the upcoming state assembly election in Manipur.

Com. Kshetrimayum Shanta would contest in Sagolband Assembly Constituency and Yumnam Romola in Keishamthong AC .

Speaking to media persons at the Paona Bazar office of CPI (M) Manipur State Committe, Nurul Hooda said that CPI (M) would go together with other like minded Left parties in the forthcoming elections with a vision to form an alternative Governments in Manipur as well as at the Centre after toppling the Congress-led Governments.

Saying that the incumbent State Government is no longer supported by the people, Nurul Hooda slammed the State Government's complete silence to the 70 days old highway blockade which has resulted in untold misery to the general public. The plight of the people of Manipur are consequences of the Central and State Government's misplaced policies, he alleged. Observing that the law and order situation in the State has been deteriorating day by day, Nurul Hooda flayed the Government's reluctance to take any concrete initiative to bring major rebel groups of Manipur to the negotiating table.

It would be in the best interest of all if the Centre and the State Government take some concrete steps to bring the major insurgent groups to the negotiating table, he added.

Com Sarat Salam secretary of CPI (M), Manipur State committee, stated that CPI (M) is the first among recognized national and regional parties to have announced the list of candidates for the upcoming assembly election.The party will face the election against corruption and criminalization of politics. It will also work to bring about communal harmony and bring down the prices of essential commodities, he noted.

Sarat further maintained that the CPI (M) along with other left parties will try to form an alternative government in the coming 10th assembly election.