CPIM Will raise the issue of Matmkurya (Dhanbad) Police Firing in the Parliament : Brinda Karat

CPI (M) Polit Bureu Member Com. Brinda Karat accused both the Centre and Jharkhand government of being responsible for the police firing in Dhanbad on agitators during eviction drives in which four persons were killed on April 27. Com. Brinda Karat met the family members of the police firing victims and said her party would raise the issue in Parliament as innocent and poor people were being killed. She was in Dhanbad to attend a joint convention of Left Front on 'Eviction and Displacement and Rehabilitation'.

Com. Brinda Karat consoling the family of Bikas singh
who died in the police firing in Matmkurya

She criticized the UPA government for police action on Ramdev and his supporters at Ramlila Maidan on May 4, saying the late night action on women and old persons, who had gone there to protest against black money and corruption. Com. Brinda said the issue was too big and serious to have been trivialised by Ramdev and the central government. She said while Ramdev had raised some issues "that were not relevant" and the central government messed it up by sending four ministers to the airport for talks with the yoga guru. She also rejected the notion that the Left Front had become demoralized after losing power in West Bengal and Kerala and insisted that though the Left Front government had been ousted in West Bengal, the 'Left Front fortress' was still in place. Over the issue of Lokpall Bill, Karat said her party supports bringing the Prime Minister under the ambit of the bill. "We agreed with Anna Hazare on this point but there are lots of issues in the bill that need discussion," she said. "Such action exposed bankruptcy on the part of the UPA government", she alleged.

Letter to NHRC chairman from Com. Brinda Karat on police firing in Forbesganj

Following is the letter written to National Human Rights Commission chairman Justice K.G.Balakrishnan By Hannan Molla and Brinda Karat seeking speedy redressal of Forbesganj killing of Muslims by Bihar police.

This is to request your intervention to bring justice to the villagers of Bhajanpur and Rampur under Forbesganj block in Araria district Bihar, and particularly to the families of the four people including a pregnant woman and an infant, killed in brutal police firing in this area, on June 3. Nine people were seriously injured. Unconfirmed reports are that two among them have succumbed to their injuries so that the number of those killed may be six not four.

The police firing was on a group of people protesting against the forcible acquisition of land by the Government for a factory in the area. Of the 85 acres forcibly acquired by the Government, the local BJP MLC one Ashok Aggarwal had leased 35 acres for his factory. It was to advance his interests that the police fired. He himself was present at the spot and the police took action on his commands. This is a shocking example of how powerful and unscrupulous leaders of the ruling combine utilize the State machinery for their own ends. The land was taken at a pittance from the villagers. Part of the land is reportedly being used by the people as a connecting road with the outside world. In both villages a large majority belong to the minority community.

On June 3, the villagers gathered in a protest at the factory gate. The police opened fire.Raheena Khatoon was returning with her six month old baby, in her arms from the local hospital. The police fired on her. The bullet pierced her hand and hit her baby. He died a day later. She has been admitted in a hospital in Patna. Shazmina Khatun, five months pregnant, wife of a worker in the factory had rushed to the area on hearing from other villagers of the firing. She was shot in the head and died on the spot. 18 year old Md. Mustafa was crossing the area on his way to his small pan shop. He was shot dead by the police who fired at him from behind. Muktar Ansari a worker was also fired upon and killed in the savage police action. It is reported that in a signal act of barbarity the police jumped on the body of Mustafa. Can this be tolerated in any civilized society?

A fact finding team from the CPI(M) and the Kisan Sabha had visited the area on June 6.The team has confirmed the unwarranted and unprovoked nature of the police action at the behest of the ruling combine leaders in the area. No senior members of the administration have cared to visit the families. There is no dialogue with the villagers and worst of all no action has been taken to lodge FIRs against the guilty police personnel or the MLC Ashok Aggarwal. An FIR under charges of murder must be registered against Aggarwal and the police involved, if the ends of justice are to be served.

It is for these reasons that the intervention of the NHRC is urgently required.. We request you to take the appropriate measures. As a step of immediate relief we request you to ensure adequate compensation for the victims, all of whom belonged to very poor worker families.

CPIM Demands compensation for Forbesganj firing victims
CPI(M) described as an 'eyewash' the judicial probe announced by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar into the June 3 Forbesganj police firing and demanded that compensation be paid to the victims' families quickly without waiting for the inquiry report."It is nothing but an eyewash the judicial inquiry ordered by chief minister into the firing. The state government should take stern action the guilty officials involved in the firing and make payment of compensation without waiting for the probe report," state CPI-M Secretary Vijay Kant Thakur told reporters.Four persons were killed and scores of others injured in the firing and clash that broke out between policemen and locals opposing the construction of a starch factory at Forbesganj in Araria district on June three.He alleged that not not a single leader from ruling NDA had visited the spot even 13 days after the incident and Deputy Chief Minister S K Modi has given a statement in favour of BJP MLC Ashok Agarwal, whose relatives were setting up the starch factory."We want Modi's role in the incident be also inquired into," Thakur said and demanded arrest of BJP MLC Agarwal, his son and bodyguards, besides cancelling the allotment of the land for the proposed factory.

Civil society movements cannot be an alternative to political parties : Prakash Karat

Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat said that Civil society movements can never be an alternative to political parties. He was inaugurating national seminar on ‘Re-reading Marxism' as part of the EMS Namboothirpad Memorail Functions organised by Costford in Thrissur on Thursday. He said civil society was promoting identity politics and thereby negating class unity. The fragmented struggles of civil society would hinder the progress of united movements of the people. A re-reading of Marxism was necessary to face the challenges in the contemporary world.

He added: “Post-modernism has been an influential weapon to counter Marxism in contemporary society. It advocates replacing class [struggle] with identity politics.” Such politics involves people getting together on the basis of a common identity, whether race, ethnicity caste or religion, to put forth their demands or assert their rights. Identity politics rejects any politics based on a common goal of emancipation. Theorists of identity politics say oppression can be understood and experienced only by people of that identity. So others are excluded from the fight against that oppression. “Identity politics has become an important feature of politics across the world,” Com. Karat said.

The advent of an aggressive finance-driven globalised market and the weakening of socialism set the background for the rise of identity politics, he said. “Globalised finance capital encourages identity politics as they find it convenient to deal with people fragmented on the basis of multiple identities. Such movements make it easier for the capitalist forces to penetrate into the market and take control. Fragmentation of identity is harnessed by the market.”

Many non-governmental organisations and voluntary organisations that work among Dalits, Adivasis, women and minority groups, were pursuing the agenda of identity politics, he said. Most of them were funded by organisations in the West. Only a common political forum that goes beyond groups could fight against exploitation by the capitalist order.

The former Vice-Chairman of the Kerala State Planning Board, Prabhat Patnaik; the former Finance Minister, Thomas Isaac; and academic M.V. Narayanan spoke at the event.

On the sidelines of the seminar, Com Karat said there were no plans for the merger of the two leading Left parties. “Merger is not on our agenda. The CPI(M) and the CPI will function in close cooperation with each other to strengthen the party.” Responding to a question on whether the Left parties had failed in moving effectively against corruption, Mr. Karat said: “Since the last 30 years, successive governments have been blocking implementation of the Lokpal Bill giving some reason or the other. Important differences remain even now, especially with regard to bringing the Prime Minister and the members of the higher judiciary under the purview of the Lokpal.”

(courtesy : The Hindu)

Delhi dharna protests prise rise and corruption

A massive dharna was organised on 15th July at Jantar mantar, New Delhi by over thirty (30) left political parties and mass organisations of student, youth, women and workers -- CPI(M), CPI, RSP, AIFB, CPI(ML), SUCI-C, CPI(ML-ND), Peoples Front, Yuva Bharat, PDFI, WPI, AIDWA, NFIW, AIMSS, SFI, AISF, AIDSO, AISA, DYFI, AIYF, RYA, SYAC, AIDYO, CITU, AITUC, AIFTU, AICCTU, IFTU, AIUTUC, Journalists (Seema Mustafa, Khalilul Rahman), Teachers (Kamal Chenoy, Anuradha Chenoy, S.N. Malakar) and Teesra Swadheenta Andolan -- and other concerned citizens including journalists and teachers. Through this dharna attention was focused on the concerns of the people and the central government’s inability, and unwillingness, to deal with the issues of rising prices and corruption. Proceedings of the dharna were conducted by Amarjit Kaur (CPI) and Vijender Sharma (CPI-M). Fourteen speakers addressed the dharna which included Atul Kumar Anjaan (CPI), Gopal Rai (Teesra Swadhinta Andolan), Albeena Shakil (CPI-M), Asit Ganguly (RSP), Dharmendra Kumar (AIFB), Kavita Krishnan (CPI-ML), Pratap Sawal (SUCI-C), Naresh Gupta (People’s Front), Arjun Prasad Singh (PDFI), P.C. Henza (WPI), Aparna (CPI-ML-ND), Rakesh Rafiq (Yuva Bharat), P.K. Shahi (AIFTU) and Khalilul Rahman (Journalist). The speakers criticised the pro-rich, anti-people and anti-poor policies of the UPA government which has proved to be incapable of handling crisis and challenges. Spiraling prices and increasing corruption involving politicians, industrialists and their lobbyists has put the UPA and its allies on the defensive to the point where the government is adopting authoritarian tactics to deny civil society and the people of India the right to democratic space. The Left parties have been highlighting these issues for several years now, suggesting concrete measures to bring down the prices, tackle corruption and bring relief to the common man. Unfortunately, the government has apathetic and indifferent to these vital issues. Instead it is resorting to increasingly authoritarian measures with the democratic rights of the people being seriously impinged upon by the state. The Left parties and organizations have decided to launch a united, mass political action starting with today’s dharna. We call upon the government to take immediate measures to curtail corruption and tackle price rise. The Lokpal Bill can be just one of the many steps required for a meaningful and effective response to corruption that is eating into the vitals of India.

Another Major Scam

The CAG draft report that nails the connivance between Government agencies and Reliance Industries Ltd. leading to huge losses to the Government exchequer is yet another example of the power of corporates in the UPA Government to subvert rules and regulations in their favour.

The CAG has noted that the former Director-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) permitted Reliance to inflate its “development costs” on the gas extraction in the D6 block of KG basin from 2.47 billion dollars to a whopping 8.84 billion dollars. This money taken by RIL affected the revenues of the Government. Government should prosecute the former DGH without any delay.

The Government’s connivance with RIL has a direct impact on the aam aadmi because increased claims of development cost get reflected in the price of gas given to consumers and also affect the prices of fertilizer and power. On this issue as well as on the inflated development cost issue, CPI(M) MPs have been raising the matter in Parliament. Letters have been written to the Prime Minister to institute an independent enquiry into the complaint of artificial jacking up of the capital expenditure by RIL for D6 KG Basin and its hasty approval by the concerned authority to find out the actual cost before gas price is fixed.

But the Polit Bureau regrets to note that in a repeat of the 2-G scam, the Prime Minister’s silence on the issue, other than mere acknowledgement of letters from Members of Parliament has again exposed the UPA Government’s acquiescence to corporate manipulation. The PB demands a statement from the PM on this issue as it involves a higher price for energy resource like natural gas that is used for power and fertilizer industries and has a direct bearing on the interests of the common man.

Congress led UDF government in Kerala trying to destablize welfare programmes and education sector : Pinarayi Vijayan

Communist Party of India (Marxist) Kerala State secretary Com. Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the beginning augured ill for the United Democratic Front (UDF) government led by Oommen Chandy.

Inaugurating the valedictory session of the 14th national seminar commemorating Communist leader Com. E.M.S. Namboodiripad at Kottakkal in Malappuram District on Tuesday, Com. Pinarayi Vijayan said that the UDF government was meddling with the people's welfare programmes initiated by the erstwhile Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.

Com. Pinarayi Vijayan said that the government was trying to destroy the State's general education system by permitting private schools under the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) stream at a time when government and aided schools were set for a big leap in the State.

“The government should be for the people of Kerala. By people, I mean the poor and the middle-class sections which constitute 98 per cent of the population,” he said. The government should not mistake the two per cent, who run unaided educational institutions, for the people of Kerala. He said Namboodiripad had a clear and defined perspective of the State's development. “He was a visionary who clearly understood the politics of the media.”

Former Minister for Finance T.M. Thomas Isaac presented a paper on ‘Kerala development – challenges raised by change in government.' A. Vijayaraghavan, CPI(M) Secretariat member, spoke on the ‘contemporary face of colonialism'. DYFI All India President Com. P Sreeramakrishnan, CPIM Malappuram District Secretary Com. Ummer Master were present at the function.

WB Assembly passes Singur Bill amid Left walkout,Bill is full of loopholes.

In a House where no Opposition member was present the Singur Bill seeking to empower the West Bengal government to return land to farmers was passed on Thursday. The Bill – The Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011, -- was passed by voice vote as members of the Opposition Left parties walked out in protest against major loopholes in the content of the Bill.

Before walkout, Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly and member of the Central Committee of the CPI (M), Surya Kanta Mishra was critical of the haste over tabling of the Bill which has left the Opposition hardly any time to scrutinize it. However, there were many loopholes and discrepancies in the content of the Bill, he said. Mishra made it clear that the Bill had created distinct division among farmers in Singur branding one section as so-called “unwilling” who refused to give land and another section as “willing” who handed over land.
The Opposition Leader Mishra said the CPI (M) was not opposed to the return of land to “unwilling” farmers but the Bill should not be reduced to being just a “gimmick.”

Meanwhile, reacting sharply to comments made in the Bill regarding “non-commissioning and abandoning” of the project at Singur, Tata Motors, in a press note said, “ The Bill does not state the reasons for stoppage of operations and shifting of the plant.” Tata Motors “wants to clarify that the operations of setting up and commissioning of the plant was conducted under very difficult conditions amidst violence disruption activities, damage to property and threats to personnel.”

Congress making desperate moves in Andhra Pradesh: CPI (M)

The two-day meeting of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Andhra pradesh State Committe that concluded in Hyderabad on Tuesday discussed the political situation prevailing in Andhra Pradesh and said the Congress' desperate attempts to appoint new leaders would be fruitless.

At a briefing here, State secretary B.V. Raghavulu cited the example of Botcha Satyanarayana as the president of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee and wondered what difference it would make when a Congress MP, G. V. Harsha Kumar, himself described the PCC president as “highly corrupt and anti-Dalit”.

Merger

Asked about the merger of the Left parties, he said that they would prefer fighting together on people's issues right now, rather than just merge and split later down the line.

Bringing pressure together on governments to concentrate on problems faced by people was more important at this stage, he added.

On alliances with other political parties in the elections to local bodies, he said they would prefer sailing with those that would give them maximum mileage and field candidates in places where they had a solid base.

Mr. Raghavulu said the State Committee meeting chalked out agitation plans on issues like health, sanitation, education and nodal agency for the Scheduled Castes sub-plan.

Between June 17 and 24, the party would observe an Education Week to focus on problems in the education sector.

Between June 25 and 30, the party's units would look into health and sanitation issues. Deliberations included implementation of G.O. Ms. No. 3 that pertained to wages of about 10.5 lakh contract casual employees working in 190 government departments and who were not covered by the Pay Revision Commission and cancellation of permission accorded to about 50 merchant power plants.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

Continue Samacheer Kalvi in Tamilnadu: CPI(M)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has urged the State government to continue implementing the “Samacheer Kalvi” (uniform syllabus) this year also, without any delay.

In a statement, CPI(M) state secretary G. Ramakrishnan pointed out that the scheme came into being last year and accordingly it was introduced for I and VI standards. During the current academic year, it should have been introduced for the II to V and VII to X standards.

However, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government, which had just taken over the reins of power, had passed a bill to postpone the uniform syllabus.

It had also clarified that it was not opposed to the system per se but wanted to redress certain flaws found in the syllabus.

Meanwhile, Madras High court had stayed the operation of the amendment passed by the State Assembly and ordered that the samcheer kalvi system be continued.

At the same time, it had said that there was no bar on deleting any material from or adding new material to the text books.

Mr.Ramakrishnan said his party had appealed to the State Government to initiate measures to rectify the flaws in the text books and improve the standard of education while implementing the uniform syllabus. This had been emphasiszed by various sections of society including educationists and students.

Hence, the CPI-M pleaded that the State Government should continue implementing the uniform syllabus without any delay taking into account the stay of the Madras High Court and ensure that the schools reopened on June 15 as announced earlier. In addition, the constructive features of the Muthukumaran Committee report should be implemented within a time frame.

Communique of CPIM Central Committee meeting held at Hyderabad

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in Hyderabad on June 11-12, 2011. It has issued the following statement:

Election Review

The Central Committee conducted a review of the results of the recent Assembly elections in the four states of West Bengal, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

The review examined the reasons for the big defeat of the Left Front in West Bengal. It identified the causes for the erosion of support for the CPI(M) and the Left Front among different sections of the people. The CPI(M) and the Left had come under a big attack since the reverses suffered in the Lok Sabha elections. Under the TMC leadership there was a concerted effort to ensure a gang-up of disparate political forces ranging from the extreme right to the Maoists to isolate and weaken the Left Front.

Notwithstanding the big achievements of the Left Front governments over the last three decades, there were shortcomings and weaknesses in some of the policies and measures adopted for the welfare of the people. The mistakes with regard to Singur and Nandigram proved costly. The review also identified the organizational defects and shortcomings which have alienated various sections of the people. The Review Report adopted by the Central Committee has set out some of the corrective steps to be taken at the political and organizational level.

The Central Committee rejected the motivated propaganda that the electoral defeat in West Bengal has rendered the CPI(M) and the Left politically irrelevant. The Left Front, despite the adverse circumstances, has got 1.95 crore votes which is 41 per cent of the total votes. The West Bengal Party and the Left movement has undergone many vicissitudes in the past and emerged stronger. The CPI(M) will continue the struggle for the working class and the toiling people against the neo-liberal policies and defend the historic gains achieved by the people. Drawing the proper lessons from this defeat, the Party and the Left will bend all its energies to reinvigorate this movement.

In Kerala, the LDF lost narrowly. The UDF could win only with a slender margin of three seats. In its review, the Central Committee appreciated the work of the CPI(M) and the LDF in the election campaign. The LDF has emerged with strong popular support. The Central Committee has directed the Kerala state committee to examine various aspects of the election results and to take steps to further strengthen the Party and the movement in Kerala.

The report also conducted a review of the election results in Tamilnadu and Assam.

The Congress ruling party, cannot take much satisfaction from the results of the five state Assembly elections, with the exception of Assam. This is a reflection of the image of the Central Government as being one steeped in corruption. Its failure to curb price rise caused discontent among the people. It was virtually wiped out in Tamilnadu along with the major partner, the DMK. In Kerala it barely managed to scrape through.

The BJP has performed badly. It has got only five seats in Assam which is a reduction by half compared to the earlier tally. It was unable to win any seat in the other three states.

The Central Committee warned that the UPA government at the Centre may be emboldened to push more vigorously for neo-liberal policies given the loss of the Left-led governments in West Bengal and Kerala. Their attempt to heap more burdens on the people through such policies will be strongly resisted by the CPI(M) and the Left forces. The Central government will try to ride roughshod over the rights of the states and encroach further on Centre-State relations. The UPA government is displaying a tendency to assault democratic rights as seen in the manner in which it is trying to suppress protests against corruption and black money. The CPI(M) will fight against all such trends and vigorously defend the rights of the people and their livelihood.

Stop the Violence in West Bengal,Defend Democracy

Immediately, the Party has to face a situation where the Party and the Left are under tremendous attack. Fourteen CPI(M) and Left Front activists have been killed since the post election results. Hundreds of people have been injured in physical attacks. Scores of Party offices and trade union offices have been attacked or captured. Many of the Party cadres have to leave their homes because of threats and intimidation. The TMC-Congress government has shown no interest whatsoever in curbing this violence. The Central Committee condemned this campaign of violence and terror against the CPI(M) and the Left Front and call upon all democratic forces in the country to protest this onslaught against democracy and democratic rights.

Act against Corruption

The Central Committee strongly asserted that it is the Left parties that have the credibility and the record to fight against corruption in high places. The platform of the Left against corruption requires a comprehensive set of measures which can help curb corruption. This includes an effective Lokpal legislation which brings the Prime Minister also under its purview; the setting up of a National Judicial Commission to oversee the judiciary; electoral reforms to curb the use of money power and firm measures to break the nexus of big business-ruling politicians and the bureaucracy. The fountainhead of corruption today is this corrupt nexus which has flourished under the neo-liberal regime. The Left parties will mobilize the people to struggle to bring in these set of measures.

Food Security and BPL Survey

The Central Government’s claims of food inflation control have once again proven false with food inflation nearing 10 per cent. At the same time, the record rabi wheat procurement will once again rot in the open because of the callous negligence of the expansion of storage facilities. The most logical step which the Central Government stubbornly refuses take, would be to allocate the stocks to the states at BPL prices. In this context, the Food Security Bill proposed by the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council is highly unsatisfactory because it rejects the universal public distribution system and suggests instead new forms of targeting which will be an injustice to the large population which requires subsidized foodgrains. The present draft is unacceptable. The government should ensure, as a legal entitlement, at least 35 kg of foodgrains to the people at Rs. 2 a kilo as is being done by many state governments.

The BPL census questionnaire retains the anti-poor ranking system in which a poor person is not assessed by his or her own poverty but by the poverty of others. This is a cruel method that not only divides the poor but set ever new lines of destitution. We strongly oppose the ranking system. A just method would be to have an automatic exclusion category with verifiable criteria such as exclusion of government employees, income tax payers and big landowners and automatically include the rest as being eligible for food security. The CPI(M) will intensify its campaign against price rise and for a universal public distribution system.

Future Programme

The CPI(M) will conduct a vigorous political campaign against all the measures which are being proposed by the UPA government which are inimical to the interests of the people and the country. They include bringing multinational companies into retail trade; continuance of targeted public distribution system as against the universal PDS; policies which squeeze the peasantry in agriculture and the fight against the land grab by corporates and the real estate speculators depriving the farmers from their lands.

The Central Committee meeting decided to consult with the Left parties to launch a movement to demand measures to curb corruption in high places and to take firm measures to unearth black money and the repatriation of illegal money stashed abroad.

The Central Committee decided to mobilize all democratic forces and public opinion against the violence and terror unleashed against the CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal. The campaign to end the violence and defend democracy in West Bengal will be conducted from July 1 to 7, 2011.

The Central Committee gave a call to all its Party units to collect funds to support the families of those killed, injured and displaced in these attacks. The Central Committee warned the UPA government not to further increase the prices of petroleum products. If it does so, a sustained movement will be launched against such an anti-people and inflationary measure.

Party Congress

The Central Committee decided to hold the 20^th Congress of the Party in the beginning of April 2012 in Kerala. The exact venue will be decided shortly.

The Central Committee decided on the time-table of conferences from the branch level to the state committees.