CPIM holds anti mining rally in Andhra Pradesh

CPI(M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu has asserted that the anti-mining movement in the tribal areas of Visakhapatnam district will continue until such time all leases are cancelled.

Addressing a meeting, a culmination of an eight-day anti-mining campaign by the CPI(M) in the 11 mandals of the tribal areas, here on Friday, Mr. Raghavulu said already 29 licences had been given for mining in nearly 4,000 acres. Accusing the government of giving scope for illegal mining, he said 120 applications for mining in 1.1 lakh acres were pending with the government.

‘Destructive mining'

‘Destructive mining' would not only ruin the ecology in the Girijan areas but would also devastate the plain areas, he said.

It was estimated that mining in one acre would get Rs. 2 crore of revenue and in 1.1 lakh acres it would get Rs. 2.5 lakh crore.

“But why should Girijans sacrifice their land and ecology for mining, when they are not getting health, colleges or bridges they need and the money on mining was spent elsewhere?” he asked.

The government was not even spending the tribal sub-plan amount of 7 per cent of the budget in tribal areas. The leaders of Congress, TDP, and YSR Congress should declare whether they were with Girijans or hand in glove with those taking up mining. He charged the Congress government with overcoming the Panchayat approval for mining in violation of the Panchyatraj Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act and putting it in the hands of mandal and zilla parishads. The mandal parishads should pass a resolution opposing destructive mining. Describing the tribal movement that led to putting off public hearing on china clay at Sarai in Kandrika mandal as significant,

Mr. Raghavulu said Girijans were ready to lay down their lives for protecting their lands from mining.

If the government wanted to take up mining in areas that would not disturb ecology, it should come out with an alternative mining policy for spending money from it in Girijan areas, set up industries using the raw material within the State and provide employment to local youth.

Former MP Midiam Babu Rao, CPI(M ) district secretary Ch. Narsinga Rao Araku Valley ZPTC Killo Surendra, K. Santi of GK Veedhi, and Makireddy Ramana of Samata, a voluntary organisation, spoke.

(courtesy :The Hindu)

Protest Petroleum Products Price Hike

The Left parties strongly condemn these price increases and demand that they be withdrawn. The Left parties call upon all its units to immediately conduct hartals, demonstrations and other protest actions.

The four Left parties, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Revolutionary Socialist Party and All India Forward Bloc have issued the following statement:

The UPA Government has struck another cruel blow at the people by increasing the prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas. The increase in the price of diesel by Rs. 3 per litre has come at a time when the people are suffering from all round price rise and the inflation rate has crossed 9 per cent. The diesel price increase will raise the price of transportation and affect the farmers as well. The increase in the price of kerosene by Rs. 2 per litre will be an added burden on the poor. The Rs. 50 increase per gas cylinder will also burden the common people.

The withdrawal of 5 percentage points in customs duty on crude oil, which was imposed last year, shows how such taxes are levied by the Centre to raise revenue and this is the main cause for the high prices of petroleum products. Yet, the government refuses to restructure the taxes on petroleum products and give up the ad valorem tax.

The Left parties strongly condemn these price increases and demand that they be withdrawn. The Left parties call upon all its units to immediately conduct hartals, demonstrations and other protest actions.

CPIM demands government to immediatly solve the issue of Tamilnadu Fisherman

The Centre should find a permanent solution for the Indian fishermen's problem who are often arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) secretary, G. Ramakrishnan, has said.

Addressing the media here after a meeting of district committee members of seven party districts on Wednesday, Mr. Ramakrishnan condemned the recent arrest of 23 fishermen of Ramanathapuram.

He urged the Centre to intervene and take necessary steps for their immediate release.

Stating that there were reports on the posts in local bodies being allegedly auctioned by villagers, Mr. Ramakrishnan said such a practice was against the democracy.

Those who win the posts through auction would only focus on earning the money they had spent in the auction, he said.

The State Government should take necessary steps to stop such illegal practice. He also advocated for conducting direct elections to elect the heads of local bodies, instead of indirect election.

Stating that there were agitations throughout the State in support of Samacheer Kalvi, he said the State Government should implement it for all the classes from the current academic year.

Seeking to reduce the fee structure recommended by the Justice Raviraja Pandiayan committee, he also wanted strict action against the private and Government-aided schools that were collecting exorbitant fees.

(courtesy : The Hindu)

CITU DENOUNCE POLICE ATROCITY FOR FORCIBLE EVICTION IN COAL-BELT IN WEST BENGAL

Left: Villagers and coalmine workers at Pandabeswar area protesting brutal lithicharge by police on Tuesday. Right : injured local MLA Gouranga Chatterjee

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions denounces brutal lathi-charge by Police on the peaceful demonstration by around 15000 villagers and coalmine workers opposing eviction of the villagers and contract workers residing and cultivating in the land adjoining the coal-mines of Eastern Coalfields Ltd at Pandabeswar area of West Bengal. Police lathi-charge on the villagers and the workers peacefully squatting since last few days against the eviction order issued by Eastern Coalfields Ltd left several people severely injured including the CITU leader and local MLA Gauranga Chatterjee who received severe head-injury and admitted in hospital in serious condition.

It is shocking as well as deplorable that the management of a central government company like Eastern Coal Fields (ECL) sought to evict around thirty thousands of poor villagers and contract workers from eleven villages in the adjoining area of Pandabeswar just to hand over the area to private contractors for mining by throwing several thousands of villagers including peasants, bargadars, agricultural workers etc out of their livelihood and residence. The Colliery Mazdoor Sabha of India (CITU) had already lodged their protest against the said eviction order by ECL in favour of a few private contractors and joined the villagers in protest programmes.

The All India Coal Workers Federation of India while protesting against such police-atrocities decided to hold protest demonstration in all the collieries throughout the country on 24th June 2011 and called upon all the coal workers’ unions irrespective of affiliations to join the protest action.

CITU while condemning such police atrocities as well as the evil ploy of the ECL management to oblige the private contractors by forcibly dislodging more than 30000 villagers, that too without any appropriate compensation and rehabilitation covering all affected people, demands upon the government of India and the coal minister in particular to restrain the ECL management from such forcible eviction of people from the Pandabeswar area in West Bengal and urges upon the state government to take action on the concerned police officials responsible for such barbaric lathicharge on peaceful democratic protest.

Nationwide Protest on June 24, 2011 Against Police Lathi-charge in Hansidiha (Raniganj) Privatization and for adequate compensation to land losers

Kolkata, June 22: Jibon Roy, general secretary, All India Coal Workers’ Federation of India has issued the following statement:

All India Coal Workers’ Federation congratulates the coal workers in Raniganj coal fields and the residents around, for holding a strike in Raniganj and surrounding in protest against yesterday’s police lathi-charge on the coal workers and the common residents in Hansidiha colliery of Pandeveswar region under ECL. The police action ahs caused injury, to around 30 miners and local residents and in which Gouranga Chattererjee, the coal leader of all India stature who is happened to be the local MLA has been seriously injured. Police did not spare even Bansagopal Choudhury, the MP and ex-minister. The strike and bandh has been total in all the coal fields of Raniganj, Jamuria and Pandeveswar regions in Ranganj coal fields.

ACWF condemns the police atrocities, expresses its anguish and indignation against the state policy about a labour, so reversed under the current regime from the policy followed by the LF government on the matter of state’s role in the dispute between labour and the employers. Incidentally, yesterday’s lathi charge has been first of the kind against labour after LF government had been installed in June 1977.

The AICWF however, reaffirms its resolve against the policy being followed by coal India on the matter of land acquisition for green field mining and demands that such acquisition be followed only after negotiated settlement on the matter of providing alternative lands, money compensation and employment to the land losers.

The AICWF reaffirms its resolve not to give in any such polices which may lead to privatization whatsoever it may be the form. The ECL management’s move on Hansidiha has ostensibly been to hand over the patch to private contractor. In no time in the history of ECL such transfer had taken place without prior settlement between management and the trade unions. ACWF complements the local resident around the patch for joining the miners and this would obviously help against the land aggression around Hansidiha patch. If the patch, so identified to be transferred to contractor, will effect 11 villages which is inhibited mostly by the tribal population.

AICWF calls upon all of its affiliates in the country to protest the police action through holding demonstrations or any other forms which many suits them and unite the miners against the privatision/disinvestment/outsourcing and for adequate compensation to land losers.

Left Movement against Corruption

The Left parties – the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, All India Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party – met in New Delhi on June 19, 2011. They have issued the following statement:

Movement against Corruption

The Left parties decided to conduct a countrywide movement against corruption and to demand immediate measures to curb corruption in all spheres of public life. The Left parties’ platform against corruption includes:

i) Adoption of an effective Lokpal legislation

ii) There should be a National Judicial Commission to curb corruption in the high judiciary

iii) Stringent action against the rampant corruption fostered by the big business-politician-bureaucratic nexus which has led to scandal such as the 2G spectrum case.

iv) Implementation of electoral reforms including introduction of proportional representation system to check money power in elections

v) Steps to unearth black money and repatriation of the illegal money stashed abroad.

In order to get these demands implemented, the Left parties will launch a movement from July 15-21, 2011 all over the country. In this week-long movement, the Left parties will picket Central Government offices, hold demonstrations, dharnas and rallies.

The Left parties will hold a demonstration in Delhi outside Parliament on these demands after the Parliament session begins in July.

44th congress of Communist party of Ukraine concludes

Comrade Petro Symonenko re-elected party General Secretary

 
The 44th Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine concluded on 19th June 2011. On this day, the delegates adopted a new version of the Party Program and made changes to the Charter of the Communist Party. The congress also elected the Party's leading bodies - the Central Committee and Central Control Commission of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
The Communist Party of Ukraine re-elected Petro Symonenko as First Secretary of the Central Committee. The congress elected Ihor Alekseyev as Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Heorhii Buiko and Volodymyr Oplachko were elected as secretaries of the Central Committee.

The congress elected the following members of the Presidium of the Central Committee: Adam Martyniuk, Valentyn Matveyev, Kateryna Samoilyk, Valerii Mishura, Mykola Shulha, Oleksii Baburin, Alla Aleksandrovska, Ihor Kaletnyk, Spiridon Kilinkarov, Oleksandr Prysiazhniuk, Petro Tsybenko, and Oleksandr Holub.

44 th Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine begins in Kiev

Comrade Pyotr Simonenko inaugurating the 44th Congress

The 44th Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine started in the Kiev October Palace in the capital city of Kiev on 18th June 2011. The congress will conclude on 19th June. The congress was opened by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of Communist Party of Ukraine, head of the Communist faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Pyotr Simonenko. At the convention 634 delegates arrived.

In addition, Congress invited the members of the Central Committee and Central Control Commission of the Communist Party of Ukraine, the secretaries of regional committees, city,

district committees of the party, people's deputies of Ukraine, the editors of party papers. Among the invited representatives of NGOs left-wing, scientific, artistic, technical intelligentsia and some other friends as well as diplomatic corps.

At the rally came from 31 foreign delegation of Communist and workers' parties and other progressive political movements left orientation as part of 43 persons. The Congress is accredited by 127 representatives of Ukrainian and foreign mass media.

Delegates elected governing bodies of Congress - Presidium, Secretariat, editorial, credentials and counting commission.

The agenda of the 44th Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine made the following questions:

1. The Political Report of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

2. Report of the Central Control Commission of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

3. The new version of the program of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

4. On Amendments to the Constitution of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

5. Election of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

6. Election Central Control Commission of the Communist Party

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)