Comrade V S Achuthanandan to observe fast against non-banning of Endosulfan by Central Government

On April 25, when delegates from across the world will meet in Geneva to discuss the Stockholm convention on Persistent Organic Polllutants (POPs), Kerala will observe a black day and Comrade V S Achuthanandan will lead the protest by fasting on that day.

Ever since the first day of assuming office, VS has taken a soft approach to the hundreds of victims of the deadly pesticide which had contaminated a large area in Kasargod district. A solatium of `50,000 was given to the families of all those who died following diseases caused by Endosulfan. It happened within weeks of VS assuming office. The next step was to give a monthly pension of `300 to all living victims of Endosulfan. It was hailed as a major step by environmentalists as victims of Bhopal tragedy had been battling for compensation even then. The pension was increased to `700 and an additional amount of `300 was sanctioned as pension for the caretaker of the victim. In the final year of the LDF rule, these pensions were respectively enhanced to `1400 and `600. The government also took initiatives to provide adequate treatment for Endosulfan victims in Kasargod. Facilities in the primary health centres in the affected areas were increased and mobile clinics were set up. In all the 11 affected panchayats, vehicles and Ashraya workers were arranged to transport Endosulfan victims to hospital and back. In addition, all victims were given identity cards that would ensure them free treatment in all state government hospitals.When the cry for Endosulfan ban again reached its climax this month, VS decided to act stern.

UPA govt favouring pesticide lobby: VS Achuthanandan

Stepping up the attack on the Centre over the issue of banning Endosulfan, Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan today accused the UPA government of favouring the pesticide lobby.

Achuthanandan also termed as "deplorable" Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's stand that a further detailed study was needed before considering a nationwide ban on it.

He said Singh should not repeat the arguments of agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh, who, he alleged, were out to help the pesticide lobby while turning a blind eye to the sufferings of the poor.

"This stand (of Singh) is deplorable. He should immediately take steps to convene the Cabinet to discuss the issue raised by the delegation. He should use his good offices to deal with the issue, affecting many citizens of our country, in a more responsible manner." He said though the Indian Council of Medical Research's report of 2002 was with the Centre, Singh had still told an all-party delegation from Kerala, which met him yesterday, that a further study by ICMR is needed to take a decision.

The Prime Minister should not "helplessly" watch the situation worsen, but instead take urgent steps to ban it, he said a day after he lashed out at Ramesh, ridiculing his environmental concerns as "sheer hypocrisy".

Achuthanandan said hundreds of citizens in Kerala and Karnataka had lost their lives and many were suffering from deformities due to ill-effects of spraying the pesticide.

Ramesh, who claimed to be a person having concern for the environment, had already proved he was not only "anti-environment, but anti-people," Achuthanandan charged.

He wanted to know why six ministers in the Union Ministry from Kerala were keeping silent on the issue. These ministers were also not concerned about getting central aid to implement rehabilitation package for Endosulfan victims, he said.

The Centre had also not bothered to implement the recommendation of the national human rights commission to provide an assistance package to endosulfan victims, he said.

He said the notion so far had been that only Sharad Pawar and his Ministry were supporting endosulfan. With the Prime Minister and Jairam Ramesh speaking in the same language, it had become clear that the Congress and UPA government were also favouring the pesticide lobby, he said.

Achuthanandan said people in 11 panchayats in northern Kerala and 96 villages of southern Karnataka were affected by the pesticide. "The Centre should come out to help the people and not the pesticide lobby," he said.

(Courtesy : DNA)

Prosecute Narendra Modi

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

The affidavit filed by a senior Gujarat police official in the Supreme Court has provided direct evidence of the role of the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, in the 2002 pogroms against the minority community. In the affidavit, the police official has stated that the Chief Minister instructed senior police officials in a meeting not to act to protect Muslims from violence.

This testimony of the police officer, Sanjeev Bhatt, confirms the culpability of the Chief Minister in the pogroms. There should be no further delay in the investigations into the role of Narendra Modi and initiating steps to prosecute him.

Red Salute to the Great Martyr Comrade Leelavathi

APRIL 23 : COM. LEELAVATHI MEMORIAL DAY

Comrade K Leelavathi, the fighter who laid down her life for the cause of the people. April 23 is her Martyrdom Day. People of Madurai still holds her near to their heart. This time around her martyrdom day coincided with the election campaign in Tamil Nadu. This time Madurai is going to see a straight fight between the Culprits of Leelavathi's murder DMK and the Party for which she laid down her life CPIM.

Com Leelavathi was a political activist, fighter for social causes and an active participant in the women's movement, She was an active worker of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and was the member of its Maduri District Committe. She was elected to the Madurai Corporation Council from Ward 59 (Villapuram) in September 1996 in the first ever elections held with one-third of the seats reserved for women. She was One of her election promises was to supply piped water to the people of her ward, most residents of which are economically backward people. For long, they had been buying water supplied by water tankers actually supplied by the coporation but was hijacked by a mafia and was supplied at abnormal prices and had been literally at the mercy of the lorry operators for their daily requirements of water. During times of acute scarcity, they found it difficult to get even a potful of water.

Leelavathi intervened on behalf of these people. She tried to regulate the supply in a fair manner and fought against the fleecing of the poor by the tanker mafia. When she was named a candidate of the CPI(M) for the corporation election, she promised the people that she would put an end to this unfair system. From the moment she assumed charge as councillor, her one-point mission was to bring tap water to her ward. She had to pursue her efforts both inside and outside the Council. She insisted that water supply be given priority over other development works and, in six months' time, triumphed in her mission. The entire city saw her as a crusader.

The pipeline was laid and even a trial supply of water was also undertaken. But a day or two before the supply was to have been formally inaugurated, Leelavathi was done to death by a group of six persons while she was returning from a shop. The wrath of the water tanker mafia as well as political rivalry was seen as the reason for the crime. The city of Madurai plunged into grief. Protest rallies were held in several parts of Tamil Nadu.

Even after her election to the Corporation Council at the age of 40, Leelavathi, a weaver by profession, and her husband Kuppusamy, a vendor of stainless steel utensils, continued to live in a single-room house, along with their three grown-up daughters. Her loom occupied most of the space in the house. A table fan and a black-and-white television set were the only other valuables in the house. Simple and unassuming, Leelavathi endeared herself to almost all sections of the people in her ward. She attended to their complaints with utmost sincerity. In the process, she had to confront several anti-social elements in the area. When the CPI(M) launched a demonstration against these elements, she was in the forefront. She gave her whole time to public service and party work. She became an enemy of these anti socials who actually had the supporting of DMK and its top leaders.
On 23 April 1998 while Com Leelavathi was going to shop to buy household things she was attacked brutally killed by a group led by DMK Ward secretary.

At the time of her death, one of the State vice-presidents of the Handloom Workers Union and a State committee member of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA).
You have shown us our way forward and you have been leading us as torchbearer in our journey forward. We remember You Comrade. We dip our Red Flag in our great memory. Lalsalam Com. Leelavathi.. Long Live Your memories..

CPI(M) seeks action against pondicherry governor Iqbal Singh

CPI(M) demanded that the President intervene and take action against Puducherry Lt Governor Iqbal Singh, who is embroiled in a controversy over alleged links with suspected money launderer Hasan Ali Khan.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) conducted a protest outside the Raj Nivas, when its members sought the immediate recall of Mr. Singh by the President. CPIM Tamil Nadu State committee member T. Murugan said that the Lieutenant Governor had “misused his powers” and took decisions that favoured the Trust in which his sons were members.

He said that the argument of Mr. Singh that he was not aware of the credentials of tax evader Hasan Ali when he recommended expeditious issuance of passport for him could not be accepted. “The truth in this issue would come out only if the investigations are carried out after removing him from his post,” he said. He came down on the ''inefficient'' Congress government for allegedly issuing a No Objection Certificate to a medical college to be set up at Karaikal by a trust, which reportedly has his relatives in it. "Even Chief Secretary R Chandramohan's clarification later on the essentiality certificate issued to the trust to start the college were inspid," he alleged. Further, starting on Friday, the party would show black flags to Mr. Singh whenever he stepped out of Raj Nivas, he said.