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.