Leftword Launches May Day Book Store and Cafe

  
S K Pande (Peoples Democracy)

It was indeed a May Day evening with a difference. At a remote corner in west Delhi, what was opened was the country’s first May Day Bookstore and Café amidst a cosmopolitan gathering where the intellectuals rubbed shoulder with the workers, students, activists and the general public.

At one corner,  a wide amalgam of leftist books ready for the take- at bargain prices, at another corner an innovative calendar listing , in brief, some important labour struggles from colonisation to globalisation, giving statistics and some historic facts like the fact that India had officially 478 million workforce that contributed to its economic growth which in itself was a curious mixture of illiterate workers unfamiliar with machines and tools and a sizable pool of experts in the fields of medicine, science, technology and computers. Add to all this May Day badges, cups, tee shirts, jute bags and paperweights.

Centre stage in another room , it was music, poetry, songs and narration–all on the theme of May Day with a cup or two of coffee and a historic booklet by Prof Vijay Prashad giving a brief on May Day through the years. For over three hours , with the limited space jam packed, there were songs of freedom , struggle, spirit of inquiry ranging from Kabir , Faiz, Tagore to Bob Dylan sprinkled with folk and rock flavour. The performers included the Laal Band from Pakistan, Sumangala Damodaran, Rahul Ram, Harpreet Singh, Purushottm, Shriparna Nandi, Mohsin Ali Khan, and some students from Delhi University.

Sustaining the May day activities at various corners was coffee and more coffee with homemade biscuits and cakes. The coffee corner was managed by the theatre activist (JANAM) Sudhanva Deshpande and historian Mukul Manglik. The coffee House spirit was revived in the manner of the co-operative coffee house movement of the late sixties and seventies.

Significantly, the meeting remembered P Sundaryya , the veteran Marxist leader whose birth centenary is being  celebrated throughout the country. Small wonder too that reminding us of the revolutionary leader from Andhra Pradesh was a Telugu song sung by Sumangala on the theme of the Telangana Movement.

In the gathering there was a constant flow of people from different walks of life. They included CPI(M) leaders Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat, PushpinderGrewal, economists Prabhat Patnaik, Utsa Patnaik, historian Aijaz Ahmed, writers M M P Singh, Javed Malik and activists of Jana Natya Manch, Parcham and some mass organisations. In the age of increasing commercialisation and Bollywoodisation of culture, a place like the May Day Bookstore and Café is a real whiff of fresh air in reviving the spirit of struggle, inquiry and constant discussion - all over a cup of coffee.

 

Postscript:  In  overview- what was visible before us were some really good performances by Laal Band (from Pakistan), Rahul Ram (from Indian Ocean Band), Sumangala Damodaran, Misha and Surdhani, Young singers like Harpreet Singh  in contemporary Punjabi,  and touches of Kabir and Nazrul!  Add to it Rabinder Sangeet and more than three songs of Faiz. All this in the backdrop of Studio Safdar, and flashes of the Janam experiment, through photos in black and white. In a befitting ending, it was Internationale preceded by Janam songs. Of course, a clear message too. As the organisers put it, space is being created “where the committed can hang out, read, discuss culture and politics, and have great coffee, of course! Attached to it is Jana Natya Manch's new space, Studio Safdar. The theatre space and the bookstore will have a series of events every month, performances, readings, discussions, film screenings. ”  

Studio Safdar and May Day Bookstore and Café

2254/2A Shadi Khampur, New Ranjit Nagar, New Delhi 110008

For directions, mail cafemayday@gmail.com or studiosafdar@gmail.com,

 or call (only on event days) 011 2570 9456.

Pravda Centenary Celebrations Begin

 Centenary celebrations of Pravda, first Russian working class daily, started by Lenin on 5th may  in 1912, are more about rededication than nostalgia and celebrating. Not surprisingly two day celebrations began in Moscow on a distinctly solemn note with representatives from fraternal communist press visiting and paying tributes at Unknown Soldiers tomb. Here they were joined by hundred's of Red flag carrying people, both young and old, led by Zuganov, the President of Communist party of Russian Federation (CPRF). Communist members in Duma were also present in dozens. Zuganov led paying tribute at memorial of legendry Marshal Zukanov, who is considered to be military architect of the then Soviet Union's victory in great patriotic war. Subsequently delegations of communist press paid tribute at Unknown Soldiers tomb. These memorials are situated in heart of Moscow, very close to Red Square and Lenin's mausoleum. Unknown Soldiers tomb salutes sacrifices of those soldiers in Great Patriotic War, whose names may remain unrecorded otherwise.

 Delegates from around 30 major communist publications from different countries, including some of erstwhile Soviet republics that gained independence with collapse of the then Soviet Union and socialist China, Vietnam, Cuba and D P R K as well as Laos, are also participating. CPI(M) central committee organs, People's Democracy and Loklahar (Hindi) are represented by Rajendra Sharma, Associate Editor of Loklahar. Shameem Faizee is representing CPI organs. Second day of two day celebrations is dedicated entirely to discussion on current challenges before communist media through a round table discussion on "Party Press and struggle of communists in present day situation."

An interactive meeting with Pravda editorial board, before the first day's main celebratory event, at House of Unions (also called House of Pillars) brought out significant aspects of situation of Russia today and role that Pravda is trying to play as an instrument of communist movement, to change these circumstances. Boris O Komotskiy, Editor in Chief of Pravda welcoming the delegations said, 'it appears that days of 20yrs back have arrived again.' reasercher and known author, Yuiry Yemelianov also contributed to the interaction lasting two and half hours. Programme ended with cutting of a special cake with Pravda hundred years inscribed on it.

CPI(M) Greets Pravda & CPRF

The following is the text of the greetings sent by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Russian Federation and to the Editorial Board of the Pravda on May 2, 2012. CC member, Associate editor, Loklehar, Rajendra Sharma is representing CPI(M) in these celebrations.

DEAR Comrades,

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) greets the Editorial Board of the Pravda and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Russian Federation (CPRF) on the centenary of the Pravda.

As Lenin had defined, a communist newspaper along with its 'exposure' of the ills and limitations of the present social system, should be a collective agitator, collective propagandist and a collective organiser. Pravda, a newspaper started by the outstanding communist leader Lenin, was run by him on these lines and became a model for all the other newspapers started for the socialist cause.

Indian Communists too, learning from the Russian experience, had started and ran many newspapers in the vernacular languages to expose the British rule, rouse the people into popular movements and also propagate the ideals of social justice.

Apart from the many vernacular dailies, that are continuing in the post-independent era, the CPI (M) is bringing out the weekly People’s Democracy, the official organ of the Party and Loklehar in Hindi, since the last 40 years. These organs are helping the Party to resist the ideological offensive of the ruling classes and to strengthen the Party.

In the background of the global economic crisis, the most severest since the Great Depression of the 1930s, there is all the more a necessity for the newspapers of the type envisioned by Lenin. The increasing struggles worldwide show the  growing discontent among the people. They are searching for alternatives. It is thus imperative upon us, the Communists and the media run by us to place before the people the correct path for bringing an end to their travails and exploitation. The newspapers help us in strengthening the 'subjective factor', as Lenin called it, to utilise the condusive objective factors for transforming the society – establishing a socialist system.

Once again, we extend our warm greetings to all of you, and also thank you for inviting our representative to be present with you and share thoughts on this august occasion.

Bid to frame CPI(M) in murder case: Pinarayi Vijayan

Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has alleged a high level conspiracy to frame his party in the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T.P. Chandrasekharan late Friday night. 

Addressing a news conference on Saturday, the CPI(M) State secretary alleged that the conspiracy had been hatched by the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) leadership to malign the CPI(M) on the eve of the Neyyattinkara by-election. The CPI(M), he said, did not believe in finishing off its enemies, he said.

Mr. Vijayan, who spoke to the media after a meeting of the CPI(M) State secretariat, said the statements by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Union Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran, State Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala and other UDF leaders blaming the CPI(M) clearly pointed to the UDF conspiracy to frame the party, which had nothing to do with Chandrasekharan's murder, he said. 

The statements by the Chief Minister and other UDF leaders, he contended, would result in the real culprits escaping the arms of the law. There were reports that Chandrasekharan himself had complained about threat to his life. If that was so, the government should answer the question why he was not given adequate protection. When the failure of the government and the police to provide him protection and the attempt to blame the CPI(M) for the murder were read together, the only conclusion was that there was a conspiracy to unleash a witch hunt against the CPI(M) in the name of the murder. 

At the time of the Piravom by-election, the UDF had engineered CPI(M) MLA R. Selvaraj's resignation from the party. Now that it was clear that others like him were not easy to come by, the attempt was to defame the CPI(M) and the LDF in the name of Chandrasekharan's murder. Going by reports, the murder was committed by a ‘quotation gang.' The CPI(M) believed in opposing its enemies politically and not with the help of ‘quotation gangs.' The guilty should be brought before the law. For that, there should be a free and fair investigation. Instead of ensuring that, the Chief Minister and Ministers were trying to set the agenda for the investigation. The real culprits should not be allowed to escape amidst all the false campaign, Mr. Vijayan said.

(Source : The Hindu)

The Attack on Democracy is Even More Intense in the Rural Areas: Surjya Kanta Mishra

Interview with Surjya Kanta Mishra, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly.

Surjya Kanta Mishra: “The Attack on Democracy is Even More Intense in the Rural Areas.”

“It is as though criminals have started thinking that it is their Government.” Surjya Kanta Mishra, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly and Polit Bureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), feels that West Bengal is heading towards becoming an “anarchic State”.

In an interview to Frontline, Mishra spoke about issues ranging from the rise in violence in the State, the Mamata Banerjee Government's policies and its claims of achievements made in the past one year. “Instead of taking the State forward from where it stood a year ago, they are reversing the process of progress and development, undoing all that had been achieved. The future really looks gloomy,” he said. Excerpts:

The CPI(M) has adopted a policy of wait and watch before making any proper assessment of the Trinamool Government. But what is your preliminary assessment a year after it came to power? In which direction do you think the State is heading?

We had never said that we would not be critical. We said we would play the role of a responsible Opposition. We will not oppose for the sake of opposing as they [the Trinamool] did. There is a fundamental difference between our opposition and theirs. When Mamata Banerjee was announcing her achievements after 100 days or after 200 days [since assuming power], we pointed out that one could not make a proper assessment in such a short time. The problem is that she started claiming that she had completed 90 per cent of the work. We did not want any report card from her, nor did we want to grade her.

But one thing that has become clear after almost a year is that the Government does not have any vision. It is directionless. They have neither any concrete programme, nor any sense of priority. They are trying to rush things through, which is proving counterproductive, be it in the area of industry, land, or problems in the Darjeeling hills. Every time they try to resolve an issue, they complicate matters further.

But one thing that the Chief Minister should not have done – a promise she has not kept – is the assault on democratic institutions and democracy in general. This is dangerous, and we had earlier warned that this assault would not be confined to us, the CPI(M). It will spread.

As to where the State is headed, nobody really knows. All that was done before is now being undone – like land reforms, the establishment of a democratic, decentralised panchayat system and other institutions of participatory democracy. Our successes in the agrarian sector, based on which we were setting up industries – all such processes are being reversed. This is endangering the overall growth of the State. I will not yet say that an anarchic situation is prevalent here, but I fear it is heading in that direction.

Over the last several months political violence and crime have been on the increase. Do you think the Government is doing enough to curb them?

The violence against us has increased a lot. Since May 2011 [when the Trinamool-led Government came to power], around 4,800 Left workers and supporters have had to be hospitalised – most of them in serious condition. A large number of them have, in fact, been crippled by acts of violence. After coming to power, the Trinamool forcefully occupied more than 700 CPI(M) offices.

The situation is particularly bad for Left workers and supporters in the eight districts of West Medinipur, Bardhaman, Bankura, Hooghly, East Medinipur, Cooch Behar and the North and South 24 Parganas. In the first four districts that I mentioned, it is no longer possible to carry out even simple democratic functions; more than 40,000 Left workers have been driven out of their homes, party offices have been forcefully occupied, hefty fines have been imposed upon them. We have a detailed list of these figures.

It is not possible to understand the situation by the number of killings alone. In the 1970s, under the Congress Government, there were more killings of Left workers. But the situation of silent terror that is prevalent today is more effective in demoblilising any political opposition. It is not that they are perpetrating such terror in places where the Left is weak; in fact, it is worst where we have a reasonably strong support base – like the first four districts that I just mentioned. You can see how we were proved right when we said that this violence would be directed not only against us; today, Congress workers are being attacked. Even sections within the Trinamool camp are fighting each other.

Apart from political violence, general crime has also increased greatly. It is as though criminals have started thinking that it is their Government; and the police and the administration are just not handling the situation in a proper manner.

With all these things happening around us, the Chief Minister remains in denial mode, insisting that nothing has really happened. In none of the incidents of violence and crime – be it the Park Street rape case, the murder of two CPI(M) leaders in broad daylight in Bardhaman, or the rape on a train in Katwa – has the Chief Minister condemned the acts or apologised for them. Instead, she said they were orchestrated incidents.

What is your opinion on the Government's policy relating to land acquisition for industries?

First, I would like to say, regarding land, that thousands of people in rural Bengal have been ousted in the last one year. Even Trinamool supporters have not been spared.

Now, regarding the State Government's land acquisition policy. The Government claims that it is against acquiring land on behalf of industries. So how can land be acquired for industrial purposes? Their solution has been to lift the land ceiling, so investors can directly buy land – but the Government will have no role in acquiring land from the farmers. Unfortunately, this will empower the land mafia and the land sharks, and as a result, farmers will be denied their rightful compensation and rehabilitation packages, which will not happen if the Government acquires the land.

Moreover, big manufacturing industries will be reluctant to come, as they know how difficult it will be for them, without the intervention of the Government, to get the kind of land required to set up large plants. The situation is not conducive to big industries.

Not just in the case of land. The present Government does not really have a proper industrial policy. Take the case of power. When we were in Government, we left behind for the State a surplus; the present Government is now in such a state that it has to reduce power generation to minimise losses. Moreover, the way the resource mobilisation plan has been done, nobody knows where funds for infrastructure development will come from. The process of industrialisation is not just about giving land. It is important that the atmosphere is also conducive to industrial growth.

What is the Government's major achievement in its first year in power?

Apparently, the Darjeeling hills are peaceful – which everyone can see is not the case – and peace has returned to Jangalmahal. But this is just an illusion of peace. It cannot be considered an achievement, as it is paving the way for another wave of problems. Then, of course, there are a whole lot of promises that are yet to be kept. The only positive work that I feel the Government has done is to have decided not to set up the Legislative Council as it had decided earlier. We opposed this decision, and they finally dropped the idea.

Instead of taking the State forward from where it stood a year ago, we are seeing that they are reversing the process of progress and development, undoing all that had been achieved. The future really does look gloomy.

There has been some disenchantment with the Government among the urban middle class. Do you think this has spread to rural voters? Will it have an impact on the upcoming panchayat elections?

We have seen disillusionment among the urban middle class, even among those who voted for a change. But the attack on democracy that we talked about is even more intense in the rural areas. On top of all that, there is major distress in the agrarian sector, as is evident in the spate of suicides by farmers and agricultural workers groaning under the burden of debt.

Whether this will influence the results of the upcoming panchayat elections is very difficult to say. The ruling party has been threatening to prevent the Opposition from fielding candidates. It all depends on whether our candidates will be allowed to file their nominations. But I will say that when people start understanding the implications of what is happening around them, they will get disillusioned. But to go into the mode of active resistance takes some time.


[The interview was published in www.frontlineonnet.com on volume 29 - issue 09 - May 18, 2012]

Left Parties Statement

The Left parties, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, All India Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party held a meeting today. They have issued the following statement:

 

The Left parties discussed about the proposed food security legislation being brought in parliament. The Left parties have been campaigning for a comprehensive and effective food security law and the provision of a universal public distribution system for all excluding only the better off sections.

 

The Left parties decided to conduct a countrywide movement on this issue culminating in an indefinite protest action in New Delhi during the Monsoon Session of parliament. The next meeting of the Left parties will work out the specific programme.

 

The Left parties held a preliminary discussion on the forthcoming presidential election. It would be better if there is a wide agreement on a candidate for the post of President. The Left parties decided to consult with other secular opposition parties before taking a final stand in the matter.

 

Those who attended the meeting were the four general secretaries of the Left parties -- Prakash Karat, Sudhakar Reddy, Debabrata Biswas, T J Chandrachoodan, besides, A.B. Bardhan, Sitaram Yechury, S Ramachandran Pillai and D Raja.