Sudents union elections in Rajasthan

The Central Executive Committee of the Students’ Federation of India extends its revolutionary greetings to the students of Rajasthan for giving SFI its biggest ever mandate in the history of students union elections in the state. The CEC of SFI also takes the opportunity to congratulate the Rajasthan state committee of the organisation.

SFI had contested in 156 college and university elections of the state held on 25^th August, 2010. Candidates of SFI won in 224 central posts in these colleges. SFI recorded its win in the President post of 56 colleges. The most notable victory of SFI was registered in the Government Sri Kalyan College in Sikar which happens to be the biggest college in Rajasthan with student strength of over nine thousand students. SFI candidates won in all the four central posts of President, General Secretary, Vice President and Assistant Secretary in this college with a majority of more than thousand votes in all the posts. In the second largest college of the state namely Bikaner Government Dungar college SFI candidates won in the three central posts with a huge majority. SFI candidates won the President post in 56 colleges.

The students’ union elections in Rajasthan have been held after a long gap of six years. It was the SFI which fought consistently against this attack on the democratic rights of the students unleashed by the then BJP government and it’s Chief Minister Basundhara Raje Sindhia. The BJP had banned the union elections in the state.

SFI continued this struggle against the present Congress government also which was unwilling to hold the students union elections despite its earlier promises to do so. Militant programmes from the unit level was conducted and students under the leadership of SFI had gheraoed the state assembly in the demand of student union elections .the fact that the students  union  elections  were held is in itself a very big victory  of the democratic student movement of the state.

Sfi s massive victory in the election is a vindication of the politics of study and struggle which the SFI stands for.

Our comrades in Rajasthan have fought day in and day out to provide an alternative to the bankrupt policies of ABVP and NSUI.

We are confident that the advances which the SFI has made in these elections will continue to grow and SFI will emerge as the biggest organisation in the state.

Rich tributes paid to Basheerbagh martyrs

CPIM and CPI on Saturday observed the 10th anniversary of the police firing at Basheerbagh and paid tributes to those who laid down their life while protesting against the power tariff hike by the then Telugu Desam Government.

Leaders of the Left parties, while paying tributes to the martyrs, criticised that the successive governments for exploiting common people in the name of power reforms. Though the government temporarily went back on privatisation following the massive agitation against World Bank influenced electricity reforms, it still was pursuing the same policy, they said.

CPI State Secretary K. Narayana demanded that the Congress leaders, who had joined them in paying homage to the victims of police firing, should also show their solidarity with the families of those killed recently in Sompeta where police fired on those protesting against setting up of thermal power plant.

Senior CPI leader Suravaram Sudhakara Reddy said that the government was once again bowing to the dictates of globalisation policy and people should resist it. CPI (M) State secretary B. V. Raghavulu said that electricity was for people and not for contractors.

Rich tributes were paid to those killed during the agitation against the power tariff hike at Basheerbagh in Hyderabad 10 years ago, at a meeting organised by the left parties near Tenneti Viswanatham statue, Jagadamba junction in Visakhapatnam

The agitation against the World Bank policies 10 years ago received world-wide attention and because of it, domestic electricity consumers were spared from additional burden even now, said CPI (M) district secretary Ch. Narasinga Rao.

Mr. Narasinga Rao and CPI city secretary Ch. Raghavendra Rao wanted people to continue the agitation against pollution-creating power plants, mining projects and other anti-people acts of the Government by drawing inspiration from the Basheerbagh agitation.

City secretaries of CPI (M) K. Lokanadham, CPI leaders Pydi Raju and others participated.

A photo exhibition on Basheerbagh incident was held.
(Courtesy : The Hindu)

Prakash Karat on Kashmir Situation

I have visited Srinagar along with my colleague and member of the Central Committee of the CPI (M), Mohammad Salim. We have met people from various walks of life and members of the CPI (M) and the CPI to hear their views about the serious situation prevailing in Kashmir.

First of all, let me state how appalled and shocked we are at the deaths of 62 young boys and girls in the past few weeks due to firing by the central para-military and police forces. There can be no justification whatsoever for these needless deaths when the protesting youth were only resorting to throwing stones. The families of all those who died have suffered an irreparable loss. We convey our heartfelt sympathy to all the bereaved families.

There has to be an immediate end to these brutal and inhuman police firings. There has to be a strict no firing policy to face stone throwing crowds. Other measures are to be resorted to in such confrontations.

The state administration should also provide for adequate compensation to those injured in the police actions and rehabilitation measures for those who have permanent disabilities.

In order to help restore normalcy, the administration should release all juveniles who have been detained and lodged in prisons.

We appeal to people, particularly the youth to pursue their protest through peaceful means.

The Central Government should stop treating the problem in Kashmir as a law and order problem which can be resolved through administrative measures. The government should amend Armed Forces Special Powers Act to remove certain draconian provisions. Till then, the Disturbed Areas Act should be withdrawn from Srinagar and Certain other civilian areas given the significant decrease in militant activities. This will make the use of the AFSPA redundant in these areas.

The Prime Minister’s assurance about zero tolerance for human rights violations should be implemented. Action against those guilty in the Pathribal incident and the recent Machil fake encounter case should be taken.

There is urgent need to generate employment for the youth in Kashmir. This must be accompanied by the rehabilitation of the thousands of former militants who need jobs and other assistance.

Given the major economic losses suffered due to the continued curfews and hartals for the past two months, the government has to compensate and revive trade and other economic activities of different sections of the people. Similarly, the disruption of education of the children due to closure of schools and other institutions should also be addressed.

The CPI(M) has been consistently advocating the need for a sustained political dialogue with all sections in the State to eventually reach a political settlement. It is unfortunate that the UPA II government has totally failed to pursue this path.

The way forward is by recognizing the special status of the state and the need to assure the Kashmiri people of their identity. These require a new political framework in which the bedrock is maximum autonomy.

The CPI(M) will discuss in its next Central Committee meeting this issue in depth and come out with a clear-cut position.

In the meantime, the Central Government should pursue the Confidence Building Measures with Pakistan which can widen the canvas of ties and relations across the LOC.

This is the time, all democratic minded persons, organisations and groups should appeal and work for restoration of peace and normalcy so that people can express their views and maintain their rights to protest peacefully. We shall strive to get the Government of India to address the political issues without further delay.

19th Congress of Communist Party of Sri Lanka begins

The 19th Congress of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka began on August 27th at Shalika Hall, Narahenpita. The congress will conclude on 29th August. 

Changes in the global context have influenced both political and economic situation in Sri Lanka. These positive changes have made opportunities for left parties and progressive people in Sri Lanka said Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) General Secretary DEW Gunasekara addressing the opening ceremony of the 19th National Congress of CPS. 

Within last ten years there were four major changes in the global set up.Poverty is increasing, Neo liberalism is in danger,West front is in trouble and Asian Economy is booming.Left front and Socialist forces should be alert for above changes and should be united, he further said. 

Since 1943 CPSL all previous conferences have made positive influence to the political and economic development in the country. In this conference CPSL were able to discuss the constitutional changes and the electoral system. 

Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, Disaster Management Minister A H M Fowzie, Finance and Planning Deputy Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera, Western Province Governor Alavi Mowlana, Vasudeva Nanayakkara,W H Piyadasa,Raja Kollure,China Ambassador Yang Xiuping, Cuban Ambassador Nirsia Guevara and several foreign delegates were also present.
 
Recognising the need for a political settlement of the Tamil question in Sri Lanka, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Central Committee member T.K. Rangarajan, MP, on Friday said the immediate priority should be to address the concerns of relief, resettlement and rehabilitation of the Tamil civilian population. 

Addressing the 19th National Congress of the Sri Lankan Communist Party (SLCP) in Colombo, Mr. Rangarajan said the expeditious settlement of the Tamil question should involve the devolution of powers and autonomy for the Tamil-speaking areas within the framework of a united Sri Lanka. 

“We feel that such a political solution will strengthen the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka,” he said. With the end of the prolonged war, the rehabilitation of the displaced Tamils was a major concern as reports indicate that thousands of people were still living in relief camps.

Financial crisis

The ‘Great Recession' was a systemic crisis with its impact felt across the world. Contrary to the claims by many countries, the current crisis of international financial capital was far graver than any other crisis in the history of capitalism. The social impact too was being felt everywhere with rising discontent and increasing protests. 

In India, the impact was only to a limited extent because of the role played by the CPI(M) and other Left parties. Unfortunately, the Congress-led UPA government, buoyed by the fact that it no longer depended on the Left for its survival, was implementing the very same neo-liberal policies that in the first place, had led to this crisis, Mr. Rangarajan said. 

The ruling classes were trying their best to isolate the CPI(M) by attacking it from all directions. In West Bengal, one of the strongest bastions of the CPI(M) in the country, there was a broad ranging coalition forged by all political forces from the extreme right to the extreme left, including Maoists. More than 300 CPI(M) men have been killed by the Maoists in this province emboldened by this broad alliance. “Our party is thick in the fight not only resisting all these efforts intended to isolate the party but also in defence of the rights of the toiling people,” he said.

Prakash Karat releases book on Karl Marx in Orissa

The Oriya translated book  of ‘Das capital’  by Karl Marx has been released by CPIM General Secretary  Prakash Karat at Jayaden Bhawan in Bhuwaneswar on 17th August 2010. The book contained 1293 pages. The oriya translated book has been published by Lokasikhya Pratisthan after 143 years. The book has been translated by Lambodar Naik.

Communist Party of India(Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat expressed concern over the open loot of minerals in the country. The Centre's faulty mining policy was helping companies accumulate huge capital. Citing the case of an Andhra Pradesh-based company which had since announced plans to establish a steel plant, Mr. Karat said growth of capitalism through mindless exploitation of the mineral wealth had been rampant during the past six decades.

The CPI(M) leader was releasing the Oriya translation of Karl Marx's Das Kapital Volume-I at a function organised by the Lokshikshya Pratisthan here. Karl Marx had written about the exploitation of mineral resources and growth of capitalism way back in 1867. The book had given a new direction to the labour movement across the world, Mr. Karat said. 

He thanked Lambodar Nayak, who translated Das Kapital into Oriya. He expressed satisfaction that the Oriya translation of the second volume of the three-part book was already in progress.

Economist Prabhat Patnaik said the growth of capitalism resulted in an increase in the number of the poor and in inequality, while a few were accumulating wealth by the day.

CPI(M) Orissa secretary Janardan Pati and senior party leader and former MP Sivaji Patnaik spoke.

Left Parties memorandum to the EC

We are constrained to bring to your notice on behalf of the four Left parties – CPI(M), CPI, AIFB and RSP – the very disturbing attempts in West Bengal in the run-up to the process of Summary Revision of Electoral Rolls (SRER). While forwarding the memorandum addressed to you on behalf of the Left Front Committee, West Bengal, we would like to draw your focused attention on specific facts which will bring out the humongous magnitude of these attempts which unless defeated will lead to large-scale falsification of the electoral rolls and distort the ensuing Assembly elections as a whole.

In this context, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that we had already met you on August 3, 2010 to initially acquaint you with the problem. Certain major facts have now come to our notice which further reinforces our apprehension.

The total number of Form-6 applications for addition of new names to be included in the draft electoral rolls as part of the SRER is given to be 56,19,057 (Annexure – I). The districtwise break-up of the total number of Form-6 applications shows the unusually inflated total number of applications. This is available in Annexure – II for your ready reference and perusal.

That the number of Form-6 application is unusually high can be made out from Annexure-III. The following table will give a complete picture.

Summary of last three revisions 2006 2007 2008 2009

a) No of electors in Draft Rolls 4,80,95,009 4,78,39,290 5,04,11,682 5,16,12,655

b) Total Additions 25,80,001 20,75,343 14,00,601 13,81,575

c) Total Deletions 28,35,726 11,98,568 2,00,719 6,31,555

d) Net Addition -2,55,725 8,76,775 11,99,882 7,50,020

e) Percentage of Net Addition -0.5 1.83 2.38 1.45

Roughly 56 lakh proposed additions over the total number of electors amounting to 5,24,21,616 works out to a more than 10 per cent increase. Given the fact that the net addition in the preceding four years – 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 – are -0.5 per cent, 1.83 per cent, 2.38 per cent and 1.45 per cent respectively, clearly show abnormality of an unusual magnitude.

Together with this, the Left Front memorandum will show that there are gross attempts to bypass the well-established ECI stipulations for additions of names. The submission of affidavits, patently false methods of certification like school certificates, birth certificates from health centres etc instead of standard procedures indicate an organized effort to falsify the rolls. To be fair, we must also bring out that the Chief Electoral Officer has given a firm commitment in an all-party meeting on August 5, 2010 – “submission of bulk applications as well as affidavits and other documents inconsistent with the norms and rules of the Election Commission shall not be accepted or rejected if received anywhere, prior to enquiry.”

We have been given to understand that the commitment so given is not being strictly implemented. There have been instances of questionable role of certain observers to bring pressure on the block level election officials to turn a blind eye to these obnoxious attempts and legitimize the applications without due consideration as per the directions of the Election Commission.

The magnitude of the problem and the attempted deceit like filing of affidavits which is born – not out of ignorance – but to sidestep the due and impeccable procedures cannot be defeated without your urgent intervention.

We, therefore, forward the Left Front memorandum and the voluminous Annexures to substantiate the contentions contained therein.

We sincerely expect that with the active intervention of the EC, the sanctity and the integrity of the election process in West Bengal will be safeguarded and this will add up to the otherwise fine record of your achievements of the past.

Hindi book on Comrade P Sundarayya released

Leaders across the political spectrum on Wednesday recalled the immense contribution of veteran Marxist leader P. Sundarayya to building the Communist movement in Andhra Pradesh and the country.

Recounting the spartan life led by the Marxist leader, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said Sundarayya contributed to ushering in democratic practices in the party structure and worked towards the development of linguistics in the State.

Releasing a book in Hindi on the life of Pucchalapalli Sundarayya, Union Minister for Urban Development S. Jaipal Reddy shared his relationship with the late leader and spoke of the immense knowledge that he brought to debates.

On his part, Bharatiya Janata Party leader M. Venkaiah Naidu lamented the changing attitude in politics and the drifting personal relations among politicians from different parties. He said that while parties had different ideologies earlier, its members used to interact on a social plane, a tradition now on the decline.

Lakshmi Prasad, a former Telugu Desam Party MP, who heads the Andhra Pradesh Hindi Academy, said that in order to highlight the contribution of leaders such as Alluri Seetaramaraju, Tanguturi Prakasam, and P.V. Narasimha Rao in national politics, the Academy would publish their translated biographies for the benefit of Hindi-speaking people.

Veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar presided over the function held here at the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan.

Centre should probe mining in Andhra Pradesh: CPI (M)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has demanded that the Centre constitute a high-level committee to inquire into the mining activities in the State and put exploitation work on hold till the panel submits its report.

CPI (M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu charged the Congress with adopting “double standards” on mining activities. While the party was supporting mining in the States where it was in power, it was opposing it in States where it was in the Opposition. Denial of mining permission to Vedanta in Orissa on environmental grounds while allowing bauxite mining in Visakhapatnam in spite of the pollution it was causing was ample proof of the ruling party's approach.

The Government which denied permission to set up the thermal power plant at Sompeta in Srikakulam district as it had no environmental clearances, however, ignored “violation of tribal laws like 1/70 Act” in case of mining in Bayyaram in Khammam district.

“Why is the Centre particular about enforcement of legislations in States where the Congress is not in power while it is setting aside the same in Congress-ruled States” he wondered.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

Deshabhimani signature song released

Deshabhimani', the official organ of the CPI-M in Malayalam, released its signature song, penned by eminent poet and lyricist O N V Kurup. The song was released by CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan at a function at Thiruvananthapuram. A musical rendering of the values for which the newspaper stood over decades as the voice of the toiling masses, was sung by noted playback singers K S Chitra and Madhu Balakrishnan. The tune was rendered by top-notch film and stage music director M K Arjunan.

DMK wavering in its stand on major issues: CPI(M)

Accusing the DMK of wavering in its position on all major issues such as Nuclear Deal, trade union rights and state autonomy, the CPI(M) on Thursday said the Dravidian party, once a champion of state autonomy, had been reduced to the level of pleading the Centre with petitions.

“The Congress-led UPA government is taking away the rights of the state government and the DMK is pleading with petitions,” CPI(M) state secretary G. Ramakrishnan said, reacting to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s remarks that the communist parties had no policy other than changing their stand frequently.

“The communists have never compromised their stand on issues such as anti-imperialism, secularism, rights of the state governments and protection of poor in the urban and rural areas,” he added.

Mr Ramakrishnan said the though the DMK had expressed concern over the hike in the price of petroleum products, the fact remained that the DMK was also a party to the cabinet decision to hike the price.

“The price of agriculture inputs has become beyond the reach of farmers. But the DMK extended its support to hike the price of fertilisers,” he said, alleging that the DMK was wavering because it had embraced liberalisation policy.

As regards the Chief Minister’s another remark that the CPI(M) was trying to suppress the achievements of the DMK government, Mr Ramakrishnan quipped, “no one can suppress achievements such as power cut, spiralling of prices of essential commodities, deterioration of law and order and denial of trade union rights in multi-national companies.”

He said though the DMK was claiming that it was the champion of social justice, suspension of IAS officer C. Umashankar and the wall to prevent the entry of Dalits in Uthapuram “tell different story.”

Mr Ramakrishnan said only a few CPI(M) men attended the meeting to admit former CPI(M) MLA C. Govindasamy into the DMK.

“Others belonged to the DMK. What is the need to organise such a big function to admit the DMK men into the DMK,” he said.

Rejecting the Chief Minister’s comments, CPI state secretary D. Pandian said, “time has come for the Chief Minister to retire from politics.”

(Courtesy : The Hindu)