Prakash Karat's letter to Pranab Mukherjee on setting up of Lokpal

This is with reference to your letter regarding the setting up of a Lokpal to curb corruption at high places.

Our Party has definite views on the nature and scope of the Lokpal authority to be set-up. The issues that need to be considered are not necessarily confined to the six questions which you have posed to be answered in yes or no terms.

Therefore, we suggest that the Government prepare a draft of the Lokpal legislation on which we will be able to give our views. You can seek our views before it is presented to Parliament. If that is not possible, then we shall certainly express our views on the draft through the Parliamentary procedures.

Despite defeat strength should not be minimized: Prakash Karat

Despite defeat in the last polls the political strength of the Left Front should in no way be considered finished or exhausted. One should remember that the Front had created a glorious chapter in the history of the Left movement in the country by running a government for over three decades in West Bengal. This is the observation of the West Bengal State Committee of the CPI(M) which met for two days on June 4 and 5 at the party headquarters in Alimuddin Street. The party secretary Prakash Karat was present at the extended session the purpose of which was to analyse the party’s election results. It also discussed matters pertaining to the organizations, Left politics and the running of the government.

About the present task of the party Karat said, “We have lost a battle, but our struggle has not ended. We must go to the people, work among them adopting appropriate and corrective measures, reestablish close touch with them and make us reorganized.” Members admitted that there were tremendous limitations for Left parties to run a government in a single State under the existing socio-economic and political structure of a country like India. But even then the Left parties got huge mandate of the people to form a pro-people government for seventh successive time since 1977.There was historic contribution of the Left Front government to the people of West Bengal.

Biman Basu, secretary of the state unit of the CPI(M), admitted that the party could not correct and amend organizational mistakes and weaknesses which it detected after the setback in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Time had come to be more cautious about reshuffling the party structure from lower level so that more cohesive approach be taken on pro-people issues. The State committee noted incidents of violent attacks on party supporters and workers by Trinamool and Congress combine.

The State committee elected Abdur Rezzak Mollah the Whip of the CPI(M) in the Assembly. The party members were made aware of the fact that despite poll debacle the Left Front received 41 per cent vote in the last Assembly elections, which meant it received the support of little over 1.95 crore people in the State. In two-day session 50 members participated in the discussion. The discussion will also be held at all levels and towards the middle of June the final analysis be made. The State committee noted the anti-Left attack, the use of money power an slander campign against the Left Front at election time.
(Pic Courtesy : The Hindu)

Trinamool on a vendetta, Left learning from mistakes: Budhadeb Bhattacharjee

Kolkata, May 31 : Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader and former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Tuesday attacked the ruling Trinamool Congress for the post-poll violence against Left activists and slammed the central government for failing to control the price rise of fuels and essential commodities.

He was addressing a Left Front rally on Tuesday in Kolkata. Bhattacharjee also said his party was taking lessons from its rout and would decide its future course after seeing the Mamata Banerjee government's performance.

'The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) has completed two years but it has not managed to get pass marks. The ever rising prices of daily use commodities are a sign of its failure,' he said. 'They have failed to control the price rise of essentials. They are only interested about the rich. We had earlier told the central government to make uniform public distribution system across the country but they have not agreed to it,' said Bhattacharjee.

'The government should not increase the price of fuel further. We demand that government should cap the price rise of fuels and essential commodities,' said Bhattacharjee, who is also a member of the CPI-M politburo. Hitting out Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his comment on the Left Front's defeat, Bhattacharjee said: 'He has said that our defeat is historic but he should keep one thing in mind that we have still got 41 percent votes of the total votes polled. But the central government is ruling the country sitting on the 29 percent votes they have got. This is also historic.'

'We have been defeated in the elections. We are learning lessons from it. We are trying to find out what went wrong. We are trying to find out what we couldn't do and what we have done. But above all we must also keep one thing in mind that near about one crore, ninety five lack people have voted in favour of Left Front,' he said. 'We will take our lessons and go back to the people and the people will only decide which path we should take. We are keeping a close watch on the activities of the new government. We are watching what they are saying regarding agriculture, health and industry. We are listening to it carefully,' said Bhattacharjee.

'The people of the state are also listening to it. We will decide our path after watching their path. But before all this the attacks on the Left Front activists should stop. The new government should look into the matter,' said Bhattacharjee. Without specifically naming the Trinamool, Bhattacharjee attacked it for perpetrating a political vendetta. 'Hundreds of our party offices have been destroyed. Our party flags have been removed and their flag has been put up in those offices. Many people have been killed. Just because we have lost, does that that means our workers should be killed?' he said.

'As many as 5,000 people have fled their homes due to fear. People are being compelled to donate towards party funds. They are attacking our panchayat members compelling them to join the other party or die. This is the situation all across the state. We cannot tolerate these killings. Government should take action against this,' said Bhattacharjee. In an obvious reference to the spate of arms recovery made allegedly belonging to the CPI-M cadres, Bhattacharjee said the people of Bengal cannot be fooled by such tricks.

'Recovery of arms covered in the red flag has become a daily phenomenon. Do they think the people of Bengal are blind? The people very well know what is true and what not. This way they cannot fool the public,' he said.

Left parties protest in Punjab against pretrol price hike

Left parties staged demonstrations at district headquarters across Punjab on May 30th ,protesting hike in prices of petrol and other essential commodities during the UPA regime. Activists of the CPI and the CPI (M) took out rallies across Punjab. Leaders of Left parties slammed the UPA government over its failure to contain inflation in the country. They also demanded immediate steps to bring down the prices of essential commodities and sought withdrawal of hike in petrol prices.

Addressing the Violence Behind the “Missing” Girl Child

Sudha Sundhararaman

(AIDWA All India Secretary)

EVERY time the census figures are released, the alarm bells start ringing. This year, the provisional census figures revealed a shocking decline in the child sex ratio figures from 927 per thousand in 2001 to 914 in 2011- a decline of 13 points, bringing the figures down to the lowest since independence. The ratio has been falling unabated ever since the 1961 Census. And though states like Punjab and Haryana have shown some improvement since the previous Census, their child sex ratios are still the lowest in the country. Unfortunately, the situation has deteriorated in many more states now. There are nine states with child sex ratios below 900 – Haryana: 830, Punjab: 846, J&K: 859, Delhi:866, Rajasthan:883, Maharashtra: 883, Gujarat: 886, Uttarakhand: 886, and Uttar Pradesh: 899 per thousand. The number of states with child sex ratios of 951 and above has reduced by half from 18 to 9 while the number of states and UTs with CSRs below 915 has increased from 9 in 2001 to 14 in 2011.

The hollow claims being made by the UPA- II government regarding “inclusive” growth stand thoroughly exposed by these grim statistics. There can be no celebration about the rise in the overall sex ratios, when the impact of this consistent decline threatens to undermine whatever gains are being touted. What is more, it also raises fundamental questions about the government policies and interventions, which have obviously done little to redress the imbalance in child sex ratios, but rather, have contributed to aggravating the situation further.

To address the underlying issues, and chalk out a plan of action, a joint meeting was organised by AIDWA, and the Indian School for Women’s Studies and Development (ISWSD), in New Delhi on April 30, 2011.

Many prominent academicians, and members of ISWSD including – Rajni Palriwala, Indu Agnihotri, Malini Bhattacharya, Professor Mohan Rao and representatives from organisations like Sama, Young Women’s Christian Association, Students’ Federation of India, Working Women’s Co-ordination Committee (CITU)and All India Kisan Sabha etc, participated in the meeting, which was presided over by AIDWA vice president Kirti Singh.

AIDWA activists and leaders from the states of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and West Bengal placed their state experiences, as part of an organisational meeting. Kiran Moghe, AIDWA national secretary and Jagmati Sangwan, AIDWA vice president gave graphic accounts of the struggles undertaken in Maharashtra and Haryana to force the administration to implement the PcPNDT Act. They raised many serious questions about the political commitment of the government to enforce it. A draft resolution was placed by AIDWA general secretary, Sudha Sundararaman, which was greatly enriched and strengthened by the ensuing discussion.

The meeting unequivocally came to the conclusion that the fall in child sex ratio represented a damning indictment of the policies of the UPA-II government and an exposure of its utter failure to implement the PcPNDT Act.

FERTILITY DECLINE & DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE

The aggressive “population stabilisation” programme, preceded by the family planning drive launched by successive governments have contributed to the sharp decline in child sex ratios. This is because smaller families are being propagated and popularised within a highly patriarchal and gender discriminatory social construct. Parents too now wish to have less number of children, but, the fall in growth rate of population after decades of stagnation appears to have been achieved primarily at the cost of the girl child. When parents decide to have one child, or two children, the preference is for the son- even without sex selective abortions. In a state like Punjab, it was observed during field research that families with one son prefer not to have another child at all!

Though the two child norm has been formally given up, many states continue to implement it, with incentives and disincentives still being included in different ways. Women with more than two children cannot contest panchayat elections in some states. In Maharashtra, the Cong/ NCP government has passed a law that families with more than two children will have to pay one and a half times more for irrigation water.

Modern families want at least one son, and not more than one daughter – and methods to achieve this ideal are being resorted to without compunction. Indeed, surveys have shown that higher literacy figures and economic growth provide no guarantees against the crime of sex selection. It is in urbanised, fast growing metros that sex selective abortions are gaining popularity, and acceptance. In rural areas, the girl child is neglected after birth, her health needs are not attended to, and she is allowed to die. Such is the grim reality of aversion to daughters.

SEX SELECTIVE ABORTIONS

Under the PcPNDT Act (1994) sex selection is illegal, and punishable. However, in reality sex selective abortions are being conducted with impunity. There is a well developed nexus between the medical profession, the technicians, and the large companies selling the ultra sound machines. This profitable market exists because of the unwillingness of the government to take stringent action against those violating the law.

When AIDWA did a sting operation in Pune district of Maharashtra against a leading doctor, it discovered that the Act had not even been notified in that district even ten years after the Act had been put into place! A similar lapse undermined the efficacy of the law in Haryana as well!

Collusion between the profit makers, corruption and the clout wielded by unethical and corrupt members of the medical profession (often supported by their associations) have rendered the Act toothless. Clinics get sealed due to our struggles, and then, are back in action within a short period. So-called monitoring committees at all levels are dominated by those who are being monitored and activists, experts etc are conspicuous by their absence on these committees.

The “F” forms that should be analysed and monitored to identify wrongdoers are gathering dust in office rooms.

The Central Supervisory Board set up to monitor and oversee the implementation of the PcPNDT Act did not hold a single meeting over three years. It has been reconstituted recently, in a most non transparent manner. States too are following suit, which will render these bodies ineffective once more.

The linkages with the medical service as business are becoming more advanced, with the advent of newer and newer technologies. The phenomenal expansion in ART centres indicates what a lucrative business enterprise it has become- the potential for its misuse for sex pre selection is extremely high, but there is no regulation. Thus, there is a serious lack of political will in the implementation of the PcPNDT Act by the government.

SOME DISTURBING QUESTIONS

Technology is not neutral. It was noted that the introduction of a “silent observer”- a hard disc placed in the ultrasound machine to monitor pregnancies more closely- in some states and regions is an unwanted intrusion that could lead to harassment and victimisation of the woman. Though proper screening and monitoring is important, the procedures for monitoring pregnancies cannot become an instrument for invasion into the privacy of individuals.

The numbers of ultra sound machines are increasing by the day, and there are now mobile clinics catering to outlying areas. Pregnant women are being subjected to a number of ultrasounds, for which there is no necessity, and indeed this can be harmful for the unborn baby, as declared by the radiologist’s association in the US. Privatisation is breeding a culture of excess screening and medical tests, a trend that is being exploited by the unscrupulous private health providers. A comprehensive legislation to safeguard public health rights must be formulated to address such concerns.

The discussion also highlighted the inefficacy of government schemes due to the many conditionalities that are being imposed on selection of beneficiaries, as also the stereotyped mindset that went into their formulation.

The participants noted that the neo liberal paradigm of development had led to devastating implications for women. They underscored the complex link between the market economy, and the erosion in women’s status. The agrarian crisis, and the consequent further devaluation of women’s work has led to her increased impoverishment and marginalisation. Unemployment and underemployment among women is high. The denial of nutrition and health care, made worse by the introduction of user fees in health institutions, the lack of a universal PDS, accompanied by a decline in the consumption of food grains, the repeated increase in prices of essential commodities, the huge increase in dowry, without property rights and asset creation for women – all these have created a matrix where the girl child is supremely unwanted. While dowry demands are escalating, property rights for girls are not implemented properly. In Haryana, the daughter who inherits property from the father is expected to sign over her share to her brothers- otherwise she is subjected to a great deal of harassment. The growing incidence of violence against women and girls transforms them into even more of a burden.

Thus, there are a plethora of factors leading to the girl child being killed or neglected to die before or after she is born, and it is necessary to address these comprehensively, for the government to arrest the decline in child sex ratios.

The meeting resolved to launch a nation-wide campaign and struggle highlighting the following issues:

• The government should implement the PcPNDT Act stringently and show political will to curb this crime.
• The Central Supervisory Board, and the equivalent state mechanisms, all the monitoring committees and appropriate authorities should comprise of members who have both knowledge of the law, and proven commitment to upholding the rights of girl children. All monitoring committees must be constituted properly. Swift punitive action should be taken against the offenders.
• The two child norm should be withdrawn with immediate effect, including all related incentives and disincentives.
• Existing schemes for girl children must be critically examined and reformulated such that they are universal and are not linked to any kind of conditionality and stereotypes.
• Monitoring for proper implementation of the Act must not violate privacy rights of pregnant women. The introduction of ‘silent observer’ in ultrasound machines should be reconsidered in this context.
• Rampant privatization of public health care should be curbed with an umbrella legislation on health care. Misuse of new technologies like the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) for sex selection should be prevented.

A call was given for state units of AIDWA to hold protest demonstrations and other programmes in the last week of May demanding proper implementation of the PcPNDT Act, and submit memorandums to the concerned authorities and officials on this issue.

CPI(M) urges government to regulate school fees in Tamil Nadu

The State committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sunday urged the government to regulate school fees and enforce the recommendations of the Justice Govindarajan Committee as there was no new recommendation yet on the fee structure for the current academic year from the committee presently headed by Justice Raviraja Pandian.

In a statement party State secretary G. Ramakrishnan said the Private Schools Fees Regulation Act was enacted in 2009 to streamline the fees collected by them. The government had also ordered that the institutions could collect the fees recommended by the Govindarajan Committee during the academic year 2010-11.

However, most of the schools collected fees according to their whims, and some even collected fees without receipt indirectly and also as donations in contravention of the Act, Mr. Ramakrishnan alleged.

This led to parents and students taking to streets in various parts of the State while the institutions moved the court.

Ultimately, the court ordered that the committee should reconsider its recommendations with regard to 6,500 schools and announce its decision. Till then, these institutions could collect only the fees recommended by the committee.

Even if higher fees had been collected, that should be kept as a separate fund.

However, as Justice Govindarajan resigned from the post last year, Justice Raviraja Pandian was appointed chairman of the committee. And the new committee had been examining the plea of the 6,500 schools from the beginning of this year. But, with the new academic year (2011-12) about to begin and with no new recommendations forthcoming from the committee, Mr. Ramakrishnan pleaded that these institutions should be permitted to collect only the fees recommended by the Govindarajan Committee.”

Appeal

While appealing to the government to initiate action against institutions charging higher fees, the CPI (M) wanted the Justice Raviraja Pandian Committee to come out with recommendations at the earliest.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

There is little clarity on the ground situation at the twin Greater Noida villages of Bhatta and Parsaul, where farmers have been protesting the land acquisition along the Yamuna Expressway for over two weeks now. A visit by Rahul Gandhi, which involved some engaging theatrics, has only added to the misinformation. An AIDWA (All India Democratic Women's Association delegation visited Bhatta-Parsaul villages in Greater Noida on May 19, to study the the unfortunate turn of events on May 7 that led to the deaths of two farmers (one from each village) and 2 constables of the PAC.

They found that there is clear evidence of Police brutality and repression in the two villages and that the entire episode reveals that the UP government has precipitated matters in due to its adamant and highhanded approach towards land acquisition. Given below are findings of the AIDWA team, comprising Sudha Sundararaman (General Secretary), T. N. Seema (Rajya Sabha MP), Ashalata (Secretary), Albeena Shakil (CEC Member), Asha Yadav (Secretary, Noida) and Lata Singh (Activist Noida), local leaders of the All India Kisan Sabha accompanied the delegation, namely, Uday Veer Singh Mallik, Kunwar Pal Singh Mallik, Chander Pal Singh and Gyanender Singh, as well as CITU leader of Noida Gangeshwar and Com. Bhati- a respected leader of that area.

PRESS RELEASE

We met several victims of violence and interacted with the women of the area. The delegation also interacted briefly with the SDM of the adjoining district who was visiting Bhatta village. Our findings are as follows:

1. Agitation against inadequate compensation: The farmers of Bhatta-Parsaul have been on a prolonged agitation demanding better compensation for their land. The agitators include both those whose lands have been acquired as well as those whose lands are set to be acquired in the coming days. While some farmers have received part or full payment for their land, we met no one who was satisfied with the compensation. Most wanted an arrangement wherein they could have a stake in the escalating land value. The farmers were demanding a transparent declaration of land use by the government since many felt betrayed that the land that was ostensibly acquired for industrial purposes was now in the hands of real estate developers.
2. Firing on 7th May: While the months old agitation by farmers was largely peaceful, there was no serious effort to resolve their demands by the administration. The exact sequence of events that led to the firing could not be ascertained, but it is clear that the adamant approach of the government played a big role in the unfortunate turn of events. The firing started between 1.30 to 2 pm on 7th May at the Dharna site near the Aata Chakki in Bhatta and continued till nearly 7 pm. Police brutality and highhandedness through forced entry into homes continued for the next 3 days. It is clear that rather than establishing the rule of law, the Police and the administration took law into their own hands.
3. Plight of families of killed farmers: We met Shmt. Omwati, widow of Shri Rajpal, from Bhatta village, who was killed on the 7th. He is survived by three school going sons and a married daughter. The family is living in debt incurred during the daughter’s marriage. Shmt. Omwati complained that the administration did not allow the family to bring back his body to the village and her son was compelled to perform the last rites away from his family and home. Shri. Rajbeer from Parsaul village was also killed on the same day in Police firing but we could not reach his family.
4. Villagers shot or injured: We met Shmt. Raghubir Udayveer whose son Daljeet is injured and hospitalized. Senior citizen Narender Singh was shot in his right leg on the 7th but was finding himself at a loss to return to the hospital for treatment in the absence of male members in the village to escort him. 85 years old Tej Singh Sarma was beaten with rifle butts, his 15 year old grandson was arrested and beaten up in police custody for 3 days. School teacher Navratan Sharma’s leg was fractured. Brick worker Prempal, son of Lakkhi Chandan suffered a broken shoulder but no medical aid has reached him. School teacher Navratan Sharma’s leg was fractured. The son and daughter-in-law of Shmt. Nirmala were hospitalized with bullet injuries. 70 years old Kela Devi’s grandson Kapil was in hospital with bullet injuries. Bhirender Singh, son of Ikram Singh suffered multiple fractures in his hands and legs. Both the legs and one hand of schoolteacher Bijender were broken. Suresh, a medical shop owner, suffered from broken fingers and rib. Praveen was injured on his head and suffered a cut wound in his stomach.
5. Jailed: To our knowledge a total of 28 people have been jailed from the two villages, 23 from Bhatta and another 5 from Parsal. We found women members of their families to be in extreme distress.
6. Terrorized Villagers: The Police chased agitating farmers into the villages and forced their entry into homes in Bhatta on the 7thand in Parsaul for the next three days. Victims reported that police stormed the village in thousands, ( one eye witness put the number at 5000) broke open doors, jumped walls, and resorted to a full scale attack on the villagers. We found evidence of large scale looting and damage to property. Most male household members have left their homes, leaving behind women. Only a handful have returned. The male household members of Jameela, a senior citizen, had not returned home. The Police looted the foodgrain in her house. She was asking for food since she was too afraid to go out to work. All villagers, irrespective of whether they were landowners or not, were targeted during these raids. We found most women to be still terrorized. While many men were injured at the dharna site, a large number was also injured during these raids. Many women also hid outside the village in farms for a day or two.
7. Damage to property: The Police inevitably damaged all modes of travel like motorcycles and cars during these raids. Even tractors and wooden carts were not spared. We found broken doors and broken household goods in many homes. The shop of Vinod Sharma was looted and his car damaged. Money was snatched from Shmt. Kanta Devi. Ranbeera and her mentally challenged son were beaten and the car and motorcycle in their home damaged. The household furniture and small shop of 55 years old widow Shmt. Munni was damaged. The hay stacks in Mukut Lal’s house were set on fire. The car, tractor and water pump of Shmt. Durga Sharma was damaged. 20 sacks of wheat were also destroyed. 2 motorcycles, 1 TV, 1 fridge, 1 cooler, 1 inverter, 1 Dish, and furniture were damaged in the home of Shmt. Dayawati. The motorcycle in the house of Shmt. Anita Choudhary was damaged. 2 motorcycles in the house of Shri Bhopal were damaged and an attempt was made to set them on fire. The motorcycle in the house of deceased farmer Late Shri Rajpal was damaged.
8. Violence Against Women: No women police were part of the village raids. It is clear that the Police went on a rampage in the villages. Inevitably the Police encountered women in homes and without exception all women complained about filthy abuses and physical assault. Among them, 18 years old Neha Sharma’s hand was fractured. Her mother Shmt. Kanti Devi was also hospitalized till yesterday with injuries. Shmt. Munni, a widowed woman was beaten in her private parts. We found several women with minor cuts and bruises on their bodies. Many were traumatized by the events, mentally and physically. AIDWA strongly condemns this barbaric assault perpetrated by the UP police in the villages of Bhatta and Parsaul. The kind of violence unleashed against women is abhorrent and must be dealt with firmly. However, no incident of rape was reported by the families we met.

This entire sordid episode reveals that the UP government has precipitated matters in Bhatta-Parsaul due to its adamant and highhanded approach towards land acquisition. There is clear evidence of Police brutality and repression in the two villages. Women have faced the brunt of Police brutality and are extremely terrorized. They are in distress about male household members who are injured, jailed or have left the villages fearing police attacks. We found them to be extremely intimidated about heavy police presence in the area and found one instance where even yesterday the Police knocked at a door at midnight. Efforts must be made to restore normalcy in the villages without delay. Medical and other facilities must be provided to the injured. Police presence must be phased off. The threats and intimidation by the Police and administration must stop so that people can return to their homes. Food must be provided to needy villagers. Adequate compensation must be paid to the villagers for loss of life and property. While the law must take its own course in the case of all killed, including the 2 PAC constables, the effort to take revenge upon all villagers must be discarded without delay. The investigation must keep in view the entire context of administrative highhandedness. The UP government must shed its highhanded attitude on land acquisition and must announce a meaningful dialogue with the agitating farmers. The Union government must amend that Land Acquisition Act without delay, which is at the root of the entire unfortunate turn of events. Representatives of the Congress Party must refrain from seeking to divert attention from this pertinent issue by making sensational claims and allegations. The Land Acquisition Act must be amended in a manner that makes consent of farmers essential for land acquisition and provides adequate monetary compensation, with a gender sensitive perspective. This must be combined with a stake for the land losers in the appreciated future value of land along with other livelihood options.

No FDI in Multi-Brand Retail

The Polit Bureau strongly opposes any move to allow FDI in multi-brand retail trade as suggested by the Inter-Ministerial Group on Inflation headed by the Chief Economic Advisor.

Having utterly failed to curb the relentless increase in prices of essential commodities, the move is to utilize that very failure to push for more concessions to multinational companies like Walmart. The specious arguments put forward that entry of MNC retail giants like Walmart will enhance efficiency of the supply chain and bring down the trading margins belie international experience which shows that any State regulation of these giant retailers are always rendered ineffective. In fact, MNCs will enjoy much greater monopoly power over both farmers and consumers and will manipulate prices to their benefit while at the same time, the livelihood of millions of small unorganized retailers will be virtually wiped out.

This is yet another instance of pro-MNC neo-liberal framework which will badly affect the Indian people. It is shocking that the Group of Ministers has refused to accept the Supreme Court direction to strengthen the public distribution system and distribute foodgrains to the people which is also one of the ways of controlling market prices. It is to be noted that the Inter-Ministerial Group has not suggested any meaningful step to curb food inflation, like enhancing agricultural productivity or stepping up public investment in storage and transportation. Options like strengthening the PDS and banning future trade in essential commodities are also being ignored.

The CPI(M) calls upon other political parties and organisations to protest against this retrograde move.

CPI(M) activists court arrest during ‘jail bharo' in Orissa

CPI (M) activists were taken to jail during the ‘jail bharo' movement of the party held in the Berhampur city in Orissa on Saturday. It was the third and final day of ‘jail bharo' movement of the party in Ganjam, the home district of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to protest against anti-people and anti-labour policies of both the State and Central governments.

The leaders who got themselves jailed included the State secretariat member of the CPI (M) Ali Kishore Patnaik, city secretary of the party Basant Nanda, district committee members Aswini Sahu and Narasingha Sahu. During similar agitations 36 CPI (M) members had jailed themselves in Bhanjanagar and 64 party activists had been jailed in Chatrapur during past two days.

According to the decision none of the arrested persons would try for their bail.

Around 1,000 CPI (M) activists including women took out a rally in the city that started from Sahid Laxman Nayak community hall and culminated at local sub-collector's office.

There they preferred to break law and courted arrest. But at the request of the administration and the police the number of persons to be arrested and taken to jail was reduced, said Mr. Patnaik.

According to Mr. Patnaik respective sub-collectors in Bhanjanagar and Chatrapur had also made similar requests.

“It proves that such peaceful ‘satyagraha and jail bharo' which were weapon against Britishers before independence can now also be used to pressurise any government,” Mr. Patnaik said.

If such ‘jail bharo' movement continues and people come out in large numbers to go to jail then it will surely become a headache for the government, he added.

Before being transported to Berhampur circle jail, Mr. Patnaik said with the success of this recent movement it has been decided to hold similar ‘jail bharo' agitations in all blocks and tehsil headquarters of the district against wrong policies of the government.

(Courtesy : The hindu)

CITU demands immediate stopping of politically sponsored violence against CITU unions in West Bengal

The CITU Secretariat meeting held on 26-27 May 2011 at New Delhi expressed grave concern over the continuous violence and atrocities engineered by the hoodlums of Trinamool Congress and Congress on the trade unions and other mass organizations in different parts of West Bengal in the aftermath of the Assembly elections-result. Since May 13, already twelve were killed including two with a child burnt alive, which demonstrates extreme barbarism in the process of politically sponsored violence by the ruling regime.

Reports of physical assaults on the leaders, activists and even members of trade unions and other organizations, severely injuring many, and forcing the workers to leave CITU and join TMC led trade unions are pouring in every day. The preliminary reports contain information of incidents involving violent capturing of CITU affiliated union offices by armed TMC goons in different parts of the state; tearing off CITU flags, posters, placards, festoons, banners etc; ransacking of CITU offices etc. In many places, the employers also joined the armed TMC goons in intimidating and forcing to leave the CITU union.

Apart from incidents at various locations in Kolkata involving CITU trade unions in industries including Taxi and Auto Rickshow operators, Street Vendors, districts like Howrah, both the 24-Parganas, Bardhaman, Birbhum, Coochbehar also witnessed continuous violence, hurling of bombs in the office, extortion of huge money from the common workers and residents at gun-point.

The Secretariat of CITU condemns such vindictive and barbarous atrocities and violence on the workers and common people perpetrated by the ruling TMC-Congress led regime keeping the law and order authority a silent onlooker to such grievous and continuing incidents of arsons, physical assaults, loot, extortions and killings.

CITU demands upon the State Govt to out a stop to such continuing politically sponsored violence and atrocities on trade unions, workers and common people throughout the state.

CITU also appeals to all trade unions irrespective of affiliations to raise their voice against such politically sponsored violence on trade unions and mass organization with is designed to empower the employers and capitalists to benefit from terrorizing and weakening the workers’ organizations. Continuity of such politically sponsored violence is also an assault on democratic set up putting the peoples’ interests into jeopardy.

CITU Secretariat calls upon all its affiliated unions, state committees and industrial federations to unleash a countrywide campaign against the politically-sponsored violence on trade unions, workers and common people in West Bengal and observe a “Campaign-cum-Protest Week” on 6th to 11th June 2011 through public-meetings, issuing pamphlets in thousands detailing the barbarous atrocities on the workers and people in West Bengal, rallies, processions etc all over the country.