Left Parties organize dhrana in Delhi against price rice and corruption

The four Left Parties organized a dharna against corruption and price rise at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on July 21. The dharna was organized as the culmination of the week long campaign by the left parties from 15-21 July against corruption and price rise. Hundreds of activists participated in the dharna. Leaders from Delhi and the national leadership of the left parties were present in the dharna and addressed the gathering.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechcury pointed out that the corruption we are seeing today is not some simple corruption due to deterioration of moral values. Corruption today is linked with the neo-liberal economic policies being pursued by the ruling classes today. Without fighting corruption it is not possible to build a new India for which we have the potential, he said. The money lost in 2G spectrum scam alone is sufficient to provide food to all people at Rs 3 per kg for two years, or finance the expenditure on the Right to Education for five years. He emphasized on the need for electoral reforms to strengthen the fight against corruption and demanded that corporate funding of political parties be banned. He appealed to the people to strengthen the fight against corruption and price rise.

CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said the UPA government was completely sunk in corruption and it has lost all credibility. The Left Parties want a comprehensive and effective Lokpal bill and not a toothless legislation. He appealed to the participants to be ready for bigger struggles in the future.

Abani Roy from the RSP called on the people to mobilize against corruption and price rise in greater numbers. He said that those who cannot provide relief to the common people have no right to remain in government.

Debbrata Biswas from the AIFB attacked the government for fueling price rise. He also said sustained struggles need to be built and anger of the people must be channelized into militant struggles.

CPI (M) Delhi State Secretary P M S Grewal, Dinesh Varshney from the CPI, Asit Ganguly from RSP, and Dharmendra Kumar from AIFB also addressed the gathering.

CPI(M) urges Tamil Nadu government to evolve ‘land use policy'

The State unit of the CPI(M) on Friday urged the State government to evolve a “land use policy” to prevent indiscriminate acquisition of agriculture lands for other purposes.

Talking to reporters here, State secretary G. Ramakrishnan said in many places lands had been acquired in the name of industrialisation but never utilised for the purpose.

“Let the State government evolve a policy for acquiring agriculture lands. This is very important since the agricultural production in the State has come down from Rs.22,022 crore in 2005-06 to Rs.20,876 crore in 2009-10,” he said.

The party on Thursday met Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and submitted a memorandum drawing her attention to various issues, including agricultural reforms, land distribution to poor, uniform education, industrial policy and empowerment of women and minorities.

Mr. Ramakrishnan said the State government should table in the Assembly the privileges extended to industrial and corporate houses while signing a memorandum of understanding for setting up industries in the State.

“The report should tell the investment brought into the State by these companies and the employment generation by them. We also need the details about the loss caused to the exchequer because of the privileges offered to these companies,” he said.

Asked about the allegations of the DMK leadership that their party functionaries had been targeted by the State government on land grabbing cases, Mr. Ramakrishnan said many of the incidents took place during the DMK regime and no action was taken against the culprits. “There was a direction from the Madras High Court against former Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam in connection with land grabbing. But the police did not take any action at that time,” he added.

As regards uniform syllabus, he said the government should immediately distribute textbooks to students.

“We should keep in mind that uniform syllabus is only one of the many recommendations of the Muthukumaran committee constituted by the previous government. There are other aspects such as education through mother tongue, quality education in government schools and infrastructure development,” he further said. Besides demanding a university for the development of folk arts, the CPI(M) also wanted allocation of adequate land for the sports university.

(Source : The Hindu)

Enthusiastic Response to Left Campaign Against Corruption and Price Rise

There is massive and enthusiastic response to the week- long anti-corruption and anti-price rise campaign launched on July 15 by the four Left Parties— CPI, CPI (M), RSP and Forward Bloc — all over the country.  Massive rallies, hall meetings and conventions are being organized in different parts of the country rouse the people in the battle against corruption. In several places the meetings are also being organized against price rise also. 

Through the week long campaign the Left parties are highlighting the following five demands:

i) Adoption of an effective Lokpal Legislation
ii) A National Judicial Commission to curb corruption in high judiciary
iii) Stringent action against the rampant corruption fostered by the big business-politician-bureaucratic nexus which has led to scandal such as the 2G spectrum case.
iv) Implementation of electoral reforms including introduction of proportional representation system to check money power in elections.
v) Steps to unearth black money and repatriation of the illegal money stashed abroad.
 

As all these evils including the unprecedented rise in the prices of all essential commodities are bye-products of the policies of economic neo-liberalism shamelessly being implemented by the Dr. Manmohan Singh government, the Left campaign is aimed at highlighting the fact that the policies of globalization, liberalization and privatization are the one that were dictated by the international finance capital through its tools like World Bank, IMF and WTO. 

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Chennai, Tamil Nadu (July 19)

Sikar, Rajasthan (July 21)

Hanumangarh, Rajasthan (July 21)

Left backs struggle to stop Jaitapur Nuclear project

Vivek Monteiro (Source : Pragoti)

A report on the recent visit by the central leadership of the CPI(M) and CPI to Jaitapur, where the proposed Nuclear Power Project has been opposed by residents. 

 

On July 12, a delegation of the Left parties comprising CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and central committee member Tapan Sen, MP, CPI national secretary D Raja, MP, PWP leader Dhairyasheel Patil, MLA, and Dr Ashok Dhawale, Mahendra Singh, Kiran Moghe, Dr Vivek Monteiro, Hemkant Samant of the CPI(M), Narayan Ghagare, Prakash Reddy, Uday Chaudhary of the CPI; along with Adwait Pednekar and Mangesh Chavan of the Konkan Bachao Samiti visited villages in Ratnagiri district that will be affected by the proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP). 

This visit could well become a landmark in the struggle to stop the ill-considered nuclear project.

After the Fukushima disaster, serious questions have been raised internationally about the hazards arising out of situating multiple nuclear reactors at a single location. First Germany and subsequently Japan announced plans to cancel all new nuclear projects and further, to make a phased exit from nuclear power. In this backdrop the assertion by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that there will be no reconsideration of the JNPP and that the project will go forward as scheduled makes it crystal clear that what is driving the project forward is not economic or scientific rationality, but international political compulsions.

Those opposing the project are also beginning to understand that the only way to stop the project in these circumstances is to defeat politically the forces which are pushing it forward against all wisdom. This political battle will have to be fought at the local, state and national level. It is in this context that the visit of Comrades Prakash Karat, D Raja and Tapan Sen to express support of the Left parties to the movement to stop the Jaitapur project assumes great importance.

The first item on the day’s agenda was a visit to the plateau above the fishing village of Musakazi which is situated across the Jaitapur creek from the Madban plateau. This plateau is similar topographically to the Madban proposed site for the JNPP. Here the delegation and accompanying media were shown several places where deep cracks and rifts had developed in previous decades due to seismic events or after heavy rains as is common in laterite rocks. Shri Pravin Gawhankar, President of the Janahit Sewa Samiti which is spearheading the agitation, raised several safety issues related to the development of these large cracks and land subsidence when rain- soaked laterite rock is stressed with large loads such as mammoth nuclear reactors.

The next stop was at the picturesque village of Sakhri-Nate. This fishing village is prosperous and self-sufficient. Most of its residents are Muslims. This was where young Tabrez Sayekar fell martyr to police bullets on April 18 this year. Tabrez’ martyrdom followed the killing of Irfan Kazi in December 2010 by collision with a police vehicle. The death of Irfan and the martyrdom of Tabrez have made a profound impact on the consciousness of the local residents. The delegation first visited the humble home of Tabrez and paid condolences to his aged father and mother. D Raja inquired whether any compensation had been paid to the family. He was informed that not a single ruling party Minister, leave alone the Chief Minister, had visited the family after the tragedy. No compensation had been offered.

 A large crowd of several hundred people gathered at the Jamaatkhana eager to narrate their problems and plight. Shri Amjad Borkar, a resident of the village, and the President of the Ratnagiri District Machhimar Kruti Samiti, who is normally a very quiet and reserved person, made an impassioned speech stating that Tabrez’s father had told him that he too would be prepared to lay down his life like Tabrez, but the Jaitapur Nuclear Project must be stopped. Narrating his visit to the site of Tarapur plant Borkar asked what should we believe: the assurances of the government that fishing will not be affected, or the actual experience of our fisher community brothers and sisters at Tarapur whose livelihoods have been destroyed?

Yasmeen Bhosar, a woman gram panchayat member challenged the NPCIL propaganda. They are fooling us, she said, and banning the entry of those who are telling us the truth. She asked the leaders to take steps to stop the construction work of the wall which has started. Maulana Naeem received a resounding ovation when he stated that “these are the Left leaders who opposed the Congress in Parliament on the nuclear deal issue without compromise. They were prepared to give up power, but not their principles”. He stated that people here have set aside all differences of religion, community, political allegiance. They have forgotten Hindu-Muslim and Congress- ShivSena - “Yeh sirf hakk ki baat hai”. He said that fishing provides livelihood not only to thousands of Konkan residents but also to an even larger number of workers on the boats who come from Karnataka, Orissa and Nepal. “Sab ka pet bharta hai yahan.” Majeed Gowalkar who was next to Tabrez when he was shot narrated how the police opened fire without any warning. “Jo bachha mar gaya, wo poore gaon ka bachha tha”, he said with tears in his eyes.

Heavy rain compelled the meeting to adjourn briefly and people crammed into the Jamaatkhana. Here they were addressed by the leaders of the delegation. Dhairyasheel Patil of the PWP narrated how the struggle of the local farmers was able to successfully stop the huge Mukesh Ambani SEZ in the adjoining Raigad district. He exhorted the residents to be firm and not be demoralized if a few persons accept compensation. D Raja stated that the left parties had already raised the issue in Parliament and would again raise it forcefully in the coming session in August.
 
Prakash Karat stated that the issue of Jaitapur is not only a local issue. It is a national issue. The Left parties had come to express their solidarity with the local struggle. Similar struggles are taking place at Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere. The Left will play its role in building a national resistance. The Left is opposed to all the projects based on expensive and untested imported reactors. After the Fukushima disaster we demand that all new nuclear projects be put on hold and a fresh examination be conducted including scrutiny by independent experts.

The next stop was a visit to the site of the JNPP on the Madban Plateau. Due to prohibitory orders it was decided that only five persons, Prakash Karat, D Raja, Tapan Sen, Dhairyasheel Patil and Pravin Gawhankar should go into the site. A large posse of police stood guard. Objections were taken by them to Gawhankar’s entry. However, after a brief discussion, the leaders along with Gawhankar were escorted by NPCIL officers and given a tour of the site.

Next was a visit to the village of Mithgawane, in the project-affected area. Another meeting was held in the ancient and beautiful Anjaneshwar temple at the village. Here Dr Milind Desai, a respected physician, narrated how he was arrested at midnight and kept in police custody for several days. His case was typical, he said. The state government is trying to thus terrorise and pressurise the local people into abandoning their agitation. Dhairyasheel Patil, D Raja, Tapan Sen and Prakash Karat assured the project-affected residents that their problems would be raised at the national level including in the next session of Parliament.

The culmination of the visit was the public meeting at the Ratnagiri City Library Hall at 6 PM. It was the first public meeting in the last several years that was organised by the Left in the south Konkan districts. Only two days earlier on July 10, activists of the Youth Congress and Minister Narayan Rane’s “Swabhimaan Sena” had disrupted a daylong workshop organised at the same venue by the Konkan Vinashkari Prakalp Virodhi Samiti, a coalition of groups opposing the JNPP. The Congress goons made a public announcement in the district papers that if the leaders of the KVPVS came to attend the Left parties’ public meeting they would not allow the meeting to take place.

However their attempt to disrupt the meeting was effectively foiled by the strong mobilization of the Left. A large contingent of working people from Ratnagiri including fisher folk, youth and women from Nate, farmers, members of the teachers union BUCTU, CITU members from the Ratnagiri Gas and Power Project, CPI(M) comrades from the neighbouring Kolhapur district led by state committee members Dr Subhash Jadhav and Chandrakant Yadav, as well as local citizens was significant in this effort. Leaders of the KVPVS like Ms Vaishali Patil, Dr Vivek Bhide and Amjadbhai Borkar were securely escorted into the hall by cordons of activists. The heavily outnumbered Congress goons shouted slogans and threw a few stones. They were not allowed to enter the meeting premises and were later dispersed by the police.

The meeting was presided over by CPI(M) state secretary Dr Ashok Dhawale and was addressed by Mahendra Singh, Kiran Moghe, Tapati Mukhopadhaya, Narayan Ghagare, Prakash Reddy and Pravin Gawhankar, along with Tapan Sen, D Raja and Prakash Karat.

Ashok Dhawale said that the Left parties had already commenced to take the agitation beyond the confines of Ratnagiri district. On April 26, the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl Day, the Left parties had held demonstrations in several districts of Maharashtra. In March, our CPI(M) MP Khagen Das and ex-MP Subhashini Ali had visited the area and Khagen Das had raised the issue in Parliament. Kiran Moghe said that this meeting has shown that strong arm tactics will never be able to stop the spread of our movement. She commended the women for their large scale participation in the struggle. Mahendra Singh stated that those who think they can terrorise us into silence should understand that we will never let the martyrdom of Irfan and Tabrez go in vain. Narayan Ghagare in a speech laced with sarcasm and humour delivered in characteristic Konkani style and accent stated that he too is a Narayan from Konkan. Shri Narayan Rane must realize that if he attacks the Konkani people who are fighting for their rights and livelihood, his party’s victory in the last Lok Sabha election will be its last election victory in the Konkan. Prakash Reddy and Tapati Mukhopadhyaya both raised the important issue of the impact of the JNPP on the livelihoods of the fishing community and the world famous Ratnagiri alphonso mango horticulture. Pravin Gawhankar thanked the Left parties for their continued and consistent support. He said that from 2005 itself both the Left parties and the local residents have been consistently opposing the anti-national nuclear policy sell-out to multinationals on different platforms. Now we are coming together.

Tapan Sen stated that the CITU and other trade unions will mobilise their members to oppose the project which is anti-national and the result of political corruption. The strength of the working class would be rallied to support the agitation. Prakash Karat and D Raja reiterated and elaborated upon the points that they had made in their speeches at Nate. Prakash Karat made the important announcement that the Left parties will immediately take the initiative to form a broad-based national committee to take forward this struggle.

On July 13, Prakash Karat and D Raja addressed a crowded press conference at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh. The large hall was so crammed with reporters of the print and electronic media that several had to wait outside. The public meeting at Ambedkar Bhavan at Dadar was also filled to capacity. Dr. Bhalchandra Kango, state secretary of the CPI, presided over the meeting. Pravin Gawhankar spoke first. He thanked the Left parties for their consistent support and requested their backing for a protest dharna to be organised by the Janahit Sewa Samiti at New Delhi on August 9 with the slogan “Videshi Nuclear Projects, Quit India”. D Raja had just completed his speech when the news came in of the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, including one at Dadar Kabutarkhana nearby. Prakash Karat announced this shocking news, and the meeting adjourned immediately after condemning the terrorist attack and condoling the deaths of innocent citizens.

Yeddyurappa Should Resign

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

The report on illegal mining by the Karnataka Lokayukta has named the Chief Minister Yeddyurappa as being involved in wrongdoing. This has been confirmed by Justice Santosh Hegde even though the report has not yet been officially released.

With this indictment, Yeddyurappa has no other option but to resign from office. After the report is submitted, all those named for wrongdoing should be prosecuted under the law. The BJP leadership cannot prevaricate in this matter any more. It must own up full responsibility for instituting a government in Karnataka which is riddled with the mining mafia and those patronizing them.

CPI(M) hold protest over corruption in Himachal Pradesh

Communist Party of India (Marxists) on Thursday held a protest demonstration in Shimla highlighting rampant corruption. Addressing the protestors, Rakesh Singha, state secretary CPI(M) accused ruling BJP of adopting double standards on the issue of corruption. 

At one place BJP is participating in an anti-corruption drive against the UPA government but in the state where the party is in power it is working like a mafia for real estate barons, he said. 

Kuldeep Tanwar, member state secretariat pointed out that Congress in the UPA government at Delhi and BJP in the state were trying to outdo each other over corruption.

He said that the state government had the dubious credentials of reinstating corrupt officials after briefly being suspended in corruption cases. “Some have even been convicted by the trial courts, he said. 

Tanwar pointed out that a BJP member of parliament from Kangra was openly leveling serious corruption charges against a government of his own party in the state.

“Instead of investigating the charges, a faction of the party was trying to gag the voice of an MP, he added.

Issues about the party in power being a favourite crony of a industrial house and violations in HP land laws were pointed out by other speakers which included Sanjay Chauhan and Tikender Panwar among others.

(Source : myhimachal.com)

Dalits separated by wall at colony

A 20-metre-long and 10-feet-high brick wall of near two decades old here separates 200 Dalit families from others.The wall, called by them as the ‘untouchable wall of Salem' is separating Raman colony where they, all Arunthathiyars, are living from VOC Nagar located on the other side of wall where many, a majority of them caste Hindus, are residing. The wall, running parallel to a drainage channel along Gandhi Mahan Street, has shut an easy access to main road on the other side.

The Dalits allege that the controversial wall was constructed some two decades back by a private person ‘to prevent the overflowing drainage waters from the adjoining colony to enter into his land.' “We are told that the wall was erected on both patta and porombok lands for which we need a resurvey,” demand Dalit youths who have taken up the issue with support from Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI).

They allege that their children have to take a circuitous route to reach the main road to go to schools.“The sick and elderly are suffering the worst. It is constructed on poromboke land,” said Pon Saravanan, urban secretary, DYFI. Many vouchsafe the same. As the sewage water gets stagnated, the entire area is stinking with scores of pigs roaming freely. 

M. P. Kandasamy, a 70-year-old Dalit, said that the wall has been put up for about 20 years. “It should be demolished and a way for us must be opened,” he insisted, while 40- year old Devakani said Salem Corporation had taken no steps so far to improve the colony's sanitary conditions. “We are boxed in with wall on one side and pools of sewers on other side,” she claimed. 

But those who are living in VOC Nagar on the other side of wall said they had purchased plots and constructed houses after spending their hard-earned money. “We are here to live peacefully in a good and hygienic environment and we are against any discrimination. We have not constructed the wall,” said a resident. A majority of them have moved in recently there. 

Salem Tahsildar D. Kumaresan told The Hindu that he was asked to conduct an enquiry into the claims on the disputed wall.“I will visit the spot tomorrow and after surveying it, I will submit a report. Many claimed that the wall could have been constructed on both private and porombok lands. I have called for land records and accordingly we will act,” he said.

(Courtesy : R. Ilangovan, The Hindu)

CPIM Dharna for effective anti-corruption laws in Jammu Kashmir

State Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Member of Assembly from Kulgam, Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami on Wednesday demanded framing of effective laws for weeding out corruption and to break what he termed the politician-bureaucrat nexus in the state.

“State Accountability Commission is a dead organization. It is headless and defunct for the past few years. Our demand is that government should make the body functional at an earliest to take on corruption. Our vigilance (commission) doesn’t have the courage to lay hands on big sharks,” he said addressing a protest rally of CPI (M) here against corruption and inflation.

The leader demanded a Lokpal-type legislation in Jammu and Kashmir for curbing the menace.
Castigating government for “failing to curb corruption”, Tarigami said, “Tall promises about taking action against the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats and tax evaders by the authorities have proven hoax.” “I want to ask the State government what happened to the promises made by them in and outside Assembly about taking on the corrupt officials,” he questioned.
Tarigami also appealed the political parties, civil society groups and intellectuals in the state to wage a united fight over both the issues.

About the campaign, he said, “This is the part of the nationwide campaign of the Left parties against price rise and corruption.” Tarigami urged India and Pakistan to continue dialogue process for the resolution of Kashmir issue. “I appeal India and Pakistan to stop fighting with each other and do justice with Kashmiris. We don’t want peace of a graveyard, but we seek its restoration with dignity,” Tarigami said. The CPI (M) leader said Kashmiris hail the firm stand of both the countries to carry forward the dialogue process after Mumbai blasts.

“It was heartening to see that the peace process was not derailed in the wake of blasts and we hope that they will go ahead with the same spirit,” he said. Tarigami urged State Government to amend the Public Safety Act – which allows two-year detention without trial.
“To make the law more humane, the government should bring an amendment in the upcoming session of state legislature,” he said.

General Secretary of Kissan Tehreek, Ghulam Nabi Malik, while expressing concern over inflation said the price hike on petrol, diesel and cooking gas has severely affected the life of common man. “We wouldn’t sit as mute spectator and will raise our voice against the hike,” he said.

Hundreds of CPI (M) cadres marched from TRC ground to Press Enclave Lal Chowk shouting slogans like “expose the corrupt officials” demanding immediate steps to curb inflation and to end corruption at the bureaucratic and political level.
(Courtesy : Greater Kashmir)

Reject US Demand on Civil Nuclear Liability

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

The United States continues to exercise pressure on the Indian government to dilute the Civil Nuclear Liability law which was adopted by parliament. This has become evident from the statement made by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in Delhi asking India to engage with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure that the nuclear liability law “fully conforms” with the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC). The CSC does not provide for suppliers’ liability in the event of a nuclear accident.

The Indian government should reject this suggestion. The IAEA is only a depository for the Convention and cannot judge a law passed by parliament.

The UPA government has been vacillating and seeking to accommodate the US concerns which are primarily the interests of its nuclear industry. The Civil Nuclear Liability Act was passed in parliament after compelling the government to accept section 17(b) which provides for foreign suppliers liability. This national law should prevail over any international convention.

The Civil Nuclear Liability Act has not yet been notified and come into force, even though nearly a year has passed since its adoption by parliament. Nor the rules under the Act have been placed before parliament. The UPA government should explain why this has not been done.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) demands that the UPA government firmly adhere to the law as established with regard to nuclear liability of foreign suppliers. This is all the more necessary after the Fukushima disaster. Instead of the private company which operates the reactors or the foreign suppliers, billions of dollars are being spent by the Japanese government after the nuclear accident to clean-up and rehabilitate those affected.

West Bengal Left Front to organize march to Assembly and Lok Sabha in August

The Left Front has decided to organize a march to the State Assembly and stage a mass demonstration in front of the Lok Sabha on August 10 and 25 respectively to protect democratic rights and in protest against State-sponsored terrorism in West Bengal. The Front chairman Biman Basu said the Left Front at its last meeting on July 18 took a decision to let the Left and democratic minded people all over the country know about the new edition of terror that had been added to the already existent State-sponsored terror programme in West Bengal under Trinamool-Congress rule.

The new government headed by Mamata Banerjee has taken the side of landlords indulging in large scale eviction of bargadars and patta-holders with the help of Trinamool activists in rural Bengal. Now the government has launched fresh attack by not allowing the Left Front-governed panchayats to function freely. The pradhans of various Front-governed panchayat bodies are being threatened by Trinamool Congress cadres since the declaration of the Assembly election results in May. They are dictating the pradhans. A section of block development officers are hands-in-glove with the ruling party workers.