CITU Congratulates the Participants in the Massive Rally

Centre of Indian Trade Unions congratulates the more than five lakhs of participants in the historic March to Parliament to-day (23rd February) at the call of Central Trade Unions for making this rally the biggest ever mobilization in the Capital City. Raising the basic policy issues of the working people and all sections of downtrodden, the Trade Unions have sent a powerful message to UPA-II Government that it should change its policies so as to end the deprivations of the working people.

The rally has seen men and women from all sections of workers – unorganized sector, organized sector which included both private and public section, central and state government employees and employees from Bank, Insurance, Telecom and Defence production. Largest sections of participants were from the unorganized sector – construction, bricklin, hamalis, autorikshaw, driver, beedi worker, handloom and powerloom workers etc.

The anger among the people in the rural and urban parts of the country was reflected by this great mobilization demanding justice to the working people. CITU congratulates every section for their role in making this programme a great success. CITU assures the people of the country that it will carry forward the unity of Central Trade Unions and National Federations and continue the struggle for our demands.

Workers March to Parliament

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

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) congratulates the lakhs of workers, men and women who participated in the `March to Parliament’ on February 23, 2011. This march was called by the Central Trade Unions and national federations of employees. This united protest by all sections of the workers and employees is significant and is a powerful manifestation of the working class demanding the implementation of their five-point charter of demands.

The rally has protested against the failure of the UPA government to curb prices of essential commodities which has eroded the livelihood of the working people. The massive protest is a warning to the Manmohan Singh government not to proceed with the disinvestment of shares in the Public Sector Enterprises. The Central government is selling off vital public assets in the name of disinvestment to Indian and foreign monopolists. This is part of the loot of resources which is going on in the corrupt regime of the UPA government. This protest signals the determination of the working class to oppose the sale of precious public assets cheaply.

While the corporates and big capitalists are allowed free rein to circumvent the law, corner resources, evade taxes and make huge profits, the government turns a blind eye to the gross violations of labour laws which provide limited protection to the workers. The rally has demanded protection of the rights of workers in the unorganized sector and of contract and casual workers.

The massive workers’ demonstration is a display of the united will of the working class movement to fight against the neo-liberal and anti-working class policies of the UPA government. The CPI(M) extends its full support to this united movement.

TRINAMUL GOONS ATTACK HOWRAH MAYOR, HECKLE WOMAN POLICE CONSTABLE AT BARASAT

INN

On a day, 20 February, the Trinamul Congress held a rally on Mayo Road, plumb in the middle of the city’s business district, plunging the traffic into chaos far and beyond, the chieftain’s goons organised an assault on Mamta Jaiswal, mayor of Howrah.

The shameless hoods also heckled, and attempted to molest a woman constable at Barasat. They had ganged up with ‘Maoists’ on the previous day, 19 February in Midnapore west to kill a CPI (M) worker. Is this the ‘change’ the parivartan-wallahs are shouting themselves hoarse about?

The heinous attack on Howrah mayor started when the mayor learnt that a Trinamuli councillor in ward 3 of the Howrah municipal corporation (HMC) had for some time been allowing, at a ‘cost,’ old and dangerous buildings to continue as they were. On Sunday morning, Mamta Jaiswal learnt that one of such building at Dharamtolla, Howrah had partly collapsed.

She made post haste to reach the spot and started the legal demolition work. The Trinamuli councillor who received notice of the demolition work chose, instead of cooperating, to gather together a bunch of villainous hoodlums who went to manhandle the mayor, snatching from her purse, and even trying to molest her.

When Mamta and the HMC personnel went to lodge an FIR at the local police station, the miscreants gave chase with iron rods, and sharp, cutting weapons. At least one carried and flourished a gun. They were brazen enough to attack a CPI (M) leader of long-standing Nemai Samanta right in front of the Thana. Several CPI (M) workers went down with hits on the head.

At the call of the CPI (M), a bandh was observed in protest, on 21 February, in north Howrah whiles a district-wide programme of condemnation has been successfully carried out throughout the industrial district.

Even as the mayor was subject to assault, the Barasat brethren of the Howrah hoods did something equally condemnable. A woman constable was looking after the flow of traffic at the colony crossing, and she saw several small trucks approaching recklessly fast, and along the wrong side of the road, packed with Trinamuli goons, waving flags as well as containers of the spirited kind.

An ambulance approached the crossing from the left, hooters a-blare, blue top-mounted light flashing, carrying a patient in serious conditions. The constable in her full dress uniform correctly put up her hand, signalled, and stopped the goonloads of trucks in order to let the ambulance have priority of way. This enraged the besotted villains. Dozens of them, wielding lathis, alighted and surrounded the constable.

She was set upon, heckled, beaten up mercilessly, and the attackers even tried to outrage her modesty even as she screamed out for help. She shrieked in desperation, as she was then fisticuffed, and dragged to the first of the two trucks -- dragged and pulled aboard. The people of the area rallied at her cry, and rescued her, whilst driving the attackers off and finally chasing them away, trucks abandoned, the drivers fled. Had it not been for the people, one shudders at the doom that awaited the woman constable.

On 19 January, elsewhere in Bengal at Lodhashuli in Midnapore west, the ‘Maoists’ with ready assistance and locational guidance of Trinamuli goondas brutally gunned down a CPI (M) worker, comrade Bablu Mahato. Comrade Bablu was a member of the Lodhashuli local committee. On Friday evening (18 February), comrade Bablu had been accosted by two dozen armed men who put blinders on him, bound his hands and feet, and dragged him away struggling into the dense of forestry. The criminals involved were known ‘Maoists.’

As comrade Bablu’s last remains, recovered on Saturday prove, he was subjected to heinous torture, and then shot twice in the back of the head, mafia execution style. The body of the martyr carried ‘Maoist’ posters on it, with disgusting claims in graffiti of having deliberately done the heinous deed. Comrade Bablu leaves behind a bereaved and aged mother, a piteously grieving wife, and an orphaned son-and-daughter.

Comrade Bablu’s murder, the attack on the Howrah mayor, and the assault on the woman constable, all signs and signals, worrying and ominous, of the ‘political’ goings on of the Trinamulis and their henchmen, have been sternly condemned by Bengal CPI (M) secretary Biman Basu.

DYFI Demands Implementation of Rent Control Act in Mangalore

Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) staged a demonstration in front of Mangalore City Corporation on Monday February 21 and urged for the implementation of Rent Control Act and distribution of sites for homeless people. 

Muneer Katipalla, addressing the protestors said that the number of homeless people has been mounting day by day. Growth of trade and business, industries, real estates have pushed the common people to a struggled life resulting in inequalities. The cost of the land has touched the sky height; house rent amount has doubled up. Because of this, the common people are not able to purchase land and house. The projects initiated by government such as ‘Ashraya, Rajiv Gandhi, Vajpayee housing schemes remained dormant, he lambasted. Hence to find an answer for all these predicaments, DYFI has assembled all the eligible people under one roof and decided to fight for the right mentioned in the constitution, Muneer Katipalla said. Before the commencement of the protest, people took out jatha from Besant junction to MCC.

Yadav Shetty, district secretary of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha, DYFI leaders Sunil Kumar Bajal, Santhosh Bajal, Dayanand Shetty and B K Imtiyaz among others were present.

Homeless citizens participated in large numbers and submitted mass application to get site

(Courtesy : Dajjiworld)

Left Democratic Front led Vikasana Munnetta Jatha flagged off

Vikasana Munnetta Jatha led by Kerala's Left Democratic front was flagged off yesterday. The march will highlight the pro-peoples policies taken by the LDF government in Kerala and also expose the anti-people policies taken by the congress led UPA government in the Centre. Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan flagged off the northern regional march at Manjeswaram (Kasargod), led by CPI Legislative party leader and Food and Civil Supplies Minister C. Divakaran, will pass through all Assembly segments in six districts before it culminates in Thrissur on March 2. Seven leaders, including State Ministers M.A. Baby and Kadannappally Ramachandran, will take part in the march.The march concluded for the day after addressing a public reception at Cherkala, near Kasaragod., Receptions will be given to the march at Chattamchal, Kanhangad and Thri karipura in the district on Saturday before it enters to Kannur on February 20.

The Southeren regional rally was flagged off by CPI State secretary C.K. Chandrappan. In Kochi. CPIM Polit Beureau Member and state Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan will lead the southern regional march. A host of senior leaders of the front constituents, including LDF convener Vaikom Viswan, as well as four ministers attended the meeting. The march will wind up in Thiruvananthapuram on March 2.

The Revolutionary Rebellion in Egypt : Fidel Castro

Reflections of Fidel

I said several days ago that the die was cast for Mubarak and that not even Obama could save him.

The world knows what is taking place in the Middle East. The news is circulating at incredible speed. Politicians barely have time to read the cables coming in by the hour. Everyone is aware of the importance of what is occurring there.

After 18 days of harsh battling, the Egyptian people attained an important objective: to defeat the United States' principal ally in the heart of the Arab countries. Mubarak was oppressing and plundering his own people, he was an enemy of the Palestinians and an accomplice of Israel, the sixth nuclear power on the planet, associated with the military NATO group.

The Egyptian Armed Forces, under the command of Gamal Abdel Nasser, had overthrown a submissive king and created the Republic which, with support from the USSR, defended the homeland from the Franco-British and Israeli invasion in 1956 and retained possession of the Suez Canal and the independence of this millennial nation.

Thus Egypt enjoyed a high level of prestige in the Third World. Nasser was known as one of the most outstanding leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement, which he participated in creating, together with other eminent leaders of Asia, Africa and Oceania who were fighting for national liberation and political and economic independence from the former colonies.

Egypt always enjoyed the support and respect of the abovementioned international organization which brings together more than 100 countries. That sister nation currently presides over the Movement for the three-year period established; and the support of many of its members for the struggle which its people are now waging will not be slow in coming.

What did the Camp David Accords signify, and why are the heroic Palestinian people so passionately defending their most vital rights?

At Camp David – with the mediation of the then U.S. President Jimmy Carter – the Egyptian leader Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the famous accords between Egypt and Israel.

It is said that they held secret talks during 12 days and, on September 17, 1979, signed two important accords: one referring to peace between Egypt and Israel, and another related to the creation of an autonomous territory in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which Al-Sadat thought – and Israel knew and shared the idea – would be the headquarters of the Palestinian state, whose existence, as well as that of the state of Israel, the United Nations Organization agreed on November 29, 1947, during the British Mandate of Palestine.

After difficult and complex talks, Israel agreed to withdraw its troops from the Egyptian territory of Sinai, although it categorically rejected the participation of Palestinian representatives in the peace negotiations.

As a result of the first agreement, Israel returned to Egypt the Sinai territory occupied in one of the Arab-Israeli wars.

In virtue of the second, both parties committed themselves to negotiate the creation of the autonomous regime in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The former comprised a territory of 5,640 square kilometers and 2.1 million inhabitants; and the latter, 360 square kilometers and 1.5 million inhabitants.

The Arab countries were angry with that agreement in which, in their judgment, Egypt did not energetically and firmly defend a Palestinian state whose right to exist had been at the center of the struggles waged for decades by the Arab states.

Their reaction reached such extreme indignation that many of them broke off relations with Egypt. In that way, the UN Resolution of November 1947 was erased from the map. The autonomous entity was never created and thus the Palestinians were deprived of the right to exist as an independent state, leading to the interminable tragedy endured there and which should have been resolved more than three decades ago.

The Arab population of Palestine is the victim of acts of genocide; their lands are being snatched from them and are deprived of water in those semi-desert areas, and their housing is destroyed with sledge hammers. In the Gaza Strip, one and a half million people are systematically attacked with explosive missiles, live phosphorus and the well-known stun grenades. The territory of the Strip is blockaded by land and sea. Why is there so much talk about the Camp David Accords and no mention of Palestine?

The United States supplies Israel with the most modern and sophisticated armament, worth billions of dollars every year. Egypt, an Arab country, was converted into the second recipient of U.S. weapons. To fight against whom? Against another Arab country? Against the Egyptian people themselves?

When the population was demanding respect for their most elemental rights and the resignation of a president whose policies consisted of exploiting and plundering his people, the repressive forces trained by the United States did not hesitate to fire on them, killing hundreds and wounding thousands.

When the Egyptian people were awaiting explanations from the government of their own country, the replies came from senior officers from U.S. intelligence agencies or the U.S. government, without any respect whatsoever for Egyptian officials.

Do the leaders of the United States and their intelligence services, by any chance, know nothing of the Mubarak government's colossal theft?

Faced with the people's mass protests in Tahrir Square, neither government officials nor intelligence agents said one single word about privileges and the bold-faced robbery of billions of dollars.

It would be an error to imagine that the revolutionary popular movement in Egypt simply constitutes a reaction against the violation of their most fundamental rights. Peoples do not risk repression or death, nor do they stand fast the whole night protesting energetically about purely formal issues. They do so when their legal and material rights are pitilessly sacrificed to the insatiable demands of corrupt politicians and to the national and international forces sacking the country.

The rate of poverty already affected the vast majority of a combative, young and patriotic people, whose dignity, culture and beliefs have all been attacked.

How could they reconcile themselves to the continuing increase in the price of food with the tens of billions of dollars attributed to President Mubarak and the privileged sectors of his government and society?

At this point, it is not enough to know how high that figure is; it must be demanded that the funds be returned to the nation.

Obama is affected by the events in Egypt; he acts or appears to act as if he were the owner of the planet. What is happening in Egypt seems to be his own issue. He has not stopped talking over the telephone with leaders of other countries.

The EFE agency, for example, reports, "… He spoke with British Prime Minister

David Cameron; Jordan's King Abdala II and with the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a moderate Islamist.

"The U.S. President recognized the 'historic change' that Egyptians have made and reaffirmed his admiration for their efforts…"

The principal U.S. news agency AP released some arguments worthy of attention:

"Wanted: Moderate, Western-leaning Mideast leaders willing to be friends with Israel and cooperate in the fight against Islamic extremism while protecting human rights…

"That's the impossible wish list from the Obama administration after popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia ousted two long-serving and close but deeply flawed U.S. allies in stunning rebellions that many believe will spread.

"This dream resume doesn't exist and isn't likely to appear soon. Part of the reason is that American administrations for the past four decades sacrificed the lofty human rights ideals they espoused for the sake of stability, continuity and oil in one of the world's most volatile regions.

"'Egypt will never be the same,' Obama said as he welcomed the departure of Hosni Mubarak on Friday.

"'Through their peaceful protests,' Obama said, ‘Egyptians changed their country, and in doing so changed the world.'

"Even though governments around the Arab world are nervous, there is no sign that entrenched elites in Egypt and Tunisia are willing to cede the power and vast economic leverage they have enjoyed…

"The Obama administration has insisted ever since President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled Tunisia last month – a day after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Arab leaders in a speech in Qatar that without reform the foundations of their countries were 'sinking into the sand…'"

The people in Tahrir Square do not appear to be very docile.

Europe Press relates:

"Thousands of demonstrators have arrived in Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the mobilizations which provoked the resignation of the country's President, Hosni Mubarak, to reinforce those who have remained in the area despite attempts by the military police to dislodge them, according to reports by the BBC.

"The BBC correspondent posted in the central Cairo plaza has reiterated that the army is looking indecisive faced with the arrival of more demonstrators…

"The hardcore are situated on one of the square's corners… and have decided to stay in Tahrir to make sure that their demands are met."

Regardless of what may happen in Egypt, one of the most serious problems faced by imperialism at this time is the shortage of grain, which I analyzed in my January 19 Reflection.

The United States uses an important part of the corn it raises, and a large portion of soybeans, to produce biofuels. Europe, for its part, employs millions of hectares of land for this purpose.

On the other hand, as a consequence of climate change produced fundamentally by the rich, developed countries, a shortage of water and food is emerging which is incompatible with the growth of the world's population, at a rate which will result in 9 billion inhabitants within 30 years, without the United Nations or the most influential governments on the planet warning or informing the world of the situation in the wake of the fraudulent Copenhagen and Cancun meetings.

We support the valiant Egyptian people and their struggle for political rights and social justice.

We are not opposed to the people of Israel; we are opposed to the genocide of the Palestinian people and in favor of their right to an independent state.

We are not in favor of war, but rather in favor of peace among all peoples.

SC ST communities are being neglected by the Government : CPIM

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) Andhra Pradesh State Committee has demanded that the State government take steps to avoid diversion of funds earmarked for the development of scheduled castes and tribes and ensure that the budgetary allocations were fully spent for their welfare.

CPI (M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu has criticised the government for “neglecting” the two communities which could not achieve development on par with others for want of proper attention. The government's indifference on the development of SCs and STs could be seen from the fact that the chairman and members of the SC/ST Commission were not appointed since past two years.

Mr. Raghavulu was speaking after welcoming the cycle rally launched by the party MLA J. Ranga Reddy which reached the Hyderabad on Wednesday.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member and MP Brinda Karat came down heavily on the Centre, accusing it of issuing an illegal circular that defeated the very spirit of the Forest Rights Act and jeopardised tribals' interests. 

Ms. Karat, who is also the central committee member of the Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM), pedalled through the narrow by-lanes of Veleru village in Burgampadu mandal on Monday, to express solidarity with the ‘Dalit Chaitanya' cycle yatra taken out by members of the Struggle Committee against Caste Discrimination. 

Dharna

She took stock of the living conditions of the Dalits and tribals in and around the village. Later, she also participated in a massive dharna organised by the Girijana Sangham in front of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency office in Bhadrachalam. Earlier, addressing a meeting, she alleged that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests issued the illegal circular on February 8 giving the right to the forest department to declare an area critical wildlife habitat, displacing tribal families without the gram sabha's permission. “It is nothing but a mockery of the Forest Rights Act and serious violation of its provisions,” she said. 

“Historical injustices, which have to be addressed, are being compounded by contemporary injustices making the lives of the tribals more pathetic,” she lamented. 

Pat to Tripura

“The Act is not being implemented properly, more particularly in Congress- and BJP-ruled States. The rejection rate is much higher than the acceptance rate in respect of the grant of rights over the forestland under the Act. “Tripura is the only State which has implemented the Act in its true spirit.” Ms. Karat alleged that claims involving 5 lakh acres were rejected in Andhra Pradesh alone. Of the total 14 lakh acres of forestland projected under the Act in the State, only claims involving 9 lakh acres of the Vana Samrakshana Samithis (joint forest management groups) were considered giving a raw deal to a majority of individual claimants. 

Rahul must take it up

“We ask AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi not to make tourist visits but to ask Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy about the injustices meted out to the Dalits and tribals in the State,” she said. “The Central government is itself responsible for violating the Planning Commission guidelines on tribal sub-plan allocations. Of the 8.2 per cent of the budget to be earmarked for tribal sub-plan, only 3.08 per cent and 4.02 per cent funds were released in the last two budgets There has been a 20,000-crore deficit in the allocation of budget for the tribal sub-plan.” A suggestion to give some amount from these funds to the Maoist-affected areas was totally absurd. “The Central government is pursuing a detrimental policy of dividing the tribal areas into Maoist-affected and non-Maoist affected areas,” she alleged. 

(Courtesy The Hindu)

CPI (M) demands facilities for Dalits in Karnataka

A large number of activists of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday protested in front of the Mangalore office of the Deputy Commissioner demanding more facilities and grants for development of Dalits.The demonstration was a part of the call given by party for a Statewide protest on the eve of presentation of State Budget.

Sunil Kumar Bajal, a party office-bearer, said the State Government had done nothing for the development of those belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes. It was distressing that the problem of unemployment among these groups continued. .

The primary demand of the party had been allocation of 24 per cent of the budget amount for programmes related to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes.

The Tumkur district unit of the Communists Party of India (Marxist) staged a protest demanding earmarking 24 per cent of funds in the budget for the Dalits . CPI(M) leader N.K. Subramanya urged the Government to increase the grant in tune with the increase in population of Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes.

In raichur CPIM activists marched from Ambedkar Circle to the Deputy Commissioner's office and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner in this regard.

Earlier, talking to presspersons, convener of the district unit of the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti Hanumanthappa Kakargal said the samiti had decided to stage a State-level rally at Bangalore on February 25 demanding the Government reserve 23 per cent of the budgetary amount for the welfare of Dalits. He said the rally would demand that the Government distribute 50 per cent of government land available to Dalit families for agriculture. They also demanded that the scholarship for students be increased from Rs. 100 to Rs. 1,000.

Kerala State Assembly passes resolution against Centre''s neglect

The Kerala State Legislative Assembly today passed a resolution saying that Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan was ignored during the recent visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the state. The resolution moved by Law Minister M Vijayakumar after nearly hour-long heated exchanges between the ruling LDF and Opposition members also decided to apprise the Centre of the state''s resentment on the matter.

The matter raised by Anathalavattom Anandan (CPIM) through a submission virtually turned into a debate with Achuthanandan and some of his cabinet colleagues narrating their experiences during the Prime Minister''s February 10-12 visit.

Achuthanandan said he was not allowed a room at the Taj hotel at Kochi where Singh stayed overnight on arrival on February 10.

LDF members alleged that it was an insult to the state as a whole, as the Chief Minister''s name was not inscribed on the plaque which was unveiled by Singh at the inauguration of the International terminal at the airport here.

They also said the media advertisement for the inauguration of Vallarpadam transhipment terminal did not have the Chief Minister''s picture. Ministers Elamaram Kareem and C Divakaran also narrated their experience when they went to the BrahMos Aerospace here as state''s representatives during Singh visit to the unit.

The grievance in this regard had been voiced by Achuthanandan in the presence of Singh at the airport function on February 12. He had also stated that the state government had been neglected, but it did not take it seriously as realisation of the projects was more important.

March Forward Towards 8th Left Front Government Call of the Red Brigade

History has been created at the 13^th February Brigade Parade Ground as the upsurge of more than a million of people has taken oath to form 8^th Left Front government. It is indeed hard to recall such a historic assemblage of common people in the last one or two decades. It is not only a big bash to the TMC-Maoist anarchist force but also the TMC-led intelligentsia who deserve the final lesson that people’s power triumphs ultimately over the sponsors of political violence, anarchy and individual elitism. Leaving therefore all moots of political unrest far behind, people of West Bengal rallied the biggest ever in Brigade Parade Ground. The Red Brigade affirmed the glorious contribution of all martyrs killed by the TMC-Maoist nexus while defending the state and the Left Front government.

The 13^th February Red Brigade also rediscovered the historic Left Political Consolidation even after the six decades of political reliance and struggle in West Bengal since 1952. Such a political consolidation not only unified the toiling people in the state but could also initiate all developmental transformation of peoples’ lives and struggle in West Bengal. Speakers of all left parties have essentially reiterated about the Left Unity in the coming assembly election.

The Left Front Chairman Biman Basu at the outset elaborated the prime issues of protest and affirmed the foundation of the 8^th Left Front government. He appealed to the Red Brigade to sustain all developmental initiatives of the Left Front government. Staunchly criticizing the TMC-Maoist conspiracy Basu reiterated that since the last parliamentary elections the rightist political anarchy and planned political violence have already killed many common innocent people to spoil the democratic environment of the state. We therefore must resist the TMC-Maoist anarchy. No explanation was there when they killed little Jharna Mandi and Sumana Mandi. They have been brutally killing ICDS workers and many other innocent public officials. He appealed to the mass to overthrow the TMC-Maoist unholy nexus which have killed 377 workers of CPI(M) and other Left Front parties.

Basu alleged that ‘sharecroppers are being assaulted regularly and their lands largely being snatched by TMC landlords and TMC led panchayats. The Left Front government has initiated lots of developmental programmes not only for the organized labourers but also the unorganized labour force. To sustain such initiatives and ensure the development of the common mass we must organize people to form 8^th Left Front government. Only the left front government can fulfill the expectation of peasantry and industrial forces in West Bengal, averred Biman Basu.

Addressing such a mammoth rally the Chief Minister of West Bengal Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee slammed the UPA government and the violent TMC-Maoist link in the state. He reiterated that the obnoxious political combination went its farthest extent in these years that baffled a minor chunk of people away from the Left Front.

Bhattacharjee alleged that some external powers are out to oust the Left Front in the state. Without mentioning US, he hinted that some external forces are afraid of red flags anywhere in the world. ‘I strongly warn them not to intervene in the state’, he said among roars from the mass.

Bhattachrjee said, ‘They want change; what sort of change would they bring in? We have provided land farmers; ensured share croppers’ rights, can they change it? We have developed 38000 villages; can they change it? We have generated employment; can they change it?’

Bashing out the second Congress-UPA government the Chief Minister reiterated that unprecedented corruption completely engulfed the UPA and the whole country where billions of public money has already been drained into bourgeois pockets where ‘who’s who’ of the UPA associates is involved. And when the food inflation goes beyond the tolerance they ridiculously argue that the reason of price rise lies in ‘the increasing purchasing power of people’ as people started consuming more. When we have pursued universal public distribution for the common people, they created a handful business people who are responsible for the food inflation and unprecedented price hike. Slamming the Congress as ‘unkind and brutal’ to the people the Chief Minister averred that the Congress has given enough patronage to those illicit hoarders of the country who perpetrate ‘black marketing’ particularly of Sugar and Onions and many other essential commodities. These people are also responsible to drain out such commodities in the name of export when the internal markets are soaring of food inflation.

Unlike other states of the country the West Bengal government has done considerably for minority people particularly Muslims. In rural areas Muslim people are all happily engaged in agriculture. They have made a considerable progress in education also. We must keep the stream of success on in our state, averred Bhattacherjee.

Bhattacharjee alleged that TMC was an anarchist party, could only perpetrate anarchy and violence in the state. TMC leaders have provided oxygen to the Maoists and identified common innocent people and party workers to kill them. Now they remain silent when violence has also hit the hills of North Bengal, as TMC has a close understanding with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha. We must teach them a lesson in the coming election.

Addressing the youth brigade the Chief Minister stated that Mamata Banerjee’s Railway Ministry also is on the verge of complete bankruptcy. She is also very reluctant to fill up empty posts in different categories of employment. She can’t generate a single employment, averred Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee.

“I specially congratulate the Youth and Students who have responded so hugely particularly in Colleges and other institutions. We must convince those people, either been baffled out or dissatisfied with the Left Front, about the imminent danger of the TMC-Maoist extremism”, affirmed Chief Minister.

The Red Brigade has also observed the birth centenary of the noted Revolutionary Poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Addressing the crowd the CPI(M) Central Committee member Md. Salim recited the invaluable lines of Faiz.

Manju Kumar Majumdar of CPI, RSP leader Kshiti Goswamy, Barun Mukherjee from Forward Block, Md Amin from CPI(M), Shyamali Gupta from CPI(M), Kironmoy Nanda from SP were among others who addressed the meeting.

While summing-up the Left Front Chairman Biman Basu has made an appeal to the mass that wasting not a moment we must initiate election preparation now. The huge rally of the mass however has taken oath to march forward to establish 8^th Left Front government.