Red Star - November 2008 - Communist Party Of India (marxist-leninist)

Press Statements

On Malegaon Bomb Blast THE CPI (ML) CONDEMNS the bomb blasts that have taken place in Malegaon in Maharashtra and in Modasa in the Sabarkantha district of Gujarat. Whereas it is clear that such bomb blasts must be condemned irrespective of whoever is behind them, there seems to be a definite bias in the way the state machinery approaches these blasts. The bomb blasts in Delhi on September 13th were immediately credited to Muslim fundamentalists on little or no evidence. On the other hand, there is fair reason to suspect that the blasts in Modasa and Malegaon have been engineered by Hindu fundamentalist organizations like the RSS and the Bajrang Dal but, instead, Muslim youth from the area are being randomly rounded up. Two years ago similar blasts had been triggered in Malegaon outside a busy Masjid. The modus operandi used was very similar to the blasts yesterday. Further, when the police had uncovered a cell of the Bajrang Dal in Nanded where a blast had taken place in the place where bombs were being made, there was reason to believe that there were links between the bombs made in Nanded and those exploded in Malegaon. However, the police have made no progress in this respect and the very investigations into this angle seem to have petered out. Instead, the police have arrested alleged members of SIMI for the older Malegaon blasts which were triggered outside the largest Masjid in town at around 1:45 pm on a Friday, when there would be an exodus of Muslims from the mosque. Nobody has given any explanation why the SIMI would like to bomb Muslims. The press also does not have an unbiased attitude. The Muslims are found guilty by the press long before even the police lay the blame at their doorsteps. No publicity has been given to the blasts in Nanded and not much is being given to those in Malegaon and in Modasa in Gujarat. There is no publicity to the fact that the police have also recovered 17 live bombs from Surat on the same day (Monday). People hardly know that a bomb was detonated last Saturday in the Muslim majority suburb of Meherauli in New Delhi killing two people. It is a pointer to the truth that the three occasions in which bombs detonated during preparation (twice in Nanded and once in Kanpur) were all clearly being made by Hindutva outfits like RSS and Bajrang Dal. We call upon the people not to fall prey to such biased delusions and not to make any particular religion the target of their concern against such gratuitous violence. We demand a thorough and unbiased investigation of the blasts and bringing to book the persons who are responsible. At the same time we condemn the “witch-hunt” being conducted against Muslims in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The Suka Bazar area in Modasa and the Bhiku Chowk area in Malegaon are clearly Muslim dominated areas where people were shopping for the coming Eid festival. The timing of the bombs was also such that people would be coming out after the evening Ramzan prayers to break their fast. To hound Muslims of the area for these blasts is nothing but rubbing salt into their wounds. 2-10-2008 CPI(ML)

Protest Against Signing of Indo-US Nuclear Deal IN SPITE OF STRONG PROTESTS from majority sections of people, even after it is proved that quite contrary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s repeated assertions, the 123 Agreement will be governed fully by the Hyde Act of US, that the UPA Government is

signing the Indo-US Nuke Deal on 10th October at Washington is a down right betrayal of our country and its people. This complete surrender to US imperialist interests is taking place when US economy is in serious crisis and when it is frantically seeking ways and means to transfer its crisis to the shoulders of other countries. All arguments put forward by the Prime Minister and other spokespersons of the UPA Government in defence of this Deal are proved absolutely hollow and contrary to the facts by the conditions now loaded to the deal by the US Senate and the House of Representatives as well as by the statement of US under secretary of State, Berns. Signing this Deal, therefore, is an act against the people and the country. We appeal to all patriotic and democratic forces, to all the toiling masses to come forward in protest against the signing of this anti-national Indo-US Nuke Deal by the UPA Govt. 10-10-2008

CPI (ML)

Editorials

Organise Intensive Campaign Everywhere: Not Imperialism, Socialism is the Only Path Forward THE IMPERIALIST BUBBLE has burst again, with unprecedented seriousness this time, creating havoc to the working class and all oppressed people more than ever. The financial markets working as casinos with speculative parasitic forces, the bandits of profit, in control have once again proved that imperialism is becoming more moribund than ever, more barbarous than ever. Still the ruling classes in India and their political representatives, irrespective of the colour of their flags and names are faithfully pursuing the neo-liberal policies enslaving the country to neo-colonisation, concealing the grievous consequences of the global imperialist crisis to our people. All of them are proving themselves as more and more comprador, lackeys of imperialism, than ever. When the fundamental contra-diction between ever increasing socialisation of production and ever-narrowing private appropriation of products, the basic feature of the imperialist system is causing havoc to world people, it is proved more profoundly than ever that only by resolving this contradiction through socialisation of ownership of all products the crisis can be overcome. That is why Marx and Engels, and following their teachings Lenin taught that capitalism and its monopoly stage, imperialism, cannot serve as the alternative for the people. Only socialism can become their alternative to advance to an exploitation-free, classless society, communism. When Soviet Union which had degenerated to capitalist path had disintegrated, the imperialists and their lackeys all over the world were shouting ‘end of history’, and that socialism has become obsolete. But today after the present imperialist bubble has burst, it is once again proved, more vehemently than ever, that Not Imperialism, Socialism is the Only Path Forward for human race. We appeal to all Marxist-Leninist forces to organise a vigorous campaign everywhere all over the country with the above slogan in the month of November along with the observation of the anniversary of the Great October Revolution. Down with Imperialism! Long Live October Revolution!

March Forward Along the Path of Socialism!

Fall outs of the Bubble Burst UNDER THREE DECADES of un-controlled capital-market rule run by financial markets as casinos under bandits of profit, the crisis that was aggravating day by day has at last burst. This has happened as a hundred times more severe replay of the conditions that was created in early 19th century by the barbarous capitalist system which Ralph Waldo Emerson explained as: “Society has played out its stake; it is check-mated. Young men have no hope. Adults stand like day laborers idle in the streets. None calleth us to labor. The old wear no crown of warm life on their gray hairs. The present generation is bankrupt of principles and hope, as of property…. Behold the boasted world has come to nothing. Prudence itself is at her wits’ end.” If is was this crisis ridden system which gave birth to Communist League and The Communist Manifesto which scientifically explained the cause of the crisis as the ever-intensifying contradiction between socialisation of production and private appropriation of products, the present crisis, more serious than the 1929 one according to IMF spokespersons, has shown that even a return to Keynesian positions are not going to resolve it. The consequences of the bursting of the bubble on 13th September 2008 are now felt all over the world. In US itself, starting with the initial $ 700 billion bail out of the bandits of profits, the speculative parasitic chief executives who amassed fortunes and plunged the system to present predicament, it is now estimated that the treasury department may have to spend $ 2.5 trillion or more as extended bail out. Almost same amounts are required in other imperialist countries to bail out the financial markets. If what is already spend by the countries on which imperialist globalisation was imposed like India are also taken in to accounts the bail out plans at global level may call for well over $ 5 trillions. But irrespective of these measures the fall outs in various forms are spreading dangerously. It is estimated that the grave economic recession caused by the collapse is going to throw out at least 20 millions from their jobs. As the bail outs are for the speculators and not for the toilers and oppressed masses, along with unemployment, poverty and loss of housing, deprivation of all welfare measures including education, health care and public distribution of essential commodities is going to aggravate. Contrary to earlier estimates the fall outs are more serious. Stock markets all over the world are crashing continuously. The FIIs are getting rid of the stocks and amassing dollar holdings, pushing down all currencies. Recession has set in leading to economic slow down. Obama has announced cutting down outsourcing severely causing further slow down globally, if elected. IT, real estate like sectors and all export oriented industries are badly hit. In this situation Manmohan Singh is forced to admit that the fall outs are going to be painful to Indian economy. The stock prices have fallen below 8000 after six years in BSE. The Reserve Bank chief is bluffing about 7-8% growth, when prospects are really bleak. The already announced bail outs to ICICI like speculative institutions are not going to save the financial system. Reluctance of the government to cut down petroldiesel prices even after crude petroleum prices per barrel falling at global level from $ 147 to $ 62 shows that it is not for rescue of the masses in any way. So the inflation persists above 11 point and prices are still rising for essential commodities. Like Bush in US, Manmohan-Chidambaram team is exhibiting a mask of cheerfulness to hoodwink the masses during these election days. The fall out is really serious. It is going to be worse in coming days. In spite of it, none of the political forces

from Congress-led UPA, BJP-led NDA to BSP or CPI(M)-led LF is prepared to call for scrapping of imperialist globalisation and for a self-reliant national development policy. The bursting of the bubble and its fall outs once again calls for intensifying country-wide struggles against imperialism, especially US imperialism, and the reactionary ruling system in our country by the revolutionary left and all patriotic democratic forces.

Shame, Shame, Manmohan Singh INDIA IS COUNTRY with great history, with great cultural traditions created by the toiling masses. It has a history of great anti-imperialist, national liberation movement in which tens of thousands of heroic martyrs from Birsa Munda, Mangal Pandey, Khudiram Bose, and Bhagat Singh to those still struggling against imperialist globalisation which is intensifying neo-colonial slavery have sacrificed their life. Yet this country is burdened with a shameless prime minister, a lackey of imperialism, Manmohan Singh, who, after surrendering the country to the neo-liberal raj dictated by IMF-WB like agencies at the behest of US imperialists, is now repeating that “we are not in complete control, there are bigger players and we are victims of that.” And about any escape from the inevitable pain going to be created by the global meltdown started from US, he only laments: “well, it all depends on how long it takes the world community (that is, the imperialist masters RS) to restore to the global finance markets”! What a shameless creature this prime minister is to state these words addressing his counterparts from Asia and Europe at Beijing on 25th October! According to him and those like him, there is no escape until the speculative-parasitic global finance markets run by super speculative swindlers are restored. Till then prime minister’s like him shall continue to shift the burden of the mess that is created by imperialist system over the people, and they should suffer! He is more loyal to the imperialist masters in still sticking to the neo-liberal policies imposed by him ar finance minister in 1991, than the imperialist leaders like Bush who are going for Keynesian medicine to get over the present crisis. For him and those like him, still it is TINA, there is no alternative to imperialist globalisation. “Argentina was one such country in 2001 as one of the severest financial crises to hit any emerging market caused a precipitate decline in output and employment, doubled poverty rates within a year and caused such political instability that no fewer than six governments changed over two years. The policies imposed by the IMF only served to accelerate the economic decline and push the country into an apparently endless downward spiral. By 2002, half of the population was living below the official poverty line. “The recovery was all the more noteworthy because it was based on economic principles very different from the neoliberal model which governed Argentine policymaking in the 1990s and which continued to be supported by the IMF and major external creditors. ... The Kirchner government stopped bothering about placating foreign investors and directed its attention to domestic producers. It used a stable and competitive exchange rate regime to ensure that domestic production revived and grew. It focussed on improving the consumption levels of ordinary people and reducing poverty. It sought to provide basic (but privatised) services at more accessible rates, often through renationalisation or through controls on the pricing of utilities. Significantly, the government also took a hard line – which ultimately proved very effective – with Argentina’s external creditors, forcing a majority of them in 2005 to accept a debt writeoff agreement that effectively cancelled 65 per cent of the value of the country’s outstanding debt.” (Jayati Ghosh, Frontline, October, 24)

Shameless lackeys of imperialism like Manmohan are not ready to do even what Kirchner did in Argentina. Even while Krichner was representing the interests of the big buourgeois-big landlord classes, as the country faced an acute crisis, because of certain amount of patriotic feelings he decided to go against total subjugation to US imperialism. If our country is to be saved, what is called for is an uncompromising struggle to throw out these bastards, these traitors like Manmohan and company along with imperialist globalisation, lock-stock-and-barrel.

On CPI(M)’s Claims About Saving Indian Economy AS SOON AS the worse than ever melt-down started from US owing to fiscal fundamentalism under which financial markets function like Casinos, the ManmohanChidambaram-Ahluwalia trio had claimed first that the global crisis will not affect Indian economy as its fiscal foundations are strong. But soon the UPA government was forced to take many steps on its own and through the Reserve Bank of India to safeguard its fiscal establishments to cop up with the global fall out. Still the inflation continues at double digits, rupee prices has crashed to around Rs. 50 per dollar and stock prices had from over 21,000 to 8,000 in BSE in a months time. The export based industrial and service sectors including IT have started facing recession with lakhs already thrown out of services. Now Manmohan Singh has started admitting that the fall out is going to be painful and his government is helpless to resist the fall outs, except waiting for something good to happen in the imperialist financial markets. It is like waiting for the impossible to become possible. At this time, concealing their faithful service to imperialist globalisation which they repeatedly supported by stating , ‘there is no alternative’ (TINA) to it, and by pleading for providing a ‘human face’ to it from the time of Narsimha Rao government, that the CPI(M) leadership has come out now repeatedly trying to take full credit for the Indian economy not getting ruined due to the current financial crisis in the west is really strange. That, even while dutifully implementing the imperialist globalisation policies in the states ruled by them, especially in West Bengal where they are in power continoulsy for last 30 years, it is a fact that in other states and at all India level along with the patriotic democratic forces and revolutionary left they had also opposed full capital convertibility, govt. moves to enact laws to open up banking and insurance sectors fully, privatisation of pension funds, removing the 10% cap on voting rights of foreign companies to banking sector and raising the FDI limit in insurance sector etc. But they had never called for throwing out of imperialist globalisation or opposed the replacement of import substitution industrial policy with the export promotion one or cutting off relations with IMF-World Bank-WTO trio and the MNCs. They had never opposed the speculative-parasitic character of finance capital coming in to dominance through stock markets and other fields. They had voted for the SEZs and CMZ and implemented the cutting down of welfare policies in states ruled by them. In short, CPI(M) was never utilising their control of the state governments or parliamentary presence to fight the growing subservience to neo-colonial policies by the Indian state. They were opposing laissez faire or neo-liberalism from the stand of Nehruvian policies or Keynesianism only. Even after the outbreak of the worse than 1929 crisis of financial markets, they and their economists like Prabhat Patnaik are only calling for a Keynesian bail out, which in some form or other imperialist economists like Paul Krugman are calling for, and even Bush administration is implementing with reluctance to escape from the melt-down. So the statements of Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury show that the CPI(M) is Keynesian fundamentalists. And as a result of

the fall outs of the global crisis, once the Congress leadership is becoming ready to replace Manmohan and embrace the Nehruvian/Keynesian policy at least partially, the CPI(M) and its LF allies will have no objection to re-join its band wagon. As neither imperialists, especially US imperialists, nor Indian ruling classes and its political representatives, mainly Congress and BJP, are not particular to stick to neo-liberalism, and are ready to opt for Keynesian recipes in some form or other to stave of the crisis, CPI(M) cannot take any credit for its Keynesian fundamentalism and claim that it saved the Indian economy. Even this claim itself is absurd. Even Manmohan has now admitted that the creeping effects of global crisis is becoming increasingly painful to Indian economy. Though because of the inability to speed up the neo-liberal policies by both NDA and UPA govts. beyond a limit due to popular resistance, the effects of the global crisis has not affected the Indian economy in one sweep, they have already started affecting it. They are going to badly damage the economy in all fields, intensifying its already serious crisis. So how can CPI(M) take credit for something which is not there. For its electoral polemics, for getting one-upmanship in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura where Congress is its main rival, CPI(M) can repeat this absurd argument that it saved Indian economy from ruin to fool its cadres and obedient followers. But the facts speak otherwise. The fall outs of the global meltdown are going to be very serious in coming days, irrespective of the claims of CPI(M) leadership which has degenerated so much to parliamentarism that it refuse to look beyond the election results. Whether it is fiscal fundamentalism of Manmohan or Keynesian fundament-alism of CPI(M), both serve imperialism. What the toiling masses require is something beyond imperialism, socialism. It is since it has abandoned the path of people’s democracy and socialism long back, CPI(M) is trying to create a vote bank by preaching Keynesianism in a new bottle.

RSS Heads List of Terrorists THAT RSS IDEOLOGY of Hindu Rashtra is a terrorist ideology, that from the time of assassination of Gandhiji it has involved in numerous acts of terrorism and in the last tow decades, especially from the time of LK Advani’s rath yatra in 1990 on Ayodhya issue, it and its Parivar have indulged in any number of terrorist acts including demolition of Babri Masjid and the large-scale massacre in Gujarat in 2002 are known to more and more sections of people. But the time has changed, so also the character of state machinery and courts. If the courts in early 1950s had no inhibitions to accuse RSS and convict the assassins of Gandhiji, today the political establishment, the state machinery and the courts, even when they claim to oppose the RSS Parivar are reluctant and often not ready to act against the majoritarian terrorism. So even after enough evidences, LK Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati like leaders accused in Babri Masjid demolition and Narendra Modi who is accused of conspiring to create the pogrom in Gujarat are still roaming free. So are the leaders of the RSS Parivar who are responsible for recent arson, rapes and murders in Orissa, and attacks on Karnataka Churches and numerous others. According to the political establishment and state machinery these do not belong to the category of ‘acts of terrorism’. But even when involvement of Bajrang Dal and other RSS outfits in acts which are without doubt booked as ‘acts of terrorism’ by the police was well evident in the bomb blasts in Muslim inhabited areas of Malegaon and other places in

Maharashtra, first the police dubbed them also as acts of Muslim terrorists and let the evidence disappear. In spite of all these, at last now if the Maharashtra police and its anti-terrorist squad has dared to pursue the clear evidences available about the involvement of RSS outfits in the bomb blasts in the Muslim localities of Malegaon (Maharashtra) and Modasa (Gujarat), it is a welcome act, though there are enough reasons to genuinely doubt the sincerity in it, and how far it will be pursued in the right direction. At a time the corporate media and state machinery is aiding and abetting RSS Parivar and its majoritarian fundamentalism to communalise terrorism dubbing every terrorist as Muslim, arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who has high level connections as her photos with BJP chief Rajnath Singh and MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan show, and her associates in Hindu Jagaran Manch (HJM) have shown the magnitude of the involvement of RSS Parivar in the terrorist acts. The arrest of the Sadhvi and her associates has made BJP position extremely vulnerable. While crying hoarse about minority terrorists and the necessity to impose POTA to curb them, it is proved that BJP is thriving utilising communal card by promoting majoritarian terrorism. We demand that all terrorists whether from majority or minority fundamentalists should be firmly handled and so also all communal propaganda. Similarly stern actions is needed to clean the state machinery by ousting communal elements.

The Moon Mission THE SUCCESSFUL LAUNCHING of India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft and its successful functioning till these lines are written is a proud moment for Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and for all the scientists and workers who made it possible. They deserve congratulations. India is the sixth country which has entered the Moon race, investigations in to the hidden tales about the early history of the Solar System. As far as US, Russia, China and others in the race are concerned, their Moon missions are not just for scientific research alone. All are interested to find out what Moon is constituted of including its possible Helium reserves. As Helium is supposed to be the future energy source, its discovery in Moon’s surface is bound to intensity the fight for moon among the major powers. What is India’s approach to this question is of fundamental importance. Is India in going to develop its own Moon missions for independent scientific research or not is a question of vital importance. The recently concluded Indo-US Nuclear Treaty proves that those in power do not give any importance to independent scientific research and development and to the sovereignty of the country. In spite of our scientists and technicians developing Fast Breeder Reactors and the Thorium research to use it as future nuclear fuel to a high stage, the ruling system in our country has gone for shameless surrender to the dictates of US imperialism. It has signed initial agreements for Rs.2,98,000 crores worth obsolete technology and nuclear equipments of US, which is benefiting the Yenkees when their economy is facing an unprecedentedly serious meltdown. What is the guarantee that the Moon mission also will not be subordinated to US interests considering the subservient class character of the ruling classes and the major political parties? It is reported that among Chandrayaan-1’s suite of cameras and instruments several are provided by US and NATO countries. It shows that they have already got an opening to the Indian space research also. These are dangerous signals. While we congratulate the scientists, technicians and workers engaged in nuclear and space research and

development for the great achievements, we should not forget that like what happened already in other fields of research and development, India’s comprador ruling system is bound to surrender these also to imperialist masters sooner or later. A national, selfreliant development of research and development in the fields of science and technology is not possible till this ruling system is replaced by a people’s democratic state with socialist orientation.

Economic Notes

Can Neo-Keynesian Medicine Solve the Crisis? P.J. James AS WORLD IMPERIALIST SYSTEM is going through what is widely acknowledged to be the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, and as the financial parasitism, criminality and social decay associated with unbridled private capitalist appropriation with no historical precedent have totally exposed, we are witnessing the grotesque picture of various imperialist powers attempting to bail out their largest banks and leading financial institutions by adopting neo-Keynesian economic policies. That is, the current crisis has dealt a massive blow to the credibility of neo-liberalism at an international level. The ruling classes the world over that most persistently preached the gospel of free markets, private enterprise and individual self-reliance till the other day are now espousing the virtues of state intervention and market regulation. In fact, as already became clear, the crisis relates to the particular form of wealth accumulation by the financial elite in which wealth accumulation has become almost entirely detached from the production of real value. This is the essence of financial parasitism, which Lenin in 1916 defined as the essential character of moribund capitalism. Obviously, today, the gigantic scale of the parasitism of the imperialist bourgeoisie is exponentially greater than anything that existed in Lenin’s day. The growth of financial speculation has proceeded along with, the dismantling of large sections of industry and the outsourcing of manufacturing to cheap-labor regions around the world. This decay in the productive base of imperialist economy is the sharpest expression of this global crisis. But neo-Keynesians who firmly uphold private appropriation of wealth have no solution to offer for this. As a matter of fact, the application of Keynesianism was made possible in the US by the immense stimulus provided by war production for World War II. In the war, the US demonstrated the superiority of its advanced production methods, far outstripping the capacity of Germany and Japan to turn out planes, ships, tanks and bullets and feed and equip their soldiers. At the end of the war, the supreme power of American imperialism was rooted in this war oriented production together with its military supremacy. During the period following World War II, four out of every five cars sold throughout the world were produced in the US; America, which had 6 percent of the world’s population, produced and consumed one-half of the world’s goods. Its gold reserve was almost 70 percent of the world total. America’s gross domestic product rose from $100 billion in 1940 to $300 billion in 1950 and $500 billion in 1960- - a five fold increase during a span of two decades. However, the ageing and decaying American economy today has none of these advantages for a renewed application of the Keynesian medicine. Of course, the Keynesian prescription was based on the uncontrolled expansion in finance arising from the growth in American debt and the circulation of dollar everywhere. This led to an unprecedented inflation. Consequently, in the 1970s Keynesian deficit spending policies broke down in the face of “stagflation.”. It signaled a decision by the American finance capitalists to defend its wealth and its international

position by launching an offensive against both the American working class and oppressed peoples of the world. It marked the end of ‘temporary compromise’ with labour that had been initiated under the New Deal by Roosevelt in the 1930s in the context of the ascendancy of socialism and national liberation movements at a global level. Thatcherism and Reagonomics followed. The central aim was to roll back the economic and social gains that had been achieved by the working class over the previous 40 years. This was to be achieved by shutting down major sections of US industry that could no longer provide a sufficiently high rate of profit and using mass unemployment as a weapon to attack the unions and break the resistance of the working class. This so called “deindustrialization of America” marked a decisive shift of American capital from productive forms of investment to purely speculative forms of wealth accumulation. It is highly noteworthy that the previous bourgeois offensive against the American working class that began after World War I and lasted into the first years of the Depression coincided with a continued expansion of US industry. That was during the rising arc of American capitalism. The new offensive took place within the context of an accelerating decline, and in the critical respect of America’s industrial base took the opposite form. Meanwhile, the neo-conservative policies were given legitimacy by the media and academia, which hailed the emergence of the “post-industrial society”. In reality, the 1980s saw a catastrophic decay in the foundations of American imperialism. Between 1981 and 1986, the US share of world exports slumped from over 20 percent to 13.8 percent. Between 1973 and 1983, US steel production fell 44 percent. The national debt more than doubled under the Reagan administration. In brief, the period of uncontrolled financialization of imperialist world economy began since then. Amidst waves of corporate downsizing, financial speculation played an ever-greater role in economic life and assumed new and more parasitic forms. One speculative bubble succeeded another: the East Asian collapse was followed by the rise and fall of the dot.com bubble, and was quickly replaced by the sub-prime mortgage bubble. Securitization of debt became the new model of American banking, based on the conception that high-risk and high-yield investments, sustained by an exponential growth of debt, could continue to expand without limit, since the banks could offload much of the debt to other investors around the world. There is an organic connection between the colossal growth of economic parasitism and the ever more brazen concentration of wealth at the pinnacle of society. CEO compensation exploded in an environment of uncontrolled speculation and political reaction. An ever-greater share of the social wealth was funneled from the working class to the financial elite. The collapse of the unions deprived the working class of any organized means of resisting the plundering of the national wealth. Purchasing power of the masses fell to an abysmally low level. The present crisis has emerged in this over all background. In this context, the expectation of the ruling classes including both reformists and neo-Keynesians that another dose of Keynesianism and regulated capitalism can bring order and stability to the system is mere illusion. The root cause of the present crisis lies in the inherent contradiction in imperialism—that is, the social nature of production and its private appropriation—that has become so acute. No amount of Keynesianism or state regulation is capable of removing this contradiction which lies underneath. And the crisis is bound to reappear in deeper and deeper forms. What is required is a bursting of imperialist production relations along with the bursting of the speculative bubble and the ushering in an era of socialism. On the other hand, ruling classes and reformists, using neo-Keynesianism as an ideology, are diverting the whole issue as one of lack of regulation and state intervention under capitalism. They are camouflaging the historical

fact that it was a quarter century of Keynesian treatment following World War II that ultimately led to the growth of the financial bubble. At the ideological sphere, imperialism is trying to grant legitimacy to neoKeynesianism. As a manifestation, this year’s Nobel prize in Economics is being awarded to Paul Krugman of Princeton University, a neo-Keynesian in economic thinking. Of course, the ideological counterpart of the financial crisis is the immediate decline in the financial orthodoxy espoused by the neo-conservatives. In policy making as well as in bourgeois economic thinking, neo-Keynesians are getting adequate representation. Imperialism is profusely utilizing the services of economists who pursue even Marxist methodology in their analysis, to alleviate the acute crisis confronted by them. An example is the incorporation of the renowned Indian left economist, Prabhat Patnaik in the Committee constituted by the UN to study the present international economic situation and suggest recommendations. Interestingly, the Chairman of this Committee is none other than Joseph Stiglitz, former Chief economist of the World Bank, who is also a critique of unfettered financial speculation. However as already noted, though the imperialist world is witnessing a reaffirmation of Keynesian prescriptions, its prospects are feeble. US led imperialist world economy today is several times more parasitical and moribund than the situation in the 1930s when the Keynesian medicine was applied first. Today the malignancy of the system is too severe to be rectified by the Keynesian prescription which imperialism had discarded in the seventies. In particular, the American economy today is more weak- decline of dollar, relative erosion in its productive potential, growth of financial bubble, etc,- to enforce the rules needed for an international Keynesianism. Domestically, the Keynesian policies will not work as the resource mobilization required for the public spending is difficult to be found. Firstly, additional taxes are not feasible in a situation of stagnation. Secondly, deficit financing is not possible in the prevailing conditions of high levels of inflation as it will aggravate the situation further. In other words, the objective situation- coexistence of stagnation and inflation, that is, stagflation—which led to the abandonment of Keynesianism in the 1970s still prevails today. The remaining third option is borrowing from other countries. This will further worsen the debt burden which has already reached its extreme limits crossing the $12 trillion mark as of now. Therefore, the entire burden of this neo-Keynesian treatment will once again fall on the shoulders of working people. In brief, this is an opportune moment before the international proletariat to rise to its historic task of overthrowing the decadent imperialist world system.

Not Imperialism, Socialism is the Only Path Forward Karthik IT MAY BE ACCIDENTAL that the 100th birth day of JK Galbraith, who had advised against the dangers of financial excess till his death two years ago, was on 15th October at a time when the imperialist world order is in the grip of its worst ever crisis. In his most famous work- The Great Crash 1929- he had described the common events that precede and accompany particular financial crises. Galbraith, like Keynes before him, identified the instability of the imperialist system in terms of the drive to accumulate excessive wealth and the fragile nature of the financial system. According to him, the stock market bubbles exhibit “seemingly imaginative, currently lucrative and eventually disastrous innovation in financial structure”. He argued that an unfettered, competitive

capitalist system, operating on pure free market principles, was inherently cyclical and unstable, requiring robust regulation and active government intervention. Examining the more than two centuries of capitalist system, including the numerous bubbles that burst during this period, he explained that a perceived fundamental change in the economy arouses euphoria and heightened expectations of return, leading to excess, trend and collapse. From this one can see the folly of sub-prime lending. The expansion in business activity feeds entrepreneurial and speculative behaviour in the financial sectors. Heightened expectations stimulate a credit boom, with the banking system keen to cash in on the new situation. The banks provide the money that finance speculation which in each case precede the crash. So Galbraith, following Keynes warned that such speculation inevitably leads to euphoria or overtrading in which rising asset prices encourages speculative excess. When the financial markets slow their expansion, organizations that have covered their future liabilities through issuing more debt are forced to sell assets to meet their liabilities. These distress sales cause asset prices to fall, at which point the financial markets and business with exposure to those markets collapse. As the investors try to get their money back out of the markets, it gives way to panic and crisis. Since the emergence of the capitalist system about three centuries ago about 30 major financial crises, about one in every ten years have happened. In the present crisis which is explained as more serious than the 1929 Great Depression by even IMF, along with largest monetary meltdown, collapse of consumer and business spending, the collapse in spending is in turn undermine the financial markets. In US like economics, where the unfettered market is dominating, the banking systems almost always eventually over-extend themselves, and they have to be rescued if the system is to be saved. Liquidity is injected in to the markets, gurantees are provided to the inter-bank market, and public capital is directly injected in to the banks by the purchase of their shares. This is a deviation from the model of unfettered capitalism, a deviation from the neo–liberal system to some sort of Keynesianism which Galbraith advocated, Paul Krugman, this years Nobel Prize winner for economics, advocate in a new form. Based on the 2007 data Krugman aryues: “the Bush boom, such as it was, is over. We can see that it achieved a dismel distinaction. For the first time on record an economic expansion failed to raise most Ameriacans’ in comes above their previous peak. Since then, of course, things have gone rapidly downhill, as millions of working Americans have lost their job and their homes. And all indications suggest that things will get much worse in the months and years ahead” (emphasis added). It is like being on the edge of the abyss. Bush himself has admitted in a recent televised address that what US is facing is a long and painful recession. But he has not so far admitted that it is the free market economy intensified under his presidency the US debt has increased by 71.9%, or lay roughly $ 4.1 trillion. Now, once the meltdown became uncontrollable, as the financial turmoil starting form the US continues to batter world economics triggering the collapse of more number of financial institutions, the bail out packages from different governments globally is nearly the ! 3 trillion mark, about three times the size of Indian to the deepening credit crisis which has seen the fall of Wall Street icons like Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual and the distressed sale of Merril Lynch banking sector. Russia adopted urgent bail out of banks with $ 50 billion. The European countries, Japan and large number of Asian-African-Latin American countries including India also went for major rescue plans. Only some of the Latin American governments who went for nationalization of some of the MNCs and partialluy. Kept away from the global market system are saved to some extent from the intensifying global turmoil.

What is attempted in the name of these rescue plans is the use of tax payers money to bail out financial players who profitted at the expense of the system. The old recipe of Keynesianism is re-introduced under new labels. It is nothing but large-scale nationalization or state intervention to control the financial institutions that is taking place. The neo-liberal prescription of privatization at any cost is reversed to a certain extent to rescue the financial institutions who celebrated the free market system to speculate and amass large profits for a handful while the system went bankrupt and now propped up by the state revenue. If the masses were fleeced under the neo-liberal raj criminally for decades, they are once again squeezed to rescue the same players who are responsible for the crisis. But like Keynes, Galbraith and now Krugman, all these reformers of new-liberal free market policies as well as the administrations from US to the neo-colonial countries are refusing to admit that it is the capitalist-imperialist system which is responsible for the recurring crisis in the system. All of them are calling for bail out of the very system, knowing fully well that these resure plans are going to be very temporary. Every rescue is followed by another crisis for the last three centuries. And now a greater depression than the 1929 one has in gulfed the capitalist-imperialist system. Still the free-market or neo-liberal advocate as well as Keynesian advocates talk only about rescue plans and about controlling the excesses through state intervention. Because they are for continuing this very system that creates the cycle of crises and miseries to vast masses. They do not want to change the system, whether it is Mc Cain or Obama, whether it is the neo-liberal or Keynesians. On the basic reasons for the cycle of crises in the capitalist system Lenin explained while re-stating The Three Sources and Three component Parts of Marxism: “Capital, created by the labour of the worker, crushes the worker, ruining small proprietors and creating an army of unemployed. In industry, the victory of large-scale production is immediately apparent, but the same phenomenon is also to be observed in agriculture, where the superiority of large-scale capitalist agriculture is enhanced, the use of machinery increases and the peasant economy, trapped by money-capital, declines and falls into ruin under the burden of its backward technique. The decline of small-scale production assumes different forms in agriculture, but the decline itself is an indisputable fact. “By destroying small-scale production, capital leads to an increase in productivity of labout and to the creation of a monopoly position for the associations of big capitalists. Production itself becomes more and more social-hundreds of thousands and millions of workers become bound together in a regular economic organism-but the product of this collective labour is appropriated by a handful of capitalists. Anarchy of production, crises, the furious chase after markets and the insecurity of existence of the mass of the population are intensified”. Marxism also taught that because of these crises the capitalist system will not fall automatically in to its own grave. It will be foolish to expect that the capitalist system will commit suicide. On the contrary, irrespective of all crises it shall continue through rescue acts, reforms, until it is thrown out. It is in this context Marx explained that the capitalism though will not fall itself in to its own grave, it has created its grave diggers, the proletariat. Marx traced the development of capitalism from embryonic commodity economy, from simple exchange, to its highest forms, to large scale production. And the experience till today, year by year demonstrates clearly the truth of this Marxist doctrine. Capitalist imperialist system has triumphed all over the world. And this triumph has led to domination of speculative-parasitic capital in all fields, to a market system that degenerates all human values. So this triumph has to become the preclude to the

triumph of labour over capital. The socialization of production should be followed by the socialization of its ownership. This is the way the society can liberate itself from the barbarous capitalist-imperialist system. It is possible not through reforms or bail outs, through another dose of Keynesian recipe, but only through overthrow of the system. It is not capitalism, but socialism is the only alternative for the advance of the human society to a class-less, exploitation free social system, communism.

National Scene

15th Lok Sabha Possibilities

Elections:

Limitations

and

K.N. Ramachandran THE ELECTIONS to the 15th Lok Sabha is taking place at a critical time in the history of our country. In the context of the worst ever crisis faced by the imperialist system as a whole, especially US imperialism, and as a result of the last five years of Congress-led UPA rule, our country is in the grip of unprecedented crisis as a consequence of the neo-liberal policies and of integrating its economy to the global financial capital, which is getting increasingly dominated by speculative and parasitic character. As a result, the dreams during the century-long independence struggle and the vision of a new India cherished by the heroic martyrs are being shattered. While struggling for the independence of the country, the people’s movement had the vision of an India free from imperialist yoke, a federal democratic self-reliant and secular republic, a new vibrant society that settles accounts with the colonial past and feudal relations, an India where secular democratic values and socio-economic equality shall flourish for all sections of the people in all spheres. But today, six decades after the 1947 transfer of power the national unity and democratic values developed through many decades of strenuous countrywide antiimperialist and anti-feudal struggles are abandoned, vast majority of the people have become increasingly pauperised while a tiny minority is becoming rich or super-rich, the country has increasingly devastated under the imperialist globalization policies pursued by the ruling classes and the political parties representing them, and whatever sovereignty it had achieved is systematically decimated reducing this country to the strategic subservience of US imperialism. Consequences of Five Year Rule of the UPA Government: The election to 14th Lok Sabha was held in 2004 when six years of BJP-led NDA rule had led the country to dangerous situation by speeding up imperialist globalisation policies in a frenzied manner and intensifying command fascist moves including the Gujarat massacre. Though BJP leadership tried to cover up its, anti-people policies through its ‘India Shining’ campaign, along with its allies it lost the election. Congressled UPA supported by the Left Front took over based on a Common Minimum, Programme (CMP) claiming to reverse the NDA govt’s policies. But from the beginning it further speeded up imperialist globalization- liberalisation – privatisation policies including enactment of numerous laws for SEZs , CMZ, opening the economy further to global finance agencies and MNCs. It allowed corporates and MNCs to enter in to procurement of agricultural products, while the government agencies were withdraw from it. The Public Distribution System (PDS) was further weakened. In the name of establishing parity with international market rates, prices of petroleum products and other essential commodities were repeatedly hiked leading to inflation and thereby price rise reaching double digits. Fields

of education, healthcare etc ere surrendered to privatisation and market-oriented forces. All welfare measures are further cut down or eliminated. The rights of working class, adivasis, dalits and all oppressed sections wee snatched away pauperizing them further in all respects. Even existing land ceilings were reversed to assist land concentration with corporates, land lords, mafias etc. The deindustrialisation, that is, closing down tens of thousands of labour-intensive industries, continued. In the name of export-oriented industries, self-reliance was further eroded, giving one-sided emphasis to IT and service sectors. MNCs were more freely allowed to enter in all fields. Speculative and parasitic capital was allowed a field day. In the name of establishing strategic relationship with US imperialism, throwing overboard whatever sovereignty was left, numerous military pacts were signed crowned by the Indo-US Nuclear Act. It led to acting in IAEA and in other fields at the dictates of US, even abandoning the extremely fruitful Iran-Pak-India Natural Gas Pipeline. It has led to estrangement of relationship with the neighbouring countries further. Whatever positive character the country’s foreign policy had is destroyed. What has happened as a result of all these policies is that effects of the ‘bubble economy’ has taken over this country also. That is why the oft-repeated high GDP growth and industrial growth rate has gone down and Indian economy is also rocking with the present imperialist crisis starting from the US. If the neo-liberal policies have led to economic ruin for vast majority, with only a minority getting enriched, contrary to the claims of the UPA government about combating communal offensive of the Sangh Parivar, its communal appeasement policies have led to the communalization of all walks of life in the country reaching dangerous levels. Everything including terrorism is communalized and the minorities are criminally targeted by the state machinery while the Sangh Parivar forces are allowed to escape even after reputation of the Gujarat massacre like acts in Orissa and elsewhere. The caste divide and suppression of dalits and adivasis have also intensified. Utilizing growing uneven developments, parochial forces also have gained strength. In the name of combating these military is deployed in many areas and state terror is unleashed wantonly. All these have led to erosion of the national unity and strengthening of the destabilizing forces in the country as desired by the US imperialists. Five years of UPA government has witnessed further cutting down of all social welfare policies, sky-rocketing price rise and unemployment. There was further snatching away of democratic rights, and utilization of black acts. Corruption has become rampant in all fields. Exploitation of and atrocities on women and children have intensified. The Devastating ‘development policy’ has led to further ecological destruction. The number of people below poverty-line had also gone up considerably Forces of degeneration and disintegration getting strengthened: During the post -1947 decades, especially after imposition of imperialist globalization the big bourgeoisie growing in to a powerful corporate class has increased its subservience and collaboration with imperialists, especially US imperialists. The bureaucracy, fattening more and more through corruption is increasingly collaborating with global capital interests. Though feudal relations have considerably changed, the feudal remnants along with the Kulaks, the big landlord class are combining well with the big bourgeoisie and bureaucracy to amass wealth and to run the ruling system collaborating increasingly with the imperialists, especially US imperialists. The various ruling class parties, big or small, are serving the interests of these classes. As a result none of these parties are ready to wage any struggle against imperialist globalization

which is ruining the country and pauperizing vast majority of the masses, their savage consequences like cutting down of all welfare measures, price rise, unemployment, deprivation of democratic rights etc. All of them are getting increasingly alienated from the masses. So they want to get people’s attention diverted from the burning issues they are facing. They promote forces of degeneration and disintegration for this purpose. They are taking lessons from the imperialist forces who are post-masters in these, and who have serious interest in destabilising the country. As the election campaign for the six state assemblies has gained momentum, as the elections to the Lok Sabha are coming nearer, all these parties are consciously avoiding any serious discussion on the consequences of global economic meltdown that has started from the US, on imperialist globalization which has integrated Indian economy with the global capital-market system leading to grieves consequences for the country and the people, on Indo-US Nudear Treaty and other policies which have led the country to strategic subservience to US imperialism, the devastating consequences of the present neo-liberal ‘development’ policies pursued etc. All basic socio-economic-political issues are in the main side-lined. Along with this, divisive policies like communal, caste, parochial, chauvinist issues are highlighted. Such tendencies are provided encouragement to act criminally dividing the people. For example take the case of BJP and the Sangh Parivar forces. They are spreading Hindutha- based communal fascism wantonly. Gujarat pattern is being repeated in Orrissa, Karnataka like states to consolidate vote bank. Each and every issue is communalized. They spread terrorism and when others try to retaliate in the same way it is communalized targeting the Muslims. As the state machinery is already communalized to large extent, it is becoming handy for them to attack the minorities. As far as Shiv Sena is concerned, while utilizing the Hindutua communal card, it is extending it to utilizing the parochial sentiments targeting the North Indian migrant workers to incite the chauvinist hatred of local youth, propagating that this migration is the cause for their unemployment. While the BJP-led state governments are promoting these communal fascist, chauvinist tendencies, the Congress-led central and state governments refuse to act against these. Congress and its alhes are afraid of loosing Hindu’ votes. So they indulge in communal appeasement. Bajarang Dal, VHP like forces are allowed to indulge in wanton communal fascist acts. While Musilms are targeted as a whole for terrorist acts, the Hindu fundamentalist forces are allowed to escape. Similarly the Congress-NCP Maharashtra government allowed Raj Thackeray and his MNS, an offshoot of Shiv Sena to grow in to a criminal gang assaulting the North Indian migrant people. Against communal fascist assaults of Sangh Parivar like forces, Congress and its allies are pursuing communal appeasement policies, often reducing the state machinery to silent spectators of this wanton, criminal communalization of all walks of social life and politics. Since consecutive central governments had refused to take steps for the political solution of J&K and North East peoples’ struggles for self-determination, the antagonism in these areas is intensifying, with their increasing communalization. As military occupation of these areas is continuing, it is only intensifying the contradictions there. And the very same political forces responsible for prolonging the agomy in these areas are utilizing it for their narrow political ends. Uneven development and its intensification are inherent characters of the present comprador ruling system. Consecutive governments at centre and in the states are only promoting them further. Utilizing people’s grievances created by this uneven development, parochial forces come up and thrive on them. All political parties purse

opportunist policies allowing them to grow. And they are utilized as allies to promote vote banks. Worse is the case with the caste question. Instead of putting down caste-based suppression of dalits and other oppressed sections and promoting a casteless society, caste is increasingly utilized as a vote bank, not only by BSP like caste-based parties, but by all other ruling class parties. As a result of all these forces of degeneration and disintegration are getting strengthened day by day, and they are dominating the political spectrum. The a political approach spread by the NGOs contribute to their growth further. Imperialists, especially US imperialists, have vested interest to promote these forces to intensity their neocolonization drive. The comprador parties are playing as convenient tools of imperialist powers and corporate houses in this nefarious game. As election dates are drawing nearer the corporate media also play a major role in de-politicizing the campaign. Along with it, money, mussle and liquor power is profusely utilized. The corrupt and communalized state machinery also play its dirty role. Thus the basic issues involved in the election are covered up, communal-caste-parochial-fringe issues are highlighted, individuals are projected above political positions and the election is reduced to a farce in practice, so that different political parties or their fronts sharing basically similar lines can continue to share power. All of them are interested to make the elections a game of musical chair. The drama being enacted in US elections for president between Republicans and Democrats is repeated in a more shabby form here. Evaluating the extent to which these elections can be utilized to intensity class struggle, to propagate party line and to strengthen the party organization correctly, the revolutionary left forces should use it to expose the ruling system and the reactionary, reformist character of the various political parties. Rally for Anti-Imperialist People’s Democratic Alternative It is repeatedly proved that during the last two decades, after the imposition of imperialist dictated policies, the imperialist servitude of the big bourgeois - big landlordbureaucratic classes has further intensified. Those small sections of capitalists who were left with any national sentiments and the top layer of middle classes have also gone over to worshipping the market system. The change of power at centre from BJP led NDA to Congress-led UPA government has only further accelerated the neo-liberal policies. Led by Congress and BJP, all the ruling class parties, including various regional parties, remnants of erstwhile socialist movement, other communal parties and BSP and other casteist parties, as well as the CPI(M) led Left Front have proved wherever they are in power, alone or through united fronts that they are colluding and competing with each other to implement the globalisation – liberalisation –Privatisation policies in practice. Their conflicts are reduced to mere struggle for power under the ruling system. Even their commitment or not to secularism is also proved a maneuver to mislead people. While BJP openly advocates hard Hindutua policies, creating communal massacres, Congress advocates ‘soft Hindutha’ as well as appeasement of all brands of communal forces. Similar is their opportunist approach to caste question also. Even after they are voted out, once they come back to power they pursue the very same policies of the government which is voted out more vehemently, and promote and corruption, vote-bank politics and mafia power further in this process. In short, all of them serve the very same interests of the imperialists, especially US imperialists, and of the reactionary ruling class system with marginal differences. Even though they fight each other for seats of power, all of them have reduced to become part and parcel of the ruling system. At the same time, against the neo-liberal policies of the central and state governments run by these ruling class parties and their various fronts, ever-intensifying

spontaneous and organized movements with more and more participation of the working class and other masses of people are taking place all over the country. The growing people’s anger against the governments in power is reflected frequently by voting them out at centre and in the states. Though money power, muzzle power, media and state machinery are utilized at election time to create polarization between the main ruling class fronts, suppressing the people’s dissent, the growing people’s mass movements against the ruling class policies have thrown up possibilities for the real polarisation between all the ruling class alternatives on the side and the anti-imperialist people’s democratic alternative of revolutionary left and patriotic, secular, democratic forces on the other side. Only such a people’s alternative can mobilize and provide militant leadership to the numerous people’s movements coming up against imperialist globalization, SEZs, CMZ, corporate farming, snatching away of workers rights, sky-rocketing price rise, unemployment, growing adivasi-dalit-women oppression, marketisation of each and every field of social life and activities etc. Such a polarization of anti-imperialist, anti-feudal, national, democratic and genuinely secular, anti-caste forces will be in the true tradition of the great heritage of the two centuries of anti-British freedom struggle and anti-feudal movements, and six decades of class struggle by the vast masses of the exploited and oppressed against the anti-people central and state governments. Only such a polarization shall lead to uphold and carry forward the great heritage of anti-imperialist, anti-feudal struggles of the masses spanning the period of freedom struggle and six decades after transfer of power in 1947, in which tens of millions of people participated heroically and tens of thousands of great martyrs sacrificed their lives. Such a people’s alternative shall symbolize the great aspirations of these heroic fighters for people’s democracy and socialism, repeatedly asserted from the days of martyrdom of com. Bhagat Singh and his colleagues, and from the early days of Indian communist movement. It shall concretely symbolise the great Telengana -Naxalbari path in present situation. The election campaign should be vigorously utilized by the revolutionary forces who uphold these great traditions.

Historical Struggle

Relevance

of

Punnapra-Vayalar

P.J. James IN THE HISTORY of Kerala and of the Communist movement Punnapra-Vayalar struggle was subjected to many interpretations and ‘re-readings’ by the post-modernists, ‘New Left’ trends, and other alien forces. All of them try to de-construct it from non-class positions. But however hard all of them, including arch-reactionaries try, along with great Telengana, Punnapra-Vayalar struggle has a most significant position in the revolutionary movement of the country. All attempts to distort it by the ruling classes and their agents are bound to fail. During the immediate post-World War II years, in the international situation when under the leadership of Soviet Union the anti-fascist forces had scored smashing victory over the fascist forces and when the revolutionary movement was advancing all over the world, and in the national scene when more and more sections of people were coming forward in the anti-British struggle, the outbreak and advance of Telengana and Punnapra-Vayalar struggles reflected the growing influence of Communist movement in the country. If Telengana was a protracted anti-feudal struggle which advanced

heroically to wider areas, Punnapra-Vayalar was a direct confrontation of the organised working class with the state forces, both under Communist leadership. Both of them reached the highest level among the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal movements in our country. As the anti-Communists repeatedly try to assert, Punnapra-Vayalar was not accidental or isolated. It broke out as a part of the growth of the organised working class movement in Kerala. Then Kerala was divided in to princely states of Travancore and Kochi, and northern Malabar was part of Madras Presidency. In northern Travancore in present Allapuzha district, in the region from Ambalapuzha to Cherthala, under the leadership of Communist Party from 1930s a powerful trade union movement had emerged including the union of coir workers. In 1938 the general strike of coir workers union raising working class demands along with political demands including that of statutory rationing of essential commodities and opposing the tyrannical rule of Dewan CP Ramaswamy Iyer under the Travancore king, was historic. Though state forces along with goonda gangs of feudal forces and owners of coir factories were unleashed by CP Ramaswamy to suppress the strike, it won a significant victory forcing the Dewan rule to accede most of the demands. It inspired the working class and all oppressed sections and established the leadership of the working class in the anti-British, anti-king struggle. It inspired such movements in other parts of Travancore and of Kerala. The victory of 1938 general strike gave a rebuff to the ‘movement for responsible government’ going on under the leadership of Congress and the elite classes. Communist came to the leadership of the national liberation struggle against British colonialists and their agents. While the Communists organised the working class, peasantry and other oppressed sections, the Congress was organising the elite classes under it. CP Ramaswamy had raised the stand that instead of British parliamentary system, Travancore wants a presidential system in US pattern, with immense power to president. This American Model of CP Ramaswamy was bitterly opposed by majority of the people. Besides, at this time CP called for a Free Travancore outside Indian union. Though both these demands of CP were even against the demands of all India Congress leadership, local Congress did not whole-heartedly oppose it. As the all India Congress leadership was then trying to collaborate with British colonialists for a transfer of power, the local leadership representing the elite and feudal classes also compromised with the forces led by CP. But Communist Party came forward opposing Congress and raising the war-cry ‘Throw out American Model to Arabian Sea’. At this time all conspiratorial moves made by CP administration to win over some of the leaders of the working class movement also miserably failed. So it became clear for Dewan rule of CP that if the ‘American Model’ is to become successful, the Communist Party and the trade union movement should be wiped out. Based on this evaluation the Dewan rule unleashed fierce attacks against both. For this it mobilised the police and goonda forces in larger numbers and almost a state of siege was implemented utilising the large compounds of feudal chiefs as temporary cantonments. A bigger number of British forces also were brought. Raids and attacks were organised against all those who were opposing ‘American Model’. Many were tortured and jailed. Houses were raided and women were molested. For finding out Communist leaders and all those who were opposing Dewan rule, Congress leaders were utilised as spies and agents. All feudal forces, elite classes and owner of coir factories fully supported CP. Thus a class polarisation took place in its most acute form. It was 1946 when this polarisation reached its sharpest level. In this situation, the Communist Party on the one hand decided to intensify the campaign against ‘American Model’ and mobilise the masses against it. When leaders

where getting arrested and public propaganda was becoming difficult, along with public propaganda, secret campaigns also started wherever needed and wanted leaders went underground. On the other hand, uniting coir workers unions and other unions trade union councils were formed to resist these attacks. Workers and others were organised in to volunteer squads. Those who were retrenched from military after World War II gave training to the squads. Volunteer camps were organised to train them. The Communist Party under the leadership of comrade Krishna Pillai decided that as Dewan rule was intensifying attacks on people, especially on party workers, trade union leaders and women barbarously, there is no other alternative but to take up offensive struggles. A general strike was called on October 21st, 1946. All the factories closed down completely. The strike was called raising 28 demands including political slogans like representative democratic government, universal voting right, release of all political prisoners, dissolution of all police camps in the region, scrap all moves for ‘American Model’ etc. The general strike developed in to a political upsurge. As state forces intensified attacks on the working class and other struggling sections, the volunteer squads attacked Punnapra police station and a police camp in a Congress leader’s house. It was a heroic challenge by the organised working class against the brute state forces and their ‘American Model’. So it was neither accidental nor isolated. It was a conscious upsurge led by the Communist Party against the tyranny of the comprador forces supported by the British colonialists. This upsurge reflected the political consciousness achieved by the working class through two decades of heroic struggles. Though Punnapra-Vayalar struggle was brutally suppressed with the massacre of hundreds of communist fighters on 26th October at Vayalar, where the white sand turned red with the blood of hundreds of workers who were buried in a mass grave, within months people of Travancore took up the slogan ‘Throw out American Model in to Arabian Sea’. In a public function CP Ramaswamy was attacked with a sword and he fled from the state. ‘American Model’ was thrown out. The anti-feudal struggle developed to all parts of Kerala, together with the demand for United Kerala. Kerala came in to existence on 1st November 1956 and Communist Party on its own strength got majority in 1957 elections and formed the ministry. These were only the by-product of the struggle. But the CPI leadership failed to assimilate the significance of Telengana, Punnapra-Vayalar and the numerous people’s movements coming up all over the country. It failed to assert the independent left movement’s leadership in the national liberation movement. It minimised the strength of this people’s upsurge and was satisfied with becoming an accomplice to British imperialism communally dividing the country and transfering power to Congress and Muslim League. Though a ‘left’ sectarian line surfaced in 1948, it was short lived and it only further weakened the revolutionary sections in the leadership. By 1951 Telengana struggle was withdrawn and the revolutionary teachings of Telengana-Punnapra Vayalar were forsaken, with CPI and then CPI(M) degenerating to ruling class positions. The Communist Revolutionary forces spearheaded by CPI(ML) should take up the great heritage of these historic struggles. At a time when they are fighting uncompromisingly against both right opportunist and ‘left’ sectarian, anarchist lines and engaged in developing a Path of Revolution according to the concrete conditions of India, the experience of great Telengana and Punnapra Vayalar struggles are of immense importance to the revolutionary movement.

Condemn “Encounter” Culture of State Forces Biswapriya Kanungo

IN A SIGNIFICANT decision the Orissa Human Rights commission disbelieving the story of police regarding death of an Adivasi youth in Birubai Village under Rayagada District in “Encounter”, directed the Orissa Govt. to grant an amount of one lakh rupees towards “Compensation” and to “ prosecute the offenders”. The commission disbelieved that the police and CRPF fired bullets in self-defence. In its decision dated 13th August 2008, the commission observed, “None of the police party was hurt. We do not find any material to hold that the police party was provoked from any group of persons. The firing & Cross firing must have been heard by the villagers of Birubai, but none of them was produced before us. Mere discovery of two SBML guns near the dead body does not lead to the conclusion that the deceased used them & fired at the police party”. The two members bench of O.H.R.C. comprising chairman Justice R.K. Patra & member Mr. Himadri Mohapatra further stated, categorically discarding the theory of encounter, “the Theory of death in encounter as presented by the police is liable to be rejected in the absence of injury on any police personnel or mark of violence at the spot, other than the gun shot injury on the deceased. He was not involved in any crime and for no fault of his, he was killed.” The Commission also came to the finding that “We are inclined to hold that Paleka was shot dead by firing by the police (CRPF) party.” The commission also observed, that “no member of the family of the deceased was present during the inquest or post mortern examination Even Mali Paleka, the petitioner was not trusted & was not examined in connection with the P.S. case. The acts of commission & omission of the police exhibit clear violation of human rights, not only of the victim but also the members of his family.” Srimajhi Paleka, aged about 30 years was a Jani (Adivasi Priest) of village Birubai. He was also doing dangur cultivation along with his wife Mali Paleka. Paleka has two small children. Birubai is situated in a scheduled area of Orissa in the district of Rayagada. There are about twenty “Kandha tribe” families residing in the village. Almost all families live on dangur cultivation & forest produces. The Village is situated in a remote jungle area, which is approachable only by foot covering hills & forest for about six kilometers. On 07.07.2006 at midnight Srimajhi had gone to his backyard to attend call of nature. Without any warning police & CRPF combing party reached there & fired bullets at him, which caused his death. But the police spread a story that Paleka died in an encounter of police with “Maoists”. In another incident very recently in the Deogarh district, one youth as per media reported known as “Akas” died in a very mysterious situation. As per the police version he was a “Maoist” who was taken to custody by SOG and while “Akas” was taking them to the concealed spot for leading discovery of weapons, he pushed the security personnel and while running away he fell down a pit of 20ft. depth, died in the hospital. It amounts to a custodial death. As per the Supreme Court decision in earlier cases, the onus lies with police to explain under what circumstances “Akash” was injured, which led to his “unnatural” death. But the state Govt. has ordered no inquiry into the said death. In another case in MPV Village-78 in Malakanagiri, Ashim Ray, the security personnel killed the ward member of the village and it was presented as an “encounter” death between police and ‘Maoists”. In the areas where there is presence of “Maoists” it is reasonable apprehension that any body may be killed by security forces in the plea of “encounter” of police with “Maoists”, So “encounter” death of “Maoists” in Orissa is not uncommon now. But in no such case the police observed the guidelines prescribed by the National Human Rights Commission and all such cases go without any independent public enquiry. Thus, the police or any security forces have no accountability for the so called encounter deaths, which trend goes to suggest that right to life has very little value in the above context.

There is wide range of disaffection and discontentment among the masses including tribals, dalits, farmers, laborers, fishermen etc. against the so-called development policy of the state Govt. There are also different political movements who ideologically oppose this development policy, some have militant resistance ideology. The state Govt. without responding to the causes of such dissent treats every such issue as law and order problems “Encounter” culture is an extension of such policy of the state to forcibly silence the dissent. We appeal to all democratic, patriotic, human rights forces/groups/individuals to urge upon the Orissa Govt. i. To stop practice of killing the innocent persons or the struggling activists in the name of “Encounter” to silence the dissenting voice or ideology. ii. In all the “encounter” death cases, criminal cases be registered against the police/security forces & there should be credible investigation into such cases. The orders of OHRC in Srimajhi Paleka case be carried out by the state Govt. and a criminal case be instituted at Gunupur P.S. against the combing Party who opened fire without any provocation and caused death of Paleka on 07-07-2008.

On the Right Track to Godhra Jan Sangharsh Manch, Gujarat ON 28TH FEBRUARY 2002, the news dailies of Gujarat were carrying screaming headlines of the gruesome death of 59 innocent Karsevaks.When the entire nation should have been solemnly sharing the sorrow of this tragedy, the politics was in the offing. What was most prominently reported was the declaration of Narendra Modi made on the previous day at Godhra. The Chief Minister had alleged that: “The deaths were not the result of any communal conflict but was the result of a pre-planned terrorist conspiracy..” From that day onwards the tone was set and the conclusions of the Enquiry Commission headed by Justice Nanavati which was appointed by Narendra Modi does not change the tune. What is of course shocking is that another term of reference made by the government on 20th July 2004 to look into the role and conduct of the then Chief Minister and/or any other minister in his council of ministers, police officers (i) in dealing with political or non-political organizations which may be found to have been involved in any other event referred to hereinabove (ii) in the matter of providing protection, relief, rehabilitation of the victims of communal riots (iii) in the matter of recommendations and directions given by NHRC from time to time has also been disposed of in a single paragraph of the final report Part-I at para-229. It is pertinent to mention that the Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) had by its application dated 31-8-2007 specifically asked for the cross-examination of the chief Minister, Shri Ashok Bhatt, the then Health Minister, Shri Gordhan Jhadafia, the then Home Minister and few other officers on the basis of the telephone call, analysis of the data produced by the DSP Shri Rahul Sharma before the Commission. The entire analysis under the title of ‘Deadly Plan’ was annexed to the application with specific analysis showing that the Chief Minister, his office, the Home Minister and the Health Minister were all primafacie in contact with each other and had taken several decisions including the decision to hold the post-mortem at open railway yard and the sending of the dead bodies to Ahmedabad that resulted in the murderous riots on and from 28th February 2002. This application was followed up by reminder application dated 27-11-2007 making the same request. Both these applications were heard together by the Commission. The coram at that point of time being Justice G.T. Nanavati and late Justice K.G. Shah. The applications were fully heard and kept for orders but till today, the applicants have not

been informed about what orders have been passed or whether any order was passed at all. Besides this, there are several other evidences which connect the Ministers to the riotous events of those days. It is therefore surprising that the Commission simply brushes aside all applications to dig out the truth and give clean chit to Shri Narendra Modi. This single paragraph has completely shattered the hopes of the riot victims to get justice since otherwise also the Commission has not given any report regarding the postGodhra events. Another aspect that is required to be noted is that on the basis of the direct evidence on record of the eye witnesses like the passengers, Karseveks, railway employees, local police etc. the Commission has come to a very definite conclusion in paragraph-170 and first part of paragraph-212 of the report to the effect that S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was burnt due to burning rags and some unspecified inflammable material in pouches being thrown from outside that ignited the rexin seats and other material inside the coach. The Commission, however, switches on to the conspiracy theory from paragraph-226 onwards by relying upon the case papers including confessional statements made under POTA produced by the Investing Officer of the Godhra criminal case Shri Noel Parmar. Admittedly, the direct evidence did not even remotely suggest either conspiracy or the coach being burnt by the use of 140 liters of petrol. Thus, the commission relied upon the evidence of the police case and has merely re-stated what the police had stated in their report under section 173(8) of Cr.P.C. At this juncture, it is also required to be noticed that the Supreme Court has ordered further investigation of the Godhra case by a special investigation team headed by a retired director of CBI Shri Raghavan. This order presupposes that the supreme Court has not accepted the report of shri Noel Parmar since otherwise the supreme Court would not have ordered further investigation, which is now pending. In this view of the matter, it is most inappropriate on the part of the Commission to use the conclusions of Shri Noel Parmar as the conclusive evidence of the so called conspiracy. It is equally pertinent to note here that the Central Review Committee constituted under the POTA Repeal Act had specifically reviewed the Godhra train burning case and had come to the specific conclusion that it was a case of unlawful assembly committing various offences under IPC and other special Act but certainly, not under the POTA and there was certainly no conspiracy as envisaged under POTA. This decision of the Central review committee has not been challenged by the government of Gujarat and therefore, has binding effect on all including the Nanavati Commission. Shockingly even though the order of the Central review Committee was placed on record of the Nanavati commission, the same has been totally ignored. Before we deal with the factual findings by the Commission, it would be important to mention in this Preamble the fact that the Commission was aware of the interim report made by Justice Banerjee commission and had infact, called for all the relevant record by their own orders. Shockingly again, all the evidence collected by Justice Banerjee Commission and its conclusions have been once again ignored. We shall now deal with the factual findings of the Nanavati Commission. What are the evidences collected by the Commission to support the conspiracy theory? 59 passengers including Karsevaks had died in the burning coach of S-6 of Sabarmati Express near the ‘A’ cabin of Godhra railway station on 27th February 2002. The Nanavati Commission holds that this burning of S-6 coach was a pre-planned conspiracy by certain ‘communal Muslims’ of Godhra! What should be the evidence to support such a conclusion?

To establish such a serious charge, even prima-facie, the following ingredients are required to be established from the evidence collected by the Commission: (a) That there was a set of persons who had met to conspire for burning the S-6 coach on 27th February and this conspiracy would also include the planning to execute such an offence. As the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express that was going towards Ahmedabad was to be executed allegedly on 27th February 2002 at about 2.55 am, the planning had to be done prior thereto at least on 26th February. The pre-planning to be essentially done on 26th February on the basic presumption that the train was running at right time and would reach Godhra in the early morning at about 2.55 am. The conspirators prior to 26th February must necessarily have the information that the Karsevaks were traveling in Sabarmati Express in general and in several of them in S-6 coach in particular. That the place of burning of S-6 coach had to be determined firstly assuming the train to be on right time and therefore, the manner in which the train was supposed to be stopped and the place of stoppage had to be disclosed from evidence. That certain specific persons were required to be detailed to carry out the function of stopping the Sabarmati Express at the predetermined spot. That the fuel required to burn the coach had to be collected and stored in transport kept ready to be brought at relevant spot. That specific person had to be detailed to carry out the actual act of burning. The above are the minimum requirements to evencome to the prima-facie conclusion regarding conspiracy. What do the facts directly collected by the commission (those who had come and deposed before the Commission) reveal? That the Sabarmati Express had reached Godhra on 27th February 2002 at 7.43 hours in the morning i.e. around five hours late than its schedule time which was 2.55 hours in the morning. The Commission has not even tried to find out what was the original plan in case such a plan existed to burn S-6 coach if the train had come at 2.55 hours. All that is found is one of the accused in the police case had allegedly found out around 11.00 pm on 26th February that the train was running late and that he had thereafter directed all other so called accused to go on to sleep and come back in the morning to Aman Guest House! Thus, no original plan is revealed nor any change of plan is discussed or revealed. In fact, there is not even iota of evidence to show that after coming to know that the train was running late, the so called conspirators had met thereafter to modify their plan/conspiracy to fit the new timing, save and except telling executors to go to sleep. As per the findings and conclusion of the Commission, there was indeed an altercation and quarrel between the passengers/Karsevaks with the local vendors who were Muslims.(Para-66) In para-67 and 68, for very strange reason, the Commission refuses to believe that one girl Sophia Banu was attempted to be abducted, completely overlooking the fact that the said girl had herself personally deposed before the Commission and Justice Nanavati had himself examined her without a single contradiction found in her statement. The refusal of the Commission to accept the fact of attempted abduction of Sophia is deliberate since the Commission wanted to establish that the conspirators were trying to spread a rumour about the abduction of Sophia in order to collect the large crowd. The collection of large crowd and the alleged stone throwing by this crowd had become central to the finding of the Commission to establish that the stone throwing and the collection of the crowd in the station as well as near ‘A’ cabin was a part of the conspiracy to stop the passengers from coming out of S-6 coach. A question is required

to be asked if this was such an important ingredient of the conspiracy, where would this crowd come in case the train had arrived at the right time in the morning at 2.55 am? The report is totally silent on such important aspect. The next most important question is assuming that some plan was made, where and how was the train supposed to be stopped for the purpose of burning S-6 coach? It is an admitted fact that the train stopped at two places. Firstly after starting from the station when it was stopped by chain pulling from several coaches and secondly the train once again stopped near ‘A’ cabin. The evidence of Shri Pachuram Verma and smt. Meenakshi Devi on the record of the Commission is very clear. They had seen Karsevaks wearing saffron head-bands coming running after the train had started and the chain was pulled essentially to pick them up in the first instance. In para-73 of the report, the Commission brushes aside this evidence and comes to its own conclusion without any evidence that the chain was not pulled because some passengers were left behind. Shockingly, not only the Commission ignored the evidence of the train guard and another Karsevak, the Commission did not even refer to the actual conclusions of the first investigating officer of the case Shri K.C. Bawa which is at Exhibit-5608. Shri Bawa in his cross-examination had specifically stated that Shri Verma had informed him in person that the persons wearing saffron band had come running to the train and had boarded the train and Shri Verma had personally come to know that the train pulling was done because these persons were left out. Thus, what the railway guard, who is the primarily responsible officer decides on the factum of chain pulling or the investigating officer who had filed the first chargesheet,had to say, was not believed by the Commission only because the Commission had to blame the Muslims for the conspiracy. The real fact is that the chain pulling was done by the passengers for permitting the Karsevaks to board the train and there is no other evidence on record to contradict the same. In fact, the Commission has not dealt with the first chain pulling incident in any other part of the report save and except in para-73 and has actually forgotten to decide as to who actually pulled the chain. So far as the second stoppage at ‘A’ cabin is concerned, the Commission was more elaborate to deal with the same and discussions are at para-77 and para-150 and 151. The Jan Sangharsh Manch had established from evidence on record, that instead of reported chain pulling from four coaches, the record of the Dy. Superintendent of the Station showed that the chain pulling was done from five coaches. Not being able to resolve this contradiction, the Commission simply rejects the record of the Dy. Suptd. Of railway as incorrect. Once again, eager to rely upon the evidence produced by Shri Noel Parmar to the effect that certain Muslim vendors including Anwar Abdul Sattar Kalandar had stopped the Sabarmati express near ‘A; cabin by turning the ACP ‘Disc’ from outside, the Commission even rejected the fact that the change in the design of the braking system of railway which was placed on record , had made it impossible for operating the ACP (Alarm Chain Pulling) by rotating the disc from outside. In paragraph-51 of the report, the Commission comes to a new theory that the ACP could be operated by rotating the clappet valve which was inside the box but admitted that it could not be done by rotating the disc. The Commission however completely ignored the fact that the evidence and allegation made by Shri Noel Parmar was that Shri Anwar Kalandar had ‘rotated the Disc’ from outside to stop the train! The Commission however has very little appreciation of evidence on record so long as the Commission could use its own imagination to substitute hard facts. The most shocking part however is that Shri Anwar Kalandar was cited as witness in the Godhra criminal case by Noel Parmar and he had been physically tortured by Shri

Noel Parmar to confess that he had turned the disc to stop the train. Shri Kalandar wanted to come to the Commission to depose that he was coerced in giving his confession but Shri Noel Parmar actually abducted him once again and his plea to the Commission to give him police protection to come to the Commission was also rejected. Shri Kalandar had therefore filed an affidavit before the Commission stating that he was physically coerced by Shri Noel Parmar to give the evidence that he had rotated the disc to stop the train but this unchallenged affidavit was totally ignored by the Commission. Such are the methods of the quest of truth by the Nanavati Commission. The next issue was as to how the crowd collected near ‘A’ cabin after the train stopped for the second time? The direct eye-witness Shri Mina, who was the assistant Station Master at relevant time, standing in the ‘A’ cabin and watching the movement of Sabarmati Express coming from Godhra station towards ‘A’ cabin, has specifically stated that there was absolutely no one near ‘A’ cabin when the train started fromm the station. He has also stated that small groups of people came running behind the train and gathered in ones and twos below the ‘A’ cabin and there were many children and women in the crowd. An SRP Jawan was patrolling between the station and ‘A’ cabin had also stated in no uncertain terms that he had not noticed any unusual activity in this area before the Sabarmati Express came to Godhra or thereafter. Ignoring these direct evidence of neutral witneses, the Commission concludes that there was a crowd waiting for the train to arrive at ‘A’ cabin and this was not possible without conspiracy. So far as the burning of S-6 coach is concerned, it is the Commission’s own conclusion in para-170 as well as para-212 that the S-6coach was allegedly set on fire because burning rags were thrown from outside to inside the coach and in para-208 the Commission has come to a specific conclusion that there was no evidence given by any eye witness or passenger to establish that any person had entered S-6 coach to pour or had poured any inflammable fluid. Yet, in the second part of para-212, while concluding, the Commission comes to the abrupt conclusion that the fire was caused by 60 liters of inflammable liquid being thrown into the S-6 coach. This unusual piece of evidence was recorded by the Commission apparently from the report of Dr.Dahia, an officer of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). Even the perfunctory reading of the report dated 175-2002 would show that it was Dr. Dahia’s personal opinion that the fire could be caused by throwing in of 60 liters of inflammable fluid but that was not evidence. It was merely an opinion of Dr. Dahia which was shockingly converted into the most valuable piece of evidence by the Commission. Such are the methods of collecting evidence by the Commission. The Commission thereafter goes about analyzing deposition of Shri Raju Bhargav in para-132 and 133 and completely twists the evidence to suit the Conspiracy theory. Shri Raju Bhargav has clearly stated that when he reached the S-6 coach, the passengers with burn injuries were still jumping out and all of them had injuries above their waist. He had also said that he had not smelt any petrol or inflammable liquid. He had also said that while there was some flame on the Guard’s side of the vestibule and somewhere near the centre of the coach there was no flame on the floor. These depositions of the DSP are not even mentioned in the report and completely ignored. The statements of all Karsevaks, passengers and specially Shri Hariprasad Joshi, an Incometax Officer, who had stated that there was no flame on the floor of the coach, were all ignored by the Commission. The peculiar burning pattern and the injury pattern of 70 passengers who had come out of the coach with minor injuries on their bodies above their waist, was also brushed aside since that did not fit into the burning theory of the Commission. It is needless to point out that if 140 liters of petrol is actually poured inside the coach and set on fire, not a single passenger of the coach would have come out alive and even if

they did, they would be completely burnt all over their lower part of the body to begin with. Not a single case of this type of burning has been noticed. In all the FSL reports none, except one, shows the presence of any Hydro-carbon from the material collected from inside. In one such report of March-2002, residual Hydro-carbon are analysed to be present but on cross-examination the officer concerned admitted that he had not carried out any quantitative analysis which was the only method of ascertaining the ratios of different degree of volatile Hydro-carbon that are present in un-burnt petrol or in burnt petrol. In fact, he feigned complete ignorance about the quantitative analytical report submitted by JSM which established that in case his analysis was right, the material showed the presence of un-burnt petrol rather than burnt petrol. The Commission therefore borrowed and virtually translated the various confessional statements and other evidences collected by the police to establish the conspiracy theory including the allegation that certain Muslim boy had entered the S-6 coach by cutting through the rexin cover of the vestibule between S-6 and S-7 coach. In cross-examination, it was admitted by the FSL Officer that the so-called cover that was allegedly cut by the accused, did not exist and as found out by Justice Banerjee Commission, the said cover was actually sold to the Kabadiwala for a few rupees in the Ahmedabad railway yard. Secondly when about 200 or so passengers were inside the coach fillingup every nook and corner of the coach including the space between the two lavatories, it would be humanly impossible not to have a single witness to notice three or four Muslim boys not only entering the S-6 coach but carrying six huge carboys of 140 liters of petrol along the corridor from the Guard side to the engine side, liting the same and then coming out through completely jam packed coach without the slightest burn injury. Such conclusions can be arrived at only by those who have absolutely no desire to find the truth. Lastly, it may be mentioned that none of the six so called black carboys have ever been found. Lastly, it may be mentioned that any judicial or quasi-judicial authority must hear the parties who are adversely affected by their decisions. In the instant case, despite High Court order and despite settled law, the Commission did not summon any of the Muslim witnesses cited in the Godhra case but on the contrary, relied upon the confession of a few Muslim accused without as much as putting them on notice and without considering the fact that they had filed affidavits before the Commission stating that their confessions were obtained under duress.

Anarchists Ultimately Serve Ruling Classes Observer THE CPI (MAOIST) LEADER of Orissa, Sabyasachi Panda has claimed responsibility for the killing of the VHP leader Lakshmananda Saraswati and four others in Kandhamal district. According to him, the ‘Maoists’ had warned Lakshmananda to stop spreading social unrest in the tribal areas in the name of opposing allegedly forceful ‘conversion’ of tribals to Christianity. Though he was justifying the killing as usual, he had no justification whatsoever about what happened following it. Actually it was the VHP, Bajarang Dal like RSS outfits who were benefited from this annihilation by the ‘Maoists’. They utilized it immediately, in a pre-planned manner, to unleash terror against the tens of thousands of Christian tribal families in the area killing many, burning down thousands of houses, attacking and destroying Christian Churches and worship places. Rape, arson and murders were utilized against the minorities in six districts, mainly Kandhamal. Still

thousands are in refuge centers. Normally has not returned. Reports of attacks on tribal families are still coming. CPI(ML) state committee along with other revolutionary left and democratic organizations have severely condemned the anarchist act of the ‘Maoists’ which provided a convenient alibi for the RSS Parivar to launch the arson and massacre. The bandh call given by them on October 13 in these six districts along with rasta roko and rail roko in other areas condemning the terrorist acts of the RSS Parivar was a resounding success, with thousands of people spontaneously coming forward to make it successful. That the ‘Maoists’ through their isolated action indirectly helped the RSS Parivar is pointed out and condemned by not only CPI (ML), but also by all progressive forces. They stated that this ‘action’, on any count cannot be justified. It is an anarchic action that helped the RSS outfits to unleash terror on tens of thousands of families of the minorities. It has weakened the efforts to mobilize the masses against the communal fascists. It has led to a communal polarization as the communal forces wanted. As the sectarian and anarchist forces are getting increasingly isolated from the people, as their line is proved counter productive, and as they are suffering severe set backs in most of the areas where they were active earlier, they are indulging in more and more desperate acts, alienating them further from the masses. For examples it is reported that their most renowned cultural activist Gaddar is now seen frequently with Vijayashanti, the film star, who has floated her own political party Praja Rajayam in AP. Jan Natya Mandali, the cultural troupe of CPI (Maoist) is seen often performing in the stages of Telengana Samrakshana Samithi (KRS), another political party with separate Telengana as its only slogan. Not only in AP, in Chathisgarth, Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa also its close comrades-in-arm are the NGOs. In return the NGOs are actively supporting the ‘Maoists’, as at ideological level both are close to each other. It is the ideology of idealism, petti-bourgeois romanticism and anarchism. In effect abandoning the tasks of mobilizing the working class as the leader of the NDR and developing agrarian revolution with land to the tiller slogan as the axis of the NDR. It is this basic shift from the classical Marxist-Leninist positions which has made it attractive to the NGOs and petti-bourgeois sections. This anarchist line has led a handful of ‘Maoists’ left in Karnataka to join the Karnataka Vimochana Ranga, a parochial organization. They have joined hands with NDF, a Muslim fundamentalist organization, against whom CPI (ML) is waging ideological struggle. Besides they are working with NGOs. In Tamilnadu, a handful of cadres left over from among the disintegrated ‘Maoists’ are spreading chauvinist slogans like separate TN and supporting the LTTE. In Maharashtra, all the leading cadres left over from the previous organization are arrested. And the corporate media celebrated the alleged confession statement of one of them that they have received financial help from Shivsena. In Bihar and Jharkhand as the unity of erstwhile MCC and Party Unity did not materialize fully, as reported by the corporate media, their internal conflict has taken the form of armed conflicts at many places, killing each other. The central and state intelligence agencies and the ‘expert’ journalists of corporate media specializing about ‘Maoists’ affairs are fully aware of all there facts. In spite of it, lot of media attention is given to them. Even NGO chiefs are utilized to propagate for ‘Maoists’. These are calculated games of the ruling system. As it is in crisis, and as the Marxists –Leninists are the only force capable of challenging it at all India level, the intelligence agencies, police, and media are trying to project the ‘Maoists’ as the sole followers of the great Nexalbari movement, like they are projecting CPI (L)-CPI as the

communist parties even when they are getting increasingly exposed, and even when they are getting weakened day by day, even in W.Bengaland Kerala. The unprecedented global economic crisis starting with the meltdown in the US and the growing economic-political crisis in our country has created excellent situation for strengthening the CPI (ML) uniting all active Marxist-Leninist sections. But the degeneration of CPI (M)-led Left Front to ruling class positions and anarchism of CPI (Maoist) are utilized by the ruling class to weaken the polarization of the Marxist-Leninist forces. They should guard against this and wage uncompromising struggle against both right and ‘left’ deviations to unite the communist revolutionary forces in to a powerful party of Indian proletariat.

Kandhamal: Interim Report of Concerned Citizens’ ORISSA has been in the news in recent years because of the people’s movements against the mega projects in Kashipur, Kalinganagar, Niyamgiri, Lanjhigrah, Jagatsinghpur and Paradip which have contributed to large scale displacement of people. But another trend which was growing during the past decade—the rise of communal forces led by the Sangh Parivar has taken a serious turn since the last week of August with systematic attacks on Christians in Kandhamal district and elsewhere. However, the past couple of months witnessed violent attacks on Christians in some States. Particularly, since August 24, the Christians in Orissa have experienced the worst ever communal violence, their churches have been burnt, Christian orphanages and other institutions have been set on fire, pastors attacked, one was killed, one nun was burnt alive while another was gang-raped. All this followed the night of August 23 when the controversial VHP leader, Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati and his four associates were killed by a group of armed assassins, while celebrating Janmashtmi at Jalespata Ashram. In the wake of this continuing violence a fact- finding team of concerned citizens across the country visited Orissa. The group consisted of scholars, journalists and activists including Prof Manoranjan Mohanty, University of Delhi, Prof Amit Bhaduri, Prof (Emeritus) (JNU) and nine others. The team visited the camps and villages from September 15 to 18, 2008 and interacted with people from diverse backgrounds, religions and castes. The team also held consultations with State authorities, political party leaders and elected representatives and social workers. The terms of reference (ToR) of this team included: • visit the affected areas, meet the victims and enquire into the incidents/violence; • meet relevant government officials and others; • look into the role played by religious fundamentalist forces in the violence; • make recommendations to appropriate bodies. Who Killed Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati: While the Maoists have claimed that they did so, the VHP insists on blaming the Christians and exacting their ‘revenge’. The fact is that the Swami was the centre of much controversy in the region and had many criminal cases pending against him and only a high level judicial inquiry can find the truth behind the killing, which was condemned by all sections of society. This was not in the ToR of the team and the team did not go further into the details of this. Villages and Towns visited by the Fact-finding Mission: Kalinga, Tikabali, Nuogan, Baliguda, Mereka, Paburiam Tiangia, Malikapada, Sarang guda, Pabingia,

Kasipadar, Dimligud, Kasingpada, G. Udayagiri, Mandakia, Boruigia, Nilangia, Bakingia, Raikia and Phulbani. Extent of Violence: In Kandhamal district alone 27,000 people became refugees and started living in camps, while 101 churches were attacked. Situation in the Camps: In G. Udayagiri block at a primary school, ‘Hathishala’, over 900 people were living in tents and in the school building. There were 269 men, 365 women, 114 girls and 153 boys. Despite the number of children, none of them received milk and all got a basic dole of ‘chidwa’ for breakfast and dal-chawal for lunch and dinner. The following are testimonies recorded by the team. The true identities of the people met are not being revealed as they are under threat as the violence is continuing. Testimonies of the People at Camps, ‘Hathishala’ Camp, G. Udayagiri Role of VHP and Bajrang Dal: A woman of Raikula said: “A large crowd shouting slogans of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad came in a mob. They broke into our house and burnt it. All our belongings are no more. In fear we ran into the jungle. We stayed there for four days with our children, who got fever and diarrohea. We did not eat for four to five days and walked over forty kilometres to get to a camp.” Another woman from Raikula said: “We were attacked by the Bajrang Dal and the RSS. They said: ‘Stop being a Christian and become a Hindu.’ They even burnt our Church. I have been a Christian from birth. Last December, in 2007, they came with guns, ‘katras’, small axes, big axes and swords. This time on August 27, 2008 they came again and burnt everything. If we attempt to go back home they threaten to kill us.” A man from Raikula said: “ I am a teacher in a school, about 12 kilometres from here. There are two tribes in Kandhamal: the Kandhas are Hindu and the Panas are largely Christian. We Panas have been Christians for many years and don’t want to become Hindus. Now regarding the killing of Swami Lakshmanand Saraswati, we don’t know who killed him. The Naxalites write and claim they killed him, but they suspect the Christians. They have driven us out from our land and property. The Panas belong to the Kui tribe. Here in the camp you can see, we are in a terrible condition. It has been raining for two weeks and the tents are leaking. Neither the police nor the government is taking the responsibility in protecting us.” Killed for Returning Home: Man from Raikula: “One man, Purender Nayak, of Nilungia, went back to see the condition of his house. They killed him and cut his body into pieces. The VHP, Bajrang Dal and RSS are coming from other districts and making the Kandhas do this. Even now, even while we are at the camp, they come outside to abduct and rape our girls. We have no hope at all.” Orphanage Attacked: He also said, he ran an orphanage and for three days he did not know the condition of the children. “Some faithful people took them to the camps, but I still do not know the whereabouts of one girl—Taruna Pradhan aged twelve.” He also stated that the police do not respond to calls before the incident, but would come after the houses are burnt. The mob would carry kerosene and consume a local liquor ‘kalu’. He also stated that the few Kandhas who were Christian were also being driven out. Pregnant Women: The team met several women who were in advanced stage of their pregnancy. A woman in her pregnancy from village Raikula said: “I was pregnant, but when they came I ran. I miscarried the baby.” Another woman, who is nine months pregnant, also gets only rice and dal twice at the camp. She said: “They killed my fatherin-law and were searching for my husband who is a pastor. They could not find him, because he had already left. The government is supporting them (the attackers).”

A man asked if Christians could be shifted elsewhere where they could be kept safely. He said: “This is the work of the RSS, VHP and BJP who provide moral support, petrol and kerosene. Innocent tribals are not like them. He said 25 people related to the camp inmates had been killed.” At the Habak High School camp, the people named the local people by name who were involved in burning their homes after forcing them to convert to Hinduism in Kiriamaha, Udayagiri. Pastor Killed along with his Mother: A man belonging to village Bakingiya, Police Station area of Raikia, said: “Fifty to sixty people persons attacked us. First they destroyed the church and then they came to my house. The pastor of the Baptist church was reading the Bible, they forced him to throw the Bible. He refused, they cut him with an axe and burnt him with petrol. His name was Samuel Diggal. His mother, Janamah Diggal was also burnt. She is also dead.” A man belonging to village Rudangia, Police Station in G. Udayagiri, stated: “The mob killed Fidem Nayak, aged 52, Shashi Kant Nayak, aged 60 and Madan Nayak aged 45. All three were Christian pastors. Nobody has been arrested till today.” Hindu preaching Amity Killed: A Hindu, Dasrath Pradhan, was killed because he preached amity between Hindus and Christians. The team met his sister who told us: “They first called him for a meeting and then cut his body into three pieces.” The team also met his mother who was an eye-witness to this. The above testimonies reveal the attacks on the Christians was a pre-planned communal attack as only Christian houses were singled out and burnt. The people also told us the names of the local people involved, but they were led by a mob that came from outside and included the VHP and the Bajrang Dal. Security Within Camps—Cause For Concern: THE security situation in the Udayagiri camp is a matter of real concern. It was reported to us that on August 28 around 7 pm, three crude bottle bombs exploded in the camp premise. However, no one was harmed since they landed in the open space close to the entrance. Some rowdy elements who came in bikes have thrown the bombs, whose identity could not be ascertained. People narrated their plight before reaching the camps. In several cases they were forced to stay in the forest with out food or proper clothing to protect themselves from cold. Many of them were forced to leave their villages with no time left but to save lives. It was reported to us that some people in their own village colluded with outsiders (names of the perpetrators of violence as reported, are with the team) and mobs of nearly 500 strong most of them wearing saffron head bands with weapons like guns, swords and other sharp weapons came in large numbers to chase all those who were unwilling to convert to Hinduism. Many people were forced to convert to Hinduism in fear and were asked to burn the bible as the first step of ‘conversion’ in many cases. Tonsuring, taking an oath to remain in Hinduism and drinking ritual water for purification were the other practices imposed on them. Hubbacka High School Camp, G. Udayagiri: At the time we reached this camp where the largest number of families were staying, the officials informed us only three policemen of the CRPF were at the gate. It was reported to us that the state police had earlier committed dereliction of duty by letting an anti-social element enter the camp on September 6 around 10 am, who threatened the inmates. This person was identified as one of the perpetrators of violence in a village, from where many were living in the camp. He was held by the police, taken to the police station, right opposite to the camp, and later let off by them without registering an FIR. It was alleged that later this person went to a police station 23 kms away from Udayagiri, where he registered a complaint against a few people in the camp who helped the police

detain him while he was creating mischief in the camp. Conditions under which they lived in the forests at the time of organised violence were similar to that of the first camp. The people said that the number of victims, as appeared in the media, doesn’t reflect the truth. A group of four persons instantaneously recollected the name of five men killed between August 25 to 28 in gram panchayat Kathinga alone. Name Age Date Dasrath Pradhan 35-38 August 25 Bikram Naik 38 August 28 Parkhita Naik 33 August 28 Trinato Naik 42 August 25 Dibya Singh 32 August 25 Only Christian Houses and Churches Gutted: We saw several villages with Christian houses gutted but did not see any Hindu houses that were gutted. Several churches were extensively damaged. This also shows the intensity and nature of the one-sided orchestrated attacks. Team Threatened and Blockaded: At Bakingia village there is extensive gutting of a large number of houses. It is clear that a large amount of petrol or kerosene has been used as the damage is extensive. In some houses there are locks; which implies that the mob jumped through the roof to burn the inside of the house. All the houses belong to the Christians and at the end of the road a Church is badly damaged; its brick structure has been broken down. No one is willing to talk. “We were not here; we have seen nothing”—is the standard response. As we take photographs, a group of nearly forty women surrounded us with lathis – sticks and umbrellas. They blocked our exit with large stones, so we are unable to leave the village. They call us ‘foreigners’. They eye us with aggression. Very reluctantly the group allows us to leave. As we drove further, the road was blocked by huge stones; we managed lift some of them for our vehicles to drive up. At the end of the road we noticed a van full of men. They drove into the village giving us sullen looks. Justification for Violence given: In Nilingia in G.Udayagiri several Christian houses had been gutted and a church has been damaged. Panima Pradhan, a Kandha, justified the burning of the Christian houses. Her body language was aggressive, pointing at the poster of the Swami outside her house she said: “Why was he killed?” When we ask her the connection between her neighbour’s house being gutted and his death, she responds: “Why did they run away, that is why their houses were burnt.” A group of about twenty people kept a watch on us, as we walk away. Meeting the Officials: IT was also clear from the testimonies given by the people that the attacks were well planned and the police movement was blocked by the blockade of roads. In one case the police officials said that ‘it took the six hours to travel eighty kilometres’, which was the case for all the four days since the violence began. All these indicate the pre-planned nature of the violence and the ability of the perpetrators of violence to ‘effectively’ take over the law and order situation in their control. Dereliction of Duty: While the mayhem took place, the police was a silent spectator. Only in one instance, the CRPF fired at rioters killing two. While the State Government repeats its alibi that it was short of police and had not got the paramilitary forces required, that is, 10 battalions instead of the 4 CRPF battalions dispatched, this argument does not hold water. To maintain the law and order of just one district, the Orissa police force along with four CRPF battalions were enough, if stopping communal violence was really the aim.

The district officials were not in a position to tell the team of the number of arrests. They also informed us that they are working in accordance with the Supreme Court direction on maintaining law and order. On enquiring on the general complaint from the people regarding many instances of inaction and dereliction of duty by the State Police while controlling violence, the district officials said that arrests cannot be done in many situations ‘because if arrests are made the situation would have further deteriorated’. Such statements are self-explanatory and proves that the police was not undertaking the primary responsibility to stop violence by booking the culprits. The team also met the DIG of Police, R.P Koche, the Revenue Divisional Commissioner, Satyabrat Sahu, under whose jurisdiction comes the Kandhamal district including its law and order and the refugee camps. The team further met Madhusudan Padhi, Commissioner cum Secretary, Department of Higher Education. After being initially told that they were not present at the Circuit House in Phulbani, the officials finally agreed to meet us. Where are the Internally Displaced People going? Mr Sahu, said:”At the peak there were 27,000 people in the camps now there are only 17,000— don’t you appreciate this?” While the number in the camps may have reduced by ten thousand people, the fact is that the people are not returning home, due to continuing terror and their psychological insecurity. In reality, it appears that they are leaving the inhospitable conditions in the camps for undisclosed destinations and could well become the homeless of India. Improper Collection of Data: Mr R.P Koche, the DIG of Police, shared statistics of the police. The data, recorded by the State, showed 2863 houses burnt and yet showed only 230 criminal cases registered. When asked why no arrests had been made, we were told: “It would increase the tension in the area.” The police has recorded only 35 cases of injury whereas a visit to the camps reveals that the incidence of violence was much higher. In other words, there is improper collection and recording of data. Lack of Nourishing Diet for Children and Pregnant Women: Mr Madhu Sudan Padhi, IAS, specially stationed at Phulbani, ridiculed the use of the word “refugees” and asked if the team knew the definition. When told there were several women who were in an advanced stage of pregnancy in the camps who should get special diet and medical attention, he proudly announced: “Already twelve children have been born in the camps. You are telling us nothing new.” Requests that at least the children and pregnant women get milk, have not been not acceded to until now as far as we know. History: THE tensions within Orissa and specifically within Kandhamal are not new. On January 22, 1999, the Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons were burnt to death by a crowd in Keonjhar district. Again on September 9, 1999 Father Aruldoss was killed by fundamentalist groups and on December 24, 2007 as the Christians were preparing for Christmas, Hindutva forces unleashed a reign of terror against them. The violence continued for a month as hundreds of houses, institutions and property were destroyed and several were killed. In the last decade, violence against minority groups in Orissa has included social and economic boycotts, forced conversion—‘ghar wapsi’, intimidation, murder, arson, rape, looting and other extra-legal actions. Underlying Tensions: IN Hinduising Adivasis and polarising relations between them and Dalits in the area, the Sangh Parivar has engineered a rivalry between Kandha Adivasis and pana Dalit Christians in Kandhamal, instigating against the latter’s campaign for Scheduled Tribe status. Dalit Christians under the law forfeit their right to affirmative action. In current law, Paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes)

order, 1950 held caste and religion to be mutually exclusive—‘No person who professes a religion different from the Hindu (later amended to include the Sikh or the Buddhist) religion shall be deemed to be a member of the Scheduled Caste.’ (Ministry of Law and Justice, 2006) In other words, Dalits who convert to Christianity are divested of Scheduled Caste status and affirmative action afforded by the state via the ‘reservation’ system. This, Christian leaders contend, impacts the ability of Dalit Christians to secure resources routinely controlled by those from upper-caste backgrounds. Dalit converts to Hinduism are not denied such rights. State institutions are in internal disagreement over the issue of affirmative action for religious minorities. Responding to a writ petition the Supreme Court asked the government for arguments and guidelines on broadening the assistance of reservation to Scheduled Castes that convert to Christianity. The government deferred the issue to the Ranganath Mishra National Commission for Linguistic and Religious Minorities. The Mishra report advocated the benefits of reservation to Dalit converts to Christianity and Islam and that religion be disassociated from Scheduled Caste status in implementing affirmative action. In 2007 the Supreme Court referred the matter back to the Central Government , which remains pending. The Pana Christians in Kandhamal have been demanding Scheduled Tribe status. Fascisation of Orissa: Orissa’s population is 36.8 million (census 2001) and Christians are only 2.4 per cent of the State’s population. Hindutva mythogises the demise of Hinduism raising the bogey of ‘conversion’ and creating a fear that Christianity will swamp Hinduism. Hindu cultural dominance organises Hindu nationalism. The Sangh Parivar seeks to build a cadre that targets Christians, Muslims, and Dalits. This conflict has been camouflaged as a tribal versus Dalit one; it is essentially the Hinduised tribals enacting violence against Dalit Christians. The RSS has 6000 shakhas in Orissa with 1,50,000 cadres. It has 391 Saraswati Shishu Mandir schools, with 1,11,000 students preparing for future leadership. Vanvasi Kalyan ashram runs 1534 projects and schools in 21 adivasi concentrated districts. The Sangh has initiated 1200 Ekal Vidyalayas in Orissa. The structure to spread the concept of Hindutva is wide. Political Economy of Orissa: The Sangh Parivar’s agenda is enabled by some staggering inquities in the State. Some 47.15 per cent of the total population lives in poverty while 57 per cent of the rural population is poor. In Orissa, about 2.5 hectares of irrigated agricultural land is required for a family of five to meet subsistence, while an average family owns about 1.29 hectares. Kashipur, Bolangir and Kalahandi are known for hunger, malnutrition and starvation deaths. Timing of the Attacks: THE timing of these anti-Christian attacks is not an accident. With elections around the corner, the Sangh Parivar is striving to cause communal polarisation in the society and polity, so that Hindus impacted by the propaganda, would support Hindutva and the BJP. The fact that these attacks have started in end August, almost in tandem, with similar characteristics is clear evidence that these were pre-planned and directed to the same aim: Hindu polarisation leading to BJP victories in the coming State and general elections.

Mock Parliament LENIN CALLED bourgeois parliaments pigsty. They are nothing but talking shops when all executive works done behind it. As capitalism reached its moribund stage, imperialism, whatever democratic qualities they had also are destroyed. In countries like India under imperialist domination, the parliament is turned along back into mere show-piece, with all

the constituents there reducing it to a mere absurd theatre. With the introduction of live shows all the performances there through TV channels, all members are vying with each other to out perform others. This degeneration was fully exhibited in the latest session of both houses of parliament. That the UPA govt. is mortally afraid of convening a full session of the Lok Sabh after squeezing through the vote of confidence is very clear. So the monsoon session is almost dispersed with and in its name a five days mock session was called. The Congress and its allies were interested to somehow get over it as they are unsure of the government’s majority support, and as the relations among the constituents are not so friendly. In this case much was expected from the opposition by many. As action is already taken against some MPs for cross voting, opposition could effectively attack about it in the parliament. It could get a resolution passed to cut diesel-petrol prices and condemning the government for continuing price rise. It could raise a serious discussion on the perilous consequences of the global financial crisis to Indian economy. Nothing of them happened. On the contrary, like the ruling alliance, the opposition was also not interested to take up any of these serious questions for discussion. So al the time was spent on shouts and counter shouts, MPs entering thewell, confrontationwith a speaker whose only interest is to exhibit his loyalty to the UPA and dismissals of sessions after sessions, utlimately the whole session ending in a most laughable manner. This mock parliament session has once again proved that the political players represented in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are not ready for any serious discussion on vital issues before the people as all of them are in essence having no fundamental differences on basic issues. Similar is the case with the election campaign now going on for the state assemblies. Similar will be campaign for Lok Sabha electionsalso. Whether Congress, BJP, BSP or the CPI(M) on the other side of the spectrum, all are birds of the same feather, sharing power and enjoying the benefits of the corrupt, anti-people ruling system. It shows the urgency and dedication with which the revolutionary left and the patriotic democratic forces to intensify the struggle in all fronts to expose and defeat these forces and to bring about radical change.

From the pages of The Communist Manifesto

Bourgeois and Proletariat [World has witnessed the bursting of yet another imperialist bubble in these days, a much grievous one than ever. What are the basic causes leading to these crises? Going through the pages of The Communist Manifesto one can see how Marx and Engels have analysed the mechanism of the growth of bourgeoisie and capital, and how the basic contradiction between ever increasing socialisation of production and ever narrowing private appropriation of products lead to these cyclic crises, becoming more and more serious as the speculative, parasitic forces take over control more aggressively. This analysis provide insight in to why capitalism after reaching monopoly stage is facing more acute crises and that without overthrowing it and bringing about revolutionary changes in relations of production, the productive forces cannot grow any further - Red Star] THE MODERN bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones.

Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinct feature: it has simplified class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other — Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. From the serfs of the Middle Ages sprang the chartered burghers of the earliest towns. From these burgesses the first elements of the bourgeoisie were developed. The discovery of America, the rounding of the Cape, opened up fresh ground for the rising bourgeoisie. The East-Indian and Chinese markets, the colonisation of America, trade with the colonies, the increase in the means of exchange and in commodities generally, gave to commerce, to navigation, to industry, an impulse never before known, and thereby, to the revolutionary element in the tottering feudal society, a rapid development. The feudal system of industry, in which industrial production was monopolised by closed guilds, now no longer sufficed for the growing wants of the new markets. The manufacturing system took its place. The guild-masters were pushed on one side by the manufacturing middle class; division of labour between the different corporate guilds vanished in the face of division of labour in each single workshop. Meantime the markets kept ever growing, the demand ever rising. Even manufacturer no longer sufficed. Thereupon, steam and machinery revolutionised industrial production. The place of manufacture was taken by the giant, Modern Industry; the place of the industrial middle class by industrial millionaires, the leaders of the whole industrial armies, the modern bourgeois. Modern industry has established the world market, for which the discovery of America paved the way. This market has given an immense development to commerce, to navigation, to communication by land. This development has, in its turn, reacted on the extension of industry; and in proportion as industry, commerce, navigation, railways extended, in the same proportion the bourgeoisie developed, increased its capital, and pushed into the background every class handed down from the Middle Ages. We see, therefore, how the modern bourgeoisie is itself the product of a long course of development, of a series of revolutions in the modes of production and of exchange. Each step in the development of the bourgeoisie was accompanied by a corresponding political advance of that class. An oppressed class under the sway of the feudal nobility, an armed and self-governing association in the medieval commune: here independent urban republic (as in Italy and Germany); there taxable “third estate” of the monarchy (as in France); afterwards, in the period of manufacturing proper, serving either the semi-feudal or the absolute monarchy as a counterpoise against the nobility, and, in fact, cornerstone of the great monarchies in general, the bourgeoisie has at last, since the establishment of Modern Industry and of the world market, conquered for itself, in the modern representative State, exclusive political sway. The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie, historically, has played a most revolutionary part. The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his “natural superiors”, and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous “cash payment”. It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervour, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms,

has set up that single, unconscionable freedom — Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation. The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage labourers. The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation. The bourgeoisie has disclosed how it came to pass that the brutal display of vigour in the Middle Ages, which reactionaries so much admire, found its fitting complement in the most slothful indolence. It has been the first to show what man’s activity can bring about. It has accomplished wonders far surpassing Egyptian pyramids, Roman aqueducts, and Gothic cathedrals; it has conducted expeditions that put in the shade all former Exoduses of nations and crusades. The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. Conservation of the old modes of production in unaltered form, was, on the contrary, the first condition of existence for all earlier industrial classes. Constant revolutionising of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones. All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind. The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connexions everywhere. The bourgeoisie has through its exploitation of the world market given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country. To the great chagrin of Reactionists, it has drawn from under the feet of industry the national ground on which it stood. All old-established national industries have been destroyed or are daily being destroyed. They are dislodged by new industries, whose introduction becomes a life and death question for all civilised nations, by industries that no longer work up indigenous raw material, but raw material drawn from the remotest zones; industries whose products are consumed, not only at home, but in every quarter of the globe. In place of the old wants, satisfied by the production of the country, we find new wants, requiring for their satisfaction the products of distant lands and climes. In place of the old local and national seclusion and self-sufficiency, we have intercourse in every direction, universal inter-dependence of nations. And as in material, so also in intellectual production. The intellectual creations of individual nations become common property. National one-sidedness and narrow-mindedness become more and more impossible, and from the numerous national and local literatures, there arises a world literature. The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilisation. The cheap prices of commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all Chinese walls, with which it forces the barbarians’ intensely obstinate hatred of foreigners to capitulate. It compels all nations, on pain of extinction,

to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilisation into their midst, i.e., to become bourgeois themselves. In one word, it creates a world after its own image. The bourgeoisie has subjected the country to the rule of the towns. It has created enormous cities, has greatly increased the urban population as compared with the rural, and has thus rescued a considerable part of the population from the idiocy of rural life. Just as it has made the country dependent on the towns, so it has made barbarian and semi-barbarian countries dependent on the civilised ones, nations of peasants on nations of bourgeois, the East on the West. The bourgeoisie keeps more and more doing away with the scattered state of the population, of the means of production, and of property. It has agglomerated population, centralised the means of production, and has concentrated property in a few hands. The necessary consequence of this was political centralisation. Independent, or but loosely connected provinces, with separate interests, laws, governments, and systems of taxation, became lumped together into one nation, with one government, one code of laws, one national class-interest, one frontier, and one customs-tariff. The bourgeoisie, during its rule of scarce one hundred years, has created more massive and more colossal productive forces than have all preceding generations together. Subjection of Nature’s forces to man, machinery, application of chemistry to industry and agriculture, steam-navigation, railways, electric telegraphs, clearing of whole continents for cultivation, canalisation of rivers, whole populations conjured out of the ground — what earlier century had even a presentiment that such productive forces slumbered in the lap of social labour? We see then: the means of production and of exchange, on whose foundation the bourgeoisie built itself up, were generated in feudal society. At a certain stage in the development of these means of production and of exchange, the conditions under which feudal society produced and exchanged, the feudal organisation of agriculture and manufacturing industry, in one word, the feudal relations of property became no longer compatible with the already developed productive forces; they became so many fetters. They had to be burst asunder; they were burst asunder. Into their place stepped free competition, accompanied by a social and political constitution adapted in it, and the economic and political sway of the bourgeois class. A similar movement is going on before our own eyes. Modern bourgeois society, with its relations of production, of exchange and of property, a society that has conjured up such gigantic means of production and of exchange, is like the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells. For many a decade past the history of industry and commerce is but the history of the revolt of modern productive forces against modern conditions of production, against the property relations that are the conditions for the existence of the bourgeois and of its rule. It is enough to mention the commercial crises that by their periodical return put the existence of the entire bourgeois society on its trial, each time more threateningly. In these crises, a great part not only of the existing products, but also of the previously created productive forces, are periodically destroyed. In these crises, there breaks out an epidemic that, in all earlier epochs, would have seemed an absurdity — the epidemic of over-production. Society suddenly finds itself put back into a state of momentary barbarism; it appears as if a famine, a universal war of devastation, had cut off the supply of every means of subsistence; industry and commerce seem to be destroyed; and why? Because there is too much civilisation, too much means of subsistence, too much industry, too much commerce. The productive forces at the disposal of society no

longer tend to further the development of the conditions of bourgeois property; on the contrary, they have become too powerful for these conditions, by which they are fettered, and so soon as they overcome these fetters, they bring disorder into the whole of bourgeois society, endanger the existence of bourgeois property. The conditions of bourgeois society are too narrow to comprise the wealth created by them. And how does the bourgeoisie get over these crises? On the one hand by enforced destruction of a mass of productive forces; on the other, by the conquest of new markets, and by the more thorough exploitation of the old ones. That is to say, by paving the way for more extensive and more destructive crises, and by diminishing the means whereby crises are prevented.

International Scene

Eezham Question in Sri Lanka Demands Political Solution THE SRI LANKAN Government is preparing itself for the final onslaught on LTTE’s last strongholds in Northern tip of the island country, to put an end to the more than two decades long civil war raging in the country. The Sri Lankan armed force’s offensive in to the Tamil areas has naturally created havoc and miseries to the Tamil people who are becoming refugees in larger numbers, day by day. As India government is taking firm steps to prevent the spilling over of the refugees to Tamilnadu, they are forced to become refugees in their own country, fleeing from the war zones. Those who are caught in the cross fires or not getting opportunity to flee are in acute stress. Though the Sri Lankan government has announced that all steps will be taken to safeguard the Tamilian civilian population, it is a fact that the war waged at an unprecedentedly furious level is going to seriously affect lakhs of families. DMK chief Karunanidhi’s government in TN is trying to utilize the miseries of the Eezham people for his political benefits by appearing as their champion. He has even threatened that all parliament members of DMK and its allies will resign if necessary actions are not taken, by 28th October to safe guard the Tamil people’s interests in Sri Lanka. Countering him the ADMK chief Jayalalitha has stated that Karunanidhi is trying to protect an international terrorist like LTTE chief Prabhakaran. ADMK is for wiping out LTTE, but without any harm to the Eezham people. All other parties playing big or small role in the ruling system are divided between these two positions. Only exception is MDMK, whose chief Vaiko is arrested for openly siding with LTTE. The DMK’s threat has put the UPA government in a quandary. How can it take any pro-active step in Sri Lanka when it itself is engaged in decades long civil war deploying huge armed forces in Jammu and Kashmir and North East, suppressing the struggle for self-determination waged by them, and refusing to seek a political solution to these problems? When the consecutive governments have treated the people’s struggles in these areas antagonistically, and in Bush’s foot steps as a ‘war on terror’, how can the UPA government ask for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka now to help the LTTE to get out of its present impossible situation? There is another angle also to this question. In the early 1980s when Indira Gandhi government was supported by Soviet Union, which had by then degenerated to social imperialism for world hegemony, establishing influense in Sri Lanka also had become a part of this contention. It is for this with Soviet support, the intensifying suppression of Eezham people was utilized by Indira Gandhi government to train LTTE and other militant Eezham groups to wage a war of secession. But later LTTE exterminated other groups, established its hegemony in Eezham struggle and posed a threat to Sri Lankan government. In this situation the Sri Lankan government changed its

stand, manipulated Rajiv Gandhi government to send IPKF to suppress the LTTE. The IPKF had a criminal track record and it had to be withdrawn. LTTE avenged it by killing Rajiv Gandhi and still its chief Prabhakaran is wanted in India as accused number one in Rajiv murder case. Karunanidhi is not unaware of all these. But like any other reactionary political leader he is trying to gain cheap popularity by posing as a defender of Eezham people to win the coming Lok Sabha elections. Thus Sri Lankan army’s offensive against LTTE has become a hot political issue in TN and pressure is mounting on UPA government to come to some understanding with Sri Lankan government to save DMK’s face. Past experience shows that neither DMK, ADMK and its allies, nor the central government is interested to save Eezham people’s democratic rights. All of them are playing opportunist politics. By supporting DMK’s stand in TN, Congress as well as CPI (M)-CPI are also joining this opportunist game. Mean while the microscopic chauvinist groups including the ‘Maoists’ are trying to parade themselves as the champions of the Eezham people by supporting LTTE, almost like the MDMK. In this context the CPI (ML) state committee has issued a press statement on 16th October and organized poster campaign explaining that Eezham question is one of selfdetermination of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka which should he resolved politically through dialogue with both Sinhala and Tamil people. While LTTE’s secessionist stand and Sri Lankan government’s insensitivity to Tamil people’s plight have intensified the issue, the problem should be resolved by working for unity of Sri Lanka based on selfdetermination of both Sinhala and Eezham peoples, creating a genuinely federal state with devolution of power. The Indian government’s interference in Sri Lanka based on big brotherly attitude had only worsened the situation there. Besides, so long as it is pursuing a policy of military solution to J&K and North East issues, it forsakes its moral right to plead for Eezham people. So the TN state committee had appealed to the people to put pressure on the central government to resolve J&K and North East problems politically and set an example in South Asia. DMK, ADMK and Congress like parties who do not fight for the rights to J&K and North East peoples are only shedding crocodile tears and cheating the people of Eezham. The TN state committee has demanded that the government of India stop all arms aid and sale to Sri Lankan government. The statement has appealed to both Sinhala and Tamil people in Sri Lankan to put pressure on the government to resolve the Eezham problem politically, devolving power and creating a genuine federal state. It has appealed to the Sri Lankan government not to aggravate the miseries of the Tamil people by targeting them for the LTTE’s actions. It had condemned all the ruling class parties for utilizing the Eezham people’s miseries as another divisive issue to gain votes, instead of putting pressure on the central government unitedly to appeal to Sri Lankan government to save the Eezham people from their present plight, and to stop all arms sale to Sri Lanka.

“Golden Parachutes” for Working People: No Bailouts for the Wall Street Rich! Jail Them! [Revolutionary Organization of Labor, USA] WITH OVER one trillion dollars in bailouts thus far, the U.S. government and international finance capital have once again proven that they live by their own version of the “Golden Rule”: Protect the gold of those who rule.

Facing the deepest financial meltdown since the Great Depression of the 1930’s, including a series of failures of the major Wall Street firms Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, giant mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the largest insurance company, AIG, the Bush regime has successfully pushed an $810 billion public bailout for the private Wall Street firms and banks, with hardly a dime for any working family that loses its home! Congressional Democrats and Republicans united in writing this “blank check” for the corporations at taxpayer expense. This move was on top of other recent bailouts the ruling elite has desperately used to try to shore up the collapsing system. Among others, AIG was bailed out with $85 billion by the Treasury department. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were directly taken over by the government, a move that could come with a $200 billion public price tag. Those responsible for the mess have done just fine. For, example, in 2006, the then top five Wall Street firms of Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley (three are now gone!) awarded management employees some $40 billion in Christmas bonuses. The combined wage increases of the 93 million U.S. workers for the six-year period of 2000-2006 was less than one-half of the 2006 holiday bonuses to these Wall Street crooks! Almost all regulation and oversight was systematically eliminated from the banking and investment sector as the financial crisis deepened. Speculative capital reigned supreme with vast profits fueled by sub-prime loans that eventually sunk the housing market. It was a “house of cards”, creating nothing productive, waiting to fall. Today, McCain and Obama, both well funded by the “generosity” of the Wall Street Investment banks, offer no way out. While this economic crisis, largely caused by predatory lending, speculative capital, the oil wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and huge tax breaks for the rich, is wreaking devastation on regular folks, those primarily responsible still have their “golden parachutes”. Kerry Killinger, the forced out CEO of now failed Washington Mutual Bank waved goodbye with over $20 million in compensation. The exit package for Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron is over $14 million and “poor” Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd “only” received about $10 million. So what about the rest of us, the workers, the working poor, the oppressed? We are in chronic and acute economic crisis. Gas prices are running at $4.00/gallon. Some are spending 20% of their income for transportation to work while Exxon Mobil made a record $11.7 billion in profit last year! Food prices are increasing at a gallop. The cost of heating a home this year is estimated to rise 61%. Aggressive corporate unionbusting has made it more difficult to organize unions and maintain strong ones capable of forcing companies to share more of their wealth. Pensions for workers have all but disappeared into the 401K scam that have now taken a beating from the collapsing stock market. Over 50 million people have no health coverage. Official unemployment is rising at the fastest pace in years. Two and three jobs (often temporary ones with no benefits) have become a way of life. Many of us are “living to work” rather than “working to live”. Increasingly we face: Lay offs and loss of income; life savings disappearing due to family sickness; entire paychecks going to childcare; elder care that often sinks a family; working folks losing their homes and apartments. It is projected that over 4 million homes were foreclosed in the last two years, a lost roof over the heads of over 20 million people! Millions more now owe more on their homes than they are worth, with the dream of home ownership turning into a nightmare. In such a crisis, alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide and divorce all rise and children do more poorly in school. There are no soft landings for the workers and our families.

Just a system that says you’re on your own and if you haven’t “made it”, it’s your own fault. Working people were so outraged at this biggest bailout of Wall Street that they forced House members to initially vote down the Bush/Paulson/Pelosi bi-partisan bailout bill, a vote that shocked the world. Now that the Congress has passed an even bigger bailout plan, what can we do?? In the short run,organize united front/coalition efforts in our communities, unions, fraternal associations and religious institutions. Rally and fight for: No more bailout for the wealthy – period!! Jail with no bail instead! Nationalize the banks! Take the profit out of banking and lending. Run them with local community/worker controlled boards. Banks can be run for the public good just like the Post Office. Government restoration of lost 401K retirement funds due to the economic crisis. Transfer these funds to defined pension plans and stronger social security benefits. Stop all Home Foreclosures due to predatory lending, loss of jobs and illness. A massive public works program creating millions of decent jobs while rebuilding the decaying infrastructure of the United States. For the long run—organize and fight for workers’ power! This financial crisis proves that the monopoly capitalist system, based on private profit and greed, is corrupt to the core and a parasite on the toiling masses of humanity. This imperialist system is responsible for the U.S. wars of occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. It cannot meet the needs of the majority of mankind. It is our enemy! Workers’ Power, socialism, can provide what the corporations and their Democratic and Republican cronies can never do — a “Golden Parachute” for workers — a system run for the good of the majority that will provide guaranteed employment at living wages and safe jobs, cradle to grave quality healthcare, child and elder care for all, free education from pre-school through adulthood, leisure time and the opportunity to live in peace, cooperation and harmony witheach other the world over. Join with us in the Fight for Justice!

US Financial Crisis Mocks at Regulation-Free Economy [Statement of the Central Secretariat of the CMKP (Communist Mazdoor Kissaan Party Pakistan)] THE POST-COLD WAR’S much trumpeted force of deregulated economy that was made an article of faith in monopoly-dominated new breed of capitalism has virtually fallen flat on its nose to the surprise of many chanting the mantra of this hue of economy. More amazing is its reversal of gear requesting the government’s intervention to rescue the financial and mortgage markets at the Wall Street through the government’s monetary assistance. The federal government led by President George W. Bush of the Republican Party, which strongly believes in free market economy immune from government’s regulation has, changed its clout and is busy in providing 700 billion US dollars to the collapsed giant financial companies. This is the second major financial meltdown of the United States after the Great Economic Depression of 1933, despite being a wealthiest capitalist nation in the

imperialist bloc. Commentators and analysts are discussing and focusing on the technical aspects of the financial institutions, but they ignore the fact that the higher stage of capitalist economy turns into bubble thanks to speculation, manipulation and deception in the hub of economic activities both in commercial and financial trading. Such economic bubble has once again burst with a big bang making the concerned traders paralyzed. Since immoral deceit is the rule of the game prompted by the greed to pile up profit, uncertainty in the market remains a regular feature in the market, especially in the Stock as well as financial and mortgage markets, . It is no wonder that the America has been hit hard by the present serious crisis, as such nightmare is an inherent part of the fabulous dream of capitalism for the profit of some individuals at the cost of people directly or indirectly. But the main thing of this situation is to underline the dark aspect of the gospel of miracle of deregulated and competitive market economy. It causes circasm on the part of “Holy Warriors” of the deregulated economy. It is an irony that they and their supporters find no option other than the bailout through the financial help of the government. The Bush administration, the strong protagonist of the deregulated economy, has all of a sudden made a new shift in its stance like the lizard that goes on changing its colours to deceive others. It has come out to salvage sank financial and mortgage markets, with the magic of $ 700 billion which, according to American economists, would not work. Even one trillion (one thousand billion) dollars are insufficient to revive the collapsed financial and mortgage companies. If one trillion dollars are provided to them, every citizen, including children, will have to bear the brunt for paying 3000 dollars each. Where from the Bush administration would generate this amount to help the bankrupt companies? 700 billion or one trillion US dollars are the tax money earned from the people. The burdens of commercial, industrial and service sector taxes are put on the shoulders of consumers indirectly by raising the prices of consumer goods and services. Where is the magic of free economy that was projected as the Messiah of all ills. This unfolds the element of American state, the prime duty of which is to ensure and look after the supreme interests of private ownership, particularly the cartels which actually dominate, dictate politics and economy. . The mother of all evils is essentially the devilish character of individual property in any form and manifestation. The current crisis what the United States of America, at the zenith of its economic power, actually encompasses the fallout of capitalism which is breathing in intensive care unit (ICU), getting oxygen from the massive neo-colonial loot and plunder of the developing nations in Third World. Capitalism’s clinical death already took place more than a century ago. Wars, recession, inflation and severe economic crisis all over the globe are related to this phenomenon. And it will continue to haunt the mankind until the monster of capitalist economy is eliminated through the collective wisdom and power of the working class of the world at large. Meanwhile, the myth of the Democratic Party’s claim for good governance and welfare of the American people, rejecting the only interests of the business, has exploded when a slight numerical majority of the Democrats in the US House of Representatives and Senate voted for bailing out financial markets through the $700 billon package. As it is said the taste of pudding is in eating, the Democrats have unmasked themselves before the American people that they (Democrats) have nothing against supreme interests of the American monopolies and their (Democrats’) clout for the people’s” cause is a misnomer.

The package, which was rejected first in the House of Representatives on September 29 but the same bill was again piloted by the Bush administration which, however, succeeded in its efforts second time. Reversing its earlier rejection, the House passed it with majority of votes. The Senate proved its more loyalty to the cause by passing it with two-thirds of majority votes. There is the outcry in the political circles in the United States that the very objective of this package is aimed at serving the rich speculators, who have brought in this impasse of nerve-breaking financial turmoil. The Republicans and Democrats, who had declined to agree to the Bush administration’ s measures to remedy the ailment, dramatically changed their perception or were persuaded with ‘’leverage’’ to vote for the package in order to serve the real pillars of state — industrial, commercial and financial barons. On the other side of real economic situation, more than 1,60,000 were made unemployed in September, and the number is to increase. At the moment more than 6 percent are jobless in the affluent United States. During 12 months, about 450,000 have lost their jobs. A very interesting aspect of American “robust” economy is that the business barons are getting richer, while the American State is languishing in the multiplying debt with the same proportion. Now, the package is justified that $700 billion are not a big amount as compared to the volume of debt of the State. US Treasury recommended to enhance the debt of State to the tune of $11.35 trillion (11,350 billion dollars). This reflects how much the state is really sovereign and independent, which has been actually squeezed to be at the disposal of the real masters of the State — the business cartels. That means the private property has enslaved the state, and it no longer remains a nation-state. According to reports, there is a move in the United States to nationalize a or two private commercial banks which have become bankrupt due to unfair banking practices. This negates the US ‘’solemn pledge’’ to preserve the sanctity of private ownership. Another American hypocrisy is its intense pressure on the developing countries, including Pakistan, to privatise the industrial, commercial, service units in the public sector. Incoherent, incompetent capitalist system, jumping to and fro, could be gauged from the fact that when in 1933 crash shattered the financial market, the US had no option other than enacting the Glass-Steagall Act to overcome the malaise, This Act was put into action to separate the functioning of commercial rules from Stock brokerage companies, thus regulating the trading of the financial leverage, including banks and brokers for mortgage trading similar to Stocks and bonds. But this regulated economy was reversed during the Carter administration, giving free hand to the economy for its unilateral goal, with the contempt against government regulation. In the 1990 the American banks maneuvered for hedging their loan risks. The devise was called Credit Default Swap (CDS), through which insurance contract for protection between buyer and seller was brought in. Now, the free American economy wheels find roadblock, needing the government’s intervention and monetary support through legislation after about three decades. Capitalism is based on the hallucination of its best system for ever contrary to the law of development and its ugly fact of brutality and uncertainty. A lot of so-called liberal economists and new converts of capitalism from yesteryears’ socialism, who have been immune from having the rationale of law of socioeconomic development in the backdrop of contradictions, are beating the drum that capitalism, especially American economy, has the resilience to overcome the odds. They also lack the grasp what price the developing countries pay to energise the imperialist economy. Reduction in the prices of the farmer’s raw materials, semi and even their value-added goods for exports, and on the contrary, the enhanced prices of industrial raw materials and manufactured goods of the imperialist countries are the temporary remedy of their decease-ridden economy causing one financial crisis after another

nature. Fluctuation in international oil prices, rise in the export of food commodities of the Western countries, side by side with the reduced values of the currencies of the developing widening deficit on their balance of payment in foreign trade help overcome the former’ economy. This partakes of the nature of resilience of the imperialist economies at micro level, while other details bring the facts to the fore at macro level. Their business interests even have crossed the national boundaries and are operating globally by hoodwinking the overseas ruling oligarchy elite and finally making them subservient to their (cartels’), ploy through carrot and stick policy.

Afghanistan: Killing Fields for US/NATO Froces SENATOR BARACK OBAMA has staked out a political position by claiming that he will increase United States’ troop strength in Afghanistan by at least one-third, will permit U.S./NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) forces to engage in hot pursuit into Pakistan’s tribal areas and increase U.S. bombing and Special Operations Forces raids into Pakistan. Caesar-like, he proclaims that Afghanistan is a “war on terror” we must and can win. He appears to be completely ignorant that Pashtun nationalism (Taliban) and Al Qaeda jehad are two very different things. In effect, Obama proposes to continue and escalate the military policies of the Bush administration if he can draw down the U.S. occupation forces in Iraq. I have argued that these actions are doomed to fail on their own terms, will cement a deadly alliance between the Taliban and radical Islamists, and will further destabilise a nuclear Pakistan. U.S. priorities are further revealed by the more than ten-to-one ratio of military-toreconstruction aid since 2002. .... While the U.S. military is currently spending $100 million a day in Afghanistan, aid spent by all donors since 2001 is on average less than a tenth of that – just $7 million a day. The mainstream U.S. corporate media led by Fox News largely has sought to present the Afghan invasion as a simple war of good versus evil.18 Texts or images that might have raised questions have been censored. Fox News has gone far beyond the call of duty in parroting U.S. military interpretations.19 Others in the U.S. corporate media have followed suit; for example, Laura King of A.P. has been a notorious undercounter of Afghan civilian deaths. The collective group of “Afghans” has de facto been targeted for seven years as lives and countryside have been laid to waste; anyone who opposes the U.S./NATO occupation is by definition an “enemy” and can be justifiably killed collaterally. .... it is the immorality and illegality of a war that makes collateral damage a crime. During the initial phases of the U.S. bombing campaign, U.S. warplanes dropped powerful bombs in civilian-rich areas with little concern for Afghan civilians. ... far from acknowledging a positive responsibility to protect innocent Afghans from the misery of war, U.S. military strategists chose to impose levels of harm upon innocent Afghan civilians in order to reduce present and possible future dangers faced by U.S. forces. As Edward Herman noted: ... it is claimed by the war managers that these deaths and injuries are not deliberate, but are only “collateral” to another end, they are treated by the mainstream media, NGOs [non-governmental organisations], new humanitarians, and others as a lesser evil than cases where civilians are openly targeted. But this differential treatment is a fraud, even if we accept the sometimes disputable claim of inadvertence (occasionally even acknowledged by officials to be false, as described below). Even if not the explicit target, if collateral civilian deaths are highly probable and statistically predictable they are clearly acceptable and intentional. If in 500 raids on Afghan villages alleged to harbour Al Qaeda cadres it is likely that civilians will die in 450

of them, those deaths are an integral component of the plan and the clear responsibility of the planners and executioners. The reaction of the Pentagon to the killing of large numbers of civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq and now Pakistan has traditionally been first to deny that it ever happened. The denial is based on the old public relations principle that “first you say something is no news and didn’t happen. When it is proved some time later that it did happen, you yawn and say it is old news.” A myth has circulated since the beginning of the U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan in October 2001. It is endlessly repeated by the U.S. occupation forces, corporate media, the Pentagon, defence intellectual pundits, HRW, the Cruise Missile Left, the humanitarian interventionists, and even some in the United Nations: Afghan insurgents hide amongst civilians whom they use as human shields. To begin with, the assertion is never empirically documented but just merely stated as a self-evident truth. Secondly, the implication is that an inasurgent or Taliban fighter, resisting the U.S./NATO invasion, should stand alone on a mountain ridge, his AK-47 raised to the sky, and engage in a “fair” act of war with an Apache attack helicopter or an A-10 Warthog and see who prevails. Should resistance fighters stand out in an open field or on a mountain ridge? Thirdly, what is conveniently omitted is that the insurgents often live in the area and have friends and families in the communities, and that such a local support base is precisely what gives a guerilla insurgency (along with knowledge of the local terrain) its classic advantage. Such local connection means that the insurgents will (unlike the U.S./NATO occupation forces) go to great lengths not to put local people in danger. Purveyors of the line about the “Taliban’s execrable tactic of using civilians as human shields”34 are either themselves unaware of classic guerilla strategy or, more likely, seek to manipulate the general public’s ignorance about the same. Using the language of guerilla warfare, can a “fish” swim outside of the “sea”? One recalls the U.S. military’s campaign in Vietnam to drain the sea by creating strategic hamlets (translate, concentration camps), seeking to deny the Vietnamese resistance access to sympathetic villagers. .... the slaughter of over 90 Afghan civilians in Azizabad where for weeks the U.S. military asserted that 30 “Taliban” had been killed and no civilians. In other words, civilians killed by U.S./NATO action are being falsely labelled by the U.S./NATO as “eliminated militants”, which suggests that my overall count of civilians killed is a gross underestimate. The corporate media of the U.S. and the United Kingdom have been particularly guilty of censorship by omission – simply not reporting upon the “bad bodies” of those killed by U.S./NATO actions.36 A little-reported fact is that the number of Afghan civilians 37 killed by U.S. and NATO forces since 2005 exceeds the total recorded during the three months of intensive U.S. bombing, October 7- December 10. The nature of the air war in Afghanistan has changed substantially between 2001 and 2006-08. During the last three months of 2001, the U.S. bombing was part of a traditional military campaign pitting two armies against each other. As such, the bombing involved large tonnages being dropped; whereas during 2006-08, the U.S. and NATO bombing involved CAS against a decentralised, highly fluid guerilla resistance. During the former campaign some 14,000 tonnes of bombs were dropped, or almost 12 times the tonnage dropped during the two and a half years (2006-mid-2008). CAS bombing by the U.S. has been far more deadly for innocent Afghan civilians than the more intense, traditional bombing campaign of 2001. The number of CAS strikes in Afghanistan in which munitions were dropped soared from 176 in 2005 to

1,770 in 2006, and 2,926 in 2007.44 Elizabeth Rubin noted “that the sheer tonnage of metal raining down on Afghanistan was mind-boggling: a million pounds between January and September of 2007, compared with half a million in all of 2006.” The bombs dropped for 2005 tottaled a mere 60,000 pounds (or 27.2 tonnes). During the first half of 2008, more tonnage was dropped than in all of 2007. Aerial attacks were three to four times as deadly for Afghan civilians as were ground attacks. The trade-off is very clear: by relying upon aerial CAS and drone attacks, U.S./NATO forces spare their pilots and ground troops but kill lots of innocent Afghan civilians. Air strikes are four to ten times as deadly for Afghan civilians as are ground attacks. Bombs away! U.S./NATO bombs kill about 10 times more Afghan civilians with a tonne of “precision” bombs than they killed Serbs in 1999. They (Afghans) are only worth one-tenth of an Alaskan sea otter rather than 40 camels. The U.S. spends $10 on the military in Afghanistan to pursue its geostrategic aims and $1 on reconstructing the everyday lives of Afghans destroyed by 30 years of war. For (most) Americans, Afghans truly are lesser versions of humanity. Lest we forget, what did “America” do for Afghans when its geostrategic goal of defeating the Soviets was achieved in 1989? America cut and ran. Conclusion: Obama’s Afghanistan as a surreal hunting estate “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein Candidate Obama, his Clinton-era advisers, and sadly all too many others fail to recognise a web of inter-connected, persistent constraints, or given realties. One might label them as the “five cannots”: U.S./NATO cannot send 400,000 combat troops to garrison Afghanistan’s towns, hamlets and countryside (which is a pre-condition for reconstruction to win hearts and minds); the U.S./NATO cannot impose a powerful central government upon Afghanistan; the U.S./NATO cannot neutralise the very effective least-cost weapons of choice of the Afghan resistance (IEDs and suicide bombers); the U.S./NATO cannot seal the Afghan-Pakistan border and hence will not eliminate the vital sanctuary so necessary to a guerilla movement); and lastly, the Pakistan government has never been able to dominate its vast tribal borderlands and there is no reason to believe such will change. Those who choose not to understand these “five cannots” advocate change in a vacuum. The present military impasse begets a political solution and the abandonment of any nation-building fantasy. The perceived poison of foreign occupation, the rampant corruption, the all-toofrequent desecration of Islam by the occupiers, the sheer folly of the U.S./NATO seeking to extend the writ of a central government into the Pashtun tribal regions, and the spiralling count of civilian deaths have shifted the Afghan struggle towards being a war of national liberation. The presence of foreign forces is furthermore, according to the U.N.’s senior expert on Al Qaeda, providing the glue with which Osama bin Laden’s network is bonding support in the region. Anatol Lieven of King’s College (London) puts things aptly. Afghanistan is “becoming a sort of surreal hunting estate, in which the U.S. and NATO breed the very terrorists they then track down.” No matter that in Kabul even foreigners speak about being “inside a living hell”. No matter that veteran reporter Kathy Gannon notes that Afghans are fed up with the U.S. and Karzai. No matter that Karzai and U.S. bombs have transformed what was once a backward-looking Taliban, primarily espousing Sharia, into a thriving modern movement of resistance and national liberation. No matter that anti-Americanism is spiralling in

Pakistan as U.S. raids take place. Obama and John McCain propose dusty death with no end in Afghanistan. (Extracted from the article Matrix of Death in Frontline, dated 24 October)

Great Crash of China CHINA IS WIDELY BELIEVED to be immune from the economic shock waves making their way around the world from the U.S. to Europe and Japan. Although it is relatively unaffected by subprime mortgages and the credit crunch, China’s economy is actually facing a fundamental structural adjustment that has arrived much earlier than expected. Decreasing foreign demand for inexpensive manufactured goods, the misallocation of vital investment, and product safety concerns are straining China’s manufacturing base and challenging the tenuous linkages between continued economic growth and a rising middle-class. Conventional wisdom holds that China’s domestic demand is increasingly responsible for driving growth, not exports, giving the Chinese economy a natural buffer against wild swings in the world economy. The new middle class, it is assumed, will continue buying television sets, computers, washing machines and cars – all domestically produced with cash derived from large reserves of personal savings. Domestic banks are healthy and the central government is now promoting growth through expansionary fiscal and monetary policies. At first glance the statistics look promising. Consumer spending is up 22%, inflationary pressures are receding as food prices drop, and strong foreign exchange reserves continue to accrue ($1.8 trillion as of July). Fixed asset investment is rising as well (up 27% in the first eight months of 2008) and China’s sovereign debt rating is improving (S&P has raised long term ratings to A+.) On closer examination, however, a vastly different story emerges. By the end of 2007 almost half of China’s GDP growth was attributed to exports and government consumption, a dramatic reversal from 2003 when growth was dominated by investment and private consumption. While savings rates have been traditionally high, immense wealth has been invested in the stock market and real estate. The Shanghai index lost two-thirds of its value since its peak in mid-October 2007 and the Hang Seng is down over 50% from its peak a year ago. While fixed asset investment may be rising, one-third is continuing to pour into the real-estate sector (up 29% year-on-year) despite vacant commercial floor space in China rising by 6.1% at the end of July (the latest month for available statistics). Real estate prices are experiencing their slowest growth in 18 months and new home prices in Guangzhou and Shenzhen have actually declined. Meanwhile growth in new car sales, while still robust, is slowing. Not surprisingly, consumer confidence, according to official Chinese statistics, is drifting downwards and Western ratings on Chinese commercial banks, the holders of unused commercial real estate, are being lowered. Those on the cusp of entering the middle class are faring poorly as tens of thousands of small and medium sized enterprises go bankrupt. Guangdong Province alone, the heart of China’s low-cost manufacturing base, has seen half of the shoe manufacturing industry close shop (over 2,200 factories) this year. These are some of the low-skill, low-wage jobs China wants to replace with high value-added manufacturing. However, there has been very little preparation for laying the foundations for such an economy. The largest destination for fixed asset investment has been manufacturing, much of which has been concentrated in low-end commodities. The expectation in Beijing earlier this year, teeming with cranes and construction workers, was for a post-Olympic surge in foreign companies opening offices in the capital. That was of course before the threat of recession hit the world’s major

economies. Laid-off factory employees, along with millions of migrant construction workers likely to be left jobless as construction slows, will return to a countryside largely unchanged from when they left years before. It should come as no surprise then that demonstrations against local officials in smaller cities quickly escalate into “mass incidents.” Fixed investment in education, health, and social programs accounted for a paltry 2.3% of the total through July.

Hungary : Socialism and after JANOS HAY is a Hungarian writer and poet who recently visited Kerala. At Thrissur he had interaction with writers and students. He said he was born in a small Hungarian village and his agrarian background has helped him in his writings. According to him globalization has trampled the world under its feet. The distortion, the devastation it has brought about around the world has many basic similarities. Hungary had decades of socialist government. Though compared to that period writers have more freedom, today only if you have money you can publish your books. While speaking about ‘party control’ during the socialist years for publishing books, today everything is controlled by money, he said. For big industries, in Hungary also large area of agricultural land is taken over and there is resistance. Villages are giving way to cities. A people who are addicted to liquor is being created. The folk arts are disappearing. It is difficult for the poor in Hungary to get education also now. The gap between haves and have nots is increasing very fast there. If it was nationalization that was taking place during socialist rule, it is privatization that is taking place now. During socialist years we could enjoy the rural life. There was collective farming then. Social realations were strong then. But as villages are trying to become cities, even the villagers are not knowing each other today. While alcoholism is destroying the villages, poverty is growing fast. Once Hungary was rich with its folk arts. But it is disappearing fast. For people like himself who came up in the rural background, and whose works are influenced by it, the present changes are destroying the Hungarian popular ethos dear to him.

Science

The Dialectics of the Large Hadron Collider Sanjay Singhvi THE LARGE HADRON collision experiment that was started in September in the CERN facilities on the border of France and Switzerland had caused a great deal of consternation all over the world with the doomsayers even going so far as to predict the end of the world. This in itself was quite ridiculous given the fact that collisions with much greater energy take place upon the border of the earth’s atmosphere each day or even every second. The present experiment would only allow that scientists would be able to observe the effects of such a great particle collision. However, there are many facts and facets of this experiment which go to prove the dialectical method of analysis and thinking. This experiment is likely to prove that there is something in common between particles with mass and those without mass (like photons, commonly known as particles of light or energy). Newton, when he first examined the nature of light, came to the conclusion that it was made up of minute particles. Huygens, defying Newton, showed by his double slit experiment and the fact of “interference” that light was made up of waves.

It was Max Planck who advanced the quantum theory in the early 20th century. He himself could not understand fully the meaning of his equations, which fitted all the experimental results that all energy (including light) was transmitted in discrete quanta (packets). It was Einstein who took Planck’s quantum theory seriously and applied it to explain the studied results about the photo-electric effect. So now we had packets of waves (both particles and waves) in keeping with the dialectical unity of opposites. It also illustrates a good example of the idea of “negation of the negation”. It was Einstein again who used the ideas of quantum physics to postulate massenergy equivalence. Till that time mass and energy were thought of as distinct entities. But Einstein’s famous equation E=MC2 led to the idea that mass and energy were only two forms of the same entity. This was still another form of dialectics providing the solution. It may be mentioned here that Einstein had a long and fruitful association with the Indian-Bangladeshi scientist Satyendranath Bose. It was to honour Bose that the postulated particles which flow from one body to another are called Bosons. (The recent Large Hadron Collider experiment is mainly to find the “Higgs Boson” – also known as the “God particle”) The French Scientist Louis De Broglie then used the equations in a new direction and postulated that if waves, of which energy is made (electro-magnetic waves, like light waves, etc.), can have a particle form and if matter, which is definitely made up of particles, is the same as energy, then matter can also be thought of as waves! Actually he did not come up with this idea in such a clear and conceptually concise form. Rather, he found that treating electrons as waves served to explain how the model of electrons put up by Neils Bohr could be explained. But, in any case, it once again proved that the dialectical method of analysis had triumphed. Today, at the cutting edge of science, it is largely accepted that there are four different kinds of fundamental forces – gravitational, electro-magnetic, and two types of nuclear forces – the weak force and the strong force. Seeking ultimate harmony in the Universe – or in their interpretation of it – scientists have long been on a quest to unify the four forces into one fundamental interaction. Abdus Salam, the Pakistani scientist was the first to theoretically show the unity of the electromagnetic force and the weak force (He received the Nobel prize in 1979 along with Steven Weinberg and Sheldon Glashow for this work). The postulated unified force is now often referred to as the electroweak force. Today, the most accepted and popular model to explain the universe is what is called the Standard Model. We will not go into the details of this Model (which is quite beyond the field of expertise of this author and of this publication) but again point only to a few more instances of dialectical thinking in this theory. The Standard Model postulates that like the gravitational field and the electromagnetic fields, which exist all over the universe including in empty space, there is also another field, often called the Higgs field. It postulates that all the fundamental particles of which all matter is made would all move at the speed of light if there were no Higgs field. It postulates that the Higgs field affects certain particles to a greater of lesser degree causing them to have “inertia”. It is this quality of “inertia” that essentially gives “mass” to matter. Now, instead of Newton’s laws which gave inertia as a quality of all matter, we have inertia as a result of the Higg’s Field giving rise to matter! Another example of negation of the negation. It is postulated that to give a large enough jolt to this field will cause a wave in the field itself – or a particle – known as the Higgs Boson.

The CERN experiment may or may not prove the existence of “Higgs Boson” and therefore may or may not advance the veracity of the Standard Model but the veracity of the dialectical materialist way of thinking will certainly stand proved. However, all this also clearly underlines the crying need for a study of the latest discoveries of science on a Marxist basis, on the lines of Engels’ “Dialectics of Nature”.

State Reports

MP: CPI(ML) Election Campaign FIELDING twelve candidates from Guna, Ashoknagar, Vidisha, Bhopal, Sidhi and Singrauli districts the CPI(ML) state committee has taken the election campaign based on its manifesto to the bastis and rural areas. Election committees are formed in more and more panchayats and distributing handbills and the Manifesto party’s election outlook is taken to broad masses. Through the campaign new forces are joining the party and class/mass organisations in all the districts. Street corner meetings and public meetings are already started. Central leaders will participate in the campaign in November.

Chhattisgarh: Election Campaign in Full Swing THE STATE COMMITTEE has submitted election nominations for seven seats: Vaisalinagar (Durg dist.), Durg Gramin (Durg), Abhanpur (Raipur), Rajim (Raipur), Jagdalpur (Bastar), Chitrakoot (Dantewada) and Dagori (Bilaspur) and has intensified the election campaign through house to house contacts. Central leaders are participating in the campaign in the first and second weeks of November. As the election dates are drawing nearer, both BJP and Congress as well as BSP, SP like parties have resorted to mutual mud-slinging and influencing communal and caste vote banks cleverly keeping aside any serious discussion on the socio-economic issues including the imperialist globalisation and strategic subservience to US imperialism though the BJP-led NDA and Congress-led UPA. Exposing them CPI(ML) is trying to take the political campaign based on its Election Manifesto to the broad masses.

Punjab: Bhagat Observed

Singh

Birth

Anniversay

ON 28TH SEPTEMBER the Navjamuhoori Navjawan Sabha observed the birth anniversay of Shahid Bhagat Singh at Samaon village in Mansa district mobilising the youth comrades from both Mansa and Barnala districts. A large number villager also participated in the programme in which the cultural troupe presented revolutionary songs. Comrade Kawal Singh, convenor, Navjawan Sabha conducted the programme which was addressed by comrades K.N. Ramachandran, Sukhdev Singh Pandhi, M.S. Randhawa and Labh Singh.

CPI (ML) Liberation Activists Join CPI(ML) in West Bengal ON ISSUES relating to ideological political and organizational differences within their organization, majority of the district committee and local committee members from two districts of North Bengal namely North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur, left the CPI(ML) Liberation along with a large number of party activists and joined the CPI(ML). The development took place on 3rd October 2008. The move was spearheaded by Comrade Ajit Das a veteran State Secretariat member and North Dinajpur District Committee Secretary of the CPI(ML) Liberation. Comrade Das is a veteran peasant leader of Dinajpur districts and is a well known figure to the toiling masses of the two districts. During the course of bilateral political discussions, these new entrants to CPI(ML) pledged to be a part of the declared ideological and political stand of the CPI(ML) to carry forward the tasks of unity of communist revolutionaries with the avowed objective of building up a genuine communist Party under the banner of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse Tung Thought waging relentless struggle against revisionism and anarchism – the twin dangers in communist movement. The West Bengal State Committee of CPI(ML) has welcomed the comrades from Liberation.

Rajasthan: Election Campaign Advances RAJASTHAN STATE COMMITTEE of CPI(ML) has fielded two candidates, com. Devilal Chouhan in Sriganganagar and Ramesh Kumar Yadav in Sadulnagar seat and has started village level campaign from 15th October propagating the party line on elections. Five years of BJP rule witnessed fourteen police firing killing more than sixty people showing the extent of reign of terror let loose by the BJP government along with spreading communal fascism and caste oppression while speeding up the implementation of the imperialist globalisation policies. Dozens of SEZs are started surrendering thousands of acres of land for them. Tourism is given priority selling Rajasthan to foreign tourists going out of way to please them building palatial hotels and providing sex tourism like facilities. Rajasthan is one state where feudal influence is still strong, caste oppression is serious and even untouchability persists. BJP and Congress have turned the state in to their fiefdom exchanging power in every election. In this context CPI(ML) has put forward an election manifesto and campaigning in Sriganganagar district with agrarian revolutionary programme including land to the tiller slogan. It has called for universalisation of welfare policies like food through PDS, education, healthcare and employment for all. It has called for scrapping of imperialist globalisation policies and fighting against communal fascism and caste oppression. The village level campaign by party activists led by state committee member com. Mahesh Maharshi has created good enthusiasm. It opened the way for spreading the party activities in the state in coming days. The election Manifesto will be released at Jaipur on 1st November in press conference.

Kerala: November Campaign : Not Imperialism, Socialism is the Path Forward

KERALA STATE COMMITTEE of CPI(ML) has decided to organise four zonal jathas covering all the 14 districts from November 7 for the political campaign with the slogan: Not Imperialism, Socialism is the Only Path Forward with a booklet explaining the importance of the campaign. A special issue of state committee organ Sakhav and a central poster will be published to take the campaign to the people.

Punnapra-Vayalar Day Observed AFTER a district level campaign explaining the historic significance of Punnapra-Vayalar struggle in Allappuzha district, the Punnapra-Vayalar day was observed on 24th October at Eramallur near Vayalar. Comrades KN Ramachandran and PJ James addressed the rally explaining the significance of this struggle, how CPI and CPI(M) has gone away from its path and the importance of upholding the revolutionary experience of this struggle.

CPI(M) Launches Fascist Attacks on Dissidents AS THE REVOLT of large number of intellectuals following Prof. MN Vijayan against degeneration of CPI(M) leadership to capitalist path has spread to rank and file members in a large number of area committees in different districts, the CPI(M) leadership has started organising fascist attacks against dissidents, often using state machinery also, to terrorise them in to submission. In one of these cases, when com. KS Hariharan, who was suspended from the editorial section of CPI(M) organ Deshabhimani was returning after addressing dissidents’ convention at Atholi near Kozhikode, he was attacked by CPI(M) goondas on 17th October and seriously injured. In protest against this when comrades organised a demonstration on 19th October at Atholi, they were attacked by CPI(M) hoodlums and four were seriously injured. After their hospitalisation in Kozhikode Medical College Hospital the superintendent was pressurised to discharge them. Protesting against these fascist attacks CPI(ML) and other forces organised a successful hartal on 20th October in Atholi panchayat. Com. KN Ramachandran along with other state committee members met KS Hariharan and other injured comrades and addressed a press conference at Kozhikode press club demanding CPI(M) to stop the fascist attacks. He stated that CPI(ML) will initiate talks with CPI(M) dissidents to build a People’s Democratic Front at state level.

Street Drama to Propagate Land Struggle UNDER THE LEADERSHIP of Land Struggle Committee a 70 minutes long street drama was inaugurated on 20th October at Sultan Battery, Wynad district at a public meeting organised by the committee, addressed by com. KN Ramachandran. The street drama troupe consisting of 5 women include only adivasis and other agricultural workers and it depict the whole saga of how the tillers were deprived of ownership of land in the past and how the struggle should be carried forward with the land to the tiller slogan concludes with The International song. Land Struggle Committee is organising district level jathas with the street drama to intensify the campaign.

Yuvajanavedi Protest Against ICICI

PROTESTING against the decision of the UPA government to allot Rs. 1,000 crores as rescue fund from the State Bank of India to the ICICI which is in crisis due to its speculative activities, Yuvajanavedi organised a demonstration before it at Trichur demanding take over of the these New Generation Banks by the nationalised banks, and end to speculative business by banks and insurance firms.

TN: State Machinery in the Service of Karunanidhi Family AS THE QUARREL between TN Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s family and his sister’s grandchindren over property rights is intensifying, he is utilising the state machinery to protect his children and to put down his rivals in the family. Though this is a usual practice in most of the states, it has taken ugly form in Tamilnadu. Condemning this criminal utilisation of state machinery for his family interests, the Chennai district committee of CPI(ML) made a poster campaign. Enraged by it the MGR Nagar police in Chennai has arrested com. Gajendra Kumar, district secretary and com. S. Shanmugam, DC member on 1st October putting a host of charges against them. Courts are also dancing to the tune of police denying bail. Com. Sundaram, state secretary has issued a statement severely condemning this undemocratic act. State wide postering is done condemning the arrest.

Tata compelled to go away from Singur ULTIMATELY Ratan Tata and Tata Motors were compelled to go away from Singur. Budhadeb Bhattacharjee’s West Bengal had not remained safe for their Nano project. Tata Motors shifted the project to Narendra Modi’s safe Gujarat. From Budhadeb to Manmohan Singh, all of their likes described the development as a sad one when industrialization is the need of the day. Most of the corporate media, Bengal to national level, described the development as negative one and forecasted that it would have long term negative impact on Bengal’s industrial future. Almost every Chamber of Commerce told that such type of experience must be avoided. Some of the industrialists expressed that Tata Motors and the state govt. might avoid such unfortunate development if land owners were offered remunerative price for land. Here it is to be mentioned that Tata Motors have to pay 400 crores of rupees to Gujarat government for 1100 acres of land, where as it was the WB government which spent about 150 crores of rupees from state treasury for compensation to the peasants for 1000 acres of much more fertile land at Singur which was virtually a subsidy to Tata Motors. Tata Motors, keeping nothing camouflaged, came in support of the WB state government by giving advertisement in Bengal’s important news papers and accused Mamta Banarjee and TMC for the development. They openly urged to the Bengal youth to reject the negative politics of Mamta and stand for the state government’s industrialization effort for their future. One year back WB state government forced to abandon Salim project and chemical hub project at Nandigram, now Tata Motors had been forced to abandon Nano project at Singur. Unprecedented people’s resistance movement at Nandigram achieved its victory as the state government ultimately had to withdraw this whole project from there. People’s protest at Singur got its partial victory as Tata Motors shifted their small car project, though they did not hand over their control over the land which was forcefully occupied by the state government two years back.

Though people of Singur did not get back their land, yet the state govt. got a good lesson from Singur, similar to Nandigram. In future they have to think twice before any forceful land acquisition for their pet pro-capitalist pro-imperialist industrialization is taken up. People of Bengal as well as India would get impetus from Nandigram as well as Singur that people’s movement has the strength and vigor to stop, to halt any sort of anti-people onslaught, whether it is forceful land acquisition or any thing else. The negative feature of the situation is that in absence of competent real left alternative Mamta Banarjee and TMC could manage to grab the leadership of the movement and utilize people’s protest in favour of bourgeois opposition interest. They want to capitalize peasant protest to extend their vote bank. If LF government is sponsored by Tata like groups of industries, TMC is sponsored by some or other groups of industries, rivals to Tata. Communists have to take necessary initiatives to build up a real left alternative to lead the people’s movement, otherwise bankrupt policy of out dated social democracy would pave the way for rightwing onslaught in Bengal.

Orissa: Successful Bandh Against Communal Attacks on Christians CPI(ML), CPI(ML) New Democracy, CPI(ML) Liberation, SUCI and Samajbadi Jan Parishad jointly gave a 12 hour South Orissa bundh call in Kandhamal, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Koraput districts on 13th October 2008 and called for all Orissa solidarity action and Black day. It was declared in a joint press conference on 6th October. A continous propaganda was organised through large scale distribution of joint leaflet, including postering, leaflet distribution done by various class mass organisations. Street corner meetings, pada jatras and other propaganda were done in various districts and in many areas to make this bundh a big success. On 13th since morning 5 o’clock the protestors started picketing on various roads, railway lines, etc. The South Orissa bandh in five districts became total success, thousands of common people and minority people came on the road and joined in the protest marches. In some towns more than five thousand people participated in the protest march on the bundh day. CPI(ML) activists with all its cadre force and support base participated in the bundh. In Rayagada and Koraput thousands of CPI(ML) activists joined the bundh. In Bhubaneswar to make the black day a success CPI(ML), TUCI and Basti Surakshya Manch organised thousands of activists who participated in the National Highway blocade and rail roko with others. More than 500 activists were arrested and released after 5 hours detention. CPI(ML) Bhadrak District Committee made all out efforts to make this campaign a big success and organised various programmes, village meetings etc. On 13th a massive demonstration was organised at Tihidi. More than thousand people including women and children participated in the solidarity rally organised by CPI(ML). Jivan-Jivika Surakshya Samiti and Chasi Mulia Samiti, Bhadrak Dist. Committee also organised various programmes. CPI(ML) Puri District committee also called for district wise Blak Day and organise campaign to make this programme success. On 13th a massive rally and demonstration was organised at Puri town.

Convention Against Supreme Court and High Court Verdict

ON 20TH OCTOBER 2008 a mass convention against Supreme Court and Orissa High Court’s anti-people, undemocratic verdict was organised before Orissa State secretariat i.e at Lower P.M.G. on behalf of CPI(ML), CPI(ML) New Democracy, CPI(ML) Liberation, Samajbadi Jan Parishad, Lok Shakti Abhiyan and Lok Pakshya. Various Mass mass movements like Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, Bistapan Birodhi Janmancha, Kalinganagar, Movement against Mittal, Movement against Tata project, and all prominent mass movements participated in this convention. Last August Supreme Court had given a verdict against the movements like anti-Posco and anti-Vedanta to oppose capture of the Govt. lands, and against allowing mining in Niyamgiri. Recently taking plea of a PIL filed by the Tata Company, Orissa High Court given verdict to collect 1 lakh rupees compensation from the leaders of Kalinganagar movement. and issued a notice to its leader to deposit the amount. When the govt, police and administration was unable to smash the movement, the courts are used against the mass movements. So the movements have declared that they will not obey the anti people and undemocratic verdicts of the courts. A mass rally starting from Bhubaneswar Railway Station reached at the convention at Lower PMG.

CPI(ML) Protest Against the Illegal Arrest of Anti-Posco Struggle Leader ORISSA STATE COMMITTEE of CPI(ML) protested against arrest of the leader of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti Comrade Abhaya Sahoo. Since the last 3 years the mass movement was continuing, government and Posco company were unable to procced with the construction work. They were trying to arrest him since last 2 years.Due to illness he was under treatment in a hospital. When he was returning to the movement area police arrested him charging 23 false cases against him and sent to jail. After his arrest govt. and the company had thought that the movement will be weakened. But the real situation is very different. People are in a vigourous spirit to fight against Posco and the comprador govt. Against Abhay Sahoo’s arrest CPI(ML) Bhubaneswar Committee also organised a protest march.