NEW DEMOCRACY Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
having the earlier permission, the rally had to start before all the participants,
May 25, 2017 : 50 Years of Naxalbari Uprising
Homage at Martyrs Column
in Naxalbari; Rally and
Meeting in Siliguri
On the occasion of 50 years of Naxalbari, Committee for Observance
of 50 years of Naxalbari Uprising organized a programme at Siliguri on 25th
May 2017 in which five revolutionary organizations including CPI(ML)-New
Democracy participated. Our party mobilized participants from several
states. Comrades from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh,
Odisha, Punjab and Delhi joined comrades in West Bengal to take part in
the programme, making journeys of over 24 to 48 hours which were stretched
further by delayed trains. A large number of comrades participated in the
programme on behalf of our Party.
Early on 25th May morning, around 200 comrades of the participating
organizations, in which 3/4th were from our party, went in buses to Bengaijote
in Naxalbari where police firing on 25th May 1967 had killed 11 persons
including eight women and two children. A simple red sandstone memorial
bearing the names of the martyrs stands in the grassy knell to mark the
spot where they fell. A line of green stone busts of some of the great
revolutionary teachers along with busts of Com Charu Mazumdar and others,
do not manage to rob the spot of its quiet simplicity. Here, at 9 AM, in the
midst of rousing slogans, leaders of the five organizations paid homage to
the martyrs by garlanding the plaque one after another led by Com. Sushanto
Jha. Slogans were raised in Bengali, English, Hindi, Telugu, Odia, Tamil
and Punjabi. Thereafter representatives of the various State Committees
of CPI(ML)-New Democracy paid homage at the memorial, including Coms.
P. Ranga Rao, P. Prasad, Ram Briksh, Suresh Chand, Bhala Chandra
Shadangi, Dattar Singh, Aparna and others.
The Rally commenced at 12 noon from Siliguri Junction. Due to the
open tilt of the Administration (Siliguri Municipality is under the control of
CPM) towards allowing the Rally of Liberation to proceed first despite our
May, 2017 1 2
including the substantial contingent of CPI(ML)-New Democracy from Bihar
and Odisha, could reach the venue. The large joint banner was succeeded
by comrades of all organizations holding massive red flags, many
participating comrades from all organizations and the comrades who were
from West Bengal raising slogans. The slogans of the lead team upheld
Naxalbari as our path. Behind this leading contingent, the state committees
of our party walked behind their respective banner raising slogans to
Naxalbari martyrs, proclaiming Naxalbari as the path of Indian Revolution,
and hailing Coms. Charu Mazumdar, SN, CP, Raj Kishore, Vempatappu
Satyanaryana, Kailasham and martyrs of Naxalbari, Mushaheri and
Srikakulam. Slogans were also raised hailing Coms. Saroj Dutta, Kishanjee
and others.
Around 3000 strong rally, nearly two third of them from CPI(ML)-New
Democracy, walked through the streets of Siliguri for an hour and a half,
reaching the Indoor Stadium where the mass meeting was held. Here, Com.
Chandan Parmanik invited a five member Presidium on to the stage and
handed over to Com. Puronendu Shekhar Muhkerjee whom the five
organizations committee of West Bengal, which had planned and organized
the programme, had designated as Conductor of the proceedings. The first
item was a resolution placed by the five organizations committee of West
Bengal, condemning the Samadhan policy of the 10 Chief Ministers' meeting
called in early May by the Home Minister Rajnath Singh against Maoists in
Bastar and vowing to oppose this war launched by the Govt. The
proceedings were conducted in Bengali, with some Hindi translations of
announcements.
Before the speakers were called, 5 people from Naxalbari village were
introduced. They were from the families of martyrs or were themselves
participants in the movement. Thereafter West Bengal State Secretary of
CPI(ML)-New Democracy Com. Sushanto Jha was the first speaker. He
emphasized that the programme was being held by five organizations who
upheld the path of Naxalbari as opposed to those who had taken the
parliamentary path. He was succeeded by Com. Somnath Chatterjee from
CPI(ML) State Organizing Committee, West Bengal, who stressed that the
toiling people must oppose the attack by Narendra Modi on Bastar where
armed struggle has being conducted for 40 years. He also highlighted the
importance of the Telengana Armed peasant struggle which had given the
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first epic jolt to the revisionists in India and brought the path of armed
revolution on the agenda. He ended by saying there must be a concrete
programme formulated to oppose the attack on Bastar and support the
movement.
Com. Alok Mukherjee (CCM of CPI(ML) Kanu Sanyal) upheld the path
of Naxalbari and spoke of struggles including the movement in Kashmir.
He was followed by Com. V. K. Patole, Spokesperson of JharkhandBihar
Committee of CPI(ML) New Democracy. Paying homage to the leaders
and martyrs of Naxalbari he spoke of Com. SNS and the movement in
Mushaheri where the first movement after Naxalbari broke out outside West
Bengal, of the movement spreading to Darbhanga, Champaran, Bhojpur
and Rohtas and of the martyrdom of Com. Raj Kishore. He emphasized
that the importance of Naxalbari was that it linked the struggle for land with
the struggle for power. If not linked to land the struggle is anarchism and if
not linked to the struggle for power the land struggle remains only an
economic struggle. He also condemned the repression on ongoing land
struggles of Dalits for their share of land in Sangrur Dist. of Punjab, on the
movement led by revolutionaries of adivasis in defence of Podu lands in
Khammam area of Telengana and he also condemned the attacks of the
Modi Govt. on democratic intellectuals and institutes of higher education.
The next speaker was Com. Sukhendu Sarkar (Shramik Krishak
Sangrami Manch) who referred to an article written by Ashim Chatterjee
and discounted its positions on several counts, particularly the assertion
that Naxalbari took place inspite of Com Charu Mazumdar. He was followed
by Com. Bhala Chandra Shadangi (CPI(ML)-New Democracy spokesperson
of Odisha). He upheld the path of Naxalbari as the road to Indian revolution.
He highlighted that Modi Yogi rule had heightened the danger of Fascism.
All those opposing them are branded as nti-national whether they are by Arunodaya (Andhra Pradesh) and comrades from West Bengal and
CRs, students, democrats, Muslims, Adivasis or Dalits. He said we must
stand with all these sections and also advance the struggle. He hailed the
anti acquisition struggles of the peasantry, the land struggle by Dalits in
Punjab, the struggle in Bastar against which one lakh CRPF has been
pitted, and the struggle for self determination in Kashmir which is facing
the might of the Indian army.
Com. Subodh Mitra (CPI(ML)-Kanu Sanyal) spoke next, paying homage
to all the leaders and martyrs including Coms. Charu Mazumdar, D,V.Rao,
T. Nagi Reddy. He said he wanted to raise certain questions as the issue
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Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
before this meeting was not whether Naxalbari path was still relevant. He
said the ruling classes laid a trap of official land reforms to distract the
movements. The next speaker was Com. Pronob Naik, who commented on
the speeches of some comrades who spoke before him and dealt in detail
with the aspects of the Samadhan policy announced by Rajnath Singh
against CPI(Maoist) in Bastar.
After him Com B. Pradeep (General Secretary of IFTU) addressed the
gathering. He paid homage to the martyrs of Naxalbari and Srikakulam and
to Coms. CM, SN, CP, DV Rao, Nagireddy and others. He emphasized
that the land issue is alive even in Punjab where so many said this issue is
over and capitalist development has occurred. It is also alive in the anti
acquisition struggles. History asserts itself and as Marxist Leninists can
we still say that change in the social structure can be brought about by
parliamentarianism? If we say no changes have taken place in last 50
years we would be dogmatists. Yes there have been changes especially
changes by the policies of globalization but they are not basic in nature
and have not basically altered the situation in India. He ended by saying
we must bring up massive people's struggles around a core of armed
struggle.
President of the meeting Com. Puronendu Shekhar Mukherjee was the
last speaker and he read out from his writings on Development. After he
ended his speech, he called on Harsh Thakor to speak. After his short
intervention, the meeting ended with the singing of the Internationale in
Bengali.
The proceedings of the meeting were enlivened and participants enthused
by revolutionary songs presented by Com. Meghnath (WB), songs including
Telengana along with folk songs and an adivasi dance.
The occasion was momentous, the gathering enthusiastic, energetic,
passionate and many really excited to be in Naxalbari.
May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
ON 50 YEARS OF NAXALBARI
MASSIVE RALLY AT LUDHIANA
A prairie fire that erupted in Naxlbari engulfed the whole country.
Peasants took up arms in Naxalbari, showed the way to the Indian people
for their liberation. It made a complete break with revisionism and neo-
revisionism and upheld Mao Zedong Thought as further development of
Marxism-Leninism. It reaffirmed the programme of New Democratic
Revolution and path of People's War.
To mark the 50 th anniversary of that historic event, Punjab State
Committee of CPI(M-L) New Democracy took initiative to unite all the
communist revolutionary forces to mark this occasion. Five organizations
met and discussed the issue. Differences arose as CPRCI(ML) was not in
favour of holding any open programme and was in favour of joint publications
and small meetings. Other four organization decided to go ahead with the
programme and hold a big mass meeting and Rally in Ludhiana. But later
on CPI(MLM) withdrew from it saying that this is the issue where maximum
programme is to be taken to the masses and they felt constrained in this
joint platform. So the three organizations i.e. CPI(ML)ND, Lok Sangram
Manch and Inqlabi Lok Morcha decided to hold the programme. A joint
poster and a leaflet were issued. Seminars, meetings were held at various
places and hundreds of villages. Memorial meetings were held in the villages
of some of the martyrs of the Naxlbari movement.
On twenty fifth of May thousands of people - workers, peasants,
students, youth and middle class people, men and women thronged the
grain market of Gill road, Ludhiana with great enthusiasm. They were
shouting revolutionary slogans which thundered over the industrial city of
Ludhiana. Meeting started in mood of enthusiasm under the guidance of
the Presidium comprising of Com. Ajmer Singh, senior leader of CPI(ML)ND,
Shinder Singh of Inqlabi Lok Morcha and Com. Balwant Makhu of Lok
Sangram Manch (RDF). Two minute silence was observed to pay homage
to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in Naxlbari movement. Meeting
started with the revolutionary songs by Jugraj and Navdip Dhaula. Com
Kulwinder Singh Waraich conducted the proceedings.
Com. Darshan Singh Khatkar, a senior leader of CPI(ML)ND and a
May, 2017 5 6
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
veteran of Naxlbari movement, while addressing the gathering, said that
Naxalbari was the result of international and national conditions prevailing
at that time. He elaborately dealt with the conditions at that time. He said
break with revisionism and neo revisionism was the landmark of Naxalbari.
He said developments of last fifty years have proved the correctness of
the orientation of naxalbari. When CPI and CPM have joined the ranks of
ruling classes, comrades following the path of Naxalbari are the only political
force fighting for the people. He further said today when communal fascism
is on the offensive and is presently targeting religious minorities, specially
Muslims, Dalits, women and Left, naxalbari politics is the only hope for
Indian people. Com. Lal Singh Golewala of Lok Morcha said that Indian
state is ruling by brute force of military. It has deployed more than five lakh
military in Kashmir and similar number in North East and two lakh para
military force in central India. Com Sukhwinder Kaur of Lok Sangram Manch
narrated the repression on the tribals in the Dandakarnya region to displace
them, so that foreign and native corporate can exploit the rich minerals of
the area. Tribals have no option but to fight and Maosits are leading them
in this fight. Indian state, not the Maoists, are responcible for the violence
in this region.
Later on a rally was taken out on the Gill Road in which thousands who
had gathered for the occasion participated.
May, 2017
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May Day 2017 : Scenario
for Indian Working Class
Aparna
May Day 2017 came a month and two weeks after a district court in
Gurugram (Haryana) sentenced 13 workers-the twelve office bearers of the
workers union and a thirteenth worker, Jiyalal- to life imprisonment for
allegedly murdering an Indian manager in the multinational Maruti. The
prosecution, in this case the Haryana govt., had asked for death sentence.
It cam e a m onth and three days af ter t he Law Com m is sions
recommendation to outlaw strikes by lawyers became public along with
another recommendation opening India for foreign law firms. It came less
than five months since the Labour Secretary of India issued a notice stating
that 9 labour laws need not be implemented by Start-Up companies in the
first three years of existence. It came three months after the Supreme
Court decreed in the context of contract labour that equal pay should be
given for equal work. It comes while the threat of doing away with 44 hard
won labour laws by the Govt. continued to hang like the proverbial Damocles
Sword over the head of the working class of the country.
Attacks on Workers in MNCs
May Day was a pagan spring festival of the western world chiefly
England. In 1886 three lakh workers in America including 40,000 workers
in the city of Chicago observed a days strike for an 8 hour working day as
part of the fight against capitalist exploitation. During a meeting on the
days following there was a sudden bomb explosion in a workers meeting
at Haymarket square following the speeches of the workers leaders. Four
of the workers leaders were sentenced to death in the subsequent trial and
the sentence was executed. In 1889 in Paris, one hundred years after the
Paris Commune, it was decided that May Day would be observed
internationally in memory of the strike by Americas workers. The
revisionists have subsequently tried to make it be observed as a day of
festivities, but it is a day symbolizing the struggle against capitalist
exploitation and for socialism.
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Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
The events at Maruti on 18th July 2012 and the subsequent judgement
bear an uncanny resemblance to the framing at Haymarket. The Maruti
judgement comes as the natural sequel to a sequence of events which
were repeated like photocopies in one Multinational after another in India.
As the movement began for the right to form trade unions in MNCs and for
absorption of the contractual staff or for their rights, a sequence played out
in one affected multinational after another. In Graziano (Italian MNC) in
Greater Noida (UP) 2008, contract workers protesting for weeks suddenly
had a run-in with the guards (they are inevitably bouncers) and in the melee
a HR manager was killed and over 100 workers arrested for murder. The
Govt. of UP responded by making the DM responsible for labour law issues
in the area and developing a Quick Reaction armed force for the area,
which would respond to the call of managements in 10 minutes time. The
case is still pending. Next came Nippon (Sahibabad, UP) where there was
an exactly similar sequence of events. It was followed by Regency Ceramics
in Yanam ( Andhra Pradesh)) where a contract workers leader was also
killed. Several other incidents of such sudden violence in an ongoing
movement in MNCs with workers being arrested en mass for attempted
murder or murder followed. These cases are still pending before courts and
workers are in various jails as workers fled and organizations collapsed
before the sudden violence and all out repression. In this sequence came
the incident in Maruti on July 18th 2012. Hundreds of workers were framed
and 12 office bearers of the union have been sentenced for murder. It is
Indias Haymarket Moment and this May Day the fight for the reversal of
this verdict was the top task before India's working class.
Right to Hire and Fire-Axing Labour Laws
May Day 2017 saw the Central govt. preparing to basically finish off
many hard won labour rights. This is being done innovatively by replacing
44 labour laws- each of them hard won- by four labour codes in the name of
pro worker simplification of the laws. This push has to be seen in the
context of the Central Govt. going all out to open all sectors of India for
FDI and for prostrating itself before imperialism to Make in India using our
cheap labour and our raw materials.
The demand of the imperialist countries for doing away with Indias
labour laws has been voiced since the advent of the New Economic
Policies when a Japanese trade delegation raised objection to the need for
May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
permission before closing down large industrial establishments. The focus
was on the need to do away with protection of employment. Successive
Central govts. since then have had this end in view. It began by offering
massive VRS to govt. employees and public sector workers in the 1990s,
a move abetted by both the reactionary and so called left trade unions. The
news letter for workers of one of the latter unions wrote at that time that
while the trade union activists with stuck-in-the-mud ideas were trying to
prevent them, the workers were laughing all the way to the bank. By the
time the unions moved due to workers resentment there was a new normal.
Govt. then simply stopped forcing VRS and waited for workers to retire,
while filling all empty posts with contract workers. Propaganda has been
on and is intensifying row about industry being handcuffed by labour laws
and by 'inspector raj.
The BJP RSS Modi Govt. has taken on the task of actually consigning
major labour laws to the dustbin in one go. Goebellsian propaganda has
been unleashed making lack of labour flexibility synonymous with industrial
stagnation. While moves to do this have been fought back by the working
class of the country with almost all trade unions except of the party in
power at the Centre opposing them, the struggle has been somewhat fitful.
This is largely because of the consensus on pro imperialist policies among
the parliamentary parties of India. Yet, the Govt, has till now not dared to
actually place any of the new codes for enactment. Its attempt to directly
attack workers access to the massive Provident Fund deposits met such
a mighty challenge in the anger of the textile women workers of Bengaluru
that it was forced to totally withdraw the move. This May Day marked the
need for the working class to remain vigilant on this score. In the Budget
speech this February, the Finance Minister found it necessary to state that
his Govt. would bring on the changes in labour laws this year. It is clear
that the imperialists are pushing for changes and the working class must
be prepared for relentless struggle as unitedly as possible. For this, vigilance
against divisive agenda is the need of the hour but more of that later.
Demand Equal pay for Equal work
While the laws have not been formally changed centrally in the main
yet, changes have been wrought by either openly violating them or
circumventing through Govt circulars or judicial interpretations. In this there
has been total judicial complicity including of the highest court of the country.
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Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
The most important result is the change in the composition of the working
class of India in the last quarter century. The predominant and growing
workforce in the country is either contractual or casual-impermanent
basically. This is the large and growing section even among the Govt.
employees and the public sector. This is while the Contract Labour
(Prohibition and Abolition) Act stands and while all these contract workers
are employed in jobs of permanent and regular nature. Today contractual
employees are dominant even in white collar jobs like journalism, teaching
in both schools and colleges, both doctors and employees in hospitals and
other service sectors. It is estimated that in 2014 (Mint) 47% workers in
automobile sector were contractual,54% were so in energy and utilities,52%
workers were contractual in cement industry and 34% workers were so in
major companies. Whole departments in railways, govt hospitals, power
sector etc are given over to contractual employees. An interesting feature
of Modi govt.s Swach Bharat abhiyan is its deliberate attempt to wipe out
the existence of the Class 4 workers from public memory, while at the
same time finishing off these jobs altogether in regular employment. In
Delhi itself, municipal employees including a massive number of Class 4
workers were driven to strike because they did not receive wages for three
months while the BJP led Corporations and the AAP Delhi Govt. haggled
over who was responsible. Another pertinent figure which shows the state
of permanent jobs is drawn from the public sector. Public sector jobs
dropped in 8 sectors reviewed by the Labour Bureau as
2011-12 700000
2014-15 155000
2.5 times higher daily earning was recorded in the public sector at Rs
945 against Rs388 in private sector in 2011-12.
The irony is that the Supreme Court has, in a judgement this year
reiterated that contract workers should get equal pay for equal work even
while the Law for equal remuneration is to be done away with totally in the
proposed labour code on wages. The sleeping Court was no doubt forced
into pre-emptive action by the spate of brave struggles by contract workers
especially in MNC automobile industries, by several smaller struggles of
contract workers for labour law implementation in public and govt. sectors
in various parts of the country and the imminent threat of a spreading
movement in contract workers. While fighting to defend the existing laws,
May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
struggling for their implementation and to extend rights, this May Day gave
occasion for the working class to focus on the need of raising a powerful
voice for implementation of the Supreme Court judgement. Side by side, it
must be ensured that in jobs of regular nature, even if the contractor is
changed, the workers cannot be changed. This at least gives some job
security to workers, while the struggle is kept up for regularization of contract
workers in regular jobs.
Need to organize the workers in specific sectors
Workers in specific industries also face specific challenges. The
construction industry is today estimated as the sixth largest economic
sector contributing 7.8% of GDP (EMIS Store, Oct 16th 2016). It is one of
the biggest employers after agriculture with an estimated workforce of 35
million and is the second largest receipient of FDI in service sector. The
workers of this industry were badly hit in Modis pro people demonetization country are paid a pittance in the name of a stipend for voluntary work and
exercise. Throughout the country, huge funds are present with the Welfare
Boards of this sector drawn from cess paid by contractors and builders.
Govts. connive to access this money for their own use and the benefits
given to these workers is almost nil where they do not unionize to demand
the same. They must be organized to demand adequate safety kits for
every single worker, an uniform compensation throughout the country for
accidental deaths and disabilities, better conditions of life and work and
other rights ensured for them in the relevant Acts.
Similarly hard hit by demonetization were the workers in the textile
industry which has the largest section of informal workers, primarily women,
attached to it. It contributes 11% to the export kitty and employs 40 million
workers directly and 60 million indirectly (IBEF March 2017).This is another
major employer in the country where labour laws are mostly given a go by.
Women workers in various industries are the most exploited section. In
an interesting example, women attending an 8th March rally in Delhi asserted
that they did the same work as other contract workers in Delhi airport for
the same number of hours but received two third of the wages. A similar
complaint is raised by the women working in at least one of the hospitals in
Singareni collieries in Telengana. Recently, the Modi govt, in a bid to win
over the women workers and to establish credibility for its proposed changes
in labour laws enacted some changes in the Maternity Benefits Act. The
so called benefits are cosmetic because they are only one more reason
May, 2017 11
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
to not employ women workers where there is scope to force implementation
of the law. The vast majority of the women workforce-almost 98%- is just
unprotected by labour laws like Maternity Benefit Act as they are also not
covered by ESI services which ought to be compulsorily enforced. In the
overwhelming number of cases in the overwhelming number of sectors,
women work for as long as possible during pregnancy and then usually
have to leave jobs or at best take a few weeks off and then manage with
helpful relatives. For that matter there is an Act compulsorily providing for
crches run by employers where ever more than 35 women are employed.
All Labour Commissioners, all Labour Ministers and all Judges must be
blind if they have never observed that there are no such crches in the
vast parts of the country including most probably in their own places of
work. Another seriously exploited section of workers , entirely women, are
the ASHA and anganwadi workers. The ASHA workers throughout the
then allowed to draw ommisions per case which are grandly quoted by
authorities as though they are the source of a living wage. Yet on the
shoulders of these workers India has been declared polio free. Anganwadi
workers have in various states over the years gradually inched up their
wage through struggles, but neither is entitled to either minimum wages or
to statutory rights like ESI or PF.
On 29th May 2017, Labour Minister Duttatreya spoke of 40 crore women
employed as ASHA and Anganwadi (ET, 30th May 2017) and said that
they would get yet another number : U-WIN i.e. Unorganized Worker
Identification Number and be put under the Atal Pension Yojna Scheme.
So no minimum wages and no ESI. Rather, the Minister also announced
that the new Labour Code- which makes minimum wages virtually
unenforceable by Labour Depts.- would be presented before the next session
of Parliament.
Yet among the major struggles of the past few years are the struggle of
the women garment workers of Bengaluru who fought to defend the right to
access PF for the whole working class and the women tea garden workers
of Kerala who shunned pro management unions and fought their own battle
against the employers for their demands. Recently thousands of anganwadi
workers laid siege to Bengaluru and sat on indefinite dharna for days for
their demands. The organization of the women workforce in the country
remains an important task before the trade union movement this May Day.
12 May, 2017
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It is imperative in order to strengthen the fighting capacity of the working
class especially when the attack on its existing rights on paper is so serious.
Class United can Defeat divisive Agenda
The single biggest threat to united action to beat back attack on labour
laws and to ensure implementation of basic rights to various sections is
the divisive agenda of the BJP RSS Govt. of Modi. Minorities, especially
Muslims, are being targeted in a myriad of ways and the discourse is being
openly communalized to disrupt the unity of the people. The working class
must remain alert against this disruption. Communalism and casteism are
the weapons of the rulers against the unity of the working class. This May
Day 2017, the working class of India faced with the challenge to maintain
class unity for united actions for class interests.
We must also be perceptive to the fallout of Govts strategies. For
instance was the ban on illegal slaughter houses in Uttar Pradesh. Now
teh Govt. has announced ruled reagrding the sale and purchase of cattle
for slaughter of animal fairs. No one can make a case for allowing illegal
units to run. However the method of implementation with vigilante squads,
has led to a shut down of the total industry. This in turn has an impact on
the jobs of the workers employed in this industry as also on the estimated
2.5 million workers employed with the leather industry. There are better
ways to ensure registration of all units, but in this manner a fascist method
is being made acceptable, the real target are the Muslims who are the
largest section engaged in different aspects of this trade and also Dalits
who are the section involved in dealing with dead cattle for recovery of
skin.The all India order is going to impact India's leather indusry which is
worth 13 billion dollars (Economic Times, 30th May 2017). Leather had
been identified as a focus sector under Make In India, expected to grow to
27 billion dollars by 2020. The challenge before the working class to retain
class clarity, distinguish issues, oppose communal attacks and atrocities
against Dalits and insist on democratic methods is great indeed.
May, 2017 13
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
Tribals Struggle in Chettupalli
Village (Telengana) in Defence of
Their Land
Exposing that its electoral promises were totally hollow, KCR's TRS
Govt of Telengana has launched an all out offensive against land being
cultivated by Adivasis and non tribal poor. The KCR Govt. came to power
in June 2014 and 30 months have passed since then. In the election
manifesto, KCR promised that the TRS would give 3 acres of land to each
Adivasi and Dalit family by purchasing land. Not even one cent of land has
been given to Adivasis and distribution of land to Dalit families is farcical.
On the other hand the Govt. is evicting the Adivasis and poor non tribals
from land they have been cultivating for years together, some for close to
four decades. This is when they are entitled to pattas for the land under the
Forest Rights Act 2006. They are doing this also on land for which the
Tribals have already been issued patta certificates earlier. This offensive
was started last year itself in the name of Harithaharam (Green Belt) and
crops over thousands of acres were damaged in the adivasi areas. This
year, from February itself, eviction was begun well in advance of the sowing
season by digging trenches in the cultivated land using JCBs. Forest officers
performing this task are accompanied by strong police force who are under
direction of the state Govt. to evict the cultivators.
In Kothagudem District, this digging of trenches with JCBs to render
land uncultivable has begun in Illendu, Tekulaplli, Gundala, Allapalli and
Bayaram Mandals. It is accompanied by high pitched Govt. propaganda
that the Tribals and other poor are cultivating the land illegally. Along with
it is attacking them physically, damaging them economically and freely
foisting false cases against the protesting people. Where Tribals are not
organized it is able to attack more freely. In these areas there is presence
of the revolutionary movement and here the people are coming forward to
defend their land. Here the Govt. is trying to drive a wedge between Tribals
and non tribals, locals and outsiders and instigating the people against
each other.
Resistance of the People of Chettupalli
In this background, on 27th March 2017 at noon forest officials along
14 May, 2017
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with police and two JCBs came to Regulagudem, a hamlet of Chettupalli
Village panchayat and started digging trenches, trying to occupy 500 acres
of land. About 50 people gathered, mostly women, and appealed to them
not to dig trenches and tried to stop the digging. Foul and filthy language
was used against the women and the people were threatened but the people
did not scatter and rather continued to question the officials. As the people
were in smaller number and the officials and police were in large numbers
so the people were not able to stop the team or resist adequately. Keeping
this experience in mind over 500 people were mobilized from surrounding
nearby villages and prepared for resistance. On 28th March, forest officers
and police returned to Regulagudem and Chettupalli. They brought two JCBs
with them. Seeing the JCBs the people gathered and stopped the JCBs,
questioning the Forest officials and the police on why they were being
forcibly evicted from their only source of livelihood. The memories of the
incidents last year when Forest officials had damaged standing crops by
running tractors over them, made the people even more apprehensive. When
the police did not withdraw, the anger of the people burst forth. Even as the
JCBs were entering the land, in the melee one JCB and three motorcycles
of the forest officials were damaged, with police claiming they were set on
fire by the villagers. The TRS Govt. is entirely responsible for this clash,
as the people have been pushed to the edge by the repeated attacks by
the Forest officials on their lands which they have been cultivating for
years and which is the only source of their livelihood.
Using this incident as a pretext and seizing the opportunity, Forest
officials called up police from three police stations and raided the hamlet
and Chettupalli village. They bet up and injured 15 women and 20 men,
ironically booked the tribal people under the Forest Rights Act and took
away 4 tractors and 15 motorcycles belonging to the families there. They
also foisted another false case on 104 people. Now they are daily threatening
the people with arrests, calling on them to surrender and threatening to
confiscate their belongings, terrorizing them in various ways to break their
resistance to surrendering their land.
Police has gone to town propagating cooked up stories, insisting that
armed squads of CPI(ML)-New Democracy were responsible, though the
incident took place in the middle of the afternoon i.e. in broad daylight and
hundreds of people participated directly and angrily. Police and forest officers
are also hard at work trying to divide the people by asserting that they had
only gone to secure the land occupied by non tribals- that too not from the
May, 2017 15
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
poor but from those who have occupied hundreds of acres of forest land.
This false propaganda is with the sole intention of carrying on their drive to
dispossess the Tribals and non tribal poor in these areas of land they have
been cultivating for years. Last year acres of crops were damaged just
before harvesting began; this year, survey of Illendu area has been
completed in 5 mandals and the process of eviction by digging trenches
with JCBs had already commenced. This is what resulted in an angry fight
back by the people who had no other option to save the source of their
livelihood other than defending their land. The struggle of the people of
Chettupalli is part of this fightback.
It is clear that the Govt. of Telengana will try to occupy podu lands in
other districts also and the task of defending the land will be faced by other
districts also. Meanwhile state level teams of AIKMS and POW leaders
have visited the Chettupalli villages and given confidence to the people in
the face of the police crackdown against them. It is clear that the people in
other areas will also need to organize and resist the eviction teams en
masse, while continually propaganda needs to be carried out exposing the
heinous designs of the state Govt. against the Tribal and poor people.
The Party should lead the people to form Protection Committees of
Podu lands in different local areas, step up a campaign to dispel
disinformation against the Tribals being spread by the State Govt through
newspapers and above all prepare the Tribals and non tribal poor for actively
resisting en masse the attempts to evict them from their sources of
livelihood. On the one hand the Telengana Govt. has handed over seven
forest mandals for drowning by the waters of the Polavaram Dam to AP
Govt. after registering only a token protest and thus betraying the Movement
for Telengana state. This will destroy pristine forests and displace thousands
of tribals robbing them of their traditional habitat. On the other hand the
Telengana Govt. is going all out to deprive the Tribals the keepers of the
Forests- of their traditional habitats and their lands in the name of, strangely,
saving forests. It is uncontested throughout India that Tribals thus
displaced in the name of both development and protection of forests
over decades end up as cheap labour in the cities leading impoverished
lives and tribal culture and way of life is totally ruined. Thus, along with
preparing the Tribals and poor for direct, concerted, firm resistance against
attempts at dispossession, the democratic movement must be mobilized
against the anti people anti tribal measures of the Telengana Govt.
16 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
Kashmiri women and the
Movement for Self determination
As late as the end of March 2017, pictures were flashing across
television screens and in social media of hundreds of women in the Kashmir
valley, angry faces exposed, crowding around Indias army contingent which
is trying to target some house in the background. There are also images of
thousands of women and youth throwing stones at the Army personnel
firing into some house where armed or otherwise Kashmiri youth are holed
up and one can almost hear the vibrant, defiant slogans of zadi raised
as the amassed people attempt to stop the attack. It is about these
thousands of women and youth that the Army chief of India had recently
threatened that those attempting to protect what he called terrorists, would
be treated as terrorists themselves. In fact, even in the latest such incidents,
there have been civilian deaths as the people, predominantly women,
attempted to foil the Army in such attacks.
The situation markedly intensified in April 2017. With the backdrop of
an ongoing stir against elections and the Army tying a young Kashmiri to
the front of its jeep as a human shield, the armed forces entered a Degree
college in Pulwama in their search operations on 17th April 2017. In the
ensuing events 54 students were injured. Students throughout the Valley
went on strike and the insensitive state Govt. promptly closed down all
educational institutions for a week. The college and school students are
out on the streets and this time the women and girl students were
predominant. In fact the streets have been taken over by angry schoolgirls
and this is a new feature of the movement. The Govt. of PDP-BJP has
responded with tear gas spraying and pellet firing police and on 26th April
three students sustained injuries in Pulwama, with one, a girl, sustaining
pellet injury.
Why were these thousands and thousands of women and now these
thousands upon thousands of schoolgirls and women students pouring out
into the streets, blocking the movement of Indias army in various parts of
Kashmir and protecting the youth of Kashmir, armed or otherwise, uncaring
about their own lives and security? What is giving these women of Kashmir,
primarily an agrarian society (around 90% agricultural households among
the rural households accoding to NSSO agricultual census 2011) and
May, 2017
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
predominantly Muslim, the courage to expose their faces openly while
confronting the Indian Army and to also withstand weeks and weeks of
curfews at a time for years and years, denial of civic amenities and civil
rights, rapes and sexual harassment by Indias armed forces, deaths of
near and dear ones and even decades of life as half widows?
In the introductory chapter of Womens testimonies-Green of the Valley
is Khaki is a line about these women, They are the ground which sustains
life in the midst of death.... To understand why the women of Kashmir are
on the streets fighting and why they raise the slogan of Azadi it would be
appropriate to take a quick look at the history of the movement for self
determination which is on in the Kashmir Valley.
THE BACKDROP
The Dogra King of Jammu bought Kashmir valley from the British
colonialists around 1846. Jammu and Kashmir was a separate kingdom
under British suzerainty. Within this state, a democratic movement began
under Sheikh Abdullah of National Conference against the feudal Dogra
king and this agitation also demanded land reforms in the state. This powerful
movement challenged the feudal rule. The National Conference also
mobilized the women of the state in this struggle and there were a number
of all womens rallies in the state in the leadership of the women leaders of
the National Conference. In 1931 a woman named Fazli died when the
Kings military opened fire in Srinagar against people protesting against
the arrest of Abdullah, another woman (Sajida Bano) was killed in Shopian.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir became a part of India as a result of
the conditional document of Accession signed by its Dogra King in 1947.
India was engulfed in a communal holocaust and partitioned in 1947 by the
British with the agreement of the ruling classes of India. The over 500
small kingdoms under the British in this area were given the option of being
part of either India or Pakistan. In Junagarh there was a Muslim king with
predominantly Hindu subjects, hence a referendum was conducted there
to decide which option would be taken. In J&K, the King had been toying
with the idea of an independent state but took the option of conditional
accession to India when tribals from Pakistan entered Kashmir valley. At
that time he was assured by Indian govt. that the will of the people of the
state would be subsequently ascertained and they would be able to decide
by majority whether they wanted to go with Pakistan or be part of India.
17 18 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
The same commitment was given by the Govts of both India and Pakistan
in the cease fire agreement before the UN in 1950. The willingness of
Sheikh Abdullah for accession to India, which he perceived as a secular
state, was also an important factor in the conditional accession. It is also
relevant to remember that the demography of Muslim majority Jammu had
by then been changed in the course of communal violence unleashed in
1947, in which the forces of the Dogra king led the aggressors.
Subsequent to 1950 J and K remained a state under dominance of
Indias army with the Govt. pouring armed forces into the state. Democratic
rights were impinged upon and the special status granted to the state was
constantly violated. Sheikh Abdullah was jailed by the Congress govt. at
the Centre and puppet Govts were installed in the state. The elections to
the state Assembly after the Sheikhs death saw intense participation by
the youth of the Valley and the rigging of those elections in favour of
Farooq Abdullah turned the youth of Kashmir towards building militant
movement for the right of the state to determine its own future. The
demography of Jammu had already been changed by communal violence;
sustained efforts have continued since by the Indian ruling classes to
communalize the struggle for the right to self determination of the state
and it is now primarily a struggle of the Kashmiris i.e. of the Valley.
Since the last decade or so, one feature of the movement for self
determination which has been on in the Kashmir Valley, has come to the
fore. It is the pouring out of masses of villagers onto the roads and highways
to participate in protests. The form closely resembles the Intifada struggle
of the Palestinian people. One of the earliest such protests in Kashmir
was after the fake encounters following the massacre of Sikh residents of
the valley just prior to the Clinton visit to India. This form has also evolved
and now there are massive outpourings of women protestors who not only
oppose Army actions but also play a far more active role in the movement
in large numbers.
Women Join the movement
Most narratives maintain that women began actively participating in
the movement for self determination from the 1990s. Initially they were
part of the general resistance of the Kashmiri people to increasing repression
by the Army and paramilitary on the movement for self determination. They
helped to hide militants, served as couriers, helped to mislead security
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Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
personnel in search operations. The army of India behaved as an occupation
force.
In 1991 came the mass gang rapes by the Army in Kunan Poshpora.
On 23rd February, Army personnel from the 4th Rajputana Rifles entered the
villages of Kunan Poshpora late at night. Declaring a surround and search
operation, they made all the men leave the village. Then they gangraped
the women present, not sparing even the old women. The number of women
gangraped that night has been placed variably. What is important is that
from within Kashmir as well as from the democratic movement in the rest
of India efforts were made to document the gangrapes and approach the
civilian criminal courts for justice, but to no avail. The Armed Forces Special
powers Act (AFSPA) was in force in the state and all acts committed in the
name of performing duty were just that-duty! The issue also went to the
army courts but till today-26 years later, no one in the Army is guilty of
committing those rapes. Thus has the Indian state and especially the
Judiciary too, betrayed the women of Kashmir valley.
The single most important factor driving women to actively take part in
the movement for self determination has been human rights violations by
the armed forces of India including sexual violations of Kashmiri women
with no avenue at all for justice in the latter cases. Husbands, fathers,
brothers and sons dragged out of homes by security forces and never
returning. Children killed before the eyes of mothers. Encounters, in which
the youth of the valley are killed and buried in unmarked graves. And, all
along, an attack on the basic democratic rights and a total denial of any
right to self determination by the political order of the country. It is these
that have fuelled hatred for the way India is treating the people of Kashmir
and led to further and further alienation. Thus the Azadi demanded is also
an azadi from the rule of the armed forces of India.
Womens Organizations
Two major womens organizations were also formed in the course of the
struggle, though they differed on the course in accordance with the main
trends in the movement for self determination itself. In 1981 was formed
the Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the Faith). In 1987 it fought for state
wide reservation for women in buses. It also took up some anti dowry
actions. In 1990 on March 14th it called for a march to the UN office in
Srinagar to demand that the agreement before the UN be implemented. In
20 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
1994, they called on women to pick up the knife against sexual harassment.
The DeM chief, Asiya Andrabi, has several times given interviews that her
organization wants that the state should be able to be a part of Pakistan
(one of the two options available to Jand K as per the UN Agreement of
1950.) Along with this understanding, which is also the understanding of
many forces in the movement who are represented in the All Party Hurriyat
Conference (APHC) which is an umbrella organization of several forces
fighting for the right to self determination, the DeM prescribes that Kashmiri
women should strictly adhere to the veil. In 2001, it again took up a campaign
for rigid enforcement of the burqa, which earned it the ire of college going
Kashmiri women students among others. This campaign was criticized by
the militant organizations like Harkat e Muzahideen and Hizbul
Muzahideen and also by the APHC. In 2002, this organization was banned
by the J and K Govt. and its leader, Asiya, arrested under POTA. However
in 2006, it took up a powerful exposure of sex scandals of high officials in
J and K involving the exploitation of women of Kashmir. Refusing CBI
investigation, in an interview in Kashmir Observer (a daily paper in the
state), Asiya stated, we never had faith in the CBI. We never trust Indian
judiciary ....... India, under a craftily hatched conspiracy to keep Kashmiris
slaves forever, is using rape and sex scandals as weapons of war..... The
Govt. of India and the Jand K Govt. slandered the movement while
repressing it with jail terms, but despite that thousands of Kashmiri women
joined the protests. D-e-M leader Asiya has been unhesitant in declaring
that Kashmiri women will not pick up guns until the men are all dead. The
organization is strict that women cannot be combatants or suicide bombers
as the body of the women would be exposed to male gaze.
The other organization was the Muslim Khawateen Markaz (MKM) which
started in 1986 as social workers. In 1990, after the Gaunkadal blast in
which Indias armed forces killed 60 Kashmiris, this organization joined
the Azadi movement for self determination. Similar to the understanding
of the JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front) this organization too stood
for an independent Kashmir, an option not part of the UN resolution. Thus
this organization advocated respect for all religions and wanted women to
dress to conscience holding that jism pe libas is like purdah and the grab in the state in 2008 when land was being acquired in the name of the
only requirement is that the contours of the body of women and their hair
should not be revealed. They also wanted that Kashmiri pundits should
return to their homeland. The MKM chief saved the life of JKLF leader
Hamid Shaik. These women were familiar in Kashmir working as guards at
May, 2017 21
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
street corners and sounding alarms to indicate the movement of the security
forces, 'blocking narrow allies and twisted staircases' so that the movement
of the armed forces was hampered, collecting money for bails and arranging
for food and clothing for the militants.
The APHC has several womens groups in its constituents. Apart from
the D-e-M there is one faction of the earlier MKM, and also the J and K
mass movement led by Fareeda Dar. Zamrude Habib earlier headed one
faction of MKM and has now formed the AFKP-Association of Families of
Kashmiri Prisoners. Another woman, Praveena, heads the Association of
Parents of Disappeared Persons- the APDP. All these women leaders and
so many others besides them have been steeled in the struggle for self
determination, have gone through long jail terms and lost loved ones in this
struggle.
Kashmiri women and the security forces of India
Kashmiri women are victims of the Indian state. They have borne the
patriarchal attack of Indias army on the morale and psyche of the Kashmiri
people by dishonouring its women. Rape and molestation are also being
used as instruments of repression. They are also bearing the feudal
patriarchal culture of their own society, where raped women of Kunan
Poshpora find themselves being rejected by their own society, where half
widows fend for themselves often without the familys support etc. There
are reported to be 11,000 widows in the Valley and around 6000 half widows
- women who do not know whether their husbands are alive even years
after they disappeared-either arrested, or killed or fled. When families
lose the male members, the responsibility of carrying on economic activity
in the family falls on the women. Most of the disappearances take place in
rural areas where usually the women are completely economically dependent
on the men in the family.There seems to be no tradition of the movement or
society chipping in to help such families. This does not seem to deter the
people or maybe the repression does not allow them to choose.
Women participated in huge numbers in the movement against land
Amarnath Yatra Trust. This movement attracted middle class women and
women students as well. In 2010, 16 year old Farooq was killed on the
street and in the ensuing protests women came out in thousands and even
held separate marches. Then came the deaths of two young women in
22 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
Shopian, the prosperous apple town of Kashmir. Two sisters in law went
for a walk in their family orchards and ended up being found dead in a
shallow gutter near their land. Govt ignored the presence of a paramilitary
camp close to the orchard, resorted to illogical evidence to deny rape and
instead insisted on death by drowning in the ankle deep water. A massive
protest movement ensued demanding Azadi and it led to a shut down for
days in the entire Valley and for months in the district.
In the protests following the killing of Burhan Wani in 2016, out of the
first 65 dead, three were women, 400 women were among those seriously
injured and a young girl was among the first to lose her vision to pellets
fired by the Army. Yet they continued flooding the streets in protests against
the Army and for Azadi. They flooded alleys and blocked roads to hamper
the Armys movement. They turned up in thousands in funeral processions.
And so is the movement still on.
The 2001 census showed female literacy to be 41.82% in J and K; the
sex ratio was 1000 men to 943 women in 2011 and female literacy 65.4%.
The best documented and most terrible mass gang rape by the Indian
Army in Kashmir was in the villages of Kunan Pospora, in the course of so
called search operations on 23rd February 1991. Those were, however not
the only cases. The rape and death of Zubeda Akhtar of DooruIslamaba,
Tobanida Ghani of Bhatpora Langate, the deaths of young Asiya and Nilofer
in Shopian are also only a few of the total incidents of sexual violence . In
Dardpora close to the LOC in Kupwara district, there are no men and the
women all half widows. So now even memory has become a form of
resistance. Kashmiri women and students are taking to poetry, to film
documentation, to record the pain of their people, their conviction in their
right to azadi and their willingness to sacrifice. Essar Bathol, the petitioner
in civil courts in the cases of Kunan Poshpora has co authored a book-Do
You remember Kunan Poshpora?. University student, film maker and poet
Uzma Falak writes of her land-
Memory is not a victim but a survivor
Like grandmothers, daughters, fathers, brothers
Women, men and children of Kunan and Poshpora, Shopian,
Handwar, Dardpur, Kupwara, Uri, Srinagar, Kishtwar....
Memory is a festering wound.
May, 2017 23
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
Missiles and MOAB :
Message To Russia
Donald Trump is nothing if not a businessman. He knows how to sell
his ware or, more importantly to produce what is going to sell. In his
campaign to become President, Trump took the posture of an outsider to
cater to the anti-establishment mood among the people. That he could sell
this newly adorned image speaks volumes of the need of the ruling elite to
hoodwink the people and also persistent propaganda of the corporate media
which kept describing this deep insider as a rank outsider and anti-
establishment. So pervading was this propaganda that many believed it
despite the fact that Trump had received more media space than all other
candidates combined. In fact this was a sort of pre-emptive strike by the
establishment so that the anti-establishment mood sweeping the people
does not throw up any surprise. And they are good at it, having done it in
country after country, India not excepted.
This mood centred on kowtowing of the establishment to the interests
of big capitalists or what is called Wall Street and secondly perpetual wars
being perpetrated by the establishment. During the campaign Trump
dramatically took up cudgels against the establishment, asserted that he
would challenge Wall Street and that he was against the wars being
engineered by US Admn. world over. He praised Russian President Putin
and vowed to work with him to establish peace in different regions of the
world. To send proper signals to the disillusioned common people he vowed
to target China and bring back jobs. In a way he had woven a narrative that
the establishment was ignoring US citizens and throwing money around
the world, a process he vowed to reverse. He had also praised WikiLeaks
during the campaign for having exposed the US establishment. He was
helped by the exposures relating to the campaign of his rival, Hillary Clinton,
which were ascribed to Russian Govt.
Having done and dusted the election, Trump switched off the anti-
establishment mode and switched on a most brazen establishment mode.
To the economic ministries he appointed those openly linked to Wall Street
and to defence and foreign affairs the military men. He entrusted the
exploitation at home to big business and plunder abroad to military men.
24 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
However, those he had grounded in his campaign to be US President
encircled him with enquiries relating to interference in US presidential election
by Russian Govt., in particular Trump campaign's links with Russian Govt.
At root lay the larger question of making friends with Russia and abandoning
the US project of wresting more and more of Eastern Europe and bringing
it under the umbrella of US military. Europe continues to be one of the
main arenas of struggle between the two biggest military powers in the
world, US imperialism and Russian imperialism. US establishment is not
about to abandon this project, nor to concede ground to Russia in the Middle-
East.
Cornered, Trump did what most US presidents have done in such
situations. He has sought to bomb his way out. He rained missiles at an
airbase in Syria after alleged chemical weapon attack by Syrian Govt.
against civilians, which they deny and which UN says cannot be proved.
He threw the mother of all bombs on Afghanistan, a 98 quintal bomb with a
nuclear weapon like mushroom, allegedly against Islamic State there.
Through these attacks, he spawned a new narrative, turned foes into friends
and threw away all pretence of not wanting to be embroiled in wars abroad.
Enlightenment dawned on him on April 12 that NATO was no longer obsolete
as he had been saying earlier. In a few days, he came full circle and
embraced the designs of the US establishment, variously called the Deep
State. As a good businessman, he instinctively knew that the other course
was risky and good business management is risk aversion.
Having thrown his aversion to wars abroad overboard, what is left is an
outright reactionary, anti-immigrant particularly those from third world
countries and anti-worker policy framework. Attacks on Asian immigrants
are on the rise, including against the people from India. What is left to be
rued is the nebulous character of the anti-establishment in the western
countries where corporate media has spewed so much venom against
socialism and communism though socialism remains the only way out for
these crisis ridden economies and societies. How this anti-establishment
is being repeatedly highjacked by the new characters with old policies, this
deep addiction to old wine in new bottles!
But the developments demonstrate the underlying drive of US
imperialism to attempt to roll back the developments in the world. No
superpower ever has consented to decline with dignity. And none has worked
to share or hand over the reins to its rivals. There is an urge to somehow
May, 2017 25
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
maintain the status quo ante, somehow stop the wheel of time, somehow
wish away the signs of age, but it always recoils, boomerangs with unfailing
certainty.
Missiles fired by US at Syrian airbase, most of which did not reach the
target, or the MOAB dropped on Afghanistan, probably on an uninhabited
area, were targeted not at Assad or IS but at Russia for having ventured to
become the arbiter of the destiny of the areas without even participation of
US. Ceasefire in Syria where US has been replaced by Turkey as a guarantor
or deciding the future of Afghanistan where Russia sat at a high table with
China and Pakistan or Russian forays into North Africa: for all these a
strong message had to be sent to Russia. MOAB and missiles were used
as messengers. W hat better place to take a last ditch stand than
Afghanistan, this historic final resting place of empires run amok. Moreover,
a message had to be sent to Europe also that the rumours of the demise of
US superpower are exaggerated. In sending all these messages, Trumps
own message that he sought to give during his campaign has been lost.
But who bothers when so much is at stake, when Trump & family have so
many skeletons in their cupboard. People have been hoodwinked but they
always are by predatory big capital. There is no surprise here except that it
came too soon!
Trump was no anti-war candidate and is no anti-war President. What he
stands for is sharing the cost of military adventures of US imperialism by
its allies. That Trump would keep on harping and forcing on the allies.
What he has done away with is not military adventurism but avowed planks
of 'human rights' and 'nation building' thereby embracing monarchs and
dictators, not in shady rooms of conferences and meetings but openly in
full media glare. All that they have to do is pay up. And that they find a
small price to pay to be kept in power.
26 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
NAXALBARI IN THE EYES OF CHINESE COMRADES
SPRING THUNDER OVER INDIA
[We reproduce from Indian journals the following editorial in the Peking PEOPLES
DAILY of July 5, 1967
-Editor, LIBERATION ]
A peal of spring thunder has crashed over the land of India. Revolutionary
peasants in the Darjeeling area have risen in rebellion. Under the leadership
of a revolutionary group of the Indian Communist Party, a red area of rural
revolutionary armed struggle has been established in India. This is a
development of tremendous significance for the Indian peoples revolutionary
struggle.
In the past few months, the peasant masses in this area, led by the
revolutionary group of the Indian Communist Party, have thrown off the
shackles of modern revisionism and smashed the trammels that bound
them. They have seized grain, land and weapons from the landlords and
plantation owners, punished the local tyrants and wicked gentry, and
ambushed the reactionary troops and police that went to suppress them
thus demonstrating the enormous might of the peasants revolutionary armed
struggle. All imperialists, revisionists, corrupt officials, local tyrants and
wicked gentry, and reactionary army and police are nothing in the eyes of
the revolutionary peasants who are determined to strike them down to the
dust. The absolutely correct thing as been done by the revolutionary group
of the Indian Communist Party and they have done it will. The Chinese
people joyfully applaud this revolutionary storm of the Indian peasants in
the Darjeeling area as do all Marxist-Leninists and revolutionary people of
the whole world.
It is an inevitability that the India peasants will rebel and the Indian
people will make revolution because the reactionary Congress rule has left
them with no alternative. India under Congress rule is only nominally
independent; in fact, it is nothing more than a semi-colonial, semi-feudal
country. The Congress administration represents not only the interests of
the Indian feudal princes, but landlords and bureaucrat-comprador
capitalists. Internally, it oppresses the Indian people without any mercy
and sucks their blood, while internationally it serves the new boss, U.S.
May, 2017 27
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
imperialism, and its number one accomplice, the Soviet revisionist ruling
clique, in addition to its old suzerain British imperialism, thus selling out
the national interests of India in a big way. So imperialism, Soviet
revisionism, feudalism and bureaucrat-comprador capitalism weigh like big
mountains on the backs of the Indian people, especially on the toiling
masses of workers and peasants.
The Congress administration has intensified its suppression and
exploitation of the Indian people and pursued a policy of national betrayal
during the past few years. Famine has stalked the land year after year.
The fields are strewn with the bodies of those who have died of hunger and
starvation. The Indian people, above all, the Indian peasants, have found
life impossible for them. The revolutionary peasants in the Darjeeling area
have now risen in rebellion, in violent revolution. This is the prelude to a
violent revolution by the hundreds of millions of people throughout India.
The Indian people will certainly cast away these big mountains off their
backs and win complete emancipation. This is the general trend of Indian
history which no force on earth can check or hinder.
What road is to be follow by the Indian revolution? This is a fundamental
question affecting the success of the Indian revolution and the destiny of
the 500 million Indian people. The Indian revolution must take the road of
relying on the peasants, establishing base areas in the countryside,
persisting in protracted armed struggle and using the countryside to encircle
and finally capture the cities. This is Mao Tse-Tungs road, the road that
has led the Chinese revolution to victory, and the only road to victory for
the revolution of all oppressed nations and peoples.
Our great leader, Chairman Mao Tse-tung, pointed out as long as 40
years ago : In Chinas central, southern and northern provinces, several
hundred million peasants will rise like a mighty storm, like a hurricane, a
force so swift and violent that no power, however great, will be able to hold
it back. They will smash all the trammels that bind them and rush forward
along the road to liberation. They will sweep all the imperialists, war lords,
corrupt officials, local tyrants and evil gentry into their graves.
Chairman Mao explicitly pointed out long ago that the peasant question
occupies an extremely important place in the peoples revolution. The
peasants constitute the main force in the national-democratic revolution
against imperialism and its lackeys; they are the most reliable and numerous
allies of the proletariat. India is a vast Semi-colonial and semi-feudal country
28 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
with a population of 509 million, the absolute majority of which, the
peasantry, once aroused, will become the invincible force of the Indian
revolution. By integrating itself with the peasants, the Indian proletariat will
be able to bring about earth shaking changes in the vast countryside of
India and defeat any powerful enemy in a soul-stirring peoples war.
Our great leader, Chairman Mao, teaches us : the seizure of power by
armed force, the settlement of the issue by war, is the central task and the
highest form of revolution. This Marxist-Leninist principle of revolution holds
good universally, for China and for all other countries.
The Specific feature of Indian revolution, like that of the Chinese
revolution, is armed revolution fighting against armed counter-revolution.
Armed struggle is the only correct road for the Indian revolution; there is no
other road whatsoever. Such trash as Gandhi-ism, parliamentary road and they wail in alarm that the peasants revolt in Darjeeling will become a
and the like are opium used by the Indian ruling classes to paralyze the
Indian people. Only by relying on violent revolution and taking the road of
armed struggle can India be saved and the Indian people achieve complete
liberation. Specifically, this is to arouse the peasant masses boldly, build
up and expand the revolutionary armed forces, deal blows at the armed
suppression of the imperialist and reactionaries who are temporarily stronger
than the revolutionary forces, by using the whole set of the flexible strategy
and tactics of peoples war personally worked out by Chairman Mao, and
to persist in protracted armed struggle and seize victory of the revolution
step by step.
In the light of the characteristics of the Chinese revolution, our great
leader, Chairman Mao, has pointed out the importance of establishing
revolutionary rural base areas. Chairman Mao teaches us : In order to persist
in protracted armed struggle and defeat imperialism and its lackeys, it is
imperative for the revolutionary ranks to turn the backward villages into
advanced, consolidated base areas, into great military, political, economic
and cultural bastions of the revolution from which to fight their vicious
enemies who are using the cities for attacks on the rural districts, and in
this way gradually to achieve the complete victory of the revolution through
protracted fighting.
India is a country with vast territory; its countryside where the reactionary
rule is weak, provides the broad areas in which the revolutionaries can
manoeuvre freely. So long as the Indian proletarian revolutionaries adhere
to the revolutionary line of Marxism-Leninism Mao Tse-tungs Thought and
May, 2017
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
rely on their great ally, the peasants, it is entirely possible for them to
establish one advanced revolutionary rural base area after another in the
broad backward rural areas and build a peoples army of a new type.
Whatever difficulties and twists and turns the Indian revolutionaries may
experience in the course of building such revolutionary base areas, they
will eventually develop such areas from isolated points into a vast expanse,
from small areas into extensive ones, and expansion in a series of waves.
Thus, a situation in which the cities are encircled from the countryside will
gradually be brought about in the Indian revolution to pave the way for the
final seizure of towns and cities and winning nation-wide victory.
The Indian reactionaries are panic-stricken by the development of the
rural armed struggle in Darjeeling. They have sensed imminent disaster
national disaster. Imperialism and the Indian reactionaries are trying in a
thousand and one ways to suppress this armed struggle of the Darjeeling
peasant and nip it in the bud. The Dange renegade clique and revisionist
chieftain of the Indian Communist Party are vigorously slandering and
attacking the revolutionaries in the Indian Communist Party and the
revolutionary peasants in Darjeeling for their great exploits. The so-called
Non-Congress government in West Bengal openly sides with the reactionary
Indian Government in its bloody suppression of the revolutionary peasants
in Darjeeling. This gives added proof that these renegades and revisionists
are running dogs of U.S. imperialism and Soviet revisionism and lackeies
of the big Indian landlords and bourgeoisie. What they call the Non-
Congress government is only a tool of these landlords and bourgeoisie.
But no matter how well the imperialists, Indian reactionaries and the
modern revisionists may co-operate in their sabotage and suppression,
the torch of armed struggle lighted by the revolutionaries in the Indian
Communist Party and the revolutionary peasants in Darjeeling will not be
put out. A single spark can start a prairie fire. The spark in Darjeeling will
start a prairie fire and will certainly set the vast expanse of India ablaze.
That a great storm of revolutionary armed struggle will eventually sweep
across the length and breadth of India is certain. Although the course of
the Indian revolution will be long and tortuous, the Indian Revolution, guided
by great Marxism-Leninism, Mao-Tsetungs Thought, will surely triumph.
(Reproduced from November 1967 issue of Liberation)
May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
Inspiration of Naxalbari
Y. Sambasiva Rao
It was 1967. I was working as a time scale clerk in AUTR (Accounts
Office Telephone Revenue) which was part of Telephone Department. We
were agitating for our demands. One day a rally and public meeting was
held. In that public meeting a popular leader from the Postal Department,
Com. Purushottam Raju, gave a rousing speech. He severely criticized the
Central Govt.s policies. He hailed the Naxalbari peasant upsurge and
condemned CPMs role in killing the masses. It was an enthusing speech.
Later, I along with some of my colleagues met him. He narrated how
the CPM party had betrayed the people and how Naxalbari peasants fought
against landlords for land. He explained how the CPM party was adopting
neo-revisionist policies. At that time, Post and Telegraph departments
unions were dominated by communist forces; CPI and CPM, mainly CPM.
He suggested we read Marxist literature particularly Maos writings. He
gave us some copies of Liberation magazine which was circulated among
the revolutionary forces.
Since then, I received Liberation magazine regularly. I, along with three
other comrades, used to study every article. We waited eagerly for Liberation
issues. W hen we had doubts, we consulted that comrade and got
clarifications. We also purchased some theoretical books of great teachers
e.g. Communist Manifesto, Capital, History of CPSU(Bolshevik) and
particularly Maos writings. I got a separate address and got Maos
quotations, Maos Selected Works and Maos Military writings.
We formed a party unit with four employees. In the process we came to
the conclusion that CPMs politics were neo-revisionist.
When the Naxalbari peasant revolt's news spread all over India, workers
also got enthused. They were exploited by capitalists. As the revolt was
directed towards liberation of all the exploited, oppressed and suppressed
people, workers thought that they also will be liberated from exploitation.
New Democratic Revolution will be victorious with worker-peasant alliance.
Hence, workers, particularily industrial workers, were happy with Naxalbari
May, 2017 31
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
peasant uprising.
As we were Central government employees and having left orientation,
leaders formed study circles to educate and develop revolutionary politics
and lend support for revolutionary movements. Because of this, party units
were formed and educated to participate in revolutionary movements.
Accordingly some of the employees resigned and joined in the revolutionary
armed struggle.
Naxalbari peasant struggle showed the correct path to the Indian people.
It exposed the bankruptcy of the parliamentary path. As CPC mentioned,
Naxalbari movement was the Spring Thunder over India. So, we came to
the firm conclusion that armed revolution is the only path for the liberation
of Indian people. Com. Charu Mazumdars articles in Liberation gave much
inspiration to us.
At that time our office was bifurcated. Union leaders asked me to go to
Rajmundry because Rajmundry was weak in union activities. But, inspired
by revolutionary politics I offered to go to Guntur which was the centre of
revolutionary forces in P&T Department. There too our party unit continued
with five of our colleagues. After finishing our work in the office, we used to
meet rickshaw pullers and go to slum areas.
In 1967, Girijans of Srikakulam revolted against the exploitation and
oppression by landlords. The State govt.s police unleashed terror, took
away all the food materials, burnt peoples food materials and also their
houses and agricultural implements. The Girijan people were left without
anything to eat or to do agricultural work with.
On one side police unleashed terror, on the other side, the Party which
was leading that struggle did nothing. Party kept people silent without giving
any direction to resist the police.
Panigrahi Subbarao wrote Jamukula Katha narrating how Girijans
formed Girijan Sanghams with the help of the Communist Party and fought
against exploitation and oppression by landlords. It was enacted throughout
the state. On one side Naxalbari inspired revolutionary ranks throughout
India, and Jamukula Katha of Panigrahi enthused those in the state.
Thousands of people used to attend the meetings and listen to Panigrahi.
I attended three programmes in Hyderabad and Secunderabad. It was the
32 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
first time I heard Com. T. Nagi Reddy, who was the speaker in all three
programmes.
In the second half of the year 1968, Jamukula Katha was enacted in
Guntur. By that time we were working in Guntur. In that meeting, small
booklets were distributed which were published by Naxalbari Solidarity
Committee criticizing AP leaders politics, particularly on utilization of
election throughout New Democratic Revolution and interview of Com. T.
Nagi Reddy with Blitz Magazine. Till then, our Party unit was with APCCCR.
Our unit studied the booklet and came to the conclusion that we should
join AICCCR led by Com. Charu Mazumdar. We told the leader, who was
attending to our unit meeting.
A cadre meeting was held in Guntur. The leader who participated in that
meeting explained how Girijans fought against merchants and landlords
and also explained how CPM made the people inactive. After that, the
Committee formed two squads and started on October 25 1968. We urged
the cadres to come forward and join the armed struggle. Another colleague
and I opted to join the armed struggle. As I had worked in the military, I
was sent to Srikakulam Agency in the month of February 1969. I was kept
as a Central Guerilla commander under the leadership of Com. Vempatapu
Satyanarayana (VSN) and Adibhatta Kailasham etc/.
Since then 48 years have passed. In the meantime so many splits
occurred, So many ups and downs were seen. So many leaders have died.
Also hundreds of cadres and people died. On one side these incidents are
very painful to New Democratic Revolution. On the other side, I am very
proud to be a revolutionary cadre for the emancipation of Indian people. It
is Naxalbari which gave the spirit to be a revolutionary.
May, 2017 33
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
Bhangore (W. Bengal) :
Struggle Continues
Tapas Roy
For sometime, Bhangore, a place near Kolkata in South 24 Parganas
District in West Bengal is in the news. The West Bengal government, since
the past few months, has unleashed a reign of terror here, killed two villagers,
put a number of people in jail on false grounds, slapped UAPA against
them, and is trying to curb the democratic movement.
Bhangore is a strategic zone for the corporate, Actually Bhangore is a
vast fertile area situated very adjacent to Kolkata and also adjacent to
North 24 Parganas particularly to the new town Rajarhat, a dream city of
Real Estate owners, promoters and corporate. It will not be out of context
to mention here that in Rajarhat, approximately six thousand acres of
agricultural land was acquired under the housing project evicting a number
of people from their homeland and the eviction was done by the CPI(M) led
Left Front government without proper and adequate compensation. Actually,
the success of the new township project at Rajarhat provoked the promoters,
real estate dealers and the corporate world and of course also the Land
Mafia to cast greedy eyes on the very fertile land of Bhangore, adjacent to
new town city Rajarhat. It may be recollected that a vast area of Bhangore
was earmarked for the Salem group during Left Front govt. led by Buddhdev
Bhattacharya but the evil could not be done due to the rage and anger of
the peasantry.
It has already been stated that Bhangore is basically an agricultural
area and is very fertile. Besides agriculture, pisciculture is another
occupation of the local people. There are a number of fisheries. It fact, a
good number of fisheries were created by the erstwhile zamindars and
jotedars to evade the ceiling laws prescribed in the West Bengal Estate
Acquisition Act, 1953. A vast quantum of benami land was possessed by
the peasants under the leadership of Kisan Sabha during United Front
regimes, i.e, from 1967 to 1969. Obviously the Naxalbari movement
34 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
influenced it but after the CPI(M) led Left Front came to power in West
Bengal in 1977, the CPI(M) revisionists took total control of the area. A
large number of erstwhile zamindars, jotedars and rich peasants either
took shelter under the banner of New ruling party viz, CPI(M) or built an
amicable relationship with it resulting in the emergence of class collaboration
in a new form. The voice of the poor peasants could not be raised as their
voice was also controlled by the local leadership of the ruling party. The
administrative land reform measures, viz recording of burgardars and
determination of ceiling surplus land also could not get momentum. In fact,
the settlement work under Land Reform Act in Bhangore was started in the
year 1985-86 although in most of the other parts of West Bengal it started
in 1972-75.
In spite of these factors, the peasantry of Bhangore, mostly Muslims,
did a tremendous job to keep communal harmony intact. The rural economy
was maintained through agriculture, pisciculture and other auxiliary
measures.
Though very close to Kolkata and Rajarhat of North 24 Parganas, most
of the area of Bhangore was devoid of any development. Electrification,
Communication and other amenities of daily life were myths to the
inhabitants. Lack of education, lack of health system, lack of sanitation
were common features. On the other hand, land mafias, syndicates, have
emerged as a social force riding on the shoulders of political parties,
particularly the ruling party, be it CPI(M) on Trinamul Congress.
(b)
After 2011, i.e., after the fall of CPI(M) led Left Front govt. and coming
of Mamta Banerjee led TMC govt. to power, it has been a one way traffic.
The CPI(M) become a decaying force. Even Rezzak Mollah, the erstwhile
Land Reform minister of West Bengal during the later part of the LF regime
and his followers joined TMC. Mollah was actually the local don of the
CPI(M). The new don challenged the already existing don Arabul Islam
and several groups were created in the same party TMC. The Land Mafia
and syndicate were also distinctly divided into several groups. Moreover,
Mollah group has been backed by higher leaders at the state level to maintain
their factional supremacy. TMC has no rigid ideology. It is a party with no
economic, social and political agenda, totally dependent on the image of
its leader Mamata Banerjee. And the obvious result is group fights between
May, 2017 35
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
each other, some times violently.
The so called development of Rajarhat prompted the Land Mafia to
have an eye on the adjacent areas of Bhangore and they used muscle
power to grab land from the poor peasants at gunpoint and the dons were
their agents. The local administration has been purchased. And all the
misdeeds have blessings from the upper sections of the Govt. and also
the party machinery of TMC.
(C)
But this scenario has now been attacked by the people of Bhangore.
The situation of rebellion was there. The anger and rage were there in the
mind of the peasantry against the forceful land grabbing by the Land Mafia
but they were afraid of the administration backed hooligans. The outburst
against the Land Mafias was seen against construction of a power grid
project at Mauza Tuna under Poluhat 2 Gram Panchayat. Approximately
42 bighas of multi cropped fertile agricultural land was acquired by the
state govt for the project. The acquisition was done using the Land
Acquisition Act 1894 (now abolished) in the year 2013.
There is a specific guideline regarding such type of transmission. The
guideline was circulated by the Central Govt. on 15 Oct 2015 regarding
compensation. But in this case, the guideline has been totally violated.
The villagers were opposed to such type of construction. The specific name
of the project is Construction of 400/220 KV substation (PCCILTD).
The villagers raised objection mainly on the following points:
1. The market price of the land was Rs. 3,00,000 4,00,000
(in the year 2013) and these lands are only means of
livelihood and also a source for future.
2. The lands are very fertile and they will continue to maintain
livelihood through cultivation.
3. The land are multi cropped and yield paddy thrice a year.
4. Their financial condition solely depends on these lands.
5. They have no other lands except these.
36 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
6. They will face tremendous financial stringency if the land
be acquired.
7. The adjacent villages of these land are densely populated
and the high- tension line may create massive accident at
any moment.
8. No consent has been taken from the owners of the land,
even no discussions have been held with them.
A good number of owners submitted a mass petition to the Collector
South 24 Parganas immediately after they came to know that the given
lands would be acquired. Their petition was not considered at all.
The owners were in fact forced to surrender their lands at gunpoint by
the goons of the ruling party. But the anger and grievances did not die. The
people of the locality were already anxious, apprehending serious danger
from the viewpoint of environment, ecology and also regarding fertility of
lands. They are also anxious regarding health problems. They apprehended
that the electromagnetic effect may cause damage to health. They were
also anxious regarding usage of Sulfur hexaflouride as insulators of high
voltage wire. They also apprehended that the power grid project would
considerably reduce the fertility of the lands. The apprehensions of the
villagers were supported by the documents of some eminent scientists.
But the State government, instead of taking the course of discussion with
the affected people, unleashed a reign of terror through its police force and
hooligans. But the people, instead of bowing down, retaliated. They become
organized; and organized under the revolutionary forces, especially CPI
(ML) Red Star and other allied forces. They demanded unconditional
withdrawal of power grid project. The people formed Jami, Jeebika,
Bastutantra o Paribesh Raksha Committee (Committee for Protection of
land, occupation, homestead and environment), launched democratic
movement in support of their demands.
But the Government took the course of oppression, declared Sec 144
with a view to disallow any assembly. But the people, on 11th Dec, 2016,
violated Sec. 144 and assembled en masse including women, children,
young and old. The Govt. had to bend. The District Magistrate assured to
hold a discussion. The highest level of the Govt. announced that power
grid will not be constructed against the will of the local people. But till date,
May, 2017 37
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
no official document has been published or circulated honouring the
announcement. No discussion has been held also. On the contrary, on 16th
January this year, the police along with the hooligans attacked and
ransacked the villages. But on 17th, the people resisted and were able to
beat back the attack. But in the meantime police firing killed Alamgirh
Mollah and Mafizzul Sheikh. Till date, the police oppression is continuing.
Several villagers have been put into jail and have been charged with UAPA.
The leaders have also been arrested and charged with UAPA. In fact, the
State govt. is very keen to put the entire activists into jail and slap UAPA
against them. They are trying to suppress the movement brutally by using
police forces, hooligans and draconian Acts like UAPA.
But peoples resistance continues. Till date, the work of construction of
the power grid project is suspended. The villagers have so long successfully
defied the entrance of police force and the hooligans. In fact, the hooligans
and Land Mafia with the help of the police forced their way on several
occasions and threatened the villagers with dire consequences but every
time they had to literally flee away due to vigorous resistance of the people.
(d)
The Bhangore incidents have unmasked the WB Government. It has
also unmasked the brutal character of the state machinery. On a peaceful
democratic movement an Act like UAPA has been slapped. Not only the
leaders of the Jami, Jeebika, Basutantro and Paribesh Raksha Committee
have been arrested, the leaders of Bhangore Andolan Sanhati Committee
a forum formed in Kolkata with middle class intellectuals and several human
right organizations including APDR, have also been arrested and charged
under UAPA. It may be mentioned that immediately after the firing and
killing of the villagers by the police and hooligans the Sanhati Committee
organized a massive procession in Kolkata and later on also organized
several forms of movements including deputation, propaganda, rally etc.
The Bhangore movement has unmasked the hypocrisy of the TMC as
well as the TMC Govt. At the time of coming to power, the TMC Govt. had
declared that it will not acquire an inch of land without the consent of the
owners and in no condition will it acquire agricultural land. It may be recalled
that the TMC and its supremo Mamata Banerjee was a major component of
the movements of Singur and Nandigram. The movements of Singur and
Nandigram against forcible acquisition of agricultural land under Land
38 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
Acquisition Act 1894, a demonic Act made by the British colonial rulers
and kept intact by the Indian ruling classes, ultimately marked the end of
Left Front regime in 2011 and brought Mamta Banerjee and her govt to
power. The Singur and Nandigram movements along with other movements,
against land acquisition and forcible displacement have also compelled
the ruling classes to abolish the Land Acquisition Act 1894 and to enforce
a moderate act viz. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013. Prior to
enactment, it was placed in the Parliament in the form of a Bill. So, Mamata
Banerjee and her party and Govt. very much knew in the year 2013 that the
Land Acquisition Act 1894 would be abolished and a new one would be
enacted. But inspite of this and going against its own announcement and
resolution and also defying the very essence of the movements of Singur
and Nandigram against forcible acquisition of agricultural land, Mamata
Govt. acquired the agricultural fertile and multi-crop land in 2013, and that
too, by applying Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
The summary of the case
Case no. LA 4/35 of 2012 2013
Name of the Project Construction of 400/220 KV Sub States (PCCILTD)
Mauza : Tona, J L. No. 18, PS Kathipur (block Bhangore II),
Area : 13.44 Acres
Date of notification u/s 4(1) of Act I 1984 : 20.02.2013
Date of declaration of award u/s 11 of the Act : 31.12.2013
The new Act, i.e. Act of 2013 was passed in the parliament in September
2013 and came into force on. 1.01.2014 vide Gazatte notification 19.12.2013.
It is clear that the Govt. completed the case under Land Acquisition
Act 1894 in a hurry i.e., it somehow completed the proceedings on 31.12.2013
so that the case may not lapse, otherwise if the case was not completed
by 31.12.2013, a fresh case would have to be started under the new Act
which provides scope for (i) preparation of Social Impact Assessment study
(SIA), (ii) Public hearing for Social Impact Assessment, (iii) Publication of
SIA studies, (iv) Safeguarding food security, (v) consent of the affected
families and moreover, compensation had to be paid four times the market
May, 2017 39
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
value.
So, to avoid and defy such type of provisions, the land acquisition
proceeding was completed in a hurry on 31.12.2013, just before the
enforcement of the new Act on 1.1.2014 !
(e)
The Bhangore movement has completely unmasked the West Bengal
Government led by Mamata Banerjee and her party TMC. It has created an
example in the sphere of democratic mass movement. But the movement
itself needs some development. It must be noted that the land problem is
the principal one created by the Land Mafia not only in Bhangore but also
in other parts of West Bengal and there mafias are very much backed by
the govt machinery. In Bhangore despite oppression by the State govt.
and the hooligans, the local people are organized but unity among the
different striking forces needs to be further developed and the entire
revolutionary camp should come forward to fulfil the needs of the movement.
The role of the revisionists, particularly that of CPI (M) which has come
forward to support the movement, must be critically assessed so that the
movement does not succumb to the parliamentary path.
But in can be said with clarity that the peasants of Bhangore and its
surrounding areas have created a democratic mass movement and again
unmasked the brutal character of state machinery and also the hypocrisy
of Mamata Banerjee led TMC party. It can well be expected that the
movement will gain more support, more momentum and will help to expose
the phenomenon of land problem in West Bengal and will encourage the
revolutionary forces for united efforts.
40 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
Human Shield : A New Low in the
Armed Conflict in Kashmir
Tying of a civilian to a military jeep and driving it thus through villages
has become a new symbol of the Indian Armys suppression of the mass
upsurge unfolding in Kashmir Valley. Defense by the Army Chief and the
Defense Ministry of this patently inhuman, shameful and cruel act shows
the desperation that has engulfed the Indian Govt. and Army establishment
in dealing with the present mass movement in Kashmir. The Army Chief
has tied himself into knots defending this act by Army Major Nitin Leetul
Gogoi. It is not the first act of using civilians to protect Army from militant
attack either in Kashmir or Northeast. But its open defense, rather praise
by the Govt. and the Army, has been noteworthy. Govt. ordered an enquiry
into the incident but even before the enquiry took off, Major Gogoi was
conferred the Army Chiefs commendation card thus even publically
rendering the enquiry an eye-wash.
This incident has been much commented upon. Several main English
newspapers have editorially criticized this act and the Army Chiefs
statements, even saying that the Army Chiefs statement shows that the
Indian Army is fighting against the people of Kashmir. In fact this is the
reality. The Army Chief has justified his statements as a way to boost the
morale of young officers of the Army. In the statements of the Army Chief
and even of the Govt. there is no mention of rights given to the people
under the Indian Constitution, though Indian rulers have been repeatedly
arguing that any settlement of Kashmir problem has to be within the
framework of Indian Constitution! However, the Army Chief and Defense
Minister have accepted that India is fighting a war in Kashmir. While Defense
Minister Arun Jaitley has described the situation as war like, the Army
Chief while commending the innovation of Major Gogoi, has said that the
Indian Army is facing a dirty war in Kashmir.
In order to justify this blatantly cruel and inhuman act, Army and even
Major Gogoi have kept silent over the facts of the case. According to Major
Gogoi and the Army, Farooq Ahmed Dar was tied to the front of a military
jeep to avowedly dissuade a nearly 300 strong crowd from pelting stones
thus saving military and election personnel for which otherwise firing would
May, 2017 41
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
have been necessary and which would have cost several lives. Though
this reasoning is itself flawed and dangerous, it also flies in the face of the
facts of the case. The facts brought out by several media reports point to
a premeditated attempt to use a Kashmiri civilian as a human shield to
dissuade the stone pelting youth, rather to teach them a lesson. It is evident
from the placard which was hung around the neck of Ahmed Dar, This is
the fate that will befall stone throwers.
Coming to the facts. On April 9 2017, by-election to Srinagar
parliamentary constituency was held in which merely 7% of the electorate
voted despite heavy Army and police deployment. In the re-polling in 38
booths a few days later, barely 2% cast their votes. Farooq Ahmed Dar
happened to be among the few who had cast their vote on that day but the
Army has beem accusing him of leading a mob of stone throwers. He had
cast his vote in his village Chil at 8:30 AM. These facts have not been
disputed by the Army, nor even commented upon. Ahemd Dar is a weaver
who also knows carpentry. This artisan, after casting his vote, had gone to
village Ultigam to condole a death. According to eye-witnesses he was
picked up by the Army from this village. According to the eye-witnesses
he was tied to the Army jeep despite pleadings by the people to the Army
to not do so.
According to Major Gogois and Armys narrative, Dar was tied to the
military jeep to dissuade the stone throwers and to avoid having to fire
upon the people, in short to avert bigger conflagration! However, according
to media reports Farooq Ahmed Dar was tied to the jeep at around 10:45
AM and was taken to several villages with the above mentioned placard
hanging from his neck. From Ultigam village in Budgam district he was
taken to Gauripora, Hayatpora, Sonpa, Najan, Khospora, Rakhayee, Arizhal,
Mandi and finally to Hardpanzoo CRPF camp where this convoy reached
at around 4 PM. He was let off only at 7 PM that day. This over five hour
long journey through the villages belies the claim of the Army that this act
was a decision at the spur of the moment, an innovation. The Army and
Major Gogoi have not even commented on this narrative which has been
published in a number of newspapers. If it was indeed an innovation it is
a rather odd innovation which is expressly prohibited by the Geneva
Conventions regulating conduct of Armies during a war, not to mention that
this shameful act is a total denial of the right of every citizen under the
Indian Constitution.
42 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
In the context of use of a Kashmiri civilian as a human shield, the
provisions of Geneva Conventions have also come up in the discussion.
India is a signatory to four Geneva Conventions which were adopted after
the conclusion of World War II. These relate to conduct of Armies during
international conflict. There are three protocols, the first dealing with
international conflict, second relating to victims of non-international conflict
and third relating to adoption of Red Crystal in addition to Red Cross and
Red Crescent. The second protocol relates to non-international conflicts
applicable to situations of armed conflict in the territory of signatory country.
The first two protocols were adopted in 1977. However, India has not signed
these two protocols. As Nirupama Subramanium has written in Indian
Express (26.5.2017) Preceding each of the 4 Geneva Conventions is a
set of Common Articles and as an accessory India is bound by them.
Common Article 3 prohibits even in cases on armed conflict not of
international character, the following acts in relation to persons taking no
active part in the hostilities including a) violence to life and person, in
particularly murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; b)
taking of hostages; c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular
humiliating and degrading treatment; d) the passing of sentences and the
carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a
regularly constituted court.. From the above it is clear that the Indian
Army has openly violated the provisions of the Geneva Conventions to
which it is signatory.
This act has been widely condemned not only by the democratic rights'
organizations and mainstream media but also criticized by many retired
Army officers, one of whom used to be incharge of J&K security. He even
felt ashamed of his uniform, called it a deplorable act and absolute error of
judgement of the officer.
The defence of this indefensible act by the Army Chief and the Govt.
shows both their predelictions as well as the ground situation in J&K,
particularly Kashmir Valley. The Army Chief, who was appointed by RSS-
BJP Govt. superseding seniors, has been making even political comments,
ridiculing the question of dialogue with Pakistan, an issue on which only an
elected Govt. can have a say though in the instant case his views are well
in line with the views of those ruling at the Centre.
While all the ruling class parties and the successive govts. run by them
May, 2017 43
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
have opposed the democratic aspirations of the people of Kashmir,
particularly their right to self-determination, RSS-BJP dispensation ruling
presently at the Centre, has a vested interest in deepening the conflict.
RSS-BJP have been utilizing the incidents in Kashmir, particularly the
protests by the people, to deepen communal division in the country,
particularly in painting all Muslims as anti-nationals. This attempt is part of
RSS's other attempts to communally polarize the people of the country.
Even on the issue of "human shield", RSS-BJP have tried to mobilize the
people to justify this patently unlawful and shameful treatment of a citizen.
In essence, RSS-BJP are propagating that laws of the land are insufficient
and incapable of dealing with situations like in J&K. Ruling class parties
have been enacting draconian laws in the name of dealing with situation
like in J&K and still propagating that even these draconian laws are not
enough to deal with situation as in Kashmir. Rulers have made the Indian
Army behave like an Army of occupation. On the other hand, these
draconian laws have been used to trample upon the democratic rights of
the people of the country, particularly of the struggling people. Defence of
democratic rights in Kashmir is therefore essential for democratic rights'
organizations and all the struggling forces as this defence is intimately
connected with the democratic rights of the struggling people.
What has been unnerving the Govt. is widespread and increasing
participation of the people of Kashmir in the struggle. Hundreds and
thousands of people have been coming out in protests and throwing stones.
They are intervening in the encounters between militants and the Army.
This nonlethal method of mass protests has put the Govt. and the Army on
defensive. Army used pellets to disperse the stone-pelters blinding over a
thousand youngsters. These protests have become particularly sharp after
July 8, 2016 when Burhan Wani was killed by the Indian Army. The Army
Chief had earlier called such protesters as 'terrorists'.
Stone throwing at oppressing rulers has been a widespread method of
protest in the last phase though such incidents were reported earlier as
well. Some commentators have likened this situation to that of Palestinians'
Intifada. However, Kashmir's people have centuries' old tradition of throwing
stones at the oppressor Army. Armies of emperor Akbar, Maharaja Ranjeet
Singh and Dogra king were all greeted with stones. Several rulers had
even banned stone throwing even as a sport. Exasperated by this method,
Army Chief Bipin Rawat has expressed his wish that these people, instead
44 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
of throwing stones were firing weapons so that he could then do what he
wants to do. What he wishes to do is not difficult to guess!
W hile use of a civilian as a human shield is worthy of strong
condemnation, it is necessary to see the full picture of the mass upsurge
unfolding in Kashmir. PDP-BJP Govt. is presiding over one of the worst
violations of the democratic rights of the people. RSS-BJP Govt. has ruled
out any talks till the stone throwing stops in Kashmir. In fact, RSS-BJP are
not interested in any talks, stone throwing or no stone throwing. They do
not even admit that there is a problem to be solved in relation to Kashmir.
For them, the only problem in Kashmir is one of terrorism and that too the
one exported by Pakistan. They routinely protray the Kashmiri militants as
Pakistani nationals. Thanks to the indulgence of mainstream media,
particularly electronic media, they do not even bother about the
inconsistencies in their claims. Recently, Union Home Minister Rajnath
Singh has claimed a big decline in the number of militants coming to India
crossing the border from Pakistan after their self-proclaimed successful
'surgical strikes'. However, participation of the youth in the protests has
been going up but they yet do not admit that it is the people of Kashmir
who are rising against the military rule of Indian Govt. Despite their claim
of decline in the number of people coming to India across border, they
continue to claim the upsurge in the people's movement is due to elements
from Pakistan. This denial mode precludes any initiative from the Govt. to
hold discussions with the stake holders. PDP, constituent of the ruling
alliance, is pliable. In fact, the Govt. and the Army are not permitting political
expression of the people's aspirations branding them as 'terrorists' and
routinely arresting leaders of the Hurriyat Conference.
However, the propaganda unleashed by the ruling classes or the
repression let loose by the Govt. is not going to make any difference to the
ground situation in Kashmir Valley. Youth and students are coming out in
increasing numbers in protests against the Govt. Use of pellets and even
bullets have not dissuaded them from participating in these agitations.
Recently, girl students are joining the protests in larger numbers and recently
many papers published photographs of girl students throwing stones at the
security forces. Obviously this development has not encouraged Indian
Govt. or PDP-BJP Govt. ruling in the state, to scale down their repressive
measures. Rather the Central Govt. has sent a large contingent of women
security forces to tackle this increasing participation of girl students in the
May, 2017 45
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
protests. Universities and colleges have emerged as the new centres of
opposition to the military rule in the state.
Because of the growing protests and increasing participation of the
people in these protests, the co-operation of the local people with the Army
operations has come down and the people's sentiments against the rule of
Indian Army have grown. The abysmally low percentage of votes polled in
Srinagar parliamentary by-election is an ample proof though the Govt. and
ruling class propaganda machine has blamed low polling percentage on the
militants terrorizing the people. Central Election Commission has indefinitely
put off another by-election for the fear of the message being sent by such
low polling percentages. This is despite the fact that Kashmir remains one
of the areas of most dense presence of security forces not only in India but
across the world.
While the ruling dispensation will keep on fomenting trouble in the Valley,
while different ruling class parties would not go beyond platitudes as they
do not stand with the democratic aspirations of the people of J&K, the
revolutionary and democratic forces must stand with the rights of the people
of J&K including their right to deternine their future. It must be done because
it is just. It must be done to safeguard the democratic rights not only in
Kashmir but throughout the country. They must see the link between their
own rights and those of the people of J&K. The fight for democratic rights
is indivisible.
Revolutionary and democratic forces must bring to the people of the
country what is really happening in Kashmir and how the Indian Govt. and
security forces are dealing with the people of Kashmir. They must combat
the false propaganda unleashed by the ruling class propaganda machine.
A solidarity campaign focussing on the repression being let loose on the
people of Kashmir should be conducted to bring truth to the people. It is
necessary to foil the ruling classes' conspiracy to pit the toiling people of
one region against others, of one nationality against others, of one set of
oppressed against other sets of oppressed. Exploited and oppressed people
must unite against the exploitation and oppression of the ruling classes
and it is vitally necessary to fight the exploitation and oppression itself.
46 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
Elections to Five Assemblies
Anger of the People and
Advance of Fascism
Results of the elections to five state assemblies held in the months of
February and March 2017 have witnessed rising anger of the people against
the Govts. in saddle in these provinces. While ruling parties in Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand and Punjab have faced serious defeats, BJP ruling in Goa
and Congress ruling in Manipur too faced electoral decline. BJP, despite
lagging behind Congress in the number of seats in both these provinces,
has resorted to rank opportunism and manipulation utilizing the offices of
Governors to come to power, though BJPs rejection by the electorate in
these states was unmistakable. This has been an important aspect of the
electoral verdict.
RSS-BJP Victory in UP, Uttarakhand
BJP scored big victories in Hindi heartland, UP and Uttarakhand. In a
way it broadly conformed to the pattern of parliamentary elections of 2014
with some decline in BJP vote share e.g. nearly 3% in UP and 9% in
Uttarakhand. Like its 2014 campaign, BJP conducted a sharp communally
polarizing campaign. With the help of media BJP leaders led by Modi created
a rhetoric of appeasement of Muslims, with such baseless statements like
no shamshan in the villages but there are qabristans, there being
uninterrupted power supply on Eid but not on Diwali. That these allegations
were freely circulated by the mainstream media showed how much ruling
classes wanted to bring communal schism to the fore to sideline the real
issues of the people. BJP buttressed its communal campaign with clever
caste arithmetic, trying to confine their rivals particularly SP and BSP to
single castes. RSS-BJP had been trying for this pan-Hindu identity,
mobilizing non-Yadav OBCs and non-Jatav Dalits in UP. In Bihar this
campaign had faced the combined might of RJD and JD(U) and could not
emerge successful. Like Bihar, if the regional parties like SP and BSP
would have come together, BJP might have faced a similar defeat. Neither
of these challengers for power, as they have no positive programme for the
people, could singly face the communally polarizing campaign of BJP in
May, 2017 47
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
the changed situation post-2014.
There are some important developments in ruling class politics in this
regard. Decline of Congress is quite serious particularly in Hindi heartland.
Congress has lost the support of upper castes, having lost support of
Dalits and Muslims earlier. Congress tried to muster Brahmin support but
abandoned the project due to feeble response. This paved the way for
consolidation of upper castes in favour of BJP, a vote bank far more
consolidated than the vote banks routinely talked about by the corporate
media. There is an undercurrent in mainstream propaganda that upper
castes represent nationalism while the rest of the communities represent
sectarian interests. In UP upper castes constitute nearly 23% and with
Jats included, are well more than one fourth of the electorate. This provided
a solid vote base to BJP which was earlier divided mainly between
Congress and BJP.
There is a second important aspect in the relative success of RSS-
BJP plan of wooing sections of Dalits and OBCs for its pan-Hindu anti-
Muslim mobilization. CC resolution after 2014 Lok Sabha elections had
noted the decline of caste based regional parties and observed, Caste
mobilization of these parties was met by micromanagement of castes by
BJP through so-called social engineering. Mobilization of caste groupings
like backwards and Dalits has been weakened by mobilization of individual
member castes of these groupings for securing their share of power. .
In a way this election signifies the end of the era of caste based parties
though not of caste based politics as major parties of the ruling classes
move to further fragment the mobilization of castes by these parties. In
fact, these parties had been born out of the mobilization of lower castes,
Dalits and backwards, against Brahmannical social order. When upper
castes were politically ruling, these mobilizations signified mobilization of
these social groups. However, when these parties came to power, these
caste groupings were broken as these parties, wedded to the protection of
the interests of ruling classes, did not do anything to address the root
cause of caste oppression in society, particularly semifeudal agrarian
relations. In fact these parties of ruling classes rely on elites of these
social groups to harness their votes and only promote their interests, which
are mostly at variance with that of the common people of these castes.
On the other hand, their rule signified ascendency of a particular castes
thereby alienating the other castes of the same group. The rise of elite
48 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
among these castes also intensified struggle among them for loaves of
power, giving rise to emergence of several parties every one of them
dominated by a particular caste group. It led to fragmentation of backwards
and Dalits among these parties. (ND, June 2014)
BJPs main rivals in UP, SP and BSP, had failed to draw any lesson
from 2014 and mechanically repeated the old formulae. In particular they
did not gauge their isolation from the social groups they claim to represent.
Taking this support for granted, they made a dash for Muslim votes believing
that it would take them to victory though these parties have done little to
undo the economic, social and political handicaps faced by Muslims. SP
rule saw horrendous Muzaffarnagar killings of Muslims and forced migration
from villages of over 50 thousand Muslims. SP rule also saw a large number
of incidents of anti-Muslim violence and leaders like Yogi Adityanath were
allowed to threaten Muslims without hindrance. BSP rule too was
characterized by large scale targeting of Muslim youth in terror-related cases
and foisting of false cases against them. However, the way SP and BSP
went about soliciting Muslim votes only helped communal polarization which
was being carved out by BJP. Even otherwise they did not raise any issue
pertaining to the problems being faced by the people. While Modi and BJP
leaders were offensive, SP and BSP leaders were mainly defensive and
complacent, not responding to their charges and not refuting their baseless
rhetoric of Muslim appeasement.
In Uttarakhand too, BJP broadly repeated its 2014 performance albeit
with reduced vote share, capitalizing on the failures of the Congress Govt.
Exposure of Harish Rawat for corruption and a large number of Congress
leaders joining BJP had weakened the Congress. The real issues of the
people, both in the hills as well as plains, found no mention in the campaign
of these two parties.
Punjab : Congress Comeback, AAP Stumbles
In Punjab, Congress swept back to power. While defeat of Akali-BJP
combine was a foregone conclusion, AAP which was seen as the main
contender for power, has been relegated to distant second in a number of
seats and third in the votes polled. Akali Dal rule had been marked by
sharp rise in drug menace and all round Mafia raj under the patronage of
ruling Akalis- transport mafia, education mafia, sand mafia and of course
drug mafia etc. Akalis imposed their dictatorial rule over the people paying
May, 2017 49
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
no heed to the problems of the people. Coupled with the rising anger of the
people on these basic issues, desecration of Sikh holy book and tardy
response of Akali Govt. on that further enraged the people whose religious
distress became a reflection of their real distress.
AAP had an impressive performance in 2014 parliamentary elections,
winning four seats. A year back, big crowds attracted by AAP leader Arvind
Kejriwal gave an impression of AAP sweeping to power. However, Arvind
Kejriwal practiced a high command culture, like Congress. Kejriwal sidelined
all recognized leaders from Punjab. So intoxicated had the AAP leader
become by its social media campaign that he rode roughshod over all local
leaders. Even the social media campaign launched by AAP became so
arbitrary that it lost credibility. AAP was solely banking on the negative
perception of Akalis and Congress among the people and had nothing positive
to offer to the people on different issues faced by them.
AAP was the main beneficiary of the anger of the youth, particularly in
rural areas. These sections have been hostile to Congress since Operation
Blue Star and genocide of Sikhs in Delhi and elsewhere. These sections
also came to treat Akalis as betrayers and Akalis alliance with BJP became
a further galvanizing point. This sentiment was widely shared by Sikh
Diaspora which was vocal in their support for AAP. While utilizing this
anger went well for AAP, its identification with Khalistani extremists became
a liability.
In Goa, BJP which has been mired in corruption, went down and finished
lower than Congress. While Congress did improve its tally, anti-BJP votes
were split among different forces, stopping Congress short of majority. In
Goa also AAP was expected to do well but failed to get a single seat with
only 6% votes despite contesting all the seats.
In Manipur, Congress lost its majority though getting highest number of
seats. In this state where Army is engaged in anti-insurgency operations
and the state where AFSPA is in operation, BJP got a large number of
seats while it did not have any earlier. There was expectation of BJP getting
majority, but Congress played on Meiti-Naga discord to stem erosion of its
base though it was not enough to get the majority. Irom Sharmila, known
for her hunger strike against AFSPA in Manipur for nearly 16 years, received
only 92 votes.
50 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
In brief, while peoples anger against performance of local Govts. have
been used by Hindutva forces in Hindi heartland, the same was not the
case in three other states.
Performance of Communist Revolutionaries
Our Party had fielded ten candidates in Punjab and one in UP. Where
we had not fielded candidates our party campaigned for NOTA. Our campaign
was built around real issues of the people and we tried to also give alternative
policies on those issues. Our Party in Punjab particularly focused on the
crisis of the imperialist sponsored model of Green Revolution and struggle
of Dalits for their share in Panchayat land. In UP we highlighted the issues
of peasantry and agricultural labourers. We also campaigned for action
against police and administrative officers as well as peoples representatives
for their complicity in violence against minorities. Our campaign highlighted
the bankruptcies of ruling class parties and their lack of real concern about
the problems of the people. We also campaigned against undemocratic
nature of electoral process and the role of money, media and muscle power
in the elections which distort the real opinions of the people.
Though our comrades campaigned well and also received good response
from the people, this support was not translated into votes polled by our
candidates. Overall, votes polled by our candidates declined. This has to
be seen in the context of increasing polarization of votes among the main
contenders of power. Identity based parties which raise the expectations
of coming to power in alliance with others also fare better without having
any history of work through utilizing the caste based social structures.
Predominance of economic struggles in our work also is an important factor
in our polling small number of votes.
Adityanath Made UP Chief Minister
BJP has selected Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister. RSS has made
this choice as it feels emboldened after the massive victory in the most
populous province of UP. They wish to change the political discourse by
making their aggressive communalism as the mainstream. Yogi Adityanath,
Chief of Gorakhpur Math, long identified with Hindu Mahasabha, has been
spewing venom against Muslims and has been calling for violence against
them. His Hindu Yuva Vahini is a vigilante group. Selection of Adityanath
May, 2017 51
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
shows deepening of communal politics.
BJP Targets Odisha: Bhadrak Communal Violence
BJP has emerged as the second party to BJD in Odisha in the recently
held panchayat elections. Congress came a distant third. BJP is now trying
to expand in Odisha and recent communal attacks engineered by it in
Bhadrak show its game plan of deepening communal division for increasing
its base. RSS mobilized its cadres and destroyed shops and properties of
Muslims in Bhadrak alleging that Muslim youth had uploaded remarks
against Ram and Sita. But before police could act, RSS cadres went on a
spree of destruction. Now BJP is holding its National Executive meeting in
that state. It is part of a determined effort by RSS-BJP to wrest control of
that state. RSS-BJP are targeting eastern India where they had been
traditionally weak and are fomenting communal troubles.
Byelection Results
By-elections held this month, while conforming to general pattern, had
some important aspects. Firstly, AAP candidate was not only defeated
from Rajouri Garden Assembly constituency in Delhi (from which AAP
candidate had been elected in 2015) but also forfeited his deposit. It is
significant in view of coming municipal elections in Delhi. This defeat and
its scale show that people are growing skeptical of AAPs brand of politics
of rhetoric but little work for the people. AAP Govt. has focused on showing
obstructions from the Central Govt. which are a fact but it did not do much
on the issues which are in its domain. Its defeat in Delhi may create an
existential crisis for AAP. Ruling classes probably do not need to divert
middle classes from questioning the system because of rampant corruption
but rather would like these sections to back RSS-BJP.
Second important result of these by-elections has come from Kanti in
West Bengal where the Left Front candidate of CPI polled only 10% votes.
BJP emerged as the main opposition party, polling over 30 percent vote.
This election shows, like some earlier ones, that Left front vote and also
base is shifting toward BJP. This, coupled with mushrooming of RSS
shakhas in West Bengal and aggressive celebrations of Ram Navami this
year, shows that RSS-BJP is gaining support in West Bengal. It also shows
that revival of the electoral fortunes of Left front is not round the corner.
52 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
Most startling has been Srinagar parliamentary byelection where only
7% of the voters cast their votes. The polling percentage further declined
to mere 2% in the repolling in 38 booths. It shows the depth of the struggle
of the people of Kashmir. Overwhelming majority of the people of Kashmir
oppose Indian Govt. and the parties like PDP and NC have very little base
among the people. RSS-BJP Govt. ruling at the Centre and part of the
coalition in J&K has been exploiting the situation in Kashmir to deepen
communal polarization in the country. It has no interest in winning over the
people of Kashmir and does not wish to take any step in furtherance of this
objective. Indian Govt.s attempt to show that trouble makers are only a
handful of people paid by Pakistan is being questioned even by the
mainstream media. Indian Army has been threatening the people of Kashmir
that even stone pelting people will be treated as terrorists. Use of a Kashmiri
youth as a human shield against stone throwing crowd has hit a new low in
Indian Armys dealing with Kashmir agitation.
Increased Danger of Fascism
RSS-BJP represent the most reactionary section of the ruling classes
and their sharp offensive against the people. As the economic and social
crisis of the system is deepening, politics of the ruling classes is making a
rightward shift. There has been increasing fascicization of state machinery
and increasing offensive against the people. This offensive is couched in
the rhetoric against immigrants in developed capitalist countries and against
minorities in third world countries like India. Rise of RSS-BJP is neither
accidental nor a fortuitous development. It represents the need of the ruling
classes to intensify their attacks on the one hand and to disrupt unity of
the people on the other, to pre-empt struggle against the policy framework
being imposed on the country by the ruling classes. Other representatives
of the ruling classes, though having differences, compromise with this
section, attempting to adopt many of their policies. Though they project it
as necessary to stem the tide of fascist forces, they lend more strength to
the fascist offensive and disarm the people.
With increased strength in UP, RSS-BJP is expected to increase its
strength in Rajya Sabha and will gain greater control over legislative agenda.
They will also be in a better position to get their nominee elected as
President. With their increasing strength, other wings of the state machinery
would also cave in. These would mean that some institutional hurdles in
imposing fascist dictatorship would be reduced. Danger of fascism has
May, 2017 53
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
increased.
Modi led RSS-BJP victory will also mean greater efforts at anti-labour
changes in the labour laws, more facilities to foreign capital even going
beyond the existing ones. RSS-BJP nationalisms hollowness is on open
display by the quiet of their twitter happy PM and Foreign Minister over
murderous attacks on Indians in USA. They have been able to thrust upon
the people demonetization of 86% of the currency causing tremendous
hardship, which will encourage them to launch bigger attacks against the
people, particularly labouring masses. They will be more brazen in their
attacks to displace peasants including tribals from their land. Further erosion
of Govt. facilities in health and education, further impetus to corporatization
of agriculture and retail trade, further trampling of democratic rights under
the boots of security forces and further adoption of even more draconian
laws are on the anvil. Even cruder attacks on the educational institutions,
more brazen attacks against minorities and sharper offensive against
communist revolutionaries including bigger ideological offensive against
left forces are expected. Their offensive against minorities, particularly
Muslims, will increase and so will the attacks on Dalits and other oppressed
castes. There are several reports of increase in the attacks against Muslims
in UP since BJP coming to power. Their campaign against abattoirs in the
name of enforcing the law is to target Muslims. The fact is that the biggest
beef export firms are owned by Hindu businessmen. The very issue of
caste oppression is sought to be erased even as pliable leaders of these
sections are projected as show pieces. Further curbs on women and slander
of their struggles would be the order of the day. Anti-Romeo squads in UP
and anti-Majnu squads in MP are targeting young people. It is aimed at
denying the young women the chance of interacting with young men and
make choices about their work and lives. While RSS-BJP are sharpening
their offensive, opposition sections of ruling classes are listless in their
opposition, even scared to raise the issues of peoples concern. Many of
these parties do not hesitate to use the same draconian laws to suppress
the peoples movements in the states ruled by them. While RSS-BJP
ascendency increases the danger of fascism, unleashing of fascist
repression is not limited to RSS-BJP but is a characteristic of the rule of
ruling classes. However, while in semifeudal, semicolonial India all the
ruling class parties resort to fascist repression, threat of fascist dictatorship
today comes only from RSS-BJP.
54 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
Communist Revolutionaries Should Unitedly Face This Challenge Attacks on Dalits
The situation calls for increasing initiative and action from the communist
revolutionaries. CRs should come on one platform to fight this growing Saharanpur and Fightback
fascist offensive, for projecting a peoples alternative and for building
struggles of the people on their issues and against the assault on democratic Shabbirpur village in Saharanpur district is the latest addition to the
rights in different walks of life as well as attacks on minorities, Dalits, growing list of places where Dalits have risen against the injustices and
women, tribals. Strength of the revolutionary forces would be very important atrocities of upper castes. On May 21st 2017, thousands of Dalits from
in resisting the fascist take over, in preventing it and overthrowing it if it is western UP, particularly Saharanpur, came to the Jantar Mantar protest
imposed. CRs may and should join with other struggling forces as well to site in the capital to express their resolve to fight against attacks on them.
face the attacks of the ruling dispensation where-ever necessary and
possible. The situation calls for a determined and serious response. Todays Shabbirpur, coming after Una and Sangrur, has added a new dimension
tasks should be grasped and new initiatives and approach should be to the struggle of Dalits and oppressed castes in the country. In Una, the
unhesitatingly taken up to meet the challenge of the present situation. beating of Dalit youth by RSS hoodlums had led to big protests by Dalits
and progressive organizations in Gujarat. Those leading the protest had
(Approved by the Central Committee of CPI(ML)-New called for Dalits to shun skinning of dead cattle and demanded that Dalits
Democracy on April 22, 2017) be given land to which they are entitled. Una protests had once again
highlighted the question of land for Dalits. Una became a symbol of not
only a new wave of protests by Dalits but also the raising of land question
by oppressed castes in their fight against caste oppression and attacks.
Earlier, in Sangrur district of Punjab, Dalits had been struggling under
the banner of Zamin Prapti Sangharsh Committee for the share of panchayat
agricultural land legally earmarked for Dalits for lease. This land to which
Read and Subscribe Dalits are legally entitled was being enjoyed by Jat landlords through various
CPI(ML) Organs dubious methods. This struggle, continuing for last three years, has faced
serious repression by the state govt. and attacks by landlords. An 80 year
New Democracy English old woman, Gurdev Kaur, became a martyr last year in the attack by the
Pratirodh Ka Swar Hindi landlords. Ballad Kalan and Jaloor became symbols of resistance to the
landlords attacks. This struggle scored many victories forcing the Govt.
Voice of New Democracy Telugu to give lease to Dalits for their share of panchayat land in a number of
(Telengana) villages and reduce the price of lease. The land thus enjoyed by Dalits not
only brought economic gains but, and more importantly, social status.
New Democracy Bulletin Telugu
Women played a very active role in this struggle seeing land as an instrument
(A.P.) of freedom for harassment by landlords.
Biplabi Ganaline Bengali Shabbirpur witnessed vicious attacks against Dalits by Rajputs on May
Inquilabi Sada Rah Punjabi 5, 2017. The issue of playing loud music in front of Ravidas temple and
Dalits opposition to it, escalated into an all out attack against Dalits. A big
Sangrami Ekta Odia

May, 2017 55 56 May, 2017

 NEW DEMOCRACY
crowd of Rajputs had assembled ostensibly to celebrate Maharana Pratap
Jayanti. Rajput youth played loud music before the Ravidas temple and
when objected to by Dalits made several rounds before the temple. This
crowd moved to attack the temple under the excuse that stones were pelted
on them from inside the temple. The statue of Ravidas was broken, thrown
on the ground and things were also set on fire. A Rajput youth died while
coming out of the temple. Indian Express reported that according to the
postmortem, the cause of death was suffocation. This incident was used
to launch an all out attack against Dalits. Over 50 houses of Dalits were
consigned to fire. Their shops on the roads were burnt down. 12 Dalits
were injured, one of them received serious injuries. Five of the injured were
women.
Shabbirpur, a village nearly 25 kms from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh,
has had a long history of conflict between Rajputs and Dalits. In the month
of April 2017, Dalits were prevented from installing a statue of Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar on the ground that they did not have permission to do so. But
Rajputs were allowed to take out a big procession without any permission,
with police remaining spectators. Earlier conflicts had been on a number of
issues. The village has nearly one thousand Rajput and 600 Dalit voters.
Rajputs own most the land while some Dalits also possess some land, an
eyesore for Rajputs who view this as the cause of their arrogance!
Shabbirpur is not alone. Since Yogi Adityanath (Ajay Singh Bisht) Govt.
coming to power in UP, in several places attacks have been mounted
against Dalits. Sambhal, Badaun and Aligarh have been the more talked
about centres of such attacks. While attacks against Muslims have been
routine in western UP thanks to deep seated communalization of police
and administrative machinery, attacks against Dalits have grown in number
since advent of Yogi Govt. It is a sort of upper caste assertion after the
long spell of SP and BSP in power. Hindutva is essentially upper caste
chauvinism and stands for preservation and perpetuation of power of upper
castes, basically their landlord sections. So the attacks against Dalits are
not an aberration but an essential part of Hindutva agenda. While Modi and
the like from RSS make a show of their caring for Dalits, they wish only to
use them for attacks against Muslims to carve out communal polarization.
Anti-Muslim rally held by BJP MP from Saharanpur, Raghav Lakhanpal, in
the name of Ambedkar is a clear pointer to their design. The same Raghav
Lakhanpal is siding with Rajputs in Shabbirpur. The message is clear. Dalits
May, 2017 57
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
are welcome to participate in anti-Muslim violence but they dare not challenge
the hegemony of upper castes! Hindutva is a response of a section of
ruling classes to the growing struggles of the oppressed sections, to disrupt
their unity and to bring them under the sway of upper castes, particularly
landlords. That this Hindutva is quite cozy with corporate shows the joint
rule of big landlords and big capitalists in the country. Hindutva has also
been and is a useful tool in the service of imperialist powers, particularly
western imperialist powers. It is not accidental that ideology of Hindutva
took birth and prospered under the aegis of British colonial rulers and is
still viewed by imperialist powers as a useful and powerful weapon against
the anti-imperialist, progressive and democratic aspirations of the people
of this country.
Shabbirpur has demonstrated complete connivance of police and
administrative machinery in these attacks on Dalits. Police not only watched
this attack on Dalits but also participated in attacking Dalits. A number of
Dalits were arrested though they were the ones attacked. Police did not
even record the statements of the injured till several days after the attack.
Police had not allowed installation of Ambedkar statue in the name of lack
of permission but did not prevent Rajputs from taking out their rally. Dalits
were denied permission to hold a protest against Shabbirpur attack at Gandhi
Chowk in Saharanpur on May 9 and those who had assembled were
lathicharged, several of them injured.
Due to support of police and administration, attacks by Rajputs against
Dalits are continuing. On May 23, when BSP chief Ms. Mayawati went to
the area, Rajputs attacked, with swords and firearms, the Dalits returning
from her meeting. In these attacks a number of Dalits were injured, thirteen
of them seriously, and one youth died in the attack. This also has not
spurred Modi-Yogi dispensation to act against the attackers. State Govt.
has confined itself to the timeworn tactic of transferring SP and DM, once
after May 5 and second time after May 23. These are merely eyewash.
RSS has a strong base among Rajputs in this and neighbouring villages
and conducts shakhas in these villages.
While attacks against and atrocities on Dalits and other oppressed castes
are quite routine, these have grown in number and intensity since RSS-
BJP Yogi dispensation in power at the Centre. However, what distinguishes
Shabbirpur and other incidents is the protest and resistance put up by
58 May, 2017
 NEW DEMOCRACY
Dalits against these attacks. They are not willing to take these attacks
without resistance. The big demonstration held in Delhi on May 21 in which
a large number of Dalits from Saharanpur participated, shows the anger of
Dalits over this incident and the rising flames of resistance to these atrocities
among them. Bhim Army Ekta Mission had called for the protest
demonstration in Saharanpur on May 9 and for Delhi rally. Bhim Army
activists led Dalits particularly Dalit youth in these protests, even conducting
road blocks at a number of places. They have been Dalits whose houses
had been burnt and who suffered injuries.
While Mayawati has exhorted Dalits to remain only in BSP (this is
obviously targeted against Bheem Army), the anger of Dalit youth against
oppression is boiling. In fact Ms. Mayawati had announced her rally only
after the big turnout during Jantar Mantar rally on May 21, 2017 called by
Bhim Army. Dalits are not satisfied with just placing a few of their leaders
in power through elections, but want freedom from attacks by upper castes,
domination of the landlords belonging to these castes and freedom from
discrimination. Saharanpur and before that Una, highlighted that leadership
of these agitations is willing to challenge the basis of caste oppression.
Intellectual sections from Dalits are also challenging the policy framework
of the ruling classes and are willing to stand by their convictions in face of
attacks by the Govt. Students of Ambedkar-Periyar Society in Chennai
and Rohit Vemula and others of Ambedkar Students Association in
Hyderabad Central University had raised the issues pertaining to different
anti-people policies of the Govt. These are positive developments for
mobilization of these sections for revolutionary transformation of society.
There is an urgent need that all sections struggling against ruling classes
should come together. However, such a unity will be forged in the melting
pot of struggles. Its path may not be straight, its course may be somewhat
long yet such a unity must be forged and can be forged. It is very important
for intensification of struggle for new democratic transformation of India.
Its need is urgent.
May, 2017 59
Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)
Homage to Com. Khokan Mazumdar
Central Committee of CPI(ML)-New Democracy pays its homage to the
revolutionary memory of Com. Khokan Mazumdar, a veteran communist
revolutionary leader and a member of the Central Committee of CPI(ML)-
Kanu Sanyal. He breathed his last on May 29 evening, only four days after
the communist revolutionaries had observed the 50th Anniversary of the
great and glorious Naxalbari Peasant Armed Struggle. He was 87 year old.
Born in a poor peasant family in that part of earlier Bengal which is
today Bangladesh, Com. Khokan Mazumdar had been active in the
communist movement since he joined united CPI in early fifties as a
teenager. After coming to Kolkata in 1950s, he was active in the working
class movement and later went to North Bengal. He participated in Naxalbari
movement from the beginning and was among those whose names have
been closely associated with that movement. He was part of the leadership
which led the Naxalbari peasant armed struggle, which became a turning
point in the history of the communist movement of India. He along with
Coms. Kanu Sanyal, Deepak Biswas and Khudan Mullick went to China
and met the leaders of the Communist Party of China including Com. Mao
Zedong. In several interviews he had said that Com. Mao showed keen
interest in Naxalbari movement.
Com. Khokan Mazumdar remained steadfast on the line of Armed
Agrarian Revolution. He was in the leadership of revolutionary communist
movement. He was a member of the Provisional Central Committee formed
in 1977. At the time of his death he was a member of the Central Committee
of CPI(ML)-Kanu Sanyal. He was living in Khemchi near Naxalbari. Since
the past ten years he was suffering from paralysis on the right side but his
conviction in New Democratic Revolution and path of Protracted Peoples
War was firm and deep. He was above all forms of sectarianism and was a
strong proponent of unity of communist revolutionaries.
Com. Khokan Mazumdar made an important contribution to the
revolutionary movement of the country. Paying homage to Com. Khokan
Mazumdar, CPI(ML)-New Democracy vows to firmly advance on the path
of Armed Agrarian Revolution for which Khokanda had lived and worked.
Red Salute to Com. Khokan Mazumdar!
60 May, 2017