[L-I] [ INDIA ] ML Update, Vol.5; No.23; May 5 --11, 2002

>
> ML Update
> A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine
> Vol.-5; No.-23; 5-11 June 2002
>
>
> NO MORE WAR BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN
>
> The danger of a real war between India and Pakistan has suddenly escalated
> alarmingly. The pre-war build-up which started gathering momentum in the
> wake of the May 14 Kaluchak incident seems to have reached a critical
level.
>
> The loudest alarm so far has been sounded by none other than the
governments
> of the US and UK, the two administrations which have been monitoring and
> regulating the current impasse in Indo-Pak relations on an almost
day-to-day
> basis. Both the governments have advised their non-essential diplomatic
> staff and other citizens based in India to leave the country at the
> earliest. India-bound American and British tourists bave been advised to
> keep off the subcontinent. The US Secretary of State Colin Powell has
> categorically stated that a war between India and Pakistan can no longer
be
> ruled out.
>
> If a war really breaks out, much of the responsibility will rest with
these
> two imperialist countries. Apart from the rulers of India and Pakistan,
the
> governments of US and UK too have their own vested interest in fuelling a
> 'limited war'. Both Britain and the US figure among the biggest sellers of
> weapons to India and Pakistan. The British foreign secretary Jack Straw
who
> received such favourable coverage in the Indian media for his apparently
> pro-India remarks has openly invoked British commercial interests in
> defending the Blair government's weapon sales to India and Pakistan. While
> an arms race between India and Pakistan keeps the weapon-sellers and their
> middlemen happy, a war or even a war-like situation provides our former
and
> current 'masters' with ample opportunities to deepen their strategic
> intervention in the region.
>
> A war between India and Pakistan in the present situation of nuclear
parity
> is bound to spell unprecedented devastation. Independent western observers
> have warned that any nuclear strike could immediately kill no less than 12
> million people in India and Pakistan. Much of India and Pakistan would
> indeed be wiped out and we need not look beyond Japan to tell us how
> successive generations would continue to suffer. Even a look at our own
> Bhopal which suffered only a major gas leak and no nuclear strike should
> serve as sufficient warning if we at all need any.
> All sane people in both India and Pakistan are naturally wary of yet
another
> war between the two neighbours. There are however some outfits on both
sides
> of the border who seem to be dying for a war. In India, the VHP, notorious
> for its record in Gujarat, has asked the government to abandon its
> commitment of no-first-use of nuclear weapons. It has also offered to take
> care of the internal policing requirements of the country so the
government
> can direct all its existing armed and police forces to war against
Pakistan!
> Already armed forces have been asked to vacate Gujarat and the result is
an
> upswing in violence in the last few days.
>
> Left and democratic forces in both India and Pakistan must boldly uphold
the
> banner of peace and sanity in the present surcharged situation. We must
> force our respective rulers to return to the negotiating table and in this
> regard India has to take the lead. War must be averted at all costs and it
> must be made clear that there can be no substitute for diplomacy and
> dialogue.
>
> We must also clearly see through the dangerous game plan of Western powers
> like the US and Britain. They say they are confident of evacuating their
> citizens in the event of a war. But wherre do ordinary Indians and
> Pakistanis go? We have nowhere else to go to and hence peace is a must for
> us.
>
> The NDA government says it has the authorization of Parliament to take
> appropriate action to deal with the situation as it unfolds. We must make
> sure that the Vajpayee government is not allowed to use this so-called
> parliamentary authorization as a blank cheque to wage war with Pakistan.
If
> the government invokes Parliament to justify its dangerous war game, the
> people must assert its supreme power to prevent the government from this
> disastrous course.
>
>
> CPI(ML) CONDUMNS POLICE FIRING ON FARMERS
>
> The CPI(ML) has condemned the incidents of police firing and state
> repression of  agitating farmers in Haryana. The Party has asked the
> BJP-backed Chautala govt. to immediately stop its course of confrontation
> and release all arrested leaders and fulfill their demands. The Party has
> also taken a strong note on Chautala's statement describing leaders of the
> agitation as criminals and his orders of 'shoot at sight' issued against
> them. The Party Polit-bureau member Swadesh Bhattacharya and Haryana
> in-charge Prem Singh Gahlawat had visited Jind to express solidarity with
> the farmers.
> Jind and adjoining areas in Haryana are witnessing an unprecedented and
> spontaneous agitation by farmers who are asking for waiver of exorbitant
> electricity bills which is impossible for them to pay. In fact they are
> demanding CM Om Prakash Chautala to fulfill his own election promise of
> "free electricity and free water" to the farmers. The governments at the
> centre and in states, working under WTO diktats, has pushed the peasants
> back to the wall with agriculture becoming a loss making venture thanks to
> continuing increase in the costs of production owing to monopoly of
> multinationals over seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, agri. machinery, etc.
on
> the one hand and withdrawal of subsidies from the agriculture sector on
the
> other. The adverse impact of pro-imperialist and anti-farmer policies is
now
> speeding up the process of pauperisation in the villages.
> The CPI(ML) and All India Kisan Sangharsh Samiti have given a nationwide
> call for a Protest Day on June 5 in solidarity to the movement of the
> farmers in Haryana. Mass dharna will also be organised in several district
> HQs of Haryana and in Chandigarh on June 7.
> Defending the indefensible
>
>
> GEORGE SAYS RAPES ARE NORM
>
> "... alluding to his socialist past in the late 1950's as a fire brand
> leader of the Bombay Taxi Unions, Fernandes' journey from red to saffron
has
> been a steady decline. His career peaked when as a tough talking trade
> unionist he organised a successful all India rail strike ahead of the
> Emergency. Always casting himself as a dyed-in-the-wool Socialist,
Fermandes
> created an image of himself as the upright, clean, messiah of the masses.
> Interestingly at one time he contemplated the priesthood. Today Fernandes
is
> a pale shadow of his former self."
>
> "From egalitarian beginnings Fernandes has allowed himself to hit rock
> bottom; he suggests rape and murder are the norm in India. He has the gall
> to say in the hallowed portals of Parliament that "a pregnant woman's
> stomach being cut, a daughter being raped in front of her mother" were not
> new things, the implication must be that they can carry on happening in
the
> future. Trying to be more loyal than the king, Fernandes' defence of the
> pogrom in Gujarat outclasses the Home Minister, a known RSS pracharak. His
> political decline began when his fondness for power made him throw his
> principles to the winds. In the last two and half years he has done
nothing
> to redeem himself. On the contrary it is questionable whether he has any
> credibility left. Whether it is the Tehelka tapes still up in the air, or
> acquiescing to the Sangh's minority-bashing, both Christian and Muslim,
> Fernandes has demonstrated how the mighty have fallen!"
> (From the 'Statesman' dated May 6, 2002)
>
>
> CENSOR SPOPS SCREENING OF 'WAR AND PEACE'
>
> "War and Peace" a documentary film by Anand Patwardhan has become an early
> casualty of growing war hysteria of the Vajpayee govt. Screening of the
film
> scheduled on June 1, was abruptly and arbitrarily stopped by the Censor
> Board authorities. People see Shiv-Sena-Sangh-Parivar and their
government's
> hand behind it. We strongly condemn this act of sinister attack on a
sincere
> attempt to focus on the dangers of nuclear war in the subcontinent and
> seeking peace. The war mongers should be taught that  more desperate they
be
> in silencing the democratic voice, the more anti-war-anti-fascist voices
> would be roared against them.
>
> Mr. Patwardhan called the concerned officer and was informed that the
> censorship process took its own time. In addition he was told that as the
> film made references to the Tehelka arms scandal, and the matter was
> sub-judice, it could not be screened. Mr. Patwardhan points out that the
> Tehelka tapes are before a fact-finding commission, and are, therefore,
not
> sub-Judice.
> Paradoxically "War and Peace" won two major awards at the seventh Mumbai
> International Film Festival recently.
>
>
> BJP DEFEATED IN DUMKA BY-ELECTION IN JHARKHAND
>
> The ruling BJP faced another humiliating defeat in the by-elections held
for
> Dumka parliamentary constituency. The Jharkhand chief minister Babulal
> Marandi had vacated this seat, but despite large scale misuse of the
> government machinery BJP failed to retain it. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
> candidate Shibu Soren has won by a margin of more than  94,000 votes.
> Incidentally Shibu Soren is currently a member of the Rajya Sabha with the
> BJP support. This was first election after inception of the new state and,
> therefore, the results are rightly being seen as an expression of people's
> increasing anguish and discontent against the BJP regime. The CPI(ML)
> candidate Sunil Hembrum polled 6,398 votes. During the election campaign
the
> CPI(ML) propaganda centered around increasing communal fascist attacks by
> the BJP and its increased proximity with the JMM. Congress was also
targeted
> in the campaign.
>
>
> PEOPLE'S COURTS AGAINST BPL CARD SCAM
>
> In Bihar, the CPI(ML) is organising block level 'Jan Adalats' (people's
> courts) to take up to the  masses the issue of PDS scam involving crores
of
> rupees. Purnamasi Ram, minister in Rabari Devi cabinet, and his gang tried
> to create disturbances in one of such adalats at Bagaha where he himself
> came to the BDO office and instructed his gang and bodyguards. His goons
> snatched the memorandum and other papers away from the delegation, which
was
> led by Com. Kashi Baitha. The BDO remained a silent spectator throughout
the
> programme. The Rabari Devi govt. has already given its tacit approval to
> this scam, going on for years, by not removing main accused Purnamasi Ram
> who is directly involved. On the contrary, Party leader Dayanand Dwivedi,
> who was severely beaten up by the minister and his gang, is being
victimised
> by the administration as well as Purnamasi Ram. Com. Dwivedi has been
> falsely implicated in many criminal cases. It may be recalled that he was
> the key figure in exposing this scam by bringing out concrete evidences
> against the Food and Civil Supplies minister and other officials.
>
> Meanwhile, an overwhelming response is explicit as thousands of people are
> coming to these 'Jan Adalats' with their grievances. During the campaign
> 'Jan Adalats' were organised from 20 May to 1 June in more than seventy
> blocks in the state involving nearly 50,000 people who were below poverty
> line and deprived of the benefits of the PDS system. Most of them were
> Agricultural labourers. It was widely reported that food grains are not
> distributed by the PDS dealers and if it was done once or twice they made
an
> entry into the register for even more than 10 times. The participants at
> most of the places demanded distribution of red cards to all below poverty
> line and an immediate check on corruption and irregularities in the PDS
> system. The demands for a CBI inquiry into the scam, removal of Purnamasi
> Ram from the cabinet and withdrawal of false charges against Com. Dayanand
> Dwivedi were strongly echoed in these 'Jan Adalats'.
>
>
> HIKE IN PRICES OF DIESEL, PETROL AND POSTAL SERVICES OPPOSED
>
> The CPI(ML) has strongly condemned and protested the government's decision
> to hike prices of diesel and petrol. Already a hike in postal services is
in
> force and travelling by train has made costlier. Demanding immediate
> rollback the Party came down heavily on the BJP-led NDA government at the
> centre for accelerating the process of imposition of anti-people policies
on
> the common people. "Common people can't be compelled to live a life under
> such type of attacks continuously on the one hand and war-hysteria and
> communal frenzy on the other", the Party has said.
>
>
> GOVERNMANT APATHY PROTESTED
>
> In Shakarpur area of Eastern Delhi five people were burnt alive and
hundreds
> of jhuggis were gutted in a devastating fire on 22 May. Local unit of the
> Party organised relief works and protested the apathatic attitude of the
> government in providing relief to the affected people. A demonstration was
> organised before the  Chief Minister's office on May 23 demanding a
> compensation of rupees five lakhs each to the families of those killed, of
> one lakh for each household destroyed and for permanent arrangements for
> safety in future. The government was asked to formulate an appropriate
> housing policy to safeguard the rights of the poor and slum dwellers in
the
> national capital. Delhi state secretary Rajendra Pratholi and East Delhi
> secretary Sunita led the demonstration.
>
>
> POWER DISTRIBUTION PRIVATISED IN DELHI
>
> The electricity power supply network in the national capital has been
> privatised and from now on Bombay Suburban Electric Supply Company (BSES),
a
> Reliance group affiliate, and the Tata Power will own it. Initially the
> proposals put forth by these two companies were rejected as the Delhi
govt.
> found them non-feasible and impractical on 15 April 2002. But after
> 'negotiations' government reached to an 'agreement' on May 27 despite
> intense opposition by Delhites in general and the trade unions in
particular
> to privatisation efforts.
>
> The "Delhi Vidyut Board" responsible for the production and distribution
of
> electricity in Delhi was already split into six corporations, three of
them
> deals with the power supply network, one and a half years back to
facilitate
> the privatisation drive.
>
> It seems that these two private companies have been assured a guaranteed
> profit by the government as they have given three years moratorium on
> payment of interest worth Rs. 510 crores. The govt. has also assured a
loan
> of Rs. 3500 crores with a moratorium on interest (worth 750 crores) for
five
> years to these two companies besides giving away 2500 residential quarters
> and office complexes worth Rs. 700 crores for just rupee 1 per month.
> Moreover, the valuation was done by the SBI Caps in violation of the
policy
> document, although the government has its own CAG for the purpose.
>
> The Delhi Power Minister justifies this privatisation in view of huge
power
> thefts that amounts to 46 percent of transmission and distribution losses
or
> a loss of Rs 100 crores per month to the DVB according to govt.'s
estimates.
> But how come the government in Delhi reaches to the conclusion that by
> merely handing over of a company to private hands at throw away prices
could
> stop power thefts. Why govt. itself is not competent enough to contain
> thefts or how the private companies are more capable in preventing such
> losses? Isn't it the job of the govt. to implement related laws meant to
> check this? Private operators will also have to work under same laws. Does
> it mean to say that it is privatising governance as well along with
> privatising electricity. It is a common knowledge that major part of
> electricity thefts goes to private industries who are patronised  by the
> ruling political establishment and certainly they will continue to enjoy
> this privilege in one way or the other. It is the lakhs of common people
and
> poorest of the poor living in slums and unauthorised colonies who will
face
> the brunt of privatisation.
>
> While condemning this privatisation the CPI(ML) has termed it as one more
> act by the govt. against people's wishes and for implementing govt.'s
> pro-imperialist economic agenda. The Mandawali committee in East Delhi
also
> held a protest demonstration against privatisation of electricity
> distribution in the capital and crisis of electricity and water.
>
>
> JOINT FORUM OF WRITERS IN PATNA AGAINST COMMUNAL FASCISM
>
> A meeting of writers and intellectuals from left and democratic streams
was
> convened by the Jan Sanskriti Manch in Patna on June 2 in the backdrop of
> Gujarat pogroms and increasing attacks by communal fascist forces
throughout
> the country. There was a concensus over the fact that Gujarat pogroms are
> not only a result of increased communal frenzy but also a brutal
expression
> of communal fascist tendencies which are getting more and more
strengthened
> in the country and that there is need to strongly resist such tendencies.
It
> was decided to constitute a joint forum of writers and cultural activists
to
> launch a campaign against communal fascism. The prominent among those who
> attended the meeting were Executive President of Bihar Pragatisheel Lekhak
> Sangh Braj Kumar Pandey, Arun Kamal, Secretary of Janwadi Lekhak Sangh
Vijay
> Kumar, Ramji Rai of Jan Sanskriti Manch, Dharmendra Sushant and Dr. Wasi
> Ahmad.
>
> After the meeting an appeal was issued to the artists, writers, cultural
> activists and intellectuals for a nationwide initiative for removal of
> Narendra Modi government in Gujarat and reconstruction of memorials of
Wali
> Dakni and Fayyaz Khan which were destroyed during the riots in Gujarat.
> It was decided to organise a Seminar to chalk out detailed strategy for
> launching a joint campaign against communal fascism on June 23 where all
> revolutionary left and democratic writers' organisations and
representatives
> of social movements will be invited.
>
>
> RSS HECKERS RECEIVES A DAMP SQUIB IN NEW YORK
>
> The planned protest by  fanatics of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh against
the
> reading of Shashi Tharoor's novel, 'Riot'  on May 22 at the Tischman
> Auditorium of the  New School found little support. In contrast, people
> young and old, women and men carrying  posters denouncing the pogrom
against
> minority community in Gujarat were there to express solidarity.
> Approximately 500 people were present in the gathering to hear the reading
> of the four characters from the book,  which were being played by Shabhana
> Azmi,  Madhur Jaffrey, Tharoor himself, and Editorial Features Deputy
Editor
> of the Wall Street Journal Tunku Varadarajan.
>
>
> _____________________________
> Join the
>
> "National Convention against
> Communal Fascism"
>
> June 26, 2002
>
> Mavalankar Auditorium,
> Rafi Marg, New Delhi.
>
> ___________________________
>
> Join the
> Save Democracy
> Campaign!
>
> June 26  to  August 9
>
> To culminate in
> militant nationwide protests
> on August 9
> against
> Communal Fascism
> __________________________
>
> cpimllib@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.cpiml.org
> _________________________
>
>
>


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