ML Update A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine Vol.-5; No.-40; 2-8 Oct 2002
AKSHARDHAM AND AFTER The Akshardham tragedy has followed the Gujarat Genocide almost as inexorably as the Bombay Blasts had followed the riots in 1993. The outrageous attack on visitors in this famous Gandhinagar temple which left more than thirty people dead and many more injured has been condemned unequivocally by the entire country. The VHP and Shiv Sena reacted once again with another Bharat Bandh, but the bandh passed off remarkably 'peacefully' as had been appealed by Modi. The anger this time was directed exclusively against Pakistan as Advani and Vajpayee took great trouble to explain the entire Akshardham episode as Pakistan's reply to the elections being held in Jammu and Kashmir. Advani's attempt to present the Akshardham episode as an attack on democracy resembled Bush's interpretation of 9/11 as an assault on American democracy and civilization. But luckily few in India are willing to buy this Advani line. Also, unlike Bush's war on Afghanistan, Advani will find it difficult to translate his high- voltage rhetoric against Pakistan into a real war. The forces of peace and sanity in both India and Pakistan must however sharpen their vigil. The Pakistani terrorist plot theory being dished out by official sources in New Delhi and Gandhinagar has thrown up more questions than it can claim to answer. Regardless of the actual identity of the two persons involved in the Akshardham shootout, there can be no mistaking the motivation that lay behind the incident. Located in the high-security heart of Gandhinagar, the constituency of none other than Advani, and epitomising the enormous clout of the powerful Patel lobby, Akshardham temple is clearly loaded with symbolism. There are now reports that the government had enough warnings from its own intelligence agencies, yet conditions around the temple were left almost tailor-made for the execution of the episode. So much for the government's tall claims on vigilance and security! The other question which is now on everybody's lips in Gujarat is why the central and state governments acted so differently after Godhra and Akshardham? There was no televised appeal for restraint from Modi after Godhra. It then took days and weeks for Advani and Vajpayee to reach Gujarat whereas this time round they were all there within hours of the incident. And the September 26 bandh wore such a different look from February 28 and March 1 when the entire state was completely leased out to the VHP while the state machinery just complied and colluded with the VHP-led dance of death and destruction. The role of the state in the post-Godhra Genocide now stands doubly confirmed. The Modi regime hopes that the Akshardham episode would bolster its electoral prospects and even lend it a fresh coat of legitimacy and respectability! But if the response evoked by the "Save Gujarat, Save India" rally and convention by left and democratic forces in Ahmedabad on September 28, just a day after the VHP's bandh is any indication, Gujarat is tired of this vicious cycle of fascist violence and Modi's dreams may just not be realized. Let us intensify our campaign to win the battle of secularism and democracy in Gujarat. "NO TO TERRORISM, NO TO COMMUNAL FANATICISM" NATIONWIDE PROTEST HELD CPI(ML) held nationwide protests on 28 September with the call "No to Terrorism, No to Communal Fanaticism". Massive marches were organised in Ahmedabad and Delhi and elsewhere in the country. The Party General Secretary com. Dipankar Bhattacharya along with leaders of various organisations and intellectuals led the march for peace and harmony in Ahmedabad and addressed a convention in the city. Before the march, com. Dipankar Bhattacharya also met all 33 injured victims including seven securitymen who are admitted in the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. In Ahmedabad, the march began from city railway station and after covering the main streets in the city reached Ambedkar Hall where a well attended Convention was held. Around a thousand people participated in the march. The convention witnessed a broad based participation of the Left-democratic stream. Communist and Socialist leaders, trade union activists, Gandhians, Ambedkarites and large number of activists of social organisations and civil liberty movement attended the Convention. Activists from Rajasthan and Maharashtra also joined the march and the Convention. The Convention began with observing a two minutes silence in the memory of those killed in the terrorist attack on the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar in Gujarat. The Convention was addressed among others by CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, former member of the Planning Commission S. P. Shukla, 'Red Flag' General Secretary K. N. Ramchandran, Unity Initiative leader and trade unionist P. K. Murthy, CPI(ML) Gujarat Incharge Ranjan Ganguly, noted social activists and intellectuals Achyut Yagnik, noted trade union leaders and social activists Aseem Roy and Mukul Sinha and known Gandhians Chunni Bhai Vaid and Prakash Shah. The functionaries of local units of CPI and CPI(M) in Gujarat as well as the leaders of organisations like SUCI, Lal Nishan Party (Leninist), Lal Nishan Party, Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti, Gujarat Khet Vikas Parishad, Lok Adhikar Sangh, Gujarat Ekta Manch, Insaf, Prashant, Punaruthan, Gujarat Adivasi Sabha, Banaskantha Zila Dalit Sangathan and Dalit Panther also joined the march and Convention. The solidarity messages received from Communist Parties and organisations from abroad were read out in the convention. The Convention passed resolutions demanding arrrest of all responsible, including police personnel, for the killings in Gujarat, adequate compensation to the families of deceased and injured, and rehabilitation of all displaced people in a humane manner. Addressing the Convention, the CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya condemned the terrorist attack on Swaminarayan temple in Gandhinagar and called upon people in Gujarat and all over the country to maintain peace, vigil and harmony and make sure that saffron fascists are not allowed to create fresh round of trouble once again in Gujarat. He said, "Gujarat is crying for peace ... peace based on justice ... and this justice and peace can not be achieved through terrorist path. Gujarat needs a powerful left-democratic intervention. It calls for a vigorous political mobilisation of all the concerned secular-democratic forces . Only such a mobilisation can check the politics of competitive Hindutva, between BJP and Congress, and can save Gujarat from reducing to a graveyard of democracy and laboratory of fascism." Com. Dipankar said, "first they used the widely condemned Godhra carnage to unleash a series of well planned anti-Muslim pogroms. Now, they want to use the temple tragedy to further capitalise on their communal gameplan". Talking about the BSP-BJP joint venture in Uttar Predesh and its celebration held in Lucknow on 28 September in which L. K. Advani also participated , the com. Dipankar said that Mayawati had no scruples about endorsing the saffron agenda whether in Gujarat or at Ayodhya. Com. Dipankar called upon all communists and socialists as well as Gandhians, Ambedkarites and concerned social activists in Gujarat to come to a common platform. In Delhi, nearly fifteen hundred activists, mainly students and youth from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam and Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Punjab, stood out a massive 'anti-terrorism-anti-communal fanaticism' march from New Delhi railway station to Ferozshah Kotla Ground. It was led among others by Rajendra Pratholi, Ranjit Abhigyan, Lal Bahadur Singh, Kavita Krishnan, Mithilesh Yadav, Sunil Yadav and Md. Saleem. The march culminated into 'SANKALP SABHA' (meeting to take pledge). The meeting commemorated the Birth Anniversary of Shahid-E-Azam Bhagat Singh and pledged to carry forward Bhagat Singh's legacy of struggle against imperialism and communal fanaticism. A book titled "Bhagat Singh: Vichar Aur Sangharsh", published by AISA and RYA, was released on this occasion by Sri Jagmohan, General Secretary of Punjab Jantantrik Sabha and Bhagat Singh's nephew. This was also addressed by the former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Rajinder Sachar, noted journalist Jawed Naqvi, Jan Sanskrit Manch General Secretary Ajay Singh, former President of the Benaras Hindu University Students' Union Anand Pradhan and others. Professor Subhendu Ghosh of Delhi University and several other cultural activists presented songs on this occasion. March and demonstrations were also held at several other centers including Patna, Bhagalpur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Pilibhit and Kolkata, Raiganj, Jalpaiguri, and Siliguri. MESSAGES OF SOLIDARITY TO THE AHMEDABAD CONVENTION The Democratic Socialist Party of Australia has sent its message of solidarity to the Ahmedabad Convention against communal fascist forces held on 28 September. While endorsing the demands of the Convention, John Percy, National Secretary of DSP, has said "this Convention coincides with protests around the world against another planned genocide-that being organised by US imperialism against Iraq. ... and another genocide already taking place, the Israel state's murderous assault against Palestinian people." He further adds, "Bush's war drive needs an united response by all left and progressive forces around the world." The South Asia Solidarity Group based in London, has sent its solidarity greetings and full support to its key demands of dismissal of the Modi government, imposition of President Rule in Gujarat with a credible non-RSS Governor, full rehabilitation of the survivors of the genocide and bringing the planners and perpetrators to justice. The SASG has said in its message, "We believe that at this time of crisis the Convention will be an important step in signaling that, despite the unimaginable horrors of the Gujarat genocide, fascism will not be allowed to continue on its path of destruction and degradation. In taking this courageous step, you are also reminding India and the world that those who survived the genocide will not be forgotten, and that creating a situation in which they can live in peace and security is an urgent and continuing task." The SASG, in a separate press release, has also condemned the recent attack on temple in Gandhinagar cautioning against the "propagation of communal hatred by the Hindutava fascists", as a probable fallout. International South Asia Forum (INSAF), based in US, had also sent its warmest solidarity to the Convention emphasising that, " It is not sufficient to ensure that the likes of Narendra Modi do not rule over Gujarat any more. They all, and their mentors and masters sitting in New Delhi and elsewhere, must be treated as those who have committed Crimes Against Humanity and Crimes of Genocide. California based "Coalition For Egalitarian & Pluralistic India" extended its greetings and wished the Convention all success. AHMEDABAD DECLARATION DEFEAT COMMUNAL FASCISM, SAVE GUJARAT, SAVE INDIA In the city of Ahmedabad, which was the epicenter of the Gujasrat genocide, the social and political forces from Communist, Socialist, Gandhian, Ambedkarites and secular humanist traditions have converged to express their concern on the development of communal fascism and show their commitment to struggle for the defeat of the Sangh parivar's agenda to make Gujarat into a laboratory for a Fascist State. The delegates from all over Gujarat and various parts of India are saddened by the recent spurt in the killing of innocent fellow Indians from the Godhra train burning to the statewide heinous genocide and now the wanton killing at Akshrdham temple. They share the pain and loss of the bereaved families. This Convention notes that the injecting of communal ideology into society and state leads to a cycle of events of violence and counter violence in which innocents always become victims. The rise of BJP to power in Gujarat and their open support and legitimacy to communal violence have created conditions in which no person is safe and secure. Each and every person can become a victim of communal violence or terrorist reaction. For normal life to return and the right of life to be secured the ideology and politics of communal violence have to be ejected out of our society and polity. This Convention firmly declares that Gujarat will not be allowed to be turned into the graveyard of social tolerance and democracy. The entire civilized world in one voice has condemned the BJP government, first, for its social intolerance in Dang and then for Genocide. The rising opposition and struggle against the Sangh parivar and the failure to enforce early election to benefit from the communal polarization, has led Modi to indulge in more provocative speeches and launch the 'Gaurav Yatra' to perpetuate their communal division. In fact, the enforcement of peaceful 'bandh' on 26th September by government in contrast to 28th February, when communal carnage was allowed to be unleashed, exposes the myth of spontaneous Hindu reaction and confirms the complicity and connivance of the Modi government. In this situation the dismissal of the Modi Government has emerged as the battle cry for all secular and democratic Indians. This Convention is of the firm view that constitutionally and morally the Modi Government has no right to govern, as has also been commented upon by National Human Rights Commission, the Election Commission and Press Council of India. The Convention demands the imposition of President's Rule under a credible secular Governor in Gujarat. Then only confidence among the people and communal amity can be restored. This Convention demands that: 1. All responsible for the killings should be arrested, prosecuted and convicted to restore the rule of law and justice. 2. All members of the police force and administrative services who conspired and colluded in the genocide be removed from services and made accountable to law. 3. Adequate compensation be provided for death, injury and damages to family members. 4. Create conditions for return of all the displaced persons to their homes and fully rehabilitate them in a humane manner. This convention declares its unequivocal support for the democratic rights of Muslims as citizens of India and its commitment to defend their rights, liberty and life, in all situations. It is aware that the rise of Hindutva politics, the daily intimidation, the brutality of violence and the genocide has created anguish and anger among the minority community and shaken their confidence in democracy and secularism. This Convention is deeply convinced that the people of India will defeat the forces of communal fascism. The majority of people, as their struggles unfold, will see through communal fascism and the incompatibility of their economic and political interests with communal politics. Both the history of struggle against dictatorships, against Fascism in Europe and the Emergency in India as well as the fact that people are makers of history provides the basis of conviction. The Convention appeals to the people to reject terrorism, as it does not help the struggle against Communal Fascism. This convention comprising representatives of leading political and social organizations struggling against liberalization, privatization and globalization, which is depriving people of their income, savings, work, livelihood, economic, social rights and even life. From their experience they want to share the lesson that these struggles are weakened by communal fascism, for it undermines the social cohesion of organizations and movements, degrades the ideas of equality and justice in society and destroys the democratic institutions. This economic offensive against the people can be defeated by overcoming communal prejudices and promoting tolerance for the diversities of culture, religion and social identity that make up this country. However, communal fascism inflames prejudices, rejects tolerance and destroys fraternity and so weakens the unity of people of India to build a socially just society and economy. This convention calls upon people to combine their struggle for economic and social demands with the struggle against communal fascism in order to build a new society, a new democratic, secular and egalitarian India. This Convention resolves to carry forward the broad unity of left and democratic forces expressed here at Ahmedabad and gives the call to Defeat Communal Fascism! Save Gujarat! Save India! Date: September 28, 2002. FORTH STATE CONFERENCE OF AICCTU IN PONDICHERY The 4th state conference of AICCTU was held in Pondichery on 22-23 September. 85 delegates and 15 observers from 22 unions affiliated to AICCTU in the state participated in the conference. Com. Swapan Mukherjee, All-India General Secretary of AICCTU, attended the conference as chief guest. Guest speakers from AITUC, CITU, HMS and all other major unions in the state also addressed the open session of the conference. The conference elected a 25-member executive committee with Balasubramanium as the state president and S. Ilangovan as the state general secretary. The resolutions passed by the conference asked for regular fixation of minimum wages and abolition of contract labour system. One resolution called upon the central government not to accept the recommendations of the Second Labour Commission. The Conference also demanded the withdrawal of POTA and dismissal of Narendra Modi govt. in Gujarat. The conference also resolved to organise a protest before the Labour Department office in the second week of November and to organize a procession before the Assembly in the first week of October. On the occasion of the conference, workers took out a rally with a large participation of women workers. AISA VICTORY IN RAMNAGAR The All India Students' Association candidate has won the President's post in the Students' Union elections in Ramnagar in Uttaranchal. This is the third consecutive victory for AISA in this campus defeating Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidate by a wide margin. STOP BUSH-BLAIR WAR MACHINE! ANTI-WAR PROTESTS WORLDWIDE Amidst consolidating consensus fast emerging against American war designs worldwide, people took part in anti-war demonstrations in very large numbers in many important cities of the world on Sept. 28. London witnessed a huge anti-war demonstration which was unprecedented in its recent history as atleast 3,50,000 people marched and rallied. March leaders used bullhorns to shout through the gates of Blair's 10 Downing Street residence as they headed toward Hyde Park. Recent polls in Britain and Italy have shown that 70 percent citizens of these nations oppose Britain joining a U.S.-led military action. The demonstration was jointly sponsored by the Stop the War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain. It was endorsed by 12 national trade unions, numerous Muslim and anti-racist organisations, Members of Parliament and the Mayor of London. The march was also meant as a protest of Israel's policies in the West Bank and Gaza, and many protesters expressed sympathy for the Palestinian cause." Organisers have called for another protest-"Don' t Attack Iraq Day" on Oct 31. In British Parliament too, Prime Minister Blair is facing opposition by a section of his own Party colleagues who have staged a revolt against his Iraq policy. The Liberal Democratic Party, the third largest in the UK, has also declared its opposition to what it called the U.S.'s "imperialist" policy. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Rome the same day carrying red flags and chanted anti-war slogans. Anti-war protest also drew thousands in San Francisco protesting possible U.S. military action in Iraq. Protesters carried banners reading slogans like "Drop Bush not Bombs" and "Terrorists wear pinstriped suits". People also marched through Madrid in Spain in thousands to demand that the U.S. President George W. Bush must not go to war with Iraq and urged Spain's government to refrain from supporting it. Earlier, hundreds of Greek Cypriots rallied peacefully on 22 Sept. against the presence of British bases on the island, which could be used in an attack on Iraq. Thousands of people opposing war with Iraq also marched to the residence of the US Vice President Dick Cheney In Washington on 22 Sept., culminating three days of demonstrations. ANTI-GLOBALISATION PROTESTERS STROM WASHINGTON STREETS More than 2000 anti-globalisation protesters braved police batons during a militant demonstration in Washington where a meeting of G-7 countries (Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and America) was being held on Sept. 28. Protesters opposing World Bank and IMF policies planned to picket major companies in the city and held demonstrations in many streets in small groups dodging the police. Later nearly 650 persons were arrested by the police, a number greater than the people arrested in Seattle three years ago. Few people were also injured during the protest. _________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cpiml.org _________________________ _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
