new democracy, march 2014

Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)

Mar ch, 2014Mar ch, 2014

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CPI(ML)-New Democracy Call to The People forLoksabha Elections

Vote and Elect CPI(ML) NewDemocracy Candidates!

Reject Ruling Class andRevisionist Parties!

Anti-people Rule

Elections to 16th Lok Sabha scheduled in April-May 2014 are takingplace at an important juncture. Over two decades of the implementation ofthe new economic policies of globalization, liberalization and privatizationhave played havoc with the Indian economy and brought sufferings to theoverwhelming majority of the people.

Economy is facing deepening economic crisis evidenced by fallinggrowth rate, near stagnant agricultural production, stagnation and declinein industrial production particularly manufacturing, rising external and internaldebt burden, falling value of rupee and runaway inflation. Increasinghardships of people are evidenced by declining purchasing power, decliningfood grain availability, increasing unemployment, high rise in the prices ofessential commodities, continued suicides by peasants, continuedstarvation of the rural poor, rampant malnutrition and anaemia and most ofthe essential services going out of the reach of common people.

While people are struggling against the increasing burden and theattacks on their livelihood, ruling classes are trying to further intensify theimplementation of new economic policies, handing over mineral wealth ofthe country to MNCs and corporate houses, grabbing land and water forSEZs and industrial corridors to serve foreign and Indian corporate, furtheropening up different sectors of economy to foreign capital and furtherincreasing the burden on the people. They are cutting expenditure on socialsectors and distributing freebies to corporate. They are following FDI

dependent model of development which is eroding employment and domesticdemand. Ruling classes are also trying to sharpen their attack on the people,workers and peasants. They have enacted more black laws and furthersharpened their repressive machinery, police and paramilitary forces,employing paramilitary forces and even military in suppression of thepeople’s struggles at home.

For intensifying these anti-people policies and their anti-people rule,the ruling classes are also sowing illusions about their reforms. And besidesreforms and repression, they are also intensifying their drive to divide thepeople on communal and parochial lines unleashing violence againstminorities and bringing about communal polarization for electoral gains. Astheir policies are getting more and more naked, so their conspiracies arebecoming more and more brazen. Under their rule people are groaning underhigh price rise eroding their meagre incomes and under all pervadingcorruption, but rulers have neither the willingness nor the desire to addressthe basic causes of these.

Aware of the deep alienation of the common people, the ruling classparties, their main leaders, contenders and pretenders to the throne, are allpitching themselves as outsiders to the present power though they areproducts and beneficiaries of the same. They are talking of various issuesonly to deflect people’s anger against these classes and their politicalrepresentatives. They are calling for change, but their call for change isbasically to preserve and renew the status quo, this rule of big capitalistsand big landlords. There is need to see through their virtual change ormakeover change and build struggle for real revolutionary change. There isa need to shed illusions about the wares they are peddling in the electoralmarket and reject their sham change. There is need to utilize these electionsto reject ruling class parties and their hollow promises and advance thestruggle for revolutionary change which can change the life conditions ofoverwhelming majority of people, peasants and workers, dalits and tribals,religious and national minorities, women and youth, aged and disabled, allcommon people of India. Only communist revolutionaries stand for such achange while all ruling class and revisionist parties want to perpetuate thepresent anti-people system.

The election system is tailored to the interests of ruling classes, withfull scope for the use of money, muscle power and media controlled bythem. Election Commission exhorts the people to vote, spending huge



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money for this but makes the elections so costly as to take them out ofreach of the common people and of organizations fighting for their cause.EC has increased the expenditure limit for a parliamentary candidate to 70lakh rupees. Ruling class parties obviously have no objection because it isanyway only a fraction of what they spend on elections. EC has ruled outinexpensive means of propaganda thereby increasing importance ofexpensive means which are out of reach of the common people. Suchblatant use of money power and means of propaganda bought through ite.g. media, make the whole exercise coloured and unrepresentative ofpeople’s will and interests. Any way the election system is highlyundemocratic. Parties polling only a fraction of votes are able to becomemasters due to lack of proportional representation. Candidates elected turntheir back on voters as they cannot be changed till the next elections asthere is no right to recall. There is no mechanism to force the parties tohonour their election promises.

Deterioration in condition of the people

What has their rule brought to the people? Only misery, privation,destitution, poverty and backwardness. Ruling classes have abandonedland reforms and even the land distributed earlier is mostly on paper.Landless poor peasants and agricultural labourers are not given possessionof the agricultural land allotted to them nor even homestead land. Bhoodanlands which were meant to be distributed to landless, are being grabbed byrich and powerful. They suf fer f rom rising unemployment andunderemployment. Rural employment guarantee scheme is low on coveragewith only 15% of those covered getting 100 days of employment. It haslow wages and is high on corruption. Tenant peasants have no right overthe land. They get no loans for agriculture, their produce is not purchasedby Govt. at MSP and they get no compensation in case of displacementand natural calamities like drought and floods.

Landowning peasants, particularly small and medium, suffer from neglectof agriculture by the Govt., high cost of inputs and relatively lower pricesof agricultural produce. They are not able to employ advanced means ofcultivation. In major part of the country agriculture continues to be rain fedand carried on by backward means. In areas where capitalist methods ofagriculture are being employed on extensive scale, areas of GreenRevolution, on the basis of maximum exploitation of soil and water and

maximum use of chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides, they have led tofalling rate of growth with successive increase in inputs leading to lowerrate of growth in production while soil and water have become toxic.Indebtedness of peasants is increasing.

Workers are suffering from increased attacks on their jobs and rights.There is increased contractualization of work force even in Govt.departments and organized industries, with low wages and no rights. Jobinsecurity comes in their way to secure their rights and free unionization isnot permitted. In unorganized industries employing nearly 93% of theworkers, labour laws are not implemented. There is no job security whilesocial security is absent. Labour law implementation machinery has beentrimmed and diverted. Wages of these workers are low, ESI and PF nearlyabsent. They live mostly in bustees and jhuggis with overcrowding and nobasic amenities. Even these are demolished in the name of beautifyingcities. Condition of migrant workers is most horrifying.

Mineral wealth of the country is being gifted to foreign and domesticcorporate while peasants, mostly tribals, are being forcibly displaced fromtheir land and means of livelihood. No attempt is made to develop education,health, employment opportunities and to provide remunerative prices forforest produce. Tribals’ land, livelihood, habitat and cultural life is beingattacked in the name of development while they are forced into meniallabour and migrate to far off places for employment. While destroying theirmeans of livelihood, attempt is to absorb them into lowest rung of society,as a source of cheap labour.

Though there are a number of laws, but dalits continue to be exploitedand oppressed. They do not have possession over the land for which theyhad got pattas and even homestead land is not given. They are continuouslyattacked and their property destroyed if they resist the oppression oflandlords. Even higher judiciary sides with landlords in such cases. Dalitgirls have to face sexual violence from upper caste henchmen of landlords.Even reservation in Govt. services is not properly implemented while thereis no reservation in private sector. Caste chauvinism of upper castescontinues to weigh down upon them.

Minorities, particularly Muslims, are subjected to attacks by Hinducommunal forces aided by the police and state machinery which is deeplycommunal. Attacks on Muslims, their lives and property, is part of the



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game plan of these communal forces for communal polarization in their bidfor power as witnessed recently in Muzaffarnagar. So-called secular partiesof ruling classes on the other hand do practically nothing to defend livesand properties of minorities, only dole out paltry compensation after themayhem. They consider that Muslims must vote for them as they professsecularism and they keep leaders of Muslim religious organizations in goodhumour. These leaders try to keep the Muslim masses insulated from thebroad democratic struggle of the people. Educated Muslim youth are beingtargeted, falsely implicated and incarcerated for long period under thecharges of terrorist attacks. Communalization of police and administrationcomes into the open in every case of violence against minorities. And dueto their involvement, it becomes difficult to ascertain the guilty based onpolice and administrative records. Such has been the case in genocide ofSikhs in 1984 in Delhi and elsewhere and in mass killings of Muslims inGujarat in 2002 and many other cases.

Sexual violence against women is increasing and so are increasingprotests against them. Patriarchy continues to push women to lower statusin society prescribing to them dress codes, behaviour and vocation. Womencontinue to face inequality and discrimination in families and society, sexualharassment at work place and sexual assaults in rural areas and cities.Negative attitude of the Govt., police, administration and judiciary comesinto open display in cases of sexual violence against women. Ruling classparties shout for enhancing punishment to culprits ignoring that even theprescribed punishment is not given to them. Rural poor women, mostlydalits, are common victims of sexual assaults by landlords and theirhenchmen, even middle class professionals are subjected to attacks, andeven by the high and mighty. Women, part icularly middle classprofessionals, are coming forward to lodge their complaints and seekredressal. But the Govt. has formed a law against sexual harassment whichis designed to discourage complainants. There is decreasing employmentof women particularly in organized sectors.

Rising unemployment is the cause of frustration among the youth. Rulingclasses are promoting lumpenization of youth and ruling class politicians,bureaucrats and police officers have been accused of running drug rackets.These parties make youth fodder for their nefarious designs rather thanmaking them contribute to the progress of society and country.

Education, particularly higher education, has gone out of bounds for the

children of common people with high fees and other costs of education.Functioning of Govt. schools is deliberately neglected by the Govt. topromote private schools. This dual or multiple education virtually debarswards of common people from professional courses and high jobs. Govt. istailoring syllabi and curricula of Indian universities to promote the entry offoreign universities in India.

Similarly, health services have been privatized taking them out of thereach of common people. New Govt. hospitals are few while all facilitiesare being accorded for the private hospitals whose care cannot be availedof by even middle classes leave alone poor masses.

Rise in the prices of essential commodities has been in double digitsover the past five years reducing real value of common people’s meagreincomes, pushing common people into malnutrition and related diseaseswhile the producers of these commodities, workers and peasants, are notgiven the benefit of these high prices, whose profit is pocketed by blackmarketeers, hoarders and big business. Govt. taxes contribute significantlyto the high prices of essential commodities, particularly taxes on petroleumproducts. Even the Govt. has accepted that two thirds of Indian peopleneed support to meet food needs. But the Govt. provision in Food SecurityAct has been to reduce the entitlements while somewhat increasingcoverage. Only Rs. 1,15,000 crores have been marked for operationalizingthe FSA while according to reports, Rs. 1,13,000 crores were already beingspent under this head.

Corruption in high places has been the identifying mark of the UPA IIGovt. in whose tenure many big ticket corruption scandals have beenexposed. Commonwealth Games, 2-G, Allocation of coal blocks, AdarshSociety scam, NHM scam, KG basin scam are just a few among themwhile several reports have highlighted loot and plunder of mineral resourcesin Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka and Goa. A powerful nexus of rulingpoliticians, bureaucrats, corporate and even media barons has been busyrobbing the country. These exposures have led to widespread anger amongpeople, particularly middle classes. Huge black money of India lies in taxhavens and even the names of those holding such huge black money arenot disclosed. Black money estimated to be between $1.5 trillion to $3.5trillion has been taken out of the country.

Besides doling out precious resources, the Govt. has been busy giving



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freebies to corporate while lamenting the subsidies given to poor. The factis that the tax rebates given to corporate alone are more than three timesthe total expenditure on so-called subsidies for the poor i.e. on food, fueland fertilizers. And these too have been cut.

While the lot of the people is worsening, Govt. is increasing expenditureon instruments of repression. Police and paramilitary forces are the onlyGovt. services where recruitment is continuing. Expenditure on police,paramilitary and military forces has been continuously enhanced and theyare being increasingly used to suppress struggles of the people, particularlyrevolutionary struggles of peasantry. There is increasing police interferencein workers’ struggles and fake criminal cases are routinely foisted againstthe activists of democratic organizations and participants in democraticstruggle. AFSPA continues in Northeast and J&K giving immunity to Armypersonnel against prosecution for wrongful acts. Govt. and the Army has

been opposing the demand for withdrawal of AFSPA.

CPI(ML)-New Democracy’s Call

Ruling class parties are not only responsible for the present abyss,they have no way to come out of this. They stand for more and speedierimplementation of the policies which have resulted in the present precarioussituation. They want to further open Indian economy to foreign capital,attract FDI at any cost, pursuing FDI led rather than domestic demand ledgrowth model, preserve the semifeudal agrarian relations while promotingimperialist dependent agricultural growth model, keep terms of trade adverseto agriculture and promote profits of MNCs and corporate in seed, fertilizer,pesticide industry, reducing workers’ wages and benefits, privatizing health,education and other basic services, advocating that facilities to corporatewill result in increasing production, increasing employment and improvingconditions of people. Last over two decades have proved the fallacy ofthese arguments and now the ruling class parties are repackaging thesefailed policies. To camouflage the ill effects of these policies they areresorting to half truths and plain falsehoods. People should see their ironclaws behind their velvet gloves, their service to enemies of people behindtheir promises for the people, bankruptcy of their policies behind theirclamour of development, their devouring of the common people behindtheir claims to be the saviours of people.

Ruling Congress is talking of inclusive growth but has implemented

policies excluding overwhelming majority of people from growth and makingthem worse off. BJP is parading Gujarat model of development which is allout service to big capitalists with low wages, forcible displacement ofpeasants and loot of public exchequer while depressing conditions of poorersections. Regional parties of ruling classes like Akali Dal, DMK, AIADMK,SP, BSP, RJD, JD(U), Trinamool, AGP, TDP, YSR Congress, TRS, JD(S),BJD, NCP, Shiv Sena, INLD, JMM and revisionist parties like CPM, CPIhave no basic differences with main parties of ruling classes on neweconomic policies and other basic issues. Newly formed AAP too supportscorporate. No basic change is expected from these parties.

CPI(ML)-New Democracy places the following agenda before the peopleof the country.

1. To address the deep seated economic crisis, basic change has tobe brought about in the economic structure. For this the influenceof foreign capital from imperialist countries which obstructs thedevelopment of productive forces, robs India of mineral resourcesand cheap labour and dominates our production system andmarkets, has to be eliminated. The comprador big capitalists ofIndia act as junior partners of imperialist foreign capital which robsthe country and its people. The dependence of Indian industry onthe machinery imported from these countries has to be eliminated.Export of mineral wealth of the country as well as of semi-finishedlow value goods has to be stopped.

2. India has the natural resources, technical knowhow, vast labourforce and capital resources to pursue independent growth dependingprimarily on domestic demand. Dependence on foreign capital isnot due to lack of these but due to comprador character of our bigcapitalists. Support to be extended to handicrafts, cottage industriesand small industries in terms of market access and loans.

3. Mineral wealth of the country is to be used only for the needs ofthe people and all mining agreements with foreign and domesticcorporate to be scrapped. Entry of foreign capital is to be barredfrom different sectors of economy including retail trade, banking,insurance, defense production, telecom, communications, media,basic services and heavy industries etc.

4. To meet the energy needs of the country, priority to be given to



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developing sustainable and environment friendly sources which areplentiful in India like solar energy, wind energy, tidal waves etc.Nuclear plants are not to be opened and plants based on fossil fueland coal to be run with strict safeguards ensuring no harmful effectson agriculture and health of the people. Free electricity to be givenfor domestic use of common people, for agriculture and forhandicrafts and cottage industries.

5. Lot of workers to be improved, their labour rights guaranteed,contractualization to be stopped and they regularized with applicationof reservation. Provision of low cost good housing to them nearplace of work. All workers to be extended basic facilities, socialsecurity including pension benefits and rights by the Govt.particularly to those in unorganized sectors and even self-employed.Their work is part of national labour deserving recognition and care.

6. Key to development of the country is development of agriculture inwhich three fifth of work force of the country is engaged and onwhich depends the well being of nearly three fourth of the populationliving in villages. Semifeudal agrarian relations have to bedismantled to free the vast productive forces in the countrysideand unleash the real revival of Indian villages. Radical land reformsto be carried out implementing land to the tiller. Immediatepossession of patta lands to be given to landless poor who havebeen allotted pattas. Legal protection to landlords saving their land,holding up vast land in legal disputes and illegal occupation ofcommon lands by them has to end. Liquidation of semifeudalrelations in the vast countryside will bring the real change in Indiaand end the domination of this parasitic class in rural areas. Tenantpeasants are to be compulsorily recorded and granted ownershiprights on landlords’ lands. All landless poor peasants to be providedagricultural land and also homestead land along with adequatemoney for construction. Wages of agricultural labourers to beincreased, their timely payment ensured and all steps to improvetheir conditions to be taken.

7. Agriculture has to be helped not only to improve the lot of peasantry,particularly small and medium peasants, but also to develop foodsecurity of the country. Indian agriculture can sustain many morethan Indian population if Indian agriculture is helped. Costs of inputs

to be decreased and modern implements to be provided to smalland medium peasants on reasonable rates in the villages by theGovt. run machinery stations. Irrigation to be developed particularlysmall and medium irrigation projects which do not entaildisplacement and cause least damage to environment.

8. Imperialist dependent agricultural growth model to be abandonedand agriculture to be developed based on the concrete conditionsof India. Indiscriminate high use of chemicals not to be promoted.Indebtedness of peasantry, particularly small and medium peasants,to be addressed. Their loans are to be waived and measures takenthat they do not fall into debt.

9. Remunerative prices for agricultural produce to be fixed as MSPand Govt. to procure at MSP. MSP to be declared for all agriculturalproduce and produce purchased by the Govt.

10. No land to be given to MNCs and no agricultural land to be givenfor industrialization, real estate business etc. in the name ofdevelopment. SEZ Act to be repealed.

11. Special emphasis to be laid on development of villages, on providingall facilities and on bridging the gap between cities and villages.Appropriate industries are to be developed in villages and theircommunication improved.

12. Provision of education including higher education, technicaleducation etc. is the duty of the Govt. All children to be providedfree and universal, good and scientific education and multiplestandards of education to be eliminated. Similarly, Govt. isresponsible for providing good health care and to effect that Govt.hospitals should be opened in sufficient number.

13. Everybody is to be provided essential commodities at cheaperrates. PDS to be strengthened. To check the rise in prices of differentcommodities indirect taxes to be abolished particularly on petroleumproducts.

14. Corruption to be eliminated and rights of all people guaranteed intime bound manner. Assets of corrupt politicians, bureaucrats andcorporate to be confiscated. Names of those having accounts in



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foreign tax havens and NPAs in Indian banks to be made public.Black money to be brought back to the country. Corruption in Govt.schemes is to be eliminated with exemplary punishment to guiltyofficials.

15. India suffers from various types of social exploitation, oppression,discrimination and violence. Caste oppression of dalits and backwardclasses is to be eliminated and those guilty of attacks on them tobe promptly and efficaciously punished. Their lands in the illegaloccupation of landlords to be restored to them. Non implementationof reservation to be made criminal offence. Reservation to beextended to dalit Christians.

16. Tribals to have rights over forests and its produce. Their rights forpodu cultivation to be granted and remunerative prices for forestproduce are to be given. Tribal languages are to be protected anddeveloped. All facilities are to be extended to tribal areas.

17. Protection of person and properties including land of minorities tobe guaranteed. Officials under whose charge attacks on minoritiestake place and who are found guilty of dereliction of duty to becharged as complicit to violence. Those found guilty of communaldiscrimination to be removed from police and administration. Jobopportunities and bank loans are to be provided to minorities.Protection of their places of worship is to be guaranteed.

18. Punishment to those guilty of sexual violence is to be ensured.Efficacious laws to prevent and punish sexual harassment at workplace are to be enacted and implemented. No need of Govt. sanctionto prosecute officials including those of Army in charges of sexualassault. Women to get equal share in paternal and in laws’ property.50% jobs and seats in all Govt. services and institutions to beguaranteed for women.

19. Appropriate employment to all youth and unemployment allowanceat the rate of living wage to all unemployed. Those guilty of runningdrug rackets are to be punished. Free travel facilities for jobexaminations, interviews, tests etc. to be provided.

20. No entry to foreign universities. Opening new and good educationalinstitutions at all levels to fulfill the needs of Indian students and

society.

21. Democratic aspirations of people of all nationalities and regionse.g, J&K, northeast, Gorkhaland, to be respected including theirright to self-determination and their democratic rights guaranteed.AFSPA to be repealed.

22. All black laws including UAPA, NSA etc. to be repealed. Fakecases to be scrapped and those guilty of foisting them to bepunished. No police interference in labour disputes. No paramilitarydeployment in areas of peasant struggles. No employment of militaryand paramilitary forces against Indian people. All political prisonersare to be released and ban on revolutionary organizations and massorganizations to be withdrawn. All democratic rights of the peopleto be guaranteed and their infringement punished.

23. Arms Act to be abolished and right to carry arms for self-defenceto be recognized. People to have right to prosecute police andadmn. officials for suppression and illegal imprisonment and nonecessity of Govt. sanction for the same. All parochial and archaiclaws to be repealed.

24. Strategic partnership with US imperialism to be scrapped. Noparticipation in PSI, in US led moves directed against othercountries. Relations with Zionist Israel to be stopped. Support toall nations’ sovereignty, their struggle against imperialist dominationand subversion. India to have an independent foreign policy andstand with third world countries against imperialist dominatedpresent world order.

25. Friendly relations with all neighbouring countries and no big brotherlyattitude towards any of our small neighbouring countries. Allattempts at whipping up chauvinist propaganda against neighbouringcountries to be rejected and relations of friendship and mutual benefitto be developed.

26. The present electoral system is flawed and tailored to suit theinterests of big capitalists and big landlords and needs to bechanged.

(i) Role of money and muscle power to be eliminated.



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(ii) All officials of the state to be elected by the people.

(iii) Any official can be recalled by the people for non-fulfillmentof duties, corruption or any anti-people activity.

(iv) Parties to be made liable to implement their electionpromises.

(v) If NOTA votes are more than that of highest pollingcandidate, the election to be held again and the contestingcandidates and their parties to be disqualified for re-election.

(vi) Election system to be changed so that support of the peopleis reflected in the number of elected representatives.

Dear Citizens,

CPI(ML)-New Democracy is placing the above programme before youfor the coming parliamentary elections and calls upon you to support thisprogramme by voting and supporting the candidates put up and supportedby the Party. Communist revolutionaries alone can implement this agendaand carry forward struggle on this agenda. They alone are the forces of realand revolutionary change. CPI(ML)-New Democracy is committed to thisagenda and pledges to carry forward struggle for revolutionary change.Vote and elect Party’s candidates to forcefully raise these issues.

It is obvious that ruling class parties including revisionist parties cannotand do not support these points so vital for people’s interests. Hence,CPI(ML)-New Democracy calls upon you not to be misled by their boguspromises and their talk of change which is to maintain anti-people statusquo. So, reject these parties.

March 25, 2014 Central Committee,

CPI(ML)-New Democracy

Muzaffarnagar : Communal Onslaught onMinorities exposes Opportunism of RevisionistParties and so called Secular Forces

Protests by Victims of StateAbetted Anti Muslim Violence

Ashi sh Mi t al

Muzaffarnagar's anti-Muslim violence has several lessons. One, it wasbrazenly organized by Hindutva forces, the RSS and BJP, in a plannedmanner and with strong support from the local administration. The planswere made well in advance and anti-Muslim propaganda began long beforethe incident of August 27, 2013, which was utilized by the Sangh Parivar.

Two, it happened under the watchful governance of a ‘secular’parliamentary party claiming to be committed to protecting Muslim interests.This was not the first under the SP rule, but a culmination of several suchincidents in the state since the SP came to power.

Three, there has been naked display of sustained state connivance incriminal attacks on Muslims. In such incidents, often the state has adornedthe role of saviour of the victims after a few days of violence, but that didnot happen in Muzaffarnagar.

Four, the state machinery has shamelessly attempted to isolate andghettoize the Muslim population by seeking written commitments of theirstaying away from and giving up claims to their own homes and propertiesas a precondition for state compensation. The administration, politiciansand religious representatives, all have connived to inflict this insult on theinjured. Muslims have been left demoralized, helpless and under pressureto obey the diktats of ‘their’ religious leaders close to SP, who havebenefitted most from the relief.

Five, the govt. openly handed over relief work to minority religious leaderssubservient to it, washing its hands off accountability in providing relief. Ithas steered clear of providing relief and also from providing confidence tothe victims which would have come along with such efforts of the state. Infact the state administration, by not being involved in relief, demonstrated



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its lack of concern for the victims and gave support to the violators of ‘lawand order’.

Six, these attacks have been orchestrated purposefully to serve divergentelectoral interests by driving communal polarization in UP and have resultedin full display of ‘secular’ opportunism of major parliamentary parties.Important leaders of BSP, RLD and Congress were seen openly siding oneither side during the early phase of communal mobilization. This shouldbe a further eye opener for people when methods of rule are worseningunder the drive to deepen pro-imperialist reforms, when ruling classes areunable to rally people around their reforms and governments are underpressure from imperialist institutions to further deprive people of their meagrefacilities and means.

Seven, the administration and police have been quite brazen in theirsupport to Hindutva and have played a big role first in permitting thevenomous anti-Muslim propaganda and then in the conduct of these attacksand killings. So much so that, when questioned, the officials of the districtopenly blamed a section of the political class for having lent a helpinghand to Muslims!

In totality these events again forcefully highlight the nefarious, divisivedesigns of parliamentary parties in sharpening communal cleavage forperpetuating their class rule in which Muslims have been at the receivingend since 1947.

The attacks in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli, planned over a long durationin gatherings which should have been charged for spreading communalhatred, were permitted under the watchful eyes of the ‘law enforcementmachinery’ from end August to mid September in full force and are continuingas per need till date. They left more than 50,955 persons displaced, livingin 11 camps. With children dying in the cold and NGOs and others movingthe Supreme Court, the state govt. was under question. It respondedpromptly, first swore on affidavit in the court that the camps have beenwound up and all victims have been compensated and later on it movedmenacingly to evict the victims and ‘fulfil’ its declaration.

While sections of the media reported the continuing pathetic conditionsin the camps, lack of civic amenities, children dying, people unable to goback home for fear of the criminals roaming free etc., the administrationworked overtime to remove all remains of the camps. At that time more

than 20,000 persons were still in the camps. The state govt. promisedimmediate compensation to those who would voluntarily leave immediately.Some moved out into adjacent plots and dried up pond land. Such was thegovt’s impatience that the remaining were literally bulldozed, their pitchedtents and meagre belongings mercilessly uprooted and thrown out asgarbage. All this was on display on electronic channels and pressphotographs. Few days later all these persons returned, with and withoutbelongings, as they actually had no where to go.

While various teams of intellectuals, media teams, NGOs, Human RightsOrganizations, Minorities Commission, Women’s Commission, politicalparties came, surveyed, sympathized and went away, the conditions in thecamps did not improve. More deaths occurred and people continued tosurvive somehow, in the cold and lashing winter rain. None were able tomake the administration take responsibility for the provision of relief. Mostrestricted themselves to distributing some alms. Post violence, thecontinued apathy of the administration has been the single biggest factorleading to the pathetic misery of these victims.

Our party, CPI (ML) ND, mobilized its cadres to the camps from nearbydistricts since September, to study the incident and the problems beingfaced by the people and to decide what needs to be and can be done.

The first task was to lay bare all the facts of these ‘riots’ in Muzaffarnagarin an open and bold manner and to rally all forces that could stand togetheron this issue. Several forces including parliamentary left parties werecontacted. Some agreed, but in the end only progressive intellectuals fromoutside as well as from Muzaffarnagar came forward. A well attendedSeminar on the subject was organized on the 19th of January, 2014 and thissaw a good participation of victims from some camps also. Having allowedso many mobilizations by RSS despite section 144, because they were onprivate premises, the police tried to stop this effort by pressurizing theowner of the venue, but had to relent in the end as there was no ground torefuse the permission sought. A campaign was conducted throughout UPand particularly in the affected and other West UP districts.

This seminar, most importantly, broke the demoralization which hadset in over the months and provided a platform for at least some of thesecular and democratic sections to expose the one sided propaganda ofthe Sangh Parivar and rally together with the victims. It provided the victims



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a platform to vent their anger and it placed the blame where it correctlybelonged. The RSS/ BJP role in planning and executing the whole genocidewas laid bare, the connivance of the govt. and administration in permittingthis violence was exposed, the role of all ruling class party leaders aspiringto be on the side of Jats including the BSP, the Congress, the RLD washighlighted, the partisan and communal role of the administration post ‘riots’was exposed as were several other aspects. It was not just the firstprogramme of its kind in the area, it has been the only programme so farheld in the area itself.

Victims of violence rallying together, gathered courage and organizedthemselves under the banner of Riot Affected Struggle Committee (DangaPirit Sangarsh Samiti), Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. They held a protestdharna and handed over a memorandum to the DM Muzaffarnagar on Jan.15, held a mass contact campaign in all camps of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli,held another protest on February 10 in Budhana tehsil, one on March 3 atMuzaffarnagar dist. headquarter, one on March 4 in Kairana tehsil (districtShamli) and a dharna at the Shahpur camp on March 10 which was wellattended (300) despite heavy intermittent rain.

The demands raised have been payment of compensation to all thevictims, rehabilitation of all victims in their homes, provision of security toenable them to return, arrest of all the accused killers, rapists and looters,arrest of all leaders organizing protests to prevent arrest of the accused,suspension and arrest of all the Station House Officers in whose areasviolence took place and transfer of all policemen of those police stations,withdrawal of false complaints and a judicial probe into the forceddisplacement from camps.

Leaders of the Khap Panchayats and BKU have been active, especiallyin Fugana, Lisarh and Lakh in organizing mass meetings to prevent arrestof the accused. They routinely spew communal venom in these meetingsand the police present continues to look the other way, though section 144is in force. There is no attempt to even lodge cases against suchmobilizations and for obstruction to govt. work.

Interestingly, while the administration was denying existence of thecamps, there was a big protest by the Sangharsh Samiti for rehabilitationon January 21 and 22 in Shahpur camp after a heavy downpour and extremecold conditions. Next day the administration sent large number of blankets

and quilts to Shahpur, a camp which according to it did not exist and underthe glare of the media, all the victims sent back the entire material demandingland and roofs, not clothes.

There have been some reports on payment of compensation to thosewho have not been displaced or harmed and of thousands of families livingin the camps being denied the compensation by the Intazamia Committees,several of them led by Jamait e Ulema e Hind. One paper report listed 8compensations paid to families listed under one house number even thoughthe entire family has been living outside the village for several years.

The rough list of families still staying in the camps as in March 2014includes 85 families of Kakda village, 44 of Dulehra village and severalfrom Qutba, Kutbi, Soram, Hadauli, Bhaurakalan living in Shahpur campsnumber 1, 2 and 3. Around 140 families have been displaced from Barautin Bagpat district and are living in tehsil Budhana of Muzaffarnagar. Hundredsof families still living in 16 camps in various villages in District Shamliinclude 700 living in Furgan, 140 in Panjit, 55 in Dabehra Khurd, 114 inAkbarpur, 700 in Malakpur. Several families displaced from various villagesare also staying with relatives in villages Jauli, Nirpuda, Daha, DhanauraTikri, Jhundpur, Lumb, Rathaura and other villages.

Some of these families went alongwith the Samajwadi Party Lok Sabhacandidate from Muzaffarnagar to the district administration to ask for thepromised compensation. Pat came the answer “Model Code of Conduct isin place. Payments shall be made after elections”. The victims havethreatened to boycott the elections if they are not paid compensation.Meanwhile the ADM Muzaffarnagar, Indramani Tripathi, a name identifiedwith helping the communal forces, has declared recently that theadministration has changed the voting booths of more than 1300 victims ofthis violence from their original villages. The process of forming ghettos ison.

A word in the end on the role of the revisionist parties in their struggleto establish a “secular” government. The CPI and CPM did not join in oureffort to establish the truth and speak up for the victims. Obviously theydid not wish to put any blame on their secular partner, the Samajwadi Party,because it is their ally in their struggle 'to defeat’ communal forces. Sotheir leaders had gone to Muzaffarnagar and organized a ‘Sadbhavana’seminar on December 8 in which there were leaders from other parties



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including the SP, the Congress and Lok Dal. Also present were the Jamaitleaders. Blankets were distributed and it is believed that help was givenfor construction of some houses also. But no complaint against thecommunal role of the administration and of attackers roaming free andthreatening the complainants was entertained. In fact people were preventedfrom saying so.

These ‘left’ parties have had some presence in the area earlier and hadthey wished they could have mobilized against these attacks to not onlypush back the Hindu communal forces linked to RSS/ BJP but also thosein the administration. This would also have exposed the Samajwadi Party’sdesign to permit Hindu communalists to attack, to placate the Hindu votesand also prevented demoralization of Muslims. The CPI had a Member ofParliament in 1970, Sri Ved Prakash and an MLA, Veer Singh Shastri,both in alliance with the Congress. They have also contested and obtainedrespectable positions in a few elections after that. But they chose to rallywith the govt. in power, not with the people. Such are the tactics ofParliamentary left parties.

This attitude of parliamentary left, CPM and CPI in particular, shouldnot be passed off as mere opportunism. It should be understood that in thecontention for power through the parliamentary process, ruling class partiesrally masses on some hopes. This comes through reforms and promisesand economic crises is forcing cuts in these. With sections of the rulingpolitical class openly espousing the communal card to rally Hindu votes,and with nothing positive to be done for minorities, they find it more fruitfulto leave them in fear of worse attacks at the hands of Modi and thuscompel them to vote for the so called secular force. Since minority votesare not enough to give power, it is also necessary to placate the Hinduvotes and also rally part of them. This explains the need for these partiesto be soft on this murderous communal onslaught. For this Muslims mustbe denied all rights except one, the right to live, for which they are expectedto pin their hopes on the ‘left’ and ‘secular’ parliamentary forces. Treatingthem as equals is not on the agenda of India’s ruling classes and theparliamentary left belongs to these classes after all.

Seeking answers to the problem of communal division in parliamentarypolitics, one should be clear that for the parliamentary parties the onlyoperative factor is seeking votes to get into power. Record of ‘Left’ frontrule in West Bengal as exposed by the Sachar Commission speaks

volumes about unequal treatment given to Muslims. When these partieshave nothing positive to promise to the people, deepening the existingsocial divisions along religion and castes is the easier alternative. Theirpath to power is to rally Muslim votes under fear of RSS, along with gainingsome Hindu votes. The path to establish a truly secular society in which allcommunities live as equals can only be through New Democratic Revolution,not through ruling class parties.

13 March: IFTU holds All India Rally of Construction Workers

IFTU Calls for Intensifyingstruggle of Construction Workers

They poured into Delhi from various districts of Punjab. They camefrom eastern Uttar Pradesh, from Telengana and Andhra Pradesh, fromWest Bengal and from Delhi itself. Led by the National Committee of IFTU,building and other construction workers marched in thousands from RamlilaGround to Jantar Mantar, where the National Committee members addressedthe huge gathering in a public meeting.

The rally walking from Ramlila Maidan, over Ranjit Singh flyover, throughConnaught place towards Jantar Mantar, was decked up in red. It was ledby National Committee members holding aloft red satin flags and carryingthe central banner proclaiming the All India Rally of Construction Workers.A long banner held vertically depicted the demands being collectively putforth as issues of struggle. They basically concerned implementation ofthe relevant Acts and laws. A contingent of forty workers from differentstates followed, holding aloft placards depicting the same demands. Andthen was the bulk of the rally with almost every participant holding a redflag and walking behind the banners of the different states and raisingslogans.

At Jantar Mantar the rally settled into the venue of the public meetingwhich was bedecked with gaily flying red flags and buntings. The participantsheld out till the very end despite the afternoon sun blazing down on them.



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Com Vyas Tiwari, IFTU National Committee member from Bihar –Jharkhand, presided over the meeting. The proceedings began with a musictroupe from Punjab which sang the songs of Santram Udasi in Punjabibefore the raptly attentive audience. Com. Raj Singh, President of MistriMazdoor Union (Punjab) and IFTU National Committee member was thefirst speaker. In his address, he traced the struggle of the constructionworkers in Punjab, narrated how they first began to organize (they nownumber over 30,000), how their charter of demands evolved, how the Punjab

Govt. was forced to meet some demands due to the strength of the struggle,the various state wide programmes, Chandigarh rally, the forming of aManifesto at Bhatinda and the growing hold of the organization. Com RajSingh also pointed out how, with the onset of globalization, huge malls,buildings, roads were being built, how real estate builders were flourishingand how exploitation of the workers of the construction industry hasintensified. He stressed the need to advance the struggle under theleadership of IFTU.

General Secretary of IFTU, Com. B. Pradeep, was the next speaker.He said construction workers were among the oldest sections of workingclass. There are over 45 million workers in this sector now and thus it wasthe third largest industry in India in terms of providing employment. Despitethe reluctantly enacted legislat ion of 1996, whose enactment andimplementation was pushed by the Supreme Court, laws are notimplemented, workers face the risk of losing lives or being severely injured.

1 – 2 % cess on all construction is being collected by all states but workershardly get a pittance from these funds; rather the state itself often does notcollect cess from powerful builders.

Com Kulvinder, National Committee member of IFTU from Punjab spokeabout the lives of construction workers, how they are exploited in terms ofnonpayments and how wage laws are not implemented. Govts make noprovision regarding shelter for these workers at sites, though it is theresponsibility of the state Boards to ensure the same and workers end upliving in tin shelters without basic amenities. He asserted that constructionworkers must intensity struggle and stated that this programme should betaken by the Govt. as a warning of the same.

Com. Sujan Chakravorty, National Committee member from West Bengaland Com Radhey Shyam, National Committee member from Uttar Pradesh,also described the exploitation of the construction workers. Com. AnimeshDas (President of Delhi committee, IFTU) detailed figures from Delhi. Statingthat social welfare facilities were available to workers registered by thevarious state boards, while 1 lakh 84,000 were registered in Delhi in 2011,only 11,000 were renewed in 2013. The Delhi Board has over 18,000 crorescollected as cess of which a mere 3% was disbursed to the constructionworkers. Com. P.P. Kapoor, IFTU leader from Haryana, on the basis ofextensive RTI investigation, spoke about the situation of this section inHaryana and exposed the tall claims of Hooda Govt. Dr. Ish Mishra, PoliticalScience Dept., Hindu College, Delhi University (Janhastakshep) also spokeabout the issues of construction workers.

The speeches were interspersed by songs sung by participants fromvarious states and by short narratives of the workers especially from Punjab,about their experiences. A five member delegation including Com Raj Singh,Com. Pradeep, Com Kulvinder, Com. P. Prasad (Joint Secy., NCM fromAndhra Pradesh) and Com. Animesh submitted a memorandum for the UnionLabour Minister. The programme ended with a determination to advanceboth organization and struggle under the leadership of IFTU, of this growingand exploited section of India’s working class.



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Corporate, big Media andModi wave

While corporate have since long been influencing elections and big mediacontrolled by them has been exercising its preferences from among theruling class parties, the elections for 16th Lok Sabha are marked by asingularity i.e. the corporate of India pitching for Narendra Modi as the nextPrime Minister and the media controlled by them showing less fissures inanointing the winner though the fissures continue to exist on other scores.This is particularly remarkable as the same corporate and their media hadbeen wholesome in praise of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Whyhave they dumped Manmohan Singh's party and why now? They are praisingthe so-called Gujarat model of development and want the same to beimposed all over India. What is there in this model which corporate are soenamoured of but which escapes the statistics of either macro-economicdata or of human development indices during Narendra Modi’s rule in Gujarat,which are any way of no concern to corporate? It can also not be the casethat all the corporate have benefitted from this Gujarat “miracle” in such away as to overshadow performance or profits of their companies elsewherein India. It is also obvious that it has little to do with Gujarat because theywant this “miracle man” to be moved out of Gujarat, particularly when theyascribe the “miracle” not to the Party whose Govt. he leads but to he himself.What is in this model that, if replicated in India, it would result in windfallfor the corporate? Why have the corporate, who have enormously profittedunder UPA’s two stints, turned to a new saviour? What are their hopesfrom Narendra Modi which they do not hope for from other parties and theirleaders including other leaders of his own party?

It is no secret that the media controlled by corporate have been tryingto build a “Modi wave” to demoralize the opponents and to give advantageto him and his party in seats where the fight is close. It is also known thatBJP has Congress as its main opponent in most of the states wherefrom ithopes to garner seats, so a good performance by BJP definitely means acorresponding bad performance of Congress. This scenario leaves BJPand Modi better positioned to attract regional parties who, by any reckoning,are set to emerge as a big force. And this strategy of corporate and ofmedia controlled by them has many components. That Modi wave is a

creation of corporate controlled media is alleged by most other parties, butit is of interest to know why corporate are putting most of their eggs in onebasket. It is worthwhile to note that no wave was predicted in the landslideswitnessed earlier even in 1977 or 1984 but was so termed after the electionresults. This time, it is being built up even as the outcome is quite contested.

It had not been always so. During 2009 elections, corporate media wasgung ho over India US Nuclear Deal, rubbishing its criticism and ridiculingits opponents. It swore by the incorruptibility of Manmohan Singh and laudedhis mastery over economic policies, quoting admiration by leaders ofimperialist world and projecting him as the man who saved India from effectsof world financial economic crisis. By that time Narendra Modi was alreadyin power for nearly eight years but was counted by them as good only forGujarat. Less than two years later they started eulogizing Narendra Modiand his Gujarat model. In this regard vibrant Gujarat summit held in 2011can be taken as a watershed when corporate big wigs went head overheels in their praise of Narendra Modi. What happened in these two years?

Before going into this it is pertinent to note that the so-called Gujaratmodel is a myth so far as economic performance is concerned. Socharacteristics of this model must lie elsewhere. Gujarat was already amongdeveloped states of the country before Modi took over. It was ranked fourthmost developed state in mid-1990s under the last Congress Govt. of thestate and remained fifth under BJP Govt. led by Keshubhai Patel. It iscurrently sixth most developed state of the country. Its growth rate hasbeen surpassed in recent years by several states including Bihar and MadhyaPradesh, albeit starting from a lower base. Even in the arena so hailed bycorporate i.e. attracting FDI, Gujarat lags way behind Maharashtra, Delhi,Haryana etc.

Gujarat has neither scored high growth rate nor high employmentgeneration rate. Rather Gujarat and Maharashtra are distinguished bysluggish rate of employment growth even with high growth rate. Moreover,the lot of the economically weaker sections of society is worse in Gujarat.Much data is available on this score. It suffices to say here that Gujaratranked here as 9th among the Indian states on human development index,a ranking lower than its 6th rank among developed states in India. So thereis no scope for lauding Gujarat as a model of well being of the people ortheir improving status. Neither workers nor peasants, the two major sectionsof Gujarat populace, are well off or have registered improvement under



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Narendra Modi. But these are not the issues corporate are concerned with.It is worthwhile to note that poverty line adopted by Gujarat Govt. is muchlower than even the ridiculously low criterion adopted by the PlanningCommission.

The real charm of Gujarat model under Modi lies elsewhere. There aremany aspects of Modi’s policies which are hailed by corporate. Amongthem is the lower wage rate of workers. If we compare with other majorstates it is lower than even those with same level of development andbelow all India average. And this is so for both men and women. Labourlaw implementation machinery is practically absent in Gujarat. On the otherhand, land acquisition is very quick. There are a number of land acquisitionsforcibly displacing peasants whose struggles have been suppressed bythe Govt. of Modi. These are some of the real attractions of Modi for thecorporate.

But the real issue goes deeper. Corporate are appreciative of Modi asthe “man who delivers”. He pays scant regard to rules and procedures butgets the work of corporate done in no time. It is this aspect which hasdrawn admiration from Anil Ambani, Tata, Mittals, what to talk of Mukeshand Adani. And there is no issue of corruption here, even the anti-corruptionwatchdog, Lok Ayukta, is not appointed for over a decade and this is of noconcern to corporate who had become overnight admirers of anti-corruptionmovement which swept the people, particularly middle classes of the Capital.Modi’s development mantra is sought to be projected as a panacea wherecorruption is a non-issue, amply proved, if any further proof was required,by inclusion of Yedurappa and Sriramulu in BJP in Karnataka on theinitiative of Modi. It is not a coincidence that Sriramulu is a nominee ofReddy brothers of mining scam of Karnataka.

It is this quality of Modi, his ability of delivering national resources, thathas endeared him to both foreign and Indian corporate. It is where ManmohanSingh Govt. proved to be the most inept in delivering, though not lacking inintent. This brings us to 2011 when a vast movement against corruptionswept the middle classes. The big corruption scandals involved grabbingthe natural resources of the country or simply looting the public exchequer.Take 2-G scam or allocation of coal blocks, two of the biggest scams tohave surfaced in India, where the corporate grabbed the natural resourcesas largesse from the Govt. Though they were the beneficiaries, corporatehave not forgiven the govt. for not handling it ‘competently’. These corporate

masters are long used to pass the burden of their misdeeds onto theshoulders of their managers, Govt. in this case. They came out againstthe Govt. for bringing the heat to them.

In this regard, of particular significance were Neera Radia tapes whichbrought corporate manipulation in public view. They not only determinedpolicies of the Govt. but also selected personnel in the Union Cabinet.Radia was representing Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata. It is no surprisethat these two corporate chieftains came to the fore to condemn ManmohanSingh Govt. and praise Modi as their choice to lead the country. RatanTata ‘cautioned’ against India becoming a banana republic while MukeshAmbani saw Modi alone as the future leader of the country. Their arroganceand sense of right is so strong that they do not want even to be questioned,what to talk of being arraigned. And in similar vein spoke all other corporatechiefs who are otherwise at one another’s throat. What unites them in theirpraise for Modi?

Here it is important to note that world financial economic crisis has hadits effect all over the world including India and continues to express itselfin different ways in different countries on the globe. According to IMF,world growth continues to be weak despite stimuli. India too has suffereddecline in economic growth largely due to aping the export led growth modeland with demand declining in the western countries. With declining growth,govt. revenues too suffered and revenue deficit and fiscal deficit increased.Along with, repatriation of profits by MNCs and India’s bill due to compulsoryimports under WTO continued to grow and so did the internal and externaldebts of the country. It brought Indian rupee under pressure and this pressuretold upon Indian big capitalists who had borrowed from international markets,particularly external commercial borrowings. They wanted the Govt. toattract FDI at any cost to Indian people and to domestic production. Indiancorporate, comprador as they are, have their interests tied up with foreigncapital from imperialist countries. They participate in the loot and plunderof this country and even invest outside as junior partners of MNCs.

India is home to one of the fastest growing list of billionaires. Indiancorporate are not satisfied with ‘normal’ profits accruing from conduct ofbusiness. They want huge profits and they can come only from loot andplunder of the country, from grab of the natural resources. No wonder thebiggest scams pertained to this grab. A number of reports into mining scamsof Chhatisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Goa, Jharkhand etc. indicted these



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big wigs of Indian corporate. Tatas, Mittals, Ambanis, Aggrawals, Jindals,Bhushans etc. were among the biggest beneficiaries of these scamspertaining to mining of minerals, allocation of coal blocks, allocation of 2G,privatization of ports and airports etc. These obviously include foreign MNCswith whom they have tie-ups. Corporate want a Govt. which can deliver thevast natural resources of the country to them and their patrons. It is herethat Modi steps in, as the leader who has no qualms about procedures, noconscience about the country and no concern about its people. He is a“single window” clearing agency granting whatever the corporate want.

All property is theft, was said by Rousseau long back. All capital isrobbery of the toiling masses, their alienated labour, was demonstrated bypolitical economists particularly Marx, also long back. Today’s reality isthat all corporate are cronies, extracting huge profits from their proximityto power and in India, they are also compradors of imperialism. There areno non-cronies among Indian big capitalists. They all have risen due totheir proximity to power and continue to benefit from it whatever their originand the route of their rise.

It is not what Modi did in Gujarat, it is what they want him to do to thecountry, that is attracting corporate hordes to the Modi bandwagon. Earlierthey wanted Govt. to be big to provide them enough scope to earn profits,now they want Govt. to be small leaving business of making money tothem. Their slogan now is ‘Govt. has no business to be in business’. Withnew economic policies, the earlier model which was euphemistically called‘socialist pattern of society’ has given way to neoliberal model over whichManmohan Singh has been having patent right in India but the corporateare looking for a new patent holder.

Obviously big capitalists are assisted in this pursuit by the big mediacontrolled by them. They have vast holdings in the media besides beingthe biggest providers of their revenue through advertisements. And no doubtbig media has come to play an ever increasing role in shaping the agendaof political discourse, projecting interests of corporate as the interest ofthe people, their loot and plunder as development, to trivialize the realinterests of the people and marginalize the voices against this ‘dominant’discourse and those voicing real alternate visions. For them evenalternatives have to be within this framework, others are simply irrelevant.They try to shape not only what is present but what is to come,manufacturing consent for what is and also for what ought to be. They

portray their project of ‘opinion making’ as ‘opinion polling’, have reducedpeople’s right to know as media barons’ right to tell and cover their ignoranceor, what is worse, avoidance of the reality of the conditions of Indian people,through their arrogance and assumed vehemence. Goebbels would definitelybe pleased seeing the strides his art has made in the present era of corporatemedia. Their efforts are not in vain as they are able to sway some sections,often enough to tilt the balance though not always.

Their recent product, “Modi wave”, is an attempt to sway public opinionto the side of discourse of Modified Development. But their products arenot limited to Modi wave, they have many products in the electoral market.They make sure that even anti-corruption remains tied to corporate's apronstrings. The policy framework underlying corruption and biggest beneficiariesof it, the corporate and the bureaucratic machinery delivering it, largelyremain beyond the pale. So far, ruling politicians, who also make quickbuck in the process, must treat being found out as a professional hazardand willingly shoulder the blame to save their benefactors to keep the cyclegoing. And their conduct can be blamed on the people, as they are people’s‘elected’ representatives.

Modi wave is also aimed at driving away ‘demons’ of Indian social reality,of its politics which militate against this product, the genuine concerns ofpeople undermining this project and diversity of socio-economic and politicallandscape of India threatening this modified vision. Whatever the outcomeof these elections, this corporate campaign has two aspects; first, theyfeel that whosoever may come to power will have to cater to the interestsof corporate and second, they feel the necessity of coming out into open tomaximize their profits and multiply their wealth. It is an expression ofnecessity without incurring risk of adversity.



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Two Genocides, TwoCulprits, No Closure

Adi t ya Pr akash

1984 and 2002. Eighteen years apart and under different politicaldispensations, India saw two major genocides of minorities. Both are etchedin public memory as state sponsored acts of violence unleashed by thethen ruling parties. Both are marked by total lack of accountability of themain organizers and beneficiaries. Both denote cleverly orchestrated actsof violence by the ruling parties to communally polarize the people forensuing elections. Both resulted in rich electoral dividends from the bloodof the helpless victims who fell prey to their vicious political chicanery.Both led to total lack of conviction of the high and mighty who were notnamed but about whom everybody knows. Both are continuing blots on thecountry’s conscience. Both have been denied closure. Circumstances weredifferent but crimes were similar and motivation equally sinister. Both wereclaimed to be a ‘reaction’ which acted on innocent citizens by which an‘action’ was avenged. For both, the rulers of the day never even expressedregret. They were sad but God knows for what- for having done what theydid or for not having done enough. There are apologists galore who go forhair splitting to differentiate the two. But the facts are stubborn.

Nobody who lived in Delhi or other affected cities could have beenunaware of who was behind the genocide of Sikhs in 1984. In the Capital,violence raged for days organized by the then ruling Congress and executedby it with the active participation of police machinery. Large contingent ofArmy stationed in Delhi was not called in till the earth had shaken enoughto atone for the fall of a big tree. It was followed by large scale propagandaagainst the community as anti-nationals. That is history. The leadersaccused of direct participation in the killings were rewarded with tickets inthe elections. Even later the Congress leaders of the day, those in power,never expressed any regret. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who wasnot even in Congress at that time, did express regret but not the heirs ofthe ruling family of his Party. Sonia Gandhi only expressed sorrow, thattoo much later, but no apology. When Rahul Gandhi was repeatedly quizzedin a recent TV interview he refused to express even regret. He alluded to

some talk of involvement of his Partymen in the violence but no more. Hetalked of his own sorrows but refused to acknowledge the sorrows of thethousands of affected families.

In 2002 the whole country learnt of the genocide of Muslims enactedacross Gujarat under the watch of the then recently anointed leader,Narendra Modi. A string of electoral losses had unnerved the ruling party inthe state and the Centre. Law of physics was demonstrated through physicaldestruction of the Muslims. The mayhem continued for over a month. Andall this with active participation of police. While those in power in the statesupervised over this genocide, those at the Centre shed enough tears todrown the dead but did nothing to give succor to the living. The foot soldierswere saved and the generals gloated over their success portraying theiract as one of saving the country from a neighbour. This spectre was raisedin election after election. And the main person in charge, Narendra Modi,did not express even regret and worse he and his party feel no need to doso. He was sad at the killings like when one feels sad while the vehiclegoes over a pup. Not difficult to identify who the pups are. He does noteven admit to their being humans.

These genocides are enough to demonstrate that the main ruling classparties of the country do not mind organizing large scale killings of citizensto suit their interests of power. While they criticize each other for theirrespective crimes, they do nothing to redress the same. BJP talks of anti-Sikh genocide but remains mum on how its own leaders at that time blamedSikhs for inviting the same and how they did precious little to bring theculprits to book during the six years of their rule at the Centre. Not a word.Only during elections they bring it up to score points and garner votes. Ortake Gujarat. What has Congress done over the past ten years in power atthe Centre to bring the culprits of Muslim genocide in Gujarat to book or ofeven the spate of fake encounters later? It will be worth remembering thatthe same Congress gave tickets in 2002 Gujarat assembly elections tomany accused of being culprits in the killings. Congress reminds the peoplenot to forget Gujarat but did nothing to be remembered for addressing thesame.

While ruling class parties’ cynical and sinister role is all too obvious,failure of the judiciary, particularly higher judiciary, in bringing culprits tobook is all too obvious. Judges relied on records of police and administrationto ascertain guilt ignoring the fact that these genocides were carried out



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with active participation of police and administration. These genocides anda number of other incidents of violence against minorities, are with theactive participation of these wings of the state and demonstrate deepcommunalization of different wings of the state. Firstly no records of theirinvolvement are kept and even whatever are there, are destroyed. Forjudiciary to limit itself to records of these wings was to acquit them abinitio. If judgements were to be delivered based solely on the records ofpolice and administration, there was no use of wasting so much time andpublic money to enact what could only be miscarriage of justice and afarce of a trial. Higher judiciary must also introspect on its own role in notbringing culprits to book and not utilizing vast powers enjoyed by it in theservice of according justice to the people. For this a different kind ofinvestigation is required with different personnel under different jurisdictionand with full protection to witnesses whose testimony will indict not onlypolitical elements of ruling classes but big wigs in the police andadministration. Obviously these wings of the state can do much harm tothose who dare to testify against them. Will the Judiciary have the gumptionfor that? Or will its hesitation to do right continue to be used as a vindicationby the guilty, the organizers of the pogroms?

It is never too late. These genocides need closure. This can be broughtabout only by punishing those who perpetrated them. Not only foot soldiersbut also generals. It is important not only for the dead but, more importantly,for those living. Not only for relatives and friends of those who perished butfor wider sections who are citizens of the country. Not only for the communitytargeted but all countrymen who wish people of this country to live inharmony, who share common aspirations, who strive for common destiny.

CPI(ML)-New DemocracyOrganizes Massive Podu Garjana

in KhammamCPI(ML) New Democracy has been organizing tribals against the state

Govt.’s attempts to take away lands which tribals have been cultivating fordecades. A district mass programme was scheduled on 26.2.2014. In themeantime, the struggle for the formation of Telengana state was victoriouswith Parliament approving bifurcation of the existing Andhra Pradesh. Amassive meeting, PODU GARJANA, in Khammam on 26.2.2014 thusmarked the triumph of Telangana state formation and became a prologueto fight for the problems of the people and for Telangana state reformation.

Red was found every where in Khammam on 26th of February. Slogansof Telangana were heard everywhere in Khammam. Red sarees, red shirtspoured through the streets like a red wave moving in the sea. Nearly 20thousand New Democracy activists and people went in a procession withred flags. A big procession started from SR & BJNR college at 4 PM. Theprocession was like a red legion with Telangana slogans resounding. Thewomen walked in the procession with children and lunch boxes in one handand red flags in another. Arunodaya artists performed ahead of the rallyand tribal dances were the main highlight of the procession.At the head ofthe procession walked CPI(ML) New Democracy leaders ComradesS.S.Mahal, Bhalachandra Shadangi, Gade Diwakar, Gummadi Narsaiah,P. Rangarao, K. Rangaiah, Rama, Chandra Aruna, Jagganna, GokinepalliVenkateshvarlu, Aavula Venkateshvarlu and Mudda Bhiksham followed bylady activists and then followed by male activists. The procession went topavilion ground through Wyra road, Collectorate, Bus Stand and MayuriCentre.

ENTHUSIASTIC PUBLIC MEETING

The public meeting went on from 5:30 PM to 10:30 PM. Thousands ofpeople watched with interest the performances of the artists and listenedto the speeches of leaders. The surrounding area’s streets were whollyfilled with the activists and people. The public meeting went on with nearlythirty thousand people.



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Comrade P. Rangarao, CPI(ML)- New Democracy Khammam Dist.Secretary presided over the meeting. CPI(ML) New Democracy leader fromPunjab Com. S. S. Mahal, Orissa State Spokesman Com. BhalachandraShadangi, TJAC Chairman Professor Kodandaram, New Democracy stateleader Gaade Diwakar, POW President K. Rama, TNGO district generalsecretary Eluri Srinivasarao, TNGO district president Khajamiya, TJACdistrict convener Kurapati Ranga Raju, Panchayat Raj Employees’Association state president Venkatapathi Raju, AIKMS state generalsecretary Com. K.Rangaiah, New Democracy district leader, Ex-MLAGummadi Narsaiah, Advocate JAC leader Boggarapu Venkanna were onthe stage.

Addressing the public meeting Com. S. S. Mahal said that the mainagenda of BJP and Congress is to make Modi and Rahul Gandhirespectively as Prime Minister while the economic policies of ManmohanSingh and Modi are the same. He called upon the people to make effortsand fight for the real alternative.

Prof. Kondandaram said that the movement for Telangana state hasbeen an outstanding movement of the common people. People’s movementsucceeded against the power of the capitalists opposing this. Theconstruction of Telengana should be done according to the aspirations and

desires of the Telengana people. He stressed that the part played byKhammam people in Telengana movement has been prominent and thepart taken by New Democracy has been outstanding.

Com. Bhalachadra Shadangi stated that Telengana has a big tribalpopulation and the movement for their rights should be intensified in thenew state. Com. Gummadi Narsaiah demanded that tribals should be givenall podu lands' rights. Com. K. Rangaiah said that the partitioning ofBhadrachalam division is unjust and called on the activists to build anothermovement against this partition. Other leaders stated that this is a Garjanaof people’s problems. Formation of Telengana is a democratic victory andmust embolden other people’s movements.

Arunodaya artists Naganna, Ramarao, Krishna, Subbarao, Vijaya, Ajay,Venkanna, Bitcha, Rambabu sang songs and Ramnarsaiahnagar, Bayyaram,Mulakalapally, Ramkya Thanda Arunodaya artists’ dances and performanceswere an attraction for the public meeting. Bitcha band performed a skit onbarren lands. The whole meeting went on with enthusiasm.

Illendu Rally and Mass Meeting

Earlier, on January 22nd, a meeting for defence of lands of tribals anddemanding podu land pattas for all tribals was held in Illendu. Twelvethousand people participated in the rally which went through Illendu townand fifteen thousand participated in the mass meeting. Com. Chandrashekharpresided over the mass meeting which was addressed by IFTU NationalCommittee Secretary Com. V.K. Patole, Com. Aparna (Secretary of DelhiCommittee of the Party), Com. V. Venkataramaih, Member of StateCommittee of the Party. P. Ranga Rao, Khammam dist. leader of the Party,Party leader ex-MLA G. Narsaiah, POW leader Chandra Aruna and others.Arunodaya artists staged enthusing programmes at the mass meeting.Meeting generated a lot of enthusiasm for taking forward the struggle forpodu lands.



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It is not only Crimea, it isUkraine

Contradictions among imperialist powers have once again brought Europeto the boiling point. In their urge to snatch Ukraine from Russian influenceand close the only warm water port of Russia in Crimea, US imperialistsand their allies have played a high stake game. But in the present situationof multipolar world, such games are difficult to play and miscalculationscome to haunt the players. In 2004 western imperialist powers were able toorchestrate the Orange Revolution, the name given here to regime changethrough street protests, to bring their supporters to power. Ten years laterthey contrived the same game but not exactly with same results.

Ukraine is suffering from deep economic crisis, needing to borrow billionsnot to default on its foreign loan repayments. Ukraine Govt. approachedEU which referred it to IMF for the conditions for extending the loan, whichwould have caused the economy to shrink and unemployment to rise.Yanukovych Govt. called off negotiations with EU and went for a pact withRussia with $15 billion loan and one third slashing of petroleum bill. Thisturning away from EU to Russia, caused havoc in EU capitals and sectionsaligned to them in Ukraine. Street protests started in capital Kiev inEuromaidan demanding ouster of Yanukovych, the pro-Russian president.Protesters included the Right sector, fascist hoodlums, and targeted Govt.machinery. Police was attacked and so were Govt. functionaries. Largeparts of police remained spectators while Army refused to do the Govt’sbidding. Govt. was on tethers though Yanukovych party had enjoyed majoritysupport in the parliament. In stepped EU troika whose foreign ministersforced an agreement for early presidential elections. But US willed otherwise.The Right Sector and other armed sections of protesters refused to honourthe agreement and refused to acquiesce in holding elections in May 2014as per the agreement. Yanukovych fled Kiev to a south west Russian bordertown. Protesters forced the MPs to remove Yanukovych from Presidencythough they could not muster constitutionally mandated majority for sucha removal.

With forcible take over in Kiev, protests flared up in Southern and Easternparts of Ukraine against this take over. They refused to recognize the new

authorities in Kiev. Crimea, home to Russian Black Sea fleet, where majorityof residents are Russians and which was transferred from Russia to Ukrainein 1954 when Nikita Khruschev was CPSU leader, refused to accept thenew dispensation in Kiev and its assembly went ahead with holding areferendum on whether to join Russian Federation or to remain in Ukrainewith greater autonomy under 1992 Constitution. As widely expected,referendum resulted in nearly 97% voting to join Russia with nearly 83%voting. Russia moved quickly to accept the results and formalize absorptionof Crimea in Russian Federation.

Protests flared up in Kharkiv, Odessa, Donetsk and other centres ofsouth and east Ukraine with protesters throwing out new Kiev nomineeswhile cleansing of Central Govt. continued in Kiev. Events moved quickly.US and EU powers demanded Russia stop referendum in Crimea. But theirreal objective was to get Russian recognition for the forcible change inpower in Kiev. They were using Crimea as a bargaining chip to get Russianacceptance of change in Ukraine, which the Russian Govt. of Putin termedas a coup. Russia embarked on military exercises on the Ukrainian bordersending shivers down the spines of west European countries while Putinreiterated his option of military intervention in Ukraine. The new authoritiesin Ukraine have mobilized the Army but BBC reported that inhabitants ofborder areas are opposing such Army deployment. Govt. of Crimea hastaken over Ukrainian bases.

Events in Ukraine have demonstrated the sharpening contradictionsbetween imperialist powers. Contradictions between Russia and westernimperialist powers and between US and EU powers within western allianceare openly playing out. For the time being, while Russia has absorbedCrimea in Russian Federation, EU has drawn closer to new authorities inKiev.

Crisis in Ukraine is due to deep economic crisis plaguing this country.It has also brought to the fore the historical, social, economic and politicaldivisions in this country. Ever since dissolution of Soviet Union anddisintegration of the camp of social imperialism, US and EU powers havebeen trying to push for eastward expansion of NATO to prevent re-emergenceof Russia as a world power. Europe, as it emerged out of the two worldwars, was gradually changed and several states were born in Balkan andBaltic regions. Russian rulers, emerging out of the disintegration of theSoviet Union, wanted help of western countries in dismantling the erstwhile



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Soviet Union and could not counter the US led western moves to bringcentral and eastern Europe into their own sphere of influence. It was theperiod of their collaboration in the rise of Russian private bourgeoisie fromthe loot and plunder of the state properties of the erstwhile Soviet Union.But gradually the control of this class was consolidated and it is now lookingtowards expanding its control over the nearby states, particularly thosewhich had earlier been part of the Russian empire. US imperialism gotbogged down in the imperialist wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistanand all western imperialist powers got grounded due to the explosion offinancial economic crisis. Russia on the other hand, has suffered relativelyless in this crisis and its export of petroleum products along with sale of itsarmaments relatively strengthened its economic position. Realizing theopportunities, Russia stopped acquiescing in US led moves to expand thelatter’s influence particularly in Europe. In 2008 its strong military responseto US instigated Georgian invasion of South Ossetia and Abkhazia was aturning point. US imperialism could not but remain a spectator there. Havingconsolidated its position in Russian society and state and emboldened byits move in Georgia, Russian ruling bourgeoisie embarked on an ambitiousplan to forge Eurasian Economic Union (EEC) comprising of most of theearlier Soviet republics. Ukraine is a central piece in this venture. USA hadvowed to frustrate Russian designs on EEC and erstwhile US Secretary ofState, Hillary Clinton, had declared that USA would do everything to frustratethis plan. EEC is a Russian plan is to blend together a solid economicblock under its control and use it as a plank to launch its global interests.EEC would also bring all petroleum resources in the region under Russiancontrol and make for its common marketing, frustrating western designs touse these resources for reducing dependence on Russian supplies. It wouldalso render Chinese poaching of Central Asian republics relatively difficultand keep Russia at the centre of dealing with these countries. EEC is thusa central thrust of Putin led Russia for increasing its international role as aleading imperialist power.

After 2004 Ukraine had been taken over by Victor Yushchenko andTymoshenko, supporters of western imperialist powers. But joy was short-lived as economic crisis deepened, social fissures widened and all roundcorruption led to falling out of the Orange Revolution. Tymoshenko,supported by western powers, had to forge agreement with Russia andironically had to spend years in jail for alleged corruption in the said deal.The compulsion of authorities in Kiev is due to the very economic structure

of Ukraine with its dependence on Russia for supply of gas and also markets.Ukraine is an industrially developed country, being 10th largest producer ofsteel in the world. Its industries are dependent on supply of petroleumproducts from Russia. Moreover, 60% of its exports go to Russia,Byelorussia and Kazakhstan. Western Europe cannot absorb the exportsof Ukraine, its industrial products have no market in these countries andentry of its agricultural products is resisted by producers of agriculturalcommodities in EU led by France. So Ukraine can only be absorbed as abackward region of western Europe, as a supplier of natural resources andcheap labour as well as a market for capital goods from West Europeancountries, particularly Germany. No wonder western countries are askingUkraine to implement IMF reforms as a condition for providing much neededfunds. This is the dilemma faced by supporters of western powers inUkraine. Tymoshenko’s deal was no aberration. Ukraine has an unenviablechoice between being an advanced part of Russia led camp or a backwardregion of Western Europe.

Ruling elite of Ukraine has emerged from the loot and plunder of stateenterprises, a sort of mafia capitalists who became filthy rich overnight asstate enterprises were dissolved. Tymoshenko, Yanukovych and a host ofother leaders on both sides of the fence have made huge money from thisloot. Their going either with Russia or western countries is determined bytheir selfish interests. As they have recently emerged, there is no suchseparation of economic and political elite and money makers not only financethe political projects but also personally lead them. The front runner in thecoming elections announced by pro-west regime in Kiev is the richestUkrainian who had bankrolled the recent protests.

While USA and West European powers both want to press eastward tostymie Russian efforts at re-emergence as world power, their interests aredifferent and their contradictions find expression in the way they approachthis objective. With disintegration of erstwhile camp of Soviet socialimperialism vast regions of central and Eastern Europe were opened up forgrabs which led to contradictions between USA and west European powers.USA wanted to bring these regions under US control and use this “NewEurope” not only as its preserve but also to control “Old Europe”. Europeanpowers, on the other hand, considered themselves to be the naturalclaimants to these regions for reasons of geographical proximity andhistorical, economic and social ties. This contradiction has another



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dimension, that of Russia. USA does not want European powers to dealwith Russia directly but only through US controlled NATO. This has been along held striving of Russian rulers to deal with Western Europe withoutintervention of USA, a design consistently frustrated by US rulers. Thesecontradictions played out in Ukrainian conflict also. West European countrieswanted to ease out Yanukovych while keeping Russia engaged so as toserve as a source of cheaper gas and loans as well as market for Ukrainianproducts while West European powers export their capital goods besidesexploiting natural resources and labour power of Ukraine. It is in pursuanceof this strategy that Foreign Ministers of Germany and France along withtheir counterpart from Poland, went to Kiev to force Yanukovych to reachan agreement with opposition, an agreement which served their interestsby easing out pro-Russian Yanukovych rather than by overthrowing him.But US had other designs. The armed wing of protesters backed by USand trained and supplied through Poland, refused to accept the agreement.Army went against Yanukovych. He was overthrown. A leaked audioreporting of the conversation between US Assistant Secretary of State,Ms. Nuland and the US ambassador in Kiev discussing ruling set up to beinstalled in Ukraine, had Ms. Nuland using abusive terms for West Europeanpowers and particularly stressing not to allow them to have their way. InGermany, several leading figures both from social democrats as well asconservatives have argued against the US led course in Ukraine and haveblamed US for the present situation.

Interesting reports have come of the postmortems of those dead inprotests, both police and protesters. They have revealed that both sideshad sustained injuries from the same weapons. These reports point to adeep seated conspiracy behind the armed attacks during protests. WhileEU leaders are keeping mum over these reports, Ukrainian authorities areblaming snipers from secret service of Russia for the killings. However,there were earlier reports of America training Ukranian militants in Poland.In any case there was a third hand other than that of security forces andprotesters. While identity of this hand may not be conclusively proved, itsexistence is being admitted even by authorities in Kiev.

Now in Ukraine, there is no easy way out of the quagmire into whichimperialist countries have pushed it. Russia has used this opportunity offeredby Kiev power grab to amalgamate Crimea into Russian Federation in ablatant show of its military power. There could not be a Second Crimean

War as there is no rising power out to disturb the changed status. USA ison decline and does not want to engage in new military confrontation ofthis dimension. It is not in the same league as the then rising colonialpower, Britain. The real battle and also the real moves and countermovesare being made with regard to Ukraine proper. Russian Army is amassedon Ukrainian border, not for immediate invasion, but to act as a pressurewhile US, Russia and European powers are engaged in discussing how tosettle the Ukrainian question or, in other words, how to cut up the Ukrainianmelon. Various models are being discussed, that of Belgium, of Finland orany mixture of the two. The two issues are of military neutrality of Ukrainebetween Russia and Western powers and of rights of the regions, particularlyin economic and political affairs. Russian Govt. has outlined its twinproposals of keeping Ukraine out of NATO and federalization of Ukraine,with considerable powers to the regions in determining their own economicpolicies. European powers wanted to grab the whole of Ukraine albeitgradually while US has forced them into having only part of it and that toounder US influence. Notes are being exchanged between Moscow andWashington on different proposals sidelining European capitals from thehigh table.

Divisions between different parts of Ukraine have a long history alongwith present economic and social reality. Russians constitute nearly 18%of the population (8 million out of a total of 47 million). In addition there area large number of Russian speaking Ukrainians, particularly in eastern andsouthern regions, besides differences in religious and cultural practices.Russian is the native language of nearly a third of Ukrainians, with nearlytwo thirds of people being proficient in Russian which is language ofcommunication for a majority of Ukrainians. It is the native language ofoverwhelming majority of people in Southern and eastern parts, of just lessthan half in central Ukraine, of nearly one quarter in mid-west but of verysmall percentage of people in far western Ukraine. Western Ukraine wasnot part of old Russian empire. It was divided between Poland and Austria-Hungary with the latter having south western Ukraine. In the later period, apart of it came under Russian control with partition of Poland between bigEuropean powers. Major part of west Ukraine was again part of SecondPolish Republic in the interbellum between two world wars. After the Germaninvasion of Poland and beginning of Second World War, western Ukrainejoined Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and after Second WW, Ukraine



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was unified as Ukrainian SSR as part of USSR. This centuries’ old historyhas brought about many differences between western and eastern parts ofUkraine besides the economy.

Eastern part of Ukraine is industrially and economically developed. It isa major producer of steel and machinery and transport equipments,chemicals and other industrial goods. It is also a major producer of grain,sugar, vegetables etc. Agriculture contributes nearly a tenth of economy(9.9%), industry nearly a third (29.6%) and services the rest. Nearly onetenth of Ukrainians are unemployed while a larger number remainsunregistered. With breakup of erstwhile Soviet Union, Ukrainian economywent down and recovered later synchronizing with dismantling of old statecapitalism and rise of new private capitalists. However, Ukraine faces atough task in finding markets for its produce and managing its heavydependence on imports of petroleum products.

US and EU want to absorb Ukraine into their orbit both for military andeconomic reasons. They seek to make structural changes in Ukrainianeconomy. The new authorities in Kiev have announced acceptance of IMFconditions saying that there is no alternative. Under these conditions theyhave announced lay off of over 10% of govt. employees, closure of a numberof govt. departments and sharp increase in power charges in Ukraine.Obviously these measures are highly unpopular and expose the real gameplan of Germany and USA in Ukraine. It is natural that US and EU do notwant democratic exercise in Ukraine as their plan is sure to be rebuffed. Italso explains why US and EU did not want will of the Ukrainian people toprevail till they have brought about a complete change in the social powerstructure. It is one more example where capitalism sponsored by themstands opposed to democratic will of the people like earlier in Greece,Spain etc. US and EU want to intensify attacks on workers and so-calledUkrainian nationalists come in handy to implement their designs.

Ukraine is at the cross roads as big powers, USA, EU and Russia pursuetheir geopolitical game plans, strive for creating economic backyards andmilitary fronts in Europe. National interests of Ukraine and interests of itsworking people are not on their agenda.

Middle-East: GrowingConflicts, Smouldering

People's AngerSharpening contradictions among imperialist powers in the multipolar

world and upswing in people’s movement against anti-people rulers continueto shake the middle-east landscape. At the centre of this is House of Saud,rulers of Saudi Arabia, which is trying to ward off enemies to its rule,suppress its people and keep status quo in the Middle-East. People’supsurges in Middle-East have petered out, drowned in the blood of sectarianconflicts and reactionary agenda of the main players. It has once againbrought to fore that such middle class mobilizations may give vent topeople’s anger and shake the establishment but cannot bring about realchange in the society and country. Only in Tunisia there is a forwardmovement in the democratic direction and that is due to the intervention ofworking class of Tunisia through its trade union organization GATT, whichhas intervened at critical moments against the movement being hijackedby reactionary forces.

However, people’s upsurge in Arab countries has shaken the statusquo leading to feverish drive of the rulers of these countries to unleashsectarian violence and deepen sectarian divisions besides unleashingmilitary suppression of the people’s urge for democratic rights and for gettingrid of these anti-people rulers. Saudi rulers and their imperialist backers,unable to prevent or crush the people’s upsurge, sought to direct it intoShia Sunni conflict targeting Iran besides supporting military suppressionas in Baharin, Yemen and overthrowing regimes not aligned to them e.g.Libya and Syria. They succeeded in Libya but their efforts have beengrounded in Syria. Decline of unipolar world dominated by US imperialismhas placed some limitations on the drive of Saudi rulers and their imperialistbackers. While US has been forced to negotiate with Iran much to thedislike of Saudi rulers, it is unable to launch unilateral wars in the Middle-East unlike in the past. It had to blink in its threat to bomb Syria leading todisquiet in US protégés in the region.

Not only that, Arab Spring brought big fissures in the Middle-East. Qatar



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has been supporting Muslim Brotherhood (MB) while rulers of Turkey havetheir origins in MB. Antagonism between MB and Saudi rulers is old anddrove deep fissures in the pro-US camp in the middle-east. Saudis supportedmilitary coup against Morsi, elected President of Egypt and an MB nominee,who was supported by Qatar and Turkey. Not long back, leader of Turkey,Erdogan, had lauded Turkish model for the Arab countries in the hope thatpeople’s upsurges there would bring MB to power. Deep divisions on Egyptiancoup brought renewed pressure on these players in rival camps to showresult in Syria and US also gambled on it to keep its flock together. But thegamble did not succeed. This resulted in escalation of armed conflictsbetween rival rebel groups in Syria reflecting deepening divisions amongpro-US Arab countries particularly between Saudi rulers and Qatar monarch.On the other hand, there has not been any forward movement in negotiationsbetween Israel and Palestinians to cement the bonds between these rivals.Israel is not willing, even for show, to concede even an inch on the questionof national rights of Palestinians. Israeli rulers are continuing their furtherannexation of Palestinian lands while putting newer conditions for startingdialogue. They want no dialogue at all, not any meaningful dialogue at anycost. US efforts too are only for demonstrative purposes while US rulersremain committed to Zionist rulers.

Conflict between Qatar and Saudi rulers have aggravated. There havebeen explosions in Doha and Riyadh with fingers being raised against theMiddle-East rivals. Saudi Arabia, UAE and Baharin have recalled theirambassadors from Qatar. Another monarchy in the Gulf, Oman, has anyway mended fences with Iran and played an important role in US-Irannegotiations. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has ceased to be a unitedforum and recent Arab summit too was reduced to only a formal gathering.Qatar and also Turkey have shown willingness to accommodate Iran, bêtenoire of Saudi monarchy. US President Obama’s recent visit to Saudi Arabiaalso included question of addressing this rift amidst claims that it was toassuage ruffled Saudi feathers with conduct of USA in Middle-East. Thetalk of US disengagement from Middle-East, variously ascribed to risingoutput of shale gas, is a deliberate ploy to mislead the world public opinion.US is not there for its own oil supply but for controlling world’s oil supplyfrom this biggest reserve of petroleum in the world.

Ground situation in Syria continues to turn in favour of Syrian Govt. ofBashir Assad. Its forces have been able to drive out anti-Govt. rebels fromtheir positions from Lebanon border disrupting one of their supply lines. A

number of former rebel centres have reached their ‘truces’ with Govt. forces,a euphemism for their surrender. Turkey’s attempts to militarily intervenein Syria are becoming increasingly difficult as Erdogan regime facesincreasing domestic opposition though its desire to do so is strong asproved by the conversation of its top brass, leaked in a video. Among therebel forces active in Syria, those funded and supported by Saudi rulershave emerged the strongest. In this chequered scenario, hopes of theseforces of a regime change in near future have receded.

In this complex situation, Saudi rulers have demanded that biggerweapons like anti-aircraft missiles be supplied to Syrian rebels. Westernpowers, particularly US, are not willing to do so on their own accord but donot mind “arranging” them from elsewhere. Thr scene shifted to Pakistan.Recently, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and Emir of Baharin, visitedPakistan. Baharin's king spent long hours at Army headquarters inIslamabad. Its purpose was to enlist Pakistani soldiers for suppressingmajority of the people of Baharin who are rising against monarchy there.Pakistani rulers have been using their soldiers as mercenaries for theserich Arab monarchies. But Saudi insistence is on Pakistan supplying lethalweapons for Syrian rebels. This demand obviously has US approval. InitiallyPakistan Govt. denied having agreed to supply weapons to Syrian rebels,reiterating its official neutrality in the conflict there. But Sartaj Aziz, Advisorto Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief on National Security and Foreign Affairs,agreed that Pakistan would sell small arms and fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.It is a first of its kind. Saudi rulers have been long term clients of westernpowers, particularly USA. These weapons obviously are not meant for SaudiArmy but for Syrian rebels which Pakistan Govt. is routing through SaudiArabia providing for deniability of supplying Syrian rebels. Pakistani rulingpoliticians have been old clients of western powers and their lackeys, theArab monarchs. Arab monarchs engage foreign powers for their securityand do not want to arm their own citizens for obvious reasons, soapprehensive are they of their own people. They buy huge catche ofweapons from western powers mainly to keep their arms industry in goodshape.

Middle-East continues to smoulder. Conflicts there are sharpening.Middle-east is in transition and different forces are active to shape it intheir own interests. Struggle of the people against imperialist dominationand exploitation and oppression by imperialist lackeys alone can provide apro-people outlet to this crisis.



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Formation of Telengana :Victorious Culmination of a People's

Struggle and Tasks AheadIn its February 2014 session, Indian Parliament approved the formation

of separate state of Telengana by bifurcating the existing Andhra Pradesh.Parliament session witnessed aggressive acts by MPs of ruling class partiesfrom other regions of Andhra Pradesh. The Act passed by the parliamentreceived Presidential assent and was duly notified with 2nd June fixed asthe date of coming into existence of state of Telengana. With this a longdrawn struggle of the people of Telengana emerged victorious vindicatingsacrifices of large number of its youth, those who fell to police bullets andthose who ended their lives in pursuit of this people’s aspiration.

With eclipse of Congress fortunes in non-Telengana regions of AndhraPradesh, ruling Congress’ resistance to formation of Telengana crumbled.Having long opposed this democratic aspiration of the people andsuppressed their struggle for the same, ruling Congress changed tack andpressed for the formation of Telengana before 2014 parliamentary elections.Ruling class parties do not stand for democratic aspirations of the peoplein a principled manner but accede to them when either compelled to orwhen it becomes necessary for their power games. In case of Telengana ithas been both.

During the debate in the Parliament, several ruling class parties raisedthe spectre of Telengana formation leading to several such strugglesthroughout the country, a sentiment earlier propagated by Congress too.The main parties of West Bengal, Trinamool and CPM, raised the slogan ofmatch fixing between ruling Congress and opposition BJP in carving outTelengana forgetting that in the process they too joined hands and did notmind being seen doing so which they loathe otherwise. Gorkhaland drovethem into embrace.

In India, there are some regions where the demand of separate state isthere. Prominent among them is Gorkhaland which has a long history andall attributes to deserve that. It is a democratic demand which CPI(ML)-New Democracy has been supporting since the agitation burst forth in mid'80s. The conduct of the party leading the agitation, Subhash Gheising’s

GNLF earlier and Bimal Gurung’s GJM now, is one of the biggest stumblingblock in achieving this demand. These leaders have been hobnobbing withruling class parties to achieve this demand, they are depending on theseparties rather than people to achieve Gorkhaland and have been sendingrepresentatives of Congress and BJP to Lok Sabha to pursue their demandcreating illusions among the people about these two enemies of democraticrights and aspirations of people of the country. GJM is supporting BJPcandidate in the hope that the Party will form Gorkhaland while leaders ofBJP in West Bengal are openly taking positions against it. GJM is againstjoining hands with revolutionary forces who support this demand, it is againstbuilding a sustained broad based movement on the issue, it is againstrallying democratic sections in support of the demand for Gorkhaland. Itraises serious doubts about their own seriousness on the issue. In thislight their pact with Mamata Banerjee on GTA does not seem to be anaberration.

Struggle for Telengana emerged victorious because of broad basedsupport, all embracing struggle for the same and willingness of people tooffer sacrifices for the same. Joint Action Committee comprising of all theparties and forces supporting Telengana played a pivotal role in achievingthis demand. CPI(ML)-New Democracy too played an important role in thisstruggle, both as a part of Political JAC as well as independently,intervening at critical junctures in the course of struggle. Who can forgetintervention of CPI(ML)-ND in 2009 when TRS leader KCR had been keptin Khammam in the course of his hunger strike, when he had succumbedto the pressure for breaking the hunger strike and was to be shifted toHyderabad? CPI(ML)-ND cadres frustrated this game plan. It was CPI(ML)-New Democracy which frustrated the plan of Jagan Mohan to hold a meetingin Warangal against Telengana. Of singular importance was CPI(ML)-ND'srole in making the Million March in Hyderabad a success when TRS haddeveloped a lukewarm approach to agitational programmes. Besidesorganizing a big rally in Khammam with nearly one lakh people, our role inSakula Janula Samme, Sagar Hara and other programmes bear a testimonyto the prominent role of the Party in the struggle for Telengana. And CPI(ML)-New Democracy did so not with the cynical calculation of electoral prospectsbut out of commitment to democratic aspirations of the people of Telengana.CPI(ML)-ND congratulated the people on this success.

But we have been clear and are clear that achievement of Telengana is



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a new beginning of the people’s struggles against oppression andexploitation. This is the land of Great Telengana Armed Struggle and gloriousGodavari Valley Resistance Struggle for the rights of the peasants, workersand common people. The great struggle for eliminating oppression andexploitation will continue with renewed vigour and determination againstthe exploiters and oppressors of the people. It is the oppression andexploitation of the people which had brought multitudes of them into thestruggle for Telengana. It was their aspiration to get rid of these evils whichdrove the movement and shone in the sacrifices offered in its course. Ithas been the quintessence of this movement, whose realization peoplehope for from this victory. Struggle for its realization can only be carriedforward by communist revolutionaries and other pro-people forces. Rulingclass parties have neither the agenda nor the orientation to take up thisstruggle; besides it goes against the interests of the classes they represent.For them it is the time for the end of struggle and time for enjoying powerand raking in the profits that go with it under the present dispensation.While different class forces represented by different parties and people’sorganizations had come together to fight for Telengana and it was correctto do so, the situation has undergone a change with the formation of thestate of Telengana.

Even before the formal carving out of the state, ruling class partieswhich had been participating in the struggle for Telengana have been forgingalliances in the run up to elections with the parties and forces who havebeen opposing Telengana. BJP is trying to forge alliance with TDP ofChandrababu Naidu, one of the main parties opposing formation ofTelengana. It is trying to use TDP's anti-Telengana image to extractmaximum seats from TDP. TRS led by KCR has been admitting knownCongress leaders who have been in the forefront of opposition to Telengana.All these machinations are for maximizing their seats and hence share inpower and have nothing to do with fulfilling aspirations of the people ofTelengana. Struggle for the rights of the people of Telengana has to becarried forward under this situation.

Telengana is home to a large number of tribals who are struggling fortheir rights over forest land and forest produce, for allotment of land forpodu cultivation, for remunerative prices for forest produce, for protectionof their language and culture, for extension of basic facilities to their areasand for job opportunities to their youth. Telengana has a large number of

landless poor peasants hungry for land; exploited and oppressed bylandlords. Telengana is home to large number of dalits and backward castepeople, mostly landless poor peasants also oppressed by caste system.Telengana has a good population of Muslims many of them poor peasantsand artisans. Telengana students and youth, from among whom so manysacrificed their lives, were in the forefront of struggle in the hope of bettereducation and job opportunities. Aspirations of all these sections of peopleneed to be fulfilled to given real meaning to the struggle of Telenganapeople against exploitation and oppression.

And for all these, there is a need to renew and recast the struggle inTelengana. While there are some pending issues connected with bifurcation,the real struggle has moved onto a new plane. All the progressive anddemocratic forces in Telengana movement, all constituents of JAC and allpeople’s organizations committed to real freedom for the people ofTelengana must come together to wage this struggle. It is a continuationof the earlier struggle and it is also taking it to a new plane. Many people’sorganizations in the Telengana movement had professed commitment to aprogressive and democratic Telengana and the time to redeem thatcommitment has come. All such organizations must come together andstep forward for this movement. It is this struggle which will give realmeaning to the struggle for separate province, particularly from theperspective of people who have braved hardships and offered sacrifices toachieve what they have.

CPI(ML)-New Democracy is fully committed to this course and callsupon all revolutionary and people’s organizations to come together to buildstruggles on these issues and mobilize the people for achieving them.

In the rest of Andhra Pradesh, the main claimants to power, TDP andYSR Congress, want to ride to power by whipping up sentiments againstbifurcation. That the people of these regions are not against formation ofTelengana though they may have some apprehensions, that too due topropaganda and irresponsible statements by ruling class parties, is obviousfrom the lack of continuation of movement against bifurcation. People ofAndhra Pradesh have many problems, issues relating to displacement dueto handing over vast tracts of land to corporate and for power plants, issuesrelating to rights of tribals, issues relating to agriculture- high costs ofinputs, lack of irrigation in many regions and issues related to high pricesof essential commodities, rampant corruption and growing unemployment.



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It is these issues that people of Andhra Pradesh are concerned about butthe ruling class parties have nothing to offer to the people on these issuesand to camouflage their robbing of the people of Andhra Pradesh, they,with help of the media controlled by corporate, are trying to divert the peoplefrom these issues. Here also, only communist revolutionaries can take thestruggle ahead. While ruling classes are dividing the people for their selfishinterests, communist revolutionaries stand for unity of the people foradvancing their struggles on genuine issues.

Allahabad: ThousandsDemand Land Rights

More than 4000 peasants and workers from Allahabad, Kaushambi andMau assembled at the CPIML New Democracy rally on February 19, 2014raising slogans against rampant feudal oppression in the three districts,police support to the landlords and illegal goonda tax extraction from theearnings of the poor. Leaders attacked the govt’s liberalization policylabelling it a betrayal of the interests of the people of the country. Givinglogical explanations the leaders said feudal and mafia loot in rural areashas increased throughout the country and in our districts while foreignexploiters and their compradors control the economy of the country.

The main issues raised, several of which were boldly and clearly speltout on the banners and in the slogans, related to land struggles, illegaloccupation of landlords of ceiling surplus, village panchayat and river bedlands, illegal taxation by forest dept. in stone quarries and illegal extractionsby landlords and mafia in sand mining and river bed cultivation.

These problems pertain to the Govts' claims of having abolishedzamindari, while it continues in all its basic forms with support from thepolice and administration. There is also bonded labour, forced labour atvery low wages, social oppression of dalits, sexual exploitation of dalit andother poor women by powerful. Poor are prevented from using village landsfor morning ablutions, from tying their animals on common lands and in

several other forms.

In our country 44% land is still owned by only 5 percent people. Landceiling in UP of 12 acres irrigated and 18 acres un-irrigated land was fixedmore than 40 years ago and farming has seen changes in equipment andtechnology. Since the 1970s the productivity has increased nearly 2.5 times.Hence, there is a demand for lowering land ceiling. On the other hand largeamounts of land lie fallow, under control of landlords of the area. They alsoillegally control large tracts which had been taken away from them underthe Ceiling Act, they illegally occupy village ponds, village common landsand have cheated the ceiling law by registering their irrigated lands as un-irrigated. The introduction of LPG policies having led to rampant andliberalized corruption in govt machinery, in several villages they haveillegally got ceiling surplus lands, ponds, abadi lands under occupation ofthe poor registered in their own names and are now claiming possessionand displacing the poor. They have skilfully manoeuvered the old recordsand are claiming ownership on the basis of the current records.

Further these landlords control the highly profitable and high labourintensive river bed farming. They make illegal allotments of plots in theriver bed, they charge per plant sown or they make illegal extractions on



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the produce, or a combination of these. As per law this land is to be givenas a temporary patta to the village poor for one year. A related issue is ofdemanding grant of sand mining permits to boatmen, thus effectively endinglandlord mafia control over the sand trade and other economic activities inthe rivers like fishing, ferrying, farming etc.

Another aspect of the land issue brought up related to the Shankergarharea which is part forest, part hill and part plain. Here, in most villages, thevillage headmen have connived with the landlords to grant village commonlands, which are in large tracts in every village, to the forest department forforestation. Though no trees are planted, a minor forest produce, gravel, isextracted and sold. The village poor do the labour at an abysmally low rateand the village landlords, contractors and forest officials reap the benefits.Where earlier struggles have aroused the people and they have attemptedto break gravel on their own, they are denied the official permit, ‘ravanna’,they are charged by the forest department for encroachment and theft offorest property and they are prevented from selling their gravel by forciblystopping their trucks.

In addition the speakers and people protested against the plan toestablish three Thermal Power Plants in the area having a combined totalcapacity of 7000 MW as these would lift massive amounts of Jamuna andGanga river water and ground water and the ash would destroy farming andlivelihood. The demand for small solar units was raised. The protest meetingalso demanded stopping FDI in retail trade and reduction of cost of diesel,petrol and other agricultural inputs.

The gathering was addressed by UP Secretary of the Party, Com. AshishMital, AIKMS UP President, Com. Dharmapal, AIKMS UP Gen. Secy. Com.Heeralal, Allahabad AIKMS GS Com. Raj Kumar, Vice President Com.Suresh Nishad, Kaushambi AIKMS GS Com Phoolchand Jalalpur,Phoolchand Mainapur, Dhanpati, Dinesh Patel, Babbu Nishad, Bijnor AIKMSGS Com Subhash, Com. Rishipal from Hapur and former Vice President ofUP PUCL Shri O.D. Singh. It was presided over by Prof. Raghuvansh Tyagi,Com. Santram of Unnao and Com Bachilal Nishad of Kaushambi. Theproceedings were conducted by Com Ram Kailash. Munna ‘Rahi’, Kamta,Gaindalal, Ramesh and others of Parivartan Sanskritik Manch sangrevolutionary songs.

Resignation of AAP Govt. & AfterApar na

Forty nine days after forming the Govt. in Delhi, the Congress supportedAAP Govt. resigned. For well over a week before this, Kejriwal had beenthreatening to resign if the Congress MLAs did not support the Jan Lok PalBill which the AAP Govt wanted for Delhi. Within hours of the resignation,AAP members made it clear that the resignation was a planned move.Congress MLAs voting against introduction of the Delhi Jan Lok Pal Billwas the immediate issue but it was really the excuse. AAP did not want tocontest the parliamentary polls on the basis of the performance of its Govt.in Delhi. That the Jan Lok Pal Bill of Delhi would not be supported by theCongress MLAs was already a given. The minority AAP Govt. could not befaulted for failure to pass this Bill, when the position of the Congress waswell known. The AAP Govt also had no hesitation to take the path ofagitation on its demands – it could have undertaken a people’s mobilizationon the proposed Bill to force the Congress to acquiesce to popular mood.The AAP Govt. could have also gone to the people with its completeexplanation of the differences it has with the Central Act. But they insteadchose to immediately resign as a question of principle, that they had formedGovt. only to pass this Bill. The issue with the Jan Lok Pal bill was apractical not a moral one; if it was such an inflexible cut off point, AAPshould not have formed the Govt. in Delhi at all without putting this as acondition for Govt. formation publicly before the Congress.

The response from the supporters of the AAP Govt. was two fold. Asection was disappointed and wanted that the Govt. should have continuedand done something for the people of Delhi. The second were thrilled becausethis Govt. had fulfilled its role of becoming a stepping stone for the Party’sparliamentary debut.

Arvind Kejriwal has now compared the resignation of the AAP Govt. tothe resignation of Lal Bahadur Shastri as Rail Minister, which the latter haddone taking moral responsibility for a rail accident. No such issue was atstake in the Delhi Govt’s resignation. A reason of AAP's haste was that itwanted re-election to Delhi Assembly to be held along with parliamentaryelections as it felt that they would have a better chance of getting a majorityin Delhi assembly.



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Contract Workers in the Lurch

Contract workers of DTC and contract or ‘guest’ teachers of Delhi’sgovernment schools were left dangling the assurances given to them ofregularization of their services within a month, which they had extractedonly a a week earlier through struggle. It now appears that the assuranceswere given only because the AAP leaders were anyway planning theirresignation. The reason lies in the difference in AAP’s electoral promiseand its position once it formed Govt. and its current position. After formingGovt., Manish Sisodia enunciated that they could not simply regularizecontract workers (this was the promise), the problem had to be studied. Inregularization, the eligibility criteria for the jobs also have to be kept inmind. Then the AAP Govt. seated a committee to ‘investigate’ the situationof contractual employment in Delhi Govt. and give a report within a month.The Govt resigned before the report arrived. All this discussion pertainsonly to contract workers directly under Delhi Govt – the issues of contractlabour in private sectors of Delhi and the issue of job impermanency ofworkers in private industry in Delhi was not even in the discourse of theAAP Govt. despite the situation in Delhi. Now in the AAP's parliamentarymanifesto it is stated that contract workers working in jobs of a permanentnature "will be regularized". However, when AAP did hold power itprevaricated in doing just this. Other ruling class parties also make falsepromises to attract voters.

The problem with issues of working class is that they inevitably force achoice of class. Arvind Kejriwal clearly stated before an industrialists' bodythat AAP was for capitalism but not for crony capitalism. He repeated theneoliberal phrase that govt. has no business to be in business. Thus it isclear that such a party cannot abolish contract labour which is an importantsource of super profits for corporate.

Communalism the Greatest Danger

For the parliamentary election propaganda, AAP has identified thatcommunalism is the main danger before the country and has directed itscampaign against Modi. AAP had also got a good section of Muslim votesin Delhi, who would not have voted for the BJP anyway and were disgustedwith the Congress. The current formulation makes Muslims an importantconstituency for propaganda. However AAP has yet to comment on thecommunal nature of the state, at least demand arrest of the guilty of the

Muzaffarnagar anti Muslim violence. Where concrete cases of falseencounters were before it, as in the Batla House encounter, the categoricalposition of AAP Govt. was that as the Courts had refused an enquiry, thatwas to be the last word!

Pro-corporate Position

Several corporates figure in the list of candidates put up by AAP for theLok Sabha Polls. Arvind Kejriwal has stated that AAP is against ‘crony’capitalism. In practice he attacks Adani and Ambani but AAP is appreciativeof Tata and does not speak against Jindals and Anil Aggarwal who havealso been among their contributors. All these three and others have beennamed in mining scams of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Goa and Karnataka. Tribalshave fought back bravely to defend their rights to their land with its valuableresources. However AAP leaders totally disapprove of the ‘violence’ bythe tribals and common people against a state armed to the teeth. They donot speak about state violence against these movements and their leadersand activists. A prominent leader of AAP in Maharashtra spoke againstland being reserved for tribals.

In Delhi, when a disgruntled AAP worker threw ink at Yogendra Yadav,Arvind Kejriwal and he preached non violence and turning the other cheekwhile AAP supporters beat up the man such that he was still reportedlyadmitted in a Govt. hospital even a day later. The incident occurred in thepresence of Yadav. Similar acts were repeated twice with Kejriwal. Eachtime AAP activists soundly thrashed the offender while Kejriwal tweetednon-violence. Kejriwal lacks aversion to being compared to a variety ofprominent names but got into wrong company insisting on being likened toBhagat Singh (there was a recording of his arranging such a comparisonand some questions with a TV reporter, which went viral). Bhagat Singhwas very clear that he was fighting for the workers and peasants of India,and for socialism. Kejriwal himself obviously does not share Bhagat Singh'svision, what to talk of the corporate and middle classes who support AAP.Bhagat Singh now is routinely praised by the parties of the very rulingclasses he spoke against and who appropriate him in the hope that whathe stood for would be forgotten.

The pro-corporate orientation of AAP gives itself away in several ways.Maruti workers and many trade unions have been demanding a judicialenquiry into the events of the day at Maruti (Gurgaon) which resulted also



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in the death of a manager and arrest of hundreds of workers including theentire union leadership on charges of murder. The enquiry is being demandedbecause the facts of the killing as represented by the management, areuntrue. The Maruti workers have held many programmes jointly with othertrade unions to demand the enquiry. Families of Maruti workers in jail alongwith other workers held a padyatra from Haryana to Delhi and trade unionsheld a meeting in Delhi in their support. Yogendra Yadav was invited by theworkers and he spoke saying that while he disapproved of general arrests,those who killed the manager should be sentenced. He however did notspeak about a judicial enquiry to establish the truth, rather he said thatwhile the Maruti workers had invited him earlier too, he had looked at theissue in all ways and remembered the family of the murdered manageralso. Is it his position then, that the workers killed the manager or that theywere responsible for the events of the day? A judicial enquiry is beingdemanded by many trade unions because the narrative of the managementis untrue but is fully used by Haryana Govt. to further suppress workers'movements in MNCs in Gurgaon and Manesar. A unit of Maruti is situatedin each. The management association of Manesar has joined AAP. (TOI,January 5, 2014)

The AAP’s drive against Modi questions correctly the authority of theGujarat ‘model of development’ and Kejriwal has been haranguing the pressfor not reporting the real situation of Gujarat. Thus he has also brought outthe aspect which many attribute to AAP itself, that the corporate ownedpress only highlights what are in the interest of its masters, and differentsections are backing different parties quite obviously. The big businesshouses and corporate are desperate for lifting of all restrictions on theirunbridled loot.

AAP leaders are exhibiting flexibility to explain all aspects to theiradvantage. A candidate in one city went for nominations with only her familyand explained that taking a big throng along was a waste of resources.Newspapers carried the pictures of her entourage alongside that of YogendraYadav, accompanied by a big procession, going to file his nomination papers.It is learnt that the AAP’s manifesto at all India level will be supportingreservations for socially backward groups, though how this is going to bereconciled with their upper middle class base in the cities is another issue.The AAP Govt in Delhi left the citizens in a lurch because all their schemesfor free water and electricity subsidy were only valid till the next Budget in

April this year. The AAP Govt., immediately before resigning, announcedwaiver of old and new electricity bills of all those supporters who had refusedto pay electricity bills at AAP’s call pre Delhi elections, though this hasbeen struck down by the courts. After refusing the trappings of power likesecurity beacons and official residences, the former Delhi CM accepted afive bedroom flat in the exclusive New Delhi area, only to abandon theproject hurriedly following a storm of protest in the social media. Howeverhe did voice his surprise that there should be such a clamour when all hewas doing was moving from a four bedroom house to a five bedroom one.

In Delhi, AAP continues to retain attraction for those sections it hadbrought to the ballot box in the Assembly polls. In metropolises at least, ithas bestirred the stagnant waters, as also in the political dialogue in thecountry. By projecting himself as the real outsider to the political system,promising an undefined ‘change’, by freely likening himself to a wide varietyof historical and mythological figures depending on the audience (fromBhagat Singh to Lal Bahadur Shashtri to Ram and to Gandhi), Kejriwal andAAP are trying to attract common people who are overburdened in thestatus quo. Both Rahul Gandhi, whose party has been in power for the pastten years and Modi who has ruled for three terms in Gujarat have also beenspeaking of themselves as ‘outsiders’ to the political system and promising‘change’. Kejriwal is seen as authentically so by many sections of uppermiddle classes who forget that he along with his colleagues and their variousNGOs have been around for a very long time. All the ruling class partiesare status quoists in content.

However the thirst for ‘change’ which truly exists among the looted andexploited common people is very important. But the change they aspire forcan only come through new democratic revolution. This agenda can onlycome before the people though powerful movements led by communistrevolutionaries. The forces which will lead this change must move to graspthe moment and work to mobilize the people for it.

new democracy, march 2014

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