Volume 47 No. 10 Organ of the SOCIALIST UNITY CENTRE OF INDIA (COMMUNIST)January 1, 2014 Founder Editor-in-Chief : COMRADE SHIBDAS GHOSH Price : Rs. 2.00

Recent assembly elections point at

Need imperative to elect tested and tried people’srepresentatives born out of people’s movement to legislatures

Five assembly elections in thecity-state of Delhi and the States ofChhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan and Mizoram were heldbetween November 11 andDecember 4 last and their resultshave come out. Two things arenotable. First, the results stand outin broad corroboration of theforecast by the pre-poll surveysconducted by various agenciescommissioned by monopoly-ownedbig publication houses. Only inDelhi, the newly formed AamAadmi Party (AAP), a break-awaygroup of the Anna Hazaremovement, sprang a surprise bybagging 28 out of 72 seats. Therebythey upset the applecart of the BJPthat had been dreaming ofrecapturing power of this city-stategovernment riding on the so-calledModi wave and capitalizing ongrowing anti-Congress sentiment.Second, all through theelectioneering process a large andpowerful section of the media,fuelled and monitored by themonopolists and corporate houses,painted these assembly elections as

stage rehearsals of the forthcomingparliamentary elections of 2014.Focus was on the electoral calculus,on possible tallies of the contendingmainstream parties, on who will tieup with whom .deserting whom andabove all, on the calibrated duelbetween Narendra Modi and RahulGandhi over the seat of primeminister. All other issues includingthe burning problems of people’s lifewere put on the backburner. It wasas if respite from the gruelling lifecondition that is making people bleeddry lies in who wins the election andforms the government. From thenonwards, this single tune taken up toharp on i.e. election, was and willgradually be scaled up to such apitch that wretched people wouldonce again be drawn into the vortexof electioneering game and wouldbegin nurturing illusion about a betterfuture being ensured if and once thisor that party or combination, whohog the limelight in the media risesto power. Thus as people continueto be deceived by this skillfullyplanned media orchestration, theirmisery and penury, destitution and

predicament, instead of being abatedwould only aggravate manifold. So,it is necessary to have an insight intothe results of the recently concludedassembly elections and be aware ofthe trickery and treachery of theruling bourgeois class and itspolitical agents to deflect people’sattention from the relevant issuesand entangle them in the con gameof bourgeois vote politics.

Pre-poll scenes in the bourgeoiselection camp

Right from the start of theelectioneering process, it waspalpable that throughout the country,there was a fairly strong windagainst the Congress blowing andgathering its strength because of theanti-people policies and measures ofthe Congress-led UPA governmentat the centre. It was also the partythat deserved the credit ofshamelessly nurturing andprotecting the ministers and leadersof the ruling coalition with enviabletrackrecord of mega-scam,corruption and swindling of publicfund. It was the party, which, after

spontaneous outbreak of people’swrath against the brutal gang-rapeand murder of Nirbhaya Damini onthe streets of Delhi a year back,made tall promises of firmly dealingwith the alarmingly rising atrocitiesand sexual assault on womenincluding girl children, yet bore andexpressed shameless arrogance andreluctance thereafter to renege onthe promise which tacitlyencouraged the miscreants to stepup such heinous activities manifoldas brought out by the officiallypublished crime graph. It was theparty which, as it seemed, alongwith its leaders had lost allcredibility, so much so that even itsallies in the ruling combination werenow and then singing unwarrantedtunes for the Congress. Even theruling monopolists could notoverlook the raging anti- Congressmood of people and thus couldrealize that thrusting that party topower for another term would inviteseverely adverse reactions. So, aninfluential section of the rulingmonopolists decided to put their

A national convention on growing crimes against women, organized by AIMSS, AIDYO and AIDSO was held at Mavlankar Auditorium, New Delhi,on 29 December, 2013. Inaugurated by Justice B. N. Srikrishna, former judge, Supreme Court of India and presided over by Comrade Chhaya Mukherjee,President, AIMSS and member, Central Committee, SUCI (C), the massive gathering of the convention was graced by the participation of Justice RajendraSachar, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court and Justice Suresh Hosbet, former Judge of Bombay High Court, Smt. Deepti Naval, Eminent Artist andSocial Activist, Comrades H.G. Jayalakshmi, General Secretary, AIMSS and. B.R. Manjunath, President, AIDYO. Messages of Justice M. N.Venkatachalaiah, former Chief Justice of India and Justice N. Santhosh Hegde, former Judge of Supreme Court of India as well as former Lokayukta ofKarnataka were placed. Delegates from 22 states of India attended the convention where the swelling gathering spilled outside the hall. (Detailed coveragewill be in the next issue). In the photos above: Massive gathering (left) and Justice B N Srikrishna addressing (right).

National convention in Delhi on growing crimes on women

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PAGE TWO JANUARY 1, 2014 PROLETARIAN ERA

Contd. on page 3

Congress routed, BJP finds no Modi magic workingContd. from page 1weight behind the BJP, their othertrusted representative in the two-party system that they are trying forlong to establish in the country. But,it needed some cunningmanoeuvring. The BJP was hatedand rejected by the people becauseof its arch communal mooring andproven trackrecord of fomentingcommunal clashes and evenorchestrating horrendous anti-minority pogrom. To make such aparty acceptable to the electoratesthe class opted for some sprucing upits image. The first task was toremove the stench and complexionof communalism from it. So,emphasis was laid upon the so called‘development’—a euphemism forcertain razzle-dazzle of sprawlingurban pockets—and then Gujaratwas showcased as a model of suchdevelopment. From their class-instinct the ruling class tended tochoose Narendra Modi, thenotorious Gujarat chief minister, asthe man for the country’s nextprime minister chair to serve theirsinister class interest,notwithstanding the fact that Modihad his hands tainted with innocentblood. This necessitated, on theirpart, all attempts to erase his pastand to project him as the architectof development. With this carefullymanufactured credential of Modi,the ruling class employed its entirepropaganda machinery in favour ofhim and his party. A mood wassought to be created as if there wasa Modi storm sweeping across. Onthis background, elections were heldin the five states.

The electioneering processAs the electioneering process

picked up, the now-a-days familiartriumvirate of media - money bag-mafia got to work, to manipulate itby overt or covert means. At thebehest and beckoning of the rulingclass, media took up the task ofmaking opinion, setting mood,underlining issues of elections to fittheir design and pitchforking leaders.Moneybags from the monopolistsand the corporate houses appearedin the scene to lure those in the frayand those to vote for them withfuture prospect of greater pelf. Andmafia or the strong arms who nolonger remain the hirelings of thebigwigs for bullying the electorates,were drawn in, even granted thesame seats with the monopolists andtheir representatives in the party forpower and pelf. In an earlier issueof Proletarian Era ( December 1,2013) we cited a report that even inthe present election of Delhi “ BJPhas the highest proportion ofcandidates with criminal cases

against them at 46% while Congresshas 21% candidates with criminalcases against them. AAP too hasfive such candidates”. This money-media-mafia trident took every painto drive people into the alley of thetwo –party system. The moveincluded the so-called opinion pollsor exit-polls, which were meant tomake people believe that they haveto chose from the two or at bestthree chosen political forces uponwhom the monopolists can lay theirfaith and confidence. In the main thesurveys placed the BJP at an edgeover the Congress, routing of thelatter in MP and Rajasthan, fightneck-to-neck in Chhattisgarh, andnewly floated Aam Aadmi Partypoised for a good fight in Delhi.Barring these, there was nothingelse; no other views, no otherpolitical opinions were allowed tomake way into people’s mind.

Fallout of the results of the fiveassembly elections

Results were largely as scriptedin the surveys. The BJP trouncedthe Congress in Rajasthan. Itincreased its tally in MadhyaPradesh, despite the fact that theexisting BJP government there couldonly earn notoriety for its corruption,misrule and communal politics. InChhattisgarh, the Congress and theBJP were neck to neck and the BJPcould retain its power marginally,coming down in strength and theCongress gaining one seat. Theonly exception was Delhi whereAAP scored a formidable victorymostly at the cost of the Congressand upset the smooth ride of the BJPto power. In Mizoram the rulingCongress did not have any electoralopponent worth reckoning to removeit from the seat.

The think-tanks of bourgeoiselections picked up a few threadsfrom these results which, theyapprehended, might have a bearingin the coming Lok Sabha elections.First of all, neither the Congress northe BJP seems poised to getmajority. Secondly, there has notbeen any noticeable effect of the socalled Modi storm or magic. TheBJP managed to scrape through inChhattisgarh and failed to captureDelhi. MP has been its strongholdfor the last two decades as theCongress could not pose anyformidable challenge to it even fromparliamentarian point of view.Rather the Congress leaders therefollowed the same policy of peddlingHindu religious fanaticism andreligiosity and casteism to practicevote-bank politics. Rajasthan whichwent to the Congress last timebecause of internal squabbles insidethe BJP reaching dizzy height, very

usual when any bourgeois partystays in power for a long time,returned to the BJP. Rajasthan beinga neighbouring state of Delhi, theimpact of Congress misrule at theCentre as well as the issue ofcorruption, may have affected it. Ofcourse, behind the screen usualfactional feuds and conflicts overleadership in these bourgeois partiesremain to act as an additionalfactor. Summing up, however, it isnow apparent that people arebecoming critical and restive notjust of the Congress; credibility ofthe BJP with people at large is alsoat stake.

The ruling monopolists alsoseem to be in two minds. It isnoteworthy that once Modi couldnot ‘deliver’ what was expected ofhim and once it was apparent thatpeople still considered him to be acommunal leader having presidedover a communal killing,notwithstanding his frantic bid toswitch from Hindutva todevelopment, there is a renewedeffort to bring Rahul Gandhi to theforefront. Immediately after theelection setback, with a derailingspeed the Congress pushed throughthe Lokpal bill which it had withheldfor long from sheer reluctance; themotive could not be lost by anysensible person: try to put up amock-show that the party is nowtaking up cudgels against corruptionwith leadership passing on to Rahuland his young brigade. Then againthe Congress leadership whichhitherto was showing a typicallymodest, even appeasing attitudetowards the US imperialist rulers,suddenly showed belligerencetowards the US rulers over thediplomat Debyani episode to pretendhow infuriated it is at such an‘affront’ to the nation. However, thevery next moment it tried to assurethe corporate houses andmonopolists of both the countriesthat all such blusteringnotwithstanding, the cordial businessrelation would never be disturbed.The image building effort wasfurther evident in the suddeneagerness of the Congress tointroduce a Communal Violence Bill.The meeting of Rahul with FICCI,the leading organization of theindustrial; houses, was also asignificant effort for a patchworkwith the monopolists to win backtheir confidence and patronization.

Delhi results—a little off thetrack

But what came about in Delhimight not have been as expected bybourgeois election pundits, even theAAP leaders themselves. The AAP,as a third force between the

Congress and the BJP, has made itsdebut as the second largest party inthat city-state in this election,relegating the ruling Congress to amiserable third position. The BJPcould remain slightly ahead of theAAP. Delhi is not beyond India andthe nearly two decade longCongress rule there could only bringabout the same miseries forcommon people as to be foundanywhere in the country. Earlierpeople of Delhi had alsoexperienced misrule of the BJP.Notwithstanding the fact that boththe Congress and the BJP,respectively as the party with thegovernmental power and that incharge of the civic authority,sought credit for turning thecountry’s capital city into a modernmetropolis of international standardwith wide roads, so many fly-overs,under-passes, beautified parks,sparkling street lights, plushbungalows and posh hotels-restaurants. While these were allhighlighted as ‘spectaculardevelopment’, the reality for thepoor slum-dwellers, small tradersand other sections of toiling masseswho constituted majority in thepopulation was quite different.Ruthless eviction in the name ofdevelopment and modernization hasaffected not just poor, but even smalltraders and businessmen.Exasperated with rise in corruptionand criminal silence and negligenceof the governments to combat it,Delhi people like people elsewherein the country, have been driven tothe limit. Thus when Anna Hazarehad given the call for a mass protestagainst corruption and when thegovernments and their policeresponded with their customaryarrogance and coercion, peopleroared out on streets. Then again,mounting grievance against appallinginsecurity, sexual assault andmolestation of women burst forth inthe form of a massive and militantspontaneous movement after thegruelling gang rape and death ofNirbhaya Damini, a 23-year oldpara-medical student. Resentmentran high not only among the poor,but even a part of the affluentsection of the society who foundthings going beyond limit. It wasapparent that Delhi people werecraving for a change, not just of theincumbent Congress but, if possible,of the BJP also. This vacant slotwas filled up by the newly formedAAP led by Arvind Kejriwal whobecame a known face because ofhis association with Anna Hazaremovement. The bourgeois mediaalso realized that it was advisable togive some publicity to the AAP as

PROLETARIAN ERA JANUARY 1, 2014 PAGE THREE

Corruption cannot be removed nor can other aberrationsbe wiped out keeping capitalist system intact

Contd. from page 2crusader against corruption,proclaiming to ‘reform the polity bydusting out the accumulated dirt’, butnot questioning the capitalist systemitself. By instinct the rulingbourgeoisie recognizes who is itsclass enemy and who is not. Theywitnessed the historic ParliamentMarch on 14 March 2012 organizedby our Party, the SUCI(C)committed to develop powerfulsustained class and mass strugglesbased on higher proletarian cultureand morality with a clear basepolitical line of anti-capitalist socialistrevolution. They were also aware ofthe growing acceptance of the Partynot only in the country but in Delhias well. So, the ruling class wascautious and careful enough toensure that this alternative genuinerevolutionary politics of SUCI(C), asagainst the overwhelmingprominence of nasty bourgeois vote-politics which also included theself-declared media-propelled‘official’ lefts could not, by anychance, come to the fore and guidepeople’s outrage to crystallize alongthe right track. The class left nostone unturned to blackout the newsof the various movements led by theSUCI(C) on the distinctly differentculture-based political line as againstthe prevailing deluge of mostunscrupulous opportunistic powerpolitics smacking of personalattacks, mud-slinging, characterassassination, factional feuds andself-aggrandizement as the mainplanks. Hence, the bourgeois classgot busy with the lookout for forceswhich with radical slogans couldmake some ripples and thereby act,even for the time being, as a counterto spread of revolutionary politicsand thereby could help shielding themurky face of stinking capitalism.

The AAP phenomenonThis perspective and class need

of the ruling bourgeoisie to keeprevolution at bay ought to be takeninto account while judging theoutcome of the Delhi election. TheAam Aadmi Party emerged insequel of the people’s movements inthe immediate past, particularly theAnna Hazare movement. It rosephoenix-like from the ground wherenot only corruption, arrogance,indifference, even criminal defilingapproach towards poor commonpeople thrived, but also wherepeople were turning resolute toprotest and demand justice. Thus,the AAP caught the imagination ofpeople as it raised some of thepopular demands and called for achange. At the same time

notwithstanding its loudproclamations against corruption andvarious people’s demands, itbasically remains within theprecincts of bourgeois vote politicswhich itself has become polluted andalienated from the basic postulatesof bourgeois democracy enunciatedby its founding fathers. As mediareports go, the AAP in addition towinning support of a large section ofpoor and middle class, even theupper, more affluent, part of thelatter, had the backing of a numberof NGOs flushed with funds, and itbanked on hi-tech propagandamachine to spread out its messagewhich, even a layman understands,entails a sizeable cost.

The next point to consider is theway the AAP is being eulogized as“eye-opener for India’s politicalclass” or “the agenda-setter for thepolitics” as it is claiming to cleansethe system by wiping out theaccumulated dust of corruption, andpromising certain drastic reliefs likehefty cut in power tariff, availabilityof 700 litres of potable water,opening of 500 new schools and soforth. These are all welcome. Butthe moot question is how and inpursuit of which concrete policycould all such be achieved? So far,AAP has not announced any policydirective. It has not clearly spelt outif it is against capitalist globalizationand its prescript of liberalization-privatization which is wreakinghavoc in people’s life. How couldrates of water and electricity bereduced without reversing thepolicies of privatization—commercialization and how couldcorruption be wiped out in acapitalist system? It is not thatcorruption is just accumulated dirton otherwise shining capitalism andonce it is dusted out with broom,everything would be hunky dory.Corruption, as well as all othermalaises and aberrations, is bred bycapitalism. Without fighting decadentmoribund capitalist system anddirecting the main blow against allits noxious policies and prescriptions,how can the society and polity befreed from all the evils?

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwalmaintains that the AAP cannot“provide good governance in thepresent system” as “the system willsoon overpower” them. So, it “willhave to change the systemcompletely” by a swaraj (freedom).And how this swaraj would bebrought about? According to AAP,by promulgating laws, andimplementing those with the help ofa decentralized system which “itselfwill then filter out the wrong kind of

people”. All these apparently well-meaning words, however, concealthe facts that India is a capitaliststate, in which there have beenmany laws during these years ofindependence. Yet theirimplementation has been totallyjeopardized by the corrupt nexus ofevery cog and screw in the corridorof power of the capitalist system.The system does filter no doubt, butonly those who, the system ownersand managers think are harbingersof true change and hence “wrong”.So there is every possibility that thiswishful thinking of the AAP supremomight end in some abortive attemptsand in that event, halo createdbefore people might fade out anddrag people into frustration in theend. Then again, in a class-dividedsociety like ours, no party can besupra-class. It either belongs to thegroup of parties subserving classinterest of the ruling capitalists orrepresents the class interest of therevolutionary proletariat. Even theliberal democrats, in the ultimateanalysis, serve bourgeois classinterest. This is the objective truth.There is no scope left for reformingthis outmoded capitalist system bychanging law. This system can onlybe changed completely at the strokeof revolution by overthrowingcapitalism. And this revolution canbe led only by a genuinerevolutionary party guided by correctrevolutionary ideology, not by anybourgeois party howsoever eager itmight be.

Yet, as we said before the lastassembly elections in West Bengal,a government even in this bourgeoisset up can give some relief to thepeople — only IF it so desires — byrunning the government with duehonesty, contain corruption to someextent in certain areas, restrain thepolice a bit from taking bribes, bringsome relative neutrality into thepolice-administration, containpolitical violence, put a rein onextortion and forced collection oflevy and abate to the extent possiblethe reign of hoodlums and allowpeople to protest against injustice bywithdrawing all fetters on growthand development of legitimatedemocratic movements. The bigquestion is the “IF”. It applies to theAAP also.

Certain contradictions withinAAP

Certain contradictions betweenwhat the AAP professes and what itpractises are apparent in the courseof events. At the time of formationof the AAP, Arvind Kejriwal hadannounced that it would not join

politics. Then, he reversed his standand fought election. Next, when theopportunity came to AAP forgovernment formation, it firstshowed reluctance. But finally in astunning move to pose howdemocratic it was, it announced thatit would seek people’s opinion aboutgovernment formation through SMSand other IT-enabled modes, as ifthe mandate received in electionwas not enough. It may be pertinentto recall that just the other day, ShriKejriwal described both theCongress and the BJP as partieswith “corrupt and similarideologies.” But, finally ShriKejriwal, whom the media describeas “a person of principles” submittedthat “there was nothing unethical” inthe AAP forming the government,even a minority one, based on thesupport from the Congress. Thenagain, as in the case of otherbourgeois parties, squabble forpower started right from the momentthe AAP set for distributing cabinetposts. Even upset over not getting acabinet berth, a prominent leaderissued threats of “big expose”,though soon afterwards a patch-upmove ensued to silence him. With allthese manifestations, the ruling classdoes not seem to have that difficultyin accepting the AAP as anotheroutfit worth being experimented tokeep people arrested within thenarrow confines of bourgeois votepolitics. It may be added that in thepast also spectacular electoralvictories of certain parties or forcesupsetting all pre-poll calculations didcause some flutter at the outset butwith passage of time, things provedto be no different for the peoplepressed under the grinding wheels ofruthless capitalist oppression. It wasbecause the government changed,the system did not. Butnotwithstanding all this, the pollvictory of the AAP once againproves that people’s opinionexpressed through determinedefforts on streets in the form ofmass movements matters a lot inplaying spoilsport to the designs ofthe ruling class.

Contradiction betweenmonopolists and regionalcapitalists

There is another political pointwhich cannot be overlooked. Thecapitalist state of India as aninalienable part of the acutely crisis-ridden world capitalist-imperialistsystem, suffers from inherentcontradictions. To avert the intensemarket crisis it tends towardscentralization and consolidation of

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PAGE FOUR JANUARY 1, 2014 PROLETARIAN ERA

“STOP THE WARCOALITION”, a London-basedanti-imperialist anti-war organizationorganized an internationalconference on 30 November, 2013.Theme of the conference was “Noto War”. Held in Central London,the conference was attended byover 500 participants from variouscountries. Invited to attend andspeak in the conference, ComradeManik Mukherjee, GeneralSecretary, International Anti-imperialist Coordinating Committee(IACC) and Member, Polit Bureau,SUCI(C), in his address said, interalia, that the world is passingthrough a very critical phase inhuman history. In the name ofglobalization, the ruling capitalistclass has brought down most viciousand murderous attack on theworking masses ferocity of whichcan be gauged by the everdeteriorating living condition of theworking people. On the other hand,“fighting terrorism” and championing“democracy” have become the newploys of the imperialists to launchmilitary aggression on countries, toforcibly occupy them and toengineer regime changes. This is the“new world order” that theimperialists led by USA want toimpose. All these have provedbeyond doubt the truth of Lenin’sthesis that it is imperialism thatbegets war. The hollowness of thebourgeois propaganda that with thedismantling of the socialist camp thedanger of war and the threat toworld peace have disappearedstands exposed by the wars wagedby the imperialist powers since1990. The sway of revisionistleadership sapped the strength of theSoviet Union from within; this, alongwith external US instigation,ultimately led to counter-revolutionand restoration of capitalism inRussia and East Europeancountries. Most of the bigestablished social democratic partiesof different countries, instead ofspiritedly and uncompromisinglyfighting against the imperialist

policies, succumbed to the imperialistmanoeuvres and started talking interms of globalization. But even inthe unipolar world the inherentcontradiction in the capitalist systemis causing the capitalist-imperialisteconomy to sink into everintensifying crisis, the competitionbetween the imperialist powers forshares in the shrinking world marketis becoming fiercer. The hegemonicaspiration and the urge of each ofthe imperialist powers particularlyUS to expand their spheres ofinfluence are making the world anunsafe place. Instigating onecountry against another, or onesection of people against another,provoking and fostering tensionbetween nations, and betweencommunities, creating war-likesituations and engineering local warsare constant features of imperialistmachinations across the world today.This is glaringly manifested in thesavage military attack onYugoslavia, Lebanon, Afghanistan,Iraq and Libya, and in the continuouseconomic sanctions and threat ofmilitary action against Iran, Syria,Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Cuba, Sudan, and countriesin Latin America. In these wars,barbarity of US imperialism ismanifested by the use of the mostdestructive fire power, use ofdepleted uranium bombs, unleashingvicious drone attacks, indiscriminatekilling of civilians, and extensive useof torture.

Anticipating that followingdismantling mighty socialist campled by Soviet Union due torevisionist conspiracy, the worldimperialist powers headed by the USimperialists would, undeterred in aunipolar world, step up theiroverlordism and brigandage, banditryand intrigues as well as perpetratewars of aggression and occupationmanifold. our Party, SUCI (C), feltthe imperative necessity to build upbroad-based People’s Frontsinclusive of all progressive,democratic minded anti-imperialistpeople irrespective of their political

opinions against war and imperialismand with the communists working asthe core as the effective tool tocheck imperialist attacks. We wereof the view that if such movementsin different countries could beproperly coordinated and integrated,a powerful global anti-imperialistmilitant peace movement could bereleased to effectively fight againstimperialist war manoeuvres andmachinations. Accordingly weapproached all the parties we hadbeen in touch with includingCommunist Party of Belgium to takelead in this matter. But CPBexpressed their inability. So, it wasincumbent on us to take initiative inthis regard in consultation with someother fraternal parties, anti-imperialist organizations and forces.Following that a successfulInternational Anti-ImperialistConference was held in Kolkata 28and 29 November 2007amidst greatenthusiasm and determinationwherein was born the IACC withRamsey Clark, President,International Action Center, FormerAttorney General of the UnitedStates and a noted Human RightActivist as the president. Since then,IACC, through its relentless efforts

Resist imperialist wars, organize militant peace movements— Comrade Manik Mukherjee at the “No to War” conference in London

and activities to discharge itsresponsibilities it took upon itself, hasemerged as the most trusted anddependable organization in steeringand coordinating anti-imperialiststruggles round the globe. IACCorganized two more conferences inBeirut and Dhaka to expand andconsolidate its activities. It isplanning a fourth conference shortlyat a suitable venue. The IACCmakes a fervent appeal to all anti-imperialist people and forces toorganize militant movements againstimperialist manoeuvres andconspiracies and to crafteffective methods to coordinatethese movements to release aglobal anti-imperialist movementwhich will have a deterrent effecton the imperialists’ designs foraggression.

The Organizers of the “No toWar” endorsed the view of IACCand showed interest to join thestruggle. Comrade Manik Mukherjeehad a very fruitful meeting with theorganizers on the following day, i.e. 1December exchanged views andopinions and discussed how theycould help in intensifying the globalanti-imperialist anti-war militantpeace movement of IACC.

Misusing information technology to cater to orders of fakecharacter assassination and such other cyber-crimes

Recently, The Times of India,(Nov. 29, 2013) carried a report,titled: “For right price, they wreakhavoc via social media”, and “CyberSupari: Pay an Online Fixer,Demolish a Reputation”. The reportdescribed how Cobrapost carriedout a sting operation, code-namedBlue Virus, which revealed thatabout two dozen IT companies werewilling to do any kind of dirty or

criminal job for a price ranging froma few lakhs to a couple of crores ofrupees. For example, they wereready to launch an effective imageboosting exercise for a tainted neta(political leader) and run a smearcampaign to destroy his rival’sreputation by playing the socialmedia. These shady operatorsproposed, for example, that theywould create fake Facebook pages

with huge number of ‘likes’ alongwith a fan following on Twitter yetblock any negative comments, andthey would make promotional videoswould go viral on YouTube and sendbulk SMSs and emails. On the otherhand, to malign his rival they wouldcreate fake videos showing him in acompromising position and makethese go viral; post negativeinformation on his website and bring

it down days before the polls.The sting operation even found

them willing to demolish reputationswith wild accusations includingcomplicity in murder. Nor wouldthey hesitate to trigger riots and helprig elections. The latter goes by thename “booth management”:providing software that spliceselectorate demographic data with

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PROLETARIAN ERA JANUARY 1, 2014 PAGE FIVE

Countrywide pledge to intensify movement to protect dignity of womenAIDSO, AIDYO and AIMSS decided to observe 16 December, the day Nirbhaya Damini, a 23-year old girl student, was savagely gang-raped

and tortured in a speeding bus in Delhi and 29 December, the day she succumbed to death as two days worth remembering in the annals of themovement for protection of women. Accordingly, there were countrywide programmes and stay-in demonstrations on 16 December which arousedhope among the countrymen gravely concerned at the rising crime including sexual crime on women. Eminent personalities along with a large numberof common people participated in these programmes. [More photographs on page 8]

PAGE SIX JANUARY 1, 2014 PROLETARIAN ERA

Ruling bourgeois creates parliamentaryillusion to keep people confined to vote-politics

Contd. from page 3

monopoly capital. But for historicalreasons, in the Indian capitalist state,regional capital plays a significantrole and the more there is theattempt to concentrate andconsolidate, more intensifiedbecomes the conflict between themonopolists and the regionalbourgeoisie. This contradiction ismanifest in the emergence and fairlygood grip of the regional politicaloutfits, namely the regional parties,in various states. However, to sharepower they often align with eitherCongress or BJP at the centre or instates. Like the Congress or the BJP,they have only one point agenda—how to be in power or enjoyprivileges of various kinds by beingin the corridors of power. It ispertinent to mention that of late,people find that under theopportunist slogan of “In politics,there is no permanent friend or foe”,all vote-based parties keep doorsopen for any kind of opportunistalliance with anyone and for playingpressure politics.

Presently, in a situation wherenone of the two major bourgeoisparties is showing any prospecttowards gaining absolute majority inthe forthcoming Lok Sabhaelections, the regional parties keento fish in the troubled water andflaunting their strength (read,number of MPs and MLAs theyhad) in the respective states, are

also floating the names of theirrespective party supremos as primeministerial candidate. SP is talking ofMulayam, TMC of Mamata,AIADMK of Jayalalitha. But, noone is showing its card. In the post-five state assembly elections, thisvery feature is more prominent witheveryone working out its stratagemto scavenge one’s booty. And in thisnasty power politics of deceptionand manipulation, the pseudo-Marxists are also formidablepartners. Parties like the CPI (M)and the CPI are aware that unlessthey tie knot with this or that party,either at national or at regional level,they have no chance to get seats.So, they have been patientlywaiting and frantically trying to woothis or that party for an electoralalliance on any term and at anycost. Whether the AAP will tag upwith any of these regionalcombinations, if formed or formalliance with any of the twomajor parties or remain alone, is yetto be seen. But one thing is sure; allthese opportunistic electoralalliances have nothing to do withpeople’s interest.

Lessons to be drawnTime has come for people to

imbibe the truth that this votepolitics, regime change, surfeit ofpre-poll promises and post-pollassurances would not give them aniota of relief. Even people have

seen that by anointing state-basedregional parties, there has been nolessening of their suffering.Corruption, malpractices, misuse ofpower, mafiadom, muscle-flexing,price rise, unemployment, atrocitieson women—everything continue asbefore. Before elections, mediahardly gives primacy to any ofthese people’s issues, problems ordemands. They make it their soleaim to make people think only whoshould form the government andwhether in the arena of vote-politics‘A’ is to be preferred over ‘B’ or anewly emerging ‘C’ should begiven a chance. The bourgeoispoliticians and the bourgeois medialeave no stone unturned to remindpeople of their ‘sacred’ right tovote and responsibility to help formgovernments through elections.But, is it the only right people needto enjoy and the only responsibilityto discharge? Is it that electing onegovernment at regular periodicityand allowing a bunch of self-seekers to feast on people’s miseryand destitution are the onlydemocratic rights people have to beaware of? What about their otherrights, right to food, clothing, shelter,work and above all, right to live?Are these no ‘sacred’ rights? Orisn’t it a fact that, by thus harpingon the sacredness of the right tovote, leaving aside everything else,the ruling class actually wants topromote and sustain the

parliamentary illusion and keeppeople confined within the vortexof this illusion and the system ofvote-politics.

Thus even when elections areon the anvil and people reallydesire for a minimum changethrough that, it is imperative thatthey also realize the importance ofthe democratic mass movement onone and every burning problems ofpeople’s life and livelihood. Theyneed to choose and support triedand tested soldiers of those massmovements fighting on the edificeof higher and nobler ideology-culture and ethics of the day, torepresent them in the legislativebodies. Only this is the guaranteethat when the power-mongers, self-seekers would teem in thelegislature, make mockery of theproceedings and reduce governanceto a farce, these realrepresentatives of the people, evenfew in number, yet selfless andcommitted to the cause of thepeople, could pose serious challengeto this got- up game of governanceand opposition, reverberate people’svoice inside the legislative bodiesand thus, side by side with andbacked by the surging extra-parliamentary democraticmovements, work as an effectivecheck to the caricature ofgovernance, stall some anti-peoplepolicies and wrest some relief forthe people.

addresses and contact details to helpthe Neta identify particular roads orlocalities where a certain section ofvoters are to be prevented fromvoting: they would “create the rightatmosphere” to force them to stayindoors, for example by spreading amalicious rumour or detonating acrude bomb. Cobrapost was toldthat with this method a local netahad been able to win the elections.

Such heinous misuse of socialmedia was reportedly responsiblealso for the sudden exodus last yearof Northeastern people fromBangalore and Hyderabad after aSMS scare-creating rumour wentviral, the origin of which could notbe traced. And another instance ofsocial media abuse leading tocommunal tension is the recentMuzaffarnagar riot.

Professionals told Cobrapost oncamera how they cover tracks usingoffshore IP addresses or servers toupload content, for example. They

also use proxy codes, or simply hackothers’ computers. They often useassembled laptops and disabletracking devices. Job done, themachines are destroyed. Thesetricks leave no tell-tale signs. Theprice for such “online fixing” startsat Rs. 10 lakhs and goes up to Rs.3.5 crore, depending on the durationand intensity. Smear campaigns aremore expensive. And the clientsthese companies serve are notconfined to politicians, but includecorporate houses, taintedgovernment officials or NGOs.

What could be more abominablethan such criminal use of socialmedia! And such a sting operationspeaks volumes about how deeplyentrenched have crime andcorruption become in our social andpolitical life to stoop to such depth!And this is what capitalism isproducing today! Yet not so long ago,the advent of technologicalrevolution was hailed as a panaceafor all the ills of capitalism. Not to

speak of helping to resolve themarket crisis of moribund capitalism,the root of all evils, has thetechnological revolution at leasthelped to ease and sweeten labourand beautify social life? The factthat ever longer working hours withgrueling work load have become thenorm for those lucky enough to geta job, speaks for itself. And whatbeautifying effect has it on sociallife? Leave alone the aberration ofabove online ‘fixers’, the moral andcultural degeneration today in ourcountry has come to such a passthat even social activists known fortheir upright character are beingdefamed and hounded in a mostirresponsible way at the instigationof anyone and everyone — nomatter how ludicrous the accusation— by a sensation seeking media!The tragic example of NGO activistKhurshid Anwar who committedsuicide after a sensationalized mediatrial over a false accusation of rapefor having given shelter to a drunkand vomiting colleague, is still freshin memory.

We are aware how the war-monger imperialists, instead ofutilizing technology for welfare ofmankind are engaged in using it inreinforcing their deadly warmachination and arsenal. Theimperialist-capitalist rulers are nowdrawing upon the latest iconoclasticadvancements in InformationTechnology to spy on othercountries, launch unmanned droneattacks on select targets in others’territories and even being privy tothe personal lives of people withsinister motives. Now, the vista ofabusing IT is widened to includeorder-driven character assassinationas well as character creation withfake data and doctored inputs. Thisis how outdated reactionarycapitalism and its protectors anddefenders are ensuring thattechnology, instead of helpinghuman beings to reduce rigour ofphysical labour and use the time sofreed for creative mental labour ismisused for ulterior purposesglaringly inimical to people’sinterest.

Misusing information technologyContd. from page 6

PROLETARIAN ERA JANUARY 1, 2014 PAGE SEVEN

Red Salute Comrade Sankar Roy ChowdhuryComrade Sankar Roy

Chowdhury, Member, West BengalState Committee and formerSecretary, Howrah DistrictCommittee, SUCI(C), passed awayon 27th December at the age of 81.He was suffering from cancer andother incurable diseases for a longtime. He came in contact with theParty way back in 1950 andworked as an organizer of SUCI(Student Bureau). Later, inspired bythe illumining thoughts of ComradeShibdas Ghosh, he engaged himselfin building Party organization inBelur and adjacent areas ofHowrah district. In 1957, whenmany of our Party activists andleaders were framed in a false caseand arrested, and many othercomrades had to go undergroundbecause of severe police atrocitieslet loose at the behest of the then

Congress leaders, Comrade RoyChowdhury took upon himself theresponsibility of building up Partyorganization there and beganrecruiting new workers withpainstaking efforts. He also raisedfunds from the public to fight thefabricated cases slapped on theParty leaders-activists andsucceeded to get them acquitted. Atthe directive of Comrade NiharMukherjee, our beloved departedGeneral Secretary, he organized asustained movement in demand forbuilding up colony homes for thedisplaced persons in Danesh Sheikhlane area and wrested that demand.From then onwards, he beganshouldering the responsibility ofHowrah District Secretary and wasalso elected commissioner toHowrah Municipality by winningcivic election by thumping margin in

1969. He was also a leadingorganizer of AIUTUC in theindustrial belt of Howrah districtand was in the forefront of all massmovements. His simple lifestyle,unassuming nature and amiablebehaviour attracted and inspired all.A voracious reader, his interestranged from political philosophy toart-literature and he inspired theParty comrades in conductingrelentless ideological struggle.While sharing his vast and longexperience of political struggle, healways open to listen to opinionsand views of others includingjuniors and valued them if thosehad merit.

When his mortal remains werebrought to the party’s Central officein Kolkata, Comrade ProvashGhosh, General Secretary, andComrades Manik Mukherjee and

Ranjit Dhar, Polit bureau members,Comrade Debaprosad Sarkar,Office Secretary, CentralCommittee, and other State levelleaders and leaders of class andmass fronts paid floral tribute tothis veteran leader of the Party. Hisbody was then taken to HowrahDistrict Office and finally consignedto flames at a local crematorium.

They leave their shanties or hutseven before daybreak and commutefrom the distant suburbs to the citiesto toil and labour as domestic- helpsin a number of houses almostthroughout the day as they haveseveral mouths to feed. They attendto thousands of families, feedingbabies, tending to the aged, cooking,washing clothes or cleaning utensils.Many of them do not get time evento eat something to keep themselvesfit to carry out all the heavy workwork. After the day’s toil, theyreturn home, where there are thedaily chores of their own householdto be done. Their babies are asleepwhen they leave home and have tofend for themselves with theirmothers away from home- toilingfrom dawn to dusk. Thus round theclock, day in and day out this is theroutine they have to stick to like amachine overlooking all personaldiscomfort, failing health,malnutrition and much neededleisure time. Some of them arehousewives with either ailing orunemployed husbands, some arewidows, some deserted by theirhusbands and made to fend forthemselves and their kids. Their lotis to work to exhaustion, facemisbehaviour and sometimes evensexual harassment and more oftenthan not perform chores other thantheir allotted tasks. Back home,many of them are often ill-treated;their drunken husbands not onlysnatch the pittance they manage toearn but even physically assaultthem to flaunt patriarchal

domination. These hapless women-belonging to the lowest rung, botheconomically and socially and worstaffected by abject poverty,destitution and above all, indignity -are looked down upon as ‘maids’constituting a sizable section ofunorganized labour withoutrecognition. It is no exaggerationthat after the prostitutes, thesedomestic workers are the mostpersecuted segment of theoppressed women in the rottencapitalist society we are living in—adecrepit society which has nothingto offer other than misery, penury,deprivation, ignominy and inhumansuffering. Yet how many of us spareeven a thought about them! Ifsometimes their plight drives them toprotest and raise demands – theyonly receive retorts, harassment,insult and misbehavior, evenmaltreatment from the authorities.As if, they are born only to serve,endure and be tortured.

This is the scenario of WestBengal, the state once entire Indiaused to look up to for drawinginspiration to rise against injusticeand fight for legitimate rights. Overall these long years, neither theCongress in its over two decades ofrule since independence nor thosecalling themselves as “leftists-Marxists” and privileged to run thestate government for 34 long yearsdid ever care to look at the theseoppressed section of women. But,those engaged in developing uppeoples’ movement conducive to therevolutionary transformation of the

prevailing capitalist society havetaken up the cause of these toilingwomen in right earnest. In order tomake these women aware of theirrights and embrace path oforganized struggle to wrest their justdemands and earn the honour anddignity they deserve for theinvaluable service they render, ourParty took initiative to form SaraBangla Poricharika Samity (AllBengal Association of DomesticWorkers) through painstaking effortsand launch movements on theburning problems of the life of thedomestic workers throughout thestate. The Association has alreadyattained a membership strength of16,000 plus and is continuing togrow braving all odds, threats andintimidations. Among the maindemands raised by the Samity arerecognition of the domestic workersbelonging to the unorganized sector,grant of one weekly leave, fixedsalary, availability of which all othersocial security unorganized sectorworkers are entitled to, free

education to their children under theaegis of the government etc. One ofthe significant demands the Samityachieved was issue of aconcessional “Izzat” monthly ticketfor commuting in local trains. Oflate, when the authorities on flimsypretext decided to make theprocedure for obtaining this monthlyticket extremely cumbersome somuch so as to virtually denying thishard-earned facility to the deservedand the ruling TMC governmentshowed no interest to intervene, theSamity unleashed a massivestatewide movement includingsuccessful train blockade atvarious stations to press their justdemand for restoration of the facilitywithout attaching a sting of hassle.Thus a new awakening has dawnedupon the domestic- helps of West-Bengal who through their Samityare waging a resolute battle toearn their legitimate rights, honourand dignity which the society owesto them but is yet to accord tothem.

Spurt in the Legitimate Movement ofDomestic Helps in West Bengal

Kshudiram Birth Anniversary observedin Maharashtra

124th birth anniversary ofKshudiram Bose, the legendaryrevolutionary belonging to theuncompromising trend of Indianfreedom movement, was observedwith due solemnity at aprogramme organized by localAIDYO unit on 3 Decemberlast at Anji village of Wardha

district in Maharashtra. ComradeBiswajit Harade was the mainspeaker. On the same day, anothersimilar programme was held atBhusa village adjacent to Yavatmaltown with Comrade PramodeKamble as the main speaker.Comrade Sangeet Bari presidedover.

RNI No. 13932/67P. R. No. KOL / RMS / /145 / 2013-2015

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF : PROVASH GHOSHEdited & Published by Asit Bhattacharyya from 48 Lenin Sarani, Kolkata 700 013 and printed by him at Ganadabi Printers and Publishers Private Limited,52B, Indian Mirror Street, Kolkata 700013. Phone : 2249-1828, 2265-3234 E-mail : suci_cc@vsnl.net, proletarianera@gmail.com, Website : www.suci-c.in

Generously Donate to the Fund forReconstruction of Central Party Office

Construction is on of the new central office building on thesite of the previous office of the SUCI(C), the party voicingprotest against all kinds of injustice and relentlessly engagedin developing legitimate democratic movements on the burningdemands of people’s life. The old office building virtuallyreached a dilapidated stage making it difficult for carrying outthe vastly increased multifarious day to day activities. Even thespace posed a big constraint. In view of this, the leaders,activists and supporters-sympathizers of the Party cuttingacross the states sincerely wanted that new building beconstructed by demolishing the old ramshackle structure.Accordingly, the Central Committee of the Party took thedecision to build a new Party office in place of the old one.

The initial expenditure towards buying the old buildingpremises and completing the primary work of erecting a newbuilding was met mainly from the contributions made by theleaders-cadres-supporters-sympathizers. More funds arerequired for completing the pending work. So, we ferventlyappeal to the people at large for generously contributing to thisBuilding Fund. Our workers would reach out to you at yourhomes or on the streets with this appeal.

We strongly believe that the people would come forwardand generously donate to this Fund for new buildingconstruction the way that they had in all previous occasions tomake all the programmes of the Party successful.

With greetingsDebaprosad Sarkar

Office Secretary, Central Committee48, Lenin Sarani, Kolkata-700013 S U C I (C)Ph:- 033-22491828, +919433084194

Cheque should be drawn in favour of: :SOCIALIST UNITY CENTRE OF INDIA (COMMUNIST)

“There are a lot of problems in today’s China, and the way tosolve them is with Mao Zedong Thought,” said Chen Yaoyao, a manin his forties who wore a bright red jacket.

“I hope we can realise true communism in China.”Thousands of admirers of Communist China’s founder Mao

Zedong flocked to his home town to bow before his graven image —including one statue of solid gold — before his 120th birthanniversary.

“He is a great leader who sacrificed his interests so we could beliberated,” said retired teacher Fu Mengnan, after prostratingherself on the ground in front of a giant bronze statue of the leader.

“I have an image of Chairman Mao at home, and bow in frontof it every morning and evening,” the 56-year-old added. “I thinkhe is a Buddha, and I am wishing him happy birthday to show thatI’ll never forget him.”

But for some, even the gleaming metal memorial failed to dojustice to the leader once referred to as the “Great Helmsman”.

“In our hearts, Chairman Mao is worth even more than gold,”said Li Tianxing, a 22-year-old hotel worker who travelled from aneighbouring province to catch a glimpse of the statue.

Asked in a survey, “Do you agree that Mao Zedong’sachievements outweigh his mistakes?” 78.3 per cent of respondentsin the Global Times survey said they agreed, 6.8 per cent stronglyagreed and only 11.7 per cent disagreed. About three per cent saidthey did not know.

Nearly 90 percent of those surveyed said that Mao’s “greatestmerit” was “founding an independent nation through revolution”.

The Party under President Xi Jinping finds itself caught in themiddle, the economist Mao Yushi told The Hindu in an interview.“Today,” he said, “the party is facing many contradictions. MaoZedong’s path and the CPC’s path are different. Mao Zedongbelieved in the need to establish an equal society. Now we have anunequal society. Mao believed in Communism. Today, the partyfollows Capitalism. So there is a contradiction.”

(Quoted from AFP and The Hindu dated 30-12-13)

Comrade Chhaya Mukherjee, President, AIMSS and Member, CentralCommittee, SUCI (C) leading the rally at Lucknow on 16 December, 2013 A part of the 16 December, 2013 rally at Rewari, Haryana

Comrade Krishna Chakraborty, Polit Bureau member, SUCI(C) addressing the protest demonstration against rising atrocities on womenat Jantar Mantar, Delhi, on 30 December 2013

In China that turned capitalist through counter-revolution triggered by revisionist capitalist-

roaders, people want Mao Zedong Thought toguide them in solving problems of life