Thursday, September 25, 2008

Late rebel leader to get monument in Venezuela


CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A monument to the late Colombian rebel leader Manuel Marulanda, who died in March at age 78, is going up in a poor Caracas neighborhood.
Members of a leftist group announced plans Wednesday to place a bust of the founding leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in a plaza that is still under construction.
Marulanda, nicknamed "Sureshot," led the FARC for more than four decades and was considered an arch-terrorist by the Colombian government. At the time of his death by apparent heart attack, he was wanted by Colombia's chief prosecutor in more than 100 cases on charges including rebellion, kidnapping and homicide.
In Bogota, Colombian armed forces chief Gen. Freddy Padilla criticized the monument to Marulanda, calling him "a terrorist who murdered, blackmailed, trafficked drugs and led a series of activities that for more than 50 years have caused suffering, terror and misery for Colombians."
The effort to erect the monument is being led by the Venezuelan chapter of a group known as the Continental Bolivarian Coordinator, which says it supports the aims of the FARC, including overthrowing Colombia's government.
Members of the group have promoted the FARC continentwide, according to documents the Colombian government says it found in March in the computer of a slain rebel commander. Colombian officials accuse it of being a rebel tool for gaining international support.
Group member Frank Leon said the monument is an independent effort by Venezuelans to honor Marulanda, and that neither President Hugo Chavez's government nor the FARC were involved. The project was approved by the neighborhood council in the pro-Chavez 23 de Enero district."Maybe it's going to stir up controversy, but that's fine with us," Leon said Wednesday in a community center next to the unfinished plaza. Leon was among group members who said they were associated with the Venezuelan Communist Party.
On the center's walls hung posters of Marulanda, slain FARC commander Raul Reyes and Basque separatist group ETA, along with a painting of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar — the inspiration of Chavez's socialist movement.
New concrete has been laid in the 23 de Enero neighborhood, where the bust is to be placed as soon as Friday. Resident Maria Gonzalez said she doesn't object to the monument because the plaza is being cleaned up.
Among those attending a news conference to announce the project were six young men wearing olive-green caps and T-shirts bearing a symbol of ETA.
"The struggle continues, and Marulanda lives on," they chanted at one point.
In Colombia, Conservative party Sen. Manuel Ramiro Velasquez called the monument "the greatest homage to international terrorism and barbarity, and the worst offense to the dignity of Colombians."
The Continental Bolivarian Coordinator says it considers armed revolutionary struggle justified in order to achieve social justice. It claims to comprise some 100 leftist organizations and have members throughout Latin America.

Mangalore: Naxals Issue Stern Warning to BJP, Sangh Parivar

Mangalore, Sep 24: The coastal area committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) has warned that it will deal with some BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders of the state on the same lines as with Vishwa Hindu Parishat leader from Orissa Lakshamananda Saraswati, if attacks on minorities continue in the state.

In a press statement, coastal area committee leader Kamala has criticized the attacks launched on churches in the state, in strong words. If the attacks are not stopped immediately, the party will initiate actions against the communal leaders like ministers Dr V S Acharya and Krishna Palemar, MLAs C T Ravi and Jeevaraj besides Bajrangdal state convener Mahendra Kumar and other leaders, the statement claimed.

She has also requested the general public, minorities and pro-democracy activists to strongly condemn the attacks being launched against the minorities in the state as also the fascist rule of the BJP government, which has been masterminding such attacks and to concertedly fight against communalism.

The attacks on Christians were organized at a time the people of the district were yet to fully recover from the shock of communal disturbances that rocked the coastal districts two years back, she has stated.

‘Maoists’ in assault

Calcutta, Sept. 24: The attack on the Tata Motors guards on Monday night may have been be the handiwork of Maoists, police sources said today.

In a statement on Saturday, the CPI (Maoist), which is not officially among Mamata Banerjee’s allies, had called for armed resistance until Tata Motors pulled out. “An armed movement in Nandigram had resisted forcible land acquisition…. The people of Singur will have to take a lesson from it,” it said.

A senior police officer in Calcutta said: “In the prevailing situation, local residents would not have the courage to scale the boundary wall and beat up security guards.”

The Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau had sent a report to the Centre a week before Mamata began her siege, saying Maoists were camping in Singur and campaigning against the project

Indian Mujahideen community banned on Orkut

New Delhi, Sep 25 (PTI) Google's social networking site Orkut today banned a community named as 'Indian Mujahideen' following the serial blasts in the national capital on September 13.
"Google strongly condemns illegal activities and those that encourage terrorism and violence. We take abuse on Orkut very seriously as such activities diminish the experience for our users," a Google spokesperson said.

In an email to media organisations, Indian Mujahideen, the terror outfit that had claimed responsibility for the July 26 Ahmedabad blasts, said it had carried out the serial blasts in Delhi.

"The communities and profiles indulging in illegal activities are a clear violation of our terms and condition. We treat requests from law enforcement agencies, coming in through the appropriate legal process, with priority in terms of reviewing them and take prompt and effective action if the content report violates our terms of service that prohibit illegal activity," the spokesperson said.

On orkut, one can find communities dedicated to education, peace, health, Tsunami relief, the environment and discussing ways to eradicate poverty. PTI

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Spanish seeking Basque in Ireland

Interpol has been asked to contact Gardai about a Basque separatist who may be living in Dublin in a house belonging to one of the Colombia Three.
Madrid Judge Eloy Velasco wants to question Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos, 52, in connection with a complaint accusing him of 'glorifying terrorism'.
The Spanish embassy said he applied for a passport giving his address as a house belonging to Jim Monaghan.
Mr Monaghan was one of three men accused of training Farc rebels.
The trio were sentenced in their absence after fleeing the South American country, to 17 years in jail for training Farc the Colombian rebel group.
Mr Chaos was sentenced to 3,000 years in prison for 25 murders in the 1980s, but was released early last month and travelled to the Irish capital.
It is understood the Spanish asked Interpol to help after he allegedly committed the offence of being a "terrorist apologist" by writing a letter read out at a public meeting expressing his support for ETA's campaign of violence

Branded a Maoist, scribe

DEHRA DUN, Sept. 23: An engineer-turned-journalist, Prashant Rahi, branded now as a Maoist, is cooling his heels in jail here on charges of having indulged in activities against the state. His daughter, an assistant film director in Mumbai and who believes he's innocent, is meanwhile waging a grim struggle to ensure he is allowed basic facilities in jail.
Rahi, a former Staff Correspondent of The Statesman, was arrested by the Haldwani police last December and has been denied bail since. The police booked him under sections 153 A and 124 A of the IPC for indulging in activities against the state and called him a Maoist, a description that both Rahi and his daughter dismiss. He has been denied bail by the court.
"We had enough evidence against Prashant which establishes not only his involvement in anti-State activities but also of being one of the masterminds," the SSP Haldwani, Mr PVK Prasad, had stated at the time of the arrest.
Police claim to have seized a laptop and Maoist literature in several languages from him. Police allege that Rahi is one of three Maoist kingpins in the state, and that his wife heads the women's wing of the outfit. "He is well-versed in English, Hindi, Marathi, Kumaoni and Garhwali languages and hence developed literature in different languages," the SSP had said.
Prosecution for treason has been launched against Rahi in the sessions court, and he has been shifted from Haldwani to Dehra Dun Jail. But Shikha Rahi, a Mumbai-based assistant film director, has come out strongly against the treatment meted out to her father. "My father had always worked for the welfare of the people and fought for their rights, " she said in conversation on phone. Ms. Rahi said he had been falsely implicated and been subjected to third-degree treatment by police.
Shikha, who is Rahi's daughter from his first marriage, has been assisting his defence. It is not only her, though, but several journalist friends who have come out in support. They raised the matter with the Uttarakhand goverment and the chief minister. However, Rahi has got no respite.
Rahi was born and brought up in Mumbai. He did his M.Tech from the Banaras Hindu University in UP and later took a job in Uttarakhand, which was then a part of UP. In 1994, he started to contribute to The Statesman. He joined the staff of the paper in 1995 and resigned in 2001. He then joined the people's movement against construction of the Tehri dam.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

contact required

Here by i am requesting blogger of ajadhind to contact me in my email address

Soldier hurt in NPA ambush in Surigao del Sur

MANILA, Philippines - An Army soldier was hurt following an ambush by suspected communist rebels Monday afternoon in the southern Philippine province of Surigao del Sur, a regional military spokesman said Tuesday.

At 3:45 p.m. Monday, operating troops form the 36th Infantry Battalion were fired upon by 10 New People's Army (NPA) rebels in Kabungsuan village in Lingig town, said Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao spokesman Maj. Armand Rico.

A 25-minute firefight then ensued which resulted to the slight wounding of an unnamed soldier, Rico added.

The operating troops then were able to detonate three claymore mines and an anti-tank mine.

"The enemy fled toward a southwest direction dragging with them their casualties," Rico said.

It could be determined how many rebels were killed or wounded in the incident. -

Manufacturing 'terrorists' the Indian way

Almost every other day, newspapers are agog with stories about 'dreaded Muslim terrorists' being nabbed across the country. At the same time, savage violence unleashed by Hindutva groups continues unabated without any effective steps being taken against them. In the ongoing 'war on terror', globally as well as within India, Muslims have come to be framed collectively as 'terrorists', while terrorism engaged in by people belonging to other communities is generally condoned or ignored altogether or, at least, is not described in the same terms.

In India today, Muslim youths are being indiscriminately picked up and tortured by the police, in many cases falsely accused of being terrorists. Many of them have been languishing in jails for years now and yet no one ever seems to care.

Take the case of Muhammad Parvez Abdul Qayyum Shaikh of Gujarat. According to his aunt, Qamar Jahan, on April 2, 2003, while he was on his way to fit a water appliance, he was arrested by CBI officer Tarun Barot and others. For three days his family knew nothing of his whereabouts. On the fourth day, she says, 'We saw the news and realised that Parvez had been arrested under allegations of having a Chinese-made pistol and some gun powder. However, this powder is used for cleaning the Aqua Guard machines.'

Parvez, she says, was brutally beaten and tortured by the officers, with Officer Vanzara allegedly asking Parvez to refer to him as Khuda (God) and beating him ruthlessly. While in jail they forced him to sign on blank papers. He was reportedly taken by the CBI officers to Gandhinagar where he was further tortured for 21 days. He was then charged in the DCP-6 case, tiffin bomb blast case and in the Haren Pandya murder case (the last mentioned of which, incidentally, Pandya's own father accuses Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi [Images] as having instigated). He was sentenced to 14 years in jail for the last-mentioned case, although his aunt maintains that he is innocent.

27 year-old Sardar, a Muslim youth, works as a plumber in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He was arrested at the age of 17, some months after the February 1998 Chennai bomb blasts. The initial accusation against Sardar was that he had been involved in a street fight. He was apparently kept illegally imprisoned for a month, and only after that was an FIR was lodged against him. This time he was accused of carrying two pipe bombs and rioting. The offence was non-bailable. He was remanded and kept in the Vellore Jail for first 15 months, even though there were no witnesses against him. The special court set up for the bomb blasts refused to let him be tried as he was a minor.

Eventually, nine and a half years later, in the final judgment the court apparently found him not guilty of any of the charges put on him and he was acquitted, but only after having spent almost a decade languishing in jail, where he was brutally tortured. Even after his acquittal the police have allegedly not stopped harassing and hounding him, and they still restrict his movements.

Noor ul-Hoda, the son of a desperately poor daily-wage labourer from Malegaon in Maharashtra, is yet another hapless Muslim man who has, so he insists, been falsely implicated as a terrorist by the police. In September 2006, he was picked up by the police from his home. On the same day, they brought him back, searched the house (without producing a search warrant), and, finding nothing, took him back into police custody. The next day the police charged Noor with possession of 20 books considered as 'illegal literature'.

While in police custody, he is said to have been forced, through torture and threats by his interrogators that they would kill his family, to sign a blank piece of paper, which was later used as evidence of a 'confession'. This was, it is claimed, used to charge him under the draconian MCOCA for allegedly being a member of the team that carried out the Malegaon bombings. This, he says, is completely false as he was at the local mosque on the day of the bomb blasts. The local special executive officer has given an affidavit validating this. Noor claims that Police Inspector Sachin Kadum had threatened him thus: 'Although I am aware of the fact that you are not involved in the bomb blast, we will still capture you and we will see if you can get out of this situation.'

In October 2006 Noor was taken to Bangalore for brain mapping and narco-tests. These proved negative, but the experience was harrowing. During the narco-test he was given powerful electric shocks and was badly beaten. His ribs were also battered. The doctor, Malti, asked him to say what the police wanted him to say or else he would be more deeply implicated in the bomb blast case. 'When I did not repeat the words electric shocks were given to my ear', he says. While he was in the custody of the Nasik police, they tortured him severely at the ATS office, saying that he should state what the police wanted him to -- in other words, to give a false 'confession'.

'In the month of Ramzan while I was fasting I was beaten so much that I fainted', he says. 'Inspector Sachin Kadum and Inspector Khan Gekar used to abuse me and say that if you do not confess we will bring all your sisters here. We will make them naked and photographs will be taken and they will also be beaten,' he adds. They also threatened to implicate Noor's brother in the case. Finally, they were able to force him to make a false 'confession' by taking his signature on a blank piece of paper, but he later retracted this 'confession'.

Muhammad Hanif Adul Razzak Shaikh from Gujarat is yet another victim of state terrorism. On April 28, 2003, around two dozen men rushed into Hanif's house, but since Hanif was said to have been away attending a friend's funeral in Himmatnagar, they dragged his brother, Yasin, to the police station where he was beaten up. They picked him up without an arrest warrant and detained him for 12 days until May 3, when Hanif came back and presented himself at the Crime Branch. He was immediately put into detention and the CBI searched his factory but recovered nothing.

Mohammad Hanif was in the business of making bags. The police claimed that the bomb which was used in the tiffin bomb blast and in another such blast had been made in his factory. But when Hanif refused to accept these allegations, the police tortured him severely and even threatened to arrest his brother Yasin if he did not comply with their orders. After this, they allegedly forced a false 'confession' out of him to implicate him in the blasts. His interrogators tortured him mercilessly and he was then presented in court on May 10, 2003. There, Hanif refused to accept the charges against him, which allegedly prompted the magistrate to say that the police should take Hanif in for some more khatirdari ('hospitality'), by which was meant even greater torture.

During this remand, Hanif was said to have been subjected to third degree torture, brutally beaten and forced to sign numerous false statements. The forced 'confession' was apparently used as evidence to prolong his remand stay. He retracted his statement in the court but after appearing in court for the second time the judge ordered that he should be treated to some more 'hospitality'. After this, he is said to have been compelled to sign another 'confession', on the basis of which he was sentenced to 10 years in jail. During the five years he has spent in jail so far Hanif's wife as well as his mother died. A father of four, one of his daughters has tuberculosis. His small bag-making unit has been closed ever since he was put into jail and his family now lives in abject penury.

Maulana Mohammad Naseerudin of Hyderabad was arrested in August 2004 immediately after addressing a meeting of fellow Muslims at a local mosque. The Anti-Terrorism Squad accused him of conspiring to blow up a Hindu temple in Hyderabad, a charge that he denied. The next month he was released on bail, but on the condition that he would report to the CID office on a weekly basis.

On September 31, 2004, when the Maulana reached the CID office he found the Gujarat police waiting for him. They took him into custody, accusing him of incitement violence in Gujarat in his speeches in the mosque. In actual fact, so it is said, he had preached for relief and aid for Muslims in Gujarat who had been brutalised by the state, the police and Hindutva forces. The police failed to give any evidence at the time of his detention and subsequent trial, simply claiming that he was inciting communal hatred during his sermons.

The news of the Maulana's arrest spread quickly and he was put into a bus and given a drug to incapacitate him. The protestors asked the police for the arrest warrant. 23 year-old Mujahid Saleem Azmi, a friend of the family, started questioning the procedures during the arrest, and, after some prompting by the expanding crowd, the police released the Maulana. A heated exchange between Police Officer Narendra and Mujahid began. The officer shamelessly shouted at Mujahid, 'Have you people forgotten Gujarat? I will finish you all off.' Mujahid replied that he was not scared of his threats and that the officer should conduct himself on the basis of the law. The police officer then said that if he was looking for a warrant he would show him a warrant and took out his gun and fired point blank at Mujahid. The rest of the police officers started firing in the air. They pushed the Maulana back into the van and drove off. The ATS provided safe passage for the police to flee Hyderabad. Meanwhile, Mujahid, 23, was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Thousands of people collected outside the hospital and they asked for a case to be filed against the police. Several different Hindutva organisations came together to try and disrupt the funeral procession the following day. The police used their special division -- the Greyhound Task Force � normally used to combat Naxalism to beat and tear gas the processionists. The Greyhound Task Force forced their way into Mujahid's house and attacked the family with sticks.

Meanwhile, the Maulana was transferred to a prison in Ahmedabad [Images], where, it is said, he was forced to make a 'confession'. He appealed against it, but the special POTA court denied the appeal and accepted the 'confession' of Maulana produced by the Gujarat police. His first bail application took four long months to be heard from the day of his judicial custody. A judgment on the bail application took another year. The application was rejected on the grounds that he was 'anti-American and pro Osama bin Laden'. Another year passed and the high court upheld the POTA court's order. Six months later, the Supreme Court asked for a swift trial, but rejected bail.

Two years have passed since the Supreme Court's order and yet nothing has happened. The Maulana continues to languish in jail and is presently seriously ill. He has only one kidney, a thyroid problem, and early signs of arthritis, none of which has been taken into consideration during his time in prison. His illnesses have worsened. He cannot walk or handle food that he has to chew, but yet, despite several appeals, the authorities continue to refuse to send him to hospital. In the meantime, the police have also arrested two of his sons for allegedly conspiring to take revenge for his arrest.

Scores of cases of innocent Muslims being deliberately targeted by agencies of the State, in addition to Hindutva forces, abound across the country, and the situation seems to be getting worse with every passing day. This is not to say that none of the several blasts that have occurred in India in the last several years could have been the handiwork of Muslims. Sympathisers of some fringe radical Islamist outfits or Muslims seeking to take revenge for the atrocities and large-scale slaughter of their co-religionists, as in Gujarat, might well have planned some of these, and Muslim leaders themselves have rightly called for stern punishment for their perpetrators.

However, the mounting indiscriminate arrests, torture and detention of vast numbers of innocent Muslim youth across the country in the name of countering terrorism not only makes a complete mockery of our claims to secularism and democracy but is a perfect recipe for making Muslim terrorism a self-fulfilling prophecy. And, to make matters worse, at the same time as the hounding of innocent Muslims continues, Hindu mobs are allowed to operate free of any effective restraint, lionised as ardent 'nationalists' as they continue to wreak murder, mayhem and naked terror on Muslims, and now, as in Orissa and Karnataka, Christians. That, surely, is no way to combat terrorism. Far from it, it can only further exacerbate the problem.

Note: The details of the above-mentioned cases have been procured from the testimonies submitted to the jury of the People's Tribunal on the Atrocities Committed Against Minorities in the Name of Fighting Terrorism [Images] organised by Anhad and the Human Rights Law Network in Hyderabad, August 22-24, 2008.

Dr Yoginder Sikand is the editor of Qalandar, an electronic magazine on Islam-related issues, and also an author of several books on the subject.

Manufacturing 'terrorists' the Indian way

Almost every other day, newspapers are agog with stories about 'dreaded Muslim terrorists' being nabbed across the country. At the same time, savage violence unleashed by Hindutva groups continues unabated without any effective steps being taken against them. In the ongoing 'war on terror', globally as well as within India, Muslims have come to be framed collectively as 'terrorists', while terrorism engaged in by people belonging to other communities is generally condoned or ignored altogether or, at least, is not described in the same terms.

In India today, Muslim youths are being indiscriminately picked up and tortured by the police, in many cases falsely accused of being terrorists. Many of them have been languishing in jails for years now and yet no one ever seems to care.

Take the case of Muhammad Parvez Abdul Qayyum Shaikh of Gujarat. According to his aunt, Qamar Jahan, on April 2, 2003, while he was on his way to fit a water appliance, he was arrested by CBI officer Tarun Barot and others. For three days his family knew nothing of his whereabouts. On the fourth day, she says, 'We saw the news and realised that Parvez had been arrested under allegations of having a Chinese-made pistol and some gun powder. However, this powder is used for cleaning the Aqua Guard machines.'

Parvez, she says, was brutally beaten and tortured by the officers, with Officer Vanzara allegedly asking Parvez to refer to him as Khuda (God) and beating him ruthlessly. While in jail they forced him to sign on blank papers. He was reportedly taken by the CBI officers to Gandhinagar where he was further tortured for 21 days. He was then charged in the DCP-6 case, tiffin bomb blast case and in the Haren Pandya murder case (the last mentioned of which, incidentally, Pandya's own father accuses Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi [Images] as having instigated). He was sentenced to 14 years in jail for the last-mentioned case, although his aunt maintains that he is innocent.

27 year-old Sardar, a Muslim youth, works as a plumber in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He was arrested at the age of 17, some months after the February 1998 Chennai bomb blasts. The initial accusation against Sardar was that he had been involved in a street fight. He was apparently kept illegally imprisoned for a month, and only after that was an FIR was lodged against him. This time he was accused of carrying two pipe bombs and rioting. The offence was non-bailable. He was remanded and kept in the Vellore Jail for first 15 months, even though there were no witnesses against him. The special court set up for the bomb blasts refused to let him be tried as he was a minor.

Eventually, nine and a half years later, in the final judgment the court apparently found him not guilty of any of the charges put on him and he was acquitted, but only after having spent almost a decade languishing in jail, where he was brutally tortured. Even after his acquittal the police have allegedly not stopped harassing and hounding him, and they still restrict his movements.

Noor ul-Hoda, the son of a desperately poor daily-wage labourer from Malegaon in Maharashtra, is yet another hapless Muslim man who has, so he insists, been falsely implicated as a terrorist by the police. In September 2006, he was picked up by the police from his home. On the same day, they brought him back, searched the house (without producing a search warrant), and, finding nothing, took him back into police custody. The next day the police charged Noor with possession of 20 books considered as 'illegal literature'.

While in police custody, he is said to have been forced, through torture and threats by his interrogators that they would kill his family, to sign a blank piece of paper, which was later used as evidence of a 'confession'. This was, it is claimed, used to charge him under the draconian MCOCA for allegedly being a member of the team that carried out the Malegaon bombings. This, he says, is completely false as he was at the local mosque on the day of the bomb blasts. The local special executive officer has given an affidavit validating this. Noor claims that Police Inspector Sachin Kadum had threatened him thus: 'Although I am aware of the fact that you are not involved in the bomb blast, we will still capture you and we will see if you can get out of this situation.'

In October 2006 Noor was taken to Bangalore for brain mapping and narco-tests. These proved negative, but the experience was harrowing. During the narco-test he was given powerful electric shocks and was badly beaten. His ribs were also battered. The doctor, Malti, asked him to say what the police wanted him to say or else he would be more deeply implicated in the bomb blast case. 'When I did not repeat the words electric shocks were given to my ear', he says. While he was in the custody of the Nasik police, they tortured him severely at the ATS office, saying that he should state what the police wanted him to -- in other words, to give a false 'confession'.

'In the month of Ramzan while I was fasting I was beaten so much that I fainted', he says. 'Inspector Sachin Kadum and Inspector Khan Gekar used to abuse me and say that if you do not confess we will bring all your sisters here. We will make them naked and photographs will be taken and they will also be beaten,' he adds. They also threatened to implicate Noor's brother in the case. Finally, they were able to force him to make a false 'confession' by taking his signature on a blank piece of paper, but he later retracted this 'confession'.

Muhammad Hanif Adul Razzak Shaikh from Gujarat is yet another victim of state terrorism. On April 28, 2003, around two dozen men rushed into Hanif's house, but since Hanif was said to have been away attending a friend's funeral in Himmatnagar, they dragged his brother, Yasin, to the police station where he was beaten up. They picked him up without an arrest warrant and detained him for 12 days until May 3, when Hanif came back and presented himself at the Crime Branch. He was immediately put into detention and the CBI searched his factory but recovered nothing.

Mohammad Hanif was in the business of making bags. The police claimed that the bomb which was used in the tiffin bomb blast and in another such blast had been made in his factory. But when Hanif refused to accept these allegations, the police tortured him severely and even threatened to arrest his brother Yasin if he did not comply with their orders. After this, they allegedly forced a false 'confession' out of him to implicate him in the blasts. His interrogators tortured him mercilessly and he was then presented in court on May 10, 2003. There, Hanif refused to accept the charges against him, which allegedly prompted the magistrate to say that the police should take Hanif in for some more khatirdari ('hospitality'), by which was meant even greater torture.

During this remand, Hanif was said to have been subjected to third degree torture, brutally beaten and forced to sign numerous false statements. The forced 'confession' was apparently used as evidence to prolong his remand stay. He retracted his statement in the court but after appearing in court for the second time the judge ordered that he should be treated to some more 'hospitality'. After this, he is said to have been compelled to sign another 'confession', on the basis of which he was sentenced to 10 years in jail. During the five years he has spent in jail so far Hanif's wife as well as his mother died. A father of four, one of his daughters has tuberculosis. His small bag-making unit has been closed ever since he was put into jail and his family now lives in abject penury.

Maulana Mohammad Naseerudin of Hyderabad was arrested in August 2004 immediately after addressing a meeting of fellow Muslims at a local mosque. The Anti-Terrorism Squad accused him of conspiring to blow up a Hindu temple in Hyderabad, a charge that he denied. The next month he was released on bail, but on the condition that he would report to the CID office on a weekly basis.

On September 31, 2004, when the Maulana reached the CID office he found the Gujarat police waiting for him. They took him into custody, accusing him of incitement violence in Gujarat in his speeches in the mosque. In actual fact, so it is said, he had preached for relief and aid for Muslims in Gujarat who had been brutalised by the state, the police and Hindutva forces. The police failed to give any evidence at the time of his detention and subsequent trial, simply claiming that he was inciting communal hatred during his sermons.

The news of the Maulana's arrest spread quickly and he was put into a bus and given a drug to incapacitate him. The protestors asked the police for the arrest warrant. 23 year-old Mujahid Saleem Azmi, a friend of the family, started questioning the procedures during the arrest, and, after some prompting by the expanding crowd, the police released the Maulana. A heated exchange between Police Officer Narendra and Mujahid began. The officer shamelessly shouted at Mujahid, 'Have you people forgotten Gujarat? I will finish you all off.' Mujahid replied that he was not scared of his threats and that the officer should conduct himself on the basis of the law. The police officer then said that if he was looking for a warrant he would show him a warrant and took out his gun and fired point blank at Mujahid. The rest of the police officers started firing in the air. They pushed the Maulana back into the van and drove off. The ATS provided safe passage for the police to flee Hyderabad. Meanwhile, Mujahid, 23, was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Thousands of people collected outside the hospital and they asked for a case to be filed against the police. Several different Hindutva organisations came together to try and disrupt the funeral procession the following day. The police used their special division -- the Greyhound Task Force � normally used to combat Naxalism to beat and tear gas the processionists. The Greyhound Task Force forced their way into Mujahid's house and attacked the family with sticks.

Meanwhile, the Maulana was transferred to a prison in Ahmedabad [Images], where, it is said, he was forced to make a 'confession'. He appealed against it, but the special POTA court denied the appeal and accepted the 'confession' of Maulana produced by the Gujarat police. His first bail application took four long months to be heard from the day of his judicial custody. A judgment on the bail application took another year. The application was rejected on the grounds that he was 'anti-American and pro Osama bin Laden'. Another year passed and the high court upheld the POTA court's order. Six months later, the Supreme Court asked for a swift trial, but rejected bail.

Two years have passed since the Supreme Court's order and yet nothing has happened. The Maulana continues to languish in jail and is presently seriously ill. He has only one kidney, a thyroid problem, and early signs of arthritis, none of which has been taken into consideration during his time in prison. His illnesses have worsened. He cannot walk or handle food that he has to chew, but yet, despite several appeals, the authorities continue to refuse to send him to hospital. In the meantime, the police have also arrested two of his sons for allegedly conspiring to take revenge for his arrest.

Scores of cases of innocent Muslims being deliberately targeted by agencies of the State, in addition to Hindutva forces, abound across the country, and the situation seems to be getting worse with every passing day. This is not to say that none of the several blasts that have occurred in India in the last several years could have been the handiwork of Muslims. Sympathisers of some fringe radical Islamist outfits or Muslims seeking to take revenge for the atrocities and large-scale slaughter of their co-religionists, as in Gujarat, might well have planned some of these, and Muslim leaders themselves have rightly called for stern punishment for their perpetrators.

However, the mounting indiscriminate arrests, torture and detention of vast numbers of innocent Muslim youth across the country in the name of countering terrorism not only makes a complete mockery of our claims to secularism and democracy but is a perfect recipe for making Muslim terrorism a self-fulfilling prophecy. And, to make matters worse, at the same time as the hounding of innocent Muslims continues, Hindu mobs are allowed to operate free of any effective restraint, lionised as ardent 'nationalists' as they continue to wreak murder, mayhem and naked terror on Muslims, and now, as in Orissa and Karnataka, Christians. That, surely, is no way to combat terrorism. Far from it, it can only further exacerbate the problem.

Note: The details of the above-mentioned cases have been procured from the testimonies submitted to the jury of the People's Tribunal on the Atrocities Committed Against Minorities in the Name of Fighting Terrorism [Images] organised by Anhad and the Human Rights Law Network in Hyderabad, August 22-24, 2008.

Dr Yoginder Sikand is the editor of Qalandar, an electronic magazine on Islam-related issues, and also an author of several books on the subject.

Thalappavu, a wake up call for the society

Actor-tuned-director Madhupal on Sunday denied allegations that his debut movie Thalappavu, based on the real-life confession of a police constable about the gunning down of naxalite leader Varghese in a fake encounter nearly 30 years ago, reflects his sympathies for the political ideology of naxalite movements.

"The film is not an attempt to show my sympathy or political views. It is a reminder to a society that has forgotten how to respond to the problems faced by human beings. The film is a wake up call for a society that is becoming increasingly meek and submissive," he said, while addressing a meet-the-press programme held in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

Madhupal further added that the real challenge in the film was in telling a familiar story in a 'realistic manner' devoid of the documentary feel. "How to adapt a popular political struggle without distorting facts to the big screen was our main concern," he said.Prithviraj plays the role of naxalite leader Varghese while actor Lal plays the role of the distraught police constable Ramachandran Nair. "I wanted someone who could convey the feeling of being bold and helpless at the same time," said Madhupal about choosing Lal for the role.

Babu Janardhanan, the playwright of the film, said that he had carried out extensive research on the life of the revolutionary leader before putting it on paper. "The spark for the script came from the revelation made by Ramachandran Nair through television channels that he was forced to kill Varghese. The revelation struck me and I started to think about the mental agony he had to endure by suppressing the fact for nearly 30 years," said Janardhanan.

Orissa caught in Naxal spillover effect

The Naxal trail in Orissa begins in the deceptively beautiful Malkangiri district which lies on the southern tip of the state.

More than half of Malkangiri is dense forests and hilly tracts connected by a very poor road network.

The isolation of the terrain is further heightened by the rivers. River Sileru on one side separates it from Andhra Pradesh while Saberi on the other splits it from Chhattisgarh.

Malkangiri's Chittrakonda which lies near the Balimela Reservoir is the place where a motor launch carrying 50 Greyhound jawans capsized following a Maoist attack.

Thirty eight people were killed in the attack. This area is now known as the cut-off area where there are about 150 villages - all disconnected from the mainland.

The terrain is tough to traverse but for Naxals, it offers a suitable hideout as anyone trying to access the farthest point will take 10 hours on boat.

The government did try to ensure that there is some kind of connectivity for the area. The Gamon India bridge was meant to connect the area to the mainland but the Naxals ensured that never happened.

''It is really getting difficult on our part to complete the developmental work, especially that which can harm the interests of the Naxals like roads, bridges, culverts and all," said Nitin B Jawle, Collector, Malkangiri.

Malkangiri has always been Orissa's Naxal region and it's apparent from the fact that of the 280 incidents of Naxal violence in the state since 1991, 120 have taken place here.

But intelligence sources say that in the last two years, Naxals have decided to make Malkangiri their most critical long-term base. It saw a spillover of militia from Andhra when peace talks were on and now from Bastar as the government there gets tough.

''Peoples War Group, which is active in Telangana, made inroads into Orissa. On the other hand, what happened the Maoist Communist Centre, which was active in Jharkand and Bihar, made inroads into North and West Orissa," said S N Tiwari, Retired DGP, former Director, Special Protection Group.

A clear evidence of this spillover effect is the dramatic rise in attacks. On 16 February, 2008, 15 policemen were killed during a toot at the armoury in Nayagarh.

A couple of months later, on 16 July 2008, an anti-mine vehicle was blown up by the Naxals in Telarai killing 17 commandos.

These attacks are a signal to the security forces of renewed Naxal power. Their intent to rule this region has also been made clear to the villagers.

"Naxals don't come here. They move about only in the night. They are not visible during the day," said some of the villagers in Malkangiri.

Another cause of worry is a dearth of policemen or jawans in the area.

In these tribal villages there is no mobile connectivity, no road, no telephone, no electricity and no familiar signs of authority.

Even the Block Development Office that was constructed 25 years ago in Papermetla village was abandoned by the government in fear. This has led to a lot of brutality on the people by the Naxals.

"They removed the skin of a man here and asked him to walk. Can anyone walk in that condition? Then they removed the skin from his forehead and asked him if he could still see. Then they beheaded him," said a villager.

Malkangiri's tribals - about 58 per cent of the district's population - are among its most poor and marginalised. Thousands of them were uprooted from their native land by hydro-electric projects.

The fears of these tribals seem to be further aggravated in Tarlakota, another pocket of Malkangiri, where thousands of tribal families were settled following the Machkund Project since 1964.

But unfortunately, till today, they do not have pattas or rights over the land they till. Their anger had turned them against the state.

Thus, in 1967 when the Naxalbari revolution began there was support for it in Malkangiri. But the villagers never got any land and over the last 40 years, the Naxal saviours have become fearful oppressors.

Their violence has kept development out and fuelled greater poverty.

"They have given us NREGS cards, but no work. There are no jobs here. We have to beg and borrow to survive," said one of the villagers.

As Naxals get involved for the first time in ethnic and religious strife - taking blame for the murder of VHP leader Swami Laxmananand Saraswati in Kandhmal district - the strategy perhaps is to emerge from the depths of Malkangiri into mainland aiming for a larger political ground.

‘Maoists’ gun down CPM member in Birbhum

Kolkata, September 22 A CPM zonal committee member, Nandalal Mistri (51), was murdered by suspected Maoist cadres on Monday morning at Rajnagar in Birbhum.

“Following the incident, the police have sealed the district’s border with Jharkhand. A relative of the deceased has lodged a complaint at the local police station. Investigations are on but no one has been arrested so far,” said Laxmi Narayan Meena, SP Birbhum.

Mistri, the headmaster of Agayabandh Primary School, was on his way to school. Around 11.30 am, three youths fired three rounds at him from close range near Mohisapuri forests, killing him on the spot.

Subsequently, Additional SP, Birbhum, Farhat Abbas, reached the spot with a large police contingent.

Police recovered a few Maoist posters strewn around the body. The posters were printed in Burdwan. CPM district secretariat member Sadhan Ghosh said, “The district police has failed to provide security to the people.”

On April 22, another CPM local committee member Sridam Das (45) was killed on his way to school in the same area. Even that time, three youths — suspected to be Maoist members — had shot dead Das from point blank range. Maoist leaflets were seized from the spot.

20-yr-old Naxal arrested


SAMBALPUR: A Naxalite Sayun Bilung (20), known as Sambit in Maoist circle, was nabbed from Lankeswari village during a joint raid by the CRPF and Sambalpur police in the wee hours today.

Sayun was taken in as a Sleeper Cell member, involved in providing food and shelter, by the ultras in 2006 in which he participated with enthusiasm. Later, he underwent training in Saranda forest in neighbouring Jharkhand and was also instrumental in shifting injured Shatrughan alias Sonu to Cuttack. Sonu was hit by a bullet in an encounter with the police in Badrama forest in January this year.

Nursing a grudge against his parents for being abandoned by them, he revealed to police about being denied of parental love and how the Naxals were sympathetic towards him after being declared ‘illegitimate child’ by his villagers.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

September 21

from www.satp.org

The Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCC) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War (also known as the People's War Group or PWG) merged to form a new entity, the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) on September 21, 2004, somewhere in the projected 'liberated zone'. Officially, the merger was announced on October 14, 2004, by the PWG Andhra Pradesh ‘state secretary’, Ramakrishna, at a news conference in Hyderabad, on the eve of peace talks between the PWG and the State Government.

Formation

The merger is the consequences of initiatives that date back five years, when the PWG approached the MCC with a proposal of merger. In fact, since its inception on April 22, 1980, the PWG had been trying to bring all the Left Wing extremist groups (also called Naxalite) in India (numbering around 40) under its umbrella with the objective of overthrowing 'the bureaucrat comprador bourgeois and big landlords classes who control state power in collusion with imperialism' and 'to establish in its place the New Democratic State under the leadership of the proletariat' with the ultimate aim of establishing socialism and communism. The MCC had been its first target and talks had been on since the early 1980's. However, the discussions failed to progress initially as a result of turf wars and differences at the leadership level. Despite ideological commonalities and shared objectives, the pathways to the merger have been full of obstacles, with territorial and leadership clashes giving rise to an internecine conflict that lasted through much of the 1990s, as the two groups struggled for supremacy in different parts of then undivided Bihar, resulting in the death of hundreds of cadres and sympathisers. However, continuous interaction resulted in declining hostility between the two groups over time, and gradually increased operational cooperation and consolidation. The creation of Jharkhand State in November 2000 and anti-Maoist operations launched by the administration pushed the MCC and PWG into closer cooperation, and a truce was announced between them three years ago. Significantly, the PWG had earlier merged with the CPI-ML (Party Unity) of Bihar in August 11, 1998.

The first ever meeting between the PWG and MCC was held in 1981, when Kanai Chatterjee of the MCC and Kondapally Seetaramaiah of PWG met for over 12 days. Both leaders, though belonging to different streams of the Naxalite movement, stated that the grounds to merge are strong as both were pursuing a similar end. The PWG and MCC subsequently set out the procedure for a possible merger. However, such possibilities were premature, as in 1982 Chatterjee died of illness and Seetharamaiah was arrested in the Secunderabad conspiracy case.

Though the initial desire of PWG and MCC for unity was strong, not much progress was possible. Differences over tactical and strategic issues, personality clashes and a ‘turf war’ to control territory were predominant. Attempts to further the unity process, however, continued with talks commencing in 1992. Later, in September 1993, the PWG, MCC and the CPI-ML (Party Unity) decided to jointly intensify the Naxalite movement in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and other States and constituted the All India Peoples Resistance Forum to build a strong anti-feudal and anti-imperialist movement. The process of unification continued for three years, after which it finally broke down due to some differences on international issues pertaining to the Revolutionary International Movement. Both outfits issued a joint statement for the failure of the talks, outlining the differences and its momentary suspension, but decided to deliberate the unity at a later date.

Relations between the two outfits also soured, particularly after the merger of PWG and another left-wing extremist group, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) [Party Unity], in August 1998. After 1998, armed clashes between the PWG and MCC intensified and this period is referred to by Naxalite outfits as the ‘black chapter’. These clashes occurred despite the PWG’s claim that "serious efforts were made by all the three (groups) to unite and build a united revolutionary proletarian party in India." The clashes were reportedly a result of the ‘wrong handling of contradictions among the people.’ "Instead of solving the contradictions with a class approach … (and) in a non-antagonistic manner, we adopted a parochial and non-proletarian approach", admits a PWG statement. In one of its self-critical note, the PWG ‘central committee’ has pledged to "learn from this negative experience and never again (to) take up arms against our class friends, no matter how sharp may be the differences. Political differences must be settled by polemical debates and by proving correctness of our politics through revolutionary practice, but not through the gun."

MCC took the initiative in declaring a unilateral cease-fire in January 2000, a gesture reciprocated by the PWG. This was primarily due to a rethinking in the MCC and appeals from ‘revolutionary forces’ within India and abroad. Subsequently, the dialogue process between the two outfits commenced in August 2001. At the first meeting, the two sides engaged in an introspection exercise, and decisions were taken to initiate joint activities at the Bihar/Jharkhand level. The introspection, much of it reportedly in written form, was circulated to the rank-and-file of the Bihar/Jharkhand party. Throughout the latter part of 2001 and entire 2002, joint activities were undertaken in Bihar-Jharkhand. Further, during November 2002, a joint statement issued by the two groups at Patna, capital of Bihar, claimed that the indiscriminate use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) against the Naxalite cadres and sympathizers by the Jharkhand Government had "compelled them to iron out differences" and fight jointly against the state.

It was at the February 2003-meeting that a decision was taken to initiate concrete steps towards discussions on ideological issues with the clear direction and purpose of a merger. In this meeting, an extensive introspection exercise was put forward by both outfits for the ‘Black Chapter’ period and this was later made public. Both the outfits decided not to resort to clashes with ‘class friends’ irrespective of how severe the differences were. The meeting also laid ground for the advancement and finalisation of the process of merger. Towards this end, the two groups decided to draft five documents: Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, Party Programme, Strategy and Tactics, Political Resolution on the International and Domestic Situation, and the Party Constitution.

Subsequently, during four rounds of negotiations between high-level delegations of the two outfits and the respective Central Committees (CC), a final agreement was reached in September 2004. The documents were adopted and also decided to be translated in about 10 regional languages for wider deliberations throughout the outfits’ bases across India. Some minor differences that remained were to be decided at a later date after further discussion and study. Finally, the joint CC meeting of both outfits took the merger decision and a Central Committee (Provisional) was established.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

FARC attacks Cauca town

At least one soldier and one policeman were injured after an attack by the FARC on Toribío, Cauca led to heavy fighting between the Colombian army and the guerrillas.

Authorities told newspaper El Espectador the town was attacked by the FARC's sixth front, before police and army were able to regain control of the area surrounding Toribío. The town is now surrounded by armed forces to prevent more attacks.

According to mayor Carlos Alberto Banguero, calm has returned to the town, but says the town is subjected to FARC attacks regularly and the army measures to protect the town are just temporary.

SC directs Chhattisgarh government to rein in Salwa judum

Expressing serious concern over the activities of Salwa Judum cadre in the garb of tackling Naxalite activities in Chhattisgarh, the Supreme Court directed the state government to take remedial measures and put an end to their activities as soon as possible.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices P Sathasivam and J M Panchal posted the hearing of two Public Interest Litigations (PILs)filed by Ms Nandini Sunder and Mr Kartam Joga for October 23.

The petitioners have alleged that anti-social elements and criminals are taking advantage of Salwa Judum movement and harassing, looting and killing innocent people in the state by dubbing them naxalites.

The apex court asked the state government as well as the Centre how can such things be permitted to happen in a civilised society and it is the responsibility of the state to protect the lives and properties of the people and how can private individuals be allowed to take law in their own hands.

The Supreme Court also directed the Centre and the petitioners to respond to the reports submitted by the state government. The apex court was dissatisfied with the contents of the report which was submitted to it in a sealed cover.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Two troopers injured in Chhattisgarh Maoist attack

Raipur, Sep 18 (IANS) At least two para-military troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were wounded Thursday in Chhattisgarh’s trouble-torn Bastar region when Maoist guerrillas opened fire on them, an official said.

‘Two CRPF jawans, who were members of a road-opening party, sustained bullet injuries in Bijapur district when they came under heavy gunfire,’ Pawan Deo, deputy inspector general (state’s anti-Maoist operations), told IANS.

The attack site is about 450 km south of here.

The injured troopers were taken to Jagdalpur town, regional headquarters of Bastar region, for treatment.

Jail for Danish 'terror T-shirts'

Six people have been convicted in Denmark of raising funds for extremist groups by selling T-shirts with their logos on. A seventh was acquitted.

Two of the defendants were sentenced to six months behind bars, while others received suspended jail terms.

The Fighters and Lovers firm made and sold garments bearing the logos of the Palestinian PFLP and Colombia's Farc.

Part of the proceeds were to be sent to the groups, which the EU says are terrorist organisations.

Danish law says anyone involved in the direct or indirect financing of terrorist organisations is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

In December a lower court acquitted all seven defendants, after finding that the two organisations were "not really terrorist" groups.

But an appeal court on Thursday overruled that decision, declaring Farc and the PFLP "terrorist organisations that have committed acts aimed at destabilising a state or a government and have attacked civilian targets".

Proceeds seized

Farc has been involved in a 40-year conflict with Colombian state forces and right-wing paramilitary groups, in which tens of thousands of civilians have died.

It has increasingly become involved in illegal drug trafficking to raise funds, and holds hundreds of kidnapped Colombians and foreigners in the jungle.

The PFLP, which combines Arab nationalism with Marxist-Leninist ideology, has carried out suicide attacks inside Israel and against Jewish settlements.

It sees the destruction of Israel as integral to its struggle to remove Western influence from the Middle East.

Fighters and Lovers said it would donate five euros (£4) to the two groups for each T-shirt it sold.

It said the money would finance Farc radio stations in Colombia and a graphics studio in the Palestinian territories.

But the appeals court ordered the confiscation of the approximately 25,000 kroner (£2,600) the company had made on the sales.

Michael Schoelardt, the company's managing director, who got six months in prison, said: "We must stand firm in our fight for peace and justice in the world."

Lawyers said they would try to take the case to the Supreme Court.

Still selling

Schoelardt was one of five employees of the firm convicted after admitting producing, selling and distributing the T-shirts.

A sixth defendant was convicted for allowing the company to use his server for its website.

A seventh defendant, a hot dog seller who had put up the company's posters, was acquitted.

The company still makes T-shirts with the logos on, marketed on its website with the heading "Freedom fighters are not terrorists".

It says proceeds from the new range will not go to the militant groups themselves, but to legal aid groups supporting "victims of the Israeli occupation and Colombian government".

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

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India's deaths in custody reach 1,500 a year

The recent death in custody of a man from a remote village in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has sparked suspicion among human rights groups. It's been estimated that each year, more than 1,500 Indian prisoners die within less than a day of being arrested.

Presenter: Alana Rosenbaum
Speakers: Bateshi Bai, Saikheda Village resident; Tsering Samphal, Commission for Scheduled Tribes; Sankar Sen, former director, National Police Academy, Suhas Chakma, director, Asian Centre for Human Rights

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ROSENBAUM: The residents of Saikheda village celebrate the birth of Bal Ram, the brother of the god Krishna.
The festival offers a brief reprieve from the anger and frustration that's been mounting in Saikheda for weeks.
Late last month, a 19-year-old villager, Poppu Thakur, was arrested for stealing a coil of wire. Less than 12 hours later, he was found dead in the bathroom of the police station. When news of his death reached Saikheda, villagers blockaded the highway, demanding justice. Thakur was landless and earned his living as an agricultural labourer for high-caste Hindus. He belonged to the Gond tribe, a group indigenous to Madhya Pradesh. His mother, Bateshi Bai, lives off a narrow dirt road in a section of the village reserved for the Gond. She crouches beside her son's teenage widow in the family's one-room mud-brick house. Bateshi Bai says that several hours after her son's arrest, police brought her to the station in the town of Silvani, 10 minutes drive from the village.

BAI: Blood was coming from his nose, ears and eyes. He didn't hang himself, the police killed him. I want justice; the whole village is with me.

ROSENBAUM: She says she was left waiting for nine-hour without explanation and only knew her son was dead when she was finally taken to see his body.

An autopsy conducted near the police station concluded that Thakur died of asphyxiation due to hanging. A second post-mortem in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, reached the same conclusion.
Four police officers from the Silvani have been suspended pending a judicial inquiry. India's Commission for Scheduled Tribes, suspects foul play. Tsering Samphel is a member of the government-run organisation.

SAMPHEL: It is quite suspicious; his death was caused under police custody within the police station before

ROSENBAUM: Samphel says this was the third death in custody at the Silvani police station in four years. What's more, Thakur and one of the police officers are thought to have had a history of bad blood.

SAMPHEL: They had some enmity, some grudge against each other.

ROSENBAUM: Human rights groups estimate that more than one and a half thousand people die in custody each year. They say most of the victims perish during torture sessions to extract quick confessions. Sankar Sen, a former director of the National Police Academy, says that custodial violence is a serious problem in India.

SEN: Sometimes if you kick a man on the wrong side of the stomach he may die. I know of cases where the head was banged against the wall, not with the idea of killing him, but punishing him. As a result he died. Other ways, if a man is kept without sleep, without water, that kind of thing is there. There may be other devices also; sometimes he is wrapped with a blanket and then beaten so there's no sign on the body.

ROSENBAUM: He says that India's police force lacks a human rights culture, and many cops believe it's their role to punish criminals. Some states even have official encounter squads, called on to assassinate suspects.

SEN: This criminal justice system, cases carry on very long for a long time, so there's pressure on the police that you take justice in your hands and deal with it quickly.

ROSENBAUM: Suhas Chakma, director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights says most of the victims of custodial brutality belong to tribes and low castes.

CHAKMA: I think there is societal acceptance of torture, the fact that we have a caste system where the upper caste people perpetrate the most inhuman atrocities on the lower castes and the adivarsis, the indigenous people.

ROSENBAUM: Police officers face imprisonment if they're found guilty of torture, but bureaucratic red tape and long judicial delays make it difficult to enforce the law. Recently, India's Supreme Court criticised the "dehumanising torture, assault and death in custody which have assumed alarming proportions." More than a decade ago, the government signed the international convention against torture, but the document is yet to be ratified.

Another Maoist outfit taking shape in state


KOZHIKODE: A splinter group within the Naxalite spectrum has formed a new Maoist outfit- the People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI)- , which also upholds the theory of armed struggle.

The CPI (Maoist) and the CPIML (Naxalbari) are the two Maoists organisations presently operating in the state.

PLFI is the frontal organisation of the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI), a Maoist outfit which has its presence in states like Bihar.

A major chunk of the MCCI had merged with the CPI-ML (People’s War) in 2004 to form the CPI (Maoist).

But a section in the MCCI stayed away from the merger and continued to operate independently.

The PLFI has been formed by the elements in various states which are opposed to CPI (Maoists) for various reasons.

The declared aim of the outfit is to ‘support the Maoists to establish a new democratic republic of India.’ Some of the persons in the state committee of the PLFI were earlier with the CPI (Maoists). The state secretary of the MCCI in the state is a person who was a state committee member of the CPI (Maoists).

A woman cadre of the CPI (Maoist) has recently joined the PLFI.

Majority of the workers of the PLFI/MCCI are from North Kerala.

The formation meeting of the outfit was held in Iritty a few months ago.

The PLFI in the state is working in close co-ordination with the units in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

It has brought out a magazine titled Communist.

The outfit has organised campaign against hike in the price of essential commodities and poster campaign on Charu Mazumdar Day on July 28.

The PLFI had decided to organise agitation against the eviction of families from Moorkan Paramba for the proposed international airport in Kannur.

It has hailed the attack on Grey Hounds in Orissa and ransacking of the NABARD Office in Kalpetta.

The PLFI has some serious difference of opinion with the CPI (Maoists), mainly over military tactics.

The PLFI believes that CPI (Maoists) has converted people’s war into mere militarism.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

The Doctor, the State, and a Sinister Case

By Shoma Chaudhury
Source: Tehelka Magazine

Shoma Chaudhury's ZSpace Page

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[Editor's Note: Amnesty International (Australia) issued a press release in September 2008 updating the information in this article. Here is an excerpt from that press release:

"Delay in the trial process of jailed and award-winning human rights defender Dr. Binayak Sen followed by arrest of T.G. Ajay, also a human rights defender who attended his trial heightens serious doubts about Dr. Sen getting a fair trial at a Raipur district court in India, Amnesty International said on 25 June 2008....Amnesty International called for Dr. Sen's release soon after his arrest unless he was charged with a recognisably criminal offence [see report]...The authorities held him for seven months without proper filing of charges; in the meantime, he was denied bail; and was kept in solitary confinement for three weeks in March-April 2008; many of the charges against him stem from laws that contravene international standards. His trial, which commenced on 30 April, is now adjourned to 1 July. Dr. Sen's wife Dr. Ilina Sen, who met him last week in the jail, informed Amnesty International that he appeared weak and continued to suffer from severe gout which posed difficulties for him to take care of his daily needs. He also suffered from frequent micturation indicative of a prostate problem. Despite appeals to organise proper medical treatment as per jail rules, no concrete action has been forthcoming from the trial court."]

FAR AWAY from the glittering salons of Bombay and Delhi, away from its obsessions with booming malls and plummeting stocks, a good man waits in jail. He's been in for nine months. But it is unlikely that the story of Dr Binayak Sen would have caught your attention. He's been written about in bits. Some channels have covered him. But even though he is a mesmeric character -- intense, articulate, idealistic, a man of privilege who seeks nothing for himself -- and his imprisonment is a scandal that should shame any civilised society, for the most part, news of him here has been overwhelmed by hotter media preoccupations. Lead India competitions. And polls on who should be awarded Indian of the Year. Shah Rukh, Manmohan, or Vijay Mallya? Men like Dr Binayak can wait their turn in jail.

The story of Binayak Sen is the story of the dangerously thin ice India's democratic rights skim on. The story of every dangerous schism in India today: State versus people. Urban versus rural. Unbridled development versus human need. Blind law versus natural justice. It is the story of an India unraveling at the seams. The story of unjust things that happen -- unreported -- to thousands of innocent people, the story of unjust things waiting to happen to you and me, if we ever step off the rails of shining India to investigate what's happening in the rest of the country. Most of all, it is the story of what can be done to ordinary individuals when the State dons the garb of being under siege.

But, first the facts of the story.

A paediatric doctor by profession -- a gold medallist, in fact, from the prestigious Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore -- Binayak Sen, 56, has worked for more than 30 years with the tribal poor in Chhattisgarh, battling malnutrition, tuberculosis, and the lethal falciparum malaria strain rampant in the area. As a young man -- star pupil with the world at his feet -- he had turned his back on the many rich career options before him to take a job at a rural medical centre in Hoshangabad run by Quakers, where he was greatly influenced by Marjorie Sykes, Gandhi's biographer. Ideas of public health, sustainable development and a just society obsessed him. Walking the slums of Vellore as a graduate, he had understood very early that there is a crucial link between livelihood, living conditions and health. Bolstering this with a degree in social medicine from JNU, Delhi, he moved from Hoshangabad to Chhattisgarh in 1981, to work with Shankar Guha Niyogi, the legendary mine workers' unionist. Here, famously, he helped set up the Shaheed Hospital at Dallirajhara, built from the workers' own mo -- ney. Later, he moved away to the Mission Hospital in Tilda, and then, in 1990, joined his wife, Ilina Sen in Raipur, to set up Rupantar, an NGO through which the couple have worked for the last 18 years in training village health workers and running mobile clinics in remote outposts.

Drive 150 kilometres away from Raipur into the unforgiving dustiness of the forest around Bagrumala and Sahelberia in district Dhamtari, where Binayak ran his Tuesday clinic, and the heroic dimension of his work overwhelms you. There is nothing that could have brought a retired colonel's elite, accomplished son here but extraordinary compassion. Scratchy little hamlets, some no more than 25-houses strong. Peopled by Kamars and other tribals, the most neglected of the Indian human chain, destituted further by the Gangrail dam on the Mahanadi river. No schools. No drinking water. No electricity. No access to public health. And increasingly, no access to traditional forest resources. Here, stories of Binayak Sen proliferate. How he saved young Lagni lying bleeding after a miscarriage, how he rescued the villagers of Piprahi Bharhi jailed en masse for encroaching on the forest, how he helped Jaheli Bai and Dev Singh, how he helped create grain banks. "Do something. Save the doctor," says an old man in Kamar basti. "We have no one to go to now."

OVER THE YEARS, Binayak's medical work had morphed into social advocacy -- the two umbilically linked in a state like Chhattisgarh. As Dr Suranjan Bhattacharji, director, CMC Vellore, says, "Binayak walked the talk. He was an inspiration for generations of doctors. He stirred us. He reminded us that it takes many things -- access, freedom, food security, shelter, equity and justice -- to make a healthy society. He was the alternative model." In 2004, CMC honoured Binayak with its prestigious Paul Harrison Award. In a moving citation, it said, "Dr Binayak Sen has carried his dedication to truth and service to the very frontline of the battle. He has broken the mould, redefined the possible role of the doctor in a broken and unjust society, holding the cause much more precious than personal safety. CMC is proud to be associated with Binayak Sen."

Yet, barely three years later, on May 14, 2007, in a Kafkaesque twist, the State pressed a button and deleted Binayak Sen's long and dedicated history as a humanist and doctor. The police arrested him as a dreaded Naxal leader and charged him with sedition, criminal conspiracy, making war against the nation, and knowingly using the proceeds of terrorism (sic). Imagine the bewilderment. "Just a namesake doctor" the prosecution asserted, and with that act of wilful cynicism, a life of soaring vision and service was extinguished. Reduced to the rubble of the Indian justice system.Since Binayak was arrested, three courts have denied him bail, most damagingly, the Supreme Court on December 10, 2007 -- International Human Rights Day: an ironic detail. In this august court, Gopal Subramaniam, Additional Solicitor General of India and counsel for the Chhattisgarh government, argued that the Indian State was investigating terrorism in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and Binayak Sen was not only a part of this network of terrorism, but a key figure in the web. Granting him bail would jeopardise the health of the nation. The evidence available to back this claim would make dishonest men blanch, and honest men weep.

Sometimes the true measure of people is revealed in the small, random remarks of those who know them. When the Supreme Court denied him bail, an old man told an activist at a rally for Binayak, "If the courts are not going to free our doctor, should we storm the jail?" Then he continued ruefully to himself, "But what's the use? All the other prisoners would run away, but Dr Binayak would stay back."

DESPITE THIS formidable reputation, nothing has succeeded in bailing out Binayak Sen. Not affidavits by doctors from AIIMS and CMC who, inspired by Binayak, left cash-rich urban jobs to start the rural Jan Swasth Sahyog medical centre in Ganyari. Not 2000 signatures of doctors across the world. Not Binayak's years in the Medico Friends circle. Not his stints as a member of the government's own advisory committee on public health, not his pioneering work in creating the Mitanin health workers programme. Not even the fact that he voluntarily ret urned from Kolkata, where he was visiting his mother, to Raipur to confront the police about what he thought was a "simple misunderstanding". In a crushing irony, on 31 December 2007, seven months after he was arrested, the Indian Academy of Social Sciences conferred the R.R. Keithan Gold Medal on Binayak. Its citation said, "The Academy recognises the resonance between the work of Dr Binayak Sen in all its aspects with the values promoted by Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation."

Reasonable, one supposes, to incarcerate such a man in jail. As Vishwa Ranjan, the Director General of Police, Chhattisgarh, says, "So what? One can be a humanist and idealist and still be a Maoist." You could safely take his to be the wise voice of the State.

The most pressing question then, why was Binayak Sen arrested? What catalysed the catastrophic switch of identities that has overtaken his life? The surface details first.

PIECES IN A PARANOID JIGSAW

Going by available evidence, the three main actors in the police's case against Dr Binayak Sen have very little in common, except ordinary human transactions. However, an atmosphere of dread has been built around them by booking them under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Chhattisgarh Special Security Act

BINAYAK SEN

Doctor-activist

With a track record of 30 years of social advocacy and medical service behind him, Binayak Sen stuck by his sense of duty and intervened to get legal and medical aid for Narayan Sanyal, an old Naxal ideologue in Raipur jail, even though he knew it was like entering the "lion's mouth." He was arrested for this on May 14, 2007. He is still in jail

NARAYAN SANYAL

Naxal ideologue

Arrested in Andhra Pradesh in 2006, Narayan Sanyal was let off on bail. He was then arrested by the Chhattisgarh police on a murder charge. Sanyal's brother asked Binayak to help him get attention for a painful condition in his hand. Though every visit was officially sanctioned, the police now allege Sen was acting as an illegal courier

PIYUSH GUHA

Businessman

Piyush Guha is a tendu patta businessman from Kolkata. Known to Sanyal's elder brother, he was carrying Rs 49,000 as fees to be delivered to Binayak and handed to the lawyer. The police produced him on May 6, 2007 with 3 letters on him, allegedly from Sanyal. Guha says he was picked up on 1 May. The police claim him as their main evidence

Two years ago, in January 2006, Narayan Sanyal, 67, an elderly Maoist ideologue was arrested in Bhadrachalam, Andhra Pradesh. He was suffering from an extremely painful medical condition in his hand called Palmer's Contracture. The jail officials at Warangal had sanctioned treatment when Sanyal was let out on bail. He was immediately arrested by the Chhattisgarh police on a murder charge in Dantewada and taken to Raipur jail. In May 2006, Sanyal's elder brother, Radhamadhab, who lived in Kol -- kata, wrote a letter to Binayak Sen, as the general secretary of PUCL (People's Union for Civil Liberties), copied to other human rights organisations, asking for help in getting Sanyal a lawyer, as well as medical attention. As one of the most eminent human rights activists in the region, Binayak intervened. He got Bhishma Kinger, a lawyer who lived in the flat opposite his, to take up Sanyal's case, and also began corresponding with jail officials to facilitate Sanyal's surgery. Radhamadhab, old and himself ailing, came less and less from Kolkata, happy to have Binayak substitute in his affairs. Routine burdens of conscience, as any human rights activist will tell you.

On May 6, 2007, the Raipur police suddenly arrested Piyush Guha, a small Kolkata-based tendu patta businessman and an acquaintance of Radhamadhab, who was carrying Rs 49,000 to deliver to Binayak as fees for Kin ger. They also claim they found three unsigned letters on him addressed to a 'Mr P', a 'Friend V', and 'Friend', innocuously complaining about jail conditions, age, the onset of arthritis. These letters, which the police believe are from Sanyal, also contain amorphous advice to P, V, and Friend to expand work among the peasantry and urban centres, congratulations on a successful "Ninth Congress", and sundry other things. The police claim that Guha confessed that these ludicrously explosive letters of uncertain origin had been given to him by Binayak, acting as an illegal courier from the jailed detainee. As soon as Guha was produced before a magistrate, however, he said he had actually been arrested on May 1, and illegally detained and tortured for five days before being forced to sign a blank statement. The police further claim -- in what seems a preposterous leap of imagination -- that the Rs 49,000 was "a proceed of terrorism," despite the fact that, even nine months later, they have not been able to unearth any terrorist act whatsoever from which that money proceeded.

On this flimsy evidence, the police declared Binayak, who was in Kolkata, an absconding Naxal leader. The local media faithfully carried the story. Hearing of this and completely appalled, Binayak -- certain of his own integrity, certain of his impeccable track record, and believing in the constitutional framework of the Indian State -- returned to Bilaspur to sort out the misunderstanding, contrary to advice by well-wishers to stay away and take anticipatory bail. In Bilaspur, the police asked him to "just stop by" at Tarbahar police station for a statement. He did so, and was promptly arrested on May 14, 2007, under two of the most draconian laws in the country: the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Chhattisgarh Special Security Act: aggravated mirror images of the dreaded TADA and POTA.Under these outrageous laws, merely to think something can land you in jail. As Kinger says, "I knew the judges would deny bail. If you are booked under these laws, you are done for. They are designed to create prejudice and a particular mindset in the judges."

One of the prosecution's weightiest accusations against Binayak is that he met Sanyal -- a known Naxal ideologue -- in jail 33 times. Set aside for a moment the many valid reasons why he might have done so: Sanyal's medical condition, the surgery, the intricacies of his case. Suppose even for a moment that Binayak was indeed a passive Naxal sympathiser, the moot point here is that each of those meetings were legally sanctioned and conducted under supervision. Is that fair reason to steal a man's freedom? The prosecution claims Binayak masqueraded as Sanyal's relative, but his wife, Ilina invoked the RTI Act and extracted all the letters Binayak had written to the jail authorities seeking permission to meet Sanyal: all of them were on official PUCL letterheads, duly signed by Binayak as its general secretary.

SINCE BINAYAK was arrested, the police has continually gone fishing and, post facto, pulled out the most absurd evidence against him, building the case up desperately, bubble by bubble, on the most laughable of things: a confessional love letter between supposed Maoists in which Binayak's name appears as a possible source of moral advice; a scrap of paper in Gondi allegedly recovered from an encounter site, which no one can decipher but in which the words PUCL and the Chhattisgarh Special Security Act features; a letter by Naxal leader Madan Barkade to Binayak complaining about jail conditions which he published among the human rights community. Innocuous, explainable things. Nothing there to the common eye that suggests Binayak is a grave threat to national security who must be denied bail pending trial.

What then explains the State's inordinate zeal to put away Binayak? What explains its intractable need to erase his gentle, morally unim-peachable, identity and erect a dread criminal in its place? Why is it literally manufacturing evidence against the good doctor? For instance, DGP Vishwa Ranjan claims Piyush Guha is their main evidence against Binayak. Yet, in a seemingly desperate attempt to make Guha look more incriminating than he does, weeks after he was arrested, the police suddenly took him to Purulia on June 4, 2007, and made him an accused in an old bomb blast case in Thana Bundwan -- a case in which his name was not even mentioned in the original FIR, filed a full year and a half earlier in October 2005! Why this inordinate zeal to paint Binayak black?

TO UNDERSTAND the full horror of Binayak Sen's case -- to get a grip on its significance for the sanity of this country at large -- one needs to take a close look at the state of Chhattisgarh. The story of Binayak is just the most high-profile example of hundreds of unnamed individuals like him, caught in the cross-hair of a State at war with its own people. Like theirs, his story is the story of suspended reason, suspended logic and suspended freedom that is the inevitable outcome of a State that paralyses itself with the scare of "national security." In many ways, Chhattisgarh is now seen as the epicenter of a Maoist insurgency that cuts across 13 states. In Chhattisgarh, by the government's own admission, most of Bastar and Dantewada are out of its jurisdiction. This is undoubtedly a difficult situation. Each year, hundreds of policemen, hapless tribals, and symbols of the state -- bridges, jails, telegraph poles -- are blown up by extremists. By Home Ministry estimates, there were 311 casualties in Chhattisgarh in 2007; 571 nationwide. Sympathisers will tell you Maoists have local support -- how much of this is voluntary, how much coercion, one can never accurately tell: the only way you can report on the Maoists is if they take you into the jungles to their camps. What you get then is obviously selective information. Typically though, all the regions under Maoist influence are regions where the government has been culpably remiss. Either schools, primary health care, roads, electricity, livelihood -- all the benign functions of State -- are completely missing. Or, the government is on a rampage of development and industrialisation, which is at odds with local aspirations and needs.

With predictable myopia, the Indian State has been meeting grievance with violence, illness with extermination. Not cure. Draconian laws. CRPF battalions. IRP battalions. Increased militarisation. Thousands of crores for upgrading police. Special funds for Naxal-affected States. An invitation to competitive violence: that has been the government's response to grassroots militancy. In Chhattisgarh, this manifested itself particularly harmfully in 2005 as the government-sponsored counter-revolution: the now infamous Salwa Judum, which pitted villager against villager and triggered a bloody civil war. 644 villages have been forcibly evacuated by the government, their residents forced into sub-human camps. Smoke out the support, is the State's war cry. Civil rights activists tell you, the State's real quarry is not even the Maoists, but the iron-rich soil, ready to be handed to private corporations, Nandigramstyle. There are rumours that the makeshift camps are now going to be turned into official revenue villages, which will force tribals to abdicate all the original evacuated land to the government. All of that is speculation still; but the excesses of the Salwa Judum are real.

It is against this backdrop that Binayak Sen caught the self-serving eye of the State. Narayan Sanyal is perhaps the least controversial case he had espoused. Santoshpur fake encounter. Gollapalli fake encounter. Narayan Kherwa false encounter. Raipur false surrender. Ram Kumar Dhruv's custodial death. Ambikapur. Lakrakona. Bandethana. Koilibera. Each of these hieroglyphs has a searing back story: some excess of State that Binayak and other human rights activists investigated and criticised. Most damningly, in December 2005, Binayak led a 15-member team from different organisations and published a scathing report on the Salwa Judum. It was the first of many reports that would expose and embarrass the government.

It's this back story that made Binayak so unpalatable to the government. Consciously or subconsciously, it wanted to make a lesson of him. Perhaps even that is to accord more coherence to the State than it deserves. The real story of Binayak is the myopia of an unintelligent, scare-mongering State. Having declared Maoists as the "gravest threat to national security", the Indian government has got itself into a George Bush like-twist. It sees weapons of mass destruction where there are none. Men like Binayak Sen start to look like Osama Bin Laden. Such are the perception tricks the "national security" prism can play on you.

In a mellow moment, DGP Vishwa Ranjan will admit there has been a miscarriage of justice. "Left to myself, I would have kept Binayak under surveillance, not arrested him," he says. A big admission. In the same breath though, he will tell you conspiratorially that they have a mountain of evidence gathering against him. Evidence they can neither show you, nor yet present in court. Binayak Sen however can moulder in jail, while they construct their paranoid jigsaw.

ON FEBRUARY 2, 2008, a windy, brisk morning in Raipur, Binayak Sen is produced in the sessions court, nine months after his arrest, for the framing of charges. A surreal mood descends. The jostling cops contrast badly with the dignified calm of the frail handsome man who climbs down from the police van. A cold, firm handshake, a clear, refined voice, "Thank you for being here." Then everyone is in the court room. Judge Saluja mumbles out the charges, distinctly uncomfortable. He can drop some of the inflated accusations, but he doesn't. Binayak, listening in the witness box, denies all the charges, then asks for some time with his wife and lawyers. The judge concedes.

There is a palpable fear in the air. Several doctors who've come in solidarity are afraid to talk. There have been a series of arrests across Raipur the previous day: two women making an arms drop, a travel agency owner, a journalist. Everyone's feeling hunted. It's difficult to tell truth from lie. The framed from the genuine.

Binayak Sen, however, seems curiously aloof from all of this. As the police hustle him into the van, he presses his face against the iron bars and says urgently, "You must understand, there is a Malthusian process of exclusion going on in the country. You cannot create two categories of human beings. Everybody must wake up to this, otherwise soon it will be too late." The concerns of the humanist are apparent even through the imprisoning bar. "If they arrest people like me, human rights workers will have no locus standi. I have never condoned Maoist violence. It is an invalid and unsustainable movement. Along with the Salwa Judum, it has created a dangerous split in the tribal community. But the grievances are real. There is an on-going famine in the region. The body mass is below 18.5. Forty percent of the country lives with malnutrition. In Scheduled Castes and Tribes, this goes up to 50 and 60 percent respectively. We have to strive for more inclusive growth. You cannot create two categories of people..."

Hardly conversation designed to dismantle the Indian nation. Ask him why he lent his services to Narayan Sanyal, a self-confessed Naxal, and Binayak's answer captures the essential sanctity of civil rights across the world. "I knew I was entering the lion's mouth," he says quietly, "but if you start stepping back, where do you stop? You cannot discriminate. Everybody has the right to legal aid and medical care. That is written in the Constitution. That is the basis of individual, human rights."

One of DGP Vishwa Ranjan's grouses is, "Why does he criticise the Salwa Judum more than the Maoists?" Binayak's answer would be that the Indian State has a greater responsibility to abide by the Constitution and due process of law than Maoists who've abdicated from the State. But that's a moral nicety official India obviously finds difficult to grasp.

Ask Ilina Sen where she finds the strength to fight this battle, and she says, "I realise this goes beyond Binayak and my family. We are part of a much larger fight. We are struggling for the right to dissent peacefully. Our commitment to that gives me strength." Again, a moral nicety official India would find difficult to grasp. Take Medha Patkar: 20 years of peaceful resistance. No result. Take Sharmila Irom: 7 years of heroic fasting. No result. Take Binayak Sen...

Binayak Sen will soon be on trial. To continue his imprisonment during this period is to foreclose the space for peaceful protest in India. It is to nurture weapons of mass destruction. It is to invite violent conversations. It is to further rent a tattered Gandhian dream.


This article was originally published in Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 7, Feb 23, 2008.

Two shot dead by Maoists in Bihar village

PATNA: Suspected Maoist rebels shot dead two people and seriously injured two others in a village in Vaishali district of Bihar, police said on Saturday.

A group of armed Maoist guerrillas killed Subodh Kumar Singh and his brother Sudhanshu Kumar Singh at Ghoswar village under Sadar police station near the district headquarter of Hajipur, about 30 km from here, late Friday.

Police said the victims were associated with Bihar's ruling alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Their relatives Pinki Devi and Anil Kumar were grievously injured in the attack and were admitted to the Patna Medical College Hospital on Saturday.

“Both were first admitted to the Hajipur Sadar Hospital and referred to Patna Medical College after their condition deteriorated,” a police official said.

Vaishali Superintendent of Police Paras Nath said a combing operation was being undertaken to nab the Maoists.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Anuradha Gandhi: A Marxist Theoretician, an Exemplary Communist & Great Leader of the Indian Revolutionary Movement



On April 12 2008 Anuradha (alias Narmada, Varsha, Janaki, Rama) passed away after an attack of falciperum malaria. With this the Indian working class lost one of its ablest and topmost woman leader who with sheer hard work, deep ideological and political study, and revolutionary dedication rose from the ranks to become a member of the Central Committee of the C.P.I (Maoist); the oppressed women of India lost one of the greatest champions of their cause, one who, for more than three and a half decades, relentlessly organised them, led them into struggles against oppression and exploitation; the Nagpur dalit masses and workers of the unorganised sector lost a leader who stayed among them, awakening and organising them; and the adivasi masses of Bastar, especially those
of South Bastar, worst affected by the genocidal Salwa Judum, lost their beloved didi, who worked among them for years sharing their weal and woe; and the students and intellectuals lost a revolutionary role model, who gave up the comforts of a middle class life in order to integrate with
the oppressed masses. She is the first Mahilla Central Commmittee Member to be martyred in the history of the Maoist movement in the country. She was just 54 at the time of her martyrdom. She had just returned after spending a week in Jharkhand taking classes amongst the tribals on the question of women’s oppression. After getting high fever on April 6th she was not able to get proper medical attention due to the difficulties of underground life. The local pathologist said there was no malarial infection in the blood and so she was treated for stomach upset by a local doctor. It was only on 11th after another blood test that she realised that she had falciperum malaria. Though even on that morning she appeared fine, inside, the falciperum bacteria had already affected her lungs, heart and
kidney which had already been weakened by systemic scerlosis. Though she was admitted in a hospital immediately, barely within an hour her systems began failing. Though she was put on oxygen and later life support systems, the end came the next morning. While on oxygen she was conscious and her eyes wide open. The same soft eyes with her depth of expression, though in acute pain with probable knowledge that she was sinking. The degeneration was catalyzed by the fact that she had an incurable disease, systemic sclerosis. This auto-immune disease first affected her hands and slowly attacked the inner organs. Detected two years ago and probably in existence since the last 5 years, it had already affected her lungs and heart beat. Yet, with her commitment to the masses and revolution she worked with the same ardour as earlier. She rarely spoke of the disease and took on even the most strenuous tasks. Her commitment to the cause of revolution was unshakable no matter what the ups and downs. Being with the incipient revolutionary movement right from her college days in the early 1970s in Mumbai, she gave up a career as a brilliant lecturer, and dedicated her entire life to the revolution to become a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). At the 9th Congress-Unity Congress she was the single Mahilla comrade to be elected to its Central Committee. In this span of about 35 years work with the Indian revolutionary movement she has contributed much to the building of the revolutionary movement in the country, not only organisationally, but also politically and ideologically. She was one of the founders of the CPI (ML) Party in Maharashtra. Though her prime focus was in Maharashtra (both the Western and the Vidharbha region) her work also contributed to the building of the all-India organisation and even of the Dandakaranya movement. Even at a late age of over 40, and after serving as a senior professor teaching sociology to post-graduate students at Nagpur University, she moved to live with the tribals of Bastar staying with the armed squads for three years. She was there at the peak of the 1997
famine when her own health had deteriorated under those hard conditions of life. She started her political life at Elphinstine College Mumbai in 1972 which became the hub od radical left-wing activities in the 1970s, primarily due to her initiation. Earlier she had visited the Bangladesh refugee camps and had gone to the famine hit people with a group of students during the horrible famine in Maharashtra of 1972. Deeply moved by what she saw there, and being a very sensitive person, she began taking part in college activities and social work with the poor. While active amongst students
she came in touch with the student organisation PROYOM (Progressive Youth Movement), which was connected to the then Naxalite movement. She soon became its active member, and later one of its leaders. She also worked in the slums through which she developed her first interaction
with dalits, the dalit movement and the horrors of untouchability. She was a participant in the radical Dalit Panther movement of 1974; and in the 3-month long Worli clashes with the Shiv Sena. Her sensitive nature drew her to the agony of dalit oppression and led her to seek answers to it.
She read voraciously and gained a deep knowledge of Marxism. Later, in the post-Emergency period she became one the leading figures in the country in the civil liberties movement and was one of the initiators of the CPDR (Committee of Protection of Democratic Rights). In 1982 she moved from Mumbai to Nagpur and while teaching at Nagpur University she actively participated in, and played a leading role in the trade union and dalit movements in the region. In the process she went a number of times to jail. With State repression increasing she was forced to go underground. Later, at the call of the Party she went to Bastar to work among the tribals, and on returning she took up the responsibility once again of building the revolutionary movement in Maharashtra. Since the last 15 years she has been working in the underground building the Party and Maharashtra as well as leading the women’s wing of the Party, until her sudden and untimely demise.

Early Life

Anuradha Shanbag, fondly called Anu throughout her legal days, was born on March 28 1954. She was born and brought up in an atmosphere of rational and progressive thinking as her parents were one time CPI members who had themselves got married in the undivided CPI office in Mumbai in the 1940s. She was the elder of two children, with her brother growing to become a noted stage artist and script writer from Mumbai. Her father was, in the 1950s, in the Defence Committee taking up the
legal cases of the communists arrested in the Telangana struggle and later became a well known progressive lawyer of Mumbai; the mother is an active social worker who, even at this late age, is active with a women’s group. Her father later became a well known lawyer in the Bombay High
Court. With the father a Kannadiga and mother a Gujarati and with all the aunts (from the mother’s side) at one time in the CPI (an uncle from Aurangabad was till his death a top leader of the CPI) she was brought up in a non-religious, liberal atmosphere from childhood itself. An atmosphere of serious reading, intellectual creativity, and rational thinking, and a pro-poor attitude, was very much part of her entire upbringing. In this atmosphere she excelled academically in both school and college.
With a very sharp mind and a quick grasping ability, she topped in studies with ease. Being a very lively person she would mix very easily with one and all. Though she chose a different path from most of her school mates, they still hold fond memories of her. She went to the J.B.Petit School not
too far from her parent’s house. She was a topper throughout her school days. She was also involved in many extra-curricular activities. Particularly she had a keen interest in Indian classical dancing, which she had picked up during her school days. She joined Elphinstone College in 1971 and though she soon became active in student work she continued her meritorious run in college. She was a popular mass leader and able to attract many students to the movement. It was these students organised by her that later went on to build the powerful student organisation in the post-emergency period, the VPS (Vidhyarthi Pragati Sanghatna). She went on to do her MA in sociology and later M.Phil. Later she began lecturing, first in Wilson College (Chowpatti) and then at the Jhunjhunwalla College (Ghatkopar). Just as she was a good student she was also a very popular and effective lecturer. She was a favourite amongst her students. That was her nature, whatever task she took up she did with a lot of fervour and diligently. In this post-emergency period she plunged into the nationwide civil liberties movement for the release of political prisoners and was one of the founder members of the CPDR (Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights) in Mumbai. She became a public figure and a renowned civil liberty’s activist throughout the country. In Nov.1977 she married a fellow comrade at a small function involving only the families on both sides. She became a popular Maoist
speaker within the countrywide civil liberties movement, which was a broad front of Maoists and all others who had been falsely incarcerated during the Emergency. It was her sensitive nature and intellectual interests that attracted her towards the worldwide communist upsurge of that time, during her college days. The anti-US movement in support of the Vietnam revolution and the huge impact of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution had a major impact on the youth throughout the world. In India the additional attraction of the youth of that time was the Naxalbari uprising when thousands of students gave up their careers and education and selflessly went to the countryside. All this had a big impact on the young Anu who was already much moved by the famine stricken people she had visited
in 1971. Reading the accounts of the Chinese revolution and the GPCR by western authors inspired Anu and many of that generation. The purity of the self-sacrificing nature of the first generation naxalites, many of whom were killed in the prime of their youth, further acted as inspiration.
Drawn into the revolutionary student movement of that period Anu soon became a committed revolutionary. Since then there has been no looking back. Being a brilliant student she sacrificed a very promising career; though she later married, she sacrificed the desire to have children, so that she would not get distracted from her revolutionary responsibilities. She studied Marxism deeply to equip herself with the tools that could keep her on the revolutionary track in the face of all alien ideas propping up. She always took on the most ardous tasks without any complaint. She never gave a thought for herself, whether health, family or any other personal matter. She was deeply affected by the injustice all around, and realising that only revolution could solve it, she gave her entire life for the
poverty stricken masses of our country. Neither acute hardships, dangers from the police and government, not poor health, shook her determination to the cause she had taken up. Even on the very morning of the day she collapsed, inspite of high fever, she was completing some urgent task
she had taken up before going to the hospital. Ofcourse, that morning there was no indication whatsoever that she would never return. But, within hours her internal organs began failing and then she was no more.

Growth as a Renowned Revolutionary Mass Leader

During the late 1970s Anuradha was in the forefront of the countrywide civil liberties movement. In the early 1980s, with the formation of the CPI(ML)(People’s War), and the spread of the revolutionary movement to Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, there was talk of the need to spread the revolutionary activities from Mumbai to Vidharbha. Here too she was one of the pioneers, giving up her job in the
Mumbai College and her high profile public life and shifting to Nagpur; a place totally unknown to her. With her record as a good lecturer, she soon landed a job of teaching sociology to post-graduate students in Nagpur University. Her focus of activities in Vidharbha was primarily trade union work and amongst dalits. In the trade unions she worked primarily amongst construction workers and led many a militant struggle. Most notable was the lengthy strike at the Khaparkheda (30 kms from Nagpur) thermal power plant being constructed, of about 5,000 workers. This ended in police firing
and curfew being declared in the region. She was also involved in organising the ‘molkarins’ (house servants) of Nagpur, workers in the MIDC companies at Hingna (Nagpur), railway workers, bidi workers in Bhandara, powerloom workers at Kamptee (15 kms from Nagpur), and other unorganised sector workers, and later shifted to Chandrapur to help organise the coal-mine and construction workers there. Most of these unorganised sector workers had defacto no basic trade union rights
and were totally ignored by the traditional unions. She also developed links for joint activities with other progressive trade union leaders of the region from not only Nagpur, but also from Chandrapur, Amravati Jabalpur, Yeotmal, etc. In these struggles she was arrested a few times, and had spent a number of days in Nagpur jail. Inspite of her job, she became a renowned revolutionary trade union leader of the region. Besides this, she was even more active within the dalit community organising and awakening them against caste oppression and for their liberation from this oppressive system. She was infact one of the pioneers amongst the revolutionary Marxists to have addressed the issue of dalit
oppression and caste discrimination at a very early stage itself. She had read extensively Ambedkar and other sociological writings on the caste question. Unlike the traditional Marxists she fully identified with dalits and infact moved her Nagpur residence to one of the largest dalit bastis
of Mahrashtra, Indora. Though this was a stronghold of most of the dalit leaders and a hotbed of dalit politics, large sections of the youth soon began getting attracted to the Naxalites. Particularly the cultural troupes she helped organise had enormous impact. She grew to become the open face of the Maoists in the dalit movement; and became one of the major public speakers at most dalit meetings in Vidarbha. Though vehemently opposed by the dalit leaders, with her deep study of Ambedkar,
dalit issues and caste oppression, she could stand her ground, with widespread support from the youth.
She wrote profusely on the topic in both English and Marathi presenting a class view-point to the issue and countering not only the numerous post-modernist trends on this issue but the wrong Marxist
interpretations of the dalit and caste questions. The most elaborate article on the issue was a 25-page piece in Marathi that appeared in Satyashodhak Marxvad (the organ of Sharad Patil from Dhule) explaining a Marxist stand on the dalit question and linking dalit liberation with the task of the
new democratic revolution in the country. Till today this article is quoted by many. Many years later it was she who prepared the original draft on the basis of which the erstwhile CPI (ML)(PW) prepared the first ever caste policy paper within the Marxist movement in India. In this draft she outlined that in India the democratisation of society is inconceivable without smashing the elitist caste system and fighting all forms of caste oppressions, most particularly its crudest form against dalits in the form
of untouchability. Much of the views expressed by her then in the mid- 1990s, have now been adopted by the CPI (Maoist) in its recent Congress. Besides, all this, she was also instrumental in building the
revolutionary women’s movement in Nagpur. She stood out as a shining example for all progressive women who actively overcame all the patriarchal constraints of society around to play a leading role on varied fronts and in the Party. She inspired a large number of women to not only the women’s organisation but also the Party. Besides these two fields of work there were many notable events
that occurred in which she played a pioneering role while in Nagpur. Particularly we mention two such examples; which had an indelible revolutionary impact on the consciousness of the people of Vidharbha. The first was the Kamlapur Conference of 1984; the second was the proposed JNM Cultural programme led by Gaddar, in 1992. the Kamplapur Conference was organised deep in the forests of Gadchirolli by the incipient Naxalite movement in the region. A massive campaign, led by
Anuradha, was carried out all over Vidarbha, while the armed squads did a hug mobilisation within the forests. Though the conference was ruthlessly crushed by the police, hundreds and thousands of people began flocking towards Kamplapur — a small village deep in the forests. The revolutionary message from Kamlapur reverberated throughout the region for months. The proposed Gaddar programme in Nagpur, which too was crushed by ruthless police action, had an even greater impact. People still recollect the diminutive Anuradha climbing onto a motor cycle to address the large crowd gathered on the streets outside the college hall which had been sealed by the police, inspite of a High Court order allowing the programme. Though thousands of police had surrounded the hall and
occupied all approach roads to it, the big gathering included a large number of journalists, lecturers, writers, lawyers, and even senior faculty members. All were lathi-chared as soon as Gaddar was produced. Though the programme did not take place this was head-line news for nearly two
months. Both these events had a major impact on spreading revolutionary views widely all over Vidharbha and it was she who was the main architect of both these programmes. Inspite all these activities she was a very popular teacher amongst her students showing a high level of responsibility towards them, not missing a single lecture. Like any task she took up, she would be thorough
and conscientious about it. So, she was much loved by her students, and respected by her professor colleagues. But later, due to intense police pressure the Party felt her affectivity would be more from the underground. And so, since about 1994 she has functioned continuously from the underground; braving all the difficulties of underground life. During her one-and-a-half decade in the Vidharbha region she had an enormous impact on the region in bringing revolutionary politics to the area. Not only did she, together with others, build a revolutionary working class movement, and powerful revolutionary movement among dalits, but she also helped build the revolutionary student movement and attracting a vast cross-section of intellectuals, including senior professors, journalists, noted playwrights and top advocates of the region. Soon after coming to Nagpur, after the death of revolutionary writer of AP, Cherabandaraju, she got his poems translated into Marathi and an anthology containing those poems was released at a function by the most renowned Marathi
poet of the region. The Marathi translation of the poems sold extensively in all Maharashtra, creating a major impact. Among the many fields she worked, her most effective impact was taking revolutionary politics amongst the dalits and arousing them to a revolutionary consciousness.She was one of the most prominent leaders f the civil liberties movement in the post Emergency period and played a prominent role in the famous Civil Liberties Conference held in 1977 at Delhi, demanding the release of political prisoners. The conference included such leading lights as V.M.Tarkunde, Govinda Mukhoty, Subba Rao, Sudesh Vaid and even some ruling class elements as George Fernandez and Arun Shourie. She continued this role through the 1980s inspite of all her other activities. She also played a role in the formation of the AILRC (All India League of Revolutionary Culture) formed in 1983. She was one of the main speakers at the Sindri (near Dhanbad) Conference of the AILRC in 1985, together with KVR, Gaddar, VV and others, and till today she is much remembered by the comrades of Bihar and Jharkhand (many in the leadership today) who were attracted to the revolutionary movement by the impact of that Conference and the cultural performances. Many in the region remember her fondly from those days.
Call of Bastar

Having carried the revolutionary message of the Dandakaranya movement to the rest of Vidharbha, she, without flinching, responded to the call of the Party to shift base to Bastar. In the second half of the 1990s she spent three years living with the squads amongst the Bastar tribals. Carrying a rifle and in military fatigue she spent the next three years of her revolutionary life amongst the tribals of DK. She went out of her way to gather many a PHD study on the Gond tribals to the Party leaders of DK. She always maintained that these three years were one of the most fulfilling in her life where she learned about the lives and struggles of the Gond tribals of Bastar. She keenly studied their lives and how the movement was built. She particularly focused on the lives of the women, their organisation, the KAMS (Krantikari Adivasi Mahilla Sanghathna) and the women in the squads. She too learned how to wield the gun and as part of the squad she carried one for her self-defence. In fact, on one
occasion she had a very narrow escape when the police came within feet of where they were resting. Their firing missed her and the retaliation by her squad allowed them to retreat without any loss of life.
She spent most of her time in the Byramgadh area which, recently, has been in the limelight for facing the brunt of the Salwa Judum attacks.Though she contracted malaria a number of times while she was there it was never the dangerous falciperum kind; besides she was in the good care of the local Party that showed much concern for her. Her tenacity in staying with the squads astounded and impressed even the local tribals who would time and again mention how at this late age she had managed to come and stay there. During this period she also spent much time in taking classes, mainly for the growing leadership amongst tribal women. She took classes on women’s health issues, women’s oppression and the new democratic revolution, on imparting general knowledge, on giving the rudiments of Marxism, etc. She helped draft handbills and wrote numerous articles in the local Party magazine. Towards the last part of her stay she was given independent charge of the West Bastar area covering what is known as the National Park region. This too is a region which is affected by the recent Salwa Judum onslaught. While she was there she guided and developed the movement
in the area. She was there during the peak of the 1997 famine in which hundreds had died of starvation in other areas. Here, with the Party seizing grains from the hoarders and distributing grain the damage was much controlled. During this period, attacks of malaria, the terrible dry heat of summer, coupled with the famine conditions took a toll on her health, when she lost about 10 Kgs of weight. It was only her enormous commitment to the cause of the people, and tremendous will-power that kept her going under even these worst conditions. Besides, her nature was such that she never showed any of her own sufferings. She always bore pain, whether physical or mental, without complaining, or others coming to know. After returning from Bastar she took up Party responsibilities in Mahaashtra while continuing an underground existence. For the last decade she has contributed to building the revolutionary movement in Maharashtra, besides playing the major role in running the Mahilla subcommittee of the Party since 2001.

Party Life

Anu’s commitment to the oppressed masses was unflinching. It was this concern for the well-being of the poverty stricken masses that drew her to revolutionary politics. Unable to tolerate the poverty and humiliation that the poor faced, she sought answers. The terrible humiliation that dalits faced due to untouchability and other forms of inhuman discrimination drew her to study the caste question in India and Ambedkar’s writings and own the cause of the dalits from a very early period. At that time dalit issues were not the fashion as it now is, and was anathema in most Marxist circles. Even as a student she joined in the Marxist study circles run by the then incipient Party. She was one of the chief architects of the building the revolutionary movement in Mumbai in the 1970s. She played a premier role in the revolutionary student movement and building up the Party core within it. She was a founder member of the CPI (ML) Party in Maharashtra. Popularity and fame never went to her head and she easily switched to a new low profile role as per the needs of the Party. When the need grew to develop a political movement in Vidarbha after the initiation of the Gadchiroli armed movement, she willingly volunteered to shift from her home base in Mumbai and move to a place where she did not know even a single person. There, she soon managed a part-time teaching job with post-graduate students in Nagpur University and thereby gained social acceptability locally. She was an ordinary member of the Party when the CPI(ML)(People’s War) was formed in 1980 and after she moved to Nagpur she played a leading role in building the Party and revolutionary movement there. Later, she became a member of the Vidharbha Regional Committee of the Party. As a VRC member she played an important role in building the Party in the region. After coming back from Bastar she was elected to the Maharashtra State Committee of the Party. Later she was also given additional responsibility as part of the Central Mahilla Sub-committee, ever since it was established. She attended as a delegate to both the 2001 Congress held by the erstwhile CPI(ML)(PW) and the Unity Congress-ninth Congress of the CPI(Maoist) . She was the only delegate that was elected to the Presidium of both the Congresses, which conducted its proceedings. At the 2001 Congress she was elected as an Alternate Member of the Central Committee. At the time of her martyrdom she was a member of the highest body of the CPI (Maoist), it’s Central Committee, with independent charge of the Central Mahilla Sub-Committee and also a part of the CC’s South Western Regional Bureau. As part of her role in
this Sub-Committee she played an important role of drafting the Women’s Perspective of the Party. At the time of her death she was working on studying the problems women comrades were facing in the Party, the varied forms of patriarchy they face, and devising a rectification plan that would help the growth of women comrades, so that they can grow to take greater leadership responsibilities. In fact her very last task was taking a class of the leading women activists from Jharkhand, mostly from tribal background, to explain the Women’s Perspective of the Party. Her untimely and premature death will have a serious impact on the revolutionary movement in the country and particularly on the development of women’s work in the Party as also the development of work in Maharashtra.

Anu, an Exemplary Communist

Almost child-like, her face was a mirror of expression of her emotions/feelings; pretence, falsehood, intrigue, ego, etc, were unimaginable for her. And this nature never changed through all the traumatic decades of revolutionary life. It was her extremely high level of honesty towards herself and others that attracted all genuine people towards her; even those who disagreed with her views. She had a natural ability of mixing and integrating into any environment … whether it is of tribals, dalits, and construction workers or of top academics, intellectuals of the country. Her simplicity and child-like innocence, together with her enormous liveliness made her a most likable person. She was totally selfless, uncaring about her own comforts and even health, with a lot of concern for others. She was exceedingly hardworking, with a very strong sense of discipline. She was the type of person that if
she took up any task all could be rest assured it would get done. She had a strong sense of responsibility towards people and any task what-soever, however trivial it may be. This was reflected in her teaching work, political work, or anything she took up. It was reflected in her attitude
towards her students, colleagues, comrades, or, in fact, any person she was associated with. And one of her best and most lovable qualities was her high sense of principles. She was an extremely principled person standing up for what she believed in and not a person to adjust her beliefs
according to the views of others, however senior, or for the sake of some petty gains. So, people could trust her implicitly. Yet, she had the modesty to be a willing learner.While being creative and not stereotype in her thinking, she was always firm on the Party line and Marxist ideology and never compromised with views she felt incorrect, no matter who was presenting them. It was this steadfastness that allowed her to stay with true revolutionary forces till her very last, through all the ups and downs in her over 3½ decade long revolutionary life. Yet, she had the positive approach of seeing the positives in others, even with those she differed with, and showing respect to all, no matter what her differences. Though impatient at times she never bore grudges against others. In that way she acted as a solid and steadfast anchor for the Party, through all its ups and downs, particularly in Maharashtra. She never knew fear and even in the face of death, during the last moments of consciousness her eyes had the same softness and tenderness as was in the normal days. She took up the most arduous and dangerous tasks at very critical changes in her political life — this was reflected in her ability to give up her high profile public life when she was in Mumbai and overnight shift to Nagpur where not a sole knew her; then again she could give up her University job and image of
one of the most popular leaders of Nagpur and go underground and join the squads in Bastar; even in her very last days when the bulk of the Party leadership was arrested in Maharashtra it was she who held the Party together though it was high risk with the police specifically hunting for her.
And all these qualities shone through her personality even as a woman activist in this highly patriarchal and feudal atmosphere in the country. As a person she had all the qualities of what a real human-being and comrade should be like. All these excellent qualities enabled her to become
a true and genuine communist. Her loss is an enormous loss for the revolutionary and democratic movement of the country; and more particularly for its progressive and revolutionary women.

Anuradha Gandhi as the leader, theoretician and teacher of the Revolutionary Women’s Movement of India

It was the year 2001. Delegates from about 16 states celebrated March 8th with great gusto in the camp organized for conducting the 9th Congress of the erstwhile CPI (ML) (People’s War). Martyr comrades
Padma and Lalitha from North Telangana planned the whole programme with great enthusiasm along with other women delegates and the comrades in the camp. There were many speakers. One comrade from the CC also spoke and after a very educative speech straight away went for a public self criticism on their part (meaning leadership in the areas where they held responsibilities) about not organizing women on a large scale into the movement and not being able to sustain them due to problems of
patriarchy also along with other problems. He said how inspired he was with impressive participation of women in many armed struggle areas like DK, NT and AP and vowed to correct the mistakes and ensure large participation of women in the party and army. His speech reflected the serious introspection of the party about how to involve more women into the party, army and the UF in areas where it is poor and how to bring women into leadership even where their participation is large. But on a private note it could be also the result of the discussions women delegates were having in their spare time with the delegates from various areas about the participation of women in the movement. One of them was Anuradha Gandhi, then known as Com. Janaki. The Congress discussed about this question seriously so much so that the hall passed a resolution that a central level women’s sub committee should be formed which would strive to increase the participation of women in the revolution and solve the problems related to their development. The new CC elected in that 2001 Congress promptly formed a women’s sub committee at the Central level and Com. Janaki, as the
senior most woman comrade and as a comrade with vast experience in building up various mass organizations and her in depth understanding of MLM, was chosen to lead it. We all know that in a communist party there is no need that a Women’s Commission or a sub committee should be headed by a woman only. So we should understand she was chosen for her exemplary abilities and experience and theoretical knowledge for this important and challenging task as a party leader. She was elected as an alternative member to the CC in the same Congress, the first woman in the history of the erstwhile CPI (ML) (PW) to be elected so. In fact she was the first woman comrade to be elected to a state committee in the party too (Com. Padma was elected as an alternate member to the state committee in North Telangana in the same period and almost immediately after the Congress was co opted as
a full member). Com. Janaki was the first woman comrade to be in the presidium in the Congress in the party. Once again she was in the presidium in the 9th Congress – Unity Congress of the CPI (Maoist), a testimony to her skills in presiding over the highest forum in the party. At the 2001
Congress she took on the additional task of translating from the stage and did it with equal ease from English to Hindi and vice versa with amazing precision and speed in the sessions both times. One of the first tasks of the new sub committee (CMSC now onwards for Central Mahila Sub Committee) was to enrich the party document ‘Our Approach towards woman question’ which was first released by the party in 1996. Com. Janaki’s theoretical depth very much contributed in its enrichment. (We feel proud to announce here that Com. Saketh, martyr Comrade of Karnataka had done a lot of contribution for this). Once again she was to take up the task of revising it along with some CC comrades after the formation of CPI (Maoist). She had taken classes on this document too in various movement areas of India like Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. She had a flair for languages and could take classes in English, Hindi, Marathi and probably in Gondi too which she picked up
fast while in DK. She was a very patient teacher and explained the concepts as many times as is required till the students understood. She always encouraged students to ask questions and get their doubts cleared.She used very simple language when she had to take classes to the adivasi
or peasant comrades but never left any complex concepts unexplained. This is something all party teachers should emulate. Her experience as a lecturer may have been an asset in taking classes but the main motive force within was her undying zeal as a communist teacher to educate the future cadres of the revolution so that they become good leaders with a thorough understanding of MLM. Even in private discussions whenever anybody asked any doubt she always explained with enthusiasm till their
doubt is cleared. Because of her theoretical clarity and command over language she could do it with exceptional ease. In Jharkhand where she took her last class a few days before her death, the students were so overwhelmed by their beloved teacher that they found it very difficult to part from her and accompanied her till a long distance to give her a moving farewell. Some of them continued in spite of her requests to go back and almost went till the last step of her journey to outside the forests;
and parted with her asking her to come again and again for taking such classes and educating them. What would those poor peasant, adivasi girls and women comrades, students who in turn inspired their teacher, have felt when they heard the news of her sad demise? One can only try to imagine Another of the tasks the CMSC took up was to prepare notes for the of preparing the most theoretical of them ‘Marxism and Feminism’ ‘naturally’ fell to her. She had prepared the notes and also took classes
on them. She was to revise it further in May and finalize it. It is our great loss that we lost her before she finished this task but the notes which have been completed give a glimpse of her analytical capabilities and in depth understanding of MLM. She did not believe in anything in a dogmatic way and tried to analyze using the later day experiences women were gaining both in India and the world. She had studied a lot for preparing these notes in spite of her busy schedules and age and health
problems. She never said no to responsibilities and tried to fit in these kinds of writing works by managing her time in a better way. She felt most comfortable in writing in English (she had mentioned this) but could write well in Marathi and Hindi also. Her drafting was excellent in English; she could explain very complex concepts in fewer words but in a lucid manner. She was the best woman theoretician of the party who could explain, debate and write on ideological questions in the party. She had voluntarily taken up the task of studying and writing notes on the Russian and Chinese experiences in building up the women’s movement but due to the developments in Maharashtra (arrests of senior comrades) she had to take up more responsibilities and so could not get started on this task yet. Now we can only grieve over how many more theoretical contributions she would have made to the party on many issues and especially the women’s issue on which she was concentrating of late.She had contributed many articles to People’s March on the women’s issues and drafted March 8 calls of the party as CMSC member since 2001. Her articles have been translated into Telugu and Hindi and printed in women’s magazines of the states. In the beginning of 2004 she led the two member team of CMSC which held discussions with a women leader of the Philippines’ women’s
movement and the secretary of New Zealand party (who happened to be a woman comrade) for exchanging information and experiences regarding women’s movement and about women in the party and army. She had prepared the note on the discussion with the New Zealand comrade for the understanding of the leadership. The CMSC had been organizing field trips to various struggle areas
and Com. Janaki led the two member team for the first of such field trips to Bihar and Jharkhand in 2002. She had taken classes on the women’s perspective and the team also had in depth discussions on the problems of women comrades and obstacles in their recruitment and retaining them in the party and army with the leadership. The team had written a report on the trip with their observations and suggestions for the CC.The CMSC’s field reports were for the CC to look into these matters.
This report not only appraised the CC of the problems there but also helped the CMSC to prepare some guidelines while going on such field trips as this was the first of the kind. She and another comrade had gone to the Balaghat – Gondia area to take classes and they also held a workshop
there with the women comrades to understand and help the party in solving them. Her observations were sharp and her deep understanding of socialist man-woman relations and the role of patriarchy in obstructing women’s development helped the party leadership in understanding the problems of women comrades. She never minced words and was forthright in putting forward her opinions to correct the mistakes in the party be it on women issues or others.She was assisting and guiding another comrade since 2001 in looking after the All India women’s work and since 2004 she was given the full responsibility of it. She fulfilled this task facing many odds amidst increasing state repression and at great risk. Undauntedly she tried to use every resource at her disposal to guide this work. Since 2006 she was actively guiding the work of consolidating the women’s work at all India
level. The classes and workshop held in Jharkhand in March, 2008 (where she caught the deadly falciperum malaria) were part of this consolidation work. She was to completely concentrate on this task now and it is an irretrievable loss to the All India Revolutionary Women’s Movement to
have lost such an indefatigable leader at this crucial juncture. After the formation of the CPI (Maoist) the CMSC was reconstituted and another comrade was heading the CMSC but after the arrest of that
comrade com. Janaki had once again taken up the responsibility as the in-charge of the CMSC. In the 9th Congress – Unity Congress of the CPI (Maoist) she was elected to the CC, only the second woman to be elected to the highest body and the only one at present since the other woman comrade was in jail. Since 2001 Com. Janaki was the leading person in the CMSC in the erstwhile PW and since 2005 in the CPI (Maoist) and left her indelible mark on all the tasks taken up by it till now.She had sclerosis since 5 years but it was diagnosed properly only 2 years back. In spite of this and other health problems she never complained and more importantly never felt prey to self pity and “just took it in herstride” (to quote her) and tried to make the best of it. This unbending spirit of hers is to be imbibed by every comrade and especially women comrades who tend to self pity when faced with such problems (due to the patriarchal concepts put in their heads by this society). It was really astounding how she got herself to climb steps and mountains with such serious problem and also hold the pen to write in such beautiful handwriting with her visibly misshapen fingers! Though those close to
her complained that she is not taking enough care of herself she smiled and tried to fit in time for her health. But obviously neither those who complained nor she herself even in their wildest imagination would have thought that such an illustrious life would end in this manner.Her experience both in urban and rural areas (three years in DK and also her various trips to the rural areas as part of her work), her aptitude to understand the problems of women in both kinds of work and in the party, army and the UF, her competence to tackle them at both ideological and practical levels was indeed a rare combination, and that too in a woman comrade given the various constraints women faced in this
patriarchal society. She unsparingly gave the best of these abilities to solve the problems of women inside the party. She was to lead the CMSC in studying the problems of development of women comrades in the party, army and UF, which the CMSC had taken up recently. It is not just a great loss not to have her guidance in fulfilling the task but all the more painful because she was one of the shining examples of what women could achieve in spite of the patriarchal barriers and was serving as a live model to the women comrades. Bur her life will continue to be a beacon light for generations of youngsters and especially the women joining the revolutionary movement.

Anuradha’s Untiring Struggle Against Caste Discrimination & Untouchability

Anuradha was just a fresh recruit to the revolutionary movement and beginning to understand Marxism-Leninism-Maoism when the Dalit Panther movement burst over Mumbai. Modelled along the Black Panther movement of the US, it burst out as a reaction against caste oppression
and untouchability on a scale never seen before. It particularly targeted the upper caste Hindu fascists, particularly the Shiv Sena and exposed the servile dalit/RPI (Republican Party of India) leadership. It was initiated and led by dalit cultural youth who brought out radical poetry and stories; all of whom were from the slums of Mumbai. They believed in physical retaliation against any form of oppression or atrocities against them, and also resorted to it. They Panther rage spread like wild fire throughout
Maharashtra and even to the neighbouring states. The rejected Hinduism and all the feudal muck that goes with it. The ruling classes became panicky and pressed into service their faithful tool, the newly formed fascist Shiv Sena. Sena goons and the police launched a massive physical onslaught on the Panthers and by end 1974 the Worli area of Mumbai turned into a battlefield with the police quarters situated at the BDD Chawls acting as the centre for Sena operations and the neighbouring slums the
centre for dalit retaliation.It was one such slum that Anuradha was already working. Mayanagar
was a fully dalit slum and was soon to become the strongest fortress withstanding the Sena/Police physical attacks. Many of the leading youth of the slum also became a part of the second layer of leadership of the Dalit Panthers. The pitched battles continued for three months without any let-up. The Sena used police weapons, swords, tube-lights, acid, etc; the Panthers used stones, tube-lights, knives and in Mayanagar the youth were taught the use of Molotov Cocktails. The Sena and police
could capture most other slums but were regularly beaten back at Mayanagar. Many of the dalit activists from neighbouring slums took refuge in Mayanagar to escape police/Sena attacks. It was during this time there was an election for the Parliament in this area, which the Panthers actively boycotted, leading to the defeat of the RPI leader B.C.Kamble. Anuradha played a role in building up this resistance. The then M-L group in Mumbai (later to become Janashakti) first condemned
the Panther movement and later, when it began collapsing and the leaders getting co-opted, began tailing it. In the short span of its existence the Dalit Panther movement brought a radical change in the thinking amongst the SCs of the State and introduced the term Dalits for SCs rather than the hinduised ‘Harijan’ of M,K,Gandhi. It also introduced a radical cultural trend in Marathi literature. Dalit literature, though later co-opted by the state and ruling classes continues to sprout radical views in the bastis and mohallas as also many a rural ghetto in the state. Then, there was not yet any deep understanding on the Dalit question but Anuradha played an active role standing with the dalit masses and against the Shiv Sena and other reactionaries. This was her first involvement on the issue.
It is then that she began studying the dalit issue in earnest. Being a lecturer in sociology, she studied many sociological writings on the issue, the writings of Ambedkar, etc and while being involved with the dalit masses sought to understand the problem from a class/Marxist viewpoint.The Panther movement and its aftermath pushed the dalit question on to the agenda of the oppressed masses, in a way it had never done earlier. Soon all progressives, leftists, Marxists had to define their position
vis-à-vis caste oppression and the horrors of untouchability. In Maharashtra two trends developed within the progressive circles: the first was a sort of post-modernist approach, led primarily by the likes of Gail Omvedt; the other was a negation of the very issue itself by the traditional Marxists. There was yet another approach in the left circles that sought to combine Marxism and Ambedkar’s writings, the leading protaganist of whom was Sharad Patil. It was Anuradha who began polemics with all these trends and in the process evolving a class/Marxist view-point to the dalit question in India. The culmination of this process was the lengthy article in Satyashodak Marxvad (organ of Sharad Patil) which appeared in Marathi around the late 1980s. This was further refined, together with an analysis of Ambedkar which developed into the rough draft written in about 1994, on the basis of which the CPI(ML)(PW) brought out the caste policy document; the first of its kind ever.Meanwhile Anuradha had shifted to Nagpur; and after a few years shifted her residence to the main dalit basti of the city, which was also the heart of dalit politics in Maharashtra. Here she lived a full decade working amongst the dalits, living amongst them, and organising them. This brought her into close contact with the dalit movement and the issues they faced. This gave her a living understanding of the problem,
which, combined with her theoretical study helped evolve an indepth knowledge of the issue. The Indora basti had a vibrant political atmosphere and as the bulk of the population were from very poor background they easily took to the radical understanding of the caste question. Through the 1980s and 1990s the waves of radical revolts at an all Maharashtra level created the fertile ground in Indora which helped Anuradha radicalize the youth of the over one-lakh basti. First it was the wave of struggles against the banning of Ambedkar’s book ‘Riddles in Hinduism’, then the continuous mass militant outbursts for the renaming of Marathwada University as Ambedkar University; then there was the 4-day paralysis of entire Maharashtra after the firing by police and killing of 11 innocent
dalits at the Rama Bai Ambedkar Nagar in Mumbai after Ambedkar’s statue had been garlanded by chappals by some miscreants; and recently too there was the outburst against the brutal murder of dalits at Khairlanji, Bhandara district. Anuradha was there amidst all these revolts playing
some role organising, writing, analysing and getting deeply involved in the struggles of the dalits of Maharashtra. This ferment amongst dalits was evident in Indora and the songs by Vilas Gogre on all these issues captured the imagination of the youth of Indora. Anuradha was at the forefront tirelessly working for the awakening of dalits, inspiring them to a life of self-respect, dignity and new selfconfidence.They began to not only stand up against upper-caste humiliation and class oppression but also publicly challenge the top dalit leaders for their reformist politics. She brought out the positive aspects of Ambedkar, while being critical of his constitutional approach. When the politics of revolution began to grip the masses of Indora the rulers got panicky and unleashed repression in the entire basti and on all activist.All cultural programmes were defacto banned; meetings were prevented;
all activists were hounded and many arrested. Through all this Anuradha became one of the most sought after speakers at any dalit function. The repression had a dampening effect on the activities, yet the populace was awakened to a new alternative path for change. And with each speech more and more dalit forces got attracted to the politics of Naxalbari and the Marxist radical approach to the caste question in India. But, with the growing repression and the State forces particularly beginning to target her, she gave up her university job and went underground. After a stint of three years with the Bastar tribals her last three to four years of her life was again amongst a completely new batch of Ambedkari forces once again winning them over to the politics of Naxalbari.

Ideological and Political Contributions

Anuradha played many roles in the long span of her revolutionary life from being a mass leader to an underground Party organiser. She was associated with the formation of VPS (Vidyarthi Pragati Sangathan), CPDR, AILRC, NBS (Naujavan Bharat Sabha), Stree Chetna, AMKU (Akhil Mahrashtra Kamgar Union) and numerous other mass organisations, primarily in Maharashtra. But whatever her role she was a consistent and prolific writer. She was closely associated with the
revolutionary student magazine, KALAM, which achieved a countrywide image. This magazine was brought out in both English and Marathi. She was the main person behind the revolutionary Hindi magazine, Jan Sangram, brought out from Nagpur. She contributed regular articles, under various pseudonyms, to the revolutionary magazines, like Vanguard, People’s March, etc. She wrote for the local Marathi Party magazine Jahirnama and for a period was in charge of its publication. She also
wrote many theoretical and ideological pieces particularly associated with the dalit and women’s question. Besides, she conducted many a polemic on this question with both, those taking a dalit/post-modernist view on the question and with Marxists who took a hostile view. This she wrote in both English and Marathi. As already mentioned it was she who wrote the original draft for the policy paper on the caste question in India by the erstwhile CPI (ML)(PW). This was the first such policy paper by a revolutionary communist party. More recently she wrote a polemical/ analytical piece on bourgeois feminism, bringing out its various manifestations. She was also instrumental in the preparation of the Women’s Perspective of the CPI (Maoist) adopted recently by the Party.
It was she who drafted many a March 8th statement of the Party. Her major ideological contributions have been the enrichment of the Marxist understanding on the caste question and dalit oppression and
also various facets of the women’s movement, particularly a detailed analysis of bourgeois feminism. She was also instrumental in playing a major role in framing the Women’s Perspective of the Maoist Party. The uniqueness of Anuradha was that she was not merely a theoretician but combined theory with extensive practical experience. This was particularly noticeable on both the dalit and women’s questions.There was not even a short time when she was not writing something linked with the movement. She was a regular contributor to many magazines in English, Hindi and Marathi. Many of her articles and writings have also been translated into other languages. She also spoke a number
of languages being fluent in English, Hindi and Marathi, with a good knowledge of Gujarati and even understood Telugu, Kannada and Gondi.

Conclusion

Anuradha’s contributions to the Indian revolutionary movement, and particularly the movement in Maharashtra, have been substantial. She had the rare qualities of being not only an effective leader in the field, but combining it with significant ideological and political contributions. And as her long-standing comrade Vijay said, she had that uniqueness in being able to connect with a vast spectrum of people and thereby bridge so many social groups with the revolution. Most important she had many of
the qualities any genuine communist should inculcate — extreme straightforwardness,modesty, selflessness, disciplined and hardworking, and unwavering commitment to the revolution. Finally, her liveliness and childlike simplicity made her a most lovable person, leaving an indelible impact
on anyone she met, even once. To grow to such heights in this deeply patriarchal society, is a source
for enormous inspiration to all women comrades and activists. Her life and work will remain as an important chapter in India’s revolutionary movement and will continue to inspire people to the cause of revolution.Though her untimely death extinguished a glowing star, the rays will linger on to illumine the path towards a just and equitable new order.Anuradha will continue to live on in hearts

Interview with Com. Janaki (Anuradha Gandhy) from the March 2001 issue of Poru Mahila, the organ of Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sanghatan, DK.


People’s War has shattered the hesitations of the women of Dandakaranya!

(In this issue of Poru Mahila we are introducing to our readers Com. Janaki who had been working in the urban movement and had come to Dandakaranya to observe the adivasi peasant movement and to participate in it. Com. Janaki had led the guerilla squads directly as a divisional committee member of South Bastar from 1997 to 2000. Poru Mahila chatted with her on her experiences in the urban movement and in the adivasi peasant movement. We are here presenting the main features of that conversation – Editor, Poru Mahila).

Po. Ma: Com. Janaki, would you please first explain to us the oppression faced by urban women?
Com. J: Though all women in India are under feudal, capitalist, imperialist and patriarchal oppression, it is seen in various forms in different areas, the urban and the rural areas. The working class and middle class women in urban areas have some specific problems.
Firstly, if we look at the problems inside the family, even in urban areas women are oppressed by the feudal culture. Though the oppression of this culture may be less severe, still the majority of the young girls and women do not get the right to take important decisions regarding their lives from the family. The unmarried girls are under pressure to marry men from the same caste and same religion according to the decisions of the family. If a girl decides to marry a man of her choice from another caste or religion she will be subjected to a lot of pressure. She would have to face severe opposition from the family. Even if a woman wants to work outside home she will have to take the permission of her father, brother or husband. People of some castes and religions (for e.g. the Muslims and Kshatriyas) do not like their woman to do jobs. So it becomes inevitable for women to fight even for economic independence. In addition since capitalist values have spread widely man-woman relations have also become commercialized and women are facing severe problems. The dowry and other items which have to be given to the grooms’ family before and after marriage has become a big problem for the parents who gave birth to girls. Added to that, it had become common to all communities to harass women for dowry both physically and mentally. When the wife’s life can be measured in money and gold killing her for their sake is not far behind. This terrible situation can be found in many households in the urban areas now-a-days. Especially since the past 25-30 years may be India is the only country in the world where the new crime of burning brides for dowry has come into vogue.
One thing we have to observe is that a part of women belonging to the working class and the middle classes do not get an opportunity to go out and take up jobs. All their time is spent in house work and working for the family. As a result they depend on others for their living. Socially they depend on their husbands. That’s why they don’t try to do anything independently. There are so many restrictions on them to venture out or step outside the threshold. And if we look at the women who take care of their children’s studies it is almost like a machine. All her work revolves round her husband, the children’s studies and sending them to tuitions.
The conditions of the working class in urban areas are pitiable. The main reason is the severity of the problem of not having a place to stay. So the poor are forced to set up house illegally in open places. Many of them build a hut on the sides of the roads, railway tracks and sewers (even on top of sewers). In narrow lanes and the sides of the roads hundreds of families are living by building shacks. There is not even an inch of space to build a bathroom or a place which can be called a verandah. As the towns expand slums keep increasing on the sides of roads, on rocky places and on the small hills inside the town. They do not have toilets or water facilities. Crowded people, polluted environment, and lack of basic amenities – women do their work facing all these problems. Fighting for water is a common sight. In bastis like these goodaism and their harassment is another problem they face. But above all the biggest problem is the demolition of these bastis by the municipal and government authorities on the allegation that they are illegal. Usually it comes upon the women to oppose these demolitions. Because when officers come in the daytime with the police and bull dozers it is usually the women and children who are at home. The capitalist system does not recognize the right to have a household as a basic right.
Women in urban areas have many opportunities to step out of home and work. They get jobs in factories, offices, schools, hospitals and shops. But in many jobs they are not paid equally with men. Or the salaries are so low that they cannot run a household with that. Many working class women work in the construction industry under the contractors. Many women work as maids. All these works come under unorganized sector. These do not have any job guarantee or a guarantee for salary. On top of it they have to face harassment from the contractors and the men under whom they work. This takes place in many forms. Not only the working class women but even educated middle class women are facing such harassment. Women are harassed with such pressurizing tactics as threatening to oust them, not giving them work, transferring them, writing bad remarks in their records etc. Very few women are able to share such things with others.
Now-a-days in big cities electronic industries of the imperialists have come up on a large scale. Girls are employed in many of them. But the problems of more labour, less salaries and ban on organizing are present in these industries. So they have to fight even for the basic right of forming unions.
In the past some industries like beedi making and agarbatti making were thriving in households. Now even many new companies are giving most of the work to do at home. The poor housewives are taking up these jobs thinking they can earn a bit while being at home. There is lot of exploitation in this work. Even if they work all day long with the help of their family members it is difficult for them to earn even 20 rupees. The labour power of poor women is paid very less. They are being exploited a lot is what I want to say.
Lastly, another point is the influence of imperialist culture is very great on the urban women. They are not only influenced by consumerism but are also victims of it. This is increasing day by day. Instead of human values they are giving more importance to beauty and beauty products. As a result there is an environment of insecurity due to atrocities and harassments in the urban areas. The young women are facing a feeling of insecurity to step out of the house. In an urban life women are suffering from many such problems. But there are very few organizations which fight against them at present.
Po.Ma: Tell us about the various trends in the women’s movement.
Com.J: Around 1980s there was a spontaneous outburst of women’s movement in many parts of the country, especially in the cities. This movement was an indication of the increasing democratic consciousness and anti patriarchal consciousness among the women. After the Naxalbari movement dealt a severe blow to the semi feudal, semi colonial system in India, there was an outburst of working class and student movements and there was the Emergency and the social, economic and political crises of the ruling classes – the women’s movements sprung out of this background. Internationally also there was the influence of the student and women’s movements. Mostly the student, middle class and professional women participated actively in these movements. Out of these spontaneous democratic movements many small and big women’s organizations also took birth. But in the past 20 years there have been many changes in the women’s movement, their political character and in these organizations. Later the women’s liberation movement dependent on the urban middle class women split into various political and ideological streams. In the nationality movements, especially in the Kashmiri struggle for their self determination the active participation of women has increased considerably. Women are playing a prominent role in exposing the inhuman atrocities of the police and army. Under the leadership of the party revolutionary women’s movement has developed well in the rural areas especially in Dandakaranya and North Telengana. Even the BJP and RSS have recognized the strength of women and are paying attention to spreading decadent social values and vicious politics among them.
Many women who had spontaneously participated in movements against dowry deaths, sati and harassments drawing the attention of the nation towards such problems had withdrawn from the movement. But many out of them have gained a name for themselves as researchers and ideologues on women’s issues both in India and abroad. Many of them founded voluntary organizations (NGOs). They are getting funds from international agencies for women studies and emancipation of women. But they have a feminist viewpoint and a feminist ideology. Now they have become propagandists for feminism, meaning patriarchy is the main problem of women, we have to fight only against patriarchy. But patriarchy has its roots in class society. In all societies it is perpetuated by the exploiting classes, i.e. feudalism, capitalism and imperialism. So fighting patriarchy means fighting against these exploiting classes. But the feminists are against recognizing this. They believe women’s conditions in this society can be changed by politically lobbying with the governments and by propaganda alone. In reality this feminist stream today is representing the class outlook and the class interests of the bourgeois and upper middle class women in the country.
The women organizations of revisionist parties like CPI, CPM and Liberation are working actively in some cities. They run movements on social and political issues of women. Along with issues of women’s oppression they even take up processions and do dharnas on problems like price rise etc. They are different from the feminist stream, because they don’t give importance only to struggles against patriarchy. But they are also completely reformist organizations. Because of their revisionist politics they are not linking the women’s liberation with revolution and are working with the belief that by changing governments they will be able to improve their conditions inside this existing social framework itself. For e.g. for the past 2, 3 years they have concentrated all their activities on gaining the right of 33 percent reservation for women in the parliament. Actually the common people have lost confidence on the corrupt parliamentary system long back. It has also been proven that whoever gets elected to the parliament will always serve the exploiting ruling classes and not work for the rights of women or those of poor people.
There are some organizations in the urban areas which are working actively basing themselves on Marxist analysis, seeing the roots for the exploitation and oppression of women in the class society and recognizing the link between women’s liberation and social revolution. Since a decade they have been working among the working class, students and employees among women. Especially they are working very well in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. They are not only taking up movements against women’s oppression and other problems but also doing extensive propaganda among women about their rights and about the exploitation and oppression perpetuated on them.
It is an alarming phenomenon for the democratic and revolutionary women’s movements that the Hindutva forces are also working among women. They are reinstating age old feudal values in the name of opposing western culture. In the name of Hindu traditions and Bharat Mata they are suppressing the growing consciousness of women. Not only that, they are carrying vicious propaganda against religious minorities among them. They are even giving them military training in the name of Nari Shakthi.
In brief, the women’s movement is divided into various ideological streams all over the country. We have to study them and build up a strong women’s movement by fighting against the wrong ideological trends in them.
Po.Ma: How much do the outside people know about the revolutionary women’s movement? What is its impact?
Com.J: The adivasi women’s movement emerging in the Dandakaranya since the last decade has a lot of prominence in the history of contemporary women’s movement in India. The vigor and initiative of Kashmir women is more than in other parts of the country. Thousands of women are coming into the streets opposing the cruel repression of the army and all kinds of atrocities. After the political activeness of Kashmiri women it is the Dandakaranya adivasi peasant women who are playing active role socially and politically. They are organized on a wide scale in large number of villages. They are opposing the age old patriarchal traditions inside the Gond adivasi society. They are participating in the armed struggle against the exploiting government and its army and in political campaigns. This is a big victory of the Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sanghatan.
But it is very sad that very little is available outside about the extent of the KAMS and about its activities. The CPI (ML) (People’s War) members and sympathizers in other states know little about it. The party put in some efforts for this. The paper written for the Patna seminar (it was published in Telugu and Hindi), the book on women martyrs and some stories and short stories helped in propagating it. But information about this revolutionary women’s movement is not going out regularly. Even your magazine ‘Poru Mahila’ is seen outside very rarely. It is necessary to plan its distribution outside the movement areas also.
Nevertheless whatever little information they maybe getting but those belonging to democratic and revolutionary organizations are very much enthused about it. They are getting influenced by the determination and courage displayed by adivasi women. Widespread propaganda about KAMS and its activities is much needed. Through that we can give a fitting reply to the government bad propaganda about the approach of revolutionary parties towards the women’s question.
Po.Ma: Tell us about your experience in DK.
Com. J: Before coming to DK I read articles and reports about the women’s movement here. But I did not have an assessment that it was so widespread. That’s why I was very happy to seeing the size of this movement. I must tell you something. In the lessons taught about tribal societies in the colleges they say that the Gondi society is very liberal. But after observing the Muria, Madia and Dorla people from close quarters I understood how patriarchal the tribal society was too. I understood how important it is to study the problem of women’s oppression deeply. Though the participation of adivasi peasant women in the production process is very huge patriarchy had curbed their rights.
While writing about the women’s movement during the war for new democratic society in China Jack Beldon, the American writer and journalist had written, ‘The Chinese Communist Party has got the key to the victory of the revolution. They have won over the most oppressed section of the Chinese society’. When I saw the women’s movement in DK it were these words of Beldon which came to my mind. In fact, after the Chinese Revolution it was the revolutionary movement in DK that has proven that where there is a people’s war, where there is armed struggle against the feudal, comprador, imperialist system for the victory of New Democratic Revolution, the working class women participate actively on a large scale for the emancipation of the whole society as well as for their own emancipation. People’s War had shattered the hesitations of the women. It doubled their strength. It showed the path for the liberation of women. There is a link between the semi feudal semi colonial society and women’s oppression. It has been proven once again by this victory of the DK party that the Marxist principle that we can carry forward the fight against patriarchy only along with the fight to end this system is correct.
Wherever the party is working systematically, we can see that the participation of women is more in all political activities and movements. In 1998 due to the severe famine conditions in South Bastar many women had migrated to Andhra Pradesh for daily wage work. There were KAMS range committee members too among them. But when we asked them to come for March 8 meetings, in one place 700 and in another 450 had attended. Before that in rallies against famine conditions thousands of them had participated. When I was there women got recruited into PGA on a large scale. In some places the recruitment of young women was more than the young men. The thing which influenced me the most was that the wives of married comrades who were already in the squads are also getting recruited. Many of them had given away even their little children to their relatives and are becoming guerilla warriors in the ongoing great People’s War for changing this society. And, I have seen many women comrades who stood steadfast with the People’s War without looking back even though within a few months their husbands had died in police encounter or in some other accident. By breaking away from the traditional, dreary, narrow confines of the family they like this new life more though it is full of dangers. In that manner their life and their existence is becoming meaningful. I have seen many comrades taking training and taking up new responsibilities.
Building up KAMS units in every village, election of their committees, election of Range Committees in range conferences, sending the unit members to villages for propaganda campaigns, participation in bandhs and other protest activities, giving them military training – all these are victories of this movement. But what I have observed in my experience is that since the AC members are engaged without respite in various kinds of responsibilities and due to some routine work style KAMS work is being neglected. We have to think of new methods to involve the elderly women in the villages. Women and their children are facing a number of health problems. By increasing their understanding in these matters and by paying special attention to their welfare we can increase their zest. We have to increase their participation in the village level meetings. Many people call the KAMS as an organization of young women. Widening their narrow knowledge of society is another challenge in front of us.
Likewise there is a need to give special social and political training to women members in the squads and platoons. We have to plan to give them continuous education in scientific knowledge regarding health problems. Though there are discussions on these topics due to lack of time and due to getting immersed in various works they get postponed. We can get rid of their inferiority by giving them scientific knowledge and imbibing wide social thinking among them.
Po.Ma: What is your message to the women working in squads and in KAMS in DK?
Com.J: Our adivasi women comrades in DK are building a new history today. Though it is most backward area of the country it is in the first place in the ongoing women’s movement in the country. They are answering the guns of the police in fitting manner by fighting equally with the men comrades in the armed struggle to free this country from the vicious grip of imperialism, feudalism and comprador bourgeois clutches. In the villages they are standing up for their rights by facing the threats and pressures of village elders. They are weakening patriarchy in Gondi adivasi culture.
Though they are opposing such big enemies and forces, the shyness and sense of subordination whose remnants are still present, are also their big enemies which are obstructing their development. Inferiority complex comes out of these. Its roots are very deep. What I want to tell my KAMS colleagues is that they should increase their self confidence. They have to fight against the enemy inside them. In the coming days KAMS will be facing many big challenges. The state repression is already there. Apart from that, the government will try to keep the adivasi society and culture in backwardness with the help of village elders and through adivasi leaders. It will become necessary for the KAMS to face them politically. Likewise the KAMS should keep itself ready to put forward its understanding regarding true liberation of women by intervention in the women’s movement which is going on in the form of various streams in the country. To face all these challenges our women comrades should attain political and ideological maturity and have self confidence.
***
(Translated by Nallamma. All emphasis in the original interview)

Maoist rebels attack Philippine biofuel plantation

MANILA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Maoist-led guerrillas raided a state-owned plantation used for biofuel production in the central Philippines, the first attack on an alternative energy investment, an army official said on Thursday.

The rebels left leaflets denouncing the operations of a facility producing biofuels from cassava and jatropha, a drought-resistant plant, which competes for crops with food production in the mainly agricultural Southeast Asian nation.

Communist New People's Army (NPA) rebels stormed a jatropha plantation on Negros island on Tuesday, burning equipment and stopping workers from hauling lumber, Colonel Cesar Yano, a brigade commander on Negros, told reporters.

"The workers were not harmed," Yano said.

The rebels oppose the use of food for energy purposes, targeting the 2-billion peso ($42 million) ethanol project because it would plant jatropha trees instead of sugarcane and rice, the traditional staple, Yano said.

Jatropha is considered to be one of the most promising sources of biofuels.

The 10-hectare jatropha plantation in Tamlang valley also sits on what was a rebel stronghold before troops drove the NPA guerrillas deeper into the mountains.

The biofuel plantation is a joint venture between the government and Tamlang Valley Agri Development Corp, a company formed by a local alcohol firm and a political clan related to the finance secretary.

The government has a 35 percent stake in the plantation. There was no immediate reaction from the owners.

The Philippines has been promoting the cultivation of crops suited for biofuels to lessen its dependence on costly imported crude oil. The country imports nearly all of its crude oil needs.

The rebels have stepped up attacks on Negros after an army battalion was removed from the island a month ago and was sent to reinforce troops fighting Muslim rebels on the southern island of Mindanao, officials said.

Manila has been battling Maoist-led guerrillas active mostly in the main island of Luzon and in the central Philippines for nearly 40 years in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and stunted investment in the resource-rich country.

The rebels target mines, plantations, logging and telephone companies to scare foreign investors and raise funds. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Paul Tait)

Rs 500 cr for police infrastructure in Naxal belt okayed

NEW DELHI: After approving the creation of a dedicated anti-Naxal force, COBRA, the Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared a Rs 500-crore scheme for setting up special infrastructure in Naxal-affected states to facilitate proper policing.

The centrally-sponsored scheme would enhance mobility of the police in Naxal-infested jungles through construction of roads. Besides, police posts in the interiors would be secured and tarmac approach roads built to rule out landmines.

Among other objectives of the scheme proposed by the MHA is strengthening the armoury at each jail to avert a rerun of the past jailbreaks carried by the Naxalites to free the extremist inmates.

MHA, in its note to the Cabinet, had stressed on the need to strengthen the infrastructure in Naxal-hit states as it was the biggest impediment to policing.

The scheme is aimed at facilitating effective policing and meeting the security needs of the forces in the field. For the current financial year, Rs 100 crore has been earmarked under the scheme.

Over 70 districts in the country are affected by Left wing extremism, which has been described by the prime minister as a ‘virus’ and the biggest threat to internal security. As many as 470 people, including 160 security personnel have been killed in Naxalite violence this year.

In another decision on Thursday, the Union Cabinet approved creation of 48 new posts of special director-general, additional director general and inspector-general in various central police organisations keeping in view functional necessity. Of these, 3 Special DG posts would go to the CRPF and 2 to BSF.

These posts will strengthen supervisory structure of these organisations for better command and control.

Row over Naxalite suspect arrest

Jamshedpur, Sept. 10: Hundreds of villagers in Dumkacocha near Galudih tried to make a youth free as the suspected rebel had been held for interrogation in a police picket this afternoon.

Having picked up Sunil Singh, the youth, during a raid on the village bordering Bengal in Ghatshila sub-division, the police kept him in nearby Narsingpur picket for interrogation. But within minutes, 500 villagers surrounded the outpost and tried to set him free. The protesters, including a large number of women, not only tried to set him free but also attempted to loot firearms from the police.

But the presence of East Singhbhum superintendent of police Naveen Kumar Singh helped the police thwart the mob attack.

Later, Sunil was interrogated and made him divulge vital information about the Naxalite movement on the Jharkhand-Bengal border and also related to the Burudih landmine blast on August 29.

Sources said the police had the information that Sunil had a role to play behind the landmine blast that claimed the lives of 11 police personnel. Sunil had earlier also been arrested in connection with JMM MP Sunil Mahto last year and was released on bail.

Singh said he met the protesters, who complained of the absence of basic facilities in the village.

Singh also convinced the frenzied villagers that the government was trying to provide basic amenities like road, tubewell, schools and medical care to the people.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

‘Troops commit worst kind of HR violations in held Kashmir’

Geneva, September 10 (KMS): The Executive Director of Kashmir Institute of International Relations, Islamabad, Sardar Amjad Yousaf has said that in occupied Kashmir, people are still facing acute shortage of food items, edible oil, baby products and medicines due to economic blockade of valley by Hindu fanatics.

Addressing the 9th meeting of UN Human Rights Council, he said that Indian troops were targeting peaceful demonstrators in the held valley. He said that recently the troops had fired a peaceful procession in which the APHC senior leader, Shaikh Abdul Aziz got martyred.

Sardar Amjad Yousaf said lakhs of Kashmiri people daily gather to hold protest rallies against India and in favour of liberation, which has proved that the people of Kashmir do not want to live with India.

He also drew attention of the world leaders towards the worst kind of human rights violations in the occupied territory and sought their due role in settlement of the core issue of Kashmir.

He said Kashmiris have rendered matchless sacrifices for achieving their birth right to self-determination and would never compromise their stance, adding that they would continue their liberation struggle till the last drop of blood in their bodies.

He said that struggle of the people of Kashmir would bring fruit and very soon they would get rid of Indian atrocities and would lead their lives in accordance with their aspirations.

Five Maoist rebels arrested in Ranchi, weapons seized

Ranchi, Sep 10 (IANS) Five Maoist rebels were arrested here Wednesday and two pistols and five live cartridges were seized from them, the police said. According to the police, the rebels belong to the outlawed Jharkhand Liberation Tigers (JLT), a breakaway group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).

“The JLT members were arrested by a special team constituted to keep a tab on the activities of the rebel group,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (Ranchi) M.S. Bhatia.

Two locally-made illicit pistols, five live cartridges, three mobile phones, two motorbikes and Maoist literature were recovered from the arrested Maoist rebels, the police said.

“This is a big success for the police. The arrests have damaged the JLT’s network in the state,” said Bhatia.

In Jharkhand, the JLT is also known as the People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI).

Maoist rebels are active in 18 of Jharkhand’s 24 districts. In the last seven years, more than 1,300 people, including civilians and rebels, have been killed in Maoist related violence.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

I'm no Maoist: Filmmaker Ajay TG

Incarcerated for 93 days on charges of being a Maoist, independent documentary filmmaker Ajay TG has vehemently denied the label, saying he will fight for repealing the draconian law under which he was arrested.
"I am no Naxalite (Maoist). I have never been associated with any acts of insurgency or terror. I don't know what I am being charged with," Ajay, who was held under the notorious Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA) and accused of sedition, said.

He was released on conditional bail after the police failed to file a chargesheet against him in court within the stipulated 90 days. The case against him has not been closed and he has to report to the police in Bhillai town every alternate Monday. He has also been barred from leaving the country.

"There is no FIR (first information report), no charge sheet. How do I defend myself?" asked Ajay, who is a member of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). He was in the capital to attend a meeting convened by the Committee for the Release of Ajay TG, to celebrate his release.

Ajay was released on August 5 but another prominent rights activist, Binayak Sen, who was arrested under the same act on May 14, 2007, is still in jail. Sen is the PUCL's general secretary.

The cause of Ajay's arrest seems to be a letter recovered from a Maoist leader earlier this year that asked for the return of a camera that had been confiscated while he was on a fact finding mission in Chhattisgarh in 2004.

The police, he said, threatened and intimidated him and asked him to maintain a low profile - away from the media and activism. The consequences of breaking his silence, he said, would be apparent in the days to come.

"But the resolve to fight (for repealing the act) is still strong." said the overwhelmed Ajay.

When Ajay was released, the headlines of Raipur newspapers read: "Naxali ko riha kar diya bail par (Naxalite released on bail)".

Not surprisingly, he expressed his angst over the happenings of the past few months.

"Everyone associated with me, the caretakers of the school that I run for 25 slum girls, the children there, the other PUCL activists are all being targeted under the (anti-terror) act.

"The police even went to the extent of asking the children: "Are you taught to meow like cats and bark like dogs to communicate at the school?" implying the way Maoists communicate in forested areas," Ajay added.

He also wondered how he would restart his life "in such a hostile environment. All my equipment and master copies of my films - my means of livelihood - are still with the police. My wife Shobha is denied groceries, my friends and neighbours shy away from me.

"My 20-month-old son is so insecure that he never leaves my side. When I was in jail, I could only see him and my wife from a metre's distance through the bars," Ajay said.

"When I was in jail, I learned that my brother had passed away in an accident. That time was particularly hard on me and my family."

Little wonder, then, that he maintained: "I don't feel free. It is not so much the individual concern; to me this is the failure of our democracy. In light of widespread globalisation, such atrocities against human rights are bound to happen across the world. The only way to tackle this is for all voices of human rights to stand unified."

Over the last 15 years, Ajay has been a director, cameraman, editor and graphic artist - and also a prominent human rights activist.

His recent films have been on the March 8 Women's day celebrations and the lives of working women in Chhattisgarh, and the police attack on the workers of a motorcycle plant in Gurgaon. He has also made a film on the work and arrest of Binayak Sen.

Home > States CPI Maoists claim responsibility for killing VHP leader

Kandhmal, Sept 09: In a move that might worsen situation in violence-hit Orissa, the banned CPI Maoists on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmananand Saraswati and four others.

According to reports, the banned Naxalite group has accused the slain VHP leader of communal politics in the region in a press release.

The fresh claims made by the Naxal group is likely to come as a big relief for the Christian community of the state, which has been pleading innocence over Saraswati’s unfortunate death and the violence, which followed.

However, there has been no response from the state government over the CPI Maoists’ claim.

85-year-old Laxmanananda Saraswati, who had been working among tribals against religious conversion, was gunned down by unidentified assailants at an ashram for girls at Jalespeta in Tumudibandh block.

The VHP leader’s murder had triggered a massive wave of violence between the saffron brigade and Christians in Kandhmal district of Orissa.

The BJP leadership had also accused the Orissa Police of failing to protect Saraswati and the state government for denying a 'Z plus' security for him

Arundhati Roy, rights activists rally around freed Chhattisgarh filmmaker

New Delhi, August 12: “It's not the first or the last time someone has been arrested in Chhattisgarh,” said human rights lawyer Vrinda Grover, setting the tone for a public meeting at the Constitution Club in New Delhi on Tuesday to mark the release of documentary filmmaker and journalist Ajay T G.
On May 5, Ajay was arrested and sent to jail by the Chhattisgarh police on allegations of involvement with Naxals and sedition against the Indian Government. When the police failed to find any evidence to support these charges within the mandatory 90 days period, Ajay was granted statutory bail and released on August 5. Yet despite being unable to file a chargesheet, the police have not closed the case against him.

After spending 93 days in prison, Ajay said, “I still don’t feel free. And I’m not the only one, there are so many more imprisoned like me.” His bail conditions require him to report to the police station every second Monday.

Warned by the police not to travel to Delhi or speak to the press, Ajay and his wife, Shobha, attended Tuesday’s meeting at their own risk.

Although the family lives in fear of retaliation from the state, said Shobha, “we were excited about the opportunity to come to Delhi and speak out”.

Led by the Committee for the Release of Ajay T G, human rights activists, journalists and writer Arundhati Roy were among those who spoke of the wider ramifications of his arrest.

Based on her research in Chhattisgarh, Nandani Sundar, sociology professor at the University of Delhi, spoke of the climate of fear in the state as a result of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security (CSPS) Act, 2006, and on the blackout of the violence perpetrated by the Salwa Judum. Speaking at the event, independent law researcher Usha Ramanathan said: “Critiquing this law, as we are now, is illegal under the CSPS, a clear indication we’re moving away from the rights of people.”

Following the meeting, Ajay T G’s film on the life and work of Dr Binayak Sen, who was also arrested under the CSPS Act, on 14 May 2007, was screened. In a fitting concluding note, Sen’s wife, Ilina, said, “We cannot individualise cases, we have to look beyond this.”

Sunday, September 7, 2008

cpi maoist statement on Niagrah Attack

http://www.savefile.com/files/1774118

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Statement of Cpi Maoist

http://www.savefile.com/files/1774115

PLGA ATTACK ON GREYHOUNDS

Maoist bid to woo cops

GAYA: In what appears to be a part of the Maoist strategy to cause confusion and engineer division within the police rank and file, Naxalites belonging to the CPI (Maoist), have invoked the class rhetoric to woo the constabulary.

The Maoists have pasted posters in several parts of the trouble-prone Dumaria -Imamganj area of the district reminding the constabulary engaged in the anti-Naxal combat of its (constabulary's) common economic and social interests with the proponents of the Naxal ideology.

Such posters have been seen in villages like Magra, Narainpur, Goti Bandh, Kulsauta and Majhaula. Earlier, the Naxalites ambushed a police party comprising nearly half-a-dozen constables of the Special Auxiliary Police created by the state government to give teeth to its anti-Naxal operations.

The ambush took place in a crowded locality at Raniganj village, part of the Imamganj police station area.
The Maoist pamphlets somewhat apologetically reminded the constabulary that killing the constables did not give any pleasure to the Naxalites and such killings were done under compulsion as the constables were not "class enemies" rather they got penalised for being on the side of those who have been exploiting the poor masses.

Moreover, the Maoists are basically interested in the weapons possessed by the police force and most of the casualties take place when the constabulary does not surrender the weapons to them.

The posters also ask the constabulary to indulge in introspection and recognise their (constabulary's) own enlightened interests and stop serving the interests of their class enemies.

Hindutva's Violent History

Hindutva's production of culture and nation is often marked by savagery. On 23 August 2008, Lakshmanananda Saraswati, Orissa's Hindu nationalist icon, was murdered with four disciples in Jalespeta in Kandhamal district. State authorities alleged the attackers to be Maoists (and a group has subsequently claimed the murder). But the Sangh Parviar held the Christian community responsible, even though there is no evidence or history to suggest the armed mobilisation of Christian groups in Orissa.

After the murder, the All India Christian Council stated: “The Christian community in India abhors violence, condemns all acts of terrorism, and opposes groups of people taking the law into their own hands”. Gouri Prasad Rath, General Secretary, VHPOrissa, stated: “Christians have killed Swamiji. We will give a befitting reply. We would be forced to opt for violent protests if action is not taken against the killers”.

Following which, violence engulfed the district. Churches and Christian houses razed to the ground, frightened Christians hiding in the jungles or in relief camps. Officials record the death toll at 13, local leaders at 20, while the Asian Centre for Human Rights noted 50.

The Sangh’s history in postcolonial Orissa is long and violent. Virulent Hindutva campaigns against minority groups reverberated in Rourkela in 1964, Cuttack in 1968 and 1992, Bhadrak in 1986 and 1991, Soro in 1991. The Kandhamal riots were not unforeseen.

Since 2000, the Sangh has been strengthened by the Bharatiya Janata Party's coalition government with the Biju Janata Dal. In October 2002, a Shiv Sena unit in Balasore district declared the formation of the first Hindu ‘suicide squad’. In March 2006, Rath stated that the “VHP believes that the security measures initiated by the Government [for protection of Hindus] are not adequate and hence Hindu society has taken the responsibility for it.”

The VHP has 1,25,000 primary workers in Orissa. The RSS operates 6,000 shakhas with a 1,50,000 plus cadre. The Bajrang Dal has 50,000 activists working in 200 akharas. BJP workers number above 4,50,000. BJP Mohila Morcha, Durga Vahini (7,000 outfits in 117 sites), and Rashtriya Sevika Samiti (80 centres) are three major Sangh women's organisations. BJP Yuva Morcha, Youth Wing, Adivasi Morcha and Mohila Morcha have a prominent base. Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh manages 171 trade unions with a cadre of 1,82,000. The 30,000-strong Bharatiya Kisan Sangh functions in 100 blocks. The Sangh also operates various trusts and branches of national and international institutions to aid fundraising, including Friends of Tribal Society, Samarpan Charitable Trust, Sookruti, Yasodha Sadan, and Odisha International Centre. Sectarian development and education are carried out by Ekal Vidyalayas, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashrams/Parishads (VKAs), Vivekananda Kendras, Shiksha Vikas Samitis and Sewa Bharatis — cementing the brickwork for hate and civil polarisation.

This massive mobilisation has erupted in ugly incidents against both Christians and Muslims. In 1998, 5,000 Sangh activists allegedly attacked the Christian dominated Ramgiri-Udaygiri villages in Gajapati district, setting fire to 92 homes, a church, police station, and several government vehicles. Earlier, Sangh activists allegedly entered the local jail forcibly and burned two Christian prisoners to death. In 1999, Graham Staines, 58, an Australian missionary and his 10- and six-year-old sons were torched in Manoharpur village in Keonjhar. A Catholic nun, Jacqueline Mary was gangraped by men in Mayurbhanj and Arul Das, a Catholic priest, was murdered in Jamabani, Mayurbhanj, followed by the destruction of churches in Kandhamal. In 2002, the VHP converted 5,000 people to Hinduism. In 2003, the VKA organised a 15,000- member rally in Bhubaneswar, propagating that Adivasi (and Dalit) converts to Christianity be denied affirmative action. In 2004, seven women and a male pastor were forcibly tonsured in Kilipal, Jagatsinghpur district, and a social and economic boycott was imposed against them. A Catholic church was vandalised and the community targeted in Raikia.

Change the cast, the story is still the same. 1998: A truck transporting cattle owned by a Muslim was looted and burned, the driver’s aide beaten to death in Keonjhar district. 1999: Shiekh Rehman, a Muslim clothes merchant, was mutilated and burned to death in a public execution at the weekly market in Mayurbhanj. 2001: In Pitaipura village, Jagatsinghpur, Hindu communalists attempted to orchestrate a land-grab connected to a Muslim graveyard. On November 20, 2001, around 3,000 Hindu activists from nearby villages rioted. Muslim houses were torched, Muslim women were ill-treated, their property, including goats and other animals, stolen. 2005: In Kendrapara, a contractor was shot on Govari Embankment Road, supposedly by members of a Muslim gang. Sangh groups claimed the shooting was part of a gang war associated with Islamic extremism and called for a 12hour bandh. Hindu organisations are alleged to have looted and set Muslim shops on fire.

It is Saraswati who pioneered the Hinduisation of Kandhamal since 1969. Activists targeted Adivasis, Dalits, Christians and Muslims through socio-economic boycotts and forced conversions (named ‘re’conversion, presupposing Adivasis and Dalits as ‘originally’ Hindus).

Kandhamal first witnessed Hindutva violence in 1986. The VKAs, instated in 1987, worked to Hinduise Kondh and Kui Adivasis and polarise relations between them and Pana Dalit Christians. Kandhamal remains socio-economically vulnerable, a large percentage of its population living in poverty. Approximately 90 percent of Dalits are landless. A majority of Christians are landless or marginal landholders. Hindutva ideologues say Dalits have acquired economic benefits, augmented by Christianisation. This is not borne out in reality.

In October 2005, converting 200 Bonda Adivasi Christians to Hinduism in Malkangiri, Saraswati said: “How will we… make India a completely Hindu country? The feeling of Hindutva should come within the hearts and minds of all the people.” In April 2006, celebrating RSS architect Golwalkar’s centenary, Saraswati presided over seven yagnas attended by 30,000 Adivasis. In September 2007, supporting the VHP’s statewide road-rail blockade against the supposed destruction of the mythic ‘Ram Setu’, Saraswati conducted a Ram Dhanu Rath Yatra to mobilise Adivasis.

In 2008, Hindutva discourse named Christians as ‘conversion terrorists’. But the number of such conversions is highly inflated. They claim there are rampant and forced conversions in Phulbani-Kandhamal. But the Christian population in Kandhamal is 1,17,950 while Hindus number 5,27,757. Orissa Christians numbered 8,97,861 in the 2001 census — only 2.4 percent of the state’s population. Yet, Christian conversions are storied as debilitating to the majority status of Hindus while Muslims are seen as ‘infiltrating’ from Bangladesh, dislocating the ‘Oriya (and Indian) nation’.

The right to religious conversion is constitutionally authorised. Historically, conversions from Hinduism to Christianity or Islam have been a way to escape caste oppression and social stigma for Adivasis and Dalits. In February 2006, the VHP called for a law banning (non- Hindu) religious conversions. In June 2008, it urged that religious conversion be decreed a 'heinous crime' across India.

‘Reconversion’ strategies of the Sangh appear to be shifting in Orissa. The Sangh reportedly proposed to 'reconvert' 10,000 Christians in 2007. But fewer public conversion ceremonies were held in 2007 than in 2004- 2006. Converting politicised Adivasi and Dalit Christians to Hinduism is proving difficult. The Sangh has instead increased its emphasis on the Hinduisation of Adivasis through their participation in Hindu rituals, which, in effect, ‘convert’ Adivasis by assuming that they are Hindu.

The draconian Orissa Freedom of Religion Act (OFRA), 1967, must be repealed. There are enough provisions under the Indian Penal Code to prevent and prohibit conversions under duress. But consenting converts to Christianity are repeatedly charged under OFRA, while Hindutva perpetrators of forcible conversions are not. The Sangh contends that 'reconversion' to Hinduism through its ‘Ghar Vapasi’ (homecoming) campaign is not conversion but return to Hinduism, the ‘original’ faith. This allows them to dispense with the procedures under OFRA.

The Orissa Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1960 should also be repealed. It is utilised to target livelihood practices of economically disenfranchised groups, Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, who engage in cattle trade and cow slaughter.

In fact, a CBI investigation into the activities of the VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal is crucial as per the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Groups such as the VHP and VKA are registered as cultural and charitable organisations but their work is political in nature. They should be audited and recognised as political organisations, and their charitable status and privileges reviewed.

The state and central government's refusal to restrain Hindu militias evidences their linkage with Hindutva (BJP), soft Hindutva (Congress), and the capitulation of civil society to Hindu majoritarianism. How would the nation have reacted if groups with affiliation other than than militant Hinduism executed riot after riot: Calcutta 1946, Kota 1953, Rourkela 1964, Ranchi 1967, Ahmedabad 1969, Bhiwandi 1970, Aligarh 1978, Jamshedpur 1979, Moradabad 1980, Meerut 1982, Hyderabad 1983, Assam 1983, Delhi 1984, Bhagalpur 1989, Bhadrak 1991, Ayodhya 1992, Mumbai 1992, Gujarat 2002, Marad 2003, Jammu 2008?

The BJD-BJP government has repeatedly failed to honour the constitutional mandate separating religion from state. In 2005-06, Advocate Mihir Desai and I convened the Indian People's Tribunal on Communalism in Orissa, led by Retired Kerala Chief Justice KK Usha. The Tribunal’s findings detailed the formidable mobilisation by majoritarian communalist organisations, including in Kandhamal, and the Sangh's visible presence in 25 of 30 districts. The report did not invoke any response from the state or central government.

In January 2000, The Asian Age reported: “‘One village, one shakha’ is the new slogan of the RSS as it aims to saffronise the entire Gujarat state by 2005.” Then ensued the genocide of March 2002. In 2003, Subash Chouhan, then Bajrang Dal state convener, stated: “Orissa is the second Hindu Rajya (to Gujarat).”

We all know what has happened in Kandhamal December 2007, and again now. The communal situation in Orissa is dire. State and civil society resistance to Hindutva’s ritual and catalytic abuse cannot wait.

The writer is associate professor of anthropology at California Institute of Integral Studies and author of a forthcoming book:
Violent Gods: Hindu Nationalism in India's Present, Narratives from Orissa


From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 36, Dated Sept 13, 2008

Friday, September 5, 2008

Naxalites kill 5 securitymen in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, September 4: Five security personnel, including three CRPF jawans, were killed and five were injured on Thursday in a Naxalite attack in the forests near village Chunchuna Pundagh, close to the inter-state border with Jharkhand, in Sarguja district of North Chhattisgarh.


Cabinet nod for anti-Naxal forceChennai arrests have no links with Ahmedabad, Bangalore blasts: police5 Naxal-hit Chhattisgarh dists will have to wait for powerAlarm in Raipur as Maoists reach diamond belt


The incident took place in the afternoon when Inspector General of Police (Sarguja Range) B S Maravi was on his way to a village, where the Maoists had killed a former rebel who had surrendered recently. Initial reports suggest that the Naxals triggered a landmine blast, targeting the senior police officer but it hit his escort vehicle.

However, Director General of Police Vishwaranjan said the rebels ambushed the police and CRPF personnel, who were patrolling the area and started firing indiscriminately at the security personnel.

Police patrol was intensified in the area following information that Naxalites had been moving around in the region. "In fact the security personnel had defused a powerful landmine just before the firing began. The encounter continued for about two and a half hours," said the DGP.

As the incident took place in a remote location where communication facilities were not available and just two kilometers away from Jharkhand border, the police are yet to ascertain the exact number of casualties and the identity of the victims.

Police spokesman Raj Kumar Dewangan said IG B S Maravi and other officials were camping at Samri police station area and a helicopter has been sent to airlift injured security personnel to the district headquarters at Sarguja.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Significance of the Formation of the Communist Party Reorganization Centre of India Marxist Leninist(C.P.R.C.I.-M.L)

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Introduction



A New Marxist Leninist Revolutionary Centre, the Communist Party Re-Organisation Centre of India(Marxist Leninist)was formed in August 1994 through the merger of the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries og India ,with the Central Team of the C.P.I.M.L (C.T C.P.I.M.L) ,the Communist Unity Centre of India and the Marxist Leninist Organising Centre. and the organisation claimed to be the one within which principally the proletarian revolutionary line has been built up .After a continuous process of bilateral transactions this unity took place. The fact that it took such a long ,protracted process reflects the principled approach of the Unity.The organization states that the proletarian revolutionary trend lies within various Communist Revolutionary groups and that the proletarian revolutionary party has still to be formed. They brought out their basic Documents in 1995 after their Inaugural Conference. This new formation is closer to Comrade Mao’s line than any other organization in India on the theoretical and practical plane. On the International Line and on it’s analysis of the agrarian revolutionary Perspective and military line it has outstanding Marxist Leninist clarity.It has a most complete thesis of the relationship of the mass organization with the proletarian party. It explains the distinct identity and the need to function democratically within the mass organization and not impose party politics on the mass organizations. It also explains why theoretically armed Struggle and active boycott of election cannot be carried out in the present circumstances,as well as why participation in Elections is capitulationist in the present era ,without adequate development of the proletarian party.Only with forming revolutionary alterntive organs of political power and adequate political consiousness can the tactic of ‘active boycott’of elections be implemented Its basic Documents explain that today the co-relation between the revolutionary forces with the enemy has not been sufficiently developed to carry out armed Struggle. It explains the meaning of creating revolutionary base areas and military guerilla Zones .A profound contribution of the unity is not making the issue of whether 1969 formation of the C.P.I.M.L was correct or not.(It would be a matter to be decided only when the party was re-organised. Earlier this was a major controversy amongst revolutionary Groups)It is interesting that one of the components of this organization the C.P.I.M.L(C.T.)earlier insisted that the 1969 formed Organisation led by Charu Mazumdar was the actual party. Quoting the ist Issue of their publication, ‘Thecomrade’, “This Unification brought the Party Question into Sharp Focus.It has not only emphasized the pressing need and crucial significance of the Party Ree-Organisation for bringing about a new high tide in the Revolutionary Movement but also projected the line based approach to party re-organization. This highlighted the other facet of the party question ,namely the impermissibility of diluting the distinct ideological political identity of the political party. The organisation’s insistence on the distinct political identity while seeking to build the party as the leading political core of the revolutionary mass movement of the Indian People,has not only general orientational validity but also particular relevance to the Particular situation.”It has also given significant writing on linking the trade Union movement with the agrarian revolutionary Struggle in the villages.It has a sound thesis on the Workers Front where it explains the need to develop an advanced revolutionary core of workers who could propogate revolutionary politics in the villages. There is also a most sound International line demarcating from the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement and deferring the premature formation of a Communist International from the Russian and Chinese Experience.(Remember Stalin’s Comintern was dissolved in 1943 while Mao never called for a Communist International) The Organisation firmly defends the term ‘Mao Tse Tung Thought’ as against the term’Maoism’.It explains that it is the era of Imperialism which is the era of ‘Leninism’ and that even after the completion of the Chinese Revolution and the Cultural Revolution the term ‘Thought of Mao’ was used and not ‘Maoism’. In West Bengal the organization has guided revolutionary democratic trade Union Struggles and promoted joint front agitations on democratic issues uniting forces of both left and right deviationist trends.They gave emphasis on the linking of trade Union Struggles of all sections of the workers Union Struggles irrespective of the political Group leading them..In Andhra Pradesh similarly it created significant trade Union Solidarity movements. In Rajasthan and Maharashtra. it played an important role in guiding revolutionary mass work. It initiated the formation of revolutionary mass papers and strived to develop the correct practice in the trade Unions as against right opportunist and left sectarian practices.It initiated forming a revolutionary workers solidarity platform to co-ordinate workers struggles..One Activist From Mumbai attended an Election programe in Punjab in January 1998 and thought he never witnessed such revolutionary democratic Functioning.Similar views were awarded to the Malkangari Adivasi Movement by a team of Activists from Mumbai.Even Comrade Sunder Navalkar,in the perid of the early 1990’s praised the approach of the organization.
In Punjab today the organization has adopted a mass revolutionary approach and has made the greatest revolutionary progress.(More theoretical and practical progresss than any revolutionary Group since the Naxalbari Struggle in 1969)The most significant aspect is maintaining the correct relationship between the mass organization and the political party.A movement of landless Agricultural labourers as well as that of middle and landed peasants has been built demarcating from deviationist tendencies.A Mass Based revolutionary democratic Organisation has been built to give solidarity and sharpen the anti-feudal Struggle which held ralliesof historic significance especially during the elections..Avenues have been created for militant peasant struggles of landless labourers in pockets in the State and for miltant district or statewide peasant struggles amongst the landed peasantry.A revolutionary alternative has been projected through the Party Organisation and the manner of projection(especially as projected by the Rajjeana Campaign and the Election campaign) displays strong theoretical correctness.A trade Union movement has also been built in the towns and major cities giving solidarity with the agarian struggle which is of great significance.Revolutionary movements of the youth and students are taking place and in many areas village youth have displayed enormous revolutionary enthusiasm. In 1998 and 1999 the Organisation carried out election campaigns in Punjab which created a major impactwhere the tactics of active political campaign in contrast to Active Boycott or Participation were implemented. Other groups could hardly make any effect. The content of the party leaflet encouraged the party ranks and followers to distribute it wide for mass consumption. The wide range of issues were explained in simple language.The immediate practical alternative was projected in the leaflet so that people could easily grasp it’s contents.The focus of the state commitees poster was on building the revolutionary movement ,with the agrarian movement as it’s axis, as an alternative The call by the C.P.I.M.Lparty Unity for boycott got no response while Groups like the Janashakti group that polled candidates got no success. Since the period of the Naxalbari and Srikakulam Armed Struggles there has never been practice so close to Comrade Mao TseTung’s mass line as in Punjab as by this organization, in the light of the overall political factor..In Orissa in the Malkangiri district an outstanding tribal Movement has been built, creating a platform for sustained agrarian revolutionary mass movement,similar to that in the phase before the Chinese Communist Party launched the Armed struggle. Or the launching of the Telengana Armed Struggle.In the light of agrarian revolutionary movement it is the most developed struggle towards attaining the mass line since the Naxalabari and Srikakulam era.

One Imortant aspect is that the Central Team group which merged into the C.P.R.C.I.(M.L) never upheld Comrade Nagi Reddy at any stage infact one time considered him to be a revisionist. However working together in Punjab in a common Front brought the 2 organisations together in the State.The C.C.R.I,(constituent of C.P.R.C.I.M.L)upheld Nagi Reddy’s line .however the 2 organsations agreed that this should not be an issue of debate.The Communist Unity Cente of India and the Marxist Leninist Organisaing Centre had in periods uphed the Nagi Reddy Line.This throws light that maybe more forces could have united earlier in the revolutionary movement ,atleast in revolutionary mass work.



Theoretical Notes from the C.P.R.C.I-M.L



Compilation from the document-“A consolidation of the Proletarian Revolutionary trend-An Asdvance towards he Re-Oraganisation of he Communist Party opf India’



This Unification has facilitated better understanding and more comprehensive expounding of the proletarian revolutionary line. Assimilated in the process is the cherished legacy of uncompromising ideological struggle against various opportunist and deviationist trends. The ideological struggle that various constituents of C.P.R.C.I.(M.L) waged earlier on their own and in their respective historical circumstances has now been commonly owned and its substance incorporated in a common line. By thus holding aloft the proletarian revolutionary line ,the C.P.R.C.I.(M.L) have promoted the prospects of consolidation of more party forces around this line in due course of time. Of course, in this matter much depends on how well and son the organization ai able to implement he line and project it among party forces at large. More specifically, how well and soon the organization is able to implement and project the kernel of it’s ideological orientation, reflecting it’s garsp of the essence of building he party and building the revolutionary Movement. That is, the building of the party,is essentially,its ideological –political building; and building the revolutionary mass movement is essentially building the revolutionary political Consciousness of he masses. This unification has brought the party-question into focus. It has not only emphasized the pressing need of party re-organization but also projected the line –based approach towards achieving party re-organisation.T his is relevant in view of developing and establishing he proletarian revolutionary line. The unification has not only to demarcate from the ruling class political forces but also from non-proletarian revolutionary forces who are allies of the proletariat I the given stage of the revolution., and even from the backward layers of the proletarian masses who have not acquired revolutionary class consciousness. The Organisation’s insistence on the distinct ideological political identity of the party ,while seeking to build the party as the leading core of the revolutionary mass movement of the India people, has not only general orientational validity but also particular relevance to the present situation.

In the present juncture the international bourgeoisies has launched an offensive against Marxsim-Leninsm-Mao Tse Tung Thought and socialism. That is all the more why the broad masses instinctively seek the evolutionary Political party.

All Communist Revolutionary Organizations , having a definite line and firm conviction of implementing it, are essentially of [party character. They are parts or components of the Party that is being re-organised.The development fro the presnt phase into THE PARTY will be a qualitative leap in term s of development of the line an standards of maintaining party principles.

Within the C.R Camp there has been a basically correct line.(As distinct from wrong trends within he amp and revisionism) .There have bee varying degrees of its articulation and development. However the development of this line has been and still is inadequate and uneven. Ideological struggle has to be waged against opportunist trends., combined with class struggle against the adversary class forces. It also involves collective effort and ideological political struggle within the organization. Toady wit the Revolutionary Camp there are different contending lines, representing different trends. This is the chief reason for disunity.



Agararian Revolution

The armed struggle is the highest form of class struggle of which the agrarian revolutionary mass movement is he axis. While the class struggle develops through a process, from lower o higher to the highest levels and corresponding forms, it is the task of the Communist Revolutionaries to, throughout all phase of the revolutionary movement to constantly educate the people in the politics of seizure of political power and to prepare hem for the armed struggle in an appropriate manner. It is the level of consciousness and preparedness of the people that determine the realization of the necessity ,and launching of any form of struggle ,including the armed struggle. While the armed struggle proper will start at a certain stage of he agrarian revolutionary Movement ,(which is objectively verifiable in terms of the actual manifestation of consciousness and preparedness of the people o seize an control the means of production and consequently thus seize and control the means of production and consequently hush seize and control the political power through their own instruments the people should be guided and prepared to arm themselves to put up self-defence and resistance to armed attacks of he ruling lasses and their agents. the party forces among masses playing the leading ole in the carrying out of self-defence –all of which is part and parcel of the process of development of class struggle to it’s highest form-the armed struggler.



The Organization upholds the Great Debate and opposed deviationist trends like the class collaborationist Three World s Theory of Deng Xiaoping as well as the Two World theory of the Hoxha clique .It also opposes the attacks on the 1935 line of Stalin.



On the Formation of the C.P.I.(M.L) or Re-Organisation of the Party



There has to be unanimity on 2 factors. One is the democratic centralist organization of he party The other is the essential understanding of the principles of e-organisation. T he question of whether the party was re-organized is one that can be settled only at he time of he Party Congress If there is essential unanimity of the 2 factors mentioned ,then any differene on the historical placement of he C.PI(M.L) need not and should not be allowed to come I the way of unification. Differences on the question of evaluation can be striven to be properly resolved I the unified organization on the basis of applying he common understanding arrived at on he above 2 factors. And the experience been gained on practicing it. The essential understanding of e principles of re-organisation of the party involves concept of line and it’s required development and democratic centralist process or reorganization of the party. It is not enough if the line is established for the Communist Revolutionary fores already united. The line and debate and explanations clinching the solving of major problems of ideological struggle and of practical revolutionary movement should be carried to all he revolutionary ranks who are to be consolidated into the party.



Inner-party democracy is essential in functioning. Democracy and Centralism are inter-connected. Proper inner-party demoracy is essential for correction of any mistake through inner-party discussion or struggle and criticism-self criticism. Lack of it leads to isolation of party ranks isolation the party from ther peole,and to he growth of bureaucracy in he party. Lack of centralism leads to anarchism or bourgeois democracy.



Democracy and Centralism are inter-connected aspects of ssingle entity. Any inbalancce or overemphasis on one aspect deprives the party of he capacity to formulate ,develop and implement he proletarian revolutionary line. The leading bodies at various levels should take particular care for encouraging greater involvement of the ranks in the process od developing and implementing theline through proper inner-party discussons.



The party Organization guides the mass organizations. It provides constant correct guidance and practical assistance in a patient and democratic manner through secret party fractions within the mass organizations and through statements of policy on important issues from without as well as through its members as front ranking fighters of he mass organizations, the party strives to earn and establish its elation of political leadership[p with the mass organizations. In turn, the mass organizations throw up politically advanced element from which heparty replenishes its forces.

The secret party fractions in mass organizations are the main links connecting secret political work with the open mass work of the party.

In sum, the whole work of communist revolutionaries I the mass organizations is determined by he twin proletarian revolutionary objectives

1.establsihing hegemony oof proletarian revolutionary politics ovr he struggling masses

2.Developing he hidden, social-political aspirations of the people into political consciousness and transform their hidden capabilities into revolutionary self –confidence .Revolutionaries carry revolutionary politics to the struggling masses, help them in forging inner-class unity and inter-class solidarity assist them in learning and practicing heir own rights in self-governance of their own affairs, help them I acquiring the political awareness and capability of exercising their collective assertion and democratic say as against the authority and power of the ruling classes, by forging their own instru ents and apparatuses.



Elections

There can be 3 tactics deployed in The elections. Either you adopt the tactic of ' active boycott' or that of participation.,or that of 'active political campaign.'In all cases the political campaign should consist of a.exposing the uselessness of he presnt parliamentary institutions.

b. explaining the impossibility of achieving political liberty and social emancipation by parliamentary methods and

c .Explaining the necessity of armed Struggle in the form of protracted Peoples War centered around the agrarian question and of establishing he organs of peoples power,i.e of peoples democracy. The crucial aspects should be made are to the people by integrating hem with examples of the pat and present experiences and by concrete exposure of the deception of he ruling classes, their institutions and political parties. The only difference I his regard of implementing the basic tactics are the slogans of action they give an he pace which with theory work. Slogans of action have to be allotted in accordance to level of revolutionary movement at a given time.

Boycott is a higher form of struggle which is associated with imminent direct revolutionary action of the masses against the state and with setting up of organs of political power . For this,the party of the proletariat should have established it's leadership over the revolutionary movement and prepared itself, politically and organizationally ,to lead the people's armed struggle along with setting up suitable organs of political; power. Without this the boycott slogan will become meaningless, and futile as far as the realization of it's full revolutionary potential is concerned. It will lead to cynical attitudes amongst the people.

On the other hand for adopting the revolutionary utilisation of participation in election as legal form of Struggle, the emergence of revolutionary democratic elements is a necessity. It need a proletarian party organization to train and control a cadre team for his specialized activity, to organise a legal front without liquidating the illegal party structure, and to link and co-ordinate the activities of its members in these institutions with the direct revolutionary struggles of the people.Othrwise it will blunt the class –consciousness of the people, blur he political demarcation between the party of the proletariat and the ruling class political parties and will be a weapon in the hands of the ruling class forces to defeat he proletarian vanguard.

At present a unified, effective and influential party is lacking Comunist revolutionaries are only in the formative stage-in the sage of re-organisatin. In most areas ,any Communist Revolutionary Organisation is yet to establish it's identity,I the field of organization and mass -political influence.The level of political consciousness and organization of the people is lagging behind their actual practice of struggle or the objective potential for evolutionary struggle.F or asimilar reason,the emergence and development of revolutionary democratic elements is delayed .It is because of this situation that he present acute political crisis is not being converted into a revolutionary crisis. A general mood of distrust of leaderships and cynical indifference to political affairs and developments that a further hurdles are being created..

But or this circumstances the C.R's could have in condition of great turmoil adopted the tactics of 'Active Boycott' and and called upon the revolutionary forces to carry out he agrarian revolutionary programme, conducted armed struggle and set up alternative organs of peoples power. In other times ,under adverse political conditions they could have participated in the electins as a tactical ploy.

Toady there are 2 serious deviations. The first one is that of carrying out 'Boycott'tactics without the scope of direct revolutionary mass action and setting up of parallel organs of political power. The second is of using participation tactics without the proletarian party,sufficient mass opolitical influence and other necessary organizational means.It will organizationally lead to liquidationsim and politically to tailism

The only possible campaign is that of 'Active Political Campaign'.They must build mass revolutionary struggles They must urge the people to rely and concentrate on their own struggle movement and organization-building to prepare for direct revolutionary mass action against the ruling classes and their institutions of political power.

In the campaign the Comunist Revolutionaries should analyse the specific features which get manifest in ruling class politics and their manouvres in elections. Eg Warring factions of ruling classes and their political representatives.T he uselessness of parliamentary institutions must be explained as well as parliamentary methods. The political objective of the working class movement and the democratic revolutionary movement led by it should be projected.

The campaign should consist of

A.Contracting the professed programmes of the ruling class parties with their actual practice and with the bitter experience of the peole in regard to their worsening economic conditions.

b. Explaining that the root cause of the economic misery is that of the semi –feudal, semi-political economy and The autocratic state structure , and that without eliminating the root cause there is no hope for meaningful change.

C .Explaining the people to depend o their own organized strength and struggle, and have no illusions of false talk of civil librties .The people must be explained the need o establish their own political power .

d. Pushing the proletariat and other sections to to pursue heir just revolutionary struggles, to build up their respective mass organizations and united Front organizations to be able to raise heir struggles to a higher plane and establish their own rule. Peoples Democracy to be executed through genuine representative institutions of the people-the revolutionary organs of political power.

e. Explaining the road masses the features of he new people's republic that they are fighting for, in the interests of the various revolutionary classes.

In the present day context 2 points are of exceptional importance. The first one is.

a.Exposing the nefarious role of ruling class parties in utilizing communal sectarian divisons among the people, explain the connection between the electoral needs of the party and the lives of the masses and tell the masses about the need to rebuff such dirty manouvresof the ruling class parties.

b.Explaining the people the need to build heir own reliable political instruments. i.e the proletarian party organization,the united Front organization





Approach to Communist International-compiled from Journal-The Comrade-This piece has particular polemic significance I the liht of the setting up of a Communist International.Toady the Revolutioanry Internationalist Movement is virtually a non-entity and the CO RIM has virtually split from the RIM.Parties in Nepal and Peru have virtually capitulated.In India too groups like the C.P.I(Maoist)have polemioc weaknesses on questions of line.2 earlier constituents of the C.P.R.C.I.(M.L),namely the C.C.R.I. and the Central Team waged significant struggles on this issue.







1.The vanguard the Communist parties , practicing proletarian internationalism have to exist. International Communist Unity and concerted action of Communist parties have to exist. The proletariat in each country fulfils it’s internationalist duty by striving for carrying out revolution.









2.Carrying out revolution I one’s own country and striking at imperialism worldwide are distinct though inter-related he 3rd International took p this task .Unfortunately it dissolved itself in 1943 when it found that it’s form was no longer suitable



3. Ever since the dissolution strong efforts have been made to establish proletarian internationalism with their own revolutionary practice. This was initiated by the C.PC from it’s lessons of a protracted Peoples War.It valiantly ought the revisionism of Kruschev.



Since the fall of proletarian power in the C.C.P. there is no Socialist base in the World. History remembers that despite the achievement of C.P.C under Mao ,the party did not go towards establishing he Communist International or establishing an International Organisation. Instead it stressed for he Communist Parties of the camp to apply he universal truths of Marxism-Leninism in the concrete situation of their country. It emphasized that other countries should not copy the Chines Experience to-to but apply the Chinese experience in accordance to their own condition.

The main reason for the C.P.C’s caution was a .Imperialism was devising through its local regimes new forms of neo-colonial rule and only a native communist party could analsye and review such situations. An outside force could not grasp the concrete reality. Thus he necessity of political independence of each country’s communist party.



b.Chauvinistic tendencies may develop under Communist Parties .The more developed and advanced may act chauvinistically and deliver big-brother ttreatment to the less developed or successful parties.



The victory of a revolution in a country under he leadership of a Communist Party indicates that certain crucial contemporary problems of he revolutionary movement have been resolved by it ,and thus the experience can be passed on to Communist Parties of othe Countries.At presnt there is no such party in the World..The ideological political struggle against Oppurtunism withi the revolutionary Camp is firce and bitter in each country.



A dialectical process involving unity of Communist Parties is required. Mutual exchange has to take place Actual experience should be shared, which would pave the ay for more advanced form s of collective positions on issues and ralying of more forces worldwide. Mutual Exchange and Common stands,bilaterally and laterally,,and multilateral platforms on the basis of the general line are required



Today in India and in other Countries the reorganization of he Communist Party is still in the process of being realized It is crucial to struggle to implement the correct line and establish its content with opportunism. In this process Communist revolutionaries have to strive to achieve unity on the basis of settling various line questions in connection with the revolutionary practice of the masers of the Indian people.



On question of United activities against Imperialism.

Wrong tendencies.-This is particularly important in the light of events like M-R-4 which are struggling against the offensive and the tentaclespf Imperialism and globalization.There have been strong defective tendencies in the handling of anti-imperialist activities

.



1.Artificially inflating mobilization.

This leads to the wrong political emphasis of trying to increase the number of participants in mass actions through non-revolutionary method sof mobilizing people. Sections of Communist Revolutionaries seek to push people into mass actions merely by influence of certain mass leaders ,or the discipline of he mass organization under the leadership,.What is really needed is to increase the people’s participation in these mass actions with a revolutionary perspective is to make strenuous efforts to disseminate anti-imperialist consciousness among the struggling people through a difficult and protracted process of political education and propaganda linked to their life-experiences and concrete struggles. Some comrades concerned are very eager to make people quickly join the anti-imperialist movement ,so they adopt short-cut methods.



Tendency to feel nothing can be done singe-handed. Due to scarcity of numbers certain comrades that work can only be implemented in a front with other organisatins.True unity is an urgent objective but it an lead to overdependence on just united activities Communist Revolutionaries and diverts attention from he principal task, namely the development of the anti-imperialist consciousness movement.



The most important task of the Communist Revolutionaries is to expand the relatively developed layer of he people which is he core of the anti-imperialist movement. This layer serves as the main base of political mass actions now organized by communist revolutionaries.



The main form of activities I are pressing class demands and make each section of people understand how the imperialist policies are hurdles in the achieving of every specific demand of that section.



The 2nd form is that of organizing special mass campaigns ,pressing anti-imperialist political issues. Here the communist revolutionaries propagate how any specific imperialist policy is detrimental to the interests of all sections of he people, and thus al section s of people need to unitedlys truggle against Imperialism. Efforts are needed to reach sections opposing neo-colonial dominaton.

A very important factor is the mass platforms must be made distinct from the party organizations. There is a strong tendency that believes that the image of their party organization will be negatively affected if he content of anti-imperialist policy I projected by any joint platform is deficient.



Thy have the notion that their party organization is directly accountable for the performance of thejoint platform. Thus they impose a higher political content or higher level of activities onto he joint platform.

The Organisational set-up or united activities is a major factor. There are various violations of discipline united mass platforms where political organizations wish to impose their content.

To one extent or the other the practice of mutual co-operation and Unity among various CR organizations carries on with certain positive and negative features. The experience of this practice can indicate to what extent there can be real-struggle unity or united activity on any political issues between the concerned organizations ,and on that basis what level of political content the united activities can undertake. The political content and organizational discipline of the common platform should be determined on those experiences. It cannot be determined on he basis of formal; political agreement between the concerned organizations nor merely under compulsion of the objective need for united action.

Real Struggle Unity among several organizations participating in united activities can be at various levels .Thus only a single platform for united activities of all these organizations is needed. Where the formal political agreement among certain C R.organisations may be of a higher level but real struggle-unity is at a lower level ,the structure of he common platform should be relatively loose.



Nature of Cadre force deployed.



Certain cadre force should be specifically deployed t should have a certain level of skill. This is because there would be several people unrelated to the democratic revolutionary movement, but having some level of anti-imperialist Consciousness. They may not be able o accept Communist revolutionary activists as their leaders. Thus activists have to be more flexible and imaginative, while themselves having a solid grasp of orientation.



Wrong tendencies include organizations trying to push through elements of their maximum understanding ,instead of trying seriously to thrash out minimum common understanding. for the specific purpose of the joint platform. They misuse the stage of the joint platform, ,by propagating their own views.

This also throws light on the defective functioning of factions s of the BKU(Ekta)in Punjab. Here revolutionary politics was imposed through mass actions imposed on the organization..This view professed that there is an absence of revolutionary political propaganda among the ranks of the Union, wheras the peasants are yearning to know and assimilate revolutionary politics .Attempts were made to force revolutionary politics down the throats of peasants. They unleashed direct propaganda –without any attempt at revealing he linkages of politics with peasant problems by guiding the peasants through experiences of Struggles. The peasant’s concern is always centred around their problems. Thus, they are interested in knowing and assimilating those elements of political conceptions, promise and phenomena which seem to hem concretely and directly related to the causes and solutions of their problems. Herin lies the significance of steering them through mass struggles linked with the experience of their daily lif.Therfore,it is essential that the Union build the struggle movement not only for defending the peasants in the face of the daily ruling class attacks but also for inculcating political consciousness among them. However as much political propaganda one may otherwise carry on,p peasants cannot imbibe revolutionary consciousness unless they have been guided by the fire of mass struggles. Politics has to be integrated with the needs and problems of their mass struggles.

The followers of wrong thinking are smuggling I their intent to directly propagate revolutionary politics by forcing he Union into joint activities with organizations professing Communist Revolutionary Ideology. Presently there is no ground for this.

Revolutionary Groups or parties which aspire to politically develop the B.K.U Ekta should propagate politics amongst peasants from their own platforms and should educate and organize them for struggles. As the number of members, activists and leaders influenced by such education and propaganda increases ,the situation would become increasingly favourable for preparing the internal basis for the development of he Union.



There is also undemocratic functioning within he Union. They adopt methods like forming fake city unit of the peasant organization by recruiting some employees, shopkeepers and persons belonging to no –agricultural professions in order to install a political person from outside the Union into a leadership position. They do this to convert he peasnt organization into a forum for propagating their politics.



Struggle reports from Areas



1.Orissa.



Here the tribal organization in the Malkangari region exhibited great political and organizational potential.

It has been an example of an organisation with mass character and practicing democratic functioning. It has fought for immediate ,partial demands as well as political demands.It has instilled in the tribals that through their struggles and through the medium of their mass organizations, they can become the alternative centers of power and authority. The Sangh has also shown the importance of assistance from the class allies ,particularly the working class. The Sangh has shown that people when organized can govern their own affairs and collectively assert their authority. The tribals were thought to place faith only in their own organized strength. An important activity to achieve this end has been the steadfast exposure of although ruling class institutions and propoganda.The Sangh has also been an effective answer to the Left Sectarian line of Armed Squads of a major revolutionary Group. Who though function with the utmost sincerity and best intentions ,do not take the path of involving the people and forming genuine organizations with a genuine mass character. The revolutionary forces working within the Sangh have done their utmost to maintain the balance between de-centralization of Committee Activities( to promote democracy and give the lower mass sections more opportunity to assert their authority),and maintaining proletarian revolutionary leadership (so that the mass organization is prevented from ultra-democratic.



What is significant is that armed militant struggles of the Adivasis have taken place to defend their rights. They have confronted Imperialist sponsored projects like H.A.M.C.O and a pipeline company ,which is of great significance-in connecting to the anti-imperialist Struggle. Land grab seizures have taken place thus setting up a spark for agrarian revolutionary struggle. Unique forms of struggle have been devised applying the politics of the Chinese Revolution or Mao Tse Tong Thought .A mass armed agrarian peasant revolutionary struggle has yet to be created and the Adivasi Organisation is at a preparatory stage. It is one of the greatest movements of its kind in revolutionary struggle world over. No tribal movement has been as close to the mass line for half a century or exhibited such democratic functioning.The leadership of the Communist revolutionary organization is exemplary even if it has not given call for armed struggle.Most innovative methods of work were innovated and Mao Tse Tung Thought was brilliantly applied.



In the 13th Parliamentary Elections the organization gave a classical l attempt at carrying out the mass line. The Executive committee of the organization planned to concentrate it's election propaganda in the selected belts of the mass organization rather than carrying out an extensive campaign throughout the mass organisation's influence and work. The organization was divided into propaganda teams which would be sent through different pockets to organize mass meetings and suitable gatherings. The mass organisation's leaflet was prepared by the main leadership of the Sangh.However it was first thoroughly discussed in the steering committee and the draft was later improved after taking into consideration suggestions.An extended meeting of mass activists were organized on the election Issue.12 teams were appointed comprising 2 to 7 activist. Most of the teams concentrated in the Central Zone and the H.A.M.C.O.Zone2 Teams campaigned in the ChitraKonda Tapu area while one team went to the Tendki-Challanguda area for campaigning.



The meetings were well attended, at places in hundreds. The TRIBAL PEOPLE PARTICIPATED IN DISCUSSIONS,RAISED QUESTIONSIN RELATIONSHIP TO THEIR DAY TO DAY ISSUES. The people invited the organization to form bodies in their respective areas. The most discussed topic was that of lad and forest. The gains achieved under the leadership of the Sangh were explained in contrast to the promises of the leaders. The tribals expressed their disillusionment with the leaders and on their own thinking promised to not participate in the elections.Sangh leaders displayed creativeness in their organizational skills. With regards to an issue in Moupadar Panchayat the Sangh team opted for a gathering to resolve the issue. The Sangh leaders argued that the tribal was not a political thief and fined him only Rs 100 and got an apology from him, the people retorted that the police wouldn't let him go without fining a minimum of Rs 5000 Through this Incident the Sangh leaders explained the distinction between contradictions among the people and the contradiction between the enemy and the people.-the exploitation and oppression of the tribals at the hands of the police, authorities and exploiting classes. Highly impressed the tribal people gage at least 17 concrete examples of such police exactions.



At One place an all Woman Sangh team posed as a Congressman who wanted to buy the people's votes. The Tribals, identifying with the Sangh demanded land and ordered them to get out. Only when the team disclosed their identity did the people warmly receive them. Using the occasion ,the Sangh explained the significance of land and the way to acquire It.-as a method of solving various other problems of people. In another village where forest Committees were grabbing people's lands, the Sangh team offered Rs.2,000 Per acre for land and demanded offers for sale of land. One person agreed to sell hislandThe people in the gathering argued with this person, asking how he could think of selling his landing the course of the discussion, the Sangh team revealed their identity and laid bare the govt tricks to create disunity amongst tribal people and garb their lands



In some villages the people combated the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. The leaders were questioned and the tribals stated that they would alternatively vote for their own axes, the handle of the plough, or land Etc.In an isolated mountainous village which the Sangh had never visited before, the people warmly received them and explained how they had heard of the Sangh's struggles. They narrated that they were searching for the Sangh for a considerable period of time. They narrated the futility of elections. Their houses had been totally drenched in the monsoon due to poor roofing. One tribal told the team "Do you no why my loincloth is so dirty? Because I do not have a second one."



The teams explained the real political alternative ,the need of organization and Struggle and the importance of land and forest Issue The people were involved in lively discussions and related the politics to their day to day issues. The Sangh team was not able to convince the people that they should boycott the polls. However they assertively put their stand that they were for organization and Struggle, and that it was upto the people to decide whether to participate or not to participate in the election. In one area the organization emerged as a parallel Institution. A clear polarization took place between the pro Sangh and anti Sangh forces .Like a torrent overflowing a spontaneous poll boycott took place in the tribal villages where the people swept the villages.



Overall the Election campaign was a great success. New Units of the Sangh were created. Existing Units were consolidated and the organizational and political Consciousness of tribal was raised.5 points were worth noting.



1.Discussion meetings were much more effective than rallies. They help more in understanding the people and their problems and in communicating the Sangh politics.
2.Struggles and campaigns of local issues would be of great assistance in consolidating the organization h.
3.Need of regular Interaction of organization Units
4.The Tribal people everywhere displayed their strong urge for organization and Struggle. The Enemies offensive has stepped up. An Effective mechanism for struggle and self –defence is the immediate need.
5.The Activists need to develop a propaganda method redressing the people's grievances. In the course of political campaigns, they would only listen to the campaigners when their grievances were adhered to. Stereotyped methods of propaganda need to be replaced by a more creative variety compatible with the understanding of the Adivasis which would spiritually elevate them.

Another Remarkable aspect of the organisation’s s functioning was it's methods employed for selecting areas of consolidation. Certain Small Pockets were chosen and cadre were deployed in those places. The leadership ensured that the selected areas were accessible transportwise.I n this way the cadres could conveniently relate their experiences and communicate to each other. In this way 3 small pockets within a stone throw of each other were selected.



The Forest Corporation, Forest Department and timber Mafia were cutting reserve forest trees. Their excuse was that it's purpose was to provide housing material for the Cyclone affected. The people protested only when the mafia began cutting in large quantities, with mechanized Saws. Instead of cutting 19 trees which the forest department had given permission ,the Corporation cut off 600 trees. The Sangh exposed this to the people. All the Adivasis were mobilized and the Sangh opened up a camp at the site of the cutting. Day and Night guarding was deployed. This movement enabled the guilty forest officials, guilty conservators, and Corporation officials to be prosecuted hey were suspended or transferred. I n the Panchayat where the people had lost land to the Balimela dam the Forest department began grabbing land for plantation. The Sangh uprooted the plantation.

The Sangh felt it was the need of the hour to consolidate. The Sangh's view was that local activist's local activists should be given the role of running the Sangh and conducting protests. That are had witnessed bamboo and timber Struggles in recent times.



Education of cadres



The Sangh adopted most innovative methods of Imparting Marxism Leninist education amongst the triblal.It must be remembered that Comrade Mao always emphasized the need of revolutionaries to explain revolutionary politics through the people's idioms in most accessible terms. Comrade Mao stressed on the need to write simply and overcome a stereotyped party style of writing. One of the major factors in the Chinese Communist Party's revolutionary success was it's ability to reach the people through their idioms and lively style of writing.The Malkangiri Adivasi Sangh used storytelling,songs and dances ,hunting and dramas for education. Once theAdivasis get the conception,one has to reduce the conception to rote,for easy recall.The aim was to build a long,steady,repetitiveand interesting learning scheme.The organizer has also to emphasise on taking notes .Even rote,after being properly formulated ,must be abbreviated to failitate easier memorizing.T he organizers must silmuntaneously involve them in struggles and connect their instinct to fight to this.



After every struggle the organizer must review the experiences bit by bit,so that the activists can analyse their mistakes,weaknesses or defects in orientation for themselves compared to the correct orientation,and thus feel the necessity to rectify their errors .Illiteracy is the major obstacle to educating the Adivasis.The Adivasis know letters but are unable to use written language.Tribal culture s mainly oral,so participants are often reluctant to take notes.The Organiser has to train in taking notes after explaining them the positive qualities of the written method as an instrument of knowledge and action.The participants have to be convinced that oral methods,however good is insufficient because they have to withstand and combat the ruling classes who are most adequately equipped with the resources of the best knowledge stored in computers and the cleverest intellectuals who are their paid servants. However the organizer has to innovate different techniques and methods by which the learning becomes more related to the day to day lives of the tribals.This learning should relate to their struggles and must incorporate a picturesque,lively style giving buoyancy to the Adivasis in Struggle.The Organiser must always refrain from criticizing the people from labouring classes.Instead the hypocrisy and the vanity of the oppressor classes should be condemned.The Sangh has deployed the use of folk tales of Indian Culture depicting class significance. Fraudulent land transfers,cases of exploitation and their modus operandi and the role of moneylenders ,bureaucrats,c ontractors and politicians were explained through this way. With regards to cadres neglecting taking notes the following story was told.



There were 2 brothers in a village. One was cultivating land,the other was as School teacher.The wives of the 2 brothers did not get along.The younger brothers wife did not perform housework on the pretext that her husband earned ready cash.T he Elder brother's wife was annoyed by this and demande that her husband take up a job.The elder brother left the house to got o a faraway village where he organized a Catshali.S ince he was semi-illiterate he took the assistance of an older boy asking him to take the classes. When an officer came to inspect the school the elder brother left the school premises giving a reason of suffering from diarrhoea. Somehow the younger brother got his address and came down to see his brother. The elder brother repeated the trick by going to the jungle with a container full of water. However later he found his brother and embraced him .The younger one aslked, "Despite being illiterate, how are you managing the school?". The older brother explained his standard tricks. The younger brother asked him how long he continued like this. The older brother said, "As long as I can push."



The organiser explained, "Whatever tricks one may follow, can one rise by this to a higher level? Can one by such tricks be able to deal with and develop militants? So should not one try to sincerely practice and know the use of written language? The effect of the narration was spontaneous.10 to 12 Comrades now sat together reading political literature and taking notes!
Another Story was narrated to explain the political resolution among selected comrades. This story was from the Panchantatnatra ,a compilation of folk tales.Birds ,while flying over a hunter's net saw the rice strewn beneath. One old bird argued with the younger one that since this was uncommon in a jungle,,they must avoid pecking at the rice .The young and smart birds argued that the older bird could have been correct but since they were hungry and a hungry stomach defied logic they would go down and eat the rice first. They explained that they would face the danger collectively. All the birds went down to catch the rice and got trapped in the net. he old bird advised the younger trapped one's to assemble all their strength and fly towards the sky.T hey flew headlong to the sky along with the net. The hunter came out of the bush and flung his stick at them; but it failed to reach them. The old bird then instructed the younger birds to go to a mouse, who was his old friend .All the birds assembled there. The old bird requested his friend to cut the net with his teeth. He obliged the old bird, and all the old birds were released.



United States of America and all of imperialism are hunters. Their aid and loans are but strewn rice.The conditionalities of the loans are the net. Our party is the old bird.The smart birds are eager in pecking the rice.The more they peck it,the more they are trapped by the net. The mouse represents. the proletariat.The younger birds listening to the older bird to fly towards the sky and with the help of the mouse cut the net, represents the peasants with the help of the proletariat bringing about the people's democratic revolution. Another story was narrated to explain the differnce between form and content.



A king was very fond of his pundits and organized discourses in his court. His minister thought of a trick to discourage the king from the practice of emptying the treasury for this purpose, and proposed to allow him to test them. The king agreed. he minister arranged their accommodation in a King's inn,and gave them some money to purchase materials to cook for their meals. The grammarian went to the milkman. When the milkman was milking the cow,he uttered some words which, according to the pundit, were grammatically wrong. He objected to this. Hearing this interference the cow kicked the milk bucket. The milkman enraged, slapped the grammarian, who therefore came back empty handed. The musician was boiling the rice .When the rice started bubbling,he started to beat the vessel to the tune of bubbling. But when it doubled his singing got disturbed. In rage the musician broke his earthen pot in which the rice was being cooked. The Ayurved specialist went to purchase vegetables,and found fault with each vegetable EG.would create gas,affect skin Etc.He came back empty handed. The astrologer went to get fuel wood, and climbed a tree The Lizard then shrieked. Taking it as an ill omen, he climbed down Another lizard shrieked below. The astrologer remained in the same position throughout the night till the king's men came in the morning and rescued him.T he 5th pundit ,a logician went to procure ghee. Coming back he asked himself, "Is the container the form and ghee the content or vice versa?"To test this he turned the container down ward,a nd 6the ghee spilled out. The logician danced at the result.(Ghee is the Content and container is the form)Thus all of them remained hungry, and he king realized how worthless are the pundits!



Such stories explain the difference between form and content. The last story was used to explain a resolution from the basic documents of the Revolutionary Group.



Another significant story this time with regard to attending classes was told. Adivasi Comrades repeatedly nodded their heads without having understood what was explained in the meetings.



A Pundit was explaining the Bhagbatas to some villagers.The night was advancing and all the devotees left the place,bar an old womanThe woman was observing the scanty beard of the old pundit and tears were falling from her eyes.She explained she was weeping for her goat whose beard resembled the Pundit's one.



The Organiser explained that the intent looks being misleading,like that of the old woman showed the importance of getting the points explained.3 months later in the same class an organiser asked the participants if they followed.A woman comrade replied "I am really looking at your chin."Thus the organizer re-explained the same point.Such narrations stress the importance of organizers trying to understand facial expressions or physical participation of the participants to understand the extent t owhich they have understood them.



In the formative days of wok classes used to take palce on the
1.Sangh's manifesto
2.Sangh's charter of demands
3.history of Adivasi Struggles
4.class Analysis
5.Weaknesses of the peasantry.
6.the State
7.historical materialism



Thus through effective cultural modes term slike democratic Centralism,communism,cadres,the Revolutionary group's name,names of different Marxist heroes,names of Isms,historic events like Paris Commune or October Revolution,names of Countries Etc.

The Tribal organisation’s (or Sangh) Struggle has become a textbook for a comrade on how to implement mass agrarian revolutionary struggle. The Sangh has not only recaptured land for the Adivasis but has also organized heroic self-defence. The Sangh always made a sound tactical assessment of the Enemy's strength. The greatest struggle waged by the Sangh was the Padmagiri-Pandrapani Struggle against the onslaught of the contractors, politicians and adminstration. The Adivasis waged death-defying resistance against the criminal looting of forest assets. The forest contractors, politicians and administration formed a joint team in denying the Adivasis their forest assets. The struggle involved the Adivasis right to security of land and right to control their forest assets. A contractor Subhash Chandra Bose with the collaboration of the local politicians and the adminstration was carrying out mass felling of trees.The Sangh had to devise adequate methods of winning the confidence of the people. The Sangh team walked for days raising revolutionary slogans. At first the masses failed to respond out of fear, but after protracted campaigning they were eventually won over. One youth who was won over by the Sangh played an instrumental role in mobilizing the tribal villagers. Villagers now came ontothe stage with traditional weapons and volunteers were sent to other surrounding villages. Heroically the villager's detachment resisted the might of the contractors army, assembled in a truck. The Aduvasi team blocked the road. What was significant here was the winning over of Adivasi labourers who were a part of the contractors' Army. It was explained to these sections that they were oppressed Adivasis and were fighting on the wrong side. This heroic struggle instilled a sense of confidence which spread to other districts of the State who took up extensive propaganda and mobilization work. The story of the peoples' heroic deeds had spread far and wide. The struggle gave the Sangh activists renewed courage and gave realization to cadres and militants that their numerical organized strength can not only contain the enemy forces but defeat them.

Later in Padmagiri 6 to 8 self-sufficient Sangh cadre emerged capable of leading struggles. In Tulengudu-Kanjoli pocket, the Adivasis of all villages opposed fresh felling and on their own initiative set up 2 or 3 defence checkposts. In Rangamatiguda-Podarappali pocket the people's development was even greater. Collectively, they discussed with 6 Koya tenants from whom the contractor purchased trees and launched an agreement with them. A series of all-round repression and attacks were launched by the Enemy forces. These met with heroic resistance from the Adivasis. Art Rangamatiguda on January 16th, at the time of spot verification, the contractor's men broke all limits. The masses clustered in large numbers, armed with traditional weapons, resisting the attempts to negotiate a settlement with the contractor. The people beat up a Congress politician Burda, an Agent of the contractor. The womenfolk gheraed the collector. The fury of the people was like a fire burning and the officials were

forced to flee.Burda retaliated with the armed might of the police. The police went to the extent of taking the Sangh leaders into custody. All the democratic mass revolutionary leaders of the Sangh were arrested. To protest the arrests, on

17th January the Sangh members armed with traditional weapons encircled a police Camp at Padmagiri Panchayat blowing their horns. The people took hold of 12 policeman and locked them in a room of the Panchayat's Office in retaliation. On the 20th and 21st, 500 people encircled the contractor's trucks with traditional arms, pooled dry wood around the tyres of trucks and warned the contractor that unless the trucks were unloaded, the villagers would burn them up. (Earlieir on the 19th the contractor gave the Tulenguda peasants respective passbooks, stating that he had deposited Rs 2.60 Lakhs in their name, which was the price of the earler felled trees. On January 20th-21st he brought 7 trucks and loaded them with timber at the

discussing with the available Sangh cadre, made a route march in batches of 50's covering the entire 50 to 60 Km., in a determined bid to fight back. Everday scores of Adivasis were visting the arrested leaders at the Malkangiri Jail. They even proposed to break the jail but the arrested leaders persuaded the militants not to resort to any such actions. However on January 28th-29th the Adivasis wrote an epic. The contractor deployed his full forces to overthrow the Adivasis. He arrested 3 Sangh cadre and captured 10 truckloads of timber. When the word reached the villagers, 2500 people protested with traditional weapons. The Sangh cadre demanded the release of the captured people. Ultimately the Sangh cadre were forced to resort to bows and arrows. The contractor's forces escaped in jeeps. The people caught hold of 5 of the contractors men and took them into hostage.During the entire period of the enemy's all round attack, the democratic revolutionary mass leaders were in jail while the main Sangh cadre went underground. However the people's mass revolutionary resistance held the enemy forces at bay. The Sangh cadre's vigilance a preparedness was instrumental in this. Eventually on February 2nd the democratic revolutionary mass leaders were released. The correct tactical and democratic approach of the Sangh had great relevance. Against such a mighty oppressor, through upholding a democratic approach of relying on the mood and direct action of the people at various places. Significantly the Sangh did not raise the issue of the criminal felling of forest trees at first. At first it had to deal with the fear psychosis instilled in the people. The Sangh was thus left with the task of explaining different aspects of the fraud created by the enemy so that people would begin to understand the issues at hand and express their discrepancies and desires in respect to them. The Sangh negotiated these problems by taking up the forest issue from the perspective of the Adivasi's immediate grievances and on the other hand leading from the Front the people's blockade of the transport of timber by the contractor.













2.Punjab



Rajjeana Conference on November 12th 1994.



IN Punjab the ‘Naxalbari martyrs commemoration committee’ staged a martyrs' commemoration conference on November 12th, 1994. In Rajeana,in Punjab the Naxalbari martyrs commemoration committee staged a martyrs' commemoration conference on November 12th, 1994 commemorating Comrade Bent Singh Rajeana,a martyr of the Naxalite Movement in 1972. A committee was formed for this purpose.This was called the committee for commemorating the martyrs of Naxalbari.The committee took 2 things into consideration.The first was that the content of the platform should be easily understood by the common people. The second was that no controversial point should be raised in the platform.No mutual criticisms should be launched from this platform.It should not be a forum for debating mutual polemics.The maximum revolutionary forces should be launched around it. It was not in the agenda to pass judgement on a particular organization. It was decided that all the martyrs would be treated at an equal level and no discrimination would be launched as regards to a particular group.They would all be treated as Naxalbari martyrs.There were groups in Punjab which took correct positions on certain questions of the line while took a right opportunist position on other questions.The C.P.I.M.L.Janashakti was an example of this.It was decided that even if a revolutionary group was affected by the chief opportunist trends of the day they and their group would not be discriminated against.Tributes would be paid to all as martyrs to the revolutionary movement.



Only 2 groups seriously adhered to the programme,namely the C.C.RI and C.T.C.P.I(M.L).(later merged into the C.P,.R.C.I-M.L)Credit for the eventual success of he conference went to such organizations


Problems were caused by the R.C.C.I.M.L and the C.P.I.M.L.Party Unity.The former raised the controversial topic of the 3 world theory,formation of C.P.I.M.L.and land to the tiller.The Party Unity group decided that C.P.I.M.L.Janashakti should be treated as a genuine communist revolutionary organisation. And it's Punjab unit should be invited to form the committee.The Janashakti group had lost several of their leaders to the Khalistani terrorists.However their line was affected by right opportunist positions.Thus these 2 groups left the platform.

.
A strong mobilisation campaign was undertaken for the conference.Small group meetings of revolutionary activists were held for those who were prepared to carry out the campaign.The comrade decided that the method of propoganda must be understood by the people.The language used must be easily understood by the workers and peasants.There was strong mobilization campaign in Rajeana area in the form of group meetings,big public meetings,rallies and streetcorner plays.Rs.30000 was contributed by the people as donations.A campaign was alos carried out in the village of Rode.This was the native village of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale,chief of the Khalistan movement .60 persons were assassinated by Khalistanif orces and the police here.The masses remembered the martyrs against the Khalistani Movement with great depth of feeling terming them, “Our boys.”


Differentiated propoganda was done for different sections.The politics of Naxalbari was to be connected to the basic interests of different sections.The workers and employees were told that the message of Naxalbari was to fight against narrow,sectional interests and to integrate workers and employees mass movements with the revolutionary movement and that the workers should help the peasantry get organised to build an agrarian revolution.Different propoganda was done with the peasantry. To the landless labourers it was propogated that Naxalbari was the name for the confiscation of the land,property and implements of the landlords and their distribution amongst the landless labourers.It is also the name for bringing bonded labour to the end as well as feudal exploitation.To the landed peasantry it was propagated that they were bent on bringing to an end the present social and economic system which supports the monopoly of land by the landlordsand exploitation of peasants in the form of land rent and usury. They would also confiscate the capital and property in India of all the Indian imperialists and compradors.
The Akali leaders attempting to trick the common people instilled fear amongst the masses that the common people would be arrested if they supported the Communist revolutionaries. For 2 weeks an intensive combat took place between the ranks of the Communist Revolutionaries and the leaders and Ruling Class supporters. The campaigning team explained their politics with great patience and persuasion,reminescent of comrades of Mao's Red Army in explaining people the relationship between their day to day lives and politics. In a village called Rhode the masses redressed their grievances to the campaigning team whereby during the period of Khalistani terrorism,60 people were either executed by the terrorists and the police. They explained how they were threatened by the terrorists blaming the relatives of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who extorted lakhs of Rupees as Ransom money and funded Khalistani leaders living in bungalows.
In the Rajjeana area small group meetings were heldas well as big public meetings and rallies.The masses participated most enthusiastically contributing Rs 30,000.
The Commemorating committee decided that if the State declared a ban on the conference they would not cancel their preparations towards it. In fact they would resist the police parties and assert their democratic Right to assemble. Sit-Ins and roadblock-traffic could also be struggle forms. Protest demonstrations may be organised near the police blockades. To some extent, the committee felt such demonstrations would serve the purpose of the Conference.
The final conference was the biggest ever gathering that took place in Punjab for 25 years among the revolutionary forces.10, 000 people were mobilised.In this conference the real meaning of Naxalbari was explained. Earlier it was understood that Naxalbari meant armed actions of squads.Many people came to understand for the 1st time that it was a mass-based political movement. A separate programme was made for landless peasants and a separate programme was made for the landed peasantry. The need for a correct agrarian revolutionary programme was explained. The people's attitude to the revolutionary movement was greatly changed by this. Here are some examples.
A resolution highlighting the sacrifice ,heritage and path of the martyrs was passed. This included
1. To draw a clear-cut demarcation from the parliamentary path and to expose the hypocritical nature of those who propogated it as well as the bankruptcy of that ideology towards the liberation path.
2. To give a call to People's liberation.
3. To highlight the importance of building the Agrarian revolutionary movement as well as the revolutionary United Front.
4. To highlight the democratic right of the people to build revolutionary mass resistance
5. To explain the Indian people the connection between their struggles and those of Imperialist and third -world countries as well as building solidarity movements to revolutionary struggles all over the world particularly the revolutionary armed Struggle in Peru.
6. The significance of organizational and political self preparedness for self -defence against counter revolutionary violence .based on the recent experience they faced in Punjab.
7. Commemorating the Martyrs and explaining the necessity of building a single Communist revolutionary organisation.



There wee families of revolutionary activists who opposed participatin in the revolutionary movement ,considering the risks and consequences they would fcae4.However after attending the conference their attitudes were totally revrsed.They now had second thoughtys about heir husbans or son spaticipating.
"We had been mistaking Naxalbari people as a terror. Now we know they are very much for their welfare. Such comments were made by landless labourers and peasants. A leader of a group of 8to 10 migrant labourers said "We had been observing for a full 9 years whether anybody exists in Punjab or not. Now we know that they are very much here. Had we known of their presence earlier we would have created doomsday in the factories."



A family member commented “This is good work,here everyone is with them,we had been anxious for along time meaninglessly.’







In landless colonies of Rajjeana respect and adulation for the revolutionary activists was sky0high.A landless woman labourer residing in the landless colonies of Rajjeana stated, “One should give assurance of only one’s own mind ,nether of one’s son or daughter.I shall dedicate my remaining life to the party.This is my line engraved on astone!I do not bother about whether anyone else comes to the party or not.”


A major reason for the success of the conference was the method of mobilisation. People were introduced politics to their level of understanding and could relate the politics of Naxalbari to the problems they faced in their day to day lives. This reminded one of the mass line followed by the Chinese Red Army in the pre-revolutionary period. The Red Army's primary objective was to arm and educate the masses and the strength of the enemy was always critically evaluated. Before holding conferences Mao insisted that the masses were properly educated and that adequate preparations were made to combat an enemy attack .



Compiled from a Struggle report of Comrade no.3



January 1998 Election poster of the Punjab State Committee



BALOTS HAVE NOT TRANFORMED YOUR LIVES

NOR WILL BALLOTS EVER TRANSFORM YOUR LIVES

CHANGE HE STAE POWER,NOT THE GOVERNMENT.



Toilers!

Voteseekersr are once again knocking at your doors. Whichever vote party may succeed in forming he government ,it will change nether the extortionist bureaucrats nor the butcher police.T he ballots are not going to it the foreign and native exploiters,the big monopoly capitalitsts or the big traders -the culprits responsible for raising prices .Nor will you get deliverance this way from the rapacious landlords or feaudals. The state power is in the hands of the exploiting classes. The vote parties and their govts.are mere tools of this. State power. So long as the present exploiting state set up remains intact ,your chains of exploitation and slavery will never be smashed. Take the path of overthrowing The system rather than just changing the govt.





BUILD THE PEOPLE’S POWER

STATE POWER IS NEVR CHANGED THROUGH BALLOT BOXERS ,IT IS OVERTHROWN BY ARMRD FORCE.



Organise yourselves as a class in organizations and unions build struggles on class issues and class demands at each and every place



Organise joint struggles on common issues and evolve a joint political Front.

Dare to challenge each and every atrocity,each and evry act of high-handedness and exploitation by the rulers and exploiters dare to fight and resuist on every issues and assert the people’s power.

Raise volunteer forcesc to protect your organization





TAKE TO THE PATH OF BUILDING AN ANTI-IMPERIALIST AND ANTI-FEUDAL BROAD REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMWENT OF THE PEASNTRY,AND THE PATH OF PROTRACTED ARMED PEOPLES WAR TO OVERTHROW THE STATE AND TO USHER IN GENUNE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRACY.



Punjab State Committee Communist Party Reorganisation Centre of India(Marxist-Leninist)



Struggle for the Correct trend in the B..K.U(Ekta )



This trend focused on building he struggle-activities on basic and burning peasant demands, and introducing political consciousness in the union I accordance with the level of the peasants actual activity and experience. While al the political forces were free from their independent platform to influence peasmnts politically,the experiences acquired by the peasntmasses ion struggle would be crucial to their being able to absorb any such political propaganda.In Contracts the wrong trend made the union unction as apropoganda baed organization.Through joint actions with other political platforms, they attempted to politicize the peasant masses .

The correct trend was reflected I the Jethuke struggle(A historic turning point) in January 200where the correct trend was applied to combat repression, resulting in pole firing. It also withstood and defeated the repression, and won certain repression-related demands,t o achieve the original aim s of the struggle. Thus the correct trend strived to build an alternative practice. Similarly in he mass gherao of land mortgage bank in Rampura,no arrests were made of defaulting peasants. Burning issues of the peasantry wee highlighted. Following this the struggle for paddy procurement reflected several similar features.The followers of he correct trend worked in selected pockets,where hey had asignificant base ,to set up types of struggle which wopuld influence abroader section of peasants.

The major line of demarcation between the correct and wrong trend was felt by the peasantry on the handling of the issue of peasant indebtedness to usurious commission agents.The 2001 agitation against the Sandoha suicide where asustained strugl;e was launched is an appropriate example.

The participants in the correct trend linked the political struggle with the conctre class Struggle.They implemented the militant mass struggle alternative in practice like in Jethuke, the paddy procurement struggle,the Maiserkhana struggle Etc.The burning problem of peasnt indebtedness was handled impeccably by he correct trend.A do-or-die spirit was inculcated and the ranks understood the correctness of the line.

The organizers of the correct trend were able to mobilize the maximum ranks in the inner-organisational struggle.They also did not inculcate discipline mechanically and took the consciousness of the majority of thec ranks into account.

Himmatpura Struggle

The turning point in defeating the wrong trend was in Himmatpuraon April 28th..It comprised of 250 leading activists from 10 districts.In the first session all the deeds and propaganda of the ruling clases was exposed.I the 2nd session, a teacher described the role and record pf the leadership of the correct trend. This teacher concluded that the work of the Union inspired him to leave the job full –time and work for the Union.In the 3rd session, anyone could speak from the flooor.Several activist volunteered to become full time participants.

The followers of the correct trend called or a Kisan council.1950 peasant activists were invited for he Kisan council, including 2 each from 720 village units,7 each from the Unions 58 block committees,7 each fro the Union's 12 districts and 9 office bearers of the State Committee. In preparation for he council; district committee meetings ere held in all districts. In these meetings the contents of the Himmatpura meeting was explained.

There was major struggle between the State leadership and the activists of the correct trend.Earlier the Sangrur Committee had opposed the correct trend activists.The State leadership had also refused the holding of the Kisan council.The activist held the council meeting opposing the state leadership.Sukhdev Kokri was removed by the leadership. Finally after a meeting held on May 18 th by the activists of the correct trend Sukhdev Kokri was re-instated.

The Kisan Council was held on May 21st at Talwandi Sabo.Of the 1950 qualified to participate,I the Council 1359 participated. Peasant activists participated from 36 blocks,in which the correct trend prevailed.

After the Kisan Council a state conference was held at Jethuke on June 8th.Here the 2 trends were differentiated and the real issues prevailing demarcated. It was revealed how the leaders of he wrong trend were not prepared for struggles on burning issues. Infact they boycotted the struggle against Usury. The wrong trend worked overtime o block the correct trend and if elections were democratically conducted would be swept away and the correct trend would triumph.

JThe conference elected a new state committee.A call was given for statewide demonstrations ,on various demands.

The wrong trend projected an action committee including ruling class parliamentary opposition parties.

Analysis of the B.K.U(Ekta)

It is significant that within the correct trend opinion is divided.

The struggle of the B.KU(Ekta)is a classical example of the struggle for democratic functioning within a mass organization.Today ,when there is aprominent tren withing the Communist Revolutonary camp of imposing party politics on mass organizations the correct approach of this sruggkle has enormous significance. The peasant struggles of Pumjab are also a fitting answer to he trend that claims that armed struggle cannot be deferred. Punjab is a classic example of a state where peasants have not reached the level of political consciousness to enable armed struggle to be carried out. The agrarian revolutionary movement is still in the stage of being built.The Kisan Council and he subsequent conference is of great significance. I n the author's view this reflects the mass revolutionary approach to creating abase for launching protracted peasant struggles amongst the middle and landed peasantry and avenues to sharpen and enhance the class movements of the landless peasantry.The anti-repression struggle,the successful protests and jail bharo agitation,struggle within jails,participation of women and organized mass resistance against the arrests were important features which illustrate the ground for launching a democratic revolutionary struggle.Before launching armed struggles or during them as in China,there have been mass movements for democratic rights.

In the Authors view heroic struggles have been launched by the peasantry.

The B.K.U (Ekta-represnting correct trend ) has taken historically correct steps to build a peasant movement of the landed peasantry combating wrong trends and has given a classic example of carrying out mass revolutionary work within a single large body,They have led state-wide agitations and are creating a base for district-level and State wide movements of the landed peasntry.It has been one of the most revolutionary democratic approaches ever displayed where no party politics has been imposed on the mass organization.However still it is only a base for building a revolutionary peasant Movement.and is not a class organisation of the landless peasantry revolutionary peasant classes. It has yet to lead or encourage the lower sections of the peasantry. Today a mass agrarian revolutionary peasant armed struggle has yet to be built to lay the seeds for guerilla warfare.There have been historic statewide agitations which is significant .



3 .Punjab landless and Agricultural Workers Union



Similarly the Punjab landless and Agricultural labourers organization launched anti-feudal struggles of the landless peasants and agricultural workers. Since it's foundation in 1993 it launched a series of heroic struggles. An agricultural labourer lives the life of a wretched beast. He is denied his weekly or any holiday throughout the year. When he takes leave for any death in the family or a marriage he is charged much more than the average wage being paid to him. At work he virtually works round the clock. In Agricultural Operations, he has to do all sorts of household chores, for the master. In Peak work seasons, he has to forget rest and sleep for days together due to rush of work. This forced sleeplessness results in accidents leading to amputation of limbs and serious injuries. The landowner is not required to pay for their treatment or missed days. No compensation is paid during disability or death. His average wage is much below the stipulated minimum wage. The rising prices of day to day items forced the agricultural labourer community to slash their consumption.
3 types of issues were predominantly taken up.
The first one was opposing casteist arrogance and misbehavior with women. The 2nd one was for increase in and proper distribution for social welfare and other advances like grants, community centers. The third relates to propaganda and agitational issues like distribution of land, residential plots and improvement in working conditions. The 4th and last related to political

mobilization on issues.

Balahar Vinju land struggle
The most significant struggle led by the Agricultural labour Union was at Village Balahar Vinju.The village backward class elements had been cultivating the fields containing 18 acres for a considerable period. The Village head, in connivance with a Congress minister stage a conspiracy to usurp this land at throw-away prices through governmental auctioning of this land. Through a continuous protracted struggle the villagers resisted evictions. The peasants heroically resisted the police repression in addition to that of goondas. Although the authorities succeeded in auctioning the land in a closed-door auction under the vigilance of heavy police escort, they failed to evict the villagers and seize the disputed land.
This struggle had important phases At first when the government had decided to auction the land the peasants held a series of meetings, rallies and demonstrations. The Harijan community as well as large sections of the middle peasants signed an appeal persuading the authorities for leasing the concerned land, only to the agricultural labourers. A deputation of 250-300 men, women and children under the leadership of the Union met several authorities with regards to their cause. The mood of the village peasants was so militant that the village head when coming for the auction had to call of the auction to declare that the land would be sold to the Agricultural labour. This irritated the Congress leaders who retaliated by calling an auction and calling for a seizure of the agricultural labourers land. The peasants under the Union fought a do or die battle. They went to the field sand staged their Red flag. Now religious ruling class parties used the issue to win votes. These included the Bahujan Samaj Party. The Union activists effectively refuted religious forces. The Union explained how through reciting religious scriptures opportunist political forces can divert the struggle.
With great determination the Union activists resisted the police forces they surrounded jeeps250 people surrounded the police station demanding the release of an arrested worker. The protest was so militant that the police had to release the arrested worker.
The Police counter retaliated raiding houses of many activists. On August 4th a public conference was to be held which the police tried to prevent the Peasant's Union from Staging a conference. They arrested electricity workers Etc.However after a determined protest of 225 people in Bhatinda district the arrested workers were released.
.
August 13th was the day of the next auction. The Congress leaders tried to trick the peasants by stating that the auction would be cancelled and land distributed among the labourers.The leaders of the peasant Union explained the workers what the Congress leaders were upto.The Congress leaders spread the word that Gullzar Singh ,a Congress Minister would cancel the auction and distribute the land. The Union told the peasants to cancel the rally if they were awarded the land. The Congress leaders in an embarrassing position had to cancel the land.
After that Tarsem, a prominent Union leader was arrested. The peasants through militant demonstrations attempted to secure his release. A deputation of Agricultural Workers and employees met the district authorities and asked the S.H.O to r3elease all men arrested from the village and stop repression on Tarsem.The Police were prepared to release Tarsem on the condition that no legal or mass action would be taken against the Police. On August 28th, it was known that the concerned district Inspector had come to the police Station. Women of Balahar Vinju rushed to the Police Station and within an hour assembled and started a demonstration which stopped only after the Inspector promised that Tarsem would be released on 29th August. In Bhatinda on September 2nd the Union decided to organize a militant protest however later cancelled it. The Police were not prepared to release Tarsem.They implicated him in a false case and sent him to Bhatinda jail, and also prepared a false certificate that he was arrested in an injured State. The Union now decided to hold their protest rally on September 11th on the day a convention was taking place on the joint merging of the Dehati Mazdoor Union and the Pendu Mazdoor Union into a single organization. The Police refused to grant permission for the Unity Convention with the state of turbulence in the area. The Union now decided to hold the convention secretly. On September 11th 500 Union Activists assembled at the teacher's home in Bhatinda, holding a demonstration despite heavy rain and water knee deep on the roads. All this was done in a secret manner so that the police would be unaware of it, until the demonstration reached the district Courts, where a memorandum against Police Repression was given to the district officer. The first joint meeting of the D.M.U(Dehati Mazdoor Union-meaning village workers Union") and the P.M.U(Pendu Mazdoor Union meaning Agricultural Workers Union) was held later in the evening150 delegates participated.The agricultural workers from a totally unorganized force now were a militant surging contingent. From a submissive and hopeless position there force was like a spear piercing through the ruling class forces. A militant spirit reverberated in their hearts. A statement of a villager, "So small a village has kept the police of the whole district on the toes for a month, that is not a small achievement," testified this. "We may or may not get the land but we will never leave the organisation." The significant note to me made of the Balahar Vinju Struggle was the peasant's collectively fighting for their rights over land .
Having failed in their attempts to divide or suppress the Agricultural labourers during the latter half of 1993,the Congress I Leaders of the area and the district authorities teamed up with the local chieftain of the village for launching a united mass repression on the Agricultural labourer's movement. They sold the said land through an open auction to the brother of the Sarpanch and 3 others of the clique. At very cheap rates. They did this on 29th January with the help of a huge deployment of the police force and despite the protests of the Harijan community of the village. The Agricultural labourers however maintained their determination and resolve Even as they went to redress the Punjab and Haryana Court they relied on the mass mobilization of Agricultural labourers.They brought clear instruction from the Court that it should not dispossess the agricultural labourers from there land until the matter was decided. The Court decision was a thorn in the flesh of the ruling clique.
The Teasing question for the Agricultural labourers was the method of seizing the land. They decided in the community meeting of the village that they would take possession by irrigating the land on the due date. The Sarpanchclique threatened them with dire consequences .Showing valiant courage, a team of 70 to 80 men and women of the Harijan Community, along with 8 to 10 men from the Jaat Peasantry, armed with traditional weapons, trudged on to the fields in a procession. The Sarpanch clique counter retaliated by bringing the Sub divisional magistrate and the Deputy Superintendent of police, who ordered the peasants to disperse. The Sarpanch began to abuse them but displaying great valiance and courage the peasants stood their ground withstanding all the threats. The Sub divisional magistrate went to the extent of announcing that the labourers will not be permitted to claim their land. He made a false plea that the order did not mention the specific land referred ..4 0r 5 labourers were called to the police Station. However the whole team of Agricultural labourers reached the Police Station they raised slogans expressing the injustice meted out to them. They decided to launch a case against the Sarpanch for using abusive language and for issuing threats. In the next few days, the representatives of the labourers met the district6 authorities. They were reluctant to implement the Court order. The High court had stated that no one could take possession of the land until the high court passed an order. To play a trick the Sarpanch clique now stated that the land was government provincial land which could be sold through open auction. This was a major lie because the auction order of the same authorities had itself referred to it as Nazool land.The anti-labour class character of the authorities was fully exposed.The Agricultural labourers now decided to launch a two-pronged strategy .One was to gain a clearer verdict in the high court and compel the authorities to implement it, the other was to mobilize people of the area by exposing g the anti-people character and role of the district authorities and thus add greater pressure. The Punjab Agricultural Workers Union held a state level conference on 1st July in Balahar Vinju Itself. The district authorities banned the holding of the peaceful conference there, imposed section 144 of Cr.P.C.,and rushed 300 to 400 security men to seal of all the entry points in the village. The labourers were denied there democratic right to struggle. Heroically the labourers were undeterred. A team of 150 labourers and employees supporting their cause demonstrated at the district headquarters raising slogans condemning the authorities. The Venue of the state conference was shifted to Sewewala where 1000 Labourers with other revolutionary mass organizations participated.The Road traffic was blocked for half an hour. Effigies of the Sarpanch district authorities and Punjab Government were burnt and resolutions were passed supporting the Balahr Vinjhu labourers Struggle and condemning the district authorities. About 125 people held a protest rally in Balahr Vinju village itself.
Two further incidents had outstanding impact. All Entry points to the village had been sealed off on the day of the meeting with a huge deployment of police force. Later an angry batch of men and women from the Harijan Community went to a check post and scolded the police force present in that area for blocking their way to the fields. The force was forced to flee1In the subsequent incident one of the labourers was detained by the police on the pretext that he was calling for a rally in the village. Within minutes 150-200 men and women from the community rushed to the spot and gheraoed the jeep in which the boy was detained. The boy was freed. What was of great relevance was the words of a policeman stating, "What is the use of Imposing section 144 in such situations, the Govt just earned a bad name for doing so for nothing!
For the next 15 days, the people continued to exhibit their determined resolve. Incidents of getting boys freed from police custody by mass pressure and thrashing elements from the Sarpanch clique were such examples. On 15th July 200 men and women of the Harijan Community held a militant demonstration in the district courts of Bhatinda For 4 hours they raised militancy slogans and raging speeches. The nefarious policies of the Sarpanch,the district authorities and the Punjab Government were explained and condemned like a spear piercing flesh.
The correct revolutionary leadership continuously educated the peasants about the politics of the land issue and how it was connected to the need of building an agrarian revolutionary Movement. No Armed Squads replaced the collective revolutionary Actions of the masses and the people from their own revolutionary Experience gained an experience in mass revolutionary Struggle. Through Experience the Peasants understood the anti-people Nature of the Ruling Class Parties and the police force. In Mass revolutionary Struggle through their own experience the masses understand the enemy and the appropriate methods to combat them. The effort of the Union in holding their Unity Convention Secretly after the authorities denied formal permission and hold the protest rally showed the tactical experience gained through struggle. The peasants were now further drawn towards revolutionary Class Struggle and the need for a cohesive peasant organization. Only militant organised resistance would liberate them. The protracted struggle of the peasantry against the onslaught of the Sarpanch clique and the authorities was a great education to them about the nexus between the landlord classes and authorities. The fact that the court order could not be implemented and that only their organized struggle could win them justice was a great lesson. Through the Struggles of the Punjab Agricultural Labour Union the Agricultural labourers learnt the importance and the gains of their collective, organized Struggles for land and their own self –defence.No political armed Squads could substitute this. They also understood the futility of court orders and authorities implementing Justice and gained further confidence in building their own organizations. The landless and poor peasants gaining political Consciousness through their own struggle and experience is a major task in building a mass agrarian revolutionary line. This can create a strong revolutionary peasant movement and prepare the ground for setting up armed revolutionary base areas and armed agrarian Revolutionary Struggle.

In Doaba region of Punjab the P.A.L.U.after a determined struggle succeeded in getting residential plots .In Muktsar district, the repeated attempts of an influential wealthy family in evicting a number of labouring families from a piece of land was foiled. A similar occurrence took place in Jalandhar district where an Akali leader's attempt to grab villagers land was foiled.
An example of heroic anti –feudal resistance led by the P.A.L.U was in Ferozepur district where 2 agricultural labourers were tortured to death by a cruel landlord. The landlord spent lakhs of rupees in bribing the police and the media. The Union carried out massive processions, blockading of police stations, holding up traffics, surrounding district courts Etc.At every stage the Union had to battle it out with the police and civil authorities.
The last significant form of struggle the Punjab Agricultural Workers Union waged was against medieval service conditions of farm labour. Peasants in Punjab often die of pesticide poisoning. The Landlords refuse to pay for the peasant's illnesses .In one example of the death of a contract labourer in Bhagtuana village the landlord not only refused to pay the treatment expenses, but also pressurized the labourer's family in paying the dues. He even threatened to confiscate the labourer's cattle. The Union challenged this. Through militant struggle the peasants prevented the landlord from gaining a single penny.
In Various districts in Punjab the Punjab Agricultural Workers Union has carried out alternative flood relief. The so-called social welfare schemes were exposed. Numerous cases concerning yellow cards, house grants and flood relief were settled. Corruption of authorities was exposed.
Lastly the Union played a great role in the election campaigns in exposing the nefarious ruling class politics. The Union explained the anti people policies of the state and how the people were enslaved through Imperialist policies like globalization. Rural labouring sections rose up like a tornado in the "Long Live the Revolution Rally!" The Union played a great role in enhancing their political consciousness.
Through the Bharatiya Kisan Union and the Punjab Agricultural Workers Union a huge platform is being set for a major peasant revolt. One is reminded of the saying that a single Spark can create a Prairie fire. Under the leadership

Struggle for residential plots in Lambi region of Muktsar

In Muktsar district in Lambi sub-division in the assembly constituency of Prakash Singh Badal,president of the ruling class Akali Dal party, owns hundreds of acres of land.The contradiction between feudal landlords and the masses are acute.
To gain votes in the election the joint Akali-B.J/P govt announced some so-called welfare schemes for the scheduled castes of the rural areas. These schemes included a free plot from the village common land and a house building grant for the Scheduled caste families who either had no house of their own or had house to accommodate their families.
The State Committee of the .landless and agricultural Workers Organization decided to initiate an exposure campaign o exposing how the govt.was hardly serious in implementing such schemes.
The landless and Agricultural labourers organization called a meeting.It was decided that actually the basic demands of he landless labourers should be projected, particularly the demand of land to the tiller., linking them with partial demands and other current pressing problems to make people aware of their complete rights. It was also discussed as to which points of political understanding of the P.K.M.U. can be explained linking them with specific demands of the campaign. It was also decided that the activits and the mass leaders would have to go through a thorough study of the conditions of the masses to know how many families in the village were genuine claimants of the govt.welfare measures.
The investigation revealed that there were 61 families in 6 investigated villages who had no house and did not get the plots announced by the govt.,there were 48 women who were denied the Shagun of Rs 5000 each and 99 cases of genuine claimants to govt.pensions who received no pension.
A propoganda campaign was launched in the area of Lambi.Thousand wall posters were put up and 5000 leaflets distributed. Mass meetings were organized in 15 villages in which 885 landless labourers participated. Charters of demands of every active village Unit of P.M.K.U. were presented by mass deputations to the concerned govt Officials. A mass deputation used to begin it's march fro the village and travel to the place where it would present the charter of demands. It would then conduct mass meetings, rallies and flag marches in each village. Over 3000 landless labourers wee reached.
The Ruling class Akali leaders connived and tried to win over the foremost leader of the Lambi Committee, a resident of the Singhewala-Fatuhiwala villages. They announced a list of 144 families of these villages that were promised residential plots. A programme was launched where the letters of the title were to be distributed to the 144 persons.500 persons gathered in the public function called the Sangat Dashing.(Sikh religious ritual gathering).A deputation of the P.M.K.U went to the venue of the programme to present their grievances. About the implementation of the declared govt Schemes and to present charter of demands. Gurdas Badal ,brother of the then chief minister who was then present, ignored the deputation .The P.M.K.U.leader angrily caught hold of Badal and condemned him openly for not redressing the gathering.Gurda Badal terminated the programme and the P.M.K.U leader tore up the official letter.The Union leaders using great tact converted this function into a rally of the Union. And explained to the masses that tearing up the letter did not mean that they did not want the people from demanding anything from the govt. Threatened by the offensive Akali leaders offered 40 more plots to the landless labourers. Of he twin villages along with an offer to the Union leadership that the distribution of the plots would be made with the Union's consent.
The P.M.KU.correctly anticipated how the Akali leaders were trying to trick them. On the day of the next sangat Darshan by the chief minister in the village, there was heavy deployment of police forces not only around the venue of function, but in the streets of the labourers.The P.M.K.U boycotted the function.Tht day a heroic act was performed by an ordinary villager who was a landless labourer.A policeman rushed into his house when on duty deploying himself on top of the roof as part of security duty. The labourer ,who was the owner of the house was furious and ordered him out. The policeman left. This revealed the animosity in the oppressed classes and the political effect of the P.M.K.U's activities.
The P.M.K.U in Lambu area wished to implement the road of self –reliance by the are-level team of mass leaders.They decided that the people of twin villages should be fully mobilized and a demonstration against the sarpanches should be organized as a first move. After consultation with the masses the demonstration was held
the demonstration was held with about 150 men and women against the panchayats of Singhewala village and Fatuhivalla village. They came to know that the Sarpanch was out of town. A demonstration was taken into the house of the Sarpanch in Singhewala.When the Sarpanch saw the demonstrators he was infuriated and insulted the villagers, condemning their march. In anger the villagers tried to retaliate ,but were cooled down by the P.M.K.U leaders.
After this incident the sarpanch instigated the 67 landless families who had received plots against the P.M.K.U.leadership stating that the P.M.K.U desired to cancel their ownership of plots. They explained that only if he was supported their plots would be protected.
This affected the plot –owners thinking and their support to the P.M.K.U were neutralized. However the P.M.K.U re-explained them the situation and persuaded the plot owners to not oppose the allotment of land to the landless labourers whether the family qualifies for it within the govt.criteria or not. The P.M.K.U turned the situation in their favor but again winning the support of the overwhelming majority of landless labourers.Under the leadership of the P.M.K.U ,the people of Singhewala succeeded in getting 67 plots.
In July 2002 the 2nd phase of the campaign was started. Now the Congress had won the elections. The new party promised the same welfare measures, in it's election manifesto.
In Lambi area the P.M.K.U staged an indefinite sit-in before the office of the B.D.O on September 16th 2002,inspite of many hurdles, the indefinite sit-in started on the bare ground before the office of the B.D.O in Lambi.Various hurdles ,such as acute shortage of funds as well as transport difficulties had to be overcome. On the start of the programme the B.D.O.officer disappeared. The masses resented his and throughout the day unleashed a barrage of slogan shouting,songs,speeches Etc.Sowing daring courage, the women stayed ,inspite of being persuaded by the men to return at night. In the evening, with 70-75 people left behind, the rest went to various villages to mobiles support. This resulted in the number of participant villages rising to 6 from 4, and the number of people from 125 to 150.
The area committee called a meeting of activists of the area ensuring the continued participation of the masses, and the continuous supply of food. It was decided that for mobilizing all types of support for struggle, the P.M.K.U leaders and activists should visit new village's everyday. A group of 8-10 people met people from all walks of life in Lambi and explained and projected the demands of the struggle.They asked the people for support, from direct participation to contribution of bread,milk,vegetables sugar, tea ,firewood Etc.
In a most convincing style the issues of the struggle were explained. The people responded with great sensitivity and donated 3 overhead covers for a gathering, and promised daily supply of food, milk Etc.Some families contributed wheat flouyr.People donated Rs 900 infunds.Landless labourers of a nearby village Khudian donated a bag of wheat flour.
Even after a week of the sit-in the B.D.O was untouched and ignored the P.M.K.U leadership. After 4 days of sit-in the area committee reviewed the situation and it was decided to burn the effigies of the Congress rulers in a new village .Effigies were now built in 11 villages and between 100 to 250 people participated in every village.2000 people participated in the programme of effigy burning. A poster was put up on the walls of 26 villages. On the 7th day ,atlas one member of the authorities came to address the gathering of the P.M.K.U .However the B.D.O.never explained his attitude and the revenue officer had to criticize the B.D.O.The B.D.O now had to beg pardon for his ignorant and negligent attitude.
After 6-7 rounds of negotiations ,an agreement was reached. This stated that the organization .would be recognized. On September 25th 2002 the B.D.O addressed a gathering, explaining the agreement. The landless labourers were brimming in joy with confidence. The revenue officer however expressed his helplessness to fulfill the demands of the plots because ,he explained, it was out of his jurisdiction.So,he sent a letter to the district authorities with his positive recommendation giving the same justification of demands as was given to him by the peasnt organization leadership.
Though the sit-in was conducted successfully, some important demands were not fulfilled and thus it was essential to change the venue of the struggle to Muktsar city, to target the district adminstration.On the last evening of the sit-in ,more than 125 men and women, along with their maker-shift kitchen, traveled to Muktsar.The Deputy Commissioner at first blew up in a fit of temper and commanded the eviction of the camped men and women. However the peasnt organiastion leadership stood firm and ,the DC.was virtually forced to negotiate. Substantial demands were agreed to like involving disbursal of funds for housing and latrines,provison of land for collecting dung, preventing police intervention on behalf of absentee landowner, and provision of food-for-work employment. Some of the P.M.K.U's demands wee not conceded .The details of the agreement were noted, copies made, and it was decided that the P.M.K.U leaders could check the implementation procedure after 10 days. Only after the gathering outside had approved it, the Union leaders decided to withdraw the struggle.
This sit-in struggle started by 125 persons from 4 villages ,but was extended to 600 people from 17 villages with a positive balance of funds, even after spending Rs.10,000 on the Struggle. The conclusion-the successful performance of the mass deputation at the district headquarter-gave an enthralling finale to the highly successful struggle. Above all it instilled a spirit of self –confidence and self –reliance in struggle and boosted revolutionary class consciousness. The painstaking mass revolutionary approach of the Agricultural labourers organisation was depicted.

Analysis of the landless labourers organization.

The Agricultural and landless peasants organization) has made painstaking efforts to give a mass revolutionary approach by educating the peasantry,similar to the Red Army during the Chinese revolution.However still the resistance is still at the level of pockets in Punjab and a stage has to be reached when agrarian revolutionary struggles are launched at village,district and state level.Stlll,the movement has not reached one where land seizures or direct struggles for land are taking place.The method the struggles have been conducted on all fronts display the efforts to painstakingly educate the peasants in the need for self-organisation to assert their rights and the relationship of their struggles with the agrarian revolution.Peasants in Balahr Vinju district led by the P.M.K.U gave a classical display of mass line approach when hoisting the Red Flag and thwarting the police efforts of preventing them from holding their conference.Historic democratic protests were held.The way the peasant organisation functioned helped spread peasant struggles to other areas quickly.(pocket level)State level agitations have yet to be launched and this being a class peasant mass organization it will have to play amajor role.The graetset achievement of the organization is it's ability to organize the Dalit or backward caste labourers.Toady in the Maxist -Leninist Movement it is a major challenge to organize the Dalit caste agricultural labourers.on class lines.(Appraisal from Correspondent in Frontline)The organization has alos given solidarity to the struggles of the landed peasantry had participated in revolutionary Election Campaigns.What is significant is that the agricultural labour organisatin has built amovement in various districts Punjab ranging from Bhatinda to Jalandhar,to Ludhiana to Amritsar.

Compiled

from issues of the revolutionary Journal the 'Comrade" and from publications of the 'Surkh Rekha' a democratic journal of Punjab.This compilation is attributed to the Communist revolutionaries belonging to the most correct trend even if it is not the mass line in total,particularly maintaining the correct relationship of the mass organization with the party..







3. West Bengal



In West Bengal workers belonging to various factories have been reacting ,wherever a serious leadership is trying to organise the workers under the established political parties.In Indian Iron and Steel out of 16,000 workers,10,000.have joined an effort to form their own union.In Jessop ,the oldest engineering factory in India the workers formed a Yukta Sangram commiteee,leaving the old unions like C.I.T.U.and A.I.T.U.C.The workers won their demands of immediate payment of all their dues.The leaders of the committee were beaten up by C.P.I.M.goons.In protest a massive rally was launched comprising a rail and rasta roko.6 of the miscreants were arrested.In Hindwire factory the mill was closed on 27th November 1996,230 workers being retrenched.In retaliation the Workers organised the Mazdoor Manch"raising the slogan of the immediate opening of the mill.What was remarkable that several workers left the ruling Class I.N.T.U.C Union and the Revisionist C.P.M. C.I.T.U Unions to join the Front.The Manch also gained the support of different factories.In India Jute Mill the permanent workers under the leadership of I.F.T.U started a movement to re-introduce 21 shifts in contrast to the lately enforced 18 shifts.The management was gheraoed .The factory remained closed for 4 months.On 4th March 1997 it was re-opened and 21 shifts were introduced.On 4th May 1997 ,a C.I.T.U Leader was murdered and the leadership accused the I.F.T.U for this(Indian Federation of Trade Unions-affiliated to C.P.I.M.L New Democracy)The Union office was put on fire. However the workers remained firm calling for elections. A gate meeting and rally was held on 13th December. The Elections were held on 19th December.300 Workers acted as volunteers to protect the workers from goons of Ruling Class Parties. Workers from other factories assisted them.
Joint political Struggles were promoted Eg A joint Front was formed opposing the Indian Govt launching Pokhran missile tests(Opposing the Govt’s move to promote war Efforts) in 1998.In 1998 after the massacre by the Ranbir Sena in Laxmanpur Bathe in Bihar on the Dalits a huge joint protest was initiated in Calcutta representing revolutionaries of all trends uniting on the same issue.

2 major joint front activities took place in 1998.In 1998 joint front activities took place through the Co-ordination Platform for Flood relief and Resistance-the Samananya Manch opposing the devastating floods.Direct relief work was undertaken ,and the volunteers of the Mancha participated I collecting funds,relief materials,medicines in flood-hit areas.Remarkable work a done in Chapra region of Nadia district.127 villages were protecte from devastatin of flood through he united labour of volunteers.

Another EXAMPLE IS THAT OF THE Prachar Aviyan which campaigned against atomic eapons .Slogan swere chanted emanding a nuclear fre world and opposing atomic explosions of India and Pakistan.An august 6th Committee was formed

Movement sin West Bengal are becoming the real workers movements. Aginst the employers.They are alos becoming antidotes ofto the so-called workers movements of the ruling class paerties,which divide theworkers and employees.These movements are in the main free from any illusion from the govt.

These movements have the potential of developing outside the orbot of parliamentary cretinism,since the organizers of these movements are in the main,directly or indirectly influenced by various Communist Revolutionary Organisations.



The leaderships of thses movements achieve cohesion and co-ordination amogst themselves at the mass level notwithstanding differences in political line and thinkimg amongst them.At the same time,some ground for United action in the future is also achieved.This effort reflects the feeling in the rankl and file of workrs that unless a cohesion amongst these movements develop,nothing significant can be achieved as an alternative to the presnt parliamentary politics.



I all the movements mentioned the Sramik Karmachari Sangramai Yukta Mancha played a significant t role. In providing a congenial atmosphere of co-ordination and cohesion.Sectio of thse movements are led by constituents of the Mancha,some are not.



Possibilities

1.The Congress and C.P.M may come closer This wil inevitably help in breaking C.P.M,ITSELF WHICH IS ALREADY DIVIDED IN FACTIONS.Some will definitely join arch rival-The Congress..As the mood of the common masses is anti-C.P.M. and anti-establishment,there could be some development of the Trinamul and BJP in the immediate futurHowever in the short time the true nature of those parties will be xposed by the masses.

Lastly,thee is the possibility of a section of the C.P.M membership coming out of the party and joining he revolutionary Movement This increases he scope amaonst Communist Revolutionaries.

Communist Revolutionaries should exploit this favourable condition.

In West Bengal,a polarization is taking place within the Communist Revolutionary Movement.One category is moving more and more towards parliamentarism,the political activities of these groups run mainly according to parliamentary politics.Another section of he Camp pursue the line of individual heroism,without taking proper lessons from the left0-deviationsit mistales of the 1970’s.The followers of this line have ben pursuing the old line ,only isn some modiofied form,.Most of the followers of this line try o bank on the support of he youth with the stories of heroic struggles of their comrades weith rifles in their hands..Now the Communist Revolutionaries who have been fighting both thse trends have not ben able to ome together on heir resoective positions and put analternative before the people.

However there are positivec developments like issues of general democratic character,collective efforts of different revolutionary individuals,have moved I the direction of projecting a revolutionary alternative.



Notes on Elections. In 1996.



The masses need ,the demonstration of mass revolutionary activity which can step by step lead hem to practice revolutionary democracy through heir own mass organizations the nuclei of political owr against he concrete manifestations of the power of the ruling classes and ultimately the state power itself.To move away from the present parliamentary system and towards real democracy –peoples democracy people must taste their preliminary democracy day to day hrough their struggle organizations. They must know heir organized power and its democratic nature..They must know the democratic role of the organized power by seeing it make their just say prevail progressively in matters concerning their work and life.

Essential message for Communist evolutionaries ad genral democrats



Do not tail the peole by muddling on with electoral politics,with no definite conception or evidence of the gain of revolutionary movement.



Do not rush the people by giving calls for general boycott of elections ,with no definite conception or evidence of the level of revolutionary Movement.organised power and consciousness required for the people to do it.



Concentrate opn building he alternative revolutionary democratic movement.,leadership and power and projectinmg the revolutionary alternative of people’s democracy.



Notes on Anarchist and left deviationist trends .



’At the conclusion of the decade of the 1990’s 3 important leaders of the People’s war Group were slain in a police encounter. A massive anti-repression programme took place in Andhra Pradesh in December 1999.Such Comrades were truly the best sons of the land heroically laying down their lives for liberation.Various communist Revolutionary Groups belonging to various groups participated.The People`s War Group launched retaliatory Actions to give a severe blow to the Indian State.After the armed Actions the People`s War Group made a self-critical assesment stating"Even when there were ample opportunities to educate and involve the People,our cadres only resorted to protest actions.These are incorrect actions.Because of non-participation of people in such actions,the outcome of such actions, is contrary to the impact we wanted"Thus this group was not aware that such armed actions of Party Guerilla Squads,by themselves cannot succeed in their basis and ultimate objective of defeating the reactionary State.Infact the people have to own such actions and voluntarily participate in them with revolutionary political Consciousness and confidence in their own organised strength.Even in the post encounter Joint Protests the leading rank of the People`s War Group remained pre-occupiedwith either the representative team protests or armed retaliatory actions.-thus their organized attempts for militant mass attempts for militant mass political mobilisations remained Sparse.One cannot deny the People`s War Group for their bravery and tenacity in standing upto the tyranny of the Stae and retaliating against it but without a correct approach towards mass armed Struggle the Revolutionary movement will not build up properly.’(From the Comrade)


Why are the vast masses of people in the areas under the influence or control of Peoples war remain laregely as spectators or silent sympathizers? Why they find themselves helpless when confronted with the heavy arm of the state?Thousands of acres of land remain fallow for years even in areas where the land was said to have been re-distributed and the landlords were chased from the villages.Why?
Many action s by the armed formation sof the Peoples war where they sought to dictate terms on the strength of weapon are dubious-assasinated individuals indiscriminately,mined the fields,blew up buildings and installations Etcthe way they carried out the election boycott line and verdicts of the Peoples Courts and the way they sought to assert and establish the revolutionary Supremacy over other organizations invited wide criticism,condemnation and even protest among the people,democratic and Progressive Circles.The Peoples war leadership ,belatedly expressed it’s regret at some of them,but continued in some form ,or the other,the same practice even later.The Peoples War leadership without taking account of the level and nature of the movement with regards to the state of class Struggle and agrarian revolutionary Movement in their areas of Struggle.Their military formations and operations are not in relation to the level of class struggle and Agrarian Revolutionary Movement.Their types of activities and actions that their formations carry out do not take into account the people’s Consciousness and preparedness,organization and participation in the struggle to a higher level .Some of their armed actions dampen and even negate the People’s mass struggles. In reality the Peoples war Group although the Strongest revolutionary force in the Country suffers from sectarianism,militarism and anarchism. It has a big brother approach to other revolutionary organizations. Only when in dire need do they form united Fronts with other revolutionary Groups, resorting to mass mobilizations on general issues. Their indiscriminate armed actions, assassination of Individuals and destruction of properties by thev armed bands may pose some trouble and loss, but they cannot pose a grave danger to the system as such.The Peoples war leadership claim to have vast areas under the leadership of their guerrilla Zones or areas of Influence.Theya lso declare that they have formed their own Peoples Guerilla Army.Howevever although they have a semblance to Mao’s line in reality they still have not developed the correct practice pf Maoist Protracted Peoples Military Warfare.(From Frontier article by Chakrapani in February2002











Tribute to Martyrs of the C.P.R.C.I(M.L)



Comrade Vasantdada Ramalingachari



This valiant son of he soil was born in Vizzianagaram on December 21st 1929.He studied upto high school upto SSLC .Derived inspiration from his elder brother who was in government service in West Godavri distyrict.. Gained revolutionary baptism in the Telanagana Peasant Revolutionary Movement Started working as a full-time care of he Communist Party since 1952.





Initially he worked for party building in Bobili Taluka.Played an important role in the development of the Communist revolutionary organizational forces and political practices till 1968.Alos influenced teachers,youth,student and agricultural labour fronts. In the North Andhra plain areas.

He stood like a rock against revisionism. Became a state committee member of he Andhra Pradesh Co-ordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries. Made great efforts in developing the Srikakulam movement to a higher level. After he A.P.C.C.C.R was expelled from the A.I.C.C.R he discharged responsibilities from the A.P.C.C.R and went on to work in Kondamodalu eion of Eat Godavri district.In 1975 when the U.C.C.R.I.(M.L) was formed he was appointed secretary of the A.P.Sttae Commiteee.Due to the Hyderbad Conspiracy case and the Paravitura Conspiracy case foisted by the govt.,Comrade Ramalingachari languished in prison for 3 years. He gave a statement I the Hyderabad Additional Sessions court in December 1971.This reflected the conditions of the Girijans, an expose the ruling classes. He wrote a famous document titled, ;Leadership’s criticism regarding the resolution of the regional committee in 1970-1972,a document useful till today. In the time of emergency he went underground.

From 1977 due to the inner differences within the U.C.C.R I he left the organization .However he continued his tenacious work from 1978-1987 leading the Andhra Pradesh Communist Revolutionaries Organising Committee (A.P.C.R.O.C.).Like a soldier he fought against right and left deviations, resembling a mountaineer encountering the steepest of cliffs or a captain steering a ship in the worst of storms./He brought out literature like ‘Naxalism dose not mean individual annihilation,It I s not Marxism to oppose Naxalism in the name of Individual Annihilation,’Problems of unification and organizational tasks being faced by Communist Revolutionaries etc.



In 1988 his group joined the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India .He now became a member of he Central Committee In 1995 he continued serving the movement as an associate member of he Central Committee of the newly formed Communist Party Re-Organization Centre of India(Marxist Leninist) or C.P.R.C.I.(M.L).



Until the end of his life he strived to consolidate the erstwhile Srikakulam Movement. He did is utmost to help the political-organizational development of these allIndia Organizations with his experiences and views formed from the course of revolutionary practice. The conditions where the Communist Revolutionaries were segregated as separate Organizations ,whatever be the leadership under which the people rallied in struggle on their economic,social and political problems. He responded to those struggling people with an ardent sense of revolutionary responsibility, by giving necessary suggestions and taking prompt Steps. He made the necessary political efforts to analyse those people’s problems in the light of the revolutionary mass line and help those struggling masses to advance into revolutionary practice in such a way that they could repel the ruling classes exploitation and atrocities and confront he state machinery. When critically pointing out the weaknesses and defects he silmuntaneously motivated and mobilized those organization forces into action to build solidarity to those Struggles. He wrote a booklet titled, “Political Situation of Vizianagaram –Srikakulam Districts and he Necessity of the Communist Revolutionary Political Force,’,the magazine Diksuchi and various otrher leaflets.He exhibited the heart of a poet or musician combined with the meticulousness of a professor writing a thesis or a surgeon performing an operation.



He consistently waged a battle against wrong trends. Till his last breath he helped the inner organisational forces as well as forces outside the organisation to establish the correct communist revolutionary practice of moulding people into a revolutionary political force that could repulse he attacks of he state machinery and the ruling classses.



Till he end of his life he was confident of the growing potential for renewal and unification of he India Communist Revolutionary Movement through better grasp of Marxsim-Leninism andMao Tse Tung Thought.I rrespective of he ebb and flow of the revolutionary movement in any pat of the country ,he always banked on the inexhaustible revolutionary urge and talent of the oppressed masses of Indian people. He had a solid political orientation of pursuing the mass line with its revolutionary content. In every move he emphasized grasping the role of the state and the role of revolutionary practice of the concerned masses of people.



Comrade Nimmala Krishnamurthy.



Born in 1931-32 ,inan interior agency area in Srikakulam.At theage of 25 joined the Girijan Sangham founded by Comrdae Vempatu Satyam and Adibhatala Kailasam.In 1960 joined he Communist Party of India.When the first spilt took place he joined the C.P.M.Soon he was friustrated with it’s revisionist policies and he joined the ranks of the Communist revolutionaries.He was an active participant in the various struggles led by the Girijan Sangham on issues such as higher salaries for farm servants,abolition of bonded labour,higher wages for agricultura llabour etc.He faced the repression unleashed by landlords andt he state often .After the Srikakulam Movement began on 11th November 1968 he emerged as affront rank fighter .He played a prominent role in the first peoples armed action for the confiscation of properties of the landlords in Pedagottili.

After the Srikakulam Girijan movement got intensified he went underground and was a member of the party organisation’s agency committee. He was in charge of the medical wing. When the Girijan movement met a setback and he armed squads were demoralized ,he was arrested in 1972.



He was kept I the Vishakapatnam Cental jail during he trial pf the Parvathipuram Conspiracy case.I 1975 he was released after the cases against him were dismissed. From 1975 he tried to re-organise the Girijan Sangham and now joined the U.C.C.R.I.(M.L).He took a principled stand against wrong tendencies .In 1988 he served as a membr of the CCRI ,then AND THEN then from 1995 the C.P.R.C.I.(M.L),into which the C.C.R.I merged.



Throughout this period he exhibited relentless endurance ,not losing heart in the greatest of difficulties ,exhibiting the tenacity of Comrades in the Vietnam War ,the Great Patriotic War Etc. He made great efforts in re-organisaing he Srikakulam peasant Moverment and building he party Organization in he area. Like a true crusader. Unfortunately as a result of ill heath he died on 24t June 1996.









Comrade Zora Singh Jalajan

Member of the C.P.R.C.I.M.L As a result of his prolonged struggle with cancer this great comrade passed away. He was only 33 years old when he passed away. During the twin resistance against state and Khalistani terrorism he played a significant role in the democratic revolutionary movement.In his youth he became a member of Punjab Students Union. His communist revolutionary personality was shaped in the mist of sharp class struggle and ideological struggle during the tears of reactionary terrorism in Punjab. Comrade Zora ,because of his ability to understand the political line correctly identified himself with the correct revolutionary trend After the Sewewala massacre carried out by the Khalistani fascist terrorists in April 1991,he formally joined the professional communist revolutionary organisation,.It was a brave decision in the face of a hail of bullets.It sharpened and steeled his spirits.His life-long persistence as a professional revolutionary proved that it was not a momentary response at an emotional level.Secondly,at that time there was a great demand for professional revolutionaries and there was slow progress in this matter.Comrade Zora was one of the few who could undertake this challenge.Thirdly,he proved his ultimate conviction in the ultimate triumph of the communist revolutionary cause. At that time the regimes were toppled in U.S.S.R and Eastern Europe and people were ridiculing communism. By devoting his life to the correct communist revolutionary trend comrade Zora gave a reply to the pessimism in the communist revolutionary camp. He always maintained the party discipline and always implemented the policies of the party He was appointed as a member of the armed political party team after the Sewewala massacre. He humbly accepted all the policies of the party, even if he was not convinced on certain issues. Quoting a revolutionary Journal, ‘The Comrade’, “The greatest human life ideal is conscious identification with the social life process striving towards Liberation of all shackles. The concrete realization of such liberation is to be achieved in Communist society, an era of unchained human social progress free of all exploitation, oppression and discrimination. With the imprints of life-activity on social life, a professional revolutionary becomes an integral part of the ongoing life -stream, and attains a life beyond his own existence. A revolutionary re-assimilates life's own energy for continuous progress. Thus death never actually takes a revolutionary’s life. However, ultimate death is a loss because it leaves much of the individual life potential, created in hard ,collective labour,unrealized”. Ther would be no clone-like replacement in real social life. Ultimately cancer robbed comrade Jalajan of his life. He had showed great courage during his illness and showed great concern for real social life and always rejected individualistic values.He continuously conversed with comrades. A great homage meeting was held in his village paying homage to the great fighter. This was mainly organised by the youth who were given political education in accomplishing this task. A big mass meeting of youth was first held and a preparatory committee was formed.The youth distributed a leaflet .They also posted hand-written posters, Posted red banners, painted wall slogans in red letters, as well as went door-to-door and held mass meetings.1500 people participated in the homage meeting. Funds upto Rs.17,000 were collected for that task.







Appraisal of The C.P.R.C.I.(M.L)



I cannot still award the Communist Party Reorganisation Centre of India

(Marxist Leninist) or it’s earlier constituent organisations) with the title of upholder of the “proletarian mass line”.This is because although in their major mass struggles they have the correct concept of the relationship of the party and the mass organization(how a party must democratically function within mass organizations and not impose politics and implemented the mass line in certain struggles),they have still not developed a mass revolutionary military line in practice.No doubt their mass fronts have led struggles representing the mass line,but only on the launching of actual mass protracted revolutionary armed Struggle can the verdict be properly resolved whether an organsiation is truly upholding ‘the mass line. In the author’s view the C.P.R.C.I(M.L) has to create a alternative revolutionary movement at an All India level to decisively claim it’s upholding the mass line’In it’s major states it has done commendable work in the preparatory stages but only when the final red Army is built as in China ,Nepal or Phillipines and Peoples War is launched implementing Mao’s line can the verdict be given.The most important criteria is at what stage can you define or uphold apeoples revolutionary movement as implementing the mass line.We may have to differentiate between the’ mass line’ and the ‘mass revolutionary approach.’Many of their mass organization struggles like in Punjab and particularly in Orissa in the agrarian revolutionary Front are creating the grounds for peasant’s eventual armed struggle or uprising or people.However mass peasant revolutionary struggles have not been led which could lead to the formation of a peoples Guerilla Army. This was the stage at which mass armed struggle was built up in Telanagana and for a short period in Srikakulam and Naxalbari.(before left adventurism came in. In the author’s opinion the organisation in certain states has made major inroads and is basically correct in it’s view on elections(opposes active boycott and participation as a legal form of struggle) and that the launching of armed struggle is premature.in the majority of areas.It is also correct that in Punjab and Orissa it is still premature to carry out armed struggle. The correct preparatory mass line application is a necessary perquisite for launching a revolutionary armed struggle .The armed struggle must be linked to the agarian revolutionary struggle and based on it. A mass revolutionary peasant uprising may not have taken place but there have been demonstrations of peasants in Orissa and Punjab defending their rights or offering mass resistance against enemy forces carrying traditional armed weapons..The party election programmes in 1998 and 1999 were striking examples of creating a base for a mass revolutionary political movement,particularly the peasantry.Significantly teams of workers headed the propaganda campaignsOne other significant trend is the self –defence and aggression displayed by the Punjab peasantry in asserting their right to stage conferences or mass protests.In Jethuke by the landed peasantry in 2000, in Chandigarh by the landed peasantry and in Balahr Vinju in 1994 by landless peasants the peasantry displayed heroic defiance against the police forces who attempted to thwart their efforts to organize..One significant factor as though democratic revolutionary struggles have been launched by the peasantry in Punjab,a stage has not yet been reached when land re-distribution seizures are taking place or land re-distributed. )In Orissa however peasant seizures of captured land have already started taking place and laying base foe armed peasnt struggle. Mao advanced the theory of inseperable link between the agrarian revolution and the guerilla war to establish base areas.A thorough going agrarian revolution which includes the distributoin of landlords land to the poor peasants and agricultural labourers,to develop and consolidate base areas –Mao implemented such a programme,in the period of agrarian revolutionary war.The Red army led by the C.P.C implemented it. However the most important historical question is that if one studies the history of revolution no country has taken so long a period to develop revolutionary armed struggle In 1927 after the Nanchang Uprising. China launched it’s struggle only 9 years after formation of their their party(in 1921) and six years of preparatory stage.Columbia,Phillipines,Nepal , Peru,or our very own Telengana Armed Struggle may have taken longer time.(Even Peru launched it in 1980 after 16 years of party-re-organsation) but in a far shorter period accomplished the task.- than the prest Indian revolutionary movement has taken to do. The various splits and wrong trends in the period of Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India(Marxsit Leninist) from the 1970’s to mid –1980’s as well as the splits and inactivity of the Central Team of the C.P.I.M.L delayed the road.It is arguable that today there may have been areas in India where mass armed struggle could have been carried out in certain areas if the mass line was correctly implemented., particularly in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh which had strong revolutionary peasant movements.In West Bengal it has been unable to develop an alternative revolutionary Movement on the problems of price rise, closure of factories, unemployment and most important, on the agrarian front.

One major factor is that there has been no re-constituted Communist Party in India .In all countries discussed the official re-organisation of the party had been accomplished. Should all the organizations have merged into Charu Mazumdar’s C.P.I.(M.L) in 1969?In the re-organization phase should so may groups have split and should they not have united intoa single body within which differences could be resolved? The answer is that the Indian revolutionary Movement is so complex that even groups with similar lines had to adopt different methods of practice in different regions of India.The best example is that of how long the M.C C merged with the C.P.I.M.L Peoples War(One worked in Andra Pradesh,the other in Bihar) or Party Unity Group.There is so much difference between Punjab and Bihar or Andhra Pradesh and Kerala Etc.Within all sections of trends so many spits have taken pace .In recent years the relative polarization has been postive.In China,Nepal,Peru,or Phillipines 2 line struggle took place within the same party.It is of historical note that in the pre1935 period from the start of the armed struggle the Chinese Communist Party was divided into several factions.Comrade Mao Tse Tung’s line was accepted only in the Tsunyi Conference in 1935 where Wang Mings left oppurtunist and Chang Kuo Ta’s right capitulationst line was defeated.Li Li San’s urban putchist uprisings ,negelecting the peasantry were exposed where the Russian line was imitated toto.Earlier in 1927 Mao also opposed the party central line after the Nanchang uprising which advocated putschist uprsings divorced from the peasantry ,and which defeated the party led movement for a temporary period.(Mao then withdrew to the mountains pursuing his line)Still,the author belives that in India it is impossible to develop the correct line within a single body,considering the differences.In no country ever has so many revolutionary groups existed.The mass line struggle would not have developed if every group merged into what was the C.P.I.M.L.Peoples War or what is now the C.P.I.Maoist.True certain polarizations could have taken place earlier.We have to analsye that can a revolutionary mass line be warded to a single organsiation before the re-organisation of a proletarian party.

One major historical contrast with the revolutionary Struggle in China was even when there were deviations of the right and left variety there was a mass armed agrarian revolutionary Struggle and Peoples protracted War,which set the base for the Long March.In India though armed struggle is being waged it does not principally represent the mass line and thus it is virtually impossible to imitate the Chinese Situation and work within a single party ,even with different factions.

All this does not deny that the formation of the Communist Party Re-Organisation Center of India(M.L)is of historical significance towards the building of the mass revolutionary line and since it’s formation it’s work plus that of the earlier constituent organsiations will have a permanent place in ‘striving for the correctlmass line’ in the Communist Movement.

Kerala radical group alleges illegal detention of members

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Palakkad (Kerala), Sep 3 (IANS) Porattom, a radical Left group in Kerala, Wednesday alleged that two of its activists have been illegally detained in Agali in Palakkad district at the behest of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

Porattom activists Sunil Babu and Vinod, both daily wage labourers, were taken into custody Sunday. The police said they had seized CDs of weapon training conducted by Maoists in Nepal and Maoist literature from the them.

Porattom state general convenor M. Ravunni, however, alleged that ‘the police recorded their arrest only on Tuesday after torturing them for two days in custody. They produced our activists in a court only Tuesday at 9 p.m.’.

He said this was a violation of the Supreme Court directive that those arrested should be produced in court within 24 hours.

‘Both our activists were working among tribal people. They were working openly and there is no secrecy in it. Their work was not to the liking of CPI-M activists at Agali. It was at their behest that the police arrested them,’ Ravunni told IANS.

He said that the CDs seized from the activists were openly available in the market.

‘The literature police seized were articles published in a Malayalam political weekly,’ Ravunni said.

Porattom has complained to the state human rights commission against the arrest of the activists, he added.

Geelani thanks CPI (Maoists) for support to Kashmir cause

NEW DELHI, Sept 4 APP: Senior Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has thanked Communist Party of India (CPI-Maoists) for its support to Kashmiri people’s struggle for “Azadi”.

However, he regretted to get any armed support from them.

Media has recently reported that Maoists in India want to support to Kashmir cause, he said in Srinagar and added Kashmiris thanked them for their gesture but regretted to take any armed support.

Talking to media persons, he said the stand taken by the Maoists was appreciable..

Recently, the media reports said the central committee of the CPI (Maoists) has called upon party members and PLGA fighters to mobilise in support of the Kashmiri people’s struggle for Azadi. This was said in the banned organisation?s document released on Monday.

Meanwhile, People?s Democratic Party said there was shortage of essential commodities in Kashmir.

Senior PDP leaders Abdul Aziz Zargar, Abdul Rehman Veerai and Syed Sartaj Madni in a joint statement suggested setting up crisis management cell comprising people-friendly and honest officers to tackle the situation.

The PDP leaders said reports about starvation of the people are pouring in from every nook and corner of the Kashmir valley.

Five police killed in Maoist attack in central India

New Delhi - At least five policemen were killed and six injured Thursday in a landmine blast triggered by suspected Maoist rebels in the central Indian state Chhattisgarh, a news report said. The incident occurred in a hamlet in the southern Surguja district when a joint police team was conducting a search operation.

Police sources told the IANS news agency that three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and two state police died in the blast, 520 kilometres south of state capital Raipur.

Maoist militants, who claim to be fighting for the rural poor, operate in 13 of India's 29 states. They usually target police and government installations.

On August 29, Maoists blew up a jeep in another landmine blast in the state, killing six CRPF men, including an officer.

According to independent estimates, more than 400 people, including civilians, policemen and rebels, have been killed in Maoist violence in India since the beginning of the year.

Indian Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta recently announced that six jungle warfare and counter-insurgency schools would be set up to train security personnel to combat the rebels.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Snatch-and-Grab Economy

The Kidnapping Boom in Mexico

The armor-plated limousines, Hummers, and SUVs with conspicuously tinted windows sped into the Zocalo through the tight security cordon of thousands of police and members of the presidential military guard that ringed the great plaza. One by one, the dignitaries disembarked and were escorted by heavily armed phalanxes of personal "guaruras" or bodyguards into the bunker-like National Palace for the emergency meeting of the National Public Security Council. Despite the heavy security presence, the ambiance outside the National Public Security Summit reeked of public insecurity. 5000 victims, including many hundreds of security agents, have been slain since Felipe Calderon assumed the presidency in much-questioned 2006 elections and declared war on "organized crime." Countless numbers of citizens have been kidnapped.

Indeed, it was one more kidnapping that had goosed Calderon into summoning the titans of commerce, industry, and governance to the National Palace for the August 21 National Public Security Summit. This past June 4, uniformed Federal Investigation Agents (AFI, a bad knock-off the U.S. FBI) stopped a chauffeured BMW driving 14-year-old Fernando Marti, the son of a sporting goods tycoon, to classes at the toney British-American School. Marti's captors, who may or may not have been real AFI agents, forced the boy, his chauffer, and his bodyguard into a second car, and drove off, destination unknown.

A call that evening to young Marti's father Alejandro communicated that his son could be redeemed by paying a 5,000,000-peso ransom. Marti was advised not to inform the police. Already suspicious that the police were involved in the kidnapping, the tycoon hired a private mediator to deal with what appeared to be a vicious gang known as the "Flower Syndicate", so named because they always leave a flower in the mouth of their victims. A drop was arranged and the pesos zipped into a gym bag and placed in the rear seat of a parked car as the kidnappers had instructed.

But Fernando was not returned and the kidnappers were not heard from again. On July 31, the boy's decomposing body was found in the trunk of a parked car in the upscale Coyoacan neighborhood, not far from the pay-off site.

As is so often the case in high profile kidnappings, according to Mexico City district attorney Miguel Angel Mancera it now looks like the snatch was an inside job, prepared by the Marti family's own bodyguards.

Leery of the police, Alejandro Marti was persuaded to tell his story on primetime TV news broadcasts instead of contacting the authorities. The results were predictable: when spectacular crime has befallen the rich and famous in this crime-ridden megalopolis, Televisa and its junior partner TV Azteca, the nation's two-headed electronic media monopoly, direct their fire at the capital's left-wing government, in this case Mexico City's mayor Marcelo Ebrard, for failing to safeguard the upper crust.

The war drums pounded. Calderon publicly embraced Alejandro Marti, a heavy contributor to his 2006 election campaign, and convoked the National Public Safety Council emergency summit, urging Ebrard to attend.

The Mayor, who is convinced that Calderon stole the 2006 election from his predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), has refused to recognize the right-wing Calderon and has strenuously avoided any official contact with him. But as the electronic lynch mob cranked up the barrage of recriminations, Ebrard risked breaking with AMLO and agreed to attend the August 23 security summit. Few political observers, including those affiliated with his own left-center Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) seemed bothered that the kidnapping and murder of a young boy had been utilized to blackmail the Mayor into de facto recognition of Calderon. "They've kidnapped their consciences," AMLO supporter Berta Robledo insists.

The Grand Accord rolled out by Calderon at the summit listed 75 pledges to battle organized crime. The death penalty for kidnappers who kill their victims as proposed by the so-called Mexican Green Environmental Party was not among them (Mexico has no death penalty) but life imprisonment without possibility of release was. The laundry list also included such short-ended measures as a national identity card with biometric data (to be available in three years), a national registry of cellular phones (kidnappers use cell phones to intimidate the families of their victims), a mandatory sixth grade education for police, and prayers from the nation's pulpits for victory in Calderon's war against crime.

The National Accord for Public Safety was signed under blazing television lights by President Calderon, his security cabinet, the Secretaries of the Interior and Public Safety, the Military, the political parties, the princes of industry and commerce, media moguls, corrupt labor bosses (Elva Esther Gordillo of the National Teachers Union, Carlos Romero Deschamps, boss of the Oil Workers), the Catholic hierarchy, the Greek Orthodox bishop, representatives of the Jewish and Mormon faiths, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists and various Evangelical "sects" (dixit the RC Church.)

Marcelo Ebrard signed on too, along with 31 governors - a cast of characters that featured Oaxaca's Ulysis Ruiz (accused of the murder of 26 activists during the 2006 civil rebellion in his state), Mario Marin of Puebla (accused of kidnapping journalist Lydia Cacho at the behest of a political crony), and Mexico state's Enrique Pena Nieto (responsible for the 2006 police riot at San Salvador Atenco that left two dead.)

Despite the many criminals in the National Public Security Summit audience, no one spoke out in favor of organized crime.

By a stroke of political synchronicity, the signing of the public security accord occurred at the same hour as social activist Ignacio Del Valle was being sentenced to 45 years imprisonment in nearby Texcoco, for "kidnapping" - the 45 years were tacked on to a 67 year sentence that Nacho Del Valle is currently serving in Mexico's maximum lock-up for the same "kidnapping."

Just what did this "kidnapping" consist of? In April 2006, Nacho and the other leaders of the Popular Front to Defend the Land (FPDT) sat down with Mexico state school officials to negotiate changes in the education system on the ejido of San Salvador Atenco, a poor farming community out on the dried bed of Lake Texcoco that former president Vicente Fox once tried to expropriate for a multi-billion dollar airport, before he was foiled by the courts and the campesinos' militancy.

When the school officials tried to cut the meeting short, Nacho locked the door and forced them to negotiate. Federal and state authorities charge that this constituted "kidnapping."

Speaking outside the Molino del Rey courtroom where Nacho Del Valle had just been doomed to more than a hundred years in prison, his wife Teresa declared that her husband wasn't the kidnapper. "They are the kidnappers. They have kidnapped Nacho!" "No," corrected Nacho's lawyer Barbara Zamora, "they have kidnapped justice."

One month after the purported "kidnapping" of the state officials, 3000 federal and state police smashed into Atenco, took over 200 prisoners including Del Valle, killed two young men, sexually assaulted 23 women, and deported five foreign human rights observers. The May 3 and 4 2006 repression in Atenco has been decried by human rights groups ranging from Amnesty International to the United Nations. Only one police officer has ever been indicted for sexual abuse, not considered a grave crime, and was long ago released on bail.

The assault on Atenco was prepared and orchestrated by Eduardo Medina Mora, then Secretary of Public Security, and now Calderon's Attorney General who designed the National Public Safety Accord signed at the August 23 summit.

There are several variants of kidnapping in contemporary Mexico: the normal commercial kidnapping in which the rich are snatched and held until a ransom is paid, often after dispatch of an ear or a finger of the victim through the mail; the "express" kidnapping where the victim in grabbed from a car or a taxi or an ATM machine and his or her cell phone used to call home and demand immediate payment while the victim is driven around - because these are quick in-and-out jobs and kidnappers are less selective, often putting the snatch on the middle class rather than the super rich, the ransoms are considerably lower; and "levantones" (literally "pick-ups") in which the kidnap victim is never again seen alive although body parts or a severed head may later be recovered, usually with a mordant note attached - "levantones" are very popular with the drug cartels as retribution for real or imagined slights by rival drug gangs or the authorities.

Other styles of kidnapping include police kidnappings in which police officers, often from anti-kidnapping squads, utilize their expertise to snatch well-heeled victims. Also in the repertoire: political kidnappings, such as the Popular Revolutionary Army's (EPR) 1994 taking of millionaire banker Alfredo Harp Helu, a close friend and business partner of Alejandro Marti's, that reportedly yielded a record $14,000,000 USD ransom, and the Mexican government's kidnapping of EPR militants Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Gabriel Cruz Sanchez in May 2007 - kidnappings by government agents are usually catalogued as "forced disappearances."

Then there are metaphorical kidnappings: when senators from the leftist Broad Progressive Front or FAP seized the tribune in the Mexican congress last April to prevent fast-track passage of a petroleum privatization measure, Televisa and Calderon's PAN Party accused them of "kidnapping" the legislative process. Similarly, Lopez Obrador's supporters accuse Calderon and his associates of "kidnapping" the presidency.

Kidnapping is essentially a crime of class. No one kidnaps the poor. Although the kidnappers themselves are not necessarily poor, their victims are invariably rich and like Alejandro Marti have ample access to the media to drum up sympathy. A silent march to protest Fernando's kidnap-murder, endorsed by Calderon's party and ballyhooed nightly by Televisa and TV Azteca, is expected to drawn tens of thousands in Mexico City August 30.

In an economy that has gone pancake flat, there's no doubt that kidnapping is a growth industry. Not only are the kidnappers making out like bandits but the crime itself has generated corollary industries such as private mediators to circumvent the not-to-be trusted police.

No one is quite certain just how many kidnappings take place in Mexico these days. The Attorney General's office counted 785 kidnappings throughout the country in 2007 and clocked 314 more in the first six months of 2008. But Enrique Mendieta, an ex-investigator with the attorney general's office who in 1997 collared the nation's most notorious kidnapper Daniel Arizmendi AKA "The Earchopper", and was contracted by Marti to negotiate with his son's captors, maintains that reported kidnappings are only half the story.

Since Mendieta retired from the Attorney General's office, he has continued to make a good living from kidnapping. Several years ago, he served as technical advisor for Hollywood director Tony Scott's Mexico City kidnap melodrama "Man On Fire" starring Denzell Washington.

Although Mendieta flopped badly in young Marti's case, he is confident that his business will flourish so long as the current wave of kidnappings continues. Interviewed by Proceso magazine in his offices facing Mexico's World Trade Center, the mediator refused to divulge what Alejandro Marti had paid him for his failed efforts to win release of his son.

Other commercial ventures kick-started by the kidnapping industry include special high premium insurance for potential kidnap victims; private security specialists like Kroll Associates who will bullet proof luxury automobiles; and high tech firms that will implant cyber chips in children and loved ones so that they can be located by satellite should they be kidnapped. The opportunities seem endless.

Kidnapping, as writer Arturo Cano who covers the kidnapping beat for the left daily La Jornada, reflects, is nothing less than "the bastard child of savage capitalism."

John Ross's web site johnross-rebeljournalist.com is up and running if not yet a fait a compli. Ross is in Mexico City in the heat of writing the monstrously entitled "EL MONSTRUO - TALES OF DREAD AND REDEMPTION FROM THE MOST MONSTROUS MEGALOPOLIS ON THE PLANET EARTH." If you have further info, please write johnross@igc.org

India leader survives bomb attack

Separatist rebels have lobbed a bomb into the official residence of the chief minister of India's north-eastern state of Manipur, officials say.

Okram Ibobi Singh and his family were unhurt. The bomb exploded inside the compound of Mr Singh's bungalow.

This is the second attack on Mr Singh's residence in the past year.

The separatist Peoples Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (Prepak) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying this was "a warning " to Mr Singh.

Kangleipak is the ancient name of Manipur.

"We want to tell him that he will be punished for his misdeeds unless he mends his way," a Prepak spokesman told journalists in Manipur after Monday's attack.

Security was beefed up around the chief minister's bungalow at Babupara area in the heart of the state's capital Imphal after the attack.

Manipur is home to a dozen rebel groups - some fighting for the state's independence, others fighting for autonomous tribal homelands.

Rebel who killed FARC commander and cut off hand on strike for reward

Bogota - Former rebel Pablo Montoya, who killed a member of the leadership of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in search of a reward, said Tuesday he has been on hunger strike for nine days because the Colombian government did not keep its promises.

Montoya, known with the alias 'Rojas,' killed Ivan Rios - part of FARC's seven-member leadership - and his partner on March 3. He cut off the late boss's right hand and turned it in to the Colombian Army as proof of the killing, along with ID documents and a computer allegedly belonging to Rios.

The authorities went to the site where 'Rojas' said he had buried the bodies and indeed found Rios.

Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said at the time that the government would give Montoya the promised reward - not for the killing, but for the information he provided about FARC.

The former rebel complained, however, that he still had not been paid the 1.2 million dollars that he had been promised, which he expected to share with two other former rebels.

'I do not regret it, because I rid the Colombian people of an executioner. But when one talks one should deliver,' he said with reference to the government's promises.

He said he feels 'kidnapped' in jail and noted that he has not been visited by representatives of the government or of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

FARC has threatened to kill him, and the authorities 'have done nothing' to increase security for him at a Bogota jail, Montoya complained further.

'I am at a place where I see no light, I do not know whether it is raining or not, I have no contact with the outside world here,' he told Caracol Radio.

In commemoration of 30 years since founding of C.P.I.(M.L) Unity Organisation - -formed in November 1978.In memory of Comrade Ajoy.(Parimal Sen)

Introduction
In 1977 since cadres were released from jail in Jehenabad district-a historic venue of the revoluti nary peasant movement in Bihar. Cadres of the CPI (ML) from Jehanabad-Palamau region fought against the disruptionist and revisionist line put forward by Satyanarayan Singh in 1971. Also while struggling against the left line of the Bhojpur comrades, they built some roots in the area. After the release of many comrades from jail in 1977, the movement picked up momentum and was re-organised. In the self �critical review the organization resolved to build mass movements and mass organizations and launched an ideological self �rectification campaign.They organised themselves into the CPI (ML) (Unity Organisation) in 1978.These cadres had come from the Satya Narayan Singh Ranks and opposed his analysis. In 1982 the Unity Organisation merged with a section of the COC, CPI (ML) to form the COC, CPI (ML) Party Unity.(It is the 25th anniversary year in 2007)Later he same organization merged with the C.P.IML.)Peoples War Group which in term merged with the Maoist Communist Centre to form he C.P.I.(Maoist).The most prominent role in the ormaton of theOrganisati was alyed by Comrade Parimal Sen,a crusader in he struggle for revolutionary liberation.It is just one yaer since he died so ghis compilation is a tribute to this valiant Comradfe.He first struggled in prison in the emergency days and after coming out laid the foundations for theoretical and practical struffles.He sowed the seeds of the UltimateParty Unity Group.Even after it was founded his tenacious struggle continued when he Party Unity Organisatiion was having an internal crisis.He stood like a rock against all devaiations.He served as the haed of the Party’s functional department,contributing o theoretical literature and work on the practical field.It was ComradeParimal who led the peasants armd struggle in Nadia district.In 19788-79 earlier he played amajor role in he heroic peasnt struggle in Nadia district and alos worked in Howrah and Hooghly.In that period he alos attended to work amongst railway worksr in Orissa.In the ultimate merger of the Party Unity Group with the C.P.I.(.M.L)Peoples War and the Ultimate merger off he Peoples War Group with the Maoist Communist Centre Group Comrade Ajayad played a leading role.Ultimately he succumbed due to a severe attack of malaria.The story of his life resmbled that of a mountaineer attempting to conquer the steepest of mountaisn, bearing every hazard.The Jehanabad-Palamau region is one of the backward regions of Bihar. In addition to cultivation, the peasants have to rely on the collection of forest produce for their subsistence. In this area the writ of the landlord lay unchallenged. The situation began to change with the entry of the Unity Organisation. Learning from their previous �left� errors special attention was paid to build a mass base for the activities of their armed squads. A peasant organisation was formed - The Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti (MKSS). All old practices were questioned and landlords� authority challenged. Struggles for wage increase, against the social oppression of women and scheduled castes, and the biggest struggles arose over the auction of forest produce.. At the Party Congress held in 1987 the COC, CPI (ML) Party Unity outlined the following tasks : “We are tackling the steadily increasing armed onslaughts of the state, through mass resistance. But gradually the squads too will have to come forward to participate in this resistance. At the phase of confiscating all lands of the landlords and on the eve of building up the guerilla zone, the activities of the squads will be the main aspect of the people�s resistance against the armed attacks of the state.”
In Bihar a huge peasant movement was the C.P.I.M.L Party Unity Group(Later merged into Peoples War group which finally merged into C.P.I.Maoist) through the Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Samiti)A major movement was led in the Jehenabad and Palamau districts.Various forms of Struggle were adopted.. Credit must be given particularly to the M.K.S. where they led broad based peseant movements.).
. The C.P.I.M.L Party Unity(Now merged into C.P.I.Maoist ,earlier merged into C.P.I.M.L Peoples War) ,in my opinion played he biggest role in the mass movement. The 4 mass organisations of the group formed were the Bharat Naujavan Sabha which carried out youth struggles of historic Significance (It was a major achievement that open mass revolutionary agitations for democratic rights,against corruption,in solidarity with peasant struggles,against malpractices in jails and hospitals, were led);the Mazdooor Kisan Sangram Samiti, which developed a historic peasant revolutionary movement;the NariMukti Sanghrash Samiti, (Revolutionary Women�s Front) which built a big womens revolutionary Cultural Organisation;and the Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad.(Ressurected form of the banned M.K.S.S.)In 1994 the Party Unity Section formed it�s first ever student organization in Bihar,namely .The M.K.S.P set up village schools for Dalit peasants and alternative health facilities in addition to re-organising land and leading successful struggles for Minumum wages. The struggle of the M.K.S.S began on the question of landless peasants not being paid minumum wages.Agricultural workers were paid a paltry one seer kacchha rice per day ,while the legal payment was 4 kg.of rice per day.Major gains were established in this respect. The major struggles which these mass organisations led were in Jehanabad and Palamau districts by the Party.In many respects the braod peasant revolutionary struggles led by the Mazdur Kisan Sangram Samiti and later the Mazdur Kisan Sangrami Parishad represnted the mass revolutionary Line.Here the peasant movement had it�s most profound influence.
The Party Unity Group (In 1998 merged with C.P.I.M.L Peoples War into Peoples War Group which later merged with M.C C.Into C.P.I.Maoist in September 2004) after it�s peasant Front M.K.S S was banned in 1986 re-organised itself first into the Mazdoor Kisam Mukti Manch and then the Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad. The Lok Sangram Morcha a joint front of several democratic organization led several programmers opposing repression in the form of encounters. Together with the Bharat Naujavan Sabha and the M.K S.P joint anti �repression programmes were held.The revolutionary peasant movement was strengthened in Jehanabad and Palamau districts.However the defective military line caused open democratic mass forces to be subjected to bouts of severe repression and ultimately all open activity was almost blocked..
Below I am submitting my compiled notes from a revolutionary Journal �Mukti Marg� and from reports of the P.U.D.R.The author recommends that earlier issues o the journal be obtained.The journal brilliantly reports he struggles of Bihar which portray the mass line-similar to the struggles before and when armed struggle was launched in China(Up to the early 1990�s)Later due to incorrect understanding of military line the mass movement suffered.The reports of peasant struggles are outstanding I the journal ,particulary those in Palamau and Jehenabad.I also recommend readse to raed he reports of he A.P.D.R in Wst Bengal whose excerpts are published in the E.P.W.).



Peasant Movement and Poltical Struggles



. The Jehanabad-Palamau region is one of the backward regions of Bihar. In addition to cultivation, the peasants have to rely on the collection of forest produce for their subsistence. In this area the writ of the landlord lay unchallenged. The situation began to change with the entry of the Unity Organisation. Learning from their previous �left� errors special attention was paid to build a mass base for the activities of their armed squads. A peasant organisation was formed - The Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti (MKSS). All old practices were questioned and landlords� authority challenged. Struggles for wage increase, against the social oppression of women and scheduled castes, and the biggest struggles arose over the auction of forest produce.The incipient movement saw three of its young activists martyred on 10th August 1982. The landlords of Bhagwanpur village in Gaya district kidnaped Lakhan Manjhi (20 years), Sudeshi Manjhi (19) and Balkishore Manjhi (15) and killed them. Lakhan was an important member of the Party�s Red Squad. In May 1984 the Palamau-Aurangabad Regional Committee of the MKSS had held its conference and plans were being made for fresh attacks on the landlords . In June 1984 the movement faced a severe loss, when the popular secretary of the MKSS, Krishna Singh, was shot dead by landlords. In May 1984 the Palamau-Aurangabad Regional Committee of the MKSS had held its conference and plans were being made for fresh attacks on the landlords. On June 17, Krishna Singh was conducting a meeting of the MKSS at Jharna in Palamau district. The local landlord and goondas attacked the meeting, opening fire. A chase began, Com. Krishna Singh allowed his comrades to get away, and fell to the enemy�s bullets. Condemnation of this murder spread in a spate of protests throughout the area. The protests led to the arrest of 35 of the hoodlums involved.Meanwhile. As the movement grew the party too put forward the perspective of building up a guerilla zone. In 1986 ,the Bihar State banned the Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti, led by the Party Unity Group.This organisation had organised a strong revolutionary peasant movement ,particularly in areas of Central Bihar. The major areas were Jehanabad and Palamau districts..In 1986 a major massacre took place in Arwal in Jehanabad district. The leaders of the Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad were arrested,including it’s general
secretary.Office bearers Arvind Kumar,Vijaykumar and Jeetram Singh were arrested.On March 24th,1986 the policearrested Jagdeo Sharma,an activist of he M.K S S.In retaliatn the peasants converged on the streets crying�Release Jagdeo Sharma.Hundreds of peasants surrounded he police van and pulled Comrade Sharma out of the grip of the police.In this heroic act of defiance Comrdae Siddhi Ram fell as amartyr.History repeated itself in Village Bhawardah of Panki Block in 1988(20th anniversary year of resistance) when a police party was engulfed by hundreds of women opposing the police raids o villages. The besieged policemen attempted to fire ,but were thwarted by he militant women. They snatched the us from the police and beat them up severely. In 1988 a front comprising of 7 revolutionary organisations was formed called the Lok Sangram Morcha which had it’s innaugural convention in 1988 in Rohtas district.In1989 it alsoorganised a massive convention against repression in Bihar.In 1989 the peasant organisation was ressurected in the name ok Mazdoor Kisan Mukti Manch.Earlier in 1988 the Bharat Naujavan Sabha had been formed to build a strong revolutionary youth movement.In 1990 a huge rallyw as joitly held bythe Lok Sangram Morcah aand the Jan Suraksha Manch(maSs front of M.C.C)
Revolutionary and democratic agitations Reference to journals like Mukti Marg.Peoples esistance EtcI n 1991 the Lok Sangram Morcha led a massive rally in Palamau district consisting of 10,000 people protesting against ‘Operation Agnidoot.’Arjun Singh,convenor of the Lok Sangram Morcha and Bharat Naujavan Sabha, Palamau convener Satish Kumar addressed the rally. In Palamau as a result of strong repression faced by the Sunlight Sena the democratic organisations protested through a protest rally. The state police attacked the protest. Thus 7 democratic organisations made a joint front. Here a protest was also launched against the arrest of democratic jounalistAmitabh Bagchi., as the arrests of 3 activists of the Jan Mukti Parishad and the killing of 3 M.C.C activists.On 27th December in Palamau Jan Mukti Parishad held a conference protesting
against Devendra Nath Sahadev who carried out severe repression on coal workers.. The meeting was held at Brahani Bazar where comrades Satish Kumar of the Bharat Naujavan Sabha,Rajdev Ram of the Jan Mukti Parishad,Gurteshwar Singh of the Workers Struggle Front,and Mithlesh Singh of the Colliery Workers Union.This meeting had a significant impact on coal workers.
Similarly in Jehanabad districts rallies and conventions were organised. They exposed the opression on the peasantry by landlord gangs like the Bhoomi Sena,the Lorrik Sena and the Brahmarshi Sena.They also condemned ‘Operation Rakshak‘, where great police repression took place on people from all walks of life.On 30th November 1990 a massive peasant gathering was organised adressed by Arvind Kumar,leader of the Mazdoor Kisan Mukti Manch,and Rajesh Kumar ,state convenor of the Bharat Naujavan Sabha,Bihar,Nandlal Pandit of the Lok Sangram Morcha and Arjun Prasad Singh State convenor of the Lok Sangram Morcha.All these speakers explained the peasants the need to form a strong agrarian revolutionary peasant movement and the need for the middle peasants to unite wth the landless. Democratic resolutions were passed at the meet demanding effective dams for irrigation as well for implementation of the land ceilings Act. There was no adequate protection to the peasants during both times of drought and floods, where work had only been done to protect the vested interests of the landlords. Demands were made for the State Government implementing adequate protection schemes against both types of disasters. It was demanded that a permanent dyke should be built on the Pun pun River in Motepur,a mor-bund should be built in Pymar river at Tedar,the Jamnai river should be cleaned and widened the Gaayghat dam of Barabar Pahad should be consolidated, the Chapadhat dyke of Jamnai should be cleaned,the Sone canal be modernised,the Gairjura land be distributed to the landless and that houses should be allotted to the needy, implementing the housing schemes. After the convention for one month a Padyatra was taken all over the districts culminating in a conference on 27th and 28th January.From 2nd March to 30th March, a massive rally was held, comprising of cycle rallies in different areas.On 19th April a convention was held in Arwal commemorating the massacre in 1986. The prograamme culminated in Gaya where a massive conference of landless and poor peasants took place.(Informatio fro Mukti Marg,Jan-Feb 1991)
Another significant feature of the movement at that time was the jail struggles as well as struggles for democratic Rights ,particularly in Jehanabad and Palamau districts.A struggle was held in Jehanabad jail protesting against corruption of jail atrocities led by Sachidanand Prabhat.On 16th January a massive gathering was organised by the Lok Sangram Morcha and the Bharat Naujavan Sabha.A memorandum was presented to the jail authorities. In Daltonganj,in Palamau district the Bharat Naujavan Sabha led a protest against the arrest of activist Ramkeshwar Singh of the Janmukti Parishad.About 150 youth assembled and the gathering was adressed by Satish Kumar, Bharat Naujavan Sabha convenor,Bhuvaneshwar Prasad of the Lok Sangram Morcha and Vyavsayi Singh of the Slum dwellers commiteee.Later in Palamau 3 Bharat Naujavan Sabha activists were arrested against which Lok Sangram Morcha launched a massive protest.Here a demand was also launched against the banning on revolutionary organisations in the State. Later in 1993 a massive struggle was carried out in Daltonganj jail against malpractices. Political prisoners were denied the most basic rights. There was no proper food, water ,sleeping facilities, sanitation or medical attention. The jail administration was also hand in hand with corrupt contractors and politicians. The Indian People’s Front joined hands with the Lok Sangram Morcha and Bharat Naujavan Sabha on this issue. The political prisoners
launched a hunger strike against the T.A.D.A.3 Prisoners were transferred to Gaya jail namely Jagdev Sharma,Yugal Pal,Vinod Vidrohiand Jagdev Sharma.Prisoners protested this including the transferred convicts..At the end of the protest a memorandum was given by the organisations.What was healthy that such struggles spread to other areas and did not display individual terrorist tendencies.9i Andhra Pradesh mass fronts like the R.S U and RYL.displayed strong tendenciesAfter the unjust death sentence on the 13 activists from the M.C.C who participated in the Dalechauk Baghaura massacre The Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad launched a statewide protest campaigncovering Jehanabad, Gaya,Patna, Aurangabad, Daltangaunj, Gadhwa, Begususrai, and Bokaro districts. On 25th September a massive jam was carried out in Palamau.The campaign was carried out from 19th September to 25th September. On 18th May 1992 in Shankar ganj in Jehanbad district 2 activists of the Mazdur Kisan Sangrami Samiti were killed by the Bihar police.They were shot with their hands tied behind their backs. The Mazdur Kisan Mukti Manch launched a traffic jam on Arwal-Jehanbad road. On 25th May a protest was held outside the jails. On 2nd June a conference was held. Comprising of 1500 people. It was demanded that the guilty police were punished , the families of the victims compensated Rs ,50,000 each,all police camps withdrawn, all repression on democratic organizations banned. Police camps were deployed to thwart protest. On 5th June a major rally was helped at Golambar junction in Patna.To protest against Operation Agnidoot a military offensive ruthlessly used the T.A.D.A black law. Several democratic activists were arrested. On 13th July, in Palamau,,a protest as held by the Lok Sangram Morcha,.Democratic Organizations like the Indian Peoples Front(only cadres are revolutionary),Mazdur Kisan Sangharsh Vahini,Bihar Mines democratic Workers Union participated. In Dalatngaunj,Lok Sangram Morcha,Jan Sangram Manch,and M.K.S.S protested outside a jail. On 20th June revolutionary democratic Organizations launched a massive struggle against jail malpractices in Daltangaunj. For 3 days.700 people participated. The agitation continued till 17th July. Facilities for fan,latrines,food Etc were demanded.M.C.C,Jan Mukti Parishad,Lok Sangram Morcha,.Party Unity, and Jan Suraksha Manch participated.(Taken rom Mukti Marg-Jan-Feb 1991)
In 1996 The Bharat Naujavan Sabha led a massive protest against malpractices and corruption of doctors in Daltonganj town of Palamau district. In Chainpur Bazar area Bharat Naujavan Sabha led a massive 500 people demonstration against inadequate facilities in government hospitals. The doctors hardly attended work. A memorandum was presented to the city administration against this. These organisations also participated in several campaigns against state and landlord Sena’s repression.(eg.The Laxmanpur-Bathe massacre carried out by the Ranbir Sena) On 24th November 1992 to 20th January1993 a major protest was launched against drought and corruption of state government bodies in Palamau. .It was launched by people from, 300 villages, that too in a single day. From 50 villages the headman attended .In the final public meeting 5000 people attended. In Garwah district. In Palamau-Garwah a massive police force was deployed to curb the protest. Jan Mukti Parishad activists were arrested from Garwah,Daltangaunj,and Japla Etc. A massive stir was built up demanding justice,implementaion of correct policies towards drought,punishment to corrupt contractors Etching various villages. On 29th January in Shankar Vigraha village in Jehanabad 22 Dalits was massacred .In Palamau a protest meeting in solidarity was lathi-charged in Ranchi-Daltangaunj.Here people from 15 villages carried out a massive jam. During the lathii charge the head of J.M.K.S.P leader Ramjit Mahato was severely injured. On 8th February the M.K.S.P held a huge meeting Shankar Vigha village protesting the massacre in protest. The Jan Abhiyan Bihar(comprising of 12 democratic organizations) ,too participated .Against the massacres of the Ranbir Sena in Laxmanpur Bathe and Shankar bigha torchlight processions and cycle rallies were carried out on protest by the Bharat Naujavan Sabha and the D.S.U.In 1997 a meeting held in Jehanabad district commemorating the Russian Revolution was disrupted by the Police under the pretext of Section 144.This event took place on November 23d.Several activists were arrested. The police refused to give permission to give a public meeting. Ultimately after a strong protest a protest meeting of about 500 people was held. This meeting was adressed by Sachidanand Prabhat of the M.K.S.P,Sandeep of the D.S.U.,Sunita of the Nari Mukti Sangharsh Samiti and Arjun Prasad Singh of the A.I.P.R.F.The meeting was presid4ed by comrade Pappu of the M.K.S.P.Earlier they tear a meeting carried out to commemorate the Arwal massacre was disrupted and office-bearers of the revolutionary organizations were arrested.Sachidand Prabhat,the Jehanabad District M.K.S.P secretary was badly tortured and arrested. The previous day the police killed Comrade Pawan Nat during a firing on a torch light procession carried out by the Bharat Naujavan Sabha.In this period Palamau district also experienced massive dreprssion.
The state office of the Bharat Naujavan Sabha was raided in 1997.To commemorate May Day Lok Sangram Morcha had planned to organise a public meeting commemorating the historic event on May 9th.The police blocked entry to all parts of Daltonganj town. During the meeting the police arrested 30 people including 3 Lok Sangram Morcha State committee members. On 27th April the meeting of the Harahan Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad organised at Lohar dagga on the issue of Kendu leaves was stopped by the police. On 22nd November 1998 a martyrs meeting commemorating Comrade Devlal Pal was lathi-charged by the police in Vishrampur village.Houses of peasant leaders were raided and several activists were illegally detained. Villager�s houses were razed to the ground. On 27th January 1999 a meeting of the Jharkhandi Kisan Sangrami Parishad was attacked in Panki village in Palamau.This meeting was held against Manatu,a notorious criminal .Several activists were arrested. Earlier the Jharkhand Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad carried out a struggle against a corrupt building development officer. A mass meeting was held mobilising 1500 people. A call was given to the masses to form a people’s court against the corrupt practices of the Building development officer
A prominent feature of repression was that of the Ranvir Sena which carried out 2 major massacres in Laxmanpur Bathe and Shankar bigha in Jehanabad districts in 1998 and 1999 respectively. The State had connived with the criminal gangs to suppress the revolutionary peasant movement. Massive State-wide protests were held condemning the massacres where progressive anddemocratic sections of various trends participated. With the Revolutionaryorganisations of the Party Unity and Maoist Communist center, various communist revolutionary organisations representing various trends participated like the C.P.I.M.LRed Flag ,the C.P.I.M.L New Democracy, the C.P.I M.L Janashakti etc.In these rallies organisations supporting the J.P.movement participated like the Jan Mukti Sangharsh Vahini.The state wideprotests had tremendous significance in regard to the revolutionary democratic movement.What was significant that democratic organisations held a joint protest irrespective of the political trends they represented.In 1998 a Jan Abhiyan of 14 organisations was formed against State and Landlord repression. From 17th March 1999 an event of tremendous political significance took place all over Bihar. This was the state-wide anti-repression campaign by the All -India People’s Resistance Forum. This organisation did wall -writing and postering all through the State. The Jharkhand areas like Ranchi,Palamau were covered well as Jehanabad, Buxar.Gaya, Bhagalpur and Banka districts. In Ranchi 200 people participated including a large number of intellectuals, journalists and activists associated with the Jharkhand movement. However in Daltonganj,another Jharkhand district 200 people attended but the response from intellectuals were poor. In Gaya 150 people attended while in Jehanabad the programme was banned. In Buxar 250 people assembled. In Khagaria 300 people attended and finally in Banka 100 people participared.The speakers were Arjun Prasad Singh of the All India People’s Resistance Forum,Amitabh of the Democratic Students Union,Ram Niwas Singh of the Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad and G.N,Saibaba all India A.I.P.R.F Secretary.All the Speakers unequivocally condemned the nation-wide State Repression, highlighting the patronage given to the Ranbir Sena by the State in Bihar. Similarly the State Repression in Andhra Pradesh and Dandkaranya was condemned and the people were called upon to unitedly resist State Repression.This was the first time the All India People’s Resistance Forum carried out such a State-wide programme in Bihar covering the areas of Jharkhand ,North and Central Bihar.It had a positive influence on the people as never before in Bihar was such a State-wide campaign carried out against State Repression.The political Significance was that light was thrown on Repression in India as a whole.(From Peoles REsistane-oragn of A.I.P.R.F.)
In December 1999 a huge protest was organised in Patna protesting against the encounter killing of 3 Central committee members of the People’s War Group in Andhra Pradesh.A programme was separately launched by the A.I.PR.F,D.S.U,THE M.K.S.Pand the B.N.S where 10,000 people were mobilised.Another protest was held where all types of Revolutionary Democratic sections participated including the Democratic Lawyers asscosiation,the Jan Mukti Sangharsh Vahini,Philal, and revolutionary groups representing other political trends like the Janashakti,New Initiative and New Democracy Groups. Here similar to the Laxmanpur-Bathe
Massacre groups of all trends participated which has tremendous significance in the revolutionary democratic movementOn 3rd January 1993,the Jan Mukti Parishad captured a dacoit and 2 thieves. In Garwah district in Ataual Village2000 people staged a people�s court. All the looted items were rcovered.This lifted the initiative of the masses to wage a war against injustice and that it was possible to collectively punish and defeat reactionary elements .9Taken from Muti Marg (March 2000) In 1999 in Jehanbad district the Nari Mukti Sangharsh Samiti and the Bharat Naujavan Sabha carried out a campaign against corruption,malpractices,.It started from Jehanabad Railway station.JaiKishore of Bharat Naujavan Sabha and Sunita of Nari Mukti Sangharsh Samiti addressed the gathering. This was significant as in since the late 1990s it was impossible to carry out a democratic meeting in the district. In Begusrai,around the same time a massive campaign was held, against notorious landlords Vijay Singh,Anil Singh. When the M.K.S .P began to work in the region, the landlords tried to sell their lands ,which they had stolen from the peasants who were now landless. They got in contact with the police and hired lumpens to attack the hose of a poor peasant Ram Mahto.The M.K S.P activists protested this mobilized the peasants in ameeting.on 11th August a public meeting was held, comprising of 150people.Raja Ram of the D.S U sang a cultural song and the speakers wee Yogendra Pandit and Ram Mahto.After the meeting all the peasants with great resolve and determination went back. To their original place. (Report from Mukti Marg �July-August 1999)
In 2000 with the co-peration of A.I.P.R,F forces the Jan Abhiyan �A mass democratic Front launched a massive campaign against corruption and goonda raj. Meetings were held in B.N college,PostalPark,MahenDra region.A convention was held in Patna college seminar hall.A rally was held .Organizatio s of various trends participated. unjust condition sin prisons. In 1999,took up a major campaign on issues of rape, murder and loot mobilizing 500 people in Banka-Bhagalpur.Revolutionary politics was explained .
In Vaishali a campaign was launched in November 1999,commemorating the Russian revolution and protesting against the rise in diesel prices and bus fare hikes.Arjun Prasad Singh,Chandu Prasad and Shambu Ram, of the Bhagat Singh Club presided over the programme.In Khagaria the activists organised commitees for flood relief and organised several protests to ensure effective protection to the peasantry in the time of floods.To protect the interest of the landlord classes the government took no interest in the People’s welfare.The activists helped form people’s commitees in order to enhance protection against floods.
At Malgodam Station in Khagaria town a public meeting was organised on the topic of ‘Floods.’The meeting was adressed by Gautam Mukherjee of the Bharat Naujavan Sabha, Sachidanand Prabhat of the Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad,Sunita of the Nari Mukti Sangharsh committee and Sanyojak Shavi of the M.K.S.P and Anil of D.S.U.A memorandum of demands was given to the adminstration.Here it was demanded that adequate boat supply was given to protect people from this calamity and that effective dams should be built.
More recent struggle led by the M.K S P in Khagaria and Bhagalpur districts
defending fishing rights.
In Khagaria the MK.S.P also led struggles protesting against the repression meted out by the Communist Party of India.The C.PI sided with the police in suppressing activists as well as used goondas to beat up the peasant activists. A meeting of 300 people was held. Later on similar grounds in Begusurai activists held a protest meeting consisting of 600 people .This meeting was adressed by Krishna Kant Singh. Later a small convention was held attended by 600 people explaining the nexus between the C.P.I and the State Police. In Begusurai the M.K.S.P carried out a land struggle against Retired magistrate Rajendra Singh and professor Vijay Singh who illegally seized land violating the land ceilings act.Under the leadership of the Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad the peasants re-captured 200 acres of land.A mass meeting was held in December mobilising 500 people. Later on December 9th a mass meeting was held educating people to fight for their land rights and struggle under the banner of the Red Flag. A most significant event in Bihar’s Revolutionary politics was the merging of the Janvadi Mazdoor Kisan Samiti with the M.K.S.P in 1999..In Bhagalpurand Banka districts the J.M.K.S led a strong peasant movement. After their merging a major struggle was held to protect the peasants fishing rights in Banka.The people of Ulhi had waged several struggles for these rights. The first one was when the land was grabbed by Ram Mandal.The Second one was when Mukhia had grabbed their rights of fishing.The peasants had then decided that the catch made by the contractor must be distributed to all the people.This management functioned effectively till 1994. In 1994 the “Daak Sunder Tudu” was re-named and the goonda Subhash Yadav started fishing with the help of his gang in the peasant�s property. He did not share his catch with anybody else. However from 8th to 10th February there was a strong dual between the villagers and the gang of Subhash Yadav.The hooligan used bombs and lethal weapons to scare the villagers. The police Thana sided with the criminal under the pretext of col144.Subhash Yadav re-began fishing. On the 12th February
1999,the M K S P led a successful rally explaining the masses the event that took place. The peasant organisation organised the farm labour of Belhar and other surrounding areas and put up a protracted fight against Suresh Yadav and his gangs.600 people including women and children participated driving the culprits. Although the enemy was armed with guns and ammunition .The masses seized the enemy’s weapons. The peasants had won a victory. Suresh Yadav continued his antics but as an organised force the peasants consistently retaliated and defended the right to their livelihood. The class enemies continued to attempt to disunite the people, however the M.K.S.P thwarted their bid by continuously educating the peasantry.




International Issues
In 1991 protests were led by Bharat Naujavan Sabha and Lok Sangram Morcha against the U.S attacks on Iraq. A rally consisting of about 100 people was held in Daltonganj.In similar numbers rallies was held in Jehanabad. .On the author�s visit in October 2001 one of the greatest protests ever staged in the movement in Bihar took place against the American Govt�s decision to declare War after the September 11th Incident.8,000 peasant activist were mobilized particularly from Bhagalpur in protest .The author also met one Comrade of the Bharat Naujavan Sabha from Daltangonj district who reported a jail struggle led by the youth front for better facilities successfully.


Revolutionary peasant struggles for land.
Information compiled from Peop lesResistance 1995 issue-From the report on peasant struggles by the M.K S.P by Arjun Prasad Singh.Alos published in Mukti Marg issues from 1989-1993
Various struggles for partial demands and against landlord repression were led by the peasant organisation.A typical example was in Garwah district. Here the area was dominated by Rajput landlords and the people were subjected to barbaric opression.When they struggled they were trampled upon by the landlord’s Sunllight Sena who killed 4 people including a brother and 3 minor children. The people retaliated but only for the Sunlight Sena again attacking them and burning down Karui village displacing 200 families.After a long protracted struggle led by the peasant organization 6 of the Rajput landlords surrendered before the people.Under the leadership of the Parishad the displaced people captured some gair Marzua land near Karui village and a new village was called named after Shaheed Kunal .The landlord leaders got in touch with the reactionary leaders and attacked Shaheed Kunal Nagar in large numbers.,kidnapping 7 people and killing 7 people. Statewide protest took place all over the State.
Another Struggle took place in 1992 in Akbarpur village.The Samiti had entered the area in 1987 taking up the issue of a dalit Tola being razed to the ground. After 2 Bhumihar landlords had been annihilated. The M.K.S.S helped the Dalit families rebuild their houses. Later the struggle for wages was also taken up. Only after a protracted struggle did the peasants win the struggle for minimum wages. In 1992 the struggle for land began. Crop Seizure programmes were taken up and peasants were organised not to work in the houses and fields of the reactionary families. A strong economic blockade was launched. The landlords attempted to bring their ploughs and bullocks in large numbers but their attempts were thwarted by the people. The village people seized the ploughs and bullocks. In 1993 the peasant organisation led a heroic struggle in the Palamau-Garwah region. On 25th May 1993 the peasants burnt the palatial house of Budhinarayan Sah’s,a notorious landlord who owned 1700 acres of land and who used to tie rebellious peasants to huge anthills of red ants. For over 4 years the people in the area had waged a struggle ransacking his house and seizing arms. 7,000 acres of land which he had criminally seized was re-captured by the peasants and the notorious class enemy was forced to flee the village.
This was remarkale as the Mazdur Kisan Sangrami SAmiti was banned organization and now functioning in a ressurected form.
Similarly land struggles took place in other districts of Bihar like Jehanabad,Gaya, Patna,Khagaria,Begusurai,Buxar ,Rohtas,Bhabhua and Aurangabad districts.Struggles were also carried for people’s authority.People’s courts were set up to punish guilty offenders.In Palamau 400 women set up a Jan Panchayat trying a criminal by the name of Tetar Baiga guilty of raping several women.He was sentenced to death and beaten up in public.Similarly, a landlord Jay Narayan Singh of Pariyari village in Karpi block was meted out punishment in Jehanabad district who had illegally seized land.In Rohtas district too significat struggles were held.Meetings were held mobilising 100’s of peasants. A meeting of particular significance was held on 7th January. On 8th December 3 peasants had killed a criminal landlord element. The police used this as a pretext to repress the masses and went around villages exposing the peasants and trumping up criminal charges against them. They razed 35 houses to the ground and extorted money from the people. The fact that that elements had illegally grabbed gairmajura land was hidden.The Jan Sangram Samiti in Rohtas held a meeting exposing this. A massive protest programme was heldagainst this injustice.
In 1991 in Parasona,in Jehanabad,,22 acres of gair mazarualand controlled by a single landowner from Shaguni was captured under the leadership of the Mazdoor Kisan Mukti Manch(resurrected form of the Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Samiti) and paddy as sown.At the time of the harvest the landlord�s henchman attacked the village fired at the villagers and harvested the crop.The villagers boycotted the land for 2 years ,at the end of which the land was sold to Sudhir Kumar ,a middle-peasant owner Lodhipur.The Mazdoor Kisan Mukti Manch also captured 1000 acres of land created by the shifting of the river bed of Son in Jalpura Vilage in Patna.The M.K.M.M,in addition to struggles for fair wages ,took up issues directly connected to the development of agriculture.It formed a struggle committee that took up the task of building the 9km dam across the Tenar in Arwal block.Community labour from the surrounding villages was organized..


Struggles against Communalsim(opposing thedestroying of the Babri Masjid)-Copiled from Mukti Marg May-June1993 issue
-After the destruction of the Babri Masjid on December 6th 1992 by the Kar Sevaks the Bharat Naujavan Sabha launched a massive anti-communal campaign all through the State.In Daltonganj The youth front launched a cycle rally in protest.Bajrang Dal goondas tried to intimidate the activists but the youth carried out heroic self-defence and drove away the reactionaries.In Jehanabad the Mazdoor Kisan Mukti Manch carried out an anti -communal cycle rally covering a distance of 125 Km.covering more than 15 blocks from 1st February to 15th February..In Gaya the Bharat Naujavan Sabha launched cultural programmes against the communal holocaust.A similar programme took place carried out by the Bharat Naujavan Sabha and other progressive organisations in Bokaro.These programmes were significant in regard to the revolutionary democratic struggle against Communalism.


Struggles for Trade Union Rights
. A memorandum was presented to the Bihar govt..On the trade Union Front, the Bihar Mines democratic Workers Union on 18th May staged a public meeting, in which Japla Cement factory workers and neighbouring mine workers participated. A demand was placed asking for the re-starting of the closed Japla Factory and the Balliya quarry.Electricity,water,cleanliness,was also demanded.The Japla Cement factory as closed and thousands of workers who had made immense sacrifices lost their jobs. From 29 th September 1985 to 14th August 1990 it was closed.4000 workers died out of hunger.Workers made sacrifices of great proportions to have kept the factory running, denying themselves the govt.compensation of RS.13 crore. Later all over Jehanabad,there was a mass campaign condemning the murder.


Programs commemorating martyrs-Compiled from Mukti Marg May-June 1993 and
Mukti Marg 1992
Other frequent types of political programmes were commemoration meetings launched in memory of Martyrs in the revolutionary peasant movement. The most significant of these was the commemoration meeting of Comrade Krishna Singh who died in 1984.(report obtained fro Mukti Marg May-June 1993) This programme was conducted in his native village Badem in Jehanabad on 12th June.A huge rally comprising of 10,000 people took place. People came from 12 districts. Slogans were raised in memory of the beloved comrade and a flag was hoisted in his honour.This programme was presided by Dadachi Ray,the State Lok Sangram Morcha convenor. As well as his father Rajdev Singh.Earlier a public meeting was held adressed by Satish of Bharat Naujavan Sangh as well as Ranjit and Navlesh, Janmukti Parishad’s Rajdev Ram, Sachidanand Prabhat,office -bearer of the Jehanabad Gaya section of the Mazdoor Kisan Mukti Manch,Gupteshwar Singh and Arjun Prasad Singh of the Lok Sangram Morcha. And Kiran of the Nari Mukti Sangharsh Samiti.In Jehanabad jail too a commemoration meeting was held. Other significant martyrdom programmes were those commemorating martyrs Pankaj, Manju and Aditya .A rally was held in Palamau attended by 4,000 people on 22nd March 1992. It was conducted by Bharat Naujavan Sabha and Nari Mukti Sangharsh Samiti.This programme was adressed by Satish ,Chanchal and Sanju of Bharat Naujavan Sabha,Sachidanand Prabhat of the M.K.K.M.and Kiran of the Nari Mukti Sangharsh Samiti.The rally was lathi-charged by the police and a protest meeting was launched in Daltangaunj on 2nd April by Bharat Naujavan Sabha.On 22nd March protestors stopped the Palamau express.After this commemoration programmes were also held commemorating comrades Jagdish Paswan who was killed by activists of the Liberation group.Similarly programmes were held for comrades Rajdev Das and Mukhiya (Also killed by Liberation activists),martyrs in the peasant movement.(report from Mukti Marg July-Augus1992)
In July 1993 Comrade Suresh Thakur was martyred at the hands of the Liberation Group.They went to his house and murdered him.On 11th March his martyrdom was commemorated in Bhojpur in Baruhi village.Dadichay Ray ,Sachidanand Prabhat and Amitabh.(Bharat Naujavan Sabha)adressed the gathering.
On the day of heArwal massacre in commemoration in April 1993 a meeting was held by the Mazdur Kisan Mukti ManchAshok Sing addressed the gathering as well as Lok Sangram Morcha leader ,Sacidanad Prabhat:Kiran,activist of Nari Mukti Sangharsh Samiti:Bihar democratic mine workers Union activist Bhuvaneshwar Singh, attended by about 600 people .
Other commemorative meetings were held for Comrades Jagdish Pasawn I Sidhpur (activist of M.K S S,martyred at the hands of Liberation goons),Comrdae Mukhiya in I Khirimud,.A meeting was held in memory of Comrades Pankaj,Manju and Aditya on 22nd March in 1993 in Daltonganj It had ahuge response A huge rally was held.(The previous yaer it had been commemorated by Jan Mukti Parishad)4000 people participated.
Partial Struggles-Compiled from Mukti MargJul-Aug. 1992 issue
In 1992 a major programme was launched by he Mazdur Kisan Mukti Manch on 30thMayin Gaya on he issue of building a pipeline.Ruling class partiesneglected all the demands of the peole likeLanad and watr.The Taylor Sangharsh Samiti was inspired by the M.K.M.M.One of the biggest ever rallies was launched with of red Flags raised in the air..People were organized with digging instruments.Lok SDangram Morcha played a major role under the leadership of Arjun Prasda Singh.Cultural Programmes were launched.Peasanst and workers resolved to dig the pipeline themselves.2000 people were organized.Participating Organisations were the Mazdur Kisan Mukti Manch ,the Lok Sangra Morcha .
Developments
1994 the peasant organisation was re-named the Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad.In this year the Party Unity launched their student front the Democratic Students Union. In this year Bharat Naujavan Sabha had it’s innaugural State conference. Here Gautam Mukherjee was made the president.The conference was attended by 6,ooo people.Another event of Political ,significance during this period was the formation of the All-India People’s Resistance Forum which now functioned actively in Bihar.As the Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad a strong revolutionary peasant movement existed but the Party Unity’s frontal organisation had to resort principally to underground functioning., particularly in Jehanabad and Palamau districts. Most of the open programmes were conducted by the All India Peoples Resistance Forum, Bharat Naujavan Sabha and the DemocraticStudents Union. The Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad led a martyr�s memorial meeting on August 15th in Panky in Palamau-Garwah district commemorating the martyrdom of comrades. This meeting was presided by Rajdev Ram of the M.K.S.P.All speakers condemned repression on the peasant movement. During this period the youth and Student organisations worked amongst the peasantry through carrying out ‘Go to Village Campaigns.’.. Jharkand Issue
Compiled fro Mukti Marg Sept-Oct.1997 issue
The other event of enormous political Significance was the movement for a separate Jharkhand. The revolutionary forces consistently supported this movement and various functions were presided over this issue. The prominent Jharkhand areas of the movement were Ranchi, Palamau and Bokaro.In 1987 the Jharkhand co-ordination committee was formed giving a political perspective to the movement. However due to the opportunist attitude of the leadership it ceased to function after having talks with the Central Government. The State Government played a trick forming the Jharkhand Autonomous Council winning over all the stalwarts of Jharkhand like Ram Dayal Munda,Sanjay Basu Mallik and other revolutionary ideologues. In a very difficult political situation the Jharkhand Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad and the Hul Jharkhand Kranti Dal planned to intervene. A joint seminar and rally was held mobilising people from all over Jharkhand in Ranchi.Here 3000 people assembled from Ranchi, Dhabi, Singh bum, Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Gumla, Lohargada, Palamau, Garhwa, Hazaribagh and other districts. In the convention Lewa Chand Tedu,the old and reknowned fighters of the Midnapur and Jharkhand struggles,participated.The chief guest of the meeting was Comrade Darshan Pal.He spoke on the need of co-ordinating the movement of Jharkhand and other nationalities with the ongoing democratic andrevolutionary movements of the Country.He also said that the attainment of the Statehood of Jharkhand would provide no solution to the basic problems of the people of Jharkhand,so people should fight for a new Jharkhand in a new federal democratic India. Later Arjun Prasad Singh spoke on the need of raising the political consciousness of the people of Jharkhand and Shambu Mahatoof the Hul Jharkhand Kranti Dal pointed the importance of targeting imperialism. As the main enemy.He recalled the glorious history of the Jharkhand movement.The following day a seminar was held analysing the polemical aspects of the Jharkhand struggle from a Marxist -Leninist point of view.This was presided by Shambu Mahato of the H.K.K.D and Shridhar of the J.M.K.S.P.In the post 1994 period the Mazdoor Sangrami Parishad did significant work in Khagaria and Begusurai districts and Banka districts.



The Emergence of revolutionary student organisations was of greatsignificance in Bihar.
Revolutionary Student Movement in Bihar.
Information based o reports from revolutionarystudent journal �Kalam� and activists of Democratic Students Union.The 1996,1997,1998 and 1999 issues of Kalam have been referred to
In 1994 the Party Unity section formed their first ever revolutionary student organisation in Bihar which was the Democratic Students Union.(The D.S.U.)This had its roots in the Bharat Naujavan Sabha formed in 1988.TheBharat Naujavan Sabha earlier fought for the students and youth collectively.
For the first time a separate organizational structure was built for students. Several former Bharat Naujavan Sabha activists took up the responsibility of building D.S.U. The strategy of the Democratic Students Union was to organise students on their partial demands as well as connect their problems to the chief political issues of the day. The student movement had to be oriented towards the interests of the agrarian revolution. For achieving the task the Democratic Students Union took up the responsibility of organizing �Go to Village Campaigns�. Democratic Students Union also planned to fight against imperialism. as well as democratic
issues.
In the colleges the D.S.U fought against malpractices in Arts colleges as well as engineering colleges. In these institutions unqualified teachers and principals were appointed. Funds were misappropriated by managements. In the Patna Arts College the Principal even stole paintings.D.S.U organised agitations agains this.D.S.U D.S.U declared a lockout in the college not allowing principals and teachers to enter the college.Waris Hadi was made principal in 1994 as he had political links with the governor of Bihar.He sold paintings and illegally appointed several people irrespective of merit. including a lecturer who faced a murder charge. After a protracted student struggle the principal was removed. The president of the then students union was rusticated from the university due to complete collapse of administrative structure in the college. The college was not de-affiliated from the All India technical Services board which badly affected students.
The D.S.U organised agitations against indifference and politicking in Patna University.70students sat on a dharna for 5 daysand a poster exhibition was organised.Programmes were taken jointly with A.I.S.F,the S.F.I and the A.I.D.S.O. fighting for student�s admissions.Dharnas were held against malpractices and corruption. Agitations were also launched against fee hikes. Such examples are in Daltonganj where the students had to clash with the C.P.R.F personnel.
In Patna engineering college the students launched a 6 day hunger strike demanding the opening of a college which had been opened earlier.D.S.U gave soli darity to this issue and burnt an effigy of the education minister.
In the Jharkand areas D.S.U led struggles for tribals in schools to be taught in their native languages.In these areas D.S.U launched agitations for tribal students who were denied the right to learn in their native languages. The D.S.U also fought for democratic rights issues.Very often D.S.U organise cycle rallies as a form of protest.The most significant agitations were against police firings in Madhubani and Darsinghsarai areas of Bihar.Here D.S.U joined hands with even the revisionist student organisations as well as the Chatra Sangharsh Yuva Vahini.This took place in 1995. The D.S.U also protested against the death sentence imposed
on the 13 M.CC activists in 1992.Here the D.S.U joined hands with the Revolutionary Students League and the Progresive Students and Youth front.(The 2 other revolutionary student organisations) After the Laxmanpur-Bathe massacre carried out by the Ranbir Sena the D.S.U Along with the Bharat Naujavan Sangh organised protests throughout the state.In Daltonganj,Jehanabad,Gaya,Khagaria torchlight processions were launched.In conditions of severe repression protests were launched.D.S.U joined several revolutionary organizations this issue.
In 1997 D.S.U protested against the killing of 6 Party Unity activists. In Patna they burned the effigy of the chief minister.D.S.U also held commemoration programmes of the Arwal massacre that took place in 1986.In 1996 a protest meeting was clamped upon by the police and revolutionary activists were arrested. Afer the killing of Comrade Chandrashekar ,a student of J.N.U IN Delhi D.S.U launched protest programmes along with other organisations.In Jehanabad with A.I.D.S.O protests were organised in the form of torchlight processions. In 1999,D.S.U with the Bharat Naujavan Sabha took out a cycle rally from Daltangaunj to Patna protesting against the Shankar bigha massacre. Earlier in Daltonganj an effigy of the chief minister was burnt. In March 2000 D.SU led a protest with other revolutionary organisations protesting the murder of 11 revolutionaries in Kachnewan.An effigy of the Bihar administration was burnt at Patna junction.D.S.U.also participated in the march to Kachnewan as well as on a protest demonstration on April 6th.
From 1995 the D.S.U Organised�Go to Village Campaigns.� These have been conducted on district as well as state levels. Their were 3 types of campaigns launched. The first was on specific political issues. The second type was a general political campaign and the third type was launching cultural programmes.The purpose of these programmes was to integrate the students and youth with the peasantry. In the first campaign in Gumrah district 6 D.S.U activists were arrested campaigning for Beedi Patta workers.The activists were organising the Beedi Patta workers against the merciless contractors who did not pay them their daily wages.
The next state-wide campaign took place in 1997 in Khagaria district which is a flood prone region.Here the D.SU formed flood relief distribution commitees and explained the peasants the political reasons for which the state could not give common people protection.The flood relief programmes of the government were found to be totally inadequate and the government gave a ready excuse that Nepal has let off water.Infact the real reason was that the landlords did not allow the construction of dams at sites which would have been appropriate because those sites were falling within their lands.Infact the dam mechanism in the state was create only with the purpose of preventing waterlogging and not for flood control. In addition the boatmen were not paid their wages for the relief work. At the end of the campaign the team held public meetings and dharma demanding an end to corruption and compensation for boatmen .
In 1998 the D,S.U with the Bharat Naujavan Sabha visited areas in Buxar ,Palamau Santhal Paraganas and Khagaria districts.In Buxar sustained wall-writing was carried out by activists protesting against the landlords not paying minumum wages to agricultural workers.They were paid wages between Rs.15 to 30.Landlords here possessed 5,000 acres of land and religious Maths owned hundreds of acres.districts.In Santhal Parganas the D.S.U fought for the implementation of a separate Jharkhand State.In Palamau, a centre of the revolutionary peasant movement the D.S.U fought against the construction of a dam which submerged 14 villages.20 people had been killed in the flood the previous year and no compensation was awarded.In Khagaria activists again propagated the real reasons for adequate protection being given to people during floods. The wrong policies of the government were explained. This time �Bandh Sangharsh commitees were formed in villages which held several protest meetings againt corruption.
The last state-wide campaign took place in the Bhagalpur and Bankadistricts.Here the activists gave solidarity to peasant�s struggles and propagated the politics of Naxalbari and agrarian revolution..
In May 2000 the D.S.U held its first state conference in Patna..Students came from all over the state the maximum number coming from Palamau and Jehanabad and Bhagalpur districts in the former 2 districts students faced severe repression on the way to the conference. In addition students came from Buxar,Gaya,Khagariadistricts etc.Before the State conference district conferences were held in Bhagalpur.Patna town and Palamau districts.Here district commitees were formed and the district activities were reviewed. At the State conference Comrade Amitabh was elected the President and Vijay ,the secretay.A 6 member committee consisting of Amitabh,Sachin,Sumit,Pankaj,Vijay and Jaiprakash were elected. Resolutions were passed opposing privatization and communalization of education, opposing the repression on revolutionary movements and supporting the rights of nationalities to self-determination. 2 State-wide workshops were also carried out by the Democratic Students Union. The first one was held in 1999 to discuss organizational functioning, the building of unitspolititicisation methods and finance. Here principally the appropriate forms of struggle were discussed. It was decided that educational institutions were neglected and a regular wall magazine should be brought out in addition to cultural programmes.It was also noted that regular commitees were not formed in several places In the 2nd workshop in February 2000 study classes were held on the history of the Communist movement in India, the State of Education, and dialectical materialism. Delegates attended from Gaya.Palamau ,Bhagalpur and Patna. One of the most significant things that occurred was the merger of the Progressive Students and Youth Front with the D.S.U.The former organisation had a strong mass base in Bhagalpur district leading powerful agitations against fee-hikes and corruption in Bhagalpur University. This organisation also held a massive programme for Tilka Majhi�s birthday to be observed in Bhagalpur university.
Several times the organisation organised gheraoes against the vice-chancellor for hostel demands. After merging into D.S.U the organisation launched a massive demonstration against the administration in Bhagalpur university house -�arresting corrupt officials. The emergence of the Democratic Students Union has played a significant role in the revolutionary movement in Bihar. Innumerable sacrifices have been made by activists. The martyrdom of comrades Anil Ojha and Chanchal were particularly significant.Anil Ojha was killed as a result of police torture after organising a student agitation against malpractices of the principal in Patna Arts College.Chanchal played a great role in organising D.S.U units in Jehanabad districts as well as building the Bharat Naujavan Sabha.Eventually he was killed by his own relatives.
However the movement has had several setbacks.As a result of severe repression by the state on the peasant movement the D.S.U has been unable to function openly in many areas of the State. The best examples are Palamau and Jehanabad.Here activists have often been arrested for carrying out open prograames.Even in Khagaria the D.SU which earlier had a unit has been unable to function. The only prominent areas of functioning are in Bhagalpur and Patna. Although activists have made heroic political sacrifices as a result of the powerful left-sectarian trend in the movement various weaknesses have occurred in the movement.
More recent struggles
Lawyers Movement
Another significant development in the movement in Bihar was the formation of a Democratic Lawyers Organisation called the Radical Lawyers forum in Patna High Court. It pledged to give solidarity to the revolutionary peasant movement by fighting against the ban undemocratic organizations and for the release of wrongly convicted prisoners. They also appealed against for the termination of group clashes between the C.P.I.M.L(Peoples War Group)and the M.C C.The Lawyers who predominantly participated I the formation were Ved Prakash, VisheshwarRam,Medni Kant Jha,Umanath Mishraa,d B.S Upadhya.They pledged against fighting for the repeal of Black Laws, for the democratic rights for political prisoners in jail, for rights of women Etc.They condemned the false encounter in Rajaun Thana in Banka District. Such a Lawyers organization is important for the protection of democratic rights and some good work was done in court.



Research on the Movement by Scholar Bela Bhatia



Social activist and rsearch worker Bela Bhatia interviewed activists of the Mazdoor Kisan angram Samiti(M.K S S.).Below I am quoting an excerpt fro her interview.
�Feudalismwill have to be rooted out steadily,otherwise it will uprootyou.It lies like a shadow to every person and untiolit is rooted out revolution canot be achieved.
Before the organization came we did not have knowledge. The organization gave us education regarding the present system and he need to overthrow it.India is a semi-colonial and semi-feudal Country. There is foreign
capital also in our country. We have o en this foreign capital an utilize the capital of our own country.T he downtrodden people have to rise above the system.Each individual should get education. We got books to read about Marx,Lenin and Mao From these we learnt that Mao was a revolutionary and so were Lenin and Mao Tse TungWe read alittele about all the 3.We have not read a lot but understood that what Marx and Lenin wanted to say was that this rotten system should be destroyed, the exploitation of one human being by another should end, human kin should be liberated from this. This is what the leaders have to say.
Below I am publishing some testimonies of leading members of the M.K S.S on revolutionary violence.
�Without arms we feel that we shall not be able to fight. With arms we feel confident ,we will have the power. We fell that we will be able to settle he fight. If e do not have the armed power ,then how will we counter the Landlord�s anger. Can his anger be countered by wagging our finger at him?
Without armed power it is impossible to ensure peoples protection. If we do not have arms then no one will take our committee seriously. Each will do according to his will. They will think �What can they do to us.� When this power is their,they will fear.They know that if thy do not obey us the we have the power to destroy them.
There will be lot of problems. We may even be killed During this period ,many have been matyred .Seeds are sown I he field in hope that they will grow. Similarly, with a dream of Socialism we are walking.
The poesession of arms helped resolve some conflicts without actual resort to violence In Nyona village a wage issue was resolved peacefully because of the armed capacity of the organisation. A villager stated �Because we have arms ,the zamindars have shrunk with fear. Also gangs of bandits and dacoits ,who used to lot peole�s houses ,have been vanquished. Because of the atrocities ,the people used to feel very insecure. This has come to an end.
I am quoting another passage fro Bela Bhatia�sinterview. A senior memer of the M.K S S stated: In 1979 there was an atmosphere of terror in the villages due to the feudal forces and criminal gangs.Even though he labourers had heard about us they we too scared to call us. However we were able to establish contact with few members of he J.P Movement,and asked him to arrange a meeting with few labourers introducing us as individuals who belonged to a party of the poor.On the agreed day we met at midnight In the fields. Instead of meeting a small group we met about 50 men.They were armed with lathis ,bhals and gadasas.
The terrorized villagers explained that they would have taken the activists to the village but it was too risky.The �Maliks� had warned them that they would be severely punished if they brought he naxalites to the village..We activisists,emphasized the issues of izzat,wages,land abd basic democratic rights,but explained that it could only be done by our own strength. The People understood this stating, �We have understood .You are Naxalites,you talk about strength.�
People now started coming in large numbrs.At first they were hesitant to speak out. Finally one of them spoke out,�We will now be coming to the meeting,expecting each time to get arms.If you are demanding confrontation and armed revolution,should you not provide us with arms.�Thus ,I actual fact, they were demanding arms.�
Such incidents show the mass approach of the M.K S.S


Miltary actions by Party Unity.

This year is 20 years since the group held it�s conference. At the Party Congress held in 1987 the COC, CPI (ML) Party Unity outlined the following tasks : “We are tackling the steadily increasing armed onslaughts of the state, through mass resistance. But gradually the squads too will have to come forward to participate in this resistance. At the phase of confiscating all lands of the landlords and on the eve of building up the guerilla zone, the activities of the squads will be the main aspect of the people�s resistance against the armed attacks of the state.” The organisiation led significant struggles in Jehenabad region. and launched some significant armed actions. Several Comrades were martyred.
In the Indo region of Masaudhi,on 23rd April 6 commandes of a squad were martyred. Comrades Lalit Manjhi, Brind Paswan Lakahn, LalBihari, Surendra Ravidas, Ramprasad Yadav and Chenga Manjhi were martyred.All of the were under 18 years of age. In Indo the Police colluded with the Ranbir Sena and
staged their camps. They used landlord senas.To combat he landlord gangs the Party Unity squad on 1st February retaliayed and punished the goonda elements o February 1st 1997.
Report from 1996 Journal of �Party Unity� In Malabar village of Palamau region in Vishrampur Thana the
P.U squad carried out an action on 3 Jawans .A huge battle too place between the armed squad and the police.The squad eventually seized the rifles from he police.The Malabar region and it�s surrounding areas has a history of police �landlord repression .The Sunlight Sena was very active in this part.
In 1991 a Police Camp was staged in this region.The Party Unity squad did creditable work in isolating the Sunlight Serna gangs ,A little after the Malabar encounter ,police repression began in Palamau. In Murumdag village in Chatarpur Thana 6 Comrades of Party Unity fell.Later 2 more members were