Sunday, August 12, 2012

CPIM Assam criticizes late Government Action and BJP's dangerous statements

The CPI(M) today blamed the state government for not acting on time to prevent the ethnic clashes in lower Assam and accused BJP leaders of making "communal statements.""The state government failed to act on time when the first incidents of attack took place on July 19 and 20.

Kokrajhar and nearby areas have a history of ethnic clashes and the government should have acted fast when the initial incidents took place," Communist Party of India (Marxist) state committee secretary Uddhab Barman alleged.

He also accused, "While such a massive humanitarian crisis is going on it is unfortunate that senior BJP leaders, including L K Advani, are making statements which will only inflame passions." The CPI(M) leader refuted allegations made by Advani and others that Bangladeshi immigrants are behind the violence.

"If you study the Census report, you will find that the decadal growth rate of population in Kokrajhar district was much less than the average for Assam and the whole of India. This proves that there is no basis to the charge that immigrants are sweeping through the area," Barman said.  He called upon the government to formulate plans for protecting the rights and interest of both Bodos and non-Bodos in the BTAD districts.

"The state government should also investigate the issue of illegal arms and ensure their seizure in case they exist," Barman said. Meanwhile, no new incidents of violence were reported from Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts since yesterday.

Altogether 77 people have died in the strife since July 19, while over four lakh have been displaced.  “Night curfew is in place in all three districts and security forces are maintaining constant vigil," a senior police official said here.

Political Challenges Confronting the Left : Prakash Karat

Presentation by Prakash Karat at a discussion on “Political Challenges Confronting the Left” at a seminar organised by the Council for Social Development at New Delhi on August 8, 2012
Imperialist globalization and two decades of neo-liberal policies have wrought significant changes in Indian society – on the class structure, on social and political relations.
I
For the Left, the major challenge is how to understand these changes under a neo-liberal regime, confront them and work out suitable strategy and tactics. 
How has it affected the basic classes?
A big section of the working class is not in the organised sector or in regular, permanent employment.  Even within the organised sector, a large number of workers are on contractual basis. The recent struggle in Maruti-Suzuki has highlighted this aspect. There is intense exploitation of the workers in the unorganized-informal sector.  We have to bring all these sections into the working class movement. 
While there is an overall agrarian crisis, there are changes in the agrarian relations.  Some sections are experiencing  intensified exploitation like tenant farmers apart  from the poor peasants and agricultural workers. 
How has it impacted the allied classes?
How have the changes strengthened the ruling classes?
The Left has to work out  its strategy by concrete analysis and studies.  The direction of the class struggle and the political and  social movements have to be  developed on this basis. 
II
A concomitant development of the globalised finance capital and the advent of neo-liberalism has been the growth of identity politics in India.  Identity politics  based on caste, religion, tribe, ethnicity and region is posing a major challenge for the Left in India.  The ruling classes and imperialist finance capital find such politics eminently suitable for their interests.  Fragmentation of the people on the basis of narrow identities and keeping them separate ensures that there is no threat to the Rule of Capital and the State.  The challenge before the Left is to tackle identity politics by building common  class based movements, while at the same time, taking up the issues of caste, social and gender oppression experienced by different sections of society.
For the dalit or women worker, class unity and class-based movements will make sense for the dalit workers only if the working class movement takes up the issue of his or her specific exploitation. For instance, dalit workers are paid a lesser wage for doing the  same job in many places.  Similarly, a women worker will relate to the class-based movement only if the question of her getting one-third or half of the wages earned by a male worker is taken up.  There is the issue of the Muslim workers, lack of access to jobs and discrimination. So building the class-based unity and movement requires the taking up of the specific issues of social oppression suffered by these sections of the working people.
The question is often posed as to why the Left is not making any advance in the Hindi region.  There is also an erosion of support.  One answer to that  is the failure of the Left to  successfully counter identity politics; caste-based mobilization by the bourgeois parties is the norm.  Taking up the class issues and integrating them with the struggle against social oppression and caste discrimination is the way forward.  But entrenched caste politics has made this a difficult proposition.
Till the Left and the Communist party in particular can organise the rural poor – poor peasants and agricultural workers, overcoming the caste barriers, there can be no worthwhile advance.
III
The neo-liberal outlook is not confined to the economy alone.   It has a profound effect on politics and the political system.  The nexus between big business/capital and politics has become more pronounced. More and more businessmen and capitalists at various levels are the politicians in the bourgeois political parties.  The unprecedented use of money power in elections is a direct outcome of this nexus.
The Left parties are the most badly affected by this flood of illegal money in the electoral system.   In a recent by-election to the Lok Sabha in Andhra Pradesh, it was reported that Rs. 2,000 per  voter was distributed by the winning party and a similar amount was also given by the other major party.  We have advocated decentralization and the panchayati raj system. Here too, we  find the growing trend of money being used in a big way even in the village panchayat election for becoming the sarpanch.  It is only in states like  West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, where the Left has a strong mass base, where there is higher political consciousness and where the Left has the wherewithal, that we are able to withstand this onslaught of money power. 
Parliamentary democracy itself is getting corroded by the insidious use of money power.  Democratic politics and the Left parties are squeezed out in this process.  The democratic set-up is getting denuded by this intertwining of big capital and politics.  The Left’s stand on democracy and the present parliamentary democratic  system has to have a clarity based on a clear class conception of the type of democracy that we have.  Democracy in a bourgeois State which pursues neo-liberal policies cannot be idealized  as “democracy” per se.  The struggle to utilize all democratic rights and opportunities available within the present system for  the people has to be combined with a powerful extra parliamentary movement which alone can determine whether the people will get more democratic rights and  will have a greater say in  a democratic set-up. 
At present, from the parliament to panchayats, electoral politics is a major part of the people’s political activity.  The Left has to play an active role in this political process while constantly striving to enlarge the political sphere and activities outside the electoral  parliamentary system which is the main arena of struggle. 
IV
The Left has continue to develop the working class and peasant movements all over the country.  They are the mainstay of the Left.  In the recent period, a good development has been the unity established by all the Central Trade Unions – the INTUC, AITUC, CITU, HMS, BMS and others – came  together for the February general strike.  They are now planning another phase of the joint struggle.  This has brought wider sections of the working class together.  Notable is the participation of the women workers - anganwadi, ASHA, mid-day meal workers and so on. 
Equally important is the struggle on social issues, protecting the democratic rights of the people and bringing the issues of the dalits, women, tribals and other socially-oppressed sections on to the centre stage. 
We need a broad unity of the Left.  This means that  the Left-minded persons and groups outside the Left parties are brought together on a joint platform on agreed issues, to begin with.  This has been set out in the Political Resolution of our Party Congress held recently.
The Left’s interventions in the cultural sphere have lagged behind  compared to what it was 30 to 40 years ago. There has to be a rejuvenation of cultural activities and productions and the effective use of new media and communication technology.  

Centre, State indifferent to tribal people’s needs: Brinda Karat


Whether it is Centre or State governments, whoever may be in power, their policy towards tribal people are the same, said Brinda Karat, Politburo Member, Communist Party of India (Marxist) at Dharmapuri in Tamilnadu on Saturday.

Addressing a public meeting to mark the inauguration of the Tamil Nadu Tribals Association’s (TNTA) sixth State conference, she said the Union Government and the Tamil Nadu Government do not bother about the welfare of the tribal people, as they failed to recognise the 36 tribal communities living in the State as tribal people.

Kurumbars, Malayali, Kuravas and Narikuravas and other tribal communities continue to be denied the status of tribal people, thus, also the welfare measures. She took a shot at the UPA Government by saying that it is interested in pro-corporate reforms and never shown interest in fulfilling the minimum needs of the marginalised people living in forest and hilly areas.

Ms. Karat welcomed the initiative of the Tamil Nadu Government for its free supply of 20 kg rice for ration card holders and said it is not sufficient to run a family, hence the quantum of rice supply to a family should be increased to at least 35 kg per month, she said. She sarcastically blamed the Centre that they store food grains in Food Corporation of India godowns only for the consumption of rats and not for humans. Ms. Karat also said that the Supreme Court of India is insensitive to tribal people as it said that tribal people migrating to plains in search of job should not be treated as tribal people, but at the same time when NRI Indians return to the country, they are to be treated as Indian citizens, it is an injustice to the marginalised communities living in forests.

The State and Centre are keen to allow foreign nationals and rich corporates to swindle our natural resources, the tribal people who were living for generation together in forest and hilly terrains were being denied their due. She said that thousands of acres of lands belonging to tribal people are being grabbed by rich people and politicians in the State with a view to loot the rich mineral wealth like granite and bauxite.

The party will soon begin a movement against the land grabbers and get back the lands to the tribal people. The TNTA will play an important role in this regard, Ms. Karat said.
Though the Forest Dwellers Rights Act was passed six years ago, the DMK and AIADMK governments in the State failed to implement it.

Ms. Karat said that she along with the leaders of TNTA will meet the District Collector on Sunday to demand immediate disbursal of compensation announced as per the judgement in Vachaati case by the District Sessions Court.
(Source : The Hindu)

CPI (M) seeks CBI probe into granite scam in Tamil Nadu


The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has sought Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged multi-crore granite scam in the district.

Besides seeking stringent action against those officials who failed to prevent illegal quarrying for several years, the party sought adequate compensation to farmers and residents of around 30 villages in Melur taluk, who lost their livelihood owing to the destruction of their property such as agricultural lands, tanks and supply channels.

Addressing a demonstration organised by the party here on Saturday, CPI (M) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan said that not only vast tracts of fertile land served by the Periyar main canal were destroyed, but also panchami lands, public pathway, tanks and supply channels were damaged due to the quarrying. Claiming that the police and revenue officials could not conduct a proper enquiry into the scandal, in which big granite players were involved, Mr. Ramakrishnan wanted the State to hand over the case to CBI and take over the quarries like that of sand and Tasmac shops.
(Courtesy : The Hindu)