
A political Blog about how and why a reign of terror in West Bengal is unleashed planfully by imperialists, multinational company financed and supported Rainbow Alliance of Maoists, Naxalites, TMC, Congress, SUCI, perverted anti-Communist and anti-Leftist so-called sold-out intellectuals, corporate media and NGOs of doubtful character. Source: 'People's Democracy', 'Ganashakti' and other Left oriented journals.
WEST BENGAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS-2011
VOTE FOR LEFT FRONT CANDIDATES TO REELECT LEFT FRONT GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL FOR 8TH SUCCESSIVE TERM
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT VERDICT ON BABRI MASJID DISPUTE - INTERVIEW WITH D N JHA
‘A FLAWED JUDGEMENT’ - G Mamatha
The following are the excerpts from the interview Professor D N Jha, former Professor of History at the Delhi University, gave to the People’s Democracy on September 30. Professor Jha was one of the four independent historians who had submitted “A Historians' Report to the Nation” on the historical dimensions of the Ayodhya conflict before the demolition of the Baburi Masjid on December 6, 1992.
What is your opinion of the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ayodhya title suit?
I think the verdict is flawed in more than one way. In the first place, the court has placed an undue emphasis on the report of the excavations carried out at Ayodhya in 2003 under its own orders. The report consists of about nine chapters and each chapter carries the name of the author and so one can attribute the findings recorded therein to individual archaeologists. But the last chapter, called the “Summary of Results”, does not mention its author. The authorial anonymity of the conclusions makes the entire report suspect. This is evident from the fact that whereas no reference to a temple is made throughout the report, it suddenly pops up in the “Summary of Results” whose author is not known. This contradiction between the main text of the report and its unsubstantiated conclusion is too glaring to be ignored. The report therefore is undoubtedly a doctored one.
The following are the excerpts from the interview Professor D N Jha, former Professor of History at the Delhi University, gave to the People’s Democracy on September 30. Professor Jha was one of the four independent historians who had submitted “A Historians' Report to the Nation” on the historical dimensions of the Ayodhya conflict before the demolition of the Baburi Masjid on December 6, 1992.
What is your opinion of the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ayodhya title suit?
I think the verdict is flawed in more than one way. In the first place, the court has placed an undue emphasis on the report of the excavations carried out at Ayodhya in 2003 under its own orders. The report consists of about nine chapters and each chapter carries the name of the author and so one can attribute the findings recorded therein to individual archaeologists. But the last chapter, called the “Summary of Results”, does not mention its author. The authorial anonymity of the conclusions makes the entire report suspect. This is evident from the fact that whereas no reference to a temple is made throughout the report, it suddenly pops up in the “Summary of Results” whose author is not known. This contradiction between the main text of the report and its unsubstantiated conclusion is too glaring to be ignored. The report therefore is undoubtedly a doctored one.
In the second place, the report unambiguously refers to the presence of animal bones, Muslim glazed ware, lime mortar and surkhi under the floors of the Baburi Masjid. These three are the characteristic features of Muslim architecture and thus, rule out the possibility of the existence of a Hindu temple, much less a Ram temple or any Vaishnava temple, under the mosque. It is an insult to human intelligence to argue in the face of such archaeological evidence as mentioned above that there was a pre-exiting temple which Babur/Mir Baqi destroyed to build the mosque at Ayodhya.
The judgement is also flawed because it asserts without justification that the Hindus have believed from times immemorial that the sanctum sanctorum of the mosque, where the idols were surreptitiously kept in 1949 with the connivance of the deputy commissioner of Faizabad, K K K Nayyar, who was a member of the RSS, was the real birth place of Ram. This can be countered on several grounds. The Hindus have not been in existence since eternity; nor does the mosque whose central dome, according to the court verdict, they believe to be the place of Ram’s nativity. The belief that Ram was born in a pre-existing temple under the mosque at Ayodhya was first clearly mentioned by a French Jesuit priest, Tiffenthaler, in 1788. The seed of this myth is thus sown not more that 222 years or little more. It was subsequently nurtured by several British authors. But even they were not unanimous in their view about the birthplace of Ram. For example, a Scottish physician who served in the Bengal Medical Service, Francis Buchanan, who visited Ayodhya in 1810 wrote clearly that the temple destruction theory was ill-founded. The earliest evidence of the Hindu-Muslim conflict over the issue of the birth place of Ram belongs to the time of Wajid Ali Shah who set up a three-member committee to diffuse the situation.
The absurdity of the assertions made in the court verdict can be easily demonstrated by historical facts. If one goes back in time, before 1528, there is evidence of several religious groups who had claims on Ayodhya. The Chinese pilgrim Huan Tsang wrote in seventh century that there were 3,000 Buddhist monks and 100 monasteries and only 10 temples. There was thus a strong presence of Buddhism in Ayodhya in the seventh century. The Jain tradition has it that the first and fourth Jain Tirthankars were born in Ayodhya; even now it remains a holy place for the Jains. There is also much irrefutable evidence of the existence of Muslims in Ayodhya since the twelfth century onwards when Sufi saints began to visit the place and preach there; one of the earliest Sufi saint to come here was Qazi Qidwatuddin Awadhi who came from Central Asia and is said to have been a disciple of Hazrat Usman Haruni, the spiritual preceptor of India's most famous Sufi saint, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer. Even now there are many Sufi shrines there and both Hindus and Muslims visit them. Thus, there is substantial evidence of Buddhist and Jain presence as well as of the existence of Muslims centuries before the construction of the Baburi Masjid in 1528-29. One is amazed at how the court judgement has completely ignored all this evidence to prove that sanctum sanctorum of the mosque was the place where Ram was born.
This verdict is based more on faith and belief, than on history. Can the court adjudicate on matters of faith?
This judgement is a puerile exercise in theology, and has nothing to do with history even remotely. Based on faith and belief and not on any sound analysis of historical evidence, the verdict is absurd. It does not give relief to any of the litigants who were fighting a title. By converting a title suit into a partition suit the judgement has become ridiculous. It assumes that the entire land belongs to Ram and gives a third of the land to the Muslims out of charity and two thirds to the Hindu organisations. It has given a serious blow to the secular values enshrined in our constitution.
The court verdict has negated the past. The historians and archeologists have the right to file an appeal against the verdict. It is imperative that the site notebooks, artefacts and other material evidence relating to the ASI’s excavations in 2003 and earlier be made available for scrutiny by scholars, historians and archaeologists. It may be recalled that our request to the ASI in 1991 to provide us the site notebooks, especially of the Trench 4, which could have yielded clear evidence of the presence/absence of a pre-existing Hindu temple, was not even acknowledged. In the past, the ASI has played fast and loose with the academic community interested in Ayodhya controversy. Now it is absolutely essential to compel them to allow us access to the evidence generated by them at the behest of the court.
Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
PEOPLE OF JANGAL MAHAL CHOOSE PEACE OVER 'MAOIST' TERROR - N S Arjun
ONE of the many myths surrounding the so-called Maoists is that they are driven by the motive of liberating the most downtrodden sections of the society – tribals, dalits, agricultural workers etc – from poverty, exploitation and tyranny of the State. The people of Jangal Mahal area in Bengal, through their personal experience of last two years, realised the bogusness of this motive. The poorest of the poor saw the 'Maoists' savagely kill, maim and torture fellow tribals, dalits and agricultural workers on imaginary grounds of being police informers or for being CPI(M) supporters or even for not heeding their diktats. They also saw how these “guardians of the poor” systematically disrupted all developmental work in the area denying them scope for finding work or receiving welfare benefits. The education of their children was being disrupted through targeting of the schools and the mental health of their wards being seriously affected due to the brutal killings of their school teachers right in front of their eyes.
It is in this context that the people of Jangal Mahal are increasingly picking the courage to resist the 'Maoists'. Of course, the relentless political and ideological campaign against the 'Maoists' being carried on by the CPI(M), backed up with the will to take on these murderers, is helping the people overcome their fears and channelise their anger into organised mass resistance. Large number of villages in West Medinipur district, including some that are a few kilometres away from Lalgarh, have been witnessing people's resistance against these anarchic forces in the past few weeks. The cornered 'Maoists' and goonda elements of Trinamool Congress are fleeing these villages into surrounding forests even as those who had to live as refugees in camps are returning back to their homes. There are a few instances of subsequent revenge hit-and-run attacks by these desperate forces on those who led the resistance.
ATMOSPHERE OF TERROR
In their bid to shatter the CPI (M) mass base in its strongest hold (the Party won the Jhargram Lok Sabha seat in this district with the highest margin in 2009 polls), the 'Maoist' adopted their version of 'shock and awe' tactics. It involved killing, in as brutal manner as possible, the CPI (M) workers and supporters in full public view notwithstanding the fact that they were usually the poorest of the poor in the village with land holding of less than an acre. And it had to be a spectacle also. So, the bodies were left to rot in the villages for few days with even the kin prevented from taking possession. All this has been reported in bourgeois media also, but mostly in war like fashion and devoid of the suffering and pain of the people. Actually some of the coverage has been in a manner justifying the killings by projecting those killed derisively as 'CPM cadre'. As though being CPI (M) cadre deserves such a brutal handling! It is another matter that the role of corporate media in its coverage of 'Maoist' violence in Bengal merits a separate study.
The 'Maoists' succeeded in creating this terror atmosphere in areas which they claimed as 'liberated'. During our visit to one such village, Budipala, that has now been freed of this 'liberation' by its own people, we could gauge the kind of terror faced by the people. A group of villagers, some of whom included Trinamool supporters, told us that they could not dare to move out of their homes after sunset. “After dark, we used to urinate in pots kept in our homes as we were too afraid of going out. They used to abduct anyone whom they suspected of being police informers and take them into jungles, never to be seen again. Sometimes they used to torture such people in 'gana adalats'”, said one person.
The terror campaign in the village began with the killing of CPI (M) branch secretary, Shambhu Mahato, on September 14, 2009. A poor tribal, 51 year old Shambhu owned around half an acre of land (20 decimal) and used to run a petty shop to survive. He had a son and a daughter who was married off. He was shot in the head in front of his shop by three youth who, according to Shambhu's wife, were guided by Trinamool goons. She told us that despite being warned a few times, Shambhu refused to leave the village saying he had done no wrong by being a member of CPI (M). After this killing, the TMC goons and 'Maoists' enforced a reign of terror on the people. People witnessed torture of fellow villagers in the so called people's courts. Incidentally, this gram panchayat is under the control of Trinamool Congress. Now after the freeing of the village from the terrorists, people are breathing free. The CPI (M) workers in the village told us that they have reached out to Trinamool supporters and reassured them about their safety. “We all want to live peacefully. We want to resume our normal lives which have been disrupted during the last one year of 'Maoists' sway here”, said one villager. Only the goonda elements of Trinamool have fled the village while their ordinary supporters are now peacefully living in the village.
How this terror is disrupting the lives of people can be seen from this statement of a graduate in Garimal village. “I have a lone son who is studying in Class 5. There used to be so much beatings and torture in village by the TMC-'Maoists' that my child was developing fear psychosis. I sent him away to my relatives in East Medinipur where he has been joined in a school.”
DEVELOPMENT STALLED
A 74 year old woman was coming out of Garimal Gram Panchayat office when we were entering it. She had come to collect her old age pension after a gap of nearly one year. Pashupati Singh, CPI (M) leader and elected pradhan of the panchayat told us that the office was closed for the past one year during the reign of 'Maoists' here. He too lived away from the village during this terror period which saw seven people killed by TMC-'Maoist' goons. Asked how the people picked up the courage to resist the armed 'Maoists', the pradhan says:
"People resisted because they suffered a lot as the 'Maoists' did not allow any work in the area. The people were not able to feed their families due to no work in the area; the roads were closed every now and then, so people started to protest.”
Houses under Indira Awaz Yojana, old age pensions and NREGA works are some of the works being done by the panchayat. A total of 17 projects have been taken up under NREGA providing jobs to around 1200 people. Works have begun in the last ten days only. Of these five involve land levelling work. The pradhan says that payment is becoming difficult as centre is not paying its share.
It is clear, with peace returning to this village, people are able to resume their normal living.
WRITING ON THE WALL
Similar urge for restoration of normalcy can be seen in many of the villages that have become free. The TMC-'Maoists' goons are of course trying their best to return to their “normalcy” – the killings, torture, extortion etc. Recently they killed a school clerk in Radhanagar village for daring to actively take part in the people's resistance in the village. They did not spare his aged parents who tried to shield him. A bullet grazed his mother's head while another brushed past his father's ear. Both have been hospitalised. It is to be noted that it was in Radhanagar that the 'Maoists' first tasted the shock of people's resistance. Women in large numbers with traditional weapons chased away these goons, sparking off similar resistance actions in adjoining villages. True to their perverted understanding, the mass actions are being sought to be defeated through individual annihilation. But they are up against a people that are united and resolute in guarding their hard won peace. The people have made their choice. It is for these degenerated lot to read the writing on the wall.
Source: www.pd.cpim.org
It is in this context that the people of Jangal Mahal are increasingly picking the courage to resist the 'Maoists'. Of course, the relentless political and ideological campaign against the 'Maoists' being carried on by the CPI(M), backed up with the will to take on these murderers, is helping the people overcome their fears and channelise their anger into organised mass resistance. Large number of villages in West Medinipur district, including some that are a few kilometres away from Lalgarh, have been witnessing people's resistance against these anarchic forces in the past few weeks. The cornered 'Maoists' and goonda elements of Trinamool Congress are fleeing these villages into surrounding forests even as those who had to live as refugees in camps are returning back to their homes. There are a few instances of subsequent revenge hit-and-run attacks by these desperate forces on those who led the resistance.
ATMOSPHERE OF TERROR
In their bid to shatter the CPI (M) mass base in its strongest hold (the Party won the Jhargram Lok Sabha seat in this district with the highest margin in 2009 polls), the 'Maoist' adopted their version of 'shock and awe' tactics. It involved killing, in as brutal manner as possible, the CPI (M) workers and supporters in full public view notwithstanding the fact that they were usually the poorest of the poor in the village with land holding of less than an acre. And it had to be a spectacle also. So, the bodies were left to rot in the villages for few days with even the kin prevented from taking possession. All this has been reported in bourgeois media also, but mostly in war like fashion and devoid of the suffering and pain of the people. Actually some of the coverage has been in a manner justifying the killings by projecting those killed derisively as 'CPM cadre'. As though being CPI (M) cadre deserves such a brutal handling! It is another matter that the role of corporate media in its coverage of 'Maoist' violence in Bengal merits a separate study.
The 'Maoists' succeeded in creating this terror atmosphere in areas which they claimed as 'liberated'. During our visit to one such village, Budipala, that has now been freed of this 'liberation' by its own people, we could gauge the kind of terror faced by the people. A group of villagers, some of whom included Trinamool supporters, told us that they could not dare to move out of their homes after sunset. “After dark, we used to urinate in pots kept in our homes as we were too afraid of going out. They used to abduct anyone whom they suspected of being police informers and take them into jungles, never to be seen again. Sometimes they used to torture such people in 'gana adalats'”, said one person.
The terror campaign in the village began with the killing of CPI (M) branch secretary, Shambhu Mahato, on September 14, 2009. A poor tribal, 51 year old Shambhu owned around half an acre of land (20 decimal) and used to run a petty shop to survive. He had a son and a daughter who was married off. He was shot in the head in front of his shop by three youth who, according to Shambhu's wife, were guided by Trinamool goons. She told us that despite being warned a few times, Shambhu refused to leave the village saying he had done no wrong by being a member of CPI (M). After this killing, the TMC goons and 'Maoists' enforced a reign of terror on the people. People witnessed torture of fellow villagers in the so called people's courts. Incidentally, this gram panchayat is under the control of Trinamool Congress. Now after the freeing of the village from the terrorists, people are breathing free. The CPI (M) workers in the village told us that they have reached out to Trinamool supporters and reassured them about their safety. “We all want to live peacefully. We want to resume our normal lives which have been disrupted during the last one year of 'Maoists' sway here”, said one villager. Only the goonda elements of Trinamool have fled the village while their ordinary supporters are now peacefully living in the village.
How this terror is disrupting the lives of people can be seen from this statement of a graduate in Garimal village. “I have a lone son who is studying in Class 5. There used to be so much beatings and torture in village by the TMC-'Maoists' that my child was developing fear psychosis. I sent him away to my relatives in East Medinipur where he has been joined in a school.”
DEVELOPMENT STALLED
A 74 year old woman was coming out of Garimal Gram Panchayat office when we were entering it. She had come to collect her old age pension after a gap of nearly one year. Pashupati Singh, CPI (M) leader and elected pradhan of the panchayat told us that the office was closed for the past one year during the reign of 'Maoists' here. He too lived away from the village during this terror period which saw seven people killed by TMC-'Maoist' goons. Asked how the people picked up the courage to resist the armed 'Maoists', the pradhan says:
"People resisted because they suffered a lot as the 'Maoists' did not allow any work in the area. The people were not able to feed their families due to no work in the area; the roads were closed every now and then, so people started to protest.”
Houses under Indira Awaz Yojana, old age pensions and NREGA works are some of the works being done by the panchayat. A total of 17 projects have been taken up under NREGA providing jobs to around 1200 people. Works have begun in the last ten days only. Of these five involve land levelling work. The pradhan says that payment is becoming difficult as centre is not paying its share.
It is clear, with peace returning to this village, people are able to resume their normal living.
WRITING ON THE WALL
Similar urge for restoration of normalcy can be seen in many of the villages that have become free. The TMC-'Maoists' goons are of course trying their best to return to their “normalcy” – the killings, torture, extortion etc. Recently they killed a school clerk in Radhanagar village for daring to actively take part in the people's resistance in the village. They did not spare his aged parents who tried to shield him. A bullet grazed his mother's head while another brushed past his father's ear. Both have been hospitalised. It is to be noted that it was in Radhanagar that the 'Maoists' first tasted the shock of people's resistance. Women in large numbers with traditional weapons chased away these goons, sparking off similar resistance actions in adjoining villages. True to their perverted understanding, the mass actions are being sought to be defeated through individual annihilation. But they are up against a people that are united and resolute in guarding their hard won peace. The people have made their choice. It is for these degenerated lot to read the writing on the wall.
Source: www.pd.cpim.org
Sunday, September 26, 2010
SERIOUS ATTEMPT TO SABOTAGE FORTHCOMING ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS IN WEST BENGAL
What seems to be a deliberate planning to sabotage the democratic process with an eye to assembly elections in West Bengal, due next year, falsification of electoral rolls through inclusion of thousands of fake voters is being attempted in the state. Thousands of fictitious and illegal affidavits have been prepared and illegally deposited in the office of electoral officers. In fact, the number is in the range of more than 50 lakhs. The Left Front has drawn attention of the Election Commission to this matter, requesting an urgent intervention. The Left leaders also met Chief Election Commissioner in Delhi and alleged that the mischievous attempt was of such a magnitude that unless defeated this would lead to large-scale falsification of the electoral rolls and distort the ensuing Assembly elections as a whole.
The perversion is being done through a manner, unprecedented in the state. In the summary revision that has been done in July this year, the total number of Form-6 applications for addition of new names to be included in the draft electoral rolls as part of the SRER has reached 56,19,057. This is an unusually inflated number of applications. Roughly 56 lakh proposed additions over the total number of electors amounting to 5,24,21,616 works out to a more than 10 per cent increase. Given the fact that the net addition in the preceding four years – 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 – were -0.5 per cent, 1.83 per cent, 2.38 per cent and 1.45 per cent respectively, clearly show abnormality of an unusual magnitude.
The following table will show the actual picture:
No. of electors in Draft Rolls
4,80,95,009
4,78,39,290
5,04,11,682
5,16,12,655
Total Additions
25,80,001
20,75,343
14,00,601
13,81,575
Total Deletions
28,35,726
11,98,568
2,00,719
6,31,555
Net Addition
-2,55,725
8,76,775
11,99,882
7,50,020
Percentage of Net Addition
-0.5
1.83
2.38
1.45
Source: Election Commission of India
This nefarious design is being organized by Trinamool Congress to subvert the election process. These are gross attempts to bypass the well-established EC stipulations for addition of names. The submission of affidavits, patently false methods of certification like school certificates, birth certificates from health centres etc instead of standard procedures indicate an organized effort to falsify the rolls. In fact, in many cases, bulk of affidavits or certificates came from the same source. Chief Electoral Officer of the state has clearly issued a direction in an all-party meeting on August 5, 2010 that “submission of bulk applications as well as affidavits and other documents inconsistent with the norms and rules of the Election Commission shall not be accepted or rejected if received anywhere, prior to enquiry.”
4,80,95,009
4,78,39,290
5,04,11,682
5,16,12,655
Total Additions
25,80,001
20,75,343
14,00,601
13,81,575
Total Deletions
28,35,726
11,98,568
2,00,719
6,31,555
Net Addition
-2,55,725
8,76,775
11,99,882
7,50,020
Percentage of Net Addition
-0.5
1.83
2.38
1.45
Source: Election Commission of India
This nefarious design is being organized by Trinamool Congress to subvert the election process. These are gross attempts to bypass the well-established EC stipulations for addition of names. The submission of affidavits, patently false methods of certification like school certificates, birth certificates from health centres etc instead of standard procedures indicate an organized effort to falsify the rolls. In fact, in many cases, bulk of affidavits or certificates came from the same source. Chief Electoral Officer of the state has clearly issued a direction in an all-party meeting on August 5, 2010 that “submission of bulk applications as well as affidavits and other documents inconsistent with the norms and rules of the Election Commission shall not be accepted or rejected if received anywhere, prior to enquiry.”
Left leaders in their memorandum to Chief Election Commissioner have alleged that the commitment so given was not being strictly implemented. There have been instances of questionable role of certain observers to bring pressure on the block level election officials to turn a blind eye to these obnoxious attempts and legitimize the applications without due consideration as per the directions of the Election Commission.
Courtesy: www.cpimwb.org.in
Sunday, July 18, 2010
ALL INDIA GENERAL STRIKE BY TUS ON SEPT 7, 2010
The representatives of the central trade unions and workers and employees federations -- BMS, INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, AICCTU, UTUC and LPF organised the second national convention of the workers in New Delhi on July 15, 2010 and adopted the following declaration.
DECLARATION
DECLARATION
THE representatives of central trade unions and workers and employees federations having assembled in the second national convention of the workers on July 15, 2010, reviewed the joint action programme over five commonly agreed demands as decided in the first historic convention of workers on September 14, 2009. This convention considering the review of joint actions - all India protest day on October 28, 2009, massive dharna on December 16, 2009 and satyagraha/jail bharo on March 5, 2010 in which ten lakh workers participated and also considering the situation arising thereafter adopts the following declaration.
Despite the trade unions demanding effective steps to curb price rise, particularly food price inflation, food prices escalating as high as 17 per cent, inflation rising to double-digit, government continues to remain totally unresponsive to mitigate the deep sufferings of the working people;
Despite the trade unions expressing deep concern at the uninterrupted violation of labour laws and trade union rights, situation is becoming grim and repressive every day;
Despite trade unions protesting against job loss, underpayment, unbearable living conditions, lengthening working hours, rampant contractorisation, casualisation and outsourcing, nothing is being done to prevent the declining living conditions and inhuman exploitation of working masses;
Despite the trade unions opposing the disinvestment in the profit making public sector, the latest disinvestment being pushed through in Coal India Ltd, BSNL, SAIL, NLC, Hindustan Copper, NMDC etc., the pernicious policy of reckless disinvestment is continuing with impunity;
Despite the trade unions earnestly asking for the setting up of a massive welfare fund for universal comprehensive social security coverage for the unorganised sector workers without any restriction, the fund allocation remain nominal and restrictive provisions continue.
The convention notes with concern that not only the protests of the trade unions are being ignored, the policy that accentuates increase in the prices of foodgrains is being constantly bulldozed, the latest is the deregulation of petroleum pricing linking it with the international market leading to hefty increase in the prices of kerosene, cooking gas, diesel, and petrol.
The convention reiterates the unanimously formulated demands once again as under:
Price rise of essential commodities to be contained through appropriate corrective and distributive measures like universal PDS and containing speculation in commodity marke
Concrete proactive measures to be taken for linkage of employment protection in the recession stricken sectors with the stimulus package being offered to the concerned entrepreneurs and for augmenting public investment in infrastructure
Strict enforcement of all basic labour laws without any exception or exemption and stringent punitive measures for violation of labour laws
Steps to be taken for removal of all restrictive provisions based on poverty line in respect of eligibility of coverage of the schemes under the unorganised workers social security act 2008 and creation of national fund for the unorganised sector to provide for a national floor level social security to all unorganised workers including the contract/casual workers in line with the recommendation of national commission on enterprises in unorganised sector and parliamentary standing committee on labour
Disinvestment of shares of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) be not resorted to for meeting budgetary deficit and instead their growing reserve and surplus be used for expansion and modernisation purposes and also for revival of sick public sector undertakings.
This national convention of workers, while exercising their constitutional and democratic rights seek to further its legitimate protest and call for immediate correction of the patently wrong policies that dangerously hurt the interests of the working people and the society as a whole, and to give vent to the feelings of the growing indignation of the working people.
The convention therefore resolves to call for an all India general strike on September 7, 2010.
The convention calls upon the entire working people of the country, irrespective of affiliations to rally everbody in the united call for countrywide general strike and make it a total success and intensify the struggle further and prepare for a massive march of the workers to parliament in November/December 2010.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
FABRICATION IN LAVLIN CASE EXPOSED - K K Ragesh
THE cock and bull story manufactured by anti-communist circles in regard to the SNC Lavlin case has now come to its inevitable end. The CBI, which had charged CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, has now filed an affidavit in the court, saying there is no evidence to prove that he had made any financial gains. The CBI affidavit, in response to a petition filed by notorious Crime magazine editor, clarifies that there was no evidence to prove any monetary transactions in the agreement between the SNC Lavlin company and the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).
MOTIVATED HULLABALOO
One notes that the notorious magazine editor had, in his petition, sought a follow-up probe on certain evidences (!) about the deal. The court naturally asked the CBI whether any evidences were left out to prove a monetary gain. The CBI filed the affidavit in reply, affirming that there was no evidence to prove that Pinarayi Vijayan or any middlemen had made any monetary benefits. The CBI also maintained that it could not investigate cases on the basis of hearsay. The rightwing media that fraudulently fashioned numerous fairytales on Lavlin case, however, made deliberate attempts to hide the news of the CBI affidavit; some of them even tried to twist the truth saying that the affidavit only said the CBI could not find any evidence to prove a monetary gain. To them, it did not mean that the CPI(M) state secretary had made no financial gains.
Further, in its charge sheet itself, the CBI had not accused Vijayan of having made any personal pecuniary benefits. The CBI had focussed on the setting up of the Malabar Cancer Centre at Thalassery in Kannur district, which is Pinarayi Vijayan’s home district. Even then, the vested interests, the UDF and reactionary media blatantly propagated that Vijayan had made a huge amount as kickback in the Rs 374.50 crore Lavlin deal. Despite the fact that the total worth of the Lavlin-KSEB contract was Rs 149 crore only, the vested interests did not hesitate to make this motivated hullabaloo. But the CBI’s latest affidavit has destroyed the foundation of the case and exploded the malicious campaign unleashed against the CPI(M) and its state secretary.
The Congress party has, time and again, used the intelligence agencies for partisan political gains, and the CBI has been no exception to it. The party’s real face was once again exposed when the opposition parties moved their cut motion in parliament. The Congress did not hesitate to withdraw the corruption cases lodged by the CBI against the BSP leader Mayawati; the same agency was used to neutralise some leaders of other parties also. Even the Supreme Court once vehemently criticised the centre for misusing the investigating agency.
FACTS & FICTION
It was the Congress led UDF government that had decided to renew the Pallivasal, Sengulam and Panniyar power projects on the basis of a technical report. The Narasimha Rao government at the centre was then encouraging the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) route. The UDF government too chose the MoU route for an agreement and no global tender was issued for the work. Accordingly, the SNC Lavlin and the KSEB signed an MoU in August 1995; subsequently an implementation/consultancy agreement was signed in February 1996. All these developments occurred under the UDF government when Congress leader G Karthikeyan was the electricity minister. In spite of these glaring facts, the UDF and rightwing media deliberately accused Pinarayi Vijayan of not calling for a global tender. But how could Vijayan, who became the state electricity minister in May 1996, call for a global tender for a project on which there had already been an agreement with the SNC Lavlin? How could the LDF government cancel an agreement when clause 17 of the contract stipulated arbitration for any breach of contract, under the rules and procedures of International Chamber of Commerce in Paris? How could the LDF government opt for years of litigation in regard to three major power projects which account for 20 per cent of total electricity production in the state when the whole state was facing an acute power crisis?
Earlier the LDF government had already faced a piquant situation. It had terminated the previous UDF government’s MoU with the ABB for renovation of the Neryamangalam hydel power station where no implementation/consultancy agreement was signed, as was later done in case of Pallivasal, Sengulam and Panniyar power stations. After five years of litigation, the court had ordered the government to cancel its decision and allot the renovation work to the ABB. The malicious campaigners were blind even to the significant policy change --- that the LDF government had put an end to the MoU route and issued global tenders for such contracts. The rightwing media and anti-CPI(M) circles conveniently hid all such glaring facts.
It is amply clear that Vijayan did not sign any basic agreement with the SNC Lavlin; rather he had signed only an addendum to the basic agreement which was signed by the UDF government. After several rounds of discussion, the SNC Lavlin had to make in the basic agreement certain significant changes which were vital for protecting the state’s interests, and an addendum had to be signed to effect such alterations. It was on the basis of this addendum that substantial reductions were made in the price of the equipments to be purchased from Canada and in the consultancy fees, bank interest and other charges. The media and the anti-CPI(M) camp deliberately projected the addendum as a basic agreement.
IRREFUTABLE POLITICAL PLOT
During the period of the Nayanar government, a section of the Congress leadership and their supportive media had come up with certain allegations on the SNC Lavlin agreement. But the subsequent UDF government, which came to power in 2001, did not order any enquiry during its first two years. After two years, it ordered a vigilance enquiry on March 6, 2003 when the whole state was reverberating with massive struggles and the opposition MLAs were to go on an indefinite hunger strike following the brutal oppression of the tribal people’s struggle and the killing of an adivasi activist in police firing. The investigation was ordered to divert attention from the inhuman police repression and mounting resistance.
The vigilance department investigated the case for three years and submitted a report to the UDF government on March 10, 2006, just before the assembly election. But the government did not initiate any action on the report. Reactionary media propagated that Pinarayi Vijayan was going to be an accused in the case. The UDF government’s design was to sit tight over the report and feed the media speculations in order to influence the election results in its favour. But the department filed an FIR in the vigilance court, categorically stating that Vijayan was not responsible for any lapses. It added that his Canada visit and further discussions had helped to protect the state’s interest. When the department’s findings became public knowledge, a humiliated UDF government found that they did not suit its interest. So it immediately removed the vigilance director and referred the case to the CBI, a day before the assembly election was announced. It is to be noted that, only a week before the vigilance department submitted its report, the same government had filed an affidavit in the court, opposing a CBI investigation when a petition filed by the Crime editor sought to refer the Lavlin case to the CBI. Then the government’s stand was that the vigilance probe covered all aspects and hence a CBI investigation was not required. What else is required to prove that the UDF had hatched a heinous plot with a political motive!
The CBI too was so ‘vigilant’ that it chose to submit its report just before the parliament elections. The investigating agency depicted G Karthikeyan (former UDF minister) as the author of the conspiracy but conveniently dropped his name from its list of the accused. The CBI devised a surprising story that Vijayan was involved in the conspiracy after he became the electricity minister in May 1996, in order to set up a cancer centre at Thalassery. The CBI’s argument also gave an impression that the cancer centre is a private institution and that Vijayan made personal gains from it. In fact, the Malabar Cancer Centre, set up later, is a government institution under the health ministry.
Lavlin case is thus a forged case built upon follies and fraudulences for narrow political gains. Even the governor’s office was misused and constitutional norms were violated. No state government can grant sanction to prosecute a former minister when the advocate general, in his legal opinion, categorically states that Vijayan had only performed his duties as a minister. Was it such an extraordinary case for the governor to grant sanction for prosecution so arbitrarily, by rejecting the state government’s recommendation? The governor, in his order, could not give any logical argument to reject the protection guaranteed by the law of the land to a public servant who was discharging his duties in good faith.
THE REAL PERPETRATORS
In their eagerness to create controversies and insinuate the CPI(M) and its state secretary in Lavlin case, the plotters suitably shielded the real perpetrators. Rightwing media consciously skirted the question whether the UDF government had not indulged in a criminal conspiracy while signing the MoU with Lavlin without any global tender. Why did the UDF government later allowed the Lavlin to get the MoU for setting up the Malabar Cancer Centre lapsed by neither renewing the MoU nor signing an agreement with SNC Lavalin despite its willingness to sign it? Why did the CBI left out the author of the conspiracy from the list of the accused? Even though the case was referred to the CBI in March 2006, the agency did not find any case against the CPI (M) state secretary till the Left withdrew its support to the UPA government on nuclear issue. The CBI’s intention in making Vijayan an accused in the case was clear. Lavlin case is nothing but a sinister plot of the anti-Left forces with the help of an investigating agency and the bourgeois media.
Reactionary media and the anti-Marxists have always attacked the CPI(M) by worst methods. And today they are using the Lavlin case to attack the CPI (M) and its leadership. But can they always keep the people in dark? Time will tell.
Source: People’s Democracy dated 23-05-2010
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