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Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
ORISSA SEMINARS ON KASHMIR PROBLEM: ‘DIALOGUE, AUTONOMY, DEVELOPMENT ARE ESSENTIAL’
KASHMIR is shedding tears and spills blood every now and then, and that is what underlines the necessity of solving the Kashmir problem expeditiously. This was the emotion-choked cry of Yousuf Tarigami, secretary of the Jammu & Kashmir state committee of the CPI (M), at a seminar he addressed Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa, on “Kashmir Problem & National Integration” on December 27, 2010. He also expressed his confidence that the Kashmir problem, though very complicated, can be solved through dialogue, by restoration of autonomy and ensuring economic development.
Held at the IDCOL Auditorium in Bhubaneswar, the seminar was chaired by Sivaji Patnaik, former member of parliament. Others who addressed the seminar were All India Bar Council’s former chairman Jagannath Patnaik, CPI (M)’s Orissa state secretary Janardan Pati, and the party’s state secretariat member Santosh Das. Tarigami, a member of the CPI (M) Central Committee, also addressed two more seminars at Berhampur and Rourkela on December 26 and 28, 2010 respectively. These seminars were organised by the CPI (M)’s Orissa state committee as part of the Kashmir solidarity campaign in response to the call of the Central Committee.
Recalling the history of Kashmir and India, Tarigami recalled how the people of Kashmir rejected the two-nation theory of Jinnah and decided to integrate themselves with the Indian Union. Jinnah was of the opinion that inclusion of Kashmir in Pakistan was the divine right of the latter since the former happened to be a Muslim dominated region. But the people of Kashmir rebuffed Jinnah that if they were Muslims, they were also human beings and they were Kashmiris as well. It was with this feeling that they fought the Pathan raiders in 1947. this was at a time when the ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, was reluctant to join the Indian Union and sign the instrument of accession with the latter, and was aiming to form a Hindu theocratic state (Hindu Rashtra) in Kashmir.
Referring to article 370 of the Indian constitution, Tarigami said that without this article India has no constitutional relationship with Kashmir. It is mentioned in the instrument of accession, signed between Maharaja Hari Singh and the Indian Union, that barring the external affairs, defence & communication all other powers would be enjoyed by the state of Jammu & Kashmir as part of its autonomy. The constituent assembly that incorporated article 370 in Indian constitution comprised representatives of the National Conference nominated by Maharaja Hari Singh. Kashmir, told Tarigami, happens to be the apple of discord between India and Pakistan and that has so far led to three wars (in 1947, 1965 and 1971) and to a limited war in Kargil, besides leading to the nuclearisation of South Asia. Both countries say they are facing a severe paucity of money to spend on poverty alleviation programmes, for creation of jobs for youth and to address the woe of the farmers, but yet they have enough money to strengthen their respective arsenals.
As it is today, the army has been torturing the people of Kashmir and even the CBI inquiries have confirmed this truth. During the last several months, 112 young men are killed by the army. The stone pelting youth are sought to be rebuffed with bullets. The Kashmir situation needs a political solution. Though the recent parliamentary delegation created some good impact, there was a sad stagnation as the follow-up. It would have been proper for the central government to constitute a committee comprising leaders of political parties. Along with organising a continuing dialogue with the people of Kashmir, the government of India should also hold composite talks with Pakistan to overcome the crisis, opined Tarigarmi. He expressed his gratitude to the people of Orissa and the enlightened audience that have showed interest in a solution of the Kashmir problem.
Jagannath Patnaik, a reputed lawyer, asserted that the failure to meet the aspiration of the people of Kashmir is the root cause of the problem. Interpreting article 370, he told that the essence of the article is that the conditionality of the instrument of accession could not be violated. Referring to the Supreme Court judgement, he recalled that when the indirect election to Lok Sabha from Jammu & Kashmir was challenged in 1961, the apex court had said in its judgement that it was not a violation of the constitution. Patnaik also said positive impact on Kashmir could be ensured by easing the Indo-Pak tensions.
Janardan Pati, in his address, told that it was not the strength of military but dialogue, brotherhood, secularism and restoration of autonomy to Jammu & Kashmir that would pave the way for a solution of the Kashmir problem. This also requires the grant of regional autonomy to Jammu, the Kashmir valley and Ladakh, and a normalisation of the Indo-Pak relations.
Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org/
Friday, January 14, 2011
ALL INDIA KISHAN SABHA ON THE COMING ELECTIONS TO STATE ASSEMBLIES
THE Kolkata session of the All India Kisan Council, held from December 28 to 30, 2010, having taken stock of the situation prevailing in the country, attaches the utmost importance to utilising the ensuing elections to state assemblies in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Assam and Puducherri to register the strongest possible protest against the neo-liberal policies followed by the successive central governments. These policies, pursued by the governments led by the Congress and by the BJP, have resulted in the biggest agrarian crisis since independence. Among the features of the current crisis that must be confronted in the coming elections are:
1) one of the highest rates of inflation in the world, particularly in respect of food commodities;
2) dismantling of the PDS and inability of central government to ensure food security;
3) rises in the costs of farm inputs and decline in the prices of outputs;
4) futures and forward trading in agricultural commodities;
5) free trade agreements which facilitate the dumping of cheap agricultural commodities;
6) the replacement of social and development banking by corporate micro-finance;
7) the penetration of multinational corporations such as Monsanto, Cargill and WalMart into different stages of the agricultural process, from research and seed production to procurement and retail sales; and
8) the giving away of vast tracts of agricultural land to big corporations with no or inadequate compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement.
One of the worst manifestations of the neo-liberal policies of privatisation and deregulation is the unheard-of loot of the public exchequer, among the most recent examples of which are the scams related to the distribution of 2G licenses, the organisation of the Commonwealth Games, and the Adarsh Housing scheme, the IPL scam and the scams associated with the BJP government in Karnataka. The total amount involved in these scams would have sufficed to ensure food security and a universal public distribution system, and to initiate meaningful steps to provide irrigation, inputs, education and health to the people in the country who need these the most.
As the elections approach, the Left-led governments in West Bengal and Kerala have been made special targets of the ruling classes on account of the alternative pro-people policies of these governments, on account of the resistance that they offer to the onslaught of imperialist-supported economic policies, and on account of the service they render as advanced outposts of democracy in the country.
In West Bengal alone, 337 comrades have laid down their lives since the Lok Sabha elections of 2009 in barbaric attacks by the Maoist-Trinamul Congress combine. The union home minister has made a blatant and totally unwarranted defence of the TMC-Maoist combine and their violence, thus violating all federal norms and principles of the defence of internal security and against separatist forces in states. His own party has allied with all communal, casteist and other divisive forces in Kerala.
The election battles in Tamilnadu, Assam, and Puducherri must see the defeat of the Congress, the BJP, their allies and various divisive forces.
The recent Wikyleaks revelations show that US Imperialism was greatly worried, on the eve of the 2009 elections to parliament, about the Left playing an important role in government formation. It is to be expected that as in the past the US imperialists will actively seek to influence the outcome of the forthcoming assembly elections against the interests of the peasantry and toiling masses. The designs of US imperialists must be defeated through popular mobilisation.
This meeting of the AIKC calls upon the peasantry and the working class and other democratic people in these states to take up the battle in right earnest, mobilise the widest possible combination of democratic and secular forces, and give a fitting reply to the mentors of the anti-people policies that prevail in India. It calls upon the contingents of the AIKS and all democratic forces all over India to extend their support and solidarity to the people of these states in the campaign ahead.
Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org/
LEFT, TDP, JD(S) SUBMIT MEMO ON TRINAMUL-MAOIST LINKS
A delegation comprising representatives of the CPI(M), CPI, RSP, AIFB, TDP and JD(S) met P Chidambaram, minister for home affairs, on January 6, 2011. The following is the text of the memorandum they submitted.
IN the light of your recent communication with the chief minister of West Bengal, on behalf of the CPI (M), CPI, RSP, AIFB, TDP and JD(S), we, the undersigned, are constrained to draw your attention to certain facts pertaining to the nexus between the Maoists and a major component of the UPA coalition – the Trinamul Congress party.
It is our contention that certain facts have come to light of late which further vindicate the reality of the nexus between the Maoists and Trinamul Congress and are in addition to the detailed references appearing in the media during the last three years revealing the nature of the nexus.
Recently, the Trinamul Congress MP from Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency, Kabir Suman, has written a book, an autobiographical narrative named Nishner nam Taposhi Malik (the name of the flag is Taposhi Malik). The book, significantly, has been dedicated to Kishanji – reportedly the Polit Bureau member of CPI (Maoist) operating in West Bengal. In the book, he has given an eye witness account of a meeting held in Trinamul Congress headquarters in Kolkata attended by two individuals – Raja Sarkhel and Prasun Chattopadhyaya – who are at present in judicial custody, booked under certain provisions of the UAPA for their links with the Maoists. The concerned meeting, Suman informs, was also attended by Mamata Banerjee and Sougata Roy who are currently ministers of your government. The meeting discussed the possible intervention in Nandigram in which implicitly the Maoists would also be involved. The Maoists have earlier given detailed accounts of their involvement in Nandigram with the Trinamul Congress through public statements which had never been contradicted.
The media has also widely reported the confession of Madhusudan Mondal, since arrested, and who happened to be the Nandigram Zonal Committee secretary of the CPI (Maoist) confirming this association.
The TMC is, however, now denying any links with Kabir Suman, MP. We are hereby attaching relevant portions of his book with its English translation as annexure, along with a media report.
We would also like to attach herewith a copy of the statement of one Vikram – a state committee member of CPI (Maoist) – released to the media on January 4, 2011 claiming links with TMC and the functional unity between the Maoists and TMC in joint agitational activities. He has claimed that in the past, the Maoists were not in a position to openly come out with assertions about these links but now the situation has changed. He has further claimed that though he has some criticisms about TMC, he would like the Maoist-TMC association to continue to ensure the defeat of the Left Front in the coming assembly elections. In spite of some misgivings about the TMC, the continuation of the relationship is important – has been his assertion. He has also demanded that the railway minister must resign from the cabinet protesting corruptions on the union government. We are attaching media reports on Vikram’s statement as an annexure.
We would also like to remind you on this occasion that you had in the past confirmed on the floor of Rajya Sabha that the PCPA is a frontal organisation of the Maoists. Now that the CBI chargesheet on the Gyaneswari Express tragedy has been filed which squarely charges the PCPA for having hatched the conspiracy which led to the tragedy, this totally refutes the insinuations by TMC leadership and intellectuals close to that party. The insinuation itself was a vile attempt to deflect responsibility of the Gyanaswari disaster and further reinforces the nexus between the TMC and the Maoists in West Bengal.
On the question of your description of CPI(M) activists as `harmads’ and your further justification with reference to the term being used by other political parties and sections of the media is not in keeping with the majesty of your office. We would like to specifically inform you that it is the same Maoist leadership who use this word in their interactions with the media and which is caught on camera with covered faces. Video recording of such interviews must be available with the intelligence establishment. To further inform you on the subject, we can add that this term is derogatorily used to describe hapless victims belonging to the CPI(M) activists who are eliminated through cowardly individual assassinations and through their self appointed kangaroo courts as declared in the posters left behind with the dead bodies.
What is happening today in Jangal Mahal – the forest range areas of Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapur of West Bengal – is an awakening, a popular mobilisation and mass resistance of the people against the murders, extortions, rapes, tortures and all such depredations of the Maoists. Not only the CPI(M) but all those who cherish democracy and rule of law must associate with such a fight backed by the common people.
We must also inform you that the day you were reiterating your justification for the use of the term `harmad’ more than one and half lakh local people converged in Lalgarh on December 31, 2010 to express their resolve to fight for peace, democracy and development in a rally organised by the Left Front.
In spite of the prime minister’s assertion that `Maoists are the single biggest threat to internal security’, why do you use the very same term that Maoists use to describe those very people who are part of a popular mobilisation and resistance to Maoist depredations? We are sure that the government’s intelligence apparatus must have kept you informed about the success of the joint operations because of the isolation of the Maoists from the people and the role of the villagers in apprehending and informing the security forces about the whereabouts and activities of the Maoists.
In the light of all these reports, we would urge you to spell out what do you propose in dealing with the TMC-Maoist nexus. The responsibility of overcoming the impact of the Maoist violence is not the responsibility of the state governments alone, it is a phenomenon which spans across several states. Therefore, the union government also has a responsibility, which you have not only acknowledged but acted upon by taking some initiatives. And, may we add that it is necessary to desist from taking positions which undermine the spirit of resistance that seeks to bring an end to Maoist violence and depredations.
Signatories to the memorandum were Sitaram Yechury (leader of CPI(M) group in Rajya Sabha), Basudev Acharia (leader of the CPI(M) group in Lok Sabha), Shyamal Chakraborty (CPI-M, Rajya Sabha), Prabodh Panda (CPI, Lok Sabha), Manohar Tirkey (RSP, Lok Sabha), Narahari Mahato (AIFB, Lok Sabha), Danish Ali (general secretary, JD-S), and Nama Nageswara Rao (TDP, Lok Sabha). Annexures and Vikram’s statement are not reproduced here.
Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org/
Saturday, January 8, 2011
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