[Marxism] ML Update Vol. 12 No. 04 20 - 26 JANUARY 2009

[CPIML Liberation <cpimllib@xxxxxxxxx>]

 *ML** **Update*

*A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine*

Vol.12     No. 04      20 - 26 JANUARY 2009

* *

*Combating the Corporate Idolisation of Modi*

The Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit held recently in Ahmedabad
produced

some strange sights and sounds. Pictures of a smiling and kite-flying
Narendra Modi greeted newspaper readers across the country. And then there
was this corporate chorus contemplating 'Narendrabhai' as the future leader
of the country. Anil Ambani said the progress registered by Gujarat under
Modi's stewardship had made him "a proud Indian and a proud Gujarati". Sunil
Mittal of Bharati Group joined the Ambani scion to lavish praise on Modi's
"capacity to dream with open eyes" and his "drive for achieving results".
"If he has done so much for Gujarat, imagine what he would do for India?",
they exclaimed. British MP Barry Gardiner went one step ahead to proclaim:
"Gujarat can lead the world."

The corporate discourse of 'good governance' has thus finally zeroed in on
its most ideal 'Indian idol'. The reasoning of the corporate honchos is
pretty straightforward. They see themselves as the country and the nation
and hence it seems obvious to them that what they consider best for them
must also be best for the country. Ratan Tata, who had called Modi the 'good
M' (he might well have called him his 'God M') after announcing the
relocation of his Nano plant in Gujarat, has been quite explicit with his
argument. "In the Nano case, we had our land and approval in just two days,
whereas normally any state would have taken 90 to 180 days," exclaimed Tata.
A state that bends all its rules and crushes every dissent to ensure the
biggest booty for the corporate sector is the ideal state for the Tatas and
Ambanis, and no wonder, the Modi model of fascistic governance is emerging
as the number one corporate choice.

It will be wrong to see this corporate projection of Modi as an icon of
'development' and 'governance' as the preference of a few individual
capitalists. Sections of the corporate media have also joined this chorus
with newspapers conducting SMS polls to secure some 'popular support' for
the Modi-as-our-leader campaign. In the wake of the terror strike on Mumbai,
TV channels have been busy promoting a particular brand of 'civil society'
opinion: "we want CEOs, not CMs." With the CEOs themselves now prescribing
Modi as the leader, the circle becomes complete! Surprisingly, a CPI(M) MP
from Kerala, Mr. Abdullakutty, too has reportedly fallen for Modi's 'crusade
for development', saying while he was opposed to Modi's communal policies,
he supported the latter's contribution to development!

A spokesperson of the Congress has however been quick to liken the Indian
corporate clamour for Modi to the German corporate preference for Hitler in
the 1930s. Many other similarities have also been detected by historians –
notably, the ideological oneness between the RSS brand of 'cultural
nationalism' and 'Hindutva' and the Nazi school of racist supremacy, and the
contextual similarity between the economic crisis in the era of the Great
Depression and the crisis currently building up in India in a period of
globalised economic meltdown.

It is however one thing to comprehend and reject fascism as a chapter of
past history, resisting fascism in real life and real time is a completely
different proposition. And if India has been experiencing a fascistic
build-up for the last two decades, the complicity of the Congress has been a
major contributing factor. Ruling class politics in India is driven by a
competitive pursuit of blatantly pro-imperialist pro-corporate economic
policies, US-oriented foreign policy, communalism, jingoism, draconian laws
and repressive rule. Modi has his roots in the RSS, it is the BJP which made
him the Chief Minister of Gujarat, but it is the competitive collaboration
between the Congress and the BJP which has allowed him to get away with the
2002 Gujarat genocide and has now given way to this dangerous discourse that
seeks not only to legitimise but also idolise Modi as the latest icon of
statecraft in India.

Anti-imperialist anti-fascist forces can combat this discourse only by
effectively intensifying the battle for the reversal of the ruling policies
and by mounting a vigorous counter-offensive against the ideological climate
manufactured and marketed by the ruling classes.

Campaign Kicked-off in Mumbai for Reestablishing the Party

This could be one of the highlights of the month-long PLEDGE CAMPAIGN of the
Party – the campaign undertaken by Party comrades of Mumbai to rebuild the
Party in Mumbai. The Pledge Campaign was translated into Party rebuilding
campaign in Mumbai during which meetings and other programmes were organised
participated by members and supporters of the Party. Meetings were organised
in Sayan Pratiksha Nagar on 3rd January, next day in Villa Parla, and in
Govandi on 8th January. The campaign culminated on 11th January observed as
a Pledge taking day organised at the Parla office which was beautifully
decorated with the posters including those of martyred CPI(ML) leaders.
Party comrades from Govandi and Dharavi participated in the meeting on this
day.

The important communist tasks for the current situation were inscribed in
slogan form on the posters. Portraits of Comrades Vinod Mishra, Mahendra
Singh, Ashok and Jayant Ganguly were also put up and assembled comrades
observed two minutes silence in their remembrance before the meeting began.
Com. Gohil was the coordinator for the meeting and also elaborated upon
Party's present tasks in the prevailing political circumstances in Mumbai
and put forward his views for becoming a strong Party of Mumbai's working
class. Com. Dhiraj explained the importance of the pledge campaign in
detail. Current outstanding issues and pains of the working class and
especially the unorganized sector workers, mainly the construction workers,
were also discussed in the backdrop of Trade Union Act 2005 and workers'
rights. Later, the declaration was made to hail 2009 as Party rebuilding
year in Mumbai. In this light other programmes were also outlined to be
taken up in the coming months. Meeting ended in the evening with
enthusiastic raising of lal-salaam to martyred comrades.

Left Parties March to Rajbhawan in Jharkhand

On the initiative of CPI(ML), the CPI(M) and the RSP joined the call to
march to Rajbhawan demanding dissolution of the present State Assembly and
seek fresh mandate in the wake of current CM Shibu Soren's defeat and his
rejection by the people of Tamar. It is noteworthy that despite the
clear-cut exit gate shown to him (which is quite embarrassing for an
incumbent CM) by the people in the by-election for Tamar seat he tried to
sneak in through forcing another by-election and the MLA Vishnu from Jamtara
even resigned creating another opportunity for him to file his fresh
nomination, and he eventually had to beat a retreat in the face of massive
opposition to his continuing as the CM.

The memorandum submitted to the Governor by the delegation of the above
parties demanded for fresh elections in the State and cautioned against
providing either the UPA or the NDA any chance of forming the government by
their usual corrupt means, as both the coalition formations have been
clearly rejected by the people in Jharkhand. CPI did not join the joint left
march on pretext that it was not the right time shows that it is still under
illusion of UPA being a united and progressive alliance.

Seminar in JU on Capitalist Crisis and Students' Movement

On 13th January, the All India Students' Association (AISA) organized a
seminar titled "Capitalist Crisis: Period of Peril in the Indian Context" at
Vivekananda Hall, at Jadavpur University, Kolkata. The seminar aimed at
educating the students and youth about the root causes of the present
crisis, exposing the biased responses of the UPA Govt. trying to reinforce
those very means that has been responsible for this crisis and highlighting
the role of student movements in countering such actions of the ruling
class. The speakers in the seminar were Prof. Kunal Chattopadhyay of
Jadavpur University, Com. Partho Ghosh, State Secretary, CPI(ML) Liberation,
and Dipanjan Raichoudhuri, educationist and student activist of the '60s.
Prof. Chattopadhay said that bourgeous economists offer a limited
explanation of the current economic crisis. They consciously ignore the
political reasons behind the crisis. He cited the example of the US economic
crisis of 1890 and spoke about how state terror was unleashed on labour
unions formed to counter the effects of the economic crisis.

Com. Partho Ghosh said that the Capitalism's most revered intellectuals who
declared "End of History" after the collapse of the Soviet Union have now
been rendered to eat their own words. Copies of Das Kapital are now selling
like hot cakes in Europe and Japan. The much talked about IT industry is
standing on a precipice, following revelations of the massive fraud in
India's 4th largest IT firm, Satyam Computers. The Indo-US nuclear deal and
the Insurance bill show that Indian rulers are constantly exposing the
country to the global crisis by entangling itself in a death embrace with
the US. Only 2% of world trade consists of actual production; the rest is
dominated by speculation. In India, textiles, jewellery, real estate and
several other industries are in a perilous state, with massive layoffs
occurring everyday. Besides, draconian "anti-terror" laws are being enacted,
which like POTA and TADA will be ultimately used against the movements of
the toiling masses challenging the lay-offs. Com. Ghosh said that the only
way out of the crisis is by giving a boost to the domestic market and
enhancing the purchasing power of the working class through welfare schemes
like the NREGS, focusing more on actual production and improving the quality
of life through ration, health and education schemes, not by acts like
bailing out Satyam with Rs.2000 crores which is like rescuing fraud and will
embolden fraudulent practices. Prof Raichoudhuri said that protests against
imperialist globalization are erupting in various parts of the world. He
said that the dispossession of poor people in the name of development should
stop and development should mean economic and social empowerment of the
great masses. A question-answer session followed, and quite a lot of members
from the audience raised questions to which the speakers responded. The
seminar was coordinated by Com. Moloy Tewari, AISA's West Bengal Secretary.

AIALA's Dharna in Uttarakhand

The All India Agricultural Labourers' Association (AIALA) organised a
demonstration and a dharna at the Collectorate in Rudrapur in Uttarakhand on
16 January 2009, martyrdom day of Comrade Mahendra Singh. A memorandum was
sent to the CM. Main issue was: provide employment else give unemployment
allowance for job card holders. Dharna was addresed by Com. Girja Pathak, KK
Bora, Viren Haldar, Achinto Mandal, Lalit Matiyali, Kusum and Pankaj
Vidrohi.

Jute Workers' Pledge

Bengal Chatkal Mazdoor Forum (BCMF), the state level Jute Workers Union of
West Bengal, an affiliate of All India Central Council of Trade Unions
(AICCTU), commemorated 16 Jan 2009 - the day of Com. Mahendra Singh's
martyrdom - by organising a meeting to renew the pledge to fight for justice
and democracy. The meeting was organised at Moulali Yuba Kendra Auditorium,
Kolkata, where Jute Workers from across the state participated. Rallies of
slogan-shouting Jute Workers, holding aloft the banner of BCMF/AICCTU made
their overwhelming presence felt and the auditorium was totally packed.

The leadership of BCMF organised the meeting to reflect on the recent
struggles and chart a new course of action after the 18 day long strike was
withdrawn on 19th December 2008. A tripartite agreement was arrived at
between all the striking unions, including BCMF and IJMA, the association of
Jute Mill owners at the intervention of the Labour Minister Mr. Oscar
Fernandez, and the workers resumed the work from 20th Dec. 2008. The meeting
was presided over by Com. Nabendu Dasgupta, President, BCMF. After paying
homage to Com. Mahendra Singh and observing a minute's silence in his
remembrance, the proceedings started.  At the outset, Com. Partha Ghosh
Secretary, West Bengal State Committee of CPI(ML) addressed the jute
workers. He exposed the bankruptcy of the much trumpeted IT sector's booming
economy by citing the recent Satyam phenomenon, the global economic meltdown
and pointed out the terrible onslaught let loose by the global capital upon
the workers, terminating thousands & thousands of employees all over the
World. He congratulated the jute workers for their fighting sprit and
exemplary role during the strike period. Com. Atanu Chakravarty, General
Secretary, BCMF explained the clauses of the Tripartite agreement and
mentioned that the employers have again started violating the agreement by
not paying ad-hoc Rs.500 against the outstanding dues to all the workmen and
called upon the workers to organise militant agitational programmes at
mill-level demanding implementation of the agreement. He also mentioned that
during the LF tenure, the average annual earning of individual jute workers
have decreased which in the year 2002, was Rs. 56,250, but by 2006 it had
gone down drastically to Rs. 42,536. Citing data from the statistics of
Labour Dept. GoWB, he pointed out that accidents in Jute Mills is highest,
and out of total industrial accidents, 57.63% occured in Jute Mills in the
year 2006, and machinery was the main source of these accidents. He also
revealed that in comparison to 2 lakh 12 thousand 614 workers engaged in 90
Jute factories during the year 2002, the number of workers employed have
reduced or remains stagnant in 2006. In the latter year, 2 lakh 14 thousand
267 workers are engaged in 106 factories, while the production has
increased. Com. Nabendu Dasgupta, President of BCMF mentioned the total PF
default mill-wise. He called upon the workers to increase the membership
three-fold. After opposing the strike, CITU is facing total isolation from
the workers. In this context the meeting resolved to expand its membership
base, particularly among the non-registered workers, open newer units in
other mills and so establish BCMF as the most formidable force and assert as
the main left union in the coming days. The meeting also resolved to launch
mill-wise agitational programme demanding implementation of the agreement,
and to participate in the mass rally of AIALA on 20th January 2009. Com.
Basudev Bose, General Secretary of WB AICCTU also addressed the workers and
appealed to make the 6th State Conference of AICCTU, scheduled to be held on
15-16 February 2009, a grand success. The meeting resolved to fight for the
PF and gratuity dues of the workers of Gouripore Jute Mills in the next
phase. The meeting tried to capture the imagination of the jute workers and
it created a lot of enthusiasm and hope among the workers.

AIRPC Conference Successfully Held in Danapur

The 6th Conference of All India Rail Party Committee (AIRPC) was held at
Danapur, (East Central Railway) on 12 – 13 January. 40 delegates attended
the conference. Delegates from ER, ECR, SER, NER & CLW attended but
delegates from NFR & NCR could not attend the conference. Com. Swapan
Mukherjee attended the conference as Central Observer. Com. D.P.Baxi, Com.
Bahadur Oraon and Com. Sukhadeo also attended the conference. The
proceedings of the Conference were started with the hoisting of Party Flag
by veteran comrade Ishwari Prasad. Com. D.P.Baxi inaugurated the conference.
Com. Baxi, in his speech, explained the National & International situation
and tasks ahead before the conference. Com. Bahadur Oraon, in his speech,
explained the present situation on the Railway industry and tasks ahead for
the T.U. front. Com. Deepankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary, CPI(ML) sent
a message to the Conference which was read-out before the Conference. Com.
R.Sen presented the Draft Report before the Conference. The Draft was
discussed in two parts i.e. on Party Building and on T.U.front. In total 23
comrades participated in the deliberation. The Draft Report was passed by
the house unanimously. A nine member AIRPC committee was elected by the
conference. They are:- Comrades N.N.Banarjee, A.C.Sharma, Pradeep Banarjee,
Swades Chatterjee, Lalit Mohan , Biswanath Das, Shyam Ankuram, Kulwant Singh
and Rabi Sen as Secretary.

Various decision for strengthening the Party among the railway workers and
employees were adopted and targets like increasing the circulation of Party
literature and rail bulletin were fixed. Com. S. Mukherjee presented the
observer's note hailing the spirit of the Conference and quality of the
debate. The Conference hailed the revolutionary spirits of the volunteers
engaged in the management of the Conference both from railway and the Party
and honoured them with presentations. The Conference ended with playing of
the "Internationale"

Unorganised Sector Workers Hold Dharna against Delhi Govt.

Hundreds of unorganised sector workers staged a day-long dharna at Delhi
Secretariat under the banners of All India Central Council of Trade Unions
(AICCTU) and CPI(ML). The protest highlighted the distressing plight of
unorganised sector workers in Delhi, mainly workers from sectors like
construction, security, domestic, courier, private health clinics, private
schools and small or medium industries, etc. A Workers' Charter of Demands
was handed over to the Delhi Government through this dharna. Hundreds of
workers from all corners of Delhi demanded employment guarantee, social
security, increase in minimum wage to Rs. 327 per day, free education and
health services, free conveyance for going to the workplaces, inclusion in
BPL of all worker families, housing and many other relevant demands. They
also raised the demand of free registration in Delhi Building Workers'
Welfare Board, constitution of welfare boards for Domestic workers, Security
workers, and for those employed in services like courier, private hospitals,
schools and security services, besides demanding for curbing police
atrocities, mafia domination, evictions in the name of development, and
security to all footpath vendors. The dharna was addressed by AICCTU General
Secretary Swapan Mukherjee, CPI(ML) Central Committee members Prabhat Kumar
and Kavita Krishnan, CPI(ML) Delhi State Secretary Sanjay Sharma, and AICCTU
Delhi leaders Santosh Rai, VKS Gautam, Amarnath Tiwary, Shankaran, NM
Thomas, Surendra Panchal among many others.

The speakers said that the ruling parties and governments have reached to a
consensus on anti-labour policies and they are trying to further increase
exploitation of toiling masses by diverting the resources to bail-out the
corporates from the current economic crisis. This must be stopped in
people's interest and government must start measures and schemes to increase
the employment and purchasing power of the masses instead to overcome the
current economic crisis. They also said that sectors like construction,
security, small industries, domestic workers, etc. constitute the major
segment of workers in Delhi, also the majority population, but the
government continues to marginalise them to serve the vested interests of
the big capital. This must be opposed and resisted at all costs.

Gujarat: Mass Meeting in Valsad Dist. Against Land-Mafias

A big meeting was held by CPI(ML) in Punath village of Umargaon Taluka in
Valsad Dist. of Gujarat on 9th January 2009 participated mainly by tribal
people. As is known, CPI(ML) has been leading a struggle since two years in
this region for land rights of the tribal and dalits as per the Forest
Rights Act. As the outcome of this struggle 200 acres of land in Sarigram
was distributed among 65 tribal families and 65 acres of land in Jharoli
Aklas among 30 families was distributed.

Despite the struggle, land mafia is still quite active on tacit support from
the Modi Government and has illegally wrested control over tribal' land. In
Sarigram itself 10-12 acre of land is under the control of the land mafia.
The mass meeting of 9th January was convened to warn these land mafias. The
meeting was addressed by central committee member Com. Prabhat Kumar,
Gujarat Party Secretary Com. Ranjan Ganguly, CPI(ML) leader and lawyer in
Ahmedabad Com. Lakshmanbhai Patanwadia and RYA leader Com. Amit Patanwadia.

Next day, 10 January, a convention was organised participated by party
members as part of the Pledge taking campaign and discussion was held on
strengthening the Party in the Dist.
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