Sixty Years of the Parliament

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Online Weekly            Volume – 1             Issue – 16         20 May 2012

                                       Sixty Years of the Parliament
THE INDIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS who together have assets, as they declared in their nomination papers, worth
much more than 50,000 crores, with each one of them having an average 6-7 crores’, with some having
thousands of crores, celebrated its sixtieth anniversary in as pompous a way in which they live. But the speeches
by many of the ‘leaders’ and actions like banning a cartoon just because a Republican Party leader does not like
it exposed the extent of intolerance prevailing in this house of the people. This RPI leader has no hesitation to
join hands with Shiv Sena which upholds the Manusmriti which Dr. Ambedkar had burned and to forget the
call of his for the annihilation of the caste system. But to maintain the ‘dalit vote bank’ he and BSP leaders
wanted to banish a cartoon which Ambedkar himself never criticized. And the intolerance and craziness for the
vote banks led the union HRD minister to immediately ban the book itself which contained the cartoon! In each
and every aspect whether it is price rise, corruption or selling the country’s interests to the US imperialists, this
parliament proved itself least concerned. Other times it proved itself as a talking shop, which has surrendered
all rights to the executive run by the bureaucracy.
Of course it is better to have such a name sake parliamentary democracy compared to the military dictatorship
or any other form of autocracy. But by stating that, can one be contended with such a bunch of anti-people,
arrogant ones lording over the country? It is high time popular demand for right to recall the elected MPs and
MLAs and others is raised and struggled for. Similarly it is high time the demand for proportional
representation is achieved, the MP and MLA funds like practices are abolished, and most of the so-called
privileges enjoyed by these ‘over-lords’ are abolished. Still, even with all these reforms this parliament cannot
represent the people’s aspirations as it is part of a whole ruling system which is reactionary, comprador and run
for the elite classes. So there is nothing for the people to rejoice about its 60th anniversary. On the other hand,
they have to intensify the struggle for a people’s democratic system which will pave the way for socialist
transformation.

                              Threat of another price hike of petrol-diesel
THE DANGER OF another price hike of diesel, petrol and cooking gas is looming large over people’s heads like a
Damocles sword. It is widely spread that it will take place soon after the budget session of the parliament or on
its last day. Whichever form it takes place, it will give rise to another round of hike in prices of all essential
commodities and rates of essential services. It will be another blatant attack on the already devastated common
masses. CPI (ML) uniting with all progressive forces shall resist this anti people move. It call s on all progressive
forces to continue the struggle against the price rise which is making life miserable for the masses and to resist
any further hike in petroleum product prices.

                                         Boycott London Olympics
IT IS A SHAME that the UPA government is not taking any steps to organize an international campaign to put
pressure on the British government to remove Dow Chemicals from the sponsors of London Olympics, or if
Britain continues to pamper this killer MNC, to declare that India will boycott the London Olympics. As it

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refuses to act, it is the responsibility of the progressive forces to intensify the campaign against Dow Chemicals
and for boycotting the London Olympics.

                          Intensify Campaign against Nuclear Power Plants
EVEN AFTER Japan which had 53 nuclear power plants once had de-commissioned its last nuclear power plant,
the prime minister is singing flattering songs about them and using brutal force to suppress people’s opposition
and to commission the Kudankulam nuclear plant. Even after the people’s movement almost compelling the
Maharashtra government to rethink on the efficacy of the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power plant, in order to
satisfy the energy needs of the MNCs in TN, safety of the people of the state and neighbouring states are put in
peril. The ongoing struggle against is maligned and huge police forces are deployed to terrorize the struggling
people. In this situation, it is the task of the progressive forces to come forward to condemn the effort to
commission Kudankulam plant. CPI (ML) has repeatedly called for intensifying the campaign and struggle with
the slogans: No to nuclear power plants, No to nuclear arms. B Intensify the campaign to get one million
signatures with these demands by 6th August, Hiroshima Day.

                           International Finance Capital System in Turmoil
THERE WAS an extraordinary rise of the ‘radical’ left votes after more than three decades in the recent elections
in Europe is now haunting the imperialist forces. The tremors from the campaign for the French presidential
elections and the meteoric rise of the left votes in the Greek elections have shaken capitalist apologists’ world
over. Syriza, the Greek left front, with the main party being Synaspismos, defeated the traditional ‘left of the
centre’ party PASOK and came second in the election results. The ‘right of the centre’ New Democracy and the
PASOK, who were pursuing severe austerity policies to prop up the crisis ridden Greek capitalism were the
main losers whose vote banks collapsed as the Greek workers and the youth rejected these cuts and policies of
impoverishment of the masses with a vengeance. After the fall of Sarkozy, this was the eleventh government
that has fallen victim to the catastrophic crisis of capitalism in Europe, the other major casualties over the last
few weeks are British Tories and the Liberal Democrats who suffered a massive humiliation in the local bodies’
elections, the fall of the right wing government in the Netherlands and scores of other European nations are
going through turbulent times.
These are extraordinary events which have acquired the shape of a new political tendency in the stormy period
that is unfolding throughout the world and in particular in Europe, where almost every country is in deep crisis
and social convulsions deepening, and the masses are yearning for a change. Social democracy and conservative
mainstream parties carrying out cuts are being discredited and are in decline everywhere.
As Greece is now in chaos and going to face another election on 17th June, it is almost clear that the left will gain
more and a new government which refuse to obey the dictates of imperialist big brothers may be formed.
Though the EU, European Central Bank and IMF had provided loans of 110 billion and 130 billion euros in 2010,
it was used to bail out the private investors. At the same time higher taxes, deep cut in pensions, pay and public
sector jobs have hit the vast majority of ordinary people with unemployment at 21%, which is 51% among 15-24
age groups. The slump in aggregate market demands has caused business closures , worsening the slide.
Almost 70% of the votes in 6th May elections went to parties opposed to bail out plans imposed by the EU. So
the new elections are going to deepen the crisis faced by the capitalist system here.

                                      CPI (M) Facing Crisis in Kerala
WITH THE ARREST of a number of CPI(M) cadres for their alleged involvement in the dastardly murder of com.
TP Chandrasekharan, a CPI(M) dissident who was leading the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) in Onchiam,
in Kozhikode district, has proved the hollowness of its earlier stand that it has no role in it. This criminalization
is the result of its total deviation from the path of Marxism, to social democratic path, as CPI (ML) has pointed
out. Concealing this fact, the Congress led UDF, BJP and all sorts of anti-communists are utilizing the CPI (M)’s
degeneration and its murder of a dissident as the degeneration of Marxism itself. They are also concealing the
fact that this criminalization and growth of mafia culture have affected all these parties, the religious-caste
leaders and the society as a whole as a result of the imposition of the neo-liberal policies by both UDF and LDF
governments which rule the state in turn, which have degenerated the state to one of the worst models of neo-
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colonization in socio-cultural economic fields. Like socialism was attacked wantonly when the Soviet Union
which had degenerated to social imperialism disintegrated, CPI (M)’s degeneration is utilized for an anti-
communist crusade by all reactionary forces and imperialist lackeys.
Following the visit of VS Achuthanandan, former chief minister of LDF and present opposition leader, to the
house of the slain leader and his criticism of the state secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan, for following the methods of
SA Dange (CPI leader of 1960s) many student and youth leaders of CPI (M) and its local leaders have started
coming out openly condemning its role in the murder. It was reflected in the meeting of a number of its
supporters on 15th May at Kozhikode. But VS is once again refusing to criticize the degeneration of the party line
to a social democratic one, as reflected in its 20th Congress documents. In this way he is obstructing the
development of an ideological struggle against this degeneration.
In this situation, while severely condemning the murder of com. Chandrasekharan, CPI (ML) state committee
has decided to launch a campaign exposing the degeneration of CPI (M) to social democratic line, attacking and
exposing the anti-communist propaganda unleashed by the reactionary forces and calling for intensifying the
efforts to build a revolutionary alternative with the aspiration of which com. Chandrasekharan had opposed
CPI(M) and had to become a victim of the heinous criminalization of the petty politics in the state.

               Slum Dwellers and Homeless Peoples’ All India Activists Meeting
                 Date: 23-24 June 2012, Place: Jatri Nivas, Bhubaneswar, Odisha
                                 Appeal from comrade Sivaram
Dear Comrades and Friends,
Slums and Homeless Peoples’ number is growing day by day in all urban centres due to Neo-Liberal policies of
the Govt. Likewise attack on Slum dwellers, homeless people and roadside vendors/hawkers are also growing
rapidly. Every day bulldozing is going on. The recent Nonadanga slum eviction in West Bengal is one example
of it. After Nonadanga, massive slum eviction drive has taken in Delhi and in many other cities. In
Bhubaneswar-Cuttack of Odisha this eviction drive is a regular phenomenon. But here the massive joint
resistance struggle is continuing since last 10 years. Because of this Govt. is unable to take an inch of land from
slum dwellers.
Not only in Odisha, in other states also the slum dwellers’ housing right struggle is growing and resistance
struggle is gaining strength. In this contest The Central Govt. is bringing a bill “Model Property Right to Slum
Dwellers Act,2011” and it is declaring many projects (Yojanas ) to make a “Slum Free India”. The Govt. had
declared first the Valmiki Ambedkar Awass yojana ‘VAAMBAY’, and after that “BSUP in JNNURM”, now the
Rajiv Awass Yojana (RAY) is declared. All these Yojanas are for creating illusions among the slum dwellers. But
instead of giving housing rights to the slum dwellers, under these projects lands are grabbed from the slum
dwellers. These lands are transferred to the Corporates, Real Estate lobbies and Land Mafias etc . In this manner
instead of creating slum free India, the slum dwellers are driven out of their huts. While a small section is
provided one room ‘ghetto’ like accommodation, majority are driven out. Though under BSUP Central Govt.
declared that 15 lakh houses will be provided, only 11,000 single room houses were not provided. All election
promises are proved a hoax.
Slum dwellers question is not only a housing question. It has socio-economic consequences on the life of more
than 25% of the urban population who are forced to rely on slums, especially unorganized workers, small
traders and other poor sections. Most of them were displaced from their natural habitat and forced to depend
on the slums. So providing a jail like concrete single room in multi-storied houses is not the answer to the slum
dwellers housing question. Because of the Liberalisation-Globalisation-Privatisation policies slum dwellers and
homeless people’s number is swelling day by day. Only localized movements and resistance alone cannot
resolve their problems. It is necessary to coordinate all the slum dwellers movement against the anti-people
policies of the central and state governments. For this purpose in April 2011 a meeting was organized at
Bhubaneswar which adopted a Charter of Demands to co-ordinate the slum people’s movement at all India
level. All organizations and movements, who are working among slum dwellers and for homeless are invited to
the All India Activist Meeting of Slum Dwellers and Homeless People on 23-24 June 2012 at Jatri Nivas,

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Bhubaneswar, organized by Basti Surakshya Mancha, Odisha - a constituent of All India Coordination of Slum
Dwellers and Homeless People.
All Organisations, Movements and Activists Who are working among Slum Dwellers and for Houseless People
are requested to send at least 2-3 main activists / leaders to this All India Activists Meeting.
Charter of Demands of the Slum Dwellers and Homeless People
The living condition of the slum dwellers and the houseless people in the urban areas are worsening day by day
and it has become a serious political question nowadays. In Bhubaneswar in Orissa and in other cities in the
country, the struggles of the slum dwellers who are being evicted and displaced on account of the neo liberal
policies imposed are intensifying day by day.
Historically, the slums have come up as an inalienable component of capitalist urbanization as a part of the
industrialization under it. Capitalist penetration in to agricultural field has led to large scale migration of
pauperized peasantry in to urban areas in search of livelihood. Massive throwing out of workers from the
factories coupled with the swelling of the ranks of the unemployed and under employed under the anti people
policies have contributed to worsening of the situation, with slums mushrooming in all urban areas. And these
mushrooming slums are the inexhaustible source of cheap labour for the elite classes in the urban areas.
In India, like in other Afro- Asian – Latin American countries, slums are the products of the colonial period.
This problem has further intensified in the neo colonial period. Under neo liberal regime, the intensification of
the tendencies such as corporatization of agriculture, and onslaught of corporate forces and land mafias in to
agricultural land, forests and areas where mines are developed are compelling millions of adivasis, dalits and
pauperized and landless peasantry to flock to the cities in search of livelihood. Now in the context of
innumerable neo colonial projects like SEZs and due to massive land grab and encroachment of urban lands by
the speculative forces and the corporate houses with the connivance of the state forces the slum dwellers are
being forcibly evicted, making their life more miserable.
This situation calls for mobilization of these millions of slum dwellers and houseless people for housing rights
based on the following Charter of Demands.
1. Immediately ban slum evictions.
2. Rehabilitate all slum dwellers with adequate and sufficient dwelling facilities. Ensure slum dwellers share in
the urban property.
3. Provide water, sanitation, electricity healthcare and educational facilities to all slum dwellers.
4. Ensure statutory ration system for subsidised food for all slum dwellers. Include all slum dwellers in the BPL
list.
5. Enact and enforce urban land and property ceiling.
6. Suppress all land and real estate mafias.
7. Stop police atrocities on slum people. Ensure their democratic rights.
8. Abolish the neo liberal policies. Implement a pro people, pro nature development policy

                         Significant victory for workers of Titagarh Wagons
WORKERS of Titagarh Wagons Limited in Titagarh, West Bengal, wrested a signal victory on May 11 under the
leadership of TUCI. Around 150 workers of the factory went on strike from May 10, demanding an increase in
wages. These workers, who are not direct employees of the factory, but work under contractors, received
pathetic wages ranging from Rs 80 - Rs 130 per day. They had long been demanding an increase, but to no avail.
After going on strike, they contacted the TUCI state leadership, who immediately intervened. The
administration announced that they were not aware that workers of that factory were being paid so little and so
much less than the standard rate! Finally, after prolonged agitation, a meeting was called at the office of the
Inspector-in-Charge of the Titagarh police station on the evening of May 11. The meeting was attended by the
contractors, representatives of workers and TUCI West Bengal state secretary, Sharmistha Choudhury. The
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meeting revealed that there were numerous irregularities and the workers were being exploited to an
unimaginable extent. It was finally settled, in the presence of the inspector-in-charge of Titagarh PS, that the
wages of all workers would be increased by Rs 40 per day, and the increment would be implemented from
March 2012. After two months, another meeting would be held in which the wages would be revised as per
industry standards. The contractors were also forced to concede that they would pay wages for the strike-period
of two days. Encouraged by this partial but significant victory, the workers of Titagarh Wagons Limited are
now prepared to launch their own union in the factory, having realized that the Trinamool or CPM-led unions
would never fight for their cause.

                                Convention against eviction in Kolkata
AIRWO, along with five other women’s organizations, hosted a convention at Students’ Hall in Kolkata on 9th
May. The convention demanded immediate release of activists Debalina Chakraborty and Abhigyan Sarkar,
who were arrested for protesting against the eviction at Nonadanga and later booked on other criminal charges,
immediate withdrawal of all cases instituted against activists and slum dwellers in the course of the anti-
eviction movement at Nonadanga and that there should be no eviction without proper rehabilitation. Attended
by various mass organizations, women’s right activists and intellectuals from various fields, the convention was
a great success and sent a message of warning to the Trinamool-led government that further attacks on
democratic rights would be fiercely resisted by this alliance of six women’s organizations.

                               People Have the Right to Eat Beef or Pork
IN THE MIDDLE OF April, 2012, Osmania University (OU) witnessed an unusual violence on the issue of eating
beef. A section of dalit students’ were demanding that University Hostels should have beef on the menu. They
also organized a beef festival in which a large number of students ate beef biryani. The festivity was not to last
long as the ABVP, the student wing of RSS, created rampage, a student was knifed, a bus was torched and
ruckus was created in the university. The Vice Chancellor of OU knelt to the aggressive cow protectors and said
that beef will not be introduced in the menu.
Just a month ago the in the Kurmaguda area of Hyderabad a group of youth associated with Hindu communal
group were arrested for throwing beef inside a Hanuman temple, who later spread the word that Muslims have
defiled our temple and turned their guns against the hapless minority, torched few buses. A little while ago the
ruling BJP government in Madhya Pradesh had introduced a bill prohibiting the consumption of beef in the
state. Other BJP ruled states in one form or the other are introducing legislations, which prohibit the slaughter of
cow.
The place where Muslims were butchered mercilessly under the Chief Ministership of Modi the ‘care of cow’
has gone one step up and state has opened centres for cataract and dental surgery of the Mother Cow. The goal
of the Hindu state of Gujarat under Modi is to open more such centres so that Mother cow does not have to
travel more than three kilometres for accessing these services, this while innumerable victims of Gujarat
carnage, are yet to recover from the trauma of the carnage, aided by the apathy of state.
So far most of these legislations and the accompanying propaganda have been directed primarily against
Muslim minority, which is demonized as the butchers and eaters of ‘our holy cow’. The OU episode shows the
other side of the agenda of cow politics. While there had been cases of murders of dalits on the pretext of
skinning a dead cow (Jhajjar, Haryana) and VHP defending the act saying that cow is too holy to spare the
dalits. The food patterns are changing under intense propaganda still as of now the consumption of beef in
India is higher than that of mutton and chicken put together. Its export is also a major business. The RSS
combine on one side aims to subjugate the minorities and on the other wants to maintain the status quo of social
relationship of caste and gender. The Anti-Caste Convention held at Garhwal Bhavan on 22 April has declared
that the Anti-Caste Movement shall struggle against imposing food codes and for the right to eat beef and pork
by all.

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TUCI and Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha Organize May Day Rally at Raipur
Hundreds of workers under the banner of TUCI, Chhattisgarh state committee, Workers Committee of
Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha and Welfare Committee of cement, steel and mines workers of Chhattisgarh
participated in the militant May Day rally organized from Raipur railway station on May Day which
culminated in a big public meeting addressed by leaders of different organizations.

                               Adivasis Oppose Land Grabbing for IIM
HUNDREDS OF TRIBAL CHILDREN marched to the official residence of Jharkhand Governor Syed Ali at Ranchi to
protest the government’s bid to grab their homes and farms to build an Indian Institute of Management.
Residents of village Kanenagri, 6 km from Ranchi, allege that police have been terrorising them for two months
to force them to vacate their land. Over 7,000 residents of the village are likely to turn destitute if the land is
taken away from them. The government has announced it would acquire 227 acres of the village land. A
boundary wall is being built around the area the government wants to acquire. The administration has
deployed more than 500 policemen and imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which bans
gatherings of five people or more. Most villagers are small farmers and agricultural labourers.

                              UPA Government Surrenders to US Orders
Who is under American Ruling class and MNCs? Is India free? GOI cannot even decide from whom should they
buy Crude Oil? This is openly done without any shame? On the other hand the same PM publicly
accusing the protesters against Koodankulam Nuclear plant receiving money from American NGOs, when PM
cannot give any evidence for such accusation. People are fighting for their safety. On the other hand GOI is
publicly declaring that they are not buying oil from IRAN as instructed by the USA ruling class. There is no
shame for GOI to behave like this. Indian Ruling Class Is not free. GOI is under the clutches of USA ruling class
and MNCs. This is the latest expression of globalization. By hook or by crook you make profit. Corruption is
coming out every day as organically linked with globalization.
The vast majority-common people have no safety for meeting the basic needs in life. Even they are not free to
live the life they want. They have to bear the waste of Nuclear Energy, in the name of producing electricity. Is
this Democracy or Autocracy? Vilappinsala village panchayat people in Trivandrum District of Kerala decided
that they would not carry the Waste from the Trivandrum city. In spite of High Court Order, with the help of
thousands of police the waste was not taken to Vilappinsala. This is peoples right. Let the People in and around
Koodankulam Nuclear Plant have the same right for their safety.
If US and India truly and honestly do not want Iran going for nuclear bombs, let the US and India also declare
that they stop once and for all nuclear dealings. We have the right to have a NUCLEAR FREE WORLD.
Thomas Kochery, Fisher People’s Forum

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