Organ of the Central Committee of CPI(ML)

Founder Editor

REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUTES TO
COMRADE SURENDRA SINGH
KATIYAR

KANU SANYAL
Editor-in-Chief

VISWAM
Editorial Board

P.Jaswantha Rao
Subodh Mitra
Aloke Mukherjee
Madhu
Vol. 5, Issue : 2

May-2014

e-mail: clastrugle@yahoo.co.in
Web site: www.classstruggle.in
Contents:
1. Editorial
- The Importance of May day
2. Document
- CPI(ML)Stand on Elections
3. World Affairs
- Ukraine
- The First World War
4. Political & Economical Notes:
- Military Affairs
- Racial Discrimination
- False Encounters in J&K
- Pravas Bharatiya Divas
- Road Safety
- Fascist Trends
- G.M. Seeds
- Justice to Dalits a Mirage
5. Labour File:
- Work Place Accidents
6. Reports:
- Jharkhand
7. Homage:
- Com. Surendra Singh Katiyar
8. Poem:
- Dawn
Contribution: Single Copy- Rs. 10/Yearly - Rs. 100/-

P. Jaswantha Rao
Editor
32-13-26/1, B.M.R.Road
M.R.Puram Vijayawada-520 010

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31

Comrade Surendra Singh

Katiyar, a Communist leader of
past generation and the Central
Committee Member of CPI(ML)
has departed on April 18, 2014
while undergoing treatment for
lung cancer at a Lucknow
Hospital, UP. He was 81 years
old.
In his early age, Com.
Surendra Singh was attracted
towards and influenced by patriotism and the revolutionary
ideas of Bhagat Singh through Bhagat Singhs colleague
Gaya Prasad. He became a Member of the CPI in 1955 and
was active in various struggles and activities organised by
the Party. He attended the 1962 Tenali Congress of the Party
as a delegate from UP. He opposed the politics of revisionism,
broke from the CPI and joined the CPI(M). He became a
Member of Kanpur District Committee of the CPI(M).
Com. Surendra Singh was very much inspired by the
Naxalbari peasant upsurge and the politics it brought to the
fore in the country. He moved a resolution in the DC hailing
the Naxalbari struggle and the politics it represented. There
was a split in the DC and Com. Surendra Singh joined the
ranks of Communist Revolutionaries. In the period of Coordination Committee, he worked as a whole timer in Basti
Gonda area.
He remained inactive for some time as he felt that the
left sectarian politics advocated by Com. CM were wrong
and unacceptable. At the same time, he, together with his
life partner who was also one with him in revolutionary politics,

translated Peking Review into

Hindi and cirulated them
among the comrades. He took
up the cultivation, toiled hard
on a small piece of land. They
brought up the children (three
boys) in a disciplined manner
and in a Communist
environment. He maintained
relations with the CRs and
extended support and help in
various forms to the
comrades who were active in
Kanpur.
The formation of OCCR
under the leadership of Com.
Kanu Sanyal came as a
source of inspiration to Com.
Surendra Singh. He joined it
when the UP State Committee
of OCCR was formed. He

became the Editor of Chingari,

Partys State Organ in UP. He
became a part of COI(ML) led by
Comrade Kanu Sanyal. When it
faced a split, he remained with
the COI(ML) led by Com. KS and
became a CCM of it. He
shouldered the responsibility of
Partys Central Organ, Class
Struggle. He performed various
responsibilities in UP and was
the CCM in our CPI(ML) till his
demise. He was also an
Editorial Board Member of the
Varg Sangharsh ka Pukar, the
Hindi Central Organ of CPI(ML).
Com. Surendra Singh was
a dedicated and disciplined
comrade. He carried out all the
reponsibilities with all dedication
defying the difficulties and

ailments he was suffering

from for years. A few days
before his hospitalisation, he
travelled a long distance,
attended the CC and carried
out an important political task.
We pay our revolutionary
tributes to our departed
comrade. His life and
contributions would always be
a source of inspiration and
emulation for our comrades.
We extend our deep
condolences to his life partner
and other members of the
family. And we are fully with
them in their grief and sorrow.
We
will
always
remember Com. Surendra
Singh Katiyar. Red salute to
Com. S.S.K.

CANDIDATES of CPI (ML)

Contesting to the 16th Lok Sabha
Constituency

State

Name

1. Araku

Andhra Praedsh

Illa Rami Reddy

2. Mahabubabad

Andhra Pradesh

Borra Lakshmi Narayana

3. Patna Sahib

Bihar

Nand kishor Singh

4. Dumaka

Jharkand

Dhakurania Soren

5. Bhadrak

Odisha

Sushanta Jena

6. Balurghat

West Bengal

Siben Sarkar

Candidates of CPI(ML)
Contesting AP State Assembly
Constituency

Name

1. Salur

Vizianagaram Dt.

Vuyaka Mutyalu

2. Kurupam
2

District

Vizianagaram Dt.

Kadraka Venkata Swamy

Class Struggle

The Importance of May Day

for Workers in the Present Days of
Imperialist Globalisation is More than Ever
May day has been inspiring the
workers throughout the world for the
past 127 years, to fight for
betterment of their living and working
conditions, to unite and organize
themselves in to their own class and
to play their class role as has been
destined by history in overthrowing
the capitalist system of exploitation
and inequality and to establish their
class dictatorship that leads to
communistic system of class less
society and society without
exploitation and inequalities.
Even in the present day age of
imperialist globalization the
importance of May day is not
diminished for workers. Today, the
importance of May day is much
more for workers throughout the
world since the capitalist mode of
production with its focus on profit is
being emphatically accentuated with
the revival of imperialist globalization
in the name of neo liberal economic
policies.
But the world capitalism after
the collapse of Soviet Union is
bragging that there is no alternative
to capitalism. With such
proclamation, with its policies of
privatization, liberalization and
globalization of capitalist mode of
production and with the methods of
severe exploitation of labour like outsourcing, contractualisation,
temporary jobs, part-time jobs in
place of permanent jobs, zero hour
recruitments, modern slavery of
migrant workers etc., has been
playing havoc with the life and limb
of workers.
In real experience of workers
and people around the world, the tall
claims of world capital, that
capitalist system is the best
system have been proved to be
May 2014

false, due to the dismal record of

its neo-economic policies inhuman
development and confirm that the
capitalist system has to be erased
from the face of the globe once for
all.
Relentless Crisis
Poverty and hunger have
increased throughout the world.
Inequalities have risen to substantial
proportions. Unemployment is
growing and spiraling viciously.
People throughout the world are
being marginalized day by day
without having any access to
education and health care. The
much touted advance in technology
particularly in I.T. sector could in no
way bring about any betterment in
the lives of people and workers. On
the contrary the technological
advance has enabled and aided the
big capital and corporations to
appropriate the wealth created by
the workers.
According to the International
Labour Organization one million
more young people are joining the
ranks of jobless every year. The
unemployment rate in the 15-24
years age group globally is 13.1
percent, is more than twice that
among adult population. The number
of youth who are neither in
employment nor education or
training is on the rise in many
countries. In the year 2013 itself,
more than 5 million people joined
the ranks of the jobless.
In the USA, which is supposed
to be an affluent nation,
unemployment is rampant and
poverty persists. The Government
treats its poor more harshly than
other rich countries with more
welfare cuts; and induces them to
work much longer hours.

According to a recent study 4.8

million people above the age of 60
go hungry in the US due to financial
strains. In USA, the minimum wage
paid to the workers is lesser than
paid in 9 other countries like
Luxemburg, France, Austria,
Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland,
NewZealand and Canada according
to the information provided by
Organization of Economic
Cooperation and Development
(OCED). In the last 30 years
inequality has exploded. Almost 40
percent of American children live in
poverty or near poverty lacking equal
access to education and jobs as the
children of the affluent have. Full
time jobs and quality jobs are
decreasing substantially. With the
introduction of Obama care, health
insurance scheme, management
started cutting full-time jobs into
part-time jobs, to avoid the burden
of payment of healthcare premium.
Wal-Mart and Kelly Services began
this method of cutting full-time jobs
and introducing part-time jobs,
which method had spread
throughout the US. In June 2013
alone 2,40,000 fulltime jobs were cut.
The advancement of technology
came handy to the corporations to
cut jobs on a massive scale. With
the increase in part time jobs in
place of full time jobs, the number
of long term unemployed is
increased. Thus workers USA are
forced into idleness traps by the
corporations. The middle class in
USA is eroding due to lack of stable
jobs. Computerization and
Globalization have by degrees
eliminated the middle rung of skilled
workers. The city of Detroit, once
the pride of U.S.A., had bankrupted
striking a blow to the pension and
3

health benefits of 31,000 former city

workers. Reports indicate that cities
like Chicago, Los Angeles and
Cincinnati are also on the brink of
bankruptcy. Even in Steel, Airlines,
Auto, Mining industries of the private
sector, the retirement benefits of
workers are being cut substantially.
With the policy of the US
Government implementing steep
spending cuts, 2 million people are
kept out of work.
It is not only in U.S.A. but in
the rich and developed countries of
Euro zone as well as in Japan too
poverty, inequality, hunger, and
unemployment are spreading
rapidly and increasing day by day.
The so called policies of austerity
adopted by the governments at the
behest of I.M.F., W.B. and Europe
Central Bank and privatization
policies of education and health are
spreading more and more misery
throughout Euro zone countries.
Workers wages are decreasing
leading to hunger of people in those
countries. Every year 2.5 crore of
people are being thrown in to
perpetual poverty in Euro zone
countries due to abnormal cuts in
social welfare health and education
by the governments. In Greece,
Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and
Britain, the highest inequalities
among the people of the world are
prevailing. The living standards of
people in Euro zone countries are
decreasing considerably. Around 8.8
lakh of people are working as
modern slaves in Euro zone
countries.
Divide and Rule
The corporations that have
substantially increased the numbers
of so-called tech-workers and
decreased the number of blue-collar
skilled industrial workers and
created a division among the
workers. They are not even fair in
treating the tech workers. Just as
the industrial workers are being
exploited of their labour cheaply, the
tech workers (I.T. professionals) are
4

also being exploited, with a scheme

to drive down their wages. That big
I.T. Corporations of U.S.A. Apple,
Google, Intel, Adobe, Intuit, Pixar,
and Lucasfilm entered an over
reaching conspiracy with mutual
non-compete agreements and
agreed not to recruit from each
others companies, that results in
artificially low wages and denies the
opportunity to move to a better
paying, has been revealed with the
cross action suit filed by 64,600
ununionized tech workers claiming
$9 million as compensation. This is
how the free market preachers do
in practice with their tech workers,
through wage cartelization, is being
done with blue-collar workers. This
exposes the hypocrisy of corporate
culture and free market capitalism.
With the policies of dividing
tech workers and industrial skilled
workers, the corporations have
created enmity and hatred between
blue-collar workers and tech
workers, through abnormal disparity
among wages and amenities and
other benefits paid to tech workers.
The result of this enmity created by
corporations has come in to open
in the forum of a protest in
Sanfrancisco and Oakland of
U.S.A., against tech workers of
Google and Apple corporations by
blue-collar workers alleging that due
to the high paid tech workers the
rents in their cities have abnormally
increased and they are unable to get
houses for rent. They obstructed
staff buses of tech workers carrying
them to their offices. Though this
anger of industrial workers of
Sanfrancisco or elsewhere is
justified, this should be shown
against the corporate managements
and the capitalist system that
created their division and disparity
but not against the tech workers
who are enjoying abnormal wages,
benefits and amenities provided to
them by giant I.T. companies.
Even the unemployment
situation has created enmity and

hatred between native local workers

and migrant workers from other
countries often leading to attacks
on migrant workers and increase of
fascist trends among certain
sections of workers which is harmful
to the larger interests of the workers
and working class.
A recent change of production
policy in Toyota, Japans the oldest
car plant, to improve its production
quality, reveals the limitations of
automation and technological
improvements and the supremacy
of the human labour skills. At
Toyotas Honsha plant, the
management had decided humans
(workers) to take over from robots
the work of making crank-shafts from
metal lumps. Workers twist, turn
and hammer metal in to crankshafts instead of using the typically
automated process. Experiences
have led to innovations in reducing
scrap and shortening 96% length
three years ago through human
labour. To improve production of axle
beams and also cut the costs, the
management found humans are
preferable than automation (robots).
Up to now in all its plants workers
jobs are to feed parts into a machine
and call somebody for help when it
breaks down. But if humans
replaced the machines the quality
and efficiency would be increasing
according to the Toyotas
management after experience. So
the boast of capitalism about
superiority of technology over
human labour skill proved to be a
shallow claim.
Oppression and Suppression
While the produced wealth is
growing and the profits of
transnational corporations are
growing in gigantic proportions, the
conditions- living and working-of
workers
are
degenerating
drastically. Workers are forced to
live without any rights. Capitalist
system has conveniently used the
coordination of its economic crises
to its advantage to gain further
Class Struggle

profits by exploiting workers further

more. Throughout the globe the
conditions of workers have
worsened.
We find the criminal negligence
of Big Capital towards the safety
of workers in the form of fire
accidents killing hundreds of
garment workers in Bangladesh.
State violence on workers, and
attacks on workers are increasing
in Turkey. Strikes have been
prohibited in governmental sector in
Costarica by the government. In
Panama the strikes of Panama
Canal workers are prohibited. In The
Gulf countries, Kazakhstan and
Guatemala, there is no right of
association to form unions. In
Columbia metal and mining workers
are being attacked every day. In
China workers rights are being
blatantly denied. The plight of
garment workers in Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka, Cambodia, India, Vietnam,
China etc is indescribable and
inhuman. Using military, police and
security forces against workers
agitating to realize their just
demands had increased in almost
all the countries throughout the
world.
In U.S.A which boasts about
liberties and freedoms of people and
claims to be the champion of
freedoms and democratic rights, the
municipal authorities of New York
has been refusing for the last 2 years
to give permission to use loud
speakers on the vehicles that
participate in the massive May Day
celebrations held every year on April
26, at Brooklyn. At the same time
the authorities gave permission to
food vendors and ice cream vendors
to use loud-speakers on their
vehicles without any restriction. The
hypocrisy of U.S. democracy, about
its tall claims about freedom, liberty
and human rights is clearly
exposed, besides the mean
intentions of the capitalist system,
to thwart class aspirations of
workers with such petty acts of
antagonism.
May 2014

Indias Jobless Growth

The conditions in our country
are in no way better than the
conditions of the workers in other
countries. In fact they are far worse
than the above mentioned
conditions.
According a recent report of
World Bank (10 April 2014), one
third of worlds extreme poor are in
India. India tops the list of worlds
poorest. In the global hunger index
India ranks at a lowly 65 out of 79
nations, and worse it has remained
so for the last 12 years. And the
shame: Even Rwanda fares much
better than India. This is during a
period when it is claimed by the
rulers that the gross national income
and percapita have doubled.
According to the research report
released by McKinnsy Global
Institute, in February (2014) 680
million Indians or 56 percent of the
population lacks the means to meet
their essential needs like food,
health care, education, sanitation,
water, housing, fuel and social
security. According to the report of
International Labour Organization,
the unemployment scenario in India
has been showing a rising trend; and
that India was experiencing Jobless
growth.
According to a report of CRISIL
that 12 million people may be forced
to look for low quality, low
productivity rural or agriculture jobs
over seven years due to the
expected slowdown of job
generation in the coming years.
Indias labour force is working poor
people, who make enough money
to live but not to pull out of poverty.
According to National Commission
for Enterprises in the Unorganized
Sector (NCEUS) 86% of the
workforce in India is employed in the
informal sectors. Employment in
formal sector is contracting. Since
liberalization in 1991, large portion
of the net job creation happened in
the informal sector, which means
that vast majority of the work force

have no access to minimum wage,

to safe working conditions and to
basic leave and health benefits.
According to a recent study by the
Credit Suisse that almost 90% of
work force in our country was
unorganized and produced half of
Indias GDP.
Attacks on Rights
Even the conditions of the
organized sector workers are no
better.
Managements
and
governments have been attacking on
their rights and benefits. Increase
of work load, increase of working
hours, curtailment of retirement
benefits such as pension and health
care benefits are some other
methods of the attacks. The right
to strike of the workers is not being
recognized. It is being mooted to
change working day norms of
workers in all the sectors in the
name of standardizing working
hours and amend section 83 of
Mines Act which regulates the
working hours. Presently in ONGC
the workers work for 14 days on site
followed by 14 rest days. Now this
practice is intended to be changed
in all govt. and private oil companies
to post workers, 28 days on site
followed by a 28 days off period. This
would lead to the workers of this
sector to be away from their homes
and families for a longer period and
in emergencies they cannot reach
their families. It is also mooted to
allow women to work in night shift
in garment factories and flexibility
in labour laws to boost exports from
the country. Even the tech workers
of I T companies are not being
spared. The Karnataka state
government had exempted 17
sectors from the Industrial
Employment (Standing Orders) Act
1946 for 5 years.
This will lead to unfair labour
practices by IT sector employers.
In the absence of exemption IT firms
would have had to define wages,
number of contract employees,
average work hours and other
5

conditions. Already the software

companies in Bangalore are often
paying low wages of female
employees and women who are
allowed to work from home are
made to work for longer hours.
Bonded Labour
Despite an Act of 1993
prohibiting employment of manual
scavengers and construction of dry
latrines, and despite Supreme
Courts many warnings against
manual scavenging, the Indias
shame of manual scavenging is
continuing that too in the
governmental sector like Indian
railways. Deaths of workers in
municipal drains in every city and
town in India are a regular feature. It
is estimated that 3.5 lakh dalit
people are employed in manual
scavenging work with 98 per cent
being women.
The bonded labour system is
flourishing throughout India.
According to the survey of Gandhi
Peace Foundation and National
Labour Institute 2.6 million bonded
labourers are in 10 states, in 1976
itself. Now that number had
increased considerably, due to the
crisis in agricultural sector, which
used to provide employment to the
rural poor. Unequal treatment of
women workers on par with their
male counter parts persists with
impunity. Child labour system too
continues with many more number
of children working in informal sector
of manufacturing activities and
unorganized sector works.
Sweat working conditions are
being imposed in industries and
even the time spent by workers in
toilets is being regulated and this
form of production with its focus on
profit has become widely prevalent
in our country. Contract worker
system has become the bane of
industrial workers and a boon to
industrial managements to earn
super profits.
In the name of lack of demand,
the practice of shutting industrial
6

plants for some days is prevalent in

various industries particularly in auto
and car manufacturing sector- which
practice is disadvantageous to the
interests of industrial workers.
Stopping of operation of the
plants or locking out the plants or
shifting out production to other
plants has become a norm in the
industries, to suppress the agitating
workers and their strikes and thus
to diminish the bargaining power of
unions as has been the case with
HIL-ACK Birla group firm in Chennai,
Bajaj Auto firm in Chakan, Maruthi
Suzuki in Maneser and the recent
case of Toyota Kirloskar in
Karnataka.
The uncertain future of 8000
Nokia plant workers in Chennai into
which they are pushed by the
management by selling the
company is a glaring example of
how the FDI invested foreign
industrial managements in our
country and the Indian rulers,
governments and even the courts of
justice do not heed, care and are
insensitive to the plight of workers
and their interests when the
company is sold or transferred to
another company without deciding
the fate of workers job positions and
job security. Such is the gloomy
situation and conditions in which the
workers of India are languishing.
Though the traditional trade
union centers have failed to rescue
the workers of India from the
exploitation of workers and
onslaught on workers and are failing
in protecting the interest of workers
leave alone in promoting, certain
local agitations of workers in their
defense of their rights like the Auto
workers of Gurgaon-Ravel belt in
Haryana against the attacks of
foreign companies on the trade
union rights of workers, nonpayment
of minimum wages, foisting false
police cases against agitating
workers, against contract worker

system etc. The strike of power

loom unit workers in Tamilnadu
demanding wages hike and other
benefits and various spontaneous
agitations at the industrial centre of
Sriperumbadur in Tamilnadu, the
recent agitation of Toyota kirloskar
auto workers in Karnataka and
various other agitations of the
workers enliven the hope that the
workers in India will not meekly
submit to the inhuman exploitation
and onslaught of big capital but
valiantly resist and fight against
them.
Ray of Hope
No doubt that today the
subjective conditions are in low ebb
to the advantage of workers and
working class interests. But the
ripened objective conditions of
extreme exploitation remain to be
the decisive factor for the workers
to fight against the despicable
capitalist system of exploitation and
inequality. Here in comes the
importance of May Day for the
workers. The struggle for 8 hour
working day, its declaration of war
against capitalist exploitation until
its extinction and the unselfish
dedicated and sacrificing fighting
nature of May day martyrs will
inspire not only the workers and the
working class in India but also the
entire working class throughout the
world to play their destined historical
class role of perpetually ending the
world capitalist system. Till then the
importance of May Day for workers
will not diminish but would be ever
inspiring
On this May Day let the
workers pledge to revive their
strength and fighting spirit of their
natural class to unite and organize
themselves into working class by
raising their class orientation and to
take all initiatives towards this end
in order to ultimately play the class
role destined to them by history.

LONG LIVE MAY DAY!

WORKERS OF ALL COUNTRIES UNITE! UNITE.!
Class Struggle

Document
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Oncoming 16th Lok Sabha Election

CPI(ML) stand

The 16th Lok Sabha election is

going to takes place in a situation
when the country is passing through
unprecedented grave crisis, i.e.,
unprecedented price rise, massive
corruption and scams of
astronomical proportions, continued
peasant suicides, workers losing
their employment in large numbers,
mounting unemployment, rate of
growth of GDP declining under 5%
this financial year, rising cost of
education and health care, leading
to wide spread peoples protest and
mass movements. Atrocities,
exploitation and rapes of women
and girls has increased many fold
in spite of passage of strong laws
in the Parliament for rapes and
other acts of womens exploitation.
There is also increase in attacks on
dalit, minorities and adivasi people.
Students and youth are confronted
with bleak futures and frustration
leading to increasing incidents of
suicides. To sum it up, the common
people of our country i.e., workers,
peasants, middle classes, small
traders, students, youth, etc. are
feeling their lives being totally
insecure and very difficult. The
dream of a happy, comfortable and
prosperous life for all that was the
promise of Manmohan Singh led
UPA Govt. has been totally shattered
and peoples eyes have forced open
to the naked and brutal qualities of
outcome of policies of globalization,
liberalization and privatization. Today
when we look at the elections
scenario in the country the fallowing
picture comes before us.
There are three All India
alliances/combinations in the
coming 2014 Parliamentary
Election,-BJP led NDA, Congress
led UPA, and the emerging Third
Front. Apart from these Mamata
Banerjee is trying to float a Federal
May 2014

Front with the blessings from Anna

Hazarae and fielding candidates in
sizeable number of constituencies
outside West Bengal. Newly formed
Aam Admi Party (AAP), which
succeeded in forming Govt. in Delhi
within six months of its formation,
is actively forming its organization
in different states and fielding its
candidates in large number of
states.
It is an exemplary and unique
situation that all the three alliances/
combinations have embraced the
same neoliberal economic theory
i.e., globalization, privatization and
liberalization, albeit with minor
differences of approach, orientation
and preferences, here and there.
The same applies to Trinumal
Congress and Aam Admi Party.
UPA under Congress leadership
has been ruling our country since
last 10 years. NDA ruled for 6 years
before it, and UF ruled for brief stints
in the mid nineties. But eversince
the Narsingh Rao led minority
Congress government with
Manmohan Singh as finance
minister in 1991 decided to embrace
the globalization philosophy, all
governments since then till this day
have followed the same concept and
policies.
Another notable feature of the
present situation is that all the three
main players at the national level i.e.
Congress led UPA, BJP/RSS led
NDA, and emerging Third front due
to CPM led left Front initiative are
sectarian to the core. BJP/RSS are
overtly and covertly communal with
the ultimate objective of establishing
a Hindu Rashtra destroying the
secular tradition and fabric of our
society. RSS has directed all
organizations of Sangh Pariwar to
work for victory of BJP under the
leadership of Narendra Modi. RSS

is confident that a central govt.

under Narendra Modi would provide
it the best opportunity and facility
to fulfill its dream of establishing a
Hindu Rashtra in India. US
imperialism and its other allies were
previously inimical towards
Narendra Modi. But now, facing
difficult economic situation and
economic crisis in EU, they have
changed their approach and are
cozying up to Narendra Modi in the
hope that NDA govt. under him would
provide much better facilities for
capital investment and profiteering
in India. Recently US and British
ambassadors met Narendra Modi
and had wide ranging talks on
national and international matters of
their interest. US and its allies are
also inclined and desirous to have
an anti-Muslim & jingoistic govt. in
New Delhi so that they may utilize
India politically and militantly
against Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran
and China etc. But there is
contradiction among the imperialist
powers. Due to this Russia and its
allies and friends are also exerting
their influence so that their economic
and political interest are protected
and promoted. In this way inter
imperialist rivalry is also exerting its
influence on the election scenario
making it more complex. Many
regional parties have sectarianism
based upon caste and region,
practicing casteism or regionalism
openly. Congress utilizes all kinds
of sectarian feelings based on
caste, religion, or region as per its
need to win elections and maintain
itself in power. The mess they have
created in AP on Telangana issue
makes this abundantly clear. One
should not forget how they (under
Rajiv Gandhi as PM) opened the
doors of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
Also, we should remember that
7

Narsingh Rao allowed the RSS/BJP

led Karsewaks to demolish the Babri
Masjid. After the Babri mosque was
raised to the ground he dismissed
BJPs Kalyan Singh government in
UP and imposed Presidents rule in
UP. He could have done it before
and saved the catastrophe of
demolition on 6th December 1992.
The anti-Sikh riots in Delhi after the
killing of Mrs. Indira Gandhi by her
Sikh guards in 1984 is also a black
example of how the Congress party
indulges in communal carnage when
it suits its political ends.
CPM and CPI which have been
considerably weakened due to
massive defeat in West Bengal and
coming to power of Mamata
Banerjee led Trinamul Congress
(TMC) are trying to strengthen
themselves and getting a stronger
foothold in WB and central politics
by forging the Third Front with
different regional parties on the
slogan of a non BJP, non-Congress
govt. at centre. However, they have
not accepted their grave mistakes
in implementing neo-liberal theory
and globalization policies in West
Bengal. They have not made any
self-criticism for even brutal
suppression of workers and
peasants in Singur and Nandigram.
They have not realized their anti
democratic repression of the people
in general, and their political
opponents in particular during long
stint in power in West Bengal for
nearly 35 continuous years. That is
why all their efforts to envigorate
their organization through national
alliance in the name of Third Front
is not creating any encouraging
impact on their cadres or the people
in our country.
AAP has created an interest
and enthusiasm among the youth
and the middle classes in the
country as it has promised to
provide good governance and
honest administration. It has
emerged out of Anna Movement.
People were worried and horrified
with massive corruption and scams.
8

So, to surprise all, they sent Arvind

Kejriwal to power in Delhi. In fact,
this forced Congress and BJP to
pass Lokpal Bill in the parliament.
This has provided a larger than life
image to Aravind Kejriwal and other
AAP leaders. People, especially,
educated professionals, journalists,
students-youth, and other middle
class people are joining AAP in
sizeable numbers in different parts
of the country, especially in the
urban areas. But large numbers of
NGOs, many foreign funded are
providing backbone to the AAP
organization. This is not in peoples
knowledge. This party has no
declared policy but Mr. Kejriwal
clearly out limed his economic
philosophy in a Congress of
confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
There he said that he is far
capitalism, and oppose only crony
capitalism; he is for inviting foreign
capital but will take care that it
creates more employment; and he
harp on the Govt. to withdraw from
economic and industrial arena and
hand over the economy to the private
sector; and finally he appealed the
captains of Industry to support AAP
party as only good governance can
provide the fertile ground for rapid
growth of capitalism in India. So,
now the cat is out of the bag i.e.,
AAP is also for neo-liberal economic
policy and programme on the line
of imperialist globalization. Many
genuine socialist, Gandhians and
honest people have joined AAP and
they will be highly disappointed with
AAP in future. Thus AAP party also
offers no solution to problems faced
by Indian people. But it is a
diversion to the people from adopting
a revolutionary path.
Two new features of the present
election should also be taken into
account:
1. Though we have a parliamentary
system of democracy where the
elected members of parliament
choose/elect the PM, the present
election is being fought in the
style of Presidential form of

democracy where the President,

who happens to be the Chief
Executive of the government, is
elected directly by the people.
RSS forced BJP to declare
Narendra Modi as its PM
candidate nearly 10 months
before the polls. The entire
election is being fought in the
name of Na Mo (Narendra Modi)
and a personality cult is being
built around him throughout the
country. A different story about
him is being spread by RSS and
BJP leaders and cadres to suit
different strata of people. He is
being lionized as a true RSS
cadre and champion of Hindu/
Ram Mandir cause where people
are Hindu minded; he is being told
the middle castes (OBCS and
MBCS); among the poor in
general he is being depicted as
a Chay bechne wala (tea vendor
boy) to warm them up; and last
but not the least he is being
projected as a Vikas Purush
(Patron of development) who can
lead India on to the path of
development and prosperity
among the middle class, in
general, and educated sections
of the society in particular.
All the top honchos of the
industry and business in a
conference declared that
Narendra Modi would be the best
PM for the country for corporate
led growth and development of the
country. Ambanis, Tatas, Birlas
etc. are all gaga with Na Mo
mantra.
Congress party was forces to
bring to the fore Rahul Gandhi as
an apparent PM candidate of
theirs. But this happened as late
as mid January. The fate of
Congress seems to be bleak and
miserable in coming election.
Unprecedented price rise,
massive corruption, and scams
of astronomical proportions have
repelled people from Congress.
Under Rahul Gandhis persuasion
UPA government recently
Class Struggle

managed to pass Lokpal Bill,

Food Security Bill, etc. Bill for
passage of bifurcation of AP and
creation of Telangana witnessed
unprecedented
emotion,
clashes, nasty and ugly behavior
in the parliament. The parliament
was blacked out and all TV/
media telecaste were stopped in
the final moments of the passage
of the bill. Many MPs say that
the bill has not been passed, but
the government has declared the
bill passed.
But the Congress party failed
to get six anti-graft bills passed
by parliament. By passing
Lokpal and these six bills
Congress wanted to project itself
as an anti-corruption crusader
party. But people are not fooled
by those dramatics. They want
the real thing to come to them
and the country.
2. Another feature is the qualitative
different role that money is
playing in the election. Narendra
Modi has already spent
hundreds of crores to refurbish
his image in the country and
abroad. He has hired India and
US media management
companies for this purpose. TV
channels, Radio, Internet,
Facebook, Newspapers and
magazines have been put into
massive propaganda of Na Mo.
Recently Congress has also
hired a Japanese company at
the expense of Rs.500 crores for
image building of Rahul Gandhi.
Regional parties are also
following the same tactics in their
areas of operation. Campaigns
are being launched with the help
of paid persons.
In this way electronic and print
media have become propaganda
machines of the powerful politicians.
The political parties have amassed
big funds for electoral purposes
through corrupt means. Corporate
houses, businessmen, contractors
and industrialists are happily
sharing their black money with
May 2014

these parties/politicians. Regional

parties who dont have much
influence on the big corporate
houses, are milking money from
local businessmen, contractors,
corrupt bureaucrats, and other rich
people in the rural areas. This
situation has practically shunted out
all those political parties and
individuals who dont have enough
money for this type of electioneering
before the poll process have even
started.
Such is the sorry state of the
worlds largest democracy today,
where only those backed by money
and media power can hope to win
any significant number of seats in
parliament. This situation, in fact,
excludes real representatives of
people to win election and find a
place in parliament. This situation
makes it amply clear that the
peoples problems can be solved
only by adopting a revolutionary
path, not a parliamentary path. In
this situation the lack of unity among

the communist revolutionaries is

very damaging to the cause of
revolution. We cannot attract
patriotic and democratic forces in
the country who are opposed to the
loot and plunder of the country by
imperialist powers and comprador
big bourgeoisie big landlord
classes. This demands that the CR
forces close their ranks and lead
peoples democratic movement for
change and overthrow of the present
semi-colonial, semi-feudal system.
We call upon the CR, Patriotic
and democratic forces to join hands
and mobilize the people for a
revolutionary movement.
We also call upon the people
not to be divided by the sectarian
politics and call of different ruling
class
parties
and
their
combinations on caste, religion and
region basis and unite for a
democratic & revolutionary struggle
for the change of the present socioeconomic system.

- REJECT AND DEFEAT THE NDA AND THE UPA

- EXPOSE THE SHAMNESS OF THE THIRD FRONT
- SUPPORT THE CPI (ML), OTHER COMMUNIST REVOLUTIONARIES AND
PATRIOTIC DEMOCRATIC FORCES.
- PRESS NOTA BUTTON IN CONSTITUENCIES WHERE NO SUCH CANDIDATE
IS CONTESTING

Central Committee
2.3.2014

CPI (ML)

Price :
Rs. 150/-

THE VOICE OF INDIAN REVOLUTION

A CPI(M-L) TRIBUTE TO COMRADE KANU SANYAL
For Copies : Mythry Book House
Jaleel street, Karl Marx Road, VIJAYAWADA - 2
9

World Affairs

UKRAINE A VICTIM OF POLITICS OF DOMINATION

The developments in Ukraine
bring out two important facts : 1. It
is too difficult for small nations to
safeguard their independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity
and for the people of those nations
to keep the initiative in their own
hands and persist in the struggle for
the resolution of their basic
problems. It is possible for their
struggle being driven into a mess
or turn into a so called struggle
which has nothing to their real
interests or go against their interests
when they are caught between big
bulls who are locked in a war for
domination. 2. The inter- imperialist
contradictions have reached a new
level of intensification. The attempts
of US imperialism to dominate the
entire world are facing increasing
obstacles and challenges.
People Need Resolution of Their
Problems
As a nation, the Ukraine has
come into existence in the postOctober Revolution period. It joined
the Soviet Union in 1922. A part
under the occupation of Poland
became a part of Ukraine in 1939.
In 1954, the Crimea was merged
with Ukraine when Khrushchev was
heading the SU. Again, the Ukraine
had separated itself from the SU in
1991 when the SU faced
disintegration. Since then, the
Ukraine continues to be an
independent Country.
Ukraines economic problems
aggravated after its break from the
SU. The people gradually lost the
protections and services which they
enjoyed earlier. The unemployment
has gone up. The people were forced
to massively migrate to Russia or
European Union (EU) in search of
Jobs and livelihood. The number of
people below the poverty line had
grown enormously. The wages of
workers and other toiling people had
fallen down too low. The poverty in
10

the rural areas has assumed a

phenomenal dimension. Ukraines
problems multiplied with the signing
of a Free Trade Agreement with the
EU. Added to this, the policies of
Globalisation forced the Ukranian
rulers to bow down to a number of
rigorous conditionalities dictated the
IMF and World Bank. They
demanded austerity measures,
changes in the economic,
agricultural and industrial policies;
closure or selling away of the
industries to MNCs. These policies
destroyed fertile agricultural lands,
agricultural production and caused
the dissolution of collective farms
and grabbing or buying of
agricultural lands by the foreign agri
-companies. In one word, the
Ukrainian economy with a debt of
73 billion dollars had reached a
state of bankruptcy. With the
autocratic and corrupt rulers at the
helm seeking to tide over the crisis
by sinking Ukraines economy in
more dependence on Russia or the
EU or by imposing more burdens
on the people the Ukranian people
were pushed into more oppressive
conditions of life. Naturally, the
people were very much agitated by
this situation.
Politics of Domination at Play
Separation of Ukraine posed
problems to Russia too. Russias
Black Sea Fleet along with its
Sevastopol and other military
installations were situated in Crimea
of Ukraine. After a hard bargain
alone, Russia and Ukraine in 1997
agreed on the division of Black sea
Fleet. Accordingly, 81 per cent of
the Black Sea Fleet along with the
Sevastopol and other military
installations had gone to Russia.
The Russia was allowed to station
them in Crimea and , in return for
this, Russia had compensated a
large sum of money, written off a
large amount of Ukraines debts and
also paid an annual fee to Ukraine.

For long, the US was engaged

in the attempts to weaken Russia
in an attempt to remove a potential
contender for world hegemony from
its way. It moved fast to gain from
the Soviet disintegration. It tried to
draw the small earst while Soviet
Republics one after the other into
its fold. The US together with the
EU powers had succeeded in roping
most of the states into NATO and
the EU. They persisted in the
attempts to bring the Ukraine too
into their fold so that their
encirclement of Russia is total. The
Ukraine becoming a part of NATO
would have brought NATO closer to
Moscow, cut off Russia from the
Black Sea and Mediterranean and
squeeze it out of Caucasus. It
would have placed Russia in a
dangerously
weak
and
disadvantageous position vis--vis
the US and other European powers.
The US and EU made relentless
attempts to lure the Ukraines ruling
classes to their side with economic
baits, economic and political
pressures. They groomed the antiRussian political forces, neo-fascist
parties, groups and armed gangs,
engineered dissentions, divisions
among the ruling classes and
attempted regime changes and even
coups to realize their aims.
Russia was worried about these
developments. It too has been
pursuing its own strategy to frustrate
the attempts of US and European
powers. It has been doing everything
to retain and enhance its political
influence in Ukraine; and guide the
course of developments in its own
favour. It wields a strong influence
on the Russian-speaking people the
eastern and southern regions of
Ukraine and Crimea (which till
recently remained as a part of
Ukraine) as well as on the ruling
class and bureaucratic forces in
Ukraine. It used this influence to
Class Struggle

mould the public opinion and the

policies of rulers in its own favour.
The economic aid, trade, supply of
oil and natural gas at subsidized
rates, loans, payments for using the
Black sea and land for stationing its
Black Sea fleet and military
installations in Crimea remained
Russias important economic levers
to influence Ukraines economy and
polities. The Russian strategy is also
aimed at building an Eurasian
Economic Union by drawing the
Ukraine into it. It also dreams about
bringing back its erst while republics
into its fold.
Here it is clear that the
contradictions that are manifesting
in Ukraine between the US and
European powers on the one side
and Russia on the other side and
their moves and counter moves are
inter-imperialist in their nature. They
are basically a product of clash of
interests rooted in the urges and
designs of the concerned powers to
impose ones own domination on
Ukraine. Here, the clash or
agreement between these powers
on the question of Ukraine will only
be guided by the interests of
dominating the Ukraine either singly
or in a shared manner. In any case,
the Ukrainian people lose their right
to lead a free and independent life.
The Ukrainian people can expect to
be free and protect their own basic
interests only when they wage an
united struggle against the
imperialist
machinations,
conspiracies, interference and
politics of domination.
The people of Ukraine are worst
sufferers of the policies of rulers as
well as the imperialist policies of
domination. The people want an
independent, sovereign and
democratic Ukraine. They want the
resolution of their basic problems.
However, the policies of interference
and domination pursued by the US,
Russia and other imperialist powers
in Ukraine have made the peoples
struggle more difficult. Their struggle
is repeatedly becoming a victim of
May 2014

diversionist forces and diversionist

attempts.
Political Crisis Politics of
Domination
In 2004, Victor Yanukovych
was elected as the president of
Ukraine. But the US and the
European powers could not digest
it. They encouraged and extended
all help to the forces in the
opposition to unleash a so called
coloured Revolution to prevent
Yanukovych from taking the power.
The Ukraines capital Kiev was
plunged into a state of anarchy.
Riding on this, Victor Yushchenko,
a pro-US leader staged a coup and
proclaimed himself as the President
of Ukraine. He initiated moves to
make Ukraine a NATO Member.
However, he failed in his move as
80 per cent of people opposed it.
In 2010, the pro-US and pro-EU
forces faced a disastrous defeat in
the Presidential elections.
Yushchenko, their representative,
bagged only 4 per cent of votes
while victor Yanukovych was elected
as the President with an
overwhelming majority. The US and
EU were left with no option except
openly conceding the elections as
free and fair. Yet, they were not
reconciled with the reality. So they
fomented trouble in Ukraine.
Russia
advocated
an
agreement between Russia,
Ukraine and EU as a way to buy
peace and stability for the
Yanukovych regime as well to put a
check on the attempts of European
powers to disturb it. The US and
European powers, on their part, were
busy in mounting pressure on the
Ukranian President to sign an
agreement associating Ukraine with
the EU. A draft called, Deep and
Comprehensive Free Trade
Agreement was prepared and it was
to be signed at Lithumanias Capital
Vilnius. But the Ukranian President
and PM decided to postpone it later.
They struck a deal with Russia in
Dec 2013. By dint of this deal, the
Russia agreed to buy 15 billion

dollars of Ukraines debt and

provide 60 per cent (3.5 billions)
discount on natural gas purchases
by Ukraine from Russia. Clearly, it
was an attempt on the part of Russia
to prevent Ukraines integration with
the EU. Naturally, the US and the
European powers were infuriated by
these moves. They made up their
mind to see the end of victor
Yanukovychs regime by every
means. They aided and abetted the
opposition and all types of forces
including the far right and neo-fascist
forces for this. These forces created
the conditions of protest and sort of
rebellion against the Yanukovych
regime.
Faced with the increasing
pressure from the US and European
powers, the growing acts of violence
and attacks of armed bands on the
govt. offices and deep in economic
crisis, Yanukovych, the Ukranian
President has entered into a
dialogue with the opposition with an
urge to buy the peace. He signed
an agreement with the opposition
on Feb 21, 2014 right in the
presence of the Foreign-Ministers of
France, Germany and Poland.
Under it, Yanukovych agreed to
bring Constitutional reforms to pave
the way for a Coalition govt. in
Ukraine and hold elections in Dec
2014. But it did not bring peace.
Within hours, the Opposition
has thrown the agreement into the
dust bin and forced the Ukranian
President Yanukovych out of power
and to flee from the country. The US
as well as the European powers
fully backed the opposition. They
extended all help to its usurpation
of power and accorded all the
legitimacy to its authority. A day
before this agreement, the EU
slapped sanctions on Yanukovych
govt. It freeze Ukraines assets and
banned visas to the govt. leaders.
The US and the EU had their own
preferences as to who should head
the new regime. But they were
united in the aim of pulling down a
legitimate govt. headed by
11

Yanukovych by any illegal and foul

methods.
Once Yanukovych left the
Country, the Ukraines parliament
Supreme Rada adopted
a
resolution impeaching Yanukovych
and appointing its Speaker
Oleksandr Torchynov as the interim
President. It set May 25, 2014 an
the date for elections. It released
Yulia Timoshenko who was in prison
since 2011 on the charges of
corruption. While a good number of
leaders from the far right and neo
fascist parties like Parvy(Right)
Sector and Svoboda (Freedom)
Party were inducted into the Ministry
in important positions, their armed
militants reigned the streets. They
engineered clashes, indulged in
killings and occupied the govt.
buildings as part of the drive to help
the new regime to entrench itself
firmly. On its side, the new regime
resorted to several steps to assert
its authority. It cancelled the second
official status to the Russian
language. It initiated moves to tie
the Ukraine with the EU and NATO.
These moves have evoked
anger and protest among the
Russian speaking people in the
eastern region and Crimea. They
rose in defiance of new regime. The
Deputies at all levels in the eastern
region met in Kharkov and
denounced the new regime as
unconstitutional and illegitimate.
They refused to recognize it.
Russia has denounced the
coup as the handiwork of US and
European powers and as a part of
greater design to weaken Russia
and turn the region into a
disturbingly dangerous zone for
Russia. It extended support to the
forces who were defying the
authority of new regime. It declared
that Russia has every right to
intervene in the situation to protect
its own interests as well as the
interests of Russian speaking
people in Ukraine. It withdrew the
commitments it made to the
Yanukovych govt. to provide the bail
out packages to Ukraine.
12

Integration of Crimea in Russia

The developments were fast.
The Crimea took steps first to
proclaim its independence from
Ukraine and then integrate itself with
Russia. It held the referendum on
March 16, 2014 and adopted a
resolution to this effect with more
than 90 per cent people voting for
it. The Russian Parliament has
readily welcomed and approved this
decision. On March 21, Putin
signed a treaty incorporating Crimea
into the Russian Federation. Russia
took all steps to proclaim its
authority over Crimea.
The US and European powers
termed Crimeas integration with
Russia as nothing but an act of
annexation and occupation of a part
of Ukraine by Russia. They
unleashed a propaganda that it was
a part of Russias larger plan to
invade and occupy Ukraine as a
whole and other CIS territories too.
Threat of Sanctions- Defiant
Russia
The US slammed sanctions
against Russia and threatened with
more. The EU declared a travel ban
on 21 important personalities from
Russia and Ukraine. G-7 group
leaders decided to suspend Russia
from the G-8 group. G-7 leaders
condemned the Russia for the
integration of Crimea as an act of
annexation and as a violation of
international law. They threatened
with more actions against Russia.
However, Russia dismissed
these threats as well as sanctions
as
inconsequential
and
counterproductive. It claimed that
Russia neither interfered nor intends
to do so in the affairs of Ukraine. It
asserted that Crimeas decision to
integrate itself with Russia was only
a free and democratic decision of
Crimean people. Putin warned that
the dollar cannot rule the world
economy for ever and an alternate
currency for exchange can enter the
world scene. The Russian leaders
said that the G-8 is nothing but a
gentlemens club and it is fast losing

its relevance. Russia has its own

supporters. The Foreign Ministers
of BRICS ( Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa) group
issued a statement from The Hague
in the last week of March, 2014
regretting the sanctions against the
Russia. They rejected a call to
suspend Russia from the G-20 and
made it clear that no single member
of the G-20 can unilaterally take
such a decision. Argentine
President Christina Fernandez
accused the US and EU of having
double standards.
Need and Effectiveness of
Sanctions Doubted
The US as well as the
European powers are tough in their
rhetoric . But, in reality, they are
afraid that their sanctions may hit
back their economies too. Russia
is EUs third largest trading partner.
Russian oil and gas supplies meet
80 per cent of Europes energy
needs. The EU is engaged in ten
times as much trade with Russia
as the US does. The Europe exports
machinery, chemicals, medicines
and agricultural products, etc. to
Russia. More than 6000 German
companies are registered in Russia
and together they have invested 20
billion dollars in Russia in recent
years. Germany is heavily
dependent on Russia for oil and
natural gas. So, the US and the EU
are seriously divided on the need,
effectiveness and consequences of
sanctions against Russia. They are
not united in their action.
US Right to Decide Destinies of
World Questioned
The Russian President Putin
was blunt in his criticism of US and
the European powers. Addressing
the Russian Parliament on April, 18,
he said : In the case of Ukraine,
our Western partners have crossed
the line with their bullish,
irresponsible and unprofessional
behavior; Russia was pushed to
a line beyond which it could not
retreat. If you press the spring too
hard, it will recoil. He described
Class Struggle

Crimea as a strategic territory .

Ukraines likely joining would have
led to the deployment of NATO
warships in Crimeas Sevastopol the city of Russian military glory.
It is unthinkable for me that we could
be guests of NATO marines in
Sevastopol. They may be great pals,
but let them be our guests in
Sevastopol, rather than the other
way round. Putin dismissed the
western criticism of Crimeas
integration into Russia as
hypocrisy. He criticised that the
US is guided in its policies by the
right of the might They have come
to believe in their exceptionalism
and their sense of being the chosen
ones. That they can decide the
destinies of the world that it is only
them who can be right always.
Abortive Moves to End Crisis
The developments during March
21 and April , 18 were marked by
four factors: 1) The new Ukranian
Govt. went ahead with its drive to
crush the protests in the Russian
speaking regions of Ukraine. 2. The
protesters went all out in their
defiance against the Central govt.
They resorted to armed actions,
occupied the govt. buildings and
clashed with the govt.s armed
forces. They demanded greater
autonomy, self rule for their regions
and even threatened to proclaim
independence through referendum;
3. A move to find a way out for the
crisis through a dialogue between
Russia, EU, US and Ukraine gained
momentum; 4. The Foreign
Ministers of Russia, EU, US and
Ukraine met in Geneva on April,17
and agreed on a plan to resolve the
crisis. They agreed that the
Ukrainian govt. must initiate the
Constitutional reform to decentralize
power and grant greater powers to
the Russian speaking regions; They
called for disarming of the irregular
forces and vacating the govt.
buildings across the Ukraine. The
Ukrainian govt. agreed to grant
amnesty to all protesters except
those who committed grave crimes
May 2014

and to launch a broad national

dialogue involving all political forces
and all regions to undertake a
Contsitu- tional reform.
But there reflected different
interpretations to the agreement.
The protesters in the eastern and
southern regions of Ukraine insisted
that the Central govt. must stop
military operations and disarm the
Right Sector and Maidan SelfDefence forces first before their
laying down the arms. The Ukrainian
govt. persisted in military
operations, but it found the job of
bringing the situation under control
by sheer force difficult. The
protesters remained unyielding.
Here and there, the govt. also
encountered defiance even within
the ranks of armed forces. They
refused to open fire at the
protesters. The govt. sought to lull
the protesters with promises like fullfledged Constitutional reforms and
special status to the Russian
language, etc. Yet the crisis
continues. The clashes between the
govt. forces and the protesters
continue. While Russia continue
to support the demands of the
protesters for a federal structure the
ensures greater rights for the
Russian speaking people in Ukraine
as a way out to the crisis, the US
and European powers continue to
blame Russia for the whole trouble
in the Ukraine.
To conclude :
As we noted at the outset, the
real problems and the struggle of
the people for their resolution as well
as the struggle to defend Ukraines
independence, sovereignty and
territorial integrity were pushed
aside as the Ukraine was turned into
a playground for Russia, US and
other imperialist powers to impose
their own domination over the
Ukraine.
This game had touched its
peak with the usurpation of power
by the forces backed by the US and
European powers in Ukraine. Russia
saw this development as being

pushed to the line beyond which it

could not retreat. It seemed that
Russia may not hesitate even for a
direct armed intervention to save the
situation going from bad to worse.
But, such a need did not arise with
Crimeas decision to integrate itself
in Russia. Here, the Russia has
done everything to induce the
Crimean rulers and its people to
adopt this decision. In this context,
Russia has succeeded in out
manoeuvring the US and European
powers. The game is not over. It is
continuing for a domination over the
remaining part of Ukraine. The
continuing talk of direct armed
action by the Russia and Obamas
continued threats of sanctions
against Russia are only a pointer to
this.
For some time, Russia is seen
more active and assertive in its
international role. We have seen it
in Syria some time back. It is
intensifying its competition for its
own place and influence in the
international arena and its share of
role in dealing with the problems in
the world. It knows that allowing itself
weakened on its borders and getting
enmeshed itself in endless crisis and
turmoil will push it into a more
disadvantageous position in the
international arena and it is,
therefore, determined not to allow
it. The developments in the world
point out that the US drive to impose
its hegemony on the entire world is
facing increasing challenges and a
situation of multi -polarity is fast
developing in the world.
The proletariat and oppressed
people of Ukraine have a long and
most difficult battle to wage against
the politics of interference and
domination pursued by the
imperialist powers and the ruling
class, reactionary and neo fascist
forces who are dancing to the tune
of imperialist powers in order to be
able to take their own destiny into
their hands and build an
independent, sovereign and
democratic Ukraine. There is no
other way.
13

The First World War :

An Imperialist War to Re-divide the World
Imperialism is imperialism. In
history, the imperialist powers
encountered serious economic
crises, massive oppositions,
protests and struggles from the
working class, oppressed nations
and people, setbacks and small or
big defeats in their attempts to
subjugate the people of other
Countries, enlarge their spheres of
influence and impose their
dominations. But they never shed
or can be expected to shed their
basic features as defined by Lenin
unless and until imperialism is not
wiped out from the face of the globe.
They persist in the attempts to
recover and muster the strength and
realise their lost or unfulfilled dreams
and ambitions to dominate the world.
Some time back, the British Govt.
headed by David Cameron has
decided to commemorate the
Centenary Anniversary of the World
War 1 (1914-18) by organising a
four years long Campaign. It planned
to begin the campaign with a candle
light vigil on August 4, 2014 at West
minister Abbey. The government
proposes to spend 55,000,000
pounds to make the Anniversary a
truly national commemoration. The
government also allocated a sum of
10 million pounds for the cultural
side of the remembrances. It will be
led by Jenny Waldman, creative
producer for the London 2012
Olympics. He will be working
together with other organisations and
partners across the Country. This
team includes Vikki Heywood,
Chairman and former Executive
Director of the Royal Shakespeare
Company, and Toney Hall, the
Director General of BBC. The
Celebrations will have tributes in
memory of the Battle of Somme
(1916) and Armistice Day (1918).
The publishing houses in Britain
are already active to make full use
of the Celebrations to boost up their
14

business. A good number of books

written on the theme of Great War
from new angles and with new
historical material have made their
way into the market. They include:
The Sleepwalkers : How the Europe
went to War in 1914 by Christopher
Clark; From Frontline; The
Extraordinary life by Sir Basil Clarke
and Richard Evans and by the former
BBC War Correspondent Katies
Adies Fighting on the Home Front
: The Legacy of Women in World
War 1.
The Celebrations provide
lessons on the greatness of War
and educate the present generation
on its moral legacy.
The Imperial War Museum is
scheduled to be reopened in July
2014. The British govt. has allocated
35 million pounds for the
refurbishment of the World War 1
galleries, new digital assets from its
collection and especially curated
World War 1 timelines. The Victoria
and Albert Museum is already
organising the exhibitions. A section
of it is called, War Stories: Voices
from the World War1. They contain
12 original letters of diverse voices
of individuals, including soldiers on
the western war front, women on the
frontline, conscientious objectors,
families and children at home reveal
both familiar and surprising stories
of War. This exhibition will run till
March 2015.
One of the letters prominently
exhibited is from an Indian soldier
written to his family from the
Brightons Royal Pavilion Hospital.
He was wounded in the World War
1 while serving the British
Colonialism. An excerpt of the letter
reads like this : Dont worry about
me for I am in paradise. The King
came down here last week and
shook hands with all the Indians,
and asked each one about his
wounds and sufferings and gave

consolation to each. Today I saw

a museum in which all the living
fishes of the world were kept in
boxes of water and a magnificent
palace which costs millions of
pounds, [ here it must be noted
that around 1.2 million soldiers from
India (undivided) fought for the
British Empire during the World War
1 and 74000 of them had died. ]
WHAT FOR THE WAR WAS?
A section of the media as well
as the historians and writers
representing the view of the British
ruling class are putting the view into
wide circulation that the World War
1 was a War to end all wars ! The
Education Secretary Michael
Government came out eulogising it
as a just war that saved the future
of democracy in the continent by
putting paid to the ambitions of an
aggressive Germany bent on world
domination.
In reality, it was an out and out
unjust and predatory war waged by
two belli- gerent groups of
imperialists one headed by the
British and French bourgeoisie and
another by the German bourgeoisie.
Lenin said in Sept 1914 that the
sole actual content, importance and
significance of this war comprised
in their aims of seizure of territory
and subjugation of other nations, the
ruining of competing nations and
plunder of their wealth, distracting
the attention of the working masses
from the internal political crises in
Russia, Germany, Britain and other
Countries, disuniting and nationalist
stultification of the workers, and the
extermination of their vanguard so
as to weaken the revolutionary
movement of the proletariat.
Through the war, the British and
French bourgeoisie wanted to retain
and further enlarge their colonies,
seize the German colonies, and ruin
it. The German bourgeoisie wanted
to win and subjugate a greater part
Class Struggle

of Europe and Middle East, re-divide

the colonies in its own favour and
impose its own domination on the
entire world. Lenin made it clear that
neither group of belligerents is
inferior to the other in spoilation,
atrocities and boundless brutality of
war.
The war began in July 1914 and
ended at the end of 1918. It started
in a small way, had drawn the entire
Europe, parts of Asia, the sea
coasts and great oceans and spread
to Africa acquiring the nature and
dimension of a World War. It ended
with ignominious defeat or virtual rout
of German led group in the hands of
the group headed by Britain and
France.
The opposition and protest to
the proposed celebrations of Wars
is strong enough in Britain. 70
eminent citizens came to the fore
denouncing the celebrations of
World War 1. They posted an Open
Letter in the website called No Glory
in War. It said, Far from being a
war to end all wars or a victory for
democracy, this was a military
disaster and human catastrophe.
Among them are actor Jude Law,
Simon Callow and Vanessa
Redgrave, poet and playwright Carol
Ann Duffy, musician and composer
Brain Eon; politicians Tony Ben,
Ken Livingston and Jeremy Corbyn,
writer and author of war house,
Michael Morpugo; and British film
director Ken Loach. The Letter
further said: We are disturbed,
therefore, to hear that David
Cameron plans to spend 55,000,000
pounds on truly national
commemorations to mark this
anniversary. Instead we believe it
is important to remember that this
was a war that was driven by big
powers competition to influence
around the globe, and caused a
degree of suffering all too clear in
the statistical record of 16 million
people died and 20 Million wounded.
The Letter called on every one in
times of international tension to
ensure that this anniversary is used
May 2014

to promote peace and international

co operation. Neil Faulkner, an
archeologist, historian, and a
Research Fellow at the University
of Bristol, told The Hindu that the
mainstream historians look for
whose fault the war was, and who
fired the first shot. My view is that it
was an imperialist war, It was
centered primarily in Europe which
was divided into competing nation
states and spheres of influence,
each dependent on overseas
markets for their expansion.
Tensions mount, there is an arms
race amongst the hostile blocks,
and it explodes in 1914. A small
ruling class of bankers and generals
who led the war in the competing
nations didnot care about the lives
of their own citizens, never mind
about their colonial subjects who
fought in the war. Neil Faulkner is
the author of a recently published
book The Real Story of World War
1. He is active in the No Glory in
War Campaign. The people in
Britain as well as Europe are
showing a renewed interest in antiwar poetry of soldiers- the poets like
Wilfred Owen and Siegfried
Sassoon and are increasingly taking
part in the anti-war protest
movement.
WHY THE GLORIFICATION OF
WAR?
In the context of World War 1,
the bourgeoisie of each imperialist
Country involved in the War,
including Britain, made all out
attempts to project their own war
against the rivals as a war forced
upon them by the rivals bent on
aggression and annexation. They
sought to convince the people that
the war on their own side was
patriotic, sacred and in defence of
Father Land. They sought to draw
the proletarian, democratic and
national forces in their own Countries
into or in support of their war. The
bourgeoisie of these Countries,
including that of Britain had
succeeded to a large extent in their
attempts as they had their own

collaborators and agents in the

working class movement in the form
of reformist and labour aristocratic
leaderships who readily embraced
the ruling class slogan of defence
of Father Land.
Lenin had mercilessly exposed
the predatory and imperialist
character of war. He waged a
relentless ideological and political
struggle against the reformist and
class collaborationist theories and
practices that came to dominate the
prole- tarian and working class
movement in the Countries of Europe
at the time. He called upon the
proletariat and the people not to fall
prey to the imperialist conspiracies
and slogans such as the defence
of father land and turn the
imperialist war into a revolutionary
civil war to overthrow ones own
ruling bourgeoisie from power. Lenin
had superbly and successfully
applied and practiced his
revolutionary call in Russia. As a
result, the world shaking, historic
and revolutionary event like the
victorious completion of the great
1917 October Socialist Revolution
had become a reality. This struggle
together with the October Revolution
had thoroughly and completely
pulled and tore off into pieces the
mask of defence of father land
behind which the imperialist rulers
were hiding their real intentions and
cheating their own people. The way
the imperialists fought the war, went
on freely invading and annexing the
territories of other Countries, brutally
killed the people and the way the
so called victors (Britain and
France) unilaterally and arbitrarily
dictated most humiliating and
oppressive terms of truce to the
vanquished (Germany) power also
had effectively and conclusively
proved the correctness of Lenins
assessment of war, its aims and
outcome. The entire world at the
time was fully convinced that the war,
as a whole, on the part of powers
on both sides of the conflict was
totally unjust, predatory and aimed
15

at redividing the territories and

resources among the warring
powers in accordance with each
ones might. The war caused untold
miseries and colossal human loss
and material destruction and
seriously disturbed the world peace.
The present British rulers had
inherited the past legacy. They are
refusing to learn from their own past.
By their futile attempts to distort the
history, they are only revealing their
own imperialist nature and their
yearning for shattered dreams. They
are also living in the illusion that,
by this act, they can, once again,
cheat the people and divert their
attention from the real problems and
the worst economic and political
crisis Britain is now passing
through. The Britain is also facing
the danger of disintegration. The
British imperialists know it well that
they do not enjoy the same position
and influence today in the world as
they used to before and immediately
after the World War 1. They must
also know that they were pushed
behind and to the position of a junior
partner to the US imperialism,
which is now leading the capitalist
world and striving for world
domination. They must also be
knowing that they continue to

encounter the protests and

denunciations from the British as
well as world people for their
shameless support to the US in
their acts of invasion and occupation
against Iraq, Afghanistan and other
Countries. So it will be a mere day
dream to aspire for past glory.
It will be a big gamble to
attempt to divert the peoples
attention from the real problems by
distorting the history and in the
name of so called celebration of
much discredited War. The attempt
to glorify Britains role in the World
War 1 and its (together with other
allies) victory in the War may
freshen the wounds in some,
enhance the contradictions and
mutual mistrust among the
European powers, especially
between Britain and German. The
people in various Countries of the
world who had suffered a lot under
the yoke British colonial rule and in
the imperialist war would never
accept being driven back into a dark
era against which they fought heart
and soul and made countless
sacrifices. The proletariat,
oppressed nations and all the antiimperialist, democratic and peace
loving forces in India and the world

would oppose the attempts by the

imperialists to distort, re-write and
reverse the history in order to
condone themselves from their
colossal crimes and glorify or paint
their crimes in glowing colours
which they had committed against
the humanity for the purpose of
imposing their domination over the
world and to realise their ambitions.
The fact that the imperialist powers
used the people of colonies as
cannon fodder in their war to extend
their colonial domination to other
areas and lakhs of people had died
or were wounded (74000 Indian
people died in the World War 1 while
serving British colonialism) is really
painful. It is seriously objectionable
that the British imperialists are
exhibiting certain letters of Indian
soldiers as part of their celebrations
as a model for the loyalty of colonial
people towards the British Empire.
All the conscious masses of Indian
people like their brethren in the world
fought against the colonial
oppression then and continue to
oppose imperialism now. They are
one with the British people who are
raising their voice against the
attempts of British imperialists to
glorify an imperialist and predatory
war waged by them 100 years back.

TARIMELA NAGIREDDY
MEMORIAL TRUST PUBLICATIONS

HISTORICAL AND POLEMICAL DOCUMENTS

OF THE COMMUNIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA
For Details:
VOL.I 1943-51- RS. 300/VOL.II 1963-72- RS. 500/-

P.Jaswantha Rao
Secretary,
T.N.Memorial Trust, 32-13-26/1,
M.R.Puram, Vijayawada, pin-520 010.

16

Class Struggle

Political & Economic Notes :

Military Affairs :
Foreign Dependence Imperils Countrys Defence
Four decades back, after
explaining the dependence of defece
production in India on foreign
monopoly houses, Comrade
Tarimela Nagi Reddy observed:
Thus the vital aspects of
production for our defence is left
entirely in the hands of international
monopoly houses and yet to
deceive the people, the government
has began to talk in terms of self
sufficiency in defence production
and self reliance of our defence
industries. When I see, hear and
experience such slavish betrayal of
the nations interest by so-called
patriots, think lightly of what is
called treason against the
government. (India Mortgaged,
p.355)
Today all the three wings of
India defence force are at the mercy
of imperialist countries for all most
all of its defence needs. The recent
mishaps in the Navy leading to the
resignation of Chief of Naval Staff on
moral ground highlighted the
dangers involved in our dependence
on foreign monopolies.
Growing Military Expenditure
According to the budget 201314, the allocation for defence is
Rs.2,53,345.91 crore which is one
sixth of the total expenditure of Union
of India. If the allocation to other
armed wings under the home
ministry and 50 per cent of
expenditure of atomic energy and
space are added, the total rises to
Rs.3,13,921.91 crore or more than
one fifth of the total expenditure.
This expenditure on military has
two components; one, the wage bill
and two, the capital outlay. In the
year 2012-14, the estimated outgo
on pay and allowances of army,
navy and air force personnel stands
at Rs. 63,037 crore, in addition to
the pensions payable to retired
May 2014

personnel whom stands at

Rs.44,500 crore. So the total wage
bill comes to Rs.1,07,500 crore,
which is about 65 per cent of the
defence outlay.
The allocation for the capital
outlay stands at Rs.86,740 crore.
This fund is to be utilized for all the
defence purchases. According to the
budget papers, while the actual
expenditure on defence purchases
was Rs.67,000 crore in 2012-13,
Rs.18,000 crore was paid to foreign
suppliers. This is clearly an
understatement because the
purchases from defence public
sector units (DPSU), Ordinance
Factory Board (OFB) and private
sector includes foreign supplies,
components and royalties.
India is the largest importer of
arms with 12 per cent share of world
arms imports. This 12 per cent
impots meets 70 per cent of
weapons India needed. If the imports
by DPSUs, whose import
dependence is 35 to 45 per cent of
their budget, are taken into account,
Indias dependence on imported
arms and components could be as
high as 80 to 85 per cent.
Flood of Imports
It is reported that India will
spend $ 150 billion over the next 10
years on arms imports. Some of the
imports include: six Lockheed C130J Super Hercules transport
aircraft for $1.2 billion; 126 Rafale
multirole combat aircraft from
Dassault of France for $20 billion;
310 Russian T-90 tanks for $800
million; eight Boeing p81 super
Hunters for $2.1 billion; 250300FGFA Sukhoi T-50 PAK fighter
aircraft for $30 billion and 10 Boeing
C17 Globemaster III aircraft for $ 5.8
billion.
The
refitting
of
decommissioned Russian aircraft
carrier Gorkhov (named as INS

Vikramaditya) will cost $2.33 billion.

The shopping list for weapons
include 3000 artillery guns for $ 4
billion; 75 Pilatus trawler aircraft for
$1 billion; attack and heavy lift
helicopters for $ 2 billion; six midair
refuellers for $ 1 billion; and 197
helicopters for reconnaissance and
surveillance for $ 650 million.
Apart from this, the Army wants
weapons for close quarter battle,
carbines, light machine guns,
specialised sniper rifles and antibunker bursting rifles for its 356
infantry battalions. An expenditure
of Rs. 4850 crore is being made for
65,000 rifles to equip 120 battalions
and OFB is to supply 1,13,000 rifles.
The army also needs 16000 LMGs,
and 8500 sniper rifles. (This is not a
complete list and compiled from
reports appeared in various
newspapers during the last three
years)
The Lurking Danger
The above tit bits of information
gives an idea about the extent of
Indias dependence on imperialist
countries for its military needs. What
does this dependence means?
Every imported piece of military
hardware, spare part or component
means, pointed out by former Naval
Chief Arun Prakash, we are at the
mercy of the seller nation for 30-40
years thereafter.(Times of India, 143-2013)
This perpetual dependence
jeopardizes the security of our
country. For instance,16 of the 66
Hawks aircraft were grounded
because the seller company BAE
Systems failed to deliver spares
and components. (Indian Express,
18-12-2012)
Take the upgradation cost of 51
Mirage 2000 aircraft. It was officially
said to cost Rs 167 crore for each
jet fighter. But defence minister
17

Antony told the Parliament that an

escalation of 3.5 per cent per annum
to the contracted cost of the year
2000 works out to be Rs 195 crore
in 2011. This does not include the
Rs 2430 crore being spent on other
items and it also does not take into
account the two separate contracts
signed by India with Dassault
Aviation and Thales for Mirage 2000
weapon systems integration at the
cost of Rs 6600 crore. Thus the
total cost of the Upgradation will be
Rs 344 crore for each aircraft. The
arms industry is extracting
exorbitant charges with their
monopoly over the arms market,
while a delay in supply and
execution of the contract not only
escalates costs, but also weakens
as the costly equipment kept idle.
(Gautam Navalkha in EPW, 15-72013)
The refitting and modernization
of aircraft INS Vikramaditya was to
be launched in 2010, but now it will
be in 2016. The Standing Committee
of Parliament on Defence noted that
there had been a four fold increase
in the initial estimated cost due to
this delay.
Even at these exorbitant prices
the quality of imported hardware is
not assured. It was reported in the
press that the C-130J transport
aircraft and p8 Poseidon series of
maritime surveillance planes from
the US had counterfeit parts in them.
(Indian express, 23-5-2012)
Strangulating Hold
The dependence on imports is
stifling the indigenous efforts in
developing weapons in India. On 20
March 2013, India successfully test
fired the 290 KM range BrahMos
underwater missile and the
government claimed it was the first
country to doso. But the fact is India
has no submarines which can be
fitted with BrahMos. None of the
Russian, German and French
serpene submarines being build at
Mazagon docks at the cost of
Rs.23,562 crore, will be capable of
18

using BrahMos missile (Times of

India, 21-3-2013). India has to built
its own submarine if it wants to use
BrahMos. There is no possibility of
such indigenous efforts in the
coming two decades as the plans
to buid them have not even reached
the drawing boards. So the
BrahMos has only one use keep
it in a glass show case to be shown
to our school going children.
Instead
of
reducing
dependence on imports, the
government is taking measures that
strengthen the tentacles of foreign
capital. The foreign direct
investments were allowed in
defence industry upto 26 per cent
which gives enough power to control
that industry to the foreign investor.
Yet the ministries of Commerce and
Industry are pressing to raise the
FDI cap to 49 per cent in defence
industries. The minister of state for
defence M.M.Pallamraju told the
Rajya Sabha on 9 May 2012 that
there is no need for us to
manufacture everything. As it is not
critical technology it is not given
priority. The critical technology like
BrahMos developed by our
scientists will be relegated to show
cases, other critical technologies
like aircraft carrier and submarines
goes to foreign monopolies, while
at the same time non-critical
technologies like Tetra Trucks will
also goes to foreign sharks. The real
priority for the government is to
promote foreign capital to the
commanding heights not only in
defence production, but also in the
entire Indian economy.
Offsetting the Local Manufacture
Recently the government
revised the offset policy in defence
purchases. According to this policy,
foreign vendors of arms have to
source defence goods and services
upto 30-40 per cent from within
India. This, it is claimed, would
benefit Indias manufacturing
capability. But most of the off set
rules have existed on paper. The

ministry of defence systematically

floated every rule of the off set policy
to benefit foreign vendors. US
company Lackheed Martins $ 275
million offset contract, which related
to Indias purchase of six C-130J
Super Hercules aircraft, floated the
offset rules, offering very little to the
Indian industry. Similarly French
company Thales was allowed to get
away with providing 100cc
motorcycles, domestic air
conditioners, bicycles, car shelters
etc. in its fulfillment of Rs 170 crore
worth of offset related to the Rs 570
crore sale of low level transportable
radars. Offsets worth Rs 240 crore
for a Rs 800 crore contract with
Italian shipbuilder, Fincantieri, for a
fleet tankers that will replenish Indian
navy warships on long patrols.
According to the contract these
tankers should be fitted with
engines from Wartsila, India,
combat system from BEL and AK630 gun from OFB. Offsets worth
Rs.1100 crore arising from Rs.3700
crore purchase from Italys
Finmeccanica group of twelve AW101 helicopters for Indian VVIPs.
This contract was made through
ministry of defence, though meant
for civilian use, showing that pilots
from IAF would fly these machines
as a reason. The Italian police filed
corruption charges on the
company.(Business Standard, 256-2013)
The CAG report found that 16
offset contracts concluded between
2007 and 2011 valued at Rs. 18,440
crore, has to procure from India
good worth Rs. 3410 crore. The
ministry of defence allowed 100 per
cent owned subsidiaries of foreign
vendors are to be treated as Indian
offset partners (Indian Express,3011-2012). This benefited Boeing,
Lockheed Martin, Russias
Rosoboronexport and Israeli
companies. Revising the offset
policy at will by the MoD became a
regular activity and it turned out to
be the back door entry for foreign
capital into defence sector.
Class Struggle

Gordians knot
The largest construction
company in India, Larson and
Toubro is a MNC based in Sweeden.
It signed a contract with Mazagon
docks (a DPSU) to form a joint
venture to manufacture submarines.
Mazagon dock also signed another
agreement to form a joint venture
with Pipalov Defence to manufacture
frigates, destroyers and aircraft
carriers. As other companies like
ABG and Bharti complained on the
selection process, the MoD put the
JVs on hold in July 2012. The
government cleared these JVs in
February 2013 after taking a policy
decision that DPSUs can go for JVs
or form consortia with private sector
companies which includes foreign
companies. Immediately after the
decision came in the newspapers,
Mitsubishi (of Japan) expressed its
readiness to acquire a stake in L&T,
while French defence major DCNS
is planning to buy about 10 per cent
in Pipalov for more than Rs.800
crore. (Business Standard, 23-72012)
India, which is currently imports
75 per cent of its naval defence
requirements, has claimed that the
present policy would synergise and
enhance competence in producing
the state-of-the-art defence products
in a globally competitive market. But
under the din of these high sounding
phrases, the Indian DPSUs are
being tied to the MNCs as captive
providers of cheap labour and inputs.
Specious Argument
The supporters of FDI in defence
production argue that profit
motivation stimulates technology
innovation. Yes, you are correct;
profit making is all the more powerful
desire that drives FDI into Third world
countries. They are making super
profits by draining the financial
resources of recipient country
through bribing the political elite
leading to disintegration of their
political and economic systems.
Every player in the arms business
is making profits at the expense of
May 2014

the interests of the people and

country.
Yes, you are wrong, as proved
by the Indian experience. The
gigantic advances made by the
Indian Science and Research
Organisation clearly shows that
India has the scientific manpower
that can innovate and adopt
technologies motivated not by the
profit, but by the political direction
that gave priority to national
interests.
There is every scope to achieve
self reliance in defence sector by
countries like India which has all the
infrastructure, material and human
resources. Imperialism wants to
control the resources to augment its
monopoly
and
perpetuate
dependence.
While making super profits by
selling weapons, the imperialist
powers never allow the Third World
to achieve arms parity with them. In
the case of nuclear arms and
chemical weapons they are
imposing treaties on the weaker
countries and ask them not to
produce these weapons of mass
destruction while they continue to
have and produce them. The
imperialist countries want to disarm
the third world countries in order to
keep them under their thumb.
In the same way, the imperialist
powers have imposed an Arms
Trade Treaty (ATT) through their
rubber stamp UNO. The
international trade in the
conventional weapons is estimated
to be around $70 billion in a year.

The ATT adopted by UN General

Assembly wants to regulate this
trade by linking it to human rights,
prevention of war crimes and
protection of civilians. The ATT
empowers the arms dealers to
suspend the arms sales to the
buying governments on the basis of
these pleas, whose definitions vary
according to the selfish needs of the
imperialist hegemonic designs. At
the same time, the ATT allows arms
sales to non-state entities like
terrorist organizations, so-called
rebels in Syria and placated
democracy forces in Ukraine. The
UN resolution curtails the right of
nations to procure, acquire, produce
and posses conventional weapons,
while gives NATO and imperialist
powers to supply arms to their client
states. Already the arms suppliers
are delaying supply of spares. A
blanket stoppage will severely
impede the defence preparedness
of India. The decision to wage a war,
whether justified or not, will not
going to be made by the powers that
be at the helm of affairs in India, but
by the considerations that are
influenced by the imperialist
powers. This is the result of Indias
dependence for its defence
requirements on imperialist
countries. Such was the pathetic
state into which the people India are
mired by the ruling classes and their
political representatives who clam
day in and day out as true
champions of Indian independence,
sovereignty and self reliance and
making India as a world power.
For Details:
S. Jhansi,
State President,
Rythu Cooli Sangham (A.P.)
Andhra Bank Buildings,
Krishnalanka
Vijayawada, pin-520 010.
19

Anti-People Policies Adopted by the Rulers are the Cause for

Increasing Racist and Discriminatory Attitudes Among People
On Jan.31 (2014), a 19 year old
college student hailing from
Arunachal Pradesh was brutally
beaten by shop-keepers in Delhi,
and subsequently he died
succumbing to the injuries received
from the brutal beating. Instead of
eaking action the police have
supported the locals.
Just five days before this
gruesome murder - on the republic
day-two Manipuri women had been
taunted and beaten up by residents
of another South Delhi locality.
A 14 year old Manipuri girl
working as a domestic help in
South-Delhis Munrika was raped by
her land-lords son, which was
photographed by CC TV cameras
as he cruelly dragged the girl lead
to his arrest. But Munrika had a
khap panchayat which met along
with the resident welfare
association. Instead of condemning
the rape by a young man of their
community, the khap decided to
evict tenants from the North-east,
in order to clean their colony, by
throwing out north-eastern trash
from the colony.
Such is the inhuman treatment
meted-out to the people belonging
to North-eastern states who are also
a part and parcel of Indian state; in
New Delhi, the capital of the
democratic, integrated India.
It is not only in Delhi, but
throughout other states in India
almost the same treatment is being
meted out to the people of Northeastern states.
Very recently i.e., on March.29,
at Gurgaon a mob of 18-20 people
had attacked six people from Northeast with hockey sticks, shouted
racial slogans and targeted people
from North-east after a Manipuri man
had an altercation with another
person.
20

In all the incidents residents,

traders, locals and passers-by did
not intervene. These incidents bring
in to sharp-focus the fact that racist
and discriminatory attitudes are
rampant and deeply rooted in our
society and system. They point out
that prejudice-laden beliefs against
those who deemed to be others or
look differently with different culture
and customs, are deep-rooted in our
society and system.
Almost always people from
these North-eastern states are
subjected to and face racial profiling,
the men abused as eaters of dogs
and other less palatable stuff, the
women
assumed
to
be
promiscuous. When the police tend
to side with locals, has bread a
culture of might is right in our
society.
Not only with those brutal
attacks, but in various subtle forms
racial discrimination is being
practiced in our society.
In fact in Indian feudal system
and society racism is being practice
from ages in the form of caste and
colour, which still continues.
Added to this even for the past
67 years of so called Indian
independence and democratic rule
our rulers with their anti-people, adhoc policies and step-motherly
attitude have been alienating the
people of these North-eastern states
from the Indian people-particularly
by subjecting them to military rule
through use of AFSDA, and allowing
army personnel to shoot at sight,
rape at will, arrest without warrantand on the other hand projecting
them as terrorists and also using
such as remote, far-flung newheart of darkness and conflictridden against those north-eastern
states and their people.

In reality the people of Northeastern states are being treated as

second-rate citizens.
All these discriminatory
policies adopted by the rulers and
the state, and their policies of divide
and rule, have negated and refused
to incorporate the people of these
North-eastern states who have
diverse culture and customs. Their
minority position made them
vulnerable for racial-discrimination,
racial attacks and racial violence.
The rulers and ruling-class
parties only express lip-sympathy
when such racial violence and
attacks are reported but never take
any governmental action to abate
this malaise.
The people of mainland India
are never informed about the
contributions made by the people
of these North-eastern states in the
construction of modern India.
People of these regions are believed
to be people of foreign countriesparticularly of China-an avowed foe
to Indian rulers-and so the enmity
against those people for no reason
increases.
All these conditions perpetuate
racial discrimination and violence in
our country. This scourge of racism
in our country cannot be totally
wiped out without abolishing the
semi-feudal system of our country.
However it is the task of the
progressive forces of India, to not
only condemn these racial attacks
and violence against people of
North-eastern states but also to
build-up a steady movement to fight
all forms of racial discrimination and
racial intolerance and to integrate
this movement with the peoples
movement to overthrow the present
semi feudal and semi-colonial
system and to establish a new
democratic system in India.
Class Struggle

Army Comes out with its True Ugly Face in

Pathribal Fake Encounter Case in Kashmir
On March 25, 2000 the army
and the J&K police jointly conducted
an operation. Indian soldiers
attacked a hut in a village called
Pathribal, in Anantanag, Jammu &
Kashmir and killed 5 people. The
army claimed they killed LeT
militants who had massacred Sikhs
in Chattisnghpora village on the eve
of the US president Bill Clintons visit
to India. Five charred bodies were
buried separately without post
mortem investigations or any
identification of the dead-bodies.
The local police challenged the
claim of the Army and told that
those killed by the police were not
militants but local innocent villagers
and protested against fakeencounter killings by the army and
demanded an enquiry in to the
incident. When a multitude of people
from Shangas and Accabad were
protesting and demanding for
exhumation and identification of the
five bodies, the men of Special
Operations Group (SOG) at
Baraktpura in the district head
quarters of Anantnag had gunned
down eight demonstrators. However
the Chief Minister of J & K had to
order the exhumation of five bodies,
following the public protests and their
demand.
The CBI had investigated in to
the incident and found that the army
had staged a fake encounter, by
picking up civilians from the
Anantnag area and killing them in
cold-blood. The CBI alleged that five
army personnel Brig. Ajay Sexena,
LT col. Brahendra Pratap Singh,
Maij, Surab Sharma, Maj.Amit
Saxena and Subedar Idxes khan
were involved in the gunning down
to five villagers and dubbing them
as foreign militants before the
media.
The CBI had change-sheeted
the said Army personal before the
May 2014

court at Srinagar. The army

challenged the CBI charge-sheet in
Srinagar Court; it argued that the
army officers cannot be prosecuted
without obtaining prior sanction of
permission from the army as is
required under Armed Forces
Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Thus
the army blocked the prosecution
successfully for a long period. After
a long court battle, the Supreme
Court on May 1,2012 told the army
either to give sanction for
prosecution of the army officer or to
conduct a court martial against
them. Then army opted to courtmartial them. The army court had
egregiously concluded that the
evidence recorded could not
establish a prima facie case against
any of the accused. The finding flies
in the face of the investigation. Thus
the Army exonerated the army
officers; self acquitted from the case
and buried any hope of justice.
But this was only expected from
the army that has been vehemently
blocking any enquiry and justice in
civil courts in to the case for a long
time. That the army conducted a
farcial enquiry is apparent from its
court proceedings. The army
conveniently reduced the Supreme
Court to a wild joke according to
some of the relatives of the fake
encounter victims. The army set up
the court at Nagrota in Jammu to
ensure that nobody from Kashmir
appears for recording the statement.
When the army drew flak from several
quarters it said it would meet the
witnesses at Awantipore (HQ of the
victor force division). The statements
of the relatives of the victims were
recorded for one day. On the next
day, they were subjected to crossexamination. During crossexamination knowing fully well of the
fact that the encounter attack was

conducted 14 years back and that

is impossible to the witnesses to
identify the men who had kidnapped
the five civilians that too they had
covered their faces with mufflers, it
was pitch dark and late night, the
witnesses were asked if they could
identify the men who kidnapped the
five civilians. Another farcical side
of this army court is that it sent
summons to the father of one of the
victims who had passed away six
years before the fake encounter.
Naturally the result of such a farcical
enquiry wouldnt be otherwise and
nobody can have faith on the Armys
justice system.
While Army acted in such a
farcical way, even the state
government of J&K and its rulers
who pose as if they are on the side
of the protesting Kashmir people,
had not come to the aid of relatives
of the victims even though they
begged through media and other
channels to provide them a counsel
or the police guards or even a vehicle
to attend to the Army court which
was far off, denying them even that
meagre assistance.
But today after the Army
Courts dismissal of case, the J&K
Chief Minister expresses dubious
anger and promises that he would
take-up the issue with the Prime
Minister, who visits the J&K state
for the National Science Congress,
and the CBI which filed a chargesheet against the fake encounter
announced that it would wait for a
fresh set of directions from the
Supreme Court.
The aggrieved relatives of the
fake encounter rightly announce
that they are left with no faith in this
system (judicial). They said the
Supreme Court is theirs. And they
are all on the Armys side. Who will
give us justice? Martyrdom of 8
Brakpora demonstrators has failed
21

to wake up their conscience. They

have buried the CBIs eye-opener.
What will we get from a dharna or
any appeal to the Prime Minister?
This is the real feeling of the
people of J&K state, who have been
suffering from the atrocious military
rule in the garb of democratic
parliamentary rule, which has been
imposed on them for the past 67
years. It is stifling their national
aspirations, their demand to selfdetermination and inalienable rights
and they are subjected to the rapes,
torture, killings, fake encounters and
then dubbing them as terrorists,
calling those who speak out this
barbarity as anti-national, Islamist
terrorists, Pakistani Agents etcwithout showing any genuine
political will or interest to solve the
Kashmir
problem
through
democratic and justified means.
AFSPA is the tool being utilized to
suppress and oppress the people
of J&K by our rulers. Today despite
universal opposition to AFSPA and
a demand to revoke that brutal law,
the rulers are denying it by stating
that the army is not accepting for it.
Thus they indirectly support the
undeclared military rule in J&K. So
it is the policy (anti-Kashmir) of the
rulers that is sanctifying fake army
encounter killings, and leaves no
scope for any justice whatever to the
victims and civilians.
The lesson and only lesson to
be learned from this experience is
that it is the very socio-economicpolitical system of India-the semi
feudal and semi-colonial system of
India that is under the control of
imperialism is the real culprit of this
brutal, inhuman state of affairs in
India, particularly in Kashmir and
North-eastern states. And without
overthrowing this pernicious system
and establishing a peoples
democratic system, the people
cannot protect their life and limb
through any legalistic means
confined with this cruel system!
22

12th Pravasi-Bharatiya Divas:

To Whose Benefit is this Ritual?
From Jan.7-9 (2014) the 12th
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was
conducted with much fanfare and
pomp. Every year such a ritual is
being conducted by rulers and being
propagated as a great important
event. Around 16 hundred invitee
NRIs had participated in this function
and awards were presented to some
NRIs for their out-standing
contributions. But most of the NRIs
disappointed and complained that
the most deserving persons were
ignored.
The main focus of this function
remained to be attracting
investments into India. In fact our
rulers have emphasized as usual
only on this aspect, than on the
problems, reactions, required official
action about the welfare of the NRIs
throughout the world and surviving
through their toil.
Almost 55 lakhs of semi-skilled
and unskilled workers from India are
living in Gulf Countries under
heinous, inhuman working and living
conditions. Thousands of these
workers are being falsely implicated
in to cases and are being
incarcerated. Many of these
migrated workers are suffering from
untold miseries in the gulf countries
after being subjected to ruthless and
inhuman exploitation.
It is these NRIs that are living
under abominable conditions that
are rescuing India from its crises of
balance of payments and foreign

currency reserves. According to the

estimation the NRIs on the whole
have remitted $80 billion to India in
2014, which is more than the FDI in
India. Out of this amount more than
60% of the amount is remitted by
the workers toiling in the Gulf
countries
But the government and rulers
of India who are enjoying the benefit
of the remittances of these Gulf
workers are showing quite an
indifference, and showing more
insensitiveness, to come to the aid
of these Gulf workers and are
choosing to neglect them. They are
respecting only the techi migrant
NRIs and are dancing to their tunes
in name of caring for NRIs on the
whole. They are merely shedding
crocodile tears about the misery of
the Gulf workers and their suffering
only at the time of elections with a
view to pool the votes of the friends
and family members of those NRI
workers in the Gulf.
Even on this 12 th Pravasi
Bharatiya Divas, though a special
discussion has been taken up to
know the problems of NRIs in the
Gulf, it was limited only to
discussions and meetings but has
not come up with any positive
concrete action in the interests Gulf
NRI workers. Thus this ritual
remained as a futile exercise without
any benefit to Indian workers in the
Gulf as usual.
For Details:
P.Jaswantha Rao
Secretary,
T.N.Memorial Trust,
32-13-26/1, M.R.Puram,
Vijayawada, pin-520 010.
Class Struggle

Road Accidents :

An Attendant Menace and Evil of Globalization

After introduction of neo-liberal
capitalist
and
imperialist
globalization policies and their
implementation in our country the
menace and evil of road accidents
killing people has increased into
abnormal proportions.
According to the global status
report on road safety, 2013, it is
revealed that a staggering 2, 31,000
people are being killed in road
accidents in our country every year.
The official view about these
accidents has been the same from
the colonial British era to this day
of globalization viz that the
accidents are caused due to rash
and negligent driving and thus often
blaming the driver of the vehicle
(when ever vehicle is a heavy vehicle)
and victimizing the driver.
However the facts relating to
this evil of road accidents seem to
be other-wise. It is apparent from the
test conducted by the UK based
global new car assessment
programme, which tested bestselling India made cars (Maruti
Suzuki, Alto 800, Tata-Nano,
Hyundai I10, Ford Figo, Volkswagen
Polo) these cars failed the test
which focused on consumeroriented vehicle safety initiatives,
and which are prone to accidents.
All these cars failed crash tests in
minimum standards. In other words
these cars are death-traps.
Another pointer about the road
accidents is that motor cyclists,
pedestrians and cyclists constitute
to be majority of victims.
Speed driving, light-jumping and
general-rule breaking is also some
of the causes for these killings in
road accidents.
With the liberalization the
world-class multinational car
manufacturing companies entered
India and started manufacturing
cars to their export needs as well
as the consumption of Indian
consumers.
May 2014

Sales in India are also a major

business activity of all these
multinational car companies. In their
avarice to amass profits, these
companies have willfully neglected
to maintain required safety
standards and norms in
manufacturing the cars. In order to
reduce costs, they have chosen to
not to follow safety norms in India,
which they follow in their countries.
The Indian political atmosphere,
that has been eagerly welcoming
FDI without any restraints and
governments control-a policy
adopted by Indian rulers and rulingclasses has emboldened and
encouraged them to flout the safety
norms in manufacturing cars. Added
to this, the multinational auto
manufacturing companies have been
permitted to manufacture and flood
motor bicycles and auto-rickshaws
in the Indian markets without any
regulation and control, whether they
are in proportion in quantity with the
available road-space and road
conditions
and
required
infrastructure, to the advantage of
the profit-making of those
companies.
Added to this the imperialist
drinking culture has been
encouraged as a civilized fashion,
which habit had encompassed the
cultural life of almost one and all in
the country and all these reasons
have aggravated this menace of road
accidents. Ultimately life in India has
been made cheap making it not as
precious as the life of an American
or a German-by the multi-national
car and auto manufacturing
companies.
But they argue and insist that
they follow and confirm to the Indian
safety norms and their standards
and that their cars pass Indian safety
norms. In their avarice of profit
making, and reduction of cost these
multi-national car companies, do not
provide simple safety features like
seat belts, airbags and crumble

zones etc, preferring to let the

accidents occur and people die.
How these companies have
been callous with the safety can be
understood by these recent
experiences.
In October and November last
year (2013) 52 people were killed in
two major road accidents of Volvo
buses that were manufactured by
the Swedish company at Bangalore.
The expert teams that have enquired
into these accidents concluded that
these accidents are the result of
flawed design. The state road
transport companies of AP, Tamil
Nadu and private transport company
bus owners have been requesting
in vain the Volvo Company to make
more safety arrangements. It does
not agree even to provide simple
safety devices like more hammers,
radium stickers, simply denying
them as not essential features of
safety saying that there are no guide
lines of central and state
governments and loathe to provide
them because of the impact of such
small additional cost can have on
its margin and sales. It argues that
bus
operators,
drivers,
manufacturers, urban city planners
and policy makers should work
together to see that such accidents
are avoided. Thus it attempts
absolve from its responsibility and
liability for road-safety, throwing it
on to other factors. It clearly
advertises that it has reached 3,000
drivers and provided them training
of refresher courses in driving as if
this would solve the problem,
indirectly blaming the drivers for the
cause of accidents.
No doubt certain accidents
occur due to drivers faults. These
are related to the work load, stress
and high-speed driving and long-hour
driving without rest imposed on
them. But these adverse workingconditions imposed and forced on
drivers are not being taken in to
contd on page 25

23

Fascism Prowling in the Grab of Cricket - Patriotism

The police in connivance with
the authorities of a private universitySwami Vivekanand Subharti
university-in Meerut of UP, have
booked 67 Kashmir students
studying in that private university
with sedition charges merely
because they cheered the Pakistani
cricket team during a closely fought
one-day match against India in the
recent Asia cricket cup match, and
celebrated Pakistans victory. In
addition to the penal charge of
sedition under section 124.A of I.P.C,
they were also booked for promoting
enmity between different groups
under section 153-A of the IPC and
causing mischief under section 427.
However with the intervention and
appeal of Omar Abdullah to his
counterpart in UP the sedition
charge was dropped and the other
charges remained.
The private university had
exprelled all the Kashmiri students
from the hostel and sent them back
to Kashmir in the name of a so
called precautionary measure to
prevent the incident being given a
communal colour. The private
university authorities have asked
each student to deposit a fine of
Rs.5,000, without any enquiry. The
university afterwards had instituted
an enquiry against the Kashmir
students. Even then it demands the
students to produce affidavits that
they would not indulge in such acts
in future.
Though the Chief Minister of
Kashmir appealed to drop the
sedition charges against the
Kashmir students, he declared that
he believed what the Kashmiri
students did was wrong and
misguided.
The BJP-one of the main ruling
parties of India- a Hindutva partysaid that their action conveyed a
political statement and caused
suspicion in the minds of a large
number of people and declared that
. In competitive cricket, their
24

nationalistic spirit inevitably pulls

you to your national team and thus
implied that if you do not admire and
support your national team, you are
anti-national.
The victim students claim and
asserted that they were not only fans
of Pakistani players but also of all
sporting icons in India and other
countries. They also revealed what
happened at that time. They said it
was only when Afridi hit two sixes
that the mood changed in the hall.
Some non J&K students began
vulgarly abusing Pakistani players.
One of us objected to it. They got
irritated and abused the Kashmiris
as bloody terrorists. There after
there was a scuffle, an altercation.
Next morning all Kashmiri students
attended classes but they
(outsiders) staged a dharna and
forced the management to deport
us. We were told we had been
suspended. Each student was
asked to deposit a fine of Rs.5000
without any enquiry.
This incident exposes the
dubious nature of our democracy
and the slogan of all Indians are of
one integrated nation. This also
shows how the administration and
police are bigoted.
The action taken by the
administration and police in
connivance with the private
university, by charging the Kashmiri
students with sedition, warns us
about the looming danger of fascism
prevailing in our country in the name
of cricket patriotism or cricket
nationalism. It also reminds us that
our independent rulers and
governments are adopting the very
same policies of the British colonial
rulers, who divided and ruled the
people of our country and
suppressed those who differed with
the official view or who expressed
their dissatisfaction or protest
against the colonial rulers.
After 67 years of the so called
independence the people of some

parts of the country are still being

treated as aliens and anti-national,
just because of their placement in
geography or due to their regional
aspirations by the authorities and
the majority view of the rulers and
ruling
classes.
Though
unproclaimed directly, the official
view seems to be that opposing
Pakistan is nationalism and not to
oppose Pakistan is anti-nationalism,
and being Muslims is suspectable
and that if these Muslims be from
J&K they are terrorists. Such a view
has been systematically propagated
throughout all these 67 years by the
rulers and ruling class parties
through their game of elections to
governmental power, by dividing
people and winning the vote of
majorities. Particularly the HindutvaBJP party that presents its self as
the representive of all Hindus-the
majority in India-had advocated and
propagated such views against
Muslims and Pakistan, in its
endeavour to reach to the
governmental power. It even went to
the extent of demanding Muslims
to prove their nationalism and
patriotism by submitting to Hindu
rule, by incessantly propagating
about HINDU-HINDI-HINDUSTANI
construction of Indian nationalism.
This is nothing but Hindu
chauvinism and national chauvinism.
But neither the other main ruling
class party nor the so called left
political parties have ever attempted
to counter this Chauvinism but they
too have whipped up nationalchauvinism of their own type at times
like India-Pakistani war, paving a
clear way for crystallization and
institutionalization of national
chauvinism as Nationalism, that led
to the establishment of cricket
nationalism or cricket patriotism in
India as a token for real patriotism
or nationalism. The people of India
are not suspectable if they cheer
England or Sri Lanka or any other
cricket team save the Pakistani
Class Struggle

team. Thus the cricket nationalism

and patriotism at one stroke could
decide the Muslims and supporters
of Pakistani talent whether they are
patriots or anti-national. Thus
cheering the Pakistani team playing
against India is made synonymous
with not only unpatriotic and antinationalist also with violence and
terrorism. The undeclared official
view also accepts such a view and
charges such un-patriotic students
with sedition.
Even the chief minister of J&K
who appealed for dropping the
sedition charges, had by stating
that the J&K students were
misguided and wrong, implied that
their act of cheering almost
tantamount to anti-nationalism .
In the old days the authorities
of universities used to stand in
support of their students disallowing
police entering their premises and
book cases against them. But they
are by - gone days of ethical
educators. Today we are living in the
days of imperialist globalization,
where the private universities are
conducting the business of selling

education for profiteering. So they

are more interested in enhancing
their business profits than standing
for the right. That is why they wanted
to protect their business interests
duly scapegoat the innocent J&K
students and victimizing them at the
behest of the other chauvinistic
students belonging to majority
sections in India, who could develop
business of the university, than the
J&K students who belong to minority
sections of India.
This is not just an isolated
incident that the J&K students or
Muslims in India are being
discriminated, humiliated and
treated as suspects.
Very recently the Jammu &
Kashmir cricket team was
subjected to a midnight search of
hotel rooms on the eve of a Ranji
Trophy match in Jammu.
In the early hours of March.13,
a Muslim residential compound in
Mumbra area of Mumbai was raided
by the police and 80 members of
the minority community were
detained illegally. The ostensible
reasons given for this crass act of

community profiling by the police,

was that they were looking for two
men from Balochistan and that it
was a combing operation and such
an operation is routine during
elections. In fact the police behaved
abusively against these people not
even sparing children, elder men,
even sick ones and women, and
harassed them.
This is a clear indication of the
raising menace of fascism and that
this menace lingers in the garb of
cricket-nationalism or cricketpatriotism or anti-terrorism.
Our rulers and ruling-classes
have been spewing hatred against
Pakistan and demanding Kashmiris
and Muslims in India to prove their
patriotism by even taking sides
against Pakistan, in all matters
including sports.
This is nothing but fascism and
state-coercion against a contrary
view expressed by the people. This
is indication of the ever growing
menace of fascism in India.
This has to be resisted. A united
peoples fight against this growing
fascist menace is the need of the
hour.

contd from page 23

It is unknown whether the

motor-bikes manufactured and
released on to Indian roads are ever
being subjected to road-safety
standard tests of any type. We often
hear about their high running power
and speed whether acceptable to be
run on Indian road conditions and
traffic conditions and whether
controllable safely.
The multi - national companies
wield enormous clout on the
government and the rulers and thus
are able to resist and evade any
plans to make required safety tests.
Though in 2007 itself the
Sundar
Committee
had
recommended drafting of national
road safety policy based on
international practices, the report
has been conveniently neglected by
our rulers at the behest of multinationals chanting that FDI is the
only magic wand for alround
economic development and any
attempt to shy away FDI with any

restraint would doom our

development, our rulers and rulingclasses have been kow-towing
before imperialist big-capitalists and
dancing to their tunes of exploitation
and greed to the destruction of limb
and life of our people. This is the
sole cause for this menace and evil
of road accidents, which has greatly
paved the way for total negligence
of road safety in India. A paltry sum
of Rs.187 crore is allocated to road
safety-which in practice means no
road safety at all. Thus road
accidents in India have become a
necessary evil attendant to neoliberal globalization with the willing
co-operation and approval of our
rulers and ruling classes.
The forces that oppose
imperialism and globalization shall
also take-up this aspect of roadsafety, in their fight against
imperialism.

consideration. Adverse road

conditions too are another serious
cause for road conditions.
But without taking these vital
conditions in to consideration simply
the blame is being thrown either on
the driver or victim leaving away the
real culprits viz the multinational
manufacturing companies and the
policy making rulers.
The very fact of the recent
recalling of Maruti Company its
Dzire model cars for replacement of
a faulty fuel pump start (a fuel tank
part,) Toyota-Kirloskar recalling its
Innova cars to correct the faulty
spiral cable mounted on the steering
wheel, General Motors that recalled
its Tavera, over emission related
issues-speak volumes about the
callousness of multi-national car
manufacturing companies in
maintaining and providing safety
norms and standards that is leading
to road accidents.
May 2014

25

Approval of GM Seeds Field Trials is

A Treacherous Act
Neither the bitter and pathetic
experiences of the farmers of Andhra
Pradesh and Vidarbha who
cultivated the GM cotton crops, nor
the protests of the people against
BT crops throughout the country
could deter the decision of our UPA
rulers who seem to have pledged and
dedicated to subserve the interests
of imperialism and of the
transnational
agri-business
corporates that intend to benefit and
gain huge profits from the
agricultural sector of our land.
Though in the name of listening to
the voices of common people, the
UPA rulers have prevented and
grandly announced a moratorium
on the commercial production of BT
Brinjal in India with much fanfare,
they came out with their true colours
of subservience to the imperialism
and its big agri-business interests,
by deciding to allow gene
modification field trials for certain
food crops, which was put on hold
for about a year, claiming that, it was
misunderstanding that led to put on
hold of GM food trails. Though there
was a PIL pending in Supreme Court
against field trials of GM crops, and
the Supreme Court has appointed a
technical expert committee which
had argued in its report that open
field trails should not be conducted
until major gaps in the regulatory
systems are addressed and which
argument has been fully endorsed
by a group of 51 independent and
international eminent scientists and
though
the
UPAs
own
parliamentary standing committee
on agriculture has recommended
against field testing of GM crops,
our rulers had made this decision
with extraordinary haste, just on the
verge of formation of a new
government after the declared
general elections, with the argument
that there is no embargo from
26

Supreme Court on such trails, as if

this is the most impending problem
to be solved at once. Though this
governmental
decision
is
announced to be made by the
environment minister M.Veerappa
Moily, one need not treat it to be
the personnel decision of that
individual minister but it is the
collective decision of the UPA rulers
and the ruling classes that rule our
country. Even the fact that there is
a total ban on GM crops in
European Union Japan, Australia,
New Zealand, Germany as well in
many states of US and in Mexico,
could not make our rulers to rethink
before allowing GM filed trails in our
country.
The main reason to protest
against the field trials of GM crops
is the potential for pollution of crop
genes in adjacent non GM fields.
Particularly in our country where the
average size of the forms (farm-size)
is much smaller, the potential for
pollution of adjacent non GM fields
is much greater with devastating
effects on the middle, small and
poor peasants, ruining them. It is
already disclosed in some
experiments that rats and birds have
refused GM seeds. Even in India
goats have refused the GM cotton
plants. Independent analysts and
experts wage great caution in Indian
conditions in view of the poor
regulatory conditions as well as the
degree of bio-diversity which could
be in peril. They warn that GM
crops in India would have irreversible
major consequences causing long
term damage to our agriculture and
our people. With introduction of GM
agriculture, the diverse agricultural
heritage and seed varieties of India
would be wiped out by that
monoculture, and monopolistic
practices of big seed companies.
But in India all the proponents
of GM agriculture and GM foods are

sponsored in one form or another

by the GM. Industry or by
sponsored research. Such
sponsored scientists from premier
institutions like the Indian
Agricultural Research Institute
(IARI) have been ardently countering
opposition to GM agriculture and
fervently canvassing for GM crops
and agriculture in India.
With the support of such a
fabricated
and
sponsored
canvassing to the benefit of giant
Agri business corporations like
Monsanto, our rulers disregarding
and unheeding the opinion of the
public have cleared the way for GM
crop trials in India. With this
clearance granted by the rulers, the
Genetic Engineering appraised
Committee
(GEAC),
the
governments top regulator decided
to allow international seeds
companies like Monsanto and
BASF to undertake filed trails of
11 varieties of genetically modified
crops.
With this decision, though
initially 11 GM are approved for trials
for crops like Rice, Wheat,
Sorghum, (Jawar), groundnut,
Maize, potato, tomato, cabbage,
cauliflower, okra (ladys finger),
brinjal, mustard, watermelon,
papaya and sugar cane, it paved a
way for almost 2000 transgenic
varieties of genetically modified
seeds, to be introduced in to Indian
agriculture, giving a total hold on
Indian agriculture-the backbone of
India-to transnational giant
agribusiness corporations.
With this approval, it is mooted
to do away with the clause that has
listed GM crops among the
hazardous substances under
environment protection act 1986.
To justify this treacherous act
of ruining Indian agriculture sector
and farming community,
Class Struggle

Labour File :

Work-place Accidents Around the World

In India
On Aug.17 (2013), a contract
employee of the Central Discom,
was electrocuted while repairing
power lines at Turakia-Palley, near
Hyderabad; after climbing an
electricity pole for repairs. He
instantly received a shock and fell
on the ground. He sustained several
injuries and died. He ensured that
power was switched off before
climbing pole. Somebody switched
on the power.
On Aug.23 (2013), a major fire
broke out at the state owned
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
Limited (HPCL), killing 27 workers
including more than 6 deaths on the
spot while others succumbed to
burns later in hospital. Many of
these workers are contract workers.
The cause of the accidents is
attributed to the negligence of the
officers, who failed to arrange
sensors at the DHT pipe line, which
could have warned about formation
of gas, by ringing danger alarm.
These accidents occurred while
starting a new DTH pipe line of a

cooling tower commissioned newly

for a trail, without vacating the
workers, working there. The contract
workers belong to Gopal Engineering
Company.
On Spt.12 (2013), two persons
were killed and several injured in an
explosion at a cracker factory at
Thakurda Gurtala, in West
Mednapore district of West Bengal.
On Sept.26 (2013), eight
labourers were crushed to death
when electricity towers that were
under erection collapsed in
Mohodaya village near Sehore. All
these labourers were from Bihar.
On October. 9 (2013) 140
women workers suffered asphyxia,
at an agro marine products company
at Davispet village, in Nellore district
of AP, due to leakage of ammonia
gas.
On October. 6 (2013), eight
laborers were wounded- four critically
injured-after a powerful explosion
inside a railway tunnel under
construction in the mountains
between Jiribam and Imphal.
On October .16 (2013), three
brothers died of asphyxiation while

our rulers, the sponsored

scientists and experts and capitalist
media are propagating the attractive
slogans such as raising crop
nutrition, production at reduced
costs, imparting immunity against
pests, diseases and other stresses
like drought, soil salinity and climate
change etc, meeting the
burgeoning requirement of food
gains, vegetable, fruits of the rapidly
growing population though the
means of GM agriculture in India.
GM agriculture is being falsely
projected as the panacea to all the
ailments of agriculture, food
availability and poverty in India.
The UPA rulers boast that this
decision as a progressive step in
agriculture and thus are hoodwinking the people of this land.

With this approval, many

biotechnology companies have
readied big investment plans on
R&D activities in India. Among them
are Monsanto, Bayer India, Mahyco,
Advanta
seeds
etc.
the
transnational agribusiness giants.
Thus once again it became
clear that on whose side the rulers,
ruling-classes and government of
India are working for.
While condemning this antipatriotic and decision of subservient
to imperialist agri-business interests
our rulers and government, a steady
anti-imperialist and anti big agribusiness movement has to be built
up to protect the interests of the
farmers of India, by all patriotic
forces of our country, opposing the
entry of GM foods and crops in to
India.

May 2014

cleaning an oil tank in village

Mirzapur Bichula in Usheat area of
UP. They went inside the tank of
mantha oil to clean, and died inside
due to asphyxiation.
On October. 20 (2013) four
members belonging to a same
family were killed and three others
injuried, in an explosion at an
unlicensed cracker factory at Chota
Tajpur of Srirampur subdivision in
Hoogly district of West Bengal.
On November. 1 (2013), nine
workers were killed and five others
injured in a blast at a licensed
cracker unit at Ozhukachery village,
near Kumbakonam of Tamil Nadu.
On November. 3 (2013), six
workers including four women were
killed and 11 others were injured due
to blaze in a two storied garment
and leather factory in central Delhis
Ranjeet Nagar area.
On November. 7 (2013) three
contract labourers were killed on the
spot when they were trying to
remove a coal blockage at the coal
mill area of 500 mw fourth unit of
National Power Corporation (NTPC),
Ramagundam in AP. They were hit
by a rush of coal in the wake of air
pressure when they are trying to
remove a blockage of a huge pipe.
On November. 11 (2013) a
worker was killed and three injured
when a gas cylinder exploded in a
factory in Assaims Kamarup
district. Agitated workers went on a
rampage.
On November 11. (2013), two
gangmen on duty were run over by
a speeding train near Gangpur
Railway station of West Bengal
when they were working on the
railway track.
On November.14 (2013), eleven
Tata Steel employees and contract
workers at Jamshedpur, West
Singbhum were injured when a gas
holding chamber had exploded. Out
of 11 who were injured, 10 have
27

splinter injuries and the other one

worker inhaled poisonous gasses.
On November. 13 (2013) one
worker was killed and 15 others
injured when a major fire broke-out
at Bhusan Steel Plant in Odishas
Angul District. Thousands of
workers staged an indefinite strike
in front of plants main gate
demanding immediate action
against the management and
compensation for the victims.
On Nov. 11 (2013), 4
employees were killed in a mishap
at an underground mine of BCCLs
Bastimata Colliery in Dhanbad
district. Two of the deceased are
officers of the company. As the roof
of the colliery caved in the
employees were trapped and killed
under-ground.
On Dec.8 (2013) in an
explosion occurred in the plant of
IDL explosives P.LTD, in Chintyal of
Nalgonda district in AP., two workers
were killed, when they were working
in a drying plant.
On Dec.19 (2013), two migrant
laboures from UP, were killed and
the condition of another worker was
serious, when they were cleaning
shutter tank in a Khandasari Sugar
Factory, ay Lakshmapur in Medal
district of AP. They inhaled
poisonous gasses, in the tank and
were killed.
On Dec.20 (2013), a worker
belonging to Hetero drugs plant at
Nakkapalli near Vizag of AP was
killed due to the poisonous pollution
in the area by the drug company.
On Dec.26 (2013), four workers
from Bihar were charred to death in
rubber factory at Gangampahead on
the city out-skirts of Hyderabad. The
deaths were caused due to a
pipeline blast.
On Dec.28 (2013), a worker of
Coramandal Agro products and Oil
Ltd (CAPOL) at Jandrapeta village
near Chirala of A.P was killed as he
fell in to the conveyor belt that
crashed him to death. The workers
claim that thus accident happened
as the management failed to take
necessary safety measures.
28

On January.1 (2014), 11
workers were injured in a reactor
explosion
at
Nagarjuna
Agrichemical unit at Chilakapalem
near Srikakulam of A.P.
On January.4 (2014) at least 14
workers were killed when a
residential building, that was under
construction by Bharat Realtors and
developers had collapsed in
Concona Town, in Goa. The building
under construction crashed like a
pack of cards as per the version of
eyewitnesses.
On January.11(2014), two coal
miners were killed and another
injured due to collapse of the lost of
the RK 7 underground mine in
Srirampur area of Singareni
colleries compay Ltd, in A.P.
On January, 24(2014) a
contract worker at NTTPS, died
when he fell on the conveyor belt
while on duty.
On January, 24 (2014), a
contract worker got buried in coal
when it fell on him while descending
the vessel rope way in a ship
anchored at Gangavaram Port of
Visakhapatnam in A.P. The worker
belongs to SVL Company.
On January, 3 (2014), four
persons were killed and many
injured is an explosion at a workshop
at Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
On January, 28 (2014), in an
industrial accident at a steel plant
in Concolim of Goa, 2 workers were
killed.
On January, 9 (2014) a contract
worker of greater Hyderabad
municipal corporation was washed
away by the force of the water in
the drain he was cleaning in
Mythrinapur. The worker was
pressurized by supervisors to attend
the said work.
On Feb.10 (2014), five workers
of a pharmaceutical plant near
Balanagar in Mahaboobanagar
district were injured due to a blast
of reactor during a chemical
process.
On Feb.10 (2014), one worker
was killed and four others injured in
an explosion in a licensed cracker-

factory on the Luck now-Kanpur

highway.
On Feb.17 (2014), a contract
worker was killed on receiving an
electric shock while he was working
on a line at a sub-station in
Hyderabad. He received a shock
and fell down sustaining grave
injuries.
On February. 25, two workers
were injured in an accident at the
Hinduja Thermal Power Plant which
is under construction at Parawada
of Visakhapatnam AP. The two
contract workers came in to
contract with live electric line.
On March.6 (2104) five workers
died to due asphyxiation when they
entered a waste as storage tank in
a private factory at Tubinakare
industrial area of Mandya city in
Karnataka state.
In Other Countries :
On August. 12 (2013), ten
workers at Japans crippled DaiChai Nuclear Plant were exposed
to radiation while conducting cleanup activities.
On August.19 (2013) 24
workers were killed when a gold
mine collapsed in Dalgo area in
Northern state of Sudan.
On August.26 (2013) seven
workers died and four others fell due
to Carbon Monoxide poisoning in a
coal mine at Erodes city of inner
Mongolian region of China.
On September 15 (2013) 27
miners were killed as a coal mine
collapsed while working in an
underground coal mine in Abkhorak
coal mine in Ruyi Der Ab district of
Afghanistan.
On October.9, (2013), 3
workers were killed and 33 other
injured including 10 workers in an
explosion at a gas supply companyBoxing Chengali Gas supply Co.
LTD in Shandong province of China.
On October.9 (2013), 10
garment workers including some of
the factory officials were killed and
many injured in a devastating fire at
a garment factory of around
composite mills owned by Palmal
Class Struggle

group in Sreepur Upazilla, Gazipur

of Bangladesh.
On October.12 (2013), at least
21 people have and 98 others injured
in an explosion at a fire workers
factory in a military complex in
Northern Vietnam.
On October. 25 (2013), a
worker was killed and dozens of
them were injured due to the
explosion of a boiler in a sweets
manufacturing factory of DULSES
Blueberry in Mexico. Many other
workers were trapped in the factory
building.
On October.30, at least four
Indians have died of suffocation in
Qatar while working in a sewage
man-hole in Qatars capital Doha.
They entered in to it for cleaning.
On October. 29, at a garment
factory of western brands, at
Gazipur in Bangladesh, as five
broke-outs in the 10th story of the
building, 2 workers were killed.
Coincidentally, the fire broke out
while workers were protesting for
work-place safety-particularly from
fire.
On December.13, (2013) 21
workers were killed in a gas
explosion inside a coal mine

belonging to Hutubi County in Hui

Autonomous prefecture of Changi in
China.
On December 22 (2013) at
least six workers were killed and
another injured in a coal mine blast
in Hongxing Coal mine in Puan
county of Guizhar province in China.
On December. 28, in an
accident occurred as fields of Armco
Company in Saudi Arabia-as the oil
rig belonging to the government of
Saudi Arabia was drowned in
Persian Gulf 2 Indian workers and 1
Bangladesh worker working there
were missing in the sea. 24 workers
injured were rescued.
On January. 9 (2014) in a
chemical explosion at a chemical
factory in YUKAKHI town on Japan,
belonging to Mitsubishi company, 5
workers were killed and 12 workers
were injured when they were
cleaning by using Silicon products.
On January.28 (2014), 7
workers were killed when they were
attending to repair an Indian oil
tanker at the Haizhar Shipyard, in
Zhoushan of China. The tanker had
a load capacity of 50,000 tonners
caught fire and exploded.

On Febraury.5 (2014), 17
miners of Harmony Gold miners Co,
were trapped in a burning gold-mine
at the door kop gold mine, west of
Johannesburg in S. Africa.
On February, 16, about 11
workers were rescued while 200
workers were feared to have been
trapped inside an illegal gold mine
in South Africa after a boulder fell
and blocked their way. The gold
mine was dug behind a cricket
stadium.
On Febraury.18 (2014) seven
miners were killed and nine injured
when a gas explosion ripped
through a state-owned coal mine at
a depth of 2,600 feet in Makiyivaka
mine in domestic region in Ukraine.
On February. 23 (2014) one
worker was killed and 27 workers
became ill following a carbon
monoxide leak at a New York seafood restaurant in the long island
town.
On March.6 (2014), due to
powerful explosions Titan synthetic
rubber plant in Omsk of Siberia in
Russia, workers present there were
killed. The details of the deaths and
their numbers are not yet disclosed
by the authorities.

contd from page 30

of adivasis. The 5th Shedule had

empowered the Governor with
supreme powers to intervene to
protect the rights of adivasis in the
sheduled areas. But, at no time, the
Governor has used his powers to
protect the rights of adivasis. So,
the adivasis are left with no
alternative but to get united and
struggle for their rights. The govt. as
well as the parties of the ruling
classes are not prepared to allow
the adivasis to enjoy their rights.
Madan Mohan noted that it is true
that the Gram Sabhas in different
areas are waging struggles against
the stone mafia, forest mafia, coal
mafia, company and govt. authiries.
But these struggles are waged
seperately and in an isolated
manner and they are not effective
and and often end in failure.

Therefore, this Convention must

declare its resolve to wage an
united and organised struggle. The
Convention, in fact, is a preparation
for this.
At the conclusion, P.P.Verma
it is necessay for the Gram Sabhas
to give a call for rebellion, Hool,
ulgulan.
At the conclusion, the
Convention has declared that no
company and their dalal leaders will
be allowed to enter in the villages.
The development of the villages will
be carried on by the Gram Sabhas.
It resolved to hold the regional
Conventions of Gram Sabhas
followed by rallies. The Convention
ended with the vote of thanks by Dr.
Sunita Kumari. The Convention Hall
reverberated with enthusiastic and
militant slogans.
29

won the right over the coal in the

Karnapur area by waging a powerful
struggle using a Supreme Court
verdict. Here the peasants are ready
to pay the royalty to the govt. but
are not at all prepared to allow the
compay to grab their lands and
displace them from the villages.
Along with this, the peasants
are now generating the electricity
using the coal resources as a way
of attempting an alternative
development. Aravind Anzum
pointed out that time has come now
for the people to prevent the
companies and their dalal leaders
from entering the villages. Shambhu
Mahato said that 5th Shedule was
added to the Indian Constitution and
the Gram Sabha Act was again
enacted in 1996 to ensure the rights
May 2014

Reports

DISTRICT CONFERENCE OF HOOL JHARKHAND

KRANTI DAL HELD
The Hool Jharkhand Kranti Dal
held its Ranchi District Conference
in Ranchi on Feb2014.The
Conference first paid floral tributes
to the Martyrs together with
revolutionary songs. It was presided
by the Central Vice President Sani
Jaswa Kachhap. Sani Pushpa
Bhogta, the earstwhile District
Secretary has presented the
Political-organisational Report.
Shambhu Mahato, the leader of
AIKMKS, Kamal Kishore Yadav, the
leader of AIFTU(New) and other
guests have addressed the
Conference.
The speakers said : Several
peasant organisations and the so
called Jharkhand parties are active
in Ranchi district. But all would
evade the problems of the peasants.
It is only the Hool Jharkhand Kranti
Dal (HJKD) which is organising the
adivasis, dalits, landless and poor
peasants on their problems. These
struggles include the struggles for
the restoration of lands to the
adivasis, the protection of forest and
for minimum wages. So, the Dal is
identified with these struggles
together with the struggle against
mafias and goondas in Ormazhi,
Angada, Namkum, Kake, Rathu,
Silli, Simidari, Sadar Ranchi and
Chandolana alongwith the rural
areas in the district. The Dal got
weakened to an extent as a few
members were removed from the
Organisation because of their antiorganisational activities. However, all
the members believe in the
genuineness of the leadership and
are engaged in strengthening the
organisation at the ground level.
The speakers further said :
Ranchi being the capital of the State
is also a centre of struggles. The
parties of ruling classes are getting
ready to use issues like domicle
30

and identity in their electoral game.

They never bother about the crucial
issues like the displacement, land
to the landless poor, corruption in
welfare programmes, and the
extention of MNREGS, etc. The
closure of industries and removals
have touched regrettable levels with
the policies of globalization in
Jharkhand. The policies of
privatization have hiked up the costs
of education, health care, electricity,
water, transport, essential
commodities enormously. The
corruption has gone out of control.
The loot of landed and mineral
sources is on the increase. The very
word development is creating a
feeling of terror in the minds of the
poor.
Ranchi has earned a name for
the production of vegitables. But the
big trading companies have taken
the market into their control. The
peasants get no reasonable rates
for their produce. They are caught

in a debt trap. Some are committing

suicides. This situation demands
unity and struggle. However, there
is no relation and co ordination
between the struggles of workers,
peasants and the struggle on the
question of identity.
The
Conference
has
unanimously elected a District
Committee with Rajdev Raju as the
President and Arjun Munda as the
Secretary. Birsa Hembram, the
President of HJKD said in his
concluding address noted that jal,
jangal, land and other resources are
continuously grabbed form the
adivasis and moolavasis. The
delegates must go to the villages,
unite and organise the people
against this. They must use the 5th
shedule of the Constitution and the
PESA as a weapon in their struggle.
The Conference concluded with
the slogan : March ahead for a new
dawn along the road shown by Birsa
Munda.

CONVENTION OF GRAM SABHAS IN RANCHI

A Convention of Gram Sabhas
was held in Ranchi, Jharkhand State
on Feb9, 2014.More than 50
delegates have participated in it form
Ranchi, Gadva, Lohardaga, East
Singbhum, Girdigh, Saraikola
karsawah, Hazaribagh, Chatra,
Gumla and Dumka. The leaders from
various parties, mass organisations
and anti-displacement movement
also attended it in good number.
Darshan Gangu, Birsa Hembram,
P.P. Verma, Dr. Sunita Kumari,
Babudhan and Madan Mohan were
present in the Convention.
Revolutionary songs and slogans
have filled an atmosphere of unity
and struggle in the Convention Hall.
The speakers explained how
certain rights are provided under the

law to the rural masses and what

the people must do to exercise
these rights in their own
interests.The laws bestows the right
on the people over the water, forest,
land and other natural resources
and prohibits the companies and the
governments from setting the
industries or other projects in the
rural areas and from taking away the
peoples resources without the
consent of the Gram Sabhas. They
explained that the rights won by
the people can be protected and
enjoyed only through their own
organised and united struggle.
Anirudh Dangi, the leader of an
ongoing struggle in Hazaribagh
explained how the peasants had

contd on page 29
Class Struggle

m
Poe
A

DAWN

We are revolution, a tide so red,

from the footsteps of millions

this cresting wave looks like dawn breaking

the giant sleeping underneath our cities has

it curls in our mouths like

started to wake

tongues of flame

and when we move, traffic halts

They will tell you, you dont have wings

when we move, nations fall

They will say your halos are broken

when we move, chains are broken

But there is something divine here

we are as inevitable as the tide,

We are warriors. Survivors of a hostile

as unstoppable as sunrise

universe,

and today, a thousand eyes snap open

Children tossed from the nest like birds

we are awake, we do not hide

Humankind is revolution wrapped in flesh,

we demand more for our selves,

laced with bone,

and more for our children than this dying

Ever changing, ever forward and

When the momentum of history stands at
our back

world.
Than these toxic skies, and polluted water,
Than slavery

Who can stand against us?

Every man and woman is a star,

We are the arrow of the history,

and within each person are the seeds of

We are the only direction,

We hold up the sky, and oil the machine
We pull civilization on our backs,
Atlas and titan, juggernaut, and giant
We have been to bow our heads
so they dont scrape stars from the sky
To walk softly so that we dont shatter cities
To go hungry so that the prophets who

liberation
what fool strikes a giant, unless they knew,
the giant will never strike in return?
Long ago we forgot something important,
but we are starting to remember
When you are tired, do not sleep
When you fell hopeless, sing your own
songs

sing us to sleep can eat until they burst.

But when you are silent you can hear it
beating in your chest
When you stand still, you can feel the
streets rumble
May 2014

No one can take what you do not give

So never give up hope
Never give your dignity,
And above all, never, ever, surrender.
31

Justice to Dalits Remains as a Mirage

To state that justice to dalits
in independent India is a mirage
cannot be an over statement.
The bitter experience of the
dalits throughout our country for
the past 66 years leads to such
a conclusion without doubt. The
recent judgment in a case of
massacre of dalits delivered by
the High Court of Andhra
Pradesh in April 2014 once
again confirm such a view and
conclusion to be correct and
irrefutable.
On August 6, 1991, the
upper caste landlords attacked
dalitwada in the village
Karamchedu in Guntur district of
AP with lethal weapons and
massacres dalit people. The
dead bodies were packed in
gunny bags and were thrown
into drainage canal. This ghastly
incident unfolded the wrath of
the people and forced the
government to constitute a
special court to try this case.
The special court after a
long drawn prosecution
delivered its judgment in 2007
sentencing 25 accused to life
term imprisonment and 35
others
to
one
year
imprisonment. When an appeal
came before the High Court,
after a prolonged legal wrangle,
it struck down the judgement of
special court and released all
the convicted on the ground that
the police failed to prove the
case against the accused. The
2 judge bench of the High Court
that delivered the judgment had
expressed sympathy towards
the mental agony of the accused
as they were confined to jails for
prolonged period and ordered

the government to pay back the

fines they paid. It also passed a
comment on the special court
that that its judgment was
delivered without considering
the legal aspects only to serve
the purpose for which it was
constituted. Yet the High Court
did not bother to know who
perpetuated this massacre and
did not even directed the
government to produce the real
culprits before it. When the
crime investigating agencies,
the government and the judicial
system failed in punishing the
perpetuators of crime, what
recourse has been left for the
dalits to get justice. With such a
legalistic and formal attitude
however whose children are
these crying children?
This is not an isolated case
of acquittal of upper caste,
landlord criminals who attacked
on dalits and the poor. If we
peruse the court acquittals, from
the case of upper caste Hindu
landlords attack on dalits at
Kilavanmani in TamilNadu in
1968 till today, we find that
acquittals of the culprits became
a common feature in our judicial
system.
As recently as October
10,2013, the Patna High Court
acquitted of the 20 culprits
convicted by the addition district
court sentencing16 of the
convicts with death and 10
others with life imprisonment in
Laxampur Bathe case which
attracted country wide attention
as 58 dalits including 27 women
were massacred by the Ranabir
Sena, a private army of the
landlords.

On October 29, 2013 a

district court in Odishas
Kandhamal has acquitted 54
accused, who set fire an
Odiyas Baptist Church and 14
houses of dalit Christians at
Barkhama in 2007 in the riots of
upper caste Hindutva bigots on
Christian dalits. The court
acquitted them on the plea of
lacking evidence.
We can witness the same
result with the Indian judicial
system in scores of other cases
of massacre of dalits, be it
Neerukonda,
Tsundur.
Bathanitola and so on.
The fact that almost in all
these cases of acquittal, the
benefit of doubt is awarded to
the culprits, but not in favour of
dalits victims, which speaks
volumes about the concept and
orientation of our judicial system
that is biased against the
landless dalits.
Why the state and law
enforcing systems are failing in
adducing and producing reliable
evidence? Why the judicial
system is not taking initiative in
obtaining proper and correct
evidence? Without any fuss the
answere is given by a victim of
Laxman pur Bathe case:
after 58 murders, no one is
guilty. The courts are theirs; the
government is theirs and the lathi
is theirs. The poor have nothing
Unless the champions of
the cause of dalits and poor
understand this vital and
fundamental fact that our very
social system itself denies
justice to dalits and that unless
we overthrow this system, we
can not render justice to dalits
and poor.