tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57639472789461095202024-03-14T02:38:31.113-07:00CPMCPM
Nandigram: Geeta Rani (2nd from left) displays her rubber bullet wounds to the reporters.Villagers have been fighting a pitched battle with the administration ever since the government has ordered seizure of agricultural land to be converted to a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). More than 15 people have died and an equal numbers are unaccounted for. The bulk of the villagers are farmers and live below the poverty line. The state government is a communist run.kalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-25641798289129551812009-07-03T19:23:00.000-07:002009-07-03T19:25:23.936-07:00Grievance guerrillas -- KPS GIllCrack tactics, tackle Maoists<br /><br />TRUTH ABOUT LALGARH 2<br /><br />K.P.S. GILL (4 July 2009)<br /><br />Wherever I have confronted terrorism and insurgency, from early encounters with Naxalism in Assam, through the multiple insurgencies in that state, then, in Kashmir, Punjab and, eventually, in Chhattisgarh, my first effort was always to develop a fair understanding of motive, intent and ideology of the groups. It is out of these that their strategies and tactics flow.<br />The degree of force, the nature of targets, the tactics and weapons deployed — each of these is defined by the underlying character and objectives of the group’s leadership.<br />Despite the fact that the Khalistani terrorists claimed to be fighting for Sikh rights, the reality was that this was an opportunistic platform for people who were trying to seize power through the use of limitless and indiscriminate violence. Significantly, a majority of their targets were, in fact, the very Sikhs they claimed to be “protecting”.<br />On the other hand, I recall, that when local explosives were used in the serial blasts in Hyderabad in August 2007 — at that juncture, for the first time — there was some speculation that the attack may have been engineered by the Maoists. This was a line of conjecture that I rejected immediately. The Maoists have many sins to their name, but putting bombs in public places to target random civilians are not among these.<br />There was evidently a comprehensive failure of assessment on the part of the Marxists, not only in Lalgarh, but in the preceding proclivity to deny or distort the reality of the Maoist gains in the state. This can partly be explained in terms of the utterly polarised and muddied discourse in India.<br />What we see is a whole spectrum of perspectives from the ultra-romantic to sweeping condemnation: intellectuals and political players have alternately projected the Maoists as heroic defenders of the oppressed masses, or as “mere” criminals, thugs and extortionists.<br />The reality lies elsewhere. This is an ideologically motivated grouping – though not all its members could conceivably have a full comprehension of ideology and strategy. This is no different from the agencies of the state: how many footsoldiers of the paramilitary forces or police, for instance, understand the Constitution of India? The core leadership of the Maoists certainly has a coherent vision of ideology and approach. At lower levels, what we have is the mobilisation of “grievance guerrillas”, people who join the ranks because of specific wrongs, deficits and needs.<br />The crucial element that must be grasped is that the Maoists have never been able to create a “liberated area” anywhere in India. Once the security forces enter, they simply cede territories. There is never a direct and wider confrontation, though small police parties may be opportunistically ambushed.<br />What was seen at Lalgarh — despite panicked assessments of a Maoist “liberated zone” being carved out — was a transient and tactical disruption based on a specific local incident and through the creation of militant front organisation activity.<br />Even here, the dominance of the Maoists was vastly exaggerated. While I was in Midnapore — though I was prevented from entering the affected areas — I was able to talk to several villagers coming from what was generally thought to be “Maoist-dominated” territory. Oddly, when they were questioned, the replies encountered were that their village was free from Maoist influence, but others “10 to 15 kilometres away” were controlled by the rebels. Those familiar with such matters will confirm that this is the standard response across India for all unverified rumours.<br />By and large, the Maoists are essentially making inroads into regions of governmental neglect by trying to dominate areas that are either very lightly governed as a matter of policy, or where the reach of governance has diminished. This was dramatically visible during my tenure in Chhattisgarh.<br />There was much talk about the situation in Bastar, and how the Maoists had established “dominance” across this vast administrative division — the heart of violence in the state. What I found, however, was that the total presence of police forces in the area was abysmal. Across 39,114 square kilometres was a total sanctioned strength of 2,197 policemen (5.62 per 100 square kilometres). Actual availability was just 1,389, yielding a ratio of just 3.55 policemen per 100 square kilometres.<br />I recall that I travelled long distances through Chhattisgarh, often late at night, but would not see a single policeman on duty. Another signal abdication was police officers turning up for meetings in civilian clothes to avoid detection by the Maoists.<br />Much of current discourse attributes far more popular support to the Maoists than is, in fact, the case. Thus, we are told (inaccurately) that the Maoists principally dominate tribal areas because these populations are among the poorest of the poor. What is ignored here is the sheer and demonstrative brutality of the Maoists — cold-blooded killings; the cutting off of limbs for the smallest of infractions; harsh and humiliating punishments for “co-operating” with the government, or otherwise acting against the will of the local Maoist leadership.<br />This, precisely, was what was on display in Lalgarh. No other tactical purpose was served through the killing of Marxist cadres and the macabre display of at least one corpse for days on end, other than to inspire widespread terror. It is notable that once the security forces had moved back into Lalgarh the thousands who had fled the Maoist terror quickly returned to their homes.<br />If the Maoists are to be defeated, the state and its agencies will have to develop a detailed understanding of their strategies, tactics and underlying ideology. Such an understanding is now conspicuous by its absence, with the notable exception of the police leadership in Andhra Pradesh and a few officers in the intelligence establishment. To my surprise, it appears to be evidently and abundantly lacking among the Marxists in West Bengal.<br /><br />http://telegraphindia.com/1090704/jsp/frontpage/story_11195165.jsp#kalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-57246027839678994412009-07-03T17:57:00.000-07:002009-07-03T17:58:14.695-07:00Lalgarh: fear, power and obedienceDate:03/07/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/07/03/stories/2009070355470800.htm<br /><br /><br />Lalgarh: fear, power and obedience<br /> <br /> <br />Praveen Swami<br /> <br /> <br />Can democratic institutions resist a cult of death?<br /> <br /> <br />Four years ago, in a newspaper interview that went unnoticed even in West Bengal, ‘Comrade Dhruba’ described plans for a guerrilla campaign that would stretch from Medinipur to Malda. But the Communist Party of India (Maoist) central committee member had words of reassurance for his impeccably bourgeois, English-speaking audience. “ We do not plan violence in Kolkata,” he said, “ because when we establish our bases there, the people will be forc ed to obey us.”<br /> <br /> <br />Marketed as an authentic adivasi rebellion against misrule, backwardness and human rights abuses, the still-unfolding violence in Lalgarh in fact provides graphic insights into exactly how India’s Maoists command obedience. Lalgarh’s key leaders — a caste-Hindu from Andhra Pradesh with a Kalashnikov in hand, and an affluent public-works contractor backed by the Trinamool Congress — have demonstrated that there is an intimate relationship between fear and power.<br /> <br /> <br />Fittingly, perhaps, the Lalgarh crisis began with a murderous act of violence — albeit an abortive one. Minutes after West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee left the site of a new steel plant on November 2, 2008, a massive improvised explosive device went off under the road he had just passed over. If rats in the fields around Salboni hadn’t chewed through the kilometre-long wire connecting the IED to the hands which controlled the explosion, Mr. Bhattacharjee would have died.<br /> <br /> <br />For months before the bombing, there had been localised protests against the construction of the Rs. 350 billion JSW-Bengal Steel plant at Salboni. No large-scale displacement of local residents was involved. Of the 5,000 acres needed to build the plant, 4,500 acres were owned by the State government, while the remaining 500 were purchased by the JSW-Bengal Steel at relatively high prices. But Maoist-affiliated groups argued that the State had no right to the forest land it was making over to the plant: it belonged, they insisted, to the region’s adivasis.<br /> <br /> <br />The police responded to the November 2 bombing by detaining over a dozen Lalgarh area residents for questioning — a far from unusual practice after a major terrorist attack. Many of those detained, predictably, had no connection with terrorists. On November 3, for example, the police held retired schoolteacher Kshmananda Mahato and three teenage school students, Eben Muru, Goutam Patra and Buddhadev Patra. Even though all four were let off the next day, some local residents were incensed.<br /> <br /> <br />Clash between police and locals<br /> <br /> <br />Matters came to a head on November 5. Early that morning, the police raided the village of Chhoto Pelia in search of Sasadhar Mahato — the fugitive CPI (Maoist) operative alleged to have commanded the attempted assassination of the Chief Minister. Fighting broke out between them and the local residents who the police claim were compelled by the Maoists present in the village to obstruct their way. Fourteen women were injured; one woman, Chhitmani Murmu, lost an eye.<br /> <br /> <br />From November 7, the anger transformed into street protests. Led by the Bharat Jakat Majhi Marwa (BJMM), a body of traditional adivasi community leaders, Salboni residents closed roads and blockaded the Lalgarh police station. On November 14, though, the BJMM leadership reached an agreement with the local authorities. But its workers were now attacked by members of the newly-formed Police Santrosh Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee (People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities: PSBJC), which accused the traditional adivasi leadership of selling out the people it represented.<br /> <br /> <br />Who constituted the PSBJC? Its principal leader, Chattradhar Mahato, was a long-standing Trinamool Congress supporter who had made a small fortune from public-works contracts — and fugitive Maoist Sasadhar Mahato’s brother. Trinamool leaders claim he was expelled two years ago, but have produced no evidence to back this claim. Notably, Trinamool Congress flags were regularly flown by the PSBJC cadre at their protests; at many places in Lalgarh, the party’s banners still share space with those of the CPI (Maoist).<br /> <br /> <br />From the outset, it was clear that the PSBJC had no intention of making peace. Its demands were designed to invite rejection: that West Medinipur’s Superintendent of Police do penance by performing “sit-ups holding his ears;” that all policemen in Lalgarh crawl on all fours from Dalilpur to Chhoto Pelia, rubbing their noses in the dirt; that all those arrested on terrorism-related charges since 1998 be released.<br /> <br /> <br />Even then, the State government attempted to stave off a confrontation. On November 27, the day of the deadline set by the PSBJC, the West Bengal police shut down 13 posts and camps in the Lalgarh area. Later, on December 1, two more police posts were abandoned. But West Bengal’s increasingly desperate efforts to make peace failed — and a murderous meltdown followed.<br /> <br /> <br />The PSBJC announced the suspension of its struggle — but on ground, formed a parallel administration. Its Maoist allies prevented the entry of the police and administration in the villages of Belpahari, Binpur, Lalgarh, Jamboni, Salboni and Goaltore.<br /> <br /> <br />From here, the Maoist death squads launched a series of increasingly brutal attacks. BJMM’s Sudhir Mandal, who organised a massive anti-Maoist rally in December, was shot dead. In February 2009, Maoists fired on the funeral procession of the assassinated Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, Nandalal Pal, killing three. Five more CPI(M) supporters were killed in April, as were four poll staff and police personnel. June brought a fresh wave of attacks.<br /> <br /> <br />“The Maoists did not capture Lalgarh,” counter-terrorism analyst Ajai Sahni observes, “the State deserted the people.”<br /> <br /> <br />Maoist groups had long been preparing the ground for just such a situation. In 2005, following the assassination of CPI(M) leaders Raghunath Murmu, Bablu Mudi and Mahendra Mahato, the prestigious South Asia Intelligence Review warned of the possibility of a “Naxalbari Redux” — a reference to the Darjeeling district hamlet from where, in March 1967, began a six-year Maoist insurgency that claimed hundreds of lives.<br /> <br /> <br />Documents seized from three CPI (Maoist) leaders, researcher Saji Cherian noted in the article, showed plans to attack or blow up police stations. There were also notebooks with details of how adivasis in Bankura, Purulia and West Medinipur were to be educated about their exploitation — and how they could be “freed.”<br /> <br /> <br />Starting with an October 14, 2004, attack which claimed the lives of six Eastern Frontier Rifles personnel in West Medinipur district, the CPI (Maoist) launched increasingly ferocious attacks.<br /> <br /> <br />Political allies<br /> <br /> <br />It also made political allies. In February last year, the West Bengal police arrested Himadri Sen-Roy, the Bengal state secretary of the CPI (Maoist). From Roy’s interrogation, the police acquired a mass of details on how the Maoists were developing a symbiotic relationship with the Trinamool Congress and the welter of so-called civil society movements that had sprung up to oppose West Bengal’s industrialisation drive.<br /> <br /> <br />Top Maoist leaders, Sen-Roy is said to have told the police, visited Nandigram in 2006, soon after the Trinamool Congress and Islamist groups initiated what would turn into a bloody confrontation. They sensed opportunity. Sen-Roy claims to have persuaded a range of political figures that their interests and those of the CPI (Maoist) were similar: among them, Trinamool leader Subendhu Adhikari and eminent writer and activist Mahashweta Devi.<br /> <br /> <br />Early in 2007, Sen-Roy is alleged to have said, Maoist military commanders purchased Rs. 8 lakh worth of weapons — six .315-bore rifles and ammunition — to set up an armed unit in Nandigram. Dozens of locally-made weapons were also purchased to arm new cadre. The weapons were stored at Sonachura in East Medinipur, an area which saw some of the worst violence during the Nandigram agitation.<br /> <br /> <br />Meanwhile, top CPI (Maoist) commander Molajella Koteswar Rao set about constructing military infrastructure in the Lalgarh area. According to Sen-Roy’s testimony to the police — which, under the law, is not admissible in a court — Rao extorted between Rs. 8 lakh every month from roads, construction and forest-produce contracts operating in the districts of Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia. In addition, CPI (Maoist) units outside West Bengal pumped in a further Rs. 1.5 lakh a month to train recruits in Jharkhand and Orissa’s Mayurbhanj forests.<br /> <br /> <br />By 2008, the Intelligence Bureau was reporting Maoist activity in all but one of West Bengal’s 18 districts. Three districts — Bankura, West Medinipur and Purulia —were graded among the most affected in the country. Between January and October 2008, 21 fatalities were reported from the districts in 34 Maoist attacks.<br /> <br /> <br />Like the Lalgarh violence, these killings did nothing for the poor adivasis in whose name they were executed: but the CPI (Maoist) doesn’t seem to care.<br /> <br /> <br />In one recent interview, Koteswar Rao candidly admitted that his party was willing to endorse almost any form of violence:<br />“ We do not support the way they attacked the Victoria station [sic.]”, he said of the Lashkar-e-Taiba jihadists who executed November’s carnage in Mumbai, “ where most of the victims were Muslims. At the same time, we feel that the Islamic upsurge should not be opposed as it is basically anti-U.S. and anti-imperialist in nature. We, therefore, want it to grow.”<br /> <br /> <br />West Bengal will be a test of whether democratic institutions prove capable of resisting this cult of death.<br /> <br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />COMMENT:<br /> <br />The ' Observer Research Foundation - Chennai ', a non-profit think-tank, conducted a two day seminar - " The Naxalite Movement " in Chennai between 28 - 29 Jan 2005.<br /> <br /> <br />A number of well researched papers were read out at the seminar. It was an intellectually stimulating fare.<br /> <br />That the Naxalite Movement is wedded to the ideology of violence can be clearly discerned from the following interview (excerpts) given by the People's War Group (PWG) Leader - M. Lakshmana Rao to a Telugu daily:<br /> <br /> <br />Q. The PWG has today come to be identified as another militant outfit, another sore on India's troubled landscape. You are being equated with the insurgents of the N.E. / J&K.<br />How is your fight different from theirs?<br /> <br />A. The movements of the N.E. AND J&K have a very restricted aim. They are fighting to protect their NATIONAL INTERESTS. Our aim is to DISLODGE THE IMPERIALISTS WITH THE GUN. The party, which is based on the communist ideology, is building a movement that will bring forth the rule of the proleteriat. PROLETERIAT DICTATORSHIP. In that sense we have a wider, all encompassing view.<br /> <br />Q. Why have you chosen the path of violence? Why not democratic means to acheive your aim?<br /> <br />A. Because the rule of the masses cannot be acheived through normal political means. The Indian people have only one way to usher in modern democracy: ARMED STRUGGLE.<br /> <br />Q. Both the State and your party are using violence. And caught in the crossfire are innocent Indians. Innocent proleteriat Indians. Are you being fair to them?<br /> <br />A. Terming our activities as violence is not correct. Ours is counter-violence. We are resisting the violence unleashed by the State on the proleteriat. Again, I would like to remind you that it is not the PWG who is fighting the imperialists. It is the masses against the State. The PWG is only leading them. So it is the people against the repression. Its the people's war. And who else will be killed in a people's war - but people? Over 1300 people have been killed in the crossfire. OF THIS ONLY A VERY SMALL NUMBER WERE GUERRILLAS. The rest were all prey to the violence unleashed by the State. The State is responsible for their deaths.<br /> <br />Q. Wouldn't the right to self-determination lead to the disintegration of the country?<br /> <br />A. No. - - - - - . On the other hand, A VOLUNTARY FEDERATION OF NATIONALITIES WITH THE RIGHT TO SECEDE WILL LEAD TO UNITY. - - - - .kalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-84138563479416112442009-07-03T04:38:00.000-07:002009-07-03T04:39:15.202-07:00Marxists invent false historiesMarxists invent false histories – KPS Gill<br /><br />The suspension of common sense and the astonishing embrace of nonsense<br /><br />KPS Gill reports on Lalgarh for The Telegraph, Armed with the experience that tackled Punjab militancy<br /><br />K.P.S Gill, dubbed ‘Supercop’ for bringing the Punjab militancy to its knees, reached Calcutta on June 26 on the invitation of The Telegraph to assess the Lalgarh operation against the backdrop of his strategic and tactical experience in the field. Gill spent the day in Calcutta, doing “extended homework” on Lalgarh. “Till now, I have been watching the situation from afar. Now I will be following the developments more closely,” he said before interacting with some people in the city familiar with the Lalgarh operation. The next morning, when the security forces were trying to recapture Ramgarh that fell later in the day, Gill proceeded to Lalgarh. As Gill’s vehicle entered Midnapore town, police personnel waved the vehicle down and asked him to follow them to the police superintendent’s office. Gill was called in with a request to stay away from Lalgarh but soon the session became a full-fledged discussion with a steady stream of officers walking up to him, saluting him and sharing their experiences with him. The administration told Gill that he would be escorted back to Calcutta after lunch because of his Z-plus security tag and because the roads were heavily mined. However, setting out for lunch, Gill made a detour and travelled towards Lalgarh, interacting with several people on the way. Eventually, at a check post, Gill ran into a wall of police and paramilitary personnel. By then, the veteran who once sent shivers down extremist belts had collected enough information to fulfil his assignment for The Telegraph.<br /><br />Truth about Lalgarh1<br />As I briefly toured West Midnapore district during the police action in Lalgarh (I was prevented from going into the affected area on “security” grounds), the most dramatic lessons of the crisis, through all its phases — the slow build-up over seven months of state denial, appeasement and progressive error; paralysis in the face of rising Maoist violence; and the final, almost effortless resolution, as the rebels simply melted away in the face of the first evidence of determined use of force — were abundantly clear to me: the complete absence of historical memory in the institutions of the state, and the need for each administration to repeatedly reinvent the wheel.<br />The West Bengal government is not the first to go through this fruitless cycle; or the first to allow immeasurable harm to be inflicted on its citizens as a result of what is nothing more than the suspension of common sense. Right from my days in Assam, I have seen this cycle afflict virtually every administration confronted with the threat of terrorism across the country — even in theatres of eventual and exceptional counter-terrorism success.<br />After visiting Midnapore and talking to various people, including police officers, I learned that the operations essentially comprised marching into areas supposedly infested by Naxalites. In the early 1970s, when the Naxalites started setting up cells in the district that I was then heading in Assam, we had relied on building up intelligence so as to pinpoint the hideouts of the Naxalite leadership. I recall that we had identified 85 such places, and when we raided these places, we were able to arrest 74 Naxalites, virtually breaking the back of the movement in the state.<br />In the current situation, the operations are not intelligence-based but only aimed at area dominance. This is a strikingly inferior response to intelligence-based operations. I still remember a remark made by the last British inspector-general of Assam in an inspection note at the Sonari police station, that “one proper arrest is equivalent to six months of patrolling by a company of policemen”. This, incidentally, had been written shortly after a movement launched by the Revolutionary Communist Party of India (well known for the Dum Dum-Basirhat raid in West Bengal) had been put down by Assam Police.<br />The government and its agencies go into a state of denial during initial manifestations of extremist violence and terrorism — and “initial” here may mean years and decades. Administrative inaction is couched in a wide range of alibis; agencies connected with the state and the “intelligentsia” add to this by putting forward “solutions” which serve as apologetics for anti-state forces. The debate is taken over by these knee-jerk, inchoate “political” and “developmental” solutions and by the “root cause” argument: that extremism is the result of national issues like poverty and injustice rather than being driven by any ideological motive.<br />Indeed, the Marxist leadership in West Bengal has been exceptionally imaginative in the invention of false histories, claiming that the Naxalite movement of the 1967-75 phase was defeated by their government’s administrative and land reforms that cut away the Naxalite recruitment base (the CPM-led Left Front incidentally came to power in 1977). Anyone who is even superficially familiar with the history of that phase would, however, immediately recall that the Naxalites were crushed — indeed, brutally crushed — by the Congress government of Siddhartha Shankar Ray. If at all reforms had a salutary impact, it was only after the capacities of the rebels had been comprehensively neutralised by relentless police action.<br />As the Maoists now restore progressive ascendancy in parts of the state, however, such nonsense continues to be given wide publicity, not only by ill-informed “intellectuals”, but, astonishingly, by the Marxist party leadership as well, even as the real magnitude of the threat is denied, and the basics of policing and wide deficits in police and intelligence capacities are ignored.<br />I have seen this, again and again, in theatre after theatre. The state and police paralysis witnessed at Lalgarh was, for instance, much in evidence in the early phases of the Khalistani movement in Punjab. Among the hundreds of incidents illustrating the collapse of administration, perhaps the most humiliating was the February 1984 episode, when six fully armed policemen were dragged into the Golden Temple by militants. The response — 24 hours later — came from senior police officials who begged Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to release the men and hand over their weapons.<br />After protracted negotiations, the dead body of one policeman was handed over, and five policemen were released. Their weapons were never returned. No action was ever taken on the murder of the policeman.<br />Andhra Pradesh has now become a model of effective police response to Naxalism, but few recall the decades of Maoist dominance in wide areas of this state, and the apologetics that were advanced in favour of the extremists in the highest echelons of government. Then chief minister N.T. Rama Rao, for instance, described the Naxalites as “true patriots”; he and his successors, across party lines, found it expedient (as the Trinamul Congress recently has), to form opportunistic electoral alliances with the Naxalites — to the inevitable advantage of the rebels.<br />Those who now celebrate the prowess of the Greyhounds forget that this force was created as far back as in 1989, and it is only under unambiguous political mandate after 2005 that an enormously empowered Andhra Pradesh police and this special force have been able to inflict near-comprehensive defeat on the Maoists in the state.<br />Political leaders in West Bengal must see through their own platitudes and falsifications to comprehend the core of state infirmity that constitutes the foundations of the Maoist power. The absurd alibis that have been advanced to evade the necessity of response must be abandoned at the earliest, and not after the sheer quantum of the loss of innocent lives — as has been the case in other theatres — simply forces the state to respond.<br />http://telegraphindia.com/1090703/jsp/frontpage/story_11190971.jsp#<br /><br /><br />N ASSIGNMENTkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-39273282315519870942009-06-19T06:29:00.000-07:002009-06-19T06:30:26.943-07:00Marxists, Maoists... Is there a difference?Marxists, Maoists... Is there a difference?<br />Balbir K. Punj<br />June.19 : The "liberation" of Lalgarh by Maoists is a logical upshot of the politics of violence and savagery that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) successfully practised against its political opponents in West Bengal for over three decades. The state, in the not too distant past, was known for its high intellectual content in public discourse. Today, violence is intrinsic to its politics.<br />While a part of West Bengal burns, two key actors in state politics, the Congress and the CPI(M), are busy playing the blame game. The ruling Marxists and their fellow travellers (in the media and numerous NGOs) are paralysed in this crisis because of ideological confusion. The rebel Maoists are doing in Lalgarh what the Marxists have been preaching and selectively practising while dealing with dissent in West Bengal and Kerala — the Left’s two stronghold states.<br />Of course, the Congress is living up to its record of hunting with the hound and running with the hare for short-term political gain, but this will cost the nation dearly.<br />The CPI(M)-Maoist nexus snapped when the chief minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, was sought to be assassinated by Maoists weeks before the recent Lok Sabha polls.<br />According to the latest news reports, the Maoists have dug up roads at several places and blocked others with tree trunks in Lalgarh. The houses and offices of CPI(M) leaders are being vandalised. Fresh violence has killed one CPI(M) leader and two party activists and left several others injured. There is a complete breakdown of law and order in the area.<br />Last week, people surrounded Marxist leader Subrata Kar’s house in Khejuri, in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district, asking the police to search the house for evidence of corruption in several state and Central government schemes. The police did not arrive so the people themselves ransacked the house and recovered some 20 National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) work cards meant for below-poverty-line families.<br />The CPI(M) branch office at Gholabari was burnt and in the debris many half-burnt government documents were found. In another party office in Kalaghachia there was an entire file regarding the appointment of 350 Integrated Child Development Scheme workers in Khejuri. A few months ago, fair price shops became the target of public ire as the foodgrain distribution system broke down and several leads linking shopowners with the CPI(M) were exposed. The CPI(M) domination that went on for over three decades survived and thrived mainly because people were afraid of revolting against their tyranny.<br />Newspapers reported that it was the discovery of government appointment files, NREGS cards and other benefit cards for the poor in the houses of prominent CPI(M) panchayat leaders that fuelled villagers’ fury against them. When the police was compelled to search these houses, it was found that most of them had also concealed illegal firearms and ammunitions. For instance, in Haludbari, panchayat chief Pranabesh Pradhan had to flee from his house as angry villagers surrounded it. His house, according to news reports, is the best in the village. Villagers said they knew that he was a corrupt man, but did not protest earlier for "fear of being booked by the police in false cases". The police recovered two guns and two pistols from his house.<br />There is a definite link between the Maoists in West Bengal with the ones in neighbouring Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Several well-planned attacks against police outposts have taken place in these three states recently. The administration seems to be unable to trace the supply of arms and ammunition to these Maoist groups. The heightened activity of these groups, read with the discovery of arms and ammunition at village level in CPI(M)-governed West Bengal, may provide leads in this dead-end investigation.<br />Nepal seems to be the transit point for these supplies. The Delhi police recently nabbed an Indian national who was a conduit for money, counterfeit notes, arms and recruiting agents for Pakistan-based militants operating from Nepal. Despite the election victory of the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Orissa, the increasing strength of Naxalites and Maoists in his state cannot be overlooked. It seems the whole of east India, extending as far as eastern Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, is being run by parallel administrations of various Marxist and Maoist groups.<br />In West Bengal, the Congress-Trinamul Congress combine has successfully beaten the Marxists in their own game. So far only the Marxists had stoked violence against either "class enemies" or "deviationists" exploiting occasionally genuine but mostly imaginary grievances of the masses. While fighting a relentless battle against the Marxists, Mamata Banerjee has internalised many of these traits and in the process the Marxists are getting a taste of their own medicine.<br />Incidentally, what has happened to all the NGOs who had screamed hoarse following the roughing up of some young men and women at the hands of some ruffians styling themselves as activists of Ram Sene in a Mangalore pub? None of these rent-a-cause activists were seen when human rights and the rule of the law are being trampled upon in Lalgarh so brazenly. Their silence speaks loudly about their hypocrisy.<br />The occasional clashes between Maoists and Marxists, however, do not mean that there’s any real difference between the two. Both believe in dictatorship and snuffing out of dissent. They may differ on strategy, but not about goals. Also, at times, Marxists and Maoists kill each other, not because of sharp differences on fundamentals but because violence is central to their creed.<br />While the Congress in New Delhi celebrates its return to power, the ground situation is not improving in the violence-affected eastern parts of the country. In fact, the only state government that has succeeded in building up a counter-force to Naxalites is of Chhattisgarh, which is under pressure from Left intellectuals and the Centre to disband this counter-terror force. But now that the West Bengal ruling party’s secret storage of arms and ammunition at village level has been exposed, it would be worth watching how the Centre will act.<br />Balbir K. Punj can be contacted at punjbk@gmail.com<br />http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/opinion/opinion/marxists,-maoists-is-there-a-difference.aspxkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-31889994617126993022009-06-17T18:32:00.001-07:002009-06-17T18:32:36.275-07:00At work for war -- cooking CPM gooseAt work for war<br />Maoists, state begin drill<br /><br />PRONAB MONDAL IN LALGARH AND OUR BUREAU<br />http://telegraphindia.com/1090618/images/18zzchartbig.jpg<br />June 17: Late last night, at a small camp in Lalgarh’s Kantapahari, six Maoists held a meeting when word reached that central forces had started arriving in Midnapore.<br />The meeting, headed by Bikash who runs the Maoists’ Lalgarh operations and guided over the phone apparently by Kishanji who heads their armed wing in the country, decided to set up the first line of defence by this morning.<br />The task was completed by the time home secretary Ardhendu Sen arrived in Midnapore to review the situation in Lalgarh.<br />By 9am, the only two arterial roads leading to Lalgarh from Midnapore town, capable of carrying heavy vehicles, had been dug up at 11 points. Each trench across the road was 4ft deep and 3ft wide, making it impossible for any vehicle to cross over.<br />The Maoists bragged of a more diabolical plan, too. If the police smash through the defences and reach Lalgarh, the rebels said, they would have a four-tier barricade in place.<br />In the first layer, there will be children, followed by women. Tribals armed with bows and arrows will bring up the third layer. Armed Maoists will position themselves in the fourth layer, they said, seemingly oblivious to the macabre irony in the “people’s war”.<br />Aware of the plan, chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti appealed to the people of Lalgarh not to allow themselves to be used as “human shields”. Police sources later said they would try to disperse the shields using rubber bullets and tear gas.<br />By the end of the day, the state government, too, announced that it would act. But the time of the launch is being kept confidential, not for tactical reasons alone — the state government has yet to overcome its indecisiveness.<br />After returning to Calcutta, Sen announced: “An operation against the Maoists will take place. It will be led by state police with the central forces providing the back-up. Our main aim will be to ensure minimum bloodshed. But I cannot reveal when it will take place.”<br />Sources said 18 companies would be involved in the operation, of which 13 will be central forces and five from the state police.<br />Each company has about 100 policemen who can go into action — which means around 1,800 personnel will be pitted against the Maoists. The rebels’ number is put at 250 but more guerrillas are said to be moving towards Lalgarh from Orissa and Jharkhand. Kishanji has apparently reached Belpahari, 20km from Lalgarh. Besides, the Maoists are counting on some of the villagers they have trained since November last year.<br />The police sources said it would not be a “swift and short” operation. “We know the area is mined and dug up, so we have to move forward carefully,” an officer said. “We will have a minesweeper at the head of the convoy and a truck carrying sandbags along with us. After the minesweeper has cleared the way, we will bridge the dug-up roads with the sandbags and then move on.”<br />The officer said the objective would be to “reoccupy” an area, consolidate their position there and then push forward. The plan is largely in tune with the tactics being focused upon since P. Chidambaram took over as home minister at the Centre.<br />In the police’s arsenal will be AK-47 and AK-56 rifles, grenade launchers and rocket launchers. Senior police officers from Calcutta, like IG (co-ordination), have moved to Midnapore.<br />The rebels acknowledge the police’s superiority in firepower and supply of ammunition but said they were banking on familiarity with the terrain and local support.<br />It was not possible to verify the claims by the Maoists. At every dug-up point, the Maoists said, they would be setting up “checkposts” which will be guarded by “50 to 60” armed supporters.<br />“They will all have cellphones and at the first sign of any activity, they will warn other checkposts along the way,” a Maoist leader said.<br />Knowing that the policemen will be wearing bulletproof jackets, the Maoist cadres have been trained to shoot at the face, arms and legs, another leader said.<br />If the police decide to skip the arterial roads and use forest trails, they may have to abandon armoured vehicles while ferrying themselves across the Kangshabati river in the absence of bridges.<br />The five CRPF companies stayed put at the Midnapore police lines today, drawing up maps to chalk out operational routes.<br /><br />http://telegraphindia.com/1090618/jsp/frontpage/story_11127693.jsp#kalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-42210851386328490842009-05-11T20:21:00.001-07:002009-05-11T20:21:21.811-07:00Contain Maoist menace -- Sandhya JainContain Maoist menace<br /><br />Sandhya Jain (Pioneer, 12 May 2009)<br /><br />When Chinese wish the wrath of heaven upon one, they invoke it gently: ‘May you live in interesting times’, a euphemism for living without peace and stability. A prolonged spell of ‘interesting times’ is now upon our Himalayan neighbour, ironically Beijing’s budding ally. <br /><br />At the time of writing, Nepal’s President Ram Baran Yadav’s deadline for Government formation seemed unlikely to fructify, though CPN (UML), with 109 seats, and Nepali Congress, with 114 seats, were frontrunners in forging a new coalition. Yet former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, whose attempts to grab totalitarian power by infiltrating and taking over the Army triggered the current crisis, may also succeed in sticking to power. <br /><br />Prachanda has made overtures to CPN (UML) leader Jhalanath Khanal, the likely Opposition candidate for the Prime Minister’s job. The Nepali Congress and 22 other political parties support him, though the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (53 seats) is undecided. A major hitch is Prachanda’s determination to block Government formation until the exit of the Army chief, and threat to return to the violence that rent the once-Hindu kingdom for over a decade. <br /><br />Nepali Hindu backlash against the Christian-Maoist leadership has now unfurled, and will continue no matter what political deals are struck in the immediate future. The mask of secular-atheist democracy worn by Maoists in their decade-long assault upon the Hindu kingdom is off; the monarchy has paid the price of conspiracy married to its own ineptitude. But now political parties, institutions like the Army, temples and devotees, and the people in general, recognise that they face a Christian tyrant in Prachanda. China can ignore this Western-Christian infiltration in it’s ‘near abroad’ at its own peril; fresh attempts to evangelise in Afghanistan have recently come to light.<br /><br />Nepal’s quest for Hindu reaffirmation shows in the timely surfacing of a video of Prachanda revealing plans to permanently capture state power by stuffing the Army with PLA cadre. The video pertains to a meeting with PLA cadre in Chitwan on January 2, 2008, when Mr GP Koirala led the interim Government.<br /><br />Prachanda’s bragging that Maoists had tricked everyone into believing their armed combatants numbered 35,000, when they were less than 8,000, exposes the complicity of the United Nation’s Mission in Nepal in validating 20,000 Maoist soldiers for induction into the regular Army. The integration of Maoist goons into the professional Army was resisted by Army chief Gen Rukmangad Katawal, which triggered the current crisis. <br /><br />The UNMIN is no innocent taken for a ride. The UN is neither neutral nor apolitical; it was conceived, like the League of Nations before it, as an instrument for continuing Western domination in the post-World War II era. Racism is subtly institutionalised in its mandate, as witnessed by its relentless usage against former colonies and regions that could not be tamed in the pre-war era. Anyone who does not agree with this assessment should explain why the services of South Africa Apartheid expert, Gen Jan Smuts, were utilised in preparing the Charter of both the League of Nations and the United Nations! South Africa was not a member of either body - but Smuts was a racist par excellence. <br /><br />To return to Nepal, Gen Katawal had a royal upbringing as adopted son of the late King Mahendra. He and the loyalist Nepali Congress to which Mr Ram Baran Yadav belongs would recognise the danger Maoists pose to the autonomy of the Himalayan kingdom and the integrity of its ancient ethos.<br /><br />Prachanda showed his true face blatantly with the dismissal of south Indian Brahmin priests of the famed Pashupatinath Temple on January 1, 2009. Their replacement with Nepali citizens without religious lineage or training enraged Nepali Bhandari priests (protectors of the temple’s assets and managers of its administrative affairs), who roused devotees and took up cudgels against this gross interference in the nation’s holiest shrine. An appeal by deposed King Gyanendra to the people to not politicise the temple issue made Prachanda beat a tactical retreat. <br /><br />But soon after this episode, Hindu devotees returning from Gorakhpur in India were humiliated by the seizure of their copies of the Bhagwat Gita. These incidents underline the persisting threat to Nepal’s millennia-old Hindu culture and civilisational ethos since the political ascent of the Maoists and the abolition of the Hindu Kingdom.<br /><br />It is pertinent that immediately after the Maoist takeover the Vatican appointed a Bishop and expanded evangelical activity in Nepal. The top Maoist leadership is Christian; hence evangelism could be complicit in the temple crisis and the current political crisis. <br /><br />The video showed Prachanda bragging that Maoists formed the Young Communist League with thousands of youth (goons hated in civil society for kidnappings, extortions, even murder, and grabbing property worth millions which has still not been restored to their rightful owners) “who now add to our strength,” a euphemism for their skills in street violence. He admitted having “enough money” to prepare a good battle plan for revolt and state takeover. <br /><br />The current crisis began when Prachanda suddenly dismissed Gen Katawal on May 3 and appointed loyalist Gen Kul Bahadur Khadka in his place. That the move was intrinsically divisive was evident when four ruling alliance partners, the CPN (UML), Madhesi People’s Rights’ Forum, Sadbhavana Party and CPN (United), boycotted the Cabinet meeting that took the decision. Maoist urgency followed Gen Katawal’s decision to reinstate eight Generals retired by the Government, halt military recruitments, and not participate in the National Games.<br /><br />The CPN (UML) exited the Government and threatened a no-confidence motion; the General refused to step down; Mr Ram Baran Yadav, on the appeal of 22 out of 24 political parties to “protect the Constitution” and prevent total capture of power by Maoists, asked the Army chief to stay put. The main Opposition Nepali Congress rejected the sacking of the Army chief and warned of street protests. <br /><br />The Prachanda-gate video makes it clear that Maoists cadre strength was always grossly exaggerated. As the fighters validated by UN are still confined in UN-monitored barracks, it is clear that the crowds on the streets are simply rented, like those seen in the coloured revolutions of Central Asia, which could suggest foreign funding. Now that the truth is known, there is no need to be intimidated; the Army and nationalist political parties should do the needful to contain this menace.<br /><br />http://dailypioneer.com/175492/Contain-Maoist-menace.html<br />http://sites.google.com/site/hindunew/nepalkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-86301937726643636932009-04-29T03:45:00.000-07:002009-04-29T03:48:26.644-07:00We don't want to be Congress' palanquin bearers: KaratThis is a concession by Karat that CPM was in fact a palanquin bearer of Congress during the UPA regime. kalyan<br /><br />We don't want to be Congress' palanquin bearers: Karat<br />Agencies Posted online: Wednesday, Apr 29, 2009 at 1503 hrs<br /><br />New Delhi : CPI(M) foresees a realignment of political forces after the Lok Sabha elections in favour of the Third Front and rules out supporting Congress in government formation as it does not not want to be its "palanquin bearers". The party says it will also "very seriously" consider joining a non-Congress secular government and does not outrightly rule out the possibility of heading such a formation.<br />In a wide-ranging interview to PTI, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat spoke on various issues including on how the Left parties would approach the Indo-US nuclear deal, an issue on which they withdrew support to the UPA government, and on the Sri Lankan issue. He was not in agreement with NCP leader Sharad Pawar that the Left parties would have to support the Congress and the UPA it heads in the post-poll scenario to keep the BJP out.<br />"We don't have to be palanquin bearers for anyone. There is no danger of BJP coming to power at the Centre this time. The choice will be a non-Congress secular government or a Congress-led government. I don't think the BJP is going to be in the picture," Karat said. He said in fact more parties would join the Third<br />Front after the elections. "We expect a realignment of forces after the elections. I am saying parties which are not with us now will come towards us," he said.<br />The overall trend, Karat said, has been very clear that the UPA has practically ceased to exist. Most of the parties (of the UPA) are finding their own way and parting company with the Congress as far as the elections are concerned. "All these parties will have to decide after the elections what they propose to do," he said. But when asked whether the realignment could also affect his combination, the CPI(M) leader said the parties of the Front have come into the grouping with the aim of defeating both the Congress and the BJP and their respective allies in the states.<br />"We have already discussed that we need to carry forward this after the Lok Sabha elections and to see that we form a government at the Centre. The regional parties that have joined with the Left parties have a stake in this project," he said. Asked if he had parties like RJD and LJP in mind when he talked about realignment, Karat said the Front has made a general appeal to all non-Congress secular parties to come together on a joint platform for pro-people economic and independent foreign policies and in defence of secularism. "Many of these parties share this approach and it is up to them to decide," he said.<br />To another question about Pawar's statement that the Congress and the UPA cannot ignore the Left and have to do business with it after the elections, Karat said "his intentions are good. "But as far as we are concerned, we cannot accept and support a Congress-led government. We are working for a government which will be a non-Congress secular one."<br />Asked if he would mind the Congress being part of it, the CPI(M) leader said it was for the Congress to decide whether it would facilitate formation of a secular government. "It is for them to decide." He dismissed a view that the position of Congress and the Left was only posturing before elections. "Let us see what happens. After the elections, everybody's position will become clear. My party adopts a political line. It is not some on-the-spur of the moment decision. "We have adopted a political line in which we have called for the defeat of Congress and the BJP and the formation of an alternative secular government. We will work for that to succeed. Let us see."<br />Asked about the possibility of the CPI(M) joining government at the Centre unlike in 1996 when it spurned an offer, Karat said it had been a long-standing policy (not to join a government if it cannot influence its policies) and it would take a decision after the elections.<br />Karat said "but we cannot say what type of government will be formed after the elections. If a non-Congress and secular government is feasible, then the matter will be taken up by us." He said last time, the matter was not not taken up very seriously because it was a Congress-led government and the party did not want to join it. "As I said, if there is a non-Congress government, the matter will be considered very seriously," he said.<br />Asked if the party would agree to have its own Prime Minister if an opportunity came its way, Karat said "first of all, let us discuss whether we will join a government. Then we will see what is to be done. "There are various factors we have to take into account when we decide to join a government. So let us first see what are those circumstances and then we will take a decision," the CPI(M) leader said.<br />On his assessment of the polls so far, he said it was clear there was a three-way contest between Congress and its allies, BJP and its allies and the non-Congress, non-BJP combination. In states like Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, the parties of the Third Front were ahead, he said. To a question about Pawar's view that CPI(M) and BSP together would not cross 65-70 seats and the Third Front would not be in a position to form a government, he said Pawar has forgotten parties like BJD, TDP, JD(S), AIADMK, PMK and others of this front.<br />http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/452612/kalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-64219248434288916652009-04-25T22:16:00.001-07:002009-04-25T22:16:54.036-07:00Left in the lurchLeft in the lurch<br /><br />Karats can seek succour in Venezuela to repent for their chamcha-ing Antonia.<br /><br />kalyanaraman<br /><br />Left could go down to 22 seats in Bengal<br /><br />Kanchan Gupta | Kolkata (Pioneer, Sunday, April 26, 2009 )<br /><br />Muslims, one in 3 voters, desert CPM<br /><br />As people in West Bengal prepare to vote on April 30 in the first of three rounds of polling for the 15th Lok Sabha, the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Front faces what could turn out to be its worst-ever electoral performance.<br /><br />According to conservative estimates cutting across party lines, the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance could notch up an impressive tally of 14 to 17 of the 42 seats in the State. If the popular mood prevailing from north to south Bengal is any indication, the Opposition could end up winning anything between 18 and 20 seats.<br /><br />Whatever the final tally, there is mounting apprehension at Alimuddin Street, where the CPI(M)’s headquarters is located, that the Marxists will suffer a setback worse than that of 1984 when the Congress won 16 seats in the election that followed Indira Gandhi’s assassination.<br /><br />In that election, the Left suffered reverses in urban areas. This time, the losses are stacking up in rural constituencies. The projected losses are largely concentrated in south Bengal where the Trinamool Congress is running an aggressive campaign.<br /><br />Little over a fortnight ago, the CPI(M)’s election strategists were horrified to find that the Left Front’s 2004 tally of 35 seats was at risk of being whittled down to 20 to 22 seats.<br /><br />All hands were called to deck and a massive effort was launched to paper over differences within the CPI(M) and between the party and its allies in the Left Front. Simultaneously, zonal and local committees were asked to reach out to disgruntled party supporters who were toying with the idea of voting against the Left. Third, the counter-attack on the Trinamool Congress was sharpened, focusing on Mamata Banerjee's inability to come up with a positive agenda.<br /><br />These steps appear to have had some impact in preventing the Left’s electoral fortunes from declining further. What has helped the CPI(M) recover some lost ground is the Trinamool’s over-emphasis on running a vitriolic campaign which includes large posters and banners that are graphically illustrated with gory visuals of charred bodies, allegedly victims of Marxist violence.<br /><br />Two visuals that have been used repeatedly are those of Tapashi Mullick, who was raped and killed in Singur. The first visual shows an innocent faced teenaged girl. The second shows her half-burnt body. In a variation of this theme, some posters show four men pinning down Tapashi Mullick while a fifth man rapes her.<br /><br />Such graphic depiction of violence has begun to put off people. Sensing the disquiet over the Opposition’s campaign, the CPI(M) has used all available space to publicise its ‘development agenda’ and how Mamata Banerjee is preventing the State from moving ahead. “We have a positive agenda. She is running a negative campaign,” says CPI(M) State secretary Biman Bose.<br /><br />But nothing that the CPI(M) does or says at this stage will stop this poll from turning out to be the tipping point that has eluded the Opposition in West Bengal for three decades. <br /><br />The push that will enable Banerjee to cross the hump which stands between victory and defeat will be provided by Bengal’s Muslims who are said to comprise 26% of the electorate but in reality could account for one in every three voters. Banerjee claims (since it suits her to do so) and most people believe (since they are<br /><br />influenced by TV news) that Muslim alienation from the Marxists is on account of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s farmland-for-industry policy, which has been kept in limbo ever since the Singur disaster. But the real reason why Muslims have decided to disown the Marxists lies elsewhere.<br /><br />Ironically, that reason is the revelation by the Sachar Committee, which was supported by the Left to spite the BJP, about how Muslims in West Bengal are far worse off than in any other State, including Narendra Modi’s Gujarat. Confronted with this reality, Bengal’s Muslims have begun to question the wisdom of supporting the Left. <br /><br />The man who took the Sachar Committee’s revelation to the Muslim masses is Siddiqullah Chowdhury of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind. He has put up a dozen candidates in Muslim-dominated constituencies. But that could be a red herring, meant to divert attention as the community quietly consolidates behind Banerjee. And gives her the cutting edge she needs to defeat the CPI(M) in West Bengal.<br /><br />How the table has turned<br />• CPM will take rural hit<br />• Mamata-Cong eye windfall of up to 17 seats<br />• Overkill of graphic imagery of Singur rape case may hit Cong http://dailypioneer.com/172194/Left-could-go-down-to-22-seats-in-Bengal.html <br /><br />Array and disarray in the Left<br /><br />MJ Akbar (Pioneer, Sunday, April 26, 2009 )<br /><br />Leaders come in two cultures. One sort of leader accepts the necessity of accountability in public life. This group is in a minority. The majority follows a law, which their followers know only too well: “If we win, I get the credit; if we lose, you get the blame”.<br /><br />It is ironic that the best democrats in Indian democracy are the Marxists, whose ideology demands class war rather than the more genteel business of planting your finger on a symbol. They treat their party as an institution, not an individual’s or family’s private property. Decisions are made through a collective system, not sent to a single individual for a royal assent or dissent. Responsibility is assigned to individuals, and individuals are stripped (as far as is humanly possible) of their ego. This is perhaps why ex-Marxists become so egotistic; all those decades of suppressed ego is suddenly let loose upon the world. There are rewards for success, even when this leads to stagnation. During 33 years of Marxist rule in West Bengal there have been only two Chief Ministers, Mr Jyoti Basu and Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Mr Basu left because of age; he was not pushed out. No one is pushed out. More remarkably, there have been only two Finance Ministers, Mr Ashok Mitra and Mr Ashim Dasgupta. Mr Mitra resigned on an issue of principle, otherwise he might have retired only along with his friend, Mr Jyoti Basu, once again because of age. If you win elections you can do no wrong.<br /><br />And that is what the problem might be in 2009. Mr Bhattacharjee could lead the Left in West Bengal to its first major setback in three decades.<br /><br />The buzz in Kolkata has already moved towards post-modern: Mr Bhattacharjee has decided to resign if he cannot ensure 25 seats out of 42 for his side. How do the Kolkata addawallahs know? Political information is always porous. The man at the top of the pyramid has merely to make an observation to a confidant or two; the latter discuss the possibility with their close comrades, and word rolls down along the sides of the pyramid to reach the dabblers and journalists on the lower ledges.<br /><br />There are at least three distinctive aspects of this story.<br /><br />First, a Chief Minister is planning to take responsibility for failure. Politicians across the country will do badly; after all, someone has to lose for another to win. Every other politician is thinking deep thoughts on how to cling on despite defeat. This of course does not apply to dynasts, who will look for generals to hang.<br /><br />Second, 25 seats out of 42 is still a clear majority. But the Left has set the bar high and will not lower it.<br /><br />Third, by levelling the bar at 25, the Left has already psychologically conceded 17 seats to the Trinamool-Congress combine. Even at the height of the Congress wave following the assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi, the Left had conceded fewer seats.<br /><br />There are two reasons for this. The Muslim vote, estimated to be over 35 per cent, has switched away in large numbers. And there is no split in the anti-Left vote after the Congress accepted the slightly humiliating terms that Ms Mamata Banerjee offered during seat-sharing talks. The Marxists tried, with Mr Pranab Mukherjee’s help, to sabotage this, but final orders came from Ms Sonia Gandhi in Delhi and it went ahead. The Congress, which had six MPs in the last Lok Sabha, accepted only 16 seats out of 42. Ms Mamata, who had only one, catapulted to 28.<br /><br />The Left read a clear message in this decision. The Congress was treating the Left, rather than the BJP, as its principal enemy in this general election. How? Because in the States where an alliance would have hurt the BJP, like Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the Congress rejected an alliance with leaders who could have helped defeat the BJP, like Mr Shibu Soren, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan and Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. The distribution of seats in Jharkhand had even been announced, but the arrangement collapsed suddenly, and inexplicably, at the last minute. As a consequence, the BJP will pick up vital extra seats in a State where it was comprehensively defeated five years ago.<br /><br />The Marxists do not consider this accidental. They believe this to be part of a careful Congress strategy to marginalise the Left. There is nothing personal or sentimental about their response. They will not permit the Congress to lead another Government because they are convinced that it will use every tactic, political and administrative, behind a screen of conciliatory words, to pursue the same objective if it returns to Government. They know it is a battle of survival and they intend to survive.<br /><br />They can also sense an opportunity to do unto the Congress precisely what the Congress did unto them: Use power, with the Congress support in Parliament, to target policies which the Congress has made part of its core personality, economic reform and the India-US nuclear deal. That is the dilemma which the Congress faces. Can it support a Government with a Marxist Foreign Minister who announces an abrogation of the nuclear deal? Surely Mr Manmohan Singh would never find the flexibility to support a Government in Parliament that sabotaged his main achievement. What would the Congress do in such circumstances? It is not a question of swallowing one’s pride. It would be political suicide.<br /><br />Nor should anyone believe that Marxists would compromise in order to save a non-Congress, non-BJP patchwork Government. They have an agenda, which is in the public domain. They will implement it. The CPI(M) is not going to enter the history books — this is the first time they will join a Government in Delhi, if the chance arises — as having betrayed its core commitment, anti-imperialism, in order to stick to office. This is high on its list of campaign themes, as anyone interested in West Bengal and Kerala will know. <br /><br />The Left will not do well. It will be mowed down in both Kerala and West Bengal, but it will still have around 40 seats in the next Parliament. Both Mr Sharad Pawar and Mr Manmohan Singh acknowledge, the first happily and the second reluctantly, that a non-BJP Government is impossible without the support of the Left. Curiously, the Left, with 60 MPs, may have been less relevant to a Government’s survival in 2004 than it could be with 35 or 40 in 2009. <br /><br />It would be paradoxical, would it not, if Mr Prakash Karat were being sworn in as Foreign Minister in Delhi and Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee were submitting his resignation in Kolkata? But stranger things have happened. <br /><br />Let me suggest one of them. If the BJP becomes the single largest party, you would be surprised by the number of small parties which suddenly discover the virtues of stability at a moment of economic crisis. The Left will be actually relieved: It can be where it is happiest — in the Opposition. <br /><br />-- MJ Akbar is chairman of the fortnightly news magazine Covert.<br /><br />http://dailypioneer.com/172017/Array-and-disarray-in-the-Left.htmlkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-36997938669558635842009-04-20T18:21:00.000-07:002009-04-20T18:22:21.233-07:00Combat red terror -- Former Chief of Army Staffhttp://sites.google.com/site/hindunew/redterror <br />To combat red terror, tackle its root causes<br />Shankar Roychowdhury (Asian Age, 21 April 2009)<br />April.21: Many people might have missed the small news item on the inside pages of newspapers, and the brief mention on the news wires scrolling at the bottom of certain television channels. Nine personnel of the CRPF’s 55th Battalion killed and 11, including an assistant commandant, injured in a two-hour clash with Naxalites on April 10 in Dantewada district of the southern Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. A couple of days earlier two police constables had been killed in the same area when their jeep was blown up by a landmine. A fairly major encounter in terms of casualties, but passing almost unnoticed with national attention focused on the elections and IPL.<br />Then, a couple of days later, bigger news: Naxalites in strength, between 70 and 120 of them, attacked the National Aluminium Company’s bauxite mining complex at Damanjodi in Orissa’s Koraput district, in a bid to hijack explosives, weapons and ammunition. The information is sketchy, but up to 10 or 11 CISF persons were reported killed, around the same number injured, while the attackers reportedly suffered up to seven casualties. They ransacked the CISF armoury and appeared to have got away with some amount of explosives.<br />But the full fury was to come four days later, April 16, the first day of the five-part general election across the country. The Naxalites struck in many of their old battlegrounds — in a series of rapid-fire attacks across Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Maharashtra. Eleven police and paramilitary personnel as well as eight civilians, including personnel on election duty, were killed. Just a day earlier, the Election Commission had pronounced itself "totally satisfied" with the poll arrangements. There are four phases of the election still to go — what lies ahead for us?<br />The electoral processes of our democracy have never held much appeal, or relevance, for many original inhabitants of this land — adivasi tribals of many ethnicities — who have often found any encounter with the Indian State a cruel and humiliating experience. Many of them have now decided to take matters into their own hands.<br />Welcome to the "people’s war" raging inside the guts of our country, inhabited by its most desperately poor and marginalised communities. The heartland of this faraway conflict is the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, almost a "dark continent" to much of the rest of India, where the Abujmarh, a huge forest, unsurveyed and unmapped even six decades after Independence, is virtually a "no-go" area for government forces. Comparisons with the Iron Triangle and "Special Zone D" set up near Saigon by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War are obvious and irresistible. Are we too headed in that direction?<br />Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently described the Naxalites, officially categorised as "left-wing extremists" (LWE), as the "greatest internal security threat to the country". Let there be no doubt, Naxalism is a totally home-grown problem which we have brought upon ourselves, and for which no external elements can be blamed. Venally corrupt local administrations, particularly at the state level, have maintained a vacuum of total neglect in rural areas over the past six decades, and more specifically in the adivasi zones of extreme deprivation. Maoist LWE began in these regions, and this is now well on its way to becoming a rural insurgency in the classic Maoist mode: holding significant control of a strategic "compact revolutionary zone" (CRZ) stretching over 12 to 14 states and up to 156 districts, all predominantly of tribal communities, astride a Golden Quadrilateral deep in the Indian heartland.<br />More dangerously, the CRZ has created a "red corridor" of internal instability, stretching from Prachanda’s Maobadi Nepal right down to the dry and desiccated forest regions of peninsular India. In relative terms, the Maoist CRZ poses a much greater potential threat to India’s national security than either the jihadis in Kashmir, the Indian Mujahideen, or the Naga and Meitei underground in Nagaland and Manipur. The reasons are obvious — Kashmir, Nagaland, Manipur and indeed the entire Northeast are all located on the external peripheries of the country, and events there have only a limited impact on the nation’s heartland. But Maoist LWE is active deep within the geographical and geo-political gut of the heartland, and can more directly and immediately impact and disrupt the country’s political, economic, transportation, communications and security infrastructure.<br />Therefore, of all the internal conflicts which plague India, Maoist LWE offers the most attractive high-value low-cost strategic option for external exploitation. Rest assured: Pakistan, Bangladesh, and perhaps even "Maobadi Nepal" — as a proxy for the People’s Republic of China — are eyeing it very closely indeed.<br />The functional contrasts between the Maoists and the government could not be more striking, or startling. The Maoists function through a fairly centralised hierarchy and reasonably well-coordinated politico-military command and control structure for inter-state coordination, which extends right down to the villages through a network of political and military committees at central, regional, state, and zonal levels. The policy of the Union government can best be described as perplexing experimentation with decentralised anti-Naxal operations by individual state governments within their respective boundaries, according to their respective political agendas and initiatives, coordinated through a system of bureaucratic consultation through inter-state committees, where participation is often optional. State police forces and the paramilitary units they are allotted are often tied down by jurisdiction issues and problems in inter-state movement, whereas their opponents, the Naxals, can concentrate and disperse swiftly according to operational needs.<br />History is repeating itself: Shivaji is running rings around Aurangzeb. Time is precious, but is being wasted in a policy of drift, while the Maoists consolidate their hold in the so-called "liberated zones". Policies to alleviate the situation have to be urgently initiated. "Alleviate" is the keyword, not "defeat" — because attempts to defeat a people’s movement, which has arisen due to genuine problems, will ultimately end up defeating the nation itself, and tearing it apart in the process. Central intervention or executive direction, preferably direct, is essential in such a diverse and fragmented political milieu of totally divergent ideologies, with each state nursing problems of local personality cults and ego-perceptions. But none of this appears to be forthcoming. The Government of India and the governments of the affected states look as if they are losing this war. Whichever government comes to power after the elections, this drift has to be stopped.<br />Gen. Shankar Roychowdhury (Retd) is a former Chief of Army Staff and a former Member of Parliament<br />http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/opinion/opinion/to-combat-red-terror,-tackle-its-root-causes.aspxkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-87531529977664780282009-04-10T05:38:00.001-07:002009-04-10T05:38:36.115-07:00Karat doesn't know how to count.The drift and decline of the Left<br /><br />T V R Shenoy | April 09, 2009 | 20:53 IST<br /><br />Prakash Karat told an election rally in Agartala on April 5 that it was 'thousand per cent confirmed' that the Third Front would form the government in Delhi after the Lok Sabha polls.<br />'Thousand per cent'? For India's sake I hope the general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist is just as good a soothsayer as he is a mathematician.<br />India could fool around -- a little bit anyway -- with Third Front ministries back in the days when the global economy was booming; the dinosaur economics of the Left will lead only to drift and decline.<br />But drift and decline seem to be in the DNA of the Left. Look at the records, and you can see how the Communists have been losing ground.<br />Jawaharlal Nehru's Congress sprawled over the benches when the first Lok Sabha met in 1952, occupying 361 of the 489 seats. The other parties were in such disarray that the next largest category consisted of Independents, 37 MPs in all.<br />You could count the seats won by the Jan Sangh and the Hindu Mahasabha, the ancestors of today's Bharatiya Janata Party, on two hands -- and still have a few fingers left over. The Jan Sangh had only three MPs, the Hindu Mahasabha was slightly better off with four.<br />The single largest party on the Opposition benches was the undivided Communist Party of India, 16-strong and led by the late A K Gopalan. The Revolutionary Socialist Party had three MPs and the Forward Bloc added a solitary representative.<br />The title of 'Leader of the Opposition' was not in vogue in those days. Gopalan would not have qualified in any case since the CPI did not have 10 percent of the seats, not even close to that. But it was generally assumed back then that the party would develop into a national alternative to the Congress.<br />The Congress is now a pale imitation of its old self; the party cannot win 361 seats, probably not even half of that. The BJP has expanded almost twentyfold since the Jan Sangh and the Hindu Mahasabha days of 1952. But what of the Left?<br />Technically, the Left Front now has three times the number of MPs that it did back in the first Lok Sabha. But in some ways the Left has conceded space instead of going forward. In 1952 five of the CPI's 16 seats were from West Bengal and two from Tripura, both still Leftist bastions. But one MP was elected from Orissa and the other eight, half the total, were from the then Madras presidency. (The CPI drew a blank in Travancore-Cochin.)<br />The name 'Madras' is slightly misleading since the giant state included most of what is now Andhra Pradesh along with chunks of modern Kerala and Karnataka. Most of the Communist MPs won from Telugu-speaking areas, the exceptions being Gopalan from Cannanore and K Ananda Nambiar from Mayuram (Mayiladuthurai).<br />The point is that the CPI back then was strong enough to win seats on its own from Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. These are states where it now plays second fiddle to regional parties.<br />The CPI actually improved in the 1957 polls, both geographically as well as in absolute numbers. It had 27 MPs in the second Lok Sabha, expanding into new areas -- winning four seats in the old state of Bombay and one each in Uttar Pradesh and in Punjab. In 1962 the CPI tally went up to 29, with the party now making its parliamentary debut from Bihar too.<br />The Congress still dreams of winning back Uttar Pradesh though it has been whipped there in every election since 1989. The BJP has long-term plans of building a strong presence in the south, with Karnataka of course already in the party's bag. Can you imagine the CPI-M on its own managing to get a single MP elected from Uttar Pradesh, or Punjab, or Gujarat and Maharashtra (collectively the old state of Bombay)?<br />Fellow travellers may argue that in 2004 the Left Front registered its best performance ever in terms of numbers. How do those numbers stack up?<br />The CPI-M won 43 seats. Twenty-six of those were from West Bengal, 12 were from Kerala, two each from Tripura and Andhra Pradesh, and one from Tamil Nadu.<br />The CPI-M's junior partner the CPI won ten seats. West Bengal and Kerala each contributed three, it won two in Tamil Nadu, and one each in Jharkhand and in Andhra Pradesh. (It is a disgrace that this tattered rag of an outfit continues to be given the status of a 'national' party.)<br />The Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party each won three seats in West Bengal. Sebastian Paul, running as an independent candidate backed by the Left, won the Ernakulam seat in Kerala, as did the Janata Dal-Secular's M P Veerendra Kumar in Calicut.<br />Going through the lists above it is clear that the bulk of these 61 seats came courtesy of West Bengal (35) and Kerala (17). I suppose it is possible that the Left Front shall do fairly well once again in West Bengal. But it is hard to see a repeat performance in Kerala where the CPI-M chief minister and the local party boss can barely bring themselves to be civil to each other.<br />The problem for the Left Front is that, for all practical purposes, it does not exist outside West Bengal, Kerala, and tiny Tripura. Any major losses in West Bengal and Kerala simply cannot be made up by gains in other states.<br />Forget about the Third Front, there is a possibility that either the Bahujan Samaj Party or the Samajwadi Party shall overtake the CPI-M as the third-largest party in the Lok Sabha behind the BJP and the Congress. Will Comrade Karat then run around trying to create a Fourth Front?<br />Rereading Prakash Karat's statement, I note that the CPI-M boss spoke only of 'forming a government', not of winning a majority. That is the story of the Communist movement in India in a nutshell, it is a group that prefers to cut deals behind closed doors rather than reach out to India to win the people's mandate.<br />http://www.rediff.com///election/2009/apr/09the-drift-and-decline-of-the-left.htmkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-54219160615969401112009-03-29T03:43:00.001-07:002009-03-29T03:43:56.932-07:00CPM terror nexusSquirming, CPM tells Kerala unit: stay off Abdul Madhani<br />Manoj C G Posted online: Mar 28, 2009 at 0114 hrs<br /><br />New Delhi : With its electoral association with the PDP becoming an embarrassment and a target for attack from allies, the CPI(M) central leadership has directed its Kerala unit not to share the stage with Abdul Nassar Madhani, who is accused of having links with Islamic extremist groups, during campaigning. <br />It is learnt that the CPI(M)’s central leadership has taken a view that although there is nothing wrong in accepting PDP’s support, the party should not be seen as diluting its secular credentials for votes by unnecessarily promoting the PDP chief. This directive comes at a time when Muslim outfits like the Jamaat-i-Islami-Hind are upset with CPI(M)’s open flirting with Madhani. <br />While the Kerala unit was actively involved in defending Madhani, with state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan sharing a stage with a PDP leader in Ponnani, the central leadership has been trying hard to sell the line that the PDP is not a part of the LDF and the CPI(M) has only accepted support offered by it. This line, however, has not found favour with allies CPI and RSP, who have been maintaining that the PDP is a communal outfit. There are also reports that Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan is unhappy with the CPI(M)-PDP tie-up and has complained to the Politburo, a development though denied by general secretary Prakash Karat and VS himself. <br />CPI(M) leaders including Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan have been arguing that the cases against Madhani, who was acquitted in the 1998 Coimbatore serial blast case, are politically motivated at a time when a probe into Kerala’s terror links with Kashmir has revealed that many key players in the network had close links with his family or were his followers. <br />While it has already enlisted the support of the PDP, the CPI(M) is also wooing the Jamaat in Kerala and West Bengal and has even made a mention of the Ranganath Mishra Committee in its campaign documents. The Jamaat has been demanding implementation of the Mishra committee report which recommended 15 per cent reservation for minorities with 10 per cent exclusively for Muslims. <br />The CPI(M) recently held a round of discussion with the Jamaat leadership in Kerala and it is learnt that the party’s central leadership has sent a message to the outfits’s top brass here that West Bengal state secretary Biman Basu would also like to meet Jamaat leaders in the state. Interestingly, while the Jamaat’s central leadership is in favour of supporting the Left for ensuring a third alternative, the state units of the outfit are not that enthused. <br />Sources in the Jamaat said, it has not taken a decision so far and is weighing all options as talks are also on with the Congress. During the meeting Jamaat’s Kerala state chief T Arifali had with CPI(M) leaders, led by state minister Elamaram Kareem, it has been clearly stated that the outfit is not happy with the functioning of the Education Ministry and the CPI(M)’s decision to field PDP favourite Hussain Randathani from Ponnani, sources said. Similar is the case with West Bengal, where local Jamaat leaders have already met Trinamool chief Mamata Bannerjee. “The CPI(M) central leadership has conveyed that Basu would like to meet us. We are working out the dates and time,” a senior Jamaat leader told The Indian Express. <br />http://www.indianexpress.com/story_print.php?storyid=440096kalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-6354356300649751942009-03-27T19:41:00.000-07:002009-03-27T19:42:24.936-07:00CPI-M is a threat to democracy & India: BookCPI-M is a threat to democracy & India: Book<br /><br />Usha Manohar in Kochi | PTI | March 27, 2009 | 12:31 IST<br /><br />As the Lok Sabha poll campaign gathers steam in the Left-ruled Kerala, a top Church official has described the CPI-M as a 'threat' to democracy and warned that India will suffer the same fate as China under Mao Zedong.<br /><br />'The Marxist party will use all kinds of tactics to strengthen itself in places where it is in power. That they will do throughout India once they get to power at the Centre, will be no different from Mao or Stalin,' says Cardinal Mar Varkey Vithayathil in his book Straight From Heart.<br /><br />The influential Cardinal, known for his critical views even on the church establishment, says, 'The Marxist fundamentalism is a greater threat than the religious fundamentalism of the BJP. The Navy, the Army and the Air Force will come under their complete control. We can reasonably expect that what happened in China under Mao will happen in India under their rule.'<br /><br />'Where is the logic of democracy if they are convinced atheists? But if they are atheists against their conscience and belief, then they are not true to themselves. Convinced atheists cannot be democratic. Democracy is based on respect for the individual and on the rule 'of the people, by the people, for the people,' Vithayathil, also the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, says.<br /><br />The first Communist government of Kerala, Vithayathil says, was dismissed because they took recourse to some Marxist techniques like rule by party cadre when they came to power.<br /><br />'But even now, it is the party that rules in Kerala and not the government,' the Cardinal says. <br /><br />Vithayathil, who is also the president of Catholic Bishops Conference of India, says he disagrees with Marxism, mainly on the issue of 'atheism' and their 'use of violence'.<br /><br />'From my Catholic faith, I sometimes see Marxism as a chastisement allowed by God on the Church for not living what it preaches,' he says in the book.<br /><br />Catholic Church has often come in conflict with CPI-M-led LDF government on different issues, including proposals of the state Law Reforms Panel on topics like legalisation of mercy killing, small family norm and formation of a body to manage church properties.<br /><br />Praising the Congress and its allies, the book says, they have 'more respect' for an individual and his fundamental rights.<br /><br />Putting his views on BJP, the Cardinal in the book says, 'The commendable thing about the party is that they want to preserve the good aspects of Indian culture like modesty of women and promoting certain moral values, for which they would opt for stricter media censorship. For them religion is very important and they support democracy and human rights. <br /><br />'Besides protecting ancient culture and heritage of India, like Vedas, Upanishads and the great philosophical teachings to the six systems of Indian philosophy, BJP respects, preserves and promotes knowledge of Sanskrit and Ayurveda.'<br /><br />The party is a 'great defender of our many achievements of the past', the book says.<br />However the saffron party, Vithayathil says, 'has forgotten that Catholics of the country also regard Indian culture, philosophy, literature and science as their heritage. The Catholic Church will certainly protect them just as it has responsibly protected and preserved Greek and Roman cultures.'<br /><br />http://www.rediff.com///election/2009/mar/27loksabhapoll-cpm-a-threat-to-democracy.htmkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-49831033324446779922009-03-27T17:39:00.001-07:002009-03-27T17:39:49.442-07:00The Communists of India<span style="font-weight:bold;">The Communist's of India</span><br /><br />March 10th, 2009<br /><br />Communism historically has a very unique twin track approach. On paper the ideals of communism are just wonderful and almost utopist in nature. When one walks through the utopian stage and dons the role of a full fledged communist the finer details emerge. The “The communist Manifesto” written by the demigod of communism Mr. Karl Marx makes quite an impact. His objectives did leave an impression on many and inspired a lot many after his time. He was a profound thinker and like most thinkers he was successful in drawing many to his thoughts. His writings appealed to the rebel in each Individual, by questioning everything. It questions civil and human rights, capitalism, and amongst others religion. It talks about class struggle. It promised a solution, an almost perfect solution that aims to rid the world of poverty, & class struggle and by bringing in an equal society. Almost like the speeches of today's politicians before elections in a democratic set up. It has an appeal that was and is hard to resist.<br />For a young heart, any kind of rebellion is adventurous, daring and fun because it promises action against today's evils and offers the solution that can change the world. That fatal attraction has drawn many a youth across various parts of the world to the ideology called communism. These youth fought with a song of revolution on their lips in the many of their battles against regimes across the world.<br />Since communist thinking was to change the existing set up, any one who prefers the continuation of the present set up is its enemy, and enemies are not ordinary enemies but enemies of the state, so they have to be eliminated. And that was done with great fervor. Consider these statistics<br />61 million killed in the Soviet Union <br />35 million killed in the People's Republic of China <br />2 million killed in North Korea <br />2 million killed in Cambodia <br />1 million killed in Vietnam <br />1 million killed in the Communist states of Eastern Europe <br />1.7 million killed In Africa <br />1.5 million killed In Afghanistan<br />150,000 in killed Latin America <br /><br />Indian communists have haven't been able to beat those numbers but the Nandi-gramam episode recently in West Bengal / India, demonstrated that given a chance they are capable of catching up to the numbers above and may compete quite passionately to propel themselves into the top 5. The communist chief minister of west Bengal said this statement after police firing on farmers who were protesting the take over the land, “They have been paid in their own coin”. Basically what he was saying was that we do thuggery in the form of governance. Indian Media would react in a principled way against any errors in governance but it’s natural to expect them to play safe when writing about all forms of thuggery in the form of governance.<br />Coming back to communism, unfortunately for Mr. Karl Marx his theory of communism though had a strong run seems to be on the ebb today, with the break of Soviet Union and a systemic break down approach by the west, both by psychological intimidation and capitalistic development platform. The other big communist country China is still going strong as a communist because it has shown remarkable pragmatism in blending communism with capitalism, in a way that doesn't upset the communist grip over the nation but at the same time moving in the direction of progress and prosperity. Cuba is set up in the communist mould because people may be tired of another revolution and more over its leaders have mastered the lust and privileges of being in power. Talking about lust, yahoo online reported that the Cuban leader Mr. Fidel Castro had had sex with a different woman each day all through his regime. Unlike Indian communists who show a tendency to stop socialism at their doorsteps, he welcomed it even to his bedroom. That was his passion for socialism.<br />Communism & Religion: There is famous statement in communism, "Religion is the opium of the masses”. Communism has had this fundamentally strong dislike towards religion. It appears that religion comes in the way of the communists exercising their control over the masses. They prefer to be the sole authority when it comes to having a control over the masses. That is the reason the communist rulers of the former Soviet Union banned religious practices and most of the orthodox Soviet church went underground and there were hardly any services. However with the break up of the communist regime, true feelings are coming out openly and the Russian Orthodox church is active once again, with even the supremo of Russia Mr.Putin, an ex KGB agent proclaiming his religion without fear or prejudice. Closer to home, in China the only path to God was taking a membership of the communist party of China. Indian communists however seem to quite confused. While publicly they are forced by their chosen ideology to be atheists, we all know that quite a few times their mask has come out. They participate in religious activities while their families visit religious places as any devout religious person would do. However in India communism does not seem to have a uniform policy against religion. They show surprising agility when it comes to influencing Hindu behavior and Hindu religious practices with communist ideology while simultaneously displaying an almost servile respect when it comes to minority religions in India. This seems be a primary bone of contention between communists and Hindus.<br />Dr Babu Suseelan writes, “For several years, Marxists in Kerala and West Bengal have been tinkering with our education, revising temple festivals, rituals, and spiritual practices. Their goal is to obliterate our culture and our customs by systematic deconstruction. Marxists have introduced Devasom Bill in Kerala for the takeover of Hindu temples including Guruvayoorappan Temple, Sabarimala Temple and various high income producing Hindu temples. Marxist government has introduced several restrictive ordinances to permanently ban traditional percussion, fireworks and timeline to permanently ban temple festivals and traditional cultural programs. For Hindus, the temple is the abode of God, the focus for all aspects in life of Hindus-religious, spiritual, cultural and social. It is a center where God can be approached and where divine knowledge can be discovered. Marxists are keen on destroying our temples founded on a platform with a devilish mixture of deception, coercion, and propaganda and government power. It represents one of the most deceptive and dangerous cultural destruction plan in India- a fact which most pseudo secularists and political leaders either do not know or choose to ignore. There is something sick in these destructive plans to loot temple wealth and permanently destroy and exterminate or vanquish our cultural values. These morally aberrant policies have the infinite capacity to inflict harm to Hindu society”.<br />This philosophy of communists manifests itself into a multitude of anti- Hindu activities at the street level which are being absorbed by the ever tolerant Hindu, albeit in quite disbelief. Hindu anger is building up as tiny rivulets from across the streets, towns and cities of communist ruled India. These tiny rivulets are then further attacked by a combination of anti Hindu forces. The attacks are in the form of a smear campaign. The attackers are emboldened by the passive non-confrontationist approach lifestyle of the average Hindu. Any practicing Christian or Muslim would erupt in anger when the control of their religious places of worship is taken away by the communist or other government's, but the passivity of Hindus seems like a deep spring from which the fountain of patience, kindness, endurance and in-difference flows incessantly. This fountain can have the inherent power to work against its adherents even before the rivulet of anger takes shape into a flood of meaningful thinking.<br />The eruption of Christian and Muslim anger and its backlash has been demonstrated time and again in India and most Indian politicians, the communist included respect the gene of servility in them and hence stay clear. The "Anger of Indian Christian's" is backed by support of Christian western governments and "Anger of Indian Muslim's" is backed by support of Muslim countries of the Gulf. A classic example of Christian international support is the “advice” by US against the toothless anti conversion bill introduced by some states in India and the example of International Muslim support is the routine IOC resolutions against India on various matters relating to the internal affairs of India. The combination of home-grown protests and the international backing for such protests could be the reason for the absolutely zero interference by Communist governments of India in the religious affairs of Christians and Muslims. While there are a multitude of organizations and groups operating freely in India who have their "valid" reasons to molest Hinduism, for communists of India its communist ideology. This anti-religious fervor of communists seems to waft to and fro from the northern border. The recent attempt to take over the Hindu temple of Nepal by the new born communists of Nepal, is a page from the leaf of what China has been doing to religious Tibet for the past 50 + years. The levels of in-sensivity to the aspirations, sentiment and self-dignity of the common man by communist governments, may make Mr Karl Marx re-think his thoughts on communism.<br /><br />Primary Objective of Communism in India: Indian Prime Minister Mr.Man Mohan Singh has said that Marxist violence in parts of the country is the biggest threat sweeping the nation. An entire patch from central India to southern India is under the grip of Marxist violent movements known in India as naxalism. There is no government administration in such areas as no government official dares to go there. This is a complex issue where the mis governance of successive governments has given place to deep resentment against the government. This resentment has been hijacked by the communist movement under the guise of socialism. They wage war against the government with real arms and ammunition.Its interesting to note that there is little or no naxalism in states which are governed by Communist parties like West Bengal or Kerala, because the goal has been achieved, that is to gain power. It’s equally interesting that they use their mantra of revolution only in states they are not in power. They indulge in Marxist propaganda with positive sounding slogans such as "inclusion", "human rights", "feminist empowerment", "classless society", "women's rights", “ equality”, “ fight against oppression” to mobilize the poor people. For the poor and oppressed this seems like the divine opening they have been praying all their lives and are moulded into believing that take cudgels against the government of India on behalf of the communist parties will bring in a solution to their problems. They have invited the security forces of India to their door step thus pushing them into being enemies of the democratic state.The poor who have endured the worst of corruption in governance are now forced to bear the baton and bullet of the security forces. There is an extension of their inherited suffering. All this in the name of socialism.<br /><br />While on one had the communists enjoy power both at states and in the centre by some clever political maneuvering, they at the same time engineer unrest in states they don't rule with the sole aim of coming to power. So is communist ideology in India just a rue to come to power. This unfortunately seems to be the reality as is with any other political party of India. If we assume that what we are writing cannot be true, then quality of life and governance in communist ruled states of India must be on par with developed countries.. right? To challenge us please take a walk through the communist ruled states of India and advice us that we are wrong. We will concede if proven wrong. Rich and powerful Marxist leaders live in luxury houses, drive deluxe limousines, send their children at expensive boarding schools and lead an elite life. The Marxist political leaders are at a huge, incalculable distance from the average citizen deeply ensconced in the twin towers of power and communist ideology. <br /><br />It is said that winning elections is done in true communist traditions. Elections are under the tight grip of the communist party member’s right down to the street level. People are gently advised to vote for the communist party and offered "pleasant" experiences if they do not. Every movement of the ordinary people is tracked to make sure that votes are cast only for the communist party. Its authoritarian rule under the mask of democracy. That may explain the reason why the communist parties have managed to remain in power for as long as memory can know in West Bengal. The communist parties of India are on the same platform as other political parties of India. They indulge in corruption, work towards gaining personal wealth, demonstrate bad governance, display lack of vision on issues of welfare, infrastructure development and prosperity. They also give selective holidays to their communist ideology and engage in multiple forms of political alignments in order to capture / retain political power.<br />Nationalism vs. Ideology: Two things come to mind, The Nuclear deal with USA episode and the silent support of Indian communists to China on the 1962 war and subsequent non resolved border dispute between India and china. The vehement opposition of the Indian communist parties to the nuclear deal was based on the cold war ideology of the communist movement to oppose any dealings with the progressive west. So when they opposed it, the primary objective was its adherence to its ideology over what can be a perceived benefit to the Nation. It’s said at least on paper that the nuclear deal with US would open the door to overcome the power shortage that India is currently facing and also address the future power needs of the power hungry India. We don't know if that objective would really be achieved or if that stated objective is the real objective. But the communists of India opposed it. They had a chance to poke a thumb at the west, their eternal enemy. It did not matter to them that opposition would mean depriving the nation of that extra wattage of power. That adherence to ideology even it means working against national interest is a shocking reality that seems to have got immersed unquestioned and un challenged into the torrid waters of great churning lake called “the Kurushetra of modern Indian politics”. The communists of India seem to have given ideology a preference over common sense thinking of neighboring china. If china were to follow the same communist ideology of opposing any dealing with the west, would it have registered a trade surplus? Consider this report from the China daily,According to China customs statistics, China's exports to the United States were US$52.1 billion in 2000 and reached US$162.9 billion in 2005, an increase of 212 per cent. According to US customs statistics, the US exports to China were US$16.2 billion in 2000 and reached US$41.8 billion in 2005, an increase of 157 per cent. Had Indian communists raised issues like nuclear safety, it would amount to showing interest in the safety and welfare of Indians, but they did not do that. This approach of not blending national priorities as part of their Ideology can be a hindering factor in the development of India. Wish the commonsense nationalistic approach of communist china rubs onto to Indian communists.<br />As for the support of Indian communists to China, It was reported that during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971, China more or less asked the Indian naxalites to support the side of Pakistan. An interesting paper by Mr.D.S.Rajan (He was earlier Director, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, and New Delhi ) in the online portal http://www.saag.org/common/uploaded_files/paper1565.html presents the collusion between communists of India and China. That makes quite an insightful reading. As a starter it would be nice if at least on public platforms Indian communists blend nationalism with communist ideologies. They should step out of their cocoon of ambiguity and come out strongly in support of India on the border dispute with China.<br /><br /><br />The passive and non-mainstream communists of India scattered across the nation in various "avatars" are effectively complementing the "work" of main stream communists by an gusto that combines ignorance and misinterpreted affinity to ideology. This includes the "The Hindu" God "Shri Ram" who resides on the Mount road of Chennai, south India. Surprisingly there also seems to be a preference for " communist anonymity" and also a tendency to present a "secular" face to the public. <br /><br /><br />Indian communists haven't been air-dropped onto India.Its the blood of India that runs in them.They are Indians at heart, body and soul..Look at this picture of Ms. Brinda Karat, one of the leaders of one of the communist parties in India.<br />In spite of being both an atheist and an communist this picture of the Indian communist leader identifies itself with Hindu culture, much to the dismay of the pink chaddi spirit of modern India. The question is why don't Indian communists come out in open and acknowledge their Hinduistic true form which is their inherent foundation. If all or some choose to come out in the open and acknowledge both, their communist avatar and the inherent Hindutvam then we would extend a warm welcome with open hands to The communists of India!.<br />References: <br />http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/Genocide/pol_pot.htm<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag<br />The Communist Chinese Ant Hill Suzanne Labin, Edward Fitzgerald<br />http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM<br />http://sneakpeaks.blogspot.com/2008/03/worlds-most-beautiful-politicians.html<br />The Marxist invasion of India : Dr Babu Suseelan<br />http://theundercurrent.ca/ind_pol_10.htm?id=8522kalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-4695547872620589902009-03-21T15:29:00.000-07:002009-03-21T15:31:38.104-07:00Bengal blues for the reds<span style="font-weight:bold;">Bengal Blues, Left Woes</span><br /><br />Pratap Bhanu Mehta Posted online: Mar 21, 2009 at 1602 hrs<br /><br />One of the most fascinating contests in this electoral season will be in West Bengal. For the first time in three decades the Left looks seriously vulnerable. If recent trends in panchayat elections are any indication, a Congress-Trinamool alliance will give the Left a run for their money. Even the BJP has been making marginal inroads into this one impregnable bastion.<br /><br />The leadership of the Left is acknowledging that this will be the toughest election the party has faced in years. The state government is itself responsible for things coming to this pass. Buddhadeb Babu may be well intentioned in his recognition that the state needs a new development model. But his own party is now seriously responsible for the unconscionable governance failures in West Bengal. The Singur agitation was not so much a sign of anti-capitalism in the state, as it was a sign of the breakdown of elementary governance capacities.<br /><br />The governance failures of West Bengal, on virtually every indicator that matters -- roads, health, education, nutrition, poverty, infant mortality -- have recently been well documented in searing report by my colleague Bibek Debroy and his co-author Laveesh Bhandari. Even the much touted success in growth in agricultural productivity and decline in rural poverty has been tapering off for years. There is no question that West Bengal is ripe for a paradigm shift in its development model.<br /><br />There is also no question that the local CPM has become a huge obstacle to the progress of the state. No matter how much Bengali intellectuals, out of a sense of misplaced nationalism, sanitise the issue, the CPM’s implication in violence, intimidation and coercion is extensive. It is now deeply implicated in the political economy of petty corruption in the state. It has virtually destroyed intellectual life in main institutions of the state.<br /><br />The CPM has freely capitalised on its record on communalism. But the simple fact is that under the surface, there are deep currents of communalism brewing in West Bengal. The Taslima Nasreen case and the arrest of the editor of The Statesman were, in their own minor ways, indications of the warped and bizarre interpretation of secularism the party has operated with. But deeper down, there are rumblings of discontent on the Bangladeshi migration issue. And the CPM, despite having been thirty years in power, has barely been able to change the tenor of debate on these issues amongst the middle classes in Bengal. In fact, a case could be made that if the BJP had got its act together, Bengal would have provided a propitious fishing ground. The calm surface of politics there is deceptive.<br /><br />It is in this context that Mamata’s achievement should be gauged. No matter what one may think of her policies or her mercurial ways, the simple fact is that she has single handedly kept political opposition alive in West Bengal. Anyone who knows how difficult it is for any non-Left force to operate in the state, the risk of violence it entails, will appreciate the sheer courage and doggedness it has taken on Mamata’s part to keep open a political space. I suspect the BJP did not engage in mass mobilization in Bengal, not because there was no traction for them. In some ways the state is ripe for a critique of pseudo-secularism. It was simply that they were too afraid. Mamata’s armchair detractors in Delhi underestimate this achievement.<br /><br />She probably overplayed her hand in the Singur agitation. But the fact is that the demands she made on behalf of the poor were not unreasonable. She knew the possibility existed that the Tatas could move. But what no one could have bargained for was the fact that Gujarat would not just offer land to the Tatas, but such a huge implicit subsidy from public funds. It was natural that the Tatas would take the deal. But two things have to be acknowledged. First, the terms of the deal have not received as much public discussion as they should. And it has certainly reduced the Tatas' incentives for a reasonable settlement.<br /><br />But it is important to draw the right lessons from this episode. It would be a mistake to conclude that the Trinamool is some kind of Luddite anti-capitalist party, while Buddhadeb is the saviour of capitalism. The right lesson is that the state government has diminishing capacity to manage conflict, and an insurgent politician was stepping into the breach to portray herself as a defender of the poor.<br /><br />The election outcome is still an open question. Will urban Bengal rally around Buddhadeb? What will be the effects of delimitation? Will the CPM party machine kick in? These are all open questions. But we should keep our fingers crossed for West Bengal. When longstanding, somewhat authoritarian, regimes begin to weaken, all kinds of forces begin to emerge. It is hard to predict how it will all turn out. West Bengal is ripe for such a churning.<br /><br />It is also such an unconscionable shame that the CPM could not use its immense political hold on the state to do better for its citizens. At the national level, there is also a great need for a sensible Left. At the national level it was the only party that for five years performed. At the very least, its cautionary breaks on our unthinking embrace of the United States, was a sign of its better judgment. But the evidence from West Bengal is now decisively in: the party has become an obstacle to creating opportunities for the poor.<br /><br />There are signs of immense confusion within the Left. It is encouraging the Third Front, because it recognizes its weaknesses in its home bases in West Bengal and Kerala. Its best shot at remaining relevant and to consolidate, is intelligent alliances elsewhere. It is right to insist that there is enough disenchantment with both the BJP and Congress to open up the space for something new. But it is mistaken in supposing that it has a leg to stand on. It risks losing its distinctiveness even more. It obdurately resisted playing the caste card for fifty years, when that card carried some pretence of empowering the marginalized. But just at the point where the caste card has become not a vehicle for empowerment, but of raw assertion of political power, the Left has gone and embraced it wholesale. The ideological confusions in the Left are a sign that it cannot run on its governance record, and is now flailing. Perhaps if it had paid as much attention to Buddhadeb’s weaknesses as it had to Bush’s, it might not have been in such a state.<br /><br />http://www.indianexpress.com/story_print.php?storyid=437375kalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-2805829019065470572009-01-12T05:22:00.000-08:002009-01-12T05:23:15.942-08:00Left front breachedMamata breaches Left’s fort<br /><br />Shikha Mukerjee (Pioneer, Monday, January 12, 2009)<br /><br />By defeating the CPI(M)-led Left Front in the Nandigram by-election, the storm petrel of West Bengal politics has proved a point. But can she forge a meaningful alternative?<br /><br />In Nandigram, the Trinamool Congress’s labour has yielded exactly the outcome that it worked to achieve. The by-election result in this intensely controversial constituency, which was the battleground between the dominant CPI(M) and every other political party, organisation and individual in 2007 over the possibility of locating the petrochemical Special Economic Zone, has revealed that the Trinamool Congress, backed by the Congress, has consolidated its base at the cost of the Left.<br /><br />Three by-election results were declared on January 9 and the diversity of underlying causes that produced these outcomes reveals the complexities that pose a challenge to the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Front in its crusade to transform the State’s economy and integrate it with that of the rest of India and so build a link to the changing global economic environment. The way voters have made their choices it has became clear that West Bengal would have to first live through and survive a fierce conflict between deeply rooted conservatism defended by the Trinamool Congress and also the Congress, and a change-inducing CPI(M).<br /><br />The ferocity of the conflict that erupted in places like Nandigram has surprised many, because the unsuspected depths of conservatism in progressive West Bengal were never seriously acknowledged. Because West Bengal had voted the Left since 1967; because the ‘renaissance’ had started here; because social movements challenging obscurantist practices within religion blossomed here, there was little understanding of and sensitivity to the strongly emotional attachment to the old ways. <br /><br />As a run up to the Lok Sabha election, the Nandigram result is good news for the Trinamool Congress and depressing for the CPI(M)-led Left Front. It has to come to terms with the fairly conclusive evidence that voters have transferred their allegiance. Instead of regaining ground lost in Nandigram over the proposal to set up the SEZ, CPI(M) must adjust to the new politics of eroding popularity and an ascendant Trinamool Congress.<br /><br />Instead of there being no serious alternative to the Left in West Bengal, the Nandigram result shows that for voters in that place, the Trinamool Congress is the alternative. Apprehensions of Ms Mamata Banerjee’s detractors about the planks that make up her populist appeal are irrelevant, because Nandigram prefers to be represented by Firoza Bibi, mother of a martyr, whose usual arena of activity has been her home rather than Premanand Bharati, a school teacher, put up a candidate by the Communist Party of India.<br /><br />By making its choice, Nandigram has confirmed what some had suspected: There are deeply rooted pockets of antipathy to the processes of modernisation in West Bengal. For those who do not want modernisation, the antipathy has spilled out as a vote against the ruling Left and its commitment to change. It must also be noted that in Nandigram it hardly mattered that the candidate was from the CPI; to the voter the Left was subsumed under the overarching dominance of the CPI(M). <br /><br />While it is possible to explain the Nandigram outcome as a consequence of the cumulative discontent born of disappointment and resentment over the high-handed ways of the CPI(M), which took it for granted the opinions and concerns of the people, a simpler and startling explanation could be that just over half of the people in Nandigram do not want change. Since they are free to exercise their choice, the thumbs down to change, progress, modernisation, integration with the trajectory that India’s economy is pursing is irrefutable evidence that West Bengal’s politics will henceforward be a bitter fight between those who propose change and those who oppose it.<br /><br />However, Nandigram’s is not the only verdict and in other places, it seems, the Trinamool Congress’s brand of conservatism, dressed up a righteous jihad against the CPI(M), does not sell. In obscure Para, a reserved Schedule Caste constituency in Purulia district, which has a significant tribal population, the CPI(M)’s brand of progressive politics continues to accurately capture and reflect the aspirations of the voter. Ms Mina Barui has won from Para, confirming that the CPI(M) is a significant vote catcher even in troubled times. <br /><br />Congress’s win in Sujapur, the fiefdom of the Ghani Khan Chowdhurys, reveals yet another aspect of politics in West Bengal, where loyalty to a family takes precedence over everything. Ms Mausam Benazir Nur is a global citizen, but that hardly matters; to the voter she is ‘the family’. <br /><br />Sentiment over science (Marxism to its believers is a science), conservatism against Communist ideology, a simulation of the world of rural Bengal vis-a-vis the real describes the ways in which voters make up their minds. Different sets of voters prefer different ways of life. In as much as the CPI(M) and its transforming agenda have been challenged, the by-election lifts and drops a question on the Trinamool Congress plate — can it gather together all the conservative voters and make a credible bid as an alternative, necessarily with the backing of the Congress?<br /><br />http://dailypioneer.com/149270/Mamata-breaches-Left%E2%80%99s-fort.htmlkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-86782398575242394972009-01-04T19:23:00.000-08:002009-01-04T19:24:10.391-08:00Amartya Sen’s blow to Left Front policyAmartya Sen’s blow to Left Front policy 04.01.2009<br />Uday Basu<br /><br />Year 2009 ended badly for the CPI-M. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, whom the homegrown Marxists look upon as one of the champions of their political creed, virtually dealt a knockout punch to their controversial industrialisation initiatives in general and the aborted Tata Motors small car project in particular.<br />Almost at the same time, far from the city’s madding crowd, a small landowner, Mr Probir Roy, supervising the threshing of paddy grown on his land in Birbhum district, nailed the Marxists’ lies about stagnation in agriculture and the imperative need for industrialisation on farm land. He traced the root of the current turmoil in rural Bengal to the Marxists’ land reforms that led to severe fragmentation of land.<br />If the economist came to his conclusion after poring over weighty tomes and documents, the hard-working owner of agricultural land could see through the folly of the ruling combine with his field experiences.<br />For the past two years, CPI-M leaders starting from Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to lower level party functionaries had been tireless in their propaganda that far too many people were engaged in agriculture and the yield was too inadequate. The only way to generate employment for “thousands of educated youth in rural and urban areas” was to set up industries through acquiring “wasteful” farmland.<br />“Factories can’t come up in the air”, was the common refrain of the Marxists of all denominations to justify their clarion call of evicting farmers from their fertile lands so that industries could be set up.<br />The statistics reeled off by the chief minister can’t be wrong, since they are backed up by the findings of various central and state agencies. But true to Marxist tradition, Mr Bhattacharjee never told the whole truth. The yield from land is bound to be low as a logical corollary to the much-hyped land reforms policy the Marxists implemented since they came to power in 1977.<br />When they effected the reforms, they believed they were ushering in a revolution of sorts as big landlords were being cut to size and small and marginal farmers and landless labourers were being freed from the clutches of oppressive jotedars (rich peasants).<br />What was the upshot of this revolution?<br />In the language of the small landowner, the land reforms have created a situation where only those who have other sources of livelihood can hope to get reasonable returns from land. But, those who solely depend on their landholdings can hardly ever rise above the subsistence level.<br />“According to the land ceiling act an individual farmer can own a maximum of 18 bighas of land, a family of five 35 bighas and for extra members two to two and a half bighas each not exceeding a total of 52 bighas. If land weren’t fragmented in such a manner one could have invested considerable amount of money for irrigating a large tract of land ensuring greater yield. But such investment is out of the question on small plots earmarked by the ceiling,” Mr Roy said.<br />Therein lies the rub. <br />It’s entirely wrong for Mr Bhattacharjee and his comrades in arms to blame agriculture for its low returns and project industrialisation as a panacea for economic ills. They created this sorry rural economy by splitting land in a way that has eventually rendered it far less productive.<br />This is not to hold brief for big landlords or exploitation of rural poor by rich peasants. What Mr Roy sought to demonstrate was the inherent weakness of the Marxists’ land reforms policythat in the ultimate analysis is responsible for the stagnation in agriculture.<br />There’s no harm for the Marxists to admit their mistakes and try to rebuild the system. This was precisely the second theme that Professor Sen elaborated at the debate in the presence of the chief minister, several of his Cabinet colleagues and other Left leaders.<br />The force and bluntness with which he spoke his mind sounded intriguing and left people wondering why he sought to debunk the top CPI-M leaders in public in such a fashion.<br />Describing himself as a fellow traveller of the Marxists, Professor Sen said that since his student days at Presidency College he had been adhering to Leftist thinking and “nothing has happened to make any reappraisal of that position”. Having said this he stunned the audience by saying that the process of de-Stalinisation was being carried out in Russia, Vietnam and other places, but surprisingly the CPI-M hadn’t openly decried the wrongs of Stalin. “There’s no harm in admitting mistakes,” he said.<br />As if to rub salt into injuries, Professor Sen said land acquisition for industrialisation can only be “the last recourse” and that the Tatas should have bought land from the farmers for the Singur project as part of the dynamics of market economy especially when they could pay huge amounts for buying the British steel major. <br />Such a position is not only a marked departure from Professor Sen’s earlier stand on the issue, but is diametrically opposite to his Marxist friends and admirers’ view who have been advocating that industrialisation can’t be done without acquiring farmland.<br />The question that automatically arises is: Was the whole show of turning the CPI-M’s industrialisation policy virtually on its head stage-managed? Or, are the Marxists having a second thought on their pet industrialisation overdrive?<br />The latter can be convincing only if an economist of Professor Sen’s stature lends his voice to it. Is it for this reason that the CPI-M heavyweights invited him to deliver the lecture and contradict their own policy so that they can suitably modify it and attribute the change to Professor Sen and economists of his standing?<br />Perhaps this is the only course left for the Marxists to extricate themselves from the predicament they are in with the Opposition wresting vast swathes of their support base slowly but steadily. <br />If that is true, it’s rather too late. The damage is done.<br /><br />(The writer is Special Representative, The Statesman) <br /> “De-Stalinisation is going on in Russia, Vietnam and other places, but the CPI-M doesn’t openly do so. I have been a Leftist and I believe one has to admit mistakes one has made.”<br />~ Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.<br /><br />“Market economy should have been followed in getting land for the (Nano) project. We talk about market forces which should also have applied in the case of Singur. When the Tatas could buy a world steel major, there was no reason why they didn’t buy the land.”<br />~ Professor Amartya Senkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-32400953624415109312008-12-30T03:11:00.001-08:002008-12-30T03:11:36.753-08:00Higher education is starving--Why donate Rs 23 Crore to Harvard?Why didn't Prof. Amartya Sen himself part with part of his Nobel Prize in Economics to finance the Harvard U. which employs him?<br /><br />kalyan<br /><br />Higher education starves, but a $4.5m gift to Harvard’s fine?<br /><br />R Vaidyanathan<br /><br />Wednesday, December 17, 2008 3:42:00 AM<br /><br />The news item was not in the front pages of any major newspaper. It was published by some national dailies in the inside pages. <br /><br />It is about the Government of India gifting $4.5 million (nearly Rs 23 crore) for Harvard University to establish a fund in honour of Prof Amartya Sen, which would help Indian students pursue higher education in that institution. This was to celebrate the 75th birth day of the renowned economist in recognition of his “extraordinary accomplishments” (PTI, December 11, 2008). <br /><br />The government had earlier given £3.2 million (nearly Rs 26 crore) to the Cambridge University’s Judges Business school to celebrate Nehru’s entry as a student of Trinity College (see my article in DNA Money, February 12, 2008).<br /><br />Both the news items, though important, were not debated by academicians nor commented upon by editors. To start with, there are questions regarding using government money to facilitate the fund-raising activity of Harvard or Cambridge. It is common knowledge that post-Thatcher era, the educational institutions in the UK are forced to raise the fees particularly for foreign students and even then, the fees do not cover even 25% of the cost of running these institutions. And hence, most of the British educational institutions are going around the world with a begging bowl, camouflaged as road shows, for their graduate and undergraduate courses. <br /><br />Harvard, which recently lost more than $8 billion (nearly 22% of its corpus), is so much more desperate to augment its resources in the context of the global meltdown and deep US recession (WSJ, December 4, 2008).<br /><br />Now, why should a developing country like India fund the cash-starved institutions of the West? <br /><br />If Cambridge was so fascinated about Nehru entering it as a student or about the ‘India Story’, then it should have approached a private financier or some company in the UK to fund this endowment.<br /><br />Ditto for Harvard, which could have asked many leading philanthropies in the US or business groups in India to fund the centre.<br /><br />I know of several centres in China, which are funded by these universities or US companies. But India is a peculiar country, which funds centres in foreign universities, facilitating/ enhancing their finances. This gesture is not going to make others recognise us as a global economic power.<br /><br />The higher educational institutions in India are starved of funds and crying out. After the decision of the government regarding reservation for other backward castes and the Supreme Court judgments thereon, it has become imperative for centrally funded institutions to increase their strength by at least one-and-half times and hence they need funds to expand their physical infrastructure. The government is not much forthcoming on this and expects the Central institutions to fend for themselves. There is a need for buildings and various other physical infrastructure in all the Central institutions of higher learning, leave alone the lower levels of education.<br /><br />It is also surprising that the traditional rebels without a pause, namely the Left liberals, are totally silent on this. The usual Marxist crowd berating US imperialism, etc is also silent. May be the recessionary imperialism is not to be bothered about. The academic community is silent and some may be positioning themselves for future opportunities.<br /><br />In the context of starving Indian institutions, gifting nearly Rs 50 crore to institutions in the UK/US is, to say the least, callous and may be construed as the result of the embedded colonial gene in our systems. The courtiers and family retainers may be already crowding around relevant ministries and power centres to get the positions, but that does not justify this subsidy.<br /><br />Due to our distorted Nehruvian socialistic thinking, we believe that government is the embodiment of wisdom since it can tax and provide subsidies. We still live in the era of Kings where the whims and fancies of the Chakravarthi could get huge gifts to the courtiers and other foreign poets/ scholars. All one need do is stand in the queue and sing praises — particularly in this Dhanur month. Of course, if your colour is white, then just stand, not necessarily in the queue. Gifts will be bestowed and you will be profusely thanked for your presence and acceptance of the same.<br /><br />There are many NRIs and Indian business groups who could have provided this subsidy/ alms to Harvard, but that was not the deal. Harvard I presume has arm-twisted the Government of India to get the funds to minimise the impact of its losses on the hedge funds. Anyhow, Indian government is the best hedge against such situations; due to the colonial hang-up and because we think Americans have done a great favour to us.<br /><br />That is the reason our Ambassador to the USA, Ronen Sen (of the ‘headless chicken’ fame) profusely thanked the president of the Harvard University for accepting the gift.<br /><br /><br />We all should be very happy that Harvard condescended to accept our cheque since each of us was worried they may not!<br /><br />Will the Indian mind ever get de-colonised?<br /><br />The writer is professor of finance and control, Indian Institute of Management —Bangalore, and can be reached at vaidya@iimb.ernet.in. Views are personal.<br /><br />http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1214632&pageid=0kalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-39750435288160731802008-12-20T11:08:00.000-08:002008-12-20T11:09:11.210-08:00Dial CPM Brinda and Teesta for cash-for-false-affidavitsDial CPM Brinda and Teesta for cash-for-false-affidavits<br /><br />Gujarat-based NGO processed payment from CPM relief fund<br /><br />Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi (Pioneer, 20 Dec. 2008)<br /><br />A controversial Gujarat-based NGO was instrumental in organising payment of Rs 1 lakh each to as many as ten witnesses in various post-Godhra riot cases. The money came from the CPI(M) relief fund and was distributed months before the witnesses deposed in the courts, five years after the clashes took place. Four other eyewitnesses received Rs 50,000 each.<br /><br />The revelation comes in the backdrop of reports that a host of Gujarat riot case victims were misled into signing affidavits giving false information at the behest of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), an NGO headed by social activist Teesta Setalvad.<br /><br />Incidentally, those who were both victims and eyewitnesses received Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 while the victims got mere Rs 5,000 each. This has raised eyebrows over the selection of beneficiaries and the purpose of paying a disproportionately large sum to the eyewitnesses before the trial.<br /><br />Chief Coordinator of CJP Rais Khan told The Pioneer that he had submitted the name of beneficiaries to the CPI(M) on instruction from Teesta Setalvad. "Setalvad identified the people and I merely followed her instruction and forwarded the list to CPI (M)," Khan said.<br /><br />When contacted, Setalvad said she was present at the function on an invitation from the CPI(M) and had nothing to do with fund raising. "It was CPI(M) money and I was a mere guest at the function," she claimed.<br /><br />Yasin Naimudin Ansari, one of the eyewitnesses who got one lakh rupees, told The Pioneer on phone from Ahmedabad that he was approached by someone from Teesta Setalvad's organisation. "I vaguely remember this. But I don't remember the name of the person," he said.<br /><br />The function took place in Ahmedabad on August 26, 2007 and the witnesses were handed out demand drafts by CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat, Teesta Setalvad and Rais Khan.<br /><br />Brinda Karat admitted that the CPI(M) had raised the money, adding that as far the party was concerned it was giving relief to the victims. "Our party is not involved in any court cases involving Gujarat riots, and for us, distributing relief was merely a humanitarian gesture," she said.<br /><br />Not disputing that she had taken the help of local NGOs to identify the victims, Brinda said, "We had received a lot of applications and money was distributed in different phases."<br /><br />The 14 DDs (Nos 567540 to 567554 all dated 01/08/2007) were handed over to these witnesses by Teesta, Brinda and Rais Khan. Seven DDs were payable at Ahmedabad and seven at Baroda. Interestingly, one of the recipients is Yasmin Banu Sheikh, the estranged wife of Zahira Sheikh's brother Nafitullah. <br /><br />The Pioneer is in possession of letters written by beneficiaries thanking Brinda, Teesta and Rais Khan for the payment.<br /><br />Yasmin Banu Ismailbhai Shaikh (aunt of Zahira) of Baroda, who received Rs 50,000 (DD No 567552 dated August 1, 2007). Yasmin is a complainant in case No. 114/04 at Baroda. It is interesting to note that, when no substance was found in her complaint, she was directed to face lie detection test by the court and ever since she has not appeared in the court. <br /><br />Among the recipients are four Best Bakery case witnesses and nine are appearing as witnesses in Ahmedabad-related Naroda Patia, Shahpur, Khanpur and other 2002 riot cases.<br /><br />The information has been gleaned through a string of petitions under the Right to Information Act by one H Jhaveri from various agencies, including banks.<br /><br />The four Best Bakery case witnesses are: <br /><br />Sailun Hasan Khan Pathan of Ahmedabad who was paid Rs 1 lakh; Tufel Ahmed Habibullah Siddiqui of Baroda who received 50,000; Sehjad Khan Hasan Khan Pathan of Baroda who was paid Rs 50,000 and Rais Khan Amin Khan Pathan of Baroda who too got Rs 50,000.<br /><br />There are nine witnesses relating to Ahmedabad riots who are testifying in local riot cases. All of them were given Rs 1 lakh and they are: 1.Kureshabibi Harunbhai Ghori of Baroda, witness in case No. 11/02 registered in Khanpur Police Station. <br /><br />2. Husenabibi Gulambhai Shaikh, also of Baroda and witness in case No. 11/02 filed in Khanpur police station.<br /><br />3. Rasidabanu Yusufkhan Pathan of Ahmedabad, witness in 2002 riots cases. <br /><br />4. Fatimabanu Babubhai Saiyyed of Ahmedabad and witness in Case No. 100/02 registered in Shahpur Police Station. <br /><br />5. Badurnnisha Mohd Ismail Shaikh of Ahmedabad, witness in Case No. 49/0 3 of Shahpur Police Station. <br /><br />6. Mohd Khalid Saiyyed Ali Saiyyed of Ahmedabad, witness in Naroda-Patiya case. His first application was registered on March 7, 2008 and second on May 29, 2008. <br /><br />7. Mohd Yasin Naimuddin Ansari of Ahmedabad, witness in 2002 riots cases. <br /><br />8.Shaikh Azharuddin Imamuddin of Ahmedabad. During 2002 riots he was injured. At that time he was 10 years. <br /><br />9. Sarjahah Kausar Ali Shaikh of Baroda. No details available. <br /><br />List of Victims who were paid Rs 5,000 on 11/10/2007.<br /><br />Mohammed Rafiq Abukar Pathan , Aslamkhan Anwarkhan Pathan, Pathan Saiyedkhan Ahmedkhan, Imtiyazhhan Saiyedkhan Pathan, Rashidkhan A. Pathan, Sairaben Salimbhai Sanghi, Ashraf Sikandarbhai Sanghi. <br /><br />http://www.dailypioneer.com/144856/Godhra-riot-witnesses-got-Rs-1-lakh-each.htmlkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-8096470306294738832008-12-17T17:14:00.001-08:002008-12-17T17:14:52.827-08:00Commie VIPs !Commie VIPs !<br /><br />Over 45,000 men protect our VIPs<br />Aloke Tikku , Hindustan Times<br />Email Author<br />New Delhi, December 18, 2008<br />Last Updated: 01:14 IST(18/12/2008)<br />As the post-26/11 debate on whether politicians need more security than the public rages on, facts hidden in government figures show how India can be safer if only our VIPs do not turn security into a status symbol.<br />On paper, threat assessments dictate security cover and the extent of protection. Politics often replaces threat assessments in practice. More than 45,000 policemen protect the pool of VIPs in India that grew at 20 per cent — 12 times faster than the annual population growth rate — between 2004 and 2005. This means more security personnel guard 13,319 VIPs than the number of policemen in any Indian city — Delhi and Mumbai included. This is more than the police strength of all states bar the nine largest.<br />An estimated Rs 825 crore of taxpayers’ money is spent annually on the salary of the security staff alone, assuming — conservatively —that all on duty are constables earning Rs 15,000 each.<br />The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) headquartered in Delhi had compiled the figures more than a year ago.<br />Police officers said the actual number of policemen protecting the VIPs — ministers, members of Parliament, state legislators, judges and bureaucrats among others — would be at least twice this figure. In Delhi, more than 14,000 personnel are on VIP duties. The report, Data on Police Organisations in India, only counted about 4,900 security personnel deployed for more than six months as on January 1, 2006.<br />“A total of 11,012 VIPs were provided police protection for more than six months during the year 2004… It shows an increase of 20.9 per cent over the previous year,” the report said.<br />“The increase in the VIP protection deployment has strained the limited manpower resources of State Police,” the report said, suggesting that the grounds for providing security were skewed. <br />On paper, threat assessments dictate security cover and the extent of protection. Politics often replaces threat assessments in practice.<br />Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh’s is the latest example. His threat perception suddenly increased this year to the highest level, Z-Plus, around the same time that the UPA government’s life was hanging in balance after the Left pullout.<br />Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati too had got herself home ministry clearance for her car to drive up to the aircraft at the Delhi airport after she extended support to the government more than a year ago. She withdrew support this year, but the privileges continue.<br />BPR&D said the deployment of police for VIP protection should be rationalised by reviewing it against need-based assessment. According to figures in its report, West Bengal has the most number of VIPs -- 1,999. Assam comes next with 1,610 and Uttar Pradesh, a close third at 1,506. Maharashtra, on the other hand, had reported about 122 VIPs.<br />Terror-torn Jammu and Kashmir, however, has only 170 VIPs.<br />http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=9d7c2725-b9d1-4b24-85e4-7bea32d4aac7kalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-69647726377295819412008-11-08T18:01:00.000-08:002008-11-08T18:02:39.668-08:00Are you scared of the Hindus, Comrade Brinda Karat?Are you scared of the Hindus, Comrade Brinda Karat?<br /><br />By: Bandyopadhyay Arindam<br />11/3/2008 4:39:35 PM<br /><br />http://www.blogs.ivarta.com/Are-scared-Hindus-Comrade-Brinda-Karat/blog-198.htm<br /><br />Congratulations Mrs Brinda Karat. You are the first in history of<br />mankind to have dubbed the entire Hindu community as Fundamentalist.<br />Brinda Karat raises a storm in Rajya Sabha. Not even the Pope or the<br />Imam had the insight to think about it before. It"s a pity that so far<br />there has not been an accolade from the anti-Hindu, pseudo secular,<br />quasi-intelligent ilk, that you represent. Perhaps our Prime Minister<br />will soon render an apology on behalf of the Hindus and consider you<br />for next year"s Bharat Ratna award.<br /><br />Surely you are ecstatic that a handful of the 80 crore Hindu community<br />have been finally alleged and apprehended for bomb blasts. Unlike the<br />legal and judicial system, you do not need any further evidence to<br />prove them guilty. The mere existence of people who indulge in<br />violence and are Hindu by faith is enough for you to call them "Hindu<br />fundamentalist and terrorists". There presence gives you the leverage<br />to equate with all the terrorist activities in the name of Islam and<br />all the Hindu bashing of the Christians. And the next secular<br />deduction you make is that since there is a few Hindu fundamentalist,<br />it must be that the entire Hindu community is Fundamentalist.<br /><br />I assume you don"t claim yourself as part of a Hindu community and<br />would not like to be labeled as a fundamentalist. I do not want to<br />embarrass you by asking about your parents or forefathers.<br /><br />We know for sure that you belong to the Marxist community, though. Are<br />you aware that even in your so called atheist, Marxist community in<br />India, there are people who value their Ganesh and Lakshmi, their Kali<br />and Durga, their Shiva and Vishnu and their Rama and Krishna much<br />above your Marx and Lenin. Hindu Subhash blasts CPM<br /><br />Also we know that you are not naïve to actual violence and<br />fundamentalism. Let us look back at history. On the morning of April<br />30, 1982, sixteen Ananda Marg monks and a nun were dragged out of<br />taxis, beaten to death and then set on fire, as watched by thousands<br />of people in Tiljala, one of Kolkata"s southern suburbs Basu Govt<br />still suppressing facts on Margi massacre. This was allegedly<br />carefully planned and executed by Marxist cadres over a land dispute<br />with the Marg. The Marxists had feared the Margis would upstage their<br />domination in the Kasba belt, which was at that time a base for the<br />CPI(M).<br />Will you consider this violence as Marxist fundamentalism?<br /><br />Such violence is nothing new to Communism. Violence and Terror has<br />been the basis of the doctrine of Stalinism and Mao-ism and the<br />pillars on which the "democratic" reign of the Marxist communist party<br />in West Bengal has existed for over three decades now. Marxist<br />comrades and cadres are required to participate in various<br />"revolutionary" activities for the betterment of the society,<br />including gunning down of innocents, as we recently witnessed in<br />Nandigram. Marxist leaders like you, in turn, have to encourage them<br />with calls for violence Brinda prescribes "Dum Dum dawai" for Opposition.<br /><br />Interestingly, the fact that a large number of the victims in<br />Nandigram were Muslims did not bother the Minority commissions or the<br />Secular brigade because the perpetrators themselves were of the same<br />color as the members of the commissions and brigades. There was no<br />special Hindu or saffron shade in the picture - so no point in playing<br />the religious card.<br /><br />Does the Nandigram violence qualify for Marxist or Secular<br />fundamentalism, Mrs. Karat?<br /><br />What do you propose to do with the entire fundamentalist Hindu<br />community, Mrs. Karat? Do you intend to wipe them out as you crushed<br />the Nandigram opposition?<br /><br />Have you for once wondered, Mrs. Karat, how fortunate you are to live<br />in this Hindu fundamentalist"s country?<br /><br />Consider for a moment that you are in your ideologically desired<br />country of China and you mention something like this against the<br />communist majority in their politburo meet. How long do you think it<br />would take for your blood to be splashed all over Tiananmen Square?<br /><br />Imagine you are in a Middle Eastern country and accusing that the<br />whole Muslim community is fundamentalist. How long do you think it<br />would take before the footage of your beheading reaches and graces the<br />"You tube" website, for the viewing privilege of the rest of the world?<br /><br />Picture yourself, standing in the US senate and blaming the whole<br />Christian community as fundamentalist. Perhaps they would bring back<br />the medieval laws to enjoy the pleasure of seeing you being crucified<br />and stoned to death. As a minimum, if you are fortunate you would be<br />left to rot for the rest of your life in Guantanamo or some other<br />remote CIA operated prison?<br /><br />Do you now appreciate how lucky you are to be still around, amongst<br />the Hindu community, even after several days of the most demeaning<br />generalization that you can make about the majority populations of<br />this ancient land? Shamefully, barring a few, the 250 odd, Rajya Sabha<br />members, presumably mostly Hindu hardly made any protest. Our secular<br />anti-Hindu media and the opportunistic vote-hungry politicians, too<br />occupied in sensationalizing "Hindu Terror", could not find any<br />gainful reason to criticize your enlightening comment.<br /><br />No threat to withdraw your comment was made from any segment of the<br />country.<br />Not a single "fatwa" was decreed against you.<br />No prize money was offered for your head.<br />No call to taste your blood was heard.<br /><br />Surely even you"ll agree that your so called Hindu fundamentalists are<br />purely of prekindergarten varieties compared to their Muslim<br />counterpart. Clearly Hindu fundamentalists do not have any idea of the<br />ABCs of fundamentalism? Perhaps you anticipated very well that you<br />would have a fair chance of getting away with this malfeasance.<br /><br />Compare this to the Danish cartoon or Taslima Nasreen saga. Did you<br />even dream to make any antagonizing remark like this about even a<br />section of the, let alone the entire, Muslim community? You knew that<br />even the army of comrades of your party and the power of your general<br />secretary - husband would not be enough to give you protection after that.<br /><br />Have you thought of the possibility that if the whole Hindu community<br />was indeed fundamentalist, they should have offered you as a<br />sacrificial "balidaan" to their Bharatmata, right then and there in<br />the altar of the Rajya Sabha.<br /><br />Or may be that possibility did cross your mind? Is there actually a<br />hysteric outburst of fear in your exclamation? Are you afraid that the<br />scare of the retaliating Hindu has become a reality now? Are you<br />shuddering with the apprehension that the combined façade of<br />intellectualism, activism and secularism will not be enough to cover<br />up any more? That the ugly faces are exposed and identifiable now and<br />the time of retribution may not be far away.<br /><br />Have you considered the real threat of true Hindu fundamentalism? The<br />80 crores strong do not even need to be violent or fundamentalist. All<br />they have to do is to take a few united stride and that will steam<br />roll the likes of a few hundreds of your kind who are taking this<br />country of India, our punya bhumi, for a ride, dividing its people in<br />every possible way starting from religion, language, regionalism,<br />caste and tribes. The mass is counting days to reach to this handful<br />of leaders, who in coordination with the foreign funded, anti-national<br />media continues to serve their own vested interest at the cost of<br />lives and properties of the innocents.<br /><br />The majority Hindu community has been systematically alienated in<br />their own country; they have been pushed too far. Retaliation is<br />expected. Violence though undesirable, does happen. These isolated<br />events may be signs of early days. Bharatvarsha is no Nandigram, Mrs<br />Karat. It is just a few people who have started to sacrifice - imagine<br />when their number increases. That is what leads to revolution. Not the<br />Marxist variety to make India subservient to the Chinese masters: but<br />the nationalistic variety - to return India to its glory and zenith.<br /><br />Brace yourself Mrs Karat, people like you may not be lucky forever.<br /><br />Bandyopadhyay Arindamkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-91314265621055375622008-10-12T17:42:00.000-07:002008-10-12T17:44:27.261-07:00Modi to Buddha, Mamata: go the rightist wayModi to Buddha, Mamata: go the rightist way<br /><br />Modi's open letter to Buddhadev, Mamata on Nano<br /><br />PTI | Kolkata (13 Oct. 2008)<br /> <br /><br />Barely a week after Tata's Nano found its new home at Sanand, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has asked his West Bengal counterpart Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Opposition leader Mamata Banerjee to work unitedly for development.<br /><br />"We can't forget that the Marxists were once opposed to industrialisation. Continuity in the industrialisation policy will only help retain the people's confidence," Modi said in an open letter to both Bhattacharjee and Banerjee which was published in a leading Bengali daily on Sunday.<br /><br />In the letter to Bhattacharjee, Modi said, "The condition for the growth of Nano has not yet developed in West Bengal in view of its present work culture despite your serious efforts... Please don't get surprised at my letter, which I wrote after serious thought... People of West Bengal may think I have snatched Nano to Gujarat. But it is not so. There is no scope of misunderstanding."<br /><br />"The land (at Sanand) given to the Tata for the Nano plant was acquired for an agriculture university which was allotted another piece of land. The Tatas purchased the land and it is free of any dispute over agricultural or non-agricultural in nature."<br /><br />Modi in his open letter suggested Mamata to "shun ultra-leftism in opposing the Leftists and show West Bengal the rightist way to usher in development."<br /><br />"You may raise demands for more industry, more roads, more jobs in your State. Go the rightist way to development," Modi said.<br /><br />Modi emphasises in the letter to Bhattacharjee that his Government's industrial policy has a continuity and does not change with the change of party in power.<br /><br />"From the outset, we sought to take advantage of the policy of economic liberalisation in the competitive society. We wanted big industries... If there is continuity in the industrial policy, the Government may enjoy people's confidence and faith."<br /><br />"We can't forget that your party (CPI-M) once took the extreme policy of opposing industrialisation. People observed how you disallowed entry of computers and now you are talking of industry. Despite your being in favour of industry, your party and the Government are not with you totally," Modi told Bhattacharjee.<br /><br />Explaining how his Government made available land for the Tatas' Nano plant, Modi said, "We prepared a land-bank for land acquisition for industry. We also made an industry map in Gujarat. All this has been done to ensure that land can be handed over to entrepreneurs fast. However, that does not mean that all land here is infertile. There is fertile land here too for which compensation has to be made."<br /><br />Modi pointed out he had no intention to snatch the Nano from Singur to Sanand, asserting "the course of events and Gujaratis' accountability towards industrialisation have brought in the small-car project to Gujarat."<br /><br />The BJP leader asked Mamata Banerjee to note that opposition parties in Gujarat do not pursue the policy of "opposition for opposition's sake."<br /><br />"Opposition Congress in Gujarat too has lent wholehearted support to the Nano's coming to Gujarat... We don't do politics over industrialisation in Gujarat." <br /><br />http://dailypioneer.com/127070/Modis-open-letter-to-Buddhadev-Mamata-on-Nano.htmlkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-59038120963139822872008-10-03T20:10:00.001-07:002008-10-03T20:11:38.544-07:00Tata leaves W. Bengal. Nirupam Sen also wants to leave.Tata Nano leaves W. Bengal. Nirupam Sen also wants to leave.<br /><br />Both are wrong. Let both leave. Good riddance for sonarbangla, both have myopic vision.<br /><br />Ratan Tata's answer to the question about agriculturists is shocking. <br /><br />The question was: Any equity option to farmers?<br /><br />Tata's answer: We are open to anything, any form of dialogue, not through agitation, not means of aggression.<br /><br />I think, two years ago, I said if somebody puts a gun to my head, you would either have to remove the gun or pull the trigger. I would not move my head. I think Ms Banerjee pulled the trigger.<br /><br />This shows a confused stand of mind. As a true nationalist, Tata should have pondered and tried to see if the farmers who are agitating had a valid point of view. What is the point in blaming a person like Ms. Mamata and praising a person like pseudo-comrade Buddha?<br /><br />The question is not about two individuals but about the direction the nation should take and the role to be played by the state in promoting abhyudayam in villages. After all, India will remain a rural country for generations to come and there is now way Tata's or other industries can ensure employment for all the 65% people who live off the land in rural areas.<br /><br />It is a pity that Tata was talking like a CEO of a Nano company.<br /><br />Now, about Nirupam Sen's anguish. What a pity that Nirupamda has taken so long to realise that the CPM muderers, his own compatriots, have rendered West Bengal into a state of devastation comparable only to the negative growth rate of neighbouring Bangladesh. Playing the communal card and vote-bank politics, not averse to using dum-dum dawaai as recommended by Lady Karat, CPM of Nirupamda's ilk have reduced the great state of Banglabandhu, the great nationalists, into a state of blind allegiance to a failed ideology, a god that failed (cf. Arthur Koestler).<br /><br />What this Nano episode proves is this: CPM has a monumental tragedy for the sonar bangla. Desperate desire to stay in power at any coast like the behaviour of 10 Janpath-chamcha's has been the only driving force of the CPM murderers. They have cared little for the abhyudayam of the banglabandhu, the dharmaatma who live by the traditions of Chaitanya and sanatana dharma.<br /><br />Nirupamda and all his CPM comrades should disband CPM and go to Kalighat to pray to Maa Durga for sadbuddhi. This may be the first step in restoring some remorse in the minds of the evil tutorial-seekers from Beijing, impelled by Chinese patriotism.<br /><br />The second step is to feel proud to be Hindu (even the ancestors of Muslims of West Bengal and Bangladesh were all Hindu)and say, with Rabindranath Tagore, 'bharata bhagya vidhaataa' (assuming that Tagore was referring to the paramaatman).<br /><br />Only people of Sonarbangla have to save themselves since both Congress and their erstwhile chamcha-s CPM will not voluntarily disband. Saving themselves means saving themselves from these twin-evils: Congress and CPM. Start a movement to ban them from the polity.<br /><br />I will give the benefit of doubt to Ratan; he may not be a politician but he should start learning arthashastra and start thinking about India not only about his Nano.<br /><br />Kalyanaraman<br /><br />‘Decision taken with sadness’ <br />- Not the best day to make such an announcement on eve of your Puja<br /><br />Ratan Tata at the news conference announcing the Nano pullout from Singur on Friday. Picture by Pradip Sanyal<br /><br />Transcript of Ratan Tata’s media conference (Kolkata, Telegraph, 4 Oct. 2008)<br />Let me first apologise for the makeshift accommodation. Please excuse us as we had to call the press conference at a short notice. The function rooms were already occupied in the hotel.<br /><br />When I addressed some of you, I think, at the end of August, I had mentioned that we were facing considerable aggression and agitation on the site of the plant. And if this aggression were to continue, then we would have little choice but to move.<br />At that time I had hoped that there would be some understanding on the part of the Opposition party, headed by Ms Mamata Banerjee, and that we would see some reduction in agitation and we could go ahead with the project.<br /><br />Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, the agitation increased, as you know. It moved to the front of the gate and the highway was barricaded for some period of time.<br />Through the two years, we have faced enormous disruption and assault, intimidation to some of our people.<br /><br />By taking all things into account, mainly the well-being of our employees, the safety of our contractors and vendors also, we have taken the very regretful decision to move the Nano project out of West Bengal.<br /><br />This is a decision we have taken with a great deal of sadness because we came here two years ago, attracted by the investor-friendly policies of the current government, which we still have a great deal of respect for, the leadership of Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. And all through the two years that we worked, I am very appreciative of the support that the government gave us and the facilitation that they provided.<br />Unfortunately, we also faced great agitation and great aggression on the part of the opposing parties, which have in fact been the sole reason for us to take this decision.<br /><br />Having said this, I just want to say that since the decision has been prompted, because many of you may ask, why we shouldn’t give this more time. We have taken this decision today, perhaps not the best day to make such an announcement on the eve of your Puja.<br /><br />But we felt we needed to because we do not see any change on the horizon. We continue to be very supportive towards the vision of the government. And why we move the Nano project out of West Bengal? Because we have a timeline to reach. We have made promises to the public in terms of the project running on line. We do not believe that we in any way have lost our enthusiasm for investment in West Bengal.<br /><br />And I assure you that Tatas will through the course of time indeed invest in West Bengal.<br /><br />I will be happy to answer some questions if you provide some.<br />Q: Where will the Nano project be shifted?<br />A: We have not decided where the plant will be shifted. We have got offers from three or four state governments.<br />Q: Will the land be returned to the state government?<br />A: We’ve just made the decision today. The issue of the land is something we may have to discuss with the state government over a period of time.<br />Q: Do you think, in hindsight, it would have been better if you started the project after talking to the Opposition leader?<br />A: That issue does not arise. Because the land was acquired, we leased the land from the government. We didn’t buy it. We believe the transaction was legal and transparent. And the fact that this aggression has emerged, I think it’s very unfortunate. You must appreciate that we are not a party to this land dispute. It is clearly between the Trinamul Congress and the government. Accusations and allegations have been made. And, we believe, we have been caught in the political crossfire.<br />Q: In hindsight, don’t you think you should have purchased the land directly?<br />A: I think it is very easy to look at everything at hindsight. There may be many ways to approach a project. I don’t know whether I should say this, but I say this with sincerity. I view West Bengal as a terrific state, with a great deal of potential in terms of the intellect of its people. And we came here because I thought we could make a difference. In that context, whether we bought the land or leased the land or whatever we did, we did it in good faith at that time because we wanted to be part of the development of the state. We wanted to make a difference.<br />Whether we had bought the land, leased the land, whether it could have been done differently in hindsight, is all conjecture.<br />Q: What about accommodating those who have been trained?<br />A: We have endeavoured to ensure all people to locate them to other plants, but obviously not in Singur.<br />Q: Did you anticipate you would face this in Bengal?<br />A: We did not, I should say, anticipate we will have this kind of problems in West Bengal.... We have no options but to move. It’s a time-bound project, we have commitments that we have made to everyone. In some ways it was beyond West Bengal, it was an Indian project. It’s a shame that this project should have faced this but now that it has, we have to honour what we have said to the best of our ability and we would move.<br />However, I have assured the chief minister that as far as further investment in Bengal, this will not have any bearing but at the same time we will be extremely concerned about the possibility of agitation. I want to repeat the reason for which we are leaving West Bengal is because of the agitation by the Opposition parties led by Ms Mamata Banerjee.... We continue to be enthusiastic about what can happen in West Bengal. I just hope that West Bengal can be a state of huge development and not a state which stands still because of agitations, strikes and rallies.<br />Q: Any message for Mamata Banerjee?<br />A: No. I would like to believe that there is a rule of law, legal redress, that there is a solution to problems without agitation, violence, without threats — that we will not let a single Nano roll out of the plant. How do we go into production with that kind of a statement being made?<br />Q: Are you doing justice to the age-old Tatas’ philosophy of nation-building?<br />A: May I respond to that rather aggressively. Are you not addressing the wrong person for that? Am I pulling out on some whim or fancy? Maybe you should ask Ms Banerjee that question.<br />Q: Is there any possibility that you sit down with the Opposition for discussion?<br />A: I think that time has come and gone for this investment. A search for a solution could not happen for six months. I don’t know, we don’t have that time. We have been trying for two years in the hope for finding a solution.<br />Q: About opportunity lost for Bengal.<br />A: I think certainly, the opportunity for the young people for having jobs, not for just the Nano project, is here today. There will be 100 Nano projects that will come and go. What we have to decide is would the people of West Bengal have a future in industrial development. Will the young people of West Bengal have the opportunity — not because of Nano? Go beyond the Nano…. Will the future generation of West Bengal have the opportunity unless there is investment, industrial investment? One needs to ponder if the way forward is through agitation, rallies, strikes.<br />Q: You may face similar situation in other parts too?<br />A: I can’t speak as to what we may face in the country, a decision like this becomes a lonely decision and taken with lot of pain. There is responsibility to our shareholders, we cannot let lie something in limbo, cannot let our investment lie… and I do hope that wherever we move, we can look back and learn a lesson that a congenial environment would allow a project to prosper.<br />Q: Any equity option to farmers?<br />A: We are open to anything, any form of dialogue, not through agitation, not means of aggression.<br />I think, two years ago, I said if somebody puts a gun to my head, you would either have to remove the gun or pull the trigger. I would not move my head. I think Ms Banerjee pulled the trigger.<br />Q: Any assembly line unit in Bengal?<br />A: We have received offers from other states and equal to what we received in West Bengal. Nothing more. Eventually, we will certainly have more than one plant and certainly West Bengal could be under consideration.<br />Q: Any other industry in Singur?<br />A: You must understand we are manufacturing the car. In Pantnagar, we also have got 1,000 acres: 600 acres for ourselves and 400 acres for vendors. It is not a unique thing. Should the people decide what we need? If we get it, fine. Other people should not tell us what we need to produce a car, in what way. What we need in terms of area, what we need in terms of content. That is something I think should be left to us.<br />Q: Any change in decision possible if Mamata withdraws her demand?<br />A: We have now taken a decision. The time has come and gone. It is not good to vacillate back and forth.<br />Q: Is this a weak government that did not allow the Nano to roll out?<br />A: I thought the government is damned if they did and damned if they didn’t. If they acted firmly they would be accused of coming down on an Opposition that is in minority. If they didn’t, they were accused of weakness.<br />Q: Any message for the 11,000 people who accepted the cheques?<br />A: Don’t ask me that question, I did not agitate, I did not leave on my own desire. Ask the people who created the agitation, who have made it impossible for me to stay.<br />Q: How pained are you?<br />A: I am extremely pained. It shatters many dreams many of us have had. There is great pain, but there is also the feeling that this is the right thing, because there is no other option.<br /><br />http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081004/jsp/nation/story_9926805.jsp<br /><br />I don’t feel like living in Bengal: Nirupam<br />A STAFF REPORTER<br /><br />Nirupam Sen at Writers’ Buildings. Picture by Pradip Sanyal<br />Calcutta, Oct. 3: Ratan Tata isn’t the only one who wants out. Industries minister Nirupam Sen too would leave Bengal if he could.<br />“I don’t feel like living in Bengal,” a distressed Sen, tireless mover of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s industrialisation campaign, said after Tata’s pullout decision today.<br />Sen’s reaction indicated what the government thought about the future of industry in Bengal — at least amid the gloom this evening.<br />“It’s a black day for us. Ratan Tata’s decision to shift the Nano factory out of Singur will definitely cast its shadow on the people of Bengal,” he said.<br />“We could not even imagine that the principal Opposition party could stall a unique automobile project of international importance by doing narrow politics.”<br />Bhattacharjee did not utter a word but his body language said everything. The chief minister left Writers’ Buildings at 8.15pm, head uncharacteristically bowed, eyes fixed on the floor. He ignored the reporters lining the corridors.<br />Two hours earlier, Tata had left the building informing him he was pulling the Nano project out of Bengal.<br />Government sources said Bhattacharjee was especially distressed because Tata had told several industrialists that the Bengal government, especially its chief minister, could be “trusted” and “taken seriously”.<br />“The brand ambassador of Bengal’s industrialisation (Tata) has left just at the time we all were beginning to think that there indeed was a turnaround taking place in Bengal,” a senior government official said.<br />“It will be very difficult to woo industry now that the Tatas have left. Our task has been made much, much more difficult.”<br /><br />Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Writers’ Buildings. Picture by Pradip Sanyal<br />Sources said the government was not worried about those who had already invested in the state, such as Videocon or the Jindals, but about those who had shown “some interest” after the Nano project came to Singur.<br />“Getting the automobile sector to invest in Bengal, especially someone like the Tatas, was a huge thing for us. It’s unlikely that something like this is going to be repeated in the near future. An avenue for generating employment in the state has disappeared,” an official said.<br />Reflecting on this, Sen said: “I cannot say if any political party can really gain from the Tata Motors pullout. But Tata’s decision has disheartened the eight crore people of Bengal, particularly the younger generation who were hoping to get jobs.”<br />He added: “I want the Opposition to do some self-introspection (because it has) harmed the interests of the people of Bengal as a whole. They will have to answer to the people for what they have done.”<br />Sen said Tata had left because he could not have met his Nano rollout deadline from Singur.<br />He explained the government had not forcibly broken up Mamata’s siege near the project site because “we didn’t want to allow the Opposition to gain political mileage by cashing in on the police intervention”.<br />Officials said a cloud now hung over many of the government’s development plans with the Opposition threatening “another Singur or Nandigram” wherever land had to be acquired.<br />“The power plant in Katwa is also turning doubtful because of the Opposition’s threats,” an official said.<br />The only silver lining appeared to be Tata’s fulsome praise for the chief minister.<br />“It’s good that Tata has praised the role of the government in setting up the factory,” Sen said. “It would send a positive message to other industrialists who are willing to invest in Bengal.”<br /><br />http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081004/jsp/frontpage/story_9926636.jsp<br /><br />I don’t feel like living in Bengal: Nirupam<br />A STAFF REPORTER (Kolkata, Telegraph, 4 Oct. 2008)<br /><br />Nirupam Sen at Writers’ Buildings. Picture by Pradip Sanyal<br />Calcutta, Oct. 3: Ratan Tata isn’t the only one who wants out. Industries minister Nirupam Sen too would leave Bengal if he could.<br />“I don’t feel like living in Bengal,” a distressed Sen, tireless mover of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s industrialisation campaign, said after Tata’s pullout decision today.<br />Sen’s reaction indicated what the government thought about the future of industry in Bengal — at least amid the gloom this evening.<br />“It’s a black day for us. Ratan Tata’s decision to shift the Nano factory out of Singur will definitely cast its shadow on the people of Bengal,” he said.<br />“We could not even imagine that the principal Opposition party could stall a unique automobile project of international importance by doing narrow politics.”<br />Bhattacharjee did not utter a word but his body language said everything. The chief minister left Writers’ Buildings at 8.15pm, head uncharacteristically bowed, eyes fixed on the floor. He ignored the reporters lining the corridors.<br />Two hours earlier, Tata had left the building informing him he was pulling the Nano project out of Bengal.<br />Government sources said Bhattacharjee was especially distressed because Tata had told several industrialists that the Bengal government, especially its chief minister, could be “trusted” and “taken seriously”.<br />“The brand ambassador of Bengal’s industrialisation (Tata) has left just at the time we all were beginning to think that there indeed was a turnaround taking place in Bengal,” a senior government official said.<br />“It will be very difficult to woo industry now that the Tatas have left. Our task has been made much, much more difficult.”<br /><br />Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Writers’ Buildings. Picture by Pradip Sanyal<br />Sources said the government was not worried about those who had already invested in the state, such as Videocon or the Jindals, but about those who had shown “some interest” after the Nano project came to Singur.<br />“Getting the automobile sector to invest in Bengal, especially someone like the Tatas, was a huge thing for us. It’s unlikely that something like this is going to be repeated in the near future. An avenue for generating employment in the state has disappeared,” an official said.<br />Reflecting on this, Sen said: “I cannot say if any political party can really gain from the Tata Motors pullout. But Tata’s decision has disheartened the eight crore people of Bengal, particularly the younger generation who were hoping to get jobs.”<br />He added: “I want the Opposition to do some self-introspection (because it has) harmed the interests of the people of Bengal as a whole. They will have to answer to the people for what they have done.”<br />Sen said Tata had left because he could not have met his Nano rollout deadline from Singur.<br />He explained the government had not forcibly broken up Mamata’s siege near the project site because “we didn’t want to allow the Opposition to gain political mileage by cashing in on the police intervention”.<br />Officials said a cloud now hung over many of the government’s development plans with the Opposition threatening “another Singur or Nandigram” wherever land had to be acquired.<br />“The power plant in Katwa is also turning doubtful because of the Opposition’s threats,” an official said.<br />The only silver lining appeared to be Tata’s fulsome praise for the chief minister.<br />“It’s good that Tata has praised the role of the government in setting up the factory,” Sen said. “It would send a positive message to other industrialists who are willing to invest in Bengal.”<br /><br />http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081004/jsp/frontpage/story_9926636.jspkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-87072682440890895382008-09-30T22:50:00.000-07:002008-09-30T22:52:20.657-07:00Nano. I will produce Paano for Rs. 10k if there are frauds like CPMNano. I will produce Paano for Rs. 10k if there are frauds like CPM<br /><br />Buddha and CPM have been fooling the people of West Bengal and the rest of Hindusthana by not revealing the full story of state subsidies offered to Tata.<br /><br />This report by Pradeep Gooptu is a revelation. Who are the Tata's and Buddha of CPM trying to fool? I offer to produce a Paano (so named, because of the paanpatta land taken away from the poor leaseholders of Singur) if a Government offers me such sops.<br /><br />Only problem with Paano will be that one cannot chew it and spit as with a Kalighat paanpatta.<br /><br />kalyanaraman<br /><br /><br /><br />Nano will cost Bengal hundreds of crores a year<br /><br /> Pradeep Gooptu, BS | October 01, 2008 | 02:06 IST (Business Standard, Kolkata)<br /><br />Sources in the West Bengal government's finance department said the state had made budgetary provisions that would run into several hundred crores every year for 20 to 30 years to attract Tata Motors' Nano project to Singur. <br /> <br />This payout was to begin from the scheduled start of the production in 2008. The project is now facing problems owing to protests by land-losers unwilling to compensation from the government.<br /> <br />Responding to questions raised on the basis of the contract signed between the state government, Tata Motors and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), the source said the state would also match any additional benefits accruing to factories in hill states like Uttarakhand, were these states to receive any further incentive packages in the future.<br /> <br />At the end of 2006, the state government had disbursed the first part of its support to Tata Motors in the form of a soft loan of Rs 200 crore at an interest of 1 per cent per year repayable in five equal annual instalments from the 21st year from disbursement of the loan, entailing a lock-up of the capital and loss of interest income on the amount for the entire tenure.<br /> <br />At a simple rate of 12 per cent a year, the interest subsidy would cost the state about Rs 25 crore a year.<br /> <br />The state had committed to extend a loan of around Rs 400 crore a year at 0.1 per cent interest, payable monthly, for 30 years, as a matching amount for the value added tax (VAT) received by the state at the rate of 12 per cent on every car sold.<br /> <br />The 12 per cent VAT on the Rs 1 lakh base model would go up if more of the upper-end versions of Nano were sold, so the amount of the loan to be extended to TML could surge.<br /> <br />The state would also extend a loan to match the central sales tax collected on the vehicle, payable on each car sold outside the state, or aggregates of such cars sent to other factories, and this commitment was expected to cost the state at least Rs 50 crore a year, given the installed capacity of the Singur plant to make 350,000 cars and generate components and aggregates for up to 500,000 cars.<br /> <br />The state government had also promised Tata Motors subsidised power at the rate of Rs 3 per kilo watt hour (kwh), or at around half the price of power charged to high-tension industrial consumers in the state at present, in perpetuity. <br /> <br />This in turn would mean extending support to the tune of up to Rs 70 crore a year for the 997-acre factory zone comprising the mother plant, the ancillary and component facilities and all related infrastructure under the current power tariff structure.<br /> <br />Incidentally, land for the factory had also been provided at a subsidised rate with 645 acres being provided to Tata Motors at Rs 1 crore a year against market rate of Rs 19.3 crore a year in that area, and with 290 acres being provided for the vendor and related facilities units at Rs 23 lakh a year against a market rate of Rs 8.7 crore a year. This excluded the cost of acquisition of the land pegged at around Rs 120 crore.<br /><br />http://www.rediff.com///money/2008/oct/01tata.htmkalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-1782938905435743962008-09-05T14:54:00.000-07:002008-09-05T15:02:16.886-07:00How CPM Talibans ruined West Bengal -- HS MehtaniSeptember 07, 2008 <br />Open Forum<br /><br />How CPM ruined W. Bengal<br />By H.S. Mehtani<br /><br />30 years of Communism in West Bengal. A first person account<br /><br />In 1960, I joined Durgapur Steel Plant in West Bengal. The educated class of Bengalies was proud to say that 40 per cent of revenue to national exchequer was collected from Kolkata. It was true because of the economic development in the eastern region of the country during British rule. Number of industries like tea, oil, jute and steel plants were established in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Orissa. Apart from this there was a development of mining industry like coal, iron ore, lime stone and dolomite in these areas. <br /><br />Kolkata, a renowned seaport, was the nerve centre for all these business activities. The corporate and other marketing offices of these industries were situated in this city and with this a good number of exim houses also came up. So Kolkata was rightly called the financial capital of the country till the end of 1950’s. <br /><br />After Independence, the central government during first and second Five Year Plans still invested a lot in this region, particularly in West Bengal, to give further boost to economic development. Number of industries were set up in public and private sector. The area between Asansol and Burdwan was created as an economic zone, where Durgapur Steel Plant, Alloysteel Plant, Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation, West Bengal Coke ovens, D.V.C. Thermal Power Station, Philips Carbon Black, Shankey Wheels, Associated Vikers and Babcock and many more industries came up. Industrial licenses were issued to still more business houses in West Bengal. <br /><br />In 1961, after the death of Dr BC Roy, the then Chief Minister and a great Congress leader, there was no other leader in Congress party who could inspire the intelligensia and create the dedicated cadres at grass root level. Shri PC Sen, who took over as Chief Minister, was not so effective. Shri Atulya Ghosh, another great Congress leader, remained only busy in Central Committees in Delhi. <br /><br />There was almost a vacuum in West Bengal polities, which gave an opportunity to rising communists under the leadership of Shri Jyoti Basu and Shri Pramod Dasgupta, who succeeded to train and motivate their cadres under the banners of AITUC to work on the principles of Marxism to bring under their fold the industrial and farm labour. A lot of Marxist literature was floated which also drew the attention of educated class. They embarked on vigorous propaganda, by dubbing all persons other than their cadres and followers, as capitalists, pro-American and CIA Agents. The people holding administrative posts in government offices, business houses and industries were considered anti-people, anti-poor, anti-peasants and anti-workers. For them the Marxism was fighting for the cause of peasants and workers of the world. <br /><br />This worked like magic. In 1962 election, Marxists registered threefold increase in strength by winning about seventy seats in West Bengal assembly. This success made them more offensive. They shouted slogans like “Power lies in the barrel of the gun”, “We will break the Constitution from within”, “Democracy is for capitalists”, side by side they developed militancy in their cadres, who were brainwashed with Marxist ideals like Talibans, who are brainwashed with Islamic ideals. Both are fundamentalists and believe in gun culture. <br /><br />In 1962, when China attacked India and captured a large territory in the Himalayas, every citizen of the country felt his pride greatly hurt and expressed anger against the government’s military unpreparedness, resulting in crushing defeat. But the Marxists had different feelings. For them it was a victory of Chinese PLA, who were fighting for the peasants and workers of the world against the pro-American, pro-capitalists and anti-people government headed by Pt. Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India. They believed rather India was an aggressor and occupying Chinese territory. As it shows today they kept mum during Chinese recent incursions and their claim over Sikkim and Arunachal. <br /><br />In 1963, differences between Russians and Chinese surfaced. Russians called Chinese as expansionists and Chinese called Russians as revisionists. This also brought cracks in the Communist Party of India, ultimately in 1964 resulting in division (1) Communist Party of India, Pro-Russia, supported by AITUC union. (2) Communist Party (Marxists) pro-China supported by CITU union. In West Bengal, CPI leaders were Shri Bhupesh Gupta, Shri Inderjeet Gupta and Shri Hiranya Mukherjee and CPM was led by Shri Jyoti Basu and Shri Pramod Dasgupta. They faught elections since 1967 under separate identities. <br /><br />The year 1967 was an election year. Congress in West Bengal was completely in doldrums with demoralised cadres. Shri Ajoy Mukherjee, a great Gandhian leader in Congress, left the party and promoted a separate party called Bangla Congress. There were number of parties in election fray like Congress, Bangla Congress (known as rightists) and CPM, CPI, Forward Block, Forward Block (Marxists), SUCI and Workers Party of India (known as leftists). There had been bloody fights among themselves against the encroachment of each others area of influence. Ideologically each leftist party claimed to be the real Marxist against others. <br /><br />Election results were as expected. Congress lost heavily. No party could muster a majority to form the government of its own. At last all parties other than Congress decided to form the coalition government headed by Shri Ajoy Mukherjee of Bangla Congress as Chief Minister and Shri Jyoti Basu of CPM as Deputy Chief Minister. <br /><br />The time Shri Ajoy Mukherjee took the oath of CM, the very next moment he realised that comrades were hard nuts to break. He faced stiff opposition from coalition constituents, particularly CPM. Though Shri Mukherjee was a Gandhian and a very simple man, but was still dubbed as bourgeois, anti-people and anti-poor, because he did not approve the Mao’s methodology to spread the communism in the state. There was virtually no agenda—for good governance, law and order and development. Comrades had only one agenda, to spread their wings all over the state by force. Managers in government offices, industries, business houses suffered from fear psychosis. Demonstrations, strikes and stoppage in work were rampant. The CPM controlled labour union CITU, attained a monster-like look. This started down fall in economic activity, as the capital started fleeing from the state. The day-to-day work in the state almost came to grinding halt. Ultimately in 1969 the Governor, at the instance of central government, dissolved the West Bengal assembly and President’s rule was imposed. <br /><br />After this the brainwashed CPM Talibans had completely a free hand. They tried to increase further the area under influence and control resulting in tough fights with other leftists in their constituencies. Private armies were raised and number of people were killed. The top leader of Forward Block Shri Chit Kumar Basu was stabbed to death on the busy street near Park Circus at Kolkata. The news of killing in country side was being reported almost every day in the newspapers. <br /><br />In the assembly election in 1969, CPM emerged as a single largest party. Congress came with much reduced strength and Bangla Congress was almost wiped out. CPM again formed the coalition government with CPI, RSP, Forward Block and Froward Block (Marxist). This gave the chance to comrade Jyoti Basu to lead the state as a Chief Minister. But their way of working remained the same. There was completely work to rule in the offices, industries, mines etc. Industries became sick. Managers became sick, they were hooted, hackled and sometimes lynched to death. People became so much unsecured that by evening all will run to their houses. Markets, roads and streets would give a deserted look. Government’s attitude was quite indifferent. On March 25, 1970, there was a bloody scuffle between PAC and workers of Durgapur Steel Plant who violently demonstrated against automotion. About 50 persons were seriously injured and hospitalised. Shri Krishnapada Ghosh (the son-in-law of CPM Party Chief Shri Pramod Dasgupta) a minister, who was sent for a visit to take the stock of the situation, only met with injured workers and not the injured officers and PAC jawans. Imagine the plight of the common man, when government was so virulent in behaviour. The conditions were so bad that Durgapur Steel Plant was hardly operating at 60 per cent of installed capacity, whereas Bokaro Steel Plant, about 70 km away in Bihar was operating at more than 90 per cent of installed capacity that time. Can comrades say that low production in Durgapur Steel Plant was for American’s loss? <br /><br />Shri Pramod Dasgupta, the CPM party chief, was very fiery and aggressive and had more followings in CITU union of CPM. This resulted lesser control of Jyoti Basu as Chief Minister on the officers and staff of Writers Building and other government offices. The Marxists had still only one point agenda to fight against the bourgeois in West Bengal and at Delhi. <br /><br />But, so much lawlessness for years together in the state ultimately scared the people, as they were not leading a peaceful life. Centre and State relations were not at all cordial. This once again brought the state under President’s rule by early 1971. <br /><br />CPM and CITU unions continued their terrorising tactics. Rallies and processions against the central government were regular features. Two Sen brothers of Congress, were brutally killed in Burdwan. So much of scare was created that Congress with great difficulty could get candidates for nomination for election due to fear of being killed, as it happened to number of their workers after filling nominations. Then Congress adopted a new strategy. They pushed the candidates under ground after filling nominations in their constituencies. Thus they fought election almost without any election campaign. <br /><br />Election results were astonishing for the whole West Bengal as well as India. People expressed their anger through ballots. Congress came out victorious in more than hundred seats. This boosted the morale of their cadres, who came out of their hideouts to face the angry CPM cadres, with bloody blows. The membership of INTUC, the Congress led union, swelled. Shri Jyoti Basu again became the Chief Minister supported by the other left parties. Conditions remained still the same and there had been no endeavour on the part of the government to improve the deteriorating law and order. But, reading the people’s mind in West Bengal Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, again imposed President’s rule. In elections held in early 1973, the Congress came out victorious with a brute majority, which formed the government headed by Shri Sidharth Shankar Roy as Chief Minister. <br /><br />Confident CPM cadres never expected it. The crushing defeat made their leadership to realise that people want law and order, peaceful life and good governance. So although they still followed Marxism, but shed the violence and tried better contacts with the people. This was not liked by the hardliners in the party. A new party called “Naxalitas” under the leadership of Charumajundar, Kanu Sanyal and Jangal Santhal emerged on the scene. They were the dead enemy of CPM. They were dealt with iron hand by the government at Centre. <br /><br />In 1977, the conditions in the country took the U turn. Congress was not only defeated at Centre, but also all over northern India, including West Bengal, due to promulgation of Emergency in 1975. Shri Jyoti Basu was again on the Chief Minister’s chair. After that he did not look back. He ruled the state for about twenty five years. The state is still under leftists rule headed by Shri Buddhdeb Bhattacharjee of CPM as Chief Minister. During Jyoti Basu’s time there has been negligible progress in the state, but presently Shri Buddhdeb Bhattacharjee has realised that IT, telecom, energy, automobile and infrastructure are the areas which need to be looked for development, but is not achieving the desired results because of the Marxism to which they are still holding. Violent incidents at Singur and Nandigram do testify its irrelevance. <br /><br />Finally coming to the point which I started writing, whether, Kolkata is still the financial capital of the country, which it used to be in 50’s. No, not at all. All the focus for investments shifted towards western region of the country. Where the professionals inspired by nationalism brought the economic development and prosperity in the last fifty years. In this period West Bengal remained mostly destablised. Marxism has actually proved to be the anti-poor and anti-development. <br /><br />It was said “what Bengal does today, India will do tomorrow”. It is true, but not with the teachings of Marxism. It will be true only by following the path shown by the sons of Bengal like Vivekananda, Netaji, Tagore, etc. <br /><br />(The author can be contacted at 89/7, East Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi-110 026.)<br /><br /><br />http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=253&page=20kalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763947278946109520.post-19745583715926630862008-09-02T10:34:00.000-07:002008-09-02T11:08:35.084-07:00Why did Nano project pull out of West Bengal? CPM.What the following statement fails to state is the nature of the state led by CPM in West Bengal. This blogspot focusses on Communist Party of Murderers. <br /><br />It is a pity that there are other parties which are part of the Left Front led by CPM, acquiescing in the activities of the murderous party. No further evidence is required than the claim made by a Politburo member of CPM, Smt. Brinda Karat that 'dumdum dawaii' will be administered in the wake of Nandigram and Singur atrocities unleashed by the CPM. 'Dumdum Dawaii' is a short-hand for violence and murder, a technique that CPM thought was successfully adopted in the Dumdum constituency to neutralise through violence, opposition to the Left Front.<br /><br />What the tragedy of the CPM led polity in West Bengal proves is this: Commies are unfit to govern, driven as they are by blind ideological beliefs in communism (another form of religion) and recent manifestations showing off the CPM brass as China patriots, rendering them ab initio unfit to even understand let alone cherish the great heritage of Hindu civilization.<br /><br />This ain't the time to enter into political nit-picking pointing fingers at who did what and what could have been done to avoid the stupid controversy posited between agro-based and industry-based development.<br /><br />The issue is not dichotomy. The issue is about CPM's ability to articulate and put in place the type of future Hindusthan should strive for and achieve.<br /><br />For a long, long time to come, people of Hindushan will continue to live in the rural areas living off the bounties of mother earth. There is no magic wand to absorb 65% of the labour force currently engaged in the agricultural sector into the industrial or services sectors. Hindusthan will continue to be a land based on the bounties offered by the mother earth which have to be nurtured and protected by the labor force in the agricultural sector. <br /><br />The tragedy gets compounded by the fact that agricultural growth has only been 1.8% while the total GDP growth is trumpeted by official statisticians to be over 8%. Does it occur to these pundits to analyse the absurdity of this statistical picture? How can Hindusthan grow without growth of the rural area dependent upon agriculture and related agro-processing industries?<br /><br />CPM (and the others in the Left Front) thought that they could fool the electorate and create a vote bank by offering long-term lease of land to the tillers and smashing this agreement to the smithereens by the new-found love for Nano or Salim's chemical hub or whatever industrial goodies which such entrepreneurs have to offer who care little for that poor farmer in the villages who is forced into suicide as an ultimate revolt against the intolerable order.<br /><br />The issue is not about the Nano project or the munificence of the Tata dynasty.<br /><br />The issue is about the type of integrated development needed to provide for urban facilities in rural areas and ensuring that the entire labour force is fruitfully engaged in work and is fairly compensated to create enough purchasing power in their hands to create a multiplier effect in taking the nation forward to abhyudayam.<br /><br />The issue is about the nation, the rashtram; not this region or that, not this community or that. The issue is about the abhyudayam of the entire nation ensuring true empowerment of the janapada-s, which can be created by fully empowered panchayati raj institutions to determine bottom-up developmental opportunities without waiting for doles from 10 Janpath chamcha-s.<br /><br />The issue is about getting the politicos off the backs of the bhadralok, by disbanding the oppressive state structures exemplified by the photo-ops sought by 10 Janpath chamcha-s, as if they are arbiters of the fate of Hindusthan.<br /><br />They are not the arbiters of the fate of Hindusthan. The people who gave themselves this Republic are. This Republic has to be a dharma republic, governed by the universal ethic of family responsibility confederating into a state responsibility for abhyudayam.<br /><br />We have to get back to the drawing board and rethink if we have the right types of institutional mechanisms in the State to really achieve a harmonious balance between the exercise of State power and family responsibility -- simply to re-draw the Constitutional framework which have allowed the types of riff-raffs like the CPM ideologues who only mouth worker power caring little for ensuring that the workers have work to perform, to find meaning in their lives and realize their full potential as contributors for the nation's abhyudayam.<br /><br />Workers are not mere vote-banks, CPM. They are the very raison d'etre of the State. CPM ideologues may go for tutorial sessions to China but they will learn nothing, unless they learn that the nation of Hindusthan has its identity from the ancestors who have given us some ideals to strive for -- dharma. If we have asthana vidwans like Hon'ble Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury who has not even read the Hindi version of the Preamble of the Constitution of India and takes exception to the then President of the Union referring to pantha-nirapekshata as the offical reading of the word 'secular' in the Preamble, CPM really has problems; so do the CPM partners of the Left Front and the pseudo-secular brigades of 10 Janpath chamcha-s. There can't be no dharma-nirapekshataa, Sitaram ji. Dharma is the very fountain of this nation, this rashtram. There cannot be any neutrality as to dharma. Every facet of the State, every wing of the State, every estate of the State, every functionary has to owe allegiance to dharma. It is only such allegiance that defines Hindusthanam.<br /><br />Bye-bye Nano. It is good that Tata dynasty learns some lessons. There is corporate accountability, accountability to the people. Corporate aggrupations cannot dictate public policy but act like responsible entities owing their first allegiance to protecting those who protect dharma. The Singur land is not Tata's or Buddhadeb's. It is ridiculous that Buddha claims that there is no law to return the land illegally taken from the tenants and cultivatore. If there is no law, create it, Buddha; and gracefully, quit being CM. <br /><br />So, why did Nano project pull out of West Bengal? The answer is simple. CPM. People have suffered enough from these marauders. Show them the exit door out of politics and let them get into social service for a change, say, by tilling the Singur lands to produce paan pattaa, the famed Bangla paan pattaa rivalling the Benarsi paan pattaa -- both pattaas are the bounties of Maa Ganga, CPM. CPM, do you understand what Maa Ganga means? She is our mother, she is our life. If you can't help them, just leave the Singur land-tillers and cultivators alone.<br /><br />kalyanaraman<br /><br />Statement issued by Tata Motors on Singur pull out threat<br />2 Sep 2008, 2231 hrs IST,ECONOMICTIMES.COM<br /><br />Tata Motors on Tuesday said it was looking for alternate options to manufacture its small car Nano from the company's other plants and work at Singur has been suspended. <br /><br />Here is the full statement released by the Corporate Communications department of Tata Motors: <br /><br />Tata Motors Ltd. has been constrained to suspend the construction and commissioning work at the Nano Plant in Singur in view of continued confrontation and agitation at the site. This decision was taken in order to ensure the safety of its employees and contract labour, who have continued to be violently obstructed from reporting to work. The company has assessed the prevailing situation in Singur, after five continuous days of cancellation of work, and believes that there is no change in the volatile situation around the plant. The project’s auto ancillary partners, who had commenced work at their respective plants in Singur, were also constrained to suspend work in line with Tata Motors’ decision. <br /><br />In view of the current situation, the company is evaluating alternate options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities and a detailed plan to relocate the plant and machinery to an alternate site is under preparation. To minimize the impact this may have on the recently recruited and trained people from West Bengal, the Company is exploring the possibility of absorbing them at its other plant locations. <br /><br />Construction of the plant has faced challenges at various points of time. There has however been a significant decline in the attendance of their staff and contractual labour since August 24, 2008. Some of the international consultants working on the plant have returned home and the construction work in the plant has been stalled since August 28, 2008. In fact, the existing environment of obstruction, intimidation and confrontation has begun to impact the ability of the company to convince several of its experienced managers to relocate and work in the plant. Further, several persons engaged in the construction and commissioning work who had taken accommodation at Singur and nearby areas have since vacated and have gone away due to intimidation and fear. <br /><br />Construction of the Nano project comprising of the Nano manufacturing facilities and the vendor park, a normal feature in modern world-class auto plants, commenced in January 2007. The work on the construction and commissioning of the plant had been nearing completion in line with planned schedules. During construction, this project employed about 4000 employees at its peak including several hundred young residents from and around the region. <br /><br />As a part of its commitment to enhance the employability of its people, Tata Motors has trained over 762 ITIs and other apprentices from the region and the state. They have undergone retraining at the Tata Motors facilities in Jamshedpur and Pune. <br /><br />Tata Motors’ efforts to offer medical care in and around the region, which had handled over 17,000 medical cases, have been forcefully stopped by violent agitators. As part of the proposed integrated auto cluster in Singur, about 60 key auto ancillary suppliers to the Nano have taken possession of land in the integrated complex and have invested about Rs.500 crores towards construction of their plants and procurement of their equipment and machinery. <br /><br />Commenting on the situation, a Tata Motors spokesperson said, “The situation around the Nano plant continues to be hostile and intimidating. There is no way this plant could operate efficiently unless the environment became congenial and supportive of the project. We came to West Bengal hoping we could add value, prosperity and create job opportunities in the communities in the State.” <br /><br />http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Read_Full_statement_issued_by_Tata_Motors_on_Singur_pull_out_threat/articleshow/3437910.cmskalyan97http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697859363967489909noreply@blogger.com1