Resist the UPA Government’s Strategic Partnership
With the Corporate ‘Blood for Oil’ Scamsters!
Natwar Singh seems to have has slipped on the oil slick caused by the UN-appointed Volcker Committee Report. Belatedly, the UPA Government has taken the necessary step of stripping Natwar Singh of the external affairs portfolio, (giving him a unique status as a Minister without a portfolio), while the external affairs portfolio has been taken over by the Prime Minister. The Government has also ordered a Committee to probe into the Volcker allegations. Both the investigation and the decision to drop Natwar are more likely inspired by the compulsions of the UPA Government’s relationship with the US rather than by concerns of the probity of its ministers. The role of Natwar Singh and his business pals must most certainly be subjected to stern and impartial enquiry – and the decorum of such an enquiry requires that Natwar Singh should in fact step down from his position as Minister.
Much hue and cry is being made over the Oil for Food scam allegedly indulged in by the Saddam Hussein regime; meanwhile, there is a danger that we might forget the Bush regime’s Blood for Oil scam – a scam that shows no signs of abating but is growing in rapacity! Volcker alleges that the Saddam Government used contractual oil vouchers to bribe political leaders and parties to raise their voices in support of the UN Oil for Food programme, which repeatedly faced threats of being terminated. Also, it is alleged that the Saddam Government illegally garnered 1.8 billion dollars through the UN Oil for Food programme which allowed Iraq to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian goods. Can we forget that Iraq since 1990, debilitated by the First Gulf War, had been subjected to crippling sanctions by the UN under US pressure – sanctions that claimed the lives of a million Iraqi babies deprived of nutrition and basic medicine? To indict the actions of a besieged and embattled Iraq, desperate for lifesaving humanitarian resources, while turning a blind eye to brutal and bloody plunder by the US is something like branding the starving person who sells a kidney to feed his family as a scamster, while allowing the mafia dons with political clout to profit from murder in peace!
It is grotesque to hear such hue and cry over Saddam’s “hoodwinking” the UN to garner funds for Iraq and political support for the beleaguered Oil for Food programme – even as the US’ corporate loot of Iraq continue in the name of ‘reconstruction’. Corporates like Bechtel and Halliburton, owned by handpicked senior officials of the Bush regime have cornered the juicy ‘reconstruction’ contracts – and are now failing to provide even the most basic infrastructure required for survival of the Iraqi people. The corporate criminals of the Bush regime are milking Iraq for millions of dollars, even as schools crumble, basic hygiene facilities are denied, chronic hunger and unemployment rule.
Back at home, a scam that should worry us more than the Volcker allegations is the Strategic Partnership Scam: the clear evidence that the UPA Government is pruning India’s foreign policy to make it fit US strategic interests. Records of the US Congressional hearings on the Indo-US Nuclear Deal show US Senators citing the need for tell India “in plain English” to “reciprocate” the nuclear deal by making “damn sure damn sure that India is mindful of U.S. policies in critical areas such as U.S. policy towards Iran” or else “pay a very heavy price”. In “plain English”, such statements can only be called blatant bullying - and it is clear that the UPA Government’s vote against Iran in the IAEA was craven crawling before such bullying. The Indo-US nuclear deal, defence pact and joint military exercises on Indian soil need to recognized as ‘kickbacks’ – bribes which make India’s rulers feel good about being junior partners of Big Brother Bush, but which are intended to seal the deal of India’s strategic slavery to US interests, to buy off India’s sovereignty and independent foreign policy.
Natwar Singh, in a final bid to garner Left support and stave off dismissal, had announced his willingness to change the Indian vote on Iran in IAEA. But the issue of India’s sovereignty cannot be reduced to a bargaining point of convenience for corrupt politicians – the struggle to expose and resist the surrender of our rulers to imperialist interests is one that must be waged and won on the streets.
Send Shahabuddin to Tihar Jail
Conduct legal proceedings against him in a court outside Bihar
Reacting on the arrest of criminal don Shahabuddin, CPI(ML) has said that he should now be kept in Delhi’s Tihar jail, not in any jail in Bihar for any reason, and all cases pending against him should be transferred to a court outside Bihar.
CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has said that this arrest of Shahabuddin who was enjoying NBWs evasions for a long time seems to be a calculated one in view to influence the polling pattern for the third and fourth phases of Bihar Assembly elections. Party's Bihar State Secretary Ramjatan Sharma has said that whatever may be the reason, it is a victory for the people of Bihar who are spearheading movement under the banner of CPI(ML) to punish Shahabuddin for the many crimes he has committed against humanity. If he is kept in some jail inside Bihar, there are fears that he may influence the ongoing electoral process and obstruct the legal proceedings making, again, a mockery of justice, he added.
This dreaded criminal and Member of Parliament continues to enjoy protection of those in power and represents a disgraceful and anti-people nexus of high-profile crime and politics. In spite of long pending NBWs and charges of murders, kidnapping and extortions, etc. against him he not only freely roamed in Bihar as well as in Delhi, he routinely appeared in various TV channels. But it took more than two months for the police and administration to nab him in his own residence in Delhi. Party has reiterated to conduct a nationwide campaign against this killer of Comrade Chandrasekhar and many other comrades and common people.
CPI(ML) has sent a memorandum to the Chief Election Commissioner in New Delhi demanding his transfer to Tihar Jail. The memorandum says that despite repeated orders by the EC, Shahabuddin evaded arrest for many months due to the protection being given to him by the government and the administration. This man was also debarred from entering Siwan during last Assembly elections. Now any decision to keep him inside Bihar will certainly affect chances of a free and fair elections as he has a record of moving outside the jails during elections with administrative help to conduct his party’s campaigns.
|
Criminal Cases Against Shahabuddin |
|
Police Station |
Case Number |
Date |
Criminal Sections and the Incident |
1 |
Siwan Town |
134/85 |
11.05.85 |
365, 379, 323, 34 IPC |
2 |
Siwan Town |
217/85 |
02.09.85 |
307, 323, 34 IPC, 27 Arms Act |
3 |
Siwan Town |
222/85 |
09.09.85 |
307, 341, 323, 324, 34 IPC, 27 Arms Act |
4 |
Siwan Town |
079/86 |
10.04.86 |
397, 402, 411, 412, 414, 216A IPC, 25A, 26/35 Arms Act |
5 |
Siwan Mufassil |
228/86 |
21.12.86 |
147, 148, 325, 302 IPC, 27 Arms Act, 5 Explosive Materials Ordinance |
6 |
|
|
September ‘86 |
304, 324, 323, 307, 34 IPC |
7 |
Siwan Town |
057/89 |
March ‘89 |
307, 302, 34 IPC, 3/4 Explosive Materials Ordinance |
8 |
Siwan Mufassil |
091/89 |
01.06.89 |
353, 364, 304, 34 IPC, 27 Arms Act |
9 |
Mairwa (Jeeradei) |
134/89 |
22.11.89 |
302, 34 IPC, 3/4 Explosive Materials Ordinance |
10 |
Siwan Mufassil |
061./90 |
12.04.90 |
363 IPC |
11 |
Siwan Town |
205/90 |
03.09.90 |
365, 337 IPC |
12 |
Siwan Town |
129/85 |
06.05.85 |
324, 307, 34 IPC, 27 Arms Act |
13 |
Siwan Town |
077/86 |
08.04.86 |
304 IPC |
14 |
Siwan Town |
183/88 |
10.09.88 |
307 IPC, 27 Arms Act |
15 |
Husainganj |
186/93 |
03.10.93 |
147, 148 ,149, 334, 307 IPC, 27 Arms Act |
16 |
Jeeradei |
239/93 |
23.12.93 |
Killed three CPI(ML) supporters |
17 |
Panchrookhi |
060/94 |
24.05.94 |
147, 323, 327, 379 IPC |
18 |
Siwan Town |
108/94 |
22.05.94 |
147, 148, 149, 324, 307, 27 Arms Act |
19 |
Siwan Town |
155/94 |
07.08.94 |
302, 307, 324, 120(B) IPC |
20 |
Panchrookhi |
008/95 |
20.10.95 |
|
21 |
Siwan Town |
011/96 |
18.01.96 |
34, 342, 323, 307, 34 IPC, 27 Arms Act (under investigation) |
22 |
Husainganj |
099/96 |
02.05.96 |
147, 148, 149, 327, 307, 302 IPC, 27 Arms Act (under investigation) (Killed three CPI(ML) supporters at Satpokharia booth) |
23 |
Ander |
032/96 |
02.05.96 |
147, 148, 149, 302, 486 IPC, Arms Act (under investigation) |
24 |
Ander |
032/96 |
02.05.96 |
147, 148, 149, 307 IPC (under investigation) |
25 |
Darauli |
034/96 |
04.05.96 |
307, 353, 34 IPC, 27 Arms Act, (under investigation) (Murderous attack on Superintendent of Police Singhal) |
26 |
Husainganj |
188/96 |
03.09.96 |
302 IPC (Murder of CPI(ML) leader Surendra Yadav) |
27 |
Siwan Town |
130/96 |
21.06.96 |
(Attack on Thana In-charge Sandesh Baitha) |
28 |
Siwan Town |
224/96 |
18.10.96 |
302 IPC (Murder of CPI(ML) leader Kedar Sah) |
29 |
Siwan Town |
054/97 |
31.03.97 |
302 IPC (Murder of CPI(ML) leaders Chandrasekhar and Shyamnarayan Yadav in Siwan) |
30 |
Siwan Mufassil |
181/98 |
19.09.98 |
147, 323, 341, 342, 448, 504 IPC (Kidnapping and attack on CPI(ML) office in Siwan) |
31 |
Siwan Town |
145/98 |
09.09.98 |
147, 148, 149, 307, 379, 504 IPC (Attack on a dharna conducted by CPI(ML) |
32 |
Siwan Town |
147/98 |
09.09.98 |
147, 148, 149, 307, 353, 333, 379 IPC (Attack on CPI(ML) MLA Satyadev Ram’s bodyguard and snatching of his revolver) |
33 |
Husainganj |
114/99 |
06.02.99 |
302 IPC (Kidnapping and murder of CPI(ML) activists Chhotelal Gupta) |
34 |
Siwan Mufassil |
008/2001 |
06.01.01 |
369, 34 IPC (Kidnapping of Munna Chaudhary from Rampur village) |
35 |
Husainganj |
32/2001 |
16.05.01 |
147, 148, 307, 302, 334, 335, 332, 333, 435, 427, 120, 25 1(B), A 26/35 |
36 |
Husainganj |
33/2001 |
16.05.01 |
147, 148, 307, 302, 334, 335, 332, 333, 315, 435, 427, 120, 25 (1)B, A 26/35 |
37 |
Husainganj |
39/2001 |
|
|
38 |
Husainganj |
42/2001 |
|
|
39 |
Husainganj |
43/2001 |
|
|
40 |
Husainganj |
44/2001 |
|
|
41 |
Husainganj |
45/2001 |
|
|
42 |
Husainganj |
48/2001 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note: The list is still not complete and for the fields remained blank in this table more information is being gathered. |
|
List of CPI(ML) cadres and supporters killed by Shahabuddin gang |
|
|
Name |
Place |
Date |
|
|
1 |
Vishwanath Bhagat |
Jeeradei |
23.12.93 |
Supporter |
|
2 |
Lal Bahadur Bhagat |
Jeeradei |
23.12.94 |
Supporter |
|
3 |
A woman |
Jeeradei |
23.12.95 |
Supporter |
|
4 |
Jagarnath Sah |
Ander |
02.05.96 |
Supporter |
|
5 |
Dhruvdev Bhagat |
Husainganj |
17.08.98 |
Supporter |
|
6 |
Doodhnath Bhagat |
Husainganj |
17.08.98 |
Supporter |
|
7 |
Shivnath Paswan |
Sonkarha |
02.10.99 |
Committee member |
|
8 |
Jagan Sah |
Raghunathpur |
02.10.99 |
Committee member |
|
9 |
Chhotelal Gupta |
Ander |
06.02.99 |
Cadre |
|
10 |
Janardan Sahni |
Husainganj |
Feb. 2000 |
Supporter |
|
11 |
Dindayal Bhagat |
Ander |
22.01.2000 |
Supporter |
|
12 |
Surendra Yadav |
Husainganj |
03.09.96 |
District Committee member |
|
13 |
Kedar Sah |
Siwan Town |
18.10.96 |
District Committee member |
|
14 |
Bihari Manjhi |
Husainganj |
05.10.98 |
Supporter |
|
15 |
Chandrasekhar |
Siwan Town |
31.03.97 |
Ex-JNUSU President and senior leader of Party |
|
16 |
Shyamnarayan Yadav |
Siwan Town |
31.03.97 |
Senior leader of Party |
|
17 |
A girl child |
Jeeradei |
|
|
|
18 |
Munna Chaudhary |
Siwan Mufassil |
06.01.2001 |
Supporter |
|
|
CPI(ML) condemns killing of poor peasants by landlord-criminal nexus in Chandauli
Demands Land Commission and Fast Track Courts in UP
When the attempt by the powerful feudals of trying to occupy some ceiling surplus land in village Shahpur under Chakia PS of Chandauli district in UP was opposed by the villagers, it led to the murder of two poor peasants. This incident, though, is a reflection of rising aspirations of the rural poor for the complete implementation of the land reforms, it also demonstrates the strengthening morale of the feudal-criminal nexus under direct patronage of the Mulayam Singh government. UP State unit of the Party has strongly condemned this incident, which took place on Nov. 5, and demanded to nab the killers, give compensation to the families of killed peasants and immediate redistribution of the land in question. CPI(ML) has also reiterated its demand for institution of a Land Commission in the state and of a Fast Track court for speedy trial of all land related disputes.
This is a common practice by landlord feudal kulaks to start endless legal proceedings for ceiling surplus or public lands grabbed by them only to nullify the landless poor’s claim. This also gives them enough time to organise attacks in cases of genuine claims. Usually police registers such unilateral attacks as a feud between two sides and administration takes sides with the feudal-criminal nexus denying every fundamental right to the struggling village poor.
There are huge agricultural lands illegally occupied by the feudal-landlord nexus in most of the eastern UP districts including one Bairath Farm in Chandauli which alone amounts to thousands of acres. CPI(ML) is conducting campaigns against such illegal occupations and for redistribution of these lands. These killings are nothing but desperate attempts by the anti-people landlord-criminal nexus. Moreover, UP govt always evades from making a clear-cut land policy in this regard. On the contrary, it can be said that there always exists an unwritten policy regarding land redistribution in favour of the same lobby which provides support to the rioters in Mau and whose support BSP is desperately trying to woo through its various moves in the name of widening its base and inducting the upper castes. CPI(ML) and AIALA have decided to observe Nov. 11 as a state-wide Protest Day against these killings in UP.
Andhra Pradesh State AIALA Conference
Andhra Pradesh state unit of All India Agricultural Labour Association was concluded on 7 November, the 88 th anniversary of October Revolution, in East Godavari district. The Conference began after paying homage to martyrs and flag hoisting by veteran Comrade MGM from Nalgonda. The inaugural speech was delivered by CPI(ML) State Secretary NVVSN Murthy. A very impressive rally and procession was also taken out which left a good impact on the general masses in Eluru town.
Nearly 400 delegates, 21.5 percent of them women agri. workers, represented three major regions of the state - coastal Andhra, Telangana and Rayalseema - and eight districts, namely, East Godavari, West Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Krishna, Srikakulam, Anantpur, Nalgonda and Adilabad. The draft of the work report was presented before the Conference which was passed unanimously after detailed discussions. The Conference elected a 51-member State Council which in turn elected eleven office bearers including K Narayana as State President and B. Bangar Rao and State Secretary. Comrade Malleshwar Rao was observer for the Conference while Comrade D P Buxi, CPI(ML) Polit Bureau member delivered the concluding speech.
The conference pledged to strengthen and shape AIALA as a foremost rallying centre of the agricultural labourers in the state and resolved to make the Second AIALA National Conference to be held in Rajamundry a great success.
District Conference in East Godavari : The Second East Godavari District Conference was held in Ramachandrapuram on Oct. 28. The Conference demanded employment guarantee for the whole year and elected a 19-member District Executive and 51-member Council with Arjun Rao as President and Viplab Kumar as Secretary. A rally was also held before the Conference.
AICCTU Protest against Gang Rape in Nirsa
The AICCTU has demanded immediate relief to the victims of a gang rape incident where four tribal women workers were raped and looted in Nirsa of Jharkhand on Oct. 22. A CPI(ML) team led by Party MLA Vinod Kumar and Upendra Singh when visited the area it found that the victims had immediately informed their relatives and the employer of the crime. The fact that all the rapists were known in the area but it took three days for the police to register a case and arrest them, when public pressure was built up, amply demonstrates the apathetic attitude of the administration towards the downtrodden and working tribal population in Jharkhand.
An AICCTU team also went to the refractory, where these women worked, and made a timely intervention that forced the employer to agree to pay wages to the victims for the period of absence due this ghastly incident. It has also been demanded from the administration to pay Rs. 1 lakh as compensation to each victim and regularisation of their jobs besides stern punishment to the guilty.
Relief Campaign by AISA
The AISA unit in Jamia Millia Islamia University had conducted a fund campaign for the earthquake victims and collected Rs. 9,600 from the students. The money was sent to the International Red Cross.
Protests against Bush held across the Americas
While thousands of people across the United States used the anniversary of Bush’s re-election, November 2, to express their discontent with his policies including the war in Iraq and response to Hurricane Katrina and called for his resignation, the US plans to capture markets in Latin American countries through a regional free trade agreement (FTAA) got a rebuff as Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay and Paraguay flatly rejected George Bush’s proposals in the Summit of the Americas held in Argentina on November 6. Bush’s expansionist designs for a regional free-trade agreement stretching from Canada to Argentina were foiled not only in the summit, these were also rejected by the lakhs of people in the streets in many Latin American cities, including Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Caracas, Panama City and Montevideo. Protests were held in some 200 cities across Argentina where protesters condemned US attempts to plunder their natural resources and depletion of national assets by multinational corporations and rejected imperialist agenda of economic liberalization and privatization which is increasing social inequities across the globe. Venezuela ’s Hugo Chavez and leaders from Latin America ’s big agricultural economies Brazil and Argentina also addressed a parallel Summit organised in Sao Paulo on Nov. 4 which was attended by 80,000 people. Where people pledged to burry the US plans calling it detrimental to Latin American workers. Prominent attendees included Argentine football hero Diego Maradona. Addressing this people's conference of Latin America , Chavez declared, "FTAA is dead".
|
|