Bharat Rakshak

Vox populi

The journals of the CPM and CPI (ML) reflect the people’s anger in Delhi over the gangrape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus. An editorial in the CPM’s People’s Democracy argues that the situation cannot improve unless steps are taken to strengthen law enforcement with adequately trained personnel and improve the justice delivery system. “The latest statistics compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau show that... during the last five years, between 2007 and 2011, incidents of rape increased by 9.7 per cent,” it says.

The CPI (ML)’s ML Update says the protests are an encouraging sign of a growing democratic awakening and assertion in the country. “The year 2012 could not possibly end on a more rousing note. Never before did Delhi, or for that matter any other Indian metropolis, see a protest of this magnitude and intensity on an issue of gender violence. The protests have been remarkable for the scale and range of popular participation — mostly spontaneous but also unmistakably aided and encouraged by the spirited participation of organised progressive groups of students, women and workers — as well as for the bold display of courage and determination in the face of water cannons, tear gas shells, repeated raining of lathis, and above all, the monumental apathy and arrogance of the rulers,” it concludes.

Election reform

The CPI journal New Age has voiced the Left demand for an overhaul of the electoral process, particularly replacing the present first-pass-the-post system with proportional representation. It says such reform has become urgent and unavoidable, if any semblance of parliamentary democracy is to be preserved and improved.

The editorial points out that several instances of paid news have been detected during elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. “Hundreds of cases of paid news have been registered by the election watchdog. Many more have gone unreported. This needs to be scrutinised and a proper mechanism needs to be established to wipe out the menace of paid news,” it says.

Plan for future?

IN AN article in People’s Democracy, Prabhat Patnaik argues that two of the central assumptions in the 12th Five Year plan — that Indian exports will pick up as the intensity of the global financial crisis will abate soon, and raising the domestic savings rate relative to the investment rate will bring down the current account deficit — were questionable. He says the plan assumes that Indian exports, as a percentage of GDP, will reach 18 per cent from 14.7 per cent in the 11th Plan. “Now, unless significant growth gets generated in the advanced capitalist countries, this is simply not possible... The crisis of the advanced capitalist countries will continue in the foreseeable future, and may even call forth protectionism in the US, all of which makes the assumption with regard to exports in the 12th Plan untenable”. Patnaik adds that the second assumption was “bizarre” since “it amounts to saying, for instance, that no matter what the world scenario is, we can always, in a ‘liberalised’ economy, manage our current account deficit with impunity, that is, without causing a domestic recession, by reducing our fiscal deficit”. He concludes: “This is a novel argument for ‘austerity’, that says in effect that ‘austerity’ in a ‘liberalised’ economy can resolve the balance of payment problem in all seasons without any adverse impact on the GDP”.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

US NET

An article in the CPM’s People’s Democracy focuses on the world conference on international telecommunications in Dubai. While 89 countries signed the final document, the US, Canada, Japan and several European nations rejected it outright. New Delhi sought time before “deciding either way” and became the target of various groups as its “position” was conspicuous by the absence of a position.

The main issue was control of the internet: “For the US, Internet should be entirely market-driven... According to the US, the governments... have no role. The US of course does not need any international governance structure involving nation states for controlling the Internet... The body that oversees all domain names and IP addresses of the world — ICANN — operates as a successful bidder for these services under a tender of the US government...” The US, the article says, wanted to introduce a clause enshrining human rights in the ITR preamble. This suggestion was accepted but the African block then wanted to add that all countries should have the right to access the internet, citing Sudan’s example where a number of internet facilities are not available due to US sanctions.

“The US saw... a danger to the power it has by its control over the root DNS servers of blocking access by any country. From arguing in favour of an unfettered Internet, it... then became an opponent of the right of all countries to access the Internet,” the article says, alleging the US wants to liberate the internet from all control except its own.

RIGHT FIGHT

The editorial in the CPI(ML)’s ML Update talks about the Delhi protests, noting that the “unknown young woman will go down in history as one of India’s most memorable martyrs for the cause of justice and freedom for India’s women — freedom without the fear of violence and fetters of patriarchal domination.” The editorial attacks the government for trying to score political points after showing shameful insensitivity.

Recalling the “two key milestones” — the Mathura rape case and the rape and killing of Thangjam Manorama — of the anti-rape agitation in the last three decades, the editorial notes it was important to stress the linkages of the current phase with the previous ones because the government is bent upon reducing it to a passing event: “Changes in rape laws and other laws dealing with women’s rights... are of urgent importance and the government must be forced to adopt an inclusive and transparent democratic process in proper consultation with women’s organisations...” The movement, it says, must be carried forward to defeat all patriarchal ideas and forces which fetter women’s freedom and violate their dignity and democratic rights.

NEO-LIBERAL LOOT

The editorial in the CPI’s mouthpiece New Age notes 2012 had been tumultuous, given that the global economic meltdown worsened: “In place of recovery, the crisis is aggravating... and the apologists of neo-liberalism have to admit their failure...” Delhi, it argues, is in a very vulnerable position as Indian exports have started dwindling. It attacks the UPA saying “in place of taking corrective measures and raising the safeguards, it is shamelessly pursuing the policies of neo-liberalism.” It accuses US firms

of using “all dirty tricks, coercion and blackmail, buying up and bribery” to force open India’s national and natural resources for plunder and loot. “The Congress-led UPA 2 is bent upon leading the nation to disaster,” it says referring to

FDI in multi-brand retail. “The Left has to take the lead in projecting concrete alternative to neo-liberalism and organise the masses behind such an alternative programme,” the editorial concludes.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman on Friday hurled a political bombshell by saying Maoists helped the Mamata Banerjee-led party oust the Left Front Government and come to power in West Bengal.

“What I have learnt that if there were no Maoists, Mamata would not have won a single seat in West Midnapore, let alone the eight it ended up winning during the last Assembly election ” Suman said talking to a private news channel.

“Slain Maoist leader Kishenji had told his cadre to hold the Trinamool flag aloft,” he added.

Suman claimed that Maoists were part of the agitations in Nandigram, Singur and Lalgarh. “This helped the regime change,” he said.

The Trinamool MP claimed that Santosh Rana, a Maoist and his comrades had campaigned for him in Jadavpur during the 2009 general election.

To whose benefit?

The government has rolled out the ambitious Aadhaar-enabled direct cash transfer scheme, but the Left feels the legality of this scheme is yet to be settled in the absence a law enacted by Parliament. The CPM weekly, People’s Democracy, argues that the National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2011, is still pending before Parliament and notes that a parliamentary standing committee has already made it clear that the bill, in its present form, is unacceptable.

According to the committee, it says, the data collected by the UIDAI may be transferred to the National Population Register and has asked the government to reconsider and review the UID scheme, as also the ramifications of all the proposals contained in the bill, and bring fresh legislation before Parliament.

“The current launch of the scheme is based on the clearance of the ministry of law and justice for issuing Aadhaar numbers, pending passage of the bill by Parliament on the ground that powers of the executive are co-extensive with the legislative power of the government, and that the government is not debarred from exercising its executive power in areas which are not regulated by legislation. The parliamentary standing committee completely disagrees with such an understanding,” it argues.

An editorial in People’s Democracy claims the system has inherent weaknesses, like low reliability and success rate of fingerprint recognition, low penetration of banks in rural areas and problems in identification of beneficiaries. “The basic philosophy behind this scheme is that over a period of time, the government will dismantle all its obligations in the social sector. Cash transfers will automatically and continuously reduce the government’s subsidy bill. This is so because as prices rise, the quantities available to people get reduced in proportion to the cash transferred,” it concludes.

A STUDY In MISOGYNY

An editorial in CPI(ML) weekly ML Update argues that the sustained nationwide movement for gender justice has evoked an angry, misogynist backlash. It says that while RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has taken the lead, an assortment of patriarchal forces have joined the bandwagon.

Referring to the statements made by Bhagwat, the VHP’s Ashok Singhal, as also the BJP’s Madhya Pradesh leaders Babulal Gaur and Kailash Vijayvargiya, it says, “considered together, such statements clearly reveal how the Sangh Parivar proposes to go about nation-building — constructing the ‘Hindu Rashtra’ to be more precise — on a medieval patriarchal foundation.”

“Misogynist attitudes have always been a central theme of Hindutva... In normal circumstances, however, the protagonists take care to try and give somewhat sophisticated expressions to their obscurantist views. But this time around they lost their cool when the current movement, instead of dying down as they had expected, continued and went beyond the immediate demand of justice for the Delhi victim and punishment for the culprits — when it developed into a broader one fighting for a thorough overhaul of gender relations in society and polity, when demands like 100 per cent conviction of rapists and suspension of all MLAs and MPs charged for offences like rape began to be raised. The whole political structure of patriarchy was shaken, and they could wait no more,” it adds.

ANTI-UPA PROTESTS

An editorial in the CPI journal New Age seeks to link the protests in Delhi over the gangrape to the economic policies of the UPA government. It says that 2013 has begun with gloom and anger the world over due to the deepening economic crisis. “There is no doubt that the brutality of the gangrape was the immediate cause of outbursts, though it is basically the pent-up frustration and anger due to ever compounding economic and social miseries heaped by the ruling classes... Growing unemployment, price-rise and economic disparities have increased the economic burden on households, including those of the middle classes and affluent sections, who were earlier the most ardent supporters of the misadventure of imposition of policies of globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation... They were there on the streets when Anna Hazare launched his campaign against corruption, another product of economic neoliberalism,” it says. The editorial argues that despite protests against crime against women as well as neoliberalism, the government is not ready to draw lessons.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

NEW DELHI: A bomb was found in the body of a of a CRPF jawan who was killed in a fierce battle with Maoists in Latehar on Monday. Doctors at Ranchi's Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) found lead inside the stomach of of a dead jawan while conducting the postmortem, which turned out to be a bomb. The bomb disposal squad was called in.

Earlier, Naxalites in Latehar district of Jharkhand put the body of a critically injured and incapacitated jawan over a landmine following a fierce battle between the Maoists and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Monday morning, in an action reminiscent of a scene from Oscar-winning Bosnian war film "No Man's Land". On Tuesday evening, security forces along with local villagers found the jawan's body deep in Karmatiya jungles. However, as soon as the body was picked up, the mine exploded, killing three villagers and blasting the jawan to smithereens.

The death toll of forces in the encounter has now risen to 10, including a jawan from Jharkhand Jaguars. However, a senior CRPF official, alluding to the landmine blast, put the figures rather tragically. "We can confirm the death of 10 jawans. However, we have found only nine bodies so far," he told TOI.

The film No Man's Land had ended with an injured Bosnian soldier lying on the mine while still alive with no hope of rescue. Bosnian Serbs had put his body over a landmine while he was unconscious.

Sources said, in all probability the jawan bled to death while lying on the mine adding that even if he had gained consciousness and tried to move, he would have died. Following the blasts, the forces retreated on Tuesday night and the combing operation was restarted with reinforcements on Wednesday.

On the trail of senior CPI (Maoist) leader Arvindji, around 300 soldiers from CRPF and Jharkhand Jaguars were combing Karmatiya forests when they were ambushed by a contingent of around 200 Maoists - led by a woman - who were firing at them from hill top. The forces had taken the only narrow path that cut through the jungle and then opened into a plain with hills surrounding it. That the Maoists were in Army fatigues confounded matters. About 600 Maoists are suspected to be hiding in the jungles moving between Bihar and Jharkhand.

The government, however, is not perturbed by the deaths as the operation is part of a "fight-to-finish" war to flush out Maoists from Latehar and Chhattisgarh's Sukma districts. "Maoists have been considerably weakened as is evident from constantly decreasing incidents of Naxal violence (from 2,258 in 2009 to 1,412 in 2012). This is the season (before the onset of monsoons) to strike and we want to considerably weaken them through continuous offensive," said a home ministry official.

Maybe an attempt at sarcasm?? Her other tweet reads "Maoists no worse than our brutal neighbour Pakistan. Should be considered terrorists for waging a war against their own nation. ".

NEW DELHI: Grenades and ammunition made in Pakistan were among the items recovered from the site of the Maoist attack in Jharkhand, sources said, adding a fresh twist to the ongoing India-Pakistan stand-off.

Sources said a couple of grenades, pieces of blasted grenades and fired cases of bullets recovered from Latehar in Jharkhand have clear markings to show that they were manufactured in Pakistan. All ammunition contain details of the originating country, so do all the recovered ammunition from Latehar, where 11 CRPF jawans were killed and their bodies booby trapped with explosives.

It is for the first time that ammunition with Pakistani markings have been recovered from Maoists. In the past, some Chinese ammunition have been recovered.
.......................

The recovery of arms with Pakistani markings will add fresh pressure on the government in light of the beheading and mutilation of Indian soldiers in Jammu's Mendhar sector by Pakistani troops. ..................

However, it also raises questions if Pakistani security establishment has extended its reach beyond the Kashmiri groups to establish contacts with Maoists and foment the low cost war into the heart of India.

“The balance of terror has tilted in their favour,” said a senior CRPF officer to me grimly, referring to the Latehar encounter in Jharkhand four days ago in which not only were 10 CRPF jawans were killed but the Maoists did something they had never done before. They had implanted a pressure bomb prototype in the abdomen of a dead CRPF jawan, after he was killed in the ambush, with the intention of inflicting more casualties during the airlifting of his body.

Three civilians were killed when security personnel tried to shift the bodies without realising that they were booby trapped with an explosive device by the Maoists. Another 1.5 kg IED, which was crudely planted by removing a part of the intestine in jawan Babulal Patel’s body, was powerful enough to blow up a landmine-proof vehicle. The crude stitches on Patel’s body were noticed during the autopsy, raising suspicion. The bomb disposal experts who defused the bomb admitted that it was a first for them to defuse a bomb in a body. The Maoist strategy of using a dead security person as a suicide bomber is seen as a crossing of all limits.

There are a few reasons why. One, the Maoists have been known to leave behind booby traps in the form of landmines at a scene of a battle, which is one reason why security forces are wary of rushing in immediately on hearing of news of an encounter. But Latehar brings bad tidings. That is because the MCC Maoists (Arvind who is suspected to be the brain behind the attack, is a leader from the MCC which merged with the People’s War Group to form the CPI (Maoist) in 2004) were never known for their IED showmanship. In contrast, the People’s War Group which operated in Andhra Pradesh was notorious for using IEDs, almost like a signature.

Two, a ‘surgery’ like the one carried out in Latehar would have taken more than an hour and indicates the presence of several ‘experts’ among the 250 outlaws who surrounded the troops and carried out the encounter. It also indicates a more inhuman and barbaric side to the movement, that is known to mete out cruel treatment to their enemies by branding them police informers in kangaroo courts.

Three, the Maoists in Jharkhand with this single encounter and mutilation of the bodies have gained the psychological upper hand. Because while they will put up a brave front, somewhere deep down in their heart, every CRPF jawan will now fear for his dead body.

What does this mean for India’s fight against its most serious internal security threat?

Strategists in the paramilitary outfit while terming the incident “unprecedented” say the time for ‘gentleman soldiers’ is over.
“This is an asymmetrical war that calls for asymmetrical responses. This could mean not going by the rulebook in letter and spirit. We have to hit them below the belt,” says a senior CRPF officer who has served in several Maoist-infested zones.

But it is easier said than done. What makes the job difficult is that the intelligence available to those heading anti-Maoist operations is practically next to nothing. This means the onus is on the jawans on the ground to get their inputs based on how the villagers in an area are behaving, looking out for footprints and other tell-tale signs.Security experts say Jharkhand will have to hit back and fast, instead of having a calibrated response that is carried out after a long time, even if it means targeting the overground sympathisers who helped the Maoists undertake such a daring encounter. Because a demoralised force could be the state’s worst enemy.

This encounter taking place in the first month of the year also confirms some of the worst fears of the security forces. They believe that 2012, which was a relatively quiet year in terms of Maoist strikes, was a year of strategic retreat, during which they decided not to confront the enemy but to consolidate by recruiting, recuperating, striking new alliances and looking for newer ways of raising funds and acquiring weapons. The CRPF believes 2013 could see Maoist violence of alarming proportions.

FOOD OVER CASH

An article in the CPM weekly People’s Democracy argues that introducing direct cash transfers to replace the existing public distribution system was aimed at denial of entitlements in the long run, and the privatisation of PDS itself. The article says arguments that direct cash transfers would be an “efficient way” to check leakage and corruption are misplaced.

It adds that universal coverage would increase the efficiency of the PDS and help plug leakages, citing the experiences of states like Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In Orissa, Rajasthan and Jharkhand, it says, there is a move to expand the BPL list and make PDS more inclusive. “In most of these states the state governments pay for expanded coverage, even as Central allocations to states become more restricted. This expanded coverage has increased the efficiency of the PDS as it has reduced the diversion of PDS stocks,” the article says, noting that NSSO data has shown that diversion went down from 52 per cent in 2004-05 to 11 per cent in 2009-10. In Orissa, it went down from 70 to 30 per cent in the same period. The article claims that surveys by independent organisations have shown that the poor prefer foodgrain to cash, as far as the PDS is concerned.

INVESTING IN MODI

The editorial in the CPI(ML) journal ML Update analyses the Vibrant Gujarat Summit politically and links the biennial meet to Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s perceived prime ministerial ambitions. It says Modi had turned to big business to bail him out of the Godhra taint: “Just as crisis-ridden corporations look to the state for economic bailout packages, here was Modi seeking a political rescue package from global capital... the latest edition of [the summit] surpassed all previous ones in terms of corporate promises of economic investment in Gujarat and political investment in Modi as the next potential prime minister...”

The editorial also takes note of the tension on the India-Pakistan border, accusing the Congress of “fanning up a jingoistic frenzy” against Pakistan in the hope of containing the BJP. Referring to the army chief’s statement that India reserved the right to retaliate at a time and place of its own choosing, it says, “the army chief must be aware that in real life, the logic of war does not respect any pre-designed script... A war with Pakistan, bringing in its wake greater American intervention in the entire region, including India, is the last thing that India needs... Instead of flirting with war, the governments of both India and Pakistan must be compelled to abide by the 2003 ceasefire agreement.”

PURDAH PARIVAR

The CPI argues that the Delhi gangrape has not just triggered a debate on the status of women in India’s patriarchal society and turned the spotlight on the need for gender equality, but also revealed the “real mindset” of various politicians and self-proclaimed protectors of our culture. It says the “most regressive” comments have come from the protagonists of Hindutva. While mentioning Congress MP Abhijit Mukherjee’s “dented and painted” remark and the remarks of the TMC’s Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and avoiding any reference to CPM leader Anisur Rahman’s comments about Mamata Banerjee, an editorial in New Age attacks the Sangh Parivar.

“Right from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and VHP stalwart Ashok Singhal to self-imposed godman Asaram, all have asserted the inherent patriarchal notion that the women have to be dependent on men... Women should be confined to Chadar and Chardiwari... Now the top guns of the Hindutva brigade are echoing it, of course on the basis of their own interpretations of Hindu scriptures like Manu Smirti and formulations like women are among those deprived segments of our society who are ‘tadan ke Adhikari’ (worth beating),” it says. The editorial also talks about how consumerist culture is converting women into commodities.

Compiled by Manôj C.G.

VERMA REPORT

CPI(ML) journal ML Update argues that the Justice Verma committee report on laws dealing with crimes against women is a vindication of the demands of the ongoing movement against sexual violence. "In many ways, the Justice Verma committee report has given body and substance to what the protesters on the street were saying. The panel has done what the government should, in fact, have done: engaged seriously with activists working in the field as well as survivors of sexual violence and... come up with recommendations that reflect their concerns," the editorial says.

The best instance of the report's recognition of a woman's unqualified autonomy as a person in her own right, it says, is its recommendation that marital rape be included in the purview of the rape law. It also claims there was palpable discomfort in the Central government and in opposition parties like the BJP. "The UPA government, for which the JVC was a mere protest management exercise, is now avoiding the eye of the report... And even the BJP and most other ruling class opposition parties, have maintained silence... This is not surprising: the report hits at the foundations of patriarchy and the parties which are the pillars of that patriarchy are understandably discomfited," it says. It concludes that the UPA must implement the report or quit.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY?

Despite implementation of several programmes formulated after the Justice Sachar panel highlighted the poor socio-economic conditions of the Indian Muslims, the condition of Muslims in India has remained the same", an article in CPM journal People's Democracy claims. "The prime minister's 15-point programme clearly identifies enhancing opportunities for education as one of the main strategies for minority welfare." Noting that the level of improvement in literacy among SC and STs was significantly higher than that among the Muslims, it says the study shows that this pattern only gets more accentuated at the higher levels of education.

It says, "this lag in educational attainment has had an impact on the patterns of employment among the Muslims. The data... show that most of the formal sector employment is dominated by upper caste Hindus and minorities other than Muslims".

TWO PARTY STORY

An editorial in CPI journal New Age focuses on the elevation of Rahul Gandhi and the leadership change in the BJP. It argues that both parties displayed a lack of faith in the democratic process. The article describes Rahul Gandhi's appointment as his "coronation". It says the Jaipur declaration was perhaps the "most disappointing document" issued by any all-India conclave of the century-old political party. The editorial alleges that the Congress suffers from ideological bankruptcy. "Though it talks of adhering to the ideology of secularism, nationalism, social justice, social cohesion, etc, (no mention of socialism, of course) it wants to give away 'the outdated ideologies and obscurantist philosophies'," it says.

On the other hand, the BJP states it had to dump its national president a few hours before his re-election as he is accused of serious financial misdoings. "The pen-pushers of the Sangh tribe are trying to portray as if [sic] the RSS... had been out-smarted by the seniors of the political wing. It is a clever move to hide the reality," it says.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

BAD BILL

Claiming that the government has ignored almost all the basic recommendations of the select committee, the Left has indicated that the passage of the Lokpal Bill in the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament may not be easy.

"The way the Union government has treated the recommendations of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on the Lokpal Bill, it is obvious that the government is not serious [about] getting the bill passed... The draft approved by the cabinet is bound to be opposed not only inside Parliament but outside as well", the editorial in CPI weekly New Age says. The editorial argues that the delay in bill's passage will encourage those who want to use it to "sidetrack other, much more serious problems, particularly the economic crisis".

POLITICAL DECISION

The CPI(ML) has criticised the government for hanging Afzal Guru. An editorial in ML Update states that "it was impossible to see the execution in a narrow legal framework and miss the political context and content that stare all of us in the face." It claims that the information of rejection of Guru's clemency plea was kept secret to prevent him from seeking a possible judicial stay on the grounds of the delay in the disposal of his petition.

"The Congress had earlier said the Afzal petition would be taken up after petitions from earlier dates had been disposed. Why was the queue suddenly jumped?" it asks. "The fact that it was a political decision to hang Afzal Guru on the eve of the Budget session with the 2014 Lok Sabha elections not too far away is clear to anybody... Even if the government were now to show parity in execution, the alienation of the average Kashmiri has been deepened immeasurably..." it concludes.

GROWING INTOLERANCE

An editorial in CPM journal People's Democracy focuses on the politics of cultural and religious intolerance. The article compares the present situation with that in the NDA days. "High pitched communal and religious intolerance dominated the discourse at that time... Unfortunately, now history seems to have travelled in a full circle," it says.

The article refers to the speeches made by Praveen Togadia and Akbaruddin Owaisi, protests over Vishwaroopam, row over the all girl Kashmiri rock music group Praagaash and West Bengal government preventing the visit Salman Rushdie and argues that "all these are ominous signs that threaten the unity and integrity of our country and the secular fabric of our society."

It adds: "A desperate RSS-led BJP, in its effort to regain control of the reins of government at Delhi... is preparing to fall back on its core Hindutva agenda to rouse communal passions. The consequent communal polarisation, it hopes, will deliver political and electoral benefits".

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

GURU'S EXECUTION

The CPM and CPI journals critised the manner of the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. "The rejection of the mercy petition was not informed to the convict and the family... was not given the opportunity to meet him for the last time. That a letter by registered and speed post was sent to the family informing them about the rejection of the mercy petition and the date of the execution makes this act of commission all the more glaring and callous," CPM weekly People's Democracy says.

"After the rejection of mercy petition by the president, the convict has the right of review. In this case that right has been denied," CPI journal New Age claims. People's Democracy notes that unlike in other cases, the rejection of the mercy petition was quickly followed by Guru's execution. "The feeling that a Kashmiri is expendable while those from other parts of India are not will only be reinforced... With the UPA government singularly failing to take any concrete steps for advancing political dialogue and a political solution, the way Afzal Guru was executed will only fuel more alienation..." it says.

CORRUPTION IN DEFENCE

An editorial in the CPI(ML)'s ML Update criticises the government for the corruption in the chopper deal. "Why has the government been sitting idle since the scam came to light in 2011, reacting only now... And instead of entrusting the CBI, which is notoriously slow and politically pliable, why can't we have a special investigation team monitored directly by the Supreme Court?" it asks.

The article points out that the Obama administration had rejected the offer for similar VVIP choppers, finding it too costly. "This clearly shows the Indian government's profligacy when it comes to defence purchases... India's defence budget is never subjected to any rational scrutiny and is treated as a holy cow... How many more scams will it take to convince us that the defence budget is routinely raised and inflated only to hide more scams?" it asks.

BUDGET PREVIEW

Ahead of the budget, the Left has renewed its tax-the-rich demand. In a front page article in New Age, D. Raja says the focus of the budget should be on revenue generation and not on expenditure cutting. He argues that there was enough room to generate revenues and demands an increase in rate of tax for those in the highest tax bracket, introduction of special surcharges for those who earn more than a crore per annum, introduction of inheritance tax, minimum securities transaction tax and tax on dividends and removal of tax concessions given to corporations.

"Currently, long-term capital gains are exempted. This should be withdrawn immediately," he says. The Left has also demanded that there should not be any expenditure cuts in health, education, food, fertiliser, fuel and NREGA. "These are necessary to sustain the consumption demand in the economy," he says.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

POLICY DISAGREEMENT

The Left journals have written extensively about the two-day trade union strike and demand a shift in the trajectory of economic policy. While People's Democracy asks the government to read the writing on the wall, ML Update advises the UPA to heed the people's voice or quit office.

"The powerful pan-union strike reflected a growing unity and assertion of the Indian working class... The strike has sent a message of warning from the people to the country's rulers. The people have made it clear they want the government to act fast and show results, and not deliver empty rhetoric," ML Update said in an editorial. "The aam aadmi wants prices to be checked and all essential goods and services made adequately available and affordable to the common people," it adds.

People's Democracy does not see much change in government policy. On the Union budget, it says, "in the name of fiscal discipline, the government has already indicated that there will be a monthly hike in the prices of petroleum products and a large-scale reduction in the subsidies meant for the poor. Given its pro-rich bias, the government has not given any indication whatsoever on the issue of the massive tax concessions that it has been continuously giving to the rich and India Inc," it alleges.

CHOPPER SCANDAL

An editorial in CPI weekly New Age talks about the chopper scam, arguing that the government response has tried to hush up the whole issue. It demands an enquiry by a special investigating team under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

It also claims that there are apprehensions that both the UPA and the BJP-led NDA may not agree to an independent, objective probe as these deals have leaders from both sides on the suspect list. "Change in the specification of helicopters for VVIPs provided avenues for the bribe-giving company and was initiated by Brajesh Mishra, the closest aide of Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he was prime minister. The deal was struck finally in 2010 when UPA 2 was in power," it adds.

PROTEST COVERAGE

An article by Teesta Setalvad in People's Democracy analyses the way the media covered the police crackdown on the anti-gangrape protests in Delhi and the police firing in Maharashtra's Dhule. She argues that the images of the Delhi Police firing teargas and water cannons at protesters at India Gate are embedded in the nation's psyche "largely courtesy of our omnipresent 24x7 news networks, sharpened further by the ever-prescient discussions on the 9 pm" shows.

She contrasts this with the police firing in Dhule in which six Muslims were killed and a similar police action in Gujarat, where three Dalits were killed. "Both tragedies at Thangadh and Dhule, though they cost precious lives, were reduced to a media sideshow, albeit the print editions of English language national dailies did temporally highlight the incidents and issues. Despite the availability of sensationally thrilling clips from Dhule that should have pleased and fed the avaricious eye of the TV camera, these clips lay buried in afternoon bulletins or showed in midnight hour shifts, cleverly bypassing the noisy news hour," she says.

"The power of the news story and television image is legendary but the selective use of this power bears some searching questions. Is criminally deviant police behaviour spotlighted only when it happens in Delhi, possibly Mumbai, but slips past the camera lenses if Dalits or Muslims are involved?" she asks.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

The national sections of Comintern, that is the non-Russian parties, had the task not only of recruiting new members and producing propaganda, but also of organizing strikes, demonstrations, protest marches and uprisings wherever possible. Under the cover of Comintern, the Politburo succeeded in creating a number of bases abroad. For instance, its representative in Turkestan wrote to Karakhan, a Deputy Foreign Commissar, to ask the Politburo: ‘1) Whether it would sanction the formation of an Indian base in Turkestan, in collaboration with the Central Committee’s own Turkburo; 2) To whom am I to transmit the 2 million gold roubles?’ Lenin’s answers to these questions were given orally, and only his signature, in red ink, appears on the document.185 Until Comintern had its own proper budget—and it would soon be funded by both the Central Committee and the OGPU for its own secret operations—most decisions on financial matters were made personally by Lenin.

For example, Ivan Rahja, the Finnish Bolshevik who had helped to hide him in the summer of 1917, and who was now one of the leaders of the Finnish Communist Party, asked Lenin for ten million Finnish marks’ worth of valuables for his party’s use. Lenin agreed.186 From Bengal a letter came via Chicherin asking for money and literature to help overthrow the British Raj: ‘I would ask you to convey my greetings to all the brave comrades who so valiantly struggle for the liberation of mankind: Lenin, Trotsky, Chicherin. Signed Virendranat Chattopadia.’ The Eastern Section of the Foreign Commissariat noted on this document: ‘If we are seriously thinking of revolutionizing India, we should bank on the non-Muslim population … As for the funding Ch[attopadia] talks about, he has undoubtedly been corrupted by European life, having been kept for a long time on German money.’187 There were many such ‘revolutionaries’ in need of Russian money, and many who received it.

...

In countless speeches, the Bolshevik leaders stressed armed uprising and the need to bring armies over to their side, and they attempted to pursue this policy along the entire periphery of Soviet Russia. As their hopes for Hungary faded, they turned their attention to the East. Trotsky wrote: ‘In the European sphere of world politics, our Red Army will turn out to be of rather modest size, both for offensive and defensive purposes … The position is quite different if we turn to face the East … The road to India might seem more passable and shorter for us at the present moment than the one to Hungary.’201 He went on to advise that a powerful military base be established in the Urals from which to revolutionize the East. He predicted that ‘Asia could become the arena of early uprisings’ and therefore the Soviets should prepare for an assault on India via Afghanistan, and he ordered Field Commander Lebedev to deliver ‘the necessary military supplies to Afghanistan’.202

Meanwhile, it was important not to neglect Persia, which had only recently seemed to be ‘going Red’. Fedor Raskolnikov, the regional Red Army commander, had reported to Moscow, on returning from Enzel, that the situation in Persia was indescribable: ‘The entire people greeted us with extraordinary enthusiasm. At first, red flags were to be seen in only a few places, but now the whole town is covered with them. The Persian Cossacks have told us they are at our disposal. I arrested the Russian officer in charge of them and appointed one of our own people in his place … I request your instructions concerning future policy in Persia. Should I consider myself at liberty to move deeper into Persia if a revolution takes place and a new government requests help from us?’203

The Persian affair soon came to a standstill. Efforts were made to save the revolution there. Central Committee emissary Abukov wrote asking for urgent help to be sent to Moscow’s ally, Mirza Kuchuk: ‘Help is needed in arms, gold, silver … So far Kuchuk is in control of only two towns … Raskolnikov has promised him official recognition … We await proper help …’204

Proposals were pouring in about where to go next: revolutionary action was urged in Korea, China and India. In August 1919 the Chairman of the Kalmyk Executive Committee, Chapchaev, suggested sending armed units to India ‘from the other side’, i.e. through Mongolia and Tibet. Money and gold would be needed, and the units should also take arms to distribute to the local population. As cover, they should disguise themselves as a scientific expedition. Lenin immediately ordered that concrete measures be undertaken to carry out these suggestions.205

Lenin as History

Lenin at the turn of the century was almost a typical Russian social democrat. He was the Lenin-Ulyanov who could observe Russia from abroad and create his abstract scenarios, abuse the Tsar and send advice on how to organize revolutionary action. But he separated himself from the liberal trend in social democracy and set off on the more radical course. From the time of the 1905 revolution his attacks on the liberal intelligentsia became savage, as he saw in liberal politicians the chief obstacle to his plans. His anti-liberalism was a mark of his general antipathy to liberty as a political and moral value.

The ‘bolshevization’ of his mind then took place. It seemed as if he could not envisage himself back in Russia unless a revolution took place, yet even in January 1917 he did not believe the revolution would happen. Had it not been for the First World War and the February revolution, Lenin night have lived out his days vegetating in Zurich or Geneva. Lenin was one of the few social democrats who saw in the war an ally for his cause. It had been the chief factor of the fall of the tsarist regime, but the Provisional Government that followed did not know how to get out of it with honour. Lenin knew how to get out of it, even if there was to be no honour. He came to the conclusion that the war must be buried, even at the cost of Russia’s defeat. Indeed, he staked everything on Russia’s defeat, and went still further, calling for the war between nations to be turned into a war within nations, a civil war. This is crucially important to an understanding of Lenin: to achieve his goal he was prepared to transcend patriotism, national honour and common humanity.

When he took control of the revolutionary government, Lenin was armed only with theoretical plans, and had never governed anyone, other than his wife. He was simply helpless when confronted with the mountain of Russia’s problems. All he could think of was to confiscate, requisition and expropriate everything. To do this he needed only one device, merciless dictatorship. A mere two or three months before, he had been talking about the withering away of the state, and now he was feverishly creating an army, tribunals, people’s commissars, an inspectorate, secret departments and a diplomatic service. The new state structure could only be made to work by recourse to the despised bourgeois ‘experts’.

Lenin’s dispositions as founder and leader of the new state may have been superficial, haphazard and half-baked, but they were also harsh and cruel. He was not, in my view, the Janus he is often said to be: his character was of a piece. He was a total Bolshevik who combined in himself a number of traits which made him unique. He was committed to the revolution to the point of frenzy, and only what Viktor Chernov called Lenin’s ‘irrational common sense’ saved himself and his party in hopeless situations.148

He was willing to commit appallingly cruel acts in the name of the revolution. Although he was not personally vindictive, like Stalin, he did believe that the revolution would fail if the millstones of the dictatorship ceased to grind for a moment. While this Jacobin outlook was little better than Stalin’s brutality, it seemed to give a noble purpose, a certain revolutionary aura, to force and cruelty.

In a letter to Trotsky of 22 October 1919, Lenin wrote that the way to ‘finish off [White General] Yudenich is to mobilize another 20,000 [Petrograd] workers plus 10,000 of the bourgeoisie, put machine-guns at their backs, shoot a few hundred and put real, massive pressure on Yudenich’.149 Twenty-two years later, in the autumn of 1941, when Zhukov and Zhdanov reported to Stalin that the Germans were advancing on the defenders of Leningrad behind a living shield of Russian civilians (the old men, women and children were crying out, ‘Don’t shoot, we’re your people!’), Stalin at once signalled back: ‘My advice is don’t give in to sentimentality, bash the enemy and his accomplices in the teeth … Give the Germans and their delegates everything you’ve got, whoever they are.’150

Believing that ‘everything is moral that facilitates the victory of Communism’, Lenin readily sacrificed long-term strategy to short-term tactics. Defending the excesses of War Communism in January 1920 against the arguments of Trotsky, who was by then convinced of the need to alter course, he said: ‘We sacrificed tens of thousands of the best Communists for 10,000 White officers and it saved the country. We have to apply the same methods now, or there’ll be no grain.’151 Only when hundreds of thousands more had died from execution, hunger and above all rebellion, did Lenin yield and resort to the NEP, a solution forced on him to resuscitate the basic economy.

Lenin’s ideas for creating the just and equal Communist society were delusions, yet they also possessed their own iron logic. The Russian revolution, as he saw it, was only the beginning. Russia was only the detonator of world upheaval. He was ready to sacrifice Russia in order to trigger the continental conflagration. The campaign against Poland, which was his initiative, ‘cost the country dear’, in Trotsky’s words, and its outcome, in the Treaty of Riga, ‘cut us off from Germany and … gave a powerful impulse to the consolidation of the European bourgeoisie’. Trotsky, however, no less a Jacobin than Lenin, believed the goal was worth the risk.152 He did not mention that the senseless policy had also cost the lives of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, and reparations to Poland of more than thirty million gold roubles.153 Another symptom of this senselessness was the transfer of ninety-three tonnes of tsarist gold to Berlin only two months before Germany capitulated in November 1918.

Lenin’s dream of turning the planet red was based on false thinking bred by years of sitting in isolation and making up schemes for world Communist revolution, without taking account of ethnic, national, religious, geographical or cultural factors. He saw only class and economic motives, and the only value he was prepared to defend was power. There is no hint in any of the vast array of archival material to suggest that he was troubled by his conscience about any of the long list of destructive measures he took. Lenin was not personally vain, but he genuinely identified himself with the idea in which he believed. Because his delusions to some extent reflected universal values of social justice, he succeeded in converting them into a programme for millions of people, and imposing it by force.

MUSCLE POWER

The murder of a deputy superintendent of police in Uttar Pradesh and the naming of Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya as an accused in the case has prompted the CPI to reiterate its demand for the overhaul of the electoral system and introduction of the concept of proportional representation to check the criminalisation of politics.

"How far the criminalisation of politics has reached is evident from the recent gruesome murder of the Kunda Circle Officer and Dy SP Ziaul Haq in the wake of the planned murder of the Gram Pradhan Nanhey Singh Yadav and his brother Suresh due to a land dispute," CPI mouthpiece New Age says, accusing bourgeois political parties of patronising criminals who have joined politics.

"Money-muscle power has almost distorted the entire electoral system of the country. The political process in the country... has got vitiated to the extent that it is hard to believe that our people will ever get a chance to see their will and wishes reflected in Parliament and legislatures," it says. The editorial talks about the trend of billionaires and criminals getting elected to state legislatures and offers statistics that one-third of elected representatives face charges of murder, rape, abduction and economic offences.

VIVA CHAVEZ

The mouthpieces of the CPM and CPI(ML) pay glowing tributes to Hugo Chavez and exhort their readers to carry forward his legacy by strengthening struggles.

"He showed in practice that an alternative to neo-liberalism and its trajectory of economic policies was possible within the capitalist system itself. He showed this in the backyard of US imperialism and, thus, challenged its hegemonic drive both ideologically and economically. Of particular significance is his passionate pursuit of the vision of socialism which he confidently believed would be realised through the pursuit of the pro-people and anti-imperialist policies that he had put in place," the editorial in People's Democracy says.

The CPI(ML)'s weekly organ ML Update recalls that Chavez was probably the most important leader in the past quarter-century to have "reclaimed and re-popularised the vision of socialism, reinterpreting it as a new collective life in which equality, freedom, and real and deep democracy reign, and in which the common people plays the role of protagonist." While noting that Chavez radically changed the course of history, particularly of the Latin American continent during the last decades, the Left mouthpieces also talk about the post-Chavez challenge. The real challenge, ML Update says, will be to defeat the US design of regime change and continue the journey initiated.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

ITALIAN MARINES

While commenting on Italy's refusal to send back two of its marines, the CPM argued that there was a larger issue involved concerning the sovereignty of the country and the capability of the Indian state to ensuring the sanctity of the sovereignty. "These Italian marines had violated Indian law in Indian territory and, hence, need to be punished under our law. A matter of more serious concern is the fact that such a lapse or connivance in subverting India's sovereignty... is not an isolated one,"says an editorial in People's Democracy.

The editorial recalls the "escape" of Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson after the Bhopal gas leak, and brings up Ottavio Quattrocchi's departure in 1993. "All these instances cannot be construed as mere lapses or rank inefficiency of the Indian state... connivance of various levels of authority can be noticed. But more importantly, such an undermining of India's sovereignty and rule of law, particularly with regard to foreign nationals who violate Indian law with virtual impunity, is directly connected with the neoliberal trajectory of economic reforms that India had begun pursuing since 1991," it asserts.

BIHAR SPECIAL

The CPI(ML) weekly ML Update focuses on Nitish Kumar's show of strength in Delhi. It claimed that while the rally spoke of "adhikar" (rights), it only hinted at political deals with the Centre. It says that Kumar has replaced his earlier 2005 keywords of "nyay" (justice) and "vikas" (development). "In 2010. Kumar won an emphatic victory in Bihar with the people of Bihar asking him to deliver on his promise of 'nyay ke saath vikas' (development with justice). But as the government faces growing anger in Bihar for its failure and betrayal on this front, Kumar cleverly wants to shift the agenda to the issue of special category status posing it as the panacea for all that ails Bihar," it states.

"Given Bihar's reality of backwardness, the record of neglect shown by successive Central governments and the insecurity and discrimination that Bihari workers and students continue to face in different parts of India, the demand for special category status for Bihar definitely has a rational basis.. But while the slogans of 'nyay', 'vikas' and 'adhikar' are all unexceptionable, it is Kumar's opportunist politics which has turned all these lofty words virtually into their opposites..." it argues. The party says development in Bihar demands land redistribution and tenancy reforms, which, it claims, is "conspicuously" absent in Kumar's paradigm of development.

BANGLADESH's EXAMPLE

An editorial in CPI journal New Age describes the movement in Bangladesh as heartening and noted that the youth have resisted the attempts of religious fundamentalist forces to rouse religious passions in the wake of a Jamaat-e-Islami leader being sentenced to life imprisonment for his crimes in 1971. "Shahbagh youth's resistance to preserve secularism is commendable and needs to be followed in other parts of the subcontinent as the threat of religious fundamentalism and various forms of obscurantism and chauvinism is not confined to Bangladesh alone," it says. The article claims that Pakistan's society is gripped by religious fundamentalism and extremists, while Sinhala chauvinism is on the rise in Sri Lanka.

Noting that clouds of fundamentalism and sectarianism are hovering over the entire region, the article warns that India cannot remain immune. "We have our own brands of communal and chauvinistic forces, which in the recent period have become overactive... With the great battle of 2014 fast approaching... communal polarisation for electoral gains cannot be ruled out," it adds.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

THIRD FRONT

The DMK's withdrawal of support to the UPA — months after the Trinamool Congress walked out of the alliance — highlights the political isolation of the Congress, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat wrote in a party journal. According to him, as the UPA enters its last year in government, all signs indicate the steady erosion of the Congress's base and popularity.

He notes that despite being in a minority in the Lok Sabha, the government continues to pursue neoliberal economic policies. The BJP is no different from the Congress as far as economic policies are concerned, raising the question of how an alternative can be forged to the Congress-led government, he adds.

"As the Lok Sabha election nears, once again the talk of forming a third front against the Congress and the BJP is doing the rounds. As far as the CPM is concerned, a political alternative can emerge only... around an alternative platform of policies," he wrote in the party's Malayalam daily, Deshabhimani. Referring to the jatha campaign that the CPM just undertook to showcase its alternative policy platform, he says it received a big response and adds that the CPM will sit with other left parties and chalk out a united movement for the next phase.

ANTI-RAPE BILL

An editorial in CPI(ML) weekly ML Update discusses the passage of anti-rape legislation in Parliament. "Far from being a momentous and historic blow to patriarchy, however, the occasion only served to remind us what kind of patriarchal reaction we're up against," it notes.

"Only 200 out of 545 MPs remained in the House. The top leadership of the Congress and the UPA coalition stayed away... the debate in the Lok Sabha — marked by open sexism, misogyny and misinformation — could not have presented a greater contrast with the sober and painstaking process of learning from activists on the ground as well as international best practices, undertaken by the Justice Verma Committee," it says."Can we dismiss these sexist voices as deplorable aberrations that we can ignore? Not so, because these are the voices and opinions that managed to influence the bill: getting the age of consent raised to 18, the first offence of stalking made a bailable and non-cognisable offence; reducing the proposed punishment for acid-throwing; making sure that only women could be victims of rape (rather than all persons as proposed by the women's groups)," it says. The article criticises the government for diluting the law against stalking and rejecting Justice Verma's recommendations on marital rape.

INDIA FIRST

An article in the CPI journal, New Age, accuses Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of trying to hoodwink the people by arguing that his idea of secularism is "India first". "Those who believe, preach and practice communalism, as Modi has been doing throughout his life and political career, have always contributed to spreading hatred, discord and hostility between communities... their... theme for political activities mainly revolve around communal polarisation for garnering votes. To search and invent issues that can be used to foment communal tension and to raise anti-minority, especially anti-Muslim slogans has been their favourite pastime. Is that the way of 'India first'?" the article asks.

The article argues that Modi's "India first" pitch was a calculated move to confuse people regarding secularism and divert their attention from the BJP's communal misdeeds. It also touches upon his statement that if a government served the people selflessly, they would forgive its mistakes. "What [does] Modi want the people to forgive? If he wants the people to forgive for the grave sin he committed...then he is sadly mistaken. That was not a mistake. That was an organised crime," it argues.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

Maoists sighting in Kerala has increased during the last few months. The sightings are more on districts adjacent to the Bandipur National Forest Reserve
For Maoists, no groundswell yet in Kerala to piggyback on
We are here, claim Kerala Maoists

If Naxalites begin to proliferate in Kerala, a clash with Muslims is inevitable.