Inquilab Rally in New Delhi
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Inquilab Rally in New Delhi
On March 23, hundreds of thousands of people from all over India converged in Delhi to express their anger at the killing of peasant protesters on March 14 by police and thugs aligned with the West Bengal Left Front (LF) government. Those killed were resisting eviction from their land in Nandigram. Similar killings also happened on January 7. The mass rally was preceded by two days of cultural protests.
Dipankar Bhattacharya addresses the 'Inquilab rally'.
Organised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, the rally fell on the 76th anniversary of the martyring of independence heroes Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru. With the executioner's rope over his neck, Singh shouted "Inquilab Zindabad" ("Long live the revolution"). The CPI(ML) rally was called "Inquilab rally" in memory of these heroes. Bhagat Singh's nephew Jagmohan was a speaker at the rally.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) dominates the LF government, which has held power for 30 years in West Bengal. The CPI(ML) was the result of a 1968 split from the CPI(M), after the newly elected LF government crushed a 1967 uprising of the rural poor in Naxalbari, in the state's north.
More details of the March 14 massacre have come to light. According to a fact-finding report conducted by the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights and Paschim Banga Khet Majdoor Samity (an agricultural labourer organisation), authorised by the Kolkata High Court, at Bhangabera on the outskirt of Nandigram a group of mostly women and children were praying on March 14 when, without warning, police started indiscriminately firing on them. Those who tried to escape were hunted down by CPI(M) thugs disguised as police.
According to the report, "Children were murdered indiscriminately; bodies have been thrown to nearby Chuniburi river. The children of primary schools at least eight in numbers have been killed by the murderers and then all those children were buried in a particular place near Bhangabera area."
The report revealed that the cops and hooligans then went on to ransack and indiscriminately fire upon the villagers' huts, killing and injuring more. No less than 100 people were injured. Some victims were too scared to go to the hospital.
"A good number of women have complained that they have been raped, sexually abused and molested by police personnel and the murderers of the political party [the CPI(M)]", says the report.
The report accused local CPI(M) MP Lakhman Seth of having engaged "professional murderers" to finish up the atrocities initiated by the police.
In an interview published by the Hindustan Times on March 20, CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, who has led a fact-finding team to Nandigram, claimed while a precise death toll isn't yet established, bodies are being discovered every day. He added: "Many bodies were dumped, many were buried overnight and roads built on them. Our team has come back with horrifying tales and reports."
Bhattacharya said that many victims had "chopper" wounds. "From when did policemen started carrying choppers? It means that CPI (M) goons must have accompanied the police. They were wearing police uniforms but their slippers gave them away. There were cases of women being gang raped as well. There were many cases where the women were mutilated. It was a cold-blooded, pre-planned carnage."
Greenleft
Labels: CPI(ML) Liberation, Delhi, NEWS
posted by Resistance 4/03/2007 01:40:00 PM,
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Interview with Dipanker Bhattacharya
Sunday, April 1, 2007
'The CPM just can't accept the rural poor challenging it'
Dipanker Bhattacharya, general secretary, CPI-ML (Liberation), speaks to TEHELKA about the Nandigram police firing and the role of the Left
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| Dipanker Bhattacharya, General Secretary, CPI-ML (Liberation), |
Nandigram didn't happen overnight. Mini-Nandigrams have been happening in West Bengal since years. In May 1993, at Karanad village in Barddhaman district, on the day of panchayat elections, five agricultural labourers were lynched and burnt alive by CPM goons. Reason? They questioned the CPM's anti-poor policies and joined the CPI-ML.
Singur has inaugurated a new phase in politics. Sharecroppers and small peasants were the mainstay of the CPM in Bengal. Now, they are challenging the government's policies. After 30 years in power, CPM just cannot accept the fact that the rural poor in the state have the guts to challenge it. This intolerance is at the heart of the whole episode.
At Nandigram, in January, the farmers had their apprehensions because they had seen how land was snatched from the people at Singur without their consent. At the first warning that their land could also be taken away, they rose in protest. On January 6, the administration convened a peace meeting. It was decided that the police won't be sent into the village and the people would repair the damage caused to roads and bridges. But that decision was just a smokescreen. While the peace talks were on, the CPM organised its armed goons and they ran amok at Nandigarm, killing seven people. Even after that, they (CPM) did say that if the people don't want SEZ, we were not in hurry to acquire their land. At the same time, several CPM leaders including Health Minister Suryakant Mishra and the Kisan Sabha leader Binoy Kumar were issuing not so veiled threats to the people. Just before the March 11 incident, CPM organised a big rally in Kolkata to show that the peasantry of Bengal was in favour of the SEZs. In that meeting, Chief Minister Budhhadeb Bhattacharya had said no single area or a couple of panchayats could stop "our onward march". Binoy Kumar openly declared that they "will make life hell for the people of Nandigram".
After 30 years in power, the Left Front government of West Bengal will be known for the police excesses at Nandigram and Singur, not for land reforms or panchayati raj experiments |
Then came the genocide. Nandigram is a clear case of a cold-blooded police operation. Initially, Budhhadeb said, "I was under tremendous pressure to send police in". Then on the floor of the Assembly, he said the police had opened fire in self-defence. Finally, he said, "I take moral responsibility. We didn't anticipate this. I am sorry for the police excesses". It was pre-planned. Even CPM leaders at the national level had approved the blueprint of the operation. The whole idea was to teach the peasants a lesson.
Against the backdrop of Nandigram firing, what does Left politics in India mean?
There is a very clear divide within the Left. The opportunist group, which has been numerically and electorally dominant, now stands unmasked. The unmasking began 40 years back when the Naxalbari incident happened. On the one hand, you have examples of degeneration of the Left in power. On the other, you have growing peasants' resistance. When you speak to the victims of Nandigram, they only talk about the injustice meted out to them, and ask if there is any political solution for that.
There is a very clear divide within the Left. The opportunist group, which has been numerically and electorally dominant, now stands unmasked |
Do you mean that the years in power have eroded the Left's mass base in Bengal and corrupted it?
You can't say that power will invariably result in this. They could have used the power for different purposes. But they feel so "responsible" to the system and the ruling classes that they have completely redrawn their priorities. It is this reversal of priorities that has resulted in Nandigram. After 30 years in power, now the Left Front government of West Bengal will be known for the police excesses at Nandigram and Singur, not for land reforms or panchayati raj experiments.
Where do you see CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP standing?
They have been a part and parcel of the state government. It's true that, after
Singur and Nandigram, they have raised voices of protest. The two meetings they held in Kolkota gave the impression that they were out to debate the issues threadbare. But at the Front meeting, the CPM said, "Henceforth, we would listen to you more" and there would be more meetings. Their protests ended there. In 1993, on the day of panchayat elections, five agricultural labourers were lynched and burnt alive in Barddhaman district by CPM goons. Reason? They questioned the CPM's anti-poor policies and joined the CPI-ML
It's time for people to speak out. Sumit Sarkar and Tanika Sarkar did. Prakash Karat expressed regret, only after four days of silence. If Budhhadeb really feels morally responsible, he should quit.
Do you see these incidents as the beginning of the end of Left rule in Bengal?
Definitely. The CPM has never been so isolated as it is today. Nobody believes them today and I find this isolation a major blow to the party. Certainly, the Budhhadeb government has lost its popular support and public trust.
Do you expect any realignment of the Left bloc?
I do not see it at this moment. But definitely there will be a realignment of forces and ranks. If the CPI, FB and RSP leaders cannot address the grievances of their ranks, there will be a disconnect between the power-obsessed leadership and the cadres. Tehelka
Labels: CPI(ML) Liberation, Interview
posted by Resistance 4/01/2007 08:31:00 AM,
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CPI-ML targets Buddha
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
CPI-ML targets Buddha
Statesman News Service
NEW DELHI, March 20: Under attack on Nandigram for almost a week, West Bengal's ruling CPI-M was today targeted by the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation for the 14 March killings. The CPI (ML) leader, Mr Dipankar Bhattacharya, told a Press conference that if the chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, accepted moral responsibility for the killings, he should resign and tender an apology.
He described the CPI (M) general secretary, Mr Prakash Karat's defence of the state government a blot on the party rule. Comparing Nandigram with Naxalbari, Mr Bhattacharjee told reporters that when Naxalbari took place, the CPI-M told the peasants to forget about revolution, and mind their farms. At Nandigram, the CPM was not allowing the peasants to keep their farms.
Bandh peaceful
A day-long bandh called by the Eastern Regional Bureau (ERB), an ancillary organ of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) across the five states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Orissa protesting against the killings in Nandigram, passed off peacefully in Jharkhand. Normal life was largely disrupted in the rural areas of the state. Eighteen out of twenty-two districts of Jharkhand were affected.
Areas considered to be Maoist strongholds saw a complete shutdown. However, the urban pockets of the state remained by and large normal adds SNS from Ranchi The Statesman
Labels: Bengal, CPI(ML) Liberation, NEWS
posted by Resistance 3/21/2007 09:12:00 AM,
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