• Great October Socialist Revolution — Path to end Exploitation and Oppression
  

• Seventy Five Years of the Communist Party on Indian soil - I:Kanpur Communist Conference and Mass Rally in December 2000

• The peoples of the North East have a long battle ahead

• State terror in the forests

• Blatant imperialist interference in Yugoslavia

• Global March of Women:
  LRS Delegation Participates in MARCH 2000 International Demonstration in Washington

• Imperialist backed Zionist carnage in the Middle East
  Uphold the just national rights of the Palestinian people!

• Massive rally in support of Palestinian struggle held in Hyderabad
  Pro imperialist, unprincipled shift in Indian governments’ foreign policy
  

• The National Human Rights Commission and the Veerappan case

• Hindustan Lever Limited management reveals its fangs The struggle raging in Modern Foods is at the cutting edge of the struggle of India’s working class against privatisation

Great October Socialist Revolution — Path to end Exploitation and Oppression

Today, imperialism and the reactionary bourgeoisie take advantage of the collapse of the Soviet Union to spread lies and disinformation about the experience of socialism in the Soviet Union. They want to convince the peoples of the world that socialism is dead and gone; that there is no alternative to capitalist exploitation and imperialist plunder. However, the rise and fall of socialism in Russia does not eliminate either the necessity or the inevitability of the socialist revolution. It does not invalidate the fundamental conclusions of Marxism-Leninism. On the contrary, Marxism - Leninism not only shows the path to end exploitation and oppression, it also shows the conditions in which exploitation and oppression will return, as has happened in Russia and the former republics of the Soviet Union.

The continuing and deepening crisis of the world capitalist system shows that it is still pregnant with the new socialist society. The working class has to prepare for the second round of proletarian revolution on the world scale. The communists of each country are faced with the challenge of preparing the working class of their country for the second round of revolution, in a period when the revolutionary tide is in retreat and reaction is on the offensive.

The path of the Great October Socialist Revolution remains the beacon to open the path for the progress of society in the 21st century. The present day anti-social offensive of the bourgeoisie — the all-sided attacks against the livelihood and rights of the working class and peoples — can be defeated only if the working class is led by parties that are armed with the perspective and theory of scientific socialism. Revolutionary theory needs to be updated with the lessons from the first round of proletarian revolution in the 20th century. The task facing the communists of all countries is to organise the working class and its allies on the basis of contemporary Marxist-Leninist thought.

Back to Table of Contents

Seventy Five Years of the Communist Party on Indian soil - I:

Oppose Class Conciliation on the question of the Alternative to Privatisation and Liberalisation

December 25, 2000 marks 75 years since the establishment of the Communist Party on Indian soil. This is an occasion for Indian communists to take stock of the positive and negative experiences of the communist movement. It is an occasion for communists to resolve to organise the working class to oppose and defeat the line of the class conciliators within the movement.

It is becoming clearer every day that the Indian ruling bourgeoisie is on an extremely self-serving and dangerous course. Globalisation of capital and production through liberalisation and privatisation is a course that benefits only a tiny minority in society, the monopoly bourgeoisie headed by the big business houses and multinational companies. It is a course that means all-sided intensification of exploitation and oppression of the workers and peasants. It means increasing insecurity for the majority of people. The ruling Indian big bourgeoisie is ready to embrace every imperialist power to fulfill its own imperialist ambition. This is a course that raises the danger of war and imperialist intervention in the region.

It is also clear that the Indian bourgeoisie is caught in a deep and acute political crisis. The people have seen that whether it is a Congress-led coalition or a BJP-led coalition or a third front of parliamentary parties that runs the central government, only the demands of big business get fulfilled, not the demands of the masses of working people. The workers and peasants receive only lathis and bullets. The entire system of party dominated parliamentary democracy is becoming thoroughly discredited.

At such a time when the ruling bourgeoisie is in crisis, the working class and communist movement can make a decisive advance. It can do so by boldly presenting the socialist alternative to the program of capitalist reforms. But the road to such an advance is blocked by those in the communist movement who are conciliating with the status quo of bourgeois rule and capitalist offensive.

The class conciliators within the movement are creating confusion on the question of the struggle against the bourgeois offensive. They are presenting it as a struggle of one section of the bourgeoisie against another, where the Congress Party is supposed to represent the "lesser evil" as compared to the BJP. Such forces are calling on the working class to once again place their faith in a "third front" of parliamentary parties. They are calling on the working class to reconcile to the existing system of party dominated democracy, where the majority of people are kept out of power. In other words, they are asking the working class and all the oppressed to put up with capitalism and bourgeois reforms, and settle for just another change of faces in government.

The working class cannot advance towards its aim of establishing the rule of the toiling and oppressed masses if it does not break with the line of class conciliation. The times are demanding a stern ideological struggle on the part of all Indian communists against this harmful line in the movement.

The line of resisting reforms and defending the old institutions of state capitalism or the supremacy of the "public sector" is a line of conciliation with the bourgeois class and the status quo. In terms of its social base and class character, this line represents the middle bourgeoisie and sections of the petty bourgeoisie that have benefited and seek to benefit from state capitalist property and social-democratic government policies.

Not only the working class but also various sections of the middle strata, i.e., those who are in between the ruling big bourgeoisie and the working class, oppose the drive of the monopolies to seize for themselves the bulk of surplus production in the economy. Diverse sections of the middle strata who have benefited from the system in the past but are threatened with the loss of their privileged positions today, start making noises that privatisation and liberalisation must be controlled or regulated better. They themselves want to use the state power to direct the surplus their way, or use the state to protect their privileged position as members of the middle strata.

The working class cannot emancipate itself from exploitation without emancipating all the oppressed in society. The working class does not fight for retaining any privilege, of which it has none. It fights to end all privileges and affirm the rights of all human beings and the claims of all those who labour. This requires that the advanced section of the working class take up the banner of defending the rights of all. They cannot be content to wage the struggle against privatisation on the basis of merely defending their own job security and not caring about the rest of society. They need to take up the cause of the whole of society and defend the right of every working family in town and countryside.

The class conciliators spread the attitude and notion that "old is gold" and "change is bad", mobilising workers to oppose the reform program from the standpoint of defending the "socialistic pattern of society". However, the corrupt and bankrupt public sector cannot be defended since the broad masses of people have come to hate this anti-people "public" sector. They have no sympathy for defending the status quo from which they derive no benefit but only harm. Thus, the class conciliators spread pessimism and defeatism in the ranks of the workers, not permitting them to develop an alternative vision to the anti-social vision flaunted by the bourgeoisie.

Socialisation of Ownership

The class conciliators within the movement create the impression that the struggle is between two different policies of capitalism, an anti-worker policy and an allegedly more people-friendly policy of capitalism, which is presented as the "lesser evil". However, the struggle is not between one government policy and another. It is between one social system and another, socialism versus capitalism.

The solution to corrupt and inefficient state capitalist corporations is not privatisation but the socialisation of ownership of the means of production. The answer lies in state socialist property and cooperative socialist property. Communists must put forward the vision of such a new system based on social property and inspire the working class and all the oppressed to go for it. Socialisation of ownership of the means of production will resolve the fundamental contradiction between social production and private ownership, which lies at the root of the crises and problems afflicting present day capitalist society.

On an immediate basis, the working class fights for the first steps to be taken in the direction of social ownership and control over the means of production. It fights for vesting sovereignty in the hands of the working masses and to establish their control, in particular, over the supply of food, water, electric power and other essential articles of mass consumption.

On the occasion of 75 years of the Communist Party on Indian soil, there is an urgent need for Indian communists to restore the unity of the working class movement by making a clean break with all forms of class conciliation. This is the necessary condition for the working class to triumph over the bourgeoisie and for socialism to prevail over capitalism.

Back to Table of Contents

75 Years of the Communist Party on Indian Soil:

Kanpur Communist Conference and Mass Rally in December 2000

To facilitate the work of Indian communists at this time, the Communist Ghadar Party of India has decided to organise, in collaboration with all active forces in the working class movement, a Kanpur Communist Conference 2000, on December 25, on the theme: What should Indian communists do today? Once what needs to be done is discussed thoroughly, then all those who wish can join hands and make their contribution to carry out the tasks. We hope the planned Kanpur Communist Conference 2000, with the help and participation of communists belonging to different parties and groups, can give birth to a new beginning, a new zero in the march of communism on Indian soil. We hope it will give rise to concrete mechanisms for communists to work togetherto provide leadership to the working class in its struggle against the bourgeoisie.

The Communist Ghadar Party of India would also like to participate in organising, along with all other interested parties and organisations of the working class, a Mass Public Meeting on December 26, on the theme: Workers, peasants, women and youth—We constitute India! We are her masters! Our immediate demand is the reorientation of the economy, renewal of democracy and reconstitution of the Indian Union!

Program and venue :

December 26: Public Meeting, Swadeshi Cotton Mills, Shaheed Park, Kanpur.

Back to Table of Contents

The peoples of the North East have a long battle ahead

Tripura is an ancient nation that has suffered from the evils of colonialism, the partition of India in 1947, and the subsequent creation of Bangladesh in 1972. The tribal people of Tripura have become second class citizens in their own ancient homeland, victims of colonialism and the flourishing of capitalism. They have been reduced to a displaced minority, struggling for their right to life. This is the state wherein lakhs of Bengali migrants and immigrants have made their home, victims of the cruelties of partition and the subsequent events. This is the state where communists have organised the toiling people, tribals as well as non-tribals, for their rights and for a human existence. This is the state wherein parliamentary communists have controlled power for long periods of time, including today. This is also the state wherein anarchy and state terrorism is widely prevalent, with imperialist and reactionary forces having a free sway.

British colonialism deliberately divided the people of the North East. It created a hierarchy of privileges, and set tribals and non-tribals against each other with nefarious aims. This has been the case all over the North East. The Indian state has continued this program and policy. It has tried to smash the struggles of the peoples for their rights through state terrorism, counter-insurgency as well as subversion of the people’s movements. In such conditions, the founding of NECOHR was a great positive step forward in forging the unity of the peoples of the North East in defence of their human rights.

All over the North East, the parliamentary institutions stand completely discredited and it is clear to one and all that it is the armed forces that call the shots. The peoples have never accepted the colonial rule of New Delhi, nor have they accepted that they should give up their aspirations to uphold the "greater glory" of "defending national unity and territorial integrity" of the Indian state. In such conditions, in recent years, the Indian state has added another weapon to its anti-people arsenal. In collusion with the Anglo-American imperialists, it has been striving to re-ignite old animosities amongst the peoples, which are a legacy of colonial rule; as well as inflict new wounds. The raising of questions of ethnicity and the using of national sentiments of the different peoples of the North East against the struggles of the people and their unity have become a pattern. Thus in Manipur, the Indian state and its agencies are using the slogan of greater Nagaland on the one hand and the slogan of defence of territorial integrity of Manipur state on the other to set the Meitie and Naga peoples at each others throats. In Assam, bloody massacres have been organised to set Boros, Santhals, Bengalis and Assamese against each other. The Anglo-American imperialists are leaving no stone unturned to infiltrate and wipe out the peoples movements, including by dividing the Human Rights movement. Thus great dangers confront the peoples of the North East and their unity.

The path to genuine liberation and emancipation for all the peoples of the North East lies in fighting for the reconstitution of the present Indian Union, a legacy of colonialism, on new foundations, wherein sovereignty will vest with all the nations, nationalities and the tribal peoples, and the new Indian union will be a voluntary union of consenting peoples. What is needed is a complete break with the colonial past, including all the institutions, the divisions, and the hierarchies created by the colonialists and those who inherited their mantle in Delhi. The unity of the peoples of the North East on the basis of recognising and respecting each others sovereignty, and the unity of the peoples of the North East with all the fighting peoples of India is a necessary condition for the realisation of the peoples aspirations. The working class of all the nations, nationalities and tribal peoples of our vast country has unfurled the program "Workers, peasants, women and youth, We constitute India, We are its masters!" This is the program that expresses the aspirations of all the toiling and oppressed people of our country and opens the way for deep going transformations. The times are calling upon the fighting peoples of the North East to firmly rally around this program.

Back to Table of Contents

State terror in the forests

The Governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka claim that Veerappan, who belongs to the hill and forest region of Satyamangalam and Mudhumalai Hills in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, has killed 113 persons, 31 of whom were policemen and forest officials. They also allege that Veerappan has stolen ivory worth Rs 12 crores and sandalwood costing Rs100 crores in the last 10 to 15 years and is "ruling" over 6000 sq km of territory in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with the support of the local people. These two states have so far spent over Rs 400 crores in trying to nab Veerappan.

In actual fact, it is the Indian state and the big capitalists who run big-time businesses using the forest produce such as sandalwood and ivories, etc. Sandalwood alone fetches them hundreds of crores of rupees each year. The big capitalists and their government cannot tolerate any one who challenges their exclusive "right" to loot the wealth of these forestlands. While they accuse Veerappan and his group, who belong to these forests and the adjoining areas of stealing ivory and sandalwood, the key question is, to whom does the forest produce rightfully belong? To the people who have been living in these lands for centuries or to the capitalists, contractors and the rich, protected by the forest officials, police and the law?

The denial of the rights to the tribal and other people of these forest lands were initiated by the British themselves, who looted the wealth of our country in collusion with the big Indian bandits such as the Tatas and Birlas. As per the laws enacted by the British colonialists, which were later fully adopted by the ruling classes of India and made even more barbaric, the people of these regions do not have the right to the produce of these forests and the lands, and those who challenge this set up in any way are called brigands and bandits and hunted down.

In the early 1990s, a Special Task Force (STF) consisting of police of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu was formed allegedly to capture Veerappan. In the course of searching for Veerappan, this STF committed so many atrocities and murders of the people living in these areas. It has carried out rape, torture, murder and the maiming of the innocent people of this region, most of whom are tribals.

Human rights groups that investigated these atrocities were horrified to find out that the situation was even worse than reported. They also found out that more than 120 persons been arrested, many of them under TADA, and had been languishing in various jails of Karnataka since 1992. It was also clear that most of them were innocent people picked up as scapegoats to get information about Veerappan as well as to terrorize the people of this region. Human rights activists undertook fact finding missions and spent weeks in the forests in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka listening to the horrifying tales. Initially people were too terrified to speak to outsiders. Gradually the horror stories emerged – of merciless beatings, of young boys being arrested mostly on suspicion and then tortured to extract information from them, of women suspected to be wives, mothers, sisters or mistresses of Veerappan’s men who were raped, stripped and given electric shock on sensitive areas of their bodies. Many were tortured to death or maimed by the STF, which has killed and eliminated over 400 people, mostly innocent tribal people of this region. These killings and atrocities do not require any proof. Jayalalitha, the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu who has looted hundreds of crores of Rupees of people’s money, proudly announced to the news media recently that it was she who, during her tenure, had ordered the killing of 143 of Veerappan’s associates by the STF!

One of the important demands of Veerappan, which has been struck down by the Supreme Court, is the release of 121 villagers and tribals who have been arrested and kept as prisoners for the last 7 to 9 years without any trial. 51 of these 121 were arrested under TADA, the infamous barbaric law that is no longer in the statute books. Veerappan is also demanding the release of 5 persons held as prisoners in Tamil Nadu for their political views.

Meanwhile the bench of judges of the Supreme Court has ordered an indefinite stay on the release of the 126 prisoners held in the prisons of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Supreme Court, in its oral observations during the hearing of the "Veerappan associates-release case", questioned the inability of the Karnataka Government to apprehend the "forest brigand" for the past eight years. The Bench observed, "As the facts exist today, we will not give any relief as it amounts to compounding negligence upon negligence".

The Supreme Court is supposed to be the guardian of the people and should protect all its citizens against injustices. Why has the blood of these judges not boiled over against the system for keeping the 150 people without any trial for over 8 to 9 years? Why have they not ordered the arrest, trial and punishment of the Chief Ministers and the top police officers for killing 400 persons and for torturing, raping and maiming hundreds of others in the name of capturing Veerappan? What kind of judges are they who cannot question the utter illegality of keeping people imprisoned under an Act that expired in 1995? They do not see that the government committed crime upon crime, first in murdering over 400 persons, and later in keeping over 150 persons in prisons over 7 to 9 years without any trial! After so many years without trial, the first trial was carried out in year 2000, under pressure from human rights activists. It is even more shocking to hear the government’s reason for not holding any trial of these prisoners – they claim they did not have a building in which to hold the trial of these people!

Another of the criminal aims of the governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is to use the Veerappan’s abduction as a pretext to create the conditions for another round of violence on Tamils living in Karnataka and on Kanadigas living in Tamil Nadu. The government is trying to present the situation as one where peopleare communal and want to kill and murder the Tamils because Veerappan is holding Rajkumar hostage for his demands! People should be vigilant on this issue and not fall prey for the pogroms that they have in store.

All right thinking people should denouncethe criminal deeds of these governments. They should demand that all people who have been incarcerated under TADA and other draconian acts, not only in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka but all over India, be released immediately and that the people who are responsible for these crimes be punished. People have to realize that the real solution lies in they taking power in their own hands. This whole system, from the political parties and bureaucracy to the police and judiciary, needs to be replaced with a new system, which the workers and toiling people of India need to define. Till that is done, truth will always be turned up side down and more and more people will fall victim to this man eating system.

Back to Table of Contents

The official results of the Yugoslav presidential elections had shown that President Milosevic had received the greatest share of the vote, but not enough to secure an outright victory. A second round of elections was to be held, before the Yugoslav Constitutional Court annulled the elections. The big powers blatantly interfered in the election process, issued threats and inducements and, as is well known,openly financed the opposition to Milosevic. The British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, made it clear that the departure of Milosevic would facilitate the rebuilding of Serbia and what he referred to as "rebuilding its bridges to the modern Europe", and hinted that the EU sanctions imposed against Serbia would be lifted if Milosevic resigned. The governments of Germany, Italy, France and the US also made statements urging Milosevic to resign. The German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, hinted that state violence in Belgrade would lead to international "resistance", while the Russian President Vladimir Putin was said to have renewed his offer to mediate in the crisis.

At the invitation of the Socialist Party of Serbia, Britain’s Socialist Labour Party sent a three-person delegation to participate in international monitoring of the Yugoslav elections held on 24 September. Their report said: "Our delegation traveled extensively throughout the country, was able to talk to officials and voters and visited numerous polling stations, gaining first-hand experience of what was actually taking place during an election which was being misreported in many parts of the world. From what we saw, the Federal Electoral Commission, an elected all-party body, did everything in its power to ensure that people were able to cast their votes without intimidation and in an orderly manner - and certainly in accordance with procedures, which we would expect in a democratic, free election. …It was only in Montenegro that we observed the following irregularities: the so-called Democratic Opposition which boycotted the elections in Montenegro nevertheless gathered outside polling stations there in clear violation of election procedures, using intimidating behaviour towards prospective voters; we received many first-hand reports from people who stated they had been threatened with the loss of their jobs if they turned out to vote; we were in no doubt that countless refugees from Kosovo had been deliberately excluded from the electoral lists in Montenegro despite the fact that their identity cards, issued in 1999, gave them the right to vote, and were thus also prevented from voting… We could only conclude that these tactics of intimidation and disenfranchisement were designed to benefit the so-called Democratic Opposition. We were also appalled at the blatant outside interference in the procedures from Western governments which are obviously seeking to influence the outcome of these elections by promising economic aid and the lifting of sanctions if the Yugoslav people vote in accordance with the wishes of these governments and the European Union. —Mick Appleyard, Liz Screen, Ian Johnson"

The big powers, which carried out the blatant interference and used force to oust Milosevic, are now urging the greatest restraint. Those who carried out the Hitlerite bombing of the Serbian people are now posing as their greatest friends and championing non-violence. They want the people of Yugoslavia to follow their dictates and not create too much discomfiture for the new regime they have installed.

The desire of the long-suffering peoples of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for their democratic rights and for the sovereignty of their country will not be brought about through "the modern Europe", nor under the auspices of US, Russia, Germany, Britain and the other big powers. On the contrary the events in the Balkans show that the rivalry between the powers is intensifying as they continue to struggle for economic and political domination in this strategically important region of Europe, as a pre-condition for their contention for global hegemony. Imperialist interference over the decades has brought chauvinism, enmity, bitterness, ruin and destruction to the peoples of the Balkans. Hence it is of utmost importance that the brave peoples of the Balkans become more vigilant and overcome the dastardly plans of the big powers in their region, so that they may embark on the path of peace and progress.

Back to Table of Contents

Global March of Women:

LRS Delegation Participates in MARCH 2000 International Demonstration in Washington

Women and men representing 159 countries and over 5000 different organizations worldwide joined hands in Washington, DC and New York on October 15 and 17 respectively in the finale of MARCH 2000 that was kicked off on International Women’s Day earlier in the year in Geneva, Montreal, New York and many other cities simultaneously.

MARCH 2000 was the first ever internationally organized campaign by women to call for action to end poverty and violence against women. The organizers had deliberately chosen October 17, designated by the UN as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, as the day to complete the campaign at the United Nations headquarters in New York to pointedly draw attention to the effects of privatization and liberalization policies on poverty worldwide, and the disproportionately large number of women living in poverty. Between March 8 and October 17, over 4 million signatures were collected on a petition that read:

We demand that the UN and its member States take concrete measures TO : eliminate poverty and ensure a fair distribution of the planet’s wealth between rich and poor, and between men and women; eliminate violence against women and ensure equality between women and men.

Actions were organized in countries around the world throughout the year to highlight the demands and mobilize women and people in general behind these demands. Women’s organizations in different countries advanced different slogans, specific to their own demands in this direction, such as Poverty, NO! Violence, NO! Neoliberalism, NO! Patriarchy, NO! (Republic of Korea), Women’s Solidarity for Decision Making and Poverty Eradication (Zambia), Safe water, food and empowerment (Jordan) 2000 rasones y mas para marchar (Cuba) Three Billion Good Reasons to March in 2000 (Estados Unidos de América) We are marching against poverty, war, racism, violence, rape, harassing (Turkey) Appreciate Women, We are equal partners, We create and share (Ghana) Ending Poverty and Violence (Australia) Jobs and adequate salaries for women! (Russian Federation) and It’s time for change (Canada). Women in India organized around the slogan Walk for Change!
The Fédération des Femmes du Québec or the Quebec Federation of Women (Canada) initiated and coordinated the World March of Women internationally. The idea to organize the World March arose in Canada in 1995 during a 10-day Women’s March Against Poverty sponsored by the Quebec Federation of Women where women marched to the Quebec National Assembly and presented demands to raise the minimum wage and create more job training programs for women. By 1998, a World March of Women 2000 to spotlight the effect of the global economy on the lives of women was articulated and the program was formally launched following a meeting of the international coordinating committee in Montreal, Canada in December 1999.

Between March 8th and October 15, 2000, tens of millions of women had participated in actions in their own countries to call upon their governments to enact and implement various legislation to end all forms of violence against women and guarantee livelihood for all. Building upon the recognition that problems of women are problems of society and problems of society are problems of women, which was affirmed eloquently in the world conference of women in Beijing in 1995, the world march 2000 highlighted how little had been accomplished to implement the Beijing commitments while globalization was worsening the situation of women day by day. The MARCH 2000 also put forth a fresh a 17 point demand list which included specific proposals to end poverty and violence.

The demonstration in Washington, DC on October 15 saw tens of thousands of women and men from 80 countries around the world and around the US march in front of the White House, the IMF headquarters and World Bank headquarters and hold a rally in the ellipse in front of the White House. The two-mile long route was packed with marchers who carried signs and banners, banged traditional cooking implements, and shouted slogans in many languages. Shouts of "Si, se puerde!" (yes, we can do it!), Shame! Shame! Shame! (to World Bank and IMF) and other slogans rang through the streets. At the rally in front of the White House, artists created a dramatic sculpture from the pots, pans, wooden spoons and other tools. Musical troupes played and activist poets, bands and performers inspired the crowd throughout the afternoon in a festive atmosphere. Young women of the Nuevo Paraguay dance troupe, dressed in the traditional costumes performed Paraguyan traditional dances.
The rally was addressed by over 50 speakers including the President of the US National Organization of Women, Patricia Ireland, Cheri Honkala of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal, Afghan poet Zieba Shorish-Shamle among others. Graciela Ramos de Quintana and a caravan of one hundred women who traveled from their homes in Chihuahua, Mexico to Washington, D.C. and a delegation of Palestinian women were received amidst thunderous applause.

A contingent of women from India joined by Indian compatriots resident in the US marched the route and joined the rally with their banners against violence and poverty. Lok Raj Sangathan delegation joined the Indian contingent during the March and distributed literature depicting the struggles of Indian women to the international crowd. The delegation highlighted that while the participation in Washington March is symbolic, as part of MARCH 2000, the fighting women in India organized demonstration and rally in Delhi on October 12, 2000 in front of the UN, the IMF and World Bank offices and presented memoranda against poverty and violence to the officials there.

Following the successful rally on October 15th in Washington, a 200 member delegation of women representatives from 80 countries met IMF Managing Director Horst Köhler on October 16th and presented the memorandum of the MARCH 2000. On October 17, at the conclusion of a demonstration that began in Bronx and ended at Dag Hammerskjold Plaza in front of the UN, the same international delegation presented to UN officials the petition demanding an end to poverty and violence against women. They physically handed over to the UN over 2 million signatures, carried on bicycles by women during the demonstration, with some of the names written on corrugated cardboard used to make shacks in Haiti; on sneakers symbolizing the sweatshops of Indonesia, on cloth pieces of Indian sarees and e-postcards. The rally ended at the Union Station in New York city with thousands of women in colorful costumes celebrating the successful finale of the world campaign amidst music, dance and speeches.

People's Voice hails this initiative of the women and more importantly the leadership that women are giving to the struggle to open the doors for progress and the international struggle against the anti-social offensive. The demands that women have brought to the fore in MARCH 2000 are entirely just and must be fully supported by all the people because they are not merely the demands of women but are demands of the humanity. The form the women have created to unite the women’s movements around the globe is also of great significance because they are part of the new arrangement among the people in the post Cold War years, based on the principle of unity in common action. People's Voice salutes the women on this occasion and pledges to carry forward its own work for opening the doors to progress in India so that an India free from poverty and violence against women and men can be created.

Back to Table of Contents

The present carnage was flagged off by the much-publicized provocative visit of the Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to a site holy to people both of the Jewish and of the Muslim religions. However, this cannot be considered the cause of the conflict. The violence, taken overall, is a result of the fact that the Israeli state is based on the suppression of the Palestinian people, and denial of their national rights for which they have been fighting heroically for decades.

There have been violent attacks on the Palestinian people everyday since this provocative visit. The Israeli government must be condemned for its atrocious operations – its deployment of helicopter gun ships, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, missiles, grenades, and rubber-coated steel bullets – which have been directed at killing and oppressing unarmed Palestinian demonstrators, and openly inflamingthe situation The bestiality with which the Israeli police, armed forces and so-called "volunteer groups" (read vigilantes) have been attacking Palestinian civilians, often unarmed, has made even those who traditionally support the Israelis shudder with revulsion. Many young children too have become the victims of these brutal attacks. The Palestinian people have bravely fought back against these attacks and refused to be cowed down into submission.

The latest Israeli provocation, at the time of going to the press, is its "Fields of Thorns" plan: to reoccupy large parts of the West Bank and the Gaza strip, completely isolate Palestinians in Israel and revert to a pre-Accord position. Israeli government spokesmen have said that it will never pull back to pre-1967 war borders. In that war, Israel occupied the West Bank, including Arab East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.

US imperialism and its allies have recently stepped up their interference and intervention in the region at the very time the fight of the Palestinians for their own independent homeland has been advancing. This has been done under the signboard of "peacekeeping", of being the honest brokers been the Israeli government and the PLO. However, the imperialists are very much aware of the strategic importance of the Middle East, aregion rich in resources like oil and gas. These capitalist powers have therefore for many years done all they can to maintain a situation of "no war, no peace" in the region. Though they have spent many long years posing as "mediators", especially after the period of the intifada, the recent upsurge of violence and the bloody suppression of the Palestinian struggle by the armed might of US-backed Israeli Zionism demonstrates that the US-imperialist-led big powers have never intended to facilitate a lasting peace in the Middle East. They have sided with the Zionist positions and demands, and have opposed Palestinian sovereignty and a sovereign state of Palestine.

These same powers are now wringing their hands over the violence. They do not condemn the Israeli oppression, but are sanctimoniously talking of "ending the violence". They pose as impartial mediators, but impartial and unbiased forces would immediately place the blame where it belongs, with the Israeli state that attempts to "negotiate" through force.

The "peace process" can never succeed with any variation of the so-called "trading land for peace" formula. A sovereign and undivided Palestinian homeland state is the only solution. This can only come about if all foreign intervention in the region is ended. The bloodshed can be ended by the peoples of the region sorting out their own affairs free from the interference and incitement of the big powers. People’s Voice condemns the bestial carnage of the imperialist backed Israeli Zionists and reaffirms the support of the Indian people to the just struggle of the Palestinian people for their national rights.

Back to Table of Contents

Massive rally in support of Palestinian struggle held in Hyderabad

Pro imperialist, unprincipled shift in Indian governments’ foreign policy

The public rally organised by the Indo-Arab League to express solidarity with Palestinians and to condemn Israeli aggression against them was attended by an estimated 20,000 people, including several thousand women. The ambassadors of Iraq, Libya, Morocco and Palestine and former Prime ministers V P Singh and H D Deve Gowda also addressed the meeting. Many among the participants carried Palestinian and Iraqi flags and repeatedly interrupted the speakers as they stood up to shout, "Death to Americans" and "Death to Israelis." Impressed by the large gathering, Palestinian Ambassador Khalid El Sheikh said his people were looking towards India in its moment of crisis. "Your support should be not merely by words but should also be by your deeds," he told the gathering. "Israel is a major force and it can kill thousands of Palestinians, but Israel and those who are supporting it should know that they can’t kill the will of our people. Every child is ready to sacrifice his life for the independence …" he said.

The meeting passed a unanimous resolution appealing to the Indian government to urgethe immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied territories, including Jerusalem. It also demanded implementation of two UN Security Council resolutions on the establishment of a Palestinian state. "If the UN resolutions are not implemented the government of India should downgrade the diplomatic status of Israel to consular level and suspend all trade and bilateral agreements with Israel," the resolution demanded. Slogans calling for `jehad against the US and Israel’ rent the air as the audience joined the speakers in condemning Israeli atrocities on Palestinians.

But why has the Indian government not clearly condemned the heinous attacks of the Israeli state? Ever since they assumed charge of governing the country over fifty years ago, the Indian ruling classes took care to portray themselves as friends of people’s struggles for national emancipation throughout the world. At the head of a vast country whose peoples had fought valiantly to throw off the yoke of colonialism, and with a desire to obtain recognition from various nations that were becoming independent as well as various forces, which were battling for national rights, the Indian ruling classes then thought it expedient to make out that it was their friend. Events have however shown that this friendship was only a fair-weather one, and the Indian ruling classes have been most unprincipled in abandoning those whom they termed "friends" in their hour of need.

In recent years, with their policies of globalisation and liberalisation, the Indian ruling classes have taken a more demonstrative pro-imperialist stand in foreign relations. They have also developed stronger ties with the Israeli state, and relations with Israel have been blooming in a wide range of fields, including burgeoning defence ties. Thus, it is abandoning those whom it called its "friends" for decades on end for the sake of its very selfish militarist and imperialist interests. As Iraqi Ambassador Salah Al-Mukhtar said: "These are unprecedented crimes (being committed by Israeli forces). As a friend we expect India to condemn these crimes against humanity, not just an expression of regret. We have no objection to India developing relations with Israel. These are the sovereign rights of any nation. But in a situation where crimes against humanity are being carried out, friends should not adopt a neutral stand".

People’s Voice condemns the silence of the Indian government on the bestial carnage of the imperialist backed Israeli Zionists and reaffirms the support of the Indian people to the just struggle of the Palestinian people for their national rights.

Back to Table of Contents

The National Human Rights Commission and the Veerappan case

After all the killings, rapes, atrocities and incarceration of over one hundred people under TADA for 7 to 8 years, the NHRC was not aware of these worldly events! Having moved from pillar to post in trying to secure the release of the innocent prisoners, the human rights organization which was working on this issue, sent a note to the State and National Human Rights Commissions in April 1999. In June 1999, the NHRC constituted a team comprising Justice Sadashiva and Mr. C.V.Narasimham, former CBI director! But nothing happened.

In September 1999, Henri Tiphagne, a leading activist of the human rights group, went to New Delhi and complained to the NHRC of the inactivity of the panel. At last in January 2000, the first sitting of the panel was held in Gobichettipalayam. The second sitting of the panel was in February 2000. Human right activists and people were appalled to discover that the panel refused to entertain complaints which they claimed were not within the ambit of the commission. These included cases which involved the Tamil Nadu police and the STF . Also, cases where the police claimed a victim had been killed in an "encounter" or where there were pending cases against the victims, those who deposed would not be heard.

If the directions of the committee were to be followed then there would be no cases whatsoever! All cases of disappearance, killings in encounters, rape, sexual harassment and torture would not figure since in all such cases the police had proceeded to register criminal cases against the victims after committing atrocities on them! It was very clear that the whole exercise was merely a show and to keep the truth from ever coming out. Many, including the human rights activists opposed to this sham ‘investigation’, informed the NHRC of their decision to withdraw from this drama. Seeing the anger of people and fearing further exposure, on March 13 a panel of NHRC directed the committee to record all evidence that came before it. Many felt that it was a victory for the people. But that was not to be.

The third hearing was to be held in Mudhumalai Hills on March 28, the main venue of the torture. As the hearing was about to commence, the Karnataka government DIG arrived to serve a notice to the panel. It stayed the hearings. The stay was served by a judge of Karnataka High court on demand from the police! It was very clear that the government was not interested in conducting these hearings. From then on, till date, the National Human Rights Commission has done nothing. That shows the seriousness of the Indian state and its designated forums about "protecting" the rights of its citizens.

If anyone has any illusions about the NHRC or the intentions of the Indian government to protect the rights of the people, this case should clear it up. The NHRC is part of this system, designed to serve it by making out that the government is "concerned" about the human rights of the people! It has no other purpose nor powers! The real business of the police, judiciary, jails and bureaucracy, of serving the rich, goes on unhindered!

One of the demands of the "brigand" Veerappan is that the NHRC panel should be allowed to continue its trials, that all the truth should be allowed to come out and the criminals punished! A so-called "brigand" is demanding due process of justice, while the police and the governments are blocking it!

Back to Table of Contents 

Hindustan Lever Limited management reveals its fangs:

The struggle raging in Modern Foods is at the cutting edge of the struggle of India’s working class against privatisation

The three leaders were suspended after the management organised a deliberate provocation using the services of a blackleg. This blackleg was first made inebriated by the management and then egged on to organise a physical provocation against the trade union leaders. When the leaders refused to fall for the provocation, the blackleg inflicted minor injuries on himself and lodged a police complaint against the workers! In an earlier discussion with the management of HLL Lawrence Road Unit, the leaders of Modern Food Employees Union had warned the management against the use of lumpens and blacklegs to settle scores with the workers union. The management had made a show of agreeing that such shameful practices would be desisted from. However the real face of HLL could not be hidden for long!

The attack on the leaders of the union assumes great significance in the light of two facts.

Fact one is that right now a case challenging the very basis of the disinvestment commission under whose auspices MFIL was sold to HLL is up for hearing in the Delhi High Court. This case has been lodged by the MFIL Employees Union in collaboration with the Lok Raj Sangathan and numerous trade union organisations of the different Public Sector Undertakings are in the process of becomingparty to this case. If the High Court rules in favour of the petitioners, this will be a big setback to the entire privatisation program of the Indian bourgeoisie.

Fact two is that according to reports leaked to the media, the agreement between HLL and the government of India clearly states that within a period of 12 months, that is before February 2001, HLL cannot terminate the services of workers, unless they voluntarily take benefits whose value is not less than what they would have got as Public Sector employees. HLL management has already begun the process of shutting down units, transferring workers from one plant to another, in Delhi and all across the country, using the services of various labour traitors and former managers of the PSU. These labour traitors and former PSU officials, who have had a big hand in plundering the assets and living off the surplus value created by the workers, are now colluding with the HLL management in the "restructuring" of Modern Foods. This restructuring is an euphemism for the throwing out of a large section of the work force as soon as the hands of HLL are freed in February 2001. Already, in the Lawrence Road Unit, casual workers who have worked for 12-15 years on end are being refused work while contract labour is being hired! And the nearby Rasika fruit juice bottling plant has been shut down and its regular workers transferred to the payrolls of the Lawrence Road Bread unit. A similar story is being repeated in plants of MFIL all across the country.

HLL management has tried all methods of divide and rule, threats, bribery to crush the struggle being led by the MFIL Employees Union against privatisation. The suspension of three leaders is a desperate move of the management, as it is the principled struggle of the workers that has forced themanagement to reveal and play its cards in a hurry. Far from intimidating the workers, the move has boomeranged on the management as well as the government of India. The workers of MFIL are united like one ever more than before around their leadership. And the attempts of successive disinvestment ministers and the HLL management to make Modern Foods privatisation a showpiece for other privatisations is falling apart at its seams.

The coming weeks and months are crucial in the developing struggle against privatisation. The privatisation of MFIL was supposed to be the flagship for other privatisations. India’s working class has the opportunity to turn this into the flagship for the struggle against privatisation. This is the challenge before workers.

Back to Table of Contents