• Birth anniversary of Comrade Hardial Bains commemorated

• 55^th Independence Day speeches:
  Pathetic, narrow-minded and hypocritical

• Gujarat elections controversy:
  Empowerment of the people is the real issue

• Petrol pump allotment:
  Petrol dealership scandal being used to push interests of private petroleum monopolies

• The US and South East Asia

• US Corporates hit by scandals

• Confessions of Rumsfeld and General Frank reveal true aims of US imperialism

• Bangalore to be the first city in India to privatise water (final)

• Conference organised by Lok Raj Sangathan in Mumbai:
  On the peoples’ alternative to the anti-social offensive

• Mass opposition to army deployment along Rajasthan border

• Traditional Ecological Systems

Birth anniversary of Comrade Hardial Bains commemorated

Addressing the gathering, Comrade Prakash Rao spoke of the lifelong and invaluable contribution of Comrade Hardial Bains to the cause of communism, the proletarian revolution and in the service of humanity.

Born on August 15, 1939 in the bosom of a communist family of Punjab, Hardial Bains held aloft the red flag from an early age. He joined the student and youth wing of the undivided Communist Party of India in his early teens and militated in its ranks. He was among the many youthful communists who were betrayed by the leadership of CPI that embraced Khrushchevite revisionism. Far from being disillusioned or dismayed by the revisionist betrayal, Hardial Bains was one of those few Indian communists who responded with fist held aloft, organising to defeat revisionism and hold aloft the bright red banner of the victory of revolution and socialism.

Having gone abroad to pursue higher studies in the late 1950s, Hardial Bains plunged into the anti-imperialist anti-war movement that was unfolding in North America and Europe. He founded the Internationalists, an organisation that provided revolutionary direction to the youth and student movements in Canada, Ireland, and Britain. The Internationalists, led by Hardial Bains, waged an uncompromising struggle against modern revisionism and all its currents, in defence of the purity of Marxism-Leninism, the science of revolution in this epoch. This historic struggle created the conditions for the emergence of new Marxist-Leninist Communist parties and organisations in several countries, including the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), which Comrade Bains militated in and led until his last breath.

Throughout his political life, even while he was prevented by the Indian State from returning to India, Comrade Hardial Bains never gave up his first passion, namely for the Indian revolution. He founded the Hindustani Ghadar Party (Organisation of Indian Marxist-Leninists Abroad), as an organisation dedicated to work for the cause of the victory of Indian revolution. The HGP (OIMLA) voluntarily submitted to the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), with Comrade Charu Mazumdar at the head. It played an important role in propagating the message of Naxalbari, i.e., the necessity for the revolution, and in inspiring Indian workers and youth in North America, Britain and other countries in support of the Indian revolution.

In the 1970s, when persons of Indian origin were being targeted as victims of state-organised racist attacks in Canada, Comrade Hardial Bains led the entire Indian community resident in Canada to militantly fight back, under the slogan "Self defence is the only way!" The organisations he led contributed to the political unity of the minorities with the working class, against the state and its racist policies and propaganda.

Comrade Hardial Bains occupied a special place in relation to the work of establishing and building the Communist Ghadar Party of India. He imbued in all of us Indian communists the scientific temperament, the desire to study the classics of Marxism-Leninism, to be armed with theory, to deal with the problems of revolutionary practice with the guiding light of theory. Comrade Bains firmly and steadfastly adhered to Lenin’s teachings that revolutionary theory must lead revolutionary practice. He pointed out that one of the factors for the setback to socialism in the Soviet Union, following the death of JV Stalin, was the refusal of the leaders of the CPSU (B) to address the theoretical problems posed by the practice of the socialist revolution and socialist construction at that time.

Comrade Hardial Bains, in his contributions to the analysis of the Indian state and revolution, waged a relentless struggle against the Euro-centric notion imposed on our people by the colonisers that Indian people have no political theory of their own, no philosophy of their own. He contributed to bringing out the rich heritage of Indian theory and tore apart the spurious thesis that the only political theory we can draw from is that of the colonisers. He pointed out the key problem that modern Indian political theory has to address, namely: how to ensure that the people can rule themselves without the need for a raja or a trustee.

Comrade Prakash Rao emphasised that the life and work of Hardial Bains is inseparable from the movement for the emancipation of the working class and all of humanity from capitalism and imperialism. He was a product of this movement, of the best revolutionary and patriotic traditions of the Indian people and of the Canadian and international working class, traditions that he further enriched through his life and work.

In conclusion, Comrade Prakash Rao pointed out that the most important factor that will determine the opening of the path to progress for the Indian people is the subjective factor — Indian revolutionary theory, our collective consciousness and organisation, combined in the party of the working class. He concluded with the call: Let us rededicate ourselves to building and strengthening the party of Indian revolution that Comrade Hardial Bains worked to build and develop, until his last breath!

Several other comrades spoke of their personal experiences with Hardial Bains and how they had been influenced by his personality, his thoughts, his writings and his work. The program concluded with the singing of a selection of revolutionary songs that were dear to Comrade Hardial Bains and, finally, with the singing of the Internationale.

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55^th Independence Day speeches:

Pathetic, narrow-minded and hypocritical

Neither the President nor the Prime Minister of India could avoid referring to the horrific communal killings in Gujarat. They could not offer any solution to the problem of putting an end to communal violence. President Kalam exhorted the Indian people to rise above differences and "small thinking", as if to say that it is the people and their "small thinking" that are to blame. Prime Minister Vajpayee, on his part, asked the people to "forget the past, look forward to the future", implying that they should drop even their basic demand that the guilty must be punished.

Both the President and Prime Minister of India expressed great outrage that Musharraf should have called the elections in Jammu & Kashmir a "farcical" exercise, given the poor track record of elected governments in Pakistan. It was a typical case of the pot calling the kettle black. Unable to hide the growing unpopularity of its rule among its own people, the ruling class of India wants to divert the attention of the Indian people on Independence Day to focus on how things are much worse in neighbouring Pakistan!

Why is it that in spite of political independence having been won 55 years ago, both India and Pakistan remain economically dependent and socially backward to this day, mired in poverty and misery? None of the leaders speaking on Independence Day could provide an answer to this fundamental question.

While formally declaring the states of India and Pakistan, defined in the midst of communal carnage and Partition, as independent states on the world arena in 1947, the economic system of colonial plunder and the political institutions that maintained and enforced the conditions of plunder were not dismantled. They were preserved both in India and in Pakistan. In other words, the changes brought about to affirm the political independence of India and Pakistan only touched the top layers of society – that is, just a redistribution among the white sahebs and brown sahebs. There were no deep going transformations at the base of society – no fundamental change in economic relations or in the political superstructure.

It is the continuation of the colonial legacy that is holding the peoples of India and Pakistan down to this day. Political independence without social revolution has failed to deliver on any front. Independence has itself been highly compromised, with US imperialist military occupation of Afghanistan and daily increase in imperialist domination and interference in the region.

Only social revolution, beginning with a clean break with the colonial legacy, can open the door to progress both for India and for Pakistan. Indo-Pak enmity is itself part of the colonial legacy that has to be overcome.

All the propaganda of the Indian and Pakistani rulers and their imperialist mentors at this time are aimed at creating a false consciousness about South Asia, which is that terrorism and fundamentalism are the roadblocks to social progress, while imperialism is allegedly an ally. None of the speeches of the Indian and Pakistani leaders on the 55^th anniversary of Independence made any attempt towards making a break with this false consciousness. They were in fact consistent with the promotion of the falsehood that terrorism and fundamentalism constitute the main roadblocks.

The existing state systems of India and Pakistan have themselves become roadblocks to social progress and peace in the region. They are part of the problem and not part of the solution. This is the fact that stares us in the face on the 55^th anniversary of political independence.

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Gujarat elections controversy:

Empowerment of the people is the real issue

Hundreds of concerned citizens, youth, students, women and many mass organisations have been working to provide relief and rehabilitation to the hapless victims of the carnage. Even today, most of the victims have lost their families and loved ones, their homes and whatever they possessed; fear and insecurity stalks them wherever they go. In an attempt to underplay the consequences of the horrible massacre and to show that everything is back to normal, the state government has ordered closure of the relief camps and asked the victims seeking shelter there to fend for themselves.

In this situation, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi dissolved the State Assembly and called for elections in Gujarat. The NDA government at the centre appears to have supported this move, while the opposition parties have all opposed it, accusing Modi and the BJP of trying to take political advantage of the communal massacres and the present situation of destitution and insecurity of the people there. Amidst much trading of charges and counter charges by the two sides, the much publicised visit of the Chief Election Commissioner, J.M.Lyngdoh, took place. Mr. Lyngdoh is reported to have found the situation "not normal" and has declared that elections in Gujarat will be postponed till at least November-December. Meanwhile, heated debates continue to rage in the political circles and in the press and media, about the Constitutional and legal validity of the Chief Election Commissioner’s decision and what constitutes "normal circumstances" for holding elections.

The condition of the suffering people of Gujarat happens to be the condition that is normal for a very large majority of the poor and oppressed people of our country. For millions of workers, peasants and other working and oppressed people, to lose their homes, families and loved ones, all their lives’ earnings and their meagre source of livelihood, at one stroke, whether it be through state organised communal violence and bloodshed, through floods, drought, cyclones, earthquakes, epidemics or a host of other causes, has become the norm rather than an exception. To live in constant fear and insecurity, fear of being attacked by the police, army or paramilitary forces or state organised goondas, fear of being victimised and incarcerated for merely speaking out the truth or demanding the most basic rights, has become a normal condition for people, not only for people in Jammu & Kashmir and parts of the Northeast that are under virtual army rule, but also in regions of the country which are ruled by so-called democratically elected governments. Why is this the case, 55 years after our rulers declared independence from colonial rule and the establishment of a so-called democratic Republic? That is a question that is not being addressed by any of the political parties that are heatedly debating about elections in Gujarat.

The root cause of the people’s problems lies in the fact that the existing system of democracy in India excludes the majority of people from political power. The supreme decision making power, i.e. sovereignty, is not vested in the people. The masses of people have no role in making the key decisions that affect the fate of society.

The power to make and implement decisions that affect the course of society lies in the hands of the executive power–the Cabinet of the ruling party or coalition. The Legislative power–the Parliament and state assemblies–only serve to legitimise the actions of the Executive. The executive power is not subordinate to the legislative power, nor are those elected to the legislature subordinate to the people. They render accounts only to their respective parties and follow the party whip when it comes to voting in the legislature. The Judiciary is appointed by the Executive and is not accountable to the people.

The existing political party system is designed to keep the people disempowered. The electoral law and rules for government formation are such that they ensure that the electoral process is dominated by parties of the status quo and governments are formed only from among their ranks. Once in power, these parties act in the service of the most powerful economic interests that stand behind them and finance them. People have no role in governance within this system. The only role that people enjoy in this representative democracy is to vote once every few years to choose which party of the status quo will rule and defend the interests of the big bourgeoisie for the next few years.

Today, increasingly people are unwilling to accept this system of rule that benefits only a self-serving minority at the expense of the majority, and are openly questioning its credibility. Faced with this, our rulers are resorting to even more criminal methods to maintain themselves in power, including the use of communal violence and fascist laws like POTA to crush the popular opposition to their rule.

The gruesome tragedy that has befallen the people in Gujarat is a consequence of this very system that serves the interests of the biggest and most powerful capitalist monopolies at home and abroad, and completely marginalises the people from political power. It is not just the doing of one party’s government or another. The experience of the Indian people over the last 55 years shows that under different forms of governments, both "democratically elected" and under President’s rule, those in power have organised the worst kinds of slaughter and terror against the people and got away unpunished. At this time, to get embroiled in the debate over whether elections in Gujarat should take place now or later, whether elections should be held under President’s rule or not, is to foster the most harmful kind of illusion about the existing political system and political process. It means to leave the suffering people defenceless and unprepared in the face of newer and more gruesome attacks that await them in the future.

The problem can only be resolved through the empowerment of the people, i.e. when sovereignty, the supreme decision making power, actually resides in the hands of the people. With political power in our hands, we, the people of India will be able to ensure that society develops in a way that benefits all; and the interests and claims of the different sections of the society can be harmonised. This requires a thorough-going renewal of the political process, a clean break with the existing political institutions and the colonial legacy. It requires, in particular, changes in the political process whereby the people who vote will enjoy the right to have a say in the selection of candidates for election and also the right to recall elected representatives at any time. The urgent need today is to build the broad political unity of the people around the program of democratic renewal, i.e. the program to end the disempowerment of the people and create the mechanisms by which people can effectively rule themselves.

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Petrol dealership scandal being used to push interests of private petroleum monopolies

As if on que, the bourgeois media has set up a chorus demanding "withdrawal" of government from petroleum dealership distribution. Allegedly, the problem would be resolved by the "free market". However the question arises, which problem? As on now, the state fixes the retail prices of petroleum products from time to time. It allots the place for the distributors, some get prime spots, others bad spots. It gives a percentage to the dealers in petroleum product sales. In other words, the way a petroleum supplier or dealer makes money is (1) by getting a prime spot where the maximum number of vehicles will come (2) by adulteration of the petroleum products which is done systematically to a greater or lesser extant by most, from the supply side to the distribution side. Shortchanging customers through meter tampering, etc., is the other preferred way of making profits.

It is well known that like many other offices of profit, the Petroleum Ministry is one. Allotment of petrol pumps is one of the lesser privileges that the party in power has been allowed in the existing political system to dole out as favours to its near and dear ones. It is by no means, either the only, or the biggest privilege that is distributed by the petroleum ministry. Oil exploration rights, money made on buying and selling petroleum from abroad, which countries and which time to buy petroleum—hundreds of crores of rupees are made in such transactions. However these transactions do not as a rule involve "ordinary mortals" and hence do not cover front page. Petrol Pump dealerships deal with the middle strata and hence make news.

India is one of the few big oil markets in the world where sustained growth can be expected. The Indian market is expected to grow at a rate of 6 % annually compared to the expected global average growth rate of 2 – 3 %. Hence, global energy companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, British Petroleum and Totalfina – Elf are quite interested in the Indian scene. Many of them would like to take over existing networks of the public sector companies as this will bring in profits faster. Disinvestment of the big public sector oil companies, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, was estimated by government sources to be capable of fetching over rupees 100,000 million. However, the petrol pump scam has reduced this considerably – benefiting the prospective bidders, of course.

Oil companies are apparently not just satisfied with importing or buying crude oil locally, refining it and distributing it. They also want a major piece of the retail pie. For example, the Indian oil monopoly Reliance has put out big ads in newspapers asking for land on highways and important roads where it can set up its own retail outfits. If a few thousand dealerships of the public sector oil companies are cancelled, that could make available so many ready to use outlets which could be picked up for a pittance!

Bourgeois ideologues would have the world believe that all the problems in Indian industry stem from regulation and public sector. Events of the past few months have shown that the situation in advanced capitalist countries, particularly the USA is only murkier. According to news reports, trust of the people in the big capitalists has all but evaporated in the USA. And our own ‘pundits’ want us to rush towards that system!

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The US and South East Asia

This campaign to "flush out terrorists" from South East Asia was at the heart of the visit of the US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region in early August, after he had visited both India and Pakistan. This campaign began in January, when 1,200 American soldiers landed in the Philippines, allegedly to track down and finish off members of the Abu Sayyaf group and other rebel groups in the country. The Americans made claims that Abu Sayyaf was in touch with the Al Qaeda network, but even the commander of the American troops sent to the Philippines , Donald Wurster, had to admit that there was no evidence of recent links between the two outfits.

Colin Powell visited both Malaysia and Indonesia in August to ensure greater cooperation in the American "war against terrorism". In Indonesia, police forces have even been persuaded to kidnap individuals wanted by the US intelligence agencies and deport them to US interrogation centres in other places, as far away as the notorious US army base in Guantanamo on the island of Cuba. While on this tour, Powell signed an agreement for cooperation against terrorism at the meeting of ASEAN Regional Forum, the major grouping of South East Asian countries.

The situation in many of the South East Asian countries is volatile, with many oppositional movements in existence, armed or unarmed. The governments of some of these countries are tempted to take the proffered American "help" to deal with their own opposition. This is the path that will lead directly to the enslavement of their countries. For the US is interested only in controlling these countries for wider geopolitical aims, and are not offering assistance for nothing. The presence of US intelligence, military or technical forces in different countries, however innocuous it may appear at the beginning, is a noose around their own necks and a dagger pointed at their neighbours. In Okinawa, where the US troops are still stationed in Japan, and in South Korea, vehement protests against the US presence and demands for them to quit are a regular feature.

The US-led "war against terrorism" is nothing but a thinly disguised venture for the US to establish its unquestioned dominance over every corner of the globe. The fact that it is making strenuous efforts to further penetrate various countries of South East Asia under the cover of this campaign, is a matter of grave concern to all peoples in Asia.

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US Corporates hit by scandals

• WorldCom

The communications company which is said to transmit half the world’s internet traffic was rocked by a $ 4 billion accounting scandal. Expenses which were of a revenue or operational nature were shown as capital expenses. Revenue expenses such as salaries, cost of materials etc are shown in the profit and loss expenses of the year in which they were incurred and hence immediately affect the bottom line. Capital expenses, such as money spent on buying equipment or buildings are ‘capitalised’, i.e. only a part of the total expenses need to be shown in the profit and loss account. The expenses are written off over a few years. WorldCom showed a part of the operating expenses as capital expenses in order to show that it was apparently making a larger profit. Incidentally WorldCom owes its Indian counterpart a whopping US $ 60 – 90 million! The second largest US company to declare bankruptcy, WorldCom was earlier in the news for advancing a ‘loan’ of $ 400 million to its then chief Bernie Ebbens to buy company stock.

• Enron

It continues to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. More and more sordid facts are coming to light in the wake of probes. Bribery of government officials in their own and other countries, arm twisting of consultant companies leading them to dismiss honest financial officers, and more. The cost of the Enron and WorldCom scandals is estimated to be between US $ 37 to 42 billion! With Enron and WorldCom collapsed their ‘auditor’, Arthur Andersen Inc.

• Dynegy Inc

A former controller and vice president has claimed that he was fired after refusing to artificially and illegally limit the losses suffered from a series of natural gas and power transactions in the UK in 2000.

• Quest Communications International Inc

This company has also followed dubious accounting practices. The dominant telephone company in 14 states of the US, had improperly booked $ 1.16 billion as sales income between 1999 to 2001. It has said that the results for these years would be ‘restated’ and also withdrew its revenue forecast for 2002. Top executives of the company, however made over $ 500 million selling company stock during the period.

• America On Line (AOL)

More than $ 49 million was involved in "dodgy accounting" at its advertising and communication divisions. The company is under probe by the US department of Justice, the Securities Exchanges Commission and also has been slapped with lawsuits by shareholders for artificially inflating its stated revenue figures. It is alleged that revenue collected by it on behalf of its partners has been shown as its own.

These are only the big ones, which have made the headlines so far. Public confidence in the corporates is at an all–time low in the US. The US government, typical of all capitalist and imperialist states has announced ‘tough’ controlling legislation, to limit the damage and restore confidence. This is the usual eyewash that governments in capitalist and imperialist states routinely indulge in to befuddle people. It is made out that a system of checks and balances can sort out the problem of "rouge corporates" taking shareholders for a ride. This is a falsity. Capitalism in the stage of imperialism is parasitic to its very core, it is capitalism in decay. Corruption, swindling, the buying of officials of the government for a "consideration", the manipulation of the financial statements and the stock markets are all an inseparable feature of capitalism in the stage of imperialism.

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Confessions of Rumsfeld and General Frank reveal true aims of US imperialism

The confessions of Rumsfeld and Frank only confirm what democratic and freedom-loving people all over the world have realised, that the US led "war against terrorism" has nothing to do with security concerns but is aimed at territorial conquest and control over sources of raw materials. Although the US troops may enter any region of the world under various pretexts, such as "peace-keeping" or "peace-making", they never leave until and unless the people unite and throw them out, as they did in Vietnam.

The American aggression and occupation of Afghanistan is but the first step in the US plan for the conquest of Asia. As part of this plan, the US imperialists have been actively engaging with the ruling classes of India and Pakistan, throughout the course of their "war against terrorism". By manipulating the contradictions between the rulers of India and Pakistan, the US imperialists have greatly intensified their interference and involvement in this region. The Indian ruling class has not opposed this trend but in fact welcomed it, hoping through this dangerous collaboration with the US imperialists to strengthen its own position as a major power in this region vis-à-vis the neighbouring countries.

The increasing interference and involvement of US imperialism in this region poses a grave threat to the freedom and independence, to the peace and security of all the peoples of this region.

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Bangalore to be the first city in India to privatise water (final)

There are good reasons for the Karnataka government to fear opposition. Evidence of countries where water supply has been privatised shows that the cost of such a basic input for life as water has skyrocketed to ridiculous levels. In Britain, the experience was that the price of water rose by as much as 450% when supply was privatised. In Bolivia, water bills for individual users amounted to as much as one-third of the minimum wage. This led to huge protests and demonstrations, in which people were killed and injured in police firing, forcing the Bolivian government to eventually cancel the contract with the private water supplier.

Behind the decision to privatise water stand the interests of the biggest monopolies which see the chance of raking in huge profits from turning even water, a basic public resource, into a commodity. Reports are that Monsanto, the multinational seed giant, now wants to enter the water market in India and Mexico, foreseeing a net income of $63 million from this business by 2008. In Bangalore, the supply of water is being contracted out to two companies from France, which has some of the largest dealers in bottled water in the world.

The interests of the big multinational companies are being pushed by institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF, which have been heavily promoting the privatisation of water distribution in different countries, in the name of "efficiency" and cutting down on wastage of public expenditure.

It is true that a huge amount of water, for both household, industrial and irrigation purposes, is not accounted for as a result of leakage, theft by industrial houses, etc—possibly as much as 40-60%. It is also true that the demand for water, as for most other resources, is rising all the time, leading to depletion of presently known and accessible water resources. But far from dealing with these problems and their root cause, various governments and international bodies are chanting the refrain of "privatisation", because of the huge profits to be gained by them and certain private parties. The cost and suffering to the people, the consumers, is furthest from their minds. So are the vital questions that will inevitably be thrown up by the privatisation of water distribution, about the ownership and ultimate control over this vital resource, and about a country’s sovereignty.

One fact that is being conveniently ignored in the talk of privatising water is that some of the biggest damage to existing water bodies has been done precisely by big capitalist industries that have used them as convenient sewers for their enterprises, rendering the water resources of millions of people virtually unusable. Now we are being made to accept that it is private capitalist companies that are going to "save" water for people’s use by cutting down on losses and wastage, etc.! What the drive to privatise water in fact shows is the utter parasitism of capitalism in this day and age, which seeks to turn even water into a commodity from which superprofits can be made.

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Conference organised by Lok Raj Sangathan in Mumbai:

On the peoples’ alternative to the anti-social offensive

In his keynote address, the convener of Lok Raj Sangathan, Prakash Rao emphasised that the key to the solution of the problems facing the Indian people is an alternative system in which the people will be truly empowered to make and implement decisions concerning the well being of society. He pointed out that war and communal violence are being used by the ruling classes to ensure that people’s agenda remains buried. He concluded his speech by elaborating on the concrete tasks facing the movement.

Representatives of the Transport and Dock Workers’ Union, National Railway Mazdoor Union, CITU, State Government Employees Confederation, Bahujan Mukti Mahasangh, Ladaku Garment Mazdoor Sangh, SUCI, Jan Jagran Natya Manch, All India Federation of Trade Unions, Hind Naujawan Ekta Sabha and the Communist Ghadar Party of India also addressed the conference. Justice H. Suresh, Vice President of the Lok Raj Sangathan, lauded the efforts of LRS in organising this discussion and emphasised the importance of working amongst the people.

In conclusion the Mumbai Convener of LRS pointed out that various alternatives presented in the media were in reality no alternatives at all, but merely an effort to hide the real source of the problems facing the people. The real people’s alternative has to end the present state of disempowerment of the people, he concluded.

A resolution was presented, raising some of the main demands of the program to build the people’s alternative. These included the demand that the economy be reorganised to provide food security, health care and education for all, that the government fulfil its responsibility of ensuring livelihood for all working people, including the peasants, and that the perpetrators of communal and fascist violence and all crimes against the people be severely punished. The resolution also demanded an end to the imperialist economic, political and military intervention in India and this region and denounced the shameful collaboration of the rulers of India with the imperialists. It called for a renewal of the political process to ensure that the people become truly sovereign.

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Mass opposition to army deployment along Rajasthan border

According to the activists from these organisations, many areas along the border remain out of bounds for the local population, due to extensive laying of landmines. Landmines have claimed more than 40 lives of the local villagers, while the number of cattle killed due to landmines is literally countless. Cattle have also been maimed in large numbers. The compensation provided by the government to the families of those killed or maimed by landmines has also been woefully inadequate.

Thousands of acres of fertile land have been rendered infertile due to the landmines. Unable to carry out cultivation and displaced from their land, huge numbers of small and marginal peasants and agricultural workers are on the brink of starvation.

Additional water requirement by the army has led to further depletion of the already scarce water resources in this arid desert region. According to the activists, the armed forces have been using up large volumes of water and all the water sources in many villages in Barmer, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur have been monopolised by the army. As a result, the local villagers are forced to travel a distance of 4-5 km to fetch water.

Large stretches of grassland have become inaccessible to people and cattle, greatly aggravating the problem of finding grazing fields for the cattle. The local people are being forced to abandon their livestock or go in for distress sales.

The activists of these organisations also reported several cases of rape and sexual harassment of the local women and girls, by the armed forces in these areas.

These organisations have declared that the continued army presence in the border areas is a big drain on public resources. They have demanded that the armed forces should be immediately withdrawn from the border areas, that the landmines should be removed without causing any more disasters for the local people and that the resources thus released should be utilised to provide relief to the drought stricken people.

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Traditional Ecological Systems

Far from rejuvenating these traditional community-based systems, the colonialists brutally dismantled the self-dependent village economy system. What was installed in their place was the unrestrained exploitation of people, land, water, fisheries and forests for short-term gains of the capitalists. This is what continues today in India 55 years after formal independence. The rapid loss of forest cover in recent times has been particularly detrimental. It has been a major contributor to the expansion of drought prone areas and even the reduction of rainfall.

Green revolution technologies only exacerbated the problem. These technologies served only the propertied and the rich, turned agricultural products into commodities for sale and tied the producer hand and foot to the dictates of the capitalist market. Although they raised agricultural productivity in some areas, they also led to the concentration of land holdings, increased rural unemployment, depleted natural soil fertility, and encouraged mining of ground water. The poor were deprived of land, employment and even drinking water.

All these factors together have produced a continuing expansion in India's drought prone areas. Drought is no longer a natural disaster. It is a direct consequence of capitalism. The resulting human suffering is enormous and growing.

The response of the ruling class has been to initiate reforms that avoid hitting at the root of the problem. Rather, these reforms are aimed at preserving and strengthening the present system. There has been no effort to address the central problem of irrigation. There has been no effort to desilt the rivers and connect the natural irrigation systems to prevent flooding. Neither has there been any effort to preserve the ecological balance by preventing the rape of forests by the contractors and middle men, or the rapid depletion of ground water resources, or the destruction of the existing water protection systems.

There is a pressing need to rebuild India's land, water and forestry resources and re-establish the ecological balance, while at the same time providing for the basic needs of India's working people. This entirely depends on how far Indian people have control over these resources and how soon ownership and distribution of assets is resolved in favour of the producers of wealth.

Once ownership of productive resources and distribution of wealth in society is resolved in favour of the working people appropriate technologies can be adapted to the conditions of specific localities. Action can be initiated on a massive scale to tackle calamities. Many of the land and water management practices that have fallen into disuse, including the construction and maintenance of terraces, forest areas, ponds and tanks to provide sustained water harvesting can be re-established. Cropping patterns appropriate to drought prone areas can be introduced.

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