• An important milestone in building the united front of the workers and peasants

• Massive rally of farmers in Nohar issues Clarion call:
  Let us build committees at the village and dhani level throughout the state!

• Privatisation of HPCL and BPCL:
  Step up the struggle to halt the privatisation program!

• Deadlock at Cancun:
  A setback to imperialism and the trade liberalisation agenda

• Condemn the US-Israeli axis of terror against the Palestinian and other Arab peoples!

• Opposition to military occupation of Iraq swells in the US

• Excerpts from the Speech of the Communist Ghadar Party of India

• Crisis in the US

• Mud slinging once again?

• Struggle of Modern Food Workers advances

• UN General Assembly discussions
  Democratization of the United Nations is a task of paramount importance

An important milestone in building the united front of the workers and peasants

People’s Voice is pleased to report that at the initiative of the Lok Raj Sangathan, the peasants of Rajasthan organised a massive peasant rally in the historic town of Nohar in Rajasthan. People’s Voice hails this as an important step to rally the peasantry of Rajasthan against the anti-peasant policies of the Central and State governments. Speaker after speaker at the rally declared — " We the toilers are the real masters of India. We have been hoodwinked of political power for far too long. Let us organiseourselves in every village, every district, and ensure that political power, sovereignty, vests in the toilers."

At a time when the main bourgeois parties, the Congress and the BJP, aretrying to line up the people as voting cattle in the coming elections, at a time when the Ministerial meeting of the WTO was taking place in Cancun, the organising of this peasant rally is an event of great significance. It reveals that the peasant masses, like the working class of India, are completely disenchanted with the economic and political system in our country and the course being pursued by the ruling class. It reveals their increasing disgust for the political parties of the big bourgeoisie, the BJP and the Congress. It is a pointer that the time is here and now, for building the united front of workers and peasants, so as to replace bourgeois rule with worker-peasant rule. It is a stern message to those communist parties who are bent on pursuing the policy of building parliamentary united fronts with the Congress Party, to desist from this course and focus their energies on building the worker-peasant united front.

People’s Voice is carrying excerpts from the report on the Nohar Kisan Rally that appeared in the website of the Lok Raj Sangathan on page 4.

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Massive rally of farmers in Nohar issues Clarion call:

Let us build committees at the village and dhani level throughout the state!

(People’s Voice is printing below, excerpts of the report on the Nohar Kisan Rally as appearing in the web site of the Lok Raj Sangathan—editor)

If there was one consistent message that permeated the Mass Kisan Rally organised by the Lok Raj Sangathan in Nohar, Rajasthan, it was this—we the farmers of India are deprived of political power in this party system of governance dominated by the parties of the Indian and foreign money bags. We will not tolerate this any longer. We will organise from the village and dhani level, in every tehsil and district of the state, in order to defend our livelihood and rights. We, the peasants, together with other working people, women and youth, are the real masters of India. Let us work to realise this in practice."

On September 19, 2003, the streets of the market town of Nohar in Rajasthan were filled with farmers from every village, near and far. The town was decorated with dozens of big banners, proclaiming a Massive Kisan Rally organised by the Rajasthan state committee of the Lok Raj Sangathan. The main chowk of the town is Bhagat Singh Chowk. It was so named by the citizens of Nohar on March 23, 2003, when they organised, at the initiative of the Lok Raj Sangathan, a Shaheedi Divas Program to commemorate the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. Bhagat Singh Chowk was festively decorated on all sides with banners proclaiming the kisan rally. All entry points into Nohar town, the railway station, the bus terminal, the market place, were similarly decorated. For days before the rally, cycle rickshaws and jeeps went around the villages and towns of the district, carrying the message of the Lok Raj Sangathan to the peasants and other working people. Thousands of leaflets of the program were distributed amongst the people, in both Rajasthan and Haryana.

Farmers came to the rally in their jeeps, in canters and buses, from villages of different tehsils of the massive district of Hanumangarh. Farmer activists also came from nearby districts of Haryana. Nearly 5000 farmers participated in the rally. The rally itself was held in a massive shamiana erected in the huge anaj mandi (grain market) of Nohar. Nohar is regarded as the Chana Capital of Asia as it is the market wherein the maximum trading of chana dal takes place.

Many prominent personalities of the area, cutting across party lines, had lent their full support to the work of the Lok Raj Sangathan in the days preceding the rally. The welcoming committee for the rally included, apart from the leaders and activists of the Lok Raj Sangathan, Shri Rajendra Kumar Chachan, respected former chairman of the Nagar Palika, Advocate Santlal Tiwari, Dr. Dilawar Singh Beniwal, a popular people’s doctor, Yusuf Ali, retired football coach, Krishnachandra Bhambu (Former Director of the Zilla Parishad), Adaram Saharan (topariya), Advocate Kanwarsein Singhathia, Ex-Subedar Hardutt Singh, Naresh Godara (Sarpanch of Fefhana), Rampratap Chimpa (Sarpanch of Badbirana), Liyakat Ali (Sarpanch of Deeplana), Omprakash Thakan (Sarpanch of Kinkralli), Raghuvir Beniwal (Deputy Sarpanch of Bhukarka), Ramesh Saharan (Deputy Sarpanch of Ujjalwas), Sahabram (President Water Users Association 15 BK), Comrade Mahavir Dhedad (Dhilki village), Dhataram Khot (Soti village), Dhamendra Saharan (Barwali village), Kanaram Saharan (Jasana village), Brijmohan Jhajhadiya (retd. Subedar of Bhukarka village), Noor Mohammed (former Councillor, Nohar), Shakur Ali (former Councillor, Nohar), Rajwant Singh (Dhani Araiyaan), Comrade Farid Khan, Hiralal (retd teacher, Charanwasi village), Ratanlal Arora, Krishan Mahiya, Shishpal Saharan (President of the Sarpanch Union), Sajjankumar (Deeplana village), Rustom Ali, Comrade Mustaq Ali, Sanjeev Kumar (Director, Panchayat Samiti), Sukhdas Swami (Director Panchayat Samiti, Nohar), Maniram Regar (Member, Prashashan and Sthayi Committee), Karnail Singh (Director Zila Parishad Hanumangarh), Jaisaram Mahariya (Director, Panchayat Samiti, Nohar), Rampratap Soni (President, Water Users Association, Ramgarh), Raghuvir Chippa (former Sarpanch), Devendra Beniwal (retired teacher), Hetram from Soti, Shaan Mohammed from Dhani Kalalaan and Om Sudhar (President, Water Users Association).

The Mass Rally was presided over by the President of the Rajasthan State Committee of the Lok Raj Sangathan, Madanlal Beniwal, a respected leader of the farmers. Comrade Om Sahu, the General Secretary of the Rajasthan State Committee of the Lok Raj Sangathan, and a Sarpanch and militant peasant activist, conducted the proceedings of the rally. Several of the prominent personalities addressed the rally.

Speakers at the rally roundly condemned the WTO as an instrument of the imperialists, which threatens the livelihood of the peasantry and the sovereignty of peoples and nations. They hailed the mass actions of the anti-WTO activists in Cancun as well as throughout the globe. They condemned the anti-peasant policies of the central and state governments, which are dictated by the interests of the biggest monopolies in India and the foreign multinationals. They pledged to mobilise the millions of toiling peasants against these policies.

Comrade Om Sahu welcomed the peasants, the townspeople as well as the delegates from outside the state, to this historic rally. He hailed, as an event of great significance, the fact that the leaders of the fighting peasantry from the states of Punjab and Haryana had come all the way to participate in the rally. This solidarity amongst the peasantry was a sign of the prospects for the future. It showed that the future of the peasantry was bright, and the future of the ruling class was extremely dark. Comrade Sahu declared that the work of organising the peasantry for their own interests, has begun in right earnest. No more will the peasantry of Rajasthan tail blindly behind the bourgeoisie or its political parties. Instead it will fight for its rights and claims, and it will fight for political power alongside the working class.

The Convenor of Lok Raj Sanghatan, Prakash Rao, hailed the struggle of the Rajasthan peasants and exposed the two timing of the major bourgeois parties, the BJP and the Congress, towards the peasantry and their livelihood. The moth crop is being harvested and the peasants are being looted in the mandis in front of our own eyes. The Bajra crop is ready to be harvested. Right at this time, the Rajasthan and Central government are having slinging matches as to who has the responsibility for ensuring that the peasants get a proper price for their crops. The experience of the Indian peasantry in the 56 years since independence clearly reveals that whether it is a year of drought, or a year of bumper harvest, the livelihood of the peasants is extremely insecure. The big agricultural traders in the mandis loot the peasants at will. The central and state governments take decisions dictated by the interests of big business, not the interests of the peasants who till the land and raise the crops.

Prakash Rao pointed out that in the WTO, the Indian State has acted consistently in the interests of the Tatas, Birlas and Ambanis, who are dreaming of India becoming a big power and dominating other countries. It has acted consistently against the peasants and signed deals which have led to ruin of peasants. In the Cancun negotiations, the Indian government is acting as a big defender of India’s peasants, but this an eyewash. The Indian State has not defended its sovereign right to tax imports as well as subsidise agriculture. Instead, it is using the demands of the peasantry as a bargaining point for advancing the interests of the big business houses in the world fora. The stand of the Indian government at the WTO must be seen in the context of the coming elections. Successive Indian governments always "remember" the peasantry at the time of elections, only to forget about the peasant masses following an election, he warned.

Prakash Rao pointed out that the system of parliamentary democracy in India and worldwide, wherein parties of big business rule in the name of people, has become thoroughly discredited. The bourgeoisie keeps repeating that there is no alternative to this system, but this is a lie. There is an alternative. This alternative is to vest sovereignty in the people. The first step in implementing this program is for people to organise in the local areas, to assert their rights. Let us work to build peoples committees in the villages and tehsils and districts, everywhere. The real alternative is the fighting unity of workers, peasants, women and youth. Let us build and strengthen this alternative.

In a moving address, Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, President of the BKU, Punjab, revealed the essential solidarity of the peasant movement country wide, as well as its striving for true democracy. Pointing out the significant fact that there are supposed to be over 400 parliamentarians representing the peasantry, but the voice of peasantry is yet stifled in parliament, he called for consciousness and organisation as the key to transformations in favour of peasantry of India. He hailed the efforts to forge unity of the peasantry and toiling masses across different provinces, as proved by the work of the Lok Raj Sangathan, and committed that the peasantry of Punjab will shed their last drop of blood in defence of the common struggle of the Rajasthan peasantry. Earlier, the General Secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Punjab, Prof. Manjit Singh, pointed out that the world is changing, and the peasantry have to keep in step with the changes and not remain confined to stereo type formulae which were perhaps valid decades back.

Chowdhary Ramphal Khandela, veteran leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Haryana, which has been waging a heroic struggle against the anti-farmer policies of the Chauthala government and its state repression, hailed the work of the Rajasthan peasantry and the Lok Raj Sangathan. Exposing the anti-peasant character of successive governments in Haryana and the centre, he declared that the Haryana peasantry will fight shoulder to shoulder with the peasantry of other states and not allow divisive forces to rule.

Comrade Hanuman Dhariwal, leader of the All India Kisan Sabha (Rajasthan), denounced the anti-people policies of the BJP government at the centre. Rights are fought for and won. He appealed to the peasants to wage vigorous struggle for their rights.

The leader of the Brick Kiln workers union, Comrade Niyamat Ali congratulated the peasantry for the rally and extended the complete support of the working class to the just struggle of the peasantry.

Hanuman Prasad Sharma, leader of the government teachers, in a hard hitting speech hailed the struggle of the peasantry internationally against the WTO. He exposed the role of the parties of the bourgeoisie in depoliticising the peasant masses and liquidating their struggle and called on the peasantry to build and strengthen Lok Raj Sangathan as their own organisation at every level. The leader of Lok Raj Sangathan from Haryana, Dunichand, dwelt on the necessity of building Lok Raj Sangathan.

Others who addressed the rally included Pratap Singh Beniwal, Krishan Chand Bhambhu, Sajjan Kumar, Adaram Saharan, Jaymal Swamy, Shyam Lal, Shishpal Saharan and Hansraj Sharma.

Comrade Om Sahu presented a 22-point memorandum of demands. He explained their rationale and declared the determination of Lok Raj Sangathan to fight unswervingly to achieve these demands. Later, after the conclusion of the public meeting, the peasants marched in a militant procession to the DC’s office in Nohar to submit the memorandum to the Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

The Massive Kisan Rally of Nohar ended in a militant atmosphere, with the quiet determination of the peasantry to take forward the struggle for their empowerment. The successful organising of the rally, at a time when the major political parties are trying desperately to depoliticise the masses and divide them on the basis of caste and religion, is proof that India’s toiling masses are fed up with party system of governance and want to transform the same. The time is here and now for establishing Lok Raj!

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Privatisation of HPCL and BPCL:

Step up the struggle to halt the privatisation program!

The response of the ruling NDA Government to the Supreme Court verdict has been mixed, with the Petroleum Minister hailing it as a "historic verdict", and the Disinvestment Minister calling it a "major setback". The fact that two senior ministers of the Central Government are reacting in opposite manner is indicative of the clash of interests within the ruling circles on this issue. The oil refining companies are among the biggest and most profitable companies in India. Any plan to hand them over to one group of big capitalists is likely to be opposed by rival groups of big capitalists.

The Disinvestment Minister, Mr. Arun Shourie, is reported to be holding prolonged discussions with the Law Minister and other legal experts, to try and find the quickest way to proceed with the privatisation plans of his ministry. It has been reported that the options being considered include an Ordinance to empower the Central Government to proceed with privatising the oil companies and subsequently seek the approval of Parliament, at a later date.

Meanwhile, in a convention of oil sector workers, held in Delhi on September 28, 2003, the delegates decided that oil sector workers would go on indefinite strike if the government tried to issue a presidential ordinance to push through privatisation.

The Supreme Court verdict in the case of HPCL and BPCL is a setback to the privatisation program. The Indian working class has been waging a powerful struggle, on the streets, in parliament, and in the Supreme Court against the privatisation program of the bourgeoisie. The heroic struggle of the workers of Modern Foods, the struggle of the workers of BALCO, as well as the struggles of workers of other PSU’s has created a crisis for the bourgeoisie and its government. The working class has exposed, in front of the whole of society, how the privatisation program is a program against the general interests of society. Faced with such a situation, the bourgeoisie is trying to shore up its credibility. It is striving to create an illusion that it stands for the general interest of society. This, apart from the sharpening infighting amongst the ruling class, is responsible for the hurdles to the privatisation program. The Supreme Court verdict must be seen in this context.

While exploiting the verdict on the oil companies in favour of the struggle against privatisation, the workers must have no illusion about where the Supreme Court stands in this struggle. It is to be remembered that in the case of privatisation of the mining company BALCO, the Supreme Court had held that the Executive, that is the Cabinet of the Central Government, had exclusive rights over economic policy making, including decisions to privatise any public company. That decision gave a big boost to the big bourgeoisie and its privatisation program. Barely two months ago, the Supreme Court attacked one of the most fundamental rights of the workers — the right to strike. That was a clear exposure of exactly where the Supreme Court stood in the struggle of the bourgeois class against the working class. The Supreme Court is an organ of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.

The verdict of the Supreme Court in the case of HPCL and BPCL offers an opportunity for the working class to step up the struggle to halt the privatisation program, by making maximum use of legal battles to complement the street demonstrations and mass rallies.

Workers’ unions must create maximum political pressure, through propaganda and mass actions, to ensure a negative vote in the Parliament, if and when any privatisation proposal comes up for a vote there. They must deepen the debate as to who has the right to decide about the future of public assets. They must challenge the right of the Executive, that is the Cabinet of the Central Government, to sell public assets to a private company of its choice. They must try to create as many hurdles as possible to halt the anti social privatisation program of the bourgeoisie.

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Deadlock at Cancun:

A setback to imperialism and the trade liberalisation agenda

The meeting collapsed mainly because the nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America refused to be bullied by the big powers headed by the United States. The Quad countries, consisting of the US, European Union, Japan and Canada, tried to impose their agenda on all members at the meeting. However, the delegates of the majority of countries rejected the draft agreements presented at the conference.

On the controversial question of agricultural trade, the delegates from Asia, Africa and Latin America insisted that further opening up of their markets, through further reduction in import tariffs, cannot take place unless the problem of farm subsidies in the US and the European Union (EU) is addressed. The Quad countries refused to address this concern. Instead, they arrogantly demanded that other countries must first cut their import duties, before discussion on subsidies could proceed. They also refused to consider a proposal by four African nations – Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali – to reduce subsidies on cotton, which are devastating the economies of these countries.

The debate on agriculture also revealed the contradictions within the Quad countries, especially between the United States and the EU. The US continued its attempts to end the ban on its export of genetically modified agricultural products to Europe and other countries. Differences between the US and the EU enabled the Group of 20 plus (or G20+) to push forward its demands. This group consists mostly of the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, including India and China. The conference facilitator in charge of agriculture held separate meetings of the EU and G20+, the G20+ and US, and the US and EU. In the end, he declared his inability to close the gaps between the positions of these three groups.

On the question of ‘non-agricultural market access’, that is on the timetable for reducing import tariff on industrial goods, the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America generally opposed the demands of the industrially most advanced countries. Many of them demanded special and differential treatment based on the Doha Mandate. The conference facilitator dealing with this subject summarised his task as "Mission Impossible".

On the so-called ‘Singapore issues’ – consisting of investment, competition policy, transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation, several members contested the validity of the agenda itself. They argued that the decision at Doha was not to conduct negotiation of these issues at Cancun. The Singapore issues represent the continuing efforts of the US, EU and Japan to destroy all semblance of sovereignty of independent states, by imposing Eurocentric norms of ‘good governance’ on all nations and peoples, and by demanding the ‘right’ of multinational corporations to invest their capital wherever they please.

The Cuban Interior Minister denounced the unjust exchange between rich and poor countries. He pointed out that US government subsidies to sugar corporations are responsible for much of the decline in world sugar prices, which have negatively affected the poorer sugar exporting countries to the tune of $3.4 billion. Speaking on the significance of the collapse of the meeting, the Malaysian Trade Minister said, "This has made it clear that developing countries cannot be dictated to by anybody". Delegates from Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and South Africa told reporters that the G20+ would remain united in future negotiations.

The outcome at Cancun shows that the wind is not blowing as forcefully in favour of imperialism and monopoly capital today, as it was when the GATT was signed and the WTO was formed.

In the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the imperialists of the world, led by the United States, declared that the agenda for the whole world now was to break down all barriers to the flow of capital and commodities that they export. They demanded that everyone must bow to the dictates of the multinational companies and financial oligopolies. Some of the emerging capitalist powers with imperialist ambitions, such as India, sought to advance their own positions by striking deals with the big powers and seeking to join their club. The majority of states of Asia, Africa and Latin America, even while feeling threatened by the drive of the big powers, nevertheless decided to sign up to GATT and join the WTO, out of fear of being left behind or isolated in economic terms.

The real life experience of the past few years, after the WTO was formed, has only served to highlight the inequalities and exploitative nature of global trade and investment. Workers, peasants and other middle strata in society have taken to the streets, protesting against the consequences of the trade liberalisation agenda. The developments at Cancun show that the resistance to imperialism is growing, which is reflected not only in the militancy of protests on the streets, but also in the positions taken by different member states within the conference halls.

According to the concluding statement adopted at this conference, the Director-General of the WTO and various member states will continue to work towards reaching agreements that eluded them at Cancun. The statement includes the decision to "convene a meeting of the General Council at Senior Officials level no later than 15 December 2003, to take the action necessary at that stage to enable us to move towards a successful and timely conclusion of the negotiations".

In his final press conference, the US Trade Representative spoke of talks and negotiations outside the WTO framework. He threatened that the United States is "not waiting forever, we will move elsewhere".

From the standpoint of the anti-imperialist forces, consisting of the workers, peasants, oppressed nations and peoples of the world, the conflicts among the imperialists and capitalist powers are favourable conditions for stepping up the struggle against the liberalisation agenda. The challenge is to build on the collapse at Cancun and foil the imperialist plans to impose unequal agreements by hook or by crook.

The times are calling on all the anti-imperialist forces to step up the struggle in defence of the rights of the peoples, including the right of every independent state to the economic policies of its choice.

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Condemn the US-Israeli axis of terror against the Palestinian and other Arab peoples!

That the Israeli terror against Palestinians has the full backing of US imperialism was further revealed in the address of the US President George Bush to the 58th Session of the UN General Assembly. Bush openly blamed the Palestinian leadership for the war launched by Israel against the Palestinians in the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Ever since the US launched its "global war against terrorism", the Zionist state of Israel has used the opportunity to unleash a reign of fascist terror on the Palestinian peoples fighting for liberation. It has bombarded the homes and offices of the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, killed hundreds and thousands of civilians. The Prime Minister of Israel has publicly ordered targeted killings of leaders of the Palestinians and their families. Meanwhile US President George Bush, has repeatedly called for the overthrow of the Palestinian leadership by the Palestinians. According to the twisted logic of US imperialism, the Palestinian liberation struggle is the problem, not the uprooting of the Palestinians from their homeland and not the decades- long reign of terror of the state of Israel against the Palestinians.

George Bush is demanding that the Palestinian liberation fighters turn against each other, while the Israeli State continues to deprive Palestinians of their homeland. Unfortunately for the US and Israel, the Palestinians have refused to do so. They have remained united around the goal of liberation and the restoration of their homeland. This defeat for the US policy, as well as the baring of fangs by the Israeli state is leading to the complete isolation and exposure of the US as an enemy of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples.

It can never be forgotten that the Palestinian people were deprived of their homeland when the Zionist State of Israel was established in 1948. This was the land — the homes and villages of the original population that has inhabited Palestine continuously for more than 4,000 years — on which a cabal of Great Powers, urged on by the United States, conspired to create Israel. As the European powers, notably Nazi Germany began the genocidal slaughter of people of the Jewish faith, the nefarious project of carving out a Jewish state in Palestine was conceived and executed. Millions of Palestinians were made refugees. The Palestinian people today number some 9.2 million people, of whom 5.5 million are living in exile, 2.5 million live in the illegally occupied West Bank and Gaza, and a further 1.5 million live within the 1948 controlled border. Palestinians living in Jordan, make up some 70 per cent of the Jordanian population today!

Since the illegal and unjust usurping of their land by the Zionists with the complete support of the imperialists, the Israeli State has waged numerous wars of aggression against the Palestinians and against its neighbours. From the 1967 war against Syria, Egypt and Jordan to the US-sanctioned Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, which resulted in the massacre of Palestinian refugees at Sabra and Shatilah, to the daily bombings and attacks which are carried on in the Gaza strip and other parts of Palestine today – US imperialism has always backed the Zionists. Since the installation of the Israeli state in 1948, there have been two ongoing projects — one is the Zionist project of ethnic cleansing, massacres and expulsion of the Palestinian people, and the second, is the struggle of the Palestinian people for their own homeland. In September 2003, the Israeli Prime Minister ordered the bombing of an apartment wherein civilians resided, in the Gaza strip. The bombing was aimed at assassinating Palestinian leaders Many other such incidents of bombing and house – razing have been carried out in the past few weeks. These are but the latest in a series of barbaric and bloody acts of terror by the state of Israel, against the Palestinian people.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the so called "roadmap to peace," promoted by the US imperialists is nothing more than yet another attempt by US imperialism, working hand-in-hand with Israel, to exterminate the Palestinian people and their struggle for self-determination. The heroic deeds of the Palestinians have signalled to the whole world that they are determined to carry on their struggle to regain their homeland. The struggle of the valiant Palestinian people has the full support of the Indian working class and people.

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Opposition to military occupation of Iraq swells in the US

• There has been a massive increase in the number of enlisted US soldiers applying for Conscientious Objector (CO) discharges, the Centre on Conscience and War (CCW) reported.
• On August 23, 2003, a rally was held in Crawford, Texas as part of the "Bring Them Home Now" campaign being led by military families and veterans for the immediate return of US troops from Iraq
• At Fort Stewart, Georgia, home to the US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, whose soldiers called for the resignation of Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, families are also demanding the soldiers’ return.
• A letter from a soldier in the US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, which is occupying Iraq, circulated publicly by family members, said, "Our morale is not high or even low. Our morale is nonexistent."

For the 3rd Infantry, the issue came to a head when, for at least the third time, the soldiers were told they would not be going home on the date promised. In fact, they were told they would remain in Iraq "indefinitely." An Army spokesman was quoted as saying, "The time frame has gone away, and there is no time frame." This month, soldiers of the 3rd Infantry’s 1st and 2nd Brigades will have completed a full-year in the Persian Gulf region. Only some 4,600 of the more than 18,000 3rd Infantry troops deployed in Iraq have returned.

US imperialism arrogantly invaded Iraq in violation of all norms and of international public opinion. It thought, like all imperial powers, that its overwhelming armed might would subdue the Iraqis. It thought that it would be able to easily set up a puppet government and carry out the wholesale plunder of Iraq’s oil wealth. It had announced plans to target Korea within a few months of the occupation of Iraq by sending its armed forces from the Persian Gulf region to the Asia-pacific theatre. Things have turned out differently. The puppet regime that the US has set up has not taken off. Mass protests from Iraqis have become a daily affair. Every day, the occupation forces under one excuse or another kill dozens of people. Every day the patriotic forces strike at the occupation forces. In such conditions, the American military supply lines have been stretched very thin. Their occupation has no legitimacy in the eyes of Iraqis. The American public as well as the American troops is getting tired of the war. This is a crisis of vast proportions brewing for the US, both at home and abroad.

In these conditions, the 58th Session of the UN General Assembly has become a forum for hectic lobbying by the US to get legitimacy for its occupation forces. In addition, US is seeking cannon fodder for the occupation in the form of troops from other countries. India, Pakistan, Turkey are its prime targets. It is seeking the assistance of the great powers, France, Russia, and Germany to achieve these aims. As of now, the winds are blowing against the US.

The Pentagon, in the face of this situation, may be forced within several weeks to alert a large number of additional National Guard and Reserve troops for duty in Iraq. This is what Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff has said.

There is a great possibility for the peoples of the world to inflict a setback to the US plans for world domination, by first defeating the US plans in Iraq. It is essential that the peoples of the world keep up their opposition to the unjust occupation of Iraq and keep up pressure on their governments — No troops for Iraq!

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Excerpts from the Speech of the Communist Ghadar Party of India

Addressing the Kisan rally on behalf of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, Comrade Jasvir Singh hailed the initiative of the Rajasthan State Committee of the Lok Raj Sangathan in organising the Rally. The Kisan rally was a blow to the Congress and BJP who were trying to poison the atmosphere in Rajasthan prior to the elections by promising reservation to this or that caste. In doing so, they were in effect declaring that this system and their parties cannot and will not provide security of livelihood to all the toilers. Why is this the case?

Comrade Jasvir Singh pointed out that the Indian economy is oriented to maximum plunder by the big capitalists and imperialists. This needs to be re oriented to serve the needs of workers and peasants. This requires that we build the united front of workers and peasants and fight to replace bourgeois rule with worker-peasant rule. The hammer and sickle is emblazoned on the flag of communist parties signifying the workers’ and peasants’ rule. However, today in India, we are faced with the problem that some communist parties have given up this goal. Instead they are busy uniting with the Congress to defeat the BJP, while leaving the bourgeois rule untouched.

Those who create the illusion that only the BJP is communal, are creating harmful illusions. The Indian State is a communal state and unleashing communal violence is the preferred policy of the bourgeois class as a whole. The big bourgeoisie is fattening itself through liberalisation and privatisation and is using communalism and communal violence to divert, divide and drown the struggles of the workers and peasants in blood.

Comrade Jasvir Singh declared that nothing will change by replacing one party in power by another. The solution to India’s problems lie in replacing bourgeois rule with worker-peasant rule. Congratulating the Lok Raj Sangathan for taking firm steps towards building the united front of workers and peasants, he called upon communists to reject the path of tailing behind the bourgeoisie, reject the course of building parliamentary fronts, and firmly fight for building the united front of workers and peasants, in order to save India from further disasters.

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Crisis in the US

The United States of America is seeking to establish its supremacy in the world through its massive economic and military strength. It arrogantly declares that its domestic policies are suited to all countries, that all countries must adopt them as a model. Enquiring minds may therefore ask what the kernel of this model is and what recent events reveal about the domestic situation there.

For instance, the eastern seaboard of the United States of America was struck on September 18, 2003 by the massive Hurricane Isabel, which caused widespread devastation to property through wind damage and flooding from both rain and storm surges from the Atlantic Ocean. The states of North Carolina and Virginia, among others, were very badly affected with loss of power in vast neighbourhoods. While the loss of life was restricted to a number of less than 40 deaths, the economic losses are expected to be substantial. Much of the loss of power was due to trees falling on fairly primitive overhead transmission lines. There is a wide feeling that no investment has been made into power transmission through underground cables that could have reduced the damages.

The plight of poor and underprivileged who have had their only homes destroyed is extremely bad. In the country which boasts of the world’s largest economy, the condition of the poor and the working has gone from bad to worse over the last couple of decades, with real wages shrinking and with their facing ever increasing rents and prices. These factors further deepen the suffering during times of natural calamities. In the last decade, the USA has seen a large influx of immigrants, the majority of whom come from Mexico, Central America and South American countries and who constitute the backbone of the manual labour pool of the country.

Even as the natural calamity was playing itself out, another spectacle engaged the minds of the public, which was the scandal surrounding the deferred salary, benefits and other bonuses of the erstwhile Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, Mr. Richard Grasso. The sum ranged somewhere between 140 and 190 million dollars, which was a mind boggling figure even in a country where Chief Executive Officers of companies would take home a cool several million dollars in such packages, during normal activities, and perhaps even more when they supervised mergers and takeovers, as so called ‘severance pay’. In the case of Mr. Grasso the board approving his pay often consisted of members who belonged to companies whose activities were to be regulated by Mr. Grasso! This remarkable episode was about to throw the entire system into a legitimacy crisis when he was essentially asked to offer his resignation verbally, which was subsequently ‘accepted’. Mr. Grasso is said to have left his post with the ‘deepest reluctance’.

Simultaneously there has been an indication that the national deficit in the USA has been growing at an alarming rate. In the midst of this, Mr. Bush has asked for a further 87 billion dollar fund for the Iraq ‘reconstruction’ and maintenance of operations there. In other words the situation is becoming an economic and political, national and international quagmire from which it would be hard for Mr. Bush to extricate himself. It is not impossible that this would lead to a further escalation of military adventurism combined with further fascisation at home.

As a result of all these, the picture that the US establishment would like to project of the free-market and liberal democracy as being the highest stage of development of human society, is likely to be something that the masses across the world will not accept.

AV Rao
Hyderabad

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Mud slinging once again?

These days, the peoples of India and Pakistan are being exposed to the disgusting spectacle of the ‘leaders’ of our respective countries at the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization, hurling slander and mud at each other. There are accusations and counter-accusations, mocking and taunting of each other, which brings disgrace to the great peoples of these lands. There are attempts to gain some strategic advantages by use of diplomatic and not-so-diplomatic language, and there is media speculation about the true "gains" (if any) for the two countries.

The fact of the matter is that these two large countries have, over the course of the last 56 years, locked themselves into positions that have brought direct suffering for the tortured people of Kashmir, and indirect suffering for all the people of these countries, through an arms race we can ill-afford, through absence of favourable trade relations and an atmosphere in which chauvinism and the most narrow of philosophies of hatred and distrust can flourish. On the other hand, the peoples of our countries have expressed their profound frustration at this state of affairs and have repeatedly called for extending the olive branch of peace across the borders.

It must be recognized at this time that the festering problems between the countries creates a fertile ground for imperialist interference and brinksmanship. In the so-called war against terror, there are shifting alliances that the United States of America and its close allies would like to forge and dismantle at will. Therefore only a principled resolution of differences between countries can prevent further tragedies from taking place. The peoples of India and Pakistan must take it upon themselves to build durable bridges of friendship between themselves, in order to prevent their ‘leaders’ from taking them on the path of mutual assured destruction.

Sincerely, A. Narayan
Bangalore

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Struggle of Modern Food Workers advances

As reported earlier in these columns, the workers of all the units of Modern Food Industries in Delhi, cutting across trade union affiliation, have joined the indefinite dharna at the gate of the Lawrence Road Bread Unit-I. This dharna has now been going on for more than 520 days on end! On September 10, 2003, hundreds of workers of MFIL organised a militant demonstration outside parliament to highlight the growing attacks on workers and the utter callousness of the Central government in the face of repeated demands for government intervention in favour of the workers. A memorandum was submitted to the Prime Minister highlighting the anti-worker activities of the HLL management now controlling Modern Food Industries.

Meanwhile, the legal struggle of the Modern Food Industries Employees Union has made some significant advance. It may be recalled that the HLL management had first, in a malafide manner, suspended three leaders of the Union and then terminated the services of Govind Singh Yadav, the Secretary of the Union. When this was challenged in the labour courts and the labour court ordered Shri Yadav’s reinstatement, the MFIL management refused to do so and tried to involve Shri Yadav and the Union in a number of cases. Now, the courts have ruled in principle that Shri Yadav must be reinstated and back wages be paid to him. The final decision will depend on the result of a similar case that is currently going on in the Supreme Court.

The illegal closure of the Fruit Juice Bottling Plant has been challenged in the Delhi Labour Courts. According to the recent reports, the Labour Commissioner has declared that HLL management has been guilty of an illegal lockout. This constitutes a partial victory for the workers. The struggle to reopen the plant, which was shut down on August 18, is likely to intensify. It is likely that the HLL management will take the case to the High Court and reverse the order of the Labour Commissioner. The workers on the other hand are preparing to force penalties on the HLL management for the illegal closure.

The principled and consistent struggle of the Modern Food workers, led by the Modern Food Industries Employees Union, has not only led to the discredit of the HLL owners of MFIL. Most importantly, it has led to the exposure and discredit of the entire privatisation program of the bourgeoisie. It has exposed the unity in action of the government, the courts and the private capitalists as well as the major political parties on the privatisation question. It was the Modern Food Industries Employees Union which first challenged the privatisation of MFIL in the Delhi High Court, by questioning the legal validity of privatisation. At that time, the Delhi High Court threw out the case under the specious plea that privatisation was a matter of government policy, quoting the Supreme Court Ruling on BALCO. Now, it is on the same point of the legal validity of privatisation that the Supreme Court has asked the Central government to stop the sale of the oil companies.

The struggle against privatisation is leading on the one hand to growing unity of the class against the bourgeoisie and on the other hand to sharpening fissures in the ranks of the bourgeoisie on this question. This is a positive development, provided workers do not fall prey to the illusion mongering that the courts can become weapons of the working class in the struggle against the bourgeoisie, or that this or that party of the bourgeoisie can be relied upon to defend workers interests. Furthermore, the workers must retain utmost vigilance about the role of the labour traitors, the agents of the bourgeoisie in the working class movement, who despite waving flags of this or that colour, have always worked to disarm the workers in the face of the onslaught of the bourgeoisie. When the privatisation program was launched, these labour traitors, actually declared to the workers that there was no alternative to privatisation, and spread pessimism about the possibility of opposing privatisation. Instead of exposing the bourgeoisie and its aims, these labour traitors gave justifications for the privatisation of this or that sector of the economy. Today, the struggle of the working class has not only put the bourgeoisie on the defensive, it has also put the labour traitors on the defensive. The working class must use this situation to turn the tables on the bourgeoisie and its agencies within its ranks.

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UN General Assembly discussions

Democratization of the United Nations is a task of paramount importance

There was great questioning of the role of the UN Security Council at the 58th Session of the UN General Assembly. The views of the General Assembly do not matter. The General Assembly elects 10 of the 15 members of the Security Council. The real powers are with the Security Council. Within this, the five permanent members — US, Britain, France, Russia and China — who are not elected, have veto powers. One of these five can negate the majority opinion of the Security Council. Thus, effectively, any of these powers can individually scuttle the will of the majority of the countries of the world. The recent instance of the US using its veto to block a resolution condemning Israel’s threat of eliminating Palestinian leader Arafat is just one telling example. Nobody in the Security Council voted against the resolution, barring US. A similar measure was passed in the General Assembly of nations with a majority of 133 to 4 with 15 abstentions, but remains only an ‘advise’ which the Zionists are not compelled to accept.

The unjust and barbaric aggression of Iraq earlier this year was not only opposed by the peoples of the world, there were also many governments who felt threatened by the unilateralism and doctrine of preemptive strikes. The Anglo American imperialists were not even able to get the endorsement of the Security Council for their aggression on Iraq because of the opposition of other members. However they went ahead unilaterally, in complete contempt of the world body.

US chieftain Bush made an adamant speech to the UN general assembly defending the aggression and occupation of Iraq. The immense resentment among the international community for the menacing, unjust and unilateral actions of the US – led coalition was voiced in part by the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and other speakers at the UN General Assembly. Bush has made it clear that the US was not willing to either concede sovereignty to the Iraqi people or allow other powers to have a greater role in determining Iraq’s future. He stated exactly what the UN could limit itself to doing "America is working with friends and allies on a new Security Council resolution, which will expand the UN’s role in Iraq. As in the aftermath of other conflicts, the United Nations should assist in developing a constitution, training civil servants, and conducting free and fair elections."

The speech by the US imperialist chieftain was rather coldly received by the general assembly, showing the deep resentment which nations of the world have against the US led action. In her speech, President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia said: "The war has created far many more problems than those it intended to solve. I do believe that a great many lessons can be learned from the Iraq war" — in particular, that unilateralism carries heavy costs." UN secretary general Annan derided the Bush administration’s foreign policy doctrine of unilateral preemptive action. "This logic represents a fundamental challenge to the principles on which, however imperfectly, world peace and stability have rested for the last fifty-eight years ... if it were to be adopted, it could set precedents that resulted in a proliferation of the unilateral and lawless use of force, with or without justification". President Jacques Chirac of France too voiced the resentment of other nations. "No one can claim the right to use force unilaterally or preventively".

The UN and its Security Council is facing a crisis of legitimacy. Instead of the Security Council, acting on behalf of the General Assembly, implementing the Assembly’s mandate for ensuring peace, security and sovereignty of the peoples, nations, and the world as a whole, the UN Security Council is a tool being constantly manipulated by the Permanent Security Council members, in particular, the US. In the case of the military occupation of Iraq, the Security Council has no answer to the demand of the majority of the General Assembly members for ending the occupation and restoring sovereignty to the Iraqi people.

The privileged position of the US and other permanent members of the Security Council must be ended. The right of veto needs to be abolished, as it constitutes a complete violation of democracy. All the members of the Security Council must be elected from the General Assembly. Whosoever violates the decisions of the General Assembly or Security Council must be appropriately punished, without regard to whether the violator happens to be the most powerful country on earth, the US, or a much smaller, militarily weaker, nation.