Call of the Third Congress of CGPI
March towards the Rule of Workers and Peasants, and a Voluntary Indian Union!

Communique of the Central Committee of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, 29 January 2005

The Third Congress of the Communist Ghadar Party of India was held in Delhi during 27-29 January, 2005. With the participation of delegates from all over the country and from Indians resident abroad, the Third Congress discussed and adopted the Report presented by Comrade Lal Singh on behalf of the third Central Committee. The Third Congress adopted the Constitution of the Communist Ghadar Party of India and elected the fourth Central Committee. The fourth Central Committee met on 29th January and elected Comrade Lal Singh as the General Secretary, and Comrade Prakash Rao as the Spokesperson of the Party.

The Third Congress of the Communist Ghadar Party of India was honoured by the presence and participation of delegations of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) and the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist). Their interventions and interactions helped to reaffirm the unity of workers of all countries, and of the close fraternal relations that exist between the Marxist-Leninist parties of Canada, Britain and India.

The Report adopted by the Third Congress consists of three parts. The first part sums up the work since the Second Congress; and is entitled Building the Party in the course of Leading the Class Struggle. The second part is a contemporary analysis of the crisis in India and on the world scale; it is entitled Towards the Rule of Workers and Peasants, and a Voluntary Indian Union. The third part is the Plan of Action.

The assessment of the Third Congress is that we are still living in a period within the epoch of imperialism and proletarian revolution, when the tide of world revolution is in ebb. The peoples are threatened with the intensification of super-exploitation, growing fascism and reactionary wars; and their opposition to this anti-social offensive is rising. The class struggle is growing more intense, pointing to the fact that revolutionary tide will once again turn to flow.

The analysis and conclusions of the Third Congress reaffirm the general line adopted by the Second Congress in October 1998. The Report reaffirms the program for the reorientation and reconstitution of India, with the political aim of establishing the rule of workers and peasants, and a voluntary Indian Union. It reconfirms that this is the necessary condition to lift society out of the crisis and open the door to its revolutionary transformation from capitalism to socialism. It notes that several new demands have emerged from the class struggle, which have further enriched the fighting program.

The Third Congress expressed solidarity with all the communist, anti-imperialist, anti-fascist and anti-war forces in all continents of the world, and resolved to strengthen the worldwide front of the peoples against imperialism. Noting the grave dangers that threaten South Asia, it called for special efforts to build and strengthen the unity among the working class and peoples of South Asia against US imperialism and the machinations of all imperialist powers. In the context of the offensive of imperialism against the sovereignty and very existence of nations and peoples, and the empire building efforts of the Indian big bourgeoisie, the Third Congress hoisted the banner of inviolability of the right of nations and peoples to self-determination.

The Third Congress resolved to work for the establishment of a Union of Workers' and Peasants' Republics of India, as the political instrument required for defending and affirming sovereignty, national rights, democratic and human rights. This is in direct contrast to the line of fascist repression of national and human rights in the name of defending the unity and integrity of India.

The Report adopted by the Third Congress concludes that the most urgent tasks to be taken up today, towards the empowerment of the working class and people, are to build and expand the Communist Party and the United Front of workers, peasants, oppressed nations, nationalities and tribal peoples, women and youth.

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Resolutions of the Third Congress of CGPI

Jan 29, 2005

1) On the Report

Having discussed the Report presented by the Central Committee on the work of building the Party in the course of leading the class struggle; and on the road towards workers' and peasants' rule and a voluntary Indian Union; and Noting that the analysis and assessment presented is consistent with the ideology of Marxism-Leninism, the General Line of the Party and all its decisions, We, the Delegates who have assembled at the Third Congress of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, in New Delhi on January 27-29, 2005, Resolve to adopt the Report and call upon the Central Committee to release it for publication and dissemination.

2) On the Constitution of CGPI

Having deliberated on the Constitution and Party Rules drafted with the participation of the entire party in the course of party building, and satisfied that it embodies the experience of building the revolutionary vanguard of the working class, in India and on the world scale, We, the Delegates who have assembled at the Third Congress of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, in New Delhi on January 27-29, 2005, Resolve to adopt the Constitution as presented, and call upon the Central Committee to release the final document, taking into consideration the views presented at this Congress.

3) On the Plan of Action

We, the Delegates who have assembled at the Third Congress of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, in New Delhi on January 27-29, 2005, Adopt the Plan of Action as presented and discussed here, which accurately reflects the needs of the movement in India, and Direct the Central Committee to take all necessary measures for the realisation of this plan.

4) Salute to the fighting forces in all countries

We, the Delegates who have assembled at the Third Congress of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, in New Delhi on January 27-29, 2005,

Salute and send our revolutionary greetings to all the fraternal communist and workers' parties of all lands, who are courageously leading the working class and people in their respective countries in defence of their rights, against the anti-social offensive of the bourgeoisie, for peace and democratic renewal of the political process, to open the door to the revolution and socialism;

Salute and send our revolutionary greetings to the governments and peoples of Cuba, North Korea and other countries, who are bravely resisting the imperialist encirclement and resolutely pursuing the path of building their own economic and political systems, towards the goal of socialism;

Salute and send our revolutionary greetings to the national liberation fighters in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and other lands, who are fighting courageously against imperialist aggression and occupation, to affirm their national sovereignty;

Salute and send our revolutionary greetings to the peoples and governments of Venezuela, Brazil, Iran, Malaysia, Zimbabwe and all other countries, who are defending their national sovereignty and resisting the imperialist dictate;

Salute and send our revolutionary greetings to the people of Nepal, who are bravely fighting for their national and social liberation and for their sovereign rights;

Salute and send our revolutionary greetings to the courageous fighters for national and social liberation in Philippines, Columbia and other countries;

Salute and send our revolutionary greetings to all the fighting forces who are taking to the streets against the anti-social offensive of globalisation, liberalisation, privatisation and 'fiscal austerity' measures, in defence of their rights and for a pro-social program; and

Salute and send our revolutionary greetings to all the forces fighting against imperialist war, war preparations, militarisation, violation of international law and the use of force to settle differences between states, nations and peoples; and

RESOLVE to build and strengthen the peoples' movements within India as a component part of the worldwide front of the people against the front of imperialism.

5) On South Asia

Recognising that the fate of South Asia has great implication for the fate of the world today; that

The peoples of South Asia are waging all-sided struggle in defence of their rights, including armed insurgencies,

US imperialism and other imperialist powers are working feverishly to re-divide Asia among themselves;

The Indian bourgeoisie has joined as a contender in this imperialist rivalry for supremacy in South Asia;

This century would be one of peace or of war depending on whether the problems of poverty and exploitation, national rights, state terrorism, inter-state conflicts and sectarian strife are resolved in favour of the people or not;

We, the Delegates who have assembled at the Third Congress of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, in New Delhi on January 27-29, 2005,

CONDEMN the states and governments of South Asia that are facilitating penetration by imperialism through military means,

the repression of the struggles of the peoples by their respective governments, including the armed occupation and brutal repression of the people of Manipur by the Indian Union; and the support of the Indian state to other repressive regimes, such as in Nepal, Afghanistan, etc.;

DEMAND that all foreign troops get out of the South Asian region, including and especially those of US imperialism; and

RESOLVE

To work for the unity of the movements of the working class and peoples in the countries of South Asia;

To build working relations among the parties and organisations leading the struggles; and

To uncompromisingly oppose all imperialist machinations, war preparations, interference and violation of the sovereignty of the peoples; and

to organise the working class and people of India in opposition to the Indian bourgeoisie's drive for big power status, through militarisation and war preparations, imperialist penetration and interference in other peoples' affairs.

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95th anniversary of International Women's Day
On the International Womens' Day We Resolve that
We Will Work to Organise Ourselves to Establish a Modern Democracy
Where Working Women and Men are the Decision Makers!

Use All Avenues to Challenge the War Crimes

Sir,

The BBC had reported sometime ago that "Mr. Donald Rumsfeld had been relieved that a German court had rejected a suit that had been brought before it for the trial of Mr. Rumsfeld for war crimes, associated with the abuse of detainees in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison". This had come just before his visit to Germany, which would have had to be cancelled otherwise. The law in Germany allows such charges to be brought against individuals from any country and for crimes that take place anywhere. In the present case, it was found that the case did not have merit. Such suits have also been filed against such individuals as Mr. Henry Kissinger for his role in atrocities in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and elsewhere.

Of the lessons that humanity has sought to learn from the horrors of the two world wars and from the practices of the Nazi regime in Germany during the war years of the second world war, one lesson that needs to be learnt is that of the unacceptability of war crimes. What needs to be also kept in mind is that the greatest war crime of all, greater than the sum total of all individual war crimes, is 'war against peace'. It is clear that in the case of the Iraq war, Mr. Rumsfeld, along with his colleagues Mr. George W. Bush, Mr. Colin Powell, Ms. Condoleeza Rice in the USA, Mr. Tony Blair in England, and other leaders of the now fast unravelling 'coalition of the willing' such as Mr. Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Mr. Jose Maria Aznar of Spain stand accused of this greatest of war crimes.

While it is true that the peoples of the world today stand helpless as the 'leaders' of these countries exercise the supreme power, against all the wishes of the peoples of these lands and those of all other lands, the struggles to turn the tide of the desire for peace and justice in the favour of the peoples must continue. The unprecedented legal provisions available in several European countries is just one of the avenues by which the conscience of humanity must be made audible, to combat the reaction of the 'leadership' of the aggressor countries. Such tireless fights have gone on endlessly, for instance, in the legal fights to bring to justice Mr. Auguste Pinochet, the erstwhile military dictator of Chile. Progressive forces must educate themselves of the possibilities of taking recourse to such judicial procedures to advance the cause of the suffering peoples of the world.

Sincerely,
S. Grover,
New York

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'Watchdog' or Sheep-dog?

Sir,

The leader of the CPI(M), Mr. Sitaram Yechury has recently stated that the Congress-lead UPA Government must listen to the CPI(M) because they are not lapdogs, but they are watchdogs, on policies of the Government in the sphere of the economy. He has pressed for continuing consultations on the Union budget that is to be announced shortly.

The one thing that Mr. Yechury did not mention is that the CPI(M) is also eager to play the role of the sheep-dog. The working class and peasantry would, indeed, be the sheep and the CPI(M) shall be the sheep-dog to keep the herd in order, and its rank and file to be that working class that is ready for endless and continuing exploitation at the hands of the plunderers. It has to be ensured that the workers and peasant do not get led astray by the desire for revolution and the urge for the end of the terrible system that has led to their impoverishment, destitution, and the dismemberment of their ranks. Therefore, by appealing to the need for some nominal safeguards to the standard of living of the poor and the marginalized, the CPI(M) is promising that it will safeguard the present system where the rich get astronomically richer by the day, and the poor abysmally poorer.

The lesson to be drawn is that the workers and the peasants should not look to the tired and spent forces of yesteryears, including the left-flank of the bourgeoisie and should instead ask for what the mechanisms as for their own empowerment. They have nothing to lose, except their poverty, insecurity and their desperation.

Sincerely,
A. Narayan
Bangalore

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Iraq: Another Fraud in the name of 'Elections'

Sir,

The much touted 'free and fair' elections of occupied Iraq took place on January 30, 2005, under the security blanket thrown across the entire country by the US army, the armies of the other countries constituting the rump 'coalition of the willing' and the so-called Iraqi security forces. Very little can be judged about the quality of the elections due to the absence of independent observers, and also due to the fact that the names of the candidates themselves were a secret almost up to the last moment. Significantly, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani had issued a fatwa calling on the people of Shia faith to come out and vote. The outcome of the election process is now being awaited and there is much jockeying for who will be the Prime Minsiter and there is likely to be fierce competition for plush cabinet positions.

In other words, the new Government will be constituted of individuals who will be keen to curry the favours of the occupying powers, and will be seeking legitimacy through various UN mandated activities, and will also seek to create conditions for the massive loot and plunder of the valuable natural resources of the country by a domestic bourgeoisie which will chiefly be a crony of international oil cartels and financial institutions.

Nevertheless, the objective conditions on the ground which will create problems for the establishment of such a harmonious state of affairs include the violation of the Iraqi nation, which will seek to negate these developments. The continuing insurgency is wreaking havoc on these plans, and has been so admitted even by the US armed forces operating in Iraq. The Oxford English Dictionary points out the origin of the word insurgency from the Latin 'insurge' meaning 'to rise up'. Indeed, if this was to turn into a mass movement, the party would be completely ruined. In the meantime, the tasks of the international peace movement as well as the Iraqi insurgency would be prevent the possibility of these elections and their outcome from obtaining any kind of legitimacy, keeping in mind that elections conducted under occupation can never be considered as any expression of democracy.

Sincerely,
R. Khanna
Leicester

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Condemn the Demolition of the Homes of the Poor in Mumbai

On February 2 and 3, tens of thousands of people whose homes had been brutally demolished all across Mumbai during December and January marched to Azad Maidan carrying placards and banners denouncing the state government.

During these two months the government, backed by the police and State Reserve Police, bulldozers and hoodlums, flattened 75,000 homes all across the city of Mumbai, from Goregaon, Malad, Wadala, Chembur, Ghatkopar to Mahim. Over 200,000 people were rendered homeless overnight. In the midst of an unusually chilly winter, many children and teenage girls have died due to sleeping in the open. In one of the cruellest operations seen in recent times, the brutality of this man-eating capitalist system was openly visible. Families were pleading with the authorities that they had nowhere to go, that they had been staying in these houses built with their own sweat on land reclaimed from inhospitable marshy areas. They also had ration cards and voter identification cards. The fascist authorities turned a deaf ear to the pleas of the people and with armed police to back them up continued to raze to the ground the homes of the people.

The anger of the people was clearly evident on these two days at Azad Maidan. More than 50% of the demonstrators on each day were women. Women carrying their little ones in their arms braved the midday heat and from 1 pm to 6 pm listened to the tales of woe of their brothers and sisters all across Mumbai. Koli fisherfolk, carrying fishing nets, the women carrying fishing baskets challenged the government and proclaimed that they who were the original inhabitants of Mumbai had been declared as illegal occupants! School going children boldly got up on the platform and described how their homes had been cruelly demolished and how their school studies had been disrupted. Many of the people bitterly condemned the Congress-NCP government for promising that their right to housing would be guaranteed during the Maharashtra assembly elections in October 2004 and as soon as the elections were over, of going back on their promise and demolishing their homes. They called for a reelection and said that demonstrations have to be taken to the Corporators, MLAs and MPs, who have not said a word against the demolitions. The people in one voice condemned the attempts of the government to convert Mumbai into Shanghai or Singapore over the corpses of lakhs of working people. The activists called on the people not to get cowed down by the attacks of the government but to rise up, unite and confront the government.

A delegation was sent to meet the authorities with the demands:

1) Stop all further demolitions;

2) Rebuild the demolished houses at government expense

3) In case of necessity for relocation of slum-dwellers due to infrastructure projects, they should be relocated in a place of their choice near the place of work

4) Guarantee of the right to housing.

Several parties and organisations worked together for the success of the two-day demonstration. These included the Communist Ghadar Party of India, Communist Party of India, Republican Party of India (Athawale), Samajwadi Party, Apli Mumbai, TUJAC, SUCI, Nivara Haq Suraksha Samiti, YUVA Bharat and the CPDR amongst others.

Inspired by the mass opposition to the demolitions, expressed at the Azad Maidan meetings, the residents of Rafiq Nagar slum tore down the barbed wire barricades which had been put all around their demolished houses and restaked their claim to the land on which they had built their houses. Activists and peoples organisations are drawing up plans to form human cordons to confront bulldozers in case of any future demolition.

People's Voice condemns the fascist demolition drive of the Maharashtra government in the name of converting Mumbai to Shanghai. The right to housing is a human right that the reactionary bourgeoisie not only does not acknowledge, it violates with impunity. In hoisting the banner of right to secure home, and defending this right, the slum dwellers of Mumbai enjoy the full support of the entire working class and people of India.

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Mumbai's Wadia Hospitals' workers resist privatisation

The workers of Wadia Children's Hospital and Wadia Maternity Hospital both located in the working class area of Parel held a meeting at Dadar's famous Wanmalee Hall on 1 February 2005 to chalk out a plan of action against the proposed privatisation of their hospitals. The hall was packed to overflowing and 20% of the assembled workers were women. The meeting was presided by Justice Hosbet Suresh, retired Justice of Mumbai High Court. The hall reverberated with the militant slogans of the workers expressing their firm resolve to fight against the proposed privatisation.

The Wadia Children's Hospital and the Wadia Maternity Hospital were established in 1924, primarily to cater to the mill workers families, in the midst of the then booming textile industry. Ten per cent of the funds for running the hospital was given by the Mill Owners' Association and the rest 90% by the Bombay Municipal Corporation and the British Government. After Independence, the share of the British Government was substituted by the Maharashtra State Government. Generations of mill workers and industrial workers have benefited from the facilities provided by this hospital. The staff was of high quality and research into children’s and mothers' health care was carried out at these hospitals up to the doctoral level.

With the decline of the textile industry of Mumbai, the management, a trust controlled by the Wadia family, the owners of Bombay Dyeing, in collusion with the Mumbai Municipal Corporation and Maharashtra State Government have been putting into place various schemes to privatise these hospitals. Starting from 2000-2001, they have progressively increased the charges for hospitalisation and treatment such that by the year 2004-2005 the charges are on an average 8 times higher than they were earlier. The effect of the increased charges was that the number of patients using the facilities of this hospital dropped by more than 50%. In the year 2000-2001, 18000 patients were admitted in these hospitals and the total collection was Rs.38 lakhs corresponding to an average of Rs.200 per patient. By the year 2004-2005, the number of patients had dropped to 8000, but the collections had increased to Rs. 2 crores, corresponding to an average of Rs 2,500 per patient!

Simultaneously the management has ensured that all medical research carried out at these institutions are suspended. It has also started withholding the salaries of the hospital staff on the pretext that it has no money.

The workers and their Union have decided to take the battle to the people. For a full week before the public meeting, the workers went from house to house in the working class chawls surrounding the area. They explained their case and mobilised 10,000 signatures from the people against privatisation. Simultaneously they filed a case in the High Court for payment of their salaries and against privatisation. Seeing the militant mood of the workers, the management put up a notice on January 31, 2005 promising that hospital charges would be brought back to the 2000-2001 level and stating that they had no intention of privatising this hospital.

At the Wanmalee Hall Meeting on February 1, the working class activists hailed the determination of the workers of Wadia Hospitals which had forced the management to declare a rollback on the charges for treatment and determined that they could not rely on this management, the same family that owned and had closed down the nearby Spring Mills throwing 1600 workers on the roads. They demanded that the Government take full control of the Hospital as 90% of the funds were provided by public funds. A woman activist explained to the workers that the majority of the Government's revenue comes from indirect taxes on every item bought by the people, from matches to clothes. She explained that according to the World Health Organization, every Government was required to spend at least 10% of its expenditure on health and education services. She explained that the combined expenditure of the Government of India on health and education did not even cross 3%. She pointed to the fact that it is the ordinary people who contribute to the country's wealth but have no rights. She also denounced the demolition of over 75,000 zopadpattis in Mumbai city over the past two months rendering over 2,00,000 people homeless. She denounced the plans of the rich to convert Mumbai into Singapore or Shanghai, where the poor people have not even a place to stay.

Justice Suresh in his speech to the assembled workers, hailed their just struggle. He said, "...In India, unless you fight you get nothing". He explained that Article 19 of the Constitution gives a person the right to life but this right to life must mean a right to a human life, which means a house to live, the right to work, the right to education and health. He denounced the attempts to privatise the Wadia Hospitals. He also denounced the demolition of over 75,000 zopadpattis in Mumbai. The meeting ended with a call to all the workers to carry forward their struggle against privatisation.

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Joint demonstration before Parliament against
Third Amendment Ordinance to the Indian Patents Act

Thousands of workers, peasants, agricultural workers, women and youth participated in a joint demonstration in front of parliament on February 26, 2005. The demonstration was organised by Trade Unions and Federations, and organisations of peasants, agricultural workers, students, youth, women, and science forums.

The press release issued by the Joint Organising Committee declares amongst other things that the participating organisations "strongly denounce the action of the UPA government to promulgate the Third Amendment Ordinance of the Indian Patents Act to make a hurried shift over to product-patent regime... the promulgation of the ordinance is destined to spell further damage to the country's industrial and agricultural economy besides endangering the food security and health security for the mass of the population just to benefit the giant multinational companies and foreign capital."

The demonstrators pointed out that various retrogressive laws are on the anvil, including the conversion of Third Amendment Ordinance of the 1970 Patent Law into an Act of Parliament. There is a proposed new seed law, according to which the small farmers will have to register what seeds they are planting and a farmer will be allowed to plant only those seeds for which the government has given him license. Inspectors would be permitted to raid the homes of farmers at any time to check on compliance of this law.

The new patent law will permit patenting of seeds and plants amongst other things. It will make it a crime for farmers to save seeds or exchange it with other farmers.

There are serious efforts in the direction of amending the marketing law relating to agricultural produce in order to facilitate the destruction of the existing mandis and take over of all agricultural trade by trading multinationals. Already in Madhya Pradesh, the ITC has made moves in this direction. Control over agricultural trade by multinationals will place the peasants in the bondage of the multinationals.

Declaring the act to be a Khooni Kanoon (a murderous law), the Rally called upon the toiling and patriotic people to unite and struggle against this retrograde ordinance and build up pressure on the government to scrap the Ordinance and formulate an appropriate Patent regime in the interests of the self-reliant economic development and the well being of the people of India instead of acting in the interests of the Indian and foreign multinationals to the detriment of the country's interest.

Addressing the rally Sucharita of the Mazdoor Ekta Committee (MEC) declared that the land, water, forests and all the natural and intellectual wealth and resources belong to workers, peasants, women and youth of this country. The attempts to hand over it to Indian and foreign finance capital and multinationals will not be tolerated by our people. We will step up the struggle to become the masters of India in order to protect our country and people from Indian and foreign vultures. The Rally was addressed amongst others by Vandana Shiva of Navdanya, and leaders of AICCTU, CITU, AITUC, SUCI, TUCC, Agricultural Workers Union, and Delhi Science Forum.

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Banerji and Nanavati Commissions of Enquiry:
Covering up the state's role and denying justice

Developments this past month have exposed with sharp clarity that the State can never be relied upon to provide justice to the people, even those who are victims of the greatest crimes like genocide. In fact, in the name of providing justice, massive confusion and disinformation is spread, more anguish is heaped on the victims, and the real crimes are covered up.

The Banerji Commission appointed by the Railway Ministry of the present UPA government, to inquire into the burning of railway coaches resulting in the deaths of scores of people at Godhra station in Gujarat in February 2002, recently submitted its interim report. According to press reports, Justice Banerji has concluded in his interim report that the setting fire to the train was not from the mob outside and not part of a conspiracy, but an "accident".

Meanwhile Justice Nanawati, who was conducting another parallel enquiry commissioned by the former NDA government has publicly contradicted Banerji's alleged conclusions and declared that the train was set on fire from outside.

After the Godhra massacre, the BJP had gone to town claiming that Muslims with ISI backing had set fire to the train and used the gruesome burning alive of people as a justification for the barbaric, systematic rape and killing of thousands of people of the Muslim faith in the following days and weeks. Public opinion has been strong that both the Godhra massacre and the subsequent genocide of people of Muslim faith were part of one plot, one conspiracy by the Indian state. Neither the Banerji Commission nor the earlier Nanawati commission has investigated the angle of state conspiracy. They could not be expected to do so.

Meanwhile, an equally great farce has been enacted by the submission, 20 years after the event, of the Nanavati commission report of that other great instance of state-organised genocide in India's recent history – the 1984 massacre of Sikh people. This commission was appointed by the BJP government after previous commissions of inquiry had given a clean chit to the Congress party and its leaders who had been directly involved in the crimes. Unlike the Banerji commission, whose interim report was publicly released in a press conference, the Nanavati commission's report has been kept under wraps by the government, although rumours have been carefully circulated that the report does not find fault with the Congress party 'as a whole'.

The ruling class parties, notably the Congress and the BJP, are utilising the reports and "leaks" for their dogfight without any concern for the people. However, twenty years after the 1984 massacre and three years after the Gujarat massacre, justice still awaits the victims as well as Indian society at large.

The Congress and the BJP, the two main parties of the big bourgeoisie, are not in the least interested in justice, but only in scoring points against each other. Many people have rightly commented that these Commissions of Enquiry are a farce and a mockery of justice. Thousands of people lost their lives and many thousands more were made the victims of untold suffering. Among the ordinary citizens, it is well known who were the real organisers and perpetrators of these atrocities. However, it is important to go beyond this, if we want to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice and, more importantly, see that the people are never made the targets of such atrocities again. It is important to recognize that both the atrocities in Gujarat and those against the Sikhs were calculated, public acts of state terrorism, which various institutions of state--including the police, the courts, the political parties, etc.--have had a hand in perpetrating and exonerating. The State is not in the least interested in bringing out the true nature of these events or fixing culpability. Commissions of inquiry are appointed only to defuse and divert the people's anger. Their verdicts, if not outright falsehoods, never get to the bottom of things, and are meant to be quietly shelved, sometimes after being used in inter-party rivalry.

The people of India want an end to state terrorism including state organised communal massacres. However, organising communal massacres is part of the arsenal of the rule of the Indian big bourgeoisie. The people want punishment to the guilty and justice for the victims. However, the big bourgeoisie, following the practice of the British colonialists, has developed a system of "Commissions of Enquiry" which are toothless as well as politically manipulated, with the people having no rights. The reality is that from the organising of communal genocides, to the investigations into these genocides, the people are the victims. There is no cure from the gods of plague. Indian people have shown their resilience, their refusal to submit to the state organised communal massacres in small but heroic ways. The times are demanding that all forces interested in justice for the victims, in punishing the guilty, in ensuring that communalism and communal violence are once and for all ended, take up the challenge of establishing new institutional mechanisms, so as to prevent any force from getting away with organising communal massacres.

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Protests against killings of CPI (Maoist) leaders by Karnataka Police

People's Voice condemns with great anger, the shooting to death of two leaders of CPI (Maoist), Comrade Saketh Rajan and Comrade Shivalingu on February 5-6. They were shot dead in the forests of Chickmagalur in cold blood. Human rights and democratic rights activists and progressive people at large organised many protest actions in Bangalore, both against the killings, and against the manner in which the bodies of the two were disposed off even without waiting for the relatives of the deceased to indentify them and organise the funerals.

The Congress Chief Minister of Karnataka has talked about 'peace talks with Naxalites' provided they give up arms. Nowhere has he condemned the killing in cold blood of the CPI (Maoist) activists. This is the same strategy that the Central and state governments are adopting in Andhra Pradesh, Manipur and other places. On the one hand, to assuage public anger at the gruesome state terror, and put them off guard, the government makes the pretence of holding the olive branch. On the other hand, in reality, the police and armed forces are unleashed against all fighting forces. Many districts of Karnataka are now being referred to as naxalite affected. There are also plans to co-ordinate efforts with the Andhra Pradesh police. This means only one thing: more and more 'encounters' and outright killings and violation of human rights on a hitherto unseen scale.

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Attack on Professor SAR Geelani widely condemned

At a massive protest demonstration outside the police headquarters on February 9, hundreds of teachers, university employees, students, human rights activists, writers, artists, journalists and other prominent personalities condemned the murderous assault on an academician of Delhi University, Prof. SAR Geelani by an unknown assailant. Prof. Geelani was shot at, just the evening before, near the residence of his lawyer, Ms. Nandita Haksar, at Basant Enclave, New Delhi. Critically injured, he rushed to the house of Ms. Haksar, who together with her husband, rushed him immediately to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Prof. Geelani was discharged from the hospital more than ten days after the murderous attack on his life.

It may be recalled that Prof. Geelani was charge-sheeted by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police, for his alleged involvement in the Parliament attack case on December 13, 2001. Prof. Geelani and four others were charged with being part of the conspiracy to attack Parliament and were subsequently sentenced to death by an Additional Sessions Court. However, in October 2003, the Delhi High Court acquitted Prof. Geelani of all the charges due to lack of evidence. The Delhi Police filed a case in the Supreme Court, against the High Court order, and have been continuously harassing and terrorising Prof. Geelani and his family.

In an open letter to the Home Minister, dated 9 February 2005 which was signed by hundreds of academicians, writers, artists, journalists and social activists within hours of the attack on Prof. Geelani, it has been stated that “the involvement of the Delhi Police itself, especially its Special Branch, in the crime can not be ruled out...Prof. Geelani was falsely implicated on the basis of forged documents and concocted evidence. He was illegally arrested, brutally tortured and made to sign on blank sheets of paper by the officers of the branch. Attempts were made on his life inside the prison. As per the records submitted by his defence before the Supreme Court of India, he was constantly shadowed by the police throughout the country even after he was honourably acquitted by the High Court.”

Immediately after the attack on Prof. Geelani, important sections of the bourgeois media together with the Delhi Police launched a disinformation campaign. In a letter written to the National Human Rights Commission and the Ministry of Home Affairs, teachers of Delhi University working in defence of Prof. Geelani, have highlighted some of the important aspects of this disinformation campaign.

For instance, suspicions have been raised about the involvement of Prof. Geelani's lawyer Ms. Nandita Haskar. Ms. Nandita Haksar is an outstanding lawyer and human rights activist, who has courageously defended the rights of many victims of state terror. She defended the rights of Prof. Geelani in a trial that was marked with shocking instances of prejudice and violation of law. She had also done her best to protect the entire Geelani family from abuse and suffering during this whole period. According to the disinformation campaign, Ms. Haksar is guilty of assisting the assailant to escape because she did not report the assault on Prof. Geelani to the Police before taking him to hospital!

The disinformation campaign vilifies Prof. Geelani by portraying him as a suspicious character with 'terrorist links', despite his acquittal by the High Court. This is clearly being done to obscure and divert the public sentiment opposed to the brutal attack on Prof. Geelani and the public demand that the perpetrators of this attack on Prof. Geelani be caught and punished, by trying to cast aspersions on his character.

An attempt is also being made by the police to suggest that the other co-accused, who are currently languishing in Tihar jail, with death sentences on their heads, organised the attack as a revenge on Prof. Geelani. Not only have the co-accused been lodged in high-security isolated cells of Tihar Jail for the past three years, they do not even have the resources to organise their own legal defence. They have been provided legal assistance only through the involvement of eminent lawyers and human rights activists. The co-accused have also openly exonerated Prof. Geelani from any involvement in the Parliament attack case.

The police are also claiming that the clothes Prof. Geelani was wearing during the attack were 'hidden' by the family. The fact is that, in a routine manner, the clothes were handed over to the family by the hospital, and they handed them over to the police the moment they asked for it. Moreover, Prof. Geelani's car has been seized by the police, as well as the computer used by Prof. Geelani's daughter, with the excuse of 'searching for Geelani's enemies'.

People's Voice condemns the attack on Prof. Geelani and the attempts of the Indian state to turn truth on its head by blaming the victim, in order to divert the public sympathy in favour of Prof. Geelani. The Indian big bourgeoisie is relentlessly fascising the state apparatus and attacking the human and democratic rights of the people. The politics of assassination has become a favourite weapon, both to settle scores within the ruling class as well as to eliminate courageous fighters who emerge from the ranks of the people to defend the rights of people. The bourgeoisie and its media continually carry out trial through the media and portray various peoples as 'terrorists', 'extremists', 'secessionists' and 'anti-nationals', who are supposed to be the 'enemies of the national unity and territorial integrity of India', who must be deprived of all rights and who must be eliminated. On the other hand, the reactionary and chauvinist forces who support fascism are portrayed by the bourgeoisie as 'patriots'. All those fighting for the rights of the people must stand firm in defence of the human and democratic rights of all people, and resolutely condemn state terrorism.

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Uphold the principle of self-reliant development of the economy!
Halt the Opening of Doors to Majority Foreign Ownership!

When presenting last year's Union Budget, the Finance Minister P Chidambaram, proposed hikes in the limit of foreign direct investment (FDI) in telecommunication from 49 to 74 per cent, in civil aviation from 40 to 49 per cent and in the insurance sector from 26 to 49 per cent. This was a continuation of the policy followed by his predecessor government, the BJP led NDA government. The measures with respect to the civil aviation and telecommunication sectors have already been taken. In addition, the UPA government has also announced that all restrictions to FDI in the construction industry will be removed.

The Indian big bourgeoisie is advancing the argument that the Indian economy can absorb a lot of foreign investment without shocks, and that this investment can accelerate the economy and bring benefits to the people. Lucrative sectors of the economy such as telecom, insurance, banking, civil aviation, business process outsourcing, IT, R&D and oil have been identified as targets for foreign investments.

Both external and internal factors are playing a role in the Indian government's moves to open the door to majority foreign ownership. The external factor is the pressure of the US and other imperialists to find new space for exporting their capital and reaping the maximum rate of profit. The internal factor is the greed and imperial ambitions of the Indian big bourgeoisie, which is ready to open the door to foreign capital in exchange for new opportunities for the penetration of Indian capital abroad.

Global FDI flows decreased from $1.4 trillion in 2000 to $612 bn in 2004. The slow or negative economic growth in recent years in the US, European Union and Japan, have forced multinationals and financial oligopolies to turn their eyes towards India. According to the global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, China and India rival one another and are aggressively challenging the United States as the world's most favoured destination for foreign direct investment. The main reason for this is that the multinationals and finance capitalists can improve the average rate of return on their capital by taking advantage of the cheap labour and raw materials available in India and China.

What does 'opening the doors to foreign capital' mean for the economy, for the people at large? It means draining out of massive amount of surplus value and super-profits made from the unrestricted exploitation of India, which is the reason why foreign capital is pouring into India in the first place. It means that major and critical sectors of the Indian economy will come under the monopoly control of foreign imperialists who can then use this control to hold the country and its economy to ransom. It means sharpening of inter-capitalist and inter-imperialist rivalry over India and increasing uneven development of different regions and sectors of the economy. Far from benefiting our people, exploitation of the land and labour of our country will get further deepened.

The working class can and must uphold the principle of self-reliance, which the ruling bourgeoisie has trampled in the mud. Self-reliance means to plan for investments that the Indian economy needs, based primarily on the savings that can be generated from within the country, and not on foreign capital. Self-reliance and balanced development of the different sectors of the economy and of different regions of the country, must be firmly upheld by all the working people of India. Where capital is to be deployed should be determined not from the desire of the capitalists and imperialists for maximum private profits. It must be determined on the basis of the consideration of satisfying the needs of the toiling masses and ensuring extended reproduction of society and preservation of the natural environment. A government that calls for the opening of doors to FDI, merely to benefit the Indian and foreign multinationals, can only be termed anti-national. The working class and people must resolutely fight to halt the growing penetration of foreign capital in India, and the anti-national program of liberalisation and privatisation.

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The Crisis in Nepal is an opportunity for the Nepali people to take control of their own destiny

Ever since King Gyanendra of Nepal dismissed the government on February 1, declared an emergency, and brutally cracked down on all forms of opposition, the crisis in Nepal has further deepened, and the isolation of the monarchy become more complete. A general strike and blockade of the capital Kathmandu, organised by the communist revolutionaries, was successfully carried out. Protests have taken place repeatedly in Kathmandu in spite of the severe repression. In various places in India and other countries as well, Nepalis have come out on the streets in protest. International condemnation of the monarchy has also been growing.

In spite of the emergency measures, circumstances are increasingly favourable to form a broad united front of the Nepali people to fight the repressive regime and get rid of the reactionary monarchy. Ever since the domination of the feudal Ranas was swept away on the strength of the people's revolt, this monarchy has been the linchpin of the extremely oppressive and tyrannical system that exists in Nepal and that keeps it among the poorest and most backward countries of the world. The promulgation of a constitution in 1990 that was supposed to limit the powers of the monarchy was intended mainly to dissipate the energies of the people's struggles, and did not change anything in real terms. The kings and princes of Nepal have continued to rule as despots with some of the trappings of parliamentarianism. They and their cohorts have continued to flaunt their decadent lifestyles in the face of the grim poverty of the hardworking Nepali people. Nepal was turned into an international playground for the rich, while more and more of its own people were forced to abandon their homes and villages for lack of a livelihood and even basic amenities.

Determined to change their conditions, and fed up with the political games being played out in Kathmandu, the toiling people in Nepal have over the last several years built up an organised struggle that has grown in strength. While attempting to suppress all news of this movement, the foreign backers of the regime, including the Indian State, have been arming the government to the teeth. At the same time, the promise of bringing about peaceful change through 'multi-party democracy' has been held out. This deceptive strategy has failed to yield results, thereby deepening the crisis of the ruling class in Nepal and culminating in the recent coup by the king.

In this situation where the forces of the status quo are not united, and have no viable scheme in place to protect their interests, the people of Nepal must show great courage and maturity. They must maintain their unity, while pressing ahead boldly for the long overdue, substantive changes in their conditions. The monarchy has revealed its utter bankruptcy, and must go. All democratic and progressive forces must unite solidly around this demand, and must not let past differences and squabbles come in the way. Who will decide what will come in place of the monarchy? The people of Nepal alone must decide. For many years, the communist revolutionaries in Nepal have been demanding a freely elected constituent assembly to decide the nature and shape of the political power in Nepal. All forces sincerely seeking to end the conditions of perpetual crisis in Nepal should unite around this demand. There is every reason to believe that various schemes are being cooked up, in Washington, London, Delhi or elsewhere, to impose some political arrangement with or without some of the exisiting opposition parties in Nepal, which will better suit the interests of the privileged strata in Nepal and their foreign backers. The people of Nepal must be vigilant against such schemes and attempts to disrupt their unity. It is their own unflinching struggle that has prevented an unjust and tyrannical system from stabilising itself. Now they must see the struggle through to its logical fruition -- the abolition of the monarchy, and the right of the masses of people to freely decide on their own future -- while trying their best to ensure that all forces in Nepal sincerely wanting change remain united.

Never has it been so important that the people of Nepal have faith in their own strength and convictions. In their struggle, the people of Nepal can fully count on the support of the working class and people of India, with whom they share very close ties. At the same time, it is important that in the present critical situation, they must not lose sight of the real intentions of the foreign imperialist powers and the Indian State which is maneuvering to advance its own interests in the present situation, and which has always harboured the aim of dominating Nepal and exploiting its vulnerable situation.

A victory in the struggle of the people of Nepal to end the reactionary monarchical system and to exercise their sovereignty will be a major step forward in the political situation in the region as a whole. The working class and people of India condemn the despotic king and the atrocities against the people of Nepal, and wholeheartedly support the struggle of the Nepali people to emancipate themselves from the stranglehold of their reactionary rulers and freely decide their own destiny.

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Indo-Pak Diplomacy:
People have to be vigilant about imperialist politics under the cover of peace talks

Many people in Pakistan, India and around the world welcome the shift in Indo-Pak discourse from one of belligerence to one of growing competition and collaboration. There is widespread joy about cooperation in culture, and growth of communication and trade. Families separated for years are eager to utilise this phase for social reunions. Sports and culture enthusiasts are getting ready to celebrate the openings. Business companies are wasting no time to avail of new markets. Political hopes have been rekindled in Kashmir and Punjab for fulfillment of national dreams, captured in this poster on the Bus route from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad.

guftegu bandh na ho,
bat se bat chalen,
subah tak shamemulakat chale,
hum pe hasti hui, taron bhari rat chale.
(Let interactions never end,
let talks lead to further talks,
let this evening-meet last till the early hours,
let the starry night pass on, cheering us.)

While the developments have revealed the deep strivings of Indian and Pakistani peoples for peaceful and harmonious relations between the two countries, they also reveal the undercurrent of imperialist geo-political pursuits of rival powers. US imperialism wants both India and Pakistan to become engulfed in the so-called war against terrorism. The US imperialists are fueling the arms race between India and Pakistan, while declaring that they are committed to "keep Pakistan and India away from war". They want to avoid an Indo-Pak war for the time being, until the situation in Afghanistan is stabilised.

In elaborating the US doctrine, Mr. Douglas Feith, United States Under Secretary for Defense Policy, told an Islamabad audience in early February 2005 that "We are providing assistance of 600 million dollars annually to Pakistan to meet its military and defense requirements. Equipment and arms amounting to one billion dollars have also been provided to Pakistan for the anti-terrorism campaign. We have given concession to Pakistan in 1.5 billion dollar loans." He added that the US is keen on a long-term security program with Pakistan and "will welcome Pakistan if it joins the efforts of the US and the European Union" on the nuclear stand-off with Iran, even though the US "has not yet sought logistic support from it for launching military offensive against Iran".

The Government of India, in the face of overwhelming public opinion within the country against the US aggression on Iraq, refused to respond to US requests for Indian soldiers to be sent to Iraq. However, India has not raised its voice against the Anglo-American invasion of Afghanistan, but has sought to expand its own sphere of influence and seek economic gains from the imperialist conquest.

By drawing both Pakistan and India as partners in the "war on terrorism", the US imperialists are ensuring that the two neighbouring states can never really be at peace with each other, nor go to war with each other without the consent of the United States. This fits the US and European strategy for control of Asia, camouflaged as the latest doctrine of "spreading freedom and liberty". This doctrine guides the US agenda of engagement in South Asia at the present time, in place of the Cold War era agenda of "selective confinement of India".

India has outlined its aim to reorganize its "security architecture" by militarizing heavily, upgrading its arsenal as well as command and control structure and placing them at the disposal of a strategy to penetrate the neighbouring countries, within the context of the Indo-US engagement framework. It is engaging countries from Myanmar to Iran and Central Asia for a common grid to transport natural gas across the region, create a free trade zone in South Asia by putting in place a transport and communication grid, and organize defense cooperation in the region. Cricket diplomacy, bus route diplomacy, gas pipeline diplomacy and even economic skirmishes with Pakistan over Chenab dam project or the Baglihar hydro-electric project help the Indian bourgeoisie to highlight its all-sided engagement, while playing down its militarization.

All the developments between India and Pakistan, taken as a whole, suggest that the current "lull" is a period of intense struggle through non-military means, while full preparations for the next round of violent conflicts continues at full speed.

The current situation is full of possibilities for the working class and people's forces to build a genuinely anti-imperialist, anti-fascist and anti-war movement in South Asia, against the machinations of US imperialism and those who collaborate with it, and against the imperialist pursuit of the Indian big bourgeoisie. The biggest danger to the growth of this movement comes from the pressure to line up behind one's own respective government in the name of patriotism. The working class movement needs to clearly present its vision for harmony and unity of the peoples of South Asia within the changing geopolitical scene, and mobilize people behind those aims.

The Indian working class and people cannot and must not line up behind the imperialist pursuit of the Indian big bourgeoisie. The Indian working class must join hands with the working class of Pakistan and other countries of South Asia, calling on all the peoples to unite against imperialism and those national traitors who collaborate with the US and other imperialists to advance their narrow minded ambitions.

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