Sir,

I am grateful to you for the article entitled "The Prime Minister calls for stepping up state terror'' that appeared in the January 1-15, 2008 issue of People's Voice. The article has pointed out that the PM along with all the Chief Ministers present at the Conference on Chief Ministers on Internal Security have now come to regard 'naxalism' as the biggest internal threat. The response of the ruling circles is to crush any dissent through state terror under the pretext of curbing naxalism and terrorism.

It may also be noted that the way in which the ruling circles advance their class interests is simply to use the existing laws with the complicity of the state organs and the ruling political parties in each state. By whipping up hysteria about naxalism they try to crush any opposition to the present day programme of liberalization and globalization and reckless loot and plunder of the country by money bags, both domestic and international. If anyone has any lingering doubts in their minds about the use of draconian laws to crush dissent, they need look no further than the case of Dr. Binayak Sen who remains incarcerated in Chhattisgarh under a slew of draconian laws passed by Chhattisgarh. If any one has any doubts about the judiciary, one of the holy cows of liberal intelligentsia, suffice it to say that Dr. Sen's bail application has been dismissed by the Supreme Court on December 10, 2007. It may however be noted that the Indian people will not stay quiet – attempts to silence those such as Dr. Sen will give birth to many more.

While the ruling circles are so clear about the way to go about preserving their class rule, much work needs to be done to educate the camp of the working peoples and the masses as to what the nature of the beast is. I remain confident that the working people through their struggles and their condition will come to realize what the way out of the predicament is and I compliment the CGPI on its vanguard role in the matter of leadership in this regard.

Sincerely,
S. Nair, Kochi