HIKE IN PETRO PRICES: SHAMELESS FALSEHOOD AND LIMITLESS HYPOCRISY - SHYAMAL CHAKRABORTY

THE Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) decided in its meeting on June 25 to increase the prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene and cooking gas. In fact, the decision had been taken earlier but its announcement had been kept in abeyance. The meeting of the EGoM was clearly an exercise in match-fixing. Its conclusion was pre-determined. It was arranged beforehand that minister so-and-so would not attend the meeting and later pose to be angry with the decision in public. It was a totally pre-settled affair. Partners of UPA-II are all fruits of the same tree. A poison-tree that can only yield toxic fruits!

The government's decision of hiking the prices of petro products – petrol by Rs 3.50 per litre, diesel by Rs 2 per litre, gas cylinder by Rs 35 and kerosene by Rs 3 – will automatically lead to a rise in transport fares. Bus, taxi, auto-rickshaw fares are all set to go up. Naturally, the whole of transport sector will be badly affected. People depending on public transport will suffer due to the hike. And the decontrolling formula adopted by the empowered group of ministers will make their suffering perpetual! But this is only the direct impact. There is more.

The indirect impact of price hike is not always noticeable. It spreads its roots deeper. Invisibly, insidiously, like cancer. Almost every wholesale essential commodity is transported by truck, van or matador. As the fuel price rises, the transportation cost will be higher. The prices of commodities will naturally shoot upwards. The cascading effect of this hike in fuel prices is bound to make life even harder for the people who are already beleaguered by the sharp rise in commodity prices, especially that of grain and other food products. Our scientists have made us proud by firing rockets into space. Our Congress-led government has decided to tie the prices of things of daily use to that rocket so that they shoot up higher and higher than ever!

It is common knowledge that 77 per cent of the population (according to the report of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector ), spend 60-80 per cent of their meagre Rs 600 monthly income on food. The increase in prices with no concomitant increase in salary will obviously bring in a curtailment in their food consumption. The result will be either falling prey to malnutrition and/or ill health or taking recourse to begging and/or lumpenisation just for the sake of survival.

The burden of the rise in LPG price will fall on the middle class and lower middle class households and women evidently have to bear the brunt. The already hard-hit homemakers would logically have to carve out the extra sum by limiting the daily consumption of other food items. In the rural areas, LPG is an unthinkable luxury to poverty-stricken families. Coal price is getting out of reach. Firewood is scarce. The availability of kerosene at controlled rates was the only solace left to them. With the latest decision to raise kerosene price by Rs 3/litre and progressive decontrolling of petro-products, that comfort has also evaporated into nothingness.

It is quite natural that people will hit the streets to protest, to raise their voices against the hike in prices of petroleum products. The people are seething; the people are fuming. They want withdrawal of price-hike; they demand a rollback immediately. The transport strike in Bengal and the general strikes in Kerala and Tripura have given them capacity to stand up against this tyrannical decision. But that is not all.

FALSEHOOD -1

The government’s basic logic is apparently quite simple. The price of crude oil has gone up in the international market. So the rise in oil price in our domestic market is absolutely justified. Watertight argument, one might say! But let us examine the case a bit closely. Crude oil is currently selling at $70 per barrel in international market. After refining the crude, the production cost for petrol in our domestic market comes to Rs 23.02 per litre! Though it appears astonishing, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear this. The information has come directly from our minister-in-charge in the Parliament. This was the figure he mentioned in March 2010. Of course, you have the right to know what makes the same petrol cost Rs. 47.43 for us at the retail pump station! You may probe how the Congress-TMC-DMK combine manages to rework the oil price from Rs 23.02 to Rs 47.43. Elementary arithmetic, my dear reader! The central government extracts a customs duty of Rs 1.73 and imposes an excise duty of Rs 14.78. That makes the tax component add up to Rs 16.51. This is Manmohanji’s humble demand per litre of petrol. So the statement that the hike in oil price is due to the price rise internationally is a light-year away from truth! In fact it is a classic example of a half-truth. And we all know that a half-truth is more perilous than a lie. So let’s face these blatant examples of falsehood squarely.

FALSEHOOD-2

Another logic that is being put forward is that the oil marketing PSUs are running out of money and are incurring losses arising from under recoveries of petroleum products. Indeed, if the oil companies face a financial crunch, how can they be expected to supply oil at affordable price? Quite logical, you must agree. But would the so-called loss have occurred if the money (Rs 16.5 per litre) taken out by the central government was directly handed over to the PSUs? The answer is, of course, negative. The finance minister in his last budget speech this year informed the House that he has collected an amount of Rs 56,365 crore from increased prices of petroleum products. Has he given this amount to the oil companies? The full amount? Oh no! He could only spare Rs 14,058 crore for them. The rest, that is, Rs 42,307 crore was entirely digested by his ministry. Now he is talking of losses! Well, Herr Goebbels did leave his apostles behind!

FALSEHOOD-3

As if to add insult to injury, the government has been imposing a cess on oil for the last three decades or so, adding to the consumer’s burden. This has been in vogue from the heydays of the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, that is, right from 1974. The declared objective was seemingly quite grand! The people are being harassed by frequent ups and downs (though it never went down in practice!) of fuel prices, she lamented. She introduced a fixed cess to get rid of the daily trouble once and for all!

That cess has gone up by leaps and bounds in the last decade. In 2001 it was Rs 900 per tonne. In 2006 it rose to Rs 2500 per tonne. Now Rangarajan Committee has recommended a cess of Rs 4800 per tonne. One wonders what would happen if the cess is hiked to that extent! In case of a venomous snakebite, the usual procedure is to tie a ‘tourniquet’ tightly around the wound to block blood circulation. But there is a saying in Bengali that goes like this: for a head bite there is no way you can bind the tourniquet!

FALSEHOOD-4

During this year's budget session of Parliament, the government, announced a hike in the prices of petrol and diesel. Petrol price was increased by Rs 2.71 a litre and diesel by Rs 2.55 per litre. Then again, prices of petrol and diesel increased by Rs 0.50 and Rs 0.26 a litre, respectively, from April 1 in 13 big cities in the name of switch-over to cleaner Euro-IV grade fuel. This is the third hike. Now, applying unitary method, we may ask: if the petro-price is increased thrice in 5 months how much more will it be increased in 12 months? Or one may ask: if the price of petrol has been increased by Rs 5.97 in 5 months what will be the price of petrol at the end of 12 months?

It is common knowledge that global oil business is no longer controlled by oil companies. The centre of decision-making has shifted to New York and London. The 32 major oil companies are up in arms against USA and the MNCs. Much of today’s crude oil price is pure speculation driven by four major oil-trading banks, namely, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi Group and J P Morgan Chase. The oil companies allege that these four trading giants manipulated the rise in oil price last year from $70 to $140. They are being patronised and supported by the US government to ‘run’ their business. If the oil price shoots up to $140, a neat sum of $100 goes into their pockets. The more hoarding, the more is the profit. In 2006, the oil stock contained 35 crore barrels. Now it has gone up to 70 crore barrels. The current price is around $70 per barrel. No one knows what will happen in the days to come, thanks to the miracles of these speculation lords. If there is the slightest hike in the global market, our great global FM Pranab Mukherjee who enjoys the blessings of our honourable global PM Manmohan Singh will rush to raise prices in the domestic market. In this way they can serve US interests and the purpose of the Speculation Babas overseas the best. So, long live the Speculation Babas!

FALSEHOOD-5

Sometimes the defenders of UPA-II government level a petty charge against the state governments. They allege that the VAT levied by the respective state governments is mainly responsible for the excessive price of oil in the domestic market. Let us investigate how far that is true. Below is the comprehensive chart of sale tax/VAT levied by some major Indian states on petrol. The chart is by all means, self-explanatory!

Name of state
Sale tax/VAT in % on petrol
Amount in rupees
Andhra Pradesh
33
7.59
Kerala
29.3
6.74
Maharasthra
28.7
6.60
Madhya Pradesh
28.75
6.61
Rajasthan
29.39
6.76
Tamil Nadu
30
6.90
West Bengal
27.71
6.37

We could have added the data from other states as well. But we thought it redundant, as these are the highest figures. So, it is now crystal-clear that the state share in prices varies from Rs 6.37 to Rs 7.59 while the centre takes away a hefty sum of Rs 16.81. So we don’t need to be mathematicians to know that the protectors of UPA-II government are miserable deceivers!

ARE THE STATES REALLY TO BLAME?

The central government is advising the states to reduce their taxes to provide some relief to the people. What a strange piece of advice! They will go on hiking prices and ask the states to forsake their share of taxes! As we all know, the financial powers of the states are very limited. All the money in the central treasury comes from the states. But the states are given a poor share of the accumulated sum. We had demanded that the states should be given 50 per cent of the whole collected from the states as each of them is under severe fiscal strain. But, as usual our appeal fell on deaf ears. All they could spare was a meager 32 per cent. Often finance ministers from states are found knocking at the doors of power in Delhi with begging bowls. Ironically it is their money that they are seeking. And the centre behaves as if it is giving dole to the poor famished state! Give us the 50 per cent, we say. We will take care of ourselves. We say, let charity begin at home! Bring down your share from the hefty Rs 16.81, will you?

We also know that the petrol price is a little lower in Delhi. Why shouldn’t it be so? After all, Delhi is the city of cities. It houses the Parliament. So the Centre is quite liberal in its largesse to Delhi.

TO GLOBAL MARKET WITH LOCAL WAGES

The apologists of market economy are in ecstasy. The decision of decontrolling petroleum prices has made their cup of pure joy full to the very brim. Now, Indian price is at par with the international rate. How blissful! But as eternal spoilsports, we dare to ask these super-scholars a simple question! How come that the commodities of our daily necessity are to be sold in our market at international rates while we will be paid typically Indian wages? We all know that the new international poverty line has been fixed by World Bank at $1.25 a day at 2005 prices. The UN wants it to be $2. That is roughly Rs 90-100. Compare this with the Indian scenario! The Congress-TMC-DMK coalition has fixed poverty line at Rs 18 for the urban sector and Rs 12 for the rural areas. A truly globalised proposition, one may say!

In my childhood I came across lines from a poem by poet Biharilal Chakraborty which read: “Here I’m and here I’m not/ Why am I and why am I not?” I bore these strange lines in my heart. The recent frolics of the Trinamul Congress supremo have brought back these lines to my memory. She was in Delhi but she was not in the meeting of the empowered group of which she was a member. A clear case of pre-determined absence with the intention to create an impression that she is unwilling! Everyone in UPA knew what she was going to do next. She was to hiss and not to bite! Of course she was to do all this not in the meeting but outside, in front of cameras and boom microphones. She had worked exactly according to her game plan. Just in the way she did when the issue of disinvestment of PSUs came up in the cabinet. A repeat performance, so to say! But does she really think the common people are such fools that they are to be deceived so easily!

THE FINAL CALL

The government has done its job. They have declared the price hike. Now it’s time for the people to act, to protest, to resist, to fight back. History teaches us to strike back against every anti-people mode of onslaught. If we fail autocracy will triumph. We cannot let that happen. We are ready.

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org

MANIK SARKAR AT NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

I AM happy to be here in this august gathering of the 55th National Development Council meeting to consider the mid-term appraisal of the eleventh plan and other important issues.

The mid-term appraisal of the plan affords an opportunity to reflect upon the achievements of planned development in more than five decades. The dream of transforming India into a developed nation remains a far cry. Despite the avowed goals of equitable growth, the disparities between the haves and have notes have only widened leading to social unrest. Developmental policies have not only failed to benefit the marginalised and deprived sections of the people but also increasingly threaten their sources of livelihood. The state has handed over vast areas of natural resources to the corporate sector to secure industrial and economic growth. The continuing deprivation of the under-privileged raises critical questions about the developmental policies. The most critical of the challenges before the NDC today is addressing the issues which are vital for sustenance of the livelihoods of the marginalised sections and their economic well being. Larger involvement of the people in the planning process and distribution of resources has become a necessity.

LASTING SOLUTIONS NEEDED FOR PROBLEMS

On the one hand, we have a vibrant economy in some urban areas, but on the other hand a majority of our population living in the rural areas, is dependent for their subsistence on agriculture and are denied access to some of the basic minimum needs of housing, safe drinking water, health, sanitation and education. A large number of our population is below poverty line. Rising unemployment is reaching alarming proportions.

Until and unless the problems of the rural and urban poor are addressed in a sustainable manner, the country cannot claim success of the planned development. Therefore, I call upon this house that the basic approach to our plan should be one of finding lasting solutions to meet the most important challenges of mass poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy, unemployment and widening disparities.

Our country still exists in villages. The population living below poverty level with very limited resources need to be empowered economically for their development. Our planned development need not be unduly linked to globalisation and liberalisation as the country has enough strength and resilience to provide necessary impetus for sustainable growth. It is necessary that the most productive resource, that is land, is properly utilised. Land reforms, as a tool for equitable distribution and productive use of an economic asset, should be given the highest priority with the aim of providing land to the actual tillers instead of concentration in fewer hands in the name of corporatisation of agriculture. It is only by providing the security of tenure to the actual tillers that proper exploitation of the productive capacity of land can be achieved. This will give higher purchasing capacity to the rural population and consequently deepen and strengthen our internal markets with positive spin off effect of industrialisation and generation of employment opportunities.

ON PDS, PRICES, LAND REFORMS

In the context of land reforms, I must point out that it is high time for us to ensure effective protection of rights of the tribal people living in forest areas. As per provision of the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006, forest rights by way of pattas have already been vested to 1,16,109 families in Tripura. There is, however, no specific scheme of assistance for enabling the recipients of pattas to gainfully utilise the land for their economic development. A special programme for land development and livelihood support should be formulated by the government of India to support the tribal families vested with rights over the land under the Act so as to realise the spirit of the act.

It may not be out of context to mention here that more than 33000 applicants are there in Tripura, who are non-tribals, but traditional forest dwellers and really poorest of the poor and who have become part of the forest ecosystem, but failed to produce three generations documents and therefore deprived of the right of patta. This inconsistency in the Act needs to be removed in order to do justice to the non-tribal, but traditional forest dwellers at the earliest.

The present Land Acquisition Act is outdated and needs to be amended to protect the interests of the small landowners and to stop indiscriminate use particularly in the context of large-scale unrest against acquisition of private land for the benefit of corporate sector in the name of special economic zones.

The failure of the government to check rising prices particularly in the prices of foodgrain and essential commodities is a matter of grave concern. Prices of cereals, pulses, vegetables and milk continue to rise. The central government cannot shirk its responsibility by shifting the blame to the state governments as the price rise has largely been a product of the policies of the central government. The recent decontrol of petroleum products would further push up prices of essential commodities putting a heavy burden on the wage earners and common people further alienating them. The central government should revisit and reverse these policies. The state governments need to be empowered by amendment of the Essential Commodities Act and fuel prices should be regulated so as not to leave the common people to the vagaries of market forces.

Instead of weakening the public distribution system (PDS), it should be further strengthened and universalised. The government of India must release cereal stocks through the public distribution system by increasing the rice and wheat quotas for the states at public distribution system issue prices. Further, the government of India should include pulses, edible oils and other essential commodities through PDS outlets at cheap rates. Furthers trading in food articles has largely been speculative and hence, should be banned.

The proposed Food Security Act should be immediately implemented. There should not be any unilateral imposition of a ceiling on number of BPL families by government of India on he basis of poverty estimates derived from sample surveys, but actual identification of BPL families should be done by respective state governments through a detailed survey on the basis of a national yardstick; APL families should not be excluded. The scale of ration should be 35 kg of rice per month, gradually rising to 50 kg per month at a maximum rate of two rupees a kilo, instead of the proposed 25 kg.

REGIONAL IMBALANCES

Another area requiring very urgent attention is the removal of regional imbalances. The economy presents a glaring contradiction with few developed states showing impressive growth rates while the geographically disadvantaged north eastern states continue to be rooted in widespread poverty, unemployment and infrastructural bottlenecks. Imbalance fosters inequality and inequality leads to intractable problems with feeling of isolation and alienation of the people in the affected regions.

The northeast in particular has been a victim of such imbalances and this is manifest in the poor development of physical infrastructure of roads, rails, power and telecommunications. The growing sense of injustice and discontent --- which at times leads the people, particularly a section of the youth, to the path of violence and anti-national activities --- needs to be corrected at the earliest. Massive investments for the NE region are required to be made without further delay. The union government will have to take a leading role by providing sufficient public funding. The PPP/BOT models etc for infrastructure development have not been found to be successful in view of the limitation of the region. Precious years have already been lost toying with such concepts. It is now time to take a conscious decision and provide the required resources to build up the physical infrastructure in the less developed areas. The rate of capital formation has further deteriorated with the credit deposit ratio in the NE region declining abnormally. The similes package announced by the government of India has only helped the corporate sector and the industrially advanced states.

The public sector undertakings (PSUs) have been playing a very important and significant role in the economy of our country. The present policy of disinvestment of PSUs will gradually lead to their handing over to the gradually lead to their handing over to the private corporate sector working only for maximising profits. This will further increase unemployment. This will further increase unemployment. The present policy of disinvestment should not be continued.

Terrorism and extremism continue to pose a serious challenge. Maoist terrorism has emerged as a serious internal security threat to India. To deal with this menace, there is the need to take a holistic approach. Instead of depending only on the strength and operation of the security forces, there is urgent need to debunk their hollow ideas through ceaseless ideological and political campaign involving masses in a big way throughout the country and at the same time, by stepping up of inclusive development initiatives in the affected and nearby areas.

INJUSTICE TO TRIPURA BY FINANCE COMMISSION

The approved outlay for the 11th five years plan for Tripura was Rs 8852 crore while the approved annual plan outlays for the first three years of the 11th plan amounted to Rs 3930.72 crore. Against the annual plan outlays for the first three years, the achievement was 106 per cent. To achieve the approved outlay of Rs 8852 crore, an outlay of Rs 4656 crore for the remaining two years of the 11th plan is required. However, after the award of the 13th Finance Commission, the resources position of the state has worsened and without the support from the central government, it will be difficult for the state to achieve the outlay of Rs 8852 crore by the end of the 11th plan period. The 13th Finance Commission had not accepted the actual expenditure incurred by the state on account of salary and the non-plan revenue expenditure. The NPRE assessed by the commission constitutes only 61 per cent of the state’s forecast. As the committed expenditure on salary and pension has been grossly under assessed, the non-plan gap grant has reduced as compared to the 12th Finance Commission award. The approach of the Finance Commission in making the assessment of committed expenditure on salary and pension is unrealistic and unprecedented. The state government has ventilated the grievances on the recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission to the ministry of finance with request to take corrective measures and provide necessary additional financial assistance to overcome the impending financial crunch.

The state government has been according high priority for agriculture and allied sectors and have drawn up a Perspective Plan for self-sufficiency in foodgrains production by 2011-12 and perspective plans on horticulture (2002-03 to 2011-12), animal resources (2002-03 t0 2011-12), fisheries (2004-05 to 2010-11) and forest (2007-08 to 2011-12). The state has achieved self-sufficiency in certified seed production of rice and mustard and 33 per cent seed replacement rate in paddy and popularised system of rice intensification.

The state has already amended the Agricultural Produce Market Committees Act and recapitalisation of short-term credit cooperative societies has already been completed. The Perspective Plan for self-sufficiency in foodgrains envisages supply of certified seed, popularisation of hybrid paddy, increased use of chemical fertiliser along with bio-fertiliser and micro-nutrients, augmentation of credit through Kisan Credit Card and a more effective extension of the delivery system. However, the state has been facing severe shortage of chemical fertilisers leading to the use of only 41 kg per hectare, which is far below the all-India average. The government of India should make available the adequate quantity of fertiliser. The CD ratio should be increased from the present 31 per cent to 50 per cent and credit flow to agriculture sector should be increased by issuing Kisan Credit Cards to all eligible farm households. Tripura has allocated more than 10.9 per cent the state plan outlay on an average during the last three years for agriculture and allied activities and it would be difficult to continue to make allocations of this magnitude. The government of India should devise a mechanism for augmenting allocations under RKVY without insisting the state to maintain such high allocations under the state plan. Similarly, the allocations under Horticulture Technology Mission for Northeast should also be substantially augmented.

Tripura could harness only 10 per cent of available ground water. In order to exploit the potential, funding under AIBP should be allowed for deep tubewell projects. For surface flow in the dry spell, small storage projects need to be encouraged. Funding for these projects should be allowed under AIBP by relaxing cost norms.

MORE FUNDS NEEDED FOR DEVELOPMENT

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 has come into effect from April 1, 2010. As mandated under the act, minimum required buildings and infrastructure for all elementary schools will have to be provided within three years. Fulfilment of the requirements under the act involves huge expenditure which is difficult for the state government to provide in view of the present financial constraints of the state government. The government of India may consider providing the required fund fully for the north-eastern states so that the basic required infrastructure in the schools may be provided.

Mention may be made here that the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill will only lead to foreign players opening commercial teaching shops to fleece our students. Therefore, this more should be stopped forthwith.

All essential commodities, like foodgrains, POL products etc are being brought to Tripura through Assam. The railway link to Tripura gets disrupted for months during the rainy season. With the onset of monsoons, the movement by National Highway-44 also gets dislocated leading to scarcity of essential commodities in the state. Proper maintenance of rail and road connections has become critical for timely movement of essential commodities to and to hold the price line in Tripura. Steps for expeditious completion of the gauge conversion of Lumding-Agartala railway line are required. The government of India should take measures to sort out the problems in gauge conversion in some stretches in Assam. Work on fourlaning of the National Highway 44, announced by the prime minister five years ago has to be started without further delay as it is the life line for the state.

The quality of telecommunication services and the facilities at the Agartala airport also need immediate improvement. Agartala airport is the second busiest airport in the north eastern region. Warehousing facilities for cargo handling, cold storage for perishable commodities and proper hanger facilities are required to be developed. The coverage and the quality of telecommunication and broadband services in the NE region remains far below the national level. It is necessary that the telecommunication and broadband services are immediately improved and further extended so that the people of the region get benefited.

The recent hike in the APM price of natural gas is going to adversely affect the state’s economy. More than 90 per cent of power generated in the state is from natural gas. Therefore, the resultant affect of hike in APM gas price on consumer tariff would be substantially high hitting the consumers hard. Hence the decision should be rolled back in respect of the north-eastern states.

STREAMLINE CENTRALLY SPONSORED SCHEMES

The implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) is constrained by the rigid guidelines for covering the uncovered habitations of more than 1000 people only, as several habitations are with a population of less than a 100 and almost all such habitations are tribal habitations. As per the present sanctioned schemes of RGGVY, the total coverage of the partially electrified and totally unelectrified villages/habitations will be to the tune of 40 per cent only. In this background, I urge the government of India to relax the RGGVY guidelines and sanction required funds to cover habitations with below 100 people.

The centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) need to be streamlined and multiplicity of such schemes needs to be rationalised to offer flexibility to the state governments. All the CSS should have a uniform funding pattern of 90:10 for the north-eastern states. Most of the materials such as construction inputs, food, fodder, seeds, fertilisers etc are imported from outside the state resulting in higher landed cost of inputs leading to increased unit costs of projects. With well known communication and economic problems of the north-east region, I request the union government to take necessary steps to appropriately revise the unit costs applicable for the various schemes in the north eastern region.

During the visit of the prime minister of Bangladesh to India in January 2010, a number of agreements were arrived at regarding access to the Chittagong Port, Agartala-Akhaura link, operationalisation of Sabroom-Ramgarh LCS and improvement of infrastructure at Land Custom Stations etc, which are of great interest to the north east in general and Tripura in particular. These agreements need to be operationalised at the earliest. There is an urgent need to establish air connectivity between Bangladesh and North East India. The inland waterways links which existed in the pre-partition days like the Gumti-Meghna river network need to be revived. I strongly believe that these endeavours will further strengthen the bonds of friendship and brotherhood between the people of the two countries and help to improve the trade relations.

The ministry of development of the north-eastern region and the North Eastern Council (NEC) have not lived up to the expectations of the people in the region. Determined efforts would be required to revamp their working to contribute significantly for the development of the NE states. The ministry of development of the north-eastern region and the North Eastern Council should be provided with adequate technical and managerial manpower and adequate allocations to enable them to address the infrastructural needs o the region. Delays in sanction of projects by the ministry and NEC lead to time and cost overruns. Hence, the sanctions should be expeditious and time bound.

In toady’s world, the north-eastern region cannot be allowed to remain in isolation. The Look East Policy of the government of India has not been able to deliver any tangible gains to the region because of the lack of any institutional arrangement to look at the new and developing opportunities and to harness them for the benefit of the people of the area. The South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) needs to be utilised to formalise the existing informal trade between the north-eastern states, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

I have attempted to put forth some of the main concerns of the country in general and the north- eastern states in particular. I hope that the National Development Council will duly take note of these concerns.

(Subheadings have been added.)

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org

JULY 5 HARTAL : A RESOUNDING SUCCESS

The 12-hour dawn to dusk all India hartal held across the country on July 5, 2010 in protest against the increase in prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene oil and cooking gas was a resounding success. In various places, police resorted to severe lathicharge on the CPI (M) activists who were peacefully observing the all India hartal. On the bandh day, there was tremendous police repression in Sholapur, Maharashtra. Over five hundred police including state reserve police (SRP) surrounded the CPI (M) office and led a savage lathicharge in which over 50 people were severely injured and 12 had to be hospitalised. Three people had fractures on their limbs. Police cases were slapped on 18 activists. The entire CPI (M) Mahur taluka committee of Nanded district was arrested on the day of bandh.

The following are the reports from the states we received as we go to press.

WEST BENGAL

Spontaneity marked both the transport strike and the hartal in Bengal, held respectively on June 26 and July 5. The protest actions were important and vitally so at a point in time and in circumstances when the common people are being increasingly burdened and have been compelled to find their backs to the wall.

We do hold as Comrade Jyoti Basu had always underlined, a strike action is a weapon of choice to be utilised when the circumstances went antithetical with a spree, and when the scales are loaded against the very existence of the masses, and of the poor, and of the downtrodden, in particular. The Patrika group and its cohorts in the bourgeois media, would expectedly lament the ‘loss’ called a strike.

Biman Basu, CPI (M) state secretary and chairman of the Bengal Left Front noted the innate importance of the two strike actions for the people, because the actions went ahead to providing the masses with the much needed political boost-- and the hope that the ruling classes could be made to halt the burdens, mid-step in their authoritarian ways.

The Bengal unit of the CPI (M) has also, and repeatedly, made it amply clear that the strike actions were in addition to the economic issues, a vital part of a continuing chain of intensifying movements and struggles against the anti-people acts of commission of the ruling classes, of their underlings in the corporate houses, and of their minders abroad.

The two strikes that saw the initiative of the people make the days stand out as good and great signals of popular protests were also executed against the attempts being made to unseat democracy, and to bring on anarchy in Bengal under the aegis of the Trinamul Congress, the ‘left’ ultras, and the forces of reaction and revisionism of every description, heralded by the corporate media houses which hail the attempts as a ‘necessary to fashion a change.’

The desperation of the ruling classes is clearly scene in Bengal in the fortnightly ‘literary’ magazine of the Patrika group, which would see fit to warn the Trinamul chieftain against falling into the ‘trap of socialism’ while mouthing her slogans—be very afraid of the Left, the publication pontificates editorially, for they are not dead and gone yet, is the grim message that comes clearly across. It is the spontaneity of the popular participation, and the angst of the ruling classes, that make ample ground for the strike actions to have been, and shall always be, an effective weapon of class and mass struggle.

KERALA

The hartal was a total success in Kerala with the overall whole hearted support of the people from all corners of the society. It may also be noted that the hartal was a success despite the repeated intervention of the High Court of Kerala against public protests including hartals and way side public meetings.

In Kerala, the call for hartal was given by the Left Democratic Front. In fact it was the second hartal called by the LDF (the first hartal was called by LDF immediately after the announcement of the hike in petroleum products). Even though it was the second hartal in a span of ten days, the hartal was a grand success in Kerala with the support of people from all walks of life. Normal life came to a standstill during the 12 hour hartal.

Shops and business establishments remained closed, public transport came to a halt except the rail transport which was running without many commuters. Most of the government offices and branches of all banks including the private ones marked very poor attendance. Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses kept off the road as the workers were on strike and the private bus service also came to a halt with the workers joining the strike. Common public also cooperated with the hartal by keeping their private cars off the road.

All the Left parties under the banner of LDF and under the leadership of CPI (M) held protest marches throughout the state and these protest marches were also attended by a large group of public from different walks of life. Leaders including state secretariat members addressed the protests. In Thiruvananthapuram, the protest march was inaugurated by M V Goninan, CPI (M) state secretariat member. Kochi, the business capital of Kerala was totally paralysed and the all the people including people working in the IT sector participated in the hartal. In Kochi, functioning of the major establishments including port trust, shipyard, container terminal and other private and public sector undertakings were seriously affected due to the hartal. All the educational institutions from kindergartens to professional colleges remained closed as there was very poor attendance of teachers and students.

TRIPURA

The nationwide strike against the Congress led UPA-2 government’s anti-people decision of steeply hiking the prices of petroleum products and cooking gas was successfully observed in Tripura. A far flung state of the north east region like Tripura is all the more affected by the price rise because it requires lifting of every essential commodity from outside the state by road carriage.

As the people of the state observed a total and spontaneous dawn to dusk strike on this issue on June 28 at the call of the Left Front, July 5 nationwide strike was observed in the state as a protest day. Thousands of people rallied in different places of the state in protest. In every sub-divisional headquarter and important market places, roaring processions followed by bigger protest rallies were addressed by the state leaders of the CPI (M) and other LF partners. About one lakh people have been mobilised throughout the state at 17 places. Bijan Dhar, CPI (M) state secretary addressed the more than ten thousand strong rally at Agartala. The Left Front convenor Khagen Das and state secretariat members Narayan Kar, Nirenjan Debbarma and Narayan Rupini addressed the rallies at Udaipur, Sonamura, Bishalgarh and Ambassa respectively. All the speakers strongly demanded a roll back of the price hike and called upon the people to be prepared for a far greater movement in the coming days.

TAMILNADU

There was a total shut down in Tamilnadu and Puducherry. All kinds of shops and trade centers remained closed. Truck and auto rickshaw transport was totally kept off the roads. Private buses also kept off. In many parts, schools were closed. Maximum number of state transport buses were not run, the government had run some buses with workers who are the supporters of the ruling party; but there were only few passengers in those buses.

Power loom industries in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Avinashi, Karur, Theni, Rajapalayam, and handloom industries in Madurai, Kancheepuram remained close. All small scale industries were shut. Lakhs of workers observed strike.
In Puducherry, shops remained close and private buses were off the roads. All private buses, inter-state services and auto rickshaws were off the roads. The flow of transport was less than normal in most parts of the city and suburbs.

In support of hartal, all over Tamilnadu, CPI (M) cadres staged rail picketing, road picketing in more than 200 centres including Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Tiruvaarur, Nagapattinam and Dindigul. Nearly 10,000 cadres of CPI (M) and other Left parties were arrested. Thousands and thousands of cadres of CITU, AIKS, AIDWA, DYFI and SFI participated in these picketings.

In Chennai more than 2,000 cadres with red flags staged picketing at Central Railway junction. In many districts, like Dindigdul, Madurai, Theni and Cuddalore DMK goons unleashed violence against CPI (M) and CPI cadres. In Madurai and Dindigul, they torched CPI (M) offices. In many places of the state, they tried to terrorise the public with their goondaism.

In all places, the police played as the guards of the ruling party goons and attacked the CPI (M) and other opposition party cadres.

ANDHRA PRADESH

The bandh in Andhra Pradesh was near total with most of the shops and establishments closed down since morning and the roads wearing a deserted look. Except for the Congress and its ally the Majli-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party, all political parties in the state, including the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Praja Rajyam Party, came out in support of the bandh call against the recent hike in petro prices. The nine Left parties in the state gave a joint call supporting the bandh while TDP also separately gave a call in favour of the bandh. Another Left party, the CPI (ML) New Democracy also independently supported the bandh.

Although the state government forced the state Road Transport Corporation to run its services, particularly in Hyderabad, the services were disrupted by supporters of the bandh across the state by holding siege at bus depots in Khammam, Warangal, Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy, Rajahmundry and Kadapa districts. In Rajahmundry alone, the RTC was forced to cancel 700 of its services.

Top leaders of political parties participated in the protest actions held as part of the bandh. CPI (M) Polit Bureau member and state secretary B V Raghavulu and CPI state secretary K Narayana along with leaders of other Left parties staged a dharna at RTC X Roads along with scores of protestors. They were arrested by the police and later released. TDP president Chandrababu Naidu courted arrest along with his party colleagues at Ameerpet in the city while BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu was also arrested elsewhere in the city.

All schools, colleges and universities in Hyderabad and most parts of the state remained closed. Banks and government offices had thin attendance while petrol bunks and cinema halls remained shut till evening. The examinations of Osmania University scheduled on July 5 have been postponed in view of the nationwide bandh.

BIHAR

The call of all India strike against steep hike in prices of petroleum products by Left parties, evoked massive response from all sections of the society in Bihar. Bandh was spontaneous and everybody participated by responding to the call.

In Patna, the buses, auto-rickshaws and all sorts of vehicles remained off the road. Even rickshaws were not plying on the road. The whole of the city wore a deserted look as markets remained completely closed. Event the tea shops in the bylanes were also closed. Offices, institutions, schools, colleges remained closed. Trains were stopped at various stations all across Bihar. Bandh was completely peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from any corner of Bihar.
Hundreds of activists of the Left parties took out a procession from Janashakti premises under the joint leadership of the four Left parties. They converged at Dak-Bunglow square. Later on, Vijay Kant Thakur, CPI (M) state secretary along with secretariat members Sarangdhar Paswan and Arun Kumar Mishra, general secretary of Bihar Pratiya Khetihar Mazdoor Union Bhola Prasad Diwaker, vice president Dinesh Kumar, DYFI state secretary Umesh Prasad and SFI president and general secretary, Dhirendra Kumar and Roshan Kumar Sinha were arrested.

Complete bandh has been reported from Supaul, Begusarai, Darbhanga, Khagaria, Samastipur, Madhubani, Bhagalpur, Nalanda, Rohtas, Jamui, Bhojpur, Gopalganj and East Champaran.

In Bhagalpur, Central Committee member Subodh Roy was arrested along with Party district leaders and cadres. Arrests have also been reported from Begusarai, Darbhanga, East Champaran, Madhubani, etc.

JHARKHAND

Responding to the call, people resorted to a complete bandh in the entire state of Jharkhand. The bandh was spontaneous, peaceful and widespread both in urban and rural areas of the state. Rail, air and long distance and local road transportation was completely halted. Markets, educational institutions, commercial establishments including banks were closed.

Mining and production were seriously affected and transportation of minerals, including coal, was completely halted. Government, public and private sector offices were deserted at many places. Industrial areas of Jamshedpur at Adiyapur and Gamharia were completely closed. Gangmen of captive railway for coal transportation to NTPC, Farakka went on strike responding to the call of MGR Workers’ Union. Workers of stone quarries and of bidi industries were also on complete strike in Pakur and Sahebganj districts.

Left parties jointly organised processions throughout the state and picketed on national highways and railway tracks. The CPI (M) members and supporters picketed at Gumani and Tori on rail tracks; and on highways at Barhagora in East Singbhum district; Koderma; Nirsa, Dhanbad, Jharia, Sindri in Dhanbad district; Jamtara; Dumka; Mahagama, Buarijore, Thakurgangti, Meherma and Godda in Godda district; Borio and Mandro in Sahebganj district apart from joint picketing at other places including at Ranchi.

582 CPI (M) cadres and supporters were arrested at Ranchi, Saraikela, Dhanbad, Jamtara, Pakur, Godda and Deoghar districts. The functionaries of other Left and other opposition parties were also arrested in different parts of the state. They Include CPI (M)’s state secretary J S Majumdar, secretariat members Prakash Viplav, Prafulla Linda, G K Baksi, Surajeet Sinha, state committee members Sufal Mahto, Sukhnath Lohra, G K Shukla, Dasrath Mandal; CPI’s state secretary Bhubaneshwar Prasad Mehta, assistant secretary K D Singh, P K Ganguly and others and RSP’s state secretary Radhakant Jha.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bandh was a success in Himachal Pradesh. Over one lakh people participated during the protest demonstrations held throughout the state. At several places roads were blocked and traffic was brought to a standstill. The shops remained completely closed throughout the state in protest against the spiraling fuel prices. The schools were closed . There was a complete strike in the hydel projects in Kullu, Rampur and Kinnaur region. The hotels and restaurants were completely closed in Shimla town . Though the essential items like milk etc was kept out of strike, but no supply of milk took place in several parts of the state. The CPI (M) activists organised very effective protest demonstrations at Bhawanagar in Kinnaur , at Rampur, Theog, Rohru, Manali, Sainj , Banjar, Patlikuhl and Kullu in Kullu district, at Ner Chowk, Sundernagar, JogenderNagar, Sarkaghat, Jhanjheli, Karsog and Balichowki in Mandi district, at Una, Bilaspur, Chamba and Bharmour in Chamba district, at Dharamshall, Darlaghat and Solan in Solan district, at nahan, Renuka in Sirmour distirct and in Hamirpur. At all these places, traffic was blocked for several hours in the state.

The Shimla town came to a standstill since morning. All major roads to and from Shimla were blocked. The Shimla-Chandigarh , Shimla-Rampur and Shimla-Mandi routes were blocked since early morning. The roads within Shimla town were also closed. There was a complete strike in the construction sector. The CPI (M) activists assembled at the Victory tunnel and blocked the traffic. Even the Kalka- Shimla train was stopped at Summerhill station by the CPI (M) activists.
(Tikender Singh Panwar)

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Hundreds of CPI (M) activists, workers and sympathisers at the call of the hartal given by Left parties and opposition parties against the hike in the prices of petroleum products and essential commodities including cooking gas and kerosene oil assembled at press club, Jammu to participate in the all India programme.

The CPI (M) leaders led by Sham Prasad Kesar, regional secretary, addressed the gathering. Later a rally was organised, which after passing through the main chowks of the city, Jewal Chowk, Raghunath Bazar Chowk, Shalimar Chowk and Shaheedi Chowk culminated in a meeting at City Chowk which was addressed by Om Parkash, general secretary CITU, kisan leader Kishore Kumar and trade union leaders Nirdosh Uppal and Romesh Chand.

PUNJAB

The call for Bharat bandh was a huge success in Punjab and Chandigarh. The call was supported by Lok Bhalai Party and Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). All the markets were completely closed and there was no traffic on the roads. The government offices remained closed. Rallies, demonstrations, burning of effigies of the central government, road blocks and rail rook actions were held at various places in the state. The bandh got an enthusiastic response from the common man.

The CPI (M) and CPI together held demonstrations at Sangrur, Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Bhawanigarh, Mukerian, Garhdiwala, Mahilpur, Garhshankar, Malerkotla, Dhuri, Barnala, Longowal, Sunam, Chheharta, Fatehabad(Khadur Sahib), Bhikhiwind, Baba Bakala, Jhabal, Tarn Taran, Patti, Jamsher, Nakodar, Shahkot, Nurmahal, Balachaur, Banga, Nawan Shahar, Ajouli(Anandpur Sahib), Ropar, Banurh, Rajpura, Amloh, Samana, Patran, Lalru, Jalalabad, Ferozpur, Bathinda, Mansa, Budhlada, Sardulgarh, Mukatsar, Malout, Fridkot, Kotkapura, Jagraon, Raikot, Samrala, Batala, Pathankot Gurdaspur, Moga, Dharmkot, Nihalsinghwala and Chandigarh.

Among the leaders who addressed the demonstrations at various places were Charan Singh Virdi, state secretary of CPI (M), Joginder Dayal, central executive member of CPI, Bhupinder Sambher, state secretary of CPI, Lehamber Singh Tagger, Raghunath Singh, Rachhpal Singh, Vijay Misra, Gurmesh Singh, Gurmit Singh Dhada, Bant Singh Namol and Bhup Chand Channo, state secretariat members of CPI (M), Bant Singh Brar, Hardev Arshi, Jagrup Singh, Gurnam Kanwar, Harbhajan Singh, state secretariat members of CPI.

(Asha Nand)

ORISSA

Hartal in Orissa was a total success. Observing the call of CPI (M), CPI, Forward Block, Biju Janata Dal, JMM, RJD and Samajwadi party against rise in prices of petro-products and removing government control from petrol and in phases from diesel, normal life in Orissa was totally paralysed. It was a spontaneous response of the people against the hike. No trains could operate. Bus and trucks were off the road. Bank, insurance, state and central government offices were either totally closed or had a deserted look. Shops and commercial establishments were totally closed. Mine work were totally paralysed. About 1500 leaders and activists were arrested at Bhubaneswar, Cuttak, Sundargarh, Jajpur and in other places. Those arrested include CPI (M) state secretariat members Santosh Das, Dusmanta Das, Bishnu Mohanty, state committee members Suresh Panigrahi, state agricultural labour union general secretary Nityananda Parida, SFI president Sudam Das and secretary Sarat Das etc.

KARNATAKA

The Karnataka bandh which was called by the Left parties, JD(S), other secular parties and organisations, dalit organisations etc. and joined by the BJP was a complete success in the entire state. In most of the places, people themselves had downed the shutters.

In Bangalore, the vehicular traffic was very minimal. Picketing was done at 23 centres. Vigilance squads were on the move from 5 am onwards.

In Dakshina Kannada, the bandh was successful in all taluks of Dakshina Kannada and Udipi districts. Uttara Kannada (Karwar), Belgaum, Hubli-Dharwad, Gadag, Bijapur, Raichur, Gulbarga, Bidar, Bellary, Davanagere, Haveri, in fact every district had reports of a successful bandh.

In Mandya and Kolar districts, bandh was a total success. Shop keepers have joined the bandh spontaneously, just as hamalis, autorickshaw drivers etc. In Srinivasapura taluk, a shop owner probably belonging to Congress party attacked our district secretariat member P R Suryanarayana. His wife Eeswaramma who is an anganwadi leader was also injured.

In Bellary, the BJP attacked two of our jeeps as they were going about the town flying our flags. The Congress party activists attacked our activists at Bagepalli. Chickaballapur district reported complete bandh including the panchayat headquarters.

In Mysore bandh was total. The CPI (M), CPI, JDS and Kannada activists participated in the bandh.
Hassana , Shimoga, Davangere, Chitradurga, Gadag, Haveri, Tumkur and Kodagu reported successful observance of the bandh call.
(V J K Nair)

GUJARAT

The bandh call received spontaneous response in Gujarat. Rasta rokos were held in all major cities of Gujarat including Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Baroda, Rajkot, Surat, Junagadh and Himmatnagar by CPI (M) and CPI. Around one thousand people were arrested at various places.

All most all schools, colleges, courts including labour courts remained closed. Even in small cities, shops were closed including petrol pumps and transport services. Diamond workers also observed bandh. All the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporations (GIDCs) and major industrial areas remain closed.

In Ahmedabad, more than 200 workers participated and police arrested 21 CPI (M) workers. The Gujarat Mazdoor Panchayat held a rasta roko program here. In Baroda, CPI (M) and CPI jointly held a rally from Mandevi Chowk and blocked road at the Collector office. More than 700 people participated in this programme. In Bhavnagar, more than a thousand people held a rasta roko at Bhagat Singh chowk in which 827 workers were arrested. At Junagadh, police arrested 56 workers. At Rajkot, more than 200 workers held a rasta roko for two hours at Trikon bagh in which 51 workers were arrested.

In Himmatnagar, more than 150 Party workers courted arrest.

HARYANA

THE all-India strike, called for by the opposition parties against the fast rising prices and the hikes effected by the Manmohan Singh government in the prices of petroleum products, had had a widespread impact in Haryana. On July 5, CPI (M) workers in all the districts were out in the streets much before the markets and offices opened up, to implement the call.

In Hissar, led by Inderjit Singh and others, CPI (M) workers took out a procession through the city thoroughfares, shouting slogans against the Manmohan Singh government for having raised the petroleum prices. All the markets remained closed here. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) was also active here.

At Fatehabad, CPI (M) workers staged protest actions throughout the city despite heavy rains. Markets and other established remained closed here for the whole day.

The same was the scene in Bhiwani. Here the CPI (M) workers staged a powerful demonstration and completely blocked the road in front of the party office.

In Rohtak, party workers collected at the Bhiwani Road and, along with the workers of other parties, took out a procession through the city, appealing for observance of the bandh call. INLD workers participated in the action in a large number.

A joint procession came out in Sonipat as well, where the markets remained completely closed.

The bandh call had a partial effect in Jind, but Narwana, Sirsa and Panipat observed complete bandh on the day.

There was complete hartal in Kurukshetra and Narayangarh. At Kurukshetra, the Sarva Karmachari Sangh took out a procession through the city in protest against the excruciating price rises.

At Gurgaon, CPI (M) workers collected at the Pataudi Chowk and took out a protest procession through the city.

At Faridabad, the call of the hartal had had a big impact. The National Highway was completely blocked in Old Faridabad and trains were stopped at the railway station for hours together. CPI (M) and INLD workers took out a procession through the city.

Yamunanagar, Karnal and Narnaul also witnessed complete bandh and protest demonstrations on the day.

Women participated in good numbers in all these actions throughout the state.

DELHI

At the call of Left parties and other secular democratic parties to organise Bharat bandh on July 5, activists of the CPI (M), CPI, RSP, AIFB, JD(S), and SP organised processions, road blocks and effigy burning at several places in Delhi, Ghaziabad and Noida. At ITO, over a thousand CPI (M), CPI, RSP, AIFB, JD(S), and SP activists blocked the traffic for about two and a half hours. Several hundred activists led by CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan and others were arrested by the police. Later they were released. In Mangolpuri, several hundred CPI (M) activists organised a procession and stopped the Guwahati Express for about half an hour. They later blocked the outer ring road at the Mangolpuri flyover and Peera Garhi Chowk for over 30 minutes. In Dwarka, Several hundred Party workers and sympathisers organised a procession that was followed by blocking traffic on the Dwarka-Dabri main road for one hour 30 minutes. Traffic was blocked at Azadpur, Narela, Bawana, East Delhi and Ghaziabad. At Dilshad Garden, GT Road five activists were arrested and later released while blocking the traffic. In Loni, over 700 workers of CPI (M) alongwith SP activists stopped traffic at Baghpat Road for one and a half hour and burnt the effigy of the prime minister. They were lathi charged and arrested and later released. In Okhla, processions were organised in Jamia nagar area.

MANIPUR

The CPI (M) with other Left parties in Manipur jointly observed a general strike in Manipur on July 5. Hundreds of volunteers of the Left parties organised picketing in many places of Imphal and other towns of the state. Vehicular traffic was very less, no inter-state buses and trucks were plying on the national highways, shops and establishments and vending activities were closed as the employees and workers’ unions supported the strike. The attendance in the offices of banks, LIC, postal and telegraph, VSNL and Accountant General was thin as the unions in the respective offices already announced their support to the call of the Left parties. Many street corner meetings were organised in and around Imphal city. The meetings were addressed by Kshetrimayum Santa, state secretariat member of CPI (M), Langol Iboyaima, state secretary of CPI and L Sotin, assistant secretary of CPI among others. The public places in Imphal wore a deserted look as a number of passenger vehicles on the roads were less than on the normal days. The motor vehicle workers’ unions in Manipur were the main partners of the strike. Construction in major sites was stopped due to the strike. The state police arrested nine leaders when they were carrying red flags on the main markets in Imphal but released later. The national general strike in the state was partially successful.
(Kshetrimayum Santa)

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org

JULY 5 HARTAL: UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS

The Left parties --- the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, Revolutionary Socialist Party and the All India Forward Bloc --- issued the following statement on July 5, 2010.THE all-India hartal to protest against the steep increase in the prices of petroleum products has been an unprecedented success. Despite detention and arrests of thousands of protesters, there was a bandh like situation in all parts of the country with shops, business establishments, transport and educational institutions being closed. Left leaders, A B Bardhan, D Raja and Brinda Karat, were arrested for picketing in Delhi. This has been the most widespread protest action in the country in recent years.The Left parties congratulate the people and the tens of thousands of activists who have made the hartal a complete success. By this action the people have expressed their anger and strong opposition to the anti-people policies of inflicting successive burdens on the people through price hikes of petroleum products. The Left parties in consultation with secular opposition parties will chalk out plans for further intensifying the movement against price rise to compel the government to reverse these harmful steps.Signatories to the statement are Prakash Karat, A B Bardhan, T K Chandrachoodan and Debabrata Biswas, general secretaries of the CPI(M), CPI, RSP and AIFB respectively.

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org

ATTEMPT TO BURN COLLEGE PRINCIPAL IN KOLKATA BY THE FOLLOWERS OF MAMATA BANERJEE

A college principal in south Kolkata was sought to be burnt alive by Trinamool 'students' recently. Kaustav Chatterjee, secretary of the Bengal unit of the SFI said that this incident is portentous as an ominous sign, and that footfalls of the anarchic decade of the 1970s were heard in the city, again.

The occurrence was one in a series of vandalism that the Trinamul Congress ‘students’ indulged in, across the colleges, schools, and higher institutions in Bengal in coherent and conscious cooperation with the SUCI, and the urban crypto-‘Maoists.’ On the plea of bringing in ‘students’ for admission to an under-graduate course the college concerned, Heramba Chandra College (formerly south City College), in what is now south-central of the spreading Kolkata metropolis, the goons created a ruckus. They barged into the office of the principal who was atremble with fear when he saw one of the more seriously inebriated toughs take out a beverage bottle, uncap it, and proceed to pour out what was car-fuel-grade, highly octane, petrol on his shirt front. With a presence of mind borne out of survival instincts, the principal swayed to a side, away from the attacker, and only his sleeve was soaked. The tough was soon overpowered, and the fatal match could not be struck.

The act was accompanied by the usual and expected wrecking of computer work stations, telephones, furniture, and official papers, both filed and unfilled. The principal was heckled, man-handled. He has lodged a compliant with the concerned Lalbazar Police HQ.

The signs are not good. The Trinamul chief drones about a change being born, day in and day out. Her roughneck lieutenants echo her sentiments manifold in terms of abuse and noise, threats and terrorisation, ad nauseum. The people of every strata of the society, even the icons of the ruling classes, have started to develop a fear psychosis, and mob violence may not quite be that far off. The democratic masses will certainly stay vigilant, but we are afraid that such intimidatory tactics from the Trinamulis and their co-conspirators against democratic norms may well continue.

Courtesy: http://www.pd.cpim.org/

'MAOIST'-TMC GOONS KILL FIVE MORE CPI (M) SUPPORTERS

'Maoist'-TMC Goons Kill Five More CPI (M) Supporters

THE ruthless 'Maoist'-Trinamul killers have struck yet again in West Medinipur district killing five poor agricultural labourers belonging to dalit Dome community in the early hours of 13 September 2010. Around 30 of these barbarians crossed over from the jungles bordering Orissa state into Nichu Patina village in Nayagram block in Jhargram sub-division of the district and brutally killed four brothers in one family and another person at around 2 a.m. These killings occurred in the midst of growing people's resistance in the district against 'Maoist' depredations that has resulted in many villages being freed from the clutches of these goons during the past few weeks. The killings also marked the beginning of the two-day bandh call given by these killers in areas of their presence from 13 September.

The crime of Amrit Agwan (46 yrs), or the four brothers Rahim Agwan (43), Samaresh Agwan (38), Sapan Agwan (35), and Prasanta Agwan (27), all poor dalit agricultural labourers, to invite such brutal end has been the fact that they are supporters and workers of the CPI (M). The killers knocked down the doors of the victims homes and barged inside. Even as the terrified women folk and children, among whom included the 84 year old mother of the four brothers, watched in horror, the killers broke the limbs of the brothers. They then cold-bloodedly shot the four with 9 mm pistols from close range resulting in instantaneous deaths. The 84 year old mother was also injured while trying to protect her sons. The murder of Amrit Agwan was also equally brutal. The five dead bodies were taken by the police to the Jhargram divisional hospital where post-mortem was conducted. The bodies have been kept there at the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, people in the adjoining villages of Patina took out processions condemning these killings. Hundreds of people in Tukuria and Sikarpur villages marched raising slogans against 'Maoist'-TMC combine's barbarism. Six of these villagers returning from the processions to their homes were waylaid by Trinamool goons and beaten up, resulting in injuries.

It is clear that the cowardly goons of this anarchic combine are letting loose their terror on the most downtrodden sections of the people in newer areas in the fond hope of weakening the CPI (M). These ignorant beasts do not seem to be learning from the drubbing they have received from these sections in the so-called liberated areas, which they are hastily abandoning. The patience of the common people in these areas, as far as tolerating the mindless violence is concerned, is indeed running thin. Coupled with this is the fact that instead of being intimidated, many more are filling the void left behind by the martyrs and carrying on the struggle for peace in a resolute manner.

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org