P. CHIDAMBRAM WRITES DISGRACEFUL LETTER TO BUDDHADEB BHATTACHARJEE TO APPEASE MAMATA BANERJEE AND DEFEND MAOIST BUTCHERS

D.O. No. 119-CM

December 28, 2010

Dear Shri Chidambram,

Kindly refer to your secret letter dated 21/22 December, 2010 which had been published in the media before it reached my office on 27.12.2010 at 11 A.M.

Your assessment of the situation in the State of West Bengal is surprising and is far from an impartial overview of the situation. Maoists have spread from across the bordering states and with the help of small section of local people are creating problems mostly in 28 police stations in three districts of West Bengal. They are trying to create their own areas of dominance. They are indiscriminately killing political opponents and even innocent people. They are attacking police stations, police camps and looting arms. They are also engaged in large scale extortions and other unlawful activities.

You are fully aware of these activities of the Maoists. The greatest challenge is how to contain the Maoists and defeat them finally both administratively and politically.

In recent times State and Central Police through their joint efforts have achieved major successes. Peace and normalcy have been restored in vast areas. People who were evicted earlier are going back to their homes. Govt/Panchayat office are functioning normally and so are the schools, markets and shops. Life is gradually coming back to normalcy in these areas but still we have problem in the areas bordering our state. Trinamool Congress which was earlier maintaining secret contacts with Maoist leaders and outfits are now openly organising meetings with them.

CPI (M) and it allies are trying their best to resist the Maoists by mobilizing people against them and in the process have lost more than 170 of their workers and leaders. Unfortunately, you are now blaming them for the present state of affairs. I am afraid it will divert the attention of all concerned who are struggling against Maoists, the greatest threat to our internal security.

As regards political clashes mentioned in your letter I would like to correct your figures. 32 Trinamool Congress supporters have been killed and 601 have suffered injuries while CPI (M) have lost 69 of their cadres and another 723 have been injured. Indian National Congress has lost one of their supporters and 111 have been injured during the period mentioned in your letter. I, however, agree that it is not a happy situation and I am doing my best to stop these senseless killings. I have repeatedly appealed to all the opposition parties to cooperate. All the parties except Trinamool Congress have come forward to cooperate. Trinamool Congress has refused to talk to administration. I am trying to disarm and demoblise all armed groups engaged in violence in some pockets of the state.

I strongly object to your using the word “Harmed” to mean the CPI (M) party workers without knowing the actual meaning of this nasty word coined by Trinamool Congress leaders.

More when we meet.

With regards,

Yours sincerely,

Sd/-

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

Shri P. Chidambram

Union Home Minister

New Delhi-110 001

COMRADE HARKISHAN SINGH SURJEET BHAWAN FUND

June to November 2010

684521.00

S No.	Name and Address	Amount
1.	Tripuramallu Ramalingeswara Rao, Guntur	25000.00
2.	Dr. Srinivas, Aswanini Hospital, Guntur	15000.00
3.	Dr. Lakshmanaswamy, Sajeevi Orthopedic, Guntur	20000.00
4.	Chakka Gopala Krishna, Guntur	10000.00
5.	Dr. P.V Manahor Rao, Guntur	7000.00
6.	Dr. Subbanaidu, Guntur	10000.00
7.	Dr. Ravibabu, Mediline hospital, Guntur	10000.00
8.	Dr. G. Rajesh, Sudarshani Hospital, Guntur	7000.00
9.	Dr. J. Satish Babu, Guntur	5000.00
10.	Dr. Subbarayudu, Pallvi theatre, Guntur	5000.00
11	Daruvu Subba Rao, Narasaraopet	10000.00
12.	Bhaskara Rami Reddy, Guntur	1000.00
13.	Ramineni Ankamma, Guntur	10000.00
14.	Dr. N V K Prasad, Doctors Plaza, Guntur	10000.00
15.	Bathina Prasad, Guntur	2116.00
16.	Dr. K Pullaiah Choudhar, Guntur	2000.00
17.	Bayya Srinivas Rao, Guntur	10000.00
18.	Annapurna Auto agency, Guntur	50000.00
19.	Dhulipalla Hospital, Guntur	10000.00
20	Lakshimi Kantamma, Guntur	10000.00
21.	Venkateswara Rao, Guntur	10000.00
22.	Dr. Giri, Guntur	5000.00
23.	Chaitanya Cold storage, Guntur	10000.00
24.	Dr. T C Reddy, Guntur	10000.00
25.	Dr. Kama Prasad, Guntur	5000.00
26.	Y Mallikarjuna Rao, Guntur	5000.00
27.

Source: www.pd.cpim.org/

DEVELOPMENT OF INDIAN RAILWAYS IN THE STYLE OF MAMATA BANERJEE

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WEST BENGAL: LARGE RALLIES HELD ACROSS BENGAL IN SUPPORT OF DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT, AND IN CONDEMNATION OF TERROR AND ANARCHY - B PRASANT

THE past two weeks have witnessed massive gatherings of people from all strata of life and livelihood – the masses surged forward at the call of the Bengal CPI (M) and the Bengal Left Front – in support of democracy and development, and in condemnation of terror and anarchy.

More important than the seven-day stay-in programmes held at the very heart of Kolkata were the series of rallies held across the state. These rallies were local in nature but universal in exposing the ill-doings of the forces of right reaction banded together with left deviation, and calling for the rising curve of development to be maintained in an ambience of spreading democracy.

The Kolkata rallies, however, proved the cynosure of the eye of the popular movement in Bengal, addressed as they were by senior CPI(M) leaders like Biman Basu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, among others. As reported earlier, the week between 24 and 30 November witnessed different ‘days’ dedicated to the different facets of the people’s struggle in the state. The following days were observed amidst large popular presence and great deal of lively enthusiasm.

Demonstration programme in the metro centre of Kolkata over 24-30 November

24 November – workers’-employees’ day

25 November – women’s day

26 November – kisans’ day

27 November students’-youth day

28 November – cultural day

29 November teachers’-educational employees’ day

November - central rally with participation from the jangal mahal, north Bengal and the Sunderbans


Biman Basu addressed the Kolkata rally on the inaugural day as well on the day the programmes drew to a close. Biman Basu noted the violent assault on the lives and livelihoods of the masses at the behest of the ‘left’ terrorists and their allies in the right reactionary groups and outfits led by the Trinamul Congress.

The speaker drew parallel with the events of dismay and disaster on the 1970s when thousands of CPI(M) workers and supporters were made homeless, and a large number of them killed in the most brutal manner imaginable.

The recent events in south Bengal in particular have left no doubt that the opposition outfits, devoid of a popular base, were willing to resort to terror tactics and keep the masses in a veil of fear until the Assembly elections next year, in a malformed attempt to unseat the democratically-elected and popular Left Front government.

The poor suffered as the result of the depredations, Biman Basu pointed out and added to say that in recent times, in the jangal mahal alone, 212 Left Front workers have been killed. In the state as a whole, the same period saw 322 Left Front workers and supporters murdered. Not be left out, the Pradesh Congress has launched vicious attacks on the CPI(M) and LF workers in districts like Burdwan, Murshidabad, and Maldah.

The rallies held across the state would make the masses aware of the danger contained in the outfits of the right and the extreme left, and their lackeys in the corporate media. Biman Basu underscored that mass mobilisation would be the correct response to isolate the anti-people elements and smoothen further the way forward along development and democracy.

Addressing the central rally on the afternoon of 30 November, Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said that it was the Left path alone that would enable Bengal to move forward towards a brighter future. The talk of change that the opposition outfits mouthed constantly was indicative of a change for the worse, and the people should beware.

Buddhadeb squarely held the Trinamul Congress and its cohorts responsible for the rapid array of murders being committed across the state. He also laid the blame of betrayal of the cyclone Aila affected victims of the Sunderbans by the central government on the opposition parties.

Buddhadeb pointed out also that the Trinamul Congress was not unwilling to strike deals with separatist groups in the north of the state. Ill-gotten attempts are made to divide the people across lines of region and language as well as caste in the north of the state at the behest of the Trinamul Congress who perhaps expect to reap political benefit out of all this.

The chief minister also spoke on the tie-up that the Trinamul Congress had with the ‘left’ terrorists, especially in the jangal mahal. The LF government has not banned the ‘left’ terrorists because the LF government did not believe in authoritarian methods. Taking ill advantage of democratic norms, the opposition outfits were not averse to plotting the wanton murder of poor kisans and of CPI (M) workers.

Buddhadeb pointed out that in the Gyaneswari express accident, those named as accused belonged principally to the committee headed by the now-incarcerated Chhatradhar Mahato with whom the Trinamul Congress was hand-in-glove. The Trinamul Congress had initially blamed the CPI(M) for the accident, and now since they have to eat their words, their way out is to maintain a stonewalling hush, and the silence is matched in the silence maintained on the issue in the corporate media.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee concluded by pointing out that to reinforce the anti-Left Front forces would be to strengthen anarchy, chaos, terror, and lack of development. It would also, and ominously, mean that the redistributive land reforms movement would be reversed in the rural stretches. The coming to office of the forces of reaction backed by the ‘left’ terrorists would also imply that the heard-earned rights of the toiling masses would be taken away and all facets of development stilled.

Among the rallies held in the districts, the one organised at Siliguri drew attention. It was a march of at least 50,000 people from every walk of society along the Hill Cart Road. The rallyists included a large number of women and people from the hill areas of the Darjeeling district.

Addressing the Kolkata rallies among others were Benoy Konar, Surjya Kanta Mishra, Madan Ghosh, Shyamal Chakraborty, Shyamali Gupta, Mohd Salim, as well as Ashok Ghosh (FB), Manju Kumar Majumdar (CPI), Subhas Naskar (RSP), Kironmoy Nanda (SP), Prabodh Sinha (DSP), Pratim Chatterjee (FB-M), Umesh Chaudhury (Biplabi Bangla Congress), and Mihir Byne (RCPI)

Courtesy: People’s Democracy

GANASHAKTI DEMANDS PUNISHMENT FOR MAOIST BUTCHERS WHO MURDERED HUNDREDS OF PASSANGERS OF GYANESWARI EXPRESS TO SUPPORT MAMATA BANERJEE

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ANANDA BAZAR PATRIKA AND ITS FOLLOWERS TRY TO DEFEND GOONS OF MAMAT-MAOIST-SUCI NEXUS

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CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FILES CHARGE SHEET AGAINST CADRES OF MAMATA BANERJEE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MASSACRE OF PASSENGERS IN GYANESWARI EXPRESS

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CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FILES CHARGE SHEET AGAINST 23 MAOIST BUTCHERS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MASSACRE IN GYANESWARI EXPRESS

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VICTIMS OF GYANESWARI EXPRESS DERAILMENT TO BE COMPENSATED BY LEFT FRONT GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL

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UNION HOME MINISTRY HOLDS MAOISTS RESPONSIBLE FOR GYANESWARI TRAIN DERAILMENT. MAMATA BANERJEE UPSET. ARUNDHATI ROY, MEDHA PATKAR SILENT.

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ANDHRA PRADESH: ADIVASI YOUTH KILLED IN POLICE FIRING

THE Karnataka state committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has sharply condemned the killing of an adivasi youth in police firing. According to a statement issued by the party from Bangalore on October 23, it was the police firing in a forest in H D Kote taluk of Mysore district that took the life of Raju, an innocent adivasi youth.

On October 19, Raju and his friends, named Krishna, Rama and Bola, went to the nearby forest areas to collect honey as usual. However, without any provocation, the police fired at Raju and he succumbed to the injury. It is surprising that the police, instead of handing the body over to Raju’s family, had cremated it in the forest itself, which act is unpardonable. This is the way the Karnataka police under the BJP regime is treating the innocent people.

At the initiative of the CPI (M), the Forum for the Rights of Adivasi and Tribal People held a powerful protest demonstration before the taluk office in Heggada Devana Kote immediately after this dastardly murder.

Hundreds of tribal people participated in the protest along with Thimmaiah Penjalli and B M Shivanna, president and secretary respectively of the Forum for the Rights of Adivasi and Tribal People.

Addressing the largely attended protest demonstration, CPI (M) state committee member and Forum leader S Varalaxmi told the gathering that the BJP government is not allowing the poor tribal people to earn their livelihood. In fact, the BJP was hesitant to bring in a legislation, during the NDA rule, to protect the rights of the tribal people. It was due to the pressure of the Left parties that the earlier UPA government had to pass the Forest Right Act in 2006, which allows the tribals to collect forest products. In future also, we have to continue our fight against police high-handedness, she said.

The Forum demanded compensation of Rs 5 lakh to Raju’s family. It also demanded stringent action against the police officials who caused the unwarranted firing leading to the death of an innocent youth. (INN)

Source: www.pd.cpim.org
Vol. XXXIV, No. 44, October 31, 2010

ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS - 2010 IN BIHAR

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JANGAL MAHAL REVOLTS AGAINST MAOIST BUTCHERS AND RAPISTS

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'LAND REFORMS KEY TO REAL DEVELOPMENT' - Yechury Campaigns in Bihar

WITH the largest number of landless people in the country, the real development of Bihar can take place only with implementation of land reforms in the state, and to ensure this the people must chose Left parties candidates in the elections to the state assembly.

This was the appeal to the voters made by the CPI (M) Polit Bureau member and MP Sitaram Yechury on his first day of election campaign in Bihar on October 19, 2010. He addressed three election meetings in Dalsingh Sarai, Hasanpur and Patsa in Samastipur district. The CPI (M) candidates, Ramdev Verma from Vibhutipur, Ajay Singh from Ujiarpur and Raghuvansh Mukhiya from Hasanpur constituencies also participated in the respective meetings.

Yechury, in his speeches, asserted that it is only the Left parties that have shown commitment in fighting for implementation of land reforms in the state. He cited how the Left Front government of West Bengal distributed around 13 lakh acres of land to the landless poor, benefiting nearly 35 lakh families belonging to SCs, STs, minorities and other downtrodden sections. Such measures would result in real development, not the kind of those undertaken by Nitish Kumar which are benefiting only the rich and the corrupt. He compared these with the 'Shining India' policies of central governments which have resulted in the doubling of dollar billionaires in the country. He said the main question people must raise is as to who this so-called development is benefiting.

Yechury attacked Nitish Kumar for the company he is keeping i.e. the BJP and Shiv Sena which are part of NDA. He called upon the people to question their chief minister as to why his NDA partner, Shiv Sena, is carrying out vicious physical attacks against Biharis in Maharashtra. The Biharis are forced to migrate, leaving their homes and families to far off places in search of work because they do not find employment avenues in the state. And attacks on such people who are contributing so much to the development of those areas cannot be tolerated. But the CM in hunger of power is continuing in the company of NDA, he charged.

Yechury criticised the government for allowing large scale corruption in the PDS, MNREGA and other welfare schemes. He also attacked it for not providing relief to the Kosi flood affected people and asked as to what happened to the Rs 1,000 crore relief money that had come from the centre. He demanded scrapping of the division of the poor among BPL and APL and wanted universalisation of PDS. In this context, he reminded people about the cruel attitude of the Congress led UPA II government which allowed rotting of foodgrains in godowns but refused to implement Supreme Court order for its distribution among the poor.

Yechury pooh poohed the Congress election campaign in Bihar about ensuring development, asking what they did in the 40 years of power they had. He also criticised RJD of Laloo Yadav for not doing much for the benefit of the people of the state and focussing only on casteist politics.
CPI (M) MLC and veteran teachers movement leader, Vasudev Singh, also addressed the gatherings. Yechury will campaign for the coming three days also in Bihar in the districts of Motihari, Chhapra and Begusarai. He will address an election meeting jointly with CPI general secretary A B Bardhan in Begusarai on October 22.

CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat is scheduled to campaign in the state for two days on October 21 and 22 in Sitamarhi and Darbhanga districts. She had campaigned earlier on October 13 and 14 in Purnea and Kishenganj districts for the CPI (M) candidates. Party central secretariat member Hannan Mollah has also been campaigning in Begusarai, Supaul, Khagaria and Bhagalpur since October 18.

(N S Arjun from Dalsingh Sarai)

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org
Vol. XXXIV, No. 43, October 24, 2010

MAMATA BANERJEE ATTACKS UPA GOVERNMENT OUT OF SYMPATHY FOR THE PERVERTED MAOIST BUTCHERS, RAPISTS AND EXTORTIONISTS

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BIOTECHNOLOGY REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA (BRAI) BILL MUST BE OPPOSED IN NATIONAL INTEREST

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TRINAMOOL CONGRESS - INNOCENT MINOR GIRL RESIDING ON FOOTHPATH RAPED BY WORKER OF MAMATA BANERJEE

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MINORITY DEVELOPMENT, RESERVATIONS AND BENGAL LEFT FRONT GOVT – II - Moinul Hassan

ALTHOUGH the people of Bengal are well aware about the consistent role of the Left Front government in ensuring the development of the minorities in the state, the recent data available underlines this fact emphatically. In the recent state budget for 2010-11, it was announced in the budget statement: “In the sphere of Madrasah education and development of minority communities, special priority has been accorded to the improvement of vocational and technical education along with the expansion of education and improvement of standards so that the students belonging to the minority communities can have wider opportunities of participation in the production process, employment and income. With this objective, along with upgradation of 112 junior high madrasahs to high madrasahs and 196 high madrasahs to higher madrasahs during the current year, 75 more junior high madrasahs will be upgraded to high madrasahs and 100 high madrasahs to higher madrasahs the next year. Vocational training in 160 high and higher madrasahs is a part of the process of upgradation.

“In the sphere of higher education for Aliah University, stress has once again been given on modern vocational and technical education alongside teaching and research. A new campus for women in the university is being set up. In addition, a proposal has been moved from the state level for increasing the number of beneficiaries of pre-matric scholarship awarded to the students of the minority communities under a joint centre-state programme from 2.44 lakh in the current year to at least 5 lakh in the next year. In this case a special initiative will be taken so that students get this scholarship regularly through bank or post office accounts opened in their names. Honourable members are aware that 12 districts, including Kolkata, are covered under the joint centre-state multipurpose plan for development of minority communities. I am happy to announce that from next year, the state government has decided to implement this multipurpose plan with its own funds in every block in which there is a concentration of minorities in the remaining 7 districts. It is necessary to mention in this context that for the purpose of employment generation and training of minority communities, the West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation has sanctioned in the year 2009-10, 100 crores as against Rs 63.28 crore benefitting 1.09 lakh persons in the year 2008-09. According to the latest data compiled by the Ministry of Minority Affairs of the Government of India, West Bengal now ranks first in the country in this regard. Having regard to all these overall priorities, I propose to increase the plan outlay of the Department of Minority Affairs and Madrasha Education from Rs 121.0 crore in the current year to Rs 300.0 crore in the next year.”

Along with Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians who are regarded as minorities at the national level, even Jains are also recognised as minorities in Bengal. The Left Front government has been striving for the welfare and development of the minorities. For the development of the minority Muslims, there are nine autonomous bodies namely West Bengal Minority Development and Finance Corporation, West Bengal Minority Commission, West Bengal Wakf Board, West Bengal State Haj Committee, West Bengal Urdu Academy, Wakf tribunal, West Bengal Madrasah Education Board, West Bengal Madrasah Service Commission and Alia University. All these are engaged in various welfare and developmental activities.

The main activities that have been undertaken and the projects that have already been planned are as follows-

HOSTELS FOR MUSLIM GIRLS:

Many believe that one of the reasons behind the socio-economic backwardness of the Muslim community is the prevalence of illiteracy among Muslims in general and amongst the Muslim girls in particular. Keeping in mind this very reason, a decision to set up hostels for Muslim girls in remote locations has been planned long back. The plan covers building of more than one hostel in each of the twelve districts. Already ten hostels have been set up. In the financial year 2009-10, two new hostels have been planned. Rupees 50 lakh have been allotted for building of such hostels in the year 2008-09. The allocation has increased and in the year 2009-10 it amounted to Rs 4 crore. A total of 21 girls’ hostels have been planned, this benefiting a large number of Muslim girl students.

CONSTRUCTION OF BOUNDARIES FOR GRAVEYARDS:

Boundaries for 102 graveyards have been constructed in the year 2008-09 at the expense of Rs 3.77 crore in order to ensure proper maintenance of the graveyards. The allocation has been increased to Rs 4 crore in the year 2009-10 for this purpose. 16 boundaries have been constructed in 2009-10 and target has been set for construction of 50 more boundaries. Along with the government allocations, funds are also allocated from MP LADS and MLA funds for this purpose and the works are executed by the district administration. The Left Front government is sympathetically considering the demand for setting up another graveyard in the city of Kolkata.

EMPOWERMENT OF MINORITY WOMEN:

The loan scheme for women is a very effective tool in empowering minority women. Divorcees or utterly destitute women who are within the age group of 20-45 years and whose yearly income is up to Rs 45,000 are given loans at 3 per cent per annum.

WEST BENGAL MINORITY DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCE CORPORATION:

Rs 20 crore has been spent in the year 2008-09 by this corporation. Under the fund for rural infrastructure development, Rs 2 crore was allocated for development of minority areas. Of this amount, till date Rs 1.81 crore has been utilised. The corporation, which has been set up in 1996 for the development of minorities in the fields of commerce and industry, provides loans at low interest rates to economically backward minorities. In the year 2008-09, Rs 89.53 crore have been spent in this regard.

EDUCATION LOANS AND SCHOLARSHIPS:

The concerned department has been taking consistent steps in this regard. In the year 2008-09, 3336 students have received scholarship. Another 23,238 students received post secondary scholarship (central part) while 6935 got hold of post secondary scholarship (state part). The total number of recipients of pre secondary scholarship have been 64,924.

WEST BENGAL HAJ COMMITTEE:

This committee makes arrangements for the Haj pilgrims from the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Assam, Manipur and Tripura. The state government provides financial assistance for meeting the various expenses of the pilgrims. Rs 1.50 crores has already been allotted for the construction of the new Haj building near Kolkata airport. The building has been recently inaugurated by the chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. The total expenditure for the construction of this centre will be Rs 5 crore. In the last season, the total number of pilgrims from the state was 7300. The state government and the Haj Committee are working together to make the entire journey of the religious people safe and comfortable.

WAQF BOARD:

The Waqf Board has been vested with more power to discharge its work in more developed and smooth manner. A total amount of Rs 20 crores has been allotted. It has been decided that all waqf property under adverse possession or illegal transfer shall be restored and the income, which will be incurred out of the same property, shall be spent for the welfare of the Muslim community. An amount of Rs 2 crore has been allotted for the board in the year 2009-2010. A total of 8737 properties have already been listed in the waqf schedule. The rent of famous Shaw Wallace Building and the Tollygunge Club building have been increased to Rs 7 lakh per month. The one time earning has reached to Rs 2 crore. Now, the process of computerised documentation of all waqf properties has been commenced.

URDU ACADEMY:

The prime aim of this academy is to propagate and encourage Urdu language and literature. The fundamental works taken by the Academy are educational programmes, announcing scholarships and prizes, printing and publication, running correspondence courses, and providing vocational training. The budget allocation for these purposes for the year 2009-2010 is Rs 2 crore. The Left Front government has decided that if someone writes the letter to the government departments in Urdu, it would be replied to in Urdu only. The government circulars have to be communicated in Urdu in certain places. Many more Urdu medium primary schools will be opened in the Urdu-speaking areas and soon the vacancies of the teachers will be filled in all Urdu schools. Already, Arabic has been included in Bachelors course in many colleges of the state. Now the priority is improvement of the quality of that education by appointment of efficient teachers. The government has already taken the initiative to appoint the efficient teachers.

BOARD OF MADRASAH EDUCATION:

The Madrasah education in West Bengal has a glorious history and tradition. Keeping this in mind, the Left Front government extended autonomy to the Madrasah Board in the year 1994. The syllabus of Madrasah education has been upgraded and modernised with the commencement of the computer courses in 150 Madrasahs and inclusion of technical education in 89 others. The entire education system has been brought under the fold of Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan. The government has planned to build 10 Madrasahs as centre of excellences. A total number of 8 lakh students are getting themselves educated in 576 Madrasahs and 185 Centres for Madrasah Education through out the state. Affiliation has been given to 200 child education centres and 300 centres for higher Madrasah education. It is hoped that soon these institutions will achieve the reorganisation of educational institutions in the academic year 2009-2010. Now, let us look at the unique characteristics of the Madrasahs in West Bengal:

With a countable exceptions, almost all Madrasahs in the state have co-educational system, which is indeed very rare in other states.

2. Though the Higher Madrasahs are regulated by the Board of Madrasah Education, they come under the purview of state higher education council.

Almost all Madrasahs are having a large number of non-Muslim students.

A large number of non-Muslim teachers and non teaching staff are also appointed in the Madrasahs.

5. It can be found that a large number of non-Muslims apply for the examination conducted by the Madrasah Education Commission for the posts of teachers in Madrasahs.

All these characteristics are a reflection of the deep secular roots of tradition, education and culture of the state and they reveal the confidence of the people in the very spirit of secular democracy.

ALIA UNIVERSITY:

The process to establish Alia University has already been initiated, which will gradually become a modern university. The state government has extended all kinds of administrative and financial support to fulfil the dreams of the minority community that have been cherished for a long time. I personally dream of having Al Azahar University in our state in the near future.

[Source: The Economic Development Report 2009-2010 placed in the state assembly recently]

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org

CPI (M) ON FOOD INFLATION AND FOOD SECURITY

THE POLIT BUREAU OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST) MET AT NEW DELHI ON OCTOBER 4 AND 5, 2010. IT HAS ISSUED THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT ON 5 OCTOBER 2010

The food inflation rate has again started rising and it touched 16.44 per cent in the week ending September 18. While the people are suffering from the price rise, the government is finding excuses such as floods and rains for the destruction of supplies. At this time of the season normally prices decline, this has highlighted the failure of the government to check price rise.

The Central government has ignored the directive of the Supreme Court to distribute the huge stocks of foodgrains free of cost to the poor rather than letting it rot. On the contrary, it is pursuing the anti-people policy of pressurizing the states, to lift “additional allotment” at a price that is even higher than the present issue price of APL foodgrains. At the same time, the objectionable new scheme of further targeting being proposed by the National Advisory Council as well as the proposal to cut all subsidies to APL show the mockery that is being made of the concept of food security.

The Polit Bureau reiterates its demand for a universal public distribution system with a minimum allocation of 35 kgs of foodgrains at Rs. 2 per kg. The expenditure on this will still be less than 2 per cent of the GDP.

Source: www.cpim.org

LIFT CURBS ON PAPERS IN KASHMIR VALLEY: DELHI UNION OF JOURNALISTS

THROUGH a statement issued on September 22, the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has demanded that the undeclared ban on newspapers in Kashmir valley must be ended. It has also urged the Press Council of India to not only take suo moto notice of the assaults on the press there but also visit Srinagar, meet journalists’ bodies there and strive to aid the healing process.

In its executive committee meeting held on September 21 evening, the DUJ expressed grave concern at the reports received that for some time now newspapers have not been published in the Kashmir valley and electronic news bulletins have been banned. Only a token number of curfew passes have been issued to the newspaper offices because of which news reporting and production has been rendered almost impossible. Many reporters and photographers have been physically assaulted by paramilitary forces like the CRPF.

Unequivocally condemning these assaults on the media and media professionals, the DUJ has demanded that the ban and other restrictions imposed on the movement and functioning of media must be lifted immediately.

The special executive meeting further called for restraint in reporting on the conflict situations not only in Kashmir but also on the Ayodhya tangle in view of the judgement that was slated to come on September 24. It specially cautioned against rumour mongering, malicious reports and inspired leaks aimed at dividing the various communities.

Issued by the DUJ president Ms Sujata Madhok and general secretary S K Pande, the statement said that while calling for restrained reporting in volatile situations, there must be “immediate dialogue with affected journalists.” It urged the union home ministry to ensure that the police and CRPF are restrained from arbitrarily roughing up scribes.

According to reports received by the DUJ executive, the police and paramilitary forces recently thrashed and abused some staffers, even though they were carrying valid curfew passes issued by the district magistrate of Srinagar. The state government’s “influence” on the ground level got exposed when the forces tore to pieces the red-colour special curfew passes and even abused those who had issued them.

The DUJ expressed grave concern at the reports that three staffers of Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Uzma were ruthlessly beaten by policemen at Kaka Sarai in the Old City. They were travelling in the office vehicle which was intercepted by the police. The staffers were asked to show their curfew passes and identity cards, which they did. Yet, all of a sudden a policeman started beating a staffer who was admitted to the Bones and Joints Hospital. Other staffers fled from the spot in order to save their lives.

Source: www.pd.cpim.org

ON THE VERDICT OF THE LUCKNOW BENCH

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on September 30, 2010

THE Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has given its decision on the title deeds suits and related issues on the Babri Masjid/Ramjanmabhoomi temple dispute.

This judgement requires to be fully studied. There may be questions on the nature of the verdict.

The CPI (M) maintains that in our constitutional secular democratic system, the judicial process which includes recourse to the Supreme Court should be the only way to resolve the issue.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI (M) appeals to the people of the country to maintain peace and communal harmony and not fall prey to any provocations.

Source: www.pd.cpim.org

CAMPAIGN TO DEFEND CPI (M) AND LEFT IN WEST BENGAL - Prakash Karat

The Extended Meeting of the Central Committee held in Vijayawada had given a call for a countrywide week-long campaign against the attacks on the Party and the Left Front in West Bengal. This campaign will be held from September 12 to 18. The entire Party should go amongst the people to expose the nature of the violent attacks on the CPI(M) and the Left Front in West Bengal and to mobilise the people to express solidarity with the Left and democratic movement in the state.

For more than two years, there has been a concerted attack on the CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal. After the electoral reverses in the Lok Sabha election in May 2009, this attack has been intensified. All the rightwing and anti-Communist forces have united under the leadership of the Trinamul Congress to weaken the Party and the Left. They are doing so by resorting to continuous violence and attacks designed to sever the links of the Party and the Left Front with the people.

Till August 31, 270 members and supporters of the CPI(M) and the Left have been killed. The toll continues to rise daily. There is a two-pronged attack – one is led by the TMC combine and the other by the Maoists. The TMC-Maoist collaboration is an open fact. The Congress party acts as a junior partner of the TMC and its ministers in the Union Cabinet seek to cover-up the TMC leaders’ pro-Maoist stance.

Why is there such an attack on West Bengal? West Bengal is the strongest base of the CPI(M) and the Left in the country. The Left Front government has existed for 33 years after winning seven successive assembly elections. The distribution of surplus land under land reforms in West Bengal constitutes 22 per cent of the total land distributed in the country. The gains made by the working class over the last three decades due to their organized movement are substantial. The Left Front government has stood with the working people and sought to protect their livelihood and living standards in the face of the neo-liberal policies pursued by successive governments in the last two decades. The attack on West Bengal represents an effort to weaken the Left Front which will help the ruling classes to consolidate their neo-liberal project.

On top of this, the role played by the CPI(M) and the Left in national politics in the last few years has been marked by two specific features. Firstly, the Left’s consistent opposition to the neo-liberal policies. This is seen as an obstacle to the realization of the goals set out by big business and the ruling classes. Secondly, the Left is the only force which opposes the strategic alliance with the United States which has been unfolding in the last one decade. It is this role of the Left which has invited the attack on its strongest base in West Bengal. Weakening the CPI(M) and the Left Front in West Bengal would mean weakening the fight against the neo-liberal policies which are being promoted under the aegis of the strategic tie up with the United States.

In West Bengal, the aim of the anti-Communist combine is to oust the Left Front government and reverse the progressive measures which have been taken over the last three decades. The old landed interests wish to rollback the land reforms and get their power restored.

West Bengal has an exemplary record of defending secularism and isolating the communal forces. Weakening the Left will be the precursor for the rise of the communal and sectarian politics. Already we have seen how the divisive forces and identity politics are being fostered by the anti-Left gang up – whether it be the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha or the Kamatapuri movement.

The targeting of the CPI(M) by the Maoists is part of the overall gameplan. The brutal killings of the CPI(M) members by the Maoist gangs are intended to cripple the Party in some of its strongest base – in West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. Those killed are Party members and supporters from the adivasis, school teachers, agricultural workers and poor peasants. In a recent incident on September 4, a school teacher who was a member of the CPI(M) local committee was dragged out of a class room in Salboni primary school where he was teaching children and shot dead. Even those who do not belong to the CPI(M) but refuse to cooperate with the Maoists are killed.

It is necessary to expose this brutality and vicious character of the Maoists – how they have become the instrument of the most reactionary and rightwing forces in West Bengal. The rally held in Lalgarh by Mamata Banerjee and the Maoists jointly on August 7 was a public display of this nefarious partnership.

The campaign to be conducted should expose those intellectuals, social activists and so-called civil libertarians who are supporting this murderous partnership. The likes of Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar are condoning the inhuman killings indulged in by the Maoist gangs by extending support to the Trinamul-Maoist gang-up. Many dubious NGOs are involved in this anti-Left enterprise. This is a common tactic of the rightwing forces, they enlist the support of the ultra-Left to provide a cover for their reactionary platform.

The campaign should highlight how the Party and the Left are fighting back this anti-Communist offensive in West Bengal. The CPI(M) is going amongst the people and is taking up their issues by launching movements and struggles. The Left Front government has initiated a number of measures to provide relief to the people suffering from price rise, unemployment and the agrarian crisis. Special attention is being paid to the poorest sections. In the areas affected by the Maoist violence, the people are mobilizing and resisting the Maoist depredations and intimidation. Thousands of people are now coming out in rallies and processions against the Maoists in the affected areas.

Though the Party and the Left have paid a heavy price with the loss of so many valuable comrades, their sacrifices will not go in vain. The CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal cannot be suppressed by killings and violent repression. The defence of the Left in West Bengal is the defence of the gains made by the working people.

It is incumbent upon the entire Party to go amongst the people and rally them against the attacks on the Party and the Left in West Bengal. We should explain how for the working class, the peasantry and all democratic sections of the people throughout the country, the defence of the West Bengal movement will be a defence of their own rights and movements.

PEOPLE’S MARCHES IN THE JANGAL MAHAL CONTINUE RELENTLESSLY - B Prasant

MARCHES of thousands of the villagers and townsfolk in the remotest and most corners of inaccessible jangal mahal in West Medinipur keep its flourish intact – and the rolling stream of the masses – the Red Flag-held high – continue its joyous sweep as the twenty-odd months of virtually siege-like conditions are finally lifted.

It was a very happy occasion for us veterans with advancing years to thrive and prosper on the occasion, and it was on 8 September. The place was Ramgarh. This is the cluster of villages amidst deep, dense forestry, where the killers, who call themselves ‘Maoists,’ had first committed the heinous crime of shooting and leaving to die painfully, muttering agonising but feeble cries for water to drink before passing away thence into history, the first martyr of a dark dawn, a CPI (M) worker and a poor peasant, Comrade Nandalal Pal.

The initial killing was followed by the taking of the lives in the cruellest manners imaginable of CPI(M) workers, and poor farmers all – Comrades Gopinath Murmu, Behari Bhunia, Sankar Hansda and Sankar Pal, all but Comrade Sankar Pal were members of different tribal communities. Many more such vile acts followed. Smell of terror hung over the villages as a pall of plague.

THE TERROR – NOW GONE

This is the place where the Trinamuli supremo had been driven around, a close week or so before, riding pillion to one of the PCAPA ‘leaders,’ on a motorbike, she back-slapping, as the TV cameras rolled, those very sinister creatures of the dim who had killed Comrade Nandalal.

The outpouring on 8 September of the poor and the toiling, the downtrodden and the anguished, the men, the women, the children, the victim and the ill, even the old and the infirm assured us that the jangal mahal would never ever be allowed to lapse back into a reign of terror, ever.

The moving scene for us was the moment when the Red Flag was hoisted and left fluttering in the breezy and hot summer-like conditions, under the intense blue of the open. That the process of the symbolic rally held afterwards at the very spot where the man-hunters had roamed even a fortnight back, made a great many of the marchers cry their hearts out in sobbing great tears openly, and not silently, was expected – but truth to tell, it was a rare occasion of basic emotional nature for us to witness the droplets of joy and relief roll down the gnarled cheeks of the old, and the taut faces of the young.

TRAGEDY - AND THE TRIUMPH

We recalled then with more-than-a-tinge of tragedy the manner in which the depradationists had run amuck for twenty long months, of the dark of the terror-filled days and death-ridden nights, here at Ramgarh area, for far too long this had gone, the villagers had decide then and there— and the CPI(M) had organised them as befitting a vanguard Party of the working class and the toiling masses.

The masses turned, no longer willing to be amidst the shadow of fear-- and the ‘Maoists’ were on the run - any police action was not in the calculation of the common of the dust and the dirt, the grass and the forest, the flower and the strongly-scented wild fruit. They were disgusted with the quality of low-life they had suffered and they chose to march, and the future, they knew, could only get worse, horribly, disturbingly, agonisingly so if they chose not to act and the time was now.

The local leadership of the CPI (M) told us in grave details the expected manner the attackers, complete with their baiters in such ‘political’ outfits as the Trinamulis, and the different gangs of common criminals (the ranks often merged into one another, we must put an interjecting note here, and their abetters in the ranks of the lurking former jotdars, smaller zamindars, and the money-lending sahukars) chose flight as the better part of valour. They fled, and fled and then fled again.

CELEBRATION- AND TEARS OF JOY

The villagers who crowded around in the rally came from the remotest hamlets with such quaint and to us, townsfolk, quite exotic names in their earthy linguistic deconstruction, tribal with each having a connation related to the tribal life at the centre of which remained the tree and the grass.

The villages were DhyangBhahara, Pitrakhuli, Balibandh, Patharnala, Belasole, Sitalpore, Neriah, Joaldanga, Birghasa, Shusunia, and Majurkata, and many others. During one of the sweeps, the villagers caught hold of the local criminal who had been made ill-famed by the left deviationists as ‘Bullet’ Mahato, his given name long buried in a mire of blood of martyrs. He was duly handed over to the police, untouched, unhandled but being forced to walk as a crowd of thousands looked intently at him, he with eyes low, shoulders in a stoop, walk reduced to a creep.

The marchers went on and rejoiced, sang, and danced, and beat up a storm of the resonance of the large kettle drum. We lingered behind, hope burgeoning, and despair in hasty, inglorious retreat. The people had spoken – the jangal mahal had given a grateful listen. Lalgarh is now at a distance of - a days’ worth of march - eight short kilometres.

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org