ACTIVITIES
ANDHRA PRADESH
December 18 – Comrade VM Anniversary
ON the occasion of the 6 th death anniversary of Comrade Vinod Mishra, the AIALA unit of AP organized a state convention on “Land Reforms – Policies of the Government” at Vikram Hall, Rajahmundry, on December 18 th 2004.
State Convener of AIALA, Comrade B Bangar Rao presided over the convention in which more than 1500 people attended. Comrade N Murthy, State Secretary of CPI(ML) inaugurated the convention, and many leaders of AIKSS and AIALA addressed it.
Recently, after the Congress was sworn in to power in the state of AP, Chief Minister Rajasekhar Reddy started advocating distribution of lands to the rural poor. He had promised to distribute 1 lakh acres on 26th January. The land question is resurfacing in the state’s political arena as a people’s agenda. Our Party is championing this question in different districts of the state, more prominently in East Godavari district. The December 18 Convention passed the following resolutions:
Galvanised by a call given by the Convention, AIALA mobilized hundreds to submit mass petitions at MRO Offices at several mandals in the State, between 3 to 10 January, demanding the distribution of ceiling surplus, endowment and forest lands. January 20 th was observed as Demands Day on which rallies were held and mass memorandams will be submitted at district collectorates in Vijaywada, Elluru, Kakinada and Vishakhapatnam. At Elluru, the rally of 300 comprised mostly of women. During the demonstration, the Joint Collector came to discuss the issue with the demonstrators for 45 minutes. In Kakinada, too, the Joint Collector discussed the matter with the demonstrators for nearly three hours.
After a long gap several land struggles are being organized in Chatrai, Musunuru, A.Konduru and Visannapeta mandals of West Krishna district in the backdrop of the government's assurance of distribution of lands to the landless poor. Rajasekhar Reddy's government claimed that they have distributed 1lakh acres of land by January 26th all over the state but the reality is that most of the lands under the illegal occupation of landlords remain untouched. In the first phase of distribution, the government declared that they have distributed 3000 acres in Krishna district. Most of the lands distributed by the govt. are banjar lands and assigned lands which are still under the occupation of landlords. Our organisation started struggles at the very inception of the Congress govt., demanding the distribution of ceiling- surplus, endowment, govt, and forest banjar lands as well as lands for house sites. Rallies, dharnas, siege around M.R.O offices were the common forms of struggles under the banner of CPI(ML) and AIALA. We created such a pressure that govt. officials, right from joint collector to MROs, were bound to inspect the lands and land records and had to admit the lacunae of revenue dept. Below we give a couple of examples.
Surepalli village in Musunuru mandal which lies in Nuziveedu revenue division was once a citadel of the CPI. We came to prominence in the media after we launched our land movement here. In 1993, when the Congress was in power, 50 acres of land was distributed by the government to 100 members belonging to dalit and BC communities. Land pattas were distributed but land was not given. Even during the TDP regime, people approached revenue officials and TDP politicians requesting them to handover the lands but nothing happened. Eventually, people under the banner of our organisation submitted memorandums, conducted dharnas and protest rallies demanding that the land be surveyed and handed over to the people. Due to people’s movement, the RDO ordered a land survey. On the day when people were waiting for revenue officials to come for the survey the landlords attacked our leaders D. Pullarao and K. Janardan and 10 other activists. When this news came to the village which is far away from the field, people marched to rescue the leaders. After seeing the people the landlords and their goondas fled away. Taking this issue the RDO office at Nuziveedu was gheroed demanding arrest of the culprits and they were arrested. Even after this incident the land was not surveyed and ultimately people decided to occupy the land and the land was seized. Now the land is under people's possession.
Under the banner of CPI(ML) and AIALA, the people of Marribandam village of Chatrai mandal of Krishna district started movement over 11 acres of ceiling surplus land of an absentee land lord of West Godavari district. The landlord initially surrendered this land and later brought stay order from the High Court. When we started the movement on this land by mobilising SCs and STs of the village, the officials dragged the issue on the plea of court stay. Then we continued the movement demanding that the government take steps to get the stay vacated. In the mean time, we came to know that the court had already vacated the stay but the officials were concealing this as they colluded with the landlord. Then we gave a call to occupy the land and 300 people with red flags marched into the land and seized it. Then we pressurised the sub-collector by conducting dharna. Then the RDO came to the village and inspected the lands. Later on 26th January pattas were distributed according to the list recommended by our Party.
-- N.Murthy
The Assam State Committee of the Party organized a protest demonstration in Guwahati on 24 January, 2005 and sent a memorandum to the Governor, Jharkhand demanding CBI enquiry into the Killing of Comrade Mahendra Prashad Singh and arrest and removal of Giridih SP Deepak Verma and capital punishment to the killers. The demonstrators brought out a procession from Judges Field and marched to the DC office and handed over the memorandum. Party’s PB member Comrade Rubul Sarma along with other state leaders participated in the demonstration.
Similarly, protest demonstrations were held at Tinsukia on 19th January and at Bargang on 21st January. In Tinsukia, apart from sending memorandum, the demonstrators burnt the effigy of Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda.
Asam Sangrami Chah Sramik Sangha (ASCSS) held a state-level cadre meet at Nagaon on 18th January, which was attended by more than 70 cadres from around 30 tea gardens covering Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Jorhat, Nagaon and Sonitpur. It was conducted by Vice-President of ASCSS Com. Gongaram Koll and a document was placed by Com Vibek Das, Genreral Secretary, ASCSS. The programme was also attended by AICCTU State Secretary Com. Subhas Sen, CPI(ML) PB Member Com. Rubul Sarma and State Committee Member Arup Kr. Mahanta. The meeting vehemently condemned the barbaric killing of Com. Mahendra Singh.
The meeting raised two major demands of minimum wage of Rs. 75/- and homogeneity of electricity bills of tea workers along with other outstanding demands like Sunday wages etc. It decided to organize circle and block-level cadre meets in the month of February, hold district-level protests in March, and a massive protest prgramme at Guwahati in March. The meeting decided to make the forthcoming AICCTU national conference and the mass rally a success.
A two-day cadre convention of gramin sramik on 11 & 12 February, at Pathsala discussed the situation and different problems of blocks and panchayats. It was attended by 187 delegates from Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Nagaon, Silchar, Kamrup, Cachar, Bagsa and Cachar districts of the state. A massive procession and a mass meeting was held on the first day, that was addressed by state secretary Comrade Rubul Sarma and stressed on developing struggling unity of working people at grass root level and called upon to come out for political change. He said that this is the only way to achieve unity and integrity of the society, and give a befitting rebuff to the divisive and fascist forces.
The conference unanimously adopted the report and resolved to plan a course of agitation. It elected a 13-member state executive committee taking Shyamanta Acharya as the President and Robin Goswami as the Secretary.
The conference resolved to launch a movement against the anti-people, anti-poor policy of the Cong(I) govt, holding a Protest March to Dispur on 28 March. The conference resolved to concentrate in 13 blocks of the state and enroll 10,000 members in every block. --
-- Naren Borah
PONDICHERRY
A Fact Finding Team (FFT) of Pondicherry unit of the Party comprising Comrades Shankar, CCM, Balasubramanian, State Secretarty, SLTMs Sankaran and Motilal along with Dr. Shiva, a journalist Mr.Charles and Comrade Poarkodi visited Tsunami affected areas of the state on 25-26 January. The team investigated the fallacy of claims of relief operations of the Congress government at the State and at the Centre. The government is sitting tight but for making some announcements while leaving the entire relief activities to a group of voluntary and church-related organizations. The amount of compensation for catamarans and small boats is very meager; the houses are not yet built; a vast section of non-fishermen who are seriously affected no less than fishermen are completely left out of the purview of relief operations; people are being evacuated from their own land while the entire coastal areas are left to all kinds of commercial and business activities; and the list of such grievances is endless. FFT of the Party has demanded immediate disbursement of Rs.3000/pm to all victims, including fishing workers, agrarian labourers and small peasants, irrespective of whether they are fishermen or not, sufficient compensation for loss of small boats and catamarans, recognition of the people’s right to the land and stopping rampant commercialization of sea shore in the pretext of Tsunami, speedy construction of houses to each victims’ families, constructing safe and strong community shelters in case of any emergency and exigencies, special scholarships to the children of Tsunami victims, guaranteeing employment to, at least, one person in a family to begin with, etc., were the major demands articulated by the FFT. CPI(ML) also decided to organize a People’s Court where charge-sheets against the government will be filed by the victims and a Rasta Roko if the government failed to respond to the people’s demands. -- Shankar
The Pondicherry state unit of AIPWA took out a rally of more than 500 fisherwomen on February 3, 2005 to press the following demands of tsunami-affected women of Pondicherry state. The rally started from the statue of Comrade Singaravelu (a veteran fisherman communist leader and founder of the communist party in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry) and ended with a demonstration in front of Directorate of Fisheries. The rally was presided by Comrade L. Latha Valentina, State President with presence of Comrade B. Banu, National Councilor.
The protestors demanded p ayment of Rs. 3000 per month along with 20 kgs rice and ten litres of Kerosene to all Tsunami-affected fish-vending women from Jan 05 onwards; arrangement of alternate employment; payment of compensation of Rs. 1 lakh to all widowed and destitute women who were affected by the Tsunami; a deposit of 10 lakh rupees to female orphaned children; a liberal loan of Rs. 50,000 for all fish vending women; and special medical care and nutrition to all Tsunami-affected women and children.
Com.S.Balasubramanian, State Secretary CPI(ML) and other comrades addressed the demonstrating women. A memorandum was submitted on the eve of the demonstration. Following the demonstration the Chief Minister of Pondicherry announced Rs 1000 as relief for each fisher woman. This is a unique experience of addressing the problems of Tsunami-affected fisher women as an exclusive category, perhaps the only one in entire South India.
Agricultural labourers virtually forced the district collector of Nagapattinam to meet their demands. Around 2000 workers blocked the traffic for more than 3 hours and gheraoed the Sirkali Tahasildar office and officials for hours together over their just demands. As the busy traffic, connecting Tanjore and Chidambaram towns collapsed, the district administration had no other go but conceding the just demands of the workers led by the AIALA. The Tsunami-ravaged district witnessed several agitations from 3 rd January onwards. The 4 th Feb. gherao organized and led by AIALA was the latest one which had a wide impact as it forced the district collector to intervene directly and concede the labourers’ demands.
Even 40 days after the Tsunami, the district administration, under the direct guidance of the state administration, could neither alleviate nor rebuild the lives of the affected people. But Chief Minister Jayalalithaa asserted in the state assembly that 2 phases of relief and rehabilitation were over. Along the coastal line of the district, apart from the worst-hit fishing hamlets agricultural labourers and poor peasants were also badly hit. Of the 22 villages affected in the Sirkali Taluk alone thousands of agricultural laboures and peasants were affected. Lands became salty – more than 2500 hectars – and thousands of farm hands were rendered jobless. This was overlooked by the administration and this has been forcefully brought out by us in the course of our relief activities.
As decided by the CPIML district committee a convention was organized in Poomphuhar on 29 th of January. In this convention around 150 representatives agricultural labourers and poor peasants took part. The convention decided to observe a mass dharna to press their demands. But the massive response and the militant mood of the labourers turned it into a road blockade and ghearo. Labourers from 5 panchayats – Perunthottam, Vanagiri, Thirumullaivasal, Thennampattinam and Poombuhar – (18 villages) rallied in the agitation. The Sangam put forward demands of Rs.2000 and 60 Kg rice for each affected family; implementation of food-for-work scheme in every panchayats; and reclamation of land and compensation to the peasants. After the repeated talks with the RDO and Thasildar failed the masses were in no mood to go back and finally the Collector had to intervene. Talking over Cell phone with the AIALA leaders he pleaded that the government had wound up the relief operations and the cash relief couldn’t be met but assessment of the land loss would be undertaken. Finally, he promised on his own that each affected family would be provided 20 kgs rice and work under the food-for-work scheme (worth Rs. 15,00,000 for every panchayat) under the supervision of the Sangam. This assurance was given in writing by the local officials. The RDO and the Sangam leaders signed the paper. The agitation was led by AIALA leaders, Comrades Gunasegaran, Ilangovan, Abimannan, and TKS Janarthnan.
As per the agreement, about 60 tones of rice given by the government is being distributed to the people by the AIALA activists themselves. In every village each affected family is being supplied. Disturbed by the success and impact of the agitation the CPI(M) instructed its agricultural labour wing to go for a road blockade programme. But it became a damp squib. They couldn’t moblise 2000 from all over the district. We were able to regain the ground in the eastern part of the taluk. On 20 th Feb. a meeting vanguards was organized in two panchayats. At the end of the meeting membership campaign was launched. Around 1500 membership has been ensured.
– Balasundaram.
Tamil Nadu is witnessing strike after strike in the textile belt of Tamil Nadu, interestingly by job-working, small powerloom owners. The strike series started with Pallipalayam of Namakkal district at the end of December, followed by small powerloom owners of Somanur and Palladam areas of Coimbatore district in January. Kumarapalayam of Namakkal district followed suit in February. Around 20000 to 30000 small powerloom owners were involved in the strike while around 2 lakh workers were affected by the strike.
AICCTU intervened in the Pallipalayam strike with the demands wage hike for workers and 3 of our workers, including Venkatesan, DCM were arrested in the process. In Coimbatore, AICCTU organized a poster and leaflet campaign.
In Kumarapalayam, small powerloom owners were on strike from Jan.31 to Feb.8, demanding 50 percent increase in existing rates of Rs.4.75 per metre given by big manufacturers and big traders who control the entire industry by supplying yarn to the job-working units. AICCTU demanded for workers 50 percent of what the job-working, small powerloom owners would get and also a temporary relief of Rs.50 per day from the government if the strike continued for long. There are about 40,000 powerlooms in the area and more than 80% of them are functioning as job working units.
The demonstration on 4 February by AICCTU, extending support to striking powerloom units and demanding wage hike and relief for workers, was well attended. A subsequent public meeting on 6 Feb., with the same demands, received a huge response and more than 500 workers participated in it. Workers led by AICCTU were active since 4 Feb, conducting street-corner meetings and various other forms of struggle. The demonstration and the public meeting were addressed by AICCTU all India Secretary N.K.Natarajan, State Secetary Govindarajan along with the district leaders Subramanian, Saravanan, Kandasamy, Murugan, Kathiravan and Thenmozhi and was presided over by Manickam.
Small powerloom owners ended the 9-day-long strike on the night of 8 February and settled at an increase of 33 paise per metre (a mere 7%), which was much less than their original demand of 50% while workers continued the strike demanding their share since the next morning. On 9 February, a huge gathering of workers was addressed by N.K.Natarajan and Govindarajan of AICCTU along with CITU and AITUC leaders. While powerloom units were open waiting for workers, workers were out on streets enforcing the strike call. On the 10 th, AICCTU’s tactics of forcing small owners of the area of its stronghold to accept a wage increase and then to force others in outer areas, paid dividends. On 11 th, small owners association of other areas having a membership of more than 500, ironically the originators of the strike call, refused to relent and workers continued strike along with demonstrations and street-corner meetings. Police intervened in favour of employers and around 5 of our comrades were arrested for enforcing the strike call. More than 500 workers rallied in front of the police station demanding the release of arrested workers. Timely intervention and shrewd tactics adopted by AICCTU forced the employers of other areas to come to the negotiating table in the presence of police officials. On 12 th, the employers had to accept workers demand of 10 paise per metre (30% of the original demand) and the strike concluded, for the first time in the history of our struggles in the area, with an agreement involving our union. Moreover, it was the first wage struggle in the last 9 years.
CITU’s opportunism got seriously exposed in the whole process. Without sacrificing independent assertion of working class we are also open for justified adjustments with the small owners who are oppressed by big manufacturers in contrast to CITU’s approach of class collaborationism that sacrifices workers’ interest at the altar of the slogan of saving the industry. In fact, they started only with unconditional, uncritical support to small owners strike and then changed their position because of popular pressure and our position of advocating workers’ demands.
The hard fact that workers had to wage such a valiant struggle and lose 13 days of wages merely for an increase of a maximum of Rs.2 per loom per day and Rs.4 per worker per day that cannot even cover tea expenses, that too such a small increase in wages after 9 long years, is a telling commentary on the inhuman, cruel nature of the distorted development of capitalism in our country.
A seminar was held on 13 February at Karur, an industrial district predominated by textiles, on ‘Textile crisis and the future of the workers of Karur’. Tailors dominate the textile industry as the town was focusing on manufacturing varieties of home furnishings meant primarily for exports. Next to Tiruppur, Karur is a town well connected with international markets and having an exceptionally higher number of exporters, running into few hundreds, relying on the textile belt of western region of TN.
The seminar passed resolutions demanding a minimum wage of Rs.6000/ for tailors, making 8 hours work mandatory and payment of overtime wages for hours worked more than 8 hours, withdrawal of proposals for anti-worker amendments in the labour welfare acts, issuing ID cards and ESI, PF facilities to workers. The seminar also criticized the MLAs and MPs of the district for their pro-industrialist and anti-worker stand on various issues and threatened to boycott them if they continue with their indifference towards workers issues.
The Party has taken the initiative of floating a trade union; the seminar was addressed by Kumarasamy, CCM, N.K.Natarajan, National secretary of AICCTU along with Karur leaders M.Ramasamy, Chandrasekar and Murugesan. The seminar was presided over by the District Secretary Ramachandran.
-- N.K.Natarajan
On Jan 23, workers of Ashok Leyland, MRF, Carborandum, Wimco, Simpson and students and youth from Manali and fisher folk joined hands in solidarity, in the Inaugural Conference of Thiruvotriyur Solidarity Council. Earlier, workers under the banner of Solidarity Forum reached out to the Tsunami-affected. Solidarity is a popular workers’ magazine brought out by the AICCTU and Solidarity Forum is mainly a readers’ forum which acts like a radical political forum among the workers.
In the past, managements like MRF used the fisher folk to break their workers’ struggles. Conscious working class vanguards of Thiruvotriyur, made consistent efforts to cultivate fraternal relationship with the fisher folk and dalits of the area, whose militancy had been regularly used for other reactionary purposes by the rich. Our powerful organized Tsunami relief work and regular interaction with these communities has brought about this desirable change.
Another significant aspect is that the participation of students and youth and women touched a hundred. This student-youth section staged a satire on communalism which was well received by the audience. Another professional group staged a play "Tsunamis and Benamis" centred on events around Sankaracharya's arrest, the callous attitude of the Manmohan, Jayalalitha Govts towards the Tsunami-affected, and the rulers who are greater evils than Tsunamis.
Now the organised workers,
who first reached out to the Tsunami-affected are on a campaign to organise the unorganised construction labour. Their target is to recruit 500 members and
obtain 5000 signatures demanding pension for construction Labour. They have started this work on 13th February and recruited 100 members. They have again
planned to organise the poorer sections on the issue of reduced supply of Kerosene in ration shops. The governments which are boasting of huge cellphone and gas cylinder connections have reduced the supply of Kerosene to 6000 litres from 10000 litres for 1000 Ration Cards.
The very idea of this solidarity forum is to strike at sectarianism. It does not recruit individual members. It does not affiliate unions like a federation. It is now unifying various forums which are functioning in the independent factory-based unions of North Madras. It is practicing united front tactics. AICCTU Thiruvotriyur Workers Welfare Forum, Carborandum, MRF Thozhilalr Seeramippu Iyakkam and Ashok Leyland Thozhilalar Jananayaga Munnani are the prime movers behind this solidarity forum.
Classes are now planned in all the constituent organizations. Attempts are made to rope in many more forums from other factories. Now, after a few months of regular and systematic work in the industrial area of Thoruvotriyur, some 20 workers have joined the party.
--S.Kumarasamy
On 11 January 1948, two brave comrades – Nagendra Saklani and Molu Bhardari, were killed after having challenged the reign of the King of the Tehri ‘Princely’ Estate. They were freedom fighters, who, having chased out the British, were fighting for freedom from monarchic rule in Tehri. Their martyrdom sparked off a heroic struggle led by Comrade Chandra Singh Garhwali, which was the last nail in the coffin of the Tehri monarchy.
On the martyrdom day of these comrades, activists of CPI(ML) and AISA in Srinagar, Uttarakhand, held a seminar titled. “Uttarakhand Politics Needs a Left Direction”. The main speaker at the Seminar was Comrade Raja Bahuguna, who pointed out that the BJP was trying to hijack the legacy of Comrade Nagendra. But who can forget that Comrade Nagendra Saklani’s killer – the former ‘Maharaja’ Manavendra Shah – was elected to Parliament, first by Congress and then on a BJP ticket.
The seminar was preceded by a padyatra in the villages around Srinagar and Kirtinagar, singing revolutionary songs and addressing street-corner meetings.
On 9-10 February, the CPI(ML), Weavers’ Association, and Agrarian Labourers’ Association together held a two-day dharna at the Banaras District Collectorate, demanding the formation of a Land Commission in UP, guaranteed employment and an end to starvation deaths, steps to secure land for landless and tribal people, which has been illegally occupied.
The main speaker at the dharna was CPI(ML) Poliburo Member Akhilendra Pratap Singh, who pointed out that thanks to the anti-people, jobless model of the State’s economic policies, workers were reduced to starvation, farmers to suicide and youth to self-immolation. For these deaths, he said the State Government ought to be held responsible.
The dharna also demanded the immediate release of the CPI(ML) activists arrested at Lakhimpur Kheri and the withdrawal of the draconian Gangster Act and Goonda Act cases against young CPI(ML) leaders in that district.