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Editorial |
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Maruti Workers’ Movement : Resisting Exploitation And Defending Democracy
The workers’ struggle at the Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant has, once again, exposed the ugly and exploitative underbelly of liberalised ‘growth.’ It reminds us that in the celebrated industrial enclaves of the national capital region, profit margins are extracted by abuse of contract labour laws, relentlessly exploitative work conditions – and above all by the brute suppression of the basic democratic right to organise and unionise....Full text
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Commentary |
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Modi’s Fast, Advani’s Rath –
Whitewash Can’t Hide Blood And Dirt
odi, with his 3-day fast for ‘harmony,’ was quick to capitalise on the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Gulberg Society massacre case – a verdict that was certainly disappointing to secular forces and minorities, though it was by no stretch a clean chit for Modi. His audacious fast was also boosted by World Bank’s praise and a US Congressional report projecting him as the BJP’s next PM candidate. All of a sudden, the BJP was claiming that with the SC sword no longer hanging on his head, Modi had shaken off the Gujarat genocide taint and was now officially Prime Minister material....Full text
Wikileaks Expose : ‘Watchdog’ CPI(M) Barked in Public, Wagged in Private
Kavita Krishnan
ables of US diplomats posted in India, made public by Wikileaks, throw an interesting light on the CPI(M)’s dealings with the US embassy, and CPI(M)’s relationship with the UPA Government in the crucial period between 2005-2008 when the CPI(M) had played the self-professed role of ‘watchdog’ which could not only bark but even bite (i.e pull down the Government by withdrawing support) if the UPA Government betrayed India’s interests in the name of ‘strategic partnership’ with the US. These cables reveal that the ‘watchdog’ not only refrained from biting, it even wagged its tail and received pats from the very same imperialist force against which it was supposed to be guarding the people!...Full text
CM Swap Yet Again in Uttarakhand
Indresh Maikhuri
With hardly six months left for the Uttarakhand Assembly elections, the ruling BJP has replaced the State’s Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ with BC Khanduri.
When the BJP came to power in 2007, Khanduri was made CM. When BJP lost all five seats of the State to the Congress in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Khanduri was removed, but replaced by Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’....Full text
The Janlokpal Movement: A Critical Assessment
Kavita Krishnan
With Anna Hazare’s fast over, it is time to revisit some of the debates over the direction and content of the anti-corruption movement. At the outset let us say that the Janlokpal movement (led by Anna Hazare) is one current (albeit the dominant current) in the anti-corruption movement. Instead of speaking of Anna and the anti-corruption movement as coterminous, we will seek to make a critical assessment of the Anna-led Janlokpal movement from the perspective of consistent democracy....Full text
Social Democratic Capitulation and the CPI(M)’s Decline: A Response to Prabhat Patnaik
Dipankar Bhattacharya
The crushing defeat suffered by the CPI(M)-led Left Front after an uninterrupted reign of 34 years in power in West Bengal has triggered renewed debates and considerable churning within Left circles in the country. The ruling classes and almost all major non-Left trends in Indian politics would love to treat this defeat as a veritable beginning of the end of the Left in India. Most voices within and around the Left have however rightly rejected this cry of bourgeois triumphalism....Full text
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Cover Feature |
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Maruti Workers’ Struggle
[AISA activists visited the workers on dharna at the Maruti’s Manesar plant several times. AISA President Sandeep Singh writes about one such visit. Inputs from Saptorshi and Agnitro.]
As they described how the assembly line of workers prepares a whole car in 40 seconds flat, scenes from Chaplin’s ‘Modern Times’ took shape before my eyes....Full text
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Working
Class |
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Towards 8th All-India Conference for AICCTU
Grasp the new dynamics of ongoing working class movement!
Strive for a planned expansion of our TU base!
The 8th All India Conference is due to be held in the second week of November, 2011 at steel city Bhilai, one of the important industrial centres of Chhattisgarh. The crucial point in this Conference is how to rise above the mere technical accomplishment of the conference and promote a new vision, along with achieving some new gains to justify the radical character of our TU centre. In this context let us start with 8th Party Congress Political-Organisational Report guideline:...Full text
ASHAs on Warpath:
A Counteroffensive Against
Neoliberal Labour Policy
The impressive ASHA rally of 5th September marks the culmination of serious organising efforts which merit some attention. So in addition to a brief report of the event we bring you here a state-level story submitted by an AICCTU leader who is also a senior co-convenor of the All India ASHA/SAHIYA Union, a block level experience sent by a leading AIPWA cadre and a perspective analysis from an editor of Liberation.
Delhi, 5 September 2011. Braving heavy downpour, thousands of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) from different states, notably Jharkhand, Assam (including Karbi Anglong), Bihar, and Uttarakhand, held a maha-dharna at Jantar Mantar near Parliament in New Delhi under the banners of All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) and All India ASHA/SAHIYA Association. This was the first ever national-level protest on behalf of more than 7 lakh ASHA workers. ...Full text
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Policy Watch |
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Draft LARR Bill 2011 : Seeking to Legalise Land Grab
(We are grateful for insights provided by Pranab De's note on the Draft LARR Bill 2011.)
airam Ramesh has been declaring that the LARR Bill, proposed to replace the notorious 1894 Land Acquisition Act, is a result of Rahul Gandhi’s deep concern and padyatra for farmers facing land grab. The truth is that even the original draft Bill seriously compromised farmers’ interests. But now the version of the Bill approved by the UPA Cabinet has backtracked even further....Full text
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Updates |
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Police Firing on Dalits in TN
Following the police firing on protesting Dalits at Paramakudi of Ramanathapuram district, Ilayangudi of Sivaganga district, Chinthamani of Madurai district (Southern Tamilnadu) on September 11, a CPIML fact-finding team visited the three districts on 19-20 September. The team visited all the victims’ villages, hospitals, police stations, offices of the Superintendent and Collector, and the places at Paramakudi and Ilayangudi, where firing took place. Members of the fact finding team included Balasundaram, State Secretary, CPIML, T Sankarapandian, State Vice-President AICCTU, Auvudaiappan, State Council Member, AIALA, Divya, State Committee Member of AISA, C Mathivanan, District Leading Team Secretary, Madurai, Jeeva, District in-charge, Sivagangai district, K G Desigan, Editorial Team Member of Orumaipadu (Solidarity).....Full text
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Cover |
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Protest Against Koodankulam Nuclear Plant
After Jaitapur, Idinthakari village in coastal Tamil Nadu is becoming an epicentre of huge protests against nuclear power plants. Here, 127 people from villages in Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts began an indefinite hunger strike on September 11 demanding closure of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) proposed here. It ended on the 11th day, after the agitation forced the TN Government to change its posture, and promised to get the project halted.....Full text
Spending More Than Rs 25 A day?
You’re Rich, According To Manmohan Singh!
[In September, the Planning Commission submitted an affidavit, approved by the Prime Minister’s Office, to the Supreme Court, laying down the norms for identifying BPL households. A person, the Planning Commission says, is rich if he or she spends more than Rs 25 a day in rural areas and Rs 32 a day in urban centres. ....Full text
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