Category Archives: General

Sangharsh Sandesh Jathas by CPI(M)

23 Saturday Feb 2013

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The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is conducting a Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha which will traverse the length and breadth of the country. Four main jathas will start from Kanyakumari, Kolkata, Mumbai and Amritsar to Delhi. At the conclusion of these jathas, there will be a massive rally at Delhi on March 19 at Ramlila Maidan.

The purpose of the jatha is to highlight some of the main problems and issues facing the people and to set out alternative policies advocated by the CPI(M). The policies of the UPA government at the Centre have resulted in continuous price rise, agrarian distress, growing unemployment and massive corruption. There is no difference between the Congress and the BJP as far as their basic policies are concerned.

The jathas will call for people’s unity to struggle for their basic rights, against communalism and to demand a reversal of the disastrous economic policies being followed by both the Congress and the BJP. The jatha will focus on the following areas:

1) Right to Land and House-sites: Implement land reform policies by distributing surplus land to the landless. Guarantee house-sites to each landless household.

2) Curb Price Rise and Right to Food: Universal right to 35 kgs of foodgrains at a maximum price of rupees two a kg. Scrap APL/BPL based fraudulent poverty calculations. Stop forward trading in foodgrains and other essential commodities.

3) Right to Education and Health: Stop privatisation of educational and health services. Increase allocations for education and health. Guarantee implementation of the Right to Education Act. Strengthen public services in health and ensure strict regulation of the private sector.

4) Right to Employment: Step up public investment to ensure creation of jobs; lift the ban on recruitment and ensure time-bound recruitment for all vacancies, particularly for SC/ST/OBC backlog; increase days of work under NREGA with price index linked minimum wages and expand it to include guarantee of work days in urban India.

5) Ensure Social Justice and Rights of Women : Curb violence against women and provide one-third reservation for women in legislatures and Parliament; end social practices of untouchability and discrimination against dalits; protect the land and forest rights of adivasis; provision of equal opportunities in education and jobs for the Muslim community.

6) End Corruption: Enact Lokpal legislation with independent powers of investigation; bring back black money stashed in foreign banks; recover losses from the corporates responsible; send the corrupt to jail.

Programme of the Jathas:
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February 24 – launch of the Kanyakumari to Delhi jatha. This jatha will be led by S. Ramachandran Pillai and the team of leaders will consist of M. A. Baby, K. Varadharajan, V. Srinivasa Rao and Sudha Sundararaman.

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March 1 – Jatha will start from Kolkata to Delhi. This jatha will be led by Prakash Karat and the team of leaders will consist of Biman Basu, Jogendra Sharma, Subhashini Ali and J. S. Majumdar.

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March 4 – Jatha will start from Jalianwalabagh in Amritsar to Delhi. This jatha will be led by Brinda Karat and the team of leaders will consist of Hannan Mollah, Inderjeet Singh and Rajendra Sharma.

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March 8 – Jatha will start from Mumbai to Delhi. This jatha will be led by Sitaram Yechury and the team of leaders will consist of Nilotpal Basu, Mohd. Salim and Mariam Dhawale.

The Kanyakumari jatha will be flagged off on February 24 by the General Secretary Prakash Karat.

Linking Jathas

From Guwahati (Assam), there will be a jatha to Kolkata starting on February 23. This jatha will be flagged off by Manik Sarkar, member of the Polit Bureau.

From Paralakhemundi (Odisha), there will be a jatha to Kolkata starting on February 24.

From Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), there will be a jatha to Chandigarh starting on March 3.

From Bhavnagar (Gujarat), there will be a jatha to Indore starting on March 6.

During this period, there will be various sub jathas conducted within the states that will link up to the main jathas.

Mobile loss – a Calicut experience

23 Saturday Feb 2013

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It was an interesting experience. My son Shaji and me had gone to the SBI Branch, Calicut for getting an ATM card for him. After submiting the application, we took an auto riksha to go to SBI Branch at Kallai, about 8 kms from the town for settling a loan taken earlier. We paid the auto and started for the Bank. After two-three minutes, Shaji told me that his mobile phone is missing and probably it was forgotten in the auto while getting down. We rushed back to the road, but the auto has already gone. We waited there for some time. Then we went to the nearby auto stand to find out whether the auto was there. But no sign of it.
We tried calling the missing telephone. Ring was going, but nobody took the phone. Number of times we called but still No reply.
It was a costly mobile but more costly were the information in it. Immediately we came back to the city and filed a compalint in the Town Police Station.They passed the complaint to the concerned Police Station.
Calicut has a tradition of missed things being returned by the auto drivers. Though fully not convinced myself, I told my son that there is every chance that the mobile will be got returned. Some times the drivers hand over such missed articles to the Union offices. Hence I contacted the Secretaries of CITU and INTUC, Com.T.Dasan and Advocate M.Rajan respectively and requested to help. All of us were together in the workers movement here and it was a pleasure to speak to them. They were also happy to speak to me. Both of them assured that the mobile may be found out by evening or tomorrow. It gave some relief to us, though we were not much hopeful.
After half-an hour again we rang the lost mobile number. Somebody answered. My son told him that it is his telephone which was lost in auto. The person at the other end told that he is speaking from the City Traffic police station and the mobile is with him. We rushed back to the Traffic Police Station. The constable on duty asked us about the details of the mobile as also how we lost it. Getting convinced he handed over the phone to us. He told that one auto driver Mr. Mahendran has brought the mobile to the Police Station and had handed over the same stating that some body has forgotten to take his mobile and he found it later.
We thanked the police and returned. I called the number of Mr. Mahendran, auto driver and expressed our thanks and wanted to meet him and thank in person. He said that it was not at all necessary and he was in another part of the town at that time. And so, we could not meet him.
Within 3-4 hours of the loss, we got it back. When we told our friends here, they said it is not a surprise at all. They cited many cases where the auto drivers have returned such missed things either to the police or to their union offices.
Our experience in both the police stations were much helpful. The honesty of the auto-driver is also much appreciated.
I am very much happy that Calicut, even after becoming a big city, is keeping its tradition by the auto-drivers. Not only that they ply wherever the customer wants to go, but also they charge exactly what the meter shows and they return the missed things to the owners. Congratulations and thanks to you all for such good service.

We strongly condemn the Hyderabad blasts

22 Friday Feb 2013

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We express our strong condemnation and protest at the bomb blasts in Hyderabad city yesterday, February 21. By the method of the operation and the experience of previous such attacks,it is clear that this is done by terrorist groups. 15 people have lost their precious lives and more than 60 people have been injured, some of them very seriously. We express our heartfelt sorrow and convey our condolences to the bereaved families and injured.
It is reported that the Centre has received warnings about the attack and the same have been conveyed to the state government. Despite prior intimation, this has happened.
The Central and State governments should thoroughly enquire in the matter and catch the culprits and punish them. It is also very important that utmost vigil is stepped up to ensure that such ghastly attacks do not occur in future.

Strike continues for the second day

21 Thursday Feb 2013

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The 48 hours strike on the first day, 20th February was unprecedented as per the Central trade unions who called for the strike.The strike had its affects through out the country on the first day itself.
The strike is continuing for the second day, 21st February. It is expected that some more workers may join the strike.
The 2 days strike is a strong weapon against the neo-liberal policies that the government is continuing.The struggle will continue even after the strike.

Budget Session of Parliament starts on 21st February.

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

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The Budget Session of the Parliament will start on 21st February and will end on 10th May 2013.
This session will be stormy and eventful since a lot of issues of controversy are going to be taken up including the PFRDA Bill. The session is starting on the second day of the strike and the same will be raised by the opposition. The rampant corruption once again revealed in the Choppergate scandal is going to rock the Parliament.

National Capital New Delhi completes 82 years

10 Sunday Feb 2013

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82 years is a long period in the life of an individual, but not in the case of cities. They sometimes survive thousands of years, unless some natural calamity overtakes them or is attacked and destroyed.
Delhi is an old city, which has been the capital of seven mighty empires, if not more, according to historians, the last being the Moghul Empire. But not New Delhi. It is a new city built by the British during their regime.
Calcutta was the capital of British Empire in India till 1931. During the Delhi Durbar in 1911, in which the kings and other rulers all over the country reached Delhi to pay respects and honour the King of England, the Emperor of India, the Emperor decalred that the future capital will be Delhi. The work for the new capital was started immediately and was completed by 1927 or so. The capital was shifted to New Delhi, the new city, on 10th/13th February 1931.
Since the planning and construction of New Delhi was under the supervision of Sir Lueton, famous British Architect, New Delhi is called Luetons city also.
New Delhi is a beautiful planned city, with a lot of historic buildings, parks, business centres like Connaught Place etc. But during the last few decades, the population has increased many times and city has become congested.The population is increasing every day with people from all over the country coming and settling. And it is said, that once you start staying at Delhi, you naturally settle there, despite the severe cold and heat. Once you are in Delhi, you love it.
New Delhi has completed 82 years as the capital of the country. And there is no scope for any change for many many years.

Meeting with a senior comrade

05 Tuesday Feb 2013

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After reaching Kannur to attend the AIBDPA meeting today, I thought that I will visit a senior comrade of Postal Union, who in fact advised me to enter P and T Department.
Along with Coms. Ananta Kumar Bhattacharjee, President, AIBDPA, P.V.Chandrasekharan and my wife, I went to the house of Com. Narayanan, retired Postmaster, which is in the centre of the Kannur town itself. He was very happy to meet all of us. He is 91 now and still keeps good health for that age. His wife, daughter and son-in-law, all of them welcomed us warmly.We had good coffee and tasty biscuits also. We talked about the old days.
Com.Narayanan Master was the Post Master of Mattanur at that time when I was working as a teacher in a nearby school. One day he told me that applications have been called for jobs in P and T by the Postmaster General and advised me to apply. I applied for all the four arms, viz. Postal, RMS, Telephones and also Telegraph. I got intimation having been selected for all, since marks alone was the criteria for selection. When I asked Narayanan Master to advise me which post to select, he said that the best selection will be telephones since it is the fast growing sector. Accordingly I selected the same. Within a few days I got the telegram to join the training class and joined duty after training. And the advice given to me was the best, as I experienced later.
When we were returning Master came till the road. He waved his hands in farewell when the car started moving.
Thank YOU Comrade! We will meet next time again when I visit Kannur.

Implement Verma Committee Recommendations

04 Monday Feb 2013

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The half-hearted decision of the government is very clear from the Ordinance that is issued by it after Justice Verma Commission submitted its report. Verma Commission has clearly pointed out certain decisions that has to be taken by the government with regard to the crimes of sexual assault and connected matters. But many important recommendations have been shelved by the government. All the womens organisations as also Left parties have objected to the present ordinance.
The issue will certainly be raised in the Parliament. The government should come forward to hear the opinions of vaious political parties, womens’ organisations etc. and then pass a strong bill to curb the gender discrimination and sexual assaults.

Cold and Hot – India is a nation of diversity

04 Monday Feb 2013

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I started in the early morning from Delhi to Calicut in Kerala. It was cold, not very cold, in Delhi. After 7 hours I reached Calicut. The moment we came out of the plane, it was hot, really very hot.
India is a large country and when one end is cold, the other end is hot. Though Hindi is the National language and the majority of the people know Hindi, the mother tongue of many states is different like Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Teleugu, Panjabi, Bengali etc. The culture is different. Almost people of all the religions in the world reside here. There is no dearth of temples, mosques, Churches, Gurudwaras and other religious centres.India has got a very glorious past going back to thousands of years.
But what is the present position. Intolerance to other religions and different opinions, high level corruption, attacks on women, influence of black-money – the list is long. A change for the better is required. Whether this government will do anything rectify and improve the situation? The chance is very less. A mass movement by the people and working class is essential for the same.

Women’s Oganisations oppose Ordinance on seelective approach

03 Sunday Feb 2013

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New Delhi, February 2: National Women’s Organisations jointly issued the following statement:

The undersigned women’s organizations oppose the selective approach of the Government to the Verma Committee recommendations, which negates the democratic process that has preceded its preparation.

The Govt. should have adopted a holistic approach to the Verma Committee report, which is comprehensive, and multifaceted; the present piecemeal, and fragmented ordinance can only serve to sabotage the intention of providing recourse to victims of violence.

Some significant amendments concerning culpability of the state, punishment to officers, including those with command responsibility, the issue of bringing the army personnel under the jurisdiction of criminal law, have been excluded from the ordinance. The violence suffered by women in conflict situations are also exempted. Issues of sexual autonomy, the rights of women not be raped within marriage, the concerns of those with alternative sexualities, have been ignored. The discussions around the death penalty which led to the Verma committee not including it in the recommendations have not been considered. These clearly show that the Government has not done justice to the report on these important aspects.

While the Verma Committee recommended that rape should be made gender specific, this has not been accepted in the ordnance, which dilutes the seriousness of the crime against women substantially. Women’s organizations were also petitioning the Govt to strengthen certain provisions to ensure time bound trial, proper rehabilitation, and inclusion of aggravated assault for crimes against the oppressed castes and classes. The additional exploitation faced by dalit adivasis, economically backward sections should also be included.

It would have been better for the Government to move for amendments in Parliament keeping in mind the holistic perspective that has bd calses jhhas to be addreses by theeen an important feature of the Verma Committee recommendations. Such a democratic exercise is still necessary. We call on the Govt to review the ordinance, and adopt a more comprehensive approach to the Verma Committee Report..

(Sudha Sundararaman)–All India Democratic Women’s Association, (Sheela Kakde) — All India Women’s Conference , (Dr. Indu Agnihotri) — Centre for Women’s Development Studies, (Jyotsna Chatterjee) — Joint Women’s , Programme, (Dr. Mohini Giri) – — Guild of Service, (Vimal Thorat) — All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch , (Annie Raja) — National Federation Of Indian Women, (Azra Abidi) — Muslim Women’s Forum , (Leila Passah) Young Women’s Christian Association of India.