DEVELOPMENT GOES ON UNABATED IN JANGAL MAHAL

‘MAOIST’ VIOLENCE NOTWITHSTANDING

When the Home Minister came to Kolkata to meet the chief ministers of Bengal, Orissa, and Jharkhand over the modus operandi to “tackle ‘Maoist’ violence,” Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee handed over to him a slim document that summed up the continuity of developmental work going on relentlessly, with the welfare of the poor firmly in sight, in the violence-affected jangal mahal.

We can briefly summarise the basic premises of the six page document, thus.

1. The expenditure of allocated amount of REGA for Midnapore west has increased by nearly 98% from 2008 to 2009 with an additional creation of close to 85% of man-days

2. In Purulia the concomitant figures are respectively close to 147%, and 180%

3. In Bankura by the same criteria, the figures that are arrived at are 80% and 94%

4. There has been a doubling or more of expenditure in the supply of potable water with other allocations for development of the supply-related infrastructure in these districts

5. The laal maati or red clay area has seen in this period creation of nearly 800 km of pucca and metalled road with 275 km about to be completed as an additional component.

6. Until December of last year, more than 30 thousand of the poor have been in receipt of shelter under the Awas Yojana

7. 50 thousand ST elderly have received pension as members of the BPL

8. Nearly 14 thousand forest patta have been distributed

9. The total amount of land under pattadari thus reaches 5300 acres

10. The three red clay districts witness the successful running of 74 ICDS projects afresh plus 18 thousand Anganwadi Kendras

The document clearly shows how the pro-poor developmental efforts could be carries on relentlessly by the popular Bengal Left Front government despite obstacles of every kind having been thrown on the path of progress, and the bourgeois media have been at their best (worst?) trying spread canards about how the red clay zones remain in the backwater of development(INN).

COMRADE RAM NARAYAN GOSWAMI (1934-2010) PASSES AWAY

BURDWAN,10th February,2010: Comrade Ram Narayan Goswami, former member of the central committee of the CPI (M) and a veteran of the all-India kisan movement passed away 9th February night at Burdwan. He has been ill for a long time with geriatric-related problems. Biman Basu, secretary of the Bengal CPI (M) and Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee have expressed their deep condolences at the passing away of the Communist veteran.

Born at a village near Naihati in what was then undivided 24 Parganas, comrade Goswami became associated with the Communist movement when a student at the Burdwan Raj college. He became a party member as far back as 1957. The same year saw him incarcerated by the then Congress government for his taking part in the historic food movement that swept Bengal.

As a CPI (M) leader from 1964, comrade Goswami acted as the confidential assistant to the late comrade Harekrishna Konar in the first UF government. By then, comrade Goswami had become a Party wholetimer. He was elected as the all-India general secretary of the AIKS back in 1975 at Khammam.

Comrade Goswami was elected to the CPI (M) state committee in 1977, and until he passed away, he remained a member of the state committee although later on as an invitee member. He was elected to the CPI (M) CC in 1990 and was the chairman of the state CPI (M) control commission in 2003. In between, he was briefly the state health minister in 1983, and was a three-time member of the Rajya Sabha from Bengal(INN).

JOINT OP AGAINST ‘MAOISTS’ FROM BENGAL AND JHARKHAND

KOLKATA: 9th February, 2010: The two state governments of Bengal and Jharkhand would join forces to corner and isolate the ‘Maoists’ in the two provinces, and there would be joint ops with participation of the various categories of police and para-military forces. The meeting convened at the Writers Buildings by union Home Minister P Chidambaram was attended among other by the chief minister of Orissa and by the two deputy chief ministers of Jharkhand.

Asked by the media later whether there existed a link between the ultra left sectarians and the Trinamul Congress, the Home Minister was unequivocal in his response that no political party participating in the parliamentary democratic process could or should maintain such connections. There are seventeen companies of the para-militaries and the police in ops in the jangal mahal, we recall.

This slap in the face of an ally was sought be covered up with frantic desperation by the bourgeois media whose scions were now out to prove that the Home Minister did not mention the concerned political outfit by name. However, the Home Minister did concede that the union government was ready for a dialogue with the ‘Maoists’ provided the latter put a stop to their acts of ‘sabotage’ as the Home Minister put it(INN).

Muslims welcome 10 percent job quota in West Bengal

2010-02-09 18:30:00

The 10 percent quota in government jobs for backward Muslims in West Bengal is being welcomed by leaders of the community who say it's not really enough but add that something is better than nothing.

Maulana Abdul Hamid Nomani of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind described the move as a 'step in the right direction' for the welfare of backward Muslims in West Bengal.

'But it is not enough considering the pathetic socio-economic situation of Muslims (in the state). Nonetheless something is better than nothing,' Nomani, the Jamiat spokesperson, told mediapersons.

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind is one of the leading Islamic organisations in India founded in 1919 with its organisational network spread all over India.

The Communist government in West Bengal Monday announced 10 percent reservation in government jobs for other backward classes among Muslims.

The move comes years after a government appointed committee observed that in West Bengal where 25 percent population is Muslim, their share in government jobs was a paltry 4.2 percent.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on expected lines, has criticised the announcement, saying it was unconstitutional to give reservations on religion lines.

But Nomani differs. He said backward classes among Muslims can be granted the quota on their socio-economic status as it was legally possible.

'We need to invoke article 341 of the Indian constitution,' he said referring to the act that gives the president of India an authority after taking the advice of the governor of any state or union territory, to demarcate tribes, races or castes or a part of any group as Scheduled Castes, in accordance with the law of the constitution.

'We are not demanding quota for all Muslims. Muslims who enjoy a decent life and form a creamy layer don't need it and should be exempted. It should be reserved for those who need it the most,' he said.

Former MP Syed Shahabuddin of the Delhi-based National Movement for Muslim Reservation (NMMR) said it was an 'epoch-making' initiative.

'The NMMR welcomes it and facilitates the West Bengal government. Though more needs to be done but it is better than not being done anything at all,' Shahabuddin said.

The West Bengal government's announcement came on a day when in Hyderabad, the Andhra Pradesh High Court quashed a state law providing four percent jobs to certain identified backward classes among Muslims.

'That was unexpected. Some fundamentalist parties are opposing it to secure their vote banks. What else does the government need to prove Muslims are under represented and their economic condition is pathetic and much below than the national average,' Nomani said.

Shahabuddin termed the high court ruling as 'unfortunate and deplorable'.

'The judgment quashes the Andhra Pradesh act as being religion-specific and potentially an encouragement to conversion. The reference to conversion shows a streak of Hindutva mentality and is absolutely irrelevant,' he said.

The court, he added, 'has ignored the fact that under Article 15(1) reservation may be religion-specific or caste-specific or race-specific or language-specific if the social group concerned passes the test of backwardness.'

West Bengal announces reservation for Muslims in govt jobs

10% RESERVATION FOR ECONOMICALLY-BACKWARD MUSLIM COMMUNITIES

KOLKATA(INN): 8th February 2010-The Bengal Left Front government has decided that there should be as per the principal recommendations of the Mishra Commission, a 10% reservation of the economically handicapped sections of the Muslims. The reservation excludes the ‘creamy layer.’

The main aspects of the recommendations being initiated are:

· For eligibility, monthly income of the concerned person must be below Rs four lakh 50 thousand
· This is the first instance of reservation for Muslims in the country
· A decision has been kept in consideration for similar reservation for Sikhs and Christians
· Of the 66 communities marked up as OBC’s, 12 are Muslims.
· The OBC Muslims comprise 16 lakh 38 thousand or 8.3% of the total OBC population pool of Bengal.

The ore populous of the Muslim OBC’s include Jola, Fakir/Sain, Hawari, Dhunia, Kasai, Nashya sheikh, Pahadia Muslim, Shershabadia, Rayeen/Kunjra, Hajjam, Chaudhooli, and Patidar. Over and above this list, further, newer applicants are the Khotta Muslims, Sardars, and Beldars.

The cases of four other backward Muslim communities, i.e., Mahaldar, Abdaal, Baasni, and Kaankhalifa are under active consideration, the chief minister said at the Writers’’ Buildings whilst announcing the new category of reservation.

KOLKATA: PTI, 8 February 2010, 03:37pm IST -On a day when the Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down job reservation for Muslims, the West Bengal government on Monday announced 10 per cent quota in employment for the community under the OBC category. The state government declared the quota for the Muslims who were educationally, socially and economically backward in the state. "We have decided to accept the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission and will take steps to implement it," chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told newsmen at the state secretariat without waiting for the Centre's decision on the report. He said like other states there was reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs in the state. The government, he said, had begun the process of identifying Muslims who were educationally, socially and economically backward. There was 7 per cent reservation for OBCs in the state. "After identification, we will provide reservation to them under the OBC category," the chief minister said. Earlier in the day, a Constitution bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down a state law providing 4 per cent reservation in educational institutions and jobs to 15 groups belonging to the Muslim community. Soon after the court's order, Andhra chief minister K Rosaiah directed the state advocate general D S R Murthy to file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court challenging the verdict.

Panel to fast-track Muslim job quota
Swati Sengupta, TNN, 12 February 2010, 05:54am IST
KOLKATA: The Left Front government is pulling out all the stops to woo the Muslims. With just around a year left for the 2011 assembly elections, the government on Thursday decided to appoint a panel to grant OBC status to different backward groups in the state. This was done to put its proposal for 10% job reservation for Muslim OBCs on the fast track. Interestingly, the new committee — to be headed by chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti — will be vested with powers to supersede the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes that was appointed 17 years ago for the same purpose. "The new committee will revise the existing OBC list. This involves including new groups and excluding existing ones, though the immediate purpose is clearly to include more Muslim groups in the OBC category so that they can benefit from the government’s recent decision," a bureaucrat said. The formation of the panel is significant as it will now be executing the order as per the Left Front government’s stand. The commission, on the other hand, is an independent body comprising experts and may not necessarily tow the government’s view on who deserves the OBC status. Officials said the state government is well within its right to form the panel and has legal sanction. Under the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, the state may "undertake a revision of the lists with a view to excluding from such lists those classes who have ceased to be backward classes or for including in such lists new backward classes". While the Act mentions the commission has to be consulted, officials indicated the new panel would have the final say. The committee’s decisions would also be cleared by the state cabinet. According to rule, the revision can be done only 10 years after the formation of the commission. So the state had the power to revise the list since 2003, but chose to do it now, evidently to woo the Muslim voters. In last year’s Lok Sabha polls, the CPM lost a major chunk of the Muslim votebank. After the polls, the party had identified the loss of Muslim votes as a key reason for the debacle. For the past six months, the Commission has been examining the cases of several applications from different groups of Muslims as well as Hindus on OBC status. Recently, the commission granted OBC status to four Muslim groups and more are expected to get the nod. But the government isn’t taking any chances. It wants to act at the earliest so that the benefit of 10% job quota may reach the grassroots before the elections. The largesse for backward Muslims is aimed essentially at the voters in minority-dominated areas of Malda, Murshidabad, and South 24-Parganas. The state’s decision follows the Ranganath Mishra Commission report that recommended 10% reservation for Muslims and 5% for other minorities on the basis of the Sachar Committee report.

A MILLION THRONG BRIGADE AT THE CALL OF THE BENGAL LEFT FRONT

KOLKATA, 7th February, 2010(INN): Numbers are important. Numbers are also a socially-determined paradigm in a situation of struggle. How many thronged the Kolkata maidan on 7 February 2010 is a determinate of the circumstances of the massive, overwhelming response - to the evolving political situation.

Just consider the backdrop, if you please. More than two hundred of the tested and tried valiants of the CPI (M) and the Bengal left Front have been butchered over the past year and the body count never stops growing. Thousands yet live in terror, in makeshift sheds of light polythene, in the unusually long and bitter Bengal cold. Leaders are targeted.

The bourgeois media is alive with an expectancy of, certainly, the very wrong kind. The opposition leader chortles on the TV screen about the ‘imminent’ transference of office in Bengal, and well, maybe elsewhere.

A section of the Bengal bourgeoisie is up-and-about spreading canards about how the spirit of the Party ‘has started to flag.’ Then the brigade rally came. The slogan rang out, loud-and-clear, from the masses of the people that a new phase of the struggle – of protest and of resistance – has commenced.

Well-known faces of the jangal mahal whom we had met before our brief bout of ill-health at the height of the killings at the hands of the ‘Maoists’ and their Trinamuli informers-at-work, greeted us with the clenched fist salute, thin arms quivering with rage – and a sway of happiness - as they mingled friendly with the massive people presence that was the rally of the 7 February.

People came from afar- some in token hundreds, but they came in endless, orderly streams across Bengal and then along the roads, streets, lanes, and by-lanes of Kolkata. Busy professionals mingled with the workers, students with the kisans, youth with the khet mazdoors.

We saw a doctor, literally run out, hastily tucking in a stethoscope into a large handbag, out of a eastern Kolkata medical institution on the CIT Road and catch up with her comrades-at-arms of the branch that she leads, and then she mixed seamlessly, happily into the slogan-shouting river of humanity.

The speeches were important in their political clarity. The message was clear. The masses must realise that the struggle for development and change must be stepped up. No places of complacency now existed in a class-divided society. The enemy of the people was on the move, at the gates, and the ruling classes, with their sponsored political outfits tagging along, were gradually making themselves geared up for a ‘Paribartan,’ (complete political transformation) -- of the wrong kind. The masses look to the vanguard Party of their own to lead the way in the struggle that unfolds across Bengal.

Chief Minister and CPI (M) leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was sharp in his argumentation against the danger that had both indigenous and foreign origin. The stakes here and abroad backed the ultra left -- and the outfits of the loot-and-scoot variety, like the Trinamul Congress -- with their anarchic bursts of anti-people atrocities.

Buddhadeb also reminded the packed gathering that covered every millimetre of the maidan, and beyond, that the time had come to build up resistance to the unholy efforts going on towards creation of social and political anarchy in Bengal, to bring back the days of the jackal of the seventies.

The Left Front was the consequence and the fruit of the long periods of struggle from the sixties of the last century, said Buddhadeb who went on to point out that it had been the LF and the CPI (M) that had struggled to give back to the masses the dignity they had lost during the oppressive régimes of the past. Buddhadeb spoke about the redistributive land reforms, the recognition of the share-croppers as land-holders, and he talked about the development of the rural sector even in the remotest parts of Bengal

Buddhadeb also spoke about the growth in the industrial sector as well in the infrastructural and services sectors in Bengal. Any Paribartan would now be aimed farther development of the mass of the people and of the poor in particular, for ‘we too want change, for the betterment of lives and livelihoods of the people,’ said the CPI (M) Polit Bureau member.

Buddhadeb denounced strongly the splittists’ acts of omission and commission for the nefarious plan here was the divide the people along lines of region, religion, languages, caste, and creed. The democratic movement must resist these efforts. Buddhadeb concluded with the words that while the CPI (M) and the LF had come far, there was plenty of mileage to cover with the goal of change for the better. The Party and the LF must stand firm in the effort to lead the masses towards that task that lay inexorably ahead.

Biman Basu who presided over this massive gathering of a militant nature had an underlying premise to his short, sharp address. The task was to isolate the forces of anarchy and unite the poor against the noxious attempts to destabilise Bengal.

Recalling the departed Communist leader Jyoti Basu, Bimanda said that a principal demand of the rally had been to protest and resist the efforts of the Congress-led UPA government to shift the economic and financial burden onto the groaning shoulders of the toiling masses. The essential commodities act must be revived and put in place and taken out from its present doldrums as a paper tiger, which the big tycoons might not laugh at it.

The price rise and the failure to control it was a deliberate exercise of the central government to add to the treasure chest of big capital and its lackeys in the venture capital market. Hoarding and racketeering was not looked to, and black marketing was allowed to go unbridled. The recommendation of the Kirit Parikh committee to increase the prices of such essentials as cooking gas and kerosene, plus the cascade of effects it would have on the economy as transport costs would go up with additional fuel surcharge, must be resisted through struggle and the people must take to the streets, throughout the country and not excluding the capital.

Bimanda also spoke at some depth about the economic aspect of the issue of employment or rather the lack of it thanks to the ill-gotten efforts of the central government to abolish and/or keep vacant lakhs of posts in all cadres of service. The youth is particular would see this as a cruel move. Protests were needed, and now, not later for the issue brooked no delay.

The concluding words of Biman Basu comprised a rousing call of a mass struggle against the moves by the forces of reaction and sectarianism to endanger the flow of pro-poor development in Bengal under the LF and the LF government. Also addressing the rally were CPI (M) leader Mohd Amin (who spoke in Hindi laced as usual with Urdu), Ashok Ghosh of the Forward Bloc, Manju Kumar Majumdar of the CPI, Kshiti Goswami of the RSP and by other Left Front leaders. CPI (M) Polit Bureau members Sitaram Yechury and Nirupam Sen were present at the rally.

By B Prasant

MASSIVE LEFTFRONT RALLY IN BRIGADE PARADE GROUND ON 7TH FEBRUARY, 2010

GANASHAKTI Completes Forty Four Years

THE Ganashakti was set up as an ‘eveninger’ way back in 1967, on 3 January. The occasion is utilised by the Bengal unit of the CPI (M) every year to take a political message to the people. This year was no exception. Biman Basu, state secretary of the CPI (M) and chairman of the Bengal Left Front addressed a packed gathering at downtown Durgapur.

There he explained in detail the present situation prevailing in Bengal. It is a situation dominated by the focus of the rainbow opposition plus the lumpen elements, backed by the ruling classes and the corporate media, seeking in their joint and several efforts to bring in political instability in the run up to the civic and assembly elections in 2010 and 2011.

The opposition as the speaker pointed out were out to frustrate the democratic process, taking free recourse to violence. They are also on to create as insurmountable as possible obstacles on the path of development and growth, in every social and economic sector. The poor people are attacked and attempts essayed to create a rift and a cleavage in their ranks. Forces of casteism and communalism are put to ‘proper’ use in the unholy drive.

Everyday one notes the dastardly murder of CPI (M) workers as well as of poor kisans, daily wage earners, and even of teachers and headmasters. A lie campaign is indulged in with ferocity against the communists. The media is a willing mouthpiece, the bourgeois media that is. The democratic rights of the people are under severe strain. The largest section of poor people being butchered especially in the red clay zones belong to the SC and STs.

Some of the attempts by the bourgeois media and of the bourgeois opposition, tagged along by left sectarians, has no limits to the lies being fulminated aplenty. It is even being touted in the big media that the Left Front government is disturbingly eager to take over land parcels owned by the minority communities.

The 11 lakh acres of land distributed by the state government as a part of its redistributive land reforms that have won laurels here and abroad, 70 per cent has gone to the minority communities, SC, and ST poor. 1.5 lakh acres of khas land remain in limbo because of court cases and thus, the parcels cannot be redistributed despite all the goodwill of the state LF government and the LF. Would the bourgeois media take note before launching on yet another self-righteous attack on the CPI (M)?

The opposition has put a series of obstacles on the path of development-oriented, employment generating programmes. These ill-gotten efforts have effectively robbed the youth of the paths of job openings. These attempts will be protested with fervour, and not taken lying down by the people of the state. The developmental programmes of the state government must move smoothly forward.

The series of shilanyas programmes of the railway minister came in for a dose of strong criticism. The speaker described the series of such programmes as a festival of stone-laying ceremony. What the people must realise is that paving the state with commemorative stones would not serve to create jobs. The speaker gave call to the people to hold aloft the Red Flag and carry forth a widening struggle against the forces of anarchy, counter-development, and terror. The Ganashakti as usual shall play an important role in this regard, the speaker had no doubt.

Earlier in a programme held on the same occasion in Kolkata, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was pungent in his critiquing of the union home minister who had earlier in the week said that the developments in Bengal were productive only of despair. The speaker said that the home minister should remember the state of hopeless confusion that has been created out of the Telangana imbroglio before levelling criticism at the Bengal LF government. The chief minister has also written, as he disclosed, a short letter to the home minister starting his case. Buddhadeb reiterated that the killers of the ‘Maoists’ received close tactical and logistical support of the Trinamul Congress and its lackeys.

Narayan Dutta, editor of Ganashakti addressed both the Kolkata and Durgapur programmes. Biman Basu presided over the Kolkata meeting.

Jyoti Basu, 95, Leader of Communists in India, Dies

January 18, 2010

By JIM YARDLEY, New York Times

NEW DELHI — Jyoti Basu, a powerful leftist leader who dominated politics in the state of West Bengal for more than two decades and nearly became India’s first Communist prime minister, died in Calcutta on Sunday. He was 95.

Mr. Basu’s stature in West Bengal was evident in a huge public outpouring of concern in recent days as his health steadily deteriorated. Anxious crowds gathered outside his Calcutta hospital, local newspapers carried front page updates on his condition and a litany of leading Indian politicians, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, made calls to him. He died of multiple organ failure, according to Indian news reports.

Mr. Basu was known as a savvy political survivor, skilled at building coalitions and forging consensus, whose biggest policy initiatives were sweeping land reforms in West Bengal. The initiatives distributed land to more than two million landless families and, in turn, established a leftist coalition known as the Left Front that dominated state politics for three decades until showing recent signs of weakening.

Mr. Singh praised Mr. Basu as a pragmatic, visionary politician whose death “marks the end of an era in the annals of Indian politics.” Citing his land initiatives as visionary, the prime minister also described Mr. Basu as “one of the most able administrators and politicians of independent India.”

Born July 8, 1914, in Calcutta, Mr. Basu was raised as a doctor’s son in an aristocratic family. He later studied law in London, where he embraced Marxism before returning to Calcutta in 1940. He then joined the Communist Party of India and began organizing railroad workers in the last years of the British raj.

After India’s independence in 1947, Mr. Basu was elected several times to the local assembly. When the Communist Party of India split in 1964, he was among the founders of the more radical Communist Party of India (Marxist). He became chief minister in 1977 as the leader of a Left Front coalition and held that position, the most powerful in the state, until 2000.

He nearly became India’s prime minister in 1996 as the head of a national coalition. But hard-liners in his own party rejected his selection, arguing that leading a coalition government would betray Marxist principles and would not allow him to carry out Marxist policies. Mr. Basu would later call this decision a “historic blunder.”

His land initiatives won national praise, but West Bengal’s industrial policies were criticized during his tenure. Today, the popularity of his CPI-Marxist party has suffered severely amid concerns about corruption and bad governance.
Hari Kumar contributed reporting.

PUBLIC MEETINGS AND PROCESSIONS THROUGHOUT THE STATE

Gopal Gandhi calls on Basu, bids adieu to Marxist veteran

KOLKATA, December 13, 2009: Outgoing West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on Sunday called on veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu at the latter's residence in a farewell call on his last day in office.

Gandhi, who arrived at around 11.45 am at the former chief minister's Indira Bhavan residence at Salt Lake, exchanged pleasantries during his 10-minute visit. He told Basu about his departure for Chennai tomorrow. "I remember the days when we met in South Africa ... We often remember Kamal-di (Basu's late wife)," Gandhi told the veteran leader.

Basu, aided by his personal assistant Joykrishna Ghosh, told Gandhi that he found it difficult to carry on a conversation as his sight and hearing have dimmed with age. Gandhi and Basu presented bouquets to each other. Later, the governor told newsmen that he had first met Basu in London in 1992. "I have the privilege of having his guidance in many matters, especially in the last five years," Gandhi said. PTI

SO-CALLED 'WANT-TO-CHANGE' INTELLECTUALS LOOT RAILWAY FUND

There is no denying the fact that a number of Maoist intellectuals and other opportunists in the guise of impartiality and neutrality had played a pivotal role in sabotaging industrialization at Singur, Nandigram and developmental works in West Bengal during the last three years in connivance with industrial competitors, big business houses and imperialists.

They had also worked day in and day out campaigning in favour of Mamata Banerjee and her party candidates during the last Parliamentary Elections, 2009. Apart from this, they have also been supporting Maoists and instrumental in inciting criminals and antisocials to create serious problems of law and order in the state to destabilize the Left Front Government in West Bengal.

After becoming Union Railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee has constituted three new Committees to reward these Maoist intellectuals and the opportunists. Under her instruction, the Railway Board under the Ministry of Railways, Government of India has issued a Government Order bearing No. ERB-1/2009/23/33 on 9th October 2009 constituting the said committees with detailed facilities.

1. Heritage and Cultural Committee under the chairpersonship of Smt. Shaoli Mitra.

2. Passengers’ Amenities Committee under the chairpersonship of Shri Subhaprasanna Bhattacharjee.

3. Passengers’ Services Committee under the chairpersonship of Shri Derek-o-BrayenThe entire expenses of these committees will be borne by the Indian Railways.

Each full time member of the Committee will be paid Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand) as monthly salary and each part-timer will be paid Rs. 25,000/- per month.

They will be also provided with the following facilities and amenities free of cost as per the said Government Order:

A. Meeting allowance @ Rs. 520/-per day·

B. Free 1st Class AC Railway Pass with one companion·

C. Travel in Executive Class by flight·

D. Travel on road by car to be provided by the Indian Railways·

E. Lodging and boarding in Class I hotel anywhere·

F. Free telephone with ISD/STD facilities both at residence and office·

G. Free Medical treatment and facilities at the cost of the Indian Railways·

H. TA & DA at par with railway officers

I. Each and every Member of the Committees can appoint his/her own Private Secretary and of peons.

J. All of them will also be provided separate office and expenses for the same.

K.The Chairperson of each committee can enlarge his /her Committee by co-opting any person thought to be necessary.

L.The total expenditure in maintaining these three Committees comes around 50 Lakhs (Rupees Fifty Lakhs) per month.

These committees are unprecedented in the history of the Indian Railways. This is the first time that such expensive committees have been constituted at the cost of the public exchequer to accommodate sycophants and ‘so-called’ champions of tribals and downtrodden. These sycophants often used to raise the questions of nepotism, corruption and exploitation. But now they are most shamelessly drawing huge money from railway exchequer without performing any job.

The pseudo intellectuals Bibhas Chakraborty, theatre personality, Arpita Ghosh, theatre personality, Joy Goswami, poet, Bratya Basu, theatre personality, Pallab Kirtania, Singer, Rituparna Ghosh, film director, Ustad Rashid Khan, artist, GS Raitela, Director General, National Council of Science Museum, Ratan Thiyam, theatre personality and many others have been made their members. Rajesh Agarwal, Executive Director of Railway Board, will act as the Coordinating Officer.

The entire exercise is nothing but blatant misuse of power and public exchequer for the promotion of the interests of the sycophants and the party.
Courtsy: http://bangla.ganashakti.co.in/

http://misuseofindianrailways.blogspot.com

Marches Held Across Bengal against Communalism

KOLKATA: ALONG with the rest of the nation, Bengal witnessed marches all over the state condemning all communal acts on December 6 when the Babari Masjid was pulled down. The marchers raised slogans also in favour of democracy, peace, amity and unity.

The morning witnessed a large procession taken out in the township of Jalpaiguri where among others Bengal CPI (M) secretary and Left Front chairman Biman Basu and CPI (M) Central Committee member Mridul De were present. Over and above the programmes organised by the Bengal Left Front on the day, organisation of workers, kisans, women, youth, student, and other sections of the society participated. Other programmes held on the day included blood donation camps and cultural events.

The city of Kolkata saw a long procession held in central part of the metropolis. A resolution raised at the rally called for the safeguarding of secularism, and declared that the guilty mentioned in the Liberhan commission report on the destruction of the structure at Ayodhya must be brought to book and early. The resolution also called for the organisation of movements with participation by the working people to strengthen the edifice of democracy and secularism.

Industrial Project at Singur Would Create Jobs

B Prasant(INN): Any industrial project at Singur in Hooghly district would produce employment, and thus such endeavours are welcome. This was how Biman Basu, CPI (M) Bengal secretary, and Bengal Left Front chairman chose to comment on December 8 at the Muzaffar Ahmad Bhavan, on the recent development around Singur.

The occasion Biman Basu referred to was a letter sent by the state Left Front government to the ministry of railways where a specific industrial proposition has been made. The proposal to the ministry is crafted around the setting up of a railway coach factory on the land at Singur from where the Tata group had earlier withdrawn its small car project, thanks to the anarchic moves by the Trinamul Congress and its lackeys plus the ‘Maoists,’ to stall the scheme on various anti-development ploys.

In another related matter, Biman Basu said that if a nuclear power project would be set up at Haripur in coastal Bengal, and with every safety precaution firmly in place, such a proposal from the union government would be favourably considered.

When Basu’s attention was drawn to the reported statement of a central minister affiliated to the Trinamul Congress about his determination to thwart such a step, he said that any obstacle put on the progress of a developmental project would be akin to blocking development itself.

Biman Basu continued to say that such statements by the Trinamuli leaders once again proved how the main opposition party in Bengal remained firmly anti-development. The senior CPI (M) leader called upon the union government and the Congress leadership to pause and think about the role of one of their governmental allies on the issue of development.

IRRESPONSIBLE & DANGEROUS MOVES OF THE RAILWAYS MINISTER

Left Parties Submit Memo to the PM


The following is the text of the memorandum given to the prime minister by the leaders of Left parties, Sitaram Yechury, Basudeb Acharia, Shyamal Chakraborty, Prabodh Panda, Manohar Tirki and Barun Mukherjee on December 4, 2009 on the irresponsible and dangerous moves of the railways minister.

YOU have called the ‘Maoists’ the greatest internal threat to the security of the country, and yet, the railway minister has kept providing these elements with her full fledged support in the media and through her declarations and acts. She has also repeatedly called for the release of Chhatradhar Mahato, named accused in murder cases. The railway minister is constantly demanding the withdrawal of joint forces from West Bengal, which will only facilitate the activities of the ‘Maoists’. Within hours of a landmine blast in West Midnapore on 27 November 2009 which killed two policemen, the railway minister denigrated the joint forces.

The said minister has claimed before the media inter alia that the violence being committed on and against the leaders and workers of the CPI(M) is not the handiwork of the CPI(Maoist) but a result of the internecine feud. She has called for the arrest of the Bengal chief minister and in the same breath, the release of Chhatradhar Mahato while repeatedly calling also for application of Article 355 and 356 in Bengal. The ‘Maoists’ receive a moral boost from her declarations and deeds and almost simultaneously the Maoist Leader Kishanji reciprocated by airing his loud suggestions that the present railway minister should be the chief minister of West Bengal.

The annexed copies of the media reports would make it clear, the All India Trinamul Congress, AITC, and the CPI(Maoist), have long been engaged in destabilising the political situation of the state by means of assassination, mayhem, arson, committing crimes on women and generally seeking to create a situation where the democratic fabric of the state is put under great duress. The ‘Maoists’ along with AITC activists are forcing people at gunpoint to join their rally and barricades.

The annexures submitted to the prime minister along with the memorandum provide a detailed list of the leaders and workers of the CPI(M) and Left Front assassinated by the ‘Maoists’ and the People’s War Group (PWG) from 2001. The number of those killed from June 2006 itself is 326. The ‘Maoists’ and the AITC have also killed scores of common men, women, children, as well as police and medical personnel.

The AITC leadership is a close patron of the leadership of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), and its supremo Chhatradhar Mahato. The annexures submitted provide examples of this state-of-affairs from media reports. Annexure III in the form of a CD contains photos that show the railway minister, Chhatradhar Mahato, and a section of the intelligentsia in confabulation in the area of Lalgarh, which has been a Maoist stronghold. The PCAPA is nothing but a mass front of the CPI (Maoist) as reports in the media have repeatedly noted.

We draw your attention to the recent declaration of the Maoist leader Kishanji that since they have provided support to the AITC at Nandigram against the CPI(M), the AITC should come forward and help them at Lalgarh and adjacent areas.

The most recent incident of the blockade of the Rajdhani Express exposes the AITC game plan further. Even as the blockade was going on and graffiti being painted on the sides of the bogies calling for the release of Chhatradhar Mahato who is presently in police custody, the railways minister blamed the Marxists, meaning the CPI(M) that has held the train up. To add insult to injury, a full 24 hours earlier to the blockade, an AITC central minister Sisir Adhikari had claimed before the media that he ‘knew that the blockade would take place.’ The source of ‘knowledge’ of this minister may kindly be probed and the nation kept informed.

At a time when the ‘Maoists’ have laid claim to the murder of an AITC worker Nishikanta Mondal at Nandigram on 22 September 2009, the railway minister keeps harping on the untruth that he was ‘killed by the CPI(M).’ On 29 November 2009, she has also said that she was privy to clues of the murder. The annexures submitted include the English translation of what has appeared in the Bengali print media on the nexus between the AITC-PCAPA-‘Maoists’ and the original reports in Bengali that have appeared in the Bengali print media.

We urge upon you to take appropriate implicational notice of the developments.

List of Trinamul Workers Killed: Bundle of Lies

KOLKATA: THE CPI(M) has altogether rejected as false the list of 83 Trinamul Congress (TMC) workers, presented by Ms Mamata Banerjee to the prime minister with the claim that these people were killed by the so-called Marxist violence in West Bengal. Addressing a press conference on December 8, the CPI(M)’s Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said the list contained the names of at least eight persons who are either not associated with the Trinamul Congress or are Leftist workers or are alive. He said the sole aim of Ms Banerjee was to somehow raise in the media the bogey of violence and deteriorate the law and order problem in the state, so that the centre is compelled to clamp the president’s rule in West Bengal.

Yechury said we have, on our part, got Ms Banerjee’s list verified and we found that this was the first list of its kind. It contained the names of some individuals who, according to Ms Banerjee’s claim, were Trinamul Workers whom the CPI(M) men killed. There is nothing new here. After the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the Sangh Parivar had made the claim that karsevaks had been killed in large numbers, and their list was also publicised, but they turned out to be alive. Associated with the BJP in the past, Ms Mamata Banerjee is following in the footsteps of its erstwhile ally and indulging in the same kind of disinformation.

Yechury said Ms Mamata Banerjee had submitted her list to the prime minister in response to our publicly made challenge that she submit a list of the Trinamul Congress workers killed in inter-party violence. But the facts given in her list are wrong. Yechury said Ms Banerjee’s striving is to somehow justify the patronage she is extending to the ‘Maoists.’ In the name of violence, she for long raised the bogey of deteriorating law and order situation in West Bengal so as to compel the centre to promulgate the president’s rule in the state. Though she now no longer demands imposition of article 356 in the state, but still her plea now is for deployment of the army there.

Yechury said we would like to ask the prime minister how he would try to reconcile the contradiction that while he has described the ‘Maoist’ violence as the biggest threat to India’s internal security, a senior member of his cabinet is openly extending patronage to the “Maoists.’ Yechury said we raised this issue in our memorandum submitted to the prime minister but we are yet to receive a reply. However, we are still hopeful about getting a reply from his side.

Below we are publishing the names and addresses of the eight referred-to persons who were either not associated with the Trinamul Congress or were workers of the Leftist parties or are alive. At least two of them were never in existence.

GLARING FALSEHOODS

The TMC has submitted a list of 83 persons as the “Murdered Trinamool Congress Workers.” The following points are notable.

1) At No 52 in that list is the name of Asit Sarkar. He is a renowned Maoist activist. He was with the PWG since 1988 and worked in Midnapore district. In 1996, he was their chief leader in the Jungle Mahal area; was involved in Keshpur-Garbeta operations; was widely known as “Mangal Singh” in Naxalite circles. He was arrested in 2003 and released in 2009 only. His sister, Rita Sarkar, is also a Maoist. Even Asit Sarkar never claimed his association with the TMC.

2) At No 48 of the list, the name is Md Alam of Sikharpur Rajarhat. He was killed in Skharpur on October 23, 2009. He was a resident of Bhangar and was watching a soccer match in Sikharpur, adjacent to Vedic Village, when the tension in the area spread around. Md Alam was killed when Ajijul Islam fired from his pistol. Ajijul alias “Khude” is the younger brother of Arabul Islam, TMC MLA and a close associate of Ms Mamata Banerji. Khude is absconding since then.

3) At No 73 of the list, the name is Shankar Biswas. He was a CPI(M) activist and a front ranking worker of the UCRC, the refugees’ organisation. He was killed near Taldi station in South 24 Parganas on October 26, 2009. On October 30, 2009, a large condolence meeting was organised by the CPI(M) which party leaders like Sujan Chakraborty and Shibdas Bhattacharya attended.

4) One Avijit Saha has been included in the list. He was killed in Madhyamgram of North 24 Parganas by two TMC activists.

5) As No 62, Yasin Ali Paik of Mayureswar, Birbhum, was included in the list. He was actually a child of two and a half years. He died because of chronic illness. How could a child be a “TMC worker”!?

6) At No 6 of the list, the name is Jaydeb Bag of Baruipur, South 24 Parganas. No one of that name was ever killed or even died in Baruipur.

7) At No 22, the name is Mira Nasin of Nandigram. No one of that name was ever killed. Even Abu Taher, top TMC leader of Nandigram, has denied the existence of any such person.

8) At No 71, the name is Shyamal Hazari of Bermajur, North 24 Parganas. No one of that name was murdered or died, according to the police record. In fact, no TMC activist of that name was ever there in that area.

TMC creating lawlessness in West Bengal: CPI(M)

Press Trust Of India

Kolkata November 06, 2009, 0:04 IST

The ruling Left Front in West Bengal today took a swipe at Union Home Minister P Chidambaram for telling the state government to ensure law and order, saying it was the Trinamool Congress which was responsible for "lawlessness".

"I have not heard or read of what Chidambaram has said. If he has given such advice, the state government should deal with the situation accordingly. As per the Constitution the responsibility of maintaining law and order lies with the state government," Left Front chairman Biman Bose told a press conference here.

"If the state government asks for Central help, the Centre can help," Bose said in a barb directed at the UPA government of which Trinamool Congress is an ally, soon after Chidambaram asked Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee to ensure law and order in the state following yesterday's clashes between TC and CPI(M) members in Hooghly district. "The Trinamool Congress is creating lawlessness in the state for the past few months and is resorting to falsehood to confuse the people," Bose, state secretary of CPI(M), said.

Bose said that the state government was showing any laxity in dealing with the situation.

On Chidambaram's earlier statement that the communists and the Naxalites were once comrades, Bose said, "he is confusing facts. He should look at old files which clearly document how the naxalites formed an outfit after parting from the CPI(M).”

Poland interested in modernization of West Bengal coal mines

New Delhi,Wednesday, 04 Nov 2009: Economic Times reported that Poland is keen to strengthen its business partnership and cultural ties with India. It is interested to participate in India’s drive towards modernizing coal mines and defense sectors where the private sector has been roped in as an important partner. The embassy in Delhi wishes to play facilitator in forging JVs between Indian and Polish companies.

Mr Piotr Klodkowski Poland’s ambassador to India said that Poland, with its expertise in developing underground coal mines through the longwall technology, construction of washery, mine safety and rescue measures can be an effective partner of India in developing coal mines with modern technology.

The Polish ambassador said that "As there is huge scope for improvement in the coal mining sector in West Bengal, which is one of the major coal producing state in India, Poland is keen to share its expertise in this field if it is asked for this by the state government. This will be conveyed to the state chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharya who I would meet on Wednesday.”

1600 crores for Maoist-hit districts

KOLKATA,4th November,2009: The state government plans to spend Rs 1,600 crore in this financial year for the development of the three maoist affected districts West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia, even though officials conceded that they were facing much difficulty to implement development works in the three districts according to plans.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will hold crucial meetings in West Midnapore on the prevailing law and order situation and will make a review of development schemes this this weekend. Going by the government claims, the CM has a tough task cut out for him. For a bounty of Rs 1,600 crore spread over four months before March 2010 means spending Rs 400 crore a month for the three districts that works out to a little above Rs 130 crore for each district. However, state officials are still not sure how to spend this huge amount when block level officers fear to tread in the Maoist-dominated villages.

A little arithmetic explains how difficult is the job spending Rs 4.2 crore a day in each of the districts. Sources in the CM's secretariat said that the government plans to execute development works. "The fact that the block level officers were facing difficulty came up during the last review meeting," a senior official said. Fact is that the task force of government officials set up to spearhead development work has submitted a plan to build civic infrastructure in these remote places. But the implementation met with a jolt due to Maoist disruption.

The CM will hold three meetings in West Midnapore on November 7 and November 8. The first meeting would be on the prevailing law and order situation with the district SP. The second meeting will be with the district magistrates, superintendent of police of the three districts where law and order situation and development schemes would be reviewed. The third meeting would take place on November 8 where the chief minister would meet the BDOs of some of the sensitive blocks of West Midnapore.

What made Chhatradhar Mahato a political fugitive

by Monobina Gupta

1 November 2009, Times of India ‎

The Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express, held up by Maoists for seven hours in West Midnapore, had this emblazoned on it: 'Chhatradhar Mahato is a good man. He is not a criminal'. Mahato, chief of the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA), was imprisoned just months ago, in the aftermath of the violence that followed West Bengal's election results. The slogan on the train reinforced speculation that the PCPA wanted Mahato's release - by fair means or foul.

In general, there is enormous curiosity about Mahato, who till a few months ago, did not seem to fit the bill of a gun-toting Maoist. He can certainly talk the talk. When i met Mahato in Lalgarh in March, he spoke a democratic language far removed from guns and killings. When i arrived, Lalgarh was abuzz with news of the police having picked up three villagers (supposedly Maoists), and the murder of a PCPA activist.

Mahato was under a tree in verdant Lalgarh, busy with an organizational meeting. A smartly dressed, lanky man, he wore sunglasses and sat with comrades stuffing envelopes with hand-written notices for the PCPA's next public meeting. Mahato's brother is Sashadhar, a Maoist fugitive. But Mahato himself was a political non-entity till the mass uprising in Jangalkhand following brutal police attacks on common villagers and tribals in the wake of a Maoist plot against chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in November 2008. The sudden political upheaval catapulted Mahato to the position of PCPA chief.

He said he would talk to me after lunch. The PCPA ran a community kitchen inside a mud hut and activists ate rice and vegetable curry there. This was where i met a relaxed Mahato. For a man who had been relatively unskilled, till recently, in the art of communication, Mahato talked with clarity and precision, dissecting issues, separating the strands of violent Maoist politics from the PCPA. He appeared to be getting used to his new public profile - addressing press briefings at the Kolkata Press Club and engaging with Mahasweta Devi and other intellectuals in the city. His political trajectory began with Congress.

Born in 1964, the eldest of three brothers, Mahato studied at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapeeth and Midnapore Day College, where he had his first taste of activism as a member of Congress' student wing, the Chhatra Parishad. Those who know him well say he was a follower of Mamata Banerjee, then a Youth Congress leader. Mahato never finished college.

Later, he would join the Trinamool Congress. In 2001, when the police began randomly picking up tribals on the charge of being Maoists, Mahato's political beliefs underwent a drastic change. By 2009, even as much of the media conflated the PCPA with the Maoists, Mahato and initially the Maoists themselves, continued to insist they were distinct organizations and had different agendas.

It is true Lalgarh barred police from entry, in line with the PCPA's diktats, but the movement remained democratic, Mahato claimed, insisting the protest could not be grounded merely as a form of resistance to police atrocity. "We cannot make it the sole cause. There are development concerns - access to drinking water, more tube-wells; the issue of autonomy of Jangalkhand," he said. In addition to their original 13-point charter of demands, the PCPA later adopted a nine-point programme seeking community rights over forests and land, recognition and promotion of the Santhali language, development of the Santhali script and autonomy for the Jangalkhand area.

Mahato was clear about the extent of influence Maoists had on the PCPA. He admitted "the Maoists are there" but claimed "they are not controlling the movement. PCPA is an autonomous body. We take our own decisions after consulting village-level committees." Ten-member committees, half of which were men and the other half women, were active in the villages.

He emphasized the movement's principled refusal to allow political parties to enter Lalgarh with banners. The rallying symbol was the PCPA, the ultimate authority, he said. Did Mahato believe in 'revolutionary violence' as preached by today's Maoists? He did not seem to fit either mould - that of the founding fathers of the 1967 armed insurrection and that of their contemporary 'progeny', the Maoists.

First, Mahato never explained the Lalgarh movement in the language of Marx or Mao. 'Class struggle' and 'armed insurrection' were never the spine of his arguments. Instead, he emphasized the need to resist police repression and bring long-delayed development to the tribal backwaters.

Second, unlike the Maoists, Mahato never spoke of capturing the Indian state through insurrection. Interestingly, the PCPA and Maoists fundamentally differed in their approach to the 2009 general elections. Mahato said the PCPA was not calling for the elections to be boycotted as this would benefit only the CPM. It was a position at odds with that of the Maoists. The PCPA demanded the elections be held without a police presence. Mahato shared his comrades' apprehension that forced police entry could trigger a violent confrontation in Lalgarh. But the violence after the elections appeared to elide the distinctions between the PCPA and Maoists. Mahato and his comrades condemned state violence but seemed to turn a blind eye to Maoist killings. This is how Chhatradhar Mahato became the 'Most Wanted', a political fugitive.

Monobina Gupta's book on contemporary Left politics in West Bengal will be published next year.