CPI (M) objects to Railways’ advertisement

KOLKATA, 24th August: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday objected to an advertisement by Indian Railways announcing one of its schemes with graphics of the Trinamool Congress election symbol and demanded its withdrawal.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the CPI (M) Parliamentary Party leader Sitaram Yechury said he was aghast to see the graphics in the half-page advertisement that appeared in all major national dailies, announcing the scheme of free monthly season tickets for students.

“Surely you will agree that this is a brazen attempt at utilising government funds for promoting the political interests of a particular party which happens to be a member of the ruling coalition under your leadership,” he said. Mr. Yechury requested the Prime Minister to ensure that such advertisements were withdrawn and that he also issue necessary instructions to all government departments not to promote the partisan interests of any political party at the expense of public money.

Full text of the letter of Sitaram Yechury :

**************

Dear Shri Manmohan Singhji,

I am writing to you with reference to a half a page advertisement appearing today in all major national dailies by the Indian Railways announcing its scheme of free monthly season tickets to students. This advertisement also carries your photograph.

I was aghast to see the graphics in the advertisement that are alluding to the election symbol of the Trinamul Congress.Surely you will agree that this is a brazen effort at utilising governmental funds for promoting the political interests of a particular party which happens to be a member of the ruling coalition under your leadership.

I am requesting you to kindly ensure that such advertisements are withdrawn and necessary instructions are issued to all government departments to not promote the partisan interests of any political party at the expense of public monies.

With regards,

Yours sincerely

Sd/

(Sitaram Yechury)

Mamata, entrepreneur take over at Kolkata TV

Backed by the Trinamool Congress and Kolkata-based entrepreneur Kaustuv Ray, the channel is now being run by its 171 employees, while SST Media’s founder and former MD Tathagata Dutta is struggling to secure his personal assets from being seized by lenders

Aniek Paul and Aveek Datta

Posted at LIVEMINT: Tue, Aug 25 2009. 12:32 AM IST

Kolkata: In a move reminiscent of jute mill takeovers, Union rail minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress—West Bengal’s main opposition party—has wrested control of Kolkata TV, which until May was among the most watched Bengali television news channels, without buying a single share of SST Media Pvt. Ltd, the firm behind the channel.

Backed by the Trinamool Congress and young Kolkata-based entrepreneur Kaustuv Ray, the channel is now being run by its 171 employees, while SST Media’s founder and former managing director Tathagata Dutta is struggling to secure his personal assets from being seized by lenders. SST Media is currently facing liquidation proceedings at the Calcutta high court.

In January 2008, Hyderabad-based Associated Broadcasting Co. Pvt. Ltd, which runs TV9 news channels in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Mumbai, had acquired a 51% stake in SST Media for Rs16 crore. Associated Broadcasting had paid a premium of Rs3.55 on the face value of SST Media’s shares and had acquired them for Rs13.55 each.

Dutta held 49%, but as part of the same deal, pledged 35% of SST Media’s shares with Associated Broadcasting to borrow Rs9.12 crore, which has not been repaid. Effectively, the Hyderabad-based firm has so far invested Rs25.12 crore in SST Media for an 86% stake.

The channel went aground because “it couldn’t generate enough revenues”, said Dutta. Kolkata TV’s operating expenditure was Rs1.7-1.8 crore a month, and at least one-third of it was the cost of distributing the channel through cable operators. “But in terms of audience, we were pretty much on top—No. 1 among Bengali news channels for a long time,” Dutta said.

Persuaded by the Trinamool Congress, Ray, whose RP Group manufactures computers and produces television software, emerged as the white knight. In June, it offered to buy the shares held by Associated Broadcasting. But after several rounds of discussions, talks fell through because they couldn’t agree on a price.

“Ray offered Rs5 crore for Associated Broadcasting’s shares,” said a Kolkata TV employee who spoke on condition of anonymity. “But it seems they want more…they claim they have some more offers.”

When contacted, Ray said Kolkata TV is a tenant of one of his firms. He bought in June the Park Street office out of which Kolkata TV operates. “We had signed an agreement to buy that space (7,500-8,000 sq. ft) in October last year. The deal was closed recently.”

Asked specifically if he was keen to acquire equity interest in SST Media, Ray added: “We have been supplying software to Kolkata TV and many other channels such as ETV Bangla, Zee Bangla, NE Bangla and Doordarshan. I cannot offer further comments because the matter is sub judice.”

“We are currently exploring various options available before us and we are yet to take a decision on selling our stake in Kolkata TV,” said M.K.V.N. Murthy, chief financial officer of Associated Broadcasting. “The situation is still very fluid.” Associated Broadcasting is the brainchild of Srini Raju, brother-in-law of Satyam Computer Services Ltd’s founder B. Ramalinga Raju. Srini Raju served on the board of Satyam till 2000, when he quit to focus on his own interests, venture funding and media.

In the first week of May, Kolkata TV went off air, following which its employees approached Banerjee for help. By then, liquidation proceedings had already started and Associated Broadcasting’s representatives had stepped down from SST Media’s board. Kolkata TV had also stopped paying salaries to its employees.

“When Kolkata TV’s employees approached our leader (Mamata Banerjee), she gave me the responsibility to find a solution,” said Sovan Chatterjee, a Trinamool Congress leader. “We are working in the interest of Kolkata TV’s employees and vendors, who are to receive a lot of money from the company.”

Confirming that he was the person who persuaded Ray to take interest in Kolkata TV, Chatterjee added, “We are grateful to Kaustuv and his RP Group for paying the salaries of 171 employees in July, and it is our commitment to them that they are going to receive their salaries every month from now on.” Chatterjee, however, claimed the Trinamool Congress had no plan to “usurp the channel”.

The channel is being run by its employees under an order of the Calcutta high court, while Ray is trying to take possession of Kolkata TV’s assets, according to the channel’s employee mentioned in the first instance. “He already owns the office, and is currently in discussion with lenders who have seized the cameras, editing devices and OB (outdoor broadcast) vans. If he manages to acquire these assets, he will have complete control over the assets of the channel.”

Ray, however, may yet need to acquire Associated Broadcasting’s and Dutta’s shares in the channel to retain Kolkata TV’s licences, he added. “Dutta has given up and is willing to transfer his 14% stake to anyone who would absolve him of liabilities—his home is mortgaged to State Bank, which had lent Rs4 crore to the company (SST Media).”

Ray’s principal money spinner is his computer manufacturing business. His RP Infosystems Pvt. Ltd, which sells PCs under the Chirag brand, had a turnover of Rs563 crore and a net profit of Rs29 crore in fiscal 2009. A sports enthusiast, Ray, who is in his mid-30s, owns a football club called Chirag United. It plays in the premier division of the Calcutta Football League. He is also the first Hindu president of the Mohammedan Sporting Club—one of the leading football clubs in Kolkata.

Interestingly, Dutta made his money from computers, too. He and a partner were the promoters of Xenitis Infotech Ltd, which sold low-cost PCs under the brand name Amar PC in West Bengal, Apna PC in North India, and Amchi PC in Maharashtra. The duo started the channel in March 2006, but soon split and Dutta ended up with Kolkata TV.

SST Media’s total liabilities are around Rs70 crore, according to an internal note that has been reviewed by Mint. It borrowed from three banks—UCO Bank, Bank of India and State Bank of India—some Rs28.33 crore. It owes vendors Rs21.45 crore, and employees, Rs2.5 crore.

The happenings at Kolkata TV are a throwback to jute mill takeovers through so-called managing agents; in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, scores of embattled jute mills in West Bengal were taken over in a similar manner. While owners fought cases to secure assets from being seized by lenders and statutory authorities, rival groups hijacked operations through court-appointed managing agents with the support of political bigwigs and employees, who for the sake of their livelihood would do anything to keep the mills running.

The phenomenon of political parties directly or indirectly running television channels is common in south India. SunTV Network, which runs a bouquet of channels in several south Indian languages, including Tamil, is promoted by the Maran family, closely related to the family of M. Karunanidhi, the patriarch of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Tamil Nadu chief minister.

“As long as I was responsible for the editorial content of Kolkata TV as its chief editor, I made sure that we were completely unbiased,” said Dutta. “However, I have lost control and hence cannot comment on what is going to happen in the future.”

There are now four 24-hour Bengali television news channels—Star Ananda, 24 Ghanta, Channel 10 and NE Bangla—besides Kolkata TV. The “takeover” of Kolkata TV by the Trinamool Congress gains significance in the light of the forthcoming assembly election in West Bengal, scheduled for the summer of 2011.

Incidentally, Ray was an activist of the Students’ Federation of India—an organization linked to the Communist Party of India (Marxist)—when he was a student of economics at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University.

aniek.p@livemint.com
C.R. Sukumar contributed to this story.
Illustrations by Jayachandran / Mint

DHR 128th anniv plans roll out

SILIGURI, 24 AUG: The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is observing its 128th anniversary in collaboration with the North Bengal Science Centre through a slew of programmes including a photo exhibition showcasing the spectacular history of the toy train, now included amongst the Unesco world heritage sites. The postmaster general, North Bengal and Sikkim region, Mr Lalhluna, inaugurated the week-long exhibition being held on the NBSC premises. The joint director, tourism, West Bengal government, Mr Gopal Lama, the principal, Siliguri Institute of Technology, Mr S Dasgupta, the project co- coordinator, NBSC, Mr Rajib Nath and the director, DHR, Mr Subrata Nath were present. According to the DHR director, this year's programmes were kept low key in view of the indefinite postponement of the heritage service between New Jalpaiguri and Kurseong due to lanslides along the tracks. “We would celebrate the anniversary in a befitting manner in future,” Mr Subrata Nath said. Referring the frequent landslides in the hills, an octogenarian ex- DHR employee, Mr D B Thapa, who was felicitated on the occasion, issued a note of caution. “The unimpeded traffic flow involving heavy vehicles along the fragile hills might bring about natural calamities of grimmer magnitude in future. Those who love the hills must come forward to checkmate the unhindered vehicular movement to avoid a catastrophe,” Mr Thapa commented.

'Putting Victims on Par with Killers is Painful'

LEFT FRONT ON GOVERNOR'S STATEMENT

KOLKATA,7th AUGUST: The Bengal Left Front committee has issued the following statement on August 7, 2009:

THE press statement dated August 6, 2009, released on behalf of the governor of West Bengal and duly signed by him has pained and compelled us to respond to his reactions. While sharing the grief expressed by him we attract his kind attention to the fact that the political violence mentioned in the statement started before the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha and was targeted against CPI(M) in particular and Left Front in general. So far 74 CPI(M), 2 Forward Bloc workers, 4 JKP (Naren Hansda) supporters, 2 villagers and 3 polling personals were killed since declaration of the elections, notwithstanding 103 CPI(M) workers killed during the last one year (since September 1, 2008). The self styled Maoists take pride in openly claiming their ownership of most of these ghastly murders and their attempt to kill the chief minister of the state. We have no knowledge of any public statement released from Raj Bhavan on such occasions.

By asking “when the leading political formations of West Bengal have the same objective, why should violence not abate?” and arriving at a conclusion that he believes “those who can act, are not doing so,” leaves no distinction between the killers and the killed. The perceptive Indian mentioned in the statement would not have missed this difference and that probably explains why the statement is shy of taking his name. The role of some union ministers of the Trinamul Congress in encouraging this ‘tandava’ has been amply explained in the memorandum submitted by a delegation of Left Front MLAs to the governor of West Bengal. We are not aware if the honourable governor has sent any report to the union government on the involvements of these union ministers in this matter.

We would humbly like to submit that the constitutional head of the state should exhibit more apparent neutrality while making statement in public. If worship of force in all its forms has to be eradicated, the way highest office of the state behaves should also call for a meaningful change.

COMRADE SUBHAS CHAKRABORTY (1942 – 2009)

A sea of humanity reached out the last remains of comrade Subhas Chakraborty to the final destination as a clouded evening accompanied by a light drizzle descended on the metropolis. Leading the cortège was state secretary of the CPI (M) Biman Basu and the state secretariat. The frontage of the march of lakhs included the largest bulk of the state leadership of the CPI (M) and of the Bengal Left Front, and almost the entire cabinet of ministers of the Bengal LF government. 67 fluttering Red Flags recalled the number of year’s comrade Subhas Chakraborty had spent on the earth that and the people of which he was so much in love with, all his political life.

Earlier homage was paid to him in hundreds of thousands of wreaths and garlands at the Muzaffar Ahmad Bhavan, earlier to that at the Assembly House, the Writers’ Buildings, the Dumdum office of the CPI (M), his ancestral house, and at his Salt Lake residence. Comrade Subhas Chakraborty had been for some time in the past, a victim to a fell disease that he bravely battled for months and weeks and days. Indeed, out last memory of him was his stentorian presence at the meeting with the bus owners who were tarrying to implement the banning of fifteen-year-old vehicles despite environmental ‘reasons why’ having been made clear to them. Comrade Subhas Chakraborty had his way.

What most people did not know that risking infection, Comrade Subhas Chakraborty had left in the midst of chemotherapy session to ensure that Bengal’s streets and roads remained moving with vehicular traffic and that the strike threat had no effect: this became as he had planned. Comrade Subhas Chakraborty went back to the medical institution where he was being treated for a fell disease, and to the immense regret of us all, succumbed and breathed his last, come the mid-day hours of 3 August.

DEMISE CONDOLED

Apart from the CPI (M) general secretary, Prakash Karat, Comrade Subhas Chakraborty’s passage was condoled by the Bengal CPI (M), the Bengal Left Front, the Bengal Left Front government including chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the mass organisations, the various popular associations including sports bodies to which Comrade Subhas Chakraborty was intimately linked – we recall his rousing reception to an overwhelmed legend called Diego Maradona in Kolkata some years back – and by the entire gamut of the Bengal opposition.

Of them all, Biman Basu broke down helplessly when he had to state the passing away of Comrade Subhas Chakraborty whilst the veteran mass leader and CPI (M) Polit Bureau member, an ailing Jyoti Basu was the most distraught at the going away of a CPI (M) stalwart whom he described as an activist ‘young Party leader’ in the full bloom of political endeavour.

A LIFE OF STRUGGLE

Born in Dacca on 18 March 1942, Comrade Subhas Chakraborty grew up in Nager Bazar in Dumdum where he cut his political teeth at the Motijheel College. A member of the Communist Party in 1958, Comrade Subhas Chakraborty had to go to jail for leading movements of students (the then BPSF) against a fee raise. Comrade Subhas Chakraborty took part in the successive food movements, struggles against imperialism, movements against price rise and for the spread of education.

A close aide of the late Comrade Dinesh Majumdar, Comrade Subhas Chakraborty spurned repeated offers of jobs – he was an outstanding student – and chose to be a Party wholetimer. Comrade Subhas Chakraborty was the general secretary of the BPSF in 1969, state secretary of the newly-formed SFI in 1970, and was the second general secretary at the all-India level of the SFI after the founder general secretary Biman Basu.

Comrade Subhas Chakraborty fought a stiff battle against both revisionism and sectarianism. A member of the state committee as far back as 1971, he was made a member of the state secretariat in 2008. He led the CITU from the front as a Bengal and all-India office-bearer.

ELECTORAL BATTLE

His electoral battle started as far back as 1967 when he was elected a councillor with overwhelming popular support in the then south Dumdum municipality—and he remained a councillor till 1978. In 1977, he won from the Belgachia Assembly constituency. Comrade Subhas Chakraborty who had won seven times in succession from this constituency was made a minister in the LF government in 1982.

Thence he was successively and successfully in charge of sports, youth welfare, and transport. Intimately linked to the Salt Lake stadium, Comrade Subhas Chakraborty was associated with the movements and struggles for the Bakreswar thermal power project and the Haldia Petrochem set-up.

A leader of great popular appeal, Comrade Subhas Chakraborty leaves behind his wife, Ramala who is a member of the district committee of north 24 Parganas of the CPI (M), and their son, Anubhav.

COMRADE SUBHAS CHAKRABORTY: Brief life-sketch

Date of Birth: 18^th March,1942

Place of Birth: Born at Mashail, Dhaka, Bangladesh(now)

Academic Degree: B.A.

Name of School: K. K. Hindu Academy

Name of College: DumDum Mothijhil College

Name of University: University of Calcutta

Name of Spouse : Smt. Ramala Chakraborty(Bhattacharya)

Son: One

Political Activities:

· Joined Student movements while in School

· Member, CPI from 3^rd May, 1959

· Joined CPI(M) after ideological division of Communist Party in 1964

· General Secretary of BPSF(1966-70)

· State Secretary of SFI(1970-77)

· All India General Secretary SFI(1977-79)

· Member, CPI(M), West Bengal State Committee from 1971

· State Secretariat Member, CPI(M) from 2008

Peoples’ Representative:

· Former Commissioner of South DumDum Municipality

· Elected MLA since 1977 from Belgachia East constituency (8^th, 9^th, 10^th, 11^th, 12^th, 13^th, 14^th West Bengal Legislative Assembly)

Positions Held:

1982 MOS, Sports,Youth Services, Dairy Development

1987 MIC, Sports and Youth Services, and Tourism

1991 MIC, Sports and Youth Services, and Tourism

1996 MIC, Transport and Sports

2001 MIC, Transport, Sports and HRBC

2006 MIC, Transport, Sports and Youth Services

Activities as a Trade Unionist:

Vice President, CITU, West Bengal Committee

Member, All India Working Committee, CITU

ACTIVELY CONNECTED WITH STUDENT, YOUTH, TU AND MASS MOVEMENTS SINCE 1958, INVOLVED IN VARIOUS SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES, WROTE ARTICLES FOR VARIOUS NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINES.

BREATHED HIS LAST TODAY AT 11-35AM AT AMRI HOSPITAL, SALTLAKE

Comrade Subhash Chakraborty: A popular leader

NEW DELHI,3rd AUGUST: The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) expresses deep grief at the passing away of Comrade Subhas Chakrabarti, member of the West Bengal State Secretariat, trade union leader and minister in the Left Front Government.

Subhas Chakrabarti began his political activities from his school days when he joined the student movement in the late fifties. He was the all India General Secretary of the Students Federation of India between 1977 and 1979. He became a member of the West Bengal State Committee of the CPI(M) in 1971. During the period of semi-fascist terror in West Bengal, Subhas Chakrabarti boldly faced the attacks and organised the student and youth movement. Later he began working on the trade union front and he was till the end the Vice-President of the state CITU.

Comrade Subhas Chakrabarti was a popular leader who served the Party with dedication. His death is a loss for the Party and the working class movement in West Bengal. The Polit Bureau conveys its heartfelt condolences to his wife, son and other members of the family.

WEST BENGAL: Party Reviews Govt Work And Organisational Matters

Changes To Be Made In Ministry

KOLKATA,2nd AUGUST: THE CPI(M) West Bengal state committee at its two day meeting on August 1-2, 2009 decided to reshuffle and re-allot some of the ministries held by CPI(M) members in the state cabinet. The meeting also discussed key organisational issues and the work of the Left Front government. Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee drew the conclusions from the discussions in the meeting on the working of the state government while Party state secretary Biman Basu drew the conclusions from the discussions regarding the Party’s organisational matters.

Post the state committee decision, the reallocated ministries in the state cabinet would be as follows: Suryakanta Misra – Health; Anisur Rahman – Panchayat and Rural Development; Narayan Biswas – Animal Husbandry; Anadi Sahoo – Labour; Mrinal Banerjee – Power; Sailen Sarkar – Environment; and Rabilal Maitra – Law and Parliamentary Affairs.

ISSUES PERTAINING TO LF GOVT’S WORKING

The state committee noted that the Left Front government has earned success in many of its endeavours. But it stressed that alongside these successes, the government's drawbacks should not be lost sight of. It advised that after reviewing the work from a class angle, work should be prioritised and taken up at a brisk pace. The administration should be more pro-people in attitude, observed the state committee. There is also a need to tone up the administration and bring enhanced clarity within the administration. Works pertaining to land distribution, agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, pisciculture, irrigation, provision of agricultural loans, higher quality seeds, fertilisers, and cooperative departments should receive more attention. The successes in these aspects should be further improved upon. Irrigation facilities in the state should be extended more widely and it should be ensured that poor farmers receive loans more easily and on easier terms, the state committee observed.

The committee noted that on the whole in the state, capital investment for industrialisation is steadily increasing. It stressed that in the drive for industrialisation efforts should be made to attract investments in the manufacturing sector, including small and medium industries in the state. More definite policies on land acquisition and rehabilitation should be adopted by the government. Work is going on for setting up land banks in the state, leaving aside fertile lands of the state. Efforts should also be undertaken to increase power generation in the state. Proper development of Self Help Groups and generation of new employment in the state should receive priority.

There should be enhanced clarity on preparation of proper and dependable BPL lists, taking care to see that every poor person in the state is included in it. All citizens of the state should have ration cards. The issue of ration cards and Antyodaya scheme should be given priority by the government. The process of obtaining bank loans should be simplified and marketing endeavours should be increased. Work programmes should be prioritised amongst schedule castes and tribes, OBCs, religious minorities, and refugees. The scope of work under NREGA should be further enhanced. Work on rural electrification should be speeded up. Construction of houses for both urban and rural poor and for religious minorities should be beefed up. Care should be taken to see that every child goes to school. The quality of education should improve and more teachers should be appointed. Greater efforts are needed for proper implementation of West Bengal government’s policies pertaining to workers of closed industrial units and unorganised sector workers.

PARTY ORGANISATION

Rectification effort within the Party is a continual process. However, there is a lag in doing this work with emphasis and there is a need to pay more attention to this aspect. Proper action should be taken against undesirable economic activities. Efforts should be made to eradicate inactivity of the Party members, wherever it is found. Party members should be well informed about our ideology. Activists who have emerged from movement and struggles should be enlisted as Party members. This enrollment work should be properly directed. The policy of democratic centralism should be correctly applied to implement programmes and to combat the attacks from the ruling class.

Anti-communists and anti-Leftist forces, ranging from the extreme right to the extreme Left, have formed a reactionary alliance in the state. The continuous terror being unleashed by the Trinamul Congress and this 'axis of evil' can be thwarted only by building up people’s solidarity. Their designs of anarchy and terror can be tackled in this manner alone. It has also been observed that Party organisations at all levels should be bolstered to thwart the conspiracies of the national and foreign reactionary forces against the advance post of the country’s Left movement. Alongside with it, the aspirations of the masses should be channelised into a circle of movement and struggles.

In the context of the present political situation, relatively younger generation workers should be entrusted with more responsibilities. More and more eligible workers coming from working class, schedule castes, tribals and religious minorities background should be entrusted with responsibilities. Efforts should be made to induct more women into the Party and to entrust them with responsibilities. The fact that the CPI(M) is a party of the working class should be reflected within the Party structure. Inner party struggle should continue to uphold this identity of the Party.

The state committee has also observed that the axis of political evil forces in the state, which wants to disrupt the daily chores of the common man and to stall developmental projects, cannot be deemed capable of taking up pro-people work in the state. Though it is true that the mass support of the Left Front has been reduced for the time being, the Party and the Left Front are capable of winning over the minds of the common people of the state through movement and struggles, and by building up more intense relationship with the common people.

The Party state committee has also decided to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic food movement in the state in 1959 through various programmes on August 31.

CPI (M) SHALL FORGE AHEAD BATTLING ADVERSITIES

KOLKATA,31^st JULY: Addressing a large indoor rally to remember E M S Namboodiripad, the legendary Communist leader on his centenary year, held at the Calcutta University centenary hall during the evening of 31 July, CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat said that the CPI (M) would go to the people as in the past, learn from them and battle ahead defeating all adversities. Biman Basu was in the chair. The members of the CPI (M) state secretariat were on the dais.

Prakash Karat said that EMS was not merely a theoretician he was also of that rare quality that allowed one to put theory to practice. He would analyse the evolving situation and raw the correct lessons from them. He placed a remarkable address on the problems plaguing the Malabar kisans when he was speaking at a legislative session in Delhi in the pre-independence years.

This was the address that later served to inspire the land reforms movement in the country and gave birth much later to the movement for land reforms in places like Kerala and Bengal.

EMS was also a correct analyst of the nationalities question in Kerala and apart from calling for an integrated concept of what was then called a province EMS also spoke firmly in favour of democratic decentralisation of power, financial as well as administrative.

Prakash Karat said that the CPI (M) was at present under assault from forces of reaction, indigenous and foreign. The attack took a sharp formation prior to the 15^th Lok Sabha elections and has continued since in Bengal.

From the date of the announcement of election schedule, 70 comrades have been martyred here in Bengal said Prakash Karat. In Kerala, the attack was open and overt. In Bengal the attack is covert and in the guise of ‘Maoism.’ Prakash Karat was bitterly critical of the politics of ‘Maoism’ being practiced in some parts of the country.

Analysing the election results obtained in the 15^th Lok Sabha elections, Prakash Karat pointed out that the results were an ‘exception in Bengal where the LF has been in office for 32 long years.’ The CPI (M) has full confidence that it should learn from the people the correct lessons and drive forward in the days to come. The life and achievements of EMS would serve as source on inspiration in this task.

AIDWA WORKER ASSAULTED, TORTURED BY TRINAMULIS

KHEJURI, 30^th JULY: Anjali Maity is a housewife, and is of 30-odd years. She lives in the quiet of the shaded by trees village of Uttar Kalam under the Tikashi Gram Panchayat (GP) in Khejuri, Midnapore east. She leads the local unit of the AIDWA. She has stood stoutly by the side of her comrades when the Trinamuli goons started to harass them, and worse, targeting every single CPI (M) worker in the small hamlet, in the wake of their raucous electoral success at the GP polls.

We have a recent incident of deep political disturbance that occurred to Anjali on the night of 23 July. Anjali lives alone, for her husband, Balai, a CPI (M) worker, has been forced to flee their humble residence because of threats on his life by the local Trinamul toughs. Indeed, Anjali it was who insisted that Balai move out for the time being as a tactical move.

Then something terrible happened. Soft-spoken, mild-mannered Anjali had her residence broken into by Trinamul hoodlums, there were 25-odd men in inebriated state, and they beat Anjali to an inch of death and then gagged and kidnapped her, secreting her away in a remote art of the village as the skies opened up, rain poured down, and her cries for help could not be heard in the boom of the thunder-and-lightening.

She was then overpowered, her modesty outraged, and fingers of her hand broken for having the boldness to fight back. This went on for seven days, seven nights, and the Trinamulis spread the confident and authentic-sounding word around that Anjali had gone away to join her husband.

Anjali bore the torture with fortitude and she would struggle very hard indeed not to sign away the small piece of land that she owned and which the Trinamulis lusted for. She failed. Nevertheless, she did succeed in taking advantage of a momentary lapse of vigilance by her hated captors, jumped from a first floor window and ran for the nearest CPI (M) office in the dark and silence of another rainy night.

Since, she has been moved to a hospital, and a police case has been started against the perpetrators of the crime most of whose names she has informed the authorities. Bengal AIDWA has called upon the state home secretary urging upon him to bring the guilty to book.

The incidence drips sadness and outrage at the same time and, looking back, one considers it a great a pity that the Uttar Kalam village allowed a bunch of Trinamuli gangsters to get away with a win in the GP elections.

FALL-OUT AMONGST ‘FRIENDS’ SEES ULUBERIA MUNICIPALITY BOARD ‘USURPED’

KOLKATA,29^th July: There is a populist turn of phrase in Bengali, which applies with great political implication in the electoral line of the bourgeois outfits. The expression is khatay-kalamé and it is a signifier of an act of a promise being put on paper and then casually, expectedly given the go by.

The phrase khatay-kalamé has been of apt reportage utility for us, in describing the slight if high-profile difference of opinion on the score of venal political brokerage par excellence amongst the two Congresses who had unamicably combined as an utilitarian act of convenience, to capture the board of the Uluberia municipality in the district of Howrah in the civic polls of late.

The bugles had been blown. The fanfare was in full flow. The hour had approached for the Trinamul Congress, per khatay-kalamé, to assume charge of the municipal board at Uluberia. Something nasty happened, though, between the cup and the lip.

Cometh the hour, we say, cometh the turn-coat, as far as bourgeois parties are concerned. Without even a voting having to be called for, a clutch of Trinamulis noiselessly went ahead to vote the Pradesh Congress into office. Didi kept a grim silence that spoke a thousand words.

Elsewhere, things related to anti-Communist unity, too, are fading a bit we thought. At the time of filing of this report we observe and admittedly not quite with glum and murk, that the Pradesh Congress has gone ahead and unilaterally announced the names of candidates for the by-elections to the two central Kolkata seats that had fallen vacant with the incumbent MLAs having resigned and become MPs.

The Sealdah seat has always been Somen Mitra’s forté. It has been so whether he was at the helm of affairs of the Pradesh Congress or has deferentially kow-towed to didi and formed a small outfit minus political reckon as a step towards joining the Trinamuli band-wagon. We find it difficult to characterize whose domain the Bowbazar seat belongs though because of the innumerable times Sudip Bandyopadhyay has changed colours between the two Congresses.

At any rate, didi’s men are trying their roughest to cling onto at least the Bowbazar seat, but there is a section which would also angle for the Sealdah seat as well. Watch this space for further developments of toadyism of the querulous kind.

Biman Basu, Bengal Left Front chairman has announced the names of the LF candidates for the by-elections. Prabir Deb of the CPI would contest the Sealdah seat. Minati Gomes, a noted lawyer, is the LF-nominated independent candidate for the Bowbazar seat.

JHARKHANDIS, TRINAMULIS RUN RIOT IN PURULIA, BURDWAN

KOLKATA, 29^th JULY: In the name of a bandh called on non-issues like presence of police in western Bengal, the Jharkhandis of the ‘disham’ group aided and abetted by local units of the Trinamulis assaulted railway passengers, held up train services, blocked highways and other main arterial roads, and forced shopkeepers to down shutters in the various towns of Purulia and Burdwan.

The hooligans came out with sharp, cutting weapons including large scimitars, spears, and daggers. People were terrorised. One of the chased, a young student by the name of Arghya Samanta, suffered from a panic attack as he stumbled and fell and saw a murderous mob approaching him with arms at the ready.

The young man aged 20 tragically died from a heart seizure. The attackers then ransacked several haats and bazaars putting to the torch houses of CPI (M) supporters in both districts, at several places, and then also ran amuck in the bordering district of Hooghly.

Biman Basu said that the recent events showed how the Trinamulis and their noxious associates were keeping up efforts to step up violence in Bengal, especially in areas where they have won elections of late. At the call of the CPI (M), street corner meetings and smaller rallies have continued across Bengal to protest the attempt at bringing back anarchy in the state.

In a related development, the Burdwan unit of the CPI (M) has produced video clipping that depicts the presence of one Nazir Sheikh on of the killers named by comrade Falguni in his dying statement. Manas Bhuinya the Congress leader had said that if it could be proved that the Pradesh Congress leaders on a recent tour of Mangolkote had been accompanied by any of the accused in the comrade Falguni murder case, he would resign as an MLA.

The ball is now clearly in your court, Manasbabu.(INN)

Transport strike in Calcutta over

KOLKATA,25th July: Operators of private buses and taxis in the Indian city of Calcutta say they have called off their strike. Their action was in protest against a decision by the West Bengal government to implement a ban on commercial vehicles more than 15 years old.

The ban, ordered by Calcutta's high court, was aimed at cutting pollution after studies found high rates of respiratory disease in the city. Vehicle operators said they would lodge a court appeal against the ban. The president of the Calcutta Bus Owners Association, Swarnakamal Saha, said he would take the matter to India's Supreme Court.

He said that they would fight the battle legally rather than inconvenience millions of passengers. The ban will be effective from 1 August - but it has infuriated bus and taxi operators. They say they would have no hesitation in switching to green fuels or buying new vehicles, but would need loans and easy repayment terms to help them make the move.

Environmentalist Subhas Dutta, who filed the case in the high court that led to the judgement, says that transport owners have had enough time to organise funds and switch to new, green-fuel vehicles. "This case has been in the court for a long time and the transport associations tried their best to stop an order for scrapping of old vehicles. Now they have no excuse," Mr Dutta said.

As some 60,000 taxis and 10,000 buses went out of circulation in India's third most populous city, the strike had a major impact, correspondents say. There were huge crowds at metro stations and schools and universities shut down for the day. The state transport minister Subhas Chakrabarty said that efforts to prevent the strike failed because the transport operators were unreasonable.

The city's ageing vehicles are seen as a major cause of air pollution and responsible for the sharp rise in lung cancer and similar diseases in the city. Mr Chakrabarty said that nearly 3,000 buses and mini-buses and almost 6,500 taxis will have to go off the roads or convert to green fuel because they were bought more than 15 years ago.

But Swarnakamal Saha said vehicle operators are simply unable to afford the move. "We understand the environmental concerns, the need to protect our people from pollution. But most of us don't have enough money to buy new taxis and buses on our own and the banks are cautious to lend in a climate of economic downturn," he said. "This is where we want government support."

Transport operators on indefinite strike from tomorrow

Kolkata, Jul 23: Commercial transport operators here has decided to go on an indefinite strike from tomorrow after their meeting with the West Bengal Transport minister over the ban of 15-year-old vehicles from the metropolis failed today."The meeting with Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty has failed. So we are going ahead with the strike," Joint Council of Bus Syndicates General Secretary Sadhan Das said. CITU state Secretary Kali Ghosh said it was opposed to the strike as it was against the interest of the people. "It is a conspiracy against the Left Front government," he said.The High Court order banning all 15-year-old commercial vehicles from the Kolkata metropolitan area would come into force from August one.

The Trinamool Congress today lent "moral support" to the indefinite strike called by commercial transport operators here from tomorrow while seeking West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi's intervention to end the stalemate.Leader of Opposition Partha Chatterjee alleged the state government had failed to find a solution through dialogue with private transport operators and inflicted hardship on the people.Asked about the party's stand on the transport strike, he said party supremo Mamata Banerjee had already stated that the Trinamool Congress was against bandhs and blockades, however, the party would extend "moral support" to the strike.

Oust CPI(M) from Bengal by 2011: Mamata

KOLKATA,21st July: Enthused by her party’s landslide victory in the 15th Lok Sabha elections and setting her sights on the forthcoming West Bengal Assembly elections in 2011, Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee urged party supporters here on Tuesday to adopt a “positive and constructive role to oust the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from State politics in 2011.”

Addressing a mammoth rally in memory of the Youth Congress supporters killed by the police at a protest rally on this day 16 years ago as well as to celebrate the victory in the Lok Sabha elections, Ms. Banerjee said: “The Trinamool Congress is no more a mere opposition party in State politics. Just as in the recent Lok Sabha elections, we have to defeat the CPI(M) in the Assembly elections too… And we will remove them democratically and politically, without any violence.”

Many Trinamool supporters from all over the State congregated at the rally despite the rain. “Let it rain. It will usher in a shower of change in West Bengal,” she told the crowd. She offered homage to the victims of violence during the agitations at Singur and Nandigram.

Virtually kicking off her Assembly election campaign at the rally, she promised to bring about a holistic change in the fields of infrastructure, health, education and employment, if the Trinamool Congress came to power in the State. Ms. Banerjee accused the CPI(M) of stockpiling illegal firearms in several parts of the State for spreading terror and violence and demanded immediate seizure of these arms.

THE HINDU, 22nd July, 2009

Kolkata comes to a standstill

KOLKATA,21st July: Vehicles were stalled, buses were re-routed and metro trains were brimming with commuters here on Tuesday as traffic across the city plunged into chaos because of a rally held by the Trinamool Congress.

As tens of thousands of Trinamool supporters flocked to Central Kolkata in a multitude of processions, traffic in many of the city’s arterial roads was forced to come to a standstill. Some of the city’s principal roads had to be cleared to allow processions to snake their way to the site of the public meeting.

Several roads remained choked even hours after the rally was over. “The city police had deployed 3,000 policemen to control the crowd and five ambulances in case of an emergency,” said Javed Shamin, Deputy Commissioner (Detective Department), Kolkata Police.

Students on their way home from school were stranded even as some schools had declared half-day sessions in anticipation of the rush.

Business takes a blow, schools & offices deserted

Dalhousie came to a standstill on Wednesday as 1.5 lakh Mamata Banerjee sup-porters packed into a 5-sq-km radius. Attendance was thin at most offices in the city's commercial hub, and work even less. Many schools in the area shut down in view of the bandh-like situation'. At Writers', it was an overwhelmingly holiday mood. Attendance was officially normal, but several employees sneaked off to attend the Trinamool Congress rally while many others including some ministers sat glued before TV sets that beamed live footage of Mamata's call for change. Central government offices in Dalhousie registered just 50% presence.

The picture was the same at state government offices, like West Bengal Industrial Development Finance Corporation and West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation. Tapan Bhattacharya, a retired employee of Food Corporation of India, who had come to Kolkata with the twin objectives of expediting his pension papers and attending the Trinamool rally, was happy that he made it to the rally but disheartened that there was nobody to attend to him in the food ministry's office. A central government employee said that most of the staff had taken leave in advance to avoid the chaos. "It has become a yearly ritual," he said. An HDFC Bank official at Gillander House pointed out that there was hardly any customer. Gillander House, which has over 100 private and government offices, itself had skeletal staff presence.

Ironically, it was left to hawkers and owners of roadside stalls to keep the wheels of commerce moving in the city's business district. Md Umar, a cellphone accessories vendor at Chandni, made brisk business selling mobile phone covers to rallyists on a rainy day. Shakil Hossain of Chandni managed to sell off his lot of rechargeable pocket torches. Roadside gar-ment vendors near Great Eastern, too, had a field day. Many schools chose not to take a risk. A few in central Kolkata shut down, asking students to come on a weekly holiday. Several others rescheduled their timings.

Even schools far off from the rally venue like South Point and St James saw low attendance. Loreto Dharamtola on Lenin Sarani declared Tuesday a holiday and will stay open on Saturday. "I didn't want students to get caught in the chaos," said principal, Sister Mercy. Calcutta Girls off Wellington Square, Calcutta Boys on SN Banerjee Road and Welland Gouldsmith at Bowbazar gave over a few hours earlier.

TNN 22 July 2009, 05:02am IST

Jyoti Basu discharged from hospital

KOLKATA, 19th July,2009 : Veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu was discharged from hospital here on Sunday evening, seven days after admission for “transient loss of consciousness.”

The medical board of seven specialists met on Sunday morning, reviewed his condition and decided to discharge him, according to a hospital bulletin. They will visit him at his residence for the next couple of days.

Hospital authorities said Mr. Basu’s condition would be continuously monitored.
A mini- medical unit, comprising an ECG monitor, defibrillator and pulse oximeter, was set up at his residence. A doctor and paramedic staff would be present round-the-clock and blood tests and other investigations conducted.

‘MAOIST’ KILLERS MURDER TWO CPI (M) WORKERS IN THE JANGAL MAHAL

JHARGRAM:It was in the feint emitting light of a rain-melted sundown and amidst the caressing whisper of soft breeze of his favourite patch of sal trees that comrade Jaladhar Mahato, a CPI (M) zonal committee member of the Jhargram Gramin (rural) unit, was pitilessly gunned down. The assailants were hired killers on the payroll of the ‘Maoists’ across the border in Jharkhand. This happened on 19 July.

In a macabre development, the ‘news’ of this gruesome misdeed was then quickly text messaged in ugly gloat from across the border to a select group of reporters who the ‘Maoist’ assassins feel are their simpatico partners in their criminal hatred against the Communists. Murder it is not, boasted the message, but a part of ‘annihilation of class enemies.’

DEADLY ATTACK
Comrade Jaladhar (52) was alone and travelling on his trusty if old motorcycle after having led a meeting of the local Gramin unit of the CPI (M) some time back late in the afternoon. The locality is near the Jhargram police station. The attackers struck with deadly precision at a lonely part of the dense forestry.

Whenever a rattle of automatic weapons is heard in the jangal mahal, and this has been the fact for some time now, it usually is the signal and the tragedy of yet another criminal attack on CPI (M) workers. The villagers rushed out after the initial shock. The only sight that confronted them was the martyred remains of comrade Jaladhar who had been shot twice in the head and as many times on his chest.

Comrade Jaladhar leaves behind his much-beloved wife who has been a mentally-retardant for some years now, and who is not quite able to pin-point what has actually gone wrong with the villagers who are in a teary if angry mood. The sight is piteous. The fallen comrade also leaves behind, for the Party and the village to care for and to bring up, a daughter and a son.

‘CLASS ENEMY’
Comrade Jaladhar was a small kisan by calling and farmed a tiny plot of land for vegetables, in a clearing of the jangal mahal. A staunch Party leader, comrade Jaladhar was fond and affectionate in nature, and had a particular soft spot for the wide swathe of sal trees that shaded his hutment for, amidst them he had grown up albeit through a bitterly poverty-ridden childhood. Was he, then the ‘class enemy’ the ‘Maoists’ would be ‘glad to annihilate’?

Elsewhere in Midnapore west in a related development and on the same evening, the ‘Maoists’ with direct help from local Trinamuli killers assassinated a CPI (M) worker, comrade Ashok Ghosh at Goaltore.

Comrade Ashok (35) was a humble shop-keeper. He was closing shop-- and as he was downing his wood-and-tin shamble of a ‘shutter,’ he was pounced upon and shot on the head with countrymade six-shooters, by an unknown number of attackers.

The criminals then proceeded to ransack the shop and made off with whatever they could lay their hands on before the people of the locale rushed in. Bengal CPI (M) has strongly protested the two ‘Maoist’ killings.

CONGRESS-RUN NORTH DINAJPUR ZP IN DOLDRUMS, AND WORSE

RAIGANJ: In less than one year, the Pradesh Congress-run Zillah Parishad board of North Dinajpore has stalled every mechanism of development while graft and misuse of funds have become the orders of the day, every day.

The very first step that the new board initiated was to garage the perfectly good vehicles of the ZP as ‘scrap.’ Then, they proceeded to buy luxury sedans and SUVs complete with every kind of creature comfort. No accounting goes for the fuel bills that have soared out of sight. Sources tell us that each car runs up fuel bills of half-a-lakh of rupees or more each month. All the spanking new vehicles in which the worthies of the ZP travel are fitted with revolving red beacons flouting motor vehicles and transport department’s restrictions.

Since the district is predominantly rural, we shall dwell here on the rural development aspect, in putting the present ZP on the dock. Bengal Left Front government has an ongoing plan called rural health development scheme. Every document including government orders (GOs) of this scheme has been blatantly filed away by the present régime and the scheme effectively shelved.

The state government had sanctioned Rs two crore 48 lakh for setting up of subsidiary health centres in the remote rural corners of the district at Daspara, Maharajapara, Surun, and Bangalbari. The funds lie quite unutilised as the rural folks suffer for lack of health care.

The state government had also sanctioned – for the nine blocks that make up the district – Rs 1.50 crore in the current financial year (FY) for upkeep and maintenance of the existing health infrastructure. The funds have met with a similar fate. Indeed, we are informed that the amount of money left unused from the previous FY in the same head, however small, too, has not been utilised in any way.

The ZP has also failed miserably in utilising the large quantum of ‘own funds’ that are made available to the three-tier Panchayat system under the present governance. Non-productive, anti-poor drives abound and the ZP office crawls with staggeringly dishonest people.

The district is also affected by refugee problems for a long time now. The state LF government has sanctioned Rs 1.30 crore for development of the infrastructural facilities of the refugee colonies in the current FY. The amounts lie unused, as the refugees and their families suffer.

A similar lack of pro-people initiative is in fact observed in every department of the ZP. Then again, can one expect the otherwise when the board members hail from the lair of the long-standing anti-people outfit called the Pradesh Congress?

VANDALISM AND DISORDER AS PRADESH CONGRESS ‘STRIKES’ AT THE PEOPLE

KOLKATA: The Pradesh Congress at the end of two successive days of vandalism with the people as the convenient ‘soft target,’ claimed ‘spontaneous’ success, over and over again, and then once more, on the airwaves, at the press meets.

Biman Basu, senior CPI (M) and Left Front leader has roundly condemned the disorder, chaos, violence and the suffering of the people.

We prefer here to list the misdeeds on 16 and 17 July (the latter was the ‘official’ bandh day) that were borne out of this spontaneity-- to the background noise of bombs bursting, glass panes smashed up, tyres deflated, and above all the deadly crackle of fire as arsonists went to work hard, having to toil that bit harder to ‘make up’ to the level of Trinamuli ‘actions’ of recent yore, and these were desperately attempted to be surpassed.

• More than 500 public vehicles were torched or otherwise damaged beyond repair, and these were the major incidents. An equally large number of privately owned vehicles were attacked and left more than just large dents.

• Post offices were ransacked, and who could be bothered that the postal service falls into the portal of the central government in which the Congress is the majority partner.

• SDOs and BDOs were heckled, in some cases roughly so, including the shameful jostling of a woman BDO in north Bengal.

• Sick and ailing persons including a busful of cancer patients on way to receiving their weekly radiation/chemotherapy were forcefully dragged out from vehicles, left in a bedraggled state wayside, and then made the target of choice invectives of the unprintable kind.

• Zillah Parishad members in western, central, and northern Bengal were made the subject of heckling, abuse, misaddressing, and were prevented from joining work.

• Kolkata was a scene of multi-point disorder as working people were made the target of abuse, shops forced to close down shutters, and all vehicles including, in some instances, ambulances and even the humble cyclerickshaws obstructed until in isolated instances, the police had to intervene.

• All examinations had to be cancelled including all-India service examinations, depriving the aspirants of perhaps what was once-in-a-lifetime chance-- for a better life.

To these must be added misdeeds having a touch of the macabre.

• In several places, in the metropolis, and perhaps elsewhere, small hotels and restaurants were broken into, the employees, crumbling inside with the fear of the worse, forced to cook, the food taken amidst many-a-whoop of joy by the merry men of the urban jungle, and then the establishments left, wrecked

• Stranded Railway and bus passengers were provided with a modicum of food and a gulp or two of water, agreed, and by the ‘strikers.’

• What, however, was the cost involved? We saw one particular incident ourselves at the Naihati station in north 24 Parganas.

• Shops were forced to part with eatables and bottled water, free and in large quantities.

• Of these, a token amount was then sold to the desperately starving long distance passengers at exactly 10 times the normal price.

• Then, the ‘job done,’ the shops were systematically looted with glee and amidst anti-Communist slogans, and then the shopkeepers forced to down shutters once more: bandh must be abided.

• In the laterite zone at Purulia, prisoners accused of heinous crimes were attempted to be snatched away from police custody by attacking the prison van, trying to overcome the successful resistance from the police personnel.

• As we file this report, the Pradesh Congress has not as yet described this particular incident as a case of ‘police brutality,’ small mercies for which we are always thankful.

‘We are coming back,’ rang out the Pradesh Congress leadership in boastful glee. The gradually ominously louder footfalls of the decade of the 1970s are clearly heard across Bengal.

Biman Basu said that the CPI (M) and the Left Front must organise an intense campaign amongst the youth to explain what the 1970s meant for the toiling masses of Bengal.

CPI (M) LOCAL COMMITTEE SECRETARY KILLED

‘MAOIST’ ACTION FOLLOWS TRINAMULI RALLY

PURULIA: Comrade Gangadhar Mahato was a worker in a stone quarry at Beldi in the Burrabazar area of west Purulia. He was 50. He was also the secretary of the Tumrasole CPI (M) local committee, a comrade who was known for his calm disposition and efficacy of leadership.

A LEADING ORGANISER
Comrade Gangadhar was also, and this is relevant here, as we knew him, a redoubtable organiser, working tirelessly amongst the toiling masses, especially khadan (quarry) workers for the propagation of his beloved Communist Party. The recent elections had underwritten this once again. This was no doubt the principle reason the pitiless killers who style themselves as ‘Maoists’ chose comrade Gangadhar as their target.

The locality too suited the remorse-free murderers. The locale is about a stone’s throw away from the lawlessness that is the eastern districts of Jharkhand. Comrade Gangadhar was cycling back to his humble abode after a day of back-breaking work at the deep khadan, when he was waylaid and ambushed by half-a-dozen heavily armed criminals who had been led to the spot by their cohorts in the Trinamulis.

MURDER MOST FOUL
A lonely turn in the bend and a hail of bullets riddled comrade Gangadhar’s weary body. He collapsed and died, perhaps almost instantly, now that we know that he was first shot twice in the head and then had four bullets pumped into his back and chest. The attackers made off into Jharkhand, and they could not be traced, as we file this report. Biman Basu, CPI (M) state secretary has deeply mourned comrade Gangadhar’s death and has called for an early apprehension of heinous assassins.