January-March
2023
Volume VII, Issue 1.
TRIBUTE TO COMRADE
KAMEPALLI RAMKOTESH
Comrade Kamepalli Ramkotesh
(January 20, 1954— December 18, 2022)
T he Editorial Board of Revolutionary Democracy
deeply condoles the untimely death of Comrade
Kamepalli Ramkotesh. Coming from a well known rev-
olutionary family of Andhra Pradesh, ‘Comrade Kotesh’
as he was known, was active in the communist movement
from his student days in the University of Delhi. He was
on the editorial board of Socialist Albania, the journal of
India-Albania Friendship Society and was associated with
the journal Proletarian Path (3rd Series) edited by Moni
Guha and others.  neighbourhood remember with fondness his warmth and
He returned to Andhra Pradesh in the 1980s to take up
teaching English Literature in colleges. He was also ac-
tive in teacher’s union politics. He retired some years ago
and took up the cause of popularising Marxist Leninist
literature in Andhra Pradesh by translation into Telugu
and circulation of important works.
He was on the Editorial Board of the journal Rev-
olutionary Democracy and was associated with the
Stalin Society, India.
On the occasion of the centenary of the Great
October Socialist Revolution in 2017, he was instru-
mental in organising an international seminar in Guntur,
This e-jounral covers the polemics and voices of democratic movement against imperialism, fascism, and other forms of reaction.
Editor: Dr. Malem Ningthouja.
Published by Campaign for Peace & Democracy (Manipur). E-mail: cpdmanipur@gmail.com
beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
Contents
Tribute to Comrade Kamepalli Ramkotesh….. 1
Tribute To A Teacher, Visionary, 
Revolutionary: Comrade Jose Maria Sison… 2
Status of Human Rights in Manipur, CSCHR... 3
On Climate Change and the Environment,
ILPS Commission 13……........................... 8
Peoples of the World Unite to End Climate
Imperialism, ILPS….................................... 12
COP27 Ends Ensuring Unabated Corporate
Profiteering from Plunder of Nature,
CPI (ML) Red Star…................................... 12
List of Demands of Farmers of India Along With
a Warning, Samyukta Kisan Morcha…....... 14
Solidarity Statement Against Malicious
Slandering of Activists Fighting Against
Adani International Seaport at Vizhinjam,
Kerala, India, Vizhinjam Struggle
Solidarity Committee, Keralam.................... 15
An Open Letter from People’s Movements to
the Governor: Questioning the Make-in-
Odisha Conclave and the Current
Development Model, Organisations…......... 16
Andhra Pradesh. Delegates from across the country and the
hospitality during the seminar days. 
He was active in social media and attended online
meetings even during his prolonged illness.
The Journal Revolutionary Democracy condoles the
loss of a clear headed upholder of Marxist Leninist theory
and practice and a humane comrade and expresses
solidarity with his family at this time of grief.
Revolutionary Democracy
December 26, 2022
1

TRIBUTE TO A TEACHER,
VISIONARY, REVOLUTIONARY—
COMRADE JOSE MARIA SISON
D ear Comrade Joma Sison passed away on the 16th
of December, 2022 after two weeks hospitalisation.
We wish to express our sincerest condolences to Julie
De Lima, Joma’s life-long partner and comrade-in-arms,
their children and their relatives.
Comrade Joma will be very greatly missed by mil-
lions of people across the globe. We give him a red sa-
lute.
Comrade Joma was a revolutionary, leading the way
forward to the liberation of the Filipino people and the
people of the world. He devoted his life to the overthrow
of imperialism and other exploiting social systems.
Comrade Joma was a teacher who helped us un-
derstand history and the world as it is so that we could
improve our efforts to change the world for the people.
He fought continuously right to his death to expose the
revisionists, the capitalist roaders in the former socialist
countries who have demonstrated their vile treachery in
working to restore capitalism in some former socialist
countries.
Joma was a visionary who showed us the way forward
to a new world of democracy, freedom, independence
and Socialism for a bright future for all. He correctly
alerted the world’s proletariat to the vital importance of
Mao Zedong and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolu-
tion (GPCR) in China, which will be required in some
form in the future in socialist countries in order to safe-
guard the revolution from capitalist restoration.
What must be understood is that following the Sec-
ond World War, over one third of the world’s people
lived under the socialist system, and millions more in
2 beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
the colonial and semi colonial world were being inspired
by socialism to struggle for their independence and lib-
eration.
Just think of the USSR, China, Eastern Europe, Cuba,
Vietnam, North Korea etc.
Had that momentum continued, it is conceivable that
two thirds or more of the worlds people would be living
under socialism today. What stopped that momentum?
As Joma reminded us on many occasions, the re-
visionists, the capitalist roaders in each of the socialist
countries took advantage of the deaths of Stalin and Mao
Zedong and along with the support from imperialism laid
the basis for the restoration of capitalism by destroying
all the magnificent achievements of the people in those
countries.
As Joma reminded us, Mao Zedong and the Great
Proletarian Cultural Revolution which lasted about 10
years achieved some important victories for socialism in
that time but ultimately was defeated. The lessons from
that must be learned and revisionism must be fought and
defeated.
One of many of Joma’s lasting contributions to the
world’s people was his contribution to the rebuilding of
the peoples’ global movement against imperialism and
particularly against US Imperialism which has been the
most rapacious, war-like and vicious imperialist country
in the world.
One of his contributions in this regard was the plan-
ning, launch and operation of the International League of
Peoples Struggle (ILPS) which has continued for over 20
years doing magnificent work in exposing and opposing
the imperialist wars, imperialist exploitation and imperi-
alist robbery. This is one of Joma’s finest legacies.
Joma knew that the revisionists, the capitalist road-
ers, and other opportunists, had committed and were
committing treachery by working to cover up the crimes
of imperialism and even by collaborating with imperial-
ism in committing those crimes.
To mobilise the people against the common enemy
was what had to be done and done it was.
The ILPS has grown into the biggest and most ef-
fective peoples’ mass organisation fighting for democra-
cy and against imperialism and imperialist exploitation
with hundreds of peoples’ mass organisations as mem-
bers across the globe and is still growing and advancing.
This was one of the many long- lasting achievements
of Comrade Joma, the visionary. Joma decided in 2019
to retire from his position as ILPS Chairperson to con-
centrate on writing which of course the world desperate-
ly needed.
 I was asked to become the Chairperson. It was im-
possible to fill his shoes in that role, but he helped enor-
mously by agreeing to become the newly established
Chairperson Emeritus of ILPS.
This enabled Joma to continue to guide, help and be
involved, all- be-it at a different level. We will be forever
grateful for his decision, which was a huge assistance
over those years since 2019.
We will miss dear comrade Joma so much. We will
miss his infectious sense of humour, his biting analysis
of the world’s contradictions, his important writings and
his internationalism. We must all step up and reread his
important writings and books.
We will never forget his massive contributions in the
service of the world’s peoples and particularly the Fili-
pino People.
Comrade Joma has left us an enormous legacy which
guides us in fighting imperialism, in fighting for revo-
lution, in serving the working class and other toilers, in
changing the world for a bright socialist future.
We will remember you always Joma. We will step up.
Long live the beloved memory of Comrade Joma Sison!
Long live his cherished internationalism and
international solidarity!
Long live his constant drive to overthrow imperialism!
Len Cooper, Chairperson,
International League of Peoples Struggle
18/12/22
What Makes a Hero
It is not the manner of death
That makes a hero.
It is the meaning of life drawn
From the struggles against the foe.
There is the hero who dies in the battlefield,
There is the hero who dies of hunger and disease,
There is the hero who dies of some accident,
There is the hero who dies of old age.
Whatever is the manner of death,
There is the common denominator:
A hero serves the people
To his very last breath.
Jose Maria Sison
10 December 1977
beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
STATUS OF HUMAN RIGHTS
IN MANIPUR
Introduction
0 .1 Civil Society Coalition for Human Rights in Ma-
nipur and the UN (CSCHR) is a conglomeration of
civil society groups with the mission of cooperating
with the UN human rights mechanisms to ameliorate
the human rights situation in the militarized and isolated
Manipur and its surrounding North East region of India.
As done in the 2nd and 3rd cycle, CSCHR is hereby sub-
mitting the joint stakeholder’s report for the 4th cycle of
UPR on India.
0.2 The present report is prepared through a series of
consultations since January 2022. The report presents a
gist of the major human rights challenges facing the peo-
ple of Manipur along with specific recommendations.
The report is divided into three sections namely:
(1) Suspension of Right to Life
(2) Entrenched Impunity
(3) Political Solution to Armed Insurgency
1. Suspension of Right to Life
1.1 The issue of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
(AFSPA) has persistently attracted strong recommen-
dations from the UN human rights mechanisms starting
from 1991 when India’s second periodic report was re-
viewed under the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR)1. The Working Group on UPR
in all the three cycles (2008, 2012 and 2017) has recom-
mended the repeal/review of AFSPA. But the Govern-
ment of India (GoI) has not accepted the recommenda-
tions till date.
1.2 Human Rights Committee (HRC) in its conclud-
ing observation of the third periodic review under IC-
CPR stated2:
… the Committee remains concerned at the continu-
ing reliance on special powers under legislation such
as Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act … in areas
declared to be disturbed and at serious human rights
violations, in particular with respect to Articles 6, 7,
9 and 14 of the Covenant…
1.2 1.2 Supreme Court of India, however, upheld the
constitutionality of AFSPA vide its judgement dated 27
November 19973. In doing so, the court ignored the spe-
cific recommendation of HRC to examine the compati-
3
bility of its provisions with ICCPR4. Special Rapporteur
on extra-judicial execution, Professor Christof Heyns,
after his official visit to India in 2012 gave a detailed
legal analysis of the AFSPA5 and he observed:6
…the NHRC shared with the Special Rapporteur its
views in support of AFSPA’srepeal … The Supreme
Court of India ruled, however, in 1997 that AFSPA
did not violate the Constitution. The Special Rappor-
teur is unclear about how the Supreme Court reached
such a conclusion. … the powers granted under
AFSPA are in reality broader than that allowable
under the state of emergency as the right to life may
effectively be suspended under the Act and the safe-
guards applicable in a state of emergency is absent.
1.5 Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women recommended the re-
view/repeal of the AFSPA in 2000, 20077 and 20148.
Stamping the AFSPA as racist, Committee on the Elim-
ination of Racial Discrimination also recommended the
repeal of AFSPA in 2007. It was followed by repeated
communication under the Early Warning and Urgent
Action Procedure. The Committee on Economic So-
cial and Cultural Rights also recommended its repeal
in 20089. The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights De-
fender and the Special Rapporteur on violence against
women who visited India in 2011 and 2013 respectively
also made the same recommendation to repeal AFSPA.
1.6 People of Manipur have been demanding the re-
peal of AFSPA since the day the bill was introduced in
the Parliament in 195810. Meira Paibi11 are at the fore-
front of the struggle. Ms. Irom Sharmila carried out a
hunger strike for 16 years12 demanding its repeal. After a
sustained people’s agitation spearheaded by the Working
Committee of the Apunba Lup (WCAL), following the
rape and murder of Ms. Thanjam Manorama, including
the naked protest of 12 Meira Paibi in front of Kang-
la13, the then Prime Minister of India assured WCAL that
“AFSPA will be replaced by a more humane act”. All
the committees and commissions14 set up by GoI to look
into the matter have recommended the repeal of AFSPA.
Most recently, following the 4-5 December 2021 killing
of 16 coal-miners and protesters at Oting, Nagaland by
the Indian Army, the Chief Ministers of Nagaland, Ma-
nipur and Meghalaya called for the repeal of AFSPA.15
But to no effect.
Suggested recommendation:
a. Repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act,
1958 immediately.
4 beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
2. Entrenched Impunity
2.1 The Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families
Association, Manipur, (EEVFAM) and Human Rights
Alert, (HRA) petitioned the Supreme Court of India16
seeking justice for 1,528 documented victims of extra-
judicial executions carried out from 1979 to 2012 in Ma-
nipur. Acknowledging the systemic violation of the right
to life under AFSPA, the apex court pronounced a his-
toric judgement in 2016 re-asserting that criminal cases
should be registered against the police and armed forces
of the Union alleged to have perpetrated extrajudicial
killings. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Cen-
tral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was directed to inves-
tigate cases where there is already a prima facie find-
ing by the High Courts or the National Human Rights
Commission or the Official Commission of Inquiries and
interim compensation have already been awarded. How-
ever, the extremely slow process of the CBI investiga-
tion on the one hand and the systematic intimidation and
harassment of the witnesses and human rights defenders
involved in the case on the other hand, has compelled
the then Special Rapporteur on Summary, Arbitrary or
Extrajudicial Execution, Ms Agnes Callamard and the
Special Rapporteur on situation of Human Rights De-
fender, Mr Michel Forst to issue a public statement on 4
July, 2018, reiterating that:
… the Government of India has an obligation to en-
sure prompt, effective and thorough investigations
into all allegations of potentially unlawful killings,
and a failure to do so is a violation of its international
obligations. Justice delayed is justice denied … some
of these families have been waiting decades for these
cases to be fully investigated. It is unacceptable that
CBI is failing to meet these deadlines and appears to
lack good faith … we are extremely concerned that
the delay appears to be deliberate, undue and unrea-
sonable and we condemn this lack of progress.
2.2 Finally, CBI registered 39 FIRs. Out of this, 30
final reports have been submitted. Charges are pressed
against the perpetrators in 21 incidents and not in 9 cas-
es. EEVFAM filed protest petitions against most of the
investigation reports that has not pressed charges.
2.3 When the alleged perpetrator are police personnel
the Government of Manipur have granted prosecution
sanction under section 197 of Criminal Procedure Code
(CrPC) and the trial has proceeded. However, when the
perpetrators are personnel of the armed forces of the
Union, the Union Home Ministry has denied prosecu-
tion sanctions under section 6 of AFSPA in all cases. As
a result, in at least half a dozen cases, the prosecution
cannot proceed any further.
2.4 The victim’s plea in the court of the Chief Judi-
cial Magistrate (CJM), where the final reports are sub-
mitted, is that the court should take cognizance of the
crime and start the prosecution as sufficient evidence
of the crime is presented before the court by none other
than the premier investigating agency of the country, and
that too under the direction of the apex court. But the
Union of India is insisting to halt all legal proceedings
as prosecution sanction is denied under AFSPA. CJM
of Imphal West has referred the matter to the High
Court of Manipur17 to ascertain the correct legal position
on how to proceed with the cases. With little progress in
the High Court for over a year, all cases involving armed
forces of the Union is kept in abeyance.
2.5 On the other hand in the Supreme Court, in Au-
gust 2018, when the first army officer, one Major Vijay
Singh Balhara (now Colonel), was named in the First
Information Report, 356 serving army personnel moved
a Writ Petition in the Supreme Court18 seeking class
impunity from legal action in their conduct of counter
insurgency operations. The number of army personnel
signing the petition swelled up to more than 750. Even
though the court finally dismissed the petition on 30 No-
vember 2018, such a demonstration of military valour in
the court, supported by the Attorney General, seems to
have effectively stopped the proceedings on the EEV-
FAM case in the Supreme Court. The last hearing on the
case was in September 2018. Ever since the retirement
of the senior judge Justice Madan Lokur, in December
2018, no bench has been constituted to hear the matter.
This is despite repeated mention by the counsel of the
petitioners as well as the amicus curiae in the open court.
2.6 Notwithstanding the best efforts put in by the
victims at the local, national and international redress
mechanisms, the prospect of an effective remedy in the
judicial, administrative or legislative framework, as en-
visaged in article 2(3) of ICCPR remain a pipe dream.
2.7 Thousands of cases of egregious human rights
violations, both documented and un- documented, re-
main un-investigated and has piled up in the last 63
years of AFSPA’s operation in Manipur and in the North
East region. With the prospects of achieving justice in
this mass atrocity crime getting dimmer and dimmer by
the passing days; the victim groups, with support from
beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
civil society, universities and State Human Rights Insti-
tutions, have started deliberating on the possibilities of
instituting a transitional justice process to address the
pressing needs of truth, justice, restitution and guarantee
of non-repetition19.
Suggested Recommendations:
a. The prosecution sanction regime, granting ef-
fective immunity to the security forces alleged to
have perpetrated egregious human rights violations,
should be dismantled by repealing section 197 of
CrPC and section 6 of AFSPA.
b. In the interim, prosecution sanction should be
promptly granted to facilitate the unhindered prose-
cution of the alleged perpetrators of egregious human
rights violation and to establish Rule of Law.
c. Institute a robust, transparent, and effective
mechanism of redress for persons suffering from
mass atrocity crimes under the shadow of AFSPA and
their families with the aim of:
i) to conducting prompt, effective, and indepen-
dent investigations and prosecute perpetrators in ci-
vilian courts.
ii) to ensure comprehensive restitution of the vic-
tims and their families
iii) to dig up the whole truth behind the mass
atrocity crimes committed under the shadow of AF-
SPA
iv) to guarantee the none repetition of such
mass atrocity crimes in the future.
3 Political Solution of Armed Insurgency
3.1 The need to address the issue of “armed insur-
gency” by political means was deliberated upon by HRC
while reviewing India’s third periodic review in 1997
and stated in its Concluding Observations20:
… bearing in mind the provisions of article 1, 19 and
25 of the Covenant…the problems in areas affected
by terrorism and armed insurgency are essentially
political in character and that the approach to resolv-
ing such problem must also, essentially, be political,
and emphasizes that terrorism should be fought with
means that are compatible with the Covenant.
3.2 Earlier, during the second review of HRC mem-
bers belonging to France (Madame Chanet), Egypt (Mr.
Shafei), erstwhile USSR (Mr. Myulldson) and Sweden
(Mr. Bertil Wennergren) also raised the queries about the
self-determination issues of the border state. Mr. Bertil
5
Wennergren made the following statement21:
“India has ever since its independence has accepted
its adherence to self- determination and said that is
coexistent with the principle of Sovereign equality …
I will make an example. According to the consti-
tution, Parliament may by law admit a new State.
Well, there you recognized that self-determina-
tion of a people and a nation and a State to ask
for admission into the Union. So far, you recog-
nize self-determination. But when the admission
has been granted, then the people and the nation,
well they will be consumed by the people of India
and these people do not exist any longer and then
self-determination of that people will not exist any
longer, legally speaking I mean. And then, because
if that people that nation wants to depart, wants
to leave the Union, I cannot see any possibility to
do so…”
3.3 The constitution of India is silent on the legal and
legitimate processes to deal with the democratic aspira-
tion of the peoples and nations to depart from the Union.
The law that attacks the activities of the groups with
such aspiration is the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act
(UAPA). Under the UAPA, “secession” is included in
the definition of “terrorist”. Section 2(i) states “secession
of a part of the territory of India from the Union” “in-
cludes the assertion of any claim to determine whether
such part will remain a part of the territory of India”.
3.4 However, such criminalization of the political
discourses cannot deter the democratic aspirations of the
people of Manipur. As a matter of fact, Manipur with just
0.2% of the population of India at some point constituted
a woofing 65% of the total detentions under the UAPA of
the country!23 The answer perhaps can be seen from the
history. Manipur, which stood as an independent king-
dom in the western frontier of South East Asia for at
least two millennia, was “merged” into the Dominion
of India under controversial circumstance on 15 October
1949. In doing so, India under-mind the democratically
elected popular Assembly and Council of Ministers al-
ready functioning then under the Manipur Constitution
Act of 1947. No plebiscite / referendum of the people
of Manipur was ever conducted, thereby denying the
right to self-determination of the people of Manipur. As
late as March 2021, the National Investigation Agency
(NIA) filed a chargesheet under UAPA and IPC against
Mr. Yambem Biren and Narengbam Samarjit Singh for
6 beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
declaring “Manipur government-in-exile” at a press con-
ference in London in 2019 as “Chief Minister of the Ma-
nipur State Council” and “Minister of External Affairs
and Defence of Manipur State Council” respectively24.
3.5 The prevailing electoral politics is unable to ad-
dress the underlying vexed issue of political status of
Manipur as candidates aspiring to stand for assembly or
parliamentary election have to take oath and swear by
the sovereignty and integrity of India25. Moreover, the
current election practice prevalent in the corrupt and
militarized environment of Manipur is more a demon-
stration of money and muscle power than a genuine ex-
pression of free will of the people as envisaged by article
25 of ICCPR.26
3.5 Elaborating on this issue of the right to self-deter-
mination of Manipur, the Committee on Human Rights
(COHR), Manipur had already submitted an alternate
report during the third periodic review of India for con-
sideration of the HRC in 1997.
3.6 The proscribed Revolutionary People’s Front
submitted a memorandum to the Secretary General of
the United Nations and the Chairman of the Decoloniza-
tion Committee (Committee of 24) “for de-colonisation
of the Manipur from Indian colonialism and alien racist
regime, enlisting Manipur in the list of the non-self-gov-
erning territories of the United Nations and, restoration
of independence and sovereignty of Manipur”.27
3.7 Proposal for a UN monitored Plebiscite by the
proscribed United National Liberation Front (UNLF)
of Manipur to resolve “the politico-military conflict in
Manipur” has no taker in the corridors of power in New
Delhi.28 Instead, the Chairman of UNLF Mr. Rajkumar
Meghen was arrested, charged and convicted for waging
war against the State by NIA. Even after serving his full
ten-year-prison-term in Guwahati Central Jail, he is still
kept under strict surveillance and high security in virtual
house arrest constraining his movement.
3.8 When the Special Rapporteur on the situation
of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggaya visit-
ed India in 2011 and met a group of HRD from
Manipur, she wrote the following in her official report
submitted to the General Assembly and Human Rights
Council29:
At the time of the visit, Manipur was reportedly the
state worst affected by militarization with more than half
a dozen human rights groups having been banned as ter-
rorist due to their self-determination advocacy.
Recommendations:
a. Drop reservation on common Article 1 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and the International Covenant on Economic Social
and Cultural Rights and let the people of Manipur
freely determine their political status and freely pur-
sue their economic, social and cultural development.
b. Lift the ban on political groups advocating the
right to self-determination and stop the arbitrary arrest,
torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial exe-
cution of its members.
c. Initiate humane, inclusive, comprehensive,
transparent and sustainable peace by respecting
all the universally recognized human rights in the
geo-politically sensitive region of North East India.
(Phulindro Konsam)
Convenor, CSCHR
(Joy Chingakham)
Co-Convenor, CSCHR
Endnotes
* This is the reproduction of the Status of Human Rights
in Manipur, submitted to the Office of the High Com-
missioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Council,
United Nations, for the 4th Cycle Universal Periodic
Review, submitted by the Civil Society Coalition for
Human Rights in Manipur and the United Nations,
dated 30th March, 2022.
1 Concluding Observations in the Reports of the Human
Rights Committee dated 10 October 1991, contained in
A/46/40 paras 258-312.
2 Para 18, Concluding Observation of the Human Rights
Committee: India, CCPR/C/79/Add81, dated 04/08/97.
3 https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1072165/
4 Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights v/s Union of
India, AIR 1998 SC 431.
5 Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary
or arbitrary execution, Christof Heyns, Mission to India,
A/HRC/23/47/Add.1 dated 26 April 2013.
6 Para 26 and 27, Report of the Special Rapporteur on extra-
judicial, summary or arbitrary execution, Christof Heyns,
Mission to India, A/HRC/23/47/Add.1 dated 26 April
2013.
7 Para 8, Concluding Comment of the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women: India,
CEDAW/C/IND/CO/3 dated 2 February 2007.
8 Para 13(b), Concluding observation on the combined fourth
and fifth periodic report of India, CEDAW/C/IND/CO/4-5
dated 24 July 2014.
9 Para 50, Concluding Observation of the Committee on
beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, India, E/C.12/IND/
CO/5 dated 8 August 2008.
10 Two lone Members of Parliament from Manipur vehe-
mently opposed AFSPA when it was introduced as a bill
in 1958.
11 Meaning ‘torch holder’ are the middle aged women who
stand vigil in the streets and bi-lane of Manipur in an
effort to resist the military from picking up their sons and
daughters in the darkness of the night.
12 She was arrested, forced fed and incarcerated in isolation
for more than 15 years.
13 Kangla is a sacred site of the Manipuri people from where
the erstwhile kingdom was ruled, at the time of the protest
it was used by the Assam Rifles (India para military force
operating in Manipur) as their Head Quarter.
14 1. Committee for the Review of Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act, set up by the Union Home Ministry, Govt of
India, headed by Justice Jeevan Reddy, 2004. 2. Second
Administrative Reform Commission (Public Order) of the
Government of India headed by Veerapa Moilly, 2004. 3.
Committee for Confidence Building Measures in Jammu
and Kashmir headed by Hamid Ansari, former Vice Presi-
dent of India, 2007. 4. Supreme Court appointed Com-
mission pertaining to writ petition (Criminal) No. 129 of
2012, EEVFAM vs Union of India, 2013.
15 Hindustan Times, “Now Manipur CM Backs AFSPA Re-
peal”, December 12, 2012, available at:
“https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/now-mani-
pur-cm-backs-afspa-repeal-101639260019046.html .
16 Writ Petition (Criminal) number 129 of 2012 of the Su-
preme Court of India.
17 Vide order dated 22 February 2021 in Cril. Misc. (FR)
Case No. 633 of 2020 of the Court of Chief Judicial Mag-
istrate, Imphal West.
18 Writ Petition (Criminal) number 201 of 2018 of the Su-
preme Court of India.
19 https://www.ictj.org/news/‘truth-commission-needed-ma-
nipur-justice-victims.
20 Para 18, Concluding Observation of the Human Rights
Committee, India CCPR/C/79/Add.81 dated 4 August
1997.
21 India Report, Para 10. ttps://mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/
A1967-37_0.pdf
23 https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/ma-
nipur-records-65-uapa- cases/article7563462.ece
24 https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2021/mar/23/
manipur-government-in-exile-case-nia-files- charge-sheet-
against-two-separatist-leaders-their-ass-2280555.html
25 Article 84(a) read with Schedule III of the Constitution of
India.
26 https://thefrontiermanipur.com/manipur-needs-serious-in-
tervention-in-electoral-conduct-says-ycm/ http://e- pao.
net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=news_section.opinions.
Politics_and_Governance.Manipur_Votes_amid_ Violent_
and_Corrupt_Environment_By_YCM
7
 https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/
manipur-youth-platform-flags-normalisation-of-gun- cul-
ture-during-assembly-election/article65217017.ece
27https://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session1/
IN/COHR_IND_UPR_S1_2008anx_Annex%20VI_Mem-
orandum%20of%20Revolutionary%20Peoples%20
Front%20Manipur%20to%20UN.pdf
28 https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/north-east/un-
lf-throws-plebiscite-challenge/cid/1621387
29 Para 83, Report of Special Rapporteur on the situation of
human rights defender, Margaret Sekaggya, Addendum,
Mission to India, A/HRC/19/55/Add.1 dated 6 February
2012
ON CLIMATE CHANGE
AND THE ENVIRONMENT
T hroughout the ages, human societies have created
the bases of our survival, sustenance and advance-
ment in using our natural resources through science and
technology. Yet in no time in history has environmental
destruction been systematically brought about in most
corners of the world. We encounter a situation today that
while the world faces global poverty, economic wars
and environmental crises, we face a renewed, more ra-
pacious and vicious campaign of plunder that aggravates
the already devastated and polluted natural environment.
While global warming have already brought extreme
impacts, especially on vulnerable communities, free
market globalization policies have opened up the rest
of the world to pave the way for the unhampered en-
try, control and exploitation of raw natural resources and
of people. More recently, atrocious campaigns of wars
of aggression have been waged to expand its economic
territories and gain direct or tighter control of land and
natural resources.
This plunder and pollution of the environment has
made victims of poor communities many times over.
Large-scale use of pesticides have resulted in the poison-
ing of workers, peasants, and their families, who barely
have the means to protect themselves from their hazard-
ous effects. These same communities are also the most
vulnerable to environmental backlashes, which come
in the form of floods, droughts and other occurrences
triggered or heightened by the prevailing imbalances in
the ecosystem. Women and children shoulder the great-
er cost of these circumstances because of wider risks to
their health and added complications to their productive
and reproductive functions.
8 beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
Deforestation
Systematic and unabated deforestation through ram-
pant industrial logging has multiplied at ever increasing
rates. The destruction of the world’s forests also led to
the conversion of agricultural plantations for export-ori-
ented crops, farms for cattle raising or monoculture tree
plantations.
For underdeveloped countries (especially in Asia and
Latin America), the forests remain as one of the main re-
sources available for exports that meet the increasing de-
mand for cheap and plentiful wood in Europe, Japan and
the United States. About three quarters of the world’s
commercial timber output is utilized by only one quarter
of its population.
Over the period 1980-1990, the loss of total forest
area in Asia reached 8.2%, 6.1% in Latin America and
4.8% in Africa leading to the loss of 15 million hectares
of forests every year. The FAO’s State of the World’s For-
ests 2007 reports a net forest loss of 20,000 hectares per
day globally.
Mining
The relentless extraction of mineral ores and wan-
ton destruction by mining multinational corporations
(MNCs) in Asia Pacific, Latin America and African
countries that are naturally endowed with rich mineral
deposits persists. These mining MNCs are ever more de-
termined to continue their destructive and exploitative
commercial mining in these regions.
Like logging, commercial mining by these MNCs
does not lead to development but only brings massive
environmental destruction and pollution, widespread
landlessness and displacement, loss of livelihood, distor-
tion of local culture, and rampant human right violations
to the peoples of these regions.
Water
The most alarming trend is the move to control one
of the most essential necessity of man: water. Only
2.53 percent of the water in the world is freshwater and
two-thirds of these are in glaciers and snow cover. The
biggest MNCs in the water industry have initiated the
privatization of water distribution services in both the
developed and underdeveloped countries as the first step
toward the privatization and commodification of all as-
pects of water.
Asia, which holds more than half of the world’s pop-
ulation, has less than 36% of the world’s water
resources and almost half of the population in
developing countries are exposed to polluted water
sources . Already, the multi-national corporation-in-
stigated construction of mega-dams and other water
infrastructures have put them in a strategic position to
eventually gain total control of the water resources.
Iraq’s occupation by the US has positioned the former to
control not only Iraq’s oil resources but also the largest
water resources found in the Middle East.
Pollution
The contamination of air, water and land brought
about by products and production processes mainly from
the industrial and manufacturing plants of MNCs contin-
ue. These large-scale factories remain the top contribu-
tors of significant pollutants such as toxic and hazardous
wastes in the world.
More and more underdeveloped countries (includ-
ing India and China) have also become major dump-
ing grounds for the wastes of industrial countries. The
dumping of toxic and hazardous wastes are mounting
and alarming. Additionally, chemicals and obsolete tech-
nologies proven to be harmful to the environment and/or
human health and that are already banned in the indus-
trial countries are continually foisted in underdeveloped
countries.
Oil, energy and natural gas
The occupation of Iraq by the US (and the ‘Coalition
of the Willing’) gave the latter direct control over the vast
oil resources of Iraq (estimated at 112 billion barrels of
proven oil reserves and over 250 billion of potential re-
serves), the biggest in the world and, consolidated their
domination over the world’s oil resources.
After toppling the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the
US gained more political foothold in Central Asia and
South Asia and further access to the oil and gas resources
in these parts of the world. The US launched its “sec-
ond front against terrorism” targeting the Philippines,
Indonesia and Southeast Asia- a region known for its oil,
natural gas and other natural resources. It has unceasing-
ly undermined the government of Venezuela, which has
the biggest oil resources in Latin America and is contin-
uously expanding its influence in other Latin American
countries (Colombia) and several African countries to
tap potential oil and other mineral resources.
Investments in energy all over the world is increasing
and control over these resources are transferred from na-
tions to a few energy companies. Even the technologies
needed for the use of alternative energy in solar and wind
beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
are limited to industrialized countries. The drive for bio-
fuels has raised concerns over its long term sustainability
and actual contribution to climate change. Large tracts of
forests have been lost in Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia
due to conversion of forests to oil-palm plantations and
more biofuel plantations have been earmarked in other
countries like the Philippines.
Wars of aggression, nuclear weapons and the envi-
ronment
The recent campaign on the wars of aggression of
the US and its allies have not only increased the pro-
duction, sale and use weapons of mass destruction but
have also caused the massive destruction and contami-
nation of human property, health and environment (i.e.
use of depleted uranium etc) in the Afghanistan, Iraq and
other war-ravaged countries. Forest clearings and land
conversions necessitated by continued military exercises
in different parts of the world led by the US pollute the
environment and the destruction of natural habitats.
The US, for example, has accused Iraq of having
weapons of mass destruction as a pretext for invasion
and occupation despite the US having the largest nuclear
arsenal in the world. It has no less than 10,600 nuclear
warheads in its possession with around 3,000 ready to
deploy from its “Enduring Stockpile”. Furthermore, the
US is the only country that has used weapons of mass
destruction in war – no less than 300,000 died as a result
of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings  in 1945. The
US has also used 320 tons of depleted uranium artillery
in the 1990 Gulf war and in the Yugoslavian conflict.
These are still being used in the current Iraq war despite
the numerous health risks to soldiers and especially to
civilians in target areas.
Since the 1990 to 2008, the US has exported USD
152B worth of weapons (in sales and military aid). In
2001, it exported war material to no less than 170 nations
and earned USD 13.1B in that year alone. The “war
against terrorism” is is used as a pretext to increase this
military sales and/or aid. In the guise of counter terror-
ism it has increased military aid and activities such as
training exercises in more countries than before.
Toxic wastes from current and previous US military
bases continue to wreak ecological havoc in the sur-
rounding areas. US military joint exercises bring with
them not only direct US military aggression but the dan-
gerous weapons and waste from these activities.
9
Climate change
Much has been said about climate change and its
impacts on the environment and the people. The trend
of rapid environmental changes both at the global and
national level, is expected to bring about massive devas-
tation and loss of human lives. Already, this impending
threat is seen in the way that temperatures and sea water
levels have risen in the Philippines, along with extreme
weather patterns.
It is clear from the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report that
warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now
evident from observations of increases in global average
air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow
and ice, and rising global average sea levels.
The increase in global surface temperature has made
the past decade and a half, 11 of the 12 warmest years
since the 1850s. An increase of 0.75 degrees Celsius in
the past century was observed over the world. Rates of
sea level increase have increased from an average of 1.8
mm annually (from 1961) to 3.1 mm/yr (from 1996).
The rate of shrinking of ice cover in the Arctic was ob-
served to be 2.7 % per decade, which more than double
in summer to 7.4 %. Recently, the Northwest passage
was clear throughout the Arctic circle. Increased inci-
dence of intense tropical cyclones and sea level rise have
been observed putting coastal areas at risk.
Climate has been altered by changes in greenhouse
gases (GHGs), aerosols, land-cover and solar radiation
input. It was clear in the Nobel winning report of the
IPCC that GHGs have increased due to human activities
with an increase of 70% in the last 3 decades. CO2 emis-
sions have increased 80% in the same period.
Asymmetric risk and responsibility
There are risks associated to vulnerable ecological
systems such as polar and high mountain communities
and ecosystems, biodiversity hotspots, corals, and small
island communities. Extreme weather events such as
droughts, heat waves, and floods are also expected to in-
crease. Sea level rise can lead to loss of coastal area and
associated impacts.
Management and adaptation to the impacts of weath-
er and climate-related events is dependent on social and
economic development. The most vulnerable to climate
change are also those in the most vulnerable economic
position in society: the poorest peoples in the poor coun-
tries. The Unites States is currently the number one pro-
ducer of Green House Gases (GHG), emitting more than
10 beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
25% of all the GHGs worldwide. About 84% of U.S.
GHG emissions arise from the petroleum related energy
and electrical power sectors.
The US is also the biggest processor and unregulated
user of oil and petroleum products all over the world.
Yet the US government has refused to sign the Kyoto
Protocol, an international treaty signed by around 169
countries which aims to reduce global levels of carbon
dioxide and five other GHG emissions by 5.2% from
their 1990 levels. Using the same consumption pattern
in the US or Canada, we would be needing nine planets
to absorb the consequent carbon emissions of the rest
of the developing world. The UK emits more CO2 than
Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Vietnam combined.
These asymmetric climate change emissions indicate
an inverse relationship between climate change vul-
nerability and responsibility. Primary emitter countries
must change their production activities and consumption
of energy and seek sustainable solutions. Basic human
needs, economic and social development need adequate
energy and infrastructure. Reducing poverty means pro-
viding adequate energy to developing countries while
building capacity to withstand climate change impacts.
We should avoid the extreme end of denying develop-
ment to developing and poor countries just to meet car-
bon emission reduction targets for the world.
Carbon offset mechanisms should be rethought, es-
pecially GHG reduction and emissions trading projects
that shift out carbon mitigation and reduction out of
industrialized countries towards developing countries.
These can distort development activities in these coun-
tries while keeping the consumption and production ac-
tivities of industrialized countries. Clean Development
Mechanisms (CDM) and carbon trading effectively mar-
ketize carbon emissions and essentially shuffles around
responsibility to curb emissions.
The personal/individual reduction of carbon emis-
sions, shifts to compact fluorescent light bulbs to curb
the effects of climate change and switches to biode-
gradable products are more effective if these individual
actions become more widespread and are incorporat-
ed into state policy. Campaigns to use energy efficient
lighting, to conduct energy audits and household re-
ductions of carbon emissions can be undertaken but
these should also be framed within larger political and
economic conditions which have vastly accelerated
the rate of global warming. Incentives and support for
poor communities to engage in these initiatives should
be done because the poor usually can only provide for
their short term day-to-day needs and would not have
the capacity to buy new technologies.
Biodiversity, health, poverty, rural livelihoods and
food security are affected by global warming primarily
in underdeveloped and developing countries where miti-
gation is not affordable. Fuel wood and biomass are still
the primary fuel for around 2 billion people without ac-
cess to adequate energy to meet their basic needs.
The use of alternative fuels with low or no carbon di-
oxide emissions should be encouraged and made acces-
sible. However, the policies of privatization and invest-
ment liberalization of these alternative fuels would make
these unaffordable. Subsidizing these alternative energy
resources to make them accessible to the poor should be
considered. Fuel production should be secondary to food
production and security.
Interim technologies and fuel substitutes that are rel-
atively cleaner than coal or oil should also be entertained.
Research for new and cleaner technologies should be un-
dertaken. Research on making nuclear energy safe and
viable for energy production, if ever considered as an
option, should be continued. Other options such as fuel
cell technologies, better and more efficient solar energy
converters, wind turbines should also be undertaken.
Transportation efficiency and reduction of energy
use in moving people and product should be improved.
Mass public transit to reduce the number and distance
of journeys should be prioritized. Better urban plan-
ning integrated with transport efficiency goals should
be undertaken. Economic penalties such as road pricing
schemes and fuel taxes are effective only for car own-
ers and should be secondary to improving mass public
transit and better educational outreach to highlight the
need to eliminate unnecessary car journeys, the benefits
of public transportation use, car pooling, etc.
Climate change already aggravates other environ-
mental problems that communities have to face as a re-
sult of globalization’s ever increasing destruction of our
ecology. It is no longer a question that human activity
has produced dangerous climate interference. Our goal
should be to avoid catastrophic effects that could affect
more than half of the world’s population that are most
vulnerable to climate change.
Initiatives to directly pressure industrial countries to
commit to real targets and not shift the burden to un-
derdeveloped and developing countries should be sup-
ported. We should strengthen the capacity of communi-
ties to respond to disasters. Community based disaster
response, monitoring and mitigation can be undertaken
beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
and livelihood should be provided for those who are vul-
nerable to climate change events.
Conclusion
The people will not wait for Copenhagen nor tolerate
the sabotage by the US and G8 countries of the climate
change negotiations. The member countries of the UN,
especially those from the developing countries, should
not let the US and the G8 sabotage the negotiations for
their benefit. Their goal should be to avoid catastrophic
effects that could affect more than half of the world’s
population that are most vulnerable to climate change.
The rapid destruction of the environment is a di-
rect result of the rapid, unchecked appropriation of the
world’s resources for the benefit of a few. Increased pres-
sure for the quest for wealth places increased pressure
on the environment and environmental destruction. The
poor, who are most vulnerable, are subjected to these en-
vironmental impacts while trying to provide subsistence
level production for themselves.
Great advances have been made in information tech-
nology, robotics, genetics, agriculture, and medicine, yet
are not being applied towards solving fundamental prob-
lems of humankind, such as the breakdown of health
systems, famine and hunger, ecological destruction, and
social decay and disintegration. But as unbridled global-
ization has opened up third world resources for the use
of multinationals extracting raw materials while leaving
their pollution and emissions to the host communities.
Our stewardship on the earth to preserve its intrinsic
and practical value for humans calls for a substantial re-
defining the production of our needs without the current
system of overproduction, overconsumption and pollu-
tion for the motive of profit for a few. We have seen how
communities throughout the world remained resolute
and determined to struggle for their rights and defend
their natural resources because it is not only their present
but also their future at stake.
Note: The above text is the Statement of the Interna-
tional League of Peoples’ Struggles Commission 13:
Concern on science and technology for the people
and development, environmental protection against
plunder, pollution and the destruction of the ba-
sic foundations of human life. Published online on
11/08/2022.
11

PEOPLES OF THE WORLD
UNITE
TO END CLIMATE IMPERIALISM!
Struggle for Socialism
for the Survival of Peoples and Planet!
Statement of the ILPS Chairperson on the 27th Confer-
ence of Parties (COP27) of the UNFCCC
A s the 27th Conference of Parties of the United Na-
tions Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) or COP27 takes place this November in
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, we call on mass organizations
and people’s movements to resolutely oppose imperial-
ism as the root cause of the ongoing climate catastrophe.
Imperialism has permanently scarred the planet in
its unending expansion and encroachment. Ecosystems,
particularly in the colonies and neo-colonies, have been
carved out for the sake of capital hyper-accumulation in
the imperialist core. Multinational companies — espe-
cially fossil fuel giants — have raked in trillions in prof-
its over decades, at the expense of countries, communi-
ties, and peoples around the world. The massive scale of
ecological disturbance and disbalance under imperialism
along with ceaseless, fossil-fuelled overproduction has
caused the perfect storm of global warming, climate
change, and ecological collapse we experience today.
US imperialism in particular has been instrumental in
the destruction of the Earth and its peoples. The United
States takes the top spot in terms of cumulative carbon
emissions, the result of decades of colonial exploitation
and warmongering. Its military, with its annual budget
amounting to billions of US dollars, is recognized as the
single largest institutional consumer of hydrocarbons
(e.g., oil, plastics, and related products) in the world to-
day. It hardly needs to be mentioned that the US mil-
itary is also responsible for terrorizing and decimating
civilian populations around the world in its mandate of
securing geopolitical control of resources for US empire.
Conferences like the COP have failed dismally in
addressing the climate crisis, even just in terms of the
straightforward demand of reducing global greenhouse
gas emissions. Instead, they have been a reliable plat-
form for world leaders to greenwash imperialism, allow-
ing them to mask land grabs and human rights violations
in environmentally-friendly rhetoric. They use the COPs
as platforms to make bold but empty promises without
12 beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
actually making significant emissions cuts, and dangle
these in lieu of just reparations for past, present and fu-
ture loss and damages that they are causing. Patterns of
extraction and displacement still continue, especially in
neo-colonies and client states. The crisis, as it stands, has
not been addressed.
It is also no small irony that this year’s COP is held
in Egypt. US-backed militarism under the el-Sisi regime
continues to persecute political opposition — including
environmental advocates — as evident in the detention
of tens of thousands of political prisoners in the country.
This situation reflects the plight of anti-systemic move-
ments across the globe that are the primary targets of US
military intervention.
In the face of this disaster of biospheric proportions,
the International League of Peoples’ Struggle continues
to link together forces mobilizing against imperialism
and all its social and ecological implications. As the
climate crisis continues despite decades of UN confer-
ences, it is clear that the only lasting solution to our pre-
dicament is to put an end to the imperialist world order.
Climate and environmental movements must therefore
throw their support behind movements of basic mass-
es and most seriously affected peoples around the world
who are carrying out this task, and ultimately work to-
wards forwarding a viable alternative to the status quo
— that is, a socialist alternative that actively attends to
the ecological concerns of our time.
Long Live International Solidarity!
End climate imperialism to attain climate justice!
Imperialist polluters must pay!
Climate Justice now!
Len Cooper, ILPS Chairperson
10 November 2022
COP27 ENDS ENSURING
UNABATED CORPORATE
PROFITEERING FROM
PLUNDER OF NATURE
D espite UN Secretary General António Guterres’
COP27 [Conference of the Parties constituting
about 198 countries that have signed the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change, which was put together
in 1992] eve warning that “our planet is fast approaching
tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible”,
and that humanity is on a “highway to climate hell”,
and as island states are in the threat of being washed off
the map, no political decision on this crucial question
confronting humanity was taken in this year’s UNF-
CCC meeting held during November 6-18 at Sharm-
el-Sheikh, Egypt. That’s, at this critical juncture when
country leaders and world community are duty-bound to
make a giant leap in the realm of climate action, lead-
ers of 196 countries in the presence of more than 35000
participants representing climate activists and various
CSOs/NGOs that assembled at COP27 could not rise to
the occasion, though the Summit got an apparently pro-
gressive posture under corporate media blitz.
In essence, the COP27 failed to move an inch beyond
last year’s Glasgow Summit. In spite of high sounding
deliberations by country heads, the 27th global Climate
Conference was a failure in respect of taking any con-
crete steps regarding the most pressing needs connected
with the mounting climate crisis today. Among them the
most important was to implement the commitment taken
in the Paris Agreement seven years ago to limit-- the lim-
it regarded by climate experts as the “point of no return”
-- global warming to less than 1.5 degree Celsius above
pre-industrial levels and, in relation to this, to end the use
of fossil fuels and stop the emission of greenhouse gases
which requires a phase out of coal power in particular in
a time- bound manner.
However, taking advantage of the imperialist proxy
war in Ukraine between US-led NATO on the one side
and Russia on the other, and the consequent obstructions
linked with Nord Stream 1 and 2, and in the guise of
spiralling energy prices and the escalating cost of liv-
ing, many countries of EU, especially Germany, have
reversed their earlier commitments on reducing fossil
fuel consumption. Now COP27 has resorted only to a
limited reduction in coal power and the so called ‘phase
out’ is applicable only to ‘inefficient fossil fuel subsi-
dies’. Finally, the Summit could issue only a request for
new country pledges, or nationally determined contri-
butions for the forthcoming COP28 in UAE during No-
vember-December 2023. Revealingly, amidst the Indian
representatives’ rhetoric at COP27 that all fossil fuels
should be phased out, at home, Modi regime has been
busy with the decision to auction out 141 coal mines to
corporates during the Summit period itself.
Though funding is not a solution to overcome the
impending climate catastrophe, the biggest green-house
gas emitters, including the number 1 and 2 imperialist
economic powers such as US and China, were reluctant
beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
to part with any substantial amount even to smoothen the
burden borne by the poor Afro-Asian-Latin American
countries and island nations. Even the much trumpeted
$100 billion per year promise by US is a paltry sum (the
required Loss and Damages Fund--L&D Fund-- is esti-
mated at a minimum of $ 500 billion). Compare it with
$220 billion that Qatar, a small country which is reported
to have spent to host the 2022 World Cup. And there has
been no commitment on spending on ‘climate change
adaptation’, nor any concrete proposals regarding the
allocation and distribution of even this small amount
among needy nations. The imperialist powers’ attempt
was to push the onus of de-carbonisation efforts on to the
shoulders of oppressed nations who are at the receiving
end of bearing the brunt of climate catastrophe.
In brief, the COP27 sponsored by the notorious glob-
al pollutant Cocoa Cola and managed by world’s corpo-
rate MNCs could nothing to reverse the unabated climate
crisis. On account of its basic corporate orientation, it
could not accept the climate crisis as one of the central
political questions confronting humanity. Today the hor-
rific levels of wealth appropriation by global corporate
capital is accomplished not only through super-exploita-
tion of labour but also through plunder of nature. It is
based on this concrete understanding that CPI (ML) Red
Star has adopted the contradiction between capital and
nature as one of the major contradictions in its Party Pro-
gram.
Today, the core issue behind climate crisis is sys-
temic; it is inseparably linked up with the mainstream
development paradigm that is being pushed through
neoliberal-corporatisation the world over. Climate crisis
today can be reversed only through a people-oriented
and pro-nature development model. It is up to the work-
ing class and oppressed the world over to come forward
challenging the hegemony of corporate capital based on
a political alternative which alone can overcome the im-
pending climate catastrophe. In that sense we are con-
strained to call COP27 as a mere window dressing.
P J James
General Secretary, CPI (ML) Red Star
New Delhi,
November 23, 2022
13

LIST OF DEMANDS OF
FARMERS OF INDIA
ALONG WITH A WARNING
A s you will be aware, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, in
a letter to the Union Government dated 21 Novem-
ber 2021, had drawn the attention of the Government to-
wards its six pending demands. In response to this, on 9
December 2021, Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, Secretary, Min-
istry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, wrote a letter
(Secretary/AFW/2021/Mis/1) to the Samyukta Kisan
Morcha. In this letter, he gave assurance on behalf of the
Government on many issues, and urged to withdraw the
movement. Relying on this letter of the Government, the
Samyukta Kisan Morcha decided to suspend the Mor-
chas on the borders of Delhi and all the protest demon-
strations on 11th of December 2021. Today, over twelve
months later, the Union Government has not fulfilled the
promises made to the farmers. We hereby through this
letter request you to raise your voice in favor of our sev-
en demands in the parliament and pressurize the Union
Government to take immediate and concrete steps to re-
solve the pending issues and other issues of the farmers
of India which are enlisted below as a demand charter:
1. A law to guarantee MSP for all crops, using the
C2 + 50 percent formula, based on the recommenda-
tion of the Swaminathan Commission. The committee
constituted by the Union Government on MSP and its
stated terms of reference are contrary to the terms of the
SKM This committee should be dismissed, and a new
committee on MSP should be re- constituted, with due
representation of farmers, by including representatives
of SKM as promised by the Union Government, for legal
guarantee of MSP and their purchase of all crops.
2. Due to rising input costs in agriculture and not get-
ting remunerative prices for their crops, more than 80
percent of the farmers India has been trapped in massive
indebtedness, and are forced to commit suicide. In such
a situation, we demand to waive off all loans of all the
farmers.
3. The Electricity Amendment Bill, 2022 should be
withdraw immediately. In a letter written to the Samyuk-
ta Kisan Morcha on 9th December 2021, the Union
Government had given a written assurance that, “The
Electricity Amendment Bill, 2022 will be introduced in
Parliament only after discussion with the Morcha.” De-
spite this, the Union Government has introduced this bill
in the parliament without any discussion.
14 beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
4. (i) Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra
Teni, the main conspirator in the murder of four farmers
and a journalist at Tikonia in Lakhimpur Kheri district
of UP, be dismissed from the cabinet and arrested and
sent to jail.
(ii) The innocent farmers who are imprisoned in the
Lakhimpur Kheri massacre be released immediately and
the fake cases registered against them should be with-
drawn immediately. The Government should fulfill its
promise of providing compensation to the families of the
injured farmers.
5. The Government should implement comprehen-
sive and effective crop insurance for all crops to com-
pensate for losses due to drought, flood, excess rain, crop
related diseases, etc.
6. A farmer pension scheme of Rs. 10,000 per month
for all medium, small and marginal male and female
farmers and agricultural laborers should be implement-
ed.
7. The fake cases which have been registered against
the farmers in BJP ruled states, and other states and
Union Territories, during the farmers movement should
be withdrawn immediately. Compensation should be
paid to the families of all the farmers who were martyred
during the farm movement and arrangements should be
made for their rehabilitation, and land allocation should
be made for the construction of a memorial for the mar-
tyred farmers at Singhu Border.
Warning: Through this letter, the Annadata of the
country wants to convey its anger to you. We request
you to remind the Union Government of its written
promises and get the above seven demands of the
country’s farmers fulfilled as soon as possible.
If you do not raise your voice in Parliament and
your party forums in the favor of our demands, we
will be compelled to raise our voice and mobilize the
people of your constituency against you. You will not
be allowed to hold meetings, rallies, public meetings,
programs in your constituency.
Jai Kisan!
We, the people of India, the annadata of the country
Samyukta Kisan Morcha
Note: The above text was reproduction of the memoran-
dums submitted to the Members of Parliament by for
raising your voice in the Parliament and their party
forums in favor of demands of farmers of India.

SOLIDARITY STATEMENT
Against Malicious Slandering of Activists
Fighting Against Adani International
Seaport at Vizhinjam, Kerala, India
T he coastal fishing community is on a struggle path
against the disastrous international seaport which is
being built at Vizhinjam by Adani ports. The port has
resulted in coastal erosion leading to the disappearance
of coasts and the destruction of houses in the fishing
villages. The dredging in the port will result in the loss
of local fishing habitats leading to the destruction of the
livelihood of thousands of fishing families and their dis-
placement from the coasts.
As the coastal community’s sit-in protest continues
against the distress caused by the Vizhinjam Adani port
gathering solidarity and support at the state level, cor-
porate-backed media such as News 18, Janam TV, Des-
abhimani, Kerala Kaumudi are now resorting to blatant
lies and misinformation against the protest and protest-
ers. As a part of this, attempts have been made to slander
Ms Aleyama Vijayan who is the founder trustee of the
feminist organisation Sakhi women’s resource centre
and has been working for women’s empowerment for
the past three decades, along with AJ Vijayan, who has
been working as a trade unionist and researcher in the
fisheries sector since 1980.
It is accused that Sakhi, a women’s rights organisa-
tion based out of Thiruvananthapuram, which has no di-
rect affiliations with the protest committee, is receiving
foreign contributions for the protests. They have already
issued a defamation suit against the media for spreading
misinformation and rumours. The details on the Sakhi
website show that all their activities are transparent. We
support this legal suit and wish this organisation to oper-
ate smoothly in the future.
The attempt to portray the struggle as a foreign con-
spiracy through funding is malicious and an insult to the
fishing community who is fighting against the port and
its sponsors. We request that all people who believe in
democracy protest against this false propaganda. This
slander campaign is done together with attempts by vest-
ed groups to create communal issues and problems of
law and order on the coast, to divide the fishing and host
communities in the name of religion. We urge the gov-
ernment, masses and civil society groups to positively
intervene to keep communal harmony and peace.
beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
The fisher folks in Vizhinjam, under the leadership
of Thiruvananthapuram Latin Archdiocese, have been
protesting for the last 105 days, raising seven demands,
including stoppage of the construction of the seaport in
Vizhinjam and a complete study on the impact and dam-
ages by the port by an independent team of experts in-
cluding people representing the fisher community.
The rest of the six demands from the formation are:
(1) Find a sustainable solution to coastal erosion on
the Thiruvananthapuram coast due to the unscientific
constructions in the sea, including that caused by the
Vizhinjam port construction.
(2) Provide temporary rental accommodation to peo-
ple whose houses were destroyed due to coastal erosion
(3) Plan and implement reasonable policies to reha-
bilitate the people who have lost their land and houses.
(4) Intervene to revoke the kerosene price hike; pro-
vide subsidised kerosene following the neighbouring
state Tamil Nadu model.
(5) Provide minimum wages to the fisher folks to
compensate for the loss on the days of fishing weather
warnings.
(6) Find sustainable solutions to the problems in-
stead of temporary ones. The claim that all the demands
have been more or less accepted by the government has
been debunked by the Convener of the protest commit-
tee, Thiruvananthapuram Latin Archdiocese, Fr. Eugene
Pereira, in a press conference on October 31st, 2022.
It is undemocratic that, instead of fulfilling their ob-
ligation to settle the strike, the ruling government is re-
sorting to covert attempts to tarnish coastal communities
and overturn their struggle.
We strongly condemn attempts by certain media
houses to malign civil society organisations and vilify A
J Vijayan, who has been researching and writing on the
eco-social impacts, the unscientific nature of the proj-
ect and the contract irregularities. He has been doing
so since the period of the environmental impact study
during the UDF regime, which initiated the Adani port
project with special interest. We believe it is essential to
have independent research and scientific studies on the
impact of the port on coastal communities, and any such
studies should be encouraged.
We urge the government to settle the Vizhinjam is-
sue urgently by arriving at a reasonable and sustainable
solution and defending the rights of fishing and coastal
communities.
Vizhinjam Struggle Solidarity Committee, Keralam
15

AN OPEN LETTER
From People’s Movements to the Governor:
Questioning the Make-in- Odisha Conclave
and the Current Development Model
R espected Sir,
We as concerned citizens, social activists, po-
litical and human rights activists, environmentalists and
journalists and the leaders of twelve mass organisations
on behalf of Bisthapan Birodhi Jana Andolon Mancha,
Odisha, appeal for the protection of natural resources and
an immediate end to the continuous forceful displace-
ment of people from their lands and dwelling places.
We express our protest and dissent against the Odi-
sha government’s Make-in-Odisha Conclave in Bhu-
baneswar. Inviting more investments in the name of de-
velopment will uproot the lives and livelihoods of people
dependent on these land, forests and coasts. We appeal to
your conscience to intervene and prevent the exploration
and exploitation of natural resources through unmindful
and unwanted mining of bauxite, iron ore, chromite, coal,
river sand, china clay and other resources in the name of
development. People are struggling against all odds and
hardships to protect the same for future generations even
as they remain deprived of access to basic needs like ed-
ucation, health and nutritional food security.
Wherever there are mineral deposits and resources,
there are green forests and mountains, which are the
source of natural streams and rivers. Under the prevail-
ing development paradigm in the interest of capital and
corporates, we witness open cast mining destroying huge
areas of forests, mountains with rivers and streams dry-
ing up. This ecological devastation of green vegetation,
commons and agricultural lands is a direct assault on
lakhs of common people, especially Adivasi and Dalits
and other marginalised communities. It has adversely
affected their socio-cultural-linguistic identity. Today an
entire way of life is being threatened of its existence and
culturally annihilated.
Mining of different ores and mineral deposits has
increased exponentially since the year 2000. Huge ex-
panses of mines and minerals have been explored and
exploited legally and illegally in the districts of Keon-
jhor, Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj and undivided Koraput.
The setting up of many extractive industries like Steel
Plant, Sponge Iron Plants, Thermal Power Plants and Al-
16 beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
uminium factories and refineries has led to thousands of
people being evicted and displaced from their dwelling
places, livelihood and agriculture without fair and equi-
table rehabilitation.
The same state and capital sponsored development
paradigm that is causing large scale displacement from
natural habitats is wreaking havoc on masses of people
who migrate to cities like Bhubaneswar for eking out
a living by joining the vast unorganised sector. Their
housing rights are snatched away with impunity to build
malls, corporate offices, private hospitals and apartments
for the privileged classes. Large sections of industrial
workers, agricultural workers, fisher people, vendors
and hawkers, all working class families in short, do back
breaking labour to get one square meal a day or a roof
under their heads. Clearly, this kind of development is
only aggravating living conditions and deepening pover-
ty for the majority.
The process of coercive, unmindful development not
only leads to dispossession and displacement but is also
a gross violation of people’s fundamental rights, espe-
cially the Right to Life, and other basic freedoms. Those
struggling against displacement and for the protection
of natural resources and their community life, largely in
Scheduled Areas, have been victims of state repression
through fake encounters, fabricated cases and custodi-
al torture, as well as faced police firing and police re-
pression. Three young Adivasi activists of Kashipur and
13 Adivasis in Kalinganagar were killed in police firing
in 2000 and 2006, respectively. Today, there are many
young leaders and their village people languishing in
jails while hundreds of others are under threat of arrest
for daring to oppose forcible land acquisition. They are
the martyrs of the prevailing development paradigm.
Needless to say, these natural resources have been
protected and sustained with ecological sensitivity by
Adivasi, Dalit and common peoples living in these re-
gions. Neither the government nor the extractive pol-
luting industries have had any role maintaining these
natural resources. But instead of addressing the havoc
created by mining and heavy industries, the state gov-
ernment is leasing out even more mines through auctions
in the open market in and outside the country. No doubt
this will completely exhaust the limited resources and
generate new poverty zones thereby further depriving
future generations from their right to inter-generational
equity and justice. The eviction of Adivasi communities
and thousands of other forest dwellers from their habi-
tats into inhuman and uncertain conditions of living is
a deliberate violation of the basic fundamental Right to
Life and livelihood as well as flagrant disobedience of
the state to the constitutional provisions and internation-
al principles on forced evictions.
As per the provisions of PESA [Panchayats Exten-
sion to Scheduled Areas] of 1996, Forest Rights Act of
2006, Forest Conservation Act of 1986 and regulation of
1956 Act of Odisha government with new amendment
in 2000, there cannot be transfer, acquisition or force-
ful takeover of natural resources without the consent of
Gram Sabha. However, the Odisha government and its
administration do not honour the said laws as they hand
over mines and lands to corporate houses. In countless
instances, district administration does not follow the
legal process in public hearings for environment clear-
ances or the Land Acquisition Act, 2013. Local com-
munities across districts in Odisha have been witness to
irresponsible, corrupt administrations using police force
to repress peaceful, democratic people’s resistance when
they voice their concerns. The hijacking of public hear-
ings through police force in order to impose destructive
projects over people’s lives is blatantly undemocratic
and unconstitutional.
In 2021, without seeking consent of Gram Sabha
auctions were conducted to lease out iron ore mines in
pristine sal forests named Gandhalpada in Keonjhar dis-
trict, five virgin forests in Sundargarh and bauxite mines
in Karlapat forest, which has wildlife sanctuary in Khan-
dualmaali in Kalahandi and Rayagada districts. Rivers of
this region like Nagabali, Tel and Indravati are already
adversely affected. Public hearings in Jagatsinghpur, Ja-
jpur and Koraput districts have been openly manipulat-
ed by district administrations on behalf of companies.
The demands of Adivasi villagers from Rajagangpur of
Sundargarh district are overlooked as they oppose the
expansion of the Dalmia Cement factory that has caused
severe air, water and soil contamination.
We are faced with a widespread ecological crisis,
whether it is in the mountains or in the plains. The Gov-
ernment of India signed the Paris Agreement to prevent
climate change by reducing thermal power plants; how-
ever, the Odisha government held auctions in Angul and
Jharsuguda districts to lease out coal blocks that will de-
stroy 33000 acres of forest and agricultural land. Coastal
Odisha is facing grave threats. Without paying any heed
to recommendations of various expert committees, the
state government is ushering in many industrial projects
and in the process exterminating coastal forests, includ-
ing the mangrove forest and sand dunes that are natural
beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023
barriers against cyclones and storms. The proposed Sha-
muka Hotel project and Airport project in Sipasarubali
Mouza of Puri district that aim to promote the tourist
industry is depriving the local Dalit and landless com-
munities of their rights. Instead of listening to genuine
demands of local communities, the administration has
foisted fabricated criminal cases. The people of Dhinkia
in Jagatsinghpur district are facing continuing police re-
pression while their betel vine plots are being destroyed.
More than 25, 000 people in this region will have to live
with toxic pollutants emitted by the JSW steel plant.
The Right to Life and livelihood of Adivasis in forest
and mountain areas and that of subsistence peasants and
farm workers depending on coastal resources and forest
agriculture have to be protected. We also need to pro-
tect and conserve non-renewable natural resources for
future generations. There can be no mining and indus-
trialization at the cost of health hazards and economic
and social crises. We assert people’s protection of con-
stitutional rights which are being violated by the state to
serve corporate interests. No projects or industries can
be forced upon the people without their consent.
and water bodies and coastal bio- diversities through
extractive industries and coastal highways. We will see
more people leaving habitats that have been home to
them since generations or being compelled to live on
toxic air and poisonous water.
Therefore, we humbly urge you to use your constitu-
tional authority to prevent unmindful mining as well as
ecologically devastating industries.
Our collective demands are:
1. Review the policy of development based on min-
ing and mineral extraction. Cancel all existing mining
leases until the review is complete and made public.
2. Take urgent steps to protect the coastal forests
and sand dunes that act as a natural barrier in the cy-
clone-prone districts of Coastal Odisha.
3. Implement the PESA Act that ensures the sover-
eignty of the Gram Sabha.
4. Ensure proper implementation of FRA with special
emphasis on the right to community forest land. Conduct
with GOI the review of forests conservation rules 2022
that thwart the objectives of the FRA to facilitate corpo-
rate investment.
5. Direct the state government to enforce Regulation
2 as amended in 2002 restricting transfer of lands of tri-
bals in Scheduled Areas.
6. Stop repression on mass movements whose people
oppose forcible displacement and dispossession.
17
 7. Release all political prisoners from mass move-
ments and withdraw existing criminal cases. Re- THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS
lease Dadhi Kadraka and Daman Panga of Niyamgiri; AND MATERIALS
Batakrushna Swain of Upakuliya Jami o Jangal Sura- may be viewed on the website of the journal at:
khya Samiti in Sipasurbali; and Debendra Swain and
Pradeep Satapathy of the Jindal-POSCO Pratirodh San-
gram Samiti, Dhinkia and all other people who have
www.revolutionarydemocracy.org
been opposing the exploitation of their land and natural
Stalin Archive
resources.
Documents of the Indian Communist Movement
8. Advise the state government to invite investment
Polemics of Revolutionary Democracy and
for intermediary industries to use the products of indus-
Proletarian Path on the Stage of the Indian
tries like NALCO and other steel plants as raw materials
Revolution
to create value addition to final goods in a decentralised
Books and Pamphlets
way.
Questions of Soviet Music
9. Restore unutilised land possession by companies
On Trotskyism
and state governments under land bank to the original
On Che Guevara
landholders and to landless farmers.
People’s Front
10. Initiate people’s consultations for pro people de-
People’s Democracy
velopment and ecological and environmental protection.
Documents from the Cominform
The Colonial Question
Urging your intervention with hope for the rights and
The Colonial Question in India
dignity of the people of Odisha,
The Women Question
Liquidation of People’s Democracy in Yugoslavia
Yours sincerely,
Restoration of Capitalism in the Soviet Union
Bisthapan Birodhi Jana Andolon Mancha (Odisha)
Liquidation of People’s Democracy in China
Niyamgiri Surakhya Samiti (Rayagada-Kalahandi)
Material from Albania
Khandualmaali Sthayi Surakhya Samiti (Kalahandi)
Clara Zetkin Archive
Maali Parbat Surakhya Samiti (Koraput)
Jose Diaz Archive
Kodingamaali Surakhya Manch (Lakhmipur-Kashipur)
Georgi Dimitrov Archive
Upakuliya Jami o Jangal Surakhya Samiti (Puri)
Aleksandra Kollontai Archive
Jindal-POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (Dhinkia)
Antonio Gramsci Archive
Basti Surakhya Manch (Odisha)
Ho Chi Minh Archive
Gram Sabha Committee, Rajgangpur (Sundargarh)
Mao Tse-Tung Archive
Upakula Bheetamaati Surakhya Samiti (Baliapal)
Rajani Palme Dutt on the Colonial Question
Zilla Kandha Samaja Yuva Sangathan (Bolangir)
1948-1952
HAL Bisthapit Sangha (Sunabeda)
Ubaldo Buttafava Archive
Khodi Maati Surakhya Sangha (Koraput)
William B. Bland Archive
Moni Guha Archive
December 2, 2022,
Tufail Abbas Archive
Bhubaneswar
Badruddin Umar Archive
Putchalapalli Sundarayya Archive
National Question in the USA

18 beyond the horizon Vol. V1I, Issue 1. January-March, 2023