FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION
Prepare for the Coming Revolutionary Storms
People's Voice
Organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Ghadar Party of India
Volume 29 – Issue 13
Burns visit, Bush–Manmohan meet
Inching forward the Indo – US nuclear deal
US Under Secretary of State Nicholas
Burns visited India early June 2007 for
talks with the Indian Foreign Secretary
and other officials. Photographs carried
by several newspapers on 9th June 2007
showed an obsequious Mr Manmohan
Singh greeting US imperialist chieftain
George Bush on the sidelines of the
G 8 meeting in Germany. These meetings
are part of the attempts by both sides
to finalise the Indo–US nuclear deal,
among other objectives.
Earlier this year, US President Bush
signed the Hyde Act enabling his
administration to pursue the civil nuclear
energy cooperation deal with India.
However, this Act explicitly includes
The Presidential Elections and the role of CPI (M)
Who should be the next President of
India has become a bone of contention
between different groupings of political
parties representing the bourgeoisie.
Two main groupings — one led by the
Congress and the other led by the BJP
— are locked in contention.
Leading the race is the Congress Party
candidate, Pratibha Patil, whose family
belongs to the wealthy and influential
sugar lobby of Masharashtra.
Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
is standing as an Independent, with the
backing of the BJP led NDA.
There is also a Third Front - consisting
of parties like the TDP, SP, AGP, AIADMK,
MDMK and others – which is attempting
to use the Presidential polls to create
a viable grouping that could prove an
Contribution – Rs. 5/-
provisions to determine what nuclear
technology and fuel can be sold to India
and under what conditions, clearly limits
the usage of this technology and fuel,
bars the use of the spent fuel, and calls
for the US President to report annually
to the US legislature on whether India
is sticking to the provisions of the Act
or not.
Talks on the nuclear deal have been
going on for more than a year now, and
have failed to yield any breakthrough
due to differences on certain issues,
particularly whether India should
have the right to reprocess spent
nuclear fuel. The Indian government
had been insisting on getting this
alternative to the Congress and the
BJP at the centre.
The largely ceremonial role of the President
of India assumes special significance
when votes are divided and there is
what is called a "hung Parliament". Under
such circumstances, the President has
been vested with discretionary powers
to invite the party that has to form
the government. Thus, for instance, if
no party or pre-poll combination gets a
clear majority in the next Lok Sabha the
President can decide whether to give the
first chance to the Congress, the BJP,
or anyone else to form the government.
This is the main reason that each of the
three fronts is keen to have a person
who is partisan to their group as the
next President.
Pratibha Patil is expected to win, thanks
July 1-15, 2007
right and is also pressing the US to
assure continued supplies of fuel and
cooperation, even if it were to conduct
a nuclear test. However, according
to the latest proposals made by the
Indian government, it will create a “fully
safeguarded” facility (read – one which
the US or its agencies could scrutinise
at any time) for spent nuclear fuel. This
had been widely described as a “step
back” by the Indian government, which
says it is now keen to finalise the deal
as quickly as possible, perhaps even
before the planned visit of US secretary
of state Rice in mid 2007. The tug-of-
war currently under way between India
Continued on page 13
to the support of Mayawati's Bahujan
Samaj Party and the Communist Party
of India (Marxist) led Left Front. The
BSP leader has several cases pending
against her, which the centre can close
Continued on page 15
In this Issue
Politics 2
 Meet on Judicial Reform
Ghadar jari hai... 3-10
 1857 in Padgha, Maharashtra
 Commemoration in London
 Rally in Palassey
 Interviews
Voice of Toilers & Tillers11-12
 UNI employees' victory
 Airlines employees' victory
World 13
 US anti-war campaign
Letters 14
Politics
Hyderabad:
Meet on Judicial Reform
The Campaign for Judicial Accountability
and Reform (CJAR) organised a
lively Seminar on June 20, 2007 in
Hyderabad. According to its organizers,
this Seminar was part of a country
wide movement to expose the anti
people orientation of the judiciary and
propose measures to reform and renew
the judiciary so that it could serve
the needs of the toiling people. Such
an All India campaign had in fact been
launched at a Convention held in Delhi
in March this year.
The Hyderabad meeting was attended by
activists and lawyers working in defence
of the rights of the people, who brought
forth from their own experience, the need
for complete overhaul of the judiciary as
part of the overhaul of the system as
a whole. The Seminar was inaugurated
by Dr S K Rao, Director, Administrative
Staff College of India. Dr Ramadevi,
former Governor, HP and Karnataka and
former member of the Law Commission
was the Chief Guest. She inaugurated
the website of the CJAR. Veteran lawyers
Shri KG Kannabiran, Shri Prashant
Bhushan, Dr Bhaskar Rao of the Centre
for Media Studies and Prof Sridhar
Madabhushi were amongst those who
addressed the Seminar.
In his address, Shri Kannabiran, who is
also the President of the Peoples Union
of Civil Liberties (PUCL), pointed out
that along with the other institutions of
state, the judiciary was also in a severe
crisis. Over the years, successive
governments have been treating
political problems as “law and order”
problems to be dealt with through
repression, instead of addressing
them politically. Problems raised by the
people of Jammu and Kashmir several
decades ago have been dealt with in
this manner, as has the demands raised
by the people of the Gujjar community
in Rajasthan last month. Repressive
laws like Maintenance of Internal
Security Act (MISA), Essential Services
Maintenance Act (ESMA), Prevention of
Terrorism Act (POTA) and Terrorism and
Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) have
2 July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13
been enacted and used freely over the
last six decades. On the other hand,
the governments at the centre and
states did not deal justly and fairly
either with the massacre of the Sikhs
in 1984, the riots following the Babri
Masjid demolition in 1992-93, or the
Gujarat riots of 2002. Today land is
being acquired from peasants all over
the country and handed over to wealthy
corporates who are making huge profits
– a patently unfair use of the power of
acquisition for “public good”.
Senior lawyer Shri Prashant Bhushan,
one of the main initiators of the CJAR,
pointed out that the vast majority of
people of our country cannot access
the judicial system on account of its
complexity. Those who do, face delays
of decades so that justice is effectively
denied to them. The system of appointing
judges especially to the higher courts is
ad hoc, nepotistic, not transparent and
definitely not above board. If judges are
corrupt, the common man cannot even
lodge an official complaint in a police
station against them: let alone ensure
that they are removed from office for
their crimes! Thus judges are totally
unaccountable to the people. Moreover,
in recent years, they are coming out
increasingly against the toiling people
– decreeing demolition of slums and small
shops, while allowing the big corporates
to amass more wealth. The power to use
the law of contempt of court has been
used to stifle criticism of the courts and
their functioning. Only a sustained public
campaign can bring about the changes
which the people need.
Dr Venkatesh Sunderam of the Lok Raj
Sangathan pointed out in his presentation
that the concept of rights itself has
undergone change over the centuries
– while English kings used the concept
of “divine right of kings” to rule over
their subjects, a modern definition of
rights of individuals and collectives and
their harmonisation is the need of the
times. Laws and system of governance
which the colonialists put in place were
meant primarily to safeguard the colonial
system of exploitation and plunder.
Maintenance of “public order” by the
judiciary was actually maintenance of
orderly conditions for the exploitation. An
important feature of the British system
is that it treated the common Indian
people as enemies, as guilty who must
prove their innocence, while in words it
declared otherwise. Its “impartiality” and
“independence” from the government
of the day was and remains a sham.
Its purpose was to uphold the patently
unjust colonial law and order.
Today, every sector of the economy
– from agriculture to retail – is seen
as source of profit by big corporations
Indian and foreign. Laws are being made
to open up more and more sectors to
foreign capital. The judiciary is throwing
its weight behind the increased loot
and plunder of the country, its toilers
and tillers, tribals and indigenous
peoples. “Judicial activism" is thoroughly
anti-people, arbitrary, unjust, and a
method by which the political parties
of the ruling class are able to carry out
unpleasant attacks on the toiling people
without revealing their hand.
Our people are fighting to wrest
sovereignty into our own hands. All
arms of the state must be under the
control and supervision of the people,
which means that the judiciary must
be electable and subject to recall by
the people. The struggle to renew the
judiciary and bring it under the control
and supervision of the people is an
important part of the overall struggle
for empowerment. One hundred and
fifty years after the British crown
formally divested us of our sovereignty,
we must rededicate ourselves to the
task of vesting it with the people.
A vigorous discussion session followed the
presentations. Over twenty participants,
both lawyers and peoples’ activists,
made interventions at the meet. The
meet ended by adopting a declaration
and vowing to intensify the struggle for
judicial reforms involving more and more
sections of the toiling people.
 1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
Progamme to commemorate 150 years of Ghadar of
1857 in Padgha, Maharashtra
The Maharashtra Committee of the Lok Raj
Sangathan took an important initiative to organize
a cultural programme in Padgha on 5 May 2007
that celebrated the "Ghadar Jari Hai" call. The
program was held in the Zilla Parishad school, which
is located in the main market area of Padgha, and
people from dozens of nearby villages participated
in the program. Padgha is the main centre of
Commemoration of 1857 in London, England
In the heartland of British imperialism, Indian
people in Britain got together to commemorate
the 150th anniversary of 1857. The meeting, held in
Southhall, London, was organised by Indian Workers
Association (GB), Respect (Ealing – Southall), South
Asia Solidarity Group and South Asia Society.
Dalwinder Atwal from the IWA (GB) began by giving
a historical account of the nationwide revolt and
pointed out that the cause of the
revolt was the exploitation of the Indian
people, their land and rich resources.
He pointed out that the people of India
– Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs – all fought
together to throw out the British
colonialists and to create a system
where people will control their destiny
and end their suffering. The British
colonialists tortured and murdered the
patriots of 1857 who fought for real
freedom, while they rewarded those
who collaborated with them in the
suppression of the revolts with land and
commercial privileges.
Newsletter
of the
organising
commercial activities of the Taluka consisting of committee of
more than 25 villages and hamlets each with a the Ghadar
population of a few thousands.
Jari Hai..
An organising committee comprising of several Abhiyan
village sarpanches, local activists and LRS activists Issue No.3
was formed to plan the event. Thousands of July 2007
leaflets, in Hindi and Marathi, were distributed
in more than a dozen villages, explaining the aim
of the programme and elaborating the details. It
was an unusual sight in these villages when the
organizers marched around in the scorching sun
making announcements about the program on the
megaphone. The village people were met individually
and in groups to mobilize them to come for the
program.
The most important aim of organising this function
was to bring the people of Padgha and the villages
around together, cutting across religious, caste
and party affiliations, to start addressing their
Continued on page 4
1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
The speaker pointed out that two trends always
prevailed in India – the patriotic struggles of the
masses of people for real freedom, and the strivings
of wealthy collaborators wanting to become the new
masters of the Indian subcontinent. In 1947 new
rulers, the “brown sahibs”, took power and began
to develop the economy to serve the interests of
Continued on page 12
July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13 3
 1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
...in Padgha, Maharashtra
Continued from page 3
collective problems of drinking water, education,
transportation and livelihood. The function on 5 May
drew inspiration from the great revolt in which our
people united together in the Ghadar of 1857 to
wrest their destiny from the British plunderers.
The call "Ghadar Jari Hai" indicating that the tasks
for which lakhs of our martyrs laid down their lives
is still not complete, struck a chord with many
people.
The celebration was marked by drama, poetry and
dance by the Krantikari youth group from village
(Bokri) and youth from Padgha, Bhiwandi, Thane
and Ulhasnagar.
Several speakers spoke on the occasion, highlighting
the historical struggles of the people of the area
against the colonial exploiters and calling for the
struggle against the present-day exploiters to be
taken to its conclusion.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Bharat, the
convenor of the Maharashtra Samiti of the Lok Raj
Sangathan, argued for the necessity for lok raj,
1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
rule by the people. He said that empowering the
people means that people will have a direct say in
the economic and other affairs of the society. For
this to happen in practice, people have to come
together in sangharsh samitis so that it will be
possible for people to voice their needs and to wage
struggle to achieve them. LRS was committed to
build and strengthen such fighting organisations of
the people everywhere, so that the people's agenda
came to the centre-stage.
He highlighted the fact that the Ghadar of 1857
was not just a revolt of the feudal lords as some
historians make out, but had mass participation
from the productive forces of society who were
getting crushed under the weight of colonial
oppression. How else could it be explained that
after crushing the revolt, the colonisers sent
lakhs of people to the gallows for taking part in
the revolt?
In the aftermath of the Ghadar, the British took
measures to implement their "divide and rule"
policy. They enforced communal division amongst
the people. They started dealing with the people
only through their religious leaders. They created
educational institutions on the basis of religion. They
4 July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13
created mistrust and suspicion between different
religious communities by sometimes targeting and
sometime favouring one community over the other
in a demonstrative fashion. They were afraid that
Indian people would rise up together once again
and overthrow their rule. Therefore, the British
colonisers created privileged sections from among
the Indian population whose economic interests
and privileges were tied to the continuation of
the British raj, and imbued them with Eurocentric
ideas.
Even after 1947, the state apparatus and policies
used by the British have been largely left intact
and exploitation and oppression of the toiling Indian
people continues. With the power going from the
hands of the British into the hands of the Indian
ruling class, people continue to be deprived of
political power. Comrade S. Kapare, leader of the
Ladaku Garment Mazdoor Sangh, which has been
active in defending the interest of the workers in
the nearby garment factory, explained what tricks
are used by the factory owners to circumvent
already weak labour laws that are supposed to
protect the workers. He explained how the whole
state apparatus works to defend a tiny minority
of exploiters. Thus today, as we celebrate the 150
years of the Ghadar of 1857, we are deeply aware
of the challenges that face us – to complete the
task that our martyrs laid down their lives for.
The gathering was also addressed by Goshte Sir
(from Taloli village), who has been a Zilla Parishad
member and is very well respected in the area.
Sarpanches and prominent people were also
present from Arjoli village, Padgha Borivili village,
Amane (near Khadoali) village, etc.
Sonawane Sir, who was compering the program,
mentioned how Padgha was important in the
freedom struggle. The famous Chafekar brothers
 1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
Rally in Plassey, West Bengal
Braving pouring rain, thousands of people assembled
at Plassey in Nadia District of West Bengal on June
23, 2007, to participate in a rally organized on
the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Battle
of Plassey and the 150th anniversary of the Great
Ghadar. Colourful banners and hoardings depicting
the heroes of the anti colonial liberation struggle
and their words, and calling on people to attend the
rally, were on display in the different towns of West
Bengal. The rally was organized by the Bangladesh-
Bharat-Pakistan Peoples Forum (BBPPF).
There is a stone Obelisk that has been placed at
Plassey by the British colonialists to mark the
defeat of the forces of the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-
ud-Daulah by the army of Robert Clive of the East
India Company. On the Obelisk is inscribed – Battle
of Plassey — June 23, 1757. Near this spot, in
preparation for the rally, the activists of the BBPPF
had put up hoardings of anti-imperialist slogans. A
bust of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah had been erected at
...in Padgha, Maharashtra
Continued from page 4
were in hiding in Padgha when they were being
hounded by the British. He recalled the advise
(given by someone) to Bahadur Shah Zafar to give
up fighting and save his life by saying,
Dum damein mein dum nahin, ab khair mange jaan ki
Aiyeh Zafar thandi huyi shamsher Hindostan ki!
In response, Bahadur Shah Zafar is said to have
said,
Gaajiyon mein boo rahegi jab talak iman ki
the spot for this program. The program began with
the leaders of the BBPPF garlanding this bust. They
then marched towards the maidan where the rally
was being held, militantly shouting slogans against
imperialism and hailing the unity of the people of
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The rally was inaugurated by Shri Haripada Biswas,
MLA from the All India Forward Bloc. Those
who addressed the rally included Mahbub Alam,
Chairman of the Bangladesh Krishak Shramik Awami
1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
League and leader of the Bangladesh delegation,
Dhananjay Modak, MLA from Kaliganj Assembly
Constituency of the Revolutionary Socialist Party,
Dr Muktoral Hussain, Minister in Charge of Disaster
Management and Agricultural Marketing, Prakash
Rao, spokesperson of the Communist Ghadar Party
of India, Dr Janardhan Deshle Patil, social activist
from Maharashtra, Behram Sultan Bahar, President
of Jago Bangladesh Garment Shramik Federation,
Continued on page 6
Tab to London tak chalegi teg Hindostan ki!
Which means that as long as a tinge of determination
lingers in the hearts of the martyrs, the sword of
Hindostan will hang over the heart of England!
With this spirited recital of Zafar’s poetry,
Sonawane Sir announced the drama with the title
"Ghadar Jari Hai ". This was a vivid dramatisation of
the exploitation of the toiling people from ancient
times, as well as the struggle against it, including
the struggle against British colonial plunder.
The program included a Rangoli competition in which
several women from the Padgha area participated
and displayed their beautiful creations.
July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13 5
 1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
Rally in Palassey...
Continued from page 5
and Debabrata Biswas, MP, General Secretary of
the All India Forward Bloc and Chairman of the
Bangladesh-Bharat-Pakistan Peoples Forum.
Speaker after speaker decried the fact that the
only memorial to an epic battle which opened
the way to British colonistion of whole of India
was by the colonialist Lord Curzon. Whereas the
memorials of the fighters who gave their lives like
Mir Madan, Mohanlal and Maharaja Nanda Kumar
stand unmarked and unattended in the jute fields.
The speakers at the rally highlighted the grave
dangers to peace and well-being of the peoples of
the subcontinent, from imperialism. They called
for united struggle of the peoples of the three
countries against imperialism and war and for
settling of all disputes in trilateral and bilateral
forums of the three countries, free from imperialist
intervention. They called upon the governments
of the three countries to ease visa and travel
restrictions, recognising that partition had divided
crores of families.
Comrade Prakash Rao dwelt on the significance
1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
of learning the lessons of history. He noted that
250 years after the Battle of Plassey, the Indian
state had no monument either to honour those
who fell battling the forces of East India Company,
or to tell the story of that battle which led to the
conquest of Bengal by the British. He pointed out
that many of us know the role played by Mir Jaffer,
the traitorous commander of Nawab Siraj ud
Daulah, in collaborating with Robert Clive. Today, the
successors of the Mir Jaffers and other traitors
are ruling in our country, as well as in Bangladesh
and Pakistan. They sold us out to the British in
1757, then again in 1857 and they betrayed
various other uprisings of our people in between
and afterwards.
Comrade Prakash Rao drew attention to the
fact that both before 1857 and especially after
the Ghadar of 1857, the British ruling circles
discussed, inside and outside parliament, about
the need to create a class of Indians in whose
interest it would be to defend colonial rule and
plunder. They successfully created such a class.
Later they created political parties like the Indian
National Congress which would act like a safety
valve, to ensure that the anti colonial struggle of
6 July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13
The Bangladesh Chapter of the Bangladesh
Bharat Pakistan Peoples Forum will hold
its plenary meeting on July 25, 2007 in
Dhaka. The meeting will discuss a proposal
to organize a people's rally from Dhaka to
Lahore via India in November 2007.
This was announced by the leader of the
Bangladesh delegation, Mahbub Alam.
The Convenor of the BBPPF Manik Samajdar
announced that on August 11, 2007, a
Convention will be held in Kolkota. This will
be followed by a rally against the partition
of the subcontinent on August 14, 2007 in
the same city.
the Indian people remained within safe bounds and
did not threaten colonial and imperialist interests.
Most importantly, the British ruling circles carried
out a systematic genocide of Indian thought. The
people of our subcontinent are still deprived of
political power, comrade Prakash Rao pointed out.
They are still subject to imperialist plunder. August
1947 resulted in the partition of the subcontinent
and the continued enslavement of our peoples.
The task before us is to organize the workers and
peasants, women and youth to come to power and
we have to learn the lessons of history in order to
achieve this.
Taking forward the discussion, Comrade Debabrata
Biswas, MP, and General Secretary of the All India
Forward Bloc, dwelt on the colonization of the mind
and the rewriting of history carried out by the
colonialists. He said that we Indians are taught that
we have no philosophy, no culture, no history. This
is the way in which the imperialists have colonized
our minds and ensured their domination over our
countries. With many examples, Comrade Biswas
explained how the imperialists are carrying on the
cultural enslavement of our people till today. He
regretted that neither the Central Government, nor
the governments of West Bengal, had even made an
effort to create a memorial at Plassey that would
be a tribute to our martyrs and would reflect the
Indian people’s side of the struggle.
The rally concluded with a rousing speech by Manik
Samajdaar, Convenor of the BBPPF. A moving
cultural performance of patriotic songs by folk
artistes brought the evening to a close.
 1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...

Interviews

The Communist Ghadar Party of India organized a school on the Ghadar of 1857 on
9 June in Delhi. Workers, peasants, intellectuals and youth from different parts of
the country participated in this school. Recognising the importance of this school,
correspondents of People's Voice interviewed participants on the following questions.

1. How did you feel while participating in the school on Ghadar of 1857?
2. Would you like to say something on the presentation made on Ghadar of 1857?
3. Which are the historic facts about the Ghadar of 1857 that the have been kept
from the masses of Indians? Or have been presented in a distorted manner?
4. What is the relevance of the Ghadar of 1857 today?

These are some of the reactions that we received.

Prahlad, Political Activist, Mumbai,
Maharashtra
It’s an honour for me to be approached for feedback
on a school on a historic and topical subject like
1857.Through this school I got the opportunity to
learn about the legacy (of 1857) in the true sense
of the word. The already hot blood in my body due
to the scorching Delhi heat further boiled after
participating in the school.
but this school brought to light the fact that it
was actually an uprising against the British rule
and its oppression. Also it was a result of long
preparation and not just a spontaneous reaction to
a particular incident. It’s not even correct to say
that this was the first Ghadar as many struggles
spanning many years had taken place against the
British rule. This struggle however brought the
entire nation together. At least one crore people

1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...

While on the one hand the presentation on 1857
made public the history which has been buried for
several decades, it also declared a historic struggle
against the cultural decadence influencing the Indian
people. This presentation would keep stinging those
who are busy trumpeting India’s freedom and its
constitution till people’s conscience awakens and
their cultural glory is restored. This presentation
would prove to be a lesson for those who have been
propagating lies about the great Ghadar of 1857.
Coming out strongly against the illusions being
spread about freedom and by raising the levels of
knowledge about our culture, this presentation has
brought people face to face with their legacy and
made them move toward a new society.
There can not be two opinions about the introductory
speech of Com Lal Singh to this school which was
so fantastically conducted. The role of working class
was clearly explained in the introduction.
Based on the information available in the history
books one knew of this uprising only as something
which was related to Mangal Pandey and his religion
were killed in this Ghadar and Indian culture was
totally destroyed by propagating how backward
and insignificant it was. The youth today often say
that India doesn’t have anything and this thinking
is the result of many years of oppression which has
completely killed our conscience. The school brought
out this truth very clearly.
Our history has been one of class struggles. The
consciousness coming out of this struggle between
two classes is called the Ghadar. This Ghadar has
not stopped and is definitely moving ahead in a
modern way. The only golden learning from 1857
can be – we should rise against the oppression of
the working class no matter which religion, caste,
creed, gender or nationality we belong to. While
newer and newer methods of oppressions are being
practised the only answer to all this is Ghadar.
Satish Kumar, Student, University of Delhi
I learnt a lot in this school about the Ghadar of
1857 compared to what I learnt all these years in
the school from teachers using NCERT books and
from reading other books. Also I learnt about the

July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13 7

 1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
Interviews
feelings of people who were part of this Ghadar.
It’s very difficult to say which part of the
presentation was more important. There were
three parts to it – first one talked about pre 1857
period, second one covered 1857-1947 and the
third one detailed out happenings after 1947 till
today. All the three parts were chronologically
presented in a very simple manner.
I feel even today we are fighting for the right
to sovereignty which our forefathers fought for
against the British in 1857. Only the faces have
changed. We are facing the same atrocities,
oppression and exploitation in the society even
today. The colonial legacy has continued even after
the so called independence and people have to
fight for smallest of rights. The main problem is
the history that is taught to us is based totally
on Eurocentric thought. Our education system is
based on Macaulay’s system.
It won’t be an exaggeration to say that Ghadar in
on till today.
1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
Sunil, Political Acitivist, Mumbai,
Maharashtra
It was very good. Till we study the history of the
exploitation of humans by humans we won’t be able
to move forward in our struggle. If we don’t study
India’s political, economic and social history we won’t
be able to open the way for revolution. Britishers
negated all aspects of our history – political,
economic, social and technical – and imposed the
Eurocentric thought on us. They also established the
opinion that India doesn’t have a history that Indians
can be proud of. This is what we see today.
All along we have been told, be it by the government,
parliamentary parties or the history books approved
by the government, that the Ghadar of 1857 was
just a revolt by a bunch of people. While the truth
actually is people from all walks of life – women,
youth, peasants, princes, armed forces, craftsmen
and others – sacrificed their lives to overthrow the
colonialists.
The way the presentation was structured dividing
the 150 years chronologically and bringing out the
truth in a very simple manner, it was very obvious
8 July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13
that it was a result of a great deal of research
done over a period of time. It was a truly memorable
experience to participate in the school where all this
research was packaged beautifully and presented
in one day. It was like watching a movie.
Ruling Indian capitalists are keeping alive the remains
of the colonial legacy. Root of all the problems is the
system which is based on Eurocentric philosophy
with capitalism at its centre. It’s very important
to bring this fact to light. The next Ghadar will
completely uproot the colonial legacy and establish
the rule of workers and peasants. This Ghadar will
establish a new economic and political system by
completely throwing out all the remains of colonial
legacy and make the toiling masses of India masters
of their future.
Rahul Kanavi, Software Engineer, Mumai
It was a very brilliantly oragnized program with a
very definite purpose and it managed to achieve
its purpose by enthusing all those who came
to the school with the spirit of revolution It
helped rediscover and rekindle the fire of 1857 in all
the young people by bringing to fore the tasks of the
1857 revolution and showed ample evidence of the
Indian spirit that had awakened to consciousness
from centuries of oppression.
The presentation had a very beautiful flow to it. The
realisation of the transfer of power from the British
to the Indian rulers was so premeditated; it clearly
showed how the country got hijacked by the new
ruling classes who were involved in the treachery
of betraying the freedom fighters of 1857.
The facts about the genesis of today's ruling classes
from the treacherous role they played in 1857;
the fact that the Ghadar was not just against the
British but also against the brahmanical order and
all retrogressive forces existing in India; the fact
that the Ghadar involved the masses of people and
not just the sepoys; the fact that the Ghadar was
widespread and planned.
The ghadar is a wave that recedes and comes
back with an even larger force when the class
antagonisms intensify. The knowledge of the Ghadar
is an inspiration for the freedom loving masses.
 1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
Interviews
The class antagonisms have increased and lakhs
are deprived of housing and food on a daily basis.
The realisation that only a victorious Ghadar of the
working class can take society towards a balanced
and brilliant future for mankind is important to
understand. We studied all the revolutions in the
world in the earlier communist school and it is a
revelation that can help us defeat the retrogressive
forces of today, learning from the mistakes that
were made by the Ghadarites internationally
earlier.
The importance of speaking in Indian languages
instead of in English is a very important observation
made by Comrade Lal Singh, in his speech, and
needs to be understood very seriously. The manner
in which most of the comrades think in English is
a roadblock at this point for us to communicate
to the masses of Indian people and a roadblock to
bringing the masses of people to the party. The
speech also pointed to the need to review and study
the erudite works of our past which were written
by the Brahmans rather than denouncing them and
always looking at India in the manner in which the
Europeans did.
Surkhraj, History graduate, Delhi
University
I really felt that the communist school on 1857
brought out many new facets of the Ghadar. It was
a refreshing new look at the Ghadar and a much
broader time span was touched upon. Ideologically
the school raised a lot of new questions; that we
are otherwise encouraged to ignore.
The entire presentation took into account the
various battles, small and big throughout the
country even before and after 1857 in British
India. I thought that was a great example to all
people who have been researching the topic, as it
gave importance to wide scale 'struggle'. It didn't
simply concentrate on one hero or one king. The
presentation was beautifully supplemented with
images as well as with a huge amount of information
that I had not paid attention to earlier.
As a history graduate I can say that whether
it be the Ghadar or any other part of our past,
facts have always been hidden or distorted. The
simple fact here being that it is most convenient
for the powers that be, to distort and even come
up with events which may not have even occurred
so as to waver the common masses. They do this
through education, religion, and other tools of
propaganda.
It is said that history repeats itself, the history
of 1857 and numerous struggles of the people
before and after till date only go to show that
people will always fight for their rights. Skeptics and
propagandists can come up with many theories on
failures, but the people of any region will stand up
and fight. Where there is oppression in any form,
there is the will to struggle and fight, and this is a
scientific and historical fact. Today we have people
throughout the country who believe in change,
change which is for the good of all who struggle
against an oppressive system. Clearly, if we don't
learn from the past then we remain unprepared
for the future.
I liked the entire speech. The presentation brought
forward new and exciting information about our
past and com Lal Singh explained the significance
1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
of 1857 and our role in the world today. Like he
pointed out, our role and responsibilities today are
the most important. I also liked that he touched
upon the topic of propaganda and how we must not
get carried away by false information. We must
find our own answers as a collective and build a
future together.
Announcement
Meeting
of the
organising committee
of the
Ghadar Jari Hai..
Abhiyan
July 14 at Lucknow
July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13 9
 1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...

Interviews

Gopal, Student of Information Technology,
New Delhi
The achievement of the School was that it
presented and provided evidence of a history that
has been sought to be obliterated, in such simple
words.
The entire presentation was very good, and it is very
difficult to say which aspect of the presentation
was better than the others.
divert us from our heritage, and from revolt.” This
touched me, and I can see that this revolutionary
spirit is very much alive today.
Sanjay Gautam, Activist, Transit Camp
Bachao Sangarsh Samiti
I felt very good after participating in this school.
I got the opportunity to learn a lot, like why the
Ghadar of 1857 was called the First War of
Independence and why it failed.

The way the 1857 Ghadar is presented to students
of history is that the sepoys revolted against
some greased cartridges or that some selfish
kings instigated the rebellion for personal gain. It
certainly was not. On the other hand, it was a revolt
in which masses of people from various corners of
the country came together to kick the British out
of our country. The peasants and artisans came
forward, inspired by the revolt of the sepoys.
1857 was a well-organised political movement. It
had a clear political vision. The aim of this Ghadar
was to uproot the colonialists and establish a new
1857 – Ghadar Jari Hai ...
Much of the misinformation and misconceptions
about 1857 has been eliminated through this
school. The presentation talked about the countless
patriots who sacrificed their lives, I was not aware
of that. We also got to know about the traitors,
who are ruling today.
The Ghadar was country-wide and everyone took
part, from the young to the old. If on the one
hand Mangal Pandey revolted against the greased
cartridges, on the other, people of all faiths
– Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, united to pick up the

foundation. sword against the British in defence of their culture

and way of life.
Comrade Lal Singh said in his speech that “we
can say with pride that Ghadar is in every moment Even today, we have not realized our independence.
of our life, in every breath. We will not let anyone This has to be fully realised.

Ghadar
Jari Hai
A magazine dedicated to the call of the times
- The Navnirman or Renewal of India
Available in English & Hindi
Suggested contributions Rs. 10/-
For Copies please write to:
Lok Awaz Publishers & Distributors, E-392, Sanjay Colony, Okhla, Phase-II, New Delhi - 110 020
or call : 09868721375 or 09818575435

10 July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13

Voice of Toilers & Tillers
UNI employees win important victory
Employees of the premier news agency
UNI have won an important victory
in their nine-month long, persistent
struggle to prevent take-over of the
agency by Subhash Chandra, owner
of the Essel Group, chairman of Zee
telefilms, and owner of the Mumbai
newspaper DNA. The Board of Directors
of UNI has been forced to cancel the
appointments of the directors who
had been illegally brought in by the so-
called Empowered Committee formed
by Subhash Chandra, to facilitate
his take-over of UNI. The take-over
plans of Subhash Chandra and his
cohorts have suffered a setback, due
to the determined opposition of the UNI
employees.
As reported earlier in People’s Voice,
the UNI employees, led by their Joint
Action Committee, have been vigorously
opposing the deal to sell 60% of UNI
shares for Rs. 34 crores to Subhash
Chandra. This deal was struck with
the help of certain directors appointed
illegally by the UNI management, at the
behest of Subhash Chandra.
The UNI employees have opposed
the deal as this would endanger the
independent, non-partisan and all-India
character of UNI, which, along with
PTI, was set up as a trust with the
purpose of preventing a monopoly in the
supply of news. It may be recalled that
in the UNI, a number of newspapers
have shareholdings, but no one news
paper has a majority shareholding.
UNI and PTI have been essentially run
as non-profit institutions, breaking
even through subscriptions from the
government and private news channels
and newspapers.
The UNI employees have also questioned
on what basis the control of land and
other assets given to UNI under the
Section 25 of the Companies Act,
1956 at subsidised rates, can be
handed over to a private monopoly for
profiteering? The total assets of UNI
are conservatively valued at Rs 1000
crores, with the prime land at Rafi Marg
near Parliament itself estimated to be
worth Rs 200 crores. The attempted
take-over of UNI would also enable Zee
telefilms to establish monopoly control
over news and newspapers in different
parts of the country.
Despite the efforts of the UNI
management to crush the struggle
of the UNI employees through
suspensions and transfers as well as
the threat of mass retrenchment,
the UNI employees have valiantly
continued their principled struggle
July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13 11
in defence of their institution. Under
the banner of Citizens for UNI, they
have held dharnas, gate meetings,
demonstrations to the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting and
public conventions, in which political
and social activists, journalists,
writers, and media persons have
participated in large numbers, in
support of the demands of the UNI
workers.
In December 2006, the Company Law
Board, in which some of the directors
of the UNI had challenged the take-over
bid, declared in its first hearing that
the deal to sell 60% of UNI shares for
34 crores to Subhash Chandra was
prima facie illegal. The directors who
were responsible for pushing through
the illegal deal were asked to present
their case within three weeks. The
verdict of the Company Law Board is
awaited.
The UNI employees are demanding a
review of various recruitments made
by Subhash Chandra and his cohorts, in
an attempt to bring in his loyalists, as
part of the take-over bid. They are also
demanding that victimization of leaders
of the agitation be immediately stopped
and cases filed by the management
against the agitating employees at the
Tis Hazari Courts be withdrawn.
People’s Voice congratulates the UNI
employees and wishes them success
in their resolute struggle, which is
not only a struggle to preserve the
independence and integrity of their
institution, but also a struggle in the
larger social interest.
Voice of Toilers & Tillers

Indian Airlines Employees achieve victory in their struggle!

On 12th June, 2007 at 9 o’clock in the
night, the employees of the government
owned Indian Airlines (now renamed
as Indian) went on a flash strike all
over India. The employees had been
agitating for a new wage settlement
which was due for the last 10 years!
The strike was called to force the
authorities to give in to the employees’
demands. The staff of the commercial
department, the ticketing staff, the
airport handling staff, the ground
handling staff, the safai kamgars and
cabin crew participated in this all-India
action. By 13th May morning all flights
of Indian were disrupted with 12,500
employees participating. The Minister of
Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, threatened to
impose the draconian ESMA (Essential
Services Maintenance Act) and locking
out Indian. Suspension orders were
issued to hundreds of activists. The
management obtained an order from
the Delhi High Court declaring the
strike illegal and banning workers from
gathering anywhere within 500 metres
of the airport premises.
But the employees refused to be
cowed down by these fascist tactics
and determined to continue their
agitation. Seeing the determined stand
of the employees, the Government and
management were forced to give in to
the employees’ demands and on June
14th concluded a new wage settlement.
Due to the militant agitation of the
employees, they won a substantial wage
revision and arrears for the last seven
years were agreed to be paid over a
period of 18 months.
The wage revision had been delayed for
10 years mainly due to the vacillating
stands taken by the leadership of the
Union, the Air Corporation Employees
Union (ACEU). On 27th January 2007, in
fresh elections to the Central leadership
of the Union, the old committee was
overthrown and a new committee
was elected. The employees under the
leadership of this committee put forth
a fresh charter of demands. On the
17th of May a 2 ½ hour mass walkout
was organised all over India. This
was a massive success and showed
the unity of the employees and their
determination to achieve their just and
long delayed demands.
People’s Voice congratulates the
employees of Indian for the successes
achieved in this struggle. At the same
time it calls on the employees and the
Union activists to note the trends
emerging in the airlines industry.
Whereas a few years ago there were
many players in the Indian domestic
aviation industry, the trend nowadays is
towards concentration and formation of
monopoly groups. The recent merger of
Indian Airlines and Air India, Jet Airways
and Sahara, the proposed merger of
Kingfisher and Deccan Airways are
indicators of this trend. This will, no
doubt, impose greater pressures
on the job security and rights of the
employees. The employees of Indian
Airlines have to be greatly vigilant of
such moves and step up their united
struggle in defence of their livelihood
and rights.

Speakers detailed the crimes of British the super exploitation of migrant

...in London, England
Continued from page 3
the wealthy elite on the foundations laid
by British imperialism. Now after sixty
years we see the rich getting richer
and the poor getting poorer as was the
case under colonial rule. The new India,
the so called emerging superpower, is
in fact the India of the super rich and
the super poor.
imperialism, in the past and the present,
and drew parallels with the way the
imperialists had exploited Ireland and
India, and how they are aggressing on
Iraq and Afghanistan today. Several of
the speakers talked about the struggles
being waged by the working class in
Britain today against the capitalists and
their ruthless exploitation, including the
valiant struggle of the Gate Gourmet
workers. Salvinder Dhillon spoke about
workers, a large number of whom live
in Southall. It is the working people
who create wealth, he said, and they
must decide how it is used. They must
be the decision makers in society and
shape their own future. All the speakers
called for strengthening the unity of
the working class in Britain and of the
people of the world in the struggle
against imperialism and capitalist
exploitation.

The meeting was thereafter addressed

by many other speakers, including
Lindsay German, the London Mayoral
candidate for the organisation Respect,
Salvinder Dhillon from Respect and
the IWA (GB), Arman Riazy from
the International League for Peoples
Struggle, Paramjit Bains, a leading
representative of the Gate Gourmet
workers, Oliver New, a trade unionist
and a local community activist, and
Anwar Dholan from the South Asia
Society.
Request to Readers
We request our readers to send in reports/articles on
the life and struggles of workers, peasants, women,
youth and every section of the working people. This
will contribute to strengthening the political unity and
struggles of workers and peasants for the renewal of
Indian society
e-mail:mail@cgpi.org

12 July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13

World
The US anti-war campaign at the cross-roads
The passage of legislation in the US
Congress on May 24 for supplementary
unconditional funding by which the Bush
administration sought to continue the
war in Iraq had a significant impact
on the anti-war movement which has
been consistently protesting the war.
Earlier, a bill which required a mandatory
time table for the withdrawal of US
troops had been threatened with a
Presidential veto and the Congress
submitted to the Administration. In
approving further funding without
any plan for withdrawal, the US
Congress continued to ignore the
massive popular discontent with the
war. Opinion poll after poll has been
indicating that the majority of the
public favour an immediate withdrawal
from Iraq.
While the anti-war movement has
been increasingly joined by thousands
of ordinary citizens opposing the
unjust war on Iraq, the leadership
of the movement was closely tied to
the Democratic Party till recently.
At the same time, there has been
skepticism among various participants
in the movement about the sincerity
of that Party’s anti-war stance and
this latest deed of supporting the
criminal legislation has clearly led to
increasing disillusionment. This, in turn,
has thrown the movement into some
disarray. However, one positive fall-out
of all this is that the various streams in
the movement are asking some crucial
questions regarding the future of the
movement.
One such question that has been
posed is: Can a people's movement
in the United States overcome the
commitment of the White House,
C o n g r e s s a n d t h e Pe n t a g o n t o
authorize, extend and finance the
war and occupation in Iraq? With the
sentiment of opposition and disgust to
the war growing across the country,
and building up among the rank and file
service members and some officers,
does not the movement have the
potential to become a force for effective
opposition to the Administration’s
continued aggression against the
people of Iraq?
In this context, the movement cannot
afford to ignore or gloss over the fact
that both the Republican as well as
Democratic Parties in the prevailing
two-party system in the US represent
the interests of the oligarchs and
big corporate giants. It is evident
that the Democratic Party never
opposed the war from the manner in
which the Bush administration was
able to get backing for launching
the war using fabricated evidence
regarding the so-called weapons
of mass destruction, acquisition of
fissile materials from Niger etc.,
which was known to be bogus all
along. Democratic Party candidates
did not come out against the war
in the 2004 Elections, and instead
ended up with such reactionary lines
as `we support our troops', knowing
full well that the US had launched a
war of aggression and occupation.
They made some noises against the
war in the recent elections to the
Burns visit, Bush...
Continued from page 1
and the US over the bilateral nuclear
cooperation — or `123' — agreement
needs to be examined in the context
of the aspirations of the Indian big
bourgeoisie to be accepted in the league
of the world’s most powerful nations on
the one hand, and the need felt by the
US and other imperialists to engage
with them, on the other.
The US imperialists want to harness
the resources of India, its vast
market, manpower, sizeable military
establishment, and technical – scientific
potential, as well as its clout in the
region and the world, and are therefore
dangling the nuclear cooperation deal
as a bait for the Indian ruling circles.
However within the US ruling circles
too, there are elements which want to
have ‘sufficient’ checks on India. They
definitely want to ensure that India does
July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13 13
Congress, and soon after supported
the pro-war legislation.
The experience of six years of the anti-
war movement in the US clearly shows
that the Democratic Party has played a
major role in sabotaging it from within.
The Democratic Party tries to exploit the
anti war movement to come to power,
while pursuing the same imperialist
war mongering policies of the Bush
administration. The anti-war movement
in the US cannot afford to have illusions
about the Democratic Party, or about
the political system in place in the US.
As the American people continue to
take an uncompromising stand against
the war in Iraq, the continuous bombing
and killing of people in Afghanistan, the
Administration‘s threats against Iran,
Korea, etc. and its war-mongering
position, in general, they will also have
to tackle the question of evolving a
political alternative to the present war
mongering governments.
not “grow too big for its boots” because
of its own aspirations, or disturb the
sensitivities of its’ other allies, hence
the unmistakably restrictive clauses
being insisted upon by the US side. The
US is obviously seeking to bind India
ever more closely with its own strategic
aims with the nuclear cooperation deal.
It is also clear, especially after the G8
summit, that this deal has the backing
of the other big imperialists as well, at
least in principle. Nevertheless, they
too are likely to specify their own terms
on which India could be ‘admitted’ as a
member of the nuclear ‘club’.
While sections of the ruling circles in
the US and India would like the nuclear
deal to be finalised immediately, it
appears that the various forces at play,
not only within the ruling circles of India
and the US, but also among those of
the other big imperialist powers, may
prolong the process of finalisation.
Letters to Editor
“Mid-course correction”
The Editor, People's Voice
Sir,
I am writing to draw the attention
of the readers of People's Voice to
the recent statements made by the
Prime Minister, Mr. Manmohan Singh
at the Annual General Meeting of
the Confederation of Indian Industry
where he appealed to `Captains of
Industry’ to show large heartedness
and share the fruits of the near
10% annual growth with the less
fortunate. Around the same time
Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister in
the UPA Government, has called for
a 'mid-course' correction, presumably
as a response to the debacle of the
Congress Party in the UP elections,
and with an eye to the 2009 General
Election, a sentiment echoed by the
Left parties, including the CPM. On
the other hand, Mr. Montek Singh
Ahluwalia, noted economist and Dy.
Chairman of the Planning Commission
has stated that the PM’s remarks
have been misunderstood and are not
a sign that the UPA Government is in
favour of slow down of reforms. At
the same time, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal
has stated that any upperbound on
the salaries of company CEO’s would
be illegal, and reports in BBC say that
Thank you, People's Voice
I am a regular reader of the People's
Voice and therefore when I read the
paper one day, I was very surprised.
I had read many accounts of history
earlier, but I had not seen any thing
significant on the Great Ghadar of
1857, and so knew very little about it.
This was corrected when I attended
the communist school on June 9, and
further when I read the paper People's
Voice.
That issue of the People's Voice enhanced
my interest in history. Learning the
facts about the 1857 Ghadar gave
me a new direction, and a new fund of
knowledge. I a m struck by the fact that
14 July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13
Mr. Mukesh Ambani is planning to
construct a highrise residential tower
costing about Rs. 4000 crores in the
heart of Bombay.
The question is what lesson is to be
drawn by the working class from all
these events. Are the working people
of the country merely to appeal the
good nature of capitalists and leave
to it to them to throw a few crumbs?
There are others who argue that
those in whose hands the reins of the
economy lie today should merely carry
out their `social compact’ so that the
society may be more equitable. Others
will debate the `moral precepts’ of
the present day aegis and argue
this way or that for the movement
towards equitability, and others will
debate the `good’ of the suggestions
from the Hon. PM. It is evident
that through the good offices of the
`reforms’ initiated by none other than
Dr. Singh and his worthy colleagues
such as Mr. P. Chidambaram when they
occupied important cabinet posts in
Governments a decade ago, continued
by the NDA Government and revitalized
even further by the present UPA
Government, that the situation has
come to this pass. At the philosophical
level, these reforms have paved the
way for the supreme transcendence
the Ghadar that was carried out by the
revolutionaries against the exploitation
and oppression of the colonialists and
to throw out them out of our country, is
still on today. I do not know why history
books have not elaborated the facts of
the Great Ghadar. But I am very happy
that the June 9 meeting and People's
Voice have done a great deal to spread
awareness of this history.
Internet Edition of
Mazdoor Ekta Lehar & People's Voice
at http://www.cgpi.org,
e-mail:mail@cgpi.org
of private capital and its free rein in
the sphere of the economy, with the
complete abrogation of any social
responsibility on part of the state.
The state will merely play the role of
keeper of order and law so that private
capital can maximize its profits at
the expense of the working peoples,
and indeed of all the peoples of India.
To turn around now to demand large
heartedness of these big bourgeoisie
is a further abrogation of the duties
of the state. The pathetic appeal of
the Left Parties in this context for a
mid-course correction is no more than
a confession of their total impotence
and incompetence. By toeing this line
of the bourgeoisie, they are further
entrenching the return of medeivalism
where the rich shall take care of the
poor, rather than all the people having a
command of their own destiny. It is only
through a scientific programme of the
kind advocated by the Ghadar Party and
through communism that the working
people shall come to command their
own destinies and not through this or
that mid-course correction or through
the largesse of an Ambani, Tata or a
Mittal.
Sincerely,
A. Narayan, Bangalore
In conclusion I would like to say that
just as you have published this wealth
of historical information in your paper,
I wish you would continue to publish
other historical information in the
future. I will be ever grateful to you!
Your reader, Hariom
New Delhi
Voice of Toilers & Tillers
The Presidential Elections...
Continued from page 1
through its intervention. She also
wants the Center’s support for her
government in UP. What is the reason
for the CPI(M)’s working overtime to
ensure the victory of the Congress
candidate in these elections?
The past two years have seen sharpening
political battles amongst the ruling
class parties wherein the role of
the President as well as the role of
institutions like the Election Commision
and State Governors has been crucial.
Bihar had two Assembly polls in quick
succession after a hung assembly and
the dissolution of the first Assembly
amidst controversy. Jharkhand has had
open horse trading as well government
changes. The same has happened in
Goa. In the Uttar Pradesh Elections,
accusations have been leveled at the
Central Government for using the
Election Commission to manufacture
a majority. Before the 2006 West
Bengal Assembly elections, CPI(M) itself
raised a hue and cry that the Election
Commission was playing a partisan role
to defeat it.
Elections to a number of critical states
— Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, MP,
Chattisgarh — and the 2009 General
Elections lie ahead. The role of the
President is obviously looked at with
great anxiety by all the parliamentary
parties as the possibility of a hung
parliament is real. The CPI(M), in
supporting the Congress candidate,
is clearly stating that it wants the
continuation of the Congress Party
rule and the strengthening of the
present arrangement at the centre.
As part of this arrangement, the
Central government has favoured
the governments of West Bengal,
Kerala, and Tripura and refrained from
destabilizing them
The leaders of the CPI(M) have been
repeating the so-called principle that the
next President must be 'political'. They
do not specify whether they are talking
about the politics of the bourgeoisie
or the politics of the working class.
What they actually mean by saying the
candidate must be political is that it
must not be a 'consensus candidate'
like Kalam, who received support from
both the Congress Party and the BJP
in 2002. By 'political' what they mean
is that it must be a partisan figure,
somebody who is clearly aligned with the
Congress and against the BJP. In 2002,
the CPI(M) got shut out and was forced
to put up a losing candidate, Captain
Lakshmi Sehgal, against Kalam. CPI(M)
does not want a repetition of this in this
election. They want to make sure that
they have a say in who is the person
who becomes the President. CPI(M)
has also declared that the candidate
must be “secular”, in other words, a
person who will not rely on the support
of the BJP.
The Congress Party and the BJP
stand for the same class interest,
the interest of the big bourgeoisie and
its aim of making India an imperialist
superpower through globalisation,
liberalisation and privatization, through
fascism and imperialist war. The duty
of communists is to forge a fighting
front of the working class, peasantry
and all those who are opposed to
the offensive of the bourgeoisie. The
duty of communists is to forge a
political front against the bourgeoisie
and without any bourgeois party in
command. The CPI (M) is acting in the
opposite direction. By championing
the cause of the Congress Party, it
is causing great harm to the workers
and peasants and the struggle
against globalization, privatization
and liberalization, fascism, imperialism
and imperialist war.
The CPI (M) is spreading the extremely
harmful idea that the main enemy of
the workers and peasants is not the
capitalist class, but only one party
of the bourgeoisie, the BJP. It is
spreading the harmful illusion that
the people's salvation lies in stabilizing
Congress Party rule in order to
keep the BJP out. Leaders of CPI
(M) have even declared that only a
candidate who is aligned clearly with
the Congress Party would serve the
July 1-15 2007 – Volume 29 – Issue 13 15
"national interest" – thereby identifying
national interest with the interest of
the Congress Party.
A communist party is duty bound to
utilize every possibility to educate the
working masses about the real nature
of the political system and process in
place and to agitate for a new system
and process that will ensure that
the working class comes to power.
It must bring out the political theory
that underlies the present system,
a theory that ensures the rule of
the bourgeoisie over the people. And
it must put forward the alternate
political process that will pave the way
for the victory of the working class. In
other words, the strategic approach of
a communist party to the Presidential
Elections would be to explain the role
of the President, the aim of each and
every bourgeois party in choosing the
President, and how communists should
approach it. Communists cannot
merge with the existing process and
become indistinguishable in strategy
and tactics from other bourgeois
parties.
The fact that CPI(M) did not even carry
out a discussion amongst the masses
of workers and peasants regarding its
tactics in the Presidential Elections
shows that it does not believe people
should have a say beyond what is
permitted in the present political
process. Since the President is elected
by MPs and MLA’s, why discuss this
issue amongst the people -- so seems
to be CPI(M)’s thinking. They are falling
at the feet of a system that denies the
working class and people the right to
govern themselves.
CPI(M)’s stand in the present
Presidential Elections clearly reveals
its complete merger with the existing
process. A strategic understanding
seems to have been reached between
the Congress Party and the leaders of
CPI(M), in the service of stabilizing the
rule of the bourgeoisie and carrying
forward its anti-social program.
Communists need to beware of this
development.
 Lok Awaz Publishers & Distributors,
Voice of Toilers & Tillers E–392, Sanjay Colony, Okhla Phase-II, New Delhi - 110020

Continuous dharnas in the Narmada Valley

Beginning early in June, a group of five
people comprising of affected persons
of the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar
dams on the Narmada River and
activists of the Narmada Bachao
Andolan went on an indefinite hunger-
strike at Khandwa, even as 89 people
from 30 affected villages in the valley
joined them in solidarity for a three-day
hunger strike. Thousands of families
from the Omkareshwar and Indira Sagar
affected sites and a large number
of people from the Maheshwar dam
affected regions have been visiting the
dharna site to express support. The
hunger strikes and dharnas are still
continuing at the end of June.
The dharnas began with an impressive
rally of over 12,000 oustees of the
dams in the town of Khandwa, followed
by a gherao of the Narmada Hydro-
Development Corporation (NHDC) which
is building the dam, with the demand for
implementation of the rehabilitation due
to them. Even as the action began, the
Supreme Court issued a stay order on
an earlier High Court Order, posing an
immediate risk to some of the affected
villages.
guilty of very serious crimes against
the people’s right to their homes and
livelihood. Each one of the Narmada
Valley projects has further victimized
the already poor; then, blatant lies
have been told about the number of
people affected, and their subsequent
rehabilitation. The rehabilitation plans
have remained policy objectives, with no
implementation on the ground. And the
Courts have been used, time and again,
to crush the people’s struggle through
various orders and stay orders, while
they mouth platitudes on justice and
compassion!
As in the past, not only has the state
government, aided by the Supreme
Court, attacked people’s right to
livelihood, but the authorities have also
done everything in their power to bring
the dharna to a halt. Water supply
was stopped for 17 hours to those
areas where the protests were begun;
likewise, there was an attempt to cut
off electricity to those villages. But
the people of the affected villages have
fought back tooth and nail, gheraoing
the collector’s office in one district,
while women blockaded the streets in
another, forcing the authorities in both
cases to restore services.
The people of the Valley are committed
to the struggle for their rights to land
and livelihood, and for just rehabilitation.
It has been a long and continuous
struggle, undaunted in the face of state
repression.

The High Court of MP (Jabalpur Bench)

had ordered on May 18 2007 that
the reservoirs of Indira Sagar and
Omkareshwar dams should not be allowed
to fill up because the rehabilitation of
the displaced persons has not been
done according to the rehabilitation
policies and plans. However the State
of Madhya Pradesh and NHDC filed
Special Leave Petitions and on June
11, the decision of the High Court was
stayed by the Supreme Court based on
false figures of potential submergence
presented by the state government,
and the plea that the state is facing
an acute power shortage which could People’s Voice (Fortnightly)
be tided over by the Omkareshwar hydel
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The struggle of the people of the
Narmada Valley has shown, as in other Lok Awaz Publishers and Distributors, E-392, Sanjay Colony, Okhla Phase - II,
such cases too, that the concerned New Delhi - 110 020
state government and the various
governments at the centre have been