Volume 51 No. 15 Organ of the SOCIALIST UNITY CENTRE OF INDIA (COMMUNIST) 10 Pages

March 15, 2018 Founder Editor-in-Chief : COMRADE SHIBDAS GHOSH Price : Rs. 2.00

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SUCI(C) vehementlycondemns most cowardlyact of bulldozing Lenin’sstatue in Tripura bystorm-troopers of RSS-BJP

Comrade Provash Ghosh, GeneralSecretary, SUCI(C), issued the followingstatement on 6 March, 2018 :

We vehemently condemn the mostcowardly act of bulldozing a statue of greatLenin by the RSS-BJP hoodlums at Bilonia,Tripura within 48 hours of the BJP’s electoralvictory in the state. Lenin is held in high esteemworld over as a great exponent of Marxism andarchitect of the first proletarian revolution. Byindulging in such barbarism and frenzy, theRSS-BJP only prove that their rule can only becompared with the Hitlerite regime whereincensed storm-troopers were let loose to runamuck and silence all other opposite views byflexing muscle and flaunting power-madnesssince they knew they were ideologicallybankrupt and hence had no other option but tobully people to submission.

We call upon all right-thinking democratic-minded countrymen to raise their voice ofprotest against such a heinous act which is notonly against the glorious anti-fascist tradition ofthe Indian people but also a barbarous act whichstrikes at the very root of civilization.

A few days back, three North-eastern statesof Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya had theirlegislative assembly elections held. Of theseTripura attracts particular attention, as there anat- a- stretch 25 year long rule of the CPI(M), aparty often highlighted as brand leftist, isterminated by a sweeping victory of the BJP, abranded rightist and rabid communal party. Alongwith IPFT (Indigenous Peoples’ Front of Tripura),a parochial divisive tribal organization, BJP couldreach 43 out of 60 seats, while CPI(M) is nowreduced to 16. In Meghalaya a Congress-ledAlliance ruling for two terms is replaced byanother Alliance in which the NPP, a regionalparty, had 19 seats in a 59 member assembly,BJP 2 seats and three other regional outfitshelping the total reach the required figure. InNagaland , NDPP, again a regional party (18 in60 seats),BJP (12 seats) and other regional partyand independent candidates (4 seats together)formed the government (34 in 60 memberassembly). Congress, a trusted bourgeois partywhich once had the tightest grip over the north-eastern states, now has come down to 0 in Tripura

BJP’s win in Tripura and other two states

What does it signify?and Nagaland, while in Meghalaya Congress,after reigning for ten years, remains the largestsingle party, not strong enough to form thegovernment. It holds the government only inMizoram now.

In the north-eastern states, the BJP is alreadyin governmental power in Assam, Manipur andArunachal Pradesh, risen with the help ofsectarian parochial forces of those states.Immediately after the results of the recentelections were out, a section of media got busy toshow how remarkable the BJP win was. Butcontrary to the hullabaloo, in Meghalaya andNagaland the BJP had to ride on regional partiesto get hold of power. Tripura gives a rather clearverdict in its favour. There, sneaking in with theirtypically communal, divisive politics and alluringvoters with assurance of ‘development’ with thehelp of their being in the central government, theshrewd, patiently working RSS- BJP leaders couldwin 35 seats from zero, in a state held for yearsunder the surveillance of a formidable, oftenvicious, sharp eyed and long-nosed network of

At last, the first Draft of NRC (NationalRegister of Citizens) for Assam, 2017-18 waspublished by the midnight of 31 December, 2017,as per the directive of the Supreme Court ofIndia. The upgradation of the National Registerof Citizenship for Assam has been done by theRegister General of India under the Supervisionof the Supreme Court of India. The exercisehas been going on for about last three years. Inthe current operation, a total of 3.29 crores ofapplicants had applied for inclusion of theirnames in NRC. But when the draft list waspublished, it was seen that it contained only 1.90crores names while as many as 1.39 crorenames mostly of the religious and linguisticminorities were missing. It was found that while80-90 % of the indigenous Assamese speakingpeople staying in the districts of upper Assamhad featured in the list, the percentage was just35 to 40% in respect of the lower Assam andcentral Assam districts. The situation of theBarak valley, mostly inhabited by Bengali

The upgradation of NRC(National Register of Citizenship)

for Assam, 2017-18— the real motive behind

speaking people, is worse. The names of manyprominent persons like MLAs, MPs, Ex-MLAsand Ex-MPs, government servants, even peopleserving in the armed forces belonging to religiousand linguistic minority communities have beenleft out.

Before publishing the first list, the NRCauthority had repeatedly assured through allforms of media publicity that the names of allgenuine Indian Citizens would be included in thefinal NRC and that they should not be worried.On the other hand the State Government withthe approval of the Central Government hasdeployed 85 companies of para-military forces,in addition to the regular police forces, in thesensitive and vulnerable districts in anticipationof large-scale disturbances after the publicationof the first draft. At a time when lakhs ofpeople are worried about the status of theircitizenship, the BJP Chief Minister of the state,Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal, declared in a meeting

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Comrade Ranjit Dhar, member, Polit Bureau,SUCI(C) garlanding great Karl Marx on 14 March

Comrade Asit Bhattacharyya, member, PolitBureau, SUCI(C) pays regard in Red Salute to

great Stalin on 5 March

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North-eastern India eulogized as paradise remainneglected stepchild ever since independence

CPI(M) in cities, towns and villages,plains and hills. CPI(M) lookedrather dumbfounded. It tried toconsole people, or may be their ownranks, with the 45% votes they havepolled and officially assigned theBJP victory to unleashed terror andflood of money, while in gossipsaccused tribals of falling prey tofreebies and false promises andnon-tribals to divisive communalpolitics. Be that as it may, the writingwas clear and remarkable or not, theBJP win was shocking for thosewho still bore the minimum feelingof respect and hope in leftistpolitics. Their apprehensionsbecome true from the eventsfollowing, including vandalizingstatues of the great leader Lenin inTripura. A careful probe is thusessential.

North Eastern states sharesame problems of exploitation,neglect, lack of development

But before going on withelections any further, we may needa digression. The three statesTripura, Nagaland and Meghalayawhere elections were held recently,as also four other north easternstates of India namely Assam,Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur andMizoram, all suffer from a commonset of handicaps and problems. First,they all belong to capitalist Indiawhich is being ruled by a ruthlesslyexploitative, venomously oppressiveand cunningly deceptive decadentcapitalist class. Gruelling economicexploitation that is giving birth tospiralling price rise, fast mountingunemployment, ever-vanishingprospects of a safe and decentlivelihood, dangerous curb ofdemocratic even trade union rightsto silence opposition are among thecharacteristics. Over and abovethat, cruel cultural ethicaldegeneration that breeds corruption,and daily, even hourly crimes, moreso upon women and children addinsecurity to every step of life allover the country. Adding fuel to thefire, these north-eastern states havetheir own common problems too.For decades together they havebeen eulogized as ‘paradise’ andneglected as ‘step-child’. All thesestates are further characterizedamong other things, by scantyindustry, agriculture stagnatingvirtually on age-old methods, withtransport-communication menacinglypoor, the onus for which istransferred on inaccessible hill andforest-laden territories. As a result,all these states are languishing, to a

more or less extent, underunbearable poverty, extremeunemployment, geographic isolationand miserable want of revenuegeneration. Results are multiple andhorrible as a whole. These stateshave to depend on the grants-in-aidfrom the ‘mainland’, that is theUnion government. It prompts theopportunist, self-seeking powercrazy political leaders and localbourgeoisie to lean heavily upon theforce in power at the Centre. Whenthere is a change at the Centre,these forces in the north-east, too,change like weather-cocks shiftingallegiance instantaneously. As foundthis time, even leaders and activistsof Congress chose to join BJP enmasse as they found the prospectwith Congress bleak. And as soon asthey gain power, these abjectlyopportunist politicians use the grantsfor people to fill up their owncoffers! After all, they beingbranded representatives of people,may think it their right to embezzlegrants meant for people! With nopower, nor intention of controllingunemployment, the vast masses ofyouth are dragged silently into drugaddiction, drug trafficking and otherunethical means of livelihood. Theregion has many ethnic tribes ofvarying culture and habits. This againis used as a fertile ground for therulers, including the aspiring local orregional bourgeoisie, to reap theharvest on chauvinism, parochialism,divisiveness even separatism.Suffering people and futurelessyouth, all fuming from discontent,instead of fighting united against thecause of their miseries, are alluredinto the vicious cycle of fratricidalkillings. And the pathetic part of thestory is that it is the same rulers ortheir henchmen who relentlesslyfleece people, cunningly fomentdivision in people at one moment, atanother moment unleash the brutestate terror by deploying army uponpeople to quell the unrest in thename of fighting terror. So people ofthese north-eastern states tend tolive on a double-edged razor of apowerful, heartless, vindictivecapitalist state, based onexploitation- discrimination-oppression.

Marxist-in-name CPI(M) ranthe government like abourgeois party, earnedpeople’s wrath

It is in this background, that theelections of three states: Tripura-Nagaland-Meghalaya, took place.Of these, Tripura presents a specialcase of CPI(M) rule for over the

last 25 years at a stretch. In thisstate, quite understandably, all theevils of capitalist rule mentionedabove are operative with full steam.Added to those there are the typicalproblems of north-eastern statesreferred above. No government,including the latest 25-year longCPI(M)-led one, made anyperceptible effort towardsdevelopment of agriculture, buildingup of infrastructural groundworkincluding transport-communicationfacilities, development of minimumdecent medical care or education,utilization of natural resources tobuild industries other than ricketybrickfields and tea industry etc. Thishas simply resulted in extremepoverty, low capital formation, bitterever-rising unemployment withexisting employment turnedcontractual and low wage. It can notbe expected that with Indiancapitalism prevailing, Tripura wouldbe able to keep itself free from itstentacles, its maladies. But since itwas being governed by a force thatclaimed itself as Marxists, at leastleftists, would it be unnatural forpeople there, as also elsewhere toexpect that a CPI(M) –ledgovernment would have some vitaldifferences with the governmentsrun by bourgeois parties? Was it notan incumbent duty of such agovernment to educate people andmake them conscious of the factthat a change in government in acapitalist set-up like ours would notbring about an end to theirsufferings? At the same time couldit not be expected that a partyclaiming to be leftist, would try fromits seat of governmental power tocontrol corruption as far as possible?Could it not be expected from themfor a pro-people governance, torestrain anti-people bureaucracy ofthe capitalist state machine to theextent possible? Should not such agovernment take measures one afteranother to bring as far relief aspossible to common toiling peoplefrom their back-breaking povertyand utter backwardnessaccumulated over the years? In thatcase, if necessary, should not it havemobilized people’s opinion anddeveloped movements to putpressure upon the Uniongovernment and wrest demands?And above all, should it not be themain concern of such a governmentto see that toiling people’s legitimatedemocratic movements aredeveloped and strengthened andunder no circumstances be curbedby the government ? But leave asidefulfilling these expectations of people

from a government said to be leftist,the CPI(M)-led government ranexactly the way a bourgeoisgovernment would have.

Like any other bourgeois partyin power, the CPI(M) adopted thepolicy of running the governmentby maintaining and riding on theutterly corrupt and extremelycoercive police-administration-bureaucracy and showing totalindifference to people’s problemsand sufferings stemming from thecapitalist system. The grants-in-aidbecame the source to milk to ensurestaying in power abusing the publicmoney. The seat of power hadbecome the centre for distributingprivilege-favour-concessions andasking for support in return.Naturally it attracted a formidablestrata of privilege-seekers whomade the best of it. These privilegeseekers, turned power crazy beingfavoured with licence, permit,supplies for running real estatebusiness as well as liberty to carryon with impunity and protected bythe party and administration. Withinthe structural pattern of CPI(M),they became all powerful at alllevels of life and place, from townsto villages, institutions to individualfamilies. They fleeced commonpeople, harassed them, intimidatedthem and coerced them only togenerate wrath among the latter.

Tribals of Tripura as elsewherein north-eastern states were by andlarge the most oppressed among theoppressed by the capitalist system,turning from poor to poorer. It wasrequired to develop continuousmovement centring round their justdemands as well as making themconscious of the class division andclass rule of this society. Instead,initially the CPI(M) let loose onesection of the tribal people againstanother, and even used force to getrid of the tribal outfit which hadonce lined up with the Congressduring its brief rule. Then it took todistributing favour and harping onnarrow sectarian tribal mentality towin them over by populism andthereby develop a vote-bank in them. Along with these, there wasrampant corruption and terrifyingtotal control of party over evenindividual’s life and livelihood. As ithad been with West Bengal underthe prolonged CPI(M)- led rule, inTripura, too, common people seemedto have lost freedom livingconstantly under threat andintimidation from the party. As adangerous consequence of thesepolicies, on one hand common tribal

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that those people whose nameswould not be there in the NRCwould be declared foreigners andthat they would not enjoy anyvoting or civic rights; they wouldsimply be entitled to food, shelterand work. Clearly, the purpose is toappease the chauvinist forces thathave long been on a mission todivide the toiling masses of Assamalong religious-linguistic lines andthereby weaken their desired unitedmovement on the burning problemsof life originating from the ruthlesslyoppressive capitalist system.

Why NRC upgradation only inAssam?

But, the question that needs tobe clarified at the outset is whatNRC is and what prompted theauthorities to take up the job ofpreparing it specifically for Assam.Section 18 rule 4 of the CitizenshipAct of 1955 has a provision to makea National Register of Citizenship orNRC. The provision is that a houseto house enumeration is to beconducted to enlist the names of allthe bona fide Indian citizens as it isdone in case of census. But till now,barring the preparation of an NRC inrespect of Assam in 1951, nonational level NRC has beenprepared, not even for any otherstate of India. But then on thepretext of detecting lakhs and lakhsof foreigners stated to haveinfiltrated Assam and then onwardsstaying in the state, the Rule 4 wasamended and Rule 4A was insertedsimply by way of an executivedecision bypassing the Parliament.As per Constitution, suchamendments are to be mandatorilyvetted by the Parliament. Thisdeliberate subversion of theconstitutional mandate obviously wasfraught with definite intention andinsinuation. Moreover, much to thesurprise of all, the directive was thatthe people of Assam would have toapply themselves to the authoritiesfor inclusion of their names in theNRC whereas the common practiceis to enumerate such names basedon house to house survey andinspection. Further, it was mademandatory that the NRC for Assamwould be prepared on the basis oftwo main documents, namely, theNRC of 1951 and any electoral rollprior to 25th of March, 1971. Thesetwo documents are not available inall the districts of the state. Most ofthe people whose names wereincluded in the NRC of 1951 have

died in the meantime. Then, howwas one to prove the relationship ofthe present citizens with their deadancestors? Our Party, it is pertinentto point out, categorically drewattention of the authorities towardssuch difficulties and impossibilities atthe initial stage of preparation of theNRC. But, nobody cared to pay anyheed to our suggestions. It wasobvious that both the then central aswell as state governments were inno mood to take up a rationalexercise but were only interested toappease and satisfy the chauvinistforces like All Assam Students’Union (AASU) and others even ifthat meant endorsing absurdproposals and methods unheard ofnot only in the country but the wholeworld.

Tracing history a bitTo help understanding the entire

gamut of the issue, it is considerednecessary to trace history a bit. Theundivided district of Goalpara hadbeen historically a part of undividedBengal during the British rule. Thedistrict then comprised the presentcarved out districts of Dhubri,Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon,Baksha, and some other adjoiningarea. It was only in 1912 that theundivided district of Goalpara alongwith the district of Sylhet wereincluded in Assam and put under theadministrative control of a ChiefCommissioner with its headquarterin Shillong. During this period, alarge number of poor landlesspeasants belonging to the Muslimcommunity from the Eastern part ofthe then undivided Bengal movedfrom one neighbouring district to theother under the jurisdiction of thesame administrative set-up or evenfrom one part to another part of thecountry, then British India. Strictlyspeaking, these inter-district or inter-state shifts or movements of thepeople of the same country cannotbe called ‘migration’. The term‘migration’ means “movement ofpeople from one country to anotherwith the intention to livepermanently”. How fallacious it is tocategorize such shifts andmovements within the geographicboundary of the same country asmigration.

Second fact which needs to betaken cognizance of is that theZamindars (landlords) of undividedGoalpara district did encourage thediligent peasants belonging to theMuslim community to come andsettle in the uncultivated lands

owned by them. These Zamindarseven extended material help tothese poor people to settle. Whywas that? Because, these poorBengali speaking people belongingto the Muslim community wereconsidered to be expert tillers andeven capable of turning the riverislands (char areas) into extremelyfertile soil. So, they were heartilywelcomed at that time by thecommon Assamese-speakingpeople with a spirit of amity andtogetherness. That is the reason,there is large scale presence of aBengali-speaking Muslim population,mostly engaged in cultivation, in thispart of Assam. This also explainsthe phenomenon of preponderanceof Bengali language in lower Assamdistricts. Sylhet district was alsoannexed to Assam during thisperiod. But Sylhet later went awayto East Pakistan during partition ofthe country. Following that, a largesection of Hindu population leftSylhet during this period and shiftedto neighbouring Assam. Now, theprotagonists of the chauvinistmovement in Assam have beenbranding this Bengali-speakingpopulace numbering between 20and 70 lakhs as “ForeignerBangladeshis” and seeking theirdeportation. Such is the undertakingof preparing a NRC for Assamthrough an exclusive exercise basedon weird conditionalities.

Assam, as is known to all,occupies a unique position in thewhole of the North East, bothgeographically and culturally. Afterindependence, process of unificationamong various communities ofpeople had set in. But, because ofspurt in aggressive chauvinism andthe forcible imposition of Assameselanguage and culture on the peopleof other smaller communities, thelater revolted and chose to breakaway from bigger Assam. As asequel to that, separate states ofNagaland, Mizoram and Meghalayawere carved out of greater Assam.Not only that, as a result of over-emphasis on acceptance ofAssamese language and culture,some of the smaller tribes andcommunities of Assam who hadearlier identified themselves asAssamese, are now refusing to callthemselves as Assamese andseeking separate identities. It maybe mentioned in this context thatwhen the Assam Government triedto forcibly impose the Assameselanguage in the Barak Valley, apredominantly Bengali speaking

area, in 1961, a vehement protestsurged forth in the entire valley. Thepolice opened fire upon theprotesters at the Silchar railwaystation in which 11 persons lost theirlives. Ultimately, the AssamGovernment had to withdraw theorder and retain Bengali as theofficial language of the Barak Valleyregion.

The background of socio-political and cultural situation inAssam

Assam is called a miniatureIndia. From this point of view, thesocio-economic and politico-culturalsituation of the state is not verydifferent from that of the rest ofthe country. Let us briefly peep intothe background of the wholecountry.

It is an irony that Indian freedomstruggle grew at a time when worldcapitalism had already turnedmoribund and reactionary. That iswhy the Indian national bourgeoisie,while in the vortex of the freedomstruggle, albeit with its own agendaand objective, compromised withreligious ideas and medieval feudaldivisive thoughts. So, the imperativetask of democratization of thesociety remained unfulfilled andhence various divides centring onreligion, caste, language, ethnicity,region continued to prevail in theIndian society in the form of Hindu-Muslim feeling, upper caste-lowercaste feeling, Assamese-Bengalifeeling, tribal-non-tribal feeling etc..Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, FounderGeneral Secretary of SUCI (C) andone of the foremost Marxist thinkersof the era, had said in lucidlanguage: “Although politically Indiabecame an Independent nation,culturally it remained divided.” It ispertinent to note here that had therebeen a strong and united movementfor independence based on higherethics and culture, perhaps Indiawould not have been dividedartificially. Not only that; even afterindependence, the Indian bourgeoisiewho rode to power did not make anyattempt to weaken and uproot thedivisive forces and thoughts from thesociety. Rather, it has in its ownnarrow sectarian class interest goneon fanning up and pandering to allforms of communalism, casteism,parochialism, regionalism,chauvinism and such otherpernicious divisive ideas. Moreover,it had pursued and has still beenpursuing a vile objective of

The upgradation of NRC

Bona Fide Indian citizens being harassedas foreign nationals and infiltrators

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embroiling the toiling masses ininternecine feuds and clashes bypitting the Hindus against theMuslims, the Assamese-speakingpeople against the Bengali-speakingpeople, the Biharis against theMaharashtrians, so called upper-caste people against the so calledlower caste people or dalits and soforth. The more divided are theoppressed people, the more assuredis the ruling bourgeoisie inprolonging its ruthlessly oppressiverule without resistance. It ispertinent to mention here that theparties like the CPI, CPI (M) andRCPI who call themselves leftistsand had once some influence on themasses in Assam, not just failed tounderstand the threat posed bysurging chauvinism, they themselvesfell prey to it and even tied knot withthese forces for making electoralgains.

Economic-political situation ofAssam is no different to rest ofIndia

The growing misery andpenury, the mounting problems ofunemployment, price rise, lack ofeducation and healthcare, thepredicament of the peasants, lackof industrialization, closure ofindustries, increasing job loss, risingcorruption and cultural degradationwhich are plaguing capitalist Indiahave not spared Assam also. Inspite of easy availability of raw-materials and cheap labour force,no major industry except three oilrefineries was set up in Assamduring the last 70 years afterindependence. Three paper millswere established at Jogighopa,Jagiroad and Panchgram as a resultof peoples’ movement. But, shuttersare downed in all three now. Eventhe lone matchbox-factory set up inDhubri during the British period hasalso been closed. Similarly, the tea-gardens set up during the Britishtime are being closed down and thelabourers thrown out of jobs. Priorto independence and evenimmediately after the independenceof the country, the standard ofliving of the people of Assam wasto some extent higher than that ofthe people in some other states.But today, problems ofunemployment and lack of meansof earning livelihood has reachedsuch a stage that bare survival hasbecome difficult for the commonman. Landless peasants were veryrare in Assam before independence.

But their number is increasing now-a-days at an alarming rate.Peasants cannot cultivate theirfields for lack of capital.Agricultural production is goingdown fast. Assam, which once wasa surplus state in crop production,has now to import paddy or ricefrom other states. All theseproblems are bred by the decadentmoribund capitalist system. Butwith incessant fomenting of divisivethoughts and persistent attempts tothrow spanner in people’s unity andsolidarity, the very socio-politicalenvironment is so polluted as tobecome utterly non-conducivetowards building up uniteddemocratic movement to somewhatmitigate the burning problems ofpoverty, unemployment, price-riseand growing corruption. On theother hand, taking advantage of thegrowing discontent among thepeople, the chauvinist and parochialforces of Assam are continuouslypropagating that the people ofAssam are suffering only becauseof the problem of influx from otherstates of India as well foreignlands.

False claim of chauvinistpropaganda

Even if we simply focus on thefactual side of alleged influx fromother states and foreign countries,the claim of the chauvinist forceswould fall flat. According to thecensus of 1911 and 1921, thenumbers of Assamese-speakingpeople were 15 lakhs and 17 lakhsrespectively. That was less than 50per cent of the total population ofthe state. Even the census of 1931showed that only 31.4 per centpeople were Assamese-speaking.In this context, we would like torefer to the observation made byShri R. B. Vaghaiwalla, theSuperintendent of Census operation,Assam in 1951. He noted, “Thereis a striking increase in thepercentage of people who speakAssamese in 1951 (56.7%) overthose of 1931 which was only 31.4percent, while with the solitaryexception of Assamese, everysingle language group in Assamshows a decline in the percentageof people speaking the same. Allthis decline has to swell thepercentage of people speakingAssamese in 1951. The figures donot fail to reflect the aggressivelinguistic nationalism now prevailingin Assam, coupled with the desireof many persons among Muslim as

well as tea garden labourerimmigrants to adopt Assamese astheir mother tongue in the state oftheir adoption.”

But in spite of the liberal attitudeof some prominent personalities andintellectuals of Assamese Society,the attitude and mentality of someother section of learned persons andpoliticians was just opposite in thisrespect. The Gopinath Bordoloigovernment undertook a mercilesseviction drive against the Muslimfarmers in different areas of lowerAssam in the month of May, 1946.Such types of eviction drives of thepoor peasants who were very muchgenuine Indian citizens continuedeven after independence and lakhsof Muslim peasants were compelledto leave Assam. Within three yearsafter independence, ‘TheImmigration (Expulsion fromAssam) Act, 1950, was adopted andimplemented by the BordoloiGovernment. Lakhs of Muslimpeople who were genuine Indiancitizens, were driven out by twistingand abusing the Act. It is worthnoting in this regard that when thewhole of India was gripped bysevere communal riots between theHindus and the Muslims at the timeof independence in 1947 anatmosphere of peace and harmonyprevailed in Assam because ofideological campaign by some of thenationalist leaders. But, there wasan eruption of Hindu-Muslim riot inlower Assam in the month of March1950, presumably because of a kindof retaliatory mentality followingpersecution of the Hindus in somedistricts of the then East Pakistan.

With enactment of Acts like“The Immigration (Expulsion) Act,1950, “The prevention of Infiltrationby Pakistani Nationals into India”and so forth, a handle was providedfor harassing genuine Indian citizensbelonging to religious minoritycommunity. Things worsened tosuch an extent that if anyonebelonging to the Muslim communitywas seen anywhere – on the roads,in the market, at railway stations—he or she was subjected toharassment by the police on thepretext of being doubted as aninfiltrator Pakistani national. Thepolice used to pick up people fromtheir beds at night and transportthem to the border areas the nextmorning for forced deportation.

The Assam Agitation – 1979-’85There was no respite for the

Bengali-speaking Muslim

community from such persecutionand forced deportation in thefollowing years as well. But, in theclosing years of 1970, certaindevelopments added new dimensionto this problem. In 1978, Shri GolapBarbora set up a Janata Partygovernment by defeating theCongress. This was the first non-Congress government in Assamafter independence. Ousted frompower, the Congress was in searchof a suitable issue to topple theBarbora Government. And itimmediately found an issue. TheCongress leaders knew that theywould not be able to get support ofthe people if they parroted the oft-repeated slogan of influx of‘outsiders’. So, they cunninglyreplaced the term ‘outsiders’ by‘infiltrators’ and began raisinghullabaloo about alleged illegalinfiltration of lakhs of Bangladeshinationals through the border.

In March, 1979, followingsudden demise of the sitting MP ofMangaldoi Constituency, a bye-election was declared. At that time,the Border Security Police cameout with a declaration that thevoters’ list of the constituencycontained the names of 47,658Bangladeshi nationals. The AllAssam Students’ Union (AASU)and the All Assam Gana SangramParishad (AAGSP) came outpromptly with the demand that thebye-election would not be heldunless the names of theBangladeshis were dropped fromthe voters’ list. All the rabidcommunal, parochial, racial,separatist forces joined thebandwagon and alleged that withcontinuous illegal migration ofBangladeshi nationals, the veryexistence of Assamese-speakingpeople was at stake. With thebourgeois press in tow, the AASSUand AAGSP agitators craftilycamouflaged their chauvinist sloganwith a patriotic cloak so that it hadappeal to the common people back-broken by growing problems of lifeand livelihood. They even went onsaying that as the internationalborder between India andBangladesh was open, thousands ofinfiltrators were entering Assamevery day with the ulterior motiveto annex Assam to Bangladesh andcreate a “Greater Bengal”. Theyincited sectarian passion among thepoor oppressed Assamese-speakingpeople by saying that soon theywould be out-numbered by the

The upgradation of NRC

Although politically India became an independentnation, culturally it remained divided

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infiltrating foreigners, lose theirunique identity, lose their culture,their language and ultimately eventheir political power. In the absenceof a powerful united democraticmovement of the toiling people ofAssam rising above all divides andsharing a common cause againstruling capitalism, the commonenemy and root of all evils as wellas a conducive ideologicalcampaign, the common Assamese-speaking people were swayed bythe sectarian chauvinist slogans andthe atmosphere was furthersurcharged with communal-parochial-chauvinist tensions.

Ideological campaign unleashedby our Party

Our Party singlehandedly,launched an ideological campaignwith all its might to rebut all suchpernicious ideas and deceptions andunravel the truth before thesuffering people particularly themisdirected Assamese-speakingpopulace. We have been continuingthat struggle braving all odds eventoday. Going deep into the matter,our Party showed that a capitalistcountry like ours is a class-dividedsociety. The divide is not betweenthe Assamese and Bengalis or theHindus and the Muslims. Thedivide is between a handful ofsuper-rich and multitudes ofoppressed impoverished irrespectiveof language, religion, caste, creedor race. With passage of time, therich is becoming richer and thepoor poorer. The 1% rich is thrivingon more and more wretchedness ofthe poor. The interests of theexploiters and exploited are notsame but diametrically opposite.Therefore, all questions and issuesmust be approached with this vitalfact in mind. We firmly told thepeople of Assam to realize that theutterly false mischievous campaignabout incessant influx of foreignnationals and consequent posingthreat of identity crisis to the nativeAssamese people is beingdeliberately undertaken by thevested interest with a view toprecipitating worst form ofcommunalism, separatism and evensecessionism and thereby shiftingtheir attention from the real causeof their poverty and misery andengaging them in fratricidalconflicts and bloodbaths. The verypropaganda of the Assamese-speaking people losing politicalpower is another hoax since the

question of political power isinextricably linked with the questionof state power which is now heldby the ruling Indian monopolists.We also added that nowhere inhistory one would find that commontoiling people had acted likeinvaders, never imposed theirlanguage and their culture uponother section of toiling people, nevertried to outnumber any othersection of toiling people. Invasion,forcible occupation of foreign lands,compelling common people tosubmit to them, subjugatingcommon masses to their dictateshad all been done by the kings andmonarchs. Today, it is theimperialist-capitalist sharks who aredoing all such felonious things. Onthe other hand, common toilingmasses have always lived together,worked together, moved shoulder toshoulder, helped each other, learntfrom each other and shared eachother’s joys and sorrows. This istrue even today. Common peoplenever hate each other, neverpossess any ill-feeling about anyfellow member of the society. It isthe oppressive rulers, the exploitingruling class and their servitors whoartificially foster such perniciousthoughts and malice among thecommon people to drive wedge ofdisunity and blunt rational thoughtprocess. This, in brief, has been thecrux of our ideological campaignand it did create tremendous impactamong the truth-loving sanersection of the people, and many ofthe ordinary toiling masses whowere hitherto led into the blind alleyof rotten thoughts have been on theway back to right track of thinking.

Our concrete suggestion inregard to NRC

Based on such correctrealization of socio-political realityand taking into cognizance the grimobjective situation propelled by aprevailing apprehension about losingidentity and language by thecommon Assamese-speakingpeople, our Party in 1980 camewith a four point formulae whichmay be enunciated as below:-

1) We had suggested thatwithout affecting the rights of thelinguistic minorities to theirrespective languages, the status ofAssamese language as the StateLanguage of Assam should bemaintained at all costs withoutrelating it in any way to the changeof population in the state. SpecialResolution might be adopted or

Acts might be passed in theParliament to ensure the presentstatus of Assamese as the Statelanguage.

2) Gauging the sensitivity andsentiments of the people of Assamregarding the issue of continuousand unabated entry of foreignnationals, we had suggested thatfool-proof measures should betaken at the international borders tostop any probable clandestine entryof illegal foreigners in largenumbers. The intelligencemachinery should be capableenough to catch hold of anyundesirable infiltrator right at theborder and send him to theTribunals for fair trial.

3) Thirdly, we had alsosuggested that a comprehensivepackage plan should be adopted bythe government for speedyeconomic and industrialdevelopment of Assam.

4) 25 March, 1971, should beaccepted as the cut-off date fordetection of foreign nationals andthe process of detection should bestarted observing all relevantnational and international norms,laws and traditions. Those who hadcome to India prior to the cut-offdate should be regarded as bonafide Indian citizens and those whohave come to India after the datemay be deported to their respectivecountries observing internationallaws and traditions.

Both Assamese and non-Assamese people hadwholeheartedly welcomed the four-point formula of our Party. We stillwant to assert firmly that theproblem of foreign nationals inAssam may be solved in this wayand this way only. Instead offollowing this path, if lakhs andlakhs of genuine Indian citizens areforcibly declared ‘foreigners’ bystriking out their names from thevoters’ lists or from the NRC, theproblem would not be resolved.Rather, through such fascisticmeasures, the division among thepeople of the state would be furtherwidened, communalism would takean acute form and peace andharmony among the majority andminority communities would beseriously disturbed.

Our apprehension proved to becorrect. The year 1983 was a blackperiod in the history of Assam.Hordes of armed rioters surroundedmany villages of Assam, inhabitedmostly by the religious minoritiesand brought down murderous

attacks on them. In many places ofthe state, particularly in Nellie,Chalkhowa, Mukalmoa andGohopur, people belonging tominority communities weremercilessly killed. In those horribledays, nobody was allowed toexpress a voice of dissent with theagitators. A fascist atmosphereprevailed in the state. But suchgenocide and barbarity of 1983 wasstrongly denounced by one all bothwithin and outside the country.Faced with this all roundindignation, the Government ofIndia promulgated an ‘IllegalMigrant (Determination Tribunal)Act (IMDT Act) which, at leastoutwardly, provided certainsafeguards against worst form ofharassment and persecution of thegenuine Indian citizens belonging toreligious and linguistic minoritycommunity. Later on, the archHindu communal RSS-BJP inleague with the chauvinist outfitsraised a hue and cry against theAct arraying all their deceptivetools and techniques. It is regrettedthat there was no effectivecountering of this motivated act bythe so called opposition. Finally, theRSS-BJP and their associatessucceeded in getting the IMDT Actannulled by the Supreme Court.

It may be mentioned in thiscontext that as a result of theintensive class-based ideologicalcampaign launched by our Party,we had been successful, to a greatextent, in persuading the aggrievedyoung people in the minority-dominated areas of the state not topursue the path of fundamentalismand terrorism in the face ofprovocations by the chauvinist andcommunal forces.

The Seven-Party Combinationand AGP rule

To face the explosive situationcreated in the state by the AssamMovement, a joint platform ofCongress (S), Lok Dal, PDP, SUCI(C), CPI, CPI (M) and RCPI wasbuilt up under the initiative of ourParty. This joint initiative helped alot to ease the tension. Underpressure of this seven partycombination, 1971 was accepted ascut off year to detect foreignnationals. Thereafter, an accordknown as the ‘Assam Accord’ wassigned among the CentralGovernment, the State Governmentand the AASU on 15 August, 1985.The accord accepted 25 March,

The upgradation of NRC

In a capitalist society, only divide is between theexploiting class and the exploited class

PAGE SIX MARCH 15, 2018 PROLETARIAN ERA

Contd. from page 5

1971, as the cut-off date fordetection of foreigners in Assam.Subsequently, the AASU leadershipformed a regional political Party bythe name Assam Gana Parishad(AGP), and it was apparent thatthere was some kind ofunderstanding with the thenCongress government about whowould be saddled in power in thestate. The AGP fought the election,won it and ruled the statealternately for 10 years. AGP isnow sharing power in alliance withthe ruling BJP in the state.

During their two tenures in theoffice, the AGP governmentdesperately tried to ‘locate’ thelakhs and lakhs of foreigners theyonce cried hoarse about and incourse of that subjected the poorpeople of the minority communitiesto repeated hearings for provingtheir credential as bona fideIndians. But even after all theseexercises, the AGP governmentcould not find out the ‘lakhs offoreigners’ they had talked about.During its second term in the officein 1997, it adopted on other trick. Itarbitrarily marked 3.7 lakhs ofgenuine Indian citizens belonging toreligious and linguistic minoritypeople as ‘D’ voters – ‘D’ meaningDoubtful – and robbed them oftheir voting right. Initially, it wasdeclared that all these ‘Doubtful’cases would be verified within 6months and that the names of the“D” voters would be included in theelectoral rolls on merit. However,more than 20 years have passed

and still this verification has notbeen done. As a result, the votingright of these people standssuspended. It is strange that 97%of these so called “D’ voters whopreferred to contest their citizenshipat higher courts, were proved to begenuine Indian citizens. This showsthat the ‘D’ voters were markedrandomly without following dueprocedure of investigationprescribed by law. At present, thereare about 2.5 lakhs of ‘D’ voters inthe state. Some of them werereferred to the Foreigners’Tribunals without their knowledge.So, they could not appear beforethe Tribunal and hence weredeclared ‘foreigners’ ex-parte.These people have been sent todetention camps.

It needs to be stated that whentheir efforts to brand several lakhsof genuine citizens belonging toreligious and linguistic minorities didnot succeed, the chauvinist forcesraised the demand for preparationof NRC so that through this theycould achieve their objective. It ispertinent to mention here that thenames of these ‘D’ voters wouldnot be included in the on-goingNRC. They are even debarredfrom applying for regularization untiland unless they are declared asbona fide Indian Citizens bycompetent Tribunals or Courts. Thenames of about 4,500 personsbelonging to religious and linguisticminority people which wereincluded in the first draft of theNRC after due verification ofLegacy Data, has been dropped

The upgradation of NRCFoil the conspiracy of the communal-chauvinist-parochialforces to divide people and protect oppressive capitalism

subsequently on the ground thatthey have been declared as ex-parte foreigners by the Tribunals.

Maintain unity of toilingmasses, foil heinous conspiracyof the vested interest

This is the explosive situationthat is prevailing in Assam centringround the preparation of NRC. Inthe background of worst form ofharassment, deprivation of morethan 4 lakhs genuine Indian citizensbelonging to religious and linguisticminority of their voting rights,branding them as ‘D’ or doubtfulvoters for long 20 years, declaringmany of them as foreign nationalsthrough ex-parte judgement andsending many of them to the socalled ‘detention camp’ which arelike infamous concentration campsof the Hitlerite regime, forciblydeporting many of them toBangladesh at dead of night — allthese have made genuine Indiancitizens belonging to religious and

linguistic commu-nities, spendsleepless nights. They are allhaunted by a deep-seated fear oflosing their citizenship. The wholeprocess has started yielding to thehighly unjust pressure of chauvinistRSS, BJP and other communalforces. The Registrar General ofIndia who has been constitutionallyentrusted with the task has veryunusually been made powerless.Very unusually the Supreme Court issteering the whole exercise. Againthe manner in which the SupremeCourt is looking after the entireprocess does not seem to beeffectively addressing the concernof the minorities. Hence thesituation is very tense. Deepapprehension is becoming deeper.Under the circumstances, we areurging upon all sections of the toilingcommon people to shun the path ofdivisiveness, remain firmly united tofoil the conspiracy to take away thecitizenship of lakhs and lakhs ofgenuine Indian citizens.

Comrade Anil Tyagi addressing the KishanSabha rally at Azad Maidan, Mumbai, on 12March, on behalf of SUCI(C) and AIKKMS

Name of Film maker C. Maheshwar Rao was inadvertently mentionedas Rameshwar Rao in our last P Era. Mistake seriously regretted.

Seminar in Nepalon November Revolution

On 9 March, 2018, a seminar on“November revolution & its impacton Indian Revolutionary movement”.was held at Itahri of SunsariDistrict, Eastern part of Nepal.Comrade Debasish Roy, member,WB State Committee, SUCI (C),was present as an invited speaker.In his presentation, Comrade Roydealt in particular the long lastingeffect of November Revolution onthe uncompromising revolutionaryand working class movement inIndia. He also pointed out that sinceCPI did not grow as a genuinecommunist party, it failed to graspthe essential teachings of NovemberRevolution and play the required rolein directing India’s freedommovement along the revolutionary

line. He also discussed howComrade Shibdas Ghosh conductedarduous struggle to developSUCI(C) as the correct communistparty based on the Leninist model tospearhead proletarian revolutionarymovement in India in the finestcontinuity of November Revolution.

Comrade Mohan Timsina, awell-known left activist presidedover the seminar and ComradeNirmal Boral delivered the welcomeaddress. Many activists, organisersand intellectuals of different leftparties of Nepal participated. Allparticipants expressed theireagerness and necessity ofexchange of views, ideas andopinions among the fraternal leftparties of both countries.

SUCI(C) organizes protest demonstrationsthroughout the country against vandalizing ofLenin statue in Tripura by RSS-BJP miscreants

At the initiative of our Party,protest demonstrations were held on6 March throughout the countryagainst the most heinous act ofdemolishing the statue of greatLenin by RSS-BJP miscreants inTripura. In Kolkata, our Party wasfirst to organize the protest at thefoot of the Lenin statue atEsplanade, the heart of the city, rightaround 12 noon. Comrade Saumen

Basu, member, Central Committeeand West Bengal State Secretaryset fire to an effigy of NarendraModi as mark of vehementcondemnation of the most cowardlyact on the part of RSS-BJP. Acollection of photos of such demons-tration in various states is given onpage 7. In many places, suchprotests were organized not only atdistrict level but even at bloc level.

PROLETARIAN ERA MARCH 15, 2018 PAGE SEVEN

Collation of photo showing demonstrations against bulldozing Lenin statue.In Kolkata, the Party was the first to hold protest demonstration right at noon of 6 March, 2018.

Puducherry

Chennai

Bangalore

Patna

Jaunpur

Guwahati

Jamshedpur

Rohtak Guna Surat

Cuttack

AlleppyDelhiKolkata

Countrywide protest against demolition of Lenin Statue in Tripura

PAGE EIGHT MARCH 15, 2018 PROLETARIAN ERA

Contd. from page 2

Contd. on page 9

people became extremely resentfuland apprehensive about the CPI(M)rule in Tripura and on the other handthere developed a rift betweentribals and non-tribals which insteadof waning was deepened day byday. Among the tribals themselves,there developed the privilege-seeking lot who always remainedprone to switching over to any sidewhich would offer greaterprivileges; the disgruntled ready torespond to slogans like chalo paltai(‘Let us change’).

Naturally such a rule gave birthto widespread discontent and wrath.The arrogance and highhandednessfrom power prevented the CPIM)leadership to recognize the realityor circumvent it. After the electionthe vanquished CPI(M) leadersalleged that money flowed in theelection like anything; there has alsobeen video going viral about BJPleaders simply flying currency notesto people. The CPI(M) leaders alsoallege that terror of muscle powerwas unbridled. The problem is thesedays after every election, thevanquished among theparliamentary parties bringallegations of, say, money and terrorplaying havoc, freebies and falsepromises alluring people, divisivetraits having been fanned up, whilethe victors look the other way.Victors in one election may turn outto be complainants in another,without ever recognizing their own‘sins’ in the past. People of WestBengal cannot forget how, yearsafter years, on the eve of anyelection, white clothes were silentlygifted to village women implying thatany attempt to go against the well-wishing gift-donors would makethem widows to put on the whiteclothes after election. Was it notterror? Was it or is it ever admitted?Then again, the night before the Dayit required the opposition to keep aclose vigil around the village toprevent groups of activists, obviouslyaided and abetted by musclemen inthe payroll of a major prospectiveparty, invade the villages withmoney, liquor and even food tomake otherwise hostile poor peopleto vote for them in exchange ofthese. Was it not toying with poorpeople with carrot in hand, sticksleft at the gate of the village? Is itnot the process to be found in anystate of the country? In fact, it isbeing found that election today hascome totally in the grip of a nexus ofmoney-muscle-media- administration

powers working at the behest of theruling class, the monopolists, whichengineers, manipulates and thusultimately determines elections.From all the reports pouring in, itappears that the nexus wasoperative in Tripura which wasalready seething with a suppressedanger against the ruling CPI(M).The BJP, with its organization lookedafter by the RSS took full advantageof the situation to make inroad intopeople; the ruling class findingCPI(M) a sinking ship came out tostand firmly behind the BJP inTripura.

A question that may haunt anyseriously thinking person is howcould a party known as leftists runthe government in a way nowheredifferent from what any bourgeoisparty would do, how could it carryon implementing policies that onlyhelped the vested interests, the richand the monopolists and turned outto be so anti-people as to makethem hostile. As indicated above, itis this reason that made the pathclear for an arch rightist force likeBJP to throw CPI(M) out of power.Here it needs to be mentioned thatwith all its leftist, even Marxistjargons and signboards, the CPI(M)as a social democratic party standsas a compromising force betweenlabour and capital, betraying peoplein the long run. Since the days ofMarx or Lenin the social democrats,whatever might have been theirsignboards, have truthfully playedthis compromising role, ascontrasting to genuine communists.And today when capitalism hasreached its totally decadent stage thesocial democrats can not existwithout playing subservient to theruling class, the monopolists, fromtheir single purpose of aspiring forpower and pelf. Had it been agenuine communist party, CPI(M)could not have acted the way it did.Inevitably this anti-people, pro-richsocial democratic politics gave birthto people’s resentment and placedCPI(M) at par with any otherbourgeois party, questioned,discredited and rejected for itsmisrule. The choice before peoplewas in no way between a leftist anda rightist party.

Politics marred withopportunism has given birth tochauvinism- divisiveness andplagues people’s life

As mentioned, tormented withthe devastating exploitation ofcapitalism coupled with particular

problems of the north-eastern states, people of these states had beenseething with wrath and discontentsince long, virtually through thewhole period after independence.They silently waited for leadershipto give vent to their views andaspirations. In Tripura, as shownabove, instead of giving correctleadership, the arrogant and high-handed CPI(M) leadershipunleashed a reign of power-crazyprivilege seekers who posed loyaltyto earn as much as they can fromthe government and based on thatunleashed reign of terror andinsecurity. BJP apparently made useof the situation, won over thedisgruntled as well as the privilegeseekers. But in other north-easternstates there were no progressive orleftist parties. Rather, as mentioned,the aspirant local bourgeoisie andthe vested interests played cunninglyto build up parochial, even divisiveforces. These sprang up fromnowhere on this or that demand,misled people into parochial, divisiveeven separatist movements and theneither to die down or beextinguished by the brute force ofmilitary. As a result no kind ofdemocratic movement based onpeople’s genuine demandsdeveloped in these states, includingNagaland and Meghalaya. Thesewere , in their turn, left completelyin a vacuum to be filled in by therightists or left at the mercy of majorbourgeois parties or the regionalforces. Congress as the mosttrusted representative of the Indianmonopolists once ruleduninterrupted. But its anti-peoplepro-monopolist policies isolated itfrom people and the regional forcestook the stage. Both under theCongress and under the regionalforces people faced the sameordeal. In both the states ofNagaland and Meghalaya healthfacilities have become miserablypoor. A 2015-16 report of theMinistry of Labour and Employmentreveals the pathetic condition ofunemployment scene. Parallel to themounting unemployment, school andcollege drop-outs are on the rise. Inconsequence, as indicated above, inNagaland youth are menacinglyfalling victim to drug abuse. InMeghalaya too, drug-peddling anddrug use among youth pose a greatchallenge. Not only that, pressingunemployment is drawing youthtowards militancy, which reportedlyis becoming an employment option.Different warring parochial outfits

of Nagaland used to get hold ofthese youth and engage them infratricidal clashes.

Meghalaya has added problems.The state is rocked by land grabbingfor coal mining and trading, whichlatter are also creatingenvironmental nuisance downstreamin Assam. During the last Congressrule foundation stones were laid fortwo medical colleges with no singlebrick being laid in the next fiveyears. Shillong was once the capitalof the entire northeastern region,the undivided Assam, But with nofunctional airport and partial railwayconnections, the state remains stilldifficult to reach. Withcommunication in such a mess, onecan imagine the condition ofindustrial and agricultural scenes.

In both the states the economicsocial condition being under suchsevere stress adding to exorbitantprice rise and high cost of living,terrible corruption in the political-business- administrative circles andpiercing unemployment, people hadbeen fuming for valid reasons. BJProse to power using this general anti-Congress sentiment, but withoutcaring for any norm or values inchoosing its partners. Meghalayawas being ruled by Congress for thelast two terms; the party hasemerged as the single largest partyeven in this election. But withmeagre two representatives, BJPjoined hands with a regional partyNPP and with support from similarsmaller forces has moved to theseat of power. Conrad Sangma,chosen the chief minister ofMeghalaya belongs to the NPP,termed B team of BJP. It wasformed by late PA Sangma in 2013on the eve of the Presidentialelections which he himself contestedcoming out of the Congress. InNagaland, too, it is the regionalforces that have come to the rescueof the BJP to help its way to power.So it was simply the question ofanyhow reaching the power, cominginto combination with any regionalparty, joining hands with anyopportunist aspirant individuals.

Assam, an important state of thenorth-eastern region, had seen theunfortunate emergence of rankchauvinist forces like AASU andAGP, which since the late seventiesof the last century, launchedbitterest fratricidal onslaught onBengali-speaking linguistic andreligious minority people on theslogan of clandestine infiltration of

Running government as a bourgeois party does,CPI(M) in Tripura created the ground fertile

for the arch-rightist BJP to sneak in

PROLETARIAN ERA MARCH 15, 2018 PAGE NINE

millions of Bangladeshis into Assamendangering language, religion,culture and political rights of theAssamese speaking people. In thisregard it may be mentioned herethat in 2016 BJP came to power inAssam using this infiltration issue inalliance with the chauvinist forces.And after coming to power, usingthis issue BJP is creating anti-Muslim mindset in people in thenorth-eastern states , with a view toextending and tightening its grip overthe region.

United, sustained democraticmovement is the imminent taskpeople face

The above brief accounthighlights that the entire north-eastern India is under the shadowcast by the absence of , ratherweakness of genuine leftist ideologyand people’s movements on thestrength of that. The socialdemocrats like CPI(M), known as

leftists, ran a government in Tripurawithout practising any shade ofleftism , rather in the way as anyother rank bourgeois party wouldhave done. This gave rise totremendous resentment anddiscontent in common people there.RSS-BJP took advantage of that.On the other hand , in Assam wherethey were present with a strength toassert some influence, the CPI(M)-CPI refrained from fighting thechauvinism that had been raising itsugly head since 1979. Withoutcombating it on ideological –politicalplane to ensure unity and fraternityof both Bengali and Assamesespeaking people, they even madeopportunistic electoral alliances withsuch forces for petty parliamentarygains, ignoring concrete proposalsfrom the SUCI(C) to move ahead asa combination of left parties.Naturally this role of socialdemocrats could pay dividend notjust to the chauvinist forces , but ineffect, with no viable alternative to

Sustained united movement with intense ideological-cultural struggle the only path before people

sustained struggle. Such unity oftoiling people cannot be materializedwithout correctly handling thequestion of unity of tribals and non-tribals, or between different ethnicor racial communities, making themconscious that the prime task fortheir survival lies in the fight againstthe common enemy, the capitalistsystem breeding all evils. Sustaineddemocratic movements need also toembrace the specific demands ofthe north-east against extremeexploitation and oppression peoplehere have to pass through, againstutter neglect that the region had tosuffer for decades togetherwhoever may have been in thegovernmental power, againstshameless political opportunism andtreachery of their own people whohave incited all kinds of chauvinism,parochialism and made fortune forthemselves. Rise of BJP in north-eastern states have made thesetasks still more urgent, have madethem the need of the hour.

the masses, the rabid rightist forceof BJP romped through to the seatof power holding hands of thechauvinists and then bring out itsown agenda of communalism. Thepresent BJP win in north-easternIndia is in no way a victory of theparty by winning over the toilingpeople even with its brand ofpolitics. Rather it is a sheermanifestation of opportunist politicsin its own kind.

Rise of BJP in the north-easternstates casts ominous spell; thesituation created all over the countryis going to infect also the northeast.To thwart the impending danger, leftand democratic forces need to forgeunity and develop people’sdemocratic movements.Incorporated in that task, is the taskof waging all-out ideological-politicalstruggle against the thousand andone confusions BJP is trying tocreate. At the same time on thestrength of genuine leftism peoplemust be organized and united for

Contd. from page 8

SUCI(C) and AIKKMS extendwholehearted support to the peasants’movement in Maharashtra

To press for their legitimatedemands like completeimplementation of the loanwaiver scheme announced last year,implementation of the Forest RightsAct, 2006, and compensation forvictims of damage to cotton cropsfollowing bollworm infestation andthe unseasonal rains and hailstorm,several thousands of peasants fromvarious districts of Maharashtraparticipated in gruelling 200-km, six-day long ‘Long March’ to reachAzad Maidan, Mumbai on 12 March,2018. Alongwith the leaders of AllIndia Kisan Sabha (AIKS), theorganizers, and other distinguishedpersonalities, Comrade Anil Tyagi,addressed the rally on behalf ofSUCI(C) and AIKKMS. EarlierComrade Satyawan, Member,Central Committee, SUCI(C) andPresident, AIKKMS, sent amessage to the President andSecretary of AIKS, extendingoverwhelming support to andconveying total solidarity with theongoing movement and wishingvictory of the movement. ComradeSatyawan also demanded of theMaharashtra State Government toconcede the most genuine demandsof the movement without any delay.Comrade Hannan Mollah, Secretary,AIKS, warmly reciprocated byconveying sincere thanks to

comrade Satyawan and otheractivists of the Party and AIKKMSfor their support and held that theorganizers and participants of themovement would be enthused bythis. It was heartening to find theMaharashtra state governmentconceding most for their demandsand agreeing to implement theconditions agreed upon duringmeeting with the leaders of themovement in the next six months.This once again shows that it is onlyunited organized movement of thetoiling masses which can force thebourgeois government to yield to thejust demands.

InternationalWomen’s Dayobserdev in Kanpur

International Women’s Day wasobserved in Kanpur, UP, on 8March, 2018 under the auspices ofAnganwadi Karyakatri andSahayika Welfare Association(AKSWA) affiliated to AIUTUC.

HaryanaAnganwadiworkers achievedemands throughstruggle

Bowing before the ongoing jointstruggle of the Haryana Anganwadiworkers on various legitimatedemands including increase in salary,the Haryana state governmentannounced on TV on 1 March,2018,, that it agrees to implementthe demand following a meeting withAnganwadi Karyakarta SahayikaUnion (AKSU)affiliated toAIUTUC and other unions affiliated

to CITU as well BMS. This hasbeen a commendable achievementof the struggle. But, surprisingly, theCITU affiliated Union shied awayfrom consenting to the agreementfinalised by the AKSU, resorted tomaligning of AKSU presumably forbuttressing parliamentarian interestand thus subverted norms and codeof joint struggle. However, afterputting the Anganwadi workers inpredicament and uncertainty for 10days, it welcomed the settlement.

Addressing the Anaganwadiworkers Comrade Lata Sharma,President, AKSWA, Uttar Pradeshsaid that the Day signifies thesymbol of the struggle of the womenfor equal rights and inspires thewomen to raise their voice againstongoing repression and atrocities ofthe patriarchal society as well asruthless oppression of the capitalistsystem. “The continuous incrementof crimes against women isshameful for a civilized society”, sheadded. She urged the women,especially the Anganwadi workers tointensify their struggle for their justrights. Speaking on the occasion,Comrade Hirawati, President,AKSWA, Kanpur, called upon thewomen to develop organized militantmovement to achieve their rights. Acharter of demand was handed overto the District Magistrate, Kanpur,after the meeting.

Comrade K. Radhakrishna, member, Central Committee, SUCI(C) addressing thedeath anniversary observance of Comrade J V Stalin on 11 March in Chennai

RNI No. 13932/67P. R. No. KOL / RMS / /145 / 2016-2018PAGE TEN MARCH 15, 2018

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF : PROVASH GHOSHEdited & Published by Asit Bhattacharyya from 48 Lenin Sarani, Kolkata 700 013 and printed by him at Ganadabi Printers and Publishers Private Limited,

52B, Indian Mirror Street, Kolkata 700013. Phone : 2249-1828, 2265-3234 E-mail : cc.sucicommunist@gmail.com, proletarianera@gmail.com, Website : www.sucicommunist.org

SUCI (C) condemns Union HRDMinistry’s latest decision on reintroducingpass-fail only at classes V and VIII

In a statement issued on 6 March 2018, Comrade Provash Ghosh,General Secretary, SUCI (C) has vehemently criticized the latestpronouncement from the HRD Ministry of the BJP-led UnionGovernment, to reintroduce Pass-Fail under the purview of the Right toEducation Act 2009, only at the levels of Classes V and VIII, whereasall the right thinking people of the country, eminent educationists,teachers and students community of the country have beenunambiguously demanding it right from the class 1. The statement firmlystated that examinations and pass-fail only at classes V and VIII will, inno way change and improve the general ambience in schools totallyapathetic to teaching-learning caused by absence of the pass-failsystem. And above all this, the measure would create further confusionand will ultimately lead failed students to drop out at these two stages.Since the measure is likely to pertain to government- run andgovernment-aided schools, it will affect the common students hailingfrom poorer families. In short it will act as a powerful prong towardscurtailment of education for common students, a policy being followedby the rulers since independence. The SUCI (C) urges every education-loving people, students-teachers-guardians and educationists to comeout in active resistance of this proposed measure.

SUCI(C) strongly indicts heinousattempt to communalize history by theBJP government and calls upon allsecular-democratic people to thwart thismove through united action

Comrade Provash Ghosh, General Secretary, SUCI(C), issued thefollowing statement on 8 March 2018 :

We strongly indict the most heinous move on the part of the BJP-led central government to rewrite history in favour of so called Hindutvaby reckless distortion of facts under the garb of “presenting a holisticstudy of the origin and evolution of Indian culture since 12,000 years”.In fact a panel is reported to have been set up by the government togive a rubber stamp to the version of the arch Hindu communal RSS-BJP which states that “the true colour of Indian history is saffron”.History, as known to all, is a factual documentation of the chronologicalcourse of social development which involves all sections of the people.Hence any attempt to manipulate it in favour of a particular group orcommunity through concoction and falsification of facts is fraught witha vile intention of having a definite axe to grind. The very objective ofthe BJP government is to communalize history to buttress its ulteriormotive of perpetuating communal divide among the toiling masses evenif that means entailing spurt in communal clashes and fratricidalbloodbath.

We call upon all secular and democratic people particularly theeducationists and historians to rise up in vehement protest and resist thissinister move with all their might.

In a statement issued on 8March, West Bengal StateSecretary Comrade Saumen Basusaid that notwithstanding repeatedassurances of adopting necessaryamendments to the Right toEducation Act 2009, in respect ofthe abolition of Pass- Fail system inschools (alternatively known as NoDetention Policy), it is found in areport in media that some Unionminister has reiterated that theCentre has decided to bring backexamination at classes V and VIII.The report adds that the WestBengal state government hasexpressed its agreement on thispoint. This is highly deplorable , inso far as it contradicts the pledgeof the state government to peoplefor reintroducing pass-fail fromclass I.

Comrade Basu said that peopleof this state are well aware that it isSUCI (C), the only political partygarnering support from eminenteducationists and people associatedwith education, which wagedsustained movement against thedecision of the CPIM)-led Frontgovernment for abolishing Englishand pass -fail from the primary stageof school education. Under pressureof that movement the Frontgovernment had to bring backEnglish, but did not reintroduce pass-fail. In 2009, the Congress-led Uniongovernment effected aboliton ofpass-fail upto class VIII throughenactment of the RTEA 2009. TheBJP government formed in 2014carried on with that decision. Thispolicy has been causing unthinkabledisaster in the education of millionsof students all over the country. Onface of it our Party has releasedcountrywide efforts to build uppeople’s opinion for reintroduction ofpass-fail right from class I, based onwhich the movement took awidepsread and formidable shape in

West Bengal. On this demand,thecall for an all Bengal general strikeon 17 July 2017 was issued by theParty, which received tremendousall-out support from people. The chiefminister of the state was informedof the decision for a strike in a letteron 8 June. In such a situation, first onphone on 13 July and by a letter nextday, the education minister of thestate categorically informed us thatthe TMC government also wantedpass-fail reintroduced from theprimary stage and had written to thateffect to the Union government. Herequested us to withdraw the strikecall. On such concrete andcategorical assurance, we postponedthe strike call. After that, we wrotetwice to the state and the uniongovernments to immediatelyreintroduce pass-fail from class I toprevent further devastation in schooleducation.On 22 December 2017, thestate education minister met politicalparties, intellectuals andrepresentatives of teachersorganizations to know of their opinionon which class pass-fail should bereintroduced soon. Barringrepresentatives of CPI(M) andCongress, all others expressed infavour of reintroduction from class I.The education minister informed thatthe chief minister would pronouncethe decision. Two months havepassed by. Now leave aside thatdeclaration from the chief minister,the state government has brokensilence ventilating their agreementwith the Union government decisionof bringing back pass-fail at classesV and VIII. It is our firm opinion thatthis is a total betrayal people’sinterest. Comrade Saumen Basuemphasized that as soon as theongoing examinations will be over, wewill take up concrete programmes.We are aware that people andeducationists of the state would comeout with their all-out support.

In utter betrayal of people thegovernment goes back upon its pledge

Golden Voice ofRSS-BJP

“A husband and wife are involvedin a contract under which thehusband has said that you should takecare of my house and I will take careof all your needs. I will keep yousafe. So, the husband follows thecontract terms. Till the time the wifefollows the contract, the husbandstays with her, if the wife violates thecontract, he can disown her.”(Mohan Bhagwat—RSS Chief)

“Let these farmers fend forthemselves. If crops fail, they will

figure out what to do. And if they aredying, let them die… Those who canafford farming will do it, others willnot do it.” (Sanjay Dhotre, BJP MPfrom Akola, Maharashtra)

Canadian doctors :cancel our pay riseand spend moneyelsewhere

Nearly 800 doctors and medicalresidents in the Canadian province ofQuebec have signed a letterprotesting against plans to raise theirpay, arguing that the funds would be

better spent on other areas of theprovince’s beleaguered healthcaresystem.

“We, Quebec doctors, are askingthat the salary increases granted tophysicians be cancelled and that theresources of the system be betterdistributed for the good of healthcareworkers,” reads the open letter.

The letter says recent pay raisesnegotiated by their professionalassociations as “shocking”, given the“draconian cuts” that have leftnurses, orderlies and othersoverworked and underpaid, as wellas led to a widespread lack ofservices for patients.

“The only thing that seems to beimmune to the cuts is our salary,”notes the letter.

So far, it has attracted 789signatures of support, from GPs,specialists, residents and medicalstudents. It has attracted attentionaround the world.

When rampant commerciali-zation of healthcare and gallopingrise in the cost of medical treatmenthas been holding the people inransom throughout the imperialist-capitalist world, the precedence setby the Canadian doctors is highlypraiseworthy. (Source:— TheGuardian 09-03-18)