WEST BENGAL: CITU CALLS FOR VIGOROUS STRUGGLE

THE 10th state conference of CITU West Bengal committee has vowed to launch a vigorous struggle to defend the rights of the workers in the state. A programme to mobilise wider sections of workers in defense of the gains that are being attacked now in the state has been formulated from the conference.

The state conference was held at Comrade Jyoti Basu Nagar (Howrah) and Comrade M K Pandhe Manch (Sarat Sadan) during November 8 - 11, 2012.  The conference was  inaugurated by A K Padmanabhan, president of CITU, after hoisting the Red flag and offering floral tributes to the martyrs.

In his inaugural speech, Padmanabhan said the CITU would, jointly with other trade unions, resist the onslaught on the people launched by the UPA-II government in the name of economic reforms. Referring to the severe attacks against the workers in West Bengal in the changed political situation, the CITU leader expressed confidence that the workers of West Bengal will play their historical role in the present situation like in the earlier days.

Padmanabhan said the Indian economic policy regime has undergone a right wing shift since the introduction of neo-liberal economic policies. The union government is acting under the dictates of the Word Bank and the chambers of commerce in order to make the labour laws of the country flexible. He warned that the trade unions would strongly resist such an attempt. Already the multinational companies are not implementing the existing labour laws. They are brazenly restricting the workers from participating in the trade unions. Even the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the people are being undermined by the big corporate and MNCs. The union government is a mere spectator to these violations. In such a scenario if the labour laws are further diluted, the workers will be subject to maximum exploitation.

Padmanabhan emphasised the necessity of protection of the trade union rights along with ensuring of the social security, control of price hike and universal public distribution system. He said that CITU has always been in favour of the united workers movement from its class outlook. After travelling a long path, all the central trade unions have called for a 48-hour countrywide general strike on the 20th and 21st February 2013. This has happened for the first time in the history of independent India. The trade unions will launch a vigorous campaign to make the general strike successful and informed that a march to parliament will be held on 20th December to highlight the demands of the working class.

Kali Ghosh, secretary of CITU West Bengal state committee placed the report in the conference. While placing the report he said that the workers movement of the state is facing various attacks during the tenure of the Trinamool Congress government. He said the situation is so bad that the chief minister refused to meet their delegation that sought to submit a memorandum about the growing attacks on trade unions in West Bengal.

Tapan Sen, general secretary of CITU, in his speech exposed the anti-people nature of the neo-liberal policies being implemented by the union government and emphasised the need for a united struggle against these policies.

In the context of growing number of unorganised sector workers and contractual workers, the 10th state conference emphasised on their problems and issues in detail and outlined the path of future programmes. Special discussions were held on these two aspects.

The delegates in the conference discussed the issue of the contractual labour in detail, especially the growing attack on the labour laws of the country in the name of labour market flexibility. How the neo liberal globalisation policies are impacting the working class people of West Bengal was also discussed in particular. The organisation has decided to observe 12th December 2012 as the demand day for the contractual workers. The workers shall unitedly hold their protest in front of the offices of the department of labour in all the districts. The delegates also pointed out the lethargy of the state government in implementing the social security and welfare programmes initiated by the earlier Left Front government. The delegates exchanged their experiences of the struggle against the terror attacks against the trade union movement by the Trinamool backed hooligans. The delegates expressed confidence of taking on this challenge in the wake of the historic success in the state of the 28th February all India general strike called by the central trade unions. The delegates underlined the importance of consolidating various streams of worker movements in order to achieve the political goals.

The 10th state conference elected the new CITU West Bengal state committee. Shaymal Chakraborty has been re-elected as the president and Dipak Dasgupta has been elected as the secretary.

MASSIVE RALLY

On the concluding day of the conference, on 11th November, the  rally was held at Dumurjala in Howrah. The rally turned out to be a mammoth one. Addressing the rally, former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said a desperate situation is prevailing in the state in which farmers are unable to sell produce and industrialists are shying away from investing in the state. “The government failed to attract a single fresh investment. IT majors Wipro and Infosys, who came here during the Left rule, are now thinking of leaving the state,” said Bhattacharjee.

Slamming the government for taking the state towards an industrial disaster in absence of a clear policy, Bhattacharjee referred to how Singur has now become a desert. “Had the car manufacturing factory come up there, about 5000 to 6000 people would have got jobs. Hooghly’s profile would have been different by now, if our plan to bring industry to Singur was not thwarted. At Haldia, one cargo-handling agency was driven out to give way to a company run by a Trinamool Congress MP. This state is gradually moving towards industrial doomsday.”

Bhattacharjee said that the transport workers and the whole transport sector of the state are in a deplorable condition. Most private transport vehicles are lying idle as the agencies are becoming incapable of managing the cost of the business. Transport workers are not getting salaries, pensions, and are compelled to resort to suicides. This is the crude reality of the state where the salaries of ministers in the TMC-led government had gone up from Rs 7000 during the Left Front rule to Rs 27,000 now. And the government is acting as a sleeping beauty, he criticised.

Bhattacharjee also highlighted the farmers’ misery saying they are finding it difficult to sell their crop as the “price they are getting is uneconomical”. Explaining the current labour scenario of the country. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee sharply criticised the Manmohan Singh government for incessantly taking anti-people decisions that have severely affected the working population of the country.

(INN)

HYDERABAD SIMMERING WITH COMMUNAL GAME PLANS

HYDERABAD is once again on tenterhooks as communal forces of both variety are systematically stoking communal passions with a clear eye on reaping political dividends. Towards this end they are using religious festivals as a platform to show off their strength and incite the other section. The police and the state machinery, which do not act firmly at the first instance to curb such dangerous activity of these groups, are later over-reacting and punishing the entire population by blockades and curfew like measures in the old city area.

The incidents of the last few months in the city make it clear that there is a systematic attempt, particularly by Sangh Parivar elements,  to stoke communal clashes. It is a common practice for Muslims to offer animal sacrifice on the occasion of Bakrid festival. This year Sangh outfits undertook a vicious campaign two months before Bakrid that a mass slaughter of cows is being planned for the festival and they would prevent that by direct action. They mobilised teams on all roads leading into the city to physically prevent the transport of cattle for the festival. Last month they attacked vehicles, siezed the cattle and placed them in gau shalas run by Sangh outfits. Although this led to clashes in few places, the administration and police appeared to have totally surrendered to Sangh forces and did not bother about these militant attacks. The government too preferred to look the other way even when Sangh outfits brazenly announced that they would on their own implement cow slaughter prevention act.

Recently those going in a lorry for immersing the idol of Durga in Hussain Sagar attacked a person in Musheerabad who was taking a cow. This led to anger among fellow community members and they attacked a temple on the roadside, leading to escalation of tension and round of attacks. It may be recalled that the normally peaceful Musheerabad area witnessed clashes in 2010 following a belligerent rally on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti. The systematic attempts of Sangh Parivar came to light with arrest of three Bajrang Dal activists around four months ago for attempting to create communal tension. These youth had thrown pieces of beef meat in front of a temple in Saidabad area of the city. This had led to stabbings and imposition of curfew in that part. Another youth connected with Sangh Parivar was arrested after he made a similar attempt in another area.

Despite these arrests and exposure, such attempts continue to be made to spark communal tension. Another method of sparking communal clashes was seen recently in Karwan sabzi mandi when miscreants burned saffron flags put up in the area. Two days later the green flags were burnt and things led to damaging of houses and pelting of stones by members of both communities. Rumors about attacks are also being regularly circulated to keep the tension high. Some incidents of theft of idols in a few temples were also used by these elements to spread misinformation. There was a major communal clash in Sangareddy town, around 80 km from Hyderabad.

It is in this context that the latest flashpoint surrounding Bhagya Lakshmi temple abutting the historic monument of Charminar has come to the fore. On the eve of Diwali festival, attempt was made to build a durable roof over the temple late in the night. Majlis MLAs, supporters and others came to the site and held a midnight dharna protesting this attempt. BJP corporators and Sangh Parivar elements also resorted to protests leading to high tension. MIM objected on the grounds that putting up a tin roof is only part of systematic attempt to expand the temple while the Sangh Parivar outfits claimed that it was only a decoration for diwali festival. Meanwhile the high court ordered maintaining of status quo as of October 30, 2012 while dealing with a petition filed by MIM legislators.

The state government did not implement this order of high court and allowed covering of tarpaulin over the temple and other decoration. This led to MIM announcing withdrawal of its support to Congress state government and UPA government at the centre. Meanwhile the Sangh Parivar outfits gave a call of ‘Chalo Bhagya Lakshmi temple’ and mobilised people for darshan in the midst of severe tension in old city that had started to rock with clashes, stone throwing incidents etc. Even the MIM attempted to increase the tension by its actions. The ordinary people of the old city are living a life of terror with rumors floating about impending attacks. The BJP is trying its best to intensify the issue by making provocative statements. They claim that this temple preceded construction of Charminar and that is why the original name of Hyderabad was Bhagya Nagar. The usual distortions of history for their communal ends. Actually this small makeshift structure came up around 1979 and continued amidst protests. The high court while acknowledging existence of temple in its recent order however said that since Charminar is a protected monument there can be no construction activity around 100 metres from the site. But the state government has utterly failed in dealing with this issue by allowing decoration of the temple and bowing down to pressure from Sangh Parivar.

On the other hand, the MIM is also fully involved in the communal gameplan. Its president and MP Asaduddin Owaisi in a recent TV interview acknowledged that he wont mind being target of criticism from BJP as that would be beneficial to his party. MIM is also using religious festivals like Milad-un-Nabi for communal mobilisation. It is holding big bike rallies and decorating the old city with religious symbols. There was a conscious attempt to provoke the other community members. Therefore, for the MIM to now charge that Congress is appeasing Sangh Parivar elements and therefore withdraw its support is hardly convincing. It has preferred to remain silent so far even as the Congress government went on heaping greater burdens on people of the state and particularly Hyderabad in the form of higher electricity charges, water charges, property tax hikes etc. But the latest move is a clear attempt to distance itself from the Congress party in order to escape the clearly growing anger of the people against the ruling party. The CPI(M) and other Left parties have appealed to the people to remain calm and not be swayed by communal forces attempts to polarise them. They have held a human chain in Abids area making this appeal.

ANDHRA PRADESH LEFT PARTIES HOLD PROTESTS BEFORE WALMART STORES

LEFT parties in the state held spirited demonstrations in front of Bharti-Walmart stores in various cities of the state on November 19 protesting against Manmohan Singh government's decision to allow FDI in retail sector. Big protests were held in Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Guntur and Tirupati despite deployment of police in large numbers.

The protest in front of the outlet in Rajendranagar in Hyderabad was led by CPI(M) state secretary B V Raghavulu, CPI state secretary K Narayana and leaders of MCPI, CPI(ML), RSP, Forward Bloc, MCPI(U), CPI(ML) New Democracy and others. The protest continued for more than an hour and tension arose when the protesters tried to barge into the store. The police prevented them and arrested the top leaders. The protest in Rajahmundry too turned to a tense affair when the security personnel of the store clashed with the protesters. The police also used force to prevent the protesters from crossing the barricades. Over 50 protesters were arrested in Vijayawada. These stores remained closed during the period of protests.

Addressing the protestors in Hyderabad, B V Raghavulu dared the UPA government to put to vote in parliament the decision to allow FDI in retail. If the motion is defeated, the prime minister and his cabinet must resign. He also appealed to other parties to take a principled stand on the issue rather than saying one thing outside and voting differently in parliament. Raghavulu charged the Manmohan Singh government of totally surrendering our interests to US and that is the reason why it is taking decisions that are set to ruin the lives of millions of small shopkeepers, traders and farmers. He warned that FDI in retail will result in collapse of the already weakened public distribution system in the country. With freedom for firms like Walmart to source their material from any part of the world, our country’s manufacturing sector will suffer with dumping of outside goods, he said.

Underlining the Left parties consistent opposition to this anti-people measure, the CPI(M) leader called upon UPA and NDA parties to oppose this decision. He expressed apprehension that the ruling party may resort to buying of MPs like it had done during the parliament vote on India-US Nuclear Deal. The Left parties will intensify their agitation against this anti-people measure in the coming days.

The CPI(M) state committee later in a statement condemned the high handed behaviour of police during the protests in front of Walmart stores. It condemned the arrests and lathicharge made by the police in Guntur.

PROTEST AGAINST ATTACKS ON GAZA

Awaaz, a secular organisation working among Muslims, held a protest at Indira Park in Hyderabad on November 19  condemning the brutal attack on Gaza by Israel. Holding posters that depicted the killing of minor children by Israeli bombs, the protestors raised the question who is the real terrorist.

Addressing the protesters CPI(M) Central Committee member M A Gafoor said that Israel is getting away with such blatant murder because of the backing of imperialist USA. He demanded that the UPA-2 government must openly condemn the attacks by Israel instead of trying to show it as a conflict between two parties. He called for spreading the truths about Israeli aggression and present Indian rulers’ increasing collaboration with that country among the masses.

CPI(M) state committee member M Venkateswarlu and Awaaz secretary Ghousuddin also spoke on the occasion. Later an effigy of Israeli government was burnt by the protesters.

(INN)

TRIPURA: PEOPLE WON’T TOLERATE ANY FOUL GAME - BIJAN DHAR

SHARPLY reacting to the threat posed to the democratic system by the Tripura state Congress president, CPI(M) state secretary Bijan Dhar has said it was an expression of rage, panic and frustration the Congress has suffered on its alienation even from its own people. Dhar appealed to the people of Tripura not to ignore such perversions of the Congress leaders and frustrate all their threats and conspiracies against democratic norms through mass protest and mobilisation.

Bijan Dhar was addressing the media at the CPI(M) state committee office on November 10, to express the party’s concern over state Congress president Sudip Roy Barman’s perverted utterances the day before.

It is to be noted that at a rally of the OBC people at Agartala on November 9, Sudip Roy Barman had said, “We shall not allow the 7th Left Front government to be formed. A seventh Left Front government will not be formed in the state. To ensure that, all measures that are required, shall be taken.”

CONGRESS-NLFT NEXUS EXPOSED

Dhar said such an open threat to the democracy could not be ignored as it was delivered by a state president of a national party which is at the helm of the central government. Scathingly condemning Roy Barman’s speech, Bijan Dhar asserted it was the display of the Congress party’s out-and-out distrust of the masses and an expression of the conspiratorial desire to invalidate the ongoing process for preparation of the next assembly elections. For long, Bijan Dhar added, the CPI(M) has been complaining about the machinations being hatched by the Congress to reactivate the NLFT extremists in order to use them in its favour.

Dwelling on the nexus between the Congress and the NLFT, Bijan Dhar referred to the arrest of Dhanu Kalai and his associates, with 25 lakh cash meant for the NLFT, and his subsequent confession about the involvement of a tribal Congress leader behind in the collection and dispatch of this money to the NLFT headquarters. Dhar then added that since then some more incidents have come to the light to indisputably prove that a desperate Congress still maintains close contacts with this outlawed outfit. On November 9 last, on the basis of a tip-off, the Subroom police arrested one Lebrachai Mog, a local Congress leader, after he came back from Bangladesh. He entered Tripura at the dead of night after having crossed the river Feni which is the dividing line between the two countries in that area. Reportedly, he had gone to Bangladesh seven or eight days ago and had had secret parleys with NLFT leaders at various spots in Khagrachhari district of Bangladesh. Though Mog has had criminal antecedents, local Congress leaders did not hesitate to immediately plunge into the matter in order to get him free, claiming that the detained was their party worker.

Regarding the Left Front government’s inability to introduce reservations for the OBC people, Bijan Dhar said everybody in the state is aware of the fact that the central government alone is responsible for this failure. In Tripura, there is already 48 per cent reservation at present --- 27 per cent for the STs, 17 per cent for the SCs, two per cent for the wards of ex-servicemen and the two per cent for the handicapped. As the OBC people account for 24 per cent of the total population in Tripura, providing reservation to the OBC people would go to violate the Supreme Court’s directive that bars any reservation beyond 50 per cent. It is evident that an act of parliament is required to invalidate the Supreme Court’s directive. On its part, the Tripura Legislative Assembly has already passed a unanimous proposal, urging the centre to enact an act at least for Tripura, permitting reservation beyond 50 per cent. The Congress party in the state assembly too was a party to this resolution. But the central government has till now not taken any step in this regard. The responsibility for introduction of reservation for the OBC people in Tripura lies solely on the central government. But, out of its political bankruptcy, the Congress in the state is crying hoarse in order to mislead the OBC people and incite them against the Left Front. However, Dhar also expressed confidence that the OBC people would certainly understand the Left Front’s compulsion, adding that if the Supreme Court verdict is quashed in case of the state of Tripura, the state government would think about inclusion of some Muslims of lower strata in the OBC category.   

HRD MINISTRY’S MOTIVATED STAND

Regarding Sudip Roy Barman’s anti-democratic stance, Bijan Dhar stated that Barman had valid reasons to get frustrated. Along with some of his family members, Sudip Roy Barman has been indicted in a case lodged by one Colonel B V Yadav of the Indian Army. The FIR said Yadav was mercilessly beaten up and kept in captivity, and his purse and mobile phone were snatched off inside Barman’s residence. As in the past, this time too the Congress leaders have plans to utilise extremists against the Left Front during the elections. But the Congress-NLFT nexus has been totally exposed --- much before the elections. In the meantime, Barman’s shrewd but successful manoeuvre with the central government’s HRD Ministry in Delhi to get the state government’s drive for recruitment of about 5000 school teachers stopped has also come to light. This has created severe discontent among the youth of the state against the Congress.

In his letter to the then HRD minister Kapil Sibbal dated May 30, 2012, state Congress president Sudip Roy Barman suggested not to relax the binding of TET examination for recruitment of teachers in Primary Education department, because, the letter says “If any relaxation is given now it would directly help the CPI(M) party in the coming elections. In fact the ministers of Tripura are going to Delhi on the June 5, 2012 to press for this demand.” It is pertinent to mention here that the Left Front government had made an attempt to recruit about 5000 school teachers in primary education department in 2006 and the whole process --- inviting applications, processing the same, interviewing a huge number of candidates, preparing the merit list etc --- were duly completed. Just a few days before the offer of appoint could be issued to the selected candidates, the central government citing the new education policy to object to the recruitment without the candidates taking the TET (Teachers Eligibility Test) examination. The government of Tripura was pressing for relaxation of these criteria, since the drive for recruitment was made much before the introduction of the new education policy and because of a serious shortage of teachers in the primary schools of the state. But by now it is crystal clear that the central government’s rigid stand on the issue of relaxing the TET criteria is a totally political stand, in response to the letter of the state Congress president.    

ARMY COLONEL MALTREATED

In another development, one, Army Colonel B V Yadav lodged an FIR with the West Agartala police station indicting Samir Ranjan Barman, a former chief minister, and his two sons including the state Congress president Sudip Roy Barman on October 13, 2012. it has been learnt that not satisfied with the Tata-Photon internet service, Col Yadav went to the supplier for termination of the connection with usual payment. (The service provider was the son of the former chief minister Samir Ranjan Barman and elder brother of state Congress president Sudip Roy Barman.) What happened thereafter can be understood from the FIR lodged by the colonel. The FIR says:

“While the argument was on the sales girl went out and called the owner of the franchise Mr Sandeep Barman who tried to settle the matter by bullying me along with four other goons and a scuffle took place. Since he was the son of a former CM of Agartala, Mr Samir Ranjan Barman, and the shop was part of their official and residential complex many other people who were their political supporters joined them. I was forcibly dragged into their residential complex and taken inside the room where I was beaten up badly. I was wrongfully confined for almost one and a half hour; my purse and my mobile were snatched away from me. My repeated request to return my mobile phone back so that I could contact my Sector HQ to seek some assistance fell on deaf ears. Mr Sandeep Barman, along with about 15-20 supporters, kept beating me even in the presence of the former chief minister Mr Samir Ranjan Barman who did not intervene even when requested by me. The platoon of CRPF stationed at the former CM’s residence also did not do anything to stop the goons; rather some of the jawans were part of the hooligans. Due to the injuries sustained and hostile environment, I was in a semi-conscious state and shaken up…… Due to the hostile and violent mob instigated by Sudip Roy Barman I was threatened and was subjugated forcibly by Mr Sudip Roy Barman to seek forgiveness from his brother Mr Sandip Barman. For the fear of life I apologised and somehow able to extricate myself from their clutches.

“As I was under shock due to physical injuries and immense mental stress and strain due to the hostile crowd and continuous intimidation, I under extreme duress was forced to compromise and give a letter of apology to Mr Sudip Roy Barman.” 

The audio-visual clippings depicting the Roy Barman brothers manhandling and beating the colonel were uploaded on the YouTube website and has been viewed by many people. The government has asked the CID to investigate the case.

Regarding the boycott of the chief minister, called for by the Congress against his so called indecent(!) remark about the prime minister in his speech at the scheduled castes rally on November 4, CPI(M) state secretariat member Gautam Das said the Tripura chief minister never crosses the line of decency nor he makes any individual attacks. The boycott call of the Congress would ultimately make the latter boycotted by the people, Das quipped.  

AIDWA DEMANDS JUSTICE FOR SAVITA HALAPPANAVAR

The following is the press statement issued by the All India Democratic Women’s Association  on November 15:

AIDWA is deeply dismayed by the refusal of the University Hospital in Galaway, Ireland, to conduct an abortion on 31 year old Savita Halappanavar, a dentist from India – leading to her death due to septicemia on November 11, 2012.  Savita had developed severe back pain in her seventeenth week of pregnancy, and suspecting a miscarriage, sought medical termination of the foetus, to save her life. Despite her repeated pleas that she was a Hindu, her request was turned down on the grounds that abortion was illegal in Catholic Ireland. 

It is inexcusable that a life has been lost by the implementation of a grossly unjust and unfair law which denies abortion even when the woman’s life is in imminent danger. This is a violation of both Indian and international law.  It is sad that despite her condition, the necessary medical attention was denied. 

AIDWA urges the government of India to strongly protest about the manner in which Dr Savita  has been treated by the medical authorities in Ireland, and urges that steps should be taken to ensure that the rights of Indian women are protected, within and outside the country. 

ALL INDIA KISHAN SABHA PLANS NATIONWIDE STIR FROM JAN 2013

THE All India Kisan Council (AIKC) of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) net recently at Bhubaneswar, from November 8 to 10, 2012. The AIKC session began with a massive rally of around 10,000 peasants from different parts of the state, in front of the Assembly.

The AIKC meeting was attended by 75 members from 18 states and one union territory. It first offered condolences and observed a minute’s silence in memory of Comrades Lakshmi Sehgal, Dipankar Mukherji, Pitabasan Das, Pranesh Biswas, A K Hangal, S K Misra, Eric Hobsbawm, Verghese Vaidyan, Sajjan Paul with Lobsangbam Yaima, along with Verghese Kurien, all the martyrs of the movement and the victims of the Nilam cyclone.

AIKS president, S Ramachandran Pillai, presided over the meeting and made the introductory remarks. AIKS general secretary K Varadha Rajan placed a detailed report on the agrarian scenario and the renewed attacks on the peasantry. The members discussed the situation and also placed their views on organisational matters. On November 9, 2012, a day long workshop on “Agrarian Question and Impact of Neo-Liberal Policies” and on “Climate Change and Agriculture” was conducted by Dr V K Ramachandran and Dr T Jayaraman respectively.

The three-day meeting deliberated at length on the agrarian situation in different parts of the country and took some important decisions. The AIKC passed resolutions on several important matters.

On the accentuating agrarian crisis, the AIKC said the Congress-led UPA government and various state governments have been vigorously pursuing the neo-liberal policies which have only accentuated the agrarian distress. The prices of all inputs have risen rapidly due to deregulation of seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and petroleum products, especially diesel. This has led to escalation of cultivation costs and agriculture is now becoming more and more unviable in the absence of remunerative prices for agricultural produce. The draft national water policy will allow the private sector to rake in huge profits at the expense of the poor. Water for irrigation will become exorbitant. The proposal to decontrol sugar industry will only allow the corporate sector to profiteer at the expense of the cane-growers and the common people. The arrears that the corporate mills have to pay the cane-growers are estimated to be over Rs 10,500 crore. The states’ right to determine state administered price (SAP) will be withdrawn and issue price of sugar will be increased making it very costly for the masses. Even for the public distribution system (PDS), states will be forced to buy from open market. The government is proposing to increase the issue price to Rs 23 per kg. The UPA government’s recent decision to allow FDI in retail trade will have adverse impact on the interests of the producers and consumers, and on the food security of the nation and the land use policy of the country. This will also threaten the livelihoods of millions of small traders. The AIKC decided oppose these anti-peasant, anti-people moves.

While the peasantry is reeling under the agrarian crisis the ruling classes are looting the country’s resources. The latest instance is the Rs 1.86 lakh crore coal scam and the Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam in drought-hit Maharashtra. The total amount involved in recent corruption cases from the 2G scam onwards is reportedly above Rs 6.25 lakh crore. This amount should be realised from the scamsters and used for development purposes and social security measures.

On the climatic adversities and crop losses, the AIKC pointed out that the last couple of years have witnessed alternating droughts and floods, which have been recurring, leading to total devastation of crops and large scale destruction of livestock. The latest Nilam cyclone has led to destruction of standing crops on more than fifteen lakh acres and thousands of livestock has also been killed. The centre and the state governments have no contingency plans to deal with this scenario of recurring droughts and floods. No scientific response to water management issues and dissemination of agro-meteorological information exists in the country.

The AIKC demanded that the existing situation must be declared as a national calamity and the central government and respective state governments must provide immediate relief and mitigate the suffering of the affected people. Farmers must be adequately compensated for their losses and all people must be provided with free rations for the next three months. All agricultural loans must be waived and interest free loans advanced for the next season. Contingency plans must be put in place to ensure that seeds and agricultural inputs are given at subsidised rates for all farmers to allow them to cope with the devastating nature of the losses suffered by them. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should be extended to all farms of small and marginal peasants and the government must ensure a minimum 200 days of employment for all employable adults at not less than Rs 250 per day. The AIKC decided that AIKS units in all the affected states would engage in relief and reconstruction activity in full swing.

On the land related issues, the AIKC expressed concern that the neo-liberal policies are leading to reversal of land reforms and the percentage of landless in the country has risen from 22 per cent in the early 1990s to 41 per cent at present. The central and different state governments are giving land to the corporate at a pittance even as there is no redistributive agenda and the ceiling laws are also being diluted. The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, which is pending in the parliament, has been drafted to speed up large scale acquisition of land for real estate speculation. Any land acquisition must be based on prior informed consent, enhanced compensation, appropriate rehabilitation and resettlement measures. Jobs for all land losers and share in enhanced income due to change in land use must be ensured. The common property resources, rivers and mineral resources are being cornered by the corporate sector. Forest rights have also not been granted to lakhs of tribal people. The AIKC session demanded that land reforms must be implemented and homestead land given to all the homeless.

As for charting out the future tasks, the AIKC took some important decisions in order to resist the anti-peasant, anti-people policies. It would launch a consistent countrywide struggle from January 2013 onwards on the above-narrated and state-specific issues.

The AIKC set an important task for the organisation in the coming months. It decided that the Kisan Sabha should launch militant protest actions all over India against the neo-liberal policies of the central and state governments and their impact on the peasantry. The AIKS have a two-day strike on February 20 and 21, 2012, coinciding with the all-India general strike by the trade unions. Its state units will mobilise and actively participate in the strike through picketing, rail and road roko, demonstrations and protests on the burning issues of the peasantry and rural poor. In preparation for the strike, a wider campaign based on street corner meetings, house to house pamphlet distribution, public meetings, picketing and protest demonstrations on local issues will be conducted.

All the AIKS units will work actively for the success of the Mahapadav in Delhi on November 26-27, 2012. The Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, para-teachers and other unorganised sector workers have called for this Mahapadav.

The AIKC also decided to hold the 33rd conference of the AIKS at Cuddalore (Tamilnadu) in July-August 2013. The exact dates will be finalised later.

FIGHTING INJUSTICE & COMMUNAL TARGETING - Subhashini Ali

IN the last two decades, whenever an incident of a bomb explosion takes place anywhere in the country, large numbers of young Muslim men are arrested often from places very far from where the incident has occurred.  Their identities are revealed to the press and their names, places of origin and even their photographs become part of sensational news stories in the print and visual media.  After their being picked up by the police, they are kept in custody and confessions are extracted from them in which they not only accept their own involvement in one or more incidents but also name a number of other young men many of whom are arrested subsequently. After this, they are produced in court and sent to jail.  Since they are arrested under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and often accused of anti-national and seditious activity as well, they are denied bail throughout their incarceration.  If the Court finds them innocent in one case, several others are slapped on them so that they spend the better part of their youth in jail.

Several cases have been documented in which young men between the ages of 18 and 25 have been acquitted after having been forced to spend between nine and fourteen years in jail.  They have suffered not only physical and mental torture but have been deprived of education and employment.  Their futures have been blighted and their families ruined.  In judgment after judgment, the agencies responsible for their arrests have been held responsible for making false statements and for fabricating evidence.  Unfortunately, no one has been punished for these crimes of omission and commission which originate from the worst communal prejudice.  At the same time, none of those acquitted after long years spent languishing in jails in different parts of the country are treated as deserving compensation and rehabilitation.

The CPI(M) has been raising this issue from time to time and has intervened to help some of those falsely accused to access justice. It was felt, however, that this was not enough.  Seeing the enormity of the problem, it was necessary to pressurise governments at the central and state level to address this issue.  As a first step, Prakash Karat, CPI(M)  general secretary  met the president of India on November 17 along with his Party colleagues, Yousuf Tarigami, Subhashini Ali and Sehba Farooqui and three victims of State injustice who had been acquitted after years in prison, Mohd Aamir from Delhi, Maqbool Shah from Kashmir and Syed Wasif Haider from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

Prakash Karat handed over a memorandum to the president. He also presented the president with a copy of the report by the Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association which has given details of 16 judgments by Delhi Courts that have acquitted young men accused of being ‘terrorists’ and have passed strictures against the investigating and arresting agencies.

The three victims also made their very moving submissions to the president.  Mohd Aamir was only 17 years old when he was arrested.  One after another, about 17 different cases of bomb-blasts were slapped against him and he was finally acquitted after 14 long years in jail.  He said that all he wanted was to lead a decent life, all he was asking for was a future that had been denied to him for so long. He had been promised compensation by various government officials but had received nothing.  In fact, no Gazetted Officer was even willing to countersign his applications for relief.  Maqbool Shah told the president that his father died of shock after his arrest in Delhi and his sister died after visiting him in jail.  His family business was destroyed during his incarceration.  It was only because of the intervention of former CPI(M) MP, Brinda Karat that he received monetary compensation from the home ministry and, after several years of constant effort he has been given a very low-level job with the J&K Bank.  Syed Wasif Haider was working as a manager with a reputed MNC when he was arrested in Kanpur.  He was released after nine years in 2009 and is now unemployed and penniless.  His appeals to the state government for compensation have gone unheard.

The president gave the delegation a very sympathetic and patient hearing.  He responded to the various points made and promised that he would use his good offices with the central and state governments to address the issues raised.

The CPI(M) is committed to take forward this struggle against injustice and communal targeting forward at all levels. All state committees must identify cases of wrongful confinement and harassment of so-called terrorists and intervene to help those who have been acquitted to access compensation and rehabilitation.

CPI(M) MEMORANDUM TO THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA

Below we reproduce the text of the memorandum which the CPI(M) delegation submitted on November 17, 2012, to the president of India. It was signed by Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI (M).

I WRITE to draw your attention to the grave miscarriage of justice to scores of Muslim youth who were and are being wrongly arrested and charged in cases related to terror attacks in different parts of the country. In some cases these young men have been incarcerated for ten to fourteen years as undertrials and then finally acquitted by the courts as being innocent. Several reliable groups of concerned citizens and organisations who have collected the details of these cases, have revealed how the court judgements themselves have strongly indicted the investigation agencies for the biased mentality against the Muslim youth and in several cases the manipulation and presentation of concocted evidence against innocent young men. It would appear that the investigation agencies are more driven by the requirement to show “results” in their investigation rather than to ensure that it is the actual culprits who are caught. 

Muslim youth are the most vulnerable targets today. The draconian provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) are used to deny the normal processes of justice, while there is no time bound procedure for the judicial processes. There is a growing feeling of fear and apprehension on the one hand and anger on the other that innocents are being implicated. Young lives have been destroyed, families stricken, forced into social isolation, driven into debt to pay the huge expenditures in legal fees — the terrible conditions caused by State led injustice.

As an illustration, the cases of the four young men Md Aamir from Delhi, Syed Maqbool from Srinagar, Wasif Haider and Mumtaz Ahmed from Uttar Pradesh are presented before you. They were arrested arbitrarily when they were just eighteen or nineteen years of age, implicated in dozens of cases, incarcerated for over ten years and each one of them was, as held by the courts, innocent. They are today without jobs, considered unemployable, with dark and uncertain futures.

While no quarter can be given to any individual or group which is responsible for dastardly terror attacks, the arrest of innocent Muslim youth has reached serious dimensions, which requires immediate attention. It is a blot on the principles of secular democracy. At the same time, the arrest of innocent people means that the actual culprits go free. There are four aspects, which require to be looked at:

1) Compensation to and rehabilitation of the innocents. While in some cases, with the intervention of the Minority Rights Commission and other agencies, some monetary compensation may have been given in a few cases, by and large most of the victims of State injustice are in a terrible condition. It is essential to ensure justice by providing compensation as well as the means towards a livelihood through provision of employment or any other avenue suggested by the victim.

2) The provision of special courts with time-bound procedures is essential so as to end the sometimes deliberate prolonging of the cases. All such cases should be settled in a year.

3) In cases where the court has held that evidence has been concocted or misrepresented by the investigating agencies to implicate innocents, action must be taken against those responsible. This will act as a deterrent in the deliberate implication of innocents.

4) We believe also that the draconian provisions in the UAPA must be reconsidered. At the time of the passage of the bill in parliament the CPI(M) had warned of the consequences of keeping such provisions on the statute book akin to TADA and POTA. Experience has shown the legitimacy of the apprehensions expressed at that time.

We request you to take up these issues urgently with the government of India. We also enclose relevant information and documents with further details.

Annexure

Examples of some of the cases of acquittal and discharge of youth wrongfully charged and incarcerated

1) Mohd Marouf Qaamar (Delhi): Acquitted on 11.11.2008, Tis Hazari Court Delhi.

2) Tariq Ahmad Dar (Kashmir): Discharged in a 2006 case in Tis Hazari Court, Delhi.

3) Tasleem (Muradabad, UP): Discharged and Released in a 1998 case in Tis Hazari Court No 19, Delhi.

4) Najeem (Muradabad, UP): Discharged and released in a 1998 case in Tis Hazari  Court No 19, Delhi.

5) Shamim Akhtar (Kolkata): Discharged and Released in a 1998 case in Tis Hazari Court No 19, Delhi.

6) Syed Maqbool Shah (Kashmir): Acquitted on 08.04.2010, in a Patiala House Court, New Delhi case.

7) Mohd Aamir Khan (Delhi): Acquitted in 17 cases (Delhi and NCR), released on 09.01.2012.

8) Haroon Rashid (Bihar):         Acquitted on January 2010, in a Tis Hazari Court, Delhi case.

9) Dilawar Khan (Orissa): Acquitted on January 2010, in a Tis Hazari Court, Delhi case.

10) Salman Khurshid Kori (Manipur): Acquitted on 14.12.2011, in a Tis Hazari Court, Delhi case.

11) Syed Mubarak (Sitapur, UP): Acquitted in a case in Bareilly district court, UP.

12) Abdul Mubeen (Siddharth Nagar): Acquitted in a case in Agra district court, UP.

13) Ghulam Mohd (Kanpur): Acquitted on 12.08.2009, in a case in Kanpur City, UP.

14) Sajjad-ul-Thman (Kishtuwar): Dischargede on 14.04.2011 in a Case of Lucknow, UP.

15) Mumtaz Ahmad (Sopur): Acquitted on 06.08.2003 in a case of GRP, Kanpur, UP.

16) Faheem Ansari (Maharashtra):       Acquitted in a case of Mumbai, on 26.11.2008, from Sessions Court and Supreme Court.   

17) Sabauddin (UP): Acquitted on a case of Mumbai, on 26.11.2008, from Session Court and Supreme Court!

18) Jogeshvari railway station case in Mumbai, Maharashtra: Two persons acquitted.

19) Tilak Nagar railway station case in Mumbai, Maharashtra: Two persons discharged and two acquitted.

20) Ghaatkopar, 2003 case of Mumbai, Maharashtra: Nine persons acquitted.

21) Gateway of India Case of Mumbai, Maharashtra: Two persons acquitted.

22) Rehmana Farooqui: Acquitted by Delhi High Court in 2007 in 2000 Red Fort case.

CPI (M) DELEGATION TO PRESIDENT: CONCERN OVER WRONGFUL DETENTION OF MUSLIM YOUTH

November 25, 2012

ALL INDIA DEMOCRATIC WOMEN’S’ ASSOCIATION DEMANDS STRICT ACTION AGAINST ARRESTS OF TWO YOUNG WOMEN

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) expresses deep concern and outrage at the high handed arrest of two young women in Palghar, Thane for expressing on ‘Face book’ their discomfort at the complete shutdown in Mumbai following the death of Bal Thackeray. The local Shiv Sainiks, true to the intolerance practiced by their party, intimidated them into giving a forced apology and complained to the police. Shockingly, the Palghar police, instead of providing them with security and taking action against those harassing them, arrested the two young women on serious charges of outraging religious feelings and posting an offensive message. These were later changed to an arbitrary charge of ‘creating enmity’ after a public uproar. This is a complete travesty of the Constitutional right to democratic freedom of expression available to every citizen of India.  The arrests carried out in the night are also a gross violation of Supreme Court directives for effecting arrests of women.

The complicity of the Police emboldened the local Shiv Sainiks and their supporters to vandalise two hospitals of a relative of one of the women and intimidate their families. The police did not act against, nor arrest, those responsible for breaking law and order. These developments seriously compromise our democratic functioning and weaken the law and order in the state. The AIDWA in Thane has continuously being raising the problem of arbitrary and false cases and lack of action by the rural Thane police who side with political elements and criminal forces.

We demand that the Maharashtra Government takes strict action against those responsible for the arbitrary arrest and charges. The Shiv Sainiks responsible for the harassment and violence must be arrested immediately. And the Government must ensure protection for the young women and their families, withdraw the false cases and compensate them for the high handedness of the police.

THE Communalism Combat and SAHMAT condemn the illegal and arbitrary arrests of two young women in Palghar, Maharashtra, for their Facebook message disapproving the coercive shutdown of the city of Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra following the death of the Shiv Sena chief Shri Bal Thackeray. The Thane rural police have behaved arbitrarily and against the law, for which the policemen involved must be prosecuted. Shiv Sena goons also vandalised a clinic being run by an uncle of one of the girls. It is condemnable that under the Congress-NCP government it was not the vandals who destroyed the medical equipment and threatened the patients at Palghar who were promptly acted against but two young girls who have every right to express their opinion. Today’s media reports state that nine persons have been arrested for the attack on the medical clinic but no details have been made available, including the names of the criminals.

November 25, 2012

Expand Left Intervention, Widen the Struggles - Prakash Karat

Two Young Women’s Arrest in Maharashtra Condemned by CPI (M)

Two Young Women’s Arrest in Maharashtra Condemned

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on November 20, 2012.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) condemns the arbitrary arrests of two young women in Palghar, Maharashtra, for their Facebook message disapproving the bandhs in Maharashtra following the death of the Shiv Sena chief Shri Bal Thackeray. The Shiv Sena goons also vandalised a clinic being run by a relation of one of the girls. Under the Congress-NCP government it was not the vandals who were arrested but the young women who have every right to express their opinion.

The incident shows how the Congress-NCP government panders to the Shiv Sena brand of intolerant and authoritarian politics. There is nothing remotely offensive or anything pertaining to religious sentiments in the message posted by one of the women. This is a clear case of misuse of the IT Act, once again underlining the need for a thorough review of some of its provisions that are open to gross misuse.

The CPI(M) demands immediate withdrawal of the false cases against the young women, arrest of those responsible for attacking the clinic, and action against the police officials responsible for the arrests.

Condemn Israel's New War on Gaza - CPI (M)

Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and S Sudhakar Reddy, general secretary of the Communist Party of India, issued the following statement on November 16, 2012.

WE strongly condemn the renewed military attacks on Gaza. More than 250 strikes have been launched against Gaza in the last 48 hours, killing 18 Palestinians and injuring over 150. Those killed include Hamas military chief Ahmad Jaabari and four children. This aggression is similar to the last war that Israel had launched on Gaza in December 2008 in which 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.

The 1.7 million people of Gaza continue to remain under a brutal siege, with the Israeli stranglehold affecting even basic necessities such as food and medicine. Reports available indicate that hospitals are running out of medicine. Power and water supplies have been cut to the Gaza residents.

We call upon the Indian government to condemn the Israeli aggression on Gaza. India must also suspend immediately its military ties with Israel, as India's huge arms purchase helps to subsidise the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

Venezuela: The Revolution Triumphs

November 11, 2012

95th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution - Sitaram Yechury

November 11, 2012

AIDWA Condemns Unjust Ban

AIDWA Condemns Unjust Ban

The following is the statement issued by AIDWA on November 6:

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) expresses outrage against the decision by the Dargah management to prevent women from entering the Haji Ali dargah sanctorum.  It seems that this decision is to be imposed on other dargahs in the city as well.

Dargahs are open to all irrespective of creed.  It is unbelievable that women are now to be banned from entering the sanctorum.

AIDWA demands that this unjust ban be lifted.

The World of the Woman Worker - Brinda Karat

November 11, 2012

Second National Conference of All India Fishers and Fisheries Workers’ Federation (AIFFWF).

November 11, 2012

Samar Mukherjee Felicitated On His Birth Centenary

Samar Mukherjee Felicitated On His Birth Centenary

From Our Special Correspondent

HE was born exactly four years before the Great October Revolution in Russia in the year 1913. He has devoted his whole life for the cause of socialist revolution in India, for the cause of the workers and peasants and the cause of the deprived people of the country. The hundred years of his life journey has traversed the long path of revolutionary tradition and its legacy. Comrade Jyoti Basu used to call him as ‘The God’s Own man’ because of his perfection in all respects of life and work. Samar Mukherjee is the living history of the Communist and Left Movement in India. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) West Bengal state committee organised a programme to commemorate the very special occasion of his birth centenary on November 7, 2012. The programme was held in front of Dilkhusha Street Party Commune in Kolkata. Samar Mukherjee was born on November 7, 1913. He participated actively in the freedom struggle and later became one of the leading figures in the working class movement of the country. He is a former Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M) and one of the tallest leaders of the CITU and the working class. His felicitation was a rare and exceptional occasion for generations of Party workers in West Bengal.

In the commemorative function, Samar Mukherjee himself sat through and quietly received the respect and affection of the comrades. Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Party said he first met Samar Mukherjee in 1971 when he used to work at Party’s Parliamentary office and Comrade A K Gopalan was the then leader of the Party in Lok Sabha and Samar Mukherjee was the deputy leader in Lok Sabha. He has created an example of sincerity and dedication throughout his political life. Samar Mukherjee joinedIndia’s struggle for independence as a student and became a member of the Communist Party in the year 1940. Since then he dedicated himself to the Communist movement of the country. He played an important role in building the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Centre for Indian Trade Unions.

Karat said Samar Mukherjee never thought of comforts and even saved from the meager wages he received as Party whole timer and used to re-donate it to the Party. This is one of the examples of the revolutionary practices of Samar Mukherjee. Karat also recalled his role in the fight to protect the civil liberties at the time of emergency both inside and outside the parliament. He said Samar Mukherjee witnessed the rise of Soviet Union as well as its debacle. That did not alter his conviction in Marxism-Leninism.  He remains a source of inspiration and courage to comrades all over the country.

Biman Basu, CPI(M) state secretary recalled the journey of Samar Mukherjee from a freedom fighter to a leader of the Communist movement in India. He said Samar Mukherjee was one of the architects of the Refugee movement in West Bengal and also one of the makers of historical railway strike in the year 1974. “Samarda never lost his class outlook whether he was a member of parliament or a working class leader”, said Basu.

Veteran leader of the Forward Block, Ashoke Ghosh also addressed the gathering. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, AK Padmanabhan, Suryakanta Misra, Nirupam Sen, Tapan Sen were among those present. Left Front leaders were present on the occasion.

Samarda is Hundred: A Life of Dedication and Sacrifice

Samarda is Hundred: A Life of Dedication and Sacrifice

Prakash Karat

COMRADE Samar Mukherjee turned hundred on November 7 this year.  I participated in the function to felicitate Samarda on his 100th birthday.  A meeting was held in Kolkata outside his residence in Dilkusha Street which has long been a Party commune. 

Samarda is the oldest member of the Party living today. He was born on the day of the October Revolution in Russia four years before the revolution happened. His life traversed the entire course of the 20th century and mirrored some of the major events of that historic period.  He joined the freedom struggle as a young student at the age of 15 and participated in the “Boycott Simon Commission” agitation in 1928.  He joined the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 and was jailed in the same year. He became the president of the All India Students Federation of Howrah district in 1938.

Samarda became a member of the Communist Party in 1940. Thus began an arduous and significant role in the Communist movement. He organised the peasant movement and the trade union movement in Howrah district.  He is the only Party member alive today who attended the first Party Congress held in Bombay as a delegate in 1943. 

Samar Mukherjee played a notable role in building the refugee movement in West Bengal taking up the cause of the lakhs of people who had come across from East Bengal after partition. He became a member of the state secretariat of the undivided Communist Party in 1961. After that, he played an important role in the inner-Party struggle which eventually led to the formation of the CPI(M). Samar Mukherjee was elected to the Central Committee of the Party in 1966.  He served as a member of the Polit Bureau from 1982 to 1998.

Another important dimension of Samar Mukherjee’s activity began in 1971 when he was elected for the first time to the Lok Sabha. He continued to be a member of the Lok Sabha till 1984 and then became a member of the Rajya Sabha for two terms till 1993.  He was the deputy leader in the Lok Sabha while A K Gopalan was the leader.  Later he became the leader of the CPI(M) group in the Lok Sabha from 1977 to 1984.  As a Communist parliamentarian, he effectively combined his work in parliament with the trade union movement and taking up people’s issues.

Samar Mukherjee played a key role in the development of the CITU of which he was the treasurer and later the general secretary.  He was one of the organisers of the historic railway strike in 1974.  

Samar Mukherjee brought complete dedication and meticulous attention to all the responsibilities that he discharged – as a Party organiser, as a trade union leader and as a parliamentarian.  Samarda is an archetypal Communist. He has led a spartan life. While being a parliamentary leader, he always stayed in a room allotted to him in the parliamentary office – first in 4 Ashoka Road and later in Windsor Place.  Even after the payment of the Party levy, which took away the bulk of his salary and allowances, Samarda would save up much of the rest of the money and donate it to the Party.  In Kolkata, he continues to live in the Party commune. 

Samarda is known for his amiable behaviour and his warmth and concern for all the cadres.  As many revolutionaries of his time, he never got married.

Comrade Jyoti Basu used to say that Samarda is “God’s own man”.  This saying in English denotes a selfless person who has all the virtues of a good human being. 

Samarda is the sole surviving member of that generation of Communists who sacrificed everything and served the Party with complete dedication.  All the Party members should strive to emulate the exemplary life led by Samar Mukherjee.  We are fortunate in having him in our midst still. On behalf of the entire Party, we wish him good health and many more birthdays to come.

Prakash Karat, general secretary CPI(M) has sent the following condolence message to Chandrababu Naidu, president, Telugu Desam Party on November 2

Prakash Karat, general secretary CPI(M) has sent the following condolence message to Chandrababu Naidu, president, Telugu Desam Party on November 2

Dear Chandrababu Naidu Garu,

I am deeply shocked and grieved to hear the news of the tragic accident which took the life of Shri K Yerrannaidu.

Shri Yerrannaidu was an important political leader who served the people of Andhra Pradesh and Srikakulam district. He made an important contribution to national politics as the leader of the TDP in the Lok Sabha and as a minister. Shri Yerrannaidu commanded the respect of all across the political spectrum.

His untimely demise is a great loss for the Telugu Desam Party.

Please convey my heartfelt condolences to his wife and family members.