Friday, February 29, 2008

Smoking Buddha is Ok But CPM will you please stop Smoking us

The West Bengal environment department may have banned smoking in public places, but last week Yahoo News Reported how  CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee merrily forgot the order, walkingimage in to a realty expo, where he exhorted realtors to go green, with a cigarette in his  hand. Guess it was a matter of creative freedom, to use a filmstar’s imageexcuse. In any case, the CM does two double packs of 555 daily. In fact, when the PWD put up notices along the walls of Writers Building declaring the corridors a no-smoking zone, the ministers’ chambers, including the CM’s, were spared. 

I can understand CPM Leaders breaking Laws as Laws are meant for Low Life Minions like us. But what happened to their avowed hatred for MNC Companies? 555 is famous brand from the British American Tobacco Company (BAT). Also, Why is Buddha not smoking Dinesh Beedi which CPM owns in  Kerala?

That brings me to interesting topic of CPM Run Kerala Dinesh Beedi.

Think Communism and Keralites immediately recall that legendary cocktail of black tea, beedi and parippuvada which powered generations of comrades. Yet, the beedi workers who formed a vital force that propped up the Communist movement are now an unwanted lot. The CPM-run Kerala Dinesh Beedi (KDB) which used to employ thousands of workers and brought respectability to the trade is today facing an existential crisis.

The 36-year old Kerala Dinesh Beedi (KDB) located in Kannur District of Kerala was brain child of CPI (M). It is still run and Managed by CPI(M).  However, as a sign of changing times CPI (M) emphasis is shifting from traditional industries where hundreds of thousands of workers are reeling under pressure and many on the verge of collapse to to the hi-tech IT park/Amusement water theme facilities/AC auditorium/super speciality hospitals/ resorts/hypermarket etc.

CPM central committee member M A Baby tried to Justify this move by saying

"It is part of the party’s policy to utilise resources in the capitalist system for the benefit of the downtrodden”

He even tried to explain it Ideologically

"The party views it as a dialectical relationship between struggle and compromise in the path to revolution"

What ever it means....

As the survival of the KDB was very much in doubt, the management(run by CPI(M)) decided to introduce austerity measures such as job cuts, freeze on bonus and gratuity etc.  The management sought the reduction of the production cost considerably by cutting working days to three a week {from six}. Disgruntled by the prevailing confusion and tensions, the workers of the KDB recently took to agitational path and blockaded the society's headquarters in Kannur - a rare event in party- controlled institutions. The also tookout a march to the KDB depot in Pinarayi, home turf of CPM State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, in protest against the party’s neglect of their plight.

The CPM washes its hands off the Dinesh Beedi workers controversy saying some anti-party activists were behind the campaign to tarnish the party’s image whereas the beedi workers’ crisis was driven by market forces. 

I still fail to understand why is Rs 4000 Crores rich CPM NOT Bailing out Kerala Dinesh Beedi. Afterall, we have heard several times CPM demanding Bailout of Sick Public Sector units. Why is CPM not using same yardstick in its own premises?

Sources

Sources

Sources

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Thursday, February 28, 2008

CPM and "Money"Chan Connection

Meet Manichan, the abkari contractor who was awarded life imprisonment along with his two brothers, vendor Hayarunnisa in the sensational serial hooch tragedies in the state which killed 36 persons and disabled nearly 100 others in October, 2000.

Newspapers has alleged that almost a dozen prominent CPI(M) leaders had reportedly received lakhs of rupees from Manichan during the last LDF rule under E.K. Nayanar. That the reports had some   substance is proven from the fact that CPI(M) had then to expel Mr. Sathyanesan, their Trivandrum District Secretary from the party on this charge . Also, former CPI(M) MLA Kadakampally Surendran was accused of accepting a bribe of Rs.50,000 from the contractor.  But all the other important leaders of the CPI(M) were absolved by the party with the same explanation that “receipts were issued” and hence no corruption was involved.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the Home Minister and Central Committee member of CPI(M), issued statement in the State Assembly that there were no evidences other than newspaper reports before the government to charge sheet K. Venugopal or anybody else involved in the scam.

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CPM and the "only" one crore Bribe

Meet Ex- Deputy General Manager (Marketing) of the Deshabhimani Mr. K.Venugopal, a  close confidant of both CPM Party Secretary Pinarai Vijayan and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the Home Minister.

He helped himself with rupees of 1 crore to get a government (i.e. LDF )decision in favour of the some prominent Business persons. Now lets see who are these prominent Business Persons.

The amount was given by LiS, a fraudulent money chain firm. LiS is charged with the criminal offence of cheating the public with money doubling offers and of flouting Reserve Bank regulations. The Kerala police raided office of LiS then sealed its offices. Prosecution procedures were also started. In a span of 3 years before its closure, this  firm had amassed a fabulous sum of 600 crore from the public. However, Surprisingly the case against LiS, investigations and litigation proceedings, all proceeded sluggishly. In a few months of LDF rule, the investigation officer was changed more than once, each time the charge being passed over to lower ranked officers. Even the investigating officer was attacked in the court premises reportedly by the juniors of the advocate of the defendant, when the former was going to the court to hand over the case file, asked by the latter. The advocate of LiS was M. K. Damodaran, who had been the Advocate General during the former LDF ministry, under E.K.Nayanar and thus, obviously a  close associate of CPI(M) leaders and the party. While the case with Damodaran acting as defence counsel was heading towards a standstill, things took a different turn. Not long after LiS had been closed and sealed, another firm by name ‘Jyothis’ came into existence almost  under the  same proprietorship and started operations in the same line as that of LiS. Within the last 4 months, ‘Jyothis’ has accumulated deposits worth Rs 10 crore and has made its mark as having put an insertion on the front cover of the DYFI’s organ in Malayalam.

It is so palpably clear that a firm could not have come to these points without high-level administrative and party support, that the government is compelled to close down ‘Jyothis’ too.

So this was the episode of LiS, the firm from which the CPI(M)’s party daily functionary,  venugopal, took a bribe of only rupees one crore.

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Communist Party of Martin

I am not sure how many people have heard about Santiago Martin. He is 55-year-old Coimbatore-based lottery agent earning  more money every day than new economy czar N R Narayana Murthy or old economy titan Dhirubhai Ambani.

Every day, Martin sells -- through his Martin Lottery Agencies -- some 12 million lottery tickets across the country. He is the sole distributor for 28 Sikkim government lottery schemes, 17 Tamil Nadu schemes and six Arunachal Pradesh schemes.

He is the sub-distributor for the Bhutan government lotteries as also for many state governments like Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and West Bengal.

So far, so good. The only worm in the apple is an on-going investigation of Martin and his company by the income tax department.

The charges listed against Martin include:

    • His company bribed officials of state governments like Sikkim to ensure that prizes are announced on unsold tickets. Rules stipulate that the unsold tickets should be returned to state government lottery departments. But agencies like the MLA do not return tickets. The result: millions of rupees are won by the agent himself.

    • In June 1997, Martin's son Charles won Rs 5 million on the Azad Hind Bumper Lottery run by the Nagaland government. Martin claims his son had bought that particular ticket. But IT officials allege the draw was cleverly fixed with the connivance of officials.

    • In April 2000, the 10 fourth prize winning digits of the Sikkim Yellow Weekly and the Bhutan Kalpataru Lottery -- the two most popular lotteries distributed by MLA -- were identical. Officials say it is a clear example of how lottery draws are regularly rigged.

    • The home ministry has obtained a number of documents that detail the business links between Martin and Moni Kumar Subha, the Congress member of Parliament from Tezpur in Assam. Subha is Nagaland's lottery king. Officials allege the duo have joined hands to fix all the lotteries in the northeastern states.

    Last heard,Santiago Martin was  in the hiding for several months and the police are in search of him nationwide.

    With all these allegations, you would expect "self righteous" parties like CPM to keep away from them especially since V S Achuthanandan had waged many a war against the lottery mafia when he was Opposition leader. V.S.Achuthanandan had  alleged collusion between the online lottery tycoons including Santiago Martin during the last UDF ministry, on the ground that apart from doing fraud and snatching off an amount at the rate of Rs 30 crores per day on account of the outside lotteries, they were evading tax to the tune of Rs 9,000 crores in tacit understanding with the UDF government. He promised that once LDF government came to power, this money would be recovered and all the foul plays stopped.  Moreover, LDF State finance minister TM Thomas Isaac disclosed in the Assembly that Rs 8760 crores lottery tax dues were yet to be recovered and 80 percent of that amount was from Santiago Martin!

    And what was happening  under LDF ministry? As always  CPM actions didnot match Words. The CPM organ Deshabhimani collected Rs 2 crore worth of bonds from Santiago Martin. The expose was made by the leading Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi with copies of the bond certificates issued in the names of Martin’s two sons. The advocate who used to appear on behalf of the lottery mafia in chains of cases, suddenly became the Government Pleader under LDF and started representing prosecution.

    The newspaper’s general manager E PJayarajan(of Pinarayi Vijayan Faction) claimed in a clarification that there was nothing new in newspapers issuing bonds for collecting funds. Like others, Deshabhimani used to collect development funds through deposits and bonds from regular advertisers during funds crunch.

    However, in a u-turn next day, Mr Jayarajan swallowed what he said and stated that Deshabhimani had taken no funds as bonds and that “funds used to be collected as advances from advertisers and adjusted later in advertisements’’.

    CPM hit back by launching a blistering attack on Mathrubhumi both inside the assembly when the Opposition raised the scandal and also outside. Party MLA P Jayarajan said in the assembly

    “Mathrubhumi is a yellow paper since it publishes baseless charges without sense or direction,’’ .

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    Privatization: CPM double speak

    Reacting to the railway minister’s drive towards privatisation of container trains and depots, outsourcing of railway services and privatisation of railway property , CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement

    “The CPI(M) is opposed to these privatisation measures announced in the Railway Budget and demands that these should not be taken forward,”

    CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta said later

    "We staged a walkout against privatisation and Bengal being neglected. I don’t think the Kerala MPs understood what was happening, so they stayed on,” .

    C.S. Sujatha of the Kerala CPM virtually echoed Gurudas when she said

    “we strongly oppose the privatisation moves”

    Earlier in the month, They gave a clarion call to Oppose Airport Privatization move by UPA Govt.  Describing the government decision to privatise Delhi and Mumbai airports as ‘shameless surrender’ to private parties, CPM threatened to intensify its agitation against the move and also take up the matter in Parliament.

    CPM  politburo member Brinda Karat said after addressing agitating workers at the New Delhi airport

    "Government has taken a very wrong decision. They have put all ethics of transparency and justice aside and taken this decision. It is not only a matter of privatisation, it is a matter of ignoring 22,000-strong AAI organisation,"

     

    With all this, you would assume that Left Parties of India are in forefront of opposition to privatization in India and you would assume that Indian Airports are protected from "Private Devils"

    Now Guess where is India's first privately owned airport being Build! Surprise Surprise...  its in West Bengal.  Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd. (BAPL) today signed a Technical Services Agreement (TSA) with Changi Airports International (CAI) for the upcoming airport within the Durgapur Aerotropolis project. This Greenfield project will be India’s first privately owned airport, a part of the USD 2.5 billion Durgapur Aerotropolis.

    Wednesday, February 27, 2008

    Has CPM now become West Bengal Regional Party?

    As the railway minister today announced the dole earmarked for each state’s kitty, a clutch of Left MPs from Bengal grew terribly agitated, kicked up a hue and cry and stomped straight out of Parliament.

    So upset were West Bengal comrades, including members from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), that some of them got up from their seats and ran angrily to the well of the House.

    CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta said

    “We staged a walkout against privatisation and Bengal being neglected,”

    But sadly CPM MP's from Kerala decided to ignore their counter parts from West Bengal despite floor leader Basudeb Acharya directing them to do so. To show their support to Lalu Prasad's budget, most Kerala MPs--barring two--came to the front row and remained seated together. One was seen reacting angrily when fellow comrades from West Bengal were trying to force them to join in their walkout. I guess CPM Kerala Group was happy that they got a coach factory for 3 Trains.

    Later, outside the House, Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh came forward to the Kerala MPs and "congratulated" them. "I feel proud of Kerala MPs. For the first time, that you did not join the hooliganism of your Bengal comrades," Ramesh told them.

    The CPI-M leader Mr Basudeb Acharia took a dig at Mr Yadav’s alleged “Bihar-obsession”,

    LEFT loses "track" due to Lalu Express

    Railway Budget 2008-09 has the Left vertically divided. Not only did the division surface between the Left MPs from Kerala and West Bengal but there were also strong differences of opinion between the CPI and the CPI(M) over the Railway Budget.joke

    While Left MPs from West Bengal staged a walkout shouting that the state had been “ignored”, many of their counterparts from Kerala refused to join them and sat through the Railway Minister’s speech. Kerala MPs were apparent  ly satisfied with the announcement that a locomotive factory would come up in their state. The Kerala MPs also ignored appeals by their Bengali counterparts to join in their protest.

    CPI Termed the budget

    “We are totally opposing the budget,”

    While CPM grudgingly  approved the budget and termed

    Railway Budget saying that it has some positive features

    Tuesday, February 26, 2008

    Community policing from March: Kodiyeri

    Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has said that the community policing system, being introduced at 14 centres in the State in the first phase.

    The beat officer would be assisted by people selected for community policing, he said adding that additional officers required in a police station to serve as beat officers would be sent from the Armed Reserve Police.

    This is a Dangerous move especially coming from a Communist Government. People of Kerala should be very skeptical of this move . There is a very good possibility that this may be move to empower Grassroot level Comrades with Police Powers. If we learn from history, communists are very bad in sharing power.

    Source

    The Story of a GREAT BETRAYAL

    This Blog Post is to evaluate the role of CPI(Later CPI & CPM) in India Freedom Struggle and later(such as China War, etc) P C Joshi, G Adhikari and B T Ranadive Friends and comrades in treason
    Nationalism as a concept alien to communism. For a communist, Ideology comes first before country. For several Years, they had difficulty accepting India as a single country, they used to call India a confederation of nations.
    So it is not surprising that the communists called all national heroes name- Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Bose, Jaya Prakash Narain to name a few. Sabotaged the Quit movement, refused to accept India's freedom, started an armed rebellion against the Indian state, sided with China in the Sino-Indian conflict in 1962, supported the Emergency and press censorship in 1975, criticized Pokharan-II etc.
    However, the most subversive role of the communist movement has been providing philosophical and intellectual underpinning to all such anti-national movements. CPI leadership supported the two nation theory thus Pakistan demand of the Muslim league. They even accepted Sikhs Demand for separate homeland.
    Communists role during Quit India Movement is well Known. The role of CPI during China war is more Disgusting. It ranged from Declaring "Chairman Mao, Our Chairman" to Giving overt and covert support to china.

    We will Broadly divide this Segment into two Section namely Before Independence, After Independence

    Before Independence:

    The story of Communist betrayal of the freedom movement is sickening. The CPI newspaper kept denouncing Gandhiji  and Subhas Chandra Bose as "blind Messiahs" and accused  them of decadence. In February 1941 the Communist wrote  that "the national movement under bourgeois leadership has entered into a blind alley". The Communists heaped abuse on Gandhiji, the Congress. Jayaprakash Narayan and Subhas Babu, and denigrated the clarion call of "Do or
    Die" as an indication of bankruptcy of thought.

    K.K. Chaudhari in his Book Quit India Revolution: The Ethos of Its Central Direction:

    Chaudhari says that "on many occasions the Communists were indeed more royalist  than even the King of England". In submissions to Sir Reginald,  Joshi showed what a splendid job he and his party were doing to break up the Quit India Movement. Chaudhari writes that the 120-page report "could not have been improved by any other collaborator of the British or by any quisling". Joshi was so anxious to prove the CPI's utility to the British rule that he claimed that he was doing a better job of stemming the Quit India Movement, of denouncing Subhas Babu and leaders of the Congress underground. than the government itself! Notes Chaudhari: "The tone and contents of Joshi's performance report reveal crystal clear what the CPI had done to sabotage the 1942 movement."

    On the Communist Support for Creation of Pakistan he writes

    "By incessant and vociferous repetition Communists proclaimed the thesis that (1) India was not one nation but a collection of several separate nationalities. (2) the demand for Pakistan is a just and democratic one because Hindus would oppress them in future; (3) the Muslim League itself has become progressive and secular and Jinnah himself was secular and anti-religious and (4) the Congress must concede to the Muslims the right to self-determination."

    Benediktov Diary:

    The diaries of former Soviet Ambassador to India IA Benediktov give a good Insight on various acts of CPI. The Benediktov diaries form part of the Russian Archives Documents Database at the National Security Archive of George Washington University, Washington, DC. Excerpts from the diaries can be accessed on the website of the Cold War International History Project of the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, DC.

    One of entries describe a conversation with the Secretary of the National Council of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Bhupesh Gupta. During the conversation, Gupta urgently requests Soviet financial aid for the Indian party for use in an upcoming election campaign; the answer conveyed by Benediktov ten days later suggests that the Soviets responded positively to the request, although the amount is not indicated:

    Followed by:

    Today I received Gupta at his request. Gupta communicated that on 16-17 January a meeting of the Secretariat of the CPI took place in Delhi, at which was discussed the future work of the party apparatus in connection with the death of A[joy]. [Kumar] Ghosh….Gupta said that he desires that the ties of the CPI and CPSU do not become weakened in any way after the death of Ghosh. The assistance in various forms and the comradely advice of the CC CPSU have always been enormously useful to us, he underscored….Gupta said that no other party, not even the communist party of China, can occupy in the hearts of Indian communists the place which belongs to the CPSU…
    Gupta reported that after the death of Ghosh at the present time in the party there is an acute insufficiency of means for the preelection campaign. He expressed the fear that with the death of Ghosh the source for receiving means for the communist party from the CPSU might be closed. These questions were handled by Ghosh alone, Gupta underscored. He never consulted with him /Gupta/, and even less with [Elamulam M.S.] Nambudiripad and G. Nair/ with the latter two only about using the assistance/. All these matters were held in strictest secrecy from other leaders of the party and members of the National Council. This explains the fact that not a single report on this question has appeared in the press. Gupta said that he cannot singlehandedly take on responsibility in questions of assistance, therefore he considers it necessary to consult with Nambudiripad, whom he characterized as a person of crystalline honesty and whom Ghosh trusted. Gupta confidentially reported that A. Ghosh had not consulted on this problem with Akhmed or with [Shripad Amrit] Dange, who once proposed that he entrust to him alone all matters connected with the receipt of aid from abroad.

    The Mitrokhin Archive II:

    "The Mitrokhin Archive" refers to the collected notes taken by Vasili Mitrokhin over 30 years. They became public following his 1992 departure from Russia to Great Britain. The notes purportedly contain Soviet  intelligence operations details obtained from KGB archives. Mitrokhin was a Major  and senior archivist for the USSR's foreign intelligence service and the First Directorate of KGB. 

    In this he describes:

    The CPI was funded in many ways, including transfer of money through car windows on Delhi roads: “(C.) Rajeshwar Rao, general secretary of the CPI from 1964 to 1990, subsequently provided receipts for the sums received.”
    Then there was the infamous rupee-ruble trade: “In 1959, the CPI general secretary, Ajoy Ghosh, agreed on plans to found an import-export business for trade with the Soviet bloc, headed by a senior Party member codenamed DED...Within little more than a decade its annual profits had grown to over 3 million rupees.”

    Mrs Raj Thapar former communists of "Thapar couple Fame:

    Mrs Raj Thapar former communists of "Thapar couple"' fame in her memoir "All These Years (Penguin, 1991)" writes "To this day I cannot fathom what lay behind the communist support for the idea of Pakistan, what vested interests possessed them to waste their cadres, their energy, to help what obviously the most reactionary trend in our political life. And of all people, (Mohan Kumaramangalam), who I then thought had devoured all the basic writings of Marxism, how could he hold, support, back and supply Jana was with the intellectual arguments he so urgently needed."

    A Glimpse thru Mahatma Gandhi's Letter

    His letter to Communist leader P C joshi on June 11, 1944  on How Communist Betrayed Labour Leaders: Role of Communists was so illustrious that even Mahatma Gandhi got wind of their deeds.In his letter to Communist leader P C joshi on June 11, 1944 Gandhi himself talked about the Communist party helping the authorities arrest the leaders of labor unions.

    "MY DEAR JOSHI,
    I had expected a prompt reply to the questions I had raised at our meeting. Meanwhile some additional questions have arisen which please, answer when you answer my first questions.
    1. What is the meaning of “people” in “people’s war”? Does it mean war on behalf of India’s millions, or the Negroes in East, South or West Africa, or the Negroes of America, or all of them? Are the Allies engaged in such a war?
    2. Are the finances of the Communist Party, represented by you, subject to public audit? If they are, may I see them?
    3. It is stated that the Communist Party has actively helped the authorities to arrest leaders and organizers of labour strikes during the last two years.
    4. The Communist Party is said to have adopted the policy of infiltrating the Congress organization with a hostile intent.
    5. Is not the policy of the Communist Party dictated from outside?
    Yours sincerely,
    M. K. GANDHI"

    In his reply on June 14, 1944 P. C. Joshi does not deny the charge: He says it cannot be proven. Then gloats about this achievement of theirs:

    "That we successfully prevented the Indian working class from resorting to strikes even in a period of their worsening material conditions is the measure not only of our influence over it but its capacity to understand national interests as its own."

    (Letter no 136, page 100 and Appendix IX, page 444)
    http://www.gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL084.PDF

    How Communists acted as Fifth Columnist for British:  In an Article article of V Sundaram  Writes:

    "Bhulabhai Desai reported in the light of cold documentary evidence how the Communist Party of India had functioned as a fifth Columnist, acting as a paid agent of the British Government in India. His recommendations were referred to a Committee consisting of Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel and G B Pant who endorsed the findings of Bhulabhai Desai. Charge sheets were then served on the Communist members."

    http://www.newstodaynet.com/2007sud/feb07/280207.htm


    This fact of history (if the article of V Sundaram is not good enough) can be verified through a look at the correspondence of Mahatma Gandhi with P.C. Joshi (a general secretary of the Communist party at the time). Refer Letter of Mr. Joshi to Gandhi dated February 1,1945(Appendix VIII page 470)  here Mr Joshi talks about question of their moral bonafides and the file containing the evidence against them.
    http://www.gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL085.PDF

    Letter no 595, Page no 354:  In this letter Mahatma Gandhi Sarcastically asks P. C Joshi

    Received your letter. Shall I reply in the national language?

    Then Continues Saying

    I did not write to you because you yourself had asked me not to do so. Yes, you are right, complaint was mine......

    But complaints continue coming to me.

    http://www.gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL085.PDF 


    Letter no 721, Page no 413 In this letter Mahatma Gandhi writes on unprincipled nature of Communists:

    Many honest Congressmen come to me or write to me from the various provinces that communists have no principles save of keeping their party alive and beating their opponents with any stick that came to their hands.

    In this letter, it is also mentioned that Bhulabhai Desai who was preoccupied and not keeping well was one of the members of the tribunal suggested by communists to have the charges against them examined)

    http://www.gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL086.PDF


    Letter no 658. Letter to P. C Joshi dated August 21, 1945

    The news, almost daily poured into my ears by Congressmen to the effect that the Party is  unscrupulous in its methods and that it even resorts to violence.

    Letter no 515. Letter to Dr. Syed Mahmud January 22, 1945

    As to the Communists, you should see the papers. I went out of my way to meet them and to befriend them. But Joshi wrote peremptorily that I should not write to him any more. He wanted me to speak to him thro[ugh] Bhulabhai, Mrs. Naidu or C. R.

    Letter no 409, Letter to Shanta Patel  dated July 16, 1945

    The Congress working committee appointed a sub committee consisting of Pandit Nehru, G B Pant and Sardar Patel to look at the charges

    http://www.gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL087.PDF

    After Independence:

    CIA Dossier

    Excerpts from CIA Dossier which was declassified recently

    http://www.foia.cia.gov/CPE/ESAU/esau-15.pdf

    How CPI Started Betraying during China War

    On the 28th, Nehru for the first time made a statement in Parliament substantiating the press r e p o r t s of such Chinese incursions and armed clashes . This statement inflamed Indian public opinion; according to a private comment that day by the chief of the Communist Indian Press Agency, it confused and staggered the party members. During the next two days the CPI Central Secretariat, minus Ghosh, held an emergency meeting on the problem, following which the party issued the first in what was to be a long and varied series of statements on the border, a vague declaration glossing over the question of border violations, holding (as the Chinese were to do) that the entire border has never been defined, making no mention of the MacMahonline , and urgently calling for negotiations. The CPI subsequently came under wide public attack as a result of its failure in this statement to take a clear-cut stand supporting the Indian government position.
    Page 61

    how CPI planned to start Armed Rebellion

    In Feb 1958 an official of the Soviet Embassy contacted CPI Leaders to renew the request to setup an underground organization. While Ajoy Ghosh refused, HK Surjeet and others privately decided that Ghosh was taking a complacent line and decided to reach out to the CPSU outside of party channels. The CPI did proceed to recruit a secret organization within the Indian Army.
    In February 1959, Ajoy Ghosh in his report to the Central Executive Committee that China Russia insisted that the CPI must develop a standby apparatus capable of armed resistance, while intensifying penetration of Indian Military forces.
    In the September Central Executive Committee meeting Ajoy Ghosh argued against the tendency to welcome Chinese military presence on Indian borders to justify a new militant line for the CPI. This was rejected by the hard left who argued that with the PLA now present along the Indian Border the Indian Party had a channel of support for Armed Operations and a potential liberator in the event of mass uprisings.

    CPI Propaganda War and Ideological Support

    On the border question, the leftists circulated at the CEC meeting a document upholding the Chinese case entirely , and claiming that the dispute was linked both with a shift in Indian foreign policy and Nehru's reactionary domestic tendency recently shown in Kerala. This document said that the government was using the dispute to distract the Indian people from the real issues and to create a situation where the CPI could be isolated and outlawed. It called on the party to "expose this game of  the Nehru government".
    Ghosh, however, is reported to have proposed a "middle way" suggested to him in Moscow, whereby the CPI would state that acceptance of neither the MacMahon line nor the line shown on Chinese maps should be made a precondition for Sino-Indian negotiation . This formula, plus a statement of the CPI's conviction that socialist China could never commit aggression, formed the core of the CEC resolution eventually adopted on this subject and published on 25 September. This second CPI resolution on the border dispute aroused a great public uproar; the CPI's failure t o place any blame upon China or to support any aspect of the Indian government's position was widely denounced as virtually treasonable.

    The history behind CPI Resolution criticizing Chinese Aggression!
    On 11 July Ghosh left for one of his periodic visits to Moscow, to consult with CPSU leaders on a variety of subject. In early September Ghosh returned to India, bearing with him instructions reportedly given him by CPSU Presidium member Kuusinen to see that the CPI in its forthcoming Election Manifesto made some gesture in support of the Indian nationalist position on the border issue.
    During a Central Executive Committee meeting held from 11 to 17 September at which a draft Election Manifesto was prepared, a plank on the border issue was drawn up, reportedly by Ghosh personally, which was said to have condemned China as an aggressor, to have strongly supported the Indian position on the border.
    However, when during the following week Ghosh attempted to get the National Council to approve this plank, , from Ranadive, denying all support to the Indian position . Sundarayya and Basavapunniah threated to leave the meeting, and Sundarayya and Konar each warned that their respective organizations in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal would not be bound by the plank if adopted. When the Ghosh CEC plank was submitted to a vote, it was defeated, 25-22. The CCP was duly informed by the leftists of the details of the struggle over Ghosh's plank, as well as of the fact that Kuusinen had encouraged Ghosh to write that plank.

    How CPI hoped to switch side to China During War

    The left - faction members of the CPI Central Secretariat--Ranadive, Bhupesh Gupta, and particularly Basavapunniah--became increasingly active late in 1959 in promoting the line given them in Peiping throughout the CPI. In mid-November, Basavapunniah was reported by two sources to have repeated,to a meeting of CPI leaders concerned with creating an underground organization, his belief that the CPI lack of a contiguous foreign supply base during the Telengana revolt had now been remedied with the Chinese occupation of Tibet and other frontier areas. In late December he was said to have reiterated to a meeting of the Maharasha State Council Mao's statement to Ghosh that Tibet, Sikkim, Bhutan, and the Northwest Frontier Agency are provinces peopled by the same race, that China had a historic right to these territories, that the MacMahone line was not valid , and that the Indian government's raising of "the bogey of Chinese aggression" had resulted from its realization that Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and India would be deeply affected by the social and economic revolution in Tibet.

    How CPI planned to sabotage Defense Services

    Dange claimed that the CPI had decided to establish a network of underground "combat cells" all over India during the next two years, to be used in case of need; and Jaipal Singh, the head of the CPI secret organization in the defense services , told a recruit after the congress that his organization was in full swing again after having been deactivated in May 1960 because of party factionalism and government attention to his activities . Nothing more has been heard since the congress about tile possibility of Chinese help to and guidance for these CPI underground activities ; there had been indications earlier in the year that Peiping had responded to the leftist plea for such help by predicating it upon leftist seizure of organizational control of the CPI at the party congress,
    page 153

    GOI Reply to Parliament on  CPI Stand during Indo China War:

    On November 13, 1962 while replying to the discussions in the Rajya Sabha, Lal Bahadur Shastri pointed out that Jyoti Basu equated India with China during the war and called the Chinese aggression as provoked by Indian statements and “across an imaginary line called MacMohan line”. But the Marxists were not merely satisfied with words. Kalimpong town had become a den of Chinese spies. Every move of the Indian army was monitored and reported to the enemy. Like in 1942, the communists played a major role in helping the Chinese.

    B. Raman(ex Boss of IB)  in an Article "China's Interest Is Our Interest'  Published in Outlook  writes:

    After joining the IB in 1967, I went on a visit to Kolkata. Those were the days of the Cultural Revolution in China. The Marxists were not yet in power in West Bengal, but were very active. As I was travelling in a taxi from the Dum Dum airport to downtown, I saw the following slogan painted by the Marxists on the walls everywhere: "China's Chairman is our Chairman."
    http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20070820&fname=ramanchina&sid=1

    A Report by CID - Andhra Pradesh State Police by Sri ABV Rao, IPS

    He Reports

    The Marxist-Leninist-Maoist (M-L-M) ideology was propounded by the radical elements of undivided Communist Party of India starting from 1964. It resulted in several break ups of the original Communist Party into two main factions of CPI and CPM and several splinter groups on the M-L-M lines. Besides ego clashes of leaders and competition for leadership, the most important factor responsible for the rise of these splinter groups was the active –ideological and material- support extended to them initially by the Communist Party of China and later, by some other East Block countries.

    Once formed under the directions and guidance of the Chinese Communists, the Indian M-L-M parties acquired a momentum of their own and pursued their own course. Holding on to slogans like “China Chairman (Mao) our Chairman”, they became more Maoist than Mao himself!! The Deng reforms altered the ML parties’ course as little as the fall of communism in USSR altered the political agenda of the mainline Communist Parties of India (CPI and CPM). The ML parties found a ready phrase to denounce Deng’s reforms – “Revisionism” – used extensively by Mao to denounce the Soviets after the Stalinist era.

    http://www.cidap.gov.in/documents/Investigation%20of%20Extremist%20offenses.pdf

    Saturday, February 23, 2008

    West Bengal CPM learning its lessons from Raj Thackrey

    Seems CPM is learning its lessons well from Raj Thackrey. a CPI(M) minister and some leaders used a meeting - on the eve of International Mother Language Day - to make derogatory comments about Marwaris and Biharis. Abdur Rezzak Mollah, a senior CPI(M) minister, set the tone by proclaiming that "Meros (Marwaris) are developers and get their work done by bribing their way through". Mollah's attacks on Marwaris, and that too, using the derogatory term 'Mero', came at a programme organised by the Bhasha Chetana Samiti, a Left-backed organisation.

    Imanul Haque of Bhasha Chetana Samiti and Ratan Bhattacharya of Bhasa Sanskriti Swadhikar Mancha made similar comments. Haque said, "Those who wish to stay in West Bengal must learn Bengali." Bhattacharya accused Marwaris of incessant land grabbing in the suburbs in the name of constructing factories. "Their actual plan is to build shopping malls, and the sons of Bengal are not getting jobs," Bhattacharya said, claiming that Biharis are being employed at railway stations in large numbers. "With Bengali finding no place in reservation lists, a large number of Hindi-speaking people have taken over jobs here," he said.

    The Bhasha Chetana Samiti, the Bhasa Sanskriti Swadhikar Mancha and other such bodies want the Government to make it mandatory for all residents of West Bengal to know how to read, write and speak the language. They also want all work of the Government to be done in Bengali, and the language made compulsory at the primary school-level with English as an optional language.

    Friday, February 22, 2008

    LDF Claims to be sole supporter of Conversion!

    Lonappan Nambadan, MP, has said that the Left Democratic Front is the sole source of strength and support for minorities.

    He was addressing a meeting at the Church-run St. Thomas College here on Thursday. “Congress and BJP-ruled States have passed anti-conversion laws. The Left-ruled States, Tripura, West Bengal and Kerala, have not rushed to do that,” he said. Quoting the Bible, he said faith without putting it into practice was meaningless.

    is LDF Claiming that they are the only Group actively supporting conversion?

    Thursday, February 21, 2008

    Another LDF U-turn, now on Kerala expressway

    Yesterday there was another U turn by LDF, After the nod to tolled national highways, the state government is now set to revive the North-South Expressway and has already approached the World Bank for preliminary funding.

    Wow Tolled Highways, Expressway, Load from World Bank!!! That would be 3 U-Turns in short span of few weeks!

    The LDF had vehemently opposed the same expressway when it was in the opposition and the previous A K Antony government had proposed it.

    I still remember those days with nostalgia when we were forcefully told by CPM Intellectuals that this expressway will divide state into two, some even said that it will destroy Underground waterlanes thus can never be allowed in Kerala. Well those were different time. 

    “The Government’s initial stand was against toll-based projects as we felt it would burden the common man. But it is not a bad idea keeping in mind long-term benefits. Besides, in a tourism-dependent state like ours, good connectivity is crucial. Hence the decision was taken in larger public interest,” Kerala PWD Minister Mons Joseph  told The Indian Express last month.

    I guess it essentially means that since now we are doing it, it has to be good!

    Tuesday, February 19, 2008

    Its time Pinarayi Vijayan take some moral lessons from Advani

    It is foolhardy to compare a leader of Advani's stature to Kerala CPM Party Secretary. But it is worthwhile how two leaders behaved in similar situations.

    In Jain Hawala Case, Advani voluntarily relinquished public office when he was charged about corruption based entirely on a diary entry till he was cleared of the charge by the courts.

    Now CBI has decided to interrogate state CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in Kerala’s biggest financial scam, the Rs 98 crore SNC Lavalin case. However, in Pinarayi Vijayan case CPM who behaves "holier than thou" has just made him Kerala Party Secretary third time!.

    In 1996 Congress-led UDF Government got the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to sign an agreement with a Canadian power consulting company, SNC Lavalin, for replacing and modernising the obsolete generators in three hydroelectric projects at Pallivasal, Sengulam and Panniar. Later when CPM led LDF came to power Vijayan, as the Power Minister personally lead led the renegotiation of the contract with the Canadian company. The new deal had the state Government agreeing to an additional Rs 149.15 crore for Lavalin to buy the needed equipment from suppliers—Lavalin itself manufactured no such equipment.

    In the process, Pinarayi Vijayan ignored recommendations of its own power reforms expert panel headed by senior CPI(M) leader and former CITU national president E Balanandan. The Balanandan panel had underlined that Lavalin’s costs were excessive and suggested far more effective and cheaper alternatives. One was that the public sector BHEL was equipped and could take up the job at far lesser cost. (yes you heard it right CPM who swears by Public sector, Ignored the cheaper BHEL to give order to MNC SNC Lavanil) 

    The crux of the scandal is, Vijayan, who renegotiated the arrangement with Lavalin got Lavalin to dole out a Rs 98 crore grant to set up a cancer hospital at Thalassery, home constituency of Chief Minister Nayanar, in return for firming the contract. This, however, was no legally enforceable deal, and the hospital project eventually got barely Rs 9 crore from Lavalin, which went to a private firm in Chennai, given the job of setting up the hospital building. There is still no track of where the remaining money went, if at all it did come, and if it did not, why not.

    The ultimate Irony is the  power generation had actually fallen afterwards, compared to pre-project output.

    Friday, February 15, 2008

    News from CPM Kerala State Conference

    The Meeting Ends in "High Spirits": First time in the history of CPM, A public meeting after State Conference was cut short due to "High Spirit" of  audience. Among those on the dais was the CPM’s supreme leader Prakash Karat.  The public meeting at the end of the CPM state conference in Kerala was called off midway after drunken sloganeering by a section of the audience. The "High Spirit" of audience first started when V.S. Achuthanandan had got up for his speech. Every exhortation by the chief minister was punctuated by slogan-shouting that drowned his words. Then the crown began to show their appreciation towards the leader by hurling empty  liquor bottle towards the dais. Karat, presumably attributing it to the enthusiasm of the ranks, kept smiling, too. But Pinarayi Vijayan, the state CPM secretary was miffed, he chided the Red Volunteers, who enforce discipline at party events, for remaining spectators. “You have a duty to check elements that disrupt orderly conduct.” The volunteers responded to Leaders call by beating up some of the “hooligans”. The state secretary dispersed the meeting soon after, saying other leaders would not speak. By then rain had resumed, possibly giving the party a chance to blame a liquid less potent than liquor for the abrupt end.

    Technology in Use: His attempts to discipline warring comrades having failed, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat for the first time got mobile jammers installed at the venue of the party's 19th state conference to prevent rival factions from leaking the deliberations.

    VS RIP: Kerala's ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) is in deep trouble with a majority of its leaders demanding Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan's ouster. Among 38 of the 53 delegates who spoke on  the party report presented by state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, a majority warned that the CPM would face disaster if it goes for parliamentary elections under the chief minister unless he changed his style of functioning. Mr Vijayan’s supporters were elected from 11 of the 14 district conferences

    Saturday, February 09, 2008

    Kerala in the grip of CPM Facism

    Kerala witnessed political ruckus Saturday over an attack on opposition leader Oommen Chandy at Kasargod, about 650 km from state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

    The alleged CPI-M activists pelted stoned stones at Chandy and Congress activists while they were attending a party meeting at Uduma in Kasargod district. The Congress leaders had to cancel the function because of the attack. Chandy, however, escaped unhurt.

    Reacting to the attack, Chandy said here that the incident "revealed the fascist face of CPI-M". He was speaking to reporters after attending a function by a Muslim religious organisation.

    I wonder would CPM Blame this time for their Violence. Their usual scapegoat is Sangh Parivar Activists. Its only a few days back one of CPM party worker Jijesh was Killed in Kannur by unknown assailants, entire secular Media and CPM Machinery went on overdrive blaming angh Parivar. But senior police official after investigation disclosed that the RSS and BJP had no role in the murder and that it was the handiwork of NDF activists.

    Hilarious: CITU and its effort to save Globe from Warming

    Once upon there were two Left trade union leaders P K Ganguly and M K Pandhe, both deeply concerned with global warming. Burning with desire to Protect Mother Earth, Indian comrades wanted to participate in an international global warming conference to raise International Awareness on Global Warming. I being a Dimwit(read Non Communist) am still trying to figure out why they didnot start their work from India or what is CITU Leaders qualifications on Global Warming.

    Finally, The prayers were answered, they were invited for a conference in London. (why is this love between CPM Leaders and UK, Karat did his studies from UK, Kerala Party Secretary's son is studying in UK etc etc...). The invite got the Centre for Trade Unions in India all excited so that decks were cleared for Ganguly to go to London and present a paper on global warming(talk about overconfidence).

    But the journey to London remained elusive as the promised ticket to fly never arrived even though the CITU was ready to roll. It is then they realized  that so-called conference was a con job. This left left the torchbearers of the downtrodden poorer by 301 pounds or Rs 25,000. A paltry amount for the Multi Million Organisation but leaves a Large question mark on the Intelligence of the people.

    The comrades are not only red faced and very angry they now want justice against cyber crime and want the Ministry of External Affairs to step in for help.

    "We will be very careful now. They are targeting us and if necessary we will involve the Interpol," says one comrade.

    News

    Thursday, February 07, 2008

    Kerala CPM Infighting Spills over to celluloid

    In a U-turn from the great Indian style of matinee idols grabbing political seats, in Kerala, it is CPM Political Leaders who are Hogging Celluloid Limelight.

    Now rival CPM Leaders Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan and party’s state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan are using celluloid to sway indecisive party workers. Latest Movies being ‘Of the People’ and ‘Roudram’ running in cinemahouses this week.

    It was `Of the People’ ’ that was released first. `CM’(read Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan)  was the hero for idealistic youngsters, it told viewers. And also that his crusade of evicting `land mafia’ in Munnar was tripped by a big bad man(read party’s state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan) in his own party.

    Pat came the reply in the form of `Roudram’, a Mammoty-starrer. Roudram’s hero makes it a point to laud the late Chief Minister EK Nayanar to skies, smartly drowning his successor LDF CM( read Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan) in unflattering light. There is also reference to `a CM’s son’s role’ in fixing the ongoing Cybercity land deal in Kochi. Predictably, both films wear their disclaimers right, but nobody is fooled over what they say. Incidentally Mamooty is in the Board of CPM Run Kairali TV Channel.

    Perhaps, Taking cue from party meet scheduled to be held in Kottayam from February 11 to February 14(where CM VS Achuthanandan is expected to meet his Waterloo),  Of the People’ is at a loss for crowds. `Roudram’, on the other hand, has the party workers beating the Mammotty fans associations in keeping the cinema houses full.

    Friday, February 01, 2008

    Communist Democide 1900-1987

    Table lists all communist governments that have committed any form of democide and gives their estimated total domestic and foreign democide and its annual rate (the percent of a government's domestic population murdered per year). It also shows the total for communist guerrillas (including quasi-governments, as of the Mao soviets in China prior to the communist victory in 1949) and the world total for all governments and guerillas (including such quasi-governments as of the White Armies during the Russian civil war in 1917-1922).

    CPI-Maoist declares its presence in state

    This blog should be read in continuation to my previous blog

    Kerala CPM Internal Tussle and Naxal Shadow. CPI-Maoist have declared their presence in Kerala. This was done after they found developments after the arrest of their central committee member Malla Raja Reddy are turning to their favour. Maoists have been operating in the state under the cover of the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), the frontal organisation formed in July 2007.

    The statement from Mohan, the state organising secretary, says that many in the CPI and the CPM are co-operating with Maoists in Kerala and that they are covertly working for the organisation. There are also attempts to form a students organisation to attract the the SFI activists who are at loggerheads with the official faction of the outfit. Revolutionary Students Front is the name temporarily suggested for the organisation.

    The statement from state organising secretary says that the Maoist will be engaged in working against the pro-imperialist policies pursued by the Centre and the State Governments. He added “Sixty years of parliamentary practice has only added to the woes of the people" 

    Thursday, January 31, 2008

    WB calls for foreign help and US Respond

    The bird flu situation in West bengal is spinning out of control. Now 14 of the 19 districts of the state is under the grip of the deadly virus. The epidemic has almost encircled Kolkatta and authorities are struggling to keep the Bird Flu from reaching Kolkatta.

    West Bengal has appealed to New Delhi to allow the United States and China to come to its aid in battling the disease, an official said on Wednesday. We need foreign help to stem the deadly virus, which is spreading at an alarming rate," said West Bengal animal resources minister Anisur Rahaman. The latest exchange between West Bengal Govt. and US Ambassador brings out several issues:-


    - It is amusing that West Bengal would call for help from a US Govt. Its not long since West Bengal CM called the US president the “leader of a gang of killers” in his letter and the US ambassador warned of “serious repercussions” on his government’s perception of West Bengal.

    - Its not long since Govt of India had refused US help during Tragedy as Big as Tsunami.

    I guess those were different times and politicians have short memory!

    Siezing on the opportunity, the US Ambassador said the offer was made to both the Centre and the West Bengal government a few days ago, an embassy spokesperson said that assistance was offered to the Union Ministries of Health and Agriculture through the External Affairs Ministry on January 23.


    News

    News