The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on April 2.
THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) expresses its deep grief at the loss of life and grievous injuries caused by the collapse of an under-construction flyover in Kolkata. The Polit Bureau conveys its deep condolences to the families of those who have lost their life in this tragedy.
THE historic one lakh-strong state-wide rally on March 29, 2016 and the unprecedented day and night sit-in satyagraha on March 29-30 in the heart of Nashik city, squarely placed the Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha (AIKS) for the first time at the centre stage of the peasant movement in Maharashtra. The four main issues on which the Kisan Sabha launched this struggle were peasant loan waiver, remunerative prices, drought relief and land rights. (See the report in People’s Democracy/Loklahar, February 15-21, 2016, for details of the issues.)
THE latest suicide bomber attacks in Brussels by so-called Islamist Fundamentalist groups or fanatic followers of Iraq-Syria Islamic State (ISIS) ideology of establishing a pure, nonetheless an achronistic tottering idea of a pure Islamic Caliphate has raised many questions about the role of fanatic Islamist religious groups who have taken upon themselves the task or responsibility of spreading ‘violence’ in imperialist western countries to take revenge for oppression and repression of the Arab Muslims by western imperialists.
A CPI(M) delegation to the Election Commission has demanded action against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her brazen attempts to undermine the constitutional authority of the poll panel and adequate deployment of central forces to ensure free and fair elections. The delegation, comprising general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Central Secretariat member Nilotpal Basu, met the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) twice in the first week of April.
IN connection with the assault on three Muslim students in Ramesh Enclave in Delhi, who faced violence and threats and were made to chant Mata ki Jai/Bharat Mata ki Jai slogans, a delegation of the Delhi state committee of CPI(M) met the three injured students on March 30. Dilkush, Naeem and Ajmal, all students in a local Madrassa in Ramesh Enclave, Delhi were assaulted by a gang of five men who coerced them to shout slogans like Mata ki Jai/Bharat Mata ki Jai. All three of them were badly beaten, one of them, Dilkush suffered serious fractures.
Sitaram Yechury, flanked by two sons of Comrade Surjeet and other state leaders of CPI(M), releasing the book Selected Works of Comrade Harkishan Singh Surjeet in Chandigarh on April 4. He also unveiled a statue of Com Surjeet. Thereafter, he addressed a meeting of Party workers and other dignitaries assembled at the venue, Bhakna Bhawan (a memorial of Ghadri Babas) on this occasion.
THE sweltering heat and repeated attempts of disruption by TMC goons couldn’t resist the brave people of West Bengal from taking part in the Assembly polls in their fight to restore democracy in the state. Nearly 81 per cent of the 40 lakh electorate turned out to exercise their democratic right in the first phase of the Assembly polls on April 4. In the first phase, polling took place in 18 constituencies - nine in Purulia, three in Bankura and six in West Medinipur district.
TRIPURA Chief Minister and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Manik Sarkar addressed five huge rallies in Lower Assam on April 3 and 4 in support of party candidates from Bijni, Abhayapuri North, Sorbhog, Nalbari and Rangia Assembly constituencies. While top leaders of bourgeoisie parties such as BJP and Congress were travelling to places in helicopters to address rallies, Sarkar, despite being a Chief Minister, went for election campaign by travelling in trains which found some space in otherwise anti-Left electronic media.
THE governor of Himachal Pradesh Dev Vrat was reportedly present on the dais when Ramdev made his widely reported atrocious statements which were nothing but an incitement to violence. Ramdev should be arrested under the clauses for incitement to violence and for hate speech, but more of that later. The country has not heard a single word of the governor’s reaction. Does he agree with such a blatantly communal speech? If not why did he not protest? Why did his office not at least issue a statement distancing himself from such a speech?
ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) or machine intelligence has always been a little scary. We picture evil robots controlling the world and making human beings obsolete or, even worse, using us as energy sources as in the Matrix. The defeat by Google's DeepMind – a computer programme – of the world champion in Go, an ancient Chinese board game, has reinforced the apocalyptic vision of machines taking over the world in the popular media.Not that this vision is totally wrong. The more we transfer human skills to the machine, the more obsolescence in the work force.