MAHARASHTRA

Impressive Mumbai Rally Begins

Campaign against Modi Regime

Mariam Dhawale

ON August 1, 2015, the CPI(M) Maharashtra state committee began the nationwide campaign against the anti-people and pro-corporate policies, the communal conspiracies and the corruption scandals of the BJP-led Modi regime at the centre, and the BJP-led Phadnavis regime in the state, by organising an impressive rally of over 10,000 people. They included peasants, agricultural workers, organised and unorganised workers, women, students and youth from all over Maharashtra, except the Vidarbha region for which a separate rally will be held in Nagpur on August 12.

The rally was led by Sitaram Yechury, MP, general secretary of the CPI(M); Dr Ashok Dhawale, central secretariat member; Central Committee members Narasayya Adam (state secretary and ex-MLA), Mahendra Singh and Sudha Sundararaman; and state secretariat members J P Gavit, MLA, Dr Kishore Theckedath, Mariam Dhawale, Barkya Mangat, Kisan Gujar, Nathu Salve, M H Shaikh, Vijay Gabhane and P S Ghadge.

By a coincidence of history, August 1 was the birth anniversary of the legendary Communist poet, writer and singer of Maharashtra, Anna Bhau Sathe who, along with his comrades Amar Shaikh and Datta Gavhankar, formed the renowned Lal Bavta Kalapathak (cultural squad) of the Communist Party from the 1940s to the 1960s. The same day also happened to be the death anniversary of the staunch anti-imperialist fighter Lokmanya Tilak, whose declaration that ‘Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it’ had galvanised the country.   

Prior to the rally, a 16-member delegation led by Sitaram Yechury met the governor of Maharashtra Ch Vidyasagar Rao for over an hour at the Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum highlighting the burning problems afflicting all the toiling sections of the state. The detailed memorandum included issues related to price rise, non-implementation of the food security act, weakening of the public distribution system, against the anti-peasant and pro-corporate land acquisition Ordinance/bill, stringent implementation of the forest rights act, remunerative prices and sufficient bank loans with low interest rates to the peasantry as per the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, the problems related to irrigation and power, allocation of more funds to MNREGA for provision of work and enhanced wages to agricultural workers, against anti-labour and pro-corporate changes in labour laws, regularisation of all scheme workers, provision of social security and minimum wages of Rs 15,000 to all unorganised workers, regularising the slums till 2015, burning problems related to education and employment, and strict action in cases of atrocities and violence against dalits, adivasis, women and minorities.

The long march started from Jijamata Udyan, Byculla and thousands of people walked for nearly two hours over a distance of over seven kilometres in the heart of South Mumbai and it culminated in a large public meeting at Azad Maidan. The participants carried red flags, placards, banners and raised slogans against the anti-people policies of the government.

The staunch anti-communal crusader Teesta Setalvad, who is being hounded by the CBI as per the dictates of the Modi regime, also participated in the long march, addressed the gathering and extended support to the issues raised by the CPI(M). The DYFI, SFI and AIDWA had recently organised a demonstration in Mumbai in defence of Teesta and Javed Anand. Students from the FTII further enlivened the rally with a couple of revolutionary songs.

The public meeting was addressed by Sitaram Yechury, Dr Ashok Dhawale, Narasayya Adam, Sudha Sundararaman, J P Gavit MLA, Mariam Dhawale, MH Shaikh, Nathu Salve, Arjun Adey, Shubha Shamim and Dr Ajit Nawale. Mahendra Singh presided over the rally and Shailendra Kamble conducted the proceedings.

Sitaram Yechury placed the background of the Party’s nationwide August campaign against the Modi regime, which will culminate in the all India hartal on September 2. Dealing with various aspects of the severe agrarian crisis that has led to thousands of peasant suicides in several states, he said that the current struggle was between ‘kisans and dhanwans’ and the Modi regime’s policies were squarely in favour of the ‘dhanwans’ and against the ‘kisans’. He gave instance of the draconian Land Acquisition Ordinance, the refusal to give remunerative prices to the peasantry despite the pre-election assurances in the BJP manifesto, the moves to kill the MGNREGA, the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and the Food Security Act (FSA), the reactionary changes in labour laws and so on.

Hitting out at the cascading corruption scandals of the BJP-led central government and the BJP-led state governments of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, he accused the Modi regime of adopting double standards – disrupting parliament demanding the resignations of corrupt ministers in the UPA regime when in opposition on the one hand, and refusing to make its own corrupt ministers and chief ministers resign on the other. He declared that the struggle against the BJP regime’s cocktail of corruption, crime and crony capitalism must now be fought on the roads throughout the country.

Lashing out at the communal conspiracies of the BJP regime, he extended full support of the CPI(M) to valiant fighters against communalism like Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand. While condemning all kinds of terrorism and communal riots which are two sides of the same coin, he said that Yakub Memon was hanged for his role in the Mumbai bomb blasts of March 1993 which killed 257 people, but what about the Shiv Sena and BJP criminals who were responsible for the killing of 900 people in the Mumbai communal riots two months earlier in December 1992 and January 1993? They have been left scotfree. Even the Justice Srikrishna Commission has opined that the Mumbai communal riots were the causative factor of the Mumbai bomb blasts. The RSS-VHP-BJP perpetrators of the horrific GGujarat riots of 2002 are also still at large. It is this injustice that we are fighting against.

In conclusion, he said that it was in the month of August 1942 that Mahatma Gandhi had given the Quit India call to the British imperialists from this historic city itself. Today we are giving the same call from here to the communalists and are appealing to the people that this is a struggle between those who want to save India and those who want to break India. Only massive struggles of the working people will help us to achieve our aim.

Sitaram Yechury then addressed a well-attended press conference in Mumbai. Both the CPI(M) rally and the press conference received good media publicity.

The CPI(M) Maharashtra state committee had published 15,000 attractive printed posters for both the Mumbai and the Nagpur rallies. The Nagpur rally on August 12 will be addressed by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and AIKS general secretary Hannan Mollah, and it will concentrate on the agrarian crisis which is the worst in Vidarbha. Each district committee had printed thousands of leaflets. Between August 2-14 there will be many rallies and demonstrations at the district and tehsil centres all over the state. The state committee has published 40,000 copies of a 32-page booklet written by Dr Ashok Dhawale against the Modi regime. It is being enthusiastically sold all over the state.

The August Campaign in Andhra Pradesh

Penumalli Madhu

THE Central Committee of the CPI(M) had asked all its units to take up extensive campaign throughout the country from August 1-14, on the issues of the people, particularly the  rural masses. In the light of this, the Andhra Pradesh state committee has thoroughly discussed as to how the issues of various sections of people should be taken up linking the same with our alternative approach; ways and means to rope in wider sections in the campaign and decided to conduct various activities in the entire state.

There have been conscious efforts to galvanise the statewide activities and programmes have been chalked out       date-wise, highlighting the campaign during August 1-14. The main issues that the campaign will focus are (a) integrated development of the state, (b) education, (c) health (d) social justice (e) working class issues (f) issues of urban dwellers, agricultural workers and artisans.

The district committees have been advised to identify the local issues at their level and workout plans locally, involving various sections of toiling people.  In line with this, preparatory meetings were also held at various centres; booklets have been printed on the issues to be highlighted, thousands and thousands of pamphlets were printed, district level workshops have been conducted.

INTEGRATED

DEVELOPMENT

Lop sided development has been a major issue among various regions in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The mindless pursuit of capitalist policies, unmindful of the real development of the people, have put paid all the hopes of integrated development of the state, leading to regional imbalances. The Party state committee had taken cognisance of the regional imbalances and the aspirations of the people in such regions and constituted various committees like, Rayalaseema development committee, Uttharandhra development committee, Capital region development committee and an exclusive committee on tribal areas. The crucial task of these committees is to project the alternative pro-people programme of development of the region and to build a wide consensus and mobilise all organisations, groups, individuals of the regions who have been identified.

In order to actively conduct the campaign for the overall development of the state, various booklets, pamphlets have been printed and widely circulated amongst the aforesaid regions. Public meetings, seminars were also conducted highlighting the campaign for the overall development of the state without regional imbalances. Reports are reaching the state centre that the campaign is in full swing and is receiving public applause.

EDUCATION

A systematic campaign has been unleashed to highlight the deterioration of public education in Andhra Pradesh.  Teachers, students, parents and the staff of educational department were involved to conduct seminars, distribute pamphlets highlighting as to how corporatisation of education is destroying the vitals of the public education system; and to promote the standards of government educational institutions.

Prakash karat, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member inaugurated this two week long spirited campaign at Guntur on August 1.  He underscored the issues to be raised in the campaign, regarding farmers’ issues, against the land acquisition ordinance and the September 2 strike.

The first two to three days of the campaign i.e., from August 1 to 4, focused to create consciousness amongst the general public on the overall development on education front.

The campaign from August 5 to 14, will concentrate on the issues of health, social justice, working class issues, issues of urban, agricultural workers and artisans. On social justice, there will be series of activities involving like-minded organisations on the issues of dalits, tribals, minorities and women. During the campaign, various independent organisations are joining and highlighting the hitherto unaddressed issues and areas of concern. The barbers working in TTD Tirumala have brought out a pamphlet depicting the deleterious impact of neo-liberal reforms on their profession and how the unorganised sections of them are suffering due to the impact of the policies of governments.

There are nearly hundred pamphlets by various sections synchronising our campaign in the state apart from 16 pamphlets brought out by the AP state committee. There have been concerted efforts to coalesce struggles of various sections in our campaign so as to have a wider reach amongst the general public. The involvement of various progressive personalities, who oppose the policies of globalisation, privatisation of health and education, has been the highlight of our campaign.

It has been decided to conduct dharnas and picketings in front of mandal centres and municipalities on August 14, on the issues raised involving various sections of people we met during the campaign. The campaign is being taken up in right earnest so as to implement the call given by the Central Committee in letter and spirit and will surely ignite the mass movements in the days to come.