No To SEZ And A Dalit Question

No To SEZ And A Dalit Question

Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time- one Seventy Three

Palash Biswas

Skriti Biswas, Bengal RPI leader raised the issue from the dias of the two day national convention on SEZ and Nandigram Saturday Afternoon in Kolkata, which went abegging.The convention, which was to be held at the Salt Lake stadium initially, was evented at the Netaji Institute in Sealdah. No doubt, there is an urgent need to have a open discussion on Nandigram and every effort in that direction is highly welcome.We appreciate this convention on Nandigram at Kolkata and hope that better and tangible results will emerge out of it which will prove beneficial for the people.But without addressing the basic questions related to Caste Hindu supremacy in Bengali society, Nandigram resistance has to expire some day. As the mini poll has indicated, the CPIM`s scientific ElectionNo To SEZ And A Dalit Question
Machinery and Gestapo are quite copetent to meet whatsoever challanges any time , under any circumstances! Without a real dalit movement Left Front has to stay in power and Buddha is quite certain to romp home!


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Role of all political parties - in the Nandigram fiasco and other anti-land acquisition movement- should be analysed. It is not only CPIM, that is to be blamed for the controversies revolving around the setting up of SEZ accross the country, activist Medha Patkar said. Talking to the scribes on the sidelines of the two day National convention,Medha said that role played by all political parties, as far as framing and implementing of SEZ policy is concerned, needs to be assessed well.

She said,` SABHIO PARTIES KI BHOOMIKA TALASHNI CHAHIYE-- AISA NAHI KI BAKEE SAB DOODH KE DHULE HAIN. AUR KEVAL CPIM DOSHI HAI.

Medha, however, did not spare CPIM either. She criticised CPIM`s role in Nandigram and hitted very hard. She said,`What`s BJP we know,. But these ( the deaths in Nandigram) are not fake encounters as discovered in Gujrat . These are real encounters!

She said very clearly,` All parties are responsible at one level, but in Nandigram episode CPIM is most responsible.’

Participants in the convention also doubt Trinamool’s resistance in Nandigram. “I wonder if the Trinamool subscribes to the demand to abolish SEZs,” said Dipankar Bhattacharya, general secretary, CPI(M-L). The convention has four major demands — abolition of the SEZ Act, 2005, abolition of Land Acquisition Act, 1894, resignation of CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and autonomy for people’s institutions at the grassroots to decide issues like land acquisition and development. The convention is being attended by almost 1,000 social workers besides Roy, Mahasweta Devi, Medha Patkar, Dipankar Bhattacharya, John Dayal, Debabrata Bandopadhyay, G N Saibaba, Ulka Mahajan and Siddiqullah Chowdhury.

The Trinamool Congress and the Gana Unnayan O Jana Adhikar Sangram Samiti have been partners in the Bhoomi Ucched Pratirodh Committee — the forum that has been agitating against the state government’s proposed land acquisition plan at Nandigram. Trinamool, however, has been kept out of this two-day convention. Samiti representatives claimed no invitation was sent out separately to various organisations. Participants have come in on their own, after the convention was announced.


Sukriti made a serious allegation that Muslims and dalits are being used by Caste Hindu politicians, intelectual and activists! As they mobilise the underprevileged and Have Nots against the ststepower with an issue like SEZ, but they are least concerned with socil scenetrio in Bengal and India.These people have no sympathy with the persecuted refugees, dalits, tribal and Muslims. They happen to be silent on issues like Sacchar Committee recommendations, citizenship amendment act and deportation drive, reservation and quota! How is this possible that they oppose capitalist Marxist CPIM and are quite detached to make any change in the social scenerio!

Well, here you are! Mahashweta devi, Mamta Bannerjee and Shaoli Mitra do not stand on the same ground where Jamaet Ul Hind leader Sidicullah Chowdhari or sukriti Biswas stands.

THe convention was highlighted as the focus was on international Icons like Arundhati Ray, Sandeep pandey, Medha Patkar, Mahashweta Devi and Dipankar Bhattacharya , simply because Bite Value. Sukriti has not any bite Value.
Another dalit leader from Ambedkar Mission DR. Debashish Majumdar pointed out that Nandigram Rsistance is basically a dalit uprising. He said that the Dalits and Muslims may change the scenerio with a real Nationwide Dalit Movement.

The National Convention was spectacular for large scale participation of Muslims, nearly half the delegates and dalits. A bunch of Bhumi Ucched Committee leaders quoted the history of peasants` movement and Tamralipta uprising during British Raj.

It was the call of the day, a nationwide dalit Movement led by Dalits and Muslims and supported by democratic sections of other communities. Some other dalit speakers quoted Ambedkar and Guruchand Thakur and insisted to punish Buddhdev Bhattacharya. Bhumi Ucched Committe leaders demanded immediate arrest of Buddhadev for Nandigram Genocide. They argued, SEZ or no SEZ, the Genocide should not be forgotten!

The low profile delegates also insisted to ensure a democratic environment in Bengal before any peace initiative.My dear friends, do understand the left strategy of survival,West Bengal's ruling Left Frontdesperate to seek an escape route Saturday said the all-party peace talks on Nandigram, which collapsed with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee walking out of a meet after her demand to call the March 14 mayhem a genocide was shot down, would continue at all levels - the state, the district and the block. It is insisting to bargain with Mamat Bannerjee and her party TMC, isolating Bhumi Ucched Committee and Jamate Ul Hind. Subhash Chakrabarti, as the Bengal Sports minister has the final say in affairs related to Salt Lake stadium. Chakrabarti ultimately denied the convention its venue. Why? Mamat is not invited. It was Chakrabarti, who interuppted Mamata in the All Party Meeting and because of his comments, Mamta Walked out. Now the convention skipped Mamta. In Fact, the Left is trying its best to isolate Mamta Bannerjee from other forces of Nandigram resistance!
However, the communists said the March 14 police firing cannot be called 'genocide' going by the dictionary meaning of the expression and hence it would not be part of the draft of the talks as demanded by Banerjee.

'The Left Front today decided that the talks would continue not only at the state level (as demanded by Banerjee earlier leading to the May 24 abortive peace meeting) but also at the district and block levels,' said Forward Bloc (West Bengal) secretary and veteran Left leader Ashok Ghosh Saturday.

'Left Front chairman Biman Bose would be in charge of the modalities of the same,' Ghosh said after a Left Front meeting.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who attended the meeting, wanted Ghosh to take the leading role in the talks as before so that Banerjee could again be persuaded to join the talks.

The all-party talks had collapsed on its first day on May 24 with Banerjee's walkout over the word 'genocide'. She had demanded that the March 14 police firing that killed 14 be called genocide, but Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders shot down the demand.


Renowned author and social activist Arundhati Roy has questioned Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s role in the Nandigram imbroglio. In the city to attend a two-day convention on ‘Nandigram and Special Economic Zones’ that began from Saturday, Roy said Mamata’s design in the Nandigram incident is “opportunistic and cynical”. Roy said the burning issue of acquiring land for industry in the state, which has stoked popular imagination in the entire country, has been turned into a game between the Trinamool and the CPI(M). “The Trinamool is no different from the CPI(M). They would have done the same thing if they were in power,” Roy said. Roy has criticised the manner in which local residents of the area have driven each other out, mutilating a humanitarian issue to suit political pursuits. On the present situation, Roy said the government is using all its resources to “deoxygenate” the place and the people. She said people will not be able to survive in such an environment. “How many dead people per acre is the government willing to accept to create SEZs? Time has come to decide on what we want — ten per cent growth or democracy?” she asked. The author said land acquisition cases in the entire country cannot be considered in isolation, hinting at the need to formulate a comprehensive policy on SEZs.

Medha Patkar visits Singur
Hooghly (Singur): Social activist Medha Patkar today visited the houses of two Singur farmers who had committed suicide after their lands were acquired by the state government without their consent for Tata Motors' small car project. Patkar went to the house of Prasanta Das in Khaser Bheri village and that of Haradhan Bag in Beraberi village. Das and Bag had committed suicide on May 25 and in February respectively.

"The West Bengal Government and the Tatas were equally responsible for these suicides," Patkar alleged.

She said special economic zones were mushrooming in the country and the farmers were bearing the brunt.

The villagers asked Patkar to continue her fight against acquisition of farmland for industry saying that many people had not willingly handed over their lands to the government.

Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee, will visit the area tomorrow.


Reliance Doors Open!
Uncertainty over handing over a city market to Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Retail Ltd for redevelopment seemed to have ended with Left Front allies, which had initially opposed the idea, now waving their green signal to the Kolkata Municipal Corp (KMC).The decision was taken at the Left Front's district committee level meeting Friday where the Front partners- Forward Bloc, Communist Party of India (CPI) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) - finally endorsed the civic body's decision to hand over the Park Circus Municipal Market in central Kolkata to Reliance Retail for reconstruction.

"I have explained to the Front leaders that we have allowed Reliance Retail for redevelopment of the market since they are the highest bidders in the global tender call. The question of allowing them for retail business comes much later," said KMC mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya.But whether Reliance Retail Ltd (RRL) would be allowed to start the retail business in a particular portion of the reconstructed building would be decided later, Bhattacharyya said.

The Left parties were principally opposed to the entry of Reliance in retail market.

The Mukesh Ambani-owned RRL attended the global tender call of KMC - the largest civic body in West Bengal - for redeveloping the Park Circus Municipal market.

According to KMC sources, RRL was the highest bidder that agreed to pay over Rs.30 million for the project. RRL was given the market building on a 99-year lease by the Kolkata civic authority.

Earlier, the proposal of handing over the market to Reliance was deferred in the KMC Mayor-in-Council (MiC) meeting as the Left Front partners disagreed with the mayor's willingness to rope in Reliance for the project.

The world's second largest professional services company with an annual revenue of $20 billion, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, has decided to expand its services range in Kolkata by setting up an enterprise application software services delivery centre, its second one in India after Mumbai.
According to Dileep Choksi, the joint management partner of Deloitte, one of the big four global consulting companies, it will start offering its full range of consulting business--from audit and tax consulting to financial advisory services--to its eastern region clients as well as companies located in other parts of India and abroad.

While the West Bengal government is still scouting for 100 acres for Infosys Technologies as it failed to acquire the land opposite to Vedic Village at Rajarhat in New Town within the March 30 deadline, Deloitte's decision to set up its own office at Sector V in Salt Lake Electronics Complex comes as a relief to it.

Deloitte's entry in application software business can be a good news for Debesh Das, the Bengal IT minister, who these days is busy in fixing a meeting with Infosys officials so that they can have a look at an alternative site in and around Kolkata.

Deloitte plans to start its full-fledged operations within the next six weeks with 100 people initially. The majority of them will be in application software developement, said Choksi.
We can’t discourage investments: Buddha

AM JIGEESH
Posted online: Saturday, June 02, 2007 at 0011 hours IST




NEW DELHI, JUNE 1: No matter the unrest in Nandigram or Singur, industrialisation in West Bengal will continue. This has been reaffirmed by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Writing in the latest issue of CPI (M) organ The Marxist, Bhattacharjee strove to to remove doubts over theoretical and ideological issues gripping development in the state.





He has made it clear that his government will not do anything to discourage foreign investment in the state.

The piece is considered an attempt to bridge the gap between the Left Front partners, miffed with the Nandigram episode, and the CPI(M).

Some of Bhattacharjee's party colleagues, too, have been critical of the "blind industrialisation" in the state.

Against this backdrop, Bhattacharjee has listed his arguments for industrialisation and the push being given to investments. "The Opposition is of the view (and a few Left Front partners) that the foreign capitalists are rushing in on their own to exploit us. The actual picture is different. There is tough competition all around. We cannot discourage investment. Had there been an alternative to the present form of investment we would have opted for it. The idea is that we need private capital, with limits set, and not everywhere," Bhattacharjee said in the article.

However, he asserted that his party would not allow FDI in the retail sector.

Maintaining that the Left Front government is "closely watching" the changes in Communist-ruled countries in Asia and Latin America, the chief minister said the model set by them is not being followed in West Bengal.

"It will be a mistake to follow a specific model," he said. He has also said that the Left would have to strive for a "workable alternative."
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=165946

CPI(M) unimpressed with PM's social charter
New Delh: The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's advise to corporates to fulfil their social responsibilities has not impressed the CPI(M), which has asked him to drop the liberalisation agenda altogether rather than making such "pious" and "meaningless" appeals.

Noting that asking capitalism to cease exploitation was like "asking for the moon", it said what was required is a "change of course" in the focus of the economic policies from being "solely preoccupied with corporate profits" towards improving people's welfare".

"Such pious declarations and appeals to a change of heart cannot and will not meaningfully alter the situation which the prime minister himself described as progress (having benefited) India and not Bharat," an editorial in party organ People's Democracy said.

Though the prime minister's advise seeking a partnership with industry to achieve a more equitable and inclusive growth cannot be faulted, all appeals to a change of heart is not only "meaningless but is empty rhetoric" as exploitation under capitalism is inherant, it said.

"Liberalisation with a human face, however, desirable it may be, can never be achieved as these two simply do not go together. If the objective is to improve the human livelihood, then liberalisation agenda needs necessarily to be abandoned," the editorial said.

Observing that all expressions of concern at the vulgarity of conspicuous consumption may be well-intentioned, the party sought to know the reason for the growing divide and glaring disparities between the "shining India" and the "suffering India".

If the PM's declared objectives are to be realised, then "what is required is a change of course in economic policies; the abandonment of the neo-liberal policy framework and a shift in the focus of economic policies from being solely preoccupied with corporate profits towards improving people's welfare," the editorial said.

The editorial, however, said there was no need to grudge the success of India's billionaires, whose combined worth of USD 191 billion is equal to one-fourth of the country's GDP, but reminded that there was a need to look at the other end of the spectrum.

Claiming that the government spending in social sector has decreased, it pointed out the neglect of public health, rising malnutrition among children and adults, prevalence of child labour and illiteracy and growing unemployment as examples of the hiatus between shining and suffering India.

"Inclusive growth means the continuous economic empowerment of our people. This, in turn, means much larger expenditures and public investment in the social sector. This is what was promised in UPA's Common Minimum Programme.

"However, the total expenditure on the social sector as a percentage of GDP declined from 28.26 in 2001-02 to 27.19 per cent in 2006-07," it added.


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Kolkata, June 1: Tension and uncertainty prevailed in the Barakar area after the visit of BCCL officials early in the morning and a notice of eviction for the residents of the adjacent area was circulated there again. Burdwan district administration officials said that earlier a notice for eviction was issued in April by the BCCL. Uday Sarkar, sabhadhipati of Burdwan zilla parisad, said that he was not yet informed on the development on Barakar coal field area. He asked the administration to look into the matter.

Rumours were doing the rounds in the Barakar coalfield area that thousands of people would have to leave within a short period. Alokesh Roy, SDO, Asansol said that during the day he received several phone calls on the matter.


The BCCL had taken the initiative to evict the residents from the Barakar coalfield area which had been sinking owing to illegal mining being undertaken there for a long time. The authorities had failed to check illegal mining resulting in recurrence of incidents of subsidence in the area in the past one year. The BCCL authorities, therefore, decided that for the safety of the locals the area needs to be evacuated. But locals were reluctant to move out without proper compensation and a rehabilitation package.

Gopinath Nigam, ADM Asansol, said that he tried to contact the BCCL chairman at Dhanbad for discussion. But he could not be contacted. He said that the district administration asked the BCCL authorities to discuss with the state government the rehabilitation and compensation package for the residents. It is an enormous task to relocate thousands of people from Barakar to some other place. If the authorities take the step to evict the residents from the area the district administration would have to be involved. But the BCCL authorities did neither contact the state government nor the district administration during the past one year regarding the rehabilitation package for the people residing in the area.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=239161


SEZ are here to stay, says Kamal Nath
From our ANI Correspondent

Mumbai, May 29: Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath today said the Centre was reviewing land buy policy for low-tax Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in view of widespread opposition.


Nath, however, said the policy per se will remain, but there would be no compulsory acquisition of lands for SEZs.

"The Central Government has one clear thing on SEZs, that they are here to stay. There would be no compulsory land acquisition," Nath told reporters on the sidelines of an India-Gulf Cooperation Council meeting.

The government has faced protests from farmers and landowners over its plans to acquire land to develop hundreds of SEZs - large, tax-free industrial enclaves - around the country to boost exports and economic growth.

In West Bengal, 14 people were killed and more than 100 injured in March in protests against a proposed chemical hub in Nandigram.

On rupee's appreciation, Nath said it was a matter of concern, as it could spell doom for exporters and manufacturers as well.

"This is rational phenomenon that is happening and the government is aware of it and government is seized with the problem, that is all I can say," said Nath.

The partially convertible rupee has risen more than 9 percent this year on robust capital flows into Asia's third-largest economy.


Citu backs CM’s chemical hub plan
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070530/asp/bengal/story_7849886.asp
Calcutta, May 29: Citu today pledged support for Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s dream project, the chemical hub, and dubbed those opposing it on the ground of displacement of villagers anti-development.

“(Social activist) Medha (Patkar) and others who run foreign-funded NGOs are opposed to development. We are also concerned about farmers and environment. But we want industry for the creation of jobs. Chemical industry has good prospects in Bengal and the hub is a new concept. The state must develop it,’’ Citu president M.K. Pandhe said today.

Despite the setback in Nandigram, where the hub was originally planned, the chief minister is firm on setting it up close to the neighbouring Haldia port and has sought a political consensus on the project through an all-party meeting.

Pandhe said the state government is “open to discussions on all aspects”.

Mamata Banerjee has opposed the project, which invol-ves acquisition of farmland and displacement of villagers.

Jamait-i-Ulema Hind’s Siddiqullah Chowdhury, who was at the forefront of the Nandigram agitation, today vowed to “fight against all special economic zones, including the chemical hub’’.

An outfit formed by Jamait and some Naxalite groups will hold a convention on SEZs in the city on June 2 and June 3. “Medha Patkar and author-activist Arundhati Roy will attend it,” Chowdhury said.

Citu members from other states quizzed their leaders on Nandigram on the third day of the union’s general council meeting at Salt Lake Stadium.

The CPM’s West Midnapore secretary, Dipak Sarkar, who has been in charge of East Midnapore since the violence, tried to explain to the comrades what went wrong in Nandigram.

“The questions he had to answer ranged from those on land acquisition and farmers’ compensation to the alleged police excesses,’’ a state Citu leader said.

New Citu general secretary Mohammad Amin said in a report on the political fallout of Nandigram that “though the chief minister admitted that the firing was a mistake and ought to have been avoided”, it “was not against peaceful villagers, as the case is made out to be’’.

Amin supported the right of employees in information technology to organise unions and resort to strikes and said Citu will not chart a different course in Left-ruled Bengal.

Bengal Citu leaders said they were fighting for infotech employees’ rights, such as minimum wages and provident funds, and pressuring their employers to abide by labour laws.

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Why No Land for
Modern Days Temples?
http://www.radianceweekly.com/Industrialisation.php?content_id=404&issue_id=57
By: SOROOR AHMED


Industries are our modern days temples. This was the philosophy enunciated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The first Prime Minister of the country has the credit to lay the foundation of the first-phase of industrialisation of the country, especially during the Second Five Year Plan. Nehru used the religious diction to introduce modern industries in the country as he was aware of the ground reality. Not only the people of the country are religious-minded the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, used religious connotation to counter the British 'industrial imperialism'. Thus to remove the misgivings about the post-independence industrialisation Nehru equated industries with temples. As the people do not hesitate in donating money and land for the construction of temples he called upon them to show the similar zeal towards setting up industries. By doing so they got job as well as money as compensation for land acquired for this purpose.


It is not that there were no industries in India before independence. There were some industries on the western coast of India, viz. West Maharashtra and Gujarat. Larsen and Toubro, Unilever (later Hindustan Lever), Wimco and many more were in existence decades before independence. Mumbai, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Surat, etc. emerged as textile and jute mills centres.

A British industrialist Josiah Marshall Heath tried to set up an iron and steel plant in 1830s but he failed in his attempt. And in 1875 a small steel factory came up in Barakar in Bengal.

Jamshedji Tata did try to come up with a steel plant in 1880s but failed in his attempt because of the non-cooperation of the British rulers. However, when in the earlier years of the 20th century he got the support of the then Viceroy Curzon a steel plant came up in Jamshedpur. The Viceroy even offered to get built a 45-mile long rail track from the mines to the proposed factory.

Curzon took this step because by the end of the 19th century Belgium and then subsequently Germany became the largest suppliers of iron and steel to India though till 1880s the United Kingdom used to monopolise it. As rail and road construction was at its peak in British India iron was much in demand. The British were developing this infrastructure to take away raw material from India and to sell their goods to the interior of the country.

So when Nehru introduced industrialisation his emphasis was more on the core sector. Thus several big steel and heavy engineering industries came up in the country. Most of them were in the mineral-rich region of the country as transporting raw material was no easy job.

In all these different phases of industrialisation land acquisition did not become as big an issue as now. However, in the liberalisation era nobody seems to be asking the big question as to why more and more people are coming out against the construction of modern day temples? That too when the people, as such, are becoming more religious or at least ritualistic. Why the people are facing – or have faced – bullets and batons in Kalinganagar, Nandigram, Singur, Ghaziabad, Gopalpur, etc and not parting away with their land for the construction of industries. After all unlike the real temple – where the people do not expect any compensation – the government is prepared to give money for the land.

Tracing the answer to this knotty question would not be an easy task. But one thing is apparently clear: it is a case of once bitten, twice shy. The people have learnt the bitter lesson of industrialisation and displacement. They have now become wise and know as to who are the real beneficiaries of the industrialisation. They are least interested in accepting the government version that industrialisation is essential for the development of the country. The government and the entire media machinery – which is now mostly in the hands of private sector – may argue in favour of the steel industries but in the far off nooks and corners of the country nobody seems to be prepared to lend their ears to this type of arguments.

There is another angle too. In 1950s and 1960s the people showed more eagerness in giving land to the government for building public sector industries. Today when the same government is asking them to give their land to the private industries or multi-national companies they are prepared to sacrifice everything. It is not that in the past the government move to acquire land for public sector undertakings has not been resisted. In some cases the people did oppose the government too, but not as strongly as the private industrialists today.

It is also a fact that the construction of the Bhakra-Nangal Dam in Punjab did not generate such a prolong protest and opposition as in the case of big dams over Narmada or Tehri.

Is it that the common mass has become much more aware and do not want to be cheated again. They are now calling the bluff. While farmers do get some compensation the others – such as landless labourers, petty businessmen – who get displaced from the area get nothing: neither money nor job. In the past the government had been extremely slow in rehabilitating them. Once deprived of the economic activities many of the displaced people either turned into criminals or became cannon-fodder for the parties like Jan Sangh to achieve their goal. These displaced adivasis were used by the Sangh Parivar to trigger communal riots in the industrial belts of the country in 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

So if the government had failed to fully satisfy the people affected by industrialisation how can these private industries do any good to them, that is, rehabilitate them.

Similarly, people are now aware that the big dams are becoming counter-productive too and often cause river water dispute among the states.

Besides, it needs to be noted that in the earlier phase of industrialisation most of the industries came up in the mineral rich region in the forest and plateau region of the country. From agriculture point of view the land may not be very fertile and even sparsely populated. Yet there were problems of displacement.