On July 13, 2010 morning at 11:30 AM Andhra Pradesh police killed Com. Ganesh (Tholem Rama Rao), Squad Commander of CPI(ML)-New Democracy in the Bakka Chintapalli village, a tribal hamlet of Polaram village in Warangal district. Com. Ganesh along with other members of the squad had gone to Bakka Chintapalli village. Coming to know of it, police contingent started from Hanmankonda (Warangal) reached the village at 11:30 AM and suddenly attacked the squad. Com. Ganesh was killed on the spot while other members of squad escaped.

Com. Ganesh, a tribal, was the resident of Gunjedu village of Pakala Kothagudem mandal of Warangal district. He was aged 26 years. He was active in PDSU. While he was student of Intermediate, he left studies to join the revolutionary movement. He joined the self-defence squad. Police executed this attack to terrorize the villagers and eliminate a revolutionary devoted to the cause of the poor and oppressed people.

While the Congress Govt. declares to solve the problems of the people, it is attacking the revolutionaries who are fighting for the people. While the Govt. talks of addressing the issues of the people, it is bent on eliminating those taking up these issues. It is launching murderous attacks against the revolutionaries, resorting to even fake encounters.

Immediately large number of villagers of Gunjedu, Bakka Chintapalli village assembled in large number (over two thousand) and protested against the police attack. The police opened fire on the angry villagers who according to media reports had pelted stones. People did not allow the police to take away the body of the martyred comrade. Only next day, the body was given for postmortem.

On 14^th July 2010 a big procession was held against the police attack. Leaders of the Party and mass organizations led the procession and later addressed the mass meeting.

Condemning this police attack, Andhra Pradesh State Committee of CPI (ML)-New Democracy has demanded a judicial enquiry by a High Court sitting judge. AP State Committee also demanded that action be taken against the police officers responsible for this attack.

CPI (ML)-New Democracy pays its homage to the revolutionary memory of the martyred comrade, expresses condolences to the members of his family and vows to carry forward the struggle for New Democratic Revolution for which Com. Ganesh offered supreme sacrifice.

On the morning of 2^nd July 2010 member of the Politburo and Spokesperson of CPI (Maoist) was shot dead in a fake encounter by Andhra Pradesh police in the forests of Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh. The account dished out by the police appears to be false and a poor attempt at covering up what clearly was a fake encounter i.e. a cold blooded murder by the police. It is reported that he along with another person was picked up a day earlier from Nagpur in Maharashtra. This brutal and senseless murder is one more such in the infamous saga of the cold blooded killings of revolutionaries by AP police. It is also reported that the Andhra Special Intelligence Bureau was on his trail for months. This killing comes in the course of ‘war against people’s struggles’ launched by the current UPA Govt. since September last.

58 year old Cherukuri Rajkumar was an MTech from the Regional Engineering College, Warangal and had spent almost four decades in revolutionary work with three decades in the underground. He was the  spokesperson of CPI (Maoist) and it was the duty of the Central Govt. to ensure that he is treated as a political prisoner. In fact the Central Govt. and state govts. treat revolutionaries as dreaded criminals and not as political prisoners. This attitude of the ruling classes is in line with their attitude towards poor and ordinary people of the country- workers and peasants- whom they expect to bear with their exploitation and oppression and neither raise their voice nor struggle against them in which such struggle is criminalized.

His killing has come in the backdrop of so-called offer of talks by the Central Govt. to CPI (Maoist). It may come as a surprise to some peace activists but this killing thoroughly exposes the real intentions of the Central Govt.

Central Committee of CPI(ML)-New Democracy issued the following statement dated July 6^th 2010 :

Central Committee of CPI(ML)-New Democracy strongly condemns killing of Com. Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, member of the Politburo and Spokesperson of CPI(Maoist) by  Special Intelligence Branch of Andhra Pradesh police in Adilabad forest in a fake encounter. AP police claimed to have killed him along with Hem Chandra Pandey in an encounter with police on 2^nd July, 2010 morning but all facts and circumstances of the killing clearly establish that this was out and out a fake encounter.

Killing of such a senior leader of a communist revolutionary organization clearly shows the heinous murderous policy of the govts. of ruling classes to physically eliminate leaders of such organizations to suppress the communist revolutionary movement in the country. This fake encounter also proves utter insincerity of the Central Govt. while it talks of dialogue with CPI (Maoist). It appears that the latter is only meant for intellectuals desirous of “peace with justice” while the Govt. is hell bent on perpetuating thoroughly unjust, oppressive and exploitative order and on intensifying oppression of tribals and suppression of the struggles of the rural poor. The present police-paramilitary offensive of Central Govt. including “Operation Greenhunt” is for the above aims. The Central Govt. has also declared drafting of Army in this suppression though at present the Govt. is talking of Army’s “supportive” role.

CPI(ML)-New Democracy demands that the police officials who executed this murder and Govt. functionaries who ordered it should be tried for murder. These all should be immediately arrested for such trial.

Central Committee of CPI(ML)-New Democracy calls upon the people of the country to see the real murderous face of the rulers and build a powerful movement against suppression of communist revolutionaries and repression on people’s movements including fake encounters and beat back the attacks of the reactionary ruling classes against the revolutionary movement. We also call upon all revolutionary, progressive and democratic forces to mobilize the people in protest against the trampling of democratic rights of the struggling people in order to suppress their revolutionary struggles, including killing of communist revolutionary leaders and cadres in fake encounter. We appeal to civil liberties and democratic rights organizations and activists to raise their voice against this fake encounter and against Govt. policy of suppression of communist revolutionaries.

Central Committee of CPI(ML)-New Democracy pays its homage to Com. Azad.

Immediately after news of his killing surfaced, AP State Committee of CPI(ML)-ND had issued the statement on July 2^nd 2010 which is being given below:

Andhra Pradesh State committee of CPI (ML)-New Democracy strongly condemns the brutal killing of Com. C. Rajkumar alias Azad in a staged encounter along with another associate. The story doled out by the police that they came across a Group of "Naxalites" while combing the forest area in Wankhede is a concoction to create the facade of an encounter. Infact Azad was picked by the police in Sitamarhi in Nagpur city, subjected to third degree methods and gunned down in cold blood.

False "encounters" and gunning down communist revolutionaries  in cold blood has been one key instrument in the gamut of state violence on the movement.

Andhra Pradesh state committee of the party calls upon all democracy-loving people to condemn protest the  brutal killing of CPI (Maoist) leader Azad. It demands that criminal proceedings should be initiated against the police officials responsible for the killing of Azad. It demands a stop to the policy of annihilation of communist revolutionaries in the name of encounters.

– 26 years later, still poses the question -  How Indian is the Indian State?

 One by one, the blocks added on in the events after the night of 2^nd – 3^rd Dec., 1984 when MIC gas poured out from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal and wrapped the city in its lethal cocoon. The judicial verdict delivered by the CJM Bhopal on 7^th June, 2010 is actually only a derivative – but it carries the essence of the drive which has permeated the entire events related to the Gas Tragedy. The drive is of the Indian State – Central Govt., Judiciary,- and the subservient media to sellout the interests of the Indian people, of the dead and dying victims of Bhopal especially to protect and defend the interests of American MNC Union Carbide. Through 26 years this drive has been steady and unwavering. Today when the natural culmination of the drive has come in a judicial verdict giving 2 years jail to 8 officials for 35000 deaths and lakhs of living deaths, the protection is still on. Behold the farce of the daily Press convulsed over the judgment, of ex officials exposing the obvious truth and politicians of the Congress pointing fingers away from the then Rajiv Gandhi led Central  Govt. – all to preempt and subvert the anger of the people, by saying all the obvious things and of course doing nothing.

            The Bhopal Gas Tragedy – the most massive industrial disaster in the world. Involved is  an American MNC which well knew that this disaster was waiting to happen The successive Govts of India – the Central Govt. of Rajeev Gandhi which first arranges for Anderson to leave India unhampered (1984), then along with Supreme Court agrees to drop all charges against UCC for a meagre compensation  (1989), the Central Govt. of Manmohan Singh whose ministers agree to absolve Dow Chemicals of all liabilities, and 6 years of NDA Govt. which  reports state was not over anxious for justice. The Supreme Court, which brokers a deal in 1989 against the interests of the country, the Supreme Court 1996 which dilutes the charges from 304 (II) to 304 (A) IPC; the CJM in 2010 who uses the curtailed space before him to serve the UCC by allowing sentences to run concurrently over 2 years, instead of sequentially which would give 4 years in jail. And always the Govt. of India with its refusal to allow proceedings for extradition of UCC Chairman Anderson who lives openly in New York. Now Cong spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan joins American Govt. to imply that bygones should be allowed to be bygones.

            All over the country, people are showing that they have already internalized even if not fully understood the lessons of the past 63 years since 1947. Repeatedly, the Govt. of the day stands with MNCs and imperialism – it is one pole and the people the other. The Indian State is ready to sell its people and their interests and all its wings connive with each other to allow this to be so. Bhopal is but the most blatant, most horrific, most obvious example of the  subservience to imperialism of the rulers of India. And thus today the people have burst out in struggles against attempts by various Govts to seize the country’s lands, ransack its resources for the sake of MNCs and corporates. People fought for justice not only in Bhopal but also against Enron, against opening of Telecom sector, against so many examples where Govts and courts subverted the struggles. Now that the people are fighting back, the state is showing how for it can go in the service of imperialism. It has declared war against peoples’ struggles in the name of fighting Naxalism.

            Thus the question about  Bhopal too, stands forth starkly. Could there ever have been justice ? The Govt., the judiciary, the other arms of the state stand with MNCs, big corporates, imperialists against the people of Indian. This alone is the truth and Bhopal illustrates this.

FIGHT PRICE RISE!!!

RESIST STATE VIOLENCE!!!

“The first and great necessity of the present to free labour of this country from capitalist slavery is the passing of a law by which 8 hours shall be the normal working day...”. This was the resolution in the Founding Convention of the National Labour Union in the U.S in 1866, and 20 years later, in the city of Chicago on 1^st May, the great outpouring of the workers demonstrated the resolve to attain the demand. Chicago became the epicentre of the struggle and on 3^rd May 1886, the capitalist gendarme attacked a meeting of the striking workers at the McCormick Reaper Factory in which 6 workers were killed. It is against this police brutality that workers held a meeting at the Hay Market which was peaceful and about to end when the police unleashed violence again, killing 4 workers. An incident of bomb throwing took place and the leaders of the workers’ movement were implicated and tried by the jury that sent Parson, Spies, Fischer and Engel to the gallows. Three years later in 1889, the First Congress of the Second International was held in Paris that set aside 1^st May as a day upon which the workers of the world were to fight for an 8-hour working day. And this struggle is inexorably linked to the struggle to end the system of wage slavery. On the occasion of the 124^th anniversary of May Day, IFTU salutes the Chicago martyrs and reiterates its pledge to continue the tradition of struggle against exploitation by capital.

In late 2008 when the U.S economy witnessed one of the worst crises since the Great Depression, resulting in massive unemployment, tremors of that shock were felt in India too, with many of the export-oriented units  dismissing thousands of workers from employment. While one of the main concerns of the working masses continues to be unemployment, contractualisation and wage depression, the grave issue of price rise has become a major and serious concern in the last two years. Of particular adverse impact on the common and working people has been the stupendous increase of prices of essential commodities like rice, wheat, sugar and vegetables. Food prices have never been so worse than the 1970s. Food inflation stood at 16.35% in March, pulses became dearer by over 31% and milk by 18.74%. The Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee while presenting the Union Budget that was marked by a slew of tax concessions to the corporate sector admitted that there could be marginal inflation as a result of his proposals. The hike in excise duties on petro-products further fuelled the price spiral of all essentials. While this phenomenal price rise cut into the meagre earnings of the working people, it is estimated that per capita calorie consumption declined. In fact, the number of hungry people during this period increased. The overall inflation rate hovering around 9.89% in March is expected to touch the double digit.