India: Agreement between Maoists and Manipur Revolutionary Front

One of the complexities of India, and its revolution, is the relations between the dozens of nationalities. The expansionist Indian state has annexed a number of border nationalities, and the treatment has given rise to struggles for autonomy and independence. Here is a statement by the Maoists of India together with one of those local movements — from the far eastern border region of Manipur.

Thanks to Dave for pointing this out.

JOINT DECLARATION BETWEEN THE CPI (MAOIST) AND
THE REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE’S FRONT OF MANIPUR

A two days joint meeting was held between the Communist Party Of India
(Maoist) and the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) at the Council
Head Quarters of the Revolutionary People’s Front on 21-22 October
2008. At that meeting, both sides have unanimously condemned the
hegemonic capitalist design of the Indian regime and have agreed to
consolidate the mutual understanding and friendship, further more agreed
firmly to stand hand in hand to overthrow the common enemy, the present
Indian reactionary regime and to gain political goals of the respective
two Parties.

The CPI (Maoist) strongly condemned the annexation of Manipur by the
Dominion of India, which was done under the instigation of reactionary
Indian Congress led by Gandhi, Nehru and Sardar Patel and their
hegemonic and colonial designed. The so-called Merger Agreement of
Manipur with the Dominion of India was, indeed, illegal and
unconstitutional.

Nepal: The End of Bonded Labor

This article was originally published in the Red Star. Many thanks to BannedThought.net for making it available.  It was originally titled “The end  of bonded labour custom.”

The end of bonded labour custom
Menka Chaudhary

The Kamlari custom in Nepal has existed for a long time. Under this custom, the daughters of the Tharu community were sent to feudal lords or landlords as a guarantee for a debt. They work in the houses of the landlords until they are married or marriageable age. Most of them are victims of sexual exploitation.

The Kamlari custom is a hang over of slavery. This custom still exists from Dang, Banke, Bardia, Kailali to Kanchanpur districts. It is a tradition. According to the custom, the parents of Tharu indigenous tribe send their daughters to work in the houses of landlords for one year after the celebration of their biggest festival Maghi. Every year the members of the family of Tharu tribe get together and celebrate the Maghi festival. In this festival, the daughters have a formal right whether they want to go to the house of the same landlord or not. However, due to their economic and social status, the daughters are forced to go to the same landlord’s house or to other landlords. They have no other alternative other than to choose the landlords. But they have to go.

Prachanda: Nepal’s People Will Seize Power!

This article was published in the Red Star. Many thanks to BannedThought.Net for making it available.

by Prachanda

When we were in People’s War for the political and social transformation, the enemies of the people had thought to assassinate us and end the process of social transformation at that time. However, Nepalese people, the justice loving people, did not support their plot and plan to be unimplemented. People’s War, rather, developed into its leap, one after another, and advanced forward to smash the hundreds of years of feudal reign.

After we entered into the peace process, the reactionary elements, inside and outside the country, had thought that CPN-Maoist would have split into three fragments. However, their “dream” smashed and failed within a few days. This shows that their prediction was empty and hypocrisy. CPN-Maoist advanced ahead with its strong unity.

A few days ago, some of the leader of the parliamentary parties publicly addressed that the CPN-Maoist-led Government will fall down due to its weaknesses. Along with it, they made many conspiracies to abort the process of unity between CPN-Maoist and CPN-Unity Centre-Masal. Nevertheless, in the course of time, we have unified and the reactionaries have become smashed. This unity is the example of the victory of all the revolutionary forces and the defeat of all the reactionary forces. Thus, unity is a great leap in the revolutionary continuation. This is a new victory of the Nepalese people against the anti-people forces.

CPN(M) preparing to merge with CPN-ML Revolutionary

Thanks to Maoist Revolution for sending this out.

Maoists prepare to unite with CPN-ML Revolutionary

Kantipur Report KATHMANDU, Jan 24 –

Having completed the unification with Unity Centre (Masal), the Maoists are now preparing to merge with another leftist party, CPN-ML Revolutionary.

Maoists Pledge Rebellion For Revolutionary Constitution

Thanks to the Maoist Revolution list for making this available.

Nepal Maoist pledge for revolutionary constitution “The Revolution continues and that for the proper conclusion of the Maoists’ led revolution, drafting of a revolutionary constitution is a must”.

A Maoist party high level meeting currently in progress in Kathmandu since Friday January 16, 2008, decided to take necessary steps towards achieving the objective of drafting a revolutionary constitution right being in the Government, in the Constituent Assembly and also from the streets.

“To make the Maoists’ tenure in government a successful one and to draft a People’s oriented revolutionary Constitution we need to take actions right being in the government, in the Constituent Assembly and if need be take to the streets”, the Maoists meeting decided after unanimously accepting a political proposal.

Indian Maoists Analyse Attacks on Mumbai

This article appeared in People’s Truth Bulletin No. 4. It was originally titled “Attacks in Mumbai — Causes and Solution“.

Analysis of the Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai

Attacks in Mumbai — Causes and Solution

We weep not for the death of the corrupt and fascistic police officers but for the innocent citizens of Mumbai wantonly killed in the attack of Nov. 26th. We weep not for the Tatas, Oberois and other big wigs of India and abroad but for the innocent employees and professionals caught in the cross-fire between the Islamic militants and the Indian State. The taking of innocent lives will not put an end to the terror of the US gangsters and their Indian stooges aimed at the people in general and Muslims in particular. The target of any just movement must be the very perpetrators of the evil and their political and financial backers.

On Nov.26th Islamic militants, it appears from Pakistan and POK, launched on a sophisticated attack in many places of Mumbai killing an estimated 250 people and injuring over 500, a number of which were foreigners. The main focus of the attack was the two most elite hotels of Mumbai, Taj and Oberoi, and the Israeli center, Nariman House. They shot also randomly at people at the VT station and also at the neighboring Cama hospital. Around the Metro station (1 Km from VT) they shot and killed ATS (anti-terrorist squad) chief, Karkare, ACP, Ashok Kamte and ‘encounter specialist’ Salaskar. In the battle at the Taj a major and Havildar of the NSG were killed. In all it was reported that at least 16 police/NSG men were killed. Reportedly 9 of the militants were killed and one was arrested in an injured state.

Maoist Guerillas Fight Hindu Fascism in Orissa

This article appeared in People’s Truth Bulletin No. 4. It was originally titled “Beat Back the Fascist Onslaught in Orissa”.

by Ujjwala

The recent and ongoing violence on Dalit Christians in Kandhamal once again highlights the need to fight the fascist Hindutva forces and thoroughly exposes the governments, both central and state. The state and central government’s refusal to restrain fanatic Hindu militias evidences their linkage with Hindutva (BJP), soft Hindutva (Congress), and the capitulation of a section of civil society to Hindu majoritarianism. The current violence started immediately after the killing of the notorious goon in saffron, Lakshmanand Swamy, a VHP leader who was working in this area for more than 30 years solely for the consolidation of the Hindutva forces. He along with his four associates was shot dead by the people’s guerillas on 23rd of August 2008.

The people’s guerillas had left a note on the spot explaining the reasons behind the elimination of Lakshmananda Saraswati and stated “We have decided to punish anti-people, fanatical leaders like Saraswati because of endless persecution of religious minorities in the country. There will be more such punishments if violence is continued against religious minorities in the country.” In spite of this clear statement, Hindutva forces used this incident to carry out massacres on Dalit Christians holding them responsible. Whenever the anti-displacement leaders and activists are branded as Maoists, the Sangh Pariwar people are the first ones to join the chorus. They also demand firm action against such leaders and activists. But in this case even after the Maoists owning the responsibility, they are not willing to believe this as these cowardly gangsters are afraid to confront the naxalites and prefer to hit soft targets, like Christian priests, women and children.

Nepal: Geared up to Launch Struggle from the Street

This article appeared on Nepal News on January 04, 2009.

A senior Maoist leader CP Gajurel, Saturday, said that his party is prepared to unleash yet another “massive” struggle to institutionalise republic in the country as per the desire of people.

Gajural, who is the chief of CPN (Maoist)’s foreign department, came up with this remark while speaking at a program in Sindhuli.

“We are all geared up to launch such a struggle from the street, the parliament and the government,” he said adding that the country would achieve sustainable peace and development only after the success of another “severe” struggle we are going to unleash to “uphold the aspirations of ordinary people.”

He also said the certain foreign power centers including India are bent to augment their unscrupulous clout in Nepali political domain.

Gajural also lambasted the government led by his own party saying that it has failed to provide any relief to the people.

Unity Centre (Masal) Joins Maoist Party

This article appeared originally at nepalnews.com on January 13, 2009

CPN-Maoist, Masal Unite; PM Dahal Renews Revolt Rhetoric

The formal announcement of unification between CPN (Maoist) and Unity Centre (Masal) was made in Kathmandu amid a mass gathering Tuesday.

Party workers took out rallies from different parts of the capital prior to the mass gathering at Khula Manch, which was attended by senior leaders from the Maoist party and the now-dissolved Unity Centre (Masal).

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Prime Minister and chairman of CPN (Maoist), heads the united party which has been named as Unified CPN (Maoist). The party will have a 175-member central committee that includes 38 members from Unity Centre (Masal).

Nepal Maoists Very Well May Seize Power

This article was made available by the Maoist Revolution list. We post articles that are of interest to our readers — but posting does not mean we endorse the analysis (or even the supposed facts) presented. Use your critical faculties!

RPP’s Rana warns Maoists might very well grab power

Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) chairman Pashupati Sumshere Rana on
Monday said there is every possibility that the Maoists might “grab
power” like they have been warning from the past some time since the
People’s Liberation Army (PLA) hasn’t been disbanded and the weapons
are still in their hands.

Rana termed Prime Minister and Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal
forewarnings about capturing the state as his haughtiness.

The remarks from the chief of the pro-monarchist party that still
maintains some form of monarchy is necessary for the country comes a
week after PM Dahal said that the “people would grab power” if the
government his party leads was toppled due to a conspiracy
of “reactionary and regressive forces”.

Kissoon: Negation of the Negation

 

Never more than capitalism?!

This essay has appeared in a number of places, and has provoked sharp controversy (for reasons that should be obvious).

 

And as we publish it here, we also (for reasons that are obvious) we note that Kasama does not thereby endorse or uphold the conclusions presented here. (Thanks to Countercurrents.org for this.)

* * * * *

“The simplest and best explanation is simply that the Russian, Chinese, Cuban, and Vietnamese revolutions were bourgeois revolutions, and not proletarian revolutions. I think the Nepalese revolution can change the feudal relations of production and introduce capitalist relations through agrarian reform or revolution. If the Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese etc revolutions created modern capitalist states, then why should the Nepalese Communists, following their examples, go further?”

* * * * *

By Roshan Kissoon

16 January, 2009

The Nepali revolution has not won, but neither has it lost. There does not seem an imminent danger to the CPN Maoist led government, yet also the government does not seem completely safe. Some believe the Nepali revolution signals the first of a new cycle of revolutions inspired by the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Others believe the Nepali revolution signals the last of the cycle of revolutions inspired by the Bolsheviks in Russia. We may think of this cycle as starting in Russia, then China, Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, etc, through to Peru and Nepal. I think the latter correct-future revolutions must take a different form, and move away from the Bolshevik or Marxist Leninist model of revolution. Thus far, Marxist Leninist revolutions in the various countries have ended the ‘feudal relations of production’, and replaced it with ‘capitalist relations of production’. Simply put, the Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cuban etc revolutions have created modern capitalist nation states, not communism. I think the leaders of the CPN-Maoist implicitly recognise this, hence Dr.Bhattarai’s statement in the US to ‘leave communism to our grandchildren’. The limitations of the Nepali revolution show the limitations of the Marxist-Leninist theory as well as practice.

Contradictions in Historical Materialism

The science of Marxism has, indeed, discovered the laws of society that can explain how one form of society changes into another form of society. Marxist historians have revolutionised the study of history in every area, from the early origins of humanity to the modern world. Historical materialism can explain and shed light on all periods of human history. Historical materialism does not seem able, however, to explain itself. In those periods of history when Marxism itself played a decisive and dominant role; historical materialism does not seem able to explain nor understand. This seems a contradiction inside the Marxist system, and the inability to resolve this contradiction prevents the Communist movement from advancing ahead. For example, Marxists constantly say that the ‘masses are the real creators of history’, as an explicit challenge to the ‘great man’ hypothesis of bourgeois history. However, in all the Marxist-Leninist revolutions we see again the ‘great man’; the great Lenin, the great Stalin, the Great Mao etc, without whom the revolution would not have succeeded. This seems a glaring contradiction. Again, consider the following questions about the USSR.

Bhattarai on development and progress in Nepal

This interview was published on eKantipur.com.

INTERVIEW WITH DR BABURAM BHATTARAI

By Aditya Adhikari

After a tumultuous decade as one of the main leaders of the Maoist People’s War, Dr Baburam Bhattarai now finds himself in the position of Nepal’s Finance Minister. Aditya Adhikari visited his office at the Ministry of Finance to learn how he is facing the challenges of government.

Q: It has been four months since the budget was released. To what extent have the goals that you set been met?

Bhattarai: As we are passing through a very historical transition, our objective was to lay a solid foundation for economic development. With that objective in mind I put forward a budget that people termed “very ambitious.” But I remain unapologetic on that. We have to be ambitious if we are to transform this backward economy into a developed and vibrant one. I put forward a target of very high growth with social equity. So far the progress has been quite satisfactory. On the revenue collection front we have achieved the target we had fixed. We had aimed at a 31% growth rate, but it has been more that that so far. Some months we’ve had a 35% growth rate, some months 33%. On an average we have met the target.

But on the expenditure front we are lagging behind. The budget was presented two months behind schedule, so we had to go through certain formalities. The regular expenditure is ok, but the development expenditure is lagging behind. We hope it will pick up in coming months. In general, I am quite satisfied with the economy.

Nepal: United Front Against Reactionary Forces

(Nepal Constituent Assembly 2008)

This article appeares in the latest issue of Red Star (Issue 21) under the title, “Opening of a New Front”.

by Red Star reporter

After the election of Constituent Assembly and the formation of the elected government, the suitability of the 12-point understanding has ended. The political parties are divided into establishment and the opposition. However, the mandate of the people is to institutionalize the Federalism in place of unitary monarchy.

Nepali Congress and other parliamentary parties are trying to reestablish the dirty parliamentary culture through its continuous hurdles before the government. The government has not been able to implement even minimum programmes of reform and relief. Reactionaries are trying to encircle CPN-Maoist.

The opposite activities and the division of the parties in to establishment and opposition has polarized the parties in to two antagonistic poles. Instead of helping the government in a creative way, the opposition is trying to lead the situation in to confrontation. The foreign powers, mainly India and America, are backing them to push the country in to civil war. These reactionaries want to declare Nepal as a failure country and interfere in the internal affairs of the country. These imperialist powers are in a master plan to encircle china and make Nepal an international playground.

Solidarity with the Nepalese Workers Movement

(Flag of the All Nepal Trade Union Federation (Revolutionary))

This interview appeared in the latest issue of Red Star (Issue 21) under the title, “Request for Solidarity with Nepalese Workers Movement”.

Interview with  Shalik Ram Jamarkattel

On first december the workers in Nepal got a wage revision, with the Labour Advisory Committee supporting the agreement between industry owners and workers on the question of increasing the minimum wages. A meeting of the committee chaired by Mr Lekh Raj Bhatia, Minister for Labour and Transport endorsed the proposal. A task force was set up to give their recommendations of whether, the news standards of wages should be applicable to the jute industry, since it has to stand up to competition from the Indian jute industry.

Another committee would recommend on likely measures expected from the government to help the labour intensive carpet and garment industry as the impact would be widely felt in these industries too. But, ten days after endorsing the agreement between entrepreneurs and trade unions, workers shut down over 70 industries in Birgunj industrial corridor on 11th December. They demanded that all employees get salary as they are entitled to as the government announced increment of 1300/- in their basic salary.

Indian Maoists: Impact of Global Economic Crisis

This article appeared in People’s Truth Bulletin No. 4. It was originally titled “Present Financial Crisis & the Impending Great Depression”.

Present Financial Crisis & the Impending Great Depression

by Arvind

India is one of the four exemplary emerging markets that were cited by neo-liberal imperialism as proof that global capitalism was the road to eventual prosperity. The reality is that India is one of the major centers for ‘out-sourced’ and ‘off shore’ super-exploitation, and hardly immune from the dysfunction of the big imperial centers. Last week, for example, came the revelation that one of the largest IT outsourcing firms, Satyam, had been methodically over-stating its annual profits (just like so many big US firms), leaving investors holding worthless stock shares and the company chairman under arrest for fraud.

Meanwhile, for the vast majority of the 1.1 billion people in India, life is characterized by brutal poverty. As one recent Reuters news item admitted “for all of India’s optimism, it was a reminder that the country of sprouting shopping malls still must deal with the more than two-thirds of Indians who live on less than a dollar a day.

Impact on India

Take India (for more details see the following article), for all the exaggerated claims of the PM and FM the economy is already badly hit. Till end October the BSE share index has fallen 60% since its all time high of 21,207 in Jan 2008 as the FIIs have pulled out a massive $ 12 billion. On November 21st it reached a 38-month low of 8,451. Real estate stocks have dropped by 90% and Mutual Funds (where much of middle-class savings are put) by 80%. Today, of the 2,699 quoted companies half are below the book value. Due to the big pull out of foreign funds not only has the stock market crashed the rupee declined by as much as 15% in the few weeks ending October 2008 to fall below the 50 mark.