‘Being an opportunist party, the Trinamul can align with anyone’: CPI(M) general-secretary Prakash Karat

Created 14 Apr 2013 - 00:00, The Asian Age Interview of the Week

What do you have to say about the recent outburst of political violence in West Bengal?

There has been sustained violence against the CPI(M) and the Left Front in West Bengal ever since the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The Trinamul Congress is responsible for the attacks on the CPI(M) and Left cadres and supporters in an effort to suppress strong Left base in the state.

This attack intensified after the Assembly elections in May 2011. Since the Trinamul Congress government came to power, 96 cadres and supporters of the CPI(M) and the Left have been killed. The recent incident at a demonstration outside the Planning Commission office has been used to unleash another bout of organised attack on the offices and leaders of the Left Front.

What do you have to say about the attack by the SFI and CPI(M) activists on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the state finance minister Amit Mitra outside the Planning Commission? Do you condemn it? Do you think it is a good precedence?

There was no attack against the chief minister. There was a protest organised against the attitude of the state government regarding the custodial death of SFI leader Sudipto Gupta. Unfortunately, in the course of that demonstration, there was an incident involving Mr Mitra. We have condemned it. On earlier occasions, too, there have been such acts against various political leaders and ministers and we have always disapproved and condemned them.

Ms Banerjee has said that majority of those who got killed in West Bengal were Trinamul functionaries?

She is used to making such wild charges. Even on this occasion, she has said that there was an attempt to kill her. This is totally baseless.

What do you think about the way the West Bengal government is handling the murder case of SFI leader Sudipto Gupta?

A 23-year-old student died in police custody. Ms Banerjee declared that it is a petty matter. Why is the West Bengal government not ordering a judicial enquiry into the incident? Whether death happened due to killing or accident, let the truth come out.

West Bengal has a history of political violence. The Left dominated the state for more than three decades. There is a perception that the Left spearheaded violence and that it is responsible for creating a culture of political violence in the state?

This is a hackneyed charge against the Left. The political violence in West Bengal has been primarily an effort of the state machinery and the ruling classes and landlords, who unleashed violence against the Communist and the Left movements in the 1950s and 60s to suppress them. Even when the Left Front government was in office, violence was directed against the working class and peasant movements. The fact is that such violence existed before the Left Front government assumed office and is there even after the Left Front government ceased to be in office. The Trinamul Congress represents a reactionary force which is out to suppress democratic rights and give the Opposition no quarter.

What is your stand on the situation in Kerala, where one of your party leaders M.M. Mani had publicly claimed the party’s involvement in political murders? Even though you had said that an internal enquiry into the murder of T.P. Chandrasekharan was in the process, nothing has come out yet. Have you given clean chit to your partymen in this case?

As far as the speech by M.M. Mani is concerned, our party took action against him. The judiciary gave its verdict in all those cases. However, the UDF government in Kerala has reopened the cases and filed chargesheet against Mani, which is totally unwarranted. In the Chandrasekharan murder case, our party conducted an enquiry, but the matter is in the court. We are confident that the party’s leaders in Kozhikode district who are implicated in this case will be found innocent.

What do you think about Ms Banerjee’s stalemate with the state Election Commission over panchayat polls? Do you think the Trinamul Congress is deliberately delaying the elections?

We want the panchayat elections to be held on time. The state government is wilfully disregarding the recommendations of the state Election Commission about the manner in which the panchayat polls are to be conducted. The Trinamul wants to ride roughshod and hold elections in a manner in which the Opposition parties are not able to participate in a free and fair poll. That is why it is opposing the sensible proposals of the Election Commission.

Do you see any possibility of Ms Banerjee striking an alliance with the Congress ahead of or after the general elections?

Being an opportunist party, the Trinamul Congress can go with anyone. It should not be forgotten that the Trinamul was part of the BJP-led alliance government where Ms Banerjee was a minister. She has alternated between alliances with the BJP and the Congress. The only constant position she has is against the CPI(M) and the Left.

Do you see any possibility of your party striking an alliance with the UPA?

Our party has already decided to oppose both the Congress and the BJP. We, as the Left, will take a united stand. We would like a non-Congress secular government in office.

Why is the Left not taking a lead this time to form a Third Front?

Our efforts are to create an alternative based on alternative policies. This can come about only through movements and struggles jointly by parties and organisations who are committed to an alternative set of policies. The third front is more commonly associated with an electoral alliance. As far as the general elections are concerned, our party along with the Left will fight elections together and may have some understanding with some of the regional parties at states level.

How do you look at Narendra Modi emerging as a prime ministerial candidate?

If the BJP decides to project Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, it will be a clear message that it is going ahead with its hardcore Hindutva agenda. It is becoming evident that big businesses are backing Mr Modi. This form of Hindutva and big business support is a form of insipient fascism. That is the meaning of the Gujarat model of development, where the Muslims have been beaten down to the status of second-class citizens.

Bengal’s Slide into Fascism

By Vijay Prashad

On April 2, the four major student union federations jointly held a protest against the withdrawal of campus democracy in West Bengal. They wanted elections to be held for the student unions in their colleges. A tsunami of neo-liberal reforms in higher education had made the students restive. It was not just a matter of higher fees that exercised them. They were also furious at changes in the character of the education – with a tendency to yoke education to careers and to measure learning with fealty to rules developed in the North Atlantic. Thousands of students chanted their way down Kolkata’s College Street and assembled in Rani Rashmoni Road. They faced a police line, which advanced with unpleasant motives. The police arrested hundreds of students and threw them into private buses to be transported to Alipore Jail. On the buses, the police beat the students affiliated with the Communist’s Student Federation of India (SFI). One SFI leader, Sudipta Gupta, age 23 and a recent Political Science MA from Rabindra Bharati University, was beaten, thrown from the bus, retrieved, and beaten again. He died within hours of being admitted to SSKM Hospital.

The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamul Congress (TMC), said that his death was “an accident.” She was at that point opening the new season of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament. Despite hearing of the death of Gupta, she remained at the celebrations. Her police said that Gupta had been “man-handled,” although her consigliere, Derek O’Brien said that CCTV would vindicate Banerjee’s statement about the death being accidental.

Anger in the Left has been growing steadily. Gupta is the 93rd left cadre killed by the state forces or the Chief Minister’s party over the course of the past few years. It is in this context that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) leader Mohammed Salim asked, “what kind of fascism is this?” Banerjee and the TMC have not only targeted the Communists – anyone who crosses her path must be excised, whether someone who simply forwards a cartoon critical of her (Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra was arrested for defamation and passing offensive messages through the Internet) or someone who asks her a question at her public meetings (farmer Shiladitya Chowdhury of West Midnapore who asked, “What are you doing for farmers? Farmers are dying because they have no money. Empty promises are not enough,” and who was then arrested on grounds of criminal intimidation). Her party has taken its worship of her seriously (see the picture of a temple dedicated to her). If anyone insults Banerjee, the TMC will send its men to collect its blood debt.

The level of casual political violence in the state is startling. Activists of the ruling TMC had in February of this year clashed with activists of the Congress Party as both their candidates tried to file papers to run in student elections for Hari Mohan College in Kolkata’s Garden Reach area. Fists turned to guns and a policeman, Tapas Chakroborty, was killed. Nothing will come of it even though video shot at the scene shows TMC activists (including a local TMC councillor Mohammed Iqbal) involved in the fracas.

Two days after the murder of Gupta, the SFI held national protests and demanded that the Central Government hold an inquiry into the nature of his death – any state inquiry would be compromised by the culture of impunity that has begun to enfold the state. Only those who make noises about the government, such as Kolkata’s chief of police R.K. Pachnanda after the death of his officer, are transferred into limbo.

On April 9, Banerjee and her Finance Minister Amit Mitra came to Delhi to visit the Planning Commission. A demonstration against the murder of Gupta led by the Left greeted them. The Planning Commission heard of the demonstration, contacted the West Bengal officials to have Banerjee come through the secured VIP gate and avoid the main gate where the protestors had gathered. Banerjee not only ignored their advice, but near the main gate she got out of her car and walked toward it, through the highly emotional throng. It was an act of provocation. The Delhi police did not forcibly prevent her from doing this. Knowing full well the charged state of the demonstrators – gathered to protest the murder of a young comrade and Banerjee’s callous statements – the police should have insisted. It did not. Banerjee know full well the power of street politics. In April 1975, when she was with the Congress Party, her leader Indira Gandhi’s bête noire, 74-year old Jayaprakash “JP” Narayan, came to Kolkata. Banerjee personally blocked his car (standing on its bonnet) as Youth Congress activists smashed the windows, and almost beat up JP who suffered from acute respiratory ailments, which would have killed him if the stress were kept up. She a remarkable populist street fighter knew what she was wading into when she walked to the main gate.

In fact, all that happened to her, according to the Delhi Police, is that she was buffeted by the crowd (when she returned to Kolkata she checked herself into Belle Vue Clinic for a “check up”). Her Finance Minister lagged, and was himself caught in the wave, with his kurta slightly ripped as he struggled to make it through the gate. The police grabbed him and brought him within the premises of the Commission. This was not an attack, certainly not premeditated as the Bengal Governor put it indelicately. It was a crowd that found itself with those whom it had come to protest within its ranks – it would have taken an extraordinary act of self-discipline to have stepped back, created a path for them and held their tongue. One expects this kind of discipline from Communists, which is why the CPM made it clear that it did not condone the assault.

News of these events spread through the TMC channels, and its activists took to Bengal’s streets for revenge. It is not as if the TMC has been silent and that it took this scuffle in Delhi to provoke them. They have already been on the march, and simply used this as a pretext to continue their depredations – now in the full light of day. CPM and SFI offices across the state were attacked, as were academic institutions (a friend called to tell me that the laboratory at Presidency College was smashed up). Most shockingly, TMC activists attacked the office of the Ganatantrik Mahila Samity (the Bengal wing of the All India Democratic Women’s Association) in South Dinajpur, dragged onto the streets its leader, the veteran Communist and former parliamentarian Minati Ghosh and physically attacked and verbally abused her. AIDWA and the National Federation of Indian Women have called on the National Commission of Women to look into this case.

Things are at a tense pass. Activists of the Left have been called up to defend the buildings of the party and its mass organizations. The violence unleashed has the quality of the early hours of the Night of Broken Glass (the Kristallnacht), this time not against Jews but against the Communists. It is the reason why the CPM and its allies have tried to calm the situation – not only a sensible posture but also one that is motivated by its weakness before the fascistic character of the TMC. No liberal groups have come forward to defend the Left against TMC fascism. The media has taken the drama full tilt, neglecting to properly report the shenanigans of Banerjee and the negligence of the Delhi police. The media will not let this be in context. It is using the incident outside the Planning Commission to shore up the declining fortunes of the TMC machine, whose votes will be essential in the next parliament for a Congress-led bloc that now feels threatened by its own inadequacies.

Bengal’s Slide into Fascism » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

INVINCIBLE LEFT

By SUHRID SANKAR CHATTOPADHYAY

FRONTLINE, Volume 30 - Issue 05 :: Mar. 09-22, 2013

The CPI(M)-led Left Front wins power in Tripura for the fifth consecutive time by an overwhelming majority.

THE Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front has been returned to power in Tripura for the fifth consecutive time with an overwhelming majority. It won 50 out of the 60 State Legislative Assembly seats in the February 14 Assembly elections, bettering its position after the 2008 elections by one seat. The CPI(M) alone won 49 seats, three more than last time, while the Communist Party of India (CPI) secured one seat. The Left’s vote percentage has also increased from 51 per cent in 2008 to 52 per cent.

The Congress won all the remaining 10 seats, while its allies, the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) and the National Conference of Tripura (NCT), drew a blank.

Tripura Chief Minister and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Manik Sarkar said after the victory: “It is a verdict of the people in favour of peace, harmony and development. We will continue to humbly discharge our duties to live up to the expectations reposed in us by the people.” The only major loser from the Left Front was Science and Technology Minister Joy Gobinda Debroy of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP). The highest victory margin in the elections was achieved by Finance Minister Badal Chowdhury, who won by 12,429 votes from his Hrishyamukh constituency. A major win for the Left was the Ramnagar seat in Agartala, where the CPI(M)’s Ratan Das beat Congress heavyweight Surajit Dutta, securing for his party its first win in 25 years in the State capital.

“Peace and development” was the Left Front’s main election slogan. After the State was plagued by insurgency movements for decades—the two major extremist groups that were operating in the State were the National Liberation Front of Tripura and the All Tripura Tiger Force—the Manik Sarkar government has been successful in bringing about peace and stability. “In 1998, when Manik Sarkar became the Chief Minister, the State was still reeling under extremist activities. Today, the people of Tripura feel safe and can see for themselves the all-round development taking place. More than 80 per cent of the insurgents have either surrendered or died. In fact, this was the first election since 1977 in which the extremists could not intervene in any way,” Gautam Das, the spokesperson of the CPI(M) in Tripura, told Frontline.

It is usually assumed that an unusually high turnout of voters in free and fair elections indicates an anti-incumbency mood. This hypothesis, however, does not seem to apply in the case of Tripura. In the 2008 Assembly elections, the percentage of votes polled was 91.32, and the Left returned to power, with the CPI(M) winning 46 out of the 56 seats it contested, as against 38 out of the 55 seats it contested in 2003. In this round of elections, the total votes polled in Tripura was 93.57 per cent, a record in the country, and the party yet again improved its tally. Far from any anti-incumbency factor working against it, the CPI(M) has been bettering its score with each successive election. According to Das, the anti-incumbency factor is absent in Tripura because the aspirations of the people are being fulfilled.

WEAK OPPOSITION

The Congress-led opposition’s main election plank was “Paribartan” (change), which had been the Trinamool Congress’ slogan in West Bengal when it ousted the 34-year-old Left Front government there from power in 2011. Both the States being Bengali-speaking, the politics of West Bengal has always had an impact on Tripura. Political observers said that the social scenario following the “paribartan” in West Bengal made the electorate in Tripura wary of voting for change for the sake of change. Significantly, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not field any candidates in Tripura, as she had done, albeit unsuccessfully, in 2008.

Trouble in the Tripura Pradesh Congress camp began with the announcement of the list of candidates by the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Resentment over nominations led to intra-party violence on several occasions. A spate of resignations from the Congress just weeks before the elections further served to demoralise the party. A large number of Congress leaders and workers even joined forces with the CPI(M) at the last moment. Even after the Left had begun its campaigns in right earnest, the Congress was sorting out its internal issues. Its defeat appeared to be a foregone conclusion weeks before the elections. 

“In Tripura the Congress does not have a leader who has the ability to take on the entrenched domination of the Left. Time and again, whoever was entrusted with the party’s leadership in the State came up against stiff opposition from rival factions, had to face fierce infighting, and could not expect endorsement from the central leadership,” a high-level source in the Congress told Frontline.

MANIK SARKAR FACTOR

The Left, on the other hand, has been going from strength to strength under Manik Sarkar’s leadership. The enormous popularity of Sarkar, who is known for his unimpeachable integrity, has been a key factor in the Left’s victory. Sarkar, who is reportedly the “poorest” Chief Minister in the country, is certainly rich in the affection of the people of his State, and it was he who once again was the lead campaigner for the Left Front.

“One of the main reasons for this great victory is the honesty of the government, the honesty of the Chief Minister, his tolerance for dissent, and his broadmindedness. He is bringing in a new era in the Communist movement, one of equality and open democracy,” Minister of Culture, Education, Tourism and Scheduled Caste Welfare Anil Sarkar told Frontline. Manik Sarkar, who succeeded Dasarath Deb as Chief Minister in 1998, won from his Dhanpur constituency with a margin of over 6,000 votes. This will be his fourth consecutive term as Chief Minister.

HARMONY AND INTEGRATION

One of the biggest achievements of the Manik Sarkar government is its success in maintaining a harmonious relationship between the indigenous people and the Bengali-speaking settlers and thereby helping the integration of the tribal population, which accounts for around 31 per cent of the total population of the State, into the mainstream. This has been accomplished by the smooth and efficient running of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, as well as by the overall development programmes spearheaded by the State government.

A case in point is the steps taken to ameliorate the distress of the tribal people dependent on forest produce. The State government took a leading role in protecting their rights by giving them permanent pattas (passbooks encompassing these rights) and assistance to set themselves up in their livelihoods. Special steps have also been taken to protect and develop their language, Kakabarak, by publishing school textbooks and dictionaries in it.

“The memory of the dark days of the violence, arson and carnage under Congress rule is still fresh in the minds of the people. The Left’s efforts in bringing about peace and stability have not only paved the way for smooth economic development but also endeared it to the tribal people and the Bengali population alike,” said the CPI(M)’s Debasish Chakraborty, an expert on Tripura politics.

In this election the Left won 19 out of the 20 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, and eight out of the 10 seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes. The divisive and formerly secessionist INPT could not win a single seat in the 11 tribal constituencies where it contested. Even its president, the former extremist leader Bijoy Hrankhawl, could not win from his Ambassa constituency. The tribal people, it seems, have preferred mainstream politics to separatist politics.

The Congress’s strategy of using “King” Bikram Manikya Debbarma, a scion of the erstwhile Manikya dynasty, to woo tribal voters did not work, indicating that traditional loyalties have made way for a modern and progressive attitude towards elections and development.

“The tribal people are not fools. The king spoke in the voice of feudalism, but the people responded to the voice of progress,” said Anil Sarkar. According to social observers, as a result of the development programmes, a middle class is emerging from the tribal population and that can be seen in the popularity of technology and Facebook among the tribal youth.

BENEFITS OF DEVELOPMENT

This peace and stability created the proper milieu for development. Tripura has been making huge strides in practically all fields of social development. The State has a literacy rate of nearly 90 per cent, and the gap between the genders in terms of literacy has been reduced.

In terms of employment and per capita literacy, Tripura has reportedly attained the fourth position in the country. It has succeeded in pushing the infant mortality rate (IMR) and the maternal mortality rate (MMR) below the national average. More than 95 per cent of the population has access to safe drinking water, and 80 per cent of the State has been brought under the government’s electrification project. The provision of 35 kilograms of rice at Rs.2 a kg to every family holding a BPL (below poverty line) ration card through the public distribution system has also been very popular.

The benefits of development have been trickling down. Though Manik Sarkar has maintained that the focus of his government has been more on development than on increasing the per capita income, the annual per capita income of the State has increased from Rs.29,081 in the Tenth Plan period (2002-07) to over Rs.50,000. In an article in Economic & Political Weekly (January 12, 2013, Volume XLVIII, No. 2), Radhicka Kapoor, who is with the Planning Commission, pointed out that Tripura’s performance was the best in the country in terms of poverty reduction despite having a growth rate below the all-India average. In Tripura, the decline in the poverty head count ratio (HCR) between the years 2004-05 and 2009-10 was a huge 22.6 per cent. One of the reasons for this was reportedly the State government’s ability to provide employment through various projects. Tripura has been judged the best performer in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) for the last three years and has one of the best functioning panchayati raj administrations in the country.

One of the chief impediments to development in the region had been the lack of good roads. Today a network of roads connects Agartala to the most remote parts of the State. In fact, every village panchayat and village committee has been connected by all-weather roadways. Until recently there were regions that could only be accessed by elephants or helicopters. This was the first election in the State when neither was needed.

Once a food-deficit State, Tripura is today on the verge of attaining self-sufficiency in food. At present the State produces more than 7 lakh tonnes of rice a year, closing in rapidly on its demand of 8.5 lakh tonnes a year. Much of this is made possible by the extension of irrigation. Whereas Tripura once had hardly any irrigation, it now provides assured irrigation to more than 60 per cent of its arable land.

In the end, the reason for the CPI(M)’s repeated success in the State was perhaps best summed up by Anil Sarkar: “We may be a poor State with a lot of problems, but we recognise that our main asset is our people. It is in them that we invest our efforts and our trust. Ultimately it is they who will bring glory to Tripura.”

TRIPURA : WHERE THE LEFT TRIUMPHS

by SUDHANVA DESHPANDE and VIJAY PRASHAD

COUNTERPUNCH, MARCH 04, 2013

During the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Lecture in 2011, the Swedish novelist Henning Mankell recounted an incident from Mozambique, where he lives for part of the year. During the worst days of South African apartheid and the civil war in Mozambique, Mankell visited the north of the country. He was walking on a path toward a village. He saw a young man coming towards him, a thin man in ragged clothes. As he came close, Mankell saw his feet. “He had in his deep misery,” Mankell told his Delhi audience, “painted shoes on his feet. In a way, to defend his dignity when everything was lost, he had found the colors from the earth and he had painted shoes on his feet.”

In Tripura, the small state tucked into the north-eastern corner of India, no-one goes without shoes. A keen eye, even on the briefest visit, would find everyone shod – a remarkable fact for a state where poverty has not been banished. But government data on poverty has shown something remarkable. Between 2004-05 and 2009-10, the Planning Commission numbers show a decline in Tripura’s poverty rate from 40 percent to 17.4 percent. That is a drop of 22.6 percent: the highest decline in poverty figures for the country during this past decade. The Tripura decline is not shared by its neighbors: Manipur (from 37.9 percent to 47.1 percent), Mizoram (15.4 percent to 21.1 percent) and Nagaland (8.8 percent to 20.9 percent). Pointing out this data last year, the financial columnist Manas Chakravarty noted, “The state must be doing something right, although we don’t have the faintest idea about it. We need to find out fast, so that the nation can learn from Tripura and adopt its model of development, whatever that may be.” One of the indices is that despite the poverty rates, people seem to have access to their basic needs – such as shoes.

It is because of the small gains that the Communist-led Left Front won a landslide victory in the recent Assembly elections (the Left Front won 50 seats in the 60 member Assembly, with the Communist Party of India-Marxist winning 49 of those seats and the Communist Party of India one). This is the seventh time the Left has won in Tripura; five of these wins have been consecutive, and each of these has been with a two-thirds majority. In fact, but for the 1988 elections, widely believed to have been massively rigged, this would have been the eighth successive Left victory.

The politics of basic needs and of peace play a very large role in the Left’s success in Tripura. While the rest of India whittles away at the Public Distribution System (PDS), Tripura has enhanced it to the betterment of people’s lives. Not only can one get basic foodstuffs at subsidized prices, but one is also allowed to procure light bulbs through the PDS system. Bread alone is not enough for human dignity. Education is one of the most sought after public goods with schools as one part of it and reading at home another. Without light bulbs and electricity, there can be no intellectual development. By making sure that the PDS system is not simply for the survival of people, but also for their enhancement, the Left dignifies the role of the State. Such improvements are widely commented upon inside Tripura, where the development model has struck a chord with the public. The slogan for the Tripura Model is simple: people’s growth before the GDP.

As with the other states in India’s north-east, militant separatism tore through the society from the 1980s onwards. The Tripura National Volunteers and the Tripura Tiger Force and the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) wreaked havoc in the state. They targeted the Bengali population, trying to sow the seeds of division between the “tribals” (the Kokborok speakers, the Reang, the Jamatia, the Chakma, the Halam, the Mog, the Munda, the Kuki and the Garo) and Bengalis, as well as between the Christians and the Hindus. That the Communists comprised people of all communities, and had been leaders in the early rebellions in Tripura against the King and for tribal rights in the 1940s and 1950s has always threatened those who believed in sectarian politics. Turning to the gun was a sure-fire way of trying to undermine the politics of amity that had begun to define the state.

Here is a sense of the violence over October-November 1998:

October 7: NLFT fighters kidnapped seven-year old Keya Debnath from her home in Bagna in Udaipur.

October 19: NLFT fighters fired into a market in Dhumacherra (Dhalai district). Abducted Badal Roy, a laborer.

October 20: NLFT fighters abducted five passengers from a bus near Kusumbar.

November 3: NLFT fighters fired into a market place in Maynama, killing three people, including Subodh Kuri. Militants killed nine-year old Rupali Adhikary and Haradhan Debnath in a village in Madhya Barjala. Gunmen fired into a jeep on the Assam-Agartala National Highway, killing Jagdish Saha.

November 4: NLFT fighters killed six people, including a nine-year old girl in Dhalai district.

The habits of the modern State should have sent in the armed forces and pushed for the annihilation of the NLFT and its allied groups. This is the approach that the Left Front rejected. The high point of the insurgency was between 1996 and 2004. During this period, the Left was in power. It was through the strategy adopted by the Left that the insurgency wasted away after 2004 (unlike in the rest of the north-east of India). Certainly police actions were used against the insurgents, but as the governor D. N. Sahay wrote in 2011, these were not used in an “exclusive, hawkish, one-dimensional” manner. The Tripura government used its police force for these actions, and, according to Sahay, “Their conduct was under close observation at the highest level (including at the level of the Governor and the Chief Minister), in order to check personnel from going berserk and being ruthless, trigger-happy, oppressive and violative of human rights. This paid off: no complaint of human rights violation, except one or two and that too minor, came up in the course of operations. No antipathy against the security forces or the establishment surrounded the minds of citizens.”

Armed force was not the main instrument used by the Left Front government. Instead it pushed for a political solution, urging militants to give up their arms and take their views into the political domain, showing militants that their own leadership was less interested in their well-being than in an endless militancy that enhanced the lives of neither themselves or their enemies. The Tripura government used Central Government money in the insurgency, not to fatten the pockets of its privileged classes, but to build roads into every part of the state. This was not just to allow the police access to remote areas, but also to bring people from those remote areas into active contact with the rest of the state. The dividend from these roads in the long run has been immense. Apart from the police and the political leadership, the Left Front turned to its allies for help in the counter-insurgency. The All-Indian Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) worked in the most difficult circumstances, building confidence among women who had turned to militancy to come back to the politics of persuasion. “I had to stop school after standard ten as my father could not afford to pay my fees,” said Shobhamati Jamatiya in 2004. “A group from the All Tripura Tiger Force convinced me that my problems, and those of the tribal population of Tripura, would be solved if I joined their organization.” Shobhamati went to the Tiger Force camp in Bangladesh, where she trained as a militant and fighter. The work of groups like AIDWA and the corruption amongst the leadership of the Tiger Force moved Shobhamati to surrender two years later in October 2002. “I realize now that there is no shortcut,” Shobhamati said, now as an AIDWA activist. “You have to be in the democratic movement.”

Former member of the Legislative Assembly from Takarjala, Bayjanti Koloi remembers how women in her district were excited that a tribal woman had been elected for the first time. As part of her work as a legislature, she held meetings with women in the district, many of whom would subsequently join with Koloi in AIDWA. “Many women who never used to go out of their homes or who never knew about government policies began to speak out strongly about their demands. Women then began to receive threats from activists of the NLFT to stop all political activities.” The NLFT tried to break the connections between tribals and non-tribals, forcing the latter to leave and the former to stop “selling rice to non-tribals. If a tribal woman wore a sari or a bangle, she was stopped and threatened.” AIDWA’s activists held fast. Their bravery broke the cultural agenda of the militants.

Careful policies against insurgency rooted in the well-being of the people earned the Left the support of the people. It helps that the leadership of the Left in Tripura has an incomparable reputation for probity. The Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar, son of a tailor and a government employee, is known as the poorest leader in India (he had $200 in his bank account, about the same amount as he earns per year – what he earns he hands over to his Party, and receives in turn $100 as a sustainer); the only comparable world figure is Uruguay’s President José Mujica, whose net work was $1,800 (he donates 90 percent of his salary to a scheme that builds homes for the poor). Sarkar’s vices are “a small pot of snuff and a cigarette a day.” When news of the massive victory came to him, Sarkar said, “This is a verdict in favor of development, peace and stability besides good governance.”

He forgot to mention the shoes. 

Vijay Prashad’s new book, The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South, is out this month from Verso Books.

Sudhanva Deshpande is part of Jana Natya Manch and is an editor at LeftWord Books. 

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Where the Left Triumphs » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Massive Strike in West Bengal

KOLKATA: WEST Bengal came to a halt on February 20th. It was the rejoinder by the people of this state on the most debated and opposed general strike of recent times. Dictatorial ultimatums of the state government found no shore on the day except popular denunciation. Every sounds and even silence of the people of the people proclaimed popular rejection of the anti-people, anti-labour agenda of the UPA-II government as they along with millions of others across the country participated in the first day of the Two-Day Nationwide General Strike on February 20th and 21st .

The West Bengal state committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), extending its full support to the two-day long nationwide strike call of 11 central trade unions, had appealed to the people of this state to observe all out strike. Various peasant organizations have also supported the strike which is aimed at betterment of lives of the working people. By not overlooking the historic importance of International Mother Language Day and showing confidence to the popular sentiments, the CPI(M) had asked the trade unions to allow partial discharge on the second day of strike in this state. And the trade unions responded positively to that appeal. Along with the popular rejection to the ruling strata’s intimidation, this strike marked a vivid instance of successful cooperation and understanding of the Party with the trade unions.

CONSTANT INTIMIDATION AND ATTACKS

West Bengal witnessed a massive participation of people in the strike refuting incessant intimidation from the TMC-led government. The government had taken multiple measures to attack the strike in various ways:

i. Police used opposing the strike: The government unprecedentedly used its police administration to propagate against strike. The police was engaged in mike campaign in different localities for the last two days.

ii. Ministers’ threats: The chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her council of special two-three ministers applied every measure to intimidate people just to oppose the strike.

iii.    Punitive Order: The West Bengal government issued a brutal order from the finance department where the state government employees were threatened to join the office on both days to avoid punitive measures like service break and salary-cut. The order even violates the Right to Strike.

iv.   Direct attacks: A series of attacks had been perpetrated in different localities for the last two weeks particularly in areas where people and left workers were campaigning for the strike.

But West Bengal, upholding its tradition of protest against all tyrannical measures against the common people, has made the strike a great success. From North to extreme South Bengal, the scenario of the state remained ‘stand still’ when the state private transport, factories, agricultural fields, shops across localities, shopping centres were completely disrupted due to not having enough commuters and workers.

The private transport workers rendered full support to the strike. Out of more than 5000 mini buses, just less than even 120 were plying on the streets; out of total 37,000 private buses, less than 1500 appeared on roads; most Tea Estates of North Bengal remained closed.

Industrial regions of the state witnessed a complete seize of work. Barrakpore Industrial belt was no less than a no man’s land where most of the labour and working people observed all out strike. Taratalla Industrial region observed strike in decisive manner with most of the industries and factories shut down. Coal mine areas and Durgapore Industrial region observed the first day of strike withstanding numerous threats and attacks from the authorities and the ruling party. Kalyani Industrial region was partially in action as the government and authority nexus had the workers forcefully locked in the factories overnight. Hoogly and Haldia Industrial belt observed strike in best possible way as they are in constant threat from ruling party goons and job insecurity.

GOVT-SPONSORED EVENTS OF ATTACKS

(i) Hazra, Minister Instigates: The state transport minister Madan Mitra overtly instigated the police to start a rampant lathicharge on February 20 on the innocent strike campaigners at Hajra Crossing. The police did not even spare senior citizens and women while arresting them.

(ii) Nimta, Left workers attacked and injured: A CPI(M) local committee secretary Ashok Sarkar was attacked and injured by Trinamool hooligans at Nimta; a primary school teacher was beaten brutally by the Trinamool hooligans in Halishshar, North 24 Parganas.

(iii) Asansol, Henious attempt to oppose the strike: Numerous events of attacks on the strike observers took place throughout Asansol along with two massive attacks by the ruling party goons, one at the Asansol Bazar and another at the BNR more. The hooliganism of the ruling party led to complete shutdown of all facilities in Asansol town.

(iv) West Midnapore, CPI(M) office vandalised: TMC workers unleashed massive attack at Narayangar and vandalised the CPI(M) local committee office situated there. Another event of attacking the strike observers and area Party office of CPI(M) occurred at Dantan.

TRADE UNIONS CONGRATULATE PEOPLE

At the end of the first day strike, the trade unions in a joint statement congratulated the working class in organised and unorganised sectors for making the strike successful, inspite of the threats given by the state chief minister. They condemned the death of AITUC leader Narendra Singh in Ambala, who was murdered by being crushed under the wheels. The organisers have called for all out rallies in the state in protest.

While confronting the various statements made to foil the two day general strike call, CITU West Bengal state president Shyamal Chakrabarty said at a press conference that despite the state government holding repeated talks to ply transport on the days of the strike, the working class rebuffed her attempts. Responding to her call to Election Commission to ban political parties that called for strike, Chakraborthy advised her to at least now read the Constitution and see what the Article on fundamental rights states.

Shyamal Chakrabarty has also spoken of dragging to the court those who have gone beyond their constitutional powers and have issued circulars to the emloyees compelling them to join duties to make the strike unsuccessful against their wish.

February 24, 2013

“People Support Us from Core of their Hearts” : MANIK SARKAR

INTERVIEW WITH MANIK SARKAR

Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar is the lead campaigner for the Left Front in the assembly elections. With few days left for polling, he is addressing around two to three meetings a day across the state.

Manik Sarkar, who came into politics through the student movement, emerged as a key leader of the state after becoming chief minister for the first time in 1998 when Dasarath Deb stepped down due to old age. Since then Manik Sarkar's record as chief minister has been exceptional to say the least. Tripura today is a role model for not only entire North East but to many bigger states also in terms of pro-people governance.

In an interview to N S Arjun of People’s Democracy at the CPI(M) state committee office on February 7, Manik Sarkar expressed full confidence about forming the Seventh Left Front government after the polls as people were supporting the Left Front from the core of their hearts.

Below are excerpts from that interview:

(Q) With polling to take place in a week's time, what is your assessment of the election scenario?

Manik Sarkar: The response from the common masses to Left Front's election campaign has been unprecedented. Rival parties supporters and workers are coming and joining our Party in big numbers. Even today in Sabroom sub-division, 64 persons joined our Party, among whom included one PCC member. People are supporting us from the core of their hearts due to their own experiences in terms of bringing peace in the state, strengthening democracy by decentralisation, improvement in their quality of life etc. There is also their experience of the Congress-led UPA II government's anti-people, pro-rich policies. That is why they are responding positively to our appeal to vote for Left Front for peace, democracy and continuity of pro-people developmental works.

(Q) What are the major achievements of the Left Front government in the last five years?

Manik Sarkar: The most important achievement has been the complete restoration of peace that had been shattered due to extremism. At one point of time Tripura and terrorism were synonymous. People had lost confidence and those with ability were deserting the state by migrating to other states. It was a continuous and tough struggle. Many of our ministers, MLAs, block samithi chairpersons, Party cadre, sympathisers and also commoners lost their precious lives in this struggle. The vigorous development work undertaken by us even in interior tribal areas has helped in countering extremists with the help of people. Now, Tripura is identified as a state of peace in the entire North East. The President of India decorated Tripura Police with President's Colours for outstanding success in combating three-decade old insurgency and ensuring there were no human rights abuses. Tripura is only the fourth state to receive this honour since Independence. This successful overcoming of extremist problem has been possible because of the role played by common people, both tribals and non-tribals.

Another major achievement has been the protection of the secular fabric of our state. Although Tripura is a small state, it is home to people belonging to Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist religions apart from tribals. We have ensured people's right to free expression of their religious beliefs. The Left Front government has no religion and therefore it treats all religions equal. We try our best to help and cooperate with them during their functions. This is very important because today this sort of secularism is under attack at the national level.

(Q) During our tour in interior parts of Tripura, we found good infrastructure in terms of schools, health centres, office buildings, bio-gas plants etc. In many places, construction activity is going on. Being a small state, how has the Left Front government been able to achieve this?

Manik Sarkar: This has been possible due to strengthening of democracy by taking it to grassroots. We decentralised power which was concentrated at ministers and bureaucrats level and placed it in the hands of grassroots bodies. I can claim with humility that our 3-tier panchayat system is one of the best performing panchayat systems in the country. We have empowered people through decentralisation of power. Other than this, the formation of Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council (TTADC) has been an important vehicle for empowerment of people at grassroots level. One can well understand the democratic atmosphere prevailing and the political consciousness of people by the fact that there is over 90 per cent polling during elections. In this the role of women has been very very important.

The quality of life of our people has been improving day by day due to the development work carried out by the Left Front government. We have made progress in agriculture and allied sectors, power generation, connectivity, health care and education, safe drinking water, modern sanitation etc. As per a survey conducted by union finance ministry and Central Statistical Office in 2004, the per capita income in Tripura was Rs 24,394. The same organisations in their survey in 2011 found that it had increased to Rs 50,750. This increased purchasing power of people is reflecting in different aspects of our society like trade, commerce, agriculture, food consumption etc. However, we are telling people that the state is developing fast but we are not yet satisfied with this. We need to improve further the quality of life of people, particularly the rural poor.

The disadvantaged sections of our society, the SC, ST, OBCs suffered the most during Congress regime. We have implemented special programmes to overcome their social, economic and cultural problems and these have yielded good results.

(Q) In the neo-liberal economic regime, the state governments have in general experienced a squeeze on their finances. In such a situation how has the Left Front government managed to achieve so much in terms of infrastructure development and welfare schemes for the people?

Manik Sarkar: The main reason is the Left Front government has ensured strict financial discipline.We are managing our finances and resources in a very cautious manner. We had  austerity measures right from the beginning. Salaries of our ministers and MLAs  are perhaps the lowest in the country. Whatever resources we have, we are utilising to the last penny with all seriousness. There is full transparency in spending and if there is any charge of corruption, we jump on it and take strict action if it is found true. Misuse of money is not tolerated. Empowerment of people through decentralisation has also helped in preventing leakages of scheme funds.  Another important reason is that our good performance is helping us to force the central government to release our share of funds.

(Q) We found educated graduates without job in some of the villages we visited. With a vibrant education system in the state, how big is unemployment problem a challenge for the Left Front government?

Manik Sarkar: Generation of employment is a burning national problem now. Here in Tripura there was no development of infrastructure during Congress regimes and it set us back by many years. Without infrastructure in place, industrialisation that provides jobs cannot happen. And unemployment problem cannot be solved just by providing jobs in the government sector. As you know the centre has a ban on recruitment for many years and today there are over 40 lakh central government jobs lying vacant and which would lapse in the coming years. The Left Front government, despite pressure from centre against recruitment, has provided many jobs in the government sector.  In the last four years alone we provided over 25,000 jobs. In 1972 at the formation of Tripura state, there were only 27,000 government jobs. Today, we have over 1,61,000 employed in government sector.

Apart from this, we are eagerly waiting for the road linkage to Chittagong port in Bangladesh from Sabroom in Tripura, which is a distance of around 70 km. Discussions are going on between governments of India and Bangladesh regarding this and we are hopeful it will fructify in the coming period. Once this access to port comes, it will be a big thing for Tripura. Discussions about the proposed 11 km rail linkage between Agartala and Akhaura in Bangladesh are also in final stages and will improve connectivity further. There is also a move to have air connectivity between Agartala and Dhaka. If all these things happen, and I am hopeful that they will happen, then all our locational disadvantages will be turned into advantages. Tripura will become the gateway to East Asia.

(Q) About the recent natural gas finds in Tripura, what is the situation?

Manik Sarkar: Tripura is a big reservoir of natural gas. ONGC, GAIL and one private corporation are currently carrying out further exploration work in the state. The quality of gas found here is also very good. On the basis of these gas finds, ONGC has set up a 730 MW power generation project. Some private parties have come forward to set up more gas-based power projects. But we are discouraging it as we want to use gas for fertiliser industry and other purposes also. When we combine these developments with the quality human resources, highest literacy rate and increased purchasing power among people, we have a strong basis for industrialisation in the state. Investors are now coming forward to set up industries in the state and this process will strengthen in the coming period.

(Q) Lastly, your comment on the recent incidents linking Congress to extremist elements in the effort to disrupt peace in the state.

Manik Sarkar: Well, you see Congress is getting isolated at national level and here in our state. They are unable to keep their house in order and at the same time they are unable to remain out of power for so many years. So, they tried to repeat what they did in 1988 election this time also by promoting extremists. But they have been caught red-handed trying to incite extremists to strike terror before elections. Their alliance with INPT, which is nothing but a political mask of extremists, also exposed their intention. After they have been caught red-handed, we are also keeping our people on high alert.  There is no room for complacency in this regard.

  

 People's Democracy

 February 17, 2013                                            

Towards a Seventh Left Front Govt in Tripura

By Prakash Karat

THE Left Front in Tripura held a central rally in Agartala on January 20 to launch its election campaign. The state assembly elections are on February 14. I participated in this rally which saw one lakh people attending, a huge number, considering that the total population of the state is only 37 lakhs.

Tripura is in the north-eastern part of the country. It is surrounded on three sides by Bangladesh. It was here in the nineteen forties that the Communist party worked among the tribal people and organised them to fight against the Maharaja and his feudal rule. Nripen Chakraborty, Dasarath Deb and Biren Datta were the pioneers of the Communist movement. The first two later served as the chief ministers of the state.

Tripura has had a Left Front government since 1978. In the first two terms of the Left Front government, there were two major achievements: the implementation of land reforms and the setting up of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council under the sixth schedule of the constitution. There was a break only in 1988-93 when there was a Congress regime. The Congress came to power through a rigged election with the help of the central government headed by Rajiv Gandhi. This was one of the most sordid episodes in Indian politics.The five year period saw semi-fascist terror unleashed against the CPI(M) and hundreds of the Party members and supporters were killed. It was after an arduous struggle that the Congress was isolated and the Left Front regained office in March 1993.

Since then, in the three subsequent elections in 1998, 2003 and 2008, the Left Front won with a two-thirds majority. All in all, the Left Front has been in government for six terms since 1978, except for the one term in 1988-93.

The history of the Left Front government in the last two decades is a remarkable and inspiring one. In the first decade, in the nineties, the state was still affected by the violent insurgency by armed extremist tribal groups. Their attacks had begun in the early eighties. Sheltering in camps across the border in Bangladesh, these groups wreaked havoc in the tribal and hill areas. They were financed and equipped by imperialist agencies and the ISI of Pakistan. They demanded an independent Tripura. Thousands were killed in the three decades of terrorist violence and hundreds of CPI (M) tribal cadres and supporters laid down their lives defending the unity of the people and the country.

The Left Front governments could tackle this armed insurgency by adopting a three pronged approach. First, the political one, of preserving the unity of the tribal and Bengali communities which was sought to be disrupted. Second, by raising and equipping a state armed police (Tripura State Rifles) which could effectively counter the armed gangs. Third, the government stepped up its development and welfare activities once the violence was curbed in the tribal areas.  The Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council was revitalised for this purpose.

Today Tripura is a peaceful state and there is harmony and unity between the majority Bengalis and the minority tribal people. Tripura stands out in the entire north-east for achieving this, whereas there is ethnic and tribal strife in other states like Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland. The CPI(M) and the Left’s role is the key factor in Tripura.

The record of the Left Front government under the leadership of Manik Sarkar is also outstanding in the developmental and welfare activities. It is acknowledged by all that Tripura is the best governed state in the north-east. In the 2001 census, Tripura was in terms of the literacy rate the 11th among all states; in the 2011 census,Tripura had reached the 4th position with 88 per cent literacy. There were no farmers suicides and no starvation deaths in the last ten years.

Tripura has an excellent record in the delivery of various schemes. Tripura stood first in the country in 2011 by generating 86 average man days under the rural employment guarantee scheme (MNREGA). Tripura has also done justice to the tribal people by being in the forefront in implementing the Forest Rights Act. By mid 2012, 1,19,342 pattas had been distributed to forest dwellers securing their land. There are 16 pension schemes that cover almost all BPL families.

As far as infrastructure is concerned, 90 per cent of the total of 8,312 habitations are electrified. 90 percentage of irrigable land has been brought under irrigation facilities and 50 per cent of the total cultivable land is now irrigated.

The biggest step taken by the current Left Front government was the introduction of 35 kgs rice at Rs 2 per kilo for all BPL card holders which is 2 lakh families. In the north-eastern states, rice is supplied at Rs 5 to 6 per kilo due to the higher transportation costs. It was so in Tripura too till August 2012. The supply of rice at Rs 2 has been welcomed by all sections of the people. The Tripura government is bearing the cost of the increased subsidy.

The Left Front was the first to announce its list of candidates for the 60 assembly seats, 20 of which are reserved for scheduled tribes. The CPI(M) is contesting 55, the CPI-2, the RSP-2 and the Forward Bloc-1.

The Congress party finalised its list of candidates among squabbles and open rifts. It has maintained its alliance with the tribal organisation, the INPT which is the body which incorporated the TUJS and some other tribal groups. The Congress traditionally had no base among the tribal people. It therefore allied first with the TUJS and later the INPT.

These tribal organisations have had separatist platforms at various points of time. The Congress had the dubious record of encouraging the tribal separatist and extremist forces just to isolate and weaken the CPI(M)’s strong base among the tribal people.

Today, these tactics stand discredited before the people. The Left Front stands for unity, peace, progress and development – a platform which is attracting the youth in large numbers.

At the rally on January 20, wave after wave of people, marched into the ground raising the slogan “We will bring the Seventh Left Front Government”. This is a pledge which will be in all certainty fulfilled on February 14. 

People's Democracy,January 27, 2013