[Marxistindia] case against Quattrocchi

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)

September 30, 2009

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued
the following statement:

The decision of the Central Government to withdraw the case against
Ottavio Quattrocchi who was facing prosecution in the Bofors bribery
case comes in the wake of prolonged efforts to scuttle the case.

At every stage, successive governments headed by the Congress have
resorted to various devices to derail the case and protect Quattrocchi.
The CBI was prevented from pursuing the case seriously.

With this latest act, the cover up of the Bofors bribery case is now
complete.

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[Marxistindia] Castro on Honduras

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
Reflections by comrade Fidel

A REVOLUTION IN THE MAKING

Last July 16, I literally said that the coup d'état in Honduras "was
conceived and organized by unscrupulous characters on the far-right who
were officials in the confidence of George W. Bush and had been promoted
by him."

I mentioned the names of Hugo LLorens, Robert Blau, Stephen McFarland
and Robert Callahan, Yankee ambassadors to Honduras, El Salvador,
Guatemala and Nicaragua appointed by Bush in the months of July and
August 2008; the four pursued the line of John Negroponte and Otto
Reich, two characters with an ominous history.

I then indicated that the Yankee base at Soto Cano had provided the main
backup to the coup and that "the idea of a peace initiative from Costa
Rica was transmitted to the president of that country from the State
Department when Obama was in Moscow and he was declaring at a Russian
university that the only president of Honduras was Manuel Zelaya," and
added: "With the Costa Rica meeting, the authority of the UN, the OAS
and the other institutions that committed their support to the people of
Honduras is being questioned." "The only correct thing to do at this
moment is to demand that the government of the United States ceases its
intervention, stops giving military aid to the coup and pulls out its
Task Force from Honduras."

The US response to the coup d'état in that Central American country has
been to strike an agreement with the government of Colombia in order to
set up seven military bases similar to that of Soto Cano in that sister
nation thus menacing Venezuela, Brazil and every other people in South
America.

At a critical moment, when the tragedy of the climate change and the
international economic crisis are under discussion at a UN summit
conference of heads of States, the putschists in Honduras are
threatening the immunity of the Brazilian Embassy where President
Zelaya, his family and a group of followers were forced to seek
sanctuary.

The fact is that the government of Brazil had absolutely nothing to do
with the situation created there.

Consequently, it is inadmissible --actually inconceivable-- that the
Brazilian Embassy may be assaulted by the fascist government, unless it
intends to commit suicide dragging the country to a direct intervention
of foreign forces, --as it was the case in Haiti—which would mean the
intervention of Yankee troops under the UN flag. Honduras is not a
remote isolated country in the Caribbean. An intervention in Honduras
with foreign forces would unleash a conflict in Central America and
bring political chaos to the entire Latin American region.

The heroic struggle of the Honduran people during almost 90 days of
ceaseless battle has placed the fascist pro-Yankee government, which is
crushing unarmed men and women, in a critical situation.

We have seen the emergence of a new conscience among the Honduran
people. Legions of social fighters have gained experience in that
battle. Zelaya delivered on his promise to return. He is entitled to his
position in the government and to preside over the elections. New and
admirable cadres are outstanding in the combative social movements; they
are capable of leading that people through the hazardous journey ahead
of the peoples of Our America. A Revolution is in the making there.

The current session of the United Nations General Assembly can be a
historic one depending on its rights and/or wrongs.

The world leaders have presented very interesting and complex subjects,
which reflect the enormity of the tasks facing humanity and the little
time available.

Fidel Castro Ruz

September 24, 2009

1:23 PM

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[Marxistindia] A SPECIES IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)

Reflections by Comrade Fidel

A SPECIES IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION

Today I would have liked to speak about the extraordinary "Paz sin
Fronteras" (Peace without Borders) Concert held at the José Martí
Revolution Square 24 hours ago, but the stubborn reality forces me to
write about a danger that threatens not just peace but the survival of
our species.

The United Nations Organization, whose task is to safeguard the peace,
security and rights of almost 200 states that represent more than 6
thousand 500 million inhabitants on our planet, is about to begin the
General Assembly debates next Wednesday, with the participation of heads
of states. This time, on Tuesday September 22nd, given the exceptional
importance of the subject, it will dedicate a senior-level session on
climate change as preparation for the Copenhagen Conference to be held
in Denmark between December 7th and 18th of this year.

At the International Conference on the Environment called by the UN in
Rio de Janeiro, I stated as the then head of state of the Cuban state:
"A species is in danger of extinction: man". When I uttered and backed
up those words, received and applauded by the heads of state in
attendance –including the president of the United States, a Bush less
dismal than his son George W. –they still believed that they had several
centuries to confront the problem. I myself did not envision a date any
closer than 60 or 80 years.

Today we are dealing with a truly imminent danger and its effects are
already visible. I shall limit myself to just a few details which shall
be amply tackled in New York by our Minister of Foreign Affairs who will
be speaking there on behalf of Cuba.

Average temperatures have increased 0.8 degrees Centigrade since 1980
according to the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The last two
decades of the twentieth century were the warmest in hundreds of years.
The temperatures in Alaska, the Canadian West and eastern Russia have
gone up at a pace that doubles the world average. Arctic ice has been
quickly disappearing and the region can experience its first completely
ice-free summer as soon as the year 2040. The effects are visible in
the 2 kilometre high masses of ice melting in Greenland, the South
American glaciers, from Ecuador all the way to Cape Horn, fundamental
sources of water, and the gigantic ice cap covering the extensive area
of Antarctica.

Current carbon dioxide concentrations have reached the equivalent of 380
parts per million, a figure surpassing the natural range of the last
650,000 years. The warming is already affecting the natural systems
throughout the world. If this should occur it would be devastating for
all peoples.

Scientists have discovered that no less than 3 billion years ago the
first basic life forms on planet Earth appeared. Since then, these same
life forms have evolved non-stop towards higher and more complex forms
by virtue of the inexorable laws of biology. Our current species, Homo
sapiens, has existed for barely 150 thousand years, an insignificant
fraction of time from the beginning of life. Even though the Greeks,
hundreds of years before our era, were already in possession of certain
astronomical knowledge, barely more than 500 years ago, after a long
period of medieval darkness, Man discovered that the Earth was round and
not flat. An audacious Genovese admiral with solid understanding
proposed to sail eastward in search of India instead of circumnavigating
southern Africa. European colonization of this hemisphere and the rest
of the planet would commence.

The human species could measure with sufficient precision the rotation
of the Earth every 24 hours and its movement around the enormous
incandescent mass of the Sun approximately every 365 days. These and
other singular circumstances were associated with the existence and life
for all species in existence at that time.

Since antiquity, the most advanced philosophers and thinkers have sought
social justice. In spite of this, physical slavery legally lasted until
129 years ago at which time slavery was abolished in the Spanish colony
of Cuba.

>From my point of view, the Theory of Evolution as presented by Darwin in
his book "The Origin of the Species" has been one of the two most
important scientific discoveries. Some people saw in this an
antagonistic element for religious beliefs; however, no scientist today
refutes it and many of them who profess sincere religious beliefs see in
evolution the expression of Divine Will.

The other decisive contribution was Albert Einstein's General Theory of
Relativity, presented in1915, the source of much research following the
death of its author in April of 1955. Few persons have so much
influenced the future of the world as he did. Einstein persuaded
Roosevelt to start research to produce the atomic bomb fearing that it
would be developed by the Nazis. When Truman dropped them over the
defenceless civilian cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the event had
such an impact on him that he became a confirmed pacifist. Today, the
US possesses thousands of nuclear weapons much more powerful than those;
they could exterminate the population of the world several times over.
At the same time, they are the greatest producers and exporters of all
kinds of weapons.

The accelerated pace of scientific research in all fields of material
production and services, under the economic order imposed on the world
following World War II, has led humanity towards an unsustainable
situation.

It is our duty to demand the truth. The populations of all countries
have the right to know the factors causing climate change and the
current scientific possibilities to reverse the tendency, if indeed we
still really have any.

The Cuban people, especially its magnificent youth, demonstrated
yesterday that even in the midst of a brutal economic blockade, it is
possible to overcome unimaginable obstacles.

Fidel Castro Ruz

September 21, 2009

5:44 p.m.

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[Marxistindia] Fidel Castro's Tribute to Almeida, Vice President of Cuba

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
Reflections by comrade Fidel

ALMEIDA LIVES TODAY MORE THAN EVER

I have been watching for hours now on television the tribute that the
entire country is paying to Commander of the Revolution Juan Almeida
Bosque. I think that facing death was for him just another duty as so
many others he discharged throughout his life. He did not know neither
did we how much sadness the news of his physical absence would bring to
us.

I was privileged to know that young black militant worker who would
successively be the leader of a revolutionary group, a combatant at the
Moncada, a comrade in prison, a platoon captain at the time of the
Granma landing, an officer with the Rebel Army --held back by a shot on
his chest during the violent combat at Uvero— the Commander of a column
marching on to create the Third Eastern Front, and the comrade sharing
the leadership of our forces in the last successful battles to overthrow
the tyranny.

I was an exceptional witness to his exemplary conduct for over half a
century of heroic and victorious resistance in the struggle against the
bandits, during the Giron counteroffensive, the Missile Crisis, the
internationalist missions and the resistance to the imperialist
blockade.

It was a pleasure to listen to some of his songs, especially the one
particularly emotional where he bade farewell to human dreams in
response to the homeland's call to "win or die". I was not aware that he
had composed over 300 songs in addition to his literary work, a source
of historical narratives and enjoyable readings. He defended principles
of justice that will be defended at any time and age while human beings
breathe on Earth.

Let's not say that Almeida is dead! Almeida lives today more than ever!

Fidel Castro Ruz

September 13, 2009

3:12 P.M.

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[Marxistindia] Farewell to History-Sitaram Yechury

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
Farewell to history
Sitaram Yechury, Member Polit Bureau, CPI(M)

(published in the Hindustan Times of September 09, 2009)

The victor, inevitably, scripts history. Historians' labour unearths the
virtues and valour of the vanquished describing the plight of 'people'
caught in the crossfire. The victor, however, does not stop at authoring
'official' history of any one event alone but seeks to re-write all
history to consolidate its current hegemony. Following the collapse of
the USSR and in the present conjecture of the global capitalist
recession, the West seeks to reinterpret World War II's history by
equating fascism with communism.

In 2004, to deflect rising global protests against the US military
occupation of Iraq, on the 50th anniversary of the landing of the Allied
troops at Normandy, all North Atlantic Treaty Organisation leaders
assembled to project themselves as the champions of the victory over
fascism liberating Western Europe. They deliberately concealed the fact
that for every allied soldier who laid down his life, fighting fascism,
there were 40 Soviet soldiers who laid down their lives. Over 20 million
Soviet soldiers and people lost their lives. In 1,418 days of war, the
Soviet Union lost nine lives every minute, 857 every hour and 14,000
lives a day.

On the 70th anniversary of fascist Germany's attack on Poland (September
1, 1939, 4.40 am), which started the World War II, a similar attempt is
being made to once again distort history. This is necessary for the
advanced capitalist powers to seek to prevent the growth of socialist
ideas and Left politics, as currently seen in various countries of Latin
America, in the wake of the worst capitalist economic recession since
the Great Depression. Today, the US has an unprecedented seven million
people unemployed. The European Union is faring no better. Under these
circumstances, it is imperative for them to decry the glorious role of
the Soviet Union and, by implication any socialist alternative, in the
defeat of fascism.

The Economist says "the Kremlin should admit that Stalin was Hitler's
accomplice before 1941". The reference here is to the 1939
non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union. They
conveniently conceal the fact that rejecting the Soviet Union's
proposals for a united front against fascism, both Britain and France
had entered into similar pacts with Germany earlier. If Prague today is
a 'museum city', it is because Hitler moved in there as in much of
Eastern Europe that was ceded, by spineless Western powers, in the
Munich pact of 1938. Hitler's defeat alone liberated these areas. This
is now being 'reinterpreted' as Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe post
WW-II!

The London-based Economist must surely know that the Guardian, published
from the same capital city, on January 1, 1970, when the secret foreign
office archives were made public after the statutory period of 30 years
said, "the cabinet papers for 1939, published this morning show that
World War-II would not have started that year, had the Chamberlain
government accepted or understood Russian advice that an alliance
between Britain, France and the Soviet Union would prevent war because
Hitler would not risk a conflict against the powers on two fronts."

Why the Western allies did not agree to the Soviet proposal is
chillingly articulated by the then US Senator Harry Truman who later
became both the Vice-President and the President. The day after Hitler
attacked the Soviet Union, he said: "If we see that Germany is winning
we should help the Russians and if Russia is winning we should help the
Germans and that way let them kill as many as possible." (The New York
Times, June 24, 1941). It was precisely for this reason that the landing
of the second front was delayed by more than two years, despite giving
assurances to Stalin that this would be opened in 1942. This was based
on the hope that Hitler would destroy socialism and reintegrate
one-sixth of world territory back under the capitalist order.

"The greatest military march in world history," as Hitler declared,
advanced 600 kilometres into the Soviet Union within a fortnight.
Winston Churchill wrote in his memoirs: "Almost all responsible military
opinion held that the Russian army will be soon defeated and largely
destroyed." Soon the world was amazed when Moscow admitted its losses
after nine weeks of war as including 7,500 guns, 4,500 planes and 5,000
tanks. A British war journalist observed: "An army that could still
fight must have had the biggest or the second biggest supply." The
182-day battle at Stalingrad, the most heroic and decisive in the defeat
of fascism changed the tide. The subsequent Soviet counter-offensive saw
the fascist military might collapsing. Retreating German soldiers, in
Istra near Moscow, wrote on the walls "Farewell Moscow we are off to
Berlin," the Soviet soldiers wrote below, "We will get to Berlin too."
This they did. The red flag unfurled atop the German Reichstag on April
30, 1945. Not the US or Britain or France but it was the Soviet Union
that lowered the fascist flag.

Such distortion of history to restate the "eternality of capitalism"
comes in the wake of the global recession that is throwing up the
possibilities of anti-capitalist socialist alternatives. Truth is
sacrificed at capitalism's altar to prevent the Left's advance.
eom
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[Marxistindia] Brinda's letter to PM -- Women's Commission

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
7th September, 2009

We are releasing the text of the
Letter Addressed to the Prime Minister by Brinda Karat, MP on
Appointment of a Full-time Chairperson of the Women's Commission.
*************

Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh ji,

This to draw your kind attention to the absence of a fulltime
Chairperson of the National Commission for Women. The present incumbent
Dr. Girija Vyas whose work in the Commission has earned her the highest
regard and respect, was elected to the Lok Sabha and has therefore to
shoulder her responsibilities as a Member of Parliament. During the last
session of Parliament I had spoken to the Minister concerned Smt.
Krishna Tirath as well as Dr. Girija Vyas, and both of them had agreed
that a fulltime Chairperson is required. However, since three months
have elapsed and the Government has not taken the necessary step to
appoint a new Chairperson I am writing this letter to you.

On an earlier occasion I had drawn your attention to the injustice meted
out to the Commission in that the Chairperson of other similarly
constituted Commissions had the status of a Cabinet Minister which was
denied to the Chairperson of the Women's Commission and was therefore
discriminatory. But now instead of undoing that injustice, the
Government has shown its indifference and neglect of the Commission by
the inordinate delay in appointing a full time Chairperson.

The National Commission for Women is not a Government department. It was
born out of a long struggle of women for a statutory autonomous body to
monitor the implementation of constitutional and legal guarantees for
women and to intervene where there were violations by the State as also
on all policy matters concerning women. There is resentment among women
about the approach of the Government to the Commission.

I hope you will kindly intervene in the matter to ensure the appointment
of a fulltime Chairperson with a similar status as given to Chairpersons
of other commissions.

BRINDA KARAT

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[Marxistindia] Gujarat Killings: Mete Out Exemplary Punishment

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
September 8, 2009

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued
the following statement:

Gujarat Killings: Mete Out Exemplary Punishment

The shocking killing of a nineteen year old girl and three others by the
Gujarat police has been exposed by the findings of a city magistrate in
Ahmedabad. The cold blooded murder of Ishrat Jahan and three others in
June 2004 was sought to be covered up by a staged encounter. The enquiry
has revealed the hand of senior police officials including the then
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner and the notorious DIG Vanzara who is now
facing trial for another fake encounter killing -- of Soharabuddin
Sheikh and his wife.

The targetted killings of persons belonging to the minority community by
the state police reveals the state of affairs under the Narendra Modi
government.

The Polit Bureau demands immediate action to arrest and prosecute all
the police personnel involved in these murders. Exemplary punishment has
to be meted out in this case as the crime has been committed by those
entrusted with upholding the law.

Given the spate of illegal encounter killings which took place under the
encouragement of the state government, the Chief Minister Narendra Modi
should take moral responsibility and quit office.
eom

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[Marxistindia] CPI(M) leaders meeting with Election Commission

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
September 07, 2009

A delegation consisting of CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat,
Member, Polit Bureau, Sitaram Yechury, Member Secretariat, V Srinivasa
Rao and a technical expert Prabir Purkayastha met the three-member
Election Commission and the technical experts committee of the Election
Commission and raised some concerns regarding the use of EVMs. They had
a two hour long meeting and exchanged views. The CPI(M) raised the
following points:

On The Use of EVMs

There are some questions raised about the reliability of the EVMs:

1. Possibility of incorporating a Trojan horse into the chip.

2. Possibility of manipulation of chips during manufacturing, insertion
and transportation stages.

3. Lack of EC control on the entire technical process of the EVMs.

4. Lack of third party check/inspection/guarantee on the programming of
the chips used in the EVMs.

5. Banning the usage of EVMs in some Western countries particularly in
Europe.

6. Reporting of errors in some machines and the discrepancies in the
results.

Some steps that need to be taken to restore the confidence of the
political parties and people on the usage of the EVMs

1. The entire manufacturing process has to be done under the control of
the Election Commission and for this an exclusive technical department
needs to be established.

2. Both hardware and software should be in public domain.

3. The chips manufactured by ECIL, BEL should be allowed for yearly
random third party inspections either by NIC or IITs.

4. All the machines should be randomly changed from state to state and
within the country in every election.

5. A verification tool should be developed and made available to all.

eom

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[Marxistindia] PB Communique

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
September 6, 2009

Press Communique

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New
Delhi on September 5-6, 2009. It has issued the following statement:

Overall Political Situation

The Polit Bureau noted that the Congress-led government's record in the
first hundred days of its tenure have confirmed that it will pursue the
same neo-liberal policies. It has announced that it will further
liberalise foreign direct investment in various spheres, go in for
disinvestment of the profitable PSUs on the pretext of ensuring
"people's participation" in the public sector and provide for further
tax concessions to the corporate sector.

The direct tax code announced by the the government is regressive.
Persons earning above Rs. 10 lakhs annually get a cut in their tax
rates, corporate taxes are being reduced from 30 to 25 per cent and
there is a further dilution of the wealth tax. This at a time when big
business has earned enormous profits and the wealth of the richer
sections has increased substantially.

Price Rise & Drought

The first three months of the UPA government have been marked by the
relentless rise in the prices of food and essential commodities. There
has been a steep rise in the prices of dal, edible oil, sugar and
foodgrains. Half the country has been hit by drought owing to deficient
monsoon. The government has done little to address the situation besides
liberalising imports of commodities like sugar and announcing a diesel
subsidy for the farmers.

The drought is going to lead to a fall in agricultural production with
rice production being badly hit. This will further aggravate the price
situation. The drought will cause great hardship to poor peasants and
agricultural workers who will suffer from lack of employment. Poor
peasants are being forced to sell their cattle for lack of fodder. In
many places there is a scarcity of water.

The Polit Bureau reiterated the steps to be taken immediately to check
price rise. These include ban all future trade in essential commodities,
strengthening the public distribution system, ensure de-hoarding and
taking of strong action against hoarders and black marketeers, and
withdrawing the price hikes in petrol and diesel.

In drought affected areas the urgent steps required are: ensure
distribution of food grain to all affected families in drought hit areas
on an emergency basis; help State Governments through urgent allocation
of resources to start widescale NREGA projects to ensure real incomes of
at least rupees one hundred per work day in drought areas. Remove
ceiling of 100 days and give work on demand. Where required food grain
can also be used as part payment along with cash; ensure regular supply
of drinking water and ensure fodder for cattle.

The Polit Bureau endorsed the call given by the National Convention on
Food Security and Against Price Rise and the Left parties to hold state
level conventions on the issue of food security, drought and price rise.
This is to be followed by rallies in the state capitals in the month of
November, The Polit Bureau appealed to all its Party units to make this
campaign a success.

Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN

The Polit Bureau noted with concern that the government has signed a
free trade agreement with the Asean countries despite apprehensions
raised about its adverse effects. The state governments which are going
to be affected by such an agreement were not consulted. The free trade
agreement is going to lead to abolition of tariffs or lowering of duties
on a range of agricultural commodities and industrial goods. Kerala is
going to be badly hit as commodities such as pepper, tea, cardamom and
palm oil are all items which will see liberalised imports.

WTO Talks

The informal ministerial meeting held in New Delhi on the Doha round of
negotiations in the WTO has decided to resume the negotiations on
agriculture and NAMA at Geneva shortly. The Indian initiative to break
the so called deadlock is intriguing. The negotiations had got
deadlocked last year when India had taken a firm stance in defence of
Indian agriculture and farmers. The text being negotiated does not
provide effective protection to the livelihood of millions of small and
marginal farmers against the surge of cheap imports of products from the
advance countries who continue to heavily subsidise them. In the case of
non-agricultural market access (NAMA) the tilt against developing
countries is more blatant.

The Polit Bureau wants the Central Government not to take any steps
which compromise the interests of the farmers and agriculture and of the
workers and domestic industry.

EUMA & Ties With US

The End Use Monitoring Agreement signed during the Hillary Clinton visit
provides for inspections of weapons and equipment bought from the US.
These intrusive inspections are an affront to India's sovereignty.

India has also committed to adopt a civilian nuclear liability law under
US pressure. Under this proposal, the level of compensation will be
capped at $ 450 million in the event of a accident in a nuclear
facility. Moreover, the responsibility for compensation will not lie
with US supplier of the reactor but on the Indian operator, in this case
the Nuclear Power Corporation of India.

The Polit Bureau appealed to all democratic forces to oppose such a
liability law being passed by parliament.

BJP Disarray

The crisis in the BJP and the prolonged differences on the leadership
issue is sought to be resolved with the intervention of the RSS. The RSS
had maintained that it will not interfere in the decision making process
of the BJP as it is a cultural organisation. This fiction has been
exposed by the manner in which all the BJP leaders were summoned by the
RSS chief and a formula worked out to resolve the leadership issue.

The BJP is nothing but the political instrument of the RSS. By this
latest intervention the RSS will be further tightening its grip over the
party with the consequent repercussions on the party's ideology and
policies. Given the adherence of the BJP/RSS combine to the Hindutva
ideology, the struggle to expose the disruptive communal ideology and
politics should be carried forward.

Assembly Elections

The Polit Bureau heard reports on the preparations for the Maharashtra
and Haryana assembly elections by the Party. It approved the decision of
the two concerned state committees on the list of seats to be
contested.

Attacks in West Bengal

The Polit Bureau condemned the ongoing attacks on the Party and its
cadres in West Bengal. The spree of killings by the Trinamul combine and
the Maoists have not stopped after the parliament elections. In the
Lalgarh area the Maoists continue to indulge in targetted killings of
CPI(M) cadres and supporters. In some areas like Khejuri in East
Midnapur, hundreds of families have been displaced from their homes due
to attacks by the Trinamul.

The Polit Bureau heard a report on the steps being taken by the Party
politically and organisationally to meet the situation.

The Polit Bureau decided to step up the all India campaign against the
anti-democratic attacks on the CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal and to
express solidarity with them.

Sri Lanka -- Sentencing of Journalist

The Polit Bureau expressed its strong condemnation of the sentencing of
J.S. Tissanayagam, a journalist in Sri Lanka, to 20 years rigorous
imprisonment. This severe sentence has been passed against him for
expressing some critical views in his column.

The use of the draconian anti-terror law against a journalist who
expresses dissenting views is a disturbing situation. The Polit Bureau
urges the Sri Lankan government to take steps to get the sentence
rescinded and stop the repression of the media.

Rectification Campaign

The Polit Bureau had a discussion on the content of the document for the
rectification campaign. On the basis of this discussion a draft will be
prepared to be placed before the next Central Committee meeting.

Next Central Committee Meeting

The next meeting of the Central Committee will be held from October 23
to 25 at New Delhi. The Polit Bureau will meet before that on the 11th
of October.

end

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[Marxistindia] Condolence -- Y Rajasekhara Reddy

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
September 03, 2009

Press Statement

Prakash Karat, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist) has issued the following statement:

The death of Dr. Y Rajasekhara Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
in a tragic helicopter accident has shocked everyone. His untimely death
is a big loss for Andhra Pradesh and the Congress Party.

On behalf of the CPI(M) I convey our deepest sympathy to his wife and
family members.

I also convey our condolences to the families of the four members of the
staff and crew who died in the accident.

end

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[Marxistindia] Prakash Karat's Letter to Chief Election Commissioner

marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
September 01, 2009

Press Release

We are releasing the text of the letter addressed by CPI(M) General
Secretary Prakash to Chief Election Commissioner, Shri Navin Chawla on
August 31, 2009 regarding the doubts about the use of Electronic Voting
Machines.

********************************

Text of the Letter

Shri Navin Chawla

Chief Election Commissioner

Election Commission of India

Dear Shri Navin Chawla,

I am writing to you regarding the use of Electronic Voting Machines
(EVMs) for recording votes in the elections. In the recent period, there
have been a number of questions raised about the reliability of the EVMs
in the polling process. Amongst the concerns are the possibility of
tampering with the programme chip embedded in the EVMs and further the
lack of any verifiable record of the vote cast by a voter.

There are some countries with the requisite technological know-how who
are stopped the use of EVMs or prescribed conditions for their use.

It is important that all doubts about the use of the EVMs for voting are
removed, so that people's faith in the democratic system is not
affected.

The Election Commission should take steps to clear all the doubts and
allay the apprehensions. We would, therefore, request you to convene an
all-parties meeting along with technical experts to discuss in depth the
issue of use of EVMs in the electoral process.

Sd/-

(Prakash Karat)

General Secretary

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