[L-I] [ INDIA ] ML Update Vol.7 No. 34 24 -30 Aug 2004

ML Update
A CPI (ML) Weekly News Magazine
Vol.7 No. 34    24 -30 Aug 2004

PWG's War against People's Leaders

It was around midnight of 18 August. Lights had just been switched off at
the Paliganj sub divisional office of the CPI(ML). Five comrades, all
members of the Paliganj Dulhinbazar Area Committee (the two adjacent blocks
that make up the Paliganj Assembly segment of Patna district in Bihar), were
present at the office. They included Comrade Rajeshwar Mochi, pramukh of
Dulhinbazar block panchayat and president of the Patna district unit of All
India Agricultural Labour Association, Comrade Jagdev Ram, local Party
organiser, Mandeep Goswami, mukhiya of Jarkha panchayat of Paliganj block,
Comrade Shivdaani Yadav, office secretary and Comrade Baleshwar Manjhi,
secretary of the Paliganj Block Committee of AIALA.

The comrades had just retired to sleep after yet another busy day's work.
The Party is conducting a state-wide agitation on the issue of immediate
relief for Bihar's millions of flood and drought victims. While the whole of
north Bihar is reeling under severe floods, in southern part of the state
agriculture has been badly hit by a veritable drought. Instead of reaching
relief to the affected people, the RJD government of the state is however
busy looting relief materials and raining bullets on the aggrieved people.
In all our major areas of work, the Party committees and units of the Kisan
Sabha and Khet Mazdoor Sabha and Party activists functioning as elected
people's representatives in panchayati raj institutions are therefore in the
thick of a major two-pronged campaign: collecting and distributing relief as
well as mobilizing the people against the corrupt and repressive political
order. As usual, these leading comrades of Paliganj were deeply immersed in
this Party campaign and in the service of the people.

Little did the comrades realize that all this would be abruptly disrupted.
They probably had no premonition that the night that had fallen would go
down as one of the darkest in the history of Bihar, and that the Party
office would be transformed into a graveyard. By midnight news reached Patna
that the Paliganj office of the Party had been attacked by a group of armed
PWG militants and that all the five comrades had been shot dead while they
were asleep. The police station in Paliganj is just a few minutes' walk from
the Party office. The patrolling police team had no problem with the
militants while some of them were executing this operation and the others
encircled the neighbourhood. It was only after the militants had decamped
that the police reached the office only to whisk away the corpses of our
slain comrades to the Danapur hospital for completing the post-mortem
formalities.

It was not till 20 August that the newspapers reported this ghastly
incident. But in and around Paliganj, the news of the dastardly killing of
CPI(ML) leaders had already spread like wild fire. By the time the dead
bodies were taken back to Paliganj thousands had thronged the Paliganj
office to have a last glimpse of the slain leaders. Sons, husbands and
fathers for some, beloved comrades and friends for them all. The crowd
around the office continued to swell till the next morning when defying
incessant rains and the muddy tracks of rural Paliganj thousands joined the
funeral march. It took one more day for Comrade Baleshwar's body to be
recovered. His mutilated body was found in a well in a village called
Nirakhpur near the Party office in Paliganj.

The People's War Group has officially justified its Paliganj act and
threatened to carry out more such attacks in the days to come. What kind of
a war is being waged by killing the people and their leaders? The answer, my
friend, is blowing in the wind. The PWG in Bihar has been working overtime
as armed henchmen of the RJD. Its squads specialize in capturing booths for
RJD and utilizing the protection provided by the RJD regime to disrupt the
growing unity and mobilization of the people under the banner of the
CPI(ML). In Patna and Jahanabad, the people are quite familiar with the 'din
mein RJD, raat mein PWG' (RJD by the day and PWG by the night) phenomenon.
And the PWG also renders a major 'ideological service' to the ruling classes
and their media. When TDP leaders are killed by the PWG in Andhra, it is a
threat to democracy; but when CPI (ML) leaders are killed by the same PWG in
Bihar, it is merely a battle for supremacy between two ML organisations, it
is merely an example of 'mindless violence' that is characteristic of the
entire ML movement!

But let the PWG make no mistake. The people and their real communist heroes
have always proved, and shall always prove, to be immensely more powerful
than a few gun-toting anarchist hirelings. And the martyr comrades of
Paliganj shall remain immortal in the onward march of the people they always
lived and fought for.


Red Salute to the Martyrs of Paliganj!

Comrade Rajeshwar Mochi
Born in a family of agrarian labourers in Patna district, Rajeshwar Mochi
studied upto his matriculation. He joined the Party in 1980, becoming a
whole timer in 1985, working on the Kisan front in the Maner Block, a site
of fierce struggles, for years. He returned to Paliganj and, as an Area
Committee member, led struggles against feudal oppression.
A State level leader of the Bihar Pradesh Khet Mazdoor Sabha since 2002, he
became the first District President of the Khet Mazdoor Sabha. In 2000, he
was elected to the Achhua panchayat samiti by a comfortable margin, and was
subsequently elected to the post of Pramukh of the Dulhinbazar Block. As
Block Pramukh, he championed the social and political assertion of dalits,
and led a struggle against corruption, because of which he became the target
of local landlords.
He represented the struggles for land, wages and social dignity in Patna
District. He had been booked under false cases when he led the struggle for
the distribution of land occupied by the Khapuri mutth. He was arrested
along with three other people's representatives from the Party's District
Office, and all of them were hung upside down and brutally beaten as well as
subjected to humiliations like shaving off moustaches, by the police in the
Danapur Thana.
On the day of his martyrdom, he was making plans to go to Patna for the
State Executive Meeting of the All India Khet Mazdoor Sabha. He was 42. He
is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.

Comrade Jagdev Prasad
Jagdev Prasad, who was 36 when he was killed, was born in a family of middle
peasants his father was a retired chaprasi in a school. He studied upto his
matriculation. He joined the Party in 1980, and worked for years on the
people's resistance front of the Party. He was  the In-charge of this front
in the Paliganj district, and was jailed for several years.

He became a member of the Paliganj-Dulhinbazar Area Committee in 1998, and
played an important role in developing Party work in the South Eastern part
of this district. He was the candidate for the post of mukhiya of the
Patauna Panchayat in 2000, and he was defeated by a very negligible margin.
He was 36.

Comrade Mandeep Goswami
Mandeep Goswami was the only child of a middle peasant family. Joining the
Party in 1984, he was an activist on the people's resistance front, and
became a member of the Paliganj-Dulhinbazar Area Committee in 1998. He won
the post of mukhiya of Jarkha Panchayat in 2000, where he struggled to
establish a new and corruption-free model of development.
His wife too was killed by the PWG in the Bahadurganj massacre, and his
cousin Birendra Goswami too was murdered by the PWG.

Comrade Shivdani Yadav
Aged 37 years, he was from a family of poor peasants. He was a graduate and
a Principal of a private school for some time, before he joined the Party.
He had been an Area Committee member, and the Office Secretary of the Party
for long, and had also worked on the Kisan front for some time. He is
survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.

Comrade Baleshwar Manjhi
Born in the class of agrarian labourers, Baleshwar Manjhi had been active on
the armed front as well as the Kisan mass organisation. Since 1998, he had
been a member of the Paliganj-Dulhinbazar Area Committee. He was a very
popular leader in the area, known for his bold initiatives and close
integration with the masses. He was also a member of the Patna District
Committee of the Khet Mazdoor Sabha, and the Convenor of the Paliganj Block.
He was 45, and is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.

Order CBI inquiry to Unearth the Whole Truth Behind
the Paliganj Killings

The brutal killing of five CPI(ML) leaders inside the Paliganj office of the
Party has evoked tremendous resentment all over Bihar, Political killings
are not new in the state. Apart from massacres of the rural poor and
retaliatory killings by rival gangs, the tenure of the present RJD regime
itself has witnessed a number of political murders in the state. Bihar has
not forgotten the killings of student leadet Chandrashekhar in Siwan, CPI(M)
MLA Ajit Sarkar in Purnea, CPI(M) leader Ramnath Mahto in Samastipur, and
CPI(ML) leader Manju in Jehanabad. But the Paliganj incident is the first of
its kind when a party office has been attacked and five leaders including
two elected representatives of the people have been gunned down while they
were asleep.

The killing has left a trail of explosive questions about the role of the
police and the RJD- PWG nexus. It took quite some time for the armed PWG
killers to reach Paliganj in three big vehicles, encircle the entire area
surrounding the CPI(ML) office and then decamp after carrying out their
heinous plot. All ths while the Paliganj police station, which is just a few
minutes' walk from the office, and whose patrol jeep was then patrolling in
the area close to look the other way. When the police reached the spot, the
killers had just left. There was no attempt on the part of the police to
give them a chase.

In fact while the police were busy whisking away the corpses of Comrades
Rajeshwar Mochi, Jagdev Ram, Mandeep Goswami and Shivdaani Yadav defying the
protests of Comrade Vinod Chandravanshi who had just reached the spot, that
four gunshots were heard at a distance. That was how and when AIALA leader
Comrade Baleshwar Manjhi, the fifth comrade picked up from the office, was
assassinated.

The government has now transferred the officer-in-charge of the Paliganj
Police Station. Following the FIR which names the RJD MLA from Paliganj,
Dinanath Yadav, as a key accused, there has been a police raid at the MLA's
flat in Patna. While the MLA was not there, five criminals, including one
named in the FIR, have been arrested from his residence. It is now also
reported that the RJD has suspended the MLA from the party.

This damage- control exercise only confirms the knowledge and observations
of the people of Paliganf regarding the role of the police-PWG-RJD nexus in
the entire episode. It is therefore imperative to have a CBI inquiry in to
the  incident so that the entire truth can be unearthed and  due punishment
can be meted out to all who are responsible for this heinous crime. If the
Bihar government refuses to hand over the case to the CBI, the central
government must intervene and order a CBI inquiry.

MLAs like Dinanath Yadav are not an aberration in the RJD. Several other
MLAs in south Bihar are known to have close ties with outfits like the
Ranvir Sena, MCC, PWG and various criminal gangs. And then there are men
like Shahabuddin who have their own networks of terror. Criminalization of
politics has been a hallmark of the RJD government and

Lalloo Prasad Yadav himself is the kingpin of the criminal-police-politician
nexus.
Indeed, crime and repression are the twin pillars that prop up the
Laloo-Rabri regime. Paliganj has only exposed an intricate pattern of
criminalization of power in Bihar and thereby underlined the need to
intensify the people's battle for real democracy and justice. The popular
response evoked by the 23 August Bihar Bandh is an encouraging sign. The
battle lines have been drawn. Let all forces of democracy and justice join
hands in this great battle and press ahead till victory is won.

Laloo - Rabri's Hands are Soaked in Blood!
23 August Bihar Bandh and Nationwide  Protests

Against
Attack on Paliganj CPI(ML) office and killing 5 popular leaders
Police firing and killing of flood relief seekers at
Darbhanga and Patepur
Police killing of agitator protesting against kidnapping and
 murder at Samstipur
Conviction and trials of agricultural labourers and
 peoples' leaders under
TADA

Gives Clear Warning to Criminal-Repressive Bihar Regime

CPI(ML)  called ' Bihar Bandh' and nationwide protests on 23 August against
the killings of five Party caders at Paliganj in Bihar by the PWG goons at
the behest of RJD MLAs Dinanath Yadav and Lalitnarayan Yadav, police firing
and killing of flood- victims protesting against the loot of relief
materials at Darbhanga and Patepur, the unprovoked police firing at
Samstipur and suppression of innocent rural poor of Jehanabad through
imposing TADA, evoked massive response. Thousands of people came out on the
streets demanding resignation of the Bihar Chief Minister. The Bihar Bandh
call was also supported by other left parties and Samajawadi Party. Many
other  organisations came out in full support of the CPI(ML) call.

The pressure of the Bihar Bandh forced  RJD Chief and Bihar 'real' Chief
Minister Laloo Yadav to order a police raid on the residence of Paliganj MLA
Dinanath yadav who perpetrated Paliganj killing through his PWG hencemen.
Patna police arrested five criminals with arms and ammunition from
Dinanath's residence but this criminal MLA has not yet been arrested by the
police. Laloo yadav also reportedly suspended Dinanath from the RJD for six
years. This whole episode of police raid and suspension also clearly proves
how deep criminalized the RJD government is in Bihar. This is yet another
proof of the RJD-PWG criminal nexus  operating in Bihar.

The people of Bihar responded quite spontaneously to the Bihar Bandh' call.
More than seven thousand people were arrested in Bihar on the 'Bandh' day.
CPI(ML) General Secretary Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya led a march in Patna
with hundreds of Party's activists and supporters.  while marching on the
streets of Patna he appealed to the people  to come out on the streets
against the criminalization of the state power.  He addressed a meeting at
the at the Dak-Bungalow Chowk and was arrested  from there along with Party
legislature group leader Com. Ramnaresh Ram and State Secretary Com.
Ramjatan Sharma. Several other Party leaders including Comrades Rameshwar
Prasad, K. D. Yadav and Ramji Rai were also arrested in Patna.

Stiff clashes took place in several districts between the CPI(ML) supporters
and the police. The police lathicharged Bandh- supporter at  Massaurhi,
Jehanabad, Arwal , Motihari, Aurangabad and Arrah. At  Several places
including Gaya, Maner and Bettiah RJD goons tried to foil the Bandh and
attacked the  Bandh -supporters. At Maner in Patna, RJD MLA Raghavendra
Pratap Singh and his henchmen clashed with the CPI(ML) supporters.

The effect of the Bandh also severely affected the rail- services and the
road-transportation. Many trains including Magadh express, Patna - Kurla
Exp. Buxar-Patna Passenger, Hatia-Patna Express, Howrah- Gaya Express got
delayed  as hundreds of Bandh supporters squatted on the rail-tracks at
Arrah, Nadwan, Mairwa, Muzaffarpur, Nawada, Jainagar, Darbhanga and
Samastipur. National and state highways were also blocked for hours at
Buxer, Arrah, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj and Samastipur.

The effect of the Bandh was also felt in eastern region of the state.
Hundreds of Bandh- supporters came out on the streets in Purnia, Bhagalpur,
Katihar and Saharsa.

Protests elsewhere
In Delhi, CPI(ML) activists and supporters held a protest- demonstration in
Delhi  at Jantar Mantar and sat on a Dharna for hours. It was led by Party
CCMs  Comrades Prabhat Kumar, Swapan Mukherjee, Kumudini Pati, Srilata
Swaminathan and Rajendra Pratholi. Party also sent a memorandum addressed to
the Governor of Bihar through Delhi-based Bihar Bhavan's Resident
Commissioner. Apart from Delhi, protest demonstrations were also held at
various centres in different states including Lucknow, Ranchi, Gunupur and
Kakinada. More than 500 people participated in the Protest meeting at
Gunupur, subdivisional headquarter of Rayagada district in Orissa. It was
led among others by Com. Tirupati Gomango, state committee member of Orissa.


TUs Observed 20Aug. as  National Protest Day

 A protest demonstration was held on 20 August by workers and employees in
front of the Parliament against the anti-worker, anti-employee Budget
presented by the UPA government. This demonstration was held in response to
the call given by the Sponsoring Committee of Indian Trade Unions to observe
"National Protest Day".

 This was the first all India protest on the streets after the new
government came to power. The Bank employees  also went on a nationwide
strike on 24 August.

Addressing the demonstrators, AICCTU General Secretary Com. Swapan Mukherjee
said, " the workers have gathered here to warn the UPA govt. that the
movement will be further intensified and this govt. will also be thrown out
like the earlier NDA govt. if this govt. does not reverse its present anti-
worker economic policies". Criticising the budgetary proposals he described
the budget as a betrayal of the peoples' mandate.

The AICCTU leaders said , "the government from the very beginning is
succumbing to the interests of share brokers, corporate houses and
multinationals but refusing to accept the demands concerning the working
people. While, on the one hand, this government has further slashed the
interest rate on EPF, sold out the profit making sectors, it has failed to
fulfil its commitment to bring legislations for unorganised sector workers
including agricultural workers, on the other hand. "The meeting was also
addressed by the leaders of other central trade unions like AITUC, CITU,
HMS, UTUC, UTUC(LS)and TUCC.

AISA-RYA March to Parliament against
 UPA Govt.'s Betrayal with Students and Youth

Hundreds of students and youth marched to Parliament on 18 August under the
banner of AISA and RYA in protest against the UPA Govt.'s betrayal of  the
students and youth of the country. The march was led by AISA president
Kavita Krishnan and other AISA and RYA leaders including Ravi Rai, Indresh
Maikhuri, Mona Das, Manish and Ramkishore Verma.

The march started from Ramlila Ground and reached the  Parliament Street
where it was stopped by the police. Amidst heavy rains, the protesters
organised a meeting. Protesters threatened to launch a countrywide agitation
if the UPA govt. does not stop itself from marching on the same old track of
NDA govt.


Red Salute to Com. Mister Mian

CPI (ML) pays homage to Com. Mister Mian,
 a Party activist of Firoj village of Kako Block in Jehanabad district of
Bihar
 Who was killed on 20 August by the PWG goons.
He was 35 years old.


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