The People’s Rights Campaign called by the CPI(ML) Central Committee got underway on August 6 with a categorical demand for scrapping of the Indo-US nuclear deal. On August 6 and 9, 1945, the US had destroyed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to terrorise the whole world with its atomic arsenal. While recalling this criminal American act, the lone instance in history of actual application of nuclear weapons against humanity, demonstrations and meetings held all over the country condemned the ongoing US-Israel military campaign in the Middle-East and denounced the Indian government for its growing surrender to the US imperialist design. Effigies of Bush and Manmohan Singh were burnt in many places as a mark of popular disapproval and rejection of the UPA government’s pro-US foreign policy.
A massive convention was held on this occasion by Inquilabi Muslim Conference at Rajdhanwar in Giridih district. The convention was inaugurated by Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya and addressed among others by Comrades Ibnul Hasan Basru, member of the Party Central Committee, Md. Salim, National President of the Revolutionary Youth Association, and Jharkhand state committee members Rajkumar Yadav and Vinod Singh.
The day was observed in Jharkhand with protest marches in all parts of the state where effigies of Mammohan Singh and US President Bush were burnt. A march was held in Ranchi which culminated into a mass meeting at Albert Ekka Chowk. Speakers here said that the US occupation of Afganistan, Iraq and many other countries, and now in Lebanon, should be seen as an extension of the war against humanity which was started in Hiroshima it had started from Hiroshima in 1945. America’s attempt to capture economic resources world over as well as subverting the freedom of the people must be opposed tooth and nail. And in the same context the Indian Govt. must be opposed for surrendering before US imperialism. They demanded to scrap the recent nuke deal with the US. The meeting was addressed by Shashikant, Sunil Minj, Kaushal Kishore, Singi Khalkho and Ashish Bhaumik.
Marches were also held in Simandih, Petarwar, Bermo and Gomia of Bokaro district. Party’s State Committee members Sunita and Bhubaneshwar Kewat led these marches. Comrade Rajaram led a march in Jamshedpur. Protest marches were also held in Gumla, Bishunpur, Ramgarh, Bhurkunda, Argarha, Barkakana, and Gola blocks. These were led by Devkinandan Bedia, Heera Gope, and Pachchu Rana. AIPWA leader Gita Mandal led a march in Mohanpur while a similar march and effigy burning was led by Sanjay Jha in Sarwa.
Programmes were held in Patna and all district headquarters in Bihar. Hundreds of agricultural workers, poor peasants, youth, students and women held out a march in Patna and burnt an effigy at the main square near the Railway station. This was led by Party’s Bihar State Secretary Ramjatan Sharma, along with KD Yadav, Saroj Chaube and Pawan Sharma. Speakers condemned US support to Israel and demanded immediate end to the war in Lebanon. The criticized Indian Govt. for compromising with the sovereignty of the country and expressed concern on growing US intervention in India’s military and economic affairs. Pro-US tilt in country’s policies has made millions of poor to starve and peasants are committing suicides. The Govt. must be forced to reverse the policies, they said. They also condemned Nitish government in Bihar which is following same policies in Bihar.
Similar protest marches were also held in Ara, Buxor, Sasaram, Bhabhua, Jahanabad, Aurangabad, Arwal, Biharsharif, Nawada, Siwan, Gopalganj, Betia, Motihari, Samastipur, Muzaffarpur, Bhagarpur, Darbhanga, and other places as well.
As a mark of protest to American imperialism and aggression of Israel in Lebanon statewide protest march, torchlight processions, seminars, street corner meetings were held on 6 August to observe Hiroshima Day at various places in West Bengal. In Kolkata, CPI(ML) organised processions at Baghajatin, Kalighat and Jadavpur. In North 24 Pargana, a convention at Belgharia was organised in which leaders of UTUC (LS), Save Beni Committee and CPI(ML) spoke. CPI(ML) CCM Partha Ghosh, SCM Nabendu Dasgupta, Archana Ghatak, Kartick Das and dramatist Amal Roy addressed the gathering. Besides, CPI(ML) organised street corner meetings and processions at Bongaon, Thakurnagar, Asokenagar and Barasat. At Barasat Deshbroty Editor Animesh Chakraborty, along with Nirmal ghosh, Suneeta Nath, Maitreyee Biswas and Debal addressed the meetings. At Bakhrahat of South 24 Parganas a militant torchlight procession was organised in the evening. In Hooghly district, meetings and processions at Dhaniakhali, Bhadreswar, Balagar, Konnagar and Bainchi were organised. In Nadia District protest demonstrations at Nakashipara, Chakdah, Babadwip, Nazirpur (Tehatta) were held. Marches were also held in Howrah and Bankura districts Speakers vehemently criticised the Bush’s policy of warmongering and expansionism in the West Asia. CPI(ML) burnt the effigy of George W. Bush in all these places.
The Day was observed in various districts of Uttar Pradesh marking the beginning of the 6-18 august Jan Adhikar Abhiyan of the party. In Lucknow, a march and effigy burning was held in front of the State Assembly. In Varanasi, a seminar was organised by the district unit of CPI(ML) on ’Hiroshima Day: Dangers of American Imperialism and India’. A large number of university teachers and students participated in the seminar. The speakers stressed the need to rouse the peasants, students and youth against the all-pervasive interference of American imperialism in the domestic affairs of the country. The speakers highlighted the recent case of the removal of the petroleum minister and the foreign minister as a sign of the American interference and the abject surrender of the Indian ruling classes before it.
AISA also burnt the effigy of US imperialism on the same day in front of Banaras Hindu University. AIALA activists took the message to the villages. They burnt the effigy in two villages, Verrapatti and Kapildhara, where a march was first taken out followed by the effigy burning.
A well attended meeting was held at Harapanahalli in Davanagere in Karnataka. It was addressed by Dr. E. Ratirao, who elaborated the after effects of American bombing on Hiroshima and the role of imperialism. Dr. V. Laxminarayana, Com. Ramappa, Incharge of Karnataka state and Veeresh also addressed the meet.
CPI(ML)’s Peoples’ Rights Campaign was started in Assam with observance of Hiroshima Day in Guwahati. Hundreds of people from Nagaon, Sonitpur, Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Jorhat and Barpeta assembled in Guwahati for this purpose. A massive protest march against war designs of US imperialism was organised. Processionists condemned India’s strategic partnership with the US imperialism and demanded to scrap India-US nuclear deal. The procession covered main town areas of Court, Judges Field and High Court and it ended at the north bank of Dighali Pukhuri, near Guwahati High Court, where a protest meeting was held. It was conducted by Arup Mahanta and addressed by party’s State Secretary Rubul Sarma, Jayanta Rongpi and Loknath Goswami. Com. Rubul Sarma called upon all the participants to make success the other programmes taken during the campaign by the party as well as by AISA, AIPWA, ASCSS (Tea workers) and rural workers.
In Rajasthan, a torchlight procession and effigy burning was organised in Jaipur and marches were held in three villages in Udaipur district. A march and effigy burning was held in Jhunjhunu.
In Haryana, a protest was held at industrial town Gurgaon, led by Prem Singh Gahlawat. A procession was taken out from Kamla Nehru park to the Vijayant park where a meeting was held and a memorandum addressed to the Governor was handed over to the Commissioner. A public meeting was held in Rewari town on 9 August where party activists and supporters participated.
In the national capital Delhi, the campaign took off with effigy burnings organised in many parts of the city. Activists held out a march and burnt the effigy of Bush and Manmohan at Naththu Chowk in East Delhi in the morning. This was led by VKS Gautam and Ram Abhilash. Comrades Amar Nath Tiwary, Surendra Panchal and Satvir Shramik led a similar protest in Narela. CPI(ML)’s CC member Prabhat Kumar along with Shankaran and Ardhendu Roy led a workers’ protest march and effigy burning in the Okhla Industrial area in the evening. AIPWA General Secretary Kumudini Pati led a protest in adjoining NOIDA and comrade Uma Gupta led the effigy burning at Kalyanpuri. Party’s Delhi State Secretary Rajendra Pratholi led and addressed a protest held at Mandawali. He criticized Manmohan Govt. for handing over country’s agriculture to big corporates, for endangering sovereignty and food security of the nation, and for launching attacks on democracy. He condemned displacements and massacres being perpetrated by the Govt. in the name of establishing SEZs as many resource rich regions of the country have been turned into the killing grounds for the corporate companies.
Various programmes were also held at many places in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Pondicherry, and other southern states. A Seminar organised in Tirunelvelli by Nooru Pookkal (Hundred Flowers) which was attended by more than 150 participants. This was addressed by party’s CC member Shankar and presided over by Comrade Ramesh. Others who addressed included Prof. Samuel Asir Raj of MS Universiry, Thangaswamy, Advocate, and DC Secretary Shankar Pandian. Programmes were also held in other parts of the country.