Six Years of the US ‘War on Terror’
Six years ago today, the momentous bombing of the Twin Towers in New York took place. ‘9/11’ became the pretext for a ‘Global War on Terror’ launched by the US – that has since kept seeking out fresh targets. Afghanistan and Iraq were attacked; Iran is now being set up as the new ‘evil empire’, while Pakistan has been declared yet another ‘safe haven for the Al-Quaeda’ and therefore another possible target for a US military strike.
What has been the experience of the past six years of the ‘war on terror’?
In Afghanistan, the US promises of ushering in ‘enduring freedom’ from the Taliban have turned out to be a mockery. The country is sunk in a humanitarian crisis of terrible dimensions, and Taliban influence is said to be growing in its wake. In Iraq, over a lakh Iraqis, at a conservative estimate, have been killed during the US war and occupation.
In a recent survey of 27 countries conducted on behalf of the BBC World Service, 67 percent of the surveyed people believe US-led forces should withdraw from Iraq. Even a US policy advisor like Zbigniew Brzezinski, a strong supporter of wars in Vietnam and Iraq, has recently been forced to observe that the most powerful image of the United States is no longer the Statue of Liberty, but Guantanamo Bay where ‘terror suspect’ prisoners are illegally detained and tortured for years. We might add that the enduring symbol of the US-exported ‘democracy’ are the photographs of humiliating and degrading acts by US soldiers in Abu Gharib prison.
US- British troops are beleaguered by an insurgency in Iraq that refuses to abate, provoking comparisons with Vietnam. The Bush regime has responded with the time-honoured ploy of imperialist powers – the policy of ‘divide and rule’. The latest in this line is a US-financed program to build a Sunni paramilitary ‘Guardian’ organization in Iraq, and US proposals for a partition of the country on sectarian grounds. By stoking Sunni-Shia sectarian strife, the US hopes to find a pretext to justify a long-term military presence in Iraq. In a recent speech, Bush rewrote the history of US engagement in Vietnam, by arguing that US withdrawal from Vietnam resulted in the loss of millions of innocent Vietnamese lives: conveniently glossing over the 3 million Vietnamese civilian lives that were lost during the US invasion.
In the US, UK and Australia, the last six years have seen the clamping down on democracy through draconian laws and the upswing in racist and Islamophobic witch-hunts in the name of curbing terror. Such policies have been echoed even in India by regimes which are trying to hitch India to the bandwagon of the US ‘war on terror’.
The aftermath of 9/11 is also a lesson in the sheer futility and counter-productiveness of terrorism. The bombing of the Twin Towers served as the perfect spectacular justification for an escalation of US imperialist war – so much so that some conspiracy theorists have gone to extent of claiming that they were orchestrated by the US itself. While evidence for such claims is scanty, what is unmistakable is that 9/11 and other acts of terrorism only strengthen the hands of imperialist forces. The latest video-taped tirade of threats by Osama Bin Laden has done nothing but provide Bush with the chance to claim that it is proof that we still live in a “dangerous world” and of the need for the US to remain in Iraq.
The fact is that it is US imperialism that is making our world an increasingly dangerous one – and only intensified anti-imperialist resistance can serve to make it any safer. In India, the UPA Government is hell bent on cementing a ‘strategic alliance’ with the US through the Indo-US Nuke Deal. Even before the deal has been clinched, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his government have begun realigning foreign and domestic policy to bring it in line with the US ‘war on terror’. The challenge for left, democratic and patriotic forces is to put up a determined and effective anti-imperialist resistance that can stop this proposed ‘strategic alliance’ with the world’s leading imperialist force in its tracks.
CPI(ML)’s September Campaign
The Central Committee of the CPI(ML), in its meeting recently concluded in Bokaro on Sept. 11, has called upon to intensify further the ’September Campaign’ against the Indo-US Nuclear Deal and strategic partnership with the US. The campaign started on Sept. 4 with protests across the country against the joint Naval exercises with the US and other nations in the Bay of Bengal. A cadre meet was held in Ranchi on Sept. 12 against the Nuke Deal, while conventions are to be held in Patna on Sept. 16 and in Kolkata on Sept. 21. Various other programmes are being organised at various centres in different states as part of this campaign which is to be concluded on Sept. 28, the day of Bhagat Singh Birth anniversary, in Delhi in the form of a massive students-youth march which will also be attended by various cultural activists and prominent personalities.
Indo-US Joint Naval Exercise Opposed
Opposing the joint naval exercises by India with US, Japan, Australia and Singapore, protest marches were held on September 4 at three important port centres in Andhra Pradesh, Visakhapatnam (Eastern Naval Command Headquarter), Kakinada and Machilipatnam (old port towns).
In Visakhapatnam a rally was held where protesters also conducted a dharna. This programme was led by comrades B. Vasudeva Rao, Party’s District Secretary, G. Styanarayana and Ganga Babu.
In Kakinada, people organised a protest march and dharna. The gathering was addressed by B. Bangar Rao, B.Viplav Kumar, Ch.Nageswar Rao, and Y. Arjun Rao. In Machilipatnam the protest was led by N. Murthy, D. Harinath, P. Satyanarayana, K. Janardhan and P. Pulla Rao.
A well decorated massive protest demonstration was organized by Puducherry State Unit of CPI(ML) on Sept. 4. The demonstration was led by State Secretary S. Balasubramanian. The demonstrators demanded the immediate withdrawal of Indian Navy from the joint exercises and the scrapping of the 123 agreement.
An attractive Cartoon exhibition was also organised at the venue depicting imperialist war on nations which was widely appreciated by the general public. P. Shankaran, S.O. Mothilal, K. Selvam and G. Palani addressed the demonstrators.
Jan Sanskriti Manch Meeting on Implications of the Indo-US Nuke Deal
On September 9, a meeting was organised by the Jan Sanskriti Manch (JSM) at the Ispat Club, Bhilai to discuss the implications of the Indo-US Nuke Deal. The meeting discussion was chaired by Madhu Bhattacharya. Prof. Siyaram Sharma of JSM set the terms of the debate at the onset, outlining the myths and facts about the ‘benefits’ of the Nuke Deal. Kaliash Vanvasi of JSM conducted the meeting. Prof. Vinod Sharma dissected the key terms of the 123 Agreement and the possible IAEA safeguards and their implications, pointing out that they would seriously compromise India’s sovereignty. Ravi Bhushan and Shyamlal Sahu also contributed to the discussion. The main speaker was Kavita Krishnan, member of the editorial board of Liberation, who placed the Nuke Deal in the larger context of the US strategic design in South Asia. A lively discussion followed, with several questions being debated at length.
CPI(ML) Condemns the Allahabad HC Judgement Imposing ’Gita’ as a National Symbol
A recent judgement by Justice S N Srivastava of the Allahabad High Court ruled that it was the duty of every Indian citizen according to the Indian Constitution to follow the religious ethics laid down by the Bhagavad Gita. The judgement recommended that the Gita be declared a national ‘holy text’.
The CPI(ML) condemned this judgement, terming it a judicial attempt at subverting India’s secularism and imposing a Hindu Rashtra. The CPI(ML) reminded that this was the same judge who had passed a judgement expressing the preposterously false opinion that Muslims were no longer a minority in UP. The CPI(ML) said such judicial attempts at saffronisation must be penalised and no judge can be allowed to get away with such blatant misuse of the judicial platform to attack the very basis of the Indian constitution.
Issue BPL Cards to All Poor Families
CPI(ML) Delhi unit is conducting a campaign for an effective PDS and inclusion of every poor into the BPL list. A protest demonstration will be held on Sept. 19 at the conclusion of the campaign. The special emphasis is being given to include every family of unorganised sector workers as well as migrant workers into the BPL list. A national policy is also being demanded on this. As the part of the campaign, a delegation met the Secretary of the Deptt. of Food and Civil Supplies on September 11 in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum demanding a curb on governmental attempts of making the Public Distribution System ineffective and demanded measures for regaining public confidence. The government must adopt a realistic and scientific definition for the Poverty Line and stop allocating pre-decided quotas to decide the number of BPL families. The delegation specifically raised the issue of migrant and unorganised sector workers in Delhi and adjoining regions and demanded to issue ration cards on the basis of I-cards issued to them by the Labour Deptt., or any of the registered unions. A separate PDS shop for every 500 ration card holders was demanded in Delhi. The delegation was comprised of Surendra Panchal, VKS Gautam, NM Thomas, Chandan Negi and Uma Gupta.
Organising Women Workers in Delhi
East Delhi District Committee of the Party took an initiative against the grim situation and ruthless exploitation of the women workers in North East Delhi. Women workers comprising about 95 percent of the total work force, in an agro based industry, were paid below the minimum wages and they used to earn Rs. 60 a day, after extracting two bags of seeds from the flowers and segregating the kernels from the husk. The whole exercise takes around ten hours of hard work. The All India General Kamgar Union organised a strike and succeeded in raising the wages from Rs. 30 to Rs. 40 per bag. This encouraged the women workers for organising themselves and subsequently more than 300 members were enrolled. Now they have taken up a target of enrolling a 1000 members in the ensuing month. As this work is very low paid and the whole family has to be involved including children, forcing them for further exploitation and depriving them of education and health-care. The Union is also planning to raise this issue. The Shahadara Area Committee has accepted the challenges and moving forward to organise them against all odds.
Stop this Nonsense!
What else to expect from a regime insensitive to the core towards the plight of poor peasants and workers and only concerned with helping big capitalists in accumulating super-profits at the cost of the lives of the common people? The Union textile minister Shankarsinh Vaghela says the “laziness” and “incompetence” of Vidarbha’s cotton farmers’ is the reason behind committing suicides on a large scale. He said, “If you just sit and chew tobacco in the farms, how can you expect good crops?” The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh was also present on the occasion and he expressed his agreement with what was said by Vaghela.
Vidarbha witnessed a spate of suicides by cotton growing farmers for last few years due to government’s anti-peasant policies framed under the WTO regime, and 2,832 suicides were reported in 2006 and 2,425 2005 as per the government figures. During the current year this spate has not slowed down as nearly 800 suicides have been reported till August end. After the Manmohan Singh released his package of Rs. 3,750 crores for Vidarbha, without going for a policy reversal to address the severe agrarian crisis, 1658 farmers have committed suicides. And for the ’package’, the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti has said that a major chunk of this money has gone to the Co-operative Banks run by the Congress and NCP leaders, in the name of waiving off of over-due crop loan interests, besides a large sum which was spent on long term irrigation projects. And whatever was really spent as a direct help of the beleaguered farmers, the major share went to the middlemen and the corrupt bureaucracy. It was also exposed in the media that the pesticides and other materials purchased for the farmers could not be distributed by the callous administration and many of them got spoilt lying in the godowns.
The complete waiver of farmers’ crop loans was not yet accepted by the government and the former’s demand of a remunerative price for cotton at Rs. 2700 per quintal was turned down. The cotton farmers are thrown into a market controlled by the MNCs and the rules of the WTO.
Shankarsinh Vaghela has ’advised’ the farmers of Vidarbha to “emulate the practices of farmers in Gujarat” as if he was unaware of the fact that farmers in Gujarat, like other parts of the country, have also committed suicides. Recently the Director General of Police in Gujarat has accepted, as per a report appeared in the Times of India that "around 400 farmers committed suicide in the state since 2003, for reasons ranging from financial debts, failed crop, etc. and 6,055 more died ‘accidentally’ or for ‘unexplained reasons’. Some reasons explained under ‘accidental’ deaths also include, ‘consuming pesticide by mistake’.
Will our government put a stop to this nonsense?
Why Subsidise Multinationals and Not Our Farmers?
The UPA government is moving ahead for importing 7.95 lakh tonnes of wheat at Rs. 16 per kg. It paid nearly half of it (Rs. 8.50 per kg.) to the Indian farmer in the current season and thrown the doors open for big corporations and private hoarders at much cheaper prices than the international market. Now the major wheat exporters of the world (US, Canada and Australia, besides Europe and Russia) are quite happy with the India’s demand from the international market. The prices of wheat in global market have risen to a record high.
There was an increased wheat production in our country this year, but Sharad Pawar and his ministry continued to tread the same path as of last year and allowed private players to play with our food security. It is said that the food prices in global market are expected to rise further due to rising demand in the developing countries, unexpected climate changes and bio-fuel industry’s growing appetite for food-grains. The UN in a recent report has warned of the “potential for social tension, leading to social reactions and eventually even political problems” due to surging prices for basic food items in a market controlled by the big corporations.
Incidently, the major food-grain exporter nations are also the major voices in the nuclear fuel supply cartel. Manmohan Singh has already gone into a Nuclear deal with the US mortgaging our sovereignty and independent foreign policy. Moreover, we should also not forget that along with the nuclear agreement reached with George Bush early this year, another agreement was also made on ’Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture’ which was meant to open the doors for monstrous multinationals like Monsanto, etc. to control the Indian agriculture sector that employs more that two-third of country’s population.
Join CPI(ML)’s September Campaign
Against Manmohan’s Surrender to the US-led Imperialism
To defend our National Sovereignty and Dignity
Scrap the Nuclear Deal or Quit!
Intensify the Indian People’s Struggle against US Imperialism!
Reject the US Design of Asian NATO!
Free Indian Waters from US Warships!
Join
March to Delhi
on 28 September 2007,
the Birth Centenary of Shahid-e-Azam Bhagat Singh
by Students, Youth and Cultural Activists
From across the country