VOL.

1 ISSUE 1 JUNE- JULY 2008 RS 10

TOWARDS
A NEW D AWN THE OTHER
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

BILLIONS MADE CRZ TO CMZ-THE CAPITALIST GRASP

MAKE BILLIONS ON THE COASTAL REGIONS | P4
HUNGRY | P3
PANCHAYET SYSTEM: OPPRESSION AND SUPPRESSION
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN IN THE NAME OF POLITICAL DECENTRALIZATION | P 10
WEST BENGAL &
LITTLE MAGAZINES | P6 A Greeting for Nepal | P 2
TOWARDS VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 JUNE- JULY 2008
A NEW D AWN
E DITORIALThe era of nefarious Narendra Modi had continued to reign even
after the genocide in Gujarat. But after the Nandigram genocide, the picture is
opposite in West Bengal, as we follow the people’s verdict in recent Panchayat
election . The flight named 'Industrialization' crashed down in this State. The
pseudo lefts are now found saying to give importance to the public opinion,
instead of boasting for their electoral majority and intimidating the dissidents
to make their 'life a hell'. Like the Nandigram incident, protests stormed down
throughout the country for the Gujarat genocide, too. Artistes, intellectuals,
human rights activists came down to streets to raise voice against the new
violent face of fascism in this 21st century. But somehow these protests failed to
build up resistance against the fascist repression in grassroots level, where as
the people of Nandigram succeeded to defy the incessant steamroller of
Investment Capital. Not only the SEZ projects were cancelled in the post
Nandigram period, the intrepid struggle had also changed the old thoughts,
inspired the toiling and struggling people to opt more radical resistance, all
over India.
The strategy of the Government depends upon the characteristics of
the resistance of the mass and rulers want to build up its social legitimacy based
on its ideology. So, it has to take the shelter of fake promises—sometimes in the
name of religion, sometimes in the name of employment. Much before the
building of concentration camps, State power used to seclude the Jewish from
the society in Germany. And Hitler used the chemistry of 'Aryan' blood to
socially legitimise this law. By seeing the successful implementation of this
chemistry, Bertrand Russell said that when fascism knocks the door of
th
democracy, it can't be combated with only democratic means. After 14 March
2007, all mass movements, whether be the Rizwanur case or the ration scam,
were influenced by the Nandigram movement. Movements against land
acquisition gained remarkable pace everywhere. The voice of dissent heard
loud. To cope up with the burgeoning resistance, Globalisation is changing her
demonical face, negotiating for compensations, asking for consent.
Globalisation only wants to secure industrialization and profit. And if
necessary, they will unmask their human face, opt for fascism, the most
dependable weapon of investment capital both politically and culturally.
In this era of new colonialism, that is Globalisation we can clearly
distinct ‘two’ India –one is of hunger, malnutrition and unemployment of
millions, where per capita income of 77% people is less than Rs.20 and in a
stark contrast, the ‘Shining India’, bragging on Shopping Malls, Flyovers,
enticing on national and multinational companies for investment, whose
whole economy is depending on the share market and profit centric investment
capital. If the fate of the Government lies in the hand of fascism or direct
imperialism, then the question of organising broad-based anti-imperialist
struggle will be the most important task in near future. Our country is the
land of hundreds of 'East India Companies' today. And to save the land, water,
forest, minerals and all natural and human resources, the resistance like the
Nandigram may be the only mission and vision to challenge this imperialism
aggression in future.
A Greeting for Nepal
The election results in Nepal have proved once again the
overwhelming anger of the masses against the outdated feudal monarchic rule
in Nepal, against the Indian expansionist's bullying and domination of Nepal,
against US domination and oppression, and are a reflection of the growing
aspirations of the Nepali masses for democracy, land, livelihood and genuine
freedom from imperialist and feudal exploitation. It is these aspirations of the
overwhelming majority of the masses that had completely trounced the parties
that had either supported the King and/or the Indian ruling classes or hesitated
to come out strongly against feudal, imperialist oppression and Indian
intervention in Nepal. Hence, when an alternative like the CPN(M) came to the
fore, with its open commitment to abolish the feudal monarchy once for all,
2
abrogate all unequal treaties signed with India by the former ruling classes of
Nepal, and ensure democracy and equality for the oppressed sections of
society such as Dalits, adivasis, national minorities and women, the masses
enthusiastically veered towards Maoists. We hail the Nepali masses for
routing the feudal, pro-imperialist, pro-Indian comprador parties and voting
for a genuine change in the rotten feudal system in Nepal. It sends the fraternal
revolutionary greetings for their victory in the electoral struggle against the
reactionary forces. The election results have not only sounded the death-knell
for the 239-year-old absolutist monarchy but also to the continuous
domination, interference, and bullying by the Indian reactionary expansionist
ruling classes. Moreover, they have also sealed the fate of all the comprador-
feudal electoral Parties which had proved themselves to be the most corrupt,
country-selling, anti-people, loyal stooges of imperialists, feudal forces and
Indian expansionists. In the eyes of the broad masses, these parties are narrow
self-seeking robber gangsters who are out to fatten themselves at the expense
of the vast masses of poor and the destitute. The results are a telling indictment
against forces which had proved themselves to be a party to the oppression,
suppression and exploitation of women, dalits, national minorities and
adivasis.
The real test, however, begins now after the CPN(M) taking over the
reins of power. It is a fundamental tenet of Marxism that no radical
restructuring of the system is possible without the militant mobilization of the
vast masses. It is impossible to make genuine changes in the system through
measures initiated “from above”, i.e through state decrees and laws.
Whichever Party may be in power, not excluding the most radical Maoists, one
cal only make laws at best, but to implement these it is imperative to mobilize
the masses and advance class struggle against exploiters and oppressors and
for radical changes for the liberation of the vast majority of poor. No ruling
class will give up power without putting up a bitter struggle and carrying out
sabotage and subterfuge against the oppressed class. Hence the real, bitter and
most cruel struggle for power will now unfold soon after the elections. In fact,
drafting Nepal's Constitution in favor of the poor and oppressed masses is
itself a very arduous and bitter struggle. The reactionaries will oppose every
change tooth and nail. Lacking a majority in the Constituent Assembly, the
Maoists will be powerless to affect radical changes in the Constitution. Either
they have to compromise and adjust with a section of the reactionary forces
thereby sacrificing the class interests of the oppressed in whose interests they
ha come to power, or, they have to mobilize the people and intensify the
struggle through all means, including armed insurrection, in order to
implement genuine democracy and establish people's power. There is no other
alternative.
We warn the CPN(M) to beware of the conspiracies of he imperialists
led by the US imperialists, the Indian reactionary ruling classes, and the feudal
comprador forces of Nepal to engineer coups, political assassinations,
creation of artificial scarcity through economic blockades and sabotage, and
subversion of democratic process, and calls upon it to be fully prepared to
confront these reactionaries by armed means. The one and only guarantee for
carrying through the radical revolutionary programme is to raise the political
class consciousness of the vast masses, mobilize them into class struggle, arm
and train them to fight the exploiters and all reactionary forces and defend the
gains they had derives through long period of class and mass struggle. Nothing
could be more dangerous at the present juncture than to become dizzy with
success and underestimate the prospects of a reactionary backlash. One must
keep in mind that the gains that can be achieved through a government that has
come to power by means of elections are very much limited. Survival of such a
regime depends on taking a conciliatory stand on several crucial matters.
Hence to overestimate the prospects of radical restructuring of the society or
economy by a Maoist government would be illusory and will dilute the
possibility as well as the ability of the Party to continue the class struggle.
We see immense possibilities in present-day Nepal to carry forward
the revolutionary programme by firmly relying on the masses and carrying out
class struggle while utilizing the state to further this process. This is possible if
the main leadership of the Maoist party does not become part of the
government but concentrates on the principal task of continuing the class
struggle by mobilizing the masses. Otherwise there is every danger of
unprincipled compromises with the reactionary parties and imperialists,
degeneration of the party leadership and cadres, and emergence of strong
bureaucratic class. In such a scenario, all the gains made would go down the
drain and the reactionary parties would once again come to power by crashing
in on the frustration of the masses.
“Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was
in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners.”
-Vladimir Lenin

BILLIONS MADE MAKE
BILLIONS HUNGRY
- Sumit Chowdhury
An acute food crisis, the severity of which has hitherto been unseen in these
prosperously prevailing times of triumphant capitalism, has seized the world.
Billions, mostly those wretched of the earth living in the poorest enclaves of
the global economy, are having to bear the brunt. As food prices skyrocket
putting bare survival at stake, hungry multitudes across the accursed
continents of Asia, Africa and Latin America are riotously taking to the streets.
The flare-ups, it is feared, are likely to turn into bigger blowups, if something
drastic is not done at once to stem the tide. An unprecedented upheaval may
sweep through the world prising open the very entrails of the existing
exploitative and profit-raking world-system. Great hunger, if history is to be
believed, always fuels great anger. It happened in France in the hungry autumn
of 1789 and it happened in Russia in the hungry winter of 1917.
Sure enough, the current worldwide food crisis is not, as we are usually made
to believe, the upshot of any major shortage in supply or a dreadful decline in
agricultural output. In fact, if official statistics is to be trusted, farmers the
world over have been producing more food in their farmlands than ever
before. According to a World Bank study in April 2008, global cereal
production has gone up to an all-time record of 2,164mt (wheat 679mt, rice
423mt, both all-time records), an increase of more than three percent over the
previous year, and is expected to rise by 2.6 percent in the current year. A
report of the Agricultural Department of the USA says that global wheat
production had increased from 564mt (21.54bn bushels) in 1997 to 627mt
(22.29bn bushels) in 2007. And yet, grain supplies reached the lowest since
1985 and the world food inventory touched rock bottom (143mt) in 25 years,
resulting in the eruption of food riots in as many as 33 countries in just the first
quarter of this year.
Hunger amidst plenty
Such paradox may baffle but hunger amidst plenty had been the defining
feature of all the famines in the past, particularly in the colonial times and the
areas under colonial domination. People went hungry not because of
inadequate yield or supply of food but the inability of the poorest of the poor to
gain access to or avail of it. Food there was aplenty but remained out of reach
for those who didn't have the means to purchase it at the soaring, sky-kissing
price at which it was sold. The causes of famines were structural, rooted as
they were in the unequal and the unfair nature of the social arrangements.
No other place illustrates better this fundamental fact than Kalahandi, the most
vivid symbol of famine in India. Paddy production in this wildly beautiful land
across the Indravati river basin in west Orissa has always been higher than the
national average for districts and yet it has forever remained the heart of
darkness. Because ruthless rice merchants-cum-mahajans have wrecked the
self-sustaining agricultural practice of the indigenous Kondhs and replaced it
with commercial farming (including all the Green Revolution ingredients
such as tractors and power-tillers, HYV seeds and chemical fertilisers),
thereby alienating the local communities from their land and driving them into
desperate indebtedness from which there was never any escape.
Agriculture on the roulette wheel
In fact, it is this kind of commercial farming and the consequent demise of
traditional agriculture that is overtly responsible for the chronic food
insecurity most parts of the underdeveloped world perpetually suffer from.
The advent of unbridled capitalism in agriculture dramatically transformed
the rural scenarios in these areas, altering not only farming methods and
techniques, but also changing forever the way land and production relations
were constituted. Both land and the produce of the land became commodities,
something that could be bought and sold in the marketplace; peasants who lost
their lands to farming ventures, sold their labour to work the lands that once
belonged to them and were subjected to the vagaries of a market mechanism
about which they knew next to nothing; hundreds of thousands, displaced
from their land, would migrate to other areas in search of alternative
livelihoods, filling up the already choking slums in the cities and
strengthening the army of the unemployed; in the meanwhile, omnipresent
markets controlled by mafia-like cartels came to dominate every aspect of life
in the countryside.
More often than not, in keeping with the logic of capitalism, markets would
fluctuate, rising to great heights if the going was good and collapsing if things
took a different turn. A glut here and a slump there would bring forth a crisis;
prices of food products would then be raised or lowered, as the requirement might
be, to cope with the situation. Speculative trading would, thus, gain ground,
becoming the norm over time. Agriculture would be placed on the roulette wheel
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VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 JUNE- JULY 2008 A NEW D AWN
and food-stocks stashed away in cold storages till the wheel turned distinctly in
favour. The demands of agribusiness would lend itself to all-out gambling and
unscrupulous traders would rule the roost.
Prices of speculative trading
The severe food crisis that has at present hit the world can be traced to a similar
casino culture that permeates agriculture in these globalising times. Agribusiness
is big business and today's casino kings are the giant multinationals like Cargill,
Monsanto, Mosaic, Archer Daniels Midlands and so on who exercise iron control
in both supply and demand in agricultural trading and stocks through opaque
pricing and other financial instruments.
Many of these corporations – having dubious track records – have started
investing in a big way in futures trading in agro-products and food commodities.
They are not buying or selling but betting on price movements in the stock
exchanges. The funds have grown exponentially in the aftermath of the collapse
of the mortgage market – termed the 'sub-prime crisis' – in the USA since end-
2007. Desperate for swift returns, investors are withdrawing trillions of dollars
from the equity and mortgage bonds to invest in futures trading on food products.
According to a Citibank report, funds invested in commodity futures in wheat
alone increased from $5 billion in 2000 to $175bn in 2007 and investment in
commodity indices increased by $40bn to $180bn in the first quarter of 2007.
Global speculation on foodstuff can be seen best in the Chicago Stock Exchange
(CHX) where a number of hedge funds, investment banks and pension funds are
investing enormous amounts in agro-inputs. In the first quarter of 2008, the
investment on agriculture at CHX increased by more than 25 percent while
according to the Chicago firm, Coal Partners, the participation of hedge funds in
raw materials increased threefold to $55bn in the past couple of years.
The trading frenzy has sent food prices soaring across the world. True, prices of
primary commodities like cereals, edible oils and milk have been rising since the
turn of the millennium but since the onset of the credit crisis in the USA prices of
food in the global market have been climbing at an astounding pace.
In a series of caveats in January this year, New York Times reported that prices of
60 agricultural commodities traded on the world market increased by 37 percent
in 2007 and 14 percent the year before. Corn prices began their ascent in the early
fall of 2006 and within months climbed by some 70 percent. According to a Food
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report, global food prices have increased by
83 percent in the last two years of which the price of rice itself has gone up by 141
percent. And according to another study by the Agricultural Department of the
USA, the global market price of rice has gone up by 217 percent since 2006, that
of wheat by 136 percent and soybean by 107 percent. CHX predicts that future
prices of wheat are likely to go up by 73 percent, soybean by 52 percent and
soybean oil by 44 percent.
It is difficult to estimate how many people across the world will be affected by this
phenomenal rise in food prices. It, however, goes without saying that it would
badly affect the poorer and marginalised sections of the underdeveloped world.
More than 900 million poor in Asia earn less than $2 a day – they would certainly
be the worst-hit. And among them, it is the women and children who will be
distressed the most. .
The World Food Programme (WFP) announced on April 22 that it had begun
cutting provisions for school meals to the world's poorest children, that the price
of basic food was rising so rapidly that shortfall for its financing for food relief
programmes had grown from $500m to $755m in less than two months. A
programme providing 450,000 Cambodian children has been suspended and a
similar programme in Kenya serving 1.2 million children is facing cuts of nearly
50 percent.
Prices of capitalist consumption
Spiralling prices, which is endemic to capitalism, is also intrinsically triggered by
the prohibitive energy needs of a growth-driven, growth-obsessed, growth-is-
the-be-all-and-end-all system and the unrestrained, never-flagging consumerism
it breeds. Both of these, typically, have had a major role in the unfolding drama
about the global food catastrophe.
The capitalist world, it may be emphasised, has a gargantuan appetite for fossil
fuels and today its main source of energy is petroleum. With oil stocks constantly
depleting and crude oil prices going up by more than 500 percent in the last
decade or so, the capitalist countries of Europe and the USA, with mighty
automobile industries, opted for bio-fuels like corn oil, also known as ethanol.
Attracted by ethanol's potential as an alternative to petroleum and to meet the
ever-growing demands of an automobile-crazy society, the government of USA
handed massive subsidies to corn-growers; and, in a span of less than five years,
huge tracts of prime agricultural lands cultivating wheat or soybean were taken
over to grow corn – that, too, is being used for conversion to ethanol and not for
satisfying basic human needs; it may be worthwhile to note that 240kg corn,
enough to feed a family for a year, produces a mere 100 litres of ethanol, just
enough to fill an SUV car. A survey of the Agricultural Department of the USA
points out that the use of food crops required for producing bio-fuels in that
country have gone up from 11mt in 1995 to 50mt in 2007. Primary agriculture is
evidently being sacrificed at the altar of the energy needs of the capitalist world.
The price of ethanol, however, is tied to that of crude oil which, in turn, is tied to
the US dollar: the higher the fall of the dollar's value in the international currency
market, the more the price of crude oil, and that of ethanol. With dollar value
Contd. to page 16 3
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CRZ TO CMZ-THE CAPITALIST
GRASP ON THE COASTAL REGIONS
The picture that generally comes to mind when we talk about
coastal lands is that of the numerous tourist destinations along the coast line.
Every day or the other, a new coastal tourist destination is cropping up in
India, for example, a lot of people from Bengal, enchanted by the picturesque
photographs, visit Mandarmoni , regardless of the fact that the Court has
ordered the demolition of these coast line constructions.
It is also evident from the sight of hoards of fishermen at tourist
destinations like Digha, Puri, Shankarpur, Bak Khali, that a lot of people
actually depend on the sea for their livelihood. All of them are either
fishermen or are engaged in some other peripheral activities related to
fishing. These people not only catch fish for their living, but also preserve the
natural resources of these coastal regions. Coastal Regulation Zone act or
CRZ was established in 1986 to protect India's coastal regions. And the court
has ordered the demolition of all coastline constructions at Mandanrmoni
because these constructions do not conform to the CRZ.
Till date, the CRZ has been amended 19 times, but still aims to
preserve the natural resources at the coastal regions and to restrict the
Capitalist commercialization of these areas. And that's the actual reason for
the establishment of the Coastal Management Zone or CMZ in 2007.
Although CMZ has not been implemented till date, but once we delve deep
into its intricacies, the conspiracies to rob us of our natural resources like
forest, land and water becomes apparent.
There were 18 large fishing grounds in the world. At present, only 6
are left, amongst which, the Indian Ocean is an eminent figure. During 2nd
World War, many mines were planted at the sea bed, aimed to destroy enemy
Battleships and Submarines. Mine Sweepers were engaged to search and
destroy the unused mines. The Mine Sweepers not only destroyed the mines,
but also destroyed precious Coral, Sea Weed and species of Fish.The Fishing
Trawler is loosely based on the idea of the Mine Sweeper. Before the tourist
destinations cropped up, the coastal areas were solely belonged to the
fishermen and other inhabitants of the coastal regions. But as is the way with
the World nowadays, the sons of soil are being evicted from their homeland
to make way for the Capitalists.
The coastline studded with fishing trawlers and fishnets apparently
look dirty and obnoxious to the 'civilized' citizen and so have to make way for
construction of bridges and hotels. Mangrove forests, which are natural
breeding grounds for fishes, are being destroyed to facilitate the construction
of Chemical and Petro chemical factories , leaving thousands of fishermen
jobless and homeless and also causing severe damage to the coastal
ecosystem. In Mumbai alone, the count of evicted fishermen has crossed
50,000.
The Indian coastline spreads for about 8200 km. By official records
of 2005, India has about 3200 villages predominantly resided by fishermen.
Every day, about 30 lakh fishermen go about their job and other 30 lakh
people are engaged in related activities. The figure crosses 2 crores
considering the coast as well as the rivers. By the record of Asian
Development Bank, the total number of fishermen in India are 1 crore 46
lakh 60 thousand and the number of boats is 2 lakh 20 thousand. The total
count of fish caught was about 65 lakh tonnes in 2006 and the total income
from export was about 8000 crores , which was 3% of the total foreign
exchange and the revenue generated was 2nd highest, after Information
Technology. The fishermen are not just catching fish, they are providing us
with the protein rich food and are also protecting the eco system of the
coastal regions.
The Indian coastline has no end to its varieties, the main features
being the coast, sea shore, deltas, lagoons, estuaries, coral reefs, salt water
lakes ,backwaters , coastal grasslands and mangrove forests. But unrestricted
tourism, overuse, polluting factories, sand mining etc. are joining hands to
destroy the eco system, for purely commercial purposes. The CRZ - 91 was
established in 1986 as a result of unmitigated protests by the fishermen
unions and other organizations, to restrict the consistent erosion of coastal
regions and resources, funded by the capitalists. According to CRZ-91, the
coastal regions are marked as Ecologically Sensitive areas. Development in
these areas should not adversely affect the ecosystem at any cost.
According to CRZ, the entire coastal region is divided into 4 types,
namely CRZ –I, CRZ-II, CRZ-III and CRZ-IV. A few points to be noted in
this respect:-
The sea region, extending from the coast line and up to 12 nautical
miles into the sea is called the local water level
High tide line is the level up to which the high
4
tide reaches during the spring time. Low tide line is the level to which the
w a t e r r e a c h e s d u r i n g t h e l o w t i d e .
The area in between is called the Inter Tidal Zone.
Now, let's take a look at the CRZ notification. CRZ - I - These
regions are classified as “High Risk” and are to be protected by all means.
Classified as Ecologically Sensitive Area, all coral reefs, mangrove
forests, natural habitats of crabs and turtles, reserve forests on coastal
regions as well as estuaries and deltas and associated lakes come under its
purview. These are strictly “no development zone” i.e. no commercial
constructions like hotels, factories or beach mining are permitted here.
All delta islands in southern Bengal are classified as CRZ-I. So how come
a chemical hub is being set up at Nayachar, that comes under CRZ-I ? We
will come to that later.
CRZ - II - These are regions that have seen some development and
which have constructions within 5 meters of the High tide line. No
constructions are permitted within the area between the road and the high
tide line. These regions come under various Municipal Corporations , for
example, Puri, Digha.
CRZ – III - These regions have seen no development, but development is
permitted here. 200 meters from the high tide line is declared as “no
development zone”, however, constructions are permitted after 200
meters.
CRZ – IV - Andaman, Nicobar, Lakshwadeep etc. come under this.
The CRZ act has been amended quite a few times, on the basis of
recommendation of certain committees, to facilitate commercialization
of the coastline, funded by capitalists. Of all the 19 times CRZ has been
amended, the decisive committee has cared to consult the local people for
only 3 times, and in no cases, has that opinion been included in their
recommendation. Construction of Amusement Parks, factories along the
coastline and dumping of poisonous chemicals into the sea is causing
adverse effects. As a result, the mangrove forests have been obliterated
from Mumbai and fishes have moved 20 km inside the sea. Numerous
lobster farms have cropped up ignoring the CRZ. Hindustan Lever,
Larsen & Toubro, ITC, IFB, AKG are some large companies that have
fully operational Lobster farms in restricted areas, defying the laws that
were meant to protect the ecosystem. Chandan Basu, son of former chief
minister of Bengal, Jyoti Basu owns a huge lobster farm in Shankarpur.
Bijan Nag, another relative of Jyoti Basu, owns a similar farm in
Bakkhali. Chandrababu Naidu and P. Chidambaram, two of the most
loyal supporters of the american capitalists, own two illegal lobster farms
of size 80000 acres and 18000 acres. In 1996, an appeal was made to
Supreme Court to stop these illegal farms.
Following are the extracts from the decision of Supreme Court :
1. All lobster farms within 500 meters from the high tide line are to
be demolished. It is pretty evident that these illegal farms are in
CRZ – I.
2. The damage to the ecosystem caused by the operation of such
lobster farms are to be quantified.
3. All workers who work in those farms are to be paid a salary of
72 months, after the closure of the farm.
None of the state governments has implemented these decisions
except the Orissa State Govt. The central as well as the state
governments are reluctant to implement the CRZ act. Each and every
amendment to the CRZ has consistently decreased its effectiveness.
Just like all other laws are being 'doctored' to satisfy the sadistic
needs of World's Capitalist powers, the CRZ was also destined to the
same fate. And the fishermen had to pay the price.
In spite of the amendments, the CRZ didn't pose any threat to
fishermen. So it made way for a new act, and to gain the credibility
for the establishment of the new act, a committee was set up to
discuss the effectiveness of the CRZ. In July, 2004, under scientist
M.S. Swaminathan ( the planner of “Green Revolution” under
Indira Gandhi ) a committee was set up to review the CRZ, and it was
on the basis of their recommendation, that Coastal Zone
Management or CMZ came into play. The notification was published
in 2007, and the part of recommendation that dealt with protecting
the ecosystem and the fishermen, was very carefully left out.
Like CRZ, CMZ has also been divided into 4 parts, namely CMZ
–I, CMZ-II, CMZ-III and CMZ –IV. Like CRZ -I, CMZ –I has been
classified as Ecologically Sensitive Area in the 2007 notification.
CMZ – I : The “no Development Zone” extending till 500 meters
from the high tide line was henceforth abolished. But development is
to be carried out according to the Integrated Coastal Zone
Mangement Plan or ICZMP, which enables the commercialization of
the restricted areas which previously belonged solely to the
Contd. to page 5
Contd. from page 4
fishermen according to CRZ-I. As a result, the fishermen from these areas
are bound to be evicted. This is because under ICZMP, these areas come
under the direct control of the State/ Central government authorized
Coastal Activity Regulatory body, to make way for the capitalist powers to
set up their hotels and factories.
CMZ – II : Densely populated areas that include coastal municipalities,
panchayats having population density of and above 400/sq. km, ports,
notified tourist destinations, notified mines and industrial regions, SEZ or
Special Economic Zone, Heritage Zones, notified archeological areas,
military areas and coastal power plants, all come under this. In CRZ –II , no
constructions were permitted within the area between the road and the
coastline. CMZ –II saw the establishment of a new idea called the “set back
line”. This set back line is to be decided keeping in mind the natural as well
as artificial or manmade disasters. The development of the coastal regions,
natural features gathered from satellite images, weather changes and
consequent change of sea level, erosion of coastline etc. all go hand in hand
to decide the set back line. But all this rubbish is nothing but a veil that
hides the true intentions, because the CMZ –II is virtually free from all
regulations of weather and pollution control.
Fishermen are strictly prohibited from residing in the area between
the set back line and the sea, but no restrictions are imposed on
development of tourism infrastructure, mining or oil drilling, setting up of
ports and fuelling platform for ships, construction of lighthouse and light
towers, construction of public toilets, construction of private fisheries,
shipyards and coastal defense infrastructure, setting up of railway lines,
roads, electrical towers etc. Not only the coast line, but also underwater
resources are being offered for extraction to national and foreign
capitalists. The most astounding fact is that the permission for such
constructions need to be issued only through the local authorities, namely,
the gram panchatyats or the municipal corporations. This fact alone clearly
shows the policy of the state/central governments. In a country, where the
highest authorities are loyal servants of the capitalist powers, the futile
resistance, if any, of the panchayats or municipal corporations, would
s i n k w i t h o u t a t r a c e
In fact, CMZ –II has no resemblance with CRZ-II, and the CRZ-III
regions are now being reclassified as CMZ-II. The provision of “no
development zone” within 200 meters from the high tide line in CRZ –II is
being abolished and not only the coastline, but areas up to 12 nautical mile
into the sea as well as the seabed are slated for the construction of Special
Economic Zone, to satisfy foreign/ national capitalists, leaving thousands
of fisherman not only homeless, but also without a job.
CMZ – III : All coastal areas except CMZ - I, II and IV come under CMZ
– III. Tourism Infrastructure development as well as mining, SEZ and
other activities listed in CMZ – II is permitted on both sides of the set back
line. And above all the area up to 12 nautical miles into the sea as well as the
sea bed is slated to be handed over to capitalist funds, depriving the
fishermen who had been fishing here for ages.
CMZ –IV : This consists of Andaman, Nicobar, Lakhswadeep and all
islands of Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. The coastal backwaters that has
not been classified as CMZ – I or II can come under CMZ – IV. Else it will
come under CMZ – III.
By comparing CRZ and CMZ, it is quite clear, that in spite of the
amendments, the CRZ act was able to put a leash on the unrestricted
development in coastal regions that destroys the ecosystem along with the
lives of thousands of fishermen. This fact is again established in the report
of the Swaminathan committee which states that the majority of fishermen
organizations were satisfied with the CRZ act, because the CRZ was meant
to protect the ecosystem by prohibiting major constructions or
development along the coast. Inevitably, the CRZ went into the bad books
of the capitalists and made way for CMZ.
Under the CMZ, the fishermen are not only rendered homeless, but at
the same time are prohibited to carry on fishing within 12 nautical miles
from the coast. And since, most of them lack the advanced equipment and
facilities to support fishing deep into the sea, they would be without a
living. In fact, deep sea fishing would inevitably come under capitalist
grasp in future. And since CMZ is virtually free of all restrictions, mindless
rape of the natural resources would continue.
There is a special type of seaweed that is required for manufacture of
Nail polish, lipsticks and other cosmetic products. L'oreal, the Cosmetic
giant, has already applied for a SEZ for setting up a cosmetic factory.
Unrestricted sand mining would eventually obliterate natural breeding
grounds for turtles and fishes , already evident from the decreasing
number of mangrove forests .
Till date, CRZ -91 is in place. But the moment the ICZMP and the set
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back line under CMZ would be established, CRZ would cease to
exist. Not a single established political party has raised voice
against CMZ – 2007. The CPI (M), self proclaimed “protector of the
interests of the hard-working class” has, instead, asked for the
implementation of CMZ. But, after Singur and Nandigram, this was
expected of them.
The states under CPI(M) control, Bengal and Kerala have
extensive coastal regions. Unrestricted tourism and
commercialization has gravely affected the Kerala coast and
adjacent mangrove forests. The 700 sq. km of mangrove forests
present in Kerala about 40 years ago has now been reduced to 17 sq.
km, slowly destroying the coastal ecosystems. Little imagination is
needed to visualize the plight of fishermen once CMZ-2007 comes
into play.
In West Bengal, a total of 4571.49 sq. km comes under CRZ,
392.4 sq.km under CRZ – III and 14.25 sq. km under CRZ – II.
However, hotels in Mandarmoni, illegal lobster farms in Bakkhali,
Fraserganj and Shankarpur have cropped up, completely ignoring
the CRZ regulation, and not without help from the state
government.
Now, let's talk about Nayachar. Nayachar is one of the most
prominent islands in the delta of Ganga – Brahmaputra, the largest
of its kind in the world. According to CRZ, this is an Ecologically
Sensitive Area, and hence a “no development zone”. And,
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the “hon'able” chief minister of Bengal,
had once proposed a golf course and other eco-friendly industrial
zone in Nayachar. But this is only one instance, among a series of
proposals, which aim to hand over the Sunderbans and the entire
Bengal coastline to national/foreign capitalists, under the thin veil
of “Eco - Tourism”. Sunderban was once almost handed over to the
Sahara Group. The people from MarichJhapi was evicted by Jyoti
Basu's goons, who somehow happen to be CPI(M) cadres, in order
to facilitate the establishment of factories by Hindustan Lever and
ITC. Over the years, the CPI(M) has simply handed over huge plots
of land to national/foreign capitalists and evicted thousands of
people, by falsely claiming that these factories, once set up will
provide livelihood to them, and where these false promises have not
worked, by sheer brute force. And in order to facilitate the Chemical
Hub at Nayachar, they have recommended the State Coastal
Regulation Zone Authority to reclassify Nayachar as CRZ- III from
CRZ – I. Although, a few members present at the meeting opposed
the idea of reclassification on the basis of several reasons , they were
never taken seriously.
The CPI(M) is preaching that Nayachar is
completely uninhabited. That is not actually true. It is home to 2500
fishermen, who quite naturally, do not have any legal documents
supporting their claim of Nayachar as their home. And hence they
are destined to be evicted. And after their eviction, Nayachar would
boast a Chemical Hub, which, in the developed countries like
U.S.A. and Europe, is widely known as “dirty industry” because of
the severe damage to the ecosystem caused by toxic chemical
wastes.
This chemical Hub, by Salem would be under the supervision of
notorious American MNC Dow Chemicals. All major American
rivers are polluted due to the release of toxic chemicals into their
waters , and now this dirty industry is being encouraged in
Ecologically Sensitive Areas in India. The strict laws regulating
pollution levels in developed countries considerably reduce the
profit earned from this chemical business, and hence Dow
Chemicals is forced to set foot in India, where the laws, although
present, can always be overlooked in lieu of some cash. Dow
Chemical also owns the Union Carbide.
A chemical hub in Nayachar would destroy numerous species of
fishes, crabs and turtles. It would also destroy the Sunderbans. No
matter what the CPI(M) say, the rate of employment in chemical
factory is very less, as can be seen from the Haldia Petrochemicals.
The stunning bridge on sea in Mumbai is slowly poisoning the
adjacent sea and rendering it unfit for fishing purposes, the effort to
construct a bridge over Amazon is destroying the world's largest
rain forest in Brazil. The setting up of the chemical hub will
similarly affect the Sunderbans. Our duty, at this moment, is to stop
this at any cost, by any means necessary.
Booklet by Forum against SEZ
5
TOWARDS
A NEW D AWN
Social movements in West Bengal &
Little Magazines
-Premanshu Dasgupta
‘It is the best of times. It is the worst of times'. I beg apology for
taking the liberty of changing the verbs of the two famous lines of
Dickens from past to present. In the present context of West Bengal
quoting these sentences is too great a temptation to ignore. Strange! The
lines though written centuries ago have not yet lost their poignant
st
relevance. In west Bengal the first decade of 21 century possibly could
well be either the best of times or the worst of times. History repeats,
they say. But repetition happens not in the events but in the autocratic
behavior of the rulers and the consequent resistance of the people who
are ruled. Did not Karl Marx tell us that history was all about class
struggle alone?
2006 election to the Assembly of West Bengal has become a turning
point to the history of the state and possibly of India as a whole. We see in
this a possibility of emergence of a state either with a pro people
ideology and idealism in a new form or with a diehard reactionary rules
and rulers. Why do we mark 2006 so special of all the 31 years for which
the left front or CPI (M), in particular, has been ruling the state? Because
the reactionary traits of the party or the front never lay so strongly and
violently open as they did after the 2006 election. This has exposed CPI
(M)'s true face and politics to such an extent that it is becoming
extremely difficult for the party to hold on its leftist mask. This was of
utmost importance for the people of the state to look for an alternative.
2006 has set the ball rolling for search of an alternative. If this search
becomes successful the future may be better if not the best or in other
words if this search is not successful the future may be worse if not the
worst. The formation of 'Little Magazine Samonnoy Mnacha' in West
Bengal has taken place in this critical juncture of the state's history. This
can be explained as a part of the search which we are discussing about.
It is not only the little magazines those have come together to form an
organisation to voice their protest against what is being forced on the
people of the state in the name of development and industrialisation. The
situation in the state is so highly charged with emotions and debates on
many political and economic issues that many such organisations from
various cross sections of the mass have formed since 2006 May. All
these organisations have one common objective. That is, to send the
message to the rulers, 'In the name of development and industrialisation
stop violation of democracy'
Yes, the democracy has become the focal point of all the issues those are
creating waves of movement in the state. After the election of 2006 the
ruling front secured 235 seats in assembly. In terms of seats it is an
overwhelming majority. But if we go deeper into the analysis of polled
vote we shall see that the left front enjoys support of only 35% of the
population of the state and to be more precise, only 25 to 27% of
population has lent their 'support' to CPI (M). Also there are questions
about the capturing of votes by a dubious manner which is defined as
'scientific rigging' by the opposition. But the parliamentary democracy
in India has its own flaw. Even after enjoying the support of a very
minority section of the population a party can claim, they are the true
representative of the entire population of state or county. They would
never lend their ears to what the rest of the population has to say. West
Bengal and CPI (M) was no exception.
The West Bengal Government started loosing its direction from
around late eighties in the last century. Suddenly they realized that the
development and industrialization are synonymous. The governance of
the state has been too poor to build its own fund to finance industries.
Therefore in search of fund and industries they opened the doors to the
industrial houses and laid red carpets for them. Immediately before the
2006 election the slogan of development and industrialization reached
its peak. And when after the election the front found that their share of
seats in assembly was more than 75% they denied all other aspects of the
results of the election, like they enjoy support of only 35% of the
6
population, and trumpeted their victory as the victory of their industrial
policies. The policies were to donate land to the big industries at the cost
of exchequer, the public money, to evict people from their farm land and
livelihood, allowing the industries to use the nature to their own will and
whim, not to take consent of the people who would suffer most from these
actions, leave alone to discuss with them, to use colonial rules to
implement the land grabbing program, to allow to set up Special
Economic Zone, a colonial design, inside West Bengal and lastly to
follow a diehard capitalist path and that too in the name of communistic
ideology and theory. The CPI (M) has its own interpretation of the role of
the communist party in an underdeveloped country. According to them it
is theoretically correct for a communist party to throw their full weight in
support of the development of capitalism in a capitalist way.
So it was inevitable that all kind of hells would break loose in West
Bengal after the election. Singur, considered to be one of the most fertile
lands of the country, was handed over to Tata without taking consent of
the people, not even the consent of the local Panchayet. People of Singur
rose in protest. The unique feature of the protest was that it was not
sponsored or led by any political party. Genuinely people, particularly,
women's voice was first heard in the state. Possibly the seeds of true
democracy was thus sowed in the context of Singur movement.
Nandigram followed. Again the people from grass root rose in
protest`with arms in arms. No political party can claim that Nandigram
movement is the result of their sustained work or propaganda or
campaign. People took the initiative; they decided the nature of
resistance; they decided the course that the movement would follow.
Political parties joined the fray but not before the movement gained
momentum. With the conviction of a fascist that they understood what
was right and needed for the people and that the majority of the people
were with them, the CPI (M) party brought out all their fangs and let the
steam roller of oppression loose on the protesting masses. The result was
well known because it happened elsewhere so many times before. It
culminated into death, murder, arson, looting, massacre, injuries and
rape. History repeated itself.
West Bengal government in its 31years rule has tried to spread its wings
of influence to almost all parts of human lives. They organize many
cultural festivals where the control of the government is very strong. No
such festivals or functions can be successfully held without the
government's interference. All such functions are bureaucratically
organized by few henchmen of the party. People's initiative here is totally
absent. The reason is simple. In this way they can project themselves as
the champions of cultural activities and at the same time by sponsoring
these events and introducing award giving system in almost all sphere of
culture they can keep the criticizing mouth shut. This was the reason why
West Bengal in spite of seeing so many cruel incidents where the party or
the Government had hands either in killing people or in perpetrating
atrocities has not heard the protesting voices of the otherwise political
urban middleclass. There was protest but it was never loud enough to be
heard because the number of protesting people was not very significant.
Little Magazines were a part of this small group. We can't say that all the
Little Magazines had an anti establishment stand but there were a good
number of magazines that continuously tried to write against the ill sides
of the CPI (M) regime. They paid the price. They were threatened,
intimidated, harassed, and vilified.
The government organizes a Little Magazine fair every year inside
Nandan and Rabindra Sadan premise. The land of Singur was forcefully
acquired on 2nd December of 2006 and the fare was scheduled to
commence on 11th January, 2007. There was thought among the activists
of few little magazine of boycotting the fair. The editors of the magazines
considered that non cooperation with the Government would be the best
way to register their protest against the Singur incident. Meanwhile the
number of people participating in protest was swelling. Initiatives from
different corners were being taken to organize united protest against what
th
was happening in Singur. The day was 18 December, 2006. Editors and
workers of 18 little Magazines assembled that day in the evening to
discuss the stand to be taken regarding the ensuing Little Magazine fair.
The discussion was inconclusive but it was decided that they would sit
again soon with more number of workers of Little magazines.
Incidentally 18th December, 2006 struck with a tumultuous tragedy. In
Singur the charred body of Tapasi Malik, a 17 year old girl from a land
Contd. to page 13

FACE TO FACE
An interview with Pranab Nayak, the Secretary of 'Forum
Against State Terrorism'.
Q 1. Why have you formed an organization by the name of Forum
Against State Terrorism even there are organizations like APDR and
Bandi Mukti Committee (organization for the release of political
prisoners) to fight for the protection of human rights?
Ans. We are well aware that there are such mass organizations like
Bandi Mukti Committee and Association for the Protection of Human
Rights to defend the constitutional rights of the citizens of India and resist
the violation of human rights by the Central and State governments.
Many of us are associated with these organizations. These two
organizations have rendered immense service in defending the
fundamental rights of the people. But we have felt that the task of the first
organization is limited to the release of political prisoners and the
exposure of the government's cruel treatment with the political prisoners
and harassment of political activists, and some such activities. The
second organization has a wider range of activities and, as its name
indicates, it tries hard to fight against any violation of democratic rights
of the people –rights which are guaranteed in the constitution of India,
and to establish democratic values in the country. But very recently
people of India are witnessing with grave concern the most gruesome
manifestation of the terror which are perpetrated by the State on the
innocent people and the workers and leaders of mass movement and
opposition parties and even on its own employees. Not only that, State is
also organizing or helping the formation of private armies to repress the
growing mass movements and mass protests against the anti-people
policies of Central and State governments. Both the Central government
and the State governments of various hues are equally to blame. These
terrorist activities of the governments and their sponsored hoodlums are
producing fear psychosis in the country. The problem is of such a vast
dimension and the challenge is so great that response on the part of the
organizations like APDR and BMC seem to be inadequate. It is in such a
circumstance that many well-intentioned people of West Bengal and
other states have come forward to condemn deter repression on the part
of the state machinery and to help their hapless victims, with that end in
view, we have formed Forum Against State Terrorism (FAST) with the
active participation of some eminent citizens.
Q 2. Will you give us a recent picture of State terrorism in West Bengal ?
Ans. West Bengal as one of the states of India implementing the
policies of Central Government at the behest of foreign imperialist
powers and native big capitalists and big landlords is not lagging behind
in resorting to repressive measures to suppress the people's movement.
The practice of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture including extra
judicial killings was rampant during the Naxalite unrest in the 1960s and
1070s have been repeated during the three decades of uninterrupted Left
Front rule. Here unrestrained politicization of the police and
administration and criminalization of policies have replaced the rule of
law which is the basis of democracy, by the rule of one Party. Acting in
the party, police is perpetrating high crimes with impunity in the name of
maintaining law and order, unlawful arrest, detention and torture of
individuals in false cases have surpassed all previous records. The police
CPM brutalities perpetrated on unarmed men and women and children in
th
Nandigram on 14 March and 6-12 November under the instigation of
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and other CPM top hats have
surpassed all previous records. Quite recently during and after the
Panchayet elections CPM cadres with the backing of police and State
administration have created bloodbath by killing and wounding
hundreds of workers and supporters of the opposite party. As in other
states, West Bengal government is raising the bogey of Maoist
insurgency in Nandigram, Singur and other places to suppress people's
movement there against the eviction of peasants from land in the name of
industrialization. The picture will be all the more horrible in near future if
well-meaning people face to resist the onslaught of the fascist
government. In West Bengal, SP of Birbhum has circulated leaflets
announcing award of Rs.5000 for information leading to arrest of a
Maoist rebel.
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Q 3.What are the activities you are going to organize to focus on
state terror?
Ans. Organization have drawn up a programme to visit the
affected places , investigate all forms of abuse and violation of human
rights in West Bengal, offer material and legal help to the victims and
apprise the human rights commission. We have also decided to
organize seminars, workshops and public meetings within and
outside West Bengal from time to time to raise the level of public
consciousness regarding the growing danger of police excesses and
atrocities we are also trying to build up a network with other national
and international bodies interested on protecting human rights.
Q 4. How do you look upon the Salwa Judum? Manipur
Government is also trying to organize a similar private army there.
Have you taken up any programme to resist all these fascist
organizations?
Ans. Salwa Judum is formed in Chhattisgarh on the pattern of
Ranabir Sena in Bihar. Recently, another such organization called
Nagarik Suraksha Samiti has been formed in Jharakhand. A so called
Ganatantrik Suraksha Samity has lately surfaced in West Medinipur
district. All these are organized by the governments and ruling parties
with the declared objective to tackle headlong on Maoist rebels. It is
also heard that a terroristic private army is going to be formed in
Manipur. Such fascist organizations are bound to crop up as the
people increasingly come forward to resist the attack of the ruling
class on their life and property. Our Forum is thinking of forming
similar organizations in other states on a war-footing to fight against
state repression. You have to give us some time to develop a strong
organization on an all-India basis.
Contd. from page 13
Little Magazines
stabilizing our organization. We convened one meeting of the members in
September, 2007 to discuss the direction the Mancha to follow. The
discussion, though inconclusive, was very lively with the participation of
great number of representatives of various Magazines. There we took one
very important decision that we would hold our own Little Magazine fair.
When CPI (M) in early November, 2007 launched vicious armed
campaign to gain control over Nandigram there was a permanent Mancha
at Metro Channel, Kolkata what was named NANDIGRAM MANCHA
by Mahasweta Devi. Relayed hunger strike by different organizations
followed for about 30 days. Our Mancha members participated in the
movement and 4 members observed fast on 4th December, 2007. We also
had organized cultural program on the day which was attended by a large
number of people.
Then came the red letter day for our Mancha. Between 4th and 6th January,
2008 we had our own Little Magazine fair in Presidency college maidan.
We all waited for this. We said earlier that all the fairs in West Bengal are
bureaucratically managed under the guidance of few persons who are in
the good book of the party. These affairs never become the product of joint
initiatives of all quarters. The editors of Little Magazines also felt the
pinch of the autocratic management of the annual Little Magazine fair.
Now Mancha has become the centre of initiatives of the magazine
workers. We tried our best to listen to all suggestions so that democratic
values get honour. About 135 Little Magazines participated in the fair.
With discussions, cultural functions and good presence of crowd every
day the fair assumed the highest order of spontaneity. We have reasons to
feel the satisfaction of traveling a considerable distance in the context of
the people movement which is seeking for alternatives.
We are aware that many more miles we shall have to travel to make a
meaningful contribution to the people's upsurge that is sweeping the state.
Our Mancha has come to existence in a particular objective condition. As
long as we shall be able to satisfy the conditions, our presence would be
strong and relevant. We are conscious about the demand of the time and
people. We shall not shrug off our responsibility. We were iconoclast, we
shall remain iconoclast. Probably that is the primary condition of our
existence.
-Writer is the conveynor of Little Magazine Samannoy (Prastuti) Mancha.
7
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Can the whole world be fed?
By Elizabeth Schulte
Source: Socialist Worker
We live in a world that has the capacity to feed everyone in it. And
yet, each day, hundreds of millions of people around the globe go to bed
without enough to eat.
THE DEPTH of the global food crisis is best expressed by what poor
people are eating to survive. In Burundi, it is farine noir, a mixture of black
flour and moldy cassava. In Somalia, a thin gruel made from mashed thorn-
tree branches called jerrin. In Haiti, it is a biscuit made of yellow dirt. Food
inflation has sparked protests in Egypt, Haiti, Mexico and elsewhere. Tens of
thousands protested earlier this month [MAY2008]in Mogadishu, as the
price of a corn meal rose twofold in four months. And while the crisis seemed
to come out of nowhere, the reality of hunger is a regular feature of life for
millions of people. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) estimates that 854 million people worldwide are undernourished.
Hunger isn't simply the result of unpredictable incidents like the cyclone that
struck Myanmar. In most cases, millions teeter on the edge of survival long
before the natural disasters hit. According to UN Millennium Project Web
site, of the 300 million children who go to bed hungry every day, only "8
percent are victims of famine or other emergency situations. More than 90
percent are suffering long-term malnourishment and micronutrient
deficiency."
The technology and know-how exist to make our capacity to
produce food even greater--if this were made a priority. As part of a recent
series on the global food crisis, the Washington Post described the damage
being done by gnat-sized insects called "brown plant hoppers." Billions of
them are destroying rice crops in East Asia and putting millions of poor
people at risk of going hungry.
The threat could easily be eliminated with the creation of rice strains
resistant to this pest, but that hasn't happened--because funding for research
projects has been cut. The International Rice Research Institute used to have
five entomologists, or insect experts, overseeing a staff of 200 in the 1980s.
Now it has one entomologist, with a staff of eight.
The world's wealthiest countries and their international loan
organizations, like the World Bank, have cut money for agricultural research
programs. According to the Post, "Adjusting for inflation and exchange rates,
the wealthy countries, as a group, cut such donations roughly in half from
1980 to 2006, to $2.8 billion a year from $6 billion. The United States cut its
support for agriculture in poor countries to $624 million from $2.3 billion in
that period."
SEARCHING FOR answers to the crisis, some people argue that
"there simply isn't enough to go around," or that there are "too many" people
to feed in a world of limited resources. This argument has been around for
many decades. In effect, it tries to blame starvation on the starving
themselves. And it simply isn't true.
"The food crisis appeared to explode overnight, reinforcing fears
that there are just too many people in the world," wrote Eric Holt-Giménez
and Loren Peabody of Food First. "But according to the FAO, with record
grain harvests in 2007, there is more than enough food in the world to feed
everyone--at least 1.5 times current demand. In fact, over the last 20 years,
food production has risen steadily at over 2.0 percent a year, while the rate of
population growth has dropped to 1.14 percent a year. Population is not
outstripping food supply."
The problem isn't that there isn't enough food. The problem is that
the people who need it are too poor to buy it. This is the case around the globe,
including some of the wealthiest countries in the world.
In the U.S., food pantries report being stretched to the breaking point
8
because more working people are turning to them when their paycheck
doesn't make it. Demand is up 15 to 20 percent over last year, and the pantries
are serving "folks who get up and go to work every day," Bill Bolling,
founder of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, told USA Today. "That's
remarkably different than the profile of who we've served through the years."
This flies in the face of the commonly held idea that average Americans and a
culture of overconsumption and waste are eating up the world's resources.
Of course, examples abound of people who get much more than their fill, in
elite hotels and restaurants around the globe--but they are a small fraction of
the population. And when these parasites gorge themselves, they steal from
the mouths of poor people everywhere--in less developed countries, but also
in wealthy nations like the U.S.
THE POTENTIAL exists to eliminate hunger and malnutrition
anywhere in the world. What stands in the way of our ability to feed each and
every person is really the system we live under--capitalism. The drive for
profit at the heart of the system--where things like food, which should be
viewed as a fundamental right, are seen as commodities to be bought and
sold--is really the source of the problem. No amount of technology can
overcome this fundamental fact.
Thus, during the Great Depression, while millions of poor and
unemployed Americans went hungry, U.S. farmers were facing the exact
opposite problem: They were producing too much food to keep prices from
falling. So at the same time that millions of poor and unemployed people
stood in breadlines for food assistance, food crops were being destroyed,
because no profit could be made from giving it away.
As the author John Steinbeck wrote in the Grapes of Wrath: The
works of the roots of the vines, of the trees, must be destroyed to keep up the
price, and this is the saddest, bitterest thing of all. Carloads of oranges
dumped on the ground. The people came for miles to take the fruit, but this
could not be. How would they buy oranges at 20 cents a dozen if they could
drive out and pick them up? …… million people hungry, needing the fruit-
and kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains...
There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a
sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that
topples all our success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy
trunks and the ripe fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a
profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the
certificate--died of malnutrition--because the food must rot, must be forced
to rot.
Capitalism is a chaotic system, where starvation can exist amid
plenty, and where a disaster seems to loom around every corner. In Mexico,
for example, the price of tortillas went up 60 percent last year. Increased
demand for American farmers to divert corn for use in ethanol as opposed to
corn for food was largely to blame for the skyrocketing prices of this
Mexican staple. But Walden Bello of Focus on the Global South asked an
important question in a recent article: "How on earth did Mexicans, who live
in the land where corn was domesticated, become dependent on U.S. imports
in the first place?"
During the 1980s, in return for bailouts from the IMF and World
Bank, Mexico was forced "liberalize" its trade policies, and this accelerated
under the North American Free Trade Agreement. U.S. farm products
flooded the Mexican market, and agribusiness giants like Cargill reaped
huge profits. Mexican farmers couldn't possibly compete. International "aid"
is organized around the principle not of solving poverty but of making
profits--and in the process, it usually leads to more suffering. In Ethiopia, the
poverty "experts" at the World Bank forced the country to devote good land
not to food crops, but to export crops to sell on the world market. As a result,
the famine of the 1980s were made even worse.
These crises aren't aberrations, but are built into the system. A recent
Time magazine article grudgingly commented, "The social theories of Karl
Marx were long ago discarded as of little value, even to revolutionaries. But
he did warn that capitalism had a tendency to generate its own crises." The
Contd. to page 9

Contd. from page 8
World be fed?
Time article was titled "How Hunger Could Topple Regimes."
The current system and its warped priorities can't possibly accomplish
something as important as feeding the world's people. It will take a
society organized on a completely different basis to achieve this. If we
could harness the resources wasted on the pursuit of profit--including the
wars that our government funds around the globe--we could feed the
world many times over.
PRESENT SCENARIO OF RETAIL
BUSINESS IN INDIA:
- Ashrujit Nandy
·There are around 15 million retail center in India.
·According to 2001 census, near about 30 million people were in
retail business; among them, 19million in rural area, and
11million in cities. 17million of them were non-matric. At
present, the number of people involved in retail business has
been increased to almost 40 million, which is approximately 7-
8% of total number of employed Indians. Only agricultural area
involves more man power than retail business.
·Total transaction in retail business is 90 billion Rs/year.
·Only 4% of this sector is organized
·Number of retail center per 1000 people is highest in India, 11
retail centers / 1000 people.
·14% of GDP comes from retail business.
·Total 160million of Indians, directly or indirectly depends on
retail business.
Why the domestic and multinational investors are interested in
Indian retail market?
The aim of the capitalists is to search and gain more profit.
Because of unimaginable economic stagnancy in the western capitalist
countries, they are forced to adapt globalization, privatization and open
market policy, in order to sustain there capital. Now it is not possible for
them to invest in their own product based sectors. They are looking for
new areas of investment and their new target is the large retail market of
India. At present big capital controls only 4% of Indian retail market.
They want to reach 20% in next 4 -5 years, i.e. near about 200,000 crore
rupees. Walmart, Costco of USA, Metro, Aldi, Rewi of Germany,
Carifore of France, Ahold of Netherlands, Tesco of Britain, Reliance,
RPG, Spinach, Subhiksha, Tata, Pantaloons, Birla, Bharati and others
are trying to capture the retail market.
Walmart : World's largest retail organization. Annual turn over is about
350 billion USD, which is more than that of entire retail market of India.
Presently they are interested in joint venture with Bharti group.
Pantaloons: Largest group in essential commodities sector of India. They
are planning to build 2500 outlets, investing 30,000 crore rupees, by
2010.
Reliance: Planned to have few thousands of outlets in 784 cities of India.
By 2010, aimed annual turn over is 90,000 crore rupees with present
investment of 30,000 crore.
Big investors want to have 25-30 thousands outlets in next 4-5 years.
They are trying to capture the retail market by investing crores of money.
. Already people are retaliating.
According to the supporters of large investors in retail market:
Generate employment.
Due to complete abolition of middleman system, price will be low.
Growers and producers will gain more.
TOWARDS
A NEW D AWN
Using this logic, the big political parties like Congress, BJP, CPM as well
as, the regional ruling parties are welcoming the domestic and foreign
investors in retail business. Some of them are campaigning for domestic
capital only. Some are protesting just to secure their vote bank.
Why are we opposing?
At present only 4% of retail business is dominated by organized
sector and the aim is to control 20% of retail business, in next 4-5 years.
One survey says, if Walmart has only one outlet, in each of 35 Indian
cities, with more than 1 million populations, then the turn over will be of
8033 crore rupees and 10,195 people will be employed. At the same time,
432,000 persons, related to Indian retail market will be jobless. That
means, every Walmart employee will be responsible for unemployment
of 42 person related to Indian retail market. It negates the view of
employment generation.
So the middlemen, who play an important role between
producers and consumers, will be thrown out from the scenario. It is
already noticed from the western capitalist countries, that, initially the
farmers and small scale producers get more profit due to removal of
middlemen. But, later, as they completely depend on the big investors,
they have no choice other than selling their product to investors, and
finally the farmers are forced to sell in the price set by the investors,
compromise with the conditions, and the labors related to small scale
production are forced to work more and get less paid. On the other hand,
initially the big investors sell the product in lesser price, only to capture
the market. But when the market is completely monopolized, they force
the customers to pay high price for their product. Just to increase the
profit, they compel the farmers to sign contracts and grow only the
profitable crops. Use of high-tech seeds, excessive amount of pesticides
and fertilizers, preservatives to store the huge production finally affects
the farmers and farm lands. In the vicinity of the large outlets, the small
scale retail business is decreased by 40-50%, resulting in
unemployment, poverty, social problems like drug addiction, domestic
violence, criminal and suicidal tendencies. In last 15 years, though the
GDP has increased, there is no significant employment generation.
Today for many Indian, small scale retailing is the only way to earn
bread. Hawker eviction, implementation of VAT, all is to help the big
investors. Just within 10 years of business, Walmart has captured 20% of
the Mexican retail market. Now Mexican government is looking for
ways to protect their small scale business sector. Even in USA, many
business houses had to close their business because of Walmart.
Germany and South Korea has banned walmart for selling products in
less than the production cost. In Thailand, due to big investors, 60,000
shops are closed. A survey, done by prof. Anuradha Kalhan of Mumbai,
Joy Hindu College, says that there is a 71% decrease in small scale
business due to two shopping malls in Mulund. Around 87% grocery
shops admit loss in their business. 63% of the small scale retailer has fear
of losing their business. In 92% families next generation is not interested
in this business anymore. 72 % hawkers are humiliated by the shopping
mall agents. 17% businessmen are reported pay more bribes and illegal
weekly fees to these agents. In another survey it is observed that in delhi
, within one km radius of reliance fresh, there is 88% decrease of
business of shop owners and hawkers. 45% have reported that their
business has gone down by 50%. 59% are thinking of leaving the
business because of excessive losses. Already many vegetable vendors
have left the business in Lakshminagar and Paharganj area.
So our appeal is to unite against these big investors and the
political parties who are just resourses to provide food, health and
education to all the Indians, it's the time to raise the question why 80%
people are deprived from the basic needs. So mass movement is the only
solution to protect ourselves from the brutal aggression of the state and
big capital.
In Chennai, Ranchi, Bhubaneshwar, Indore and Patna,
organized movement has forced Reliance Fresh and Spencer's to close
their outlets.
9
TOWARDS
A NEW D AWN
PANCHAYET SYSTEM: OPPRESSION
AND SUPPRESSION IN THE NAME OF
POLITICAL DECENTRALIZATION
- Abhijnan Sarkar
Alongside the economic policy of centralization by the British Government in
India, the parallel policy of de-centralization of political power was rather
remarkable, with the proposals made in 1882 by Lord Rippon which projected
the local self-governance as the school of political awareness. And likewise in
1885 The Bengal Regional self-governance Act was passed and was later
transformed to The Bengal Village self-governance Act passed in 1909. Later in
1957, according to West Bengal panchayet act, the terms 'union board', 'district
board' were changed to 'gram panchayet', 'panchayet region' etc. More reforms
like West Bengal District Act was introduced in 1963 and in 1973 during the
fascist rule of Siddhartha Sankar Ray was introduced the West Bengal Panchayet
Act. It was in this act that the three stage panchayet system was introduced and is
today the base of the 'Left' Front Government panchayet system with minor
changes.
The Indian government had set up several committees to review the efficiency of
this system, so that the state control over the masses can penetrate to the most
marginal and grass root level and at the same time becomes acceptable to the
masses as 'self-governance'. Most debated in this respect is the 1957 Mohit
Committee (the committee famous for advocating 'panchayet raj' in the whole
country) Report which pointed out that “the current system works in favor of a
minor section of the society i.e. the ruling class and fails to address the needs of
the weaker class. Even the 1977 Ashok Meheta report mentioned that the system
was failing and “the dissent of the masses against the neglect is increasing” and
the recommendation was direct and deeper relation between the villages and the
parliament. The present advocacy of decentralized self governance is nothing
more than the design to bring everyone under the state control and amongst the
several ruling class parties; the CPI (M) has grasped it most profoundly as is
evident from the rigidly successful implementation of the system in West
Bengal. Within this system are the inseparable presence of corruption, regional
rise of bureaucracy and the generous patronage of the new class – comprising of
non-peasant landowners, traders of seeds, fertilizers etc. who have in terms
preserved the semi-feudal framework of the system – that has emerged holding
the hand of the 'Left'. The central congress government along with the World
Bank and the DFDI has praised the 'Left' front in no uncertain terms for this
successful implementation of the system, a system which helps preserve the
interests of the semi-feudal structure, the imperialist capital and the national
corporate. With the implementation of neo-liberal policies, the congress
implemented the 73rd constitutional amendment where it was mentioned in the
243B that “it is the responsibility of the State government to implement the
panchayet system in the village level, the intermediate level and the district
level.”
In the 1978 elections, the CPM's party strength was 30,000 most of whom were
city based, they hardly had much organizational strength in villages. However in
the panchayet elections they managed to nominate almost 70,000 candidates.
This was made possible by the overnight decision by the ruling class of the
villages to join CPM. This was important for the CPM to develop presence in
villages and the ruling class took this opportunity to maintain their dominance.
This class had clearly understood in 1977 that the CPM will not grab and
distribute land from them and remarkably in the panchayet elections only 7%
were landless peasants or bargadar, whereas 93% were the village upper class.
In 1992 the panchayet minister of state Suryakanta Mishra asked the
g o v e r n o r o f P u n j a b a n d I C S N i r m a l
Mukherjee to review the work of the panchayet. Later Mukherjee and the
director of Asian Development Bank Debabrata Mukherjee jointly reviewed the
system and published 'The New Horizon of west Bengal Panchayet' in 1993.
Some sections are remarkable: “the initial interest of the panchayet system was
declining from 1983 onwards. Finally after the third panchayet in 1988 no more
interest was there. The dependence on the Johar income plan was so high that if
the system is abolished, the panchayet will have no more work at hand, to the
extent that the only way will be to abolish the panchayet system as a whole. The
removal of land distribution system from under the panchayet supervision has
also led to feeling that there is nothing left to achieve in that respect….the land
reform was this much important an issue at the grass root level, however it is
wrongly been stated as exhausted. Without bringing into consideration the
several cases pending with court, it is being stated that very little land is left to be
10
distributed and that fewer bargadars are left to be enlisted.”
Thus the campaign that is continuously being carried out by CPM about
their successful implementation of land reform has been exposed by a
committee appointed by them. The committee further stated that the
villages have more than 555 of the population living below poverty line
however seldom their representation has been found in any post of
panchayet in any level.
In few words the initiative to do away with the distance between the MP,
MLAs and the village commoners failed miserably and the entire panchayet
system became a centre for political individuals, feudal lords, party
appointed school teachers, lumpens and so on.
The CPM has repeatedly mentioned their pioneering effort in implementing
panchayet system by which democratic practice was supposedly percolated
to the grass root. However nothing can be further from the truth! If only
participation in elections by the masses is considered to be a measure of the
democratization of the system then we cannot deny that America is
democratic just because a high percentage of its population comes out to
vote. Without initiating any alteration of the class structure of the villages,
simply talking of democracy is not just a lie but is a design of the state
machinery to spread out. Even Gandhi's consideration of decentralized
power of panchayet, implementation of Ram's kingdom was utopian as it
bypassed the fundamental question of feudalistic oppression. Not just the
parliamentary 'Left' but even the ex-Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi painted a
glorious picture of future after implementation of panchayet. He remarked
“owing to the failure to make the people at the grass root level to participate
in democracy, some politicians are able to misuse power. When 100-500
people stat to elect their representatives, then the representative will be
under the surveillance of the village and his power and practice will be
limited to the boundary of the village, and not the state capital or national
capital.” Even the 73 and 77th amendment also speaks similarly in favor of
ensuring and establishing the presence of the eyes and ears of state at the
grass root level. And by involving the farmers to participate in this form of
democracy, it is attempted to distract them from the any course of rural
revolution.
In the much propagated panchayet election in West Bengal, where
the 'Left' Front claims to have established model panchayet system, it is
usual to find that opposition are forced not to take part. In 1978 'Left' Front
won 338 seats uncontested. Similarly in 1983, the number was 332,
however in 1988 it became 4,200, in 1993 1,916, it decreased somewhat in
1998 to 600 but then in the bloody election of 2003 it leaped to 6,800. In
2003, not just the opposition but the Front partners complained of their
candidates being forced to withdraw. The 2008 elections were bloodiest by
far with opposition as well as partner candidates being killed and villagers
threatened, killed, houses burnt and looted. Even after this when the results
were devastating for the CPM, it is worth noticing how the party won
uncontested seats in Keshpur, Garbeta and many other places.
The myth of Land reform by the CPM government:
In the 1950s, the feudal lords and the remaining kings had their
traditional power somewhat cut to size, further in and around 1955 the
massive national and international socialist movements and peasant
uprisings to an extent forced the national government to bring about the land
reform acts. Then in 1960s faced with the Naxalbari uprising and its
national spread out, the CPM was forced to act by organizing protests and
demanding the program of grabbing lands from the landlords above a
specific ceiling and redistributing them. The Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
and American experts all agreed to the proposal of the CPM peasant leader
and Minister Harakrishna Konar. They all agreed to the fact that this might
succeed in containing the red revolution. Many peasants across the country
succeeded in keeping the lands forcefully grabbed from their feudal
landlords since the 1967 movements.
Mr. Debabrata Bandopahayay (whose contribution was
recognized then by Harakrishna Konar as well as today by Binoy Konar)
was closely related to the land reform in Bengal during the time of United
Front and 'Left” Front. He wrote in Economic and Political Weekly (15th
November 2003 issue) that the major amount of land above ceiling had
already been grabbed by peasants or distributed during the United Front
Government (1969-1970). Moreover the 'operation barga' was completed
from 1972-82. The 2004 human Resource development report of the West
Bengal government states that the number of enlisted bargadar as on 2000
was 16.8 lakhs i.e. 20.2% of the families living of agriculture. The net land
recovered during 'operation barga' was 11 lakhs acre i.e. a mere 8.2% of
arable land, however almost 20% barga were entitled to be enlisted. This
even if some hope was seen by the peasants at the beginning of the
Contd. to page 11
Contd. from page 10
panchayet system, much of it was lost after less than half of the
sharecroppers were enlisted. The same report mentions that the 11 lakhs acre
land was distributed amongst 27.5 lakhs landless peasants. However it is
well recognized that more than half of that land was already in the hands of
the peasants as a result of the peasant movements of 1960s-70s. Further
some 3 lakhs of the land was never distributed by the government at all,
strangely some 13.23% patta owners lost their lands and 14.37 percent of
bargadars were evicted during this 'Left' rule when the panchayets were
involved in this redistribution. In this situation, when these peasants had to
depend on the money lenders, and forced to buy seeds and fertilizers from
MNCs, resulting in fall in productivity some people were reaping the fruits
of profits. Whether this was made possible by the village upper class, who
had their interest in the semi-feudal and crony-capitalist social structure, by
changing of parties from Congress to CPM, or otherwise is being felt by the
poor and landless peasants of the villages. They are getting the answers
every day.
Deciding Land Ceiling & Distributing Fragments of Land or Enlisting
Bargadars cannot be the Only Face of Land Reform:
By distributing small segments of land and imposing seeds,
chemical fertilizers and pesticides manufactured by MNCs, the production
initially improved, then they stagnated, more importantly these crops
drained so much out of the lands that the traditional seeds could not be used
any more. The fertilizers and pesticides became mandatory. With the
increasing cost of production the farmers resorted to moneylenders who in
terms gradually entered into unholy nexus with the MNC distributors and
started lending out production equipments rather than money. Gradually the
distributed lands slipped away from the peasants and passed on to medium
and large landowners. The gainers have been the same upper class of
villages who overnight turned towards CPM from Congress in 1977. Other
gainers were MNCs and their distributors, most of who had links to local
party leaders. These new landlords do not have the same character as the
feudal landlords of the 1950s; they are modern and keep contact with the
cities, deals with instruments of agriculture, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides.
These people who have high influences in the local CPM party are the
deciders of who gets '100 days of jobs', they contract out the building of
village roads, they are directly involved in the misappropriation of the ration
goods. These people control virtually all the panchayet projects and have
amassed huge wealth. These people who never till lands are the biggest
gainers of the agricultural economy and the protector of this semi-feudal
structure. However they never prevent the intrusion of national or foreign
capital into the economy. This entire system is well implemented and
controlled by the CPM by means of the panchayet. The people who are the
biggest losers are the marginal peasants and land laborers. The water levels
have gone down by excessive usage of underground water, as the new crops
demand massive watering and irrigation expansion has remained just a
theory. The entire environment is been adversely affected. The CPM has
made no effort to prevent the entry of capital in the agrarian economy; rather
it has supported it as the distorted system is in term helping their local
leaders. After Punjab's failure in green revolution, west Bengal is also
treading the same path.
Accumulation of Land:
The 2003 convention of the Agriculture wing of CPM has accepted
that within the land ceiling system a minor section has emerged who owns
lands, as well as agricultural equipments, access to irrigation water, business
of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and yet they do not till the land but carry out
business by employing people. By 1982 the government grabbed 29
thousand acres of land and again during the third 'Left' front government
further11 thousand acres were acquired. After that the land reform
department took no more initiatives. But the department in its latest report
has clearly mentioned that 2.5 lakhs acres of agricultural land have remained
undistributed and some few thousands more were not acquired due to legal
deadlocks. Another anomaly in the report with previous documents points to
the obvious conclusion that some 80 thousand acres have disappeared. This
extraordinarily large share of arable land has remained under the ownership
of CPM leaders of the villages. And in spite of this huge amount of
undistributed land the CPM claims “land reform work is practically
finished.” (21st party congress of CPM, February 2005) This naked misuse of
power has blunted the weapon of peasant movement in many aspects. Today
any such initiatives of peasant movement have to go headlong into conflict
with the party machinery of CPM, their police, virtually the state power.
TOWARDS
A NEW D AWN
While the land is getting accumulated in the hands of few and the upper
class is flourishing, the 20th Party Congress of CPM (2002) attacked those
who held the view that “to strengthen the peasant movement, land ceiling
must be lowered further.” Economist Sachidananda Dutta Ray had written
in 2005, backed by statistics, that according to the recommendation of
planning commission, if 2400 calories is taken to be the minimum
requirement of an individual then 77% of rural population is below that
(Anandabazar Patrika, 22-12-2005). As the economic condition of the
rural population further declines, the inseparable ruling class and the CPM
together are protecting and promoting the semi-feudalistic social structure
based on the market, capital and other exploiting agents.
CPM Government, peasant eviction and food crisis:
Just before the panchayet elections 2008, Ashim Dasgupta
pretended to be granting all wishes of the poor. In the previous budgets as
well there was no dearth of promises, just last year he had declared to buy
30,000 acres of land and re-distribute among the peasants. Previously
CPM shouted of distributing land above ceiling among peasants, but today
it has resorted to land grabbing from poor peasants and passing it on to the
hands of a newly rich landlord class. After this it had kept quiet about the
land above ceiling for quite long until it declared the social democratic line
of buying land for distribution, but even this won't be easy or even possible.
The party that is ever active for grabbing lands for big projects by Tata,
Salem, Jindal, Dow Chemicals and other international big capitals can only
shed false tears for the poor peasants that too only looking at the votes.
Looking into the promise of buying land for the poor brings forth an even
darker picture. During the budget session Ashim Dasgupta mentioned that
till date only 198 acres of land have been bought. While the troubles
escalated in Nandigram and Singur, Ganashakti started propaganda about
the plans of land distribution, and then came the drama of giving away
patta-s just before the panchayet. Those who could not distribute 1% of the
land promised in an entire year are hyper active when it comes to grabbing
thousands of acres of land for the Tata and Salem by evicting poor
unwilling peasants. The government has further plans of acquiring 1 lakh
40 thousand acres of land, Mr. Debabrata Bandopadhyay, former
commissioner for land reforms have clearly stated that this will mean 1
lakh 50 thousand tones of less food grain directly impacting 25 lakhs of
people.
Today we are witnessing a two step policy been implemented by
this pseudo-Left government. On one hand it is carrying out efforts to
centralizing lands into the hand of few in the villages, on the other, it is
acquiring large tracts of land for assembling industries, housing
complexes, shopping malls, SEZ to be built on the money of big capital and
speculators. A new class of land owners is emerging, who are not the
conventional feudal class, and they have their interests embedded in the
international capital. Even the national bourgeois have adapted too well to
this new flight of idle western capital, and are sharing a small but sizeable
part of the pie. The capitalist control over the village economy has
surpassed the conventional means like seeds, fertilizers etc. it is now
controlling the village 'development', industrialization, contract farming
and other aspects and is growing aggressive and intolerant. Nandigram is
just another expression of this new development.
Panchayet governance:
In the words of state general secretary of UTUC, leader of 'Left'
Front partner RSP, Ashok Ghosh “In accordance to Indian constitution, the
head of panchayet is probably the only person endowed wit the right to use
and distribute money according to necessity. Whatever is necessary of
basic survival i.e. direct financial support, distribution of seeds and
saplings, 100 days of work per year, BPL certificate, temporary shelter in
case of damaged houses, family disputes(even if uninvited), land issues,
operation 'Barga' etc. panchayet has the right to give the final word. It is
almost compulsory to obey the decision of the panchayet and even if there
remains logical oppositions, on one can express that.” (Statesman 4-3-08)
this system rather than decentralizing power gives rise to a fascist tendency
even in grassroots level. The entire panchayet system has in terms
consolidated the hegemony of Writers controlled from Alimuddin. This
system has also helped strongly establish a new class that is a by-product of
the neo-feudalism and imperialist capitalism in the villages. The power has
Contd. to page 12
11
TOWARDS
A NEW D AWN
Contd. from page 11
greatly been centralized in the hands of this new class which has helped
propagate the control of state machinery to every corner of the villages. Thus
the minor capitalist development that occurs inside this is crony capitalism. In
the same context Ashok Ghosh wrote “Today a different situation has arisen
where people have started denying the Party, Panchayet head.”
Self-Help Groups:
In the relentless attack of imperialist capital where a high percentage of
people are jobless or are loosing job, this concept of 'self-help' was introduced
to get into people's head the politics of 'securing myself'. This on one hand can
rid the government of its responsibilities and on the other will make village
people more dependant on the party CPM. By 2007-08 there were some 7.34
lakhs of self-help groups with members amounting to 70 lakhs. Here also the
self-help projects are implemented by the village panchayets and the rural
development department. Here also the money-management takes central role.
It was during the 7th 'Left' Front government that initiative was taken to develop
a corporation for the same purpose, the 2008-09 budget has allocated 100 crores
for the purpose. Moreover the self-help group department's budget has been
increased from 30 crores to 160 crores. Here also the CPM party has taken lead
role in distribution of the money at the village level. The self-help groups have
so far failed to solve any problem, the only thing it does is give corrupt and false
hopes of a bright future. It will only implement the design of decentralized state
power.
New-Agriculture policy:
As an effect of imperial global capital every single component necessary for
agriculture is priced sky high. The high yielding seeds, fertilizers, pesticides
and instruments have come completely under the domain of big capital and are
beyond the reach of poor peasants. This has resulted in forced flight of peasants
from their land. This phenomenon is twisted and presented as agriculture
becoming less profitable and the best resort being selling off the land. To
counter this problem the CPM is following a new agro policy similar to what is
being dictated by international big Capital and this is nothing less than
dangerously fatal. This is appreciated by M.S. Swaminathan who was largely
responsible for the green revolution policy of Punjab, which initially generated
much hope by increasing yield but gradually destroyed the fertility of the top-
soil. The new policy which the 'Left' Front is trying to forcefully implement via
the panchayet is being already adopted by the Indian government. It involves
large scale use of high yielding seeds (often genetically modified) and inorganic
fertilizers and pesticides; it further advocates the implementation of contract
farming and corporate farming. Thus in fewer words the policy is to bring
farming more and more under the domain of global big Capital, which has
caused the suicide of millions of farmers. And this is being projected by the
CPM as ever green revolution as a propaganda before panchayet elections.
The Panchayet is hiding incidents of starvation and Suicide:
Many economists have tried to prove how the people below poverty line has
gradually advanced economically during the term of NDA or UPA government
in the centre or Left Front government in the state. However even if we consider
the figure of 24000 calorie intake per head as minimum as stated by the
Planning Commission, we find that by the 1983 national sample survey, almost
77% of population of Bengal fall below this.
The 21st State convention of the CPM in 2005 acknowledged in spite of gross
under estimation that “4612 villages are in the category of the most backward in
the State” and “considering employment and women education as indicators,
46 lakhs people are forced to live under conditions of extreme poverty. The state
of unemployment is deep rooted and massive. The number of landless peasants
is on the rise in villages. Compared to the 80s the rate of increase of agriculture
has fallen in the 90s. The real wage and employment in agriculture has almost
stagnated. Malnutrition is still a major problem in the villages, especially
among women and children the issue of malnutrition, anemia is widespread.
Amongst the poor, major section is Scheduled cast and tribe and their villages
are amongst the most backward.”
The national sample survey (Reserved Bank of India CENSUS 2004-05)
indicates that West Bengal has maximum number of families starving (or under
feeding) for almost for half the year.10.6% of population of Bengal partially or
fully starves for quite a few months every year. This is the result of three
decades of left rule and the result of de centralizing the State power to the grass
12
root level.
The glaring effects of poverty have been maximized many times further by
the intrusion of global imperialist capital which has only aggravated the
problems of the agrarian economy. The poor peasants, marginal peasants and
share croppers have been most adversely affected; they are running to the
local lenders for money and paying hefty interests as long as they can and
ultimately choosing death over this life. Like Karnataka, Maharashtra,
Andhra, Chattisgarh here also the cases of farmer suicide are on the rise. To
cover this up the Buddhadeb led government has on one had carried on
propaganda of 'Agricultural development', 'Success of Panchayet System',
'Success of Land Reform' on one hand and on the other it says 'Agriculture is
no more profitable', 'it is no longer possible to carry on land reform further',
'people are loosing interest in the Panchayet', 'the keens of Panchayet
members have benefited', 'minimum number of people required are not
participating in most panchayet meetings' etc. are being uttered (Marxist
Path, 2003). But just before the elections the CPM party organ Ganashakti is
busy propagating the stories of the Panchayet success.
The picture of the tribal dominated regions of West Midnapore, Bankura and
Purulia is grimmer. In the Belpahari block of West Midnapore, Amlashole
village witnessed the starvation death of five tribal people in 2004. Then
again another case came up on 29-12-2007 that of Kuna Sabar (Belpahari,
Binpur-2), several others are awaiting the same fate. To cover up these
incidents the CPM appointed BDO Sukumar Baidya carried out a survey and
reported that “Belpahari does not have any crisis of food; every person living
below poverty line is able to have at least three sufficient meals a day.”
Immersed neck deep in corruption, this is the true character of the
bureaucrats appointed by CPM.
Corruption in several projects:
The projects that are implemented via Panchayet are victims of massive
corruption; the project fails to benefit any ordinary poor peasant. The money
is mostly usurped by the CPM leaders. They also throw some of it to a few in
the villages and have managed to prepare a class which entirely depends on
the CPM leaders. These people in greed of this money bully the villagers on
behalf of the party. Especially where the CPI (Maoist) is active, these people
act as police and CPM informers.
In the 2003 issue of the CPM published “Marxist Path” the party has proudly
declared “due to the recommendation of the State Finance Commission,
some 1000 million rupees are being given to the panchayets.” It further
mentions that “the State government wishes to carry out its decentralization
policy in villages with more vigour. And the International Development
Department of the British Government has shown interest in helping us.” To
promote the corruption in the grass root level millions of rupees are being
spent; now let us look at some results of this initiative.
In the Belpahari block alone, the 100 days of assured work has turned into a
complete farce. The official record in spite of severe cover up notes that the
10 panchayet blocks of the area has given away some 33,470 job cards of
which only 15,920 families have got on an average 7 days of job in the past 21
days. Moreover the total number of families in the block is 40,500 of which
16,551 are below poverty line. The BPL list has also been in the centre of
corruption. Many families under the BPL category have not received any job
cards and many outside BPL have received many. Those who did not get a job
were not given any unemployment grant. In 2006-07 10 panchayets have
even failed to spend the allocated amount. In the current financial year 1
crore 47 lakhs were allocated. People have not been given jobs and yet the
expenditure has been shown as 1 crore 38 lakhs. Other projects as financial
help for building house, child education have suffered the same fate. The
block has failed to utilize even 1% of the development fund of 5 crores
allocated. These examples are widespread in the Panchayets of Bengal;
every single village has a list of such corruptions. The incidents mentioned
are not even the tip of the iceberg. In fewer words the Panchayet system is the
distribution of corruption to the grass root level.
The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.
Vladimir Lenin
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A NEW D AWN
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Contd. from page 6
Little Magazine
less peasant family was discovered inside the car manufacturing project
site which was forcefully occupied by the state few days before. Tapasi
was an activist and was leading the Singur movement from the front. It
was clear from the beginning that Tapasi was a victim of the terror that
CPI (M) wanted to unleash to demoralize the movement. Later the CBI
enquiry into her death is also hinting at the same theory. She was raped
and burnt alive. Kolkata was fuming with anger and protest. In the
evening of 18th December the students brought out a procession in
College Street area to condemn the heinous crime. The Little Magazine
workers and editors after the meeting joined the procession to express
their anguish over the murder of Tapasi Malik. Little Magazines in an
organized way came out in the street to become a part of the ongoing
agitation against the autocratic rulers.
Later more and more Little Magazine workers and editors joined the
discussion to decide the stand with respect to the fair. Finally there was a
convention of the Little Magazine on17th January, 2007 at Tripura
Hitosadhoni Sabha Ghar.
In the first week of January of 2007 few workers of Little Magazine were
arrested from inside Nandan area when they were sticking posters on the
walls. The posters were about the call of a meeting of protest against the
Singur incident. If anyone has seen the walls we are talking about one
would know that all kinds of posters in the world are glowing there. But
no! Posters of protest won't be allowed. Democracy is at the mercy of the
rulers of West Bengal. The same test of treatment we received again in
January when we were demonstrating during the fair in Nandan area. The
th
convention of the Little Magazines decided on 17 January that it would
be better for the same minded Magazines to participate in the fair and
campaign and collect signatures in favour of the Mancha. In the evening
of 29th January few young workers of various Magazines were wearing
posters which condemned the undemocratic policies of the Government.
Police interfered and tried to chase the demonstrators away from the area.
The young boys would not budge. The police now threatened to arrest
them. Immediately a great numbers of Little Magazine workers came to
the aid of the demonstrators. All of them strongly protested against the
police behavior. We were able to wrest the initiative out of the police hand
and within few minutes we organized a procession inside the area with
the same posters hanging in our chest. Our decision of participating in the
fair proved to be right. We got tremendous support from the participants
of the fair. The number of signatories rose from 30 to 150.
th
14 March., 2007. One of the bloodiest days in the history of India. A
blatant GENOCIDE made the atmosphere too heavy to bear. Entire West
Bengal burst out into protest. Procession, demonstration, hartal became
the order of the day in the state. The Little Magazine Mancha and its
supporters took active parts in all these agitations. Our Mancha met and
submitted a memorandum to the Governor of the state. Our demand was
to restore piece in Nandigram and elsewhere and punish the culprits who
were responsible for the killing. Our organization gradually got the
recognition of an active agitator.
Flood gate of publication opened for the Little Magazines. Little
Magazines, may not be all, have always played the role of iconoclasts.
Now the time was ripe for them to bring out issues which questioned the
policies of the Government. Many articles and issues of innumerable
Little Magazines brought the land acquisition program and the
consequent eviction of peasantry from their land and livelihood before
clinical incision. The decision of the Government of setting up Special
Economic Zones which allows an independent state within the state was
vehemently opposed in many writings and publications. In the little
Magazines information flowed, statistics flourished, arguments became
sharp, left trait of CPI (M) was seriously challenged.
Writing of Marx, Lenin, Gramsci were being discussed to the depth in the
context of the present scenario. The idea of development and
industrialization that CPI (M) was projecting was put to surgery. A new
paradigm of idea on development and industrialization was being sought.
The role of civil society was being examined. In all, a tremendous surge
of original essays enriched the issues of little Magazines. The Little
Magazine became one of the tools in the hands of the agitators.
TOWARDS
VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 JUNE- JULY 2008 A NEW D AWN
The time for the little Magazines was critical but their effort matched with
the demand of the time. Many little Magazines bring issues on poetry and
stories. They also did not lag behind. Poetry of protest was in abundance.
The effort of the Little Magazines was commendable in this respect.
Stories and plays which portrayed the time were published with equal
enthusiasm. Even the well known writers like Amit Bhaduri, Asoke Mitra
and many others contributed to the Little Magazines during this period.
Possibly this was the most exiting time in the history of Little Magazine.
The sales and circulation of the Little Magazines reached an encouraging
figure. They felt rewarded.
14th April was the first day of Bengali New Year. We called a meeting of
the editors and workers of all the Little Magazines who supported our
signature campaign. The meeting was a great success with nearly 100
participants. The number of conveners was increased to make room for
more representation. We wanted ourselves to exercise democracy for
which we have joined the movement.
th
The 9 May of 2007 was important to the people of Bengal for two
reasons. It was the birth day of Tagore and 9th May is observed
internationally as an antifascism day every year. Little magazine decided
to see this day to discover Tagore as a poet of protest. Tagore was equally
relevant to the antifascist movement. At the present fascist backdrop of
the state Tagore bears a different meaning for the Little Magazines. There
was, like us, one recently formed forum popularly known as Forum for
Artists Cultural Activists and Intellectuals. We joined hands with them to
th
observe 9 May to put emphasis on 'Other Tagore'. Tagore is generally
worshipped by the Indians for his songs and poetries without keeping in
mind about the other sides of his activities which encompass protest,
iconoclasm. We wanted to perform those plays of Tagore which
underline his other self. We decided to recite those poetries and to sing
those songs those speaks about his other sides. A fair of Little Magazines
was also organized on this occasion and the entire program was a grand
success.
The death of Rizwanur Rahman highlighted another case of gross
violation of democratic rights in West Bengal. The police, at the behest of
a rich man interfered in the marriage of a Muslim boy to a girl of a rich
Marwari family. Mystery shrouded the conditions in which Rizwanur
Rahman was found dead. There are reasons to believe that it was a case of
murder. Again the police, the CPI (M) party and the rich man, the father of
the girl spoke in the same voice. The nexus was obvious. The CPI (M)
party was further exposed. Almost entire West Bengal was moved and
again there was barrage of protest and agitation. It was imminent that
under the popular pressure the administration was trying to divert the
attention of the people.
Immediately a press conference was arranged jointly by our Mancha and
Association for Protection of Democratic Rights, a human right
organization. Later few other organizations joined us. All of us strongly
demanded an impartial enquiry into the death. We stressed that the police,
party and rich man nexus should be broken. The conference received
wide publicity and it was telecast live by almost all the local TV channels.
Gradually our Mancha became an integral part of the social movement
that was sweeping the state.
The annual Book fair of West Bengal is a very major event in the life of
middleclass educated community of the state. Again debates among the
Little Magazine workers and editors regarding the participation in the fair
came to the fore. There was decision on the part of Mancha participation
of Magazines in the fair is optional. There is no directive either for
participation or for non participation. It would be the Magazines own
discretion. Democratically looking, this could be the best decision under
the circumstances. But we grabbed the opportunity to campaign for the
Mancha and another good number of magazines joined us during the fair.
We organized procession in support of the social movements in the fair
ground on two consecutive days. For those who are interested in
chronology we inform that it happened in February, 2008.
Like elsewhere the movements in West Bengal are also having low and
high tides. When we found time for little respite we concentrated on
Contd. to page 7
13
TOWARDS
A NEW D AWN VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 JUNE- JULY 2008
Inaugural Conference
Committee for the Release of
Political Prisoners Held in
Delhi
The Inaugural Conference of the Committee for the Release of Political
Prisoners started with the moving statements from the families of the
political prisoners. Arputham Kuyildasan, the mother of Perarivalan, who
has been on death row for the last seventeen years, caught the attention of the
delegates when she narrated how her son who was only in his teens was
implicated in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case. This was followed by the son of
Maulana Nasiruddin who shook the audience as he expressed his restraint
anger on his father being framed by the Gujarat police for allegedly
conspiring to murder Narendra Modi. The house was aghast to know the
shocking fact that the aged Maulana was rejected bail even on health
grounds for his consistent anti-American speeches. The house was almost
on tears when Prof. Devinder Singh Bhullar's mother rose to share her grief
of having lost the entire family to the politics of state violence and vendetta,
how her only son who was an engineer is now facing the gallows. This was
followed by the family of the 5 peasants facing death row in Bihar as well as
those incarcerated in the prisons in Orissa. Many members of the victims'
families simply broke down while relating their own experiences. After the
kith and kin of the prisoners declared the conference open, commenced the
inaugural session.
The presidium comprised of Surendra Mohan, Amit Bhattacharyya, Sujato
Bhadro, and SAR Geelani.
VILLA VILLAGERS TURN
BACK ON POSCO
JAGATSINGHPUR: In a direct bearing on the government, a large section of
Posco project supporters of Gobindpur village now a day vowed to oppose the
project and demanded immediate withdrawal of police force from the area.
The symbolic oath taking function was held in front of the Goraknath peeth
today where scores of villagers including women of Gobindpur, hitherto
considered as a pro-Posco area where the socio-economic survey had been
conducted smoothly without any resistance last month, and vowed to oppose
the project. The disturbing change over is attributed to the utter failure of the
government to safeguard their interest and its inability to thwart the anti-
Posco rally on 1st April said locals.
In the absence of clear cut directions from the top, the local administration
failed to avert the Vikalp Vikash Samabesh organized on 1 April by the anti-
Posco groups. They violated Section 144, broke police barricades and
displayed their strength as a result of which villagers who were in favour of
the project have now joined the anti-Posco movement, observed locals who
were still sympathetic towards the project.
It may be noted here that the district administration had successfully
conducted socio-economic survey of all 480 households and the 2100 betel
vines in Gobindpur last month. Today however the same set of villagers
turned around to allege that the su7rvey work was done in the presence of
goons and armed police. We were intimidated, they alleged Mr. Dula
Mandal, Mr. Harikrushna Pasyat and others complained that they were
threatened and hence they had not protested the survey work. Now that all of
us have united we will ensure that the police vacate the village, one platoon is
there and it has to go soon, they said. Others present at the temple said by 20
April they will demolish all signs of the company in their village.
A district officer however tried to underplay the entire situation saying
there were a few anti-Posco activists even in Gobindpur village. The officer
was confident that once the detailed rehabilitation package is announced
people will veer around to support the project.
14
Democracy “Reserved” for
upper castes in Tamilnadu
Dalits in 20 districts of the state were facing serious caste-related
disparities, including non-entry into temples, inaccessibility to drinking water
and other facilities, a recent survey [February 2008] by Tamil Nadu
Untouchability Eradication Front has found.The survey initiated in the
villages of these districts last month has been completed and the findings
would be submitted to respective District Collectors soon, the front's State
Convenor B Sampath told reporters here today.Dalits were denied entry into
hair-cutting saloons in many villages. They could not use community halls for
functions and not even decorate their homes during domestic
ceremonies.They were prohibited from fetching drinking water from street
taps and were not allowed to enter local temples, the survey said.In Uthapuram
village of Madurai district, the dalit residential colony was segregated by a
half-km-long wall. Similar disparities and untouchability existed in all the 47
villages in the district, the survey said.In a school at Kottampatti in Madurai
district, Plus-one and Plus-two students were not even admitted to Dalit
hostels.Almost 80 lakh Dalit households in these districts lacked proper toilets
and the human faeces was removed and carried as headload by manual
scavengers, the survey said.
Fishermen against
European Union
4 June 2008: Police have clashed with hundreds of fishermen
protesting against the high cost of fuel outside the headquarters of the
European Union in Brussels. Several windows in EU buildings were
broken and at least one car was overturned during the demonstration.
Riot police responded by firing water cannon and launching baton
charges. The fishermen have said they will go out of business unless the
EU allows national governments to give them more financial aid and
subsidies their fuel.
French fishermen have been on strike for several weeks over the price
of diesel, which has risen by 240% in the past five years.
In recent days they have been joined by members of fleets from the UK,
Spain, Portugal and Italy, who have blockaded ports across Europe, and
truck drivers.
Workers take over Sugar Mill
in Sind, Pakistan
Over 1600 workers from Alnoor Sugar Mill Moro, Sind took over
the factory on 12 March 2008. They occupied all the administration
departments of the Mill and asked the General Manager (GM) of the Mill to
sit on the floor. The GM was a retired army brigadier. The GM was then
forced to tour around the factory under workers control.The occupation
ended at 5pm when the local Member of Parliament from Pakistan Peoples
Party assured the workers that their demands would be met. Their union
called Mahnatkash Labour Union Alnoor Sugar Mill led the workers. The
union was recently registered after an interval of 8 years of non-
unionization of the factory. There was a terror of this GM at the factory.
Most of the concessions of the workers were taken back under the military
rule of general Musharaf.
This is the first incident of such kind. There is no civil government yet
but the workers have come forward to have a go on those who had exploited
them all the eight years under military rule.
TOWARDS
A NEW D AWN
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 TOWARDS
VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 JUNE- JULY 2008 A NEW D AWN
SHUT THE EYES OF THE day," Charlene said. Her baby, named Woodson, lay still across her lap,
DEAD NOT TO looking even thinner than the slim 6 pounds 3 ounces he weighed at birth.
Though she likes their buttery, salty taste, Charlene said the cookies give her
EMBARRASS ANY stomach pains. "When I nurse, the baby sometimes seems colicky too," she
said.
Food prices around the world have spiked because of higher prices for oil,
ONE……. needed for fertilizer, irrigation and transportation. Prices for basic ingredients
such as corn and wheat are also up sharply, and the increasing global demand
for biofuels is pressuring food markets as well.The problem is particularly dire
This has been one of the most in the Caribbean, where island nations depend on imports, and food prices are
violent elections in India. The up 40 percent in places.
death toll in clashes during village The global price increases, together with floods and crop damage from the
council election (Panchayat) in 2007 hurricane season, prompted the U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency to
the Indian state of West Bengal declare states of emergency in Haiti and several other Caribbean countries.
has risen to 37, officials say. Caribbean leaders held an
Eight people including an infant emergency summit in
died on May 14 at the second December to discuss cutting
phase of panchyat election when food taxes and creating large
party affiliated goons went regional farms to reduce
berserk, killing, capturing booths, dependence on imports.
intimidating voters and casting At the market in the La Saline
fake votes in the name of rural slum, two cups of rice now
power. sell for 60 cents, up 10 cents
Ironically in the worst incident of from December and 50
the day four persons were brutally percent from a year ago.
murdered in clashes between Beans, condensed milk and
activists of left allies the RSP and fruit have gone up at a similar
the CPI (M) in Basanti in south rate, and even the price of the
24- Parganas. Total lawlessness edible clay has risen over the
prevailed in parts of south 24- past year by almost $1.50.
Parganas, which are RSP strong Dirt to make 100 cookies now
holds with the Marxists desperate costs $5, the cookie makers
for a toe hold. There were sporadic clashes between Marxists cadres and the say.Still, at about 5 cents
Congress and Trinamul Congress else where in the five districts, South 24 apiece, the cookies are a
Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Nadia, Howrah and Hooghly, that went to the bargain compared with food
polls. A six month old child died in his mother's arm in the voting queue from staples. About 80 percent of
the deafening sound of bombs exploding in Panchla in Howrah district. people in Haiti live on less
RSP leader and PWD Minister Kshiti Goswami reacted sharply to the than $2 a day and a tiny elite
Basanti violence. "Democracy is being throttled. If they can do this to their controls the economy.
allies what will happen to the rest of the people?" he asked. The Merchants truck the dirt from
administration should have been impartial. Anti socials were being the central town of Hinche to
encouraged and three of our innocent people died, he said. "Is this a poll or a the La Saline market, a maze of tables of vegetables and meat swarming with
farce?" flies. Women buy the dirt, then process it into mud cookies in places such as
In third phase of panchayat polls in Bengal The district of Murshidabad, on Fort Dimanche, a nearby shantytown.
the border with Bangladesh, was worst affected with 19 deaths. The deaths Carrying buckets of dirt and water up ladders to the roof of the former prison
were caused by attacks on polling booths or on houses of supporters of rival for which the slum is named, they strain out rocks and clumps on a sheet, and
political parties. Armed supporters of the ruling Marxists and the opposition stir in shortening and salt. Then they pat the mixture into mud cookies and
have fought pitched battles with bombs and firearms. The elections have leave them to dry under the scorching sun.The finished cookies are carried in
been held in three phases ending on 19th June, but repolling was held for 77 buckets to markets or sold on the streets.
councils, mostly in Murshidabad and Maldah. A reporter sampling a cookie found that it had a smooth consistency and
During the one-day 2003 polls, 19 people were killed in clashes. sucked all the moisture out of the mouth as soon as it touched the tongue. For
hours, an unpleasant taste of dirt lingered.
Haitian doctors say depending on the cookies for sustenance risks
malnutrition.

Haiti's poor feed on

cookies baked with dirt
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst
slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud. With food prices rising, Haiti's
poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some take desperate
measures to fill their bellies.
Charlene, 16 with a 1-month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian
remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's
central plateau.
The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an
antacid and source of calcium. But in places like Cité Soleil, the oceanside
slum where Charlene shares a two-room house with her baby, five siblings and
two unemployed parents, cookies made of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening
have become a regular meal.
"When my mother does not cook anything, I have to eat them three times a

15
TOWARDS
A NEW D AWN Contd. from page 3
steadily declining on account of the ongoing recession in the USA and crude oil
prices rising inexorably in leaps and bounds, dragging ethanol in its wake, prices
of foodstuff are automatically soaring.
Similar impact on the nature of agricultural production has arisen from the
burgeoning consumerism of the prospering middle classes in the fast-growing
economies of the underdeveloped territories, particularly China and India, the
two most populous countries of the world. With the cash-rich middle classes
wanting more protein food, the demand for meat has risen dramatically in these
areas and the use of maize and soy to feed cattle, pigs and poultry has gone up
sharply to satisfy this demand. One of the caveats in the New York Times
mentioned earlier, reports that the world's meat supply, which was 71mt in 1961,
rose to 284mt in 2007. Per capita consumption, too, has doubled in this period.
Consumerism born of capitalist development inevitably rings the death knell for
agriculture.
February this year has more than doubled to $1.12bn from $543m over the same
period last year, and its profits went up from $1.44bn to $2.22bn.
Cargill's net earnings soared by 86 percent from $553m to $1.03bn over the same
three months' period.
And, Archer Daniels Midland, one of world's largest processor of soya, corn and
wheat, increased its earnings by 42 percent, from $363m to $517m, in the first
quarter of 2008. The operating profits of its grains merchandising and handling
jumped 16-fold from $21m to $341m.
Similarly, Mosaic Company, one of the world's largest fertiliser companies, saw
its income in three months up to the end of February this year rise more than 12-
fold, from $42m to $520.8m, on the back of a major shortage in fertiliser.
As billions go hungry, the agribusiness tycoons, cashboxes ringing loudly on
their backs, are laughing their way to the bank.
The last laugh

A death warrant for agriculture Soon the tears of the hungry billions will dry up. The angry billions will then ....
Writer’s e-mail address: sumit_chowdhury@yahoo.com

TUSHAR GUHA
(Retired Bank Officer) GANESH SAHA
(Rickshaw-puller)
Bush is accusing India for
this price hike. He is Our income is not sufficient to
saying that India support our family. Previously,
consumes a lot. we had fish four days a week,
I, personally think that if but now it has come down to
agricultural programmes one day. From edible oils to
are taken beforehand, say, mutton, everything has
some 8 months beforehand, then these crises would lessen. become costly, how can we
Agriculture should be self-sufficient. Population is another cope with this? We are poor.
factor for this crisis. The Government is only saying that the black marketing will stop.
I don't think that the Black market can be controlled like this, But it is not taking place actually.
except for the market of daily needs like spices, edible oils etc.
This is the age of marketing. If the big markets communicate ANIL SARKAR
directly with manufacturers and sell at minimal cost, then surely (Vegetable-seller)
the open markets are bound to suffer.
We are habituated with price rise. From March to October- we Yes, I am facing problems. I
know that there will be a price rise on something – either on am having less profit now. My
conveyance, food or edible oils etc. business is affected for this
price-rise. I am also facing
Experience of the past two decades show that the so-called neoliberal therapy – difficulties in running my
prescribed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the household.
wake of the Washington Consensus in 1990 and zealously implemented by most
of the crony aspiring-to-be-developed countries – and the so-called free trade
regimen, advocated and imposed on the lesser economies by the World Trade
Organisation (WTO), have together destroyed or debilitated the once-thriving
agriculture in the vast hinterlands of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
RADHESHYAM SHAW
Neoliberalism has, in particular, ruined the small farmers and paved the way for (Jhalmuri vendor)
agribusiness multinationals to come in and make hay. With subsidies taken off
and almost all expenditure on agricultural infrastructures virtually stopped, the Yes, a lot of problems has
subsistence farmers have en masse been pushed to the margins even as the arised for the price-rise.
multinational marauders laid siege to the rural economies with their seeds,
fertilisers, pesticides and genetic engineering knowhow. Egged on by these
Things have become so costly
multinationals, farmers switched from self-consuming or rotational cropping to that I am unable to think or
cultivating cash crops; and when invariably crops failed, repeatedly in many decide anything! We are poor
cases, the multinationals, now acting as their saviours, did brisker business. The people, I have four kids and
horrible experience of the cotton growers in Andhra Pradesh, many of whom my wife—its becoming really
through the 90s and till recent years committed suicide, is a case in point.
Free trade lured many of these small and now-capitalist farmers from the
difficult to support my family.
peripheries into the hub of the world market. They perish soon enough, unable, as Profit has lessened a lot. Its not that only I am suffering, a lot of
they were to cope with the intricacies of the market operations and stand up to the people are suffering for this hike in price.
might of the oligopolistic agro-cartels who have complete control over pricing.
Till the 70s, the sub-Saharan economies were frugal on providing food to the
people. They didn't have oranges but bread and milk to sustain themselves. When
the World Bank prescribed these economies to orient towards the market, they TOWARDS
started producing oranges for export in lieu of wheat imports. After a time, the
price of wheat shot up and that of oranges went down, plunging these African
countries into a quagmire.
A NEW D AWN
Editor : Abhijnan Sarkar
Profit out of crisis Room No. 20, B-Block, Jadavpur University Main Hostel
The food crisis is not just a tale of misery and despair. These may be the worst of Kolkata-700 032, Ph.: 98362 62819
times for the world's hungry billions, but these are the best of times for the giant Printed & Published by Abhijnan Sarkar
agribusinesses whose earnings and profits have already begun to reach
astronomical figures.
Printed at Printing Art, 32A, Patuatola Lane, Kolkata- 700 009
Monsanto reported last month that its net income for three months up to the end of
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16