New Wave newsletter by New Wave Bolshevik Leninist

New Wave is a revolutionary socialist organization building a Bolshevik-Leninist Party in India and the 4th International. www.newwavemaha.wordpress.com www.new-wave-nw.blogspot.com February 2011

Contents: Editorial…………………………………………………………………………………………………….2 Statement on BSNL strike December 2010……………………………………………………………….. 3 Solidarity Message from CSP-Conlutas on BSNL Strike…………………………………………………. 4 Baart saMcaar inagama ilaimaToD maQaIla saMp karNao AaiNa filat ........................................................................................................4 Floods and Mudslides Expose the Real Brazil…………………………………………….………………..5 ISL Statement on Students Movement in UK……………………………………………………….……...6 Report from Bengal…………………………………………………………………………………………8 Statement on Kashmir……………………………………………………………………………………...10 Kashmir in Debates………………………………………………………………………………………...12 Lenin and Trotsky on National Question…………………………………………………………………..15 Statement in Solidarity with Dr. Binayak Sen……………………………………………………………..16 1

Editorial This is our first edition of the now regular publication of the new wave newsletter. The New wave group is a revolutionary socialist organization building a Bolshevik Leninist party for India and working towards re-building the 4th international globally. Our first effort at building a stable platform for political propaganda is in coming out with the first edition of a regular newsletter covering various political and social issues which are important to India. For our first publication we are taking out 8 selected articles covering a range of issues from the independence movement in Kashmir to the civil war in central India and workers struggles. We are including two international articles, one from Brazil and the other from London. Additionally, as part of our effort to reach out more to a local audience we have incorporated an article in Marathi by Comrade KrantiGarjana which deals with workers struggles and class militancy in BSNL . We are also satisfied to publish a commendable report from Bengal by Comrade Ephraim Rahabi on the workers struggle at SRMB rolling mills plant in Durgapur. The report provides greater insight into the workers struggles emerging in Bengal as well as the exposing the role of the Stalinist government in these struggles. Among other issues the highlight of this first publication will be on the issue of Kashmir‘s liberation struggle and the debate on whether to support it or not. The traditional Marxist stand developed by Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin is to support the right for self determination. However, the big question for a revolutionary party is to decide exactly how self-determination should be fought for in each concrete situation to best promote the interests of the national and world proletariat. There are no easy answers to this question. Our task is to weaken the class enemy and its allies. And this affects questions of colonial oppression, big neighbor oppression, regime oppression very differently from one historical situation to another. The last 20 years have witnessed a heightened struggle in Indian occupied Kashmir demanding Freedom (Azadi). The support for this movement is not unanimous in the new wave group. We publish both the resolution of the Delhi section on the present situation of Kashmir as well as Pune section dissenting opinion as part of an open debate on this issue. In the context of India‘s rising role in the global stage we feel it even more pertinent to highlight the main issues facing the Indian working class. We

identify three core struggles at the axis of India‘s prerevolutionary developments. The civil war in the countryside and as part of it the peasant struggles against big capital, the national liberation struggles in Kashmir and the North East as well as movements for self determination, and the reemergence of working class militancy on India‘s sociopolitical spectrum. Our first edition of the regular publication will deal with those issues which are most immediate covering these three areas. Hence, we have selected articles on the BSNL strike to highlight an example of the working class struggles in India, our statement on Kashmir establishing our political position on the same, and perspectives on the arrest of Dr. Binayak Sen which would highlight an angle of the civil war in the countryside and state response. In conclusion I would like to note the situation in the world today is one objectively ripe for a world revolution. Events in Egypt and other Arab countries of the Maghreb point towards a definitely revolutionary direction. However, it is not a question of objective maturity or immaturity of a revolutionary situation but one of revolutionary leadership. The revolutionary situation in Egypt today like the revolutionary situation in India in 1946 displays in fullest the contradictions between ripeness of revolutionary conditions and underdevelopment of revolutionary leadership. The partition and subsequent communal bloodletting in India is enough indication of the grave consequences of the failure of develops a revolutionary leadership to lead a revolutionary wave to its just conclusion. What happened in India then may yet again happen in Egypt today should we fail to develop the revolutionary leadership in the form of a world party of proletarian revolution. The ultimate outcome of bourgeois led independence for the working class and peasantry of India was decades of harsh and brutal exploitation at the hands of a new set of exploiters. There cannot be any real hope for the working class without a socialist revolution overthrowing the dictatorship of the bourgeois and liberating itself from the iron rule of capitalism. In this context we hope that our newsletter plays a vital role in educating the working class of India to arm itself theoretically and aid in the process of building the revolutionary party of the proletariat which would successfully lead the socialist revolution.

BSNL Strike December 2010 Statement of support for BSNL workers strike: From the 1st of December this year, the workers of BSNL, India‘s largest telecommunications provider, and one of the largest public sector companies in India, are on strike. The strike is against the divestment of state assets and the massive attacks on the working conditions and welfare of the workers in BSNL. The Rights of workers and living conditions achieved in India result from years of struggle against the capitalist system. The government attacks target all the victories won by the class in constant militant struggle. The Indian government‘s economic, social and political offensive against millions of workers is ruthless and massive, but the struggle of the BSNL workers will be a watershed. We give our unconditional support to the strike called by the BSNL workers and employees under the banner of the JAC. The demands raised in struggle are the following: The abolition of the Pitroda Commission Recommendations: The Pitroda commission is recommending huge lay offs and retrenchments under the guise of a retirement scheme for employees as well as a massive sell-off. These plans are part of a coordinated long term drive to break the militancy of the working class in BSNL and to hand over one of the leading state sector companies to India‘s conglomerate owning families. The consequences of this would be devastating . Thus far, such a move has been pioneered by the congress government at the centre who are by a million strings attached to precisely these families. Stop discriminating against BSNL! : Time and again the ruling government in power and particularly the Congress government has treated the BSNL in a discriminating manner. It has been held back from access to some of the best technologies in the market as well as having to pass through unwarranted bureaucratic hurdles to keep up competing with other private firms currently dominating the telecom market. Such discrimination has no justification and must be immediately halted. A review of existing employment policies: The present existing wage schemes for workers do not include pension benefits which have been halted since 2007. Also a review is needed on the pay scale and an overall increase of wages must be put into effect. Furthermore, the complications arising out of the absorption of employees of the ITS need urgent resolving. We demand that proper steps be taken to resolve this most urgent issue.

Whilst the aforementioned demands broadly describe the approach of the struggle as it stands we believe the following demands should be raised to take the struggle for the BSNL forward 1) Accountability and direct workers participation in all decision making process of the company : State control over industry is meaningless if it is subjected to the whims of pro-capitalist bureaucrats who are more than willing to sell off public wealth at throw away prices. To ensure that the gains arising out of state ownership benefit the people, the workers who are the life and blood of the corporation must have a decisive say in running the company. 2) Guaranteed employment and good wages for all employees! : We demand that adequate employment guarantee be granted to all employees working in BSNL which include a pension scheme for all new entrants in work. As well as increases in wage pay for both permanent and contractualized workforce. We also demand that contractualized workers be treated at par with permanent workers in BSNL without any loss of pay to permanent work force. 3) Make BSNL a model company for the country: BSNL is one of the foremost public sector companies in India. To serve the interests of all people in the nation this essential industry must be given all necessary technical, political and legal assistance to become a model of efficient and democratized planning and development. It must be seen as an inspirational model of class infrastructural development for the prosperity of all citizens. We call for national level solidarity of all state sector employees to come forth in defense of their rights and for the defense of public assets and state corporations in the greater welfare of the people. The demands needed to save BSNL aren‘t limited only to BSNL or to any single corporation for that matter. They are in essence part of a much broader struggle. To make the struggle for BSNL a true success we must mobilize behind these demands to a higher level of militant struggle culminating ultimately in a nationwide general strike in solidarity with all BSNL workers. For a United Struggle! United we rise divided we fall. For the struggle in the BSNL to succeed we need to make sure that the struggle remains a solidly unified one. For this we propose a network of nationally coordinated network of strike committees.

BSNL Employees on Strike in Srinagar.

International Solidarity with the BSNL struggle CSP-Conlutas Central Sindical e Popular Sede: Praça Padre Manuel da Nóbrega, 36 – 6º andar – Sé CEP: 01015-000 – São Paulo – São Paulo / Brasil Fone: (11) 3107-7984 E-mail: secretaria@cspconlutas.org.br Site: www.cspconlutas.org.br Solidarity with BSNL employees Brothers and Sisters We, the CSP-Conlutas, are a new militant Labor Federation in Brazil commited to International Solidarity.

Baart saMcaar inagama ilaimaToD maQaIla saMp karNao AaiNa filat : - kaMtIgaja-naa 1 AaiNa 2 iDsaoMbar raojaI Baart saMcaar inagama ilaimaToD maiQala kama-caarI saMGaTnaaMnaI saMp Paukarlaa. maagaNyaa hao%yaa: 1. 3jaI AaiNa vaayarlaosa b`aa^DbaM^D saazI Aakarlaolao spo@T/ma caajao-sa prt doNyaat yaavaot. 2. inagau-MtvaNaUkIcaa inaNa-ya r_ kravaa. 3. inavaR<aIcao vaya kmaI k$ nayao. 4. AaQauinak tM~&ana ]plabQa k$na Vavao. 5.kMpnaIlaa sarkarI naaokrSahaMpasaUna mau@t krNao. pNa (atIla ekhI maagaNaI pUNa- JaalaolaI naahI.

We learned about the great 3-day strike all employees of BSNL are going on at this moment. In Brazil, the large Telecom company and all its state branches were privatized in the 1990s. The results are negative for the working people: More than half of the employees were laid off, working conditions got much worse, labor rights are not enforced. On the top of that the quality of the services decreased and the telephone bills soared. That is what privatization is about. The priority are profits not people, be they customers or employees. For these reasons we want to express our full support for your struggle against privatization and for wages, jobs and working conditions. Longlive the struggle of BSNL employees! Workers of all the World Unite! Dirceu Travesso on behalf of CSP-Conlutas Brazil Sao Paulo, December 1st, 2010 Didi Dirceu Travesso

Toilaka^ma xao~acaa Aajapaya-Mtcaa [ithasa paihlaa tr Aaplyaa AsaM laxaat yao[la kI baujJvaa- sarkar AaiNa %yaaMcao BaaMDvaladaraMnaI KrodI kolaolao maM~I yaaMnaI %yaacaa vaapr raKIva kurNa mhNaUna kolaa. maga to ka^Mga`osa Asaao kI kQaIkaLI sa<aot Asalaolaa Baa.ja.p. Asaao. KajagaI kMpnyaa AalyaapasaUna sarkarnao Baart saMcaar inagamacao KccaIkrNa krNyaacaa sava-taoprI p`ya%na kolaa. jaoNaok$na Baart saMcaar inagamalaa taoT\yaat AaNaUna inagau-MtvaNaUkIcyaa vaaTovar AaNaUna zovata yao[ -la. (a sagaLyaaMcaI pirNatI Baart saMcaar inagama maQao kma-caayaa-MmaiQala Asaurixatta vaaZNyaat JaalaI AaiNa saMpacaa inaNa-ya GaoNyaat Aalaa. sarkarnao Baart saMcaar inagamacyaa taoMDalaa panao pusalaI AaiNa maagaNyaa PaUNa- na haota saMp maagao GaoNyaacaa inaNaya GaoNyaat Aalaa. tDkapDkI saMp maagao GaoNyaamaagao Anaok karNao Aahot: 1.KajagaI kMpnyaaMbaraobarIla jaIvaGaoNaI spQaa-. 2.ga`ahkiht. 3.sarkarcao KajagaI kMpnyaaMbaraobarIla ihtsaMbaMQa. ekUNa kaya tr saMpamauLo Baart saMcaar inagama DbaGaa[-laa Aalao tr sarkar AaiNa %yaaMcyaa naaokrSahaMnaa to hvaoca Aaho. kaolakata maiQala kma-caayaaMnaI yauinayana laIDsa- cao AadoSa QauDkavaUna drvaajaa taoDUna Aat jaa}na kamasa sau$vaat kolaI, ASaa GaTnaa AaiNa saMpacaI ]_IYTo saaQya krNyaat kma-caarI saMGaTnaaMnaa Aalaolao ApyaSa (a GaTnaa ekaca idSaolaa inado-Sa krt Aahot. tI mhNajao kma-caayaaMcaa kma-caarI saMGaTnaaMvarIla ivaSvaasa DLmaLIt haot Aaho. yaavar ekca ]paya Aaho tao mhNajao laZ\yaalaa yaaogya maaga- daKvaNyaasaazI pUNa-t: navyaa sva$pacaa kaMitkarI kamagaar saMGaTnaavaad. haca baujJvaa- sarkarcyaa kamagaar laZ\yaavarIla hllyaasa caaoK p`%yau<ar do} Sakola.

Floods and Mudslides Expose the Real Brazil - Fabio Bosco Every summer is the same in Brazil. Massive rainfall meant to bring life, leave a track of destruction and deaths. This year was no different. The greater SĂŁo Paulo, the largest metropolitan area with 19 million inhabitants, was deeply affected together with dozens of small towns in the countryside. Nevertheless, the largest disaster happened in the hilly area near Rio de Janeiro starting on January 11th. Five cities were devastated. Two weeks later, 832 bodies were recovered while 500 people are still missing. 26,000 people are displaced. All Brazilians are shocked by what is considered the worst "natural disaster" in Brazilian history. The bourgeois politicians and government officials quickly blamed nature as guilty. Yet all experts shared the opinion that these "natural disasters" should be met with preemptive actions to save lives. Even worse, it is now evident that 60% of the public funding to prevent mudslides and floods were not used, making all government levels - municipal, statewide and national - responsible for this massive loss of lives and destruction. A few days later the same politicians and the media targeted the poor that "stubbornly" live in risky areas--on hills or along river beds. The question is: without any public affordable housing plan, where else can the poor live if not in marginalized slums wherever there is room? Instead of providing urgent rescue to save people under debris or in isolated areas, the state officialsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; main concern was to bring in police forces to prevent riots and theft. It is the same approach the US and Brazilian troops took in Haiti after the earthquake. Mr. Alexandre Aragon, police official for the National Security Force (federal detachment created by former president Lula) proudly declared: "We know that people that invade a house searching for food and other goods are not ordinary criminals but people in extreme need. That is why we will not employ conventional weapons". Instead they employed tasers, described as non-lethal weapons that discharge shocks on the "suspects". Brazil Rising In the last 8 years, Brazil has been ruled by President Lula, the most important labor leader in Brazilian history. Last November Lula managed to elect the "Marxist" Ms Dilma Roussef, his collaborator, to the presidency. Both are members of the Workers Party (PT). The Workers Party has gained fame pretending to be a great party of the workers in Latin America. The gloss of its pro working class rhetoric is revealed most shockingly by the reality of PT politics. Despite all the propaganda that their administration has been beneficial both to the Rich and the Poor, the truth is that economic growth (7-8% in 2010) in Brazil was achieved on the

backs of the working people to the benefit of a handful of huge corporations, banks and the large agribusinesses, national and foreign alike. In fact, so ruthlessly pro-capitalist is this government of the "Workers party" that it turned the other cheek when 1 million workers were laid off in Sao Paolo in the aftermath of the world economic crisis. Workers wages are facing difficult times to match the 10% food inflation in 2010. Ms Dilma and the Workers Party want to increase the minimum wage a mere 6%, while she together with the parliamentarians received a 61% increase in their wages this month. Affordable housing is definitely not available. Some studies show a housing deficit of 9 million homes in all Brazilian urban areas combined. In Sao Paulo alone, the richest city in the country, there are 115,000 people living in risky areas under the threat of mudslides and floods. Public transportation is not only of bad quality but expensive. In Sao Paulo the bus fare increased 11% this January. The Elementary and High School systems provide low quality education. The Healthcare System is a failure except for a few areas like HIV prevention, organ transplants and vaccines. Of course the Rich have their own separate system of Education and Healthcare. While the Brazilian working people share these burdens, the banks, both national and foreign, are the most profitable in the world. Agribusiness corporations, both national and foreign, are making huge amounts of money on commodities like coffee, sugar, orange juice, soy bean, beef. They own the best lands, expelling the peasantry to live in the 'risky' areas in the larger cities. Aimed at the Olympics and the Soccer World Cup scheduled for 2014 and 2016, government officials are replacing the gangs in the poor slums of Rio de Janeiro with corrupt and repressive police bodies. While talking about security, in reality they target the Poor, "cleaning" the city to increase housing prices as a gentrification process moves on. Furthermore, President Dilma announced her willingness to freeze public employee wages for 10 years, and to decrease the bossesâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; contribution to social security by 30%, weakening the public social security system that benefits all Brazilian working class and poor. In the world arena, Brazil's main action was to lead the UN occupation troops in Haiti, meeting a request by the United States, as recently revealed by the wikileaks. In Rising Brazil under Lula and the workers party administration, the working class and the Poor are not the benefactors, neither in Brazil nor in Haiti. Workers Aid to Nova Friburgo

Nova Friburgo was the most affected city in the Rio de Janeiro hilly area. The militant Labor Federation CSP-Conlutas collected 8 tons of goods and sent a caravan to Nova Friburgo to deliver all the aid to local working class communities. Not withstanding the bourgeois politicians‘ hypocrisy, CSPConlutas joined the aid efforts while clearly stating that the responsibility for the death tolls and the destruction laid with the city mayors, the Rio de Janeiro governor and the president of Brazil. This is not the first time CSP-Conlutas has been involved in solidarity to aid working communities facing disaster. After the earthquake in Haiti, CSP-Conlutas affiliated unions collected US$100,000 among Brazilian workers, which was delivered to a working class organization in Haiti: Batay

Ouvrie (Workers' Struggle) to push ahead the rank and file organization of the working class. These efforts represented a direct intervention in the spirit of working class solidarity to escape from the claws of the imperialists and their pet NGOs. Neither NGOs nor hypocritical shows of charity by Imperialists and their governments can resolve the core problems of the working class and peasantry. The reality is that only through the workers mobilization will it be possible to oblige all governmental levels to fund a people's housing program and public works to prevent mudslides and the floods. In the heat of these struggles and others, the working class will learn the way to fight for a workers government, the only lasting solution for poverty and the destruction of the environment

The Recent floods in Brazil have being the worst natural disaster in Brazilian History. Several thousands have been displaced and over 800 have been killed. Most of the causalities were poor slum dwellers on hillside shanties.

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BUILD DECEMBER DAYS OF ACTION - International Socialist league ( U.K )

PUBLIC SERVICES FOR EVER Defend Students Against Police Violence Inside parliament the process to triple tuition fees began whilst outside protestors from across the country gathered to express their united opposition. School children, parents, students, workers and trade unionists marched to parliament in a good natured albeit angry protest. The main demonstration of tens of thousands began at 11am with massive support from a large number of UCU branches (university and college teachers and workers) and the London Region of the RMT. However the leadership of the UCU and the NUS (students) and many unions refused to support it. But support did come from the FBU General Secretary who said, ―Firefighters know the value of education – it should be a right for everyone, not a privilege restricted to the wealthy. The government‘s policy on education is a vindictive policy of class hatred. The Fire Brigades Union stands in solidarity with students in your struggle, just as many students have supported

us. Together workers and students can push back the government‘s cuts and austerity agenda. United we can change the world. Educate, agitate and organise.‖ The atmosphere throughout the afternoon was militant but relaxed, almost cheerful. Then at around 3.30pm, ‗kettling‘ and violent assaults by the police began and protestors were unable to leave parliament square. Metropolitan Police officers could be seen assaulting, taunting, and charging on horseback into the protestors repeatedly. Police provocation and assaults left many students injured. Over 38 protestors needed hospital treatment including Alfie Meadows a 20-year-old philosophy student from Middlesex University. Alfie was struck with a police baton as he tried to leave the ‗kettled‘ area with his mother and others. He was left unconscious with bleeding on the brain and needed brain surgery, he remains in a very serious condition. Paddy Besiris, 20, an elected representative of University West England Students Union suffered a head injury. A freelance journalist was hit during a baton charge and was refused help by two police officers. Another suffered a broken collar bone as she was being kettled. Students were unable to move as a

human wall of police armed with batons contained them for at least six hours, as a collective punishment for defying the government and daring to uphold their democratic right to protest. The suppression of protest led to a fight-back by a group students who attacked H.M. Treasury and the Supreme Court. Not since the days of the Chartist movement in 1840s have such state institutions been attacked. The students repeatedly chanted ‗give us our money back‘ with reference to the billions stolen from the public finance to cover the debts of the big banks. On the Chartist movement Marx said, ―The whole struggle of the workers against the factory owners, which has already lasted eighty years, a struggle which began with machinebreaking and then went through the stages of combinations, separate attacks on the persons and property of factory-owners and the few workers devoted to the factory-owners, through more or less big revolts, through the insurrections of 1839 and 1842, has developed into the most conscious class struggle which the world has ever seen—the whole of this class struggle of the Chartists, the organized party of the proletariat, against the organized State power of the bourgeoisie …. is a social civil war.‖ The students are well aware that this is a direct attack on the working class. However the majority of the national union leaderships are failing to assist in the development of this new movement and If they do not defend the students then they will not fight to defend their own members. This hike in tuition fees will make public universities in England the most expensive in Europe. Many students will leave university with a debt of £30,000-£50,000. They will be burdened with debt for decades and students are well aware that such a debt will deny them the freedom to make choices over

their futures. Many poorer and particularly Muslim students who are debt averse will simply be unable to afford the choice of a university education. Students also know that EMA is critical for young people from low waged families to attend FE colleges and many more 16-18 year olds were evident on the 9 December than at previous protests. The government‘s HE reforms are the final transformation of a public education system into a privatised system along with the ever increasing marketisation of schools and universities, with pupils and students as mere commodities. Labour voted against the tuition fee increase however it was the Labour government who introduced them and immediately after the vote Ed Miliband stated that he would not support free university education. Public sector and welfare cuts are beginning to bite and will get much worse, so there is a urgent need to take united action against all cuts and against all university fees. As the class struggle spreads across Europe with students taking to the streets in Britain, Italy, France and Greece, coordination on a national and international level is essential with an independent class perspective. Greetings and solidarity messages are flowing in from across the world. The ISL has facilitated messages from Brazil, Argentina, the USA and Italy. The protests and occupations will continue, step up the action, hold co-ordinated actions across Europe. A revolutionary party with a programme against the cuts and in defence of and for the growth of public services will fight for the class independence of the movement.

Students and workers Unite! Co-ordinate Days of Action Across Europe International Socialist League

The students in January and February are not on the streets in the same numbers, but they have not gone away and the struggle continues. The many unofficial student networks that were set up across Britain are continuing. They are organising regular protests against the education cuts.

Report from Bengal

RMB Rolling Mill Strike and the Limits of the CITU

when the trade union leaders reached a point of agreement with

- Ephraim Rahabi

On 25th November 2010 the workers of the SRMB rolling mill at Durgapur (West Bengal) stopped working in protest against the inconsiderate behaviour of their employers. Since a long time the workers were demanding an increment of mere Rs 36 in their daily wages (which was Rs 115 per day) and the

the factory owners on 8th December, 2010.As for the result of the strike, the daily wages of the workers increased by Rs 36, just what they had demanded. ―Progress‖ For the Bosses on the backs of the Working Class This enormous factory produces about 300 tonnes of iron bars daily and has around 500 labourers.

employers , as usual, stubbornly refused to acquiesce in the legitimate demand of the workers. So, ultimately the workers were forced to go in for a strike. On 25th November while the workers were demonstrating against the owners of their factory some ―visitors‖ on behalf of the authorities arrived there (probably to see whether the ―safety‖

Since the building up of the plant in 2005, the SRMB rolling mill at Sagarbhanga (Durgapur-11) has become a source of perpetual nuisance to the local residents due to emission of untreated toxic exhaust and particulate matter which is the root cause of the widespread respiratory problems of the residents of the area.

and ―security‖ of their plant‘s equipments and their henchmen were jeopardized or not).

The Durgapur Municipal Corporation always seeks to perpetuate the myth that ―steel city‖ Durgapur has made a

These ―visitors‖ decided that the plant should be shut and this decision resulted in a lock out, due to which the workers were

significant progress due to rapid industrialization. Durgapur has found a place of eminence in the map of West

denied their bare means of subsistence : their daily wages. Even after that the workers kept on demonstrating against the cruel decision of their employers, their morale was high.Ultimately the movement of the workers came to an end

Bengal, however, the reality can only be realized by those who suffer, both directly and indirectly. The SRMB plant authorities are quite reluctant in matters of providing any sort of safety provisions to their workers.The

―immense contribution‖ of this factory‘s owners towards social welfare can be realized from the fact that workers aged between 14 to 16 years are frequently found in this rolling mill and the workers of this factory are forced to work for 12 to 14 hours per day. The working conditions are horribly unhealthy and can only be compared to the purgatory.

more from the lousy capitalist scoundrels, so, even if the ―management‖ of the factory decides to skin the workers alive and make boots out of them even then the Government of West Bengal won‘t do anything. d) There is no workers‘ democracy in the decision making inside the CITU. The CITU officials decide when the strike starts and when it is over. The workers usually never have any

The Policy of Spoil and Grab The electrostatic precipitator remains permanently switched off

say in the matters concerning decision making within the CITU. Some demonstrations were held against the decision of

(probably, in this matter the motto of the factory-owners is : ―save energy, save (or kill?) the nation‖).

the factory owners, but ultimately, the workers as usual had to surrender to the union leaders.

The nauseating smoke and particulate matter emitted from this factory has led to the spoiling of the crops and also the productivity of soil of the nearby agricultural fields, thus forcing the owners of small plots of land to sell off their lands to the factory owners at meagre prices. This policy of ―spoil and grab‖ adopted by the industrialists has

Our Stand: For a New Leadership The workers need a different unionism in order to win. First, this unionism must be independent from all capitalist parties (the Congress, BJP or Trinamool) and have autonomy from the reformist parties and other parties (like the CPI and the CPI-M).

fetched them much success in acquiring large contiguous plots of lands which has immensely facilitated them in building up their industrial empires. The Flaws of the Union The CITU, a Labor Federation linked to the CPI(M), has not any serious strategy to fight back the bosses exploitation. On the opposite, their only strategy is to meet the policies of the CPI(M) in power in West Bengal. a) Despite of the very low wages, the union has demanded mere R36 per day increase in wages. The total salaries went up to R151 per day. Who can survive with these wages? The CITU should demand a minimum wage five times higher. b)The union never raises any issue relating to the poisoning of the area. Rather their party, the CPI(M), always tries to suppress all voices raised against the pollution. The CPI(M) leaders often get benefited by the land grabbings carried out by the industrialists (in which the CPIM leaders certainly do get a share). Whenever anyone raises his voice against the dishonesty of the officers of Pollution Control Board or the local CPIM leaders (who are perpetually hand-in -gloves with the factory owners) he is immediately branded as an ―enemy of the workers‖ and earns the label of ―being interested to close down

Second, this unionism must fight for a real minimum wages and for proper working conditions. Third, this unionism must link the struggles of the workers inside the plant with the struggles of the workers/peasants outside the plant against urban pollution and land poisoning. Fourth, this unionism must have full workers democracy. Every important decision must be taken in democratic assemblies. The demands of a strike must be decided in an assembly of the workers. The same with the decision on when to start and when to call the strike off. All leaders of the union should have their mandates revokable by an assembly. All leaders should have the same wages as rank and file workers. Fifth, this unionism must fight for socialism, for a revolutionary change, for a workers‘ government, for internationalism. The CITU leaders in reality opposes a socialist revolution although from time to time they do not forget to pay a lip service to Marxist-Leninist ideology. For a Leninist Party! The inspiring incident of workers‘ resistance at the SRMB factory shows us that what we need is a truly BolshevikLeninist party which would be capable of serving as the vanguard of the proletariat of the Indian subcontinent and

the factories and make people unemployed‖. As for the peasants, after they lose their land, they themselves become labourers in those factories and automatically come under the ambit of the CITU, which doesn‘t allow any other union to

would be capable of leading a successful revolution of the workers, agricultural labourers and rank-and-file soldiers. Socialism is the need of the hour. In order to accomplish it we must engage in the task of building up a revolutionary party

enter the premises of these factories. c) The union is supportive of the government of West Bengal

with a do or die spirit. Down with Stalinism and Capitulationism!!!

which simply does nothing to defend the working people. Their government officials have received much and are still receiving

Always Towards Socialism!!!

Statement on the Kashmir struggle -New Wave Pune Section

Protesters in Srinagar, 2010

Statement on the Kashmir struggle: Recent development in Kashmir, particularly in the past 4-5 years have brought back the Kashmir question to the fore and posed it sharper than ever. Beginning with the protests surrounding the Shopian Double Murder case and the landmark State Transport Corporations Strikes which garnered the support of hundreds of thousands of workers, we are witnessing a heightened tension in the valley as the masses advance further and further towards self determination. Counter posed to this advance is the increased suppression of dissent at the hands of the Indian state. The past 6 months have seen over a hundred Kashmiri youth falling victim to indiscriminate firing by the security forces stationed in the valley. These acts were committed with the intent of curbing peaceful protests in the valley against Indian occupation. In the light of these events we express unconditional support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self determination. For the self determination of Kashmir! :

was agreed by UN mandate that Kashmiris would be allowed a plebiscite to decide accession to either India or Pakistan in a democratic manner. Notwithstanding repeated false promises from Nehru to hold such a plebiscite, the accession of Kashmir into India at the hands of the Maharaja was accepted as the valid instrument of accession without regard to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people themselves. Farce elections were made the norm in Kashmir in which the central government would conduct ―tailor made‖ rigged elections to keep their prized proxy the National Conference in power in the state and through them exercise its own influence. Repeatedly, the NC proved itself to be an instrument of the Indian ruling classes serving the needs of occupation of the Kashmir. The question of a plebiscite still hangs on in the air retaining its validity as Kashmir‘s self determination stands unresolved. However, over time the original demand for plebiscite has lots some of its relevance owing to changes both nationally and internationally. For the fulfillment of the aspirations of the Kashmiri people towards self determination it is imperative a plebiscite be held to decide whether the Kashmiri people want secession or not. However, for this a new instrument of plebiscite must be

The occupation of Kashmir has been brutal, treacherous and unjust. The democratic aspirations of the people of Kashmir have been continuously denied by the Indian ruling class time and again. The democratic aspirations of the Kashmiri people

charted out taking into consideration the renewed aspirations of the Kashmiri people which aims beyond accession to either India or Pakistan.

which began in the form of pro democracy movements pitted against the repressive and reactionary monarchy in Kashmir has today resurfaced against an equally oppressive rule at the hands of India. In 1948 in the aftermath of the first Indo-Pak war, it

Out with the troops! : The presence of the occupational troops in Kashmir is the main foundation upon which the Indian state establishes its control

over Kashmir. The fallout of the continued occupation is felt by the Kashmiri people on a daily basis who are subjected to repeated harassment and abuse at the hands of the Indian occupational force. Terror, murder and torture have become routine affairs for the Kashmiri people. The death toll of the occupation has already reached around 100000 in the last 20 years with thousands more if the years preceding the

bourgeois effective control over waters flowing into the Punjab river basin and effective control over Kashmiri waters thereby affecting Kashmir and Pakistan. The net effect of the treaty is drainage of wealth from Kashmir to India and a deliberate constriction of Kashmirâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s potential for infrastructural development. We demand that negotiations be started with the Indian state to

insurgency be considered. Forced disappearances, rape, torture are some of the many methods used by the security forces in

abolish this unequal treaty and a new treaty be drafted of water sharing taking into consideration the needs of the Kashmiri

the region to maintain its hold in Kashmir. In the light of the above it is imperative that there be a total troop withdrawal

people and by extension fulfilling the needs of all the people of the Punjab basin! The independence of Kashmir would open up

from Kashmir as well as an abolition of the authoritarian laws like AFSPA which shield the troops from any legal action after human rights abuses. Additionally we demand that the strategically vital affair of defense and security be left to the prerogative of the Kashmiri people themselves and not to the hands of the Indian state to decide for them. Additionally we

a whole new avenue for the formation of a just water sharing treaty which would cater to the needs of both the Kashmiri people as well as the Pakistani people thereby nullifying the negative effects of the treaty and making it easier to irrigate the whole basin, control the occurrence of floods and make good any damage they cause.

demand that all those who have fallen victims to the excesses of security forces, be compensated adequately and a trial be held for those responsible for perpetrating such crimes against humanity. Down with the Indian proxy! : Since the start of the occupation of Kashmir, the Kashmiri bourgeois and their chief Political formation the National Conference have played the most treacherous role in the region paving the way for continued Indian occupation of Kashmir and courting silence at the indiscriminate human rights violations being perpetrated by the security forces stationed there. The National Conference exists in Kashmir solely under warrant from its supreme leaders stationed in Delhi under the Indian national Congress and its Bonapartist leadership. Its primary function is not towards the masses of peasants, workers and petty bourgeois of Kashmir but towards the interests of the Indian bourgeoisie dictating its policies via its main political instrument the Congress and legislative power based in Delhi. The National Conference is in essence the main enemy of the Kashmiri people within Kashmir.

For an independent Constituent Assembly! : The demand for a Constituent assembly is a basic demand for any oppressed nation struggling for independence. In the present legal set up the Kashmiri national assembly has an existence which is essentially constricted by myriad legal obligations imposed by the Indian state. Add to this legal complexity, the political stranglehold held by the Congress in Kashmir working through its allies, the National Conference, the independence of the legislative body gets reduced to a mere farce. This cannot possibly be a valid realization of the democratic aspirations of the Kashmiri people and it is imperative that the Constituent assembly be freed of its constraints to legislate in all matters relating to Kashmir. The present Legislative Assembly created by the consent of the Indian ruling class would never act in the interests of the Kashmiri people and as it is would continue to remain under constraints imposed by the mother body in India. We therefore, demand the formation of a new Constituent Assembly formed by the peasants and workers of Kashmir which would work first and foremost towards securing the self determination of

Abolish the Indus Water Treaty! For a New Water Sharing agreement!

the Kashmiri people and independence from India Thereafter, moving towards the full expropriation of all large landed estates and estates of the big Kashmiri bourgeois families and large Indian owned estates without Compensation and nationalization

During the Great Game between Russia and England for control over Asia a series of unequal treaties were meted out

of resources. Whilst, the constituent assembly may be an instrument to attain independence, to ensure freedom it is

with China which gave effective control of huge regions of China to either Russian or British hands. The Indus water Treaty is like these unequal treaties in history giving the Indian

imperative that the Kashmiri people have control over the life blood of Kashmir, its resources!

The creation of an independent united Kashmiri republic would then be free to decide its relations with nations bordering it as it deems fit. The slogan of Azaadi must therefore, stand for independence from India as well as Pakistan and China! Simultaneously, we appeal to the Kashmiri people not to have

such freedom would be only half won without freedom from Capitalism as a whole. The Kashmiri struggle therefore needs to progress uninterruptedly from a democratic one to a socialist one. Aiming as its ultimate goal a Socialist Kashmir!United we stand and divided we fall. This is the principle for any successful movement and for any nation to be successful. The question of self determination of Kashmir isn‘t the exclusive

any false illusions on the vague promises of western imperialism. Any promise of support by western powers is

resolve of the people of Southern Kashmir under Indian occupation but of the whole of Kashmir and all Kashmiri

necessarily contradictory and hypocritical and must be treated with suspicion. The fact that Obama appealed to India to

people including those in Northern Kashmir ( under Pakistani occupation ) as well as Ladakh ( under joint occupation of

―resolve‖ the Kashmir issue was enough to show that they are interested only in maintaining the status quo of occupation. The Indian state would be more than happy to effect such a communal division as it weakens and isolates the Kashmir struggle belittling it to the communal forte of a section of Kashmiri society against another. For the struggle for self

China and India ) . For The new Kashmir which would emerge from the freedom movement, division among communal lines would mean death and re occupation. Indeed should the new Kashmir be divided communally between Hindu (South), Muslim (North and Central) and Buddhist (East) it will open up the possibility of a re occupation of Kashmir by India, Pakistan

determination to succeed it is imperative that it be carried out as a united struggle embracing each and every section of Kashmiri society and overcome communal divisions imposed by the occupation. Whilst, the most important immediate demand for the Kashmiri people is independence from Indian occupation,

and China. The sacrifices of the Kashmiri people would have gone to waste replacing one oppressor with another. Furthermore, fuelling communal hatred in the hearts and minds of the Kashmiri people only adds to the division of an already divided society.

For a United Kashmir!

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Kashmir in debates The issue of Kashmir is one that is very critical to the sub-continent. It is to no great surprise that adopting a position would stir up controversy in no small measure. The new wave group has not been immune to differences in opinion over whether to support Kashmiri Independence people's movements or not. The question itself is not one isolated to Kashmir alone but one with larger implications on the character of national liberation struggles themselves. The reality of world politics is that the national question remains unresolved in all continents. There is the Kurdish question in the Middle East, Palestine, South Sudan/Darfur, the question of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka, Northern Ireland, Catalonia and Basque Country, and our own Kashmir and the North East. Recent events in Kashmir have of course hastened the development of this debate within our own group and brought the question of national liberation struggles to the fore. Here we present a set of two articles on the debates on Kashmir: the resolution of the Delhi section and the Pune dissenting text. sharpen the perspectives of the Indian and the World revolutions and strengthen our class in its struggle for a new socialist society.

Resolution on Present Situation in Kashmir Resolution adopted in the meeting of ‘the new wave' Delhi Section, held on 31.10.2010: While the comparative economic backwardness of Kashmir and extreme exploitation of its natural and human resources by the big bourgeois has set out the ground for a political explosion long back in time, it is the political weakness of the working class that has prevented the situation from becoming a triggering shot for a social revolution.

With this ready backdrop of objective conditions, there emerges

now the present unrest in Kashmir, albeit under the dominance and agenda of local bourgeois. Capitalist globalization has created ground for this by allowing immense opportunities for

the local bourgeois of backward, small, distant, peripheral regions in the world to connect itself directly to the global capitalism, bypassing the central rule and authority of the big bourgeois.

Conference, Jamait-e-Islami etc. to advance its own vested interests in the garb of ‗Azadi‘, and to impose their own limited agenda upon the legitimate protest movement of Kashmiri people.

Needless to say, that the whole situation arises out of the operation of mechanics of Imperialism: cut throat rivalry among bourgeois states (India and Pakistan), their cravings to destroy each other, and the ‗Asian game‘ played by big powers of U.S. Europe and China in this region and finally the possibility of carving out of small statelets, directly tagged to world capitalism.

We oppose the narrow and reactionary demand of ‗secession‘ of the local bourgeois and warn the working class that its interests are best served not in fragmenting the national or multi-national bourgeois states, but in capturing power at the heart of these states, overturning the rule of bourgeois. This historic mission can only be achieved, with great unity of the working class across the boundaries of caste, community, religion and nation.

The local bourgeois, aided by rival nation states and imperialist powers, and finding a readymade lever to power in the legitimate anger of the working and toiling masses against the exploitative and repressive rule of the big bourgeois, thus arises zealously to take to power, independent of the rule of big bourgeois in New Delhi. The local bourgeois creates an illusion as if its own rule would liberate the people of such exploitation, while raising the banner of secession (Azadi), from the rule and domination of big bourgeois. To advance its limited and sectarian ends against the big bourgeois and further to disperse the forces of working class and toilers, to prevent them from taking to leadership, the local bourgeois gives the movement a religious and communal edge, forging a false divide among workers and toilers of different communities.

The aim of the local bourgeois is not to liberate Kashmir from the clutches of capitalist exploitation, but to integrate it further into the system of world capitalism, offering Kashmir as a platform for cheap labour and natural resources, albeit directly, to the agencies of global capitalism, bypassing the rule of big bourgeois. This serves only the purpose of local bourgeois and no interests of either workers or the other toiling people in Kashmir. The whole agenda of local bourgeois is only to replace the political rule and authority of big bourgeois in Kashmir with that of its own, while maintaining and further perpetuating the exploitative system of capitalism.

We find that the anger and protest of the people in Kashmir, in the face of exploitation and repression unleashed by the government and armed forces of the big bourgeois, is very legitimate. However, caution has to be added against the attempts of the local bourgeois, and its agencies like Hurriyat

While the central government, led by big bourgeois, finds the only means to tackle this situation in more and more repression against the revolting people, the petty-bourgeois left - Stalinist CPI-CPM maintain silence on the issue, and Maoists unconditionally support this venture of ‗Azadi‘ as advanced by local bourgeois.

We, as a party of revolutionary proletariat, while declaring ourselves in favour of the ‗right to self-determination‘ of Kashmiri people ‗even upto secession‘; at the same time oppose the petty bourgeois demand of secession (Azadi), and its attempts to create a divide among the workers and toilers on communal lines, tooth and nail. We thus warn the working class against following the lead of local bourgeois and its agenda of ‗Azadi‘ in Kashmir, but to set up its own agenda of social revolution, of ‗wiping off the capitalism from the face of the earth‘ and establishment of its own class rule.

We demand, first and foremost, that all black laws and the deployment of armed forces in Kashmir and elsewhere, be immediately and unconditionally withdrawn and call upon the working class to enforce this demand by organizing itself and other sections of the population behind it. We call upon the working class in Kashmir, to unite across the false communal, religious, regional and national divides and integrate with other sections of workers in India and the world, not in order to carve out ‗independent statelets‘ under the leadership of local bourgeois, but to take the power at centre and usher into a world social revolution under the leadership of the international working class.

Our differences with the Delhi comrades The National Question has been the subject of one of the most heated debates within the New wave. Recently, the debate sharpened with the Kashmir struggle as its focal point. On the 31st of October 2010, the Delhi section came out with a resolution on Kashmir which opposed the liberation movement of Kashmir on various grounds. We were opposed to this resolution and dissented by bringing out our own statement on Kashmir on the 6th of December. Our position was to

unconditionally support the Kashmiri people in their struggle against the oppression of the Indian state. The National Question itself has always been a contentious issue for the left internationally. The National Question was developed and sharpened by Lenin and Trotsky in the early half of the twentieth century. Before them they had the rich experience of the Russian revolution where the National Question was posed

in the most complex manner. This is not to say that Lenin and Trotsky didn‘t face opposition. Among the spectrum of opposition to the Bolshevik Leninist Position was the sectarian approach towards National Liberation criticized harshly by Trotsky in his polemic on the Ukrainian question. We see many similarities between the position held by the sectarian wing of the 4th international at the time and the present position of the Delhi section. We would like to specify the areas of disagreement with the Delhi comrades over the National Question. The following issues on the general idea of self determination: 1) The alleged dichotomy between right to self determination and secession: Lenin and Trotsky were very clear on this question and in this context the question of supporting and not supporting the fight of oppressed nationalities. For Lenin and Trotsky, the national question was of immense importance and was treated with the greatest sympathy and support towards oppressed nationalities. The question of the right of self determination was never divorced in the abstract from its realization even in the ultimate form of secession. The actual attitude of the Bolsheviks under Lenin and Trotsky is shown their treatment of the oppressed nationalities around Russia. Lenin supported the right to self determination ―up to secession‖. The comrades of the Delhi section however, opine the two may be separated and that the right to self determination may be supported without supporting secession even when the majority of the populace are decisively in favour of secession which today is the case in Kashmir. In our opinion it is meaningless and disingenuous not to support secession in actual practice when claiming to support it in words. 2) Position of the National Question in the wider historical Socialist Struggle: There is a reason why revolutionaries support the national struggles notwithstanding the obvious disadvantages in the formation of small nation-states. National liberation represents an unfinished task of the bourgeois democratic revolution and as it stands is of immense strategic importance for the revolution both on a national basis as well as on a global basis. For the success of the revolution it is of decisive importance to gain the support of the peasantry and petty bourgeoisie. Whilst the revolution we aim at is emphatically a socialist revolution establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat, bourgeois democratic goals nevertheless get entwined in this struggle

where they are yet unresolved. Self determination for oppressed groups is one such key bourgeois democratic goal which in our epoch falls upon the shoulders of the proletariat for its resolution. For the success of the Socialist revolution it is imperative we secure the support of the non-proletarian classes of the peasantry and petty bourgeoisie. Support for the national struggle is as much a strategic/tactical question here as a question of principle. ―A country that oppresses can never itself be free‖. As long as the comrades of the Delhi section do not take the living dynamics of the historical class struggle into account, they are inevitably caught in an abstract view of the proletariat and consequently fail to understand the importance of National Struggles. 3) Confusing understanding of the socio-political forces in Kashmir and their roles: Whilst the above two areas of disagreement refer to more general and deep rooted differences of understanding over the national question, a more specific disagreement is over the understanding of classes and parties and their role in Kashmir. Firstly, confusion is created in the vague presentation of who or what precisely constitutes the ―Big Bourgeoisie‖ and where and how foreign capital comes in. To justify the confusion an abstract picture of an ―Asian game‖ is created in which Kashmir is a mere pawn. Weaker still is the exposition of the role of the Indian bourgeois and its oppressive role in Kashmir. The traditional Bolshevik treatment of an oppressor nation is the harshest possible condemnation of its oppression of weaker nations. The resolution not only fails to condemn the oppressive role of the Indian bourgeois in Kashmir -- it fails to even mention the Indian bourgeoisie as the foremost oppressor in Kashmir. What is implicit in the whole resolution though not mentioned overtly is an implied condemnation of the whole struggle for freedom in favour of defending the interests of the Indian bourgeois. Such a stance is dangerously close to Dominant Nation Chauvinism. We share the disgust and anger of Lenin and Trotsky at Dominant Nation Chauvinism – here in the form of Indian chauvinism – and sharply criticize even the slightest hint of it. For this reason we are astonished that the resolution of the Delhi section fails to condemn the Indian bourgeoisie in the harshest terms. Finally, and this is very important for our own concrete intervention in the struggle in Kashmir, the confusions arising from the resolution are compounded by the absence of demands and the total lack of the transitional perspective essential to a Bolshevik Leninist approach.

Lenin and Trotsky on the National Question general perspectives - Choppa Morph Lenin and Trotsky were very careful to in their treatment of the question of National liberation. This stands true for their treatment of other democratic demands as well. The first great factor is war or peace.

where Han Chinese chauvinism is a counter-revolutionary cancer of colossal proportions.) Lenin and Trotsky fought Great Russian chauvinism as embodied in the counter-revolutionary oppressive policies of Stalin and the emerging Soviet bureaucracy. But Lenin referred to the general phenomenon of Dominant Nation chauvinism, and this is what we should focus on in our own struggles.

In a large-scale war the strategic imperatives of the biggest nations involved crush the democratic popular demands of minorities, oppressed nationalities and small nations. A revolutionary workers party will energetically oppose the attempts of any dominant capitalist nation to suppress the rights of all popular masses - including non-proletarian classes and non-class groups like oppressed nationalities.

India and Kashmir today

The reason, of course, is that socialist revolution needs the united forces of the overwhelming masses of a nation or region to overthrow bourgeois class dictatorship and any policy that alienates large sections of the masses sets back the prospects of revolution and socialism.

Now, we must consider the strength of the working class and its revolutionary leadership in Kashmir. The first is minimal and the second is non-existent. In such cases Trotsky makes it clear that the working masses will share democratic and popular discontent with non-proletarian class forces. For him this does not neutralize the significance of national demands, but rather intensifies them. Riding rough-shod over national interests in Kashmir for the sake of imagined class purity is a line guaranteed to alienate the Kashmiri masses from both the Indian working class, with which it shares its deepest interests, but also from a ―revolutionary socialism‖ which shows itself incapable of understanding or promoting the interests of oppressed masses against their immediate oppressors - which in Kashmir are of course the bloodstained Indian bourgeoisie and its armed forces that routinely torture the kashmiri people.

In exceptional circumstances, a workers state may be faced with such a contest. In some such cases, democratic demands maybe overridden by the strategic imperatives of defending the gains of the revolutionary working class. However, at the end of the First World War, one of the very first actions of new workers state was to grant Finland – a nation occupied by Russia - its full independence, regardless of its reactionary bourgeois government. So great was the importance attached by genuine Bolshevik-Leninists to national demands! Dominant Nation Chauvinism A workers state is an advanced expression of working class strength. The strength of the class and its political leadership varies enormously, however, and most often the working class is not in a position to exert mass influence in a country, and most often the revolutionary Bolshevik-Leninist party is not in a position to exert mass influence within the working class. Where the working class is in a weak position in relation to the bourgeoisie, and the party is weak in the class, it is imperative not to fall into the trap of politics by proclamation, as if revolutionary socialists have an inherent right to dictate mass actions from an ivory tower, detached from the working class and its allies. Lenin and Trotsky despite leading the ruling party in a workers state were single-minded and impassioned in their defense of the interests of oppressed nationalities. Those of us in a weaker position politically speaking, especially those of us working in nations with a tradition of oppressing small nationalities. (This also goes for those of us in the deformed workers state of China

What we see in Kashmir today is an oppressed nation with democratic and popular needs of the greatest urgency. Freedom from Dominant Nation oppression, and Equality with other nations and nationalities in the region. The Dominant Nation here of course is India, a powerful bourgeois, capitalist state.

A Dominant Nation such as India, in the view of Trotsky, must bend over backwards to show understanding and sensitivity to the needs of oppressed nationalities. Even bourgeois democrats in the US understand this in relation to blacks and Hispanics and other oppressed minorities, speaking of ―affirmative action‖ and ―positive discrimination‖. If these non-revolutionary figures show such awareness, it is our duty as conscious BolshevikLeninists to demonstrate a sensitivity and awareness in concrete action that is a thousand times more persuasive and convincing. If the Kashmiri masses demand full independence and secession from India we support them in this. They must make their own experience of bourgeois national rule. If the Kashmiri masses elect a leadership that sees imperialists as a viable alternative to Dominant Nation oppression by India so be it. We advise them of the dangers, and tell them we wouldn‘t make such a choice. But we also tell them the choice is theirs to make. They are sovereign and independent and have never experienced this before. If India could demand full independence from the British and be justified why not Kashmir?

Statement in Solidarity with Dr. Binayak Sen Statement in solidarity with Dr. Binayak Sen On the 25th of December while the world celebrated Christmas, Dr. Binayak Sen was being sentenced to a life in prison. The reason? For purportedly supporting anti state forces namely the naxalites. The opinion of the Raipur session‘s court here is that Dr. Binayak Sen is guilty of sedition. This constitutes one of the gravest of offences in Indian criminal law. Consequently an unusually harsh sentence of life sentence was accorded. What is more is that the conviction itself was based on evidence which can at best be called tenuous. The prosecution for example relied on evidence as tenuous as reference to Dr. Sen as ―Comrade‖ to push the case in the direction of proving his purported Maoist linkages. The primary piece of evidence as well was tenuous whereby a supposed ―chain‖ of correspondence was purported to have existed with Dr. Sen as a principle character binding him and two other co accused in a ―conspiracy‖. With trumped up charges like these that the sessions court convicted the renowned Human Rights activist Dr, Binayak Sen to life in prison! Such an order has been flayed by imminent jurists like Soli Sorabjee as well for being a shame to the Indian judicial system. The conviction is in every way condemnable farce which has all the hallmarks of an unjustifiable witch hunt against human rights activist especially those operating in the so-called ―Red belt‖. Our Stand: Hands off Dr. Binayak Sen! : We the new wave group express our unconditional support and solidarity with Dr. Sen in his struggle against the bourgeois state and we put forward the following demands: 1) To drop all charges filed against Dr. Sen: The conviction of Dr. Sen is being framed on trumped up charges which serve only to harass a committed human rights activist who has been justifiably unraveling the dirty inconvenient truth of India‘s underbelly. The Raipur session‘s court judgment stands in clear violation of the principles of freedom of speech and dissent which are pillars of inalienable democratic rights enshrined in the Indian constitution. It is in the interests of the masses in the country to consistently expand on the scope for agitation against the State. 2) And repeal all undemocratic laws: Dr. Sen and many others like him have fallen victim to the strong arm of the bourgeois state and its undemocratic laws. We demand a repealing of all such laws which limit the scope for just democratic agitation and freedom of speech which give the state undue power to persecute dissidents. Laws like the UAPA, CPSPA and others which work only to strengthen the terror machinery of the bourgeois state, restrict the scope of agitation for democratic rights. Additionally, we call for a complete demilitarization of the red belt zone and an end to anti-―Maoist‖ operations. These operations are but an excuse to effect the further proletarianization of the people of the East Indian countryside with little security if at all being offered to the people living there. The struggle doesn‘t end with Dr. Sen: The struggle to free Dr. Binayak Sen must not be understood merely as a single issue struggle beginning and ending with Dr. Sen‘s freedom from imprisonment. This is a struggle against the very system that represses the oppressed classes in society. Indian democracy has proven itself to be contradictory, flawed and incapable of securing the most basic democratic rights for its citizenry. The working class and its allies struggle to expand the scope for democratic struggle within bourgeois democracy, but the bourgeois state inevitably moves towards coercing such dissent. The dichotomy between democracy and bourgeois power via the state cannot be sustained keeping democracy intact. In order to secure the fullest democratic aspirations of the oppressed classes there is no alternative to the uninterrupted struggle for socialism!

Contact: Cell: E-Mail: Adhiraj Bose 9730109981 comradebose1989@gmail.com Pushkar Ekbote 9422616272 karl10marx@gmail.com Mail Us At: A-10, Patil Paradise, Dattawadi, Sinhagad Road, Pune-411030. Published by ―NEW WAVE - PUNE SECTION‖

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