People's Democracy

Braving Attacks, Thousands Participate

in Huge Rallies in North 24 Parganas

THE North 24 Parganas district Left Front committee organised four huge rallies from four corners of the district on December 22. Thousands of people participated in the rallies braving terror and direct attacks.

All the four rallies were transformed into ‘Maha Michhil’ that covered 63 km road area, highlighting the people’s demands. The prime slogan of all the rallies was “Stop Attack; Govern the State”. It was meant to address the situation in West Bengal which is gradually turning into a state of anarchy.

The rally from Kanchrapara faced a gruesome attack by the Trinamool Congress goons. At Bagmore, TMC activists attacked the rally with stones and iron rods. An auto rickshaw in front of the rally was smashed. The miscreants attacked CPI(M) leaders Tarit Topdar and Nepaldev Bhattacharya among others. Bhattacharya was beaten up. When the police intervened, their jeep was also attacked. More than 60 workers were injured, including the leaders, in the attack on Kanchrapara rally. The rallyists braved the attack and continued their journey towards Barrackpore.

Biman Basu, on the other hand, participated in the rally in Dum Dum. Referring to the attack on the protest rally in Kanchrapara, Biman Basu said that “the attack reminds that the assault on democracy continues in the state. Our struggle is therefore to restore the democratic space. We must save people of the state from the growing anarchy and assaults.”

“The conditions being created by the Trinamool Congress is actually encouraging the anti-social elements and hooligans across localities and areas”, said Basu. All rallies have therefore asked such burning questions; ‘what direction the state is heading towards? ‘what has been achieved in these nineteen months of the new government?’

Sharply criticising the attack on the rally, the Left Front chairman Biman Basu said that “these attacks attempted to strangle the democratic system of the state where the police is also playing a role of sleeping witness.”

Basu said that “everyone has a right to protest, participate in a rally, at least the democracy gives such a right. But the democratic system has been attacked in this state.”

The attacks on the rallies however continued up to midnight and Trinamool workers raided house to house, finding Left Front supporters and assaulting them. Vast areas of North 24 Paraganas district remained under attack.

In the evening, TMC workers attacked CPI(M) offices in Kanchrapara. Houses and shops of Party workers were rampaged. All these were instigated by local MLA, who is son of former central minister Mukul Roy.

CONVENTION OPPOSING

FDI IN RETAIL TRADE

The much advertised ‘benefits’ of FDI in multi-brand retail trade in India are meant to falsely influence the countrymen, said Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the Polit Bureau member of CPI(M) at the convention opposing the FDI in retail trade held at University Institute Hall, Kolkata. The convention was organised by the West Bengal Committee of Left Front.

Left Front chairman Biman Basu while presiding over the convention raised the resolution opposing FDI in retail trade. Basu said that the central government has manipulated a so-called win in the parliament but it was clear that majority of people’s representatives were opposed to the allowing FDI in retail trade. Basu added that multinationals are not at all concerned with the development of India, be it in the agricultural or industrial sector. They are always driven by the ‘maximum profit’ rule. With the peasants dependent upon the multinationals on selling their harvest and the small retailers having forced to shut down their shops, what it would result in is that the multinationals would dictate the buying and selling terms and price, he said.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee addressing the convention rejected the propaganda of the corporate media and the Congress  in support of FDI in retail. He said that this propaganda is meant to influence the middle class people of this country and fictitious claims are being made every now and then that peasants would receive better prices for their harvest.  Bhattacharjee directly addressed the point of ‘benefit from FDI’ saying that with the central government making no real expenditure for irrigation and related agricultural infrastructure, it is absurd to expect for any such investment from the multinational corporations. They would be buying the crops only when it is harvested and that too through forwarding agents only. Ultimately, it would be their dictates which would fix the price of the harvests. Bhattacharjee explained imperialist character of finance capital and on how the neo-liberal ruling order of this country is all set to dismantle the dynamics of the retail sector under pressure from them.

Forward Block leader Jayanta Roy, RSP leader Manoj Bhattacharya and CPI leader Sreekumar Mukherji were among those who addressed the convention. Biman Basu, concluding the convention said that Left Front would carry on continuous campaign opposing the FDI in retail.

(INN)