People's
Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) No. 51
December 29,2002
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) |
Vol.
XXVI No. 51 December 29,2002 |
THE
18-month
rule
of
Jayalalitha
has
been
marked
by
a
series
of
grave
attacks
on
the
livelihood
of
the
common
man
in
Tamilnadu.
The
promises
of
providing
relief
to
the
people,
which
she
had
made
in
her
party’s
manifesto,
still
remain
on
paper
without
being
implemented.
The
decisions
taken
by
the
AIADMK
government
in
the
month
of
November
2001--
to
increase
the
bus
fares
and
electricity
tariff,
to
impose
higher
taxation
for
edible
oil,
cotton
hosiery
goods
and
computer
software,
to
hike
the
prices
of
essential
commodities
supplied
through
PDS
etc
--
fetched
a
revenue
of
Rs
4428
crore.
This
exercise
was
described
by
the
opposition
as
the
presentation
of
a
mini-budget.
All
opposition
parties,
including
the
Congress
and
the
DMK,
participated
in
a
statewide
bandh
protesting
these
measures
on
December
7,
2001.
The
CPI
(M)
and
CPI
gave
the
bandh
call
jointly
and
it
was
a
big
campaign
against
the
government.
Jayalalitha,
immediately
after
becoming
the
CM,
made
it
public
that
her
government
would
reduce
the
government
jobs
by
30
per
cent
from
the
number
prevailing
then.
While
announcing
these
measures,
the
chief
secretary
of
the
state
had
released
a
communiqué
to
the
press
saying
that
the
new
government
wanted
to
commit
itself
to
the
central
government
and
international
financial
agencies
that
reforms
and
restructuring
programme
would
be
implemented
in
the
state
in
right
earnest.
The
opportunist
character
of
the
AIADMK
became
evident
once
again
with
these
moves
of
the
government.
It
was
the
same
party
which
had
filed
a
suit
in
the
Supreme
Court
against
the
WTO
and
was
now
embarking
on
a
course
dictated
by
the
same
agency
after
becoming
the
ruling
party.
During
the
budget
session
of
the
state
assembly,
early
this
year,
the
Jayalalitha
government
announced
a
series
of
anti-people
measures.
Partially
privatising
the
State
Transport
Corporation,
handing
over
nearly
50
lakh
acres
of
barren
lands
each
to
the
corporate
houses,
diluting
the
existing
Land
Ceiling
Act,
privatising
the
state
owned
PSUs,
re-defining
the
'Below
Poverty
Line"
criteria
for
issuance
of
the
ration
cards
and
gradually
dismantling
the
PDS,
discontinuing
the
procurement
of
agricultural
produces
etc
were
some
of
the
measures
announced
by
the
Jayalalitha
government.
Many
members
of
the
ruling
party
wanted
to
make
use
of
the
assembly
debates
to
eulogise
their
'Leader-Supreme",
in
the
process
wasting
precious
time
of
the
House.
All
democratic
minded
parties,
especially
the
Left,
roundly
condemned
this
degenerating
trend.
To
cap
it
all,
her
government
enacted
a
draconian
anti-worker
Act
banning
strikes
in
all
essential
services,
the
list
of
which
could
be
extended
at
will
by
the
government
authorities.
The
government,
which
had
suppressed
the
transport
workers
movement
during
October
2001,
anticipated
resistance
from
the
trade
unions
with
renewed
vigor.
In
order
to
contain
this
and
the
rising
waves
of
protest
by
those
who
were
affected
by
the
policies
of
her
government,
Jayalalitha
came
out
with
such
an
anti-worker
and
anti-people
oppressive
measure.
In
a
calculated
bid
to
move
closer
towards
the
BJP,
Jayalalitha
became
an
enthusiastic
supporter
of
the
black
law
–
Prevention
Of
Terrorism
Act
(POTA),
which
was
passed
in
the
Parliament
to
curb
“terrorist
activities”
in
the
country.
POTA
received
the
support
of
both
the
DMK
and
the
AIADMK
from
the
state
along
with
the
other
constituents
of
NDA
like
MDMK
and
PMK.
The
left
parties,
together
with
the
Congress
and
other
democratic,
secular
opposition
parties
conducted
a
campaign
against
enactment
of
POTA
and
cautioned
the
people
of
the
state
about
the
likelihood
of
it
being
abused
and
misused
against
the
political
opponents
of
AIADMK.
Later
events
proved
their
apprehension
true.
During
the
first
week
of
March
this
year,
when
the
whole
world
was
condemning
the
sangh
parivar
for
its
unprecedented
State-sponsored
genocide
in
Gujarat,
Jayalalitha
came
out
with
a
statement
opposing
the
secular
parties
for
'not
condemning
the
minority
fundamentalism'
the
way
in
which
she
was
doing.
When
the
demand
was
made
for
the
ouster
of
the
Modi
government,
she
did
not
support
the
secular
parties
in
Parliament.
Out
of
the
39
members
of
parliament
from
the
state,
only
three
belonging
to
the
CPI(M)
and
TMC
voted
for
Modi’s
ouster
while
the
rest,
including
the
AIADMK
voted
for
continuation
of
Modi
as
the
chief
minister.
Recently,
in
a
move
that
even
inspired
the
sangh
parivar,
the
Jayalalitha
government
had
enacted
an
Act
against
“forcible
religious
conversions”.
The
real
intention
of
the
government
in
bringing
this
Act
was
to
divert
people’s
attention
from
the
real
issues
affecting
the
common
man,
and
also
to
pamper
to
the
communal
forces
for
political
gains.
This
pampering
is
not
new
to
Jayalalitha.
During
her
earlier
stint
as
chief
minister
of
the
state,
she
had
revamped
the
Hindu
Religious
and
Charitable
Endowments
Board,
and
through
it
got
the
dilapidated
and
old
temples
renovated.
She
started
schemes
to
give
incentives
for
those
who
learn
“Vedas
and
Agamas”
for
becoming
priests
in
the
Hindu
temples.
These
were
done
purely
for
the
purpose
of
gaining
political
mileage.
Even
this
time
she
has
started
a
free
meal
scheme
(annadaana
sevai)
for
the
aged
and
the
destitute
through
Hindu
temples.
The
government’s
ban
on
conversions
is
nothing
but
a
direct
attack
on
the
freedom
of
religion,
which
is
granted
under
various
articles
of
the
Constitution.
The
dalits,
minorities
and
democratic
minded
people
of
the
state
are
aggrieved
by
this
law
and
expressed
their
protest.
That
Narendra
Modi's
poll
manifesto
promised
to
the
people
of
Gujarat
a
similar
law
if
elected
to
power,
tells
the
kind
of
inspiration
the
communalists
were
able
to
draw
from
Jayalalitha.
Elected
on
the
plank
of
secularism
with
an
unmistaken
anti-reform
posturing,
the
AIADMK
has
thus
betrayed
the
peoples'
mandate
and
stabbed
in
the
back
of
the
very
people
who
voted
her
to
power
SCANT REGARD FOR FEDERALISM
On
the
issue
of
Cauvery,
the
position
taken
by
the
Jayalalitha
government
reeked
of
highhanded
chauvinism.
Her
refusal
to
attend
the
‘Cauvery
River
Water
Authority’
meeting
and
her
subsequent
passing
of
insinuating
remarks
against
the
Authority
and
the
prime
minister
was
condemned
by
the
Supreme
Court.
In
Tamilnadu,
she
made
a
fervent
plea
to
dismiss
the
S
M
Krishna
government
under
Article
356
for
his
refusal
to
let
water
into
Cauvery.
She
has
also
suggested
the
forcible
taking
over
of
the
dams
in
Karnataka
by
the
central
government.
Such
positions,
betrayed
the
scant
respect
she
had
for
federal
democracy
and
her
failure
to
take
a
peaceful
and
balanced
decision
at
times
of
distress
that
was
affecting
the
people
of
both
the
states.
This,
however,
does
not
mean
that
all
that
was
done
by
her
counterpart
in
Karnataka
was
right.
At
a
time
when
the
Sri
Lankan
peace
talks
initiated
by
Norway
were
in
progress,
Jayalalitha
suddenly
convened
a
press
conference
and
demanded
the
Sri
Lankan
government
to
extradite
LTTE
chief
V
Prabhakaran
for
facing
trial
in
the
Rajiv
Gandhi
murder
case.
If
the
Sri
Lankan
government
failed
to
do
so,
she
reiterated
that
the
Indian
Army
should
be
sent
to
capture
him.
Many
people
in
India
have
little
sympathy
for
the
LTTE
and
it
is
a
banned
organisation
here.
However,
the
democratic
view,
that
has
been
reiterated
again,
is
that
the
Tamils
should
have
their
own
state
with
more
autonomy
and
powers
within
a
united
Sri
Lankan
state.
And
this
has
to
be
done
through
a
peaceful
dialogue.
But
then,
unfortunately,
Jayalalitha
has
peculiar
ways
of
reacting
to
the
sensitive
problem
concerning
a
neighboring
country.
Another
sudden,
but
this
time
more
calculated,
declaration
she
made
on
her
return
from
a
Delhi
trip
was
that
a
foreigner
shall
not
become
the
prime
minister
of
the
country.
And
to
the
irritation
of
the
Congress
circles,
she
repeatedly
called
Sonia
Gandhi
by
her
original
name
Antonio
Maino
Gandhi.
She
took
most
of
these
measures
to
curry
favours
with
the
Centre,
which
alone
could
save
her
at
times
of
personal
crisis.
LATEST
ONSLAUGHT
Jayalalitha
government
launched
a
fresh
onslaught
on
various
sections
of
the
people.
Her
decision
bringing
the
state-run
colleges
under
the
purview
of
Universities
enabled
her
government
to
change
the
service
conditions
of
the
teachers.
It
also
enabled
the
administration
to
enhance
the
fee
structure,
seriously
affecting
the
students
hailing
from
the
downtrodden
sections.
This
decision
resulted
in
the
teachers
of
the
government
colleges
going
on
an
indefinite
strike.
The
students
too
went
on
a
strike
in
support
of
them.
The
students’
agitation
was
suppressed
brutally
by
the
Jayalalitha
government.
Intimidations,
lathicharge,
arrest
and
every
form
of
terror
technique
was
unleashed
against
the
students
who
were
led
by
the
SFI
and
AISF.
In
Madurai,
the
AIADMK
MLAs,
ministers
and
goondas
entered
even
the
women's
college
premises
to
terrorise
them.
Two
senior
teachers
committed
suicide
unable
to
stand
the
adamant
stand
of
the
government.
The
state
government
employees
were
denied
festival
advance;
their
DA
instalments
were
withheld;
encashment
of
leave
facility
was
withdrawn,
Ten
thousand
workers
of
the
State
Highways
Department
were
retrenched;
30,000
'Nutritious
meal
scheme'
employees
were
identified
as
surplus;
Fresh
recruitments
were
stopped
and
many
government
departments
were
sought
to
be
eventually
privatised
for
achieving
the
rightsizing
of
the
government
employment.
The
state
government
employees
and
all
teachers’
organisations
went
on
an
indefinite
strike
from
October
23
of
this
year.
Lakhs
of
employees,
considerable
number
of
women
included,
participated
in
the
strike
enthusiastically
for
11
days.
Finally
they
withdrew
the
strike
on
November
1
before
the
Deepavali
festival.
The
chief
minister
had,
from
the
floor
of
the
assembly,
threatened
the
striking
employees
with
dire
consequences,
menacingly
gesticulating
with
her
index
finger.
All
the
central
trade
unions
and
middle
class
organisations
went
on
a
token
strike
on
October
23,
against
the
anti-worker
policies
of
the
state
government
with
the
main
demand
being
the
'withdrawal
of
the
Act
banning
strikes’.
The
state
government,
through
the
State
Electricity
Regulatory
Commission,
announced
a
steep
hike
in
the
electricity
tariff
from
December
1
that
would
impose
a
burden
of
about
Rs
2150
crore
at
one
go
on
the
people
of
the
state.
Supply
of
free
electricity
to
the
farmers
is
going
to
be
withdrawn,
the
government
had
announced.
Privatisation
of
the
state
owned
transport
corporation
was
announced
recently.
The
issue
price
of
rice
distributed
under
the
PDS
was
increased
and
consequently
the
off-take
had
drastically
come
down.
The
rural
populace
is
reeling
under
severe
drought
conditions,
but
the
government
refuses
to
take
even
minimal
action.
Procurement
had
also
been
stopped,
the
result
of
which
would
be
seen
in
the
coming
harvesting
season.
All
such
attacks
on
the
people
indicate
that
the
Jayalalitha
government,
fearing
no
consequences,
has
been
very
seriously
implementing
the
second
generation
reforms
programme.
Politically,
every
step
she
takes
is
in
the
direction
of
her
journey
towards
rejoining
the
NDA.
Unsolicited,
she
is
taking
a
lot
of
supportive
measures
to
the
NDA
government
at
the
centre.
On
the
twin
questions
of
economic
policy
and
communalism,
her
government
has
gone
too
far
and
crossed
too
many
limits,
which
make
it
very
difficult
for
her
to
backtrack.
She
must
have
surpassed
the
record
of
any
state
government,
which
in
a
short
period
of
18
months
had
taken
as
many
anti-people,
anti-democratic,
communal
and
politically
opportunistic
positions.
The
partners
of
NDA
in
the
state,
the
DMK,
PMK,
MDMK
and
others
are
only
interested
in
political
polemics
and
empty
rhetoric
against
the
Jayalalitha
government.
They
are
not
ready
to
admit
the
plain
fact
that
whatever
she
does
in
the
state
is
a
mere
outcome/imitation
of
the
centre’s
policies
enacted
from
time
to
time,
where
these
parties
have
collective
ministerial
responsibility
and
accountability.
In
this
background,
the
only
redeeming
feature
in
the
state
is
the
continuous
mass
movements
being
organised
and
conducted
against
these
policies
by
secular
and
democratic
forces
led
by
the
Left
parties.
