People's Democracy

‘NO TO WAR, YES TO PEACE!’

Half-A-Million Kolkatans March Against US Hegemony

B Prasant

A VERY large assemblage near the Akashvani Bhavan in downtown Kolkata had gathered on September 1 in the scorching heat much before the scheduled commencement of the march of half-a-million people against war and for peace in the metropolis. The march was held under the aegis of the Bengal Left Front.

Apart from large contingents of the CPI(M) and other Left Front constituents, a vast number of mass organisations, associations, clubs and educational institutions as well as cultural troupes took part in the march that was vibrant with seven colourful tableaux, and countless numbers of banners, posters, placards, and festoons, all calling for the immediate retraction of US forays onto the subcontinent and calling for peace. The central placard had a huge angular cross daubed over the word ‘war’ with the letters forming the word ‘peace’ attractively arranged.

Similar marches were held almost at the same time all over the state, and with equal fervour. The marches were very well attended and attracted a lot of attention through the message they emanated.

In Kolkata, the vast number of people who gathered around the route the marchers took, sometimes slipping and shouting slogans, and then going on about their daily chores of livelihood, must have swelled the total number of participants to more than the number that traversed along the north-south route.

Besides, a new feature this year was the large number of Kolkatans, men, women, children, who crowded the rooftops and verandas along the marchers’ route and joined in with snatches of slogan shouting to full-throated singing of anti-war songs and ballads. At each important crossroads, hundreds of people would slip into the ranks of the marchers, shouting slogans and waving the Red flag. The marchers found warm welcome being accorded to them at rallies at a large number of points where ‘victory for peace’ gates have been erected for the day.

The march commenced with the release of dozens of white doves onto the brilliant azure of the summer sky above. Earlier, in a brief address, Bengal CPI(M) state secretary, and Bengal Left Front chairman Biman Basu said that the treaty being negotiated with the US by India would do harm rather than good for the nation and its people for, the imperialists never indulged in diplomatic instruments especially bi-lateral ones, with any aim other than dominance and hegemony.

The Left, said Biman Basu, would never allow India to be made a junior partner in the US imperialist game of domination and control. Smaller rallies and house-to-house campaign will go on in Bengal to communicate to the people the reasons why the Left parties were against the proposed India-US defence deal. Other left Front leaders who addressed the two gatherings, one at the beginning of the march, and the other at the point at Deshbandhu Park in north Kolkata where the march ended were Hiren Dasgupta of the CPI, Debabrata Bandyopadhyay of the RSP, Naren Chatterjee of the Forward Bloc, WBSP leader Prabodh Sinha, Mihir Byne of the RCPI et al. The march commenced and ended with rousing renderings in various languages of the song ‘we shall overcome!’

INDIA MUST NOT KNEEL BEFORE THE US IMPERIALISTS

The UPA government led by the Congress must decide whether they would allow India to kow-tow before the US imperialists, or resist the pressure and stand tall, head high, sovereignty intact. As citizens of an independent nation, no Indian would allow the sovereignty of the country to be put on the line; and the Left-led anti-imperialist struggle would continue apace.

This was how Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee criticised the stand of the union government on the issues of the 123 agreement, and the joint naval exercises with the US off the coast of the country. Buddhadeb was addressing a big rally of state coordination committee of government employees in Kolkata recently.

Pointing to the naval manoeuvres, Buddhadeb pointedly asked as to who would stand to benefit from these moves and against whom were these initiatives unleashed. ‘Would these endeavours serve the interests of India in any manner?’ asked the CPI(M) leader rhetorically. There are no instances where the US has actually come forward to help and assist a Third World country. On the other hand, there are limitless examples where the US has ruined developing nations. India is a leader of the non-aligned movement. It is a big nation itself. What is the reason then for it to rush and kneel before US dictates?

Attacking the concept of strategic partnership, a word currently much bandied about in certain Indian and US circles, Buddhadeb said, the strategy was the US desire and effort to build up a completely uni-polar world where its hegemony would have the final say over national independence and sovereignty. Partnership meant subservience in every sense of the term.

US troops, on the ground, in the air, and across the seas were gradually widening their net of active influence over the community of nations. The US has already warned India against any oil deal with Iran. ‘We have asked the prime minister the reason why India must accede to the US threat, and the answer was not to our satisfaction.’ The Left has always been against imperialist forays and the anti-imperialist struggle in India shall continue with fervour in the days to come.

DEVELOPMENTAL SCENARIO IN BENGAL

Shifting to the developmental scenario in Bengal, Buddhadeb noted that while considering the imperatives of development, the prime focus of the CPI(M) and the Left Front remained affording adequate protection to the poorer sections of the working people, forcibly marginalised in the demonic process of imperialist globalisation. Industrial growth, institutional development, and increased pace in the process of creation of assets were in the forefront of the Bengal Left Front government’s priorities.

Emphasising that an important component of industrial development was the generation of employment along with lessening pressure of population dependent on agriculture, Buddhadeb went on to say that the state LF government was keen on manufacturing industries. Investment has been made in six steel manufacturing units and infrastructural work would start sooner rather than later.

Importance is also attached to two other employment-intensive industries that had rich and useful downstream and midstream components: petro-chemical, and chemical. Haldia hosts industries run by Mitsubishi and Haldia Petrochem. More than 700 downstream and ancillary industrial units are running full steam, employing thousands upon thousands of people. Stress is given on the process of setting up small and medium industries because these, too, are employment-intensive.

EMPLOYMENT GENERATION : A PRIORITY

The Bengal LF government aims at all-round development including diversification of agriculture. However, with more than 65 per cent of the population having to depend on agriculture, the overall growth would have slowed down over the years, with less and less scope for generation of employment of the available human resources. To lessen this building pressure on agriculture, one needed to look towards industrialisation and the development of the service sector.

The new generation, said Buddhadeb, looked to employment creation. Students pour out each year from the 600 colleges, 68 engineering colleges, and 17 universities. They needed to be absorbed in useful employment. Industries and the service sector suited their job orientation very well indeed.

A massive popular support exists behind the process of development that Bengal undergoes. Yet, there are pockets of opposition. Congress swings from end to end like a pendulum, now talking a bit of sense, and again lapsing back into the realm of unreason. The BJP and the Trinamul Congress are desperate that Bengal has raised its proud head once more with the LF government in office for three decades and more.

Attack is also forthcoming from the adventurist left including the Naxalites and the Maoists, he pointed out. These elements are devoid of ideological moorings, live an unreal life, are out of touch with the masses, and find great relief in seeking the political shelter of the right reactionaries. The CPI(M) and the Left Front shall go ahead with its pro-people especially poor policies and the Left Front government shall implement them in the days to come, accelerating the process of development of Bengal all the while.

Subimal Banerjee, president of the state coordination committee chaired the rally. Other speakers included the general secretary of the organisation, Jyotiprasad Basu and the joint secretary, Samir Bhattacharya.