People's Democracy

UPA govt's pro-imperialist Stance Condemned

Half-A-Million March In Kolkata

A VAST sea of people started to advance in waves that rode on the strength of anti-imperialist feelings of the strongest kind as over five lakh of people � from virtually every cross-section of the society � strode along the streets and lanes of Kolkata on September 1. The people�s march organised by the Bengal Left Front and was led by the LF leadership.

The march commenced amidst rousing anti-imperialist slogans from the Suhrawardi Avenue near the Brabourne College grounds. As the first columns of marchers -- with banners, festoons, buntings, tableaux, and countless Red flags fluttering in the freshening welcome breeze � began marching, the Left Front chairman Biman Basu released a single white dove as a symbol for peace.

The marchers started to walk along the AJC Bose Road and we were quite astounded to see another equally long column marching along the opposite footpath in the �wrong� direction. Polite enquiries revealed that these streams of men and women, many of the latter carrying children, were in fact going to Park Circus to join up with the eternally long �tail� of the procession.

This wave of humanity that advanced relentlessly called upon the central government to stop kneeling lower and lower down before US imperialism, the perpetrators of all kinds of crimes against humanity itself, all over the world.

We observed a section of the processionists. Sudeshna Paul from Belghoria, a former student who is now a young professor and who teaches sociology at a college in faraway Nadia and who had come to the city was literally running swiftly to join the marchers as the wave advanced. We also saw Akram-ul Huq, a garage �mechanic,� an underpaid helper actually, forego a day�s wage to join in, for the marchers are �talking about meri desh being sold out to videshis of a faraway land.� This is grassroots nationalism in action.

The procession was hugely swelled as a very large number of unorganised workers, mostly mutia-mazdoors (headload carriers) and auto-rickshaw drivers and �mechanics,� joined in at Moulali crossing, shouting slogans, waving the Red flag -- CITU banners held high as always.

The march went on, on, and on � passing along AJC Bose Road. School students joined in somewhere along the line holding up banners that had photos of the eternal inspirational figure of Che Guevara and emblazoned with the immortal words �egobo, jotokhhon na jitbchhi!� (onwards, until we achieve victory!�) The innumerable tableaux carried photos of a molly-coddling photo of Bush adoring Singh, and the other way around.

The marchers included black-jacketed lawyers, engineers, artistes, intellectuals, litt�rateurs, students from every tier of education, housewives, sports persons, film personalities, and above all the common man, the members of the toiling masses who shouted out anti-imperialist slogans from the core of their hearts and who made the procession come alive, made the march a living protest against imperialist forays and the betrayal of the people by the Manmohan Singh government. The people had the final say on this day and for all the days to come.

B Prasant

PEOPLE RISE IN PROTEST  AGAINST IMPERIALIST  AGGRESSION

ON September 1, 2008, the day marked as anti-imperialist day, people of Tripura in a massive way protested against the imperialist aggression. Apart from a big rally in Agartala, the day was observed in every block and sub-divisional headquarters by organising small and big rallies, hall-meetings and demonstrating tableaus depicting imperialist crimes on humanity. Baidyanath Majumder, former state secretary of the Party, addressed a packed hall meeting at Dharmanagar. Similar hall meetings were held in Manu of Dhalai district and Shantirbazar of South Tripura district where Bajuban Riyan and Narayan Kar, both state secretariat members addressed the meetings. The speakers urged upon the democratic-minded and peace-loving people of the state to frustrate with a bigger united movement the US designs to turn India into a pawn of the imperialist interests in the name of nuclear deal.

In a big rally at Astabal ground in Agartala which was presided over by state secretariat member Niranjan Debbarma, Polit Bureau member Manik Sarkar explained the significance of observing this anti-imperialist day. Manik Sarkar said, though a poor country, India at one time held a prestigious position in the world due to its non-aligned policy and supportive role towards the liberation movement of the colonial countries from the yoke of imperialism. Contrary to that, UPA government at present is madly running to be a junior partner of the US strategic alliance and reducing the country�s prestige and dignity to dust and more seriously, compromising with the country�s sovereignty, independent foreign policy and economic liberty, he said. He emphasised on launching a third alternative devoid of Congress and BJP which may lead the country with a pro-people agenda. Certainly, Tripura would befittingly contribute to the formation of the third platform in the national political scene, he said.

Party state secretary Bijan Dhar said due to globalisation policy pursued by the Congress government first in 1991, rampant privatisation took place. Vital sectors including the strategic and social sectors were handed over to the private entrepreneurs at a throw away price. The globalisation policy resulted during the last ten years in increasing the landless people of the country from 22 per cent to 33 percent. 77 per cent people of the country have the purchasing power of hardly Rs 20 a day, Bijan Dhar said. US imperialism patronised terrorism in many countries and could they be different in India, he questioned. He appealed to the people to take a vow to save the country from the claws of imperialism by raising the anti-imperialist consciousness among the people.

President Niranjan Debbarma appealed to the people to be highly alert against the conspiracies being hatched up by the elements patronised by the imperialist forces for making a breach of communal and ethnic harmony in the country.

Haripada Das