Report

The three left parties in Uttarakhand, CPIML, CPI and CPIM, have launched a month-long campaign in Uttarakhand against the ruling BJP’s repeated attempts to create communal tension by spreading false news. The Uttarakhand government is also simultaneously conducting an illegal demolition drive targeting minority places of worship throughout the state.

A three member delegation of CPIML visited Mohiuddinpur village in Kaushambi district of UP where three adult members of a dalit family were shot dead when they were asleep, on the night of 15 September. Horilal, his 8-months pregnant daughter and son-in-law were killed by their upper caste neighbours.

The CPIML legislator in Bihar who is also the patron of Bihar Sikshak Sangharsh Morcha, has sent a memorandum to the Bihar CM demanding a stop to the ongoing harassment and punitive actions against the teacher who held a protest demonstration in Patna on 11 July last. The protest was a peaceful demonstration for their demands.

The Gujarat government’s attempts to evict adivasis from forest lands where they have been living for generations, in the name of ‘Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojana’ is  being opposed by people of Dharampur taluka in Valsad district.

On September 12, rural-urban poor and tea workers of Panitola panchayat under the banner of Sadou Asom Grameen Shramik Santha (AIARLA ) organised a protest march in Tinsukia (Assam) to oppose bulldozer raj and express solidarity with the Silsako eviction victims. Memorandums with the demands  submitted via the office of the Circle officer to the Governor and the DC of Tinsukia called for an immediate end to the violence and evictions against toiling masses in the state.

On September 8, a CPIML team visited Sultanpur district met the family of an 18-year-old Dalit youth Vinay was beaten to death for demanding outstanding wages. The incident took place in village Varandpur under Akhand Nagar police station of Kadipur tehsil in district on August 25.

The victim’s father Tej Bahadur told the CPIML team that Vinay was the youngest of his three sons. Vinay worked as a construction worker at the house of Ram Anuj Yadav  in the same village.

- Dipankar Bhattacharya

Results of the September 5 by-polls are out. On the face of it, there is no change in the overall tally: NDA 3, INDIA 4. But a closer look would reveal that a lot has changed underneath. And the biggest change has happened in UP, the state that sends the largest number of members to the Lok Sabha.

A mass rally and demonstration was held in Chennai on August 30 to protect the welfare of students and youth. More than 200 AISA- RYA comrades including students and youth participated in the rally calling for an end to privatization and corporatization of education.

The All India Municipal Workers Federation (affiliated to AICCTU) embarked on a country-wide resistance and demand day on September 12, calling for necessary steps to ensure the rights and dignity of lakhs of municipal workers across the country.

Recognizing lack of jobs and support system for the youth as the main factor towards the rampant problem of narcotics drug usage in Punjab, CPIML had launched an intensive anti-drug campaign - "No Drugs - Give Employment" - in the state. The movement while campaigning against the drug usage called upon the government in Punjab to fulfill the promises it made during the election, like registration of workers' houses, guaranteeed work under MNREGA for 200 days and the daily wage of Rs. 700.