'Jallikattu protests’ 

                  People locked horns with the Establishment!

It might not be an exaggeration to just say that Tamil Nadu politics is facing unprecedented political crises at-least in the recent times!

With a gross mishandling in the clearing up of the massive oil spill near the shores of Marina and Ennore and the brutal murder of a dalit (oppressed caste) girl Nandhini - the Tamil Nadu state of affairs is in appalling decay! However it just touched a new low, as the staged power handover to the late Jayalalithaa's aide and the AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala amidst a lot of discontent, particularly with the controversies reminiscent of a palace coup. With the resigned Chief Minister O.Panneerselvam now claiming that he was forced to quit by Sasikala did create a serious dent in the remains of hope, amongst the people about the institutions of the establishment!  At the moment there is a mounting contempt and disgust brewing everywhere! At the same time there is a sense of unease amongst the top governing layers as they don’t want the masses to erupt as they did with the ‘Jallikattu Protests’! 

Therefore it is important to clearly understand the dynamics of that important event to obtain the perspectives of Tamil Nadu politics in general and for the times to come!

Days before many activists, students and political parties have gathered from Chennai and across Tamil Nadu in Alanganallur demanding to conduct Jallikattu - a traditional bull sport famously played in Alanganallur, a panchayat town in Madurai district and also in other parts  of Tamil Nadu. But the epicentre dramatically shifted to Chennai Marina beach. And what happened afterwards is a massive display of defiance! A revolt however meager in its political and ideological maturity nonetheless overflowed with strong emotions and determination, and most importantly politicised almost an entire state in the landmass called India! 

The huge demonstrations against the Jallikattu ban and the subsequent heavy repression of the protesters, the fishing communities and slums nearby Marina have shown the extent of upheaval in Tamil Nadu politics. Despite being organisationally and politically uncoordinated the week long ‘Jallikattu protests’ were largely peaceful, displaying a sense of solidarity from many layers of the society with a huge participation and support from the middle class, with an enthusiastic presence of families and children making this a unique chapter in the recent course of Tamil Nadu politics. With the spontaneous gathering and flow of people, a heavy influence of the social network sites - the Chennai Marina beach protests in many ways resembles a local version of the ‘occupy movement’ which grabbed the global headlines post the late 2000's global financial crisis.  

But now after the evacuation and the dispersal of the protesters with a very violent state repression, those fantastic days of protests remains still a yearning amongst everyone who till now are intimidated and found helpless against the establishment. 

A contentious tradition!

Jallikattu, as it is popularly called is a bull sport of its kind; it is also known as bull embracing, bull taming, etc. The common format of this sport involves a person to hold on to the hump of the bull that's been released from the 'vadi vasal' (an entry gate of a closed space) for around 30 seconds to cover a distance of about 15 ft. The players are supposed to tackle a raging bull with bare hands and sharp reflexes. Even without delving more into the literary heritage and the cultural roots of Jallikattu - one can easily see the bond between the communities to their sporting traditions and how Jallikattu being played only in relatively few parts of Tamil Nadu has now almost leveraged itself to be a symbol of the 'Tamil culture'! However looking back much before these huge sway of popular support against the ban on Jallikattu, there was to some extent mixed opinions among activists, political organisations and the larger public. This embodied not just subjective preferences but the clash of values and views among the layers of people reflecting the objective conditions based on their societies and their stages of development! 

Even before few years the opinions were sharply divided on the issue of Jallikattu. Those born and brought up in the city, particularly the affluent sections were not able to really empathise the rural or the agrarian values. The sport of the farm and the agrarian population had to come in terms with the growing sentiments of the urban elites on animal rights and also the personal safety of the players.  

Prior to the Supreme Court enforced regulations the ruggedness of the sport and the inadequate safety measures for both the animal and the player did concern a substantial lot of people. Also the Supreme Court suggested reforms in the game did improve the safety standards of the sport and also pressed the importance of ethical practices in dealing with the bull. 

The general assertion is that the reforms and standardisation of Jallikattu did improve the conduct of the sport and to an extent ensured protection to the bull as well as the life of the participant by mandatory veterinary services, ambulances stationing near the arena, disqualification of the participants on hurting the bull, supervision of authorities and representatives of the local administration and the animal welfare board, etc. Despite these gradual developments in the centuries old sport and the seeming adherence of the local communities to the rules and regulations that's been introduced - the animal welfare groups continue the pursuit to ban Jallikattu. There were court orders banning Jallikattu and the state government facing popular pressure from pro-Jallikattu activists was forced to act upon their constituencies interests! Hence along with appeal process the Tamil Nadu government enacted a state law (Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act No 27 of 2009).

At the same time the campaigns by the strong animal welfare lobbying groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) did find an echo amongst celebrities and influential sections and to an extent with their appeal, the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2011 in the purview of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA) restricted bulls from the list of performing animals. This effectively illegalised all the forms of bull sport across India. Through the PCA constitutional platform, the Animal Welfare Board of India, PETA and other animal rights activists groups contested in Supreme Court and with the verdict from the highest judicial forum, the Jallikattu along with all the other bull sports were banned all together and the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act was annulled in 2014.

The dynamics of the conflicting sentiments of the animal rights activists groups and the supporters of Jallikattu have seen a remarkable shift as the pro-Jallikattu campaigners were able to gather the public opinion towards their side of arguments. The discourse over the importance of Jallikattu as an incentive for the communities to retain the native breeds of bull like Kangayam - an excellent draught breed that is sustainable with the affordable maintenance of already deprived peasants, to affirm the right to cultural and traditional identity, etc. captured the interest and imagination of wider layers, especially the youth.

At the same time the animal rights activists were pointing out the Court’s finding and expert opinions such as the inherent cruelty over the bulls possibly perpetrated in Jallikattu and the likely impact of lifting its ban - in other parts of India. Evidently as the protests were gathering momentum in Tamil Nadu similar demands were gathering pace against the ban of the traditional bull sports across India like Kambala (buffalo racing) in Karnataka, bullock cart racing in Maharashtra, etc.

However it’s important to critically explore the vital issues of animal rights. Animal rights and welfare activism has its roots from a genuine rage against the industrial practices of slaughtering and denial of the dignity of the lives of the animals. Instead of targeting corporate practices of brutalities manifested over animals by the big businesses including horse racing, these elite ‘so-called’ animal rights organizations are targeting the practices of sections of the ordinary people. There is no denial of the roughness and crudity that’s been often witnessed on the bulls participating in Jallikattu. While it's absolutely true that as the society progress it's important to do away with the regressive traditions and unethical practices but to just apply that bluntly and impose it on isolated issues like Jallikattu could be counterproductive. It is also important to understand that the objectives of animal welfare are essentially linked to the struggle for a better society which will ensure the needs of the people, pledge a decent society to ensure the welfare of all living organisms and the protection of our environment and nature.

The Jallikattu debate also illustrated the rifts stemming from the existing social contradictions and evidently the elitist intellectuals, activists and even some political entities were critical about the barbaric, male chauvinistic, dangerously adventurist aspects of this sport. However, amongst the left and the progressive groups, the area of chasm was the casteist, and the feudal traditions of Jallikattu. The oppressive feudal reigns did spectacle Jallikattu to impose the hegemony of the powerful landlords over the toilers but at the same time the sporting field may be the only opportunity for the oppressed to challenge the feudal chief; but a lot of people amongst the dalit communities were excluded from participating!

The zamindars and the feudal lords are no more but landlordism does exist; the disparity between the landed and the land less does exist and also exists the caste oppression of the dalits. The 1997 Justice Mohan commission reported that the Jallikattu often precipitate the clashes between the backward castes and the dalits. Amongst the left, progressive as well as dalit organisations some did stay away from the pro-Jallikattu campaigns. Nonetheless the growing popular support against the ban on Jallikattu, particularly from the students and the youth – did galavanise political organisations to intervene. However those organisations who did speak against the ban, mostly sidelined the issue of caste oppression, and the legacy of systematic exclusion of dalits in this sport.

Despite all this, it's very important not to burden and ward off the young and fresh layers who are actively campaigning against the Jallikattu ban with the feudal or casteist legacy and at the same time we need to intervene with our demands to take up that issue of casteism, and the marginalisation of the oppressed from the sport which is now claiming a pan-Tamil identity. As it is the duty of Marxists to take a stand against the relegation of the caste and the class contradictions, and it's important particularly during a mass upsurge of this nature where a sense of popular unity among the people is consciously forged by the establishment forces. A real unity and equality among the masses can only be assured by thoroughly addressing those contradictions.

We put forward the following demands to actively intervene and politicise the layers involved in this campaign against the ban on Jallikattu:

-          Reform the Jallikattu sport to address the concern of the genuine animal rights activists, to ensure safety to the participants and others, and to outlaw any discriminatory practices. We also support the demand for the state government instead of the influential local private entities to conduct Jallikattu.

-          Right to basic agrarian support and the right of the farmers over cattle ownership.

-          Adequate support to participate in Jallikattu including the support to maintain Jallikattu bulls. 

-          Prioritising the issue of landlessness amongst the dalits and the oppressed communities and initiating a program of radical land reforms.

-          While it is understandable that the immediate issue here is the ban on Jallikattu, a lot of people particularly the youth are disillusioned against the intervention of big businesses in their society. The plight of the farmers, the real threat of losing the native cattle breeds, crops and the soil fertility, the crushing burden of the World Trade Organisation’s policies impacting the sustainability of agriculture, the lack of material support for agriculture, the growing levels of exploitation of ordinary in every other sectors, etc., are all real threat which could only be challenged by a political philosophy that will addresses the needs of the people, and the society.

By the early weeks of January the Jallikattu issue was storming the news headlines, however it turned out to be a massive resentment.

Marina occupied:

In the past few years for every January, despite all those issues in a crises ridden society like Tamil Nadu – Jallikattu remains the hot topic. Particularly as issues like Jallikattu is tolerated by the establishment and it’s always a trouble-free, seasonal sensation for the TRP frenzy media channels. However with this time around the ferment has reached its point.

Back in Jan 2016 the Supreme Court ruling issued an interim stay on the Modi led central government’s hasty and opportunistic gazette notification of  removing bulls form the list of performing animals thereby allowing Jallikattu during the Pongal festival.

This year just a week before the Pongal festival - on the 8^th January, hundreds of young people and students, turned up in Marina beach demanding the Supreme Court to lift the ban on Jallikattu. There were also student protests in other areas in Chennai. Sensing the mood, the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O.Panneerselvam and the ruling ADMK’s party general secretary and the recently appointed Chief Minister V.K. Sasikala’s carried out the rituals of  requesting Prime Minister Modi to pass an ordinance amending the PCA Act to enable the conduct of Jallikattu but the central government did not comply. Meanwhile the Supreme Court rejected the plea to pass the judgment on the Jallikattu before Pongal which effectively means the conduct of the sport remains banned. This set off a stray of protests across Tamil Nadu and particularly in Alanganallur with the students and young people across the state poured in to express their overwhelming dissent over the ban on Jallikattu. Political parties and Tamil movie celebrities joined the agitation.  Thousands of protesters remained in all day long in Alanganallur’s 'Vaadi vaasal'-the Jallikattu arena. Despite the threat of lathi charge and repeated orders from the police to leave, the protesters refused to leave and around 200 people were arrested on 17^th Jan, early morning after the night-long protests.

On the 17^th Jan students and youth gathered in Marina beach in support of those who are arrested in Alanganallur, with a spirited show of solidarity! The protesters gathered strength as more and more people turned up spontaneously. The gadget and the social media generation networked and swelled up one of the popular sea front in the world. More people, IT workers and volunteer groups joined the protesters. Suddenly with an unexpected turn of events the Chennai Marina beach was occupied by the protesters and this along with the next few days took the entire establishment by surprise.

There were also spontaneous protests erupted across the state in Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Nagercoil, Trichy, Pondycherry, etc. As things were going out of hand the Tamil Nadu State government pushed the central government for an ordinance to conduct Jallikattu but the Centre in-turn directed the state government to issue an ordinance. The draft ordinance was also cleared by the centre without any changes. The protesters were refused to give up without a concrete solution to lift the ban on Jallikattu thus putting the entire administration on its toes!

Support was pouring in for the protesters from all directions. The protesters remained in the beach, some were going to work and joining the protests after their shifts, significant number of women and even families participated. Lakhs and lakhs of people turned up but the crowd was in control. Volunteers distributed food, water, snacks and even blankets for those who slept through the night. All the news media were carrying out live telecasts of the protests and in the trains, buses, and even in the Chennai city road traffic there were slogans and enthusiasm in support of Jallikattu, from those who apparently never played this sport in their life time! State wide general strike was called by the unions affiliated to the left parties and the opposition party DMK.

Doctors, lawyers, IT workers did strike in solidarity with the protests. The farmers’ joint action council expressed their support to the protest and the small traders closed their shutters in solidarity. As the protests got intensified and the demonstrators sought permanent solution the state government issued the ordinance and it was cleared by the central ministry and the Chief Minister assured to pass the ordinance as a state law in the legislative assembly at the earliest.

Despite all those assurances by the state and the central government the protesters remained critical as their demand to amend the PCA act by the central government was not yet met, and the risk of state government issued ordinance to be challenged again in the court persists. At one stage thousands of protestors assembled and refused to let Panneerselvam to inaugurate the Jallikattu event in Alanganallur and in Kovilpatti.

The protests were largely peaceful, disciplined and well networked however it evidently lacked leadership and a structure. It was much decentralised and there was no sufficient coordination to determine the direction of the struggle. The slogans and the chant were mostly targeting Modi, Panneerselvam, Sasikala, Subramaniam Swamy, PETA, etc. However there were serious voices amongst the protesters expressing the sorry state of the farmers, slogans against corporate businesses, calls to ban pepsi and coke, against the Indian state curtailing the democratic rights of Tamils, etc. Nevertheless with the lack of a decisive body the protests were split off as numerous groups and some were misled by the celebrities and single issue campaigners who sided with the government’s proposal and never really shared the determination or the fighting spirit among the protesters.

As the government was able to influence this section of the people particularly the celebrities and the pro-Jallikattu organisations that were from the start are careful to direct the focus of the entire upsurge to the issue of Jallikattu. To an extent this caused confusion among the protesters and some of them did leave the protest but the determined sections refused to budge. With no intentions to yield anymore to the demands of the protesters beyond the ordinance brought in by the state government and with just few days for the Republic day, with the state ceremonies need to be conducted in the Marina the government forces rushed the protesters to leave during the early hours on 23^rd Jan. The police rejected the requests of the protesters demanding more time to discuss and to obtain legal advice over the state issued ordinance. The state police started the process of forcefully evicting the people who campaigned peacefully and those who resisted the eviction was severely beaten and lathi charged.

The crises of the establishment:

This week long protests and occupation of Marina did raise serious question about the role of state behind these upsurges! There are seasonal politicians and elements in the left framing their perspectives from conspiracies rather than the concrete material conditions thus portraying the state as a principal operator behind these mass outbursts. The arguments to exaggerate the role of state repression as an overwhelming factor against the spontaneous rising of the people are only going to undermine the anti-establishment mood out there. In an oppressive regime the state as an institution is an instrument of repression of the ordinary people but at the same time the state got to stabilise itself in accordance with the balance of forces. In other words the state has to let off the steam of mass upheaval through some outlets! But to portray the hundreds and thousands of students and millions of supporters as puppets with the state performing the act behind the screen is just a poor plotline!

'Particularly Tamil Nadu is politically volatile and the government machinery, the police and intelligence have toughened up during the 2008 and 2013 protests against the Sri Lankan civil war, the war crimes against the Tamils in Sri Lanka and the 2011 anti Kudankulam nuclear power plant protests. Those protests and the ensued disillusionment with the growing levels of unemployment, poverty, and income inequality as direct consequences of neo-liberal policies and financial recession have produced solid conditions for the growing discontent amongst the people. It is not at all surprising to see a lot of students; unemployed graduates are clearly in rage with this capitalist system and the corrupt political outfits!'

There was a clear disregard amongst the demonstrators over Modi and the central government as the impact of demonetisation which took its toll on all layers of the ordinary people and the alarming rate of the farmers’ suicide in Tamil Nadu and particularly in the Cauvery delta region. Days before the Jallikattu issue took off it was the appalling increase in the farmers’ suicide over the crop failure due to a severe drought the administrative mismanagement of the government and the lack of water from Cauvery. There was a wide spread resentment amongst the people in Tamil Nadu with the Cauvery water sharing debacle with the Karnataka where the Supreme court’s directives were consciously ignored by the Karnataka state government with government in the centre turning a blind eye towards it. This sparked off a lot of agitations and protests across Tamil Nadu, furthering the cause of Tamil Nationalism. 

Throughout the political time line of Tamil Nadu there was always an element of high handed approach of the central government over the regional interests of Tamil Nadu back in the days of anti-Hindi imposition agitations and the strong regional sentiments has its legacy rooted in the Dravidian movement led by Periyar.

These dynamics were seriously assaulted with the present BJP government of Modi in the centre and with its authoritarian way of infringing the regional interests with a pan Hindutva nationalist agenda there is a continuing array of attacks over the cultural and the traditional sentiments of the Tamil people. With a string of measures like the New Education Policy, enforcement of NEET exams, etc., the government in centre is enforcing its hegemony over the regional interests. Also after the death of the former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and with the controversies around it there is a sense of powerlessness to uphold regional interests. And when the traditional Tamil festival Pongal was only given a restricted holiday instead of a compulsory holiday it sparked of a huge uproar amidst the Jallikattu issue, and even though this was the case for around the last 15 years[i], and it’s becoming a controversy now, indicate the growing feeling towards the Tamil identity and the increasing bitterness against the centre.

At the same time these eventful political upsurge over the Jallikattu indicates the utter failure of the establishment parties. The protest movement boycotted the intervention of the political parties - shows the distrust and the disillusionment among the youth over the mainstream parties. It’s unfortunate that even the 'so called' communist parties are not looked upon as an alternative and in fact they were considered as partners in crime with those corrupt political parties who were their previous coalition partners.

 At the same time the students and the youth could have made use of the political experiences of activists and non sectarian left and progressive organisations that are in solidarity with the protests and have so far acted upon in the interests of ordinary people. This would have helped the fresh forces of the protests with the much needed political strategies and experience. With a structured organisational committee and a political leadership reflecting the anti establishment aspirations of the protester,  this huge group of young people could have consolidated a state wide strong students and youth movement that could have played a determined role in the present political vacuum.

The Crackdown:

After the forced evacuation of the Marina beach protesters a massive state crackdown is going on in Chennai targeting the ordinary people particularly the fishing communities and the people in the slums nearby Marina who actually safeguarded the protesters against the onslaught! The police forces are vandalising the personal properties of the people. With the mobile phone camera videos it's been splattered all over the social network showing the police apparently pelting stones over the protesters, setting fire on the autos, dwellings, etc. The entire fish market was totally destroyed and many in the nearby fishing communities including women and children were brutally beaten up and the men were detained. These are not just police excess but a conscious exertion by the state to spread terror with intent to shun off any future protests of this nature.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the state police including the Chennai police Commissioner and yet the state is brutally tightening their grips! Even a higher police authority advised the parents to check on the possible influence of radical left groups and progressive activists by going through their mobile phone contacts as they would probably using the prefix 'thozhar' a traditional Tamil expression for Comrade! There are reports with the teaching staffs and faculties been warned by the college management to be watchful of the students for any unusual activities! All this could lead to an assault to the existing democratic space no matter however little already it is!              

Section 144 was imposed in Marina prohibiting all meetings, assemblies, demonstration, etc., in and around Marina.

A step in right direction: 

There were criticisms made against those scores of young people for not rallying for far important issues than Jallikattu! Nevertheless this ban on Jallikattu and the subsequent events flowed from it are just that one high friction which sparked off the youth and the students who then rallied the aspirations of the wider society. On the other hand, the movement is propelled by the conditions of this rotten society and these conditions will remain to trigger huge struggles in the next period!

This massive demonstration in Marina, flooded with the protesting youngsters is changing the disposition of Tamil Nadu politics. There are a lot of senseless controversies going on all over about this. But we got to look into this very fact - that a lot of young people are challenging the governments of the state and the central, and this by itself is a step ahead than what it is used to be!
This upsurge amongst the students and young people are not triggered by a single issue and neither will their consciousness be limited to narrow confines. 

These eventful few weeks in practice provided an enormous material for the youth and students to understand political struggle. For many it was a firsthand experience of state violence and its character. However the lesson that's been learned in this practical process of defying the establishment is here to stay and radicalise this young generation to be a fighting force against the failed system!

It was nevertheless a fantastic learning experience for our comrades in Chennai. We will strive to work with the combative layers of young people who have gathered a lot of political understanding in those few days. Our determined forces of the New Socialist Alternative will continue to build a democratic socialist platform of the students’ activists and campaigners who are reflecting the interests of the ordinary people, socialists, and working class forces to stand up against this decay of capitalist system!

Sajith Attepuram

Podhuvudamai Iyakkam

9094746003

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ஈழத்தமிழ் இனப்படுகொலை - அதன் ஆழம், மற்றும் அதன் சோகம் எனக்கு ஊட்டிய சில வரிகள் . . .

கற்களுக்கு உயிர் கொடுத்து கடவுள் போற்றும் மனிதா!

நீ உணர்விழந்து கல்லாய்ப்போனதை உன் கடவுள் போற்றுமோ?

இங்கே அமைதியென்பது கடவுள் போலில்லா மாயமோ?

அல்லது, சுரண்டப்படும் மனிதம் ஒருங்கிணைந்தால் உருவாகும் மாற்றமோ?

இனி ஒடுக்கப்பட்ட, உரிமையிழந்த வர்க்கம் புதுச் சரிதம் எழுதத்தொடங்குமோ?

இல்லை சதை எரிந்து, உருவழிந்த பிண்டங்கள், முகம் இழந்து போவது ஒரு தொடர்கதையாய் விடுமோ?


- சஜித் அட்டேபுரம்

A sheer power struggle to a non-ideological factional feud & the crisis in the Kerala state unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)!

Factionalism: 

                                                             Not so long after the SNC Lavalin controversy[1] the Kerala unit of the Communist party of India- Marxist (CPI-M) have recently seen new depths in their long running factional struggle after the cold blooded, allegedly political murder of the former CPI (M)party dissenter and the founder leader of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) T.P. Chandrasekharan.  

For nearly a decade, the high profile ‘political factionalism’  in the Kerala state CPI (M) between V. S. Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan, which is in essence a power struggle, have taken its course predominantly to assert their own zone of influence in that supposedly workers’ party. Nonetheless, the thousands of CPI (M) members, cadres and sympathisers were been told otherwise by the popular media and the CPI (M) state and central committee leadership along with their polit-bureau, in their own, unique and consciously misleading ways. The ‘official’ or Pinarayi Vijayan’s faction, the dominant faction in the party versus the V.S. Achuthanandan and his followers is now a wholesome entertainment for most of the politically mindful, Malayali households. The contrasting role and characterisation were been put on to the warring factions by the media, particularly the news channels who are principally sensational rather informational.

Pinarayi Vijayan, currently a politburo member and the state secretary of Kerala State Committee of CPI (M) for a record fourth consecutive time, often dubbed as autocratic by the media and also by the dissenters of the likes of, the late T. P. Chandrasekharan,  a party organiser with strong links among the rank and file of Onchium,  a traditional CPI (M) stronghold  known for its  bloodshed history of class struggles and uprisings. On the other hand V.S. Achuthanandan, a veteran politician, founder member of the CPI (M),  was the Secretary of the Kerala State Committee between 1980 and 1992 and since 1985 he is the member of the CPI (M) Polit Bureau, re-elected again recently in 2008, at the 19th Congress Coimbatore, until  June 2009, when he was removed from Polit Bureau, during the SNC Lavalin controversy row, as the comments passed by V.S. Achuthanandan were not towing up with the official party line of CPI (M) leadership, to completely defend Pinarayi Vijayan  against the SNC Lavlin corruption allegations.

This article will from now purposefully avoid duplicating the efforts of the mainstream media in just simply reporting the ongoing events of the split and will also reflect on the objective causes behind these crises in a workers’ party which are based on distorted as well as a crude understanding of Marxism along with a dogmatic approach regarding the course of the class struggle obviously inheriting the Stalinist legacy from the Communist Party of India (CPI) from which the CPI (M) split during 1964.  If we analyse the nature and the elements of the split, the feud between the two factions and the ongoing  crises in the CPI(M), it is apparent that they are not rooted on any ideological or theoretical basis and also not even in the programmes or the policy line of the party to start with.

The ideological dimensions like democratic centralism including the popped up factors of morality like anti corruption which were championed  in a well orchestrated way by V.S. Achuthanandan, and the importance of party discipline put forth by the ‘dominant’ Pinarayi faction, are all cropping up as the consequence of the power struggle and for  political returns.  In actual fact, following the death of the then party secretary Chadayan Govindan in 1998, Pinarayi Vijayan was appointed to that post as a nominee of V.S.Achuthanandan, who himself was a secretary of the Kerala State Committee between 1980 and 1992.

This less tortuous and straighter forward course of the split though traces itself markedly during 2005, the CPI (M) members who were considered sided along with Achuthanandan, including S.Sarma and M. Chandran, have been dropped from the CPI (M) secretariat in Kerala, constituted after the State party conference in Malappuram.  Around a dozen of Achuthanandan’s clique lost the election to the state committee after provoking the leadership by contesting. Pinarayi Vijayan has also removed Achuthanandan of his post as editor of the party newspaper, Desabhimani, the third-largest daily in Kerala, a very influential party responsibility. The split and the allegations of factional activities was not only reviewed by the State committee lead by Pinarayi Vijayan, but was also acknowledged by the organisational report at the 18th CPI (M) party congress expressing “serious concern at the persisting disunity and factional tendencies in Kerala,”.

Polarisation between the factions were becoming more apparent, as Pinarayi Vijayan, the shrewd political organiser, successfully exerted his power of influence with the help of his strong hold in Kannur district, considered as CPI(M) bastion in the Malabar region in Northern Kerala. Pinarayi faction dominated Kerala state party apparatus, and subsequently the CPI (M) politbureau leadership decided not to field V.S. Achuthanandan for the 2006 Kerala Assembly elections.  Strangely enough, those who are aware of Kerala politics knew without any qualms that V.S. Achuthanandan was widely considered by that time as a chief minister in ‘waiting’, even from 1996, although the media was consistently parodying his unsuccessful attempts for the chief minster post, mainly because of him loosing the 1996 assembly election in Mararikkulam[2], a CPI (M) stronghold. Suspicions of Pinarayi faction architected that extraordinary electoral upset did arise.

Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan, popularly called V .S., not only commands cadre loyalty at the grassroots but also have a great support from the people, which he accumulated during his tenure as the leader of opposition particularly during 2001-2006, during which he was clearly seen donning the cap of an anti corruption crusader, consciously flaunted his clean personal image while he was sternly exposing the scandalous United Democratic Front (UDF) government of Kerala.

Even during his Chief ministerial tenure, V.S.Achuthanandan was perceived fighting corruption, scams and scandals both in the society and within the party itself, which apparently have not left the kind of void for that Anna Hazare and his popular right wing backed anti corruption campaign enjoyed elsewhere in India. His confrontation of the global monopolies like Coke and Microsoft, forcing the corruption ridden and corporate friendly government in the centre for a nationwide ban on endosulfan pesticide, have all garnered V.S.Achuthanandan popular support among the rank and file of the party and the people alike.

The factionalism was given an ideological element, by the media and the public, as it was more than obvious to them from various allegations on the ‘official’ or the ‘Pinarayi faction’ of the CPI (M) Kerala state unit, including flaunting a reformist agenda, supporting corporate interests , globalisation and neo-liberal policies. In effect the businesses ventures owned by the CPI (M) is functioning no different other the capitalists owned initiatives. The business empire owned by CPI(M) worth RS. 4000 crores, which incorporate amusement Parks, TV Channels, rubber cooperatives – allegedly funded from foreign capital, super-specialty hospitals, supermarkets and IT parks. These explicit moves towards neo- liberalism are a thorn in the flesh of many party loyalists especially among the rank and file and also among the old guards, high up in the party ranks. V.S. Achuthanandhan and his in-group deemed widely as old guards never ignored any opportunities especially from the news channel media to tactfully, discredit the ‘Pinarayi’ faction of corruption or of ‘revisionism’. Prof MN Vijayan, the former President of the pro CPI (M) organisations like Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham (Progressive Association for Art and Letters) and Adhinivesha Prathirodha Samithi (Council for Resisting Imperialist Globalisation), criticised the prominent members of the ‘Pinarayi’ faction in the CPI(M) openly of social democratic deviation and also of diluting the party’s class character.

On the other hand, V.S. Achuthanadan was the party State secretary in the 1980 -92, the longest tenure in that office, till recently when Pinarayi Vijayan surpassed it. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala, have in fact pointed out the various allegations of political murders stemmed up in the CPI (M)are during the 1980’s. Recently in a political meeting, the Idukki CPI (M) district secretary M.M. Mani declared publicly (In front of the media) the list of 13 persons to be killed was arranged by the party during the early 1980s and also acknowledged that out of them three were killed. Nevertheless, a fragment of the prevailing rumours still uphold that this could be a desperate attempt of the opposing Pinarayi faction to discredit the image of V.S.

However all of those attempted and executed political murders do reveal a rogue trend which would potentially alienate them from the people.  Encouraging the use of violence for plain political gains and repression of dissidents were all the indications of an active process of further degeneration in this so called workers’ party.

Not many have to dump themselves in to the archives to prove the existence of the trend where the individual power struggle developing into factional infighting regrettably in a workers’ party. Working class activism is not about the concentration of political power and influence but taking up the roles and responsibilities to represent the needs of the ordinary working people and toilers, with a true sense of solidarity and Comradeship.  We can only speculate that the power struggle, if there was anything else behind the expulsion of K.R.Gowri Amma, a prominent women leader of CPI (M), the Revenue Minister in the government 1957, headed by E. M. S. Namboodiripad (EMS) of the undivided Communist party (CPI).  The pinnacle behind political legend of K.R.Gowri Amma, a well known conspiracy of that time, is the lost opportunity of the chief ministerial post to E.K.Nayanar. The longest serving Chief Minister of Kerala, E.K.Nayanar was in fact supported by the strong Malabar lobby and was capable of manoeuvring the power clutches of the party. This was also contemplated as one the reasons behind Gowri Amma’s disenchantment with the CPI(M) leadership and her eventual ousting from the party in 1994, who then floated her own party Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy (Association for Defence of Democracy), only to join the right wing United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance.

The crisis in Kerala State unit of CPI(M): 

The uninterrupted expulsions of members on charges of anti party activities does not reveal clearly the underlying causes or reasons behind the expulsions of very experienced members of the CPI (M). This leaves us wondering how the CPI (M) members like M.V.Raghavan, was a prominent CPI(M) leader; Sindhu Joy,  was the party district committee member and former Students' Federation of India State president;  Abdulla Kutty, was a CPI(M) Member of Parliament  for Kannur Lok Sabha constituency of Kerala, all of those who are climbed up in party organisational structures, many of them who spent a substantial portion of their lives representing CPI(M), could then join the right wing United Democratic Front (UDF), evidently collaborating against the class interests for which they seemingly have struggled for all their lives. In fact A. P. Abdullakutty, expressed an opinion against the industrial action of the workers, therefore attacking the important rights of workers including the right to withdraw their labour, an awful criticism from the leader of the so called workers’ party. It also questions the basic functioning of the largest and influential workers’ party in India, which is to empower and educate their members to be the revolutionary organisers and the teachers of the working people –the proletariat. The recent expulsion of the high ranking CPI(M) members and the following shameful defection to the United Democratic Front (UDF) either by forming their own party, or directly joining in one of the parties of the UDF itself was appalling not only to the rank and file of the CPI(M) but also to the workers and farmers in general, leaving them disillusioned and thereby creating a space, where the reactionary and communal political forces could foster.

In the 2011 assembly elections, one of the closely contested elections in Kerala, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a political outfit with reactionary leadership based on pro Muslim communal politics, bagged 20 seats causing an electoral upset in many of the crucial seats of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) of which the CPI(M) is the leading entity. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) won the majority of its seats from the Malappuram district, a Muslim majority district in Kerala.

In Neyyattinkara, the 2012 assembly by election, held recently due to the resignation of the CPI (M) R. Selvaraj from his Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) post, after surprisingly winning that seat from the Congress. R. Selvaraj also resigned his membership on the CPI(M) district committee, only to be expelled from the primary membership of the party. He then joined the Indian National Congress and contested on the Hand symbol, subsequently winning the by elections to become the United Democratic Front (UDF) MLA of Neyyattinkara. However, the by-election results also showed the growing support for Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate O. Rajagopal.  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), again a reactionary political force with its roots organisations embedded in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) which are organisations advocating Hindu fundamentalism.  

Stalinism:

The factions and the crises in the CPI-M are gushing out like always from the logic of the objective situation, which is the adherence of CPI(M) to the Stalinist legacy it carried on from the Communist party of India (CPI) – at an early stage aspired to be a workers’ party. After the Stalinist influence and the control of the Comintern in the mid and the late 1920’s onwards, CPI was devoted itself to the two stage theory/ stagism unyieldingly since their course of action was dictated by the despotic Stalinist leadership in Moscow. Stalinism, a gross deviation from Marxism, espoused the stage theory importantly to safeguard the interests of the bureaucracy to anchor itself in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was evolved from the 1917 October revolution when workers’ took power, a magnificent event in the history of human kind. Socialism, in which an important element is the workers’ taking control of production and distribution, was distorted by the rise of Stalinist bureaucracy. Stalinism, which had risen into prominence due to the objective circumstances eventually lead to widespread persecution of dissidents, including the assassination of many Bolshevik leaders including Leon Trotsky, who along with Vladimir Lenin provided theoretical and organisational leadership to the October Revolution of 1917.

The theory of socialism in one country, betraying the internationalist spirit of the Marxism, persecution of the dissidents, lack of democratic centralism, parliamentarianism, non ideological factionalism and even the power struggle are all the symptoms or outcome of stagism, the essence of Stalinism. The mainstream workers’ parties in India, the CPI and CPI (M) are all based on the frame work of the two stage theory advocating the necessity of a bourgeois (capitalist) democracy before moving to a socialist stage set into somewhere in the distant future. Consequently their programs and understanding of class struggle and their collaboration with bourgeois parties like Indian National Congress and other regional parties in India. Thus the CPI & CPI (M) both have not only failed to provide a genuine socialist alternative but they are completely succumbing to the short fall of the parliamentary system, which is all about  the influential  posts, seat sharing and gradually integrating themselves with the ruling class, and slowly getting alienated from the ordinary working people. Stalinist legacy have also taken the toll of independent trade unionism and student activism in India as the most prominent trade unions and student unions today are the fronts of the CPI (M) and CPI.

The dynamics of this present crisis and factionalism in CPI (M) are on the foundational basis of stagism. Therefore to adopt bourgeoisie democracy and the consequential emphasis on parliamentary mudslinging politics, instead of organising workers, agricultural workers and peasants and van guarding them for a socialist society. The mainstream media and the public portray CPI (M) cadres being involved by the leadership in what is being mentioned as ‘organised crime’ to purely safeguard its power relations and electoral influence, again a consequence of its perverse theoretical orientation which is conveniently called by the party members and the media for their own interests and purposes as ‘Marxist’. Events like ruthless killing of former CPI(M) party member and Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T.P. Chandrasekharan conform the line of action often.

On April 11, 1964, 32 Council members at a CPI National Council meeting, walked out in protest, accusing then CPI Chairman Shripad Amrit Dange, a Stalinist hardliner and his supporters of "anti-unity and anti-Communist policies. V S Achuthanandan, one of those 32 council members recently said ‘ Pinarayi Vijayan will meet Dange's fate’. What V.S. failed to mention was how these S.A. Danges’ are evolved and how these Stalinist parties including the CPI (M) are increasingly becoming irrelevant in the lives of ordinary working people, farmers and students.

  

                                                                                                                         

We need

• - A new workers party accountable to its rank and file, with its programs and policies based on transitional demands for a socialist society under the control of agricultural and industrial working people.

• - Independent trade unions and student unions.

foot note

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[1] A scam related to the contracting of the government and the Canadian firm SNC Lavalin for the renovation of

hydro electric power stations of Kerala, in Pallivasal (37.5 mw), Sengulam (48 mw) and Panniar (30 mw).The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India reported that Kerala state had lost Rs 374.5 crore in the deal with Lavalin.

[2] Mararikulam is a beach village in the district of Alappuzha, in Kerala.

The Corporate media in India

"Just a few years ago, the corporate media houses, including the multinational news corporations in India were euphoric of the so called ‘growth’ of our economy and were celebrating Ambani’s, Tata’s and the other modern lords of Indian capitalism. An average Indian or “aam adami” was influenced by this gold rush which was very obviously accessible for the privileged corporate at the expenses of the vast majority of our hard working people. 

The share market was forced into the drawing rooms of those average Indian families who after paying a substantial amount of their income to their family health care, their children’s education and for the perpetually inflated food and fuel prices, were looking forward to make savings (with the obvious lack of adequate social security measures). The ordinary public were constantly exposed to the surging Sensex and have been shown the lucrative rising profits by buying and selling shares rather than their conventional ways of saving money by investing in  gold or other properties or even depositing them safely in a bank for low interest rates off course. The stories of those who lost money in the stock markets perhaps not sensational and rewarding enough for the corporate media to follow through."

"Corporate media" is termed to refer the system of mass media production, distribution, ownership, and funding which is dominated by corporations and big businesses with a motive to make profit. In simpler words, the accumulating money of huge proportions, in a corporate scale by making and selling News or information.

Traditionally the popular media like news paper, magazines, Radio and Television broadcast was controlled both by private and public or state entities, a lot according to the type of economy; in a closed economy where usually the state or the public sector play an important role and subsequently their strong influence obviously due to their ownership of the Media. Quite similarly in an open economy, the crystal clear influence of private ownership in the media and in a mixed economy both the public and private media exist together often serving their own interests which frequently reflect through their selection of news and equally important the distortion of news.

The printing press dating back to the Holy Roman Empire around the midst of the 15^th century enabled the spread of Renaissance and triggered the democratization of knowledge and the Enlightenment or Age of Reason. The printing press also set off and revolutionised the production and the concept of daily news papers and in its very beginning the news papers were mostly owned privately and was circulated within the establishment network consisting rulers, their associates and the other privileged like the traders, merchants, industrialists and the intellectuals often from a wealthy background. Nevertheless, as the widespread availability of the printing press and the following mass production of newspapers in reduced costs resulted into a wider circulation among the public.

The printing press were often privately owned in the beginning and hence the news papers. The published news was duly selected to representing the interests of the socio economically powerful groups and frequently took a conciliatory approach towards the establishment henceforth reinforcing them. Lucrative markets were created for sensational news and celebrities were created by the sensational news for it to thrive. Science, technology and industrialisation poured in the other sources of mass media including radio, Television, internet and its online literatures.

The political bias that was inherent within the mass media has hardly changed in its fundamentals, even in this modern information age. The much researched account of Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky’s “Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988)”, employs the propaganda model, analyses the mass media- the news media in particular- and reveals that the multimillion corporate possessed news communication media, the press, radio and television are profit oriented businesses subject to commercial competition for advertising revenue and profit.  Manufacturing consent uses the terms “distortion” or “editorial bias” as an inherent part of the news reportage. The news that are being reported and also how they are being reported are all direct outcomes of the profit motives, commercial interests of those big media moguls’ and the level of its dependency over the involved parties in the news reportage.  There are also state-owned or more likely state oppressed media institutions that serve the role of the propagandist for the government/ state policies and also fulfil their need for public relations. 

It is often a Good News Procuring Practice to analyse the various stakeholders or the interest groups involved in any particular bit of news of your concern. Corporate and big businesses are funding the corporate media in India like anywhere in the present world. Therefore the news would be obviously biased towards their interests. In other words, this would encourage the corporate media, to spread the news to favourable to the privately owned big business corporations and multinationals which would be justifying privatisation of the Indian state owned companies, deregulation of petrol prices, showcasing luxury goods in the news channels, selecting and deselecting the news according to the interests of those big businesses; and above all, lobbying among the millions of households for the interests of the very tiny minority of those rich and powerful people.

Free, politically neutral and non biased Mass media is essential for a healthy and transparent democracy, from which the society could achieve the change and development in both political and socio-economic relations. The mass media could only be independent when it is publically owned under democratic workers’ control and also in the control of a wider community with the procurement of news to be more decentralised where the concept of the freedom of the press holds any meaning. Only then it could be the media of the masses.  

-Sajith Attepuram

The Public health crisis in India . . .

During the 2011 budget, when the IndianGDP is estimated to increase by 37% from 2009-10 to 2011-12 the allocation for the health ministry for the various public health oriented national disease control and prevention programmes has gone down by 14%.The Indian ruling class regardless of the political parties they represent are only concerned in their vested interests which could retain them in power. The vast majority national and regional political parties have always achieved unity in their diversities in ignoring the interests of the people who elected them and further exploiting them to be in power and enjoy the privileges of power.

The very notion of Universal healthcare in India is a cruel laugh at the vast majority of its people, where the so called free and universal health infrastructure provided by the government is underfunded, understaffed, undersupplied with medicines and surgical equipments. The hospital beds to patient ratio, doctors to patient ratio, hospitals to patient ratio and the government funding to the extent of our population are all far less from the minimum standards set up by the international regulating bodies.The inadequacy of our government health care system is appalling and forcing even those who cannot afford to pay for their healthcare at the doors of the private health care providers. The average spending by ordinary people for procuring medical care in hospitals is already a large percentage of their earnings when compared toseveral other parts of the world and continuously increasing and is worse in rural areas. The irony of the more poverty stricken and impoverished people in the remote villages and rural areas to pay more for their healthcare as there is a general lack of government healthcare provisioning system and the private healthcare provides are obviously located in well affluent urban areas is a classic example of inverse care law, characterised by health inequalities which is a direct outcome of socio economic inequalities.

Public health care plays a very important role especially in the circumstances of prevailing health inequalities and this drastically inadequate health care provisioning system. Although public health care which is about prevention and control of disease, increasing quantity and quality of life and promoting health is definitely not a replacement for provisioning health care in the following levels:

-           Primary level by the general medical doctor and general dentist and other health care professionals, who not only act as a first point of consultation for all patients within the existing health care systems, like the primary health care centres and private medical clinics etc., but also provide routine check-up, diagnosis and also provide early consultation thus contributing to the prevention of disease or disease progression.

-          Secondary level of healthcare provided by the medical specialists like cardiologists, dermatologists etc., who do not have first contact with the patients. The secondary care also involves acute care and emergency care.

-          Tertiary care is again specialised health care dealing with long time inpatient treatment of chronic diseases like cancer. It also involves rehabilitation and restoration of the functions hampered by the disease progression.

Nevertheless Public health plays an important part in enhancing the quantity and quality of life by emphasising prevention and promoting health. During the First International Conference on Health Promotion, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and held in Ottawa, Canada, in November 1986,Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion was signed as an international agreement which apart from setting up sweeping goals to achieve “Health For All”. Itis about the World Health Organization's foremost health care approach to promote health and enhance the quality of human life. Ottawa Charter clearly identifies important areas for health promotion which are:

• -          Building healthy public policy
• -          Create supportive environments
• -          Strengthening community action
• -          Developing personal skills
• -          Re-orientating health care services toward prevention of illness and promotion of health.

To frame a healthy public policy, to create supportive environments like public parks, fitness and sports centres etc., to engage in communities to identify their health priorities subsequently enable and empower them to fulfil their health needs, to educate individuals to fulfil their health requirements and finally diverting more resources into prevention and disease control, all of these needs heavy investments. A radical budget allocation into public health care is vital. The recent budget allocations for healthcare particularly public healthcare, which is a meagre 1.4% of India’s GDP, itself, prove that the government have no serious intentions to reverse the present health care system of India. The low budgetary spending in public health care would also ensure the continuation of substandard delivery along with increasing inadequacy to meet the healthcare demands of a growing population. At the same time it also enables the exploitative private health sector to establish itself.  The health care services in the second largest populated country are already in the radar of global business corporations as an industry worth 40 billion US dollars and projected to grow exponentially.

Apart from Kerala, majority of the regional governments have so far consistently smeared the already abused pages of the Indian constitution which declares that "raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties". The insensitivity of the government policies regarding public health care is not only due to the lack of political will but it is how a vast majority of ruling governments operate throughout the world until they face a mass resistance from ordinary working people and youth. This could possibly be demonstrated in the states of India itself. Organised working people and educated, socially aware young people and also their political consciousness are all reasons for the high human development index and life expectancy seen in Kerala.

It is important to identify and consider the fact that the past and present governments have been consistently considering social spending as an unnecessary burden but vital tool for electoral politics. We expect a radical approach from the government towards public health care.  We need an independent and democratic fact finding commission to precisely estimate the amount of funding required fulfilling the health care demand of our people and the government should at once initiate the allocation of funding according to the health care needs of the people. Sadly the mainstream political parties and the big businesses have different plans. Hence the need is a political, socio economic alternative and a true working class alternative.