bengal civic elections

i think there is a oppurtunity coming again to us to 'look within'. you can go in to the naming games by calling our enimies 'facists, goons, imperialists, etc.' the fact is our constituents namely the working class, the small peasentry, the tribals and the minority are angry at us, they are out to teach us a lesson.

only people who are blind can ignore this verdict.

we have to openly come out with a corrected development agenda. our industrialisation policy has be squarely rejected. our land aquisition drive has been rejected.

our conduct of unilaterally taking decisions on behalf of the left front and the people of bengal has been rejected.

we have to correct it. we have to make it known, not secretly within the party forums

but openly infront of the people.

now we come across as an isulated entity. come what may what we say is correct. the votes, verdict are because of the 'misguided' people led by propoganda. this makes people more angry at us.

we should apolozise openly where ever necessary. for example the rizwanur case, the firing in nandigram, the torture of tribal women in lalgarh, the non implementation of ngrea in the state, the low participation of the minority in govt services etc.

the tribals celebrating when breaking down the only bunglow in the area of com? anooj pandey has to be interpreted in the right perspective.

generally it is perceived that the armed state police, the crpf and the anti maoist special forces went into lalgarh not to establish the law of the land but to protect the cadres of the cpm.

our comrades inside the party should expose comrades? like laxman seth and anooj pandey.

heads should roll who were responsible for the misjudging the cases i have mentioned above.

the heads should include the party authorities and the administrative authorities.

time is running out...

or you can always blame the burgeous press, the fascists, the imperialists, the cia, al-queda,the goons and the under armed cadres of the cpm for the defeat.

i did not mention the capitalists, since it is percieved they are on the side of the cpm.

then the way out is clear, a civil war but this time only between workers, only between peasents, only within common people.

i hope this time we don't lose the oppurtunity to look within. the c.c report is a good begining.

i read a disturbing news.

tamilnadu.

the workers, the govt employees and the minorities did not vote for us.

because of our alliance with jayalalitha.

the majority of the state committee was against the alliance. it was the insistance from the polit buerau that they finally gave in.

if it is true. then democratic centralism is centralistic democracy. its dangerous.

please comment.

regards

prakash kutty.

the role of the left in controlling violence

i have no illusions about the class charecter of tmc. i am very clear why they are doing this.

i have repeatedly argued our main political fight is to isolate our enimies the tmc, the congress and the maoists.

for this we have to win back our main constituency namely the working class, the small peasentry and the tribals on our side.

many comrades like saibal have given constructive suggestions on the issue.

the two trends emerging to solve the attacks on our cadres are

the police would deal with it.

arm our cadres in self defence and we can handle on our own.

i think both would meet with limited success.

to say the police are defying the orders of the home ministry, if so somebody should say this...

if not, we should accept the failure of the home ministry to protect the cadres of cpm and also the could not act against the police officers who tortured the women in lalgarh. correct me if i am wrong no police officer has be punished for the blunders they committed in nandigram firing, the rizwanur case, the lalgarh interrogation excesses.

when i said the roles have reversed. what i meant was the way we have conducted our selves we have lost the trust of many small peasents, workers and tribals. there is a perception that we are acting as estate agents of salim and tata.

if you see the election propoganda of tmc it looks more left than the left.

this doesnot mean i am saying tmc is left. they are simply hijacking the left agenda.

nobody has to convince me about the class charecter or intentions of the tmc. but they have been successfull in hijacking the left agenda in a big way against the OFFICIAL left forces.

we were not seen as being sensitive to the doubts the small peasentry in nandigram had about the land aquisition for saleem group. certainly people like laxman seth acted in a very high handed manner. the party did not punish him publicly. i think he was given a ticket in the recent elections. if that is true it was like endorsing what he did in nandigram.

we were already on a shaky wicket in the rizwannur case. the higher ups in the police were seen to working at the behest of the girls father who happens to be a big industrialist.

singur we were seen bending backwards to make tata happy. the tmc was able to create an atmosphere of mistrust by saying the land on the opposite side of the highway belonged to a developer close to the cpm.

although we were able to convince the larger part of the farmers to give away land to the tatas a small section were still unconvinced.

there was confusion when the cm said the farmers would be given land with in the plant.

tatas contradicted by saying they were not consulted and said it cannot happen.

cm had to take back the words.

it looked like tata is calling the shots. we are just estate agents for them.

tatas looked in no mood to make any adjustments.

we have to understand in all the three cases, we were seen as siding with the so called class enimies.

we were not seen as natural leaders of the working class but collaboraters of the capitalists and industrialists.

in case of lalgarh. sorry to say we have to defend people like annoj pandey.

lumpen elements have crept into the party. they have to identified, isolated and eliminated(politica lly and organisationally)

this can be done with very agressive inner party democracy.

leninist party principle is democratic centralism and not centralistic democracy.

unfortunately only centralism is emphasised now a days.

i don't have any illusion on bringing about a revolution by the ballot. i would support all the comrades about their strategy to arm our cadres in self defence in all the states other than the states where we are at the helm of the home ministry.

i would not forget chile or the recent expt in nepal which failed. let me be very clear i am not a euro communist.

i had written before the elections about over emphasis on elections and electoral alliances. i had called it palatial politics.

we need to re enforce our class conciousness within our party.

but to hide our deficiencies and failures of the home ministry and justify arming our comrades is pure dishonesty.

i am very positive and happy about the analysis of the central committee for the election failure. they have identified the right problems. i hope it gets implemented. i am hopefull.

the situation in 77 was very different. now we are fighting the tmc which is not overtly seen as supporting the fuedal landlords or the capitalists. there support base is our support base. there agenda is our agenda. they have hijacked it.

so in case of nandigram small peasents of the cpm were fighting the small peasents but lead by our class enemy the tmc.

in case of singur the small peasents led by the tmc and the ngos were fighting the cpm cadres belonging to small peasentry.

in case of rizwanur who was an ordinary man belonging to the minority community went missing. people came on the streets, people from minority community who have sided by us for last 30 years.

in all the three cases we were seen as siding with the capitalists.

i am optimistic. the party has identified the mistakes. atleast in the case of bengal. i doubt in case of kerala.

we should not hesitate to admit the mistakes publicly. apolozise if necessary. this would build a trust amongst our lost constituency.

then and only then we can isolate and eliminate our enemy both politically and administratively.

we shall overcome

regards

prakash kutty.

in response to trinamool maoist violence.

sorry i am going to earn a lot of wrath for my response.

i completely disagree with your method of dealing with the situation.

this is in context of where we are in power.

the law of the land should prevail. we should have the best police force in the country. what would help in our case is the local intelligence would be very strong. the anti-social elements(belonging to any party) should be brought to the notice of the police.

the police should be trained exclusively to deal with mass agitations which are often provocative to violence.

the police should be trained exclusively to deal with insurgency by militant groups.

the police should be made SENSITIVE to common peoples problems.

now situation is all the sections of the society including the ruling party cadres have lost faith in the home ministry.

everybody having a gun would not make bengal more secure. more weapons on either side would make the matters worse.

what is important is make the police force most effective.

it is laudable the way they have conducted the lalgarh operation.

they should eliminate all the private weapons be it with any party activists.

only then there is some hope.

same applies to kerala, specially in the cannannore and talashery areas.

complete deweaponisation of the area is the only way forward.

the home ministry is inexusible if the weapons are found in any house belonging to a worker of any party.

sorry i had written when post godhra riots happened.

vajpayee, advani, and modi should have gone to godhra and said very agressively" THE LAW OF THE LAND WOULD PREVAIL. THE CULPRITS WHO HAVE COMMITTED THE GHASTLY ACT AT GODHRA STATION ON THE SABARMATI EXPRESS WOULD BE HUNTED DOWN AND PUNISHED. NO REVENGE ON THE BASIS OF RELIGION SHOULD HAPPEN."

opposite happened...modi asked his party men to take private revenge...asked the police to collaborate or stay silent in the carnage that happenned.

a irreparable damage occurred after the riots.

nandigram.

the home ministry blundered umpteen times in handling the situation. it didnot protect the cpm cadres from trinamood/maoist goons. they had to stay in refugge camps nearby.

the failure of the administration was overrcome with the party.

the party went and 'recaptured' nandigram. there were victory rallies everywhere.

the 'victory' or 'recapture' of nandigram was the biggest defeat of the home ministry.

and the home minister replied 'we gave them back in the same coin'.

you have seen the effect.

i know i would be branded as an arm chair marxist, middle class, reviosinist etc.

i can't help.

give an open slogan'

NOBODY carrying a weapon would be spared.

see the difference.

regards

prakash kutty.

"I would like my comrades to remember that during the early days of land distribution in West Bengal, it is the Party cadres also who took hold of above-ceiling lands, guarded that land day and night with sticks to prevent it from getting further recaptured, and established people's holdings on those lands. It is with that revolutionary discretion such operation was undertaken by the Party cadres. Today, it is with that revolutionary spirit CPI(M) cadres-supporters should prevent the physical annihilation of the Party."

this situation can be termed the same now. the roles are reversed. say in nandigram and then in singur and in lalgarh.

its very easy to say we fight with committed comrades and they fight with hired goons.

its sad we don't realise its our base which is now with 'them'.

there is severe erosion of support for our party within the working class and the small peasentry.

just because our name is communist party doesnot mean we are the natural leaders of the proletariat class. we have to behave like one.

we are not behaving like one.

i am loosing my patience.

our role should be in protecting our cadres. but how many of us spoke when tribals were tortured. how many of us spoke for the farmers who were shot dead by the police. how many of us stood by the side of the small farmers when they were fighting for their land.

we could have spoken atleast within our party fora.

my point is for me every oppressed person who is fighting for his right deserves our support.

unfortunately...its all power to the people..to.. all power to the soviets..to all power to the party...to...all power to the secretary.

the dilution is on.

within the party fora i did protest over the police firing in nandigram. the way in which the land aquisition drive was undertaken in nandigram and singur.

i was not silent then, i am not silent now.

after 33 years of administration and to say all the rhetoric of state and the police and the bureaucracy would never be accountable.

its a failure of home ministry. accept it. correct it.

don't hide behind the rhetoric of state repression.

it is politically naive to compare the situation in bengal to the spanish revolution and then to all the other struggles where we had to take weapons.

all this is to hide the failure of the home ministry. nothing else. it is shame full the way police conducted themselves in nandigram. then during the investigations on the assisination attempt on the chief minister. and then when the maoist started attacking cpm workers.

as per the thread there are two kinds of revolutioneries one the vocal (real ones) and the other the silent (collaboraters).

my problem with the self declared vocal revolutioneries is they have woken up only now when our comrades are getting attacked.

i would like all of them to be vocal also when ordinary workers or farmers are attacked.

if all of us would have been vigilant towards the revisions taking place within the party and its actions. things would not have reached this point.

i never said it is a law and order problem.

i said we have to recognize our mistakes. our alienation from our constituency;namely the working class and the small peasantry and the tribals.

we have to isolate our enemies from our constituents. we have to win them over.

we are perceived as estate agents of tata and the salim group. this has to be corrected.

i have strong reservations on the word 'resistance' the way it is been used here.

it is very short sighted. and it is a never ending cycle.

the problem is when somebody says the problem should be tackled administratively. he is a traitor. he is politically naive.

if somebody says the problem should be tackled politically. he is again a traitor. becaused it is already presumed he is/was silent when our comrades were getting murdered.

the only people who support armed resistance against the trinamool are the legitimate revolutioneries.

i am sorry to say the line between maoists and us is getting blurred that way.

i also would like to add the kejuri armed recapture of nandigram was a FAILURE. the cannore expt is a failure.

lalgarh expt is a success till now.

in my opinion.

politically

we need to win over our constituents on an urgent basis.

for this we have to adress their grievences.

apologise for our mistakes.

com saibal had some very good points to make.

we should take very visible steps in expelling the careerists in the party.

the lumpen elements within the party should be isolated.

INCLUSIVE developmental programmes should be undertaken.

administratively.

complete deweaponisation of bengal.

declare " anybody in possession of weapons would not be spared"

police would be trained to deal with provocative (violent) agitations. they would be trained to tackle insurgency operations.

they would never fire upon agitating farmers or workers, be it of any hue.

these are some of the points i think can address the problems.

regards.

prakash kutty.

letter to sudheendra kulkarni

adressed to sudheendra kulkarni.

hi,
i don't know, whether you would remember me...any way...a very candid and frank article.(tehelka)
you are at a very important position in the party, a very important constituent of the think tank of the bjp. is it not possible to make a very detailed constructive road map for India's development and future polity. 
bring that paper into the open.
let every body across the political spectrum react.
we are a success full democracy. even i am proud of that. we need to become a mature democracy, which i suspect we are not.
the political campaign of all the parties, this time the left included did not differ on developmental, ideological or programmatic issues. every political formation was just reacting to other one's allegations.
i happen to read the manifesto of 'new labor' for the last two elections led by tony Blair.. i disagreed on a lot of points. but the details of the road map for development is so specific, it gives enough space for debate.
here you have a opportunity to write down every details that you plan to do in next five years. in the Field of education, specifically primary, secondary, higher education. your policy regarding specialised education. the role of the private sector in these various Fields of education.. how it would vary. for e.g. govt would take the entire burden of elementary education. private sector would be encouraged in higher education and specialised education. what would be the controls on private sector participation.
health
what would be the density proportion of speciality hospitals as per the population. how is it going to change during next five years. the waiting list of cancer patients to be operated is for e.g six months would get reduced to 3 months. new cancer hospitals would be opened at how many destinations.
primary care centers. density in proportion to population also in proportion to no. of villages. doctors passing mbbs have to go to villages as interns irrespective of passing out from private or government medical college.
private participation? if yes what would be the controls. 
how about private participation in govt hospitals. what controls?
water
potable water density proportion; both in terms of population and in terms of no of villages. how is it going to be achieved.
pds
it is the most important point to be implemented.
i feel the bpl cards were a major failure. the most important portfolio should be created for pds. 
it is like a management nightmare. successive govts have just  given lip service to pds.
for any economic reform in a longer run to succeed, economic support for the most downtrodden have to taken in deep earnest.
for e.g. take a small district. may be ruled by the bjp. 
give the management to one of the retired civil servants.
i have been a part of grahak panchayat. we buy our monthly groceries from them. our nearby relatives also buy from grahak. it is run  by sympathisers of the parivar.
they run it very efficiently.
if pds succeeds any economic reform can be 'tolerrable'
electricity
how many villages would be electrified in five years. what would be the mode of electrification in (mw). how many mw through hydro electiciy, how many through nuclear, windmill, solar etc.
private participation? how much? controls?
agriculture
i feel agriculture has got a raw deal all through. agriculture is only used to feed the cities. no controls should be effective on pricing of agricultural product when buying it from the farmer. we have a tendency to keep the rate of the agricultural product artificially low. which should be rejected.
the role of the middle men should be made negligible...
i wanted to write more. but may be it is irrelevant.
i am not a well wisher of the bjp. i find it to be a very arrogant party. very similar to the left. 
the similarities between nandigram and gujrat i feel is the failure of 'leadership'.
atalji, advani and modi could have all gone to godhra after the burning alive of 83 passengers in sabarmati express. three leaders addressing the country in one voice.
'with all the forces at our disposal,with all the intelligence we have, we would see to it, the gory culprits would be punished. what happened on the train is unpardonable, but we cannot allow another unpardonable act to be committed as a revenge. don't worry, there is no need for  any apprehension in the minds of anybody, be it hindu or muslim. no body would be hurt, the law of the land would prevail. the security of every human being, their valuable property to be protected, be it hindu or muslim is the responsibility of the govt. the chief minister of Gujarat, the home minister of India, the prime minister of the nation.'
 just imagine, the impact it would have had on the political Psyche of Gujarat, of the nation.
same happened in nandigram. where the home minister acted as a cpm cadre.
in both respects there was a chance for the 'leadership' to stand tall and come out of the shadow of the their own constituencies namely Hindu/ cpm. they failed, and badly. 
advaniji did it when akhardham happened, but it was too late. the damage has already been done. but akshardham showed it can be done.
i started writing this because i found a streak of accomodativeness in your article. 
met dr.kishore khillare the other day... he had come home... he took your no. 
i wanted a favour. if you have a copy of glasnost and perestroika, i would like to borrow it for reading...
regards
prakash kutty.

  

lavleen case and cpm

i would have been proud if com vijayan would have taken the path of resigning from all the post till proved not guilty. but the state govt have already spent almost a crore on saving com vijayan from prosecution.

its a shame.

i am sure com vijayan is innocent, but this is not a great example you should conduct yourself in public life if you are framed in a corruption charge.

regarding vs. i think he also should have conducted himself in a more dignified manner. but frankly i don't think he has many options.

under the 'leninst principles' he is been made to toe the 'official' line.

its sad how conviniently and selective people use 'leninist principles'.

there wouldnot have been a bolshevik party or for that matter the cpi(M). If comrades would have just toed the official line.

its also important on what issues are the fissures emerging between these leaders. we should not overlook the issues but just hogging on the 'discipline' tagline.

IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY, BOTH AT THE CENTRAL LEVEL AND THE STATE LEVEL TO BE TOLERANT TO DISSENTING VIEWS. THEY SHOULD ENCOURAGE DISSENTING VIEWS. CONSENSES SHOULD EVOLVE.

 now consenses is unilateral. and it is leninist.atleast that is the perception.

any way it is healthy. the election results have come about at the right time. and as i had said before the elections this gives the left and specially the cpm the historic oppurtunity to look within.

we should not miss it. we have a responisibility of the downtrodden.

prakash kutty.

kerala cpm and madani

opposing madani is not supporting vs.

there are issues where we might agree with com vijayan and there might me issues where we might agree with com vs.

we should not miss our focus on issues.

father vadakan participating in a land struggle is definately a victory for the left.

but ASKING for support from madani is definately a weakness for the left. Asking for support from raman pillai is also a severe weakness for the left. our leaders asking for support from the cristian clergy by going and meeting them is condemable.

i have categorically stated. we should EXPLICITLY  oppose any kind of fundamentalism. be it hindu, muslim or christian.

we have been trying to break into the muslim strongholds of mallapuram and the cristian clergy for a long time.

short cuts have not worked.

they have had repurcusssions. repurcussions on a national level.

i for one. may be i am the only one who would completely endorse the NO TRACK WITH ANY POLITICAL PARTY WHO IDENTIFIES WITH A CERTAIN RELIGIOUS GROUP.

you can always say there are elements inside the left with a soft hindutva line or the bjp can say we have a soft islamic line.

the fact is we are the people who encourage these elements.

if we had a independent development agenda, and on a very near term time frame we did not antogonise the different riligious elements.

we declare a development agenda. pursue it, not antogonising the known enemies.

we can expose the enemies.

i am not aware of the latest situation.

but for e.g.

the text books for school are available all throughout the year. so there is scramble just before the school reopens.

the exam dates are declared well in advance. for e.g ssc mon 1st monday of march. the results are declared on 15th of may.

the exam dates for hsc is mon third week of march. the results are 25th of may.

students future would not be hanging in balance for the all india entrace etc.

first we set our house in order. the govt run schools and colleges should be the best run educational institutions.

the kendriya vidyalayas are an example.

all the teachers unions should not be limited to a collective bargaining tool, they should be motivated to be the best teachers.

once govt educational institutions are attractive destinations for both students and aspiring teachers then put pressure on institutions run by the church.

same applies to govt medical colleges/hospitals and primary health centres.

they have to be the best.

motivating the staff, specially the lower ranks, their duty is to serve the patients is their primary responsibility.

public transport. apathy of the staff is really blaring. get the best managers in the bussiness. make these profitable. make these efficient. make them reliable and safe. all in camparison with the private sector.

these sectors are basically seen as employment generation mechanism only. these perceptions have to go.

we claim to be the most progressive section of the society. we should behave like one.

communism is not about collective bargaining only neither is it 'equal distribution of poverty'

first since we are in govt. we set in place a RESPONSIVE govt. we don't make enemies in short time frame. we set our house in order. we set the bench mark for quality in education, medical health and transport.

then we move into the agressive mode.

we should have a detailed discussion about our developmental agenda (within our capitalist system) inside the party fora.

this is because there are differences in implementing the diff policies between com vijayan and com vs.

this should be sorted out.

we should know what are the strengths and weaknesses of the socio-economic- cultural and geographical aspects of kerala.

strengths

very scenic

long beaches

good literacy levels

better english speaking skills

not so bad infrastructure.

very rich cultural heritage.

these can be properly utilised for tourism.

there are nations which survive only tourism.

only getting tourist into kerala won't suffice. we should have proper architecture to pamper them.

we should study from examples of south africa, malaysia and indonesia.

education is becoming the next big bussiness explosing after IT.

in a hurry...would elaborate later.

prakash kutty.