The following piece comes from Peter Tobin, a revolutionary journalist from Ireland living underground in Nepal. Peter Tobin is being sought be the Nepali state for giving a speech in favor of the Nepali Maoist boycott of illegitimate elections, which are actually a cover for an anti-democratic soft-coup under way in Nepal. Special thanks to Democracy and Class Struggle for sharing this piece with us.

"That is why a visionary who has armed force on his side has always won, while unarmed even your visionary is always a loser."
(Machiavelli, The Prince, 1613, p.23, Penguin ed.)

"One of the things historians admired about the Achaean leader Philopoemen was that even in peacetime he thought of nothing but military strategy and when he was in the country with his friends he would stop and ask them: if the enemy were over that hill and we were down here with our army, who would be in the better position? How could we attack them without breaking ranks? If we decided to retreat, how would we do it? And as he and his friends went along he would list all the predicaments an army can find itself in. He listened to their ideas, expressed and explained his own; so much so that, thanks to his constant work of mental preparation that when he was back leading his armies there was simply nothing that could happen that he didn't know how to deal with."(ibid: p 59)

HAUNTED BY A RED SPECTRE - DARK FORCES THREATEN NEPAL

(Notes from underground)

by Peter Tobin

INTRO

The international line-up against the Nepalese Maoists boycott of the scheduled November 19th election has already taken shape. This week the European Union (EU) 'missions' in Nepal condemned the successful one-day general strike (banda) called by the 33 party alliance led by the CPN (Maoist) [editor note: Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)] and urged them to desist from agitations: "which disrupt people's daily life."

Parties to this statement were; Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the UK plus Norway and Switzerland; all expressing 'serious concerns' over the effect of the banda in the Kathmandu Valley and nine eastern districts of Nepal. They furthermore stated that the 'bandh culture is inhibiting Nepal's investment prospects.'

The CPN (M) hit back directly, expressing anger this 'meddling in Nepal's internal affairs' was a breach of diplomatic norms but because a critical mass of the political representatives of the Nepalese people were excluded from the corrupt political process which had delivered this kathit nirbaachan (so-called election) process they had no other peaceful option at their disposal.

This is a foretaste of what is to come in the propaganda war against the Maoists and their allies. The enemy has – on the face of it – a formidable array of powerful foreign states, the UN, international government and non-government organisations all focused on driving this election through.

The UN – in all its multitudinous manifestations - is mainly here to keep Nepal underdeveloped and aid dependent according to the imperatives of western monopoly interests and this case to wave a stick on as it imposes western 'democratic.' norms on possibly troublesome natives. The White Sahib now patronises as much as he terrorises. But it is same old imperial mindset, just tricked-out in Madison Avenue PC gloss. The White Man's Burden de nos jours.

UN & NGO OBSERVERS

Red Salutes to Comrades Khan and Dalvi!

Today on October 3rd ,2013 we commemorate the 10th anniversary of comrades Dalvi and Khan who martyred themselves by commiting suicide in protest.Their struggle lit torchlight in the struggle of the workers against the barbaric contract system Today, thousands of workers are enslaved by the tyranny of the contract system,worldwide. Inspite of strong protest the contract of labour still prevails.Khan and Dalvi symbolized the aspirations of hundreds of workers in India and the world. Above all it was hindu and Muslim worker who were martyred together so the struggle was also a motto for secularism.Khan and Dav lit the revolutionary torch of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.

The nine-month long indefinite strike of the 70 retrenched project workers of the Tata Power Company (TPC) in Mumbai successfully ended when the management settled the workers’ dues. The TPC has been forced to pay substantial compensation of Rs 2 crore to the workers and their families. In 1996, TPC retrenched its 70 project workers. Though the workers fought their case, justice was not provided. On 3 October 2003, the official union members of the factory, who had earlier supported the workers, decided to withdraw their support by signing an agreement with the management. Spurred by the betrayal, the very same day the project workers staged a demonstration at the Tata headquarters in Mumbai. Two among them - Anant Dalvi, the leader of the group, and Akhtar Khan, another active worker - shocked the headquarters when they doused themselves with kerosene and sent them to flames before the ‘Bombay House’. Anant Dalvi died the same day and Akhtar Khan died eight days later in hospital. The management tried to sort things by taking into confidence the mother and wife of Anant Dalvi, who refused to give in. Indira Ganpat Dalvi, the 70-year-old mother of Anant Dalvi showed tremendous courage when she let the top-level management know that they were not beggars. “We are here to ask for our rights, not alms. My son has given up his life for all 70 workers. And if the struggle succeeds Anjali Dalvi (Anant’s widow) will be the 70th person to accept the cheque from the company,” she said.

With the support of Jagrut Kamgar Manch (a platform for conscious workers) and various other unions, the workers took the struggle forward more vehemently. Demonstrations were held regularly in front of the ‘Mumbai House,’ an area under prohibitory orders. A signature campaign was another mode of protest. The protestors collected 2,500 signatures from supporters and well-wishers at different railway stations in three days. On 18 June 2004, without an appointment, the workers and their supporters went to the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s residence. Despite efforts by the police to stop them, 45 of them reached the residence though they were arrested for violating laws. They were detained and released only in the evening. On 24 June, the Chief Minister called the workers’ representatives for a meeting, after which he wrote a note to the Labour Minister calling for his attention to the workers’ problem and an immediate solution. The Labour Minister called for a meeting of the workers’ representatives and top members of the Tata management on 30 June 2004. After an hour-long discussion, the management agreed to give the workers their dues. After negotiations, on 29 July 2004 the TPC management gave the 70 workers their dues. Other than the amount in the settlement, a special death allowance of Rs 750,000 each was given to the widows of Anant and Akhtar. As Indira Ganapat Dalvi said, Anjali Dalvi was the last person to accept the cheque from the management.


What was most significant were the mass protests that arose as a result of the self-burning of Comrades Khan and Dalvi.A huge chain and series of protest took place at the Tata house in Mumbai. Slogans were raised opposing privatization, globalization, giving compensation to the victim’s familes ,abolishing the contract labour system etc.Workers from all fields, youth and students participated. As ignificant contribution was made by the Railway workers Union. The Drivers Union also consistently participated. The most significant contribution was made by the Jagrut Kamgar Manch (workers consciousness front)of Mumbai which took the initiative in uniting the working class forces on this issue. The Manch educated the Tata Power project workers Union on the issue with great perseverance and was instrumental in the formation of a Kendra(centre) built as a memorial for the martyred workers in Vashi Naka.The Jagrut Kamgar Manch explained the evils of the social contract system and the attack on the working class on the whole by Imperialist globalization.A most emotional memorial programme took place during the inauguration of the centre in March 2005.Programes commemorating May Day, the 75th martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his 100 th birthday in September 2007 were commemorated.The author cannot forget how the children of the workers were drawn into programmes like a painting competition in memory of Shaheed Bhagat Singh etc.Programmes were also held opposing globalisation and privatization.In August 2005 a memorable programme was done after the disastrous floods of July 26th when again the efforts of the Jagrut Kamgar Manch made a significant contribution in flood relief.9from a class-angle)The people of the area were educated about the class angle of the development policies which hardly insulated the toiling people in averting disasters. A significant programme was also held for the Chattisagarh Mukti Morcha in 2006who held a cultural programme.A brilliant inter- relationship was made between the struggles of Shankar Guha Nyugi and that of Dalvi and Khan.

Today we must dip our blood in memory of comrades Dalvi and Khan whose sacrifice represented the aspirations of the working class as a whole.Dalvi and Khan never formally upheld the ideology of Marx,Lenin and Mao but their act represented the very ideology of those revolutionaries.The author also commends the efforts of the Jagrut Kamgar Manch Mumbai which literally toiled in keeping the spirits of the Tata Power Project workers alive like a torchfire continuously burning. ,rekindling the flame of Che Guevera and Bhagat Singh.

There are new reports of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) developing a capacity for conventional warfare. This could be a significant development. That being said, we post this article with the warning that it comes originally from the reactionary bourgeois press in India. Often such reports are generated to drum up repression. (intro by Nat Winn)

In shift from guerrilla strategy, Maoists raise 2 new battalions

by Deepu Sebastian Edmond

The People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) of the CPI(Maoist) has moved on to being a conventional fighting force in at least two locations and has raised two battalions, sources in the state police and Ministry of Home Affairs say.

This is a major shift from the Maoists' guerrilla strategy: it has always maintained that the "principal and central task" of PLGA is to transform itself "into a fully developed People's Liberation Army."

The following report originally appeared on the  Democracy and Class Struggle website. This attack on international journalists is a huge deal, and it has profound implications that the Nepali state is forced to hold these elections under the barrel of a gun.

NEPAL: HANDS OFF PETER TOBIN

Democracy and Class Struggle have just had this disturbing report below from Kathmandu Post about the police seeking to arrest our comrade Peter Tobin for making a speech against the current fraudulent elections being planned in Nepal'

It is outrageous that a journalist making a speech about the elections in Nepal can lead to an arrest - clearly the ruling elite is Kathmandu is terrified that its election charade has been exposed even before it gets off the ground, hence their paranoia about a speech.

We call for wide publicity for this threat to Peter Tobin to expose reactionaries and to call for his right to free speech in Nepal be protected.

Today is the 106th birthday of Shaheed Bhagat Singh who played an immortal role in the Indian anti-colonial movement and is the greatest revolutionary son in the history of India.His teachings are relevant till today in the era of globalisation.Bhagat Singh adhered to Marxism -Leninism and in the modern era there is every likelihood that he would have embraced Maoism.In his writings on caste,religion,party, etc Bhagat Singh reflected a dialectical materilaist approach,although he did not join the Communist Party of India.He had an innovative understanding on revolutionary mass organzation and several revolutionary organizations in India name their youth front after Bhagat Singh's 'Naujawan Bharat Sabha.Bhagt Singh was the equivalent of a Lenin or Mao Tse Tung to India.

The author can never forget how children in slum areas of Vashi Naka and the Juhu airport in Mumbai remembered Shaheed Bhagat Singh in an essay competition and painting competition.

‘श्रमजीवी पहल’ के ताजा अंक का पीडीएफ

‘श्रमजीवी पहल’ का नया अंक

प्रिय साथी,

भारत से प्रकाशित हमारी पत्रिका 'श्रमजीवी पहल' का नया अंक जो कि सितम्बर 2013 का अंक है, प्रकशित हो चुका है । इसके आवरण का चित्र नीचे दिया जा रहा है :

'श्रमजीवी पहल' का पिछला अंक नवम्बर-दिसम्बर 2011 में प्रकाशित हुआ था। जुलाई-अगस्त 2012 में हमने एक अंक निकालने की योजना बनायी थी, जिसकी आधी तैयारी हो जाने के बावजूद, वह अंक निकल नहीं सका। इसका हमें खेद है। अन्य व्यस्तताओं के चलते उसे न निकाल सकने पर जब एक अन्तराल पड़ ही गया तो हमने यह सोचा कि अगला अंक तभी निकाला जाये जब हम अपनी क्षमता थोड़ी और बढ़ा लें।

आशा है, इस अन्तराल के बावजूद पाठक हमसे संवाद और सहयोग बनाए रखेंगे और हमें वैसा ही सहयोग प्राप्त होगा जैसा पहले दो अंकों में प्राप्त हुआ था।

कृपया यह अंक प्राप्त करने के लिए और आगामी अंकों हेतु किसी भी सलाह, सुझाव, सहयोग के लिए निम्न फोन नम्बरों पर सम्पर्क करें—

9540756765, 9015491908 और 9711862510

जिन साथियों ने पत्रिका का पहले के अंक नहीं देखे है, वे उसे देखने के लिए निम्न चित्रों पर क्लिक करें।

         I

पत्रिका के लक्ष्य और उद्देश्यों से अवगत होने के लिए यहाँ क्लिक करें

धन्यवाद सहित,

Major militant strikes called bandh's, a tactic where workers surround and forcibly shut down businesses during a strike, are under way again in Nepal. These strikes are being held in protest of a soft-coup that occurred earlier this year. The soft-coup regime is aiming to hold new elections in order to dash the people's demand for a revolutionary constitution that was to be written after the overthrow of Nepal's monarchy in 2006. Seven years later, Nepal has no new constitution, and powerful reactionary forces are trying to resurrect the old status quo.

Special thanks to Kali Shakti for sharing these photos.

It has become a fashion in some revolutionary circles to criticize or condemn the C.P.I.(Maoist) particularly in groups like the C.P.I(M.L) led by K.N.Ramchandran and the C.P.I(M.L) Class struggle group which upholds the late Kanu Sanyal who term them as  ‘terrorists.’. The  Rahul foundation  erroneously criticizes the C.P.I.(Maoist) as non-marxist.The C.P.I.(Maoist )has defied all odds with their struggle in Dandkaranya the best example .Irrespective of errors in their military line they have defended armed revolutionary resistance more than any organization in India.Whatever maybe it’s weaknesses in practice the C.P.I.(Maoist) is the most correct of all revolutionary groups. They have proved how much they are ingrained with the masses.Inspite of adverse subjective conditions they have formed revolutionary commitees or ‘Janata Sarkars.’There is an analytical article in RDF organ Jan Pratirodh by Ajay Kumar which elaborates how democratically the ‘Janata Sarkars’ are created and how they participate in the everyday struggles of the tribals. The innovations  of the Maoists Are absolutely unbelievable, literally  creating  subjective conditions for their cause. They have defied groups who professed the ‘3 stage theory’ and prolonged armed struggle. Writers like Bernard d’Mellow or filmmakers like Sanjay Kak testify this phenomenan.Inspite of Bernard not accepting India as semi-feudal and colonial he has recognized the depths of their work. within the guerilla Zones. Inspite of not following orthodox Marxism-Leninism Mao-Tse Tung Thought they have innovated unique forms of struggle. Forces condemning them are actually speaking against the revolution. The author some years ago spoke to veteran Comrade Sunder Navalkar who upheld the struggle of the C.P.I.Maoist as the only genuinely correct line apart from their lack of urban work ,wrong stand on supporting nationality struggles as armed struggles and replacing Mao Thought with ‘Maoism.’ The Central Team of the C.P.I(M.l)in 1997  inspite of not merging with the erstwhile PW.group or now the C.P.I.(Maoist) defended the movement in Dandkaranya and Bihar.and comrades from the T.Nagi Reddy stream that deferred armed struggle who merged into the C.P.R.C.I.(M.L.) tooth and nail defended the C.P.I.(Maoist) as a genuine revolutionary force.

There are innumerable pockets of resistance in the gaps and spaces that global capitalism has been unable to permeate: cooperative and autonomous organizations, organized labor halls, hallway conversations among comrades, moments of social explosion and occupation, the small revolutions of individual acts of defiance, and so on. Yet there are few places today where this resistance is highly organized, sustainable and real, in the material sense. There are very few places among these where the spaces of resistance continue to defy the forces of imperialism and the interlocking alliance of global capital and the coordinating committee of the ruling class- the State. Among these are the revolutionary movements in India and Nepal.

Global capitalism is quite simply the organization of structural genocide aimed at the people of the global south and oppressed nations. The super-exploitation of whole masses of humanity is the basis of the global production chain that supplies wealth, the capitalist life-blood, at one end; and death, misery and violence on the other. Between the two rest the working classes of imperialist nations. What could your commute tomorrow morning have to do with a Salwa Judum death squad in Bastar? Is that blood on your tire? The phantom-like relations between workers in this global system are stretched thin across space, language and culture yet intimately related by a contradictory relationship of violence and of potential solidarity. These relations are as much our source of strength as the certainty of our self-destruction. That is why the question of revolution, here or there, is a question of life or death. We can either deepen our ties of solidarity and resistance or we can gift the battlefield to the forces of reaction and imperialism. We can either refuse to support a system that exploits our desires as much as our bodies and humanity, or we can take our marching orders from the exploiting classes and against our own.

The government in India is making a special effort to wipe the Maoist guerrilla influence out of the areas of West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand.

1. First Post of India is reporting that Security forces of West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand (April 14) decided to launch a joint operation against Maoists in their common border areas.

After the failed Operation Green Hunt, the government has high hopes this time they will wipe out the Maoist from these key areas. They hope to exploit some factional differences between the Maoist groups. One Indian Bourgeois outlet,The New Indian Express, even went as far as claiming “Prospect of elimination of Maoists in Jharkhand now real”.

There have been reported attacks on the government by Maoists. Times of Indiareported five policemen killed in an ambush on April 5.

Also an outfit called Kractivist reports that a group of young lawyers in Ranchi has decided to take up, gratis, cases of thousands of tribals branded as Maoists and shoved into jails across Jharkhand every year.

[The following statement from the Revolutionary Democratic Front (India) was published at Sanhati. On April 3, the (pro-regime) Times of India reported that the twenty abduction victims were released under condition that they cease political activity.]

Jharkhand – RDF Statement on the killing and abduction of Maoist cadres

March 29, 2013

Press Release from REVOLUTIONARY DEMOCRATIC FRONT (RDF)

This article by Doug Enaa Greene originally appeared at the Boston Occupier here.

Unknown to most of the world, the poor peasant and isolated peoples of Nepal rose in struggle to overthrow centuries of feudal, capitalist and patriarchal oppression. Ten years of civil war waged by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) ended in a stalemate with the forces of the old order.

Two roads now stand posed for Nepal: one leads to accepting the reforms which offer only cosmetic changes to the nation’s entrenched inequalities, the other leads to a revolution that uproots its oppressive institutions.

For centuries, Nepal was ruled by a god-like feudal monarchy, a brutal army, a corrupt and ineffective parliament. Eighty-five percent of the population is composed of peasants living in the countryside with small plots of land, most unable to produce enough food for their families who are regularly fleeced by wealthy landlords. Nepal’s industry is not developed and largely controlled by its powerful neighbor, India. The majority of the people are unemployed, 65 percent of the people live below the poverty line.

 It has been reported that The Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea sent ambassadors to be present at the opening ceremony of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist at the start of their recent national congress. This was reported by Liam Wright, in a comment on an article he wrote about his presents at the national congress. The article was in The Kasama Project.
As most readers of both this blog and The Kasama Project know by now, representatives from various revolutionary Maoist parties from around the world have been invited to this national congress in Nepal. China also sent some ambassadors to the congress, which has confused some of the people reading and following this event.
The non-Chinese groups invited are Maoist in ideology and not supporters of the present leadership in China. Even more interesting is why the DPR(North) Korea sent ambassadors? That country has never been “Maoist.” The DPRK has been an ally of China, especially during the Korea war, when China moved in and saved the regime from being over-run by US troops.
But why is the DPRK interested at all in what a group of devout Maoists want to do?
There is no doubt that the new younger leader Kim Jong Un (김정은) is more of a reformer than the two Kims before him. News articles out of the mainstream press have reported on changes he has already brought to the country, allowing more cultural diversity in clothing style and a few other things, such as foods.
One interesting article is in the Economist, “Chinese Maoists in North Korea.” An un-named reporter from that publication accompanied 15 Chinese tourists to the DPRK. The Reporter called the tourists:
“Die-hard Maoists, they believe that China’s leaders are betraying the ideals of the communist country’s founder and leading it to enslavement by the West and perdition. The past few months have seen the purging of their idol, a Mao-quoting member of the Politburo, Bo Xilai, and the closure by the Chinese government of some of their most outspoken websites.”

Dibyanath Chatterji, his bank-employed wife, Sujata, and only child, a son, Brati, live a middle-class existence in Calcutta, West Bengal, India, circa early 1970s. Sujata is a quiet, devout Hindu, religious, and compassionate woman, and Brati has finished his school and is now attending college. His parents are proud of him, and keep track of his progress. Then their world is shattered during the early hours, when they are informed by the police that Brati has been killed. Dibyanath and Sujata go to identify Brati's body, mourn, lament inconsolably. They know now that their lives will never be the same again - for by the police they will be called the mother and father corpse No. 1084. Sujata struggles to understand Brati's passing, meets his friends one by one, comes to know that Brati had a girlfriend, Nandini Mitra, and that's when she finds out that Brati was part of a rebel group often referred to as "Naxalbari", a militant leftist group. As she delves deeper and deeper into Brati's former life, she begins to understand her son's struggle, and decides to continue to further this.