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CPI (ML) Liberation
India: Communists debate way forward
By Dipankar Bhattacharya
February 14, 2018 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Liberation — Media reports coming from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Central Committee meeting held in Kolkata (19-21 January, 2018) indicate that the party is majorly divided on the issue of its current political assessment and tactical position. According to these reports, the draft presented by Sitaram Yechury was defeated 31 to 55 votes in the Central Committee, and the forthcoming CPI(M) Congress in Hyderabad is now expected to take up the draft attributed to former general secretary Prakash Karat for deliberation and adoption. Within the CPI(M) the division is being widely seen as a clash of the ‘Bengal line’ against ‘Kerala line’. Beyond the CPI(M), among broad progressive liberal circles it is being seen as a clash between a pragmatic mass line and a puritan isolationist position, a conflict between people who understand the nuances of popular electoral politics and those who are driven by copybook Marxist dogma.
Identifying the foundations of women's oppression, charting the course of struggles for liberation
By Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation
April 3, 2017 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Liberation, central organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation — March 8 – International Women’s Day – was born in the struggles that women factory workers in their thousands waged against bondage a century ago. Communists began the tradition of observing IWD in memory of those struggles.
Ironically, the powers-that-be and the advertisements all across try to hide the real legacy of Women’s Day and seek to establish a different narrative. They try to tell us that International Women’s Day (IWD) is an occasion when husbands are supposed to buy women washing machines and kitchen gadgets, when boyfriends are supposed to buy them flowers, and governments are supposed to make promises for ‘women empowerment’. So it is important for us to collectively reassert the fighting legacy of the international women’s day and draw lessons for the tasks and challenges at hand. On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2017 let us reiterate some key concerns of the women’s movement.
India: Why are Suzuki automobile workers in jail?
By Kavita Krishnan
March 28, 2017 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Liberation, central organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation — In a recent trial court judgement on 10 March 2017, 117 workers of the automobile company Maruti Suzuki’s factory in Manesar, Gurgaon, India were acquitted of a murder charge. 18 workers were convicted of minor offences while 13 – all leaders of the Maruti union – have been convicted of murder and await the quantum of punishment, to be declared on March 17, 2017.
The Maruti workers plan to challenge the convictions of their comrades in higher courts. Why are automobile workers being jailed for murder? The story at Maruti is a familiar one in India’s industrial scene.
India: Comrade Srilata Swaminathan (1944 - 2017) - An inspiring revolutionary journey
February 10, 2017 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — Veteran CPIML Liberation leader Comrade Srilata Swaminathan passed away in Udaipur (Rajasthan) in the early morning of February 5. She was 74. Comrade Srilata had suffered a brain stroke on the night of January 28 and was rushed to a hospital in Udaipur where she breathed her last breath following a cardiac arrest.
Breaking away from neoliberal globalization – A view from CPI (ML) Liberation in India
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By S. Balasubramanian
What the state owes mothers, parents and women
By Kavita Krishnan
June 17, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Liberation -- India worships mothers; political leaders are fond of equating the nation with Mother, and politics and popular culture both make a huge deal of ‘respect for mothers’. But in spite of this hyper-visible, in-your-face celebration of motherhood, there seems to be a deliberate obscuring of the labour of mothering and care work that women perform. ‘Put her on a pedestal and forget her’ seems to be the approach of Governments. Worship of mothers and slogans of ‘Bharat Mata’ and praise for mothers’ supposed capacity for ‘sacrifice’ and ‘silent suffering’ help us to reinforce the myth that motherhood is a responsibility that women must bear cheerfully and single-handedly, expecting nothing from the State, from employers, from society.
And yet, if we would bother to listen to the voices of real live women, we would find it difficult to keep celebrating domestic drudgery as happy self-sacrificing motherhood.
Socialism as an alternative: Reflections on ‘Socialism for the 21st Century’ international conference
India: Eyewitness account, images of Kolkata’s huge movement for gender justice
More on India. For more on feminism click HERE.
Story by Kasturi, photos by Ronny Sen (more photos HERE and HERE)
September 24, 2014 -- Kafila.org, submitted to Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal by the author -- One of the slogans churned out of the womb of turbulent Paris in the May days of 1968 was "Don’t trust anyone over 30". The student uprising of May ‘68 with its audacity and exaggeration might have failed. But the mahamichhil (grand rally) called by students which took command over the heart and pulse of Kolkata on September 20 was a literal, vivid, living embodiment of this slogan.
Kavita Krishnan: Re-imagining India
For more on India, click HERE.
By Kavita Krishnan
August 21, 2014 -- Outlook, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with the author's permission -- We revolutionaries, who seek to transform society, spend a lot of time re-imagining the world we live in. That does not mean we live in a fool’s paradise. It means that we dream dreams that can be achieved.
We don’t wish on a star. Our wishes, we know, won’t be granted by any gods. The beauty of our dreams lies in the fact that they’re made up of human imagination and human will, and can be shaped and brought to life by human will.
When our imaginations are cramped, our realities too are likely to be the same. When an idea comes to life in our imagination, it is the first step towards bringing it to life in our real world.
The other thing about our dreams is that we aren’t solitary dreamers. We don’t dream our dreams isolated from others. Our dreams are not a private indulgence or a private solace. These dreams are born in the collective minds of fellow fighters. We dream together, as we fight struggles together. And when others are able to see and share our dreams, the dreams acquire a life beyond our own personal lives.
亚太左翼团体联署声明 停止以色列在加沙的战争罪行！
[English at http://links.org.au/node/3954.]
2014年7月14日
过去一个星期来，以色列军队对加沙地带的攻击升级。以色列战机不断瞄准轰炸民房、平民聚居的地区及公共设施。以色列战机在无任何预警下摧毁多间仍有居民在里面的房屋，杀害并伤及很多巴勒斯坦平民。
以色列政府利用三名以色列少年被杀害的事件，煽动针对巴勒斯坦人及加沙哈马斯政府的种族主义憎恨情绪。这是在没有提出任何证据证明凶手的情况下作出 的举动，挑起了肆意暴力对待巴勒斯坦人的运动，并导致一名巴勒斯坦少年被酷刑折磨及活活烧死。现在以色列当局还对加沙的平民展开更加肆意妄为的复仇行动。 集体惩罚是违反国际人道法的行为。
以色列军队进行的残酷军事攻击，跟“自卫”没有关系，反而是向加沙进行着种族灭绝的侵略，并进一步血腥镇压一直以来遭犹太复国主义政权否决民族自决权的巴勒斯坦人。
联署本声明的团体主张：
(Updated July 26) Asia-Pacific socialists: 'Stop Israel's war crimes in Gaza!'
To add your group's name to the list of signatories please email PSM International Bureau.
Joint statement by Asia-Pacific left organisations
July 14, 2014 -- Socialist Alliance, posted at Links international Journal of Socialist Renewal -- In the past week, Israeli military forces have escalated their offensive on the Gaza Strip. Israeli warplanes have increasingly targeted houses, civilian-populated areas and civilian facilities in the Gaza strip. Israeli warplanes have destroyed a number of houses while their residents were inside, without any prior warnings, killing and wounding many Palestinian civilians.
The Israeli government has cynically exploited the killing of three Israeli youth and used this to whip up a racist hysteria against Palestinians and the Hamas government in Gaza. It has done this without producing any evidence about who was responsible for those killings. A campaign of indiscriminate violence against Palestinians has been incited and one Palestinian boy has been tortured and burnt to death. Now even more indiscriminate retribution has been inflicted on the civilian residents of Gaza. Collective punishment is a violation of international humanitarian law.
Kavita Krishnan: 'Capitalism, misogyny and sexual violence' (video)
For more on feminism click HERE. More on India.
June 23, 2014 -- Green Left TV/Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Indian revolutionary socialist and feminist Kavita Krishnan presented this talk to participants of the Socialist Alliance's 10th National conference, held in Sydney June 7, 2014. Kavita Krishnan is secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA), a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation and editor of the magazine, Liberation.
(Updated June 22) Asia-Pacific socialists: 'No US sanctions against Venezuela'
Venezuelan workers of the state-owned oil company PDVSA denounce US sanctions against their firm.
End United States’ interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela!
No sanctions against Venezuelan citizens!
June 17, 2014 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- We, the undersigned parties and organisations in the Asia region, condemn the moves by the United States government to impose sanctions on Venezuelan citizens it deems to have “abused human rights”.
The US House of Representatives’ May 28m 2014, vote for such sanctions is a violation of the right of all nations to sovereignty and self-determination.
The bill is not motivated by a desire to end supposed human rights abuses in Venezuela. Rather, it seeks to support the openly stated aims of Venezuela's right-wing opposition to overthrow the democratically elected government of President Nicolas Maduro. This is revealed by the bill's authorisation of millions of dollars of increased funding to opposition organisations in Venezuela – the same groups responsible for a wave of violence within Venezuela this year that has left at least 40 dead and hundreds injured.
India: Modi prometió la luna, ahora vendrán los recortes neoliberales
Kavita Krishnan.
[In English at http://links.org.au/node/3863. Haga clic aquí para más artículos en español.]
Kavita Krishnan es una de las portavoces internacionales más conocidas del movimiento contra la violencia sexual en la India, que surgió después de una horrible violación en grupo de un estudiante en Nueva Delhi en 2012. Es secretaria general de la asociación Progresista Pan-India de Mujeres (AIPWA) y dirigente del Partido Comunista de India (Marxista-Leninista) Liberation, que obtuvo más de un millón de votos, pero no pudo ganar ningún escaño en las elecciones generales de la India. Peter Boyle la entrevista para la revista australiana sobre las consecuencias para la izquierda india de la victoria del partido nacionalista de derechas hindú Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), liderado por Narendra Modi.
Traducción para www.sinpermiso.info: Enrique García.
* * *
India: Modi 'promised the moon' but his real agenda will emerge -- Kavita Krishnan
Kavita Krishnan.
Peter Boyle interviews Kavita Krishnan
May 21, 2014 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal/Green Left Weekly -- Kavita Krishnan has become a well-known international spokesperson for the movement against sexual violence in India that grew after an horrific gang rape of a student in Delhi in 2012. She is also a national leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, which won more than a million votes but failed to win any seats in the general election in India, which the right-wing Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi, won by a landslide.
Krishnan will soon embark on a speaking tour of Australia. Details of her public meetings around Australia can be found here. She will also be one of several international guest speakers at the Socialist Alliance 10th national conference in Sydney, June 7-9 where she will present a keynote speech on “Capitalism, Misogyny and Sexual Violence”. You can find out more about this conference, and how to register, here.
India: Modi's BJP a 'grave danger' to women and minorities, says Kavita Krishnan
Kavita Krishnan.
May 8, 2014 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Kavita Krishnan is a central leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and editor of Liberation, the party's central publication. A former leader of the All India Students Association (AISA), Krishnan is joint secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), which is active among women workers and agricultural labourers, and has led struggles for the dignity and rights of Dalit women, and against state repression. The AISA and AIPWA played a significant role in the struggle against sexual violence that followed an internationally publicised gang rape of a student in Delhi and Krishnan has become a well-known international spokesperson for the movement.
Krishnan will be on of the international guest speakers at the 10th national conference of the Socialist Alliance to be held in Sydney, June 7-9. She will also be doing a speaking tour of Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Geelong, Adelaide and Perth.
Mila Gisbert, a conference organiser, interviewed Krishnan in the midst of campaigning for India's April 7-May 12, 2014, general election. The CPI-ML is fielding in 83 constituencies spread over 15 states and three union states.
Venezuela: (Updated March 17) Asia-Pacific socialists pledge continuing solidarity with revolution
If your organisation would like to sign this statement, please email: international@socialist-alliance.org
March 11, 2014 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Socialists in Asia-Pacific pledge support for Venezuela’s socialist revolution, a year after Chavez’s death.
March 5 marked one year since the death of Venezuela's president and revolutionary Hugo Chavez. An outspoken fighter for the oppressed in Venezuela and Latin America, the loss of Chavez is still felt keenly by socialists and anti-imperialists globally.
But the Bolivarian revolution that Chavez led is a mass movement of millions of people that lives on in the barrios and workplaces in Venezuela. This process, led by the government of President Nicolas Maduro, is facing fresh attacks by right-wing forces backed by the United States.
The recent violent protests by a minority that has repeatedly been defeated at the ballot box has caused widespread destruction and terror. Along with at least 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries, public buildings and government-run, pro-poor social missions have been attacked by opposition protesters, at the estimated cost of up to 10 million bolivars.
The international media has presented this fascist violence as a peaceful democracy struggle that has been repressed by a dictatorial Maduro government. This turns reality on its head.
India: Fearless freedom for women won’t be stopped by the wall of reaction
Protesters from the All India Progressive Women's Association in Delhi, December 22-23, 2012.
[For more discussion of feminism, click HERE. For more on India, click HERE.]
Editorial from the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation’s ML Update
December 16, 2013 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- “What has changed since last December?” is the question everyone is asking a year after the brutal gang rape and murder that sparked off a massive movement. After all, the number of rapes and sexual assaults are higher than ever, and women certainly don’t feel safer.
Capitalism, sexual violence and sexism
For more discussion on feminism, click HERE. For more on India, click HERE.
By Kavita Krishnan
Kafila -- First published May 23, 2013, posted at the Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with the author's permission. The brutal gang rape of a woman in December 2012 triggered a mass movement against violence against women in India. The perpetrators were sentenced on September 13, 2013 -- Sexual violence cannot be attributed simply to some men behaving in "anti-social" or "inhuman" ways: it has everything to do with the way society is structured: i.e., the way in which our society organises production and accordingly structures social relationships. Once we understand this, we can also recognise that society can be structured differently, in ways that do not require – or benefit from – the subordination of women or of any section of society.
India: CPI-ML congress pledges to deepen people's resistance
Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation activists have played a central role in the the campaign against rape culture.
For more on the CPI-ML Liberation, click HERE.
By Sue Bolton, Ranchi
May 4, 2013 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Politicians often describe India as “the world’s biggest democracy”. When I attended the 9th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation (CPI-ML) on April 2-7, 2013, I found that the reality was somewhat different.