KERALA NEWSLETTER: POLICE-MEDIA NEXUS AGAINST CPI(M) EXPOSED

N S Sajith

THE unholy alliance between police and corporate media has become a hot subject of debate in Kerala with fresh revelations about the nexus. The lies and half truths cooked up by the Special Investigation Team probing into the murder of RMP leader T P Chandrashekharan have been prominently used by the media to not only malign but create a social frenzy against the CPI(M).

The CPI(M) had approached the Kerala High Court questioning the leakage to media by the police about investigation into Chandrashekharan’s murder. It cited an earlier verdict of the same court denouncing such leakage. The court has served notices to the media houses and the government on the leakage of the details of the investigation. But in an affidavit submitted to the court, the government clarified that no news regarding the investigation has been leaked to the medial so far.

Even while this petition of the CPI(M) is pending before the court, new shocking revelations about the details of the mobile call records of investigative officers emerged. Deshabhimani, Malayalam daily, revealed the records of the mobile phone calls made by the investigative officers to media persons of various television news channels and newspapers in the last two months. The shocking information is that Josy Cherian, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP)  in the Special Investigation Team has made 3000 odd calls to news reporters since the inception of SIT. In the time span from May 4 to July 8, the number of calls and messages made from Josy Cherian’s mobile phone is a surprising total of 7557. More than half of these calls were made to the journalists who were dealing with the stories regarding Chandrashekharan’s death. Josy Cherian has made these calls from his official phone. 

Apart from Josy Cherian, his colleague DSP Shoukath Ali, a former Youth Congress activist, also continuously made calls to particular media persons and received large amount of calls from the media persons. Josy and Shoukath Ali have become infamous for cooking up stories against CPI (M) and its leaders. According to a reporter, who wishes to remain anonymous, some media persons have even gifted mobile phones to these police officers exclusively for this purpose. 

Reporters from Asianet News Channel, Reporter TV, Manorama News, Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Madhyamam,Mangalam, Veekshanam were the main vehicles for this cooked up anti-CPI(M) stories planted in the media. With Deshabhimaniexposing the call details, it has now become quite explicit that police –media axis is behind all anti-CPI(M) stories. It has also exposed the fact that the affidavit filed by the police in the high court is bogus.

P MOHANAN SUFFERS BRUTAL TORTURE

In a shocking incident unheard of in recent political history of the state, a senior leader of CPI(M) P Mohanan, district secretariat member of CPI(M), has been brutally tortured by the Special Investigation Team investigating  into the murder of T P Chandrasekharan.  P Mohanan, who was arrested on June 29 while returning from a Party programme, revealed about the torture to the ten member team of legislators that visited him in the Vatakara police station lockup.

CPI(M) central committee member E P Jayarajan, state secretariat member Elamara Kareem and Kozhikode district secretary of the Party T P Ramakrishnan, who led the team, said in a press conference that the interrogation of Mohanan crossed all limits of civility. Police officers were using abusive language aimed at Mohanan’s wife K K Lathika, who is an MLA, and his daughter. This kind of mental torture is extremely condemnable, they said. SIT was resorting to  such inhuman acts in order to get Mohanan’s statement against prominent CPI(M) leaders. Later the CPI(M) leaders had a discussion with AIG Anup Kuruvilla John. Apart from these leaders, legislators A Pradeep Kumar, James Mathew, K K Lathika, K Dasan, M Kunjammad, Purushan Kadalundi, C Krishnan, K K Narayanan, and state committee members of the Party, N K Radha, P Satheedevi were in the team.

DSP Shoukath Ali, who is a former Youth Congress activist, has been frequently terrorising the CPI(M) leaders, including P Mohanan, in order to force them to make statements against state level leaders of CPI(M) in this case. Jayarajan charged the police of using Chandrasekharan murder case as a weapon against the CPI(M). It appears the police is under pressure to obey the orders of Mullappalli Ramachandran, union minister of state for home affairs and state home minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, said E P Jayarajan. Kareem said that Mohanan was even denied proper bedding in the lockup.

K K RAGESH MADE ACCUSED

In an apparent case of political vendetta, the UDF government appointed Special Investigation Team in charge of the investigation into T P Chandrasekharan’s murder has included CPI(M) state committee member K K Ragesh in the list of the accused. 

According to SIT, the charge against former SFI all India general secretary K K Ragesh is that he had given instructions to arrange shelter to P K Kunjanandan, the alleged mastermind of the murder. The SIT has also stated that the case against Ragesh has been registered on the basis of the statement given by Sarin Shashi, SFI Kannur district president who was arrested earlier and set free after interrogation. This is the first time a state committee member of the CPI(M) is being made an accused in this case.

Reacting to this development, K K Ragesh said that this is a clear case of political vendetta and personal feud. He failed to understand how a case being registered against a person who is undergoing ayurveda treatment for the last three weeks. He also said that he did not leave home except in unavoidable circumstances. He pointed out that this latest move of the police comes in the wake of a series of hate news by right wing media.

CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the new move of the police proves that the investigation into Chandrashekaran’s murder is being undermined by using it to crush the political opponents.

LOKAYUKTA SERVES NOTICE TO CM

The Lokayukta has served a notice to chief minister Oommen Chandy and health minister Sivakumar following a petition questioning the back door appointment of a nurse in Regional Cancer Centre. Questioning the appointment of Flower Augustine, daughter of former KPCC member Augustine, to the post of Nursing Superintendent in RCC Thiruvananthapuram, a social activist, A Girish Kumar, had filed an appeal in the Lokayukta. 

“Flower Augustine, who was once fired from the service before her probation term, was appointed as the Nursing Superintendent through a wrong way, and the salary and other benefits were awarded to her for eight years -- a period during which she was not in the service”, stated Girish Kumar in his appeal. The notification regarding her appointment and payment was issued on May 12, 2012.  

Earlier Flower Augustine was appointed as the Nursing Superintendent in RCC in 1993. She went on leave in the probationary period itself and was dismissed from the service in 1994. A high court verdict against Flower over the dismissal was upheld by the Supreme Court also. In 2002, the UDF government re-appointed her on the condition that no benefits would be awarded. But a new order dated May 12 said that the benefits of this eight year period will be granted to Flower, the appeal stated.

CITU PUBLIC MEETING IN HYDERABAD

CITU PUBLIC MEETING IN HYDERABAD

REALIGNMENT OF POLITICAL FORCES IN THE OFFING: MANIK SARKAR

N S Arjun

TRIPURA chief minister and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Manik Sarkar has said that there is a  distinct possibility of realignment of political forces in the country after the presidential polls in view of the current situation where both the Congress and the BJP are losing ground in many states. He asserted that only Left and democratic forces, which have consistently fought against neo-liberal policies, can be the real alternative to Congress and BJP.

Sarkar was addressing a huge public meeting in Hyderabad on July 8, 2012 marking the successful conclusion of the 13th state conference of CITU Andhra Pradesh unit. A huge rally was taken out from Sundarayya Vignana Kendram, Baghlingampally to IndiraPark, the venue of public meeting, which was rechristened as Comrade M K Pandhe Nagar.

Sarkar said the regional political parties that are emerging in the states can grow stronger only if they are really serious about solving people's problems instead of supporting neo-liberal policies and if they do not indulge in political opportunism. He said the country and its people are going through difficult times with spiralling price rise, agrarian distress, farmer suicides, faltering economy etc. The UPA government is steeped in unprecedented corruption involving lakhs of crores of rupees and this phenomenon is clearly a result of neo-liberal economic policies. Yet it is stubbornly refusing to provide any sort of relief to people in the form of universal PDS, remunerative procurement of crops etc.

The government, it appears, is only acting in favour of monopoly corporate houses, money-lenders, blackmarketeers etc and leaving the farmers, workers, agricultural labour in distress. With the prime minister taking over the responsibilities of finance ministry, there could be intensified attacks on the working class in the coming period, he felt.

Expressing serious concern at the growing unemployment in the country, the Tripura chief minister said that as per some estimates the number of unemployed could be around 17 crore. With the agrarian sector also in the doldrums, more number of people are joining this lot. In view of this, there is falling demand for industrial products leading to closure of industries and a further rise in unemployment. Sarkar cited how the central government was not filling up the nearly 40 lakh vacant posts in government. Moreover, it is insisting on state governments also not to fill vacant posts or create new posts. The Left Front government of Tripura has disregarded this advice, even risking cut in funds and is recruiting people into government jobs, he said.

Manik Sarkar concluded his speech by calling on the CITU to lead united working class struggles to provide relief to the suffering common people and strengthen the Left and democratic alternative in the country.

CITU all India president A K Padmanabhan greeted the people in a short speech in Telugu. CITU secretary Dr K Hemalata said the central trade unions are contemplating holding of all India general strikes for more than one day in the coming period because successive one-day general strikes have not been able to pressurise the government against pursuing anti-people policies.

Among those who addressed the meeting included CITU newly elected president M Saibabu and general secretary R Sudha Bhasker, outgoing president S Veeraiah and others.

INAUGURAL SESSION

The 13th state conference of Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Andhra Pradesh unit resolved to intensify united struggles against the anti-worker neo-liberal policies being pursued by the state and central governments.  It has decided to focus on strengthening its organisation at the mandal level across the state.

The four day state conference, held from July 5-8, 2012 in Hyderabad, was attended by 671 delegates from all the districts of the state. The venue of the conference at RTC Kalyana Mandapam was renamed as Comrade V Srihari Nagar, in memory of the late veteran trade union leader and contemporary of Comrade P Sundarayya. Another veteran leader, Parsa Satyanarayana, hoisted the CITU flag before the start of the conference.

Inaugurating the state conference, CITU all India general secretary Tapan Sen said that a joint conspiracy by corporates-Manmohan Singh government-IMF and World Bank is on to unleash second generation economic reforms in the country after the presidential polls in order to further loot the country. He called upon the working class of the country to gear up and intensify struggles to thwart this conspiracy.

Sen said that the central trade unions are fighting against these ruinous policies of the government at national level with greater unity today and cited the success of the previous two countrywide strikes. He said there is a general opinion emerging among the central trade unions that the next countrywide strike must be of multiple days duration instead of a single day to force the government to change its policies.

Every day newer forms of exploitation are being used by the ruling classes against the workers, pointed out Sen. One such form is the ‘Scheme workers’ categorisation whereby lakhs of Anganwadi, ASHA and Sarv Siksha Abhiyan workers are being denied even the minimum wage due to them. Similarly, there is no longer 8-hour working day norm in the country. Everywhere it is 12-hours of work with the extra 4 hours being unpaid work. It is these new forms that are resulting in huge profits for the corporates while driving the workers to below subsistence levels of living.

Talking about non-implementation of existing labour laws in recent times, Sen felt this is creating ground for growth of anarchic elements among working class, as was seen in the recent violent incidents in the Regency Ceramics factory unit in Yanam. Making it clear that this sort of anarchy is an unwelcome trend, the CITU leader called on the activists to guard against anarchy by organising workers and exposing the real face of the ruling classes. Underlining that it is capitalism that has brought the world to the edge of despair today, Sen asserted that only by changing this ruinous exploitative system through struggles can the working class be emancipated.

Chairman of the Reception Committee and former MP, P Madhu delivered his welcome address in the inaugural session. K Hemalata and S Punyavati, secretaries of CITU, were also present on the dais along with CITU state president S Veeraiah and general secretary R Sudha Bhasker. Among those who attended the inaugural session included CPI(M) Polit Bureau member B V Raghavulu and leaders of various fraternal trade unions.

IMPRESSIVE GROWTH

The membership of CITU has increased in Andhra Pradesh from 5,68,294 at the time of 12th state conference to 6,60,879 now, making it the third biggest state unit in the organisation after West Bengal and Kerala. Significantly, 31 per cent of this membership is comprised of women workers. The membership has seen a rise across segments like Anganwadi, mid-day meal workers, beedi, grama panchayat workers, Singareni Colleries, road transport, medical representatives, municipal etc. State-wide unions have nearly 60 per cent of the total membership.

Noting the increase in membership, the report placed by general secretary in the conference also points out self-critically that the local unions membership in stronger districts like Khammam and Nalgonda is not commensurate with the strength of trade union movement in those districts. It has set a target of achieving 10 lakh membership by the time of next state conference.

When seen in the context of the tough political conditions prevailing in the state over the issue of Telangana, which was used to divide every section of working people, the growth of CITU, particularly in Telangana districts, is quite impressive. Delegates who participated in the discussion threw light on how they stood steadfast in the wake of threats and aggressive moves to split the unions. Ultimately, sticking to the core issue of fighting against exploitation has helped the CITU in rallying workers to the struggles. With the government also on a weak wicket due to fissures within and political challenges outside, many of the struggles launched by the CITU could end in some success.

Notable among the struggles have been the 6 lakh beedi workers struggle in five north Telangana districts; the struggle of 104 and 108 medical services workers; municipal field assistants struggle; mid-day meal workers, grama panchayat workers, ASHA workers struggle etc. The 36-day long struggle of nurses ended in success. The CITU has also played a key role in the united struggles launched in the state during the last three years. Although it was decided to focus on work in industrial clusters in 2008 itself, the work was actually begun in 2011 and in this short period there have been good results. It was stressed that this work in clusters must be taken forward with greater seriousness.

The conference discussed five crucial issues after breaking into commissions on those topics. Commission papers were presented on ‘Importance of Mandal centres – our effort’; ‘Effort in Industrial Clusters’; ‘Developing Internal Cadre’; ‘Our Work nature in Heavy and Medium Industries; and ‘Solidarity efforts’. The outcome of the discussions in these commissions was later presented to the conference in a brief manner.

Another crucial aspect that was highlighted during the conference was the need to step up the effort among the socially deprived sections of workers – dalits, tribals, minorities and women. The solidarity campaign and financial contribution to the work of the Struggle Committee against Caste Discrimination (KVPS) must be enhanced in the coming period, felt the conference. The political education carried out among the cadres and workers in the form of study circles and lectures has been intense during the last three years. This needs to be expanded to the lowest levels and institutionalised by training more cadre as teachers.

CITU all India president A K Padmanabhan, who sat through the conference, in his remarks complimented the AP unit for its expansion among workers. But he stressed that much more needs to be done to reach the vast number of working people in the state. The importance of having a strengthened organisational machinery for this task was underlined. Intensified political education for the cadres at all levels would be crucial, he stressed. He said the CITU is striving to achieve greater unity of the working class by waging united struggles against the anti-worker policies of the UPA-II government.

CITU secretary Dr K Hemalata, who was also present throughout the conference, in her remarks stressed that the consciousness of workers must be raised by CITU to expose the real face of the ruling classes and draw them in larger numbers into the impending struggles of the working class. She underlined the importance of bringing the growing numbers of unorganised sector workers into the organisational fold. Also special attention needs to be paid to the problems facing the working women in all sectors, she said.

The conference elected a 198 member state council which then elected a 92 member state committee and 27 member office bearers. M Saibabu was elected as new president and R Sudha Bhasker re-elected as general secretary.

IN A LETTER WRITTEN TO SHRI PRAKASH JAISWAL, MINISTER OF COAL IN THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ON JULY 4, CITU GENERAL SECRETARY AND RAJYA SABHA MEMBER, TAPAN SEN, SOUGHT THE MINISTER’S URGENT INTERVENTION IN THE MATTER OF BLAZING FIRE IN A BIG AREA UNDER THE EASTERN COALFIELDS LIMITED (ECL) IN RANIGANJ, WEST BENGAL.

Prompt Action Against Mine Fire Sought

IN a letter written to Shri Prakash Jaiswal, minister of coal in the government of India on July 4, CITU general secretary and Rajya Sabha member, Tapan Sen, sought the minister’s urgent intervention in the matter of blazing fire in a big area under the Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) in Raniganj, West Bengal. Here the ECL authorities had allowed indiscriminate open cast mining which led to the death of a security guard in Belbaid Patch OCP under Kunustoria area on June 27, 2012.

The tragedy occurred when a team of officials were on the particular spot for a visit and one security guard, Subhas Gore, fell in the blazing fire owing to the sudden collapse of land. There could have been fatalities, but others somehow escaped.

The entire area is under blazing fire and the inhabitants in the nearest villages are affected by the noxious gas constantly emitting owing to continuing fire underground in the OCP areas. Moreover, the way the sudden subsidence took place, with the security guard getting swept down in the fire, indicates the volcanic kind of situation being created in various spots in the coalfield area. The letter said this is owing to indiscriminate open cast mining being carried on by private contractors and facilitated by the process of rampant outsourcing by the ECL, without caring for preventive measures against subsidence, gas emission and creation of fire. The letter said it is utterly shocking that the ECL management is selling and supplying the top soil of the OCPs to brick kiln owners since the starting of the OCP, thereby making soil or mitti unavailable for blanketing and controlling fire.

The letter expressed the hope that the minister would definitely appreciate the gravity of the issue of safety and security not only of the workers but also of the inhabitants in the coalmining area which is getting threatened everyday in the entire area. Then there is, besides, the no less important issue of preservation and prevention of wastage and burning out of precious high quality coal arising out of faulty, ad hoc and erratic mining operation through large scale outsourcing through OCP in the ECL.

The CITU leader has demanded that a thorough enquiry must be conducted and responsibility fixed for the incident of subsidence and fire on June 27, 2012, in Kunustoria area of the ECL. This must cover the OCP operation, allowing brick kilns in the concerned area to lift the soil etc, in its entirety. Simultaneously, the entire matter of outsourcing for indiscriminate OCP operation, totally unmindful of the consequences, lack of concern and care about the safety of the workers and the people, and also the issue of preservation and prevention of ruinous wastage of resources should be looked afresh and stopped forthwith in the ECL. The letter said this is an urgent necessity for the safety and security of the workers and people as well as for preservation of high quality precious resource which is being put at stake by the concerned authorities for short term ad hoc gain. 

The CITU leader has also sent copies of this letter to the director general of mines safety in Dhanbad and to the district magistrate of Burdwan under the government of West Bengal for information and necessary action.