Sunday, October 28, 2012

Murder by drone: the U.S. terror war in Pakistan


October 8, 2012. A World to Win News Service. As American drones occupy the skies across Pakistan's North Waziristan, the U.S. is continuing to lie about the many hundreds of ordinary people blasted to pieces or incinerated and the terrorizing of the entire populati

Most recently, an American embassy official in Pakistan insisted that protests against the drone strikes were unjustified in light of "the extreme process that is undertaken to avoid what is very sadly called 'collateral damage.'" Although not allowed to reveal classified information, he said, the number of civilian casualties is "quite low" – "in the two figures." (Guardian, October 7) This statement was meant to counter international news coverage of a convoy of hundreds of people from all over Pakistan and dozens of Western antiwar activists (including women from the U.S. group Code Pink) heading for a town in South Waziristan to demonstrate against the drone attacks and the Pakistani government's complicity.
The report Living Under Drones issued by two U.S. academic research groups in September paints a very different picture.
"[F]rom June 2004 through mid-September 2012, available data indicate that drone strikes killed 2,562-3,325 people in Pakistan, of whom 474-881 were civilians, including 176 children... These strikes also injured an additional 1,228-1,362 individuals." (According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, an independent non-profit news reporting agency based at City University in London whose data and methodology the report reviewed and found valid.)
The discrepancy is partially explained by the fact that "for the purpose of tracking civilian casualties, the [U.S.] government presumes that all military-age males killed in drone strikes are combatants." The report demonstrates that this is not true. Yet even the most narrow interpretation of Washington's claim, that it has recorded a "quite low" number of civilian casualties, may be a lie within a lie, since the exact figures, the identities of the human beings they represent and the circumstances of their death are all cloaked in secrecy.
Who was killed and how they died was the aim of an investigation project by law clinics at the Stanford Law School in California and the New York University Law School. Their report (available at livingunderdrones.org) was based on "nine months of intensive research—including two investigations in Pakistan, more than 130 interviews with victims, witnesses, and experts, and review of thousands of pages of documentation and media reporting."
Their conclusions are moderate to a fault. Instead of calling for an end to the drone war, "this report recommends that the U.S. conduct a fundamental re-evaluation of current targeted killing practices, taking into account all available evidence, the concerns of various stakeholders, and the short and long-term costs and benefits."
"Costs and benefits" for who and for what goals? By arguing on this basis, the report ignores the question of the purpose and legitimacy of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and the drone war in neighboring North Waziristan that is a consequence and adjunct to that occupation. It also avoids the broader question of the ensemble of open and covert wars that the U.S. ruling class is waging or threatening to wage throughout the "Greater Middle East" to protect and extend their global empire, no matter which party is in office.
By way of analogy, if someone were to reason that strikes on civilians in the West go against Al-Qaeda's overall (also reactionary) aims, this would be considered a cynical calculation and few people would be impressed by its moral stance.
But whether those involved in this report really believe in this "costs and benefits" approach or just feel that this is the only way their arguments will have impact, their careful review of the facts and first-hand accounts provide not only a damning account of the cruelty of U.S. conduct, but also evidence that this cruelty has a political purpose—that these deaths are not just "collateral damage" but rather part of a war-fighting strategy based on terrorizing the people of an entire region with no distinctions among them.
Living Under Drones describes a 2006 drone attack on a religious school in Bajaur that killed more than 80 people, 69 of them children. In another section, it reveals what really happened in what authorities described as a strike against a militant "house" where "a group of some three dozen alleged Taliban fighters were meeting."
"According to those we interviewed, on March 17 [2011], some 40 individuals gathered [in an open-air bus depot] in Datta Khel town centre. They included important community figures and local elders, all of whom were there to attend a jirga—the principal social institution for decision-making and dispute resolution in [the region]... convened to settle a dispute over a nearby chromite mine. All of the relevant stakeholders and local leaders were in attendance, including 35 government-appointed tribal leaders known as maliks, as well as government officials, and a number of khassadars (government employees administered at the local level by maliks who serve as a locally recruited auxiliary police force). Four men from a local Taliban group were also reportedly present, as their involvement was necessary to resolve the dispute effectively. Malik Daud Khan, a respected leader and decorated public servant, chaired the meeting...
"Though drones were hovering daily over North Waziristan, those at this meeting said they felt 'secure and insulated' from the threat of drones, because in their assessment at the time, 'drones target terrorists or those working against the government.' ... the maliks had even taken care to alert the local military post of the planned jirga ten days beforehand.
"At approximately 10:45 am, as the two groups were engaged in discussion, a missile fired from a U.S. drone hovering above struck one of the circles of seated men. Ahmed Jan, who was sitting in one of two circles of roughly 20 men each, told our researchers that he remembered hearing the hissing sound the missiles made just seconds before they slammed into the centre of his group. The force of the impact threw Jan's body a significant distance, knocking him unconscious, and killing everyone else sitting in his circle. Several additional missiles were fired, at least one of which hit the second circle. In all, the missiles killed a total of at least 42 people. One of the survivors from the other circle, Mohammad Nazir Khan, told us that many of the dead appeared to have been killed by flying pieces of shattered rocks.
"Another witness, Idris Farid, recalled that 'everything was devastated. There were pieces—body pieces—lying around. There was lots of flesh and blood.'... 'None of the elders who had attended had survived.''' All their family members "could do was 'to collect pieces of flesh and put them in a coffin.'"
Other incidents described involve drones firing at cars and taxis, killing people so often for reasons unknown to local people that any travel is considered dangerous.
People in North Waziristan, a tribal area where most people work in subsistence agriculture or trading, have come to avoid all public gatherings, such as mosques and even funerals, which seem to be a particular target. People are afraid to sit together outside; even children cannot play together and few people venture out at night. Many parents no longer let their children attend school for fear of drone strikes.
A humanitarian aid worker in Waziristan told the investigators, "Do you remember 9/11? Do you remember what it felt like right after? I was in New York on 9/11. I remember people crying in the streets. People were afraid about what might happen next. People didn't know if there would be another attack. There was tension in the air. This is what it is like. It is a continuous tension, a feeling of continuous uneasiness. We are scared. You wake up with a start to every noise."
Not only are people terrorized by what seems like random killings, they cannot forget the danger for a second because of the constant presence of drones, sometimes three or four visible at once. They circle in the sky, buzzing, all day, except when it rains. No one knows when they will fire, nor at whom.
One reason for the relatively low number of casualties in relation to deaths seems to be that the Hellfire missiles these drones shoot are thermobaric, far more destructive than ordinary explosives. The pressure wave produced by the blast alone may blow people apart in a circle as much as 20 meters in every direction, but the spray of burning aluminum and metal fragments can kill at an even greater distance. Often there is little left of the victims.
The nature of these missiles alone discredits the U.S. government's claim that these are "surgical" strikes. But the whole way targeting works also needs to be more widely understood. There are supposedly two types, "personality" and "signature."
"Personality" targets are when the U.S. puts particular individuals on a death list based on all sorts of "intelligence," including paid local informers who may have their own agenda. This was the main focus of drone strikes in Pakistan under the Bush administration.
Since Barack Obama took office, there has been a radical increase in the number of drone strikes (45-52 under Bush in 2001-09, 292 in just three and a half years under Obama). He has taken personal charge of approving who is on the kill list and all decisions to go ahead whenever the CIA does not have "a 'near certainty' that there will be zero civilian deaths."
At the same time, under Obama's leadership there has been what Living Under Drones calls "a reported expansion in the use of 'signature' strikes," which it also calls "profiling" and "guilt by association." Under the "pattern of life analysis," groups of men whose identities are not known but who meet certain "defining characteristics" can be killed on sight. These "signature characteristics" are secret, but seem to involve being "in an area of known terrorist activity," being in the vicinity of someone considered a "top Al-Qaeda operative" (which, as the strike on the jirga at Datta Khel demonstrates, can include the many, many thousands of people who might find themselves, at one time or another, at a gathering, a market or a street where someone linked to the many armed Islamist groups might also be found), or even, according to knowing jokes repeated in the report, "three guys doing jumping jacks" or "young men with stubble."
There is another element in this picture indicating that civilian deaths are not just accidental "collateral damage" but the deliberate result of U.S. policy: what American authorities cynically call "double tapping," the practice of following up on one missile strike with another one or more, minutes or even hours later, with the clear intent of killing relatives and neighbors frantically searching through the rubble for survivors and loved ones, "looking for the children in the beds," and trained rescue workers.
The report says, "According to a health professional familiar with North Waziristan, one humanitarian organization had a 'policy to not go immediately [to a reported drone strike] because of follow up strikes. There is a six hour mandatory delay.' According to the same source, therefore, it is 'only the locals, the poor, [who] will pick up the bodies of loved ones.'"
The authors emphasize that "attacks on first responders may constitute war crimes." But their report also provides factual ammunition for the argument that not only this particularly repulsive aspect but the U.S.'s whole drone war in Pakistan in general (along with the use of drones in Yemen and Somalia) is a war crime.
First of all, many careful readers of the report will conclude that killing non-combatants is not just an accidental result of policy but an American policy in itself. Secondly, even if certain known individuals are in some way tied to armed groups, the fact that their names can remain on a "kill list" for a long time means that targeting them runs counter to the international law that apologists for the U.S. government cite to justify these killings. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter considers the use of force in or against another country to be justifiable self-defense only when it is a response to an ongoing armed attack or an imminent threat, which is described as "instant, overwhelming and leaving no choice of means, and no moment of deliberation."
There is no moral justification for the U.S. drone war in Pakistan, and no apparent legal justification for it either. (The Obama government claims that it has a written legal opinion authorizing its actions, but its contents are secret!) The U.S. is not legally at war with Pakistan. This is why the drone war is being waged by the CIA and not the regular armed forces, and why the American government has to treat it as secret, even though everyone in Pakistan knows, as does everyone in the U.S. and elsewhere who wants to know.
In fact, the U.S. is still mainly allied with the Pakistani government (and especially the Pakistani military), despite serious contradictions. For the first three years of the drone war in Pakistan, then President Pervez Musharraf publicly pretended that the strikes were "either Pakistani military operations, car bombs, or accidental explosions." Since then the Pakistani government has found itself caught between outraged public opinion demanding an end to the strikes and an unyielding U.S. government.
One of the most damning, though little noticed, parts of this report is a timeline that correlates the intensity of U.S. drone activity with friction between the two governments, especially around Pakistan's arrest of CIA contractor Raymond Davis for gunning down two men in the street. At first the U.S. halted the drones "to avoid angering a population already riveted by Davis' arrest"; then, when negotiations between the Musharraf and Obama governments stalled, it launched 11 strikes in succession until the Pakistani government finally released Davis. Relying on the U.S. Congressional Research Service, the report cites this as one of three incidents in which "[m]essaging to Pakistan appears to continue to be part of the [drone] programme's intent."
In other words, at least part of the reason why the U.S. is killing people in Pakistan has little to do with even perceived military necessity but is in fact aimed at pressuring Pakistani "deciders," not because the Pakistani ruling classes and armed forces care about the lives of ordinary Pakistanis or anyone else, but because when the U.S. kills civilians in their country it makes their government look bad and provokes popular anger.
If terrorism is defined as the deliberate killing of civilians for political ends, this is an unmistakable "signature" of a terrorist operation.
The "cost" and "downside" of the drone strikes, the report warns, is that they "have facilitated recruitment to violent non-state armed groups, and motivate attacks against both U.S. military and civilian targets." This is undoubtedly true. It is also undeniably true, as the report says, that these armed Islamic fundamentalists are doing great harm as they seek to impose their rule over the people.
This report should help us understand that what the U.S. is doing in Pakistan and around the world is actually helping propel the jihadi movement. At the same time, however, although it exposes the harm caused by the U.S. with its drone war, the report does not take into account the even greater harm done by the American occupation of Afghanistan and decades-long domination of Pakistan, including its support for Pakistan's military and ruling classes and the Islamization of the country that was initially meant to make U.S. domination palatable. For both of these reasons, we should be very clear that the U.S. is the biggest terrorist of all.

USA - October 22, 2012: The National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and Criminalization of a Generation

Revolution received the following initial reports of protests on October 22, the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and Criminalization of a Generation. Check back for additional reports which will be posted as we receive them.

Los Angeles Area

In Los Angeles, people and families who have been targets of police brutality, murder, and incarceration came together with others who refuse to condone this injustice. About 35 people from Las Vegas, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Los Angeles rallied at the Twin Towers/Men's Central Jail at noon. A huge banner that read "Mass Incarceration + Silence = Genocide," signed by people from the Crenshaw area in LA and Cal State Northridge, was held up facing the street. The Cuauhtemoc Aztec Dancers brought a spirited cultural participation to the action.
Wayne Kramer, of Jail Guitar Doors, a Unitarian Universalist minister, and Keith James of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network spoke at the rally. By joining together to "break the silence" people found a way to do something about the horrors of mass incarceration. Yolanda Trotter, whose 96-year-old mother died after being tased by the police who had been called to help her, came all the way from Vegas to LA to tell her story to the world and cry out for justice. Visitors to the jail and people going to the nearby court joined the protest and shared their stories. One of them, a woman who had come to the jail that morning to tell her incarcerated husband that their son had died in police custody that Saturday because, out of fear, he had swallowed the drugs he was carrying when the police stopped him, stayed for a while by the banner. "I felt so happy when I came out and saw this here," she said. In an embryonic way, collectively breaking the silence transformed people's outrage and pain into strength and resistance.
A spirited march of about 300 people, led by a truck decorated with pictures of people killed by police, went from Pershing Square in downtown LA through Skid Row to police headquarters. On Skid Row, people welcomed the marchers; many took flyers, and people enthusiastically took up whistles (building on the Stop Mass Incarceration Network's "Blow the Whistle" campaign). Some of the homeless joined the march, vigorously blowing their whistles. At 5th and Spring Streets, in the downtown arts district, where Dale Garrett, a 51-year-old Black man was shot down by an undercover LAPD detective in broad daylight, the march defiantly stopped. A die-in covered the intersection. Body outlines were chalked in the street.
Black stickers reading "Mass Incarceration + Silence = Genocide! October 22nd. Break the Silence!" were widely taken up, as well as "Fight the Power, and Transform the People, for Revolution!" At police headquarters, friends and relatives of people killed by police and representatives of various organizations spoke to the crowd.
In Anaheim, California, friends and families of Manuel Diaz, Joel Acevedo, Cesar Cruz, Joe Whitehouse, Andres Avila, and others killed by police, and 16-year-old Jesus Aguirre, sentenced to life in prison, held a march and rally on Sunday, October 21, as part of the National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation.

Chicago

Despite a morning of pouring rain people chanted, blew whistles, and called on the public to stand up and stand together against police brutality and mass incarceration at rallies that were held in various neighborhoods throughout the day. At one community college people were called on to get handfuls of flyers and whistles and take the protest inside the school (because of the rain).
People involved in forming Revolution Clubs together with family members of people shot and/or killed by the police were at the center of some of the neighborhood rallies. Where family members spoke it gave powerful testimony to the impact of the outrage of police brutality.
These rallies unleashed people to tell their own stories of police brutality and abuse, as well as to dig into the overall impact of mass incarceration. One person encouraged people to reach out to those who were formerly incarcerated, talking about how they are the constant target and victim of police harassment. He knows because he, himself is one. Another person described how a friend received a call from his wife saying she was being set upon by men down the block from his house. He rushed from his house to the scene—where he was shot to death by an undercover cop.
People at the neighborhood rallies recalled the "Blow the Whistle on Stop-and-Frisk, Police Brutality, Racial Profiling and Mass Incarceration" day on September 13 and saw the Oct 22nd actions as part of a growing movement of resistance. Revolutionary communists described how they saw this resistance as part of building a movement for revolution in which "Fight the power, and transform the people, for revolution" is a central part. And Revolution newspaper was in the mix. Hundreds of whistles and flyers got out, with people joining on the spot to distribute them at some of the rallies.
One feature of the rallies were banners reading "Mass Incarceration + Silence = Genocide" which people were encouraged to sign. These banners were brought from the neighborhood rallies to a citywide gathering the evening of October 22nd at the County Courthouse/County Jail complex.
The evening citywide gathering brought out some of the people who had been at the earlier neighborhood events, an anarchist drum corps, "punks against apartheid," people who are part of the Occupy movement, victims of police torture and others. Members of the group Rebel Diaz dropped by the event at the end of the evening. Speakers addressed the question of mass incarceration, its origins in the workings of the system and the conscious policies of the ruling class. The situation with stop-and-frisk in New York City and the resistance to it were described. And a call was put out for people to support those facing trial for that resistance.
The highlight and main event of the citywide gathering was a march around the walls and barbed wire fences that surround the massive county jail complex. Marchers carried a banner announcing the "October 22nd National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation," 20 feet long by 6 feet high. The "Mass Incarceration + Silence = Genocide" banners were bright yellow with big black lettering standing out starkly. Among the chants were "We don't want a Prison Nation—Stop Mass Incarceration" and "Mass Incarceration IS the Crime." Visiting hours stretch until 9 pm and the marchers were able to connect with many family members who had come to visit loved ones. The message of October 22nd struck a chord and the resistance was welcomed.
The county sheriff's deputies, on the other hand, were anything but welcoming. They grew increasingly tense as the marchers message received support from family members and long lines of traffic backed up because of the increasing number of sheriff cars.
When prisoners crowded the galleries to watch and when the prisoners' fists went up in the air, the sheriff's deputies started blaring their sirens to drown out the chanting from the marchers. This drew even more attention to the marchers and their message.
Throughout the march there was an exuberance as people stood up right in the face of the state authority to get their message out.

Atlanta

On Saturday, October 20, at the historic Auburn Research Library, several activist groups worked together to organize two events to address police brutality. The first event, called "Break the Chains," was an open forum calling on the audience to speak bitterness about their encounters with police or to recount the circumstances surrounding the murder of their relatives, as well as a platform for the resisters in Georgia who are part of the undocumented youth movement. They even had the testimony from a former corrections officer who detailed the attitudes and vicious culture of hatred among prison guards towards the prisoners, collaborating on how to make life more miserable and tortuous for targeted prisoners. The second program, called "Every 36 Hours: Extrajudicial Violence in the Black Community," was sponsored by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, the Ariston Waiters Foundation, and the October 22nd Coalition. There were a number of cultural presentations, from several dozen children from a local Black Liberation School marching in the auditorium to perform, to prominent local hip hop artists. The first panel featured several parents of children whose lives have been stolen: Nicholas Heyward, Freda Waiters, Missy Stafford and Joe Harris, as well as a close relative of Troy Davis. All of their testimony was riveting, making clear with substance not only how their loved ones were deliberately murdered, but how they feel the pain like it was yesterday. While some still held out hope to pressure those in power or even use the ballot box to get justice, Nicholas Heyward from New York City's Parents Against Police Brutality explained why he was part of the October 22nd Coalition, and why we must not rely on the system. He explained that over many years he had found that his time spent in the courts and in politicians' offices had gotten him nowhere... appealing to the audience to cast aside such illusions and go directly to the people to mobilize ever greater resistance that cannot be ignored. The second panel featured activists from Copwatch, Nation of Islam, October 22nd Coalition, and National Action Network, and Mawuli Davis, a defense lawyer known for taking on the cases of victims of police murder, and Vincent Fort, a politician who has stood with the families and got arrested in defense of the Occupy movement.
Revolution Books got a lot of attention with big display boards featuring different quotes from the book BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian, as well as an enlarged image of him. A huge hit was a banner, "Mass Incarceration + Silence = Genocide" which was signed all day.
On October 22, protesters gathered in a downtown park called Troy Davis Park (renamed by the people during the Occupy days). The park has an interesting mix of homeless people (mostly playing chess), students from Georgia State University and Atlanta Metropolitan College, vendors, and office workers. In a sea of people wearing black, the demonstration opened with drummers and a brief speak-out including Nicholas Heyward, whose 13-year-old son, Nicholas Jr,. was killed by the NYPD, and civil rights attorney Mawuli Davis, before stepping off for a very lively march that took Peachtree Street to the Atlanta Detention Center. Piercing the air were the sound of whistles blowing and loud chanting as the march snaked through the downtown traffic. The October 22nd banner led the way with people holding signs with the names of those killed by the police followed by "The Whole System Is Guilty!," a banner that said "Mass Incarceration + Silence = Genocide," and the most popular banner was "Fuck the Police." As the march passed by the MARTA transit station, lots of Black youth joyously joined in the demonstration. They were really attracted to the "Fuck the Police" banner. By the time the march arrived at the detention center there were about 120 people. To the dismay of the jail guards, the demonstrators took the front stairs and had another speak-out. There was a continuous stream of harrowing stories by those whose loved ones were murdered by the police: Freda Waiters spoke about her son Ariston Waiters, who was shot in the back by the Union City police a year ago; Mary Neal spoke about her mentally ill brother Larry Neal, who was murdered in a Tennessee jail by the guards; a Vietnamese mother spoke about her son who was shot by the police and left to bleed to death; a teenage boy spoke about his brother who was killed in an Atlanta jail by the prison guards. And going through the crowd, you could hear outrageous story after outrageous story of those who were either brutalized by the police or jacked up by the "injustice" system. A middle-aged Black man who came over to see what the demonstration was about said he just walked out of jail after doing 60 days for littering (!) and lost his job. Following the families, several organizations made statements: Revolution Books Atlanta, National Action Network, FTP Movement, and others.  After the speak-out, the march took off through the streets once again, this time winding its way through the MARTA station plaza and back to the park. The day really captured the anger and anguish of all the lives devastated by this system on the one hand, and on the other tapped into the feeling of joy and liberation in standing up and fighting back, and the need for revolution.
During the course of the afternoon, Revolution Books distributed very widely a palm card with the BAsics quote 1:13, "No more generations of our youth, here and all around the world, whose life is over, whose fate has been sealed, who have been condemned to an early death or a life of misery and brutality, whom the system has destined for oppression and oblivion even before they are born. I say no more of that." They also distributed a flyer for an open house at Revolution Books including the URL for the Cornel West interview with Bob Avakian and sold 60+ copies of Revolution newspaper.

Seattle

On the evening of October 22 a mixed crowd of family members who have had their loved ones murdered by the police, revolutionaries, proletarian and middle strata youth, Veterans For Peace activists, and Occupy people braved the cold and drizzly evening to show their opposition to the epidemic of police brutality in Seattle and around the country. There were large posters that read "Stolen Lives" that had the pictures of people who had been murdered by the police. One of the images was of Henry Lee, an elderly Black man with dementia who was recently shot by the police in the doorway of his home in south Seattle. Friends and family members of Jedidiah Waters, Prince Gavin, and Victor Duffy Jr. courageously spoke out about the injustices and shared their stories of loss and pain. Waters, Gavin and Duffy were some of the most recent Seattle area young people wantonly murdered by police this year. There have been six people murdered in the last three months alone in the region. One of the things about October 22nd is that every year, there are always new families who show up who have had their loved ones murdered by the police. Friends of Jedidiah Waters described how they found out at the inquest hearing that Jedidiah had been shot 11 times, five in his head, mutilating his body. After hearing this at the inquest, they ran into the hall screaming and crying. All this for "allegedly shoplifting" from Walmart. Marie Young, whose son, 23-year-old David, was murdered last year by the same cop, Matthew Leitgeb, who murdered Waters, also spoke. Pointing to the Stolen Lives posters, she said, "This is just getting ridiculous. We have to do something. This has to end." She said the inquest hearings were ridiculous and weren't set up to get any kind of justice for the people. A native woman whose nephew was found dead in a juvenile detention facility spoke out about the daily police brutality and intimidation inflicted upon native youth and the fear that this instilled in her and her son. The family members of John T. Williams and Victor Duffy Jr. took the stage holding pictures of their loved ones, and spoke through their tears and anger with a spirit of determination to keep up the fight for justice in memory of them. To be there in the crowd and listen to these stories was completely heartbreaking but also inspiring. Many in the audience were emotionally moved and responded with shouts of encouragement and agreement.
The president of the Seattle Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild spoke about mass incarceration and repression, remembering how the system murdered revolutionaries like Fred Hampton and other Black Panther Party leaders.
A volunteer with Revolution Books spoke about the nature of this system we live under, the scope of police brutality, mass incarceration and repression, and saluted people who have participated in the righteous resistance that has taken place this year and called for others to build off of it and take it further. The statement also told how within this situation there lies the possibility and basis for a radically different world through revolution, and Bob Avakian's new synthesis of communism. Some greeted this speech with exclamations of "right on" and a former prisoner said this spoke to everything that he had wanted to say.
Whistles were passed out and it was announced how these whistles were about everyone standing up to police brutality by blowing this whistle if they see or are being harassed by the police. People donated money in the donation bin that was passed around to support the work of O22.
The march set off for the Cinerama theater, where Chris Harris had his head rammed into a brick wall by the police, and is now unable to feed or dress himself because this caused a traumatic brain injury. The police presence was huge: motorcycles, cars, vans, and bicycles. A long row of bicycle cops lined up against the brick wall where Chris had his head smashed, as if they were proud of the fear and violence it represented. The people called this out, telling these cowards how much they hated them and the system of terror they represent. The march went into populated and visible areas of downtown and the protest was covered by at least two major mainstream news stations. People chanted, "Mass Incarceration: We Say No More! Police Brutality: We Say No More! Racial Profiling: We Say No More!" and added the names of people unjustly murdered like "Troy Davis: We Say No More!" Some people off of the sidewalk joined in the march and whistles were going off all throughout downtown. As the march continued, people along the way got copies of Revolution, O22 palm cards that had the faces of those who had been recently murdered, and BAsics cards with the "No more generations..." quote. There was intense anger, a resolve to get justice, and a determination to put an END to all this!

Houston

A group of about 50 people gathered at Market Square: several organizations fighting mass incarceration and police brutality were represented, as well as prison rights, LGBT rights, and anti-drug war activists, students, a group of homeless, and artists. People penned their outrage on a banner reading "MASS INCARCERATION + SILENCE = SLOW GENOCIDE" that had been taken out to housing projects, stores, outside a county jail, and different neighborhoods the weekend before. Many comments described set-ups, victimization and murder by cops and the "criminal justice system."
An Occupy activist wrote in large letters, "Free Eric Marquez," a young man incarcerated and awaiting trial on felony charges, set up by an undercover cop for Occupy Houston's port protest last year—an example of how political dissent, too, is being criminalized.
A hallmark of O22, 2012 was the passion and participation of those whose lives have been directly and horribly impacted by police brutality and murder. Arlene Kelly spoke about her mentally ill daughter, Colleen, who HPD shot and let bleed to death in 1999. A woman people met at the jail came down with her sister, who got on the mic to tell her story. One after the other, people testified.
As the march stepped onto the street, whistles and chants reverberated across train stops and skyscrapers and people along the way grabbed flyers and copies of Revolution newspaper. Several people joined along the way. At the police station a couple joined in, one of them saying, "The words of people speaking out rang so true with me." Another joined because "this situation with the police is out of control and it affects the whole community, no matter where you live."
A Black veteran carrying a Stop Mass Incarceration sign recounted how he got arrested for arguing with a friend. Because he had a knife on him—one that he carried every day for use at his job—they hit him with a felony weapons possession charge. He subsequently lost his job and is now homeless. He marched because "I'm one of those persons that's fed up with this type of brutality… I've been everything in the book—I've been tased, I've been pepper-sprayed—for no reason—I've been falsely arrested, several times… Somebody got to start stepping up…I got some friends, they're like, 'Oh, it'll go away'.  No it won't go away."
He agreed with the quote from BA about how the police "serve and protect" the system not the people. He added, "Like you said, it's an emergency, and it's something that is needed right now, very much needed right now, not later. Every day it's destroying people's lives; innocent children being murdered, handicapped people being murdered.  They're not stopping.  So it should be other people coming up and making aware of what they're doing that won't stop either. And eventually it will bring about change."
A cousin of Chad Holly, a 15-year-old whose brutal beating by HPD cops drew national attention and protest, remarked, "I'm so glad to see you out here because this has to stop."
Later, some of the participants got together with the revolutionaries to reflect on the day.  Several said that this protest helped open people's eyes, especially about the link between the system and the police, and were struck by the unity expressed among people coming from different directions, and among different nationalities. One immigrant referred to a palm card she had recently gotten, with the quote from Bob Avakian, BAsics 1:3, which she said "got right to the point—that yes, this is not a democracy—this is imperialism."

Cleveland

On October 22, there was a real swirl of curiosity, excitement, and engaging even before the rally started. People were moved and riveted by the stark, enlarged photos of people who had been killed by the police in Cleveland. Many stopped in their tracks, and just tried to take it all in, with reverence, shock and anger. One woman said she knew one of the victims pictured there, that he was full of love and potential never to be realized.
People testified to Revolution sellers about their experiences with police brutality and murder. A middle-aged Black woman who worked for the transit company talked about her nephew who has repeatedly faced police harassment. A white woman from a small town in Ohio where a young woman had been killed by the police told people the details of the police murder. A Black man in his 20's, who at first seemed apathetic, had a lot to say—including how police brutality and mass incarceration is all linked to the history of slavery in this country. When he saw the first quote in BAsics, it immediately resonated with him: "There would be no United States as we now know it today without slavery. That is a simple and basic truth."
With djembe drumming in the background, the MC called on people to join the movement of resistance against the horrors of police brutality and murder, the degrading practice of stop-and-frisk, and the massive incarceration especially of Black and brown people. He spoke about a Black homeless man in Saginaw, Michigan, Milton Hall, who was shot 48 times and killed, and that is only one of hundreds every year. He called on people to "Fight the Power, and Transform the People, for Revolution."
A Black student from Cleveland State University's African American Cultural Center spoke about how he was arrested and convicted of three felonies for having some marijuana on him, and now can't get a job. He said, "We need to take revolution to the youth, got to get to the youth with that message." A Black woman said, "We all need to take a stand on the police brutality: Black, white, everyone." Members of the New Black Panther Party spoke about the need to fight the police who are an occupying army in the Black community. A 25-year-old woman who just met up with the protest that day spoke about how she was abused in jail, strip-searched and degraded, and she called on people to continue to fight back.
Several youth jumped into the march to the "Justice" Center, blowing whistles, chanting "ICE, FBI/No more detentions, no more lies," "Stop the killing, stop the lies/NO MORE STOLEN LIVES," and more. At the "Justice" Center, suddenly about 50 cops in formation came marching right by the protest, yelling their reactionary grunts, trying to intimidate people and block out the message of the march. That didn't happen. Whistles blew loudly, and people yelled "Fuck the Police" at them. Then the family of Guy Wills (killed by an off-duty cop) came along. As the march went by the County jail, many inmates raised fists and the V-sign at the windows and people in the march raised their fists in response, whistled and chanted.
With deep passion and conviction, a Black youth said, "WE ARE SLAVES. I stand for my people, like Tupac and others did. FIGHT THE POWER." Afterwards, some people finished off the day by going to Revolution Books to watch the BA Everywhere DVD and listen to Cornel West's interview with Bob Avakian.

Detroit

On October 22, one person went down to the Frank J. Murphy Hall of Injustice. This is the site of the courthouse where countless people, mainly Black and Latinos, are sent off to prison. This is also the site of a scheduled hearing on the criminal trial of the cop who shot and killed 7-year-old Aiyana Jones as she slept on the sofa.  Officer Weekly has filed a motion to dismiss the charges and some say his attorney, the prosecutor and judge are colluding to find a way to grant this motion.
With all of this going on at the Hall of Injustice, the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation was met with a lot of enthusiasm. A young Arab guy said that he was down at the courthouse because of racial profiling. He pointed to the part of the flyer about discrimination against Arabs and told about how the police confiscated his $60,000 truck because he is Arab. An older, well-dressed Black man paused, looking at the flyer, and finally said, "I didn't know anyone else thought about this the way I do." A lot of younger people took the flyer and agreed that police are constantly harassing, brutalizing, and arresting people for bullshit.
After the person distributing flyers had been there for a while, a county deputy came out to the courthouse plaza and ordered him off "their" property. Immediately they threatened to arrest him for failure to obey a lawful order by a police officer, a felony in Michigan. A crowd gathered around as the distributor asked what law prohibits distributing literature on public property. Rather than answer the question, three more deputies and a city cop with a dog appeared. After the confrontation ended, some people came up to the distributor and expressed appreciation for what he was doing to stop police brutality.
Later that afternoon a small group of people went downtown to an area where there is city bus traffic. Again the response was enthusiastic and a number of people took flyers to give to people on the bus, in their neighborhood, or to friends. Person after person spoke with anger and disgust about the abuse they've suffered at the hands of the cops. An older white man said the cops have always brutalized people. He told of a beating he received at the hands of the cops in his youth. A young Black man pointed to an unhealed wound on his face. He had received it at the hands of a cop after he objected to an overly intimate pat-down. He was beaten unconscious for this "crime." He said when he regained consciousness he was in a cell in a pool of his own blood. No charges were ever pressed against him. A well-dressed middle-aged woman from India told about how the police everywhere do this, it's not just in Detroit. An older Black man spoke with bitterness about how many young people are being sent to prison. He spoke about grandsons and nephews who were all locked up.  He said he thought this was being done because there are no jobs for youth so they just lock them up.

New Orleans

Community activists held a protest rally in front of the New Orleans city hall on October 22nd: "We were demanding an end to police brutality and the decriminalization of a generation," said Rev. Brown, who joined thousands of protesters across the country demanding justice for innocent people killed and arrested by law enforcement. Speaker after speaker denounced racism in the criminal (so-called) justice system and will continue to fight for justic

UK -Democracy and Class Struggle calls for maximum support for this Conference.



The Campaign to make people in Europe aware of The Peoples War in India will be boosted with the Conference in Hamburg on the 24th November 2012.

Democracy and Class Struggle calls for maximum support for this Conference.


The Campaign to make people in Europe aware of The Peoples War in India will be boosted with the Conference in Hamburg on the 24th November 2012.

Democracy and Class Struggle calls for maximum support for this Conference.

Italy - big mass demostration in Rome, blockages and clashes with police in the end of demo- less good the head of demo .. revisionist,electoralist end opportunist forces

pc 28 ottobre - riesce con grossa partecipazione la manifestazione nazionale di Roma NO MONTI DAY -

" ma la parte migliore è alla fine.. il corteo studentesco riparte verso la sapienza ..blocco della tangenziale ... mentre la parte peggiore è la testa degli organizzatori



Sul No Monti Day avremo modo di scrivere nelle prossime ore. Ma intanto vi diamo conto della movimentata coda di cui sono stati protagonisti studenti e centri sociali dopo la conclusione del corteo principale.

Si é sciolto intorno alle 19,30 il corteo 'selvaggio' di migliaia tra studenti e attivisti dei centri sociali che, arrivati in una Piazza San Giovanni già gremita di manifestanti, hanno deciso di continuare a marciare su un percorso evidentemente 'fuori programma'.
In piccoli gruppi i ragazzi sono rientrati alla Sapienza, dove questa mattina si erano dati appuntamento per dare vita alla manifestazione che è partita da piazzale Aldo Moro intorno alle 14 per poi congiungersi col grosso del corteo animato dai sindacati di base e dai partiti della sinistra.
Una volta in piazza San Giovanni gli spezzoni studenteschi ed altre realtà di base hanno deciso di proseguire lungo via Carlo Felice. Da li' al grido di "Riprendiamoci la città" è partito un lungo serpentone che ha poi bloccato la tangenziale in direzione Tiburtina. Dopo aver marciato sulla tangenziale est mandando in tilt il traffico, il corteo ha imboccato la rampa di ingresso della A24, bloccando quindi l'accesso del tratto urbano dell'autostrada. Poi studenti e attivisti hanno deciso di invertire il senso di marcia per tornare verso San Lorenzo ed hanno quindi bloccato l'altro senso di marcia dell'arteria romana, al grido di "Se ci bloccano il futuro noi blocchiamo la città".
Arrivati in viale Castrense alcuni manifestanti hanno anche lanciato petardi, fumogeni e bottiglie contro i poliziotti in tenuta antisommossa che li fronteggiavano e gli impedivano di proseguire. Gli agenti hanno caricato i manifestanti che a quel punto si sono diretti nuovamente verso via Carlo Felice per poi tornare verso il quartiere di San Lorenzo e l'università La Sapienza.


    
    
    
    
    
    
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Roma – sabato, 27 ottobre 2012  
    
  
E' appena partito dall'universita' 'La Sapienza' di Roma il corteo di studenti, centri sociali e no Tav, che partecipano al No Monti day. In testa lo striscione "Piazze invase contro la troika, e' l'Europa che ce lo chiede" con il riferimento a Spagna, Portogallo e Grecia.
Ad attendere lo spezzone 'sociale' della manifestazione in piazza della Repubblica, il coordinamento No Monti day a cui aderiscono oltre 20 sigle tra sindacati di base, associazioni e rappresentanze degli operai in lotta, dall'Alcoa all'Ilva.
20 mila persone, provenienti da tutta Italia, attese a Roma per il 'No Monti Day', la manifestazione nazionale indetta da organizzazioni sociali e sindacali, forze politiche e movimenti civili per "dare voce e visibilità alle tante e ai tanti che rifiutano e contrastano Monti e la sua politica di massacro sociale".
Centinaia i pullman iarrivati nella capitale. Il corteo parte alle 14.30 da Piazza della Repubblica e arriverà a San Giovanni passando per Via Cavour, Piazza dell'Esquilino, Piazza S. Maria maggiore, Via Merulana, Viale Manzoni e Via Emanuele Filiberto. Già è pronto il grande striscione per la testa del corteo: 'Con l'Europa che lotta. Monti Vattene'.
Il piano predisposto dalla questura di Roma prevede che a tutela dell'ordine pubblico sabato in piazza ci siano oltre mille uomini delle forze dell'ordine: saranno chiuse le stazioni della metro A di San Giovanni e Manzoni e lungo il percorso saranno interdetti gli accessi alle vie laterali, per evitare blitz e deviazioni improvvise verso sedi istituzionali.
Di fronte al possibile pericolo di frange violente infiltrate, il dispositivo di sicurezza 'ordinario' è stato integrato con qualche novità: lungo tutto il percorso divieto di sosta per auto, ciclomotori e taxi, niente cassonetti e tombini sigillati.
Una novità frutto dell'esperienza, per evitare quanto accade nel corteo degli 'Indignati' del 15 ottobre 2011 con vetture e moto alle fiamme, cassonetti usati come barricate e arieti. Ovviamente il piano potrà essere rimodulato se ci sarà necessità e se le attività info-investigative (che proseguono) daranno segnali in tal senso.
Gli organizzatori della manifestazione nei giorni scorsi hanno comunque precisato di non temere scontri o violenze durante il corteo: "A noi non risultano infiltrati, al massimo gli infiltrati sono in Parlamento. Nel corteo ci saranno comunque 300 persone che si occuperanno del servizio di autotutela".
- Sagome in cartone per ricordare le 174 morti per tumore a causa dell'inquinamento ambientale e sopratutto per dire no all'Ilva di Taranto. Questa la protesta del sindacato Usb di Taranto portata in piazza per il corteo del No Monti Day.    Tra i cartelli esposti dai manifestanti, alcuni dei quali indossano delle maschere dal volto bianco, 'Verita' per Taranto' e 'Taranto: acciaio per voi, tumori per noi'.    ''Queste sagome sono qui per ricordare tutte le persone morte finora per tumori causate dall'inquinamento - ha spiegato un manifestante - dobbiamo dire basta a quell'agglomerato di industrie concentrato a ridosso della citta'. Qui e' in ballo la nostra salute''.
15,03 NO MONTI DAY: AL VIA CORTEO ROMA,'CACCIAMO GOVERNO DEL PROF'
(ANSA) - ROMA, 27 OTT - ''Con l'Europa che si ribella, cacciamo il governo Monti''. Aperto da questo striscione e' partito da piaza della Repubblica il corteo No Monti Day.   I manifestanti hanno appena imboccato via Cavour per dirigersi verso Piazza San Giovanni, destinazione finale del corteo. Ad organizzare la giornata di protesta, sindacati, partiti politici, movimenti e associazioni, tutti insieme per dire no alla precarieta', ai licenziamenti e alla disoccupazione.
''Queste politiche stanno devastando interi paesi dell'Europa - hanno gridato i manifestanti dai microfoni del camion alla testa del corteo - i partiti in Parlamento hanno letteralmente calato le mutande davanti a Monti. E' un esecutivo di banchieri e ricchissimi. E noi siamo in piazza per dire no a questo scandalo''
15,07 CORTEI. ROMA, STUDENTI CON GLI ALTRI: ORA IN MARCIA INSIEME
OLTRE 3.000 PERSONE DA PIAZZA REPUBBLICA A SAN GIOVANNI.
(DIRE) Roma, 27 ott. - Tutti in marcia insieme. Al via a Roma il corteo del 'No Monti day' dopo che la manifestazione degli studenti, partita da La Sapienza, ha raggiunto piazza della Repubblica. Durante il percorso e' stato lanciato qualche petardo ed e' stato acceso qualche fumogeno colorato. All'arrivo dei ragazzi, in piazza ad attenderli c'erano circa 3.000 persone con le bandiere di Cobas, Usb, Rifondazione Comunista, e striscioni con scritto: "Monti vattene". Adesso il serpentone si e' incamminato verso piazza San Giovanni. Anche l'Agenzia per la mobilita' ha informa che "il corteo degli universitari e' confluito nel corteo principale a piazza della Repubblica per raggiungere piazza san Giovanni", e che "e' partito. La testa del corteo e' giunta in piazza Santa Maria Maggiore, la coda e' ancora a piazza Repubblica. Deviati i bus, mentre le linee tram 3-5-14 sono limitate a Porta Maggiore".
15,16 NO MONTI DAY: CORTEO STUDENTI RAGGIUNGE PIAZZA DEI CINQUECENTO
Roma, 27 ott. - (Adnkronos) - Il corteo partito da piazzale Aldo Moro e' arrivato a piazza dei Cinquecento dove sta sfilando il corteo del coordinamento 'No Monti Day'. Appena i sindacati e lo spezzone dei precari supereranno il piazzale della stazione lo spezzone sociale composto da studenti, precari, centri sociali e comitati in lotta per la casa si accoderanno per raggiungere tutti insieme piazza San Giovanni.
15,21 NO MONTI DAY:DISABILI CORTEO ROMA,SOS ASSISTENZA DOMICILIARE
(ANSA) - ROMA, 27 OTT - Al corteo No Monti Day si sono unite anche alcune persone disabili per chiedere assistenza domiciliare e assegni di cura. A guidare la loro protesta e' il Comitato 16 Novembre Onlus. Tra i cartelli esposti dai manifestanti, che si trovano alla testa del corteo, 'Piu' assistenza domiciliare, meno strutture residenziali', 'Assegno di cura subito' e 'Piu' fondi alla domiciliarita'.
15,37 NO MONTI DAY: IN PIAZZA TERREMOTATI EMILIA,SMONTIAMO GOVERN
(ANSA) - ROMA, 27 OTT - A protestare oggi a Roma contro il governo Monti sono scesi in piazza anche i terremotati dell'Emilia. Alcuni cittadini del Comitato Sisma.12 stanno sfilando al corteo del No Monti Day. Tra i cartelli esposti, 'L'Emilia e' ancora scossa, diamoci una mossa!', 'Emilia sMontiamo le tende e il governo', 'Siamo uomini o limoni? Ci avete gia' spremuto abbastanza'.
15,41 NO MONTI DAY: TESTA CO
Roma, 27 ott. (Adnkronos) - E' una manifestazione piu' affollata del previsto quella del "No Monti day", in corso di svolgimento a Roma. La testa del corteo e' entrata qualche minuto fa in via Merulana, mentre si attende ancora la confluenza del corteo degli studenti in piazza della Repubblica, piazza ancora molto affollata da persone in attesa di partire per la manifestazione. L'arrivo, si ricorda, e' atteso in piazza san Giovanni.
16,03 NO MONTI DAY: VERNICE E PETARDI CONTRO BANCA VIA CAVOUR
(AGI) - Roma, 27 ott. - Alcune bottiglie di vernice, petardi e bottiglie di vetro sono state lanciate contro la sede Unipol Banca in via Cavour, al passaggio del corteo del 'no Monti day'. La vernice e i petardi sono partiti dalla parte del corteo occupata da studenti e centri sociali. Sulla stessa banca erano gia' comparse delle scritte di vernice spray come 'rapinami' e 'Monti e Fornero al cimitero'.
. Lungo viale Manzoni lanci di uova e scritte sulla sede locale della Banca Etruria. Piccoli gruppi di manifestanti incappucciati, muniti di stencil e bombolette spray, prendono di mira le sedi delle banche lungo il percorso.
16,29 NO MONTI DAY: LUNGO PERCORSO PRESE DI MIRA TUTTE LE BANCHE
Roma, 27 ott. - (Adnkronos) - Lanci di uova, scritte 'banca morta', 'spread your rage', bancomat imbrattati. Il corteo del No Monti Day segna cosi' il suo passaggio lungo il percorso da via Cavour a via Merulana: ogni banca incontrata viene segnata dai manifestanti con lanci di uova e di vernice colorata. Per il resto il corteo procede pacificamente in direzione di San Giovanni. Il servizio d'ordine interno invita a proseguire e a non eccedere nello sfregio degli istituti bancari.
16,39 NO MONTI DAY: TESTA CORTEO ARRIVATA IN PIAZZA SAN GIOVANNI
17,34 NO MONTI DAY: CORTEO STUDENTI BLOCCA TANGENZIALE EST
Roma, 27 ott. - (Adnkronos) - Il corteo degli studenti, parte della manifestazione No Monti day, ha raggiunto scalo San Lorenzo e sta salendo sulla Tangenziale tra le auto in coda. Gli studenti infatti una volta raggiunta piazza San Giovanni, arrivo previsto per la manifestazione, hanno deviato la rotta marciando lungo via Carlo Felice, fino a porta Maggiore dove poi si sono avviati verso via dello scalo San Lorenzo.
17,36 anche a Cagliari NO MONTI DAY
NO MONTI DAY: IN PIAZZA A CAGLIARI CONTRO POLITICHE GOVERNO

NEMMENO IL MALTEMPO HA FERMATO MANIFESTANTI ANTI-PREMIER
(ANSA) - CAGLIARI, 27 OTT - Non sono stati fermati nemmeno dal maltempo e cosi' molti manifestanti si sono trovati nel pomeriggio in piazza a Cagliari sotto il Bastione di Saint Remy per dire no al Governo in occasione del ''No Monti day''. Tante bandiere e striscioni ed una parola d'ordine: "fermiamolo". E' la scritta, affiancata dal volto del premier, che compare nei cartelli portati al collo da molti manifestanti. ''Le ricette economiche che hanno strozzato la Grecia strozzeranno anche noi cosi' come strozzano da decenni paesi africani e asiatici. Il debito se anche fosse legittimo non si può ripagare. Può solo aumentare fino a soffocarci''. Nel mirino le politiche del governo sulle pensioni d'anzianita' e il lavoro con particolare attenzione all'articolo 18. Manovre che, secondo i manifestanti, non stanno producendo grandi risultati: ''Intanto lo spread rimane enorme perche' i mercati sanno gia' come andra' a finire''.
17,55 No Monti day: in migliaia a Roma per chiedere sciopero generale
(ASCA) - Roma, 27 ott - Un tentativo di aggregare le forze di sinistra radicalmente contrarie a Monti e al suo programma di governo? Certamente e' troppo presto per dirlo. Ma il No Monti day,  ha oggi fatto segnare un primo, indiscutibile, successo. Anche favorito dal tempo atmosferico, su Roma si prevedevano forti acquazzoni che invece non sono arrivati, si sono ritrovati in migliaia, forse anche piu' dei 30.000 previsti, a chiedere politiche ''radicalmente alternative'' alla cura Monti e, soprattutto, una nuova aggregazione di sinistra, a livello europeo, che potrebbe trovare un primo punto di intesa nello sciopero generale a livello europeo che si sta paventando per il 14 novembre prossimo.  Tra gli slogan e gli striscioni esposti: ''Facciamogliela pagare. Blocchiamo tutto'' e ''Piazze invase contro la troika. E' l'Europa che ce lo chiede''.


Bangla Desh Siraj Sikder Works

Siraj Sikder Works: Exposure of the draft strategy and program of the so called East Bengal Communist party (The party that is ‘left’ in from but right in essence) (March, 1970, rewritten in corrected form in April, 1972)

Posted on October 26, 2012
Siraj Sikder Works
Exposure of the draft strategy and program of the so called East Bengal Communist party (The party that is ‘left’ in from but right in essence)
(March, 1970, rewritten in corrected form in April, 1972)
Great leader, teacher, commander-in-chief and navigator of present era of world chairman Mao teaches us, “We must criticize wrong ideas of every description. It certainly would not be right to refrain from criticism, look on while wrong ideas spread unchecked and allow them to dominate the field. Mistakes must be criticized and poisonous weeds fought wherever they crop up”. Let us expose the real character of the so called communist party of East Bengal with the help of Mao Tsetung thought that is Marxism-Leninism of present era, the strongest ideological weapon of proletarian class of present day world.
Chairman Mao teaches us, “Historic experience deserves attention”. He adds, “Look at its past, and you can tell its present; look at its past and present, and you can tell its future.” With the above mentioned teachings, let us look at the past of the founders of Communist party of East Bengal. They were in both the revisionist and the neo revisionist parties. When they were there they put forward and struggled for several years for this anti-Marxist theory that “Capitalist exploitation in rural areas of East Bengal.”
They, by not leaving that hated anti Marxist theory with self-criticism, by not raising the flag of “Its right to rebel against the reactionaries’ against the neo revisionist East Pakistan Communist party, by not waging principled struggle, conspired and made embryonic party inside party and was expelled by the neo revisionists.
At present, as the revisionists and neo revisionists are unmasked in front of revolutionaries, this fraction of neo revisionists has come to catch fish in dirty water in the name of Marxism-Leninism. They formed “Communist Party of East Bengal” with that objective. “Communist party of East Bengal” has been formed with the unholy collusion of neo-revisionists, petit bourgeoisie romanticists, Guevarists, Trotskytes, Petit bourgeoisie lackeys, agents, vagabonds (lumpens) and adventurist conspirators.
Chairman Mao said, “Concrete analysis of concrete condition is the very essence and living soul of Marxism.” But the so called Communist party of East Bengal in their draft strategy and program failed to make concrete analysis of concrete condition of the Pre-Independence India. They failed to find out the reason why bourgeoisie democratic revolution was not carried led by the Communist party of India in pre-Independence period.
By making concrete analysis of concrete condition of East Bengal society with the help of Marxism-Leninism,Mao Tsetung Thought, we find the following basic contradictions.:
  1. National contradiction of East Bengal people versus Pakistani colonial ruling regime.
  2. Contradiction of vast peasantry of East Bengal versus feudalism
  3. East Bengal people’s
a)     contradiction with US-led imperialism
b)    contradiction with Soviet social imperialist-led and controlled countries
c)     national contradiction with Indian expansionism
4.  Contradiction of East Bengal working class versus bourgeoisie

Among the above contradictions the principal one is East Bengal people’s national contradiction with Pakistani colonial ruling regime.
Other than this scientific analysis they presented the view of revisionists and neo revisionists as it is. In that theory, by denying colonial rule and exploitation of Pakistani ruling regime, they mentioned three demon fish theory of revisionists and neo revisionists, that is, contradiction of East Bengal people versus imperialism, feudalism, big and monopoly capitalists.
They, by not raising national flag against colonial rule and exploitation over East Bengal people, have strengthened the hands of colonialists and pushed millions of revolutionary masses behind pro imperialist pro six points Awami League. In this way, they are helping imperialists too.
They mentioned, “The two region of Pakistan is separated by Hindustan, and the distance is about twelve hundred miles in land and 14 hundred miles in water way. So, it is impossible to realize and carry struggle, hand in hand with other oppressed nationalities of Pakistan. …This is why our field of revolution is East Pakistan.” They take East Bengal as field of revolution due to geographical reason. In this way, they mentioned the reason why East Bengal revolution is limited within itself as external (geographical). But dialectical materialism teaches us “The fundamental cause of the development of a thing is not external but internal; it lies in the contradictoriness within the thing. There is internal contradiction in every single thing, hence its motion and development. Contradictoriness within a thing is the fundamental cause of its development
Dialectical materialism further teaches us, “Dialectical materialism holds that external causes are the condition of change and internal causes are the basis of change.”
So, the reason why struggle for social change of East Bengal is limited in East Bengal is the internal contradiction of East Bengal society. Geographical reason is one of the external reasons only. But the neo revisionists of so called communist party of East Bengal, by mentioning geographical reason as the reason why revolution is limited in East Bengal “have reverted to the metaphysical theories of external causality and of mechanism”. Chairman Mao said about those, “They ascribe the causes of social development to factors external to society, such as geography and climate… In Europe, this mode of thinking existed as mechanical materialism in the 17th and 18th centuries and as vulgar evolutionism at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries.” Communist party of East Bengal is making futile attempt to present that old theory.
In this paragraph they mention India as “Hindustan”. By saying “Hindustan” they show communal mentality like Pakistani colonialists (the term which Pakistani colonialists use from communal outlook).
In that same Para, they mention, “to limit liberation of our Bengali nation within East Bengal”. Do they include people of West Bengal too as Bengali nation? In this way, they dream of unified Bengal by adjoining themselves with West Bengal. In personal conversation, they express people of East and West Bengal in a single nation, and they dream of making United States by taking East and West Bengal after revolution. This theory is totally anti Marxist. In the later historic period of  joining Pakistan, East Bengal people became a nation. At present stage, East Bengal is totally different from West Bengal in economy, culture, mentality etc. As according to the Marxist theory, even after completion of national democratic revolution of East Bengal, classes and class struggle in socialist society will continue to exist and as long as imperialism and capitalism exist in the World, state will exist, this is why at present stage or even at socialist stage too, theory of unification of East and West Bengal is an anti-Marxist theory. Only in communist social system, classes will cease to exist and state will also cease to exist and only then East Bengal and the whole world can be united.
In the chapter ‘three enemies in enemy camp’ they followed the method of serving old wine in new bottle. They mentioned three demon fish—imperialism, feudalism and big monopoly capitalism—of the revisionist Moni Singh-Mojaffar clique and Abdul Huq-Toha clique, as enemy of people of East Bengal. Despite in contradictions, they didn’t recognize national contradiction of East Bengal people versus Pakistani monopoly capitalists and feudalists (who at present are owner of state machinery), unconsciously they recognize that in following way: “Actually this exploitation and oppression is no less but much more than British colonial time.” When a nation is much more exploited than that of colonial way, then it is surely exploited and oppressed in colonial way. In this way, unconsciously they have been compelled to recognize our views.
To hide colonial exploitation over East Bengal, they term it as a special exploitation.
Marxists never express the most important question in such an abstract way. We ask them what they mean by the “special exploitation”.
They did not recognize national contradiction of East Bengal people versus Soviet Social imperialism. In our political position we mentioned that countries and nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America versus US-led imperialism and Soviet social imperialism-led revisionism is the principal contradiction. From that we find, like US imperialism, Soviet Social imperialism too is main enemy of world people. Soviet social imperialists by taking Pakistani colonialists, are trying to form anti-China anti Communist anti people alliance. They will not support national liberation struggle of East Bengal and the struggle to establish socialism and communism. Their view is to exploit and plunder East Bengal. Their lackey revisionists in East Bengal are constantly trying to crush revolution of East Bengal.  Revisionists are lackeys of Pakistani colonialism, feudalism, imperialism, social imperialism, bourgeoisie and all reactionaries and Indian expansionism. So, by not mentioning Soviet Social imperialist led revisionists as national enemy of East Bengal people, by denying the theory that revisionism is the main enemy of Marxist movement and Soviet social imperialists are main enemy of world people, they showed their own revisionist character.
Chairman Mao said, in order to fight imperialism we must fight revisionism. But they want to fight against imperialism without fighting against revisionism. So, actually, they are not even anti-imperialist. Petit bourgeoisie anti-Marxist romantic revolutionary Guevarists propagate about carrying anti imperialist struggle without any anti revisionist struggle. So, they are Guevarist.
They didn’t mention national contradiction of East Bengal people with Indian expansionism. As Indian expansionists are not able to exploit by investing capital like imperialists, they want to achieve field of commodity market and exploitation by expanding border. They will support independence struggle of East Bengal under bourgeoisie leadership because in that case they will be able to exploit East Bengal under bourgeoisie leadership and get anti China Anti Communist anti people ally, but proletarian led independent East Bengal will be helpful to the liberation movement of Assam, Tripura, West Bengal and proletariat of whole India. This is why Indian expansionism will make all out effort to crush the struggle to establish proletarian led independent East Bengal. So, Indian expansionists are enemies of East Bengal people. But the founders of so called East Bengal communist party, by not mentioning national contradiction of East Bengal people with Indian expansionism have showed collaboration to expansionism.
They mentioned, “They (three enemies) are totally dependent on each other, defend and serve each other. We can’t attack on one by separating it from others.
They said in another place, “We should not separate these three enemies”. That means, among imperialism, feudalism and big rich & monopoly capitalism, they don’t want to determine which one is principal and which one is secondary. Like Abdul Huq and Toha clique, they mention those as one and inseparable. They add, “The question of determining principal contradiction is not a question of strategy, rather of tactics.” The first and second theory is totally anti dialectical materialist. Chairman Mao said, “If in any process there are a number of contradictions, one of them must be the principal contradiction playing the leading and decisive role, while the rest occupy a secondary and subordinate position”. Therefore, in studying any complex process in which there are two or more contradictions, we must devote every effort to finding its principal contradiction. Once this principal contradiction is grasped, all problems can be readily solved. He further added, “There are thousands of scholars and men of action who do not understand it, and the result is that, lost in a fog, they are unable to get to the heart of a problem and naturally cannot find a way to resolve its contradictions.” He further added, “But whatever happens, there is no doubt at all that at every stage in the development of a process, there is only one principal contradiction which plays the leading role.”
Therefore, we must find out principal contradiction by analyzing different contradictions and must determine the main enemy whom proletariat will target. This is a basic theory of dialectical materialism, which is philosophy of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought.
Comrade Stalin said, “Strategy is the determination of the direction of the main blow of the proletariat at a given stage of the revolution, the elaboration of a corresponding plan for the disposition of the revolutionary forces (main and secondary reserves), the fight to carry out this plan throughout the given stage of the revolution.”
So, finding out principal contradiction is a basic question of proletarian revolution, is a question  of strategy. But the creators of the so called communist party of East Bengal, by saying principal contradiction a tactical question, have distorted a basic theory of dialectical materialism, the philosophy of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought. Chairman Mao said, “It is revisionism to negate the basic principles of Marxism and to negate its universal truth.” We see by exposing real character of the so called communist party of East Bengal, the creators of this party have corrected and distorted many basic theories of Marxism. So, whatever effort they make to disguise themselves under the cover of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought, they will not be able to hide their bourgeoisie character. They are actually revisionist of left in form but right in essence.

Long Live Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought!
Crush revisionism-neo revisionism!

from Galizia ...Imperialistas españois asinan acordos de cooperación militar coa India.





correovermello-noticias
Nova Delhi, 28.10.12
No marco dunha visita oficial do Rei Juan Carlos aos imperialistas indios afirmase que India apoiara ao Estado español na sua intencion de ocupar un posto no Concello de Seguridade da ONU.
Os cinco acordos económicos asinados onte en Nova Delhi centranse en operacions conxuntas en América Latina eo Magreb e tamen en proiectos concretos na India, como unha estrada de 22 kilómetros de pontes en Bombay. No marco militar España vendera submarinos e radares para a Armada dos imperialistas indios. India fara unha inversión india de 500 millones de euros nunha petroquímica catalana.
 
 
 

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Austria - Treffen des Indien-Solidaritätskomitees! für die internationale Konferenz zur Unterstützung des Volkskriegs in Indien in Hamburg (Ende November 2012).

3. Treffen des Indien-Solidaritätskomitees!

Am Sonntag, 28. 10. 2012 findet das 3. Treffen des Komitees zur Unterstützung des Volkskriegs in Indien statt. Themen sind:


  • Referat und Diskussion: Freiheit für alle politischen Gefangenen in Indien! (Die Lage und der Kampf politischer Gefangener in Indien und unsere Aufgaben)
  • Berichte aus den Arbeitsgruppen Frauenkampf, Kultur und ArbeiterInnenkampf, sowie Planung des Solidaritätsfestes am 16. November
  • Die Verbreiterung unserer Kampagne und Aufbau einer Delegation für die internationale Konferenz zur Unterstützung des Volkskriegs in Indien in Hamburg (Ende November 2012).

Wo und Wann? Amerlinghaus (Wien 7., Stiftgasse 8, U3 Volkstheater), Raum 4, ab 17.00 Uhr
Nähere Infos: indiensolidaritaet.wordpress.com



Das Indien-Solidaritätskomitee auf den Kritischen Literaturtagen in Wien.

Material des Komitees zur Unterstützung des Volkskriegs in Indien (KVI), sowie die neu erschienene Broschüre des Partisan-Literaturvertriebs zum 9. Kongress der CPI(Maoist) findet ihr auch bei den Kritischen Literaturtagen (KriLit) in Wien am 26./27. Oktober. Der Revolutionäre Aufbau wird dort einen Stand haben, wo er auch unser Material auflegt und VertreterInnen des Komitees anwesend sein werden.

Die KriLit findet in der Brunnenpassage, Brunnenmarkt/Yppenplatz (Payergasse), 16. Bezik, Ottakring, statt. Freitags 26.10. von 12.00 Uhr bis 19.00 Uhr, Samstag 27.10. von 10.00 Uhr bis 19.00 Uhr.






--
Komitee zur Unterstützung des Volkskriegs in Indien (KVI)
www.indiensolidaritaet.wordpress.com
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Freiheit für alle politischen Gefangenen in Indien!
Stoppt den imperialistischen Terror!
Für den Sieg im Volkskrieg!



--
Komitee zur Unterstützung des Volkskriegs in Indien (KVI)
www.indiensolidaritaet.wordpress.com
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Freiheit für alle politischen Gefangenen in Indien!
Stoppt den imperialistischen Terror!
Für den Sieg im Volkskrieg!

from Sry Lanka -International Committee of support of People’s War in India

International Committee of support of People’s War in India

Dear comrades,

Hamburg, 24th of November:
Everybody to the International Conference in Support of People's War in India

First I would like to send my comradely thanks to you behalf of our *Front Line Socialist Party (Sri Lanka) for organizing a special conference to assist People’s War of Indian Maoist Communist Party. It is no doubt that it will be an important land mark with in the struggle to establish socialism with in the South Asian region.

Our party also is working with a need to establish mutual understanding and a unity with active revolutionary organizations with in the South Asian region. The party received your message about the conference in such a moment. Therefore, I happily inform you that we are willing to participate a party delegation of ours including a politburo member to the relevant conference.

I kindly request you to send us necessary details and documents relevant to the conference.

Thanking you,
Comradely,
Gamini Hettipathirage,
Committee of Switzerland,
Front Line Socialist Party (Sri Lanka)

---------------------------
Contact details

Head office of Sri Lanka
·        Frontline Socialist Party,
Talawathugoda Road, Madiwela,
Kotte, Sri Lanka.

·         Waruna Deeptha Rajapakshe,
(Coordinator, Foreign Affairs)


Committee of Switzerland

·         Gamini Hettipathirage,
Rotbuchstrasse 2
8600 Dubendorf
Switzerland.