PaRCha - JNU - AISA chits - 2010 ID-11243

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same time and again. In an interview in the Frontline (Decem- canards against the Left agenda and ideology, all genuine Left.

ber 1, 2006), he boasted of "positive changes" like decline in forces have a historic responsibility at this juncture to stand form.

trade union struggles, saying that skilled workers in Kerala, and reassert the Left as the core of the people's movement for.

"Significantly... receive very low wages, compared with their livelihood, survival, justice and democracy and for the country's.

counterparts elsewhere. The wages of factory workers in Ker- quest for a dignified future beyond the strategic umbrella of the.

ala is lower than the national average. Only in a few islands, US. A renewal and assertion of the communist identity as the.

so to say, such as in the unorganised sector, such as cashew, most sincere, vibrant and fighting platform of people's politics.

or at the Cochin Port, are wages higher than in other parts is the need of the hour..

of the country. But in general, wages are low in Kerala." Is it.

not a shame that a so-called `Left' leader should take pride in.

ensuring low wages for workers?!.

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The election results as a whole go to show that the truly Assaults on Indians in Austra-.

Left principles - of resisting SEZs and corporate land grab, of.

trade union struggles, of upholding right to employment and lia: Globalisation, Recession and.

food, etc. have in fact been overwhelmingly supported by the.

people. Not just in West Bengal, even in Raigad in Maharashtra, Renewed Racism.

MPs have been punished for promoting and defending SEZs.

at the cost of peasants' land. Ironically, though, the architect The continuing spate of attacks and violence against Indi-.

of the SEZ policy - the Congress - succeeded in masking its ans and Indian students in particular in AustraKliaavhiatas oKnrcisehangaanin.

true face behind legislations like NREGA and forest land rights, exploded the much touted myth that globalisation promotes.

while the CPI(M), as a result of its repressive policies at Sin- and respects pluralism and multiculturalism. The response of.

gur and Nandigram, was seen as the brutal face of corporate the Australian government has been shockingly muted, trying.

land-grab offensive. to cover up and even deny the racist dimensions of the attack,.

terming them as just `routine' robberies and muggings. If we.

Interestingly, even a section within the CPI(M), instead of are to believe Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, such.

learning its lesson and committing itself to reviving Left princi- attacks are a part and parcel of life, the bane of existence in.

ples and practices, is providing grist to the corporate media's every urban city. If so, why do Indians constitute a dispropor-.

anti-Left mill, by peddling the idea that the CPI(M)'s debacle tionate share of the victims - 30% in Melbourne? One of the.

is due to its opposition to the Nuke Deal, and withdrawal of important demands of the protesting Indian students is to make.

support from the Congress-led UPA Government. The CPI(M)'s the records of the assaults public - which would bring out the.

opposition to the Nuke Deal, in fact, was quite correct though actual extent and dimension of these racist crimes. The least.

belated. But the credibility of this opposition was eroded by its that the Australian government could have done in the wake.

repeated opportunistic surrenders on a range of other anti-peo- of these attacks was to unequivocally apologize; but far from.

ple policy issues - most prominently the SEZ Act 2008. Also, that, the Australian police have unleashed a brutal crackdown.

the point of the anti-imperialist opposition to the Nuke Deal by thrashing and arresting the peaceful student protestors.

got lost in the CPI(M)'s desperate drive to somehow prop up a agitating against the attacks. It is really shocking that while the.

"Third Front" devoid of any kind of pro-people, anti-imperialist Aussie police swooped down on the Indian students to thwart.

commitment. their protests against racist violence, the same police has hardly.

displayed any urgency or sensitivity to stop the spate of crimes.

Resolutely challenging the politically motivated right-wing and violence so far. This brings out the real attitude and intent.

of Aussie authorities towards this phenomenon..

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Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which produced CPI(M) Racism in Australian Government Policy.

leaders like Karat and Yechury, has been the battleground of.

a fierce debate over Singur, Nandigram, Chengara, the SEZ The Australian authorities deny racism - but their own.

Act and CPI(M)'s attitude to the UPA Government. In 2005, pronouncements and assumptions are racist! Take for example.

when AISA activists showed black flags to PM Manmohan the "advice" of one Inspector Scott Mahony of the Melbourne.

Singh during his visit to JNU, the SFI launched a vicious police force, who asked Indians "not to talk loudly in their native.

campaign against AISA. While AISA sent teams in solidarity language in public or travel around with expensive items such.

to struggles against land grab - whether at Kalinganagar, as mp3 players on display." Is it not racist to blame the victims.

Singur and Nandigram, SFI defended the brutal repression for the "display" of their "native language" and their electronic.

and land grab at Singur and Nandigram. Even when CPI(M)'s equipment?.

own peasant supporters were gunned down by police in a.

land struggle in Khammam (Andhra Pradesh), the SFI re- Attacks on Indians, though not a new phenomenon in Aus-.

mained silent for fear of comparisons with Nandigram - while tralia, have been especially violent during the last few weeks..

AISA protested against the massacre. There have been at least 60 to 70 incidents of serious nature..

According to police records at least three cases of crime against.

The SFI lost credibility and support in this Left bastion due Indian students are registered on a daily basis. Partly, of course,.

to these repeated acts of defending the CPI(M)'s West Indian students are being targeted for shining academically.

Bengal and Kerala Governments over Singur, Nandigram and because they are perceived as getting better jobs than.

and Chengara on the one hand, and also promoting and local Australian unemployed youth. But that is not all the story..

defending the MNC Nestle outlet on the campus. But rather.

than allowing the Right to benefit from this rejection of SFI, Remember that not long ago, taxi drivers of Indian and.

AISA championed the genuine aspirations of all democrat- Pakistani origin had protested against the Australian police's.

ic and Left-minded students, ideologically pushed back a indifference to a series of attacks on them. That story had not.

degenerate SFI in several students' union elections, finally been highlighted much by the corporate Indian media because.

routing SFI with a total sweep of all the central panel seats it made less interesting copy for elite India than the attacks on.

in the JNUSU elections of 2007-08. "people like us." The truth is that racism is deeply entrenched.

in Australia's state policy: the worst of its racism is directed.

at its Aborigine population, from whom the country itself was.

stolen by colonial Europeans..

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