The latest edition of the CPI(ML) monthly,Liberation,discusses the cancellation of the Vedanta groups mining project in the Niyamgiri hills. It says that,while one Niyamgiri has seemingly been saved,there are hundreds of Niyamgiris all over the country where a state-sponsored destruction campaign is on. It cites the Polavaram dam project in Andhra Pradesh and the proposed nuclear power plant in the environmentally delicate Konkan region of Maharashtra,and claims that while the environment ministry is now being described as a green crusader,it has actually functioned as a green destroyer. On to Rahul Gandhis visit to Niyamgiri,it says: one hand of the Congress is busy coercing and displacing the Adivasis,while the other hand garners sympathy… and pretends to be their soldier and saviour. The politics of the Congress revolves around this calculated combination of Operation Green Hunt and Operation Greenspeak and we must unmask the hypocrisy of Rahul Gandhis professed concern for the deprived tribal people. When the rhetoric of Nehru and Indira could not stop the radical Left even during the heyday of non-alignment and mixed economy,can the clever lines of Rahul Gandhi fool a people who are bearing the brunt of the pro-corporate,pro-imperialist policies of the Congress, it asks.
Ayodhya adventure
Spoiled companies
Following reports that corporate India has rejected the idea of reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the private sector,the CPM says the UPA governments failure to implement the policy,after promising it six years ago,betrays its lack of political will about providing social justice. An article in the CPM weekly Peoples Democracy says: these champions of neo-liberal policies want the government to abdicate all its responsibilities towards the people. But,they have no shame in demanding the government act proactively in their favour,be it to rescue them from the recent crisis,offering bailout packages,or doling out incentives. It claims that industrial houses that have benefited immensely from the reservations provided to them in the name of protection by the government,are arguing against reservations now. They do not think twice when demanding incentives and tax holidays in their competition with foreign players,even in this era of globalisation, it says. Noting that the UPA government makes a lot of noise about inclusive growth,it says the Centre must realise that growth with inclusiveness requires a concerted effort. It needs to be backed by legal protection against caste-based discrimination,and specific legal measures to implement reservations for SCs and STs in the private sector.
Compiled by Manoj C.G.
