SFI Pamphlet dated 29th September, '08

SFI Pamphlet dated 27th Sept, '08

Relase of statement on Jamia by Intellectuals brought out by SAHMAT

SFI Release on attack on CPI-M Office in Pune

Poster of Protest Demo against RSS attack on AKG Bhawan

JOIN IN LARGE NUMBERS!!

Release on Gujarat Carnage

SFI Notice in reply to AISA's charges

Pamphlet dated 30th Jan, '08

JNUSU-SSS Public Talk and Film Screening Poster

Notice on Bilkis Bano Judgement

UNITE AGAINST THE COMMUNAL POLITICS OF SANGH GIROH!!

PROVIDE SPEEDY JUSTICE TO THE RIOT VICTIMS!!
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SFI Pamphlet dated 3rd Jan, '08

Release on the Communal Violence in Orissa

Release on the Gujarat election verdict

SFI pamphlet dated 5th Dec '07

Release against Narendra Modi

UNITE AGAINST THE COMMUNAL POLITICS OF RSS-VHP-BJP!!

ENSURE JUSTICE TO THE VICTIMS OF THE GUJARAT RIOTS OF 2002!!

Poster of Public Meeting and Photo Exhibition against Communalism on the anniversary of the Babri Masjid Demolition

Release Against YFE

Release from Peoples' Democracy

Comrades and Friends,

In the context of the recent campaign by the RSS-BJP on the Ram Sethu issue, wherein strong attempts are being made to rouse communal passions instead of raising any issue regarding peoples' livelihood, we have brought out the release of the article of Comrade Sitaram Yechury in the recent issue of Peoples' Democracy.

SFI Pamphlet dated 2nd Sept, '07

02-09-07

INDO-US NUCLEAR DEAL: EXPOSE THE HYPOCRISY OF THE RSS-BJP-ABVP!!

Friends,

The Left parties have strongly opposed the Indo-US nuclear deal and asked the UPA Government not to proceed further. This deal has little to do with the interests of India or the Indian people. It is not a stand-alone agreement, but part of a wider strategic alliance to make India the outpost of American interests in Asia. Other agreements with the US have also been reached by the Government on defence, on agriculture, on industry, which will have wide reaching negative implications on the lives of the Indian people. Already the foreign policy of the Government is under pressure because of the strategic alliance with America. It is a result of the opposition of the Left that the Government has been forced to constitute a committee to look into the Left's objections and examine the implications of Hyde Act which has been passed by the US Government. To that extent the Government has agreed that it will not immediately go to the next step of approaching the IAEA for safeguards agreement.

It is in this context that the ABVP in campus, finding itself and the RSS-BJP to be completely sidelined by the opposition of the Left to the Indo-US nuclear deal, have brought out a pamphlet full of lies against the Left. At the very outset it needs to be noted that the opposition of the RSS-BJP to the Indo-US nuclear deal is completely hypocritical. It should not be forgotten that the NDA regime under the leadership of the RSS-BJP was the most pro-US government that the country had ever seen. While the nuclear deal is the expression of a fresh tactical approach on the question of Indo-US nuclear relations by the UPA government, as compared to its predecessor, there is nevertheless a basic strategic continuity with the nuclear policy that was inaugurated by the NDA government following the nuclear weapons tests of 1998.

With the 1998 test, the NDA government announced India’s readiness to accede to the global non-proliferation order presided over by the United States provided India was accommodated as a nuclear weapons state. In particular, Vajpayee declared his government’s willingness to sign the CTBT and co-operate in the negotiations for a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty. It was clear that any attempt to deal with the diplomatic and foreign policy fallout of the nuclear weapons tests, while trying to retain even a fig-leaf of ‘nuclear weapons state’ status, would involve substantial concessions to the United States in foreign policy terms. It also soon became clear that this was a price that the NDA government was more than willing to pay.

After conducting the nuclear tests at Pokhran in May 1998, the BJP-led government entered into prolonged secret negotiations with the US. Following the visit of US President Clinton to India in March 2000, the BJP-RSS combine felt that it had achieved its cherished goal of getting the US to accept India as its ‘natural ally’ and not Pakistan. The urge to be a subordinate ally of the US prompted the NDA Government to become the first government anywhere in the world to welcome the National Missile Defense programme announced by George Bush. In the ftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, the BJP-led Government offered to be a partner in Bush’s “war against terrorism” and place India’s military facilities at its disposal. The NDA Government also went to the extent of planning to send Indian troops to Iraq during the US-led invasion but was eventually prevented due to the groundswell of public opinion in India. In its desperation to woo their bosses in the USA, LK Advani went to visit the CIA headquarters. The Indian Government did not even protest against the atrocious act of US security agencies, when the Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes was strip searched in the USA. Is this the brand of patriotism that the ABVP wants the campus to believe? The NDA left all pretensions of leading the Non-Aligned Movement and abandoned our age old support to the Palestine cause while buying weapons from Israel. These agents of US imperialism have no concern for the sovereignty of India. Basically the BJP is 'hurt' by the fact that they could not strike this deal with the US. One remembers the childhood fable of sour grapes, looking at the positions of BJP.

The ABVP should remember that the NDA Government was routed from power because of a mandate of the people against the communal politics of RSS-BJP and its proclivity to US imperialism and ruthless pursuance of neo-liberalism. In their greed for power to earn dollars, through multiple corruptions, like Bangaru Laxman in the Tehelka expose, they are desperate to see the UPA government voted out in Parliament. This is not surprising since during the NDA regime, the entire period was tainted with scams, be it the Tehelka expose, coffin scam, petrol pump scam, stamp scam etc. Very recently one of their MPs was caught red handed in a case of woman trafficking and again some of their MPs were caught taking money to raise questions in Parliament. One needs no lessons in patriotism or morality from political forces who are willing to sell off the nation to earn money. As far as the issue of withdrawing support is concerned, who are the fascistic RSS-BJP-ABVP to advise the Left in this regard when it was the opposition to their communal and pro-imperialist policies that resulted in the formation of UPA and the Left's support to it from outside? The Left needs no counsel from them since we are aware of the fact that the BJP will be more than willing to act as junior partners of US imperialism, since they are a pro-imperialist party. We appeal to the student community to isolate the pro-imperialist and communal politics of ABVP and rally behind the Left in opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal, upholding our sovereignty and independent foreign policy.

Sd/- Rajiv Kumar Ranjan, Secretary, SFI-JNU; Sd/-Roshan Kishore, President, SFI-JNU.

SFI Pamphlet dated 25th Aug '07

25/08/07

INDO-US NUCLEAR DEAL: WHY THIS SCURRILOUS CAMPAIGN AGAINST LEFT?

Friends

THE Left’s opposition to the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and the associated efforts to draw India into a US-dominated strategic partnership has, naturally, led to a violent reaction from the ruling classes and its media voices. Over the past couple of years, since the first joint statement on strategic partnership released by prime minister Manmohan Singh and US president George Bush in July 2005, the Left has been drawing attention to the dangers of India being turned into a supplicant of US imperialism. Apart from negating the consensual declared objective of pursuing an independent foreign policy, such a partnership with US imperialism has consequent serious implications on India’s defence and security concerns.

The important point that merits consideration here is that instead of meeting the criticism of the deal and its consequences, a scurrilous campaign has been mounted against the Left. US imperialism’s cheer leaders and the drumbeaters of the Indian ruling classes are advancing absurd reasoning of the CPI(M)’s opposition to the deal instead of contesting what we publicly state.

THE INDO-US NUCLEAR DEAL AND THE ISSUE OF ENERGY :

One such reasoning is that while the government is engaged in this deal for increasing the electricity generation capacity in the country to benefit our farmers and poor people, the CPI(M) is opposing it at the behest of China. This is not unusual for the ruling classes to resort to such obnoxiously low level arguments when their analytical bankruptcy to contest the CPI(M)’s point of view is exposed. Further, the resort to such tactics is also to conceal their unabashed eagerness to ally with US imperialism at the expense of exposing the country’s sovereignty to greater vulnerability.

Let us take up the issue of augmenting India’s energy capacities and generating more electricity. There can be no two opinions on the need to expand our capacities to generate more power. As India develops further, energy augmentation is of utmost importance. The moot question, however, is whether the nuclear energy expansion is the only option, or, even the best option that we have at the moment.

As of 2005, nuclear power generation was 3,310 MW or a mere 2.5 per cent of India’s total power generation capacity. Now, if this were to increase to 10,000 MW by the year 2015 as planned, this would still be only 5 to 7 per cent of India’s projected capacity generation then. Thus, this deal and the attendant consequences to India’s sovereignty and foreign policy are being undertaken for such a miniscule part of our power generation.

This, apart, is nuclear power generation the most cost-effective? On the contrary, it is the most expensive option. As compared to coal, nuclear energy would be one and a half times more expensive. Compared with gas, nuclear power would be twice as expensive. So is the case with hydro electricity. Therefore, by all counts, nuclear power is the most expensive.

The National Hydro Power Corporation has estimated that India has at least 50,000 MW of untapped hydro electric potential. They have estimated that in Nepal, the untapped potential would be higher at 83,000 MW. On the basis of our friendly relations with Nepal and through international agreements, the tapping of such huge hydro electric potential will not only augment our energy capacities at half the cost of nuclear energy, but will also tame these rivers which regularly consume the lives of hundreds of people through torrential floods. This year’s floods have been described by the United Nations as ‘unprecedented’ in human memory.

In addition, India is indiscriminately allowing the export of coal and other non-renewable mineral resources. Instead, if this coal were to be utilised for generating electricity, it would cost us much less than producing nuclear energy.

Given this, the government’s arguments that the Indo-US nuclear deal is to augment our energy resources and to provide electricity to the farmers and poor sounds, indeed, hollow. On the contrary, it appears that as a consequence of this deal, huge commercial orders running into thousands of crores of rupees for the purchase of nuclear reactors would be placed on US and other advanced countries corporations. The profit bonanza to multinational corporations is there for all to see with the attendant benefits to sections of corporate India. Is India then actually going in for this deal to bolster US economic interests? Can we allow this to happen under the false propaganda of benefit to the Indian farmers? If the same amount of resources were to be spent on generating power through hydro or coal, as would be spent on the purchase of nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel, India’s energy augmentation would be many times higher. Thus, the nuclear deal not only exposes India to greater vulnerability on various scores, it drains a huge amount of our scarce resources and, thus, prevents India from exploiting fully its available less expensive energy options. These are the facts.

WHO ARE AGENTS OF CHINA AND PAKISTAN?:

The more bizarre disinformation campaign is that the CPI(M) is opposing the deal at China’s behest. This charge, however, does not apply to the BJP presumably, for its opposition of the deal. The reason for the BJP’s opposition, of course, is entirely different from that of the CPI(M)’s. Given the BJP’s track record when in government, the current opposition is a mere posturing and smacks of a ‘hurt’ that such a deal ought to have been concluded under its government and not under the UPA government!

Be that as it may, those who know of the CPI(M)’s birth and history will know that for nearly two decades both the international communist giants – the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of China – opposed the CPI(M)’s policies from different perspectives. The CPI(M)’s policy directions are determined by its own perceptions of what is in the interests of India and its people. Those who are willing to eagerly surrender India’s sovereignty to US imperialism should be the last ones to dole out unsolicited advise and certificates of patriotism. If our detractors are worthy of character and substance, then they ought to meet our arguments on their merits rather than take recourse to such perfidy.

We heard similar arguments when the CPI(M) opposed Pokhran-II. In fact, the then NDA’s defence minister, George Fernandes, publicly announced that the nuclear tests were necessary to meet the Chinese challenge. Once Pakistan responded by its nuclear tests, India’s huge advantage in conventional warfare vis-à-vis Pakistan was wiped out in a single stroke. Far from enhancing India’s security and defence potential, the BJP/NDA through Pokhran-II reduced us to the level of Pakistan’s capabilities. The BJP today argues that the Indo-US nuclear deal limits our strategic programme which can only be to China’s and Pakistan’s advantage.

Who, may we ask, is vigorously pursuing this Indo-US nuclear deal which, we are told, will limit India’s strategic capacities, thus, providing advantage to our neighbours? It is those who are propagating and supporting the deal who are, thus, by this logic, acting at the behest of China and Pakistan!

While the pen-pushers of US imperialism and the Indian ruling classes continue to spread canards exposing their complete incapacity to meet the CPI(M)’s objections on merit, the Indian people, surely, will not allow India to be reduced to a US supplicant.

In the 60th anniversary of our independence, the 150th anniversary of 1857 and the 250th anniversary of the battle of Plassey which heralded the colonial rule over India, we cannot allow any erosion of our hard won sovereignty and independence. On the contrary, we need to strengthen it.

(This is from the forthcoming editorial of Peoples' Democracy, Dated: 26-08-07).

Sd/- Roshan Kishore, President, SFI-JNU.

Sd/- Rajiv Kumar Ranjan, Secretary, SFI-JNU.