Marx is back

SOURCE

LONDON: With capitalism in crisis, Karl Marx has become fashionable again in the West. Das Kapital, his seminal work, is set to become a best-seller in Europe.

In his native Germany, copies of Das Kapital are reported to be “flying off the shelves” as failed bankers and free-market economists try to make sense of the global economic meltdown.

Jorn Schutrumpf, head of the Berlin publishing house Dietz, is reported as having said that the sales of the works of Marx, and Friedrich Engels, have trebled. “Marx is fashionable again…We have a new generation of readers who are rattled by the financial crisis and have to recognise that neo-liberalism has turned out to be a false dream,” he told The Times.

A dramatic rise has been reported in the number of visitors to Marx’s birthplace in Trier. And film-maker Alexander Kluge is planning to turn Das Kapital into a movie.

Western leaders who once sneered at Marx’s dense tome, breezily dismissing it as a “doorstop,” have been seen flaunting Das Kapital in recent weeks. French President Nicolas Sarkozi has been spotted “flicking through” it, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck has said nice things about it, and even the Pope has praised the book for its “great analytical” quality.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams recalled Marx’s analysis of capitalism in glowing terms, saying: “Marx long ago observed the way in which unbridled capitalism became a kind of mythology, ascribing reality, power and agency to things that had no life in themselves.”

Some British cheerleaders for free-market, such as The Times and The Daily Telegraph, have suddenly become interested in Marx. There has been a wave of soul-searching analyses of whether he was right, after all.

Four cops killed in Naxal attack in Gadchiroli

NAGPUR, OCTOBER 26 : After a long lull, Maoists struck in Gadchiroli on Sunday morning, killing four policemen in an ambush near Korepalli village under Rajaram Khanla police station in Aheri tehsil.The Naxalites started firing at the police party, a C-60 commando unit with four officers, which was on a routine patrol in the area, killing four of the 23 policemen on the spot. The deceased policemen have been identified as provisional sub-inspector S R Parekar and constables Vinod Uike, Ajay Maste and Vasant Madavi.

SI Nalawade and constables Gangaram Sidam, Diwakar Gawade, Vikram Thakur and Ganpat Soyam are undergoing treatment at Nagpur.”Their condition is out of danger,” SP Rajesh Pradhan told The Indian Express.

Of late, Naxalites have been active in Etapalli area, where they have burnt a few trucks, damaged a church and killed a man recently. However, the sudden strike in Aheri has startled the police. “They have been trying to engage us since the past few days,” Pradhan said.

Last time Naxalites attacked the police on such a big scale was in 2005 when 14 policemen were killed in two blasts in Gadchiroli and neighbouring Gondia districts. That year as many as 25 police personnel were killed in attacks as against only three Naxalites.

India Maoists forge new alliance

Maoists have a presence in 182 districts of India

Maoist rebels in India and a leading separatist group in the country’s north-east have decided to work together, according to a statement.

The rebels and the Revolutionary Peoples Front (RPF) of Manipur said they would fight to “overthrow” India’s ruling regime.

The RPF is one of Manipur’s oldest separatist groups.

It has an armed wing which attacks Indian security forces and punishes drug peddlers and woman traffickers.

Formed in 1976, a number of RPF’s early leaders were trained in China.

A joint statement signed by S Gunen, the RPF secretary-general, and Comrade Alok of the underground Maoist party said they supported the “great Indian class struggle led by the Maoists against India’s semi-feudal, semi-colonial regime”.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the Maoist insurgency is the “single biggest threat” to India’s security.

They operate in 182 districts in India, mainly in the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of poor peasants and landless workers.

News from Bangladesh

Dear comrades

Our 7 comrades have been arrested by the police on 25 October 27, 2008 at 10 pm at begrhat, the south west area of Bangladesh. Police said to the media they were illegal activating at the morelgong, district of bagerhat.

7 comrade including a female comrade was arrested by the brutal Bangladeshi police. Very famous female comrade is known as didi moni ( mam) was also arrested on this night. Didmoni have been developing a child school on the morelgong, district of bagherhat. This school is very famous to the poor working and peasant classes.

Bangladeshi police never act as a political prisoner to the Maoist revolutionary group and same matter have happened for our great 7 comrade. They have been very much tortured since 25 October to yet. Because police did not hand over the matter to the court to surrender to the political prisoner. Bangladeshi state never knows how to go legal frame work but they every time says about law and duty.

Scholl have been leading our peasant organization.

All revolutionary party and individual man of Bangladesh as well as all over the revolutionary power to help to us.

Thanks to all

Arif

Sonkingkretir noya shetu

(it’s a party formation movement )

bangladesh

Report of the Seminar on the Birth Centenary of Com. Amulya Sen

The seminar on the occasion of the birth centenary of Com. Amulya Sen held on 21 October 2008 at Theosophical Society, Kolkata, India was attended by about 200 people. With a crowded hall the red flag of the proletariat was hoisted by Com. Gour Chakraborty, the well known revolutionary worker.

In the seminar, a report describing the revolutionary life of Com. Amulya Sen and the significance of his work was presented on behalf of the Com. Amulya Sen birth centenary celebration committee. Com. Sachchidananda Banerjee, Com. Jyanta Sen, Com Amiduity Kumar talked on different facets of the life of Com. Amulya Sen. Com. Gour Chakraborty pointed the importance of the unification of different revolutionary groups to carry forward the Indian revolution, the dream for which Com. Amulya Sen and numerous martyrs have sacrificed their lives. The seminar was attended by the representatives of different progressive and revolutionary organizations and journals including Committee for the release of political prisoners, Sanhati Udyoug, Ganapratirodh Manch (West Bengal unit of Revolutionary Democratic Front), Janamuktikami, Communist Youth League, Marxist Leninist Research Centre, Bangla People’s March.

Thallappavu -A Movie on Com Varghese

Link to Video
FROM NAXAL REVOLUTION BLOG
Review of Movie Thallappavu

Onam comes every year, but “Thalappavu” comes once a decade. There couldn’t be a better Onam gift for Malayalis and Malayalam cinema than “Thalappavu”. Watched the movie today, First day, at SreePadmanabha and I’m still searching for a fault line. This one goes right up there – An All time Classic.

Madhupal makes a dream debut as a director, Prithviraj and Lal give their best performances till date, Babu Janardanan delivers a world class script which will stand its ground in any film festival ,and Azhagappan mesmerises with the Camera. “Thalappavu” is one movie which puts to rest any doubts about the class and scope of malayalam movies. We rank right up there!

“Thalappavu” is a gripping movie, immensely watchable, it doesn’t drag a bit, there is no suspense (starts with the death of the central character), no violence, no comedy, no love lines. Its almost like a Rohinton Mistry novel with tragedy heaped over tragedy, and finally topped with some very sad tragedy. I hate sad movies, and this is not one of them. Its a classic.

In a recent article from the Rupesh Paul–Amal Neerad junta, Rupesh had pointed out that “Story” is not an important part of a movie. While nobody liked his movie, the point remains that, if Cinema is for telling a story then you could as well publish a short story. Making a movie for telling a story is as good as using Google for searching for porn alone, or using your Blackberry for incoming calls alone. Cinema as a medium has immense potential which needs to be tapped. “Thalappavu”, kudos to Madhupal, does exactly that. It uses the medium’s untapped potentials for handing down a classic.

A still from the movie Thallappavu

Story: Thalappavu is a movie about Naxal Varghese who was killed in one of the state’s most controversial police encounters, and P Ramachandran Nair the police constable who shot him (and after 3 decades brought to book his superiors Laxmana and Vijayan who ordered the murder). Lal plays Ravindran Pillai, the constable, who carries with him the burden of the crime for three decades and along the way loses his family, his home and his sanity. Prithvi plays Naxal Joseph and his ghost, which keeps Ravindran Pillai company. The story moves in multi dimension with threads falling in line at their own pace, with every character getting their own space and piece of the tragedy, with recurring and repeating scenes shot from varying perspectives. Dhanya Mary is a find, and she must be here to stay.

Excerpt from the film website,

‘Thalappavu’ (headgear or turban) is a symbol of authority. In many societies, those in the upper social strata wear the turban as a symbol of power and authority. For the working class it provides shade from the hot sun and pelting rain.

The relationship between a hardcore revolutionary and the masses is usually distressing as far as governments are concerned. Everywhere in the world, it is a common practice for the ruling class to fetter one who is ready to sacrifice his life for social causes. The basis of a constitution is that whatever the crime, it is the law of the land that has the right to mete out punishment. The Malayalam movie ‘Thalappavu’ tries to portray that it is the very watchdogs of law who shamelessly violate the rules that they bound to defined.

Good:

1. Script, Screenplay & Direction: “Vasthavam” flopping is one thing I hold against the malayalam audience, then “Thaniyavarthanam” flopped too. Babu Janardanan of “Vasthavam” and “Achanurangatha Veedu”, delivers a water tight script. One can see the effort that has gone into writing this marvel. Madhupal, as a director delivers the script with finesse, but ends up delivering more than the screenplay. It is an exceptional “Director’s movie”, which I guess would catapault Madhupal to Blessy’s seat, now that the latter has started making trash. The story line is spoon fed to the audience multiple times in the first half that we are ready with the details when the movie speeds up in the second half. The delivery is subtle, forceful and passionate. If you look close enough you could even see a Jesus thread hanging around.

Gulmohar – Malayalam movie on Naxalite Maoist Movement in Kerala

Link to video

Review of Malayalam Movie Gulmohar

Once a revolutionary, always a revolutionary’ should have been the tagline of Jayaraj’s much talked about new Malayalam film Gulmohar. The acting debut of writer-director Ranjith has added to the curiosity value of this endeavour.

Scripted by Didi Damodaran (daughter of T Damodaran, the hit script writer of yesteryears) Gulmohar tells the story of a group of friends who were revolutionaries in their younger days. The tale is told from the point of view of Induchoodan (Ranjith), who now is settled as school teacher with his wife, two kids and mother-in-law.

Induchoodan – The protagonist of the movie

As Induchoodan jogs down the memory lane, we get glimpse of their adventurous existence mostly lived on the edge as they took on the establishment and fought for the voiceless.

The script as such is packed with lot of layering. The current generation ridicules the suffering and the sacrifices their elders made to make the world a better place. Their relatives never empathised or appreciated the zeal with which they followed their heart’s calling or even their sense of justice.

Still from the movie

Induchoodan was an orphan (maybe it is used as a tool to justify why he is moved by the plight of others, as conveyed in a scene in the beginning where he tackles a complaint against an orphaned boy in the school) with only an elder sister to call his own. A person with a creative bent of mind, he uses his writing skills to propagate his ideas on revolution.

We fear that Induchoodan’s character may go overboard any moment as any conventional multi-talented hero’s would. But it is discreetly held back at the script level itself.

The narrative moves from the past to the present, giving us the story of Induchoodan’s past and how his present is made.

Ranjith’s performance does not look like he was the last minute replacement for the role of Induchoodan (Suresh Gopi [Images] was to play the role). He makes us feel that the part was written with him in the mind. He gives the impression that he has rehearsed well for the part.

Debutant Neenu Mathew is the other performance that impresses us.

Technically too, Gulmohar is in a league of its own, helping Jayaraj to bounce back in form.

Rediff.com

Nepal: Maoism is our identity, not a tail, Mohan Vaidya Kiran

21/10/2008
You are considered as a hardliner in the Maoists’ Party. Tell us briefly where and on what account you differ sharply with the party?Kiran: I feel that conspiracies are on to foil the Maoists’ established credentials. After I was released from the Indian prison, talks of artificial division in and among the hardliners and the liberals have cropped up. I think specifically the revolutionary ideology of the Maoists is being targeted deliberately. The trend has been that if one talks on ideological grounds he or she is labeled as a hardliner. As far as differences are concerned, I do not have any objection to the party. And of myself who would always tell my mind without hesitation. However, the moot questions remain intact. There is the great danger that in the name of liberalism whether the party will loose its basic ideology? Are we forgetting our commitments? Whether our commitment to National Sovereignty is on the continuous wane? Is the party falling into the trap set by the Rightists? These are not my personal concerns, instead should be the concerns of the party as a whole?Tell us something about the hullabaloo over changing the party’s tag? There is a kind of competition among the Maoists and the UML in removing Mao’s name from the party tag? What say you?Kiran: As far as the UML is concerned, I personally feel that it is not even a Communist party. There are some leaders in the UML camp who believe in communist ideology but the party is not a communist party. Thus there should not be any debate even if it declares that it is no more a communist party. However, in our case changing the party tag is irrelevant and illogical.Your Party Chairman has already said that the debate over abandoning the party tag is on in the party for over two years now? Is Mao’s name a tail now? Kiran: As is normal of a political party we too discuss and debate over several critical and crucial issues. Nevertheless, without making a formal decision over the contentious issue, nothing can be taken for granted. For us, Maoism is the party’s identity—it is not at all a “tail” as it is being interpreted by some both within and without. It is the prime identity of the peoples’ revolt. In the UML’s case it is indeed a tail but not for the Maoists as such. Unless a formal decision is taken by the party whosoever is advocating the case of dropping the tag are his/her personal considerations. Regarding the Communist unity is concerned I do not rule out the possibility in the distant future but for the time being it is not possible. What about the inner rife in your party as regards the Militia integration is concerned?Kiran: It is also a critical issue but there is no difference as you have pointed out. We have charted out clear party lines over the issues of peace process, constitution drafting and the Militia integration. We need rather to devise modalities for the integration process—we need thorough discussion over this issue as well. What about the emerging differences between you and party president?Kiran: The political situation is such that it demands debates and discussions. That’s all.Where is the Maoists’ party heading towards?Kiran: Revolutionary spirit is still kicking and alive in the party paraphernalia. Nevertheless, we need to continuously rectify our mistakes as there is the concern among our supporters whether the party is deviating away from its prime ideological premises. The central leadership, unfortunately, has kept itself away from the people—which should not have been the case. The party is undergoing a transition as the State too is. We are yet to totally dismantle past set-up and rebuild a new one. Tell us about the debate on People’s Republic and Democratic Republic?Kiran: We are still mulling over the issue. It needs ample discussion as it is directly linked to drafting the new constitution. It is my belief that Democracy as such needs to be redefined in the Nepali context else drafting the constitution becomes redundant. And it is only but normal that in such critical issues various opinions emerge and there also the collision.Why is it that there are so much of differences in the Maoists’ Camp? Kiran: More than concentrating on making determined efforts we have exhibited flexibility. No compromise should be made on our ideology—this is what I believe. The Maoists have come this far ahead after holding intense debates and discussions. The party will continue to serve the people in this way. However such discussions and debates should not become public—that will invite anarchy. How do you evaluate the government performance?Kiran: It will only become a premature evaluation. We want to move ahead, yet we do not have the needed absolute majority. Old mindset prevails in the bureaucracy. Nevertheless we are determined in our set objectives. Political revolution vs. economic revolution—it is also being debated in the party?Kiran: Political revolution is yet to conclude. It is still on. We are still within the framework of the democratic republic. Some of our friends have begun talking of the economic revolution. I don’t’ think that unless political revolution comes to a positive end, economic revolution is possible. (Courtesy: Naya Patrika Daily, October 21, 2008)

‘Maoists cannot be hired’

source

BHUBANESWAR, Oct 17: Maoists are not professional assassins, retorted Mr P Vara Vara Rao of the Revolutionary Writers Association of Andhra Pradesh while reacting to reports that the minority community had hired Maoists to assassinate VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati. “Those who dish out such cock and bull stories are ignorant of the history of Naxal movement in this country. Maoists cannot be ‘hired’,” he asserted.
Mr Rao had spent three days in Kandhamal and was replying to questions at a Press conference here today when he made the statement.
Asked why Maoists had killed Laxmanananda Saraswati, Mr Rao said: “The operation was perhaps in line with deliberations at their last party congress wherein fundamentalism was considered the second biggest threat, after globalisation, to the poor of the country…I am not their spokesperson, but I think they wanted to send a clear message across to the fundamentalists and divisive forces.”
Significantly, he recalled that after the December 2007 violence in Kandhamal district, leaders of the Peoples War had denied their involvement and had also said that if they had been involved they would have killed Laxmanananda Saraswati and not poor tribals or dalits.
Now, the Naxals have claimed responsibility of killing Laxmanananda Saraswati, but shockingly, others like political parties and Sangh Parivar and vested interest groups refuse to accept it.
“The entire game plan is to get electoral benefit. The fundamentalist forces want to rid the country of minorities and some political parties feel this suits their vote bank,” he alleged. “Organisations like the SIMI which believe that communism, capitalism and secularism have failed and Islamism is the only option are termed as terrorist outfit and are banned but an outfit like Bajrang Dal or VHP which wants a Hindu Rashtra are not deemed as terrorist organisations,” he observed

Excellent conditions for revolutionary upsurge in the face of the worsening global capitalist crisis

Communist Party of the Philippines
October 15, 2008

The world capitalist system is undergoing a deepening recession that can only result in the massive destruction of productive forces and further concentration of capital in the hands of a few. This global economic malaise is now causing production slowdowns, massive job losses, worsening impoverishment and intensified exploitation and oppression of the proletariat and ordinary people in the capitalist centers, with even worse consequences for peoples in the Third World.

The bursting of the biggest financial bubble in history and the severest financial crisis since the Great Depression have already caused the collapse and subsumption of many of the largest banks and financial institutions, the sweeping credit crunch, the continuing meltdown of stock markets and near paralyzation of other financial markets.

The financial crisis has become so acute that, aside from several hundred billions already thrown in, the US government has allocated $700 billion and is planning to pour in more funds in a vain attempt to salvage the “toxic assets” of finance giants and buttress the battered capitalist financial system in the US and abroad. More than a trillion dollars is being poured in by the US and other imperialist governments and big finance capitalists to salvage more collapsing banks and financial markets in other capitalist countries.

These measures have, however, only been met with doubt and skepticism over their effectivity in stemming the financial crisis. After a few gasps of apparent resuscitation, financial markets have only continued to plunge. All these massive diversions of taxes and funds to rescue losing finance giants from their own greed have only angered the impoverished masses much divested of social assistance and made more miserable in the face of deprivation and worsening economic hardships.

The current crisis besetting the global capitalist system reaffirms the correctness of the Marxist-Leninist critique of the moribund capitalist system and the need to overthrow it through revolutionary struggle and supplant it with a socialist order.

The rotten capitalist system has become even more absurd and unproductive as the imperialists are engaged in ever greater financial speculation and accumulation of surplus finance capital than in production. Meanwhile, accelerating overproduction of surplus capital leads to cyclical overproduction in the real economy with piles of unsold inventories of houses, cars, computers, food items and other commodities, followed by production slowdowns, underconsumption and stagnation. The result is massive destruction of productive forces and billions of people around the world condemned to unemployment, poverty, hunger and utter desperation.

At the root of the current financial crisis is the concentration and accumulation of capital which has resulted in the ballooning of finance capital detached from production in the real economy. The amount of surplus capital employed in financial speculation has grown several times bigger than productive capital. The current financial crisis, in particular, was triggered by the accumulation by big finance capitalists of trillions of dollars of overblown assets and superprofits from the housing and subprime derivatives bubble.

As a result of the unproductive accumulation of finance capital, industrial production has turned recessive and presently continues to contract. Joblessness in the US is at a five-year high, with the number of unemployed expected to swell by another million by year’s end. This is on top of the 9.5 million already unemployed in the US. Underemployment is soaring to even higher record levels. The consumption crisis, following the burst of the housing bubble, has become protracted and has made a turn for the worse. Previous irrational capitalist overproduction has turned to disastrous stagnation and underconsumption.

In the face of the worsening crisis of the capitalist system, it is the miserably pauperized working class and ordinary people who suffer the most. More than a trillion dollars have been used to salvage losing finance capitalists in the imperialist countries and provide their losing executives with tens of billions in “golden parachutes.” On the other hand, the mass of their working class and ordinary people whose tax payments provided these funds, are left with practically nothing.

The imperialists have been forcing trade and investment liberalization and denationalization policies on their semicolonies as a means of further exporting their surplus capital, dumping their surplus products, plundering natural resources and taking advantage of the cheap labor and raw materials in their semicolonies. This has resulted in the large-scale destruction of productive forces, and mass unemployment, poverty and hunger in these countries. The spread of the global crisis of capitalism and the intensification of the exploitation and oppression of the working class and oppressed people are worsening even further the chronic crisis in the semicolonies and impoverished nations.

As its “solution” to the threat of the worsening global capitalist crisis on the flimsy semicolonial and semifeudal economy, the puppet Arroyo regime is further opening up the national economy to foreign investments, plunder of the natural resources, lopsided neocolonial trade, increased deficit government spending, more public and foreign borrowings, and even more intensified taxation of the people. The US and its puppet regime are pushing more policies and measures geared towards the removal of whatever remaining protection there is for the national patrimony and the interests of the toiling masses and the people. The policies include the long-standing scheme to change the constitution of the reactionary government to prolong the reign of the ruling regime.

These policies and measures aim to further open up the economy and resources of the country to the ravages of the imperialists and their big comprador and big bureaucrat accomplices. Instead of alleviating the crisis, the resulting production downfalls, increased unemployment, intensified inflation, reduced consumption and heightened poverty and hunger will only worsen the economic crisis and heighten the people’s sufferings.

The current crisis of the global capitalist system provides excellent conditions for revolutionary upsurge as the working class and other oppressed and exploited people all over the world who have been pushed to the wall have no other recourse but to further intensify their revolutionary struggles and advance their interests.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the entire international proletarian revolutionary movement anticipate the reinvigoration and resurgence of the Marxist-Leninist- Maoist movement and the heightening of working class and people’s revolutionary struggles the world over.

The worsening socio-economic crisis in the Philippines is pushing millions of workers, peasants and other democratic sectors to wage people’s struggles and advance and support people’s war. The CPP calls on all revolutionary mass forces to take advantage of the current situation to step up recruitment, consolidate their ranks and intensify their struggles.

In the midst of the worsening crisis of the present system, the New People’s Army (NPA) will further intensify revolutionary armed struggle, launch more tactical offensives against the fascist armed forces, deal heavy blows on the US-Arroyo regime for its pro-imperialist, anti-democratic and antipeople policies and punish it for inflicting great harm and misery upon the people.