http://sanhati.com/
June 7, 2012
Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF) condemns in strongest words the proposed National Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC) which the Indian state is planning to build. Formed clearly under the diktats as well as guidance of US Imperialism, this fascist institution is going to unleash severe repression on all voices of dissent and criminalize protests of all kinds in the garb of fighting ‘terrorism’. The NCTC is going to be a central body and it has given its officers powers of arrests, search and seizures under the draconian UAPA. The Indian state which has capitulated completely in front of the imperialist powers, indeed require such draconian punitive measures to curb the mounting resistance of people against the loot of resources, and devastation of lives and livelihood in the name of ‘development’.
The US has played pivotal role in determining ‘internal security’ of India since quite some time now. In the year 2000 the NDA government allowed the FBI to open its first outpost in New Delhi to keep watch on ‘US interests’. This was further bolstered by the signing of New Framework Agreement for US-India Defense Relationship in 2005 and the 123 Nuclear Agreement. The current NCTC is clearly fashioned under US guidance and directions to institutionalize US terrorism on Indian soil. The “counter terrorism policy” of US has openly declared the formation of such mechanism for information gathering, undertaking of covert operations, use of non-state actors, use of and attacks by drones and they have pledged full baking of the US military and intelligence in all such operations. NCTC is clearly a product of this collaboration of Indian state with US.
The institution is going to centralize all powers related to matters of ‘internal security’ to the hands of Central Home Ministry subverting even the pretension of federalism. Law and order which is a matter under the state government will be taken to the hands of the centre completely resulting into dangerous centralization of power. All authorities including functionaries of the state government, including the police department, are bound to provide information, documents and reports to the NCTC. This will give supreme and unaccounted power to both NCTC and IB which is unprecedented in the history of formation of security state in South Asia. Anyway the state governments enjoy extremely limited power in India, nothing more than glorified municipalities, since administrative and financial controls were always vested in the hands of the highly centralized Union Government. Now with introduction of NCTC such limited powers will be further eroded and the limited powers of state government will be even more curbed.
We have repeatedly seen the persecution and criminalization of dissenting voices and oppressed masses by the state. Under the already existing draconian laws like UAPA, MCoCA, GujCoCA, PSA etc the Indian state has unleashed fascist repression over the people who are fighting for their basic rights, land, livelihood, dignity or nationhood. Along with that the oppressed masses be it the dalits, adivasis or Muslims and other religious minorities are summarily persecuted by using these draconian laws.
Many political organizations, cultural groups and mass organizations have already been banned by this fascist state and their activists are regularly arrested, tortured, implicated with false cases or even killed in fake encounter. The state has also propped up bogus organizations like Indian Mujahideen in order to persecute Muslims and arrest thousands of them under false cases branding them as ‘terrorists’. In Central and eastern India, the state has declared the bloodiest war on the people in the name of ‘Operation Green Hunt’. Thousands of paramilitary, elite forces, vigilante gangs and currently the army and the air force are being deployed to fight the resilient adivasis to evict them from their land and forests, so that the mineral rich region can be pawned to the MNCs. In Kashmir and North Eastern regions the Indian state has also unleashed fascist war on the people fighting for their nationhood and right to self determination. Recently, the Jharkhand CRPF has also demanded that they be given the ‘cover’ of AFSPA and thereby the free license to kill, torture, rape, murder and plunder civilians with full impunity. The NCTC is going to be another potent weapon of repression in the hands of the state to repress people by branding them ‘terrorist’, ‘extremist’ etc.
Several non-Congress Chief Ministers, led by Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal and Naveen Patnaik of Odisha are doing shadow boxing with the Union on NCTC, on the grounds that it is against the federal structure of the state. That indeed is a cruel joke since all these chief ministers, particularly these two have remained loyally hands-in-gloves with the Central Home Ministry in unleashing fascist state repression. Mamata Banerjee has been openly eulogized by Chidambaram for “effectively tackling the Naxals”. She has laid a foundation to a National Security Guards (NSG) hub near Kolkata, and contrary to all her pre-electoral gimmicks, she has neither withdrawn paramilitary forces from Jungal Mahal, nor revoked or withheld the draconian UAPA. After coming to power instead of keeping her pre-electoral promise to release political prisoners she has rather imprisoned hundreds of villagers from jungal mahal and has taken initiative to start a Salwa Judum styled state-backed vigilante gang. Unofficially, her party goons are already running such a formation called ‘Bhairab Vahini’ which is ruthlessly attacking people in jungal mahal. The cold blooded fake encounter killing of CPI (Maoist) leader and politburo member Kishenji is another ruthless instance of her fascist regime. Similarly, Naveen Patnaik is responsible for unleashing ruthless repression on the people fighting against POSCO, VEDANTA and other corporate giants in Odisha. He has the records of killing protesting adivasis in Kalinga Nagar and brutally attacking the fighting masses of Narayanpatna and killing the of Chasi Muliya Adivai Sangha (CMAS), Wadeka Singhana. Many other CMAS activists have been booked under UAPA. Similarly other BJP and non-Congress CMs like Narendra Modi, Jayalalitha, Prakash Singh Badal are also doing shadow boxing with the Center over the NCTC curbing power of the state governments. Raman Singh the fascist BJP CM of Chhattisgarh has however accepted the NCTC albeit certain amendments. The other BJP CMs are all known for their fascist rule, the repression they have unleashed over people, the pogroms they have executed, the firing on protesting masses they have ordered. These various agents of the ruling class are only croaking against NCTC not because they are anyway concerned about the welfare of the people nor for the sake of ‘saving federalism. They only want a bigger share in the authority to repress dissenting voices and a share of the huge money that flows around in the name of ‘internal security’. None of the MPs in parliament including the ones belonging to the pseudo-Left, had raised any objection when UAPA was dangerously amended in 2008. All the parliamentary parties in India have their shares in the ongoing corporate loot and therefore they are ultimately going to serve and support the central government in all its endeavours to intensify the war on people and proscribing and criminalizing all sorts of dissent. The progressive and democratic forces of the country must unite to resist the attempts of the state to wage the brutal and bloody war on the people in order to facilitate corporate loot of the resources and the repression of all voices of dissent.
• Withdraw NCTC and repeal draconian UAPA
• Stop Operation Green Hunt
• Stop arresting people under bogus charges
• Withdraw NCTC and repeal draconian UAPA
• Stop Operation Green Hunt
• Stop arresting people under bogus charges
