Home - Anti-imperialist Camp

Leftist Punjabi peasents out for protest in Delhi

Leader Darshan Pal preemptively arrested

25/3/2010 · By Arjun Pd. Singh, People's Democratic Front of India

The Anti-imperialist Camp calls for the immediate release of Darshan Pal who we got to know as greatly generous person in 2004. While he was involved as one of the main organisers of “Mumbai Resistance” he also helped the international delegations. By profession an anaesthetist he used to joke: “I’m supposed to make people fall asleep but actually I’m doing the opposite.”

The 30th March 2010 Kisan Dharna Programme of PDFI Sub-committee on Agriculture Crisis (of which Dr. Darshan Pal is the Coordinator) is going to be held as per schedule at Jantar Mantar, Delhi. It will start at 11 AM. More than 1000 people from Punjab, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Delhi and other states are expected to attend the programme. The Dharna Programme is going to be organized on the issues related with Agriculture Crisis, such as Irrigation, Electricity, Agriculture Credit, Guarantee of MSP, Price Rise, Equitable Entitlement of Agriculture Community, Separate Budget for Agriculture etc. It is to note that Dr. Darshan Pal (as the Coordinator of the Sub-committee on Agriculture Crisis) is the main organizer of this programme. But, the Punjab police has arrested him along … [read more]

Walking with the Comrades

27/3/2010 · by Arundhati Roy

The terse, typewritten note slipped under my door in a sealed envelope confirmed my appointment with India's Gravest Internal Security Threat. I'd been waiting for months to hear from them. I had to be at the Ma Danteshwari mandir in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, at any of four given times on two given days. That was to take care of bad weather, punctures, blockades, transport strikes and sheer bad luck. The note said: "Writer should have camera, tika and coconut. Meeter will have cap, Hindi Outlook magazine and bananas. Password: Namashkar Guruji."

Namashkar Guruji. I wondered whether the Meeter and Greeter would be expecting a man. And whether I should get myself a moustache. There are many ways to describe Dantewada. It's an oxymoron. It's a border town smack in the heart of India. It's the epicentre of a war. It's an upside down, inside out town. In Dantewada, the police wear plain clothes and the rebels wear uniforms. The jail superintendent is in jail. The prisoners are free (three hundred of them escaped from the old town jail two years ago). Women who have been raped are in police custody. The rapists give speeches in the bazaar. Across the Indravati river, in the area controlled by the Maoists, is the place the police call 'Pakistan'. There the villages are empty, but the forest is full of people. … [read more]

An introduction into the conflicts of today's India

Operation Green Hunt, the people’s struggle and the need for an international solidarity campaign

15/3/2010 · By the International Campaign against War on the People in India

All over the world, people are asking questions about the nature of India’s society and government, and about the war on the adivasis—the tribal peoples—that has recently been launched by that government with strategic assistance from the US and Israel.

Most commentators admit that the Indian people suffered greatly under British rule. Today, it is claimed, India is on a path of rapid technical progress and development; India has its own Silicon Valley, complete with high-tech R&D and hundreds of call centers for everything from Amazon to Victoria’s Secret. New wealth is being created at a rapid rate, a large middle class is developing that is enjoying shopping malls, multiplex cinemas and imported cars, and much of this wealth is working its way down to the villages and urban slums seen in Slumdog Millionaire. Largest Democracy in the World? The most common claim is that India is “the world’s largest democracy.” It is said that India’s elected government has ended the oppressive caste system, which assigned everyone to … [read more]

Preparatory committee for Haifa II conference established

Second Haifa Conference for the Return of the Palestinian Refugees and for the Democratic Secular State in Historic Palestine, 28–30 / 5 / 2010

23/3/2010 · By Abnaa el Balad

A first consultative meeting was held, in response to the initiative of the Abnaa elBalad Movement, on 27/2/2010. It was followed by the second meeting on 19/3/2010 where the “Preparatory Committee” was formally established. About 20 activists from different organizations and movements, as well as independents, took part in each of the meetings.

In its first meeting the Preparatory Committee agreed about the following issues: • The conference will be held under the title: “For the Return of the Palestinian Refugees and for the Democratic Secular State in Historic Palestine”. • The conference program will include: o An opening plenum on Friday evening 28/5 o Workshops for presentations and discussions on Saturday 29/5 o Consultative meetings for the establishment of an international coalition – Sunday 30/5 • The call for the conference will be in the name of the preparatory committee, which will start its activities immediately, with the participation of all the attendees. The committee will prepare a detailed program for the conference and mobilize supporters of the cause and the general public to … [read more]

Stop the aggression against Iran!

Appeal

22/3/2010

Denuclearize all of Middle-East! Stop the siege on Gaza and the martyrdom of the Palestinian people!

Since G. W. Bush has labeled Iran a "rogue state", a brutal campaign of demonization against this country with a multimillenial history and its government is going on; it is a campaign based on lies which is clearly meant to clear the way for military aggression. We all remember how the war on Iraq was prepared. As the sanctions and the embargo caused half a million deaths (mainly children, because of the lack of medecine, milk and necessary goods), Iraq was accused to store "weapons of mass destruction". How can we forget the great play-acting through which Colin Powell, in order to justify what was going to be the biggest massacre after Vietnam, went as far as deceiving the UN Assembly by showing the famous "smoking gun"? The United States, which defend their global supremacy with … [read more]

Crisis hits India: revolutionary movement prepared and growing

Interview with G.N. Saibaba

21/2/2010 · By Wilhelm Langthaler

G.N. Saibaba is Assistant Professor of literature at Delhi University, one of India’s most prestigious institutes. He is one of the most vocal voices of the democratic opposition and plays an outstanding role in bringing together the most diverse trends against the ruling elite. He represents the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF).

Q: The “India Shining” campaign promised industrialisation and increasing wealth also the poor majority. Did this become true? The application of globalisation policy in India meant benefits first of all for the ruling oligarchy. A handful of families are in full control of the levers of power. Thanks to their position they could amass huge fortunes, particularly in the last twenty years. Eventually among the list of billionaires there are a lot of Indians. The concentration of wealth has been growing rapidly while some 80% of the population has to live on less than half a dollar a day and can hardly afford a daily meal. According to the government’s own statistics this was not the case two decades back. India pursued globalisation policies in the most aggressive way, as there … [read more]

India: resistance against savage industrialisation

6/3/2010

Women gathering in a makeshift Adivasi village

Pictures shot during a mission by the Anti-imperialist Camp to India in February 2010. The purpose of the trip was to evaluate the situation created by the "Green hunt" launched by the Indian government. The operation itends to smash the popular resistance of the Adivasi people to corporate land grab. The delegation was holding talks with local movements in order to conceive international solidarity … [read more]

Singur to Lalgarh via Nandigram

2/3/2010

Rising Flames of People’s Anger against Displacement, Destitution and State terror by Amit Bhattacharyya April 2009 with update supplement June 2009 48 pages, … [read more]

Gravest displacement, Bravest resistance

The struggle of adivasis of Bastar, Chhattisgarh against imperialist corporate landgrab

1/3/2010 · By Sudha Bharadwaj

The rule of law does not do away with the unequal distribution of wealth and power but reinforces that inequality with the authority of law. It allocates wealth and poverty in such complicated and indirect ways as to leave the victim bewildered. - Howard Zinn

Dedicated to the memory of Tapasi Malik,, Dula Mandal, Lakhiram Tuddu, Satyabhama Whose names we know, And the hundreds of adivasis of Bastar Whose names will remain unknown till we claim them. Why this essay? I don’t live in Bastar, and I am not an adivasi. But I have been active in the working class movement of Chhattisgarh for the past 22 years, a movement which became legendary under the charismatic leadership of Comrade Shankar Guha Niyogi. And I strongly feel that understanding what is happening in Bastar today is of the greatest significance not only to us in Chhattisgarh, but to all those who want to understand imperialist onslaught and corporate land grab, particularly in the resource-rich adivasi areas; for all of us involved nationwide in the anti-displacement … [read more]

Seminar of the Anti-imperialist Camp

A two days theoretical debate for militants in Vienna, Austria

Event: 21/7/2026

Topics of the seminar: 1. Analysis of the historical-systemic crisis of Western capitalism, a) the economic aspects b) the social and political aspects. 2. The question of the revolutionary break and the transition to socialism, in the light of the Venezuelan experience

Capitalism or socialism? Someone thought that the financial crisis that has begun in the United States in the years 2007-2008 would not have serious consequences on the international level nor concerning the real economy. They were wrong. Two years have passed from the crash of the American banks and the international capitalistic economy remains entangled in a recession. Even if the emerging powers like China or India are performing better, they are inextricably involved in the crisis as their markets have contracted. We do not think the massive measures taken by the Western governments will be decisive. The transformation of huge private debt into public debt, in addition to cause a long period of austerity for the masses and an augmentation of social inequality, will bring … [read more]

International Campaign Against War on the People of India launched

Request for solidarity

3/2/2010

The International Campaign Against War on the People of India (ICAWPI) is being launched to work as a coordinating centre seeking international support for the resistance of the people of India against the all out military offensive of the Indian state against its own citizens. ICAWPI is an international extension of widespread opposition and initiatives against this genocidal war to forcefully crush the heroic resistance of the tribal peoples in the heartlands of India and to hand over these lands rich in minerals and raw materials to international corporations such as Vedanta, Rio Tinto, Posco and others.

This overt war serving to facilitate the looting of the land and resources by Indian and international corporations for fabulous profits and the destruction of the livelihood of the countless numbers of the poorest of the poor in India is named as "Operation Green Hunt". While in different regions of the country the same operation may be named differently, the Indian state shamelessly tries to hide this banditry against the people of India and utterly open servitude to the imperialism as "war against the Naxalites"-- imposing a severe reign of terror and repression on progressive and democratic forces and individuals everywhere across the country. Countless intellectuals, authors, film makers, academics, and other professionals such as lawyers and doctors who abhor the Indian state's … [read more]

2nd Haifa Conference

Palestine: For a Secular Democratic State and the Right to Return

Event: 21/7/2026

On 20-21/6/2008, the first Haifa conference for the right of return and the democratic secular state in Palestine was convened. It aroused a lot of interest and was widely welcomed among political and social activist and militants that resist Zionism from within (in the part of Palestine that was occupied since 1948), Arab and Jews, as well as on a wider Palestinian, Arab and International level. Following the success of this conference we are determined to continue on the way to achieve its lofty goal, toward the establishment of an international coalition that will support this program.

… [read more]

Indian govt should respond to Maoist offer

23/2/2010 · Press statement by Concerned Citizens

We welcome the announcement by the CPI (Maoist) to observe a ceasefire and enter into talks with the Government of India. Given the government’s expressed willingness to engage in talks, we hope that this offer will be reciprocated. This necessarily requires a halt to all paramilitary armed offensive operations (commonly known as Operation Green Hunt) immediately. It is also imperative that there should be complete cessation of all hostilities by both sides during the currency of the talks.

We are of the view that the Central Government, and not the State Governments, should be the authority to conduct talks as the problem covers various states. Additionally, the Central Government should ensure that, while the talks are being held, all MOUs, if entered into, should be frozen and not implemented; no compulsory acquisition of tribal lands and habitats be undertaken; and tribals should not be displaced. This is because the Central Government is bound under law to strictly comply with the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution that, among others, safeguards manifold rights of the tribals including their ownership over land and resources. We further urge that during the period of the ceasefire and the course of talks, independent teams of observers and human rights groups … [read more]

For a Democratic Secular State in Historic Palestine

2nd Haifa Conference, 28-30/5/2010

15/2/2010 · By Abnaa el Balad

The only program for the relieving of the suffering of our people and for a solution of the conflict is the restoration of the patriotic and national rights of the Palestinian people, the adoption of the principles of democracy and human rights as the base for a solution and rejection of and resistance to ethnic cleansing, oppression and racism. It means the return of all Palestinian refugees to all the areas from which they were expelled and the constitution of one democratic secular state on all of the Palestinian national soil.

Call for participation in the preparations For more than a hundred years, our Palestinian people suffer from the robbery of their national and human rights. The majority of Palestinians are refugees dispersed all around the world. Gaza, which stands strong in its resistance to the occupation, is subjected to intense criminal siege. The racist occupation regime continues is campaign of ethnic cleansing against our people all around the country by way of confiscations, demolishing houses and villages, the confiscation of identity papers and prevention of residency rights, the prevention of marriage and denial of family unification, and the building of walls and settlements. All of us suffer from oppression, discrimination and subjugation in all aspects of life under a brutal racist … [read more]

The revolutionary movement stands in their way

India: growing popular resistance against displacement

15/12/2007 · By G.N.Saibaba

Speech by G.N. Saibaba on the issue of displacement in India and the growing resistance movement of the people with alternative politics to the world capitalist system. The People's War in India has intensified in recent years as the forced displacement and outright attacks on tribal (adivasi) people have become a priority of the state. The successful alliance between the Communist Party of India (Maoist), adivasis and others has led to the CPI (Maoist) being classified by the Indian ruling class as 'India's greatest internal security threat'. Now in a desparate attempt to reverse the situation the authorities are launching Operation Green Hunt - in effect a military invasion and occupation of those areas under the sway of Maoist influence; the forested, eastern and central states now known as the Red Belt. The aim is not only to destroy the Maoists but also to provide an excuse for further displacement of the adivasi peoples, seizing the land and the valuable raw materials which lie under it.

Although just over two years old now, this speech by GN Saibaba of the Revolutionary Democratic Front in Birmingham, England on 15th December, 2007 is a rich source of material on the issue of displacement in India and the growing resistance movement of the people. Land is in many ways the heart of the struggle in large parts of India, and a vast movement of resistance in India and internationally against this displacement and the neoliberal onslaught is an important component of any work on solidarity with India. This speech has been slightly edited. I am very happy to be here in the Shahid Bhagat Singh Memorial Centre in Birmingham. I am honoured to be given an opportunity to speak to you. First of all I would like to extend revolutionary greetings from the revolutionary masses of … [read more]

Half year into the Sumud project in Lebanon

The youth centres in EIn el-Hilweh is progressing with its first activities

17/2/2010 · By Nashed

The function of the Sumud centre inside Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp (learn more about Sumud's set-up ) is to receive, encourage, adopt youth initiatives, that can help the downtrodden Palestinian youth of the refugee camp to express themselves, dreams, ambitions, tendencies, hopes, hobbies, ideas... etc.

In this sense the centre already started several programmes: 1. Dialogue table: some youth groups’ representatives meet around the table in the centre to discuss their concerns. That can root the principle of dialogue in order to find common grounds and the base to real cooperation. 2. Novels club: this programme is designed to offer to the youth the basics of writing. This can fertilize the field for cultural production. The inputs can give motivation to find the way of the future, full of insistance to stand against suffering and oppression. 3. Palestinian girl club: this is a very ambitious project. Group of girls aged 10-14 come to the Sumud centre to develop their skills, to practice hobbies, make plans... The base of this club is self-governance, Nashet only … [read more]

Revolt and ethnic cleansing in the South of Italy

14/1/2010 · By Erika Miozzi

Scattered considerations on the immigrant's Rebellion in the town of Rosarno, in an attempt to provide non-italian readers with a clearer picture of the facts and the context.

The Italian agricultural industry has been relying mostly on immigrant workers since the Nineties; their number has multiplied by ten in the last twenty years, reaching an estimated 172.000 in 2007. Among them, especially in the South, many thousands are seasonal labourers, who move from town to town during the year harvesting tomatoes, olives, etcetera. They are the ones who face the harshest conditions. In Rosarno there lived several thousands of African immigrants (the estimations I’ve read vary between 2000 and 5000; the “native” population of the town is around 1500); they were harvesting the Calabrian oranges on the quality of which we Italians pride ourselves so much, and lived and worked in conditions challenging any minimum standard of human … [read more]

Chavez calls for 5th socialist International

The Caracas Commitment, Declaration of World Meeting of Left Parties, Nov 19-21th 2009

11/1/2009

Political parties and organizations from Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania commemorate and celebrate the unity and solidarity that brought us together in Caracas, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and from this libertarian city we would like to express our revolutionary rebelliousness. We are glad of and committed to the proud presence of the forces of change in a special moment of history. Likewise, we are proud to reaffirm our conviction to definitively sow, grow and win Socialism of the 21st century.

In this regard, we want to sign the Commitment of Caracas as a revolutionary guide for the challenges ahead of us. We have gathered with the aim of unifying criteria and giving concrete answers that allow us to defend our sovereignty, our social victories, and the freedom of our peoples in the face of the generalized crisis of the world capitalist system and the new threats spreading over our region and the whole world with the establishment and strengthening of military bases in the sister republics of Colombia, Panama, Aruba, Curacao, the Dutch Antilles, as well as the aggression against Ecuadorian territory, and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. We consider that the world capitalist system is going through one of its most severe crises, which has shaken its very foundations and … [read more]

Crisis and war ahead

Resolution adopted by the International Assembly

6/12/2009 · By the Anti-imperialist Camp

The historical systemic crisis of capitalism, new geo-political conflicts and the Anti-imperialist Camp's tasks.

a) The collapse of the world economy following the financial crash which erupted in the USA on September 2008 (a crash which had been announced by several creaks in the previous decade) is not one of those cyclical recessions followed by a recovery. It is more of an alarm bell pointing at a historical systemic crisis of western capitalism, in the first instance at a crisis of those imperialist countries which constituted, after World War II, the gravitational centre of global capitalism and which, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, has dominated the world despite some resistance here and there. b) The historical systemic crisis of the imperialist gravitational centre does not automatically mean that the capitalist production system as such has entered its final phase or finds … [read more]

The sign of hate

A reflection on the Swiss minaret-ban

6/1/2010 · by Charlotte Malterre

The order-loving, money-holding, proper-looking population of Switzerland made a shocking addition to their constitution by voting to ban minarets from their alpine landscape by a bashing score of 57.4 %.

It is believed that this direct democracy translate what other countries more politically correct won't admit and that their level of democracy won't allow. They say loud what everybody thinks. Austrian university professors called their Swiss friends to congratulate them. German neo-Nazis parties clapped.The extreme-right SVP carried out a hard-line campaign with posters of a woman in a black burka and minarets planted all over the Swiss flag. Not that Switzerland has to give lessons to anyone regarding women's rights, while a federal court decision had to force the last canton (Appenzel IR) in 1991 to give women the right to vote...Developing a climate of hate against another religion is not an unfamiliar scheme in Europe and it should be a extremely strong warning. Discriminatory … [read more]