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A painting by Sudhir Patwardhan     NK SINGH In   Naxalite-infested Mushahari   area of Muzaffarpur, Ram Garib Das, president of the local unit of the Jana Sangh was shot dead by the Naxalites on 24th July last.  A leaflet issued by the Patna City Jana Sangh, “Khoon Ka Badla Khoon” (blood for blood), accused that “the Muslims belonging to the CPI” had killed Das.  The Secretary of the Bihar State CPI described it as “an open call to murder Communists.”  Owning the killing, the CPI(ML) said: “The Jana Sangh – the party of black marketeers and characterless zamindars – wants to give this incident a communal colour. It is falsely accusing the Muslims of having killed Das. We want to make it clear that Red Guerrilla squad has given the death punishment to Das. No Muslim whatsoever has any connection with it.”  Patna violence Recently, on 7th August the Naxalites threw  bombs on an anti-Mao procession  at Patna o...

Bombs are as easily available as onion in Bihar, Pic IANS   NK SINGH The Naxalites seem to have declared a crusade against the Jana Sangh and the RSS in Bihar. In Naxalite-infested Mushahari area of Muzaffarpur, they shot dead Ram Garib Das, president of the local unit of the Jana Sangh on 24th July last.  A leaflet issued by the Patna City Jana Sangh, “Khoon Ka Badla Khoon” (blood for blood), accused that “the Muslims belonging to the CPI” had killed Das.  The Secretary of the Bihar State CPI described it as “an open call to murder Communists.”  Owning the killing, the CPI(ML) said: “The Jana Sangh – the party of black marketeers and characterless zamindars – wants to give this incident a communal colour. It is falsely accusing the Muslims of having killed Das. We want to make it clear that Red Guerrilla squad has given the death punishment to Das. No Muslim whatsoever has any connection with it.”  Recently, on 7th August the Naxalites threw bombs on an anti-M...

  NK SINGH Patna : The Left parties current land grab movement in Bihar seems to have become more of a publicity-grab movement. The Samyukta Socialist Party, particularly, has focussed on gimmicks like house-grab and chair-grab.   The only house the SSP could find for this purpose, interestingly, belonged to the family of the famous film star Meena Kumari.  A vulgar stunt indeed. The two-month old land grab movement launched by certain left parties has proved a fiasco in Bihar. Nowhere in the State the movement took the form of a mass agitation. The agitation remained confined to the cadre of the CPI, the PSP and the SSP, who had sponsored the movement. By the time of reporting 2,242 persons have been arrested in connection with the agitation. From 1st July to 9th August CPI grabbed fallow land belonging to the government. From 9 th to 15 th August it grabbed land owned by landlords in excess of the ceiling. An illusion was created by the CPI local leaders t...

NK SINGH Naxalites have reached Patna with their Mao-cult slogans on walls and a few hand bombs in halls. All the walls of the town are full of Naxalite slogans. Some weeks ago, they hurled bombs to disrupt a ‘save democracy convention’ called by right wing political parties. It was the first Naxalite action in Patna. After five days the police arrested seven students. They were pasting posters on walls to celebrate May Day. The president of Patna unit of Vidyarthi Parishad, Tiwari, was thrashed when, along with some of his friends, he tried to stop them. One  of the arrested students had secured highest marks in the Secondary Examination held last year, i.e. he is the topper of Bihar. Naxalites also hurled crackers on the Gandhi Darshan train, which had not received such treatment anywhere else. Soon enough they bombed the house of the Principal of Patna Commerce College, who had helped in their arrest. Excerpts from Radical 5 September 1970 Radical 5 September 1970

Representational image courtesy Foreign Policy   NK SINGH Bomb attack on anti-Maoist rally at Patna on 7 August 1970 kills one, injures nine. In retaliation, Vidyarthi Parishad attacks Muslim shops, burns one, loots three. CPI(ML) takes responsibility for bomb attack. Earlier, they had bombed Gandhi Darshan train at Patna, attacked a rightist convention at Patna on 25 April 1970 and assault RSS student leader on April 30 1970. They also hurled bombs on the house of the Principal of Patna Commerce College. Police have arrested some students in the Commerce College case. One of the arrested Naxalite students had topped the secondary school examination in 1969.  Excerpts from Frontier 29 August 1970 To read the full article, please click on the link below:

  CM Daroga Rai (in Gandhi cap) NK SINGH शोर-गुल एवं अभद्र वातावरण में विधान सभा का सत्रावसान  दारोगा राय मंत्रिमंडल का अस्तित्व अडिग  प्रतिपक्षी दलों में फूट  विधायकों के वेतन-भत्तों में आशातीत वृद्धि  क्या कर्मचारियों के साथ भी यही व्यवहार होगा? 13 जून को विनियोग विधेक 68 वोटों से स्वीकृत हो जाने पर सत्र का मुख्य काम पूरा हो गया। इसके बाद का समय गहमा-गहमी में बीता।  विनियोग विधेक पर संयुक्त सोशलिस्ट पार्टी ने मत विभाजन की मांग तो अवश्य की थी, पर सरकार गिरी नहीं। अलबत्ता पार्टी की आपसी कलह जग-जाहिर हो गई।  उसके 15 विधायक आदेश (व्हिप ) के बावजूद मतदान के समय अनुपस्थित रहे।  कांग्रेसी विधायक (सिंडीकेट और इन्डिकेट  दोनों) कोशिश कर रहे थे कि  विधान परिषद खत्म करने का जो विधेयक स्वीकृत हुआ था, उसे रद्द कराया जाए।  सत्ताधारी काँग्रेस दल के ही एक विधायक ने प्रस्ताव पेश किया कि विधान परिषद का अस्तित्व 1974 तक कायम रखा जाए। अध्यक्ष ने निर्णय दिया की इस प्रस्ताव पर अगले सत्र में चर्चा होगी।  Excerpts from Mashal 11 July 1970

  Courtesy Deccan Herald एनके सिंह संकट आज नहीं तो कल ख़त्म होगा। हर स्याह रात के बाद एक सुबह आती है। किसने सोचा था कि दूसरे विश्वयुद्ध से तबाह युरोप इतनी जल्दी खड़ा हो जाएगा या ऐटम बम से नेस्त-नाबूद जापान दुनिया की आर्थिक धुरी बन जाएगा। कोरोना संकट ने मीडिया को एक सीख दी है – अपने सारे अंडों को एक ही टोकरी में नहीं रखें। अखबार, टीवी और डिजिटल मीडिया को एक-दूसरे का पूरक बनाना पड़ेगा। उन्हे कन्वर्जन्स की तरफ और तेजी से जाना पड़ेगा। कोरोना काल ने साबित किया है कि पिछले एक दशक में तैयार नए पाठक वर्ग को अखबारों की विश्वसनीयता और टीवी का आँखों देखा हाल अपने स्मार्ट फोन या टैबलेट पर चाहिए। कोरोना से अस्तित्व का संकट मीडिया के लिए कोरोना की मार बुरे वक्त पर आई है। गूगल और फ़ेसबुक सरीखी कंपनियों की वजह से उनकी कमाई पहले ही कम हो गई थी। कोरोना ने अस्तित्व का संकट खड़ा कर दिया है। मसलन, अमेरिका में 2008 के मुकाबले पत्रकारों की तादाद आधी रह गई है। न्यूयॉर्क टाइम्स के मुताबिक कोरोना के बाद अमेरिकन मीडिया संस्थानों ने 36,000 कर्मचारियों की छटनी की है। दुनिया के कई बड़े अख़बार अपनी परछाईं ...

  Pandit Sunderlal (1886-1881) NK SINGH An interview with Pandit Sunderlal , the Gandhian peacenik. To access PDF of the article please click on the link below: Frontier 4 July 1970

Illustration by Mario Miranda NK SINGH Reporting Holi, Published in Frontier , 15 March 1969. To read the PDF of the article please click on the links below :

Jayaprakash Narayan at an agitation NK SINGH The Sarvodaya leader, Jayaprakash Narayan, has declared a crusade against the Naxalites of Mushahari region of Muzaffarpur district. He has taken a vow that “either my bones would crumble or I shall succeed in my mission” – of curbing the Naxalites. The Mushahari peasant struggle – now more than two years old – is considered by the Naxalites as the “turning point in the political situation in Bihar.” A leaflet issued by S.N. Singh , Secretary, Bihar State CPI(ML), declares that Narayan is nothing but “a tested and tried agent of the reactionary ruling class. He is a loyal lackey of the landlords, who have now requisitioned his services at Mushahari.” Excerpts from Frontier 11 July 1970 Frontier 11 July 1970 P1 Frontier 11 July 1970 P2

Nathuram Godse NK SINGH Swara is a Hindi weekly, bearing registration number 16011-67 from Viratnagar in Jaipur district of Rajasthan. It describes Indira Gandhi as communist, calls Nehru “sapper and miner of international communism”, supports Israel and denounces Arabs as enemies of Hindus. It published a two-page article to prove that Gandhi ji was a sex-maniac, with a six-column headline: ‘Gandhi insisted on sleeping with nude girls’. Dharmendra Sharma, who is said to be a noted figure of the RSS in Rajasthan, edits this weekly. Sharma has also written a book, ‘Two Mahatmas of India’, in which he calls Gandhi a ‘papatma’ (sinner) and Godse a ‘mahatma’. The book was forfeited by the Government. Gopal Godse, younger brother of Nathuram Godse, was released from prison in 1964 after serving his term as a convict in Gandhi murder case. Soon after a ceremonial homage was paid to Nathuram, Apte, Gopal and Karkare in Poona at a gathering of 300. This was attended am...

Sunderlal (far left) walking with Gandhi ji to Birla House prayer meeting NK SINGH Among the most extraordinary people I have met, and interviewed as a journalist, was Gandhian scholar Pandit Sunderlal  (1886-1981). Pandit Sunderlal had become a legend in his lifetime. He was better known as the author of Bharat Mein Angrezi Raj , a 1,000-page tome in Hindi, whose publication in 1929 shook the British Empire. The Raj banned the book within four days of its publication. However, by that time its 1,700 copies had already reached the readers. The Government launched a massive drive to confiscate the printed copies of the book, raiding almost 1,000 houses of citizens across the country who were suspected to possess its copies. However, revolutionaries resorted to clandestine circulation of the banned book that exposed, with facts and figures, the colonial policy of ‘divide and rule’ to subjugate India. To possess and read the ‘subversive’ book became a matter of p...