Articles by Arun Sinha

In June 1977 the Governor of Tamil Nadu orderted an administrative en- quiry into Seeralan's murder despite the TNCLA's specific demand for a judicial enquiry. The police have resorted to threats, bribery, violence and kidnapping of witnesses in order to frustrate the enquiry. As for the government, it considers .the transfer of the three constables accused of murder to other towns in the same district as sufficient precaution against police interference in the Commission's work. The Commission is yet to submit its report Seeralan's mother presented a memorandum to the chief minister last BIHAR month demanding a judicial enquiry not only into the killing of her son but also into the illegal detention and torture of Jaya and Velu and police- landlord atrocities against the peasants of Ponneri, "The men who perpetrated these atrocities are walking as free men today, five months after the Emergency nightmare has ended.. ..As a mother in deep sorrow I am anxious to ensure that this fate docs not befall other mothers in future. This, I am convinced, can only come about by vigorously defending people's civil rights and by meting out exemplary punishment of the criminals involved." Landlords on Rampage in Champaran Arun Sinha THE killings at the math of Darpa show that even if ill-paid agricultural labourers refuse to die of starvation their masters will find other ways to destroy them. The labourers of Darpa, Sukhlahia and other villages of Champaran were merely asking for employment; they had been fighting only for their right to exist. For showing such 'daring', five of them, including an old woman, were killed on September 5.

BIHAR Murder of a Peasant Leader Arun Sinha NORMALLYa funeral in the country- skie is attended by a hundred persons or two, with women strictly staying indoors. But when Gambhira's dead body was brought from the thana to his Mahuawan village more than 10,000 poor peasants from villages near and far came; among them were over .3,000 women. They all wept profusely, except a dozen of Gambhira's close comrades. The place of cremation was enclosed by bamboo sticks; quickly a plan was drawn up to instal a huge portrait of the dead leader there.

Unbroken Grip of Monopoly Arun Sinha THE Mica Trading Corporation (MITCO), a state trade enterprise created as a subsidiary of Mineral and Metals Corporation in 1975, has never been liked by the monopoly exporters of mica. The Mica Syndicate, an earlier enterprise set up in 1962 by the Bihar government, was destroyed by these same interests: but just as they were celebrating the death of the Mica Syndicate, MITCO was born' Naturally, MITCO has been under constant attack.

functions in the interests of expediency and speedy execution of the law. The criminal law must be allowed to take its own course and the trade union movement should not tolerate this encroachment on their fundamental democratic right to be tried before a criminal court. The whole of Chapter VIII dealing with powers of Labour Court and Industrial Court to try offences should, therefore, be repealed.

portfolio. Chose soon found, however, that he held the portfolio in name only, and that the real power lay in the hands of the chief minister. During the polls this gave rise to the spectacle of Ghose lodging a complaint at a police station against some police officers for their indifference to malpractices. He also demanded the suspension of the superintendent of police of the 24-Farganas district in which his Assembly constituency lies. Another volatile and controversial figure in the West Bengal ministry, Subrata Mukherjee, has openly said that the chief minister abetted the rigging of elections for four seats