NK's Post

Resentment against hike in bus fare mounting in Bhopal

-
Image
NK SINGH Though a Govt. directive has frustrated the earlier efforts of the MPSRTC to increase the city bus fares by as much as 300 per cent, the public resent even the 25 per cent hike. It is "totally unjust, uncalled for and arbitrary", this is the consensus that has emerged from an opinion conducted by "Commoner" among a cross-section of politicians, public men, trade union leaders, and last but not least, the common bus travelling public. However, a section of the people held, that an average passenger would not grudge a slight pinche in his pocket provided the MPSRTC toned up its services. But far from being satisfactory, the MPSRTC-run city bus service in the capital is an endless tale of woe. Hours of long waiting, over-crowding people clinging to window panes frequent breakdowns, age-old fleet of buses, unimaginative routes and the attitude of passengers one can be patient only when he is sure to get into the next bus are some of the ills plaguing the city b...
Post a Comment

Bihar SFI splits, Josh joins Naxalites

-
Pic courtesy Assam Sentinel

NK SINGH

The 16th convention of Bihar State Students Federation demanded that Lenin’s State and Revolution and Mao’s On Contradiction be included in the course. The plea was that knowledge would remain incomplete without these books and Calcutta University has prescribed them.

Communist students are divided. The oldest and stronger section is the All India StudentsFederation. But thanks to its weak and opportunist leadership and -- in the specific context of Bihar -- casteism, AISF popularity is going down in Bihar.

After the separation of the Marxist Communists from the CPI, the Students Federation of India was founded. Recently, its Bihar units got a big shock when Mr Toofan Chandra Josh joined the Naxalites.

When the present leadership of SFI tried to blame Mr Josh for everything, the convention split into two parts openly. This shows the influence of Josh even when he is not present.

On various issues, specially USSR, one-third of the representatives under the leadership of Chandra Shekhar Chaturvedi of Ranchi were called extremists by the rest at the convention.

The position of Marxists is critical. They don’t want to criticise either Russia or China. The ‘extremist’ section was not silent. It alleged that only those were finding a place in the SFI executive who either flatter the Communist Party or are kith and kin of party members.

So far as Naxalite students in Bihar are concerned, three or four organisations are active. Their work is confined to pasting posters in the night and to writing extremists slogans on walls. They have even left behind the Chinese Red Guards in this matter and are always looking for walls whitewashed recently.

The position and programme of Naxalite students were outlined at their Bengal convention. They have declared that if any student wants to work in villages, he can go. But it they want to stay in schools and colleges, they can stay. They are supposed to organise the students on different economic and political issues. Then they can pick up militant students during future struggles.

Excerpts from Frontier 24 May 1969


The Frontier 24 May 1969

To read PDF of the article please click on the link below:



Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comment. It will be published shortly by the Editor.