Obituary - Sharad Jhaveri
NICARAGUA Sandinista election calr paign appeal launched THE Revolutionary Communist League (LCR, French section of the Fourth International) has decided to organize a campaign to raise 100,000 francs to fund the electoral campaign of the Sandinista National Liberation Front.
Presidential, legislative, and municipal elections, as well as the election of representatives of the autonomous government of the Atlantic Coast (the zone inhabited by the Miskito, Sumo and Rama Indians, as well as a Creole population), are all to take place on February 25 of next year. Eight parties have presented lists for the
Undoubtedly, the principal adversary of the FSLN will be the National Union of the Opposition (UNO), an unlikely coalition of the most conservative forces, who have succeeded, after prolonged bargaining and haggling, in reaching agreement on the candidature of Violeta Chamorro, who had been a member of the first government formed after the 1979 revolution, a government that contained bourgeois ministers, but was nonetheless under the hegemony of the FSLN.
As director of the opposition daily La Prensa and widow of bourgeois "democrat" Pedro Chamorro (a wealthy newspaper owner assassinated under the orders of dictator Somoza), she poses as the Cory Aquino or Benazir Bhutto of Nicaragua, a martyr to the "Sandinista dictators".
However the Nicaraguan people have not been taken in by this posturing, as witnessed by the ironic graffiti which have recently appeared on the walls of Nicaragua: "Violeta Aqui No!" (No Violeta
Today, the Sandinista leadership is confronted by a dramatic economic crisis: it is impossible to resist Yankee aggression for seven years with impunity....Under the Contra mercenaries financed by Reagan, but the country is exhausted. International aid (whether from Western Europe or the "socialist" countries) is not even sufficient for everyday necessities.
And yet the holding of the second democratic elections in the history of the counconfirmed the preeminence of the FSLN. who obtained two thirds of the vote) will be extremely costly.
UNO, for its part, is openly receiving millions of dollars from the United States (which, after having attempted to overthrow the Sandinistas by force, today plays the card of "democratic legality") and is soon to begin a tour of Europe, with the aim of convincing governments of the need for still more assistance in "re-establishing democracy" in Nicaragua.
The FSLN, whilst certainly possessing
COMRADE Sharad Jhaveri, one of the founders of the Indian Socialist
Workers' Party, forerunner of the
Inquilabi Communist
(ICS), Indian Section of the Fourth
International, has died.
While studying in Bombay he came in touch with Trotskyism, at a time when there was no Trotskyist movement in India. After completing his studies he practised law in his home town in Gujarat, maintaining his links with his political mentors and continuing his efforts to launch a Trotskyist organization in
When the Indian section was formed, he immediately himself and from then on, while continuing in his profession, he intellectual, material and moral resources to the new
While staying hundreds of kilometers away from the party centre and activity in Gujarat, he maintained close links with cadres through correspondence, writings and frequent visits. He spent days and weeks with the cadres in Baroda during political campaigns, concircles, press conferences and so on. He made an important contribution in the development of young
He also played a crucial role in the internal debates. In its early years, the party had to make a great effort to understand and fight ultra-left currents in the organizavast strength in its potential ability to mobilize its militants and the members of the mass organizations, has no access to
And yet, money is centrally important to this new "war" against reaction, which promises the earth to a population understandably weary of the economic crisis.
The FSLN needs the support of all anti-imperialist and revolutionary forces around the world. For this reason, Sandinista leader commandant Omar Cabezas, when visiting Paris last June, officially asked for the assistance of the LCR in the struggle against UNO
The LCR decided to respond positively io this request and is attempting to raise 100,000 francs to finance the FSLN's electoral campaign. It is appealing to all its militants and sympathizers to contrib-
Cheques should be sent to : LCR (for Stephane), 2 rue Richard Lenoir, 93 100 Montreuil, France. *
AROUND THE WORLD tion. Here comrade Jhaveri made his presence felt, providing a clear orientation to the party in Gujarat.
In the mid-1970s, when the imposition of the nationwide emergency by Indira Gandhi severely affected the organization, he began a concerted initiative to hold the party together. He drafted a crucial document on the emergency and the demagogy of the government about removing poverty. He also actively participated in an effort to convene
Party Congress during the emergency. This Congress brought him into the leadership of the party.
His period of work in the national leadership was the most productive period for him as well as the party. In this period he emerged as the party's chief political spokesperson wrote a Marxist analysis of the Indian Constitution and a paper on the
As he was working on the latter text, he was suddenly hit by an intractable disease. In his last years he was completely bed-ridden and lost his capacity to speak.
His death is a big loss for the Indian section. We salute his memory and extend our sympathy to his fam.
ily. We believe that the real tribute to such a comrade is to intensify our efforts to carry forward the legacy of revolutionary Marxism and build a mass revolutionary party.
(abridged from a statement of the Central Secretariat of the ICS)* IRELAND Irish socialist on Loyalist death-list IN A NEW iwist to the "Icaks" row (the scandal caused by revelations of Loyalist British Army collusion in the murder of militant nationalists; see IV 171), Peoples Democracy, the Irish section of the Fourth International, has revealed that one of its members is among those whose photos and personal details have been leaked to the Scottish newspaper the "Daily Record" Former Peoples Democracy councillor for West Belfast, John McAnulty, said, "this is proof positive that political and trade union activists are targeted by the UDR, RUC and British Army —and subsequently by their henchmen in the Loyalist organizations.
"The member concerned is a longstanding member of our organization and a bona fide trade unionist who has played an important part in major industrial dis- putes. He has never been a member or 17
LIDOVÉ NOVINY
International Viewpoint #172 • October 30, 1989
AROUND THE WORLD
ROC. 2. CISLO 9
Prohlášení LN od
Braciniard ver veznent
Lidovych vydava
Kusý dr.
lavských
Carnogursky.
Spolu
Jan
Ponickou, harou
Seleckym dr.
Vladimires richanimi na
Manakem, de.
obvinent I
1 sou precinu trestnych vetejno k výrodi svUl
Sinn Fein or the IRA. His only arose from a May Day demonstration in
1981, and this was the only occasion on which an official photograph was taken.
We believe it is this photograph which has
"The fact that our member's photograph was included in a photo-montage shows that this involvement in perfectly legal political and trade-union activity was considered sufficient for him to be routinely harassed and put at risk from Loyalist killer squads — for these groups the leak of the document would be sufficient grounds
"It has to be asked just how many of the
"random killings" of Catholic civilians are the result of malice and political bias by the state forces coupled with collaboration
ZAŘI 1989 from its "Policy Review". The conference resolution was moved by supporters of left newspaper "Labour Briefing". In a week when almost every progressive policy was abandoned by Labour at the lead ership's behest, the LCLGR victory was doubly remarkable, and can be explained by a successful strategy of fighting for a united front with Labour and trade union leaders who could be won on this question, and winning a massive genuine rank