Oppose Death Sentence!

Resolution:

On June 8, 2001 four innocent peasants were served the death sentence in Bara village incident under Tekari Police Station of Gaya district in Bihar. These four brave peasants are: (i) Krishna Mochi, (ii) Nanhelal Mochi, (iii) Vir Kunwar Paswan and (iv) Dharu Singh. It may be recalled that on February 12, 1992 the revolutionary masses had made a retaliatory attack on those linked to the private army of feudal lords, Sawarna Liberation Front. 37 people having connections with this private army were killed in the incident. This Bara incident was, in fact, a retaliatory mass action against the Main-Barasimha genocide in which 10 landless poor peasants and dalit people were slaughtered. In Main-Barasimha village a struggle had then been going on for minimum wages under the leadership of Krantikari Kisan Committee. The genocide was a conspiracy by the feudal lords to teach the struggling masses a lesson.

From Rupaspur-Chandwa to Miyanpur, Bihar has been witness to dozens of such mass murders perpetrated by landlords and their private armies. Even so, not a single culprit responsible for these genocides was ever served the death sentence. On the contrary, they have been acquitted with honour and dignity. The acquittal of main accused in the Rupaspur-Chandwa genocide, the former Speaker of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, Laxmi Narain Sudhanshu was one such example. However, it was after the revolutionary masses carried out retaliatory actions against these genocides that eight and four peasants, respectively were served the death sentence in the incidents at Dalelchak-Baghaura and Bara villages.

The death sentence served to eight brave peasants in the Dalelchak-Baghaura incident was converted to life-term imprisonment, while the death sentence in the Bara incident to four of them was confirmed by the Supreme Court. They may be hanged at the gallows any day.

Especially so in this phase of liberalization-privatisation-globalisation, the Supreme Court of India has increasingly been ruling against workers, peasants, dalits, adivasis and minorities. Ever since the so-called independence, over 90 percent of those served the death sentence so far were from landless, poor, dalit, adivasi and minority communities. This, in fact, reflects "court injustice." This in the name of the "rule of law" is nothing but a "farce of justice" perpetrated by the feudal and comprador bureaucrat capitalist classes. Death sentence actually serves as a weapon in the hands of the ruling classes to suppress the exploited and oppressed classes.

The Unity Congress—9^th Congress of CPI(Maoist) opposes the death sentence to four brave peasants and condemns it. This Congress considers this death sentence as an assault on the peoples' right of self-defence, and also that such a punishment would amount to nothing but collective murder of innocent peasants as an act of political vengeance. Death sentence is in fact a cold-blooded murder and such murders are an instrument for the suppression of class struggle.

Therefore, this Unity Congress – 9^th Congress appeals to the broad masses of our country to oppose this death sentence and step up the countrywide mass movement for their release.