AROUND THE WORLD
ANDON
SOUTH AFRICA
AROUND THE WORLD ISRAELI STATE Financial appeal THE TRIAL of our comrade Michel Warschawsky and the Alternative Information Centre are due to begin on October 19. Warschawsky and the AIC are accused of services to an illegal organization and support for a terrorist organization (see IV 147). If found guilty, the accused could face up to 23 years in prison.
The Revolutionary Communist League, Israeli state section of the Fourth International, are appealing for international solidarity around the slogans: "No to political tion; No to restrictions on freedom of information; Drop the charges against Warschawsky and the AIC". ". They are calling for solidarity pickets to be held outside embassies and consulates on October 19 or earlier and for telegrams and petitions. These should be sent to the Attorney General, with copies to embassies and the RCL.
Because the costs of the trial are very high, it is necessary to start collecting money now.
Financial contributions for the campaign can be sent via bankers order to "Rouge" CCP 2504388 S Paris, France. The RCL can be contacted via PO Box 22434, Jeru-
Slums and shantytowns THE HOUSING shortage in South Africa has reached alarming proportions. Millions of South Africans presently live in slums and shantytowns.
To resolve this problem from now until the year 2,000, it is estimated that 78 billion rand would have to be invested and 3,572,000 new homes built. Such a programme would mean the construction of 1,190 homes every eight-hour working day for 12 years, or one every two minutes and 47 seconds!
The government officially acknowledges that there are 935,697 squatters — the majority in the Transvaal - but the Urban Foundation estimates that in the Pretoria, Witwatersrand, Sereeniging region alone there are 2,445,000 squatters occupying 312,000 slums and 67,000 garages. * trials against Israeli-Palestinian coopera-
OBITUARY
Panatt Vasu salem, Israel. * organizations. By this time, the RSP had declined substantially as a political force. Thereafter, it became his objective to build up a strong Fl unit in Kerala and India.
He was the man benina all ri publications in Malayalam. He was the man behind all FI publications in Malayalam. He owned a small printing press which was mainly used to print Trotskyist and Fl literature in Malayalam. At the time of his death comrade Vasu was the editor, printer and publisher of the ICS journal in Malayalam, "Varola" or "Poster". He took his political activities so seriously that he decided never to marry or set up a family.
Comrade Vasu was fragile in body and weak in health. He was the victim of many diseases. But these could not deter him from his political activities. It was because of his Influence and capacity to attract the youth of the local area that the local units of the Stalinist CPI and CPI(M) prohibited their youth from meeting or discussing political issues with him.
Along with his political activities, he was active in many other fields like the atheist and rationalist movements, science and ecology movements, human and civil rights activities and so on. When the Kerala government unleashed its oppression on the cadres of the CP|(M-L), a Maoist organization, he was there in the forefront of the fight to defend them against state violence and violation of their fundamental rights.
Comrade Vasu was a model communist. He was the guide, the leader and the guardian of the Kerala Trotskyists. He was, at the time of his death, a member of the control commission of the Inquilabi Communist Sanghathan. He was one of the key links connecting the old generation of Trotskyists with the new.
We, the comrades of the ICS, feel that we have lost an exemplary leader, one who spent his whole life and mate. rial earnings for the propagation of the ideas and ideologies of the Fl.
We will remember this fighter as long as we continue our political activities, and these memories will be our inspiration in the future. Comrade Panatt Vasu showed us how a Marxist should live and fight for the revolutionary cause. *
COMRADE PANATT VASU, a long time leader of the Kerala provincial committee of the Inquilabi Communist Sanghathan (ICS, Indian section of the Fourth International) died at the age of 61 at his home in Trichur, Kerala, on July 26.
Born into a poor proletarian family, he had to go to Ceylon, then a part of the British empire, in search of a job. He went there at the age of 16 and worked in many areas of the country doing different jobs before settling down as a beedi worker. Meanwhile, he came into contact with the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) leadership. At that time the LSSP was the Ceylonese section of the Fl. Vasu became an ardent supporter of Trotskyist ideas. His life from then on was a struggle to propagate the ideas and ideologies of the Fourth International. In Ceylon, he proved his worth as an efficient party worker and built up a strong working class movement among the beedi workers. He learnt Tamil and Sinhalese. Though he had no formal education, he was fluent in English, Hindi and Malayalam as well.
In 1959 he came back to Kerala under the direction of the LSSP leadership to build up a Trotskyist movement in Kerala. At that time the Trotskyists in Kerala were spread into different parties, most notably the Kerala Socialist Party (KSP) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP). The majority were in the RSP. Comrade Vasu was opposed to the tactic of entryism into the RSP as he thought it would be detrimental to the future interests of a Trotskyist movement. (Later he was proved right.) But at last he joined the RSP to avoid a split among the Kerala Trotskyists. He became head of the Trichur district committee of the RSP and worked hard to build up the party. Because of his position in the party he came to be called "RSP Vasu". At the same time, he formed a faction within it. In 1967, along with many of his comrades Vasu left the RSP in protest against the policy of allying with communal OL International Viewpoint #148 • October 3, 1988
INTERNATIONAL
Moscow Trials campaign
THE CAMPAIGN to clear the names of all the accused in the Moscow Trials, launched over a year ago, has been collecting signatures from all over the world (for the full text of the appeal, see IV 137). You can contact the campaign c/o Michael Löwy, 34 rue des Lyonnais, 75005 Paris, France.
Final list of signatories:
Britain: 18 MPs have sponsored a parliamentary motion to demand that the Soviet government rehabilitate Trotsky and Leon Sedov, alongside all those assassinated by the Stalinist regime: Terry Fields; Dave Nellist; Pat Wall; Mildred Gordon; Dennis Skinner; Jimmy Wray; Chris Mullins; Allan Roberts; Clare Short; Robert Parry; John Hughes; Bob Clay; Tony Banks; Ronnie Campbell; John Cummings; Jeremy Corbyn; Alice Mahon; Dawn Primarolo.
Denmark: Keld Albrechtsen, ex-MP, Left Socialist Party (VS); Margrethe Auken, MP, Socialist Peoples Party (SF); Ole Bach, SID ex. cttee., Randers; Prof. Claus Bryld, historian, Univ. of Roskilde; Leif Clynor, shop steward HK, SAS; Inger Harms MP, SF; Gitte Hesselmann, Socialist Workers Party (SAP); Anne Grete Holmsgaard, ex-MP, SF; Lars Hutters, cllr. Copenhagen, VS; Prof. Neils Hybel, historian, Copenhagen Univ.; Hanne Thaning Jacobsen, MP, SF; Helmuth Jacobsen, shop steward, SAS, ex. cttee local 16 Metal; Claus Jensen, int. sec. SID; Ivan Malinowski, author; Bent Moos, pres. HRF; John Mølgaard, trade union sec., SID; Kjeld Rahbaek Moeller, MP, SF; Jørgen Nielsen, pres. DLF, local 61, Naestved; Martin P Nielsen, shop steward SAS, ex. cttee local 16 Metal; Elisabeth Bruun Olesen, ex-MP, VS; Gert Petersen, MP, pres. SF; Poul Petersen, trade union sec., VS; Thora Petersen, trade union sec., KAD, local 5 Copenhagen; Halfdan Rasmussen, author; Soeren Rishoej, MP, SF; Villo Sigurdsson, ex-mayor, Copenhagen, VS; Gunna Starck, mayor (city planning), Copenhagen, VS; Ole Stender-Petersen, historian; Ebba Strange, MP, SF; Finn Sørensen, pres. Trade Union of Brewery Workers, Copenhagen; Jens Thoft, MP, SF; Kirsten Thorup, author; Steen Tinning, ex-MP, VS; Boerge Trolle, author/journalist, SF; Michael Voss, SAP; Boris Weil, author/ librarian.
Netherlands: Leadership of the Socialist Workers Party (SAP); Otto van de Haar, CP; Suzane Legene, CP; EJF Molenaar; PWH Drenth; Anet Bleich, journalist; Max van Weezel, editor VN; Constant Vecht, journalist; Leo Jacobs, chief editor Radio Stad; Florian Diepenbrock, FNV; Maarten van Traa, MP, PvdA; Jan Gerritze, CP; Truus Beumer-Ronday, CP; Cathir van de Haar, CP Utrecht; Jan Marinus Wiersma, international sec., PvdA. *
AROUND THE WORLD
Errata
In the last issue of /V (147), the name of the author of the article reprinted from the Italian CP journal Rinascita, Michal Reiman, was inadvertently omitted. It is important to note that Reiman is not a member of the Italian
CP, but a Czech refugee living in Italy.
1988
LEON TROTSKY
Ily a 50 ans
Trotsky fondait la Quatrième
Internationale pour lutter contre le capitalisme et le stalinisme
Aujourd'hui, ou est-elle, que fait-elle ?
RASSEMBLEMENT samedi 10 décembre
14h - 24h à LSC, 144 Avenue du président Wilson
La Plaine St Denis (93)
Débats, exposition, films, bal, meeting avec des militants,
LC R des délégations étrangères,
Lidue communiste révolutionnaire des personnalites...
sedian françase de la Quatricme hiernaturale
JC R
& la présence de Esteban Volkov, petit-fils de Trotsky
Jeunesse communiste révolutionnaire
9
POLAND
### INTRODUCTION