Communist Party of India note on Cochin, with demands and list of arrests

                        COCHIN

1.      Meetings are prohibited. Permission to hold meetings were denied in several
places although repeated requests were made.

2.      Arrests and repression followed the lock-out in Amballoor Mill. Even normal
Trade Union activities are banned. During the Amballoor Mill crisis, the comrade in
charge of the D.C. was arrested and placed under detention. Com. Yagnamurthy, a
prominent student worker, was [struck-over word] externed from the State.

3.      Police terror stalks the land.

4.      More than 500 workers of the Amballoor Mill were thrown out by the mill-owner.
The Government is doing nothing to relieve unemployment. Our representative held
many interviews with the Government. But the Government has not carried into
effect any of the assurances given. Instead the Communist Party office was raided
and the office files and other materials were taken away.

5.      The Government's policy is to crush the Communists. There is an important
section among the officials who want to crush the Communists and the people; because
they would like to have trouble inside the country. Another section reaches the same
conclusion as they are afraid of the mass movement. The Diwan is not exercising
his powers. He has practically no influence.

6.      The police is very aggressive. They burst into the District office of the
Party and beat our comrades. The trade union workers of Amballoor were brutally
beaten. Several other public workers were intimidated. The toddy tappers of
Anthikkad were beaten along the roads. K.Rajan and K.R.Kuttan, 2 comrades of
Jnarakkal were arrested and Velayudhan was severely beaten.

OUR DEMANDS:    a) Freedom to propagate our Party line.
                b) Release our comrades.
                c) Release all workers convicted during the Amballoor strike and with-
                   draw the cases pending against them.
                d) No externment of Communists from the State.

LIST OF ARRESTS:  1.  C.Achutha Menon (Detention)
                  2.  Narayana Menon  (Amballoor strike case)
                  3.  12 working class comrades
                  4.  C.Yagnamurthy (Externed from the State)

        If these comrades are released and the Party allowed to function legally in the
State we will be able to combat effectively the movement of sabotage that is going on
inside the State.