People's Voice - Organ of CGPI August 16-31, 2005

Fifty eight years after achieving political independence from British colonial rule, India is free but the majority of Indians remain enslaved. Over half the population is yet to be free from hunger and want. Loot and plunder of our land and labour continues in various forms. Workers and peasants do not have any say in setting the course of the economy. The course is decided by a rich and privileged minority, the big bourgeois class headed by the Tatas and Ambanis, in alliance with other propertied strata in various regions. The big bourgeoisie of India is tied by a thousand threads to international big business interests. It is free to drag India on any path it pleases, without regard to the consequences for the toilers and tillers, and for the future generations.

It was the working class, the peasantry and the patriotic masses of the various nations and tribal peoples in this subcontinent who fought courageously against colonial rule. However, it is a small minority of exploiters, the bourgeois class led by the big business houses, which enjoys the fruits of independence.

Entire nations and peoples within India are continuing to fight for their freedom until today. Masses of people in Manipur, Nagaland and other parts of the northeast have never stopped fighting against alien army rule. The working class and people in Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and other states of the Union are today protesting against the plunder of their mineral wealth by Indian and international capitalist corporations. Tribal peoples are refusing to put up with deprivation of their source of livelihood for the sake of maximum capitalist profit.

The working class faces super-exploitation at the hands of capital, with curbs on the rights of labour in the name of boosting India’s global competitiveness. The peasantry faces extreme insecurity and unbearable indebtedness in the face of globalisation through liberalisation and privatisation. Thousands of peasants have committed suicide during the past two years.

Foreign direct investments are growing rapidly, in mining and mineral based manufacturing, and in exportable services including business process outsourcing (BPO). Foreign capital is flowing into India precisely to super-exploit the relatively cheap labour power and to loot the natural resources. Indian and international finance capital are growing more and more interconnected, with an economist trained by the World Bank occupying the leading position in the central Planning Commission. The massive drain of resources each year under the budget head called Interest Payments reflects the high degree of domination of finance capital over the economy and fate of India.

India is divided today between two opposing camps.

On one side stand those who defend the existing system of capitalist-imperialist plunder and justify the negation of people’s rights for the sake of making India a big imperialist power by 2020. At the head of this camp stands the big monopoly bourgeoisie.

On the other side stand those who want freedom from imperialist plunder, freedom from hunger and want, from exploitation and oppression in any form. This includes all the exploited and oppressed, who make up the vast majority of the population. At the head of this camp stands the Indian working class.

What is the meaning and purpose of independence? The two camps have opposite answers to this question. Independence for the big bourgeoisie means a ‘developed India by 2020’. Their aim is a capitalist-imperialist India that is militarized to the teeth and seeks to expand its empire, in the image of Anglo-American imperialism. The camp of the working class, peasantry and all the oppressed wants an India that is free from the chain of world imperialism.

We, the working class and people, do not want to suffer the consequences of economic developments over which we have no control. We want to be able to set the agenda for public policy. We want to be the masters of our own destiny. We want to use political power for the purpose of transforming the economy and orienting it to fulfill the needs of all the toiling masses.

Fifty eight years ago, when direct colonial rule came to an end on 15 th August 1947, it was an opportunity for India to make a clean break with the colonial past. However, a clean break was not made in 1947. The leadership of the Congress Party, representing the interests of the big capitalists and big landlords, decided to establish independent India in the image of the European empire building state. As a result, the achievement of independence did not open the path to progress for the people.

In independent India today, a minority in power is selling India’s land and labour to achieve its own narrow-minded ambition. It deploys troops against entire nations and peoples, as in Kashmir and the Northeast. It is even willing to compromise the sovereignty of India, such as by entering into a ‘strategic alliance’ with US imperialism.

In his recent speech at Oxford University in Britain, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared that India has benefited from the political institutions of ‘good governance’ left behind by the British colonialists. His speech shows that even though direct colonial rule came to an end 58 years ago, the ruling class of India has not shed the European bourgeois mindset inherited from its colonial masters. It has preserved this mindset along with the political institutions and economic system designed by British imperialism for the purpose of maximum exploitation and plunder of India.

Independence requires a clean break with the colonial legacy and with all remnants of feudalism. In present day conditions, independence also requires a clean break with the capitalist-imperialist system. The full content of political independence will bloom when the workers and peasants become the masters of India. The toiling and oppressed majority, constituted as numerous nations, nationalities and tribal peoples, will then determine their own destiny, independent of the imperialist system. They will together constitute a new voluntary Indian union, for mutual benefit.

Independence will become a reality when we, the toiling majority, become the masters of India and establish and build new political institutions to ensure that power remains in our hands. We will build new economic relations on the basis of providing prosperity and protection for all. We will block any possibility for anyone to plunder the land and labour of our people . India will then begin to relate to other states and nations of the world as a civilised and dignified society, as a state committed to oppose imperialism and open the path to lasting peace and all-round progress on the world scale.

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Reject the Action Taken Report on the November 84 Genocide!

Step up the struggle to punish the guilty individuals and parties!

With utmost anger, Mazdoor Ekta Lehar/People’s Voice condemns the so-called Action Taken Report tabled by the UPA Government in Parliament, on the findings and recommendations of the Nanavati Commission. The subsequent pronouncements by the Prime Minister in the floor of parliament, declaring that “action will be taken” against those adversely mentioned in the Commission’s report, the resignation of Jagdish Tytler from the Council of Ministers, cannot take away from the hard fact of life that the guilty of 1984 have yet to be brought to trial and punished. Nine Commissions of enquiry have submitted their reports thus far in these 21 years. These are in addition to the Peoples’ Tribunals set up by concerned citizens in the immediate aftermath of the holocaust which conclusively showed not only that the holocaust was organised by the Congress party and government at the highest levels, but also the complete involvement of the state apparatus in perpetrating the holocaust. Justice continues to be denied. The r eason is that the criminal parties which organise such crimes for narrow political ends are also the ones that sit in Parliament and obstruct justice.

The working class and people must and will step up the struggle for justice. We can and must demand the immediate arrest, trial and punishment of Jagdish Tytler and other Congress Party leaders who have been named by the Nanavati Commission. We must demand the arrest, trial and punishment of every senior politician, bureaucrat and police officer who took part in the carnage of November 1984.

Punishing the guilty of November 1984 is the minimum and most immediate demand. In addition, we must also demand and fight for new legislation and enabling mechanisms to take stern action against a political party that organises communal violence. Otherwise such criminal acts will continue to be repeated.

In the final analysis, it is the fighting unity of workers, peasants, women and youth that can prevent communal violence from being unleashed. We must step up our efforts to build local committees in cities, towns and villages to defend and build the unity of the people, cutting across religious and other differences, with the slogan, “An attack on one is an attack on all!”

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UN Reforms and India’s bid for permanent membership of the Security Council

In leading up to the upcoming September Summit of Heads of States and Governments of the 191 member countries of the United Nations, various proposals are being made to reform this 60 year old body.

The UN was founded in the immediate aftermath of World War II, with the aim of resolving international conflicts peacefully, and promoting cooperation among countries for the benefit of humanity. It reflected the intense yearning among the world’s peoples for peace and an end to devastating wars. Simultaneously, it also reflected the configuration of power prevailing at the end of the War. The US, Britain, France, the Soviet Union and China, as the major victorious Allied powers, were given special status in the UN’s peace-keeping agency, the Security Council, as permanent members with veto powers. The General Assembly of all member states, which for the first one or two decades included many newly decolonized states, was given a less important role in the UN’s peace keeping function than the smaller, more exclusive Security Council. At the same time, certain egalitarian principles were enunciated, such as the provision that member states pay dues according to their capacity, while possessing an equal status in the General Assembly.

The world situation has changed very substantially since 1945, when the UN was founded. China, one of the five big powers, underwent a revolution in 1949, and it took more than 25 years for it to overcome the efforts of the Anglo-American imperialists to block its government from assuming its place in the UN. The Soviet Union and the socialist camp collapsed in 1991, clearing the way for the US imperialists to try and establish unchallenged global domination. New regional groupings have formed amongst countries. Former vanquished countries like Germany and Japan are mighty economic powers demanding their own space, along with newly emerging powers such as Brazil and India.

All these and other changes have naturally led to the demand for reform of the UN. However, the interests behind the demands for reform, and the reform proposals being advanced, differ greatly. Democratic and peace-loving peoples are demanding that the General Assembly should become the supreme decision making body and the principle of equality among nations, big and small, should be reaffirmed and enforced. The peoples are also opposed to the unilateral violation by the US and its partners of the provisions of the UN Charter regarding non-aggression and upholding the sovereignty of all states, big or small. Nevertheless, different powers have their own agendas, and are advancing proposals for reform to further their own interests.

The Government of India is pushing a proposal along with Germany, Japan and Brazil, to expand the number of permanent members in the Security Council by six more, in addition to the present five, which are the US, Britain, France, Russia and China. The total membership of the Security Council would increase from the present 15 to 26 according to the proposal of this group of four, known as the G-4. This proposal has received a setback with the 56-strong African Union, in its meeting of August 4, opposing the proposal.

The United States has embarked on a path to create Regional Blocs and a “coalition of the willing” to create a new US-centric world order, while it is putting maximum pressure on the UN to stay out of its path. According to Mitchell-Gingrich report released in the US recently, “the UN, most importantly, needs to create an Independent Oversight Board that would function in a manner similar to a corporate independent audit committee.....the UN should not offer permanent contracts to any new employees....larger contributors should have a greater say in votes on budgetary matters (as in joint-stock companies) ... the Department of Peacekeeping operations should become a more independent program and coordinate with broader reconstruction and development activities of the UN”. The US would like to formalise its policy of holding the UN hostage to its whims by withholding funds. The attitude of the US is very clear from the views of its newly-designated ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, who is reported to have said that the Security Council should have only one member with veto power — the United States — and also that the UN Secretariat would lose nothing if the top 10 floors of its 38 storey building were knocked off!

The office of the Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has recommended changes that will “put in place policies and investments to drive private-sector led growth” as well as peripheral changes to streamline the operation of the UN as it exists today. The essence of these changes is to subordinate “development, human rights and rule of law” to a doctrine of “new security consensus” that affirms “the central role of the Security Council to use military force, including preventively”. It does not refer to any expansion in the permanent membership of the Security Council.

There are other country proposals for expansion of the Security Council either by inducting two new members from each of the five continents for two year terms, or by creating eight semi-permanent members. The irony is that both of these options leave the Indian aspiration to be inducted into the UN Security Council as a permanent member out of account.

The existing permanent members are coalescing their opinions against any new veto-wielding members. The US has been particularly cunning in assuring India that “it will assist it to become a major power” but only along the path that serves the US roadmap to dominate Asia. China had earlier made it very clear that it would use diplomacy to block the entry of Japan into the Security Council as a permanent member, with or without veto power. More recently, China’s UN ambassador has said that the proposal by the so-called Group of Four would divide the UN’s 191 member states, a point on which the US also agrees. Russia, Britain and France have all taken the convenient path of limiting the discussion to the Secretary General’s proposals, while remaining flexible.

The need for a permanent body of all countries of the world, which will work in a democratic way to promote world peace and progress, has not diminished since the time the UN was founded. However, the proposals outlined above do not fulfill this need and, in fact, can take mankind further away from its goals. The key issue is the democratisation of the UN, so that it serves the interests of the peoples of the world and not those of a few powers.

The Indian state’s desperate campaign to be seated at the high table of the Security Council does not serve the interests of the working class and masses of Indian people. It is not in line with the desire of Indians to live with dignity and equality, in peace and friendship with other peoples. In fact, the narrow aim of the Indian ruling class to become a major power at any cost has led it to trust the US to “help India become a major power”. The facts show that this ‘help’ is intended only to make India part of the US scheme of an alternative security architecture under its dictate.

The Indian working class and people should voice their opposition to the UN reform proposals of the Indian State, the United States and other self-serving powers. We must uphold the principle of the equality and sovereignty of all the peoples and states of the world, which is the basis for lasting peace and progress for all.

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National Sample Survey reveals the crisis facing the peasantry

Data from the latest survey carried out by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) shows how liberalisation and capitalist growth have ruined millions of rural families and driven peasants to suicide

The NSSO survey report released on May 3, 2005 reveals that of the estimated 89 million farm households in the country, more than 43 million (49%) are heavily indebted.

While the bourgeoisie boasts that India is among the fastest growing countries, along with the growth of capital in a few hands is the multiplication of poverty and the burden of debt on the backs of those who till the land.

The report clearly demonstrates the link between the debt-trap and peasants’ suicides. The state with the highest number of suicides, Andhra Pradesh, has also recorded the highest percentage of indebted farm households (82 percent or 4.9 million households) in the country. AP had recorded an estimated 9000 deaths by December 2003. Andhra Pradesh is followed by other so-called developed states with high levels of indebtedness such as Tamil Nadu (74.5 percent), Punjab (65.4 percent), Karnataka (61.6 percent) and Maharashtra (54.8 percent).

The survey results reveal how peasants have increasingly fallen into the clutches of moneylenders who charge as high as 60% interest per year. According to the NSSO survey, such private moneylenders comprise the second most important source of loans; they account for 26% of loans for agriculture, while banks account for 36%. Despite their 100-year-old existence and supposedly grassroots reach, government run cooperative banks account for less than 20%.

The higher indebtedness in the more developed states is linked to the greater prevalence of capitalist agriculture and petty commodity agriculture in these states. The technical progress achieved as part of the second green revolution has further raised the amount of capital required to produce profitably for the market. Peasants need much more working capital now than about 15 or 20 years ago. Faced with the reluctance of the banks to lend to peasants, their outright refusal to lend without mortgaging the land, and the near bankrupt condition of the cooperative banks, more and more peasants have been forced to borrow from the rural rich, the big landlords and moneylenders.

The NSSO survey documents the fact that peasants in the poorest states are not as highly indebted as in the more developed states. The proportion of peasants who are highly indebted is lower in Bihar (33%), Uttar Pradesh (40%), Orissa (48%) and Jharkhand (21%). The majority of peasants in these states are struggling to survive on small patches of land, with limited capacity to produce for the market. Nobody is willing to give them credit. They are left to fend for themselves and die of malnutrition and starvation. Hence the lower percentage of indebtedness compared to other economically developed states.

In a similar manner, the results of the NSSO survey showing that people belonging to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are less indebted shows that they own so little land that it is almost impossible for them to raise a loan from any source. Even to become indebted one has to be born higher in the social hierarchy!

For indebted farm households with over 10 hectares of land, the debt burden per family is Rupees 76,232. For those with marginal holdings it is Rupees 6,121. The survey results indicate that the majority of peasants who committed suicide were very heavily indebted, and were middle peasants or rich peasants.

Liberalisation of imports and exports of agro products has led to increasing volatility and uncertainty of economic returns from agriculture. Opening the door to imported agricultural commodities has been accompanied by rising costs of inputs. For example, in AP the power tariff was increased five times between 1998 and 2003, but the prices of cotton and chilly actually declined in absolute terms.

The Government of India has curtailed and withdrawn its support to the peasantry at the same time as it has exposed them to the global market, which is dominated by multinational giant corporations. Cut in government support to the peasantry includes public procurement and allocated bank credit at a fixed rate of interest below the market average. Today, bank credit to the peasantry is at a higher interest rate than bank credit to the Tatas and Ambanis.

Indian peasants have very little access to any kind of insurance against risk. Only 4% of farm households covered by the NSSO had ever insured their crops and 57% did not even know that crops could be insured!

The only conclusion that the peasants of India can draw from their life experience is that the capitalist-imperialist course being followed by the ruling bourgeoisie means death and destruction for those who till the land. Subordination of agriculture to the motive of reaping maximum profit for finance capital and the big monopoly corporations is the biggest danger facing the peasants and agricultural workers, who account for 60% of the total population of India.

Peasants have no future under the rule of the bourgeoisie. They have a bright future if and only if they ally with the working class to bring about the downfall of the bourgeoisie.

Under the rule of workers and peasants, the state can and will guarantee secure livelihood for the tillers. It will do so by taking over and conducting wholesale trade in such a manner that the peasants are assured of affordable credit and remunerative returns from their produce, the needs of the urban population is fulfilled and the role of private corporate interests in agriculture and trade is curtailed and eliminated.

The recent NSSO report is titled ‘Some Aspects of Farming’. It is the third in a series of five and is based on the NSSO survey of 51,770 farmer households spread over 6,638 villages in the country.

NSSO carried out this ‘Situation Assessment Survey of Farmers’ at the instance of the Ministry of Agriculture during January-December 2003.

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Delhi Citizens up in arms against hikes in power and water tariffs

The Joint Front of Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) organised a public protest meeting in Defence colony of New Delhi on 7 th August 2005 to protest the recent steep hikes in power tariff. Hundreds of people from different areas of Delhi turned up for the meeting wearing black bands on their arms as a sign of protest. Their anger was primarily directed at the Delhi Government for not protecting the interest of the people of Delhi. This protest was a continuation and a next step to the area wise protests that have rocked the capital over the hike in power tariffs over the past few months.

It may be recalled that two years ago, government-run Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) was trifurcated and power distribution function was handed over to two private players, the Ambanis and Tatas and their power companies BSES Rajdhani and Transco, respectively. Prior to privatisation, the government had claimed that privatisation would result in better efficiency through competition, with reduced power thefts and better service to the consumers. However, people are finding that the power situation has actually deteriorated. There are frequent unscheduled power cuts for most residents of Delhi. The private power companies are forcibly replacing old domestic power meters with new ones. However, it is widely believed that the new meters are running very fast. Many have complained that the new meter keeps running even when no power is used. The RWAs have termed this “meter terrorism” of the private power companies. As if this were not enough, the private companies have maneuvered the Delhi government and the regulatory authorities to jack up the power tariff recently. One of the demands of the Joint Front of RWAs is that the Delhi Government must take back the totally unjustified hike in tariff. They have given an ultimatum to the Delhi Government that if it does not take this hike back, they will launch a civil disobedience movement of not paying power bills until the hike is taken back. They proclaimed in this meeting that their demand on this issue in not negotiable.

At the meeting, people from different walks of life also expressed their grave concern over the reports appearing in the media that the Delhi government is preparing to privatise water distribution. The steep hike in water charges to allegedly “recover” “losses” were widely viewed as a first step towards privatisation of water supply. The RWA’s demanded that the Delhi government come clean on its secret negotiations with the World Bank and water supply multinationals and refrain from acting behind the backs of the people. Mazdoor Ekta Lehar hails the protest action of the Delhi RWAs. It is only by people getting organised into fighting committees, that they can resist the attacks that the ruling class of India is launching under the program of privatisation and other “reform” programs.

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Nanavati Commission Report

The Editor,

Sir,

The Nanavati Commission that was appointed to probe into the ‘anti-Sikh riots’ that took place in 1984 has supposedly given a ‘clean chit’ to the former Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, absolving him of involvement in organizing the riots. This astounding revelation is about the man who famously remarked that when a great tree falls, the earth is bound to shake, thereby justifying the ‘riots’, more precisely genocide organized by the ruling Congress party, with the full complicity and backing by the state, in the wake of the assasination of his mother, the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi. The Commission has claimed that there is credible evidence of the involvement of present Union Minsiter Mr. Jagdish Tytler and some other important Congress functionaries. It also appears that the Commision has somehow absolved the Congress party itself. Needless to say the Opposition NDA has said that the report is a ‘whitewash’ while the Akali Dal (Badal) has said that it is an attempt to protect some Congress leaders.

Enquiring minds can easily ask why with its massive resources the Indian state could not bring to justice the perpetrators of this genocide at an earlier time. Even when the NDA was in Government it was unable to do so. Therefore, it would not require a great leap of faith to conclude that the 1984 riots represent a great crisis of legitimacy of the Indian state. It would not also require any imagination to see that these reports also represent a crisis of the ruling and opposition parties. Parties in power will be quick to adopt reports that absolve them, and adopt reports that show the opposition party in negative light, and the moment they exchange their positions in the Treasury and Opposition benches would swap positions on reports of Commisions. For instance, a report of this kind on the Gujarat riots would be immediately denounced as a whitewash by the Congress, while it would be considered an absolution by the BJP. In other words, the system where the accused, the prosecutor, jury and judge are all the organs of the Indian state is one which is manifestly incapable of providing any justice.

What lessons must progressive forces draw from these events? One lesson is that there must be no let up in the striving for justice. That it is also time to take the position that enough is enough. That we will no longer allow the rulers of the country to carry out wanton acts of violence against innocent sections of society, one day in the name of defending the unity and integrity of India, the next day in the name of punishing traitors, the third day in the name of nationalism, the fourth in the name of defending the majority, and so on. That we must state in no uncertain terms that the entire ruling circle of India is a treacherous one, which has nothing but the defence of its own interests, its own bank balance and its own power as its sole concern that it will stop at nothing, not the worst orgies of violence, to come out of its own crisis of legitimacy to ensure its hegemony. There should be no let up in efforts in this direction.

Sincerely, A. Narayan
Bangalore

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Who is responsible for the devastation due to floods in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra?

In recent weeks, unprecedented floods have wrought havoc in Mumbai, Thane and other parts of Maharashtra. For several days, normal life was disrupted, while people tried to cope with the serious shortage of food, drinking water and other essential items. Transport came to a stand-still and thousands of people had to wade for hours through chest-deep flood waters to get to some shelter. Now that the flood waters have receded, the threat of various epidemics looms large.

Two things stood out in bold relief during this entire crisis. The first was the criminal apathy and indifference of the government, the state administration and the political parties towards the plight of the people, before, during and after the crisis. The second was the courageous role played by lakhs of ordinary people, who braved enormous difficulties to help their fellow citizens and without whom the death toll as well as the losses would have been unimaginably higher.

Many facts have come to light since then, highlighting the likely causes of these unprecedented floods and the destruction wrought by them. For instance, in Mumbai and Thane, the government has been carrying out a lot of construction in the name of a “development plan”, in recent years. Many of these construction activities have severely affected the natural drainage systems of the city and its suburbs. It has also been reported that many of these projects were carried out, totally disregarding the recommendations and warnings of various experts. In many places where such construction was carried out, the residents were not even made aware of the dangers that such construction projects may pose. What these floods and the crisis caused by them clearly brought out was that most of the construction carried out under the “development plan” was aimed an enhancing the profits of the big construction companies, rather than any real “development” in the conditions of life of the ordinary citizens.

At a time when the flood waters had caused life to come to a stand-still, the steps taken by the authorities, to carry out drainage and provide relief to the affected citizens, were painfully slow and inadequate. In many of the colonies of the poor and the slums, relief did not arrive in any form, for days on end. However, ordinary citizens came forward, braving the flood waters, to save their fellow citizens from drowning, to assist those who were marooned and to bring them food, drinking water and other essential supplies. Activists of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, joined hundreds of activists of other mass organisations, to rescue people and provide them relief. Now that thousands of people are being affected by various kinds of diseases, the grossly inadequate health services in the government and civic hospitals are obvious, despite the heroic and untiring efforts of the doctors and health workers.

The massive destruction caused by the recent floods in Mumbai, Thane and other parts of Maharashtra and the cruel indifference of the government, civic administration and politicians towards the plight of the people once again shows that our rulers are more concerned about ensuring the profits of the big capitalists, in this case of the construction industry, rather than ensuring proper living conditions for the working people. Citizens are legitimately questioning why the government sanctioned these construction projects near residential areas, when they were likely to have such hazardous effects. Why were the residents not informed about these hazards? Why were the recommendations and warnings of various architects and experts ignored? Why did the civic administration display such ineptitude and indifference in saving people and providing them relief? What should be the real content of development? Why should we accept this model of “development” that not only ignores but actually goes against the well-being and long-term interests of the majority of citizens?

The floods in Maharashtra once again reveal how people in this country have no say in vital decisions that affect our lives. There are no enabling mechanisms by which ordinary citizens can demand accountability of the elected representatives or of the administration. There are no mechanisms for people to initiate any kind of legislation in their interests. Instead, when disasters like this strike, people are left to fend for themselves.

The way forward is for us citizens to get organised, to establish our own local committees, irrespective of any political affiliation, which will take up the mantle of fighting for the citizens’ interests. Such committees or sangharsh samitis can work to gather vital information about the developments projects planned in their areas and demand a role in making decisions about them. These committees can also demand accountability of corporators, MPs, MLAs and other officials. Organised in our sangharsh samitis, we can work towards creating those enabling mechanisms whereby we can ensure that the state machinery works for ensuring the well-being and security of the people and not just in the interests of the handful of exploiters.

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Convention in Sirsa in support of Honda workers

A convention in support of the Honda workers was organised in Sirsa on 1 Aug. Participants included all the trade unions of Sirsa, people’s organisations, Communist Ghadar Party of India, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Vichar Manch, CPI, CPI(M) and many other democratic forces. Representatives of all the participating organisations strongly condemned the brutal attack on Honda workers by the police in Gurgaon. They openly expressed their opinions against the attack carried out by the capitalists and the police. Talking in a united voice they strongly opposed the state and its machinery. Further it was discussed how this man-eating capitalist system has been blood sucking workers, peasants and other toiling masses through privatisation, liberalisation and globalisation. The fight for an alternative system has to continue. The Gurgaon incident should motivate and bring together the toiling masses, and help in taking their struggle forward in a way the Chicago and Jalianwala Bagh incidents did. Earlier on 27 July a memor andum strongly condemning the attack and demanding immediate corrective measures, was jointly submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, Sirsa, by Shaheed Bhagat Singh Vichar Manch, Communist Ghadar Party of India, CPI and CPI(M).

Denouncing the brutal attack on workers Comrade Om Sahu of the Communist Ghadar Party of India strongly condemned the state’s terrorising methods to curb the struggle by concocting false cases against the fighting workers. The Honda workers were brutally assaulted by the police while they were peacefully protesting against the illegal termination of 1700 workers. Such crimes are committed by the state and the police to protect the capitalist system, private companies and their profits, said Comrade Sahu. Whether it is NDA or the present UPA, which is supported by left parties, at the centre, both are exactly the same in exploiting the working class. So called communist parties are busy serving the bourgeoisie in the name of keeping communal forces such BJP out of power. These parties are misleading the working class by deviating from class struggle. Time has come to identify the class enemy and take the class struggle forward. Taking advantage of the inter-imperialists contradictions all communists should unite into a formidable force to ensure victory for the working class over the imperialists. Comrade Sahu further added that all these attacks - whether it is on the peasants of Rajasthan or the workers of Honda in Gurgaon - are different forms of terror unleashed by the capitalist state.Comrade Sahu ended his speech with the hope that all workers, peasants, youth, women and other toiling masses would soon unite under the leadership of a strong communist party to uproot this rotten maneating system. They will soon build a new India where there will be no place for exploitation.

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Modern Foods workers resolve to intensify struggle in adverse conditions

In the face of growing attacks by the Hindustan Lever management, on the one hand, and the policy of ignoring their struggles by the Administration and Government, on the other, the Modern Foods workers have given a fitting reply to both by organising a dharna at the Parliament on 10 August 2005.

A large number of workers and other people supporting their struggle, assembled at the Jantar-Mantar and militantly shouted slogans the whole day and challenged the Government to hold direct talks with them.

The great enthusiasm and determination of the protesters drew several people from the press and media. Addressing the media, the general secretary of the Modern Foods Industries Employees Union, Prakash Rao said, “Selling of Modern Foods to the multinational Hindustan Lever is not only an anti-worker move but also an anti-social and anti-India act. Through their struggle in the last 5 years, the workers of Modern Foods have exposed the privatisation program as a program to increase capitalist plunder. If some plants of Modern Foods are still running, then it is to the credit of increasing struggle of Modern Foods Industries Employees Union. They have not let their struggle slow down in the most difficult circumstances;, in spite of treachery by other unions and in the face of attacks by the Government and the management”.

In spite of the threats by the police, the workers went ahead and submitted their petition to the Prime Minister. After submitting the petition, the leader of the Union, Govind Yadav told the press that he has already submitted hundreds of petitions and letters to the Government in the past five years, in which they have written about the plight of the Modern Foods workers in detail. Detailed information was also provided to the Dave Committee, which was constituted by the previous Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Committee had to agree that the factual information provided by the Union clearly exposed the activities of Hindustan Lever. They had to accept the fact that the Hindustan Lever management was indulging in blatant anti-worker activities.

Govind Yadav pointed out that the real motive of Hindustan Lever was to sell off the land and property of Modern Foods. Our struggle is a road block in their plans. We will continue our just struggle as it is based on truth. Plans of the Government and the management are bound to fail as they are based on concoctions.

People’s Voice fully supports the struggleof the workers of Modern Foods. We are convinced that their struggle is based on truth and principles and it will certainly succeed.

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Protest in Delhi against the murderous attack on Honda workers

Many demonstrations, rallies and meetings were organised across the country protesting the attack on the workers of Honda Motors and Scooters in Gurgaon. Soon after the incident a number of trade unions and people’s organisations formed a front called Honda Mazdoor Ekjuttha Committee (Honda Workers Solidarity Committee). More than 150 activists representing 16 organisations participated in a demonstration organised by the committee at Haryana Bhawan on 30 July.

Leading the demonstration, Pravin from Lok Raj Sangathan said that the Indian bourgeoisie has once again proved that it can go to any extent to fulfil its imperialist ambitions. The murderous attack on Honda workers has come as a gift to the imperialists across the world from the Indian bourgeoisie. This will help them in further terrorising the workers. On the other hand Honda workers’ struggle to form a union has strengthened the workers’ movement, he said.

Representatives of various organisations presented their views and expressed their solidarity with Honda workers. Members of Honda Mazdoor Ekjuttha Committee include the Lok Raj Sangathan, Saheli, Other Media, PUDR, AIFTU, Aman Trust, Hazard Centre, RDF, PSU and many other workers’ and people’s organisations.

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