Leaders of the working class resolve to enable it to become the political leader of Hindostan

They came braving the incessant rains that were lashing Mumbai on July 27. They came braving the floods as well as the nakabandis in many areas organised following the terrorist attacks in Ahmedabad and Bangalore. There were railway workers, textile workers, garment workers, there were working class youth, there were working class women. They came to the Central Railway Workshop Welfare Hall, Parel, to participate in the public meeting organized on the occasion of the centenary of the historic political strike of Mumbai workers. The meeting was organised to discuss the challenge facing the working class of India today, and to chart a course of action to address this challenge.

At the initiative of the Kamgar Ekta Chalwal (KEC), a number of organisations had come together in a committee to organise this meeting. Apart from the CGPI, they included the Lok Raj Sangathan, National Railway Mazdoor Union (NRMU), Sarva Shramik Sanghatana, Girni Kamgar Sangharsh Samiti, AITUC, AIUTUC(LS), AICCTU, AIFTU, Kamgar Aghadi, Lok Shasan Andolan, Sarva Shramik Sangh, Voltas Employees Union and Ladaku Garment Mazdoor Sangh.

The meeting was chaired by Com Mathew and Com Das, leaders of Kamgar Ekta Chalwal. Com. Das welcomed the assembled people on behalf of the Organising Committee. He pointed out that in whichever country the working class has emerged as an independent and leading political force, it was able to drive history forward, winning important battles against exploitation and oppression, not only for itself, but for other exploited classes as well. However when the working class gets marginalized in the political arena, there is disaster in store not only for the class, but for all the oppressed and exploited.

A power point presentation was made on behalf of the Organising Committee, which explained the historical context of the 1908 strike that heralded the emergence of the Indian working class as a political force and shook the British Empire.

Comrade Das then called upon some of the leaders of the class to come to the stage. They included Prakash Rao spokesperson of CGPI, Comrades Joshi and Menon, President and General Secretary of the NRMU, Com BK Amre, President of Sarva Shramik Sanghatana, Pravin Ghag, General Secretary of the Girni Kamgar Sangharsh Samiti,  Com Shivaji Deshmukh of the AITUC,  Com KL Bajaj, President Maharashtra CITU and member CC of CPI(M), Dr Sanjeewani, Vice President of Lok Raj Sangathan,  Dada Samant, President Kamgaar Aghadi, Shivanand, Ghadar Jari Hai, Com Tyagi of AIUTUC(LS), Com Shyam Gohil of AICCTU, Com. Nair, General Secy of the Voltas Employees’ Union, Jaishri Gade of Lok Shasan Andolan, Com Shekhar Kapare of Ladaku Garment Mazdoor Sangh and Com Subodh of Hind Naujawan Ekta Sabha.

Com Girish of the Kamgar Ekta Chalwal declared it is vital for the working class to develop and fight for its independent program. It should not tail behind any party or front of the bourgeoisie. It is important to understand the nature of the system and prepare to fight for a revolutionary change. As a step in that direction, we should put up workers’ candidates in the coming elections, who would fight for their interests.

Com. Prakash Rao declared that the challenge facing the working class was to emerge as the political leader of Hindostan. He said the working class has to show the way out of the crisis to all the exploited and oppressed. One manifestation of this crisis is the terrorist attacks that took place yesterday and day before. Another is the events in parliament on July 21 and July 22, when we saw how the bourgeoisie decides the course of the parliament and government. Farmers suicides, massive increase in prices of foodgrains — there are so many manifestations of this crisis.  

For 24 years, the bourgeoisie has been pursuing the course of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation, with cynical disregard for its terrible consequences on the masses of workers, peasants and working people. It is pursuing this imperialist agenda with the single minded aim of joining the US and other imperialists as a world class imperialist power. This imperialist bourgeoisie has political power in its hands. It dictates the agenda of every government, and parties like Congress and BJP are faithful instruments of this class which do its bidding. It dictates the course of the economy, politics and foreign policy. The bourgeoisie controls the parliament and all organs of state power. It wants the working class and peasantry to be happy that more and more crorepatis are being created, whereas the exploitation and oppression of workers and peasants is intensifying.

Comrade Rao called upon all working class organisations to come together under one banner and around a common program to deal with the challenge facing the class. We must forge a revolutionary united front of workers and peasants independent of the bourgeoisie and against the bourgeoisie. We must unite to reverse the capitalist imperialist program of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. We must have the single minded aim of replacing the government of capitalists with a government of workers and peasants.

Dr. Sanjeewani of Lok Raj Sangathan, talked about how the system today keeps political power out of people’s hands and the necessity of establishing and strengthening Lok Raj Samitis that would unite people irrespective of ideology and political affiliation, that would act as organs of struggle, select candidates for elections, hold the representatives accountable and would be the seeds of the future people’s power.

Com Amre of the Sarva Shramik Sanghatana stressed that we must demand free houses and jobs for all mill workers. Com. Menon, leader of the NRMU, spoke about the necessity of fighting for the workers’ cause.

Pravin Ghag of the Girni Kamgar Sangharsh Samiti, pointed out that Congress MP’s had acted as lawyers representing mill owners against mill workers. He asserted that as people’s elected representatives, they had no right to do that. He declared that jobs and houses are our birthright. He said that he was confident that together we could form a government of the working people.

Shyam Gohil of the AICCTU, said that it was necessary to fight for a new politics. Com. Anil Tyagi of the AIUTUC(LS) talked about the necessity to oppose the liberalization, privatisation and globalisation program of the bourgeoisie. Com. Shivaji Deshmukh, leader of the AITUC, stressed the necessity of keeping small differences aside and fighting for the interests of the working class.

Com. K L Bajaj of CITU (Maharashtra) said that we must fight unitedly against imperialism. Dada Samant of the Kamgar Aghadi talked about the problem of organising contract workers. Com. Nair of the Voltas Employees’ Union, said that we must fight around a common program of the working class and elect representatives of the class.

Eminent journalist Shivanand Kanavi explained that one of the key tasks of today is to fight against the colonial legacy, which includes the Indian state, capitalism as well as the Eurocentric outlook. Jayashri Gade of the Lok Shasan Andolan talked about the necessity for workers to fight against SEZ’s. Subodh of the Hind Naujawan Ekta Sabha said that youth have nothing to look forward to under capitalism and must fight for socialism.

In his concluding remarks, Com. Mathew, on behalf of the Organising Committee, stressed that the task before us is to fight unitedly against the program of the bourgeoisie, to develop an independent program of the working class, and to ensure that the working class emerges as the political leader of Hindostan.

The whole meeting was carried out in a very sober and serious atmosphere, without the histrionics and mud-slinging characteristic of bourgeois parliamentarians. In fact, many speakers complimented the organisers for bringing various political and trade union organisations, irrespective of their ideological and other differences, on a common platform to discuss the role that the working class must play in the political life of the country, besides fighting for its immediate demands.

Working class youth from Ulhasnagar sang revolutionary songs. The meeting concluded in a militant and enthusiastic atmosphere with the passing of two resolutions — to work for the success of the August 20 All India General strike called by trade unions, and to forge the unity of all working class organisations around one common program to defeat the bourgeoisie.