Sir,

It was very heartening to read the report on the Grand Public Meeting held in Mumbai on July 27, 2008, which I understand was a great success despite the atmosphere of terror and uncertainty that was created by the bourgeois propaganda machinery in the wake of the Bengaluru and Ahmedabad bomb blasts. The meeting to mark the 100th Anniversary of the first known political strike is as much a momentous occasion as the original action of 1908. The Indian working class which was definitely born at that time has now come to a cross-road in history where it has to decide how to take charge of life in the country. This is an opportunity to take stock of where the movement stands today and where it should go.

One of the historical lessons to be derived from the experience of this last 100 years is that the working class cannot fulfil its destiny without a revolutionary theory. This means a thorough reworking of what its relations are with rest of society and how it will be the agency of this transformation. Also necessary is the need to shed the baggage of the past, the colonial legacy, the mental slavery, and illusions propagated by those who claim to be communists and are really apologists for the bourgeoisie. It must be asked why the bourgeoisie is so conscious of its aims, what it does to maintain its stranglehold on society, what needs to be done to break the latter. The working class needs to be equally conscious of its mission and its purpose. Let this event be a harbinger of many more to come. 

With revolutionary greetings, I remain

Sincerely yours,
S. Nair, Kochi