‘‘…It is the essence of bourgeois socialism to want to maintain the basis of all the evils of present-day society and at the same time to want to abolish the evils themselves.
...Whoever declares that the capitalist mode of production, the ‘iron laws’ of present-day bourgeois society, are inviolable, and yet at the same time would like to abolish their unpleasant but necessary consequences, has no other recourse but to deliver moral sermons to the capitalists, moral sermons whose emotional effects immediately evaporate under the influence of private interest and, if necessary, of competition...
...The gospel of harmony between capital and labour has been preached for almost fifty years now, and bourgeois philanthropy has expended large sums of money to prove this harmony by building model institutions; yet, ... we are today exactly where we were fifty years ago.’’
— Frederick Engels
from ‘‘The Housing Question’’
Expressing grave concern at the present situation in Kashmir, Comrade Provash Ghosh, General Secretary, SUCI (Communist) said in a statement issued on 9 July, 2010 :
‘‘For the present explosive situation prevailing in Kashmir, it is the rulers of India who stand totally responsible. After independence, at the time of inclusion of Kashmir in India, in view of the particular history and characteristics of that state, the Article 370 was added to the Indian Constitution to give due consideration to the aspirations and rights of the people of Kashmir. But the Indian rulers, instead of giving effect to the Article 370, virtually discarded it. Instead of helping to develop the economy, culture and language of Kashmir, they have turned the state into a field for plunder by the Indian monopolists. On the other hand, time and again pulling down elected governments and making the elections farce through rigging, the Congress installed puppet governments in that state. Naturally this created in Kashmiri people strong aversion and indignation towards the Indian rulers, which again the latter tried to suppress through brute military means. This has further stoked up the insaddignation of the Kashmiri people, in which the separatists have found a scope to use it to their purpose.
‘‘In Kashmir, the way the Indian army is carrying on barbaric acts like rape, indiscriminate killing of common people including teenagers and youth, cool headed murder staging fake encounters etc., and to cover up these news from the outer world, the way they are imposing sanctions upon the media, make it difficult to believe how the army of an independent country can perpetrate such barbaric activities at none other than the common citizens of one of its states. Thus the Indian rulers now depend upon the army to suppress the resentment of the very Kashmiri people who once under the leadership of the undisputed mass leader Sheikh Abdullah, spontaneously and of their own gave their consent to join India
‘‘We demand that the heinous path of brutally suppressing the legitimate resentment of people with military might be stopped immediately and the central government must take the course of dialogues and discussions with Kashmiri people on the basis of the correct application of the Article 370 to solve the problems.’’
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The hefty increase in the prices of petro-products including cooking gas and kerosene that the Congress-led second UPA government has slapped within four months of having effected a steep hike in the retail fuel tariff in the union budget has come as a severe blow to the common people reeling under unabated price spiral of all essential commodities including basic food articles. The incumbent government thus in a year has raised the oil prices thrice under the false pretext of coping with the spurt in international crude price and rescuing the giant oil companies from incurring loss. Not only that. What is more, this time it is not just a case of jacking up petro-product prices through an administrative fiat bypassing parliament. In keeping with the prescripts of capitalist globalization, the government in the name of implementing Kirit Parikh Committee recommendations has announced complete deregulation of petroleum pricing and decision to gradually decontrol diesel and other petro-product prices in the immediate future so that the monopolists and MNCs chanting the mantra of market economy have a free hand to arbitrarily decide the prices with a view to maximizing their profit. Thus, one of the principal factors operative behind skyrocketing of general priceline has not only been sustained but provided a permanency the devastating consequence of which on the life and livelihood of the suffering masses beggars description. So the people at large burst in wrath and indignation against such a heinous move and wanted a massive protest to be registered in such a manner as to send chill down the spine of the ruling dispensation and its capitalist masters.
In deference to the wishes of the oppressed countrymen tormented day in and day out by ruthless capitalist exploitation, our Party gave call of a general strike and hartal on 5 July last. Side by side, the pseudo-Marxists like the CPI (M), CPI who have completely abandoned the path of movement for pelf and power as also the BJP which is not only one of the trusted representatives of the ruling oppressive bourgeoisie but a party severely hated for its rabid communal character also wore the cloak of champions of people’s cause and gave a bandh call on the same day on the question of petro-product price hike. It may be recalled that during the rule of Congress-led CPI(M)-backed first UPA, petrol and diesel prices were increased 16 times. In the first 16 months of the rule of the first UPA, fuel tariff was upwardly revised as many as 5 times. Apart from some customary protest to play to the gallery, the CPI (M) and its associates whose support the first UPA government was totally dependent on and who commanded formidable strength in Parliament practically did nothing to dissuade the government from this brazenly anti-people move. Rather they concurred to the counterfeit argument that rise in international crude tariff mandates hike of domestic fuel price and the state governments run by them promptly announced substantial increase in the transport fare to, what they said, cover up the “losses” the private transport owners and the government were slated to incur because of oil price rise. Similarly, during the BJP-led NDA regime, petrol prices were raised on 25 occasions. Vajpayee government increased prices of petrol by 48% and diesel by 112% respectively. Kerosene price was increased by 258%, LPG price by 78%. At that time, international crude tariff rose from $ 12.23 to $ 36.09 per barrel. Yashwant Sinha, BJP finance minister of the NDA government at that time held that due to huge expenditure incurred on Kargil war his government had effected such a steep hike in fuel price. He also admitted to have reduced oil subsidy and justified the same. The BJP too is on record to have justified the spruced up logic of soaring international crude price entailing upswing in domestic retail tariff. Same is the case with other regional bourgeois parties. Where is then the propriety of these parties in opposing the hike administered by the Congress and even the policy of deregulation and withdrawal of subsidy?
But these parties could also understand if they at least do not make a show of opposition and go against the defiant mood of the people desiring a thunderous protest in the form of a countrywide bandh, they would not be spared by the people. Even from the perspective of their “vote bank” policy, it might prove to be costly. Both the BJP and CPI(M) after repeated electoral debacles were in desperate need to salvage their positions and hence could ill-afford to go any other way. Paradoxically, both the CPI(M) and the BJP leaders often spoke against bandh as a legitimate form of movement. Vajpayee-Advani and their ilk often aired this view when in power. They also held that bandh only creates anarchy and contributes to huge financial loss. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the CPI(M) polit bureau member and West Bengal chief minister, everyone would recollect, openly said in a meeting with the industrialists two years back under media glare that “I am not in favour of bandh. But unfortunately I belong to a party which calls bandh. What shall I do? I keep mum.” If it is not double standard, what else is?
So, besides articulating people’s protest against fuel price escalation in the countrywide general strike, it was imperative to uncover this hypocrisy and deceptive policies of these parties subserving bourgeois class interest. That is why, beside calling upon the people to observe the strike in demand for immediate roll back of the steep hike in the retail fuel tariff, annulling the decision of imposing additional cess on coal, stemming the spiraling of prices of essential commodities and in protest against the central government’s reprehensive role in the Bhopal gas disaster and inaction to prevent rise of prices of essential commodities, we also emphasized the need to build up in continuation a countrywide long-drawn powerful democratic movement on all these issues to force the government concede the just demands. We knew the compromising parties would never exhort people to traverse the course of long drawn movement and steer it to its logical culmination and so would stand exposed.
Anticipating that this general strike which was wholeheartedly backed by all sections of the toiling people throughout the country would be a runaway success, the ruling bourgeois class and its government and pliant media raised anti-strike propaganda to a dizzy height. Concertedly, a feeling was sought to be created that the hard earned democratic right of the people to strike is, in fact, “an abuse of democratic right and an act of force which disrupt life, stop work, create loss and damage property, a self-defeating movement against the people’s own interest would harm the country’s economy, retard growth and would not abate the situation but multiply miseries of the daily wage earners, the poor and the have-nots, and retard progress.” Huge advertisements were released in the newspapers by debiting public exchequer to poison the people’s mind against strike. Leading newspapers devoted more than half of their space to create a tirade against strike. All TV channels went full throttle to supplement this anti-strike diatribe. Columnists, programme anchors, self-styled experts and opinion makers adopted every possible deceptive technique, peddled in all kinds of falsehood, resorted to wide distortion of facts and tried every possible means to banter, defame and belittle the hard-earned right to strike as a mark of protest against incessant attack on their life and livelihood. The ruling party and its government as a last resort indulged in open threats and intimidation to foil the strike.
But all their untiring effort and vile propaganda proved to be abortive. The people of the country have spurned it. The way the people from all walks of life in every nook and corner of the country overwhelmingly responded to the call valiantly braving all terrorization by the government and spurning with indignation all trash arguments against and disinformation about strike has practically been a slap on the face of the power that be. The people voluntarily decided and determinedly observed with righteous anger the strike that brought life to a grinding halt on 5 July. There was no vehicular traffic on the streets, trains did not ply, no shop or market was opened, educational institutions were closed, the factories wore a deserted look, banks and commercial institutions did not operate and the government offices did not function. Peasants stayed off their fields. The spontaneous participation of the daily wage earners for whom all apologists of bourgeois system shed gallons of crocodile tear only when there is call of strike or sustained movement, was total. Even in the states where impact of any strike call was so long found to be not that significant compared to other parts of the country, the strike was a grand success in every respect. This made the strike unprecedented and marked the augury of a new era of people’s awakening.
While we engaged all the strength at our command to rouse the people round the country in favour of the strike as well as impressed upon them the need to develop a sustained organized protest movement, thereafter so as to direct their anger along the right track, let alone the BJP, even the CPI(M) and its associates who boast of much more strength and following, were not found to be any serious in mobilizing public opinion in support of the bandh call through appropriate campaign. They made no serious attempt to rebut the fallacious logic of the government in support of its sinister move. Nor at any point of time, they sought to make the people aware of the fact that only a day’s successful strike might not be enough to bend down the despotic government and hence a mighty sustained movement must be developed in right earnest to realize the demands. Theirs was clearly an endeavour to use the people’s grievance for harvesting electoral gains and hence remain confined to only some token protest programmes and issue of statements so that under no circumstances they disturb the ruling class, invite its wrath and fall from its grace. By doing that, they ensured that they receive full backing of the ruling class and its media in being projected as the real opposition to the ruling dispensation at the Centre and thus remain potential candidates for being picked up by the class as the alternative in case the class feels the need for a change in the government to douse the fire of people’s rage. So, a people’s strike was projected as a strike by the CPI(M) and the BJP in the media ever alert to ensure that genuine spirit of protest never imbues the toiling millions and they remain rallied behind the forces of the ruling bourgeoisie only to exhaust their energy within the precincts of parliamentarian vote politics.
But what is to be noted is that the mood of the people is in favour of a sustained powerful movement against all these attacks. Being repeatedly ravaged by the increasing economic onslaught, they want a countrywide massive democratic movement to force the government to roll back the latest hike in fuel prices. They refuse to lie low anymore and clearly opted for intensifying the protest struggle in the post-strike period. We know that unless the desired people’s resistance in the form of organized sustained movement grows right from the grass root level throughout the country, the ruling class and its government will bring more and more attacks making life yet more unbearable. This struggle, therefore, has to be a protracted one and its pitch must be elevated stage by stage to a new height if the demands are to be wrested from the hands of the unwilling bourgeois government. For that, it is imperative to develop innumerable people’s committees as instruments of struggle, enroll volunteers of movement and build up a mentality for carrying out a long-drawn move-ment. Clearly, objective situation today is ripe for developing such a countrywide protracted movement. The defiant mood of the people evident during the last strike bears ample proof of that.
But what is hindering crystallization of this aspired long-drawn movement? Surely, the known bourgeois parties many of whom are openly flaunting their communal, casteist, parochial, chauvinist and regional credential are working overtime to disrupt the process of organizing the oppressed people irrespective of caste, creed, religion and ethnicity on the platform of genuine democratic movement based on real fraternity and solidarity. Overtly or covertly, they are articulating the vile bourgeois class design to precipitate cleavage among the different sections of the toiling people along various divisive lines, pit one section against the other and thereby shield the exploitative capitalist rule — the root of all evils — and thus create their respective “vote banks” to make fortunes in the hustings riding on people’s grievances.
However, the main obstacle before building up the people’s movement on the correct line is the abject betrayal of the pseudo-Marxists like the CPI(M), CPI to the people’s cause. In order to curry favour of the ruling class for securing a permanent space in the corridors of power, they have systematically given up the path of movement and are only injecting a sense of parliamentarism among the people. Nothing other than election exigency bothers them. To meet that end, they can go to any extent, befriend any force, and indulge in any activity caring a fig for the people’s interest. People hardly find any difference in the utterances and conduct of the leaders of the CPI(M) and its associates. The spate of events centring round the recent strike call once more brought to the fore this brazenly opportunistic politics of the sham Marxists. We have shown above how their double standard as they alongwith the Congress and the BJP sail on the same boat in so far as the current policy directives on deregulation and hiking of petro-product prices are concerned. As regards the bandh call, they had no qualms even in entering into a tacit understanding with the communal BJP. The news of the CPI(M), CPI leaders having clandestine confabulations with the BJP high-ups has been revealed in the media. The BJP leaders like Advani have also indicated to such secret parleys. So, when the task of the people’s movement is to completely isolate such a wicked communal force, the self-declared Marxists-Leftists are indirectly helping it to come in the imagination of the people as a protesting outfit.
Why have the CPI(M), CPI opted for this? Not even an iota of concern for the people but to prop up a hidden agenda purely from petty sectarian electoral interest. Already it has come to the open that there is a difference of opinion within the CPI(M) leadership on the question of dissociating from the Congress by withdrawing support from the first UPA government after a tryst of over four years and a half. A section within the CPI(M) feels that had not the party done so, it would not have invited the opposition of the Congress in all the elections that have been held after the support withdrawal and faced the rout. So, a new initiative though clandestine has been taken by the CPI(M) leadership to revive its ties and develop a fresh rapport with the Congress that would facilitate a mutual understanding between them for helping each other in the hustings as far as possible in the given situation. Though the Congress for obvious reason is not averse to the question of tying the knot afresh with the CPI(M), right at this juncture, it finds no immediate pressing need for that and instead is interested to take full advantage of the strong anti-CPI(M) wind blowing across some of the states like West Bengal and Kerala in the coming state elections. Hence is the necessity for the CPI(M) leaders to bring some pressure on the Congress to increase their bargaining power. It is from this compulsion of power politics that the CPI(M) leadership is found to be even wooing the BJP leadership and opting for some kind of mutually agreed gestures and postures within and outside Parliament as was evident in the last Bharat bandh that would serve the purpose of playing to the gallery as well as creating pressure on the Congress leadership to concede granting of some advantage and concession to it in the coming elections. This tacit understanding that the CPI(M) leadership is developing with the BJP, first of all, is reflective of its anti-struggle mentality and abject betrayal to the people’s cause. Secondly, the BJP, as is well known to all, is not only a most trusted representative of the ruling capitalist class but is on a spree of spreading communal venom round the country to perpetrate division among the various sections of toiling people which is also seriously hampering the process of developing united democratic movement of the oppressed millions against the savage capitalist exploitation. Instead of making people aware and be conscious of this incendiary character of the arch communal BJP, the CPI(M) leadership is indirectly helping it to pose as a champion of people’s demands as well as a force of movement. The associates of the CPI(M) including the CPI have no choice but to toe the line of their big brother since they survive on the crumbs the latter throws at them. This is a glaring manifestation of what abyss a depth the leadership of the CPI(M) and its associates has plunged into for appeasing the class and nourishing its penchant for power. Obviously, the BJP which also has also been thrashed in the hustings and currently ridden with severe internal squabbles and group conflicts immediately seized the opportunity to come to the centrestage of the country’s body polity pretending to be ardent champion of people’s cause and enjoying the overture of the CPI(M) as well deriving mileage out of it.
This being the scenario, it is essential that the oppressed people duly take serious note of this perfidy of the pseudo-Marxists trumpetted by the bourgeois media as leftists and understand their anti-movement character. In course of developing powerful democratic movement along the right track, the people must exert immense pressure on the CPI(M) and its associates so as to compel them to renounce their wrong line. Otherwise they must be completely isolated from the people. The situation demands that imbibing the need of the hour the suffering people come forward and build up the desired protracted organized movement alongwith other struggling forces by forming struggle committees and enrolling volunteers and in the process completely isolate these compromising forces. It is the only way by which the people can resist the rising attacks on them and get the much sought after relief from the stifling situation perpetrated by the ruling bourgeoisie and its government. SUCI(C) is committed to accelerate the process of development of this people’s movement. We also fervently appeal to the honest rank of the CPI(M) and its associates who still nourish leftist thoughts and ideals and sincerely desire to pursue leftism, to assert their position and prevail upon their leadership to desist from the path of betrayal to people’s cause and leftism.
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On the front page of a largely circulated economic daily, a columnist in the payroll of the exploitative bourgeoisie has written the following lines to cry down the countrywide people’s strike on 5 July last against atrocious rise in domestic fuel tariff: “The sham protest against higher petroleum prices serves populist expedience, and not the public good. As if holding down retail fuel prices as global crude prices flare up would not cripple the oil companies, feed energy profligacy, hurt competitiveness, burden the exchequer, hike interest rates and depress growth! Enough of such farce!” We also say, yes, enough of such farce on your part. Every point that you or for that matter of the quarter of vested interest have put forth do not pass the test of truth when examined on the anvil of facts and reasons and the parade in palpable falsehood can be laid bare.
We have done it several times earlier and let us repeat the same briefly to see if any of the arguments of the Congress government or the bourgeois camp in favour of oil price enhancement and complete deregulation of petro-product pricing stands on the anvil of reasons and fact. The government and its lackeys holds that rising international crude tariff compels it to hike retail price of all petro-products including kerosene pending which the oil marketing companies will incur heavy loss and the government does not have funds to subsidize this loss in the form of financing what is known as ‘under-recoveries’ by these companies. We refer to a simple calculation that has been given in the media itself. The cost of crude oil in international market is $76.51 (Rs 2,150) a barrel (1 barrel = 42 gallons or 158.76 litters). At the current rate of Rs.46.49 per dollar, the cost of this one barrel crude oil stands at Rs.3, 556.94. That is, 1 litre crude oil costs Rs.22.40. Adding refining cost of Re 0.52 per litre (as per the estimate of the oil companies) and capital expenditure of Rs.6 per litre, the total cost of petroleum comes to Rs.28.92 a litre. But the petrol is sold at Rs. 51.43 per litre in Delhi, Rs. 55.88 in Mumbai and Rs.55.32 in Calcutta. In other words, around 50% of the price is in the form of customs duty, excise duty, special excise duty, education cess, sales tax and state cess and commission to oil dealers that are squarely recovered from the common people because the transport cost as increased due to rising fuel tariff is duly added to the price of essential commodities by the big traders and price manipulators. Had there been no tax, petrol price would have been Rs 29 in Delhi.
Next is the question of oil companies booking loss. Incredible claim indeed! Facts show that the PSUs Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has grown several folds to attain a sales turnover of Rs.2,85,337 crore and a net profit of Rs. 2,950 crore during 2008-09.During the year, IOC made a contribution of Rs 57, 529 crores to the exchequer. As per the audited financial results for the year ending March 31, 2010, IOC’s net profit has been shown as Rs10, 998 crores with a reserve and surplus of Rs 49,472 crores. In 2009-10, IOC has paid Rs 26,050 crores as excise duty and Rs 4049 crores on other taxes. IOC is having major ongoing projects valued at about Rs 65,000 crores and during the year has signed a MOU with Nuclear Power Corporation of India for joint venture in nuclear power generation. The sales turnover for the year 2008-09 of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) Group increased to Rs.1,47,336.82 crores from the previous year’s level of Rs. 1,23,179.69 crores. The Group Profit after Tax (PAT) amounted to Rs. 724.13 crores.For the period April-December 2009, BPCL booked profit of rs 834 crores. BPCL’s contribution to the exchequer by way of taxes and duties during 2008-09 amounted to Rs. 25,331.78 crores. Hindustan Petroleum has achieved sales/income from operations of Rs.1,31,802.65 crores as compared to Rs. 1,12,098.27 crores in 2007-08. The company has earned gross profit of Rs. 3,776.36 crores in 2008-09 and net profit of Rs.1301 crores in 2009-10 The company has contributed a sum of Rs. 20,990.33 crores to the exchequer by way of duties and taxes. And in so far as profits are concerned, private oil behemoths like Reliance Petrochemical are making a kill. In 2009-10, Reliance Petroleum booked a whooping profit of Rs. 10,236 crores. Where is the loss then?
Come now to the so-called concern about ‘under recovery’ (meaning that an energy company spends more on fuel than it collects from customers). The term ‘under recovery’ as distinguished from ‘outright losses’ was cunningly used by the present Prime Minister in his televised address on 4 June, 2008 in his game of deceit and deception in misleading people to believe that the “so-called under recoveries” are actually the losses, incurred by the Oil Marketing Companies. It is stated that if retail prices had not been raised, under-recoveries by the oil marketing companies would have exceeded Rs 70,000 crore in the current fiscal year. Since this is unsustainable, it is argued, the hike in prices and a shift out of a controlled pricing regime is unavoidable. Without entering into the details, it can be said that the “under-recoveries” result from a hypothetical price which is not only unrealistic but also opaque and arbitrary. Its fundamental anomaly arises from the fact that it negates Indian self-reliance in petroleum refining and do not bring to the fore other related issue like refining cost, import parity pricing and others. India imports about 75-80% of her crude oil requirement but produces more petro-products than what is consumed in the domestic market. So, there is no shortage of refined oil and the country is actually a net exporter of petroleum products. In the year 2009 – 2010 (April-December), India has exported 28 million tonnes of petroleum products against an import of 10 million tonnes. How can loss making companies augment export? And why is government not taxing the oil exports heavily? On the contrary, the government had exempted crude oil imports from Customs duty in June with global oil prices reaching records highs of $147 a barrel. Further, the government immediately after the current hike in domestic fuel tariff relaxed the rules for exporters by increasing the time limit for them to reclaim taxes on imported goods that are re-exported or used in the manufacture of exported goods. In a separate decision, the government today awarded seven coal-bed-methane (CBM) blocks for exploration, with private player Essar Oil bagging four of them.
Next is the question of import parity pricing. As we had shown in our previous write-ups, domestic production in our country is much cheaper than imported stuff. But according to import parity system, the consumers are to pay the same price for domestic petroleum products as for imported petroleum products. So the public sector oil companies make huge profit by selling domestic production at import price. On the other hand, private oil companies like Reliance sell a part of its products at import parity to public sector Oil Marketing Companies and export the remaining (about 50 per cent) at international price with the bonanza of domestic tax exemption at various stages. What is faulty with this method is that consumers are paying international prices indirectly and then taxes on these prices. There is no rationale for oil marketing companies to get import parity and export parity prices, especially when these companies are refining products in India and net substantial profit through this route.
All these only confirm that in the deregulated price regime, the oil behemoths are slated to reap bumper profit squeezing out the last drop of blood of common masses. There is almost certainty about another thing. With complete decontrol in place, there will be rampant speculation on petrol and petro-products through the derivative trading route (i.e. forward, futures and option trading in the commodity market) and the price manipulators will have a heyday. Since derivative trading is done based on speculative forecast on price movement of the underlying commodity, domestic fuel pricing will be heavily impacted by this and soar artificially just like the share price rise in the speculative secondary markets in the stock exchanges. Needless to say, the burden will be borne by the common people.
The government’s claim of footing a subsidy bill of as high as Rs 53, 000 crores is another hoax. It is reported that during presentation on Demands for Grants (2010-2011) before a parliamentary committee, the government has confirmed a budgetary support of Rs 12,000 crores as the share of the government towards meeting the under recoveries for the year 2009-2010. On the other hand, In 2009-10, contribution to central government exchequer by the petroleum sector in the form of taxes, duties, dividend, etc. in 2009-10 has been to the tune of more than Rs 90,000 crores. During the year 2010-2011, after the increase in taxes, the same is projected to be more than Rs. 1,20,000 crores. After prices of petro-products were increased in the last budget (i.e. in February 2010), the Centre earned an extra revenue of Rs. 26,000 crores. Would anybody say that receiving Rs. 90,000 crores against a pay out of Rs. 12,000 crores is bearing ‘burden of subsidy’? Moreover, the government says it has no money to foot subsidy bill and hence opting for decontrol. But it is preferring to remain silent over the fact that as high as Rs 4 lakh crores have been provided as ‘fiscal stimulus’ (in the form of plethora of tax exemptions, waivers and financial assistance) to crisis-ridden corporate sector and monopoly houses and almost Rs 1.5 lakh crores has been the allocation under most unproductive military budget. Recent media report says that the ministry of defence has okayed procurement of six new-generation submarines at an estimated cost of Rs. 50,000 crores over and above Rs. 42,000 crores project to acquire 126 multi-fighter aircrafts.
The Congress leaders are arguing that as against the Kirit Parikh Committee recommendation for increasing the kerosene price by Rs 6 per litre, government has increased it only by 3% which will make lower income people shell out additional Re. 0.50 per day on kerosene. Arjun Sengupta Committee formed by the Government of India underscored that 77% of the people are forced to live on Rs. 20 or less per day. According to latest United Nations Development Programme Study, based on a newly introduced Multi-dimensional Poverty Index, there are more poor people in eight Indian states than in the 26 poorest African countries. An additional burden of Re. 0.50 daily is substantial for them struggling for a mere subsistence — a reality that the bourgeois government so easily seeks to reduce to insignificance while showing over concern for the depleting super profit of the oil barons. What is more, this time it is not just a case of jacking up petro-product pricing. In keeping with the prescripts of capitalist globalization, the Congress government has totally deregulated petroleum pricing and has stated to decontrol diesel and other petro-product prices very soon so that the monopolists and MNCs chanting the mantra of market economy have a free hand to arbitrarily decide the prices with a view to maximizing their profit.
Is then the decision of effecting steep hike in the fuel prices and imposing additional cess on coal that is going to push up the soaring price line of essential items further and entail sharp rise in power tariff as well as transport fare a boon or bane to the people? Whose growth the gentlemen of the media are talking about in their master’s voice? Is the so-called claim of economic growth and progress for the handful of rich and affluent or for the oppressed myriads ? Who profligates public money to bail out deliberate tax evaders and tax defaulters, swindlers of bank loans, losers in rampant speculation and traders in the hunger of the millions? Who is crippling whose life? The millions of poor and hungry are crippling the handful of rich and affluent or the reverse? What merits prime consideration in the dictum of justice of the apologists of bourgeois view, resisting snatching of morsel from the myriads or allowing no depletion in the swelling profit of the oil companies?
So if the capitalists, corporate bigwigs and their handful of lackeys have unbriddled right to fleece and squeeze the oppressed common people, the latter also have unfettered right to revolt against the unjust moves and policies wreaking havoc in their lives. The bootlickers of the ruling class masquerading themselves as experts, columnists and commentators should also know that when the people will rise in rebellion, those who are shamelessly holding brief for the ruthless exploiters today will not escape unscathed.
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A new conspiracy is on in Assam to drive away the people of the minority community by branding them as ‘‘foreigners’’. As yet there has been no programme for introducing a citizens’ register for the whole of India; but a sinisterly motivated programme for compiling a citizens’ register for Assam only has been taken up recently. For doing this, even the rules and regulations to govern compilation of citizens’ register for India have been totally changed to draw up a separate baseline for Assam. This devious move for framing of a separate baseline for Assam stems from a tripartite meeting of the central government and the Assam state government, along with the AASU (All Assam Students’ Union) on 5 May 2005 in which the government conceded to the demand of the AASU and decided in favour of the new baseline for citizens’ register of Assam. Accordingly, the central government through a notification on 9 November 2009, announced the said new baseline for Assam. Through this notification, section 4 of the compilation of citizenship register and issue of citizenship certification Act, 2003, which provided for listing of names based upon house to house survey, was totally annulled and instead it was laid down that after everybody had submitted fresh application for citizenship, a new preliminary list would be published on the basis of the 1951 Citizens’ Register and the voters’ list prepared before 1971, that is, the 1966 voters’ list. Moreover, the notification said that those people whose names would not be there in the preliminary list, and even the children of those people whose names are enlisted therein, would have to prove their citizenship with all their necessary documents and only after the officers on duty were satisfied through hearings, would their names be included in the records as citizens.
Naturally, this notification of the central government has created deep agitation and apprehension among the lingual and religious minority people permanently residing in the state. For obvious reasons, the question that comes up, is: Why did the central government take such a decision on a vital question regarding drawing up of a citizens’ register through an utterly undemocratic process without consulting with and considering the opinions of all the political parties of the country and representatives of different sections of the people, simply through a tripartite meeting with only the AASU? What motive works behind this?
In order to correctly understand the different aspects of this conspiracy it is necessary to have an adequate knowledge of the events of Assam movement that has been going on from about the end of 1979, conducted by the fanatic provincial forces of Assam in the name of driving away the so-called foreigners. During the 31 years ever since the Assam movement began, the minorities in Assam have been tormented by an unbearable storm blowing over them. Apprehension and fright have gripped the terror stricken minorities wherein they remain totally uncertain when they will be labelled as ‘foreigners’ or when they will be thrown out of the state. This has robbed them of their sleep. The fanatic parochialists had at that time started their movement by brutally murdering thousands of children, men and women and old people at many places including Neli, Choulkhola, Mukalmua and Gahpur. At that time, they claimed that 40 to 50 lakhs (4 to 5 million) Bangladeshis were living in Assam. Today the total minority population in Assam is about 90 lakhs. 30/34 years back, this number was about 50-60 lakhs. Clearly, the AASU has exposed its psyche of racial hatred by designating almost the whole of the minority community people as ‘foreigners’. In fact all the fanatic parochialists and communalists including AASU, AGP, BJP and RSS bear the objective to brand the entire minority community as foreigners, if they can. The AASU led by Prafulla Mohanta and Bhrigu Fukan demanded that 1951 would have to be considered as the base year for identification of foreigners, and remained firm on that demand thinking that making 1951 the base year would help serve their purpose of branding the community of minorities as foreigners.
To build up resistance against this disastrous fanatic provincialist movement of racial hatred, a united platform of 7 parties developed in Assam at that time mainly through the initiative of the SUCI. The CPI(M)-CPI-RCPI-Congress(S) and some other parties were in this 7-party platform. These parties had their reasons too. The AASU’s movement was an utterly reactionary, semi-fascist one. Not only the minority people, but even workers of the Leftist parties were targets of their attacks at that time. The 7-party platform raised the demand to consider 25 March 1971 as the base year for identifying foreign citizens keeping in view the Indian Constitution, Citizenship Act, Indira-Muzib International Agreement and the national pledge given at the time of partition of the country. The central government could not but accept this logic and these demands. The 7-party platform also raised the demand to enact a suitable law to identify the foreigners through the Judiciary. The central government was compelled to accept this demand too and enact the Illegal Migrants Determination by Tribunal (IMDT) Act.
Strengthened by the backing of all the reactionary forces of Assam, the bureaucrats, the police, etc., the fanatic provincialists in the state then threatened that life in the entire state of Assam would be paralysed unless 40-50 lakhs people were declared as Bangladeshis. But they had to ultimately backtrack under pressure of mass movement by the 7 parties. The Assam agreement was signed in 1985 while Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister. As per the agreement they had to accept 1971 as the base year for identification of foreigners as also the IMDT Act as the safeguard for the minority people.
In 1985, at the initiative of the AASU leader, the Asom Ganaparishad (AGP) was formed and it came to power in the state through election. Once in power, they engaged themselves in a conspiracy to turn 40-50 lakh minority people into ‘foreigners’. Although the instructions were issued to each and every police station in accordance with which charges were levelled against a few lakhs of people, after extensive searching the tribunal finally adjudged only a few thousand people to be ‘foreigners’. Thus all their demands came to naught. Following this, they embarked upon a new conspiracy. During AGP rule, five times, in the name of amendment of voters’ lists, accusations were made against lakhs of people. They were made to face hearings. They attended the hearings with all necessary documents. Most of the officers engaged in conducting the hearings were trusted people of the parochialists. So, despite submission of appropriate documents, they remained dissatisfied because they had been given the responsibility of conducting the hearings with an evil design. Against this, the SUCI developed a mass movement of people. As a result of this movement, the rulers were compelled to somewhat backtrack under pressure of strong rising public opinion.
Although they retreated temporarily, there was no break in continuing with the conspiracy to label the minority people as foreigners. To mark them as foreigners, in 1977 started the mischievous move to categorize them as the so-called “D” (doubtful) voters. The officers engaged in preparing the voters’ lists listed 3,70,000 people of the minority community as “D” category voters, casting unwarranted doubt about their citizenship. They were robbed of their right to vote by marking “D” beside their names on the voters’ lists. Ostensibly to dispel doubt, it was said that the “D” voters would be sent to tribunals. The IMDT had not yet been withdrawn and was still in force. As per this Act, 32 tribunals were there to identify the foreigners. But the fact is that during the last 13 years, almost none of these “D” voters were sent to the tribunals for judgement. When they were under pressure they sent one or two. In this way they had robbed the voting rights of 3,70,000 minority people. When the 5,000,000 minority community people could not be designated as foreigners despite all such efforts, they raised the demand for scrapping of the IMDT Act. Their claim is that under this Act the foreigners are well protected. But an analysis of every section of this Act will clearly reveal that from beginning to end, this Act only emphasizes that the foreign citizens are to be identified. The reality is that the IMDT Act was a hindrance to branding definite Indian citizens as ‘foreigners’. On behalf of the SUCI, a statewide movement was launched against the conspiracy towards scrapping this Act. This movement of the SUCI evoked response not only from the minority people, but from people from others section, too. As a result, neither the central government nor the state government could go for outright withdrawal of this Act. The AASU, the main organizer of the bid to expel the foreigners moved the Supreme Court for scrapping the IMDT Act. The Congress led central and state governments did not take any stand to uphold the need of this Act and defend it at the Supreme Court. Because of this role of the Congress, a one-sided judgement led to the scrapping of this Act. Needless to say, this unthinkable one-sided verdict of the Supreme Court has satisfied the fanatic provincialists and strengthened them, but it is the cause of justice that has suffered a severe setback.
As a consequence of scrapping of the IMDT Act a terrible situation has emerged in the whole of Assam. This scrapping brought the state under the purview of the Foreigners’ Act 1946. It should be mentioned here that this Act, enacted during the British rule, provided that people of a different country, who could be easily recognized at a glance and who from time to time entered into this country with proper travel document, could be sent back to their own countries at once. This was an Act formulated for cases where there were no dispute regarding the citizenship of such people. But now, empowered by this Act, the police in Assam started serving notice indiscriminately to people accusing them to be foreigners. Target figures are being set for everybody right from the level of police officers to constables, specifying the number of such cases they are supposed to register. They are being threatened with transfer in case they fail to fulfill the quota for cases to file. So the police have started afresh to serve notice to any and everybody branding them as foreigners. As a result, besides already existing “D” voters, the number of suspected foreign citizens, too, has started to get stepped up. Already, about 22,000 such cases of allegations have been made in the Goalpara district and about 30,000 also in the Dhubri district. In such a situation fraught with insecurity, a campaign has been let loose with the help of a group of paid agents from the minority community itself, claiming that the problem would be solved for all time to come once the citizenship identity card was issued after compilation of the citizens’ register. Creating such misconceptions in the minority people, the central and the state governments are giving effect to a new conspiracy, by sitting with the AASU on formulation of the citizens’ register.
In 1981, AASU blocked holding of the Census in Assam. Although voters elsewhere in the rest of India were provided with photo identity cards, these were not issued in Assam due to opposition by the AASU. The AASU maintained that issuance of photo identity cards would amount to recognizing foreigners as Indian citizens. But why are the leaders of AASU, who then opposed the issuance of photo identity cards, now themselves arguing in favour of issuing the same to the minority community people after drawing up of the citizens’ register? A deep conspiracy lies behind this. The blueprint of this conspiracy was totally exposed when the central Congress government without discussing the matter with any other political party, announced on November 9, 2009, its decision to compile a citizens’ register for Assam and the process through which it would be implemented only in accordance with its tripartite meeting with the AASU. In this announcement, Section 4 of the Citizenship Act enacted in 2003 framed on the basis of the Indian Constitution was scrapped and a Section 4(A) was added only for the state of Assam. In the newly added section, it was stated that the register would be prepared not through house to house enquiry; instead, after receiving applications for citizenship from all, the draft citizens’ register would be published on the basis of citizens’ register of 1951 or the voters’ lists prepared previous to 1971. It must be mentioned here that the governments initially decided citizens’ register of 1951 to be the only basis. After very strong protests it consented to take into consideration the voters’ lists previous to 1971. Those with their names not included on that list would have to prove their citizenship with documents. If the officers entrusted with considering the applications and holding hearings are satisfied, the name would be included in the citizens’ register, otherwise not. It should also be mentioned in regard to the citizens’ register of 1951 that it was compiled in 1951 in the special situation of Assam, following the grievous communal riots of 1950. Afterwards, due to various reasons, population pattern in Assam has changed fundamentally. Consequently, the said register has become totally irrelevant. At the same time, it is also to be mentioned that this citizens’ register has not been properly preserved. In many districts, there is no way to obtain the complete version of this register.
Another important point worth mentioning is that in the Assam Agreement drawn up in 1985, 25 March 1971 was accepted as the base year for identification of foreign citizens. But in the announcements dated November 9, 2009, the government has attempted to deviate from that Assam Agreement under pressure from rabid provincial forces by accepting the pre-1971 voters’ lists as the basis of preparing the preliminary lists for the citizens’ register. There was a storm of protests against this and the demand was raised that the 1971 voters’ lists should be accepted as the basis. Under this pressure, the government was compelled to change its decision. But this event revealed clearly how much the government had surrendered to the rabid provincial forces.
Even if the voters’ lists of 1971 is accepted as the basis, there will not be any change in the situation, because the government does not possess complete voters’ lists of 1971. Sarat Sinha, former Chief Minister of the state and the then leader of Congress(S), a constituent of the 7-party combination mentioned this from his experience as the Chief Minister. Later when Prafulla Mohanta had been the Chief Minister, after much persuasion, a statement was made in the State Assembly on behalf of the state government to the effect that none of the two documents were in the possession of the government in their entirety. This truth was reported in the Assam daily Agradoot too on June 4 last. The present Congress government could not deny it. So, the grave apprehension that prevailed among the minority community people was that the list that would be prepared on the basis of two or three such documents which are not available or lost in many places and are in that sense virtually non-existent — such a list would not include the names of the then people of the minority community who are still alive, and the names of the children of those who are dead. So, it is clear that in the name of compiling a citizens’ register, a conspiracy is on to virtually sentence the minority community people to death.
There are many more complications in preparing the preliminary list on the basis of the practically non-existent two or three documents. The citizens’ register was prepared in 1951 districtwise. At that time Assam was undivided and included Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, etc. But after formation of these new states, most of the minority people who once resided in these areas of undivided Assam, spread out to different parts of Assam. At present their names are not included on any list in any district of the present Assam. Besides, 58 long years have passed since 1951. During this very long period, countless people had to settle at new places due to flood, erosion of river banks and in search of livelihood. Their names, too, will not come on the preliminary list of the present districts they are inhabiting now. So, it is clear that despite their names being recorded in the citizens’ register of 1951, countless people and their children would not even be able to claim to prove their citizenship. As per the new notification, people who will be excluded from the list will have to prove that they are the children or the grand children of those whose names are there on the draft list. It is known to all that in the countryside in the past, there was no system of recording names at birth and today too, it has not developed well and properly. Besides, in the countryside very few people attend hospital for child birth. How would they prove anything? A very important point is that 90 to 95 per cent of the citizens whose names featured in the citizens’ register of 1951, are no longer alive. Probably many of their children too have passed away. It is their grand children who are alive now. A dangerous thing is that the system of necessary link certificate, which previously the local panchayat used to issue, has already been withdrawn at the demand of the rabid provincial forces. On the other hand, at the demand of the AASU it has also been declared that in case of any unresolved difference of opinion in this regard, the issue will have to be decided through DNA test! It needs no explanation to realize that the method has racist-bent in it and that it is utterly humiliating for the minority community people. One should also note how baseless the demand is. How will it ever be possible to test the blood of dead persons? And without that, the DNA tests of their descendants would become meaningless. In fact the demand is being raised so that nobody escapes from their clutches. The government knows all these. In the Indian Constitution, as in any civilized country, the provision is there to confer citizenship by birth. By that, the children of any Indian citizen are, in the natural process, Indian citizens. Why then in Assam has he or she to apply afresh for citizenship? Is Assam outside or beyond India?
The other dangerous aspect of this decision is that along with the 370,000 minority community people, who were branded “Doubtful” citizens while preparing the voters’ list in 1997, and who in the last 13 years were not sent to the tribunal for trial and justice, another several lakhs of people, against whom the police has leveled allegation on the basis of the Foreign Citizens’ Act after scrapping of the IMDT Act, will have their trial delayed indefinitely for years to come. It is not difficult to understand that this huge number of people would never be able to apply for citizenship and even if they submit application, those will be cancelled – though this has not been specifically stated.
In the directive from the central government it has been stated that all the sections of this notification are not applicable to the Assamese speaking people, tribal people or tea-tribal people of the state. It means, the entire effort is aimed at the lingual and religious minority community people. How in a civilized democratic country can an Act in regard to citizenship have different provisions for the lingual and religious minority people? Should the government be regarded as a secular democratic government even after this?
Such a big conspiracy is on against the minority people, yet all political parties and organizations, other than the SUCI(Communist), are silent on this question. After the scrapping of the IMDT Act, cashing in on the agitation generated among the minority people and also by whipping up religious fanaticism, Badruddin Azmal built up the AUDF and proclaiming himself as the saviour of the minority people, managed to have elected 10 MLAs in the last Assembly election. He himself was elected as an MP. But today they refrain from playing any role at all. CPI(M) and CPI, who, at times raise hue and cry in Assembly or Parliament even on trivial issues, are not only silent on the issue, rather they are lending support to the government measures. Pushing the minority people on to the verge of disaster, parties like the Congress, UDF have been very active to reap political benefit. The Congress and the UDF leaders are asking the minority community people not to be worried about it; everything would be all right since they are there. They are even resorting to falsehood to mislead the people.
Very craftily, the process of compilation of citizens’ register in Assam is being done at a time when the census and the process of ascertaining unique identity cards have started in Assam, too, along with the entire country. The work on preparing National Population Register will also start at the beginning of the next year. On completion of the process, Multipurpose Unique Identity cards, will be issued towards the end of this year. But the government of India has very clearly declared that this card will not be considered a document in proof of citizenship. The central government has also already announced that no citizens’ register will be prepared for the whole country, because in that case, even the foreigners would get recognition as Indian citizens. The process of preparation of citizens’ register is going on only in Assam with special arrangements. The latter, in reality, boils down to the conspiracy to designate the minority community people as ‘foreigners’. To confuse and mislead the minority people, census and preparation of citizens’ register are being conducted simultaneously. To create confusion, they are explaining to the people that after all, the names are being noted down through door to door approach. But, the truth is, formation of citizens’ register and census are two totally different processes. There is no connection between going door to door for census and drawing up of citizens’ register. Keeping the people in the dark and misguiding them, the perpetrators are tightening the noose around the people’s throats. In the mean time on the night of 1 June, a programme of collecting and submitting application forms for citizenship with the name ‘pilot project’ has been announced as per the central government notification in the two circles of Barpeta and Chhoygaon. This has ripped open the mask of all those parties which have been creating confusion so long. It should be mentioned here that in the two circles where the citizens’ register of 1951, voters’ list of 1966 and 1971 have been published, these newly prepared lists have in many cases been found to be concocted, not real and distorted and this has already given rise to strong waves of protest.
So, it is clear today that not only AASU, AGP, BJP, RSS are involved in the conspiracy to rob lakhs of people of citizenship, but also many others are engaged openly or secretly in this conspiracy. The network of the conspiracy has been woven through direct support and backing of the central and state governments. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has taken upon himself the responsibility of fulfilling the AASU’s objective. By keeping mum parties like CPI(M), CPI, CPI-ML known as leftists, are helping parochialists to fulfill their objective. The self-styled saviour of the minority people, Badruddin Azmal too, instead of building up mass movements against this conspiracy, is striving to reap political benefit out of it. The AGP has no difference with the BJP and the RSS. The AGP is the originator and main perpetrator of this community hating, fanatic, parochial movement. They murdered thousands of minority people at innumerable places including Neli. Yet, before the last Assembly elections, Badruddin Azmal, after building up a party, combined with that fanatic parochial party. It is clear that his objective was to publicly shed crocodile tears for the minority community people, while combining with the arch parochial party secretly for gaining power and position of MLAs and ministers. As the AGP was routed in the polls, the dream of Badruddin Azmal to become Deputy Chief Minister was shattered. Subsequently, although he wanted to ally with the Congress, Tarun Gogoi stood in the way. During the last parliamentary election, the AGP came to an understanding with the BJP. This combination is now about to break up. The AGP has started thinking that for coming to power at least some minority community votes are needed. So, the AGP is trying secretly for an understanding with Azmal. Hence, the conspiracy is very deep rooted. That is why Badruddin Azmal is unwilling to build up mass movements against the drawing up of the citizens’ register.
In fact, all parties other than the SUCI (Communist) have joined this conspiracy directly or indirectly. The SUCI (C) alone has stood by the side of the oppressed minority community people and been striving to build up mass movement. Its success rests upon the people, because it is with the people that the real power lies. But the people would have to fight on the strength of correct ideology and politics. For this they need to identify the real enemy. Our party has always been emphasizing it to the people that if the ideology is incorrect, the path is wrong, then even if thousands may lay down their lives, the movement would not be successful. The strategy of a battle is to determine correctly the enemy and the allies. After identifying the allies and the enemies, broader unity is to be built up with the allies and the enemies are to be isolated. To fight, the strategy and the tactics must be correct. First, it is to be determined who are the opponents. Apparently AGP, BJP, AASU, RSS and Congress are the direct opponents, participating in this conspiracy. Even parties like CPI(M), CPI claiming to be leftist, have built up friendship with them. But behind these political parties, it is the capitalist class of India that is directing everything.
Every student of economics, science and history knows that political power cannot but be in the hands of those who control economic power. In a capitalist country like India, all economic-political power is in the hands of the capitalist class. Parties like Congress, AGP, BJP are the political managers of the capitalist class. All their politics is based on the strength of propaganda power and money power of the capitalist class. Even the politics of the CPI(M), CPI too is running with the backing of the propaganda power and money power of the capitalists. These parties are all tools in the hands of the capitalist class. A handful of monopoly capitalist conglomerates like the Tatas, the Birlas, the Ambanis are controlling the political parties from behind the screen. They do not emerge to the forefront. The capitalist class knows that it has bled the Indian people white during the past 63 years since independence. Half of our population are either unemployed or semi-employed. 70 per cent people are unable to spend more than Rs.20 a day. As per government statistics, 42% live below poverty line. But in reality life has become unbearable to 90% of people. Finding no way out, many people are thinking of dying. An intolerable situation is gnawing people, irrespective of religions and languages. It is not that the capitalists are sparing the poor Hindu people from their attacks. The capitalists know that the people are raging against their intolerable rule and exploitation. If they can perceive the correct path, people will come forward to the anti-capitalist revolutionary struggle. The British imperialists too once feared that if the Hindus and the Muslims in India were united, they would have to flee the country. So they wanted to create division between the two major communities of people, the Hindus and the Muslims. Today the British imperialism is no longer there. Their successor, the Indian capitalist class is in power. They know that if the eyes of the poor Hindus and Muslims are opened, if they identify the capitalists as their enemy and if the genuine revolutionary party emerges to the forefront, they will have no way to escape. So the conspiracy is on to destroy the unity of people. With intensity of exploitation deepening every day, the capitalists are devising a thousand stratagems to instigate the poor Hindus against the poor Muslims. To keep themselves secure, their main policy is to instigate the two main communities of population, the Hindus and the Muslims into fighting each other. Divisive politics is the ploy of the capitalists. Television channels and newspapers-magazines too are helping the owners of capital in whipping up this divisive politics. Although AASU, AGP, BJP, Congress, etc., may appear to be the main enemies, in reality they are like puppets in the hands of the capitalist class, which controls and directs them. All these parties subservient to the capitalist class are instigating the Assamese against the Bengalis, the Biharis against the Maharastrians and so on, instigating fratricidal strife wherever and in whatever way possible. They are even out to divide the Hindu people by fomenting casteism.
The capitalists are the worst enemies of the exploited people. It is an urgent necessity to forge unity with all those who want to fight against the exploitation of the capitalist class and to develop a cultural thinking and psychology conducive to the united struggle. This struggle is not of the Muslims against the Hindus or of the Assamese against the Bengalis. The life of people of the minority communities in Assam has been poisoned over the past 31 years through continual frenzied attacks and its inevitable outcome has been that whatever movements on the issues of soaring prices, unemployment, corruption, etc., could be developed in the other states, could not be raised in Assam. As a result, whatever extent of development work the other state governments have been compelled to give effect to under the pressure of mass movement, no government of Assam needed to take up even that amount of development projects. There is not even the minimum protest against the state government here, neither inside the Assembly nor outside. There are no talks about the genuine problems. Only, the people’s attention is being diverted towards unreal and unwarranted issues.
The students of science know that nothing happens without a cause. In searching out the causal basis of the continual attack on the minority people in Assam, it is seen that when Gopinath Bardoloi, Nabin Chandra Bardoloi and others were leading freedom movement in the state, they too at that time did not take any bold step to eradicate the fanatic provincial thinking from the soil of Assam. Rather it may be noted that the National Congress led by them tended to move through compromise with provincialism. The Congress strove to install the capitalist class in the state power by driving away the British by developing a superficial unity among the people as a show. The national freedom movement was not free from the influence of Hinduism. As a result, the conception of separate existence by the different communities of the people could not be removed. That is why some form of rabid provincialism or communalism has time and again raised its ugly head in Assam. Its first manifestation was through the ‘Bangal Kheda” (drive away the Bengalis) movement. Later, its manifestation had been against the immigrant Muslims.
In this situation, what we, on behalf of our party, are trying to bring home to all sections of the people in the state of Assam is that mass movements should have been developed in Assamese speaking areas on the burning problems of life like price rise, corruption, development and unemployment problem. But that is not happening. Movements on the issue of Bangladeshis have made a few leaders earn quick money to the tune of millions of rupees. But the poor Assamese speaking people have become poorer. As the ultimate consequence of this situation, separatist movements raised head in the state. Moving along this path 12,000 Assamese young men bared their chests in the face of military bullets. What benefit did Assam get by pushing these 12,000 young men on to this path? It is true that their ideology was wrong and they fought under wrong leadership, but it cannot be argued that they had no patriotism. So the truth that comes out is that struggle would have to be conducted under correct leadership, on the basis of the correct demands. Today, submerged in conspiracies, the minority community people too have to understand these things. The course of the struggle is to be drawn up by rising above communalism, on the basis of democratic values and by considering the poor people belonging to the Hindu community to be friends. The proportion of the Muslims in relation to the total population is not much different in Assam from that in West Bengal. But in West Bengal the communal forces do not dare to torment the religious minority people in the same way, branding them as foreigners. Its main reason is, from the very days of freedom movement, cult of leftism has been going on in West Bengal. The CPI(M) being in power for the last 34 years serving the capitalists and even by repressing mass movement fascistically, has not been able to destroy leftism totally in West Bengal. The essence of this leftism is secularism and advancing the struggle forging unity of exploited masses. The CPI has been working in Assam since 1940-42. Afterwards the CPI(M) too entered the scene. But none of them opposed the fanatic provincials. In their greed for votes, they have been all the time compromising with the provincial forces. So, all sections of the people of the state would have to realize that only through carrying the ideology of leftism deep among the Assamese people can they be freed from the influence of fanatic provincial forces.
The true friends of the minority community people must be recognized. In 1985, 17 MLAs of UMF were elected to the state Assembly by raising the slogan: “All the minority community people, unite!” But in just a year’s time they were all purchased, some by the Congress, some by the AGP. In 2006, under cover of the same slogan, 10 MLAs were elected to the state Assembly on behalf of UDF. Now they are turning towards the AGP, the party which has made it impossible for the minority community people to live in peace. The truth is, all these forces are striving to keep the minority community people away from resistance movement. The minority community people would have to stand up against this conspiracy. In order to survive, there is no alternative path before them other than building up powerful resistance movement on the basis of correct leadership and ideology. Bearing this ideology deep in the heart, powerful mass movement will have to be developed. The struggling people will have to declare in clear and unequivocal terms: there is no objection and there cannot be any, to identify the foreigners by taking 25 March, 1971 as the base and by correct judgement through the judiciary, but the conspiracy to turn genuine Indian citizens into ‘foreigners’ in the name of identifying the foreigners is totally unacceptable. So it is very urgent to stand upon the foundation of unity of all people irrespective of nationality-religion-language-caste and build up powerful mass movements against robbing the democratic rights of 370,000 people branding them as ‘D’ voters, and in demand for returning their right to vote. Such movements must also demand withdrawal of the ill-motivated programme of turning the genuine Indian citizens into ‘foreigners’ by drawing up citizens’ register only for Assam, separately, and on different baseline policies, instead of compiling the citizens’ register along with the rest of the country simultaneously on the basis of the same baseline policies. With this purpose, people’s struggle committees would have to be formed and the movement is to be built up by setting up volunteer corps. This is the call of the hour.
Comrade K. Radhakrishna, Vice-President, All India Committee of AIUTUC represented the organization at the 99th session of International Labour Conference (ILC) of International Labour Organization (ILO) held from June 2 to 18 June, 2010 in Geneva. Besides his other interventions, on violation of ILO Convention 87 by the military Government of Myanmar denying the Burmese workers their fundamental rights, Comrade Radhakrishna delivered a noteworthy and penetrating speech. Expressing anguish at the way ruling junta in Myanmar curbed the minimum rights including hard earned right to organize strike of the working people of the country, he said that strike is a recognized democratic action on the part of the aggrieved workers to voice their protest against inhuman sufferings in imperialist-capitalist rule. It is no less a sacred right than those of freedom of association and collective bargaining, which are guaranteed under various instruments of ILO and are hailed as cornerstones of democracy. These rights cannot be separated from democracy – these are inalienable parts of democracy. Unfair wage, denial of public holidays, lack of basic work place amenities, compulsory overtime, lack of compensation for workplace injuries and such other issues plaguing the Myanmar workers are common experiences of suffering workers all over the capitalist-imperialist world. By denying the workers the right to organize or to go on strike and thus the right for collective bargaining the Burmese Junta is condemning the Myanmar people to live in sheer poverty and slavery. Myanmar rulers signed the convention on Freedom of Association in 1955, but are still far from implementing it. Freedom of Association is a basic right for all workers and human beings. They must adopt legislation allowing for free trade unions in the country and protect the right of the workers to organize and bargain collectively. On behalf of the working class of India he urged upon the House to pursue all democratic means to force the autocratic Myanmar rulers to grant recognition to the fundamental right of the workers to organize strike along with the other rights to form unions and of collective bargaining as enshrined in the various conventions of ILO. Comrade Radhakrishna was applauded for his speech by many working class representatives present there.