People's
Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) No. 05
February 02, 2003
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) |
Vol.
XXVII No. 05 February 02, 2003 |
The
participants
reached
the
district
centers
in
the
early
hours
of
the
morning
and
congregated
at
the
spots
allotted
to
each
of
the
affiliated
unions.
They
had
come
prepared
with
food
packets
and
water
jugs,
for
they
were
to
squat
at
the
spot
from
6
am
to
5
pm.
They
occupied
every
inch
around
the
secretariat
and
the
collectorates.
There
were
men
and
women,
young
and
old,
as
also
their
children,
with
badges
pinned
on
their
dresses
and
holding
banners
and
placards
displaying
the
demands
of
the
siege.
They
were
chanting
slogans,
singing
songs
and
making
speeches
from
the
cold
morning
hours
through
the
hot
noon
till
the
onset
of
cool
evening.
They
were
celebrating
resistance.
Their
actions
proclaimed
their
resolve
to
beat
back
any
attack
by
the
government
and
the
employers
on
their
livelihood.
They
were
demanding
protection
of
employment
and
wages
for
the
85
lakh
of
workers
in
the
state.
The
response
was
quite
unprecedented.
Workers
from
the
coir,
cashew,
handloom,
beedi
and
other
traditional
industries,
from
the
plantation
and
all
the
organised
and
small-scale
industries
participated
in
large
numbers.
Head
load
workers
who
are
fighting
against
a
new
legislation
curtailing
their
rights,
also
participated
in
large
numbers.
The
workers
reflected
through
their
participation
in
the
siege
that
the
threat
they
faced
from
the
government
and
the
employers
was
very
serious
and
their
resolve
to
resist
it
with
their
organised
might
was
equally
firm.
ANTONY’S
DESPERATION
The
state
government
had
done
everything
to
disrupt
this
action
of
the
workers.
The
chief
minister
A
K
Antony
had
repeatedly
stated
that
no
demonstration
or
agitation
would
be
allowed
in
front
of
the
secretariat
and
other
parts
of
the
state
as
it
would
cause
hindrance
to
the
people.
His
opposition
to
any
form
of
struggle
by
the
working
people
of
the
state
became
more
strident
after
the
government
had
entered
into
an
agreement
with
the
ADB
for
a
loan.
When
the
CITU
announced
its
decision
to
hold
the
siege,
the
DGP
issued
a
notice
to
the
CITU
state
secretary
directing
him
not
to
hold
the
siege,
which
was
ignored
by
the
CITU.
Then
the
DGP
approached
the
Kerala
High
Court
pleading
for
a
verdict
banning
all
mass
actions,
including
demonstrations.
The
DGP
argued
that
the
siege
by
CITU
was
a
violation
of
an
earlier
High
Court
judgment.
Even
leaders
belonging
to
the
ruling
coalition
criticised
this
move
of
the
DGP
to
prevent
a
trade
union
from
holding
a
peaceful
agitation.
The
chief
minister
responded
by
openly
justifying
the
action
of
the
DGP.
It
then
became
evident
that
the
action
of
the
DGP
was
at
the
instructions
of
the
chief
minister.
This
stand
of
the
government
angered
every
section
of
people.
They
saw
in
it
an
authoritarian
trend
on
the
part
of
the
government
to
silence
the
people
from
protesting
against
any
injustice.
The
propaganda
jathas
and
meetings
of
CITU
to
explain
the
aims
and
objectives
of
the
siege
received
enthusiastic
response
from
the
people
all
over
the
state.
They
decided
that
the
dangerous
move
of
Antony
government
to
deny
the
right
to
express
dissent
must
be
nipped
in
the
bud
itself.
The
High
Court
was
informed
by
the
CITU
that
it
only
intended
to
stage
a
peaceful
agitation,
and
if
it
was
allowed
to
carry
it
out
without
any
hindrance
from
the
police
there
would
be
no
violence.
The
court
upheld
the
right
of
every
section
of
people
to
peacefully
agitate
and
on
the
basis
of
the
assurance
given
by
CITU
dismissed
the
petition
of
the
DGP
to
ban
the
siege.
The
siege
by
CITU
workers
in
Kerala
has
marked
a
new
beginning
in
the
fight
against
globalisation,
in
the
fight
against
both
the
Congress-led
state
government
and
the
BJP-led
central
government,
which
are
carrying
out
the
dictates
of
imperialist
agencies.
The
workers
in
Kerala
have
shown
that
unitedly
they
can
resist
the
moves
of
globalisation
forces
and
their
henchmen
in
the
government.
This
demonstration
of
workers
might
will
be
a
morale
booster
to
every
other
section
of
fighting
people
in
the
state
and
in
the
country
in
their
struggles
to
defend
their
jobs,
wages
and
rights.
The
whole
crew
of
20
ministers
along
with
the
state
Director
General
of
Police
K
J
Joseph
were
looking
idiotic
as
more
than
five
lakh
of
workers
and
their
kith
and
kin
turned
out
in
full
strength
foiling
the
government’s
design
to
thwart
their
programme.
They
laid
siege
to
all
the
centers
of
governance
across
the
state
to
bring
home
the
sufferings
they
are
experiencing
due
to
anti-labor
policies
of
the
state
government.
The
entire
governance
of
the
state
came
to
a
standstill
due
to
the
workers’
strike.
The
siege
proclaimed
in
unmistakable
terms
to
the
government
that
the
working
class
would
not
allow
any
government
to
rob
the
right
to
livelihood
of
the
workers
and
other
toiling
masses.
The
siege
was
inaugurated
by
E
Balanandan,
CITU
national
President
at
Quilon,
by
M
K
Pandhe
the
national
general
secretary
of
the
CITU
at
Ernakulam,
by
V
S
Achuthanandan,
leader
of
opposition
at
Thiruvananthapuram
secretariat,
by
Pinarayi
Vijayan,
CPI(M)
state
secretary
at
Kozhikode,
by
E
K
Nayanar,
the
former
chief
minister
of
Kerala
at
Thrissur,
by
P
K
Gurudasan,
CITU
state
general
secretary
at
Alappuzha,
by
K
N
Ravindranath,
state
CITU
president
at
Kannur,
by
M
M
Lawrence
at
Kasarkod,
by
M
C
Josephine,
the
CPI(M)
central
committee
member
at
Pathanamthitta
and
by
A
Vijaya
Raghavan
MP
at
Idukki.
The
police
intolerant
over
the
success
of
the
strike
harassed
the
public
in
different
parts
of
the
state
by
unnecessary
and
unheard
of
restrictions
and
bypassing
of
the
travel
routes.
The
siege
was
declared
by
the
CITU
to
protect
work
and
wages
as
also
for
protecting
the
state
from
the
tentacles
of
global
multinationals
and
ADB
hawks.
While
the
CITU
fulfilled
the
promise
it
gave
in
the
affidavit
to
the
High
Court
that
the
siege
would
be
hundred
percent
peaceful,
the
police
violated
the
court
direction
not
to
create
unhealthy
conditions
and
arrested
CITU
and
CPI(M)
workers
unnecessarily.
After
the
strike,
the
Kerala
Police
have
slapped
cases
against
18,000
CITU
workers
and
leaders
including
V
S
Achuthanandan.
The
CPI(M)
state
secretary
Pinarayi
Vijayan
has
warned
the
authorities
that
those
who
think
they
could
issue
orders
banning
and
barring
workers’
strikes
should
think
twice
before
they
do
so
in
future.
Vijayan
reminded
the
authorities
that
the
working
class
would
not
cow
down
before
the
diktats
of
any
police
officer
or
his
mentors.
Working
class
struggles
were
never
fought
with
the
consent
of
any
government
or
authority.
That
is
why
the
DGP’s
letter
to
the
CITU
state
secretary
warning
of
dire
consequences
if
the
siege
was
held
was
treated
with
the
contempt
it
deserved,
and
was
not
even
replied
to
by
the
leadership
of
the
working
class.
