Gujarat: CITU Holds Tenth State Conference

Arun Mehta

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) held its tenth Gujarat state conference on November 29 and 30, at Bhavnagar. The venue was named after one of its founders, the late Comrade Harikrishna Shah.

On November 29, after the CITU flag was hoisted, delegates paid floral tributes at Sheheed Bhagat Singh’s statue, amid shaheed vandana songs recited by a Mahila Sangh group, followed by slogans. Present on the occasion were state leaders of various trade unions, CITU state executive members and reception committee members, among others.

Former Supreme Court judge and Press Council of India’s former chairman, Justice P B Savant, inaugurated the open session in the afternoon. He said a time comes in the life of a nation when the problems of a section of people cannot be solved satisfactorily unless all the problems faced by all the sections are solved together. The present is a time of this very kind. In the past, we united during the freedom struggle when we had to solve the problem of the nation’s independence. In the same way we have to unite for solving the problems of today. All of us, wherever we are working or living, have to put our heads together for the purpose. But one must keep in mind that the problems we are facing today demand more wisdom and sacrifices than what was required during the freedom struggle.

For, during the struggle of independence, we had to fight only one enemy, but today we have to face several enemies, outside and inside. The main problems of today can be broadly identified as globalisation, communalism, criminalisation and corruption.

As for globalisation, Justice Savant said it is a glorified name for imperialism. It is economic imperialism and aims to exploit the resources and markets of the developing countries. In its preset form, globalisation is not multilateralism and no world trade on equal terms. It does not provide for level playing field, equal opportunities and equitable sharing of resources, as some of the intellectuals fondly believe or hope for. The truth is that globalisation is unilateralism. Goods are flowing one way and the flow is determined by pro-multinational agencies like the WTO whose function is to help the MNCs capture the resources and markets of the underdeveloped countries. Today, unlike in the past, the masters of the world economy, who are also the people’s enemies, are invisible. But they have infiltrated every sphere of our life --- economic, political, social, cultural, and even the defence sector. On this occasion, the learned speaker also compared the cases of India and China, and succinctly brought out their differences. He ended his presentation on imperialist globalisation by paraphrasing Marx and Engels, saying, “The poor of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose except your miseries!”

As for communal forces, Justice Savant said they are the bedfellows of imperialism. Talking of the fascist character of these forces, he said fascism comes to power by whipping up the people’s passions on racist or religious lines. He pointed out that communalism prevents the masses from coming together and divides them. The masses have to unitedly fight communalism while fighting any other force.

Capitalism brings with it criminalisation and corruption; they are the soul of capitalism. Illegal money is being generated to fund the political parties, and corrupt means are being used to eliminate competitors and generate monopolies.

These are the things that must be kept in view for the larger struggle. The hitherto experiences of organisation and struggle are to be utilised to fight the enemy. Justice Savant said the working people have to unite for fighting the common enemy, and pledged that he would spend the rest of his life spreading this message.

CITU secretary and Mumbai working class leader K L Bajaj was the main speaker at the open rally that was huge, because when one end of the procession reached the venue of the public meeting, many were still to start from the initial point. Thus the meeting at Bhagat Singh Chowk at Ghogha gate was undoubtedly huge. Subodh Mehta presided over the rally where Navin Shastri (former labour minister), Rajkumar  (AITUC), Satubha Gohil (INTUC), Jayanti Panchal (HMKP), Mukul Sinha and Ambrish Patel (GFTU), H I Bhatt and K M Rami (LIC), Dushyant Trivedi (AIBEA), Pragjibhai Bhambhi (Gujarat Kisan Sabha), Kishor Bhai Bhatt (S T Union), and Nalini Jadeja and Ivabahen Mehta (AIDWA) were among the other speakers.

State CITU president Subodh Mehta presented the gist of the main report to the conference. The report said not only the central government but even the Supreme Court has unleashed an undeclared war against the working class of this country by ruling that government employees have no right to strike. At the same time, the centre is also bent upon effecting anti-worker amendments to various labour laws and seeks to deprive the class of its hard won rights. On the other hand, the communal forces are seeking to divide the working masses by engineering communal riots and ethnic clashes. Gujarat witnessed a serious anti-minority carnage for many months last year. At the time of ethnic violence in Assam, the Shiv Sena sought to rouse passions against non-Maharashtrians in Maharashtra. On the other hand, moves are on to snatch the social benefits available to the common men and heap upon them newer burdens in the form of power tariff hikes, education fees, subsidy reduction for various services, and what not. The report warned against economism and the paralytic reliance on legal remedies only.

The report specifically drew attention to the Gujarat situation where more than 5,000 units stand closed. Small, medium and cooperative industries are facing the threat of elimination in Rajkot, Jamnagar and Kutch etc; the agro product units have also been made uncompetitive. No less than 35 public sector units are being liquidated or handed over to the MNCs; the Kandla port is being dismantled taking advantage of the cyclone tragedy; 42 places on the coastline have been handed over to them; power supply too is being given over to them. Assistance for social sector and for the welfare of women, Dalits, child labour and Adivasis are being withdrawn. Minorities are being forced to live as second class citizens or leave the state. Democratic rights are being attacked and semi-fascist propaganda is being carried out on a large scale.

The report also gave figures of the shocking damages during the January 2001 earthquake: 20,000 deaths, 1,66,812 injured, 6,94,407 houses damaged and 3,08,299 totally collapsed; 180 talukas and 7,404 villages vanished and 20,623 cattle perished, apart from other losses. However, when the state was reeling under the impact of this earthquake and also of the effects of 1999 and 2000 famines, the BJP rulers in the state as well as at the centre displayed callousness towards the calamity. When the total loss amounted to over Rs 26,366 crore, the Gujarat government put it at only 12,848 crore and the centre gave only Rs 2,807 crore in relief! Similarly, the death figures in the earthquake as well as the anti-minority carnage were also underplayed. The report then gave details of the relief work carried out by the government so far for the earthquake victims as well as for the carnage victims, to show how inadequate it was. 

The Sangh Parivar has already started treating Gujarat as the laboratory for its communal fascistic project and for its anti-people economic and other policies. But the real danger is that while the Congress party is getting disarrayed, the Left, secular and democratic forces are quite weak in the state. In Gujarat, the Congress party’s relief work as well as anti-communal drive presented a very pitiable sight even though the party was ruling in 11 states.

The CITU state conference adopted resolutions on proposed labour law amendments, on small, medium and cooperative industries, on cuts in PF and ESI benefits, against communalism, and on other burning issues. It elected a new leadership with Subodh Mehta as president and Naginbhai Patel as general secretary, apart from five delegates to the CITU’s national conference that was to be held at Chennai.

After the credentials committee presented its report, Bajaj made his concluding speech while Naginbhai Patel proposed the vote of thanks. Later, Justice P B Savant and Subodh Mehta also addressed a well attended press conference at Bhavnagar.