People's Democracy

Honda-Hooda's Goondaism Exposed

G Arjun

IF the brutality of the police assault on the unarmed agitating workers of the Honda factory in Gurgaon has shocked democratic minded people across the country, the challenge is to respond to repressive face of the ‘globalising’ Indian State in a determined, organised and creative manner.

An important mark of both the determination and the creativity of the response is the new play by the Jana Natya Manch Honda ka Goonda. The play, the first show of which was performed at the Jawaharlal Nehru University on July 31, was prepared in just three days.

Honda ka Goonda exposes the media-generated myth of Gurgaon, a satellite, industrial township of Delhi, as a model for the India of the 21st century – a city of sprawling shopping malls, middle class colonies with the ‘state-of-the-art’ facilties, fast moving and expensive cars, and an ‘investor friendly’ location for rapid industrial development. To prepare this myth the Haryana government, represented in the play through the character of the Haryana chief minister Hooda, is willing to barter the democratic rights of the working class and the farmers. In his hurry to seal a deal with the multi-national corporations, represented here by Honda, Hooda dumps his party’s election slogan ‘Congress ka haath aam aadmi ke saath’ and modifies it to ‘Congress ka haath aam aadmi ke baap ke saath’, i e with the capitalists and the MNCs. Having been given a license by the state government, the Honda management severely mistreats the workers and exploits them. The workers are left with no other option but to unite under the banner of the Red flag and unionise to protect their own interests.

The call of the Red flag irks Honda and he threatens to pull out of Gurgaon when Hooda reassures him of ‘proper action’ on the workers who are behaving like undesireable ‘bulls’ instead of being meek ‘cows’. Hooda lets loose his police-goondas who beat up the workers black and blue. The play ends with a call to the audience for a united resistance against the assault on the rights of the working class.

Other than focusing on the administration-MNC-police nexus and exposing the real face of the ‘development’, the play challenges the complacency of the ‘consumerist’ middle class. It is an attempt to generate a critical view towards the ‘globalization’ process.

The preparation of this play in such a short span of time is an experience of far reaching consequence for Janam as it evidences a capability for the group to respond to immediate situations and thus constructively assist in campaigns surrounding such issues. Janam will be performing this play at various locations across Delhi and the surrounding areas as a part of the campaign against the police excesses in Gurgaon.