People's Democracy

EDITORIAL

Intensifying Popular Struggles

NEW Delhi’s parliament street was witness to a poignant scene on September 5th. The birthday of India’s first vice president, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, is annually observed as the Teacher’s Day when many teachers are honoured by India’s President.  On this day, tens of thousands of teachers from the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh marched to the national capital demanding ‘equal pay for equal work’. Given the unbearable heat and humidity, the teachers were bare-breasted. The sight of thousands of semi-naked teachers, in a way, brought out the plight of our country.  For many years, these teachers called siksha karmis, who are paid a paltry sum, but perform the work of a regular teacher have been denied their basic right to be paid regular teacher’s wages in accordance to their work.  The state government, despite repeated assurances in the past, has so far refused to accept their genuine demands.  A delegation, which met the prime minister, was assured that even though school education falls under the state list of our Constitution, the centre will urge the state government to amicably settle the issue.

It is, indeed, unfortunate that after 58 years of India’s independence, this is the state of that section which is entrusted to train and provide skills to the young and equip them to contribute to the task of nation building. This is all the more impermissible in a situation where 54 per cent of Indians  are below the age of 25. India, today, is one of the youngest countries in the world. It’s children and its youth are its future.  If this is the state of India’s teachers, it can be well imagined what would be the state of its children and India’s future?

In neighbouring Rajasthan, another BJP-ruled state, lakhs of farmers have been on a war-path demanding water and electricity. Earlier, in these columns, we had reported about the continuing farmers’ agitation demanding adequate water for the crops.  Despite the over availability of water, (which, perforce had to be drained into Pakistan) the farmers have been denied water because of the state government’s inefficiency and callousness.  This has resulted in only 30 per cent of the crops being sowed.  Even this cannot be harvested unless water reaches urgently. Instead of meeting the genuine needs of the farmers, and, thus enhancing the agricultural production in the otherwise desert lands of Rajasthan, the state government has embarked on a path of  oppressing the movement through  police attacks and arrests.

Having denied the farmers the required water, the Rajasthan state government has now enhanced the power tariff for the farmers. Since September 1, tens of thousands of farmers have laid siege in the state capital demanding a roll-back of the hike in power tariff and a continuous 12-hour power supply to save the standing crops.  Crops worth five to seven hundred crores are facing the grim prospect of damage.  This means the ruination of lakhs of people in this region.  As we go to press, the farmers are embarking to lay siege at the chief minister’s residence. 

Any government sensitive to the people’s woes would have immediately sought to redress the people’s grievances.  Not so, however, with the BJP.  Mounting fresh economic assaults on the people, while seeking to sharpen communal polarisation, has become the recipe of BJP’s governance. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP government seeks to dismantle the state-run education system by not paying equal wages to the siksha karmis, so that the private school network run by the RSS can gain greater access to poison the minds of the children.  In Rajasthan, the BJP government, instead of providing the needed facilities to the farmers, has embarked on a confrontationist path and seeking to pit one section of the society against another.  People’s struggles, however, are continuing to intensify on their genuine issues.  Even after the debacle in the 2004 general elections, the BJP does not seem to be learning any lessons. Or, rather, the RSS/BJP only relies on sharpening communal polarisation as the means to acquire political power in order to tear asunder the unity and integrity of India.