INCREASING UNREST IN INDIA
. By Kailas Chandra
Bombay
As India's capitalist rulers celebrated the country's nineteenth "Independence Day" on August 15, popular discontent was bursting through the seams in every state; but unfortunately without any positive leadership at the present moment. Mass demonstrations in many towns of the frontier state of Assam, ‘where the police opened fire in various areas and the army was called in, were an indication of the growing restlessness of the masses against the Congress regime.
. The All Assan Samyukta Andolan Parishad, composed of various | left parties which met August 7, decided to postpone the date for a” state-wide "Bundh" [general "shutting down," a popular term in recent years for a general strike and voluntary closing of business] until September 9. a
Meanwhile, however, students in various towns had decided to hold demonstrations against hoarders and profiteers. The student . protest movement, supported by other sections of the urban masses, © spread to many towns, including Jorhat, Goalpara and Gauhati where the authorities promptly resorted to repressive measures. Curfews were imposed and several hundred students were rounded up through- _ out Assan.
That. students should have taken the lead in protesting the failure of the bourgeois state to curb rising prices was an indirect censure of the traditional left leadership -- the two Communist parties {pro-Moscow and pro-Peking], the Praja Socialist party, the
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Samyukta Socialist party, etc. -- which failed to respond to the Situation ina positive manner.
On August 9, according to official reports, the "antitrade disturbances" resulted in "looting" and raiding of shops. Police resorted to "lathi" charges in the district towns of Lakhimpur, Shibsagar and Nowgong. In Jorhat a crowd attacked police contingents, injuring at. least. five policemen.
By August 10, the situation had become more serious. The a police opened fire in Shillong, the capital city of the state, and . Shibsagar, where the student demonstrations allegedly took a "violent form." An indefinite curfew was also clamped down on the industrial towns. In the upper Assam region, all educational insti- . tutions were ordered. closed. In Shibsagar a three-day curfew was imposed. Large crowds, including students, were reported to have. indulged in "Looting | of shops, smashing petrol pumps and attacking police parties. _—
On August 10 Nowgong town was completely paralyzed. The state government arrested more than 900 persons, mostly students, hoping that the situation could be brought | under control by repressive methods and mass arrests. |
To appease popular resentment, Chief Minister Chaliha announced the same day that his government would release all the arrested students -- except those charged with "violence." But fresh disturbances flared up in Shillong, demonstrators placing barricades across the streets there. In some parts of the state capital a running battle was fought between crowds and a section of the border security force -- the regular army. Army jeeps moved in to clear away the barricades. Six police were listed killed. Although the student leaders considered "safe" were being released, the situation remained tense ali over the state.
On August 11 again, further clashes took - place in Shillong. A "private party" was reportedly engaged in a shooting fray. It was later indicated that a contingent of police opened fire from a private car in the curfew area. One person was killed.
On August 12, all ‘sections of the people observed "hartal" [general strike] in Shillong, Gauhati and other towns as a protest against the repressive policies of the government. Eleven were arrested; otherwise the day passed off peacefully. At a public meeting in Gauhati, speakers demanded stern measures against hoarders .-: and profiteers and effective steps to hold the price line.
In view of the situation, Home Minister Nanda of the central government announced in Parliament that he was seeking the help of opposition parties "to restore law and order" in Assam. He proposed convening a meeting of all parties to consider steps to meet the people's demand for goods and daily necessities at controlled rates. The government could not conceal the fact ‘that the mass upsurge in Assam was, ‘Spontaneous, not having been initiated by any of the tradi-.
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tional oppositional parties of- the: left, which in fact appeared | to have completely withdrawn into. phe: “background.
The Assam upsurge came in the wake of a. state-wide general strike called by the left parties in Uttar Pradesh July 12. This was a massive protest against the Congress government's failure to "hold the price line," especially after devaluation. Despite largescale arrests of prominent left leaders, the Uttar Pradesh "Bandh" was a tremendous success. The workers and peasants of the traditionally backward state were drawn into a major political struggle against. the government for the first time since independence .
“ The left parties in Bihar organized a stateiwide "Bandh" on August-9.- A‘few days before the scheduled demonstration, the government arrested nearly 2,000 leaders and prominent workers of the left parties:-as a- “preventive measure." Despite the police repression, the general*'strike was a fairly big success.
The inability of the left leadership to project a wider perspective to the struggle prevented it from developing to a higher stage of all-out struggle of the masses against the bourgeois state. This is the basic weakness of the mass movement in most of the states. The traditional left parties also seek to make opportunistic use of the'se movements in the electoral field. But the growing mili~ tancy of the masses has its own logic. © :
The one-day Uttar Pradesh "Bandh" was followed by a week-long general strike of state government employees in protest against police high-handedness and in favor of cost-of-living: (dearness ) allowances. At first the state government adopted a tough attitude, cane-charged employees attending a public meeting and threatened to dismiss a large number of union leaders.. But students, whitecollar employees of. banks, etc., and some. sections of industrial workers. went on sympathetic strikes. Fearing state-wide unrest,.. the Congress government in Uttar Pradesh, which is headed by Mrs. ‘Suchete Kripalani, sought a compromise partially conceding the demands of the civil servants and withdrawing the dismissal orders ; against the
Losers
“This” was a major victory for ‘the civil servants, who number about 4,000,000 in India (not including 2,000,000 central government employees), and who have been agitating for higher pay to neutralize the rising cost of living, especially after devaluation. In the most "advanced" state of Maharashtra, the civil servants, numbering about 200,000, abstained from work on August 11 by applying en masse for a leave. It was a unique demonstration of solidarity in a protest action against the government 's ‘refusal to. grant them an increased dearness allowance.
There is widespread ferment among the government employees, who have not been drawn into a major trade-union struggle since 1960 when the central government employees went on an all-India general strike that eventually failed due to lack of effective support from the organized trade-union movement led by the traditional left.
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>> In. the state of Gujarat, considered to be a stronghold of Gandhism, the Congress government early this month arrested a large number of leftist leaders, including the Left Communist mayor of Admedabad,.Dinkar. Mehta. The arrests were made under the so-called Preventive Detention Actin anticipation of antigovernment demonstrations: planned by the Maha Gujarat. Janata Parishad on August 9 (known as Martyrs Day. an memory of the "Quit India" struggle launched by the “Congress: in 1942) and on August 15 (Independence Day)..
Nevertheless Independence Day (formal independence was granted in August 1947) was--observed by working-class parties and organiza— tions as a "protest day" throughout the country. In Bombay an important. conference: sponsored by seven left parties, including the two Communist parties, the Samyukta Socialist party, and the Socialist Workers party, called for a Bombay "Bandh" on August 25 to demonstrate the indignation of the masses against the capitalist policies of the Congress government. Preventive arrests were expected in |. Bombay also.
The ‘conference was an important milestone for the movement. Instead of the usual talk about winning economic concessions within the existing capitalist framework, the conference raised the question of power ~- the need for the workers and peasants to conquer power. The participation of the Socialist Workers party in preparations for the conference helped orient things in this direction.
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