The long dark tea time of the soul

Apologies for the delay in this May day post.

Most people remember 1991 as the year when Rajiv Gandhi, one of the better and brighter prime ministers of India was assassinated. That and the economic liberalization ushered in by then finance minister Sh. Manmohan Singh were the two most significant event of that year. These events changed the course of our country for all times to come.

I remember 1991 for a different reason. It was the year when one of the best trade union leaders this country has ever produced was shot dead in the middle of the night. Shankar Guha Niyogi, his memory is itched itself in the collective conscience of India ever since. I remember the protest marches and ’shok-sabhas’, that I had witnessed. I remember the sadness and loss of hope in the eyes of the labourers. What Niyogi ji meant for the industrial workers in Chhattisgarh, probably no other leader can ever match.

As I grew up, I saw the trade unions in an entirely different colour. I saw the local trade union leaders getting immensely rich, I saw many of them sheltering murderers, I saw them taking bribe for recruitment in NMDC, and when a serious issue came up, like the privatization of Bailadila mines, I saw them indulging in only half-hearted protests under pressure from national parties. Of course my limited interaction with trade unions is in no way representative.

Worker mobilization is more imperative now, considering the pressure on growth and profits after economic liberalization and the sway the business houses hold over policymakers. As the central minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar pointed out last month, more than 90% of our budgetary exercise goes into catering the needs of CII/FICCI/ASSOCHAM/whatever. Many corporates are relentlessly flouting all existing labour laws, and there is sustained pressure on the government to relax the existing safeguards as well. Genuine forms of protests, such as strikes, are crushed and public perception is negative about these methods. In such a scenario, it is important to have a relook at the contributions of Shankar Guha Niyogi’s values and ideas on may day.

Needless to say, Niyogi was not just another trade union leader. His efforts was to create a homogenuous coalition of all poor, marginal and exploited human beings. Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha was the umbrella under which this new wave of trade unionism flourished. Its task was not limited to collective bargaining against exploitation by industrialists and industries, it pursued highly creative and constructive work among the unorganised workers of Chhattisgarh, especially in Dalli Rajhara.

In an interview with Pankaj Sharma, Niyogi said, “All our fights are for human dignity …. Our demand (to the management) was that we (workers) are no less worthier than you”. CMM encouraged its members to work hard and launched a campaign against the evils of drinking. He was the first Indian marxist-leninist leader who talked about increasing production, in addition to the core focus on class struggle. His campaign against liqour enraged the local liqour traders and manufacturers. He was relentless in his non-violent struggle, despite constant treats and attacks by the rich and powerful.

Niyogi showed a new path to the left, different from what the naxalites preach, different from the parliamentarian left, whose leadership he dismissed as unrepresentative of labour. At its height, CMM had more than a million members. It constructed a 25 bed hospital in Dalli Rajhara, solely on worker’s donation. It helped in spreading education, gave new confidence to the tribals and dalits, and just by organising them was able to increase both production and workers wages. He forged a union between workers and farmers and tried to channelize the demands of these two classes into a single path. It was remarkably conscious of environmental issues, and raised awareness about forests and ecological degradation.

Niyogi was a darling of a huge section of the people of Chhattisgarh and a sore in the eyes of the oppressors. He was murdered in 1991. People who planned his murder were acquited by MP high court, and subsequently by the supreme court. No wonder that after his death, the naxalites have found a new ground in Chhattisgarh. We need another Niyogi in 21st century, and the more it looks difficult, the more will the oppressed masses turn towards people who espouse violence.