[sacw] sacw dispatch #1 (21 April 00)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch #1
21 April 2000
__________________________
#1. Trade Unionists Open Letter to Pakistan's Chief Executive
#2. The story of Pakistan's Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party
#3. India: Glimpses from the History of Bombay's Textile District
__________________________

#1.

21 April 2000

General Pervez Musharraf
Chief Executive of Pakistan
Islamabad

Dear Sir,

We are deeply concerned with the matter of Mr. Malik Sher Ahmed,
President Pearl Continental Hotels Employees Trade Unions Federation and
General Secretary P.C Hotel Employees Union, Rawalpindi who has
announced to immolate himself on May 1, 2000 in front of ILO Office
Islamabad or the GHQ in protest against the inhuman behavior of the
management of Pearl Continental Hotels.

Mr. Sher had announced the same action in August last year but the
response and criticism from trade unions/ labour federations on hotel
management and government was too strong and the district administration
prevented him from doing so by arresting him on August 13, 1999.

We received a copy of a letter from Malik Sher addressed to you, in
which he detailed his ten years ordeal with the management. At a last
recourse, he will end his life on Universal Labour Day in front of the
ILO building or the GHQ.

On November 17, 1999 Mr. Sher also written a detailed letter to you
announcing hunger strike on December 1, but the Federal Labour Minister
intervened and assured to take immediate action but still the situation
is unchanged.

Once again Mr. Sher announced to immolate himself which shows that the
workers in the country are still being treated as slaves and the
behavior of the Government and the capitalists is extremely cruel and
repressive towards the working class. He has been struggling for more
than ten years for the rights of the workers as a trade unionist but the
behavior of the management of the P.C. Hotel is becoming worse.

In fact the attitude of the management of P.C. Hotels has compelled the
workers to take an extreme action and the announcement made by Malik
Sher is its manifestation.

While the government is staging a big show on human rights & dignity,
this case illustrates that the right & dignity of the working people is
being violated with impunity and with state consent.

You are requested to take immediate action to save the life of Malik
Sher.

Yours truly,

Qamar ul Hassan
Outreach Officer
IUF Pakistan Outreach Office

IUF: International Union of Food and Allied Workers
_______

#2.

The Friday Times

Thin Red Line

by Rina Saeed Khan

The ranks of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party have thinned,
but will anti-globalization sentiments energize their cause?

Communism, it is said, is better in concept than in practice. Certainly,
the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War has led to
what US President Bill Clinton has described as the "triumph of democracy
and capitalism in the 20th century". Except for the defiant island of
Cuba and the isolated North Korea, I had thought that communism was done
for =13 that it was now an outdated, outmoded concept that was no longer
viable in the 21st century. Imagine my surprise then, when a fellow
Grinnellian (we both went to Grinnell College in the US) called me up and
invited me to a communist rally here in Pakistan. It was too intriguing an
offer to decline, so at 7 am on a Sunday April morning I found myself
seated on one of those large, multi-coloured buses that you see plying on
our highways (actually, they are quite comfortable), on my way to
Jaranwalla, near Faisalabad.

We were to attend a congregation of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party
(CMKP) to be held to commemorate the death anniversary of the founder of
the party, Major Ishaque. He died back in 1982 and for those who are
unfamiliar with him, he was one of the army men to be arrested and tried
in 1952 for the Rawalpindi Conspiracy. His =18urs =19 is celebrated every
year at his family =19s modest farm in Jaranwalla where he is buried. Major
Ishaque, a contemporary and colleague of the poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz (who
wrote a poem especially for him on his death), was a towering personality
of his time. By all accounts, he was a fiercely principled man who was
devoted to the leftist cause. A war hero who had fought in Kashmir, he was
court martialled for his role in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case. After his
release, he joined the National Awami Party (NAP) that included communist
and socialist members at the time. NAP was doing quite well until Ayub
Khan stepped in and declared Martial Law in 1958. Shortly thereafter, NAP
split into 3 groups =13 the Mazdoor Kissan Party, founded by Major Ishaque=
,
was one of them. In 1995, the party joined up with the Communist Party of
Pakistan and became the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (rather an
ill-timed move considering that the word communism had become quite
tainted after the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989).

We arrived at Sufi Di Kothi (where the rally was going to take place) just
in time for the flower laying ceremony. Sufi Di Kothi is actually the
nearest stop on the main road =13 to get to Major Ishaque =19s farm, one h=
as
to drive further into the fields. The central working committee of the
CMKP and other colleagues were laying roses on Major Ishaque =19s grave whe=
n
we arrived. Nearby, a large tent had been set up in the wheat fields =13
adjacent to the grave, was Major Ishaque =19s rustic home. A large number o=
f
people had already gathered =13 according to one estimate, there were abou=
t
500 people who attended the congregation. Later on, I was told that during
the 80s, as many as 12,000 people used to attend Major Ishaque =19s =18urs=
=19.
No doubt the global collapse of communism in the early 90s has resulted in
the dwindling numbers.

Inside the tent, a stage had been set up with a microphone and a large
portrait of a determined looking, mustachioed Major Ishaque looked into the
distance. I found myself a seat on the straw covered ground (there were no
chairs and I suppose sitting on the ground is a great equalizer) and waited
for the proceedings to begin. During the bus ride, it had been too early
in the morning for me to be curious about the people who were with me
(actually I had fallen asleep), so now I looked around and soon realised
that people were just as curious about me. I guess I looked like a bit of
a misfit, although I was dressed in a simple shalwar kameez. Later on, I
was even asked what country I had come from! On a more touching note, a
young man called Khurram approached me and asked if he could chat with me.
He told me that it was costing him his day =19s wages to attend this rally
and although he agreed with the cause in principle, how was this activism
going to help him to feed his family? He had wanted to complete his higher
education, but he had to leave it halfway to look for a job so that he
could support his family. Besides, he said, even if he had completed his
education, he wouldn =19t have been able to get a job since for that you nee=
d
connections in this country. The only hope he saw for his future was to
leave Pakistan and try to get a job in Saudi Arabia.

Aside from a few newcomers like this young man, the audience consisted
primarily of party faithfuls and their friends and families. These were all
working class people and small farmers =13 many had come with their wives
and children and they all looked relaxed and in a good mood to enjoy the
day =19s proceedings. If I had come expecting fist raising, fiery leftists
agitating for =18inquilab =19, I would have been disappointed. As it was, =
I
had come with no expectations whatsoever, and so was rather charmed by the
first speaker, an eloquent eight year old girl called Asma Bashir who
spoke passionately about the plight of children in Pakistan. She stressed
upon the importance of making education compulsory for children,
especially the girl child and won a standing ovation =13 at least from me.

Next came another impassioned speech by a college student called Azim
Daniyal. He was the closest to fiery that I saw that day and he berated the
audience for having lost their "will to make sacrifices". He said he was
sick of hearing how the country was in a bad state from people who were not
willing to do anything to improve matters. He called for greater resolve
and sacrifice by the party workers for the sake of the country =19s future.
The speeches continued thereafter, touching upon many themes =13 the army
=19s active role in politics was criticised as was Bill Clinton =19s recent
visit to Pakistan. My friend Taimur Rehman from Grinnell also gave a
speech, citing that it was the utter honesty of the party members that had
attracted him to joining this political movement. He has translated Karl
Marx into Urdu and is currently working on a book that will show how it
was not communism that let the Soviet Union down and that it can still
work in practice. He is now the Lahore Secretary of the party. He says he
is "very optimistic" about the future of the CMKP because the present
class structure in Pakistan, which he describes as "neo-colonialist", can
no longer sustain itself.

The speeches were generally anti-military, anti-US and anti-globalisation.
The latter is seen as yet another form of imperialism by the rich
countries, who want to exploit the developing world under the guise of
free trade. These sentiments are exactly the same that were reflected
during the protests that ruined Seattle =19s World Trade Organisation talks
and which are this week causing thousands of people to descend upon
Washington DC to protest against the policies of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund. In fact, I was told later that the CMKP has
received a new lease of life since the Seattle protests. One party worker
told me "people have really been inspired by what happened in Seattle =13
and our membership has gone up since then." In a bid to gain even more
supporters, the CMKP is now debating whether to drop the word =18communist
=19 from the party name. That would make the party more viable since the
collapse of communism in the Soviet Union (and the recent =18capitalisatio=
n
=19 of China) has really damaged the communist cause worldwide. In fact, th=
e
CMKP lost many of its members in the early 90s, shortly after the Soviet
Union was dismantled. It now hopes to play a more dynamic role in Pakistan
=19s political scene and of course, in its struggle against globalisation.

The congregation concluded with an address by Ghulam Nabi Kalu, who has
taken over the CMKP since Major Ishaque =19s death. He is not exactly in hi=
s
prime anymore =13 his daughter, Parveen Kalu, was quite impressive in her
speech, however. She spoke on behalf of 50 per cent of Pakistan =19s
population and stressed upon the need to educate women in this country.
"Let women in this country receive co-education. Let them become confident
citizens of Pakistan =13 after all a man and a woman are both two sides of
the same coin", she exhorted. Too bad they don =19t have a dynastic system
at the CMKP =13 because she would make a fine party head!

I left the gathering feeling extremely exhausted =13 from the heat, dust an=
d
flies, I might add. Socialism might not be everyone =19s cup of tea, but I
was glad to have attended this congregation. It was heartening to see so
much idealism under one tent =13 without a doubt, the CMKP is a genuine
working class party in this country. It might be small, it might be
outdated, but it is nevertheless alive and kicking. What is more, it is a
party that is the voice of workers and peasants in Pakistan =13 this party
belongs to them. They organise it and run it themselves and from what I
have seen, given their limited resources they are doing a great job of it.

_______

#3.

Voices Through A Hundred Years:
Glimpses from the History of Bombay's Textile District

About the Authors
Meena Menon has been a trade union activist for the past twenty
years, and is currently Vice President of the Girni Kamgar
Sangharsh Samiti (Mill Workers Action Committee), the most
active union of textile mill workers in Bombay. She also writes and
does research for television.
Neera Adarkar has been active in the womens' movement for the
past twenty years. She is a practising architect and a visiting
professor in two architectural colleges in Bombay. She is a
founding member of Majlis, a legal and cultural centre, and has
also been associated with Stree Uvach, a feminist publishing group.
Both of the authors have been active in Bombay's mill areas, and
involved in the struggle of the local people against displacement.
They also play leading roles in citizens' initiatives addressing urban
development issues

Synopsis
The history of central Bombay's textile areas is one of the most
important, if also least known, stories of modern India. Covering a
dense network of textile mills, public housing estates, markets and
cultural centres, this area covers about a thousand acres in the
heart of India's commercial and financial capital. Its residents offer
narratives of the growth of colonial capital and industry, the
emergence of working class politics and popular participation in the
movements for Independence and linguistic statehood, and attest
to the unique cultural milieu of Bombay City.
With the advent of globalisation, the cultural and political survival of
these over 1.3 million people, their culture and history, has been up
for grabs. In a city where space has always been precious, the new
economic policies of the Indian Government have sought to style
this moribund industrial metropolis into a centre for global business
and finance. In the past several years, the six hundred acres of
prime real estate on which stand the decaying textile mills and
their workers, have become the object of a new kind of class
struggle. The middle classes and business elite are anxious to turn
this space into offices and entertainment centres, and redevelop its
land into high-rises and boutiques, integrating it with the business
district in the south of the city and the suburbs to the north and
west. The working-class residents face displacement after more
than a century of constant habitation, and the social rhythms and
cultural economy of this area face an impending destruction. The
people of the area are demanding their legal and human right to live
and work in the city, to preserve and maintain their livelihood, which
is inseparable from this space.
Hence the need to document the history and remember the
struggles of these people, whose narratives speak to the heart of
India's modernity. This book comprises over a hundred testimonies
by the inhabitants of Bombay's textile mill districts, and are a
window into the history, culture and political economy of a former
colonial port city now recasting itself as a global metropolis. The
book traces the events fifty years before and after Independence.
While following the major threads of national and international
events, we try to render the history of central Bombay not through
the lives and philosophies of leaders, but through the narratives and
perceptions of the people. Through this we hope to cast a new light
on the processes of history as they were experienced by the
working classes - the contesting ideas of what a free India would
be; the growth of industry and labour movements; the World Wars
and their impact; the complex politics of regional and lingustic
identities in Bombay and Maharashtra; the eclipse of the organised
Left and the rise of extremist communal politics.

Extent
Besides the Introduction and Conclusion, the book has a total of
four chapters, which will come to a total of about 120,000 words. It
will include 3-4 maps and about 20 photographs.
Contents

Chapter One (Genesis)
This chapter records the beginnings of the textile mill industry in
Bombay City. It traces=0E the emergence of a vibrant working-class
community and its institutions. The cultural and social forms which
arrived with migrants to the city from different regions of
Maharashtra provided the underpinnings for a distinctive working
class culture, a regional identity in a cosmopolitan idiom. We
study the adoption and adaptation of these cultural forms in
different political movements, and how these processes affected
the attitudes of the working classes towards the dominant culture.
The attitude of the Left parties towards the popular Ganeshotsav
festival is a case in point. While most of the parties participated in
the week long programme during the festival, differences existed as
to whether it was correct to do so in what was a community event,
yet one with a decidedly religious character. This chapter engages
in debates around culture and religion, between propaganda of
groups and popular cultural movements, the role of and relationship
between dominant and subaltern cultures, and the events that led
to the takeover of popular cultural forms and festivals by communal
and parochial parties. An important conclusion drawn from the
testimonies is that local organisations like the Ganeshotsav
Mandals, the village Mandals, and other popular institutions are
often autonomous of the parochial purposes to which they have
often been mobilised, and what seems to be an appropriation by
communal and religious groups is not quite as complete as may be
imagined.

Chapter Two (Red Star over the Mills)
This section contains testimonies of those who participated in the
struggle for Indian Independence, and in the Communist movement.
The Left developed a strong and significant textile workers' union
which played a vital role in the Indian trade union movement as well
as the freedom struggle. Our informants narrate incidents
connected with important but uninvestigated events like the Mutiny
of the Royal Indian Navy, and the battles fought in the streets of
Bombay by Subhash Chandra Bose's Azad Hind Fauj.
The Communist Party's stand during the Second World War, when
following the Soviet Union, it joined hands with the Allies; their
subsequent their boycott of the Quit India movement; their
aloofness even from trade union action during that period are
viewed from the point of view of the ordinary cadres and the workers
who were members of the union. Recorded testimonies from the
movement for Independence also put paid to the notion that the
freedom struggle was fought by purely peaceful and non-violent
means.

Chapter Three (The War for Bombay)
This chapter deals with the Samyukta Maharashtra movement in
the late fifties and early sixties -the post Independence struggle for
the creation of the linguistic state of Maharashtra, and the inclusion
of Bombay City as the capital of the State. The Left played an
important part in the agitation for creating linguistic states out of
the old colonial Presidencies, not only in Maharashtra but in
Andhra Pradesh and Madras as well. Through spearheading these
movements, they broke out of the isolation they suffered following
the support to the British in World War II and the dominance of the
Congress at Independence.
Uniting with other parties while remaining at the forefront of the
demand for Samyukta=0E Maharashtra, they forced Nehru's
Government to concede their demands for linguistic statehood and
the inclusion of Bombay in the new state, on the fear that the city
and state would be taken over by the Communists. A majority of
those who came out on the streets and laid down their lives in this
struggle were people from the mill areas, mainly the workers led by
the Communists.
The ruling Congress Party manoeuvred itself back in the saddle by
creating the state on one hand, granting Bombay to
Maharashtrians, and then exploiting the differences between the
Communists and Socialists. We discuss this=0E important and
uninvestigated episode in the history of the Indian Left and provide
insights into why, despite the strength of the left, they=0E were not
able to retain their power.

Chapter Four (From Red to Saffron)
Of great contemporary interest, this chapter narrates the further
displacement of the Left in the working-class areas of Bombay
through the sixties and seventies by the emergent Shiv Sena.
Through its effective use of nativist and communal slogans, cultural
populism, demagoguery and violence, the Sena captured the old
preserves of the red flag and turned them into saffron bastions.
Based on narratives of this process, we derive insights into the
possible reasons for the eclipse of one of the most powerful Left
bastions in postcolonial India, and how this change was effected.
Riding on the powerful linguistic and regional sentiments generated
by the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement, it built a mass
movement out of an originally apolitical agenda of social service.
This chapter contains testimonies of many of the trade union
members and even children of communists who became members
of the Shiv Sena. We have also interviewed activists and middle
level cadres of the Sena, who later left the organisation because
they felt betrayed by the party's move away from a regional agenda
to a Hindu nationalist posture.

Each of the above chapters starts with a historical background of
the particular historical phase,=0E which is followed by testimonies.

Readership
Although there is no dearth of material on the history and politics of
Bombay, recent trends have suggested a revision of our historical
perspectives to include the experiences of dominated or subaltern
groups. The book therefore will be of interest to historians,
sociologists, and other academics interested in the Indian Left and
the labour movements, the processes of urbanisation and
democracy, and generally in modern Indian history. For the general
reader too, it offers a fascinating episodes from the history of a
great city, simply and readably told.

Excerpts
"Our Mandal was established in 1920 the year that Lokmanya Tilak
died. The first Ganeshotsav Mandal was established in Girgaum -
they are now a hundred years old, and ours is the second. We had
a small Ganpati in those days. It was only in 1953 that the practice
of making huge Ganpati idols started. In 1947 after the riots the
Ganeshotsav was stopped for two or three years. There were
doubts as to whether it would ever be revived or not=E4
"The Ganeshotsav was not just a religious festival. It was a means
to gather people for a comparatively harmless purpose under the
British Raj."
- Khatu, Lalbag Ganeshotsav Mandal

"We used to go door to door to collect money just as we do even
today, but in those days people would sometimes give in kind -
sugar, oil, gulal (powder confetti), etc. People gave with that feeling
of contribution to the community Ganpati- there was a pride of
one's own locality - that is still the case today.
"After Samyukta Maharashtra the programs of shahirs (bards)
became more popular. There were also chakri vyakhyanmalas
(debates/lecture series) on various subjects where we would call
different political leaders to speak. We called Datta Samant once,
and earlier we had invited socialists, communists, Congress, etc."
- Vasant Parkar, Lalbag Ganeshotsav Mandal

"We had=0E gathered beneath Elphinstone bridge. There was to be a
march to support the ratings. The soldiers came down the bridge,
shooting with sten guns. Kamal Dhonde was standing in front of
me. She was shot in the stomach. I tried to support her as she fell.
But she died. Someone told me, there is blood flowing from your
legs. I had been shot in both my legs."
- From the testimony of Kusum Randive about the Naval Mutiny

"The British 'tommies' were really shaken. The movement
intensified. We attacked police stations, we broke electric wires,
we attacked policemen. Krishna Desai was our leader. We used to
keep bombs beneath the vegetables in a shopping bag and travel in
the trams. We would throw the bombs at post offices, government
buildings."
- Dinanath Kamath on the freedom struggle

"I was influenced by two theories - Gandhism and Marxism. We
knew that education and business has to be conducted in the
mother tongue. So that it could reach the people. So that they
should understand. This is important for the development of a
region. Gandhiji also put forward the principle of linguistic division of
states. Marxists too believed in this. In those days Bombay was
not like it is today. There was a majority of Marathi speaking
people. The worker of Bombay was a Maharashtrian farmer. So the
culture of Maharshtra was the culture of Bombay. And Bombay
should belong to Maharashtra. It was not related to just a class
question. Language is an issue of prime importance. In other
countries they all use their own language. Europe, China Japan all
of them Why can't we?"
- Prabhakar More, Socialist Party corporator

"When we were in jail, after 70 days we each of us had to make a
statement before the Advisory Board. One retired judge Vasudeo
he asked me, you are a Telugu. Not a Maharashtrian. What
interest do you have in this issue? I said- You are an educated and
respected man. I don't like to contradict you. But tell me, if you
could give Telugus their state, why don't you give Maharashtra the
same right?"
- G.L. Reddy, leading activist, Communist Party

"The crowd would stand and watch the fun, to see these boys
running with police behind them. The police were finding it difficult
to run fast in uniform. People would laugh and clap and this was
very demoralising for the police. I told my officer, today I am not
going to run behind them. I told my ten men not to move. The group
came and they started going around the circle shouting. People
clapped. They made a second and third round. Then they
themselves came to me and said, Saheb, why don't catch us?
Otherwise how will our satyagraha be complete? I said, there is the
van behind you. Go and sit inside if you want and close the door.
=46inally they did that and I drove them off to the police station."
- Suresh Pendse, Inspector, Bombay Police, about his
experiences during the Samyukta Maharashtra agitation

"There was some sincerity and honesty among the Shakha
Pramukhs and Vibhag Pramukhs. In those days. Even if we stole a
truck full of grain, we distributed it amongst the people."
- A former Shiv Sainik

"So I tried to persuade them. I said to some of them- see, the
owner has showered money in order to get rid of the union, he will
protect us, so please sign. It will be better for you. We used to
beat up the workers inside the company in the toilet, to force them
to leave the RJ Mehta union. We would take them there and give
them two tight slaps and tell them 'sign!' But some of them were
still stubborn and wouldn't sign."
- A former Shiv Sena goon

=46or further information, contact Shekhar Krishnan, 58/58A, Anand
Bhavan, 201, Lady Hardinge Road, Mahim, Mumbai 400016, Phone
91.022.4462728, E-Mail <kshekhar@b...>

____________________________________________
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