The historic success of 24-hour Bangla bandh on 17 November, 2004, at the call of our party, the SUCI added yet another glorious chapter in the annals of the democratic mass movement in India. Besides hefty increase in price of petro-products, the bandh was called against 12-point pressing issues in people's life including steep hike in power tariff and other anti-people policies and measures of the Central and the West Bengal governments. The Calcutta High Court declared the bandh illegal, the CPI(M)-led West Bengal government made elaborate arrangements including deployment of massive police force, RAF and stormtroopers. Order was issued for a day’s salary-cut in case the government employees remained absent from duty. Bourgeois media unleashed a barrage of anti-bandh propaganda. But nothing deterred people from making the bandh a total success reaffirming, once again, that when toiling people rise up with firm resolve in support of a movement at the call of a revolutionary party, defying all odds, threats and intimidations of all sorts, it could become an dauntless struggle. In the face of this indomitable courage, spirit and initiative, the combined power of the exploiting ruling class — judiciary, autocratic administration, police-military, subservient political parties, reduced to nothingness.

Our beloved General Secretary, Comrade Nihar Mukherjee while condemning the latest steep hike in the prices of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), third in a row, after the Congress-led UPA government assumed power at the Centre five months back, called upon all sections of the people, “...to launch an organized sustained resistance movement to compel the government rescind the highly anti-people decision.” It was, therefore, decided to observe an all-India protest day on November 17, the historic November Revolution Day, through organizing meetings, rallies, dharnas and even bandhs wherever possible. Accordingly, people of different states gave a strong rebuff by holding massive protest demonstrations against the hikes and along with West Bengal, bandhs were called on the same day in the districts of Cachhar, Karimgunge, Hailakandi in the Barak valley and Goalpara district of Assam and capital Agartala and Udaypur in the state of Tripura. Everywhere the bandh call received tremendous response ignoring the coercive measures and onslaughts of the respective state governments aided by the Central government.

Court declared Bangla bandh illegal

Significance of this resounding success of Bangla bandh of November 17, needs to be understood in its proper context. Here, the bandh call was given in the course of a sustained movement against various anti-people policies of both the central and state governments. Centre’s decision to raise price of petro-products and the mock opposition of the CPI(M), CPI, so infuriated the people that they repeatedly urged upon our party, the SUCI, whom they consider as the only political force fighting for their cause, to heighten the pitch of protest. This caused alarm in the camp of reaction, and the Congress, through one of its trusted agents, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) at Calcutta High Court to declare the bandh illegal. The court upheld the prayer and directed the state government to take appropriate measures to maintain, what it called, “normalcy” on the bandh day. It also directed the state government to effect a day's salary cut for the government employees abstaining from duty on that day — a ruling that violates the government service rule which stipulated forfeiture of a day’s leave. Betraying a rare sense of obedience to the court directive, the CPI(M)-led state government lined up all its arsenal with unusual haste and perfection, to foil the bandh. Not a single question was raised by the CPI(M), CPI, who clamour for democratic rights, against this court verdict which clearly infringed upon the fundamental right to oppose, enshrined in the code of bourgeois democracy. Anyone conversant with the knowledge of history knows that in a class-divided society like ours, judiciary is no supra-class institution, but an inseparable organ of the capitalist state machine. Naturally the judiciary is bound to function within the limits of bourgeois legal framework and its rulings cannot but protect the bourgeois class interest. The bourgeoisie, mortally afraid of anti-capitalist proletarian revolution, is now desperate to contain and crush legitimate democratic movements, and throttle the voice of justice and legitimacy. So judiciary is also active in putting fetters on democratic rights and hence declaring bandhs and strikes illegal, restraining processions, meetings and rallies. The history of emergence of mass and class struggles including general strike, right to revolt and right to self-determination of nations teaches us that all these never started following any decree or dictum of any formal legal authority. They evolved in the process of transformation of the society from the existing obsolete form to the emerging higher one and such would continue till there is emancipation from the yoke of exploitation of man by man, once for all. Rightly remarked Romain Rolland, "When order is injustice, disorder is the beginning of justice." So, the issue is to be viewed from the angle of legitimacy and not just formal legality. Our party, the SUCI, also responded to the Court verdict banning the bandh by exhorting upon the people to judge the legitimacy of the call. So, the SUCI sought verdict of the people's court.

Roll back of taxes could prevent hike in petro-products

People also could see the point and correctly wanted to know why the judiciary, so keen to muzzle the voice of dissent, was not coming forward to give any relief to the vast multitude of teeming millions bleeding white because of these repeated bouts of price escalation of essential products. We showed in the pages of Proletarian Era (November 15, 2004 issue) that at the existing level of international oil price, the domestic tariff of a litre of petrol, after factoring in the cost of transport and refinery as well as import duty at the rate of 20%, should not exceed Rs. 15.55 while the price fixed had been as high as Rs.42.10. The huge difference is owing to the hefty taxes and cess imposed by the central and the state governments and in consequence of this pricing policy, the oil companies are amassing huge profits in thousands of crores of rupees while the common people went on being pauperized. So came the demand for withdrawal of these taxes and cess and since the governments, both central and the state, refused to listen, people had to escalate the pitch of the protest movement through observing bandh. Then, who has been safeguarding the interest of the vast majority of people — the judiciary by its pronouncement or the masses by their protest action ? This is the pertinent question.

Double standard of CPI(M)-CPI

It is understandable that the known bourgeois parties like the Congress or the BJP would brazenly act against the interest of the people and nakedly serve the ruling class. So while the BJP raised the domestic fuel tariff five times during its rule, the Congress was also on the same spree having already inflicted three doses of further hikes. But the double-speak of the CPI(M), CPI, the committed supporters to the present Congress-led government at the Centre, has been of the highest order. The Congress leaders told the press that the hike had been announced after consulting the CPI(M)-CPI in the consultative body meetings. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the CPI(M) chief minister of West Bengal said in an open public meeting in Calcutta that the central government would stand up if the CPI(M) so orders and would sit down if that is desired by Shri Bhattacharjee and his colleagues. People’s Democracy, the CPI(M)'s central organ, in its issue dated 11-17 October, 2004, clearly stated in the editorial column published in the first page that the party and its associates are providing, “content and character for the UPA government policies”. But the CPI(M) leaders feigned as if the Congress government took such decisions bypassing them and lest they get alienated further from the people, even talked of some show of opposition in the form of meetings. However, they made it abundantly clear that such opposition would not in any way embarrass the central government nor disturb its stability and the CPI(M) is pledge-bound to provide support to it for full 5-year term. But when the SUCI gave the bandh call, the CPI(M) leaders joined the chorus with the bourgeois camp in branding the bandh as “child’s play”, “one day cricket”, “attempt to create anarchy”, “exploiting the prevalent democratic environment” and “a ploy to denigrate the CPI(M)-led government.” The bandh was branded as “anti-development” and “anti-prosperity” by the CPI(M) leaders who must have felt happy to find that similar views were shared by the spokespersons of national and foreign capital as also the US consulate general. One could very well guess whose development and prosperity they were talking about and at whose cost.

When asked as to why the state government, which has imposed as high as 25% tax on petrol-diesel and over that a cess of Re.1/- per litre, does not reduce the tax rate to lessen the burden on the people, Anil Biswas, the West Bengal state secretary and politburo member of the CPI(M) bluntly replied, “Wherefrom would then the government mobilize its resources ?” However, the CPI(M) leaders are, seemingly for public consumption, asking their friendly central government to bring down the tax rate. How would one reconcile between the two ? Another argument put forth by the CPI(M) leaders against the bandh was that when the central government had increased the price, what was the logic behind calling a bandh in the state of West Bengal ? Strangely enough, CITU, the trade union arm of the CPI(M) joined other trade unions to give a call of transport bandh on the same issue in Kerala on November 24. Similarly while the CPI(M)-led government is increasing the power tariff in the state in compliance with the provisions of Electricity Regulation Bill, 2003, the CPI(M) leaders are organizing demonstrations against Congress-led Delhi state government for effecting similar hikes in electricity charges. What else it is other than political hypocrisy and expression of double standard ?

Anti-people character of CPI(M) exposed from its strike-breaking measures

People’s movements spearheaded by the SUCI are not only exposing the anti-people character of the Congress, the BJP and their associates but also laying bare the compromising social-democratic character of the CPI(M). The CPI(M) leadership is further disturbed to find its honest rank and file gradually tilting towards the revolutionary politics of the SUCI and wholeheartedly supporting various programmes of people's struggles organized by the SUCI including the bandh calls. Hence, it was so desperate to frustrate the bandh call on November 17.

Apart from massive deployment of police, RAF and strike-breaking anti-socials and criminals, police raids were made at the SUCI communes and residences of party leaders and leading organizers for pre-emptive arrests. Even the commune where ailing Comrade Nihar Mukherjee, our beloved General Secretary stayed with other comrades, was not spared. CPI(M) leadership also asked its local units and trade unions to prepare lists of the supporters and workers of their party who failed to report for duties on the bandh day at their respective work places. The SUCI dared the CPI(M) — let it withdraw its police and hooligan brigade and stop all threats and intimidation. The SUCI would also withdraw its workers and volunteers. Let the people decide if they would observe the bandh or not. But the CPI(M) did not accept the challenge. Rather, so low it sank, that the police was let loose on peaceful processions of the SUCI volunteers in support of the bandh — an act not sanctioned even in the existing law ; they beat them mercilessly and took them into custody. 1450 SUCI workers including a good number of female workers were arrested. Many sustained grievous injuries at this unprovoked baton charge by the police. Yet they failed miserably to break the general strike since people were with the SUCI. People ensured that the stubborn vindictiveness of the CPI(M) leadership, befriending the Congress at the Centre, drew blank.

Bourgeois media pressed into action

The pliant media too was pressed into action to spread anti-bandh canard. As usual, it was sought to project the bandh as a means to disturb normalcy, inimical to progress and development, and disruption of normal working. Stories were cooked up, tutored interviews arranged, figures doctored, tailored photographs released but nothing cut ice with the determined people. Those who otherwise never enquired how the have-nots, the downtrodden eked out a living, how the daily wage-earners managed to survive, suddenly became so concerned about their losing a day's work. But they received a thrashing from the poorest strata of the people who ignored such shedding of crocodile tears and rallied behind the bandh call en masse to give vent to their ire against the system that forces them to live in starvation, deprivation and utter distress. Ultimately, the all-India TV channels like Aaj Tak, Star News, and NDTV had to admit in their round the day telecast that it was a complete bandh. A leading Bengali daily in its editorial wondered that there was no picketing, no squatting, no forcible prevention. There was no apprehension of any violence as the SUCI did never indulge in vandalism. Yet the people stayed indoors. The state transport minister of the CPI(M) lamented that the government made every arrangement for running public transport but there were hardly any passenger. He also confessed that all schools and colleges were closed. TV cameras also showed that shops were closed, markets had their shutters down, all major thoroughfares and streets wore a deserted look. So much so that the CPI(M) government who issued circular of wage cut had to blow cold after the bandh by saying that the absentee government employees would forfeit a day’s leave. It had no other way, because a sizeable number of members of the CPI(M)-led State Government employees' union did not report for duty.

Battle of two lines

The battle line was thus clearly drawn between legitimacy and legality, just and unjust, the vested interest and the people's cause. In other words, on one side was the reactionary combination of the ruling class and the political outfits subserving it, the government-administration and coercive state apparatus and the other side was constituted of the SUCI, the toiling people, the conscious and conscientious public opinion. Ultimately, it was a triumph of the people. And a milestone was achieved in the history of democratic mass movement in the country, inspiring everyone round the country to close their rank and build up higher movements in the days to come.

The task ahead is to take this movement to further heights. What is necessary is united and sustained mass movement under correct revolutionary leadership based on correct political line. People’s power must be organized and released. For that, people's committees have to be formed in various offices, factories, localities, villages to conduct protracted movements on the burning issues of people's life and against the repeated attacks of the power that be on the various walks of life. Vibrant youths must come forward and enroll themselves as volunteers to respond to the need of the hour. Only the fighting people will write the new history.