THE present situation for the workers is not like the usual. It is certainly unusual. But, is it ‘New’? Is it ‘New Normal’? Is it ‘Abnormal’? What type of a situation is this?

It is necessary to understand this to deal with the present situation.

The change in the situation was dramatically brought about with the sudden announcement of the countrywide lockdown on the evening of March 24th. The lockdown came into force in four hours.

Till then crores of workers in our country drawing regular salaries were under the impression that their lives were more or less secure. Their salaries might not be huge; most of them were not getting even the minimum wage that was being demanded by the trade unions way back in 2015. For most of them, it was Rs 15,000 or Rs 12,000 or even less per month. But what was so reassuring about even this meagre income was that it was regular. They could plan their expenditure and balance their budgets. What was most important for them was that they did not have to beg or stretch their hands in front of anybody. They were living with dignity.

All that changed suddenly. Crores of people woke up to find that their services were no more required for their employers. The society was no longer able to use what they had to offer. They lost their jobs and only sources of incomes.  Suddenly all these crores of people, who led dignified lives with self respect, found themselves vulnerable. They found themselves unable to pay their children’s school fees; defaulting on rent payments, skipping meals. What they were most proud of, their dignity, their ability to live within their means, without begging, crumbled. Now, many are compelled to look for and depend on help to survive.

Their lives turned upside down.

The prime minister said that all this was necessary to contain the Covid 19. It was a war to be won in 21 days, just three days more than the 18 days that it took the Mahabharat war. The new coronavirus is more powerful than the kauravas it seemed and chappan inch certainly could not claim to be equal to Arjuna, his chariot driven by none other than Krishna. Banging pots and pans,  ringing bells, switching lights off and on, shouting ‘Go Corona’ slogans – and of course, havans, pujas, etc and etc were all touted as powerful weapons in the war, along with the ritualistic exhortations to wear masks, wash hands, sanitise, maintain social distance.

They believed him. They were more than willing to do their bit in this war against corona, as they had patiently put up with loss of jobs and incomes during demonetisation, around four years back. At that time, Modi said it was necessary to fight ‘black money, corruption, terrorism’. Similarly they voted for Modi and BJP because they believed they were discharging their patriotic responsibility in the fight against the so-called ‘anti national’ forces out to destabilise the country.

Not 21, but more than 210 days are now over. But, victory over Covid 19 is nowhere in sight. Instead, India is now only second to the USA, in terms of total number of infections and deaths. Workers and the common people are worried about when normalcy would return.

Most of the workers, most of the poor people expected the government would help them in their time of distress. They hoped that at least it would ensure that its own order that jobs should not be eliminated, wages should not be cut – would be implemented; that it would help the migrant workers at least reach their villages safely; that it would ensure they would not starve to death.

But to their utter dismay, nothing like that happened. Instead, the government took back its own order in 53 days when it was challenged in court. The ‘Atmanirbhar’ package was not for the workers or common people. All it contained was concessions for the corporates on the pretext that this would encourage them to invest which in turn would generate employment which in turn would help the people and the economy. Old decisions like labour law codification, privatisation, farm bills etc were also made part of this ‘relief package’.

Not only was no help forthcoming from the government. Workers were even more dismayed that the Modi led BJP government was moving so fast to dismantle one by one the little protections that they had, the few rights that they had. Labour Codes were passed in parliament, in the absence of the opposition parties, without discussion. Farm bills were passed in parliament suspending the MPs who demanded division. Not only were these MPs exercising their right, but they also wanted to show to the people, who stood where; MPs of which party supported these bills, of which party stood with our farmers. But the MPs who demanded division were driven out and the bills passed.

The government invoked the ‘Disaster Management Act’ to impose the lockdown, for what it said, to contain corona. In many places, weekend curfews were imposed and continued even when the unlockdown was well in advance. Section 144 to prevent people from gathering continued even when shops and malls opened. Cases were booked against workers and people who came out to raise their demands. Many were sent to jail. These were in addition to all the others who were booked and jailed for protesting against the attacks on dalits, against the attacks on human rights, against the attacks on citizenship rights etc. In addition to the Disaster Management Act, the BJP government has also been using various other Acts and agencies – the UAPA, the Sedition Act, the NIA, the CBI, etc and etc to suppress all dissent and opposition to its policies.

This is the situation today – the BJP government using the Covid 19 pandemic and the related lockdown to attack workers and common people from all fronts. Is such a situation entirely new? Unemployment and job losses have been there in varying degrees in different periods. That is not so unusual. Non implementation of rights and benefits was also not unusual. Attacks on basic human and democratic rights and also on parliamentary norms and constitutional rights – the country had the experience of internal Emergency under the Congress regime with Indira Gandhi as prime minister. There have also been many examples of violations and attacks in between too. These are also not entirely new.

What is new as well as heinous is the BJP government’s determination to use such health and humanitarian crisis as Covid 19 and the lockdown, ostensibly imposed to contain it, to ruthlessly take its neoliberal agenda to its logical end. The Modi government has taken this up as a comprehensive project, as its attempt to protect the profits of the capitalist class in the midst of the economic crisis.

Another important point to be noted is that this response to Covid 19 and the economic crisis are not specific to the BJP government in our country alone. Most of the governments in capitalist countries, including the advanced capitalist countries have responded to the economic crisis in the same way – by curbing the basic hard won rights and benefits of the workers, particularly their rights to unionisation. Drastic cut in public expenditure on health, under neoliberalism, has left the people to the mercies of private corporate health care. Across the world, most of those who died due to lack of proper care, either due to corona or other illnesses, during the pandemic, are the poor.

The capitalist crisis was there even before the Covid 19 pandemic and the related lockdown. For the capitalist class, the only way to protect their stagnant or sagging profits is to shift the burden on to the working class and other sections of toiling people. The only way to maximise profits and amass their wealth is by grabbing people’s wealth – natural resources, public sector including public education and public health. They see no other way but to expedite neoliberalism, which is discredited among the people across the world.

But, they know this would meet with stiff resistance by the workers and the people. This resistance must be suppressed. How? First, prevent people from getting united and from fighting unitedly. They can fight only when they are united. Use religious faith, caste divisions, gender, regional and ethnic differences to divert their attention from their real issues of job losses, unemployment, price rise, hunger, poverty etc. Make them believe that the majority is under threat from the minority; the so called upper castes are under threat from the dalits. All their problems are because of the ‘others’.

Construction of a temple in Ayodhya, demolition of another mosque in Mathura, regulating inter-faith marriages, attempts to establish ‘Hindu Rashtra’ with obviously Manusmriti as the constitution, dictating not only people but also animals about what they should eat or not eat – are these going to create jobs, or provide income, eradicate hunger and malnutrition, improve health facilities or in the immediate situation, fight Covid 19? No. But for the BJP and its governments, at the centre and in many states, these are the priorities. Simultaneously – threaten, intimidate, and attack those who insist on raising their voice. Target the victims. Label whoever persists in opposing these attacks as ‘anti national’, ‘urban naxals’ etc. Arrest them and put them in jail; or taunt them to go to Pakistan.

This comprehensive project of neoliberalism and communalism, to promote corporate interests, both domestic and foreign, and to establish the RSS objective of ‘Hindu Rashtra’ – this is the essence of the present situation. This comprehensiveness of the project to save the capitalist system from growing people’s anger is what is new today, under the Modi regime. Today, the BJP, the political wing of the communal fascistic RSS, is the best bet for the capitalist class to safeguard its interests.

The present situation shows the desperation of the capitalist class to go to any extent to save the profit driven capitalist system; a system which has proved itself incapable of solving any of humanity’s basic problems, despite unprecedented resources and wealth. Unable to find any alternative within the present system, Covid 19 and the lockdown appeared as a golden opportunity, an ‘act of God’ to carry forward their agenda of maximising their profits and amassing wealth. It is ‘Now or Never’ for them. That is the level of their desperation.

The drum beaters of neoliberalism are trying to depict the present situation as a ‘New Normal’. They want to create the impression that 19th century slave like conditions for the workers, will be the ‘normal’ henceforth; our farmers being controlled by corporate agribusinesses would be the ‘normal’ henceforth; our country losing self reliance and sovereignty will be the ‘normal’ henceforth.

But, the working class, the peasantry, the progressive and patriotic sections of people cannot and will not accept such cruel attempts at ‘normalisation’ of the present situation. Not under any circumstances.

In fact, there is another ‘new’ to this situation – the increasing willingness and determination of the working class, the farmers and other toiling sections to fight to protect their rights and livelihood, facing difficulties and braving oppression. The period of lockdown was a period of many unprecedented struggles. Within a month through the lockdown, lakhs of people, large numbers of them women, shouted from their rooftops and terraces demanding the government to stop lecturing and act by providing food. The seven months’ lockdown witnessed the historic three days’ joint strike by the coal workers, the strike by the oil workers, by the scheme workers, particularly ASHAs, by the steel workers, by the workers in many private industries. It was during this period that the solidarity and support between the two major producers of wealth of our country, the workers and the peasants, grew remarkably and visibly. Lakhs of workers and peasants joined in protests on common demands and in solidarity with each others’ demands, on August 9, on September 23 and on September 25 this year. In highly significant developments, on behalf of the entire working class, the joint platform of trade unions supported the November 26-27 countrywide protest called by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), and the AIKSCC representing over 200 peasants’ organisations extended solidarity and support to the upcoming November 26 countrywide general strike called by the joint trade union platform. 

This is what we need to understand about the present situation in its totality. The desperation of the ruling classes needs to be noted. At the same time the readiness of the toiling masses to fight unitedly and with determination also must be noted. Desperation can never win. Determination does. United and determined fight definitely will. The working class has to grab this situation and answer the desperate call of ‘Now or Never’ of the ruling classes with a determined ‘Never Ever’. Preparations for this fight should start ‘NOW’.

This situation calls for united actions, united defiance and united resistance by the working class, the peasants and all sections of toiling people, NOW. The working class and the leadership of the working class must keep in mind that this fight cannot be deferred, delayed, or diverted. The November 26 general strike and the  November 26-27 countrywide protests by the peasantry are the beginning. The preparations by the working class for the strike as well as for the solidarity to the peasants’ struggle have already started. They must be intensified ‘NOW’ with the understanding that these are precursors to much bigger struggles in the days to come.