THE working class of India has once again sounded the bugle of resistance. The Central Trade Unions (CTUs) have collectively called for a nation-wide General Strike on February 12; the eighth major one since the BJP came to office in 2014. With the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and agricultural workers’ organisations extending unconditional support to the strike, it will not merely be a day of protest, but it is going to be a massive assertion of the toiling masses against the predatory anti-people policies of the RSS led regime. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] is actively supporting this call for strike. Now, the responsibility falls upon every Party member, every cadre, and every sympathiser to ensure that this call resonates in every factory, every field, every office, and every household across the country.

THE CONTEXT OF THE STRUGGLE

We are currently witnessing an unprecedented assault on the livelihoods of the Indian workers, agricultural workers and farmers. The Modi government has accelerated its neoliberal agenda under the garb of ‘reforms’. What they call ‘ease of doing business’ is, in reality, the ‘ease of exploitation’, for the corporates. The four Labour Codes, which seek to bury a century of hard-won workers’ rights, are being pushed through to turn India’s workforce into a pool of precarious, unprotected labor. The right to organise, the right to collective bargaining, and the right to a regulated eight-hour workday are all under the guillotine. Simultaneously, the National Monetisation Pipeline is being used to auction off our public sector undertakings (PSUs) in insurance, banking, energy, and transport, to a handful of crony capitalists. This is a systemic dismantling of the sovereign foundations of the Indian welfare state. The communal-corporate nexus is spreading the poison of identity politics to divide the working class, hoping that by setting one against another, the loot of our national resources can continue unchallenged.

CPI(M) AND THE STRUGGLE

For the CPI(M), support for trade union actions is not merely an exercise in solidarity, it is an organic part of our revolutionary duty. We recognise that the struggle for People’s Democratic Revolution is inextricably linked to the struggle of the working class against Capital. As cadres, we must understand that the February 12 strike is a protest action to get the Labour Codes scrapped so that our erstwhile labour laws can be restored and strengthened and a fair minimum wage that reflects current inflationary pressures can be ensured. It is an effort to ensure social security. We are fighting for universal pension and healthcare for the unorganised sector, which constitutes over 90 per cent of India's workforce.

Against the backdrop of the scrapping of the MGNREGA, it is a struggle to combat unemployment. Apart from demanding its reinstatement, we also seek meaningful job creation and the filling up of lakhs of vacancies in government services. This strike is an action to protect the interests of our farmers, small businesses and general consumers as the Seed Bill and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill floated by the Modi government will create a disastrous impact on agriculture, domestic and MSME electricity consumers, and the public electricity sector of our country.

When private and foreign players are being allowed to enter the highly risky, hazardous and strategically important nuclear power production sector and 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been allowed in the insurance sector, this strike is a crucial intervention to halt the privatisation spree. To save our Public Sector Units (PSUs) is to save the economic sovereignty of India. It is bearing all this in mind that the CPI(M) is actively supporting the call given by the CTUs. It is also precisely why that on the day of the strike, Party cadres will be mobilised in large numbers in support of the action.

The success of this strike will be measured not just by the silence in the factories and the offices, but also by the roar on the streets and the farms. All Party units – from the State Committees down to the local Branches – have to immerse themselves in massive outreach programmes. We have to go to the workers at the factory gates, the construction sites, the IT parks, and the agrarian hubs and explain how this strike is in defence of the common man’s kitchen and the future. We have to visit every home of the rural and urban poor. When the ‘khet mazdoor’, the ‘mazdoor’ and the ‘kisan’ stand together, the mightiest of thrones tremble. Therefore, we should strengthen the unity of the toiling masses of the country by ensuring that the demands of the farmers and agricultural workers are integrated into our campaign. This strike is an opportunity to emphasise class unity.

Inflation and unemployment do not discriminate on the basis of religion; neither should the resistance to them. We should also expose the communal trap by being vigilant against attempts to distract the masses with divisive rhetoric. Every Party member must be on the ground, ensuring that the strike is a total success in their respective areas, characterised by total mobilisation on the day of the strike.

FORWARD TO VICTORY

The ruling classes believe they can tire us out. They believe that through the use of state machinery and the media, they can suppress the voices of dissent. They are wrong. History is a witness that when the working class decides to move, no power on earth can stop the tide of change. The February 12 strike will be a declaration that the toiling masses of India will not surrender their hard-fought rights at the altar of corporate profit. It is a warning to the powers that be – the wealth of this nation belongs to those who produce it, not to those who plunder it. Let us rise to the occasion. Let the red flag flutter in every corner of the country. Let the unity of the working class be the shield against the forces of exploitation, hatred and division.

Onward to the February 12 General Strike! Inquilab Zindabad!