'Inquilabi' Comrades' Solution On Maruti Like Struggles
Maruti Suzuki workers struggle in Manesar, Gurgaon last year has generated quite a noticeable amount of interest among various political and trade union organizations from within the country and abroad. Such an increased amount of interest about the workers struggle has arisen not only because of the Maruti struggle itself but also due to overall emerging struggles of workers and other sections of society in different parts of the world. This has generated a new enthusiasm on the significance of these struggles the nature of capitalist assaults, the need for unity and development of these struggles etc.
In such a context Inquilabi Majdoor Kendra has published a pamphlet analyzing the Maruti workers struggle - a commendable effort presenting a detailed account of the struggle, exposing the opportunist, compromising role of the central trade unions and the power and potential of Maruti and three other Suzuki plant workers in struggle. But at the end of their analysis in the said pamphlet titled "Maruti Suzuki Ke Majdooron ka Sangarsh - Sabak aur Chunotia" (The Struggle of Maruti Suzuki workers - Lessons and Challenges) they have made certain abrupt comments and conclusions which are misleading and contradictory raising quite a few important questions. That is the subject of this discussion.
In the pamphlet they have said "If the Maruti struggle could have been led by any revolutionary party then the picture of this movement would have been different. It would not only have advanced the revolutionary struggle of workers but would also have placed a serious challenge before Indian capitalism. But in the absence of a revolutionary party the Maruti struggle neither could nor was able to come out of the immediate issues and narrow limits" [ Maruti Suzuki ke Majdooron ka Sangarsh - Sabak aur Chunotia -page 31].Thus according to them either if the revolutionary party would have been present it would have led Maruti or such workers struggle, advancing the revolutionary workers struggle etc. or in the absence of such a party the workers economic struggle at the factory level is doomed to remain restricted within its narrow, petty, limits. Either this or that, there is no other option, none other situation seems possible to them. And the deciding factor is the presence or absence of a revolutionary party. If it is bound to happen in this way then, where lies the efficacy of such pamphlets in one of which mentioned above the Inquilabi comrades have analyzed and brought out the significance and positives and negatives of the five month old workers struggle in Maruti? If with the absence of a revolutionary party such economic struggles of the workers are doomed to failure, as they themselves have stated, why get involved in such struggles with concern and seriousness as Inquilabi comrades also does and are urging others organization to do? Why cry hoarse over a hypothetical situation - "If the Maruti struggle could have been led by any revolutionary party then ..." when it is a stark reality that such party is not there and there is no possibility of formation of such a party in immediate future? The communists never raise a hue and cry over the absence of an ideal hypothetical condition. They only try to understand the object being analyzed in its motion under the given condition that exists, identifying its possibilities and potentials towards development and decide their conscious role accordingly.
In the section "Some Shortcomings of the Maruti Struggle" in the same pamphlet they have written - "Due to lack of a revolutionary party of the working class and revolutionary guidance whatever big possibilities were borne by the movement that could not be realized" [ Ibid-pg 32]. It may be assumed that when these Inquilabi comrades talk of 'big possibilities' not being realized and they enumerate a number of positive features of the Maruti struggle, the comrades simply do not want to shrug off the importance of such struggles by just saying - the revolutionary party is not there, hence these factory level economic struggles are doomed to fail and nothing can be done about it. They probably attempted to emphasize through this mass pamphlet the necessity of a working class party. But is it sufficient to tell that there is the necessity of a revolutionary party, that its presence could have made the picture different etc. ..?
Relegating the role of the workers and the significance of their struggle into the background and the problems, possibilities and the import of such struggles with respect to the working class movement, specially at present when the workers have started revolting even in the absence of a revolutionary party of the working class, the Inquilabi Majdoor Kendra comrades seem to be more concerned about the formation of a revolutionary working class party and the positions of the communist revolutionary groups regarding it. For that reason they have stated "unfortunately today in India there is no revolutionary party of the working class and whichever revolutionary communist groups are present, among them the majority because of the wrong evaluation of Indian society have maintained a distance from the working class ...." "About the working class and among them specially about the industrial working class and their struggles they are existing in a state of indifference and do not know what to do" [Ibid -pg -31]. In an analysis of a particular union struggle, its import and constraints in the given situation cannot the workers, especially their front -ranking sections demand to learn more especially about the situation prevailing at large in the midst of which they and other struggling workers are trying to advance their struggle? Or is it that, the liberator of the workers from their doomed economic struggle, the revolutionary party of the working class, has to be formed first separately as an extraneous organization by the communist revolutionary groups outside of and detached and disconnected from the workers struggles and the leading sections of workers?
Even if in the context of necessity of the front-ranking struggling workers and their struggle they had placed the problems of the revolutionary communist groups, still isn't this a very partial and distorted picture of the condition of the revolutionary communist groups and the problems of formation of a revolutionary working class party? The Maruti workers themselves during their five months of struggle have come across diverse political organizations, trade unions, student and youth organizations that appeared before them in support and solidarity. They started with some dependence on the old established central trade unions such as the AITUC, HMS, CITU understood to an extent through direct experience the petty political competitions of these organizations vying to gain sole positions of unquestionable leadership of the Maruti workers . More and more as the struggle proceeded they learnt to shy away from these and keep the leadership of their movement in their own hands despite many shortcomings. They have also seen numerous small revolutionary organization with little or no worker following among them arriving with their pamphlets, leaflets and diverse suggestions. Some struggling workers of Maruti have been heard to have commented 'Kitna sare pradhanji aa rahe hain!' (So many presidents/leaders are coming!). The young inexperienced but fighting workers were overwhelmed by the support but also perplexed to a great extent by the presence of so many revolutionary organizations - each of them talking of revolutionary struggle against the exploitative capitalists and their state machinery. And this experience they were having when they from their own struggle itself got pushed more and more, knowingly or unknowingly, towards the necessity of realization of bigger unity, united struggle on a much larger scale and appropriate united organization involving workers of many more factories to fittingly reply to the attacks of the govt., the state machinery and capitalists' associations supporting the Maruti management.
So should not the workers, the main struggling force in the subject of discussion of this pamphlet, have been told properly, about the important hurdles that they should immediately attempt to cross, the concrete problems that persisted in their formation of such united struggles and an appropriate organization to lead such struggles ? That they are in struggle in a peculiar, unprecedented situation when it is nothing new that almost for 40 years such attempts towards formation of a revolutionary working class party has failed. That the revolutionary communist organizations with negligible penetration and involvement of struggling workers have instead more and more tried to consolidate separately landing increasingly in stagnation and shrinking area of activity. That after the international defeat of the revolutionary workers power established in some countries, which became bastions of the international working class movement and the debacle of the revolutionary movement led by their parties it is not simply a matter of 'wrong evaluation of Indian society' by some political organizations, but there exists no working class party, not only in this country but in any country of the world. That the working class and numerous revolutionary groups have remained separated with much confusion and divergence among different streams of thought. That after years of lull and disintegration in such a situation when the workers in different regions have once again started rising in struggles they are not only facing hurdles just because of absence of a working class party but because of the much deep-seated problem of defeat and disintegrated state of the working class movement which has spread its influence starting from their economic struggle up to the formation of the working class party. The adversity of such a situation is also being experienced by the struggling workers prodding them towards a conscious role, initiative and control for not only about leading their unions by themselves but also about formation of working class organizations, uniting workers of different factories and regions immediately, to launch united class struggle of the working class and contribute in some way in the coming days for re-establishment of their true working class party, which has been derailed and disintegrated by betrayers of the working class.
The Inquilabi comrades have also mentioned about the potential of the workers in this respect in their pamphlet - "the workers of organized sector especially the unity, collectivity, developed consciousness and developed organization of the big and modern factories are the reasons due to which they can play the advanced role in workers struggle" [Ibid -pg-30] or "working class of big factories like Maruti because of working with developed productive forces and in according with their size and consciousness are the advanced section of the working class" [Ibid- pg-31]. Still instead of trying to address and suggest steps, however small it may be, to involve the struggling workers or their leading sections in the efforts to overcome the problems of working class unity and formation of working class organization as one of their immediate, important tasks, the Inquilabi comrades have jumped to another astonishing conclusion.
In this part of the pamphlet about the Maruti workers struggle they have brought into discussion only the question of the necessity of a revolutionary working class party putting so much over-emphasis on its presence that as if only the presence of such a party could have catapulted a one -factory (big modern factory) struggle into 'a large scale workers struggle', into the advancement of 'revolutionary struggle of workers' and 'would also have placed a serious challenge before Indian capitalism' or transformed 'the movement into political struggle'. Under the sub-heading 'Lack of Conscious Element' they have written "giving the struggle the correct political direction ... uniting the large mass of working class in support of this movement and placing a serious challenge before the capitalist class and advancing the class struggle or in other words transforming the movement into political struggle, in such matters the weakness of conscious elements went on tormenting. Due to lack of a revolutionary party of the working class and revolutionary guidance whatever big possibilities were borne by the movement that could not be realized" [Ibid- pg-32]
A rare instance of one single factory struggle leading to the emergence of revolutionary working class struggle comes to our mind - Lena, 1912 Russia the workers of Lena Gold Mining Company were in struggle with their economic demands. In the midst of their strike firing on a workers rally killed 270 workers and injuring 250. With that barbaric killing a wave of strikes swept throughout Russia. Lenin wrote "The mass strikes spreading from district to district, their tremendous growth, the political and economic strikes ... are all obvious indications of the true nature of the movement, which is a revolutionary uprising of the masses ..."[ LCW vol-18, The Revolutionary Uprising]. So it was the changing situation, the changed mood of the worker masses, the assertions of their courage, the speedy spread of their struggles that burst forth from the Lena episode to a working class struggle in the then Russia. The workers through their activity in rising struggles were changing the situation giving rise to new possibilities.
The Bolshevik party, the revolutionary party of the working class was there, but still recovering from the crisis within its organization after the defeat of the first revolution of 1905 to 1907 and desertions of many important intellectual leaders from the party. It was the conscious worker comrades of the party who were making heroic efforts to revive and reorganize the party from below. Even in the strike committee of the Lena goldmine workers the Bolshevik party workers occupied a leading position. But Lenin did not talk of any 'large scale workers struggle' to be 'built' by the revolutionary party as no struggle can be 'built'['khara kia ja sakta hain'-pg-30 ]. On the contrary, Lenin and his party were following the symptoms of changing situation from the time prior to Lena for determining the task of the Bolsheviks. On November 1910 with even scant material at his disposal Lenin paid critical attention to certain emerging students demonstration with workers joining it and wrote 'Is This The Turn of The Tide?' [LCW V-16, Nov-1910]. Noticing the Lena events in the midst of this changing situation, Lenin wrote "This uprising did not come as a bolt from the blue. The way had been paved for it over a long period by all conditions of Russian life, and the mass strikes over the Lena shootings and the May day strikes merely marked its actual arrival" [The Revolutionary Uprising - LCW,V-18] . Thus the emergence and spread of struggle among the workers masses was not just the creation of any revolutionary party. It emerged from the objectively aggravating contradictions within the society. Lena was noticed in its midst only as a representative front-ranking struggle expressing the urge of the masses.
Did Lenin and his party talk of transforming the single mining industry Lena struggle into a political struggle of the working class? Rather on the contrary he brought to the notice of the working class and revolutionaries the connection between the generally emerging situation of struggle of the class and the particular episode of Lena. But contrary to this, in the discussion of Inquilabi comrades on Maruti struggle, they have attached sole importance only on the presence of a revolutionary party on developing the Maruti factory workers struggle up to advancing the revolutionary workers struggle, placing serious challenge before Indian capitalism etc. Undoubtedly the situation here is nowhere near the revolutionary situation emerging in Russia in 1912 that burst forth with Lena. Neither nowhere are the present revolutionary groups near the strength and influence of the then crisis-ridden Russian party. But the appraisal of the Lena incidents clearly shows the importance of understanding the concrete manifestations of the changed situation brought about by the masses of workers rising in spontaneous revolts over wide regions.
When the Inquilabi comrades write that "The reverberations of Maruti struggle could be heard on global scale" [ Maruti ke Majdooron ka sangharsh... - pg 30] they also state something about today's changing situation. But they deduced from it " In this way the Maruti struggle has once again proved that centering on one big company a large scale workers movement can be built" [Ibid- pg 30]. Is it merely a question of developing one big company struggle into a large-scale workers movement? Can only a Maruti like big factory struggle be led by a party, even if it were present, to develop the revolutionary struggle of the whole working class and challenge Indian capitalism? The comrades are over-eager to lead one factory struggle in order to develop the revolutionary struggle of the whole working class and even challenge capitalism through it, irrespective of the situation within the class at large!
Putting so much emphasis on their imagined party and its possibility of 'building' larger class struggles from one factory struggle they have missed the concrete opportunities of the present changes in situation. Changes in present situation has started. But what are its concrete implications? Their attention is not focused on the definite expressions of the workers in struggle and the class as a whole. They do not see that a preliminary start in change of mood of workers towards struggle is only emerging, that reverberations of such struggle are occurring within workers far and wide because of similar conditions and rising aspirations of struggle in them also, albeit in a very preliminary stage and in varied degrees. And it is this change in situation of not only Maruti workers but the worker masses in general, which if it really grows and spreads, is very important to arouse and move the masses. They have also missed the very important lesson that further growth of it does not depend solely on the mere work of a revolutionary working class party. A wider spread of struggle among workers more and more gives rise to the feeling of the necessity of unity among the workers. And the rise of struggle comes from the experiences of life in the midst of aggravating contradictions in society and when and in what form it may come that no one can predict. In November 1908 Lenin wrote " ...no data about the crisis, even if they were ideally accurate, can in reality decide the question of whether a rise of the revolutionary tide is at hand or not: because such a rise depends on a thousand additional factors which it is impossible to measure beforehand... To answer such a question there is only one way: to keep a careful finger on the pulse of the country's whole political life, and especially the state of the movement and of the mood of the mass of the proletariat" [The Assessment Of The Present Situation-LCW- V-15]. Here comes the conscious role of a revolutionary party, nay not under present conditions of any imagined party, but of the revolutionary groups actually existing in reality at present, regarding the incipient struggles. Any revolutionary organisation which is not entrenched in the worker masses to a considerable degree 'to keep a careful finger on the pulse of the country's whole political life, and especially the state of the movement and of the mood of the mass of the proletariat', will not be really able to 'support and extend the movement' or play any role in that which is trying to emerge from different regions of the country. Inquilabi comrades themselves have stated that majority of the revolutionary communist group "have maintained a distance from the working class" that they are indifferent about the workers struggles. So the party about which it has been repeatedly harped over, is still remaining elusive on one hand and the really demanded conscious role of the actually existing groups, in such a situation to help realize the aspirations of struggling workers of different factories like that of Maruti's for bigger workers' unity and struggle, even if in some form of preliminary class organization, to start with, even if emerging at least objectively, has remained neglected and disregarded. The Maruti struggle has been analysed but the tasks have only devolved on the revolutionary groups to once again attempt and form that party elusive for decades, without any signs of drastic change on their roles! And the workers in the struggles have no tasks before them!
Lenin, during that period, talked of consolidating the party unity marred by splits and desertions and the need for further spread of organizations to develop the struggle of the working class. And the noticeable thing is, for this he attached special importance to the entrenchment of the organization among the workers struggles. In 1910, prior to Lena in 1912 , it was written "The editorial board of the Central Organ recognize the consideration of our party and its unity may at the present time be achieved only by the rapprochement which has already began, between definite factions that are strong and influential in the practical workers movement and not by moralizing whining for their abolition" [Draft Revolution on Consolidation of the Party and of Its Unity - LCW V-16] . Just after Lena, Lenin once again wrote "To be able to support and extend the movement we need organization and more organization" [The Revolutionary Uprising -LCW V-18]. So the worker masses, not just in one or a few factories but over large regions aroused in ferment had moved ahead into revolutionary upswing, the revolutionary party although in crisis, already having substantial working-class basis had also started recovering from it, still Lenin talked of insufficiency of the extent of organisation to fulfill the tasks of that situation. It was the then concrete situation of the objective forces emerging through the struggles that brought forward these tasks and Lenin talked about those urgent tasks to be assumed by the subjective forces accordingly.
But the revolutionary groups at present being still in the revolutionary stream of organizations, are badly detached from and indifferent to the workers struggles. Obviously they envisage formation of revolutionary parties, but parties of diverse kinds. And the Inquilabi comrades write "If the Maruti struggle could have been led by any revolutionary party then the picture of this movement would have been different ..." [Ibid - Pg31 ] . Can 'any' revolutionary party', even it could be formed, make all the difference by only its presence and be able to really lead such struggles , formed from those groups who are not at all 'strong and influential in the practical workers movement' and without a significantly changed situation where the masses have really started moving? Do Inquilabi comrades want that 'any' such revolutionary party be formed out of all these groups, grossly detached from the working class and expect that if such a party is formed it would make the picture of the emerging workers struggles really different? Unfortunately, for them this appears to be the solution i.e. only in the establishment of any such revolutionary party formed outside of all the actually occurring struggles and the prevalent concrete conditions of the working class, expecting it to be capable to lead these struggles and realize their 'big possibilities'! Comrades our modest reminder once again remains that without further much wider level of arousal of the workers struggles----of which however there are signs but at a much preliminary stage in this country till now----without real penetration and integration with these emerging workers struggles, merely the presence of 'any' revolutionary party never makes any real difference. It's the working class in a situation of arousal and the revolutionary party commensurately entrenched within that class that makes it possible. Until then the workers who have started moving must be helped to take steps towards realization of their aspirations for wider unities as a class at least in some form serving the objective necessity. It's this, that may pave the way for real leaps in the future.
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