Before Going to the Press
Protest We Must, But....
It is another brazen attack by the state, revealing nakedly its authoritarian and repressive character. Swooping down in different parts of India on the same day the Maharashtra police arrested lawyers, writers and civil rights activists and tried to forcibly take them to Pune, on the plea of their connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence. Without taking action against the hindutva forces that incited the Bhima Koregaon violence, the ruling BJP-led regime stealthily intended to overturn the issue. Hence in order to divert attention there was this urgency of the ruling regime to implicate, terrorize and throttle those democratic voices of protest which came forward in solidarity with thedalits. Naturally we are also part of this protest against the atrocious assault of the state on democratic rights.
But is it merely an attack on voice of dissent, or freedom of expression? As many including the Supreme Court are hinting at? By far exceeding that, whatever semblance of rights exists for the masses in this stunted, fragmented democracy from its birth that is also being sought to be demolished. The dalits have not only been targeted by communal-casteist forces in Bhima Koregaon, in Una they were stripped and thrashed in public, in Uttar Pradesh the Bhim Army leaders are being persecuted blatantly to crush the growing mobilization of dalits. The Supreme Court itself castigated the governments for unbridled lynching of muslims simply on the pretext of cow-slaughter. The recent findings also confirm the involvement of hindutva outfits in the murder of secular, anti-caste intellectuals. The students raising questions against the authoritarianism, communal, casteist and gender discriminations are also bearing the brunt of saffron communal and nationalist frenzy.
On the other hand the juggernaut of big capital has been let loose on the working masses. Labour laws, whatever little workers rights and protection existed, are being seized, unions destroyed, rights to struggle crushed. The adivasis and elsewhere peasants are being forcibly evicted by the government forces destroying their last straws of livelihood in order to satisfy the capitalists? greed for greener pastures. Thus the attempted arrests and muzzling of voices of protests is actually a part of an all-pervasive attack on the right to equality, to struggle, to organize, on the livelihood of the masses of workers, peasants, dalits, minorities.
Under pressure of protests from a section of eminent democratic individuals of the intelligentsia the Supreme Court may, for the time being, beget some relief. But the fascist forces are relentlessly and in an unbridled way continuing with their aggression. Hence the main question is how to combat this force of reaction that blatantly violates the rights of the people? How to combat the fascist forces on the streets that doesn?t give a damn about any rights of the people, thus lynching, spreading defiantly communal, anti-dalit, casteist venom, pitting one section of masses against another, while enjoying the patronage of state power? The main question, the real necessity is combatting the violent fascist aggression that is threatening the whole society, the lives of the masses, while serving big capital. In the absence of a real revolutionary democratic force, it is still now a one-sided, aggression to oppose these attacks in society. It is not at all so small an issue to be sorted out either within the courts or by means of protests by a few democratic individuals nor is it the task of some violent heroics by a handful of people. Only the awakened working class as a consistent fighter for democracy can lead the other toiling masses to fight the fascist forces, do away with all kinds of discriminations of caste, religion, region etc and rise up against the unbridled exploitation and bullying of the capitalists.
The only ray of hope is with mounting attacks the masses are also awakening from slumber in recent times. The dalits are showing more and more signs of rising up independently against their oppressions as during 2nd April demonstrations against the dilution of the SC/ST Atrocities Act. The workers in a number of industrial areas and even the peasants in different regions are being compelled to rise up and continue the fight for their rights. The disillusionment of different sections has started to manifest. What is needed at this moment is to arouse the masses and provide the conscious direction to it. Protest we must, but the arousal of the masses, the preparation is utmost important to combat the fascist forces, for democracy.
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