A Leaflet by the Sramik Sangram Committee (SSC) & Krishak Committee (KC) published on Dec 22, 2008
After Lalgarh movement, this is the time to prepare for the coming days!
Comrades of blockade movement,
So long you were on the path of struggle, forced the police-administration to sleepless nights, you were one and united. In the babu vocabulary you are the scum of society the babus of govt., police, administration the babus of CPI(M) party -- used to think that you can be used for any means, whatsoever. They could never imagine that these people, whom they looked as rustic peasants and people of labour Adivasi schedule cast, can ever unite and resist in this manner. The existing parties, big or small, could never think that barring them and even without taking them into account the people of lowest rung in society can themselves put forward an independent struggle. Even those few Majhis, having a hold on the Adivasi society having connections with the higher echelons of administration and society, could never imagine that in spite of them calling for a withdraw the commoners can continue. And this is the biggest achievement of this movement much more necessary and precious than how many of the demands could be achieved.
You have wrested few of the demands and few others in the demand list of Lalgarh could not be achieved indeed. But keep those lists of demands apart you are yet to wrestle many more accounts for age old deception and exploitation are being settled the score must be settled to the last. The fight of Lalgarh and the struggle that spread centering it was not merely a struggle against police oppression. This struggle expressed the wrath and anger accumulated in the lower rung of society against the long period of injustice and tyranny. Otherwise it could not happen in such a large scale. The people of Lalgarh started the movement of their own not being instigated by any party. Then one after another the poor, toiling Adivasis encompassing a large area started solidarity struggle in support of that movement -- started of their own they too not being provoked by any party. In many other areas the poor people, if not joined the road blocked movement, stood in support of you.
This event further proved that the fight against the police oppression at Lalgarh and not only that was also a fight against the long history of exploitation, poverty, starvation imposed on them by the ruling class a fight against the age old suffering, humiliation and deception -- a fight against the exploitation the ruling class is imposing on all the peasants - labour - factory workers, who are being robbed of their last blood, turned almost into beggars, languishing in death bed being deprived of medical treatment -- a fight against the humiliation being forcibly put under the feet of babus -- of the Adivasis and lower- caste people, who were never shown any respect let alone equal respect. The women folk of Adivasi households had to bear the vile tyranny of the upper stratum. This is why the justified anger and wrath against all these have violently championed the demand for true democracy. That demand, that need you aspire for -- for truly equal rights, equal respect a society where everyone will be truly equal and not formal equality -- a society where there is either no ruler above you neither anybody below to be ruled.
When you demanded that the head of administration should apologies, in reality it was a demand for real democracy where the whole ruling structure including the police-military-administration-judiciary should be under the control of toiling masses that is under the control of workers-peasants. In that kingdom, that is, kingdom of workers-peasants, the masses will appoint people for those services masses can, if necessary, revoke their appointment at any time. In that society the planning for agriculture and industry will be made only in the interest of toiling masses keeping in mind that there should be no loss or decay of nature and not in the interest of any propertied class. And that kingdom will be truly democratic. In order to achieve that, few small changes of the present society won't do the society should be changed from top to bottom. That is a great and huge struggle. The workers-peasants have to fight that struggle in coming future. That is the want of the workers-peasants, their true demand. It may appear that it is a matter of distant future and will take long time! But no think of, could you ever imagine, even two months back, that such a huge movement will take place in these areas!
We have to proceed to that goal. This is why every small and big fight should be used to advance in that direction how the people can be won over to our side, how can their consciousness be improved upon how to maintain and expand their unity keeping the interest of advancing to that goal in mind. The amount of success or failure of a movement should be measured in the yardstick of how much could we advance to that goal. Hope you understand that the preparatory tasks for that great struggle the task of advancement of consciousness of toiling people and expansion of their unity through the peoples' movementtask of building up of independent organisation all these necessary tasks cannot be fulfilled in the way the Maoists do them like few actions with arms and ammo by few armed member-cadres. If we proceed in that way, it will rather hamper the task of preparations for that great struggle task of preparing the poor toiling masses. This must be understood in clear terms.
You have to be careful if you start doing that preparatory work. This is because there are many in the field today who want to use your agitation to bring you in their party fold. Or use your discontent to fill up the ballot boxes wants to assume governmental power using your support or want to keep you under their control by throwing some petty sops or lure. Or some people, using the strength of your support, want to bargain with the upper echelons. Hope you understand who is doing what.
So be careful. For many ages the poor toiling people, farm-labourers, workers-peasants have pulled the yoke of rich classes. Those parties that run the kingdom of the propertied class have used the workers-peasants for ballots for keeping them as obedient subjects of the kingdom of rich people. That's why, as opposed to that, you have to try to build the independent organisation of the poor toiling people and strengthen it. Keep in mind you are not alone. The different exploited layers of society, different classes are themselves gathering in the arena of struggle with their own independent initiative against the onslaught of propertied class, foreign imperialists, and the indigenous and foreign companies. One of its big instances was established by the Adivasis of Kalinganagar of Orissa. Even after losing 13 lives in police firing they have stalled the eviction program of their govt. being carried out on behalf of Tata Company. Then you have also seen the struggle of Singur Nandigram that started independently the independent struggle of the dalits, i.e. lower-casts people of Maharashtra the anti eviction struggle of the villagers of Raigad district. Still more are happening around, the news of which are not even published by the newspapers of the propertied class. And on the other hand is preparing the working class too the leader of that great struggle getting dissociated from different other parties in various factories starting to organize with factory plane demands by building their own organisation with their own initiative they are also learning how to fight and run their own organisation themselves. Utilise this period of preparations.Sramik Sangram Committee & Krishak Committee