Mission India : To Save the People and Save the Nation
A press statement issued jointly by the CTUs and SKM, 27.11.2021
“We will jointly and more vigorously keep on heightening our struggles to collectively voice our determined opposition to the destructive policies of the present government that go against the interests of the toiling people as well as national interest, to decisively defeat the policy regime and consciously bring about a change in the situation. That is our mission, the mission of the Workers and the Peasants of India.”
The joint meeting of the Platform of Central Trade Unions and Independent Federations/Associations and Samyukta Kisan Morcha was held on 25th November 2021.
The Joint meeting while noting the continuing united struggles of the Trade Unions as well as under the leadership of Samyukta Kisan Morcha on their respective demands and also against the anti-worker, anti-farmer, anti-people and anti-national destructive policies of the BJP Govt, expressed satisfaction and confidence over the continuing active solidarity inaction by both the workers’ and Kisan movements to each others’ struggles, generating strength in the struggles on both the fronts and also drawing the support of the broader sections of peoples to these struggles.
The joint meeting also noted that in the face of continuing determined struggles by workers and kisans, the one year long kisan struggles in particular along with widespread solidarity actions, the Govt. at Centre has to retreat, may be as of now, by announcing its decision to repeal the three retrograde Farm Laws. The meeting, simultaneously maintained with unanimity that there is no scope of being complacent given the brazenly anti-people and corporate-servile character of the Government, brutally insensitive to the miseries and sufferings of the mass of the people as has been demonstrated by all its actions in the economic policy front, political governance and also on social issues since its coming to power and particularly during the entire pandemic period. There is definite reason to note that the Govt has taken certain steps like repeal of Farm Laws under compulsion owing to determined struggles and also owing to the expediency arising out of forthcoming elections to five states – UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab. Similar pre-election opportunist gestures of the Govt may be noted in their stance in not yet notifying implementation of Labour Codes (although almost everything for the same, including drawing the rules under the Codes is kept ready), marginally reducing taxes on petrol, diesel, gas etc.
The joint meeting pointed out that such gestures out of pre-election expediency can in no way camouflage the series of brazenly anti-national and anti-people machinations of the Govt. It has been continuously engineering onslaughts on the lives and livelihood and even basic survival-entitlement of the people in the form of numerous legislations and Ordinances and policy decisions on empowering and helping the corporate/lobby, towards increasing burden on the people along with concessions to corporates, aggressive privatization of almost everything including vital infrastructure and even public-utilities, curb on the democratic right to dissent, imposition of sedition clause on every democratic opposition etc all of which were anti-farmer, anti-worker, anti-people and even anti-national. They were all pro-corporate.
This is the time for workers as well as for the farmers to firmly re-assert their basic demands. It goes to the credit of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha that it took a firm position that the agitation will continue till farm laws are formally buried by the Parliament and other equally important demands viz., procurement of all crops at statutory MSP, scrapping of Electricity (Amendment) Bill etc. are met. Simultaneously the Joint Trade Union platform decided to continue to press for the scrapping of 4 Labour Codes altogether, scrapping of all privatization/corporatization of Govt. and PSUs, including NMP, food and income support to all non-income-tax paying families, universal social security for all uncovered unorganized sector workers, regularization of Scheme workers and other demands and heighten their united struggles and go ahead with the programme of two days countrywide general strike in the forthcoming Budget Session of Parliament 2022 as decided by the National Convention held on 11th November 2021.
Therefore, while waiting and watching till the Farm Laws are formally repealed by Parliament, the united struggles will continue for a whole lot of our demands unattended: just as a legal guarantee for MSP, scrapping of Electricity (Amendment) Bill, sacking of Ajay Mishra (MoS, Home), withdrawal of cases imposed on farmers during agitation, compensation to the families of the martyred kisans and place for a memorial for them are important for Kisans, formal repeal of the 4 labour codes, repeal of Essential Defence Services Act, scrapping of National Monetization Pipeline and halting privatization/corporatization of Govt. and PSUs, rollback of price rise in essential commodities, employment to youth etc are equally important for the workers and people in general.
And the Joint meeting reiterated the resolve of active solidarity to each other’s struggles and at the same time decided to strengthen workers-peasants joint struggle in the days to come –against the anti-people and anti-national policy regime of present Govt at the centre.
The Joint meeting also took serious note of the fact that while the BJP was bulldozing these policies arrogantly uncaring for the resentment welling up in the farmers and workers, they were using their poisonous divisive agenda to divert the people’s attention and create disruption in the society through Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), NPR, Love Jihad, Triple Talaq, anti-conversion laws, raising China bogie, Ram Mandir, a frenzy is being created as if Hindus versus non-Hindus is the real problem that needs to be settled! Godi Media, their social media troll army, rampant use of coercive state apparatus, filing of false FIRs, UAPA are used to silence any opposition to this poisonous divisive discourse. In the process, the Central Government has gone against many constitutional provisions, has trampled underfoot federalism that is the basis of the Indian Union.
Therefore a dividing line has emerged: while the toiling people, the farmers, the workers and their families, who are producing the wealth for the nation and national economy, have been unitedly raising their demands for civilized human survival entitlements and also to safeguard and defend national interests; staying within constitutional limits, on the one hand, the BJP regime, most loyally representing the Corporates, has been unhesitatingly trampling the basic constitutional provisions on the other, in utter abuse of governance machinery and powers in their hand to drive their pro-corporate agenda, simultaneously creating poisonous and divisive disruptions in the society. The Farmers laid down 700 precious lives, but maintained calm throughout the past one year, in the face of many unconstitutional provocations and onslaughts.
The Joint meeting of SKM and Joint Platform of CTUs/Federations/Associations jointly resolved to unitedly fight for exposing, isolating and ousting the present ruling dispensation which is the executing arm of the Corporates, both domestic and foreign, with a firm commitment to save the people as well as save and defend our dear nation from disaster and destruction.
We will jointly and more vigorously keep on heightening our struggles to collectively voice our determined opposition to the destructive policies of the present government that go against the interests of the toiling people as well as national interest, to decisively defeat the policy regime and consciously bring about a change in the situation. That is our Mission, the mission of the Workers and the Peasants of India.
“Save the People, Save the Nation”
The joint Platform of the Central Trade Unions
And
Samyukta Kisan Morcha