Rage against fascism from Hugli to Ganga

As the fascist onslaught is on the surge in India, resistance by the revolutionary communist organisations is also gaining momentum. There has been a series of campaigns by organisations of the revolutionary communist camp among the masses against the fascist attacks on the people of India. 

Previously revolutionary student organisations from fourteen states came together on the 8th of October at Jantar Mantar against the New Education Policy 2020, a nefarious policy designed to exclude the children belonging to the working class from the education system which was already unaffordable for a big chunk of the working class. 

In continuation of the resistance revolutionary organisations of Bengal, Jharkhand, and Bihar came together to organise a Yatra called Jan Chetna Yatra (Journey for People’s Consciousness). Almost 150 revolutionary students and activists started from Kolkata’s Esplanade on the 6th of December and ended on the 20th after reaching Banaras - the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi a bastion of reactionary right-wing in the state of Uttar Pradesh where the most reactionary and fascist government of Ajay Singh Bisht aka Yogi Adityanath is in power from last six years, dubbed as bulldozer raj infamous for terrorising Muslim minority and working class.   

Yatra travelled more than a thousand kilometres and reached out to the people of both villages and cities. Campaigning among Industrial as well as Agricultural workers and broader toiling masses against the rise of fascist attacks on the democratic and economic rights of the people.

During the 15 days on the streets, this grand and glorious Yatra of the anti-fascist forces campaigned through 17 districts to raise awareness and call the masses for the struggle to save the hard-earned labour law, subsidized education and the democratic freedom of the people of India. More than 70 public meetings were held on crowded urban roads, in remote villages and metropolitan cities.

It was quite an encouraging sight to see revolutionaries both young and seasoned delivering insightful fiery speeches making people aware of the fascist policies and their impact on the daily lives of hard-working people. 

It was heartening to see the respect and support for the red flag among both urban and rural proletariat. Comrades belonging to states under the control of the fascist party BJP like Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh, and particularly Uttar Pradesh, were amazed to see the positive response of the common people in Bihar and Bengal which is indeed the legacy of the valiant struggle of the comrades in the past shattering the feudal authority and structures. 

Few comrades were curious about why we cannot see a large number of youth participating in rural areas as we did in urban centres. The reason simply being that a majority of youth migrate to cities and other states for work and education.

To the urban youth who still think the struggle against feudalism, and the distribution of the land is the primary task, the whole experience was quite a lesson. Villagers who got the land after the struggles of the past have realised that a small piece of land is not sufficient for their survival. The struggle against rising prices of consumer goods, the uncertainty of the market prices of their produce, remoteness of their land have made them prefer a job in the city to farming. We observe how migration for work dissolves the superstructural feudal ties of the village.

(I have 2-4 bigha land but can not survive on that, that's why I need some kind of job)

It is the realisation that the structure of the rural society has changed, the majority of the people even in the rural areas have become workers, classes have shifted, property relations have changed and hence the the material condition demands a  change in the method of struggle. The romanticism of the village among the urban students can not lead the revolutionary struggle, It is extremely important to recognise that some leaders who led the democratic struggle in the past have degenerated into petty-bourgeois political aspirants. We should be aware of the corroding influence of such Netas who use the struggle of the people as a plank to build a career in electoral politics.

Despite being paddy harvest season the participation and enthusiasm of the rural workers was quite encouraging for young activists.

During pamphlet distribution in villages, markets and streets, Comrades explained the path the Indian state took while under the control of the fascist party BJP. While communal hatred is being spread throughout society to break the unity of toiling masses of workers, public property is being handed over to big capitalists, railways, oil companies, banks, LIC and various other public sector industries are being privatised, traditionally considered permanent employment sectors like teaching, healthcare and other government jobs are being outsourced and converted into contract work just for the profits of capitalists.

Students and youth were particularly outraged against the New education policy and its easily visible effects, There have been indiscriminate fee hikes in institutes of higher education from a 400% hike on the fees of conventional courses to 3200% for Ph.D. Common people were full of anger and despair towards the New Education Policy which was clearly designed against the interest of the working class toiling masses and a large section of the middle classes. The Bihar government’s decision in October to strike off the names of 20 lakh school children who remained absent for more than three consecutive days has come as a major blow to the students of the rural working class.

Everyone seems to be outraged facing the brunt of the rising prices, people remember the period of the pandemic when they paid exorbitant amounts of money for an oxygen cylinder which would cost 3 to 5 thousand at other times. A villager who operated a tobacco shop said: 

(The one who has the money can go to Delhi, Bombay, and Kolkata, what about the poor man? If one does not have money what option do we have other than to die?)

Yatra held meetings on busy marketplaces, villages and residential areas of Kolkata, Hubli, Wardhman, Bakura, Purulia, Durgapur, and Asansol in Bengal. Among industrial workers in Dhanbad and Bokaro districts of Jharkhand and Patna, Jahanabad, gaya, Daudnagar, Sasaram, and Bhabhua districts of Bihar and Chandauli and Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh.

Comrades raised issue about the bluff BJP played on the Indian people, A government that came into power over the plank of development and corruption-free governance has been passing laws like electoral bonds which openly legalised corruption and a seminal threat to existing democratic setup however much week. Any national or foreign company, capitalist or cartel can now set up shell companies and simply donate any amount shown as their profits secretly to any party. It is no surprise to see that more than 90 per cent of the amount was donated to BJP and the majority of the amounts donated were in crores. 

People ask What happened to promises like generating two crore jobs every year, bringing back black money in 100 days, 15 lakhs in every man’s account, doubling the income of farmers, and reducing fuel prices to half? Where are the acche din which were promised to us? Acche din came only for Adani and other capitalists while we have been thrown to the streets whenever Modi Ji comes on Television. 

Another person in Patna said “Hundreds of crores have been spent on the Propaganda of beti bachao and beti padhao, but how can we teach our daughters if we don't have any money? If Modiji could not help those daughters who brought gold medals in the Olympics and international games and the accused sansad is still sitting in parliament then what is the meaning of this slogan”