By Dipankar Paul
The Politics of Blackmail
For better or for worse: What is the purpose of gatherings like these?
Which word connects the following words -- hunger, opposition, rail, bus, taxi, union, student, teacher, city-wide, state-wide, employee?
Hint: It's a fad that has never gone out of vogue; it's so common that it's become the default means of protest for any perceived wrongdoing. However, over the years it hasn't achieved much.
We are, of course, talking about that much-loved, much-maligned, evergreen, popular method of protest: The Strike.
'Strike' goes by many names -- bandh, hartal, gherao, agitation, among others -- and owes its birth to West Bengal, which sees about 40-50 of them each year. However, it has since moved out of the state and moved in to the realm of national politics in such a way that it is frightening to think where it is headed.
While some strikes are called with a greater purpose in mind, some are downright petty.
When Greed is the Driving Force
The most recent example is the ongoing strike by the pilots of Air India. 700 of the 1500 pilots of the national carrier have demanded higher pay and have stopped work. The result: 40 flights cancelled.
One would be forgiven to think that these pilots do get underpaid, that the ageing behemoth called Air India is in dire need of change. But consider this: Co-pilots of Indian Airlines, now co-opted into the merger Air India, earn as much as Rs 2,25,000 to Rs 3,25,000 per month, while a commander draws between Rs 4,00,000 and Rs 5,00,000. These pilots want Rs 1,50,000 to Rs 2,00,000 more.
Over in Patna, about a dozen students of Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) are on an indefinite fast since April 21 demanding immediate placement.
A striking student says: "We are not asking for the moon. With no trace of placement for us, our future is at stake, but neither the university authorities nor the state government are bothered."
They blame the chief minister, Nitish Kumar, for their misfortune and demand that they be given jobs.
Nitish Kumar has not yet commented, but does he need to?
The Quota Wars
The incidents most representative of the strike are the ones related to the demand for quotas. After the UPA government ensured that the OBC quota was passed, despite massive protests from students of the premier institutions where it was applicable, more and more minority groups began to be heard.
In Rajasthan, the Gujjar community went on a 17-day agitation in December 2010, over an 11-point agenda including a 5% quota in government jobs. The government agreed to 1%, with a promise of fast-tracking the remaining 4% in the High Court. However, one wonders if the government was forced to act fast, mindful of the horror of the 2008 Gujjar agitation.
Violence erupted in Rajasthan on May 23, 2008 when Gujjar protesters, demanding a lower scheduled tribe status, instead of higher OBC status, lynched a policeman in the Bharatpur district. In the ensuing melee, 37 people were killed; the Delhi-Mumbai rail route was blocked, as were highways.
In March this year, members of the Jat community wreaked havoc on the railways. Northern Railway cancelled, diverted or short-terminated a staggering 883 trains. Demanding a quota in jobs, organised blockades in numerous places in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, the Jats relented only after a Supreme Court directive and after Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda set up the 'Haryana Backward Classes Commission'.
Interestingly, the one 'quota' movement that failed to be heard was the one that opposed the quota system first. In 1980, the Mandal Commission report recommended that SC/STs and OBCs be given exclusive access to a certain portion of government jobs and universities. A decade after the commission gave its report, V.P. Singh, the Prime Minister at the time, tried to implement its recommendations in 1989. The criticism was sharp and colleges across the country held massive protests against it. Soon after, Rajiv Goswami, a student of Delhi University, set himself on fire in protest of the government's actions. His act further sparked a series of self-immolations by other college students and led to a formidable movement against job reservations for backward castes in India, one that culminated in failure in 2006, when the total reservation was raised to 49.5%.
The Quick Fix
It took 73 hours for the Government of India to take note of the 73-year-old Gandhian activist, and concede to his demand for a joint committee to draft an anti-corruption bill that leaves no scope for the guilty to go scot-free. Millions joined the movement through social networking sites and hundreds more joined Anna in his fast the world over. The government, faced with a barrage of scams, had no choice but to give in and attempt to look proactive in the battle against corruption. Would Anna's movement have achieved such quick results if it was launched two years ago, when 2G, CWG, Adarsh weren't part of everyday vocabulary? Perhaps not.
In 2006, Mamata Banerjee went on a much-publicised fast, in the middle of Kolkata amid thousands of supporters and a barrage of media, against the proposed Tata Motors project in Singur. 25 days later, she called it off after the President intervened and asked Manmohan Singh to "do something". Was Mamata really worried about the welfare of the poor farmers? Was it a publicity stunt? Whatever it was, the TMC chief suddenly shot to stardom and if the mood in Bengal at the moment is any indicator, she is all set to reap the benefits. Mamata and Anna were spot on with their timing. Irom Sharmila wasn't.
The Long-drawn Battle
'Menghaobi' Irom Sharmila Chanu has been on a hunger strike since November 4, 2000, demanding the Government of India to withdraw the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 (AFSPA) from Manipur and other areas of India's north east. On November 1, 2000, in Malom, a town in the Imphal Valley of Manipur, ten people at a bus station were allegedly gunned down by the Assam Rifles, one of the Indian Paramilitary forces operating in the state. The next day's local newspapers published brutal pictures of the dead bodies, including one of a 62-year old woman and one of an 18-year old Sinam Chandramani, a 1988 National Child Bravery Award winner.
The lack of government response convinced Irom Sharmila to she launched her hunger strike against the wider problems of the AFSPA. In due course, she extended the scope of her demand to all regions of India's north east where AFSPA's been imposed.
On November 6, 2000, three days after she launched the strike, she was arrested by the police and charged with an "attempt to commit suicide", which is unlawful under IPC Section 309. Every year she is released and rearrested, as the IPC 309 carries a maximum imprisonment of one year. She is force-fed through a nasal tube by the police to keep her alive in custody. The AFSPA remains enforced.
The Comic
In the media, there is a term for the one-day hunger strike popularised by DMK partriarch and Tamuil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi: 'The Breakfast to Lunch Fast'.
In 2009, as the Sri Lankan Tamils issue threatened to erupt into a major election plank, Karunanidhi went on a sudden fast demanding a ceasefire in the island nation, but called it off six hours later. In 2007, Karunanidhi sat for another fast, for the early completion of the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project. He arrived at Chepauk Stadium at 9 am amid a drizzle. Karunanidhi left two hours later, though the 'fast was to continue till 6 pm.
Party workers were told: "If you want, you can drink water." Many drank, but not just water.
To Kerala now: Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan called a one-day fast against the continued use of endosulfan. He unleashed a scathing attack on Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar saying the Kerala's Congress ministers have failed to put pressure on Pawar. He also condemned the stand taken by the Centre at the Stockholm Conference in which India opposed the ban on endosulfan.
His fast began at 10 am on Monday. By 5 pm, it was over.
The End?
Of course, there have been many more instances of protests that held the government, sometimes the entire nation, to ransom. Most of them succeeded in getting the government to agree. While the protesters come away satisfied, the bigger question remains: Is this a promising sign?
There is only one answer, and the people to blame are the ones at the receiving end of all the strikes: The government. Laws in India are as antiquated as our scriptures are old, and in modern times, waiting for the 'system' to take its due course can be unnerving, and worse, frustrating. And it is at these times that 'strike' seems such an attractive word. Purists will disagree and back the law taking its time; after all, it is a country of a billion and not everyone's needs can be met at their convenience. Strikes are here to stay, unless that tome called the Constitution is taken to the cleaners and laws in this country are made to suit the 21st century.
But that remains a distant dream.
Source: India Syndicate
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