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GANDHI CRACKDOWN LESS than six years after the end of Indira Gandhi's dictatorial 'Emergency' rule, the Indian ruling class is once 'again attempting to smash the organisations of the working class and make them pay for India's chronic economic crisis.

Just as in the 'Emergency' the fragile liberties of 'the world's greatest democracy' are being swept aside.

The Congress (I) government of Indira Gandhi, faced with a $25 billion national debt; has negotiated a massive loan from the IMF. To satisty its international finance backers that it means business, the Congress (I) government has introduced draconian anti-labour legislation.

Whilst the Indian bourgeoisie has had powers to delay and stop certain strike actions ever since independence (with the 1947 Industrial Disputes Act) the new measures greatly increase the powers of the ruling class at both state and national levels.

The National Security Ordinance passed on september 23, 1980 atter Indira Gandhi's return to power, allows the state to arrest people without specific charges and to imprison them without triai for a period of up to one year.

Even these powers were increased by the Essential Services Maintenance Act (DOILA), passeu au vut tuu /TCl Al mecand ot the ond of 1981.

This made any strikes in the vaguely defined 'essential services' illegal; and threatened any workers and arrest.

The Act also gave the Government more powers to persecute. national minorities and low caste 'Harijans': Any 'civil disturbances' would be followed by the government suspending all liberties and establishing rule • by emergency decrees.

The Government would be free to search and arrest without warrant in any 'disturbed area's The occasiuns when the government could use these powers were leit conveniently vague, the only indication being that the government should be able to carry on safeguarding the defence and security of the country'.

To further increase the arsenal of the ruling class following the failure of its .. 23 ... -"convey' it or even read it!

Reminiscent of British Colonialism's Indian Press (Emergency) Powers Act of 1931, the Bihar Press Bill is, as the Indian bourgeois weekly paper 'Blitz' commented, 'designed to choke the press and all legitimate criticism of the administration in. Bihar.' If this censorship fails to stop resistance the Bihar administration has promised to 'shoot at sight' on any opposition.

Resistance to all forms of ruling class offensive has been strong in pumbers, if weak in political leadership:

Remembering that the bourgeois Janata Government of 1977-1980 was forced to abandon: its anti-labour Industrial Relations Bill by mass working class resistance, Indian workers have shown their defiance of the new Congress regime's measures too.

Millions of workers all over India took part in the one day General Strike held on January 18 this year. The Congress regime responded by arresting 25,000 of the strikers and murdered twelve others.

The General Strike started the heroic Bombay textile workers strike. 250,000 of them struck for wage increases, rights for temporary workers, recognition of the union of their choice and against local anti-union legislation.

As solidarity increased throughout the state of Maharashtra a state-wide one day strike was held after three months in defiance of ESMA. The regime responded by arresting over 1,200 of the solidarity strikers.

On May 19, 65,000 Rajasthan state Electricity Board workers struck for a seven point Charter of Demands. The Rajasthan State government then arrested 2,000 of the workers under ESMA and ordered the police to batoncharge the strikers.

However, the militancy of the workers has been undermined by the bankrupt leadership of the Indian Labour Movement.

The Stalinists in the National Campaign Committee of Trade Unions refused to l organise for defence of the Rajasthan workers against state attacks and failed to encourage solidarity action, pleading instead for 'negotiations' ('Peoples Democracy, June 13, 1982).

The Stalinist 'Communist Party of India - Marxist' leaders of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) could only repeat the appeal for negotiations even when mass solidarity action on October 1l in support of the long drawn out Bombay textile strike led to severe state repression.

The police fired on the workers and over 11,000 were arrested and interned in concentration camps called 'open air gaols' (Peoples Democracy, October 17, 1982).

Tea workers

Only a week later 10,000 tea. workers in Assam demonstrated for higher wages _and better conditions - the biggest such demonstration ever seen in Assam.

At the same time a mass convention of public sector trade unionists in Hyderabad called for a national one-day strike in the public sector for November 8 against the regime's wage-freeze policy. November 8 will also see 700,000 coal miners striking for higher wages What is vital is that separate sections of workers are not leit to struggle in isolation.

The Anti-ESMA etc. activities must be linked to other strike actions, and against state repression, police violence and censorship.

This means that Indian workers must break free of the Stalinist leadership which SO disastrously disarmed them before the last all-out ruling class offensive in 1975.

At that time the pro-Moscow Communist Party of India (CPI) betrayed the masses with the siogan 'Strengthen the hands of Mrs. Gandhi, while the rival CPI (M) lined up with the bourgeois Janata opposition.

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