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http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/mar/eco-iocunions.htm
In an era where workers across the world have been facing an unprecedented assault at the hands of capital, there is some merit in examining the labour struggles at the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Refinery in Guwahati, the largest city in the state of Assam and the entire Northeastern region of India.
Assam and indeed the rest of Northeast India, because of numerous movements with nationalist and sub-nationalist aspirations, continue to have much of its small town and rural population face the brunt of a heavily armed, hegemonic Indian state. One cannot travel to a single sub-district or district without seeing even the lowest ranking police constable carrying a rather deadly INSAS assault rifle (compared to other parts of India where he might, with luck, carry a baton to imperiously whack a poor pickpocket’s rear end). And while workers in an urban centre like Guwahati might face marginally less violence at the hands of armed security forces, they face the assault of resource usurpation, low development priorities and the overall oppressive treatment meted out to the region by the central Government of India. This obviously results in harsher material conditions for the working poor, even in the formal, more organised sectors.
IOC is a public sector undertaking meant for refining the oil that’s been discovered and extracted by other undertakings such as Oil India and ONGC. Workers here would naturally fall under the highly organised sector. At a larger level, oil represents one of the key resources that fall under the afore mentioned issue of resource usurpation that the region faces at the hands of the Indian state, but this article will focus more on the labour struggles at the plant-level.
The labour stratification here presents an interesting, albeit hardly uncommon, picture of workers division. As is the case with the majority of the plants across India cutting across industrial sectors and public-private lines, workers are divided into permanent employees and non-permanent workers, who are further divided into contract workers and daily-wage labourers. Naturally the demands for each group hardly overlap and might sometimes even clash. In addition there are social and cultural divisions that result from the creation of a labour aristocracy side by side with a working poor, all in one plant. Needless to say that this is hardly fertile ground for fostering strong workers unity and thereby launching union struggles that can successfully press for rights and demands.
Furthermore in the IOC Refinery (again as is the case in most other industries) there are two unions for the two classes of workers. It is important, from the standpoint of understanding labour rights, to examine how trade unions handle such complex and difficult situations thrust upon them by capital…whether with ingenuity and honesty, or just mere capitulation to management and the forces of capital. The IOC Refinery unions offer one such case in point
At the refinery, there is the Refinery Workers Union (RWU), for permanent workers, who for the most part consist of English-educated IOC staff members below the rank of officers or managers. They seem to be very much part of India’s growing and increasingly prosperous middle class, conceivably with generational aspirations to move up the socioeconomic ladder, and quite possibly possessing every opportunity to do so. Indeed, one of the union members I spoke with, upon knowing that I was from Bangalore, proceeded to ask me numerous questions about South India, as he and his family were planning an extended holiday touring the region. The conversation covered hotels, beaches and tourist hotspots, hardly things that India’s labouring masses get a chance to even dream about. The union office itself is an impressive two-floor building, with a drama hall, couple of offices, kitchen, a children’s park outside, some sports facilities, and a guest room where they were kind enough to allow me to spend a couple of nights in.
Barely hundred metres away is the dusty, one-room office of the United Workmen’s Union (UWU), which is the union for all contract workers and daily-wage labourers. Affiliated to the leftist All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), its membership includes workers who can barely make ends meet, if at all, on paltry wages with insecure work in often hazardous conditions. The union has seen multiple struggles on numerous issues including fighting for higher wages, timely payment, compensation for victims of injury or death, better health benefits and numerous others. For entertainment, there is a single carom board usually played on a by-turn basis by large numbers of members, who crowd around it in the evenings after work.
Thus the socioeconomic differences between the two classes of workers, and indeed the infrastructure levels of the two unions are stark and plainly visible. However an interesting feature is the manner in which the unions themselves have dealt with the situation of workers division.
Talking to members and leaders alike from both unions, there was the common feeling that unity among the two unions and mutual support for each others struggles was important. Instances were even mentioned of one union joining in the struggles of the other, despite not having any vested demands. Strong communication links also seemed to be maintained between the two. One of the crucial reasons for this mutual support seems to be the fact that there is an overlap of leadership, and even the constitutions of both don’t bar cross-membership. While the UWU for the contract/daily-wage workers is affiliated to the AICCTU, the RWU has AICCTU leaders in central roles, despite not officially affiliating. In speaking with both unions, one heard fairly honest and forthright descriptions of successes and, more importantly, failures. It would seem obvious that unions representing workers from the same plant should naturally support each other, but this is often hardly the case, with multiple plant-level unions fighting with each other to gain the support of the workers, thereby severely reducing the militancy of the working class movement. In addition, there are many sectors and plants where unions for contract and daily-wage workers barely even exist. Significant examples of this can be found in the numerous automobile industry plants in Gurgaon (Haryana), where for the most part only permanent workers have any form of representation or space for collective bargaining, while the contract and daily-wage workers are left to languish without any real association.
Biren Kalita and Janik Barman, both AICCTU leaders and central guiding forces of the two unions at the IOC Refinery spoke candidly about the existing contradictions among the workforce and the unions representing them. Barman said that the main focus was directed more towards the rights and demands of the contract and daily-wage workers as their situation was far more precarious and their needs greater, but still required some time also to be directed towards the permanent workers union as there was the need to build workers solidarity and two-way support. He further mentioned that not enough had been done by them with respect to daily-wage workers in the UWU and women workers in both unions, specifying that patriarchy in the membership of both unions was a huge hindrance in this.
Keshav Goswami, Secretary of the UWU, spoke at length about past struggles to bring contract and daily-wage workers onto a unified platform. He mentioned that in previous years there were as many as nine different unions for all the contract and daily-wage workers, with the AICCTU-affiliate being the biggest. This caused serious dilution in negotiations and overall collective bargaining measures with management. After much perseverance, three to four of the more progressive unions formed a collective platform which soon resulted in all the workers coming under it, followed by a democratic process to decide the federation that the workers wished to affiliate with. Goswami also mentioned the mutual support among the two unions, and spoke about future plans in the struggle for workers rights including, canteen facilities, Provident Fund for contract/daily-wage workers, skill development and better infrastructure for the union. He mentioned the need to promote women’s leadership as well as conduct workshops on workers rights and contract labour law.
While overall, the mutual support between the two unions is heartening to see, and certainly a creative way to thwart capital’s attempt at workers division, there are many visible problems as well. For instance, much of this unity seems to be maintained by the common AICCTU leadership, progressive leftist leaders like Kalita and Barman, and it remains to be seen how it will continue should it pass on to future hands through elections or any fissure in either of the unions.
Another extremely bad indicator seems to be the abominable lack of women in leadership positions. While research was being done for this write-up, one didn’t come across a single female leader, office-bearer, committee-member or even just a member in either union that I could speak to. Women seem to form around 20-25% of the contract/daily-wage workers (depending on the season), and I was told that there were some women members in the UWU committee, but I didn’t see any in all the visits I made to the office. The RWU has a women’s organisation that primarily comprises of the wives of permanent staff members, and one does see them occasionally in the RWU office. However this seems to be primarily a socio-cultural group and not a political one with a clear goal of combating patriarchy within the unions. The expressed need to combat patriarchy by some of the leaders does not seem to have percolated down to the membership based on conversations with members and workers.
Furthermore, one could notice that the progressive thinking imaginably coming from a leftist federation like the AICCTU, had not had as much of a political effect on the members as I’m sure the AICCTU themselves would like to see happen. Most of the members I spoke with were avowed supporters of the Asom Gana Parishad, a party which is hardly a bastion for progressive thinking. Some were also quite open in their dislike for Bangladeshi Muslims and Biharis whom they felt were taking over Assam through their continued migration, mostly as poor labourers, into the state.
No doubt combating patriarchy, politicisation of the membership and maintaining unity are problems that numerous unions across India face. And while some of these problems might not be as directly connected to the day-to-day travails of traditional unionism that focuses on acquiring higher wages, better benefits, safer work environments, and good health care, they still merit serious examination as they point directly to the manner in which unions can play a significant role in positive societal (and political) change. However, one does get the feeling that the overall direction that the IOC Refinery unions in Guwahati are heading in is positive and, hopefully, slowly inching towards building a genuinely progressive workers movement.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Travel Log 10/3 - 20/3/08
After about 10 days of exploration and travel in Assam, mainly in and around Guwahati and Gossaigaon, my head swirls with all that I’ve learnt and observed. First of all I feel compelled to briefly touch upon the numerous, rather offensive stereotypes that folks from other parts of India have about this region. Stuff I’ve heard since I was a kid. While they sounded offensive even before I ever came to the region, now they feel particularly repulsive. And while hardly deserving attention, they still merit a couple of minutes of censure. Of the top of my head, some of the garbage I’ve heard either first-hand or second-hand include: “Do they have schools there?” “What about roads?” “And eating habits, don’t they eat just about anything?” “Don’t they all hate other Indians?” “I’ve heard that it’s filled with jungles” “Literacy and education levels must be so low”
Let me be really brief in retorts to each of the above respectively in the order that they’re shown…
Yes and very good ones;
Yes, as bad or good as you’d find elsewhere in India;
No, what is eaten is called food;
No, and please, it’s not like folks in other regions are oh so loving to their fellow-humans…need we be reminded of the violence against Muslims in 1992 Mumbai and 2002 Gujarat or the savagery towards Dalits and Tribals in most parts of India;
No, although the countryside is much prettier and greener than what you would find in most other parts of India;
No, actually literacy levels across most of the region are comparable to Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which have the highest literacy/education levels in India. In fact Mizoram is the second most literate state in India after Kerala. Furthermore the per-capita college-going rate is the highest or second-highest in all of India
Ok, now that this painful exercise is out of the way, I would like to share some general observations that I found interesting in the few days that I’ve been here
Guwahati bus service – I know that this would seem quite amazing to believe, but the Guwahati bus service has been the best I’ve been on so far. Compared to some of the metros, it’s comparable to Mumbai, marginally better than Chennai, significantly better than Calcutta, and simply streets ahead of both Bangalore and Delhi. I have never had to wait more than 5 minutes at a bus stop thus far, and have almost always found a seat. There are times when I’ve had to wait nearly an hour in other cities and find my rather large self standing cramped in the midst of sweat and irritability. The conductors have also been helpful once I tell them that I’m new to the city and ensure that I get of at the right stop. The experience has also been far more tolerable than what one faces in other cities. One doesn’t have to deal with the annoying tardiness in Bangalore, the occasionally bizarre speeds in Chennai or the macho molesting madness in Delhi (where one can see, as clear as day, women being leered at and groped)
Strong presence of Women – The last sentence on bus services directly connects to a particularly heartening sight in Assam, and from what I’ve heard, all over the Northeast. While economic development levels in the region (due primarily to resource usurpation by the Indian state) are comparable to some of the poorer North and Central Indian regions, both visually and from data corroboration, what is astonishingly different about the Northeast when compared to North India is the significant public presence of women, cutting across age, class and community. On every bus ride that I’ve taken within Guwahati and when I travelled to Gossaigaon, almost always at least 40-60% of the commuters were women, even at night times (almost impossible to see in Delhi). It was similar to what I’ve seen in Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. There was also a discipline shown by men on buses getting up from women’s reserved seating when women came in, again something missing in some other cities. Even on the streets, one sees many women, students, workers, vendors, housewives mulling around the crowd and travelling on public transportation without any hesitancy or fear.
Another noticeable feature, of course due to this large public presence of women, is the markedly lesser leering and harassment that women face here, again in comparison to what I’ve seen in Delhi and even Chennai. Now I’ve no doubt in my mind that cat-calls, groping and harassment of women very much exist in Assam and the rest of Northeast India, but so far, each and every woman I’ve spoken to, who has also been to Delhi, said they feel much safer here than they ever did in Delhi. Even many of the men I spoke to highlighted the huge amounts of sexual harassment that their female friends from the region face in Delhi, when studying or working there, facing the oppressive brunt of it as much because of their gender as their place of origin. There’s something in this place that a lot of the other cities and towns in India can learn from.
Spunk and paan-stained teeth – A particular incident stands out in my mind with respect to the public presence of women that again was uplifting to witness. On a cramped overnight train ride from Gossaigaon back to Guwahati, the compartment I was precariously standing in was overflowing with large gunny sacks filled with vegetables. They belonged to a group of about 6 middle-aged women, all with weathered feet, strong arms, red paan-stained teeth and wearing worn-out, tattered saris. They sat with the poise and strength of daily struggle. I asked one of them (who looked like the leader of the group), where they were heading and through a paan-filled gurgle, she said that they were going to sell vegetables at the weekly Sunday markets in Kokhrajar town and Guwahati. They bought veggies from across state lines in West Bengal (where there’s always a surplus and thus much lower prices) and sold them at the weekly markets for a small profit. Upon reaching the first station, Kokhrajar, they proceeded to unload these monstrous sacks, all the while barking at the men in the train to move aside. The word that comes to mind is spunk.
Of course my heart took a little dive when I saw the local Sub-Inspector of the Assam Police at the station receive his weekly bribe as they were unloading the sacks, but even here the women’s chutzpah was evident. She handed him a twenty-rupee note, and when he asked for more, she completely brushed him off. I’m not sure what she said, but she seemed to indicate the exact bodily orifice that he could shove his baton in or something along those lines. The khaki-clad lout slunk away, muttering something to himself, probably looking for the next handout. I believe this weekly exercise is because it’s illegal to transport produce on passenger trains, and that too across state lines…but then again this is India and indeed, South Asia…the people always find a way to survive. Three women got off with half the veggies as the train trundled on, and the same cycle of events repeated itself when we reached Guwahati in the wee hours of the morning. I don’t know what it was that lifted my spirits, whether it was their spunk, their attitude, their powerful forearms that heaved sacks I would find myself struggling with or their entrepreneurial spirit in the face of obvious hardship. Maybe it was a bit of each or just the picture of the hardened working-class woman, tougher than anyone else.
Adivasis in Lower Assam: Struggle and strife – While in Gossaigoan I had the opportunity to interact quite intimately with an Adivasi student organisation (All Adivasi Students Association of Assam or AASAA) that campaigned on behalf of the Adivasi community across the state. Here, as in the rest of India, the term “student organization” is quite a stretch, with many of the members and leaders married with children. Student organizations for the most part are political fronts, not especially concerned with students per say, but more as power-garnering machines before they go on to contest elections as part of some political party or the other.
I did learn a lot about the Adivasis in Assam though, who mainly came in the mid-1840s till the 1920s as indentured labour to work for the British in Assam’s numerous tea gardens. Many continue to work in the gardens till date, while others left and started cultivating their own land. The connection of the Adivasis with the tea gardens is very strong, and there is another organization called the Assam Tea Tribes Students Association (ATTSA) active specifically with those working in the tea gardens, however I haven’t able to meet any members or leaders as yet. The Adivasis do face it from various angles here, whether it’s political disenfranchisement, socioeconomic hardships or sectarian violence. And even the little franchise they are able to access through reservation in educational, job-related and political seats in other parts of India as a result of their Scheduled Tribe (ST) status is missing in Assam, as it’s the only state in India to deny them ST status. In fact ST status remains the central (and often only) campaign demand for all the Adivasi groups in the state.
The situation of the Adivasis in Assam, as well as the sectarianism and violence existing between them and the other communities like Bodos and Muslims, is of course an issue that cannot fit into a paragraph in a field notes dispatch, however I’d still like to touch upon a couple of issues that really stood out for me.
Strong local knowledge and Sectarianism – AASAA did request me to work on a memorandum with regards to their campaign to get ST status, and two things stood out as I was discussing the same with them.
One was their acute knowledge of local happenings and goings-on, and this is true with activists in other communities I met as well. They knew almost every Member of Parliament (MP) and Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Assam, and particularly about those who directly represented their district or sub-district. I have no clue as to who my MP or MLA back home in Bangalore is. And with Karnataka politics going down the present path, I would be hard-pressed to name the Chief Minister at any point in time. However they not only knew names, but their political orientation with respect to the Adivasi cause, honesty-levels, inside secrets and so on, mainly I guess because their campaign demanded such intimate knowledge. It was of course in complete disproportion to their knowledge of national or international affairs, even with respect to their own cause. For instance they didn’t know that an All-India Federation of ST organisations existed whom they could potentially ally with.
The second aspect of that discussion that stood out was their intense sectarianism. They didn’t feel like even traditionally sympathetic movements such as the Left or Civil Liberties ones could be trusted as allies or supporters. Partly, I suppose this sectarianism is forced upon, not just them, but other communities as well, by the divide and conquer tactics of the Indian state. However another reason I feel it exists is because, the leaders within the communities want to maintain a hold over their personal sense of power and not have it diluted in any way through coalescing with other groups. The sectarianism can also be internecine. While I was their meeting with various people, 3 Bodos were killed in fighting between rival Bodo militant groups in a clash for power in the Bodoland Territorial Council.
Hegemonic presence of the Armed Indian State – Thus far I have seen gun-toting Central security forces in every place I have visited or stayed at. Whether they’re military, paramilitary or state police forces, their presence is visible and one of absolute power. Even the lowliest police constable is armed with an Indian-made INSAS Assault Rifle (apparently as deadly as an AK-47 or M-16) or at the very least a rapid-fire sten gun. This, when in many other parts of India, cops barely have a baton when they’re on patrol. One doesn’t normally get the feeling that the Indian state is a particularly hegemonic one in many parts of India (mainly because of its bumbling incompetence), but one can really sense its power here.
I’m tempted to draw comparisons with what I saw of the Israeli occupation in Palestine. It’s a lot more cut-and-dry over there, while over here there are multiple layers of occupation as well as complexities arising out of nationalist movements fighting both with the Indian state and sometimes with each other as well as a shaky engagement with the federalist experiment. However one commonality is the hegemonic strength of the military in both operations, and the horrendous atrocities inflicted upon the occupied peoples in both Palestine and Northeast India.
And one really doesn’t have to dig deep to find evidence of these atrocities. As in Palestine, nearly everyone has some connection or the other to the bloody treatment meted out by occupying security forces...a friend tortured to death, an uncle maimed, a cousin jailed on false charges, an aunt shot in the legs…and I’ve been here all of 10 days. There are also those caught between the armed insurgencies and the military, facing the brunt of both groups, and risking the wrath of one or the other.
Workers killing workers – During an Adivasi bandh or shutdown in Gossaigaon, I had the opportunity to interact with a Central Reserve Police Force squad who were breaking for their lunch. Usually during bandhs put forward by any community, the entire town shuts down, but this tea shop was made to open temporarily to accommodate the CRPF soldiers. Famished after trekking through nearby villages, I took the opportunity to have my regular tea and bun meal and proceeded to chat with the soldiers.
Among the ones I spoke with, I found out that one of them was the son of a Public Works Department labourer in Hyderabad, another belonged to a tribal community from Central India, while the subedar (sergeant) came from a small farming family in Rajasthan. All mentioned the bad pay and work conditions, stating that they had barely enough to make ends meet. Once they found out that I was examining labour conditions in the region, the chap from Hyderabad immediately said that a union in the CRPF would be useful but was not permitted
It is a particularly Machiavellian work of art by the Indian state that puts the working class in a uniform, arms him with a deadly weapon and makes him kill and maim other poor working class people. In terms of their material conditions, these soldiers have more in common with the people they’re killing than the political fat cats and money bags whose murderous bidding they follow.
Cricket on uneven ground – After meeting the CRPF squad I roamed around some more and soon spotted a cricket match ensuing on the banks of a stream on the outskirts of Gossaigaon. The “ground”, if that is what it can be called, was basically a patch of bumpy grass mounds with scattered rocks and a few cows grazing on the side. Nevertheless the game was being played with gusto. Due to the shutdown, all the kids and youth had no school or work to go to, so it looked like cricket was going to be the day’s entertainment.
What struck me was the fielding skill of the players. On such a horrendous surface, they were judging irregular bounce and speeds with amazing alacrity. It further baffles me to think of the rather appalling fielding standards of the Indian national cricket team. Now the team is probably the second-best in the world after Australia, but is seriously hampered when it comes to the fielding department. I wondered how it was that in a country where the foundation of young cricketers was built on such uneven, rocky surfaces (even on full fledged cricket fields in the big cities) could there be such an appalling paucity of high-quality fielders in the national team.
On a lighter side – I think I will end this dispatch with a couple of interesting hoardings and posters I saw. I have always felt that my own place of origin in India and the entire South Asian region is a land and people of delicious insanity, and this just further proves my point.
At 3 establishments near the Paltan Bazaar bus stop in Guwahati I saw the following next to each other:
“Only Lodging”
“Only Fooding”
“Lodging and Fooding available”
At the tea shop in Gossaigaon, I saw this poster advertising for spoken English classes. I’m reproducing verbatim:
“Good News! Are you week in English? Want to develope your speaking power? Are you 10+? No Problem! Join SPOKEN ENGLISH. Learn to speak English in the easiest way and develope your personality. Admission stars from: 25th Jan 2008”
And finally, trust our national icon, Bollywood to come up with a lovely truism of a caption for one of it’s films starring huge stars like Saif Ali Khan and Bipasha Basu. The films name is Race:
RACE
Two Brothers…One will Play to Win…One will Play to Defeat
Let me be really brief in retorts to each of the above respectively in the order that they’re shown…
Yes and very good ones;
Yes, as bad or good as you’d find elsewhere in India;
No, what is eaten is called food;
No, and please, it’s not like folks in other regions are oh so loving to their fellow-humans…need we be reminded of the violence against Muslims in 1992 Mumbai and 2002 Gujarat or the savagery towards Dalits and Tribals in most parts of India;
No, although the countryside is much prettier and greener than what you would find in most other parts of India;
No, actually literacy levels across most of the region are comparable to Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which have the highest literacy/education levels in India. In fact Mizoram is the second most literate state in India after Kerala. Furthermore the per-capita college-going rate is the highest or second-highest in all of India
Ok, now that this painful exercise is out of the way, I would like to share some general observations that I found interesting in the few days that I’ve been here
Guwahati bus service – I know that this would seem quite amazing to believe, but the Guwahati bus service has been the best I’ve been on so far. Compared to some of the metros, it’s comparable to Mumbai, marginally better than Chennai, significantly better than Calcutta, and simply streets ahead of both Bangalore and Delhi. I have never had to wait more than 5 minutes at a bus stop thus far, and have almost always found a seat. There are times when I’ve had to wait nearly an hour in other cities and find my rather large self standing cramped in the midst of sweat and irritability. The conductors have also been helpful once I tell them that I’m new to the city and ensure that I get of at the right stop. The experience has also been far more tolerable than what one faces in other cities. One doesn’t have to deal with the annoying tardiness in Bangalore, the occasionally bizarre speeds in Chennai or the macho molesting madness in Delhi (where one can see, as clear as day, women being leered at and groped)
Strong presence of Women – The last sentence on bus services directly connects to a particularly heartening sight in Assam, and from what I’ve heard, all over the Northeast. While economic development levels in the region (due primarily to resource usurpation by the Indian state) are comparable to some of the poorer North and Central Indian regions, both visually and from data corroboration, what is astonishingly different about the Northeast when compared to North India is the significant public presence of women, cutting across age, class and community. On every bus ride that I’ve taken within Guwahati and when I travelled to Gossaigaon, almost always at least 40-60% of the commuters were women, even at night times (almost impossible to see in Delhi). It was similar to what I’ve seen in Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. There was also a discipline shown by men on buses getting up from women’s reserved seating when women came in, again something missing in some other cities. Even on the streets, one sees many women, students, workers, vendors, housewives mulling around the crowd and travelling on public transportation without any hesitancy or fear.
Another noticeable feature, of course due to this large public presence of women, is the markedly lesser leering and harassment that women face here, again in comparison to what I’ve seen in Delhi and even Chennai. Now I’ve no doubt in my mind that cat-calls, groping and harassment of women very much exist in Assam and the rest of Northeast India, but so far, each and every woman I’ve spoken to, who has also been to Delhi, said they feel much safer here than they ever did in Delhi. Even many of the men I spoke to highlighted the huge amounts of sexual harassment that their female friends from the region face in Delhi, when studying or working there, facing the oppressive brunt of it as much because of their gender as their place of origin. There’s something in this place that a lot of the other cities and towns in India can learn from.
Spunk and paan-stained teeth – A particular incident stands out in my mind with respect to the public presence of women that again was uplifting to witness. On a cramped overnight train ride from Gossaigaon back to Guwahati, the compartment I was precariously standing in was overflowing with large gunny sacks filled with vegetables. They belonged to a group of about 6 middle-aged women, all with weathered feet, strong arms, red paan-stained teeth and wearing worn-out, tattered saris. They sat with the poise and strength of daily struggle. I asked one of them (who looked like the leader of the group), where they were heading and through a paan-filled gurgle, she said that they were going to sell vegetables at the weekly Sunday markets in Kokhrajar town and Guwahati. They bought veggies from across state lines in West Bengal (where there’s always a surplus and thus much lower prices) and sold them at the weekly markets for a small profit. Upon reaching the first station, Kokhrajar, they proceeded to unload these monstrous sacks, all the while barking at the men in the train to move aside. The word that comes to mind is spunk.
Of course my heart took a little dive when I saw the local Sub-Inspector of the Assam Police at the station receive his weekly bribe as they were unloading the sacks, but even here the women’s chutzpah was evident. She handed him a twenty-rupee note, and when he asked for more, she completely brushed him off. I’m not sure what she said, but she seemed to indicate the exact bodily orifice that he could shove his baton in or something along those lines. The khaki-clad lout slunk away, muttering something to himself, probably looking for the next handout. I believe this weekly exercise is because it’s illegal to transport produce on passenger trains, and that too across state lines…but then again this is India and indeed, South Asia…the people always find a way to survive. Three women got off with half the veggies as the train trundled on, and the same cycle of events repeated itself when we reached Guwahati in the wee hours of the morning. I don’t know what it was that lifted my spirits, whether it was their spunk, their attitude, their powerful forearms that heaved sacks I would find myself struggling with or their entrepreneurial spirit in the face of obvious hardship. Maybe it was a bit of each or just the picture of the hardened working-class woman, tougher than anyone else.
Adivasis in Lower Assam: Struggle and strife – While in Gossaigoan I had the opportunity to interact quite intimately with an Adivasi student organisation (All Adivasi Students Association of Assam or AASAA) that campaigned on behalf of the Adivasi community across the state. Here, as in the rest of India, the term “student organization” is quite a stretch, with many of the members and leaders married with children. Student organizations for the most part are political fronts, not especially concerned with students per say, but more as power-garnering machines before they go on to contest elections as part of some political party or the other.
I did learn a lot about the Adivasis in Assam though, who mainly came in the mid-1840s till the 1920s as indentured labour to work for the British in Assam’s numerous tea gardens. Many continue to work in the gardens till date, while others left and started cultivating their own land. The connection of the Adivasis with the tea gardens is very strong, and there is another organization called the Assam Tea Tribes Students Association (ATTSA) active specifically with those working in the tea gardens, however I haven’t able to meet any members or leaders as yet. The Adivasis do face it from various angles here, whether it’s political disenfranchisement, socioeconomic hardships or sectarian violence. And even the little franchise they are able to access through reservation in educational, job-related and political seats in other parts of India as a result of their Scheduled Tribe (ST) status is missing in Assam, as it’s the only state in India to deny them ST status. In fact ST status remains the central (and often only) campaign demand for all the Adivasi groups in the state.
The situation of the Adivasis in Assam, as well as the sectarianism and violence existing between them and the other communities like Bodos and Muslims, is of course an issue that cannot fit into a paragraph in a field notes dispatch, however I’d still like to touch upon a couple of issues that really stood out for me.
Strong local knowledge and Sectarianism – AASAA did request me to work on a memorandum with regards to their campaign to get ST status, and two things stood out as I was discussing the same with them.
One was their acute knowledge of local happenings and goings-on, and this is true with activists in other communities I met as well. They knew almost every Member of Parliament (MP) and Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Assam, and particularly about those who directly represented their district or sub-district. I have no clue as to who my MP or MLA back home in Bangalore is. And with Karnataka politics going down the present path, I would be hard-pressed to name the Chief Minister at any point in time. However they not only knew names, but their political orientation with respect to the Adivasi cause, honesty-levels, inside secrets and so on, mainly I guess because their campaign demanded such intimate knowledge. It was of course in complete disproportion to their knowledge of national or international affairs, even with respect to their own cause. For instance they didn’t know that an All-India Federation of ST organisations existed whom they could potentially ally with.
The second aspect of that discussion that stood out was their intense sectarianism. They didn’t feel like even traditionally sympathetic movements such as the Left or Civil Liberties ones could be trusted as allies or supporters. Partly, I suppose this sectarianism is forced upon, not just them, but other communities as well, by the divide and conquer tactics of the Indian state. However another reason I feel it exists is because, the leaders within the communities want to maintain a hold over their personal sense of power and not have it diluted in any way through coalescing with other groups. The sectarianism can also be internecine. While I was their meeting with various people, 3 Bodos were killed in fighting between rival Bodo militant groups in a clash for power in the Bodoland Territorial Council.
Hegemonic presence of the Armed Indian State – Thus far I have seen gun-toting Central security forces in every place I have visited or stayed at. Whether they’re military, paramilitary or state police forces, their presence is visible and one of absolute power. Even the lowliest police constable is armed with an Indian-made INSAS Assault Rifle (apparently as deadly as an AK-47 or M-16) or at the very least a rapid-fire sten gun. This, when in many other parts of India, cops barely have a baton when they’re on patrol. One doesn’t normally get the feeling that the Indian state is a particularly hegemonic one in many parts of India (mainly because of its bumbling incompetence), but one can really sense its power here.
I’m tempted to draw comparisons with what I saw of the Israeli occupation in Palestine. It’s a lot more cut-and-dry over there, while over here there are multiple layers of occupation as well as complexities arising out of nationalist movements fighting both with the Indian state and sometimes with each other as well as a shaky engagement with the federalist experiment. However one commonality is the hegemonic strength of the military in both operations, and the horrendous atrocities inflicted upon the occupied peoples in both Palestine and Northeast India.
And one really doesn’t have to dig deep to find evidence of these atrocities. As in Palestine, nearly everyone has some connection or the other to the bloody treatment meted out by occupying security forces...a friend tortured to death, an uncle maimed, a cousin jailed on false charges, an aunt shot in the legs…and I’ve been here all of 10 days. There are also those caught between the armed insurgencies and the military, facing the brunt of both groups, and risking the wrath of one or the other.
Workers killing workers – During an Adivasi bandh or shutdown in Gossaigaon, I had the opportunity to interact with a Central Reserve Police Force squad who were breaking for their lunch. Usually during bandhs put forward by any community, the entire town shuts down, but this tea shop was made to open temporarily to accommodate the CRPF soldiers. Famished after trekking through nearby villages, I took the opportunity to have my regular tea and bun meal and proceeded to chat with the soldiers.
Among the ones I spoke with, I found out that one of them was the son of a Public Works Department labourer in Hyderabad, another belonged to a tribal community from Central India, while the subedar (sergeant) came from a small farming family in Rajasthan. All mentioned the bad pay and work conditions, stating that they had barely enough to make ends meet. Once they found out that I was examining labour conditions in the region, the chap from Hyderabad immediately said that a union in the CRPF would be useful but was not permitted
It is a particularly Machiavellian work of art by the Indian state that puts the working class in a uniform, arms him with a deadly weapon and makes him kill and maim other poor working class people. In terms of their material conditions, these soldiers have more in common with the people they’re killing than the political fat cats and money bags whose murderous bidding they follow.
Cricket on uneven ground – After meeting the CRPF squad I roamed around some more and soon spotted a cricket match ensuing on the banks of a stream on the outskirts of Gossaigaon. The “ground”, if that is what it can be called, was basically a patch of bumpy grass mounds with scattered rocks and a few cows grazing on the side. Nevertheless the game was being played with gusto. Due to the shutdown, all the kids and youth had no school or work to go to, so it looked like cricket was going to be the day’s entertainment.
What struck me was the fielding skill of the players. On such a horrendous surface, they were judging irregular bounce and speeds with amazing alacrity. It further baffles me to think of the rather appalling fielding standards of the Indian national cricket team. Now the team is probably the second-best in the world after Australia, but is seriously hampered when it comes to the fielding department. I wondered how it was that in a country where the foundation of young cricketers was built on such uneven, rocky surfaces (even on full fledged cricket fields in the big cities) could there be such an appalling paucity of high-quality fielders in the national team.
On a lighter side – I think I will end this dispatch with a couple of interesting hoardings and posters I saw. I have always felt that my own place of origin in India and the entire South Asian region is a land and people of delicious insanity, and this just further proves my point.
At 3 establishments near the Paltan Bazaar bus stop in Guwahati I saw the following next to each other:
“Only Lodging”
“Only Fooding”
“Lodging and Fooding available”
At the tea shop in Gossaigaon, I saw this poster advertising for spoken English classes. I’m reproducing verbatim:
“Good News! Are you week in English? Want to develope your speaking power? Are you 10+? No Problem! Join SPOKEN ENGLISH. Learn to speak English in the easiest way and develope your personality. Admission stars from: 25th Jan 2008”
And finally, trust our national icon, Bollywood to come up with a lovely truism of a caption for one of it’s films starring huge stars like Saif Ali Khan and Bipasha Basu. The films name is Race:
RACE
Two Brothers…One will Play to Win…One will Play to Defeat
Introduction to the North East India Diary
Am starting this blog in order to disseminate more information on North East India, especially on issues surrounding labour, gender and socioeconomic disenfranchisement. It will consist of writeups that I post, as well as (hopefully) pieces that others might want to contribute. In addition I hope to keep a fairly steady stream of relevant articles from the mainstream media coming in.
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