People's Democracy

THOUSANDS of toiling people converged in the national capital on November 6 and delivered a stern warning to Vajpayee government that if it compromised our farmers interests at the WTO meetings in Doha it would be thrown out of power here through intense struggles. This warning came on the eve of the WTO ministerial meeting scheduled to be held in Doha, Qatar on November 9-13, 2001.

This huge rally, organised by "The Indian People's Campaign Against WTO" - a broad platform of political parties, trade unions, farmers bodies, organisations of Adivasis, people's movements and a number of concerned individuals, was significant in the sense it heralded a broader fight against the globalisation policies.

On the dias were former prime ministers V P Singh, H D Deve Gowda, CPI(M) general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan, Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechuri, CPI national secretary Atul Kumar Anjan, Convenor of People's Campaign Against Globalisation S P Shukla, Madhu Dandavate, Aruna Roy, CPI-ML-Liberation leader Akhilendra Pratap Singh, Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, renowned anti-WTO activist Vandana Shiva, CITU national secretary P K Ganguly, Jan Chetna Manch leader Jai Bhagwan Jatav, RSP general secretary Abani Roy, Forward Block leader Amar Singh Kushua and others.

The rally adopted a declaration which called for rolling back the WTO-propelled integration of Indian agriculture and industry with the global market which is making the lives of poor working people miserable. The declaration resolved to carry on a coordinated struggle relentlessly till this is achieved.

This massive gathering was achieved in the teeth of determined efforts by the government and its agencies to deny the people their fundamental right of peaceful assembly and expression. First the public grounds in which the rally was to be held was refused on one pretext or other and later the permission granted was withdrawn at the last minute. In a press statement issued after holding of the rally, the leaders expressed serious concern about this anti-democratic tendency which is more and more in evidence recently.

The audience was a true representation of the toiling masses. Thousands of poor peasants with tattered clothes and skimpy bags on their heads marched into the rally ground behind Purana Qila of New Delhi. Though majority of them came from sorroundings of Delhi, there were also people from as far as Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

"WTO Roko - Vinaash Roko", "WTO Se Baahar Aao" slogans rented the air even as the leaders began their speeches. They had to make repeated appeals to calm the gathering.

CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet in his brief speech said that the pressure being brought on the Vajpayee government against compromising the interests of our farmers seem to be working. "The P M who is used to bending before the American imperialists has been forced to bend before the people's will. That is why there appears to be some change in the government's stand" said Surjeet. He however warned the government that if at all it buckled under pressure at Doha, it would have to face a massive struggle which would throw it away from power.

Surjeet complimented V P Singh for bringing all the forces fighting against WTO policies under one platform and called for maintaining this unity in taking forward the struggle.

Former prime minister V P Singh in his address lambasted Vajpayee government for meekly declaring its constraints even before the negotiations have begun. " Hame chahiye majboot sarkar , Koi majboor sarkar nahin" ( We need a strong government not a constrained government). He said that when a delegation of Lokmorcha leaders met the prime minister Vajpayee it was made absolutely clear to him that India should not talk about any new issues at Doha meeting and that it should insist on implementation of the obligations of the developed countries first. India should also renegotiate on many items which are detrimental to our farmers.

He criticised the Vajpayee government for totally abandoning India's role as leader of the developing nations during such negotiations.

The last ten years of the Congress and BJP ruled government's policies have brought havoc on the poor of the country and today the situation is such that they are forced to come together and fight for safeguarding their future, said V P Singh. This gathering of all forces opposed to these economic policies is a reflection of this , he said.

Since agriculture is a state subject, he wanted the views of all the state governments should be given due weightage before committing the nation at Doha.

CPI general secretary A B Bardhan in his speech declared that an intense phase of struggle against the WTO has been launched with the holding of this rally which was sought to be blocked by the Delhi police in a most undemocratic manner. Not only was permission denied for holding the rally but many people who were coming to the rally were stopped enroute. He made it clear that such tactics would not deter the people from fighting vigorously against globalisation policies.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechuri warned the Vajpayee government against bartering Indian people's interests under American pressure and entering into any international agreements without prior approval of the parliament. Terming the entire WTO agreements as a conspiracy by the rich countries to exploit the developing countries, he wanted a long drawn out political struggle to make the Vajpayee government mindful of our people's interests. He also called for effective projection of an alternative vision before the people so as to rally them in saving the nation from the clutches of globalisation.

Samajwadi party president Mulayam Singh Yadav called for devising a strategy of struggle which would involve the people from the grassroots in this fight against globalisation. He called upon the people to burn foreign goods in a show of resentment against the stranglehold of MNCs on our nation. He felt this is the right time for India to come out of WTO.

Vandana Shiva ridiculed the government's talk of fighting terrorism and said it should first start the fight from WTO which has become synonymous with World Terrorist Organisation by the acts of terror it carries on the farmers of world.

Medha Patkar in her speech said the Vajpayee government should have some shame about its anti people policies which are crushing the farmers and workers of the nation. The time has come to emphatically show that this nation is not just of the capitalists, imperialists but of the working people.