Nafis Hasan writes on the current strikes in India and Bangladesh and the history and possibilities for worker solidarity between Indian and Bangladesh workers and beyond.
The beginning of 2019 has seen the workers rise up in the Indian subcontinent. While the 200 million strong general strike in India has gotten much attention, especially in the US Left media, little importance has been given to the strike by ready-made garments (RMG) workers currently taking place in Bangladesh. The RMG workers, protesting against wage discrimination and pay inequality, have taken to the streets beginning Jan 11. This provides a great opportunity for solidarity across borders in the Indian subcontinent, especially at a time when ethno-nationalist authoritarian neoliberal regimes, led by Narendra Modi in India and Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh have solidified their hold on power. However, the workers should be aware of the previous history of revisionism and selling out of the communist political parties in both India and Bangladesh, especially if this strike is meant to continue. Given that Communist Party of India (Marxist, CPI-M) has led the most recent general strike and farmers have decided to join the strike, and that Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) in their 2018 elections manifesto revitalized a progressive program, there seems to be a glimmer of hope in that these political parties will actually stand with the proletariat of the two countries and across borders.
RMG Workers in Bangladesh vs The Ruling Class
The wage discrimination in the RMG sector is not a novel phenomenon — in 2016, RMG workers had also taken to the streets to protest against the lack of increase in their wages, and as a consequence, hundreds were fired from their jobs. Any act of resistance against the owners of the garment factories who form the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA), has been met with police violence, often aided by the state apparatus, and indiscriminate attacks on workers, especially union organizers. The same is true of the current protests — striking workers have been met with batons and water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas. Similar to 2016, hundreds of workers have been fired and union leaders have been arrested for agitating the workers. Similar to 2016, hundreds of workers have been fired and union leaders have been arrested for agitating the workers.
It is easily understandable why the state would use such repressive tactics against RMG workers: the BGMEA is clearly part of the ruling class (ex-BGMEA presidents Anisul Haque and Tipu Munshi became Mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation and the Commerce Minister, respectively), and the RMG sector is the most profitable industry of Bangladesh (valued at $30 billion dollars) and has largely been responsible for the continued economic growth in the country despite mass corruption. The RMG industry, considering that at least half of its workforce comprises of women, also serves as the beacon of women empowerment in the region, a claim that has gained the Bangladesh government accolades among the neoliberal elites of the Western world. The BGMEA has actually threatened to lock out the garment workers if the strikes continue because they are aware of the impunity and state protection they enjoy. In order to pacify the BGMEA, and also to keep the RMG workers subservient and maintain the status quo as the second largest exporter of RMG in the world, the Bangladesh government employs special police force in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) where foreign companies enjoy tax benefits and low labor costs, and the Bangladesh army maintains a special division on the RMG sector.
Communist Solidarity Across Borders: A Brief Overview
Communism in the Indian subcontinent, especially in India & Bangladesh, followed along either in orthodox Marxist, Marxist-Leninist, or Maoist lines depending on the era. Of course, ideological differences have led to many splits in the existing political parties, but the two main lines of thoughts that currently exist in the power structures are orthodox Marxist (CPI-M, CPB) and Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML, also gave rise to the Naxalite movement in 1967). In Bangladesh, while there are several small parties tied to the communist cause, they have recently grouped together under the banner of Left Democratic Alliance and has revitalized a socialist program that was initially adopted by the first Bangladesh government in 1972.
Cross-border communist alliance and solidarity were at their height during the Naxalite movement in the late 60s and early 70s. The Naxalites, tired of the electoral games of CPI-M and the stagnation of CPI-ML, decided to implement Mao-Tse Tung thought against the ruling class and class collaborators. Led by Charu Mazumdar, Kanu Sanyal, etc, in West Bengal, and Siraj Sikder in East Bengal, also known as East Pakistan pre-1971, and the East Bengal Proletarian Party/Purbo Banglar Sarbahara Party, the Naxals politically agitated the peasants and indigenous tribes that were facing land grabs by the Bengali ethnic majority. However, following a brutal suppression of the Naxal movement by both Indian and Bangladeshi military and paramilitary forces, the Naxalites who survived resigned from the cause and joined the CPI-ML to fight electorally in the Indian Congress. The death of Siraj Sikder meant the end of revolutionary communism in Bangladesh. It should be noted that the CPI-M was complicit in the murder and torture of the Naxals as it threatened their status quo, especially in West Bengal (for a more detailed analysis, look here).
Over the decades, while Maoist guerrilla groups have fought against the neo-imperialism of the Indian government as it sold off indigenous land to multinational companies for bauxite mining, especially in Central India (see Walking with Comrades, Arundhati Roy), the CPI-M and CPI-ML have done little to fight against the ruling Congress. In Bangladesh, the mainstream communist parties joined in the protests against the military dictatorships in the 80s by forming alliances with neoliberal political parties that have been squabbling over petty differences over the last two decades. In the most recent election, the CPB and other small leftist groups formed the Left Democratic Alliance (LDA) which ended up joining in a bigger alliance with the increasingly authoritarian Bangladesh Awami League, that has returned for a third time to power.
Why does this history matter? It is because it goes on to show that while communist political parties do exist in India & Bangladesh, the political ideology exists only in name and has actually worked actively against the interest of the working class in both countries by putting their political and personal ambitions first. Therefore, any international solidarity should keep in mind the historical roles these communist parties have played and should be directing their support to the workers, and not the parties.
The Significance of the Current Protests
The strikes across the borders in India and Bangladesh portray the rising dissonance of the workers with the ruling class. The ruling class in both India and Bangladesh have profited enormously from the global capitalist economy, and the effects are acutely felt by the working class. Given that the biggest cash cow for the ruling class in Bangladesh, the RMG industry is now in revolt over wage discrimination and policy failures since the Rana Plaza tragedy to protect the workers, and that in India, the 200 million strong strike comes right after the Kisan Long March in 2018 led by farmers, the proletariat in the subcontinent is on the rise again. Elsewhere, the tea workers in the Sylhet region of Bangladesh, who have been historically exploited, are organizing in syndicates led by the Bangladesh Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation, and can play an important role in building solidarity with the Muslim population in the Assam region of India, who face the risk of displacement as they have been left out of the draft citizenship list.
Western leftists should take note of the political tides in the Indian subcontinent in this global economy. Any socialist revolution should constitute internationalist solidarity with workers around the world. Even more, given the role that the workers from the Indian subcontinent play in the global economy, in particular, the RMG workers in Bangladesh, it is important for the labor movement to stand in solidarity with their struggles.
