Striking auto workers in India, September 2019
CHENNAI, INDIA— “Modi and his fascist gang are asking people in Assam to prove that they are citizens of India. They are Muslims. These fascists have launched ethnic cleansing campaign. We will not let this happen.”
These are the words of an autoworker in Chennai. “Last time RSS [a fascist group associated with the ruling BJP] came to our neighborhood, we beat them up and the police could not do anything”, another autoworker told a member of ICWP who works on the same assembly line.
These workers and millions of others in India are angry and disgusted with the law called National Register of Citizens (NRC) imposed in the northeastern state of Assam, India. According to NRC, anybody (except Muslims) living in India for seven or more years can be granted Indian citizenship. With the passage of NRC, two million residents, disproportionately Muslims, are now declared ‘illegal foreigners.’
The government claims that it wants to get rid of undocumented foreigners from Assam. The senior most minister Amit Shah, who is in charge of internal security of India, called the undocumented people in India ‘termites’ who must be thrown in the Bay of Bengal.
The state of Assam, which is also ruled by BJP, has built huge camps where the 2 million residents will be housed before they are deported. All other states in India which are ruled by BJP want to follow the example of Assam. Large cities are already building camps to relocate large number of workers and their families.
The intensification of fascist attacks on the Muslim workers is also a reflection of capitalism in crisis. Every day, thousands of workers are losing jobs. Cities are becoming dumping grounds for displaced agriculture workers looking for jobs that don’t exist.
By blaming Muslims as ‘undocumented foreigners’ for the problems created by capitalism, the bosses are desperately trying to divide the working class. It is an attack on the whole working class as we learned from the rise of fascism in Germany.
In response to these fascist attacks on Muslim workers, ICWP members, friends and supporters at auto factories in Chennai have intensified our efforts to recruit workers to our party. Inside and outside the factories we are distributing our literature. Three workers have joined ICWP and many more are thinking about joining.
Interview with Indian Auto Worker
Red Flag: What made you decide to join ICWP?
Lalam: I was very disturbed to see killings of Muslims going on. They are just like us. My friend comes to my house with Red Flag. He always says that capitalism divides workers. We need communism to end these divisions. I thought about this. And I agreed. I have seen other political parties that are against the killings, but they don’t want to fight for communism.
Red Flag: Do you talk to others about ICWP and our newspaper?
Lalam: Yes, I work in the assembly line. We produce car seats. Our job is very hard, and we have to work fast. When we work, we don’t know who is Hindu or who is Muslim. We are all workers. At the end of the day, the boss makes a lot of money and we go home tired with very little to feed our family.
During my lunch break I have started to talk about communist solution and the need to build for revolution. Many workers agree. It is easy for me to continue talking to my neighbors about communism because they also work with me.
Red Flag: Can you organize a meeting of your neighbors to talk about communism and ICWP?
Lalam: Comrade Kaditula who recruited me to ICWP is working with me. Next Sunday we are going to have a meeting at my house. We have invited all the neighbors. We can have 100 or more people. We will explain how to build a society without money and how this communist society will eliminate borders, “races” and nations. In communist society we will learn to create and share everything we produce.