The Hindu : Good democratic practice need of the hour: Ram

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 07, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Good democratic practice need of the hour: Ram

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 6. The 30th conference of the All India Reserve Bank Employees' Association got off to a solemn start here this evening with N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu , calling for reassertion of secularism in polity and the good democratic practices enshrined in the Constitution.

Mr. Ram, who was the chief guest at the inaugural session of the conference, said there was urgent need to reassert the principle of secularism by ensuring non-discrimination between religions and a firm resolve not to mix religion with politics. Secularism was one issue on which the integrity of democratic institutions in the country would be tested, he said.

In a speech that touched upon diverse issues of national and international import, Mr. Ram said the Supreme Court decision banning strikes had caused `tremendous anxiety' among the working people and regretted that the Government had not come out against it. The issue had an international dimension to it in that India had not fallen in line with the international convention on the right to organise and bargain for workers' rights, he pointed out. Mr. Ram said that while some of the positive signs in the Indian economy could not be lost sight of, there was a lot on the ground that caused grave concern about the plight of the masses, the huge food grain reserves and the starving millions being a case in point. The sovereignty of the nation had been compromised and there had been no attempt to attack a deeper deprivation in the form of unemployment.

Coming down heavily on the dismantling of the public sector, Mr. Ram said the whole process was totally non-transparent indicating that underlying all this was a deep-rooted prejudice against the public sector. Those who spoke of India shining appeared to be living in a world of make believe overlooking the fact that 30 per cent of the children of the country had no access to schools, India was the country with the largest concentration of child labour and that the sex ratio at the national level between ages zero and six years between 1991 and 2001 was negative. What was heartening was that, through their struggles, the people in the country were forcing the Government to face these issues, he said.

Touching on the international situation, Mr. Ram pointed out that the doctrine of pre-emption, developed by the U.S. President, George Bush, and supported by the most reactionary elements in the world was a matter of grave concern.

That India chose not to collaborate with the project was most encouraging. Equally encouraging was the steady progress in the relations with China and the dialogue with Pakistan. While the strengthening of relations with China deserved to be supported, it should be kept in mind that it would be a short-sighted Government that fails to engage a neighbouring country in dialogue.

The single major challenge in the country today, he said, was corruption and that the Bofors verdict showed that there was a great deal of evidence that points to corruption in India.

Inaugurating the conference, the CITU president M.K.Pandhe said the right to strike is not a largesse bestowed on the working class by the court. It, he said, was the birthright of the working class and there was no question of surrendering it before anyone. Mr.Pandhe said the courts were issuing such orders to please the globalisation forces.

The Supreme Court, he said, should study Indian history. The first working class movement in the country was born as far back as the 1920s and it has only grown ever since. Although the right to organise bandhs was banned by the High Court of Kerala, some 20 bandhs had taken place subsequently.

The same would happen with the court order banning strikes by the working class.

He called upon the bank employees to ready themselves for greater struggles to defend the freedom of the working class, democracy and secularism.

T.K. Ghosh, president, AIRBEA, chaired the inaugural session.

Samir Ghosh, general secretary, AIRBEA, welcomed the gathering and J. Chandra, Mayor, Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation and chairperson, reception committee, spoke.

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