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NIYOGI MEMORIAL CONVENTION ON LABOUR STRUGGLES FOR JUSTICE

Thirteen years after the martyrdom of Shankar Guha Niyogi his legacy lives
on. Guided by his creative and charismatic leadership, the Chhattisgarh
Mukti Morcha redefined trade union struggles by breaking the narrow
shackles of economism. Under the slogan of “sangharsh aur nirmaan”, this
movement touched and transformed all aspects of people’s lives – it
established a worker’s hospital, led vibrant anti liquor movements, and
actively promoted local history and traditions. It created an active
relationship with the movements of the peasantry and labour in the
surrounding countryside. The slogan “Naye Bharat Ke Liye Naya Chattisgarh”
captures this people-centric model of development. Niyogi’s vision of a
society free of oppression stands in stark contrast to the lop-sided
priorities of the development model being implemented in Chhattishgarh
today.

 Shankar Guha Niyogi was murdered in the early hours of 28th September
1991 by the industrial mafia of Chattisgarh. At that time he was
organising contract workers in Bhilai. Even as the government of Madhya
Pradesh was wooing foreign investors and promising a dispute free
industrial haven, workers were unionising. The burgeoning agitation
launched by the contract workers for the implementation of labour laws
under his leadership posed a threat to the profits of industrialists, and
also to the unchallenged supremacy they enjoyed in the area for decades.
His cold-blooded murder sent shock waves throughout the nation. In the
trial for his murder, the trial court for the first time in the legal
history of the country convicted two industrialists on the charge of
conspiracy for the murder of a trade union leader. The final appeals in
this matter have been argued before the Supreme Court and the judgment is
now awaited.

The theme of the convention is “Labour Struggles for Justice” in today’s
context of dilution of labour laws, attack on fundamental rights like the
right to strike, and growing repression of workers.

PROGRAMME
 Session 1: 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm
Aruna Roy, Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Rajasthan on Rural Workers’
Issues   and Struggles 
Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University on Changing
Macroeconomic     Policies and Growing Repression of Workers
Arundhati Roy, Author and Social Activist on Global Political Context of
an Increasingly Anti-Labour World Economic Order
Sudha Bharadwaj, Secretary, Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha on Challenges Before
the Workers’ and Peasant Movement in Chhattisgarh
Indira Jaising, Senior Advocate, SC,  on Judiciary and Workers Rights
     Session 2: 5.00 pm to 6.00 pm
	          Comments by representatives of Trade Unions and Workers’
Organizations

       Chairperson: Dunu Roy, Environmental Activist, Hazards Centre, New
Delhi

Venue :  Deputy Speaker’s Hall, Constitution Club, Viththalbhai Patel
House, New Delhi
Date :  5th October 2004


K.J Mukherjee                                   Smita Gupta               
                                             Vrinda Grover

SOLIDARITY GROUP FOR CHHATTISGARH WORKER’S MOVEMENT
 


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