Opinion Asmita politics

“Gujarat has become not only a test case for Hindutva,but also a model for corporate capitalism in both agriculture and industry… Rapid industrialisation has made it a destination for migrant labour and has led to a burgeoning of the informal sector working class,” it says. It argues that “Gujarati asmita” is being invoked as a way to make the working class submit willingly to their own exploitation.

Gujarat’s labour class,it says,is comprised of a large number of Muslim self-employed people who have been severely affected by social discrimination,segregation and economic boycotts in the post-riot period. “Sixty per cent of the Muslims live in urban areas,but poverty among Muslims in Gujarat is eight times higher as compared to high-caste Hindus and 50 per cent more than Hindu OBCs,even more than SCs/STs,” it says.

Elections in hindsight

Both People’s Democracy and CPI weekly New Age have editorials on the recent assembly election results. Both flag the “growing discontent amongst the people” about their economic situation,which the Centre and the Congress have been held respnsible for.

The CPM glosses over the fact that the Left did not win a single seat in the five states and focuses on the drubbing that the Congress and the BJP suffered. “The moot question is whether the Congress-led UPA 2 draws any lessons from these results? Unfortunately,it does not appear to do so. In case they do so,it must surely be reflected in the forthcoming budget,” says the editorial in the CPM weekly.

It says that instead of giving “whopping tax concessions” to corporate India and the super-rich,the government should focus on massive public investments to build the much-needed infrastructure which would in turn generate employment and increase the purchasing power of the people. “Unless this is done,the people are bound to electorally continue to reject the Congress and its pretensions of concern for the aam admi,” it says.

The New Age,on the other hand,makes a reference to the Left’s poor performance. “We conducted a good campaign to popularise our stand on various national issues with particular reference to price rise,unemployment,curb on trade union and democratic rights,commercialisation of education and other evils of economic neo-liberalism but it did not cut much ice. Actually the disappointing performance of Left once more calls for introspection on the issues related with elections and struggles,” it says.

Small vision

CPM MP Moinul Hassan,in an article, analyses the welfare schemes for Muslims formulated and revamped on the basis of the Justice Sachar committee report submitted five years ago. He says that the PM’s 15-point programme is in the doldrums,and the scale of government intervention has been too small to make a real difference. “They are incapable of identifying and overcoming the impediments to the Muslim people’s access to educational or economic opportunities. The very important question of access to public services,too,is not being addressed.”

“The institutional structures designed to implement these initiatives lack conviction and even a clear mandate to directly fight out the structured socio-economic discriminations. Also,the positive mindset to address the denial mode encountered by the community is lacking to a great extent,” says Hassan. Though religious minorities,including Muslims,constitute 18.4 per cent of the population,allocation for schemes designed for them is a little over 5 per cent of the total plan allocation,says the article.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.