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Textile Mill Strike and Vasant Sena again :
In January 1982, the great textile workers strike began in Mumbai under Datta Samant's leadership. The Girni Kamgar Union (GKU), had led militant struggles of the textile workers of Mumbai for so many decades
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In January 1982, the great textile workers strike began in Mumbai under Datta Samant's leadership. The Girni Kamgar Union (GKU), had led militant struggles of the textile workers of Mumbai for so many decades
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However, it had been reduced to a shadow of its former self due to class collaborationist line of the CPI's Dange leadership which had supported the Emergency. Regardless of their serious differences, all Left trade unions fully and actively supported the textile strike.
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Over 2.5 lakh workers were involved in this great struggle which lasted for over an year. But the ruling classes had decided to crush this strike,come what may. Both Central and state governments run by the Congress(I), were loyally carrying out dictates of big business.
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Samant made major strategic and tactical blunders which contributed to the failure of this glorious working class struggle.
The point is that the SS publicly opposed this historic strike, once again proving that it was in league with big business and the Congress regime.
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The point is that the SS publicly opposed this historic strike, once again proving that it was in league with big business and the Congress regime.
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Not just that, but in later phases of the strike, the SS also resorted to its notorious practice of strike-breaking and blacklegging! And that, too, when the overwhelming majority of the two and a half lakh textile workers on strike were Maharashtrians – and also Hindus!
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Thackeray began to realise that his stand in the textile strike was leading to political doom.He announced at a public meeting in September 1982 that he was breaking off all its ties with the Congress(I) which had failed to find an honourable solution to the textile strike.
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But his credibility had by then sunk so low that hardly anybody believed him. The disbelievers were soon to be proved right. For just three years later, Thackeray and the SS were to be resurrected as never before by yet another Congress(I) chief minister, Vasantdada Patil.
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During the annual Dussehra rally of the SS held on October 27, 1982, he once again repeated the declaration that the SS was, once and for all, breaking off with the Congress(I).
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The two special "guests of honour" on the dais of this rally, who sat on either side of Thackeray to prop him up in his darkest hour – when he was on the verge of political oblivion – were none other than Sharad Pawar and George Fernandes, his archenemies of the past.
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