Historic Strikes of 1946 and 1960

V.A.N.Namboodiri

July 2023 is the 77^th anniversary of the 1946 strike and 63^rd anniversary of the 1960 strike of the Posts and Telegraphs and the Central Government employees.

The 1946 strike of P and T employees which started on 11^th July and continued for 23 days is part of the great Independence Struggle.  The strike ended only after all the 12 demands raised in the strike were conceded by the British Indian government. It was led by the visionary veteran leaders Comrades V.G.Dalvi, B.N.Ghosh, K.G.Bose and others. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Jyoti Basu , P.Krishna Pillai and other leaders of the independence movement as also AITUC gave full support to the strike. There were solidarity strikes by the workers in various sectors in all major cities of the country including Calcutta, Bombay, Madras etc. who also organized mighty demonstrations with tens of thousands of workers. It is recorded by historians that the rally in support of the P and T strike in Calcutta was the biggest rally the city has witnessed till then.

The 5 days strike by the Central government employees in 1960 was the first major strike after India got Independence in 1947. It started in the midnight of 11/12 July 1960 and continued for 5 days. The main demands were Need Based Minimum Wage and DA according to the Cost of Living Index. While the Communist Party and its leaders gave full support to the strike, Congress Party and the central government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, who had supported the 1946 strike, took all measures to suppress it. The draconian Essential Service Maintenance Ordinance (ESMO) was promulgated for the first time and the striking employees were hunted down like the enemies of the country. Tens of thousands of workers were arrested and jailed. The Secretary General of NFPTE, Com.P.S.R.Anjaneyulu, was arrested, chained and walked through the streets of Delhi up to the jail. Tens of thousands of employees were dismissed, terminated and imposed with major punishments.  14 workers lost their lives after being shot and beaten by the police. Railway workers who picketed trains were hunted down and killed. The central government called the strike as ‘Civil Rebellion’ and used all its oppressive machineries to crush it. The workers had no alternative but to withdraw the strike unconditionally, with almost all its leaders in jail.

There was uproar in the Parliament against the way the strike was dealt by the government. Comrade A.K.Gopalan and other prominent M.P.s severely criticized the government for its inhuman victimization of the striking workers and demanded immediate reinstatement of the dismissed, release of the arrested workers and leaders etc. The workers heroically fought against the vindictive victimization and organized many protest actions.

Within 3-4 years all dismissed and terminated employees were taken back. Government appointed, one after another, two Commissions to look in to the D.A. issue. The demands raised by the Central Government employees in the 1960 strike became the demands of the entire working class. ‘No Struggle is in vain. ‘

The present Modi Government continues with its anti-worker, anti-kisan policies and has already taken away many precious rights of the workers achieved after great struggles. PSUs are closed or handed over to the corporates, like Adanis and Ambanis. Lakhs of vacancies are kept vacant in the government services, while crores of young men and women wander in the streets seeking jobs. Contract workers are deprived of their rights and allowed to be treated as wage-slaves.

Workers, kisans and other toiling masses are in continued struggles for their right to live, work and maintain their families. The kisan-worker unity and joint struggles are welcome developments. The opposition parties are in discussion for a common front in the 2024 elections against the anti-people government.

The memory of the two historic strikes of July 1946 and 1960 will certainly inspire the workers for future struggles and to march ahead with confidence.

Red salute to the martyrs of 1946 and 1960 strikes!