The great saga of the War of Independence came to an end on 20th June 1858 with the surrender of Gwalior Fort to the British. One after another, the leaders of the Indian side were either killed or made prisoners. Before the military might and the shrewd scheming of the British Empire, the Indians could not withstand further. After the heroic fight of more than one year, the war ended with victory to the British.
The British were cruel and vengeful. They hanged hundreds of prisoners, took away the land and forts of the defeated kings and Nawabs and favoured those who supported them.
But the end of the first war independence was not the end. A new struggle has already started. The Indian National Congress was formed in 1885, which started as a moderate organisation, grew in to a mighty force and a sustained struggle started for independence which became successful on 15th August 1947.

Rani Jhansi Bai, the heroine of the 1857 First War of Independance was killed on 17th June 1858 while defending her fort against the British attack.
The great revolt of 1857 brought in to focus great leaders who fought against the British imperialism. Bahadur Shah Safar was the nominal leader, being the Mogul Emperor. Nana Saheb, Tantia Topi, Jhansi Rani, Kunwar Singh of Bihar, Bakht Khan of DelhiKhan Bahadur Khan of Bareilly, Maulavi Ahamadullah Shah of Faizabad,Begum Hazrat Mahal and many other leaders rose to the occassion and led the revolt.Bahadur Shah Safer was taken prisioner and transported to Rangoon where he died in 1862.Most of the others were killed while fighting.
Rani Jhansi Bai was killed on 17th June along with her adopted prince while fighting against the British. Her heroism is still sung in many of the ballads by the local people.
1857 revolt was crushed. But it sowed the seeds of further revolt to free the country from the foreign yoke which reached victory on 15th August 1947.

I am in Bangalore along with my wife for the last three days at my daughter’s home to attend the birthday of my grand daughter. The days have been happy since you don’t get much time otherwise for this luxury due to continuous union activities at New Delhi.
Bangalore is an IT city and lakhs of youngsters are working in IT as also other latest technologies and businesses. The city has grown tremendously during the last twenty-twenty five years. Skyscrapers have risen everywhere with a large number of flats for accommodting the employees who are coming from all parts of the country. Sons and daughters of many of our comrades in the union, relatives and friends are working here. Every time I come to Bangalore, I wish atleast to meet some of them. But the time of my stay is so short, the traffic is jampacked and there is much distance from one palce to another. And you can meet them only on Saturdays or Sundays and everybody is engaged with their own personal works on these days. And of course my planning is also not up to the mark.
The new generation will have their own plans and methods of keeping their contact with their friends and relations. We have to learn from them so that we are also up-to-date.

The 22 days strike of the Railways and Central Government Employees of June 1974 was historic in more than one count. It was the biggest strike by the Railways employees so far. Further, the Central Government under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi treated it as a rebellion and tried to suppress it with all its mighty state power. The later developments witnessed the fall of the Congress government.
The strike was organised under the leadership of the National Co-ordination Committee of Railwaymen’s Struggle (NCCRS), which included all the major unions/federations of the Railway workers except congress led INTUC. The Confederation of Central Government also joined, but it was partial since the Confederation was split by the revisionist group led by OP Gupta, which did not participate in the strike.
The strike from 8th May 1974 completely paralysed the nation. No train moved. The entire cargo movement was halted. It was a thumping success. The government retaliated with a brutality never seen before. Thousands of workers were arrested and jailed, dismissed and suspended, the families were forcibly removed from staff quarters, lathi charge and firing took place in many centres killing the striking workers. It was terror let loose. The Central government employees withdrew the strike after the third day. The Railway strike went up to 22 days facing all terror. There was no other way but to withdraw the strike in the face of the state terror. The strike was withdrawn on 28th May 1974.
The strike had its impact on the political level. The struggle against the government’s anti-people and anti-democratic policy continued by the united opposition. The movement under Jayaprakash Narayan became a mighty force. Afraid of the movement, Indira Gandhi declared Emergency on 25th June 1975. All opposition political leaders were arrested and jailed. Democratic movements were stalled. Free speech was silenced. But it could not continue for long. Emergency had to be called off and election declared. The Congress party which ruled the country since 1947 on its own was utterly defeated in the 1977 general election and the Janata Government was formed.
In all these developments, the mighty strike of the Railway workers had its impact.

It was an unexpected meeting. It was 26th May 2011. I was waiting at the Kolkatta airport to board the Air India Delhi flight. Boarding time was announced as 1700 hours. But even after one hour there was no announcement for boarding. It was then that I saw Dr. Binayak Sen, the noted activist, whose life imprisonment for alleged connection with the extremists was strongly opposed by the intelligentia, social activists and many political parties. I could recognise him immediately since his many photos have been published in the dailies. He was waiting for his flight to Raipur. I introduced myself to him. He asked me about the 2G scam and I told him the latest developments. His brother also was with him. By the time boarding was announced for both and we parted and started for the plane.

1st June is celebrated as the International Childrens Day all over the world. It coincides with the school opening day in many parts of the country. Lakhs of children will be joining the school for the first time. Those who are already in the schools will be coming back after the holidays. It is a day of joy for all of them.
But there are a large number of children in our country who could not afford to attend schools. Either there are no schools nearby, or due to their poverty they are not in a position to be in school. Lacks of children in their young ages are compelled to work to earn a living for them and their families.Even after six decades of independence, the situation has not improved much.
It should be the top most priority of the government to ensure that the child labour is completely stopped and all children get school education.

Today, 27th May 2011, is the 47th death anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. He was one of the foremost top leaders of the Independance Movement. His tilt towards socialism is also well known though he surrenderedd his views on many issues to the Mahatma. Immediately after the independance as Prime Minister he initiated formation of Public Sector, declared that the government’s aim is to have a socialist pattern of society. More and more PSUs were started, more employment was ensured. Some other progressive actions were also taken.

Now when we review after 47 years of death of Nehru( 1964) about the policy of the present UPA II Government, it is aggressively implementing the LPG Policy of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation, which is creating more and more misery to the am admi. PSUs are made sick, they are disinvested and finally sold for meagre prices to the private companies or closed. Prices are increasing every day. One after another mega scams are exposed in which top politicians, Bureacrats, big corporates ar all involved. The governance itself is under crowd.
When these anti-worker policies will be changed? The people have to come forward to make and ensure the change.for the
counrtry.