TU activist Anirudh Rajan, lawyer Ajay Kumar in custody: Wounded reputation of world's largest democracy?
Over the last few days, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA), known to be tasked with suppressing revolutionary, democratic, and progressive forces, conducted a series of raids across Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi. Targets included human rights attorney Pankaj Tripathi, student leader Devendra Azad, and peasant union leader Sukhwinder Kaur. Lawyer and anti-displacement activist Ajay Kumar was arrested and taken to his home in Mohali, which was subsequently raided. He is now imprisoned in Lucknow as a suspect in the NIA's "Northern Regional Bureau (NRB) Revival case."
Meanwhile, Anirudh Rajan, President of the Manesar General Mazdoor Sangh (MGMS), was apprehended in Bengaluru on his way back to Chennai, facing charges of organizing "meetings to radicalize people" and acting as a Maoist courier. Rajan is currently held in custody for 14 days, leaving many to wonder about the potential torture he might endure from the Indian police, especially as the NIA travels from Delhi to Bengaluru to pursue charges related to the NRB Revival case.
The NIA’s actions extend beyond these arrests to encompass numerous cases, including the Magadh Zone Revival and a perplexing case against Sanjoy Deepak Rao in Telangana, impacting over a thousand activists, students, lawyers, educators, intellectuals, trade unionists, and farmers.
Under the pretext of countering the activities of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), no activist seems to be safe from this broad crackdown. The arrests of Ajay Kumar and Anirudh Rajan highlight not only an escalating assault on activists but also serve as a warning sign for labor organizations nationwide: saffron terror is encroaching, and remaining inactive could lead to dire consequences for trade unions and labor rights organizations.
While many of these groups cling to the hope that India retains its title as the "world's largest democracy," promoting this image at this juncture is akin to willingly putting one’s hand into the mouth of a predator, trusting it won't bite. To fully grasp the significance of these arrests, we must first examine their impact on the struggle for democratic rights in India and then consider how the Indian state has circumvented its own Constitution in executing these arrests.
Corporate exploitation: The burden on peasants and workers
Located in the Aravalli Hill Range in Haryana, Manesar is an industrial hub designed to facilitate manufacturing and assembly industries. This town is also known for the renowned struggle of Maruti Suzuki workers. Positioned between rural Haryana and the urban sprawl of Delhi-NCR, Manesar exhibits typical traits of one of India’s limited industrial zones. Workers from across the country endure harsh living conditions, often holding precarious jobs that could vanish at any moment, leaving them to seek non-existent opportunities elsewhere.
Anirudh Rajan dedicated his efforts to these workers, who revolutionaries like Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin considered the leading class in democratic and socialist movements. In the Communist Manifesto, Marx declared, "the proletariat, the lowest stratum of our present society, cannot stir, cannot raise itself up, without the whole superincumbent strata of official society being sprung into the air." The proletariat possesses the power to reshape society as it retaliates against the ruling elite.
Rajan envisioned a trade union where the proletariat plays a pivotal role in opposing oppression while asserting its own economic demands. To him, a trade union must dynamically address the economic suppression faced by workers while also fulfilling the political duty of pursuing social revolution.
The Indian state recognizes the threat this poses, having established an Anti-Naxal Cell and a Training Facility for the National Security Guard (NSG) in Manesar. Rajan's arrest reflects ruling class fears regarding the mobilization of the working class against brahmanical Hindutva fascism.
In recent years, labor rights have been disregarded due to the introduction of new Labour Codes, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Yogi Adityanath government halted the issuance of licenses for new unions in an effort to stifle the organization and politicization of workers.
The criminalization of a trade union leader as an alleged member of the Maoist party opens the door for further arrests of labor rights activists and union leaders who have previously been insulated from the wave of UAPA cases, Enforcement Directorate (ED), and NIA raids that have become routine under the current regime.
Similarly, Ajay Kumar's arrest targets a key figure in the fight against displacement, advocating for the interests of tribal peasants in resource-rich areas of India and for farmers throughout Haryana. As the All-India Convenor of Visthapan Virodhi Janvikas Andolan (VVJVA), Kumar's ideology stood in stark contrast to the objectives of multinational corporations and large firms that have been aggressively challenged by tribal peasants from Jharkhand to Chhattisgarh.
For nearly two decades, VVJVA has built a grassroots platform to support anti-mining and anti-displacement movements, standing firmly against exploitation by imperialist entities and advocating for a people-centric development model. Following the defeat of Operation Green Hunt, the Indian state has continued its crackdown on anti-displacement activists, exemplified by prior arrests of figures like Dr. G.N. Saibaba, and now pursues its Surajkund Scheme as an aggressive approach against all revolutionary and progressive entities. Kumar's arrest aims to silence dissent against this initiative.
The arrests of Ajay Kumar and Anirudh Rajan signify a calculated strike by the brahmanical Hindutva fascist state against the workers and peasants of India.
Is being a Maoist sufficient grounds for imprisonment?
Both individuals face charges linked to their alleged membership in the banned CPI (Maoist). But what justifies imprisoning them in a nation that touts itself as the “world’s largest democracy”? According to the provisions enshrined in the Indian Constitution—specifically Articles 19 (freedom of expression) and 21 (right to life and liberty)—the arrests of Anirudh Rajan and Ajay Kumar are legally indefensible within the framework of the Indian state’s own democratic principles.
Membership in any organization, even one that is banned, does not amount to a criminal offense
No weapons were discovered during their arrests; rather, the claims against them center on organizing meetings to "radicalize" individuals and attempting to recruit members for a proscribed group. The NIA has failed to present evidence supporting these assertions, and membership in any organization, even one that is banned, does not amount to a criminal offense.
In the case of Elfbrandt v. Russel (384 US 1966), Justice Douglas of the US Supreme Court noted that individuals who join organizations without participating in their illegal activities pose no threat. Laws applying to membership without considering the intent to promote illegal goals infringe upon protected freedoms and perpetuate the flawed doctrine of "guilt by association."
Similar sentiments can be found in Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath (341 US 1951). The Indian Supreme Court has echoed these judgments, asserting their relevance to Indian jurisprudence. In the case of State of Kerala v. Raneef (2011), mere association with a banned organization, even if illegal, was not sufficient for criminalization. Likewise, in Arup Bhuyan v. Union of India (2011), the Supreme Court established that unless one resorts to violence or incites it, mere membership in a banned organization does not constitute criminal behavior.
Despite such legal precedents, the arrests of these activists violate established democratic principles. The 2023 review of the Arup Bhuyan ruling by the Supreme Court highlights the precarious nature of these legal frameworks, permitting arrests akin to those seen in the Bhima Koregaon case, while still challenging the foundational principles of justice.
Keeping in mind these established legal standards, the ongoing ordeal faced by these activists will likely prolong their suffering, as the justice process itself becomes a tool of punishment in cases where bail is scarcely granted. This cycle of pre-trial confinement ultimately serves the interests of the ruling class that the reactionary Indian state represents.
In this context, it is considered critical for activists, democratic proponents, and revolutionaries to unite against the fascist onslaught from both the Indian state and the ruling elite. Previously, India's history of revolutionary struggles reveals that the masses can replace each fallen leader with legions of inspired activists, sharpened by experience.
The immediate release of Anirudh Rajan and Ajay Kumar is a vital focus for all who those claiming to cherish democracy, or risk empowering a fascist regime that continues to attack people’s leaders.
This is what Karl Marx's said in "Reflections of a Young Man on the Choice of Profession": "If we have chosen the position in life that allows us to most effectively work for mankind, no burdens can weigh us down, for these sacrifices serve the greater good; our joy will not be selfish but will belong to countless others."
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*Independent researcher on labor rights and human rights activist based in the Delhi-NCR region
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