OBITUARY: DR. MUKUL SINHA (1951-2014)
(Trade Union Centre of India [TUCI] Statement)
It is with a heavy heart that I have to inform you of the sad death of Com. Mulul Sinha this evening at around 5 pm due to complications arising out of lung cancer from which he had been suffering since the past few months.
Though of Bengali origins, Com. Mukul Sinha was from Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh. He studied there and got into IIT Kanpur and finally did his doctorate in Physics. He worked in the Physical Research Laboratories in Ahmedabad where he organised the workers, as a result of which he was illegally removed from his job.
During his time in the Physical Research Laboratories, a group had formed around him, including his wife Nirjhari, who were drawn to Marxism-Laninism as the only way to explain the reality theat they saw around them.It was due to the illegal dismissal that he had to go the labour and industrial courts. It was also there that he saw the atark exploitation which the workers were being subjected to.
In the courts, Com. Mukul Sinha met Com. N. N. Patel, a veteran trade union leader. Both of them became lawyers working exclusively for the workers and the trade unions and also formed the Gujarat Federation of Trade Unions. Later joined by Com. Amrish Patel, son of Com. N. N. Patel, they set up their offices in Ahmedabad. They aimed not to build up a practise but to build up a strong trade union movement and a conscious working class movement.
The Gujarat riots of 2002 had a signal effect on their group. They were in the forefront of the fight against the communal fascists led by Modi. They organised many demonstrations and programs against communal fascism including the famous march of September 2002 which they organised along with the CPI (ML) and which was attended by many different left and democratic groups in Gujarat, which was the first real challenge to Modi’s hindu fascists on the streets of Gujarat.
It was their group which took up the fight against the atrocities on Muslims in earnest. They were active in all the matters before the Nanavati Commission and have handled many high profile cases like the Sohrabuddin case. They pursued the struggle to bring out the truth in the face of innumerable threats with great courage and at great risk to their personal safety and security. It was the work of their group which was instrumental in exposing the lies of Maya Kodnaney and proved her guilt. They defended the police officers who had the guts to say that Modi had ordered the carnage of the Mulsims, in court.
The riots brough to the fore the need to form a political party which they had been planning for long. Thus in 2004, the New Socialist Movement was formed. The NSM represents the revolutionary standpoint in politics in Gujarat. It has been active in Gujarat politics and also at the all India level through their association with the DPF (Democratic People’s Front).
In 2007, Com. Mukul Sinha and the trade unions associated with him decided to affiliate with the Trade Union Centre of India (TUCI). In 2010, Com. Mukul Sinha was elected the President of the TUCI at its 6th conference in Kanpur and was reelected to the post in the 7th Conference in Kolkatta in 2012. He held the post till his demise. The TUCI has grown from strength to strength during his stewardship.
Com. Mukul Sinha was a collossal figure in the fight against communal fascism in Gujarat. He was a great trade union leader and was a genuine revolutionary. He lived his life according to rational thought bereft of the complexes of religion, caste, etc. Upto the very end, even his body was not cremated or buried but donated to the hospital. His great quality was not only that he was revolutionary to the end but that he was able to open the workers minds in a way that helped them to grasp this revolutionary thought. He was able to explain the most complex concepts to the workers in language which they could understand, with wit and with understanding.
Com. Mukul Sinha leaves a gap which can never be filled. We will not even try this. On the other hand, we have to remember that we can only really pay homage to his memory if we can emulate his life by treading the path that he has shown us. We have to carry on his fight to honour his memory.
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