Recently in Bengaluru, activists organised under the banner of Bangalore for Justice and Peace, a group that conducts events and campaigns to raise awareness about the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, were detained by Bengaluru City Police on 13th February for merely conducting a press meet highlighting the complicity of the Karnataka government with the US-Israel war industrial complex. The activists, mostly students and youth, were forcefully detained and taken to Sadashivanagar police station where they were confined till the evening under ‘Preventive detention’.
The press meet was timed to draw attention to the Global Investors’ Meet, a part of the Invest Karnataka mega business summit organised by the Karnataka Congress government. The object of this meet was to attract foreign and domestic capital into the state and specifically in Bangalore. For the past few decades, the city of Bangalore has been the poster boy for attracting foreign investment in the country. With the recent ban on protests in the city, cramming every possible voice of dissent into Freedom park, the image of Bangalore as a haven for ease of business has ossified. Naturally, it fell upon the Bangalore police to ensure that the meet passes smoothly without any kind of hiccups in the form of city-level dissenters.
While the governments, both state and central, go head over heels to attract foreign investment in all possible sectors in India, one must ask if it is done in the interests of the Indian people. The answer is NO of course. Invest Karnataka is one of the many business summits held every year in different states to advertise how pliable those places are in terms of privatising basic public services, liberalising labour or environmental laws, and setting up special ‘exploitative’ zones. Moreover, foreign investments bring with it foreign technology i.e. factories that are highly mechanised, requiring very little manual labour. This makes it important to bust
the myth that foreign investment leads to a growth of the job market.
In India as in other ‘developing’ nations, one of the most common ways of imperialist exploitation is through land grab. If one is to take the example of Bangalore alone, land grab and eviction is happening at the periphery in Devanahalli, Anekal, Kumbalgodu, etc. for industrial use. The struggle of the farmers of Devanahalli against land grab should be particularly noted. Apart from these, there are multiple joint India-Israel business ventures running in the city that are helping the genocidal war machinery in killing Palestinians. Even the metro fare hike that is one of the most burning civic issues in the city at this moment, has direct ties with unbridled foreign interference. The need for immediate repayment of a loan of Rs. 10,422 crores taken from foreign investment banks like Asian Development Bank by BMRCL, is being cited as a reason for the >70% hike on the metro fare. When student-youth activists oppose business fora like Invest Karnataka, all these matters that have direct negative impacts on the lives of the general people, get highlighted. On the day of the press meet, Invest Karnataka held a session with Israel being the country of focus with the consul general Orli Weitzman being the first speaker, prompting the intervention of Bangalore for Justice and Peace.
The negative optics that such a press meet can generate does not reflect well on the ruling government apropos their relation with prospective investors. For instance, the Congress in Karnataka, has exposed its hypocrisy in less than two years as their pro-people rhetoric that fetched them votes has come to nought. From hiking public transport costs, selling off government schools, to actively curtailing democratic rights, the Congress is leaving no stone unturned to appease its capitalist masters.
It is not just opposition to foreign investment that is being silenced, rather any kind of public criticism of the metro fare hike is also being stomped on. A tussle has already started between the state and centre as both try to push the responsibility of the metro fare hike on the other. Multiple campaigns have been carried out by civil society groups, students organisations, as well as both Congress and the BJP. Whichever be the responsible party, it is ultimately the common commuters who are getting crushed under the burden of the increased costs. Recently, cadres from All India Students’ Association conducted a campaign on fare hikes in the Yeshwanthpur area. It led to some of the comrades being heckled by their college administration upon directives of the police and local alleged RSS functionaries.
It seems like the Bangalore police is taking a leaf out of the rulebook of the Delhi police that comes under the Hindutva fascist Amit Shah. The recent crackdown on student activists of Jamia Millia Islamia by the combined forces of the university admin and Delhi police must be noted.. However, the students are standing strong against all kinds of harassment. Support for them is also swelling nationwide.
March is the month of the Paris commune. The democratic revolution in Russia was completed in this month. This is also the martyrdom month of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru. As the democratic aspirations of the student-youth today get bulldozed, the time could never be riper to build a strong resistance against fascism. Spark*, as an organ for activists, run by activists, will continue to stand in solidarity with all just movements till they combine to develop and topple the existing system.
