Criminal intimidation: How pro-people agenda and campaign was trampled upon in Mumbai

By Harsh Thakor
On the afternoon of 6th February, on a busy road in Shivajinagar, five workers of Revolutionary Workers' Party of India were brutally assaulted by goons of Samajwadi Party in broad daylight and a female worker abused and threatened with rape after having her clothes torn.
One day later, not only have the police failed to punish the culprits, they have in fact registered a counter-FIR on behalf of Samajwadi Party goons and have framed RWPI workers with rioting, unlawful assembly and criminal intimidation among a number of other charges. five member RWPI delegation, comprising of Dr. Pooja, an occupational therapist specializing in pediatrics; Baban, a full time political worker of RWPI; Avinash, a student of M.A. Philosophy from Mumbai University; Ashay, a teacher and a student of M.A. Political Science; and Shashank, a chemical engineer and teacher, accompanied by about two dozen local residents had called upon the Ward No. 134 corporator Shaera Azmi demanding justification for their inaction of overflowing sewers in Rafiq (Rafi) Nagar. The contaminated water from the sewers had started penetrating the homes of the residents, causing increased cases of Dengue, Malaria, Typhoid and cases of fever, chills, skin infections and various other illnesses. Having gathered in front of the corporator’s office, the people were forced to wait for hours. Various delaying tactics were employed. When the members of the RWPI delegation declared a final ultimatum, stating that failure to take immediate action on the issue would result in a complete election boycott of Samajwadi Party, Fahad Azmi and his goons plunged into action. Ashay, who was recording the confrontation, was first assaulted, hit on his face. Pooja's clothes were torn by Fahad Azmi, her arm twisted. She was repeatedly kicked, abused and threatened her with rape. Shashank was hit on the back of his head, Avinash hit with a belt and Baban with a bench. Ironically it is the RWPI workers who are being charged with "assault or criminal force with the intention outraging the modesty of a woman", "voluntarily causing hurt", "rioting", "unlawful assembly", "criminal intimidation to cause death or grievous hurt" and "insult intended to provoke breach of peace".
This whole affair illustrates the immense money power and clout exerted by Samajwadi Party. Corrupt and deprived political parties like the Samajwadi Party are and their ‘liberal’ projection in fact makes them even more pernicious. Pertinent that the true colours of even the Samjawadi party have been illustrated, which endorses the oppressive economic agenda of the ruling class parties.
A pro-people agenda and campaign has been trampled on, which is coherent with the oppressive social order as a whole. Exploiter classes and parties today are playing around and endangering the environment, making the common people hapless. The need of the hour is to tooth and nail the two-facedness of such parties and establish a genuine workers' alternative. All justice loving citizens must stand in solidarity with RWPI volunteers in their fight against the hooliganism, corruption and apathy of the Samajwadi Party. We If we fail to do so let the fascists and their allies will snatch away even the most basic right to pose questions to f our so-called “representatives”. Democrats must appreciate the relentless efforts of RWPI activists in digging at the very roots of the repressive aspects of our environment, which is at the mercy of the corporates.
Such condition of sanitation or proper civil infrastructure is part and parcel of the pro-corporate agenda of those who govern us.
Progressive people should commend the grass root work of the RWPI. who have inspired and knitted youth to raise the banner of resistance for proper sanitation or civil infrastructure, and offer them utmost solidarity.
The fact that the goons have been let off scot free exposes how is social order is partisan to the ruling and exploiter classes and mercilessly stamps on all democratic resistance. It illustrates that in essence the aspirations of parties like Samajwadi party preserve and patronise the aspirations of neo-fascism and are liberal parties only in form.
---
Harsh Thakor is freelance journalist from Mumbai who has covered mass movement all around India and been in touch with RWPI activists

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

From protest to proof: Why civil society must rethink environmental resistance

By Shankar Sharma* As concerned environmentalists and informed citizens, many of us share deep unease about the way environmental governance in our country is being managed—or mismanaged. Our complaints range across sectors and regions, and most of them are legitimate. Yet a hard question confronts us: are complaints, by themselves, effective? Experience suggests they are not.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

Kolkata event marks 100 years since first Communist conference in India

By Harsh Thakor* A public assembly was held in Kolkata on December 24, 2025, to mark the centenary of the First Communist Conference in India , originally convened in Kanpur from December 26 to 28, 1925. The programme was organised by CPI (ML) New Democracy at Subodh Mallik Square on Lenin Sarani. According to the organisers, around 2,000 people attended the assembly.

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Transgender Bill testimony of Govt of India's ‘contempt’ for marginalized community

Counterview Desk India’s civil society network, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)* has said that the controversial transgender Bill, passed in the Rajya Sabha on November 26, which happened to be the 70th anniversary of the Indian Constitution, is a reflection on the way the Government of India looks at the marginalized community with utter contempt.

Search This Blog