- New Socialist Movement
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- There is also a New Socialist Movement (Mexico).
New Socialist Movement is a political party in Gujarat, India. It was formed by the leaderships of Jan Sangharsh Manch and Gujarat Trade Union Federation following the 2002 pogroms in Gujarat. Amrish Patel is the general secretary of the party.[1]
In 2007, the party was registered with the Election Commission of India.[1]
NSM is a movement of grassroot workers which began with the labor union struggles in Gujarat in 1979. Beginning with the militant trade union movement under the banner of Gujarat Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU), and the formation of Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) in 1990, the struggle for civil and democratic rights intensified through the last decade of the 20th century. The New Socialist Movement emerged from these two parent organizations as a political movement to organize working people.
The main thrust of the New Socialist Movement is to bring about a fundamental change in the socio-politico-economic life of the country. From the day of its inception, NSM has never accepted the status quo in any sphere it has functioned in and has pushed for a change, however small that may be. This resolute movement of combating exploitation of man by man with the ultimate goal of doing away with it altogether, has made NSM a truly extraordinary movement of ordinary people!
Unlike other organizations which are devoted towards furthering the economic goals of its members, the New Socialist Movement, declared its objective of overcoming the narrow boundaries of the trade union organizations and bringing political consciousness among the working classes. Around the same time, the Jan Sangharsh Manch, an organization devoted to the defense of the civil rights of the working people, was formed by the same group of trade union activists.
In the last two decades, the Jan Sangharsh Manch has taken up every issue related to the rights of deprived classes irrespective of caste, creed or religion. The growth and development of the New Socialist Movement was slow because the political environment in Gujarat allowed little space for any new political party to grow. But unlike the other patch-work political outfits that consist of the rejected members of the Congress or BJP, NSM is a party that grew with the movement of the people of Gujarat and is accepted by the deprived classes and minorities as their true representative.
As NSM grew out of the movement of the people, its leadership comprises activists of the trade union movements of the employees of the research, development, training and educational institutes in the 1980s. The chairman of NSM is Dr. Mukul Sinha, who was the founder member of PRL Employees Union formed in 1979 and the general secretary Shri Amrish Patel is the secretary of Gujarat Mazdoor Sabha.
After the state organized violence of 2002, NSM felt the need to participate in the electoral process in order to fill the void of an active opposition. To prevent the Gujarat government from falsely projecting the Godhra train burning incident as a terrorist attack, JSM, the sister organization of NSM, participated in the Nanavati Commission to dig out the truth. During the course of the hearing of this commission, the evidence exposing the truth of the train burning at Godhra and the nexus between politicians and rioters was brought out in the public domain. It is available in a report format on the NSM website. [1]
The NSM and JSM activists also led the struggle against the misuse of POTA and against the illegal demolitions of the hutments in Ahmedabad and Baroda.
References
External links
Categories:- Political parties in Gujarat
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