By Invitation: Why do the very poor of our very rich city get so very angry?

If mandatory ESI and PF deductions were simply done away with, who would be happier - garment employee or factory employer? Both, it seems, according to two randomly-met garment factory owners. However, if the question were to end with “whom would it benefit more,” instead of “happier”, I offer-  with apology and hesitation - that it would be the employer. Entrepreneurs hate controls and inspectors.

So, rather than partake in revolutionary ecstasy and offer congratulations to them, I would urge the agitated garment workers to seek wiser counsel. The pity is that they seem to have nobody to turn to - neither leader nor negotiator.  The DG & IG explained to the media why the police found it hard to broker peace in this week's sudden and “spontaneous” (as some would lionise it) riots: “There were no leaders. We do not know who triggered and fuelled the violence.”

So, how did it start? There are many guesses, from sabotage to “spontaneous”, but one story goes that on Monday, in one factory on Hosur Road, somebody distributed photocopies of a news report which said the Union government had decided not allow workers to withdraw employer's contribution to  Provident Fund (PF) till they attained 58 years of age. It resulted in a “flash strike”, flaring up the road, right up to Electronics City, completely choking the ever-congested road.
Soon it spread, and over the next two days, across the city's garment factories, hundreds of them with up to a million or more workers, most of them women. It turned into a violent riot, quickly and - only if you are willing to pretend - surprisingly. The rioters burned government buses and private vehicles, blocked traffic on Bannerghatta Road, Tumkur Road and Electronics City, and hurled stones at a police station. The police returned some of the violence, inviting some very bad press. Some people have been arrested.

But nothing like a serious prosecution is likely to follow. The Union has rolled back the decision. The women garment workers will return to their miserable working conditions. The employers will likely force them to take a pay cut for the days they went on strike. It will be business as usual, until next time. But the question remains: What was the point of the random violence?

Let's go back 10 years to another April, when Kannada matinee idol Dr Rajkumar died. There was similar “spontaneous” rioting in the city, involving 20 lakh mourners, again sans leader or negotiator. More than 1,000 vehicles were burnt. Terrified vehicle owners sported Rajkumar photos on their windscreens to appease rioters. TV channels saw their OB vans set on fire; reporters were attacked; a petrol bunk was set on fire; buildings were stoned.  About 25 police personnel were injured in attacks. A mob near Kanteerava Studio lynched a young KSRP recruit, Manjunath Malladi, who died of head injuries. The mob was so frenzied that Parvathamma Rajkumar couldn't even get a last glimpse of her beloved husband. Even then chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and deputy CM BS Yeddyurappa didn't make it to the ringside of the body. Seven people were killed in police firing. How did it all connect up with mourning?

US documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock was shooting in Bangalore at the time, for an episode of the reality show '30 Days', on the issue of outsourcing.  The story, according to a reference on Google search, follows a New York computer programmer Chris Jobin, who wants to find out how he got 'Bangalored!' His job has been outsourced. According to one blogger review, what Mr Jobin discovers in Bangalore in 30 days is interesting. He realises: “Indians have a much tougher daily life. They suffer through a lot of things that we don't have to deal with, and they smile. Outsourcing is a step. What's going on here is giving India a real chance to become economically viable.”

But what he says about Bangalore itself, after the movie crew stumbled upon the Rajkumar death riots, is even more insightful: “People were throwing rocks at the fancy new buildings. And it seemed almost like an economic outcry from the poor people of this city. There's so much wealth around them and they're starving ... There is millions and millions of dollars here, but there is no visible signs of it being used to take care of their own people.” As simple as that. And not so hard to figure it out.

Software companies complained they lost close to $40 million because they had to shut down operations during the Rajkumar death riots. Infosys alone lost $4 million, Mohandas Pai had claimed. During this week's riots, a mob barged into Biocon on Hosur Road and, according to a complaint, tried to force the employees there to join them in the protests. When the Biocon staff refused, the rioters vandalised the security office and damaged an ambulance and other vehicles parked in sight. What's Biocon's connection with EPF? Possible answer: You seem to have it. We need more.

If we are to see as Mr Jobin does, the disparity between the rich and the poor is so big and growing, this was always coming. Neither lawful and only spuriously moral, but it will come again. And again. And the government will neither protect one nor prosecute the other, but just wait till everybody forgets this and moves on. Because it is too big an issue, where a displaced and disadvantaged working class finds itself not only economically alienated, but also socially, and the state government or city police cannot even begin to fathom how this could be addressed. The state will do nothing.

After the 2006 riots, the Bangalore Police arrested about 750 people for rioting, identifying many from video footage. Then chief minister Kumaraswamy had claimed that “other elements” had joined the mourners in the rioting. The police claimed to have identified 20 persons with previous criminal records. An inquiry was conducted. The report was kept secret. It appears the police were told to “go slow” on the prosecution, because the government was afraid of provoking more “spontaneous” outrage. I don't think anyone went to prison in that case.

So, to return to the problems of the women workers in our garment factories, could we agree that they “won”? I think not. They should seek not just better pay and working conditions, but post-retirement benefits, too. They may find it harder as they get older, and especially after retirement. I believe they are worse off now. The reason they have no union leaders to represent them is that nobody cares for them any more. They just need to get smarter, for themselves. They do need collective bargaining, but rioting is hardly it.