Mukul Sinha, militant trade unionist, lawyer and tireless fighter for the cause of the workers and oppressed, passed away at the age of 63, on May 12, 2014. He had been diagnosed with cancer.
Mukul Sinha, militant trade unionist, lawyer and tireless fighter for the cause of the workers and oppressed, passed away at the age of 63, on May 12, 2014. He had been diagnosed with cancer.
Born into the family of an active trade union leader in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, Mukul Sinha obtained his Ph.D. in Plasma Physics from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) Ahmedabad. He was instrumental in building the PRL Employees Union, including all sections of PRL employees, from safai karmacharis to scientists. He went on to study law and became a lawyer in 1988, in order to defend the workers in their legal battles. He provided leadership and guidance to the trade unions of several academic and professional institutions in Ahmedabad, such as Indian Institute of Management (IIM), National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad Research Institute of Textile Associations (ATIRA) and BM Institute of Mental Health. In 1989-90 he led the formation of the Gujarat Mazdoor Sabha (later known as the Gujarat Federation of Trade Unions), which fought for the rights of the industrial workers in Gujarat and the municipality workers of Ahmedabad.
In 1987, Mukul Sinha founded the Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) to fight for the rights of the oppressed. The JSM successfully organized the rehabilitation of thousands of slum dwellers who were being evicted to make way for ‘development projects’. Mukul Sinha tabled a scientific report on the Gujarat earthquake of 2001 in the Gujarat High Court and obtained court directions to provide relief to the worst-affected people in the quake-hit areas as well as incorporation of quake-resistant design codes in the post-quake building regulations.
Following the genocide of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, Mukul Sinha actively plunged into the struggle to expose the state-organised communal massacre, as well as to provide justice, relief and rehabilitation for the victims of the genocide. He took up the encounter killing of Ishrat Jehan and others and exposed them as cold blooded murders. He played a significant role in the cross-examination of army and paramilitary personnel, who had carried out encounter killings of youth in Manipur and exposed them as fake encounters.
In 2004, he and his comrades formed the New Socialist Movement (NSM).
Over 2000 workers and cofighters of Mukul Sinha attended a condolence meeting in Ahmedabad on May 15, 2014. Mazdoor Ekta Lehar conveys its deepest condolences to the family, comrades and friends of Mukul Sinha.