Capital, labour and the state - Eastern and western India,1918-1939

This article narrates the competitive politics of trade union organisation in the inter-war years among the workers of jute industry and coal mines in eastern India, and of textile mills in western India. In both regions, simultaneous attempts were made by the mill and mine owners' associations to break workers' solidarity by communally polarising the working class or sponsoring their own trade unions or by openly resorting to coercive measures such as seeking police and military aid in crushing the strikes.