The
Sangharsh Sandesh Jathas organised by the CPI(M) concluded
with a big public
meeting organised at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi
on March 19. In an impressive
gathering that reflected the diversity of India, the Party
gave a call for
further intensifying struggles in the coming days on the six
basic demands it
had raised during the jathas
– land
to the landless, house to the houseless,
ensuring employment, education, health and universal PDS,
ensuring social
justice and an end to corruption.
Between May 15 and 31, for one
whole week, the Party had called for picketing of all
government offices from
block, tehsil, district to the state level throughout the
country. This
programme will also include actions like breaking the law
and resorting to
civil disobedience.
Prakash
Karat, general secretary of the Party, addressing the rally
emphasised that the
Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha has been organised not with
elections in mind, but to
strengthen the struggles for alternative policies. Flanked
by all the leaders
of the Left parties – S Sudhakar Reddy, general secretary of
the CPI, Debabrata
Biswas, general secretary of the AIFB and Chandrachoodan,
general secretary of
the RSP – he called upon the people to join the struggle for
an alternative to
the policies pursued by both the Congress and the BJP.
Criticising the 'Gujarat
model' as a model that is beneficial to the rich corporates,
he also brought to
the notice the communal and authoritarian tendencies of
Modi's rule in Gujarat.
The
jatha leaders recounted their experiences in the public
rally. S. Ramachandran
Pillai, who had led the Southern Jatha recalling his
experiences said that 32
suicides were recorded in the last 30 days in Yavatmal, Maharashtra,
a region through which the jatha passed through. He also
mentioned about how he
was questioned by some women from the jhuggi
jhopris near Nagpur,
who wanted to know how their problems could be solved.
Brinda
Karat, talking about her experiences in leading the Northern Jatha, particularly
mentioned the problems of the peasants in
Haryana who were issued kurki (land eviction)
notices. She also spoke
about how the Haryana government is taking away the BPL
cards from many of the
poor people in the name of weeding out bogus cards. She said
Haryana government
is giving away thousands of acres of prime land to
industrial houses and real
estate agents, and driving out peasants from agriculture.
Sitaram
Yechury who led the Western Jatha from Mumbai narrated how
his jatha had
started from Southern Mumbai, one of the richest areas in
India and travelled
through Thane, Dhule and Nandurbar, which are among the poor
and backward
regions of the country. He said that due to the neglect of
the governments,
peasants in Nandurbar are facing drought. He stated that if
the government does
not give tax concessions to the rich and corporates, many
irrigation projects
across the country can be completed, to ensure that there is
no drought in the
country.
Biman
Bose who was part of the Eastern Jatha
that
started from Kolkata spoke about the experiences of his
jatha and criticised
the policies of the UPA government
that is responsible for the hardships of the people. He said the
Left Front in West Bengal
was formed through
struggles waged on the issues of the people for many years
before it had come
to power. He said that only struggle will ensure a real
alternative for the
people.
Manik Sarkar,
chief minister of
Tripura addressing the rally said the alternative policies
which are pro-people
that the Left Front government in Tripura pursued has
strengthened the
progressive forces in the state and paved the way for the
formation of the
Seventh Left front government in Tripura. He exhorted the
people to fight for a
better future.
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