THESE
days a Parivartan
Yatra, organised by the
Rajasthan state unit of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist), is in progress in
the state and has already covered a number of places in the
state. The month
long yatra
commenced from Jaipur on
January 15 and will conclude on February 15.
On
January 17, the yatra
rath moved at about 10 a m from
Jhunjhunu and entered Churu district, after having moved
through Bagad, Nuniya,
Gothra, Chidawa and Pilani. It is notable that Bagad,
Chidawa and Pilani are
hubs of educational institutions in the state and thousands
of students from
not only Rajasthan but from all over the country come to
study; the Birla
Institute of Pilani is a world renowned institution. It was
from Pilani that
the industrial house of the Birlas originated.
Heavy
rains greeted the yatra
as soon as it entered Churu
district. Yet it addressed a big mass meeting at Chaandgoti
village in Rajgarh
tehsil. Hundreds of people welcomed the jatha
here with loud slogans, and garlanded its members. CPI(M)
MLA Amra Ram, who is
leading the yatra,
welcomed the first
winter showers before he addressed the gathering. Describing
the four years of
Congress rule in the state as an utter failure, he said the
rising prices of
essential commodities are proving backbreaking for the
people. Corruption
pervades all through the administration and almost every
minister of the state
government is tainted. The whole system of administration
has collapsed. The
director general of Rajasthan Police, its inspector general,
police
superintendents and more than 200 of the lower level
officials are behind the
bars. They are facing charges of rape, fake encounters,
illegal killings and
involvement in corrupt deals. Amra Ram urged upon the people
to defeat the
Congress as well as the BJP in the next elections and to
elect the Left and
democratic candidates in large numbers.
Pema
Ram, another CPI(M)
MLA, referred to the increasing atrocities against dalits,
women and minorities
in the state, accusing the state government as responsible
for collapse of law
and order in the state. Vidyadhar Singh Gill, deputy
chairman of Jhunjhunu Zila
Parishad, stressed the necessity of political change in the
state. CPI(M)
district secretary Kulda Ram, among others, also addressed
the mass meeting
that continued despite the rain.
From
Chaandgoti, the yatra
moved through Binjawasm Nima,
Hamirwas and Borasar Bada to reach Borasar Chhota where
about 1000 men and
women welcomed it and attended the meeting despite heavy
rain. Using the rath
itself as a platform, Amra Ram,
Vasudev, Pema Ram, Girdhari Singh and others addressed the
people. Amra ram
congratulated the people for their victory in the recent
militant struggle in
Churu district, led by the CPI(M) and All India Kisan Sabha,
for insurance
claims against the damages done to crops by heavy rains. He
said it was this
struggle that won for the affected peasants insurance claims
worth more than
2.25 billion rupees.
From
Borasar, the jatha
moved to Mithdi, Balwantsinghpura,
Mithdi Kesarisingh, Devipura, Ratanpura and Jaitpura to
finally reach Churu
district headquarters, and then to Balsara village where
hundreds of people welcomed
it. Here Amra Ram and Pema Ram addressed a well attended
mass meeting amidst
rain.
The jatha reached Ajeetsar at about 8 p m and
addressed a mass meeting
that was organised in a school. Here Amra Ram stressed on
the need of defeating
the Congress as well as the BJP and of forging a Left and
democratic alternative
in order to ensure some betterment in the life of the
peasantry. Pema Ram,
Chhagan Chaudhari and Ram Singh also addressed the meeting.
The jatha was in Sardarshehar at 9 p m and was
received in Raja
Garden.
Like Sikar and Jhunjhunu, Churu district too has been a
centre of anti-feudal
struggles and, under the leadership of former MLA and
freedom fighter Comrade
Mohar Singh, the peasants of the district once fought a
militant struggle for
land ownership. These three districts can also be proud that
a number of their
inhabitants sacrificed their lives in defence of the
country, and one comes
across a martyr’s statue in every fifth village or so. Churu
too has been the
place of origin of some big industrialists; steel king
Lakshmipati Mittal too
was born in Sardarshehar. The latter has also been known for
its educational
institutions.
Because
of incessant
rains, a mass meeting started here only at 12 noon, and it
was attended by
hundreds of peasants, including women, from the nearby
villages. Amra Ram here
referred to the struggles waged by the Kisan Sabha and the
party in the last four
years. Pema Ram referred to the deteriorating law and order
situation in the
state and the growing atrocities against the weaker
sections, while CPI(M)
state secretary Vasudev lambasted the Rajasthan chief
minister, Ashok Gehlot,
for having granted permission to FDI in the state. Ghanshyam
Pareek, Chhagan
Lal and Ram Singh were other speakers here.
Having
covered a distance
of 70 km, the jatha
reached Taranagar
at about 4 in the afternoon; here a militant peasant
struggle is going on for
the last six months. Here, because of rains, the mass
meeting took place in a
hall which got over-packed while more than twice the people
had to stand
outside. All the speakers here stressed the need of a third
alternative for the
sake of a better future for the people.
Amra
Ram, who is president
of the state unit of Kisan Sabha, inaugurated a two-day
conference of his
organisation in the same hall at about 6 p m. About 200
delegates were already
there to take part in this conference.
