People's Democracy

(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Vol. XXVII

No. 06

 February 09, 2003


SFI Conference: Preparations Going Apace In Kerala

TAKING place in the wake of a Supreme Court judgement on private minority institutions, among other things, the 11th all-India conference of the SFI will be held in the Rajesh-Avinash Manch. The dais has been given this name after two valiant fighters of the SFI, who laid down their lives fighting for the cause of millions of students. The conference venue will be named after Bhagat Singh, a martyr of the anti-imperialist struggle and one who has been for the students of the country an ever-inspiring symbol of our freedom struggle.

The preparations for the success of the conference are well under way in Kerala. Many eminent personalities have taken part in the several seminars already organised till February 3. In the next 10 days, 20 more seminars will be organised to sensitise and rouse the students in their fight against commercialisation and communalisation of education.

Three jathas covering Kerala and Tamilnadu will be taken out. The first one, carrying the torch, will be inaugurated by E K Nayanar on February 5. Led by the SFI’s CEC member Albeena Shakeel, it will start from the tomb of martyr Ajay in Thiruvananthapuram. The second jatha, carrying the flag, will be inaugurated by Mohan, a member of Lok Sabha, on February 6 and will be led K K Ragesh, the SFI’s all-India joint secretary, from the place in Madurai where Somu and Sambu were martyred. The third jatha, carrying the flag post, will start from the tomb of Koothuparamba martyrs. It will be inaugurated by Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on February 11 and will be led by R Arun Kumar, another joint secretary of the SFI. All the three jathas will converge at the conference venue on February 11.

The conference flag will be hoisted on February 11. The conference will open with a massive rally and public meeting, which will be addressed by Jyoti Basu, Pinarayi Vijayan, SFI president P Krishna Prasad and general secretary Shamik Lahiri, among others. The delegates session will take place from February 15 to 18. There will be two seminars held during the conference; these will be attended by Sitaram Yechury, Prabhat Patnaik, V S Achuthanandan, Kanti Biswas, K N Panikkar and other leading intellectuals of the country. (INN)

(February 3, 2003)