People's Democracy

GUJARAT

CPI(M), CPI Organise “Modi Hatao” Satyagraha

Arun Mehta

ORGANISED by Gujarat state units of the CPI(M) and CPI, the “Modi Sarkar hatao, Gujarat Bachao” campaign has continued all over the state through various mass actions. It will be noted that the campaign started on May 27 with mass protest programmes at several collectorates.

It was as a part of the same campaign that a big mass rally and satyagraha was organised on June 28. Satyagrahis came from 14 districts, including Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Sabarkantha, Baroda, Ahemdabad, Junagadh, Dahod, Panchmahal and Surendranagar.

The rally was marked by fluttering flags and road-size red banners, women with shining red dresses and kisans with red scarves.

The Modi government’s anti-people policies have been reflected in a severe electricity rate hike, increased irrigation rates, and the state’s new black act nicknamed “Gujkok” that has more stringent provisions than the recently dismantled POTA. Ration cards have not been issued so far to the newly enrolled four lakh BPL citizens. Anti-worker amendments have been made to the labour laws, and severe injustice has been done to the Adivasis. Commercialisation of education is rampant and the fees in schools and college have been hiked to sky-high levels; this has thrown almost two lakh students out of education by making the academic courses expensive for them. The recent atrocities on people have created made the latter seething with discontent against the Modi regime.

In a joint statement issued on the day, CPI(M) state secretary Arun Mehta and CPI state secretary A N Shaikh said that Modi has in the last one and a half years heaped record breaking burdens on the people, arrested under POTA hundreds of innocent people of the minority community, heavily fined peasants under the so-called sudden checks for electricity theft, withdrawn several subsidies, and has singled himself out as the only chief minister whom the Supreme Court has condemned as a misfit, straightway recommending his removal. Even BJP MLAs tremble to complain against him and their own old stalwart, Keshubhai Patel, said a “mini emergency” was prevailing in Gujarat.

On June 28, 735 satyagrahis including 203 women courted arrest. The police refrained from arresting hundreds of satyagrahis for want of vans.

The traffic jam on the occasion continued for more than one hour and a half, when all the roads remained blocked. All the state level leaders of the CPI(M) and CPI participated in the action. Media too highlighted the action.

The two parties have planned as their next programme a huge state level mass rally at Ahmedabad on August 9. The rally will be preceded by jatha movements in all districts. (INN)