People's Democracy

Day 1 Of Chennai-Vishakapatnam Jatha

Enthusiastic Welcome All The Way

Sulurupet (Andhra Pradesh) welcoming the jatha, led by Prakash Karat, with flower petals

THE Chennai-Vishakapatnam jatha of the Left parties against the joint naval exercises began its journey on September 5 from North Chennai at 9 a.m. in the morning.

Prakash Karat, D Raja, Devarajan and other leaders garlanded the statue of veteran freedom fighter and one of the pioneers of the communist movement in Tamilnadu, V O Chidambaram in front of Harbour main gate. Popularly known as VOC, Chidambaram had established a swadeshi shipping corporation to beat the British. As his corporation was one of the focal points of the freedom struggle, the British attacked it with vengeance but VOC continued with the support of the people.

September 5 was the 136th birth anniversary of VOC and his statue was the venue for the beginning of the jatha. Prakash Karat addressing the gathering said that it was a irony of history that patriot VOC suffered imprisonment at the hands of British imperialists for launching a swadeshi shipping company while today’s rulers of our country were inviting the same imperialist forces ships for naval exercises in Bay of Bengal. He said it was appropriate that the Left parties are beginning their jatha from here and pledged that the Left will continue the struggle against India being made an ally of imperialism.

The enthusiastic response of the people and Left cadre to the jatha was palpable. The long convoy of vehicles comprised a colourfully decorated mini bus with hoardings on all sides against US imperialism and a public address system, another mini-bus carrying the Left leaders, followed by tens of cars and jeeps, hundreds of motorbikes and three wheelers, all with Red flags. As the convoy wended its way through the thoroughfares of Chennai, people at many places greeted it. Women showered flower petals and cheerfully waved at the leaders, the youth were out in strength, shouting slogans against USA, bursting crackers, sometimes forcing the convoy to slow down/halt for a brief while. As the convoy reached the city outskirts, its length increased considerably – almost more than two kilometres – as the motorbikes, autos and cars kept joining at major centres.

The first major reception was at Red Hills around 10 30 a.m. Again, the people welcomed the jatha with great enthusiasm. Prakash Karat acknowledged the cheers of the crowd and spoke briefly along with other leaders. The next meeting in Gummidipudi saw a big turnout of local people. The Left cadre had a difficult time preventing the rush of people to get on to the dais and felicitate the leaders. Many were carrying new towels while some had shawls also to offer the leaders. CPI(M) central committee members A K Padmanabhan, W R Varadarajan, T K Rengarajan and U Vasuki were present in these meetings.

The jatha was already running behind schedule. But the people who had waited patiently to see and hear the all India leaders of the Left were keen to make the most of their arrival. As the jatha reached Andhra Pradesh border around 12 30 p.m., it was received by a big contingent led by CPI(M) central secretariat member V Sreenivasa Rao and CPI state secretary K Narayana. A huge media contingent had also gathered and Prakash Karat spoke to them briefly.

In Andhra Pradesh, the first meeting took place in Sullurupeta. As the jatha reached the area, Telugu Desam party district leader and former minister greeted the Left leaders. Prakash Karat, D Raja and Devarajan spoke. Gudur, a major town in Nellore district also witnessed an impressive gathering to hear the Left leaders. The meeting took place in the centre of the town and although the jatha had reached the place more than two hours late, the people sat through to listen to all speeches.

From Gudur, the Tamilnadu leaders and participants of the jatha returned back to Chennai while the jatha continued its onward march. At the time of writing this, the jatha had reached Nellore, where a huge meeting is slated to be held in the evening.

Clearly, the response of the people, including the charged-up morale of the cadre of the Left parties, point to a firm sentiment against our rulers efforts to make India a junior partner to US imperialism.

(N S Arjun with the jatha)