People's Democracy

PUNJAB NEWSLETTER

DYFI Holds ‘Virsa Sambhal Conference’

Asha Nand

ON August 28, the Punjab and Chandigarh state unit of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) held a ‘Virsa Sambhal Conference’ at Longowal in the Malwa region of the state. The conference was addressed by Mohd Salim, former general secretary of the DYFI, and attended by more than one thousand and five hundred youth.

Coming from all over the Malwa region, these youth gathered near the statue of the freedom fighter and known communist leader Late Comrade Vidya Dev Longowal, marched through the Longowal town and reached the conference hall in great enthusiasm. They raised slogans against the imperialist interventions in the country and neo-liberal economic policies of the government, which are responsible for exacerbating the unemployment and other problems of facing the youth and other common people of the country.

While addressing the conference, Mohd Salim said our freedom fighters fought against British imperialism to ensure that every child gets proper education, youth get jobs, farmers get remunerative prices for their produce workers get the essential commodities at cheaper rates and women get equal rights. They dreamt of a society where there is no caste discrimination and oppression, where we have no regional conflicts and when imperialism is not allowed to intervene in the country. But the successive central governments after independence did not proceed in the direction of fulfilling the goals our patriots had had in view. The governments of the bourgeois landlord political parties have been working in just the opposite direction. Thus these parties can never claim to be the successors to the legacy of our freedom fighters. The real successors are the parties and people who are fighting against the anti-people neo-liberal policies of the central government. It is only the Left that is fighting for these goals honestly.

State CITU president Vijay Misra said that the achievement of the goals that inspired our patriots needs a third forum in the state --- other than the Congress and the Akali-BJP combine. He hoped that the youth of the state would support the third forum in the coming assembly elections.

Asha Nand, central secretariat member and state secretary of the DYFI, said the youth gathered under the flag of an organisation that is moving in the right direction to fight for the rights of the youth, would never fail them. That organisation is the DYFI, he added.

State DYFI president Surinder Khiwa urged the youth to gather under the DYFI flag.

Bhup Chand Channo, Bant Singh Namol, Satnam Vraich, Kalu Ram, Surjit Ghaga, Harpal Rinku, Balvinder Samana, Harinder Toor, Kulwinder Udat, Satbir Tunga, Kulwinder Bhundan, Gurmit Singh, Bhupinder Vraich, Udai Singh and Ram Adhar were among the others who addressed the conference.

SCHOOL FOR ANGANWARI

WORKERS & HELPERS

A school for CPI(M) members working in the All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH), from the Hindi speaking region of the country, was held at Chandigarh from  August 13 to 16. State CPI(M) secretary Charan Singh Virdi welcomed the comrades while CPI(M) Polit Bureau member M K Pandhe delivered the inaugural speech, dealing with the present political situation and the issues of corruption, Lokpal, Judicial Commission, etc, and the importance of organisation. Virdi held Marxism-Leninism as the guide in achieving the goals of the working class.

The management of the school was under the supervision of Vijay Misra. Hem Lata, Badal Saroj, Kanai Banerjee and Kashmir Singh Thakur also addressed the cadre.

LEFT SUCCEEDS IN

DORANTO AGITATION

The Punjab state units of the CPI(M) and CPI have succeeded in getting Amritsar and Chandigarh directly through a Duronto train. The two parties had to conduct a 56 days long hunger strike for the purpose. During the agitation, the police arrested a total of 700 persons, including the CPI(M)’s state secretariat member Vijay Misra and the CPI’s central executive member Joginder Dyal. People from every section participated in this agitation. The agitation reached such a level that the minister of state for railway felt compelled to come to Amritsar and wave green flag to the said train. The victory rally will be held on September 19.