People's Democracy(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
Vol. XXXVII
No. 12 March 24, 2013 |
Sangharsh Sandesh G Mamatha THE
day, that I was eagerly waiting for, had come. What a day it
turned out to be!
It was the 19th of March, the day on which the CPI(M) had
organised the massive
Sangharsh Sandesh rally as a culmination to the 21-day jatha
programmes it had
organised for the first time in the history of the Party.
The jathas had
travelled for over 11,000 kilometres – travelling through
the most backward
regions of the country. They had gone through the Santal
paraganas in Jharkand,
the Vidarbha in Maharashtra, tribal regions of There
were people from as far as Tamilnadu and Kerala in the South
to West Bengal and
Odisha in the East, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan in
the West to Himachal
Pradesh, Many
of them who were put up in the make-shift camps in Ramlila
Maidan did not
complain of inconveniences, though it is true that toilets,
water, remained
issues. Rather, they were mingling with each other and
getting to know that
whatever be their state or district, the problems they share
bond them
together. More stronger bond that exists between them, of
course, is the
resolve to struggle. Take
the instance of Kalpagam from Tirunelveli. She says that
they had come to Yes,
concurs seventy year old Darmeet Kaur from Sheela
from Hissar district of Haryana quite convincingly states
that without
struggle, nothing can be achieved. “We have to fight for our
rights, for
facilities which will enable us to live a dignified life,
for education, health
etc”. She narrates her experience where,
in spite of repeatedly approaching the village
authorities how they were
denied of their basic rights. She also states that thanks to
the intervention
of the CPI(M), they had participated in some struggles at
the district level
that won some benefits. Understanding the policies
responsible for her
problems, she says there is no other way than struggle. She
carries a two year
old baby in her arms and tirelessly joins the slogans
“Sangharsh zindabad”. The
tales of the people who had participated in the rally are so
heart wrenching
that everybody
is bound to agree with
Sheela, particularly after hearing the plight of Shakuntala
from Madhya
Pradesh. She stays in a village that does not have water,
forget about
electricity. She does not even have a BPL card, so
officially in the government
statistics, she is APL or rich, who does not deserve
governmental support.
Listen to our 'wealthy' Shakuntala: “Every morning we go and
stand at the adda
of the village and eagerly wait for
many hours and return back sad, with no work insight. Many a
day we have no
food to eat and sleep hungry. We elders have lived all our
lives similarly, but
for her is the problem”. She shows me her ten month old girl
who is weeping in
her arms. “I want her not to be like me. She has to study
and work in an
office”, she says with dreamy, shining proud eyes. How will
her dream be
realised? Or will it remain, just that – a dream? Unlikely.
Because there are thousands of Shakuntalas in the rally and
they are all
showing a steely determination. This is the story of Nasya
Masum from Godha
district in Jharkhand, of Many
of the people like Shankar Rao Danao from Yavatmal,
Maharashtra are here in This
is the resolve that resonated around the Ramlila Maidan on
the 19th of
March. That is why, when Prakash Karat, the General
Secretary of the CPI(M)
announced the decision of the Party calling for picketing of
government offices
from block, tehsil, district to the state levels, it was met
with a resounding
applause. The resolve to fight was indeed permeating
throughout the Maidan.
Sangharsh Sandesh, the people are searching for an
alternative. The rally
promises to fight till it is realised.