People's Democracy

Amra Ram and Hannan Mollah Elected as

New President and Gen-Sec of AIKS

THE 33rd all India conference of AIKS came to a successful conclusion with the unanimous election of new leadership on July 27. Kisan leader from Rajasthan and veteran of many successful farmer struggles, Amra Ram, has been elected as the new president of All India Kisan Sabha by the 33rd conference. Senior leader and former MP from Bengal, Hannan Mollah, has been elected as new general secretary by the newly elected 146 members of All India Kisan Coucil (AIKC) at their first meeting. The meeting also elected 62 Central Kisan Committee (CKC) members and 14 office bearers.

S Ramachandran Pillai, K Varadharajan, Madan Ghosh, S Malla Reddy, Abdul Rezzak Mollah and K Balakrishnan have been elected as vice presidents of the organisation while Surjyakanta Mishra, Bajuban Reyang, N K Shukla, Vijoo Krishnan, Ashok Dhawale, E P Jayarajan and Nripen Choudhary have been elected as joint secretaries. P Krishna Prasad is the new finance secretary.

As per the AIKS Constitution, it is the all India conference that directly elects the organisation's president. Outgoing president S Ramachandran Pillai proposed Amra Ram's name to the conference while outgoing general secretary K Varadharajan seconded it. The delegates unanimously endorsed the proposal. In his brief acceptance speech, Amra Ram said that entire farmers of the country are looking towards AIKS, the biggest organisation of farmers, for solution to their problems. Only passing of resolutions or reports would not be sufficient and what is needed is to go among the farmers on the ground and launch struggles to reverse the anti-farmer policies of the governments.

Hannan Mollah in his address to the conference called upon all state committees to undertake sustained, militant struggles on farmers issues till the governments are forced to reverse the anti-farmer policies. “Wherever a farmer commits suicide, we must get into action immediately. Get onto the streets, gherao the bank manager or sahukar or whoever is responsible for the death at the local level. Pressurise the authorities through militant struggles”, he said. Mollah said that in the coming period a countrywide militant struggle will be organised on certain major demands of the peasantry.

Earlier, Pillai moved a resolution 'In Tribute to Comrade Jyoti Basu' which was seconded by Varadharajan. The resolution that stated “The 33rd conference of the All India Kisan Sabha pays homage to the memory of Comrade Jyoti Basu, and is proud to participate in the celebrations organised in connection with his centenary year all over the country”, was unanimously adopted by the conference.

Another resolution “In Tribute to Comrade P Sundarayya was also moved by Pillai and seconded by Varadharajan was also unanimously adopted by the conference. It was stated “This 33rd conference of the All India Kisan Sabha salutes the memory of Comrade P Sundarayya, and takes the utmost pride in being among the inheritors of his legacy. We will strive to live up to his example, to carry through the tasks and struggles that he began, and to strive to complete the most important social task before our country – the revolutionary solution of the agrarian question in India.”

Resolutions on Food Security, Fertiliser Prices, Natural Calamities, against Communal and Divisive forces, against government decision to allow FDI into agriculture, against government attitude to ICDS and other schemes were also passed by the 33rd conference. The conference concluded with a vote of thanks by P Shanmugam, secretary of the Reception Committee and felicitation of convenors of various sub committees of the Reception Committee who strived day and night to make the conference a grand success.

(NSA)