People's Democracy

UTTAR PRADESH

AIAWU Holds State Conference

Subhashini Ali

MORADABAD in Western Uttar Pradesh, famed for its handicrafts and rich literary heritage, a city that will forever be linked with the memory of the revolutionary poet, ‘Jigar Moradabadi’, played host to the 12th state conference of the All India Agricultural Workers’ Union from October 19-21.  In past decades, Moradabad which then included what are now separate districts of  Amroha, Sambal, Chandausi and Thakurdwar, had a very strong Left presence and leaders like Comrades Sharafat Husain Rizvi (at one time president of the AIAWU), Ishaq Sambhali and others were popular public representatives.  With the rise of caste and communal politics, however, the Left presence has dwindled. 

Despite this, district comrades welcomed the decision to hold the AIAWU state conference in Moradabad and prepared for it with great enthusiasm and hard work.  The extremely successful public meeting with which the conference opened on the 19th was proof of this.  More than 2000 people attended the meeting and many of them came from the neighbouring districts including Rampur.  There was a sizable presence of women, mostly project workers, also.

Many parts of the city had been decorated with flags and posters and, in the crowded old city, people were heard commenting that this was a welcome development.

Ambika Misra, president UP AIAWU presided over the meeting and Brijlal Bharti, general secretary, conducted the proceedings.  The chief guest was Mohd. Saleem who made a rousing speech criticising the policies of the central government which were increasing the miseries of common people and also warning against the machinations of the Sangh Parivar.  Vijay Raghavan, general secretary, AIAWU made an impressive speech in Hindi which was welcomed by the crowd.  He stressed on the importance of increasing the membership of this organisation of the most oppressed sections and the need to intervene effectively in cases of atrocities against dalits, men and women, which were on the increase in UP.  Suneet Chopra, joint secretary, AIAWU, a well known leader in the area, spoke about the problems of MNREGA workers and the need to organise their struggles for wages and work.  Subhashini Ali, vice president, UP AIAWU, spoke about the deliberate attempts of the Sangh Parivar to engineer riots in many parts of the country in the run-up to the general election.  UP with 80 Lok Sabha seats was being particularly targeted and the recent horrors witnessed in Muzaffarnagar were a result of this.  It was unfortunate that the SP government had completely failed to maintain communal peace and protect the minorities.