TURN this Ekata Colony into a symbol and centre of resistance against communal forces.” With this inspiring call, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member M A Baby inaugurated on August 24 a colony at Jola village, around 40 km from here, for the people uprooted from their villages and homes during last year’s communal riots in the district and its adjoining Shamli. Primarily instigated by various Sangh Parivar affiliates, the communal violence in last August-September in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts of western Uttar Pradesh claimed 65 lives and rendered more than 50 thousand people, majority of whom were poor Muslim villagers, homeless. This colony, resettling 60 uprooted families, mainly from Lack and Bahavadi villages of Shamli district, is different from other similar resettlement efforts for the people belonging to the Minority community who are unable to go back to their homes fearing further attacks. This is different in the sense that this could be the only colony that has come up as the result of resettlement efforts of a political party -- CPI(M). The Party's call for relief contribution for the Muzaffarnagar victims had evoked good response and it collected around Rs 70 lakh, bulk of it coming from mass collections in Kerala and West Bengal. The fund has been spent mainly in building houses at Ekata Colony. The resettlement colony, presently having 39 houses in first section and 15 in second sections (six more houses are to be added later), is also very different in the way it was conceptualised -- especially the active and decisive role given to the resettlees themselves and also the people of Jola village. Instead of building and handing over these houses to the refugees, CPI (M) through its contacts in Muzaffarnagar in general and Jola village in particular, first helped these families acquire land for houses at cheap rate in this village which had given them shelter and then provided building material to them for a pucca house with lintern roofs, each costing Rs 1 lakh. Houses were largely built by the people themselves, and these were designed to their own needs and are specious enough to even accommodate their cattle. Not surprisingly, much before the construction was completed and formal inauguration took place, the people had already moved into their new houses. Naturally their gathering for the formal inauguration was also for them an occasion to raise issues related to provisions of supply of power and water, and road connectivity -- that the government is supposed to provide. After formal inauguration of Ekata-1 by M A Baby, Ekata-2 was inaugurated by CPI(M) Lok Sabha member M B Rajesh. Besides these houses, CPI(M) has also provided these families basic tools and equipment to continue their professions like tailoring, hair-cutting, carpentry or simple tools of labourers. Widows and rape victims were also provided with sewing machines. Similarly the Party has also helped a few refugee families in marriages of their daughters. After initial round of distribution of immediate relief material like blankets, warm cloths etc in relatively large number of refugee camps, raising issues related to horrible conditions in these settlements, and opposing the state government’s efforts to forcibly close the temporary facilities, CPI(M)'s relief committee, headed by Central Committee member Subhashini Ali, decided to put to use the Party's limited resources at rehabilitating refugees at Jola camp. Ali underlines with pride that it's only because CPI(M)'s resistance, the administration could not shut down the refugee camps in Jola. Some 130 families, mainly from Hasanpura and some other villages, were still languishing in dilapidated tents on the premises of Jola power station. The Party's relief committee has taken up with the administration the issue of proper rehabilitation of these refugees also. M B Rajesh, with Ali and other local party leaders, visited the camp and enquired the occupants about the conditions there. The administration, hiding behind the fact that one or two families may have indicated their willingness to go back to their villages, is refusing to take steps to resettle the refugees permanently at some new places. The people living in this camp categorically told the visiting CPI(M) leaders that they have no intention of going back to the villages that threw them out nearly a year ago. The inauguration of the colony saw a large public meeting at Jola’s Jain Intermediate Collage compound. Nonagenarian Communist and Kisan leader Hafiz Iqbal presided over the meeting, while CPI(M)'s Muzaffarnagar District Secretary Shyamveer Rathi conducted the proceedings. Beside M A Baby and M B Rajesh, CPI(M) Uttar Pradesh State Committee Secretary S P Kashyap addressed the gathering. All the speakers drew the people’s attention towards the growing communal challenges and appealed to them to resist the communal forces that are on the offensive, by strengthening people's unity beyond caste and community divides. They also underlined the need of building Left organisation to counter forces of communalism and defend the working people's interests. Subhashini Ali, while concluding the meeting, underlined that the fight for power and water supplies and road connectivity to Ekata Colony and a hospital at Jola will have to be taken forward with all seriousness.