November 01, 2015
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MAHARASHTRA: DYFI Holds Tenth State Conference

Preethy Sekhar

THE 10th Maharashtra state conference of the DYFI held in Aurangabad City – the centre of the Marathwada region –  on October 9-11, 2015, resolved to rapidly expand the youth movement and organisation to meet the challenges posed by the murderous rightwing offensive. In connection with the conference, a massive youth rally and public meeting were organised on October 9 evening. Hundreds of DYFI activists from Aurangabad and nearby districts participated in the colourful rally. The rally also marked the culmination of two statewide Yuva Sangharsh Jathas led by the DYFI which converged in Aurangabad after touring 16 districts in six days. The venue of the public meeting, Sant Eknath Rang Mandir, was literally overflowing with people.

Mohammed Salim, MP and Dr Ashok Dhawale, erstwhile leaders of the DYFI, social activist Teesta Setalwad and state DYFI leaders Adv Bhagwan Bhojane and Preethy Sekhar addressed the public meeting. Selvam Daniel, chairman of the reception committee, welcomed the assembly. All the speakers drew attention to the double offensive unleashed by the BJP-led central and state regimes. On the one hand, there is a savage assault on the livelihood of the poor and rising unemployment. On the other hand, disruptive social forces are out in the open mercilessly attacking minorities, women and dalits. Mohammed Salim explained how citizens’ rights are being taken away with the BJP’s ascendance to power. Dr Ashok Dhawale dwelt on the situation in Maharashtra where living conditions and employment opportunities are declining and violent attacks on socially oppressed sections are rising. Teesta Setalwad described how Maharashtra’s progressive traditions are being corroded under the influence of rightwing forces.

The two DYFI jathas which concluded at the public meeting had toured several districts highlighting the martyrdom of Dr Narendra Dabholkar, Comrade Govind Pansare and Prof M M Kalburgi. The conference nagar, hall and stage were named after these three martyrs.

The delegate session of the conference began on October 10 morning. There were 264 delegates from 18 districts and 7 fraternal delegates from the SFI. A presidium consisting of Adv Bhagwan Bhojane, Sunil Dhanwa, Rohini Waghere, Bhika Rathod, Aziz Patel and Vansha Dumada chaired the conference. Mohammed Salim inaugurated the conference. In his inaugural address, he explained how the climate of intimidation has come to prevail all over the country and freedom of expression is being taken away. The democratic youth movement must step up its resistance in this situation and at the same time must intensify the struggle for employment and decent living conditions.

The conference was greeted by Mahendra Singh (CITU), Dada Raipure (AIKS), Maroti Khandare (AIAWU), Dr Sunanda Tidke (AIDWA) and Mohan Jadhav (SFI). In the afternoon, a special session was organised in which former DYFI CEC members from Maharashtra - Mahendra Singh, Dr Ashok Dhawale, Dr S K Rege, K R Raghu, Arun Latkar, Shailendra Kamble and Vijay Patil – were felicitated by the present generation of DYFI activists.

State secretary Preethy Sekhar presented the conference report. The report described DYFI’s efforts at building a movement against unemployment, especially on the question of ban on recruitment in government departments and public sector undertakings. The DYFI’s campaigns and consistent propaganda work against regressive social practices, discrimination against women, communalism and atrocities on Dalits were also described in the report. The report self-critically evaluated the laxity in expanding the membership and building the organisation. Reviewing the salutary experience of the Yuva Sangharsh Jathas, the report stressed the need for the DYFI to develop itself as a unifying force for all secular forces in villages and towns, coordinating them towards collective action.

49 delegates participated in the discussion on the report on behalf of 18 districts. The total time spent on the discussion was six hours. Apart from pointing out organisational weaknesses, delegates emphasised the increased relevance of the DYFI in the present context. The need to increase young women’s participation in the DYFI was also pointed out. After the state secretary’s reply to the discussion the report was adopted unanimously.

14 resolutions on various issues were passed by the conference, including the one pledging solidarity with the FTII students’ strike against saffronisation of FTII and one condemning the BJP-led state government’s circular declaring that criticising the government would be treated as anti-national activity and sedition charges would be invoked in such instances.

K S Raghuprasad presented the credentials report. The conference elected a 41-member new state committee, which in turn elected a 13-member state secretariat. Sunil Dhanwa was elected the new president, Preethy Sekhar was re-elected secretary and Bhaskar Patil was re-elected treasurer. Vansha Dumada, Pradeep Salvi, Ajay Burande and Indrajit Gavit were elected vice-presidents. Ramdas Sutar, Janardan Kale, Ganesh Darade and Moin Ansar were elected joint secretaries. Yogesh Khosre and Kiran Gahla were elected state secretariat members. Dinesh Siwach, DYFI all India joint secretary, presented his observations on behalf of the CEC in the concluding session.

The president of the outgoing committee Adv Bhagwan Bhojane and other leaders who retired from the state committee – Bhika Rathod, Aziz Patel, K S Raghuprasad, Ramdas Waingade, Shivaji Magdoom and Mukund Choudhari were given an emotional farewell.

The conference concluded with a firm resolve to rapidly expand DYFI membership and organisation in Maharashtra and to take up the fight against unemployment and communalism with renewed vigour.