THOUSANDS of people under the banner of Jan Ekta Jan Adhikar Andolan (JEJAA) came out in 23 state capitals and many district headquarters on May 23 to expose and protest the four years of the Modi led NDA government.
In New Delhi, thousands of people from Delhi and NCR marched from Mandi House to Parliament Street in the scorching heat shouting “Ache Din ki loot hai jaari danga, mahangai aur berozgari, Bahut hui janata ki loot, Badlo ab Modi Sarkar” (the loot of ‘Ache din’ of mob violence, price rise and unemployment - is on, enough of the loot of people, change Modi government)
In the public meeting held at Parliament Street, national leaders of JEJAA addressed the gathering. Hannan Mollah, national convenor of JEJAA and general secretary of AIKS called upon different sections of the people to intensify their sectoral struggles and mobilise maximum people in the joint struggles to make it a political force to change the policies or, if not, change the government. The other speakers were Atul Kumar Anjan (AIKS, Ajoy Bhawan), Satyavan Rathee (AIUTUC), Santosh Ray (AICCTU), Manoj Bhattacharya ex MP (UTUC), S N Chauhan (AI Agragami Kisan Sabha), Ritu Kaushik (AIMSS), Suchanda (MEC) and Nathu Prasad (DSMM). Anurag Saxena (CITU) conducted the meeting. R K Sharma, Satyanarayan, Purushotam and Sangwari, Bangla Manch and AIDSO cultural groups presented revolutionary songs.
In Tamil Nadu, the protest demonstrations held throughout the state have taken shape of a natural protest against the dastardly police firing on the protesting people by the police on behalf of the corporate Vedanta/Sterlite killing thirteen people. In all districts, demonstrations were held. More than five thousand people participated in Chennai.
As per information received by us as we go to press, demonstrations were held in most of the state capitals.
In Assam, a rally was held in Guwahati and all district headquarters. In Andhra Pradesh, a rally was held in Vijayawada. A huge mobilisation of more than fifteen hundred people was held in Patna, Bihar.
Huge demonstrations were held in state capitals – Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Kolkata (West Bengal), Agartala(Tripura).
In Haryana, demonstration was held in Karnal, CM city.
In Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka and Maharashtra, demonstrations were held in state and district capitals.
Various national leaders including Tapan Sen, Hemalata, Amarjeet Kaur, Annie Raja, Kavita Krishnan, Rajeev Dimri, Medha Patkar, Dr Suneelam, Ashok Choudhury, Nikhil Dey Madhuresh Kumar (NAPM), Vikram Singh (SFI) participated in demonstrations held in various states.
A resolution condemning the brutal police firing in Thoothukudi killing 13 people was placed in the New Delhi public meeting and the protestors observed one minute silence to condole the deaths.
In Manipur, a protest meeting was held in Imphal against the four years of NDA's anti- people economic policies and communalisation of politics, and for safeguarding the unity and struggle for people's rights.
The protest meeting was held under a presidium of Dr M Nara Singh (AITUC), N Thoiba Singh (AIKS- Manipur Loumee Marup), Sarat Salam (CITU- convenor JEJAA), N Singhajit (Manipur Loumee Lup-CPI) , Kshetrimayum Manglembi Devi (AIDWA), M Shakhi Devi (All Manipur Nupi Marup), Dr M Rajendro Singh (MGSF-AISGEF), Mutum Kulla (BSNLEU), RK Maipak (AIPEU), N Jatishwor (BKMU) and others.
Welcoming the gathering of the mass, class and social organizations, Sarat Salam, convenor of the Manipur JEJAA, said that the state has faced the onslaught of the BJP led coalition government on many issues. He appealed to the leadership of the organisations to be vigilant and prepare for a bigger movement to get our rights.
Addressing the protest meeting, L Sotinkumar (AITUC) emphasized the need to expand the movement in all the districts of Manipur for betterment of the toiling masses.
He was followed by L Purojit (MGSF-AISGEF). He said that the state government led by BJP is reluctant to give salaries to the employees according to the 7th Pay Commission.
Kshetrimayum Santa (CWFI national secretary) explained the sufferings of the toiling masses of the country and said that the unity and struggle of the workers, peasants and other sections of the masses is essential for a better society.
Dr M Nara appealed the leadership of the unions and federations to work unitedly against the onslaught of RSS/BJP combine to save democracy and constitution of India.
Mutum Kulla (BSNLEU) said that the central government employees in the state are not paid the allowances according to the Special Area Allowance to be paid to the central government employees who are working in disturbed areas of the country.
The meeting resolved to further the movement in the state till the charter of demands of the Jan Ekta Jan Adhikar Andolan are fulfilled.
