MP: ‘Unite the People to Protect the Country’
Addressing the Samaj Jagao, Bhaichara Banao, Samvidhan Bachao rally at the Chhatarpur Mela Ground on December 29, CPI(M) general secretary, Sitaram Yechury expressed anger over the poor condition of Bundelkhand even after 75 years of independence. He said that instead of working towards improvement, the present government is pushing the situation towards further deterioration. Discussing the national situation, he said that as a result of the erroneous and destructive economic policies of the Modi government, the country is heading towards an economic slowdown. Due to this inflation and unemployment are increasing. Instead of solving this, PM Modi has facilitated a relentless multiplication of profits of his favourite capitalists through a drive towards privatisation.
Criticising privatisation, Yechury said that this drive is not only towards the looting of national resources of the country, it is also against social justice as the reservation system is being dismantled. The opportunities remaining for the deprived population are also ending. Yechury said that communal violence is being fanned to divert attention from basic issues and to cover up the loot by corporate houses. This is intended to break the unity of the country. This is against India's tradition of Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam. BJP is tarnishing the image of the country across the world due to its politics. He said that this is the time for all the citizens and organisations who love India, believe in the constitution and democracy, brotherhood and sisterhood to fight together.
NAPM leader Medha Patkar while speaking in the meeting expressed regret over the plight of Bundelkhand, over the prolonged conditions of drought in the region and unseasonal rains that have ruined the condition of farmers. Instead of solving them, all the attention of the government is directed towards handing over the immense natural wealth of Bundelkhand to corporate companies. Bakswaha's diamond mine will destroy the environment, nature, and normal life. Taking note of this, the court has now banned it. The government should stop this completely. She said that those in power want to stop the ongoing fight for the constitutional rights of the people by inciting violence among the people and launching hate campaigns. This is why it is now necessary to stand and fight unitedly against both vicious economic policies and bigotry being instigated for political purposes and for national equality.
In his speech, the organiser of this meeting, Engineer Mahesh Kushwaha, state president of Rashtriya Samanta Dal, said that social, educational and economic inequalities are increasing continuously. The policies of the government are continuously widening inequality. As a result of this, there has been a breakdown of social harmony. The Modi government is doing its best to create divisions between different classes and communities, he said. Engineer Mahesh Kushwaha narrated his experience of travelling from village to village in the entire region for one month continuously and said that stray animals have destroyed the farmer and his farming. The Gaushalas built during the Kamal Nath government have not been running at all after the change of the government. Due to this, some sort of terror of stray animals has arisen. Farmers are not getting relief even during natural calamities. Crop insurance scheme is now a victim of fraud and a pasture for loot by private insurance companies. He demanded that just like minimum wage for unskilled labourers, salary for degree holding youth should be fixed according to their qualification to stop the exploitation of qualified and talented youth.
CPI(M)'s state secretary Jaswinder Singh appealed for a united fight against corruption and anti-farmer policies being adopted by the government of Madhya Pradesh. He said that many political parties of Madhya Pradesh are preparing to fight jointly. Exposing the scams of the state government, he said that out of 2000 cycles to be distributed in Chhatarpur, only 16 were given. Not even an iota of urea has been sent to the societies in Naogaon in the month of December. The menace of Nilgai has also increased. He demanded that the scam in the compensation of Singhpur Dam be fixed and that all the affected people be brought under its purview.
National president of National Equality Party Motilal Shastri also addressed the gathering. Secretary of All India Kisan Sabha Badal Saroj, treasurer of National Equality Party Pradeep Kushwaha from Bhopal also attended this event.
