HUNDREDS of activists of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) held a militant protest demonstration in front of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha in Shimla on March 31, 2015. Similar such protests were held throughout the state, right from Poanta Sahib in the eastern part of the state to Chamba and from Kinnaur to Una. Huge demonstrations were held in Mandi, Kullu, Hamirpur, Solan,Nahan,Una, Kangra, Dharamshala, Baijnath, Joginder Nagar and several other Tehsil headquarters. In one voice, the demonstrations asked for action against the erring police officials who beat up the students in Police Station and raided the CPI(M) office. The foremost demand also included a judicial probe into the whole incident.
In Shimla, a procession was taken out from the Cart Road and culminated in Vidhan Sabha gherao which was then converted into a protest meeting. This meeting was addressed by Dr Onkar Shad, CPI(M) state secretary, Rakesh Singha, Central Committee member of the Party, Tikender Panwar, state secretariat member, Kishori Datwalia, local committee member and Rajan Harta, student leader. The speakers lambasted at the state government for planning the entire game plan to cow down the voices of dissension. In a thunderous voice, they warned the state government that such tactics will not work and shall boomerang at the Congress government. The Virbhadra Singh government has completely failed to stand up to the expectations of the people and is instead following a neo-liberal paradigm not only in economic policies but also in governance. It is because of this reason that the government is behind such a phenomenal increase in fee hike, banning the student’s union elections and helping the Jaypee in Kinnaur to completely ruin the ecology and environment and is not accepting the demands of agitating workmen. The speakers further condemned the ghastly attack on Rakesh Singha, where he narrowly escaped. It is shocking that the police too was involved in this act which smacks of deep rooted connivance between the state government and the JP Company.
The Party has demanded the government to institute a judicial probe into the whole incident failing which the CPI (M) shall resort to direct action and shall thoroughly expose the hollowness of this government.
Earlier a delegation of SFI comprising of Ritabrata Banerjee, general secretary and Dr Vikram Singh, joint secretary visited Kaithu jail in Shimla and met the six comrades jailed there. They submitted a memorandum to the governor demanding a judicial probe into the police lathicharge. The delegation also met Lokender who is undergoing treatment for serious injuries sustained in the brutal police lathicharge. They also attended a meeting of the activists of SFI at Himachal University.
