Maha: AIKS Holds Struggle Conventions and Rally in Thane-Palghar Districts
Prachi Hatiwlekar
THE All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) Maharashtra state committee has planned a march on foot from Akole to Loni, the residence of the state revenue minister in Ahmednagar district, on various burning demands related to land and other peasant issues from April 26 to 28, 2023.
The major land-related issues are the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), the vesting of forest land, pasture land, temple trust land, and absentee landlords’ land in the names of the cultivating peasants, the scrapping of anti-peasant and anti-fisherfolk schemes like the proposed Vadhwan port in Dahanu tehsil, the river linking scheme in Jawhar and other tehsils, proper compensation for land acquired for national highways, and so on. In preparation for this march, the AIKS held two large struggle conventions and one rally in the Thane-Palghar district of Maharashtra on April 11-12-13.
On April 11, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Jotirao Phule and the foundation day of the AIKS, a convention of over 1,500 peasants from Talasari, Dahanu and Palghar tehsils was held at Ashagad in Dahanu. On April 12, a convention of more than 1,300 people from Vikramgad, Jawhar, Mokhada, Shahapur, Wada, Vasai and Bhiwandi tehsils was held at Kiravli in Wada. Both these struggle conventions attracted a large number of women and youth peasants. A good meeting of the AIKS was also held in Murbad tehsil of Thane district on April 11, where the AIKS has just recently started its work.
On April 13, the AIKS held a rally of hundreds of peasants, including several women and youth, on the Vasai SDO office of Palghar district. This is a relatively new tehsil for our work, and it was the first such rally on the Vasai SDO office. Several burning local demands had to be conceded by the SDO in the discussion with the delegation.
Both these conventions and the rally were addressed by AIKS national president Ashok Dhawale, state general secretary Ajit Nawale, state vice president Kisan Gujar, CITU state secretary Vinod Nikole MLA, AIKS leaders Kiran Gahala, Chandrakant Ghorkhana, Chandu Dhangda, Radka Kalangda, Nandu Hadal, Ramu Pagi, Bharat Valamba, Amrit Bhawar, Yashwant Ghatal, Sunil Surve, Harshal Lokhande, Prakash Chaudhary and AIDWA state general secretary Prachi Hatiwlekar. In all these programmes, an appeal was made to join the march from Akole to Loni in large numbers.
The highlight of the Wada convention was the return to the red flag of more than 50 prominent activists from the Vasai tehsil of Palghar district and the Bhiwandi tehsil of Thane district. They had left us 17 years ago after being misled by factional and opportunist elements, but had the courage to come back to the red flag. Among them were some sitting sarpanches and gram panchayat members. They were all welcomed with red scarves and red roses amidst applause. All of them will start working in the AIKS and other mass organisations.
Continuing with the old tradition of Thane-Palghar district, progressive literature, AIKS/AIDWA badges, and the Left weekly Jeewan Marg, all together worth nearly Rs 30,000, were sold in these three days.
