9th August Jail Bharo struggle will be massive and historic
20 lakh people expected to participate
As part of the ongoing struggles by the peasantry and the working class, the call given by All India Kisan Sabha to organize massive Jail Bharo struggle on the Quit India Day – 9th August 2018 is receiving widespread support from various sections of the society. Around 20 lakh people across the country are expected to participate in this struggle.
The workers in thousands under the banner of CITU will join the peasants struggle at all district head quarters as an action of solidarity. In Delhi, there will be solidarity rally and courting arrest in the Parliament Street.
10 crore signature collected from the peasantry, working class and public will be submitted to the Prime Minister through district collector/ magistrate.
FDI and contract farming will be resisted
The main thrust of the struggle is to reverse the wrong policies being pursued by the BJP led Central Government that intensifies the already acute agrarian crisis. The BJP has given up all its opposition to FDI and the Modi Government has announced FDI in all sectors including multi brand retail marketing and agriculture. Along with this the declaration of contract farming to aid private profiteering will facilitate iron grip of corporate companies on Indian agriculture.
The 9th August struggle on the quit India Day will rebuff the complete surrender of Modi Government in front of imperialist driven Foreign MNC’s like Walmart, Bayer, Monsanto etc. US company Walmart entering India by taking over Flipkart will be resisted by all sections of the people including workers, peasants and petty traders. The BJP-RSS leadership has to clarify their political stand on this surrender and whether they have given up their Swadeshi slogans forever.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) being pursued by Modi Government is a mega regional trade deal that will open up land in India for takeover by foreign MNC’s who will have to be treated on parity basis with Indian Companies. Seed and input costs are expected to rise in the wake of mega mergers like Bayer taking over Monsanto and ChinaChem taking over Syngenta.
Dairy sector employing over 100 million people who supplement their meager income from crop based agriculture will be badly affected as big players in Australia and New Zealand will dump milk products in India. AIKS has given call to observe 23rd August as demands day of dairy farmers across the country against dumping of milk products.
The impacts of FTA’s like ASEAN are already reflecting in volatile price of all crops including, rubber, coffee, coconut, pepper and milk. When farmer’s loss huge income due to price crash, the Central Government is helpless and remains as a mute bystander. Under pressure, the Modi Government is allowing large scale import of wheat and rice thus making the farmers at receiving end due to low market price for their products.
The main slogans of the Jail Bharo strike include freedom from indebtedness, legal guarantee of MSP for all crops at C2+50% with comprehensive procurement support, stop FDI in agriculture and marketing and no contract farming to aid agro corporate companies, redistributive land reform, halt forcible land acquisition, Rs.5000 monthly pension to all small, marginal peasants and agriculture workers, Crop insurance scheme covering all crops, irrigation and electricity to all fields, minimum wage to agricultural labourers, full implementation of MNREGA by linking with agriculture.
The 9th August struggle will be supported by different organizations of peasants, agriculture workers, dalits, ex servicemen etc thus reflects the emerging unity of all basic classes against the anti-national anti-people economic policies of the RSS-BJP combine and Modi Govvernment.
We consider the issues of Dalits, Adivasis, Ex-servicemen, minorities as part of the larger and widespread crisis in Indian agriculture and without resolving the agrarian issues including redistributing land reforms, these problems could not be resolved.
The class politics is going to dominate the All India politics in a big way in the near future and all the left, socialist and democratic forces will have to come together to build an alternative at the All India Level.
We hope the joint struggle of peasantry and working class along with all other toiling sections will ensure the emergence of such an alternative at political level too.
Issued by
Hannan Mollah, General Secretary (AIKS)
Tapan Sen, General secretary (CITU)
P Krishnaprasad, Finance Secretary (AIKS)
