AIKS Organises Interaction with Jeremy Corbyn in Mumbai
The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) organized an enlightening interaction with Mr Jeremy Corbyn, MP and senior leader of the British Labour Party, while on his visit to Mumbai on October 20 evening. Around 35 Left leaders and progressive intellectuals of Maharashtra attended the meeting. They included Trade Union leaders, Bank Union leaders, Teachers Union leaders, journalists, progressive intellectuals, cultural activists, women’s organization leaders, student leaders, and leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) in Maharashtra.
The meeting started with the introductory remarks by Varsha G N of the Progressive International (PI) where she described the work of the PI and Jeremy’s leading role in the cause of Peace and Justice.
AIKS National President Dr Ashok Dhawale introduced Jeremy Corbyn and his wife Laura Alvarez. He stressed Jeremy’s Corbyn’s firm anti-imperialist and socialist commitment for over half a century, which has made him a legendary figure. He has been elected to the British Parliament constantly for the last 40 years since 1983. From 2015 to 2019 he was the Leader of the Labour Party and also Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. But he has also been a rebel with a cause, and has fearlessly defied the Labour Party leadership whenever it has taken rightist positions on domestic or international issues. He has always been a friend of India and strongly supported the historic farmers’ struggle.
On behalf of all the Left parties that were present, Prakash Reddy of the CPI greeted Jeremy Corbyn with a bouquet, renowned filmmaker Anand Patwardhan greeted Laura Alvarez, and public intellectual Sanjeev Chandorkar greeted Varsha G N. CPI(M) State Secretary Dr Uday Narkar presented Jeremy with a Nehru jacket which he happily exhibited and wore right there. AIDWA General Secretary Mariam Dhawale presented Laura Alvarez with a shawl, and CITU State Secretary Dr Vivek Monteiro presented Jeremy and Laura with decorative plates. At the end Dr Ashok Dhawale presented three books on farmers’ struggles in India and Maharashtra to Jeremy.
Jeremy Corbyn spoke about the political issues in the UK, the working class struggle against the corporates and their Government, the global rise of the right wing, the debate in the UK Parliament supporting India’s Farmers’ Movement, and so on. He condemned the decades-long brutality of Israel towards the Palestinian people and said that it was crystal clear that US imperialism was behind Israel, and also behind many other wars going on in the world. He briefed about the huge protest marches in the UK and in the world in support of Palestine and against Israel that were recently organized and the fact that he will be leaving tonight back to London where he will be participating in a massive protest march of more than 200,000 people to galvanize global support for the people of Palestine. He lauded the various Left movements in Latin America and Europe. He took pleasure in describing his memorable meetings with former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu.
Laura Alvarez, the founder of the Peace and Justice Project along with Jeremy, spoke on the various progressive movements in Latin America. She spoke about her experiences in India and how it is getting difficult for the progressive and social movements to spearhead their pro-people work. She expressed her agony at the internet shutdowns and telecommunication blockades by the Government of India. She lauded the work that has been undertaken by the Left and progressive activists in India in spite of such a hostile situation.
The meeting was then thrown open for questions from the attendees. Ten of them posed questions to Jeremy to which he replied briefly and astutely, while appreciating the broad based nature of this gathering.
Dr Ashok Dhawale summed up the evening with a call to bend all efforts to achieve a democratic political change in the general elections in both India and the UK next year. He also called for solidarity for the Palestinian people with large demonstrations across India. He ended his address with the inspiring poem of struggle called “Enemy of the Sun”.
Varsha G N mentioned the work undertaken by PI globally, especially for the working class, unionizing Amazon workers etc, and the resistance of workers worldwide.
At the end, Dr Uday Narkar proposed a vote of thanks to all those present and to the organizing team who made the meeting a success despite short notice.
