To Change Policies, Advance Mass Struggles to Change the Government
Press Note issued in Press Conference held in New Delhi on 29th June 2018
Massive Jail Bharo struggle on 9th August 2019 – Quit India Day
All India Kisan Sabha has given a call for a Massive Jail Bharo struggle on 9th August, 2018 – Quit India Day. Lakhs of peasants will participate in this struggle at the district level across India. The CITU has declared solidarity with the genuine demands of the peasantry and lakhs of workers also will join the peasantry in the 9th August Jail Bharo struggle. 10 crore signatures will be collected from the people and submitted to the Prime Minister through the district collectors. This will be the beginning of a new era of issue-based united struggles in the country that will culminate in the end of corporate-driven economic reforms to resolve the acute agrarian crisis and rural distress.
The struggle on Quit India Day denotes the importance of the fight against imperialist-driven pro-corporate economic policies known as neo-liberal reforms that are being intensified by the rabidly communal Narendra Modi Government. The BJP-led Government, for the first time in the history of the country, has allowed 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in agriculture and retail trade, declared introduction of contract farming under the aegis of Multinational- Transnational corporations and E-Platform to link agricultural markets all over the country to facilitate corporate procurement. The Flipkart deal of global retail giant Walmart is the latest example of imperialist penetration in domestic E-Trade market. Thus the BJP-RSS combine has dropped its tall claim of ‘swadeshi policies’ and has become completely subservient to imperialist powers led by USA.
The BJP in its election manifesto in 2014 had promised a comprehensive loan waiver, remunerative price at 50% above cost of production to all crops, 2 crore employment generation per year to prevent agrarian distress and related migration, crop insurance, electricity and irrigation to all agricultural fields etc. But it has miserably failed to implement even a single promise. The ban on cattle trade and unbridled organized crimes of killing innocent people from Minority and Dalit sections in the name of the cow through mob lynching by the Sangh Parivar organizations have badly affected the cattle economy and ruined the subsistence livelihood of the peasantry. Demonetization and GST have deeply affected the agrarian economy, destabilized the federal character of states and widely destroyed both employment and income of peasants, workers and petty traders. The 4 years of the Modi Raj are full of failures and reckless onslaughts on the peasantry.
The Kisan Sabha will submit a Charter of Demands to the Government of India and if the Government is not willing to change the reckless anti-peasant policies that aggravate the agrarian crisis, then the peasantry will unleash relentless struggles independently and also unitedly with other sections like workers, petty traders, students, youth, women and other social sections including Dalits, Adivasis and Minorities.
5 lakh Worker-Peasant Sangharsh Rally on 5th September 2018 at New Delhi
As part of the ongoing struggles against the neo-liberal policies and misrule of the Modi Government, a huge rally of 5 lakh people will be oragnised on 5th September 2018 at New Delhi. This will be the first Worker-Peasant Rally since the independence of India and the largest rally of the Left and Democratic forces. The rally will be organized jointly by CITU, AIKS and AIAWU.
The peasants and workers will join the rally with their families. The rally will declare the future course of struggles and give a clarion call to build the Left and Democratic political alternative at the All India level based on alternative policies for people’s development. As part of this struggle, the Kisan Sabha will popularize the slogan ‘To Change Policies, Advance Mass Struggles to Change the Government’.
The Worker-Peasant Rally will address the issues of all social sections including students, youth and women, Adivasis, Dalits and Minorities. Toiling people from all the states will be joining the rally. Dalit, Adivasi and Minority sections also will be joining the rally in large numbers. A widespread campaign will be conducted by the state and lower level units to popularize the demands of the Rally and literature material will be circulated to educate the masses. Artists, intellectuals, social media persons will be participating in the massive campaign.
Rs 5 Crore Peasant Struggle Fund 2018/ Kisan Sangharsh Nidhi 2018
To intensify struggles and to advance the peasant movement across the country especially in North and North-East India, Kisan Sabha has given a call for collecting Rs 5 Crore Kisan Sangharsh Nidhi 2018 / Peasant Struggle Fund 2018. The fund will be collected by the village and primary units of AIKS through open bucket collection of Rs 10 each from peasant households and petty traders in rural India. The Kisan Volunteers will organize collection campaign on 22/23 July 2018 and 29/30 July 2018. All the activists of the Kisan Sabha from All India President and General Secretary to unit level activists will participate in the collection campaign in the villages.
Many friends and well wishers of AIKS have expressed their desire to donate fund for Peasant Struggle Fund 2018. Hence, Kisan Sabha has given a call to the people to donate to the Peasant Struggle Fund 2018 through bank transfer in the account of All India Kisan Sabha A/c No. 20032032844 – IFSC ALLA0210163, Allahabad Bank, 17 Parliament Street, New Delhi 110 001.
Support to Jharkhand Hartal on 5th July 2018
Kisan Sabha has declared full support to the Jharkhand Hartal on 5th July 2018 called by all the opposition parties against the decision of the President of India to give assent to the notorious amendments in the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act (SPT Act) and Chhota Nagpur Tenancy Act (CNT Act) by the BJP-led state government. These amendments are aimed to take over the mineral rich tribal land and hand it over to corporate mining companies.
We appeal to all to make the above struggles and campaigns a great success.
The press conference was addressed by Dr Ashok Dhawale (President), Hannan Mollah (General Secretary), P Krishnaprasad (Finance Secretary) and Vijoo Krishnan (Joint Secretary).
