by pallavi
New Delhi: 23rd March On the day when Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru laid down their lives for freedom of our country, People’s Movements remembered their sacrifice by pledging to intensify the struggle against corporate loot of our land and natural resources, of our choice and of our reason. While the country is free from the imperialistic powers, the poor and marginalised of this country are still not free from the clutches of exploitative policies that in the name of ‘development’ snatch away hard-earned rights and our resources. Making mockery of democracy that requires a space for dialogue, debate and also dissent, the Government is hell-bent on passing anti-farmer-worker Land Bill that will prove to be disastrous for lives and livelihoods, agriculture and nature.
Celebrating this historical day as the ‘Land Rights Day’, People’s Movements, organisations and networks across the country organised programmes, rallies and also mashaal julus to remind the government that their anti-people moves shall be met with fierce opposition. A signature campaign has also been started all over the country to demand cancellation of land bill and assert land rights. Land rights Day was celebrated as part of the larger, countrywide call of resistance that has been given out by the Joint Forum against the Land Acquisition Bill-2015.
In Delhi, senior activists Medha Patkar, Bhupendra Singh Rawat, Rakesh Rafiq and many others participated in the programme organised by the youth involved with people’s movements. Cultural activist Arvind Gaur and his team ‘Asmita’ set the tone of the event by performing a street-play and songs of resistance. Speaking at the programme, activist Medha Patkar said that yesterday’s statement of the PM Modi where he argued that the Land Bill is not anti-farmer is both inaccurate and propagandist. She asserted that the Bill is completely anti farmers – workers and is meant only for easy transfer and forcible acquisition of land for corporations by the government, without any consent of the land owners and those dependent on it for their livelihood or conducting any social impact assessment. She also reminded Mr. Gadkari to have discussion with people’s movements fighting on ground, if at all he wants to understand how this bill will harm our people, agriculture, environment and nature. The event ended with burning copies of the bill as a symbol of the resistance against anti-people land acquisition processes and to demand land rights.
A series of programmes and consultation meetings including protest demonstrations and burning of the copy of the ordinance on 30th January, a massive joint March to Parliament on 24th February, different level of meetings on 23-24th January, 18th February, 27th February and 13th March were organised during this period since the promulgation of the Ordinance on 31 December 2014. Protests have been organised in many places by allied members since then all across the country and continue to be held even now and will be intensified.
The government is under pressure from several quarters on the Land Acquisition Bill and political posturing is ongoing on a daily basis. People’s movements, farmers, peasants & workers organisations and several mass organisations who mobilised the March to Parliament on February 24th have decided to take the resistance to all across the country under the banner of ‘Joint Forum against the Land Acquisition Bill -2015”.
In a recently held meeting a series of actions has been finalized including State level meetings before 14th April, 2015, State/District level mass conventions before 30th April, 2015, Village level Padayatras and signature collection campaign before 15th May, 2015. 5 crore mass signatures demanding cancellation of the Bill on Land Acquisition shall be collected from the peasantry and the public and shall be submitted to the Prime Minister.
A meeting of political parties who stand against the Land Acquisition Bill 2015 will be organized at 4 pm on 2ndApril at Deputy Speaker Hall, Constitution Club, and New Delhi.
A meeting of core organizing groups will be held in the same venue from 10.30 am to 3.30 pm. The proposal of all India mass action on a common date will also be discussed and finalized in the 2nd April meeting.
Celebrating this historical day as the ‘Land Rights Day’, People’s Movements, organisations and networks across the country organised programmes, rallies and also mashaal julus to remind the government that their anti-people moves shall be met with fierce opposition. A signature campaign has also been started all over the country to demand cancellation of land bill and assert land rights. Land rights Day was celebrated as part of the larger, countrywide call of resistance that has been given out by the Joint Forum against the Land Acquisition Bill-2015.
In Delhi, senior activists Medha Patkar, Bhupendra Singh Rawat, Rakesh Rafiq and many others participated in the programme organised by the youth involved with people’s movements. Cultural activist Arvind Gaur and his team ‘Asmita’ set the tone of the event by performing a street-play and songs of resistance. Speaking at the programme, activist Medha Patkar said that yesterday’s statement of the PM Modi where he argued that the Land Bill is not anti-farmer is both inaccurate and propagandist. She asserted that the Bill is completely anti farmers – workers and is meant only for easy transfer and forcible acquisition of land for corporations by the government, without any consent of the land owners and those dependent on it for their livelihood or conducting any social impact assessment. She also reminded Mr. Gadkari to have discussion with people’s movements fighting on ground, if at all he wants to understand how this bill will harm our people, agriculture, environment and nature. The event ended with burning copies of the bill as a symbol of the resistance against anti-people land acquisition processes and to demand land rights.
A series of programmes and consultation meetings including protest demonstrations and burning of the copy of the ordinance on 30th January, a massive joint March to Parliament on 24th February, different level of meetings on 23-24th January, 18th February, 27th February and 13th March were organised during this period since the promulgation of the Ordinance on 31 December 2014. Protests have been organised in many places by allied members since then all across the country and continue to be held even now and will be intensified.
The government is under pressure from several quarters on the Land Acquisition Bill and political posturing is ongoing on a daily basis. People’s movements, farmers, peasants & workers organisations and several mass organisations who mobilised the March to Parliament on February 24th have decided to take the resistance to all across the country under the banner of ‘Joint Forum against the Land Acquisition Bill -2015”.
In a recently held meeting a series of actions has been finalized including State level meetings before 14th April, 2015, State/District level mass conventions before 30th April, 2015, Village level Padayatras and signature collection campaign before 15th May, 2015. 5 crore mass signatures demanding cancellation of the Bill on Land Acquisition shall be collected from the peasantry and the public and shall be submitted to the Prime Minister.
A meeting of political parties who stand against the Land Acquisition Bill 2015 will be organized at 4 pm on 2ndApril at Deputy Speaker Hall, Constitution Club, and New Delhi.
A meeting of core organizing groups will be held in the same venue from 10.30 am to 3.30 pm. The proposal of all India mass action on a common date will also be discussed and finalized in the 2nd April meeting.
It has also been agreed that 23rd March, 2015, the martyrdom day of Comrades Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukh Dev, will be observed as ‘Land Rights Day’ all over the country at District/ Block level to expose the anti- farmer character of the Bill on Land Acquisition. On 23rd a day long programme at Shahid Park, Feroze Shah Kotla, Delhi has also been organised.
Since, the promulgation of the Ordinance by the NDA government, the farmers and worker organisations and many social movements have collectively built widespread unity on the issue of opposing the Land Acquisition Ordinance / Bill. Over 100 organisations and platforms have joined the “Joint Forum against Land Acquisition Bill 2015” including National Alliance of People’s Movements, All India Union of Forest Working People, All India Kisan Sabha, Yuva Kranti and many others. It was decided that the forum will continue focussing on ‘Land Rights’ till the country sees a positive sunrise on the horizon of Land Acquisition Rights Bill.
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