Martyrs Day celebration at Nohar, Rajasthan Lok Raj Sangathan organises rally and demonstration against war on Iraq

Statement of Lok Raj Sangathan, New Delhi, March 17, 2003

On 23rd March, Lok Raj Sangathan organised a rally and demonstration at Nohar, Rajasthan, to commemorate the martyr’s day of the valiant freedom fighters — Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. About 400 people from all walks of life – workers, peasants and youth – gathered at the Bhagat Singh Chowk at the town junction and participated with tremendous verve and enthusiasm in the 2-hour long programme.

Prior to the start of the programme, the portraits of the martyrs and a hoarding had been put up in the chowk. Activists of Lok Raj Sangathan and AISF garlanded the portraits and commenced the programme with stirring songs by Kalu Ram, Ramdas and others on the life of the martyrs.

More than ten speakers spoke on the occasion and they were heard with rapt attention by the audience. The life of Bhagat Singh and the ideals for which he sacrificed his life were described with telling force by the speakers. Assessing the socio-political situation in India today, a strong conclusion that emerged from the presentations was that the ideal for which Bhagat Singh and his comrades-in-arms fought and sacrificed their lives – that of a society where there is no exploitation of man by man – still remains elusive for the Indian people. In fact, each passing day only brings in more misery and exploitation and this state of affairs can only be ended with a thorough going democratic renewal of Indian society. Speaker after speaker condemned the anti-social offensive of the rulers in the name of globalisation through privatisation and liberalisation.

The speakers were unanimous in their condemnation of the US imperialists for launching an unjust and unilateral war on Iraq, without sanction from UN and ignoring the widespread protests throughout the world of millions of peace-loving people. Through incontestable facts the speakers established that the prime motive for attacking Iraq was the greed of the US imperialists to capture the oil resources of the west Asia region in the interest of multinationals. It was pointed out that the Indian people should be very concerned about these developments and urge their government to take up an unequivocal stand against the war, since the conquest of west Asia is but a prelude to the conquest of Asia as a whole.

A lively skit interspersed the speeches. A drama troupe consisting of young dramatists from Sirsa put up a thoughtful nukkad natak reminding one of Bhagat Singh’s work and the state-organised communal and fascist attacks on the people, which are its anti-thesis.

The fact that the Indian people are thoroughly marginalised in today’s political process, where they don’t have any say in running the country’s affairs or on deciding the priorities of government, raised the question of building committees of people’s organisations in each town and village. Participants enthusiastically responded to the call that the time has come to mobilise all sections of the people and set up people’s committees in every nook and corner of the country so that the programme for genuine empowerment of the people can be taken up with all seriousness and resolve.

In a fitting conclusion, the participants took out a militant march on the main road of Nohar, waving placards condemning the unjust war against Iraq and shouting militant slogans against the US imperialists and their cronies. Thousands of peopled lined the streets and watched from balconies as the demonstrators wound their way through the main road. When the demonstrators reached the main intersection near the railway station, a symbolic rasta roko was done to express the indignation of the Indian people against the rain of bullets and bombs that the US imperialists have been hurling against the innocent civilians of Iraq.
The meeting was chaired by Com Mangal Singh. Among the participants were Hanuman Prasad Sharma, Com Om Pir Sahu, Com Niyamat Khan, Beghrag Kola, Dr. Chandan Singh Bagh, Sunil Kumar Dahiya, Com Mehboob Khan, Ashok Varma and others.