Ashok Dhawale
It was truly
an amazing struggle, the like of which has not been seen in Maharashtra in
recent times. It caught the imagination of the peasantry and the people, and
received their unstinted support, not only in the state but all over the
country. It received the backing of parties and organisations all across the
political spectrum. For the week from March 6 to 12 that the Long March of
nearly 200 Km lasted, it became the centre of attraction for the entire
national and state media, both print and electronic, and also the social media.
#KisanLongMarch was the number one trending All India hashtag the whole day
March 12.
Beginning at
Nashik with over 25,000 farmers marching in unison, including thousands of
peasant women, it concluded in Mumbai with over 50,000 farmers. Red flags of
the Kisan Sabha, red banners, red caps and red placards highlighting the main
demands of this Long March, made it a huge ocean of red. By far the largest
mobilisation was that of thousands of Adivasi peasants from Nashik district,
under the inspiring leadership of AIKS former state president J P Gavit, MLA.
The next was that from Thane-Palghar district, followed by Ahmednagar district.
There was representation from several other districts in the state, which rose
markedly in the last two days of the Long March.
The Long
March was the culmination of three years of constant struggle led by the AIKS
in Maharashtra, which has been briefly outlined in these columns last week.
Meticulous preparations for the Long March, including planning its logistics to
the last detail were carried out by the AIKS collective state leadership right
from February 16, when the decision was taken at the extended meeting of the AIKS
state council at Sangli. Grains, oil and firewood for the food of the
participants was collected from the villages themselves. Water tankers for
drinking were stationed at various points along the way. An ambulance with a
doctors’ team and the necessary medicines was kept along with the Long March.
The way that
tens of thousands of poor and landless peasants, along with their leaders,
marched with determination 30 to 40 Km per day for seven days in the searing
heat of the sun, hundreds of them without footwear on tar roads, with bruised
and bleeding feet, evoked not only massive public support for their cause, but
also massive public anger against the callous and insensitive BJP-led state
government.
All this was
reflected in the overwhelming response from the working class, the middle
class, Dalits, Muslims, Sikhs and all other sections in Mumbai and Thane
cities. The Long March was not only welcomed with open arms in several
localities, but the people themselves donated generously in both cash and kind
in both these cities. The CITU, AIDWA, DYFI and SFI in Mumbai and Thane-Palghar
districts launched a mass campaign amongst the people in support of this Long
March, but the mass response went far, far beyond that.
The magnificent
humanitarian decision of the AIKS of walking day and night on the last day,
from 11 am on March 11 to 6 am on March 12, from Thane city to Azad Maidan in
the heart of Mumbai city, to avoid disrupting the final board examinations of tens
of thousands of SSC students in Mumbai, drew the unstinted admiration of people
across the country. Several prominent celebrities in India also expressed their
appreciation at this gesture.
All this put
tremendous pressure on the BJP-led state government. On March 12, chief
minister Devendra Fadnavis, ministers Chandrakant Patil, Girish Mahajan, Eknath
Shinde, Pandurang Fundkar, Subhash Deshmukh and Vishnu Savra, along with a
battery of top officials of various departments, held a three hour discussion
with Kisan Sabha leaders in the Vidhan Bhavan. Also present during the
discussions were leaders from the opposition benches Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil
(Congress), Dhananjay Munde, Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare (NCP).
General
secretary of the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) Jayant Patil, MLC, and state president
of the Janata Dal (Sharad Yadav group), Kapil Patil, MLC, who had helped the
Kisan Sabha struggle, were also present during the discussions.
The Kisan
Sabha delegation included Dr Ashok Dhawale, J P Gavit, MLA, CITU former state
president Narasayya Adam, ex-MLA, Kisan Gujar, Dr Ajit Nawale, Subhash
Choudhari, Savliram Pawar, Sunil Malusare, Irfan Shaikh, Ratan Budhar, Barkya
Mangat, Radka Kalangda, Umesh Deshmukh, Sidhappa Kalshetty, Vilas Babar and DYFI
state vice president Indrajeet Gavit. Almost all the above are AIKS state
office bearers who actually walked in the Long March, along with AIAWU state leader
Manohar Muley and CITU state leader Vinod Nikole.
In the light
of earlier bitter experiences with the present government, the Kisan Sabha had
taken the clear position right in the beginning that it would not withdraw this
struggle without official written assurances. These written assurances on all
the demands were given within an hour of the conclusion of the talks, with the
signature of the chief secretary of the state government. Three ministers of
the state government – Chandrakant Patil and Girish Mahajan of the BJP and
Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena – came to
the victory rally at Azad Maidan and pledged to implement the agreement that
had been reached. The Kisan Sabha also insisted that the agreement arrived at
should be placed on the table of the House by the chief minister in the state
assembly that was then in session. Accordingly, the chief minister tabled that
agreement in the House on March 13.
Concrete
assurances have been given by the government on AIKS demands concerning the
implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), river linking proposal adversely
affecting tribals in Nashik, Palghar and Thane districts, loan waiver to
farmers, remunerative prices, temple lands, pasture lands, old-age pensions,
the public distribution system, compensation to lakhs of farmers in the Vidarbha
and Marathwada regions who have suffered huge losses of the cotton crop due to
pink bollworm pest attacks, hailstorms and on other issues. The details of the
demands conceded will be given in these columns next week.
The
resounding AIKS victory rally of over 50,000 farmers at Azad Maidan in Mumbai
on the evening of March 12 was addressed by CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram
Yechury, ex-MP, CPI(M) state secretary Narasayya Adam, ex-MLA, PWP general
secretary Jayant Patil, MLC, Janata Dal (Sharad Yadav group) state president
Kapil Patil, MLC, former AIKS president Amra Ram, ex-MLA, AIKS joint
secretaries K K Ragesh, MP, and Vijoo Krishnan, renowned journalist P Sainath,
CPI(M) central committee member Mahendra Singh, AIDWA general secretary Mariam Dhawale
and vice president Sudha Sundararaman, CITU vice president Dr D L Karad, and by
leaders of this Long March - AIKS president Dr Ashok Dhawale, AIKS former state
president J P Gavit, MLA, AIKS state president Kisan Gujar and AIKS state
general secretary Dr Ajit Nawale – and, earlier in the day by other leaders of
the AIKS, CITU, AIAWU, AIDWA, DYFI, SFI and by a wide spectrum of the supporting
political parties, organisations and individuals.
All the
farmers left Mumbai on the night of March 12, with tremendous confidence
generated by this victory, buttressed equally with deep gratitude towards the
people of the state and the country who had supported them to the hilt in this
struggle. The massive nationwide public response to this Long March was an
acknowledgement of the valiant, peaceful and democratic struggle waged by the
peasants under Kisan leadership. It was also a reflection of the fact that
their demands of land rights, loan waiver, remunerative prices and pension,
which were essentially directed against the neo-liberal policies of the BJP-led
governments in the state and the centre, were actually the demands of the
peasantry of India as a whole.
One battle
has been won, but the war still remains. And after the victory in this battle, it
shall be fought with even greater grit and determination all over the country!
(The concrete
demands won by this struggle will be carried in these columns soon)
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