NEW DELHI, December 7: On the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, a large number of organisations came together and organised a protest march and a public meeting on December 6 in New Delhi, said a press release by Lok Raj Sangathan.
It said, thousands of people participated in the rally organised at the initiative of Lok Raj Sangathan, where the participants started gathering at Mandi House Chowk at 10 a.m. and marched to Jantar Mantar, holding banners and shouting slogans all the way. A main banner in the front, held up by the leaders of all the participating organisations had four slogans, “Punish those guilty for the demolition of the Babri Masjid”, “Let us unite against state organised communal violence and terror”, “An attack on one is an attack on all” and “Let us build a society where rights of all are protected”.
Several participating organisations also distributed their literature on the way, and when the disciplined march reached Jantar Mantar, people were already present and greeted the demonstration by shouting slogans including “the state that cannot ensure the well-being and security of the people has no right to exist, down down with state terrorism, punish those guilty for demolishing the Babri Masjid”, said the press release.
It said, welcoming the huge gathering at the mass rally, Sucharita said massive participation of men and women from all walks of life, belonging to different religious faiths, showed that the propaganda of the ruling class that the Indian people were communal was totally false. Speaking about the heroic deeds of the common people of Chennai and large part of South India in the face of the unprecedented floods, she said that the ordinary people of Chennai, by coming to help each other without regard to their own personal safety, had shown that our people are not divided on religious, or caste lines. She hailed the people of Chennai as a living example of the unity of our people.
Addressing the rally, the President of Lok Raj Sangathan, Raghavan Srinivasan called upon all those present to unite against state terrorism and take forward the struggle for a society which will ensure happiness and prosperity for all. He hailed the joint rally of 25 organisations as a living example of “An attack on one is an attack on all”. He said it was a matter of shame for this state that even after 23 years, the guilty have not been punished. This so-called democracy is nothing but the continuation of the colonial political system set up to oppress the people and divide them so that they will not unite, and people should not fall for their trap of discussing “tolerance” and “intolerance” as such issues are raised to divert people’s attention from their real problems, added Raghavan in the press release.
It said, among the speakers who addressed the gathering were Nusrat Ali of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Prakash Rao, spokesperson of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, Sheomangal Sidhanthkar of CPI (M-L) New Proletarian, Adv. Shahid Ali of United Muslim Front, Siraj Talib of Welfare Party of India, Dr. Zafrul-Islam Khan of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, Devika Mittal of Mission Bharatiyam, Iqbal Hussain from Student Islamic Organisation, N.D.Pancholi of Citizens for Democracy, Illyas Muhammed of Social Democratic Party of India, Saadat Anwar of Indian National League, Divya from Disha Chhatra Sangathan, Tasleem Ahmed Rehmani of Muslim Political Council of India, Kashif Ahmed Faraz of Association for Political & Civil Rights, Com. Renu of Purogami Mahila Sangathan. Representatives of Sikh Forum, Bibek Trust, Hind Naujawan Ekta Sabha, Mazdoor Ekta Committee, Rashtriya Ullama Council were also present at the meeting.
Speakers unanimously condemned the demolition of the Babri masjid for which they held both the BJP and the Congress Party responsible. They denounced the Indian state’s policy of ‘divide and rule’ which has consistently been practiced, regardless of whichever party was in power, to repeatedly destroy the unity of our people in their struggle for justice, peace, security, human rights and all democratic rights. The demand of every speaker was justice for the people by punishing those who were guilty of demolition of Babri Masjid, the criminals who organized the genocide of people in 1984, 1992-93, 2002 and many more. They pointed out that the existing political process allows such monstrous crimes against the people to go unpunished. All speakers highlighted to the profound expression of unity against the criminal designs of those in power, said the press release.
It said, Nishant Natya Manch and Disha Chhatra Sangathan presented a few songs exhorting the people to take the struggle forward for justice, and summing up the meeting, Sucharita talked of the arbitrariness of justice which is not really justice for the people. She said that the state passes and implements laws not to protect the people, but in the interests of the biggest capitalist in order to suppress the people’s voices. She hailed the unity of the people everywhere, in Chennai, in Delhi and all over the country who are fighting in defence of their rights, and she vowed that the people will not give up the struggle till justice is realized.