On 19th December, Naujawan Bharat Sabha successfully organised its programme in Ramleela Ground, Khajoori, Delhi to commemorate martyrdom of Ashfaqullah and Bismil as Day of Revolutionary unity. It would be worthy to remember that the RSS was hellbent on stalling this programme and had been trying to create communal tension in the neighbourhood . However,people of Khajoori thwarted the communal fascist designs of Sangh Parivar and assembled in large numbers at the venue,which the RSS men have been tying to monopolise of late. Hundreds of people, including women and children, were present throughout the programme braving the severe cold. The thought behind the programme was to remember the legacy of people’s unity our revolutionaries have left behind and spread their message among the people so that one doesn't get swayed by the present fascist communal propaganda of dividing people on religious lines.
Khajoori is a working class neighbourhood having a predominantly Muslim population. No basic amenities like potable water, sanitation, sewerage, roads etc. have been provided by the authorities as is wont in most ot the unauthotised colonies where the poor of Delhi reside. Not a single dispensary is present in this colony of thousands of people and two schools present are in dilapidated condition. The authorities are conspicuous by their absence on the delivery of these most urgently needed services but are very active in discrediting those who try to expose the real reasons behind such a sorry state of affairs.
Previously, organizing this programme itself had become a challenge. Naujawan Bharat Sabha faced stiff resistance from the local police authorities in getting the programme underway (See the report by NBS,'Viscious Conspiracy of Sangh Parivar to fan Communal Tension in North-East Delhi') . The police authorities deemed the venue of the programme,i.e., Ramleela ground as disputed. The SHO of Khajoori Khas police station informed the organisers that they can not organize the program at this venue as it will create communal tension in the area. When he was asked how a programme intended to spread message of peoples' unity will lead to communal tension,he was clueless and admitted that there is pressure on him ‘from above’ . However,it is ironical to note that the RSS people from outside the colony, organise their shakha everyday in this very 'disputed' Ramlila ground but nodody stops them! They have even constructed a platform in the park illegaly without the permission of concerned authorities and even then have got away with it. This brazenness doesn't stop here. They restrict the access of everybody else in the park when their shakha is in progress. They are escorted by the policemen too. Thus, the prorgamme was also a way of reclaiming our public spaces from these fascist goons.
The programme commenced with observing a two-minute silence against the bloody massacre of the children in Peshawar by Talibani fundamentalists and with the note that fundamentalism of all religious hues needs to be challenged and fought. Nitin of NBS highlighted the fact that the present generation has almost forgotten our revolutionary legacy and that there is urgent need to ressurect that legacy in peoples' consiousness so as to counter the growing threat from communal fascist forces. He threw some light on the lives and times of revolutionaries such as Ashfaqullah Khan and Ram Prasad Bismil and ideals they stood for. Then the children of colony presented some songs. Yogesh of NBS gave a brief account of the challenges the organisers faced in organising this program and the malicious attempts of the Sangh Parivar to fan communal tensions in the neighbourhood.
A play titled ‘Desh Ko Aage Bhadhao’ was enacted by the Khajoori unit of NBS. People thoroughly enjoyed its sarcastic take on the ‘development ' rhetoric electoral parties employ in general and what the present Modi Government is doing in particular. Revolutionary songs such as ‘ye kiska lahoo hai, kaun mara’ ets were sung by the cultural team ‘Vihaan’
Shivani of Bigul Mazdoor Dasta laid bare the nefarious plans of the Sangh brigade to break the revolutionary unity of the masses. How the rhetoric of ‘Achchhe Din’,which was a poll-plank employed by BJP has got punctured within such a short span. The divisive communal fascist agenda of Sangh Parivar has come to the fore in form of concocted ‘Love Jehad’, controlled communal clashes throughout the country, and most recently ‘Ghar Vapasi’ campaigns. She told the gathering that that the agenda of RSS-BJP combine to divide the people can only be countered by revolutionary peoples' unity . The working masses need to see through the designs of these fundamentalist forces and fulfil their historical responsibility of relegating them to the dustbin of history.
Varuni from NBS and Deepak Dholakia of Peoples' Alliance for Democracy and Secularism also addressed the gathering.
The programme concluded with revolutionary songs and slogans.
The gathering of hundreds of people braving chilly winter day sent across a strong and clear message that the revolutionary unity of the people cannot be broken on the communal lines. It was a resounding rebuttal to the communal fascist forces' designs to create communal tension in the neighbourhood. Also by assembling in such large numbers,people once again laid their claim on the park which rightfully belongs to them and which the RSS had been using as its monopoly. In this regard too,the program was a success.
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