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Across the country, people celebrated 75 years of our independence with great enthusiasm. While remembering and paying tributes to the heroic sacrifices made by our freedom fighters, this was also an occasion to take stock of the challenges facing our country.
India’s freedom struggle was the world’s largest mass movement. The lakhs of people who took part in it were inspired by the values of democracy, liberty, equality, secularism and fraternity. All these values were upheld by the Congress led by Gandhi and Nehru and so it is that these values became the fundamental pillars of our Constitution, drafted under the able stewardship of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. It is because of these principles – which comprise the “Idea of India” – that our mega-diverse country has remained democratic and united for the past 75 years. We do have miles to go, but we have come a long way.
Today, with the fundamental pillars of the Constitution – democracy and secularism – being undermined, with the BJP determined to subvert the Constitution itself, while at the same time running the economy for naked corporate profiteering, the country is clearly facing its most difficult time since independence. For progressives and socialists, when democracy itself is under threat, the first task is to defend democracy. Let us keep aside our petty organisational interests, join hands with all anti-BJP-RSS organisations and political parties, and unitedly fight the BJP-RSS combine.
In the spirit of uniting in defence of our democratic Constitution, Lokayat gave full support to the national call of Azadi Gaurav Yatra given by the Congress party. We actively participated in organising various activities under this banner with Pune City District Congress Committee in the first half of August. Here is a brief report of the same. |
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Azadi Gaurav Yatra
Remembering the Struggle for Freedom,
Strengthening the Struggle for Democracy |
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| Workshops on “The Idea of India” |
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| | The Azadi Gaurav Yatra was a celebration as well as an effort to revive the spirit of the freedom struggle era Congress. We contributed to this effort by organising a series of workshops for block level activists of the Congress in various parts of the city.
On the heels of three workshops in the last week of July, five more workshops were conducted in the first two weeks of August.
The workshops talked about the ideology of Gandhi and Nehru v/s ideology of RSS, about how the ideology of RSS was closely related to the ideology of the British colonialists who wanted to divide the people on religious lines to weaken the freedom struggle, and about how the values of the freedom struggle formed the core of the constitution. We also discussed the present economic crisis gripping the country, especially the high inflation and the acute unemployment crisis and their roots in the Modi Government's economic policies, about how the Modi Government is running the economy solely for the profiteering of the country's biggest corporate houses, and possible solutions to the economic crisis. The feedback from grassroots activists was positive - they found it enlightening and said it built their confidence to debunk “whatsapp university propaganda” and reach out to ordinary people. |
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| Azadi Gaurav Padayatras in Pune |
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| | Block level units of the Congress organised rallies through residential areas and bastis of the city, invoking the memory of the freedom struggle and the contribution of the Congress led by Gandhi and Nehru as well as today’s challenges.
It was a spectacle that Pune witnessed after decades – scores of tricolour-wielding activists in Gandhi-caps, filling the air with slogans and songs for freedom and democracy.
Teams of our activists contributed in various ways – songs, speeches, slogans, distributing pamphlets, conversing with bystanders and also by making eye-catching placards bearing quotes from freedom fighters and the Constitution. We participated in 12 local rallies.
In addition, we participated in as well as helped organise three city-level rallies which mobilised hundreds of people - |
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| "Maitri Rally" and "Kranti Jyot Rally" |
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| | Maitri Rally:
Lokayat and Pune City District Congress Committee organised this rally on the occasion of friendship day. Early in the morning on 7th August, activists young and old, including all senior leaders of the city Congress, enthusiastically peddled from Congress Bhavan to Goodluck chowk – to commemorate the spirit of comradeship which prevailed among freedom fighters, cutting through caste, religion, gender and linguistic boundaries.
Kranti-Jyot Rally: A rally bearing blazing torches “mashaals” was taken from Congress Bhavan to Shaheed Babu Genu chowk in the heart of the old city, passing historic sites of the freedom struggle, on the evening of 8th August. This rally commemorated the iconic “Do or Die” declaration which flagged off the Quit India movement. The rain that evening could neither dampen our mashaals nor our spirits; more than a hundred people joined the rally despite the downpour. |
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| | | On the eve of Independence Day, several thousand people joined this huge yatra from Victory Cinema in Pune Cantonment (which was the site of a revolutionary plot in 1942) to Mahatma Phule market. The rally was led by Maharashtra state Congress President Nana Patole. It featured a float about freedom fighters, dozens of eye-catching placards and a truck-borne stage from which our cultural team sang songs of the freedom movement. Wherever the rally stopped our activists gave a short speech about the need to remember the freedom struggle and today’s challenges. Our cultural team also livened up the concluding sabha with a performance of “Mera Rang De Basanti Chola”.
On the morning of 15th August, our activists participated in the flag hoisting ceremony held at Congress Bhavan. |
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| Celebrating the Contribution of Women in the Freedom Struggle |
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| | On 7th August, Abhivyakti and Pune City Mahila Congress Committee jointly organised an exhibition of historical photographs and informative posters which highlight the contribution of women in the freedom struggle.
The exhibition showcased the stories of more than 150 women – most of them unsung heroines - from the earliest anti-British rebellions to 1857 and from the swadeshi movement of 1905 to the Quit India struggle and also the contribution of women to the constituent assembly.
This exhibition formed the backdrop of an inspiring talk by 94-year old freedom fighter Rohinitai Gavhankar who recounted her first hand experiences of the courage and sacrifices of women during the freedom struggle. The video of the talk is available on YouTube. |
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| Film Festival - “Jara Yaad Karo Qurbani” |
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| | On 13th August, Lokayat organised a film festival “Jara Yaad Karo Qurbani” at SM Joshi Socialist foundation. The films screened were about the ideals of leaders like Gandhi, Ambedkar and Patel and also about how ordinary people practiced and spread these values during their participation in the freedom struggle. Original clips showing the mass movements of 1930 and 1942 movements were also screened. There was a lively discussion at the end.
A shorter edition of the same film festival was also organised on the 11th of August by Lokayat Nagari Samiti for new volunteers.
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| Programs in Educational Institutions |
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| | Documentaries and films about the freedom struggles were screened in two colleges and one school. The exhibition on women’s contribution to the freedom struggle was also organised in a girls’ college and attended by more than 100 students. |
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Celebrating the Life and Ideas of
Annabhau Sathe |
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| | Annabhau Sathe was the people’s poet of Maharashtra. He was part of the first wave of progressive writers who pioneered the portrayal of struggles faced by the poor and the marginalised in Indian literature. His songs and plays roused workers and peasants to fight against capitalism and caste. Every year we celebrate Annabhau’s birth anniversary on the 1st of August with various programs aimed at remembering the ideas that he stood for. This year -
Lokayat Nagari Samiti performed Annabhau’s songs on street corners in Ganjpeth and Wadarwadi. We also printed stickers bearing Annabhau Sathe’s quotes and numerous people pasted it on their front doors. Kafila performed Annabhau’s songs in an open program organised by the students of SPPU. We held a public reading and discussion of Annabhau Sathe's short story “Barbadya Kanjari”. |
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Street Campaigns on various issues |
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| | In the second half of the month, we continued our weekly campaigns. One campaign was held on the theme of “Ban Sexist Songs”, another against systemic casteism - “Todu Jatichya Bedya” and one against worsening unemployment - "Aapan Berojgar Ka?".
We also organised in-depth discussions on the causes of inflation and its solutions, and on the Issue of E-Waste for new volunteers. |
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Abhivyakti Monthly Meeting |
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| | The topic of discussion in the August meeting was the National Education Policy 2020 and its detrimental effects on the education of girls. More than 20 women from all walks of life attended the meeting and planned Abhivyakti campaigns for the coming month. |
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Lokayat stands with unorganised sector workers
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| | Lokayat works closely with unions of unorganised sector workers, with a view to increase political understanding of the union members and thereby strengthening the organisation. we participated in several activities of these unions this month:
Anganwadi Karmachari Sabha and various unions led by veteran labour leader Baba Adhav organised a protest at the Pune Collectorate against the BJP government’s policy of increasing prices of essential items and breaking the back of the working class. The long-standing demand of regular salaries and status of regular employees for Anganwadi workers was also raised. Rashtriya Mazdoor Sangh is a progressive umbrella union of various unorganised sector workers such as domestic workers, security guards, cremation ground workers etc. Their annual convention was held on 15th August. We participated in the mobilisation meetings throughout the city in the run up to the convention and also contributed to the convention with a song performance. |
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Lokayat Nagari Samiti Activities |
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| | This month Lokayat Nagari Samiti campaigned twice in the Wadarwadi area, on the issue of LPG cylinder price hike. Our activists performed a street-play and distributed pamphlets on this issue. We also conducted a discussion for new volunteers to understand gender discrimination and patriarchy. |
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|  | Bhartachya Agnishikha |
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 | Talk by Rohini Gavankar |
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| We continue to regularly publish progressive content on social media. Among the issues we raised this month were petrol, diesel & gas price hike, privatisation, caste inequality, gender & economic crisis etc. |
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| Volunteer for poster making activity if you are interested.
Contact us if you want to host our program on your channel. |
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| | | Fill this form to join us: |
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| Lokayat, 129/B Erandwane, opposite Canara Bank,
Law College Road, near Nalstop, Pune.
Rishikesh : +91 94235 07864 | Shakuntala : +91 98502 54679 |
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