By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: The Social Justice Conference (SJC) of Popular Front of India (PFI), which will be held as scheduled on November 26th and 27th at Ramlila Maidan, here is expected to be a platform for intellectuals, activists and community leaders to express their solidarity with people’s struggle for equity and justice.
Addressing a crowded Press conference here on Wednesday at the Constitutional Club PFI chairman, Mr E M Abdul Rahiman said the purpose of this historic conference is to highlight the issue of social justice and make the people at large realize the need for democratic struggle for the establishment of justice as envisioned by the founding fathers of the Indian Republic.
“Today our country is facing serious threats like rampant corruption, communal fascism, imperialism, atrocities against Dalits and Minorities, farmer suicides and violation of Human Rights. There is an urgent need to mobilize people and make them engaged in the struggle for social justice”, Mr. Abdul Rahiman emphasised.
Replying to a question Mr. Abdul Rahiman said, with oblique reference to Anna Hazare’s campaign against corruption, PFI appreciates the recent campaign against corruption but has three reservations about this. Firstly people in the forefront of such campaigns should themselves be free from corruption. Secondly, the campaign was silent on the issue of corporate corruption and thirdly RSS known for its fascist and communal tendencies was behind the curtain of this campaign, he opined.
He remarked that “Communalism is the worst form of corruption”.
He told a questioner that PFI is neither a terrorist or extremist organization but a neo-social movement. It came into existence five years back with the merger of state level social organizations of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka’ he added.
Mr. K.M. Shareef (general secretary, PFI), Mr. Mohammed Ali Jinnah (general convener, SJC Organizing Committee), Mr. Muhammed Shafi (convener, SJC Organising Committee) and Mr. Anis Ahmed (Media Relations In-charge, SJC Organizing Committee) were all present at the press conference.
Meanwhile, the arrangements for the Conference are almost completed and the delegates attending the conference have already started arriving at Delhi. A mammoth gathering is expected on the final day of the conference.
K M Shareef, general secretary PFI, informed that the conference will formally begin with flag hoisting by Popular Front chairman Mr. Abdul Rahiman on November 26th at 9.30 AM. The conference will have two seminars on November 26th and a grand Public Meeting on November 27th.
On the first day there will be a Convention by ‘National Milli’ on the theme “Together for Empowerment: Dialogue with Future”, which will be inaugurated by Dr. Mufti Muhammed Mukarram Ahmed (Shahi Imam, Masjid Fatehpuri, Delhi) at 10 AM. Mr. Kamal Farooqui, Adv. Zafaryab Jilani, Mr. Shoaib Iqbal, Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, Dr. Arshi Khan, Mr. A. Sayeed, Hafiz Manzoor Ali Khan will be the other speakers in this convention.
A National Seminar on the theme “People’s Right to Justice” will begin by 2 PM on the same day. Prominent activists, including Prof. S.A.R Geelani, Ms. Kavitha Srivastava, Dr. Udit Raj, Dr. Shams-u-Islam, Mr. Suresh Khairnar and few others will be presenting papers on various topics.
On the second day the Grand Public Meeting will begin at 1 PM at Ramlila Maidan and continue till 4.30 PM. The public meeting will be presided over by PFI chairman and addressed by eminent personalities like Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, Mr. Oscar Fernandes, Mr. Aziz Burney, Mr. Syed Shahabuddin, Moulana Mohammed Asar-ul-Haque Qasmi, Moulana Muhammed Wali Rahmani, Mahant Acharya Satyendra Das Maharaj, E. Abubacker and many others.
Meanwhile, to put across the message of the conference and to give wider publicity to the historic programme, various theatre groups and mobile video units are active in different parts of the national capital. The publicity campaign in various parts of the country has underlined the urgent need for non-sectarian efforts to address the real issues and challenges faced by the country. The seminars, conventions and street corner meetings in different states have received overwhelming response and mass attention.
Simultaneously, PFI is also organizing an innovative exhibition “Naya Kadam” at the conference venue. The exhibition is expected to showcase the strides being made by the marginalized communities of India.
Exhibition will start by 3 PM, on November 25th (Friday) and will be through until 9 PM on November 27th. On Saturday (26th) evening, teams from different states will present variety cultural programmes depicting the rich cultural heritage of the country.
It may be mentioned here that PFI which is a neo-social movement, had previously organized huge conferences with massive participation, like Empower India Conference in 2007 at Bangalore and National Political Conference in 2009 at Calicut.