By TCN News,
New Delhi: Days after the brutal murder of three dalit persons in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, the ongoing communal violence frenzy in Delhi and significant dilution and proposed amendments in land and environmental laws to facilitate corporate loot of natural resources, the 10th biennial convention of the National Alliance of People’s Movement (NAPM) called for a united action by secular, socialist and progressive forces to combat the rising fundamentalist and fascist forces in the country.
The convention that concluded at Pune on November 2 was attended by over 1,000 persons from across 18 states and marked 20 years of NAPM journey. It passed, what was called as ‘Pune Declaration’ criticizing how “the fundamental character of India’s constitution is sought to be beaten out of shape and the very social fabric of our society is sought to be destroyed to perpetuate rule by a fundamentalist-religious-corporate cabal.”
A release from the NAPM said, a number of resolutions were passed at the convention, including – condemning and demanding punishing for those responsible for the atrocities against dalits and adivasis and brining changes in SC/ST act making it more effective; demanding punishment for murderers of activists Mohsin Sheikh and Narendra Dabholkar; demanding that Centre should stop immediately the increase in height of Sardar Sarovar Dam and also stopping illegal construction of ‘Statue of Unity’ without statutory clearance; demanding the government to take immediate action against illegal land grab by thermal power plants in eastern Madhya Pradesh and other places and demanding the government to stop illegal evictions in cities such as Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad and implementing Rajiv Awas Yojana.
National Fishworkers’ Forum, in a resolution, demanded enactment of ‘Fishers’ Rights Act’ on the lines of Forest Rights Act, strict implementation of CRZ notification and enactment of CRZ Act to ensure stopping illegal constructions, rampant violations in name of creating infrastructure for tourism promotion and a large number of thermal & nuclear power plants and PCPIRs alongside the coast of India.
The Convention also demanded that government of India initiate steps to withdraw death sentence awarded to five fishermen from Tamil Nadu in Sri Lanka and ensure immediate release. The Convention condemned large scale land grab by Indian corporations in African countries and committing of human rights violations in garb of business promotion and trade, the release added.
The Convention also expressed solidarity with the ongoing, ‘Standing Struggle’ of Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha in front of Kerala Secretariat for last 120 days demanding land rights and their right to dignified livelihood. The activists demanded withdrawal of ‘coal ordinance’, which is in complete violation of the recommendation of the SC judgment canceling the licenses given to several corporate houses. “The government must recover huge loans given by the public sector banks to these corporations, who must neither be allowed to default, nor be sanctioned new loans nor be allotted new coal blocks,” they said.
A number of actions and programmes were finalized after intensive discussion over the course of three days in 15 thematic group discussions and plenary sessions. An important decision among others was that NAPM will mobilize for a massive ‘Convergence of People’s Movement’ on December 2 here protesting the move by NDA government to amend the Right to Fair Compensation, Resettlement and Rehabilitation and Transparency in Acquisition Act 2013, NREGA, RTI Act, Forest Rights Act, NGT Act, EIA & CRZ notifications, labour laws and so on, the release added.
The Convention also reconstituted the National Committee, comprising of Advisers, National Conveners and National Organisers.
The Pune Declaration – an abstract to be finalized and circulated – reads as follows:
“The fundamental character of our Constitution is sought to be beaten out of shape and the very social fabric of our society is sought to be destroyed to perpetuate rule by a fundamentalist-religious-corporate cabal.
Our journey to establish a democratic socialist politics in this country faces major challenges today as the crisis of capitalism in developed world is looking for new markets and hobnobbing with the corporate and political elite of our country to establish crony capitalism here.
In last 20 years two major political camps (UPA and NDA) have come in unison to implement the agenda of neo-liberal capitalism and most of the political parties have come to accept that. This needs to change and only people’s movements in collaboration with other political forces can do that.”