Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally: A Show of Unity From Flood-hit Kerala to Kashmir

Wednesday’s Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally, the first of its kind in Delhi, was a picture of amazing solidarity between the working class and peasantry from across the country.

As they started their journey back home on Thursday, the nearly two lakh farmers and workers who camped at various places in Delhi, including Ramlila Maidan and Sahibabad  camp in Uttar Pradesh bordering Delhi, were determined to carry forward their collective struggle against the anti-worker and farmer Modi-government in Centre.

After all, despite the language barriers, they had marched together on the streets of Delhi under the red flag to voice their demands, including loan waivers, land for the landless, more jobs, better wages and prices for agricultural produces, social security, education and health for all and end to privatisation and contractorisation. The rally was jointly organised by Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU).

They had poured into the Capital braving all odds -- from flood-hit Kerala to Kashmir, from Manipur where the BJP-led state government had tried targeting trade unionists, from Gujarat that has witnessed a massive movement of farmers against the bullet train project, from Maharashtra where they held a long march.

“More than 30,000 farmers who camped in Ramlila Maidan started to return right after the protest. However, more than 2,000 were there on Wednesday too,” said Vijoo Krishnan, Joint Secretary of AIKS.

He said the “Nashik farmers who reached in Delhi in a special train have returned in a special train itself,” The heroes of historic Kisan Long March, farmers and Adivasi peasants from Maharashtra's Nashik came to Delhi to be the part of the rally. Among the 40,000 farmers who marched to Mumbai from Nashik for seven days from March 6 to 12 covering a distance of 180 km, over 5,000 rallied in Delhi.

“The floods smashed our plans. Actually, more comrades were supposed to be with us for the Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally. Yet, we are here to protest against the anti-worker policies of the Modi-government,” said Beeran from Kerala, who came for the rally representing headload workers. Beeran, along with his colleagues, hails from Ernakulam district’s Aluva.

“Earlier, it was decided that 1,600 people from Ernakulam, one of most flood-affected districts, would head to Delhi.After the floods, we have decided to focus on rehabilitation works, yet more than 900 people participated in the rally from the district alone,” C.K. Manishankar, Ernakulam District secretary of CITU, told Newsclick.

The rehabilitation works, including cleaning and disinfecting water bodies, are still going on.

“During the floods, the water level rose up to the sunshade of our house. All the household utensils were damaged and we were forced to relocate from there,” said Kunjumon who represents autorickshaw workers in Aluva area, who came to Delhi despite being badly hit by the floods..

Aluva which is located on the banks of the Periyar river was one of the worst-hit areas. About 50,000 flood-hit people had been housed in nearly 200 relief camps in Aluva and nearby areas.

“When we started from there, the distribution of relief kit was going on and we all were volunteering,” said Ashokan, another worker from Aluva. A relief kit of essential food grains and materials have been distributed by the state government to the families who return from the relief camps to their own houses. The Left Democratic Government in the state has also distributed emergency assistance of Rs 10,000 to flood-affected families. Till Monday, 1.5 lakh relief kits were distributed in Ernakulam district alone.

While a group of four young farmers from Kerala’s Palakkad rode their bikes to Delhi covering various states and meeting farmers from those regions. One among those young farmers, Swaroop, said he was inspired by the Maharashtra Kisan Long March.

The rally was also joined with workers from various sectors including industrial workers, service sector workers and bank workers along with others. The scheme workers- mainly ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, midday meal workers- who earn hardly Rs 1500 per month have also joined with the rally demanding “minimum salary of Rs 18,000 per month and permanentisation.”