The two day 14th national conference of JSM was held on 31 July and 1 August 2015 in Nabarun Bhattacharya Hall, Hindi Bhawan, New Delhi. More than 200 delegates from Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and other states participated in the conference.
Renowned painter, Ashok Bhowmik, welcomed the delegates and guests during the inagural session. The session was chaired by Prof. Manager Pandey and conducted by Com. Radhika Menon.
Highlighting the impact of the economic scenario of the current times in his keynote address during the inaugural session, Prof. Arun Kumar said that post 1991, the state had relinquished its responsibility of ensuring the welfare of the people and the people had been left to fend for themselves. The principles of the market dictated that people should not be viewed as poor or rich but only as potential consumers. The market was least interested in moral concerns and even as several technological advancements had been made, the societal transformation had been left behind. Poet-scientist Laltoo expressed concerns regarding the much talked about Indian Consciousness and if it were not merely an illusion. He particularly stressed the need for the activists working on cultural fronts to focus on language issues and the need to strengthen the culture of science. The cultural activists must try to strengthen rational and scientific thinking among people and at the same time also try to forge strong emotional ties with people. Ali Jawed and Murli Manohar Prasad Singh, in their address during the inaugural session focussed on the threats posed by fascist designs of the Sangh Parivar. Karamsheel Bharti of the Dalit Lekhak Sangh said that the India cannot rise only if it rises against casteism and religious discrimination. The chair of the inaugural session, Prof. Manager Pandey said that five kinds of power existed in Indian society- power of the ruling establishment, power of the corporate and the capitalists, power of caste, power of religion and power of men. These powers did not tolerate any kind of disagreement and even as they raise slogans of democracy, they only work to destroy it. He stressed the need for the activists to fight on all these five fronts. A resolution was also passed in the support of activist Teesta Setalvad.
The cultural session saw performances by Hirawal and an audio visual presentation on progressive writers by Saman Habib and Sanjay Mattoo titled- ‘Aasman hilta hai jab gaate hain hum” (The sky shakes when we sing). Paintings by Com. Anupam Roy were also displayed at the conference venue.
In the delegate sessions that took place during the two days, draft papers on – drama, painting, media, cinema, education, poetry, people’s languages and stories were presented, followed by an intense discussion on the same. In order to intervene creatively in these areas and intensify the debates, new convenors were selected in these areas. A call was given to intensify the struggle against the right wing assaults on social and cultural activists.
The conference ended with constitution of 151 member National Council and 49 member National Executive. Prof. Rajendra Kumar, poet and critique, was elected as the new President and Com. Pranay Krishna was re-elected as the General Secretary.
