District conferences of the CPI(ML) were held in districts across Bihar in the month of March. The conferences were occasions for discussing the current political and social situation in the country as well as in Bihar, paying tributes to martyred comrades, intellectuals and students including Com. Pansare, Dhabolkar, Kalburgi, Rohith Vemula, and others, discussing, amending, and passing the previous year’s reports, and electing new committees.
The 10th district conference of Eastern Champaran district was held on 5-6 March 2016. Inaugurating the convention CCW member and AIARLA National President Com. Rameshwar Prasad said that the pro-corporate, communal and fascist forces in power today are attacking farmers, workers, as well as intellectuals and students; MNREGA funds are being cut and farmers’ produce is not being adequately purchased; economic and trade union rights are being snatched away from workers; fabricated cases of sedition are being slapped on students. He called upon all these forces to unite and raise their voices in opposition from a united platform. Joint Editor of Samkaleen Lokyudh Pradeep Jha and other leaders also addressed the convention.
The 10th district conference of Siwan was on 23-24 February. CPI(ML) General Secretary Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya, State Secretary Com. Kunal and other leaders addressed the open session of the conference held near the statue of martyred former JNUSU President and CPI(ML) leader Com. Chandrashekhar. Com. Dipankar said that today the Central government is attacking the same JNU which gave us a peerless leader like Com. Chandrashekhar. He stressed that the government will never succeed in its unholy attempt to snatch the freedom of expression from people and demanded that the cases of sedition against JNU students should be withdrawn immediately. He pointed out that the mahagathbandhan government is also doing injustice to political activists, and gave the example of the false cases against comrades Satyadev Ram and Amarjeet Kushwaha. Violence against women and crime are on the rise in the state, but the government is doing nothing about it.
The 4th and 10th district conferences were held in Arwal and Aurangabad on 5-6 March and 4-5 March respectively. Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya and Com. Rajaram Singh, were the main speakers and they spoke of the dark times (burre din) today for students, youth, intellectuals, farmers, workers, and the common people, but said that the bright side is that the people are fighting back and putting up spirited struggles against injustice and oppression.
The 8th district conference was held in Muzaffarpur on 6-7 March. Addressing the inaugural session AIPWA National President Com. Meena Tiwari said that the Modi government is attacking all democratic systems and the basic rights of the common people. Education, culture, history, and even science is being saffronized. The institutional murder of Rohith Vemula and the arrests and fabricated sedition charges against JNU students are part of the Sanghi agenda. She stressed the need for a strong and united fight under ‘Save democracy, save the country’ against this all-round attempt to murder democracy.
The 9th district conference of Gaya was held on 6-7 March. Inaugurating the delegates’ session Com. Ram Jatan Sharma said that the Modi government is anti-farmer and anti-worker. Acting on the directions of the Sangh, it is attacking HCU, JNU and other campuses and trying to destroy all democratic institutions and crush democratic movements.
The 6th district conference of Beguserai was held on 7 March. Comrades Rajaram Singh, Naveen Kumar, Divakar, CPI leader Com. Anil Anjan, CPI(M) leader Com. Ravindra Singh and others addressed the conference. The speakers stressed the need for strengthening Left unity in order to fight effectively against the anti-people policies of the governments both at the Centre and in the State. The 10th district conferences of Jehanabad and Kaimur were held on 12-13 March and 8 March respectively. The 8th district conference of Gopalganj was held on 15-16 March. The speakers condemned the failure of the State government to act against the Sanghi violence at the CPI(ML) meeting in Muzaffarpur and said that the Party would not be crushed by such violence but work with renewed vigour to expose the governments at the Centre and the State.
