AISA organized a protest demonstration and effigy burning of the Bihar government in Delhi’s JNU on 17 April 2016 against the fresh spate of feudal murders in Bihar. In the past month, three dalit CPI(ML) activists – comrades Mahesh Ram, Rampravesh Ram and Garo Paswan – have been brutally murdered by feudal forces in Begusarai. Clearly, they were punished for their ‘crime’ of leading battles of the poor for land, rights and dignity.
The protest was addressed by JNUSU general secretary and AISA leader Rama Naga, former JNUSU general secretary Chintu (who herself is from Bhojpur and has witnessed CPI(ML)’s struggles against feudal privilege, oppression and violence there), DSF leader Pratim Ghoshal, activist Umar Khalid and others. Comrade Rama Naga spoke of how the poor and the Dalits are fighting the might of the state, and the might of the entrenched feudal powers with their ideological power and the strength of organized struggles of the masses. “Feudal oppression and killings in Bihar have always existed. What has changed since the 1980s is the brave fight back by the poor”, said Umar Khalid. The protest was also attended by representatives from the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association, Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF), Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the Democratic Students’ Union.
