A joint Left People’s Convention was organized in Ranchi on 23 September 2017 against communal violence, amendments to the land acquisition Bill, and child-killer health policies. The Convention began with a minute’s silence in memory of Gauri Lankesh and Shantanu Bhowmik, victims of communal violence, farmers killed by anti-farmer policies, and children who died due to governmental negligence. The keynote article of the Convention was then read out, emphasizing the following points: Jharkhand is being pushed on the road to destruction by the land acquisition Bill amendments which are anti-farmer and pro-corporate houses; the Supreme Court verdict that agricultural land should not be acquired is being flouted; the Jharkhand government, lie the Central government, is pushing through anti-worker amendments in labour laws; instead of the WHO-recommended 5%, only .07% of the GDP is allotted for health, resulting in extremely poor or no health facilities for the people; the Religion Bill 2017 passed in Jharkhand is dividing the people of the Sate and creating hatred between Christian and non-Christian adivasis. The Left must play a decisive role in fighting against the above challenges.
The CPI(ML), CPI, CPI(M), MCC, and SUCI(C) Participated in the Convention. A 5-member Presidium was formed with comrades Janardan Prasad, Mithilesh Singh, Rajendra Singh Munda, Mahendra Pathak and SN Mandal. The speakers said that the 1000 days of the Raghuvar government have been a dire failure and only a concerted people’s struggle can defeat the BJP, as shown by the recent people’s movements in Giridih. Com. Janardan Prasad, CPI (ML) state secretary of Jharkhand, proposed a State-wide people’s movement based on three issues which was passed by voice vote. According to the resolution passed, district level protests and zone-level conventions will be organized from 2 to 15 October. The Convention demanded that the Modi government should stop oppression of the Rohingya community and also put pressure on Burma to stop hounding them out. The Convention also resolved to work towards a viable Left alternative to capitalism by strengthening the political and social claim of the Left in Jharkhand.
