The All India People’s Forum (AIPF) held a day-long convention against communal riots, violence and hate-mongering on 10 May at the Gandhi Peace Foundation in Bhagalpur. It has been twenty five years since the horrific communal riots in Bhagalpur, and AIPF’s convention, titled ‘How to understand and fight communalism: Questions arising 25 years after the Bhagalpur riots’, was organised to reflect on the current challenges of aggressive communal fascism in India. Several riot survivors, intellectuals and human rights activists participated in this convention.
At the convention, several riot survivors talked about the horrors they had faced, and the nature of their ongoing battle for justice. Many of them pointed out that for two decades, so-called forces of ‘social justice’ have been ruling in Bihar, and yet they have received absolutely no justice. A film on the Bhagalpur riots was also screened at the convention. This film showcased the sham behind the so-called ‘relief and rehabilitation’ of the riot victims. The riot survivors pointed out that after the riots, hundreds were displaced from their homes. Even now, twenty five years after the riots, feudal forces in the area are still in control of the victims’ homes and hundreds continue to remain displaced. The atmosphere of fear and intimidation still continues, even as riot victims as well as activists continue to take forward the battle against communal hate-mongering, riots and violence.
Activists who have been campaigning against communal fascism, such as Mani Khan, Prof. Manoj, Prof. Farooq Ali, Anisur Rehman Qasmi, Mohd. Shahbaz, Mallika Begum, as well as CPI(ML) Politburo member Comrade Dhirendra Jha, former MLA Satyadev Ram and Dr. Sharad Jaiswal from Kanpur also addressed the convention. The convention was conducted by AIPF’s national council member Dr. Mukesh Kumar, and RYA leader comrade Om Sudha gave the valedictory speech. The convention resolved to strengthen the struggle for adequate compensation, rehabilitation, pension, basic rights such as education, healthcare and housing and justice for the victims of the Bhagalpur riots.
