A Jana Jagaran Yatra, to commemorate 50 years of Naxalbari movement began from School Dangi, in Naxalbari block on November 19, 2016. The Yatra started by felicitating 15 comrades who had actively participated in the Naxalbari movement in the early years. Amongst the comrades felicitated were Khokan Mazumdar, Mujibur Rahman, Shanti Munda, Khudan Mullick, Khemu singh, Dulal Chanda, Thadu Munda, Suniti Biswakarmakar, Nemu Singh, Nathuram Biswas, Kandra Murmu, Shiril Ekka, Amulya Das of PCC CPIML, Govind Chhetri of CPRM and others.
A big gathering that included local residents of Jhoru Jote, of Naxalbari block, that had seen the beginning of the movement with the killing of the notorious police officer Sonam Wangdi by the peasants and locals, was present to begin the Yatra. The gathering was addressed by veteran Com. Khudan Mullick and Com. Khemu Singh as well as by CPI(ML) leaders Kartick Pal, Partha Ghosh and Abhijit Mazumdar. The programme began with revolutionary songs sung by the revolutionary cultural organisation under the leadership of Com. Nitish Roy. The speakers highlighted:
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• The revolutionary legacy of the Naxalbari movement, and its enduring inspiration for today’s struggles
• The need to resist land grab by corporates and their mafia nexus.
• The condition of tea garden workers who are living in abject poverty with low wages coupled with starvation on account of closures and non-payment of wages.
• The demonitization that has hit the poor section of the society the hardest while adversely affecting the low income, middle class and small traders. The rural poor is affected especially in the peak agricultural season where people not only do not have money to buy seeds but are also forced to stand in long queues to get their own hard earned money out from the bank.
• The failure to provide irrigation facility to the farmers of the terai region despite crores being spent on the Teesta barrage irrigation project.
The Yatra travelled through the various villages of the three blocks of Naxalbari, Kharibari and Phansidewa where the Naxalbari movement began, and culminated at Chotopothu Jote on November 21, 2016.
