The Lal Maidan at Arariya overflowed with people on 29 January 2017 during a meeting held to remember martyrs Com. Satyanarayan Yadav and Com. Kamleshwari Rishidev and to protest against their killings. Speaking at the meeting, CPI (ML) General Secretary Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya pledged that their deaths would not go in vain.
This was one of the largest gathering of the people in the Seemanchal region. Tens of thousands of people participated in the rally, of which about 60% were women. The outrage of the mahadalit poor at the brutal murders of their leaders was at its peak and gave out a clear signal of the awakening of the poor in the Seemanchal region. Com Dipankar said that the land of Rahariya belonged to the mahadalits, and the conspiracy to grab their ancestral land is being done under protection from the government. Today Nitish and Lalu are together dishonouring the people’s mandate. The death of the martyrs in Bhajanpur and Rahariya in Arariya will not go in vain. The people of Bihar will give a fitting reply, just as the people of Gujarat did after the Una incident. The poor, dalits, and oppressed from all over Bihar will come and show their strength at the Adhikar rally to be organized in Patna on 19 February. The accused in the Rahariya incident are still roaming free after perpetrating these killings in full view of the police under full protection of the ruling establishment; this is the truth of the Nitish government’s claims of “good governance” and “social justice”. The meeting was also addressed by Com Kunal, Dhirendra Jha, Mahboob Alam, Pankaj Singh, Asgar Ali and other leaders. JJSS leader Ashish Ranjan attended the rally. People from Arariya, Purnea, Saharsa, Supoul, Madhepura, Bhagalpur, Katihar and other districts participated in huge number.
