On April 15 th, Lok Raj Sangathan organized a socio-cultural event in Ulhasnagar (Maharashtra), as part of the ongoing “Ghadar Jaari Hai” campaign. Many cultural events like skits, songs and dances were put up by the youth of Ulhasnagar, Thane and Mumbai. The main purpose of the event was to highlight the fact that the “Ghadar” of the martyrs of 1857 is still continuing, to talk about the problems faced by people today and to point out the way forward. The representative of the Ulhasnagar Committee of the Lok Raj Sangathan welcomed the people and talked about the campaign and its contemporary relevance.

Children from Thane danced to the tunes of revolutionary folk songs and the Ulhasnagar children performed a traditional folk dance. The youth put up a tabloid, breath-taking in its scope. Using a number of cultural forms, it showed the history of man starting from primitive communism to slavery, followed by feudalism and capitalism. It depicted the heroic 1857 war of Independence, the hanging of martyrs by the British and the awe-inspiring exploits of revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev who gave up their lives for the people. The Thane youth put up a play “Chunav Aayaa”. The play showed in a hilarious manner how elections are won by bribery and by terrorizing the people. No matter who wins there is no change in people’s conditions. It then went on to show how the people have to take the situation into their own hands, select people’s candidates to contest the elections and form strong People’s Committees to hold the elected representatives to account. The youth tried to portray the Jan Pratinidhi Manch formed in Delhi for the recent elections in Delhi as a path-breaking endeavour. They also sang “Tu Zinda Hai” and “Rastey Pe Tumhare”.

The representative of the Communist Ghadar Party of India told the youthful audience that our country was advanced on the world scale before the rule of the British. The British succeeded by allying with traitors – rajas and others. They established private property in land (Zamindari) and created a class in whose interest it was for their rule to continue. They destroyed Indian agriculture and industry to benefit the ruling capitalist class of Britain. There were many revolts against the British – 1857 was the most important, encompassing large parts of the country and people from all walks of life. It was suppressed with the help of traitors, whose aulad are the rulers of today. After 1857 the British established their state in India to keep India enslaved.

The nature of the state – the police, army, bureaucracy, judiciary, etc. has not changed after Independence. It remains a tool to preserve exploitation and oppression. Today India is ruled by various parties on behalf of the big capitalists. The tasks of our patriots are incomplete and that is why Ghadar Jaari Hai.

Ending the rule of big capitalists and establishing the rule of the workers and peasants is the need of the hour. The representative of the CGPI appealed to all present to join in the historic task of spreading the campaign Ghadar Jaari Hai and to throw themselves into the task of ending the rule of big capitalists and establishing the rule of the workers and peasants.

Dr. Zahid Hasan Mahmood from Dhaka University, Bangladesh who was an invited guest, spoke about how the people of Bangladesh and India have a historic bond and the problems faced by people on both sides of the border are the same. He said that Bangladesh, Pakistan and India have all succeeded in throwing the British out, but the wound of Partition survive to this day, in the shape of broken families and friends. Both in India and Bangladesh, the masses are suffering while capitalists are getting richer. People still have to fight for a right to live with dignity. Thus the program “Ghadar Jaari Hai…” is relevant to Bangladesh as well. He congratulated Lok Raj Sangathan for initiating the campaign.

The function was disrupted by a freak storm and power outage. However the totally unseasonal rain could not dampen the spirits of the performers, the organizers or the audience. The function went on with undiminished enthusiasm when standby generator roared to life after the storm.

A notable fact about the function was that it was initiated and organized by the youth of the LRS. The cultural events conveyed a powerful message that the youth have to take the struggle forward and the future is in their hands.