The late evening calm on rain-washed Trilokinath Marg, barely 100 m away from the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, is shattered by a Bhojpuri jingle played full blast from loudspeakers mounted on a gold-painted bus.
“Gaonwa khushaal hoi apne karigari se, Chinwa dhahal jayi samaan bahishkaari se, Bhagawa apni desh se Cheen ke samanwa. (The villages will prosper with help of local craft. China will be rocked by the boycott of its products. Chase out Chinese products from our country),” urges the jingle in the earthy dialect.
Termed the Swadeshi Sankalp Rath Yatra, the bus is part of the RSS’s campaign against Chinese products, led by its economic wing the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM). It has just arrived in Lucknow from Rae Bareli after passing through the southern parts of Purvanchal and Awadh.
The SJM yatra, which began from the Bharat Mata Mandir in Varanasi on June 28, will end in Ballia on September 25 after passing through 28 districts of eastern U.P. and Awadh regions. “We are holding small meetings in other parts of the State as well. After U.P., it will move to other states,” said Lalkeshwar Tripathi, an SJM activist in-charge of its programme in Lucknow.
The campaign involves street plays, signature campaigns, public meetings and burning of effigies personifying China. Pamphlets are also being distributed. One pamphlet claims that the Chinese feel threatened that a “developing, young India” might challenge its economic might.