Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh has said that it is high time that all sections of the people unite to oppose the ‘anti-farmer’ policies of the Union government, which she alleged are intended to benefit corporate groups like Adanis and Ambanis.
Addressing a large gathering of students, Left party activists and leaders and the public at the Gandhi park near GVMC on Sunday, Ms. Ghosh, who is also national executive member of the Students Federation of India (SFI), said that the nation was going through turbulent times and called upon all sections of the people to continue their struggle against the Union government, till the farm laws were withdrawn.
She alleged that there was growing unrest all over the country, with the BJP-RSS fanning communal passions and violence. Women were being assaulted as never before, and the BJP leaders were supporting the perpetrators of those crimes, she alleged. She recalled that a journalist from Kerala, who had gone to cover the Hathras incident, was jailed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Alleging that the fundamental rights of the people were being snatched by the government, she described the situation as an ‘undeclared emergency’. A large number of PSUs like BSNL and LIC were being ‘put up for sale’, and the railways was also being privatised.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Kolkata to pay homage to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary, someone from the audience had raised slogans of ‘Jai Sri Ram’, she said. Alleging that RSS activists were behind it, Ms. Ghosh said that nationalism was not to divide people on the basis of religion.
Earlier, a huge rally was taken out by students, social activists and Left parties and representatives of various organisations from the AU College of Engineering Ground, near Maddilapalem Junction, to the Gandhi statue. Hundreds of students, including children, participated in the rally carrying the national tricolour and flags representing various organisations.
SFI State president A. Ashok, DYFI State secretary M. Surya Rao, city secretary U.S.N. Raju, SFI Central Committee members L. Chinnari and Mounika, AIDWA city president G. Priyanka and Visakha Children’s Club(VCC) convener K. Suseela were among those who participated.
Earlier, when media persons asked her on the need for students to participate in the protest, Ms. Ghosh said that many of the students were children of farmers. Further, no person could live without food and it was the duty of all citizens to support farmers. On the talk of ‘anti-national’ elements gaining entry into the farmers protest, she alleged that it was the government, which was pushing them into the protests, to create chaos.