CHRISTIAN AID NEWS

Main picture: supporters prepare for
the Jan Satyagraha March for Justice.
Inset, below: Ekta Parishad president
Rajagopal addresses the crowds
Janadesh march. The marchers, most of
whom come from deprived tribal and
dalit communities that continue to suffer
severe discrimination in Indian society,
have been saving precious grains for a
year now to feed them on the march.
These grains will be cooked by Ekta
Parishad, but, worryingly, only constitute
50 per cent of what’s needed. As Ekta
Parishad appeals through its networks
to meet the financial deficit, Christian
Aid’s country manager Anand Kumar
met with Ekta Parishad’s leadership
at the start of August to see what could
be done.
Although Christian Aid gives a yearly
£50,000-£60,000 to Ekta Parishad for its
development work, Indian government
legislation restricts international funding
to people’s campaigns such as Jan
Satyagraha, preventing us from helping
to finance the march directly.
With Ekta Parishad largely dependent
on raising funds within the country,
Anand, along with the heads of other
international agencies based in India, is
composing a letter urging Indian friends
and contacts to respond directly.
‘If the deficit is not met’, said Anand,
‘Ekta Parishad believes the marchers will
be prepared to continue on just one
simple meal a day, rather than diminish
their opportunity to be heard.’
Ekta Parishad continues to engage with
Indian government representatives, and
has also met with the heads of
prominent industries involved in the
question of land distribution. Even
though the march is not in itself illegal,
Ekta Parishad is being urged by some
parties to cancel it, but influential Indian
public figures such as political and social
activist Aruna Roy are pledging support,
aiding the team’s confidence to go ahead.
‘Our leaders are willing to risk being
arrested and taken to court, rather than
cancel the march,’ said Ekta Parishad’s
Ran Singh Parmar. ‘We want to walk with
all who have been preparing for so long.’
The resolve of Ekta Parishad’s
leadership does not surprise me, given
my conversations with their president
Rajagopal P V who I met 60 days into Ekta
Parishad’s year-long preparatory journey
across India. He spoke of the urgent need
for poor people’s voices to be heard, with
India’s unequally distributed wealth
continuing to grow disproportionately, to
the detriment of its poorest.
Initially the government appeared to
welcome Ekta Parishad’s campaign,
sending two prominent MPs to meet the
travelling team in January 2012.
Yet, from the start, Rajagopal
understood the potential political
backlash. ‘When you resist, the
government becomes very oppressive,’
he said. ‘Rather than listening to the
voices of people, understanding why
people are resisting, why people are
protesting, the government is trying to use
police and force to put down their voice.
‘In a democratic country people should
have the right to voice their dissent
against any process of development,
especially affecting their lives. That
democratic space is shrinking every day,
and as a result you will find thousands of
non-violent struggles appearing. And
because of this constant oppression by
the state, many of these non-violent
struggles are becoming violent.’
Determined that the Jan Satyagraha
campaign will remain non-violent, Ekta
Parishad will invite international
delegates to a two-day peace conference
in Delhi before beginning the monthlong
march on 2 October, the
anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s
birthday. At this conference, Rajagopal
will likely continue to call for shows of
global solidarity with this and other land
struggles taking place in Africa, Latin
America and elsewhere.
‘In a globalising world where large
companies are coming to India, Africa
and other countries to buy land, the
government is forcing people to sell their
lands in the name of mining, wildlife
protection, infrastructure development
and other projects – it’s become common,’
he said. ‘If we don’t act now, there will be
nothing left for the poor people.’
Rajagopal explained that Ekta
Parishad’s unique strength as an
organisation lies in the support it enjoys
from a great number of people, both
within India and globally. ‘The success of
Jan Satyagraha will be based on how
much solidarity support we are able to
get,’ he said. ‘We will prove that some
struggles can succeed, and those
successes will inspire more people, and
that is how you build a better world.’
• If you want to show your support for
Ekta Parishad’s marchers, Christian Aid is
holding several solidarity Marches for
Justice around Britain. To find out how to
join one of these, visit christianaid.org.
uk/marchforjustice-uk
• To see more photos, watch videos and
read a blog sharing insight on the
campaign, visit christianaid.org.uk/
marchforjustice
• And to listen to an audioboo on the
march, go to http://bit.ly/QhM63E
(An audioboo is a digital recording that
can be played on computers.)
Christian Aid News 17