ON 30 October CPI(ML) paid tributes to Ghutua martyrs of 1988 in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand. In 1988 thousands of people under the banner of Indian People’s Front (IPF), who were protesting against police atrocities, were subjected to brutal police firing leading to the killings of comrades Rijhani Devi, Balkahiya Devi, and Ramprasad Mahato along with dozens of men, women and children seriously injured. Memories of this state brutality are still fresh in the minds of people which they refresh every year by reiterating their pledge to fight against every kind of brutality and repression and to achieve the goal of total transformation of society to fulfil the dreams of the martyrs, in whose memory a martyrs’ memorial stands tall in Ghutua challenging the atrocious state.
This year too hundreds of people marched through the town before reaching to the Memorial where a red flag was hoisted by CPI(ML) leader Bhavaneshwar Bedia followed by one minute’s silence and floral offerings. A mass meeting was also held on the occasion which was addressed by Nageshwar Munda, Devanand Gope, Devakinandan Bedia, Nita Bedia, Sahdeo Ram, Naresh Baraik, Rajendra Ram, Premsagar Mahato and others. They reiterated people’s resolve to save democracy, the Constitution, and the country by intensifying struggle for ousting BJP from power. The meeting also resolved to struggle for the employment guarantee for small shopkeepers and vendors facing threat of eviction in the name of beautification and for the farmers facing drought and near-starvation. It was also demanded to declare Jharkhand a drought hit region.
