A two day meeting of the All India Peoples Forum (AIPF) was held in Durg. Participants from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, West Bengal, Chattisgarh and other States were present in the meeting.
It was decided in the meeting that the AIPF will initiate a nationwide campaign against the unconstitutional move of the Central Govt to abrogate Art 370 during the next month. It was also decided in the meeting that the AIPF will mark 2nd October throughout the country with a program 'Let's Know Gandhiji'. As part of this program the AIPF will spread awareness about Gandhi's message on Hindu Muslim unity, environment, development and partition.
The National Council condemned the decision of the Home Ministry to start the process of preparing the National Population Register along with the pending amendment to the Citizenship Amendment Act is an attempt to make religion the basis of citizenship. All citizens must strongly oppose this. The National Council meeting also passed resolutions on wide ranging issues like initiating political dialogue to resolve the Bastar conflict, abrogation of Art 370 and 35A, farm crisis and passing of pro farmer laws in Parliament, replacing EVMs with paper ballots, abrogation of 44 labour laws, privatisation of Indian Railways, anti democratic amendments to the UAPA, NIA acts, dilution of RTI Act, dilution of Forest rights Act, immediate release of political prisoners and human rights activists and other issues. The AIPF also decided to initiate programs on all of the above issues throughout the month of September.
Prominent journalist John Dayal, former MLA and socialist leader Sunilam, human rights activist Bela Bhatia, social activist Vijay Pratap, AIPWA Secretary Kavita Krishnan, AIPWA National President Rati Rao, Akhilesh Edgar from Chattisgarh, Lalit Surajan and Mahendra Mishra from Sangharsh Morcha, Vijay Panda of Chhattisgarh Bachao Morcha, Brijendra Tiwari from AICCTU and AIPF Chattisgarh and others participated in the National Council meeting.
A public meeting on 'Challenges and Attacks on Constitution and Peoples Rights in Changing India: Interventions and Alternative Visons'.
