CPIML leader and former Uttarakhand State Committee member Comrade Man Singh Pal’s memorial day was observed at the Bindukhatta on 9 March 2020. Comrade Man Singh’s role in Bindukhatta’s historic land struggle and the leading role he played in subsequent people’s struggles were remembered on this occasion.
CPIML State Secretary Raja Bahuguna said that Comrade Man Singh always stood firmly with the oppressed class and raised his voice against the opportunistic politics of ruling powers. He said that the best tribute we can pay to Comrade Man Singh will be to carry forward his revolutionary struggles and intensify the fight for people’s issues. Comrade Raja Bahuguna further said that the BJP-RSS trying to turn the CAA-NPR-NRC issue into a Hindu-Muslim issue which has resulted in the state-sponsored violence in Delhi. BJP leaders’ hate speeches and the communal role of the Delhi police under Amit Shah are fully responsible for the violence but the BJP is diverting the issue and giving political protection to the perpetrators of the Delhi violence. He said the CAA-NPR-NRC will create new problems for the people of Bindukhatta and other khattas (unrecognized forest villages). Khatta-dwellers, poor, landless, dalits and adivasis will be the worst affected as the poor do not have papers to prove citizenship, and Bindukhatta and other khatta dwellers do not possess ownership papers for land. Therefore, it is imperative that we oppose this draconian law. He said that when the process of NPR starts from 1 April, we should all boycott it and say that we “will not show papers; will save the Constitution”. This would be the best way to show our patriotism.
The Memorial Day meeting was also addressed by Anand Singh Negi, Vimla Rauthan, Lalit Matiyali and Bhuvan Joshi.
