Respected chair of the conference, fellow speakers and all my friends fighting for social justice,
I congratulate you for this second conference and let me thank you very much on behalf of our party CPIML for inviting us to this important conference on this most important agenda before the Indian people. After 75 years of India's independence, social justice should have been an important and prominent feature of Indian democracy. It should have been a guarantee for the people. But unfortunately we find that the situation today is becoming increasingly hostile and inimical to the very concept and values of social justice.
And that's why it becomes all the more important for all of us fighting in defence of democracy, the constitution and to free India from the clutches of fascist aggression to highlight the social justice as a central plank of popular mobilization and people’s struggle.
Today, we find there are multi-pronged attacks on social justice. First of all, the constitution, which is the foundation for social justice is under systematic attack. Secondly on the economic plane, we find intensified corporate aggression which robs the people of their right and access to resources.
Increasingly since the ascent of the Modi government at the centre in 2014 and more so in the last few years, we find there is systematic subversion of social justice even in the very limited understanding of reservation.
On the one hand we find EWS reservation, which subverts the very constitutional idea of reservation and now with the Vishwakarma Yojana, we find that the people are being sought to be tied down to their traditional caste based occupations.
So, we are very sure that our battle will have to be fought on different planes at the same time. The constitution in its preamble talks about justice as a whole, social, economic and political. And so for social justice to be strengthened we need economic justice, we need political justice. Ambedkar always emphasized liberty, equality and fraternity as an integral package and equality too, social as well as economic.
Today when we find growing economic inequality, social inequality and erosion of our civil liberties and citizenship rights, when citizens are being sought to be reduced to subjects as though in a kingdom, so naturally social justice becomes undermined. Our battle is for the entire gamut of citizenship rights and the entire gamut of constitutional rights so that we can have a better environment and better foundation for social justice.
We have raised the demand for caste census and for expanded reservation. By expanded reservation, we mean increased cap for reservation and also extension of reservation to private sector so that reservation becomes more meaningful. But reservation by itself has proved to be, even though it's an affirmative action, of limited impact. What is needed is increased social mobility and increased expanding rights of the people. It's very important for us to make sure that the battle for social justice is fought on the social plane and I'm sure that the coming together of the broad spectrum of non-BJP parties and especially parties committed to the goal of social justice, social equality, citizens liberties and rights. This will definitely strengthen this battle.
Let me thank once again the organizers of this conference on this important topic. I'm sure the message of this conference will reach every section of Indian people and we'll be able to join hands and march together to realize the dream of social justice, realize the dream of freeing India from the clutches of the fascist forces, who are trying to push India back on the lines of Manusmriti, on the lines of a kind of monarchy in 21st century.
All of us who uphold and cherish the values of the freedom movement and the goals of social transformation will be able to defend this goal, realize this goal and defeat the forces of destruction, of injustice and inequality.
Thank you very much.
