Remembering Jai Singh a dear Friend
I
am finding it very difficult to come to terms that my dear friend Jai Singh is
no more with us. This is a great loss for the voluntary sector and social
movements. This is also a loss to those who are involved in land struggles,
bonded labour liberation and human rights work. Shri. Jaisingh Bhai was
available to everyone as a friend and as a supporter. I have many memories of
Jaisingh Bhai. Let me put down some of them for the benefit of my friends.
When
Ekta Parishad organized a long march of 25,000 people from Gwalior to Delhi in
2007, after walking for 29 days on the national highway when we finally arrived
at Delhi Ramlila Maidan instead of engaging with us in a dialog we were locked
up. Ramlila Maidan was converted into a temporary prison. There was some amount
of frustration among the people who walked all the way from Gwalior to Delhi
hoping that the Govt. will talk to them. This was not the kind of welcome that
they were expecting. At this point of time Jaisinghji marched into Ramlila Maidan
with one thousand landless people from all parts of Punjabto express their
solidarity with Ekta Parishad. This large group of landless people from Punjab completely
changed the atmosphere in Ramlila Maidan. People were all charged up, started sloganeering
“jameen do ya Jail do” (give us land or jail).Soon the negotiation began and we
reached anagreement with Government of India. I want to thank Jaisinghji for
his role at this particular moment in history.
In
2011 we decided to travel through the country for one year to mobilize people
for a larger action in 2012. After completing the journey through many states
of India we arrived in Punjab for a month. Jaisinghji and his team had organized
our trip in Punjab in a very systematic way. We used to visit the poorest
villages to interact with the bonded labours, the landless and the marginalized
communities. All those who were part of the caravan that travelled through the
rest of the country were very inspired by his dedicated work for the liberation
of the oppressed. My impression about Punjab as an economically developed state
got completely changed after this visit. The striking inequality and poverty in
Punjab shocked me throughout the journey. I want to thank Jaisighji for opening
my eyes to the reality of Punjab. After seeing the plight of the landless
community in Punjab I wrote to the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh ji requesting
him to appeal to the landed communities to give some land to the landless. In
my letter, I had urged him to adopt the method of that Vinoba Bhave used. I told
him that such an appeal coming from him as Prime Minister of India will be taken
seriously and suggest that he could also consider making an announcement of a
reward or some way of honoring those who come forward to give land. Of course Shri.
Manmohan Singh ji did not respond positively to my requestedbut the hope that someone
with high moral standing will come forward one day to repeat Vnoba bhave in
Punjab is still alive in my heart.
Looking
back I have pleasant memories of my association with Jaisighji and his friends
and we will all miss him in a big way. I am surehe will be happy if we continue
on his path and carry his dream forward.
(Rajagopal.P.V)
Convener
– SarvodayaSamaj
11th June 2021
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