Chhatron Ki Goonj in 800 cities & ‘chanda chori’ protests—CWC

New Delhi: The Congress Working Committee (CWC) at its Wednesday meeting in Delhi’s Indira Bhavan decided that the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme will be held in nearly 800 cities in the country, with Rahul Gandhi participating in several cities, and that the party will hold protests across the country on the issue of “chanda chori” in Ram Temple. 

“Ram Mandir chanda chori is not only the issue of Ram Mandir now, it has become an issue of the sentiments of the people. Those using religion to polarise people are now totally exposed that their idea is to polarise people and commit theft in the temple (sic),” Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said at a press conference after the meeting.

The resolution passed in the meeting also said that the CWC was “deeply concerned” that the government was “sacrificing India’s agricultural and energy security, as well as its strategic sovereignty, in the face of American pressure”.

“At the same time, reports of Chinese incursions in Arunachal Pradesh are deeply alarming…The irony is stark: the government talks about showing China a ‘laal aankh’, while the ground reality makes Prime Minister Modi appear cowardly in defending India’s territorial integrity even as his economic policies are widening the trade deficit with China and, in effect, financing the very aggression it is his duty to prevent,” it said. 

Venugopal said that “India’s foreign policy has now become a policy of surrender, whether it is with America or with China”.

The CWC also reiterated its commitment to the “immediate implementation of women’s reservation”.

While reinforcing its demand that the constitutional freeze on the current strength of the Lok Sabha and its present allocation among the states be extended for the next 25 years, it said that one-third reservation for women should be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections itself.

On ‘shuddikaran’, Vande Mataram

Venugopal said that CWC members also discussed last week’s ‘shuddhikaran’ (purification) at Haldwani’s Ramlila Ground after a rally by Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

Calling the incident “totally unacceptable and condemnable”, he said, “The Prime Minister is maintaining silence on this matter, while BJP leaders continue to attack Kharge ji day after day…This clearly reflects the upper-caste mindset of the RSS dominating the BJP and its discriminatory approach.”

He said that the CWC discussed the matter and unanimously passed a resolution condemning the incident and demanding the Prime Minister’s apology, because “he showed the path and insulted Kharge ji several times”. 

“When the leader himself is insulting, his workers will also do the same,” he added. 

Venugopal also said that the issue of Vande Mataram was discussed during the CWC meeting. 

Responding to a question during the press conference, he said, “There is no confusion on that. The Congress President categorically said yesterday, we have clarified. We discussed it in the CWC too. Our stand is clear. The 1937 resolution was decided by topmost leaders of the time, like Mahatma Gandhi ji, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ji, Rabindranath Tagore ji, Subhash Chandra Bose ji, Sardar Patel ji. Whatever decision they took (in 1937), we will abide by that decision. Our Congress party workers will do that only— first two stanzas.”

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh asserted that while this issue is being raised again and again, there are more important issues that need to be discussed, like the youth of the country, examinations, “chanda chori”, and failure of foreign policy.

“Vande Mataram and National Anthem are emotional things for the Congress party. It is political for BJP. That is the difference,” Venugopal said. 

On education reforms

Venugopal told the media that Kharge and Rahul had also told all four Congress Chief Ministers that they should submit a report within one month on what reforms are needed in the education and examination systems in their states.

“The agitation by the students of this country, and the way in which the government of India has dealt with that agitation, the CWC unanimously opined that the sessions which were held in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were 100% successful for the opposition parties, and the government was totally on the backfoot on the education issue,” he said. 

He said that Rahul Gandhi’s steps on the students’ agitation, including “surgical strike on Prime Minister’s house” and ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ created a “very big atmosphere for solving the situation for the students”. 

The resolution passed by the CWC said that the committee “strongly condemns the arbitrary and brutal repression unleashed by the Modi government against student movements including attacks on young women and children, the use of electric shock batons, tear gas, pellet guns and AK-47s, and the blatant censorship of voices of dissent”.

Rahul Gandhi, it said, had “consistently made it clear that India’s education system cannot be held hostage to privatisation, centralisation and the regressive shackles of the RSS-BJP”.

“The Congress Working Committee also notes that sustained pressure from student groups and the united Opposition both inside and outside Parliament compelled the Education Minister to resign,” it added. 

(Edited by Gitanjali Das)

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