Join the 'Annada Runa Abhiayana'In support of Raitha Sangharsha Jaatha
July 21 – Aug 03
Call for Volunteers!
Come, let us stand shoulder to shoulder with
our toiling farmers!
Dear All,
This is an invitation to all to join hands in a campaign to exhibit our
gratitude towards our farmers!
Farmers who fulfill our hunger, who feed all of us, are
committing suicide every day; they are sacrificing their lives for mistakes
which they have not committed, for reasons which they are not responsible for;
they are losing lives because they are not getting proper price for their
produce. In Karnataka as many as 60 farmers have committed suicide during this
season (April-July). While the prices of seeds and fertilizer prices continues
to shoot upwards, the produce which farmers grow with lot of difficulties, are
not getting a suitable price. Sugarcane waiting to be crushed, sugar factories
which play with the lives of sugarcane growing farmers, politicians who are
least bothered about the problems of farmers, who force the farmers to commit
suicide and who are only interested in going on foreign trips, the government
which doesn’t exhibit any interest in solving the problems of the farmers, WTO
agreements which are just nothing but pro-capital agreements - All these
have forced the farmers to commit suicide!
Is it right on our part to remain silent witnesses to this?
How can we continue enjoying ourselves while the farmers who feed us are committing
suicide? While the persons who are responsible to address the grievances of the
farmers are not responding, as citizens of this country is it not our
responsibility to atleast think about them?
Friends,
This is a campaign to show our gratitude towards our land and our farmers, come
let us go to the villages! Let us listen to the grievances and problems of our
beloved farmers, let us instill hope among them. Their frustration should not
lead them to suicide but towards a fight for their rights! Come, let us raise
our voice! Let us try to exhibit our gratitude in small ways possible!
This campaign aims to tell our farmers that they need not bear the brunt
of this crisis alone, that they are not the ones to be blamed for this
agricultural distress and that they don’t need to commit suicide for this. This
campaign intends to tell the farmers that ‘solution to the problem lies in
struggle, not in despair.’ Farmers’ organizations, pro-people groups and
several others are supporting this campaign. This campaign will be focussed on
Mandya district since this district has seen the maximum number of suicides in
recent months.
The ‘Raitha Sangharsha Jatha’ will commence on July 21(Farmer Martyrs Day) at10 am, from Gejjalagere village in Maddur taluk,
Mandya district . It can be recalled here that in an incident which occurred
some time ago, at Gejjjalagere village, several farmers had lost their lives in
police firing, during a farmers’ agitation. Puttatayamma, the wife of one of
the farmers who was killed in that firing will inaugurate the jatha. The jatha
comprising 10 teams, will cover 750 villages, in all the taluks in Mandya
district in the next 10 days.
We are in search of youth, citizens and activists who are
interested to join us in visiting villages. Any number of volunteers for such a
campaign is not too less. Hence we request all to participate in large numbers.
How can you support the campaign?
1) Spend atleast some time, anything from 1
day – 10 days with the campaign in the villages of Mandya district. Also
mobilise volunteers to participate in the campaign.
2) Spread word about the campaign in
colleges, workplace, your neighbourhoods and social media
3) Mobilise people of Bangalore to come to
the final event of the campaign – a protest outside the Mandya DCs office
on August
3, Monday
4) Support the campaign financially
(details in attachment)
5) Join the study team which will be
visiting families of farmers who committed suicide to bring out a report ,
which will be submitted to the DC on Aug 3
6) Do background research to support the
campaign (largely through the internet)
Please contact Vasu (9945516267) or Mallige(8892939771) if you want to
participate in the campaign
A campaign of Karnataka Jana Shakti
