Trade union, farmer organisations to conduct long march in Delhi on September 5

The organizers have decided to involve dalits, tribals and minority sections and issues related to them will also be raised during the rally.

Farmers take part in 'Kisan long march' organised by All Indian Kisan Sabha AIKS at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Monday, 12 March 2018. | PTI

NEW DELHI: To continue its struggle against the BJP government's neo-liberal policies and misrule, a group of trade unions and farmers organisations have decided to conduct a worker-peasant rally and a long march in Delhi on the lines of one organised in Maharashtra in March this year.

The rally to be organised by the All Indian Kisan Sabha (AIKS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and All-India Agricultural Workers' Union (AIAWU) at Ramlila Maidan on September 5 is expected to be attended by around 5 lakh people, the organisers said.

"This will be the first worker-peasant rally since the independence and the largest of the Left and Democratic forces. The rally will declare the future course of struggles and give a clarion call to build the Left and Democratic political alternative at the All Indian level based on alternative policies for people's development," said Hannan Mollah, general secretary, AIKS.

The organizers have decided to involve dalits, tribals and minority sections and issues related to them will also be raised during the rally. The AIKS has also given a call for a massive 'jail bharo' struggle on August 9, that coincides with the Quit India Day. It is expected that lakhs of peasants will participate in this struggle at district level and even CITU has lend its support to the struggle.

"The struggle on Quit India Day denotes the importance of the fight against imperialist driven pro-corporate economic policies known as neo-liberal reforms that are being intensified by the rabidly communal Narendra Modi Government. The BJP led government, for the first time in the history of the country, has allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment in agriculture and retail trade to facilitate corporate procurement," said Mollah.

AIKS president Dr Ashok Dhawale, who led the farmers' protest in Maharashtra, said the present government is the biggest anti-farmer regime at the Centre since independence.