Rihai Manch organises UP-wide yatra to highlight attack on democracy, constitution

By A Representative
Several civil society organizations led by Rihai Manch have begun a UP-wide yatra for upholding the values of constitution, democracy, justice, equality and brotherhood. Addressing media at the UP Press Club, Lucknow, the organizers said, this was necessitated because of continued attack on the basic values of constitution, democracy and social justice.
To take place in four phases, it would end in Lucknow on September 5. Apart from major cities UP, It would pass through Sultanpur, Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Mau, Ballia, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Bhadohi, Pratapgarh and Rae Bareli, traversing about 2,000 KM.
Addressing media, civil rights leaders Arundhati Dhuru, Muhammad Shoeb, Ajay Singh, Shivamurthy, Nadeem Hasnain, Rakesh, Ahmed Abbas, and OP Sinha condemned the recent arrest of human rights and pro-democracy leaders, saying, the government wants to crush dissent in India. These voices are the foundations of democracy and the Supreme Court has supported them, they asserted.
By reaching out to villages and towns, the activists have been talking with people about questions like social justice and constitution. Criticizing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for openly lying on questions like crime and communal-caste violence in the state, they said, women are not safe even in women's protection homes. They added while the National Human Rights Commission has questioned the killings in the name of the encounter in UP, questions have been raised about them in the Supreme Court, too. On the other hand, political opponents, especially Dalits and Muslims, are being persecuted.
Coordinated by Gufaran Siddiqui and Rajeev Yadav, the yatra is highlighting how the rights of the disadvantaged communities have been attacked in Jaunpur, Azamgarh and Ballia, is talking about attack on freedom in the Banaras Hindu University and the Allahabad University, the crisis caused by land acquisition, adversely affecting agriculture and farmers in Purvanchal, and the questions of weavers in Bhadohi, Varanasi and Mau.