People's Democracy

THE Left Front and its allies presidential candidate Dr. (Capt.) Lakshmi Sahgal was moved by the appalling conditions prevailing in the relief camps housing the victims of the Gujarat genocide. She started her presidential campaign from Gujarat by visiting some of these relief camps on June 29.

Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal said that she came to Gujarat to ascertain the plight of riot victims in relief camps and to share their miseries. She came down heavily on the state government for forcibly closing down the relief camps opened for the genocide victims. She was horrified to see the plight of the people in the Shah Alam Roza and Bapunagar relief camps and castigated the government for not providing adequate relief and shelter to the victims. She stressed that it is the state government's duty to rehabilitate the victims.

As a freedom fighter, she said, she is ashamed to see that even after 50 years of independence, a very large section of country's population is still not being considered as its citizens. Dwelling upon the values of freedom movement, she stated that Mahatma Gandhi was for wiping out tears from all eyes whereas Subhas Chandra Bose "under whom I served in the INA saw freedom as a state where all Indians are to be treated as equals and no privileges should be given to a person on the basis of caste, class and religion".

She talked to several people in the camps and protested against the sub-human conditions prevailing there. While expressing sympathy with the poor and innocent people in the camps, she criticised the Modi government for acting against the interests of people of the state. The communally biased state government is so inhuman that even just born children are forced to live on the streets, Capt. Lakshmi observed.

The BJP government in Gujarat is trying to create obstacles or to even stop the meager help being provided by non-governmental organisations and well-intentioned individuals and groups, she stated and added that the Modi government has lost its moral right to continue in office. She also criticised the nuclear weaponisation policy of the NDA government and the jingoism associated with it.

Earlier, speaking at her sister Mrinalini Sarabhai's residence, Capt. Lakshmi said that with more than 50 per cent people in the country suffering from hunger, there is no relevance for nuclear missiles. Around 45 per cent children in Gujarat, which produced national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, are suffering from lack of nutrition. Even though Gujarat is one of the best developed states in the country with a very high per capita income, the state has been turned into a laboratory for communal hate politics. The people are already reeling under severe drought and natural calamities such as the 2001 January earthquake, she noted. Capt. Lakshmi advised the people to understand the designs of caste-communal politics which seek to divide them and disrupt their unity. Without unity of people, there can be no progress, she observed.

Capt. Lakshmi added that for a poor country like India which is facing serious problems of poverty, education, health and unemployment, nuclear weaponisation or arms race is not the only way to safeguard its security. First of all, the problem of poverty has to be addressed without frittering away our meager resources. Even if half of what is spent on weaponisation of the country is allocated for poverty alleviation, the living conditions of the people can be bettered, Capt. Lakshmi stated.

Asked why nuclearisation had been made an issue after the selection of Kalam as NDA's nominee, she quipped "there is time for every issue, and this is the time for raising the issue of nuclearisation". Capt. Lakshmi further added that she had nothing personal against Kalam and reminded that Left parties have always been opposing nuclear weaponisation as it affects the grass root level development of the people and the country.