To commemorate the immense sacrifices of the Indian people in the Great War of Indian Independence (1857-59), to take the pledge of continuing the struggle for genuine independence ahead, and for that to intensify struggle to overthrow the rule of the pro-imperialist big capitalists and big landlords, thousands upon thousands of the people from different parts of the country assembled at Meerut on May 10, 2007. It was from Meerut that on May 10, 1857 Indian people began the heroic war which overthrew the colonial rule over a large part of the country. Today is the 150th anniversary of that great war which shook the world and demonstrated the strong yearning of Indian people to be masters of their destiny.

The processionists came from different parts of the country, from Punjab, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Orissa, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Uttaranchal.

On the 150th anniversary of the First War of Independence of Indian people against colonial rule it is both relevant and necessary to discuss some aspects connected with the struggle. Despite their differences with each other, the common opinion of the parties of ruling classes is that the First War of Independence of 1857 reached its logical conclusion with the transfer of power in 1947 (which they hold to be “independence”.) Here they conveniently ignore that in 1947 the British colonial rulers transferred power to those very classes who had sided with the colonial aggressors in the War of independence of 1857-59 or those the colonial rulers had nurtured after crushing the peoples revolt. In a sense the transfer of power of 1947 was not the completion of the War of Independence of 1857 but the continuing in modified form of the colonial rule victorious in the war of 1857-59. The independence struggle of the people continues even now in today’s concrete conditions.