| Janhastakshep holds Memorial Meeting for Rajendra Sadangi |
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| Written by cpimlnd | |
| Saturday, 05 April 2008 | |
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Janhastakshep organized a memorial public meeting: “A Crusader for Anti Displacement Movements; Rajendra Sadangi” for his irreplaceable contribution to these ongoing struggles, on the 4th of April 2008 at Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi. People from different walks of life including the intelligentsia, students, lawyers, the working class and political activists attended the meeting. Shri Rajendra Sadangi, Convener of Lok Pakhya - Orissa, passed away on 27th March,2008 after being taken ill with cerebral malaria. The meeting was presided and conducted by eminent poet and social activist Mr. Pankaj Singh. He introduced Rajendra Sadangi’s life and his sense of immense loss both at a personal and political level. He spoke about Rajendra Sadangi’s trajectory of growth as Director at NDDB to a social activist and his complete political transformation after coming in contact and working with the Revolutionary Left movements. Rajendra Sadangi was able to energize and mobilize, the intellectuals and the peasantry with Adivasis to the issues of forced displacement, neo colonial exploitation, the agrarian crisis and expose the murky role of the comprador ruling elites.Delhi State Secretary of CPIML(New Democracy) Aparna said that Rajendra Sadangi was a very close associate and comrade. She spoke about Rajendra Sadangi’s growth from a believer in reformist interventions and how in his getting close to the people and in understanding their problems, became convinced of the need for New Democratic Revolution. The Kalinganagar movement which rejected rehabilitation, impelled him to direct his energies towards anti displacement movements and to become a spokesman of this position. Rajendra Sadangi was a colossus in the critical role of coordinating several anti displacement movements in Orissa and was beginning to take on this role on a national scene. His critique of capitalism included the need to fight imperialism and he strongly critiqued and exposed the role of NGOs as defenders of the ruling classes and imperialist forces, cautioning the anti-displacement movements against them. He was closely involved with the Kalinganagar and the anti-POSCO movement, giving them guidance, while rallying the intellectuals of Orissa against corporate and state threats and repression. Aparna insisted that the best homage to Shri Sadangi would be by working for his idea of a new society which could only be built though a concerted people’s struggle against forced displacement and imperialism. Mr Sumit Chakravartty, Editor ‘Mainstream’ highlighted that fact that Rajendra Sadangi’s life is an example to all those who go to Business Management Schools and do not bother about the dispossessed and the poor struggling for their rights. In these troubled days when all ruling class parties from the left to the right are becoming increasingly corporatised, Rajendra Sadangi, himself a Management graduate, grew into a “People Centric Revolutionary”. Mr. Chakravartty also felt that the best homage to Rajendra Sadangi would be through carrying his role forward by working for people’s movements against entire the range of oppressions being done by the ruling classes. Prof. Pralay Kanungo, Centre for Political Studies, JNU, talked about his long relationship with Shri Rajendra Sadangi since his college days in Orissa. He spoke about his deep sense of loss at having lost someone he deeply respected and also about the immensely important role of Shri Sadangi in this critical period of people’s struggles in Orissa. He spoke about their time at college when Rajendra Sadangi was a promising hockey player and how, over the years he developed into a communist revolutionary. He felt that Rajendra Sadangi was the sole intellectual in Orissa who was sharp enough to understand objective reality and was also interested in transcending his own ambit of influence and work. He also spoke about Rajendra Sadangi deep involvement with traditional farming methods as an effective form of resisting neo colonial intervention and exploitation. Supreme Court, Senior Advocate, Mr. Ashok Panda also spoke about his personal relationship with Shri Sadangi. Mr. Panda explained that currently resource rich Orissa is under attack unlike any other state in India. This attack is led by a dangerous combination of the armed might of the state and corporate greed and it was Rajendra Sadangi who was astute enough to understand these linkages of money, assistance, patronage and subsidies given to industry and how he was always connected with the people, continuously providing them with clear directions for a revolutionary resistance. Mr. Ish Mishra, Department of Political Science, Hindu College spoke about how he got to know Rajendra Sadangi when he often traveled to support the Anti Displacement struggles in Orissa. Mr. Mishra felt that the decline of capitalism is forcing it to make even more concerted attacks on the people of developing nations and that it is only through the struggles of the likes of Rajendra Sadangi and Bhagat Singh that an effective resistance can be built up against this onslaught. The meeting was concluded by Mr. Pankaj Singh who reiterated the fact that Mr. Rajendra Sadangi was a source of immense inspiration for the people of Orissa with his fiery passion, fearlessness, immovable commitment to the cause of the people and intellectual incisiveness. He will continue to inspire many others through his work, his vision of a more for egalitarian world and his immense compassion for the peasantry and working class. In conclusion, two minutes silence was observed by all the people attending the meeting in the memory of Rajendra Sadangi. |
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