The Indian National Congress has announced a Bharat Jodo Yatra, which will begin on September 7 from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. The party reached out to the civil society groups for support and engagement with the five month long yatra.
In response, a National Conclave was attended by India’s over 150 Civil Society Organisations, Movements, Professionals and Unions. The conclave engaged in substantive discussions and expressed broad solidarity with the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The participant organisations welcomed the decision of the Yatra and expressed their willingness to engage with the yatra. It was decided that an appeal will be issued in the coming days for larger engagement of various civil society groups, Jan Andolans and individuals.
The conclave was also attended by Shri Rahul Gandhi, Shri Digvijaya Singh, Shri Jairam Ramesh and others on behalf of Congress, who had an interactive discussion on various aspects related to the yatra. The conclave was convened by a group of civil society activists including Aruna Roy, Syeda Hameed, Sharad Behar, PV Rajgopal, Bezwada Wilson,
Devanoora Mahadeva, GN Devy and Yogendra Yadav.
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The discussions were frank, nuanced, and grappled with the challenge of how peoples' movements and organisations can best engage with the Bharat Jodo Yatra to take on the crisis that the country faces today. The group discussions reflected the quality of deliberations. The interactions with Shri Digivijaya Singh and Shri Rahul Gandhi helped provide a clearer picture of how the Yatra fits into a larger perspective.
As we all agreed, a brief press release, attached here, was issued at the end of the meeting. We also decided upon the following steps to take the initiative forward:
1. We would draft and circulate, after due consultation, an appeal to wider society for engaging with the Yatra.
2. A group or committee would be formed to serve as the institutional bridge mechanism between peoples movements and the organisers of the Yatra. The eight signatories to the invitation letter for the Conclave would set up this group/committee, which reflects the social and ideological diversity of peoples' movements, after due consultation with the attendees and those who agreed with the idea but could not attend the meeting.
3. A series of regional and local consultations are to be held in a coordinated manner in the following weeks and months to synchronise with the Yatra's schedule. After the conclusion of the Yatra, a follow-up all India national conclave would be held
To facilitate ease of communication in the coming days, we intend to create a Whatsapp group (and an email group) of all who took interest in this initiative. Please let us know which mode would you would prefer.
In solidarity,
Aruna Roy, Devanoora Mahadeva, Ganesh Devy, P V Rajagopal, Sharad Behar, Syeda Hameed, Wilson Bezawada, Yogendra Yadav