Social Democratic Party of India

Kasaragod (Kerala) April : An impressive “Jan Kerala Yatra” (People’s Kerala journey) of Kerala state unit of Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), started from Hossangadi about 30 kms. from Kasaragod in north Kerala to the state capital Trivandrum on Friday evening after Adv. Sajid Siddiqui, national vice president of SDPI, handed over the flag to Manoj Kumar, the captain of the “Yatra”.

 Several hundred activists of SDPI, mostly youths in their teens pumped up with enthusiasm, riding all types of vehicles be it two, three or four-wheelers with green-red party flags having a star in the center fluttering atop, rolled out from the venue at Hossangadi from where the “Yatra” started after the inaugural function.

 The activists raised party slogans with alacrity which reached a crescendo as the three-week long state-wide “Jan Kerala Yatra” moved forward. The air was thick with faces of SDPI party workers lit-up with the spirit of nationalism, patriotism and a commitment to bring about a positive change in the political scenario of the country at the national and state level.

The inaugural function was marked by inspiring speeches of SDPI national and state leaders and Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha member Kamaal Akhtar.

The leaders in their fiery rhetorical speeches urged the masses to unite as they  resolved to empower all marginalized sections of the society by mobilizing themselves into a political force, instead of remaining as mere vote banks of different political parties in elections. The audience listened to their leaders in rapt silence and often clapped heavily to express their approval to the exhortations of the speakers.

The main objective of this journey is to introduce to the political conscious people of Kerala about the ideology of the newly formed SDPI whose slogan is “Freedom from Fear and Freedom from Hunger”. The captain and vice captain of the “Jan Kerala Yatra” are M. K. Manoj Kumar and Ashraf Maulvi respectively.

 Speaking on the occasion Samajwadi Party MP Kamaal Akhtar said lauded SDPI for waging battle for the rights of Muslims, Dalits and Other Backward classes people. He lamented that Congress has always kept these people in fear and used them as vote banks. He appealed the assemblage to make SDPI strong so that in 2014 Lok Sabha elections the party becomes No. 1 in the state and then Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party will stand with it in the Parliament.

      Akhtar criticized Congress that its intentions are not good to grant share in the Women Reservation Bill, (WRB), to Muslim women and other weaker sections of the society. He wondered that feuding parties like CPM, CPI, BJP who always cross swords on issues came on one platform with the ruling Congress when WRB was passed n Rajya Sabha. He lamented that Union Minster E. Ahmed of Muslim League also sided with the Congress on the issue like other parties. He termed Muslim League which is a major partner in Kerala politics has become “Sonia League” for t has harmed the interests of Muslims.

      He alleged that in last 62 years 16000 communal riots have taken place in India with mostly Muslims remaining at the receiving end when Congress ruled for more than 50 years. However, those responsible have not been punished whereas the murderers of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Beant Singh (former Punjab Chief Minster), Gen. Vidhya etc. have been hanged.

  Adv. Sajid Siddiqui called upon those who were embarking on the state-wide journey to take the message of the “Yatra” to every home in the state so that the people are well aware of SDPI which has come up on the political scene to fight for the rights of the common man.

Later, C. P. Muhammad Ali and N.U. Salam translated Akhtar’s and Siddiqui’s speech in Malayalam respectively.

Others who spoke on the occasion included A. Sayeed, SDPI general secretary; Adv. KP Mohammad Shareef, Kerala state president of SDPI; KPA Majeed Faizy, Kerala state general secretary; Abdul Majeed Kodalipet, Karnataka state president; Manoj Kumar, the captain of the “Yatra”; K. H. Nasar, Treasurer Popular Front of India, (PFI); Karunakaran, Mavilon Cultural Movement; and P. K. Radha Krishnan, (Apad Boo Samara Samiti).

At the outset Ikram-ul-Haque, Director of the “Jan Kerala Yatra”, delivered welcome speech while at conclusion of the programme A. Shafi, District president SDPI, Kasaragod, proposed a vote of thanks.

Later, a public meeting was held at Kasaragod wherein journalist Pervez Bari, SDPI Media secretary, was the chief guest. A host of state and district leaders also addressed the meeting.

Pervez Bari speaking on the occasion stressed upon forging unity amongst Muslim Ummah and adhering to the teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah to achieve the goals in this life and Hereafter. While throwing light on the prevailing political scenario in India, Bari said the emergence of SDPI on the political horizon is a boon for the marginalized, minorities and Other Backward Classes of people. The secret of success lies in the unity of these people and become empowered to share political power to fulfill the dreams which lie unrealized since India’s independence.

      It may be mentioned here that SDPI was formed to realize a social order and political system based on the Constitutional ideals of justice, equality, liberty and fraternity. The SDPI was officially constituted on June 21, 2009 in New Delhi and was formally launched a month later on July 29 with E. Abubacker of Kerala as its president, Advocate Sajid Siddqui of Bhopal as vice president and A. Sayeed also of Kerala as general secretary.

 On October 18 last year the SDPI manifesto was released in National Delegates Meet held in New Delhi. The manifesto highlighted that two fears obstruct the organic development of the citizens which are: Fear of hunger and fear of violence. The party will work for absolute removal of these two fears from the mind of common man.

  The manifesto called for the empowerment of all marginalized sections of the society by mobilizing themselves into a political force, instead of remaining as mere vote banks of different political parties in elections. It demanded balanced representation of all social groups in legislatures and all administrative bodies nominated by government, in proportion to their population.