A youth camp was organized by the youth wing of Socialist Party (India), Socialist Yuvjan Sabha and Khudai Khidmatgar. About 50 participants from all over the country participated in this two day camp on 11-12 April, 2015 held at a home for children of brick kiln workers run by Asha Trust in Tatyaganj village in Mandhana, District Kanpur, 25 km outside the Kanpur city.
The camp was organized with the purpose of developing an understanding of socialist ideology and was inaugurated by famous Kanpur based literary personality Giriraj Kishore. Shri Giriraj Kishore said that Socialism means equality, tolerance, harmony. He narrated his interaction with Mahatma Gandhi and Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, the founder of Khudai Khidmatgar also known as Frontier Gandhi. The national Vice-President of Socialist Party (India), Advocate Mohammed Shoaib and President of Disciplinary Committee of the Party at UP state level, Advocate Sahadev Singh Gautam also spoke on the occasion. The UP state President Dr. Shuchita Kumar chaired the session. State Vice-President Shri Vallabh and veteran socialist Satish Agarwal also participated in the proceedings. The entire camp was conducted by Faisal Khan, the Organizational Secretary of Socialist Party (India).
Professor Mahendra Verma of IIT, Kanpur conducted a session on the ideology of Socialism as enunciated by Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. He described how an acceptable difference between the lowest and highest incomes could not be more than 8 times.
Shahira Naim and Arundhati Dhuru of Humsafar organization, which works on domestic violence issues, conducted a session on the question of gender. This was an animated session and many participants, mostly male, asked a number of questions. A documentary film made by Faizal Alkazi, ‘Seema and Salim’was screened to facilitate discussion. The problem of Muslim families refusing to fill the form to get new ration cards made where the card is being made in the name of female head of the family was also discussed. Khudai Khidmatgar made it clear that it doesn’t support this view being misrepresented by some Muslim religious leaders.
Vijaya Ramachandran, daughter of late President R. Venkataraman, described her experience working with children of brick kiln and construction workers and the difficulties workers are facing in getting themselves registered with the Labour Commissioner office.
The last session was on future planning for more such camps in Muzaffarnagar, UP, Neemuch, MP and Bengaluru, Karnataka. Preparations for the national convention of Socialist Party (India) scheduled to be held in Lucknow-Sitapur from 1st to 3rd May, 2015 were also discussed. Justice Rajinder Sachar will inaugurate this convention on 1 May at Gandhi Bhawan in Lucknow. Before the national convention, State President Dr. Shuchita Kumar, National Organisation Secretary Faisal Khan and State Organisational Secretary Chunnilal will undertake a tour of the districts in UP where Socialist Party (India) has a presence.
The camp ended with a motivational song by Mahesh and the children of the home.
