Reports
CPIML Legislators’ Memorandum to PM in Patna

The text of a memorandum submitted by CPIML MLAs to the Prime Minister on his Patna visit.

Bihar has been the most fertile of grounds for the freedom struggle and the struggles for democracy against autocracy. Today we are in the 75th year of Independence. On this historic occasion the CPIML legislative group places before you the following demands:

  1. Bihar has played a leading role in the freedom struggle from the 1857 struggle to the 1942 movement. We demand that a Freedom Movement Museum be established in the state with the objective of propagating the glorious history of the freedom movement and the protection of values engendered by it such as democracy, socialism, secularism and social justice.
  2. The first freedom struggle of 1857, Tilka Manjhi, the Santhal Revolt, the Rajwar Revolt, the Ulgulan Revolt led by Birsa Munda, the farmers' movement and the people's revolution of 1942 are among the important milestones of the freedom struggle in Bihar. Revolutionaries like Khudiram Bose, Prafulla Chaki and Jubba Sahni have still not got the recognition they deserve in history. We demand that documentation of the freedom struggle in Bihar should be done giving prominence to the above movements in the light of new facts that have emerged.
  3. We demand that Patna Railway Station be named after Bhagat Singh's companion-in-arms Batukeshwar Dutt, Bihta Railway Station after legendary farm leader Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, and the main gate of Motihari Railway Station after Battakh Miyan (as it was earlier) who had saved Mahatma Gandhi's life.
  4. The Sedition Law from British times should be scrapped. Draconian laws like UAPA enacted after Independence are wholly contrary to the legacy of the freedom struggle. The Central government should take initiatives to end such anti-people draconian laws.
  5. All human rights activists and journalists including the political prisoners in Bhima Koregaon, Umar Khalid, social activist Teesta Setalvad, former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, former Gujarat DGP RB Sreekumar and AltNews co-founder Mohd Zubair should be released without delay. Strict action should be taken against attacks on freedom of expression, calling it anti-national, and the tendency to spread hate and violence.
  6. The Agnipath scheme which encourages contractualization of recruitment in the Army is detrimental to national security. It is against the aspiration of youth for dignified employment. Therefore this decision should be rolled back without delay and the earlier process if recruitment to the army should be reinstated.
  7. Your government had promised 2 crore jobs per year. During the 2020 Assembly election, the Bihar government had also announced 19 lakh jobs. In the light of these promises by the Delhi-Patna governments, concrete steps should be taken immediately to guarantee jobs with dignity for the youth.
  8. Special state status for Bihar has been a demand from the time the state was partitioned. This long-standing demand should be fulfilled without delay.
  9. Similarly, the demand for Central University status for Patna University is a long-standing one. We demand grant of Central University status for Patna University.
  10. The tampering of the state symbol on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha by erasing the word 'Bihar' written in Urdu is unconstitutional. This should be rectified without delay.
memorandum to PM in Patna