Child Rights and You partners NAFRE's nationwide 'JAN HAK YATRA'

Child Rights & You, has partnered NAFRE Jan Andolan (NAFRE People’s Movement) in mounting the nationwide Jan Hak Yatra, a Peoples’ Rights March demanding a just and equitable society.

The march started on January 23. Regional segments voiced local needs and demands were put before the government. The culmination in New Delhi on the 26th and 27th of March will witness a sharing of experiences from across the country followed by a huge protest rally before Parliament and the submission of a Memorandum of Demands.

This Yatra – truly the Voice of the People -- articulates demands from the grassroots rather than the other way round. It stands apart in terms of geographical scale and that it accommodates cultural and ethnic diversity which it synthesizes into a single voice for the marginalized and the dispossessed.

Its clear message is that the current development mode that favours the haves and exploits the working class (dalits, adivasis, minorities and other oppressed classes) will not do. Choosing not to be a mute spectator NAFRE has decided to play an active role in “a new history’.

NAFRE has already taken a stand against globalization that severely affects people’s survival rights. Similarly, there is opposition to the SEZ policy, which farmers and oppressed communities are openly against – Karimnagar and Nandigram are just two instances. The struggle against SEZ is basically a demand for democracy where decision should lie in the hands of the people. The Movement has continuously opposed forces of Communal Fascism and exposed the link of the imperialism and communal fascism.

In the search for a new pro-people development paradigm, NAFRE has chosen the Yatra mode to coalesce demands from across the country and present an alternate development model that truly reflects the voice of the people. It is the community ask mode and democratic nature of the process that CRY aligns with.

· Opposing SEZ as it is a process of Neocolonialism

· Do not give up life or land – this is the people’s slogan against the development induced displacement policy

· Demolish New Imperialistic, Patriarchal & Brahminical structure

· Demolish all the forces of communal fascism

· Repeal of Arms force Special Power Act

· Demolish the Fascist forces emerged out of the anti people development process

· Implement Common School System

· Protect and ensure Child Rights

A powerful tool in this is to establish the Common School System, which reflects inclusiveness and equity, both of which are vital to the establishment of a People’s India. This is another of the Yatra’s key demands, which is why it has often been termed the ‘CSS Yatra’.

Currently, the poor and disadvantaged usually go to government schools while the better off to private ones. Thus the need for inclusive education has cropped again and is looked at as the best way to address the need for diversity and equity. Commercialization of education needs to be stopped and fair and equal education for all children must be the focus of the day. The Common School System is the only one that can address all these issues. Most importantly it will provide the vital missing link of viewing education as a vital link to development and progress.