Dalip Singh Tapiala remembered

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 24

The Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI) organised a political conference at Tapiala village near here on Sunday to mark the death anniversary of renowned freedom fighter and communist leader Dalip Singh Tapiala.

A close associate of Sohan Singh Josh, Tapiala, along with 30 others, was arrested in the Merut conspiracy case. He was instrumental in setting up the first unit of the All India Kisan Sabha at Amritsar. After independence, Tapiala was twice elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly.

Speaking during the conference, RMPI’s national general secretary Mangat Ram Pasla said it became even more important to remember freedom fighters such as Tapiala in times when the government was in the hands of an organisation which indirectly stood with the British during the freedom struggle.

He said Tapiala spent his entire life working for the poor and the downtrodden. While the British arrested Tapiala six times, he was arrested 12 times after independence, he added.

Lashing at the BJP, he said the party was spreading hatred among communities and was working to benefit the corporate houses. Pasla also criticised the state government for allowing plunder of natural resources and for ‘failing’ to generate adequate employment opportunities for youth. He also criticised the ‘poor state’ of law and order in the state.

State president Rattan Singh Randhawa said the five-marla plots given to poor residents of Tapiala village in 1974-75 were being snatched by politically-connected persons. He also said the government should increase wages under the MGNREGA scheme. He also raised the issue of alleged harassment of farmers, who owned land across the international fence, by the BSF.

The communist leaders exhorted the public to unite and protest against the economic system which was ‘pro-capitalist’ and ‘anti-poor’.