The Hindu Business Line : Freedom fighters flay `market' economy

THE All-India Freedom fighters' Association has given a call to the public, the youth in particular, to fight the economic and political policies of the Government detrimental to the sovereignty of the country.

At a press meet here on Monday morning, three stalwarts of the freedom movement gave vent to their anguish over the state of the nation and the market-oriented policies of the Government. They were briefing the press about the two-day national conference of the association, which concluded at Kakinada, the district headquarters of East Godavari.

Mr Viswanath Mathur, 92, President of the association and an associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose who was incarcerated for 12 years in the Andaman jail, said there was a need to launch another movement to safeguard the values of the freedom movement, as "the Government is opening up the country and the economy to the neo-colonialist forces in the name of globalisation and liberalisation."

He asserted that there was no need for globalisation, or liberalisation, and the first priority should be self-reliance. "Self-reliance is the pre-requisite for self-esteem and a nation which has lost self-esteem can hope to achieve nothing,'' he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, Mr Chaudhuri Ranbir Singh, 90, a member of the Constituent Assembly and a former Member of Parliament, was equally vociferous in his comments against the Government. He also criticised the Andhra Pradesh Government for not giving the State pension to freedom fighters.

Mr Sardar Rampilla Suryanarayana, 88, hailing from Vijayawada, said freedom fighters did not like to dwell on their past glory or sacrifices, but to sensitise the public about the impending dangers threatening the nation. "All that we stood for, fought for, is being reversed by the Government in the name of economic reforms. Consumerist culture is sweeping the nation, while the ordinary man does not even have roti, kapada and makan (food, clothing and shelter),'' he bemoaned.

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