Dear Friends, Hello once more!

At the outset, we must comment that it has been extremely gratifying to note the good number of people who have written to us, spoken to us, wanting to be on our mailing list. A warm welcome to all the new people on our mailing list. A mailing list which started off with around 300 in late March has now crossed the 1000 mark. It has also been gratifying to note the volume of writings and action-oriented work being done by individuals and groups not particularly associated with Aman Ekta Manch. It has been our endeavor to get across some of these postings to you.

The Chitrakoot-Ayodhya padyatra which we all have been following ended late last week. Our commendations and best wishes go out to the Asha Ashram-Vanangana-Aali team along with their other counterparts. Sandeep, we look forward to spreading through this network information and updates about the series of future events your team has planned in Uttar Pradesh towards building an atmosphere of communal harmony. While we saw a mass campaign of such enormous magnitude in UP on one hand, on the other, early this week in Rajasthan, the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan along with Social Work Research Center, Tilonia organised a huge gathering of women against communalism at Tilonia. Quite a few of us from Aman Ekta Manch were also there. The meet, which was for three days, was attended by nearly 1000 women from various districts of Rajasthan. It was very well organised and had a tremendous impact. The women went back taking the vow that they would not let any flag whether it be green or saffron to be planted atop their houses, they will protest the entry of trishuls into their houses, will not believe in provocative leaflets intending to divide people along communal lines, will not donate to such endeavors, among other general vows to keep humanity alive. It may be recalled that this comes in the wake of an attempt made by the communal forces to spread hate in the Bhilwara district of central Rajasthan wherein 1.5 lakh trishuls have already been distributed along with leaflets.

We would also like to share with you that a blood test camp was organised wherein 108 participants underwent blood tests at the campus. The results of the test were announced on the last day. Four blood groups were identified. Aruna Roy helped the group to understand that irrespective of their caste, religion, sex, region of residence, the blood that runs through their veins is the same for a particular blood group. They can give and take blood amongst themselves which they probably cannot with their very own family members, their own “blood”. This is the politics of blood on which the lobbies of vested interest seek to divide us.

25 women from various relief camps in Ahmedabad attended this meet. It was an unforgettable experience as each of them shared accounts of the barbaric acts committed against them, their families and community. They were narrating the gory details perhaps for the nth time but they all shared that they felt a sense of hope for the first time in four months. For the first time in four months they were able to stay in proper houses and have proper meals. They have lost everything, everything that money can never buy, by acts of organised gruesome bestiality, yet each of them concluded praying that no person on the face of this earth should ever be subject to what they have gone through. “Not revenge or retribution, we need restraint and reflection”, read one of our banners; just what the women seemed to echo…

In Solidarity,
Aman Ekta Manch

PS: Friends, as is evident from the various reports, the survivors of the carnage now at the relief camps in Gujarat need financial as well as material support from us. To this end, SAHMAT has launched an initiative featured at number 11 of this compilation. Please contribute and help us to spread the word around.