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Anis Ahmed
Anis Ahmed - upholding the Constitution for underprivileged
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- What are the main objectives of your movement in the context of Indian social scenario?
Total empowerment of all marginalized sections who have lagged socially and politically due to historic reasons and creating an India of equal rights for all. No social movement can ignore the sufferings of the people around. As General Secretary of the organisation, Popular Front’s major objective is the total empowerment of the marginalized sections in the country. It is not just lip service. We have practically demonstrated what it really means.
We identified different focus areas and set long-term and short-term goals for each area. Education, healthcare, media, empowerment of women are some of the focus areas to name. To realize these goals, we device community development projects and execute them. Presently there are multiple such projects underway in various parts of the country. Most of them are at present in the field of education. The organization holds ‘School Chalo’ campaigns for almost a decade to promote primary education. This is one of the largest non-governmental primary education campaigns in the country. The organization is also implementing ‘Sarva Shiksha Grams’ projects for extremely backward and impoverished villages in many states where there are schools or basic facilities for education. 2,851 students are receiving primary education from these projects.
More than 14 thousand students benefited from the Scholarship program set up by the organization for poor students.
We have also implemented numerous small projects for ensuring basic amenities to the poor like drinking water.
Rescue & Relief team of the organization has been able to help people during most of the calamitous and emergency situations that happened in the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari especially during the recent floods. The covid relief activities of the organization garnered wide applause including from local authorities in states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Pondicherry.
- Do you perceive those Indian Constitutional values are under threat? What can be done to enhance constitutional literacy?
We do think that India’s constitutional values are under threat. They are under the threat from those in power who do not have any commitment to it and want it to be replaced by a new set of values. We have every reason to believe that they have already succeeded in undermining the constitutional values to certain extend. Popular Struggle to preserve constitutional values is the only path left before us. Constitutional literacy among ordinary citizens is part of this struggle. We have been holding classes and workshops for public to promote constitutional literacy in various parts of the country. People, especially youths, have been benefiting from this. India has the lengthiest and one of the most brilliantly articulated constitution crafted by the committee led by Baba Saheb Ambedkar. He understood the plight of the downtrodden because he experiences injustice entrenched in this society for thousands of years. It is up to the present Indian generation to rekindle the spirit of constitution.
- How do you respond to the criticism of your movement? Do you think they are all motivated ?
Any organization working among the public must be open to criticism. In that sense, we welcome all kinds of criticism, and we approach it constructively. Unfortunately, we rarely see such valid and genuine criticism. Most of the criticism we see is either from people mislead by false propaganda or people with ulterior motives. False propaganda against us is abundant in the media these days. People resist such misinformation and vilification of the organization using every platform and space possible. Popular Front is a legal and registered organization working publicly among the people of this country. Its activities are transparent. It is open to anyone who genuinely wants to know and be part of it.
- Most of the issues you raise are socio political, yet you are not a party. What is it that you are doing differently than conventional parties?
Unlike conventional political parties or organizations, PFI is a social movement. It has vision and a mission to bring about change in society. It will continue to work towards achieving that goal. This is exactly what PFI has been doing for the past two decades. It has been making steady progress in that mission for achieving total empowerment of all marginalized sections in the county. And there is no stopping until we achieve that goal – goal of justice and empowerment of all.
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