The fifth national convention of humanist organization Arjak Sangh was held from 6-8 October 2017 in Bokaro Steel City, Jharkhand. Well-known chartered accountant S.R. Singh presided over the convention.
The convention passed two key resolutions. The first was against idolatry, and the second was on economic issues. The speakers called upon the members to donate one per cent of their income to the Arjak Sangh.
Around 1500 delegates from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab and other states attended the convention. Ram Babu Kanojia, editor of the weekly Arjak, inaugurated the convention. He laid the blame on the RSS and the media houses for promoting Brahmanism. “Brahmanism is blocking the progress of the country and society,” he said. “It was a matter of deep concern that even the government is promoting Brahmanism. The Arjak Sangh is the only viable alternative to Brahmanism. If the people adopt humanistic conduct and follow the traditions of the Arjak Sangh, this will give a big fillip to the progress of the country and society.”
On the first day, well-known linguist and Arjak Sangh leader Dr Rajendra Prasad Singh, who was supposed to be the chief guest at the inaugural function, addressed the audience from his home in Sasaram, Bihar, over the mobile phone. He could not be present at the convention because he was unwell. He said that what Ramswaroop Verma, the founder of the Arjak Sangh; Chaudhary Maharaj Singh Bharti; Lalai Singh Yadav; and others wrote was historic and inspirational. Sangh’s national president S.R. Singh gave a detailed exposition of the education policy of the Sangh and urged the members to intensify the movement.
Raghuni Ram Shastri, Arjak Sangh leader and national president of the Shoshit Samaj Dal, delivered the keynote address. He profusely praised the activities of Arjak Sangh and said that the members of the Shoshit Samaj Dal had been following the policies and practices of the Arjak Sangh. Among the other speakers were Siyaram Mahto, Shivnandan Prabhakar, Manoj Kumar, Laxman Choudhary, Vijay Pal, Rajendra Singh, Arun Gupta, Ramji Verma, Shivkumar Bharti, Ram Sagar Das, Dharmadev Ram, Yamuna Ram, Ganesh Sharma, Shashikant Singh, Chandrabali Patel, K.P. Das, Krishna Bharti, Balram Maurya, Ramavati Arjak, Vibha Arjak, Lalita Kumari, Ramashankar Shahwal, Nandkumar Patel and this writer.
Magicians’ tricks, plays, poems and cultural programmes were used to expose religious, social, cultural and political evils and inequalities and to emphasize the need to embrace the ideology and teachings of Arjak Sangh.
Raghunath Singh Yadav, former national president of the Sangh, made the concluding remarks. “By establishing the Arjak Sangh in 1968, Ramswaroop Verma had shown the path to unity and respect to the toiling classes,” he said. “Brahmanism is our biggest enemy and we should keep it at arm’s length.”
The new 20-member national committee of the Sangh was elected unanimously on the last day of the event. S.R. Singh was elected president, Siyaram Mahto general secretary and Shivnandan Prabhakar treasurer.
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