Some of you might know that while politics is my passion, my entry into politics came because of the challenges I faced in community work. Asha for education is one of the organizations that I work with in providing education resources to the underprivileged and children in danger. There are many barriers that these people face, but persistence pays. Here is an email that I’m publishing in full. This is a person that my group supports. He belongs to the lower caste and has been fighting the upper caste landlords. After 19 years of peaceful resistance and court battles he has secured land for all the landless dalits in that village.

Two things to learn:

1) Persistence pays.
Lalit did not have a lot of resource but the determination to fight the rich landlords and after 19 years of determination and court battles he has won true independence to the lower caste villagers. It is an inspiration to people like and many others who want to make an change through education.

2) There is hope for Peace.
Lalit had a couple of choices. Fight it violently like the naxalites who opted to lift arms in their fight. Fight it peacefully in the streets through protests and in the courts with petitions. Lalit picked the later.

Many of us have the same option facing at times and here is an true example of what persistence and peace can do.

Here is the email .
—————————————————————————————————————
Folks,

Please read below some really good news from Aau a little village in UP where Bhoomi Heen Sewa Samithi has been running a school. The entire effort is a victory based on a single man Lalitji’s (Lalit Uniyal) courage and
commitment in a very difficult area. His persistant use of the legal system in the state of UP has finally paid off after 19 years of struggle. Asha Seattle has been supporting Bhoomi Heen for many eyars now and Asha
wide supported Bhoomi Heen during WAH 1998 (not sure of the exact year).

I would like to request everyone who can do so - to write to Lalitji and congratulate him. What he has shown is insane courage - to take on a feudal system and step by step bring empowerment to the poor in one of the most
violent districts in Banda, UP. He has faced many threats against his life and also many false charges to try and stop his work. This has been the effect of a single man’s persistance against all odds. An often lonely
prolonged persistant battle.

Warm wishes,
-Jayashree
—– Original Message —–

—– Original Message —–
From: Lalit Uniyal
To: Gagan Chopra
Cc: Jayashree Janardhan
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 10:59 PM
Subject: Updates

Dear Gagan,
This is just to give you a few udpates.
The great news is that we have won a land ceiling case against the biggest landlord of Aau. I had to pursue this matter in the High Court for about 19 years! The result is that 191 bighas of land will now be released
for distribution among landless Dalit labourers. My estimate is that no one will remain totally landless in Aau. Everyone will hold at least a small plot. And the insane domination of the village by one family will end
forever.
You may recall that I have often spoken of being engaged in a fight against feudalism. Well, this legal victory constitutes the single most powerful blow to the feudal structure in Aau village. It will unquestionably
make a huge difference to life in our village. I hope and expect that the tasks for the future will be largely constructive and educational. (Of course the general environment outside Aau will not change along with the
expected changes in Aau, so the element of difficulty and struggle cannot be eliminated altogether.)
Also, there is a lot of territory still to be covered. To start with, the landlord can appeal in the Supreme Court. But my lawyer friends are confident that he will not get any relief from the SC. Then, there is the
problem of implementation. There is so much corruption: one can expect attempts to distort the distribution to favour those who already possess land. It will be a prolonged process, and I may need to devote some
attention to that too. But if all comes through without too much corruption the consequences will be huge, and for all time.
The other thing to tell you is that our children of the 7th class are currently on a tour in Gujarat. We have sent 31 children (17 boys and 14 girls) and 4 teachers including 2 lady teachers. A friend there is financing
their stay and meals and transportation. The children are enjoying themselves and have already been to the Vidhan Sabha and Gir Foundation. They will be seeing Akshardham Temple and Science City today.
We have given a lot of thought to mid day meals. We are seriously considering reducing the expenses on Horlicks, which are huge. We are thinking of altrenatives like poha, chhola, sooji halwa, sprouted moon or
chana, aata laddoo, etc. Each of these will be cheaper than Horlicks. Lai Chana is our fixed base as it were. It is given every day, and one of these will be added as the second item instead of Horlicks, which may however be
given once a week.
Regards,
Lalit

Vijay Sappani

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)