29 Mar, 2023
Citizens for Justice and Peace
FAZLUR RAHMAN ANSARI
I am a weaver from Varanasi. I am also a social worker. For many years now I have been aware of the social and political problems faced by the weaving community in Uttar Pradesh. In 2006 when the ruling party scrapped the flat rate power subsidy for looms in Uttar Pradesh there was a statewise protest. In Varanasi we protested for as long as three months and as a result the state government was made to bring back the power subsidy. I am proud to say that I was one of the people who was at the forefront of this battle. Our struggles are far from over. We need to educate the weaving community on their rights as workers. I believe that through public awareness campaigns there is a need to organise and agitate, especially for the rights of women weavers. I strongly believe that a country only prospers when all its citizens, irrespective of who they are, prosper.
