Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)
Udupi, Feb 20: School of Communication, Manipal celebrated its annual fest ‘Article-19’ in a unique manner on Thursday February 19 at the College auditorium.
The programme began with lighting the lamp in memory of late journalists who have sacrificed their life for right to speech and expression, by Harsh Mander, writer and social justice worker.
Harsh Mander is a social worker and writer who works with survivors of mass violence and hunger as well as homeless persons and street children. He is the director of the centre for Equity Studies and a special commissioner to the Supreme Court of India in the Right to Food case. He is associated with various social causes and movements. He writes and speaks regularly on issues of communal harmony, tribal, Dalit and differently abled persons' rights, the right to information, custodial justice, homelessness and bonded labour.
Delivering a talk on 'Writers and social justice' Mander spoke on the public apathy about those people who die due to entirely avoidable reasons such as access to food and other basic essentials. “When I return late at night, I can’t help but see so many sleeping near the pavement. Nearly 50,000 children sleep on Delhi streets every night. People have become comfortably indifferent to the disadvantaged section, there is an 'exile of poor from our consciousness'," he said. Pointing to this alarming trend he said that it indicated our ability to normalize everything.
He said that the existence of poverty and legitimization of prejudices on minority were the two aspects revolving around the nation. "Liberty, fraternity and equality are now under threat. A major chunk of the population is made of youths and they are strength of our nation."
"Being a republic nation, Indians have equality only in casting vote but not in the socio-economical status. There should not be any discrimination based on language. We the people of nation should choose secularism," he said.
He urged ‘right to be yourself’ to uphold brotherhood.
"We should respect each other without discrimination of caste, community and religion. Only then can individuals lead peaceful life. Minorities should accept subordination to the majority. There are 150 languages in Arunachal Pradesh and despite the differences, they are living peacefully," he added.
"We, the people of nation, govern our Constitution. Nearly 50,000 children sleep on the streets. Poor children do not get entrance to parties even in a developing country like India. They spend half their life on the street trying to survive from mosquitoes."
He further added, "During the 1950s, the films were based on agriculture and portrayed the struggles of farmers. But now films show that there is no poverty in the nation," said Mander.
Expressing another problem he spoke about “unempirical, uninformed prejudice about Muslims that have seeped into even drawing room conversations.” He mocked the oft circulated message about not every Muslim being necessarily a terrorist but every terrorist being a Muslim. “We lost the father of our nation (Mahatma Gandhi) and two of our Prime Ministers to terrorist attacks, and none of it was committed by an Islam outfit or individual,” he said. Talking about the spread of such hatred to all parts of the country, he did not forget to mention 'Love Jihad' which has captivated the imagination of the public that Muslim boys lure Hindu girls to fall in love with them, and later convert them.
The first day started off with talks by social activists Harsh Mander and Vidya Dinker, enlightening the audience about how, as media students, they should be aware and make a difference to the social misgivings in their communities.
Bringing the writers into this enmesh of social prejudices and apathy, he commented on the role of a writer. "The most important thing a writer can do is to kindle empathy. As Amartya Sen mentions in his book ‘The Idea of Justice’, it is empathy that always makes people fight against injustice,” he said. “Writers must speak out against injustice, to affirm possibilities, to affirm hope,” he added. “I urge you to recognize this normalization of inequality so that it can be cured," he appealed to the students.
Later half of the day saw Vidya Dinker, an environmentalist and also a social activist speak about her struggle against realtors, corporate and government heavyweights regarding the displacement of the local residents with the students through an interactive sessioncalling herself an 'adhika prasanna'.
Speaking particularly about Udupi Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) and Mangalore SEZ, she elaborated on the harsh effects and problems it inflicted on the residents. “The fly ash and salt from the thermal plant (UPCL) would affect the residents. The salt in the atmosphere would corrode even their window grills and would affect the children with blisters on their feet,” she informed.
Apart from damaging the environment, displacement too was another major problem she tries to tackle in her work.“To solve this problem we need to start localizing, where we produce for our local needs. This we way we can build on our own resources, strengthening our region through localized industries,” she said.
Day one of Article-19 ended with the event ‘Alt Enter’, or Alternative Entertainment, with various cultural and musical performances.
Hundreds of students participated in the programme.
Bob Swaim, a French filmmaker, Dr Padmarani, assistant director and Raviraj Kini, faculty co-ordinator of Article-19 were also present for the inauguration. Dr Nandini, director School of Communication welcomed the gathering. Padmarani delivered the vote of thanks.