Pics: Joshwa D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JD)
Updated
Mangaluru, Jan 30: Politician, academic and co-founder of 'Swaraj Abhiyan' Yogendra Yadav on Saturday January 30 said that under the present BJP-led union government, minorities in the country are being suppressed slowly and silently with micro incidents of communal violence in pockets of the country, and that an anti-BJP policy by secular parties would not work. He also blamed the 'lazy politics' of secular parties for incidents of violence in the country.
Addressing the valedictory ceremony of 'Sahabalve Sagara' national convention organized by Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike at Town Hall here, Yogendra Yadav highlighted two main 'fallacies' regarding the Narendra Modi-led government.
"The first fallacy is that 'if BJP is defeated, there is no communalism, and if BJP comes to power, there is communalism'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is popular because of the failure of secular political parties. Even these parties are responsible for the violence that is taking place, because of their ideological bankruptcy. The secular political parties that ruled from 1947 to 1990s have played lazy politics by keeping minorities as hostages. What Congress promised to the minorities is that 'if you vote for us, we will provide you security, but do not ask for anything else'. If the minorities ask for something more and their rights, there would be riots and this party would repeat the same promises.
"The communalists are making a mockery of Hinduism. Mahatma Gandhi who worked for the uplifting of the downtrodden, even though he was a secular person, until his death he said that he was a Sanatan Hindu, and he practised it too. These people are just making a mockery of it.
"Now all the political parties have united against BJP, and what happened in Bihar is not an indication of future results. It is similar to what happened to Indira Gandhi in there 1980s. There was anti-Indira Gandhi campaign, but the outcome was that she could strengthen the roots and get more seats. Hence anti-BJP policy will not work, so all of us should plan something else," he said.
"The second fallacy is that 'when Modi government comes to power, there would be laws against the minorities and they will be suppressed' - but nothing of this kind happened. Instead, they are slowing suppressing the minorities by creating communal violence. There are multiple microsites of communal violence by small active groups, hence it is not directly done by BJP agents. The idea is to suppress the minorities slowly and silently, because if it happens all of a sudden on a large a scale, it would defame the government. Silently, minorities will be reduced to second rank citizens without any Constitutional and legal changes. This is the main challenge that we face. We have to make sure that these small attacks are highlighted - we need to make them visible to the world, as in the case of the Dadri incident. We need to create committees which work and be in constant touch with the bureacracy and the police officials to avoid communal clashes," he opined.
Stating that a comman man needs to be explained things in his own language, he said, "When the Babri Masjid was demolished, I was living in Chandigarh in a lower middle class family. When I told them about the violation of minority rights, the people retorted saying, 'if Ram Mandir does not happen in India, will it happen in London'. After that I learnt the language of the common people and questioned them saying, 'don't you feel it was a matter of shame that violence was happening in the name of Ram? - they felt the difference and the pain then. This is the way we have to communicate with the common man."
Human rights activitst Teesta Setalvad lashed out at RSS and said, "RSS and its extreme right-wing ideology are a threat to our country. Even though the BJP government has come to power, it is not the BJP which rules India but the RSS. The parliamentarians and the ministers of this government are misusing their power. How can an MP like Yogi Adityanath say that Hindu men should marry Muslim women? The intention is to build a Hindu nation. How can MPs and ministers be spokespersons of one religion? It is a sad fact that they are still holding their positions. The main agenda behind this is to make India a Hindu nation. It is also mentioned in the website of RSS that Muslims, Christians and Marxists or the Communists are the enemies of the nation.
"Today, there is a conspiracy to end reservations in universities and institutions. It is a conspiracy to keep a group of students from one section away from colleges. The reason is only the right-wing outfits, and not the secular parties. Since our independence, we have been the victims of opportunistic politics," she said.
"We have to initiate a movement against hate speeches. People who are in power have taken the Constitution for granted. It is because of the Constitution that they have to been able to reach their positions. We should form committees of youth to stop communal riots.
"Nowadays people are speaking about Skill India, but how can we speak about Skill India when there is changed history and suppressed culture? Today the development of the country is measured in terms of GDP and other economic factors, and not subsidy alloted to farmers and their growth," she said.
Noted journalist Gowri Lankesh posed questions a few questions before the government, namely, "If the RSS works for the uplifting of all castes among Hindus, why no non-Brahmin has become the president of RSS? If Bhuvith Shetty, who was arrested for murdering Harish Poojary, had been the son of RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat, would he still be arrested? Why has Siddaramaiah government not taken against Prabhakar Bhat, whose voice samples have been confirmed in the suicide case of Shyamprasad Shastri? What action have you taken against the communal violence in Dakshina Kannada district?"
At the end, six resolutions were passed in the convention, namely:
- "The convention considers the suicides of Rohith Vemula, Dalit scholar of Hyderabad Central University, and Sudesh, principal of B Chennamma Pre University College, Madikeri, as murders of caste system and hence urges the government to order legal probe into these cases, pay compensation to the families of the victims and support the movement and the protest in these cases.
- "We will work towards inculcating the values of harmony to counter communalism and fundamentalism.
- "We also urge the implementation of texts that promote harmony in school curriculum.
- "We urge the government to take strict action against people making provocative speeches in Samajotsavas and thereby inciting violence.
- "We urge the union government to table the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill 2011 and enforce it.
- "Freedom of speech is an integral part of democracy, hence we pledge to work unitedly against powers that suppress freedom of speech."
Health minister U T Khader, media adviser Dinesh Amin Mattu, Gulabi Bilimale of Forum Against Violence on Women, Manjula N from Shivamogga, Walter Maben of KACES, former MLA of Madikeri A K Subbaiah, Jayant Malpe of Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, K L Ashok, state chief secretary of KKSV, Ghaus Mohidin, state secretary of KKSV and others were present.
Earlier Report
Mangaluru: 'Religion being made nationality today': B Ramachandrappa at 'Sahabalve Sagara'
Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JD)
Mangaluru, Jan 30: The Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike on Saturday January 30 organized a day-long 'Sahabalve Sagara' national convention to discuss issues related to harmony and tolerance in society.
The convention was inaugurated by noted writer and recipient of Nadoja Award Baraguru Ramachandrappa.
"This programme is being held on the day of Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary. We also observed one minute's silence for Rohith Vemula (Dalit scholar of Hyderabad Central University who committed suicide). Even though one was murdered and another committed suicide, indirectly these two are the murders of the Indian conscience," said Ramachandrappa in his address.
"During the trial, the murderer of Mahatma Gandhi, Naturam Nodse had said Gandhi was fit to be called Father of Pakistan, and that he supported Muslims and not Hindus, so Godse killed him. That was a day of violence but there are a few people in this country who are celebrating Godse's birthday as a heroic day. These are the same people who are ready to send people to Pakistan if you speak against them. Our representatives like Sadhvi Prachi and Sakshi Maharaj, despite repeatedly saying the same thing, could not send people to Pakistan, but instead our PM went to Pakistan and consolidated their statements," he said.
"Today religious terrorism has ousted ethics and teachings of various leaders like Ambedkar, Gandhi and others who preached harmony. When there is a need for humanity, violence is being spread.
"Today people are making religion itself a nationality, but in reality, religion is not culture but a part of culture. In the name of religion many atrocities are taking place in society. In the name of religion, people have gathered wealth, power, but there is no true worship. During the independence movement Gandhiji had used Charaka and salt as symbols of nationality. But today people have made religion itself a nationality and a sense of fear is being created among the people. Today, fear has become the root of religion," he opined.
"People are questioning Rohith Vemula's caste. In order to protect minister Bandaru Dattatreya, they are trying to prove that Vemula was not a Dalit by bringing his father, who had left his wife and children many years ago, in front of the media. It is not just the death of Rohith Vemula but death of souls of lacs of youth in the country. Today tongues have become like cobras that spread venom. Politicians who speak nonsense are the main sources of this spreading venom. Today tongues are acting like guns with people as target," he added.
"Tolerance has frozen in mortuary and thoughts and opinions of progressive writers are sidelined. In this context, this gathering is very meaningful. Today we are facing intolerance in various forms, be it in gender discrimination, economy, etc. Ours was a country which faced intolerance since medieval ages - when there was conflict between Jains and Veerashaivas in 12th century, when one demolished the other's places of worship. The rulers calmed down the situation and brought tolerance in the society. This is quite similar to the Babri Masjid demolition. But today the Indian state is trying to create religious intolerance and power has brought arrogance with it. Looking back at the disasters we have faced in the past century, globalization and temple building are the two main issues India is facing. Even though Dr Manmohan Singh and Narasimha Rao are fathers of globalization, it is PM Narendra Modi who has made it huge.
"Only the rich are becoming richer and being part of globalization. The situation of the poor has worsened. A government is a government when it responds to the problems of people. Today is a day to spread harmony and not fight in the name of religion. I call upon people of all religions to have discussions and solve the prevailing issues," he urged.
Suresh Bhat Bakrabail said, "We have not learnt from history. In history we were known for our religious harmony, but many of the aspects which were supposed to be included in textbooks are missing today due to which there is a rise in religious intolerance. We should question the authorities as to why this has been done. Earlier, when kings were ruling, people of different communities used to respect each other, but it is not so now."
State secretary of Komu Souharda Vedike Robin Christopher delivered the keynote address.
Politician and academic Yogendra Yadav, human rights activist Teesta Setalvad and others were present. They would addressing the valedictory to be held in the evening. Earlier in the day, they garlanded Mahatma Gandhi's statue and paid their respects to commemorate Martyr's Day.