What is physically dangerous for minority is mentally dangerous for majority

Counterview Desk
Citizens of Mumbai took out a rally on July 3 from Kotwal Garden to Chaityabhoomi to protest the series of lynchings and hate crimes that are occurring in this country with nauseating regularity. Advocate Prakash Ambedkar, leaders from trade unions and political parties as well as eminent citizens and cultural activists from all walks of life attended. A statement signed by major civil rights organisations, Left political parties and prominent citizens who participated in the "Not in my Name" rally:
The RSS/BJP rise to power in 2014 has been marked by lynchings and killings of Muslims, Dalits and rationalists while the Prime Minister speaks out only when public protests reach a critical mass and then lapses into silence until the next uproar. It started in 2014 when Mohsin Shaikh, an innocent techie was beaten to death with hockey sticks in Pune just because he looked ‘Muslim’. In Mumbai Yakub Shaikh was murdered.
Then began the killings by cow vigilantes (Gau Rakshaks). Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri, Zahid Bhatt a 16 year old in Udhampur, the hanging from a tree of Mohammed Majloom and Azad Khan in Latehar, Jharkhand, the thrashing in Una, Gujarat of 7 Dalits for skinning a dead cow, the murder of cattle traders Abu Hanifa and Riazuddin Ali in Assam, Pehlu Khan in Alwar, Rajasthan, the lynching of Bhoop Singh & Jabbar Singh in Greater NOIDA, 15 year old Junaid in Faridabad, Haryana and Alimuddin of Ranchi, Jharkhand - are all the handiwork of self-appointed cow vigilantes.
Elsewhere Ghulam Mohammed is killed in Bulandshahar for helping an inter-faith couple. Zafar Husain is lynched in Pratapgarh, Rajasthan for attempting to protect women. DSP Ayub Pandith is lynched in J&K, and Uttam and Gangesh in Jharkhand. In Hyderabad Phd scholar Rohith Vemula who fought with ABVP and was expelled from his hostel on the orders of Central government ministers, is driven to suicide. Najeeb a JNU scholar ‘disappears’ after a scuffle with ABVP and is never found again.
The murderers of rationalist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar roam free with impunity and strike twice more to kill Comrade Govind Pansare and Professor MM Kalburgi. The State refuses to ban the prime suspect, the Sanatan Sanstha.
In court confessional statements ’disappear’ and witnesses turn hostile so that saffron terrorists from Aseemanand to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur walk out of jail.
As indebted farmers continue to commit suicide, those farmers who take to the streets to protest against the destruction of the agricultural sector, are shot down by police.
In Kashmir, the decision to use brute force and pellet guns rather than initiate talks and peace measures alienates ordinary citizens.
The brutalization of this country is creating a generation that does not think violence against the weak and helpless is wrong. Everywhere minorities are under threat. But what is physically dangerous for the minority is mentally dangerous for the majority.
This is not the future we want. We are Hindus, Muslims, Christians and people of all denominations, castes and creeds including some who have no religion. We do not believe that the present regime will stop the destruction of the secular, democratic India promised to us by our Constitution. So this is not an appeal to government. It is a wake up call to the conscience of the country.
---
Bharatiya Republican Party, CPM, CPI, ANIS, Lal Nishan Paksh, Lal Nishan Paksh (L), CPI (ML), SUCI, CITU, AITUC, TUSC, Govind Pansare Abhiwadan Samiti, Sarva Shramik Sangh, Sarva Shramik Sanghatana, NTUI, ABJM, Bharatiya Mahila Federation, DYFI , AIYF, SFI, AISF, Mumbai Rahiwasi Sangh, Bruhan Mumbai Bhadekaru Parishad, BUCTU, Jati Anth Sangharsh Samiti, Samajik Atyachar Prtibandhak Chalwal, Vidhyarthi Bharati, Indian Muslim For Secular Democracy, CPDR, Tanzim e Insaaf, Janvadi Lekhak Sangh, Akhil Bharati Janvadi Mahila Sanghatan, Bharatiya Mahila Federation, Samvidhan Saanvardhan Samiti, Lok Sanskriti Manch, Maharashtra Urdu Writers Guild, Forum Against Oppression of Women, Pragatisheel Lekhak Sangh, Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Bigul Mazdoor Dasta, NAPM, Bastar Solidarity Network, Bebak Collective, Morche pe Kavi, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan, AAP Mumbai, RPI (Secular)

Comments

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Fate of Yamuna floodplain still hangs in "balance" despite National Green Tribunal rap on Sri Sri event

By Ashok Shrimali* While the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday reportedly pulled up the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for granting permission to hold spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival on the banks of Yamuna, the chief petitioners against the high-profile event Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan has declared, the “fate of the floodplain still hangs in balance.”

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

From triple centurion to master coach: Bob Simpson’s enduring legacy

By Harsh Thakor* Former Australia cricket captain and coach Bob Simpson has died in Sydney aged 89. He leaves behind an indelible legacy, having shaped Australian cricket for more than four decades as a player, captain and coach. Beyond the field, he also served the game as a law-maker, referee and commentator, carving a permanent niche among the all-time greats of Australian cricket.

Ground reality: Israel would a remain Jewish state, attempt to overthrow it will be futile

By NS Venkataraman* Now that truce has been arrived at between Israel and Hamas for a period of four days and with release of a few hostages from both sides, there is hope that truce would be further extended and the intensity of war would become significantly less. This likely “truce period” gives an opportunity for the sworn supporters and bitter opponents of Hamas as well as Israel and the observers around the world to introspect on the happenings and whether this war could have been avoided. There is prolonged debate for the last several decades as to whom the present region that has been provided to Jews after the World War II belong. View of some people is that Jews have been occupants earlier and therefore, the region should belong to Jews only. However, Christians and those belonging to Islam have also lived in this regions for long period. While Christians make no claim, the dispute is between Jews and those who claim themselves to be Palestinians. In any case...

Two more "aadhaar-linked" Jharkhand deaths: 17 die of starvation since Sept 2017

Kaleshwar's sons Santosh and Mantosh Counterview Desk A fact-finding team of the Right to Feed Campaign, pointing towards the death of two more persons due to starvation in Jharkhand, has said that this has happened because of the absence of aadhaar, leading to “persistent lack of food at home and unavailability of any means of earning.” It has disputed the state government claims that these deaths are due to reasons other than starvation, adding, the authorities have “done nothing” to reduce the alarming state of food insecurity in the state.

1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue

"The Sepoy Revolt at Meerut", Illustrated London News, 1857 By Shamsul Islam* Large sections of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs unitedly challenged the greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence which began on May 10, 1857; the day being Sunday. This extraordinary unity, naturally, unnerved the firangees and made them realize that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, the largest two religious communities were divided on communal lines.

Spirit of leadership vs bondage: Of empowered chairman of 100-acre social forestry coop

By Gagan Sethi* This is about Khoda Sava, a young Dalit belonging to the Vankar sub-caste, who worked as a bonded labourer in a village near Vadgam in Banskantha district of North Gujarat. The year was 1982. Khoda had taken a loan of Rs 7,000 from the village sarpanch, a powerful landlord doing money-lending as his side business. Khoda, who had taken the loan for marriage, was landless. Normally, villagers would mortgage their land if they took loan from the sarpanch. But Khoda had no land. He had no option but to enter into a bondage agreement with the sarpanch in order to repay the loan. Working in bondage on the sarpanch’s field meant that he would be paid Rs 1,200 per annum, from which his loan amount with interest would be deducted. He was also obliged not to leave the sarpanch’s field and work as daily wager somewhere else. At the same time, Khoda was offered meal once a day, and his wife job as agricultural worker on a “priority basis”. That year, I was working as secretary...

Counterview

Search This Blog