#JusticeForGauri: There is only one way forward, more power to the word. Therein lies our hope for tomorrow

By Fr. Cedric Prakash sj*
Exactly one month after the brutal murder of Gauri Lankesh, the well-known journalist and activist, thousands of citizens gathered for a massive rally in Delhi on October 5th. It was truly a ‘March for Democracy ’ demanding #JusticeForGauri and for intellectuals and journalists like Narendra Dabholkar, M.M. Kalburgi, Govind Pansare , Shantanu Bhowmick and several others, who have been killed in recent times, because of their courage to stand up for truth and justice.
The massive crowd comprised a large spectrum of civil society and included media personalities, human rights and social activists, students and academics, grass root workers and intellectuals. Their refrains were loud and clear ‘Protect Dissent and Democracy’, and say ‘No to Fear and Hate’. Posters and banners with slogans like “we are Gauri” and the words of Pablo Neruda “you can crush the flowers but you cannot stop the spring”, were carried by the marchers.
As if on cue, most of the so- called ‘mainstream media’ hardly gave this massive march the coverage it deserved! Several of the journalists and other media folk in India, are coopted, bought up or bamboozled into silence. Some are just frightened. Huge corporations that are in sync with a corrupt Government, through dubious ways, have taken over some of the major print and electronic media. More are apparently in the offing. There are a good many media ‘guys’ who scream themselves hoarse on their channels in efforts to mouth lies, half-truths, ‘feku-isms’ and toe the line of their political bosses.
Freedom of speech and expression is systematically being throttled in India; the marchers in Delhi, made this evidently clear to all. Few of the major newspapers in India are able to demonstrate the freedom, the courage, the objectivity and the intellectual depth which some of the US dailies do today, as they take on President Trump and his policies, incessantly. Fortunately, we still have some excellent journalists, in India today, made in the mould of Gauri, who are articulate and fearlessly take on the fascists and fundamentalists who are trying to deny the citizens of their legitimate rights.
Very significantly on October 5th ,it was announced in Stockholm that the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2017 was awarded to English author Kazuo Ishiguro "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world".Ishiguro has written several best-selling novels. He also speaks plainly on critical issues. Writing a powerful op-ed in the ‘Financial Times’ (July 1st 2016) a little after the United Kingdom had decided to leave the European Union, he raises a critical question as to whether Britain had voted for xenophobia; he concludes his article saying, “we need a second referendum, for or against a “Brexit Light”, that will unite Britain around its traditional humane instincts. And to isolate the racists who today deludedly believe they have won the backing of the country’. Words certainly very applicable to the situation in India today!
More than 175 years ago, novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in his historical play of 1839, ‘Cardinal Richelieu’ wrote those immortal words, "the pen is mightier than the sword" Richelieu who was the Chief minister of King Louis XIII, discovers a plot to kill him; but he is a priest and therefore unable to take up arms against his enemies. His page, Francois, points out to him, “but now, at your command are other weapons, my good Lord”. And Richelieu readily agrees, ‘the pen is mightier than the sword... Take away the sword; States can be saved without it!”
Across the world today, several dictators, fascists, fundamentalists and totalitarian regimes are afraid of the pen and use the sword to throttle freedom of speech and expression. Journalists and others who are visible and vocal in taking a stand for truth and justice, are harassed and incarcerated; brutalized and murdered. There is, however, only one way forward: more power to the word! Therein lies our hope for tomorrow!
---
*Indian human rights activist

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

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...

Would breaking idols, burning books annihilate caste? Recalling a 1972 Dalit protest

By Rajiv Shah A few days ago, I received an email alert from a veteran human rights leader who has fought many battles in Gujarat for the Dalit cause — both through ground-level campaigns and courtroom struggles. The alert, sent in Gujarati by Valjibhai Patel, who heads the Council for Social Justice, stated: “In 1935, Babasaheb Ambedkar burnt the Manusmriti . In 1972, we broke the idol of Krishna , whom we regarded as the creator of the varna (caste) system.”

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

Search This Blog