Known for shaping various social movements, Dr Navsaharan being mercilessly targeted

By Harsh Thakor
Dr. Navsharan, writer, democratic rights activist, a resilient supporter of people's struggles and the daughter of renowned playwright Late Gursharan Singh, is being mercilessly targeted by the Modi government for revealing the truth. It is a manifestation of the trend engulfing nation of attack on intellectuals and democratic rights activists across the country, Dr. Navsharan was interrogated under the PMLA Act and an attempt was made to crush and bully her in the name of an inquiry. Modi Govt driven Enforcement Directorate (ED) has harassed the well known Cultural and Social activist Dr. Navsharan, by grilling more than 8 hours Like the UAPA, PMLA also gives the government unlimited powers to crush the democratic rights of any person.
Dr. Navsharan is the member of AIUFWP Advisory committee on Women and Cultural issues. Dr. Navsharan has been renowned for her contribution in shaping various social movements and cultural movements across the Country. She is daughter of the iconic cultural activist and we'll renowned dramatist Gursharan Singh alias Bhai Manna Singh, who had, made a phenomenal contribution in raising the cultural and political awareness of the masses all through his life. Dr. Navsharan has been engaged in social and political movements since her childhood along with her parents. She has been a staunch fighter for the farmer and peasant rights and also has lent her support to the Forest Right Movement and Women Movement.
Dr. Navsharan has been an active revolutionary intellectual in the field of democratic rights for almost two-and-a-half decades. and one of the leading supporters of the historic peasant struggle on the borders of Delhi. Not only did she relentlessly participate in the Delhi sit-in, but she invested every ounce of her energy to share the experience of the farmers' struggle with the struggling people of different countries of the world Dr. Navsharan is one of the most vocal intellectuals or boldest voices of the country speaking out against the brutal fascist tirade of the Modi government on the ordinary people.
In recent times Navsaharan has been championing the cause of trust Aman Biradari, founded by Harsh Mander.
Leaders like Amolak Singh and Kanwaljeet Khanna of Punjab Loksabhyacharak Manch ,Joginder Singh Ugrahan of BKU(Ugrahan) and Balbir Longowal of Democratic Teachers Front in no uncertain times condemned the subjecting of Dr Navsharan to such harassment or victimisation.
All democrats should condemn the Modi government to wash their hands off Dr. Navsharan and immediately cease her harassment in the name of inquiry. The nefarious attempts to suppress the democratic voices backing the working people must cease,abruptly.. All the people movements of Punjab are standing alongside Navsharan.
The grilling undertaken by the ED department for more than 8 hours is a gross violation of the fundamental rights of Dr. Navsharan as the citizen of this Country. By interrogating her for such long hours in their office it is a violation of Art. 21 and Art. 19 of the Constitution that guarantees “Right to personal Liberty “and “Right to freedom of expression". Dr. Navsharan has devoted her entire life for the upliftment of the poor and socially deprived sections and been a committed writer.
This act of ED is a barbaric act to target the intellectuals and activists to pave way for the fascist regime to eradicate all the dissenting voices that questions the present fascist Government. Dr. Navsharan was summoned under the PMLA Act (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), which itself is a mockery. The present regime is the one that is endorsing rapists like Brijbhusan, rapist of Bilkis banu, and deep corruption of party leaders of BJP were responsible. No action is being undertaken by this govt. for, demolition of houses of Muslim communities, annihilating its own citizens by introducing g CAA- NRC legislation, corrupt officials involved in bribery, atrocities against dalit communities illegal arrest of famous academicians, authors, officers, journalists and activists in Bhima Goregaon case.
There are hundreds and thousands of incidents of violence perpetrated by this present regime but there is no justice granted to any one and it is quite evident that those who are raising their voice against such atrocities and injustices are squashed as happened in the case of Dr. Navsharan. Today hundreds and thousands of civil society activists, lawyers, journalists, political activists and other activists fighting for the democratic rights are being mercilessly targeted to crush their voice.
Dr Navsharan’s voice represents the aspirations of the oppressed masses while her being targeted manifests the wave of neo-fascism of the saffron brigade, at it’s crescendo.
---
Harsh Thakor is a freelance journalist who has been in touch with human rights movement in India for long

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