Political Resolution from National Convention on Countering Fascist Forces

National Convention
Countering Fascist Forces: Defending the Idea of India
25-26 October 2008
New Delhi

Political Resolution

The urgency to intervene in defence of democracy, secularism and justice has never been more pressing than in the conditions prevailing in the country today.

The rise of communal fascism has emerged as a threat not only to its immediate victims but to the very long-term survival of India as a unified nation of diverse religious, linguistic and ethnic groups. The mysterious and condemnable acts of terrorism that have shaken different parts of the country have engendered a climate of fear, insecurity and fuelled the politics of communal division.

In recent months, vicious attacks have been mounted across India against religious minorities by Hindutva fascist organizations and communalism has even become the dominant tenor of public discourse. In Maharashtra the regional chauvinist forces of Bal and Raj Thackeray, both offsprings of the Hindutva politics of hate, has targeted north Indians in a bid to drive them out of the state.

The BJP, RSS and their allies in the Sangh Parivar have mounted a vicious campaign against the Christian community across India. Orissa and over 10 states have seen violent attacks on the Christian community, their institutions, religious places, property and businesses on the basis of fabricated stories and hate campaigns.

Throughout the country Muslim youth are being targeted, without any or little evidence, as responsible for the various bomb blasts taking place in the country. There is a concerted attempt by the Indian police, intelligence agencies and certain political parties to portray all members of the Muslim community as ‘terrorists and extremists’ - to be arbitrarily arrested, tortured and killed in fake encounters. Sections of the media instead of investigating the truth are blindly parroting these sensational and unsubstantiated claims.

Even more disturbingly the accused are being systematically denied their basic right to legal defence by some bar associations themselves which have threatened, expelled and even violently attacked lawyers brave enough to take up these cases. The Indian judiciary has failed to take suo moto cognizance of such attacks as being contempt of court.

All this while hard evidence available against Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Sangh outfits of their direct involvement in terror attacks is not only being ignored but actively pushed under the carpet by the Indian state. The Hindutva terrorist groups like the Bajrang Dal are openly claiming responsibility for this communal violence against Christians and are yet being allowed to go scot-free.

There is a growing feeling among religious minority communities that the Indian state and judiciary is biased against them and unwilling to provide impartial justice even in cases such as the demolition of the Babri Masjid. No action has been taken on the recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission report following the anti-Muslim pogrom in Mumbai of 1993. On the other hand some members of the judiciary are now willing to be puppets of communal forces, a dangerous trend set by the Nanavati Commission, which has exonerated the Narendra Modi government of responsibility for the Gujarat Genocide of 2002.

Instead of confronting these fascist forces the Indian state is cracking down hard on ’soft targets’ like human rights and social activists. The fundamental rights of life, liberty, freedom of speech, religion and dissent guaranteed to all citizens by the Indian Constitution are being shred to pieces right in front of our eyes.

Entire swathes of the Indian North-East and Kashmir are covered by the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that authorises even the lowest soldier to shoot and kill civilians on mere suspicion of their being ‘militants’. In Chhattisgarh, large numbers of citizens continue to be detained using the highly restrictive Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA). Those defending the rights of the poor, Dalit, Adivasis and other marginalised people are being falsely branded as ‘extremists’ and ‘anti-nationals’. The state sponsored, unconstitutional ‘Salwa Judum’ campaign, which has unleashed horrific violence on innocent tribal populations over the past four years in the name of countering Maoism, is being justified by none other than the National Human Rights Commission itself.

All this is happening even as the forces of imperialism led by the United States, under the pretext of the so-called Global War on Terror, are busy re-colonising entire nations from Iraq to Afghanistan and are now targeting Pakistan in the immediate neighbourhood of India. The global media is contributing to this politics of hatred by demonizing Muslims worldwide and frightening ordinary citizens into giving up their basic democratic rights everywhere.

Within the country, the pattern of elitist development has turned a vast majority of the population into second-class citizens, reinforcing with misguided policies the apartheid of the ancient and racist caste system. The ghost of the East India Company, buried long ago, is being resurrected in myriad forms and those who run the Indian state are willfully abetting the return of a neo-colonial order.

It is a state of affairs that calls upon all those who value Indian independence, democratic rights and social justice to come forward, take responsibility and resist the onslaught by fascist and imperialist forces on the foundations of our national values and existence. We also urge all anti-communal activists and secular political parties to forge alliance to defeat fascism and communalism. We, the delegates and participants of the National Convention on Countering Fascism: Defending the Idea of India in New Delhi held on 25-26 October 2008 resolve as follows to: Read more

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October 29, 2008 | Filed Under statements | Leave a Comment 

state government demonstrates total indifference & apathy towards democratic & peceful protest

Dr. Sandeep Pandey (Activist on Fast for 10 Days)

While the morale of those fasting for the past six days (Dr. Sandeep Pandey, ComPrem Narain Verma, Ram Prakash & Faizal Khan) was very high and hopeful, the BJPGovernment in the State demonstrated its total indifference and apathy towards democratic& peaceful method of protesting through Fasting. Expressing concern at the growing ruthlesscharacter of the State, Dr. Sandeep Pandey (Magsaysay Award Winner) said that the failureof the state to listen to the voices of peaceful protest and respond to the people’s cries arethe major reasons for resorting to extra-parliamentary means by the victims of injustice andviolence.

Dr. Sandeep Pandey also referred to an article entitled “Gandhi! Tum Nikal BhagoChadm Gandhivadiyon ke beech se” (Gandhi! You must escape from the midst of pseudo-Gandhians!) by Sri Vishwaranjan, Director General of Police of Chhattisgarh appearing inthe Hari Bhoomi daily published from Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh. In this article,the DGP has poked fun at the Group Fasting and those participating in it.
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June 21, 2008 | Filed Under Press Release, Protests | Leave a Comment 

Is India becoming a police state? Threat to Civil Liberties

MyNews
Opinion
Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Human Rights Activists are being targetted by the police and state governments for raising the issue. Recently, an activist belonging to right to food campaign in Jharkhand was murdered as he exposed scam in NREGS. Day before yesterday, Howarah police raided the offices of MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal for organising Public Hearing on the condition of custodial people, on the fabricated charges of People’’s tribunal being illegal. Binayak Sen continue to languish in jail.. where are we heading to..Is democracy loosing its patience or Indian state remain confined to old world of the British Raj, highly untuned to modern civilised methods of protests.

As India grows to become global power, the penetration of civil society, media and other instruments of state become stronger and visible. While it might not be to the likings of those in power when they see protest against forcible acquisition of land in the name of ‘development’. Portraying India as a democracy is easier as we have everything which makes us a successful democracy in the world. We have the ‘best’ constitution. We have president who ‘epitomizes’ ideal Indian woman, chief justice of India from the most marginalized community. The chief minister of India’s most populous and perhaps most criminal state of Uttar-Pradesh is a ‘Dalit woman’. We have so many from the marginalized communities that it looks as if we are a mature democracy.

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June 15, 2008 | Filed Under Press Reports | Leave a Comment 

Scottish campaigners call for release of Binayak Sen

binayaksen_ed_sm Scottish campaigners call for release of Binayak Sen

Doctors, academics and human rights campaigners in Scotland gathered on Thursday 29 May 2008 outside St. John’s Church, Edinburgh for a vigil demanding the immediate release of award-winning renowned doctor and human rights activist Dr Binayak Sen. On that day, Dr Sen was due to receive the Jonathan Mann Award For Global Health And Human Rights but cannot due to his illegal detention. Following the vigil, campaigners presented a letter to the Indian Consul in Edinburgh.

Dr. Sen’s arrest has been condemned worldwide by human rights groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and PUCL, 22 British MPs who signed an Early Day Motion about the case; several Nobel laureates, well-known public health campaigner Dr Wendy Savage, Noam Chomsky, Aruna Roy, and Amartya Sen. Iain Gray MSP (Labour), Robin Harper MSP (Green), Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP (SNP) and Bill Wilson MSP (SNP) have also given their support to the call for the release of Dr Sen.

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May 31, 2008 | Filed Under Protests | Leave a Comment 

Nobel Laureates Unable to Win Release of Doctor: Washington Post

The Indian government refused to release activist Binayak Sen, who was honored with the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights.(Associated Press)

By Nora Boustany
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, May 30, 2008; Page A10

An international effort led by Nobel laureates has failed to secure the release of a prominent Indian doctor and activist who was honored in Washington yesterday with the prestigious 2008 Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights.

Binayak Sen, who has worked with the poorest of the poor in the eastern Indian state of Chhattisgarh, has been a vocal critic of the government’s use of armed groups to push villagers out of mineral-rich forests to boost development. He was jailed in April 2007 on sedition charges, including allegedly being linked to Maoist rebels and smuggling a letter for an accused Maoist prisoner he had visited.

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May 30, 2008 | Filed Under Press Reports | Leave a Comment 

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