A report on the national convention of All India Secular Forum

(Excerpted from: Newsletter of All India Secular Forum
Vol.II, No.4, April 2007)

REPORT Of THE ALL INDIA SECULAR FORUM

National Convention
18th March 2007 in AICUF Ashram in Bhopal.

The All India Secular Forum was set up to preserve the plural character of our polity and to confront the threat posed by sectarian politics a need was felt by various human rights groups to build a national forum, which could be a platform for common campaigns and efforts, to thwart the dangers posed by those imposing sectarian politics in the garb of religion.

Mr. L S Hardenia spoke of the activities of groups working on Secular Issues in Bhopal which aimed at projection of secular ideology and Principle of Secularism. Some of the activities mentioned by him were Raksha Bandhan Samarohs where Muslim children tied rakhees on Hindu children. Condemning the activities such as the Suryanamaskar, Jalabhishek, and the Upanayanam Ceremony he said that they were instruments to further divide the country and ought to be faced with firm resistance.

Dr Engineer spoke on ' Communalism Today'.

He said that the political problem is that no single party can rule in the Centre much less in the States. Congress Secularism has weakened since the 80s and the BJP has become strong in the whole country. BJP feels that the only way to resume power is to spread Communalism.

Communal forces are overactive where there is no communal violence. It is in this interregnum when there is no communal violence we should be active to counter propaganda communalism. BJPs control on education has become a medium of spreading communalism today. He gave the example of ' fascism is being the best solution' mentioned in one of the history books This was in violation of our constitution. He said that it was a pity nothing much was being done about it.

He also criticized Mulayam Singh Yadav giving two and half crore to VHP to hold Hindu Sammelan. He questioned this act and said that in a Sammelan where a resolution is passed that Ram Mandir should be constructed how can money be given?

He advised that we should now take our commitment to secularism seriously. He urged the civil society to come forward to strengthen secular forces . He ended by narrating success stories of the secular groups working all over.

Participants from various states then shared on the said topic.

Following future programs were planned

· To organize poster exhibitions which has to be displayed from time to time. (this shall include photographs of communal violence , appealing verses of Kabir etc)
· Intensive training programme for people with good understanding. Target group to be 20 maximum. This will enable them to train other cadets.
· Investigation of the communal violence to be done objectively and impartially.
· To float a branch of the organization
· Promote value education in schools.
· Setting up of resource centers in as many groups as possible.
· Cultural groups to propagate Secularism

Secular Action

1. Perzania Screening in Gujarat

Anhad held a contest for Gujarat students, with the theme whether Perzania, a feature film bases on the true story during the Gujarat carnage, should be screened in Gujarat or not. There was an overwhelming response from amongst the youth, calling for its screening. This is a strong indictment of the rising intolerance amongst the section of Gujarat community.

2. Peace and Conflict resolution Workshop

CSSS is holding a weeklong workshop on Peace and conflict resolution workshop, in Raipur from 9th to 15th April. Nearly 50 youth and others including social workers and teachers have registered for the same. These workshops a regular feature of CSSS activity.