Public Talk - Communal Threats to Secular Democracy in India

Citizens' Initiatives for Communal Harmony
in association with
Kare Law College, Margao

cordially invite you to
A Public Talk on the subject

"Communal Threats to Secular Democracy in India"
By Prof. Ram Puniyani

Kare Law College Auditorium, 5 pm, 24 May 2007
The talk will be followed by a question-answer session.
Ramesh Gauns/Albertina Almeida
Conveners, CICH, Tel: 2438840
Ranjan Solomon, CICH, Tel: 9881181350

Mr. R.G. Kare
President, Vidya Vikas Mandal

Arun S. Nadkarni
Principal, Kare Law College

The founders of independent India conceived the Indian nation as an entity standing on the pillars of democracy and secularism, with equal rights to all, irrespective of caste, religion, gender and community. Over the years we have been witnessing a concerted assault on democracy and secularism. Communal forces are systematically trying to dismantle the vision upon which India is based, and replace it with a fascist, supremacist structure, in which particular communities are privileged over others. The right-wing ideology of Hindutva has been growing at a furious pace, leading to a feeling of insecurity among minorities.

Goa, long considered a bastion of secularism, with different communities having lived here together in relative peace and harmony, has recently been struck by communal violence. Communal forces have made deep inroads into Goan society and succeeded in communalizing the social fabric and posing threats to peace and social harmony. A peaceful and harmonious Goa requires an alert and agile civil society that will watch for and act to counter attempts to create social divisions on religious grounds.

The speaker, Prof. Ram Puniyani, was Professor in Biomedical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology and has worked for many years on issues pertaining to the preservation of a democratic and secular ethos. He is a member of the Committee for Communal Amity, Mumbai. He is a noted speaker and writer, and has conducted numerous workshops and trainings all over India, including one in Goa in 2006 where he received an overwhelming response.