Statement by All India secular Forum re ban on public lecture

All India Secular Forum
[2 June 2007]

Statement

All India Secular Forum strongly condemns the action of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Margao, Goa, banning lecture organised by the Citizen's Initiative for Communal Harmony (CICH) in association with the Goan Ramnath Kare Law College in Margao on May 24 th 2007. The lecture was on "Communal Threats To Secular Democracy In India" by the General Secretary of All India Secular Forum Prof. Ram Puniyani and well known activist working for peace and communal harmony. The SDM acted upon a letter from one citizen Shivanand Karapurkar apprehending social tension in view of the lecture. The letter was also addressed to the Election Commission taking advantage of the forthcoming elections in Goa. The Chief Election Commissioner later admitted that the action of the SDM was wrong but refused to take any action against him. The SDM's action will only embolden the communal forces which do not have people's support but cleverly manipulate state machinery to subvert democratic rights of the people who had gathered to listen to the lecture. We laud the courage of the management of Kare Law College who, inspite of severe pressure from fundamentalist forces in Margao to cancel the lecture, opted to pursue the agenda of peace and harmony .

The incident shows that the civil servants, including the police are either communalised or always take a path of least resistance, even if that be against the rule books and against the Constitutional Values. Our fragile democracy is vulnerable communal and fundamentalist forces and we require robust civil liberties movement to make such police officers and civil servants accountable to law.

All India Secular Forum calls upon all the democratic forces to strongly condemn the curbs placed on the free speech at the instance of communal forces who swear in the nameof the Constitution to be able to form the government and subvert the Constitutional values. All India Secular Forum also calls upon the people of Goa to defeat the communal and anti-democratic communal forces, viz. the Sangh Parivar.

All India Secular Forum
C/o. Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
602 & 603 Silver Star, Prabhat Colony Rd., Behind BEST Bus Depo, Santacruz (E),
Mumbai: - 400 055.
E-mail: csss@mtnl.net.in