We condemn the brutal attack on activists campaigning for Mallika Sarabhai

On April 19, Anhad and Aman Samudaya activists were brutally beaten up by BJP/ VHP members at two different locations in Shastri Nagar, Naranpura, Ahmedabad while they were doing a door to door campaign. The activists were surrounded near Pallav 4 Rasta and in Arpit Restaurant in Shastri Nagar. They were abused, women activists were pushed around. This area is a part of Gandhinagar constituency where Lal Krishna Advani is contesting. The methods being adopted by supporters of Advani/ BJP are only reflective of the politics that they stand for.

We are aware that it was Lal Krishna Advani who took the divisive politics to abysmal levels. This politics today is tormenting the society. The same Advani was the Home Minister of the country when Gujarat witnessed the state sponsored carnage in which thousands of people were killed, in which torture of women and children went to barbaric proportions.

Mallika Sarabhai, a danseuse of international repute and a prominent social activist, is also contesting from this constituency. She had stood up against this mayhem unleashed by Advani’s party in 2002 and later took up the issues of human rights of victims of the carnage. She stood firm as a symbol of human values, against the violation of human rights of minorities by the BJP state Government. She has consistently been a voice of conscience. She was later harassed by the state for her principled stand in favour of pluralist values and democratic rights. Today she is spreading the message of love and amity through her campaign and wants to uphold and reinforce these values. We need people like her to ensure that the national heritage of freedom struggle - the heritage of values of liberty, equality and social justice - are preserved and nurtured so that society can march towards development and amity.

We condemn the attack on the supporters of Mallik Sarabhai, we urge the election commission to take proper action against Advani and his followers, we call upon the state government to arrest those who attacked these campaigners for Sarabhai, and we also appeal to the electorate to ensure that she is elected and sent to the Lok Sabha to act as the expression of our aspirations for a peaceful society, which values the principles of justice and equity.

Ram Puniyani Jatin Desai Irfan Engineer Sukla Sen Ramesh Pimple