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People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS)
An Appeal to Democratic Citizens and Organisations of India
Democracy in India is facing a grave threat. The BJP government and
organisations allied with it are violating every principle of
constitutional democracy. Their strategy is to keep society on a boil
through a continuous barrage of fake allegations and vilification
campaigns against selected targets, and create an atmosphere of
suspicion, hatred, fear and widespread violence.
Their assault on the Indian constitution is at three levels:
Public discourse is constantly poisoned with communal propaganda.
Ministers, MPs and MLAs of the BJP make open threats against Indian
Muslims. The latest piece of poison is jingoistic nationalism and the
branding of all opponents of the RSS as traitors to the nation.
The BJP/RSS is willfully degrading constitutional institutions and
democratic norms. After the tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula, a scholar
of Hyderabad Central University, due to institutionalised victimization,
state intelligence agencies have been asked to prove that Rohit was not
a dalit. The Delhi police have foisted cases of sedition on elected
student representatives of JNU on what appear to be trumped up charges.
Muscle-men in lawyer’s robes have brazenly attacked journalists and
other citizens in full public view, and assaulted the JNUSU President
Kanhaiya Kumar inside court premises whilst policemen watched. Some of
the attackers are known for their proximity to the Union Home Minister,
who has been exposed using fake tweets to associate student activists
with terrorists.
The family of Hindutva organizations is assaulting democracy via the
open use of violence against convenient targets. It is doing so under
state protection, which is now being extended to controlled mobs
organised by the ruling dispensation. Students and teachers of one of an
internationally respected central university have been physically
assaulted by a mob of lawyers. Similar assaults have taken place in
other cities. In Chhatisgarh, activists such as Soni Sori have been
physically attacked. Members of the Jagdalpur Legal Aid team, who work
on protecting Adivasis from illegal detention, have been forced to wind
up.
The BJP government and media houses pliant with the RSS have declared
an open war on all democratic voices in the country. Besides religious
minorities, new social groups have been added to their list of targets.
Students and universities are under attack; their right to mobilise
against state policies, and debate issues of mass concern are under
threat. Radical Dalit groups who refuse to conform to aggressive
Hindutva ideology are under vicious assault. Democratic-minded
intelligentsia are under threat to prove their ’patriotism’.
All people and organisations who support democracy need to co-operate
in the struggle against the diabolical plans and practices of the
RSS-led Modi government. We must understand what we are faced with.
Fascism has always been based upon a degree of mass support. In the 2014
elections Mr Modi managed to convince a significant number of youth and
disaffected sections with his promise of prosperity. Now that the
economy is faltering, the countryside ravaged with years of neglect and
drought, and there are no signs of the millions of promised jobs, the
RSS ‘parivar’ is resorting to its familiar dirty tricks, and doing so
with full state support. Their plan is to isolate religious minorities,
radicalised Dalits, and liberal and progressive elements of workers,
youth and the middle classes.
The mobilisations against Hindutva have to be broad based. Democratic
principles that emphasise citizenship rights of all Indians have to be
publicised far and wide. Apart from those directly affected by the RSS
campaigns of vilification and violence, it should also include broader
masses who suffer from economic deprivation and social oppression.
Democratic forces need to ensure that the agenda of public discourse
and action is not set by the RSS. Their authoritarian agenda for the
Indian people must be exposed politically. Hindutva is driven by
prejudice against Dalits and affirmative action. Its aggressive and
homogenized Hindu identity is also directed against Adivasis, whom it
insists on naming vanvasis (forest dwellers). It is also directed
against those Dalits who want to establish a cultural identity outside
the caste system.
Neo-liberal economics and politics have benefitted small section of
Indians, while disempowering and pauperising masses of ordinary
citizens. India’s economic agenda should be determined by the problems
faced by Indian masses, not by the hate-filled and divisive politics of
the RSS.
Democratic forces should try to transform the current crisis in
Indian democracy into an opportunity. Popular democratic consciousness
is the only permanent antidote to fascist politics. This consciousness
should include an appreciation of the fundamental rights of every
citizen, recognition of the oppressive practices of the Indian state in
J&K and the North-East, and an awareness of the injustice and
oppression prevalent in our society. No citizen or community can claim
rights only for themselves, and remain indifferent to, or violate the
rights of others.
PADS appeals to all democratic citizens, student bodies, women’s
rights groups and organisations of laboring people in India to come
together for a principled fight against the RSS/BJP government. Above
all they must be alert to the constant threat of communal violence and
do their best to counter communal propaganda, be it in the name of any
religion or community whatsoever. [Released on 4 March 2016]
Email: info-pads@lycos.com
Telephone contact: Srinivas Rao 09393875195